Natalie and Logan's Engagements

OK, so today I had the privilege of helping out my cousin, Natalie, by taking a few engagement pics along with her sister. I guess the photographer they hired didn't take any pictures they thought they could use for their invitations. Trisha, my cuz, called me and asked if I could help out. Of course I was more than happy. Any opportunity to take pictures is a happy day for me. Especially when I was able to discover some GREAT locations. I got some fantastic pictures coming away from the shoot. I'm pretty impressed with myself. But I guess it doesn't take that much talent when you have a really good looking couple and really good looking locations. :) I couldn't post all 100+ pictures that I took, so I choose 10 to show you. It was tough, but these are a few of the best from the day.














This last one is so cute. I can't even stand it. ;)

Movie Review: Percy Jackson and The Lightning Thief

As a lot of you know, I'm in love with the book series, Percy Jackson and The Olympians. When I learned about.....um maybe 2 years ago that they were making a movie, I was happy and sad about it. When you love a book as much as I love this fantastic Greek mythology based book series, you hate to see someone else take their own ideas and mix them with the author's, creating a mess of weirdness and stick it on the big screen. However, I'm a movie lover. A big movie lover. So, I decided to give it a chance.
I FINALLY got around to seeing it today with Papi, having waited two weeks after it's release. I knew that there were already two things that this movie had going for it before I even entered the theater. 1- They have a GREAT movie poster [see pictured above]. I was actually worried that they were going to re-release the 1st book of the series (Author: Rick Riordan, for anyone interested in checking them out) with the new movie poster as the cover. (They often do this with books, no?) I KNEW that I'd buy it, even though I already own a hardcover, glossy and very beautiful copy with the original cover. However, they did not. (I was kinda disappointed, but my check book is grateful.)
And 2- The main actor, Logan Lerman, is EXACTLY how I pictured Percy Jackson. It's crazy. (At least how I pictured him in books 4-5ish. In the first book he's only 11 years old....and in the movie he's like 16 or something.)
I left the theater kinda bummed. However, during the whole movie I wasn't bummed once. It was actually pretty decent. I was entertained, for sure. As expected, the main actor was great! I really love him. If he weren't like 17 in real life, or I was 17 again, I might have a fangirl crush on him. However, since I'm 7 years his senior, I have "what a cute kid" type feelings for him. (Oh my gosh, I feel disgustingly old right now. Blech!)
Most of the actors I enjoyed very much. Sean Bean plays Zeus! I LOVE Sean Bean. He's such a fun actor, and he always plays his characters so well. Kevin Mckidd plays Poseidon. For those who watch Grey's Anatomy, you'd know him as Dr. Owen Hunt. I don't like him in that show, but I loved him in this. Boy, he is one good looking man. He had a Brit accent in this movie, but in real life he's got an Irish one *swoon*. Great job by Uma Thurman cast as Medusa. She was PERFECT! And wow, they nailed those CGI snakes. Pierce Brosnan, who I'd lost all faith in after seeing the movie Mama Mia!, restored my love for him in this film. Though, in the film his character's part was quite small. (In the books he's a major character) Also, props again to the special affects team for making him look like a real Centaur.
OK, so basically, I loved the characters themselves, however that's not to say they reflected the characters in the book. Most of them didn't, but in the context of the movie, they were very well done. They all had great chemistry, which is something that really glues a movie together, in my opinion.
Now, onto the plot. Here is why I left the theater bummed. THEY COMPLETELY OMITTED THE ENTIRE STORY ARC OF THE FIVE BOOKS!!! What the hell?? How are they even suppose to make movies of the following books if they do that?? It's impossible! They left out at least a dozen extremely important characters, and changed the other half into completely different characters who happened to have the same names. (Except Chiron AKA Pierce Brosnan. They really nailed his character.) I mean, seriously though. They took the SUB STORY of the first book and made a movie of that. SO weird. So weird. I'm just so.....unsettled about it.
I guess in the great scheme of things I can understand why they did what they did. They didn't know how the much the movie would make so they wanted to make it more of a stand alone movie. I understand it , but I don't like it.
Also, in the first book, the main characters are about 11 years old. For the movie they aged them like five years. (Another obvious reason they had to omit the story arc...it would have made no sense at the age they were in the movie.) Again, I understand why. Who wants to watch a bunch of 11 year-old kids do stuff?
There is only one more thing that really irked me. And if you can believe this, it's what irked me the most. The main female character, Annabeth, is BLONDE in the book. Percy mentions it like a trillion times. It totally adds to her character! But of course they couldn't find any blondes to play Annabeth in the movie, I mean, they were wiped out with the dinosaurs right?? So the Annabeth in the movie was brunette. Ugh. Bugs. Plus they left out 90% of her character's qualities, so I guess it doesn't really matter. But still. Grrrr. (Although, the actress was not bad. She's actually in White Collar as Neil's long lost girlfriend, for anyone who watches that! LOVE that show.)
So, if it was possible for me separate my love for the book, and my like for the movie, all would be well with the world. But alas, I can't seem to do that.

If you like fun movies, that are really made for younger audiences (although it was surprisingly NOT immature) and you haven't read the books, check this movie out! Then after you do, go read the books. Because they're amazing. I think I'm going to go read over my favorite parts as soon as I'm done blogging!!

I give it 3 out of 5 stars. :)

*So, this is my first ever movie review. Maybe I'll give you more in the future, but only if you comment on what a fab job I did. ;)*

Love you all! -Peace

Leslee...The Olympics.....and Ferrero Rondnior

So, I was told by Vanae that my last blog post was rather depressing. I apologize for that. I always try and keep things light....and occasionally, freakin hilarious. (Ok, let's be honest, I'm always freakin hilarious.)
So since my birthday I've been trying to come up with something to blog about. Today, Leslee was sitting on the couch and I asked: "Leslee, I need to blog. What should I blog about?!" And she replied: "Um, me! You never blog about me." So the following is what I have to say about that.

[deleted for excessive use of bad language and bloody violence]

Agreed?

On to my next subject. The Olympics. I'm obsessed with them. They've been my life for the past week. I actually did very poorly in my classes the past few weeks because I can't do my homework while watching them. Sure, I could watch them later, but that would take away most of what I love about the Olympics. The sheer excitement of cheering on your country, not knowing who is going to take the top spots! Yelling at the TV as if the Olympians themselves could hear you! So for this year's Olympics, here are some things that I've loved.
-Apollo Ohno. (I want to bare his children.)
-All the USA athletes kicking trash.
-CONTROVERSY!!! Isn't it exciting?? People are so lame, it makes me laugh.
-Ice Skaters making it all look effortless. Jealous.
-Evan Lysacek's performance. Amazing.
-Apollo Ohno. (I want to bare his children.)
-Morgan Freeman narrating all those commercials that make me cry. (Because of their content, or because of his sweet, sweet, silky chocolate voice......I just couldn't say.)
-Athlete Spotlights. Man, they are so heartwarming!
-Apollo Ohno. (I want to bare his children.)
-The fact that the gold medalist (snowboarding) from Australia is LDS. I think that's so cool.
-BOB COSTAS!!! That's right. Bob Freaking Costas. I love him. So much. I could kiss him. But that would be gross. Cuz he's old. (Excuse me, oldER.)

There are so many other things I could list. But I don't want to bore you. I will say one of my favorite things happened last night. The Canadian couple that won gold in Ice Dancing.....holy crap. They were phenomenal. Simply amazing. I want them to be in love. So much. I know that sounds weird, but I would be so sad if they weren't. They were THAT convincing. Here's a link to their Gold Medal winning performance. Watch it. You won't regret it.
http://www.nbcolympics.com/video/assetid=b3b9fe59-1049-450c-827d-db4328c55050.html#canadians+dance+gold

Ok, so moving on from that. School kinda sucked today. I had a math test that I didn't do so well on. I don't know my score yet, but I know it won't be good. I didn't even get a quarter of my homework done. (For reasons, see previous paragraph.) Then you know, the whole being so intimidated by my Brit Lit class...STILL. Well, I was feeling a little low on my drive home, so what do you do when you're sad? You go to Walmart. I discovered something amazing there today. I discovered Ferrero Rondnior. I've had Ferrero Rocher, and I love them don't get me wrong, but I wanted something not so hazlenutty. I'm a dark chocolate fan. It's like my life source. So when I saw this unfamiliar packaging that said DARK CHOCOLATE....I knew I'd stumbled on something special. And boy, was I right. It's like a little ball of dark chocolate heaven, surrounded by a creamy dark chocolate, then encased in a thin, crunchy wafer, then dipped in chocolate and sprinkled with crunchy dark chocolate bits. (Man, could I go into advertising or WHAT???) Anyway, as you can tell. I like them a lot. But I only ate four. Seeing as how there are eight in a package, I'd say I had a lot of self control!

I had such a great weekend. I spent my Saturday with Vanae and it rocked. We went and got pedicures. It was Vanae's first, and I think she enjoyed it! I was jealous at the self control she had. Whenever they start scrubbing my heel and toes with the file, my leg just starts to flinch uncontrollably! But not Nay, she didn't move a muscle. After that we couldn't leave the mall because we weren't supposed to put our shoes on for a half hour. It was snowing outside and all we had on were those flimsy flip flops they give you. So we shopped for a bit and I got a great shirt for only 7.99!! :D Yeah for bargains, because I usually just ignore logic and buy the expensive stuff.....
After that we went to Nay's and watched a movie and ate lots of junk food. She pretty much rocks.

Wanna know something funny? So in Health class, we had an assignment where we were supposed to make a goal that we were to work on the whole semester. It had to be something to better some aspect of our health. It didn't necessarily have to be eating healthier or exercising more, etc. But it could be mental health..or other stuff like that. But I ended up going for the eating healthier. I am not in the habit of eating fruits and veggies, so my goal was to try and put them into my diet. Here's what's funny. A normal person would think that meant REPLACING the junk food with the good food. Nope, not me. I just ADDED them into my current eating habits. So not only am I eating fruit and veggies, but I'm STILL eating the junk food. So I'm eating MORE all around. Which means I'm not losing any of that fat...I'm just packing it away. I just can't give up my Ferrero....or hostess cupcakes.


Wow, this post is turning out to be a lot longer than I expected. So, I'll end there and continue watching the Ladies' Short Program. :D
}peace{

P.S- Leslee is awesome.

24 Points on My 24th Birthday

• I'm 24, single, and living in Utah County. Gross.
• What's up with those word verification things? The last one I had to type in was hysterho. I'm am curious if this is short for, hysterical ho. Because if it is, I have a new found respect for the people that come up with this stuff.
  
• The Saints won the Superbowl because it was my birthday. It's a fact.
• My calling rocks, and I love the people I get the privilege of working with in the young women leadership. And the girls rock too. :)
• This British Lit class is kicking my butt. I've never been in a room full of such intimidating people. I have yet to say a word in class......I doubt the teacher could even tell you who I was.
  
• The dust covering my dresser and nightstand is about a half inch thick. Good thing I brought down the pledge.
• Speaking of pledge, did I ever tell you about the guy that asked me if I had a best friend named Pledge after I had introduced myself? Props to it being the most original mocking of my name I've heard.
• I am ashamed to say that I love mainstream music. I do. I know it's lame, but I do. Right now I'm obsessed with an Adam Lambert song. I can't even believe I'm admitting that to the world, but darn! That boy can sing.
• Burn Notice is rocking my socks. JD is one good lookin' man.
• I love when TV shows (or even a book series) end just the way you want them too. It's so.....I don't even know what word to use. But it just takes some weight off your shoulders, if only for a little while. It's nice. :)
• Thinking of 24 different things to say is really hard, so I'm using that point as one of my 24 points.
  
• Everything about me is a contradiction. It's ridiculous. The next points will list these contradictions.
• I hate being single, but I don't want to date, or even be social.
• Listen to my ipod on shuffle. It's crazy. One minute, you'll be listening How Great Thou Art or something churchy, the next a Gothic metal song will blow your ears off.
• I disdain all forms of hunting. Yet, I eat meat. Only beef, chicken, and pork. But still, meat is meat.
• I complain about not being fit, yet I don't conjure up the will power to do anything about it.
  
• I hate my job (to all co-workers who read this, please note that I said JOB, I love all of you guys!) But I refuse to go job hunting.
• I say that I hate Vegas, but I want to go there ALL the time. I've gone like three times in one year. And I'm going next month!
• Eh, that's enough contradictions. You get the point.
• This is only point number 20......too bad I'm not turning 20, I'd be done!
• I have really awesome friends. I don't even get why they think I'm so cool. Maybe it's because I'm so hilarious. I guess we'll never know.
• 24 years from now, I'll be 48. Maybe that's when I'll decide to tie the knot.
• That's an interesting expression, "tie the knot". You can think of it in so many different ways. Tie the knot of love that will bind you together forever! Gag. Or, tie the knot of the noose that is about to go around your neck! Yes, that's the one right there. ;)
• I'm totally kidding. I love the idea of being married. I just don't like the road that takes me there. You know, all the crap that comes with finding a guy.

Ha! Done. Peace!