Movie Review: Hairspray

For any of you who are contemplating going to see this remake of the old broadway and movie, stop contemplating and GO SEE IT!!! I loved this movie. Hairspray is one of the musicals that I wasn't too familiar with and was definitely pleasantly surprised. John Travolta (on the left in the picture above-if you couldn't guess) was an absolute hoot! And his dancing did live up to his performance in Grease (just add a fat suit and gender change...) I was also very pleasantly surprised by the performances from Amanda Bynes (She's the Man), Zac Efron (Highschool Musical), James Marsden (X-Men), and Christopher Walken (a bunch of movies I can't remember right now...). They all proved that they had both the pipes and moves to hold their own in a musical. For those of you who don't know the story- like me- the movie is set in the 60's and is about a big girl with big hair and a big heart whose ultimate dream is to dance on the Corny Collins show. The only problem is that she's just a little bit different than the poster girls they are looking for. Set in a time of segregation, she proves that being different is good, no matter the size you are or the color of your skin. My only two problems with this movie were the slightly suggestive dances (not to the extent of Grease mind you) and the "kissing" that became more like making out. All-in-all I thought this movie had a great message and is full of classic broadway dancing and singing, all the things we die-hard broadway fans love. I give this movie a B+ boarding on an A-.

Mmmm, Mmmm Good!

Hey y'all! Since nothing too exciting has been happening lately, I thought I'd post a new recipe I just tried. It's super easy and super yummy so I hope anyone who tries it likes it! Thanks Kraft Foods!

Saucy Stir-FriedPork

2 cups instant white rice, uncooked
1/4 cup KRAFT Zesty Italian Dressing
1 lb. pork tenderloin, cut into thin strips
1 cup thin red pepper strips (about 1 medium)
2 cups fresh sugar snap peas or snow pea pods (about 6 oz.)
3/4 cup diagonally sliced green onions (about 3 medium)
2 Tbsp. soy sauce
1 tsp. cornstarch
1/2 tsp. ground ginger

COOK rice as directed on package.

MEANWHILE, heat dressing in large skillet on medium-high heat. Add meat; cook and stir 2 min. Add peppers and peas; cook 3 min., stirring frequently. Add onions; cook and stir 1 min.

MIX soy sauce, cornstarch and ginger until well blended. Add to meat mixture in skillet; cook 1 min. or until sauce thickens, stirring frequently. Serve over the rice.

The Audubon Museum & Park

This week Nancy and I are spending a few days with the boys in Indiana. Yesterday the other two wives that are here and I went to the Audubon Musuem in Henderson, KY. It is located in the Audubon state park, a very green and beautiful park not too far outside Evansville. The museum is dedicated to the artist and naturalist John James Audubon who illustrated and published one of the largest ornithologies. The museum has a lot of original prints and oil paintings that were pretty interesting to see. It was also interesting to learn that in order to get the most accurate drawings Audubon would shoot the birds and try to draw them as soon as possible after killing them in order to get the most correct coloring in his drawings. (Not the most nature-friendly way I suppose but they did say that inspite of that, he did do a lot to conserve nature and endangered species.) My favorite part of he museum was the observatory, a round room with a bunch of windows with bird feeders hanging outside. Next to all the windows were binoculars and pictures of the birds so you could identify them. It was really fun to watch all of them feeding. I saw some really pretty red-winged black birds and gold finches. We also found out that they have two man-made lakes where you can rent paddle boats and canoes and a lot of nature trails throughout the park. I'm hoping we'll get the chance to go do some of those fun things as well before we leave. If you ever get the chance to go to Henderson, KY, you'll have to squeeze in a camping trip in Audubon park. It's definitely worth a visit.

A Few Internet Gems...

I'm not sure if any of these have been doctored but I found them pretty funny. Enjoy!

Movie Review: Transformers

The results are in! Award for one of the best movies this year goes to: TRANSFORMERS! If you haven't seen this movie yet, head to the theater! It's a great one! The animation on the robots was incredible, the action was non-stop, and the comic relief was perfect. It is definitely a check your brain at the door and sit back and enjoy kind of movie. You don't have to think too hard to follow the plot and the action keeps you riveted to the screen. If you like the movie iRobot this movie is right up your ally. The only objection I had was the unnecessary amount of language (as Nancy said) from both people and robots and the monologue by Megatron was on the verge of being stupid. However, I might even be tempted to say that it tied- maybe even surpassed- Pirates of the Carribean: At Worlds End for best movie of the summer. I give this movie an A -.

P.S. I'm sorry if you're all getting sick of my doing movie reviews. I'm still trying to be creative in thinking of things to post. Hopefully it helps all of you who haven't seen the movies yet and doesn't get terribly boring to read... I'm still working on figuring out how to hook my camera up to the computer here but haven't had much success yet.

My First Meringue

Happy 4th of July everyone! We hope you all had a great independence day! As Nancy said on her blog, we were able to celebrate a little bit with the boys this year. We started our day by going to the ward celebration where we were treated to pancakes and sausage and a clogging group. (I decided I appreciate clogging much more in a parade...) All in all it was a fun morning and we were able to meet a few more people in the ward. We then decided we wanted to make pies for when the boys came home. I unwisely attempted to make one I had never made before. I opted for the Key Lime Meringue. I got the recipe from Nancy and enthusiastically started my attempt. All was going well until I put the key lime filling and the crust in the oven to bake. I will say that I tried to follow the recipe exactly but never having made key lime pie (and having made too many pudding pies), I had no idea what consistency the filling should be when it was done baking. And this was the fatal flaw... inspite of a beautiful meringue on top, the filling was unfortunately the consistency (brace yourself for this) of snot. GROSS! Because I have a loving husband, when I went to serve my pie after the movie and said that I thought it looked disgusting, his reply was, "I love everything you make." And somehow he was able to force down a whole piece. Needless to say, he may not love everything I make and we fed the rest to the garbage can. Oh well! I guess we live and learn!