I'd Like To Thank the Academy

The chairperson of the Academy of Bloggies (they're like the Oscars of Blogging Awards) called and I have been nominated for the "Lamest Blog" category!!! Woohoo!! I can harldy believe it!! The other nominees are: "A Day in the Life of my Toaster" and "The Wit and Wisdom of My Elbows" blogs. I think I have a fighting chance! I'd like to thank, well, my life for being so unbelievably monotonous and uneventful that I never have anything funny or interesting to write about! I couldn't do it without you. No, no, don't play the music! I have to thank my lack of creativity and my motivation to blog that has recently gone missing. And of course, the Academy. You love me!!! You really love me!!!

Knock, Knock, Knockin' on Death's Door

So I think the first Feature Film Friday was a big success, don't you? My excuse? I'm still sick, and I don't know what's wrong with me. Here's to next Friday...

What the heck is a MEME?

Yay! I've been tagged. This is actually my 100th post and for weeks now I've been brainstorming for something cool to do in celebration having to do with 100 and have come up with nothing. And this is so what I want to do for a post today instead. So, Happy 100th Post to me.

These people have already answered these questions.

Check 'em out:

Melissa
4 B's in a Pod
Life According to the PRP
Dandee Designs

The Reign of the Movie Queen

What was I doing ten years ago?
I was anxiously preparing for graduation and working at Little Caesar's with Danyelle and boyfriends.



What was I doing one year ago?
Pretty much the same stuff as now minus the blogging.



Five snacks I enjoy:
1. Peanut Butter Oreos soaked in milk.
2. Cheetos
3. dry cereal
4. any chocolate ice cream
5. apples and peanut butter



Five songs I know all the words to:
1. Anything Mariah Carey pre-Y2K
2. see Primary Songbook
3. Kelly Clarkson's "Breakaway"
4. Britney Spears' "Everytime" (It is the GORGEOUS song playing. Don't watch the video, it's dumb and risque but I cannot make any songs work without a video. Does anyone else have this problem? It's making me crazy.)
5. Sarah McLaughlin's "Fallen"



Five things I would do if I were a millionaire?
1. pay off our house (duh)
2. go to Hawaii with Bill and Disneyland with the kids
3. get lipo, tummy tuck, boob job
4. FINALLY pay back my parents (that probably should have come sooner on the list)
5. for once have a cushion in savings





Five of my MANY bad habits:
(seriously, only five?)
1. sucking on gum 24/7
2. picking at my arms, feet, lips, face
3. doing what I want to do before what I need to
4. sleeping too much
5. yelling at my kids before thinking



Five things I like doing:
1. sleeping
2. watching movies
3. walking
4. scrapbooking/card making
5. working in the yard



Five things I will NEVER wear again:
1. body suits
2. tube socks up to my calves
3. boys clothes
4. bright colored, plastic earrings
5. denim jumpers



Five of my Favorite toys:
1. iPod
2. digital camera
3. photo printer
4. DVR
5. entertainment system

I'm tagging:

Simply Shayla
The Hatch Patch
Shell's Spot
Steph's Life
Mitchellaus Copernicus

(but since I seriously doubt this is something Mitch would want to do and NAN won't start a blog, I am asking Nan to go to Mitch's blog and do this!)

INSTRUCTIONS: Remove the blog in the top spot from the link list at the top of this post and bump everyone up one place. Then add your blog to the bottom slot. Next, select five people to tag.

Blogging the Blues

Seriously, does anyone get sick as much as I do? I don't know anyone who does who doesn't still ride a bike to get around. What is wrong with me? Before I had Macy I had a seven year stretch where I did not throw up. After Macy it was once a year up until last August, which was the first of THREE TIMES!!! Why is it that the one person who is petrified of the aforementioned action seems to do it the most? I don't get it. I know I don't eat healthy or take vitamins but I never have, so why would things suddenly change? And I am pretty darn careful about germs and such and staying away from sick people (I'm real good at that one.) The dumbest part is that I get it when even my kids don't. Explain that.

In case you can't tell, I'm sick and sick of being sick. I'm sitting here in a crappy mood, feeling nauseaus and hating life. I JUST WANT TO FEEL GOOD, LIKE A NORMAL, HEALTHY PERSON!!!! Oh, and to top it off, I'm exercising for the first time in my life on a regular basis and my reward is a one-trip ticket to visit the porcelain gods. Awesome.

Life sure is swell.

Technical Alterations

Movie Madness Monday is moving to a new home...Feature Film Friday. We feel this will boost our ratings and appeal more to our key demographic. Please accept our apology for any inconvenience and don't forget to tune in before your hot date to Target.

Happy Feet

Like Kim, I never thought I'd ever in a million years put a picture of my feet

out into cyber space for all to see. But I was just admiring my toes for

probably the thousandth time since my birthday pedicure and realized

how happy they make me. I love pretty toes!!! And I am learning how

much I love pedicures. Besides the obvious reason of how much fun they

are to get, I love it because even after you're done you have pretty toes

for a long time, because they seem to last forever. It doesn't matter what

mood I'm in, all I have to do is look down at my feet and I get happy.

Who says you can't buy happiness? I did for $25!

(p.s. My husband asked me if they gave me a discount for my "nub", i.e. pinky toe.)

Three Days of Celebration For Moi!

Ugh. What's more depressing than the day after your birthday? For me, not much. But to cheer myself up I'll relive the last three days. (It's long, but I have so much to tell about!)

My Mother's Day was awesome. Macy is at the age where she understands what it's about, and was so unbelievably excited. I seriously think she was more excited about this than her own birthday. Friday she brought home the present she had made for me at school, which was in a really pretty envelope. She put it on my nightstand and instructed me not to open it until Sunday, and then proceeded to ask me every five minutes how excited I was to open it. She said, "It's a secret, I can't tell you what it is, but it has my picture on it. And seeds." So much for the secret.

She also came up with the idea on her own to make me pancakes for breakfast. She talked to Bill in secret and told him her plan, saying she would come wake him up and let me sleep in and he would help her make them and then she would wake me up. She said a hundred times "You can't wake up til I wake you up." Not a problem. It was the sweetest thing. I can't believe my little girl is old enough to be planning this stuff! She said, "I'm not going to tell you what I'm making you for breakfast, and don't try to figure it out, but it starts with P-A and that's all I'm saying." What could it possibly be?

So I was woken up to a huge beautiful breakfast of pancakes with strawberries and whipping cream (which Payson kept referring to as "women cream") just like I always get at IHOP, and sausage. So awesome. Then I opened Macy's present. She could barely contain herself. I'm still not really sure what it's supposed to be, but it was sweet nonetheless. Then I opened my gift from Bill--Music and Lyrics, but you already know that.

Unfortunately, because I am a huge procrastinator I had to spend the rest of the morning preparing my music for primary, and at church we had the usual Mother's Day songs by the primary at the end of Sacrament Meeting. I was so nervous, I HATE going up in front of everyone, just me and all the kids, and I'm always so nervous they'll look like they don't know the words and everyone will be thinking what a crappy primary chorister I am. But it went well and I was sooooo glad when it was over. After church we went to my parents for our usual family dinner so I got a rockin' mom-cooked dinner and my very favorite rubarb crisp. Danyelle gave us all little bags of chocolates and my mom gave us all jewelry cleaners, since we are always using hers. It was so cool. And my mom seemed to enjoy my gift to her. It may seem lame, but it's something I do for her on a regular basis and she likes it. Because she gets so many handmade cards from us, she can't bear to throw them away but can't really store a million cards, so I cut off the sentiments (she keeps those) and back the card front with new cardstock so she can re-send the cards, since she doesn't make cards. I was pretty proud of the idea, it's very economical, I think. Plus, our hard work and supplies get more use!

So, my Mother's Day was awesome. Then, birthday. It began Monday evening when my friends totally surprised me on my doorstep to kidnap me and take me out. My gift from them was three packs of gum :) and a wad of cash in which I was instructed to spend right then and there. We pulled up in front of Craft Warehouse and went inside for a scrapbook shopping spree! It was so awesome, and such a clever, fun idea. I had a blast, although I have to admit it was a little intimidating going shopping with six people standing there watching and waiting. But still, a blast.

After that we went to Red Robin and I gorged myself on melted mozarella with a side of parmasian chicken and pasta. (Holy crap, I was in cheese heaven.) Those of us who could stayed and gabbed until the waiters made it clear we had overstayed our welcome (their peeking around the corner every five minutes was not too subtle.) Then they took me home. It was so awesome. That night as I went to bed I had to keep reminding myself my birthday was still to come, it felt like it had already happened!

The next morning I got to sleep in because my wonderful hubby took the day off to be with me on my special day! I woke up around 9:30 and excitedly checked the blogs for any birthday posts (thanks Danyelle, and Marilyn!) and then ate leftover pancakes with strawberries and "women" cream. Then I lounged around until I had to get in the shower and get ready for lunch with my mom and sisters at Nothing But Noodles. It was so fun and I was once again in pasta bliss with their Fettucini Alfredo. Theirs is to die for. While I was there, my family went birthday shopping for me, and when I got back they made me hide in my room til they were done wrapping. I came out and first read the sweetest cards in the world, one from my kids that Macy had colored absolutely adorably and the most perfect card from Bill. Then I opened three well-disguised packages that were all three different shapes and sizes but each one containing one of the remaining three seasons of Friends that I needed to complete my collection! I can't believe I finally have the entire series. Yippee for me! Then Bill pointed out an adorable tin box on the table wrapped in a beautiful green ribbon, a gift that Marilyn had dropped by while I was gone. Of course the card was beautiful, too. Inside were four CD's she had burned for me, labels and all. Michael Buble's new album (my first Michael CD!), the soundtrack to I Am Sam, a mix of some of Marilyn's favorite songs that she thought I might like, and a blank one for me to pick whatever songs I want and she'll make it for me! How awesome is that?! I was so stoked. I thought it was the coolest gift. Thanks Marilyn!!

Then Bill had the idea to go on a bike ride with the kids down by the river, but since both our bikes had flats, we walked while the kids rode. It was perfect, although by that point it was like 100 degrees outside and we were all dying. But still, perfect. Bill and I just walked hand-in-hand watching the kids on their bikes go up a ways, then circle back, then go up a ways again, etc.

When we got back we got ready and took the kids over to Danyelle's who was watching them while we went on my birthday date. We had decided not to go out to eat (I was all restauranted-out, which I never thought possible, and still full from lunch) but to just get dessert since I hadn't had any birthday dessert yet. We pulled up to Maggie Moos and Bill saw that nail place right by it and said, "We have plenty of time, do you want to get your pedicure?" (I had told him on the way there that I had wanted to get a pedicure on my birthday and completely forgot about it, not that I would have had any time for one). I was so pumped. So he went to the mall while I sat and relaxed in the vibrating chair and had my feet pampered, which were unbelievably sore from walking along the river in flimsy flip-flops. Forty mins. later I left with the cutest toes ever and we went to Maggie Moos for our ice cream. Then we went and saw Spider Man 3, which I won't go into right now. Unfortunately, my very favorite thing to do (go to the movies) gives me a headache every time I do it, so I left with a pounding head to go get the kids at Danyelle's where we were told Owen had thrown up while my kids were there. Happy Birthday to me.

Because my head hurt so bad and now I was freaking out a little, I came home and took some painkillers and went to bed. But, the crappy ending didn't take away from my wonderful, perfect birthday and I'm counting down 364 days til my next one!

28

Today is my birthday.

I am 28.

In 2 years I will be 30.

Wow.

Birthdays to me are like sitting in a movie theater, chewing gum and playing Dino Drop while taking a nap.

I love them.

More than Christmas.

I am like a kid still when it comes to my birthday.

I live for the surprises, the special treatment, the presents, the date night.

It is a whole day all about me and I love it.

Happy Birthday to me.

Music and Lyrics

What did I get for Mother's Day?

I was so excited. I saw this in the theater and loved it. Here's why: Hugh Grant. Every time I watch one of his movies I am always guaranteed actual laughs, not just the typical romantic comedy chuckles. I think he is so funny. He can deliver a one-liner like nobody else. And this movie was chalk-full of them. In fact, it seemed like every time he opened his mouth I laughed.

As for Drew Barrymore...well, I'm taking a chance here, as there is a good possibility she has been referred to as "America's Sweetheart", but, I am growing to like her. She used to drive me nuts with her "I'm banking on my cuteness with my crooked smile and valley girl voice" but her last several movies she's seemed to pull in the reigns a bit on the tooth-achey sweetness. Ironically enough, now I find her adorable.

In Music and Lyrics, she plays Sophie Fisher, a care-free hippie sort who has become the temporary plant water-er for Alex Fletcher (Hugh), a has-been 80's pop icon. The laughs start right at the beginning, with the music video to his band's (classically named "Pop"...see their poster on the wall behind Hugh and Drew in above picture) #1 hit. It's so true to the 80's big hair bands it's scary, and seeing Hugh Grant up there shaking his booty in skin-tight leather pants and a giant mullet is enough to get you locked in for the rest of the movie. Fast forward twenty years as Sophie waters Alex's plants for the first time and absentmindedly begins to sing to the song he is trying to write. Impressed with her ad-libbed lyrics and desperate for a hit song, he implores her to finish writing it with him. After much hesitation, she gives in and we all can guess where it goes from there.

The majority of laughs come from watching a man in his 40's who only knows the world of pop as it was in the 80's trying to make a come-back in the two thou's. There are several references to his age, with pulled muscles and an almost menopausal fan base, but the BIGGEST laugh in my opinion is when Alex is making a music video with a Britney-esque pop star. She's bumping and grinding all over with her back-up dancers and he's next to her doing the only dance he knows how, his hilarious "Pop" trademark move. I thought I was going to wet my pants laughing.

So, whether it be for laughs or a good old fashioned love story, I say go rent, no, buy this movie. "Hugh" won't regret it. (Sorry, I couldn't resist.)

Three Cheers For Moms!

I got this e-mail forwarded to me and wanted to share it with you all...

Somebody said it takes about six weeks to get back to

normal after having a baby

That somebody doesn't know that once you're a mother,

"normal" is history

Somebody said "good" mothers never raise their voices

That somebody never came out the back door just in time
to see their child hit a golf ball through the neighbor's window

Somebody said you learn how to be a mother by instinct

That somebody never took a 3 year old shopping

Somebody said you can learn all you need to know about
raising a child in parenting books

That somebody never had a child stuff beans up his nose

Somebody said the hardest part about being a mother is labor

That somebody never had to put their five year old on the bus for their first day of Kindergarten.

Somebody has no idea that being a mother is both the hardest and the most rewarding thing in the world. Kudos to whoever decided we should get a whole day to honor us!

Happy Mother's Day

Name That Movie

One of my very favorite games to play is "Movie Lines" where someone quotes a line from a movie and you have to guess which movie it's from. Needless to say, I rock at this game. My very favorite quote from a movie is the following:

"It's not brave if you're not scared."

Who knows what movie it's from?

Deja Vu All Over Again

Does anyone else feel like they're living the movie "Groundhog's Day?" I am struggling with it big-time. Every day feels exactly the same and the monotony is really making me depressed. Every day I wake up and go walking (okay, most days. Today I was too depressed.), come home, take a shower, get Macy ready and off to school. Payson sits on my toilet jibber-jabbering away while I finish getting ready for the day. I spend the morning doing one of about three things: taking advantage of only having one kid and going to the store, cleaning, or sitting and blogging if I'm really feeling lazy. Today I have no kids so blogging it is. Then I pick up Macy, argue with her about having a friend over, come home, make lunch, eat lunch, take a nap, wake up, clean until Bill gets home, make dinner (no, that wasn't a typo, I make dinner after my husband gets home. Oh, he loves it.), ignore the dishes since an hour earlier I just did the ones from the night before, collapse on the couch or play Dino Drop until I absolutely have to start getting the kids ready for bed. An hour later, usually at about nine, they're in bed, and normally this is when I would breathe a sigh of relief and take up residence on my couch and blissfully watch my shows. But lately, I have been too exhausted even for that, or maybe just too depressed, and I just go to bed! At nine! Then the next day it starts over. And the next. And the one after that. And so on and so forth.

I know I am not the only one who's days run together like this, but I seem to be the only one who is bothered by it. I don't know what's going on with me. It's always gotten to me, but lately it's really getting to me. Six years this has been my life (or something like it) and now I'm getting tired of the monotony? It makes no sense to me. Am I the only one feeling this way?

Happy Birthday

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!

Today is my mom's birthday. Here are some interesting facts about her:

1. When she was a kid, ker brother tried to jump through the swing she was swinging on on his horse and the horse kicked her in the nose, knocking her unconscious and breaking her nose.
2. She is a master flower gardener and would prefer to do it over pretty much anything else.
3. She is also a master quilter, seamstress, knitter, crocheter, baker, cook, you name it.
4. She has a gorgeous singing voice and has never had a lesson.
5. She is the middle of six kids, the oldest being ten years older and the youngest being ten years younger.
6. Her husband has always been her very best friend. She calls him "Richie."
7. She LOVES Hawaii and goes whenever she can.
8. Her favorite color has always been blue.
9. She has always said that she hopes in heaven she is put in charge of flowers and music.
   

I LOVE YOU MOM!

The Pursuit of Happyness

I've tried three different ways of introducing this movie and nothing feels right. It's such a hard movie to describe. How can a movie be both utterly depressing and yet have you walking away feeling so good?

The Pursuit of Happyness is based on the true story of Chris Gardner, a single dad trying desperately to raise his 5 year old son on next-to-no money. (The mis-spelled title comes from the sign outside a daycare.) Will Smith plays Chris Gardner and is beyond amazing. I love Will Smith as an actor, but this role put him on a whole new level for me. The role of Chris Gardner's son is played by Jaden Smith, Will's real-life son. This fact alone makes the movie interesting to watch. Jaden is a natural, and completely adorable.

T.P.O.H. can at times be hard to watch. Just when you think things can't possibly get any worse for this duo, they do. But laced between the awful hardships are moments of sweetness and hope, making it not totally unbearable. You walk away being completely overcome with emotion, seeing what this father went through and the lengths he took to take care of his child. The movie was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture, as was Will Smith for Best Actor, and both were well-deserved.

I can't stress enough my suggestion to watch this movie. You will never look at parenting the same again.

Galletas Fiestas!

Kim's Cookie Monster post reminded me of my awesome baking incident last Sunday. My sister invited us over for an impromptu BBQ and said to bring anything that would go well with hamburgers. Being Sunday, I rummaged through my pantry to see what I could come up with. I have a million cake mixes and a few recipes from 101 Things to Do With a Cake Mix, so I decided to make the Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Bars. I always have what it takes to make them. So I mix all the stuff up and I come to the last ingredient, the chocolate chips. I pull out this giant bag that my mom gave me forever ago which I have always kept in my spice cupboard. I also have a giant bag in my freezer. It had been a while since I'd cooked with chocolate chips (curse you endless diet!!) and since I had some in the freezer I thought, "Hmmmm....I know I put those in the freezer because people told me you could freeze them, but why would you want to unless chocolate chips can go bad? And if chocolate chips can go bad, then these probably would have because they've been sitting in my spice cupboard forever." So I decided to try some to see if they were still good. I popped a few in my mouth. Blech. They tasted like my spice cupboard. But, I had gum in my mouth (I know, weird) so I thought it was perhaps compromising my taste buds, so I asked Bill to try some. He said it tasted a little like spices but it should be alright once it's combined with the all the other stuff. So I added the choco. chips and popped 'em in the oven. Fifteen minutes later they were golden brown and looking delicious.

Fast forward to the BBQ at my sister's. Dinner is finished, dessert is being put out. People start cutting the bars and eating them like crazy and pretty soon there is only about a fourth left. Payson decided he was done with his after a few bites, so I decided to finish it. I took one bite and could barely gag it down. It tasted like taco seasoning and cookies! I looked around in horror at the people sitting there and they of course started asking what was wrong, so I told them the whole story of the chocolate chips and everyone was like, "I had some, they were great" or "I couldn't taste anything wrong." Then my sister-in-law tried one to see and could totally taste it. The look on her face said it all. I was so embarrassed that so much of them were gone and that many people had eaten my disgusting taco seasoned peanut butter bars. So, the moral of the story? Don't keep your chocolate chips in your spice cupboard with the rest of your baking supplies.

My Baby Boy

My "Baby" Boy

can always put a smile on my face

Even when he's crying he somehow makes me laugh

He is all boy with his infatuation of trains,

fighting, and dinosaurs

yet he has every song on the High School Musical

soundtrack memorized and is more of a girl about bugs,

getting wet, loud noises (pretty much everything) than his sister

and even though he's almost four, he's still

small enough to curl into a ball in my lap,

and he still lets me call him...

My Baby Boy

Laughs

My kids aren't constantly saying witty things, or even things that crack me up, really. But for some reason they both said something within two days of each other that I felt was worthy of blogging. Sorry for those of you who've heard it.

We've been reading scriptures every night as a family, something that is, sadly enough, new to us. We're slooooowly making our way through 1 Nephi and have recently been reading the chapter where Nephi and his brothers are trying to obtain the brass plates. During said time, Payson is sprawled out on the floor, rolling around, playing with his trains, talking to himself, etc. while the rest of us, including Macy, are having a nice gospel discussion. I felt that even if he wasn't absorbing anything, he would at least have memories of having family scripture study daily and we would be setting the example.
Well, at church on Sunday he was getting antsy during Sacrament Mtng. so Bill pulled out of his scripture bag a flipchart thing he's had in there ever since his mission. It has the pretty basic pictures in it. I began asking Payson, "Who's this?" to which he would respond the correct answer. Picture of Christ? "Jesus." Portrait of Joseph? "Joseph Smiff." Picture of Joseph in the sacred grove? "Laban." No hesitation. Besides the hilarity of the fact that he called Joseph Smith Laban, I was in utter shock and amazement that he had even picked up on the name Laban. They really are listening!

The next morning Macy was waiting patiently at the table for her breakfast. As I poured her cereal, I listened to her occupy herself in her usual way by turning the nearest objects into dolls and creating a situation where a guy and girl are getting married. This time it was Crayons, and there was an added character, I'm assuming Maid of Honor. She had chosen a blue one for the man, of course, and red for the woman, obviously. I wasn't paying much attention until this part of the conversation caught my ears:

Macy using high voice for woman: "Well, does she even speak English?"
Low voice for man: "No."
High voice again: "Well, then why did you marry her?"
Low voice: "Because she's pretty."

I about died. All great relationships are based on physical appearences, despite the communication barrier right?

The Holiday

Let me start by apologizing to my loyal readers for being a little absent lately. For some reason it's been so hard to get to the computer the last few days. And literally five minutes after I had convinced myself it was okay to not blog every day, that this wasn't supposed to stress me out, and I relaxed about it, my most loyal reader called and gave me an earful for not blogging lately! So, here I am, and you can thank Dandee for it!

So, once again, Movie Madness Monday has been bumped to Tuesday. I'm going to play the whole "it's my blog, I can do whatever I want" card once more. I love that card.

As you all know I was alone Friday night, so I took the opportunity to rent a chick flick. Instantly I knew what I was going to get.

When I first saw the previews for this, I thought, "Kate Winslet and Jude Law, are you kidding me?" They could offer free cheesecake with the movie and it wouldn't be beat that combination.

Jack Black is an odd choice for a romance, but he's funny and likeable. But Cameron Diaz? Seriously. This is the equivalent of ordering your favorite dessert and just before digging in seeing a suspiciously black hair poking out. Yeah, don't like the Cameron. See, I am incredibly picky when it comes to actresses. I just get easily irritated by them. (Don't get me started on Julia Roberts or Meg Ryan. Basically, if the title of "American's Sweetheart" is ever bestowed upon them, my gag reflex kicks in. And I'm pretty sure Cameron Diaz has been called this. Enough said.) There are very few actresses that don't make the hairs stand up on the back of my neck. One of these is Kate Winslet.

Can I just pause for a moment and send out some love to Kate? She is my all-time favorite actress. It started with Sense and Sensibility. Loved her. Then Titanic secured her spot on the pedestal. Then she sort of disappeared into Indie World for awhile, and came back with a vengeance, better than ever!! She is so down to earth and the fact that she refuses to succumb to the pressure from Hollywood to be anorexic just makes her, well, my idol. I love you Kate!!

(I would start in on Jude right here, but I have a husband who pops into my blog unexpectedly. Let's just say I enjoyed my 138 minutes with Mr. Law.)

Okay, back to the movie. Iris (Kate) and Amanda (Cameron) find each other on a website for swapping houses for two weeks. So Iris, wishing to leave her pathetic one-sided relationship with an engaged man behind, goes to Amanda's mansion in L.A., and Amanda, wanting a break from her workaholic life and latest breakup, goes to Iris's picturesque cottage in Surrey, England. Their first few hours in each other's lives is pretty funny, watching Iris bask in the glory of wealthy living and Amanda trying to adjust to a house the size of her bedroom with nothing but a dog to keep her company. They soon meet the people in each other's lives, Iris meeting Miles (Jack Black), a guy who works with Amanda's ex, and Amanda meeting Graham (Jude), who is Iris's brother. Cue loves stories.

One thing I was pleased by was the way each couple met and became involved. It was shockingly possible. I get so tired of romances where they meet once and are suddenly making out or, even worse, in love. Yeah, we all know that happens all the time in daily life. (Note the sarcasm.) I'm not saying there was no instantaneous making out, but there was a reason behind it and it actually seemed possible. And it was funny.

Unfortunately, Cameron Diaz gets more airtime than Kate, with the relationship between Amanda and Graham being the main focus. But it didn't take long for me to not care. Although I enjoyed Iris's storyline and watching she and Miles slowly progress towards a relationship, I would have gladly watched an entire movie that took place at the snowy cottage in Surrey. I was completely sucked in to Amanda's and Graham's relationship. There were even times (I can't believe I'm saying this) that Cameron Diaz was likeable and not cheesy or annoying. That was kind of painful to admit.

The ending was a little predictable on both sides of the story, but would we have it any other way? My only complaint, which isn't much of a complaint, is, SERIOUSLY, how much more perfect could they have made Jude Law's character? We already love him because he is HOT, but then they keep adding things to his character and background that make him the poster boy for The Perfect Guy. I half expected to see him walk out one scene holding a wounded puppy dog that he'd rescued off the street and announce he was starting a charity for under-privelaged kids. Seriously, no guy THAT perfect would still be single. And why is it always these guys in the movies that want the damaged, non-commital girls who don't appreciate their perfection? It makes me crazy!! But of course, I loved every second of it. I even bawled at parts and THAT'S NOT ME!!! I was obviously in an emotional place. Obviously.

Some of the funniest parts:

• When the little girl says in her little British accent to Amanda "You look like my Bah-bie."
• When Iris chooses the drink with the most whipping cream and Miles says, "Hel-lo! Big Dollop!"
• There is an ongoing thing throughout the movie that I won't attempt to explain because it will never come across as funny as it is, but it involves Amanda and what she does for work. It's totally funny, but you'll just have to see for yourself.

So, who else has seen it, and what did you think?