Memorial Day

Thank you to all our veteran and active military service people and their families. We owe our life of freedom, opportunity, unparalleled prosperity and ease to you!

It is the VETERAN, not the preacher, who has given us freedom of religion.
It is the VETERAN, not the reporter, who has given us freedom of the press.
It is the VETERAN, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech.
It is the VETERAN, not the campus organizer, who has given us freedom to assemble.
It is the VETERAN, not the lawyer, who has given us the right to a fair trial.
It is the VETERAN, not the politician, Who has given us the right to vote.

Finally Finished

I did it, I finished the Twilight saga. Some of you know I resisted reading any more of the books after I read the first; I have an unexplainable aversion to being part of pop culture hysteria--it took me forever to finally get a Facebook page. I also didn't like being consumed by a fictional love story. I agreed to finish the other books when friends finally convinced me that if I was going to see the movies I might as well read the books. True. But even then, I didn't dive right into making them my next three books, I spaced them out. (I also have this strange idea that at least half my reading should be educational and not pure entertainment.)

So I finished Breaking Dawn. No happier person than me that everything ended up the way it did. I'm a sucker for happily ending love stories, especially because I consider Tyler's and my lives together a happy ending to a long love saga as well (although admittedly less dramatic, but still plenty dramatic for the real world). But just one question, without spoiling anything for those who haven't read it: Why with how everything ended up serendipitously as it did, is there still argument over Team Edward and Team Jacob?? I wonder how anyone who sees how everything fit so well in the end can still wish Bella had chosen Jacob? Also, a side note, I was annoyed at all the time spent developing Leah's character, etc. I felt like it was a false (and unnecessary) lead. Did anyone glean anything from that that I missed?

Photos

What do all these photos have in common?

Among possible answers, they were all taken by my uber-talented sister Natalie. She is in NYC this summer doing internships. I just love her stuff, especially the fashion photography. The concepts are always hers and she almost always does the costuming too, lots of times the hair and makeup. She is getting so good sometimes we question whether it's her stuff or professional magazine clippings that serve as her inspiration that we're looking at!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all mommies! Especially to my mom. Abraham Lincoln said it best, "All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother." I love you, Mom!

Lately, I have meditated on and been extremely touched and impressed (and quite emotional) at the caliber of all the mothers I know, the caliber of mothers that my peers have become. I have been blessed to be acquainted with hundreds of women--friends, family, acquaintances, and even strangers--whom, from afar, I admire at how they love their children without abandon. God really did add something special in women that makes them perfect for the job description "mother." In a world filled with so much of the terrible and ugly, watching these wonderful women care for the world's precious children gives me hope and confirms to me that there is still so much good left in the world, too.

So to you mothers, those of you with your own children and without who nurture others', Happy Mother's Day to you. Thank you so much for your quiet and unsung example that inspires me almost daily.