Water for Elephants

I have a new love!  

The past year I have gained a great appreciation for reading.  Maybe it's because my 6 year old loves to pick up books, or have mommy read him a story at night.  But I think in my "old age" I have found a new world to escape to.  

First and foremost, I love movies.  There is nothing more exciting then immersing yourself into a character and their lives.  Or seeing the visual splendor of a fantasy world portrayed so visually you could only dream of stepping through the screen and it becoming your world.  I can only imagine movies getting better and better as technology grows.

But something that will always be constant is reading.  Books, magazines, newspapers, the list goes on.  And while getting lost in a movie, a visual eye candy set in your brain, the things you read can get you lost in so many ways you are only left to your own imagination.

I have begun my exploration into reading and connecting it with the movies.  While most times the movies are adaptations to books, I love being able to explore more of the characters.  Their little nuances that movies sometimes have to leave out because of time.  Now usually I am always late to the party.  Never one to crack an obsession over something until the novelty and hype is all over.  ( I'm sure you know what I am talking about!)  Yes I was sucked into the Twilight Saga.  But it wasn't until after I had watched the first two movies that I began reading the books.  Showtime was running Twilight and New Moon almost exclusively everyday, practically all day.  And of course my curiosity became the best of me and I had watched both in the same night, back to back.  Great because I didn't have to wait to see the second, bad because I stayed up wait too late that night. From then on I knew I had to get the books.  I couldn't wait to find out what happened to Bella and Edward but I knew that I wanted to read about it before I watched it.  I started from the first book, rapidly reading it within 2 days.  Then the next, just as quick as the first.  Next thing I know I had finished all fours books within 2 weeks.  Accomplishment I might say!  Now I am dying for Breaking Dawn 1 and 2 to come out and I am biting at the bit so much I may pick up the books again just to get my fix.

Before I decided to read the Twilight Saga again, I had seen the previews for Water for Elephants.  I love Reese Witherspoon, and yes, Robert Pattinson just about makes you melt.  But I really loved the era they are portraying.  1930's Great Depression Era with love, escape, vulnerability.   The author has even included a circus and one of the main characters being an elephant.  Again this is a book where I am late to the party, being out since 2007 and becoming a #1 New York best seller within that time.  See I am always behind! 

Now April 22nd cannot come fast enough for me.  I am finished with the book and the movie will be out that day.  I wonder if i can convince the hubby to see it, but of course I don't mind going alone.  I guess I'll just have to get my fix watching the trailer until it comes out on the big screen.  All the glitz and glitter, love and despair.  Hmm what a way to get lost!

Water for Elephants: by Sara Gruen

Hey stay tuned to the Tutorial side of my blog.  I am going to show you how to add a Welcome page for your Facebook page.  I may even be nice and give you the code to pop it in yourself!  DISCLAIMER:  I am in no way an HTML guru.  I love to dabble in it, so if something is off I may have to research to find out what it is.  But I assure you, this is really easy to do and it's a great way to gain a little more exposure FOR FREE!!

say hello to my little friend!!

Look what I found in my driveway this morning.......

To my surprise as I was going around my jeep to take my son to daycare, I almost stepped on this little guy.  We've been getting quite a bit of rain lately and I think this little one came up from our pond behind our house.  I guess it needed to be a bit of a land lover for a bit.

Living in the south you can come across some neat things.  We have seen our share of alligators.. there is a pluthra of turtles and egrets... and I have seen my fare share of snakes that are poisness.  This little guy though seems to top it all!!!!

45 minutes

This past weekend I have to gloat on a milestone.  No it is not mine, plus I can't even remember when I had this one.  Hmmmm?  Well... While hubby and I were putting together our new grill, oh by the way.... you really should have Lowe's or the place you by it from put it together.... don't get me wrong, it wasn't hard, but when you seem to mix up the nuts and bolts you appreciate the "already assembled" theory.... Anyway, our little man decided to ride his bike.  Now that might not seem too exciting, but it is when after months and months of getting him to grasp the concept of feet moving forward results in bike moving, it's pretty exciting to us.

He did it all on his own.  No mommy and daddy showing him, not even grandma, grandpa, or Mimi showing him.  I guess it holds true to the idea that someone other then next of kin should show a child how to do something.  They never seem to listen when you tell them what they should do.  He must have listened to his inner self and figured it out.  Stubborn stink he is!!!

Now that he is riding his bike, I have the wonderful idea of going for walks.  It's more my agenda then really his, but he gets to benefit from it as well.  And today what I thought would be a quick little 15 minute jaunt really turned in to 45 minutes.  I wasn't expecting to be out that long or that far really.  But to top it all off, I was not wearing the proper attire.  I mean really, I love me some flip-flops.  Wear them everywhere and all the time.  But walking on hot pavement in the middle of the day chasing a child who has just learned to ride a bike is really not the time to do it.  Oh and I have to mention that we went the equivalent to a mile.  Might not seem long to most people, but remember that it's eternity when you are wearing flip-flops.  Thin wonderful Reefs flip-flops!!!

Maybe some day I'll learn.  How about tomorrow?

Well, I didn't take my camera along with, although right now I wish I had.  To get his first long bike ride.  But I'll share another photo with a little processing that I am stumbling across.  Lately you have been seeing moody type of processing, and while it has taken me a while, I think I have figured it out without having to purchase actions.  I am sure to many of you, it's really easy and you probably think I am lame and dumb for just now getting it, but that's ok.

Here is what I have, and I am going to do some tweaks to it, and then I'll post a little tutorial on how I did it. 

Have a good Monday. 

Disclaimer: Now I know there are so many technical things wrong with this.  But I just loved his face and his expression especially after playing in the water.  And I felt this type of processing worked with this image.