Water for Elephants

So excited! Today I heard that one of my favorite books is being made into a movie! Water for Elephants, the story of Jacob Jankowski and his adventures in the traveling circus, Benzini Brother's Most Spectacular Show on Earth, has supposedly already casted Reese Witherspoon as the lovely Marlena, and possibly Sean Penn (Eeek!) as her crazy husband, August. Robert Pattinson, it seems, is thinking about accepting the role of Jacob Jankowski... and my only question is: is there even a question?! Why would you even hesitate to take such a spectacular role alongside such a dynamic duo as Reese and Sean?!?! As an-the-rise-A-lister, this could be Pattinson's chance to really break out of the Twilight role in another big movie. The filming is slated to begin in June of 2010 and I can't wait to see this book adaptation on the big screen!

Needless to say, if you haven't already read this book, get down to Barnes and Noble today. Its a fabulous read... one in which I would highly recommend to anyone!

My Little Sister.... the Human Piggy Bank

Unfortunately, however, the change slot wasn't quite wide enough for the quarter and dime, both of which got lodged inside the Human Piggy Bank. Said dime and quarter were surgically removed last night and doctors happily concluded the Human Piggy Bank will make a full recovery.




The only lasting damage is Natalie's wounded pride.

Christmas 2009 in Review!

They say a picture is worth a thousand words... and since I'm lazy and do not want to WRITE an 18,000 word blog post (and lets be honest, you don't want to READ something that long)... here's my attempt at Christmas in review in picture form. Enjoy!

By Request... London Calling!

So sorry to all you Londoners out there who were not able to make it to the London reunion at Riley Lord Voldermort's casa.... (which, by my calculations, was almost everyone)... it was truly wonderful to see those few that came and we deeply missed everyone who couldn't make it! Sadly, it seems as though that will probably be the norm for any future London reunions to come. After all, with jobs, grad school and other such activities taking us to new places around the globe, it will be harder and harder for all of us to be together again. However, we DID have a splendid time this holiday, and by popular request, I'm posting pictures (this one is for you, Allie baby!) So without further adue and with no more gilding the lilly... I give you... photos!
Anne and Justin... two peas in a pod

Melanie, Riley and Tina's oh-so-famous Banana Cream Pie! Yum!
Me enjoying said amazing Banana Cream PieJustin's pervert faceAnd then there were 8...

And then there were 8 making truly hideous ugly faces (not "cute ugly") except for Riley, of course, who missed the memo...

I'm sure the feeling is mutual when I say that the night ended all too soon! It was SO good to see dear friends, and we missed all of you who couldn't make it. Hopefully we'll have a better turn out for the next reunion (fingers crossed!) But until then, let the good times keep rolling, London gang!

P.s. Anyone who is interested in seeing some hilarious videos from our little party--including the LC's best kept secret (no, not the location to Steph's missing argyle), check out my facebook page!

Snow days!

On Monday evening it started snowing.....
...... and snowing...............

......and snowing........
......................and snowing................

............and snowing..............................

.... and snowing.....

...........and snowing.......

It snowed from Monday night until the wee hours of Wednesday morning! Oh, did I also mention, it snowed most of Sunday as well? Our back porch looked a little something like this:

School was cancled for Tuesday afternoon (a real pain in the butt for the law students, who had to have exams reschedueled) and school was also cancled for all day today (Wednesday). I was supposed to have an exam this morning, so I'm not exactly thrilled about it. Rob and Lisa, on the other hand, were both thrilled. As an undergrad, Lisa's finals don't start until next week, so all she had was canceld class. And Rob got out of work early on Tuesday and didn't have to be into work until noon today. As for me... sleeping in was nice... but lets face it, wouldn't YOU rather just get your finals over with, rather than drag out the impending doom??

Go Cougs!

Over Thanksgiving break, my dad managed to land tickets to the much anticipated BYU v. UofU game! My Cougs did me proud and won in overtime, 26-23!
More Thanksgiving pictures to come soon! ( :

Mamma and Padre Baker to visit!

I feel sort of like the discarded, cast-off eldest child. You know, like the new toy that suddenly isn't new anymore and gets thrown into the closet to collect dust. Or the puppy... yes, the puppy (my Dad's analogy) the puppy who is so delightful when small, but forgotten and neglected once it turns into a grown dog. This often happens when you're the oldest child... and other oldest children can surely attest to this trend. Here we are, the first of the baby birds to leave the nest, and the parents can't wait to get rid of us! (So much for the sad, teary-eyed mother, broken-hearted that her baby girl is moving so far away). Oh no, no such tears for us eldest children. For us, the parting is joyful... and possibly (dare I say...) anticipated?? But fear not, I actually have a theory as to why this happens... and that is, it's because we "broke them in" as parents, so they probably have many, many scarring memories they are trying to suppress, and the very sight or mention of reuniting with their eldest of children suddenly adds AT LEAST 10 grey hairs to their head. (Or maybe that's just me?!)

In any event, I've found that since my itsy baby sister Lisa moved out to live with us, there has been a sudden spike in phone calls from home, emails from home, letters from home, and (gasp!) even VISITS from home!! Its incredible! And as I sit here, reveling in the happiness that comes from being rediscovered (like that toy, or the dog in the backyard) and loved again, I try my darnedest to repress the truth that this spike in attention is only because my baby sister (who is--in case you hadn't caught on--NOT the oldest child in the family) is now living with me.

Sigh.

Okay, so I might be acting slightly factious... but, it IS true that my parents flew all the way out to Nebraska to see dear Lisa (and yes, I'm pretty sure the motivating factor WAS Lisa...), and so I like to play up the whole cast-off child act... its fun ( : Anyway, I'm being silly, because whether or not Lisa was their ulterior motive for visiting, honestly, it WAS really fun to have them out to visit! It was a really random, last minute decision to come, in which they spent a lot of money to get a last minute plane ticket and a lot of money for last minute tickets to the Nebraska/Oklahoma game (an amazing feat, in an of itself, given the level of obsessiveness that Nebraskans place on their football team, AND the fact that Oklahoma is a big rival). It was sort of a whirl wind visit for them, but it was great fun! My only complaint was the moron sitting behind me at the game with the really loud whistle... not to mention his buddy who's entire vocabulary was made up of the word F*** (you know the one I'm talking about).

But it was fun to have them here... and the best part is, they weren't here long enough to drive me crazy!! (Haha, kidding mom)

Here's a few pictures:

This is Lisa marching down to the staduim... you can't see her cause she's so short! Heehee.

This is what she looks like when she's not being covered up by tall people:

The Pride of all Nebraska!!


Julie and Robbie Baby! Rob and I both have this complex about wearing red to a football game... it just goes against our nature as true blue Cougar fans. Still, I swallowed my pride and wore a red Oxford jaket. As you can see, Rob, on the other hand, couldn't even do that!

Remember, remember...

Remember, Remember the 5th of November,

The gunpowder treason and plot,

I see no reason

Why the gun powder treason

Should ever be forgot.

Happy Bonfire Night, Londoners!

Gasp!! Where's the fire?!?!

My sister, Lisa is living with Rob and I right now. And you know what? Living with Lisa is just always an adventure. This is mostly because her life is so unpredictable. And she is unpredictable because she seems to attract accidents like a magnet. And I'm seriously not kidding! No one gets in as many accidents as Lisa. (I swear, she has a whole slew of guardian angels assigned to her and they're ALL working overtime!) You think I'm kidding? Let me demonstrate...

How 'bout the time she electrocuted herself while trying to fix her radio while it was still plugged into the wall... (lots of "green flashing light," some singed hair, and a couple of minus of unconsciousness and the radio worked again!)

...or the time she tripped while changing into her pajamas and smacked her head on a rusty bed frame while camping (15 stitches later and she still has a scar... who walks around while taking their shirt off anyway?!?!!)...

....then there was that time she ran into her friend's car WHILE IT WAS PARKED in a restaurant parking lot(just one of many car accidents for Lisa)...

...and did I mention that while on band tour last Christmas break she walked into a pole at Disney land? I seriously thought that only happened in movies! I didn't know people actually ran into poles in real life! Lisa+pole=broken sunglasses, black eye and 7ish stitches above her left eye....

....oh, and that same Christmas break she managed to land stitches above the other eye when the dog scratched her....

... and it'd be a shame if you forgot about the time she sewed her finger into the sewing machine (yes, the needle broke off into the tip of her finger)...

... and Lisa also has the perfect Frankenstein Halloween costume after she slipped on the ice at school, broke her finger, had to get pins surgically put into her finger. Now she has a scar that quite accurately resembles what I imagine a Frankenstein finger to look like....

(sigh) Never a dull moment with Lisa!

Her newest accident: burning the eggs at 6 in the morning.

Not a big deal, you say?? I woke up this morning to the fire alarm screaming above my head. I freakin' thought the apartment was on fire!! We jumped out of bed and opened the bedroom door to asses the damage. But no, no... no fire. It was just Lisa burning her eggs. Her face was so funny when Rob and I barreled out of our bedroom door. She was just grinning sheepishly and said, "Don't worry guys, it's just me."

Oh, right. I forgot. I have an accident magnet living under the same roof as me.

(Heaven help us!!)

Scarecrow Smackdown

This is hilarious!

Novel Bloggness

Hey friends!

Just thought I'd let everyone know that I now have a blog to log my progress on my novel publishing adventure! If you feel curious at all, the link to the blog is at the side of the page. Basically, it's just a compilation of some of my thoughts and progress updates on this one-of-a-kind roller coaster of a ride to a published product! At this current stage in the game, I'm working on my query letter/synopsis. Its a kind of cover letter and summary that is supposed to go to agents along with a sample section of the book to wet their interest in the full manuscript. As I move along in the process I'll be sure to keep you updated on all the rejections and hopefully small successes that I encounter along the way.

I would love all the comments and support you have to offer, and I hope you all have a chance to read the finished product someday! (fingers crossed!)Love you all!

Romantic Sunday Walks

Last night Rob and I went on a walk around our spiffy new apartment complex.

We found a bridge.

There was water running under the bridge.

Bridge and water inspired a spitting contest.

Gues who won....

I did. Hands down. Three to zilch. Rob didn't have a prayer... he wasn't even close enough to argue that it should have been a tie.

Were my best friends growing up guys? Oh yeah! You bet they were!!