So often I get asked, "Who is your favorite author?" "What books do you read the most?" or "What book/author do you recommend?" The first question asked in response is something along the lines of, "what did you read last?" or "what kinds of books do you prefer?", and from there it is possible to determine a book suggestion, but more often than not I recommend one specific author. Her name has become well known in my house, so much that she is simply referred to as "Marcia". Her books are definitely "girl" books because some of them are classified under romance, but they are a completely clean read. I call her books "happy fluff" because they are quick, easy reads, but are also happy and satisfying. :D She is a fabulous writer, but her style is not for everyone...but nearly everyone I have suggested her to has loved her books, and has also become a devoted fan. This author's name is Marcia Lynn McClure and more information about her can be found on her website: http://www.marcialynnmcclure.com/. Be sure to check her out!

Summertime

The summer is coming to an end....this is cause for great sadness! I had so many great plans for things to do this summer, and very little of it actually happened. Important things like camping on the weekends, going to Maine, time at the cabin, etc. I also told myself that I would begin working on my e-portfolio for school. :D That definitely didn't happen, so here we are....headed into the last school semester with nothing done as planned. Oh well...time flies, and I'm sure the school semester will as well. On a happy note the Yarrington Family Reunion was great fun! We actually camped for a week this time, which was awesome! The bugs were really bad this year, but the company was great. We played games, played in the creek, floated the Salmon River, went shopping in Ketchum, giggled in the tent and most importantly.....we blew fire! Awesomeness! The pictures show some of the fun activities we did. It comes so slowly and goes by so quickly.

Cooking and Cookbooks

I have an obsession....yes, I will admit it. I am obsessed with cookbooks. Any and every cookbook is worth my time. :) I greatly enjoy prowling the cooking area at the library and bringing home book after book. I have hundreds of recipes floating around my room, typed into Word documents and filed into binders. As posted before my new favorite website is Our Best Bites. I haven't cooked every recipe from their site yet, but I've made great inroads to doing just that, and I (and my family) have loved everything. My current favorite cookbook is The Pioneer Woman cookbook. If you haven't seen it, find it. So many fun recipes, pictures and little stories and funny comments from the author. My fondest wish is to have a huge kitchen with professional appliances, lots of counter space, windows, 4 ovens, several refrigerators (industrial sized, of course), and lots and lots of pantry space.....*sigh*. Sounds like heaven. I would totally just settle, at this point, for enough money to buy the ingredients to use in my kitchen, but one can dream, right?

This site is hands down one of my favorite sites currently! Everything I've made from here my family has loved! So many great ideas and recipes! Try them out....you won't regret it!

Life is funny....people are funny! This is something that is no great revelation to anyone, but something that we re-learn day after day...some days more than others. :D

The other night, while working, we had a lady come in to use the public access Internet computers, and she was using her brother-in-law's library card. This is something that we usually discourage for libability reasons (fines, fees, etc), but when we suggested she sign up for her own card she asked what information she needed to share with us. Being a county government institution it's not like we're some hack firm wanting to steal someone's identity, but when she found out that we need a drivers license or state issued ID card she went off on this 10 minute rant about how the DMV sells your information to the Marines and the Marines then come to your house and make you join. Needless to say, we let her continue using her brother-in-law's card.