Thirty, flirty, and thriving- On figuring it out

When I was a kid, I always thought that by the time I reached my mid to late twenties everything in my life would be figured out. Honestly, I was sure that by this time I would be married and in the process of starting a family and my husband would be handsome, hard working, and just perfect. I would be a writer and a home maker and our house would always be clean and I'd suddenly overnight know how to cook amazing food for him all the time.

... Guess what...

I ain't got none of that.

I don't know why in my mind, I always thought that my mid twenties were when I would be THERE. You all have your own versions of THERE. Either a physical place, spiritual place, a weight place, a marriage place, a family place. You have a THERE. It's much like in Thirteen going on Thirty when Jenna is so sure that being 30 is so much better than being 13. "Thirty, flirty, and thriving!" As she "lives" her 30s, she realizes that not everything is as wonderful as she thought.

On that note, I'm not saying that my mid-twenties are not as wonderful as I thought they would be when I was a kid. Sure, I'm not where I thought I should be and being a single Mormon in Utah isn't the easiest thing and I'm reaching the age where girls my baby brother's age are getting married and people my age are having babies. But I'm okay.

Because no one ever said that you have to have your life figured out at 25.

It can be awkward when people ask what you are up to and you answer "I'm still trying to figure it out." But let's be honest, do they have their life figured out? Uh... NO!! Just because on the outside it seems like their life is THERE doesn't mean it's so. (Remember, everyone has their own THERE.) This life is meant for continual progression. There are steps that either take us up or down and sometimes we are stuck on the same step for awhile or we keep going up and down.

I'm learning, slowly and painfully, to enjoy the time I have now. I've always spent so much time looking at what's next instead of what's now. College graduation. Mission. Marriage. Babies. But what about the time in between? What if you aren't someone who got married at 20? Or didn't get married less than a year after getting home from your mission? Or don't have a baby until 5 or 6 years into your marriage? Or what if you got a degree and now you don't know if you want to use it or not?

I thought once I graduated college, life would figure itself out. Then I went on a mission. On the mission, I thought I'd come home and life would figure itself out. Then if I moved away from home, it would figure itself out. Or if I got a new job. Guess what guys! Life never gets figured out. AND THAT'S OKAY!!!! It's okay that I'm not THERE yet.

It's okay that at 25, I still have no idea what I'm doing. And that my great american novel is still rolling around my brain waiting for me to write it. As long as I'm continuing in my progression both temporally and spiritually. That's what is important. And as long as I don't give up and never surrender!

So the moral of the story (or this slightly rambling post) is that I'm okay. I may not have that husband yet and the really clean house and I still might not really know how to cook very well but I'm okay. I'm enjoying this time to grow and discover myself and have fun in whatever way I want (as long as it's legal and doesn't break the commandments) like buy myself a TV for Christmas and go to Washington D.C. with a friend and stay up late giggling over guys in the movies with my roommates. I'm HERE. Right where I should be.

My name is Chuck and I'm okay that I'm "still figuring it out."

2015 Reading Challenge: Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator

2015 Reading Challenge: A book from my childhood

Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator

Roald Dahl

159 pages

CHARACTERS:

Charlie Bucket

Willy Wonka

Grandpa Joe

Mr. & Mrs. Bucket

Grandma Josephine

Grandpa George

Grandma Georgina

Charlie and company fly around in Willy Wonka's glass elevator after Charlie's tour through the chocolate factory. They end up in space at the Space Hotel, U.S.A. where they meet some strange creatures and help the crew for the hotel escape back to earth. 

Then they end up back at Wonka's chocolate factory, which is now actually Charlie's chocolate factory. There they have some adventures with the three old people still sitting in the big bed they've taken everywhere. They make it through the minor scrapes that prevail and end up with a happy ending. 

Hurray!

I chose this book because my third grade teacher read it to our class. When I found it on my parents' bookshelf at home, I knew I had to read it again. Of course, reading it when I was 8 is very different from reading it as an adult. Although, I remembered a good portion of the book, I thought it was longer and more detailed. I guess that means my imagination took over for the most part. 

It was a really quick and easy read, much like Matilda was, and I enjoyed it. It took me back to my childhood. I would recommend it to those with younger kids to read as long as they know the story of Willy Wonka and his chocolate factory because this is the sequel to that story. 

Two thumbs up! 

Yours, 

Chuck 

2015 Reading Challenge: Veronic Mars Mr. Kiss and Tell

2015 Reading Challenge: a book based on or turned into a TV show

Veronica Mars: Mr. Kiss and Tell

Rob Thomas & Jennifer Graham
330 pages

CHARACTERS:
Veronica Mars
Logan Echolls
Keith Mars
Cliff McCormack
Eli "Weevil" Navarro
Leo D'Amato
Mac

The book in which Veronica sets out to solve a case about a rapist... again.

Veronica Mars is recently returned to the private investigating scene and involved again in the seedy underbelly of Neptune, California. So the case: some girl was found in a field nearly dead and raped. Who did it and how did she get there? The hotel that the girl was staying at approaches Veronica about an insurance thing and that gets her started on the case.

Meanwhile, Eli "Weevil" Navarro sues the Neptune Sheriff's office for planting evidence on him and causing him to lose his business and his family in all the legal proceedings. The corrupted Sheriff's department isn't liking all the heat they're getting from the press and the people. This is just an undercurrent to the rather boring rape case that Veronica is dealing with.

In the end, Veronica gets her man in a quite anti-climatic way with the help of some old friends. I mean, I know that real life isn't always narrow escapes and explosions and all that jazz, but it's a book meant for entertainment. I want something exciting to read. And again, another rapist. Isn't this the third one in the Veronica Mars franchise?

It has a happy ending of sorts and the authors (Rob Thomas being the original creator of Veronica Mars) do a really great job at staying true to the characters from the TV show. The dialogue is very spot on. However, I have a couple of reasons why I wouldn't recommend this for others to read. One big one being the unnecessary use of bad language. I may just be in a little Mormon girl bubble or something but honestly, do "regular" people really use the f-word for no good reason in the middle of a normal conversation? Good grief, it's irritating to read. Also, as I mention before, it's quite anti-climatic. It just wasn't an interesting case. I wasn't emotionally involved with the victim or the villain or really even Veronica. It was simply disappointing.

My recommendation: go watch the TV series and the movie that came out last year. It's more interesting. And you get to see this guy:

And that makes it totally worth your time. 

Yours,

Chuck

2015 Reading Challenge: Lord of the Rings The Fellowship of the Ring

2015 Reading Challenge: A Trilogy

Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
J.R.R. Tolkien
458 pages

CHARACTERS:
Frodo Baggins (hobbit)
Sam Gamgee (hobbit)
Merry (hobbit)
Pippin (hobbit)
Gandalf the Grey (wizard)
Aragorn/Strider (man)
Gimli (dwarf)
Legolas (elf)
Borimir (man)

We again enter the world of Hobbits and the Shire in the next story by J.R.R. Tolkien. Meet Frodo Baggins, the sort-of nephew of Bilbo Baggins from The Hobbit. After Bilbo leaves the Shire, Frodo becomes the keeper of a mysterious and magical ring. It turns out the ring is evil. It belongs to Sauron... the evil eye guy. Who forged it a long time ago and did some really bad stuff and made other people do bad things too. So... he's a bad guy.

Frodo must leave the Shire with the ring so that the Shire and the ring can be kept safe from Sauron. On his journey, he meets many exciting people from elves, dwarves, Tom Bombadil, evil trees. After a council with a variety of people, Frodo becomes the official ring-bearer and the Fellowship is formed with four Hobbits, one wizard, two men, a dwarf, and an elf. The journey begins. It is fraught with peril. Orcs, terrible fire creature things inside the mountains, more orcs, hypothermia (not in that order either). But they press on and we are left at the end, nowhere near a conclusion.

I like the book and I find the characters very interesting. However, my biggest complaint is that sometimes the author takes an entire paragraph long sentence to describe... a hill. And the songs/poems that are sprinkled throughout the text are long and truthfully,  I skipped them a lot. But his use of language is beautiful and quite refreshing to read after the dull drudgery of language found today. I'm excited to read the remainder of the trilogy.