"The Person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid"

I absolutely LOVE reading. I could just sit and read all day. And I don't mean to offend those of you who don't enjoy reading by calling you stupid but I do agree with Henry Tilney in Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey. This week I have accomplished a task in reading that I never thought I would do and I hyperventilated whenever I thought I just might have to do it. Yesterday afternoon I finished a novel written in Spanish...El Camino(which means "The Path"). Did I enjoy it...yes, did I gain a new perspective...yes, did I laugh...yes, did I fall in love with the characters...yes, did I really understand what was happening half the time...no. Coming into this semester the only class I worried about was my Spanish Literature class and guess which class is now my favorite? Yep, Spanish Lit! El Camino was a difficult read but I really enjoyed it. I wish that I had understood more because I think that there was a lot that I missed. In the beginning I hardly understood anything and a lot of explain went on during class. My teacher would read a line to us, chuckle and then look to us to see if we'd enjoyed it just as much as he did but the blank looks on our faces told him otherwise. But the last few chapters I understood better...Yo ENTIENDO!!! YAY!!!! I've come to the conclusion that no matter what language the novel is written in, one can learn something, even if she doesn't know what is happening. I gained a new perspective on life, which is why I love literature. A good author has to know what makes people tick and the life experiences that shape individuals. For me literature teaches us something new about ourselves each time we read it. And I love Spanish Literature and English Literature, which anyone who knows me already knows that.

Anyways, I will get off my literature tangent to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY SAM!!!!! My brother is 17 years old today and that is super weird!!! Every time I go home he looks different. I'll never forget the day I called home and he answered the phone and I couldn't figure out who the man was at my house. :) Sam es un hombre...haha, but not really, he won't be a man till he comes home from his mission. Sam and I were close when we were little but when I reached teenage years we really fell apart. But now I think we are friends again (but he won't admit that to anyone, he tries to pretend that he doesn't love me, but he does). Here are some of my favorite pictures of me and Sam.





Yes, it looks like he has a mullet, business in the front party in the back!