Vampire Girls

Many of you know that I'm totally obsessed with books about a teenage vampire/human romance called Twilight by Stephenie Meyer. I have read all three in the series multiple times and can't hardly stand waiting until August 2nd for the next one. The great part of my infatuation with the books and their author is that I'm not alone. In fact, the women in my book club in Kansas (who I'm desperately missing right now and long to discuss The Persian Pickle Club on the 27th) are generally obsessed as well.

Stephenie Meyer made it to Kansas City on May 8th for a book signing for her new book, The Host. We went all out. There were 10 of us that made T-shirts to celebrate the event. Most of the people there had shirts made, too, but we all knew we were by far the best looking. In fact, quite a few people asked if they could take pictures of us in our shirts! Stephenie Meyer seemed very cool, very down-to-earth, and completely awestruck that she's as popular as she is. The event only had tickets for the first 1,000 people, and I'm sure there were lots of people who were mad they couldn't get tickets.

It was so much fun!! I will always remember my friends in Kansas fondly, and if they're reading this, I hope they know that we can always be internet friends. And also, I'm still going to Forks on August 2nd!!

The people in the picture are (starting top and left): Karen Shardlow, Trina Contreras, Shannon Young, Maren Townsend, Carolyn Maddox, Jen Avondet, Michelle Storey, me, JoLee Stephens, and Kim Tourtillott

Art

Joe and I love art, specifically paintings. We're not very educated about it, but we love it. One of the guys in our ward is a professional painter, Mike Albrechtsen. So one of the things we wanted to do before we left is to purchase one of his paintings. It just so happens he is having one of his "every 5 years or so" clearances. Anyway, we bought two paintings. They're both so much prettier in person. One of them is a painting of the Finish coastline. He painted a larger version for the Helsinki temple. The one there is like 5x10 ft. and is the first thing you see behind you at the desk in the temple. He never took our painting to gallery, so it's worth a lot of money. Thanks, Mike!!
Strings of a River

Overlook