I am Legend

I was actually impressed by this movie...and I think I deserved to see a good movie because I shelled out 9 bucks for it! I had heard it was interesting and that it had some sweet special effects. Besides that I really didn't even know what it was about.

I don't want to ruin it for anybody, but I felt that I should share my opinion on it. I usually do not like sci-fi movies...this one however is worth seeing for these reasons.

1. The opening scene is almost worth it by itself.
2. Awesome cinematography of the deserted city.
3. The mustang he drives is Amazing.
4. Will Smith manages to entertain you...even though he is basically the only person in the movie.
5. I was on the edge of my seat a few times.
6. A few witty jokes.
7. Great one to see in loud surround sound.
8. Others have also given it pretty good ratings.

If you are easily scared, "cough" KACEY, I wouldn't recommend seeing it. It isn't a horror flick, but I could understand how people could be a bit freaked out at the end.

Overall, I would give it a 4 out of 5.

We haven't watched Air Guitar Nation yet, but I have pretty high expectations on it. I will let you know how it was.

That Post Christmas Feeling

I hate that feeling. I thought it would go away as I got older, but it hasn't. Do other people get this feeling? It is the feeling of a years' anticipation that is over in a day. Christmas is by far my favorite holiday, which doesn't really make since because I hate cold weather and snow. But when it is over, I feel like I'm just stuck with cold weather for 3 more months. boo to that! I'm trying to get Ben to move down south...like Texas, Alabama, or Southern Cali. That's besides the point though. (Mom, I highly doubt we will ever go...so don't worry)

Anyways, I am just glad that it isn't as bad as it used to be. I remember when I was little I would have to fight back tears when we were done opening gifts. This made me nervous because I never wanted it to come off like I wasn't excited about my gifts...because my parents have always done an amazing job of making us feel special with the things they bought us. It has nothing to do with presents. I can't really figure it out.

That all aside...we had an Amazing Christmas! It was a blast to hang out with both sides of our family, we ate great food, and were spoiled rotten. Maybe that's why it stinks that it's over...because it was so great!

I feel like I made out like a bandit (when I typed that I laughed because I thougth of a bandit making out).

Here are some of my favorite gifts:

-CD player for my car with hookup for my ipod
-Singstar Rocks (for PS2)
-Sedu Ionic Ceramic Tourmaline Flat Iron
-BUZZ
-Graffiti coffee table books
-Large Pier 1 Wall Art
-Urban Myth board game
-Velvet Elvis
-Dartboard
-Jewelry
-Subscription to Women's Health
-Giftcards, candles, ornaments, etc, etc

Some of Ben's sweetest gifts were
- A huge Chicago Bears sign (6 feet by like 3 feet)
- Giftcards to NewEgg
- Bocce Ball
- Illini apparel
- Walter Payton Jersey
- Bears hat, blanket, etc
- Air Guitar Nation
- Zippo lighter (he has always wanted one)
- Kanakuk shirt
- Giftcards, etc, etc

We were very grateful for everything that we received! Plus we are very excited to play with all of our new stuff!

Christmas at the Owens

I feel truly blessed to have such Amazing friends. We decided to do dinner, presents, and dessert at the Owens' house this year. We grilled out, which is Ben's favorite, and had tons of baked goods thanks to Benson's girlfriend Emily. We watched the beginning of Home Alone while we ate...and I came to the realization that I have seriously seen that movie around 30 some times. All 6 of us quoted almost every second of the movie.

The whole night was a blast and nothing beats quality time with your good friends. It is so rare to find people who care to get to know you...and then still like you once they have witnessed your annoying quirks. Now those are some good friends!

Me and Ben couldn't stop talking about how lucky we were to have those friends in our lives. Amazing!

Here are some pictures from our night.

Busy ahhhhh

Not much time to write tonight. It was Christen's birthday and I feel like I didn't really even get to celebrate with her much. I had to finish editing a wedding, we went out to the Pasta House for dinner with her family, and then we went to Olive Garden for dessert. Well about 25 people, including her parents and siblings went there...I was at Walgreens for about an hour waiting for them to develop some pictures for me.

Normally I wouldn't wait that long in the store, but they kept telling me that it was almost ready. So I would go look around the store and come back...the guy said just a bit longer. Walked around again, then he said it was broken and he was working on it.

I am starting to realize that I am way too passive, but I did manage to get my 5x7s for free.

So anyways, I wasted another 20 minutes in the store and then he told me that i should just come back later and get them. I started walking out the door and he yelled to me that they were printing now. So I waited...one jammed, then printed the rest. So an hour later I had my pictures and was able to meet up with the rest of the group for about a half an hour.

Now it is almost midnight. Crazy how time flys right on by when you have a lot to do. So that was my night. Bit stressful, but Christen liked her gift...that made it all worth it. Happy Birthday Christen!

Wrapping not Rapping

Tonight I wrapped, wrapped, and then wrapped some more. I think I am done...except for the gifts that Ben is in charge of. Once he gets them all, I will probably wrap those for him. And then I will be done!

I act like it is a bother to wrap gifts, but I secretly like it. I just love the whole gift process...the part I love the most is thinking up ideas. Actually that's a lie...I like watching people open up the gifts that I got them.

I wonder how many times I have said wrap? 7.

Well, I am going to finish editing a wedding and then off to bed for me. Sorry that I'm not more exciting. Maybe I will do something on purpose tomorrow just so my blog is better.

Would You Like Cheese On That?

Today was a bit of an off an off day. I wasn't feeling that hot this morning, I worked half a day, then I spent most of the evening shopping.

I think that I am finally close to done. It's those little 5 dollar white elephant gifts or the gift for your boss that usually slip your mind. I think I am going to bake some cookies and get some tins for those people that you want to get something for, but just don't know what.

My highlight was getting to meet up with my Dad and his buddy for some wings. They were in town since 1pm finishing up shopping for their wives, and they decided to give us a call. I thought it would be a good idea to split 16 wings with Ben...so in other words I got 5 and he ate 11. That's 50/50 right? ha. My Dad and his friend had some funny stories, they tortured Ben for awhile, and then we headed out.

I was still a bit hungry after my 5 wings so I had Ben stop at Sonic. We asked for a little bit of time while I decided what to get. The we said we were ready to order. The woman replied, "Would you like cheese on that?" uhhh...we would just like to order. So Ben kindly told her that we were just now ready to place our order and had not asked for anything that would need cheese. I ordered a peanut butter fudge shake for us to split and we pulled up. Just as we got to the window they shut off the lights outside. We apologized for coming at the last minute of their open hours and told her we didn't realize it was that late. She was nice and said no problem. We handed her the debit card and she then realized that the machine doesn't take debit cards after they turn the lights off outside. She informed us that we would be getting our shake on the house! woo hoo...free shake!

To recap the highlights of my night
-Dinner with Dad
-Talking to Ben (for what seemed like only .2 seconds)
-Free Shake

Bad start to my day, but I'd say a pretty good ending. I recommend the Peanut Butter Fudge Shake from Sonic...pretty tasty!

No Nap

Can you believe it? It was a Sunday and I did not take a nap. Today was a shopping, photo-editing, last minute online ordering day. Nothing too exciting...just finishing up Christmas shopping, which I love to do by the way. I think one of my love languages is giving gifts. I am constantly thinking up presents for people...too bad they cost money.

Speaking of money...I was just saying the other day that I would love to be rich. Not so I can buy stuff for myself, but so I can treat everybody else.

-I would donate money to the kid in the youth group wanting to travel overseas.
-I would buy my mom a new vehicle
-Buy both mine and Ben's fathers new boats
-We would take our good friends & family on a tropical vacation
-I'd love to send kids to camp for free(SBC & Kanakuk)
-Pay off our friends college bills
-I'd build a big kids indoor playground with zip lines, ball pits, trampoline basketball, paintball, rock-climbing, Velcro wall, big jumpy things, go karts, mini golf, laser tag, jousting, swimming pool, roller coaster, video games, etc. I know I just went off on a tangent, but just envision a place that encompasses Dave & Busters, Chucky Cheeses, Mc Donald's Playplace, and Post Prom events all into one. AMAZING!


Seriously, how awesome would that be. The lots of money part, not just the big kid playground. Now if Ben could just strike oil for me...I don't think that's asking too much.

So as I was saying. No nap today.

Laura & Blake's Wedding

Laura is a friend of mine from High School. We were in the same class, played softball and volleyball together, and we share a lot of great memories together. Some of my favorites are from the funny videos that we all made together. She was a Momma Sazuku bird, a rich groom who had colorful hair, and a license plate stealer on a talk show. Random I know...but great memories!

So she got her white Christmas wedding. It was beautiful and she of course looked amazing! I had the chance to catch up with all of my other High School friends as well and of course share some more laughs. You never really know how much you miss people until you get the chance to talk and reminisce. I had a great time and am now realizing that we don't have many more of these to go to. 4 out of the 9 are married now. The others better get moving so we have more excuses to get together and hang out.

Here are two pictures from the night. Ben was a trooper and made friends with people he didn't know. I love going to weddings because it means I get to dress him up. Plus it is always fun showing him off!




I can't wait for the next wedding...hopefully it is a summer one though. I never know what to wear to those darn winter ones.

Young Adults Christmas Party

We had the Young Adults Christmas Party tonight...tacky Christmas sweaters and white elephant gifts always make for a good time.



Some of the white elephant gifts tonight included:
- Atari plug n play keychain
- 20 Questions
- Illini Calendar
- 2 large posters stuffed with tshirts and firecrackers
- High School Letterman Jacket
- Roman Candle
- The Avenging Unicorn Play Set
- R2-D2 cake making kit

We walked away with The Avenging Unicorn Play Set & Illini Calendar.

Here is a picture for your viewing pleasure.



Besides the basic concept of the unicorn impaling figurines through their torsos, the back of the box cracked me up the most.

One section read:

The Unicorn Code
1) Unicorns never lie.
2) Unicorns always lend a helping hand.
3) Unicorns are loyal.
4) Unicorns can keep a secret.
5) Unicorns don't use drugs.

Got it kids! You can learn very valuable lessons from Unicorns!

Lanter Photo Shoot

Just a few from the photo shoot tonight. Adorable!

A Bit of Hot Chocolate

I forgot to blog about this the other day...and it was something that was actually worth blogging about. Last Saturday night we went out to dinner for our good friend Brad's birthday. We ate at Saputos with his family and then afterwards we met up with some other friends from our Young Adults group for dessert.

On our way back to Brad and Christen's house around 10:30 or so we noticed that there were come guys fixing a broken water line. It was freezing out...there were weather watches out for the ice, not to mention the frigid weather. These guys were out late, in the cold, and they were working with water. All I have to say to that is brrr!

So my wonderful and amazing friend Christen thought it would be nice to make some hot chocolate and coffee to take down to them. Actually she ended up making the coffee and hot chocolate by herself while I talked. I'm so helpful huh? Then we got in the car and drove down to them.

We asked them if they were hanging in there and did some chitty chat small talk and then offered them something hot to drink. The guys face lit up as he said that he'd love some coffee! He kept thanking us and telling us how nice we were. I wanted to say...uh she's the nice one... I'm just tagging along getting credit for her nice actions.

Then we walked down to another guy who was playing in the water from the water hydrant. Once again I feel the need to remind you that it was FREEZING out! We gave him some hot chocolate that he thanked us kindly for. Christen left the drinks as well as some Oreos for the guys to snack on. As we were leaving the 1st guy told us that nobody ever does this sort of thing for them and that he greatly appreciated it. I felt like a million bucks! I almost teared up a bit! When we got in the car I tried to give Christen props again for such a great idea and she said, "Not mine, God told me to." Humble too! What an awesome woman!

So there you go. An act of kindness that inspired me to look around more for opportunities to show Christ's love. An act that showed me to stay humble and listen to God. An act of kindness that was shown with only a bit of hot chocolate.

I heart THE OFFICE

Here is a secret...I love The Office. Love it! I can seem to get enough of it. I have it as my desktop background at home and work, I have magnets, post-it notes, and even a mousepad. (Thank you Target) I could quote it all day long and never get bored! It is by far the greatest show I have ever watched...followed by the British version. If you haven't been exposed to the British version, you should give it a try. Try to think of it as a completely different show...it is also hilarious, but different.

So I am eagerly awaiting for the next American episode to run. I'm getting ANTSY!! If I don't get me a Christmas Episode..I'm going to be TO'd! who got who for the secret Santa?? Or will it be a Yankee Swap year again?

Any who...here is a line art version of Dwight (even though Jim & Pam are my favs) that I made for all of you Office fans to enjoy! So ENJOY!

Storing Still Images

So I just started a photo a day blog site. I got the idea from two of my friends...it looks like it could be rewarding. I'll give it a chance.

If you're bored check it out when you get time.
storingstillimages.blogspot.com

If you want to read more about it check out Project 365.

Baby Simon...is getting Big!

Our nephew is getting so big. He gets cuter and cuter each time we see him. I just thought I would post some pictures showing off his sitting up skillz...and the fact that he can already read!

Our Duplex

So here is our new place. I thought I would post some pictures of what we have done so far...we still have more unpacking and organizing to do. Especially in the basement and office.

Porcelain Pee Hole

I just got done leading a Small Group of H.S. aged girls at the church. My friend Christen and I get together with these girls once a week to go over the book Every Young Woman's Battle. I am constantly amazed at how spiritually mature they are...I am blown away sometimes. It makes me realize how much I wish there were more girls like that when I was in High School. These girls are awesome though, truly awesome! I pray that they can continue to grow in their faith and maintain a strong footing with their beliefs. It is encouraging to see how God is working in this world even when it seems like it is going down the porcelain pee hole.

I know that these girls are going to be bombarded with temptations from every angle. It would be insane for Satan to not try to cause these God-fearing woman to stumble. I can only pray that they look to God for strength and guidance when trials present themselves. If you can please say a small prayer for all the young women who are trying to figure out life and themselves...pray that they figure out their purpose for Christ and allow Him to mold them.

I get excited when I see their potential and I feel very blessed to have the opportunity to cultivate a relationship with them.

Pocket Candy

pock·et /ˈpɒkɪt/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[pok-it]
–noun 1. a shaped piece of fabric attached inside or outside a garment and forming a pouch used esp. for carrying small articles.

can·dy /ˈkændi/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[kan-dee]
–noun 1. any of a variety of confections made with sugar, syrup, etc., often combined with chocolate, fruit, nuts, etc.

Now that we are all up to speed on what each word means, let me point out that a pocket is used to carry small articles. I would say that candy falls under the category of a small article.

So here is what I'm getting at...

I am NOT too good for pocket candy. If my friend has 5 Gobstoppers in her jean pocket and she offers me one...heck yes I will eat it.

When I have a spare quarter after eating at Steak & Shake...I head to the candy machine. Mentos are almost always my choice there, but I don't want to hold onto them and I don't want to eat them all at once...so I put them in my pocket and enjoy them when I choose.

Some people are too cool for pocket candy. "cough" Ben! He will not eat anything that has been in my pocket. What's up with that? My pocket is clean..maybe some lent on the banana runt I just handed him, but it brushes right off. How can he pass up free candy?

Now of course there are rules on what candy I put into my pocket. Most fruity candy is okay, hard candy is okay, but chocolate is most definitely not okay. Plus I don't want to get melted chocolate all over my pocket...I don't want the chewy sprees that I put in later to taste like a M&M! That's just gross!

Basically, I just don't think that mine and Ben's relationship is as good as it can be until he feels comfortable eating the Mentos out of my pocket. Is that too much to ask? :)