Okay, yes I am a Twilight fan … as you may have noticed from the layout. Last night thanks to Summit Entertainment I had the opportunity to watch the film, Twilight at an advanced screening. I was so excited!

Before the film started they gave away t-shirts & bracelets … I was lucky enough to get one of the t-shirts. Then they asked who were on Team Edward and who was on Team Jacob, which led to lots of screaming and shows of support. I do not want to give too much away and so I will do my best to make this spoiler free.

My first comment is that I believe that fans of the books will be pleased with the way Catherine Hardwicke (the director) and Summit adapted the stories to the big screen. While the film is not in the Academy Award category, the film was beautiful! Definitely visually appealing.

The studio did an amazing job with casting as each actor portrayed his or her part very well. I was especially pleased with Ashley Greene as Alice. She portrayed Edward’s fun loving younger sister exactly as I had imagined her. And Kellan Lutz is an amazing Emmett! I have always loved Peter Facinelli because I think he is so diverse and he didn't disappoint. I love the strength yet compassionate individual he makes Carlisle. Oh and Nikki Reed is fabulous as Rosalie … such a strong performance. I also was surprised by how well Billy Burke portrayed Bella’s father Charlie. I love the way they built the relationship between Bella and her dad.

The chemistry between Kristen and Robert is all that the fans hoped for. I love the small things between them show the intensity of the relationship between Bella & Edward. Personally I think that Kristen is the perfect person to play Bella. She is clumsy and yet portrays Bella as the strong woman that she is. Robert portrays Edward as the hesitant suitor who has strong feelings about what he is and how that affects Bella. So putting aside all the screaming fans, he really did an excellent job.

The part of Jacob is a small but important role in the first book/film. Taylor Lautner is awesome as Jacob Black. I can’t wait to see how he brings more to that part as the stories continue. (I have great faith that they will!) For those fans that are not Jacob fans I think that Taylor gives him a very likeable quality that most will see why these two characters are friends and build a relationship. Another thing I enjoyed was seeing Bella’s “human” friends brought to life. I enjoyed these characters and I felt like we were able to get to know them a little better.

My favorite scenes were the baseball scene and the scene where Edward takes Bella home to meet his family. I loved the humor that was added that helped the story flow. There are some differences to the story but mostly to help the story flow better as a movie and I didn't feel that they took away from the books.

I believe those who have not read the story will follow along easily yet for those of us who know the story well will enjoy the little details that were included. I can’t wait to go and see it again on Friday!

Thank you Summit Entertainment for giving me this opportunity!

One thing in life that remains constant is change. We can always count on things changing around us as it is apart of growing and learning. Over the past few years many of my friends have gotten married, started their families and even moved out of the area. Sometimes it feels like things are so far away.

A few days ago I received an invite to spend the evening with my group of friends; many of these individuals I have not seen in months. Part of me was excited while another part of me was nervous. We have all been going through various changes and I wasn’t sure what the night would bring.

Tonight proved to me that no matter what changes occur in our lives there is one thing that is always constant. Love. As I sat and caught up with my friends and then got wrapped up laughing over a game of “things” I had so many memories flash through my mind. And then to have arms wrapped around me in a hug and I found myself touched. That even though we all have changed that when we get together we share that one common bond.

Today’s love really combines three loves and the association of these loves are not things that you would normally put together.

First off anyone who knows me knows I love spending time on my computer. I really love my laptop and the things I get to do on it. My computer gives me the ability to keep in touch with family and friends via email, chat, blogging and Facebook. It allows me to do webdesign and html coding. I search news articles and pictures. I don’t even have a phone book because I use dexonline.com and whitepages.com to do my searching.

Well last night I had a major upset. I spilled an entire glass of cranberry juice next to my laptop which landed all over the keyboard. It wouldn’t turn on and I was afraid it was completely ruined. I did some major praying for help. This might seem a silly thing to pray for but my computer is very important to me and I knew that I didn’t have the money to buy a new one if it wasn’t fixable and even to pay someone to fix it would be hard. This morning when I woke up the first thing I did was check my laptop which I had let dry out all night. It still wouldn’t boot up. I was devastated! So I drove it over to my mom’s house and gave it to her to take to a repair shop after work. Well my mom being the kind woman that she is spent part of her day today on the phone with Dell’s technical support trying to get it fixed. They walked her through some things and after hours of waiting for news she called to tell me that it is working … the only damage right now is that the keys for the #5, D & J are not working. I figure I can deal with that for the time being and if they are still not working as of this weekend I will call a repair place to see about getting them fixed.

Now back to my three loves … I love my computer (see paragraph #2 if you want to know why)

I love my mother … I love that she took the time out of her busy day and last night to come help me with my problem. She is that kind of person. I didn’t mention this before but when she found out what had happened she drove the 30 minutes to my house bringing with her carpet cleaner (oh yeah … I have a nice pink spot on my living room carpet now) to help me get the stain out. She took me this morning to Starbucks (I love that place) to give me a boost to the beginning on my day and then spent today helping get my computer fixed. She is too awesome!

And third I love my Heavenly Father. He heard my pleas as I prayed to Him last night and this morning. My computer was not really all that important in the grand scheme of things but I think he knew how important it was to me. I know that He helped me in this situation and that He helps us in these small insignificant things because they are important to each one of us. I see His love around me all the time and even when I do not always recognize it or show my appreciation He is still there reminding me in so many different ways.

My love for Jane Austen started in high school with seeing the film Sense & Sensibility with Emma Thompson, Kate Winslet & Hugh Grant. I fell in love with the characters and the story. I decided I needed to read the book so I went to the library to check it out. After two attempts I just couldn’t get into the book so I decided to just enjoy the movie. I never attempted again until many years later I was told I should read Pride & Prejudice. I wasn’t sure what to think since I knew that I had previously had a hard time reading Jane Austen’s writings. I became wrapped up in the story of Elizabeth Bennett & Mr. Darcy and to this day Pride & Prejudice is my favorite book. At that time I decided that I need to read all of Austen’s novels. I so far have also read Emma, Mansfield Park, and yes Sense & Sensibility (and this time I LOVED it!)

In vain have I struggled, it will not do. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you.

Giraffes. I love giraffes. For example I have this particular picture combining two of my loves as the wallpaper on my cell phone.



I am not entirely sure where my love for giraffes started but I now have a giraffe collection in the corner of my bedroom and every giraffe is special. They have been gifts and things I have bought for myself; they are wooden, ceramic, wax and come in the form of figurines, carvings, picture frames and stuffed animals; they come from New York City, Iowa, Utah & Jamaica.

Giraffes make me so very happy. I went with my mom and a friend to the zoo a year ago and took way too many pictures of the giraffes on my mom’s camera. My mom thought I was nuts!

“I hate the giraffeless new of this situation!”