One Day - the movie.

I saw the movie, One Day, last week.  And I have to say, it was hard to watch.  My heart truly still aches even a week later when I think about that movie!

But, I truly think you have to read the book to fully appreciate the movie.  You can read my thoughts on the book here.  So many book bits are left out of the movie!  And oh ...you just get so attached to the characters in the book, probably more so than you do in the movie.

But I must say, I thought the movie was simply fabulous.  And as terrible as it sounds, I was pleased they didn't change the ending simply to appease Hollywood.  I shed FAR more tears than I actually wanted to.  Trust me, I have no problem with tears, but these tears were simply uncontrollable.  Let's just say I was sobbing for hours after the movie ended (now that you know that - you probably don't want to watch it right?)  But the film truly made my heart ache.

Emma and Dex, the main characters, have soo much history together. They know each other so well, and it is so beautiful.  And if there is one thing I have learned it is that history means something in a relationship, in a friendship, in a marriage.  History means something - it means deep relationships, it means countless memories, and it means vulnerability.

As I watched the movie, I couldn't help but be reminded of my relationship with Peter.  Emma and Dex remind me of Peter and I...their joy, their laughter, their jokes, their humor, their deep friendship, their intimacy, their differences, their deep, deep love for each other - all of it is so very familiar to me!  And when I see them, I see Peter and I - may sound silly, but it's so true.

And I think that's why it hit so close to home that night and that might be why I was crying uncontrollably up until I fell asleep.  For those who have seen the movie or read the book, you know what happens, and for those who haven't, forgive me for possibly revealing too much!

I went to bed grateful that night...grateful for my life and for Peter's, grateful for our marriage and our friendship, grateful for our faith in something so much bigger than ourselves, and grateful for Peter's prayers that quieted my restless soul and calmed the fears in my anxious heart.

And with all that being said, I will leave you with a movie trailer, and encourage you to READ the BOOK.

We have Arrived!

So we have been in Belfast for nearly a week actually, and I suppose it's time that I finally got around to posting something on here about our time thus far!

We arrived last Sunday, after many hours of flying...and many airplane meals...and WAY too many movies. I think I watched 6 actually in a span of 10 hours and fast forwarded through some bits just to finish the films before we landed. I watched Letters to Juliet (loved it), Despicable Me, Grown Ups, Robin Hood (it was good, but a little long!), Charlie St. Cloud...maybe it was only 5..can't for the life of me remember the 6th.

When we arrived we went through immigration and then on to baggage claim. And Peter started to get a little nervous as everyone grabbed for their bags and disappeared soon after, and ours were still nowhere to be found! I was a little TOO hopeful and we waited for probably a little TOO long in hopes of seeing our bags come around on the turnstile. Much to our surprise, or mine at least, our bags did not ride the flight with us to Dublin. My darling husband had told me to pack another set of clothes JUST IN CASE our bags didn't show up with us. I, of course, reminded him that my bags ALWAYS show up...and if not it won't be the end of the world. Needless to say I packed an extra pair of jeans and a clean pair of undies, but what good were those things to me really?? At least I had my toothbrush and a few other things!

So Peter's sister, Ruth, picked us up at the airport and it was soo good to have arrived!! It was a beautiful, crisp, cold day, and as we drove through the rolling Irish hills my eyes started to fail me and I slept for a wee while. We arrived at the in-laws house a few hours later and stuffed our empty bellies full of glorious food and ended the meal with Mark's delicious chocolate guinness cake. I will be getting the recipe for that!

It has taken us a little while to get adjusted to the whole time thing, but know that we still have a few more weeks and by the time we are fully adjusted we will be flying back to Seattle!

We have enjoyed our first week tremendously...and now let me share with you some highlights.

Meals with the family and much laughter with the boys! Teaching Stuart how to play Wizard and all the fun that came with that! The Christmas market...and my new scarf and my amazing gloves. Irish music in a real irish bar where people were actually SPEAKING IRISH! Walking the streets of Belfast. the City Center - Christmas shopping and dinner with Peter
AND CAN't FORGET THE SNOW!!! soo much snow! hiking cave hill IN THE SNOW! and watching Peter, Mark and Stuart attempt to sled down a hill with a queen size mattress and last but not least...my NEW stocking from TKMAXX. its HUGE and amazing!

Harry Potter.

So I have read ALL the books and I have seen ALL the movies over the course of many years. And I must say the most recent Potter film was slightly disappointing! I was told that it stayed rather true to the book, which let me remind you i read YEARS ago. I was expecting more… so much MORE from the film because its a Harry Potter film right? And there is magic? and flying? and disappearing and reappearing… all with a simple snap of a wand. And i think the past movies and the books have been simply fantastic. But to be quite honest, I felt a little let down by the latest film! Deathly Hallows you disappointed me....but it doesn't mean I'm not looking forward to the final installment.

A Christmas Story.

Isn't it wonderful when Birthday and Christmas celebrations are all rolled into one?? Well...I SURE DO! and I especially love when my dad forgoes his seat beside my mother at the 5th Avenue Theatre so that I can accompany her to a show! Such a gracious father i have! Well let me tell you though...I was super excited about this show and may have pushed my way into that seat JUST a little bit.

So it was my mom's birthday weekend and she was coming over to Seattle for the show and then we all went out to dinner as a family to celebrate another year of her life! I could type for days about my mom...but this post isn't about my mom. This post is about A christmas Story - The musical.

Have you all seen this movie? It is fantastic and such a classic! Well I think it is at least...soo much so that I bought it for Peter for Christmas last year...and I also bought it for his brother to add to his MASSIVE DVD collection because every DVD collection should contain A Christmas Story right? Well lets just say that my family didn't own this DVD or I guess I should say VHS because DVDS weren't around back then...but EVERY single time the Christmas season would roll around I would scour the tv channels for this movie because ONE Of them was bound to play it right?

Oh there are soo many good bits from tongues getting stuck to poles, kids visiting santa and getting pushed down slides, bb guns, randy in his HUGE winter suit, the bunny outfit, the dogs eating the turkey, the leg lamp...and I could go ON, but I won't because i don't want to ruin the entire movie!

Anyhow, this year the 5th avenue Theatre decided to turn this movie into a music..and I must say I am always a LITTLE skeptical when they try to turn my favorite movies into musicals. I mean the people aren't singing in the movie, so how will that actually work out? But then I remembered that my mom and I also went to see Hairspray at the 5th Ave...and that wasn't a musical originally, but it is one of my all time favorite movies...and I thought it was excellent. So I had high hopes for this next one...A Christmas Story, and boy was it GOOD! I kept anticipating certain parts and crossing my fingers that they wouldn't leave certain bits out...and they didn't! They stayed soo true to the movie and it was excellent even if I did know what was coming next.

So five stars for A Christmas Story and if you have the chance to see it this holiday season...I fully believe it is worth your money and your time!

Babies.

So Peter and I really love movies…thus we watch a lot of movies together! The most recent one was a little film called Babies. My sister had told me awhile ago that she had started it…realized there wasn't any talking and stopped it halfway. And as I type this, I am realizing that I still don't know if she ever got around to finishing it.

Well this movie, Babies, showed up at the library and was ready for pickup! My beloved Peter was so kind to pick up the DVD for me, and after seeing the title and the cover he kindly informed me that he would NOT be watching this one with me.

So I started the film without him. And figured I could watch it while I was baking cupcakes and tidying up our apartment considering there aren't any WORDS! So the film follows the lives of 4 babies…one in Namibia, another in Mongolia, Tokyo, and and the United States. The film opens in Namibia with these two little naked African babies pounding on some stones and the scene is pretty priceless..and I thought to myself GOSH I have to show this to Peter. And then later on in the film there is another scene where the baby is falling asleep while sitting up. And I thought gosh I have to show Peter THIS scene too.

So I was all excited to show him the parts in the film I thought he would find amusing!…and let me tell you that he found them so amusing that he decided he wanted to see the film from start to finish.

So that's what I find myself doing on a Wednesday night…watching a bunch of babies crawl around naked, wet themselves, poop on their moms, play with toilet paper and each other, and cry their eyes out!