Christmas Trees and Decorations

So this is our first Christmas married. Last Christmas we got our Christmas tree (yes a fake) together- well I bought it and Brad carried it. My mom said she knew he really loved me when he got up at 4:30 the day after Thanksgiving to carry my Christmas Tree. So it's our little joke that our Christmas tree symbolizes our love. This was the first year we decorated it and other parts of our condo with our few Christmas decorations. We had hot chocolate and listened to Christmas music while we decorated. What a fun tradition to start. Our Christmas tree is biased with my ornaments. When I asked Brad about having any he looked at me incredulously and said "Do I look like the kind of guy that would have ornaments." So as another tradition to start this year we will pick out our first ornament together and it will probably be a star for the top of our tree. What fun memories for our first Christmas!

Thanksgiving Memories

A good book

I've always wanted to write book reviews after I finish my books like my cousin Lynn and sister Angie. They however have majored in English and so this will be somewhat amateur but alas here are my thoughts on East of Eden. The concept of duality in man, or man versus self, is quite common in literature. Hugo, Dostoevsky, Dickens, and I'm sure lots others have explored this. However, in this book Steinbeck has been the first to personalize the idea to me and all people for that matter. The protagonists are painted as colorful characters with evil and good in them. The antagonists are painted more one sided with black and white type thinking all selfish and evil or all pure and good. The entire book is centered around the word "Timshalt " and whoever reads this book will never forget it ( though they might forget the correct spelling). I honestly did not realize I liked this book so much until the last page. Their are painful moments in this book where the protagonists disappoint you and you wonder who are you really cheering for. Yet in the end the magnanimity of man shines through with the strength and power to choose his character and destiny. I reccomend this book to all those who like books that make them think (this is not a light novel) and if you start to read it push yourself through the painful parts because in the end it will not dissapoint.