I did a post a few weeks ago about summer movies, so I just wanted to give an update on that! I had listed several films that I wanted to see in that post (Click here to view it) and I've already seen many of them!! Summers just aren't complete without frequent flicks to the theater, so I've been greatly enjoying this one!
I saw Iron Man 2!! The first one was excellent, I thought, but I'm always nervous when a sequel is made. On countless instances, the sequels are not near as good as the originals. The Spiderman series is a good example of horrible sequels. Ick. Anyways, I thought that this sequel was extremely well done. It satisfied my pyrotechnic side with seemingly endless explosions. Fourth of July came early this year, baby, haha! While the original is still my favorite, this was probably the best "2" I've ever seen. I look forward to what they do with a 3rd one!
I also saw Shrek Forever After! I've always liked the Shrek films, much to the chagrin of my mom who thinks they are a waste of film. But then I tell her that they didn't use film, so it's ok, haha! It was a fun movie to watch, especially when seeing Puss n Boots as a fat pet kitty, but it's not quite as good as the first one. Nothing can beat that amazing piece of hilarious originality.
Price of Persia was... eh. I was really disappointed with this one, because it seemed really great from the previews. I love watching sword fights and the story was great. But the last ten minutes totally killed it for me! *SPOILER! Highlight the next few lines to read the text...* The prince spends the entire movie working towards one goal and falling in love with the princess chica. The situations get progressively worse and the body count rises until right at the end when time is turned back to almost the beginning of the movie so that the prince can stop this chain of bad stuffage before it starts. Interesting concept, but it made me feel like I wasted two hours of my life. I left the theater pretty emotionally unsatisfied. He got to know the princess girl so well, but now he has to start all over!! The ending implies that they'll fall in love again, but that wasn't good enough for me. Dangit.
So yeah, it was frustrating.
And now today, I saw a surprise movie, The A-Team. I looooved watching this show when I was younger, and still enjoy watching when I can today. Must like my love for NCIS, I enjoy the show for how the characters interact, and this movie really grasped that aspect. Again, there were what seemed like endless explosions (and trade-markable car flips all over the place) which made me all happy inside. Some of the actions sequences were a little fantastical, like when they shot down drones with a falling tank. Cool, but ridiculously unrealistic. But it wouldn't be A-Team without that, haha! Overall, it was a good movie, except it had a lot more language than I would have preferred. Although, I laughed as they covered up the really bad words with explosions.
Oh, and I found out recently that C. S. Lewis' Voyage of the Dawn Treader is coming out in December!! Some time ago, the news was that the making of this movie fell through and they weren't able to do it. But I am SUPER excited that I'm going to be able to see my second favorite Narnia book played out on screen! (The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe being my favorite of course) So yeah, I'm super giddy. Happy birthday to me!! Here's the trailer:
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Car Shopping
Many of you have been watching my Facebook profile with great interest as I shop for a new car. My beloved little 1995 Nissan Sentra with 275,000 miles on it has decided that it wants to have its motor taken apart to be repaired. But the actual repair work would cost more than the value of the car itself, so that just doesn't fly with me. After fighting with my car for few days (It's winning by the way), I decided to invest in a new-to-me car.
I started looking around in used car lots for what I could find within my cash budget. And the result was: not much. I found a few vehicles, but they had not been taken care of and needed some work before they would be worth driving. After doing some number crunching (I rox at math, yo) I realized that I could in fact afford a small payment if I chose to get a newer used car. So payments or less-then-acceptably-air-conditioned rust buckets? Imma go with payments.
Many certified used cars at some dealerships in the area really caught my eye. I test drove several including two major contenders that met nearly all the criteria on my lengthy list: a 2008 Toyota Corolla (which was in reality just a tiny bit out of my price range) and a 2006 Mazda 6. After driving the Corolla again, I knew that I loved it, but the tough part would be talking the sales dude down to a price that I could afford. My aggressive haggler of a grandfather tried his best to bring the price down, but the sneaky dude would first say he would go down a few hundred, and then he would come back with an offer on extended payments that brought it back to the original price. Immediately following our departure from that dealership I put my algebra skills to work on my cell phone's calculator and was like "oh HECK no!!!" So as much as I adore that Corolla, I'm probably going to have to let it go. *sniffle* Here's a pic of it...
Adorable, eh?
Then we went over the place with the Mazda 6 and haggled with the sales dude there. The price is good and definitely within my budget, but I still wasn't sure. So in an attempt to make me love the car, they let me take it home for two days and see what I thought about it. I do like the car and it's super fun to drive. (V6 engine baby, *Tim Allen grunt*) But I'm not quite sure that I love it, and I don't want to put so much money into something that I do not love. Then I think about all the money that this thing will cost, and although my budget can absorb it, the thought of it all nearly paralyzes me. So I'm still not sold on it. But just for your enjoyment, here's a pic of it...
Pretty too, huh?
I'm gonna check out some private sellers online to see what I can find there for the next few days. But the car shopping thing is ridiculously hard. Especially in this heat which has given me a couple of sunburns. No fun. So anyways, we'll see what happens and I'll be sure to post something about whatever car I end up purchasing. Any suggestions would be appreciated!!!
I started looking around in used car lots for what I could find within my cash budget. And the result was: not much. I found a few vehicles, but they had not been taken care of and needed some work before they would be worth driving. After doing some number crunching (I rox at math, yo) I realized that I could in fact afford a small payment if I chose to get a newer used car. So payments or less-then-acceptably-air-conditioned rust buckets? Imma go with payments.
Many certified used cars at some dealerships in the area really caught my eye. I test drove several including two major contenders that met nearly all the criteria on my lengthy list: a 2008 Toyota Corolla (which was in reality just a tiny bit out of my price range) and a 2006 Mazda 6. After driving the Corolla again, I knew that I loved it, but the tough part would be talking the sales dude down to a price that I could afford. My aggressive haggler of a grandfather tried his best to bring the price down, but the sneaky dude would first say he would go down a few hundred, and then he would come back with an offer on extended payments that brought it back to the original price. Immediately following our departure from that dealership I put my algebra skills to work on my cell phone's calculator and was like "oh HECK no!!!" So as much as I adore that Corolla, I'm probably going to have to let it go. *sniffle* Here's a pic of it...
Adorable, eh?
Then we went over the place with the Mazda 6 and haggled with the sales dude there. The price is good and definitely within my budget, but I still wasn't sure. So in an attempt to make me love the car, they let me take it home for two days and see what I thought about it. I do like the car and it's super fun to drive. (V6 engine baby, *Tim Allen grunt*) But I'm not quite sure that I love it, and I don't want to put so much money into something that I do not love. Then I think about all the money that this thing will cost, and although my budget can absorb it, the thought of it all nearly paralyzes me. So I'm still not sold on it. But just for your enjoyment, here's a pic of it...
Pretty too, huh?
I'm gonna check out some private sellers online to see what I can find there for the next few days. But the car shopping thing is ridiculously hard. Especially in this heat which has given me a couple of sunburns. No fun. So anyways, we'll see what happens and I'll be sure to post something about whatever car I end up purchasing. Any suggestions would be appreciated!!!
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Wii unFit
My beloved jeans have been getting a little too snug for my liking lately. So instead of paying for a gym membership, I have opted to dust off our little used Wii Fit and work on it every morning. And I'm not a morning person at all, so it's taken some extra work just to make myself actually do stuff right after I wake up.
I start out doing some yoga positions which are surprisingly difficult. My "tree" pose started out as more of a "tree in a hurricane" and then the CGI instructor would tell me how unbalanced I was. Way to state the obvious, miss instructor lady. Apparently, yoga is dependent on balance, so my lack of coordination doesn't help at all. But I'm getting better!! I always do a little happy dance when I beat my previous score, and there's been lotsa happy dancing lately.
The next stage is the more rigorous strength exercises. I still can't do a real push up, so I'm stuck doing the girly ones where my knees are still on the ground. But it's ok, because the instructor lady can't see, haha! But the lunges are even harder. It's normally about halfway through this exercise that my thighs are screaming at me, and I reach up to pull the cord to turn the ceiling fan up on high. Me no likey to be sweaty.
After the intensity of the strength exercises, I get into the somewhat silly aerobics section. I like doing the basic step, but I always get frustrated because it's giving me more "OK's" than "Perfect's". My timing is totally right, dangit! That wii couldn't keep a beat if its battery life depended on it! And then I work off my frustration with a short in-place run. Don't tell the instructor lady, but I cheated on the last few seconds of today's run by waving the remote sensor a little instead of actually running.
I've been doing this every morning for about a week and can already notice how my body is adjusting to the daily workout routine. It's getting easier to crawl out of bed and get some exercise, and I'm also noticing that my abs are getting firmer! Imma have a six pack before you know it! And no, I'm not talking about Mountain Dew.
I start out doing some yoga positions which are surprisingly difficult. My "tree" pose started out as more of a "tree in a hurricane" and then the CGI instructor would tell me how unbalanced I was. Way to state the obvious, miss instructor lady. Apparently, yoga is dependent on balance, so my lack of coordination doesn't help at all. But I'm getting better!! I always do a little happy dance when I beat my previous score, and there's been lotsa happy dancing lately.
The next stage is the more rigorous strength exercises. I still can't do a real push up, so I'm stuck doing the girly ones where my knees are still on the ground. But it's ok, because the instructor lady can't see, haha! But the lunges are even harder. It's normally about halfway through this exercise that my thighs are screaming at me, and I reach up to pull the cord to turn the ceiling fan up on high. Me no likey to be sweaty.
After the intensity of the strength exercises, I get into the somewhat silly aerobics section. I like doing the basic step, but I always get frustrated because it's giving me more "OK's" than "Perfect's". My timing is totally right, dangit! That wii couldn't keep a beat if its battery life depended on it! And then I work off my frustration with a short in-place run. Don't tell the instructor lady, but I cheated on the last few seconds of today's run by waving the remote sensor a little instead of actually running.
I've been doing this every morning for about a week and can already notice how my body is adjusting to the daily workout routine. It's getting easier to crawl out of bed and get some exercise, and I'm also noticing that my abs are getting firmer! Imma have a six pack before you know it! And no, I'm not talking about Mountain Dew.
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Resistance Is Futile
No, this post is not about Star Trek.
Ever had one of those days when God's trying to teach you something and you really don't want to learn it? You know what He's saying is true and important, but you want to cover your ears and sing "LALALALALALA" hoping to drown it out? Today was one of those many days for me.
It started out as any other Sunday morning at my little church. I got my coffee with a ridiculous amount of cream and sugar, and then kicked off my cute but uncomfortable shoes under the small table in our almost-as-small classroom, quickly settling into our normal routine. We chatted for a few minutes about our crazy week, then officially began the class as we shared prayer requests. And as always, I lead the prayer. But this morning, I spent a little more time asking God to teach us something today. ...Dangit.
It just so happened that this morning's lesson was about loving other people as described in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 - one of mine, and I daresay everyone's most difficult challenges. I have absolutely no problem loving the people I like, but God calls us to love everybody. We make so many excuses to not show love to some people, and many of those excuses seem very legitimate from our point of view. As I mention this now, the name of someone you cannot easily love has popped into your head probably along with a long list of reasons. Just as it did in my head this morning. But your reasons and mine mean nothing to God.
You may be thinking that it's not humanly possible for you to love that certain somebody, much less everybody. And you are absolutely correct. But yet, God instructs Christians to love as Christ loved. (Ephesians 5:1-2) So how the heckins are we supposed to do that?! Something pretty awesome that I've learned about God over the years is that if He wants you to do something, He will give you the ability to do it. (Philippians 4:13) In fact, if you belong to Christ, you already have that ability! When you accept Christ as your Savior, you are given His Spirit, and one of the results of that is love. (Galatians 5:22-23)
I think that many times we are quite content in not loving certain people. It's simply easier to avoid them altogether and not put in the effort. But think about what would've happened had Christ not put in the effort for us? We would have remained in a state of hopelessness forever if He had not loved us enough to take the consequences for our sins upon Himself. So who are we to say who we will and will not love? God's love is freely offered to everyone and we need to be allowing His love to flow through us to everyone with whom we come in contact.
Like I said, this is a difficult challenge for me, and I'm sure that you would say the same thing if you were honest with yourself. But this was something very important that I really needed to be reminded of, and it's something I'm going to be working on, and I hope that you will too.
As a warning, don't ask God to teach you something unless you're really willing learn it! Because, my friend, resistance to God's instruction is futile. So much better than Star Trek, right?
Ever had one of those days when God's trying to teach you something and you really don't want to learn it? You know what He's saying is true and important, but you want to cover your ears and sing "LALALALALALA" hoping to drown it out? Today was one of those many days for me.
It started out as any other Sunday morning at my little church. I got my coffee with a ridiculous amount of cream and sugar, and then kicked off my cute but uncomfortable shoes under the small table in our almost-as-small classroom, quickly settling into our normal routine. We chatted for a few minutes about our crazy week, then officially began the class as we shared prayer requests. And as always, I lead the prayer. But this morning, I spent a little more time asking God to teach us something today. ...Dangit.
It just so happened that this morning's lesson was about loving other people as described in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 - one of mine, and I daresay everyone's most difficult challenges. I have absolutely no problem loving the people I like, but God calls us to love everybody. We make so many excuses to not show love to some people, and many of those excuses seem very legitimate from our point of view. As I mention this now, the name of someone you cannot easily love has popped into your head probably along with a long list of reasons. Just as it did in my head this morning. But your reasons and mine mean nothing to God.
You may be thinking that it's not humanly possible for you to love that certain somebody, much less everybody. And you are absolutely correct. But yet, God instructs Christians to love as Christ loved. (Ephesians 5:1-2) So how the heckins are we supposed to do that?! Something pretty awesome that I've learned about God over the years is that if He wants you to do something, He will give you the ability to do it. (Philippians 4:13) In fact, if you belong to Christ, you already have that ability! When you accept Christ as your Savior, you are given His Spirit, and one of the results of that is love. (Galatians 5:22-23)
I think that many times we are quite content in not loving certain people. It's simply easier to avoid them altogether and not put in the effort. But think about what would've happened had Christ not put in the effort for us? We would have remained in a state of hopelessness forever if He had not loved us enough to take the consequences for our sins upon Himself. So who are we to say who we will and will not love? God's love is freely offered to everyone and we need to be allowing His love to flow through us to everyone with whom we come in contact.
Like I said, this is a difficult challenge for me, and I'm sure that you would say the same thing if you were honest with yourself. But this was something very important that I really needed to be reminded of, and it's something I'm going to be working on, and I hope that you will too.
As a warning, don't ask God to teach you something unless you're really willing learn it! Because, my friend, resistance to God's instruction is futile. So much better than Star Trek, right?
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Season Finales
I love my TV shows. In fact, I love them so much that when I was taking six courses at a time last fall, I would plan my breaks from homework for when my TV show for the night was scheduled to air. We're at the point in the year now that many shows have ended their season while others are just about to begin. So I'm sad about some shows ending, but happy that others are about to come back. But in this post, I just wanted to talk about my shows that recently ended. I'll probably write another TV-related post next week about the shows that are coming back, such as Burn Notice, Royal Pains, White Collar and Leverage.
One of my shows that just ended is NCIS. I don't care for NCIS-LA, just give me the original with all the awesomeness of Gibbs. Although I love a good who-done-it (probably because of years of watching Scooby Doo), I watch this show more for the interaction between the characters than for the crime solving. I especially love the strangely happy goth Abby and the insecure but awesome McGee. Oh, and the former Mossad assassin Ziva. Oh and... well I really love all the characters. Except for Director Vance - he's hiding something and I don't like it. But there's just something about that whole hilariously dysfunctional family appearance of the coworkers that pulls me in.
That being said, I was very unsatisfied with the NCIS's season finale, just as I was with last year's season finale now that I think about it. But as I did last time, I'll give them a few episodes into next season to win me over again before I remove them from my TV watching schedule. The last season premiere was amazing, so I expect nothing less next time.
My other show that just ended is Chuck. I've been one of the few but rabid followers since its beginning and I don't plan on stopping anytime soon. It sounds silly, but the concept of the show itself is kind of an encouragement to me. Chuck goes from a dead end job at a kind of Best Buy to this super important government asset. This geek unintentionally gets a massive government database downloaded to his noggin and is thrust unwillingly into the world of espionage with his handlers, sweet but dangerous Sara and military machine Colonel Casey.
The show has evolved over its three years in many ways, and I wasn't sure I'd like it at first, but now it's quite exciting. For most of the show thus far, they had been keeping Chuck's government work a secret from his family and friends, but now both his sister and brother-in-law know the truth. Also, Chuck's ridiculous "little bearded friend" Morgan has not only discovered who his best friend really is, but has also become a spy (much to the challenge of the very impatient and no-nonsense Casey). Another way the show has evolved is in Chuck's primary goals. At first, he wanted the computer out of his head, and then he wanted to become a legitimate spy with the CIA, and now based on the season finale, it appears as though he's going to be doing rogue spy work but I won't know for sure until the fall.
Chuck's constant mix of action sequences and hilariosity keep me coming back every week, but the season finale went waaaaay beyond that. The two hour finale had going back and forth between sitting on the edge of my seat and nearly falling off that seat as I laughed. I have never been so happified with a season finale before, and now I'm very excited for what the next season will bring!
So until Thursday when Burn Notice starts back, I will be in a little TV lull. But it will probably be a good thing. On a few occasions, I have caught myself almost bringing up a story line and asking for prayer for these fictional characters during prayer meetings at church. Go ahead, laugh. So am I just passionate about my favorite shows, or am I on the verge of psychotic obsession??? ...Imma go with passionate.
One of my shows that just ended is NCIS. I don't care for NCIS-LA, just give me the original with all the awesomeness of Gibbs. Although I love a good who-done-it (probably because of years of watching Scooby Doo), I watch this show more for the interaction between the characters than for the crime solving. I especially love the strangely happy goth Abby and the insecure but awesome McGee. Oh, and the former Mossad assassin Ziva. Oh and... well I really love all the characters. Except for Director Vance - he's hiding something and I don't like it. But there's just something about that whole hilariously dysfunctional family appearance of the coworkers that pulls me in.
That being said, I was very unsatisfied with the NCIS's season finale, just as I was with last year's season finale now that I think about it. But as I did last time, I'll give them a few episodes into next season to win me over again before I remove them from my TV watching schedule. The last season premiere was amazing, so I expect nothing less next time.
My other show that just ended is Chuck. I've been one of the few but rabid followers since its beginning and I don't plan on stopping anytime soon. It sounds silly, but the concept of the show itself is kind of an encouragement to me. Chuck goes from a dead end job at a kind of Best Buy to this super important government asset. This geek unintentionally gets a massive government database downloaded to his noggin and is thrust unwillingly into the world of espionage with his handlers, sweet but dangerous Sara and military machine Colonel Casey.
The show has evolved over its three years in many ways, and I wasn't sure I'd like it at first, but now it's quite exciting. For most of the show thus far, they had been keeping Chuck's government work a secret from his family and friends, but now both his sister and brother-in-law know the truth. Also, Chuck's ridiculous "little bearded friend" Morgan has not only discovered who his best friend really is, but has also become a spy (much to the challenge of the very impatient and no-nonsense Casey). Another way the show has evolved is in Chuck's primary goals. At first, he wanted the computer out of his head, and then he wanted to become a legitimate spy with the CIA, and now based on the season finale, it appears as though he's going to be doing rogue spy work but I won't know for sure until the fall.
Chuck's constant mix of action sequences and hilariosity keep me coming back every week, but the season finale went waaaaay beyond that. The two hour finale had going back and forth between sitting on the edge of my seat and nearly falling off that seat as I laughed. I have never been so happified with a season finale before, and now I'm very excited for what the next season will bring!
So until Thursday when Burn Notice starts back, I will be in a little TV lull. But it will probably be a good thing. On a few occasions, I have caught myself almost bringing up a story line and asking for prayer for these fictional characters during prayer meetings at church. Go ahead, laugh. So am I just passionate about my favorite shows, or am I on the verge of psychotic obsession??? ...Imma go with passionate.
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