In the name of fun.

Kristy and I are going to see Twilight: Breaking Dawn, Part One on Tuesday night. I just read a review that said the honeymoon scene is 45 minutes long. We're going to need a LOT of soda.

Speaking of food and drink, here is my edited version of a Breaking Dawn drinking game.
Most of this is off the internet but some are my own. I expect that taking this list will improve the entertainment value that the movie provides by 100%.

Take a sip of your beverage:

• When Edward bites a human
• When there's a toast at the wedding
• When the movie tries to justify Jacob's impending imprint
• For each of the bruises Edward find on Bella
• When the camera pans to Jasper
• Charlie ignores the obvious signs that his daughter is in a really bad relationship
• When someone turns into a werewolf
• When Alice makes that stupid smile of hers
• Every time Bella stammers
• Every time a camera shot lingers too long
• When someone compliments Bella

Take a huge mouthful: 

• When the creator of this monster makes her painfully obvious cameo appearance
• When Edward breaks the headboard (good grief, I feel disturbed just typing that)
• The getting-ready-for-the-sex montage occurs
• For each transition between horror and soap-opera that the movie takes

Chug for the duration of: 

• The wedding kiss
• Any vampire sparkling
• The wolf telepathic pow-wow (I've heard you might stop breathing if you try to chug through this scene, but we'll give it a shot anyway...)
• Bella drinking blood

Empty the bottle for: 

• THE IMPRINT

I don't know if I'll come back alive, even without alcohol....

Love.

The most amazing thing about the following images is that I feel like I could have written every single word myself. Or maybe I couldn't have. But either way, the following words are exactly how I feel. So best friends, this is for you. I love you. So take these words to heart and know that I'm thanking God for you right now, how beautiful you are and how amazed I am that you care. Thank you thank you thank you.

"If you can count your good friends you have on one hand, then consider yourself lucky."

I'm sitting here in my room right now, it's nice and clean because I just spent the last hour or so tidying it up. It's much more relaxing now ... before you literally couldn't see the floor!
 My lovely friend Jessie should be getting here in about an hour; I'm so happy because we don't get to see each other nearly as often as I would like, but I saw her last week and now I get to see her again. Happiness.

Now, I've blogged many a time about how lovely and wonderful my friends are and how much I love them, but I've not really sat down to write about what truly makes them so special. So I thought I'd do that now, and tell you a little about a few of the girls who keep my little world running.

I'll start with Jessie.
She's wonderfully talented when it comes to music. She plays the piano beautifully, and is learning guitar. She likes good bands like U2, and loves The Great Gatsby like I do. We have the best conversations about anything and everything, and even though there a big gaps between the times that we spend together, we can always pick up where we left off and talk as if we're picking up a conversation from five minutes ago instead of three weeks ago. She's wonderful writer. Her writing is eloquent and sincere, and better yet she can just write, lots at a time. Her blog posts are often nice and chunky, which I love. She's loyal and loving and we never get bored when we're together. She has a younger brother and no sisters, so I love that we can relate to each others stories about playing Lego or Pokemon. She's just so sweet and friendly. It's hard to find people who are just friendly to you right off the bat, because most people are so cautious when they meet new people that your first impressions are often incredibly skewed. But I've always thought Jessie to be a caring, welcoming, gentle person since I first met her. And I was so very, very right. Jessie, I adore every second I have with you, and I am so, so excited that you're going to be arriving at my door any minute! So we can create more beautiful memories that I will hold on to forever, because you are such a treasure and I really don't deserve you; I am so grateful to God for our friendship. I cleaned my room just for you hehehe. ♥

And then there's Keira. I've thanked God so often for the friendship we've built to be so strong over the past four years. We've known each other for much longer than that, but it's these recent years in which God has brought us close. He gave us something to share with each other - and so Keira is my writing buddy. We exchange passages of our novels-to-be, and help each other out with our stories as best we can. What I like most is that in recent times we haven't needed those stories to be friends; our writing may have lessened because life got in the way, or we couldn't be bothered, but we still encourage each other to keep writing and to push on with that story idea that just doesn't seem to be working. We'll get there in the end, I'm sure. But it's not the only thing we talk about and do with each other anymore, as I guess it used to be when we first started exchanging. Now we talk about anything and everything, meet different places, hang out together, and have such a wonderful time. My favorite thing to do is to just sit somewhere with her and talk. We particularly like meeting in cafes and ordering one drink and then sitting there for a good two hours at least. Time just passes far too quickly when we talk! I love every minute we spend together, and I love that we can be there for each other and pray for each other and and support one another. Keira is so lovely and is a such a beautiful writer. Keep going at it, my dearest! You are fearfully, wonderfully made by your Creator, and he has better plans for you than all you can ask or imagine; I'm excited not just for the plans he has for you, but for both of us together. ♥

 Bethie is my rock. She's the big sister I never had. I still remember the day I met her back when we were in year 5 at Club WOW. She was the person I wanted to be like; the one that set the example and respected the leaders and paid attention and was sweet to everyone. She's beautiful, really really beautiful. She's clever and has good taste in just about everything; clothes, books, music.... She's mothering and caring, and she has the gift of being able to look at someone and see all their beauty instead of their faults. So if she bags you out randomly, it just means she loves you a lot. She is steadfast in Christ and it so encouraging to see Him as the center of her life. She has such a gorgeous smile and I love it when she laughs. I love it when we talk about stuff we both appreciate, like Shakespeare or Little Women; in fact, I love it when we talk about anything at all, because Bethie is wise and she doesn't say the wrong things like I so often do.... And she's so good at comforting. And hugging. And I think that's because she was made by the God of All Comfort. So my darling, whenever things are hard, look to your God and He will comfort you. Because that's who He is. And he is the reason why you are such a beautiful, amazing person; you are of more value to Him than you could ever know. Let your love and faithfulness never leave you, dearest. ♥

My girl Katherine has the most amazing smile ever. The photo just above is proof of it. That picture just makes me so happy. Katherine brings me so much joy and laughter; like seriously, you have to play Taboo with her. I was laughing so much the other night. She gives the best hugs, and I always feel so valued when I am with her, because she's really good at telling me that she loves me, and that means a lot to me. We can do everything together, or absolutely nothing, we can talk about everything or sit in silence listening to music, but no matter what, I'll walk away feeling like the best time ever. I can't remember a day that has gone by since late October where we haven't at least exchanged a text message, save the times we've gone away somewhere. She bags me out all the time, and I diss her back, but that's just us. She's so strong in faith and love; she doesn't give up on people even when they make it hard. She's an easy person to share with, because she's gracious and generous ... and gullible... haha I'm kidding with that last one! ;) Babe you're the reason God didn't give me a sister, because he knew I'd meet you and then I wouldn't need anyone else, because we fit the same size shoe and the same size dress, so I can borrow your clothes (and you can steal mine!), and He knew I'd love you enough to tolerate you doing things like hanging your wet towel over my pajamas on camp.... I'm so excited for the years we have ahead of us as sisters in Christ, to strengthen and encourage each other and grow in our love for our Savior and King. ♥

Kristy has been my friend for the longest. We met when I was 7, and we probably thought each other weird at first, because in truth we don't have a lot in common, but friends are the people who help you with things you're not good at, who encourage you in your weak areas, show you things you haven't heard of or seen before, introduce you to things better than what you know, and complement who you are. So that's why we're so close. I love all the fun moments we share together and all the things we get excited about, like the Scott Pilgrim movie or random crazy youtube videos like Charlieissocoolike. Kristy is so clever and amazing; I wish I had her gift of wonderful hospitality. She's so good at making be feel welcome, and she really cares about how other people feel. She's wise and careful of what she says and her love for God just radiates from her. She's eager to serve Christ with the gifts he has given her, and I know that He has great plans for her because she is so willing to do good works for him. I love that we have built up such a great trust over the years; we can tell each other anything and know it is safe with the other person. Trust is something I really need from a friend, and you have never let me down, my darling. So thank you for everything you've ever done for me and all that you will do, because I know we're going to be friends for life. And that makes me so happy! You are such a beautiful friend and I am so, so blessed to be able to call you that. God is just too good to me! ♥


Most of all, something I can say about all my girls, is that they care. I'm so lucky to have people who care about how I feel and what I'm thinking; they care about the time spent with me and the time when we're apart. They care about my life and the things I do; and it leaves me breathless when I think of this, because I know I don't deserve any of you and I feel like I can't give you enough. I love you.

"The happiest moments my heart knows are those in which it is pouring forth its affections to a few esteemed characters." - Thomas Jefferson

And if I had one chance to freeze time and stand still and soak in everything....

I'd choose right now.

And if I had one night where sunshine could break through and show you everything....

I'd choose right now.

Come, let us adore him!

I love hearing talks about Jesus' birth. Mary and Joseph have got to be some of the most righteous, heroic people to have ever lived. I wish a had a time machine to go back to the birth of Christ. That would just be awesome.

I really feel like it's his birthday tomorrow. Because it is. Or at least, it's the day we celebrate it. How cool! I'm glad to be a part of my King's birthday celebration. Tonight is the Christmas eve service at church. Here's part of the true story of Christmas. It creates a shiver of delight down my spine because it's so, so amazing. Like. Wow.

Praise God and celebrate this miracle!

The Birth of Jesus Christ

 ¹⁸This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. ¹⁹Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.  ²⁰But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. ²¹She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus,^[c] because he will save his people from their sins."
 ²²All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: ²³"The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel"^[d]—which means, "God with us."
 ²⁴When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. ²⁵But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

A pig with whiskers.

Hi again. This is my cat. His name is Hektor.
But my brother secretly thinks he is a pig with whiskers.
He is incredibly fat and no one knows how that happened....

Here is his gorgeously handsome face that you cannot help but love...... 

And here is his not-so-gorgeous face....

Yes, he may be fat ... but that just means there's more of him to love ^_^

Mulder, It's Me: 9 Necessary X-Files

Mulder: Soo… lunch?
Scully: Mulder, toads just fell from the sky!
Mulder: Guess their parachutes didn’t open.

Mmm. X-Files. Want some? It’s quite a delectable recipe. Start with an FBI agent searching for “the truth”, throw in a redheaded skeptic for his partner, add some conspiracy, a dash of humor, a sprinkling of in-jokes, let simmer with a cigarette-smoking man and a unpredictable Executive Director, fry up some secrets and shocking past-experiences, toss in some deaths … oh, and let’s not forget a generous, heaping tablespoon of unexplainable phenomena and some U.F.O’s for flavor. Interested?
I’m going to give you an insight to the best 9 episodes from the first three seasons. Must-watches. Although I must warn you – you will need to be able to tolerate some eerie “something’s watching me...” feelings, handle American humor, and put up with the 90’s dress sense. Yes, people, this TV show is over fifteen years old. But just because Mulder’s mobile is like a brick doesn’t mean you have to scream in terror. That’s not the scary part.
Oh, and after watching these … don’t go into the bathroom. I’ve warned you.


Number 9: Ice

Mulder: Scully, get that gun off me!
Scully: Mulder, you have to understand!
Mulder: Put it down!
Scully: You put it down first!

Dun dun dun!! Have I got your attention now? This episode is one of the best in Season One. Surrounded by not-so-great-episodes, yes, but this one is well worth the watch. Guest starring Felicity Huffman (Desperate Housewives) and some other people I don’t recognize, this episode has Fox Mulder and Dana Scully, our FBI agent duo, quarantined in the arctic with some crazy geologists, their plane’s pilot, and a dog. Everyone is afraid of being diseased with a kind of strange bug that makes you really, really angry … enough to point a gun at someone, shoot them, and then shoot yourself. The agents are investigating the deaths of the previous inhabitants of this little home-away-from-home (not) down in the ice; it’s cold, the tension’s high, and somebody just died. Quick! Rent the X-Files, turn on the TV, and find out what happens!!



Number 8: Wetwired

Margaret Scully: Dana, you’re not yourself. He’s telling you the truth.
Scully: It’s not the truth, Mom. He’s lied to me from the beginning. He’s never trusted me!
Mulder: Scully, you are the only one I trust.
Scully: You’re in on it. You’re one of them. You’re one of the people who abducted me, you put that thing in my neck, you killed my sister!
Margaret Scully: That’s not true, Dana.
Scully: It is.

Oh no! Where did it all go wrong to take us to this point? I must admit I was a little skeptical about this episode on first seeing it, but after reading a little more about it, it certainly grew on me, to the point that it’s gained a spot on my top 9. The stakes are high, the paranoia is mounting, and Scully has been watching just a little too much TV. This second-last episode of Season Three sends Mulder and Scully on an investigation about a man who has killed five different people – but thinks they were all the same man. It leads Mulder to realize that people’s thoughts are being controlled by subliminal messages in TV programs. This ep includes few good scenes with the well-loved “Lone Gunmen”; and Gillian Anderson certainly delivers. Scully tears apart her motel room, flees the investigation, and ends up pointing her gun at Mulder and her mother. Well, 36 hours of subliminal messages is bound to have an effect on you. Also, I was advised to pay attention to Gillian Anderson’s hair in this episode – and it’s a nice little detail to pay attention to. As the paranoia mounts in Scully her hair style is affected by her feelings. Something to appreciate if you’re looking for it.



Number 7: Pusher

Mulder: Modell psyched the guy out, he put the whammy on him!
Scully: Please explain to me the scientific nature of the whammy.

Pusher. The name of this Season Three episode, and the name of the bad guy. And my, is he one good badguy. The tension in this episode is excellent; it has one of the best climaxes of X-Files I’ve seen so far. I like it. This episode sends Mulder and Scully after a man who appears to possess the power to push his will onto other people. But the way he puts it, “they kill themselves”. And when Mulder and Scully find out that Pusher is a dying man, It changes things. The final scene puts both agents’ lives on the line with a high-tensioned game of Russian Roulette, in which Scully isn’t even playing! But, (by the will of Pusher! He he that sounds so cliché) the gun gets turned on her without hesitation – by her own partner….
You’ll have to watch to find out what happens. High tension, as I said. Fearful tension mostly, and a little sexual tension between Dana and Fox, which always adds to the show. 45 minutes of my life not wasted.



Number 6: Squeeze/Tooms

Scully: Oh my god, Mulder, it smells like … I think it’s bile.
Mulder: Is there any way I can get it off my fingers quickly without betraying my cool exterior?

All right, all right. So this is two episodes. Separated by eighteen episodes in between. I know. But these episodes in season one are by far great, even if they are pretty scary. The monster-of-the-week is Mr. Eugene Tooms, a human (or not) who hibernates every thirty years and comes out only to eat people’s livers for survival. I’m as grossed out as Mulder and Scully are in the above quote. But because of the scare-factor these eps are worth watching! Grab a blanket and maybe keep the lights in the next room on. And don’t go into the bathroom like Scully does in “Squeeze”. Just stay clear of there for a while. Make sure you go before the episode – though, I must admit, even if you do you’re gonna have to go again halfway through. Enjoy!



Number 5: Anasazi/The Blessing Way/Paper Clip

Mulder: Lots of files.
Scully: Lots and lots of files.

This trio of episodes (the finales of Season Two and the opening to Season Three) have Mulder acting rash and punching Skinner, Scully finding a small computer-chip like implant in the back of her neck, the murder of Mulder’s father, Scully shooting Mulder, a mineshaft full of files (as says the above quote), Scully’s sister being shot by a sniper, Mulder being left for dead in a burning railway car, Krycek going rogue, and Scully and Skinner pointing guns at one another. An edge-of-your-seat three parter that you’ll probably wanna watch all at once. So get some cookies and milk, plenty of pillows, and make sure you close the windows so the neighbors don’t hear you yelling at the TV like a lunatic.



Number 4: Irresistible

Mulder: People videotape police beatings on dark streets. They see Elvis in three cities across America every day. But no one saw a pretty woman being run off the road in her rental car?

What’s happened to Scully?? We’ll get to that in a moment, but this Season Two episode, though a scary one, due to the lack of super-naturalness that makes you know it’s not real, is a brilliant one. Well written, and make sure you pay attention to the filming of it. The camera angles really add to the suspense. Meet Donnie Pfaster, a normal-looking guy with the horrible obsession of cutting the hair off dead bodies. Yeah. Freaky. Especially if you’re Dana Scully, who has a hard time dealing with this case, and has the unfortunate experience of being kidnapped by Pfaster himself, once he converts to people who are … well, alive. Don’t worry, it all finishes off with a lovely heart-warming moment between Scully and Mulder that makes you go “aww, I love Mulder!!” … well, maybe that’s just a girl thing. But anyway, you’ll love it all the same! Just don’t make the mistake of walking down the streets to a friend’s house just as it’s getting dark, like I did immediately after watching this episode….



Number 3: D.P.O

Sherriff Teller: “Suspicion of homicide by emission of direct electric current”? You don’t really believe this. Let me get this straight, now. You’re telling me this kid’s throwing lightning bolts?
Scully: In effect.

Two words. Well, actually, four: Giovanni Ribisi. Jack Black.
In the X-Files!! What more could we ask for? If you love Jack Black and/or Giovanni Ribisi like I do, you’re gonna love this Season Three episode from before either of them were famous. Ribisi carries it, and you’ll be wanting to see him instead of Mulder and Scully for once, even though he’s the bad guy. This episode has our heroes investigating a supposed murder outside an arcade, where the victim seems to have been cooked from the inside. Ribisi is “D.P.O”, a young guy who seems to be able to “throw lightning”. When the town he lives in chalks up five lightning-related deaths, Mulder suspects something is amiss…. Despite the apparent validity of the autopsy results Mulder asks her to review, Scully for once finds herself in perfect agreement with her partner – especially when the suspect jump-starts his boss's heart-bare-handed. An intriguing, well acted episode.



Number 2: War of the Coprophages

Mulder: Bambi also has a theory I've come to acro...
Scully: Who?
Mulder: Dr. Berenbaum. Anyway her theory is...
Scully: Her name is Bambi?
Mulder: Yeah. Both her parents were naturalists. Her theory is that UFO's are actually nocturnal insect swarms passing through electrical air fields -
Scully: Her name is Bambi?

Poor Scully. She gets left behind with her little dog Queequeg (adopted in the episode “Clyde Bruckman’s Final Repose) while Mulder is off somewhere else investigating a bizarre case in which cockroaches are attacking people. A hilarious episode. Scully’s moments at home give us an amusing insight to her “off the record” life – trying to wash Queequeg and then losing her soapy little dog through the house, reading “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”, eating ice-cream in front of the computer, and falling asleep in bed with the phone by her side waiting for Mulder to call. And call he does – quite a few times, wanting her to come down – though she doesn’t have to for most of the episode, as she neatly elucidates Mulder’s theories on the killing, coming up with alternative, accurate examples when he thinks the attacks are cockroaches. There’s plenty of in-jokes in this episode from Season Three, which is written by Darin Morgan, who I think is brilliant, as he writes some of the funniest X-Files ever. Anyway, I’ll let you watch the episode to hear and see the rest.




Number 1: Jose Chung’s “From Outer Space”

(Manners: Well, thanks a lot! You really BLEEPED up this case!)
Scully: Well, of course he didn't actually say 'bleeped', he said...
Jose Chung: No need to elaborate. I'm quite familiar with law enforcement ... vernacular.

A seek to find the truth! That’s what this episode – of Season Three – Is about … although, no conclusion is officially reached. Jose Chung, an author (portrayed by the well-known Charles Nelson Reilly), interviews Scully to find the truth about a certain case she and Mulder investigated. Told mostly from Scully’s point of view, and even funnier than “War of the Coprophages”, this episode (written by Darin Morgan, surprise surprise), with its twisted sense of humor and unreliable points of view, has you laughing out loud. Thanks to Gillian Anderson, Scully’s facial expressions are priceless, as she has to put up with all the outrageous accounts and actions of the other characters. Explaining about the above quote, as I said, we are completely in Scully’s point of view here, so Detective Manners actually speaks the word “bleep” rather than cursing. It works a treat. Another brilliant scene is the “alien autopsy”, which is recorded on a video camera and watched back by Jose Chung during his interview with Scully, who groans, “It’s sooo embarrassing…” as she presses play. I could watch this one over and over again – and don’t worry – it’s definitely okay to go to the bathroom now. As long as you’re not afraid of people in alien costumes, hypnosis and some “bleeping”, you’ll be fine.


Finally, other notable episodes which didn’t quite make it on my list are as follows: Clyde Bruckman’s Final Repose, Quagmire (these two, along with War of the Coprophages, are the “Queequeg” trilogy – the only episodes featuring Scully’s little red dog), Syzygy, Our Town, Fresh Bones, Duane Barry/Ascension/One Breath (skip the episode “3” between two of these, it’s simply a filler and is terrible), and of course, the Pilot.

All right, signing off now…. The truth is out there!