Movie and Book Reviews

Oh it has been a while since I have blogged! We have seen a couple of movies and read some books that I wanted to pass along as recommendations.

Twilight. Both Chad and I read the four books and then saw the movie! We HIGHLY recommend that you read the books. Yes, they are teen novels about a vampire love story but they are so much more than that. The author is so talented and writes some of the most visual books that I have ever read. You really can visualize every scene in those books. So good!

The movie is good but not great. It was a low budget film and you could tell. I thought they did a good job sticking true to the book but the "special effects" were weak. But the movie definitely left me wanting more!

Milk. I didn't know much about this movie or the real person this movie is about, Harvey Milk. I had just heard that it was a great film and that Sean Penn nails the role, again. The premise of the movie is the real life story of Harvey Milk and what he did for the gay civil rights movement in the 70's. This turned out to be a great civil rights history lesson - one not taught in schools. I really thought it was a well done movie and quite enjoyable. There are some mild gay sexual scenes but the main story is about how Harvey Milk fought against bigotry and violence in a peaceful manner. And in doing so also fought for other "groups" that hadn't been spoken for in politics before. Not only is it a good story to be told but the actors in this movie are phenomenal. Sean Penn is great as is James Brolin. And many of the other small parts are well acted as well. I would recommend seeing this movie.

Our Few Seconds of Fame

We went to the Today show on Friday the 14th while in NYC! It was really fun to see the inner workings of the show and how they run in and out of that building so many times! Unfortunately, Ann and Meredith were not there that day and Matt never came out side. We did see Al though!

This video shows our first time on TV. You have to go to about 28:37 and then you will see us behind Al before he does the weather! It was in the 60's that day and this weather time tells all about how it won't be warmer than 30 degrees when we get home the next day!!

There were a couple more times that we were on but I am trying to track them down off the website. I will be sure to post them if I find them! :)

A Favorite City

We are home but I am ready to go back!  Our first trip to New York City was a success and oh so much fun!  We had good weather and good company!  We saw just about everything on our list of tourist sites and loved every minute.  

We were very thankful to David for inviting us out and letting us stay at his place. THANK YOU!  In the end it all worked out well even with the tight space.  David was a great tour guide of sites and food!  And we did pretty good navigating on our own when he was in class or studying. 

NYC exceeded my expectations!  It was friendly, safe, and fairly clean for a big city.  There was so much to see and do and each thing brought a totally different experience.   Here is a list of the highlights of our trip!  You can click HERE and HERE to see 120 of the 700 pictures we took while there!

What Did We See in NYC?  More like what didn't we see??? :)

• Central Park
• Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island
• Top of the Rock Observation Deck from 70 stories up
• Times Square (spent a lot of time there and LOVED it!)
• Ground Zero
• Wall Street
• Brooklyn Bridge
• Saw Mary Poppins on Broadway (Great, great show!!)
• Chad and I had a date night with drinks at the revoloving lounge on the 48th floor of the Marriot!
• Natural History Museum
• Rockafeller Center (Chad and Anna went ice skating)
• Today show!  (We were on TV)
• "Shopping" 5th Avenue

For all of you that have said you always have wanted to go to NYC - GO!  Make it happen!!  

Paying it Forward

Today I was waiting in line at the Caribou Coffee drive thru. It was dark and rainy and cold and I needed something to start my day with. It was a long line and moving very slow. As I was waiting I looked in my rear view mirror and there was a lady in her car that looked very sad, angry and impatient that the line was taking SO long. I kept watching her as we got closer to the window. I thought to myself, "that woman needs some cheering up - big time. I think I will pay for her coffee!"

So, I get up to the pay window about to hand my card to the cashier when she says - "The car in front of you paid for your drink!" WHAT? Here I was ready to pay for the lady behind me and the one in front of me paid for mine and apparently the one in front of that lady started it.

There was major pay it forward action going on in that Caribou drive-thru line today. I paid for the lady behind me but who knows how far it went! What a great way to start a cold, dark, rainy day. Oh, and if you haven't had any of the pumpkin products from Caribou - YUMMY!

Couldn't Have Said it Better...

With only two weeks left before the election I was going to do just one more post on why I support Barack Obama. But then I heard Colin Powell speak on Meet the Press on Sunday and realized I could never have said it better. Here is the video if you haven't seen it!

Thankful

We do have many things to be thankful for:

• WONDERFUL friends and family!  It is amazing the love and understanding that we have felt over the last week.  The prayers are appreciated and felt. 
  
  
• Friends and family that have reached out to us and shared similar stories.  Many of these people we had no idea they had been through the same thing.  Their words were especially comforting. 
  
  
• A compassionate doctor.  Like I said in the first post, this whole process would be totally different if we didn't have a dr that slowed down and spent the time with us with the understanding of the difficult time we were having.  And also all the of the nurses that we came in contact with.  
  
  
• We are thankful that Monday's procedure was "easy" and pain free.  Everything went as well as could be expected.  I was feeling fine physically that same day.  The past few days have been fine too.  Emotionally though it has been a roller coaster.  That is where the prayers can be focused on us for sure.  
  
  
• I am very thankful for the Bible.  For written words and promises that I can turn to when I am feeling down.  To find some understanding and solace in this situation.  I also thankful for the 40 day challenge bible study that our church small group started on Monday.  It
  was a great time to really focus on the word.  
  
  
• Chad and Anna.  Chad for being my love and rock and Anna for showing me every day what true and unconditional love is.   And for both of them making me laugh!! :)  
  
  

Sad Update

So, this is not the post I thought I would be writing today......

Chad and I went to a Dr appt yesterday - our first prenatal appointment.  We found out a few weeks ago that we were pregnant.  But our appt yesterday discovered that our baby didn't have a heart beat and it actually stopped growing 3 weeks ago.   We have been going through a range of emotions from shock to sadness.  

Monday will bring another emotional day when they do a D&C procedure.  We decided to go through with that procedure to move on from this stage and hopefully get to a happier time.  

The good news is that the ultrasounds done yesterday found no other issues or reasons why we shouldn't be able to have a successful pregnancy. 

The other ray of light was that our new Dr, who we met for the first time today, was THE MOST compassionate Dr in the world.  Honestly, I have never felt so loved and cared for by a stranger.  He took a lot of time to talk to us and explain everything and answer all the questions.   He was also a Christian who thankfully wasn't afraid to bring that message to his Dr office.  He brought some peace to the situation and was exactly what we needed in that moment.  

So, we are moving forward and we will see what the future brings.  We are optimistic and this has made us realize really what a miracle having children really is.  How everything has to be just right and how thankful we are that we have a healthy child to love on in the first place.