Goodbye Andria - We'll Miss You

Andria you've been such a great friend, we're going to miss you so much. We're happy for you and your family in this new chapter in your life, only saddened that it is in Arizona.

To celebrate how much we love Andria, a few of us were able to get together to send Andria off with love. Tuesday night we met at the temple for a session, (which was very spiritual, I'm glad I was there to experience it). Those who were not able to attend we were thinking about you, and missed you. Afterwards we all went to The Cheesecake Factory, Yummm Yummmm!!!! Here are a couple of photos of the group there.

Good Luck Andria!! Let us know when you'll be in town (we know all your family lives here *wink*)

Holla!

OK, here's some ideas for book club, gorg girls. Even though I am great with child, I am always thinking of you. (See photo above.)

EARLY SUBMITTALS
Because we are growing, it might be helpful to submit the title and author of the books we're picking for our month now. That way, we all have ample time to get the books for the discussion. We can post them on the sidebar. For example, Amy has already put together a list of May, which I think is way cool (do I sound like I am from the 80s?)and mucho helpful (Vote for Pedro.)

ONLINE RSVP
Also, since we have this cool blog and all, we can create a list on the sidebar showing who will be/will not be able to attend book club each month. Our hostess will be able to click and know exactly who is coming and who isn't.

JULY/DECEMBER
Our two busiest months as families are July and December. Do we want to eliminate book club during the month of July and December? (Erin and Alyce - this directly affects you two since you are hosting and we could send a list around of who is around in July and December, then cancel as needed. If one of you wants to pick the book still, take September from me since my brain has slowly melted into my uterus.) So many of us are gone that month, it might be helpful. Also, instead of doing a book in December when we're all swamped, how about a service project, or even just eliminating that month too?

ONE ACCOUNT
To make it easier to post stuff, we'll email everyone a secret gmail account and password so everyone can post and manipulate the blog as needed.

Post ideas, what you think about the above, how pretty you think I am, etc.

The Cullens!

Peter Facinelli, Elizabeth Reaser, Jackson Rathbone, Nikki Reed, Ashley Greene and Kellan Lutz Join Cast of the Thriller Romance

for more information check out www.stepheniemeyer.com/twilight_movie.html

March Madness creates MAY-hem! READ ON!

I just wanted everyone to collectively check and mark your calendars for Friday, May 16th through the 17th. We will be holding book club in Cascade, Idaho for a special Women's retreat! We will be staying at my parents house and enjoying some RandR and gab time. For this event I can't decide what would be the perfect book to delve into. Here are some suggestions, please check them out and let me know what you think!

The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman
http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/1881273156/ref=sib_dp_pt/105-8532476-2250035%23reader-link
Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer
http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0307387178/ref=sib_dp_pt/105-8532476-2250035#reader-link
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/1582870837/ref=sib_dp_pt/105-8532476-2250035#reader-link
Nanny Diaries by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus
http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/B0009B2WTC/ref=sib_dp_pt/105-8532476-2250035%23reader-link

A Thousand Splendid Suns

Thank you to Adrienne for hosting us in a lovely discussion about the Silver Chair. Our next book, hosted by Marianne, will be A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Housseini.

The novel opens with the introduction of Mariam, a girl growing up in a small village on the outskirts of Herat in western Afghanistan. She lives with her mother, Nana, an embittered woman who is frequently resentful of her daughter whom she bore out of wedlock. Mariam busies herself with lessons in reading and writing from Mullah Faizullah, an elderly, kind-hearted cleric, and weekly visits from her wealthy father, Jalil. Mariam has heard of her father's other wives and children, who live with him at his lavish home in Herat, but has never visited them due to the stigma of her being an illegitimate child.

Welcome Baby Dittrich

April and Shane Dittrich welcomed their new baby boy into the world this morning weighing 6lbs 4oz and 20 inches long.

Congratulations!!!!

Sorry I don't have more details. I only spoke to Shane early this morning, and I was so excited for her that my brain froze and I forgot to ask for more info, like a name. But all is well and if I find out more info I'll let you know.

Some Book Club Questions

First, thanks ALOT Alyce for making up the book club brochure. It looks so professional. You're awesome. I was reading through it and lauged as I remembered the meeting we came up with the rules and I have to ask; is anyone else wondering if it's time to break into smaller groups? Poor Marianne is trying to round up books for 19 people to read. WOW!

Ann and I were talking about the pros of smaller discussion groups. Everyone can comment was a big pro for me. We do better sticking to the topic or in other words there aren't as many side conversations happening. It seemed easier to talk about and make decisions on the next book we read too. My personal favorite was when we designated each month a genre and then were given a few choices to decide on together within that genre. I felt most out of my comfort zone but grew a lot more by the end of the year, I started to feel more well read so to speak.

Ann brought up a great point regarding the name of our book club. For a while we were calling it "Reading Girl" due to the name of the book journal we passed around; so not that we have to call it that still, but Nampa24 makes it sound related to church. So does anyone else have opinions on it?

I know, I know, I'm opinionated. But you still love me for it right??? I hope??? Please get evryone to respond; I think in loo of it being a new year it's a good time to revisit "The RULES"