NEW BLOG

I started this blog around the time we were married because it was just what people did at the time. We made cute little blogs and told our little newlywed stories. And throughout nearly 8 years of marriage, I've told our story, sometimes consistently, sometimes only through book reviews. Our pictures have gotten better, and I like to hope that my writing has too. But lately I've wanted to do something more. I got it into my head to create a website, and after our road trip out west, we just went ahead and did it.

AutumnMeadowCo.com

This is a pet project of mine, one place where we can document our pictures, our stories, and our life. Part of our motivation is to keep our friends and family informed. But mostly I'm doing it for me. For us. I want to push myself to write and take pictures and document the everyday and the adventures.

I'll keep this blog as a record, but from now on, our updates will be through Autumn Meadow Co.

July Book List

 One for the Murphy's by Lynda Mullaly Hunt

I read the book at the urging of one several of my students. It's a very sweet book that handles the complexities of foster care in a plot appropriate for young adult readers. Some of it was a bit too easy and convenient, but the characters are lovable and the story is sweet. 

My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand

This book is so fun! It's historical fiction with a fantasy twist. I loved the Funny writing, sassy characters, and cute romance. Admittedly, it took me a while to buy into the fantasy components of the story, but at about 200 pages in, I was still reading any chance I got, so I decided to just accept it. I would recommend reading up a little bit about Lady Jane Grey before you read it though- just so you know what's real and what's fiction :)

The Ninth Life of Louis Drax by Liz Jensen

I read this book because the movie trailer looks so incredible. However, the plot was slow, and I had a hard time getting invested in the story because the characters weren't likable. I felt like it should have felt more like a murder mystery thriller, but it never pulled me in- it was more like a simple connect the dots.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

It feels like this book has been showing up on "To Read" lists for years, and I recently saw it on a list of "Books to Read as an Adult if you Loved Harry Potter." So, I read it. It was interesting, but not really my thing. For a book full of images of black and white with pops of color, the feelings I got was far more gray. It was dark without being dark and magical without feeling magical. Attempts at essential elements, such as suspense, romance, character, and setting, never captured me because I didn't really experience it through the writing, I just read about it. I don't know how else to explain it. Just Meh.

The Girls in the Garden by Lisa Jewell

** Spoiler Alert ** I don't REALLY give anything away, not directly anyway. But Still- consider yourself warned!

Finishing this book left me feeling unsettled, but in a thought provoking, introspective way. You reach a certain point int the book, and the author leaves no doubt of how the mystery will unfold- You no longer suspect anyone but the guilty party, and that, in part, is what made the ending so powerful. Imagine a modern, granola, almost 1975 Stepford Wives community combined with a little gang of unchecked Rhoda Penmarks- That's how I felt at the end of the book.

June 2016 Book List

I started out the month by reading The Ranger's Apprentice: The Ruins of Gorlan by John Flanagan at the insistence of one of my students. He lent me the book (even though his brother wanted to read it too) and checked in with me regularly to see where I was in the story, what I thought would happen next, and whether or not I liked it. Truthfully, I've taken a lot of time off from reading YA literature. After a while, it all starts to feel the same if you read too much of the genre, which I have. As a 6th grade Language Arts teacher though, it's important that I stay on top of new books to help my kids find things to read. The Ranger's Apprentice was a fine book and has helped me to get back into the swing of YA lit.

I also started and didn't finish several books, including My Grandmother Asked me to Tell you She's Sorry by Fredrick Backman (I just couldn't get into the author's odd sense of storytelling or the perspective of the child narrator), Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige (the story was a fun idea, but I didn't like the writing),  The Nest by Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney (didn't care about the story), A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler (SO slow!), and The One and Only by Emily Giffin (too much fluff, and the audiobook narrator was annoying).

BUT, after all that, I ended the month with two wonderful books.

 

The Summer Before the War by Helen Simson

My love for this book stems from the brilliantly lovable characters and bright perspective of a time period I haven't read much about: WWI.  It portrays so perfectly the struggle of an independent, intelligent woman trying to live her life within the rigorous strictures of a male dominated society. Ultimately, that's what makes her such a strong character and her relationships so real. The people who come to know and love her do so because of who she really is, not because of who she has to be.

The petty relationships and social regulations that rule the day are viewed through the eyes of characters who see them for the folly that they really are. As a modern day reader, that was very relatable, allowing me to see what it would have been like had I lived during that time, but also showing parallels with our own trivial societal and cultural milieu.

And then there is the war. The Summer Before the War hardly covers the trenches. Instead, the book focuses on the refugees taken in by the people of Great Britain. This was especially beautiful given what is going on in the world today and efforts, such as I was a Stranger, that are seeking to help the helpless. Another point of conflict the book covers is the struggle between having patriotism and morality and fighting the fear and selfishness that comes with being at war. Food was rationed. Trust was tested. Many young lives were lost. While it was easy for all to wave their flags and contribute their time and goods, sending their loved ones to the front lines required more than they felt able to give.

Secrets of a Charmed Life by Susan Meissner

"There are no secrets to a charmed life. There is just the simple truth that you must forgive yourself for only being able to make your own choices, and no one else’s. "

This was my Yosemite read. It got me through the drive to the park, made the 8 mile Panorama hike with me, kept me company in the Tuolumne Grove of giant Sequoias when I was too sore to do the whole hike, and turned out to be an ideal summer read to accompany lying in my tent with the flaps open. I hear so much about "beach reads," but what about "mountain reads" or "camping reads"? I found Yosemite to be perfect for a reader and a good book.

Reading this book in Yosemite got me thinking about the power of reading and the brilliant idea of libraries. The next person to check out Secrets of a Charmed Life won't know where this book has been and what this book has seen, but we'll read and experience the same story. Library books must have such interesting tales and secrets of their own :)

Secrets of a Charmed Life is yet another WWII book, but this one focuses primarily on the Blitz in London. While the foreshadowing is obvious to the point of making the book predictable, the author does an excellent job of showing the many faces and experiences of the Blitz. The story weaves through the preparations, evacuations, shelters, loss, destruction, resilience, and perseverance of the people of London during this time period, making this dark part of Britain's history come alive for me. It's not too heavy for a WWII book, and it is made up of relatable characters and a good basic story.

____________________________________________________________________________________

And now it's a teacher's summer for me! I'm hoping to read A LOT. I've got the time, but it's finding the good books that's going to be tricky!

Yosemite 2016

Well, we're back! Matt and I spent 5 nights in Yosemite with our families- 3 nights camping with some Robertsons and 2 nights in the Half Dome Village tent cabins with all the Cooleys.

(scroll over image for info about our hikes)

Even though I grew up within a few hours of Yosemite, this was my first time visiting the park. We were glad to see that the drought hadn't dried up all the waterfalls and rivers, but the weather was warm and dry and the sky was a little hazy.

The weather, however,  did not deter us. Having spent summers in Dallas and a winter in Minnesota, we've started to pride ourselves on our resilience in any weather!

On our first full day in the park, we hiked the 8 mile Panorama trail. This was definitely the most rigorous hike I've ever done, but it was the perfect hike to take in all of Yosemite. We started high up on Glacier Point (pictured above) and made our way down and around the perimeter of the valley walls, stopping at three waterfalls along the way.

 

By the end of the hike, my legs were shaking, I was covered in sweat and dirt, and I was pretty darn proud of myself. Granted, I was sore for days, walking on blisters with the hips of a 75 year-old woman, but I had done it :)

 

After 3 nights of camping outside of the valley with Matt's family, we moved down into the valley to spend a few days with my peeps. Matt spent one of those days hiking Half Dome with a few of his family members. They had a permit for me to go too. Ha.

Matt enjoyed waking up early and having some time to himself with the park and his camera. I love how his pictures turned out because I think he captured the beauty and magnitude of this place. 

(I'm also glad that he didn't get more pictures of my face because I was a hot mess!)

We ended up calling this trip the first annual Cooley family reunion. It was the first time we've all been together! With five brothers, there was a lot of laughter and very little of taking ourselves too seriously. I also met my new (ish) niece and my soon-to-be sister in-law (Welcome to the family Shay!). The trip went by really fast, so I'm glad we'll all be getting together again soon for a wedding.

How about those shirts, huh?

"Cooley Family is IN TENTS"

So much was not captured on camera or included above (blisters and a few tears, Matt's brother proposing to his girlfriend, swimming in the freezing water of the Merced River, campfires, conversations, and the joy of a nice shower after days of dirt and heat), but unfortunately you really can only get the gist of Yosemite by going there yourself!

May Book List

The Storied Life of AJ Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin

"We read to know we're not alone. We read because we are alone. We read and we are not alone. We are not alone."

"On the faded Island Books sign hanging over the porch of the Victorian cottage is the motto 'No Man Is an Island; Every Book Is a World.'" 
 
Whether it's a sweet and simple story about the life of a man who owns a bookstore, or a book about how stories impact the lives we lead, this book makes for a good read for lovers of literature. The life of AJ Fikry is impacted by books he buys and books he loses, books he reads for himself and books he shares with others. His world opens up as he welcomes more people into his bookstore (and consequently into his life), connecting with them through the shared interest and experience that comes from the stories we read.

Orphan Number Eight by Kim van Alkemade

In the same way that Orphan Train taught me so much about the history of foster care in this country, Orphan Number Eight opened my eyes to the past and the reality of orphanages in this country. The story follows a young girl, Rachel, orphaned not long after the first World War. Temporarily separated from her brother because of their age differences, she is placed in an orphanage for infants where the resident Attendings are subjecting the children to medical experiments in order to study a variety of common illnesses. The orphans have no one to stand up for them, and the doctors are unaware of the long term effects some of their studies will have on their subjects.

Rachel is left to deal with the consequences for the rest of her life- Alopecia, stunted growth, and a higher chance of developing cancer. Her story dwells not only on the repercussions of these events from her childhood, but also the struggles of growing up in an orphanage, the constant need for love, acceptance, and family, and the quest to shape her own life.

The historical elements of the book were fascinating and well researched. The writing was captivating. Still, I felt the main character's life came together a little too easily at some points, and I felt that the romantic relationship with another girl from the orphanage and the plot line focused on Rachel's sexual identify distracted from the heart of the story.