{Movies} Death Comes to Pemberley

I mentioned this mini-series as on the top of my "to-watch" list. My mom was my movie watching partner. It's three episodes long. We were going to watch just one episode.

When we finished the second one, we decided at that point we may as well just finish it.

At midnight it was finally over. Now I will share my two cents. I'll try NOT to have any spoilers.



This story is set post- Pride and Prejudice, the day before Pemberley's famous and annual Lady Anne ball. Pemberley is in a bit of chaos in preparation. Suddenly in the evening, there is a death in the Pemberlely woods. The movie tells the story of the death and its affect on the Pemberley household.

Let's start with what I considered to be the cons:
It was dark. Kinda a creepy Jane Eyre feel to it. It's a mystery story. I don't really love mysteries.

Colonel Fitzwilliam. I won't tell you all of it, but his character was not the same cheery, jaunty Colonel in Pride and Prejudice. I missed the happy-go-lucky Colonel.

There was a few really scary parts. Scary in my opinion. Seriously, I was afraid one part in the woods would give me nightmares.

Unfortunately, the actors were not the same. I'm partial to the old actors. I did get used to the new ones, but some of them just weren't quite right. I wasn't really in love with Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth, but I liked Jane, Wickham, and Georgiana.

Let's move to the pros (in my opinion)
More Pride and Prejudice, guys. Most of the characters kept their personalities really well. It was fun. I always want to know more about the characters after the book is over! This handed me three more hours of the Darcys and Bennetts. Thank you, BBC.

The story wasn't bad, I just so happen to not really like mysteries.

It had some good themes. Especially, I thought, between Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy. (although there was also a questionable seen. Just so ya' know)

(Okay, I've watched it, I'm writing a blog about it, and I JUST NOW learned it's a book. I didn't read the book, didn't even know it existed. But there ya' go!)



THIS IS A POTENTIAL SPOILER:

When you see that lady ^ you may just want to close your eyes and leave the room. ;)

{Life and Pictures} The Big Things and the Little Things

This is my 62nd blog post. I personally find 62 to be very exciting. So let's celebrate with some exciting things that have happened. At least, I thought they were exciting.

Thanksgiving with family. Getting to see cousins. We had to drive four hours away to see the cousins who live one hour from our house. Yeah, I don't know how that worked either. It was my uncles turn to have the "party" at his house, which is four hours away. And there wasn't really a good place to stay, so the family trekked out there, just to trek back home in the same day. It was a lot of car time. But it was better than expected. We watched movies on the way home :) But cousin time is always worth it. We took our annual cousin KSU picture. (my blog has been lacking in pictures recently. Please allow me to make up for that...)

A little in between picture shenanigans. This is my favorite, but it's missing some people, so it didn't make the cut :)

Something else exciting happened during our Thanksgiving party. One of my mom's friends from highschool/college came to the park with us because she lives in the said four hour away place (Aswego/Parsons Kansas, if you wanted to know. It's not much to see...). My dad mentioned that we were going to look at a litter of puppies in the area. She mentioned back that she had a puppy to get rid of (last of a litter that just hadn't found a home yet).

I probably forgot to say, my dad's dog Mercy got hit on the road not too long ago. It was very sad. And dad hasn't had anyone to take to work with him.

So back to the story. We went to her house on the way home. Have you ever been faced with one rolly-polly white puppy and been able to say "Nope. That's not the one"? I didn't think so. Turns out, we can't either. So, four hours home with the cutest little thing you ever did see. She slept the whole way. :)

She remained nameless for one day. The ideas were as follows: Betty May (She came from Labette county, Amy was her previous owner. Betty=Labette, May=Amy all mixed up.) Jasmine (we were watching a movie on the way home with a character named Jasmine), Tiger (I dunno...my dad votes for weird names), and Hunka Monka (my little cousin's suggestion...don't know where that came from either?)

But a dog can't go without a name forever. Betty May won out. It's perfect for her. I know you've been waiting for a picture, so now I shall oblige.

She's been so much fun. Aww. I love puppies. Especially when I'm not the one who has to take care of it. Great addition to our family.

What else? Well, I found the perfect brownie recipe. I've searched long and hard, I can tell you. Other people can do it. But I have never been able to find that perfect, soft, crumbly brownie. I've now done it. C'mon, be excited. I won't admit to making two pans in two days...but.... :) Hey, they're that good!

Was that enough excitement? I'll share just a few more pictures of some things I've been up to: (My mom is using these as Christmas gifts, of some sort. I don't really know the plan. But I've had a lot of fun picking out pictures, and making them)

{Pictures} Past and Present

I really enjoy pictures.

I enjoy taking pictures, looking at pictures, you name it. They mean more to me than words. No, words of affirmation is definitely not my love language!

I can look at pictures over and over and over. And love them the millionth time just as much as I did the first.

Our computer used to scroll through pictures as the screen saver. I loved it. I could just sit an watch it forever! (*Pauses as I go set our screen saver to doing that again*)

So this post is dedicated to some of my favorite pictures to look at over and over.

 So that's my cousin in the blanket. That's my dad and my uncle swinging him. They do this to everyone when we all get together. They've done it to me, my aunt, Tyler, all the little kids. It's really fun. Sometimes they just swing you by your arms and legs, but the blanket was deemed more comfortable. The other game my dad plays with little kids is "Kota bowling". It started when Kota was younger. We would set up some random objects as bowling pins, and dad would slide him across the floor on his back to knock them over. Needless to say, my mom has never participated in these activities. She generally refrains from watching at all. But her facial expression is why I love this picture! :)

 (Isn't that a throwback Thursday?) This would have been our first year of JH volleyball. I love this picture because when I look at it I think how little we were. So little. But at the time, I certainly did not feel little. I was playing my first year of CHIEF volleyball, I was no longer little ;)

 That picture was our Christmas card picture one year. My mom apparently gave up on trying to dress us nice, and went with the clothes closest to the door. Then accessorized accordingly with axes and chainsaws. Stormy was on cloud nine to be holding a chainsaw, and wouldn't take his hands off of it. :)

 2011, I believe. Long before a basement was even thought about. I took this picture with my little point and shoot camera after I climbed the windmill. There's flaws to the picture, but I love how it's pretty (sunrise, blooming redbud trees, warm color) and very realistic (buckets, hoses, electric lines..).

 Oh, that. I will never get tired of it. The occasion was, of course, playing around at the Salvation Army. This was my first time shopping with the DeWolfs. Since then, I've learned how many upsides there is to it!

 This, I can pinpoint as my first real interest in photography. There's a bunch of pictures from that morning that I really love. But this is probably my favorite. After those, I was hooked!

 Has anyone heard of our O'Malley obsession? We've named all the yellow cats that end up at our house O'Malley for several years now. My dad refuses to let that change. I think it's a little morbid. Anyway, this was O'Malley 1 (O'Malley 5 is sleeping on the couch!). He was yawning right at the camera. :)

 This picture gets me every. time. It was a complete fluke. But a good fluke! ;)

 Now here is where I got by very own "big camera". I think there is approximately one million pictures in the first week I had it. I had my own laptop that I would upload them on so I didn't flood the computer.

This was Tyler's junior year. I was taking his school pictures, and our dog "Cat" hopped in on some. There's about a dozen of either Tyler of the dog looking away from the camera. But then there's this one. What are the chances? Their expressions are even similar (weird, I know. But I think they are!)


Wow. Wow. Wow. That was the perfect excuse to look back through old pictures AGAIN! *sighs* I love doing that.

{Life and Pictures} Donuts

Me: Mom, do you have any good blog post ideas? I'm drawing a blank.
Mom: How about sledding?
Me: Yay, I suppose I could. But I don't feel very inspired to write about that... Dad, do you have any ideas?
Dad: (thinks for a few seconds) Donuts.
Me: ?? Donuts?
Dad: Yay

Okay, so that's how this all got started. My dad has some strange ideas :) I think this one was inspired by the leftover donuts from Tyler's birthday.

Donuts? Or doughnuts? Is it "do" and then "nuts", or "dough" and then "nuts"? I can't figure out which way is right! What do you use? Donuts or doughnuts?


My earliest recollection of donuts is these tie-dye, swirly, quite-ugly donuts from Dillons. They were one of those things, as a little kid, I choose Every. Single. Time. I didn't even like them! But they were bright, colorful, and stuck out to me. So every time mom bought us donuts, I wanted a tie-dye one. Do you have a similar story from your childhood?

 One thing that slightly ruins donuts for me now, is making them myself. Mom and I have done it a few times together. It's a day-long project and clean up. I really enjoy it. Choosing a recipe, mixing them up, then frying the batch. It's fun to watch how oil cooks batter. But often, after we make donuts, I loose interest in eating them. A whole day of frying donuts, then cleaning up the deep fat frying mess. Ugh. Usually, I never want to see a donut again by the time they're done. I get over it in a few days ;)
 

Plain, glazed donuts that mush into nothingness are not my favorite, no way. I would choose cookies, or muffins, or pie, or brownies over those. To me, they're just sickeningly sweet. No real flavor... mostly air. A thick, but soft, cake-y donut- now that I like! And one of my favorites? Apple fritters. They are so good! It's like soft apple pie, in your hand! There's an orchard near Topeka that has apple cider donuts that are amazing! (or, they used to. We haven't been there in awhile. Stopping to get donuts on the way to a volleyball game just hasn't happened yet. I keep hoping!)

 
 

What are your thoughts on donuts? Cake donuts or soft yeast donuts? Chocolate or cinnamon? Apple fritters? Jelly filling or no way? Have you ever tried a bacon donut?

{Life and Pictures} Running

That title was a bit of a joke :) I don't run, I jog... slloowwlllyyy. You can ask anyone in my family, or on my volleyball team, I don't run quickly!


If I'm actually running... well...

I'll try to stop talking in pinterest now.

I started jogging thanks to Mr. Keeley. He set up a 5k for volleyball training (and anyone who wanted to join) when I was eleven. It was a big deal! There was rest days, and cross training days, and jogging days. Before that, I had really never jogged. I knew Anna was going to run the 5k, and that was reason enough for me to give it a shot! I think the other motivation for me was feeling like I was really training for volleyball. It was my last year of parks and rec, but if CHIEF volleyball players were going to train, so was I. Getting to play on the homeschool volleyball teams was something I was really looking forward to!

So I jogged that 5k. Anna graciously ran with me (so did my dad! He's only raced with me twice, ever.), although I'm pretty sure, being a Keeley, she could have taken off at any time and left me in the dust! I was so wound up from excitement the whole day after the race. :) It was really fun, and made running something I could think on pleasantly. Nonetheless, after the race, I quit jogging for awhile. Several months, I think. But somehow, in the spring I got started again. I think long distance running is a little addictive. There's some point where it becomes really enjoyable. (Getting to that point can be miserable!)

Although running long distance is good for overall physical fitness to some level, it actually is not at all helpful for volleyball. For volleyball, the ideal is short, explosive movements to increase vertical jump and quick movements. *ugh* Short? Fast? I really, really don't like sprinting. It takes so much more focus to push myself for that small space than to just let my mind wander for a few miles!

Which leads to a half marathon in January. I have done a few races in between 5th grade and now. There was a two mile St. Patrick's day race, the 5k dog-n-jog at the vet school, and 5k Turkey Trot at lake elbow. But this year, I really wanted to do a half-marathon. I started last spring when I was trying to come up with some goal to have for jogging. A winter half marathon was my conclusion. So I did some experimenting, and figured out I could probably GO that far, just not quickly. I choose winter for a few reasons:
It's after volleyball season. I can forget my vertical for awhile.
It's not hot!
It's not spring= fewer allergies!

Just if you ever want to know, there's not very many winter half marathons in Kansas. It was handy not to have a whole bunch to choose from! ;) So here's a few things I learned:

• Stretching is really, really, really important. I've read this everywhere, seen it a million times, been told over-and-over, and NOW it's finally starting to sink in. Stretching is good, take the time to do it! (It actually feels really wonderful sometimes to stretch out muscles!)
• Water, Water, Water, Water. Dehydration is easy. I have spent most of my life in a state of constant dehydration. That is not healthy and can cause some serious headaches. << spoken from experience. One week after a long run, a really hard night made me realize I HAVE to drink more water, no matter how much I dislike it. (As a side note, when you just can't stand to drink plain water, try no sugar added cranberry juice with water mixed in. The tart cranberry flavor goes a long way!)
• Sometimes, goals just can't be met. That's okay. Goals are there to help you push yourself, not to help you tune-out legs saying they are too tired to keep going!

Those are my big things. Now, the half marathon. One of my favorite parts was a really sweet lady and her daughter who I ran most of it with. The little girl (yeah, she was twelve) beat me. I'm actually pretty amused over that. Over half the race she kept saying, "Mom, I really just want to run! Can I just go?" Her mom kept saying, "No, just wait awhile." I'm thinking, "Yeah, she just wants to run off some excitement, then she'll be really dead tired." I was SO wrong. At about the 6 mile marker, her mom gave her permission to go. (I was a little bit ahead of them at that point.) She passed me, and I didn't see her until she high-fived me at the finish line. *jaw drops* I was impressed!

Another silly think that just thrilled me was the 12 mile marker. I somehow missed the 11 flag, and really thought that stretch was dragging! When I saw a "12" on the flag instead of "11" I had several minutes of silly, half-crazed excitement. I was a little worn-out and my brain was going strange directions!
So, that was what made me laugh/some of the reasons I really, truly enjoyed the race. The last, BEST reason was my fans! My parents and Hannah made the BEST fans I could ask for. They braved some cold wind and several hours of watching people run, just to encourage me. That was really special for me! I mean who CHOOSES to spend their Saturday doing THAT?! Some very sweet people, let me tell ya'! And at the end of the day, I ended up with sore legs (thanks to a very hilly route), 3rd place in my age group, and a pair of Topeka to Auburn half-marathon socks! :)

I said I wasn't going to talk in pinterest anymore, but that last (rather embarrassing) picture, really illustrates this point:

{Life and Pictures} Out-and-About

This post is titled "out-and-about". But that was a joke, we haven't gone anywhere. At least, I feel like I haven't left the house in a month. Thankfully, last week, I got some much-looked-forward-to social time! (I really hadn't left the house in three weeks! Not quite a month, but it felt like it!) Anyway, this is some of the things I did get to do away from the "farm" ;)

First, a LONG delayed report. We did go to Garden City with our cousins to surprise our grandparents. It was so worth it, and definitely surprised them! We ended up calling Grandma on the way. All the boys were scared of surprising her :) I loved spending some time with my cousins as well. Like, the WHOLE drive to Garden City and back. At THAT point, I was close to ripping my hair out. I needed to GET AWAY FROM THOSE BOYS!! The whole whole family got together for Christmas the same weekend. It was fun/special. And, just in case you wanted to know, my family KNOWS how to do Christmas sweets :) There was some amazing food! (Of course, food would be something that stuck out to me.)

Garden City

Cousins

Family

The only other social time I've had is Mr. Weddle's "civecon" (civics+economics) class, and a CHIEF basketball game. Mr. Weddle's classes are always amusing, and I think I've already learned something. Which is good. "Civecon" is a subject I need a LOT of help with! The basketball games were exciting as well. (I don't think I've ever said "basketball is exciting") My mom answered all my questions patiently which was very, very helpful. I think I'm starting to enjoy basketball more. Knowing VERY BASICALLY what's happening helps!

In this post, I've probably given hibernating a bad name. But don't get me wrong. I really do enjoy days spent a home, with nowhere I need to rush off to (See the pinterest picture below. It sums up the best reason staying home is fun!). I can even enjoy a few weeks of going nowhere. But, after a while, I need to see PEOPLE!! :) I think with classes starting soon, some social time will be re-entered into our boring life. I'm excited. ;)

(My next post is going to be a little bit about running...er..jogging)

It's the truth! :)

{Life and Pictures} Winter Break (Part 1)

I set out with the idea of posting on my blog weekly over winter break. I really do enjoy this assignment, and I thought it would be a good idea to stay in the habit. It was a nice idea. I blew it. BUT I think I'll manage one post before break is over!

This is part 1 of "Tales of a Winter Break". This will mainly focus on the things I've enjoyed at home.

Well, everyone, I finally watched North and South. My family was very gracious and let me put it on the top of the Netflix list when I had finished the book. I have to admit, I waited VERY impatiently! When the first disc FINALLY came, I got my mom hooked. That was pretty much my goal :) We watched it together after that.
I have deliberated over liking the book or the movie better. I'm still a little on the fence. I tend to be on the fence about things. But, I'm leaning towards the movie. Which totally shocked me. Usually, when I read the book first, I like the book better. Don't get me wrong, I really liked the book! The proposal from Henry in the beginning was a good interest grabber. What a "slap-and-a-bang"! I also liked knowing the character's thoughts a little more. And I felt that the book pulled me into the emotions of the characters a little better than the movie. Just a little. But in the middle, I found some of the arguing and conversation got long and tedious. Which probably goes to show that I'm not a "great reader" (Name that quote!)
Just as I'm saying that I like the movie better, however, things come to mind that make me doubt my opinion. FIRST: (this is really petty, it just came to mind first) I didn't like the actor they choose for Henry Lennox or Mr. Bell. (Everyone else was SPOT ON in my opinion. I especially, Especially liked Nicholas Higgins. But I'll get onto that in a sec.)
SECOND: The hint/implication about Mr. Bell having considered marrrying her. Wait, I don't think THAT was in the book, and I didn't like that part. He's her godfather. It just doesn't work.
The little story changes didn't bother me too much. And oh my, the Nicholas Higgins character was my absolute favorite. I loved the actor, and I loved the part. It's a dark movie, and a little devoid of smiles and fun. But it was meant to be that way, and made me really appreciate the smiles when they came, especially from Mr. Thornton. (You know, like at the very end! :) It just tugged at my heart.
It's a great story. I loved that there was another story beyond just the romance. The strike and the characters it brought in was a little different then some other "Jane Austen-ish" movies. I will certainly be watching it again. Maybe I'll even add it to my BBC "movies to own list"! :) If anyone wants to spend three days watching it and talking it over with me, I'm in! ;)


 This would be one of my favorite parts! I could just start to see the glimmer of a happy ending.


Okay, second is eggnog. I really like eggnog, and mom obligingly buys it from the time it appears in stores until it's all gone. :) Eggnog lattes are fantastic as well. 1/2 cup eggnog, 1/4 cup milk, 1/4 cup coffee, warm it up to desired temperature!

Snow, and sledding! We spent a whole-buncha' time in the woods when the snow was still piled high, working on perfecting the ONE sledding hill on our property. It was fantastic. My little siblings also made snow sculptures. Stormy made hay bales ;) I love that boy! :)

Sleeping in. I love the low stress of not worrying about getting breakfast going. No bustle, slow mornings. It's a fun change.

That's it for now. I'll be back with a year in recap, and another post about my winter break.  I've really enjoyed keeping up with everybody's blog over break!

{Life and Pictures} Adventuring in Missouri and Other News

I was born in Hannibal, MO. For the first six months of my life, I lived in a TINY little house in Curryville, MO (about 30 minutes from Hannibal.) Mom's been wanting to go back and visit our friends there for awhile. I think she has in her head that Tyler's going to graduate, leave, and we'll never see him again. I know better :) The first time he has to do laundry, he'll come back :) But anyway, we finally made it back for a visit last weekend.

Since we moved back to Kansas when I was only six months old, I have NO memory of our friends in Curryville. It was really strange meeting people who knew me, that I didn't recognize. I heard the phrase "You have grown up!" so many times! :)

While we were there, we visited our old babysitters (and their family. Who were SO, SO nice. They let ALL seven of us stay with them. That is a seriously big undertaking!), our old house, our old neighbors, our old church, and (the big one for me!) the CAVES behind our old house. Really, there was multiple (I think 4?) caves that can be explored near there.

My dad really loved the caves, so he wanted to be able to show us all. We tracked down the owners of the land (who graciously let us walk around in their woods), geared up in orange (we were tramping through the woods during Missouri deer season.), and explored the caves.

The first one was not so pleasant. It was basically just a rock jutting out that you could crawl under. Dad lost me at "Watch out for snakes. There's rattle snakes around here. They love caves like this." If we were brave enough to get wet, we could've crawled on hands and knees through water and reached the other cave, ladder cave. However, it was under freezing, so we opted for walking to the above ground entrance of ladder cave.

This was my favorite of the two. You climb down a a 20 foot, narrow ladder (which was the same ladder my dad put in 15 years ago-scary thought?) and wiggle your way between two walls to an open passage. It was much warmer in the cave, but the air was stale. We walked a little ways, then bent double to cross under a rock ledge. (More splashing!) The rest of the cave was really easy to walk through and just amazing.

At one point, dad turned off both the headlamps. It was the most complete darkness I have ever been in. So scary/interesting.

There was one freaky part.  I was innocently looking around the cave, when I noticed all my family staring at the ceiling 1 foot above my head. My dad said, "Look above you!" I just about screamed! There was a cluster of 6 bats right above me! *shivers*

Here's some pictures of the caves:

The first cave

Climbing down in ladder cave

End of the exploration

There's a bat near the right corner

Other news from the past week:

I have new baby goats, and some kittens showed up at our house. I do not like having cats... but when they just show up, what can you do? Obviously, I have pictures of that, too ;) (I'm realizing there's a lot of pictures in this post. Sorry :( I really enjoy pictures.)

"M" in front, "And M" in the back :)

Marshmallow

O'Malley...3

Gerdy

{Life and Pictures} Volleyball is Over...

Well, volleyball is now over. It really went faster than I ever remember. My JV team had a winning season (I don't know our record). We finished on Tuesday with a win. Here's some highlight pictures:

:) Oh I love this

Wearing Tindall Orthodontics shirts :)

Manhattan CHIEF tournament

Chloe posing for the camera :)

Nachos? Who knew they could be so exciting??

Mr. Weddle and his 2013 CHIEF varsity team