On to the new year!

Christmas is over now...on to 2010!  Shawn and I made it back home (Mimi & Ian - and the doggies - are safe back in Texas as well).  It took quite a bit to make our apartment livable again after all the visitors we had...but we did it!  The apartment is clean, laundry is all done, the bathrooms are restocked with toilet paper :)  The Christmas stuff is all still up because I just can't take it down yet.  I love my Christmas tree...maybe I'll take it down in a week or so.

Shawn & got a game for the Wii called Smarty Pants from Theresa and it is so much fun!  We played a few games and we each won a couple so additional rematches will be necessary.  We had such a good time playing though.  There is a part where you can try to steal a question from the other player if they already buzzed in but you know it.  In order to actually steal it though, you and the other player have to have a "tug of war" using the wii remotes.  Oh wow!  We did that once and it was so hard!  Both of our arms were sore afterward!  Haha!  But I won so it is ok :)

Today is the time to get stuff sorted and put away, while also getting all the bills and stuff that I've been putting off taken care of.  Shawn will FINALLY have health insurance again once Jan 1 rolls around, so I needed to take care of some stuff with that (gotta love making calls to Blue Cross Blue Shield).  Also we decided to change our Netflix stuff around, which turned out to be slightly more complicated than I though, so I had to make a call to them and luckily the guy I spoke to was SO nice!  Also needed to update some stuff with the renters insurance, so of course more calls for that...then to deal with Comcast who are a bunch of idiots!  I also put a digital copy of Harry Potter & The Half Blood Prince on my iPod, so that will be fun for work tonight!  Woohoo! I got some new Christmas music as well as the new Rob Thomas CD for Christmas so those have been added to my music library as well.  Love it! Oh well, I got all my stuff taken care of and now it is time for a nap before work!

Indy visit

Today was our last Christmas...with the Mannings.  We did our normal Christmas Eve thing but not on Christmas Eve this year.  Shawn and I got our gifts from Dave as well as a little something from Colleen & the girls. I got the 4th season of Bones (which is awesome!) as well as Wii Sports Resort.  Shawn and I are really excited to play that!  Shawn got a couple of gift cards and a graphic novel he wanted.  We had a great time hanging out with Haley & Holly too. We played Twilight Scene It (kind of...we couldn't find the remote to the DVD player).  I think Haley & Holly are gonna come over tomorrow too since its our last day here.

Shawn and I drove to Indy for dinner with Theresa & Albert.  It was so nice hanging out with them for awhile, although it just doesn't feel exactly right without Andrew.  We went out to dinner at Texas Roadhouse (yummy) then we went back to Theresa's place to play a new game she got called Apples to Apples.  It was so fun!  Albert won.  We also played a sword game on the Wii Sports Resort.  Albert calls it Swordsies.  It is basically walking along and killing people with a sword.  Sweet!  I played too and I am awesome at the easy levels...we'll see how good I am when I get to the hard levels though!

Tomorrow is going to be a chill day since it our last day here as well as Mimi & Ian's last day here.  We are gonna do some after Christmas shopping (for like wrapping paper and cards and stuff), then some of us are gonna go see Avatar (no one has seen it except us), then we are gonna have Puerto Vallarta for dinner (yummy).  When we got home this evening we got to see the doggies :)  I love to play with my sweet Annie Puppy Girl.  She is starting to look old though...she muzzle is getting gray hairs.  Poor baby!  I am getting tired though, so time for bed.

Three Christmases

Christmas has come and gone and as usual it has been a whirlwind for us!  We have three of our typical four Christmases done though and we might get to relax and just enjoy having Mimi & Ian here on Monday!

We did Christmas in Chicago on Christmas Eve with my Dad's family and my Aunt Mel & Uncle Glenn's house.  Since Mom, Eric, Sara, Ian & Mimi were all staying with me we all went together.  It was a blast!  Eric got to enjoy the full experience that is my Dad's side of the family!  Loud & crazy but really fun!  I had to cut out early though because I had to work that night (Boo!). I did get a chance to exchange gifts with Dad & Ana before I left and they got Shawn & me both Blackhawks Jerseys!  They are so awesome!  We both wore ours today :) 

Christmas morning when I arrived home from work Mom, Eric, Sara, Mimi, Ian and Shawn were all awake and ready for presents!  Our stockings were all hung neatly by the window.

Plus there were a ton of presents under the tree!  (There are a bunch you can't see crammed behind that couch...haha)

We changed the normal Christmas rules and let mom open her presents first.  She got some movies she wanted (Star Trek of course!) and we also got her this personalized family tree ornament that has all six of our names on it!

Next was Eric's turn.  He got some fun stuff (like the Star Trek Communicator from mom) as well as some useful stuff (a super cool tie from me).  Of course there were movies in his pile...there always are.  Not too bad!

Sara had a pretty good pile too, especially when you consider that Mimi almost forgot Sara's presents back in Muncie.  Oops :)  But it was fine...they were all there for her to open.  Sara loved the new season of LOST from us as well as her jar of Baconnaise from Mom.  If you watch John Stewart you'll know why that is hilarious!

Shawn got The Complete Series of That 70's Show from Mom, which is something her really wanted!  Plus since he and I decided not to get presents for each other this year we each just got one small present and these are the awesome Colts jammie pants I got him.  He loves that they match his Colts Christmas hat :)

Shawn wrapped my present all by himself...which is fairly evident if you look at it! He got me the 3rd season of Bones to go with seasons 1 & 2 that I got with birthday money from his parents.  Yay!  We also got some good movies, like Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, The Chipmunk Adventure, Up, & Harry Potter & The Half Blood Prince.  We'll have plenty to watch!  I also got a sweet travel glass from Starbucks that I have been wanting.

Mimi & Ian got some presents too but apparently we forgot to take pictures of them.  I promise they were there :)  We all got good stuff and had a great time together!  Mimi, Mom, Sara & I played The Beatles Trivial Pursuit while dinner was cooking then we all played Scene It: The 80's later that night.  Scene It was pretty intense but we laughed a ton and that is what it is all about.  Ian & Mimi won, but Shawn and I have demanded a rematch!  Results to follow.

Today we headed toward Muncie with stop in Burlington to visit Shawn's family.  Shawn's parents got us some nice stuff including some Cubs Jersey shirts, a new wallet for Shawn and some Captain Morgan glasses for his drinks.  We had some lasagna and chatted for a bit before heading to Muncie to prepare for one last Christmas tomorrow with the Mannings.  P.S. We are wearing our new Hawks Jersey's in this picture!

Needless to say, we were all pretty exhausted after these few days!  I was napping too but seeing as this is my blog my sleeping picture did not make the cut!  Don't they look sweet? 

Tomorrow after the Manning Christmas we will pick up the dogs...I am so excited to see them!

P.S.

I almost forgot to mention (to those readers who don't know yet) that I am going to be an Auntie (finally) in June!  Baby Richardson is due to arrive on June 2nd!  Mimi and Ian are going to find out the sex in a couple of weeks!  We are all so excited!

It's Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

Just got home from work a couple of hours ago and we all just finished opening presents and eating homemade biscuits and gravy (yummy).  Now to sleep a few hours (since I've been awake now for 26 hours or so) then Christmas dinner!

It's almost here...

Christmas is one of my favorite times of year for many reasons.

I LOVE my Christmas Tree.  It is totally unlike the tree I had growing up (not that I don't love your tree Mom...) and it is exactly me! It is all blue, white and silver...which is beautiful to me!  I wrap all the present matching paper so the entire look coordinates.  It makes me happy.

Christmas music makes me smile and often times it makes me cry.  Just today on the way to work I was listening to my Christmas playlist and ended up in tears.  There is just something about this time of year that gets my emotions all swirly. Songs about being away from those you love make me cry. Songs about children not having the kind of Christmas I was always able to enjoy make me cry.

Christmas lights and decorations are so cheerful!  I love to see stores all decorated and lights lining the streets.  The houses that go all out with lights all over the house and yard and with Santa & his sleigh on the roof make me smile (even though I DO NOT want my house to ever look this crazy).  People's homes all decorated with decorations made by the kids at school are so sweet.

Of course, we can't forget mistletoe.  What's Christmas without mistletoe :)  Mine is hanging in the doorway to the kitchen...but it's made of bells.  It's so cute!

My favorite thing about Christmas is being able to spend time with the people I love.  I get to see my family.  All of my families.  We do different things and have different traditions with each group, but they are all great!  We all eat too much food, laugh a lot, sing Christmas songs, watch Christmas movies, and play games (with a dose of healthy competition - I am so gonna beat Mimi & Ian and Twilight Scene It next week with my awesome partner Haley).

I am so glad that Christmas is almost here!

Avatar

As I mentioned in my last post, Shawn and I went to see Avatar on Friday. If you haven't heard of this movie yet then you must be living in a void because they have been talking about it for months now! James Cameron (director of Titanic) is the mastermind behind this movie. He has been dreaming up this film for over 10 years and finally has created the technology to make it possible. Special 3D cameras were created to allow the style of this film to become a reality, as well as some kind of headset that allowed the actors to visualize themselves in the environment of the planet Pandora while they were acting in motion-capture suits on green-screens.  There is much more to this aspect that I learned in an interview with Sigourney Weaver on The Daily Show.  She plays scientist, Dr. Grace Augustine in the film.  I will try to find a video of this interview because it was quite interesting.

This film takes place on a planet called Pandora.  Paraplegic Marine, Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), is working with a team of scientists led by Dr. Augustine (Weaver) to study the planet of Pandora as well as the inhabitants, called the Na'vi.  He is also reporting to the military as he tries to find something the Na'vi people might want so that the military can negotiate a relocation due to their home being located on a huge reserve of a very precious, valuable mineral to the people of Earth.  Jake agrees to help the military in exchage for a sugery that will restore the use of his legs.  Dr. Augustine has created an "Avatar" identity for Jake (as well as herself and others) that allow them to explore the native environment and people.  Problems arise that cause some ethical dilemma's for Jake as he meets Neytiri (Zoe Saldana) and she begins to teach him the ways of the Na'vi. 

The planet of Pandora was created in such detail that during the movie you really do feel as though you are there.  A linguist was hired by Cameron to create the Na'vi language and all the unique creatures were created specially for the unique environment of Pandora.  The reason there are scientists studying Pandora is partly due to it's unique biological nature.  The entire planet, including plants, trees, animals, as well as the Na'vi, seems to be interconnected by a series of neronal-like networks.  The Na'vi can literally connect there minds with the other life forms on the planet so the entire world is working in harmony.  One of the things about Pandora that was visually so interesting was the was this life force within the plants, animal and Na'vi shown out them.  Literally...there was a bioluminescence that eminated from all living things.  The Na'vi diety, called Ehwa, guided and protected this force.  It is hard to explain but extremely interesting and made visually for a stunning world that I wish really existed because I want to go there!

Shawn described this movie as a cross between Ferngully and Dances with Wolves, and I think that is a fairly good description.  As in Ferngully, the natives are trying to make the humans realized that the forest has a life force that is worth protecting and living in sync with while the humans simply want to come through and destroy for monetary gain.  Dances with Wolves is comparable just as other movies about the destruction of the Native American way of life are reflected in this film.  The people of Earth find something they want and simply because they are ignorant and money hungry the look past the unique aspects of the native people and try to displace them from their home and their way of life.  The message throughout the film is very touching and due to the amazingly realistic nature of the world of Pandora and the people of the Na'vi, you feel as though you are part of it.  The movie was quite long (over 2-1/2 hours) but it didn't feel that way at all.  I found myself gripping Shawns hand tightly many times because I was so involved in the film.  And of course we can't leave out the several times that I cried.  This film is one of the best movies I have seen and I can't wait to see it again!