Reasons I Love Twilight - #28...

Reason #28 -- a quote

There are lots of great quotes from Twilight, some that I love more than others. This quote comes from Chapter 14 - Mind Over Matter - page 294. Edward has just told Bella that he comes to her room almost every night and watches her sleep because he feels very protective of her. He intially came to her room because he was curious about her, being that he can't read her thoughts. He was going to leave until he heard her talking in her sleep. At that point he knew he had to stay. Just as he was about to leave for good, after having listened to her for a while and debating with himself about right and wrong and whether or not he should stay in the town or go away until she finished school and moved, she said his name. At first he thought she was awake, but then he realized that she was dreaming about him. It was at that point that a change came over him, something that rarely happens to vampires, and he fell in love with her. Because he is in love with her, and he wants to protect her and take care of her, he comes to her room each night to watch her sleep and be near her. After telling her that he does this Bella is obviously shocked and embarrassed because she knows that she talks in her sleep and she's worried about what she has said - what he has heard. He tells her that she does say his name, a lot, and she's horrified by this. But in an effort to calm her and to show her how he feels about her he says this line, and I love it. :)

"If I could dream at all, it would be about you. And I'm not ashamed of it."

Can't he please be real??? :) Here's a picture of Edward and Bella that I think is a good interpretation of his feelings for her. They sure do look great together! :P

Reasons I Love Twilight - #29...

Reason #29 -- The Cullens!!!

The Cullen family is the family of vampires in Twilight. The members of the family are the father figure Carlisle, the mother figure Esme, and the kids - Edward, Emmett, Alice, Rosalie, and Jasper.

Cullen Family History 101 --

Carlisle was born in the 1600's and became a vampire at the age of 23. He decided that just because he was a vampire didn't mean that he had to kill humans to survive, so he began feeding on animals instead. After living alone for over 200 years, practicing medicine in an effort to do some good in the world and make up for what he was, he found Edward. Edward was 17 at the time and he and his parents were dying from the Spanish Influenza. They were in Chicago in 1918 and after Edward's parents had both died, Carlisle followed Edward's mothers wishes and 'saved' him. She seemed to be very perceptive and had begged Carlisle to save Edward as only he could. Not long after turning Edward, Carlisle found Esme. She had left an abusive marriage and given birth to a baby boy who had died shortly after birth. In her sadness she jumped off a cliff, but did not die. Carlisle turned her and she was rather happy to be with him after having met him in her teenaged years when she broke her leg falling out of a tree. He had been the doctor to treat her and she had never forgotten him. Since Carlisle had found a mate in Esme, he thought that maybe Edward should have a mate as well. One night he came across Rosalie, who had been beaten and left for dead in the street by her fiance and his friends. Carlisle turned her but Edward was not interested in her. (Turns out Edward likes brunette's. :D ) Rosalie does not like life as a vampire and she is rather jealous of humans. A few years after she had been turned Rosalie came across Emmett, who had been hunting and was being mauled by a grizzly bear. She carried him home to Carlisle and Emmett was turned and became Rosalie's mate. A few years later Alice and Jasper showed up and joined the family. Alice had been locked in a mental hospital for years because of her premonitions and when a bad vampire came to kill her, a vampire who was working at the hospital turned her in order to keep the bad vamp from killing her. Jasper was born in the mid 1800's and had been fighting in the Civil War when he was turned. He spent many years training young vampires and molding them into armies. Once he became disenchanted with that life, he left and soon Alice found him.

Some of the Cullen family member have special powers, things that they think were present in their human bodies but were magnified after they were turned. Edward can read people's thoughts. Alice can see the future. Jasper can feel and control emotions in the people around him. Emmett is very strong. Esme is very loving. Carlisle is very self disciplined and caring. Rosalie... Well, Rosalie is stubborn. Very much so!! :D Because they all refrain from feeding on humans they have been able to form much stronger family bonds than most other vampires have. They make up the largest vampire coven in history, second only to the royal vampire family who is really only made up of 5 members, but they have many more members of their guard.

Here are some pictures of the Cullen Clan!!

This is the Cullen Kids with Bella.

LtoR - Alice, Emmett, Bella, Edward, Rosalie, and Jasper.

This is a scene from the movie when Bella goes to the Cullen's house and meets Edward's family. They are all happy that she came to meet them, all except for Rosalie of course. Esme is especially thrilled because Edward has found someone and she knows that no matter what, things will work out between them. Alice is also happy, as she has seen that she and Bella will become best friends as well as sisters some day. Edward is not particularly pleased about this since he knows that that would mean Bella would have to be turned into a vampire and he doesn't want that life for her.

Here are the Cullen's doing one of their favorite activities -- playing baseball! They have to do it only during thunderstorms so that there is thunder to cover the sounds of them hitting the ball and crashing into each other! :)

Here are Emmett, Rosalie, Alice, and Jasper.

Emmett is played by Kellan Lutz, Rosalie is played by Nikki Reed, Alice is played by Ashley Greene, and Jasper is played by Jackson Rathbone. The Cullens tell people that Rosalie and Jasper are twins and are foster children to Carlisle and Esme. The say that Edward, Alice, and Emmett have all been adopted by Carlisle and Esme, although these stories can change a bit each time they move to a new place, which they must do often since they don't age and would draw too much attention to themselves if they stayed for any long period of time.

Here are Carlisle and Esme. Carlisle is played by Peter Facinelli and Esme is played by Elizabeth Reaser. Peter is married in real life to Jennie Garth of Beverly Hills 90210 fame. And can I just say... He's Smokin' Hot!!!! :) Okay, I got that out of my system! :P

And here are Rosalie, Carlisle, and Edward at the hospital after Edward has saved Bella. Yeah, Rose ain't about that...

And this is the first image Bella sees of the Cullen's -- in the cafeteria at lunch on her first day at Forks High School. She says in the book that they are all extremely beautiful but she can't decide who is the most beautiful, the perfect blonde girl or the bronze-haired boy. I think she figures that one out pretty quickly. ;)

I love the Cullen family and I am so excited to see them in the movie!! The books are so great because of them and the extra little something that they bring to them. Emmett is the playful older brother, the protector of the family and the jokester all rolled into one. Alice is the sweet girlie sister that Bella never had. Jasper is very concerned and cautious of Bella, yet he loves Alice and welcomes Bella for her sake. Rosalie is rather standoffish, but she does provide lots of great comic relief in the final book. :D Carlisle and Esme are supportive of all of their children, but clearly Edward is their favorite and they are concerned for him in his relationship with Bella, but they accept her with open arms and trust that Edward will do the right thing, which of course he does. :) And Edward... Well he's just about perfect so there's not much else to say about him. Or at least, that's how Bella sees him.

Stay tuned for Reason #28 tomorrow!!

Reasons I Love Twilight - #30...

I decided that since Twilight the movie opens 30 days from today, well yesterday actually, I am going to count down 30 of the reasons that I love it!! These reasons might be from the book and they might be from the movie, but they are all from Twilight, none of the other books. Although I may dip into Midnight Sun a little since it's basically Twilight but from Edward's point of view. Hopefully these will get you excited for the movie -- I know I am!! My friend Melissa an I are already planning out our day! It opens on November 21st and there will be no point really in trying to get in touch with use that day -- we'll be sitting in a theater ooo-ing and aaa-ing over the movie as many times as we can before we must give in and return home to our families. Real life -- what a bummer... :) Some of these 30 things are set to particular days or #'s, but most of them have no real order. In other words, just because one thing is listed before or after another doesn't mean that I love it any more or less. I tried to divide them up evenly so that I don't talk about the same thing for 3 or 4 days in a row. But I'll let you know if there is significance to anything when I get to it. Let's begin!!!

The first thing on the list, #30, is Robert Pattinson!!! How could I not start with him??? He's obviously not in the book, but he does portray Edward Cullen, our leading man/vampire in the movie. I'm not going to go into him as Edward, instead I am going to focus on him himself. He is such a great actor!! Even though he is rather new to the Hollywood scene, he has done some really incredible work so far. I can't wait to see what he does in years to come. He is a very normal guy and awfully funny! He is sweet and shy and seems to get rather nervous around crowds and in front of fans. But I guess he's gonna have to get used to that since in about a month he is not going to be able to go anywhere without getting mobbed! Poor guy!!

Here are some of his movies -

The Haunted Airman - He plays Toby Jugg and he does a great job! It's a little spooky but you can find it on YouTube if you're interested.

Vanity Fair - He plays Rawdy Crawley. His scene is at the very end of the movie and it actually got cut, but it was included on the dvd as an alternate ending. I remember watching this movie a few years ago and watching the alternate ending and thinking "Who is that guy??? How could they cut him out???' I remember actually looking through the credits and trying to figure out if I had seen him in anything else, but I hadn't. Weird that I remember that, but I do! His face just stuck with me. :)

The Bad Mother's Handbook - He plays Daniel Gale and okay, seriously, nobody plays a better nerd than this boy. Yet he's so loveable! He is not afraid to look ridiculous and akward and uneasy. Every part of his body screams discomfort. And the movie isn't bad either. Again, it's on YouTube. Man, what did we ever do before that!?!?

Tess of the D'Urbervilles - This is from a play he did. But man, what a gorgeous shot of him!! The hair, the jaw, the smile... Nice.

Little Ashes - He plays Salvador Dali. This movie doesn't come out until next year but it's been playing at film festivals and he is getting all kinds of wonderful reviews. It's an artsy film so it probably won't get a wide release, but he's supposedly the highlight of the movie.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - He plays Cedric Diggory. I remember watching this movie and thinking 'All right!! They finally got a cute guy in this series!! Now I can watch the rest of the movies as many times as the kids do!' I was excited until the end of the movie when I said to myself 'Did they kill off the cute guy????? Crap...' And so I have yet to see the Harry Potter 5 movie, even though we own it and he's supposed to be in about 2 seconds of it. It's just not the same now...

How To Be - He plays Art and I am very excited to see this movie!! Almost as excited as I am to see Twilight! Crazy huh??? It's been playing at festivals and should open in theaters in January or February. Too bad there aren't any film festivals in Phoenix. There was one in Austin, Texas last weekend but alas, I didn't make the drive, even though he was there, looking glorious and signing autographs, answering questions and hugging a little girl after she burst into tears after meeting him. See, I told you he is sweet!! Anyway, he's won awards for this movie too and is said to be truly amazing in this. I have the trailer at the bottom of the blog, so scroll on down, turn off the music, and take a peak. It's looks pretty funny!!

Twilight - Obviously, he plays Edward Cullen, the main vampire and object of Bella's affection. But seriously, how could you sit next to this in your biology class and NOT be attracted!!! :D The brooding, the intensity, the eyes, the hair, the leather wrist band with the family crest, the shiny volvo, the jaw line, the voice... This boy was born to play Edward Cullen!!! There is no other who could do justice to the glory that is Edward. I just hope he's prepared for the major change his life is going to take after November 21st. Poor guy...

And here are some random pictures of him that I love. I tried to pick things that I hadn't used before, just for a little variety. Just so you know, he has a little nick name that a lot fans call him by. It's Spunk Ransom and there is a whole story behind it. I usually refer to him as My Spunk, so that's where that comes from.

The hair ruffling - I think maybe it's a nervous habit because he seems to do it more when he's uncomfortable, but it gives us the Spunk Hair so I don't mind it!

This is from last week - oh the Spunk Hair!!! :) How I love it!!! And the little half smile along with the blue eyes...

And here he is, out with friends. I love the smile - it's just so him!!


Here is another picture from How To Be, but he plays the guitar in real life, as well as the piano and a few other things. Plus he sings. I have a few of his songs on the play list here, near the bottom, so you can take a listen if you want. Tim says that he should keep his day job, but I think he's just jealous... :D


This is a picture that just came out today. Seriously, shoot me now... I'm way too smitten with this boy!! :D He looks amazing no matter what!! Crum... He's breathtaking... Beautiful...

So, that's my #30 reason for why I am excited for Twilight. I know My Spunk will do an amazing job as Edward and I can't wait to see him portray the perfect man for 2 hours.

Here are a couple of links to YouTube videos that have interviews and bits and pieces from movies and behind the scenes stuff. He's so funny and sincere. Just a really good boy. I'm sure his parents are very proud!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3THvsCexdvo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KSSfH823Jk

Here is the link to an interview of him talking about Twilight and playing the part of Edward.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEIhtDy6DO8

And here's the interview about the nickname, Spunk Ransom

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hj4pW0eOYiE

Stay tuned for tomorrow's topic! Well, later today anyway! :P

School Pictures 2008...

School picture time again!!

This year we will start with the baby...

Little Jensen is in 1st grade this year. I love this picture of her!! She's such a sweet girl! But I can't believe that this is my little baby... :(

Jayden is in 3rd grade this year. When I asked him why he didn't smile, why he did this face, he told me that smiling "messes with his cool." Okay, good to know. :)

Here is Jillen, she is in 5th grade this year. She wasn't sure if she wanted to keep this picture, since her hair is pulled back and she was wearing an ivory colored shirt, but I think it's cute. She's sure a pretty girl... Tim is gonna have his hands full in about 6 years. :D

And here's Jorden, our 8th grade Junior Higher. I have really got to teach him how to take a picture! :D But he likes it so I guess that's what's important. ;)

Life Is Hectic...

Gee, it's been a while since I last posted. I don't know why this past week has seemed so crazy, but I feel like I am barely keeping my head above water! :D So let's catch things up so that we can move along!

October 13th - Blake's Birthday, my Grandma Jones' birthday, and my friend Gary's birthday. I hope Blake and Gary had great days!! And one of these days soon I will get over to the cemetary to deliver your flowers Grandma! I know I'm slacking off... :) (I already did Blake's birthday post so I will spare him this time. :P )

Me and Gary on the last day of 8th grade - 1987

Me and Gary on the 4th of July - 1994

Me and My Grandma Jones - 1980

October 14th - We got puppies!! Our little Snot-Nosed dog Bambi (sorry, I'm a little grumpy lately) had 5 little girl puppies. We were so excited, but now we are thinking she's unable to create boy dogs since her first litter was all girls too! :P They are so cute and tiny! The kids were thrilled to hold them. And it's even more fun to tease Bambi by saying "I got your puppy!!" She freaks out, whether you actually have one or not! :D

Preggo Doggie - a few days before the puppies were born.


The puppies!! Well, 4 of the 5 anyway.

October 15th - Friday Night Lights!! And Cub Scouts and Young Mens and homework... That day flew by!

October 16th - Me and Tim's 15th anniversary. I got to ditch class for the night and we went out to dinner. It was nice - we went to Black Angus, not my favorite, but still good. I hadn't really planned much since there aren't any movies out that I want to see and I knew Tim had to work the next morning, so we just did the dinner thing and left the kids at home. They were really good and by the time we got home the 3 younger ones were already in bed. I could get used to that... :D Tim did good and got me roses and candy plus a pair of diamond earrings. I was shocked, but they are really pretty and I love them. We might not eat for a week or two, but at least my ears will be all sparkly. :P

Me and Tim when we were first dating - October 1992

And on our wedding day - October 1993

And since Melissa wanted to see them, here are the earrings. They are pretty fuzzy, I'll have to see if the camera will cooperate a little better once the batteries are fully recharged...

October 17th - One of the puppies died. She was the 3rd one born and she had a little hole on her back, which closed up by Thursday. But she wasn't really nursing much and was literally half the size of the other puppies. We were sad, especially Jillen and I since that one was our favorite. The vet said it was probably a birth defect or something. Last time we had puppies we named them after the 3 girls in the Bristow family on my favorite tv show, ALIAS - Sydney, Nadia, and Irina. This time we are going with the girls of the Cullen family in my favorite book, Twilight!! Actually, the names come from the last book, Breaking Dawn. Esme was the puppy that died so now we still have Bella, Alice, Reneesme, and Rosalie.

October 18th - We had a family reunion and got to see Brooke and her new baby, Emelyn. She's sure a cute little thing!! And Ellee was looking her fashionable self all decked out in her jeans and sunglasses. I can't get enough of this girl!! :) Jorden also had a campout the night before so we had to wait around for him to get home before we went to the reunion, but we still got to reunite with some family we hadn't seen in a while. :)

Jillen and Ellee at the reunion

October 19th - Church. Our Primary Program is coming up this Sunday so we were singing the whole time we were there. My cute little Sunbeam class never ceases to amaze me. I just love all of those sweet little kiddies!! They are so full of energy and so talkative! And being that we sit right up in front, hopefully they will be a little more reverant this Sunday in front of their moms and dads. :D I love watching them sing - they are so excited! I am sad that I only have them for another 2 months. I felt the same way with my class from last year too. But this year might be harder since I've gotten more attached to a few of them... :( Then my MP3 player decided to flip out and it won't let me load any new songs on it. I am very frustrated with it because I LOVE it and am never without it, but I gotta be able to change the songs around. It did this one time before and I was able to fix it, but nothing seems to work this time. I guess maybe it's time for a new one... But on the upside, I can get more memory and be able to have more than 215 songs on it!! :D

Here is the cutest little Primary class ever!! Blake and Lockton are in the back and Jenna, Rachel, and Rylynn are up front. We also have another boy, Ayden, and another girl, Mallory. Aren't they so cute?!?!

October 20th - Took the puppies to the vet to get their tails and dew claws done. Gee, dogs are expensive! :( Of course everyone missed the bus for school that day too, so trips to drop them off and then another to pick them after school since Jensen had her tutoring that day. Man, I spent a lot of time in the car that day! Then for school that night we went to a concert at ASU so that we could listen to the accoustics in the concert hall. Apparently that's what we are covering right now. The music was good - Latin Jazz - so not something I would normally listen to, but the band was great none the less. The funniest part was the awesome flute player (the only girl in the band) would wore a pretty low cut black bustier and a white skirt. She kept pulling up her top through the whole concert. We were all just glad that she never popped out of it!! :D I'm sure lots of the guys there were wishing she had! :P She was a pretty girl, but man could she play that flute!! It was fun to carpool over there with several of the girls in my class. When they asked if I wanted to ride with them I acted really excited, and said "Wow!! I get to ride with the cool girls!!" They laughed at that! :D I sure have been lucky to make some great friends at school. They are all so sweet and fun to be with. It makes going to school a lot more fun for me!! :D

Three of the little puppies. We are sure having fun with them!

October 21st - I spent most of the day doing homework -- a PowerPoint presentation for my class on my design concept for our next project. I think my teacher has it in for me (not really) because she seems to like starting with the end of the alphabet first, which means I am always first. :) Oh well, I was the guinea pig so hopefully she was a little more easy on me as far as the grading went. And having the program director for the Interior Design program come in and observe our class added no extra pressure... Yeah right!! Her name is Sally and I just love her, she is such a great teacher! I did enjoy getting to talk to her for a few minutes before class started. And I got my final grade for my Sushi Restaurant project - 75 out of 80, so it's an A. I'm sure glad!! I was a little worried... :D Man, I am really gonna miss all these girls when I graduate in December... :( The first couple of years I didn't really get to know anyone, but these last couple have been a different story. We are all in the same classes so we spend a lot of time together and they are just really fun and I have a great time with all of them.

Here are the sections for my Sushi Restaurant. They are as if you cut the building in half, this is what you would see. The first one is length wise and the second is width wise. The front half of the building has a barrel vault in the ceiling so that's why it's higher than the other half. And there is a covered patio out front.

And my PowerPoint centered on this inspiration picture - Mosaic. That's the title of my next project. Although we are going to be in groups, so who knows what design we will actually do since we won't all get to create our own ideas.

October 22nd - I got to sleep in this morning!! Yippee!! Well, actually I got the kids off to school and then went back to bed. :P But, alas, I have homework that needs to be done, and laundry that's calling my name, and several things here at the blog that must be attended to so I gotta get busy. Especially since the kids will be home soon and then it's Cub Scout time, Friday Night Lights time, Young Men time, dinner time, homework time, bed time, etc. The days are just flying by!! I guess I probably should get started on some Halloween costumes for these kids since that will be here before I know it!! :D

How Awesome Could Any One Thing Be...

You wanna see the best 2 minutes and 22 seconds ever to grace the internet??? Follow this link and see for yourself. I've seen it probably 30 times and I still can't believe it!! Holy Hannah, it's awesomness to the thousandth degree!!! :D

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=44288316

In case you were still doubting the wonder that is Robert Pattinson, you won't be for long. :)

(I just love Dive Bombing Edward at about 2 minutes and 11 seconds in. Yeah, Angry Edward is nice... :) )

Happy Birthday Blake!!!

Happy Birthday To You!!! (Cha-Cha-Cha!)

Happy Birthday To You!!! (Cha-Cha-Cha!)

Happy Birthday Dear Blake!!! (Cha-Cha-Cha!)

Happy Birthday To You!!! (Cha-Cha-Cha!)

Today is my brother Blake's 30th birthday!!! Wow, I can't believe he is finally older than me... :D What can I say about Blake??? So many things, where do I begin? Blake has always been such a sweet brother. He always knew right from wrong and he was never afraid to tell you if you were not doing the right thing. :) He was so smart growing up -- I always wished that I had as easy a time with school work as he seemed to. He would do nice little things for everyone and he thought it was so fun! I remember him wanting to buy everyone in the family a present for Christmas, even if it was just something small. He would save up his money and I remember more than once going to the Bank of Blake for a loan. :D He was always such a great example to me, and he still is. We love getting to see him and the kids love hanging out with him. And we are so glad to see that he used his smarts in finding a wife who is just as sweet as he is! I sure am glad to have Blake for a brother and I hope that he has a wonderful birthday!!!!!

We Love You!!! Just remember that... :P

Blake as a cute little guy.

Blake with me and Beau on what appears to be my 6th or 7th birthday? Can you believe that he was a blondie as a little boy? I guess my painting the top of his head with fingernail polish must have messed with his natural hair color... Or maybe it was my dropping him on his head a few times... Yep, that could have done it too! :)

Here is Blake making a face (a pretty normal action for him) along with Brooke, Brianna, Brett, and the neighbor girls Cindy and Kim Cottle. They were basically family... Those 4 girls were always together! :D

Here is Blake and a dressed up Brett. Gee, that pig nose and those ears saw a lot of action with Blake around!

Beau's birthday, and of course Blake is giving him a Gun Show!!

All the Jones kids in December 1989. I was 16 and Blake was 11. As I looked at this picture I thought "Wow!! He was almost as tall as me!" But then I noticed he's standing on his tip toes... Cheater!!! :P

Little Blake-ina!!! Ahh, the dreaded "I was dressed up by my sister" picture!!! Those boring Sunday afternoons sure provided lots of entertainment!!

Blake and our parents on his 8th grade graduation. I think Jorden is actually taller now than Blake was then. Hmmm, that can't be good, especially since Blake is now 6'4"... :P

Blake with his broken leg, the result of a snow sledding trip gone wrong. Poor guy, I remember sleeping in his room near him over Christmas break and waking up with him during the night because he was in so much pain. And it was also too bad that his pants all had to be made over to accomodate his cast. That was probably the worst part, huh Blake?? A cast just doesn't really go with any outfit! ;)

Blake and a friend on what I am hoping was Halloween. Blake and Beau loved this mask that we had, I can't even begin to guess how many times they would put this thing on!! Somewhere I have pictures of Beau wearing it too! :D But with Blake's glasses on it, he made it all his own!

Blake with his tuxedo for prom. Can't you just hear it now...

I'm too sexy for my shirt, too sexy for my shirt, so sexy it hurts...

I'm a Model, you know what I mean and I do my little turn on the catwalk...

On the catwalk, on the catwalk yeah, I shake my little tush on the catwalk...

:D

Blake and Jorden probably summer of 1997. He went away to college and then his mission right after graduating from high school so I don't have too many pictures of him with any of the kids. He was never around! :(

All the Jones kids at Blake's wedding.

Blake and Laurissa on Blake's motorcycle. Silly boy!!

Blake playing "Catch the flying arrow" with the kids this past summer. Yeah, that's not dangerous at all... :P

Blake dancing with Ellee. The kids had so much fun watching him!! :D

Blake and Ellee's sunglasses. Jillen thought the flashlight added a scary touch! :P

Here is me and Blake in 1979. Ahhhh, we were such cute little kiddies!!

And us again in 1991, still cute!!! :D

I hope you have a great day Blake!!! We will be thinking of you!!!

We Love You!!!!