TRAVEL: Future trips

One week until Colorado! 

I've never been there, unless you count the times I went to the Denver International Airport (once to change planes to Nashville and another time to change planes to New York City).  Nice airport. It'll be nice to actually step out and explore the Mile High City.  However, for this week long trip, we'll be spending time in Colorado Springs area.  

Not only that, my family and I will be attending my cousin's wedding, so the whole fambam - cousins, grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc. - will be there to celebrate!  It'll be good to see everyone because we haven't seen each other in awhile.  :)

I'm not sure what our exact itinerary holds, but I'm positive that we'll have some excellent adventures, seeing that Colorado is surrounded by wondrous natural sights, especially within the Rocky Mountains.

I'm really excited about heading to Colorado! YAY! :)

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In other travel news, I booked my flight today with Southwest (thank goodness they have awesome sales), and I'll be heading to Portland, Ore., for a week or so in August to visit my friends at the University of Portland.  I know they'll be busy with Orientation and getting ready for the beginning of the fall semester, but it'll be nice to see everyone before they are swamped with school work and such.  Another exciting trip ahead! Sweet!

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 Interesting fact about these two places:

Both of them were listed in Yahoo! 

as the top summer destinations. 

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I'm hoping for some more travel opportunities in the future.  Still need to make that travel wish list...

MOVIES: Toy Story 3

I love Toy Story 3! 

If you haven't seen it yet, you need to see it! It was AWESOME!  It was an excellent closing to the Toy Story trilogy.  Pixar did a fantastic job bringing back the beloved characters, while introducing new ones.  The storyline was great too!  It definitely takes you on a ride, trying to figure out the welfare of the toys as Andy prepares to go to college.  I'm not going to lie; I teared up at the end of the film.

I was just reminded of how I used to play with my toys and what happened to them once I out grew them.  Some of them were handed down to my younger cousins, while others were sold in garage sales or given away to family friends or children in the Philippines.  However, some are still in the house...somewhere.

I know that my Peter Pan doll is in my room.  He sits on my dresser.  I used to carry him everywhere.  I loved Peter Pan so much when I was a kid that I was him for Halloween one year.  Kinda like how Andy dressed up like Woody or Buzz. 

After watching Toy Story 3, I wondered where all my Barbie dolls went.  I think I probably played with them the most with my sister.  We enjoyed changing their clothes and creating different scenarios of families and friends.  It was fun.  I'm glad Ken was introduced in this movie.  I found it funny that he had a whole closet of clothes.  I'm pretty sure my Ken dolls only had swim shorts and if we were lucky a suit.  Pixar made some additional shorts with Ken, including Groovin' with Ken (found below) and Ken's Dating Tips. 

As we grow up, there will always be a special place for those things we grew up with - toys, childhood friends, places and more.  I'll never forget those things or the memories I made with them.  I'll always be a kid at heart. :)

BOOKS: Wuthering Heights

If there is one thing I missed while being in school, it's definitely reading for pleasure.  

I haven't been able to get into the groove of reading for years because each book was connected to a homework assignment - book reports, summer English Honors homework, chapter summaries, essay questions, papers, etc.  As much as I enjoyed reading some of those assigned books, I felt that I was often looking for that deeper meaning, instead of just enjoying the author's written word, taking in each description and truly appreciating the masterpiece that was written. Probably why I'm not a huge fan of Steinbeck (memo to self: try re-reading his work).

This might sound crazy, but even reading Harry Potter seemed like an assignment.  That was my fault though.  In summer 2007, I was determined to read the whole series before the seventh one came out.  I was a week off and then actually had to dive into the last installment.  I really enjoyed reading the whole series, but at some points of that last book, I was just like, "Man, they're still in the forest. *sigh*"

Well, with school done (for now), I've decided to try hitting the books once again and just reading for the joy of reading!

The first book on my list was Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë.  I think I only have this book because I was supposed to read it for class but never got around to it.  Just kidding.  I started reading it but never passed the first two chapters because I was having difficulties following all the characters.  Finally, I read passed those first two chapters and found it to be an interesting yet complicated story.  The story follows and intertwines the lives of three generations of families living on the moors of England - lots of family drama, combined with romance, friendship and loyalty.  The relationships of the characters can get confusing at times, but I liked it.

I definitely feel accomplished after reading it.

Looking on my bookshelf, I noticed that there's actually several books that I haven't even opened.  I plan to read those books and then check out other books around the house.  Yeah...basically going to go through all the books in the house like Matilda.  Then it's off to the library! ;)

Speaking of the library, if you haven't already, you should check out this other blog I write for with my friends at UP: http://adventuresofrickandtarra.blogspot.com/.

I'm so excited for reading again! :D