Things I Took Away From Watching The Holiday

Alright, so I view movies as much more than just entertainment. To me, if there are lessons or morals in the movie that I can apply to my own life, then the movie is a real keeper and they are doing something right. Or sometimes, even if it just inspires me to write something of my own or think a little more, I love that about it too, because obviously there was something in there that sparked my interest. That is just what I got from The Holiday. I've seen it before, yes, but this time, I noticed a few more things that I haven't before. Let's review:

• We shouldn't be afraid to take risks: Iris and Amanda do that when they decide to swap houses are taking a very big risk by going to not only different states, but different countries to escape their problems. They don't know anyone or their way aroundSometimes the best joys in life and greatest rewards come from those moments. Yes, it's cliche, but it's also very true. 
• Not all strangers are bad: This point seems to be pretty self explanatory because the more they got to know the people around them, they realized that they could play some pretty big roles in their life. You just have to learn who is good and who is bad. Sometimes that's harder to figure out than you initially plan for, but, oh well.
• I want to have a "meet-cute" in real life: A meet-cute is (according to Urban Dictionary) a "Scenario in which two individuals are brought together in some unlikely, zany, destined-to-fall-in-love-and-be-together-forever sort of way (the more unusual, the better)." I think about this a lot, actually, I just never realized there was a technical term for it. Although, it usually has to do with me meeting one of my favorite celebrities at an award show and instantly having a connection, we fall in love, and we lived happily ever after. I'm not sure how crazy that is, but it's the way I would want it to happen really. 
• I need to stop acting like the "best friend" and more like the "leading lady" in my life: Sometimes, I just feel like I'm here to be there for other people; to encourage them and make them look good. I mainly felt like this in high school, because I didn't always know how to speak up or to use my voice without feeling rude about having an opinion. I am now learning what it means to be a leading lady; to be there for others when they need you, but to also do the things that you want and let people know how you feel when the time is right.
• English people just have a certain charm about them: They have a way of using brilliant words and being enchanting when you come in contact with them. Though I have never met anyone from England, this movie was very clear on what they would be like. They're fascinating! And I just really love their accents.
• I don't consider Jack Black to be the leading man type: Jack Black is a comedian. I mean, he's Nacho Libre. And Nacho Libre does not scream romance, does it?? Well, this movie changed that. No, I don't think he's cute. But, I think he has this way of being charming because of his personality. He still showed his funny and witty side in the character, and having other people that are normally in these kinds of movies helped balance him out.
• Love will find you when you least expect it: That's what everyone says. Oh, when you stop looking for love, it will find you. It sounds really lame to me. But, when you watch movies like this, it totally changes your opinion that maybe, just maybe something out of the ordinary can happen and you will find the love of your life that way.
• When the Santa Ana winds blow, anything can happen: I've lived in California my entire life, but I never knew this. So, see, now I will be paying much closer attention to the changes in the wind.
• The tent scene: It's just one of those really big "AWWWWWW" moments! You have to see it. You'll be clutching your little heart right and left.
• "I love corny. I'm looking for corny in my life." This. I think we all need a little corny in our lives to keep things fun. Am I right?
• I think in terms of movie trailers or climax moments: I am very much like Amanda in this sense. When something has happened in my life, whether it was a conversation or a big event in my life, I play it back in my mind as if it were a movie. I think of everything I would have said or how it would've been a lot better if there was a lighting crew or makeup team standing right by me the entire time to make things a little more interesting for the sake of the moment. I have certain scenes that also just play in my head to make my life more dramatic sometimes. I refer to those when things are a little slow around here.
• This movie reminds me of why I love Hollywood and the movie industry. It's pretty simple, really. It's the kind of feel good movies like this that make me love the whole process of movie making or creating something really magical where it just makes people happy after they see it. If I ever get into TV or movies, these are the kinds of films that I'd want to make. 

That's basically all I wanted to say. If you've never seen this movie, I would definitely check it out.

~Shelby

It's The Magic Of Christmas Day

I awoke to my lovely alarm blaring Aly&AJ's "Greatest Time Of Year", because I knew if I didn't set an alarm, I probably wouldn't wake up until noon, and that's just unheard of on Christmas day. My parents were always usually the ones waking me up if I recall over the years, I don't remember ever really dragging them out of bed. Who knows?! But, I sure do like my sleep. 

So, I took a few moments to wake up, then went out to the living room, greeting my parents with "Merry Christmases" and a hug. We pretty much dove right into the present opening, which I didn't mind. We'd rotate between my mom, dad and I with opening gifts. My dad had the most since my mom and I had already gotten our big presents, and we totally could've gone without getting anything else, but we really appreciate and are grateful for the fact that we did still have presents. 

We turned on our electric heater, the Christmas lights, and it all felt very warm and cozy, especially with our wooden floors we put in this year. Although, it was a bit harder to sit on, so we brought blankets and pillows, so it wouldn't hurt as much. 

It took us about an hour to open everything, which worked out perfectly in time to watch the Disney Christmas parade, which I always get really excited about. I'm a fan of tradition, what can I say?

My mom made pancakes and we watched the parade, then I tried messing around with this new gadget. I got a mic recorder that is supposed to plug into your phone and do some cool things, but for whatever reason it won't work. So, after awhile of trying to record with it, my mom and I gave up. 

My mom started getting ready and doing things in the kitchen, my dad took a little nap, and I was just having a hard time waking up or getting the motivation to do anything. 

Eventually, around noon, I figured I should start getting ready, because everyone would be coming over soon and I hate getting ready once everyone is getting there; I don't know why, I just think it's weird. So, I did just that. And everyone ended up getting to our house, while I was still getting ready, but oh well. What can you do? 

I went out to the kitchen to visit with everyone; my aunts and uncle were there, my cousin came, and a few minutes later, my grandparents walked in. My mom was finishing up the last minute touches on the meal, then my grandpa prayed over the food and we ate. It all smelled so wonderful and I was getting hungry, so I was excited about it. The ladies sat at the table, while the guys stayed in the living room to watch football. After we started eating, I started not feeling good at all, so I didn't even really finish everything. I just felt sick and mopey a good portion of the afternoon. 

We were all a little boring after we ate, because everyone was pretty wiped out. We watched TV and talked and my other cousin came over for a bit after she got off work. Some of the family skyped with my uncles in South Carolina and Utah, we decided to take some family pictures (since we rarely do) then we all opened presents. 

I walked outside with my aunt and mom for a couple minutes to take pictures of the beautiful sunset that was going on. It was a perfect winter day; crisp, clear, and COLD. After a few minutes of taking pictures, it was too much to handle, so we went back inside. It was a nice break to get out of the house, though. 

The rest of the night was pretty low key. My cousin, Carissa, left around 6 or so, and my grandparents left not too long after her. I thought the party was winding down, but really, it was still kicking. My aunt left a little while later, and it looked like my other aunt and uncle were going to, as well. I was thinking it was way too early for everyone to be heading home so soon, but we ended up watching some of Hope Floats on TV. And quote of the night goes to my uncle, "She's so pretty, I like Sandra Bullock!" hahahaha. Somehow, I got my second wind on this, because I started laughing at just about everything and it is definitely not a comedy. My family was looking at me like I was crazy and I loved it. We were all just hanging out; my aunt was telling me all these great ideas of things to use for face wash and my uncle was falling asleep, and the rest of us were just laughing.

We watched Christmas Vacation after Hope Floats ended, and let me just say...It is THE perfect movie to watch with your family. Because, it is then you realize how normal you and your family are and that you don't have a cousin Eddie. That's something to count your lucky stars over. We ate popcorn and laughed our heads off (even though my parents and I have seen it a gazillion times) and just had a great time. Those are the moments I live for. If I could seriously have one wish...It would be to have all of my family together from Utah and South Carolina, just hanging out, watching movies or who knows? Even making crazy music videos, because apparently that's what we do these days. 

When everyone else decided to leave when the movie was over, my parents and I watched a Christmas special on Andy Williams and I looked up random things on Tumblr. I spend way too much time on there, but it's just so fascinating. I find some of the greatest quotes and ideas on there. 

SO EXCITED ABOUT JANUARY! I had to write everything down on my new calendar. 

This is seriously me!

I want this shirt! 

The rest of the night I watched One Tree Hill and The Office, and it was a pretty nice time, I must say. And that was the ending of Christmas. Sometimes, that magic gets lost a little as we get older and some of our loved ones are no longer here, but the thing we have to continue to focus on is that a baby changed everything all those years ago in a stable. He brought us hope and something to believe in, and that's why we celebrate at all. I admit that I lose sight of that a lot, but it's not just about praising Him around this time of year, it's about doing it all of the time. I'm so thankful for my relationship with God and for everything He has blessed me with this year. This season is all about Him, and so should the rest of my life. 

That's all for now,

Shelby

Christmas Eve

"Walking with you in a winter snow,

Kissing underneath the mistletoe,

People smiling everywhere we go,

It's Christmas Eve and they can see we're in love...

Oh, you make the season bright

With the lights reflecting in your eyes

All my dreams are coming true tonight

It's Christmas Eve..."

~Celine Dion~

I can't believe Christmas has already come and passed us once again! Sometimes after a big event, it takes me awhile to really collect my thoughts, but I figured I'd just dive right into this one. 

Well, the night before Christmas Eve, I started feeling really sick, while watching the Christmas episode of Glee and wrapping presents, so I tried to lay down a bit and said a prayer that I wouldn't actually get sick. Within just a few minutes I started feeling SO much better; I know it was a total God thing, because every other time when it hits I get sick, and it's always around the holidays lately. I ended up just staying up to watch a few more Christmas episodes of Full House, Growing Pains and The Vampire Diaries. I also passed the time by taking pictures with this new camera app I got, because I was just having way too much fun. 

The next morning was obviously Christmas Eve, and I was not feeling well, so I woke up much earlier than I usually do. I had some breakfast, took medicine and climbed back in bed to watch Boy Meets World. It was another Christmas show, so I was excited. I took the morning pretty easy, just sort of hanging out, watching TV and taking pictures of our Christmas decorations since it was one of the big days and they won't be up for much longer. 

Awhile later, my mom and I decided to bake our goodies for Christmas dinner the next day! It has been our tradition the past six or seven years to make Faith Hill's Coca-Cola cake, so I always look forward to that. I was really starting to get loopy after not getting much sleep, so I was walking around the house saying some pretty hilarious things, I must say. We turned on a couple Christmas movies while we worked and laughed A LOT. I think that was probably one of the smoothest times we've ever been in the kitchen together before. It was really nice. We even made a different flavor of the traditional jello that my grandma used to make for Thanksgiving every year. I had a lot of fun and realized I'd like to get into the whole baking thing. I say that all the time, but maybe in 2013 I'll actually get around to experimenting more. Oh, and there were extra marshmallows, so I decided to try the whole "chubby bunny" thing and felt really sick after that, but it was totally worth it. My mom tried it too and blamed me for it when she felt sick. I did not even tell her to, she voluntarily did it...sooo....

We finished baking and straightening things up around 4 or so, and I decided to watch The Office's Classy Christmas part one and two again. I even heard my mom chuckling a few times, so I think eventually she'll come around to liking it. We shall see! After those came to an end, it was time to start getting ready. I took a shower, got spiffied up, and pretty soon my dad was home from work. I was keeping myself entertained by watching all of the Friends episodes of Christmas. Not long after, it was time to meet my aunts and uncle for dinner, but we were all still running around getting last minute things together and I ended up opening a present right before we were walking out, since it's a tradition. It was a sweater from American Eagle which I had loved when I looked at it awhile back, and planned on wearing the next day! 

We jumped in the car and had to stop by CVS, then made our way to Mexicali. I'm pretty sure the type of food they serve can go unsaid here. My aunt was already there, and from the looks of the parking lot, it was PACKED. She said it was going to be about an hour and a half wait, so we hesitated on whether we were going to stay or try somewhere else. We ultimately decided to wait it out, but it was extremely long. We ran into some family friends and talked to them for a few minutes, then just passed the rest of the time by talking to one another.

We sat down to eat close to 7, and I couldn't have been more excited unless John Krasinski or Steve Carell themselves had showed up to the restaurant. I need to have food in my system probably a lot more than the average person, because I start getting low blood sugar and I'm just not pleasant to be around (even more than usual). When I don't have food and I need, I almost start getting the shakes and it was starting to get to that point. But, as soon as the chips came, we pretty much devoured them every time. The food was amazing as always, and the conversation and company was even better. We talked about the X Factor for a bit and one of my aunt's mentioned that she had watched an episode of The Office earlier and that it is the stupidest show. My other aunt and uncle agreed with her, and that it's probably a show the under 30 crowd gets. Possibly...Or they just don't get the humor, not everyone does, because it is a little different. Oh well, I think it's fantastic! 

By the time we finished eating, we had to hurry home, because (long story short), my uncle was only going to have a little time to visit. He came over for a few minutes and we caught up with him, then he had to leave to pick my aunt up from work once my cousin and her boyfriend got here. They stayed for a couple hours; we opened some presents and watched this special on the White House Christmas traditions, which was really interesting actually. We talked some, laughed some, and took pictures. 

Brooke and Max had to visit his family for a big dinner at his parents' house, so they left, and my parents, aunt and I had planned on going to a candlelight service at my grandparents' church, but when it came down to it, we were all kind of falling asleep and it's quite a drive up there, so we decided not to. I wish it would've worked out, because I've enjoyed going to church the past couple years on Christmas Eve, but there's always next year. 

We opened presents, and I ended up getting a lot of really cool vintage items from my aunt! It makes me feel like a hipster, and I just really love antiques anyway, so there's that. I love the stories that they tell and how much they've been through. We all played with our gifts a bit, then ended up watching The Nanny. I forget how much I love that show after I haven't watched for awhile, but it's just one of those classics that I always tend to go back too. They don't make sitcoms like they used to, which is something we definitely commented on. 

It was a really nice night altogether and those are the moments I cherish most. Christmas Eve has changed for our family a lot over the course of these past ten years. When I was really young, we used to always meet up with my aunt, uncle, cousins and grandparents at my aunt's house. We'd get Subway sandwich platters, open presents, find the pickle on the tree for a prize, have dessert, sit by the fire and talk, and it felt really relaxed and exciting. Maybe partially because we were kids who still believed in Santa Claus and didn't know anything else, but we were all together and that was what mattered. 

Then, when I was about ten or so, my grandparents passed away and my aunt moved into their old house, so we had it there a couple years. It was weird not having them around; it didn't feel real, because they were always such a big part of Christmas. My grandma always decorated the house to the nines and it felt like a mini Santa's Village. I'm not sure why, but when we moved to a new house, we started doing it over here for several years. But, as time went on, everyone started getting busy or having other places to go, having kids, relationships, etc. so it was down to just my aunt coming over. That's when we started going to the Christmas Eve service and dinner afterwards, because that was something I had always wanted to do, and my other aunt and uncle started joining in with us. 

I've realized that nothing is set in stone, and honestly it's more exciting now when plans change. I'm still with the people I love; it's mainly the scenery that changes from year to year, whether it's a restaurant or who ends up coming over, but either way it's still a wonderful time. I've learned to accept whatever happens instead of dwelling on the things I wish I could change, because it'll only make you bitter in the end. 

That's all for now,

Shelby