Saturday, June 27, 2015

Project Life 2015: Week 21-Week 22

For week 21, I featured a whole bunch of small, everyday moments.


I used a picture of this pretty swamp I was driving by on my way to work, some home improvement projects, a movie date to see The Avengers, and a pretty bracelet gift from my mother.

This was the week I got to use the birthday barres @ Pure Barre, hung out with my friend Jana, saw Pitch Perfect 2, Adam bought Star Wars Mac n' Cheese, and I cuddled with Linky on the couch.

Week 22 felt like the first week of summer to me.


I had my CPR re-certification, went swimming at Point Mallard, and had a dirty words with friends game. 


Adam and I put together a Lego set, I worked out like crazy, cooked Red Lobster Cheddar Bay Biscuits, and included a picture of Link being Link. 

Materials Used:
Project Life: Strawberry Edition and Enjoy Things Value Kit


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Friday, June 26, 2015

Friday Five

I got my two custom headbands from etsy for my Disneyland races in September! I have finally narrowed down my costumes to doing Baymax for the 10k and Dumbo for the half marathon (since I'm completing the Dumbo Double Dare)! These headbands are just so precious, I got them from this etsy seller.


Adam and I did a little photo shoot with a local photographer, and she posted this "sneak" picture on her facebook page. I just LOVE it. And I can't wait to see the rest of them. We haven't done photos since we were married, and I thought it was about time!


Link has taken to sitting and looking out the window in our living room. It is so adorable. Because all you can see is a lump behind the curtain. When I go out running, he watches me every time I round the block. I wave at him. He is so gosh darn precious.


I was given a DSM-5 at work the other day. This will make no sense to anyone not in the psychology field, but I was excited to get my hands on it. As they have been talking about the release of the DSM-5 since I was in grad school!


I have made it a mission to try all of the new fan flavors at Starbucks. I now have a definitive ranking of the best to worst flavors. So here is my list: Red Velvet, Cupcake, Cinnamon Roll, Cotton Candy, Caramel Cocoa Cluster, and Lemon Bar.


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Sunday, June 21, 2015

Insider Access to Inside Out


I'm here to report that Adam and I went out on a Tuesday night date, to a town 30 minutes away, and I was still able to get out of bed early the next day to tell about it! That is quite the accomplishment. It's funny because when I was a youngin' in college I could stay up all night and still be perky the next morning in class. Now I miss out on an hour of beauty sleep, and I walk around feeling like death.

Warmed over death on a platter.

I have been super excited about the new Pixar film Inside Out for eons now. Pixar always does good work, and the movie Up! has been a favorite of mine for a long,  long time. So when I saw that I could go to an advanced screening of the movie with all sorts of behind the scene goodies, I was all over that. 

I will say the event was bit of a disaster (total fault of the theater, which they made right in the form of a future free movie), so I won't complain about that, and just talk about the parts of the event that I loved.

Before the movie started, they had a behind the scenes tour of the Pixar office, which is awesome! How I would love to work there. Some of the employees had offices themed to jungles and crashed planes. Not to mention one guy has a "secret" club hidden behind a bookshelf in his office. And Jon Lassiter's office is FULL of toys. 


Next up was the short-film, Lava. Which is about a volcano looking for and finding love in the middle of the ocean. I typically love the Pixar shorts, although I wasn't a huge fan of this one. It was cute, and the song was catchy, and if the movie hadn't had the ending it did, it would have been the most depressing one ever, but it just didn't rank up there as a favorite.


I was so exited for the feature, and the movie was far better than I expected. It amazes me how Pixar can take such an abstract concept (our emotions) and make such a funny, touching, and true to life movie about it all.

I was impressed how the movie was able to show that all our emotions are important and valid, and that they all have a purpose. It shows it is never wrong to feel sad or fearful. And that we can not feel joyful without sadness.

And the movie is truly funny. Anger is our favorite character in the whole movie, he reminded me so much of my curmudgeon husband, Adam! Grumpy in the cutest way. Even Adam agrees with that assessment.

Maybe I appreciate the movie so much because I'm a therapist, and I feel this will be so helpful in explaining emotions to children. But Adam loved this movie too. It is rare that Adam and I can totally agree on a movie, but this one brought us together.

It is now my favorite Pixar movie hands down, and I can't imagine this one being replaced anytime soon, although The Good Dinosaur is coming out in November, so time will tell!

It was nice to see Pixar releasing something new after a few seasons of nothing but sequels! Can't wait for more originals!


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Wednesday, June 17, 2015

Project Life 2015: Week 19-Week 20

I am not behind at all on completing my project life album, but I am certainly behind on posting it! Which I guess is preferably to being behind on completing it? So I'm popping in to share week 19 and 20 in the album.


This was the week I started Pure Barre (and if you read closely you will see I misspelled Pure Barre *shaking my head*). I also included some eats of the week, a text from Adam that showed he was on his way home from Wisconsin, and Adam's birthday card (Office themed). 


On side B, there was Adam reuniting with Link, our Disneyland art bathroom, and a few shots in honor of Adam's birthday. I also did a feature on what I was reading and listening to.


Week 20 was my all important birthday week! Which I did an insert for (stay tuned), but I also wanted to feature some other photos for the week.

I have a picture of Link, my morning commute, my messy office desk, a recipe I made, and shots from Pure Barre.

Side B was my the night @ Spirited Art with my mother, Hurricane Link making a big old mess, and my post run work out treat. I'm also included a selfie of my new haircut. 



The insert was all about my birthday! I included the picture Adam drew me for my "scavenger hunt." The back side is pictures and the menu from our dinner at Daniella's in the Park.

Materials Used:
Studio Calico: Carolina Moon Kit
Project Life: Strawberry Edition


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Monday, June 15, 2015

Jurassic Park, Jurassic World, & Pieology

This weekend ended up being such a 1990's weekend. Not only did I go to a Garth Brooks' concert, Adam and I also went to see Jurassic Park World. Adam loves, loves, loves Jurassic Park. He waxes poetically about when he first moved out to California, and was living in his little studio apartment without cable all alone, so he would pop in his Jurassic Park DVD night after night.

I certainly have an appreciation for Jurassic Park. I'm pretty sure I saw it in theaters, and I remember being traumatized by the scene where the T-rex eats the lawyer in the porta potty. Oh and when the raptors were chasing the kids in the kitchen?!? Terrifying.

Adam was so stocked by the new movie that when I told him about going to see Garth Brooks, he commented that  it was the Jurassic World opening weekend, and he thought we wouldn't get to go see it. I promised we would go opening weekend when I got back from Birmingham. And we decided to go on Sunday night.

Saturday night we re-watched Jurassic Park in preparation for the new film.

We actually really enjoyed the movie! I liked the plot (that people are now bored by "regular" dinosaurs, so they have to develop a new dinosaur, and that leads to the mayhem). Dominus Rex is a pretty scary dinosaur. 

The movie was a fun romp, not as good as the original, but still excellent!

And in case we didn't have enough of dinosaur goodness this weekend, we also purchased the Lego Jurassic World video game , and it is a blast!





After the movie, we headed out to have dinner at a new restaurant Pieology. I consider myself to be a pizza connoisseur, so I was super stoked about this.   Basically you build your own pizza (kinda like you do your sandwich at a Subway), and then they bake it right in front of you.

I made an Alfredo pizza (rimmed with olive oil) with meatballs, mushrooms, tomatoes, feta cheese, and black olives. It was amazing! I had left overs for days. I can't wait to try more creations, I feel like a bit of a mad, pizza scientist.



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Sunday, June 14, 2015

Garth Brooks World Tour



Before I launch into sharing about my night at the concert, I wanted to talk a little bit of why I love Garth Brooks. Garth Brooks to me represents a major part of my childhood. I grew up in the age of The Thunder Rolls and Friends in Low Places. His songs were always on the radio. My friends and I sang those songs on the play ground, and I remember my babysitter going to a Garth Brooks' concert, and thinking, "I want to do that." This was a 1992 bucket list item, people!

I also feel some of his songs were my first introduction to having a social conscience. I really loved the song We Shall Be Free.  Especially the lyrics, "when we're free to love anyone we choose, when the world's big enough for all different views." And his new song People Lovin' People is amazing too.

I'm not a big concert person, I hate the crowds, and I can feel claustrophobic. So I have to really love the artist to get me to a concert. Garth Brooks was a big enough draw for me.



Friday afternoon, after work, my mother (who I bought a ticket to the concert for her birthday) road tripped the 90 miles down to Birmingham. We stopped by Starbucks for some frappichinos. Now that they have the 6 fan flavors, I'm determined to try them all! So far Lemon Bar has been my favorite! But this red velvet one was pretty awesome too!

We checked into the fancy schmancy Sheraton when we got to Bham, which was adjacent to the concert arena!

I got dressed and ready for the concert, and then we met my friend Anna and her family (who just happened to be going to the concert by coincidence) for dinner. Our service at the restaurant in the hotel was laughably bad, but I'll chalk it up to the hotel being unusually busy, and hey the food was good. So that is all that matters.


When I got to the arena, and saw the big "G" on stage, I became so excited. Karyn Rochelle, a singer/songwriter (she wrote Red High Heels sung by Kellie Pickler), opened the show. She did an excellent job! And I loved that Garth is using little known people for the opening act, considering he could pull in nearly any musical act that he wanted to.


The atmosphere in the arena was electric as Garth made his appearance, I actually felt a little tearful because I was just so overwhelmed by my excitement. Everyone was screaming and hollering and chanting Garth! He immediately launched into his first set of songs Rodeo, Two of a Kind, and the Beaches of Cheyenne. Everyone was singing at the top of their lungs, including yours truly.


For the record, I did cry when he played Unanswered Prayers, and the whole stadium was lit up by people holding up their cellphones. It looked beautiful, and the song has such a special meaning. That sometimes there is a reason we don't get what we desire most. And it's for the best.



Trisha Yearwood joined him on stage for a duet of In Another's Eyes, and then she stuck around and sang X and O's, How Do I Live, and She's in Love with the Boy. She was so sweet and fun, and you could tell how much Garth & Trisha care about each other.

Of course, Garth came back to sing some of his greatest hits, and everyone lost their minds over Friends in Low Places, and his singing of the "secret" third verse. I also want to talk about the energy that man had throughout the whole show. Especially during his performance of the song Calling Baton Rouge, just unreal. He was jumping and dancing around. I hope I can do that when I'm 53!!

Garth did two encores after the "ending" of the show. I stayed for every minute. My mother and I talked all night about how amazing the show was. It was the best concert I've ever seen, and one of the best nights of my life.

I've included some video I took from the concert. I don't necessarily expect anyone to watch these (the first is Friends in Low Places, the second is Shes in Love with the Boy). I'm just including it for my own memories!



Here's to knocking off one goal on my summer manifesto (#4).


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Sunday, June 7, 2015

Month in Review: May 2015



Books I've Read:

1. The Red Queen by Phillippa Gregory

This is the second book in the Cousin's War series (I read the White Queen last month).  This series continues to be amazing. What I loved about this particular one is it made me sympathetic to Margaret Beaufort (the Red Queen), where I disliked her in the White Queen. I am loving the various perspectives these books are offering. And since I knew so little about the war of roses, I'm getting a history lesson as well.

2. I Regret Nothing by Jen Lancaster
I have read several of Jen Lancaster's nonfiction books over the years. They are always easy reads and they are always a lot of fun. This book was no different, it focused on her completing some bucket list items. I loved reading about her adventure in Italy, as I have been there (man, how was that 10 years ago).  Super funny read.

3. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
This was our book club selection for May. It is a young adult book, that is pretty popular right now (I think they are working on the movie). It is about all these children that have freak show type of abilities. I really enjoyed the mystery and the strangeness in the beginning of the book, but when we got to the "climax" at the end, where all the action was taking place, I got a little bored with it.  But I do think it is a good book to get middle schoolers involved in reading!

Movies I've Watched:

1. Annie (2014)
I of course am a big, big fan of the original Annie movie, and when Adam was still out of town I rented the new one  from redbox. I didn't expect a whole lot from it, but I actually ended up enjoying it. It is funny and charming, and it is a good take on the classic tale.

2. Unbroken
I read this book last year, and I really enjoyed the book. But the movie fell a bit flat for me. I would have enjoyed it more if I hadn't already read the book I think. The book has so much incredible detail on his struggles and his mindset during the ordeal, that the movie just couldn't compare.

3. Big Eyes
I was so intrigued by this movie, when I found out that it was the true story of such a crazy art fraud, and not to mention it was directed by Tim Burton. I really got into this story, and I could not wait to finish the movie, to see how everything ended up (and research the history of it online). One of the main characters is a total psycho path, and that is what held my interest.

4. Avengers: Age of Ultron
One thing that shocks me about myself is how much I enjoy all these super hero movies. I live for Captain America, I LOVED the first Avengers movie. And while I enjoyed this one a lot, the first one is still the best one in my humble opinion. This movie had some definitely highlights (the party scene, the character of Scarlett Witch, and the Hawkeye story line).

5. Pitch Perfect 2
A few years ago, on a whim, my friend Jana and I went to see Pitch Perfect. And I liked it so much, that it is one of those movies I actually bought on DVD and actually WATCH (that isn't Disney). So I was super stocked for the sequel, Jana and I caught the movie over memorial day. It did not disappoint, it may have been even better than the first. Can't wait to get that one on DVD.

6. Tomorrowland
It's rare that I don't love a movie, I'm pretty easy to please, but this one was mediocre at best. I have done a lot of thinking about why I didn't like the movie. I certainly love the message of the movie (we can create the future we want/there is always hope), and I love George Clooney. But some of it got too cheesy, and the fighting scenes often felt unrealistic. And while I love the actress that played the role of Casey, she appears too old to play a teenager. I did enjoy the Disneyland history Easter eggs in the film and the character of Athena however.

TV Shows I've Started/Finished/Watched: 

1, Bomb Girls
I found this number on netflix. It is a Canadian show, centered around the lives of women working in a 1940's bomb plant. It can get super cheesy at times, and often the story lines are a little out there. But I've rather enjoyed it, if just to admire the 1940's style of clothing.

2. The White Queen
I was thrilled to find I could watch this series on amazon prime, since I've been reading the books. I loved it, it reminded me a lot of the Tudors (except not as good). But I liked getting the visuals for the stories I am reading. And it makes me really anxious to read the Kingmaker's Daughter. 




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Saturday, June 6, 2015

Summer Manifesto 2015


I spent some time putting together a Summer Bucket List (which I'm calling my Summer Manifesto) on Friday. Somethings are simple things I know I'm going to accomplish (I already have my Garth Brook's tickets and the photo shoot is booked).  Many our fitness related (run a sub 12 minute mile, Pure Barre like a fiend, run a 10k, and conquer the plank). The plank is because I struggle so hard with that in Pure Barre, and I want to challenge myself to be able to do that. 

Some are just activities I enjoy during the summer (water parks anyone?). One is to help me out at work (Paperwork, Paperwork, Paperwork!). Some are to keep me being creative (scrapbooking & painting). One is to get me ready for my fall vacation (Save, Save, Save)!  And one is just because I'm obsessed with trying those darn Popsicles, but I have to get to Huntsville to do so.

I tried not to be overly ambitious, as summer is my busy season at work, and I'm usually worn out, but I want to make sure I'm having some fun though!


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