Congratulations!

I went bowling on Wednesday night with my family and our friend Laura Williams. And Congratulations are in order, Laura and Bram are getting married next fall! Yay!! I met Bram back last January when I visited Laura in Athens, GA where she lives. I approve. ;)

Abby and her Extended Family

Here are more pictures of Abby. Also, a note, I think Christine has some really good pictures that she'll post soon as well, so click on over to her blog as well (it's over there under Favorites on the left)

Abby and Haydon

Abby and Rachelle

Abby and Samantha

Abby, Samantha, Aubrey, and Ciara (I'm sure I misspelled someone's name - sorry)

Abby and Aubrey

Abby and Shayla

Abby and Grandpa Johnny (Dad's brother)



Abby and Emily

Abby and Grandma Atkisson again

Abby and Jackie

Merry Christmas!

I've been down at my Mom's since last Thursday and just got home tonight, so that's part of the reason there's been such a dry spell in the blogging! This post is going to have a lot of pictures, mostly of Abby. :) So, the highlights: On Saturday we took Abby to JC Penney to get her portraits taken and we're pretty sure Abby should be a professional baby model. We had a nice little coupon so I think Mommy and Daddy ended up getting 15 different shots! She was very smiley and ridiculously cute. I'll post some of them when I get them.

On Sunday we went up to Kokomo so Abby could meet her Great-Grandmas. I believe they are Mamaw and Grandma Ollie, since Mom's already Nana.




Christmas Day was very busy, but nice. It was sad that Nikki and Tyler couldn't be there, but we video-ed everything and are going to send them the highlights on DVD. Some of the pictures below: Izzie's Christmas present from Christine - a purple scarf that matches the one she made me, Abby's present from her Mommy and Daddy, and the little princess asleep at Grandma Ollie's house. I'll post the pictures of various relatives holding her as well so people can download them, but I might do that later after I've had a chance to photoshop out the redeye.






And finally...Abby being cute - a very rare occurence as you can tell.

Atonement

For Bill's birthday (today) we went out for dinner and a movie last night. We went to see Atonement with Keira Knightley and James MacIvoy. Slight Disclaimer: There is a very dirty word that is featured prominently (although somewhat humorously) in the beginning of the movie, so if you're easily offended wait for it to be shown on tv where it will have to be taken out.

Atonement is based on the book of the same name my Ian McEwan, and was supposedly the book that could never be converted to a movie. This was due to the fact that the point of view and timeframe change often. Somehow, the director and writer has managed to convey these same point-of-view changes impeccably, but without dumbing it down for the audience. It's difficult to review the movie without giving an awful lot away, but the differences in perspective are integral to the plot.

The general plot revolves around Robbie, Cecilia, and Cecilia's younger sister Briony. Briony is a 13 year old aspiring author who witnesses 2 different scenes between Cecilia and Robbie that she misinterprets due to her immaturity. She then accuses Robbie of a terrible crime based on those misinterpretations. Then the movie moves forward to 4 years later as Robbie tries to make his way home from war-torn France, and consequently through Dunkirk. Cecilia and Briony are both (separately) nurses in London. The second act, as it were, simply gets into the consequences and regrets of Briony's actions.

The acting: James MacIvoy is unreal. And hot. :) He conveys so much without words at all and his chemistry with Keira Knightley is excellent. The girl that plays Briony, Saiorse Ronan, is also excellent, as well as the grown up Briony, Romola Garai. Keira Knightley does an excellent job with less screen time, and overall I think everything was superb. Also, the score by Dario Marianelli is stunningly beautiful. It has an extremely prominent role in the movie in places, which I normally don't like, but I do here. He weaves in everyday sounds, such as a typewriter, to push forward the action of the film (it's a very staccato, almost military sound), but his most beautiful work is the haunting theme of the film - "Atonement" as well as "Elegy at Dunkirk" which is played as Robbie surveys the beach at Dunkirk waiting to be evacuated. I bought both of those off of iTunes.

Overall this may be one of my favorite movies of all time. It is heartbreaking, romantic, but not boring. Two Thumbs Up!!

Abby's First Laugh!

New Art

I went to a charity auction tonight at the Harrington School of Design, which is where my friend Natalie goes for photography classes. It benefited the Chicago Youth Programs and many of the faculty and staff put art up for auction. Natalie sold two of her three photographs (which was a little weird because they were a set and me and Natalie both liked the one that wasn't bought better than one of the ones that was, but whatever). I bought one item which is of a tree from an interesting perspective in Switzerland. Natalie bought one that I liked of a pinup girl from the 1800's (saloon-esque) which she then proceeded to give me for Christmas!!! So I've included pictures of both. The tree is going in my living room with the rest of my black and white photographs and the pin-up girl is going in the dining room. She's in blue, so she should go in my bedroom (which is decorated in blue), but I'm pretty sure that would be weird, so she's going in the dining room. There were 3 pin-up girl graphics and Natalie bid on this one and when she got beat on this one, bid on another. When she got to the front to checkout she found out she had them mixed up and ended up winning the one she wanted in the first place! Happy!

Brrrr...

It's really freaking cold. That's all.

Shake your Baby!

This is Abby dancing with her Daddy. There's no sound, so just sing your own music :) I believe you need the latest version of Quicktime to watch it.

Edit: Ok, I'm an idiot, there is sound, you just can't hear the music, although right at the end you hear me or Nikki laugh. I had my speakers turned off.

No Country for Old Men

Here's the nutshell version of my review: Creeped me the hell out, but really well made. Also, very much an indie type of film in that it's not predictable, doesn't explain much (i.e. let's you figure it out for yourself), and doesn't have a typical plot. The plot, which really only explains about 2/3rds of the movie, is that Josh Brolin's character, Llewelyn Moss, finds some money from a drug deal gone bad, and the people that set up the deal send Anton Chigurh, a psycopathic killer for hire, and another set of people, "The Mexicans", after him. When Chigurh kills the company men, the company sends someone after him, while he in turn, continues to pursue Moss, who is also being pursued by the Mexicans. Chigurh has his own set of principles which helps him determine who lives and who dies, and these scenes are the best in the movie. Tommy Lee Jones plays a sheriff that also pursued Moss, but only tangentially. Essentially he plays the role of observer of the events, and also gives some moral narration to the film.

The acting in it is fantastic, but in the case of Javier Bardem (Anton Chigurh), that just meant that he freaked me out (in the best way possible). I was slouched down in my seat, flinching at every gunshot for about a third of the movie. By far the best parts of the movie to me, are the conversation that Bardem's character has with the people he's about to kill. I really needed a massage after this movie because I was so tense. I don't think I can emphasize that enough. I overheard a woman say afterwards that she needed to go see a Disney movie to balance herself out. Essentially, I could appreciate how well made and acted the movie was, but I don't think I'd see it again, only because it scared me.

A few more...

Laura noticed that none of the pics below had me or Nikki in them, so I've added a few more. Thankgiving was really nice having all of us together, but unfortunately Michael, Christine, and Abby were all sick when we got there, and then I got sick too. :( But I think I'm getting over it even though I'm still coughing stuff up. Yuck.

If you can't tell from the pictures, Abby was baptized on Saturday and Nikki and Tyler are the godparents. Nana (my mom) made the dress, and yes, she has 2 bonnets on in the pictures. Mom made her one that was a little too big, and then some friends of theirs also gave them a bonnet that is made out of a lace hankerchief. When she gets married, she's supposed to carry the hankerchief with her.

Also, my cat won't leave me alone since I got back, in the most adorable way, but still. And she's now a very fat cat. I free fed her while I was gone and she gained half a pound!

Thanksgiving in a Nutshell

I'm too tired to write, so here's Thanksgiving in pictures:

Bella Sera Pinot Grigio

So I think it's going to be very hard to review this wine because it's my go-to Pinot Grigio and I've been drinking it a long time. Pinot Grigio is probably my favorite wine and there's not too much variation in brands in my opinion. There are a few I don't like, but not too many. Generally Pinot Grigio is a very plain wine to me that can be paired with anything. It's not sweet at all. It has barely any bite to it, but it's not bland either. My favorite thing to do with it is put fresh raspberries in it. I'm pretty sure wine-snobs would look down on me for that, but it's really good.

Bella Sera is $7 a bottle. Normally I'll try more expensive wines to see the differences, but even one of the 'best' Pinot Griogios, "Santa Margherita" which is $20/bottle, isn't any better to me. So, I think this will continue to be my go to for white wine.

Heroes: Kristen Bell

So, I watched Heroes at the beginning and then stopped because there were so many characters that I found uninteresting. Lately, because Kristen Bell, formerly of "Veronica Mars" is guest-starring and I'm nuts about her I started watching again. So she's definitely a bad guy. She's supposed to be a Cautionary Tale (also the title of tonight's episode) of someone living with their power for too long. She can shoot electricity from her hands (and other places, but we won't get into that) and enjoys it just a bit too much. The character up to this point is written a little bit one-note. But Kristen Bell, in my humble opinion, has given the show a nice kick in the pants. Apparently the die-hard fans don't like her because they're scared she'll take screen time from other characters, but I think she's better than most of the actors on the show. In particular Parkman, Niki/Jessica, and Mohinder could fall off a building and I really wouldn't care. At all. Oh, and Peter can die too, but we'll have to come up with another way for him. He can fly. And heal himself. Damn, I guess we can't get rid of him. I'm such a nerd.

Also, my other favorite person, Noah Bennett, a.k.a. HRG (Horn-Rimmed Glasses), pictured above, had an awesome storyline tonight and I can't wait to see what happens.

A little late...

Here's a couple halloween pics. Katie is a three hole punched piece of paper (If you watch The Office, you'll understand) Bill is a lumberjack, Amanda is a "Horny housewife" - she has a horn, and I'm the chick (no pun intended) from "The Birds". Also, Katie tells me I do not make a good blonde. Good to know. Finally, fake blood can be made from hershey's syrup and red food coloring, however it is very sticky and does not mix well with feathers. Just so you know.

Red or White?

I've been on a red wine kick lately. Usually I'm a white wine kind of a gal, but lately it's been red. So I'm going to give a little review of each of them and pretend that I know what I'm talking about. My favorite is a California red table wine called Menage a Trois (shocking!). I'm totally that girl that buys new wines to try based on the label. So lots of labels w/ animals on them (penguins, kangaroos, etc.).

The Menage a Trois is quite sweet for a red wine, and has the consistency of merlot. Not too thick, and not dry at all. I think it is too sweet for someone that enjoys Cabernet and traditional Merlots, but if you're not a red wine drinker I think this is a nice wine to try. It was quite smooth with not very much of a tannic taste. According to the lovely people at Napa, and Nikki told me this as well, tannins are what give a red wine that taste that makes your mouth pucker. I'd almost call it a sharpness. So generally, the sign of a good red wine is one that is not tannic. I will try this wine again. I believe it was around $10.

The second wine I tried was called Italo Cescon, Piave Merlot. It has a little piece of the vine from which the grapes came tied around the neck of the bottle. It's very impressive looking, but I wasn't overly fond of it. It had a strange mix of flavors. It was quite tannic, a little dry, but also had a very strange sweet flavor in the background. It's definitely not one I will try again. The bottle was $13.

The third wine I will post on later after I've opened the bottle! It's Gallo, Sonoma Reserve Merlot. I tasted it at the grocery store (yes, my local Jewel-Osco does wine tasting) and I'll give you a preview. Not a typical Merlot, a little dry, not sweet at all, but with a nice consistency that's more reminiscent of a Pinot Noir. The bottle is originally $15, but I got it for $10 since they were doing the tasting today.

Update: Ok, I really like the Gallo Merlot. It's incredibly smooth. I think it's the next step darker than a Pinot Noir really. It does have a base of sweetness to it, I was wrong, but it's just really well balanced and barely tannic. It also has a lovely flavor. Sometimes I can tell that I simply don't like the grapes the wine was made from, as with the 2nd wine, and I think the opposite is true for this wine. I'm very fond of the taste. It's somewhat complex, I think is the best way to describe it. I would highly recommend it if you like the lighter reds and are thinking about trying out some of the darker ones.

P.S. I'm totally listening to Banjo/Bluegrass music while I critique my red wine - kinda strange, huh?

Dueling Izzies

Here's the picture I promised of Izzie in my Banjo case.

Hoarders

So I was watching Oprah last night around 12:30pm and they were doing a two-part story on hoarders. You should see it, it is absolutely appalling. And yet, I can kind of understand how, over 10 or 12 years that could happen. My grandpa shackelford was a "packrat" and I remember cleaning out the two-story garage after he died. He must have had 20 or so fishing poles! So I'm watching the second part right now (I tivo-ed it) and it's inspiring me to clean out all my junk. Apparently not inspiring enough to do it right this second, but close. If you can, you should see if Oprah re-airs on your stations and check it out. They'll be doing the before and after shots tonight! And there are some clips on the website that you can watch online. http://www2.oprah.com/index.jhtml

This woman had 3000 purses, 3000 pairs of shoes, 75 TONS of trash (literally), and 1800 crates of stuff that was sold or given to goodwill. Unbelievable.

Of course, when my family moved out of the house on Meadow Ridge, we threw away 17 big yellow garbage bags of boxes. Empty boxes. Mostly used for Christmas presents. And we had to take my Grandpa's truck, fill up the bed of it as much as it would go and take it to the dump twice. So, I don't think we have much room to judge. So now, I'm going to go clean out something.

Izzie

So is anyone really surprised that my first post after the intro is about my cat? We're coming up on our one-year adoption anniversary, but, alas, we will be apart. I'm leaving Wednesday night to go to Oklahoma for Turkey day and Thanksgiving day is her anniversary. So I guess I'll have to make it up to her. Any toy ideas?

So, I've been taking Banjo lessons and because of this Izzie has a new favorite sleeping bag. My banjo case. Specifically, the round part of the (soft) case, which she just fits in perfectly. I'll post a picture when I get the chance. Hopefully Ryan, my teacher, isn't allergic because she leaves hair all over it.

She's currently sitting in her second favorite place, i.e. the chair I sit in while I'm at the computer. So of course I sit right on the edge just so she can sleep on the chair. Ok, i'm not that selfless, if she's sleeping then she doesn't walk right across the keyboard while I'm typing. I don't think she likes not being the center of attention.

My first post!

So I got the idea of doing a blog from Laura and Anna and it seemed like a good idea. Especially since I read so many of them! Also, I can't post to it at work so it's not another procrastination tool. Of course, Laura and Anna do it to keep people posted, but I don't think I can use that excuse, seeing as how I call everyone all the time "just to chat".

So what will I be blogging about? I think I'll take a cue from some of the blogs I read and split it into categories: my social life, tv (i.e., my lack of a social life), my cat Izzie, wines I like, and anything else I feel like talking about.

I probably won't update everyday since my internet at home is a little sketchy and usually only works about once every 3 days. Oh well.

So here it is..enjoy!