Seen It, Heard It, Read It

Seen It:

Abduction

Mom was looking the Netflix suggestions and she was actually the one who put this in our queue. It was unexpected, interesting, sometimes a little silly, but overall it was good.

Courageous

This was another one that mom had put in the queue and I'm really glad she did. This was heartfelt and emotional, but there were also a couple moments that had us laughing like crazy. It's a great story about how honor begins at home, raising children and leading families. It's pretty amazing.

The Next Three Days

I think I'd seen a preview for this last fall sometime. It was on instant, so I figured hey let's check it out. Turns out it was pretty interesting. Russell Crowe plays a husband whose wife was convicted of murder. He's convinced that she's innocent and tries to break her out of prison.

The Big Year

On the way home from an extremely long day I got a text with a free Redbox code. We were looking for something funny that would lighten the mood of our day. As soon as I saw this I knew we had to get it. I mean, you really can't go wrong with Steve Martin because he's amazing. See [HERE]. I loved this movie about bird enthusiasts trying to defeat a cocky, record holder in a year long bird-spotting competition.

A Cinderella Story: Once Upon A Song

I love the "A Cinderella Story" movies, so when I saw via Megan Park on twitter that she was in this new version with Lucy Hale I added it to Netflix. The sister and I watched it over the weekend and were pleasantly surprised. It was cheesy, but also really funny. We saved it so we could watch it again with our mom. It's just a fun, light-hearted, tween chick-flick.

Heard It:

Carly Rae Jepsen: Call Me Maybe

Maroon 5: Payphone

Katy Perry: Part of Me

Carrie Underwood: Good Girl

Read It:

Orange Jumpsuit by Tara Leigh Cobble

I started this a couple weeks ago by the sister's suggestion. She bought it on our Nook account and kept telling me how I REALLY needed to read it. Of course she was right! I actually still haven't finished it yet or read anything else; I'm about halfway done. It's one of those books that you're pretty sure the author wrote after digging through your brain. It's hard to get through, because it's convicting, and I think that's why it's taken me so long. I can't wait to finish it! I'm looking forward to reading more of Tara Leigh's books.

Next on my reading list:

Life Without Limits by Nick Vujicic

Stuff Christians Like by Jon Acuff

Savannah Series by Denise Hildrith

Bittersweet by Shauna Niequist

Bailey Flannigan Series by Karen Kingsbury

Reshaping It All by Candace Cameron Bure

Seen It, Heard It, Read It

Seen It

Remember Me

This movie has been in my Netflix queue for the longest time. I moved it to the top of the list while my dad’s been out of town because I figured it was a chick flick that he wouldn’t be interested in. I thought it was a great movie and very unexpected. Plus, Robert Pattinson was some sweet eye candy.

Ramona and Beezus

I remember reading this when I was younger and so I was excited to see the movie. It was a sweet story and was definitely family friendly. Joey King was an adorable Ramona and Selena Gomez was a perfect big sister.

Soul Surfer

Heather, my mom and I went and saw this at the dollar theater a couple weeks ago. It was such an incredible and inspiring story. I pretty much cried through the whole thing. Check out Carlos' blog about this movie HERE. It's amazing.

Bad Teacher

Heather, my mom and I decided to go to a movie last Sunday afternoon. There was nothing worthwhile playing at the dollar theaters so we decided we’d pick a new movie to go see. Unfortunately there wasn’t much to choose from, but we decided on Bad Teacher. First of all, my mom did NOT like it. Just a suggestion: don’t take your mom to see this, even if she does love Justin Timberlake. The story left much to be desired. As Heather said, the message she got from it was that you can manipulate people to get ahead as long as you don’t get caught. If you want to see this movie I’d definitely wait until it’s on dvd. I wish I hadn’t spent the money on it. Bummer.

Heard It

Shawn McDonald: Rise



I heard this song this past week on Air1Radio and immediately fell in love with it.

Maroon 5: Moves Like Jagger



Has anyone else had this song stuck in their heads for the last couple weeks? I must confess there have been a couple times that I’ve played it on repeat. It’s so catchy and I can’t help but dancing every time I hear it.

Read It
Divine by Karen Kingsbury

This book is a story of a modern day Mary Magdalene. Mary Madison grew up with horrible tragedies in her life but overcame it all through the divine power of God. She’s used her story to help others and will once again share what she’s faced with a young woman named Emma who is trying to escape an abusive relationship and care for her two young daughters.

Reunion by Karen Kingsbury

I was so happy to finally finish the Redemption series! This was the perfect end to it all. I was just so happy when I finished it because I knew I didn't have to say goodbye to the Baxter family yet. I was able to continue to get to know them in the next series by Karen.

Firstborn Series

Fame by Karen Kingsbury
Forgiven by Karen Kingsbury
Found by Karen Kingsbury
Family by Karen Kingsbury
Forever by Karen Kingsbury

While the Baxter family is part of this series, it also has many new characters. I really enjoyed all of these books. I probably read them in less than a week. Before I start the Sunrise Series I'm going to try to finish up all of Karen's stand alone books that I haven't read yet. If you haven't read any of her books yet, I definitely recommend it. Karen's trademark is "Life-changing fiction" and that's definitely true of each and every one of her books.

Seen It, Heard It, Read It

Seen It

Love and Other Drugs

I had heard some mixed reviews about this, but with all things I like to decide for myself. I thought it was a good story, but obviously didn't need all the sex. Like seriously, we get the point. But if you cut that out then the movie would only be an hour long, haha.

An Education

I really liked this movie. I think it might have been another one of Heather's great suggestions. It's a story about a girl growing up in London and how her life changes when she meets an older man. I found it to be heartbreaking, but such is life and learning lessons the hard way.

Mean Girls 2

Really I'm 15 and not 25. I thought it was a good sequel. It was nice that it had a different story line than the first, but it slso portrayed some of the same lessons. It was nice to see Meaghan Martin in a role other than a mean girl (re: Camp Rock). Note: Check out the Kind Campaign.

Bandslam

I wasn't sure what to expect (do I say that a lot?), but I really enjoyed this movie. The main character, Will, is an outcast and forms a friendship with a popular girl over their love of music. They put together a group to compete in the local battle of the bands contest. It had a great story and was pretty funny at times.

Never Let Me Go

I say again, didn't know what to expect, but I LOVED this movie! See Heather’s recent blog post about it. To sum it up, like Heather said, it was beautifully tragic. I might have to steal the book from her when she's done reading it. Side note: Andrew Garfield is HOT! ;)

White Oleander

Heather and I watched this on Lifetime [don't judge, haha] back during our sophomore year at SPU. Last weekend when my dad was still out of town Heather and I watched it again with our mom. The relationship between the mother [Ingrid] and daughter [Astrid] was bizarre. It was sad to watch how the mother's decision affected her daughter's entire life. As one review I read said, "while Ingrid's gift is to give Astrid the power to survive, Astrid's gift is to teach her Mother about love."

Red

I added this to our Netflix queue knowing that it would probably be a movie my dad would like, hello Bruce Willis action movie. We watched it last Wednesday night and my whole family loved it. It was a great mix of action and humor and has an interesting story. Mary Louise Parker is gorgeous and added a fun element to the storyline.

Heard It

JJ Heller: When I’m With You

My sweet friend Janelle sent Heather and I this cd and then next one [The Head and The Heart]. I've only listened to it a couple times so far, but I think I love it.

The Head and The Heart

I haven't listened to this as much as JJ Heller, but I'm excited to add it to our epic road trip playlist!

Maroon 5: Hands All Over

More than once in this past week I may have turned this up way too loud and danced around my house. I love it!! I also forced my mom to listen to it once saying, "You know the guy Adam from The Voice? This is his cd." Haha!

Katy Perry: Teenage Dream

Really, what can one say about this cd? I love it! There are so many fun [and funny - re: Peacock] songs. It'd be tough for me to pick a favorite. I mean, Teenage Dream, California Girls, Peacock, ET... I just wish I could see Katy when she's here at the end of July, but tickets are expensive AND it's the same night as Steve Martin. OMG, I sound like such a nerd.

Read It

Bossypants by Tina Fey

Um, what can I really say about this? It's hilarious. I think it can easily be summarized by one of the reviews on the book cover, "Once in a generation a woman comes along who changes everything. Tina Fey is not that woman, but she met that woman once and acted weird around her."

Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen

I always have a hard time with books turned movies. They're never going to be the same as each other, which is fine I guess. I usually try to read the book before I see the movie. I loved this story and it got me even more excited to see the movie. Have you seen it yet? I'm probably going to have to wait until it's on dvd. I was very excited to see hear Barcelona's song in the movie trailer!


Isn't it gorgeous?

Sweet Valley Confidential by Francine Pascal

Who else grew up reading Sweet Valley books? I didn't read a ton of them, but I always love a good "twin" story. I kind of want to go back and read them all. I may have a dozen or so on my book shelf. My mom recently told me that she hated when we'd read the books, because there was a "good" twin and an "evil" twin and I would always associate myself as the "evil" twin, haha. I don't remember this at ALL. Anyway, it was kind of fun to read this book from the perspective of ten years later. I had a hard time getting into it because of the infidelity and the fighting, but overall I thought it was a good story.

What have you seen, heard or read lately? Any suggestions for me?