Oh My Edward

Hello Twilighters!

We took the family and some friends to the Twilight movie on Saturday night. In case anyone is feeling "on the fence" about whether or not to go see it in the theater or wait for it to come out on DVD, I offer the following post. Don't worry, there won't be any spoilers.


Hello makeup! You can only put so much white facepaint and red lipgloss on someone before it looks ridiculous. In the world of computer-modified pictures, couldn't we find a better way to vamp out the cast? Regardless, it was only a minor distraction for me, and didn't ruin the movie by any means.

Alice, the actress, the character, perfect. I'm only disappointed that we didn't get to see much of her, or the other Cullens for that matter. My recollection of the first book is somewhat hazy, but the other vamps played an extremely minor role to Eddie and Bells. I think we actually got to see more of Chief Swan than the book portrayed. My first thought was that he is a bigger name than some of the other cast members, but then I recognized Carlisle as Peter Facinelli, and I became more disappointed in the fact that we didn't see him more.

Finally, awkward teenage moments...in this movie there are several. If you thought the book read like a high school diary (like I did) then you may find yourself shifting in your seat at several points in this movie (like I did).

This is not to say that I didn't enjoy the movie, but I would have enjoyed it more at the price of a Redbox movie, and not the silver screen.

Recent Politics

With the election over I am finally able to exhale a long-held sigh of relief. I am hopeful that our newly elected president can begin to mend the damage done to our economy, the relationships we held with the rest of the world, and with each other.

In spite of this large step towards healing, it seems a good majority of us still cling to hate and narrow-minded ideas. I firmly believe that God is more liberal in his views and boundless in his mercies than we are ready to believe or receive. A friend of mine posted a message from Keith Olbermann:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4xfMisqab8

I think he has some very interesting things to say, and it causes me to wonder about the nature of obedience. We all understand that in our history God has given us directions that seem to conflict with others. Here are a couple of examples I am sure you are familiar with, "multiply and replenish the Earth" and "eat not of the fruit of the tree of knowledge", "thou shalt not kill" and Nephi being instructed to kill Laban. It seems to me that we are given a multitude of choices and the opportunity to exercise our free agency to make those choices. In many circumstances, I'm not sure that one choice is more correct than another. If Nephi had spared Laban, do you think he would have been punished, or do you think God had another plan? I prefer to think that either another choice would be offered, or that his death may have come about by another means. I don't think that Nephi made a wrong decision, but he made a decision and it is in exercising our agency that we learn.

In researching conflicting commandments I came across a poem by Keith Kent entitled The Paradoxical Commandments. I thought it was an interesting read so thought I would share:

1. People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered. Love them anyway.
2. If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Do good anyway.
3. If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies. Succeed anyway.
4. The good you do today, will be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway.
5. Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable. Be honest and frank anyway.
6. The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds. Think big anyway.
7. People favor underdogs, but follow only top dogs. Fight for a few underdogs anyway.
8. What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight. Build anyway.
9. People really need help, but may attack you if you do help them. Help people anyway.
10. Give the world the best you have and you’ll get kicked in the teeth. Give the world the best you have anyway.
I hope that when we are confronted with choices that seem to conflict with lessons we have been taught or learned we will exercise our agency in a way that is pleasing to the Lord. Life is about making choices and learning from the consequences. For myself, I hope along the way I learn humility and compassion, and forget pride and intolerance.

Tagged...but that's it!

My sister tagged me in her blog and now I'm supposed to post my 4th picture in my 4th folder. Well, my 4th folder at home is Lagoon pictures, which have already been posted, and my 4th folder at work is wallpaper pictures (booooring!). So I'm just posting a random picture I found while going through my pictures. Sue me.

This is me and Ty and I's good friend Brandy (aka 'the good Brandy'). We're all swankified because we're at the Utah AIDS Foundation Oscar Gala (2008). I don't know who won which Oscars but the party was fun, and we made a bit of coin for charity.

So I would tag someone else, but I'm kind of the end of the line for those kinds of things. Ciao!

'Tis the Season

Quick post (B, I'll respond to your "tag" and post the 4th picture in my 4th picture folder another time), but Ty and I went to Lowe's last week to get a hinge or a pipe or something and what did we see when we first walked in? Christmas Trees!!! Seriously people, Halloween hadn't even happened yet!

So, in the spirit of Christmas getting here a little bit earlier each year, I post the following:

Ho, ho, h-bah humbug!

The Mummy ... Bombed.

I had a feeling I was going to be disappointed with this movie when the part of Evie was played by an actress that was not Rachel Weisz. We love Rachel Weisz. This movie would have been 10 times better with Rachel Weisz. Instead, it was only somewhat entertaining, and that was when I completely ignored the storyline and just focused on the special effects.

For those of you who like flashbacks...

"What is a place like me doing, in a girl like this?"

So that's what Ty and I did over Labor Day weekend. Saw a movie, played with the puppy, did some yard work. How was yours?

Puppy!!!

Hold on to your knickers folks, I'm updating again!

Tyler and I took the plunge and have moved onto the next phase of our relationship, parenting. We got little Sadie last Sunday and have had her for a whole week to make sure my allergies can handle it. Since that hurdle is now overcome, we thought it would be prudent to announce the new addition to the family...


Sadie is a 7-month old rat terrier. We saw an add for her on KSL Classifieds and met the owner at Murray Park and took an instant liking to her. The owner wasn't asking for money, which was a shock to us, only that she get a good home. We took her home and the rest is history.


She's a very good girl and is nearly housebroken. We've only had a few incidents and she seems to be bonding to both of us well. For those of you who are worried about visiting us now, she's very well-behaved and doesn't bite. She loves kids and seems to be less hyper around them. She also doesn't have an undercoat. That means, little shedding and fewer allergens in the air at the house. Finally, we have a Dyson, which means HEPA filter!! So feel free to visit. Weekends are best as she gets a bath!!

Say g'nite Sadie!

What Fun IS!

Yesterday my sister (B), her sister-in-law (D) and Tybo went to Lagoon! My work (yay, eBay!) had our annual summer party there this year. Our day began at 10AM.

I neglected to take pictures for the first half of the day. Sorry folks. But prior to lunch, we went on Wicked, which included teasing D about keeping her head inside the ride at all times to avoid decapitation. The ride was short but fun, highly recommended! Then we went on the Spider. Another fun ride, where one spends part of the time going forward and another going backward, with random spinning in-between. Aside from the gum that seemed to line the entire structure going up to the ride (freakin' kids) we loved it. After the Spider we tried the Wild Mouse. Now, I know what you're thinking...isn't that a kiddie ride? Well, considering the number of people who have lost their lives to the notorious mouse, we thought it rather brave of ourselves to give this one a try. Actually, D probably screamed louder on this ride than any of the others.

After Wild Mouse we had lunch on eBay. Burgers and hotdogs, can you imagine a tastier meal? We couldn't, and it was freakin' good, especially considering how hot it was, and how hungry we ended up being. After a quick lap to say 'hey' to the co-workers, we were off to ride the rides again, starting with the Bat. It had a very scary entrance. Ty and B were spooked! This nice thing about this ride was that your feet get to dangle and B got to kick off her flip flops. Which was good, stinky feet need to air out a bit. After that, we were off to the Re-Entry, not to be confused with the Rocket, which is the exact same ride, but in reverse. The Re-Entry takes you straight up a few hundred feet, and then drops you straight down, literally your seat is taken out from under you. Very fun!

After that we went on the Samurai, a spin-you-around-six-different-ways-including-upside-down kind of ride. I laughed hysterically, I think we all did, but D and I left the ride with a bit of a headache. I managed to recover but D was still jumbled up a bit later. To further jumble us up, we went on the Boomerang. For those of you who don't know, that's the bumper cars. There was no line, which was good. Though you'll get a different account of who-owned-who in the ride, I think it's safe to say that I was the best and most aggressive driver. Again...it depends on who you talk to.

After the Boomerang we decided to play one of the many games for prizes you see around the place. B wanted to play the squirt-gun-clown-balloon game. I totally won this one and got a little bride teddy bear. Since Ty and I have teddy bears all over the house, we gave it to D. I think it made her headache feel a little better.

Teddy in hand, we headed over to Pioneer Village for some ice cream. We almost thought better of it when we passed the dentist's shop. But our need for sugar and something cold won out. We all decided Rocky Road was the way to go. B and I didn't finish it all so threw some of it away, much to the disappointment of D, who seems to have a much higher level of regard for ice cream. Her regard is so high, in fact, that when her scoop of ice cream fell out of her cone, she caught it with her bare hand. Ha ha!

After devouring our cold and creamy treats we proceeded to wait in the longest line since the beginning of time for the Log Ride. Seriously, we couldn't figure out what the problem was until we actually got to the ride and saw people riding as singles. Come on people, get a little closer and get on the ride! We were significantly hotter and tired by the time we got to the front, which was probably why the girls stole the back of the ride, assuring that wetness would be had by all.

After that we tried to convince ourselves that the 5-hour wait to ride on Wicked again would be worth it, but after 5 minutes in line, we thought better of it and ran over to the Colossus. It ended up being a lot more fun than we thought it would be, possibly because we were seated at the back. It seemed to be a lot faster than I remember.

After that we called it a day and grabbed one of my co-workers as they were entering the park to snap a photo of all of us. See you soon, at Lagoon!