That Darn Cat!

Well, Lacey is fast asleep with her Sunday nap so I figured I would put up a post. We had a sweet Thanksgiving at my parents and ate a bunch of good food. My dad opened his Christmas present early (Rock Band for the Wii) and we played that. It was pretty funny hearing my mom sing. We all had a great time. We went to SLC and visited with Lacey's family for a bit too. The next day we went shopping. Not at 5 a.m. (there is no deal worth going through the black Friday mess for in my opinion), but at 10:00. We did a marathon of Christmas shopping and got done in pretty much one day. That is sweet. We put up the Christmas tree and not more than 3 hours later, Harvey the cat had gotten into it and broke a bunch more of the oranments. I think the Christmas tree is his favorite toy ever. He jumps from the ground straight into the tree. It is pretty funny to watch if you aren't worried about him breaking everything. Lacey claims that he is artistic since he only seems to go after the bright blue ornaments and he doesn't bother the silver ones that much. This picture is from last year, but things are pretty much the same, so you get the idea. We have a new weapon this year with our squirt bottle, so I hope that keeps him out. It has worked well so far.

Coldplay

I went to the Coldplay concert last night with my mom. I can't even tell you how great the concert was, it was so awesome! For years, I was in love with Tim McGraw. That relationship has definitely been replaced by my love for Chris Martin, the lead vocalist/pianist/guitarist of Coldplay. This morning I told Mitch, "If we ever get divorced, I'm going to marry Chris Martin from Coldplay." He said,"Okay, as long as I can marry Jessica Alba." (Too bad they're both in a relationship.) Ha,ha. Don't worry, I love Mitch more than Chris, but I won't lie. I think Chris is a total HOTTIE. He has an amazing voice, he's super cute, and I love his European wardrobe. Plus, he plays the piano, harmonica, and guitar. Amazing and totally sexy. Here's the hottie on the big screen: Coldplay is my favorite band. (I own every C.D. and I will be purchasing Prospekt's March tomorrow when it comes out (it's the second half of Viva La Vida).) They sounded sounded AwESomE, even better live. At one point in the concert, the band left the stage and reappeared in the audience near the top section. They played two songs in the middle of the audience. So cool. It was definitely a lot of money well spent. So thanks, Coldplay, for a great night! Thanks, Mom, for being so cool and going with me! (My mom's the coolest!) Sorry, Mitch, that I kinda ditched you the whole weekend. I'm glad you had fun with your friends, though. I love you! Viva La Vida people!
Here's some a pic of the band playing in the crowd and a video with Chris playing the piano.It's a little out of focus at first, but keep watching, it gets better and you can see the band up close on the HUGE screen that was behind them. The second video is the encore, they sang "Yellow."

Edward on the Big Screen

Yes, I read the entire Twighlight series and loved it. And yes, tonight I saw the movie and fell in love with Edward, again. *sigh* I'm not obsessed like some girls, but I was super excited to see Edward's beautiful face on the big screen. It did not disappoint. I hate to admit this, but I actually shed a tear when I saw Edward for the first time. No, I'm not 14. I was just so happy to see the handsome man on the screen instead of just in my imagination. I went with some of my awesome friends from our ward. A few of us wore shirts that say, "I'm with the vampires." It was a great time. We giggled a lot. I will say that if you haven't read the books, you should wait until you finish at least the first book to see the movie. It will make a lot more sense that way. The only thing I didn't like about the movie was Jasper's character. He was weird and cheesy. But I loved, loved, LOVED the rest of it!

The Nutcracker

Last night I saw The Nutcracker for the first time. It was also the first ballet I've ever seen. My good friend, Britt, came with me. The ballet was performed at Weber State by the Clytie Adams' School of Ballet with a few members of Ballet West. I loved it. I want to go every year. It made me want to be a ballerina. I could not believe that someone can make their body bend and twist that much, let alone bend and twist while standing on their toes! Those ballerinas are in amazing shape! I'm wondering if the Clytie Ballet school offers an adult, beginnining ballet class ...
Probably everyone but me was aware that The Nutcracker was first performed in Moscow, Russia. I didn't know it was a Russian thing. (I know, where have I been? Not into ballets, that's where.) Having lived among the Russian people, I was hoping to see some similarities between the Russian people and the play. I was disappointed. I only saw a few similarities: social drinking, skinny people, beautiful people, and cold weather. I think the ballet is missing one important thing that would show its Russian influence: Russian stacking dolls! The ballet has every other toy and Christmas item like candy canes, sugar plums, soldiers, etc. But they left out the Russian stacking dolls, or marshushkee, as they're called in Russian. Marshushkee would make the play perfect. I still loved it though. I'm glad Britt could come! It saved Mitch from going and I got to catch up with my friend!

For Whom the Bell Tolls

"No man is an Iland, intire of it selfe; every man is a peece of the Continent, a part of the maine; if a Clod bee washed away by the Sea, Europe is the lesse, as well as if a Promontoire were, as well as if a Mannor of the friends or of thine owne were; any mans death diminshes me, because I am involved in Mankinde; And therefore never send to know for whome the bell tolls; It tolls for thee. ~JOHN DONNE

Here's one of my favorite quotes from the British Renessiance time period. (Yes, I know I'm an English nerd. I can't help it.) I included it in this post because I just started reading For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway. He was greatly influenced by John Donne and included this quote at the beginning of For Whom the Bell Tolls. I love, love, LOVE Hemingway's writing style. I've read a few of his other classics: A Farewell to Arms, The Sun Also Rises, and The Old Man and the Sea and I loved them all. Some were depressing, but the way he writes never ceases to impress me. So here's to my newest book adventure! (And good riddance to Sherlock Holmes! I did not enjoy that book, but I finished it.)

The Five People You Meet in Heaven

I recently read The Five People You Meet in Heaven, by Mitch Albom. I loved it. (Anyone who knows me well, knows that I LOVE to read. I just wish I had more time to do it.) Anyways, I thought this book was very well written. It isn't a college-level read or anything like that, but I do applaud the author for his writing style. The storyline is very deep and thought-provoking.
Since I liked the book so much, I decided to watch the movie. Mitch watched it with me, such a sweet hubby! The movie was great, but as always, the book was better. (My imagination is better than anything a movie director can pull off.) If you don't like to read, I would still recommend watching the movie. It might make you cry though. Not to embarrass Mitch or anything, but we both cried during the movie. In our defense, there was a really tender scene between a husband and wife being reunited in heaven. How can anyone not cry when you believe in eternal marriage and you're just so in love with your spouse?
Overall: I highly recommend the book and the movie.

Disneyland Was Full of Gothics

Mitch and I went to Disneyland last week with my family. (Me, Mitch, my mom, Jordan, Brock, and Natalie. My dad didn't go cuz he would rather go hunting.) We must have gone on Gothic Day. We got to the park the first day and as we walked towards the Haunted Mansion, we noticed a couple dressed in black. The man had one of those tall black hats and a cane, and the woman had a black parasol umbrella with her black dress. At first, we thought they worked there. Some people even asked to have their picture taken with them (that's how good their "costumes" were). After a few minutes, we realized that these Halloweeny Gothic people were EVERYWHERE. I'm not exaggerating, I think that one in ten adults over the age of 30 were dressed as a freaky gothic person. It was so strange. We even saw a guy wearing all black with a black tu-tu! Weird.
Despite the goths, we actually had a very fun time. My mom is hilarious and every time we'd be on a fast ride she would scream bloody murder, even if it wasn't scary. She did it to be funny and it did make me laugh. We went on Indiana Jones first cuz that is (or should I say was?) my favorite ride. My new favorite has got to be Space Mountain. What's cooler than riding a roller coaster in the dark? I really like how they redid that ride- pure awesomeness. Mitch loved Space Mountain too. We also liked Tower of Terror, Soaring, and Screamin' California.
We went to Disneyland one day and California Adventure the next. We were exhausted by 5:00 both days. How pathetic, we couldn't even last until the parade or fireworks. Ha,ha. We made fun of ourselves for that one.
My mom's friends Judi and Sam got us an awesome deal on hotel rooms. We rented a sweet mini van to get around in. It was funny because it totally peeled out every time the driver stepped on the gas. We laughed so hard every time Mitch or my mom peeled out. Hilarious.
We were able to spend time with Judi and her girls and Stacey and her girls. My uncle came and hung out with us, Judi, and Stacey two of the nights we were there. It was good to see him. Stacey thinks my uncle is hot, which he is a good looking guy, but Stacey is married with three kids, and she kept flirting with him. It was pretty funny. Stacey and Judi are such nice hostesses. They really treat you like family.
The only downer of the whole trip was that Mitch had a nasty head cold. I felt so bad dragging him around the park. He seemed to have fun though and said he liked it. I guess I really only felt bad making him get his picture taken with me and the Disney characters cuz I know he hates that. Ha,ha. He's feeling better now so that's good.
Well, I love Disneyland. I was literally skipping and singing through the park. I even wore my Mickey Mouse ears to the airport and around the hotel. (I would have worn them to the park, but they don't have a string or anything to keep them on, so I probably would have lost them.) I think I embarrassed my family with the ears, but I thought it was hilarious. As much as I love Disneyland, I think I'm just fine with going every 2 or 3 years. It had been 5 since the last time I was there, and I'm okay with that. I think waiting a while to go makes it all the more magical the next time you're there. Hopefully the next time we go it won't be Goth Day!

Where'd All the Trick-or-Treaters Go?

On Halloween Mitch and I chilled at home and passed out candy to the 5 kids that came by. Why don't people go trick-or-treating anymore? The good ol' fashioned kind of trick-or-treating, door to door? Needless to say, we had leftover candy. We had a fun time though. We watched a classic scary movie, The Poltergeist. We also made s'mores with left over Halloween candy. I used a Reese's on mine and Mitch used a Hershey's bar (isn't he so daring? Ha,ha.). Oh and Mitch played the "Oooh Game" with me. It was hilarious; I laughed the whole time.
We spent the entire next day trying to find pirate costumes for a murder mystery dinner we went to at Will and Kelly's. We thought if we waited until the day after Halloween the costumes would be on sale. Not the case, plus we couldn't find anything in the right size. Finally we found some costumes and had a blast at the party. Will and Kelly through good parties. You can check out the pictures here at Kelly's blog. Mitch's face is hilarious in the pics. :)
On Sunday we went to my grandma's for some of her amazing cooking. For dessert, I made a pumpkin pie with no crust. We made s'mores with it. (Can you see a pattern here? I LOVE s'mores!) This is how the s'more went: graham cracker, white chocolate, marshmallow, pumpkin pie, graham cracker. It was pretty rich, but a big hit. I recommend it. (Mitch bought me a book called, 101 S'mores. That's where I get all these crazy s'more ideas from.) My mom brought over their hilarious blow-up costumes, so that was fun. Here's a few random pics from the weekend: