# 22 - Make a new recipe - May

This is the easiest, most delicious thing I've ever had!  Justin requests it all of the time and the best part is that it can be ready in 15 minutes so it's an easy dessert after a long day.  I found the recipe while following Molly Mesnick (from The Bachelor) on Facebook.  She has it posted on her blog, Reality Through My Eyes. 

I'm not a fancy cook. I don't make anything from scratch or count calories.  I want recipes that are easy, yummy, and fast.  If it has more than 7 ingredients, I'm intimidated and looking for a new recipe.  If it has stuff I've never heard of, I'm probably not going to bother.  I'm sure it's a shame and I'm missing out on a lot of great recipes, but my days are so long and busy that I need recipes I understand and can make quickly.  I don't have the time (or patience) to be traipsing to every specialty store looking for an obscure ingredient, to be used in only one recipe. I love eating food but I don't revel in the cooking process.  That's just not me. Sorry, I just felt like I needed that disclaimer before people gawk that I use frozen biscuits and a strawberry shortcake recipe that only uses 5 ingredients :)

Get the recipe here.  Trust me, you should.

# 1 - Read 30 books - Once Upon a Time There Was You by Elizabeth Berg (book 10)

I read Elizabeth Berg's The Last Time I Saw You and really enjoyed it.  So I saw this book written by her and picked it up.  There were some surprises and I appreciate the way it ended but I didn't like it as much as I liked her other book.  There was a lot going on in the book and it seemed rushed sometimes.  I found several parts anticlimactic.  Still, the characters were well-developed and I started to identify with some of them, especially John. 

To summarize the plot, John and Irene are divorced and live in different states.  They have a daughter, Sadie, who primarily lives with Irene.  Something traumatic happens to Sadie and John flies out to the West Coast to be with Irene.  There are a lot of emotions and the dynamic between John and Irene is well constructed.  I guess it's usually true that even if you don't love someone anymore, you can come together and put differences aside when you have to.


I'll continue to read Elizabeth Berg's work.  This wasn't my favorite book but still an interesting concept.  Read more about it or buy it here.

# 1 - Read 30 books - Paris in Love by Eloisa James (book 9)

This book was mentioned at the end of "The Last Time I Saw You" so I decided to read.  It's a memoir about the author's year in Paris with her family.  Her and her husband are both university professors and were able to take sabbatical for a year.  They packed what they could and sold everything else.  They shipped themselves and their school aged children to Paris where she hoped they could slow down and get back to what mattered.

The book is mostly written in short paragraphs regarding her day and random thoughts.  A lot of it had to do with food and her children's adjustment to French schools.  I loved it.  I've never been to Paris and it had never really crossed my mind to visit.  But after reading this book, I think it would be fun and romantic and lovely to - I'll put it on my bucket list.

It's a quick and entertaining read.  I highly suggest you read it too.  Learn more or buy it here.

# 1 - Read 30 books - Pledged by Alexandra Robbins (book 8)

I "rushed" Gamma Phi Beta in the fall of 2000 at Eastern Washington University.  I was 5 hours from home and only knew a handful of people at Eastern.  I hadn't given joining a sorority much thought before I got to Eastern but decided it would be fun once I heard that Fall Rush was coming up a few days after I got there.  When I went there, Eastern was a fairly small campus, nothing compared to UW or WSU.  At the time, there were 4 sororities on campus.  I loved going through rush (now called recruitment) and thought very carefully about which house I wanted to be a part of.

On the last night of rush, I knew that Gamma Phi was the one for me.  The girls were sincere, close and welcoming and that was the kind of sisterhood I wanted.  There was a lot in the book I couldn't relate to because we didn't have a house that first year, and I left Eastern the year we did get one. 

The book tries to be unbiased but I don't think the author hid her skepticism for positive sorority life very well.  The author goes undercover at a school and works closely with women from various sororities on a campus in the south.  She records their stories and follows their lives in and out of the sorority house.  It was an interesting read, and there were a lot of parts that appalled me.  I'm not naive, I know that there houses that still haze and binge drink, despite national attention and scorn.  As someone goes through recruitment, listen to what others are saying about each house.  Each house gains a reputation on campus for a reason.  Align yourself with the girls you want to be associated with.  If a house makes you uncomfortable, say something to someone.  Gaining acceptance isn't worth it if it goes against your morals and values.

I'm glad I read the book, I've been meaning to for a while.  I had such an overwhelmingly positive sorority experience (and I still do, as I'm active in my alumnae chapter) that I can see the merit and lifelong benefits of joining a sorority.  When I moved to St. Louis and didn't know anyone, I reached out to my local alumnae chapter despite being away from Gamma Phi for 8 years.  They welcomed me and involved me and I love those women.  And I love that we all went to different schools in different parts of the country and yet are united in something we all believe in and cherish.  It's special to me.  I hate to hear that other women have traumatic, negative experiences with their sororities.  I don't regret going through the recruitment process because I found a house where I belong, and continue to belong and that will always be special to me.

Read more about the book or order it here.

# 23 - Go on the Anheuser-Busch tour

Anheuser-Busch is huge in St. Louis.  With its lines of Budweiser, Michelob, and Bacardi (plus more) it's easy to see why.  The original brewery is located in St. Louis and it offers a variety of tours.  There's a free tour, a beer school, and Brewmaster's Tour.  Beer school is $10 per person and the Brewmaster's Tour is $25 per person so we decided to stick with the free tour this time.

We decided to double date with friends from my old town and made an afternoon of the tour, dinner, and Ted Drewes.

Two downsides to how we planned this tour - The first is that it was Memorial Day weekend and the Cards were in town.  I don't know if it's always as crowded as it was but I assume it was extra crowded because of these 2 factors.  We arrived at the brewery at 2:30.  We stood in line to receive our tour tickets and were told that we would be on the 4 o'clock tour.  There's a gift shop and some history and memorabilia displayed in the main room but we were done browsing by 3.  So we took a seat on the ground and talked with each other while waiting for our tour to start.  I thought the time passed fairly quickly but it was excruciating if you ask my husband.

We finally started the tour and were part of a group of maybe 30 people.  The tour took us around the brewery grounds, including outside in the 90+ degree heat (downside number 2).  We were able to see the finishing tanks, Clydesdale stable, and packaging plant.  However, the line to the packaging plant had been shut down so we weren't able to see the hundreds of bottles and cans packaged every minute.  That would have been fun.

Overall, I found it just okay.  The brewery grounds are beautiful and it was interesting to learn about the steps involved in brewing but it was more walking and waiting than learning.  If I were to go back to the brewery I would spring for the $25 Brewmaster's tour which is more in depth and gives you access to more places.  Plus, you pay and schedule your time beforehand so you don't have to find something to pass the time for an hour and a half before it starts.

# 1 - Read 30 books - For One More Day by Mitch Albom (book 7)

I love all of Mitch Albom's books.  They're sweet and interesting and full of important life lessons.  This one was no exception.  It's a story about change and regret and disappointment and baseball.  But at the heart of it, it's the story of a boy and his mom. 

I am lucky that my mom is still here and that we have a great relationship.  She lives 2 hours away and I get to see her fairly often.  I call her every morning on my way to work.  I shudder at the time in my life when I went weeks without talking to her.  I don't think I've ever heard her raise her voice to me or my sister, or even my dad.  She's calm, supportive and loving.  She's the best grandmother and a perfect listener.  She avoids conflicts and confrontation which partly explains why her and my dad have been married for 30+ years, and she encourages me to back down in my disagreements with my husband sometimes.  In the bigger picture, it can be easier and more important to just let some things go. 

I imagine that if she were to head to Heaven before I do, I will miss her everyday like the character in the book misses his mother.  Our lives are difficult and can be lonely but when you have your mom on your side, overcoming the hard times seem possible because someone believes in you.  I have two girls and I pray that we'll always have a strong relationship.  I know that the teenage years will be tough and they'll hate me or be embarassed by me but I hope that they always know I love them wholeheartedly.  I hope they know that I will always be proud of them and that I will stand by them even when things don't turn out the way they hoped.  If in the end of my life my children think of me the way I think of my mom, I will know that I was a good one.

(Me, my mom, and my girls at the Missouri Botanical Garden)

Read more about the book or buy it here.

# 1 - Read 30 books - The Last Time I Saw You by Elizabeth Berg (book 6)

The plot of this book is more complicated and entertaining than it seems, especially if you ever went to high school.  It follows the lives of 5 characters who are getting ready to attend their 40 year high school reunion.  Everyone goes for a different reason but also the same ones - to reconnect, to show others how they've turned out, to satisfy the curiosity of how everyone else turned out.  The author does an amazing job of building each character so that you feel like you know them on a personal level.  It was an easy read but also full of lessons to learn.

I graduated in 2000 and went to my high school reunion 2 years ago.  In the age of Facebook, Skype, and email it's hard to convince people to get together in person.  Maybe my class wasn't as close as other classes or the timing was bad or everyone was so spread out, I don't know, but it wasn't very well attended.  However, I still had a great time and am glad I went.  I now live in St. Louis but went to high school in Lacey, WA.  So in addition to the reunion I got to sneak in a mini vacation to a place I hadn't been back to in 8 years.  Everything was different and I found myself glad to only be visiting.  It was still beautiful and held a lot of great memories, but it wasn't home anymore.

High school was good for me; I don't have any traumatic stories to share other than the usual coming of age ones.  I don't know what clique I fell into; I participated in a lot of things.  I was a cheerleader, involved in student government and the National Honor Society and a Freshman Mentor.  I like to think I got along with mostly everyone and pray that I was never a "mean girl".  I had my close group of friends and we still talk to this day.  I don't see them as often as I'd like but I hope that if we have a 20 year reunion we'll be able to get together and laugh about old times and still see the good and fun in each other.  We can never go back, and I wouldn't want to, but it's fun to reminisce about when you were young and carefree.  It's especially fun for me to reminisce with the people back in WA since the people I am around here in St. Louis aren't the people I grew up with.  They don't "remember when..." or burst into cheers with me or sing the fight song.  I've changed a lot since high school and most days my life turned out nothing like I expected (does anyone's?!).  But I'm happy and I'm surrounded by good people so I consider myself incredibly lucky.

I'm glad I read this book, maybe I'll remember to re-read it when it's time for my 40 year reunion!

Read about it or buy it here.