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?

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crafting with blendy & becky: book page flowers

For our May craft, Blendy and I decided to make these book page flowers. I wasn't sure at first if I could make them—we've already established that I'm not naturally very crafty!—but they were surprisingly simple. I couldn't believe how quickly I picked it up, and soon I could form the petals without really thinking.

Rather than give you step-by-step instructions, I'm just going to point you to the site I used. Their pictures make following the directions incredibly easy.

Before we could start making the flowers, I had to decide which book I was willing to tear apart ... not an easy task for someone like me who loves her books! Then I remembered this book. I got it through Vine, and their rules stipulate that reviewers can't give possession of the products received to anyone else, though they can dispose of the product after a certain amount of time. Well, I still had the book on my shelf, and there was no chance I'd ever read it again ... so making book page flowers out of it seemed perfect!

Like I said before, you should go to this origami instruction website for directions, but here are a couple things I learned from making my flowers:

Make a template, then trace as many as you can onto a piece of paper. I found that when I was just measuring (say 4" x 4"), I often wasn't quite accurate ... so each petal of my flower was a slightly different size. Tracing a template eliminated that problem.

Also, use pencil, not pen (as I did), to trace the template. If I didn't fold the petal perfectly, I often had a little black showing through.

At first, the flower making was slow going, but soon I could complete a flower in about 15 minutes. It's perfect busy work while watching a movie or chatting!

Here are my completed flowers on top of the book I "sacrificed" for this project. (Side note: I helped with VBS at my church this week, and one of the daily lessons was on sacrifice—how Jesus sacrificed his life to save us. The teacher did an illustration using q-tips and money showing that not everything we are asked to give up is a sacrifice ... and I think this book would fall under that category!)

I'm not sure yet what I'm going to do with the flowers—I guess I'll put them out as decoration somewhere. Aren't they cute?

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i'm free!

This blog has been woefully quiet for the last several days, and if you follow me on Facebook, you know why: yearbook. It has completely consumed my life ... to the point where I spent TWELVE hours working on it yesterday. But today at 6 p.m., I submitted the final page ... so I'm free! It seems crazy to not have to think about yearbook anymore. After work, my evenings will be mine again! So what will I do with them?

• Clean my house. I went straight from a week of lying on the couch after surgery into two weeks of intensive yearbooking. I did manage to do the dishes a couple of times, but that's it. My house is a complete wreck—it's bad enough that even I am getting sick of it! (And if you know me well, you know I have a high tolerance for "clutter" ... I think it's in my genes!)
• Mow my lawn. It's been two weeks since Blendy was kind enough to mow for me, and I'm sure my neighbor—the elderly man who lives in Grand Island and keeps a house here as a weekend getaway—would appreciate it if my lawn was a respectable height, rather than the jungle it resembles now.
• Finish up the posts I've started. I still have to tell you about my May craft project (it's super cute!) and finish writing my April & May goals update. I also have a fabulous recipe to share!
• Read. I know: I'm always reading ... but I've gotten way behind. I did manage to read and review Glamorous Illusions on time, but for the first time ever, I missed a tour deadline! The review was due yesterday (a Sunday ... really?), and I haven't even cracked open the book yet. I have another two reviews due on Friday. So I guess I'll be doing a lot of reading for the remainder of the week.
•  Exercise. It's really amazing how out of shape you can get in just three weeks! I went for a walk and bike ride on Saturday—my first exercise of any type since surgery. When I got home, I was exhausted and totally winded. So I really need to get back out there!
• Check out Saving Hope. All I know about it is this: it stars Michael Shanks and Erica Durance. And that's all I need to know to give it a shot. (Actually, it had me at Shanks ... Lois Lane is just the icing on the cake!)

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