Favorite Night of the Year

I love the first Monday of October! Our Halloween decorations are up, the air is turning chilly, and Fall is on! For family night we always go get a pumpkin from "The Pumpkin Man" on 1600 North and then to Kneaders to choose a Halloween treat. This year I got a pumpkin, chocolate chip, cream cheese cake. Holy Crap! Wow! Then we come back to the house, pop some popcorn, spread out some blankets and watch "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown." I love this night! I hope we do this until my boys leave on a mission--and that they love it each time.

Attacked By Rodents (of smaller size)

Last week we discovered a pack of baby racoons that live in our irrigation tunnel. We have seen 6 at a time coming out and eating the grapes between our property and Old Man Walker's. Cute little buggers--but, yes, I'm sure they carry rabies.

Final Day of Sequels

These last two are greats! There are many more, but I reserved this list for some of my favorites.

I LOVE HARRY POTTER! The books and the movies are so fantastic! Film one and two are decent, but it isn't until the third that the film series starts to become its own. Everyone talks about the third film being the best and its not hard to see why. Go back and watch it. The performances are much better and the directing and storyline are more focused. I loved these last two, but this third film is just great!

Most say The Bourne Ultimatum is the best film, but I disagree. Supremacy has more emotion--he's avenging the death of Marie. Great performances and great all-around film making.

More Sequels

I used to be such a huge fan of the Superman movies. I even did my hair with a little bit of a curl in the front--I wanted to be just like Superman. The first film is such a great show, but this one raises the stakes. Just a side note, the Twin Towers in the background really makes this poster more ominous than it was when the film first came out.

Love these films! The quintessential buddy-cop films. Lethal 2 gives deeper backstory to the characters, gives us great villains (from South Africa), and adds much more emotion. Some people hated Joe Pesci's character, but I love "Leo Ghetz."

Back to my list

Here's a couple more sequels you should check out if you haven't already had the pleasure:

More Han Solo, better Han Solo, Han Solo finally making his moves on Leia, and the all-time classic response when Leia tells Han she loves him--"I know." Everything about this film is better than the original.

Spider-Man 2 came out before the onslaught of everything comic book, so it still seemed fresh. It followed a similar pattern of Superman 2 (look for it on my list coming soon)--the hero is conflicted and wants to give up his heroic destiny because of a dame. What a sap! Some people didn't like Tobey McGuire in these films, but I thought he was perfect. By the way, end your Spider-Man watching with this film--don't even bother with 3.

New Blogs I Follow

This weekend I discovered some new Disney blogs! I love learning about Disney history. I have always been fascinated by "Uncle Walt" and how he built what he did. If you get a second, take a look at the blogs under my "Blogs I Follow" section. Fun stuff.

More movie sequels

Alright, on to day two! Here are a couple more gems!

Now I know this is the third installment in the franchise, but it was the best. J.J. Abrams is a genius! This came out shortly after Lindsay and I had finished the "Alias" series and it had such a similar vibe. Too bad it also came out when everyone thought Tom Cruise was a psycho. I don't think the movie was given enough of a chance.

One of my favorites ever! I watched this so many times in high school--I even collected Terminator 2 trading cards. Seriously. Again, James Cameron pulled through on another amazing sequel. I can't wait to see what he does with "Titanic 2."

Returning to my roots

When I started this blog I had "pop culture" in mind. I wanted to share my thoughts and views on movies, books, music, etc. I've realized that since my surgery, my blog has started to sound more like a teenage girl, all feelings and musings (no offense Carlee and BreAnn). SO I'm going to try and get back to my roots: over the next few days I would like to make a list of movie sequels that were better than the original. There are many--and I will give you some of my favorites!

The original was very fun, but Toy Story 2 took the story so much farther! I loved that Woody had a backstory and a past. I loved the introduction of Jessie and Bullseye. Everything about this story took the creativity and heart of Pixar to another level.

The original is scarier, but this sequel by James Cameron was so freaking awesome! The characters are still some of the best ever written (Newt, Ripley, Hicks, Hudson), the action was great, and there are so many quotable lines--"Game over, man! Game over!"

Getting Back to Normal

I ran out of the Percocet this past weekend and my body is going through some serious withdrawls. I think I consumed over a hundred pills in the past month and a half--man, I miss the euphoria. My bum is still felling pretty bad. I can sit, but not for too long--and some positions are just killer. I have been stretching out my body this week and next week I plan on returning to cardio and weight training. I hate surgery and getting myself back to normal, but if I was told I had to go back in for another infection cleaning and that I would be prescribed more pain killers... I wouldn't even hesitate! :)

Love My Job

Sometimes I don't quite think I'm cutting it as a teacher. I have bad experiences and disagreements with students or parents. It is often times a very difficult job. Yes, I wish I was paid more, but it's never deterred me from this profession. I loved it the moment I started my internship and I still love it! I hate the pressure of performing for tests, I hate the vice I often feel on what I can and can't do, but overall I am so happy with the life I have created for myself and my family.

There is nothing better than to run into former students and find out that I had some kind of impact on their life. This morning I ran into a young man I taught 9 years ago. He came to my classroom to see me and tell me about his life. He is successful and wants to start his schooling to become a teacher. I started the day off really well!

Then this afternoon I ran into a student from a few years back while she was out running. This young lady had a huge impact on me as a teacher during a very pivotal year in my profession. It was so great to see her! She is happy and successful and it's things like this that make it all worth it to me. I love my students!

Park City Fun

We took a quick Park City trip this weekend. We stayed in the Marriot Mountainside (so nice), did some swimming, strolled Main St. and rode the Alpine Slides. Here are some fun photos:

Riding the Alpine Slides

Cutest girls in the whole world

Chillin' on Main St.

Riding the Main St. Trolley

A Gem!

It's been a few years since I've seen Say Anything, and I gotta tell you, this movie is an absolute gem! Lindsay and I watched it the other night. So well written and performed. I used to love this movie growing up. It came out while I was in junior high and I thought it was speaking volumes to me. Cameron Crowe's first film--it has an amazing soundtrack! "In Your Eyes" by Peter Gabriel is still one of the best songs ever written. If you haven't seen this movie recently, please watch it again or for the first time. Many quotable quotes! One of my favorites--
Diane: Nobody thinks it (their relationship) will work, do they?
Lloyd: No. You just described every great success story.