The Best Birthday Ever!

Hello again, readers. In case you haven't guessed by the title of this post, I had a birthday recently. I'm joining the ranks of twenty-somethings who are too old to be kids anymore but too young to grow up just yet. Tolkien accurately described them as the "tweens," or "the irresponsible twenties between childhood and coming of age at thirty-three." (The Fellowship of the Ring). Honestly, I've been feeling a little nostalgic about my teenage years lately. After all, I'll never be a kid again. But thanks to my awesome friends, Ashley, Rachael, and Heidi, it's been a birthday to remember.

It all started about a month or two ago when Heidi invited us to visit her in SE Oregon. Of course my friends and I jumped on an opportunity to see her again, but we were also excited to visit the many attractions in that area. Personally, I've never seen Oregon east of Willamette Pass, so I felt a little like Bilbo going on his quest. Only I was actually looking forward to it, and there were no fire-breathing dragons involved, ha ha.

And like Bilbo, I was shocked and amazed at what I've been missing out on all this time...

 
Example 1: Crater Lake
I can't even remember what my favorite landscape was before I saw this lake. One second you're hiking through snow drifts and hoping the view is worth getting soaked because you were lazy and didn't bother to wear proper snow shoes — and the next...well...the picture is self-explanatory. This is not photo shopped in any way, shape or form. The water is some of the bluest I've ever seen, and the mountains surrounding the lake were simply breathtaking. Those who know me can tell you that I'm not ordinarily an emotional person, but I had to catch my breath when I first laid eyes on Crater Lake. It's simply amazing. There's no other way to describe it.

Afterwards, we went from snow covered mountains to a desert town called Klamath Falls. Yes, you heard me right...desert. Am I the only one who thinks it's kinda cool that snow and a desert  terrain can coexist so close to one another? (To understand why this is cool, know that I live in a rainforest.) This isn't the only place on earth where that occurs, and it's not like the dry dry desert, but I've never seen anything like it with my own eyes before. It filled me with a sense of awe at just how much I haven't seen in this world. There's definitely a lot of traveling in my future.

The next morning, Sunday, we attended Mass in a small hermitage. First of all, I didn't even know hermits still existed, so of course I've never met one. The very word hermit made me wonder what kind of person this priest would be, and I couldn't hardly sleep the night before because of anticipation. I was surprised to arrive at the hermitage to find a lovely wooden cabin nestled amongst the woods, far from the main road. It wasn't fancy, but it was peaceful. The chapel was barely large enough to fit the priest, altar servers, and the choir, and the rest of the twenty attendees had to sit in the kitchen; but the familiar Mass made me feel right at home. The hermit priest himself was an outgoing, amiable man who did everything he could to make his visitors feel a part of the group, and meeting him makes me think of the hermit saints in a new light. I wish I had a picture to show you, but I didn't think to take one until it was too late.

From there it was on to Bend, where my friends and I spent the whole afternoon and early evening strolling through small shops along the waterfront. I didn't have enough money for souvenirs; but after walking out of two candy shoppes empty handed, pure torture, I finally broke down at the third and bought a bag of my favorite fruit candy, cherry sours...and a Mad Libs game for later that night.

For the final night of our little Odyssey, the girls and I sat around till 1am partying like only best friends do: insane rounds of Mad Libs, eating way more chocolate ice-cream and cherry sours then is good for us, watching The Princess Bride, and laughing until it hurt. Out of all the amazing things I got to see and do that weekend, I think I will remember that last night the most. After all, adventures are so much more worthwhile when you have someone to share them with. In my case, God blessed me with three someones.

Thus ended the first twenty years of my life, and boy was it fitting. I hope and pray the next twenty years are just as fruitful and full of adventure, family, and good friends. 

*the picture at the beginning of this post was taken by Heidi Maly of Aspenglow Photography and Aspenglow Blog

December 2013 - January 2014 Favorites

Hey there! Yeah, I was lazy and didn't write a favorites post for December.  But honestly, most of the things I liked about December have also been my favorites for January as well.  Here goes...


Favorite Movie: Frozen, Frozen, and Frozen again! It was a hard decision since there were so many good movies to choose from, but I thought this one sent them all home crying (except The Hobbit Part 2, but more about that in a moment.) No, it had nothing to do with the red-head Norwegian-type princess (sarcasm — I loved the whole Norwegian thing). But I digress...

Don't worry, there won't be any spoilers here; but I do have to say this is probably the most wonderfully heart-wrenching movie I've seen from Disney in a while. The relationship between Anna and Elsa was beautifully developed, and there were several times I found myself choking up singing along with the music in the theater. As an older sister myself, Elsa was my favorite character, but I challenge you to watch this movie and then tell me you don't feel like giving Olaf the Snowman a "warm hug." Overall, I think this is a movie sisters should watch together, doesn't matter what age they are; because beneath the music and the lights, it's about the powerful love of two sisters who would do anything for each other.

If I asked really nicely, do you think Disney would hire me to play Anna as a day job?

Warning: the next portion of this movie review might contain a few spoilers.

In a close second comes The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. This movie would have made it to first place, but I do have a few reservations. One: I thought the script writers could have made it just as long while including more of the book. Namely, I was hoping for a longer Beorn scene, and seeing more of the spiders/Mirkwood might have been nice. Two: I don't remember Tauriel being anywhere in the LOTR universe. I haven't read the Silmarillion, so don't come after me with pitchforks if I'm wrong. I'm just thinking in terms of The Hobbit. She's pretty awesome in her own right, and she's adorable with Kili, but I feel like her presence pushes the boundaries of a story that's already a far cry from the book. However, I'm not going to complain about Legolas, because technically he would have been there seeing as he was Thuranduil's son. Tolkien just didn't know it yet since he wrote The Hobbit before The Fellowship of the Ring.

Now for the good things — if you're not watching the movie expecting it to be exactly like the book, it was pretty dang good. I loved how they included the story thread with Sauron (aka The Necromancer), and I think Thorin's and Bilbo's characters were much more relatable for the audience this movie targeted. I suppose it was like a grown-up's version of the children's book Tolkien wrote. My only hope for the next movie is that they don't swerve from the storyline any more than they already have. Although this movie was exciting and fun, as an author I wouldn't want someone taking that many liberties with my work either. I'd say it earned four stars.

Favorite Song: Okay, okay...I'm done talking about movies now. I'll be brief when it comes to music. These past two months, I've been kind of addicted to this group I found on YouTube called The Piano Guys. If you haven't heard of them yet, here's a link to one of my favorite songs, a cover of Titanium.

And this post would not be complete if I didn't mention Who I'd Be and I Know it's Today from Shrek the Musical. The production was actually pretty fun, and the actors did a good job of portraying their characters. At first I wasn't too keen on the guy who played Shrek, but I realized why they chose him the second he opened his mouth to sing. These songs will make a little more sense if you watch the whole musical on Netflix or YouTube.

Favorite Gloves: Really, these Good Girl/Bad Girl Fingerless Gloves just plain awesome. They keep your hands warm, look cool, can be dressed up or down, and they're so comfy. Nearly two months later, I still build my girls' day out look around them. If you want a pair, here's the link to the Etsy shop I bought them from, Xtremities. There are options for guys too ;-).

And that concludes the December-January Favorites post. In case anyone is wondering if I plan on blogging about other stuff besides...well...stuff, then don't worry. I do. These are just things I wanted to share my thoughts about. Once a month, I also plan on trying to write a book review, so keep an eye out; and there will be plenty of posts about places to visit in Oregon since I plan on travelling this summer. It's all part of Katharine's Korner.

Until next time....