Eclipse Review! (possible spoilers, beware)

Got home at 3am, didn't sleep much, and am up studying but I thought I'd take a break to do my shpiel. Overall impression: SO good! Best of the three for sure! Gonna go see it again tomorrow with another buddy, hopefully the screams will have died down a bit and I can hear more dialogue this time... that's always hard at the midnight showings, heehee.

Without getting too spoilery, this is what stuck out the most to me:

* Very few/minor deviations from the book! Much was condensed, of course, but nothing plot-altering was done, thank goodness!

* Lots and lots of dialogue straight from the book, some even from BD.

* Sparkle effect was very subtle and better done than in previous movies.

* More of the soundtrack made it into this movie than any of the previous ones. Some worked, some... not so much, in my opinion.

* I prefer the " marble consistency" of the vamps in New Moon to the "crystal consistency" in
this one... fighting scenes really bring out the difference.

* Speaking of fighting scenes, I was unprepared for how graphic (albeit non-bloody) they were.
No subtlety there... but then again, I've got a low tolerance for the cringe- factor.

* Lots of tongue-in-cheek/movie poking fun at itself moments :)

Directing/Production technicalities aside, most memorable moments:

* Loved all the Bella/Charlie scenes. Perfectly awkward/funny/tender! The sex-talk scene was
my favorite, although graduation made me tear up ;)

* Rosalie/Jasper flashbacks were awesome!!! Quillute legends were cool as well.

* Loved the adorable Alice/Jasper stuff they threw in; many "awwwww" moments!

* Lots of the Bree Tanner back story made it in which helped tremendously.

* Riley and (new) Victoria were pretty cool. Riley stole the show though, awesome actor!

* Jacob does a really good job at making you feel so bad for him... I totally hated him in the books
but even my cold heart-strings felt a few tugs :(

* Tent scene was done very well, they kept the most crucial of the book's dialogue.

* Ahh, the much anticipated big bed/chastity & virtue talk/official marriage proposal scene:
It didn't deviate much from the book, if that tells you something. My favorite part was the end,
when he does the actual proposal and she says yes. Absolute raw/unguarded joy! I almost
forgot myself and jumped out of my seat clapping... Probably will go down as a fan favorite!


And that's that folks! I'm SO excited to see it again tomorrow, its always better the second time around because you can take more in. Hopefully the crowd won't be as rowdy. Yeah... we'll see about that ;)

I may regret this tomorrow...

... oh, but what a way to go!!!

I work tomorrow (afternoon) and have my 2nd Micro test of the week Thursday but guess what I am doing tonight? Oh yeah baby... ECLIPSE!!!! Since we're just doing the midnight release this time, and not the triple feature, we (my friends and I, Ben is not coming tonight) will have to do the never-ending waiting in line thing... *sigh* Good thing I have a gazillion terms/essay topics to memorize!

Okiedokie, gotta eat and head off to the theater, hopefully I can get a coherent movie review up tomorrow!

Half of me is happy and the other is sad!

Why? Well because this morning this happened:

Amidst the torrential rain and after a crazy game, Luis Suarez scored the winning goal for Uruguay, advancing my Charruas into the quarter-finals! Arriba mi Celeste!!!

However... this afternoon, this happened:

Yup, the US lost to Ghana... 2:1. It was a painful game to watch... It went into overtime tied at 1:1 but then (just like in the beginning of the first 1/2 of the game) we gave away an easy goal and then it was just torture... pure never-ending torture. *sigh*

I guess the only good thing about this is that had the USA won, that would have meant they would have been lined up to play Uruguay next week... Eeeek, what a conundrum. Who would I have cheered for harder? (For I would have cheered for both to be sure!) Guess I won't have to face that decision after all... phew!

Goooooooooooooool!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I don't usually post stuff about sports but... something about soccer makes me go a little crazy ;) The dogs are still hiding under the table looking at me like, "Who are you and what did you do to our momma?!?!" I guess I get a little carried away... woops.

URUGUAY kicked some South African bootay today!!!!!!

3-0 baby, WOOT!

They now lead Group A with 4 pts, which is more than anyone else at the moment! Dang I wish I were down there with my family, celebrating and eating some good food! My cousin Guillermo is actually down in SA and was there at the game today, how neat for him!

Diego Forlan (scored twice) and Alvaro Pereira (scored once) celebrating a sweet victory

I loooooooove the world cup! I miss watching it with my family. My bro and I used to dress up and go bonkers with our mom & dad. Fun times.

Good Things To Come

I stumbled upon a great quote today that just resonated with me and for which I am grateful to have finally listened to:


Now that I am just weeks away from starting clinicals for my RN program, I am starting to see just how true that statement is. It's been about a year and 1/2 since Ben and I put a stop to all our fertility treatments and I embarked on this journey of acceptance. I knew it was what needed to be done after more than 3 years of pushing and pleading for something that was obviously not in God's plan for me right now. Giving up control and handing it all to The Lord has been one of the toughest trials in my life, but I have to say... what everyone tried to tell me is true. I just had to get back to living to realize it myself.

I still look forward to and yearn for motherhood, that is not a dream so lightly cast aside. I admit that certain days of the year are still a challenge for me, but its getting easier. I am grateful for the doors Heavenly Father is opening up for me that would more than likely have remained closed had I gotten what I wanted so many years ago. Some day I will be a mommy. It may not be exactly how I planned it (well, that's obvious by now!) or when I think would suit us best, but I have faith that someday it will happen. In the meanwhile I appreciate the time I have to grow and learn and prepare for that blessed event.

Below is a video that a dear friend shared and I thought I'd pass it along as well. I saw it just shortly after stumbling upon that quote (above) and it tied in quite nicely. I am grateful for a loving Heavenly Father and the strength He gives me to keep walking down this long road to motherhood. It's a comfort to know that I am never alone and help is always there when I need it.

What was I thinking?!?!?

So I figured I'd take Micro over the summer and just get it out of the way before starting clinicals. Its a 5 credit class so its a doozey, even in a regular 16 week semester. I chose to do it in 8 weeks. I figured it would be no sweat after killing my Chem class (which I was terrified of!) NOT SO. Two days into it (and 2 quizzes later, with our first test coming up on Monday) I'm starting to wonder if I'll survive this summer. If I weren't working it would be no problem, but I'm at the hospital 4 days this week and at school the other 3. When will I study and get my hw done? Hmmmm.... good question. Somethings gonna have to give and I think it will have to be work. However, schedules are made for the month so I'm stuck like this until July. Baptist will not be seeing as much of me after June though... I've kept a 4.0 for the past 4 semesters, this class will NOT mess that up for me!!! ARGH!

I'm tackling this like I did cross country, small reachable goals. Survive one week at a time. Since we're pretty much having a test and 2-3 quizzes/week that's quite enough for me. I also am going to focus on my reward for surviving the first half of this ordeal. Guess what happens June 30th, exactly 1 month before the last day of term? Oh yeah baby, Eclipse time!!!

Speaking of, found another clip today and this one is about the wolf pack and introduces Leah a bit. She's such a pill...I think Julia Jones will do a fantastic job!



Anyway, Micro's calling, eeek!

Bool Review: Bree Tanner (Caution: possible spoilers?)

I normally stay away from books that have a sad ending (and anyone that's read Eclipse knows that Bree Tanner's ultimate fate is not a happy one, so I don't consider this a spoiler) but I just had to make an exception for this one. Eclipse has always been my very favorite of the Twilight Saga for many reasons, but one of them is my fascination with " the newborns." The info Stephenie Meyer gives us about them (in the series) is almost like a tease and I always wondered what it would be like, from their perspective. When I found out that she had written a short novel based on a newborn's experience I was thrilled! Finally, first hand accounts of what it was like to be these crazy, savage beings; a complete departure from the Cullen world.

The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner essentially fills in all the gaps in Eclipse regarding Victoria's "newborn army" and her plans for revenge on the Cullens, namely Edward. All the how's and why's are answered which is satisfying since even at the end of Eclipse, after all was resolved, you were still left wondering how Victoria and Riley accomplished what they had. Basically, this ties up a lot of loose ends and introduces you to some really neat characters that we never knew existed, but whom were nevertheless vital to how everything played out in the end.

Sadly, Bree's story is that of a tragic hero. She is just one of the many victims. The Cullen's have her to thank for some vital info obtained in those last moments before her ultimate demise. That last scene takes on a whole new meaning when seen through someone other than Bella's eyes. I expect that some of what we see in Eclipse will make a lot more sense now that we have this back story. For me, my dislike of the Volturi (especially Jane and her cronies) increased tenfold. Too bad things turned out the way they did... I think Bree (and perhaps two of her friends ) would have made loyal additions to the Cullen fam.

Here is a short featurette about Bree Tanner and her role in Eclipse.