Darkness Be My Friend by: John Marsden (4th in series)

We were getting pretty good at this stuff, hiding out, living rough and tough. It seemed a funny skill to be proud of, but it was a skill. I admired the fox his craftiness, the way he could get into the chookyard and out again, leaving nothing but blood behind. Blood and feathers and a few squawks from the chooks. We were getting mroe like foxes all the time.

If they hadn't been there, if they'd been safe in New Zealand, for example, would I still have agreed to goback? It was a horrible question and one I'm glad I didn't have to answer. But all the same, I think I knew deep down what the answer would be. Sometimes there's really only one answer.

Ellie and her friends had been rescued, airlifted out of their own country to the safe haven of New Zealand. They'd arrived burnt and injured and shocked, with broken bones, and scars inside and out.

They did not want to go back.

But five months later the war is not over, the nightmares continue, and there are two compelling reasons for them to return to Australia: A planned sabotage of the air base in Wirrawee, and most important, the families they left behind.

I'M ENGAGED!!!

So Spencer finally popped the question on Friday, November 2o, 2009. I said, "Yes!" I like this picture, I had put my finger over the flash, and it makes the ring look pretty.

So the question everybody has on their mind is: How did he propose? Well, Spencer was coaching a Trappers game on Friday. The Trappers are the traveling mens' league team based in Logan, UT. Because Spencer still isn't fully recovered from breaking his ankle and so he was offered a coaching spot on the time. Well the game was a slow game, not much happened. So I was thinking that I might get up and get something from the concessions stand or go to the bathroom during the break between the second and third period. So I was getting my motivation to get up and get moving when I noticed that only the opposing team had gotten off the ice. The Trappers were still on the ice.

Then the guys on the team all knelt down on the edges of the big face-off circle in the middle of the ice. As I was trying to figure out what was happening, the captain, Shimmell, got a microphone and said, "Will Makayla Schmelter please come down to the ice." I sat there shocked, wondering if he really said my name because he did sound a little garbled. Then he said again, "Is Makayla Schmelter here?" Spencer's roommate, Mike, said that they were asking for me. By this time I knew what was going to happen. So I stood up, Shimmell asked if I was Makayla Schmelter, and then he motioned me down to the ice. So I get down to the door, someone opens it for me, and Shimmell and Paul, a defenseman, offered me their arms so I wouldn't fall. They escorted me to the middle of the ice and Spencer was standing there. He kneels down on one knee, pulls out a beautiful box, and Shimmell hands him the microphone. He says into the microphone, "Makayla, will you marry me?" and opens the box and shows my beautiful ring. Of course I said, "Yes" and put the ring on my finger. We got the loudest cheering and whistling and horn blowing of the entire game. It was embarrassing but sweet. Before we left the ice, Spencer had Scott, the guy who takes all of the pictures for the hockey games, take some pictures of us. I don't know when he started snapping pictures, hopefully he took one of Spencer proposing, we will find out in a couple of days.

So here is my beautiful ring. I picked it out myself. Spencer had no idea which one to get me when we went ring browsing. This picture has both the engagement ring and the wedding band with it. The wedding band goes underneath the diamond. I think it looks prettiest with both the wedding band and engagement ring together, so I wear them both. So, here is the romantic story of how Spencer proposed to me.

A Killing Frost by: John Marsden (3rd in series)

These books are really good. This book shocked me. I was totally unprepared for the ending of this book, it ended in a way I never would have seen.

When we had passed through that gate we found ouselves in our new home. This was E Wing, the maximum-security section of the maximum-security prison. In peacetime it was the home of serial killers. Well, maybe that's what we had become. Whether we deserved to be there or not, our lives were now ot of our control. Whether we lived or died would be decided by others.

It's nearly six months since our country was invaded. We've lived in a war zone since January and now it's July. So short a time, so long a time...I'm an expert on fear now. I think I've felt every strong feeling there is: love, hate, jealousy, rage. But fear's the greatest of them all. Nothing reaches inside and grabs you by the guts the way fear does. Nothing else possesses you like that. It's a kind of illness, a fever, that takes you over.

Ellie and her friends return from a camping trip to find their country at war. Learning together, they fight back--battling fear, rage, and the invading army that has stolen their land, seized their homes, taken their families, and destroyed their future.

The Dead of Night by: John Marsden (2nd in series)

"Ellie! Don't shoot me!


I lowered it.


"Where'd you get that thing?"


"Over there," I said, pointing, getting the shakes a bit, but putting the rifle down carefully. Robyn seemed so controlled, and I felt like I was on the brink of completely losing control.


Robyn lost her smile suddenly; she ran to the soldier and knelt beside him.


"What happened. Did you shoot him?"


"Hit him. With a rock. And a branch."


"God, I think he's pretty bad."


"He has to die, Robyn," I said, trying to keep my voice steady. "If he doesn't, he'll get his friends and they'll come looking for us. And the first thing they'll do is to climb that tree. They could track us right home, into Hell."

Let no stranger intrude here, no invader trespass. This was ours, and this we defend.

Australia has been invaded. Nothing is as it was. Six teenagers are living out their nightmare in the sanctuary of a hidden valley called Hell. Alone, they make their own rules, protect what is theirs, and struggle for courage and hope in a world changed forever.

Seeking supplies, allies, and information the friends make forays into enemy territory drawing on nerve and resourcefulness they never even knew they had. As the risks bcome even greater, so too do the sacrifices they must make.

Tomorrow, When the War Began by: John Marsden (1st in series)

In the house nothing was wrong, and that was what was wrong. There was no sign of life at all. Everything was neat and tidy. At that time of day there should have been food spread out on the kitchen table, there should have been dishes in the sink, the TV should have been chattering in the background. But all was silent. Corrie opened the door behind me and came in quietly. "Jesus, what's happened," she said, not as a question. The tone of her voice terrified me even more. I just stood there.


"What's wrong with the dogs?" she asked.


"They're all dead except Millie, and she's nearly dead."



I was looking around for a note, a note to me, but there was nothing.

"The dogs were dead. That was my first thought. They didn't jump around and bark when we drove in, or moan with joy when I ran over to them, like they have always done."

When Ellie and six of her friends return from a camping trip deep in the bush, they find things hideously wrong. Their families are gone, houses empty and abandoned, pets and stock dead. Gradually they begin to comprehend that their country has been invaded and everyone in their town has been taken prisoner. As the horrible reality of the situation hits them, they have to make a life-and-death decision: run back into the bush and hide, give themselves up to be with their families, or stay and try to fight.

Living with the Dead by: Kelley Armstrong (9th in series)

Such a great book. I love this series. Unfortunately, I don't own this book yet, I had to borrow it from the library. I can't wait to read the next book, but there is a waiting list of, like, 108 days. Definitely recommend this series to everybody.

They're smart, sexy, and supernatural. They're the men and women of the Otherworld--a realm of witches, ghosts, and werewolves who live unseen among us. Only now a reckless killer has torn down the wall, trapping one very human woman in the supernatural cross fire.

Robyn Peltier moved to Los Angeles after her young husband's sudden death, trying to put some distance between herself and her memories. Though she's still grieving, the challenges of her new life as the PR consultant to Portia Kane--the word's most famous celebutante wannabe--can sometimes be amusing, even distracting. But when her client is gunned down in the back room of a nightclub, Robyn is suddenly on the run as the prime suspect in the murder. And as more bodies pile up around her, it seems like only Hope Adams, Robyn's best friend, and Hope's somewhat spooky boyfriend Karl are on Robyn's side.

Hope Adams follows the kinds of stories whose headlines scream from supermarket checkout lines. But the difference is that Hope's stories are even weirder--and they're all true. Though determined to help Robyn, Hope knows it's only a matter of time before her friend is caught. But it's not the police Hope is worried about. For Robyn has gotten herself in the middle of a turf war between two powerful Otherworld cabals who'll spill any amount of blood--human and inhuman--to protect what they consider theirs for all eternity. And the only way Hope can keep her friend alive is by letting her enter a world she's safer knowing nothing about.

Prince of Swords by: Linda Winstead Jones (6th in series)

These were great books, I'm glad I grabbed them from the library. I wouldn't mind owning these books, they were great!

As the forces of good and evil clash in an pic battle, the firstborn children of the Fyne witches have finally come into their own, each with a special gift that will shape destiny...

For months, Rayne has been imprisoned in the cellar of secluded house, afraid of the day when the demon-possessed Ciro--the man who has declared himself her future husband--will return to claim her. He believes that the linking of her pure soul to his lost one will produce the perfect child--one who will serve his ultimate purpose.

The Prophecy of the Firstborn spells out that Lyr Hern is to wield the crystal dagger. But his search for it is sidetracked by the beautiful prisoner he encounters. Despite his attraction to Rayne, Lyr is none too happy about taking her along once he has freed her.

Especially when--to foil Ciro's plans--Rayne decides that Lyr is just the man to corrupt her...

Prince of Fire by: Linda Winstead Jones (5th in series)

The firstborn children of the Fyne witches have finally come into their own, each with a special gift...

Despite the prophesies, Keelia, Queen of the Anwyn, would never let a wild Caradon, a man who can shape-shift into a mountain cat, touch her. But when one kidnaps her, mistaking her for the caster of a spell on his people, Keelia realizes she has never been more wrong: Her Caradon captor is the very same lover as in her torrid, recurring dream...

No man alive, Caradon or not, can resist a sensuous Anwyn queen. When Joryn, the Queen's kidnapper, realizes his mistake, the two must work together to undo the wicked spell. Neither can deny the crackling chemistry between them, nor can they deny the ever-looming Prophecy of the Firstborn: She will betray love in the name of victory...

Prince of Magic by: Linda Winstead Jones (4th in series)

The firstborn children of the Fyne witches have finally come into their own, each with a special gift...

Independent Ariana Kane Varden, daughter of the Sun Witch, has never let family duty keep her from reaching her dreams. She learned the practice of her gift, the power to heal others, at her mother's knee. And now she is the palace healer, tending to her emperor...

The last prophecy of magician Sin Chamblyn's late grandfather points to Ariana as the one to save Columbyana from a growing evil. Sian has hightailed it from lands afar to deliver the message. While he prepares her for the fight of her life, Sian intends to remain undistraced by his sensuously beautiful protege. But in the heat of battle--and passion--diligence might be his downfall...

Car Trade

So Spencer, his parents, and I all made the 4 1/2 hour drive to Rawlins, WY to switch cars. Spencer's dad, Gary, traded in Spencer's Jeep for the Cash-for-Clunkers deal in September, I think, and got a 2009 or 2010 Hyundai Accent. So Spencer has been driving the Accent around since then. Gary was fixing up an old Toyota 4Runner for Spencer. All the repairs are finally finished and so today we made the switch. Spencer now has the 4Runner and Gary has the Accent. Unfortunately we had to leave town at 7 am this morning. That sucked! Spencer drove the first half of the trip because I don't completely trust myself with a stick-shift. We arrived in Rawlins at about 11:15 am and beat Gary and Debbie by about 20 minutes, and they left before we did. But that is because we had the new Accent that could go 90 mph and they had the 4Runner that could go 80 mph max. The truck is a beast, and it will be even more of a beast once Spencer puts the lift on it that he wants. We got back into Logan at about 6 pm, I think. So that was our fun, adventurous day we had today.