Take a Look, It's in a Book

I recently read a book titled High Fidelity. The book is about a man named Rob who owns a semi-failing record store, the book is not specifically about the record store but more about Rob's life and his past and current relationships. The book is filled with, as they call it, "desert island, all-time, top five" list. I love lists (as anyone who has read this blog must know) therefore when I read this book chock-full of lists it delighted me.

In honor of Nick Hornby (author of High Fidelity), I am listing my top 5 books read this year.

5. The Shining by Stephen King
This book is very entertaining. I found it more creepy than scary but if you are a bit of a fraidy cat you might want to steer clear because it is intense.

4. High Fidelity by Nick Hornby
Not only did this book inspire this post it also entertained me immensely. The book if funny, charming and a quick read.

3. The Hunger Games (1, 2 & 3) by Suzanne Collins
I am counting these three as one book because lets be honest you read one you will read all three. Great story that is gets you hooked right from the beginning. I must say that the third book was a bit of a let down but that does not change the fact that these books are a must read.
Oh and team Gale all the way.

2. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
The book is about a group of students attending Hailsham, a boarding school in the country side of England. It has a bit of a twist to the story so I am going to give you any more information than that, but I would highly recommend this book. It is thought provoking and completely heartbreaking. So so so good.

And my number 1 book of the year is
1. The Help by Kathryn Stockett
I have already dedicated an entire blog post to how much I loved this book so rather than going into my love for this book again you can just read the post http://malanderic.blogspot.com/2010/07/mals-book-review.html.

If you like reading, or even if you don't, I would recommend all these books, of course you don't have to take my word for it (Reading Rainbow reference).

back in the 801

Last weekend I flew home to see my new niece Sofia. The trip was such a success. Sofie, or as I like to call her Spider Monkey (Abbey hates this because apparently in the Twilight movie Edward calls Bella a Spider Money) is so adorable. I made a stuffed animal Owl for the baby in an attempt to be more crafty and to use my Christmas present, which was a sewing machine.

Here is the Owl I made. Ashley had a bird theme going on for the baby so I thought this would fit in perfectly also I thought this would be pretty easy being that it was basically a pillow with eyes.

Here is Baby with Owl. She looks a little creeped out by it, but I think they will grow to love each other.

Here is Baby with Auntie Mal. So cute.


And here is Baby trying to look intellectual. Before anyone calls child services because we are putting glasses on a baby, I will just let you know that the glasses are not prescription.

The trip was a complete success and it was great to see the fam, but I am happy to be back in 65 degree weather.

The Bruins and a baby

This last Saturday, the Bruins were playing Arizona State in Tempe, so Mike (Eric's dad) came down and we all went to the game. I guess ASU does not have a very good basketball team so we were able to get amazing tickets for not very much money. Our seats were first row right behind the announcers.

Here we are at the game. You can see the ASU cheerleaders behind us, and no disrespect but they had the worst uniforms.

Mike and Eric, one enjoying the game, one nursing his iphone after it was dropped in a cup of soda.

Look at those two lookers behind the announcers. Mal and Eric on FSN.

It was a really fun game, it ended up being really close and went into over time but the Bruins pulled it out in the end.

Saturday had an even bigger event then the basketball game (hard to believe, I know). My sister Ashley and her husband Ryan had their baby.

Sofia Kristina Pedersen was born at 11:55 on January 29th. I am going to SLC this weekend to see the baby so there will be more info and pictures to come.

favs so far

So we have been in the 480 for a month so I have decided to put together my list of some of my favorite things here.

1. 73 degree weather in January. I know everyone says wait til July and you will not be so happy but I am going to focus on the positives now. The fact that I can exercise outside, read poolside and wear only a t-shirt is some thing I am happy about.

2. Fiesta Burrito. This is a cheap little 24 hour Mexican restaurant that EZ and I love it. They have the best tacos and they are so close that they have become our fav.

3. Vista Del Camino Park. This park is right behind our apartment and it has a trail that goes on for miles. It is perfect for running or walking a dog (cant wait for that).

I wanted to make this list of all the good things about here because sometimes it is hard being in a totally new place, especially when you have spent your entire life in your home town. I know this experience is making me so much stronger as a person and I am happy to be here but sometimes change is hard.

Okay this has been a far to serious blog post (at least for me). I am tempted to add in a cat picture for good measure.

From AZ to CA

This past weekend, Eric and I went to San Diego (well more specifically Encinitas) to visit Ashley and Rory (Eric's sister and her husband). It was about a 6 hour drive, which is not bad but we left so early in the morning that neither of us wanted to drive because we were both so tired. To keep myself from falling asleep while I was driving I had so sing, very loudly, along with the random CD's in my car.

Its was awesome in Cali, mid 70's wether and not a cloud in the sky. We went to the beach and ate a lot of Mexican food. Overall it was a great weekend.

On Monday, driving home, we were on a rode in the middle of nowhere. All of a sudden we drive past this car that is on its side. We stopped and there was a girl standing outside of the car with suitcase in hand. She said an animal had run into the road and she swerved to stop it and that how the accident happened. We asked her if she was okay, she had a tiny cut on her arm but was fine. She had lost her phone in the accident so we called the police. The cops came and they called a tow truck and took care of everything but it was kind of a crazy end to the trip.

One last note: leaving southern California is a lot easier when you know you will be getting home to 70+ degree weather. Nuff said.

Its cat time

I have not done any cat pictures for a while so I think these were over due.

Employment

As I stated in my last post, I was a little nervous about not having a job down here in AZ.

Good news though, my worries have been put to rest, slightly, because I was able to transfer to Banana Republic store down here in the 480. The store I work at is huge and super nice and it has been going well so far and I must say, it is quite a relief having a cash flow coming in.

This job takes a little bit of weight off my shoulders although I still want to find a full time job, that is not retail. So the search continues.

Wish me luck, its a jungle out there, well actually it's a desert but you know what I mean.