Plain Jane

I lost my blog background and I fear there is no hope. Until I get it figured out, I will be plain-Jane. Ah well. Hopefully, I will find something I like even more.
I have been reading. My friends finally talked me into jumping on the Twilight bandwagon. I wasn't really interested... c'mon, vampire stories written by a Mormon author? But they kept at me. So, I got the first one from Jamie, the next 2 from Shannon, and the last one from Jamie. Read those, then re-read the first one, now reading the last one again. I read them so fast, I wanted to see what I missed the first time around. Here is what I got out of these best-selling books...
1. The description of the Olympic Peninsula took me right back to growing up in that area. You really were shocked to wake up to light coming in through the windows. I could feel the drizzle, hear it, feel the moss on the trees, smell the perpetually wet litter of the forest floor, feel the cold wind at the water's edge and hear the crunch of the rocks on the beach. Gray mist.
2. I have heard people say it is a story of choices. I would say a bit more. It is about taking what we are handed in life, no matter how dire, how hopeless, and still trying to rise above it, still trying to find a way to be human, in the very best definition of the word.
3. Potential is a very near-sighted vision for most of us. We are all given gifts, talents, some hidden, some clear, and how many of us think we don't have any? That we are insignificant? Are we taking, seeking opportunities to unlock those talents, those spiritual gifts? Will we stumble upon them? Who are we, really? Better than we think.
4. Finally, I have to say, the romantic relationship between the hero and heroine is chemistry-filled. I love that it is based on his 1900's upbringing and still burns... a soulmate is a soulmate. And so, he is patient and resists. What is the reward for denying baser urges and allowing a higher ideal to rule? Balance? A greater love beyond our understanding? Often, in life, when we have struggled, but not given in to hate, immorality, or loss of faith, but have endured with patient hope, the outcome has been so much better then what we would have even imagined for ourselves. Even when we feel ourselves unworthy.
It actually reminds me of Jane Eyre, one of my favorites.

Okay, so that was a little deeper than I wanted to go, but there you have it. I have to admit it... I liked these books. I am not, however, going to get a bumper sticker that reads "My heart belongs to my husband, but my neck belongs to Edward". Tacky tacky tacky. Brandon has all of me.