Star Trek Into Darkness

I went and saw 'Star Trek Into Darkness' for the second time this afternoon. It's just as good the second as the first. I cried more than once because I knew what was going to happen. Plus I know the story from Spock Prime's alternate reality that this movie is based off of. I didn't remember it before.

'Into Darkness' is great. I love LOVE the cast! Everyone is so great in their roles. A lot of the cast look and act very much like the "original" counterparts. I'm rewatching the Original Series and I'm loving it! I see the mannerisms that the new cast keep from the original character portrayals.

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I got distracted by all the Star Trek photos I was looking at. And none of them convey what I wanted so I guess this post doesn't get a photo. :)

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Suffice it to say that the reboot of Star Trek is something I love! If they make more movies I hope that they continue to make the original series' concepts seem right at home.

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Look a photo ...

"Doctor, you're not from that universe. Stop quoting Spock."

It's Friday!

Let's celebrate with some random things I like.

Josh Groban.

Josh Groban and his AWESOME leather jacket.

Porsche. These are Cayman S.

Lime Green.

"Dance Me To The End Of Love" painted by Jack Vettriano

Dark Chocolate.

Roger Federer and tennis.

Doctor Who

NCIS

Calla Lilies.

"Black" tulips. I love them so much. ... But I just like any tulip.

Books.

And currently right now I am in love with this guy in this role...

Benedict Cumberbatch as the Baddie/Awesome Guy in Star Trek: Into Darkness.

Seriously... If you have not seen the new Star Trek. GO! Now! The whole movie is fantastic!

Christmas Presents 2012

Our stocking gifts are actually bags. So I got nail polish (see next paragraph), an Aston Martin hot wheels car, a Million Dollar chocolate bar, popcorn, licorice, fruit snack, socks, head light, flashlight, a puzzle, toothbrush and paste, mouthwash, cool hair spin pins, nail clippers, and a bunch of candy.

Three nail polishes from the O.P.I. James Bond Collection. A gorgeous red ('Skyfall'), a royal blue ('Tomorrow Never Dies'), and awesome orange ('Die Another Day'). One of them was hiding in my plethora of candy so I didn't find it until Mom wondered why I was just favoring the two colors. lol. It was funny. I LOVE the 'Skyfall' color. It is even prettier in person.

I asked for solid long-sleeve shirts so I got several of those. I got two dresses. One summery lace dress and the other a sweater dress. (Those two dresses I think might be returned. They're short.)

Mom and Dad gave everyone a car emergency kit to put in their car. It's really cool. The bag has velcro on it so it sticks to the carpet in the trunk. It's genius I tell you. It comes with 79 different things. And the bag has a nifty pocket that comes out so I'm going to stick a blanket and some water bottles there. I'll probably use my brown fleece blanket for now because it's small and comes with a strap to keep it rolled up.

This year we drew names for our sibling gifts. Steven had me. He gave me not one tv series that I asked for but two! I got Numb3rs season 6 and Doctor Who season 6. It's awesome. DW is a used copy so the box is a little battered. But the disks look brand new. And when it's inside of it's outer case you can't tell at all that anything is wrong with it. I will be attempting to fix the case in the next few days. Maybe I can seal the cracks or something.

Grandparent's Hall (Mom's parents) give us money every year so with that money I'll be renewing my 'Friends Of Josh Groban' membership and buying 'All That Echoes'. I think with the left over money I'll buy some fabric.

I got myself a quilt book. Modern Minimal: 20 Bold and Graphic Quilts by Alissa Haight Carlton. I love this book. The quilts are so gorgeous. There are about half a dozen that I will make most definitely. I also got myself a Zig-Zag quilt pattern by Empty Bobbin Sewing Studios. I really like this quilt. It is so cute.

Bigger In My Head

All day today I have been gathering ideas via Pinterest for my "Alice In Wonderland" themed wedding. lol. I'm not engaged. I don't even have a boyfriend right now. But, hey, a girl can dream. lol. I added a TON of pictures to my "Alice" board. It is making me excited to plan my wedding for real.

Source: disneyweddingsblog.com via Krysta on Pinterest

Today I also wrapped all but one of my Christmas gifts. It's nice to have them all done. Now I just need to figure out what I'm getting my brother and buy it. I have nine days to do it. No pressure. lol. I like the theme I have this year for my wrapping. I am using red paper, green striped twine, and silver stamped names. It's simple and makes me smile when I see them sitting under the tree.

Yes, I got myself a present.

For FHE this past week we decorated Graham cracker houses. I decided to make a TARDIS from 'Doctor Who'. I dyed some frosting blue and "painted" the sides of my house. I decorated it with York candy pieces. I think it's kind of funny that my blue turned out to be a Tiffany blue. lol. I would have made it darker but I only had a pastel-type blue. It's unique and I like it.

For the past few weeks I have wanted to put my DVD collection in boxes on my bookshelf. I have covered my books white and the DVD are distracting. lol. So I thought I could put them in a shoe box and cover it. DVD don't fit in shoe boxes. So I turned to Pinterest for some ideas. I found this idea where they made there own boxes. Heck, I can do that. So, with permission, I took some cardboard boxes home from the plethora at work. This next week I will cut into them and create the perfect sized boxes. I'll cover them with either white or black paper. I think I'll even label the boxes a bit so I know what DVDs are inside. The labels are mostly for my tv seasons (Doctor Who, NCIS, Numbers...) and the other misc movies can be in an unlabeled box. Maybe.

Oh my gosh!!! I haven't told you about the most awesome news I have heard in the past couple of months. Josh Groban announced his new CD!!!! Eep!!! It's called 'All That Echoes' and it will be released February 5, 2013. I love the album cover and I can not wait to see more photos from the photo-shoot  And to hear the album, of course.

Thoughts About Stuff

Today I got to go home a few hours early. It was nice. I had started listening to ‘How to Speak Dragonese’ at work earlier so I listened to that on the way home and finished it at home. It’s a great story. I want to get all of the ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ books on audio, if available. I would prefer to get the ones narrated by David Tennant. Those ones are so great! David is brilliant with his voice acting.

Colton and I have been seeing a lot of each other lately. We’ve been hanging out at his house watching past episodes of ‘How I Met Your Mother’ among actual dates. It is lots of fun being with Colton. I like just being with him.

I haven’t started another book or series yet. I have been busy at work and dating and tired that I haven’t started a “real” one yet. I did start a “day-read” book from the pile in my room. (That’s a pile of books that are super-short and that I can read in a day or two. They are books I can read in between the bigger books when I can’t decide to read next. Most of these books I have read before.) This morning I started reading My Side of the Mountain. I probably read the rest tomorrow. The next book/series I want to read is the Inheritance Cycle. (Eragon, Eldest, Brisingr, and Inheritance.) But I haven’t wanted to start it yet because I have been too tired to concentrate on it like I would like. I plan on borrowing the fourth book from Colton. I haven’t bought the book yet because I want to get it in paperback like the other three books I have.

Umm ... Can't Think Of A Title

Yesterday I was only supposed to work the morning shift. But my manager looked at the wrong schedule and when he found out he had one less person then he thought he asked if I wanted to stay all day. Of course I do. I need money. More hours is more money. lol. I also volunteered to work Saturday for the spring football scrimmage. That'll be another three hours I get paid for.

Colton and I watched a movie a his house last night. We watched 'V for Vendetta'. It's a good movie. I enjoyed it. And then we had so much fun cuddling that we didn't want to part ways. So we watched an episode of 'How I Met Your Mother'.

Saturday Fun

On Saturday I had a full fun-filled day.

First off 'The Last Airbender' new series aired Saturday morning. It's called 'The Legend of Korra' and it's about the new Avatar. The first two episodes were aired and they were really good. I think we are going to wait until the DVD comes out to watch them all. But I think I might watch them online every week. We went over to my cousin's house and watched it. He had a little viewing party with about eight people. That was fun.

We, my brother's and I and a friend, went downtown to the city library. They are having their biannual sale. I had heard about the sales before but never been to one. It was awesome. They had all these books and movies and CDs for sale for cheap. I spent $12 and got about 8 or 9 things. It was cool.

After the library, since we were downtown, we walked around City Creek for a bit. We watched one of the fountain shows. It was cool. But it wasn't the one with fire. It was still fun. It had music from 'Beauty and the Beast'. I had been to the mall before. It was a lot less crowded on Saturday then when I went. But I did go the second day it was open. lol. We went into some of the stores that I wanted to go in before but didn't because of all the people. Tiffany and Co. was really fun. It's sparkly in there. lol. We also went into the Disney store. That was fun. We ate at the food court since we were all hungry and it was lunchtime. We sat over by the kids play place because it was, surprisingly, more quiet over there.

I had my date with Colton on Saturday night. I had lots of fun and look forward to this weekend when we have another date. lol. We went to dinner at Cafe Rio because I don't remember ever being inside before. Then we went and saw 'The Hunger Games' movie because I had not seen it yet. Colton has previously seen the movie but he didn't mind seeing it again. I read the books not very long ago so everything was/is still fresh in my mind. I thought the movie followed the book very well. And I really liked the movie. It was very good. I thought the whole cast was great. I was a little leery of Josh Hutcherson playing Peeta but I think he was awesome. I think he is actually my favorite from the movie. lol. I look forward to seeing the second book in movie form which comes out in 2013. After the movie we went back to Colton's house and baked cookies for dessert.

Thoughts on the Past Month

Warning: This is a long post. :)

Okay. So I have not gotten on my blog for a long time. But I have sort of a good reason. I didn't add my gmail email as an admin until today so it was a pain to login to my other google account just to post on the blog. But I did change them all over so now I don't have to worry about it. Technically I can sign in now using either account. lol.

Work has been going great. The football renewals have been going on and the first week or so was really busy but now it's just steady and sort of busy. I like it. It helps that I worked football games last year but this is still completely new to me. Until we have our first football game I'm still in my first year working here at the U of U ticket office. lol.

I have been reading a lot of books in the past couple of months. I read The Hunger Games series (by Suzanne Collins) in a week. I really liked them. I think I'll have to add them to my library. And after that I read the Glass series by Maria V. Snyder. Actually I'm still reading the third and last book but I expect to be done with that soon. lol. I really like those. Let's see... Before The Hunger Games I read a couple of other Maria V. Snyder books. She wrote a science fiction duo that are really good. (Inside Out and Outside In) I have to figure out what I am going to read next. Maybe I'll just pull a random one from my book list and borrow it from the library.

My brother and his wife had their second child a couple of weeks ago. The first baby girl of the Next generation Higgins'. lol. Laura Amber Higgins is so cute.

Ooh! I did renew my membership to Friends Of Josh Groban (FOJG). It's actually a fun story. Since I don't have my own, I was planning on borrowing a credit card and paying the person back in cash after I got paid. But the night before I was going to do this a Grobanite posted on Twitter that she had an extra membership paid for that she was willing to gift to someone who wanted it. I was the first person to respond. lol. She let me have the membership with no strings attached. She just wanted me to pay it forward and do something nice for someone else. I promised I would. I was so happy that I could use the membership. We weren't sure how it worked with "current" members but it was actually very simple and straight forward. I am still not on FOJG as often as I'd like to. In fact I haven't been on the boards for a couple of weeks. But it's all my fault for not taking the time to spend a few minutes chatting with my friends. I have been so tired the last few weeks. But I'm attempting to change that. lol.

I hung out with my friend, Laura, last weekend and it was a lot of fun. I was at her apartment watching tv shows and playing with her kids until 2am. It was lots of fun. She mentioned that her one-year-old Joshua really likes me. I really don't know why. She said Dylan, her ten-year-old, really likes me too. I think I'm just too nice. lol. I do really like kids and her kids are so fun and easy to get along with. I love being around them. Little Josh smiles a whole lot and laughs and plays with me. It's cute. Laura said they are drawn to this happy aura I have. Or something along those lines. lol. I think I just really want children of my own. lol. Holding Baby Laura and hanging out with my friend Laura has re-instilled the want for children. *sigh* Eventually, I will have kids. I just need a husband first. lol.

Last Friday after I got off work I spent the afternoon at the new City Creek Center. It's the new complex that is in Downtown Salt Lake City. It is a mall and has apartments and offices and a gym and even a grocery store. It's awesome. I loved walking around and seeing it all. Mostly City Creek Center is a mall. I stopped into Desert Book, H&M, and Claire's. I wanted to stop into a few other stores but they were so crowded with people that I decided the deals and opening weekend giveaways weren't quite worth it. lol. But soon I want to go again and go into Tiffany's and the Disney Store and a few other places. I also didn't take the time to watch the fountain show while I was there Friday. But I did see part of it on the news the day before. It not only has music and water for the show it has fire! How cool is that!? I'll have to video tape it and show you when I go next.

When I was at the mall I bought a new and spacious purse from H&M. I really like it. I also got a ring watch from Claire's. I have been wanting one for a while. I don't like wearing wrist watches and I got tired of pulling out my phone to check the time. I've had it for a little less then a week and I love it. I wear it on my left hand middle finger. The ring is a darker silver color. I like it.

Plans for summer are becoming fun. I have a family vacation in May/June and then a wedding to attend in late June. Then my ward is going on their super activity the first weekend in August. I am really excited for them all. I have been trying to save my money for the wedding trip. I am driving to CO with my brother and possibly one of his friends. But I need to clamp down on the purse strings so I know I'll have enough money for gas and such when it's time to go.

Spaces and Spots

I feel like I haven't written for a while. And there are fun stuff to write about. lol.

I have my 2012 planner/calender all set. I'm glad I have it done that way I don't have to do it in the new year. I even wrote in what my Grobie Sister's addresses. That way I'd have them for easy access. I highlighted birthdays and anniversaries like I always do. I even penciled in some key events that I already know about. At the back I have a list of birthdays and anniversaries for my family. I put it on a shipping label in the very back cover of the planner. I think I'll do that from now on. It is very convenient.I like that I have to carry around two planners every December. It's funny. I'm glad they are different colors or else I would get really confused. lol.

I have been moving into the "new" bedroom the past week or so. It's all painted and ready. I moved furniture in with some help. Dad had said I can't put anything on the shelves for a couple of days so I haven't done that yet. I know I can now but I've been busy. The only things in there, besides the furniture, is the books on the tall bookshelf and my hanging up clothes. I plan on moving my drawer clothes in there tonight. (I did laundry yesterday and I need to fold them.) I have been sleeping on my bed but it isn't totally made. I put a blanket on top of the mattress which I sleep on top of. And I have my two comforters on top of that. I need to put the bed-skirt and correct sheets on the bed. It fun to have my saucer chair back. I like sitting in it and reading or being on the laptop. Although It does need some big pillow for back support. I guess I'll pull out my toss pillows from the garage when I go looking for the sheets. I might not have any stuff put away but I pretty much planned it all out on paper (random sketches) already. So it shouldn't take too long to put everything where it is going to belong. I am hoping that everything will have a spot and I will be able to keep this room clean. I feel like the other room had no room. lol. I post pictures soon.

Satine is still in the other room. I did find her a new heat pad. It is not what I was looking for but it still works great. It's probably better because it can hide completely underneath the tank because it is a small heat pad. While I was at the pet store, where the heat pad was bought, I saw something that I thought Satine would like. Since she is a python and likes to hang from stuff I got her some bamboo branches. I haven't put them in yet but I'm sure she'll like them.

The Saturday Song posts for December need to be created but I know what songs are going with what week, so that part is done. They are all Christmas songs but they are my favorite. I listed all my favorites and then picked five I really like. I might do a bonus post because I really want to do one song but it is instrumental.

I have been thinking I might make a quilt to go on my bed. It's just gonna be a light blanket sort of quilt that is bigger then a queen-size. I can use it for when I watch movies and stuff too. I want to make it with greens, teals, some white, and possibly a park purple for pizazz. I want it to bigger then a queen-size so that I looks good on my bed. I have to figure out the measurements still. I think a king-size would be too big. I really like the pattern (or lack of pattern) of this green quilt so I was thinking of doing something similar. But I also don't want binding (hard to explain that ... I'll have to show you) and I plan on tying the blanket with white yarn. It'll have a thin batting in the middle for warmth and stability.

I have been watching 'Stargate SG-1' still. I am on season five. Since I started working I have slowed down on watching them. I think I have four or five more episodes until the end of the season.

This weekend Kimberlee and I went to dinner and to see 'Breaking Dawn'. I thought the movie was really good. It follows the book really well which is great. They split the four book into two movies and I like where this first one left off. I think it;s perfect. I really liked the second half of the book so it;ll be interesting to see how they do that. The second part comes out in November, 2012. (I thought it came out in the spring but I guess I was wrong.)

Dad has been redoing the bathroom for a while now. He painted the room and redid the counter top already. And he ripped out the shower. I think they picked out tile because Dad is going to tile the shower on Wednesday. And then the shower glass guys have to come and install the door soon after that. So I think I get to have the bathroom back next week or the week after. Right now I am sharing the upstairs bathroom with Steven.

Busy, Busy Week

Well, the last post was Saturday so what have I been doing all week. Working. Working. And working. I'm glad I am but working all these hours is starting to get to me. I'm glad I have had a chance to relax a couple of times this week. I helps me stay sane. I can veg out watching 'NCIS' or 'Bones' or whatever. Monday and Tuesday were typical 10am-2pm days. Wednesday I was supposed to get off but I picked up a shift for a co-worker who couldn't work. That was 2-6pm. And then Thursday and Friday (today) there have been high school playoff games at Rice Eccles Stadium that we have been selling tickets for. It is a cash only ticket sales bonanza for three games yesterday and two major games today. It was crazy busy but tons of fun. I felt like I let my guard down and my co-workers got to know a little more about me in the process. lol. Tomorrow (Saturday) is a typical 10am-8ish pm home football game day. Working the phones in the morning. Working will call in the afternoon until half-time. I like working those games. It's simple and fun.

Tuesday Ammon, Kimberlee and I also went to see that new Three Musketeers movie. It was good. I liked the uniqueness of the story. It had elements that other musketeer movies don't have. But I still like the Disney version better. It was kind of funny that I couldn't remember the actor who plays Athos until halfway through the movie. It was bugging me so when I remembered it I yelled it out loud. It's okay because we were the only ones in the theatre. lol. How could I forget Matthew Mcfayden's name?! I LOVE him in the 'Pride and Prejudice' movie with Anne Hathaway. He is such a great actor. I think the beard was throwing me off. That and for some reason my brain kept thinking he was Christopher not Matthew. I knew it wasn't right though. lol.

Stuff I was Doing

Today was nice. I went on a walk on this cold, blustery morning with Lauren. When I got back I hopped in the shower and got ready for the day. At 12:30pm Ammon came over and while we were waiting for our third person she sent us a text and said she couldn't make it. So Ammon and I decided to go to a movie anyways. I convinced him that we should see 'Dolphin Tale'. I had heard about it and seen commercials. I knew it was gonna be good. But Ammon had never heard about it. But he trusted me and I think he really enjoyed the movie. If you ever get the chance to see it,do. It's fabulous. Afterwards we went to Arby's to get something to eat. When I got home I through in some B.T. music (specifically, his 'These Hopeful Machines' cd) and started working on some things on the computer. I got a few of them done but I still have more that I need to do. But I got the most important thing done first. I don't have to worry about it not being on time now. Mom got me some nail polish remover at the store, because I asked her to and we don't have any. And tonight while Dad and I were watching 'Person of Interest' I took off my fingernail polish. I thought about painting them too but decided I can paint them later. I have a few broken nails that are bugging me so I didn't feel like trying to paint them. I have a really long day of work tomorrow and Saturday so I'm heading off to bed a little early tonight.

Long Day

Today I worked all day. I brought my computer so I could watch some ‘Stargate SG-1’ if I get really bored. At around 3ish I did watch an episode. I also put ‘The Lion King’ CD and ‘Aida’ CD on my computer. When I get home I need get the album information. I think I’ll watch an episode of something I’ve been missing and then go to sleep early too. I work tomorrow from 1pm to 6pm. When I got to work today I checked to see if I got my paycheck and I did. I don’t do direct deposit so my check gets mails to my house. Work was pretty slow. In the morning we did finish up stuffing envelopes for next sports tickets. I was mostly on the phones. I think I got five or six calls all day. Most of them were asking about what time the Black-Out Game starts on Oct. 29. But since this week’s game is an away game it was pretty quiet. At 5pm I was so ready to go home. Near the end I was yawning a lot. I had no doubt I’d sleep on the train ride home, which I did.

I went shopping with Lauren yesterday. We went to the dollar store and D.I. We were looking for good costume ideas and stuff. I already know what I’m doing this year for Halloween. So I was just collecting pieces for it. I have the main stuff now. There are a few minor detail things that would be fun to have but not necessary. And I don’t want to say what I’m doing until later. I’ll have a post on my costume closer to Halloween. (Probably on Halloween.)

I really need to find Satine a new heat pad soon. I’ll start looking online again once I know I have some money to buy one. I have looked in stores for one but it is impossible to find a heating pad that does not have an automatic shut-off. Since it’s getting to be winter weather I need to find her one soon.

Tomorrow some friends and I are going to a corn maze. Since I missed the ward FHE where they went to a corn maze, I’m looking forward to going to this one. We are going to Lauren’s house afterward for hot chocolate.

On Friday I need to do my laundry. I haven’t washed my clothes from the trip yet and I’m running out of things to wear. lol. I also need to wash my blankets and such. They are about due for a cleaning. So Friday will be a long laundry day not just a couple of hours. But that’s okay. I don’t have any plans to go anywhere. I just have a walk in the morning with Lauren and I might take a nap some time that day. I have a feeling I’ll be tired from working and the corn maze.

Josh Groban was on ‘The Office’ recently and I haven’t seen it yet but I’m sure he did a great job. The whole episode is on his website, via Hulu. I need to watch that sometime. Probably on Friday while I’m home. I think it’s great that Josh gets to do theatre/acting roles. That’s what Josh was going to school for before he dropped out to pursue his singing full-time. He loves both.

We have been watching ‘Person of Interest’ and I really like it. It’s a really interesting show. I love Jim Caviezel as a lead character. He hasn’t done small screen roles before this very often. There are a few odd jobs here and there but this show is his first big lead. I love it! I think Jim is a great looking guy. He’s 43 but I would not have guessed that. I thought he was in his mid-30s still. It seems like Jim has been on my actor radar for a while but he has only been acting in movies/tv since 1991. So in reality I would only know him from a few movies. I could probably name all the ones I have seen and heard of that he is in. I do remember seeing some movies, like Déjà vu, that Jim is in where I wasn’t expecting to see him. (He is awesome in that movie btw.)

Family Vacation - Thursday

This morning I woke up around 7:30am (Vegas-time). I laid in bed for a while. My brothers and I watched a couple of hours of Spongebob. At 11am we checked out of our hotel and went to I-hop for brunch. I had some French toast with strawberries and bananas. We then went to Barnes and Noble to get ‘The Lion King’ CD for Mom and Dad. While we were there I got ‘Aida’. I have been thinking about getting this CD for a while. I really like the music. I read the synopsis of the musical and it’s so sweet. I have heard the music several times but that was the first time I actually read a synopsis. I really need to see this musical. I am pretty sure I’d love it.

We were on the road to Zion’s National Park at around 12:30pm (Vegas-time). On our way we listened to ‘Aida’. I really enjoyed it. lol.

We got to Springdale, where our hotel is, around 5:30pm. After we checked in we drove into Zion’s National Park and went on a hike. It was fun. It took about two hours in total. We went to the Lower and Upper Pools. We went to a pizza and noodle place for dinner. It was okay. I had pasta and it could have been hotter in temperature. But it was good.

We all went to bed around 10pm. I was really tired from walking around all day. I charged my camera battery overnight. It was telling me low battery when we were eating dinner. It’s a good thing I was already planning on charging the battery tonight.

And it is Brian’s 19th birthday today. We didn’t do anything special because we already celebrated it on Sunday.


First group of photos is us leaving Las Vegas and driving down the Strip.

Brian and Steven.

And the second group is us on our way to, and in, Zion's National Park.

Mom about to board the shuttle bus. We took this everywhere. It was really nice.

I love how Brian is the only person paying attention. lol.
Mom, Dad, Steven, and Brian.

Here's the shuttle map.

I like these signs. They are sort of funny.

Giant spider.

Giant spider.

That's Brian way over there on the other side. He was waving at me. lol.

So in this photo for some reason the flash reflected off of my hand. I think it's artsy. I like it.

Eating at the pizza and pasta place.

My pasta.