Karaoke night!

Another late night! hope this doesn't become a habit..

This will be quick, but I had to share!  I'm the type of person that sings in the car, in the shower, singing along with friends, you name it, but not by myself in front of strangers. I'll sing in a group, that's easy, but tonight I did it!!! I walked on stage and sang karaoke...by. myself. Can we say shaking like a leaf?? May not be a big deal, but for me it kinda was. I'm actually glad my friends coerced me into doing it. One of those..I want to, but I don't want to, what if I'm off key? then I remind myself that almost everyone is off key when they sing karaoke. Anyway, I've now done it at least once, maybe I'll try it again the next time?

cause I can't sleep....

If you know me, I love piano music. As I was browsing Muse clips on youtube, I came across this piece. Just Matt playing the piano. I've been trying to find a clip of him playing this song, but no luck. At least you can listen if you're interested. I think it's beautiful. :)

Book Review: MockingJay by Suzanne Collins

MockingJay by Suzanne Collins

Recommend reading the series.
5/5 stars for Hunger Games and Catching Fire, but only 3/5 for MockingJay

   I promise not to give away any spoilers from the book. At first I didn't want to write this review, but maybe some of you are curious on my take of the book.  Many people, including myself, have been anxiously waiting for the last book in this series. Maybe I had too high expectations?

   My initial reaction after I finished the book was a little disappointment. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the book, but I did not love it the way I really love the other books. The book/ending is definitely bittersweet, but that's not what bothered me.  In my opinion, MockingJay was missing the tension, and the fast paced energy that the 1st 2 books shared. Mockingjay is different, almost depressing.  Believe it or not, the last book is more bloody, more heartbreaking, and sinister than the others. Now that the Hunger Games are over, this book focuses on the war to take over the Capital, and how devastating it can be during and after. The main character, Katniss, is pushed to her limits throughout the book, and I really can't share anymore or I'll give it away.

   Read it, I know of others that absolutely love this book more than the other two books. I'm interested in what you thought of the book...

Sharing photos.

Remember my last post on the terrential pownpour in the valley? A neighbor 2 blocks away posted these pictures on her facebook. I had to share. :) These pictures will give you an idea on how much rain fell in such a short amount of time, and this was just in our area.  Amazing.  The road looks like a river! They were all taken just outside her house facing one of the busier streets in our neighborhood.

isn't this crazy!

yup that's water up over the sidewalk,

covering the sidewalk and  up to her grass.

the water main in the road was overflowing.

Who would have guessed that a couple hours later the sky was blue, and not a cloud in sight. You can never prepare for the weather here. haha. 10 minutes later is could be totally different. :)

Today's Weather

Chance of scattered rain storms, cloudy, and windy......??



Nothing like sitting in your house when all of a sudden your roof is being hammered by hail and heavy rain. love love this August weather.  ok, maybe a little over the top, but still, I love the rain. Here are a few pictures.

*just heard on the news that we haven't had this much rain in such a little time in over 60 years! it really felt like a torrential downpour..


(you can click on the pictures for a larger photo)

The back deck covered in hail. You might be able to see how hard it is coming down. The noise on the roof was really loud. My girls and I just turned everything off and listened, and watched the storm outside.

The front. Can you see on the left how it looks like a waterfall of water coming down from the roof? the hail collected by the plants, and it was coming down so hard that the washed out some of our mulch. oh I wish you could see how much rain was pooled on the cement. I just wanted to go puddle jumping!!

Another view of the front yard. Got to admit, the weather makes for great outdoor photos.

Loved the storm.

my girls and summer fun

    For the month of August, we signed our girls up for swimming lessons. For me, I just wanted them to be comfortable in the water and learn the basic skills so they wouldn't be afraid.  My oldest did a lot better than I expected. She can now float on her back, put her head underwater, and knows the basic strokes. The little one prefers to stay on the steps and will now go down to her chin in the water, but refuses to put her head under to blow bubble. hahaha. She's hilarious. Next year we'll start them earlier in the summer, they do miss going to swimming lessons and playing in the water.

   If you look closely, you'll see the little one down below in pink holding a hula-hoop with her coach. Both my girls have been in gymnastics and loving every minute. We'll see how far they go with this class. So far so good!

Book Review: Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet

  With all my posts about movie reviews, I've neglected to post reviews on the books that I read. I love to read, and I really should be putting these reviews on my blog for my fellow book lovers. If you're interested in seeing the books I've read/reviewed, send me an invite on Goodreads.com.  Great website to find new books to read, see what your friends are reading, and keep a log on what you've read.  Now about 90% of the books I read come from the library. love love love my library. I may post a few more book reviews on my favorite books from the summer, but for now, here's the lastest book review.

Last night I finished the book, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet. by James Ford

Highly Recommend Reading.

   The book is based in Seattle during WWII when the Japanese were being rounded up and sent to internment camps on suspicion of being spies for the enemy.  The main character is Henry Lee, a young chinese boy who wears an "I am Chinese" button given by his father so they will not confuse him for Japanese.  The novel jumps times, from when Henry is a 12 yr old boy going to a prestigous white private school on scholarship, to a man in his 50's who has just lost his wife to cancer.

   The young boy Henry finds a best friend at school in a young American-Japanese girl named Keiko Okabe.  Their friendship is tested in more than one way, and the hardest is when her family is swept away in the evacuations of  Japantown. 

   The book actually opens ands starts with Henry as an adult, walking past the old boarded up Panama Hotel, where the new owners have uncovered a treasure in the basement. They discovered many old trunks that belonged to some of the Japanese families that were evacuated.  Henry is convinced that the parasole they were showing belonged to his old friend Keiko and the story starts. 

My sisters both read this book and highly recommended that I read it as well. I'm so glad I did, the story is sweet, sad, and tries to portray the hardships during that time. The friendship between Henry and Keiko is one of commitment and enduring hope. Loved it.

Latest Movie Reviews

   Last week, I was lucky enough to see the movie Inception with some friends at the IMAX.  Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ellen Page, Tom Hardy, Ken Watanabe, Cillian Murphy, Marion Cotillard, and Michael Caine....to just name a few. I don't know how else to describe this movie other than a dream within a dream...within a dream..and sometimes within a dream. :) The main plot is around a group of thieves that can access your dreams and steal your safest, most blocked information--extracting the information. But in order for DiCaprio to get what he wants most in the world, he needs to try something different. His boss needs him to plant a seed of information to give the dreamer an idea. 

   I should have written this review last Tuesday when my thoughts were more fresh in my mind. Even though the movie was a little trippy, I really enjoyed the action scenes, visually it was amazing, the idea of being in a dream, and creating the worlds in a dream. Definitely enjoyed this one. 7.5/10 stars

  Last night I took my oldest to see Despicable Me.  I honestly didn't know anything about this movie, other than my daughter really wanted to see it, so we had a mommy/daughter date.  Pleasantly surprised.  The main idea centers around the evil villain Gru, who adopts/uses 3 orphaned girls as pawns in his ultimate plan to steal the shrinkerator from another villain so he can continue with his plan to steal the moon! But as these girls are immersed into his life, he starts to become attached and a different kind of villain.  The end of the movie was my favorite part, very heart-warming.  The story was creative and fun for kids, and the little yellow minions (look like twinkies) will make them laugh throughout the movie.  6/10 stars

Loving this Stormy Weather!

  Before I get to the amazing weather we had today, I wanted to share a couple picture of my daughter on her big girl bike! This is her reward for being potty trained! yay!!

  There is a story behind finding the bike, and then ending up with a princess bike--maybe another day.  In the end she couldn't be happier, and loves to ride with her sister.

  Now to one of favorite subjects...the weather. Today has been one of my favorite weather days all summer. We have had off/on again thunderstorms/lightning, heavy to light rain, and even good sized hailstorms.  My girls and I have spent most of today outside watching, loving, and listening to the rain...not to mention the wonderful smell.  Here are some of the picture from today.

 

  Above kinda shows you the blue skies puffy white clouds to the left, and then one of the thunderstorms rolling in on the right. Love afternoon showers and thunderstorms!! Just beautiful.

  You know when you hear something and it's out of place? That's what happened before the hail storm. The storm had passed, the sky was partially clear, but then I heard popping on the roofs in the circle above us and then I knew something was coming.  My girls rushed in the garage just before we were hammered with hail. The picture above is our neighbor collecting it in a bowl. Really amazing storm.  I was worried about my brother in laws car. :)

 

  I took a picture of some of the hail I found in my yard.  They were the biggest pieces that I could find before they melted away. 

  Lastly, I tired to take a picture of the pouring rain after the hail storm.  You can barely see the rain streaking to the ground and bouncing in a splash. At least this picture does not show how hard the rain poured during one of the storms.  During the whole day, while I was listening to the rain, I was reading a good book. Between storms, my girls rode their bikes and played with friends. Just a great day.

I LOVE the RAIN!

Beautiful rainbow before the sun went down.

Sunset Picture

The other night I looked out my back window

 and saw the most beautfiul clouds at sunset.

Wanted to share. :)