Quote Wall Monday

False Hopes and a Piece of Paradise

As part of my job I have get to visit car dealerships and meet with their financial people. Today was one of those days. Sometimes I feel really bad going.... the salesman sit in cars or chairs right as you are pulling into the dealership just waiting to flag you down! I can see the hope on their faces when I pull in thinking that I could possibly be a sale! And then their commission dreams are shattered when I tell them I am just here to talk to the finance guy! It's even worse when there is more than one salesman out there and you can see two or three of them fighting over who gets to help me by a car!! The poor guy that wins..... I can just see him walking back to his buddies and saying "That one didn't count! She's just from a credit union! I still get the next one!"

There is a silver lining to the dealer visit thing though.... treats! Sometimes I get to take the dealers treats as a "thank you" for the deals they've sent to us.

Today's treats: Paradise Bakery cookies!!

The whole drive over I told myself "You will NOT buy a cookie for yourself! You do not need it!"
I was in total control! Then I though to myself "But sometimes they have those FANTASTIC Lemon Zest cookies. They are like a special edition cookie or something because they very rarely have them..... how can you turn one of those down?" So I made a deal with myself; I wouldn't buy a cookie unless they just happened to have the Lemon Zest kind.
Well.............you guessed it... they totally had the Lemon Zest cookies today! And so I HAD to buy one! I cant go back on a deal with myself!!!!
If you haven't had them, you should go and get one! I am usually all about the chocolate, but these things are so full of lemoney goodness that I totally pick them over the Coconut Chocolate Chip!! Happy Friday!!

My Purple Thumb

Have you ever seen the movie "A Troll In Central Park?" It's about this cute little troll named Stanley with a green thumb. Any time he touches his thumb to the ground flowers and plants start to grow. The only problem is that Gnorga, the evil troll queen, hates flowers. When she find his house full of flowers, she banishes him to New York, a city of steel and concrete. Gnorga has a purple thumb and when she uses it, it turns things into stone.

Sometimes I feel like I have a purple thumb! No, I don't turn things into stone, but I am not very good at growing plants or flowers. Like Stanley though, I LOVE flora and fauna and all things green! I'm trying to change the color of my thumb this year!!

We have this short brink wall that borders our car port and I thought it would be fun to add some color too it!!

So I went to a few stores and bought some really fun pots/containers to plant flowers in!! I got two pots at Wal-Mart {yes, I shop there. Back off okay!} and a cool ice bucket at Target. But I hit the jackpot at the dollar store!!!

None of them are actually flower pots! One is a serving bowl, one is a sand pail, one is an ice bucket and the purple one is a "handy oval container"!

Because none of them are technically for gardening I had to make holes in the bottom of them. That's what you are supposed to do right? So water can get out?!?
I used a kitchen knife to slowly carve out the holes.

The orange pail didn't play along well. Every time I tried to put a hole in it, the plastic just split apart so there are no real holes on the bottom. Hopefully the plants in it survive!!

I filled them with dirt:

And then added the plants and seeds:

 And finished off by watering them. I decided that I need a watering can so I can water them every day {because using a cup just isn't working} 

The best part though was putting them out on the brick wall and standing back to admire them!!

I love them!! Hopefully I just don't kill them!!!

Book # 8

It feels like it took FOREVER, but I FINALLY finished this book:

It’s just a small story really, about among other things: a girl, some words, an accordionist, some fanatical Germans, a Jewish fist-fighter, and quite a lot of thievery. . . .
Set during World War II in Germany, Markus Zusak’s groundbreaking new novel is the story of Liesel Meminger, a foster girl living outside of Munich. Liesel scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can’t resist – books. With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement before he is marched to Dachau. This is an unforgettable story about the ability of books to feed the soul.

It sounds really good huh? And it is a pretty good book.... It just took me a long time to get into it.... Like 200 pages!! I have trouble with books that take that long to get going!

But I am really glad I stuck with it because there is a great meaning behind the story and it really makes you think. It wont ruin the story for me to tell you that this book it told from Deaths point of view. Death talks about collecting souls.... especially those of the Jews killed in gas chambers. There were many part that made me cry. This was one of them:

"They watched the Jews come down the road like a catalog of colors. That wasn't how the book thief described them, but I can tell you that that's exactly what they were, for many of them would die...The suffering faces of depleted man and women reached across to them, pleading not so much for help - they were beyond that - but for an explanation. Just something to subdue this confusion."

If you read this book, just go in with an open mind and just keep going.... even when you think it is SO boring!!

Quote Wall Monday

Happy Memorial Day!

Everything's Coming Up Poppies

I have had the same favorite flower for a really long time.... the Gerber daisy!

They are just so big, fun and bright!!

They are just a happy flower in my opinion!!

My roommate loves them too and often buys them for our apartment!! She was so sweet and bought all of these beauties a few weeks ago.. just because!!

 And she gave me these wonderful pink ones for Easter!!

{Looking back at these pictures I realize that some of them look really sad!! I should have taken pictures when she first gave them to me!! They were gorgeous!! The Easter ones were at least 10 days old at that point and the other ones were at least 7}

But I think there is another flower that may just take the daisies place... Poppies!!

I don't know what it is about these little flowers, but I love them!!

I don't think I had ever paid much attention to the poppy until I went to Italy. The hillsides were covered in them and they were growing everywhere!! I think that is when I decided I really like them!

I brought that flower home with me!! Fortunately I was carrying a book with me {Twilight......} and after I picked the flower for the picture, I put it between the pages of my favorite book to dry and press it! I still have it in my Europe journal!!

I was at the store the other day buying potting soil and seeds and saw a flat of beautiful white poppies already in bloom! I wanted them so badly! I just think they are beautiful!

Some day I want a garden full of poppies! Right next to my cherry blossom tree and palm tree!! My yard is going to be sweet!!

{P.S. I got The Book Thief back from the library yesterday! I am bound and determined to finish the last 171 pages this weekend!!}

Must.... Keep..... Reading.....

Have you noticed that "The Book Thief" has been in my "Currently Reading" spot F.O.R.E.V.E.R?!?

I don't know why it is taking me so long to get through this book! I think it is just short of 600 pages and I finally made it to page 379.
It was a book club book and I was supposed to have finished it on May 18th so I could go to the discussion, but that obviously didn't happen!
For some reason it is taking me so long to read this book!

It was due back to the library on Monday and I still hadn't finished! I considered just giving up and reading a plot summary on Wikipedia or something..... but I just cant! I have put way to much time into this book to give up now! So I put it back on hold on and hopefully I will get it back soon so I can find out what happens!!

This is the last thing I read:

"'I couldn't help it,' he said...'I could see outside. I watched, only for a few seconds.'
He had not seen the outside world for twenty-two months...
It was Papa who spoke.
'How did it look.'
Max lifted his head, with great sorrow and great astonishment.
'There were stars,' he said. 'They burned my eyes.'"

It kind of brought tears to my eyes.... but Holocaust stuff will always do that too me!
More to come soon... hopefully!