Today was the zipline! We got up extra early (6:00 am) and drove to Haleakala. On the way I called Jeff, my insurance guy, and asked about my coverage. He said that I was indeed covered in Hawaii. Since we had to pass the airport to get to Haleakala, we decided to stop by on the way back and ask for our money back.
When we got to the ziplining place, I realized that we were about an hour early (I had written the time we needed to check in on the itinerary, but I thought that was the time the tour started, so I had planned to get there early). Anyway, I used that time to call a few rental car places in case I needed to threaten to return my car if they didn't refund the insurance money.
When it was time to check in, we went up to the counter. I started filling out the waivers, while Nephi went to the restroom. I really had to go too, but by the time I had finished the waivers, the truck that cleans out the porta-potties was there and so I couldn't go. We geared up and started our hike. I had to pee the WHOLE time.
At each zipline, they had information about a native Hawaiian bird. I am not sure what the point was exactly, but it was interesting. It was good practice in reading Hawaiian, because they would have the names written and I would hear them say it, so I got an idea on how to say certain letters.
There were 5 ziplines. The first 4 were pretty wimpy, but fun. I did hit the landing wrong on the fourth one and scraped my leg. I was totally fine, but I got a pretty good flesh wound. The fifth zipline was awesome. It was huge.
Our guides, Sterling and Sal, were decently nice. Sal would crack jokes the whole time, but when people in the group made jokes he seemed annoyed. I thought that was a weird character trait. I mean, people take cues from other people. If you are joking around, other people will start joking around too, but he didn't seem to like it when others did. It was really weird.
After the ziplines we had to hike back to the starting point. I am pretty sure there is usually a van, but that for some reason it wasn't there. It was okay though (minus the disgusting dirt/dust that kicked up and got my shoes and feet all nasty).
When we said goodbye to Haleakala, we headed back down to the Dollar Rent-a-Car. I was full of ammo and ready to go, but I am always nice first. I explained the situation to the lady and she took off the insurance, no problem. I thought that was good, so we kept the car. It was really more convenient that way anyway.
We drove around looking for lunch. Eventually we found a "mall," though Nephi and I couldn't agree on what to eat. He got fish tacos from a Rubio's rip off, and I got pad thai from a thai restaurant. Mine wasn't very good, but Nephi liked his.
I really wanted to go to the pool, so when we got back to the hotel we lathered ourselves in sunscreen (we are both white white white) and headed down. We took the laptop and checked all of our internet stuff. I went swimming and Nephi slept. About an hour later we headed up to the room and were lazy for the rest of the afternoon.
We made a dinner reservation at Kimo's for 7:00 pm. We asked for preferred seating (patio facing the ocean). It was really nice. Nephi and I dressed up (something we never do) and went to dinner. We ordered top sirloin and teriyaki top sirloin and split both. I REALLY liked the teriyaki sirloin. It was soooo good.
On the way to dinner we stopped by a shop to buy Nephi some $10 bug spray. He is getting eaten alive...I have no bites at all. Weird how that works sometimes.
By the time we made it back to the room I was beat. I lied down and fell asleep pretty much instantly.
Saturday, June 5, 2010
Friday, June 4, 2010
Day 5: Maui Not So Wowi
We woke up early, packed our stuff, and headed to the airport. Of course there was traffic, but it didn’t make us too late.
We dropped off our car at Enterprise and rode the shuttle to the ticket counter. We checked in, went through security, and walked to our gate. When we got there we suddenly realized that we were about to get on a 6-hour flight, and perhaps eating would be a good idea. We ate breakfast at an overpriced bar right by our gate. It was fine.
Our flight was…long. I have been to Italy, so I have been on longer flights, but it was hard being in the middle of the day. My legs started to hurt and it was hard to get up and walk around. Eventually we made it.
As we started to decent into Kahului on Maui, I was confused. It was so…brown. Maybe it is because we came from super green Washington, but I found myself feeling disappointed. The ocean didn’t disappoint though. The water here is spectacular.
We picked up our bags and went to the rental car place. The experience was less than thrilling. I got talked into the insurance because the lady freaked me out that my insurance wouldn’t cover it. I called my insurance before I left and asked if they covered me on rental cars and the answer was yes. I did not, however, ask about Hawaii specifically and she convinced me it mattered. I still don’t know the answer; I will have to call my insurance guy tomorrow. Regardless…it cost me $300 (sad face). We have some type of Subaru. Nephi likes it and that is all that matters (as he is Mr. Driver).
We made a quick lunch stop at McDonald’s and then drove to Lahaina. We got a bit lost, though nothing the uber navigator (me) can’t handle. We found our hotel (the Outrigger Aina Nalu) and checked in. When we walked into the room, I instantly noticed the bed seemed a bit short. When I lied on it, my feet hung off the end. I started calling it the midget bed (completely politically incorrect, I realize). Nephi and I giggled about it, but finally figured out that it is a queen bed put up against the wall sideways. Weird, but it works. I went to open the blinds and the wand broke. Oh well.
As we got ready to leave I looked in the mirror and realized that my eyelid was pretty swollen. That seems to happen to me when I am dehydrated, and usually it isn’t just my eyelid. I looked down at my feet and ankles and sure enough…they were huge. There wasn’t a ton I could do in that moment, but I made plans to ice them and take some advil.
We headed to the pool (where there is free wifi) to check our email and such. Then we headed down to the waterfront to check out the shops. Our hotel is super close to downtown Lahaina (only 1.5 blocks)! It was great. We watched our first Hawaii sunset on the waterfront and came back to the hotel.
We made a stop at the grocery store where they had nothing I wanted (muffins, donuts, onion bagels, knives, nothing!) and got water and some breakfast stuff. Then we decided to head down to a pizza place some people told us about on the waterfront.
On the way we saw some girls taking a picture of something on the sidewalk. At first I thought it was a lizard, then I thought it was a snake. Then Nephi told me it was a centipede! AHHHHH! Seriously, it was 8 inches long. I kinda pride myself on not being super squeamish. I am not really afraid of much. I like snakes and spiders don’t bug me so much, though I wouldn’t really want either on me, but one thing I cannot stand are centipedes. Whenever I see them on television or something my whole body gets the chills and I feel sick. Well…I saw one in real life and it was horrible. It is a super good thing those girls were taking a picture because if I had happened upon that I probably would have freaked out.
Shortly there after, we made it to Gaby’s, the pizza place. We got a half cheese, half ham and tomato pizza. It was pretty good.
We walked back to our hotel, iced my ankles, and are now going to pass out from exhaustion. Night, night.
We dropped off our car at Enterprise and rode the shuttle to the ticket counter. We checked in, went through security, and walked to our gate. When we got there we suddenly realized that we were about to get on a 6-hour flight, and perhaps eating would be a good idea. We ate breakfast at an overpriced bar right by our gate. It was fine.
Our flight was…long. I have been to Italy, so I have been on longer flights, but it was hard being in the middle of the day. My legs started to hurt and it was hard to get up and walk around. Eventually we made it.
As we started to decent into Kahului on Maui, I was confused. It was so…brown. Maybe it is because we came from super green Washington, but I found myself feeling disappointed. The ocean didn’t disappoint though. The water here is spectacular.
We picked up our bags and went to the rental car place. The experience was less than thrilling. I got talked into the insurance because the lady freaked me out that my insurance wouldn’t cover it. I called my insurance before I left and asked if they covered me on rental cars and the answer was yes. I did not, however, ask about Hawaii specifically and she convinced me it mattered. I still don’t know the answer; I will have to call my insurance guy tomorrow. Regardless…it cost me $300 (sad face). We have some type of Subaru. Nephi likes it and that is all that matters (as he is Mr. Driver).
We made a quick lunch stop at McDonald’s and then drove to Lahaina. We got a bit lost, though nothing the uber navigator (me) can’t handle. We found our hotel (the Outrigger Aina Nalu) and checked in. When we walked into the room, I instantly noticed the bed seemed a bit short. When I lied on it, my feet hung off the end. I started calling it the midget bed (completely politically incorrect, I realize). Nephi and I giggled about it, but finally figured out that it is a queen bed put up against the wall sideways. Weird, but it works. I went to open the blinds and the wand broke. Oh well.
As we got ready to leave I looked in the mirror and realized that my eyelid was pretty swollen. That seems to happen to me when I am dehydrated, and usually it isn’t just my eyelid. I looked down at my feet and ankles and sure enough…they were huge. There wasn’t a ton I could do in that moment, but I made plans to ice them and take some advil.
We headed to the pool (where there is free wifi) to check our email and such. Then we headed down to the waterfront to check out the shops. Our hotel is super close to downtown Lahaina (only 1.5 blocks)! It was great. We watched our first Hawaii sunset on the waterfront and came back to the hotel.
We made a stop at the grocery store where they had nothing I wanted (muffins, donuts, onion bagels, knives, nothing!) and got water and some breakfast stuff. Then we decided to head down to a pizza place some people told us about on the waterfront.
On the way we saw some girls taking a picture of something on the sidewalk. At first I thought it was a lizard, then I thought it was a snake. Then Nephi told me it was a centipede! AHHHHH! Seriously, it was 8 inches long. I kinda pride myself on not being super squeamish. I am not really afraid of much. I like snakes and spiders don’t bug me so much, though I wouldn’t really want either on me, but one thing I cannot stand are centipedes. Whenever I see them on television or something my whole body gets the chills and I feel sick. Well…I saw one in real life and it was horrible. It is a super good thing those girls were taking a picture because if I had happened upon that I probably would have freaked out.
Shortly there after, we made it to Gaby’s, the pizza place. We got a half cheese, half ham and tomato pizza. It was pretty good.
We walked back to our hotel, iced my ankles, and are now going to pass out from exhaustion. Night, night.
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Day 4: Downtown!
Nephi and I decided that since we are on vacation we are allowed to sleep in some days. We slept in until 11:00. Actually…Nephi woke up at 10:00 and I woke up at 11:00. It felt so nice sleeping in. We spent about an hour getting ready for the day then we headed out.
First stop: lunch (or breakfast…depending on how you look at it). We had seen quite a few Qdobas, so we thought that would be good. For you Utahans, Qdoba is like Chipotle or Café Rio. Quick assembly line Mexican. In fact, it was the first assembly line Mexican place I ever ate at. I became addicted in high school and was depressed when I moved to Utah were there are none. Fast forward 4 years and Chipotle has moved into Utah, and now I prefer it. None-the-less, Qdoba is still good.
After lunch we decided to go bowling. I realize we can do that anywhere, but the truth is we don’t. We bowled two games, both of which Nephi won (as always). I have NEVER broken 100 in a game and today was no exception. I got 64 on my first game (average) and I got a 74 on my second game (pretty good). Nephi, on the other hand, got 112 on his first game and 106 on his second game. After that we played a round of pool, which Nephi also won (though only after I was generous and let him pull out the 8 ball that he accidentally put in a hole).
I finally got tired of being beaten, so we headed downtown. We had intentions of checking out the Space Needle, but after realizing we would have to pay $10 just to park 10 blocks away (not to mention the $17 a person charge to get to the top), I said forget it. Instead we drove down to the waterfront. We chose a place to park that was in-between Pike Place Market (our next stop) and Safeco Field (a stop later in our itinerary). We walked along the waterfront and found a cute little shop to stop at. They were really nice. Nephi was trying on a sweatshirt and the owner came over and started giving us discounts on everything. It was awesome. Nephi and I each got a sweatshirt and a t-shirt. Yay for clothes.
We continued on the waterfront and climbed about 1,000 stairs to get to Pike Place Market. Truthfully, for someone who hates fish…this was very unexciting. It smelled gross and because it was already after 5 pm, a lot of the venders were leaving. It was cool looking at all the fresh produce though. We even saw some fruit we had never seen before, such as golden raspberries (raspberries that are yellow!).
We decided to start heading to Safeco field. We needed to stop by the car to drop off our purchases and pick up our coats (which I am so glad we decided to pack even though we are going to Hawaii), so we descended the 1,000 stairs and headed south. As we continued walking, I started to realize what a scary place the waterfront is. There are panhandlers, and it is pretty much under a highway. I started thinking about how I definitely didn’t want to walk back down this street in the dark (which we would have to do after the game). However, by the time I realized this we were almost to the baseball field. I decided we would take an alternate route.
When we got to Safeco Field, we checked out the team store. We needed to get Nephi’s brother a gift for watching our cats and everyone in his family are huge baseball buffs. Ken Griffey Jr. ended up retiring today, so it was a pretty cool day to go to the game. There was a ton of buzz, though he didn’t play. The Mariners played the Twins. The game itself was pretty boring. No one really even got on base. Nephi and I figured out how to hook up our Nintendo DS to the MLB network and I played some games against other fans. I was kicking their trash for a while. Then I got bored and watched the game. The Mariners ended up winning 2 to 1.
By this time, Nephi and I were starving. We decided to go to The Hard Rock Café…just because it’s different. As I looked for an information booth in the stadium, a man drove by on a segway…though it wasn’t just a segway, it was a moving information booth. We got a kick out of that. We asked which bus would take us to Pike Place Market and he let us know. We met some fun people on the bus. They had gone to school at the University of Colorado in Boulder so that gave us some stuff to talk about. Dinner at Hard Rock was yummy, but overpriced (though that wasn’t unexpected).
After dinner it was time to walk back to the car. I decided we should stay on the road we were on (and not return to the waterfront) for as long as possible. We started walking, however, I was worried that we wouldn’t be able to find stairs down to the waterfront after a certain point. When we found some stairs I decided we should go down them (even though we were quite a few blocks north of where we had parked). We walked down the stairs and ended up on a VERY dead road. There was no one. Nephi found that comforting…me not so much (keep in mind that by now it is about 11 pm). I was seriously freaking out; I had 911 entered into my phone and I was keeping my finger on the call button (a bit melodramatic probably). I also had to go to the bathroom REALLY bad. We spotted a McDonald’s on the waterfront so we walked the final block west to that road. As we were walking I noticed all these lumps on the side of the road. There were probably 20 homeless people sleeping on that road. That freaked me out. We ran across the street and found refuge inside McDonald’s. We walked the final few blocks to our car and I was glad to be alive.
When we returned back to Maddy’s we decided to take a quick walk to get a picture of this ridiculous sign. It says, “Drive Carefully: Imagine the Impact You Can Make!” Under the caption it has a picture with people diving out of the way, their schoolbooks flying out of their hands. We thought that was hilarious, and had to get a picture.
Now I am lying in bed trying to get this finished as quickly as possible so I can go to sleep. Tomorrow: Hawaii!
First stop: lunch (or breakfast…depending on how you look at it). We had seen quite a few Qdobas, so we thought that would be good. For you Utahans, Qdoba is like Chipotle or Café Rio. Quick assembly line Mexican. In fact, it was the first assembly line Mexican place I ever ate at. I became addicted in high school and was depressed when I moved to Utah were there are none. Fast forward 4 years and Chipotle has moved into Utah, and now I prefer it. None-the-less, Qdoba is still good.
After lunch we decided to go bowling. I realize we can do that anywhere, but the truth is we don’t. We bowled two games, both of which Nephi won (as always). I have NEVER broken 100 in a game and today was no exception. I got 64 on my first game (average) and I got a 74 on my second game (pretty good). Nephi, on the other hand, got 112 on his first game and 106 on his second game. After that we played a round of pool, which Nephi also won (though only after I was generous and let him pull out the 8 ball that he accidentally put in a hole).
I finally got tired of being beaten, so we headed downtown. We had intentions of checking out the Space Needle, but after realizing we would have to pay $10 just to park 10 blocks away (not to mention the $17 a person charge to get to the top), I said forget it. Instead we drove down to the waterfront. We chose a place to park that was in-between Pike Place Market (our next stop) and Safeco Field (a stop later in our itinerary). We walked along the waterfront and found a cute little shop to stop at. They were really nice. Nephi was trying on a sweatshirt and the owner came over and started giving us discounts on everything. It was awesome. Nephi and I each got a sweatshirt and a t-shirt. Yay for clothes.
We continued on the waterfront and climbed about 1,000 stairs to get to Pike Place Market. Truthfully, for someone who hates fish…this was very unexciting. It smelled gross and because it was already after 5 pm, a lot of the venders were leaving. It was cool looking at all the fresh produce though. We even saw some fruit we had never seen before, such as golden raspberries (raspberries that are yellow!).
We decided to start heading to Safeco field. We needed to stop by the car to drop off our purchases and pick up our coats (which I am so glad we decided to pack even though we are going to Hawaii), so we descended the 1,000 stairs and headed south. As we continued walking, I started to realize what a scary place the waterfront is. There are panhandlers, and it is pretty much under a highway. I started thinking about how I definitely didn’t want to walk back down this street in the dark (which we would have to do after the game). However, by the time I realized this we were almost to the baseball field. I decided we would take an alternate route.
When we got to Safeco Field, we checked out the team store. We needed to get Nephi’s brother a gift for watching our cats and everyone in his family are huge baseball buffs. Ken Griffey Jr. ended up retiring today, so it was a pretty cool day to go to the game. There was a ton of buzz, though he didn’t play. The Mariners played the Twins. The game itself was pretty boring. No one really even got on base. Nephi and I figured out how to hook up our Nintendo DS to the MLB network and I played some games against other fans. I was kicking their trash for a while. Then I got bored and watched the game. The Mariners ended up winning 2 to 1.
By this time, Nephi and I were starving. We decided to go to The Hard Rock Café…just because it’s different. As I looked for an information booth in the stadium, a man drove by on a segway…though it wasn’t just a segway, it was a moving information booth. We got a kick out of that. We asked which bus would take us to Pike Place Market and he let us know. We met some fun people on the bus. They had gone to school at the University of Colorado in Boulder so that gave us some stuff to talk about. Dinner at Hard Rock was yummy, but overpriced (though that wasn’t unexpected).
After dinner it was time to walk back to the car. I decided we should stay on the road we were on (and not return to the waterfront) for as long as possible. We started walking, however, I was worried that we wouldn’t be able to find stairs down to the waterfront after a certain point. When we found some stairs I decided we should go down them (even though we were quite a few blocks north of where we had parked). We walked down the stairs and ended up on a VERY dead road. There was no one. Nephi found that comforting…me not so much (keep in mind that by now it is about 11 pm). I was seriously freaking out; I had 911 entered into my phone and I was keeping my finger on the call button (a bit melodramatic probably). I also had to go to the bathroom REALLY bad. We spotted a McDonald’s on the waterfront so we walked the final block west to that road. As we were walking I noticed all these lumps on the side of the road. There were probably 20 homeless people sleeping on that road. That freaked me out. We ran across the street and found refuge inside McDonald’s. We walked the final few blocks to our car and I was glad to be alive.
When we returned back to Maddy’s we decided to take a quick walk to get a picture of this ridiculous sign. It says, “Drive Carefully: Imagine the Impact You Can Make!” Under the caption it has a picture with people diving out of the way, their schoolbooks flying out of their hands. We thought that was hilarious, and had to get a picture.
Now I am lying in bed trying to get this finished as quickly as possible so I can go to sleep. Tomorrow: Hawaii!
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Day 3: Hello Seattle
Nephi and I were going to go to Hoh Rainforest…but our shoes were still wet from our beach experience, so we decided to op out (hiking in flip flops really isn’t a viable option in Washington).
Instead we headed to the Dazzled by Twilight store. It was actually pretty cool. They had made the inside look like a forest and it was really fun. They had some goofy merchandise, and it was cool to look at everything and realize…even though I am in Forks, I am definitely not the biggest nerd who comes here. I decided on a pretty basic Forks t-shirt. It has the zip code on it, which I thought was pretty subtle.
We did see this shirt that had golden eyes on it and said vegetarian underneath. I really wanted to buy it for my sister, Megan, as she is a vegetarian…but I was about 99% sure that she wouldn’t wear it (she despises Twilight and its “anti-female perspective”). Anyway…it was good to go.
They had a bunch of sweatshirts, but they were $70, so we headed to the local Thriftway to buy a sweatshirt there. It was almost exactly the same, but I got it for $25 instead. That was good.
After that we started our drive back to Seattle. We made a quick stop in Port Angeles for lunch at Wendy’s. I decided that Port Angeles is the armpit of Washington. The whole place is a little gross.
From there we decided to take a different route than the one we had come by. Our new route required us to take a ferry across the sound, and I thought that would be a fun experience. We entered the town of Kinston at about 2:08. The ferry left at 2:20, and I was pretty sure we were going to miss it and have to wait for the 3:05 one. We made it just on time…I was pretty happy about that. We drove our car onto the ferry then got out to check it out. I really like being on boats…as long as I am outside. If I am inside I start to feel yucky…but for some reason being outside is fine. I really enjoyed the ride…it was fun.
Then the real fun began (this statement is fraught with sarcasm). As I am 23, it would cost me about $30 more per day to rent a car than it cost my old 26-year-old husband. Up to this point he had been doing quite well. In all honesty, Nephi isn’t a bad driver…I just hate not having control and he REALLY doesn’t listen to me. Not at all. So I have a hard time with him driving. Like I said though…it had been going really well. I wasn’t freaking out and he was driving better than usual. However, when we got to Seattle I realized why I had been okay. Before, there had been no other cars. In Seattle…there are lots of cars and I found my entire body tense for the entire drive. It really isn’t a fun experience for me, but it is probably a good thing. I need to learn to let go every once in awhile.
When we were planning this trip, we were trying to be cost effective (especially on the Seattle part). We decided that instead of staying in a hotel, we would try this website called airbnb.com. The general concept is that people rent out extra beds that they have in their house—whether it is an air bed, a sleeper sofa, a shared bedroom, or a private bedroom. We decided since it was our first time we would go with a private bedroom with an attached bathroom. We paid $30 a night instead of the $100 we would have paid for a hotel in the same area. It is a good deal, but…a new experience.
We met our host Maddy. She was very nice and accommodating…though so far, the experience is awkward. It is weird being in someone’s house. I don’t know if I should tell them when we are coming and going, or just come and go and not worry about it. The room is really nice, but the parking is a bit frightening!
We settled in and Nephi took an hour nap while I planned the night. We ended up going to a Chinese restaurant called Twins Garden. We ordered crab rangoons, seven flavor beef, and General Tso’s chicken. It was all pretty good…though not amazing. Nephi really liked it.
After that we headed to a movie. We saw How To Train Your Dragon. I really like it, but it made me miss my kitty cats. After the movie, we went next door to the cheesecake factory and got dessert. It was yummy!
Well…farewell for now!
Instead we headed to the Dazzled by Twilight store. It was actually pretty cool. They had made the inside look like a forest and it was really fun. They had some goofy merchandise, and it was cool to look at everything and realize…even though I am in Forks, I am definitely not the biggest nerd who comes here. I decided on a pretty basic Forks t-shirt. It has the zip code on it, which I thought was pretty subtle.
We did see this shirt that had golden eyes on it and said vegetarian underneath. I really wanted to buy it for my sister, Megan, as she is a vegetarian…but I was about 99% sure that she wouldn’t wear it (she despises Twilight and its “anti-female perspective”). Anyway…it was good to go.
They had a bunch of sweatshirts, but they were $70, so we headed to the local Thriftway to buy a sweatshirt there. It was almost exactly the same, but I got it for $25 instead. That was good.
After that we started our drive back to Seattle. We made a quick stop in Port Angeles for lunch at Wendy’s. I decided that Port Angeles is the armpit of Washington. The whole place is a little gross.
From there we decided to take a different route than the one we had come by. Our new route required us to take a ferry across the sound, and I thought that would be a fun experience. We entered the town of Kinston at about 2:08. The ferry left at 2:20, and I was pretty sure we were going to miss it and have to wait for the 3:05 one. We made it just on time…I was pretty happy about that. We drove our car onto the ferry then got out to check it out. I really like being on boats…as long as I am outside. If I am inside I start to feel yucky…but for some reason being outside is fine. I really enjoyed the ride…it was fun.
Then the real fun began (this statement is fraught with sarcasm). As I am 23, it would cost me about $30 more per day to rent a car than it cost my old 26-year-old husband. Up to this point he had been doing quite well. In all honesty, Nephi isn’t a bad driver…I just hate not having control and he REALLY doesn’t listen to me. Not at all. So I have a hard time with him driving. Like I said though…it had been going really well. I wasn’t freaking out and he was driving better than usual. However, when we got to Seattle I realized why I had been okay. Before, there had been no other cars. In Seattle…there are lots of cars and I found my entire body tense for the entire drive. It really isn’t a fun experience for me, but it is probably a good thing. I need to learn to let go every once in awhile.
When we were planning this trip, we were trying to be cost effective (especially on the Seattle part). We decided that instead of staying in a hotel, we would try this website called airbnb.com. The general concept is that people rent out extra beds that they have in their house—whether it is an air bed, a sleeper sofa, a shared bedroom, or a private bedroom. We decided since it was our first time we would go with a private bedroom with an attached bathroom. We paid $30 a night instead of the $100 we would have paid for a hotel in the same area. It is a good deal, but…a new experience.
We met our host Maddy. She was very nice and accommodating…though so far, the experience is awkward. It is weird being in someone’s house. I don’t know if I should tell them when we are coming and going, or just come and go and not worry about it. The room is really nice, but the parking is a bit frightening!
We settled in and Nephi took an hour nap while I planned the night. We ended up going to a Chinese restaurant called Twins Garden. We ordered crab rangoons, seven flavor beef, and General Tso’s chicken. It was all pretty good…though not amazing. Nephi really liked it.
After that we headed to a movie. We saw How To Train Your Dragon. I really like it, but it made me miss my kitty cats. After the movie, we went next door to the cheesecake factory and got dessert. It was yummy!
Well…farewell for now!
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Day 2: Proud to Be a Wet American
We had planned to get up early to go to the tide pools. I had read a little article online about some tide pools that are about a 20-minute drive away from Forks. The article said that they were the best tide pools in the Pacific Northwest and that the best time to go was in the morning, right after the tide had receded for the day. I was uber excited for the tide pools. Nephi and I went to some tide pools in San Diego and the were L-A-M-E. I was so disappointed. I wanted to see sea stars and all kinds of cool stuff and San Diego did not deliver. I hoped Washington would.
We woke up late. Of course. This is Brianne and Nephi we are talking about here. It is really hard to motivate yourself to wake up when there is nowhere you absolutely have to be.
After waking up an hour after the time that I wanted to be at the tide pools, there seemed no point in rushing. We showered and got ready for the day. Then we decided that since it was later, we better get some food. We chose a place that served breakfast and lunch so that it didn’t matter what time we got there…they would be serving something. We went to a little dive called Forks Coffee Shop. I did some quick research online and it had the best reviews in all of Forks. We got there and they were still serving breakfast, so Nephi got the logger’s special (biscuits and gravy with hashbrowns), and I asked for the picture which I could find nowhere on their menu (eggs, bacon, sausage, toast, and hashbrowns). It was just standard diner fare, good but nothing special.
After finishing our brunch we headed out to Rialto Beach. Driving there, I really got to know my inner tree-hugging hippy. Her name is Brisa (or Breeze in Spanish). Brisa was heartbroken by the sweeps of land we passed that had been deforested by loggers. I mean…I know this used to be a logging town, but seeing the aftermath was depressing. Not only are you so very aware that you are supposed to be surrounded by huge, beautiful, green trees, but also you are forced to look at piles of unused wood (the branches) covered in weird plastic that the loggers left behind in their place. It was so sad to me. Yuck! I vowed to never use paper again. We’ll see how that goes for me. Brisa is resolute…but I am far too practical to vow never.
Thankfully, the state of Washington replants these areas that have been cut down. Nephi calls these areas “baby forests.” One of the baby forests we saw was planted in 2004. Right now it looks like a big field filled with perfect Christmas trees (of course that defeats the purpose). While they are kinda cool looking…Brisa remained depressed that she was missing out on the BIG trees—with soul and wisdom—that were supposed to be there. We also saw a not-so-baby forest that was planted in 1984. I called this bit of forest Nephi’s forest…since that is the year Nephi was born. These trees were starting to really get big and in probably 20 more years will look like the originals. I am glad that the state replants…but they should be aware that it definitely isn’t as cool as if they just left it be. It also got me thinking…how exactly do they replant these forests. Surely they don’t just walk around flinging seeds everywhere. But surely they don’t dig a hole for each of those trees…that would take an eternity. I would like to know how they do it.
Eventually we made it to Rialto Beach. Rialto Beach itself is pretty cool. Instead of sand the ground is covered in trillions of perfectly smooth stones of all colors. All over the beach lie trees that the ocean pitilessly took out. Looking out toward the great expanse of water, there are some cool islands that tower, with cliffs and trees. It is way cool.
The lady who wrote the article on the internet said that the tide pools were an easy 30 minute walk north along the beach…so we started walking. The lady on the internet is a liar. First…the walk is not easy. Yes there is no incline, but all the while you are sinking into the rocks, or the sand, or a strange mixture of the two. You are also on a slight slope and so my ankles kept bending all wonky. It was no fun…but it wasn’t the end of the word and I really wanted to see those tide pools. Then…it happened. We realized the internet lady was an even bigger liar! We had to cross a river—yes a river (and not a little Colorado river either with rocks and stuff)—in order to get to the tide pools. We surveyed the area and determined that there was no way to cross at the beach. We started walking up the river inland and eventually found a couple perching by a section of river that was covered in logs. I asked, “Did you cross here?” The man answered, “Well I did, but then I turned around and had to cross back.” I responded, “Did you get wet?” “No…I didn’t, but she did!” I look to the woman as she wrung out a sock. I said, “Was it very hard?” He said, “No…it just depends on your confidence level because those logs are slippery.” I thought that was a little thoughtless considering his wife had clearly fallen in…like he thought she didn’t have enough confidence, but Nephi and I just sorta giggled, thanked them, and decided to go for it. We crossed on the logs no problem.
When we got on the other side we continued trekking. After about five more minutes we saw something amazing! Flying high above us…wings expanded…it was a bald eagle! We watched it fly around and then it found a tree to perch in. It clearly had a power trip as it chose the very highest branch of the very highest tree. It was cool to see it flying, then to see it perch, and then to see it ruffle its wings and kinda groom itself. I never in my life thought I would see a bald eagle in the wild. It was so cool! I am now a true American. The people walking by us must not have been American because they looked up at what we were looking at and kept on walking. I guess they just didn’t understand how special it was to see a bald eagle so close like that. It was pretty amazing.
After watching it for a couple of minutes we continued our adventure to the tide pools. The whole hike there we saw throngs of people walking the other way so we thought it would be busy, but when we got there…it wasn’t. In fact, we were really the only ones there. It was really cool. I think people had gone early to avoid the high tide, which we started to encounter…but not before seeing…SEA STARS! I was pretty excited. The tide pools themselves weren’t all that amazing, but I was pretty excited I got to see some sea stars. Nephi and I climbed around on the rocks for a bit and took some pictures. I got wet in pursuit of a picture of a sea star, but I decided it was worth it.
We started walking back to where we had parked our car. After we had re-crossed the river, we saw something that didn’t quite look terrestrial. It honestly looked like a white squid mixed with some sort of crab. As we got closer we realized it was a bird. The bird was on its back and clearly in duress. I don’t do so good with that kinda stuff…so we tried to help. We flipped the bird so that it was right way up…but it still seemed to be struggling. I didn’t want it to drown so we used my coat to pick it up and take it further away from the water. I hope it is okay…but it probably froze to death to be honest.
When we finally made it back to Rialto Beach we decided to take a couple of pictures. Nephi wanted to get some pictures of the big waves, so he started doing that. Then I realized that the wave he was taking a picture of really was big…really big. I screamed, “Run Nephi!” but it was too late. We totally got clobbered. We were completely wet…but honestly it didn’t matter. We were already completely wet. Why you ask? No we didn’t go in the water. We were completely wet, soaked head to toe because of the rain. Yes…in Washington, when you go to the beach, be prepared to get soaked whether you get in the water or not.
All together…our trip to the tide pools (not including driving time) took 3 hours. According to internet lady it should have taken about 1.5 hours…so we are that much more convinced of what a big, fat liar she is.
We drove right back to our hotel to dry off. From there we showered for a second time and decided to wash some of the clothes that had gotten so wet (and my coat…since it touched the bird).
We decided to drive to First Beach in La Push just to check it out. It wasn’t really any different from Rialto Beach so that was kinda boring, but I got a picture on the treaty line…which is just totally nerdy of me, but I am okay with that. We all know what side of the treaty line I would be on. ;)
We ate dinner at this little place called The In Place. It was okay. I got chicken fingers (what else?) and Nephi got a TBLT (turkey, bacon, lettuce, and tomato). He said it was really good…but he is pretty easy to please with a sandwich. After dinner we continued our laundry and spent the evening reading. Unfortunately the internet at the hotel is broken right now so I am typing this on Word. Hopefully I will get to post this early tomorrow so you all get to read it!
We woke up late. Of course. This is Brianne and Nephi we are talking about here. It is really hard to motivate yourself to wake up when there is nowhere you absolutely have to be.
After waking up an hour after the time that I wanted to be at the tide pools, there seemed no point in rushing. We showered and got ready for the day. Then we decided that since it was later, we better get some food. We chose a place that served breakfast and lunch so that it didn’t matter what time we got there…they would be serving something. We went to a little dive called Forks Coffee Shop. I did some quick research online and it had the best reviews in all of Forks. We got there and they were still serving breakfast, so Nephi got the logger’s special (biscuits and gravy with hashbrowns), and I asked for the picture which I could find nowhere on their menu (eggs, bacon, sausage, toast, and hashbrowns). It was just standard diner fare, good but nothing special.
After finishing our brunch we headed out to Rialto Beach. Driving there, I really got to know my inner tree-hugging hippy. Her name is Brisa (or Breeze in Spanish). Brisa was heartbroken by the sweeps of land we passed that had been deforested by loggers. I mean…I know this used to be a logging town, but seeing the aftermath was depressing. Not only are you so very aware that you are supposed to be surrounded by huge, beautiful, green trees, but also you are forced to look at piles of unused wood (the branches) covered in weird plastic that the loggers left behind in their place. It was so sad to me. Yuck! I vowed to never use paper again. We’ll see how that goes for me. Brisa is resolute…but I am far too practical to vow never.
Thankfully, the state of Washington replants these areas that have been cut down. Nephi calls these areas “baby forests.” One of the baby forests we saw was planted in 2004. Right now it looks like a big field filled with perfect Christmas trees (of course that defeats the purpose). While they are kinda cool looking…Brisa remained depressed that she was missing out on the BIG trees—with soul and wisdom—that were supposed to be there. We also saw a not-so-baby forest that was planted in 1984. I called this bit of forest Nephi’s forest…since that is the year Nephi was born. These trees were starting to really get big and in probably 20 more years will look like the originals. I am glad that the state replants…but they should be aware that it definitely isn’t as cool as if they just left it be. It also got me thinking…how exactly do they replant these forests. Surely they don’t just walk around flinging seeds everywhere. But surely they don’t dig a hole for each of those trees…that would take an eternity. I would like to know how they do it.
Eventually we made it to Rialto Beach. Rialto Beach itself is pretty cool. Instead of sand the ground is covered in trillions of perfectly smooth stones of all colors. All over the beach lie trees that the ocean pitilessly took out. Looking out toward the great expanse of water, there are some cool islands that tower, with cliffs and trees. It is way cool.
The lady who wrote the article on the internet said that the tide pools were an easy 30 minute walk north along the beach…so we started walking. The lady on the internet is a liar. First…the walk is not easy. Yes there is no incline, but all the while you are sinking into the rocks, or the sand, or a strange mixture of the two. You are also on a slight slope and so my ankles kept bending all wonky. It was no fun…but it wasn’t the end of the word and I really wanted to see those tide pools. Then…it happened. We realized the internet lady was an even bigger liar! We had to cross a river—yes a river (and not a little Colorado river either with rocks and stuff)—in order to get to the tide pools. We surveyed the area and determined that there was no way to cross at the beach. We started walking up the river inland and eventually found a couple perching by a section of river that was covered in logs. I asked, “Did you cross here?” The man answered, “Well I did, but then I turned around and had to cross back.” I responded, “Did you get wet?” “No…I didn’t, but she did!” I look to the woman as she wrung out a sock. I said, “Was it very hard?” He said, “No…it just depends on your confidence level because those logs are slippery.” I thought that was a little thoughtless considering his wife had clearly fallen in…like he thought she didn’t have enough confidence, but Nephi and I just sorta giggled, thanked them, and decided to go for it. We crossed on the logs no problem.
When we got on the other side we continued trekking. After about five more minutes we saw something amazing! Flying high above us…wings expanded…it was a bald eagle! We watched it fly around and then it found a tree to perch in. It clearly had a power trip as it chose the very highest branch of the very highest tree. It was cool to see it flying, then to see it perch, and then to see it ruffle its wings and kinda groom itself. I never in my life thought I would see a bald eagle in the wild. It was so cool! I am now a true American. The people walking by us must not have been American because they looked up at what we were looking at and kept on walking. I guess they just didn’t understand how special it was to see a bald eagle so close like that. It was pretty amazing.
After watching it for a couple of minutes we continued our adventure to the tide pools. The whole hike there we saw throngs of people walking the other way so we thought it would be busy, but when we got there…it wasn’t. In fact, we were really the only ones there. It was really cool. I think people had gone early to avoid the high tide, which we started to encounter…but not before seeing…SEA STARS! I was pretty excited. The tide pools themselves weren’t all that amazing, but I was pretty excited I got to see some sea stars. Nephi and I climbed around on the rocks for a bit and took some pictures. I got wet in pursuit of a picture of a sea star, but I decided it was worth it.
We started walking back to where we had parked our car. After we had re-crossed the river, we saw something that didn’t quite look terrestrial. It honestly looked like a white squid mixed with some sort of crab. As we got closer we realized it was a bird. The bird was on its back and clearly in duress. I don’t do so good with that kinda stuff…so we tried to help. We flipped the bird so that it was right way up…but it still seemed to be struggling. I didn’t want it to drown so we used my coat to pick it up and take it further away from the water. I hope it is okay…but it probably froze to death to be honest.
When we finally made it back to Rialto Beach we decided to take a couple of pictures. Nephi wanted to get some pictures of the big waves, so he started doing that. Then I realized that the wave he was taking a picture of really was big…really big. I screamed, “Run Nephi!” but it was too late. We totally got clobbered. We were completely wet…but honestly it didn’t matter. We were already completely wet. Why you ask? No we didn’t go in the water. We were completely wet, soaked head to toe because of the rain. Yes…in Washington, when you go to the beach, be prepared to get soaked whether you get in the water or not.
All together…our trip to the tide pools (not including driving time) took 3 hours. According to internet lady it should have taken about 1.5 hours…so we are that much more convinced of what a big, fat liar she is.
We drove right back to our hotel to dry off. From there we showered for a second time and decided to wash some of the clothes that had gotten so wet (and my coat…since it touched the bird).
We decided to drive to First Beach in La Push just to check it out. It wasn’t really any different from Rialto Beach so that was kinda boring, but I got a picture on the treaty line…which is just totally nerdy of me, but I am okay with that. We all know what side of the treaty line I would be on. ;)
We ate dinner at this little place called The In Place. It was okay. I got chicken fingers (what else?) and Nephi got a TBLT (turkey, bacon, lettuce, and tomato). He said it was really good…but he is pretty easy to please with a sandwich. After dinner we continued our laundry and spent the evening reading. Unfortunately the internet at the hotel is broken right now so I am typing this on Word. Hopefully I will get to post this early tomorrow so you all get to read it!
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Day 1: Grocery Store Hoppin'
Today was the first day of our 2.5 week vacation!
The cats gave us a sweet send-off. They all came out and begged for attention. I am going to miss them!
We flew out of Salt Lake City on Southwest. We were high up in A so we were in the front row of the airplane. This was a first for me. Did you know that there is nowhere to put your carry-on luggage when you sit in the front? It should have been obvious, but I guess I missed the obvious. Not that it was a big deal, just a minor inconvenience. Other than that, our flight was pretty uneventful.
After arriving in Seattle, we headed to Enterprise to pick up our rental car. They were out...so she had to hunt one down for us. We ended up with a Ford Focus.
As we headed out of the lot we spotted a Jack-in-the-Box (Nephi's favorite!), so we stopped in for lunch. You wouldn't think lunch at your local fast food joint would be eventful...unless you know The Hepworths. Many of you know that Nephi has a small choking problem. The first night of our honeymoon he choked on duck and a waiter had to give him the Heimlich maneuver (no lie). Anyway...stuff gets caught in his throat pretty easy and he had an episode at lunch. I got to watch him choke so hard, he threw up. Fun... I think I must have this effect on people as my friend Kim's baby often coughs so hard he vomits in my presence. Weird.
Anyway, after that fun lunch we headed on an excursion to find a grocery store. It was not easy, but eventually we found a Target. Grocery store visit #1. We got water, Cheez-its, Kudos, batteries, and Q-tips.
After that we were on our way to Forks! After about 30 minutes I realized I forgot to buy Dramamine. Grocery store visit #2. We stopped at another grocery store and bought Dramamine and Advil (just in case).
Washington is SOOOOOO beautiful! There are trees everywhere and it is SOOOOO green! I LOVE it. Something weird is that you will be driving along and it feels like you are in the middle of nowhere and then you will see some huge superstore along the highway and you realize that you are in the middle of a developed suburban area...you just can't see it. It is weird.
At one point we passed a sign that said, "24 hour lights!" Nephi and I had a hard time figuring out how the headlights worked. Eventually we gave up (though I am pretty sure we drove with the brights on...oops).
Along the way to Forks we stopped at Lake Crescent. The lake was created by a glacier and has a very little nitrogen level. The low nitrogen level makes it so that no algae can grow in it so it is so clear! It also is really deep (as much as 600 feet in some places). We checked out the very clear, blue-green lake and then took a hike up to Marymere Falls (a waterfall that drops 90 ft.) The hike was pretty awesome. Lots of cool trees...and the ground is covered in a carpet of green moss and ferns. Nephi and I took lots of pictures!
After our hike, we figured out all the ins and outs of the headlights on our Ford Focus, and we finished the drive to Forks. We checked into our hotel where we met a very talkative (but very friendly) manager. After asking him if there were any restaurants to avoid, he proceeded to talk (tangent from tangent) for about 5 minutes. Then he realized he was rambling and talked about how in Airplane someone starts a conversation and then hangs himself. Anyway...it didn't make much sense, but he was funny.
We stopped at the local pizza place for dinner. It was pricey, but tasted pretty good. It was an experience for sure. When I asked the woman working there if they had free refills she said, "Um....sure...I guess." I was like, "It's okay if you don't, I just need to know." She responded with, "Well one boss says yes, and the other says no...so sure." Um...ok. Haha. I thought it was weird. They were way busy and not very professional. We were surrounded by people who didn't speak English (there was an Indian family, an Eastern European family, and an Asian family).
After that we decided that the day wouldn't be complete without one final trip to a grocery store. Grocery store visit #3. We purchased shampoo and soda. You would think we had everything you needed, but after arriving at our hotel, I realized I needed toe-nail clippers. Oh well.
Well...that was the first day. Very eventful, but not entirely exciting. Unfortunately, I forgot the cord I need to upload pictures. Maybe at some point I'll break down and buy one, so that you can see some pictures BEFORE I get home. Miss you all!
The cats gave us a sweet send-off. They all came out and begged for attention. I am going to miss them!
We flew out of Salt Lake City on Southwest. We were high up in A so we were in the front row of the airplane. This was a first for me. Did you know that there is nowhere to put your carry-on luggage when you sit in the front? It should have been obvious, but I guess I missed the obvious. Not that it was a big deal, just a minor inconvenience. Other than that, our flight was pretty uneventful.
After arriving in Seattle, we headed to Enterprise to pick up our rental car. They were out...so she had to hunt one down for us. We ended up with a Ford Focus.
As we headed out of the lot we spotted a Jack-in-the-Box (Nephi's favorite!), so we stopped in for lunch. You wouldn't think lunch at your local fast food joint would be eventful...unless you know The Hepworths. Many of you know that Nephi has a small choking problem. The first night of our honeymoon he choked on duck and a waiter had to give him the Heimlich maneuver (no lie). Anyway...stuff gets caught in his throat pretty easy and he had an episode at lunch. I got to watch him choke so hard, he threw up. Fun... I think I must have this effect on people as my friend Kim's baby often coughs so hard he vomits in my presence. Weird.
Anyway, after that fun lunch we headed on an excursion to find a grocery store. It was not easy, but eventually we found a Target. Grocery store visit #1. We got water, Cheez-its, Kudos, batteries, and Q-tips.
After that we were on our way to Forks! After about 30 minutes I realized I forgot to buy Dramamine. Grocery store visit #2. We stopped at another grocery store and bought Dramamine and Advil (just in case).
Washington is SOOOOOO beautiful! There are trees everywhere and it is SOOOOO green! I LOVE it. Something weird is that you will be driving along and it feels like you are in the middle of nowhere and then you will see some huge superstore along the highway and you realize that you are in the middle of a developed suburban area...you just can't see it. It is weird.
At one point we passed a sign that said, "24 hour lights!" Nephi and I had a hard time figuring out how the headlights worked. Eventually we gave up (though I am pretty sure we drove with the brights on...oops).
Along the way to Forks we stopped at Lake Crescent. The lake was created by a glacier and has a very little nitrogen level. The low nitrogen level makes it so that no algae can grow in it so it is so clear! It also is really deep (as much as 600 feet in some places). We checked out the very clear, blue-green lake and then took a hike up to Marymere Falls (a waterfall that drops 90 ft.) The hike was pretty awesome. Lots of cool trees...and the ground is covered in a carpet of green moss and ferns. Nephi and I took lots of pictures!
After our hike, we figured out all the ins and outs of the headlights on our Ford Focus, and we finished the drive to Forks. We checked into our hotel where we met a very talkative (but very friendly) manager. After asking him if there were any restaurants to avoid, he proceeded to talk (tangent from tangent) for about 5 minutes. Then he realized he was rambling and talked about how in Airplane someone starts a conversation and then hangs himself. Anyway...it didn't make much sense, but he was funny.
We stopped at the local pizza place for dinner. It was pricey, but tasted pretty good. It was an experience for sure. When I asked the woman working there if they had free refills she said, "Um....sure...I guess." I was like, "It's okay if you don't, I just need to know." She responded with, "Well one boss says yes, and the other says no...so sure." Um...ok. Haha. I thought it was weird. They were way busy and not very professional. We were surrounded by people who didn't speak English (there was an Indian family, an Eastern European family, and an Asian family).
After that we decided that the day wouldn't be complete without one final trip to a grocery store. Grocery store visit #3. We purchased shampoo and soda. You would think we had everything you needed, but after arriving at our hotel, I realized I needed toe-nail clippers. Oh well.
Well...that was the first day. Very eventful, but not entirely exciting. Unfortunately, I forgot the cord I need to upload pictures. Maybe at some point I'll break down and buy one, so that you can see some pictures BEFORE I get home. Miss you all!
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Childhood Dreams
This evening, in an attempt to distract myself from the loneliness I feel when Nephi goes to work, I watched some movies. Not an altogether rare occurrence for me. In fact, that is what I usually do. First I started with the movie Amazing Grace. I have this slight obsession with period pieces, and I have heard many people talk about how good this movie is, so I gave it a viewing. It wasn't that good. Not bad, just...not good.
After Amazing Grace I was feeling up to a romantic comedy. Nephi rented It's Complicated, but he also expressed a desire to watch it, so I decided to go ahead and wait for him. I put in The Holiday instead (a personal favorite). As always, it was good.
After that was over, I only had about an hour and a half before Nephi got home so I went straight to the animated section. The Little Mermaid popped out to me, so I put it in. In the opening sequence when the fish escapes from the boat and swims deep into the ocean and we get to see a bunch of merpeople swimming to Atlantis, I got tingles in my tummy. It made me think about how when I was a kid I would watch this movie over and over and I wanted to be a mermaid SO bad. I even remember having this very involved dream when I was about 7 where I became a mermaid. I remember when I woke up, I was devastated and quickly tried to fall back asleep to continue the dream. Remembering this childhood desire, I realized...I still want to be a mermaid.
A few years ago while Nephi and I were walking on a pier in San Francisco I remember telling him, "I should probably be embarrassed by the fact that I am 21 years old, and my greatest desire is to be a mermaid, but...I'm not." And it is the truth. I feel this desire nearly anytime I go swimming (though the desire is stronger when I go swimming in the ocean). Whenever I am in water, I feel like I belong there. Like I was made to swim...not walk. I LOVE water and it makes me so happy to play around in it. As a kid I would swim every day, all day throughout the summer. As I got older, I stopped spending my summers by the pool (who knows why really). This summer I fully intend on living at the pool. I am also going to Hawaii and look forward to those really happy feelings that being in the ocean gives me.
After thinking about this childhood dream, I started thinking about others. When I was a child, I really wanted to be a professional singer. I love music almost as much as I love water, and I have always loved to sing. Growing up my parents encouraged it highly and complimented me often. All throughout school I participated in choir and musicals. After high school I took a year and a half off from school so I had no opportunities to sing. Then once I got to college, I just didn't put forth any effort to get involved in that stuff. It is something I regret because while I can obviously still sing, I have sorta lost a lot of the skills I used to have. I also realized as an adult that I was not nearly as good at singing as I always thought growing up. Even though I will obviously never be a professional singer (nor do I want to be any longer), I really want to start participating in church choir so that I can redevelop those skills.
Finally, as a kid I really wanted to get married and have a huge family (a fairly realistic dream for one with such an active imagination). I dreamed of having a husband who would love me more than anything else and we would be together forever. My parents were divorced and that was something I promised myself I would never do if I could avoid it. Now that I am grown up, I have accomplished part of this dream. I have a wonderful husband who I have been married to for 5 years! It seems crazy to me that I should be lucky enough to find someone who loves me so early in life. Of course, the other part of my dream is a work in progress. I still want a relatively large family (though I don't want the 12 children I originally wanted), and it is something that I really ache for. When I first got married I only wanted babies. Now I see teenagers with their parents and it makes me want my own. It has really gotten pathetic. Anyway...hopefully within the next couple of years the second part of this dream will be well on its way.
I know this is a kinda random post, but as I started thinking about my childhood dreams, I realized not much has changed. I still want to be a mermaid, though now I have a firmer grasp of how impossible this is. Instead I am going to try and be better about going to the pool and swimming. Not only does it make me so happy, but it is also a good way to exercise so why not take advantage of this? I still really love music and to sing, so why not work on developing my skills and talents in that area? While I may not want 12 children, I still want to be surrounded by the love of my husband and future children. Why not do better at developing and showing that love TO my husband?
Sometimes we think about how silly children are with their imaginations and their out of this world dreams, but are they really? I hope I never forget the dreams I had when I was a kid as they reveal a lot of truths about who I am today. So...what was YOUR childhood dream?
After Amazing Grace I was feeling up to a romantic comedy. Nephi rented It's Complicated, but he also expressed a desire to watch it, so I decided to go ahead and wait for him. I put in The Holiday instead (a personal favorite). As always, it was good.
After that was over, I only had about an hour and a half before Nephi got home so I went straight to the animated section. The Little Mermaid popped out to me, so I put it in. In the opening sequence when the fish escapes from the boat and swims deep into the ocean and we get to see a bunch of merpeople swimming to Atlantis, I got tingles in my tummy. It made me think about how when I was a kid I would watch this movie over and over and I wanted to be a mermaid SO bad. I even remember having this very involved dream when I was about 7 where I became a mermaid. I remember when I woke up, I was devastated and quickly tried to fall back asleep to continue the dream. Remembering this childhood desire, I realized...I still want to be a mermaid.
A few years ago while Nephi and I were walking on a pier in San Francisco I remember telling him, "I should probably be embarrassed by the fact that I am 21 years old, and my greatest desire is to be a mermaid, but...I'm not." And it is the truth. I feel this desire nearly anytime I go swimming (though the desire is stronger when I go swimming in the ocean). Whenever I am in water, I feel like I belong there. Like I was made to swim...not walk. I LOVE water and it makes me so happy to play around in it. As a kid I would swim every day, all day throughout the summer. As I got older, I stopped spending my summers by the pool (who knows why really). This summer I fully intend on living at the pool. I am also going to Hawaii and look forward to those really happy feelings that being in the ocean gives me.
After thinking about this childhood dream, I started thinking about others. When I was a child, I really wanted to be a professional singer. I love music almost as much as I love water, and I have always loved to sing. Growing up my parents encouraged it highly and complimented me often. All throughout school I participated in choir and musicals. After high school I took a year and a half off from school so I had no opportunities to sing. Then once I got to college, I just didn't put forth any effort to get involved in that stuff. It is something I regret because while I can obviously still sing, I have sorta lost a lot of the skills I used to have. I also realized as an adult that I was not nearly as good at singing as I always thought growing up. Even though I will obviously never be a professional singer (nor do I want to be any longer), I really want to start participating in church choir so that I can redevelop those skills.
Finally, as a kid I really wanted to get married and have a huge family (a fairly realistic dream for one with such an active imagination). I dreamed of having a husband who would love me more than anything else and we would be together forever. My parents were divorced and that was something I promised myself I would never do if I could avoid it. Now that I am grown up, I have accomplished part of this dream. I have a wonderful husband who I have been married to for 5 years! It seems crazy to me that I should be lucky enough to find someone who loves me so early in life. Of course, the other part of my dream is a work in progress. I still want a relatively large family (though I don't want the 12 children I originally wanted), and it is something that I really ache for. When I first got married I only wanted babies. Now I see teenagers with their parents and it makes me want my own. It has really gotten pathetic. Anyway...hopefully within the next couple of years the second part of this dream will be well on its way.
I know this is a kinda random post, but as I started thinking about my childhood dreams, I realized not much has changed. I still want to be a mermaid, though now I have a firmer grasp of how impossible this is. Instead I am going to try and be better about going to the pool and swimming. Not only does it make me so happy, but it is also a good way to exercise so why not take advantage of this? I still really love music and to sing, so why not work on developing my skills and talents in that area? While I may not want 12 children, I still want to be surrounded by the love of my husband and future children. Why not do better at developing and showing that love TO my husband?
Sometimes we think about how silly children are with their imaginations and their out of this world dreams, but are they really? I hope I never forget the dreams I had when I was a kid as they reveal a lot of truths about who I am today. So...what was YOUR childhood dream?
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
News to Me
So I pretty much read the news all the time. I would say that I check news websites every couple of hours on average. Obviously I am very up on what is going on at any given time. I read about my local community at www.ksl.com, I read about national, worldwide, and entertainment news at www.comcast.net, and I read about movie news at www.rottentomatoes.com.
I am not sure when this compulsion started, but it is definitely something I have a hard time controlling. The idea of being away from the internet, and thus news, for any given amount of time freaks me out a bit. I like knowing what is going on.
I bring this up because as of late I have started noticing how much certain news stories get to me. Sometimes they cause me to have positive feelings and sometimes they have the opposite effect. Either way...some news stories leave me thinking for days to come.
Take this one for example: http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=148&sid=10247472
The above link is an article about how Utah needs more permanent foster homes for teenagers. After reading this article I started thinking about whether I would ever be willing to open my home to a complete stranger. I thought about how if something happened to me and all of my family, I would want someone to take care of my theoretical children. I have thought about fostering kids a lot, as Utah also likes to advertise the importance of the concept through billboards.
Anyway, I really started thinking about the idea and I got all hot on it. Like...I want to foster a teenager. Obviously I started really thinking about the logistics. Would a teenager be more expensive than a baby? Yes. Would a teenager take more time than a baby? Maybe, maybe not. Would a teenager be more emotionally exhausting? Definitely. Am I even old and mature enough to deal with the issues that present themselves with a teenager? I honestly have no clue. I still haven't really come to any hard and fast conclusions on whether or not having a teenager would be that much bigger of an adjustment than having a baby.
Obviously I don't have room, money, or time for a teenager right now, but I think that once Nephi and I are both out of school it is something I really want to do. I don't know if I'll ever convince Nephi, but I can only imagine the importance of the impact that would have on a person's life. The part of the article that touched me the most was when they talked about the family who still keeps in contact with their foster child even though they are out of the house. I can only hoped to be so blessed to add someone else into my family. I don't know...maybe I'm idealistic.
Another news story that I can't seem to get out of my head is from today: http://www.comcast.net/articles/news-general/20100405/US.Mine.Explosion/
I haven't read this article word for word or anything, but the headline pretty much does it for me. Apparently there was an explosion in a mine in West Virginia and 25 people died. I totally understand that more than 25 people die all the time, but something about this really depresses me. As I tried to go to bed tonight I found that I couldn't sleep. I couldn't get the image of a woman crying in her bed knowing her husband will never come home out of my head. I guess I feel strangely responsible that I live a life that requires that we send people under the earth to mine coal. It feels so primitive. In fact, when you think about it...mining is something that my subconscious thinks doesn't exist anymore. Obviously I know better (as my mother works for a gold mining company), but it still feels so far removed from my life.
Reading the news usually makes me want to be a better person...which is a good thing since it could easily have a different effect. I could just as easily feel like the world is a sad and hopeless place after reading the news, but I really never feel that way. I just feel like I want to do what I can to be better. I want to foster a teenager and change a life. I want to be grateful that I have grown up in a manner that provides me with a surety that my husband will not be forever lost underground. How blessed I am and I am glad that the news puts that into perspective for me.
Speaking of being blessed, I saw a trailer for Oceans today. I should preface this sub-topic by saying that I really don't enjoy nature shows. I was just telling my husband the other day how horrible I feel watching them. I realized this after having to watch 20 minutes of Planet Earth or Blue Planet or something during flex-time at school. The "episode" had wolves and good old Sigourney Weaver explained that the wolves were starving after a long winter. Instantly I was like, "Awww...poor wolves!" Of course, soon the wolves come across a herd of caribou. "Oh no!" I exclaim. As I watch a poor baby caribou get separated from its mother and then tackled by the wolf, my heart seriously aches and I feel sick. I don't feel any animosity towards the wolf...just sadness for the caribou. Anyway, I feel like it is a lose-lose situation. Either the caribou gets caught and dies, or the wolf starves. I really don't do well with animal deaths in any manner. Anyway...it is because of this constant stress and heartache that I can't watch nature shows. However, as I watched the trailer for Oceans (completely death free), I realized how truly amazing this world is. It has so much variety, color, and beauty. How can anyone live on it and not believe in Heavenly Father (not a diss to those people...I just don't get it). This world is stunning and we are so very lucky to live here.
P.S. If you haven't noticed...the first one or two songs in my playlist match the most recent blog post. This time it is the first two. :)
P.P.S. Please ignore any misuses of effect/affect. I have NEVER figured that one out.
I am not sure when this compulsion started, but it is definitely something I have a hard time controlling. The idea of being away from the internet, and thus news, for any given amount of time freaks me out a bit. I like knowing what is going on.
I bring this up because as of late I have started noticing how much certain news stories get to me. Sometimes they cause me to have positive feelings and sometimes they have the opposite effect. Either way...some news stories leave me thinking for days to come.
Take this one for example: http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=148&sid=10247472
The above link is an article about how Utah needs more permanent foster homes for teenagers. After reading this article I started thinking about whether I would ever be willing to open my home to a complete stranger. I thought about how if something happened to me and all of my family, I would want someone to take care of my theoretical children. I have thought about fostering kids a lot, as Utah also likes to advertise the importance of the concept through billboards.
Anyway, I really started thinking about the idea and I got all hot on it. Like...I want to foster a teenager. Obviously I started really thinking about the logistics. Would a teenager be more expensive than a baby? Yes. Would a teenager take more time than a baby? Maybe, maybe not. Would a teenager be more emotionally exhausting? Definitely. Am I even old and mature enough to deal with the issues that present themselves with a teenager? I honestly have no clue. I still haven't really come to any hard and fast conclusions on whether or not having a teenager would be that much bigger of an adjustment than having a baby.
Obviously I don't have room, money, or time for a teenager right now, but I think that once Nephi and I are both out of school it is something I really want to do. I don't know if I'll ever convince Nephi, but I can only imagine the importance of the impact that would have on a person's life. The part of the article that touched me the most was when they talked about the family who still keeps in contact with their foster child even though they are out of the house. I can only hoped to be so blessed to add someone else into my family. I don't know...maybe I'm idealistic.
Another news story that I can't seem to get out of my head is from today: http://www.comcast.net/articles/news-general/20100405/US.Mine.Explosion/
I haven't read this article word for word or anything, but the headline pretty much does it for me. Apparently there was an explosion in a mine in West Virginia and 25 people died. I totally understand that more than 25 people die all the time, but something about this really depresses me. As I tried to go to bed tonight I found that I couldn't sleep. I couldn't get the image of a woman crying in her bed knowing her husband will never come home out of my head. I guess I feel strangely responsible that I live a life that requires that we send people under the earth to mine coal. It feels so primitive. In fact, when you think about it...mining is something that my subconscious thinks doesn't exist anymore. Obviously I know better (as my mother works for a gold mining company), but it still feels so far removed from my life.
Reading the news usually makes me want to be a better person...which is a good thing since it could easily have a different effect. I could just as easily feel like the world is a sad and hopeless place after reading the news, but I really never feel that way. I just feel like I want to do what I can to be better. I want to foster a teenager and change a life. I want to be grateful that I have grown up in a manner that provides me with a surety that my husband will not be forever lost underground. How blessed I am and I am glad that the news puts that into perspective for me.
Speaking of being blessed, I saw a trailer for Oceans today. I should preface this sub-topic by saying that I really don't enjoy nature shows. I was just telling my husband the other day how horrible I feel watching them. I realized this after having to watch 20 minutes of Planet Earth or Blue Planet or something during flex-time at school. The "episode" had wolves and good old Sigourney Weaver explained that the wolves were starving after a long winter. Instantly I was like, "Awww...poor wolves!" Of course, soon the wolves come across a herd of caribou. "Oh no!" I exclaim. As I watch a poor baby caribou get separated from its mother and then tackled by the wolf, my heart seriously aches and I feel sick. I don't feel any animosity towards the wolf...just sadness for the caribou. Anyway, I feel like it is a lose-lose situation. Either the caribou gets caught and dies, or the wolf starves. I really don't do well with animal deaths in any manner. Anyway...it is because of this constant stress and heartache that I can't watch nature shows. However, as I watched the trailer for Oceans (completely death free), I realized how truly amazing this world is. It has so much variety, color, and beauty. How can anyone live on it and not believe in Heavenly Father (not a diss to those people...I just don't get it). This world is stunning and we are so very lucky to live here.
P.S. If you haven't noticed...the first one or two songs in my playlist match the most recent blog post. This time it is the first two. :)
P.P.S. Please ignore any misuses of effect/affect. I have NEVER figured that one out.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Priorities
Well...I don't really feel like I have a ton to say, but I have a goal to write at least two posts per month and since it is the last day of the month and I only have one for March, I figured I better update.
It is job search time and I have to be honest, the stress is getting to me. It is such a crazy time to be searching for a job (especially for teachers) and I hate that it is a necessity. The people I express this to all tell me not to worry and that it will work out and even if it doesn't I'll find SOME job somewhere. Well the truth of the matter is...I don't want some job. After teaching for a year I cannot imagine myself doing anything else. I love it so much, which is something that I have never really found in a job. Searching for a job is so important, but I have a really hard time motivating myself to spend time doing it. I keep just hoping that positions will be available at the school I'm at now. Keep your fingers crossed for me.
I have a lot of things to look forward to in the next few months. First, Nephi and I will be celebrating our 5th wedding anniversary in three weeks. It seems insane to me that I have been married for 5 years. Wow. Seriously. I love Nephi dearly and I definitely got very lucky. 5 years is also a small milestone because before we got married we made a goal to wait at least 5 years before we had a baby. No one really thought we would make it (ourselves included sometimes), and while sometimes I want a baby so bad, I am really glad that Nephi and I have had so much time alone together. I am also grateful that I will have my degree by the time we have a baby, because I know that if I was still in school I would really struggle going back.
The day after our anniversary...I graduate! Yay! I am so excited. I have worked long and hard to get to this point and I am really proud of myself. School isn't really my favorite thing in the world, but I stuck it out and I did really well. I go to a top 100 school and managed to get a 3.8 GPA. Not bad.
From there, I have only one month before I will be finished with my first year of teaching. While I am really excited to be done with this year, because of the accomplishment and the following summer months of free time (my first in 4 years), it is a bit bittersweet. When I think about not seeing my kids anymore it makes me sad. Sometimes they drive me crazy, but I hate being away from them for even one day. I honestly don't know how I'll keep it together the last day.
3 days after the last day of school, Nephi and I leave on vacation. We are going to Seattle for 3 days and Hawaii for 14 days. We had free tickets on Southwest so I just found the cheapest place to fly to Hawaii from and it happened to be Seattle (somewhere I have never been). I decided that since we would be flying there anyway, we might as well spend some time there. We are going to spend a day and a half in Forks. I know it sounds lame, and while I do enjoy Twilight, I am mostly excited to see the green forests. I have never been in a forest like that before so that will be cool. I am also really psyched to go to the tide pools. I went to some tide pools in San Diego and they were lame. I am hoping these aren't...and from what I've read I have high hopes. Then we will spend two days in the actual city of Seattle. We decided to try this site called airbnb.com instead of staying in a hotel. It is this concept where people rent beds in their house. They range from air beds to sofa beds to shared bedrooms to private bedrooms. We found this nice couple who rent their extra room (private) with attached bath for $30 per night (about $70 cheaper than a hotel). I am excited to try this out and see how it works...Nephi is worried.
From Seattle we fly to Maui where we will spend 7 days. We plan on snorkeling, zip lining, hiking, and, of course, lying on the beach. From Maui we spend 3 days on Hawaii (the big island) where we will go to the Volcanos National Park and an observatory. Finally we will be on Oahu for 4 days. There we plan on taking a surfing lesson, going to the luau at the Polynesian Cultural Center, and hiking. Needless to say, I am beyond thrilled. I have always wanted to go to Hawaii and I am excited for the adventure.
A couple weeks after that, Twilight Eclipse comes out. I am pretty excited about that. I have always been someone who likes what I likes and could care less what others think...but that doesn't mean I'm not aware of what others think. I know that people think Twilight is silly, but I do really enjoy it. In fact, I just reread the whole series...in 5 days (this last Thursday-Monday). Yes that is right...I read about 2,445 pages in just 5 days. I know that probably isn't healthy, but I just can't help it. As much as people diss Stephenie Meyer, I just cannot put her books down. In fact, I was so sucked in that once I was finished with Breaking Dawn, I reread The Host. That one took me two days and it is only 619 pages, but I had work and such. This brings up my post title, "priorities." When I start reading...I have no priorities. All I want to do is read. I put off sleeping, eating, and everything else so that I can just keep reading. It is something I really need to work on because it is due to this fact that I don't start reading as often as I would like. I only start reading a book if I know I have time to finish it the the following couple of days. It would be good if I could just read a little bit everyday. Then I could read whatever I want, whenever I want.
This brings me to my final point. I hope to read a lot during the summer. I plan on reading the Fablehaven series, Water for Elephants, Wuthering Heights, and Jane Eyre. Hopefully I will read more than just those, but those are my musts for the summer.
Well...that was a bunch of random mumblings about why I am so excited for the next few months of my life. :)
It is job search time and I have to be honest, the stress is getting to me. It is such a crazy time to be searching for a job (especially for teachers) and I hate that it is a necessity. The people I express this to all tell me not to worry and that it will work out and even if it doesn't I'll find SOME job somewhere. Well the truth of the matter is...I don't want some job. After teaching for a year I cannot imagine myself doing anything else. I love it so much, which is something that I have never really found in a job. Searching for a job is so important, but I have a really hard time motivating myself to spend time doing it. I keep just hoping that positions will be available at the school I'm at now. Keep your fingers crossed for me.
I have a lot of things to look forward to in the next few months. First, Nephi and I will be celebrating our 5th wedding anniversary in three weeks. It seems insane to me that I have been married for 5 years. Wow. Seriously. I love Nephi dearly and I definitely got very lucky. 5 years is also a small milestone because before we got married we made a goal to wait at least 5 years before we had a baby. No one really thought we would make it (ourselves included sometimes), and while sometimes I want a baby so bad, I am really glad that Nephi and I have had so much time alone together. I am also grateful that I will have my degree by the time we have a baby, because I know that if I was still in school I would really struggle going back.
The day after our anniversary...I graduate! Yay! I am so excited. I have worked long and hard to get to this point and I am really proud of myself. School isn't really my favorite thing in the world, but I stuck it out and I did really well. I go to a top 100 school and managed to get a 3.8 GPA. Not bad.
From there, I have only one month before I will be finished with my first year of teaching. While I am really excited to be done with this year, because of the accomplishment and the following summer months of free time (my first in 4 years), it is a bit bittersweet. When I think about not seeing my kids anymore it makes me sad. Sometimes they drive me crazy, but I hate being away from them for even one day. I honestly don't know how I'll keep it together the last day.
3 days after the last day of school, Nephi and I leave on vacation. We are going to Seattle for 3 days and Hawaii for 14 days. We had free tickets on Southwest so I just found the cheapest place to fly to Hawaii from and it happened to be Seattle (somewhere I have never been). I decided that since we would be flying there anyway, we might as well spend some time there. We are going to spend a day and a half in Forks. I know it sounds lame, and while I do enjoy Twilight, I am mostly excited to see the green forests. I have never been in a forest like that before so that will be cool. I am also really psyched to go to the tide pools. I went to some tide pools in San Diego and they were lame. I am hoping these aren't...and from what I've read I have high hopes. Then we will spend two days in the actual city of Seattle. We decided to try this site called airbnb.com instead of staying in a hotel. It is this concept where people rent beds in their house. They range from air beds to sofa beds to shared bedrooms to private bedrooms. We found this nice couple who rent their extra room (private) with attached bath for $30 per night (about $70 cheaper than a hotel). I am excited to try this out and see how it works...Nephi is worried.
From Seattle we fly to Maui where we will spend 7 days. We plan on snorkeling, zip lining, hiking, and, of course, lying on the beach. From Maui we spend 3 days on Hawaii (the big island) where we will go to the Volcanos National Park and an observatory. Finally we will be on Oahu for 4 days. There we plan on taking a surfing lesson, going to the luau at the Polynesian Cultural Center, and hiking. Needless to say, I am beyond thrilled. I have always wanted to go to Hawaii and I am excited for the adventure.
A couple weeks after that, Twilight Eclipse comes out. I am pretty excited about that. I have always been someone who likes what I likes and could care less what others think...but that doesn't mean I'm not aware of what others think. I know that people think Twilight is silly, but I do really enjoy it. In fact, I just reread the whole series...in 5 days (this last Thursday-Monday). Yes that is right...I read about 2,445 pages in just 5 days. I know that probably isn't healthy, but I just can't help it. As much as people diss Stephenie Meyer, I just cannot put her books down. In fact, I was so sucked in that once I was finished with Breaking Dawn, I reread The Host. That one took me two days and it is only 619 pages, but I had work and such. This brings up my post title, "priorities." When I start reading...I have no priorities. All I want to do is read. I put off sleeping, eating, and everything else so that I can just keep reading. It is something I really need to work on because it is due to this fact that I don't start reading as often as I would like. I only start reading a book if I know I have time to finish it the the following couple of days. It would be good if I could just read a little bit everyday. Then I could read whatever I want, whenever I want.
This brings me to my final point. I hope to read a lot during the summer. I plan on reading the Fablehaven series, Water for Elephants, Wuthering Heights, and Jane Eyre. Hopefully I will read more than just those, but those are my musts for the summer.
Well...that was a bunch of random mumblings about why I am so excited for the next few months of my life. :)
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Remember
****Spoiler for Remember Me****
Today Nephi and I saw Remember Me. We all know that I love Robert Pattinson (Nephi is fully aware of this and accepts it), so that is why I ventured a viewing. Honestly, I would have been willing to wait until DVD, however, many critics were frustrated by the ending and since I check up on both Eclipse and Robert Pattinson news often, I kept running into possible spoilers. I decided I had to see it before it was ruined.
Though the original purpose was to simply enjoy a couple hours of eye-candy, I actually did like the movie quite a bit. I wouldn't give it a perfect 10, but the characters were likable and fully developed (something that the last few movies I saw in the theater lacked, such as When in Rome, Percy Jackson, and Alice and Wonderland), and the story kept me interested and involved (also important).
Those of you who know me, know I watch movies ALL the time. I love going to movies, but even when I can't, I see almost every movie when it comes to DVD (just about the only perk of having a husband who works at Blockbuster). So, why mention this one on my blog? Well...because even though I wouldn't give it a 10 or anything, it really touched me in a way I wasn't expecting.
The movie begins with the main girl, Ally's, mother being shot and killed by two men on a subway platform in Brooklyn. Ally, only 11, watches as the men rob then kill her mother. It's a scenario that many movies include...yet it feels different. "Ten years later," we are introduced to Tyler as he rushes to a cemetery to meet his family. It is unclear why he is there at first, but throughout the movie you learn that Tyler's older brother, Michael, hanged himself a few years earlier. Both of these events are subtle and seem to simply set up the bigger story, but it is because of these events that I find meaning and purpose in the story.
This movie is clearly about loss. It is set up to make you think it is about love, but it really isn't in my opinion. Both Ally and Tyler had people in their lives who were there for them in one moment, and in the next they were gone. Of course the two meet each other and fall in love, but that is not really the point (as the ending so clearly illustrates).
In the end, Tyler goes to his father's office. His father, in an attempt to be a better father (something that he has sucked at through a majority of the movie), is escorting Tyler's little sister to school and thus is running late. Through a series of shots, you quickly realize that the day is September 11th and Tyler is in the World Trade Center. You know Tyler is going to die, yet you are forced to watch the lives of those around him in that moment: his little sister in school, his father riding to work, his mother on a walk, Ally in the kitchen making French Toast for when Tyler returns. Life going on as always not knowing that within a few minutes, everything will be different because Tyler won't be there anymore. It hurts to watch as each of these characters realize what has just happened--another loss.
It seems a strange coincidence to watch this movie on the eve of the 9th anniversary of my father's death, but life can be funny that way. I wonder if I would have been as reflective otherwise. This movie really hit me in the gut because in truth...it is the thing I am most terrified of. While it has been 9 years since my father died, I have not completely recovered. I still really struggle with the idea of someone being there with you one moment, listening to music in the car, going to the grocery store, enjoying dinner, and the next moment they are on the floor and the whole world seems to be spinning out of control. I am so terrified of the people I love dying. I honestly can't ever even let my mind wander that way for a moment or I find myself having a slight anxiety attack.
In the end of the movie, we see how each character's life is better because Tyler was a part of it. Sometimes we lose people, but they never really leave us. We are different because they were there. I think that I need to remember that a bit more than I do. Life goes on and we remember, and that is important.
Today Nephi and I saw Remember Me. We all know that I love Robert Pattinson (Nephi is fully aware of this and accepts it), so that is why I ventured a viewing. Honestly, I would have been willing to wait until DVD, however, many critics were frustrated by the ending and since I check up on both Eclipse and Robert Pattinson news often, I kept running into possible spoilers. I decided I had to see it before it was ruined.
Though the original purpose was to simply enjoy a couple hours of eye-candy, I actually did like the movie quite a bit. I wouldn't give it a perfect 10, but the characters were likable and fully developed (something that the last few movies I saw in the theater lacked, such as When in Rome, Percy Jackson, and Alice and Wonderland), and the story kept me interested and involved (also important).
Those of you who know me, know I watch movies ALL the time. I love going to movies, but even when I can't, I see almost every movie when it comes to DVD (just about the only perk of having a husband who works at Blockbuster). So, why mention this one on my blog? Well...because even though I wouldn't give it a 10 or anything, it really touched me in a way I wasn't expecting.
The movie begins with the main girl, Ally's, mother being shot and killed by two men on a subway platform in Brooklyn. Ally, only 11, watches as the men rob then kill her mother. It's a scenario that many movies include...yet it feels different. "Ten years later," we are introduced to Tyler as he rushes to a cemetery to meet his family. It is unclear why he is there at first, but throughout the movie you learn that Tyler's older brother, Michael, hanged himself a few years earlier. Both of these events are subtle and seem to simply set up the bigger story, but it is because of these events that I find meaning and purpose in the story.
This movie is clearly about loss. It is set up to make you think it is about love, but it really isn't in my opinion. Both Ally and Tyler had people in their lives who were there for them in one moment, and in the next they were gone. Of course the two meet each other and fall in love, but that is not really the point (as the ending so clearly illustrates).
In the end, Tyler goes to his father's office. His father, in an attempt to be a better father (something that he has sucked at through a majority of the movie), is escorting Tyler's little sister to school and thus is running late. Through a series of shots, you quickly realize that the day is September 11th and Tyler is in the World Trade Center. You know Tyler is going to die, yet you are forced to watch the lives of those around him in that moment: his little sister in school, his father riding to work, his mother on a walk, Ally in the kitchen making French Toast for when Tyler returns. Life going on as always not knowing that within a few minutes, everything will be different because Tyler won't be there anymore. It hurts to watch as each of these characters realize what has just happened--another loss.
It seems a strange coincidence to watch this movie on the eve of the 9th anniversary of my father's death, but life can be funny that way. I wonder if I would have been as reflective otherwise. This movie really hit me in the gut because in truth...it is the thing I am most terrified of. While it has been 9 years since my father died, I have not completely recovered. I still really struggle with the idea of someone being there with you one moment, listening to music in the car, going to the grocery store, enjoying dinner, and the next moment they are on the floor and the whole world seems to be spinning out of control. I am so terrified of the people I love dying. I honestly can't ever even let my mind wander that way for a moment or I find myself having a slight anxiety attack.
In the end of the movie, we see how each character's life is better because Tyler was a part of it. Sometimes we lose people, but they never really leave us. We are different because they were there. I think that I need to remember that a bit more than I do. Life goes on and we remember, and that is important.
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