Traditional Things I Love: Stationery and Business Cards

I was reading an article online the other day about military traditions that we don't want to die, and it was really interesting, and some were things that apply not just in the "military world"---namely things regarding stationery. I LOVE stationery. I love seeing different designs from different people which I think reflects different personalities. And I just love getting actual mail that isn't junk! I just got a birth announcement in the mail and even though I already knew about the birth from social media, I still loved receiving it!

So anyway, some of those stationery things that the article mentioned were Christmas cards, and business cards aka "calling cards." With phones and social media, business cards are one of those things that are becoming more rare, but personally I still think they're great, because when someone gives one to me, it serves as an actual reminder to look up whatever the card is for when I get home.

In the military world, the business card also serves as a "calling card" aka an information card for others. I first was introduced to this on our overseas tour in Okinawa, and it was extremely helpful when you are meeting a lot of new people pretty regularly. Whenever someone gave me one of their cards, I always thought "I really need one of these for myself to make it easy on other people as well!"

So I finally did!

I went with Basic Invite, a local company based out of St. George. They have so many adorable designs, and what was really cool about them is that all their designs are completely customizable with sooooo many color options. And that's for all of their stationery, not just business cards.

^^there's even more colors on the other side^^

^^Love that they print the pretty design on the back too^^

So yeah, even though I don't have a business per se, I like having my little info cards. And now I'm really looking forward to Christmas card time aka one of my favorite times of year! In addition to the color customizing with the cards and envelopes, Basic Invite also offers an address capturing service (a link for your social media where people can input their addresses. MUCH needed for me since lots of my friends and myself included are regularly getting new addresses) and also address printing for free with orders YES!

(Also they ship to FPO/APO addresses for any friends of mine still living overseas :) AND they are currently offering 15% off with the code 15FF51.

Long live stationery. Emails, e-cards, and e-invites are convenient sometimes, but they never can replace the feel and thoughtfulness of real cards. I hope they never die!



Check out Basic Invite's business card info and templates by clicking here or here. And thanks to them for sponsoring this post!

Confessions about Election Year 2016

Are you ready for a big rant? Even if you aren't, I really have to get stuff off my chest.

 I feel like I'm living in a House of Cards episode with the amount of conniving, threatening, dishonesty, corruption, scandal covering, and just overall terrible people involved in the election these days. A few months ago during the Presidential Primary, when America was deciding among a sea of crappy candidates in both parties which crappiest candidate should be the finalists, Kevin Spacey, the corrupt, threatening, terrible person of a president in House of Cards (not actually a terrible person I hope) said something that ultimately sums up the state of America these days: Americans are getting the kind of leaders they deserve.

I confess that I pretty much am disheartened and disappointed with hearing how anyone is voting. When I find out somehow on facebook that someone supports Hillary Clinton, my respect for that person goes down and the disappointment goes up. When I find out somehow that someone I know supports Donald Trump, the same thing happens. If you're one of these people, sorry, that's just how I feel. And there is nothing you can say to me that will justify the words and actions of these terrible terrible people.

It's sad and pathetic that people are arguing how one candidate is better than the other because one candidate is a little less terrible than the other. 

I am fed up with our country's two party system which is practically causing a civil war. The Republican National Convention made me sick. The upcoming Democratic convention will probably make me sicker. All these people who were so anti-Trump are now swearing allegiance to him, because the party is all but holding them hostage. Bernie Sanders is a sellout, because he fought so hard against Hillary Clinton (with the DNC also teaming up against him to make sure he didn't win), and lo and behold, here he is swearing allegiance to Hillary, all for the stupid party. 

I am so disappointed that for the first time in US history, a woman being president is a very tangible reality, and my feminist self should be so happy, but instead I am disgusted that it's a corrupt, selfish, lying, greedy, incompetent bi**h. Not to mention she has terrible taste. Google what she wore to her daughter's wedding. 

And I am sad that someone so blatantly racist and misogynist has gained such a strong support of Americans. He makes threats and says terrible things that are so obviously against what America is supposed to stand for, and people cheer. People are disappointing me left and right.  

So yes, I am voting libertarian this election. Although voting is a personal thing, I have decided I am not going to hide that fact. And if you are a disgusted American like I am, I encourage you to do the same. People may say that I am throwing my vote away, but at least I can live with myself and keep my self respect. 

I don't want this to be all doom and gloom so I will say that the press and satire being put together this election season is awesome so far. Stephen Colbert is winning:

And whoever put this together is a genius. Can you see the trend that I also feel like I'm living in the society of the Hunger Games??

I'm not one to believe in conspiracy theories, but I really am believing this. And I think the whole melania plagiarism thing was another inside job to help Hillary get elected.

So yeah, there you go. Two besties running for president, and the whole country falling for it. Crazy times people!

The Post that Exposes How Much TV I Watch

I've always enjoyed me some tv, but I've realized I sure watch a lot of it when I have a young baby and am nursing/cuddling with young baby quite frequently. Here are some things that I have been consuming lately. I try to have a balance of quality stuff, and then some "easy watches" where I can tune out or not pay the best attention and still get the jist of it ;)

First up: HGTV

Ever since I got back from Okinawa where I didn't have HGTV, I have more than made up for it in binging in sooo much HGTV! Since being abroad, Fixer Upper has began airing and I love it! Although I will admit, once you watch soo many remodels of Chip and Joanna Gaines, you kind of get sick of seeing what you originally thought was great. Farm house sinks, shiplap, and a way too open floor plan gets old. Seriously, who wants a house where you can immediately see the kitchen? It's so unforgiving if you have people stop by and your kitchen is a mess. But I'll still watch it, because I still love them.

I also have binged on Flip or Flop--if you recall, it was a Flip or Flop marathon that helped get me through labor before going to the hospital haha. I love them too, not as much at first but I grow to like this show more and more.

Also I love "Love it or List it." I can picture me and Victor being on the show about the cottage, because Victor complains about it all the time ha. I just hate they never say where they are. I like knowing where in the country you find those types of houses/real estate prices. 

Amazon Prime:

A show all about orchestra life and the politics and quirkiness of it--and all for love of the music? Of course I would love this show. It's a great witty show, and the soundtrack and musical talent in it is awesome. 

Regular TV: Thanks to the OnDemand feature, I have been able to just watch regular tv shows whenever I want aka whenever I'm nursing, etc. It also has free movies to watch too. 

Superstore: A new Office like show but in a Walmart type superstore. It's very amusing, sweet, and funny. 

The Bachelor: After a looong time of not watching the show, I admit, I've gotten into it this season. I never stay up of Monday night--not worth it. But it is entertaining to watch the next day. It's the most mindless of all of the shows ha!

Downton Abbey: not a new favorite, but it definitely is in the weekly lineup :)

Some movies:

This movie is on Netflix, based on a Broadway musical. I liked watching it for the music. Anna Kendrick has a great voice! The show was pretty depressing, but still intriguing. 

And one of my favorite new movies:

This is such a beautifully made movie! I have wanted to see it for a long time, but of course it would never have been in theaters in Marine land Okinawa. This movie is everything I love in a period piece. Characters that make you absolutely swoon, and others that make you yell out loud at the tv. So good. 

So there you have it! Do you watch any of these or have recommendations for me? Do tell!

I'm not a hippie mom, I'm a lazy mom who wants to sleep.

When I look through my pictures on my phone, I have an awful lot of adorable sleeping pictures of my baby. And an awful lot of those are of the baby sleeping in the bed. If it looks like he sleeps in my bed a lot, it's because he does. I guess you can call me a co-sleeper.

Before having a baby, when I heard the term "co-sleep" and "the family bed," I immediately thought that sounded like hippie parenting. And since sometimes I'm not even a fan of having to share a bed with my husband (I want my space!), I said I would not participate in this co-sleeping business.

I posted the link to this post I wrote on facebook. And I got some great feedback that has stuck with me and was a turning point in the way I view my baby sleeping. One of my friend's said, "I'm probably going to regret it later at some point, but I've just been letting my little one co-sleep so that I can get more sleep." And I admitted to her that I'm guilty of that too, as if I should be ashamed that I went back on my word to never co-sleep. But then my other friend said something about co-sleeping that still makes my hormonal self tear up:

"I have never regretted it! All 4 slept with us. And now, as the oldest prepares to leave for college, I would give anything to have those days back"

Since then, I have let go of the guilt I feel when we let the baby come sleep in the bed at 1am. I would feel guilty because the last thing we wanted to do was rock him to sleep for who knows how long, when I could just bring him in the bed and he would almost immediately fall back asleep, just from holding his hand (love that sweet little boy!). And since I let it go, I no longer dread the night time, wondering what the crap shoot would deal me as far as a night's rest went, because sometimes he sleeps great, and sometimes he doesn't, and not knowing would cause me mild anxiety. Sounds silly, but I'm a girl who loves sleep.

The baby starts every night in his crib. Sometimes he stays there and sometimes he doesn't. And right now, it's working for us. It doesn't bother Victor, because he's naturally a big sweet ball of mush who says "I like having my family all in the same room with me," although maybe he's changing his mind now that the baby likes to sleep right up against him while he is already on the edge of the bed ha ha.

And while we are on the subject, I have realized that some of my biggest reasons of why I love breastfeeding so much are because they work great with my lazy parenting techniques. I don't have to do any prep, any cleaning and can do it anytime or anywhere. I also lost the majority of my baby weight just from breastfeeding---no exercise required! Yesterday after baby woke up at 6am ugh, we took the nicest nap together after I fed him in bed while lying on my side. It sounds so hippie, but when you think about it it's because I'm lazy and didn't want to get up and wanted to get more sleep.

Hippie parenting/lazy parenting. Whatever you want to call it, I'm getting sleep and sure am enjoying the extra baby snuggles. Win win.

Hold your tongue and let me whine.*

Oh hey. It's been a while. I am still alive. Just chilling here growing a baby.

I hit thirty weeks last week: THIRTY! And by now, it's thirty one. And just like that, a switch went off that has notified my body to make me miserable. I know I sound dramatic, but I feel like these upcoming months are payback for having such an easy first trimester, which is usually what everyone complains about.

Sure, the first trimester had its moments of struggle, but every time I wanted to complain or actually complained to people, or even this blog, I would get the same response. Something to the effect of "Oh, just wait until...." I appreciate the warning, but it makes me feel like I have no right to feel that way or that I'm being a baby.

So please indulge me for this blog post, while I straight up whine!

Don't tell me "oh, just you wait until you milk comes in" after I tell you that I am not liking how big my boobs are getting. Before I couldn't fit in pre pregnancy jeans, it was certain tops and swimming suits that wouldn't fit me in the chest area. It's seriously annoying (the big boobs part, and yes I know I sound ridiculous, but I don't care).

Don't tell me "just wait, you still have 10 weeks to get huge!" when I tell you that I am starting to feel like a whale lugging my stomach (and big boobs) around. The back pain has escalated ten fold, as well as the acid reflux. I now am taking a prescription for it, but man, it sucks. So much so that it was easier to take this picture in my living room rather than get in the car and go somewhere pretty because the car is easily what sets off the back pain the worst. Ugh.

By the end of the day my body just aches. And I've decided to stop teaching my English classes this month because they don't have a/c and it sucks, but more importantly, by the end of my teaching for two hours I am just in pain from bouncing up and down with those kiddos. I know, I know, "just wait til you're pregnant again and you still have to have energy for your other kid, blah blah blah."

I am feeling more anxiety with each passing week as my due date looms closer and closer. Nesting and stuff helps get me excited. But I don't think I will ever be completely ready to be a mother. It's just a leap of faith that I am having to take. And I confess, while I dread labor and delivery, I kind of am dreading the whole newborn package more: sleep deprivation, painful breast feeding, post labor healing, etc. This is when I hear some person in my head say, "oh but enjoy the beautiful newborn stage! Because just wait until they're a crazy toddler, crazy child, crazy teenager, blah blah blah." I know! Thus the whole statement that I am not ready to be a mother!

Well, that feels good to get off my chest.

But besides the complaints I currently have, my point is that the phrase "just wait until..." is not helpful. I think people are trying to be helpful, which I can't blame them for, but at this point, what good does it do? I'm in it for the long haul. Boarded the train and there's no getting off.**

So thanks for listening! Any advice or comfort appreciated, or do you feel like you can't, since all you want to say is what I told you not to say?? Ha. Well, go ahead if you must.  I'll still love you.

xoxo Annie

*blog post title from my favorite first line of a poem ever: The Canonization by John Donne
**taken from another favorite poem: Metaphors by Sylvia Plath

Ranting About Reading

^^doesn't have much to do with my rant, but it's funny ha ^^

Sometimes I'm a hypocrite when it comes to how I judge books. 

I was an English major, so I have read quite the plethora of genres, with all kind of content you can imagine. I took an entire course just on Toni Morrison's novels, and when my mom turned on my Kindle mistaking it for hers, she was all "what in the world are you reading?!?" So I generally have a higher tolerance for things like language, violence and sex in books: WITHIN REASON. (Like I never ever plan on reading 50 shades of grey crap because that is blatantly a porno for women so I know I would never read it)

And yet, when I know I'm reading something by, oh let's say, a Mormon author, I suddenly become such a prude ha ha. And you want to know why? Because they should know better! (In my opinionated opinion, anyway.)

A couple of examples. I HATED the book Ender's Game. Shocker I know, since so many people worship it. I'm just not a fan of sci-fi, but what really bugged me was all the crude language (not just swear words) that Orson Scott Card had his characters using (children, which I thought was completely unrealistic). Card is a Mormon, and Mormons really try to encourage good language. And in the book, I thought most of it was so unnecessary. So that's why it bothered me!

Now Twilight. Uggghh. Well there's a lot I could rant about, but Mormon Stephanie Meyer just kept pushing the limit on what she could get away with regarding the more intimate scenes between the two main characters.  Which remember, is a 17 year old girl and a 200 year old vampire. Come on, Stephanie Meyer, you know better. 

Am I being completely unreasonable? Should Mormon authors be able to just write whatever they want?? Nevermind, I don't care if I'm being unreasonable. It just bothers me. It has for years. 

But along the lines of talking about Twilight, I just finished the Divergent series and the biggest problem I have with both of these series is that they both were originally targeted to young adult (aka middle and high schoolers) and then as they exploded in popularity the authors used it to their advantage and turned them into adult books that should not be being read by middle schoolers. With Twilight, it was mostly just sex, but with Divergent it was sex and violence. And all of this with the main characters being just 16 and 17 years old. 

Of course I have read worse, but as I'm reading and thinking in the back of my head that these books are being targeted to a younger audience, it drives me nuts! These books are being stocked in middle school libraries, which means that twelve year old sixth graders could be reading it. Not okay in my opinion. I was talking about it with a friend of mine (who is not Mormon, and much less conservative than I am) and she completely agreed with me. She said as she was reading Twilight at the same time as her 13 year old niece, thinking it would be fun, and that it really started to bother her thinking that her little niece is reading that stuff too. 

So what do you think? Where do you draw the line? I wanted to spew all this stuff out to see if I am alone in this world. If I am just a hypocrite, because I read it, or if I am justified in my ranting. But either way it feels good to get it off my chest.

 I just love ranting ha ha. So thanks for reading!

Conceiving, Carrying, and Everything In-between

Did you ever have to watch "The Miracle of Life" in high school health class? No? Today is your lucky day! It's on youtube right here! So, if you did, you probably remember well the scoffs and snickers while watching it, or your teacher being like mine and yelling "have some maturity!!" And you tended to join along with the other students, because after all, we're watching things like ejaculation and live birth and seeing what happens during sex is awkward, funny, and gross all at the same time to dumb high-schoolers.

I think about it now, and want to be that coach (did I not mention my health teacher was also a gym teacher? Well, that's pretty much a safe assumption) and yell "Don't you realize how many things had to be just right for this whole thing to be successful?! Don't you understand the hundreds of things that could have gone wrong that would have prevented you from being here?!"

It truly is a miracle.

You don't realize any of this until you are an adult. What do you know of your own mother's or your friend's mothers' struggles to conceive and/or successfully carry a baby? If my mom had had miscarriages or infertility struggles, I never would have known, because kids just aren't aware of any one else's struggles or needs but their own. No disrespect to children, that's just how they are.  I never would have known as a child, but I know now as an adult. And it's not with my mother this time, it's my own friends and acquaintances who are in that same stage of life as me right now.

A couple weeks ago, I accompanied a dear friend to her own ultrasound, since her husband was out of the country for work. A few hours later, I was to have my own 16 week appointment. In the ultrasound, we found out she had miscarried. Oh how much it hurt to have to see her go through it, and then only an hour or so later to be hearing a healthy heartbeat of my own baby. She might have asked, "why me?" but in that moment, I was also thinking, "why me?"

I am not taking for granted how blessed I am. It's just so hard to have to see friends struggling to conceive or struggling to carry a baby full term because I confess, I didn't have to wait too long to successfully conceive, and I have had a healthy pregnancy so far, which I pray continues. How do you be a comfort without unintentionally rubbing it in? I just try to continue being the best and most supportive friend I can be. And I keep them in my prayers that their prayers will be heard as well.

I'm not quite sure to wrap up these thought of mine, except to say again that it all really is a miracle.

Oh, and we found out today that we are having a boy. My husband couldn't wait any longer so we went to a Japanese clinic off base. The doctor spoke decent English, definitely enough to almost immediately say, "oh yeah, penis" as the baby appeared on the screen. Haa. It was all pretty crazy, but my favorite part of those appointments is hearing a strong healthy heartbeat. Grateful that my little guy seems to be doing pretty good in there.

Proud papi, showing off his baby's privates to family on facetime. Can you see the 3D shot of his face at the bottom? Technology is so amazing!

Anyway, thanks for reading. I love you all.

Annoying #hashtag Things

#SochiProblems.

I for one think it's hilarious. But some people don't. I saw this article posted today about how all these issues "are more of an embarrassment to Americans than it is for Russia." Ummmmm, NO. This is totally an embarrassment to a government and olympic committee where the only word you ever hear describing them is corrupt. When has Russia ever NOT been considered corrupt? The writer of the article is choosing to be offended thinking that all these tweeters are attacking all those harmless Russian civilians that live there, which is obviously not the case.

I don't hate Russians. The ones I have met are incredibly nice. Same with Romanians. But the one things these countries have in common is complete corruption. I think that's why I think #SochiProblems are so funny, because all those crazy mishaps like several toilets in one stall, wires strewn about in hotel hallways, spray painting the grass outside the stadium, and so many other things left unfinished are things that are totally realistic for that area of the world.

Nope, #SochiProblems is not an embarrassment to America. We've managed to budget time and money to finish Olympic Prep many times, even amid attempts at corruption/bribery/embezzlement, etc. All of that has become an all too accepted way of governing and planning in Russia. That's all there is to it.

***
Next hashtag: #foodporn
UUGGGHHH I can't stand it. It seriously makes me so mad. Why do people think that comparing anything to porn is cool?

And you want to know what the most ironic thing is about all these supposed "#foodporn" pics? That the people that are using it are ones who take the worst photos of food possible! The pictures of food that you're like, "looking at that food makes me want to barf." Is that just me? Well, if it is, it must be all the pregnancy food aversions.

The only people that have perhaps earned the right to use that wretched hashtag are people like Pioneer Woman, but she is far too classy to ever do something like that. So can we please just stop with all the stupid hashtags with anything "porn" in them?? Thank you.

***
Last hashtag is one I made up. #pregancyguilttrip

Alright, so we all know being pregnant has its less than joyful moments: morning sickness, food aversions, just feeling gross a lot of the time. You get it. But honestly, the thing I'm starting to be most sick of is all the pregnancy guilt trips.

Most of this time it isn't even coming from people directly. It's all those studies on-line that are always like "this food item could possibly cause harm, but it's your choice." "Doing this activity might be bad, but it's not for sure, so it's your choice."

Great, so you tell me the horror stories and then tell me it's my choice. Talk about a guilt trip.

Then there are the things you could hear from other moms. "Are you having a natural birth? The drugs ruin the baby. But that's just my opinion." "Are you going to cloth diaper? No? You must hate your baby because disposables are terrible for their skin. But that's just how I feel about it."

Gee, thanks.

All the guilt tripping is getting old. I'm doing the best I can, people! And I know plenty of people who wore disposable diapers, or whose mothers had an epidural, or drank Dr. Pepper while pregnant, or ate deli meat, and they turned out JUST FINE. So let's just stop with the guilt trips.

And, that's about it for today. Thanks for reading!
xoxo Annie

I still hate the elf on a shelf...

But...

This one cracked me up. My favorite 16 year old (that is in Young Womens with me) set their family's elf up like this:

Wrecking Ball Elf.

Made me chuckle.

Merry Christmas! We are {hopefully} starting our Christmas travels tomorrow. Let the government flight adventures begin!

Tis the Season...For a Holiday Rant

So, I hate the "elf on a shelf." HATE it. It's mostly the whole concept of "I'm going to post a picture EVERY day on facebook so everyone can see what my elf is doing" that I can't stand. I DON'T CARE! (Even the lady on the radio tonight was talking all about where they found her elf and I wanted to throw up). There seriously can be a semester long course of social media common sense. No one wants to see the stupid elf on a shelf clogging up their newsfeed every day! Why, people?? This sounds dramatic, considering the only reason I have unfollowed people from social media is too much political posting, but I truly am removing people from my newsfeed this Christmas season who fall into this trap. I'll have to make reminders to bring them back after Christmas. I have already unfollowed several pinterest boards, because I personally can't stand it. I don't get why it's so ridiculously popular. Man, it feels good to get that off my chest.

While we're on the Christmas theme, can I share some holiday songs that need to just go away? Let's see:
The number one answer to this, without a doubt is "Christmas Shoes," but that's a given, obviously.
"Little Drummer Boy": what does that even have to do with Christmas??
"Santa Baby": slutty and annoying.
"I want a Hippopotamus for Christmas": Stupid stupid stupid.

There is one song that should be on this list, but I can't bring myself to do it, because it's a guilty pleasure of mine, and the music video?? Priceless. Oh, George Michael.


Are there any other annoying songs I'm forgetting?
Anyway, Happy December! I sure do love Christmas time.

You Are What You Wear

Way way back in the myspace glory days, I wrote what could probably be called my first of many opinion blog posts. I tried to find it, but due to the ever changing nature of myspace, it disappeared somewhere into cyberspace. Such a shame. Anyway, I wrote about something that I still feel very passionate about: the way we dress.

I'm rewriting about it now because in the last few days I have witnessed a few discussions regarding the way we dress. And everything I have to say about it can be summed up to this: the way you dress DOES matter. If you dress like a bum, you will be labeled as a bum: regardless of if you are a bum. If you dress like a slut, you will be labeled a slut: regardless of if you are a slut. It may sound materialistic to put so much emphasis on the subject of clothes, but the fact of the matter is that we live in a society where clothing is not optional, so yes, clothes do matter.

The first discussion I witnessed was in church yesterday, where the comment was made that it is superficial and wrong to judge a person by clothes first, rather than by their actions. That is true to an extent. But before you ever see a person's actions, you see their appearance. And I'm sorry, but if you're not dressed appropriately for whatever that first meeting may be, you will be judged.

This has nothing to do with how much money you spend on clothes. I completely agree that a person should not be judged by the stores they shop at or how much their outfit cost. That's not right. But for anyone who makes the excuse that they can't look nice because they can't afford it? I'm not buying it (two words: thrift stores). Or someone that says that putting an effort into your appearance like spending time doing hair/makeup, etc. is vain and materialistic? I'm not buying it either.

At church, I work with the young women. Naturally, we talk a lot about dress, since it's something teenage girls are bombarded with so much. We talk about dressing modestly, and we talk about taking pride in your appearance, because you are a child of God. My go-to scripture about this (found here) says: "...and they did not wear costly apparel, yet they were neat and comely." There you go. Just because you can't afford the designer duds, or maybe don't want to spend an hour doing your hair (who does anyway??),  or maybe you feel like you don't have a good enough figure to dress cute. None of these reasons mean that you have an excuse to look like a mangy scrub.

The other discussion I was a witness to this week was on facebook (of course) arguing about what is okay to wear at a military ball, which fellow mil spouses and I attend every year. Some girls were getting up in arms accusing these "judgmental and un-classy wives" of making snap judgments by labeling women as sluts who come to the ball dressed as--you guessed it---sluts. It sounds harsh, and yes, judging is bad, blah blah blah, but I'm still on the side of those women who don't defend the women that don't know how to dress appropriately for the appropriate occasion. You're not going to a night-club, you're going to a formal military event.

Know your event, and dress accordingly. That's all there is to it.

So yeah. That's how I feel about that. And on a kind of related note, here is a tribute to two of my favorite things: Harry Potter and songs about thrifting

Thanks for reading!
xoxo Annie

Blog Posts that Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth

I have a lot of opinions. I do. I write about a lot of them on this blog, because it's a nice outlet to spew them out (sometimes like word vomit, but I appreciate you reading them nonetheless). Lots of other bloggers do the same thing, and sometimes they beat me to the punch. So instead of plagiarizing them or attempting another angle on these subjects, I'll just share them with you. Hope you're in the mood for some reading material ;)

On social media and some possible reasons I may stop following you or lose interest: Click here. The post focuses mostly on blogs, but for me, I have the same sentiments for things like instagram or facebook, and have unfollowed for some of those same reasons.

Speaking of social media, this blog post (click here) hits the nail on the head of a growing epidemic in social media to compare ourselves or our lives or get upset/jealous if we see something like an event on instagram that we weren't invited to. Man oh man, is it true. I think it's safe to say we have all seen this or fallen victim to this problem. It's a great post. Read it.

This post concerns female modesty of dress, a subject that has been debated for ages. But I really like what she has to say about it. (click here) She has some great points that I agree with, especially how she says it's not men that are sexualizing women, the women are doing it to themselves. Reminds me of the post I wrote last year about (here) about a similar subject, feminist hypocrisy.

And speaking of feminism, here's another post that I really liked (click here). I really enjoyed it because it is so blunt and so basic, but jam-packed with common sense. "Feminists" these days sometimes really bother me. This post addresses those things. Again, read it :)

Happy reading! Let me know what you think. You all know how I love sharing opinions.
xoxo Annie

What's Been Annoying Me Lately.

I think it's time I go back to my roots on this little blog. This includes my ranting ha ha. So, the last time I looked, it's been over a year since I did a "pet peeve" post. Don't believe that I'm now cured from letting so many things get on my nerves. Ha ha. It's funny thinking about it. Nope, I'm still the same old ranting Annie. I guess I've just been outsourcing my rants to easy outlets like my husband. But my husband has been working 12 hour shifts seven days a week for the last month, so it's all been building up, I suppose.

I've been getting pretty upset lately seeing the complete decline of etiquette and propriety in our society. I would have fit in very well in pretty much any society before 1970 or so. Any society that put great emphasis on etiquette. I'm the type of person who consults Emily Post frequently to see if I'm justified in my pet peeves. And I usually am.

^^^Emily Post: My hero^^^

Case in point: wedding registries and bridal/baby showers. For years I have cringed every time a wedding invite comes with the wedding registries boldly printed on them. Yours might have been one of them. I don't hold it against anyone, because it's become an acceptable thing. But for me it's not. You're just not supposed to put that there, implying "hey! buy me presents!" As engaged couples, we're all thinking it, but we should still be polite and not presumptuous about it. I refused to put my registries on my wedding invitation and so many people seemed so confused when they had to ask me, parents, etc. if we had a registry. But that's how it used to be!! You asked. Or went to the department store and asked them. Of course it's never been like that in my lifetime, but I wish that etiquette would return.

What brought on all of this? Well, just a few days ago, I ran into a friend at the post office who opened a wedding invitation she had received. And I saw a new low--possibly a new trend in wedding gifting. The insert read, "the couple is registered at [store], but in lieu of gifts, cash donations are appreciated for honeymoon expenses." I've also been seeing "cute" but incredibly tacky pinterest ideas to put a "honeymoon donation box" out at the reception. Blatantly asking for cash, to me, is in very bad taste. I just don't agree with it!! Emily Post would not approve either. And yes, I did receive a lot of cash when I got married (and it was great) but I made sure to not give off any airs that I was asking for it or expecting it.

Same thing goes for bridal/baby showers. It's not cool to go out and ask who is going to host you a shower. And yes, I just saw this happen on a facebook group a week or so ago, and I was in shock. It's nice to have a shower, but it seems the social norm is becoming to expect everyone to give them everything instead of viewing a shower as an "unexpected" bonus of getting married/having a baby.

Basically this is just a plea for etiquette. Bring back the manners!

For the sake of this not turning into a super long blog post, I think I'll leave it at that, even though I have a few more things. I always do. So stay tuned for my upcoming post in this series about pinterest trends that need to go away, newborn photography, and Brad Pitt false doctrine.

Thanks for reading, and stay classy!

Confessionals

I really dread asking strangers to take pictures of my party (whether it be me and my husband, or a group of friends) when we want a picture of the whole group. I really, really dread it. So I make my husband do it.

I also hate, and sometimes refuse, to ask for directions--mostly just if we're in the car. I pride myself in being able to navigate myself, so I refuse to do it, unless it really is a desperate circumstance. Call me a stubborn man.

My closet is in a pathetic state 95% of the time. Why can't I just hang up my clothes??

It takes SO MUCH self restraint to not engage in political "discussions" (we all know they turn into fights) on any form of social media (well, except for twitter: that's another story). I love to argue, so this can be really hard sometimes. I made a personal policy to not engage in these discussions because to me, it really isn't worth it. People that don't agree with me politically are not going to change their minds from things that anyone says, especially with how easy people spiral out of control. And that's just fine. Not everyone has to agree with me, especially on who to vote for---after all, this is a free country. So my policy is to just remove the extremists that I don't agree with from my newsfeed, so we can still be friends. I just need to remember to bring them back once the election is over.  But like I said, it's really hard for me to keep my mouth shut about it---but then again, keeping my mouth shut is just a general life problem for me.

I've been doing a lot better in going to the gym lately thanks to having a work out buddy. But I still haven't been seeing the results I want, and I know it's because of my dieting choices. Sugar, I can not quit you!! I gave up soda, which I'm pretty proud of. But I know there's more: namely choc chip cookies, snickers, and chick-fil-a shakes.

I get too easily annoyed with people.

I have NO patience.

On the mornings where I don't have anything going on, I plan my morning on watching Gilmore Girls reruns. Basically, I am unproductive until I get to watch Gilmore Girls. And then randomly, abc family will not air GG but rather stupid marathons of Pretty Little Liars in its place. And it makes me so mad! A little too mad, I admit. As if it's abc family's fault that I was lazy all morning.

I believe that I am right all of the time: "believe" being the key word here.

And...that's all for now. Until next time!

My View from Saturday: Sister Missionaries

Happy Sunday!

We are enjoying the weekend watching general conference. I especially love that today it's rainy and cozy. Perfect for conference.

I've been thinking a lot about the events of yesterday. I was "live tweeting" during conference which I really enjoyed, but I found myself having a lot more to say that twitter's 140 characters would allow. And then I remembered that I have a good old blog that I feel like I have neglected.

Yesterday, the church announced that female members can now serve a mission as early as 19 years old instead of 21, which is pretty big news. I, personally, was not too surprised by the announcement---in my opinion, it's been leading up to this by small steps, including the change in wardrobe of sister missionaries which I think is a big deal, since the thought of wearing frumpy ugly clothes was one of the "cons" of a mission to me ha ha. I myself was ready to go on a mission when I turned 20, and waiting a year was kind of a pain. I do believe that more women will serve LDS missions now, which I'm all for, since my mission was such a definitive part of my life. I don't want to sound boastful, but I really am proud of the fact that I served a mission. It was a big accomplishment for me.

So with that excitement, naturally there is some excitement shared by others that just kind of rubs me the wrong way. There are countless jokes about BYU campus having a girl drought now, and not so joking feminist comments that finally LDS girls will stop get married so young. And countless tweets from women about how they definitely would have gone years ago instead of getting married and immediately birthing children. These are two particular tweets from a couple of pretty popular LDS bloggers (and I should probably mention that neither of these women actually served missions)

"It sets a new narrative for Mormon women. It's no longer if you're not married, then serve. It's go for it!! Love."

"Girls, you can do it all! Go on a mission! Get an education! Have babies! I love this day. No longer an either/or."

.......

BARF.

.......

As a daughter and granddaughter of women who managed to serve missions, get an education, and have many babies, I never EVER was aware that this choice was an "either/or." And you want to know what bothers me the most?? The fact that the LDS church has NEVER made it be an either/or. It's all these LDS women who put that implication on themselves. And then these Mormon feminist women start going off that it's just so unfair that it has been like this for so long. wah wah wah.

I can't stand it. I just don't get it. I wanted to serve a mission, and I never felt that leaving at age 21 was making me an old maid who was risking "having it all." Maybe if the church rule was that girls couldn't serve until age 30, then would I agree to the ridiculous claim that "if you're not married, then you go on a mission." It bugs me so bad.

And just because you change the age limit doesn't mean that every single girl is going to go on a mission now. Missions are not for everyone, and with so many young women, they know that it just isn't for them. AND THAT'S JUST FINE. Why should girls feel pressured now to serve just because of an age change? They shouldn't. I just wish LDS women (particularly the feminists) would stop criticizing and judging each other for the personal choices women have made. I would be lying if I said I wasn't guilty of this. I'm not perfect. But I really try to not do it, because who am I to criticize someone's dream of happiness, even if that means having multiple babies before even reaching the legal drinking age?

A couple of weeks ago, I attended a forum led by the writer/blogger (and writer of one of the above tweets) Joanna Brooks. She is definitely a Mormon feminist, and at some point in the forum q&a, all of a sudden I was hearing multiple young Mormon women complaining about how the church had wronged them, by supposedly implying all they were good for was being a mother. I couldn't believe my ears, because in all my years growing up in the LDS community, I never felt like this. And I genuinely felt sorry for them, that they thought that was such an insult anyway. (you can read more about this discussion on Sarah's blog)  I'm not a mother yet, and it's because I know I'm not quite ready. And I know that it's an even harder thing to do than going on a mission, so I have genuine respect for women who are so ready for it. Because it still scares and intimidates me.

I guess my point in all this ranting, is that women need to back up off each other, and recognize that we are all so completely different. We all make different choices on what's going to make us happy, and as women, we need to support each other all the more. And with all this, I guess I need to remember even more that I believe the religion I take part in is Jesus Christ's perfect gospel. But that certainly doesn't mean that the members of the religion are perfect. So let's just try to be patient with each other, ok? I'm trying, but it's hard sometimes.

And as one final word, if any of you are still wondering or feeling whether the LDS church views women in any lesser form, all you need to do is watch or read this, and that should clear it up. I'm so grateful to know that I am a daughter of God, and I am so grateful to take part in a church that teaches me of this love and of my divine potential. What a blessing and a joy.

It's been a long week, apparently

Oh, my ranting. It happens every few months or so. And now is one of those times. But you know, sometimes you just gotta get it out. And we all know that I'm not one to keep quiet. Please justify me in my irritations! And enjoy the instagram photos, which is what I do best these days.

So, I know that technically I don’t live in the “deep” south, but Virginia still gives off little hints of southern-ness. Take for example the fact that I live right off of “Jefferson Davis Highway,” just down the street from “Confederate Way.” So, I hear the oh-so-southern, “y’all” more frequently than I have ever have in my entire life. At first it was charming. Now it gets annoying. Especially in writing (I saw someone write it as "yawll" today. ugh!). It just bugs to hear it more than once a day.

Which leads me to my next point. I am a part of various social media groups that connect me to the goings-on in the groups that I am involved in i.e. church and military wives. Naturally they are all women. Nothing makes me feel more like I am in those southern ladies lunch group things that you see on “The Help” than hearing “hey ladies!” all the time. "Ladies" this and "dear ladies" that. I’m not a fan. Why can’t people say, “hey everybody,” or other alternatives? (excluding y’all, of course) It just gets old, and I don’t like it.

So, as you know, I have taken on the challenge of being a full-on commuter by working for a congressman. Obviously before this, the work I’ve been doing at the Archives is also in downtown D.C., but I choose the hours to work which is strategically planned to avoid rush hour. With this working gig, that is not an option. For the most part, I really do enjoy public transportation. I like not having to drive, and on trains I can read without getting carsick. But I had one of those nights last week where I was DONE. I stayed in the city after work to listen to some jazz with friends, and I took the metro home rather than the commuter train. What was supposed to be a 30 minute ride turned into TWO AND A HALF HOURS because of rail issues. It was ridiculous. I had that Elaine from Seinfeld moment where I am screaming inside of my head “MOVE!!!!!!!!!” I had thoughts of “I hate D.C.! I hate public transportation! I am ready to get the cuss out of this area!!” Yeah, it was bad. But I bet you would have felt the same way if all you wanted to do was be curled up in bed and instead you were stuck in a janky metro car.

But like I said, public transportation has its perks because I really do love the time to read. I have been reading books like a mad woman. In case you haven’t gathered, I love books. I was an English major, after all, and loving books is practically  the first requirement of being an English major. But I was thinking yesterday (due to an occurrence on facebook) about people who don’t like to read. It’s happened many times where I’m talking to someone and they’re all “no, I’m not a reader. I don’t like books.” It’s moments like this where I have to restrain myself from turning into the aunt on “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” (which was on tv this weekend which is why it’s fresh on my mind) and be all “WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU NO LIKE THE BOOKS?!?!?!” Seriously, with how many genres of books there are, with how many shapes and sizes books come in, with how easy it is to have access to books, I have a big problem with people who don’t read. I won’t judge you or argue with you if you love high fantasy science fiction or any other obscure genre that I don’t like because, hey, at least you are reading. But I will judge you if you refuse to read. We can still be friends, but that’s just how it is. Because I genuinely feel sorry for people who refuse to read, because they are missing out on so much. Not to mention how many people don’t even know how to read and wish they could, or people that don’t have access to books for whatever reason. There is no excuse.

Just one more thing about books: I just experienced the joys of checking out a book from the Library of Congress for the first time this week. It was thrilling. But that’s besides the point. The Library of Congress is just a stone’s throw away from where I work, and every time I see it, I just think of how great of a place it is. So, when I’m giving tours, some people ask what that cool building is right by the Capitol building. I won’t hold it against them that they don’t know what building it is, because it’s their first time in D.C. But when I tell people and they’re all, “so what’s so important about the Library of Congress anyway?”, it grinds my gears. What’s a nice way of saying, “umm gee, I don’t know, it’s only the biggest library in the WORLD, and like 99% of all the books ever written are there, hellllloooooo!”(read “helllllooooo” in the voice of the guy from “A Knight’s Tale” for a better experience). Anyway, I’ll stop about the books.

Now I just have one more thing to get off my chest and then I will be done for now, I promise. You know how you always hear people say about their job, or their school group, or their sport’s team, etc., “oh, I just can’t stand the politics that are in said group.” Well, I’m trying to find a better way to say that I would not really be interested in a long term job with the federal government because I don’t like the politics of it all. Hello, most obvious statement of the century. Obviously when you work on Capitol Hill, it’s politics all over the place. And then I get home and turn on the tv, and it’s more politics. I don’t like it. For that reason, I would be hesitant to have a job in that field. It just gets tiring working in a job where no one is ever going to be satisfied, and by no one, I’m referring to the American people who I work with every day through letters, emails, and phone calls. But hey, if I’m trying to look on the bright side, at least I live in a country where people can express their opinions to their government without fear of getting shot.

As you can see, I’ve been really letting this stuff build up. And now I should be good for at least a month or so, let’s hope!

It's Been a While Since I've Ranted

Have you missed my ranting? I hope so. Because I have some things to talk about. Things that I have been hearing in the news and such that's really been grinding my gears.

So, I don't know if you've heard, but Sean Combs/ P.Diddy/ Diddy/whatever-he-is-choosing-to-be-called has a son who is going to be playing football for UCLA next year. The kid was a star football player at his high school, he had a high GPA, and he got a full scholarship for it. That's good news, right? Well, according to certain Americans, no it's not. Apparently, he doesn't deserve it because his dad is rich and can already afford to send him to college, so it isn't fair.

GIVE ME A BREAK. It's things like this that make me sincerely alarmed for the state of America. Because people have completely lost sight of the American mentality that people who work hard get rewarded for it. It used to be as simple as that.

I knew plenty of people whose parents could very well afford to send them to college and then some, but they didn't because they wanted their kid to work for their education and to value it even more. I also knew plenty of people who paid for their own college because there was no way their parents could afford it. So, in both of these situations, they worked hard, saved money, got good grades, and got scholarships. That's the way it should be!

And there's one more thing: the students who are, according to the whining people in Diddy's kid's case, "less fortunate" do have help. It's called grants. The students whose parents are well off but don't pay for their kids' education are automatically disqualified from being considered for grants. So why don't we whine about that? Is that fair? Technically not.

And that's all I'm going to say about that.

Next item of business: I don't know if you've heard this (if you live under a rock or something), but Mitt Romney, a Mormon, is running for president. Naturally then, the Mormon religion is under a lot of scrutiny. I was reading this article yesterday, and it was the comment about women that once again, started making my blood boil.

Where did the notion come from that Mormon women are oppressed?!? This, to me, is one of the most ridiculous claims about Mormons. I remember last year, my husband, who was then my fiancee, was delivering wedding announcements to some of his high school teachers. One of his teachers, a woman, saw that we were getting married in Utah and exclaimed, "I hope you aren't marrying a Mormon!"

Victor wasn't in fact a Mormon when he had this teacher, so he informed her, "well, actually, I'm a Mormon now too."

To which she said, "well, I just don't like the way they treat their women."

I wondered how many Mormon women this teacher actually knew. I guarantee probably not more than one or two, because for her to make that kind of claim is completely obscene. There are plenty of statistics that more than prove that Mormon women are successful in all fields of work, they are educated, and they are happy. All you have to do is google "Mormon mommy bloggers" to get an idea. (and just as a side comment, if this teacher didn't like the way that Mormon women are treated, then shouldn't she have been glad that I, the "oppressed Mormon woman," was escaping the chains of my oppression for a guy like Victor???)

As a Mormon woman, I have traveled, I have an education, and I am treated as an equal by my husband. My mother is the same way, and her mother is the same way. My Mormon girlfriends are the same way, as are a lot of their mothers. I realize that there are exceptions, as there are in every culture and religion, but please, do not tell me that I am oppressed. Worry about those women who actually are.

Sure, there have been and are will still be vicious claims about the Mormon religion, but this is one that is simply infuriating to me. And that's why I'm ranting about it now!

Can I get an "amen" from my fellow Mormon women readers?? Amen!

so, what have i learned?

These are the important lessons I have learned these last few weeks, which I hope will help continue to help me be a good traveler. These are purely opinion, so you are free to express yours as well!

International American Air Force Bases are the equivalent of international layovers: it does NOT count that you have been to that country if you never leave the base/airport. 
    Seriously, though. We were in major culture shock over the Ramstein Air Force Base in Germany. That place is straight up little America. So can I count that I've been to Germany? We did in fact leave the base to catch the train in a nearby town. And my passport did get stamped, and I did eat some schnitzel, after all. But, we're still debating. What say ye?

Cheap air lines are cheap for a reason.
     To you future European travelers who are traveling WizzAir or any other cheap airline, be warned. With that super ganga price, be prepared for very very slow customer service, and ridiculous carry on policies that might cost you more money. Basically, you get what you pay for.

Don't judge a country by its airport, or its civilians in the airport.
    So, naturally I was very excited to be leaving London to go to Romania, my home for 18 months. Our red eye flight from London was full of Romanians, most of them legit, but of course there were a few very obnoxious ones that give a bad name to the rest of them. One Romanian guy wasn't allowed on the flight because he shoved a soccer ball into the worker's chest when she told him he couldn't bring it on board (again, WizzAir has ridiculous policies). Anyway, in these moments, all of my less great memories came flooding in and I was like, "oh man, can I really handle going back to Romania and dealing with all of this???" But of course, once we got out of the airport and around the country, it was absolutely wonderful.
    Also, it's a very good thing that we actually left the airport and explored the city of Kiev in Ukraine for our twenty hour layover, because the security/customs/customer service in the Kiev airport was terrible, absolutely terrible. At that point we wanted nothing more than to get to the U.S. of A. But Kiev is actually a really beautiful city, and the people there were very lovely and nice.

Traveling the world and experiencing other cultures is a wonderful thing for many reasons, one of them being that it makes you appreciate that you're American.
    I know I'm being completely biased and I hope I don't offend any international readers, but it's only natural to be patriotic to your home country, which I definitely am.

Now I'm a Belieber

Ok, so I was working on a refashion project (coming up soon on the blog) and was all, "what's on Netflix these days?" So, I get on, and lo and behold, there was the Justin Bieber documentary, "Never Say Never." I heard it was pretty good, and I felt that I should at least give him a chance before I stereotype him as another tween artist.

Maybe I should go back a bit before I move on. When I first arrived back in the United States two years ago this week (which is crazy to me), after spending 18 months living in a foreign country with rare exposure to pop culture, I was completely out of the loop of what the trends were and what was going on in the music industry. I came home and the hit songs on the radio were these ones by Michael Buble, Train, and Lady Gaga.

And some kid named Justin Bieber.

I had never heard of him, but when I saw what he looked like, I was all "no way. i will not even bother with this kid."

Well, as of today I would like to issue a formal apology to Justin Bieber.

This kid is talented. He taught himself to play the piano, drums, guitar, and trumpet before the age of twelve. And his dance moves rival those of MJ himself.

He is also hardworking. He busted his butt to get recognized by going to almost every single radio station in the country to promote his music. His hard work paid off, and his songs became number one and he became a full blown pop star in less than a year, including selling out in Madison Square Garden in 20 minutes, which they said is extremely rare and next to impossible for new artists because it is such a huge venue.

And most importantly, this kid has heart. Did you know that he and his roadies go around before his concerts and give out free tickets to his fans? They always make sure to keep extra tickets to do this. Remember how I'm super emotional?? Well, when I saw one of his roadies go up to a dad who had brought his little girls to the concert because they loved Justin so much, and move them all to the fourth row, I lost it. Yes, I totally cried watching the Justin Bieber documentary. I really am too emotional. But it was just so sweet!!

So JB, I'm sorry for misjudging you. You're a good kid. And your music isn't half bad. And I'm pretty sure if you picked me to be your one less lonely girl, I would probably swoon over you too. Don't know what I'm talking about? Start this video at 1:17. Again, SO SWEET.


Have any of you seen this documentary? Or do you love the Biebs?? Please justify me in my praise of JB. Or go watch it and then we can talk about it!

Spoken like true Hunger Games fans

When the new "Twilight" trailer came on at the midnight showing, some people cheered, but they were overpowered by these shouts:

"Edward sucks!!"

"She (Bella) is ugly!"


Loved it.
And I mean everything about finally seeing this movie.

So, let's talk about it! (there will only be spoilers if you have never read the book)

I walked out of the theater completely satisfied with the film adaptation of The Hunger Games. If it hadn't had been 3am I would have watched it again. But then again, I realized that author Suzanne Collins helped write the screenplay, so it makes perfect sense that this movie was so good.

The casting was overall really great. But I still am not quite convinced of Donald Sutherland as "President Snow." Maybe he'll get nastier in the next movies, but he doesn't seem all that scary yet.

For Haymitch, I always kind of thought of him in my head to look like Mad-Eye Moody or something, but he totally made sense with Woody Harrelson.

Effie Trinkett was great. Peeta was fantastic. Gale was fantastic. And Katniss was perfection. Oh, and Lenny Kravitz as Cinna? He was awesome.

The thing that I anticipated the most of seeing a film adaptation of the book was how they captured Katniss's character and voice, since the book is told completely through her point of view. There are a lot of things you find out about Katniss through her thoughts so I was eager to see what they would do with the film. Would they maybe have a voice over Katniss narrator every now and then? Would they reveal things other ways? Or would they cut out those details all together?

They ended up handling it all really well, in my opinion. The truth is that the book and the movie really complement each other. You really need to read the book and see the movie to get the full effect of the story and the set up.

I'm talking mostly about point of view here. In the book, anything you see or any information you are given, it is coming from Katniss. When she is preparing for the Games, you know her frustration and anxiety about it all, even if she keeps quiet on the outside, you know she is screaming on the inside. And as she is waiting for the countdown, you feel just as nervous and scared as she does. You feel that eery feeling of isolation that she feels in the woods where it seems like she is alone and yet she is being watched from all angles. She has no idea what is going on in the outside world. What is Gale doing? What about Haymitch? Is he just sitting around drinking and not even caring to try to help her? The lack of information helps you understand what Katniss is going through. It really connects you to her character.

Then the movie comes along, and answers those questions for us. I wouldn't take away Katniss's point of view, which is why you need to read the book too, but it is also really cool and sometimes disheartening to see what's going on outside of the arena. I loved seeing Haymitch and how he really was fighting for her and Peeta, even though he seemed like a useless drunk. And the added stuff with Seneca Crane (the head gamemaker) was a cool foreshadowing of things to come. At first I disagreed with showing scenes of uprising in District 11, but after thinking about it, I really think it was effective in showing that there was a founded reason for the Capitol to be out to get Katniss for her "act of rebellion" at the end of the games, and not just paranoia.

One little complaint about the "staging" of the final scene of the games. Was it just me, or did it seem a little anticlimactic? I always imagined Katniss and Peeta on the cornucopia, still in the night, surrounded by the pack of mutts--chaos still around them as they plan a double suicide, and then comes the lights of the helicopter thing as it comes down to get them. I always imagined the chaos to make it more dramatic. Personally, if I were the producer or whoever decides this, I would have done it that way. But, oh well.

Still an overall success though. I wish I had it already on dvd so I could just play it on repeat, just like little kids do.


Any additional thoughts? Liked it? Didn't like it? Do share!