Sugarin'

This week we went to the Cunnigham Falls Maple Sugar Festival.It was cold, but felt good to be in the mountains doing something naturey. We learned the process of making maple syrup, played on the little beach, ate some pancakes with REAL and EXPENSIVE maple syrup and had Brooklyn play in a hoekey one man band.

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"What's the deelio, Baillio?"

Brooklyn has been exhibiting some decidedly tom-boyish behavior this month. It's quite alright with me, since she still adores bracelets and purses and pink sparkly shoes, but still...it's a little random.


It all started with a little backpack full of dinosaurs that Celeste picked up at a consignment sale. It was a perfect fit for Brooklyn since, like her mother, she loves to organize things. Her favorite activity is taking things out of a container and putting them back in. So a dozen little dinosaurs in a cute mini-pack was perfect. She took quite a liking to them, and actually likes to play with the dinos. She roars and walks them up and down the furniture. It's pretty cute. It's the best $2 we ever spent.


Then, out of the blue, she wakes up one morning, rifles through the DVDs, picks up Tarzan and points to the TV. Ok. Let's watch Tarzan. After it was over, she picked up the DVD case and pointed to the TV again. What? Again? Ok. Well we watched Tarzan more than a couple times this week. After a few times too many, we suggested another movie to watch. She lined all the DVD cases in a row, and picked out Cars. What? Cars...really? Ok. So we watched cars several times this week too. Fortunately, we balanced out the masculine movies with some Mulan, Cinderella, and Sleeping Beauty.


While a lot of the movies were viewed on the TV, she actually preferred viewing them on my laptop. I don't know why, the sound isn't as loud, and the screen is small, but she liked it. She likes my laptop a bit too much. Celeste and I were talking money, or theater, or houses or something, and we turned around and caught the following:



Well, this week wasn't all pleasant viewings. The week started off with a big snow and some sub-zero temperatures. As a result, the Saturn stopped working. The battery died in the cold weather, and I couldn't resuscitate it for a couple days. When I finally jumped it, the speedometer wasn't working, and the Service Engine light was on. Great. So on Saturday we had to take it to the dealer to get it looked at...which won't be until Tuesday since they're so booked. Goo!

And another sad thing happened. Perhaps because of all the tinkering by little hands, or maybe because of the freakish cold weather, my laptop stopped working mid-week. The thing won't even turn on. I'm hoping a power surge fried the power connector, or something simple like that. My thesis is on there, you know. And lots of nice pictures. So, even if the thing is a brick, the hard drive better not be! So we have to have that looked at this week.


A few more things have happened in this, the beginning of a surprisingly eventful month. We auditioned for Seussical the Musical at a local theater troupe. Most of the auditioners were high school students, so of course we were cast as leads. The sad thing is I was cast as Horton, the main part of the play, while Celeste was cast as a minor lead. Bottom line, she would end up at home watching kids while I was out living her dream. So that plus some other reasons lead us to decline the parts. It was flattering to be offered such opportunities, but it was a great chance to come face-to-face with how rusty our skills are. It also spurred some serious investigation into more local theater scenes, a few of which have Celeste excited. So it was a positive experience. We also went to the DC Temple, which was beautiful and huge.
And went to a book fair this weekend and got some free books. And purchased a baby carrier for camping/hiking from REI. And had Stake Conference in Frederick.


And it's only been one week! Coming up, we'll be talking to some lenders and realtors to begin the house hunt, my birthday at the end of the month, and maybe even baby #2 (name still undecided).

Gettysburg

"What?", you ask. "The Baillios are soaking up MORE American history!?" Yeah, we live 30 minutes from Gettysburg. However, we didn't actually do anything historic there...unless you consider buying clothes and food historic. We visited an outlet mall right outside of Gettysburg and had a great time. We had a little wet weather so we passed on the real Gettysburg experience. We did gather intel so our return trip in the summer would go by without a hitch. We're excited to soak up all the history around us.

Retired

Today we say goodbye to my signature shoes. This REI purchase has taken me inside the earth, over the earth and all across the face of it. I took them caving in the deep recesses of the Utah caves. I climbed up sheer faces of rock in them. I flew through the Narrows at break-neck speeds. I glided over the earth as a hang-glider. I walked over Europe in them. Relaxed at Lake Powell. Soaked up American History. Walked across the fateful bridge where "the shot [was] heard round the world". These shoes have taken me through 2 graduations, marriage, and 1 kid. Needless to say, I'm sad to see them go. But all good things must end. Here's to Solomon river-hiking shoes! Here's to REI! And here's to a wonderful companion in its final days! You will be missed.

Alone

Celeste is away for a few days, and I've been playing the single Dad role. Let me tell you, it's a manageable task, but not one I'd ever want to tackle for very long. Being here alone with Brooklyn makes me appreciate that Celeste stays home with Brooklyn during the day. If Brooklyn went to a daycare center, or a babysitter every day, she would have another family. She'd learn lessons, have fun, create attachments, and none of it would be with us. On a normal day, I get to see her for about 3 hours, maybe 4. There's just not that much time there compared to the 8-10 hours Celeste is with her all day long. So, here's a "Huzzah!" for motherhood. And a "Huzzah!" for my wonderful wife!

Being alone, while Celeste is gone at a wedding in UT, makes me remember when we got married and the raucous adventure that was our courtship. I miss that. And remember what it was like to live alone. I was the king of alone. My friends and family called me a curmudgeon for a year or more while I was at college. I became well acquainted with my solitude and my bitterness and sarcasm. But, Celeste helped me out of that place. I was ready to leave, and she gave me enough challenges to keep me going. I don't mush out very much on the blog, but I love her and am grateful she saw fit to stay with me!

First Week

So the first week here has been quite eventful. Work on Monday was great. New faces, new environments, new tasks, a new job. The rest of the work week was a bit tedious because I'm trying to get caught up, and that means reading papers and briefs and code for 9 hours a day. But I'm getting there and soon I'll be interacting and developing and contributing. So I'm excited for that.

On Tuesday, the movers came with our stuff! BUT, the second they arrive he informs me that we will owe a "long carry" charge. A "long carry" charge is due if the back of the truck is more than 75 feet from the residence. Well, since we lived on the third floor, he said it was due. The charge is $75 per 100 cubic feet. We had 500 cubic feet, and hence owed them $375 in cash or else they were taking our stuff away! WHAT! Well, I told Celeste and she busted out the contract and found a clause that said they DID NOT charge for hauling up stairs (up to 3 flights). The guy tried to dispute that clause and eventually Celeste got him to agree to charge us half. So we owed $185. That was more reasonable, and we wanted them to start moving our stuff in, so we agreed. I was very objectionable to the whole thing, because the distance from the truck to the first step did not look like 75 feet. No way did it look that long. But the guy swore it was and I slightly trusted in his experience. I went to get the money from the bank, and--wouldn't you know it--we only had one debit card and we lost the pin number. AAAHHH! So I had to take a cash advance on my credit card (ICK!) to get the money. So I go home, drop the money off to Celeste and leave to go to work. I called Celeste and urged her to make the guy measure the distance to double check if it was indeed 75 feet from the truck to the first stair.

So, after the move was about 2/3 over, Celeste asks the movers to measure the distance. They tried making her pay the full amount if it turned out to be 75 feet, but she refused since we'd already agreed on half. Well, reluctantly, the movers measured the distance and it came up to 72 feet. (Celeste actually saw them measuring and swears it was only 62....) Well the guy still wanted us to pay! But Celeste refused to pay anything since it is LESS than 75 feet. Celeste walked away victorious and didn't give them any more of our money. They finished the move and they are out of our lives forever! E-Z Movers based in Chicago. NEVER USE THEM! And that's that.

The rest of the week went by without a hitch. Over the weekend, my brother Aaron stopped by for a visit. It was so great having him here and gleaning all that older brotherly advice. We shopped at the mall, ate out for lunch, and had some delicious homemade ice cream. It was tons of fun.


Saturday night, after Aaron left, we resumed some car shopping we had done on Friday....and ended up buying a car! We got a 2006 Chrysler Town & Country Touring. We got a great interest rate (after some fine haggling by your truly), and we're excited to have a van. It's a little surreal financing such a large amount, but we feel like grown-ups. Life's just moving right along. The next major purchase is gonna be a house. More debt. Huzzah.

Maryland!

So our new life finally has begun. January was a weird limbo month for us, and it seemed like Maryland would never come. And that it came too fast.

As you know, January started off with an amazing vacation in Costa Rica. Then I spent the next two weeks madly typing out my thesis. Ok. So it was more like one and one-half weeks. I just couldn't resist goofing off during the Martin Luther King holiday and enjoying my extended vacation. But I felt I made some decent progress: A 42 page thesis. That included an appendix and the filler pages. Then I jetted off to Champaign to finish writing the darn thing, and to get my professor's approval.


I got to Champaign on Thursday night and was welcomed in by the Maughans. It was so nice to see old friends again. That weekend we had a big bash and I got to see everyone for one last time (Andersons, Nyes, Noonans, Dokos, and the rest). I even played games on Sunday night with the Thorpes. It's gonna be hard to find someone to replace them as our gaming buddies. Champaign was not all fun and games, however. Well, the first 3 days were. But Monday and Tuesday were murderous. I had previously sent my thesis to all my colleagues in the lab. They all said that the thing looked great. (if they even read it). So I'm expecting things to be pretty easy going with my professor. Well, he was scared the thesis was so short. So he urged me to add a whole lot more. So I spent the next two days furiously typing away. Luckily, I jammed another 15 pages into the thing. Tuesday at 6:00pm, my professor signs the Certificate of Committee Approval. Huzzzah! That nearly seals the deal. I have a few editing rounds to go still, and a department review. And then I can deposit! So I'm in the homestretch, and it's going to happen!


Meanwhile, back in Colorado, Celeste was chillin' at home with her parents. They went to a stock show, the aquarium, the children's museum, and lots of other stuff. Brooklyn loved having her cousins around to play with. By the end of the third week, Grandma and Grandpa were just about ready to return to their normal lives. Grandkids are cute, but only if they don't overstay their welcome. ;)


So I embarked on Wed. to drive out to Maryland. We timed it so that I would pull into the Baltimore airport, right when Celeste's flight came in on Thursday. It all worked out great. My drive was a little shaky, with the crazy weather that passed through the area only a day or two before, but I survived. The scariest thing was when a huge suburban started skidding all around the highway in front of me. She ended up sliding backwards into the ditch. I'm just glad it wasn't me. I stayed in West Virginia (shout out to Tiana and Preston!) on Wed. night, then drove through to Baltimore. I got to the airport about 20 minutes before Celeste landed. I picked them up, we headed to Westminster, got into the apartment, and the rest is history!


We're excited to be here. It's a new adventure, and a new challenge. I'm stoked to begin real work, making real money. If anyone is in the Maryland area, be sure and give us a ring, we'd love to see you!

Christmas Vacation

So Christmas and New Years have come and gone, and we've just been busy little beavers. We packed up our whole house and drove through the icy wilderness to Indianapolis on Dec 23rd. We flew into San Antonio on Christmas Eve. We barely beat Santa Claus as we pulled in at 10:30pm. We had a wonderful time in San Antonio visiting my family. Christmas morning was fun. We opened just a few small gifts, but it was nice to watch Brooklyn in the holiday spirit. She loved passing out the gifts to the respective recipient.


We spent one day in Gruene, TX. We ate at this amazing BBQ restaurant. Everything was super delicious, and the ambiance was really unique. They built the restaurant in an abandoned/burned-down mill. A lot of the structure is the original building. It was very quaint, very pleasant weather, and a fun meal. I had the ribs, and they're the best ribs I've had. That meat just melted right off the bone!


We also visited the park one day, and played with Brooklyn on the swing set.

After our beautiful Texas time was up, we headed to Colorado. We spent New Years Eve like a bunch of sissies. We didn't do fireworks. We didn't even stay up till 12:00. But we had the excuse of taking a trip to Costa Rica the next day! And this year we made the flight. Needless to say, it was an amazing trip. For the whole rundown on Costa Rica, visit here. Celeste's dad already went to the trouble of blogging the whole vacation.
Here's a final picture of Celeste, since she always seems to be taking the pictures.

Moving

The movers are here, and little by little all our stuff is vanishing. We really are moving. Wow. It's another bleak mixed-up weather-day in Illinois today. It snowed a bit this morning, then started raining ice, and now it's hailing and sleeting. Just another reason I'm glad to be on vacation for a few weeks in beautiful places. Texas sunshine, and Costa Rica beaches!

Christmas Bells Are Ringing

The semester is so almost done, it's unbelievable. I had a demo with my professor and he said I needed to tighten up a few screws and then I'll be done. So with a mad dash, I'm going to crank it all out this week so we can move into the holidays without any loose strings.

We had our ward Christmas party and we dressed Brooklyn up in her santa dress. She looked really cute. We went for the whole Santa's lap thing, but she wasn't having any of that.

Update

So a few other things happened recently that we want to shed some light on.
First things first,


We're having a BOY! We found this out the week before Thanksgiving, but just haven't gotten around to making a general post. So there you go! Now we're trying to figure out some good boy names. I pulled out a few crazies that I kinda like, but they haven't caught on yet. Cid, Gervais, and Tristan. Celeste likes a few as well: Hunter, Ian, Liam, and Chase. We're still thinking it over though.

The other major thing that happened is our recruitment in the galactic battle against the Empire. Clearly we're skilled at this sort of thing...

Thanksgiving in Utah

We had a wonderful 4 days in Utah for our Thanksgiving celebrations. The most exciting moments were the baby blessings, big feast, and seeing everyone again. My particular favorite was seeing Aaron and Kristin again and their 2 boys. It's been about 2 whole years!

Although the "big events" were quite nice, my most enjoyable moments were the hours between 6:00 am to 10:00 am. These were the hours when the kids woke up and forced their parents to get up, and since everyone was still groggy and waking up, we just sat and talked and played with the kids. It seemed very quotidian and made me feel close to my siblings.

Being with them made me also realize how distant Maryland is going to seem. But I have no regrets about our decision.

Playing Guitar Hero is a Baillio tradition now, thanks to my genius. I introduced it to my family a couple Christmases ago, and now everyone is gaga over it. My dad even bought a PS2 and all the games. So we rock out every time we get together. Playing board games is a Barrand tradition, and this trip was no exception. We spent a nice half-day with them on Friday and ate some delicious food and played some raucous games. Dave, Bryce and I rocked it at Heroscape. It was very fun, and good to get back into it. Celeste and I were a little burnt out. Celeste played Empire Builder and WON! She actually beat her dad, which doesn't happen a lot. So it was a great week, and tons of fun. We very much look forward to Christmas with Mom and Dad Baillio and the new year with the Barrands in Costa Rica!

The Pros and Cons of Life

So we've been in some turmoil this week. It's a good kind of turmoil, but it's turmoil nonetheless. We were really excited that after all my interviews (which were quite numerous), I finally scored a job offer. This was in China Lake. We had already been fretting having to make a decision, and thought things would just be easier if no one else made us an offer. But, we were super fortunate to have another company make us an offer! So, here we are with the pros and cons of life. Getting to choose: PRO! Having to choose between 2 great things: CON!

So we've been making our pros and cons of the jobs, and praying and fasting. Today was our capstone day. And we feel good about our decision.

Maryland starts at higher wages, and is a better job overall. It is a great starting job and opens the door for career opportunities in the future. China Lake is definitely closer to family and is in an area full of members. It has the friends and family network that makes home life great.

It was a very difficult decision, but we're choosing Maryland. We're giving it a day or so to sink in and to be sure, but that's our decision. We couldn't be happier! We know it is gonna be another big adventure for our family, just like moving here to Illinois has been.

Other news this week: Brooklyn started nursery today! She absolutely loved it. I took her and she practically ran the whole way there. She knew we were going to the room full of toys and fun. She did really great too. I think she's hooked! It was a big day for Celeste too, who finally got to sit through Sunday School and pay attention. Brad didn't notice the difference since he's teaching the Sunbeams anyways. Also, I am getting super close to finishing my thesis work. I actually accomplished what we agreed upon at the start of the semester, but now I'm supposed to add another chunk onto it. The timing is terrible, (AHHH!), but I'm hopeful I can get it all together before I start work. Forget about December graduation, but at least I'll get my work done before starting my new job.

So this week is a big one, as we have another ultrasound on Tuesday, my sister is due this week, I've gotta crunch down on my work, and Thanksgiving vacation is next week! And we're all too excited to see my family again! We're all gonna be there! Woo Hoo!

Job Travels

So last week was a crazy one for me. I went to Maryland for a job interview on Monday. And then I went to California for a job interview on Friday. In total, I was traveling/away for almost 4 full days out of 7. Crazy.


The Maryland job is located in Westminster, a small country town. Driving there I really liked the area. Hilly with lots of fields and trees, all in their resplendent fall glory. I was there interviewing with General Dynamics Robotics Systems. The job interview was a lot shorter than I expected. But that wasn't a big deal. I had a panel interview and I thought it went pretty well. The work sounds about my level and it is fun robotics work. A big plus is that the weather isn't as atrocious in Maryland as it is here in Illinois. I'm still waiting to hear back from them.


I went to Ridgecrest, California on Thursday. Interview on Friday. The area is practically a desert. It reminded me of Moab, UT. But it was a wonderful sight to see the mountains stretching the horizon. I sure missed those. China Lake is the naval base where NAVAIR employs all the best engineers to develop weapons for the Navy. They mostly design missiles and rockets for aircraft and warships. The interview was not much of an interview. It was more of a full-day presentation of a bunch of cool projects they are working on. The hiring manager that invited me out was a member of the Church, so it was nice to get that input about the area. All in all, it sounds like a good job with amazing benefits. Maybe not as involved in robotics, but still interesting stuff. And since some of the missiles are "smart", there might be a little robotics overlap after all. The day went well, and an offer is on its way. I'm grateful I at least got one!

To wrap up the job hunt, the NJ job (Lockheed) turned me down. They had a more qualified candidate. I have to say I'm not surprised. Even while I was there, I felt like I needed much more experience to fit in there. So no big deal. After going to MD and CA, I liked the benefits and atmosphere better.

Also, there were a couple San Francisco jobs that fell through too. Not the right fit, or not enough experience. Not too sad there either since San Fran would have been crazy expensive.

We are just patiently awaiting a response from MD. Once we get that we will be able to make our decision. Right now, we are both fully satisfied with going to China Lake. It will be a great area, closest to family, and great benefits.

The final battle for me: FINISH MY THESIS!

Election Woes

Get ready for a Socialist America.

Trunk-or-Treat

We had a smashing "chili cook-off / trunk-or-treat" at the church for Halloween. It was great. It's one of the few times we see these straight-laced Mormon folks go wild. Everyone generally goes all-out in choosing a themed costume for the family. We went as Peter Pan, Wendy, and Tinkerbell. The chili was delicious, especially the Sweet and Spicy. My fav!

And this year's haul was astounding. Brooklyn was struggling to carry her bucket around by the end. Last year it was too cold so most people ditched the trunk-or-treat. But this year PLENTY of people got into the spirit. I must say, having a new car with a hatch back makes the trunk-or-treat portion so much nicer. I got to sit down and pass out candy and set up some spooky decorations.

For a night-cap, we went to the Thorpe's house to watch Dark Water. It was one part scary, two parts lame. But that's ok. It was fun to at least try to be scared for Halloween.

Halloween is here...

Friends in Philly

So I got an on-site job interview in Philly (Cherry Hill, NJ) last week, and remembered that I had some good friends that just moved out there, the Paynes. I emailed David to see if they wouldn't mind getting together. Here's a snippet of our email conversation...

That would be awesome! I usually take Tuesday evenings off anyway.
I’ll talk to Bethany about it and I’ll give you a call tonight.

I forgot to ask…Will you be bringing HeroScape? It does affect the decision...

Well my polite reply was that my Heroscape gear would require a second suitcase, and then I'd have to pay those ridiculous check-in baggage fees, so I wouldn't be bringing it. Well, they weren't kidding when they said it would affect the decision.

Worst. Trip. Ever.

They decided to show me the town. The company gave me a rental car, so I was able to drive out to my hotel and get settled before I met up with them. Why didn't David warn me there's a toll to come from NJ into Philly? $4! Luckily I had $5 cash on hand. David told me to meet them at the 30th street Train Station. They usually have good parking available. I parked in short-term parking, which was expensive. I figured we'd only be out 1-2 hours, so I didn't mind paying $12 or so.

We started our evening outing with a crazy-long drive through the ghetto of Philly to the other side of the city to have some cheesesteaks. What? They sell those EVERYWHERE! Why did we need to drive for 40 minutes to go to this particular restaurant? Ok. It's supposed to be the best. We got there, and had some fun eating and talking. The food was pretty decent, especially the pickle.

From there we headed back to the city center to check out the famous Rocky steps. They made me run all the way up those steps! At least they were kind enough to take my picture with Rocky.

Their daughter Angelique was hilarious. She was jumping around at the top singing the Rocky songs.

After our Rocky retreat, we drove around some more trying to find a creepy jail/museum. Now they had a GPS device, but I think David was intentionally ignoring it. We drove around for 10 minutes just to wind up back at the Rocky steps. Then we took a left and 1 minute later there was the jail. Sheesh. It was a pretty cool looking penitentiary. It was all old and brick and towered. Fun stuff.

We finished off the night with the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall. It took forever to find parking on the street. But I was stoked to see the Bell. We get there and I start asking about its history. IT'S NOT EVEN FAMOUS FOR ANYTHING! They used to ring it. That's it! People rang it once upon a time. I'm pretty sure lots of bells are like that. Do we find cracked bells that entertaining? Independence Hall was pretty cool, too. I tried to salvage the evening with another great picture. We tried to look philosophical, but I don't think it worked. (Thanks a lot David)

So to top off the evening, they dropped me off 3 hours and 10 minutes later to my parked car. Did I forget to mention it was in short-term parking? Well, 3 hours is only $20. I could have swallowed that and been fine. The extra ten minutes you ask? That cost me $12 more! So $32 dollars later I sulkily drive my way back to NJ.

The interview went pretty well I think. I certainly enjoyed myself, and the job sounds amazing. We'll hear about it in a few weeks. The final part of my trip ended in hysteria. Remember how I only brought $5 cash with me? Well, I haven't remembered my Debit Card pin since I opened my account. I never use cash anyways. Who does anymore? Oh yeah, TOLL BRIDGES do! So I ended up begging at a gas station for $3. A nice lady gave me the money and said she knew where her blessings came from. Amen sister. I was praying for a kind soul just like you.

I'm hopeful for the job. It'll be interesting working there and living on the east coast again. And at least if we move there, I'll have my Heroscape stuff close at hand. That way we can still be friends with the Paynes.

The Cheerleader

Grandma sent this costume in. Brooklyn didn't quite get the whole pom-pom thing. Maybe I need to cut them in half or something. We're working on her cheers...




Go Cowboys!

The Kitty

We saw this costume at Old Navy, and thought she'd look cute in it. She received so much attention at the store, that she didn't want to part with it. She screamed bloody murder when we took it off her. So we decided to invest. Now she doesn't take it off....

Celeste's Books and a Ode to the Dollar Store

So I'm addicted to the Dollar Store. It's right across the street and I feel comfortable to let Brooklyn roam around freely, knowing if she'll break anything its....... ONLY A DOLLAR!!!! Ha Ha the power!!! So embarrassedly I go there about 2-3 times a week.
If you want to know what's at the Dollar Store- just ask, and have the WHOLE inventory in my head. String? Nope. Shoelaces? Yes!
You can even start building your 72-hour kits and get a gallon of water for.... A DOLLAR!!!
Sooooo... I have another passion... decorating for the holidays. Especially if I can MAKE a crafty thing for the holidays. So combine these two passions and what to you get..... TOO MUCH MONEY SPENT AT THE DOLLAR STORE!!!
So Here on the few things I've boughten this year to decorate and make....




These garden-steak-post things were really ugly at the dollar store, so I repainted them. Spiderwebs of course, and a creepy gravestone, with mummy hands coming out.!! Booohhaaa!!

















A Halloween tree- Only $6 to create this look. (plus an old pot)
























Wreath- Walmart ($3), All others- Dollar Store........for a grad total of $6!!!

















Haunting Witching Tree- ($4) 4 witches for a buck each!! Fantastic!!

















I'm worried that it's only the 5th of the month and I have 24 days to go till Halloween. Sooo I'm glad I get paid on the 15th because there is still so much more the dollar store has to offer!!!

On to Some Reading


*** Loved it
** Liked it

** Time Paradox- Mix in some more fairies and skipping around in time and you have some more Artemis Fowl fun. Enjoyed this more than previous Artemis books.








**Year of Wonders- A womens courageous struggle while stuck in a village during the black plague. Good historical fiction.








** Mysterious Benedict Society- Children who are more brilliant that for their own good, are inducted to a society where they must solve adult problems. Very fun- and keeps you guessing.









*** Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey- Fun mystery adventure where the characters you've grown to love, are faced with more challenges and puzzles. I liked this better then the first one.








*** The Pillars of the Earth- Read the whole 1,000 page book in 5 days. Couldn't put it down. the characters were my friends and I couldn't' just leave them hanging- I had to see what happened! Its a depiction of the Dark Ages, while trying to build a cathedral sooo.. Warning- some scene are pretty "R" rated, so you might want to skip a few pages.








**Poison Study- Romance, adventure, action, this book has it all. Young girl is condemmed to die, and is offered to be the king's food taster for poison. Brad even suggested the book to me, and I was so surprised cause the protagonist is a girl! Shocking!! (I think he mostly like it cause the girl was hot on the front cover.)







** Magic Study- 2nd book in the series. Still as enjoyable with a little more fantasy elements.








** Fablehaven- Grip of the Shadow Plague- 3rd book in the series. These books just keep getting better! Excited for the 4th book!