Twilight: Not going to lie, I might go see it again

Loved it. But, I'm going to go ahead and be honest about this. Twilight was a movie for the fans. Had you not read the books, you would have thought it was ridiculous. I get that. But I thought for as hyped as it was, the movie was pretty great. Taking such a big book that's packed with such intricate detail and so many characters, and transforming it into a movie is not easy, but I thought they did the best they could do. Had they included every scene, every line and every detail from the book, the movie would have been like 6 hours. Robert Pattinson (Edward) and Kristen Stewart (Bella) were amazing, I thought. Their chemistry was perfect and they totally carried the movie together. Other notables: Jessica was hilarious. Total scene stealer. Charlie was great.  The perfect combination of awkwardness, tenderness and wit.  I really like Rosalie and Jasper too. Actually, I loved all the Cullens and thought everyone embodied their character so well. I only wish they had more scenes.

One of the best parts of the movie I thought was how you get to see how hard it is for Edward to be around Bella. You don't really get that sense from the book, seeing as it's from Bella's perspective. But in the movie, Edwards facial expressions are priceless and he really shows how difficult it is for him to be close to Bella, even though he loves her. 

Granted, there were a few parts here and there that I thought were a little sketchy.  When Edward is trying to scare Bella with his abilities for example. That was a little rushed and messy.  But overall I was so happy with it and I'm so glad they left the ending open for the sequel, New Moon, which I read has the green light for production.

Welcome to the neighborhood

So I'm pulling into my driveway after a very busy afternoon of reading the paper over an asiago bagel at Einsteins when I see three teenagers standing under the parking cover in the back of my building. I'm a little taken back as to why there are kids hanging around the back of my house, seeing as there are only two apartments in the building and mine is the only one occupied. I park the car as one of these kids comes over to me and asks to roll the window down. He looks terrified, as do the other two, and asks me if I can give them a ride to their high school, which is about 2 blocks away.

Me: "Uh, why?"

Teenager: "We just got chased down by some homies with guns driving a white Expedition."

Now, I'm all for helping someone out in a time of crisis, but I was still trying to process the connotation of "homies" and "guns" before I was committed to a rescue. However, these kids were seriously freaked out so of course I told them to get in. And get down.

As I drove towards their school, one of them was on the phone with the police, who instructed him to go back to where they were and an officer would be on the way. So we made a loop, nervously looking out for a gang-banging white Expedition. Fortunately for them, and me, we made it back to my apartment safely. I had them come in, where, even in the midst of a potential drive-by shooting, I apologized for the lack of furniture. It's coming, I explained. They thanked me and told me that they had walked down to a nearby convenience store to grab some lunch during their break and were harassed by the guys in the Expedition. Being the smart, logical teenagers that they are, they began yelling all sorts of choice words and phrases at their harassers, until one of the "homies" pulled out a gun. That's when they ran away, Expedition following them, eventually ending up in my driveway to hide.

The police eventually showed up, took down their stories ("Yo, it was heated, yo. I said, fool let's go , and that's when he pulled the strap," uh...ok) and mine ("Yeah, um, I just moved here") and then gave them a ride back to school, where I'm sure they recreated the story to an enthusiastic 5th period. Suffice it to say, it was a bit of an exciting afternoon.

But jeez. Kids these days, right?

The wait is over

Friday at 5:00 p.m. I'm not even ashamed to exclaim how freaking excited I am, ok? Don't judge me.

Also....I'm obsessed with this lip gloss. It's AMAZING. Not only does it look really pretty, it makes your lips feel so, so good. A lot of lip gloss can be all sticky and end up drying out your lips, but this stuff makes them all healthy and moisturized. It's like the benefits of lip balm with the look of gloss. Plus, it's cheap. You can get it at Bath and Body Works. Loves it.

I'm due.

Seriously though, I'm due for something awesome to happen to me. It's my turn. I'm just saying.

I'm back in Salt Lake City after a 6-month hiatus in Sacramento living with my very generous sister and brother-in-law. I guess I could call Lilly generous, too. They were exceptionally nice to let me stay while I gathered some needed work experience. Now it's on to the next thing.

Cut to me in Salt Lake, sitting on a blow up air mattress in my empty apartment updating this blog.

My furniture should be arriving this weekend. I'm going to like Salt Lake this time around. I know it. This weekend was a nice preview of how I hope many weekends will pan out. Lots of friends. Like, really good, funny, friends who I don't have to say goodbye to on Sunday afternoons on my way to the airport. I wasn't in Salt Lake 15 minutes before I was out the door, headed over to watch The Office and play a little Fifa with some of my peeps. Friday, I attended Heather's match against BYU. A little scary, but Utah pulled it out in 5. Saturday morning, was a Sub4Santa 5k fundraiser at Sugar House park, followed by lunch at Einstein's. Later than night, party of 12 at Texas Roadhouse for dinner, after which, the guys headed out to the Real Salt Lake game and the girls made our way to some random bar to watch some random band, who actually turned out to be pretty good. Later we all met up again for some hot chocolate. Church with Heather today. Felt good to be back there too.

I like it here.

Happy Birthday, HO.

I don' know why, but I never call Heather, HO. Everyone else does, but I don't. I never did.

But today is her birthday and I think she deserves a special blog shout-out. She's smart, pretty, funny and super hardworking and probably the only person I know who will tell me straight up, without hesitation, when I'm being an idiot. And for that, I'm thankful.

I'm also thankful for how great a friend she is. The best. She knows me better than most and that's pretty cool. Because I feel lucky for the handful of really awesome friends I have. The really good ones, who call you and ask about your day, even when you live two states away and they may not know who or what you're talking about. The kind that have your back no matter what. That's Heather.

She's also one of the best examples of the kind of faith I want to have and the kind of person I hope to be.

I have no doubt that 20 years from now, we'll still be complaining about guys, still laughing about that time we cried during Win a Date with Tad Hamilton, comparing tans, discussing playoff games and confering over who the heck does BYU think they are?

No doubt.

Happy Birthday, Heather. You're a catch!

That's President Obama to you

As I watched Barack Obama walk out hand in hand with his family, I was overcome with the realization that he did it. He surpassed every obstacle, every expectation and broke away from the status quo of American politics. I could not believe what I was experiencing. I am so, so proud to have been a part of this history. To lend what I could to his campaign and this movement. I’m so proud of his family, to be able to call them my country’s first family. 

I went down to the Sacramento for Obama party down at a hotel in town. I took my camera to get some photos to document such a historic moment. The people there were amazing. Black, white, Latino, Asian, women, men, children, and everything in between. Seeing the reactions of some of the African-Americans was something I will never forget. When NBC called Ohio for Obama, and everyone cheered and knew this was the beginning of a landslide, I looked around and saw tears coming from these people, people who never thought they would see the day where their country would elect a black president. I felt honored and extremely humbled to be witnessing it with them.

I can’t describe how proud I am to be an American right now. I don’t think I’ve felt this kind of pride for my country before. Barack Obama is a President I know I will be proud to call MY president. I can’t wait to see him lead our country.

Something to consider...

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