17 Miracles

17 Miracles (2011) is a movie about the Willie-Martin Handcart company's trek to Zion. Along the way, they deal with faith testing situations like death, famine, pain, wolves, and heartache. Each miracle, through their faith, brings unexpected results. One woman was promised all of her family would arrive in Zion alive and her sister rises from the dead. A woman is offered beef jerky from a man, but when she goes to thank him, him and his cave have vanished. There's one man who carried people over the river, only to die afterwards. It's a really good movie.

Stories I Only Tell My Friends

Stories I Only Tell My Friends is the autobiography by actor, Rob Lowe. In the book, he tells us about his childhood, being friends with Estevez/Sheen family and rise to fame, casually mentioning his love life. I have been a Rob Lowe fan since I saw him in The Outsiders and watched him on Brothers & Sisters. The parts I found most interesting were his involvement in 9/11 and the murder of limo driver while he was dating Princess Stephanie. I hope he talks more about his romances in his next book, Love Life. It would be interesting to hear his side of his breakup with Melissa Gilbert.

Amazing Grace

Amazing Grace (2006) is a film staring Ioan Gruffudd, based on a true story about a man named William Wilberforce who tried for twenty years to abolish the slave trade in Britain. I had never seen a movie about slavery, with a British perspective before. It's always good to see real life heroes, who have impacted their communities, throught their works.

The Green Lantern

Maybe, I've seen too many superhero movies, but I felt like The Green Lantern had a similar plot to every other one. I liked Ryan Reynolds as the lead but everyone else fell flat. The effects could have been cooler, especially the smoke alien and Hal Gordon flying through space. I haven't read the comic book, so I don't know if the plot was accurate or not. I was also distracted by the alleged romance between Reynolds and his costar Blake Lively, trying to watch if they had any chemistry together. They make a pretty couple.

Super 8

Super 8 (2011) is a film directed by J.J. Abrams and executive produced by Steven Spielberg. The film is about six kids trying to make a zombie movie and stumbling upon a train accident, carrying an alien. It was like watching Goonies, E.T., and War of the Worlds all in one film. I liked the plot and I thought the kids were funny. I watched this my parents and they both thought it was weird.

One Day

One Day by David Nicholls is about a British woman and man who try to be just friends after their first meeting. Every two chapters flash forwards to another year and tells what the characters are up to at the point in time. It involves their careers, marriages, divorces, children, and death. I haven't seen the movie starring Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess, but I intend to see it at some point.

Jayson Wolfe Series

The Jayson Wolfe series is written by Anita Stansfield. The Sound of Rain is the first book about a struggling musician named Jayson Wolfe, returning to Oregon, twenty years after he first moved there. He reflects on his teenage days, which involved him and his brother and mother escaping his abusive drunk father. He meets a new friend Derek and has a crush on Derek's sister, Elizabeth. He and Elizabeth's relationship is tested through tragedies and growing relations. It was a pretty interesting novel with a lot of unexpected twists.

Shadows of Brierley

Shadows of Brierely by Anita Stansfield is a series of books based on her previous book, Towers of Brierley. I read Towers back when it first came out in the year 2000. It was hard trying to remember who the characters they were referring to in the Wanderer, that debuted in Towers. I almost needed to read Towers again. Overall, it is how the Scottish family first got involved with the LDS church, by hearing a preacher and reading the book. The first book seemed similar to one of her other series, In Search of Heaven. The Wanderer deals with religion, mental illness, and has a bunch of soap opera like twists.

Button Tree

I took an old canvas that I didn't care for and painted it orange and then glued some old buttons on it.

Then I painted the canvas and buttons with Gesso and waited for it to dry.

Then I painted the buttons in pink, blue, green, and yellow:

Confessions of a Shopaholic

Confessions of a Shopaholic is a series by Sophie Kinsella, consisting of six books about a woman named Rebecca Bloomwood, a shopping addict and often gets in over her head with her debt. The books have her meeting the love of her life, traveling to America, planning a wedding, meeting a long lost sister, and preparing for motherhood, while having a shopping addiction. There was a movie version of the first book, starring Isla Fisher, but it was set in New York instead of England, making Becky an American.

Snowglobes

Buy a plastic snowglobe from Michael's

Unscrew the lid and the pull out the cork and the instructions.

Buy ornaments you want for the globes. Glue the ornament on the cork with a glue gun and let dry.

Cut ribbon into pieces to go around the lid.

Glue the ribbon around the side of the lid.

Fill an upside down globe with fake snow with at least 1/4 cup. Turn cork upside down and push into globe. Then attach to lid and tighten.

Glue a Christmas themed or colored button on the seam of the ribbon to hide where you cut it.

You can even try larger jars you have left over from canning.

Soul Surfer

Soul Surfer is the true story of surfer, Bethany Hamilton, who at Thirteen, was attacked by a Tiger Shark while surfing at Tunnels Beach in Kauai. Her left arm was bitten off by the shark at the bicep. The film deals with Bethany trying to surf again after her ordeal and her trying to find the good in something bad, through her Christian faith. The movie stars Annasophia Robb in the title role.

Shadow

Shadow jumped down in the window sill again and then jumped back up.

Chasing Shadow

On Monday, I went to get the mail and our cat Shadow came outside with me. He decided it would be fun to jump down to the basement window sill. I had my mom come outside while I figured out how to take the screen off the window. When I took the screen off, it scared Shadow and he jumped back up to the garden.

Shadow made me chase him around the front yard before he would come in the house.

October Night

Pumpkin Whirl

Carpet and Leaf Crafts

 I painted a masonite panel with blue, green, and purple. Then I glued fake leaves and buttons on it. Then I took it outside and glitter sprayed the panel.

American Cities

Here are my top 10 cities I have been to:

Anaheim, CA

Honolulu, Oahu

Jackson Hole, WY

Las Vegas, NV

Orlando, FL

Lehaina, Maui

San Diego, CA

San Francisco, CA

Seattle, WA

West Yellowstone, MT