Till We Have Faces

I really should have written this right after I finished the book when it was fresh in my mind!  I was excited to read something by C.S. Lewis other than the Chronicles of Narnia.  I knew that it wasn't going to be Narnia, however, I didn't realize how different it would be.  Lewis' writing takes on the voice of the main character who is writing down the story of her life.  The ancient and somewhat primitive culture that is created reminded me of bits and pieces of Narnia, but without the magic. 

The magic doesn't exist because the story is being written from the point of view of someone who has always lived in this world and knows nothing else.  The interesting thing is that the "magic" in Till We Have Faces is that of Gods.  The main character struggles with believing in the Gods of her culture, and in the end is forced to come to a resolute decision about their existence. 

About 3/4 of the way through this book I started to lose interest in the story, but I powered through and really enjoyed the ending.  I think the story does start to lag a bit, but the full impact of the final chapters makes up for it.

#48 - Try 24 new recipes and blog about them (7/24)

I've done 2 new recipes that are posted now.

Kraft Mac and Cheese Pie

Kraft's Taco Bake

Both were very yummy and Mike has requested that they be made again!  I guess I'll be keeping an eye out for sales on mac and cheese.

#42 - Obtain at least 1 box of books to sell on half.com

I actually did this a few weeks ago.  I got a box of Wicca and spiritual books that I listed immediately.  This is a category of books that always sells well.  I've already sold 4 or 5 of them!  I am going to mark this as completed.

#79 - Start and maintain a flossing routine (daily)

I found a great resource for printing out a calendar which I now have hanging in the bathroom.  I've been flossing since October 1st!  Okay, so that is just 3 days of flossing so far, but it is going well.  "They" say it takes 30 days of doing something for it to become habit, but that has not worked in the past for me and flossing, so if I have to keep printing out calendars (or maybe figure out how to make one reusable) I will keep doing it!

#75 - Keep my hair maintained (ie, 1/2 trim every 2 months)

This has not been happening so far!  I missed my first hair cut in August, and now I am already a week behind for the 2nd one (which is more like 9 weeks behind for the first one).  I'm hoping to have my first trim in before the end of the month and then I will need to adjust my 2 month reminders.

#68 - Buy a PS3 and Rock Band

Wooo!  We are now rocking out almost every day.  Mike got a PS3 by trading in a prize he won at work and I bought rock band with my amazon gift cards that I got through SwagBucks so the direct cost to us was only about $25 for the shipping of the PS3!  Pretty amazing how that worked out.

#48 - Try 24 new recipes and blog about them (5/24)

I've got 2 new recipes posted on my blog.  There was another recipe that I tried for applesauce cake, but it was very strange and I won't be making it again, so it doesn't get posted.

Mexican Lentils

Baked Egg Puffs

#43 - Purge unused kitchen utensils and find alternate storage for ones that are used infrequently

I did this over the weekend in a frenzy of wanting to feel a little more organized and a little less full of "stuff".  I still want Mike to go through the extra utensils to make sure he doesn't use any of them frequently (but I don't think he does).  They are all being freecycled (with the exception of 1 whisk that is going into a kitchen box) along with a bunch of empty spice containers that I have no use for.

#40 - Develop a low-maintenance, passive-income side-hustle

Well, my Bukisa account finally paid off - with my first payment!  $10.44 in my paypal account as of this weekend.  This is really just the beginning, but I am making approximately $0.25 - $0.30 a day from my articles on the site.  Not going to sustain my life anytime soon, but it really cool to watch the money accumulate!  I have some ideas for new articles brewing that I have to take action on.


My forays on Half.com continue to amaze me.  The books I figure will never sell in a million years are the first ones out the door.  The month of October always brings an up tick in sales for some reason, and I have listed some new books in the past month.  This year so far I have a profit of about $175.  It is still just a hobby, but it is nice to see some reward for my efforts.

Surveys and Mystery Shopping are still fun, but not really considered passive since they do take up a chunk of my time.  Still, I've made about $25 mystery shopping (plus a few free meals) and surveys have kept me from going into debt to amazon.com. :-)

#14 - Participate in the Hershey Library Summer Reading Program 3 times (1/3)

I participated in the Hershey Public Library's Adult Summer Reading program this past summer.  I didn't win any prizes this year, but I read a lot of books!  The reviews have been posted here, but here's a quick list of the books that I read between June 1 and August 31:

Watership Down
The Lovely Bones
House Calls
Angela's Ashes
'Tis
If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a B Movie Actor
The Lost Symbol
Johnny Tremain
The Secret Life of Bees
If Only That Horse Were A Member Of My Church
The Shack

#66 - Do a complete organization on my gmail account (6500+ emails!)

I thought I'd post a status update on this one:  I started out with over 6,500 e-mails in my INBOX and now I am down to 1,932!  I am impressed with myself.  After I get my inbox down to 100 emails or less, I will start going through each label to make sure everything is properly, um, labeled. 

Also, I have gotten into the very good habit of labeling e-mails when they come in.  They don't necessarily get archived right away, but once they are labeled they are that much easier to find!

#64 - Put together a scrapbook/photo album for the Alaska 2009 trip

I ordered some prints a while back when snapfish was having a sale, but this week I ordered another 25 because SeeHere.com was having a sale.  When the SeeHere photos arrive, I'll have all the printed photos I need to start making a full-on scrapbook.  However, I will still need..... a scrapbook!  And some other materials.  I'm not sure how I want to present the whole thing yet, but at least the pictures are printed!

#55 - # Go to 5 new-to-me non-chain restaurants (1/5)

Mike and I went to Rancho Grande in Mechanicsburg about two weeks ago.  The place was very rundown looking from outside, but a little nicer inside.  Probably could use a paint job.

Aside from that, the staff was super friendly and attentive.  We both ordered specials (the Rancho Dinner and the Grande Dinner! haha) and were very full by the end of the meal.  I couldn't finish mine at all.  Everything was very good.  The red sauce on the burritos was a little sweeter than I usually like, but still yummy.  The chile relleno was DELICIOUS and I would love to know how they make it.  Even Mike liked it - which means it wasn't toooo spicy. 

However, as it is about a 20 minute drive to get there, and on the way you pass about 3 other mexican restaurants, I don't think we'll go there again unless we are already in the area.

Sex and the City

Sex and the City was a fun read, but having seen the show and the first movie definitely colored my reading experience.  The characters of the show were derived from this book (and before that, the New York Observer columns), however are drastically different in some cases.  That element really kept pulling me out of the stories when I would be picturing the actor that portrayed a certain character and then they would be described very differently or doing something that would be "out of character" for the TV version of the story.

That being said, I do think that the TV series and this collection of essays have a continuity of tone and subject matter.  It was fun to see a much darker Carrie Bradshaw (drugs being more of the scene than shown in the show), but it also just made me want to watch the show more.  I don't want to say that the TV show has wrecked this book, but it certainly evolved from the book and brought everything to a different level.

The Shack

I have been trying to figure out what to write about The Shack since I finished reading it over 2 weeks ago. 

I don't want to spoil it for anyone who hasn't read it - and really, you should.
But, I also feel like I have so many thoughts about the book buzzing around in my head that I'm not sure where to begin or what to say at all.

The Shack starts out as a mystery novel... and then it takes a turn into... something else.  A something else that is totally worth the ride.  Not to the religious, but to the spiritual.  While there are definitely some Christian overtones, I think there is something different to take away from this book for everyone who reads it. 

I am definitely adding this one to my permanent collection and I will come back to it again.  Highly recommended, 4/5 stars.