Those Childhood Weddings

I remember as a little girl playing all those make believe weddings and always dreaming about the day that I would someday get married and have that huge princess wedding but as you get older things change, you change and your priorities change. The list that you had in your mind of how your life was going to play out changes and your view begin to change. The novels Bet Me and a Vision in White draw up memories from when I was that little girl and the plans that I had for my life and I think about how different my life played out compared to the dream of my happily ever after that I had as a little girl. It makes me remember that life was simple or easy when you are a little girl and that you believe in fairy tales but as we grow we lose those fairy tale dreams and we forget about them. It makes me think that when I was younger and I had fairy tales in my life my life seemed better, I was happy. I think that as adults we need to remember those fairy tales and our dreams and plans that we had when we were little because when you were small you didn't have a care in the world and sometime as adults we need to feel that again. Some of us more that others. But I liked these last to novels because they made me remember the little girl I was and the things that I always wanted when I grew up. I may not have my happy ever after and I may not have the life that I wanted for myself but I have two little girls that I am going to hope and help remind them so they in turn can help me continue to believe in fairy tales and the happily ever after and that no matter what your age it is always fun and healthy to dream. It's ok to change your plan and that life keeps going and it's up to you to keep those happily ever afters and fairy tales alive.

Grandma Betty

Today in class, while we talked some about the book of course, we also had a lot of side conversations that were really meaningful for me. Dr. J. talked about little Jessica and shared her story of wondering why she and her mom couldn't just stay in the ditch reading stories!

This made me think of myself, and my dear, dear Grandma Betty. I pretty much love Grandma Betty more than life itself; please don't take this as an exaggeration because I do not intend it as one. On the list of most important people in my life, she comes second after my husband and is only then followed by my sister and my Mom. Quite simply, I adore her.

When I was little, I spent nearly every day at Grandma Betty's while my parents worked; as I grew older, summers were spent there. And among other things, Grandma and Katie LOVED to visit the library. We would ride the city bus, which to me was quite the novelty, and we would spend hours exploring, playing, and filling my bag with book after book after book. I went through the Flicka, Ricka, Dicka books, to the Boxcar children, and eventually VC Andrews. I knew the librarians by name and they knew me. And when we had exhausted our own imaginations, there was children's time. Grandma Betty introduced in me a love and respect of reading and all things book related that has lasted and I expect to last my entire life through. On "library days", I probably burned through three books at least between the time we got home and the time my Mom picked me up!

To me, the library is one of the best places on earth. I love to snuggle up into a cozy chair to read a magazine, and I love to walk among the shelves of books ~ so many books that I can't even reach the top! I even love to do my homework at one of the back tables by the windows, where I can people watch too. The library, for me, is a little piece of comfort and home. And, of course, Grandma Betty.

**I had hoped to find a picture of Grandma and I when I was little, but I didn't have one on my computer. I chose this one instead because I love the love and respect that was captured here.**

Readings

This English 281 course was an Awesome class with an Awesome Professor to lead us!  I totally loved everything about it.  From the discussions to the blogs to the readings.  I have to confess that I didn't care much for some of the books that were required to be read because I'm not used to that style of reading, but that's up to the Professor.  At least the books weren't boring like some articles that I've read in the past.   I wished all college courses were like this course.  

The last reading Nora Roberts, Vision in White, brought back childhood memories.  Although, I forgot to count how many times I got married to my sisters, cousins, and even to make-believe husbands that went off to war.  LOL.  I feel that because each and everyone of us have different backgrounds and different views on things and so, there are many different writers for many different readers.  All in all, I liked the book because there are some parts that I could relate to and made the reading kind of realistic.  I sorta got lost trying to figure out who's talking and who's who in the beginning but that's because there were too many characters to start out with. It could have been better, but in reality, every single one of her books can't all be wonderful and liked through and through.  Different, unique, individual quality of things is what makes life interesting! 

A Trend with in the books...and a Little bit of Vision.

Well throughout the books we've read this semester, all have a recurring theme, which is Abuse. Mama Elana to Tita, Linda to Mac, Min's mother towards Min and Diana, Cal's parents towards Cal, Cal's brother towards his Son. In some way shape or form, there is Abuse in almost every book. Just an interesting realization I've noticed.

Mac's mother has an exceedingly large impact upon how Mac view's love, which creates a Commitment problem, which also makes her worry that all guys are the same, and that she's just going to be left. Her father barely acknowledges her, because her parents divorced and he left. Her mom just burdens her with all her love problems, and comes running to her for money and comfort, which leads to Linda taking advantage of her, putting Mac under extreme stress.

Luckily, Carter changes that for Mac. She was uncertain, but Carter really stuck with her. He really loved her! Which is something she deserves, since it helps her get over that problem...plus, everyone deserves true love!

I liked this book a lot, it wasn't my favorite. I think Nora Roberts could have expanded Mac's story into another novel or two...and probably do that for all the other books that are in this series. But it's really not a bad novel. I liked it and I will probably read more of her work.

Mediocre

As i have stated before, I am very surprised by the amount of enjoyment I have endured while reading the novels that were selected for this class. However, "Vision In White", seemed to diminish this intriguing cycle. I must admit prior to starting the novel I was a tad bias because I wanted to prove she was not as great as she is claimed to be, that no one can write as many great novels as she. Well, in the first few chapters I was actually starting to prove myself wrong about Nora, but the more the book dragged on the more my original hypothesis became true. I waited and waited for some amazing character development, something in the likes as a "Pride and Prejudice" or even "Bet Me", but that yearning was never satisfied (especially if this is supposed to be a series). As we discussed in class today, there was not a real sense of death, something bringing the reader beneath the surface of the fantasy. It just seemed apparent that this is how things were and there was no substance. The story seemed to create an extreme rush of storyline towards the end, and never felt like there was any closure on any level. Which even if this were to be part of a series some type of closure of real depth should have been created. I understand she had some difficulties with her mother and commitment that miraculously disappeared just like that, but that is not true depth. I am meaning a real conflict that has an actual process of it becoming overcome, character flaws, and again, substance. This story just seemed plainly mediocre, now I am not saying all of Nora's work is on this level for this is the only novel of her's I have read, but the chances of me becoming an advocate of her's is very unlikely. Though, i will give her one chance in the future, but not right away...I have more important books to read before getting into something that maybe just a huge risk.

The End...

Vision of White, was kind of rushed throughout the whole book. There could have been more depth and conflict maybe in Mac and Carter's relationship. I figured that once Corrine was introduced into the book, there would have been maybe a conflict with her wanting Carter and fighting for him. I just thought there could have been more of a lot of things basically. (except I did like that their wedding wasn't in there) I did like how the four friends were close and about Mac's strained relationship with her mother though.

Mac's relationship with her mother is a horrible one. I agree with who ever mentioned in class that most of the books have a strange or absent mother. It reminds me of Disney movies (more the classic ones) in how the mother has usually died and if the mother is okay than sometimes the father is dead. Basically there are usually no "normal" parents even if they were both there.

In class someone mentioned how the four friends were maybe stereotyped, and I think that they were a little bit maybe. I think each one of them played a specific role in their friendship. This happens all the time, and maybe has to happen. In my group of friends, we definitely have our own roles that we grew into as we became friends. I think that there kind of relationships are important to have in life.

Overall this book wasn't my favorite of them all, though I am not sure which would be...I did really enjoy Bet Me...But I don't know. I don't think it's important to have a favorite so oh well!

I really enjoyed the class discussions and the directions we went with them and feel that I learned a lot more with reading those books with the class, than if I would have by myself!

The Laaaaasst Melon! (Ice Age)

FELIZ CINCO DE MAYO!!!! i can't believe this is my last blog, tear tear, sniffle sniffle. It seems like the first day of class was yesterday and we still have forever to spend together! but sadly we don't and after this class we must all go our separate ways.. i will miss everyone! We have been through the worst together from things such as at each others throats arguing, to sympathizing about things we completely agreed on and discussing deep personal issues. I feel like we are all on the same level and can trust each other with anything. If anyone asks me how this class was i would gladly tell them that it was nothing short of spectacular and i would take it again in a heartbeat. The books were really good and if it wasn't for this class i probably would have never read them. with that said i would have to say that my favorite book was either water for chocolate or pride and prejudice, more so the movie but the book was just as good. Dr.J is an amazing teacher and the only reason i took this class was because of how good she was at teaching and just being a cool person in general. So i will end this final blog with the words of a wise man, "A coward is incapable of exhibiting love; it is the prerogative of the brave." (Gandhi)

Disappointment in Nora Roberts

To be totally truthful, I didn't really like Vision in White. One reason is because I didn't enjoy the way Nora Roberts set up the book. I didn't like the way the book was from everyone's point of view. It was so hard for me to get used to the characters and to get to know them. Even after finishing the book, I don't have a great sense of who Mac is, or who Carter is. I prefer stories that are in the first person because it helps me learn about the characters. I get a better sense of how the characters feel and how they act and what they think about. It draws me into the story more easily and sufficiently than the third person.

I also wish there had been a more intense conflict. It just seemed like there wasn't a huge, dramatic, earth shattering conflict like there usually are in most books. Really, the only issue was Mac's issue with commitment, and that didn't seem very difficult to overcome. It was really disappointing to me. I was expecting something bigger to happen. I thought that Corrine was going to come back - that would have been a great conflict and I think Nora Roberts missed out on a great opportunity to add a lot of drama to her book. I just found it very disappointing, which made Mac and Carter's relationship less satisfying at the end.

I was pretty disappointed in Nora Roberts, actually. She's such a hyped up author and she's written so many books that have pretty much all been on the bestseller's lists. I was expecting more from her book. And maybe it was because she's so hyped up I was disappointed. My expectations were so high, maybe it made it impossible for anyone to be able to meet them.

Last blog

I think that Vision in White was an okay read in my opinion. i find that i dont like books that are series because like in Vision in White i think the writer is trying to fill in pages with things that don't really matter. Also they are very rushed in this book we just finished i think at it was rushed and the ending was where it was the most noticeable. I think we all waited so long to see a ending where they get married but that didn't happen. But i think that's a good thing because i don't think i could stand to read abut another wedding the the book. i started out liking the book but them i just found it to much nonsense. This is only because i read the book but i found that i never really knew a lot about the characters at the end. I dont know if anyone else felt this way we didn't really talk about this in class but i would like to know others opinions on this. over all to sum up all my blogs i think that reading all these books gave me a new out look on reading. I don't think i have read so much in so little time but i think i have to admit i fell in LOVE with reading. Im very sad to see this class come to an end. We had good group of readers and an amazing instructor who now is going to make me start reading love stories for fun! :)

Too many good books!

I found the ending of "Vision in White" to be okay. It did seem kind of rushed, and although I would've liked to see a wedding, I think we saw too many of them in the book. Reflecting on the entire book, I liked it. I will probably read the rest of the series just to find out what will happen next!
It is quite saddening to know that this is the last blog and that class is almost over. I liked most of the books that we read, and I loved the discussions about them, too. It was always interesting to see what people had to say about the characters or a certain scene. This class has definitely made me think of different ways of analyzing various situations. It has also made me aware that romance novels are not bad or tacky, but...fun. I read books that I didn't think I would ever read in just one semester and it has opened my eyes to this wonderful genre. I can't wait to read more this summer!

The Final Blog

Well this being my last blog and all for this class I just want to say that I really enjoyed it! Sure, some of the books I thought were kind of a drag but in the end I did have some favorites (Their Eyes Were Watching God and Bet Me).I really didn't enjoy the last book at all, it was very um how do I say it nicely... boring. With all these books though the class has opened me up to different books by authors that I might not have ever read otherwise.
It was a real eye opener to learn so much about the different ways love can be evolved in a novel and in life. I liked how in class this week we focused on how a person should listen to their heart. Sometimes people just need to stop thinking so much and start going with their gut feelings.It's not like everything in life has to come along perfectly and fit into that ever so stereotypical "box". Change and discovering yourself can give you a chance to grow as a person which can create so many more possibilities for love. The fact is, most people tend to just focus on the end affects, getting a boy/girlfriend, marriage, and just even being in a relationship. They don't realize that everything takes time and you shouldn't rush. It's the journey that matters, not so much the destination. This can be applied both to reading the romance novels and life.

Last Blog

I can't believe this is our last blog ::tear:: and I can't believe this class went so fast! That's probably because I enjoyed it so much. I agree with some of the people from class today- it was nice reading books that I might not have normally read. Even though I didn't like Wuthering Heights, at all, it got me to understand more of it and opened my mind to new ideas. And though I was disapointed in Bet Me, I think I'll read more of Cruisie's books. I would say to other people that agree with me that Vision in White was rather blah that you might give Nora Robert's other books a chance. Her 3 Sisters trilogy is really very good. I do think I'll probably finish the Bridal Quartet series, if only because I'm interested to see if they get better. I agree that Mac & Carter's love story was wrapped up a little too neatly. I think where the epilogue didn't work for me in Bet Me, it would have worked nicely in this book to contain the proposal/wedding/happy ever after. It seems that Roberts just wanted to get it in there and was running out of room. Overall, we read some great books and had some very eye-opening discussions. I also really enjoyed reading the blog posts!

Increasing Technology

First i thought the ending of the book was good. It left more of an open ending for our imagination but it also leaves room for the next book. I wasnt too fond of this book, I like Bet Me more. I agree with what someone else said today in it was kinda a slow book, it seemed like nothing happened, nothing excite happened like in the last book.
But today in class we talked about the ibooks and other things replacing the library and that soon technology will replace more than that... Well at work customers when they use the self-checks for the first time they always joke that it will replace real cashiers. and every time i tell them it can never replace us because there are too many errors in the system and errors made by the user. And then there are the people who refuse to even try it and prefer a cashier.
Technology will always grow and upgrade but i don't think it will ever replace a real person. The systems and programs will never be error free.  Even if technology became more popular and replace people's jobs there is still someone needed to fix the machines.

Patience in love...

All to often we want to rush into love and marriage. There is some value to long engagements and long periods of dating before the engagement. There is the rare exception, when you just know and get married right away and live happily ever after. As a rule though I think that people should just enjoy each other and slowly build to marriage. If you both truly love each other and are meant to be together, then a little extra time to create a strong foundation for marriage is nothing in the grand scheme of life. I think sometimes people rush into the institution of marriage just to have the experience and feel that they are on some kind of time schedule to get married and don't really understand the commitment and long term repercussions of marriage.

I liked Macs' use of the word "try". She was committed to trying commitment with Carter. I feel that the engagement is the formal act of trying to be a married couple. First you move into together. Then you combine finances and possessions. Basically you start planning and making major life choices together. Buying that first couch may bring up some major relationship issues that are not present when living and acting apart. By having a long engagement you are giving yourselves time to adjust and compromise to all of the little things that seem like no big deal when still acting as individuals in a relationship.

In closing I feel that a little patience and willingness to slowly come together as a couple would greatly increase the happiness and contentment shared be each other.

Crying Is A Secret Strategy

I really enjoyed our discussion on Tuesday! :) It varied from whose point of view the book came from, to Carter getting punched and how we all thought about it. To me, I agree with Amanda on how unrealistic his reaction to the punch was. It just seemed like Carter would at least do something other than to stand there and take that punch. Although after hearing what Matt had to say about not hitting a person back, it shows that someone should not mess with them. The dialogue in that seen sounded corny to me; corny as in it sounded monotone to me. That scene just killed it for me, but I could see that Carter does love Mac.

The other thing I wanted to comment on was the discussion about 'crying, a secret strategy' that women use to get their way and etc. I found that to be very interesting and funny because women are emotional as men are fixers. Then when men tell us not to cry while we are crying, we cry even more. I do not know the reason why this is so, but it intrigues me.

perfect ending

I actually enjoyed reading "Vision in White" because for once there weren't any huge barriers for Mac to find Carter. In all of these novels that we've read so far there was always some problem to get around, so it was really nice to see Mac find a man that she could really fall in love with without anyone holding her back. True love stories in reality don't always have people that try to pry one another apart or making someone miserable every five minutes. Most of the time the relationship flows into something bigger and better with a few arguments here and there. Realistically the feuds and barriers don't happen nearly as often as most love novels, so it was kind of a nice to way to end the semester. I liked the less drama and more love and passion.

Class is almost done already???

It feels like we have barely been in school that long but yet we are almost done. This class has gone by so fast. It doesnt feel like we read six novels, wrote a paper, wrote love letters, and blogs. As I reflect on the semester, I remember feeling like I wouldn't be able to read all those books on time. It turned out to be easier than I thought because I just found time to read between classes and before I went to bed. My favorite love story that we read was definetly Pride and Prejudice. I love the movie and always wanted to read the book and suprisingly it was pretty much what I imagined it would be. My least favorite love story was Their Eyes Were Watching God. I never really could get into it and I found the dialect was hard to understand. I enjoy reading and this class gave me an opportunity to read more than I would have on my own. I'm pretty busy and don't have the time to sit down and read as much as I want to. It is important to me that I improve my reading skills even if it is just reading for fun.

The Perfect Wedding

After finishing the book Vision in White I have come to a conclusion that I wish these women could be my wedding planners when I get married! I love the way they are all so dedicated in making the client happy and giving them everything they want. The willingness to protect anything from happening that would ruin the bride and grooms day, I imagine takes lots of ambition. They have so much heart for their job and it is only to help make another couples fairy tale wedding come true.

Also, I'm so happy that Carter and Mac are together!! From the beginning of the book I knew or hoped that they would eventually work through Macs problems of insecurity and be together. The happy ending aspect through the novels so far definitely was a success at the end of Vision in White.

Another thing that I was thinking about was how creative the author is. He work of detail describing images is so perfect. One thing that I need when reading a book is good imagery. Without the real life effect I see some books as not interesting to read. Her descriptions of when Mac and Carter first make love was amazing and the simple details she uses to describe the weddings are amazing. I feel because I was able to connect more through the deep descriptions of this book that is why it was my favorite novel we had to read.

vision in white.

Waaa Waaa Waaa i dont have a beautiful wedding picture to put up and show off to everyone how nice me wedding was haha. But this book and all these blogs got me wanting to get hitched. I think that This book is very appropriate to the class, because i think unlike the other books it kinda the most interesting and funnest one to read and looking at the blogs everyone has so much to say and share. Nora Roberts is now my new favorite author i never read any of her books before this class but i think i might take some time and read more of her books. In Vision In White i think that its awesome how four friends can work together and help make there dreams come true. Even thought mac don't have everyone she wants in her life them friends are what makes her life what it is. I also think its so funny because the way that she played wedding when she was younger is just just i used to do. Me and my cousin and sister would always pretend that play wedding and also dogs hahhaha. This book is bring back so many memories, unlike most where its making the married class mates think of there wedding this book it taking me back as well to when i was a child. I think that in a way maybe that's the authors idea because when you read something and it makes you remember something good from your past it makes you relate to the book. I think that Nora Roberts is trying to relate to her books to make you keep reading. there is so many thought about whats going to happen in this book and i cant wait to see if my ideas are correct.