Movietalk

Several weeks back my sisters did a Lord of the Rings marathon at a friend's house(I've done this once before, and enjoyed it, but don't need to do it again, at least not for a long time.) With them being gone all day my mother and I decided to have our own movie day, so went out and rented three movies, got some chocolate and other "movie snacks". =)

NOTE: If you haven't seen these movies there are some spoilers.

We started out with A Walk to Remember, which I had heard about a while before and been somewhat interested in seeing ever since. I did enjoy it, although was rather surprised at some of the language in it considering it's PG rating.

I appreciated the portrayal of Mandy Moore's character, Jamie, and her strong faith, it was good to see it portrayed in a genuine and beautiful way, rather than in mockery and derision, such as is usually seen in any Hollywood movies that have any kind of Christian character, especially in a movie about high-school and teens.

One thing that disappointed me is that you don't see if Landon really understands and comes to a knowledge of that faith that she has. He respects it, but you don't see him really digging to find out about it or want it for himself.

Next up, we watched Sherlock Holmes. I really wasn't sure what to expect of this, I had heard mixed reports on it, and so really came into it with no idea of how it would end up being.

Overall I did enjoy it, there were some parts I think could have been done without, and there were some parts I thought were awesome.

The clips of him going through all his next moves in his mind were well done, I enjoyed seeing how he thought it out and came to the conclusions that he did. The whole black magic thing was rather disturbing, but it was nice to see it all exposed in the end. Although it did give a sense though out the entire movie that kind of messed it up a bit for me, I would have preferred seeing him work on a case that wasn't quite so "demonic".

Watson was definitely my favorite character, I much preferred him over Holmes, and well, you really gotta admire the guy for his patience in working with Holmes.

And finally we watched Inception. There are so many reviews out on this movie I'm not sure I even want to bother with one. I will say that I enjoyed it way more than I had thought I would. I tend to be something of a skeptic when it comes to movies, especially with huge blockbusters that everyone likes to rave about. But I had to eat some of my own words when it came to this one.

I think they did an excellent job in putting it all together, and making a movie that actually had something of a plot and story rather than being all about the action and special effects. Although the special effects were really cool.

It was well acted, had amazing cinematography, and was beautifully scored. And I think that's

about all I'm going to say, since really, everything else has already been said. =)

Wee Bit of Me Wednesday~1

{one}what color is your kitchen?

Mainly green, with a lot of natural wood colors.

{two}do you have a good luck charm?

No, not really something I'm into. Actually I don't believe in luck, blessing come from the Lord and He is always there with me.

{three} do you prefer to write with pencil or pen?

Definitely pen, I have this thing with pens and go through a lot of them trying to find just the right one, which occasionally I do, and it makes my day!

{four} can you use chopsticks?

It's been quite a while but I think I still can, though I'd prefer to stick with a fork if I have the option.

{five} do you prefer baths or showers?

In general showers, if I had a bathtub that was actually comfortable to be in, I might like them a little more. But I also love to sing in the shower.

{six} what is your favorite salad dressing?

I like ranch if it's made with buttermilk, otherwise I prefer Italian.

{seven} can you sing the alphabet backwards?

That is something I have never tried, and am not sure if I even want to.

{eight} do you have any allergies?

I get hayfever in the spring, it's not as bad as it was when I was younger, but still quite bothersome.

{nine} crunchy or creamy peanut butter?

Crunchy. Most definitely.

{ten} have you ever hitch-hiked?

Nope, and hope that I will not have to at any point in the near future.

John Adams~ A Review

"Let us dare to read, think, speak, and write." ~John Adams

I have been desiring to watch HBO's series on John Adams based off David McCullough's book for some time, and just recently was able to sit down and see it. Started reading the book quite a while ago, though have not as of yet finished it. But from what I have read they did seem to follow it rather closely. How accurate the book itself is, especially of Adam's personal life and character is debatable. But I feel the did more accurately represent the lifestyle of the people living during the American Revolution. Showing it not as a time of freedom and victory as we often picture, but "... a year of all-too-few victories, of sustained suffering, disease, hunger, desertion, cowardice, disillusionment, defeat, terrible discouragement, and fear, as they would never forget, but also of phenomenal courage and bedrock devotion to country, and that too they would never forget." ~ David McCullough

In the reading and watching of it I actually lost quite a bit of respect for John Adams, mainly in how he cared for his family, or rather didn't care for them. Being gone for most of their childhood and so leaving his wife with the full responsibility of caring for and training them. Then even calling her away and sending them to schools. Also in how he handled other men, his lack of graciousness and tact. Not a particularly likable guy.

But as I look at it, in a way it is a good thing that they chose to portray all these things. Many look up to the founding fathers of our nation as very high-standing , exceptional men, and forget that, while they did do amazing things and had much courage and fortitude, they were fallen human being just the same as we are. They had faults and could be harsh and cantankerous.

I very much appreciated the filmmakers for showing things as they were. Not putting the Hollywood glamour into it, but showing hard times as truly being that.

I would not recommend it for younger audiences, because of the portrayal of the events taking place. It is a story of war and the brutality of men's actions to one another during such times.

"Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence." ~ John Adams

French Girl Knits

This is a book I would love to get my hands on, all the sweaters are so delicate and feminine looking without being overdone. I've been getting back into more knitting lately and so have been browsing a lot of patterns, most books have just one or two things I like so I can't seem to justify buying the whole thing. But this one I think would be worth it all. Here's a few samples of whats in it!

This one I have definite plans to make for this spring and summer, just need to finish up the other projects I'm working on right now. Which hopefully will be just in time for warm enough weather to actually pull this look off.

Thoughts of Spring

What is your comfort food/drink?

Drink would most certainly be tea, iced the summer, hot in the winter. Food would vary depending on my mood, chocolate always does the trick!

If money wasn't a factor, what stores would you shop in?

Modcloth, Burberry, Coldwater Creek.

What movie or book character can you most relate to?

There's different aspects of a lot of different ones, I can't seem to think of one that I would say is more than another or that I can almost completely relate to, so I'm just going to go with "Anne " from Anne of Green Gables, because she is my all-time favorite heroine. Though I'm not nearly as outgoing and talkative as she is.

What are you favorite types of reading material?

Probably historical fiction, and older "classic" books.

What is one of your favorite things to catch a whiff of?

Definitely coffee, though there are certain colognes that I really like too, which is one thing I love about having my brother-in-law around, he always has great ones.=)

If you could live anywhere at all(and take all your loved ones with you), where would you go?

Italy, though I really like Scotland and New Zealand too.

Name one weakness of yours. (Confession is good for the soul.)

I very much dislike getting up in the morning, especially when it's cold, and will often stay in bed for far longer than I should. Part of this being a result of liking to stay up late reading or on my laptop.

If you inherited a million dollars, what is the first thing you would do with the money?

Probably stare at it in disbelief for a while, but then I would put it into getting our house finished(I would love some floor and sheet-rock in my room), and then doing some landscaping on our property.

2-14-2011

"Love is not affectionate feeling, but a steady wish for the loved person's ultimate good as far as it can be obtained." - C.S. Lewis

"Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage." - Laozi

"Love is many things, none of them logical." - William Goldman

"It is by loving and not by being loved that one can come nearest the soul of another; yea, that, where two love, it is the loving of each other, that originates and perfects and assures their blessedness." - George MacDonald

"To love is to be vulnerable, love anything and your heart will be wrung and possible broken." - C.S. Lewis

"You were never poor as long as you had something to love." - L.M. Montgomery

"It takes courage to love, but pain through love is the purifying fire that those who love generously know." - Eleanor Roosevelt

"To love would be an awfully big adventure." - J.M. Barrie

Time To Catch Up!

I feel quite remorseful every time I look at this blog and see the lack of posts. And yet I don't take the time to sit down and do anything about it. And that is certainly not for lack of time either. So here am now to fill you in on what has been going on in my life over the past few weeks.

Our Christmas was quiet and simple, just the way we wanted it, unfortunately I developed a pretty nasty cold the day before so spent much of Christmas Eve night trying to find a position I could breathe in and not wake my sisters up with my constant moving around (for as long as I can remember we have all slept in the same room together on Christmas Eve). Because of that, Christmas Day was a bit of a sleepy day for me, but I still enjoyed it very much and feel very blessed to have been able to spend it with my family, in our own merry traditions, and hope that I will always look forward to it with a childlike eagerness!

Around that same time, I started working as a nanny two days a week for two little gentlemen, ages 2 years and 3 months. This has been something of a different experience for me as I haven't taken care of such young children before and all of my other jobs of a similar nature have been with girls. But it has been a lot of fun and I look forward to what they will be teaching me as I seek to care for them as best that I can.

I mentioned a little while back that I was in a production of A Christmas Carol, playing the role of "Mrs. Cratchit". That again was a entirely new experience for me, I have done choir for many years but this was my first time being in a theatrical. And if given the opportunity I would most certainly do it again! I'm a rather reserved person, so this was quite a bit out of my comfort zone, and at first I was very uncertain about even being involved in it. However I think it brought something out in me that I didn't even know I had, I was never nervous about getting up on stage and loved every time that I could get out there and dance and sing. A friend told me that they were very surprised when they hear that I was doing this, because it seemed so foreign from what they knew of me, and then when they saw me actually doing it, they were even more surprised to see how much I was getting into it. =)

I've been having a host of new experiences lately! My next one however was not nearly as enjoyable. New Year's Eve, I had the opportunity to see how it is riding in the ambulance then being life-flighted to the hospital! That's one I think I could have gone without, but right now I just praise the Lord that I am back at home and have no more than a sprained back and some nasty headaches. And how did this "privilege" become mine? That day was a very long one, I hadn't gotten very good nutrition(more caffeine and sugar than was best) was out very late at a party, still coming off a cold, and quite stressed out. All of this on top of a head injury I had last summer, lead to me passing out and then having a seizure. I was released Sunday afternoon, and have spent most of the last week sleeping trying to get my body fully recovered from the trauma, am on an anti-seizure medication, and will be going to the doctor on Wednesday to get some more things figured out. Please pray that we would be able to work things out to get me off the the meds(the side effects have been bad headaches and an overall drowsiness that can make it difficult to function throughout the day).

Well, I think that pretty well sums things up so far. My plan is to try and keep up with things a little better on here...(hmmm). Any thoughts on the new background? I'm still not certain about it, may play around some, so if you see a lot of weird things constantly changing, it's just me being bored.=)

"Our faith is never so tested - our weakness ever so magnified - our reliance in the Lord never so strengthened - as when we are called to wait upon the Lord's perfect timing, and to obey despite what the outcome may be as we watch his sovereign plan unfold."

- Jasmine Baucham