Synopsis: Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue never sees them--until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks to her.

His name is Gansey, a rich student at Aglionby, the local private school. Blue has a policy of staying away from Aglionby boys. Known as Raven Boys, they can only mean trouble.

But Blue is drawn to Gansey, in a way she can't entirely explain. He is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys: Adam, the scholarship student who resents the privilege around him; Ronan, the fierce soul whose emotions range from anger to despair; and Noah, the taciturn watcher who notices many things but says very little.

For as long as she can remember, Blue has been warned that she will cause her true love to die. She doesn't believe in true love, and never thought this would be a problem. But as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she's not so sure anymore.

My Rating: 4 of 5 stars

Release Date: September 1, 2012

Publisher: Scholastic Press

Page Count: 409

Genre(s): Young Adult, Fantasy, Paranormal Fantasy, Urban Fantasy

• • • 

But recently, it was recommended to me, and so I decided maybe it was time to just read it and get it out of the way. I've always liked Stiefvater as an author despite my torn feelings about her two previous series.

My friend told me that The Raven Boys was going to be a book I couldn't put down. I was excited, as I haven't read anything in a while and thought it would be a nice way to get myself back on the "book market" considering how short (by my standards) it is; and that it would be an easy, quick read. But I had to keep reminded myself not to get my hopes up after my previous experiences with Stiefvater's books. However, my friend wasn't kidding.

I literally could not put the book down. The only thing that finally made me put it down—with three chapters left, nonetheless—was the fact that it was four in the morning and I had to go to work later that evening.

The Raven Boys really is the kind of book that you can't put down. The characters are all unique and raw you in. They each have their quirks, their secrets, and the downright sexiness that comes with having four of the main characters being attractive males. Blue is also my kind of girl. She doesn't put up with the Raven Boys' crap, she knows how to stand her ground—but she's sensible, she has soft spots, and she feels real. Not only those things, but the sarcasm that the characters spew out in this book gave me life and laughter. It was sassy and made for an amusing read.

I have also been slowly shying away from young adult novels. They're filled with awkward romance mixed with fantasy, secrets, and mysteries. While I loved those mixes of genres growing up, they're becoming tiring and overused lately. I was absolutely dreading reading this book as more and more time passed for another reason, as well—the romance. But guess what? The little romance their is, isn't overbearing. Despite the use of Blue's love life being an important plot device, it doesn't really pop up in any spectacular way in this first book. The romance here is fleeting, barely tangible. It's cute, it's enjoyable. It's not your overused, overrated teen fantasy romance between the awkward but "special" girl and the handsome, untouchable, "gifted' and powerful guy. Which is quite refreshing.

The book is written a bit choppy, in my opinion. The flow between scenes and chapters isn't always the smoothest. The switch in point of views between characters is mostly done between chapters, but sometimes it isn't extremely obvious that you're in a new character's point of view or mind. It takes a few sentences, maybe even a short paragraph in, to finally figure out whose point of view you're in. But despite that bumpy road, the book is still written in an engaging way. Although choppy, it's fast-paced and definitely a page-turner.

While I would've enjoyed a few slower moments in the book, simply for a bit more plot depth, I also didn't mind the fact that it moved so fast. It had my heart pounding and me wanting more with every page I turned. In this book in particular, I especially enjoyed Stiefvater's little hints she threw about. A few times, it was quite easy to guess where the plot was going, but despite how easy it was to figure some things out, Stiefvater still used this device in a way that kept me wanting to read more and see if I was right about what I had guessed.

I honestly can't wait to read the rest of the series and find out where the Raven Boys and Blue go from here on out. I'm starting the second book, which I also bought at the same time as The Raven Boys, immediately after I finish writing this!

Hi guys! Sorry for disappearing for so long. After I wrote my last post for this website, everything in life started to get a little crazy. From my own finals and using the calming methods I suggested to searching for a job as soon as school ended, to having to get my cats updated on their vaccines and participating in events for them on Instagram... I've just been super busy and I didn't mean to be.

A quick update: I do have a job now, so that's another reason I haven't been online. I usually work until closing hours, which means when I get home I'm absolutely beat and have about zero time to do anything for myself. But it's okay, because I'm making money and paying my own rent now.

I don't want to talk too much about myself and whats been going on simply because I have some posts that I'll be incorporating my month-long hiatus events into. I will, however, tell you some things you can look forward to in the coming days to weeks:

Also, I'm working on making a YouTube channel for my cats, so keep your eyes out for that too, because I definitely will be shamelessly self-advertising. I'm also trying to work out streaming but...well, that's not going so well. I keep hitting multiple dead ends.

Anyways, I hope you've all been doing well. I have, albeit I am a bit tired lately. I'll be updating more, though, so keep your eyes peeled.

If you plan to hike Lenox, wear shoes that have a good grip because the loose cinders do make going up and down difficult. I read somewhere that they make going downhill easy, because they absorb impact, but in all honesty I found going downhill the worst due to the fact that the trail and cinders were so tightly packed after so many feet walking over them that there was nothing for my shoes to grip. I probably could've run down the hill and the only thing that would've stopped me was a tree in my path that I'd inevitably run into. Other than that, the trail is marked well and according to a volunteer we spoke with, the trail was recently remade into the side-winding trail it is today. Apparently, it used to go straight up the side of the crater in the past—something I'm grateful wasn't what we had to deal with yesterday. The wind already almost blew me off the mountain as it was, and Jeremy and I joked around a lot about pulling me up the mountain. I couldn't imagine what it would've been like if it were a straight shot. Do make sure when hiking to pay attention to the logs, because there are times where the cinders mix with other cinders and the trail seemingly disappears.

The description of the trail itself is a bit of a letdown. It's described that at the top you'll be given a view of the San Francisco Peaks, the Bonito Lava Flow, and Sunset Crater. At the rim of Lenox Crater, all you can see is the San Francisco Peaks. There's no lookout to see Bonito or Sunset Crater, you only see these two things when walking down from Lenox Crater's rim. Because of this, I didn't believe that we had actually reached the top of the crater when, in fact, we had. So I was a bit disappointed, and there was even a point where we backtracked to Lenox's rim because I thought there was going to be more, and I missed some pictures I really wanted taken.

Lenox itself isn't your typical volcano with a crater. More of a small cinder cone with a hole on its side, which was filled up by Sunset Crater when it erupted. So if you look closely over the rim of Lenox, you see what almost looks like a lake of cinders from Sunset Crater's eruption filling up Lenox. I kept picturing how cool it would be if it were a lake. Overall, the hike was not as strenuous as advertised but definitely take your time if you're unaccustomed to walking on loose cinders. Hiking Lenox was made a lot more difficult due to the wind, so I suggest passing it up on a windy Flagstaff day—although it isn't impossible. I thought going downhill was harder than uphill. Still, a ton of fun and it would have been more awesome to spend more time at Lenox's rim with maybe lunch if not for the fact that the wind was cutting off my air supply and attempting to send me over the edge and rolling down to the base of the crater.

Despite the information page saying Lenox would only take an hour, Jeremy and I were anticipating longer since we are both out of shape—but as it turned out, we started up the side at noon and returned to the base again at 1PM. Since we had time to spare, we decided to keep walking along the trails next to the lava flows and over to the visitor lookout where the Lava Flow Trail officially began, which we also hiked.

The Lava Flow Trail has an official trail and a more side-access like extra part to the trail, according to a volunteer we spoke with. He mentioned that the side access part was his favorite thing about the trail because it took you past the largest conifer pine in the area. Considering vegetation can't really grow in lava flows, and when they do it's difficult, Jeremy and I decided that we'd walk that area to see this largest conifer they were talking about—and also because we still had a lot of spare time than we were expecting to have ended Lenox with.

So Lava Flow Trail is another 1-mile round trip loop trail, and compared to Lenox this was super easy. It was a nice relaxed walk rather than a hike, and it definitely was enjoyable to just meander among the lava before ending our day out. There are moderate parts of the hike, most of it involving stepping over and pulling yourself up over chunks of lava on the trail. But it's nothing that will slow you down too much.

When hiking along the Lava Flow Trail, you get an amazing glimpse of different geology. Highland desert, a lot of conifers, and cinders everywhere. I love walking through places like this an imagining what it could have looked like before the multiple volcanoes in the area shaped the land into what it looks like now. I love imagining what it could have been like to be an ancient native living in the area. Along with hiking among the lava flow, you also pass along the base of Sunset Crater. Jeremy and I both kept looking up at Sunset Crater wishing we could hike up to the top of it. Sadly, that's not allowed. But it's amazing to think about it.

So, all-in-all, I packed way too much food and water (better safe than sorry) and it was an extremely windy Flagstaff day, which made the hiking difficult (and breathing too), and I woke up sore this morning (I'm extremely out of shape, oops) but it was all worth it to spend time in the great outdoors that I love so much, when I haven't been out camping or hiking in so long. It was even better to spend it with my boyfriend who doubles as my best friend. There were a lot of mistakes made yesterday since we're both out of shape, and there was a lot of laughter and joking around about the wind. And it was amazing.

If any of you have a chance to head out to Sunset Crater, it's gorgeous out there and definitely worth visiting! There's a lot to learn at Sunset Crater between the craters and domes in the area and the history. The hikes are easy and worth the time.

In case you hadn't heard the news, this week—April 16th through April 24th—is National Park Week! If you also didn't know it already, there is free admission to all National Parks across the United States. Pretty freaking cool, if you ask me! This is all in celebration of the National Park Service's 100th birthday and a large celebration of what President Teddy Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson created for us. There are also other events going on surrounding National Park Week, taking place during specific days, all of which can be found on NPS website.

Now, if you're on a college budget but also love the outdoors (like my boyfriend and myself), then National Park Week is kind of akin to a blessing. I was spoiled growing up, being raised by my grandparents and all. They had the little cards that got them into National Parks for free. It wasn't until moving out I realized that all these gorgeous parks I wanted to visit weren't all that cheap to get into.


This year, National Park Week is being advertised quite a lot—and so, I decided, this year I just had to participate. A hashtag all over social media is asking you to #findyouarpark. So my boyfriend and I are making a Saturday date to Sunset Crater National Monument in Northern Arizona. I'm planning it to where we hike the Lenox Crater Trail, which will take us to the top of one of the surrounding volcanoes and give us a view of Sunset Crater, the San Francisco Peaks, and the lava flow. Hopefully, we wake up early enough that we actually get to hike and finish a trail. We've found our park, have you found yours?

Just in case you haven't, and in case you're a college student like me who lives in Flagstaff and attends Northern Arizona University—I've compiled a list of National Parks within a 2 hour drive maximum of Flagstaff. I challenge you to choose your park, and get out there and explore nature!

1) Sunset Crater National Monument (~30 minute drive)
We'll start off the list with where my boyfriend and I are visiting: Sunset Crater! Located just at the edge of Flagstaff, Sunset Crater is a cinder cone volcano that's about roughly 900 years old. The largest eruption that ever took place before extinction created the Bonito and Kana-a lava flows located in the park. Throughout time, each eruption reshaped the surrounding landscape and ultimately changed the lives of the surrounding plants and animals—and created the beautiful park that it is today. While you can't hike to the summit of Sunset Crater itself, there are plenty of trails to explore in the park. One will take you around the base of the crater, and others will take you onto other surrounding volcanic summits and allow you to view Sunset Crater from afar.

2) Wupatki National Monument (~35 minute drive)
A sister monument to Sunset Crater, if you drive through Sunset Crater National Park you'll end up right at Wupatki. Wupatki is a gorgeous monument of scattered pueblo ruins and structures. The scattered settlements tell the story of the Ancient Pueblo People and how they were able to thrive in this vast desert landscape. Wupatki is especially beautiful because it's nestled right between Flagstaff's Ponderosa Pine forests in desert shrub landscape and overlooks the Painted Desert. There are trails at Wupatki to hike that will take you through the pueblos, and in the winter guided hikes/tours take place by reservation on Saturdays.

NPS Photo

3) Petrified Forest National Park (~1 hour 43 minute drive)
One of my favorite places in Arizona! A National Park in conjunction with the Painted Desert, if you start at visitor's center and drive the entire length of the Petrified Forest, you'll end up driving through the Painted Desert, as well. The park gets its name from the petrified wood deposits dotting the landscape (by the way, if you weren't already aware—do not take any from the park). The visitor centers double as a museum, because besides the petrified wood, the park is also famous for the fossils found in the area. There are many activities to do here including backpacking, sightseeing, and cultural demonstrations by the ancient peoples of the area, such as the Navajo and Zuni people.

NPS Photo

4) Walnut Canyon National Monument (~20 minute drive)
A quick drive from Flagstaff, Walnut Canyon makes for an amazing day hiking trip. Nestled down within the canyon are ancient cliff dwellings built by the Sinagua people. The visitor center gives an amazing view down into the canyon and doubles as a museum to help teach those who visit about the Sinagua and their way of life in this dry landscape. However, if you'd rather get up close and personal with their history, two trail options will either take you down into the canyon or along the rim, where cliff dwellings are visible from each trail.

5) Tuzigoot National Monument (~1 hour 10 minute drive)
Since we're on the topic of the Sinagua people and their ability to thrive in arid environments with little water, Tuzigoot is next on the list. Tuzigoot National Monument is another site of ancient ruins built by the Sinagua people. The most stunning thing about this specific monument, besides it being the best preserved located in the Verde Valley area, is the use of trapdoor style openings in the ceilings and ladders in order to move from room to room. The largest of the rooms were located at the top, and seemed to be for public use. The Tuzigoot pueblo has 110 rooms in it. If you visit this monument, make sure to stop in the museum to learn more about the Sinagua and their way of life and how it is similar yet also different to Walnut Canyon's way of living. After the museum, head out to the pueblo and explore the short trails and ruins.

6) Montezuma Castle National Monument (~53 minute drive)
Another pueblo built by the Sinagua people, Montezuma Castle is another one of my favorite places to visit. I think I've been about four times, and I never seem to get tired of staring at the vast wall dwelling in amazement. Funnily enough, the name Montezuma Castle has nothing to do with the monument, at all. Early European settlers mistook the pueblo as being built by the Aztecs, and named it in honor of Emperor Montezuma, and believed it to be a castle when, in fact, it's similar to many of the wall dwellings found in the Northern Arizona area built by the Sinagua. The trails at Montezuma are short and scenic, and there are many stops along the way with little signs informing visitors of ancient living. Also, since you're in the area, you may want to go stop by Montezuma Well, a detachment of Montezuma Castle. The well is a huge limestone sinkhole with an underground spring that constantly feeds it, and contains high levels of carbon dioxide and arsenic. While it's not very interesting to look at for too long, it's worth the visit to see at least once.

NPS Photo

7) Grand Canyon National Park (~1 hour 20 minute drive)
Everyone knows the Grand Canyon, I hope. It's one of the things that Arizona is the most famous for. While my father likes to refer to it as a "big giant hole in the ground" but not a big giant hole on the same level as Meteor Crater, once you see it a few times not much will probably change. However, visiting the Grand Canyon still makes for both an amazing view and an amazing trip, since there is always something to do. Sightseeing, backpacking, guided trails, camping—you name it. Even if hardly anything about the canyon changes, you're liable to miss something if you only make a day trip out of it, so be sure to plan for extra if you want to go here. Between the canyon itself, the wildlife, and the geology and history of the area, there is so much to learn and see at the Grand Canyon.

Rainah Ramsey (2012)

8) Navajo National Monument (~2 hour 19 minute drive)
Okay, I know I said the maximum would be 2 hours. Unfortunately, Navajo National Monument goes a little over that. Not unfortunately—it's totally worth the visit. As the NPS website states, "Where the highway ends, the Ancestral Puebloan Wild West Prehistory begins..." and if that isn't enough to draw you in, I'm not sure what is. West of Kayenta, Arizona, Navajo National Monument is another monument made up of cliff dwellings. This time, there are three major pueblos all built by the Anasazi which overlook a branch of Tsegi Canyon. Each of the three pueblos, Keet Seel, Betatakin, and Inscription House, were all discovered at different times. But when it comes to the history of the southwest and the ancient people, Keet Seel is considered by archaeologists to be one of the better preserved larger ruins located in Arizona—and that alone makes it worth the extra leg to go visit. Unfortunately, in the winter season all guided tours are closed, but there are self guided trails available to explore. However if you find that you like it and want to go back, guided tours take place all throughout the summer season. Many of the hikes in the Navajo National Monument area are considered strenuous, though, so prepare in advance.

Well, nothing new to report. The Internet is once again blowing up over whitewashing. The focus is back on Scarlett Johansson and Paramount Pictures for Johansson's role as Motoko Kusanagi from Ghost in the Shell. When Johansson was first reported as being the one to play Motoko in the upcoming movie, the internet exploded into a fury of why she shouldn't have the role—all of them centering around the fact that she wasn't Japanese, or even of Asian decent. Since Ghost in the Shell is an older, popular anime and an even older manga than that, many fans of Japanese anime and manga want the live film adaptation to be as true to the parent material as possible. I'm included in that grouping.

I don't mean to say that sarcastically about Johansson and Paramount Pictures being on the hot seat again due to the recently released photo from the upcoming movie. Hollywood just won't accept whitewashing as being a problem. That, and Hollywood has no time to care about proper representation. They're only concerned with what will bring in the money.

Whitewashing—in my opinion—is a serious issue that needs to addressed. Quite a lot of the world's society has the idea of whiteness so high up on a pedestal as the idea of perfect beauty. In the Philippines, for example, advertisements for beauty products and the beauty products themselves are centered around the idea of making your skin fair. Double eye lid surgery is a thing that exists in Asian countries. And photos of darker skinned celebrities not just in America, but also in places such as the aforementioned Philippines and in India's Bollywood are being edited to make the celebrities look lighter than they actually are.

Unfortunately, all of this is an issue that probably won't be changing soon. But maybe if we complain enough, Hollywood will listen. Maybe, but that's also wishful thinking. Wishful thinking that I often partake in, because it isn't fair for movies and other productions to be created that are based off of "historical events" and the like and not display something that is historically accurate (yes, Exodus and Gods of Egypt, I am looking at you). I am deeply saddened by the fact that cultures and races that are deemed "minorities" aren't being properly represented for the beauty that they possess. 

But you know what else deeply saddens me? Verbal attacks toward an actress that had no part in being chosen for the role she is playing. Except, maybe, auditioning—if by chance she did that. But with such a big name as Scarlett Johansson, she probably didn't even have to audition. Hollywood casting is a completely broken system that doesn't care about minorities. As I said, they're only concerned with making money. Does that suck? Hell yes, it does. But it's not going to be something that changes soon. And being pissed at Johansson about her role, as if she had a choice in being chosen, isn't fair to her. Now if you're not an ignorant buffoon yelling at Johansson and Paramount about Johansson being the lead actress, and instead are yelling at them both because you realize that Hollywood's system is unfair and that the reality is we may not ever get a perfect Ghost in the Shell movie with proper representation—then by all means, keep yelling. Except maybe aim your hatred and disgust toward Paramount, instead. Especially when considering they'd probably drop the movie if some big name, Johansson or otherwise, hadn't accepted the role of Motoko.

Now that I've gotten it out of my system that this casting does suck, but there's nothing we can really do about it, I'm going to give you a few things to mull over. Some "good" that has come from Johansson being cast as Motoko:

Now, just because I am saying these things do not write off the fact that I am completely against whitewashing and think it's unfair, and that many "minority" actors and actresses are often pushed under the bus when they shouldn't be. I still think whitewashing is unfair. I still think it's a serious issue that needs to be addressed. I still think Hollywood's system sucks, and I still want it to change.

I've always wanted to write and have my voice heard. Sometimes, I've wanted to write and not cared if my voice was heard. I write to write, and I write because I enjoy it. Whether or not people are hearing my words doesn't really matter to me. But people hearing them, honestly, is a bit of a plus that I enjoy and would like.

So back in February sometime, I had a friend join the many college writers who publish on The Odyssey website. I read her article multiple times. One, because she is my friend and she is a spectacular writer, and I hadn't read anything she had written in quite a long time. I wanted to enjoy her words and thoughts after such a long break from them. And two, I read it because I was interested in the topic and it hit home with me. I read the article so much that it struck some sort of chord...I want to do that, too. For months on end I had been looking at writing positions for online blogging platforms that I enjoyed where multiple writers shared their thoughts and stories, and things that mattered most to them. Because I like blogging, I like writing, I like having my voice heard, and the Internet is a great way to accomplish that.

(Image Source)

Well, it just so happened that The Odyssey made it especially easy to join their website as an intern. You didn't really even need much background in writing, although it was recommended. No resume needed to be sent in, unlike other websites—and there was no moving to New York or California required. You filled out a form and entered your university, sent in a writing sample, and you had an extremely high chance of being accepted as a writer for your university.

For about six weeks, I wrote for The Odyssey, and I enjoyed it quite a bit. I was getting my thoughts out there and even though my reader base wasn't huge, I knew some of my family was reading it and a few of my friends. Though the shares weren't outstanding on all the stories, I could assume since it was on the Internet that it was at least being read by some. Heck, a few stories even had shares that weren't from my parent, friends, or other family members—something I was proud of. Even if my stories weren't going crazy like the rest of the stories were from certain writers at my university, I was still enjoying myself because I was writing, and that was something that made me continue to plan out a story and write on a weekly basis. I expected growth in the coming weeks to months.

These past two weeks though I've decided that I don't want to write anymore—at least, not for The Odyssey. Most of this stems from the fact that I got an email from an editor last week saying an article I had published—not once, but twice—hadn't been published at all. Which, to say the least, was a bit annoying. Maybe there was a glitch in the system, who knows. But it's rubs you the wrong way just a little bit when you know you did something and are being told like a child that you didn't. Which, to me, was the tone that came across. It was the tone of my mom found out I hadn't done something she had told me to do three hours ago, and now I had been caught. Then, later that same week, I got a following email. This email, put short, blatantly stated that my articles weren't getting enough shares.

Now, I knew when I started this whole thing it was a competitive, unpaid internship. The only incentive there was to write well and try and get a lot of shares was the $20 you could possibly earn if you had the most shares out of everyone else who wrote at your university that week. But I had seen articles hidden within the depths of places like The Huffington Post online that had as little as one comment and a few shares. So I thought, so what if my article doesn't get shared a ton? At least it's on the web. But when I received that email I realized just how much of a popularity contest writing for The Odyssey is. It's not about the writing and getting your name out there, and reporting on things you like or find interesting or the current events—not really, anyway. It's about who can get the most shares on an article and make the editors proud because our university is getting a bit of extra attention compared to the others.

For Northern Arizona University, most of the writers who write for The Odyssey are either a part of ASNAU (The Associated Students of Northern Arizona)—the "voice" of the students on campus—or are a part of a sorority. These two groups of people have a lot of backing, if you think about it. They're part of large, connected groups that can instantly share an article even if the content isn't something that they're interested. And they'll do this because they're friends with the author. Being in groups like this creates instant friends.

I'm a quiet person who likes to keep to myself and likes my small group of inner circle friends. I make connections when I need them, and I'll make outside acquaintances. But I'm not big on having a ton of friends. So obviously, my stories would only be shared by those family members who keep up to date with me, and my close friends. And even though I'm all over social media, I may not always report on things that my followers find interesting. So my stories aren't always shared. These are things that don't bother me. I know as an individual, I may not always appeal to a mass. But apparently it bothers the editor who was in charge of me, because my articles weren't "popular" enough. Last time I checked, I wasn't in an internship for a popularity contest. I write for me and for my pleasure, and if others happen to take pleasure in it as well, then the more the merrier. If someone can't respect that...well, I don't really want to play their games.

Does this make me a quitter? I'll leave that up to you to decide. But personally, I don't think so. After realizing that writing for The Odyssey felt like a popularity contest, I took a few days to really mull over everything. Was I getting paid for this position? No. Yes, there is incentive to try and get a story shared the most...but does that always mean someone will read or enjoy the story? Not necessarily. Did that bother me? No, because I was writing for myself. I actually didn't really care about the $20, I cared about my name being on a popular platform. Apparently this all bothered the editor, though.

Writing shouldn't be about popularity. It should be about content, and in some cases, creativity. I realize that on news websites and other blogging platforms, it may be important to have a lot of viewership. But I wasn't being paid for this, and my livelihood wasn't reliant upon this position. So...I stopped writing for The Odyssey. Does that make me a quitter? Well, yes, I did quit. But I didn't take this position lightly. I treated it as if it were a job, despite not being paid, and I put a lot of my heart and personal thoughts into it. So metaphorically, I don't believe I actually quit.

Yesterday, Jeremy and I were on a mission (as you can tell my our faces in the picture). For weeks on end now, maybe even a few months, I'd been craving...drumroll...PHO!

Back in January on a snowy day, we visited Flagstaff's only pho restaurant. Previously, the city had once had two. But one shut down, and once stayed standing. However I'm under the impression, due to the fact that the one left standing has a new name, that they merged. When we visited that snowy night for dinner, I ate—hands down—the best pho of my life. Ever since then, I've been craving it on and off nonstop.

Then on Monday, I was bedridden with a migraine that had started on Sunday night. And luck would have it that I got some sort of stomach bug Monday night after I had felt a bit better from the migraine. So my head and my stomach didn't agree with me...I was really in the mood for brothy food that would make my stomach feel better and wouldn't make me sick. But I'm not a huge fan of soups. Luckily, after spending three hours in physics lab, my wonderful boyfriend agreed that we could go get pho (we were saving pho for later in the month for our monthly date). But, instead, we got it for lunch yesterday and made that our "date" for the month. Now we'll probably have another at-home date night, which is also fine. Oh, did I mention it was also a rainy day? Perfect for warm pho!

So the pho restaurant we went to in Flagstaff is called MPM Pho and, like I said, I feel like the last two pho places combined with this restaurant. It feels new, and it has a super pretty and quaint interior. It's pretty small, but the walls on either side have booth seating on the walls so it makes it feel fairly spacious. The first time we visited, it was during dinner rush and it got pretty loud and crowded. There's enough room between tables though that it didn't feel overly crowded. And despite the noise level, it was still a friendly environment. Jeremy and I are both quiet when we talk, but we were still able to make comfortable conversation and hear one another. The service is also amazing. The people who work at the restaurant are extremely friendly, very nice, and are open to questions or anything, really.

When we got to the restaurant this time, it was completely empty save for the woman who was serving and the cooks in the back. The pho come in pretty deep bowls, and there was a lot of it, so we took about three hours to eat at our leisure. Because of this, people started to come in later in the afternoon. I think just before the big dinner rush hit. It was a bunch of college students, like us, so I'm assuming this place is pretty popular with people our age. The wait the first time we visited MPM Pho was pretty average, considering it was during dinner time. This time, there was very little wait since it was just us. Our appetizers came out and then suddenly, our pho was out on the table not five minutes later.

Overall Rating: 10/10
Overall Pricing: $11-30


We ordered egg rolls as our appetizer. I should mention, the first time we visited, we totaled at about $25 with Jeremy's dish, my dish, and one order of egg rolls. This time, we were a little over $30 due to the fact that we ordered a second serving of egg rolls. This is because there are two of us, and the egg rolls are served in quantities of three. Considering the food is so amazing here and fresh cooked, I didn't mind paying the little extra this time. Especially considering that this is one of the cheapest restaurants we've eaten at, ever.

So, yeah. Keep in mind that egg rolls and spring rolls are odd numbered. Delicious, nonetheless, and totally worth it. They're freshly made. The wait was hardly any at all for our food, but it was a tad bit long—and considering the smell of these egg rolls when they came out to us, I can see why. They were freshly wrapped and made to serve to us, not precooked and set aside then reheated, and not anything frozen. Jeremy and I were starving after our lab, so we opted to order two servings of the egg rolls so we could split them evenly.

And then, out came our delicious pho! Just the smell of it when the server took the top off the bowl...yum! As traditional with pho, there were extra additives on the side for the pho. Spicy peppers, cilantro, basil, limes, and bean sprouts. And for that extra spiciness there was also hoisin and sriracha.

Before I ever, ever add any of this to my pho, though, I also take a few sips or spoonfuls of the broth. Everyone who makes pho has their own special recipe, especially if you're going to a restaurant whose owners are Vietnamese. It's either something they've concocted up themselves, or it's a family recipe passed down. Do the cook some justice and try the broth by itself. Maybe you'll like it so much that you won't want to add any hoisin or srirachi. Or anything, even.

I like additives, though, so after tasting the broth for a few spoonfuls I dug right in. I always add a bit of everything. Mainly because it makes the pho a bit more filling and worthwhile for me. Sometimes, however, I don't add hoisin or srirachi. But yesterday, due to me being sick and it being allergy season, I was feeling the itch for something spicy. So I added just a bit of both, and a few spicy peppers. It helped clear up my sinuses like a charm! I also added a ton of bean sprouts and basically stole all the basil from Jeremy, because those are my two favorite things in pho. Squeeze in a little lime juice and dropped the limes in, add the cilantro, and done! Trust me when I saw I finished the entire bowl this time. To the last drop. The only thing left at the bottom were my limes! I was stuffed full after this lunch, but my stomach was content and I was feeling better. It was so worth feeling like a balloon.

Jeremy isn't much for too many additives in his pho. He likes it simple. He squeezed in some lime juice, dropped the limes in, and then added bean sprouts and cilantro. We both ordered the Pho Tai Nam, which had steak flank as the main meat. The first time we visited, Jeremy tried the yellow chicken curry—and being Indian, discovered that it was a bit too sweet for his liking. I'm interested in trying the curry in the future...but honestly, there's enough places in Flagstaff to get amazing curry, and only one place to get amazing pho. So I'm more interested in trying their other pho types available at MPM Pho. They even have a seafood pho that has shrimp in it, and it looks delicious!

I should also mention that they recently changed their menu, so looking online before visiting may not do much justice for the place. They serve traditional Vietnamese sandwiches and salads, hot noodle dishes, curries, rice dishes, and of course, pho. They also have a vegetarian menu, something that they didn't offer back in January when we visited.

If you're looking for a place to warm your tummy, MPM Pho is top of the list of restaurants in Flagstaff, Arizona to visit. At this point, I'm so in love with the place that I don't even care about trying new Flagstaff restaurants anymore—I just want to keep coming back to try the different pho!

Synopsis: Having returned to college after a year long break, due to her family's poor background, Hong Sul, a hard-working over-achiever, inadvertently got on the wrong side of Yoo Jung, her senior who is athletic, good looking, gets good grades and has a kind personality, but also a hidden dark side. From then on her life took a turn for the worse and Sul was almost certain it was all Yoo Jung's doing. So why is he suddenly acting so friendly a year later?

My Rating: 3 of 5 stars

Title: Cheese in the Trap

Episodes: 16

Genre(s): Drama, friendship, life, romance, psychological

Air Date: January 4, 2016—March 1, 2016

Country: South Korea

Network: tvN

• • •

This review is actually coming fairly late. I finished this drama back at the start of March, when the last episode came out, but never got time to writing something about this drama. Mainly because...I'm not a huge fan of it, to be honest. I'm not the type of person who likes to compare something to its original work (Cheese in the Trap was originally a webtoon available on LINE) because I feel that's unfair to the producer and the webtoon author both, as two separate artists. I just like to think of things, even if they're based on each other, as their own separate works and respect them for what they are and who created them, and the vision that those people had when they created it. Movies based off books, TV shows based off books—anything, whatever it is. I just try not to compare. Even when there is a parent material to something, everyone has their own take on it, and that's something I respect.

But I couldn't help myself once it got to around episode 12 of CITT. It was completely impossible to not compare in my mind. The drama just doesn't have the same feel of the webtoon. Now if you read a previous rant post of mine, you probably know that I don't care about the whole drama-not-following-the-webtoon-storyline problem. For the same reason as above. I respect both things for what they are. I know there are separate issues about that which make CITT extremely problematic, but my thought on that is whatever. That's not the reason I didn't like CITT once it got to later in the drama.

Honestly, I was enjoying for the most part. I didn't care that they weren't focusing on Jung's backstory and instead were focusing more on In Ho. I didn't care that they were playing with the idea of a Seol/In Ho love possibility. Because despite what others watching the drama and reading the webtoon thought, the author was and is playing with the idea of In Ho and Seol. Maybe not as obviously as Jung...but it is there. And yes, Jung got more backstory in the webtoon than he did in the drama and maybe that's a little unfair. But people were making such a big stink about it by the time the drama was about to end that all of that ended up being one thing turning me off from this drama by the time it came to an end.

But I really was enjoying it in the beginning. It's funny, cute, and I loved the character development. I loved how certain characters would take one step forward and then a few steps back. I'm regretful that certain characters didn't appear more, and certain plotlines weren't developed more...but I really liked what CITT as a drama was offering and it was fun to watch while reading the webtoon. But then it just got to this point where everything this drama became wasn't what I was looking for in a drama. I wanted the love and romance, and friendship plots, and that very minimal psychological twist. I enjoyed watching a college-themed drama.

But somewhere along the way all the complaints about the drama got to me. And then the production started to feel really cheap and as if things were being rushed. Then certain characters started to appear less and I didn't think much of it, and at certain points I didn't even mind it...but then it became extremely blatant and it felt as though favorites were being played, rather than a story being told. I feel extremely regretful toward many of the actors for this. Toward Park Hae Jin who joined because he enjoyed the webtoon. To Kim Go Eun who hasn't ever acted in a drama production before, and this was her first one. And to Seo Kang Joon who did his best acting yet and finally got recognition, but also got backlash as if what was happening in the drama were his fault. I feel so sad for them all.

I've watched a lot of school themed dramas in my time of being interested in Korean dramas, so the fact that this drama was centered around college was really nice. While it didn't focus on college life explicitly, it was still nice to have certain things thrown in that referred to college life and because it was still a school drama, but college-centered, some things were a bit more realistic. As said before, I liked the character development of many characters. I also enjoyed the use of Seol's inner thoughts in the drama—an aspect that was extremely prevalent in the webtoon, along with the first few flashbacks that were important to the plotline. I think the drama did a decent job of intermingling those flashbacks, whereas the webtoon did the obvious thing and made them the first few chapters to allow backstory.

Amidst the good, though, somewhere along the way I just lost my spark for this drama. The complaints got to me, as I said, and production for the drama started to decrease. At least, that's the way it seemed. The time and energy that went into these characters who I was so excited to see brought to life on screen just seemed to dwindle out. Even the actors weren't putting as much effort in. Or maybe it was the way the drama was edited that was making it seem that way? That and some characters were losing their depth, like Jung. And as the series wore on his acting just dwindled to nothing. Not even including the fact that he wasn't as present as often anymore, he just...wasn't delivering lines like he should have been and he seemed uninterested. Jung as a character is like that to a point, but this was different. It made watching him on the screen boring. It made me tense whenever he appeared for a scene in the drama. Then characters like Baek In Ha never even had any depth to offer, and while I enjoyed her presence in the drama I felt she made more of an impact in the webtoon. That and Lee Sungkyung's acting didn't help any, which disappointed me. Lee Sungkyung is a good actress, but her playing In Ha was overdone, disgustingly dramatic, and felt like she was trying too hard.

I still recommend this drama, to an extent. I did like it. I didn't like it at the end. The ending to the story felt rushed and left everything up in the air. There was absolutely no closure at all and it was rough to watch characters I had grown attached to be given nothing at the end. Even In Ho, who started playing piano again, to me felt like he got duped. I kind of just sigh now, thinking of this drama. It could have been so much more, but it wasn't. And things got messy with the author of the original webtoon and the producers, and the cast. I wish it hadn't been like that. This drama had so much potential. But for what it was worth, there were still moments that made this drama worthwhile. The friendship in this drama was important, the problems that arose were also things that viewers could relate to. The characters were still amazing. It's a fun watch, and it will give you a ton of feels. But it may not end the way you want. It may not develop the way you want. And for me, it didn't...and I'm fairly disappointed in this drama.

I hate the doctors, and I'm not really sure why. I think the only "doctor" I ever really enjoyed going to was my orthodontist...and my rheumatologist. Sort of. And although I loved my pediatrician growing up as a person, I still loathed the idea of going to see a doctor. Don't even get me started on visiting dentists (which is ironic since orthodontists also worked in the mouth but dentists will literally make me cry?)

Have you ever had second lead syndrome so bad you want to throw your laptop across the room?

No? That's just me?

Oh. Okay, then.

But seriously, the Korean drama Cheese in the Trap is currently killing me right now. I already had second lead syndrome before going into watching the drama, and it's just been amplified as I've watched the drama. In case this sounds a bit strange to you—Cheese in the Trap is actually a Webtoon penned by author Soonkki that I am totally and utterly in love with and have been since this past summer, when I started reading it.

The lead, Yoo Jung, has always come off as rather...well, simply put, sketchy to me. He's hot and cold too often, and he always seems to have an ulterior motive. While the first season of the Webtoon was a bit better at conveying this because it was comprised of a lot of flashbacks and setup of the entire series (which is currently ongoing, whereas the drama is going to end in a few episodes), the most recent seasons it's still fairly obvious that Jung has some sort of...ulterior motive. I don't know what it is, but it bothers me. What also bothers me is there are some serious markers in both the drama and the Webtoon that show Jung as, possibly, a sociopath.

But what really bothers me, though, is that the main girl, Hong Seol, doesn't even completely trust Jung, either, and she's dating him! And see this guy, here?


His name is Baek In Ho. He's a childhood friend of Jung's, and I absolutely love him in both the manga and in the drama. While his personality is a bit more tame in the drama, he's more of my kind of character that I always fall for. He's a spitfire, he's honest, and he's not good at showing his feelings but he cares. If anything, I absolutely love characters like this because they always have character development.

And, if anyone knows me by now, I love character development!

But on a more serious note, I have an extreme case of second lead syndrome, as I said before, and that image above is what finalized it. I prefer In Ho over Jung in general—whether we're talking about the drama or the Webtoon. In Ho's character is more trustworthy, and he's there when Seol needs him. They've gotten to know more intimate things about each other, such as some of Seol's family problems and her stalker, and In Ho has been there to stand up for and save her. He's even worried about Jung using her, as seen from some inner battles he has with himself in the Webtoon.

Whereas Jung...what? What is he? What is he to Seol? Seol and Jung don't even seem to know why they like each other or are dating, and have admitted on several occasions they hated each other the prior year. And what kind of "getting to know each other" have they been doing? None. They go out to dinners when they can, but most times those plans get intercepted or cancelled (more so in the Webtoon). He hated her so much he's the one who manipulated someone into stalking her. And, speaking of manipulation, that's what he does with majority of his relationships.

And now, apparently, the show is receiving a lot of backfire, from what I've read. The reason? For not following the material of the manga. While I admit I haven't read past season two, I also have to say this—the show doesn't have any responsibility to follow the Webtoon exactly, despite what Yoo Jung's actor, Park Haejin, may think or say on the matter. It does claim to be true to the Webtoon, which is misleading and possibly unfair because Soonkki hasn't given her permission for some of the things that have happened in the drama to happen, and since the show claims it's true to the Webtoon...well, that's just not right. I hope it doesn't influence Soonkki to change whatever plans she has for the comic in the future. But I don't think it's fair, either way, to give the producers such crap about not staying true to Yoo Jung and Hong Seol's relationship. Even the Webtoon has been splitting time between the characters evenly, so I see no problem with what the drama is doing or with the drama wanting to be unique to the parent material.

The rumors that are going around about everything going on concerning the drama are worrisome to me, especially because I like Seo Kang Joon and don't want him to receive a bad rap for this—because Korean fans are insanely fucking obsessive when it comes to their music and dramas—but I can't say I dislike the direction the drama is going in. Sure, it would've been nice for Jung to get some of the backstory that appeared in the Webtoon in order to understand him a bit more...but I don't even like him in the Webtoon, so it's not a huge loss to me. I'm skeptical, anyway, because also despite what Park Haejin may say...well, the lead always gets the girl, from my personal experience of watching dramas. So cry about it a little more, everyone.

I'm rooting for In Ho to win in the end, despite what people say. Because I've been rooting for In Ho since the day he showed up in the Webtoon.

Okay, maybe hate is a strong word (actually, not maybe—it is a strong word) but I really, really didn't like Valentine's Day. This dislike mainly stemmed from the fact that, at home, I saw my father and mother love each other each and every day. Sure, he bought not only my mother, but me as well, flowers and chocolates or a card on Valentine's...but he also did those things during the year, as well. My dad always buys my mom lilies on Easter and poinsettias in December. He gets her a card for Mother's dad and her birthday. Every time she goes on a trip somewhere, even if it's just a 2-hour day trip, he kisses her before she gets in the car and tells her to drive safe.

When I was in elementary school, Valentine's Day didn't seem so bad. It was a day to appreciate friends, get cards, and also get candy. As I grew up and got closer to about the 5th grade and eased my way into middle school...well, everything at that stage in life was about who was crushing on who—at least at my school it was. So I started to dislike Valentine's slowly. Because all I saw were guys buying one or two girls in particular gifts to win her over. I literally mean one guy would buy her flowers and chocolates, and then another guy would show up with a giant bear holding a heart, flowers, and chocolate. They were all competing. For the same girl. Okay, yes, she was pretty. She was nice. We can't deny these things. But at my middle school it just became a competition for the one popular girl's attention. I can't even say heart, because who takes dating seriously at that age?

Basically, it was nothing my parents taught me about Valentine's Day. To me, Valentine's Day was about showing love you should be showing every day of the year to people you care about. Not just significant others, but your family and friends and parents, as well.

It got worse in high school. By the time high school rolled around, I had basically labeled Valentine's Day as a "commercial holiday"—where the point was literally just to buy chocolates, stuffed animals, and flowers to toss at the person you supposedly "liked" to just have it tossed aside after a few months when it started to take up too much storage space...and then forget you liked the person and spent money on them, anyway. I wasn't even bitter, either. I still got cards and flowers from my dad. My mom gave me chocolates. My brother would get me a card. My best guy friend would buy me chocolates or a card. But these people are all people I also received love from throughout the year. My parents have always provided for and loved me. My brother shows his appreciation in his own way. My best guy friend would buy me flowers or gifts on my birthday, or if he couldn't do that he'd write me a letter. So getting gifts from them on Valentine's day just meant I was either getting something edible or red. So, I got attention on Valentine's, but I still hated the holiday.

As I got to my senior year in high school my dislike for Valentine's slowly dwindled to a slight annoyance. It was still, at that point, mainly about pleasing the most popular girl on campus. There was still always one or two people that had the most bouquets or balloons they were walking around with. But I just started to ignore it and focus on myself, my family, and friends. Valentine's Day isn't special and it shouldn't be special. I decided if people make it special because they suddenly get spoiled and get a lot of attention from their significant other, then they obviously aren't appreciated or appreciative of that significant other. I took on this perspective at the end of high school, but it was further solidified when I started dating Jeremy.

Sure, I'll admit that I enjoyed the first Valentine's Day date with Jeremy—our first couple of months together. It was my first time being treated special on Valentine's. It was my first time having a guy plan out an entire surprise date for me. I think Jeremy saved the surprise date for Valentine's Day for that exact reason. He was well aware I'd never had a boyfriend before. So, yes, Valentine's Day 2014 was extremely special to me and I liked being spoiled. I liked being taken to a nice Mexican restaurant and then taken to an observatory and getting flowers and some chocolate. But even before that date, Jeremy already made me feel special. He already did little things to show he cared and he would always leave me little gifts—even if it was just a sticky note or a message on Facebook or even a text message—for me to wake up to. So when my first Valentine's Day where I got a cute, handsome, charming man to myself to spoil me happened...well, I loved it. I felt special.

But I also had already felt appreciated for every single day before Valentine's that Jeremy and I spent together.

Like I said in my previous Valentine's 2016 Date post...after the special day, Jeremy and I do exchange chocolates or flowers on Valentine's Day. But we also treat it like any other date day that we set aside every month. It's nothing special. It's just a day where I find an excuse to dress up for our date and then we go out and do normal, non-special things. We spend the same amount of money on each other that we usually would and we share our time together. Just like we do every month.

I still think of Valentine's Day as a commercial holiday. It's a day where stores prey on couples who feel insecure in their relationships or who just feel like they haven't been spending enough time together. But why use Valentine's Day as the excuse to suddenly start spending time together? To realize how you're loving your significant other? Spend every day treating them special. You don't need to spend a crap ton of money on someone in order to do that. Gifts, flowers, chocolates, and items with red hearts aren't required to make someone feel special. Just your love and undivided attention, and a tad bit of quality time. Gifts are nice, but they don't mean everything. Especially if it's a white teddy bear holding a heart that says "I LOVE YOU" that'll just collect dust on a shelf or the back of the closet when the month of February is over.

Between Jeremy and myself, Valentine's Day isn't anything special. Every month we have a day we set aside as our "Date Day" and it's this little tradition we've kept going since we started dating, just as a way to always appreciate each other and take some time for us. Because Valentine's Day is in February, and because you can get some fairly sweet deals on Valentine's—that's the day we go on our monthly date. That being said, I personally have nothing for or against Valentine's Day. I'll get into that at a later date.

Anyway, I have to admit last year's Valentine's was a bit busier. We went exploring downtown, visited our favorite tea shop, I got some pretty flowers from Jeremy, we went to a chocolate shop together and discovered everything was insanely over-priced, discovered a new Thai restaurant that we now love, and then went and got my anti-helices pierced. Pretty sweet.

This year wasn't like that very much, but the simplicity of it all was nice. We explored downtown again—that's usually our go-to thing. Downtown is always changing. The stores are constant but the activities are always different, and so it's fun to just walk it with Jeremy and window shop and pop into some of our favorite stores just to explore. I never thought I'd actually find someone I could window shop with, of all things. But that's my Jeremy for you! This time, instead of exploring stores like usual, we were mainly focused on scoping out food places for our Valentine's Day lunch and also for future reference. There are a ton of food places we've yet to try, and whenever we say we're going to go somewhere new, we don't. So we forced ourselves to find somewhere new to try.

First off, my day actually started by waking up to this cutie pie's face:


Ghost woke me up with the treat of him gazing down at me lovingly (or maybe he just wanted me to wake up and open the bathroom for him, who really knows) and purring. So Jeremy and I cuddled with him for a while and set about getting ready for the day. We discovered in the midst of getting ready that our water heater was acting up again, but I told Jeremy there was absolutely no way someone was coming out today because we had plans.