mid-november holiday thoughts

I used to be one of those people who couldn't stand hearing Christmas music before Black Friday. I was of the opinion (as I'm sure some of you are) that Christmas music should be reserved for the month between Thanksgiving and Christmas. I even blogged about it way back in 2007.

All that changed this year. In the week leading up to Halloween I was dying to listen to Christmas music ... so on November 1 I pulled out my Christmas music. Or at least I tried to. I know exactly where all of my Christmas cds were in my old house. But here? I can't find them anywhere! Fortunately, I'd copied all of my favorite albums into my iTunes, so I have them digitally...but I'd still really like to find my cds!

So here's why I think I was so anxious for Christmas music: The Hallmark Channel. The Hallmark Channel has always been my favorite destination for Christmas movies, but when I was cableless, I had to content myself with whatever Hallmark movies I could find to stream online or to buy (cheaply) on DVD. If you've been reading my blog recently, you know I now have cable and a DVR. (Yippee!!!) And this year, Hallmark decided that the Christmas season began on November 1. I'm not sure if they've done this in past years, but this year, they're running Christmas movies nearly 24/7. And they promoted this "Countdown to Christmas" all through October, so by the time November rolled around, I was more than ready to watch Christmas movies and listen to Christmas music!

Hallmark is premiering 12 new holiday movies this season, and I've watched all of them so far. (I say "holiday" movies because The Thanksgiving House is, obviously, about Thanksgiving. It stars Nebraska boy Justin Bruening and is a decent, if not enthralling, flick.) My favorite by far is the one I thought looked the cheesiest: Snow Bride. The title alone is ridiculous. But it's so much fun! Here's the promo video:


Is it the world's greatest film? Of course not! But it's certainly a lot of fun to watch ... and it doesn't hurt that Jordan Belfi is so attractive. (OK, it's probably the character "Ben" that I'm attracted to ...) If you missed it when it aired, you'll have ample opportunity to watch it before Christmas. Its next airing is next Thursday at 10/9 central, and I'm sure it will air multiple times after that.

While I've been enjoying listening to Christmas music at the office and watching Christmas movies at night, I must admit that I'm getting a little Christmased out. I even deleted several movies from my DVR without watching them. Perhaps once I get my decorations up, I'll feel more Christmasy ... but that's going to have to wait a while as I try to figure out how I can possibly have a Christmas tree with three crazy cats in the house!

Are you "doing" Christmas yet? Any advice for keeping my cats out of my Christmas tree?

"our god comes" by antioch live (cd review)

About the album: Antioch Live Worship CD “Our God Comes” Debuts at #2 on iTunes

Waco, TX- Antioch Live, the worship band for Antioch Community Church in Waco, Texas, has signed with the new record label Clear Day Worship. As the music arm of Clear Day Media Group based in Waco, Texas, Clear Day Worship and Antioch Live debuted the new album OUR GOD COMES at the World Mandate Conference September 20 and the CD hit #2 on iTunes.

“World Mandate 2013 was the perfect venue for launching this new CD. Everyday people were united by a passion for Jesus with a desire to worship God and change the world. That is what we are about,” states Clear Day Media Group president, David Seibert. “OUR GOD COMES is a passionate and thrilling worship release captured at Antioch Community Church in Waco, TX. We look forward to seeing how God uses this worship music to bless the Church.” continues Seibert.

Antioch is home to a worldwide church planting and worship movement, ministering to the needs of thousands internationally. Antioch Community Church currently has 30 church plants in the United States and another 40 in other parts of the world with more than 30,000 people involved with the movement. Antioch Live’s “Forever Sound” CD released last year was #3 on iTunes.

The worship music and lyrics on OUR GOD COMES expresses the heart cry, prayers and joy of the worship team, songwriters and musicians from Antioch, led by James Mark Gulley. From the opening strains of audience approval, joyous praise and worship floods the listeners’ ears and ageless unchanging truths find a new sound for today! The savvy musical arrangements and gifted song writing flow from “Come” to “Our God Comes”, and the glorious experience is documented from the choruses of “Wonderful Counselor”, “How Much More” and “Savior Forever”.

Clear Day Media Group creates products to help people see God clearly and impact the world through Christ-centered content.

The 72-minute, live recording was produced by James Mark Gulley and assistant Owen Wible, recorded by Randy Adams and mastered at Marcussen Mastering in Hollywood, CA by Stephen Marcussen. Featuring songwriters James Mark Gulley, Stephen Gulley, Brandon Seibert, Thomas Wilson and Johanna Six, OUR GOD COMES also features worship leaders James Mark Gulley, Stephen Gulley, Johanna Six and Clare Berlinsky.

The full track listing for OUR GOD COMES is as follows:
God And King
Wonderful Counselor
God Who Saves
How Much More
I Will Raise
…Response
Light Me Up
Awaken Us
One Hundred Three
…Return
Savior Forever
…Selah
Our God Comes

All songs are available with CCLI. More information on OUR GOD COMES can be found on iTunes and www.Cleardaymediagroup.com

My take: I love worship music, especially live worship music, so I jumped at the chance to review Our God Comes by Antioch Live. The album has a variety of songs, ranging from those that make you want to jump, clap your hands, and sing your heart out to others that lead you to close your eyes and raise your hands in worship. I love how many of the songs meld right into the next, which makes for a seamless listening experience.

My favorites are "I Will Raise," "...Response," and "Our God Comes" (the latter reminds me a bit of Kristian Stanfill's "Always"). I did have a little difficulty understanding the lyrics of a few of the songs, so I was glad that the liner notes included lyrics!

Our God Comes is a great album that points the listener to Christ. It would make a great addition to anyone's collection.

My rating: 4 stars

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from The B&B Media Group. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

girls' weekend!

My mom and I just got back from a weekend in Omaha with Blendy. It was unexpected and fantastic! I thought I'd tell our story through pictures ...

We're excited to see Blendy!!!

As soon as we got to Omaha, we headed to Chick-fil-A. It had been way too long since I'd had their delicious chicken!

Then we headed off to the Omaha Symphony. We were given free tickets to see Play!, a video game symphony (the unexpected reason for our trip). I'm not a gamer, so I figured I wouldn't know much of the music. I figured right.

Here's what I learned: most video game music (at least the music played by the symphony) sounds like it was composed by Hans Zimmer. Also, whoever wrote the narration seemingly tried to write it using only cliches. By the end, we could barely contain our giggles! 

As the performance ended, I did find myself feeling a little cheated. This picture from the program, while not promising anything, certainly seemed to imply that the Mario theme would be part of the performance. But Mario was nowhere to be found ... and now I have an incredible urge to play some Super Mario!

Dad got us a hotel room so we wouldn't have to drive home late. We stayed at the Comfort Suites, and, though they were in the middle of a major renovation, the rooms were nice. Sadly, though, the breakfast left a lot to be desired.

One of the highlights of our trip was being able to attend Blendy's church this morning. It's very small, and the people are so nice and welcoming. I think she'll really thrive there. Then we headed to Cracker Barrel for lunch. Our server, Alex, was one of the best ever! If you're ever at the Council Bluffs Cracker Barrel, look for Alex—he'll give you the greatest service! I also had perhaps the best fried chicken of my life. It's the Sunday special—two boneless breaded and fried chicken breasts. I could only eat one, so now I have lunch for tomorrow!

Following a rather extended trip to Walmart, we took Blendy back to the dorm and headed home. What a fabulous weekend! (And the icing on the cake? My cats, who were left alone inside for more than 24 hours, didn't destroy anything or relieve themselves anywhere but the litter box!)

media update & a giveaway

Here are a few things I've been thinking about/obsessed with recently ... and be sure to keep reading to the end because I'm giving away a good book!

• Hart of Dixie: I recently reviewed the pilot on my new blog. That's right; I started a new blog. I may have some mental issues! I haven't done too much with it yet, but hopefully now that I'm not reading quite so much I'll be able to spend more time on it. Anyway, Hart of Dixie. It's one of those shows that's in the same vein as Gilmore Girls—quirky characters in a small town. It's even filmed on the WB lot in some of the same places that Gilmore Girls used. I discovered this show on Netflix a couple months ago and powered through all of season one in less than a month. Now I eagerly await each new episode. Also, I recently discovered that Scott Porter, who plays one of Dr. Zoe Hart's potential love interests, is a huge Nebraska fan, which immediately endeared him to me. (And no, I still haven't watched that little show Porter's mainly known for ...)
• Kindle Fire HD: Last winter, my dad gave my mom a Kindle Fire. I immediately fell in love with it. I contemplated getting one, but I decided to wait for the inevitable new model. I'm so glad I did! I ordered the Kindle Fire HD the day after it was announced, and it arrived on my doorstep the day it was released. For a while, I thought I'd use both my Kindle Keyboard (that I bought 1-1/2 years ago) and my Kindle Fire. Not so. I haven't used the old Kindle once since I got the Fire ... so I'm giving it to my sister.
• Christmas Music: Today is November 11, which is much too early for Christmas music. Christmas music should not be listened to prior to Black Friday (when it turns into a Christmas music free-for-all) ... or so I normally claim. But recently I stumbled across some cheap ($5 or less) Christmas music on Amazon, and I had to indulge myself! They have 100 $5 Christmas albums this month (and my guess is they'll have 100 more next month). Plus, there are other ridiculously discounted Christmas albums, like the Elf soundtrack for $4.49. I ended up buying two soundtracks: Elf and Home Alone. Can a person have too much Christmas music? I don't think so! 
• Christmas Movies: My parents have cable now (for the first time ever!), so I thought perhaps my compulsion to purchase Christmas movies during the holiday season would disappear due to the plethora of cheesy Christmas romance at my disposal. I was wrong. So, so wrong. Lifetime just released this item. Twelve Christmas movies for $30? That's just $2.50 per movie—and two of them (Recipe for a Perfect Christmas and His & Her Christmas) were ones I wanted anyway! Purchasing them separately would have cost half of what I paid for all 12. See how easy it is for me to justify Christmas movie purchases? I've already watched and reviewed one of the movies, Christmas in Paradise, on my other other blog. Check it out.
• Giveaway: I received an extra copy of The Memory Jar from Zondervan, so I'm giving it away! Tricia Goyer is a great writer, and I enjoyed this book. Enter using the form below. (Giveaway open to US residents only.) 
a Rafflecopter giveaway

june media roundup

I've done a few of these media roundups before, and it's time for another one! Sometimes I feel like all I do is read (some of you probably feel like all I do is read, too—after all, that's mainly what I write about!), but in between reading all of those books, I have been listening to some music and watching some TV and movies. Here are a few of the things I'm enjoying—or eagerly anticipating—right now:

"Forever Reign" by One Sonic Society
Every so often, I come across a song that gets completely stuck in my head. This is one such song! We sing it in church sometimes, and I recently downloaded it. Right before my gallbladder surgery, I was pretty nervous, and I was singing this song in my head to try to calm myself as they put me under. When I woke up, it was still running through my head ... and it's been there on-and-off ever since!



Tyler Perry movies
These two movies could not be more different—except that they both star Perry! I'm looking forward to both of them.

Madea's Witness Protection

I have a soft spot for Tyler Perry movies. Especially Madea movies. Madea is an acquired taste—the first time I saw Diary of a Mad Black Woman, I thought Madea was completely over the top and ridiculous—but once you grasp the humor, you're in for hours of laughter. My sisters and I are eagerly anticipating Madea's Witness Protection, which comes out this Friday. Does it look stupid? Yes. But it also promises two hours of Madea goodness. Hallelujer!

Alex Cross
I'm not going to embed this trailer because it's a bit graphic, so if you want to watch it, go here. So at first I wondered if Tyler Perry could really pull off the role of Alex Cross—made famous by Morgan Freeman in Kiss the Girls and Along Came a Spider. Well, 38 seconds into the trailer, I forgot all about my concerns ... because I was screaming "Matthew Fox!" at my screen. Matthew Fox is the villain, and not in the seems-like-a-good-guy-but-is-really-kinda-bad way that he was in Vantage Point. He completely CREEPED. ME. OUT. And made me really want to watch this movie. Come October, I'll be in the theater.

"Beautiful Things" by Gungor
In yearbook class, we always listened to music. Oftentimes, it was Michael Bublé or One Direction ... and Joey, the editor, got far too many song picks. On one of the last days of school (after Joey had already graduated and gone back to China), Tori picked this song. It was the first time I'd ever heard it—at least that I can recall. I fell completely in love. It's definitely my favorite song of the moment!


Dawson's Creek
I'm halfway ashamed to even admit to watching Dawson's Creek. I realize I'm 14 years late to the party, and I really wasn't even interested in watching it when it originally aired. Then it showed up on Netflix, and I watched the first episode. And the second. And the third. As Blendy says, it's like crack—so addictive! In the week following my surgery, I watched the first three seasons. Since I've been back at work, I've been watching the episodes at a more reasonable pace, and I'm currently at the beginning of the fifth season. And let me just say, I'm totally in the Pacey-Joey fan club. Dawson ... is just annoying.

Drop Dead Diva
Could you ask for a more ridiculous concept? I'm not sure: Deb is a model who gets into a car accident, and Jane is a lawyer who gets shot ... both on the same day. Through a mixup, Deb dies, and her soul is placed in Jane's body. So Jane is really Deb, but no one knows except Deb's best friend Stacy and her guardian angel Fred (who has now been replaced by guardian angel Luke). Here's the kicker—Jane works at the same law firm as Grayson, Deb's fiance. The longer Deb remains in Jane's body, the more like Jane she becomes.

Drop Dead Diva is simply a fun summer show! It's currently in its fourth season on Lifetime, and while it's not a show I can't miss an episode of (like, say, Fringe), it's a fun way to pass an hour. The cases are never super-serious, the cast has chemistry, and the characters are multi-dimensional. The first three seasons are streaming on Netflix. Check it out!

The Bachelorette
I blame my sister for my Bachelor/ette addiction. I thought the franchise was incredibly stupid and a waste of time ... until one evening when I showed up at my parents' house while Val was watching DeAnna's season. I was hooked. Do I "believe in this process"? No. But it's sure entertaining to watch! We have weekly Bachelorette parties at my parents' house ... sometimes Dad even joins in the fun! 

This season may be my favorite ever—current Bachelorette Emily isn't messing around, and she's not afraid to send guys home when she knows they're not right for her, even in the middle of a date or before the rose ceremony. And the guys are so fun! She's down to her final four guys, and I'm fairly certain I know which one will be going home next week. Of the three that will remain, all seem to be great guys. Of course, I'd rather have Sean than see Emily have him, but that's not very realistic, is it? Check out his Twitter bio. This guy's not going to have any trouble finding a woman if Emily lets him go! (Speaking of Twitter bios, Arie's absolutely cracks me up. So true!)
So that's what I'm watching/listening to/anticipating. What about you? Any movies, music, or TV shows I should check out?

it's dc Talk ... sort of!

I love dc Talk. This statement will come as no surprise to anyone who has known me very long. One of the biggest regrets from my teen years is that I never saw dc Talk live, and I've often said that I would travel ridiculous distances and spend insane amounts of money to see them on tour, should they ever decide to reunite. (Seeing them live made my "35 before 35" list—if sheer willpower could make them reunite, they'd be on tour tomorrow!)

So in all my love for dc Talk, I'm not sure how I missed this: The Newsboys released a new album last November, and Kevin Max joins them for two songs! ("God's Not Dead" and "I Am Second") Why is that a big deal? Because Michael Tait is the lead singer of the Newsboys now. When you throw Tait and Kevin Max together, it almost, almost sounds like old-school dc Talk ... all that's missing is tobyMac's rapping!

You can preview the new Newsboys album God's Not Dead here. You can even get a free download of the "God's Not Dead" single! Listen to it and pretend, for an instant, that the whole gang's back together again. And maybe if I keep wishing and hoping, it'll actually happen one day!

time for some christmas music!

'Tis the season for Christmas music. I love Christmas music, and sometimes I buy too much of it (kind of like how I buy too many Christmas movies). However, Amazon makes it easy to get my fill of Christmas music without breaking the bank, thanks to its $5 Christmas albums. In November, 100 Christmas albums were available for $5 each, but I didn't see anything that caught my fancy. Fast forward to this morning, when I looked at Amazon's $5 albums for December. Not only are two of my favorite Christmas albums (Michael W. Smith's It's a Wonderful Christmas and Amy Grant's Home for Christmas) on the list, but there is an album that made my inner giddy teenager come out, and I bought it as soon as I got home from work. Which album, you ask? *N Sync's Home for Christmas! I have wanted this album since I was 17. It has always hovered around $10, and I have a hard time justifying spending that much on music I only listen to 30 days out of the year. But $5? Totally worth it!

Check out the whole list of $5 Christmas albums. There's so much Christmas goodness here I hardly know where to begin! I recommend the following albums because I have (and love) them: A Charlie Brown Christmas (Vince Guaraldi Trio), Peace on Earth (Casting Crowns), What a Night! (Harry Connick, Jr.), Let It Snow Baby ... Let It Reindeer (Relient K), and Christmas Cheers (Straight No Chaser). But there's a ton of other good music out there, too—albums by Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Avalon, Mandisa, and many more.

Mariah Carey's two Christmas albums, Merry Christmas and Merry Christmas II You, are some of my new favorites, and Merry Christmas is actually Amazon's mp3 Deal of the Day today. I know by the time most of you read this, it'll be tomorrow (or later), but sometimes Amazon's mp3 daily deals last a bit longer than a day. Merry Christmas is definitely worth your $3.99! (And yes, I know that Merry Christmas came out in 1994, so it's not exactly "new." I'd never listened to the whole thing until last year, so it's new to me!)

Also, be sure to check out Amazon's 25 Days of Free. Each day, a new free Christmas song is added to the list. Today's song is by Celtic Woman.

And just so you know, the Christmas album I'm dying to get this year is Michael Bublé's Christmas. But at $11.99, I'll just content myself with streaming it through Spotify for now!

What's your favorite Christmas album? Which one are you trying to rationalize buying this year ... or which one did you already buy?

35 before 35: #23

#23: Go to a country concert

This goal isn't one I would have had five years ago ... or even last year, for that matter! I have rather recently become a fan of country music. So when I heard The Band Perry was coming to the Nebraska State Fair, I decided to go. And I knew exactly who to take with me--my friend Joanna. Jo is at least partially responsible for my conversion to country (though most of the credit goes to former roomie Melissa). One night, Jo and I watched country music videos for hours after I confessed that I kind of enjoyed them. Anyway, Jo and I decided to go together. The problem? Jo is a senior in high school, and she has volleyball practice after school. So we didn't get on the road to Grand Island until 6:45, and the concert started at 7:30.

Once we arrived at the state fairgrounds, we hightailed it over to the Events Center. We weren't even sure if we'd be able to get in, as the concert was free with gate admission, but you had to have a wristband to get in--and those were given out at the box office on a first come-first served basis. We arrived at 7:35, and a nice lady handed us our wristbands. When we walked in, the band was already playing, and the arena looked full. Jo has good eyes, though, and she found us seats ... pretty much as far away from the stage as you could get!

Going in, I knew two of The Band Perry's songs--"If I Die Young" and "You Lie." Going out, I still only knew those two songs, but I heard several others that I really liked! If I didn't have Spotify (which I talked about here), I totally would have bought their album by now.

My favorite part of the concert was when they started singing the Eminem/Rihanna song "Love the Way You Lie." At first, Jo and I just looked at each other ... and then we got it! They used it as a very effective lead-in to "The Way You Lie."

Here we are at the concert ... sort of. I took about 10 pictures of us, and one of us always looked bad--so I spliced together two pictures. Notice that I've never claimed to be a Photoshop whiz!

Overall, it was a great way to get my feet wet in the country music scene! Next stop, Carrie Underwood???

after these messages, we'll be right back!

Original content on this blog has been lacking lately. My goal is to post three times each week, and I'm not doing a very good job of meeting that goal. My book reviews are important, and I know that the majority of the traffic coming to my blog is due to the reviews, but I'm not ready to make this a "book review only" kinda place, so I'm working on several other posts right now – about my 30th birthday, country music, and 35 things I want to do before I turn 35. Nothing is close to being ready, though. (Why? One word: School.) So, while I continue working on those other posts (and while I keep reading and reviewing – I should have at least three reviews go up in the next two weeks), here are a few "internet" things I want you to know about:

• Remember when I told you about Perfect Romance? No? It's the movie where Desmond from LOST falls in love with a woman he meets online, and it's so cute! For the next 10 days, you can catch it on Hulu. Watch it. You'll thank me later! (Unless you're a guy who hates chick flicks. Dearest brother, I'm pretty sure this is too sappy for you. However, someone from Stargate does make an appearance, so at least something in the movie might interest you.)
• One of my most popular posts (it's #3 this month and #2 since Blogger started keeping track) is the one about My Girlfriend's Boyfriend. I still love introducing people to this movie – I even watched it last night with two of the dorm girls at NC. Seriously, I feel like the film's biggest cheerleader! Now it's free on Hulu, so you have no excuse for not watching it. Just do it!
• If you want other movie recommendations, check out my "Movies to Watch" tab – especially if you like chick flicks.
• If you saw the movie Something Borrowed – which is not on my recommended list – you might be interested in this post by author Jenny B. Jones. (She wrote Save the Date, which I loved.) She makes a valid point, one that Blendy and I discussed at length (SPOILER ALERT!): why on earth would you cast John Krasinski in the role of the guy who doesn't get the girl? 
• Have you heard of Spotify? Not only is is super cool – you can listen to just about any music you want, and you don't have to listen to a bunch of things you don't want in order to get to that one song you do want (à la Pandora) – but it also can save you money! How, you ask? Well, say Amazon is running a sale on an album you're interested in. You listen to the samples, but how much can you really tell from 30 seconds of a song? So instead of taking your chances on an album you may or may not really want, you can listen to the whole thing on Spotify before deciding! I've saved at least $3.99 – I'm looking at you, Matthew Morrison! – and I'll be checking out all future purchases here, first. If only I'd had Spotify when looking for "Forever," I would have known the version Amazon was offering wasn't the John Stamos version and saved 99¢ ...
  
• Since I brought it up:
  

Thanks for sticking with me, and I'll try to do a better job of posting regularly!

what's the score? (part 2)

Many moons ago, I wrote about my love for movie scores. I've been thinking about scores again recently, thanks to a viewing of Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet (which has a fantastic score that I purchased after watching the movie), and I realized it's time to update my "favorites." I use the term favorites loosely, as it seems I'm constantly falling in love with a new score, but here they are for now. And yes, I do still listen to the scores listed before--especially The Lake House. That music just touches my soul, I guess. (I know that sounds incredibly cheesy, but I don't know how else to put it!)

Adam
by Chris Lennertz. Adam is an indie film about a man with Asperger's Syndrome and the woman he loves. It's a nice little film that--in the way of most indie films--didn't have the happy Hollywood ending I was hoping for. What stuck out to me most as I watched the film was the score. I don't know if that's a good thing--shouldn't the score be there to aid the telling of the story, rather than overshadow the plot? Still, I knew I needed the music, so I found it on half.com for not very much money. In the year that I've had the soundtrack, two of the songs have found their way into my iTunes Top 25 most played. (This is a soundtrack with five selections from the score and seven songs used in the film--and they're great songs by artists including Joshua Radin and The Weepies.)

Emma
by Samuel Sim. This music, from the recent BBC adaptation of Emma (which I loved), is just so happy! Every time I hear it, it makes me smile.

Finding Neverland
by Jan A.P. Kaczmarek. I've never seen Finding Neverland, but I heard some of the music on Cinemix, an online radio station, and really enjoyed it. From start to finish, it's a beautiful score. It is perfect for playing at the office--or to go to sleep with!

Mr. Holland's Opus
by Michael Kamen. Mr. Holland's Opus is the first movie score I can remember noticing while watching a film. I saw the movie with my mom and cousins, and I loved the music. I decided to buy the score for my mom's birthday. So I went to the music store in the Grand Island Mall (back when music stores were cool and the Grand Island Mall actually had stores that you entered from inside the mall) and searched through the soundtracks section until I found Mr. Holland's Opus. Unfortunately, I didn't yet know the difference between "soundtrack" and "score," and what I bought was not at all what I wanted! Of course, Mom was very kind about it, but I'm pretty sure she would have enjoyed the score a lot more than the soundtrack. A few years ago, I finally picked up the score. It was as good as I remembered.

Much Ado About Nothing
by Patrick Doyle. Though I was charmed by this score several years ago (and purchased it at that time), it had completely fallen off my radar screen until I showed the film in my Advanced Reading class. As soon as the movie began playing, my love for the music came rushing back, and I've been listening to the score ever since. (If you haven't seen the movie, you should definitely check it out. I know Kenneth Branagh received more acclaim for some of his other Shakespearean adaptations, but I think he's at his best here. Also, after I watched this film with my class, I decided to watch other Branagh films, which led me to Hamlet, which led to the score, which led to this post. So if you wish I wouldn't write about music, blame Kenneth Branagh!)

Pride and Prejudice
by Dario Marianelli. While I prefer the Colin Firth version of the movie (which isn't to say this version is unenjoyable), Marianelli's score for the 2005 film is far superior to the music from the miniseries. The strings and piano, which feature prominently in many tracks, are simply gorgeous. I love the theme that works its way through the entire score--so beautiful!

surviving yearbook

I have lived and breathed yearbook for the past four days. From Monday morning at 9:30 through Thursday evening at 6:15, I put in 41 hours and 45 minutes. (Yes, I kept a log.) And now ... drum roll, please ... all 84 pages have been submitted! I've discovered that when I need to work so intensively on a project, I need some things to help me out. Here's what got me through this time:

Dance Dance Revolution for Wii--This functioned as a great stress reliever; trust me, when I was fighting with the ridiculousness that passes for text wrap in our design program, I needed a way to work off my frustration!

An excellent, dedicated student editor--I don't know if I would have survived without Michelle. I certainly wouldn't have been able to submit everything a whole 24-hours early. She even spent hours working on the index, which is an incredibly tedious project. Plus, we get along really well, which doesn't always happen with editors and advisers. I wish I could clone her and keep her as editor forever!

Odd working hours--I am so much more productive at night. I've known this for a long time, but when you have to be at work at 8 a.m. or earlier, it's pretty much impossible to stay up late to accomplish anything. Thus the beauty of this week: I set my own hours! Each night, I worked until midnight or later and then slept in the next morning. The first day was rough--I worked 12 hours, which I'm absolutely not used to--but after that, my body adjusted beautifully. I'm not looking forward to going back to a normal schedule next week.

Lots of snacks and drinks--Yeah, I ate all the goldfish pretzels and animal crackers. I didn't drink the whole 12-pack, though!

Music--Upbeat for the sleepy times (this included lots of boy band music--because I still love me some "Bye, Bye, Bye"--"happy" country, Mike Tompkins videos, and a new fav, Anthem Lights), and cinemix for the "I really need to focus" times.

Antacids--Thanks to all the snacks.

Neck wrap--It's amazing how much this helped when I was feeling the stress in my neck and shoulders. (As a bonus, you can see how ancient the computer in my classroom is. I took my laptop in all week because my desk computer was so maddening. Anybody want to make a donation???)

A way to block facebook and other distracting sites--I used LeechBlock, which allows you to set times of the day to block certain websites. I turned off facebook, Google Reader, and ew.com from 8-4. (Remember how I was working odd hours? Well, LeechBlock usually helped for the first 4-6 hours I worked, but after 4, I had to--gasp!--use some self control. I was moderately successful.)

Now that I'm finished for the school year, it doesn't seem so bad, and I'm pretty impressed with everything that Michelle and I accomplished this week. To those of you who are my facebook friends, thanks for putting up with all my frustrated status updates over the last several days. I promise not to talk about yearbook again ... at least until the fall!

things that made me smile

I had a great weekend. Seriously, I can't remember when I last had so much fun in one weekend (probably because most of my recent weekends have been consumed by speech ... but we won't go there!). So here's what made me smile:

• Saw my words in print--in a place other than my blogs, the NC Advance, or Amazon! On Friday, I got author Denise Hunter's newest e-newsletter, and in it ... she quoted my review of A Cowboy's Touch! Granted, she didn't say it was me, so no one else knows, but oh, the thrill of seeing my words in her newsletter! I work hard on my reviews, so to have an author say she liked it, well, that pretty much made my day!
• Spent Saturday "babysitting" in the girls' dorm. I was there from 9:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m., and while I will get paid for my time, it didn't even feel like work. (Isn't that the best kind of job?) While there, I ...

• Finished reading Heart of Ice. It's a good one--check out my review (which probably won't get quoted by the author ...)

•  Watched My Fake Fiance with some of the girls. I'm probably too old for it, but can you go wrong with Blossom's Joey and Sabrina the Teenage Witch? I don't think so!

• Went on an Easter Egg hunt! I'm pretty sure the last time I hunted eggs was eight (?) years ago when cousins Kate and Beth and sister Val came out to visit me at Grace. By the way, my team "won" by collecting the least amount of eggs, and we got all the leftover candy! I ate far too many Starburst jelly beans and then left the rest of my share at the dorm.

The winning (or losing, depending on how you look at it) team: Lindsey, Jessica, and me. We collected a whopping TEN eggs (out of 200)!

• Found a movie music station on the dorm parents' DirecTV. I love movie music, and it provided the perfect accompaniment to my reading!

• Played DDR ... and possibly became addicted! I bought the game from Amazon because I thought I would enjoy it (plus, it was over 50% off), but after playing it once decided it really wasn't for me. I'm not incredibly coordinated ... Then Janet (the girl who spent the last two Christmases with me) asked me to bring it Saturday. She played for hours, and she finally convinced me to try it. It's so fun! I've played four times in the last three days :-)

• Chatted on the phone with college roomie Jen. It had been far too long since we'd spoken, and it was great to catch up! (Note to self: Do a better job of keeping in touch with friends.)
• Took a nice ... windy ... walk with Blendy. We need to do that more often! (Dear Blendy--I'm linking to your blog, so you should probably update it!)
• Went to the dentist this morning. (I can see those questions now: Yes, Monday is still sort-of the weekend because we don't usually have school on Mondays. No, dentist appointments don't usually make me smile.) No new cavities is exactly what I wanted to hear! (Plus, I didn't get the flossing lecture. So either my mouth looks better than it should, or my dentist is giving up ... )
• Had lunch with Jo, a girl I've known basically since she was born nearly 18 years ago. We're going to be starting a Bible study if we can ever get our schedules to mesh ... but for now, it was nice just to spend a 30-minute lunch with her!

k max is the only one left

It's official: I've now seen 2/3 of dc Talk.

On Wednesday I got a text from one of my friends asking if I wanted to go to the Newsboys concert. Sounds great, right? Well, the catch is that the concert was Thursday in a town nearly two hours away. Here was the deciding factor for me: Michael Tait, formerly of dc Talk, is now the Newsboys' lead singer. Sold.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. I would pay big money to see dc Talk live. And while I've heard a few rumors, I don't think there are any real plans for a reunion tour. So until then, I'll have to content myself with whichever band member comes this way.

So, immediately after work on Thursday, Justin, Adair, and I piled into Adair's car and headed for Norfolk. It was totally worth it.

The show was actually Newsong's Christmas tour, which featured the Newsboys and Kerrie Roberts, a singer I'd never heard of before. It also featured a surprise performer, but I'll get to that later.

They started off with several Christmas songs. Honestly, I was more fascinated (or appalled) by the giant blow-up Santa and penguin on stage than I was by the songs. 

My least favorite number was "Little Drummer Boy," which too loud and cacophonous. All the groups were involved in the song, and it was just too much happening at once. (Perhaps the reason I hated it so much has to do with the fact that the Jars of Clay version, which is much more understated, is one of my favorite Christmas songs!) But then I saw him ... playing the violin (I couldn't hear him playing the violin because everything else was too loud) ... and I thought, Could it be? Is it he?

Sure enough--David Klinkenberg! When the guy from Newsong came out and introduced him, I think I may have stopped breathing. I grinned like a ninny through his whole song ("Toss the Feathers"). When he finished, a bunch of women stood up and cheered. Adair said, "Look at all his girl fans." And I thought, If I didn't have you on one side and Justin on the other, I'd totally be up cheering with them!

(And here's the point where I need to explain about Klinkenberg. I was just going to link to my other blogs about him, but they're on MySpace. In an attempt to get at them for you, I had to reset my MySpace password--it's been so long since I've been on that I couldn't even remember what it was! I guess that speaks to MySpace's irrelevancy in the age of Facebook. Anyway, I finally found the posts, but I can't figure out how to change my settings to make the blog public. If you happen to be MySpace friends with me, the posts are here and here. Basically, David Klinkenberg is my music crush. An excerpt from the blog:

In the evening we (Melissa and I) went to Norfolk for the Mark Schultz/Big Daddy Weave/David Klinkenberg concert. Two more Bible study people, Kevin and Melissa, joined us for the concert. It was amazing! I was a tad disappointed with how little David played (after all, he was the one I really wanted to see!), but overall, I can't complain. Mark Schultz is much less annoying in person than he is on the radio (sometimes, his slower songs just make me want to hurl), and parts of the concert were really like a worship service. It was wonderful.

We waited in the auditorium for about 10 minutes while people cleared out, then we headed to the vending area. Molly bought two of David's cd's, and she had just rejoined us right by the auditorium doors when she tapped me, looked off to her right, and said, "Should I ask for his autograph?" I followed her gaze . . . to David Kinkenberg, who was standing about 5 feet away! At this point, my brain pretty much turned to mush. I whirled back around to find Melissa. "Look behind you!" I hissed. She turned around and saw nothing special. "No, I mean look behind me!" Then he started walking toward us! It became obvious he was going to keep going, so Molly stopped him and asked if he would sign her cd. He said he would be back in a minute and walked away. I still couldn't even think. A little later, he came back to sign the cd. Then he thanked us for coming and walked away. Melissa said the whole time she was thinking, "Becky, SAY SOMETHING!" But I couldn't. It wasn't until we were back in the parking lot that it hit me--CAMERA! I'd had at least 3 minutes to get my camera out and then get a picture with him . . . and it never once crossed my mind! What's wrong with me???

I have to admit, he looks very young up close. Kevin said he looked 12, but it's not quite that bad . . . maybe 18 or 20. I'm not sure how old he really is, but I think he must be older than that. Anyway, it appears that my celeb crush is still intact . . .)

I briefly thought about trying to get a picture this time. Then I realized I didn't have my camera. Then I realized I had my phone, which has a camera. Then I realized I didn't want to act like a crazed fangirl when my only companions were boys. Had Melissa been there, though, she totally would have given me the courage!

As for the rest of the concert, I really enjoyed the Newsboys ... especially when they weren't doing Christmas music! They played "Something Beautiful" and "He Reigns" from previous albums and "Way Beyond Myself" and "Born Again" from the new album (which you know I love!). "He Reigns" wasn't that great. I wouldn't have believed you if you'd told me, since I completely prefer Tait to Peter Furler, but "He Reigns" wasn't as good without Furler's distinctive voice. "Born Again," though, was awesome!

Overall, it was a fun concert, and I'm glad I got to go! (Now, if we could just work on that dc Talk reunion tour ...)

a picture's worth ...

They say a picture's worth a thousand words. Since I haven't been writing much lately, I thought I'd throw up a few pictures to catch you up with my life!

I got Mom tickets to Straight No Chaser's Omaha concert for her birthday. As you can see, we were quite happy to be there! My favorite part was, surprisingly, this Lady Gaga medley.

In early October, my sisters and I ran/walked a 5K. The experience made me want to do another!

Thanks to a facebook friend, I've become obsessed with this bread. It's so easy and absolutely delicious!

In early November, I accompanied a group of students on a trip to DC. This is one of my favorite shots.

My cousin Shawna was on the trip, and I enjoyed spending time with her. Here we are outside Lee's Mansion in Arlington National Cemetery.

On the way home from DC, we stopped at the Creation Museum near Cincinnati, where I "got" to hold this snake. Pretty brave, if I do say so myself!

This picture serves two purposes: 1) To show off my new hair color. 2) To thank cousin Bethie for the Sleepy Monk coffee and Cannon Beach mug she brought me when she visited for Thanksgiving.

Yesterday, Blendy and her friend Janelle came over to help me decorate. Then we watched You've Got Mail while I wrapped all the presents I've bought so far.

really, really cheap music

Consider this a public service announcement: iTunes now has lots of songs for $.69! I'm sure Amazon will jump on the bandwagon soon enough, but for now, they only have about 12 songs that cheap. I just bought Breakfast at Tiffany's (a high school favorite of mine) and Crusin' ... and I'd certainly consider lots more if I wasn't trying to restrict my spending!

a quick update

Life has been so busy lately! I keep thinking of things to write about, but then I don't get around to it. So, here's another of my famous "bullet" updates:

• Mom and I are seeing Straight No Chaser in Omaha tomorrow night! I bought the tickets for her birthday--in May--and it's crazy to think the day is almost here. I'm sure I'll have more to say after the fact. Too bad our tickets aren't as amazing as they were last December!
• I've started a blog for my advanced reading class. As of now, it's private, meaning only the class members and I can read or post to it. We may go public later. For now, though, here's a look at the class (at the top of the page). I absolutely love teaching them!
• My dreadfully neglected other blog lives again! (Well, there's one new post ... it's a start!)
• Blendy and I just signed up for the Singing Christmas Tree. Practices start in just over a week. I love Christmas!
• Speaking of Christmas, how's this for a gimmick? One of our radio stations, Star 97.3, has been playing Christmas music non-stop since Sunday afternoon. Apparently the station is switching formats--listeners are about to receive the "gift" of a new radio station ... hence the Christmas music in the meantime. I listened off and on for about a day--now I wish they'd just get on with it and play whatever it is they're going to play. At least I haven't heard the Christmas song that makes me want to drive over a cliff ... (Another station switched formats almost exactly a year ago. They had their own annoying gimmick to go with the switch.)
• I've signed up for my first 5K! Val's going to run it, and Blendy and I will walk it together. Wish us luck!
• I just found a new "favorite" movie. It's called Perfect Romance, and you can watch it on Hulu for a few more days. Starring LOST's Desmond (Henry Ian Cusick), it's a cute little romance ... and it's incredibly clean, especially considering it's a Lifetime movie. If you're a sucker for romance, you'll like it!

a great deal!

Several weeks ago, I told you about Born Again, the new album from the Newsboys. It still is one of my favorite albums, and I recently learned you can get it from Amazon for $5! What a deal! You can preview 30-second snippets of each song and buy the album here!

Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

in other long-forgotten band news ...

Continuing on my theme of "bands that made me happy back in the day," I have some sad news: the lead singer of LFO passed away recently. Who's LFO, you ask? The Lyght Funkie Ones are best known for their summer hit "Summer Girls" (If you listened to radio in the late 90's, you probably know it: "New Kids On The block had a bunch of hits, Chinese food makes me sick. And I think it's fly when girls stop by for the summer, for the summer ... "), but I remember them for a song that came out a few years later: "Every Other Time."

The one and only time I got pulled over, that song was on the radio. It was my "happy song" of the semester--the song I got ridiculously excited about and sang at the top of my lungs each time it came on the radio. I had just left my night class--American History I, a dreadfully boring class that met on both Tuesday and Thursday evenings. On the outskirts of Grand Island, "Every Other Time" came on. A burst of energy poured through me, and I "danced" and sang along. Then I saw the flashing red lights. Suddenly, "Every Other Time" wasn't so fun. I looked at my speedometer. 63. "Is he really pulling me over for going three over?" I asked the air. Trembling, I pulled over and began digging for my license. "License and registration, please," the officer said after I rolled down my window. Frantically, I pawed through the glove box. I couldn't find the registration anywhere. "I'm sorry; this is my dad's car," I murmured as I continued emptying the contents of the glove box onto the passenger seat. "I think it's right there," he said, using his flashlight to point at one of those nifty registration & insurance holders, which was on top of the pile. I sheepishly handed him the registration. "Do you know why I pulled you over?" he asked. I shook my head, remembering that someone once said you should never admit to speeding. "Your left taillight is broken. I'm giving you a fix-it ticket." Still shaking, I thanked him, took the ticket, and drove away. I'm grateful to have that be my only run-in with the law!

Despite the reminder of being pulled over, "Every Other Time" continued to be "my" song ... well, mine and my best friend Dorinda's. When I was away at college, she even sent me a mix cd which included this song, along with a dolphin greeting card--because of the lyric, "Sometimes we swim around like two dolphins in the ocean of our hearts." Ahhh, the memories! To this day, I listen to it every time it comes up on my ipod.

thanks, brittany!

Well over a year ago, I wrote about a concert I attended in Hastings. (Read about it here.) In my post, I reminisced about other concerts I attended at that same venue. The long-forgotten Christian group Church of Rhythm was at one of those concerts. While hanging out with my cousin Brittany on our Labor Day camping trip (post about that to follow later), I looked through her insanely large stack of cd's, many of which used to belong to her older siblings ... and found a Church of Rhythm cd in the pile! Of course, I became incredibly excited when I saw the cd, and I had to tell her the whole story of our families going to the concert together (which I also detailed in the aforementioned post). She let me borrow the cd, so I am, at this very moment, listening to music that I thought was oh-so-cool fifteen years ago. Thanks, dear cousin!

concert time!

My sister and I just got home from seeing Lifehouse at the Nebraska State Fair. It was awesome! Lifehouse has been my favorite band ever since my brother gave me a copy of No Name Face in 2001, so I was absolutely ecstatic when I learned they'd be playing at the fair. To top it off, the concert was free with a paid gate admission. We got early bird tickets, so it only cost us $6 each to go!

The concert was a blast. I was a little worried Lifehouse would be one of those bands that sounds totally different (read: terrible) live. Not the case! They were excellent. We arrived an hour before the show ... well, actually, let me back up. The concert was free with open seating, but you had to have a wristband that you picked up at the box office in order to get in. There were four types of wrist bands--blue, yellow, red, and green. You could enter the concert at the time allotted to your wristband--anywhere from 2 hours to 30 minutes before the concert. Because I had no idea how quickly the wristbands would go, I wanted to get to the fair early. We left Val's apartment just after 3; we got to the box office at 3:45 (thanks to the ridiculous parking and clueless parking attendants) and got red wristbands, which meant we could enter one hour prior to the show. That left us with over three hours to kill, and after wandering the fair for a while, we decided to leave and come back in time for the concert.

We got pizza, ice cream, and coffee at Hy-Vee and chilled at Val's for a while. When we got back to the fair, we were able to go right into the auditorium. I got a kick out of the people sitting around us ... the guy behind us who obviously wasn't a Lifehouse fan (when an All-American Rejects song came on before the show, he asked, "Is this Lifehouse?"); the teen girl who liked lead singer Jason Wade a little too much ("Seriously, you have no idea how awesome he is!"); the middle-aged woman who was totally into every song, and her husband who was just ... there; the guys next to me who took pictures through the entire show (I know I ended up in some of them ... including one time when I was belting out a song. Bet that one's attractive!)  In the "random" category, I saw one of the pastors from my church walk in with his wife--and it wasn't one of the youth pastors! I told Val that his knowledge of Lifehouse probably started and ended with viewing a YouTube video where a youth group performed a skit set to "Everything." (Like this one, for example.)

The concert lasted about 90 minutes--no opening act, which I was totally fine with--and they played all their hits--"Hanging by a Moment" (which is, quite amusingly, called "Hanging by a Thread" on their Twitter page), "You and Me," "First Time"--and the two currently on the charts: "All In" and "Halfway Gone." Val was especially happy to hear her favorites, "Broken" and "Wrecking Ball." Unfortunately, while they were tracking with Val, they didn't play any of my favorites. But considering I own practically everything they've released, it wasn't like I didn't enjoy and sing along with the songs they did play! Skipping "Had Enough" was understandable, since it's a duet with Chris Daughtry. I'm still hoping they release that as a single--in light of Daughtry's popularity, I think it could be a hit (plus, it's a really good song!). Two of my other favorites, "Breathing" and "Everything" are old, and "Storm" isn't exactly a rocking anthem, so I can understand why they weren't played ... but I hope if I ever get the chance to see them again, they at least do "Everything." For me, that would make the concert complete. And I'd happily pay more than $6 to see them next time!

Our "ridiculously excited to be at a Lifehouse concert" faces.

The band--I think they're playing "All In."

Our "is Lifehouse really playing 40 yards away from us?" faces.