Thanks Hollywood...

I've been thinking about this quite a bit over the last couple of weeks, and then Erik's blog pushed me over the edge to do the same thing. (Thanks Erik for letting me copycat...in many ways.)

I saw a bunch of movies last year. It's been a while since I've seen that many in a year. I remember the days when it seemed like Steve & I were seeing a movie once a week, or at least 2-3 times per month. Those were the days. We saw sooooo many. And I remember reactions to bunches of them. But in reviewing 2010, I couldn't help but come back to one thought - thanks Hollywood for the great family movies of 2010. Honestly. We saw a bunch of really great and really good movies last year that were appropriate and amazing for our family... Let's be honest - when you walk into the theater to see a kids movie you have this presumption that it's for the kids and you hope you make it through, right? These I totally would see again and again...and will...gladly!!! Did you see any of these??? Here they are in no particular order...

Tangled




















I absolutely loved this one! Loved the music - the story - the animation - the characters --- loved it loved it loved it! An instant classic for sure! Can't wait for the DVD!

Ramona and Beezus



















This one really caught me by surprise to be so good. I mean really good. AND... it's set in Oregon - how cool is that! Sweet story - touching. Love it! (Already have the DVD - thanks Mom!)

Toy Story 3
















Sooooooooooooo worth the wait. Amazing!!! Boo-hoo-ed!! Soooooo wonderful!

Despicable Me













When I saw the commercials I was NOT looking forward to it. Then my fam saw it and loved it! Just saw it after Christmas (another Christmas DVD - thanks MOM!)... wonderful wonderful story. And with many friends adopting and bringing home babies this year... WOW! That much better!

Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader

The books are amazing, and they're doing a pretty good job with the movies to go with them... Dawn Treader is Steve's favorite of the three...and definitely a great one to see!

Other good ones: Megamind (another sleeper surprise) and How to Train Your Dragon (Noah and I are reading this series right now and loving every minute of it...) and The Karate Kid (ok, I confess I didn't see all of it --- I was on a plane when I saw it, but I did like it...)

Then there is the non-kid movie that I saw and loved... Inception. Whoa - amazing.

And then...there is the one I really wanted to see, but didn't... Secretariat.

So, Hollywood...thanks for giving us lots of options of family friendly films to enjoy this past year. Good stories, great animation or cinematography, without those "need to filter" inappropriate moments. I am truly and honestly grateful. Hopeful for what 2011 is expected to bring our way...

Cars 2 - man, I can't wait!





















Hoodwinked Too! - this was supposed to be released in 2010, but wasn't. The original was an instant classic. Can't wait.












So, what was at the top of your list of great movies for 2010? What did I miss? What are you looking forward to (movie-wise) for 2011??

A new show --- and it surprised me...

Day 3. I found a new show. I know, I know. TV is considered wasting time. It's entertainment that can numb and make you disengage. Tonight I caught a glimpse of one that made me think and look at things, I don't know, different. Call it an "aha" moment like she did, or maybe I just liked the inside peek into what has been so successful for such a long time. I can't say that I always agree with the show or the stances it takes, but you can't help but acknowledge that the show and the person with the most visible face there have made an indelible impact on the entertainment industry. Tonight I watched "Season 25: Oprah Behind the Scenes". I know I'm on a break from school these days, and I know I committed to spend this time reading more and doing more things with my fam & friends while I have the break. But I also confess that tonight I set my DVR to record the show when it comes on. It makes me look at me different, and what I do, and why I do it - amazingly on more levels than I would ever have imagined. I watched just to see what it was like. I was pleasantly surprised...and challenged...and encouraged...and thankful... I'm not an "ultimate viewer" of Oprah, but have watched it numerous times over the last 25 years. I've watched many of the top 100+ series finales ever shown, including the last Johnny Carson - M*A*S*H - Cosby Show - Newhart - Cheers - Seinfeld - Friends - Family Ties - Home Improvement - Frasier ... skip down to Who's the Boss - Mad About You (one of my all-time fav shows) - Alias (ok, so it wasn't on the list but I loved it!) - Jack Bauer & 24 - and the list goes on... Most recently I watched Larry King's last show. And yes... I will watch the end of Oprah. I know many of the shows on that list probably have some of you going "huh? what's that?" and that's fine. There were many on that top list that I didn't recognize as well, or at least I didn't watch. But I admit - I've watched Oprah, and I'll be watching Behind the Scenes for the whole season.

I know I said I would...

The last week of Christmas vacation has been full...of sickness. Sick everyone except me. Steve, Kaylee and Noah each had a run of it - some crisscross of symptoms and some things unique to each. Seeing that everyone felt fine by new years eve I thought for sure I was free and clear. I was wrong. So, I finish the break...sick. In bed most of the day. Wiped out but now not able to sleep (I guess that's what a 3 hour midday nap does). So... That's the story (and blog entry for today). Hopefully tomorrow it'll be more blog worthy...but still reality. Day 2. Check.

:)

2011...

Ok...It's 2011. Two thousand eleven. It's a weird sounding year isn't it. I mean we're past the 05, 08, 09 kind of years --- we can just say it's 11. Or can we? At the beginning of a year everything seems so different, but it really isn't. It's a flip of a calendar, the change of one numeric figure in a string of numbers we see often. Yet - when a new year comes we have this opportunity (or for some of us...challenge) to see chances for resolutions. I've never been good at the resolutions thing. I think I have talked about it before. Whether you call it goal-setting, resolutions, self-inspection or reflection... I'm not good at it. I am typically so go-with-the-flow, easy does it, that those other ideas seem so "out there" to me. Or at least they have been. What I've begun to discover (at the end of last year) it that I haven't been a goal-setter, or introspective, or even just really had or taken time for myself. I don't say that in a selfish kind of way (which is how I've always seen it), but I guess it's just become a realization. Don't get me wrong - I have it good --- really good --- ok, pretty great... I love my husband, my family, my friends, school and what God has called me to... Yet I have come to realize that I don't ever really get time to turn off and just do "me" time very often. Or at least I don't take the time to do that. I wonder why? That's a question I have been thinking about lately. Is is that I don't take time, or that I don't want to take time? Is it that I'm not a goal-setter, or that I don't want to be a goal-setter? Is it that I'm not introspective, or that I don't want to be introspective? (HA! That's a funny question for someone who isn't introspective huh?)

I guess that's my point. This year --- 2011 --- in as deliberate as I am about longing to be a good wife and mom and friend and student and youth pastor and whatever else is a role I have... I want to be a good me. I want to learn a little about what really makes me tick - re-discover things that I just like to do for fun (sorry babe --- it's not a bowling league). Actually it's bigger than that (although I think that's part of it). There were many times in the latter part of this year when I was challenged about what I do that I just like to do... or fills my tank... what do I do for Sabbath-rest. What do I do that allows me to turn off for a while and just refuel? Hmmmm... it's bigger than "just" reading my Bible and praying... I think I've almost lost that ability to "rest" --- to just "be" --- to do things I just like to do... I feel a little like I'm rambling, because I'm still working through it in my head... but I know that I need to. Which I guess means I need to be introspective...

I raised the idea of the 40-days of blogging again to my friends and fam at dinner New Years Eve. I needed a kick-start to get back at it. But it's funny --- there's a part of me that doesn't want it to just be 40-days. I'm thinking 60... 90... And just like I want to be committed to doing this...I want to be committed to, in the midst of all this year brings my way, introspection...goal-setting...resting... I saw the question somewhere this week of "how are you different today than you were a year ago?" The non-introspective me doesn't exactly know how to answer that question... The thinking-I-need-to-be-introspective me believes I want to know how to answer that question... Maybe next year I'll just be the able-to-answer-that-question me ...

So...2011. Day 1 is done. 364 left. I wonder what's in store for us... I'm not sure what is in store for me this year. I can look ahead and see lots of great opportunities of fun and amazing things to do with family and friends... I see finishing my bachelor's degree - finally... I see things that are going to be bumpy roads where I'll need to hold on tight to Him to get through (ok, so I need to hold on tight to Him in those fun amazing times as well!)... So, here we go. Along for the ride, together...to embrace and live and reflect on whatever it is that God brings our way this year...

While I'm Waiting...

Heard this today and sent me to prayer for many I know who are in just a "waiting" kind of place - some things are exciting, some not so much... either way, my prayers are with you all and I am trusting Him to hold you close...while you wait. I am committed to pray and wait with you...

I'm waiting
I'm waiting on You, Lord
And I am hopeful
I'm waiting on You, Lord
Though it is painful
But patiently, I will wait

I will move ahead, bold and confident
Takeing every step in obedience
While I'm waiting
I will serve You
While I'm waiting
I will worship
While I'm waiting
I will not faint
I'll be running the race
Even while I wait

I'm waiting
I'm waiting on You, Lord
And I am peaceful
I'm waiting on You, Lord
Though it's not easy
But faithfully, I will wait
Yes, I will wait
I will serve You while I'm waiting
I will worship while I'm waiting
I will serve You while I'm waiting
I will worship while I'm waiting
I will serve you while I'm waiting
I will worship while I'm waiting on You, Lord

The answers...

So, here are the answers...

1) What did Noah say what he was looking forward to most about camping last weekend?? Noah said he was most looking forward to "mama being cold." And I was, at night. Actually I stayed up the latest (surprise surprise) sitting by the campfire. I was surprised at the roller coaster of temperatures we had. At the dock in Florence it was 85, but at our campsite - 65. And then the wind. And then night time. The last two nights it was in the upper 40's. Yeah, that was cold for this southern girl. It was fun, but coffee (my down comforter) wasn't enough.

2) What was our "I'm having a good time" and my "this isn't fun - I don't like it" statement?? So there's a "woo hoo" statement and a "this stinks" statement. This was an ingenius idea by my hubs the last time he and the kids went camping. If we were having a great time, we'd say "flying goat" and when we weren't and felt "this isn't fun/I don't like it" then we would say "I could be at a traffic pull" So random, but so fun.

3) How far did we have to walk to the closest restroom? Too far. I'd guess that it was about a block. I'm not good at guessing yards. I just remember walking, and walking. I really didn't mind it so much (except for the night I heard bats overhead while sitting at the campfire, everyone else was asleep and I needed to take that one last walk before going to sleep - that night it was a little creepy). The best part of it though was that it the sky was filled with all those stars (I blogged about that already).

4) What's your favorite camping memory?? Hmmmm... I love watching Noah come alive when we camp. Not that he's not alive when we are home, but literally he goes into a lil' bit of a back to real world stupor when we get back - it's like a 2-day-funk to work it out. He loves the outdoors and everything that's a part of it...including the cold. He's so cute.

For another take on camping check out my hubs blog.... The Sounds of Nature and My dad… Crazy or Genius??

Whatcha think?? (A few guesses from you first...)

Tomorrow I'm probably posting about the beginning of the school year... the next day I'm planning to blog about camping. This past weekend we took a family camping trip to Florence, Oregon (not Italy). Bu before I post... I'd love to hear your guesses about a few questions...

1) What did Noah say what he was looking forward to most about camping last weekend?? (This was obviously a pre-trip statement). What would be your guess??

2) What was our "I'm having a good time" and my "this isn't fun - I don't like it" statement (Steve started this tradition so that we could celebrate or complain while no one around will know what we are talking about...so fun. So there's a "woo hoo" statement and a "this stinks" statement. Any guesses?

3) How far did we have to walk to the closest restroom?

4) What's your favorite camping memory??

Now...back to homework...

P.S. If you want to check out another camping perspective, check out Steve's blog to see it through his eyes...

It comes...and it goes... and I didn't even realize it...

...And that's ok. I didn't realize until Steve told me that my "40 days of blogging" are over. It actually ended on Friday, September 3rd. I posted that day. And the next. I missed Sunday. And that's ok too. There's no life requirement that I blog every day. But guess what? I realized during the course of this 40-day journey that I kinda like it. It really was a lot of fun. It still is. I like sharing life stories, faith stories, funny stories, heart stories... I like sharing life. People from 37 states have peeked in to this little blog called "Until... we can sit face to face..." People from 129 cities... 12 countries... that's just wild.

Long and short of it is lots has happened over the last 40 days... and lots will continue to happen. The next couple of weeks are just FULL of crazy and cool and fun things going on. And... I'm going to keep blogging about it. I don't know that it will be every day, but I hope it will be. Is there something you want me to blog about? Something you want me to answer?? Suggestions of changes I could make?? Let me know. Thanks for joining me in the blogging journey... hope we keep traveling it together...

It's a little surreal...

... that I'm sitting by a roaring campfire, looking at a sky full of stars, and I'm posting a blog by using my phone. I can't be the only one who thinks... Wow. That's crazy. I think we continue to take for granted the technological advances. Just like we take for granted the star-filled sky overhead. To say this sky is beautiful is an understatement. To say it is awe-inspiring is not enough. To say it is mesmerizing is true but not close to accurate.

Your love, O Lord, reaches to the heavens. Your faithfulness to the skies. (Psalm 36:5)

For as amazing and big and vast and awe-inspiring and mesmerizing and beautiful this sky is... God's love is bigger. And just when I think I can focus on how big it is, God's love is bigger still. And then you think of 1 Corinthians 13 that says Love is patient. Love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast. It is not proud. It is not rude or self-seeking. It is not easily angered. It keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices in the truth. It always trusts, always protects, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.

Then... I think about it again but every time I say the word Love or It, I put in God's name... Or Jesus' Name... And then I stare up at this big ol sky and go ... Wow!! Thanks God for loving me this much. Thanks for loving me regardless, in spite of my faults, through good times and bad...and so on.

Maybe you can go take a peak outside tonight or tomorrow night and catch a glimpse of how big the sky is...and how big His love for you is... It's a lil surreal...

A confession...

Somehow during high school I never learned a foreign language. Nope. I got to use my extra elective credits to do more music classes, and yearbook. Last part of my Senior year I had Orchestra, Jazz Lab, Symphonic Band, English, Band Assistant, and Yearbook. That was a rockin' schedule!! Anyway --- I'm "old" enough that foreign language was covered under my humanities credits, and all these music classes got me through.

Now, I wish I'd had the foreign languge. It's weird that everyone else pretty much knows one except me (or at least seems that way). I can say I've learned txt msg language - I can say I've created my own new words, many a time... but no foreign language. I even have to ask friends to help me understand Geek Speak, but there are many times I'm lost by techno-talk that is above my head (I'm a techie-wanna-be...not a techie pro...).

Yesterday in staff coffee this youtube clip was shared. A complete foreign film. Watch and let me know what you think... I'm sure you'll probably understand every single word. (yeah, right! really...watch it right now... please???)