Views

There's just something special about a great view. Hikers scale mountains for it, skiers ride the highest chair lift to gaze at it, and when you get there how will you remember it? You take pictures of course! On the weekend of the historic 10-10-10...also David's birthday...we decided to go out to Devils Lake and go hiking in the fall colors of Autumn. Little did we know that we would be ascending a rock slide to reach the top! It was like a stone staircase to the unknown. How much farther? Are we almost there? Are we at least half way? Is this the very top finally? But yes, it did come, and we reached the summit. Only about a mile hike up but it was much more grueling than the sloping and looping dirt path we had expected. But
the views, of course, made it oh so worth it in the end...as they always do.

I love this one with the leaves in the foreground.

 Devils Door rock formation ^

Gazing out over the expanse of trees in change.

 A birthday kiss and one of victory; we did it! We reached the highest spot we could and didn't give up!

 Resting at the base. By the lake. Taking deep breaths. And feeling the seasons change around us.

 The beautiful colors of Autumn.

 Couldn't resist a "throwing leaves" picture ;)

Good bye Devil's Lake, until we meet again and bring more hikers with us to climb your rocky slopes.

Las Tortugas de Mexico!

In July my family and I traveled to Cancun, Mexico with our friends and travel buddies! We spent a week soaking up the sun, walking on the beach, reading good books, eating good food, and having lots of fun!

Family time at the ancient ruins of Mayan Tulum.

It's amazing how people used to live. In houses of stone on the edge of a cliff by crystal blue waters. Ya they didn't have a/c or plumbing but they sure lived in a world of beauty! They understood the value of the earth and were amazed by the happenings in the sky. How mystical to live in that culture without NASA and scientific answers...all they knew was that stars rotated, seasons repeated, and the earth produced annually. I'm thankful for NASA because they've now answered many of these mystical questions but to live in a world where you could only wonder...how magical!

 
While in Mexico we also went zip lining, repelling, and snorkeling. It was a day of adventure!

 We also got to help release baby sea turtles on the beach!

Life Update!

Attention Friends!!!! I now have a job!!!! I also have a cute little apartment! AND I will be moving to Madison, Wisconsin soon to begin my professional adult life. I am so excited!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wisconsin...The Beginning

As most of you know David got a job in Wisconsin and started working up there in June.  I have been searching for employment there too and am getting close!  We've explored most of Madison, our new home town, and love what we see!

We've been to the zoo, the botanical gardens, a brewery, a drumline competition, a few coffee houses, a cupcakery, the lake, the capitol building, state street, the Monona terrace, and the University of WI-Madison Campus!  Needless to say, we've seen all we could and hope to see more!

David and Rhinos at the Zoo!

On our tour of the State Capitol Building!

With miss Brooke at the brewery

Needless to say we've had our fill of fun and adventure in this new place of green hills, trees, and lakes.  Change is here and we're embracing it with a smile and a "Can Do" attitude! Thanks for being our new home for a while Wisconsin; we're glad to be here and looking forward to all that you have in store for us!

My TOP Movies of 2009!!!

1. Avatar: This movie made me want to leave behind, not only earth, but also my human body to become one of the Native Na'vi humanoids that inhabit the planet Pandora. These 10 foot blue creatures are agile, beautiful, brave, and have a very special relationship with nature that I wish we had on Earth. The pictures and glowing beauty of Pandora was bliss to my eyes and made me want to jump through the screen and join their world. This movie will be on my top movies of all time list along with James Cameron's other major film Titanic. Thank you James Cameron for sharing your imagination with us! We are very greatful!

2. Blind Side: An extremely touching movie that opened my eyes to what true Christian love and caring looks like through the generosity of one woman and her family and how a worthy young man achieved greatness with supportive encouragement. This story is made even better by being 100% TRUE! :)

3. The Hangover: Hilarious! "We lost Doug..." A great laugh all the way through. Outrageous events and surprises that keeps the audience gasping and laughing out loud! Sequel please!

4. The Proposal: The more I watch this movie the more I love it! The acting by Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds is classic and every facial feature and little qiup back and forth is perfect! I could watch this "chick flick" many times and still laugh just as hard, if not harder each time!

5. Harry Potter 6: Each Potter film keeps getting better and better. This film in particular contains many more jokes and laughs than other Potter films which keeps the length bearable and the viewer's heart light. With the main actor's age comes more refined acting and this film proves it. I also enjoyed the romantic triangles and issues that all teenagers must face playing out on the screen. It's about time it got more romantic and less "just friends", haha!

6. Ugly Truth: This movie is great for men and women with its chick flick plot and crass male humor combined! It is hilarious and bluntly true when it comes to male/female relationships. Plus, who can't help but enjoy staring at Katherine Heigl and Gerard Butler for a few hours ;)

7. GI Joe: I was impressed by this movie and its plot. It kept me on edge and interested in the character's relatiosnhips and the action-filled plot! Channing Tatum was a treat! his acting was great!

8. Underworld: Rise of the Lycans: This movie gave me a new look into the theme of the vampire. I had always thought it was going to be a dark and gross movie but was quite surprised by how much I enjoyed the darkness and was gripped by it! I loved the love story between Sonja, a vampire, and Lucian, a Lycan (werewolf). I disliked all the graphic gore filled fight scenes but loved everything else!

9. New Moon: Loved the books...the movies have been just OK. I mostly enjoy seeing the details from the books come to life on screen! That is what I find entertaining...other than that I have sadly been unimpressed with the acting of Kristen Stewart who plays Bella AND Robert Pattinson who plays Edward. The Vulturi were also a huge upset. they were supposed to be the bad guys but did not even remotely send a shiver up my spine at all. They were fluffy and way too cheerful...they should have been a lot more frightening...even if the book doesn't quite write them as so. The bright lights and acting in this Twilight Saga film were held by Bella's friends at Fork's High School, Jacob Black the steamy native american werewolf friend of Bella's, and the werewolf pack of even more steamy natives ;)

10. Transformers 2: Another great movie after the first. Megan Fox's character "Michaela" always makes me happy because her character's name is my own and each time I hear it on screen I feel like I am in the movie which is a fun little extra for me personally! Other than that the story line is enticing when "Sam" goes off to college and the action is wonderful as well. Another enthralling Transformers film by Micheal Bay!

So there it is! My top movie choices of 2009 out of the movies I saw this year! Some I missed that might have made the list had I seen them are: Sherlock Holmes, Public Enemies, Wolverine, 2012, Up in the Air, and Invictus. (I sure hope I like these when I do see them!)