Sunday, February 24, 2008

Catching up

Into the Woods is seriously taking up a lot of time. But I am not regretting one minute of it--it is so much fun! If you are in or near Birmingham, you should totally come see it. You could come see me have a hysterical fit and die onstage! I have such a fun character. If you are interested, check out the website here. Tix are a little expensive, but if I can get a group of 10 or more to commit, I can get them for you for $15.

I am sad...I've been so busy, I feel like I haven't seen any of my friends in forever. And now Kim Hill is leaving me so her husband can go to seminary in Mississippi. Slacker. I can tell she is totally not committed to our friendship. huh. I must go see her and try to explain the repercussions of moving out of the state to pursue education. I must make her understand that I will be lost without her. Maybe she will change her mind...
see you thursday Kim!

Speaking of folks moving, so are Shane and Amy, Kelsey and Shayna. Bum! Why does everyone have to leave? Don't they know I need them? lol. (btw, Shane is Frank's brother). No, actually, we are very excited/happy for them--Shane has a great opportunity/job in Nashville, so they are in the process of moving. But at least they're not moving 36 hours away. not like some people we know...
It will be easy to see them--only 3 &1/2 hour drive, not too bad...

Burt's sermon today made me uncomfortable. How does he do that? By telling me to be missional--leave my comfort zone and share the gospel with everyone around me--believers and nonbelievers alike. thanks for the kick in the pants Burt. Btw, I am excited at the possibility of a Community Pres campus in Springville! I will be praying.

I have been working hard to get in shape--part of it is getting ready for the show, another part of it is just knowing I need to lose 20 or 30 pounds to get in shape. Well, happy to say, after 7 weeks of counting weight watchers points and excercising, I've dropped 9 pounds. yey! Slow and steady wins this race. There are several things I like about weight watchers: counting points--it seems tedious I know, but the way they have the system set up, you follow your specified points and you can earn extra by how much excercise you perform. So, I feel like I can "spend" my extra points if I excercise that day. Also, I think it is kind of fun to try to figure out how to make my points last as long as possible. Which basically pushes me to eat as healthy as possible, b/c the healthy foods have the fewest points, of course. Then at the end of the day, if I have any points left, I can "reward" myself with something sweet. And I definitely have a sweet tooth. So, it is a good system for me.

I just visited Rebecca and Keith's little boy, Jonathan's blog. He is adorable! I am so happy for them...and will continue to pray for them as well.
Speaking of babies, Tracy is due any time--please say a prayer for her as well; for a healthy, uncomplicated delivery. We are excited to be getting another little cousin hopefully very soon.

Ok, gotta go get the kids in bed. later,

Monday, February 04, 2008

Star Wars and the Chronicles of Narnia

I love Star Wars. I remember when VCR's got really popular when I was a kid...about the 4th grade for me, and one of the things my dad did was buy up some movies, among them, the original Star Wars trilogy. (The others that stick out in my mind are Dumbo and The Little Mermaid, which contributed to my love for Disney and its music.) But I remember Star Wars as this cool epic story of good vs. evil, and for awhile I even wanted to name my first girl Leia. She was such a great character. We watched those movies over and over again and probably wore out the tapes. Well, now my children are in on the Star Wars craze. My dad watched it with them one night during a grandparent spend-the-night party, and now they are hooked. Star Wars this, Luke Skywalker that, Darth Vader's breathing, 'I wanna be Darth Maul for Halloween'. We have 2 Star Wars PS2 games, 3 light sabers, a Vader helmet, a Vader cape, and own/or have seen all 6 movies.
Here are a few comments I've heard over the past few weeks:

"I'll name my kid Luke Skywalker, and you can name yours Darth Vader."

"Mama, which one was the one that got his arm chopped off by Obi Wan Kenobi?"

"Mama, which robot is it that can't get over anything?" (Steven, trying to remember C-3PO)

Ah to be a kid again and in love with Star Wars. I still love to watch the movies even as an adult.

Speaking of epic tales of good vs. evil, and I am sooooo ready for the next Chronicles of Narnia movie, Prince Caspian, to come out. May 16th baby!!!! I am not generally a huge movie fan--I don't even really like to go to the movies. I'd rather sit in my own living room and eat my own way cheaper, fat-free popcorn, and not have to pay a babysitter. But this movie is different.

While we lived in CA, Biola brought in C.S. Lewis's step-son, Douglas Gresham, as a guest speaker for chapel one day. He was promoting The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. He was a fun speaker, telling us all about the audition process in finding the 4 children; and that they really did act like brothers and sisters on the set. He told us a little of what it was like to have C.S. Lewis as a step-father--he thought it was cool and loved Lewis very much. Gresham also encouraged us as the Christian community to support the film and christian films in general, because he said, what sells hollywood is money. Meaning, if we support these films and go see them and pay out money for them, then hollywood will keep making family-friendly movies. During the question/answer time, one of the students asked Gresham if Walden/Disney would make movies of any of the other Narnia books, and he replied that only if the first one did well. Then (I quote), he said, "Go see the movie! Take all your friends to see the movie!"

And then, the first one was SO GOOD!!! Very well made and believable. He said that they added the war part in the first part of the film even though it's not in the book, to give some believability to show how badly the 4 siblings NEEDED to get out of London. But for the most part, he was proud that the movie remained true to the book.

So, it's almost as bad as waiting for Star Wars Episodes I, II, and III; or the LOTR Trilogy to come out. And, it doesn't hurt that the guy who plays Prince Caspian looks a lot like Atreyu from The NeverEnding Story. Oh yeah, love me some epic adventures....

Check out the trailer here.