Date Night Reviews

Saturday Brandon and I went and saw Hanna in the theater.  I had never seen a preview for it but it had decent reviews from the critics so I was in.  It was very artistic, creative, weird, and well-made.  Cate Blanchett was, as usual, amazing.  Saoirse (Irish, I believe) Ronan, the main character, was in.cred.i.ble.  Eric Bana was awesome.  It was gripping and violent.  First impression was mostly positive but about two hours later when the euphoria had worn off some we realized that the plot was weak and ridiculous.  Still enjoyed it though.  Can't wait to see something else by this director (Joe Wright) and starring Ronan.

After our early movie we went to dinner at Hapa Grill in Park City (after a little shopping at Whole Foods).  I had never been there before but my friend Bonnie said they had good sushi.  I was a little skeptical of a place with sushi and burgers on the same menu but it was delicious.  I don't think I'm all that discriminating in my tastes for sushi cause I've never really been disappointed in a sushi place.  I even like California Rolls from Target!  Anyway, we got miso soup (which was good but sadly lacked seaweed), three sushi rolls (I prefer rolls over sashimi), and the tacos (?!) that were on the appetizer menu.  Rolls were all delish, especially the dragon roll and the tacos were very good but way overpriced for two tacos that lacked a second corn tortilla to hold them together or give you the option of making them into four.  They had a weird/delicious kimchi salsa that made them seem to go with Asian food (even though it sounds disgusting).  Saw a couple from church at both the movie and the restaurant, which was weird and fun.

Almost talked Brandon into seeing a second movie after dinner but instead we decided to go home.  It was 8:45 when we got there and the kids were still awake in their rooms, which was a huge disappointment.  Also, there was sticky popsicle all over the floors which I had to mop up.  I wish I'd noticed it before I took the babysitter home so I could say something to her about it!

Brandon always says what a lame date going to a movie is, but we always have a blast.  I know you can't talk much during a movie, but it certainly gives you something new to talk about afterwards.  Part of the fun is that we only go to the theater like three times a year so it's a big treat for us and we always get popcorn and a cherry Pepsi and candy- we go all out:)  Anyway, very satisfying date, even though it involved me leaving my purse at the restaurant and having to go back for it.  And we always run some sort of errand while on a date too (this time it was filling the car up with gas).

Happy dating!

Just Some Random Stuff I'm Up To

I finally saw Disney's animated movie Tangled on Friday.  It was fantastic (as are most of Disney's animated films).  The writing was really excellent, I'm not saying it wasn't cliche or predictable, but they managed to make a frying pan almost an actual character and that is talent.

Have you ever read Uncle Orson Reviews Everything?  I haven't in a long while, but I decided to drop by the Hatrack River website to read the most recent one.  Good stuff.
http://www.hatrack.com/osc/reviews/everything/2011-03-24.shtml
I certainly don't agree with everything he says, but I enjoyed reading it nonetheless, especially his tirade about the unnecessary use of the F-word in films.

I read The Hunger Games on our vacation to Florida.  Can't wait to read the next in the trilogy and I'm excited for the movie-version too!  Brandon read Hunger Games too.  I was surprised, we never read the same books close together:)  It's fun having something frivolous to discuss.
I finished reading Cold Mountain this morning at like 1am.  Need to start Prodigal Summer for book club ASAP.  I hope this reading trend continues.  Maybe I'll finish all the books I've started over the past year and haven't completed while I'm on a roll.  I started The Picture of Dorian Gray last week and I've got so many books I want to read.

We haven't had tv for months so I'm a little bit sad about missing out on American Idol, Glee, etc. right now, but not really.  I know I kind find them online when and if I ever really want to.  I am almost finished with Season 3 of Bones on Netflix.  I started watching Season 1 of American Dreams on dvd and am loving that too.  I am currently midway thru The Truman Show (I've seen it before but I'm watching it again since we visited the town it was filmed in in FL) and It's Kind of a Funny Story (which already made me cry a little).  I watched Star Trek for a 2nd time while in FL (bought it for myself for Christmas), I still give it a five-star rating.  Started watching Percy Jackson & The Lightning Thief in FL but despite an interesting storyline and great special effects, the writing was painfully bad and I couldn't sit thru the whole thing.

American Dreams cast

After a nearly two-month hiatus from serving (I was essentially demoted to busser cause I didn't have enough serving experience for such a high-end restaurant), I am back on the floor at the restaurant.  I'm only working two days a week though.

Well, that's about everything going on with me right now.  Boring post but you'll get over it.

Florida Pictures

I already posted all of these and more on Facebook, but here are the highlights for the rest of you:

The M Family.  Brandon's stepdad Michael, sis Tori, Mom Lisa, and sis Viv.

Chilin' by the pool on a cool day.

Hot tub time!

Brandon and the kids swimming in our awesome pool.

Tori & Brandon doing what Jonah called a "blast" into the pool.

Elora enjoying a "lolly" while lounging on top of "Papa Mike".  Note the cool pirate tattoo on her thigh.

Tori and the beer sampler at McGuire's Irish Pub, where we enjoyed lunch one day.  

Jonah (and Brandon) enjoying their $.18 bean soup in front of one of the many money-covered walls (the ceiling was also hung with hundreds of real dollar bills).

Elora tipping back a shot of homemade root beer.

Elora running to her daddy:)

Destin, FL - best sand in the world!

Feeding 'Gators

Walking the pier at the Village of Baytown Wharf

Treehouse in Baytown (loved the Spanish Moss hanging all over in the trees!)

Oysters!

Exploring Seaside, FL

Preview

Florida

Monday night we met up with Brandon's mom and her family in Destin, FL.  I love the humidity and warm weather here!  Tuesday was overcast but warmed up enough to go to the pool.  Jonah and Brandon were in heaven.  The pool is pretty awesome with waterfalls on an island in the middle and all around, a zero-entry side, and a hot tub, we all managed to have a great time, get some sun, and play in the water a bit.

It poured rain that night and was still going strong on Wednesday morning.  We decided to leave the house (a fabulous 4-bdrm rental in an adorable gated community a nice walk from the beach) and go to lunch and a museum.  My cousin Nicole recommended we eat at McGuinnes' Irish Pub since the food is great.  Not only was the food fantastic, the building is enormous, the decor, ambiance, gift shop, and service were fun. While we ate the skies cleared up so we finally got to go to the beach:)

This morning was cloudy and cool.  I grabbed a few groceries (third trip for food already!) and went to a bookstore (came up empty-handed) when the others finally got up to keep an eye on the kids who didn't want to come with me even though they'd been up for over two hours.

It might be sunny enough now to head to the pool.  Lots of pictures to come when I get home.

Bones

I've made it up to mid-season 3 of Bones on my Netflix: Watch Instantly feature.  I love it SO much (both the show and Netflix)!  The dynamic between the two main characters, FBI Agent Booth and his partner, forensic anthropologist Dr. Brennan (whom Booth affectionately calls "Bones"), reminds me so much of the partnership chemistry in X-Files.  Yes, it's another solving murders tv show (I also love Perry Mason, CSI Miami, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, The Mentalist, Numb3rs, and Crossing Jordan) but it certainly puts a unique spin on things though in a similar vein to CSI.












If "Dr. Brennan" reminds you of someone but you can't figure out who, like she did with me, maybe this will help:

Zoey and Emily Deschanel, sexiest sisters in Hollywood:)

Dancing to "The Good Night Song"

More Funny Stuff My Kids Say & Do

The last two weeks we've been having our annual Utah "Spring Tease" right now.  The weather gets warm and sunny and nearly all of the snow in the yard melts.  I started rooting around in our front garden spot and dreaming of summer and home-grown produce.  I found some earthworms and Elora needed one to hold.  After a couple minutes I said to her, "Do you want to give that worm to the chickens?"

She said, "No, I love he."  And a moment later she gave him a little kiss.

Elora was singing I am a Child of God to herself and I joined in, "Lead me, guide me, walk beside me".

"Not you, ME," she corrected me.

Jonah likes running "super hero fast" lately.  He also has decided he loves the color orange for some reason.  Today he started doing fighting poses complete with aggressive facial expressions and claimed he was doing Karate.  He also told me for Elora's birthday we should get one of those things that you hit with a long stick and candy comes out, so it looks like we'll be doing a piñata for her birthday:)

Do These Make Me Look Smarter?

wearing Grammy Linda's glasses

I just found a bunch of 'draft' posts that I never published.  This one was from 11/15/08.

Nonstop Laughs

Elora: Mom, watch this, I run faster than Buzz Lightyear.

Jonah: Mom, I'm a cheetah, I run really fast.

*Jonah resting a moment later*

Me: Joe, are you already tired out?

Jonah: Yeah, cheetas run for 40 seconds and then rest.

Elora: I'm a tiger.  Rawwrrrr!

Jonah: I'm a cheetah.  My name is Brandon cause I'm a dad cheetah. *pets invisible baby cheetahs and speaks to them* Babies, I'm gonna go take care of that tiger.  I'll be right back.

Jonah: Mom, there's a sun on this box (Raisin Bran).

Me: That's because the sun turns grapes into raisins.

Jonah: Raisins come from the sun?.... And ham comes from pigs!

Me: You're a smart guy.  Raisins actually come from grapes, but the sun can turn them into raisins.

Jonah: Raisins come from grapes? I didn't know that!

I picked out her shirt and pants but she picked out and put on the lipstick, headband, shoes, and socks herself.

Random Recents

The kids driving their "rockets"

Awhile back Elora decided that whenever she is pretending to be a dog, she has to wear a pair of socks on her hands and her feet (and often nothing else) and walks mostly on all-fours.  In this particular instance, Jonah joined in on her game.

Rachel and Elora at Joyschool learning about the presidents for Presidents' Day.  Notice how these little girl's dress themselves in the middle of winter in Utah.

Why is Elora's hair so cute in a simple ponytail?

"Mom I saw you in that store getting salsa.  I waited in the car and I was being very patient." - Jonah

Jonah calls the Cheshire Cat the "Treasure Cat."

Karen: Did you get that cat postcard I sent you?
Jonah: Yes, it was lovely.

"Ballerina Girl"

Elora started "Creative Movement" dance class for three and four-year-olds in February.  As you can see, she is the tiniest one in the class.  She is also the cutest and the best, in my totally biased opinion.  She LOVES being a ballerina.  She also loves watching older girls in their dance classes.  Come over sometime, she will probably already be wearing her ballet shoes and she isn't shy about showing off her dance moves.  Also, her leotards are now her second favorite thing to wear (after her fancy, purple dress that she got from Santa Claus and spends most of each day wearing).

Jonah is Four

Jonah had a party with a few friends up at the cabin.  We all had a really good time.

Orange cake with a star on it, as requested.

The orange chiffon cake with whipped cream frosting was a hit, but it wasn't nearly orange-y enough for me to make it again.

Jonah's Grandpa "Owl-an" rented skiis and took him skiing on the hill behind the cabin for his birthday. Nana Lisa and family got him Hex Bugs and a "habitat" as well as a Leapfrog learning to write thing that is really cool.  Lots of awesome presents and a great weekend overall (even if it was over a month ago).