Happy 2010!

Wow, in a flurry of lazy days (I've been slightly sick since Christmas!) I have had recently, I feel like I have a million things I want to remember.

Firstly, WAC. it's a party I have almost annually (skipped last year due to the Wednesday after Christmas being new years eve and I wasn't up for that kind of pressure!) was actually more of a small gathering than a party. No one attends my parties anymore. I blame it on: lack of communication with the outside world on a daily basis on my part, and not making a facebook event until the day before (even though I told people to save the date because I was indeed going to continue the tradition. ) But all of the people there were people I wanted to spend time with, so that was indeed special and good. We made cheap champagne toasts to Ben and Sofie's engagement, drank sangria and Bailey's milkshakes, played a wine trivia game on and off and just hung out.

Secondly, New Year's Eve. (unofficially Date 2 :) )Drink of the night: Amaretto sour. yummm! What I remember most is being extremely cold. All dressed up and kept my coat on the whole time. We went to Emporia so Andrew could spend time with his friend Kyle and so we could marvel at silly new year's eve flirtations. Looked at in pieces, without the new year's kiss, it was at the most, decent. But add that five minutes right before and after midnight, and it was absolutely wonderful. My first new year's kiss! and he made it a good one! Complete with him dipping me while standing right under the balloon drop! (and about 30 seconds before new years he may have almost poked out my eye with his top hat we borrowed from one of my roomies!) and then I kissed two more boys on the cheek, got a plastic cup of champagne, and bent down to pick up a balloon. A bouncer walked by and made some comment about 'more than a new year's kiss!' He was thinking I was bending down for some other less innocent reason than getting a balloon!

New years day and resolutions: I haven't thought these through yet! My most basic are to look good in a swimsuit and all of the new fancy clothes I will buy to get a new fancy job after I graduate as soon as possible! (which will probably be at the end of June instead of the planned May! boo! )

Run a few 5ks

Stay with him until at least summer as per his request and my hope so that we can enjoy some quality Lake of the Ozarks time.

Take care of my friends and relationships more. (dating him has realized how much I can give and support if I just pay attention to what a person needs. Whether it be something simple like a carabiner when they need one (I have too much stuff and love giving away all the crap - especially when it was free!) - or something more valuable - like a listening ear at the right time.) This includes mostly him, my close friends, and my family.

Church activities? Maybe concentrate more on the service activities the church next to my house does - rather than the masses that I rarely attend. And keep going, if I can, to the bible study with my friend RT

Spend more time with kids - mostly cousins. whenever possible.

allow myself to be goofy and do things like make pyramids of snow! (this pyramid was gorgeous for a while, and has now been peed on. Why yes, I do live in a college town!)

Cook more.

And things not having to do with holidays...

I'm reading too many books and am racking up some library fees! I'm still reading Julie and Julia - which is hillarious and light hearted and makes me want to cook!

I also have some good cookbooks I want to dive into! Joy of cooking and Julia Child's Mastering the art of French cooking!

Yesterday I made this basic rice thing I make a lot.

Delicious Chicken, rice, veggie Goop

• Bag of frozen veggies (I prefer California mix of caul, broc, carrots)
• Minute rice
• Cream of Chicken
• Spices (optional)
• canned chicken (optional)

Steam veggies

make rice (minute rice works great)

drain veggies

stir all together in whichever of your pots is bigger.

Wonderfully easy, delicious, filling, and cheap! Makes great leftovers.

Hope your 2010 has been beautiful so far and will continue to be filled with happy thoughts.

Love and great holidays,
J

Today I received an awesome book. Julia and Julia. (Thanks Danielle!) The book that the movie was based on. Already loving it and yes, it just mentioned Joy of Sex, a book I bought as a gift for someone at this time last year! And it mentioned The Joy of Cooking, another cookbook that I have recently acquired.

"Maybe I should be a part of something that was not easy, just simple. "

I want to make Julia Child's recipe - Potage Parmentier - potato leek soup.

I've spent the last two hours perusing 'The Joy of Cooking' and deciding on what to attempt to cook.

Thing one: Artichokes (page 257)

steamed. with butter or hollandaise sauce.

hollandaise the easy way - put 3 egg yolks, 2T lemon juice, pinch of cayenne, and 1/4 t. salt in a blender. heat but dont brown 1/2 c of butter.

(edit 1/2/10 : done! made 3 artichokes over the last week - the first just with melted butter and the next two with melted butter mixed with fresh garlic, italian seasoning, black pepper, parsley, salt, paprika and some other random spices made by him - it was SOOO GOOD !)

Thing two: Broccoli

soak heads for 10 minutes.

flip.

boil covered.. in 2 in - so you steam the heads not the stalks.

Thing three: Game.?!?! Squirrel. Opossum. etc. Just kidding. This chapter made me sad. Grey squirrels are better and should be served with walnut Catsup. Opossums should be trapped and fed cereal and milk, Lucky Charms perhaps?, to enhance their flavor.

Thing four: Sweet Potato Waffles(217) and other potato dishes

sweet potatoes, eggs, milk, crisco, flour, salt, baking powder, sugar and a waffle iron. yum.

baked potatoes (293) wash, grease with butter, cook 40 minutes @425 degrees . puncture each with fork 20 minutes in.

Thing Five: Crepes Suzette. (213) Not sure about the suzette sauce yet - but

3 eggs

2T flour

1T H20

1T milk

pinch of salt

stir a lot. leave in fridge at least 3 hours or overnight.

put butter in a skillet until it bubbles then add paste very thin across pan. keep pan moving and cook for a minute. flip and turn it a lot. fold the cake twice into triangles.

stack crepes between foil or wax paper and reheat later in sauce.

Other gifts I have received include soap and chapstick (fancy yummy smelling kind!) from Lily along with a gorgeous artful card! A beautiful Japanese-ish necklace from Brenna, because of a shirt I really enjoy wearing that it will match. and an old fashioned butter dish from scott. and berry infused vodka a la Sarah! My roomies are so awesome!

Love and good recipes,
J

Date number one and a half, etc

Last night could've counted as a date too - but shhhh don't tell him! I want all my dates and more! We grabbed food on mass, a redbox movie ( chick flick!), and had some good laughs and good conversation. Overall just a good, warm feeling, quotable night.

Today I worked (and listened to Sense and Sensibility and Sea monsters while on deliveries) bought Joy of Cooking and am going to check grandpas house to see if he has the Julia Child recipe book I was looking for from the redbox movie, Julia and Julia, - Mastering the art of French Cooking.

I also finished watching Dan in Real life - so heartbreaking at points!

Off to KC to hang out

with Angela and the gang - including champ! and to maybe burn some GRE study notes! bringing my MarkStrat data just in case!

I also need to grab some things from home - especially glitter for Ms. Brenna and some papers my mom needs info from.

My mom is currently in NY with Bob who is finally doing better - they took out his bladder etc. no good.

And small and adorable chinese girls are wanting to vacuum my floor! They're ms. Brenna's charges for the day and went through a lot of my stuff wanting to know about everything! They met curly too and Mei Mei(pictured) gave him a hug and then promptly dropped him. Adorable. They're also filling the Brothel up with sweet smells of christmas cookies!

I like today.
Love, pseudo-dates, christmas cookies and media ,
J

Dessen

So every once in a while, blogging comes in handy.. I know I just talked about how I win things quite often. a lot. but it's mostly because I enter a LOT of things. and I get cool stuff because I ONLY enter ones I want to win. especially if there is some effort involved.

Today - I am entering a contest to win a new Sarah Dessen book. (I get an extra entry for writing about my fav Dessen book)

Sarah Dessen is a young adult author, and her books speak to an audience younger than me.. but they still speak to me too. And I don't expect to win this - but if I do I bet it would be a good book to let my cousin borrow (She's a 14 year old who thinks reading is boring and dumb) because Dessen's are the types of books that you really get into the imagery and the ideas behind them stick with you.

Just Listen is my favorite Dessen. The part I most remember is the mix cds owen gives to the main character. And the last one. and how it was such a surprise and how he told her to 'just listen.' It's one of those books that makes you really feel that the main character is growing and coming into her own and thats something every teen struggles with. Loved it.

Love and good summer reading,
J

Required Reading

My sister writes (well, used to write) for a compilation blog that her friend Sam started, This Ordinary Day.
Sam vehemently protests that she did not start a blog, as she sees that as a negative thing. (btw I love that google spells better than me. vehemently.)
TOD is a compilation of people from all over who know one another somehow who write about ordinary successes and optimistic things. Many or all of them are journalism or english majors or teachers.

This is my sister on TOD. I think she's a pretty amazing designer and writer when she puts her mind to it. And so do most people she meets. She's kinda a genius.
And this is Susan, Cough. (said with a long oh, like coke w/o the ke) She is one of the best people I know for so many reasons. She has affected so many people I know, including me. and her writing, though uncommon, is beautiful, poignant, and touching. Her writing is rare because she spends her time helping young people write and helping them put together beautiful publications and put together their own lives. She was my high school journalism teacher.

If I had to assign required reading. I would require you to read some of Susan's TOD's. I would require anyone who knows my sister or anyone who has ever been mean to someone about something they love, especially when they are trying to do a good thing.. to read her Jayplay article about Trego. I would require the reading of John Green's novels, especially Looking for Alaska and Paper Towns. I would require Harry Potter, well because I love it. And I would require "Don't sweat the small stuff for teens" especially the chapter on 90-10.

And I wouldn't require my blog. I appreciate so much when people actually read this - even if I'm a bit perturbed at first when I didn't know you'd been reading. But reading this is like a gift to me, a chance to try to understand me a little better. And I'm trying really hard not to expect so much. Mostly for my own good, but also so I learn to appreciate people better for who they are and not who I want them to be for me. But that's another entry.

Love, optimism, and good quotes,
J

another good TOD:
I'm not a runner, but I've been trying to practice lately. I'm a Catholic, but I've been getting out of practice lately. (Last time I went to church was easter and last time I prayed was when I needed something.) So TOD's entry here made me smile. made me want to run. made me want to pray and read the bible.


Thoughts to expand on later:
Someone once told me that staying happy was the ultimate endurance.
I have always struggled with this because I truly put a high importance on staying happy and cheerful for both my benefit and the benefit of those around me.

I expect less from my guy friends, I think this is why I prefer hanging out with them. They don't let me down, not because they are more reliable at all, but because I expect less.

I'm a huge fan of finding out that more people I know have blogs. I feel like it's much harder to share a blog with a person who doesn't have one. it just feels strange to put yourself out there and not be able to see what parts of themselves they would put up there.

also.. I really like this song

Now let's see, what do I have now...*

I have admission to the business school at my university!!!

I have very real prospects of graduating on time next May!

I have a slight tan and plans to make it darker

I have a blog to get my thoughts out.

I have lost a few pounds already this year and..

have taken up running and...

I have a workout plan I'm excited about - Belly-off by Women's health

I have work, which I like a lot, which will increase soon! which means I will..

have a disposable income all summer!

I have an interesting class to take on brain and behavior (psychology)

I have exciting prospects as a volunteer - Jazoo and Country Stampede

I have a softball team with my work- JD's Allstars ftw!

I have at least 3 boys I kinda like (CM, AG, TT) all of which I would rather be friends with than anything more

I have 4 new roommates to be excited about for next year

I have wonderful little cousins who want me to come hang out with them

I have a brand new baby neice! (well, It's my mom's boyfriend's son's girlfriend's baby.. but still, I'm an aunt!)

I have Q, the best roomie ever.

I have pen pals in Angela (who will also be teaching me thai again!) and Jessi

I have Sofie who will be coming home soon

I have my sisters and mom

I have my grandpa to go to the casino with.

I have the lake to go to whenever I please

I have Ben, Danielle, the three aformentioned boys, michelle, Roslyn, Chris, Trent, and many others to hang out with in Lawrence this summer.

I have Amanda, crabaugh, and nol to catch up with

I have Bop it to keep in touch with and see as much as I can this summer.

I have partially burned bridges to fix in CM and BM.

I have the audiobooks of Fight club and The Boleyn Inheritance to finish

I have a few other books I'm reading

I have a beautiful new computer to play with.

I have a great apartment to live in.. even if it has termites and isn't always clean.. It's still pretty great.

I have a lot better attitude than I've had this past year

I have a party for an 8th grader to go to tomorrow with my cousins

Today I got into the business school and now I feel like summer can really begin. I'm excited.

Love, summer heat, and happiness,
J
*This entry is based off of the story of Katherine Howard, 5th wife of Henry VIII, as she is portrayed in The Boleyn Inheritance, which I am listening to on audiobook right now. She's a very vain little 15 year old who is always talking about how many dresses etc she has or doesn't have and she starts many of her narratives as 'Now Let's see, what do I have now...' The book also portrays Anne of Cleaves, 4th wife of Henry, and Jane Boleyn who was the wife of George Boleyn who was brother to 3rd wife, Anne Boleyn. I recommend it -and the audiobook telling is long but well done! It is by the same author as The Other Boleyn Girl, Phillipa Gregory.
This may also be a pretty vain way of thinking of things - but It's me finally appreciating what I do have - which has been hard to do recently with all the things I felt I was losing.

I want to be like Margo. full of intricate plans of how I'll make my life better.


Love and Paper Towns,
J

Morning:Finals are this week. I'm worried but not doing anything about it. Instead I did laundry and made mini meatloaves. which turned out pretty okay - considering I had no clue what I was doing.

Last night I had real conversation w/ CG and RA It was the first time in a loong time that I have had a real conversation about real things in the hopes that that conversation will help us understand others and make life better.

Happy mother's day. I love my mom.

I'm so tired right now, mentally more than physically.

Afternoon:

Just got about 5 good hours of studying in. feel accomplished but I'm not even close to done! gonna head downtown to study for a few hours. how's your day been?
Love and studying,
J
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Wow, Wednesday already! Book sale yesterday! got a ton of cheesy romance novels and other paperbacks bc I really needed a book with a story. I've been reading the 5 love languages book and it's allright.. just not a story, you know?

So I'm currently reading the Jewels of Tessa Kent. And by currently reading I mean I laid out in the 75 degree weather outside my window and read 50 pages while hopefully getting a little color. I missed you sun, why were you gone for sooo long!

I wish I had photoshop, all I wanted was a pic of David with the quote: "is this going to be foreeever" so I could tell you my feelings about winter and cold pale times.

instead I found this:

the wtf pourer, almost as cool as the wtf blanket.

which by the way, did you hear about the snuggie pub crawl. holy crap. scary.

and for sofie > here's a few of the books I got>> or you can just click over to my shelfari thingy on the sidebar
and I only put in a few of the romance books, there was lot of them! and it was $5 bag day! and some of the cheesy covers are just toooo good to pass up!!

kisses&disses

Kisses:
tonight was great. book sale. cheesy romance novels. free ice cream. zen zero pad thai. sister. friends. walking down mass. more ice cream. more walking. frisbee. swinging. good flowing conversation.

how I have realized that you don't have to tell everyone everything. talking things out is good.. but sometimes it gets out of hand.

Disses:

I texted about 50 people (no joke) about free ice cream and only my sister who I called and had to convince came. not even the people who are supposed to be my 'girlfriends' could bother themselves to come enjoy a quick FREE ice cream cone. (i love them. but its hard to ever see them bc I'm the only one making an effort. )

I meant to spend from about 6-11 studying, not having friends. so I still have some work to do :(

90-10, guys. 90-10.

love and ice cream cones,
J

Beda 1

THE RULES OF BLOG EVERY DAY APRIL (BEDA)

1. Blog every day in April.

THE BLOG EVERY DAY IN APRIL MANIFESTO

I commit to this idea and am determined to create something EVERY DAY in April, including weekends. Every day, I will find something to say. I embrace the reality that there is always something to talk about, if you are willing to take the time to look for it.

I Jackie, promise to blog every day in April.

Sometimes I might video blog, or just post a pic, but I am gonna try to do this! are you?

So, intro to anyone who starts reading, I'm Jackie, 21 year old college student.
Majoring in business, working at a Deli and trying to understand life.
likes: photography, writing, reading etc.


currently reading : Queen's Fool by Philippa Gregory
currently watching:just watched the other Boleyn Girl, now off to get another free redbox movie code for today only: MMM401
currently listening: the word song hilarious!!

finally figured out the gravatar thing, so that's neat:

Looking for ways

Today I wrote down this quote from the book I'm reading, Ask Again Later by Jill Davis . Only a bit in, but I like it a lot, It's a little too easy to read. but I like the wording, very succinct.

"I was looking for ways to enhance my life without changing anything significant. "

This is how I feel right now. Life is not great, but I know that it has been and could be different. I know that I want to love the life I live.

I want to be able to inteact with people better. My coworkers, my friends, my family members, boys, baristas.

I want to be as stylish as my TA that I just saw walk into the shop next door to my coffee venue. (Vedrana, my Business Law TA from last semester. She made me want to go to Law school, which I just might do.)

I want to be able to concentrate better on my schoolwork, in and out of class. And find ways to fill my time when I don't have a lot to do that doesn't involve this wonderful computer.

I want to be able to concentrate on offline things for long periods of time. I can spend all day updating my website and archiving things online, but 10 minutes of Econ and I'm bored. This is a problem.

I want my abnormal psychology class to not make me self diagnose. Today we talked about people who are depressed , very mildly but almost constantly and always blame their sadness on life, not chemicals in the brain. And lately (since about October) I've been a lot sadder than I usually am... and have had a harder time dealing with little conflicts that I would usually just brush off and go back to my optimism. and I don't know.. I used to think depression was over-diagnosed, but I'm not used to doing normal tasks and having to hold back tears. And I've got a history of abnormal behavior in my family. and I just don't want to be my dad. And I don't know if it would be ridiculous to pursue this, but maybe drugs for a bit would help. Maybe I need it and treating it now could help so the other craziness won't come out. I don't want to be abnormal, but maybe I am. and maybe that's okay, as long as I take care of it and don't let it become who I am.

I want people to understand that I need affirmation and that I want to spend time with them, without me having to say so. Or maybe just learn to say so without feeling creepy.

I want to have better handwriting

I want to have more random unplanned adventures probably with the bop it girls. I want to go urban exploring and play in fountains and have random games of flag football.

I want to find a home for next year maybe on Mass street with one or two of my friends. People like Q, KT, or RA, people I can confront without wondering if they will hate me for it. Someone I feel comfortable being blunt with. Or could get to where I do. And who can get to be comfortable being blunt with me. face to face. No textual communication allowed. (update May 9-09 I found a place to live! )

People don't read this often - but if you do - what are some things you'd like to be able to change in your life - even if it meant changing something significant.


One Sentence of the day: My oldest sister once curiously asked my Grandma Helen why her phone number was written on her arm.

F**** my life of the day: Today, at the end of a really long day my boyfriend was rubbing my back. I told him I appreciated how sensitive he was being. His response? "I was just trying to figure out how to unhook your bra." FML

He's just not that into you.

I thought through the intro.

I smiled through the ENTIRE first chapter. (mostly because it was OH SO FAMILIAR AND DEAD ON CORRECT! damn excuses!)

and the 2nd chapter, I thought again... regretfully... If only I had known this two weeks ago. If only I had known this 2 years ago!! For CM, for AF. neither one was that into me.

I'm excited to finish listening to it (I have the audiobook from the library.. I love libraries!) and I'm excited for the movie.

also downloaded about 40 songs of this list of around 100 - at this blog, a Penny for them

Favorite new songs

Sari - Nellie McCay - Had her song Won't U please be nice (which is HILLARIOUS!) already

The Green Fields of France - Dropkick Murphys - from the list on penny for them

links are to youtube vids of the songs

I'm feeling a lot better. Things aren't perfect. But I'm making new goals.

no more murky. no more grey. and that's a promise to me.

Tonight - I studied a LOT! felt good to get things accomplished. Missed church. will make it a point to go next week and possibly start up the rosary thing again this week.

7 habits.

I've been reading Seven Habits for highly effective people.

I'm through the intro and just finished habit 1: Be PROACTIVE.

It talks a lot about how responsibility is response-ability. It's your ability to choose the way you respond to things.
This is something I really need to work on. A lot of not so great things have happened to me recently, but they only happened to me because I am allowing them to happen to me.

I'm not saying I could have avoided being in the car wreck, but I am saying that I could have let it not ruin my trip. I'm ashamed that I let it ruin a good time. I'm ashamed that I let it be me that week.
"So yooou're the friend that got in the car wreck." Ya, that's me. But everything and everyone is fine. That's what I told people, but inside I wasn't fine. I wasn't letting myself be fine. And I expected people to realize I wasn't fine and do something for me to make me feel better. They didn't. Apparently I'm pretty good at acting like everything is fine. And it should have been.

Has something happened to you lately that you felt you couldn't control it - here's a tip - you can. You can control how you feel about it and be proactive in making sure the situation improves. You can't always choose the consequences of your actions, but you can be proactive in making them be better.



It also talks about expanding your circle of influence in your life. You can't fix everything, but you can widen the amount of things under your control.


God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
Forever in the next.
Amen.

--Reinhold Niebuhr

Also - it's not that I didn't appreciate some of the responses to the car wreck, I just pushed most of them away. I let Chad worry for 2 seconds, and was grateful that he did. I let Nick hug me. those were the best.

So try and be proactive and not just worried about other's responses or efforts to fix things. Like right now, I'm gonna be proactive. I'm gonna get dressed in time to get a pancake.

sadness

So sometimes I'm sad, really intensely sad. And everything around me just makes me sadder and sadder.
Right now, I'm in an upward mode though, everything seems to be getting better, even though not much has changed.
My real GDP of happiness is rising


I am SUCH a nerd. and I love it.

And I love being confident when confident matters.

and I love laughing. I love making people laugh, even if it's just about stupid free sample diapers.

It's hard to imagine complex people when they see you but don't let you see them.

I'm trying to be happy, I'm trying to consider the good. like warm heated blankets and friends who aren't perfect but sure as hell try to be there for me, even when I don't realize it. and reading books helps me feel better, even when dentists just stabbed me with numbing needles, reading let it snow helped to not concentrate on the fact that I was drooling. awesome.



Good mood right now. I like being smart, and me and and happy and all that jazz.

This is sad.

VanLerberg, Dale F.

Dale F. VanLerberg, 82, of Shawnee, Kan., passed away November 12, 2008. A visitation will be held from 4 to 7 p.m. Friday, followed by the rosary at 7 p.m. at the Amos Family Chapel of Shawnee. Funeral Mass will be 11 a.m. Saturday at St. Joseph Catholic Church, Shawnee, followed by burial in Resurrection Cemetery, Lenexa. Dale was born August 29, 1926, in Shawnee to Paul and Madeline VanLerberg. He attended St. Joseph Catholic Grade School and was a graduate of Shawnee Mission North Rural School and Fort Hays University. Dale served as a Merchant Marine and in the US Army during WWII. He was a life long member of St. Joseph Catholic Church, and Knights of Columbus. He was also a proud member of the American Legion. Dale was a dedicated father and grandfather, he touched the lives of many, and will be forever loved and remembered. Dale was preceded in death by his parents and brothers, Clarence and Dick; and sister-in-law, "Cleo." He is survived by his wife, Rosemary VanLerberg; and family, Marsha Callahan (James), Joseph Glynn, Susan Hemberger (Dr. Glenn Hemberger), Kathy Thompson-Rausch (Roger), Patricia Glynn; and his sister, Mary Alice Viscek (Charlie); his brother, Albert VanLerberg and sister-in-law, Dorothy VanLerberg. Also his beloved grandchildren, Amanda, Danny, Dale, Ryan, Jennifer, Brett, Meghan, and Joey. His passing will be deeply felt by all the VanLerberg nieces and nephews. Online condolences may be expressed at www.amosfamily.com Arr.: The Amos Family Chapel of Shawnee, (913) 631- 5566. Memorial contributions in Dale's memory may be to St. Joseph Catholic Church or the American Diabetes Association.

but I loved seeing my family, I love the after--burial lunch. I loved the buttons we made that said 'uncle dale's favorite' and Uncle Ron's letter from '98 that was signed that said he was actually the favorite.

and I love my family. because sometimes I forget just how special and amazing they are.

Write what you know

I'm going to try to think of something to right about that isn't current events. because writing about them skews them in my mind.



Paper towns

I'm almost done. and I love it. I don't want to finish it because then it will be done. It will definitely be something I read again in a few months.. and I really only did that with a few books.. especially the kewpie primer.




I read this over and over again.
the kewpie primer




I think I'll buy a copy for sienna.



I wish I had good handwriting.



Inside I would write,



Sienna,

Grandma Cleo was a wonderful lady who always knew how to spoil us. Every time one of us grandkids was sick, we got a toy. One thing I shared with her was her love for kewpie dolls. They were marvelous little smiling things that seemed so magical! She gave me this book and I wore it down because I read it so many times! The cover was tearing off and it was just loved to pieces. I don't know where it is now, but I bought you your own copy to love. Hope you love the kewpies as much as I do.

Love always,

your godmother




p.s. this is sienna and I at a wedding last weekend! isn't she adorable!?