greetings from outer space

It seems like maybe outer space is where I've been for the past month, considering the overwhelming number of posts I've made (2 for those of you who weren't counting). I feel like maybe that's where I've been. Or at least lost in the pages of a book.

This past month I re-discovered my love of reading. I went to the QC Library for the first time on December 12 and got a library card. Since then, I've read 7 books, many of them within a day of starting them. I forgot how caught up in stories I get. The characters almost become real to me, inasmuch as they are well-developed. Anyway....here's what I've read so far:

1) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling

2) Kingdom Come by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins

3) Emily Ever After by Anne Dayton and May Vanderbilt

4) The Book of Jane by Anne Dayton and May Vanderbilt

5) Consider Lily by Anne Dayton and May Vanderbilt

6) Sunrise by Karen Kingsbury

7) Just Beyond the Clouds by Karen Kingsbury

I'm at the beginning of Deadline by Randy Alcorn. I've found I really like the Christian fiction section of the library, and that many of these authors write either series or multiple stand-alone titles, hence the repeat authors on the list. Once I find an author I like, I keep reading titles by them. Also, I have a thing for book series. For instance, Kingdom Come was the 16th and final title of the Left Behind/Before they were Left Behind books (amazing series, I must say). I've been working on getting through those books for over 5 years. The Harry Potter books were another 5 year work in progress, though up until the summer of 2007 I'd read only the first two titles. The Anne Dayton/May Vanderbilt books are chick-lit modern retillings of Bible stories, like Esther and Job. It seems like all Karen Kingsbury writes are series, but I can understand getting attached to characters and wanting to continue telling their stories (like the Baxter family saga...). One series I won't go near is the Twilight series (unless compelled through brute force and threats on my life). I'm not a big vampire fan, and from what I've heard they wouldn't be my cup of tea. They have their target audience, and I fall outside of it.

Beyond all the reading - which at this point I am realizing is why I've been in outer space - December was pretty eventful. I suppose that's as it should be. December is always a busy month (thank you Christmas). Christmas this year was nice, quiet, and 400 miles west of Phoenix in sunny southern California. Steven and I spent it at Disneyland, enjoying each other and the magic of all that is Disney. Going to Disneyland is like visiting an old friend. I've been going there since I was 4 years old, which means that I've been going to Disneyland for the past *gasp* 20 years of my life. Each time I go, it's almost like I never left. I know my way around the park well enough that I don't need a map, and I've gone on the rides enough times to have them committed to memory. I have so many great memories there (multiple family vacations, trips with orchestra in high school), and I am glad to finally add some new ones with Steven...like this one here:

Steven and I on Toy Story Midway Mania (great new ride at Disney's California Adventure)

The Final Score on Midway Mania (I'm blue, Steven's red - this was redemption for his KILLING me on Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters)

Chilling at California Adventure before the Electrical Parade (a Disney Classic must see!)

See what I mean? Great times. And these three pics are almost the entire collection of pictures we took while we were there. Seriously. I don't know why I pack a camera sometimes. =)

But anyway, time for me to get back to outer space. That Randy Alcorn book is just starting to get juicy.