My Bucket List

My Bucket List

So, I’ve been thinking about doing a bucket list for some time and I have a mental list in my head, but I’ve never actually written it down. Now I’m not dying or anything. This is just for fun! I may never get to do some of these things, but they are all things that I would really like to do someday!

1. See the All Blacks perform the Haka at a rugby match

2. See the Southern Cross in the sky

3. Go to Manitoba and do the polar bear tour at Cape Churchill

4. Learn a foreign language fluently

5. Live overseas for at least one to two years

6. Go hang gliding

7. Visit Newfoundland and Prince Edward Island

8. Visit Australia and New Zealand

9. Get my master’s degree

10. Dance with a stranger

11. Go on a sleigh ride that is pulled by reindeer

12. Color my hair a weird color like purple or maroon (maybe just partially)

13. Have children

14. Own a rescue greyhound

15. Own a Peel P50

16. Do a full twist on a trampoline

17. Have someone tell me they like me “just as I am” (yes, I am channeling Bridget Jones and Mark Darcy)

18. Learn to hula dance

19. Send a secret to Postsecret

20. Go to an NBA game

21. Go out on a lobster boat and catch some lobster

22. Swim with dolphins

23. Give a stranger a hug and buy them a cup of coffee when they are having a bad day

24. See the Northern Lights

25. Be a cartoon voice

26. Take a hot air balloon ride

27. Go to Easter Island

28. Hold a baby chimpanzee or baby gorilla

29. Write my name in a giant lawn with a riding lawn mower

30. Have a spa day with a facial, back massage, and foot massage

31. Hold a wombat (I know…they are nature’s speed humps, but they are so cute)
32. Learn to play the violin
33. Take a solo trip somewhere (maybe Ireland...that's my current first choice!)

I will probably keep adding to this list, but this is what I have so far.

What would you put on your bucket list? If you are interested in sharing a list of your own, feel free to sign the linky here!

Getting in the Christmas Spirit

This year I have been having a lot of trouble getting in the Christmas Spirit. To make an effort, I decided to make a list of my favorite Christmas movies. Some of these I watch year round while others I only watch as part of my Christmas tradition.



White Christmas
This is one of my favorite movies of all-time. I admit it. I had a huge crush on Bing Crosby as a kid and developed a huge crush on Danny Kaye in my teen years. I love how Vera Ellen danced and Rosemary Clooney sang. I especially loved their dresses at the end of the movie and secretly wish I had one exactly like theirs to wear EVERY Christmas. I grew up with musicals because my mom liked them and this movie resonated with me. The songs in this movie are so good. Everytime I see snow I sing, “Snow…snow…snow….snow,” just like they did in the movie. I know I’m a dork, but wouldn’t life be more fun if sometimes we all sat around and sang like they did in the movies?



Love Actually
This movie is also among my favorites and isn’t only a Christmas tradition. I enjoy watching this film all year long. Hugh Grant is so loveable as the British PM and is just classic when he calls Margaret Thatcher a “saucy minx”. Or how about Billy Mack becoming a beloved Christmas figure by being utterly vulgar. All the characters in this are so loveable and it is one of my favorite movies because it has such wonderful actors like Emma Thompson, Alan Rickman, Martin Freeman, Colin Firth, Andrew Lincoln, and Liam Neeson. It’s such a feel good movie that personifies the new love, unrequited love, love of family, love on the rocks, and love of friendship.



While You Were Sleeping
This is another favorite movie of mine that I watch all year round. Sandra Bullock is one of the sweetest actresses and she is so wonderful in this movie. She plays Lucy, a young woman who is a booth operator at the “L” (Chicago Transit Authority) that is hopelessly in love with one of the regular riders, Peter. When he falls onto the tracks, Lucy saves him and is taken in by Peter’s family while he lays in a coma. They mistakenly think that Peter and Lucy are engaged and lots of hilarity ensues. Because Lucy doesn’t have family she is reluctant to tell Peter’s family the truth about her not being engaged to Peter. Peter also has a brother named Jack that Lucy begins to realize might be the one she is actually in love with. I really love this movie. Some of it really resonates with me which is maybe why I love it so much.



Elf
What is funnier than Will Ferrell as an elf? I can’t really think of anything. I love this movie! Zooey Deschanel is SO amazing in this as well. When she and Will Ferrell sing “Baby It’s Cold Outside” I was taken aback at what a lovely voice she has. It has this really old-timey quality to it that is just soothing to listen to. The movie also features another favorite actor of mine, Peter Dinklage! He’s so funny even though he doesn’t have an overly large part in the movie. Will Ferrell has this very innocent and hilarious quality in the film that I really enjoy and it is possibly my favorite movie of his.



The Santa Clause
OK…I’m not gonna lie. I might be a little embarrassed to put this one on, but you know what? I love this movie. Eric Lloyd was a super cute kid and Tim Allen was pretty darn funny in this movie. I also wanted to put a movie about Santa Claus in this list because I can’t leave the jolly fellow out! It’s been several years since I’ve seen this film, but I really like it and if it came on TV I would be sure to sit and watch it!





Scrooged
Scrooged is one of the first Christmas movies I remember seeing and absolutely loving besides White Christmas. Bill Murray does the unlikeable but eventually loveable Scrooge character and the cast surrounding him in this movie is awesome. Honestly, who doesn’t love Mary Lou Retton as Tiny Tim? She was my hero as a kid! I also remember thinking how hilarious Murray was when he told the production crew to staple the antlers on the reindeer mice—he was so ruthless! Glad he learned his lesson in the end!





So there you have it. My favorite Christmas movies of all-time. I know I left off the classics like It’s a Wonderful Life and Miracle on 34th Street but honestly, they are not among my favorites.

What are some of your favorite Christmas or Holiday films?

Vegemite v. Marmite – It’s On!

If you follow me and some of the Aussie, Kiwi, and UK bloggers, you might have noticed that we have been debating those unique yeasty spreads, Vegemite and Marmite. Is there a difference? Oh yes there is according to my friends from Australia, the UK, and New Zealand. All three have their own version of this yeast spread and the love for them runs deep. For the rest of us in the world that prefer our yeast in bread or adult beverages, we have no idea on what we might potentially be missing out! So I decided to settle the score. As a person that has never tasted any of these spreads, I decided to do my own taste test and decide which was the tastiest!

Here are the bloggers that have declared their allegiance:

Maree (NZ) from Just Add Books
Gemzina (NZ) from Gemzina - Devourer of Books
Fiona (UK) from The Book Coop

Rachel (AUS) from And the Plot Thickens
Bella (AUS and CAN) from A Girl Reads a Book






*If I have missed you I’m sorry, but I’m posting a poll below so you can vote there and tell me what team you’re on.

I have also vlogged the experience of my first bites of Marmite and Vegemite. I have annotated it, but the popup bubbles probably won’t show up in the embedded video so if you are interested in seeing my commentary CLICK HERE.

I also completely cheated and did the vlog in English…but part of it is Australian slang English! No non-native English speakers have sent me a vlog yet, and I really want them to vlog! So, if you are a non-native English speaker and want to vlog but are afraid to, send me a video of some phrases to say in your language (YouTube has really easy annotation function too which will be super helpful to me if you do send one).

**CLICK HERE TO SEE THE VIDEO ON YOUTUBE AND SEE THE POPUP BUBBLES THAT INCLUDES MY COMMENTARY! I RECOMMEND THIS OVER WATCHING THE EMBEDDED VIDEO**




  Also make sure you vote in the poll to declare your allegiance to Team Vegemite or Team Marmite!


   …and just to show you how cool New Zealand and Australia are, here are a couple videos that I am addicted to on YouTube.      

Book Signing - The Pacific Pt. 1

Before I get into my post about Hugh Ambrose's book signing for The Pacific, I most definitely want to tell you about how I spent the day before his appearance at the Nimitz Museum. It was one of the best days I've ever had in the 10+ years I've lived in Central Texas.

April 17, 2010 began with the Mighty Texas Dog Walk. The walk benefits Texas Service Dogs and is held every year in Central Austin. This year the goal was to beat the world record which was held by England whose event totaled 10,762 dogs. How could Austin possibly beat that number?!! I wondered myself when I registered for the event at a local Petsmart just a few days before it was going to be held. My bib number was 2003 and my friend Karen's was 4897. In addition to those low numbers, it was supposed to pour rain for most of the day so I was sure that turnout wouldn't be very high. I packed my dog Max into the car at 6:30 am and we drove the 30+ minutes to Downtown Austin to find a parking space. We were definitely one of the early birds, but there were vendors that were handing out lots of goodies for the dogs right before the starting line.

I met up with Karen and her dog Mhina and a little after 8:00 we raided the vendor tables for free dog treats, reusable shopping bags, coupons, and then started the three mile trek through downtown. Austin is very dog friendly, and it was so great to just see all the people walking with their dogs. We even saw a family walking with their eight Chihuahuas in a stroller! Eight! I couldn't believe it! As we crossed the starting line, the MC actually called out my dog and asked what he was. I proudly told him that Max was a whippet (I didn't tell him that he was a crazy whippet...which he TOTALLY IS), but I felt special for his being noticed. Max and Mhina were both really well behaved and they walked like champs. Karen and I got to visit throughout the walk which was pretty leisurely because people and dogs always want to socialize. There were volunteers in the road at water stations that gave the dogs and people water. Best of all, the weather was awesome! It was nice and overcast which kept it cool, but it didn't rain at all while we were walking. After we finished, we picked up more goodies from the tables and then walked to my car. I gave Karen and Mhina a ride to their car and right when she got into her car it started pouring rain! We really lucked out! Max was exhausted (he normally doesn't really get up until about 1:00 pm), and I drove him to my friend's apartment so she could watch him for the rest of the day while I drove to Fredericksburg for the book signing.

I didn't hear whether or not the walk broke the world record for most dogs walked, but I did read on the Texas Service Dogs May Newsletter which said that we did in fact beat the world record with a total of 11,256 dogs walked! My dog, Max is a world record holder! How exciting is that?!!

My dog Max

I didn't have a lot of time to visit with my friend or even eat lunch because I planned extremely poorly and realized that Fredericksburg was an hour and a half drive from her apartment. I panicked a little because I had been looking forward to the Hugh Ambrose signing for over a month. I had faithfully watched the first few episodes of The Pacific on HBO after having waited eight years for Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks to make it (they made Band of Brothers in 2001 which is one of my favorite films/series of all time). 

I didn't want to miss it or look like a total chump walking in late to a book signing (which most likely included many veterans or family members of veterans) so I hopped into my car and sped to Fredericksburg (ok police officers--I didn't really speed much because I drive a Prius) hoping that I would make it in time.


...Did I make it? Come back tomorrow to find out!


In the meantime, look at my pictures from the event and check out my friend Karen's entry about it at her blog, Arborescence.

OT Follow-Up: Trivia Anyone?

A few weeks ago I wrote about how I've started going to trivia night at a local bar. The trivia always features one question about books (or the two weeks I've gone it has). Three weeks ago I posted the following question:

These three books are all first novels. Name the author of each of them:

1. Soldier's Pay
2. The Sun Also Rises
3. Player Piano

The answers are as follows:

1. Soldier's Pay - William Faulkner
2. The Sun Also Rises - Ernest Hemingway
3. Player Piano - Kurt Vonnegut

The only one I knew on this particular trivia night was The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway. Leeswammes correctly guessed Player Piano. I am thinking that she would be great to bring along to a trivia night! Too bad she lives so far away! I am going to trivia next Wednesday so I will try to remember to post the book question from it. Nice job leeswammes!

**I put links to Amazon.com for the three books. Just click on the book title in the question portion (not the answer portion) to see a description of the book on Amazon's site if you are interested in reading any of these. The Sun Also Rises is on my TBR List for this year! I hope I get to it!

OT: Trivia Anyone?

I've been a little M.I.A. these last few weeks because I feel like I've become a little bit of a shut-in. So, to combat that, I've been making more of an effort of going out and having fun with friends. I've recently been attending a few Sci-Fi Meetups through Meetup.com and I'm still attending the Thrill Me! Book Club through Meetup.com as well.

Last night, my husband and I went with a friend to Wednesday night quiz night at Waterloo Icehouse in South Austin to get our trivia on! I decided to go ahead and write a post about it since there was a quiz question that had to do with books. Sadly, I only knew one of the answers, but I did end up learning something so I thought I'd share this book trivia question with you all!  Here's the question from last night's bar trivia:

These three books are all first novels. Name the author of each of them:

1. Soldiers' Pay
2. The Sun Also Rises
3. Player Piano

Our team, The J. Walter Weathermen, took first place last night (largely due to all my teammates who were AWESOME). We won a $30 gift card for the Waterloo Icehouse which will be great for us all to have an adult beverage at next week's trivia night! We also got our picture put on the Geeks Who Drink blog! Go check out our picture!

Also, if you know the answers to the question comment on my blog and I'll let you know if you're right (...and no cheating! We couldn't look up the answers on our smartphones so you can't look up the answers either)!

OT: HBO's The Pacific - Weeks 1-3

For 8 years, I waited for Tom Hanks and Stephen Spielberg to make a film about the Pacific War in WWII. Band of Brothers was so amazing that I still watch it a few times a year. Three weeks ago, The Pacific debuted on HBO and it really didn't disappoint. The subject matter focused on Band of Brothers and The Pacific were so different that the films have an entirely different feel. In Band of Brothers, you watch the first episodes where the men in the 101st Airborne start out training together and follow them through the entire European war. In The Pacific, the filmmakers throw you into the mix right away--it's difficult to know who everyone is and the chaos is intense from the very beginning. I am enjoying the short clips on historical background for each new episode of The Pacific--men that fought in this theater are interviewed at the beginning of every episode and stock footage is shown. It makes each episode more personal knowing that these men were not just characters on television for some big budget series but were real men who fought hard to keep not only our nation safe, but those of our allies too.


I decided to post a few of the videos from HBO.com and will continue each week as they release them. I feel that this series and Band of Brothers were so special that everyone should see them. I have had friends who say they just can't stomach watching a war film, but these really are historical films that show the triumphs and horrors of war. It is important that every person knows the toll of war on our servicemen and servicewomen because, in my opinion, it makes us more thoughtful about entering conflicts. I thank all of our servicemen and servicewomen for their sacrifices in our current wars and all previous wars. All of you have given a tremendous amount of yourselves to our country.


If you are interested in reading about WWII in the Pacific, here are a few books that the HBO series is based on:


Helmet for My Pillow by Robert Leckie
With the Old Breed by Eugene B. Sledge

Red Blood, Black Sand by Chuck Tatum

China Marine by Eugene B. Sledge

HBO also has a companion book written by Hugh Ambrose called The Pacific. 

HBO also has tons of information on the war and is worth taking a look at. Click HERE to go to The Pacific website at HBO.com.

Episode One
Here is Part 1 of the historical background on Guadalcanal that HBO.com posted on their website. It also aired right before the beginning of the first episode of The Pacific:

Historical Background, Part 1: Guadalcanal Landing

*SPOILER ALERT* Here is the recap for Episode 1 of The Pacific:

The Pacific - Part 1 Recap

Episode Two:

Here is Part 2 of the Historical Background on Guadalcanal. It set up the second episode of the series wonderfully and gave a good sense of the intensity of the fight.

Historical Background, Part 2: Guadalcanal Defense

*SPOILER ALERT* Here is a recap of Episode 2 of The Pacific:

The Pacific - Recap Part 2

Episode Three:

Here is Part 3 of the Historical Background on the Marines who ported in Australia after the battle at Guadalcanal.

Historical Background, Part 3: Melbourne

*PREVIEW* Here is a preview of Episode 3 of The Pacific:

The Pacific - Episodic #3

100 Mile Fitness Challenge

Trish at 100 Mile Fitness Challenge has been running (no pun intended) her quarterly fitness challenge between January and March this year. Recently, she posted a giveaway for the participants of the challenge to help motivate us through our last few weeks of the challenge. I thought that was really great of her and Dana (who is providing the prizes for the giveaway from her Etsy Shop called Words to Sweat By) to have this giveaway because honestly, I really don't enjoy exercising very much even though I ALWAYS feel better when I exercise.

For the giveaway we are supposed to tell people what motivates our exercising and how we can help motivate others. So here it goes:

I am really motivated to exercise when I am held accountable by friends or from the 100 Mile Fitness challenge weekly progress report. I don't want to let them down or quite frankly, I would  be embarrassed to admit that all I did is sit on the couch and read or watch TV all week long while others are working their butts off to be active. I'm also more motivated to exercise when my clothes stop fitting like I want them to, and when my clothes become too baggy and I need to buy new ones! I would like to motivate people to join a fitness challenge because it has been quite a bit of fun to participate in this one. We are all at different fitness levels and everyone is really honest about their successes and failures so I don't feel alone if I only report two or four miles for the week. Lately my tendonitis has come back in my shoulder and I haven't been able to lift any weights for my exercise videos, but I don't feel bad about saying that I have had to take it easy because there are others that are struggling with the same things. It's just nice to know you're not alone! I also feel so much better and energetic when I exercise on a regular basis, and I secretly think in my head that I'm as awesomely fit as the ladies in the video! It's not true at all, but maybe someday I'll get there! Hehehe!

Please check out Dana's Etsy Shop called Words to Sweat By. She makes super cute towels that you can take to the gym with you or just keep by your side when you are doing your exercises at home.  If you are interested in the 100 Mile Fitness Challenge, please visit Trish's blog as well and sign up for the next round. It's really great fun and motivating! I haven't been trying to lose a whole lot of weight, but I've managed to lose five pounds by just exercising (not changing my diet at all). My goal for the next round is to be more consistent about exercising and start to eat a healthier diet so that I'll continue to lose weight.

Do you have any weight loss or fitness goals? What motivates you to become more fit? I'd love to hear your answers because if you know me, you know that I love to sit on the couch all day and eat bad food and watch movies! I am always open to some extra inspiration from you all!

OT: HBO's The Pacific

I know that this is a book blog, but I do watch a lot of TV too and sometimes there are just shows that are special enough for me to mention on this blog (see my Olympics post).

I am SO excited about HBO's The Pacific which is premiering on March 14. Some years ago, HBO released Band of Brothers which followed the 101st Airborne from the days of their initial training all the way through to the end of WWII in Europe. It was one of the most powerful shows I've ever seen and is my favorite war film of all time. I can't say enough good things about the series...it was mind blowing. I'm sure that The Pacific is going to be great. I've included a link to The Pacific website and the extended trailer found on the site. Honestly, I think it's worth paying for HBO just so that I can see this. If I didn't have it already, I would order it for the duration of the show! That's how good Band of Brothers was!

Click picture to see HBO's The Pacific Website

The Pacific (Extended Trailer)

I am so glad that Stephen Spielberg, Tom Hanks, and Gary Goetzman decided to do this series. They did such a wonderful job telling the story of our WWII soldiers in Europe that I think they will honor our soldiers that fought in the Pacific Theater just as well. 

The Pacific series is based on a few different books:

Helmet for My Pillow by Robert Leckie

With the Old Breed by Eugene B. Sledge

Red Blood, Black Sand by Chuck Tatum

China Marine by Eugene B. Sledge

Band of Brothers was based on the book written by Stephen Ambrose. Both series also included a lot of research through interviews with the soldiers it was based on. Band of Brothers included an incredible documentary featuring the men that fought in the 101st Airborne. I actually got tears in my eyes while watching it after seeing the sacrifice they made for our country. I did read Band of Brothers after watching the series numerous times and I can say that it was very true to the book. It is a fast read and is very well done. I highly recommend it to anyone that is interested in the time period. The TV series was so good that I hope Spielberg and Hanks will continue bringing our soldiers stories to life on the screen. It's eye opening watching. It doesn't glorify war, but shows the human and inhuman side to it. I loved every moment and thank our servicemen and servicewomen for the sacrifices they make for us. 

Band of Brothers Trailer

Olympics!!!

I am so sorry I haven't been posting lately. I promise I will get back to posting in the next week or so. I've still been reading, but there is this thing on TV that I'm totally addicted to--the Winter Olympics! I love the Olympics! I love all the sportsmanship and camaraderie that the games promote. Most of all I love the excitement of the athletes competing and winning!

Here are my favorite moments of the Games so far:

• Johnny Spillane winning a silver medal in the Men's Nordic Combined. It was the first nordic skiing medal EVER for the United States! Also, the USA Men's Team in the Team Nordic Combined event won silver as well! Super awesome and exciting!
• Alexandre Bilodeau winning Canada's first gold medal at an Olympic Games that they hosted. 
• Aerials freestyle skier, David Morris' reaction after barely missing out on making the men's finals after landing a great jump in aerials freestyle skiing. He was so pumped at just being at the Olympics that he looked like he had just won a gold medal. The crowd went crazy at his enthusiastic reaction. He also dyed his hair yellow and green--awesome country spirit!

I really love Vancouver and Whistler and am so excited that they got to put on the Olympics. Despite the weather not cooperating, I think Canada has done a stellar job. 

If you've been watching the Olympics, what are you favorite moments of the Games so far? How do you think Canada has done putting on this year's Olympics?