Idaho/Utah Trip: Part 1

Over Spring Break, Trager and I traveled to tropical Idaho for one of those "future options" I've mentioned before. We were both so excited for this trip not only because of his opportunity, but because we got to see so many people we love! We started our trip in Black Foot, Idaho with my sweet cousin, Jordan, and her little family. They hosted us on the Idaho leg of our trip and made us feel right at home! They live in a darling house that is over 100 years old. I told Jord it reminded me of a life size dollhouse or something! While the boys were busy with Trager's interviewing, Jordan and I spent our first day going to visit my little sister Hunter at BYU-Idaho in Rexburg.

^^^Me, Regan, Hunter, and Madalynn after eating our weight in pizza.^^^

^^^Can you tell who the sisters are?! ;)^^^

We got to see her dorm room and meet her cute roommates! Hunter has been on cloud 9 since she got to college with all the fun she is having, so it was a treat to meet the girls who are joining her in all the good times. Regan, Madalynn, and Madalynn's older sister, Nicole, all went with us to lunch. No wonder she's having so much fun...her friends are theeeee best! And Hunter's "friend date" she set up for Nicole and I worked...we would totally be best buds if I lived closer!

 ^^^I couldn't handle the level of cuteness Ruby was giving off the whole time!^^^

That night after we all got home we grilled out because the weather was just so nice! Jordan and Carter are such fun hosts! But...I think they're biggest bonus is the sweet little blonde I got to snuggle the whole time. Ruby Carter is to DIE for with her sweet smiles! I couldn't get enough of her all weekend.  {Heart eyes all around in case you couldn't tell!}

 ^^^Duck faces for days!^^^

I think it did both Hunter and I a lot of good to get to see each other. When Trager was working all over the country with his dad, I got a lot of one on one time with Hunter. I think we were both over the moon that we got to spend they day and half together that we did. And yes, a silly face picture always follows the smiling picture. Love this girl!

 ^^^Jord is the cutest mama around! Love her guts!^^^

 ^^^This is pre-ugly crying when Cinderella's mom dies. People, I couldn't keep it together!^^^

On our last full day in Idaho, the girls went to see Cinderella while the boys took Ruby Carter shopping with them. Can I just say, if you haven't already watched Cinderella, run to the nearest the theater! It is such a sweet movie! I'm a sucker for any "kindness" theme so the "Have Courage and Be Kind" is currently my mantra. {One tip, takes tissues. No questions, just take them!}After the movie, Hunter and Regan headed back to BYU-I which was pretty sad. So...of course we had to get ice cream to cheer up! We went to Reed's Dairy and it was so dang good! I didn't try it, but their chocolate milk is made with potato flakes. YES, potato flakes! But people love it so they must be doing something right!

A big thanks to Jordan and Carter for having us! We love you guys!!

Review #13: "The Cutting Season" by Attica Locke

Favorite Quotes:

"Caren was, at that moment, a mere thirty yards or so from a crime scene, but, of course, she didn't know it yet." -page 9

"Not the kind of emptiness that comes with vacancy, but rather a kind of strained quiet that was trying too hard, the tightness that comes when someone somewhere is trying very hard to be still, to restrain every twitch and wayward breath." -page 14

"It used to embarrass Caren, how much they looked alike, as if she'd huddled alone in a dark room, and sculpted the child from her own flesh." -page 48

"It was the look in his eyes that finally broke her, when she finally started to cry. What she saw was relief. In the end, her transgression had cost him nothing. She had given him his way out." -page 180

" Caren had the awful thought that they'd kept him in lockup for the past few days for the sole purpose of aging him, curing him like a cut of meat, making him look more like the thug they were here to charge. It was a reminder of the ways an arrest can often work backward, making a criminal of any life it touches. It pained her to see him this way." -page 283

About the Main Character:

Caren is the manager of Belle Vie, an old Southern plantation, where her mother worked and her ancestors were slaves. She is a single mother of 9-year-old Morgan. As the novel begins, Caren finds a dead body on her property. Locke shows the audience Caren's nature through her interactions with those involved in the case and those who work with her. I think one of Caren's most interesting traits is her internal struggle over her feelings about Belle Vie. On one hand she's drawn to it. Her history is there and her memories with her mother, but on the other hand it is painful and dangerous. The addition of this internal struggle along with the multiple external struggles really added depth to the novel.

Another Character to Note:

Jason is Caren's great-great-great grandfather. He was a slave at Belle Vie that later went on to gain his freedom. Then he went missing, never to be seen or heard of again. As this modern day murder unfolds, Jason's story is at the forefront of Caren's mind and becomes interwoven into the plot of the novel. As a reader you get just as invested in Jason's story as you do in the current case.

Plot Breakdown:

1. A Presence and a Body...the slave quarters on Belle Vie foreshadow the crime scene

 

2. Questions and Donovan...the detectives are suspicious of Caren and narrow in on a suspect

 

3. Morgan...how is Caren's daughter involved?

 

4. Problems at home...cue Morgan's dad's return

 

5. The reporter and the preacher...Caren learns more about the case and how the detectives are far off

 

6. Goodbye to Belle Vie

 

7. The Clancy's (Belle Vie owners) and Caren's history...Jason and how it ties into the current case

 

8. Who is the murderer?

 

 

Something Interesting to Note:

 

Another side plot of this story is that of Caren's love life. She has Morgan with her ex, Eric. He comes back into town when he fears his daughter might be in trouble. His history with Caren causes the heat to rise! Then there is the reporter who shows a lot of attraction to her and feeds her information about the case {which totally keeps her interest!} And lastly we have Bobby Clancy, Caren's childhood crush who resurfaces into her life. Although, I thought it was a bit of a disappointment in the romance department, the love aspect of the novel does charge the pace at times.

 

Should you read The Cutting Season before you die?

 

While I would recommend it to read, I wouldn't say it is something you have to read before you die. It's a good mystery with lots of interesting plot lines, but it reads a little too fluffy {for lack of a better word obviously...suggestions are welcome :)} And while Locke does a good job of presenting several suspects, it's not terribly hard to figure out the "Who dunnit?" part of the novel. Good book, fun read, but not a must.

 

   

 

Review #12: "The Screwtape Letters" by C.S. Lewis

Favorite Quotes:

"There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them." -page IX

"It occurs when lovers have got married and begin the real task of learning to live together. In every department of life it marks the transition from dreaming aspiration to laborious doing." -page 7

"It is funny how mortals always picture us as putting things into their minds: in reality our best work is done by keeping things out." -page 16

"There is nothing like suspense and anxiety for barricading a human's mind against the Enemy." 

-page 25

"One must face the fact that all the talk about His love for men, and His service being perfect freedom, is not (as one would gladly believe) mere propaganda, but an appalling truth." -page 38

"All mortals tend to turn into the thing they are pretending to be." -page 50

"Indeed the safest road to Hell is the gradual one--the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts," -page 61

"We have trained them to think of the Future as a promise land which favoured heroes attain--not as something which everyone reaches at the rate of sixty minutes an hour, whatever he does, whoever he is," -page 139

"Prosperity knits a man to the World. He feels that the he is 'finding his place in it', while really it is finding its place in him." -page 155

"No man who says I'm as good as you believes it. He would not say it if he did." -page 198

"Nowhere do we tempt so successfully as on the very steps of the altar." -page 209

{Please excuse the million quotes...it was just that good!}

About the Main Character:

The subject of Screwtape's letters is known as "the patient." He is a mere mortal man who Wormwood {Screwtape's nephew} has been assigned to turn to the dark ways of the world. The letters narrate his progression from sinner to saint to his great temptation to his eventual end...and no, I won't be telling you if his demon is successful in tempting him :)

"The patient" is arguably not the main character of this book as Screwtape is the narrator, but I identify him as the main character because he is who Lewis wants us to identify with. He is man {or woman} caught in the depths of temptation and deciding what kind of life he would lead. He goes through a broad spectrum of life experiences and in the process Lewis gives his audience the perspective of the demons who try to tempt him at each turn. 

Another Character to Note:

Screwtape is the narrator of the "Letters" and acts as a mentor of sorts to his nephew Wormwood as he attempts to tempt and turn the soul of "the patient" to the ways of who he refers to as "Our Father Below"...or Satan. Screwtape is to be considered a master devil and gives wisdom to Wormwood in the form of letters as he navigates the different settings the life of "the patient" throws him. Lewis is masterful at taking an ordinary occurrence in human life and dissecting it according to how a devil would manipulate it in their favor. It's equal parts enticing and terrifying.

Plot Breakdown:

At the end of my copy of The Screwtape Letters is the addition of "Screwtape Proposes a Toast." There is to the "Toast" that is written by someone who simply signs as J.E.G. In this preface the author states that, "Screwtape's whites are our blacks and whatever he welcomes we should dread" (page 180). This heavy handed irony of the novel is hard to adjust to at first. The devils successes are naturally what the normal human would call failures, but the writing is so convincing and enthralling that it takes a few chapters to adjust. 

Yet, once you're acclimated to the Screwtape setting, the novel doesn't disappoint!

  This book doesn't really lend itself to a list breakdown, but I will attempt it anyway...

1. The Patient Becomes a Christian and the Manipulation of the Mother

2. The Improper Way to Pray and the Effect of War on the Soul

3.  The Hiding of the Demons and the Warning to Not Be Complacent

4. The Influence of Friends and the Slow, Steady Road to Hell

5. Restricting Pleasure and the Vice of Humility

6. Confusion by Many Congregations

7. Love, Chastity, and Sexual Temptation

8. A Woman and the Importance of Attacking Her Soul

9.   The Corruption of Courtship and Love as a Distraction

10. The Outcome of Wormwood's Efforts

11. Screwtape's Toast {Possibly my favorite part!}

Something Interesting to Note:

I think the section of this novel that caught my attention the most was the segment on democracy in the "Toast." Without going too far into it, Lewis addresses how democracy results in mediocrity because of the "togetherness" is demands. There is a vivid metaphor involving some corn that really caused an "Ah-ha" moment for me. I'm not saying these paragraphs changed my political views or anything, but it definitely got me thinking. 

Also, C.S. Lewis dedicated this book to J.R.R. Tolkien. 

Should you read The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis?

Yes! This was my first C.S. Lewis and it most certainly will not be the last! This novel made me more conscious of my everyday decisions and what is influencing me. Is my desire to do or have something coming from the right place? For anyone interested in the worth and well-being of a soul...I highly recommend this novel!

POPS.

 Over the weekend Trager and I went to fun little joint called Pops in Arcadia, OK with a couple of our close friends, Curtis and Brooklyn Greendwood. This gas station turned diner is off of historic Route 66 and was packed on Saturday night. It was so high energy and eccentric that you can't help but have a great time while you're there! Since we went I haven't been able to stop asking everyone I see if they've been there and apparently everyone knew about this little hidden "secret." Here's the funny thing...I am a proud, born and raised Oklahoman and these friends of ours are friends from Utah.

 How did I miss out on this long-time Oklahoma landmark? I mean, look at that giant lit-up pop bottle up there?! How did I miss that? 

I may have to have those Utah friends show me around more often :)

This place was literally decorated with Pop bottles! The walls were lined with bottles glued to glass shelves. This was such a colorful and interesting way to decorate!! I think half of the time we spent there was used perusing these fun walls with drinks ranging from Root Beer to Lemon Meringue Pie! 

Also, any place that has trees donned with Christmas lights year round is all right in my book!!

Okay, now we need to take a minute here...look at this little honey! I don't have any pictures from the night with here cute parents {Brooklyn, how did we let this happen?!?} but this picture with her flippin' cute pigtails is everything. 

We may have taken around 14 pictures to get this one, but it was definitely worth it. 

{And yes, the baby hunger is fierce!}

^^^"Hippo Huckleberry" was by far the favorite of all the pop! Just the right amount of sweet!^^^

^^^I almost want to leave this picture alone and not mention how quickly that burger was gone...let's just say I was the first one done :)^^^

At the end of the night we were full and happy! We had such a good time we even took a few other flavors to try...and maybe another "Hippo Huckleberry." It was seriously that good!! 

I know everywhere has places like this, but I sure do love these little Oklahoma hot spots. 

But, I may be a tad partial :)

Becoming Real

^^This sweet shot was taken by my younger sister, Megan, who is serving a full-time LDS mission in Santa Rosa, CA. Meg has three months left until she is home.^^

Last week {or maybe the week before that} one of my very favorite bloggers, Meg Fee, posted a quote from The Velveteen Rabbit that has stuck with me ever since I read it. It reads:

"You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand." -Margery Williams

Like I said before, I simply could not get this quote off my mind. I think I love it so much because as far as I'm concerned it is about as accurate as a quote can get. It perfectly explains what I feel like I've been doing for the past three years or so. Trager and I have had our fair share of "becoming" opportunities as we try to figure out what our future holds. We've had so many "loose joint" and "shabby" moments where we kind of went, "Are we 'Real' yet? Can we be done now?" And even while I was I asking these questions I think I always knew the answer was the same..."Nope, you're not quite done yet!" It was easy to feel at times that this process of "becoming" was never ending and despite my wishing it wasn't the case, I still don't really feel like this process has an end date. 

But, I do feel like it eventually gets easier.

The past two months have brought something new for us...a light at the end of the tunnel. We've got some options on the table that we are prayerfully considering. Yet, ironically, as we get closer to figuring out the next step in our life my strongest emotion isn't what I expected. I remember how I always felt like I would be so relieved and excited to close this chapter in our lives, and while I am so relieved and excited, I'm also really, really grateful we went through all the worry and stress and frustration we did. It made us a little more "real," a little more tough, and a whole lot closer than I think we would have been had things come more easily. I know we are ready for whatever comes next in our lives simply because we made it through all the unknown this chapter held. 

One piece of advice I would give to anyone who feels like this is what they are going through... I highly suggest finding someone like Trager Hintze to go through it with you. Not only does it make it easier, but  I can imagine it will be fun to look back on together years from now :)

{And by years, I do mean years.}

Now about that picture...those of you who don't know Meg, may be wondering why I used her name tag picture for this post, but if you do have the privilege of knowing her you'll understand. Part of why making it through the last year and a half has been doable is because I have the example of Sister Gowens. Meg has been "becoming" on her mission and she's doing it solo. Any time things were extra tough in life I would always think, "If Meg can do all that she's doing, I can do this." 

I really needed her strong example of how to be a stud at "becoming."

A Golden Anniversary!!

Yesterday Trager and I celebrated our 3rd year wedding anniversary! I swear, when I stop and think about being married for 3 years it feels like it's been 2 weeks, but it also feels like 20 years! So weird! All I know for certain is that it has been the best 3 years of my life. I'm just so constantly grateful that Trager and I crossed paths when we did. It was kind of like I was waiting for him and he was waiting for me and when we finally found each other we both kind of went...duh, there you are!

 I knew he was the guy for me less than a week after I met him. One of these days I will write all the details of our love story {it's a good one} but for now I'll just leave it at that. 

Trager Hintze is my forever and I'm one lucky girl for it!

This week of festivities really snuck up on us this year! We've got lots of fun adventures coming up in the next couple of weeks, so we both wanted to play it a little low-key this year. We went to the mall to look around for awhile and ended up leaving with some sweet treats for after dinner! After going back and forth about 50 times over who was going to pick where we went {tell me we're not the only people who do this??} we ended up at Charleston's and sat at a cozy, little, secluded table.

 It was pretty perfect.

^^^Then we shared this little beauty! Our Collectible Wizard Card was "The Potter Family" just in case anyone was wondering :) ^^^

We ended our night at the OKC Temple. This isn't a tradition, but I think it might become one going forward. It was so nice to remember being in the temple on my wedding day and just how excited I was to become "Jena Hintze!"

No surprise here, but that is the best day I've had so far!

But I have to say...every day since has been pretty wonderful too :)

Happy Birthday Trager!!

Yesterday was my favorite person's birthday! Trager is just about as sweet as they come when it's his big day. He wants a quiet evening at home with me...and some treats of course! He's not looking for anyone to fuss over him or tell him how wonderful or kiss him about 35 times. I think this is why I have so much fun doing it anyway :)

We both had to work all day, but one of his good friends made sure all of his coworkers sang him "Happy Birthday!" Gotta love a guy who gets everyone to sing to your man! After work we headed straight to the grocery store to pick up supplies for Trager's birthday dinner. (Normally, I would have all of this already stocked and ready to go, but we had some bad weather this past weekend and Trag was out of town at a rodeo with his Dad...so we improvised!)

^^^Guac, Guac, Guac!!!^^^

Trager has had his birthday meal planned since Christmas and it was a bit of a tall order. The guacamole covered beauty in the first picture is what the Gowens family calls a "Zinger." And they are dang good! It's basically a chimichanga...which isn't too terribly hard, other than the grease it is cooked in that is begging to burn your skin when you go in to flip them! I made it out unscathed...so it was a win!

Next up was the candle covered Vanilla Texas Sheet Cake! I'd had this treat before, but it was made at the masterful hands of my mother-in-law...so when Trager asked for that as his birthday cake I was a little intimidated. After adding all the sugar, cream cheese, and margarine a person can handle, the cake turned out just fine! I'll call it a birthday miracle :)

^^^ Bonus points if anyone can tell me where Trag's "claw shirt" is from!^^^

My mom and dad stopped by for a piece of cake and to help me sing "Happy Birthday!" And then we spent the rest of the night cuddled up on the couch. It was pretty perfect :)

I'm so grateful this handsome man was born! He just gets better with time. 

And I can't wait to see what this next year brings to him. 

I love you, Trager!!!