Weekly Pic--Way Back When

Me and BigJoel~Homecoming 1985

This, HannahKate, is why you choose your boyfriends carefully, even in high school~because one might still be around 24 years later =)

Full Evening of New Moon

I read Twilight. In my opinion, it was 500 pages of teen angst as the self-deprecating Bella adjusted to her new life in the gloomy town of Forks, Washington. I have plenty of "angst" under my own roof, so I didn't care to subject myself to any more of it, even if there were sparkly vampires involved. I've not been able to bring myself to read the other 3 books in the saga. Thankfully, Elizabeth has read them all, so she and HanK have spirited discussions that I listen to just enough to sort of keep up with the continuing plot. I know, the "Twi-moms" out there are gasping and shaking their heads. Please don't judge me.

Last year, Elizabeth, Paige, HannahKate, her friend Tiff, and I loaded up and drove to a theater 40 minutes away to see the midnight premiere of Twilight (because Hometown Cinema didn't have the foresight to host an early release). We had so much fun that we vowed to do the same for the release of New Moon. And so, for a solid year, we've had "November 20 @ 12:01 a.m." highlighted, circled and starred on our calendars.

We began our adventure by eating at a favorite Italian restaurant (because part of New Moon takes place in Italy, duh). Elizabeth made us New Moon cupcakes for dessert~blood-red velvet with sparkly (because vampires sparkle in the sun) cream cheese frosting, decorated with forks (Forks, WA) and quotes from various Twilight characters.

Adorable...and they tasted even better than they looked!

She also got us all "vampire fangs"!

The girls had worked very hard all week decorating the shirts they'd wear to the premiere. (And since it was midnight, they wore pajama pants.)

Tiff's shirt said, "Imprinted by Jacob" on the front and "Black 16" on the back.

Hallie's said, "I sparkle in the sunlight" on front and "My flesh is ice cold" on back.

HannahKate's said, "I am Switzerland." on the front and "I refuse to choose" on the back.

We arrived at the theater by 9:30. Even though we'd purchased our tickets almost two months ago, we still had to wait in line. Forever. The theater showed the movie on 18 screens and every single one was SOLD OUT! That, my friend, is a LOT of teenage girls and Twi-moms in one building. There were a few token males present, but not many. After all, most teenage boys pale in comparison to Edward and Jacob. Its hard to compete with a rich, suave, sparkly vampire and a rugged, buff, hot-blooded werewolf.

The girls loved the movie. Somehow, I don't think I would have enjoyed it quite as much in a regular theater at a regular time. But that's just me. Again, please don't judge. Not my favorite movie ever, but I admit that I already have "Eclipse~June 30, 2010 @ 12:01 a.m." inked on my calendar.

Having a Ball in Austin

This past weekend, Elizabeth, Hallie, HannahKate and I, along with our new friend Shae took a little roadtrip down to Austin for a MercyMe show. We had a "ball." The concert was awesome, we stayed in an über-cool new hotel, ate some amazing food and of course, we laughed. A lot.

Here are three memorable chuckles from the weekend:

During dinner we were discussing HannahKate wearing jeans to church and I said, "Well, we're on vacation, so I'd make an exception." (Nothing wrong with jeans, I just have an opinion of which my girls are well aware.) Our food arrived at the table and as we were just about to dig in, Hallie piped up and said, "Well, are we gonna pray for our meal or are we on vacation from that, too?" Thanks for keeping us accountable, Hal.

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HannahKate was wearing a plaid flannel shirt and made the remark that she was going to wear another plaid flannel shirt the next day. Hallie quipped, "Gee Hannah, you're turning into Al Bourland from Home Improvement!" Thanks for the fashion advice, Hal.

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Finally, on the way home the girls were giggling in the back seat and Hallie was leaned over struggling to pick up something from the floorboard of the car. She cried, "Help, my tallness doesn't stretch that far!" Thanks Hal, for breaking the monotony of a long drive.

The slogan for the quirky sub-culture of our state's capital city is "Keep Austin Weird." I would have to say that Hallie fits right in. (She gets that from her daddy I'm sure.) I wouldn't have her any other way!

Weekly Pic--On the Side of the Road In the Middle of Nowhere

So my friend Troy (troybradfordphotos and troybradfordiphonephotos) got the opportunity to visit Salvation Mountain on a recent trip to California. Its a really neat place and pretty powerful story, but its just this huge structure/piece of art on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere. That made me think of my recent trip to Amarillo where we saw two interesting, albeit not quite as impressive, sites on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere.

The Cadillac Ranch

Huge Pair of Legs/Ozymandias

MNSC Meets Halloween

Last week, Elizabeth hosted the 1st Ever Monday Night Supper Club Halloween Party. Since I rarely have my camera and Elizabeth rarely posts blogs anymore, I decided to "steal" her pictures from the evening and put them on my blog. I like think of it as a "joint collaboration." (Feel free to re-post this on your own blog Elizabeth~since you did most of the work anyway.)

Costumes were optional. Hallie came as "The Crazy Cat Lady".

Everyone enjoyed new eyelashes.

We all decorated pumpkins.

"Life imitates art"?

And of course the food was amazing! Mrs. Cheryl and Elizabeth outdid themselves with Shrimp & Corn Chowder, Chicken Stew and my favorite Broccoli/Peanut/Raisin Salad. For dessert~Spooky Chocolate Cake with Orange Frosting and Gigantic Candy Spider.

Oh my word, what a good time we had!

P.S. I don't know why the pictures are so small. I guess that's what happens when you "steal" things.