Halli Hallo, dear readers. It's been quite a long time, but I have decided to share some lovely spring photos with you. Since my life currently consists of reading for class and writing in the library, I assume that a detailed explanation of how I spend my time is neither interesting or important.

I've been buying blood oranges recently - they're beautiful and taste like candy. 

My mom decided that we should take a picture at the same spot by the lake once a month for a year...so this is the second one. Someone was camping in the spot where we took the first one, so we had to move over a little!

This is my favorite table in the library. It's by a window, and the table is somehow shorter than all the others so it works better for me AND no one else ever wants to sit there. Perfect!

The little garden in front of the library is all red tulips, which is so wonderful because red flowers are my favorite (except for roses).

If you want a book update, I've been reading The Mortal Instruments series (City of Bones is the first). I didn't think City of Bones was anything special - in fact, I read it about a month before any of the others! I just picked up books 2 & 3 when I was checking every single YA book out of the public library before I went home for spring break. So, I would say that this series is absolutely excellent, but you have to give it some time.

I'm halfway through the final book, and with this much read, I want to say that I really like how there's a governing system to this world that is neither good nor bad. The Clave isn't the bad guy (so far....they could turn), but they also are so law obsessed that they don't really work for the good all the time. If they were for the good all the time, these books would be really boring because almost all the main characters are underage and would just be sent home every time something went wrong.

Also, someone in one of my classes last week referred to something about China as warding off a vampire with a crucifix and I almost said "That's not how you get rid of vampires." Luckily, I did not say that, but it does say something about either how engrossing these books are or my mental state that that was my first response.

Over spring break I read David Greene's book about travelling through Russia, Midnight in Siberia. It was also totally engrossing and less weird to talk about in class because it is nonfictional. Since I don't speak Russian, I think reading about the Trans-Siberian is about as close as I want to get to it, so I loved this book! Parts of it reminded me of when I traveled in Eastern Europe in 2013 and to an extent of my time in Germany: people can be extremely rude on the streets and extremely kind to you in their homes. Also customer service does not really exist.

To wrap up this blog, I'd like to share a personal triumph. I finally beat my kitchen!!!! Something about the kitchen in my apartment makes it impossible for me to make cookies that aren't little bricks the moment they cool. Yesterday, though, I managed to make cookies that are still chewy and delicious today! I think the difference was using Parkay - I was trying to use a different brand that was cheaper. Don't try to cut corners with your butter substitutes, people!!