MOVIE REVIEW: DAMAGE

DAMAGE ~ 4/5

Expecting another kick butt movie from former WWE Superstar Stone Cold Steve Austin, I walked into this movie with MANY expectations. I left this movie with all those expectations met!

Steve Austin stars as an ex con who now owes the widow of the man he killed "anything she needs". When she comes to him with her NEED, it's a huge need of $250,000 for an operation for her little girl. How can an ex con come up with this much money you ask? Underground fighting of course!! He meets a man who says they can earn lots of money based on the damage done to the other fighter. The more he wins, the more he earns. Part way through the movie, the little girl becomes sicker & is hospitalized & without the surgery the mother can not afford, she will not survive. The mother with no hope left trys to kill herself. Austin's character is faced with a tough decision, the little girls operation or the life of his new found manager & friend. His decision is a difficult one & his choice makes me question him. This movie was very good, ultimately the moral is a good one. Help others!

MOVIE REVIEW: BROKEN FLOWERS

Broken Flowers ~ 2/5

This movie starring Bill Murray was nothing that was expected of it. In the beginning, a man name Don Johnston (Bill Murray) is sitting in his living room & his girlfriend leaves him. He gets a mysterious envelope in the mail the same time & opens it to find out that he has a son he never knew about who is now approximately 18 or 19 years old. His friend Winston talks him into going back to check out which of his old girlfriends is hiding his child. He is given a list of things to look for from anything pink to typewriters & stationary. His journey goes from old flames quickly rekindled & burned out, injurys & frequent mistaken identity as Don Johnson. He quickly decides to give up & return home knowing nothing. He returns to his home where he runs into a young kid in his late teens wandering outside the restaurant he is in, he buys him lunch & has a short talk with him. He notices a pink ribbon on the boys backpack & confronts him about being his son. Freaking the guy out, he runs off & ducks into an alley before he can be caught. The movie ends with his realization that he may never know his son & that he may not even HAVE a son.

This movie was NOTHING like what I thought it would be, it was boring, my husband fell asleep over & over. The plot would have been better had thier been more funny less boring.

MOVIE REVIEW: Twilight Saga, Eclipse

Twilight Saga, Eclipse: Rating 5/5

My daughter & I saw this movie together, we make it special mother/daughter time for each new movie ever since we watched the first one together. Now, we are both hooked & waiting for the last movie.

The movie opens where the last one left off, Bella & Edward are back together passing the time til she graduates & turns 18 so he can turn her into a vampire. He's still against it & she's still pushing for it. She makes a trip to see her mom which gets her second guessing her decision to be like Edward & never see her family & friends again. Victoria & her new force of newborns begins terrorizing Seattle, causing much destruction & disappearances, creating an army to defeat the Cullens & get Bella. Bella finally gets to talk to Jacob where he reveals his feelings for her, making her decision even harder. He misinterprets her intentions & trys to kiss her resulting in her hand being injured when she trys to punch him. He promises not to kiss her again until she asks. When Alice informs them that the newborns will be there soon, Jacob volunteers the Wolf pack to help protect Bella, much to Edwards dismay. Moments before the fight, Jacob overhears Bella & Edward talking about thier upcoming wedding. When Bella realizes that Edward knew Jacob was listening, she goes after Jacob. Jacob/Bella fans will be happy to know that this leads to Bella asking Jacob for that kiss. Edward sees the kiss where he acknowledges that Bella loves Jacob, she says I love you more & his reply: I know. The attack begins & the wolves help tremendously in destroying the newborn army. Victoria & her new beau however realize that Bella & Edward are not thier, so they go after Edwards scent & find them. Once the Cullins come out on top, they must deal with the Voltori, who destroys the last remaining Newborn & brings up that Bella is still not a vampire. During the battle, Jacob was injured & Bella goes to him, where he assures her he will be waiting til her last breath or longer. The movie ends with Edward & Bella talking about going to tell her dad they are getting married. Leaving fans wanting, thirsting for more!! Can't wait til Breaking Dawn!!

MOVIE REVIEW: Couples Retreat

Couple's Retreat ~ Rating: 5/5

Went into this movie expecting alot of laughs from Vince Vaughn, to say the least, he fulfilled all my expectations. I really enjoyed this movie, alot of cute laughs.

The story starts off with 3 couples & thier newly divorced friend, it previews the problems each couple is having. One couple has decided they need to attend this 2 weeks of Couple's Retreat on the island called Eden, however, they can not afford it & they need the other 3 couples to go in order to get a group rate. After some coaxing, they all agree to go, but only for the fun stuff, insisting they don't need the couple's therapy. Upon arriving they find out the island is all they could want & more, however, in order to stay, they must follow a strict regimen of therapy & activitys. As things move forward, they are made aware of more problems & things they never thought were a big deal are really a big deal in thier relationships. After alot of problems & a little adventure, they all realize they have good strong relationships if they work on them together & commit as much time to thier relationship as they do on friends, kids, work & themselves.

What a beautiful message about making time to be a couple. So many times in this life, we forget to stop & treasure what we have, we just keep pushing through life, never stopping to "smell the roses". My husband & I just got to get our yearly *atleast it seems that way* date night in, we took in the Bret Michaels concert May 31st. The few moments you get to spend alone with each other should be cherished, not rushed. This movie brought alot of different problems to light, sharing how each couple had let thier relationship get rushed, pushed aside or forgotten while they moved on individually. It also showed how to get it back on track, always make time together, always spend time making each other feel special. Definetly a fun movie with a good message. I personally would watch it again!

Movie Review: I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell

I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell ~ Rating: 3/5

Overall, the movie was ok, I am open to watching it once, but I personally wouldn't want to watch it twice. The movie is about a bachelor party gone bad, the groom's friends end up going home with 2 different girls & leave him drunken & alone. He ends up in alot of trouble for 1) lying to his fiancee 2) going to jail & 3) getting into a fight. In the end, it causes a huge rift between 2 friends, solved only after the friend in the wrong ends up messing with the wrong "big" girl & getting Visine in his drink. This ends with him crapping all over the hotel lobby instead of getting laid. Once he sees all the trouble he causes, he realizes that his friend is usually the one who cleans up all his messes. With never a word of thanks. He ends up making a great speech, in his own way at the wedding, getting himself back in good graces with his friend the groom & the new bride.

Some good humor, some of it raunchy ~ but I thought the storyline jumped around a bit, instead of having one main focus, it was telling the story of all three guys, what happened to them during the bachelor party & different times throughout, things that made them the way they were. It was an ok movie overall, if you like raunchy comedy.

4th of July

July 4th ~ Most people have cook-out or picnics, set off fireworks, relax with family, listen to bands & watch parades. Most years, I have a family picnic either at my house or my mom's house, last year we had one at my mom's friend's home. Let off fireworks, ate good foods. This year tho, I got to experience being the traveler. Going to other peoples homes, homes you don't normally visit. First, our preachers had a cook-out after church. Delicious food, fellowship & cupcakes ~ perfect start to the day :)

Returned home to relax & I thought to wait for dusk to watch fireworks, nothing special, normal night plus fireworks. My mom sent a quick text seeing if I'd be home, my uncle rode her & I was asked to a cook-out at his house with my mom's other brother & sister. So, we loaded the kids up & headed there. Had a good time even though my uncle's son was there so he wasn't out for more than 10 minutes & my aunt was only out for a quick hello. It didn't bother me too much, I was always closer to the uncle I was there with anyway. After eating & a little visiting & playing with the kids, we loaded back up for the trip home. Went to fireworks with my best friend, her daughter & niece & my brother & his family. I don't understand why people are so rude ~ fireworks are for kids, so if you miss a little or have to move a bit for a kid to see, why are you so ignorant about it? Why be such a jerk?? And why feel you should threaten a pregnant woman who is very noticibly pregnant & also there with other children? Then, seeing my niece with irresponsible people who have already lost a 4 year old? Ugh!! Why can't we be rich to have good lawyers??? One day!!

Anyway, all in all my day was better than I thought it was going to be. I got food, fellowship, friends, family, fun & fireworks all in one day & it was great :)

So, for all of you who got to spend time with your familys & friends today, who got to worship the Lord & have alot of fun & make many memories, cherish it all :) In this day & age, you never know when it will be the last day of your life, your last breath, your last chance to do the things that memories are made of. So, instead of complaining that you are bored or tired, reenergize yourself with a fun family memory moment :) I made new ones today, I hope you did too :)

Leave me a message & share the memories you made with me :)

July Blog Contest!!!

I am having a giveaway this month, bare with me because this is my first time doing this :)

I am often called The Freebie Queen, I get lots of freebies, send others links, sign up some family & friends who don't have internet but would like or could use the items. I sign up for contests, am a member of points for stuff sites like: Mypoints, Swagbucks, I check out 2-3 free sites daily, am a paid member of PineCone Research & Inbox Dollars, check my newspaper for coupons/sales, anything to pitch in since I am a Stay at Home Mom. Today is the First day of July, so, I have decided to do a give-a-way I am planning to save all the samples I get in the mail the ENTIRE month of July, I have a shoe box that I am putting them in & so far we have gotten 4 items today alone!! So, what the contest is about is who can guess how many free samples I will get this month, just post a comment with your name, e-mail address & number of samples I will get, the person closest without going OVER, will win a prize :)

In addition to the contest, I have written down the number of swagbucks I had today, the number of mypoints I have & the total I am at for inbox dollars. I will be sharing just how much my internet earns me by the end of the month!!

MOVIE REVIEW: Alice in Wonderland

Alice In Wonderland ~ Rating: 3/5

My whole family sat down to watch this movie together, we were expecting a spirited remake of the ever told story of the girl who fell into the rabbit hole with a little creepish Johnny Depp touch. What we got was more like the sequel to Alice in Wonderland. When the movie starts, Alice is a young girl who's I'm guessing suitor is about to ask her to marry him. She a bit of a wanderer, she doesn't necessarily stay on the same track. Anyway, she falls into Wonderland where she is told she isn't "the right Alice", all she is wondering is when will she wake up. New enemys are in the kingdom the red queen is against the white queen, they will have a battle where they each send in a competitor to decide who will rule the kingdom. Everyone knows Alice is the one who has to slay the Jabberwocky. She continues to say she could never slay ANYTHING, while remembering the first time in Wonderland helps her to realize she has to do it. Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter was terrific, honestly would never have known it was him except for a hint of his voice. He was terrific & I couldn't wait to see him dance in the end! Not sure the movie was a blockbuster, but it was ok entertainment. Maybe kids would more enjoy it than adults.