Reading Rainbow

According to NPR, which I listen to on a daily basis, the children's show Reading Rainbow is coming to an end. The show, which helps children understand why they should read, has been on the air for 26 years. The only PBS children's shows that have run longer are Sesame Street and Mr. Rogers. Farewell dear show, you shall be missed.

(If you are interested in learning more, here is a link to the NPR story.)

That's right; I'm awesome....

In April I decided to make 101 goals and achieve them in 1001 days. One of those goals was to write to 10 living authors that have written books that I've enjoyed reading. I have written to five so far: Cynthia Voigt, Stephenie Meyer, Dee Henderson, Nancy Pearl and Julie Edwards. Here is my story regarding one of them:

Julie Edwards wrote Mandy in 1971. It is a charming book about an orphan who find an abandoned cottage in the woods. I first discovered it at the library when I was in junior high. Since then I have probably read it four or five times. It was reprinted in 2001 and I was able to buy a copy of it. After a little research I discovered that Julie Edwards is actually Julie Andrews Edwards, who stared in such musicals as The Sound of Music, Mary Poppins and Thoroughly Modern Millie. She has won Emmys, Tonys, Golden Globes, and an Academy Award. I looked on the internet and found an address for her fan club. I dutifully wrote her a letter explaining how much I enjoyed her book and how I wished that she had written more young adult fiction. I also mentioned how much I enjoyed the movies that she had been in. I wrote the letter in May and haven't thought much of it until I received this on Friday:

That's right; I'm officially awesome. Just in case you can't read it, here's what it says:

"Dear Jessica,

How very nice of you to take the time to write such a lovely letter to Dame Julie Andrews Edwards to tell her you like her movies, music and that you enjoyed her book, Mandy.

Julie very much enjoys writing books for young readers She is please you liked her style of writing. When she gets nice letters such as yours, she just wants to get to work and write another book so she can keep all of her readers happy.

Thank you for taking the time to write. We are sending a signed photo of Julie. We hope you will enjoy it.

Sincerely,
Kathy Juliani
Fan Mail Coordinator"

While I realize that this letter seems to be written to a girl in junior high, I was still excited to receive it and yes, I did also receive a 4x6 autographed picture of Julie Andrews. I was totally excited and have already told my roommate, a cousin, and several people at work. I don't care if it makes me a geek, I think Julie Andrews is great and I'm considering getting the picture and letter frames.

Timp Lodge

On Friday night I rushed home in time to carpool up to Timp Lodge with my ward. A bunch of us went up for dinner and fun (including volleyball, billiards, ping pong, fooseball, and general merriment.) I played a couple games of pool (where I was killed each time) and a few games of ping pong (which I was even worse at.) I had a lot of fun though. The drive down the narrow, tree lined road was a little harrowing at 11:30pm but it was totally worth it.

Busy, busy girl

I have to say that I'm not accustomed to such a level of social activity. On Sunday I went to church, stopped by my Grandma J's house, and then had dinner and dessert with my parents, siblings, and their children. On Monday night I attended FHE, where we played volleyball and watched Miracle. After I got home I talked to R, my roommate. Yesterday I went to work and then out to dinner with Cameron, Scott, Scotty, and Tyson. (Insert some sort of comment about me going out with four guys here.) While at the Smoking Apple, a good barbeque place, it was decided that I should go out tonight. Scotty and Tyson are being set up on blind dates so Cameron and I will be going along as the third couple. I can make conversation with a brick wall, so they thought it might be easier on everyone if there was a girl there to draw the "blind date girls" out of their respective shells. Should be fun. Hmmm, I wonder what I will be doing tomorrow night. Well, I'm off to get ready. (What does a social butterfly look like anyway? I want to dress the part.) :)

My new place

Here are a few pictures from my new place:


My biggest complaint is the height of the ceilings. While it makes all the room feel nice and big, there are several burned out lightbulbs that I won't be able to reach without a 6 or 8 foot ladder. The location is great, the room is great, and my roommates are great (although one I thought was a poltergeist for the first week since I only heard her.)