Angela Rae Harris's Blog, page 49
August 12, 2013
HopeKids Ball
The HopeKids Royal Ball is a magical evening where all of the kids get to leave the hospital and all of their cares behind to step into a fairytale world where they’re no longer “sick kids”. They get to be treated like the brave princes and princesses they really are. They eat a royal banquet, listen to live music, ride in Cinderella’s pumpkin carriage, have hair, makeup, and face painting done by fairy-godmothers in training, and meet and dance with all of their favorite princesses and characters. It is an incredibly special night.
I had the pleasure of being a volunteer in The fairy godmother’s salon and helped the children make ribbon wands. These amazing children and their wonderful families are just a joy to be with. They think you are there to make their night special, but really they made my night! To see such beautiful smiling faces on these families are going through, or have already gone through, such hard reality is heart warming. To give them a night in a fairytale world, where they were served a dish at Tianna’s café and danced the night away with Cinderella. This is such an amazing organization to be involved with and I only hope to help at more events.
Thank you to the Sponsors for the 4th annual HopeKids Princess Party: The Castle Reception Center, Farinas Costumes, Davis Hospital and Medical Center, Lakeview Hospital, the Hope for Heroes group from the USU Huntsman School of Business, Jordan Soul for proving the music and the amazing photographers that volunteered their time and talents. To donate to HopeKids visit their donate website here.
HopeKids Website / HopeKids Royal Ball Facebook Event Page / HopeKids Utah Facebook Page / HopeKids Arizona Facebook Page / HopeKids Minnesota Facebook Page
Local News Coverage:
Kim Fischer with ABC News / The Deseret News / Fox 13 News
See you next time,
Angela
August 5, 2013
Book Spotlight: Resisting Fate by Heather Van Fleet
Title: Resisting Fate
Genre: Young Adult Paranormal Romance
Publisher: Sunshine Press
Release Date: June 28th
Blurb:
Seventeen-year-old Emmy O’Connell is the epitome of a hot mess.
Her boyfriend’s been shipped out of town to some boarding school four states away. Her step-douche is constantly drunk and badgering her. And then there’s her good-ole-mom… The lady is nothing more than a miserable shell of a woman. She’s turned off all of her feelings and her ability to be a good mother as well, leaving poor Emmy and her four year old brother Jamie to suffer. Life couldn’t get much worse, right?
Enter the elusive, cocky, and oh-so-broody Jack Hartman…
The jerk cousin of her boyfriend becomes Emmy’s worst nightmare…times ten. He’s cruel. He’s insensitive. But he als
o has this strange little ability over her – he makes her weak in the knees with a single touch. No matter how miserable or amazing Jack makes her feel, Emmy can’t seem to deny him, especially when he takes on the role of her protector –her pseudo-knight in a black leather coat.
A knight who also happens to ride in on his black Harley, instead of a white horse…
And to make a bad situation worse…
Werewolves and teens shouldn’t mix! But what can Emmy do when she finds herself thrown head first into the center of it all. Can she handle the supernatural mess her life rapidly becomes or will she fight against the inevitable fate her heart desires?
Author Bio:
Heather Van Fleet currently resides in northern Illinois, with her three little ladies, Kelsey, Emma, and Isabella, and her fabulous hubby (and high school sweetheart) Chris, with whom she’s been blissfully married to now for ten years. She’s a stay at home mom by day, and an avid and completely obsessive writer and reader by night.
Heather always had a soft spot in her heart for books, and she’s been creating her own little stories since she was a seven year old. But she never really had the confidence or the time to actually sit down and really do something about it, until her youngest daughter was born just two years ago.
Resisting Fate, book one in her Predetermined series, is her young adult, paranormal baby! It’s packed full of wolves…witches…and one sassy little red-headed teenage girl! She had an absolute blast writing it, and can’t wait to share it with the world!
Website / Facebook / Twitter / Goodreads
Expert:
A long minute passed, but we stayed there, head to head, front to front, in our own little tiny world, a world where nothing but he and I existed. I didn’t know why he didn’t move away, but I knew why I didn’t. I liked having him so close to me. I liked feeling his warmth, our connection. There was nowhere else I wanted to be, nowhere else I could be, other than in that moment of harmonious pleasure of nothing but him and me. I didn’t need to kiss him. I didn’t need him to sweep me into his arms, and pull me any closer. I didn’t need anything else but the calmness he instilled in me. Jack Hartman had me completely under his wicked, wolfy spell, and I wanted nothing more than to stay like that for forever.
Book Trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lXGw0OhJBQ
Review:
Resisting Fate is a wonderful young adult novel that isn’t just for the teenagers. Emmy’s boyfriend moves away suddenly leaving her confused about her feelings. It doesn’t help that his cousin, Jack, comes back to town after going MIA himself. Jack doesn’t seem to like Emmy at first, but soon the two of them get closer than Emmy ever expected them to be. That is, until her boyfriend comes home. I was deep into Emmy’s story. Just when I thought things were settling down in her life, some new form of drama would present itself. I don’t want to give anything away, you’ll just have to read it for yourself. I loved Emmy’s little attitude, which she mostly kept to herself (and the reader). Jack is another animal altogether, literally! Be prepared for a motorcycle-riding, leather-jacket-wearing, heart-throb! Oh, sorry, is it wrong to have a little crush on a seventeen-year-old fictional character?
Resisting Fate is a great read for mature young adult readers!
Buy it here:
Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/resisting-fate-heather-van-fleet/1115861990?ean=2940016481982
Don’t forget, one the best things you can do for an indie author is to leave a little review on the site where you purchased their book!
See you next time!
-Angela
August 2, 2013
Bake or Freeze Chocolate Chip Cookies
You know how everyone has that one chocolate chip cookie recipe they love. After years of searching, trying over fifteen different recipes, I have found my one.
And I’m sharing it with you!
Here is what you’ll need:
2 and 1/4 cups of flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cups butter (two sticks) softened
3/4 cups brown sugar
1/2 cups granulated sugar (white)
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 egg
1 Pkg. of semi-sweet chocolate chips (12oz)
Also two bowls (one medium one large), egg beater, and a cookie sheet
If you are baking cookies right after making then heat oven to 375 F
First combine flour, baking soda, and salt in the medium bowl.
Set aside.
Cream butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar in the large mixing bowl until fluffy.
Add vanilla and egg. Beat well.
Gradually add in flour mixture. Beat until flour is completely mixed in.
Use a spatula to get the insides of the bowl, be sure to get all the flour. Beat again.
Stir in chocolate chips with spoon.
At this point I put the dough in the fridge while I prepare to either bake or freeze it.
It makes scooping it onto the cookie/plastic wrap much easier.
If you are baking right after making, then you will be dropping rounded tablespoons, two inches apart onto an ungreased baking sheet.
Bake at 375 F for 8-11 minutes or until golden brown.
If you are freezing you do the same only place on a sheet of plastic wrap (I split mine up into three batches).
Using an ice cream scoop makes things easier for me.
If you are freezing your dough, cover your dough with another piece of plastic wrap and press in between the dough drops. Roll up.
Pull all your plastic wrapped dough into a freezer bag and save in the freezer for later.
When you are ready for one batch or all the batches, preheat oven to 375 F. Unroll and remove the dough drops from the wrap. Roll dough one by one in your hands to make them into balls (also helps them unthaw).
Place onto ungreased baking sheet two inches apart.
Bake at 375 F for 9-12 minutes or until golden brown.
I like this recipe because it makes great milk-dunking chocolate chip cookies.
I also like that I don’t have 36 cookies sitting around waiting for me to eat them. By baking a batch at a time I can limit my kids’ (ok, fine, my) cookie intake.
I hope you enjoy! Let me know how yours tuned out by leaving a comment on this post!! I’d love to hear from you!
See you next time!
-Angela
July 30, 2013
Why Do I Write?
Why do I write?
I never saw myself as an author growing up. Sure, I liked writing those short stories in grade school and I even enjoyed my college English class. I just never thought of writing as my occupation. I saw myself as the dancer, not the choreographer. Or the person who admires paintings, not the artist. I never saw myself as creative. In college I changed my major many times; from Elementary Education to Meteorology until I settled on Interior Design. After three semesters, I got married and dropped out of school. I had a great job working in the business end of health care and I was enjoying being a newly wed. Going back to school wasn’t really on my mind. Then I found myself in a whole new world - motherhood. I became a stay at home mom with no regrets.
NO REGRETS!
I loved spending time with my kids and being there for their first smiles, first laughs, first steps, and first tantrums. By the time my son was ten months old (just over three years into motherhood), I was starting to get lonely. I had always been a social person and it is very hard to hold a sophisticated conversation with a three year old. I also missed being wanted in a work environment and challenging my brain. So, I started to look around for something that involved working with adults.
As I began to look for something stimulating to do during my free time at home, I found a book review site that was looking for reviewers. I wouldn’t have called myself a reader at the time (though looking back, I do think I read more than most teenagers), but I liked the idea of reading free books and giving my brain some exercise. I absolutely loved it. Soon my imagination began to take over. I was having a hard time sleeping because these characters would act out scenes when my eyes where close. Finally, I started writing things down and writing my first book. I also began to sleep better.
Once I started, I couldn’t stop. Even when I had to stop reviewing and I started a part time job from home (which I love), writing has become a part of me. When I’m able to write, I’m free in my own world. When I’m not able to write, I go through withdrawal. I read to get lost in a new world. I write to get lost in MY world. I was accepted by a publisher and so began the long, sometimes bumpy, road of getting my book published. I have often thought of Tom Hanks’ line as Jimmy Dugan in A League of Their Own – “It’s supposed to be hard! If it wasn’t hard, everyone would do it. The hard… is what makes it great!”
All I want to do is share my world with you. I hope my book can be what some many books have been for me – an escape. And so I write.
This blog is for me to connect with others. Not only about (my) books, but sports, high school, college, being a new parent and outdoor activities. Things that I enjoy chatting about.
I hope you have found a place that will keep you checking in.
See you next time!
-Angela
