Movie Review - Dear John

I saw Dear John this weekend with some girlfriends and since it was opening weekend, I thought I'd share my review (especially since I NEVER see movies opening weekend). I'll try not to ruin anything in case you want to see it, but maybe you should just read it after you see and come back here and tell me your thoughts.

Overall grade: C+ or 3/5 stars (I don't know if I'd recommend it, but half the girls that went said they really liked it, so don't just take my opinion into account)

- Not an typical Valentine's Day movie, so don't expect it to be one

- The plot is much deeper than I could have imagined covering many hard issues

- I loved watching the couple's courtship and their letter exchanges - so romantic

- It reminded me of college - all the letter writing - quick statistic: my five roommates all had "serious" missionaries and 4 out of the 5 married their missionary! WOW- impressive, right?!

- It seems there's a twist in all movies, and this one I just couldn't get past - it was too bizarre

- I couldn't understand why the girl's character made the choices she did - she said she felt like she didn't have a choice, but that sat wrong with me. And her character really confused me - the whole experience really changed her and I just had a hard time relating or understanding her.

- The guy's character was very like-able and good looking (not as handsome as my husband, of course) :) He had a rough past, but wanted to be better and was willing to change. Throughout the movie, they explore his relationship with his father - he goes from a sense of denial to awareness and compassion, which was so sweet. And he is a very courageous young man (as are many other serviceman and it even made me think of missionaries going away from home too). He also handles the "twist" more gracefully than I could have imagined and walks away from an incredibly hard and tempting situation.

Hoping this isn't too vague (I don't want to ruin anything) - can't wait to hear from you after you see it!

Thanks ladies for the girl's night out - I had a blast even if the movie wasn't my favorite!

3 good things from this weekend

1. Steal of a deal!

I seriously lucked out and found a new entry table at TJ Maxx. It was on clearance for $69 - marked down a couple times (original price $129), but I didn't think it was worth that since I'd have to reglue the drawers, so I asked to talk to a manager. I told her that I was interested in the table, but that it needed some work and I showed her all the damage. I expected her to give at least a 10% discount, but I had already decided in my head that I didn't want to pay more than $50 for it, so I told her that I thought $50 would be a reasonable price for the piece of furniture. She took it down to the next markdown (which I've never had a manager do for me) and then showed me the price tag - $35 - SOLD! Can you believe I got this cute thing for $35? I thought it was a great deal and I'm super happy with it.

I learned these mad "bargaining" skills from my mom and here are my tips:

- Be polite - it never helps to be mean

- Ask to talk to a manger since they're the only ones that can change prices of items

- Works best on clearance items

- Have a legitimate reason: damage, buying a pair, etc. (like one time there were two trunks left on sale at Pottery Barn and I wanted both of them; I asked the manager if he would give me 10% off if bought both and helped "take them off his hands" - yep, he did it)

- Don't ask in front of other guests or at busy times

- You can almost always get at least 10% off if you've got a good reason, but occasionally you'll get more

- And it never hurts to ask!

Happy Hunting!

New table for $35

2. The Fort

Brandon built an awesome fort (using a blanket and the kitchen chairs) for Rachel and she played in it ALL day Saturday. He even brought in her kitchen and soft chair and we called it her clubhouse (like Mickey Mouse's clubhouse ... duh!). We even watched a little Barney inside her clubhouse and she thought it was the funnest weekend ever!

Playing in the fort / clubhouse - check out her Irish dancing moves below

3. "Do not open until January 1, 2010!"

Just happened to be going through some old high school stuff and I found a little box with these words. So I opened it and it said "Top 5 Goals in 10 years (Jan 1, 2001)" Here they are with the results:

1. attend college and graduate from BYU = check!

2. receive youngwomanhood recognition award = check!

3. marry in the temple = check!

4. start my own family = check!

5. continue prayer, scripture study and teach kids to do the same = always a good reminder that I can do better!

It was kind of sweet to find from a great young woman activity that I must have done 10 years ago (I think that it was Sister Liu's handwriting on the box. Thanks, Sister Liu!).

Rachel's January - 19 months old

Rachel's January consisted of the following:

- Playing Playdough = "wanna play playdough?"

- Ring Around the Rosies = "mommy, daddy, pock of yosies?"

- Being hauled around on my hip = "mom hold you?" (this one is kind of getting out of control and she wants to be held too much, so if anyone has any advice, please let me know - thanks!)

- Loves smoothies and we've made a ton this month = "poonies"

- Watching "Barney" and "Elmo"

- Learned to say thank you (finally) = "thanks a mommy" or "tank you"

- When daddy come home, she "hides" and then wants to be "chased" and then says "daddy's home!"

- Starting to ask for us to tickle her legs, feet or hands (like a soft tickle when you tickle/scratch someone's back) = "tickles"

- Asking us to sing songs about any and everything, but her favorites are "I'm so glad when daddy comes home" and "Old McDonald" (she picks the animals and says the noises)

- Holding armfuls of toys - I'm not sure why, but she loves to hold as many things as she can

- Finding her favorite items each and every day (pictured below):

1. My driver's license = "mommy card" - if she sees it, she HAS to have it - I hide it in my wallet, but if anytime someone asks to see my ID at stores, I'm thinking, "nooooo!"

2. Watermelon = "mono-mon"

3. Red broken recorder = "peek-a-pock"

4. Purple ring also = "peek-a-pock"

5. Makeup brush bottom also = "peek-a-pock"

6. Ice Card = "a cream" - by far has been the most important to her, but the watermelon did give it a run for its money

Winner!

Congratulations to Ashley who won the giveaway! Ashley, you are seriously so lucky! But in all seriousness, thanks for taking one for the team! (That's what you're all thinking.) And if you really want to give the watch a good life, by all means - please send me some pictures.

Ok... that was an embarrassingly low response. Not even my mom tried to win it. In fact, she said very seriously, "I can't believe you're giving away your Brick Oven watch." Hilarious. By the way, mom, I'm really excited for you to come visit next week!

January has been kind of strange. Rachel caught a cold, so we tried to stay inside and keep our germs to ourselves and then she got an ear infection and is finally back to acting like her awesome self. I am loving this stage - she jabbers all day long and the most exciting part is that I understand what she's talking about most of the time. Also, this was the first official month of nursery, but she's only been once due to sickness. (grrrr) And that one time was kind of a disaster, but I think it was due to a miscommunication with the nursery leaders and a bad plan on our part, but we have a new strategy for Sunday and I'm hoping it will work. (Crossing my fingers real tight.)

But back to weird January - I haven't really jumped into any "resolutions" for the new year. I am usually ALL.OVER.THIS. - I just love the new year and a new start, but I just wasn't feeling it. Maybe because I just moved to a new place and sort of "started new" back in October. Not sure. Anybody else felt this way? I haven't even gone running yet and it's the 27th. But I did start a serious family budget and am really excited about it. (NOT so excited about the student loan payments that started this month - ouch!) I also started our taxes this week and had so much fun - I love dorky finance stuff like that.

Enough ramblings. Over and out.

giveaway ... random, I know

I've been bored with my own blog these days, so I wanted to do something silly. It's a lame giveaway - more like a gag gift in fact, so don't get too excited.

It's a WATCH (without a working battery, I might add - oh, this is getting even lamer as I'm posting it) and it's a genuine BRICK OVEN WATCH. (I am laughing out loud now and hope you are too.)

Here's the background story: Brick Oven is a restaurant in Provo, UT - practically on BYU campus - and I worked there as a waitress during college. They gave this to me as a gift for working there for 3 years and needless to say, I have never ever worn it. Should I throw it away? Perhaps. But this restaurant has somewhat of a legacy for the older generation who have lived in that area for a long time and I know families who always go out to eat at this place as part of their family tradition. So I'm thinking maybe there might be someone who might get a kick out of this or it might even be a good white elephant gift for a family party or something??!!

Anyway, if you want a chance to win then leave me a comment and tell me WHO you would give it to or HOW you would use it and WHY you want it. Depending on how many comments I get (which seriously might be zero), then I'll decide if the winner should be picked at random or maybe I'll just pick based on who has the best story. I feel like your chances will be pretty good. :) You have about a week from now...

Here she is (it says, "Doing Our Best At Being Our Best"):

If you've didn't go to BYU or haven't heard of the place, then please just ignore this post and still be my friend. :)

Just a few more Christmas Pictures

There's a bunch of new posts, so be sure to keep scrolling down.

Grandma & Grandpy Hale had a sleepover with all the cousins. Brave, right?! Here they all are in their matching pj's that they gave them (Rachel, Mason, Kennedy, Cannon & Brynn). They had dinner together, got pj's and an electronic toothbrush (Rachel loves hers - it's an Elmo one), and even went swimming in their hot tub.

They had a busy night - let's just say that Kennedy is the only one that slept all the way through the night. It was the first time we left Rachel overnight and she cried out for me around 2a (not normal - she always sleep through the night unless she's sick), but Grandma did a great job comforting her and then she slept the rest of the night. At 2a she also told Grandma she wanted her sippy, which I forgot to tell grandma that we keep a water sippy in her crib (oops!).

I love that Rachel is holding these Memory Game cards in her hand in the picture above - she has latched on to these type of cards and even got to bring the ice cream card home with her since we couldn't bear the thought of leaving it in Utah. Even now, she likes to sleep with it and keeps track of it all day long. Seriously, so random!

This picture was taken on Christmas morning first thing and this is what her hair looks like if I don't pin it or pull it up out of her face. But it makes me laugh and I think it's a great photo!

Brandon & Kyle's Christmas Greeting

I can't say I fully support it or always have the best attitude when they get together and create it just days before Christmas, but it always makes me laugh. Here's this year's Christmas Greeting from Brandon & Kyle:

Background information: Kyle and Brandon have been putting together a Christmas card since 2005 (the year we got married) and they deliver it to old high school friends and teachers (some who weren't so fond of their high school antics). It gets bigger and better every year! Annie (Kyle's wife) and I have never been asked to participate, but this year we made it in the credits!

2005 - a picture of them in front of a huge igloo they built together in Kyle's front yard

2006 - a collage of pictures of them in Christmas sweaters doing festive activities

2007 - a card professionally taken and made at Kiddie Kandids - wow!

2008 - a CD collection of Christmas songs recorded, sung and narrated by Brandon and Kyle - a little pitchy, boys, but super funny

2009 - a Christmas DVD / music video

2010 - I don't know if I even want to know what they'll come up with!