Recommendations

I thought I'd start out the new year with a couple of recommendations for everyone (not that y'all have been sitting on pins and needles waiting for my lofty suggestions. Oh crap, did I really just write "y'all"? I've been in Utah for too long. I'm going to go cry in a corner and pretend that my first instinct was to write "you guys" or at least "you all" in two words...)


Wayne and I got to go see an actual new release movie in an actual movie theater (gasp!) last Saturday (thanks for the babysitting Sharon!). To the average citizen this may seem like nothing special, but it's been a year and a half since I've seen a movie in the theater. It was the last Harry Potter movie. And the time before that was a year earlier when we wasted a theater trip on "Blades of Glory". Yes, our theater experiences are few and far between these days. It's a sad occurance for someone like me who is (maybe too) interested in movies and television and knows what the reviews are saying for all movies, whether I want to see them or not, and who for many years pictured my future working in the film industry. It's semi-heartbreaking to think that it's barely an annual event to get to a mother-loving cineplex... anyway, rant over. The movie we went and saw was The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and I have to say, it was honestly one the BEST movies I've ever seen. I'm seriously considering bumping Dead Poets Society out of the top spot of my favorite dramatic movies. It's one of those movies that just stays with you. Wayne loved it too, which says a lot for the movie, because we don't always have the same taste in flicks, especially dramatic ones. It's hard to give a review of the movie without giving away too much of the plot, but simply put it's about a man who ages backwards. It stars the gorgeous Brad Pitt, which of course is a reason to get in the car and drive to the theater on its own (kidding, Wayne). But the film's two biggest compliments would have to be 1) that although it runs almost 3 hours, Wayne and I both agreed that we felt like we'd only been in the theater 15 minutes, and 2) I almost, almost cried at least 3 times. That's big. Wayne cried at approximately 5 points in the movie (kidding again, Wayne. Although I heard some sniffles coming from your general direction at the end). In conclusion, everyone should go get a babysitter and go see this movie. I would pay someone to watch my kids just to go see it again.

Right now I'm obsessed with Colbie Caillat's cd "Coco". I started hearing more and more songs from the album on Pandora, and after realizing that I was in love with every one, I decided to buy the whole darn cd off itunes. Best. Purchase. Ever. You know how with most cd's you like about 80% of the songs, but there are like 3 that you skip over every time? Yeah, not on this cd. Every time a new song comes on I think "Oh, this one is my favorite!", and then of course the song changes and I think the same thing for the next one, etc etc... (edit: I just realized that I do skip one. The song 'Capri' starts out "she's got a baby inside, and holds her belly tight". It hasn't been long enough since Seth was born for me to look back on pregnancy with happy nostalgia, so if I catch those words I tend to hit 'next'). My particular favorite tracks (today) are: Magic, Oxygen, Older, One Fine Wire, Feelings Show, Battle, Bubbly... ok there are 12 tracks and I've singled out 7 and could keep going, so you get the picture. I love Colbie's voice, very smooth and mellow, and the whole cd is very sing-along-able, which is big for me, because I like singing along with people who sound better than me and pretending that I sound as good as the voice that's drowning me out. So, check it out. Maybe I'm not cool, and this isn't the kind of music the kids are into anymore, I honestly don't know, I just don't listen to the radio these days. If I'm no longer hip, feel free to laugh at me, and I'll know to start using phrases like "Well, back in my day...".

I know this whole post is sort of out of left field, but it's just what I felt like writing. One day I'll get around to writing the posts that I've been meaning to do, so in the hopefully near future, look forward to:

* Seth's 6-month update

* Christmas

* My 6-month Post-Baby goal: met!

* Lexie's School Update

* Wayne's job update

Tradition!

Last night was our annual O'Bryant&Tomlinson New Year's Fondue party! We were trying to remember how many years we've done this with Cory and Mindy, and we think this was year number 4. All I know is that it was a lot easier before we started having kids! But this year went remarkably smooth, compared to last year's fire fiasco (which is a story for another day...). Unfortunately we didn't get any pictures of us eating the first course of steak cooked in oil and bread in cheese, most likely because we waited to start eating until the kids were all in bed, and by then we were all starving! There's no time for photo ops when you're busy stuffing your face as fast as possible. Even though this was the first year that Wayne and Cory have not worked for the same company since we all got married, somehow the conversation STILL turned to work 95% of the time. Some things never change, eh Mindy? But I guess that's just part of the tradition: The boys rambling on and on and on about inventory strategies while the girls roll their eyes at each other from across the table... After the main course, we played Mario Party (tradition) on Wii and ate chocolate fondue until we were all beyond sick and wanted to kill ourselves (thus completing the tradition). This year Mindy found adorable little bottles of Martinelli's for us to drink at Midnight (No, those bottles we're drinking from are NOT beer). So it was 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, NEW YEARS, cheers, shot, and kiss. Cory was the only one "man" enough to down his entire bottle on the shot. And then, because we're all old and pathetic, we quickly finished our game, cleaned the kitchen, packed everything up, and headed off to bed before the new year rounded out it's first hour. Yes, we're lame.

A few photo notes:
* Wayne put a lot of care into staging our fondue shots. Go Wayne.
* Wayne's "8 year old on Christmas Morning Playing Wii" shot was staged. His eyes are not normally filled with that much child-like wonder.
* The many laughing shots are a result of Cory downing his entire bottle of Martinelli's, burping LOUDLY in Mindy's face, then leaning into his wife expectantly for a big kiss.