Twilight

Have you seen it yet? I have. I was one of the many who went out opening night! That's so weird for me. I don't go to movie theaters hardly at all. I can go a year or more without going to a theater, and I don't ever go opening weekend. And yet, last night I found myself at 10:00 at night standing in a line going well out the door to get into a 10:40 showing. Crazy!

I went with Amanda, one of the laurels I teach in my ward. She's a big fan of the books and really wanted to see the movie, so we went together. If it weren't for Amanda, I would not have been there. But I decided seeing it opening night was the best way to see it! Being in a full theater with a bunch of overly excited teenage girls, I found their excitement to be contagious. The funny lines were funnier. The scary parts were scarier. Even the appeal of the actors playing the parts was enhanced by a room full of over-reacting teenagers. I found myself getting caught up in their excitement, and it improved the movie for me.

When I first saw the actors picked, I was disappointed. None of them looked the part the way I saw them. When I first saw them on screen, I felt the same way. But by the end of the movie, every one of them convinced me. I was sold. Alice was Alice. Jacob was Jacob. Even Peter Facinelli managed to convince me he was Carlisle. I even LIKED him in the role. My only issue came with Bella. She may have looked the part, but the girl can't act. She was stiff, showed no emotion, and seemed to be reading all her lines off a teleprompter. She was a disappointment, but no one else was.

Obviously this isn't going to go down as one of the best movies ever made. But it was fun, entertaining, and thoroughly watchable. Not only am I glad I saw it, but I'm glad I braved the throngs of teenage girls to see it opening weekend.

Date Night

Scott and I don't get to go on date nights very often. Last night was one of our best!

We were supposed to start the night with dinner with some friends. Unfortunately they came down with a bug and weren't able to make it. :( I missed you Mel! So we had to come up with alternate plans for dinner. In case you've missed it, I should tell you I'm becoming a bit of a football junkie. So when Scott suggested we eat at Fox Sports Grill, I was excited. It's a sports bar and grill run by Fox Sports. Most sports bars I've been to have been rushed, trying to get as many people in and out as they can. This was a completely different atmosphere. We had a great corner booth, big enough to seat 6 if necessary, with great views of multiple large screen tvs showing Monday Night Football. It was awesome. And we never once felt rushed. In fact, it seemed that they expected we'd be there occupying that booth until the end of the game. Scott and I ordered different things, then split them. He ordered a buffalo chicken burger that smelled like it was so hot it would burn your mouth, but ended up to be just the right amount of spicy. I ordered what they called a backyard burger. It was a mushroom swiss burger with the addition of caramelized onion and bacon! Yum. So great food and a fun atmosphere. It was a fantastic way to start our evening. But by half time we were off. On to the main event!

(I'm working on my self portraits, Jenn. I don't have your monkey arms!)

I haven't been to an adult concert in more than 10 years. So when I heard Jason Mraz, one of my all time favorites, was going to be in Seattle, I immediately begged Scott to go. Unfortunately, his Seattle show was on a Sunday. But just a week later he added a second acoustic only show on Monday! Scott's not the Mr. A-Z fan that I am, but he likes his music, so he agreed to not only let me go, but to come with me. :) (Thanks Babe. I'm glad I got to share the experience with you.)

The show started with an Irish woman named Lisa Hannigan. Scott liked her so much he came home and googled her to find more information. She had a really interesting voice, and she and her band used all kinds of interesting instruments, some I've never seen before. I could definitely see why she was chosen as an opening act. Rather mellow, but still really great.

Then came Jason. I've been a fan of his music for a few years now. But live, he's just so much fun to watch. He plays barefoot and really gets into the music. He and his band have a great chemistry, and you can tell they have fun and love what they're doing. The music is never more fun than when played live by people who love it as much as you do. I was surprised at what songs were played. He didn't do Wordplay or The Remedy, or any of his most well known songs. The one exception was I'm Yours, which is the one playing on the radio right now, but that didn't come until the encore. Being a fan, I knew all but one or two songs he played and I enjoyed hearing the variety. For a casual fan like Scott, it wasn't quite as fun. But Scott knew enough to keep it interesting. Another thing I loved about his live show was how he changed the songs. He sings it close enough to the original that you can sing along, but it's never exactly the way it is on the cd. He changes things up, and I would bet a lot of it is improvised. He makes it feel very free form and organic. One of the things I like best about his music is the way it flows. Live it was even better. It was so fun to hear music I love being performed by someone who obviously loves what they're doing. It was a fantastic show, one I'd happily attend again.