April Movie Reviews

1. Juno:
The Basic Plot: Juno, a high school junior finds herself pregnant unexpectantly. The film follows her quirky life and how she gets through her 9 long months of pregnancy. It's a mix between Napolean Dinomite and 9 months.
Review: This movie is hilarious! It's witty, creative, and engaging throughout. Although there are some awkward scenes, I would highly recommend watching this.
Chris gives it: B (I would have given it an A if there wasn't an awkward sex scene)
Monica gives it: A

2. Charlie Wilson's War:
The Basic Plot: Set in the 1980s, this movie is based on the real life story of Charlie Wilson, a Texas Congressman. Along with the help of his friends, Charlie helps the government of Afghanistan defeat the Russian military.
Review: The fact that this is a true story makes the movie twice as good as it really should be. The story travels a little too fast and would benifit from a little more detail in certain scenes. One of the best parts of the movie is the top notch cast: Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, and Phillip Seymour Hoffman.
Chris gives it: B
Monica gives it: C (It wasn't great/It wasn't horrible)

3. Delta Farce:
The basic plot: Three (unique) soldiers are on their way to Iraq. A couple hours into the flight they fall asleep and are unknowingly dropped out of the cargo hole. When they wake up they think they are in Iraq but they soon realize they are in Mexico.
Review: I can't believe we actually watched this movie. We had never seen a Larry the Cable Guy movie before, but it was exactly what we expected.
Chris gives it: D (There was an occassional funny scene but overall this movie was a dud)
Monica Gives it: C

4. Cocaine Cowboys:
The basic plot: A documentary following the effects of cocaine on Miami in the early 1980s
Review: Wow. I had no idea this life actually exsisted in America. The violence, drugs, and money, that cocaine created in Miami was staggering. You should definately watch it.
Chris gives it: A
Monica gives it: A

Savage/Phillips Wedding

Chris and I drove up to Gladstone yesterday for our 4th wedding in the last few months. Becky (the bride) and I have known eachother for over 20 years. We used to annoy our parents with our constant talking and embarrass them by shouting hymns at the top of our lungs in church. Now that we are grown our families rarely get together so it was nice reuniting for such a special day.

Here was a precious moment from the ceremony.... Please notice the thumbs up from Matt:)

Fab Friday Feature (a day early since I won't have time to post tomorrow)

6 of Natures Finest Cleaners:

Did you know that you can clean your whole home with just 6 things? Well you can!

1. Baking soda: Acts as a scrub to remove hard water stains; polishes metal; deodorizes pretty much anything it touches (try stashing some in the fridge).
2. Borax: Mixed with three parts water, it makes a paste for cleaning carpet stains; mixed with ¼ part lemon juice, it cleans stainless steel and porcelain. (Note: although borax is a natural substance, you still shouldn’t eat it—and neither should your kids or pets.)
3. Lemon: Deodorizes and cuts grease on counter tops; rubbed on cutting boards, it bleaches stains and disinfects; combined with baking soda, it removes stains from plastic food storage containers.
4. Salt: Another natural scrubber—sprinkle it on cookware or oven surfaces, then rub; add citrus juice to turn it into an effective rust remover.
5. White vinegar: Deodorizes and disinfects; combine with water (and a little liquid soap—I know, it feels like cheating) to clean windows, mirrors and floors; use at full strength in a spray bottle to fight mold and mildew.
6. Olive Oil: Mix two parts oil with one part lemon juice and use as a natural wood polish. (Save the really good stuff for dinner.)

Tagged

Four Things...

Four jobs we've had:
Chris
1) Student
2) Teacher
3) Business Owner
4) Burger Flipper
Monica
1) Student
2) Teacher
3) Coach
4) Wife


Four movies we've watched more than once:
Chris
1) The Godfather
2) Star Wars (all of them)
3) Back to the Future
4) Dumb and Dumber
Monica
1) Pretty Woman
2) Karate Kid
3) Troop Beverly Hills
4) Jungle Books


Four places we've lived:
Chris
1) Albany
2) Corvallis
3) Eugene
4) Roseburg
Monica
1) Portland
2) Vancouver
3) Corvallis
4) Albany


Four TV Shows we watch:
Chris
1) The Office
2) Lost
3) Forensic Files
4) Extreme Home Makeover
Monica
1) Project Runway
2) House Hunters
3) The Hills
4) Judge Judy

Four places I've been:
Chris
1) New York City
2) San Francisco
3) Waldport
4) Seattle
Monica
1) Yellowstone National Park
2) Hawaii
3) Mt. Rushmore
4) Washington DC


Four people who email us regularly (doesn’t include blogging comments):
Chris
1) Monica
2) Grandparents
3) Clients
4) Work
Monica
1) Chris
2) Grandpa
3) Parents
4) My Advisor


Four of our favorite foods:
Chris
1) Anything Monica cooks
2) Steak
3) Pie
4) Otis Spunkmeyer cookies
Monica
1) Avacados
2) Tomatoes
3) Oatmeal
4) Espresso ice cream


Four places we would like to visit:
Chris
1) Hawaii
2) London
3) NYC in the Winter
4) Pretty much everywhere
Monica
1) Alaska
2) NYC-to visit Sarah
3) Dublin
4) Egypt


Four things we're looking forward to in the coming year:
Chris
1) Traveling
2) Summer Break
3) Camping
4) Finishing our yard
Monica
1) Family Reunion (I haven't been to one in 10 years)
2) Seeing if our garden actually grows
3) Being newlywed
4) The Sunshine

What is with this weather?

Please tell me why we are still having snow/hail in the middle of April? The hail Saturday was so big it looked like white chocolate chips (the picture shows the crazy hail in our backyard). We've had snow, thunder, rain, hail, wind, and lighning all in a span of one week. I am ready for some SUN:)

Happy Birthday Chris!!!!!!!!

Happy 27th birthday to the love of my life!

Fab Friday Feature

Bob's Red Mill Whole Ground Flaxseed Meal

Ground flaxseeds have a nutty taste and are a noted health-giving digestive aid. They are also high in fiber and are powerful natural cholesterol controllers. In a 2 Tablespoon serving size (13 grams) the fiber content is 1.33 grams of Soluble Fiber and 2.67 grams of Insoluble Fiber. Ground Flaxseeds are a good source of Omega 3 Fatty Acids. In a 2 Tablespoon serving, there is 2400 mg of Omega 3.

I know it looks like it would taste horrible, but it hardly has a taste at all (I promise). I put it in my oatmeal, yogurt, cookie dough, salad dressing, basically everything I can.

All of Red Mill's products are made the old fashioned stone ground way and they are yummy. No one will even notice if you put a few tablespoons in your recipes, so go ahead.....try it!

Warning....Best game ever!!!

I was recently introduced to this amazing game that I can't stop playing. If you are competitive you may not want to try:)

http://www.travelpod.com/traveler-iq

The highs and lows of yard work!

Since the sun finally showed itself to the Willamette Valley yesterday, Chris and I decided to attack our neglected yard. Man-o-man, for such a small yard we have a lot of work ahead of us. We weeded, sprayed weed killer, planted seeds, scattered grass seed, transplanted a bush, cleaned off our porch and mowed the lawn (well I guess you would call it mowing....see lawn story below). We worked our tails off and have the blisters and splinters to prove it.

Our 5 hours of yard work flew by, but we realize that there is so much MORE to do. Our backyard is going to be our Spring project. We have big plans to have it ready by summer so we can enjoy it while the sun is out.


One of the things we are most excited about is our future garden. Eventhough our lawn is small we are using some of the borders for our organic garden. So far we have planted corn, radishes, green onions, cucumbers, beans, peas, tomatoes, and squash. My Iowa relatives would be so proud of their Oregon girl. We had to start our herbs indoors since it is still a bit too cold, but I will be transplaning those in about a month or two.

We have found that yard work is harder than it looks. When you are new at the yard work thing you kind of have to learn on the fly. There are constant questions, like: when to plant, what kind of fertilizer to use, how much to water, and as we learned yesterday how short to cut the grass. Chris has mowed our lawn before, but for some reason he decided yesterday to mow it at the shortest setting. BAD IDEA!! Basically he mowed our lawn bald. Oh well, grass is like hair...it grows back (hopefully). Let's just hope it grows back FAST!!!!!!

Fab Friday Feature

Weiman Stainless Steel Wipes:

I used to despise our appliances. I like the way stainless steel looks, but they are SO hard to keep clean! We have tried many cleaners in our six months at the house and all of them failed miserably (and that's an understatement). They left streaks, smudges, fingerprints, smelled horrible, etc.

A couple weeks ago I was reading Real Simple magazine which happened to be the Reader's Choice issue. The issue listed the top cleaning supplies in a number of different categories (which by the way, I have tried some of the other winners and they were all amazing).

When I saw the recommendation for Weiman wipes and realized I had not tried this product before, I figured it was worth a try. I drove to Target bought a canister for a practical $3.99, and rushed home to try them out!

For a neat freak like myself, these were the answer to my prayers:) They worked as advertized and actually smelled nice. Even Chris noticed the difference. If you have stainless steel anything, try these babies out.

The Hills are Alive!!!

The new season of The Hills has begun....


Why do I continue to subject myself to the ridiculousness of MTV's reality show, The Hills? It is like watching a train wreck and I can't look away?

Fab Friday Feature

Introducing Fab Friday Features, our new weekly feature blog. Fab Friday posts will be dedicated to great inventions, great products, and items that bring a smile to our faces.

Our 1st Fab Friday Feature: Skype.

I know most of you savvy internet users are probably thinking to yourselves "duh", but we are just catching onto this Fab creation. Here is a run down of Skype for those of you whom are unfamiliar with this thanks to Wikipedia:

Skype is a sofware program created by the Swedish and Danish entrepreneurs Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis. Skype allows users to make telephone calls over the Internet to other Skype users free of charge and to landlines and cell phones for a fee. Additional features include instant messaging, file transfer, short message service, video conferencing and the ability to circumvent firewalls.

Skype is easy to download (it only took 10 minutes from start to finish), and allows you to call any internet user free of charge locally and around the world. For those world travelers out there, Skype is the way to go. The only drawback I have found is you need to have a relatively fast internet connection. Dial-up is a no-go.

Try it out, like I said it's free so you can't beat the price. Our user name is thetaylors9, so hit us up (DavidAbes1 especially).