Book 16: The Reader

I had a couple hours of free time last week before I went out of town so I decided to pick a book to get started on and take on my trip. Well, The Reader is such an easy read that I ended up finishing it before I left!

I actually thought this book was something different when I picked it up, but I'm glad that I did.

I can't wait to rent the movie now, though I'm going to let some time pass—movies are always disappointing if you see them right after you've read the book.

Book 15: Dead in the Family

Another one! I got nearly to the end of this book and thought to myself, "there are only 50 pages left, something needs to happen quick!"

I was especially disappointed in this one because I had been so excited about it! It was being released while I was in Washington, so I ordered it through Amazon and had it shipped to Phoenix so that I could read it on the plane back to Atlanta. Oh well, we'll see how the next one is!

Movie 14: Karate Kid

This was such a cute movie! Jaden Smith was adorable, and Jackie Chan was amazing as usual. I never saw the original Karate Kid, and I didn't have much interest in this one, but I'm glad I saw it.

Book 14: Dead and Gone

I kinda felt the same way about this book as I did the last in the series...it seemed to have a lot more filler than new plot content. I'm hoping that we're doing all of this in preparation for something big!

Movie 13: Grown Ups

I thought this movie had potential, but it was pretty bad. I was really disappointed because I like Kevin James, but no. It was horrible.

Graduation Countdown!

Well, my last summer semester is over, and I'm so thankful! The summer sessions are really intense, and this one was particularly difficult. I'm registered for the fall and have just four classes to complete before graduation in the spring. I can't wait to graduate, get my Master's degree, and have my life back!

So, I have to ask - what should I do to celebrate graduation next May? Let me know what you think in the comments section!

Habitat for Humanity!

This morning (early this morning) I helped build a house through Habitat for Humanity!

It was the fourth day of this particular build so the framing, insulation, and drywall were already complete. Derrick, Suzanne, Miles, and I started out by measuring and cutting window stools. We finished up the day installing the interior doors on the single story home in southwest Atlanta.

I had an absolute blast! It was a lot of fun to learn how to do some of the things that you take for granted in your house. For example: I have a new appreciation for how many doors are in my house and the work it took to get them installed and looking nice! The window stools were interesting, too—it's amazing how small details in a home make the biggest difference.

Here are a couple of pictures of Sue and I working on the window stools!

Movie 12: Eclipse

Eclipse was wonderful! It was everything that I'd hoped for and a little more. The movie covered all of my favorite points in the book, and of course I was in love with the scenery throughout.

I'll admit that the acting in the series had a long way to go, so I was really impressed to see the growth in Taylor Lautner in particular. He's really stepped it up over the last couple movies.

It should also be no surprise that I went to see the first showing of the movie at midnight on the 29th. It was so much fun to pre-order tickets, get dressed up (Team Jacob!) and go to the movie with my friends Suzanne, Tasha, and Adrianne. We got there nice and early to claim the best seats in the theater - this is a photo of us from just before the show started.

Washington Trip Recap

I know this is REALLY late, but I spent some time trying to figure out the best way to post this video without it getting all blurry and it took forever. This is a small sample of our nearly 4,000 pictures from the trip featuring some of my favorite songs from the movies.