Favs of the 80's...

Recently, Ty and I joined the wonderful world of Netflix. Hooray! We LOVE watching movies and especially those movies we remember from our childhood. It's pretty fun getting nostalgic seeing something from waaaaaaaaaay back. So, this is the basis of today's post. Though I didn't make it into the '80s until the middle of the decade, I still remember watching some of the classics growing up. Keep in mind, this is from MY childhood. If you don't care for my list, make your own. :)

Alright, with that said, here's my Top 5 80's Movies.......


5.This was one of those movies that I remember my older brothers watching continuously when they had friends over. Me, being the little pest of a little sister that I was, I wanted to be cool and be apart of the cool older group. So, naturally, I would sneak up stairs, when my parents thought that I was asleep and watch the movie with them (in the shadows).

Any girl who watched this movie when they were younger can't deny the fact they actually thought Davie Bowie was pretty freaking gorgeous! The fact is, he looked better in this movie than he did in real life. I don't care who ya are (as far as the female persuasion is concerned), you would NOT say no to the Goblin King! This, also, was definitely the movie that really created Jennifer Connelly's career. Playing the whiny, self-pitying Sarah, who sets out in search of her baby half-brother, Toby, whom she actually sent off by wishing the goblins to take him away. She was amazing! And who can forget the lovable Ludo, or Hogbreath...I mean Hoggle (teehee), or Sir Didymus. Great movie!


4.(Sigh)...ah, Daniel Larusso. He was the scrawniest thing and somehow was able to kick some serious trash and defeat the bully Johnny Lawrence in the All Valley Karate Tournament, Chozen while trying to protect the beautiful Kumiko, and Mike Barnes when he's forced to defend his title at the next tournament.

Probably the greatest shock to come to Karate Kid fans is that Ralph Macchio was 24 when he became the teen idol playing Daniel Larusso. Seriously, the kid looked like he just jumped outta puberity. However, it's hard to imagine him playing anyone else after this. And who can forget Pat Morita, playing the disciplined and serious sensei, Mr. Keisuke Miyagi, every now and again making a funny. Who could believe that this comedian would play such a serious and honorable character. The was definitely a dynamic duo that's hard to beat.


3.

Unfortunately, for Daniel and Miyagi, Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd did. At least for me. These two are a couple of the best actors. This being one of the first, for both of the actors, major roles in Hollywood.

Marty McFly and Doctor Brown (affectionately known as "Doc"), take a many adventures through time and each one getting better with each progressive movie. With trying to get Marty's parents to ultimately fall in love (and get his mother to fall out of love with him...eww), saving the future of his children (as well as his own), and falling even further back in time to bring Doc "Back to the Future" (pun intended). This trilogy is without a doubt one my all-time favorites. I will forever be captured by the back-to-back one liners of "Great Scott!!!", "I know, this is heavy." Lol. Now that's entertainment.


2.
Mikey, Mouth, Data, Chunk, Brand, Andy, Stef, and the Fratellis....all in search of the treasure of One-eyed Willy. Where do I even start? A bunch of kids, running from family of criminals and toward the pirate known as One-eyed Willy, hoping to find enough riches to save their home, the Goon Docks. This movie is a forever hit.

Sean Astin did an amazing job portraying Mikey, enthusiastic leader of his friends in search of adventure and gold. It's kinda sad, but he will always hold a place in my movie-loving heart. He puts energy and spirit into any role he plays, whether it be Mikey from "The Goonies", Daniel 'Rudy' Rudigar in "Rudy", or Samwise Gamgee in "The Lord of the Rings". I could really go on about all the of the different actors in this movie, but I'll just let you check them out on Wikipedia yourselves. However, I must make honorable mention of the ever-hilarious Chunk dance. That's right. I'm talking about the Truffle-shuffle. Classic.


1.

This is it. My favorite movie of the 80's and pretty much ever. I'm still surprised by the puzzled look I get from people even older than myself, who have never had the pleasure and enjoyment of seeing this magnificence. I like to randomly poll people to see who has even heard of it. The response is somewhat tragic. First of all, it's a Ron Howard, George Lucas film. Is there any way that it could go wrong? I ask you. Second of all, Val Kilmer....with a sword...with an open shirt. 'Nuf said. Third, Warwick Davis. I realize that many of you who haven't seen this movie have absolutely no idea what significance he has. All I can say is he is by far the most well known and amazing dwarf (no, seriously, that what they call them) known to acting. Harry Potter fans will remember him as Professor Flitwick. And if you're particularly deranged, he played Leprechaun in the Leprechaun films. He's career is one you'll also have to look up, because it's really far to extensive to recap here.

Willow Ufgood, a farmer who is striving to become a great sorcerer, struggles to help bring about the end of the horrible and wicked queen, Bavmorda, and save the infant, Alora Danan. He gets help from Madmartigan, an incredible swordsman and warrior, a couple brownies named Rool and Frajean, and Fin Razelle, a sorceress, placed under a spell, by Bavmorda, keeping her some sort of animal, until Willow can turn her back into her human form. This movie has adventure, romance, magic, and humor. If you haven't seen this movie....you need to get yourself down to the movie rental store. It's amazing! And my #1.

Catching Up....

So, I'm beginning to see my problem. Whenever, I think I might post something new I get on, but instead of just plunging into a post....I go and check out what everyone else has been up to. Not a very effective tactic in getting the job done, needless to say. This time I thought, however, that I would reverse the order that I normally carry out, and post something first.

To be perfectly honest, the main reason that I have posted anything is because well not really anything has happened. But that won't halt me from describing a bit about this month or so.

At the end of the year at work, if we've done well (meeting certain percentages and what not), we are granted a "Staff Retreat". Nothing work related, no seminars or classes. Just some good 'ol fashioned fun. A bonding time, if you will, for those on staff. This year, my boss decided on a trip to Leavenworth along with the experience of White Water Rafting. I was thrilled. There had been talk of another ski trip or something of the like, but skiing was never a talent that poked its little way into my being. Now White Water Rafting, though I'd only done it once, thoroughly enjoyed it.

We started out by getting our gear and waiting (what seemed like a good amount of time to make someone want to forget about the whole thing all together) for the buses to be ready. And then we were off! Our guide was (by far) the oldest of the all the guides, but then also the most experienced. He did his best to keep us all entertained during the anti-climatic points by telling all sorts of lame jokes, but it was somewhat endearing. When we came upon the more intensified areas, he knew exactly where to go and what to do to ensure not only our safety, but an insanely good time as well. At our stopping point, we were allowed to change, which for me was a bit interesting. The area they allotted for the changing was a small building that was all open (no changing rooms). It's not that I mind changing in front of woman. I was in dance for a good many years and did this at every competition, performance, and recital. However, since becoming a newly endowed member of the church.....it was a bit awkward. So, I decided to make my way to the porta-potty (which was disgusting!!!!!) and changed there. Also, not an easy task. After we changed, the rafting company we were with gave us a nice little BBQ, while playing a slide show of pictures taken along our little excursion.

Here's a few pictures of us at the BBQ.

Our little group.
From left to right:
Deanna, Doc, Me, Daniele, and Sonya (Doc's wife)






















The area they served us in.













Overall we had a really fun trip.

Next was 4th of July weekend, which I have no pictures of.....but it was awesome! We went to Blanchard, ID and stayed at a resort called Stoneridge, where Ty's parents have a timeshare. Ty and I started our trip Thursday night and stayed with his parents in Othello. The next day we caravaned to Spokane, where we met up with Chad and Danielle at the Northtown mall for some good eats and a little shopping. We were a little too tired to go anywhere for fireworks, so we comfortably settled for watching some on TV.

The resort itself was pretty cool. It's surrounded by a HUGE golf course. And on the premises it contains a mini-golf area, tennis courts, a BBQ area, and a Rec. Center. In the Rec. Center you can be sure to find a Walleyball court (we played a game and I found it to be quite violent and I had the bruises to prove it), two Racquetball courts, a swimming pool, a hot tub, a sauna, an arcade, a exercise room, and of course a restaurant. By now, I'm sure you're figuring out that we had a good time. The last day we were there was Ty's birthday and we celebrated with one of his favorite desserts, Mud Pie (the way his mom so cleverly makes it).

After that weekend, though, is when our lives kinda went into sleep mode and nothing exciting has really happened. I could talk about the Pioneer Day celebration that our Stake put on, but I was so irritated at how unorganized it was. Not to mention the hour long wait we spent in line, trying to get something edible into our ever-growing-in-hunger stomachs. But I won't.

My dad's company sponsored a party at the Aquatic Center and that was exciting.

My poor dad. He forgot all his BBQing utensils and was turning the "dogs" by hand. What trooper! We felt bad and went and bought him some tongs, so he would get first degree burns. Luckily, the coolers that had the soda in them were filled with ice and water, so he could stick his hands in them, if needed. And trust me, he needed!








Jenny and our little Sammy loungin' in the lazy river. How can you resist this cute face? Sammy's pretty dang cute too!




Lastly, on the list, we are searching for either another duplex or a house, depending on what's available in our price range. We talked with our Realtor and have quite a few options that we'll be looking into. It's kind of exciting. I've never been apart of this process before, so it's fun to look at places that could potentially be ours and I can have a little more room for decoration, since we'll be working from a blank page. I'll keep you updated on that. (Hopefully).

Okay, that about wraps it up. I really didn't do much, I just like to go into lots of detail with my writing. Hehe. I hope all is well for all of you!

Announcements, Announcements, ANOWENCEMENTS!!!

Anyone from girls camp remember that one?! Well, even if not I like it.

So, yes. It's true. I have an announcement. And I'd like to begin by letting you all know, that NO, I'm not pregnant. But believe me there will totally be a blog post dedicated to that very thing as soon as it does happen. I know that you are all anxiously awaiting the post title, "Bun in the oven". Hahaha, that's a good one. I'm totally gonna use that.

Okay, now on to the serious stuff. For quite awhile, I've been feeling extremely stressed out and like I'm going over the edge of my sanity. I knew that something was going to have to change in order to feel....well, happy again. Or at least at peace. One suggestion had come to my mind more than once, in fact, quite frequently. Last week I finally came to that conclusion and took action. So here it is.....I've decided to stop doing massage. I'm at the point where I really don't enjoy it and it's actually causing some pain. I have been talking with Ty about for a really long time and when I had thought about it on my own and prayed about it, I felt that it was a good decision. Tuesday, I talked to my boss and told him that I would like to discontinue doing the massage. He took it very well and asked if I could stay on until he could find someone else. I agreed, but I'm really hoping it won't take long. I don't want to leave that area high and dry, but I'm also thinking of myself and my happiness.

That being said, if anyone who is a LMP, or knows one (especially if they are already set up with insurance) and is looking for a job, Basin Family Chiropractic is looking for my replacement. I'll still be up front working as a receptionist MWF. I might even be the one you talk to.

I know this the shortest post I've made yet, but with something like this, short and sweet is the way to go.

Slackin' on the job!

Wow!!!! I'm officially booted from the "I'm-diligent-with-keeping-up-with-my-blog" club. A month! I've been slacking for a MONTH! Can you even believe that it's now JUNE! I'm still trying to recover from April. There are still gifts that were double from the wedding that we are trying to get returned and never seem to have the time to do. (It will be done this week!) Why don't I just take a minute and try and recap the month a little. You might want to get comfy.

May had a lot going on and some is definitely worth blogging about. First off, Ty and I were given callings in our ward. He is the Sunday School teacher for the 13-14 year olds, which is already proving to be somewhat of a challenged with a couple of boys who are a little disrespectful. I was called to be the Relief Society Secretary and that takes up whatever time I do have left, which isn't much. Mother's Day we were sustained to our callings and we also finally gave those talks that had been postponed due to the lack of electricity in the building. Both of our parents were there and our Moms got to hear how much we love and appreciate all the wonderful things they do.

My migraines have been pretty bad lately and my teeth had, also, been giving me some trouble. So, I finally had to bite the bullet and decided to get my Wisdom Teeth removed (especially since I now have insurance). The doctor said they weren't posing any serious threat at the moment, and had the surgery. I had all four taken out and I WAS put under anesthesia. Thank goodness because I've heard plenty of horror stories about being awake for that surgery.......not exciting. I'm not exactly sure at what point I feel asleep, but I remember talking about Harry Potter and the fact that I'm a Massage Practitioner. Waking up was strange because I didn't remember falling alseep, but my eyes felt somewhat heavy and I was really groggy. However, it didn't take to long to figure out what went down after noticing the puffy cheeks. They had my lie down for a minute where they had a little yellow flower waiting for me. I thought that was pretty sweet of them. "Hey, we're gonna rip some of your teeth out, but we'll knock you out and give you a flower to make up for it." My mom told me later that she was kinda worried about how I was going to be since the girl that came out right before me had trouble even standing. However, I but were close enough that it wouldn't take to long before they would. The next week I went in was doing pretty dang good under the circumstances. Hooray for serious medication! The first day, my cheeks, tongue, and chin were numb. My mom watched over me until Ty came home from work. She really is pretty much one of the coolest moms around. Although, she did make me drink a thing of Slim-fast so I could take my meds. It's a lot harder than it sounds when you can't feel your face. I had to look in the mirror to make sure I was doing it right. Ty was amazing as well. He really took great care of me. He made food for me and did the dishes. Overall, I didn't do too bad, but seriously if you wanna trip, take some Hydrocodine. That stuff made me intensely loopy.

Our next fun event was Memorial Day weekend. Saturday, we went to the cemetery with Ty's family to visit Grandpa Amos Dodgen's grave. He was in the Air Force and I believe spent some time in Korea. Afterwards, Ty and I ran home quickly, so I could change. It was a lot hotter than expected. Then, we grabbed some food and headed over to the Blue Heron park and had a family picnic of sorts with everyone. It was pretty fun and we got to visit with some relatives. We went home, after a bit, to take a nap before the parade started. After talking with Mom and remembering past years of the parade, we decided to make our way over to Rite Aid about 5:30 to get a good spot. Since we were there so early we decided to walk down to the carnival area and see the booths that people put up. That's pretty much all we did was walk around and then headed back. It was good to get some exercise though. ;) After getting some food at Safeway, we busted out with our camping chair (which we got from the wedding) and hung out until the parade started. I took some pictures of us and I got some good shots of my dad's trucks and one of my brother Michael sorta looking for someone he knew in the crowd while playing his drum.


You have to kinda look close to see Michael, but (from the left) the second kid over, his head is right behind Michael's back. There were so many of these little drummers I had trouble finding him in the crowd. And since they were moving so fast, this was the best picture I could get.

Monday, we (again) went to the cemetery to visit my Grandpa Justesen's grave. He was in the Navy and served during WWII. We also saw my sister-in-law's brother, Troy's grave. It was a nice day, but we were out there for a little too long and Ty and I both got sunburned.




















That was pretty much May. Tiffany and her boyfriend Jeremy came to visit with both of their kids McKayla and Alexis. We got to use our BBQ grill for the first time! It was way exciting. I'm so excited to have it. It's going to make cooking dinners a breeze this summer.

This last Tuesday we had the missionaries and an investigator family came over. I'm really excited about that. I've never really been able to be apart of the process before and help someone find the gospel.Manuel and Molly are living together and will be having a baby really soon (like two or three weeks). Manuel found the church and joined when he was 16, but fell away. Then, he met Molly and now that the baby is on her way he wants to do the right thing for his family. About that time, the missionaries came to their door. AWESOME!!! Our missionaries are pretty cool. One has been out for 18 months and the other has only been here 2 months.The lesson went really well and Molly is definitely ready to be baptized, but they have to be married first and our lesson was on Chastity to help them understand why. I think they understood and it's so wonderful when we talked about feeling the spirit and you could tell that's what they were feeling. Thursday, we went and gave blood at the Nelson Rd. chapel. It's one of those things that Ty and I really like doing together. Plus, we usually try and see who can go the fastest. Saturday, we went to my parents house and cleaned their boat. It's a big Party Barge (14 people or 2000 lbs. capacity) and it's been in storage for quite awhile. Cats have been using it and let's just say it was kinda nasty. But we're pretty excited to use it for Ty's family reunion.

Alrighty! I think I'm officially back to being up to date. Hooray!!!! I hope you all enjoyed that massive amount of pictures and all the updating. Until next time.....

Lights Out!

Sunday was somewhat of an interesting day for Ty and I. We were informed earlier on in the week that we were to give talks in our ward. I spent most of the day, Saturday, trying to hurriedly put some sort of spiritual intellect together, while Ty, who is by far better than I at putting things together last minute (particularly a talk) put the first and final touches on his notes Sunday morning.

We got ready a little bit earlier than usual, thinking that if we were going to speak, then it would serve us well to show up at least five minutes prior to the meeting time. As we drove into the parking lot, we notice a small herd of people moving toward the pavilion in the park area behind the church. It seemed a little out of character, but we passed it off as the other ward having an "after-church-luncheon".

When we walked through the church doors we started to notice certain things were amiss. The Bishop walked up to us and said that we must be lucky. Somewhat confused by this remark, we asked what was going on, as we also noticed the lights in the cultural hall were off...as were the lights in the entire building. He explained to us that the power in the building wasn't working and they couldn't figure out what the problem was. So, we wouldn't be speaking and instead, we were to vacate the building and make our way to the pavilion outside, where we were to have sacrament and then allowed to go home. He also informed us that Bro. Stones, a member of the bishopric, had another date set apart for us. We followed suit of the others who had already found their seats in the metal benches.

While other members of the ward found places to sit, I contemplated the fact that every time Ty and I were asked to speak, some completely bizarre event occurs. Last time it was me getting run off the road by an 87 year old man just trying to make his way to Perkins for his Sunday afternoon brunch. I shared this revelation with Ty and then thought, "What if they ask us to speak at Stake Conference?" Ty replied that it would be disastrous.

In spite of our lack of electricity, we still had a wonderful meeting with the Sacrament, announcements and two youth speakers. Sitting outside like that made me think of the earlier days of the church and how having meetings outside wasn't as uncommon as it is now. Listening to the hymns being sung sounds so much different when they are let free in the fresh air, rather than being boxed up in a room. I'm so very grateful for that feeling.

Afterwards, we were found by Brother Stones (surprise, surprise) and he asked us to speak on Mother's Day and to take the topics that we were already given and to give them a Mother's Day twist. As if it were like adding a lemon to a drink. We then, made our way over to a sister who was handing out free chocolate chip cookies. She graciously gave us the rest of the half-full bag (I'm an optimist).

Overall, the day was somewhat interesting, but we need that from time to time.

First things first

So, here we begin. I've been wanting to start a blog to have a place where I could keep in touch with friends and also so we can still know what's continually going on in each other's lives. What else can you expect for someone who was raise in such a small community, where if everyone doesn't know what you are up to, then someone in the chain must have either gotten sick, moved, or died. There is the slight possibility that they could have been living under a rock, but even then I don't think that would prevent them from retrieving the news somehow.

I digress. There is still the point of updating everyone on our lives. We've married a grand total of three whole weeks. And what wonderful weeks they have been. We came home from the honeymoon, almost completely rested and not looking forward to the next day full of responsibility and work. That night we opened the wonderful gifts we received from the reception. It's still remarkable to me how generous so many have been and how blessed we continue to be.


The following week was very busy and were hardly left with any time to take care of the mess that we gave birth to while unwrapping gifts.







Saturday, we decided since there were so many boxes from gifts and other garbage, we would have a little fire. Okay, so it wasn't small, but it was definitely HOT! We couldn't stand 10 feet from the blaze and not feel the heat emanating from the flames. It was quite exciting, but, as Ty informed me previous to our pyro-mania, it would not be fore roasting marshmallows, to my utter disappointment.

That day, I did manage to unload all the appliances that were given and find homes for them all. Our house is really starting to have that domestic touch. However, even after all the hard work that was put in, we still had quite a bit to clean up. On Wednesday Ty ended up not going into work, so put forth his efforts elsewhere and did a tremendous job in organizing the "leftovers". All that was left was my portion of things that were brought over when I moved in. Thursday, I took the opportunity (not having many massage appointments), to claim back our living room. I can't say that it's completely finished, just a few things here and there, but at least we have room to stretch our legs if we feel so inclined. Not much else is different. We still have yet to have our first fight. Everyone keeps telling us that it will definitely happen, so we are somewhat anticipating that event......okay, not really. We try very hard to communicate so that we both can see the other's point of view and we're just flat out to lazy to argue. Lol. I hope this has been an enjoyable post for everyone and that we can keep up the work, whether it be good or bad. ;)