the winners and losers.

Mortal Instruments Book 1: City of Bones was an interesting read. I like the shadow hunter concept but was bothered by some of the delivery. I will have to read the next one before I make a decision on liking the series or not. I am excited for the movie though since it has Jamie Bower Campbell and Aidan Turner in it so I mark this one as a (barely)win.

Work was a loser this week, a bunch of us got demoted because of an administration screwup and will most likely be getting over a dollar an hour paycut. I just wish that they would actually reward/punish on a performance based scale rather than title based. That is how we are being payed as a hospital, that is how we should be treated as employees.

The Oscars were a surprising win for me this week. I was happy with most of the people/movies nominated so didn't care who won, Seth Mcfarland was better than I expected, and of course the nod to James Bond and movie music made this epic for me. Loved the performances, the speeches, and all the movies I saw that were nominated. Also enjoyed Jimmy Kimmell after the Oscars and the preview for movie the movie 2v...."release the Tatum!" Also a winner for me was Joseph Gordon-Leavitt and Daniel Radcliff dancing and singing to High Hopes.

Had an early birthday lunch with the work girls and got Perks of Being a Wallflower and grapples from Carrie...definite win.

People saying they can and will do things and then backing out is always a losing thing.  Especially when it is for a birthday.

Proud of my Aggies for the big and good fight vs. BYU, and then beating Illinois in the ESPN bracketbuster.  Win.

Loving someone who loves someone else.  Losing.

Saw the movie Snitch last night with the Rock Dwayne Johnson.  It was actually pretty good.  Interesting movie about drug trade and drug laws that had less action than I anticipated but when there was action it was exciting. So this was a win.

For the month of March I am doing Musical March for my 30th birthday celebration...as in I am watching as many movie musicals as I can.  I really enjoy them and know they are torture for others but I hope some of you will pop in a musical next time you decide to watch a movie.  Musicals are always a win for me.

The Youthlinc Vietnam benefit was a win.  It was fun to see some people, donate to a good cause and eat tasty food.

My computer batteries gave up the ghost so that was a lose, but good deals on a new laptop is a win so we will call it a draw.

Awesome Weekend.

On Thursday my sister Kristan got her mission call to the Marshal Islands, Marshallese speaking.  It is super exciting and we just couldn't believe it!!  She doesn't leave until July, but we are all estactic for the first missionary and maybe only missionary of all of us girls.

For the rest of the weekend I hung out in Logan to take a break from reality. Some basketball games and hanging out with great friends, and a lot of aggie icecream.  It was a total flashback to my college days in the spectrum.... we were loud and proud, the dancing grandmas were doing gangam style, and there was this monster huge guy on their team that was just too much fun to tease.  He was 7 foot 5 inchese, 360 lbs, and is only a freshman, yikes!!  In the pic below he is #2.

 

It's funny because as I am about to turn 30 years old (less than 2 weeks!) I am feeling a semi-mid-life-crisis coming on.  I have had a lot of friends who married young and are always telling me that they look at my life and the opportunities, travels, experiences I have had and been jealous and wished they waited longer to get married.  Well as much as I love my life, I would also trade them places too.  Guess we can't always have what we want so we just need to be happy with what we have and never regret where we are in life.  This weekend helped me remember that and be extremely grateful for what I have!  Love life, my family, my friends, and of course my aggies!

A funny and possibly embarrassing side story:  I wanted to snap a good picture of the blue-A on Old Main so we took a drive after the game.  As I was slowly driving on campus I saw some 4 legged creatures run by and freaked out thinking they were wolves.  Kristin laughed and pointed out they were deer which have much taller legs than wolves.  And I said, not the ones in Twilight.  Oh dear (deer).  I tried to get a closer picture, but they kept looking at me creepy, so I decided to back away slowly and head home.

Some thoughts about that one word.

Love, oh love. Valentines day is creeping around the corner and Love is on everybody's mind.  Last year I blogged a saracastic post and sincere post about dating and love. 

A quote from the sincere post that struck a chord with me today: “Have you ever been in love? Horrible isn't it? It makes you so vulnerable. It opens your chest and it opens up your heart and it means that someone can get inside you and mess you up. You build up all these defenses, you build up a whole suit of armor, so that nothing can hurt you, then one stupid person, no different from any other stupid person, wanders into your stupid life...You give them a piece of you. They didn't ask for it. They did something dumb one day, like kiss you or smile at you, and then your life isn't your own anymore. Love takes hostages. It gets inside you. It eats you out and leaves you crying in the darkness, so simple a phrase like 'maybe we should be just friends' turns into a glass splinter working its way into your heart. It hurts. Not just in the imagination. Not just in the mind. It's a soul-hurt, a real gets-inside-you-and-rips-you-apart pain. I hate love.” ― Neil Gaiman

But on to the happier thoughts amd cute pictures about love (All via pinterest)





Happy Valentines Day.

Chinese New Year.

The Year of the Snake... "This 2013 year of Snake is meant for steady progress and attention to detail. Focus and discipline will be necessary for you to achieve what you set out to create." -Hanban

My family celebrated by making a ton of Chinese food, opening fortune cookies, and playing chicken foot which turned into a loud and hilarious game with a lot of mixed-up and off-key singing interjected throughout the game.

oh life.

I turn 30 in 3 weeks which is kind of killing me softly.  In the mean time if anyone wants to shower me with gifts, you can find my Amazon birthday Wishlist here.

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It's been a pretty rough weekend.  No sleep, terrible BP, a work friend's sudden death, a punch in the heart, and a crack in the kneecap.

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This song is how I feel about it:  Hung up the glee cast version.

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I saw a play a few weeks ago at Hale Center Theater called 39 steps.  It had a brilliant use of Hitchcock movie music and only 6 cast members playing dozens of rolls.  I loved it and found it super entertaining.

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On the plane ride to Germany I finally got to see Beasts of the Southern Wild. Wow that little girl has talent.  It was a very thought prevoking and interesting story.  The filming was beautiful and I am still thinking about it almost a month later so I say see it!

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Dear SNL, thanks for making my day today when I turned on the TV and Nicolas Cage in the Cage was on.


via.



Day off.

I have basically worked non-stop since I got home and my sleep is so so broken.  Yesterday was my day off so I refused to do anything I didn't want to do.  I got some sleep (still not enough) after work and then actually put on make up and got ready for the day (it's been awhile). 

Then I met up with Annicka, Vivian, and Kellie for sushi.  We went to Yi Sushi Bistro and it was really good.  I even branched out and tried a fatboy roll (avacado, tempura shrimp, crab, and eel sauce)... I know that isn't very ambitious but I still can't handle the raw fish thing.

 

Baby Charlotte isn't so sure about the Sushi...

Vivian, Kellie, and I went to get Pedicures next and it was nice to relax, catch up and get some valentine's toes.  After Kellie and I headed to the mall for dessert and to talk boys and how awesome and dumb they can be (flashback to Jr high, but so much better).

That evening my roommates and I headed to the theater for popcorn (the one thing I craved in Italy so much) and to see the movie Warm Bodies.  "Well that was interesting" was all I could say after it was over.  I thought it was quirky and entertaining.  The boy, R, was cute and likeable, with great internal dialogue.  The story is a (a)typical rom-com.  What I didn't like:  The girl's acting was no better than Kristen Stewart, but since this is on the Twilight level of movies I guess that is okay. One use of the F word, but it was an ironic funny use.  And the Zombie gore at the beginning was a bit much.  I knew the Bonies were going to be gross, but I was taken aback by how gruesome parts of the first 20 minutes were.  Mostly I didn't expect that since all reviews never mentioned it.  So there you are, if you like zombies at all this will be an entertaining find.  If you are only a so-so zombie lover, you will hate parts and love others like I did.  If you are terrified of zombies (Laura) do not see this, although this is mild compared to most...but you will hate it.


"R: What am I doing with my life? I'm so pale. I should get out more. I should eat better. My posture's horrible. I should stand up straighter. People would respect me more if I stood up straighter."

via.

Also, I have to give a shout out to the Warm Bodies soundtrack.  Love all the tunes.  Unfortunately there is no official soundtrack out but yay for the internet! Here is a link to the playlist.  2 more days off! Let's see how else I can actually enjoy my life rather than endure it.

A pep talk.

You have probably seen this video by now, I stumbled upon it during my layover in Atlanta on the 24th and was instantly in love.  Way to go Kid President and Rainn Wilson, you are right-everyone could use a pep talk.

I love the word awesome, it is one of my favorite words/subjects/ideas.  Still trying to figure out what I can create to make the world more awesome like he challenges at the end of the video.  My other favorite talking point he has is that we are all on the same team.  Maybe it is time for everyone to support each other a bit more, rather than constantly try to tear each other down, huh?

A Roman Tale: There and Back again.

Our last 2 days in Rome we walked and walked and walked.  This map is poorly highlighted of all the main streets we walked on.

We took a tour of South Rome where we checked out the ancient wall, ate at a local bakery and checked out the Protestant Cemetary.  It was a beautiful cemetary and while it rained a lot while we were there I enjoyed our little visit.  In this cemetary lie 3 great poets, the first is John Keats whose tombstone says: "This Grave contains all that was mortal, of a YOUNG ENGLISH POET, who on his Death Bed, in the Bitterness of his heart, at the Malicious Power of his enemies, desired these words to be Engraven on his Tomb Stone, Here lies One Whose Name was writ in Water."  Percy Shelley, husband to Mary Shelley who wrote Frankenstein and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe are also buried there.  An interesting sight is at the corner of the cemetary is an actual pyramid.  It was built in 30 BC when Egyptian's were in vogue in Rome.

 

There is an electric fire in human nature tending to purify - so that among these human creatures there is continually some birth of new heroism. The pity is that we must wonder at it, as we should at finding a pearl in rubbish. -John Keats
 

The great instrument of moral good is the imagination. -Percy Bysshe Shelley
 

Magic is believing in yourself, if you can do that, you can make anything happen.  -Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

 

We also took a chance to stroll the Del Corso as the Romans do and people watch at the Piazza del Popolo.  There was the usual group of men trying to sell roses, a strange man who had a cat ride on his shoulder while he road his bike, and a curious fellow who kicked the ground and shook his fist to the sky as he yelled in Italian.

We ate a lot of delicious food and gelato while we were in Italy.  My favorite meal was at Taverna dei Fori Imperiali in Rome.  We were really lucky to grab the last reservation at this little family owned restaurant.  I tried the gnocchi  and it was splendid.  For dessert Mike had some apple strudel with cinnamon gelato on top.  Oh. My. Deliciousness.  That cinnamon gelato took first prize as best gelato ever and unfortunately we could never find it again.  Another good pick was Trattoria Monti in Rome.  Someone had raved online that the ravioli was the best ravioli on earth and after my fish ravioli I wanted to redeem ravioli so I gave it a try.  It was very very good.  I also had to try the zucchini flan with carrot sauce which was surprisingly good.  We ate a wide variety of pizzas, a lot from little street cafes where you picked your flavor and bought it by the kilogram.  I had a calzone that was delicious until I got to the fried egg in the middle which weirded me out. Lasagna in Verona was very rich and creamy, and the Chinese in Venice was surprisingly tasty.  My favorite gelatos (besides the one cinnamon) was Armena (a cherry one) and the chocolate-orange.