I have been keeping a movie journal since 2011. It is essentially just a glorified list of the movies I watch every year. Since 2011, my goal has always been to watch 100 movies in a year that I have never seen. So, within this journal, I keep track of literally every movie I watch in a year, giving special attention to those that are new-to-me.

This is the first year I have achieved my goal of 100 movies! I'm super excited about it! Below is the list of movies and the rating I gave them. My rating is just a scale 1-5. It is so subjective, I'm sure it would drive real critics crazy.

1. Grudge Match = 3
2. Kick-Ass 2 = 3
3. Saving Mr. Banks = 4
4. The Odd Life of Timothy Green = 3.5
5. Unbreakable = 4
6. This Means War = 3
7. Her = 3.5
8. Out of the Furnace = 3.5
9. The Saratov Approach = 5
10. The Lego Movie = 5
11. Monument's Men = 5
12. Nine Dead = 3.5
13. Flight = 3
14. Pompeii = 3.5
15. Non-Stop = 3
16. You're Next = 2
17. Muppets Most Wanted = 4
18. Parker = 3
19. Noah = 4
20. Divergent = 3.5
21. Captain America = 3.5
22. Captain America: Winter Soldier = 4
23. Delivery Man = 2
24. Oculus = 4
25. The Purge = 4
26. Dallas Buyer's Club = 3
27. Transcendence = 3
28. Prince Avalanche = 4
29. The Other Woman = 4
30. Odd Thomas = 5
31. How to Lose Friends and Alienate People = 4
32. The Skeleton Key = 3.5
33. The Amazing Spiderman 2 = 5
34. It's a Disaster = 4
35. Burke & Hare = 3
36. The Grand Budapest Hotel = 5
37. Godzilla (2014) = 4
38. A Million Ways to Die in the West = 2
39. Maleficent = 5
40. G.B.F. = 1
41. The Grey = 3
42. The Fault in Our Stars = 5
43. x-Men: Days of Future Past = 5
44. 17 Miracles = 4
45. Jane Eyre = 3
46. Get Over It = 4
47. License to Drive = 3
48. Flowers in the Attic (2014) = 2.5
49. Lucy = 3
50. Author's Anonymous = 4
51. Shawshank Redemption = 5
52. Purge: Anarchy = 4
53. Get on Up = 4
54. Let's Be Cops = 4
55. The Giver = 5
56. Ghostbusters = 4
57. November Man = 2
58. Walk Among the Tombstones = 4
59. Mazerunner = 3
60. Bad Words = 2
61. Chef = 4
62. Inspector Gadget = 3
63. One Day = 3.5
63. Gone Girl = 5
64. Meet the Mormons = 4
65. 12 Years a Slave = 5
66. A Long Way Down = 4
67. Safe Haven = 3
68. The Vow = 4
69. Liberal Arts = 4
70. Leap Year = 2
71. Enough Said = 2
72. God is Not Dead = 4
73. High Fidelity = 4
74. St. Vincent = 4
75. Our Idiot Brother = 4
76. Begin Again = 5
77. Following = 4
78. Better Off Dead = 4
79. The Judge = 4
80. When Harry Met Sally = 5
81. The Book Thief = 5
82. Young Sherlock = 3
83. The Babadook = 3
84. Gaslight = 4
85. A Christmas Story = 3
86. The Red Tent = 5
87. Exodus: Gods & Kings = 3
88. Happily Never After = 3
89. Holidaze = 3
90. 12 Dates of Christmas = 3
91. Holiday in Handcuffs = 3
92. The Family Holiday = 3
93. Love Actually = 4
94. Christmas Vacation = 3
95. A Different Kind of Christmas = 2
96. Imagine Me & You = 4
97. Jezebel = 2
98. Wish I Were Here = 3
99. If I Stay = 4
100. Sex Tape = 3

The other day I was walking out of the grocery store and I saw a piece of paper on the side of the mailbox that said "FREE" in big letters. I was curious about what they would have put on a mailbox, so I bent down to read it.

It was a handmade flyer that said, "FREE take one". On the bottom of the paper where people generally put a phone number to be contacted by, were cute drawings of smiles.

There was a crazy smile, happy smile, lovey smile...I think there were 10 total smiles.

I thought how incredible that was. Something so simple! I took a smile and put it in my journal to remember.

Neat idea. :)

Ever since I read "The World Without Us" I have become very empassioned about green funerals. And that is what I want.

Honestly, ideally, I die, and I just get put into a hole in the ground, perhaps wrapped in a pretty blanket or something. I know. It has no pomp and circumstance, but it is what I would completely want. Because that's how it was meant to be. Dust to dust, my friends. I would be totally fine with that. Maybe somewhere on my family's ranch or something. But, really, I don't mind.

Since that is not going to happen no matter how badly I think that is the perfect burial, I want it simple. I want little to no chemicals. That means, I am fine if I am buried before anyone can get to my funeral. Just bury me and then you can have a memorial service for me. Viewing isn't something I really feel is necessary. You can celebrate my life and/or mourn my passing without my body keeping you company.

I would like one of those super cheap coffins. Heck, I hear they even make them out of newspaper now. I would love one of those! It would decompose so well! But, if I can't get that, then please just get me a plain pine box. I don't need to be buried in some beautiful human-sized jewelry box. I mean, you're just going to put it under six feet of dirt. What is the point!?

I would like to be put in a green cemetary. Other cemeteries actually put the coffin in a concrete box in the ground and then cover that with dirt. Again, how ridiculous!! Just let a body decompose like it's supposed to. It's not gross; it's natural.

So yea, I've become kinda a hippie, tree-hugging gal when it comes to burial. But I just...it doesn't make sense to poison the earth for the sake of prolonging the decomposition process. Just let a body decompose naturally and have done with it.

I think I would be much happier with myself if I were more like Mokey Fraggle!

I always admired her creativity and generous spirit. But it wasn't until my mom gave me the complete series of Fraggle Rock for my 29th birthday that I realized I wanted to be Mokey Fraggle. I love everything about her! She is who I want to be. Beautiful, graceful, kind, creative, soft-spoken, and just...wonderful in every way.

I should strive to be more like her right now.

I actually did this. I mean, I've had a lot of teachers I didn't get along with. Teachers I didn't like. But I only have one teacher that had such a bad effect on me that I had to contact him years later.

His name was Aaron Abeyta and he taught Multicultural Literature at Adams State College. I had to take that class as part of my English degree. Well, yea, it was a class about multicultural lit. So, yea, it was all literature written by minorities and often the theme was racism and how the "white man" done everyone wrong. *sigh*

But I got sick of that. Mostly because, while I realize terrible things were done in the past by those of Caucasion decent, it wasn't me that did them. So, I became quite outspoken in that class about how we should be emphasizing unity instead of focussing so much on the differences. I gave a mini-presentation about Mormon prosecution and stated that minorities weren't the only ones who were treated unfairly. That everyone has experienced this before.

Essentially, I did what you are supposed to do in a college class: I participated, I explored new ideas, I did the work, etc. Just a typical college student.

Aaron Abeyta wrote a letter to the education department telling them they needed to kick me out (he put it in more flowery language) because I would be insensitive to my minority students if I became a teacher.

When I got called into the education office, I broke down. See, my ride through the education program was an extremely bumpy one. Abeyta was not the first professor to stir the pot where I was concerned. I'd had several problems. But his was the straw that broke the camel's back. Luckily, the woman I spoke to sided with me and said she wasn't going to follow through on anything.

So, I had been a teacher for 3 years and the vast majority of my students were, you guessed it, minorities. It was the schools I was teaching in. And you know what? I got along great with my students. I loved teaching them. Quite frankly, it had nothing to do with race because I don't really find that important in the grand scheme. But they were my students. I taught them. They learned and excelled. I enjoyed teaching the multicultural literature in the curriculum and the students enjoyed it as well.

So, I finally decided, "You know what? Aaron Abeyta needs to know he was wrong about me. And how he almost ruined my life."

So I emailed him. The email is below the cut.
( Letter to Aaron AbeytaCollapse )

The summation of his reply was he was glad things had worked out for me and he stands by what he said. I was just...flabbergasted. He almost sent my life reeling into a different direction by trying to get me kicked out of the teaching program, and not even a word of apology. Ugh. He is such a pompous ass!!!!! Oh! And he told me another professor at the college agreed with him. But he never named the professor. That opened up another can of worms.

Finally, I just took a deep breath and let it go. He's a jerk. Nothing I can do about it. I had the satisfaction of proving him wrong. So yea, I did get a chance to tell a bad professor exactly what I thought of him. Sadly, it didn't do much for me. *sigh*

I've done this before, but I know I've read more since then. :)
( Cut to save your flistCollapse )

So, I recently moved into my own apartment. A dumpy little place, but the price was right and it's a place all my own. I was there last night just relaxing, trying to get sleepy. I have no furniture, so I was in the bedroom sitting on my "bed" (huge pile of blankets) watching a movie on my laptop when I hear an alarm. I'm trying to figure out where it is coming from because my smoke detector likes to go off sporadically. But it wasn't that.

No, it was my neighbor's alarm clock. Going off at 10:30 at night. And she wasn't home. I know because I went and pounded on her door.

I knew I wasn't going to be able to sleep with that stupid alarm going, so I decided to stay up late in the hopes she would come home and turn it off. Nope.

So, here comes 12:30. I am tired, wanting to go to bed, but that stupid alarm clock is just going and going and going. I go to my bedroom window and see that her bedroom window is also open (part of why the alarm clock was sounding so loud). I reach into her room and grab a pillow and attempt to toss it at the alarm clock to at least muffle the sound. Now, learning out a third story window, reaching into the apartment next to you, and tossing a pillow with your left hand (when you are right-handed) is no easy feat. And I failed. And failed again with the second pillow I could reach.

At this point, I'm going a little crazy. I run down to my car to get one of my table legs (I do have a table, just not put together yet). I had hoped to use the table leg to knock the clock closer to me so I could turn it off. But, the pillows are in the way! And the leg is too short to do me any real good.

Yes, for those of you reading at home, a broom would've been amazing, but alas, I don't have a broom.

I sit down for a few minutes trying to tell myself I can just ignore the alarm. But I know that's a lie. So, in desperation, I tie a hanger to my jump rope in the hopes that I can lasso the clock within reach and turn it off. I truly thought this one would work. I sit on my windowsill and try tossing in her room. And, admittedly, I got close to my goal a couple times, but just could not deliver. Though, I was able to completely unmake her bed when the hanger got caught on her afghan and I couldn't get it off without ripping the bed apart.

At this point, it would seem our heroine was defeated. But no! Wait! A crazy idea!!!

I will climb out of my window into her room, turn off the alarm, and climb back out!

Now, I hesistated for a couple of reasons. 1. Breaking and entering is generally frowned upon - but I knew I wasn't going to steal anything so that was pretty easy to ignore. 2. She has a dog - this was a little more nerve-wracking because who knows if it was a man-eating dog or a poodle?

But I decided to go for it. The alarm had to be stopped!!!!

So, I climb out my window and did a rather incredible job of not killing myself. I was actually rather impressed at how easy I made it look. I land on her bed and realize the dog is in the room! Eep!!

But, he just lays there. Eventually approaching me for some affection.

I reach down and fumble with the clock, knocking an empty pop can off the end table as I do so. I am fumbling with this clock because it is dark and I'm not sure how to turn it off, but I do finally succeed and hear sweet silence! Yay! And now, all I have to do is climb back into my apartment.

But wait! Why risk life and limb climbing back out the window when this dog is obviously friendly and doesn't mind my being in its owner's apartment? I can just waltz right out the front door, locking it behind me and my neighbor would be nonethe wiser. I mean, I even remembered to straighten the bed and close the window.

So, with my canine pal, I walk to the front door and let myself out, locking the door behind me.

Right as the door clicks shut, my brain screams, "YOUR DOOR IS LOCKED AND YOU DON'T HAVE KEYS!!!!"

Too late.

I desperately turn the knob on my door, but it's locked. I am in a tank top, flannel pants, no shoes, no keys, no cell phone, locked out of my apartment, don't know where the manager lives, don't know any of the neighbors well enough to knock on their door to use their phone...this was the sadder part of the evening for all of you laughing at home.

I cried. And started wandering the hallways aimlessly. I knew what building the manager lived in, so I thought if I walked her building, I would see a "manager" sign and could ask her to let me in. No luck.

I finally end up back in my hallway and sit in front of my door crying. Now, I don't mean to alienate those not religiously-inclined, but I prayed. I asked God to help me find a way into my apartment because I truly had no other way. I couldn't drive to someone else's house. Couldn't even walk because anyone I knew would be too far away. I prayed for help.

After saying, "Amen" I sat for a moment and tried the doorknob. I wish I could say I experienced one of those "huge" miracles and the knob magically was unlocked. But no. Still locked. I hung my head defeated because I didn't even know how God could answer this prayer.

Not 1 minute after saying "Amen," a woman starts walking down the hall.

"Hot out here, huh?" she asks.
I agree. I almost don't say anything because I don't want to inconvenience her, but I have no where else to go. "Do you know Brenda's phone number?"
"You locked out?"
"Yea."
"Well, come on, I can walk you over to her apartment. I lock myself out all the time!"

So, this wonderful woman (Angela) walks me to Brenda's apartment. Where I wake her up to let me into my apartment. At this point it is one and I feel like a horrible person for ruining her night's sleep! But she lets me in.

What an amazing story! Yes, it could be coincidence, but I knelt down and said a prayer of thanks the moment I walked into my apartment because it felt like a direct answer to me!

And just to end with a little giggle, as Brenda is letting me in, she asks, "Is the deadbolt locked?" I say no, but she tries just the doorknob and it won't open. So, she unlocks the deadbolt and says goodnight.

Is she now wondering how I got locked out of my apartment with the deadbolt locked!? *laugh*

I'd like to say my days of breaking and entering are over, but I don't regret the initial idea. Just the next time it is necessary, I'll make sure my door is unlocked!

I must watch Miracle on 34th Street. I got this from my father who will drop everything and watch that movie 24-hours a day when it's on. In fact, I think one of the TV channels did that last year and he just watched it over and over. It has to be the old one, though. I love that movie so much. It's wonderful.

I also have to watch White Christmas. This is another one the whole family loves. We watch it all the time. We can all sing along with every song and do the dialogue. We all strongly dislike the "Choreography" number in the movie. This is just a wonderfully classic movie. Love it.

I try to watch Christmas Eve on Sesame Street every year, but that one isn't as pressing. It's from my childhood. I remember watching it as a kid. It is such a sweet, cute movie. I love Cookie Monster trying to write a letter to Santa. I love that movie!

Muppet Christmas Carol is amazing!

I like Elf and the Santa Clause as well. Cute movies.

I am not a fan of A Christmas Story. I hate that they run it for 24 hours on TBS. I have never seen It's a Wonderful Life. I don't like Scrooged. And even though I'll watch them on occassion, I really don't like the claymation Christmas movies.

I know, they are lame, but they are fun.