Snow, Penguins and Chimpanzees

I really want it to snow again. It doesn't look like it's going to anytime soon, but it's so much fun when it snows around here. Everything shuts down. Everyone's happy. Plus it's so pretty! It snowed a couple of weeks ago for just a few hours (it melted by morning). I was able to take these pictures:

I think one of the reasons I like the snow so much is that everyone else gets excited about it, too. As much as I love the rain, I'm usually the only one excited about it. Like this penguin:




But with snow, I'm not the only one getting outside and enjoying the beautiful weather :)

In other news, I recently crossed over to the dark side. We bought a MacBook Pro. I have a tendency to kill computers. Every 2-3 years the computer I use needs to be replaced for various reasons. I have no idea why I kill them and what I do that makes them die, but they do. About a year ago I started using Matt's desktop and it's been making odd sounds recently, getting the blue screen of death, etc. So we decided to see if a Mac would last any longer. Obviously it's taken a little bit of time to get used to, but I really like it. I can see how someone that likes the flexibility of a PC might not like it, but since my main functions of a computer include checking email, Facebook and blogging (well, and writing pitches, etc for work), all that flexibility isn't completely necessary. At this point there isn't anything I've wanted to do that I haven't been able to do...so that's good, right?

Now that we got a new computer it seemed like a good time to upload our CDs to our iPod, so I've had fun going through CDs over the past couple of weeks. I'd completely forgotten I had some of these songs, and I'd never really taken the time to go through Matt's music. I have a couple of new favorites, like:


Barenaked Ladies - Another Postcard
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Postcards and chimps! Who wouldn't like that song? Anyway...here are a couple more artsy pictures I've taken recently that I felt like sharing:

Three 5-Second Movie Reviews

1. Have you seen The King's Speech yet? Because you should. We saw it last night, and I really, really liked it. It's a great story with believable characters, fabulous acting and some humor sprinkled in. Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush and Helena Bonham Carter were absolutely fantastic. Here's the trailer:



2. Another recent movie we saw was True Grit. Although I'm not really into westerns, I heard it was worth seeing, and after Matt saw it with the guys and told me I'd like it I was sold. It was also a good story with fabulous acting. It's worth seeing at some point as well, although I liked The King's Speech better.



3. The third recent movie I've seen is The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. As a fan of the books, I try to approach each movie as a separate movie so I'm not disappointed or thrown by changes. With that in mind, I liked it. Yes, they changed a few things. They always change a few things. But it was a fun story and worth seeing at some point (although you can probably wait until it comes out on DVD).

Movie / TV Reviews

I haven't had a chance to share much about what I've been watching recently, so I'm grouping everything into one post:

Tangled was fantastic. Definitely worth seeing. Yes it's predictable Disney in a few places, but isn't it supposed to be? The story was really good, the characters were easy to identify with and there were a lot of laugh-out-loud moments. I actually kind of want to see it again.

I feel like I need to let you know I never saw the first Tron. That being said, I thought the movie was okay. My brother filled me in on details I missed from the first one before we went, but even if he hadn't I think I would have been able to keep up. The graphics were the best part of this movie. I thought it was cool how part of it was 2D, but then the Tron world (if that's the name of it?) was in 3D. 

The second season of Dollhouse finally came to Netflix and it was great. I watched the whole season in a week. The first season mostly sets up the Dollhouse and shows the day-to-day operations where the second season is more about the company and people behind the Rossum Corporation. Definitely a fun show to watch. I love the random Battlestar Galactica reference from Topher partway through too :)

Lie to Me was recommended to me by my mother-in-law, and I love it! I just finished watching the first two seasons and can't wait to see the third. As most shows, it takes a little while for the actors to find their characters, but by the end of the first season this show is addicting. The other thing I appreciate about Lie to Me is that most of the episodes are self contained. Yes, some big things happen that change relationships between the characters, but it's actually a nice breath of fresh air to watch a good show that doesn't require me to remember every single little detail of what's happened so far (one of my complaints about Lost). As TV is one of my favorite ways to veg out, I like being able to just sit back and watch without trying to remember everything. 

With only 5 episodes, The Sing-Off is one of the shortest shows to get hooked on. Yes, it takes over your life for about two and a half weeks, but it's worth it. Think American Idol with a capella groups and a LOT less invented drama to draw out the show. The first episode starts with 10 groups and the judges eliminate 1 or 2 each episode so viewers can vote on the winner before the last episode. It looks like they took the full episodes off hulu, but you can still watch clips from this past season there.

Bones continues to be one of my favorite shows currently airing on TV. I love the dynamic between Booth and Bones. It's what drives the show. 

Speaking of dynamics that drive the show, Castle and Beckett are also two of my favorite characters currently on TV. This is another show that continues to be fantastic. I'm excited to see how everything unfolds over the course of the season as Castle's book becomes a movie, too.

I felt like I had to put this one in here too. Yes, I still watch Glee regularly, but that's really more for social reasons. And the songs. This past season has been a disappointment so far. There have only been two episodes I've actually liked; the rest have been dumb. I was really disappointed that they had a great guest star like Carol Burnett, for example, and her entire character was stupid and not funny. I hope the episodes begin getting better more regularly - and soon. I feel like they have such a talented cast they aren't using.

Pictures!

This one isn't mine, but I love this picture by huffmans. It's a combination of two of my favorite things - rain and Disneyland.

I've really been loving polar bears a lot recently, too. Here are a couple of adorable photos I saw online that I just needed to share (one by Per Breiehagen and one by kayarebee).


And here are a few of my favorite photos I've taken recently:

Random side note: Apparently I published 27 posts in 2009 and 26 in 2010. Interesting, especially as I started this blog over halfway through 2009. Apparently I tapered off last year. My goal is to post a little bit more regularly, although blogging also isn't a major priority so when I get busy it falls away. Anyway...we'll see how this year goes.

Happy Epiphany!

Today (now that it's past midnight) marks the official end of the Christmas season. Yes, I know most people have been done celebrating for days (if not weeks), but since I love the holidays I like to celebrate as long as I can. The 12 days of Christmas actually begin on Christmas and end today, Epiphany. I don't remember a whole lot about it (my years of Lutheran upbringing are failing me), but I do remember that it's been Christmas this whole time despite most people moving on. Sad, I know.

Anyway, this past Christmas / New Year's was really fun. Throughout December, we attended three white elephant parties - my favorite kind! I also got to head down to California for a few days and spend time with family / a few friends. Unfortunately Matt couldn't make it down too, but I was glad I got to spend Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and my mom's birthday with family, in addition to visiting Matt's family and a few friends I still have in the area. Matt's parents came up and took us to dinner the day I got home too - him getting to see them was great, too.

Although I enjoy seeing people more than actual gifts, I was pretty excited about some of the wonderful items I received: Beauty & The Beast on DVD, various SF Giants paraphernalia, a few Wii games (Glee Karaoke, High School Musical Sing It and Wii Fit Plus), and more. 

More than anything, seeing friends and family again made me really appreciate just how blessed I am. There are a lot of people I wish I could see more and spend additional time with. I've been surrounded by fabulous people my entire life - and continue to be included in wonderful groups of friends and family. Thank you all!

Snow!

The first time I ever saw snow was during a family vacation in Yellowstone. In July. Needless to say, we weren't prepared for snow because everyone told us, "it's gonna be hot." It wasn't. We had a LOT of fun, though. I have very fond memories of playing in the snow with my older brother, both of us dressed in jeans and raincoats. We'd run around throwing snowballs at each other until our hands were numb, at which point we'd go inside to warm them up by the heater before going back outside.

My view of snow hasn't changed. Living in California for most of my life, the few times I've experienced snow since them have been filled with excitement and the strong desire to be outside running around, no matter how I happen to be dressed. 

When I went to college in Washington and it snowed, two of my friends that also happened to be from California ran around campus with me - jumping, tossing snow and squealing with delight. When I lived in Norway for a semester, we played in the street around midnight with a couple of other foreign students. Senior year of college we fell into the ground to make snow angels and created my first ever real snowman. The snow hasn't failed to excite me yet.

When it started snowing yesterday, I couldn't contain my excitement! Seeing the snow still falling today brings a wide grin to my face. Although I can't take a snow day from work, I definitely DO plan to make it outside during my lunch break. I'll be the one in polka-dotted rainboots and a giant smile.

Just 8 More Months...

I am an impatient person. One of the several phrases my dad used to tell me over and over and over again was, "stick around and find out," due to my impatience and compulsive need to know what's going on at all times (although, amazingly, I really do like surprises). Anyway, I'm not a patient person, and I think one of the hardest things for me at the moment is that I need to wait until JULY to see the conclusion of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Yes, I've read the book and knows what happens, and yes, I know I signed up for this...but I just want to see it now! 

Part 1 of the movie was really good. I thought they did a good job of sticking to the book and setting up Part 2, in addition to backtracking some of the parts they skipped in previous movies. There are a few things that would likely be confusing if you haven't read the books, but I don't see how they could explain them and keep the movie under 3 hours. I won't give away any spoilers for those of you that haven't read the book and don't know what happens, but I will say that I laughed, I cried and I jumped a few times during the 2.5 hours. And I want to see it again.


For those of you that haven't happened to see a trailer, here you go: