Welcoming Alphie & Pel to SLC

Posted on May 18, 2008 by Jenni Elyse

On Thursday, my Twilight friends and I welcomed Lori Joffs and Laura Cristiano to Utah for the two Stephenie Meyer signings over the weekend. (Lori’s from Tennessee and Laura’s from New Jersey.) Lori/Alphie and Laura/Pel co-founded the Twilight Lexicon, or Lex, when Twilight was first published and have had the chance to watch Stephenie’s fandom grow to what it is today.

While I was working, a lot of the group took Lori and Laura around Salt Lake to see the sights. They went to Temple Square, Gardener Village, and other places. I was finally able to join the group after work for our Thursday night get-together.

We had Hawaiian haystacks for dinner and a chocolate fountain for dessert. :D During the party, we got to know Lori and Laura better. We listened to Lori’s and Laura’s funny stories about being the administrators of the Lex. Lori and Laura gave away prizes for asking them the best questions.

We made sashes with our soul names on them and pins for the signings. (My soul name is Many Shades of Crimson because I have a multi-colored blush when I get embarrassed or think something’s really funny.) Lori and Laura gave everyone an autographed postcard from the Lex store as well as an “I love Jared” or “I love Ian” pin to wear at the signings. I chose the “I love Ian” pin. ;)

Stay tuned for posts about Friday and Saturday’s signings.

My Co-Workers

Posted on May 15, 2008 by Jenni Elyse

A couple of days ago, my co-worker Ryan said farewell. He’s been accepted into the University of Georgia’s MBA program. I’m excited for him, but I’m also sad to see him go.

Anyway, before he left, he wanted to get a picture of the entire team. I thought I’d post the pictures on my blog, so you can see my co-workers.

PS–I added more pictures of to the post about my great-nephew Jared. Go check them out. He’s really cute.

The Host by Stephenie Meyer

Posted on May 10, 2008 by Jenni Elyse

The Host Cover Title: The Host

Author: Stephenie Meyer

Series: The Host #1

Genre: Dystopian Science Fiction Romance

Pages: 656 Pages (Paperback)

Original Publication Date: May 6, 2008

Overall Rating:
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Summary from Goodreads

Melanie Stryder refuses to fade away. Our world has been invaded by an unseen enemy. Humans become hosts for these invaders, their minds taken over while their bodies remain intact and continue their lives apparently unchanged. Most of humanity has succumbed.

When Melanie, one of the few remaining “wild” humans, is captured, she is certain it is her end. Wanderer, the invading “soul” who has been given Melanie’s body, was warned about the challenges of living inside a human: the overwhelming emotions, the glut of senses, the too vivid memories. But there was one difficulty Wanderer didn’t expect: the former tenant of her body refusing to relinquish possession of her mind.

Wanderer probes Melanie’s thoughts, hoping to discover the whereabouts of the remaining human resistance. Instead, Melanie fills Wanderer’s mind with visions of the man Melanie loves–Jared, a human who still lives in hiding. Unable to separate herself from her body’s desires, Wanderer begins to yearn for a man she has been tasked with exposing. When outside forces make Wanderer and Melanie unwilling allies, they set off on a dangerous and uncertain search for the man they both love.

My Thoughts

Stephenie Meyer has outdone herself again. She’s a fantastic story teller and very good at character development. You can’t help loving the characters and the story. I enjoyed the story very much. :D

Earth has been taken over by souls that are symbiotic in nature and require a host body to live. They take over civilizations to make them better by creating a Utopian society.

Once a soul’s inserted into a host body, the host fades away. Earth is the first society in which opposition to an inserted soul has occurred and Melanie Stryder refuses to fade away when Wanderer’s inserted into her body.

As Melanie and Wanderer learn to live with one another, Wanderer finds herself wondering where she belongs. She’s a soul, but she starts to show compassion for the humans because of Melanie’s memories and refusal to be erased. The story explores many aspects of love and acceptance as Wanderer finds her true place in the world.

Jared Walker Hansen

Posted on May 10, 2008 by Jenni Elyse

Jared Walker Hansen Amber and Greg, my niece and nephew-in-law, had their first baby today. They had a little boy, which makes him my first great-nephew. He was born at 6:40 pm CDT. He weighs 8 lbs. 3 oz. and is 20 in. long.

His name is Jared Walker Hansen. He’s named after two of his three grandfathers, Greg’s dad and Amber’s dad. I really want to call him Walker so I don’t have to differentiate between a brother named Jared and a great-nephew named Jared. There are already too many double names in my family–two Karens, two Brittanys, three Bretts (spellings are different, though). But, everyone else is going to call him Jared, so I guess I’ll conform too … maybe. :roll:

Amber and Jared are doing great. In fact, Amber’s doing more than great because Jared came on his due date and she was worried he wouldn’t.

Congratulations, Amber and Greg! :D

Iron Man

Posted on May 9, 2008 by Jenni Elyse

Iron Man Poster Today, my work paid for my team to go to a movie because of all our work during the last couple of quarters. Our team chose to go see Iron Man.

Iron Man was awesome. I’m really in awe over it. It wasn’t what I expected at all. I didn’t watch the cartoon nor have I read the comic, so I knew nothing about the storyline.

Tony Stark’s a great superhero. He reminds me a lot of Bruce Wayne, except he doesn’t turn into a vigilante because his parents are murdered. Instead, he starts to look at his life after being kidnapped and realizes he doesn’t want to be remembered for what he has done.

His company manufactures weapons and after being kidnapped, he realizes the weapons aren’t just used by the United States, but they’re getting into the wrong hands and causing havoc and murder over the world. He decides to use his genius and his weapons to do something good.

All the actors did an awesome job in their role and I especially liked Robert Downey, Jr. as Tony Stark. I don’t think anyone could have done a better job.

Unfortunately, my boss didn’t want any of our spouses to come with us. I was quite bummed that Corey couldn’t come. But, I’m more than happy to see it a second time. :D