Book Series in Review: Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

Another goal accomplished! Though it may not be one of the most significant on my list, I'm glad to have finished the recently popular book series by Stephenie Meyer. Several people I know had read the books recently and were quite enthusiastic about them, so naturally I was curious. I decided to read them to figure out what all the fuss was about, and also so I could understand what they were all talking about.
Now before I offer my full critique, I want to say that I think Ms. Meyer's was very smart in creating the story she did. It is an addicting story, and it is written in such a way to target teen girls especially, which makes it an easy money-maker. I have yet to see the first movie, but I have already seen the results from creating a movie from the first book in the series. Young Women tend to make very loyal fans when heroes like Edward Cullen are involved.
The first three books were very full of the teen romance, which gets a little old after so many chapters. I understand that this was targeted at teens, but I felt that the books could have been better if there was less syrupy romance stuff and more mythical creatures stuff. This was my first time reading a series involving werewolves and vampires, and I really liked the creativity Ms. Meyer used to take something that seems so overdone and turned it into something new. She explains away all of the reader's pre-conceived ideas about vampires and takes it in a new direction. There seems to be a lot of controversy over the final book in the series (Breaking Dawn) as it is written differently and almost doesn't seem to fit with the previous books. However, if I had a favorite it would definitely be the last book. I think the reason for this is that it had less of the teen romance, and had more about the vampires and the 'gifts' different ones had. That was more interesting to me.
For those who might not have read the series yet, or who have teens who want to read them, I feel I need to offer a short word of advice. (This is especially directed towards my conservative christian home-school friends who read my blog.) Even though the series is targeted at the teen audience, and the heroine's love is somewhat immature I would not recommend teens (girls especially) under the age of 17 to read this. Having read the series, if I had a teenage daughter I personally wouldn't feel comfortable letting her read it. There is nothing explicit, but a lot of the romantic parts are very sensual.
Finally - I have to give Stephenie Meyer some real props for doing my home state so much credit. Some of her descriptions really made me miss home, all the green and the water and the mountains.

Life Goals, Resolutions and more

In August of 2007 I traveled east to visit my friends in Indiana [from the Common Room], and my friends in Tennessee. During my time in Indiana, my friend The Equuschick told me of something that she does which helped her in making some life decisions. She told me that several years ago she started a list of Life Goals. This concept was intriguing to me as I had never done something of that nature. Here is an excerpt from my journal about our conversation:

“She started telling me about things that were on her list of Life Goals. Things she wanted to accomplish or see before she dies. In the end I understood that her job at the Animal Shelter was a means to an end. She needs money to help her accomplish some of these things, and what she ultimately wants to make a living at isn’t ready yet. All her talk about goals & dreams, and plans of how to accomplish them, inspired me. I realized that I had nothing like [Equuschick’s] ‘list’ of goals. I’ve just been floating along since graduating [from college]. For 4 long years my goal was to finish school. Now that I’ve done that, I haven’t found anything to replace it.”
I was so inspired by Equuschick, that I wrote my own list of Life Goals on the airplane coming home. I broke up my list by periods of time I would like to accomplish these tasks, here is what I came up with:

1 yr goals:
Get my scrapbook up-to-date
Form habit of walking 3 mornings a week
Take Microsoft Office training and get certification
Attend a Photography class
Read Harry Potter book series
Finish “friendship” quilt
Get Business License [?] (not completely sure about this one)
5 yr goals:
Read all of Gene Stratton Porters books
Roadtrip down Oregon and California coasts
Go on a ‘We Care’ Campaign
Other goals:
Extended stay in United Kingdom
Live in a different state than WA
Visit New York City
Trip to East Coast (including New England and Florida)

If you’ve been keeping up with my blog, you will have already noticed that one of my goals can be crossed off due to a recent change in my living situation.
Earlier this week my friend Micah Redding (of The Redding Brothers) and his brother-in-law Ryan Hogan, started a list of New Years Resolutions. However, this list is not full of your typical New Years Resolutions, such as ‘lose weight’ ‘exercise more’ or ‘watch less tv’. They decided to come at it from a different angle and aim high instead of aiming low and not accomplishing anything. They told me that if we aim for the stars we might at least hit the moon. Their original list included such gems as “Get Bubble Tea with Barack Obama”, and “get accepted to Yale”, however, they asked each of us who went to the New Years Eve party at Micah’s house to add a couple ourselves. After we all added to the list Micah posted a blog about this new adventure called The Resolution Begins, with an organized version of the list. Hearing Micah and Ryan’s thoughts on this new year refreshed my interest in my Life Goals list, so yesterday I flipped through my journal to find it. I’ve done some updating, and I will probably do some more as I feel that I need a couple more big ones on it, but here is what I have so far:

1 yr goals:
See the Atlantic Ocean
Visit New York City
Find a church family to place membership with
Finish reading the Harry Potter book series (only 2 out of 7 left!)
Finish reading Gene Stratton Porter’s books
Read the Twilight book series
Finish a quilt
Refresh old friendships through new correspondence
5 yr goals:
Roadtrip down Oregon and California coasts
Go on a Mission Trip
Trip along East Coast (including New England and Florida)
Other goals:
Extended stay in United Kingdom
Start Landscape Design business

You will notice that some things got moved around as I now live closer to some of the places I wanted to visit. I’ve also changed some items completely. Anyway… maybe this will inspire you as Equuschick did me… or maybe not! Whatever your reaction, I hope your year is filled with love and joy and that you make a positive impact on the people around you. Happy 2009 everyone!