I'm Back

No excuses, but I've been gone a long time.  If you didn't already know, you can check out my adventures from 3/13-3/14 at mwks13.blogspot.com.  Since then I've had  a lot of changes in my life that have kept be from being reliable here, but I hope that is about to change.  I've picked a quote to live by this year:

"Use your eyes as if tomorrow you would be stricken blind . . .Hear the music of voices, the song of the bird, the mighty strains of an orchestra, as if you would be stricken deaf tomorrow. Touch each object as if tomorrow your tactile sense would fail. Smell the perfume of flowers, taste with relish each morsel, as if tomorrow you could never smell or taste again. Make the most of every sense; glory in all the facets of pleasure and beauty which the world reveals to you."
Helen Keller

So, join me this year as I attempt to notice and enjoy the small things in life and not let the unexpected big things overwhelm me.  I plan to be posting here regularly and also on my angel-searchingforthetruth.blogspot.com.  Please follow me and leave comments.  I'd love to have a conversation with you.  Let's learn together.

Happy Independence Day!!!

Happy Fourth of July!!!
Enjoy a moment from my favorite 4th of July tradition!
(I'm DVRing it at midnight.)  :)

Thanksgiving for today:
Open grocery store
The movie "1776"
Completely fenced in back yard
Firefighters

Discontent

"All our discontents spring from the want of thankfulness for what we have."
                                                                               --Daniel Defoe

Learning to be Brave and Patient

"We could never learn to be brave and patient, if there were only joy in the world."
                                                                                                                   --Helen Keller




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Thanksgiving for today
Gloves
Ice Melt
Warm Cozy Home
Seasoned almonds
Willpower
Communication possible via computer
Fixed fingernail

Happy Resurrection Sunday

Then Came the Morning

Sunday's Coming

If you like reading my posts, please consider following me. It's an easy way to know when I've posted something new

Thanksgiving for today
Community rallying together
Door that continue to open
Kiddos obeying safety rules with no arguments
Time to focus on the weekend
Christ's obedience and sacrifice
Grace

Oz the Great and Powerful Movie Review

I have been waiting to write this review until I saw the movie in 3D, but that hasn't happened yet, so I'll write this review and then add to it later (if I ever get to see the movie in 3D).  I watched it in 2D at first because so far I have only found one theater I can see 3D movies in 3D without getting a headache.   So, I patiently wait for it to arrive there and hope I'm not busy that weekend.  Ah, the joys of a TBI (traumatic brain injury) and double vision.

This is an amazing movie and I've heard I should definitely see it in 3D, so I hope I can.  Some 3D movies have not really been worth watching in 3D, but this has scenes I think would be pretty spectacular in 3D.  Even in 2D the imagery is just magic.   Just so you know, there may be spoiler alerts in this blog, so if you haven't seen it and want to see it with no fore knowledge, stop reading now.  

This movie was amazing visually and cinematographically.  Just like the Wizard of Oz, Kansas is black and white which makes entering the colorful land of oz more of a visual feast.  I was waiting for some of the characters from the Wizard of Oz.  There were nods to the lion and scarecrow--see if you can find them.  But, the tin man was no where to be seen.  That's OK with me the scarecrow is my favorite anyway.  I did not expect to see Dorothy, after all she wouldn't have been around at this time, but is Annie Dorothy's Mom?  I think possibly so.

I loved the new characters and the fact that this movie added pieces of the L. Frank Baum books that the Wizard of Oz did not.  The china village is one of my favorite parts and I'm so glad they decided to add it in.  When I read the book, that is a part I was saddened was missing.

I think this movie is definitely worth the see.   And, I think they did a great job trying to stay true to the movie Wizard of Oz while adding some parts from the books that were missing. It would be hard to stay completely true to the books, since the Wizard of Oz movie definitely did not.   I have been reading the books and as with most movies based on books, there are some marked differences.  There is a missing witch for one.  And, the story of how Oz took the throne in the Emerald City is markedly different.  Oz, in the books is more of a "humbug" and less of a hero.  Of course, that wouldn't make a very good movie.  You definitely want a hero to root for against the wicked witches.

That being said, I loved the movie and can't wait to see it again.  This is one that will definitely make it's way into our home movie library.  But, if you are a book purist, you will be disappointed.  There are differences so great that it would be hard to overlook them.

There is a quote from the movie that I am going to try to live by:  Oz said: 
"You have nothing to fear so long as you believe. For when you believe, anything is possible"