30 Years

Thirty is an interesting number... most likely...  But to my family, the number 30 holds a legacy.

Yesterday, my parents celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary.  They have made it through thick and thin, crop failures and booming harvests.  They have survived two children and one smelly dog, and they still love each other!  I give them two thumbs up.

With thoughts of my parent’s anniversary, I couldn't help but think of my brother’s wedding.  In June he will say ‘I Do’ to one of the most wonderful women I know (and a bonus is – they love each other too!).  My brother’s wedding date is on my grandparent’s anniversary.  60th Anniversary.

Thirty year gaps between the boy’s big days….

But that’s not all….

My brother is 24, my father is 54, and my grandfather is 84…

Thirty years.

It is interesting how numbers shape our lives.  A little strange, but wonderful.  With that, I wish my parents another 30 years, and everyone else a happy January.

Alexandra

The World is Frozen

It is cold out.... and I mean like really cold.  The world is literally frozen, and that is beautiful in its own way.

I have a love for the cold, and that most likely makes me a little strange, but I am fine with being strange.  That is what makes me, me.

The irony with the world being frozen is that I could not see Frozen with my friend the other day.... cars were not starting the best and we didn't want to get stuck in Sioux City (you know, with us not living in the city and all...).

With the real temperature being really cold, everyone should curl up with a book, a cup of something warm, and a fire crackling in the fireplace.  I will be reading Hood by Stephen R. Lawhead, and soon you will hear all about the wonderful adventures of Robin Hood.

So go and make a cup of this delicious Cocoa:

Homemade Hot Cocoa
Yields 5 Servings

Recipie From Momables

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
• 1/2 cup Sugar
• 1/3 cup Hot Water
• 1/8 tsp Salt
• 4 cups Milk
• 1 tsp Vanilla

Directions:

• Combine the cocoa, sugar, water, and salt in a medium saucepan.
• Over medium heat, stir constantly until the mixture boils. Cook, stirring constantly for 1 minute.
• Stir in the milk and heat, but do not boil.
• Remove from the heat and add vanilla; stir well. Serve immediately.

Read On and Stay Warm...
Alexandra

“All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt.” 

-Charles M. Schulz

The Countdown

It is that time of year.  You know what it is.  School has been out for nearly a month and you have been stuck indoors with your family and only your family.  Yeah.  At first it was all wonderful, but then you realize that you haven't talked to someone your age in three weeks.  That is the exact moment you begin your countdown til you can go back to college.

I have reached that moment, and I am not too sure how I feel about it.  It is tantalizing and wonderful, and I have been doing this for three years now (oh man, I am old).

So my countdown is thus:

Bridal Fair with mom, Steph, and Amy = Check
Frozen Cold Day (complete with birthing) = Check [and this one will be talked about in a post or two]
Laundry = Pending
Facial = Tuesday
Packing of the Car = Tuesday Night
Dentist = Wednesday
Brookings Bound = Wednesday after Dentist!

And then I will be back with my roommates (who most likely haven't cleaned or checked the mail.... but I just shake my head), I will clean my room, unpack, make some food, go food shopping, put my school supplies together, squeal over my new books (I have gotten 7 from Amazon!!), and get ready to work on Friday!

The countdown has begun, and though I love my family, I need to get away for a bit!!

Stay Warm
Alexandra

The Mortal Instruments

As I mentioned yesterday, I have been on a bit of a Mortal Instruments kick.... so in true spirit, I will give you a brief run-down of the first movie of the Mortal Instrument Series - City of Bones.

The story line is the same as the book (who'd have thunk), but there are a few differences that I did enjoy.  One of the main differences is the expansion on Jace's musical skills.  I love piano music, and he plays a wonderful little ditty by Bach.... and Jamie Campbell Bower (the actor who plays Jace) was actually playing.  I give him kudos for that!

On the same theme of music, I also really like the soundtrack... and am currently listening to Heart by Heart by Demi Lavato at this moment (hehehe).  The music is intense and soft all in the right places, so the soundtrack gets two thumbs up from me as well.

Taking a closer look at the characters, here is the rundown and how I thought the actors did at playing them:

• Lily Collins as Clary
• She did a wonderful job for this part (and I was so happy that they did not cast 15 year old actors for these parts)
• Jamie Campbell Bower as Jace
• Well Mr. Campbell Bower is gorgeous as is Jace, so it was perfect.  He also captured Jace's flippant attitude wonderfully
• Kevin Zegers as Alec
• His eyebrows matched his dyed hair!  And he was stuck up but not enough shyness
• Jemima West as Isabelle
• Perfect
• Robert Sheehan as Simon
• In my opinion, he was a little too muscular
• Godfrey Gao as Magnus Bane
• He needed to have more flare (much more flamboyant in the books....)
• Jared Harris as Hodge
• This was the exact picture I thought of when reading the books
• Jonathan Rhys Meyers as Valentine
• When reading, I pictured Valentine as a gray-haired muscular bloke, but Jonathan Rhys Meyers did a great job at embodying Valentine's insanity... which worked quite well

So those are my thoughts!  Check the movie out and spread the word!

Alexandra

Clary Fray: You play that piano as if you've lost your only love.

Jace Wayland: Unfortunately, my one true love remains myself.

Clary Fray: Well, at least you don't have to worry about rejection.

Jace Wayland: Not necessarily. I turn myself down occasionally, just to keep it interesting.

Movies and Books

I was having a movie night with my friends the other day, and was wondering what we should watch.  So naturally we went to Walmart and RedBox, only to discover that the movie we wanted wasn't in stock.  And me being me, I told my friend that I would just buy it from Walmart.  What is the movie?

The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones

But I am not here to talk about the movie (well not until tomorrow!).  Instead, I am here to talk about the book.

When I was watching the movie, I couldn't help but wonder what all was different from the book, but naturally, I had read the series a solid 100 plus books ago, so rereading was in my future.  I love to read books over again.  This is mainly because I pick up on so much more the second (or fourth) time I read something than I did the first time around.  So... the book....

City of Bones
Book One in the Mortal Instruments Trilogy turned Series
by Cassandra Clare
2007

When fifteen-year-old Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder -- much less a murder committed by three teenagers covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre weapons. Then the body disappears into thin air. It's hard to call the police when the murderers are invisible to everyone else and when there is nothing―not even a smear of blood―to show that a boy has died. Or was he a boy?

This is Clary's first meeting with the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. It's also her first encounter with Jace, a Shadowhunter who looks a little like an angel and acts a lot like a jerk. Within twenty-four hours Clary is pulled into Jace's world with a vengeance, when her mother disappears and Clary herself is attacked by a demon. But why would demons be interested in ordinary mundanes like Clary and her mother? And how did Clary suddenly get the Sight? The Shadowhunters would like to know...


I really love how Cassandra Clare writes (total writer envy right here!)  But I think what really makes the book are the memorable lines of dialog by all of the characters - Jace being in the forefront.  Here are a few of my favorites:

“Have you fallen in love with the wrong person yet?'

Jace said, "Unfortunately, Lady of the Haven, my one true love remains myself."

"At least," she said, "you don't have to worry about rejection, Jace Wayland."

"Not necessarily. I turn myself down occasionally, just to keep it interesting.” 

“It means 'Shadowhunters: Looking Better in Black Than the Widows of our Enemies Since 1234'.” 

“Don't order any of the faerie food," said Jace, looking at her over the top of his menu. "It tends to make humans a little crazy. One minute you're munching a faerie plum, the next minute you're running naked down Madison Avenue with antlers on your head. Not," he added hastily, "that this has ever happened to me.” 

“That's why when major badasses greet each other in movies, they don't say anything, they just nod. The nod means, 'I' am a badass, and I recognize that you, too, are a badass,' but they don't say anything because they're Wolverine and Magneto and it would mess up their vibe to explain.” 

and finally the one I quote often...

“What do you want?"

"Just coffee. Black - like my soul.” 

I encourage you to read the series if you haven't, and reread it if you have!  Also, check out the links below for more inside scoops to life!
Alexandra

GoodReads & Cassandra Clare's Website

“The boy never cried again, and he never forgot what he'd learned: that to love is to destroy, and that to be loved is to be the one destroyed.” 

-Cassandra Clare, City of Bones

Double Solitaire

My family calls it double solitaire, but I have also heard it called Nerts.... so whatever floats your boat!  This is a wonderful game!  My grandmother taught me how to play it way back when, and now my mom and I have tournaments all of the time.  We play cut-throat, and the boys get really mad when we play.  I think the fastest win was less than three minutes for me (and I totally whipped my mom's butt).  One of the best parts of this game is that you can pick it up anytime, so there is no need to make a huge production of it!  The rules are a little interesting, but oh how it is fun to play.  So here is what you need to play:

1 Deck of Cards per Player - Also have to have a different back design - (up to as many people as who can fit around a table)
Pen and Paper to Keep Score
Your Game Face

Rules:
Each player deals a pile of thirteen cards in one pile, twelve cards face down and the thirteenth face up on top. Next to this pile, each player deals four cards face-up, side by side and not overlapping, to begin four work piles. The remainder of each player's cards are held face-down as a stock; these cards will be turned three at a time onto a face up stack, forming the player's waste pile.

Players play simultaneously as fast as they like, not taking turns, moving cards around their own area according to the rules given below, and where possible building on the foundations in the common area. The players' main objective is to eliminate their pile of 13, by playing cards from them onto their work piles or onto foundations. A player whose pile of 13 is exhausted yells "Nerts" or "Out", at which point the game immediately ends.

Players are only allowed to use one hand at a time to move cards, but may hold their stock in their other hand. Only one card at a time may be moved, except when moving a block of cards from one work pile to another. You can only move cards within your own area and into the common area. You cannot touch another player's area or take cards out of the common area.

If two or more players try to play to the same foundation at the same time, the first played card (generally the one which ends up lowest in the heap) stays there, and all other players must return the equivalent cards they had just tried to play on that same foundation pile to their previous positions. If there is a tie which cannot be resolved, both cards stay.

A player's four work piles begin with one card each. Work piles are built in descending order, alternating color, overlapping the cards. You can move any card in one of your work piles onto another of your own work piles if it fits, and any cards on top of the card are moved go with it. When a space results, it may be filled by a card from your pile of 13, your waste pile or another work pile. The exposed cards of each of the four work piles (i.e. the lowest ranked cards of each pile) are available to be played onto the foundations.

Cards from the top of your pile of 13 can be played onto empty spaces in your work piles. If they fit, they can also be played onto one of your existing work piles, or they can be played directly onto a foundation. When you have played the top card of your pile of 13 you can turn the next card of the pile face up.

Foundations piles are built in the common area. They are always begun with an ace, and can be built up by playing the next higher card of the same suit (for example the nine of spades on the eight of spades) until the king is reached. Players can always start new foundation piles by placing any available ace in the common area. Other available cards can be played onto an existing foundation where they fit, provided that another player doesn't get there before you. Any player may play onto any foundation.

You can turn over cards from your stock three at a time and put them face-up onto your waste pile (the waste pile has no cards at the start of play). Be sure to keep the cards in the same order when you do so. The top card of your waste pile may be played to one of your work piles or to a foundation pile if it fits. If there are only one or two cards left in the stock, place them on the waste pile, and then turn the waste pile over to start a new stock; do not pick up the waste pile and place it underneath so that you can deal three cards.

If it happens that all players are stuck (no further legal moves), or no one wishes to play any more cards, then everyone picks up their waste pile to re-form their stock, and then puts the top card of the stock on the bottom. (This happens frequently in a two-player game and rarely with more players.) If you get stuck but others can still play, you have to wait for everyone else to get stuck (or decide they do not want to make any more moves) before you are allowed to transfer your top stock card to the bottom.

When someone calls "Nerts!" play ends and scoring takes place. Each player scores one point for each of their own cards that they managed to play into the common area. To determine this, the foundation piles have to be sorted out according to the owners of the cards - this is why it is necessary that the decks have different backs. All players except the one count the number of cards left in their pile of 13 and remove that same number from their number from the foundation cards.



So it sounds a bit confusing, but once you get it, the game is quite simple.  I hope you play with your family!!
Alexandra

Resolutions

I have never put much stock into New Year Resolutions.  People make them, people break them, but I have been putting some thoughts into what I want 2014 to look like, and I think I have come up with a few ideas:

1) Lose weight
This is completely overdone, but I know I need to shed a few (dozen) pounds.  My incentives are to look good for my brother's wedding and to not cringe when the nurse takes my weight at the doctor's office - I thought they were good reasons

2) Homework Completion Time
I have classes mainly on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday... so I am going to do my homework on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday - No more waiting until the last minute

3) Start (and maybe finish) my Independent Study
This is on the docket for classes, so I thought I could add it in here for double the incentive


I only have three resolutions, but I believe that they are good ones.  They will make me think and work, and isn't that what it is all about?

Well I hope you had a wonderful 2013, had a fun time bringing in 2014, and feel free to share your resolutions with me!!

Alexandra

Don't change because a new year is coming up but change for your own personal growth no matter what resolutions you make, they start with you.