"the lovely bones"

book and movie review
the lovely bones
book written by alice sebold
movie directed by peter jackson

i'm kinda tired of being disappointed in movies. besides "up in the air" the last few movies i've decided to spend the money on at a movie theater have been not so good. with that said, i didn't enjoy the movie "the lovely bones". i suppose one of the challenges when you create a book into a movie, and you've read that book you have your own interpretation of it. as does the director/producer of the movie. the movie took out a lot of what i believe were pivotal points in the book, and they were nowhere to be seen in the movie.
this was the second time i've read the lovely bones. i read for the first time the summer of 2003. the book is very adult. and the movie not so much. it is story of a 14 year old girl who is murdered by a man in her neighborhood, and is never caught for this act of violence. the story shows how her family and friends are impacted by her death, and her view of what is her heaven. the book has so many characters and relationships that are built, that aren't even introduced in the movie. the book is very imaginative and creative, and i honestly couldn't wait for the movie to end. i do wonder how i would feel about this movie had i not read the book. and i really don't think i would have liked it, because of the lack of depth in the relationships in the movie.
i'm pretty sure i'll be giving up on movies for awhile. with love month starting tomorrow and all of the romantic comedies coming out, i think it'll be awhile before i decide to go to the movies again.

STRIKE! 60min

another round

i realize that their are only 5 girls left, so it seems kinda lame to make a prediction for who will be the last 3 standing, but i figured, why not? abc is at it again with another round of the bachelor. my top pick for jake is ali. although at this point in time i'm pretty positive that whomever he picks, won't turn into a long lasting relationship, let alone marriage. i'm not too sure why i feel that way i just do. well actually i do know why i feel that way. because he was so quick to eliminate so many girls last week. that he knew just weren't "his wife". this show is about opportunity, and in my opinion getting rid of those last two girls at the end of the rose ceremony was throwing away an opportunity. maybe neither of those girls were meant to be, but that doesn't mean he couldn't learn something from either of them. and if he isn't open to that, this whole process is really just a waste for him.
vienna is last season's wes. jake needs to make his own conclusion about him, just like jillian had to find out herself that wes was up to no good. but like the rest of america i'm ready for her to leave.

corrie. corrie is funny. this is why i like her. she's just now starting to become a top runner in the show. and i hope jake gets to know her.
tenley. i think jake likes the innocence that tenley has, even though she has baggage. i'm pretty sure she has some issues to deal with, and her high pitched voice freaks me out a little. i'm thinking she'll be the 2nd woman standing, and i just hope that she isn't the next "bachelorette".
ali. she's my favorite. i hope she gets the ring. she's beautiful and seems the most genuine. and she had that instant connection with jake from the start.
here's to a happy ending that we all want in life!

45min elliptical

let the celebration continue!

amanda, wayne, me, and anitra

so yesterday afternoon my work family had a little belated birthday happy hour get together for me at the british bulldog in downtown denver. it was a lot of fun. and seeing your coworkers after hours in a more relaxed setting, is well always so much more relaxed than at work in a work setting. :)

cathy and i

katherine, coral, cathy, me, wayne, anitra,
reid, maggie, and amanda

katherine and i

45min elliptical
abs/chest/back

The Places I've Been: MN

via

Minneapolis, Minnesota

I've been to Minneapolis twice. The first time was Labor Day weekend 2005. My ex, Aaron moved there to be closer to his friends. At the time that he moved we agreed to try long distance, and to see each other every other month. Downtown Minneapolis is nice, but to be honest I don't really like the city, and that very well could be because it is because of this city and Aaron's decision to move there that I experience a horrible heart break. Because of that, I'm pretty sure I'll never go back.

...Until the second time I visited which was in May 2006. My friend Tina planned a girl's trip weekend there, and invited me to join her and 2 other of her friends. It was a fun trip, and on this trip I did see more of the city. The Mall of America is cool, although in my opinion it isn't a "must see". It is just a really big mall. Nothing too exciting about that, if you ask me. The skyline and the buildings are pretty cool, and definitely more interesting than what Denver has to offer. But overall, it just wasn't a city that appealed to me.

abs
Soul Grooves 60min

my super talented cousin

have i said how blessed i am? well i am. so so blessed. my 3 best girl friends traveled, spent lots money, and spent lots of time away from their families, just for me. to help make my 30th birthday special. i felt it only appropriate to get them a thank you gift to show my blessings and appreciation that i have for their friendships.
i got them two gifts. some victoria's secret PJ's, and fabulous neck warmer's made by my oh so talented cousin Nikki.
check these out! these neck warmer's are amazing, beautiful, stylish, and keep you warm! could anything be better?! i think not. my cousin nikki whipped these up in less than 2 weeks! ...did i mention that she is talented? if not, she is. very talented! not only that, she's like the best neck warmer model ever!
she even has her own etsy shop! check it out, right.now. these neck warmers are the perfect gift, in fact i'm pretty sure everyone out there must have one.
my girl friends loved them! thanks Nikki!!!

kari & tina

me & michelle

45min elliptical
legs

something different

so today i did 50/50 at the gym. this isn't a typical workout for me, i just do it randomly if i don't get in time for STRIKE! which is what happened today, because my neighbors kept me up from 2am to 3:30am. so i didn't wake up until 9am. this is maybe the 5th or 6th time i've done 50/50 since this time last year. it's 50% cardio (step) and 50% toning. and wow it was a great workout. i think the body is such a crazy thing. i think it is safe to say that i workout a lot, and when i start sweating so easily by just doing something different, it reminds me that your body needs something different! even the two walks i went on last week with tina, we were outside, and her neighborhood is rather hilly. and my sheen's were so sore ...just from walking! i think i'll try to alternate my sunday workouts with 50/50 and STRIKE!. it'll be a good combination.
in other news i went to a sorta surprise birthday party last night. it was a lot of fun. it was for someone i work with, and it was great to see a couple of people outside of the office. we danced and had a great time.
update on M. i'm not too sure what to say. we saw each other friday afternoon. i told him all about my trip which was nice. our dates seem to be pretty short. which is good and bad. good because he isn't interrupting my schedule and i can still do the things that i need to do without worrying about time away from that stuff. bad because i can't really get to know him. it's also good because of that he hasn't really started to annoy me. but then i can't decide what i want out of this guy. is he just a guy to date, or could there be a possibility of a relationship? i have no clue because we haven't really spent a lot of time together. for right now i know that i do enjoy his company which is nice. but then there are times i can't tell if he is interested so we go back and forth a lot which is frustrating. so who knows, that's all i've got for now.

50/50 60min

the actual day

my actual birthday was perfect in so many ways. i was surrounded by love and hugs, and that's i could have truly asked for. tina and her boys let me sleep in, which was super nice! we had a fabulous yummy breakfast at a lakeland staple, called deli delicacies. soooo good! after breakfast we went to go see "up in the air". i wanted to see this movie again, specifically with tina because i knew we would be able to discuss it and life. after the movie we did some shopping, then went home to wait for her boys.
we went to dinner at mt. fuji a japanese restaurant where they cook the food in front of you. all in all it was a fun night!

tina and i at diner

jason banging on the drums w/ max and jake

my birthday cake: tres leche! yummy!

jake playing happy birthday for me on the piano

i love these boys so much! i met tina when she was 4 months pregnant with max(her oldest). so i have seen these boys grow up. they call me auntie april, and they mean so much to me!

me, max, and jake

saying goodnight, tina, max, jake, and i

jason, me, and tina

my birthday was beyond my expectations in so many ways! i'm so truly blessed to have such great people and families in my life! this birthday is one i will never forget.

hydro water class 60min
-2lbs

details and pictures

savannah was a blast. we had a great time. all of my friends know of one another, but have never really spent a lot of time with each other. one of the things i was looking forward most to in savannah, was seeing my 3 best girl friends click, and become friends. it was a great sight to see. plus i got them all to myself! as an only child, i truly enjoyed that part as well. i've been on girls trips before and usually by the end there is a little bit of tension. and for me that didn't happen on this trip. we all got along. and i knew that we would. all of us are open, honest, no drama type of gals. we are all easy, and just want to have fun. and that is what we had. actually we had a blast. truly a trip of a lifetime for me.

the savannah airport to pick up michelle and kari

this is probably my favoritest picture of this trip.
our hotel was dark and beautiful, and had grand chandeliers all over.
me, tina, kari, and michelle

dinner night 1

the company was number 1 for me on this trip. number 2 was definitely the food. oh the food. southern food. wow! in new mexico you get chips and salsa with everything, in savannah you get fresh warm biscuits served with butter and apricot jam. the apricot jam was a great touch. i'm one to believe that when someone passes away they give you signs to let you know that they are there with you. the apricot jam for me was my grandpa egan, who i was extremely close to growing up. he had this awesome house in santa fe, nm and had a huge backyard with lots and lots of apricot trees. when us grand kids would visit, he would pay us 25cents for every bag we filled of apricots. the main thing grandpa egan made with these apricots was jam. when the waiter put the apricot jam on our table i immediately turned to my cousin kari and said "grandpa egan is here with us" and got a little teary eyed.
this restaurant is beautiful. it's in what used to be an old bank. very cool!

tina, me, michelle, and kari

michelle, me, kari, and tina

the festivities for our first night in savannah was a haunted pub crawl. savannah is a very very haunted city, and i thought this would be fun. we went on one of the cheaper tours, and the stories weren't really all that scary, but it was so super fun.
i don't have pictures of the 2 other bars we went to, but the second one had this drink that was a long island sweet tea, and i swear you couldn't take the alcohol in it at all. the third bar was a martini bar. i had a white elephant, which was like a chai tea! yummy! michelle got a reese's peanut butter martini, again so yummy!
after the pub crawl we went up to the roof of our hotel, where there was a fun bar and the drinks continued!

michelle, kari, me, and tina

our hotel had cool artwork everywhere. this was on the ceiling of the hall way leading to our room. it's kinda like a shadow box. so pretty and different.
savannah day 2 was spa day! which was perfect because it rained all day on saturday. the spa was so beautiful, and located in our hotels sister hotel.

michelle, kari, and i

we were treated to champagne!
michelle, me, tina, and kari

dinner night 2 was my "birthday dinner" and elizabeth's on 37th
this dinner was amazing. that's all i'm gonna say.
michelle, me, tina, and kair

savannah day 3 was walking around. we walked all around river street, lots of shops, and beautiful sights.

the waving girl

river street

making taffy!

michelle, tina, me, and kari on river street

tina, kari, me, and michelle

the historic district

savannah dinner #3

michelle, tina, kari, and i

the hotel

this trip came together exactly how i pictured it in my head. i am so blessed to have such good friends travel such a long way to spend this time with me. they took time away from there families, work, and normal everyday lives to experience this with me. what made it even more special, was for all of us this was our very first trip to savannah. we laughed, told stories, ate great, new, and interesting food.

below is the final agenda i sent out to the girls, just so i can have to look back upon:

Savannah Weekend

Friday January 15^th

· Dinner @ 6pm the Pink House

o 912-232-4286 – 23 Abercorn St

· Ghost tour @ 8pm Haunted Pub Crawl $10 (www.ghostsavannah.com)

o 912-604-3007 – Departs from Moon River Brewing Co 21 W Bay St

· Drinks on the Roof

Saturday January 16^th

· Breakfast @ Goose Feathers Café/ or hotel restaurant

· Poseidon Spa 10am – 1:30ish pm

o 912-721-5004 – 700 Drayton St

· Lunch – someplace easy for a snack.

o I couldn’t really find a place near the hotel we’ll be at, except for the 700 Drayton which is inside the hotel. The prices are kinda high, but I figure we won’t want to eat too much (but I think we’ll be hungry) so maybe we can share a couple of entrée’s between the 4 of us.

· Birthday dinner @ 7pm Elizabeth’s on 37^th (www.elizabethon37th.net)

o 912-236-5547, 105 E 37^th St

· Birthday outing to Jazz’d Tapas Bar (www.jazzdsavannah.com)

o 912-236-7777 – 52 Barnard St

Sunday January 17^th

· Workout

· Brunch @ 11:30am B. Matthews Eatery (www.bmatthewseatery.com)

o 912-233-1319 – 325 E Bay St

· Shop/walk along River Street

· Trolley tour?

· Dinner along River Street

Monday January 18^th

· Go home

45min elliptical

abs/chest/back

10min treadmill

the why?

so emily asked "why georiga"? and well there will be many many posts coming soon all about my birthday/girls trip weekend. i do want to document the why, and all the details involved.

long story short: i wanted to go someplace i've never been before, and someplace warm.

long story long: i really enjoy birthdays. and i believe that as you get older it is your responsibility as an adult to make your special day special, if you so chose. and who doesn't want there day to be special? i knew i wanted my 30th to be special, and i knew that if it were to be special it would be because of my doing. so a year and a half ago i started planning this day. i am a planner. i plan things way in advance so that they go how i want them to go. ...i'm also a little bit controlling :). the first vision in my head about this weekend was to go someplace grand. invite all of my friends and their families and create a perfect getaway weekend for everyone, and bring everyone together for my special "birthday dinner". i envisioned sending an email out to everyone i knew and inviting them. the original destination? turks and caicos, or someplace in the Caribbean, someplace warm and tropical. as i started to look more closely into this destination and the reality of it, i found it wasn't realistic. so i scaled back. decided on my 3 closest and best girl friends. next was deciding the where. i truly wanted to go to someplace i had never been. but i have been to all the places that would be considered warm in the middle of January. i thought of someplace different in California, Las Vegas, someplace different in Florida, or even Texas. but all of those are places i've been. so then i started to look into places in the middle of colorado and new mexico, and florida. ...where all of us traveled from. i looked into memphis, but it snows there in january, and some others. so while i was in florida in may visiting tina she suggested savannah, ga. one night tina and i spent many hours looking into savannah and everything it has to offer. it was instantly a winner because 1. i had never been to georgia, and 2. although it isn't super warm, it is warmer.
in august the true planning was in full effect. this was when i first sent the email to michelle, tina, and kari inviting them on this special weekend. we discussed dates, cost, etc...
needless to say a lot of work went into this trip. and i'm sad that it is already over. but the memories i will keep with me forever.

40min brisk walk

oh thiry!

happy 30th birthday to me!!!

it was thirty years ago i was born (2mos early, i might add). lots and lots of feelings going on inside now that the day is officially here.

crazy to think that i have officially entered into my 3rd decade of life. i think of the changes i made from 0 to 10 from 10 to 20, and now 20 to 30. my 20's were a lot of fun, and my goal is to take that fun into my 30's but be more adult about everything. does that make sense? meaning i can take what i learned in my 20's and apply to my 30's. i would love to know that my 30's will bring what i thought would happen in my 20's, but as i learned in my 20's what i planned may not always happen. so i take that knowledge into my 30's and just go with the flow. grow upon being this person, and be happy with that person.

this birthday has been so much fun, and i've having a blast. i'm celebrating with a friend and her family in florida, and am so thankful for that!

32min brisk walk

lots going on

so i'll start tomorrow at the hyatt convention center in downtown denver,
attending the second day of Q. Marketplace.

then at 4:30pm i'll be on a plane headed to tampa, fl
en route to savannah, ga on friday!

via

i can't wait!

lots & lots of walking
45min elliptical w/arms

The Places I've Been: MA

via

one of the fabulous things about having family back East, is that you get to see a lot. because everything is so small, you are only minutes away from a different city, or a different state. this brings me to my visits in Massachusetts. i'm pretty sure my first visit to this state was when i was a young girl, maybe 9 or 10. i flew to rhode island with my cousin nikki, and my aunt and uncle took us to Boston for the day. the drive to Boston is only an hour away! we walked around, i bought a long sleeve green T-shirt that says Boston across the front. the most memorable part of this trip was the aquarium. i loved it. i remember holding a horseshoe crab. the aquarium is huge.
this past summer when i was in RI my mom and i were suppose to take a trip to boston, but that unfortunately didn't happen. we did however go to a outlet mall in MA.
being in the New England area is amazing, because there is so much around you. whether you see it or not, it is a really cool feeling knowing that so much is around you. hopefully one day i'll get to go back to Boston.

45min elliptical

legs/abs

the non-story/story

so i hesitate greatly about this post. but i take comfort in knowing not a lot people read what i write. i have started dating someone new. we'll call him M. we just had our second date. we meet on a dating website i'm on. and to share this story i'm going to go a little bit into my dating past.

way back when my parents first got the internet when i was 18/19, they got AOL. this opened my world to chat rooms and instant messaging (IM). to say i chatted with a lot of guys is probably an understatement. i chatted and met a lot (and i mean a l0t) of guys. of course these were very innocent meetings, and majority of them were just a one time meeting(remember this was the time before digital cameras, so all these guys had to go on when meeting me was the description that i provided them with). i would say i've dated a handful of guys from the online world, but in all honesty i would prefer to meet someone a "normal" way, and throughout the past few years that's what has happened. i've been on this dating site for years. literally. i probably joined 6 months after aaron and i broke up. and well, i'm picky. very picky. this is a free site, which is good. the years that i've been on it, M is the second guy i have met.

so now the story.
M and i met on tuesday. we started chatting etc... shortly after i got home from christmas. we met at old chicago, and agreed to meet outside at 6pm. i got there right at 6pm, and was outside standing in the cold waiting for him for 5 minutes, when i decided to go wait in my car. well, just as i was getting into my car, he pulled up. when the first initial meeting happened i immediately think to myself "he's not interested". i gave him a hard time about being late, and since he doesn't really know my since of humor i think he thought i was truly really mad. which created for a very rocky start of the date. we sat down and chatted. i did majority of the asking of the questions, which made me feel that again he isn't interested. he paid the bill automatically (which was nice) and shortly after we left. throughout the conversation he brought up his dog, and told me that his dog was inside of his truck. so i asked if i could meet his dog. we walk outside, i meet his dog, he then starts his truck. ...another signal that i take as his disinterest. i'm thinking "wow he can't wait for this date to be over." he walks me back to my car, we say good bye. he tells me "you should call me." i immediately think, why does he want me to call him? what is the point? so i say to him "no you call me." he repeats himself "you should call me." i ask him "do you want me to call you??" he says yes. so i think, ok i'll call him, leave him a message and i'll never hear from him again. then he says something way out of left field. he says "so do i get a kiss?" this is bizarre, because nothing that he has done as made me think he would want a kiss. so i ask him "do you want a kiss?" he says yes. so we have a short, sweet, kiss. it was very nice, and very unexpected. he tells me he hopes to hear from me, and we say good bye.
5 minutes on into my drive home, he calls me. he calls me. which makes me giddy. we have a short conversation, with him telling me he wasn't as nervous has he thought he would be and that he had a good time. so now i'm starting to think, maybe he does like me. about 30 minutes later he sends me a text that says "can i just say i'm super attracted to you your so cute". which of course bursts my confidence a little bit. and considering i thought i would be contacting him the next time we would talk/text and now he has already contacted me twice.
later that night he texts me again. we text back and forth, he ends up calling me again, and shortly afterwards we say good night. at this point in time, i'm thinking wow he must like me.
the rest of the week we stayed in touch, but there was never a conversation of us seeing each other again. so i was getting a little bit frustrated, because i was thinking what is the point in all of this if we aren't going to have a second date?
well the second date was this afternoon. it was nice because we were immediately more comfortable with each other. and had a much better conversation. he says he wants to see me again, and we have tentative plans for later this week. this could end up being a non-story, because nothing else could happen. so i don't know. i did however want to document the events thus far.

45min elliptical
arms/chest & abs

2010 prediction

Freedom

The major astrological event for you in 2010 is the movement of lucky and optimistic Jupiter, your traditional planetary ruler your Sun sign. Jupiter takes 12 years to go around the Zodiac and so this represents the beginning of a major new 12 year cycle of personal growth and development for you. With Jupiter in your Sun sign, you may gain a sense of freedom and release now. Therefore if certain aspects of your life are not quite working out as you think they should, this may be the time to move on, let go of the past and explore pastures new. You're also likely to feel and appear increasingly more confident and self-assured and therefore you will be able to present a more positive self-image of yourself to the world.

so this was my result from a quiz i took on facebook. i figured it was worthy of a blog post, because i like what it has to say. i've worked hard for this fresh start. and although i don't necessary believe in predictions and tarot cards, etc... one of my goals for my blog this year is to keep things positive. and this is positive. it can't hurt!

hydro 60min