Movie Review: Breaking Dawn

4 stars

Yes, I loved the movie! It was so good. I'm so glad that they separated the book into two movies, because this one was just about the wedding, honeymoon, and the birth of the baby. Making this book into one movie would have made everything rushed and too thin. I feel like it very closely followed the book. Not just in what happened and who said what, but it provoked the same feelings in the same places as the book did. The honeymoon part especially. It was very tastefully done, without cutting out the sex altogether. It was very much portrayed as two people deeply in love sharing a very intimate connection. I'm so glad they didn't cut it out completely or try to make it too hot-and-steamy-sex-sells-Hollywood style.

Also, the birth scene was awesome too! I usually am grossed out by blood, but I wasn't even though they made it pretty bloody. The ending was perfect too! I was wondering at what point would they end this movie, and they picked the perfect spot and it was just AWESOME.

Because sometimes we need something nice to look at and I just want to be superficial for a minute.

People magizine came out with their top 10 sexiest men alive today. And I gotta say, I strongly disagree. Here is their list: (Red-I agree, Green-nah)

1. Bradley Cooper (Loved him on Alias, but not anything since)
2. Liam Hemsworth
3. Idris Elba
4. Justin Theroux
5. Chris Evans
6. Tim McGraw
7. Josh Charles (I'm pretty sure this is the hot dog guy from "Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead" I just can't see him as sexy)
8. Joel McHale
9. Jason Momoa
10. Ryan Gosling


Maybe once a man is put on the list he doesn't get on it again, even though his sexiness hasn't just gone away. Anyway, here is my top 10 sexiest men (ok, 11. Why do we have to limit ourselves?) in no particular order-with the exception of Hugh Jackman who definitely tops the list!

Hugh Jackman

Leonardo DiCaprio

Matt Damon

Daniel Craig (I had to include at least one full body swimsuit shot here. I picked Daniel Craig to be the poster boy because when I saw him in this suit in Casino Royal, that is the moment he and I really fell in love. Ok, the moment I fell in love. But I must say, every man on this list can easily rock the full body swimsuit shot :)

Channing Tatum

Ryan Gosling

Will Smith

Zac Efron

Ryan Reynolds

Taylor Lautner

Kellen Lutz (You may not be able to tell by the picture, but this is Emmett from Twlight. This is just the best picture. It shows off his..um..fitness, as well as his incredible eyes.)

So what do you think? Did I get it right?

Katie's girls' night out

Katie is taking the night off tonight. She went to dinner at Olive Garden--is probably eating some bread sticks dipped in alfredo sauce, some salad, and she's probably eating something with shrimp in it. Delicious.
I'd say I was jealous, but I am not. I get to hang out at home. I got to read to the boys, "The little red caboose," and I got to tell them the "Adventures of Jonah and Oliver". They went on a tricycle ride tonight. Eventually, they got to ride a bicycle but they each crashed.
Good times.
The stories are supposed to be interactive. Throughout the story Jonah is asked questions about what someone said and Jonah fills in the blank. (Oliver isn't quite ready yet, but we're working on it). The first adventure of Jonah and Oliver was building a tree house. Jonah was asked multiple times who he thought could help him build the house and each time he answered someone else: Mom, Avery, Taylor, Mason, Lexington, Aunt Ruthie and even Uncle James. I tried to drop some subtle hints that would--hopefully sooner than later--indicate that Dad would love to help. It never happened.
Stinker.
Anyway, they're asleep now and I'm blogging. I sure hope Katie is having a nice evening away.
Oh, and did I mention that she's also seeing a 12:00 am showing of Breaking Dawn?
Go Jacob!

About me-Part 2

Continued from a couple days ago here

After High School Graduation I moved to Cedar City, UT and attended Southern Utah University for a year and a half. I was working my way through and was only able to attend until I ran out of money. I moved back to Mesquite for a year where I worked in housekeeping at Oasis Resort (which is no longer there.)

In February 2004 I moved back to Utah County where I grew up. My mom had since divorced again and was living in American Fork, so I moved in with her and started working at TwinLab as a receptionist. A job that turned into a Human Resources Assistant, then Human Resources Recruiter, and finally Employee Relations Coordinator before I stopped working in 2007. Human Resources was the perfect place for my skills and personality, and I loved working there. I also went back to school part time that fall at Utah Valley State College (now UVU) where I finally earned an Associates degree in April 2006.

Within a month of moving back to Utah in 2004 I met my eventual husband Jerry Alan Johnson. We met at the singles ward in American Fork. As we got to know each other, we found out that he had gone to High School with my brother-in-law, Jeremy Boyle, and that he knew my sister too. He wanted to ask me out, but was too shy to ask for my phone number. So he looked up my brother-in-law’s parents in the phone book and called them and asked them for his number. He then called my brother-in-law and asked him for my number. It was very flattering that he went to all that trouble (but all he had to do was ask!) Our first date was April 8, 2004. We dated all summer and became engaged on August 21, 2004. He would be called away for National Guard Active duty for 4 months to Augusta, GA from September through the end of the year. He proposed quite unexpectedly to me 3 days before he left. We went on a hike to Silver Lake, one of our favorite places. I didn’t think that we would think about getting engaged until he returned home from Georgia. I just thought we were going on a last hike before he left. Well, he sure surprised me by proposing to me at the lake, but I gladly accepted.

He returned home by Christmas that year, and we were married February 3, 2005 in the Mount Timpanogos Temple in American Fork, UT. I was 21 and he was 26. We had a beautiful reception that evening at the Northampton House in American Fork. It was a perfect day.

We honeymooned at Disneyland, another one of our favorite places. We made our first home in Pleasant Grove, UT in the home that Jerry had grown up in, and we eventually bought it from his parents.

In May of 2007 Jerry needed to participate in a study abroad to finish his degree at BYU in Middle Eastern Studies. So I quit my job at TwinLab and went with him to live in Jordan for 4 months. It was the experience of a lifetime! Before we arrived in Jordan, we spent a week in Egypt, traveling to Cairo, then Luxor. We saw the pyramids, the Valley of the Kings, and lots of Mosques and Churches.

While in Jordan for the bulk of the summer, we shared an apartment with 2 other couples that were with the group from BYU. We traveled all over Jordan too. We saw Petra, Wadi Rum, Wadi Mujib, Mt. Nebo, Um Qais (and looked over the Sea of Galilee) and lots of just really cool stuff.

The last week of the summer the BYU group went to Isreal and stayed at the BYU Jerusalem center, visiting Old Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Nazareth, the Sea of Galilee, the Springs of Dan, and the Golan Heights.

The study abroad was completed at this point, but we decided that since we were already across the big blue ocean, we would take the opportunity to visit Italy for a week, which is where Jerry had served his mission. We met Jerry’s mom, Karen, and sister, Mykin in Vienna. We traveled by train toVenice, then rented a car and made our way south throughout the week, ending in Rome.

It was a wonderful, amazing trip…except for one thing; I was sick as a dog! While in Jordan, I became pregnant with my first child, and pregnancy did not agree with me, especially while in a foreign country. I was sick the entire second half of the time in Jordan; I was sick all across Israel and Italy! It was unfortunate to be feeling so awful while seeing some of the most amazing things on earth, but I still had an incredible time.

To be completed...Here

Thanksgiving is coming.

Thanksgiving turkeys are gobbling.
Here what they say to you: "Thanksgiving time is here.
"You better stay clear..."
But pumpkin pies are inviting--
whipping cream adorning the....all over it
Begging to be eaten first, e'en 'fore the bird's throat is slit.
Mashed potatoes are delicious.
If they're made right, that is. Butter, lots of butter and adequate salt and milk.
Eat it up, every bit--don't stop to chew.
Suck it down, lick your plate, go back for plate number two.
The feast is only a week away: practice practice practice.
Stretch your stomach this way and that--fat, fat, fat!
And don't forget to start counting blessings.
You'll likely not stop the count before you say Thanksgiving grace.
Just be thankful for what you gather, 'for that is what truly matters.

-Jerry

About me- Part 1

Last night I asked what I should write about and Kathryn responded. She said I should write about myself. This is a good idea, I don't write much about myself lately. I guess it's because I feel like I'm pretty uninteresting these days. I am going to put in a "self history" that I wrote this year for a family reunion. Maybe it will get my creative juices flowing and I can start thinking of stories from my life I could post here. Not that they will be too interesting, but since this blog really serves as my journal, I would like to have these recorded somewhere.

Also, If anyone wants to know anything specific about me, or my "self history" sparks any questions "Like, why did you move that time" or "what was ____like" I would love for you to ask me. Even if you think it's too personal or uncomfortable, I would love to answer.

I was born in Salt Lake City, Utah April 25, 1983 to Joseph Timothy Clark and Brynn Denise Palmer. I am the youngest of three daughters. My older sisters are Emily Ann Clark (Bills) and Amelia Brynn Clark (Boyle). We lived on Elgin Ave. in Salt Lake City, Ut

In September 1986 when I was 3 ½ we moved to Alpine UT where we lived at 710 South 580 West. It was a great neighborhood. I’m pretty sure that every household in the neighborhood were active members of the church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- Day Saints), mostly with young kids the same age as me and my sisters, with 7 kids my age alone. It was a great place to grow up. All the neighborhood kids would play night games like kick the can or steal the flag just about every evening in the summers. Behind our house was an empty field that belonged to our neighbor. She would let us play in it whenever we wanted, as well as use it to “babysit” another neighbor’s horses when they went out of town. The field also gave us (and all the other neighborhood kids) access to “The Gully”, where we would go often to play in the creek and explore in the trees. I attended Alpine Elementary.

When I was about 9, my parents bought a piece of property within the ward boundaries and built our family’s dream house. It was a beautiful Victorian style home on Sunset drive. Because we had moved into a bigger home with a family room and a parlor, we didn’t have any furniture for the parlor. We had moved in a couple weeks before Christmas. When we came running down the stairs on Christmas morning we were surprised and absolutely thrilled to run right into a trampoline set up inside our parlor! We really had the best winter ever jumping on the tramp everyday and sleeping on it every night. It was a wonderful time for my sisters and me. Unfortunately, my parents divorced about 2 years later, but we remained in the house with my mom. She remarried John Alan Jardine about a year later. I attended Mountain Ridge Jr. High, and then Lone Peak High School for my Sophomore year of High School.

When I was sixteen, my stepdad John got a new job in Las Vegas, NV. My mom was a nurse for Intermountain Healthcare (IHC) and was able to transfer to the IHC hospital in St. George, UT. So we split the difference and moved to Mesquite, NV in June 1999. My sister Emily had already married and Amelia had just graduated high school, so it was just my parents and me that moved to Mesquite. I loved Mesquite! I got my first job soon after we moved there as a hostess at Carollo’s, a restaurant famous for ribs. Mesquite is a pretty small town and I was able to make friends pretty easily and quickly. I attended Virgin Valley High School and played on the first ever Virgin Valley Girls Soccer Team in 1999. We weren’t very good but we had a blast. I changed jobs and became a Life Guard where I worked at the city Rec center as well as Casablanca Resort. I also worked at the Movie Theater about once a week selling tickets at the box office (the best job at the theater, by far!). My senior year I was a “VVette” a member of the drill team and loved every minute of it! I had danced off and on since I was 5 and really enjoyed coming back to dancing which has remained a lifelong passion. During my last year of High School I was also elected and served on the Senior Class Student Council as the Activities Chairperson.

To be continued...Here (Part 2) and Here (Part 3)

I have one minute to blog and I don't know what to write about. Idea's? Please