Florida!

If I have learned anything in the past month or so, it is this: I am a horrible blogger. But fear not, loyal readers! For I have a brand new, all-inclusive post with all the juicy details you’ve been waiting for. So read on, while I take you through the joys and heartbreaks of life in the Sunshine state!

For months I had been wanting to chop my hair off – I was getting sick of dealing with it, and I wanted a change. A real change, not just some new layers. So about a week after we got here, on my birthday, I went and cut it all off. I was really nervous at first but now I love it! It is so easy to deal with and doesn’t get all in my face like before, and I think it’s pretty dang cute! It’s not styled, but here is the before and after!

Dan also got a haircut – courtesy of me! It was my first time ever cutting someone’s hair (other than my own bangs…) so I was pretty proud of how I did.

We found another beach that we love to go to, called St. George Island. The sand is gorgeous and soft on your toes, and the water’s pretty good. We’ve gone there a couple times now because the boys just love it and it’s a great way for them to relax!

 Our new Pirate friend!

Awesome little lighthouse. Maybe one day it will be open when we come.

Beachfront condos. How awesome would it be to stay there?!

The beach is really beautiful, looks amazing at sunset!

We found sand dollars! Okay, Matt found them – right in the ocean. But I stole a couple for myself.

Dan and mine’s new beachfront home. It’s all we could afford J

I love my husband so much! We have a ton of fun together.

Last week we went to Wakulla Springs. It was this awesome place, where you take a tourboat through the spring/river thing and you get to see turtles, birds, manatees, and alligators! It was so much fun, and afterwards we got to swim, the water felt so good and was so clear.

 Do we look like tourists? Haha. So there you have it – that’s all I’m gonna show you for now! The boys are working hard, it’s hot out, and life is good.

We Made It!

Okay guys, this is gonna be a bit of a long one. But it's got lots of good stuff, so bear with me and read on! As many of you know, Dan and I have moved down south for the summer! A couple months ago, Dan, along with many co-workers from Linx, decided to switch over to Vivint. The company was much more professional, a better fit for us, and the potential for earnings was much higher. So after much consideration and prayer, we made the switch. Now we are living in Tallahassee, FL and in two months we'll relocate to Mobile, AL. It's going to be quite an adventure over the next four months!

My green card isn't in, so I can't leave the States. And my work authorization isn't in, so I can't work in the States. Sooo that's leaves me with... not a whole lot to do! Dan and the boys drive up to area in Georgia every day (about 2 hours) because their Tallahassee license isn't in yet, which means he's gone from about 11am to 11:30 pm every day! So I sleep in a lot, then I usually go to the gym. I'll go to the pool for a while, do a bit more organizing/cleaning the apartment, watch TV, and at the end of the day, make dinner! Hopefully soon I will be able to get a job, or at least find something to keep me occupied for the summer. Or else it's going to be a loooooong four months. I brought my scrapbooking stuff, so once we get some dressers and have things finally put away, I'll pull that out!

Now, you're probably all thinking: "Wow, you live in Florida?! It must be so awesome! I would love to move there, it'd be awesome and I'd never be bored." Lies. See, here is what movies and everything make it seem like life is, living in Florida:

White, Sandy Beaches

Beautiful, Resort-Style Apartments surrounded by Palm Trees

Disney World!!

Friendly, Tropical Birds

And here's a little look into what it's really like living here:

Nasty Bugs. Everywhere.

Crazy Intense, Misery-Inducing, Heat & Humidity

Ravens. Enough Said.

So there you have it folks! It's not all just fun and games down here. But really, it actually is quite beautiful here. And it's nice that you can wear a T-shirt and shorts at midnight! Our first day here, the boys thought they'd take a day off to settle in, instead of heading straight to work (after all, we pulled in about 5am!!) So we went to the beach! About an hour away, we drove to Alligator Point, right on the Gulf of Mexico. It was kinda windy and cloudy, but we didn't care! We were so excited to just be at the beach. We played in the water, buried a couple people in the sand, and found a bunch of shells. Take a look!

 Beautiful little Coast

 Dan got buried!

 Walkway to the beach. Beautiful :)

 I found a snake crossing our path. Lucky one of us saw it!

 My first (baby) garden!

And the seashells I found!

Possibly even more exciting was the fact that I just graduated from BYU! I did it - a Bachelor of Science degree in Family Life/Human Development, so basically I'm really smart now. :) It was the best weekend ever - not only because of that, but because my parents came down to visit and celebrate! I sure miss those guys. We spent the weekend catching up, going to various ceremonies, going out to eat, packing, going to the Tulip Festival, and sewing a baby quilt for my friend Nicole Maclean. It was so much fun. Here's a look into our weekend!



 Special Musical Number!

 Dr. Coyne ran away, so here's our picture together!

 Oh Daddy...

 I graduated! With some of my favorite people

With my mommy at the Tulip Festival

A Letter

As instructed, I am putting up this assignment for my blog post! I don't know if we still need to keep up our blogs, since we've done all the checks, but I figure I will for the next week.

Dear Miss Lawrence,
First off, I would like to commend you for a fantastic performance as Katniss in the Hunger Games. I loved the books and thought you did such a fabulous job in your role; I love forward to
the next film! Having said this, I am currently in a media class and have an
assignment to write someone about an issue in the media. I have seen some of
your interviews and noted how down-to-earth you are, and how you actually had a
different “plan” for your career.
As a young actress who has recently come onto the Hollywood “scene”, I feel like
you can have a great influence for the better in the media industry. I thought
you would be a great person to write, and hope you share some of my own
sentiments. I loved that you chose to do a film with very minimal profanity and
no sexual content. Too often today I believe filmmakers put this sort of material
in, simply for a shock factor or because that seems to be what the public
wants. But this sort of content does not really ever constitute an important
element of the film, or even add to the overall storyline. Not only that, but
this sort of thing is becoming ever more prevalent in movies meant for younger
and younger audiences. I think this is irresponsible of the film industry to
put such material in children’s films, as they are so impressionable and today
learn so much of what they know from the media. It is also inappropriate to be
showing crude, unnecessary profanity and sexual material to children and young
adolescents. Characters portrayed this way are poor role models for the children
who will soon be adults and making independent decisions.
I think producers, screenwriters, actors, directors – anyone in the film
industry, should make an effort to remove the excess of this material from mainstream
media. Profanity and sexual scenes do not add to the quality of a movie, and
can greatly influence the attitudes and behaviors of viewers. Over time, this
could mean an overall increase in promiscuity in society – resulting in
sexually transmitted infections, unwanted pregnancies, and broken homes.
I urge you to consider the importance of this issue, and to keep it in mind when
thinking about future roles to accept. I think you have the power to make a
positive impact in our world; that your voice and your behaviors will be a good
role model for others to follow. You have the opportunity to make a big
difference, and to make choices that so many others will see. I hope you will
use this chance for good! Again, congratulations on a fantastic job in the
Hunger Games, I am a big fan.
Sincerely,

Maggie Brumwell

Overload

... and no I was not talking about media in the title of this post. Although that could very well apply too. But what I meant was a brain overload. This past week, I wrote 2 papers, gave an oral presentation, wrote 2 final exams, complete some ridiculous finance assignments that I don't understand (cause I don't have time to go to that class, or when I do I'm doing something else) and had to cook full-on meals for 5 people multiple times. Among other things. I can't remember what else. Because my brain is fried. From overload. So I have no idea what to even write about the media right now!! I think it can be addicting. My husband, his brother, and their cousin started playing League of Legends yesterday and have been at it almost constantly! So it can be good or bad, decide how you will use it! My choice of "media poison" this weekend? (Aside from Conference of course). Listening to country on Pandora radio - while scrapbooking! I'd say that's definitely a good use! :)

General Conference

Of course, it's General Conference weekend, so what else am I going to post about?! I know we ALL listened to ALL the talks this weekend, so I'm not going to talk about any of that! ;) I just want to mention a little about how awesome it is that the Church keeps up with modern technology and uses it to our advantage. It's so great that we can now have conference broadcast in church buildings, watched on TV, and even streamed online. It is available to such a wider audience - and that can mean reaching out to non-members, investigators, and members far away! Using the media like this can be so uplifting, and can really bring the Gospel to the world. When we use the power of media and technology, it can have a great influence. I especially love seeing those mormon commercials on TV - what a great use of the media!

Holi - Festival of Colors

Ah the Festival of Colors. An amazingly awesome day of the year where everyone is allowed to get super messy, and throw stuff at complete strangers, without getting in trouble. Where it's encouraged, even. Even for a shy, introverted girl like me, this is a pretty sweet event! I found out about this thing last year, when my fiance at the time insisted we go. I thought it was going to be lame and that I would just be annoyed, but it was actually way cool! I was amazed at how cool the "color throwings" were, and how the air suddenly just became filled with tons of colored chalk and in an instant, you yourself were covered. I mean, you can't breathe, and you're blowing purple snot out of your nose for the next week, but it's totally worth it for those few moments of ultimate chalk-throwing chaos.

This year, my husband and I went with his brother, his brother's wife, and his cousin. I remembered what the parking and everything was like last year, so when I saw lots of empty spots by the Spanish Fork Library, I suggested we just get out and walk from here. BAD IDEA!! It's 2.4 miles, trust me, I just consulted Google Maps. And Google Maps is always right. Luckily I'm not 400 pounds and way out of shape. Just the second part of that sentence. But still. It was totally worth it in the end! And I have no idea how this all relates back to the media part of this assigment :) Tough luck. .... Okay, they're starting to advertise it. Which is media. And charge an entrance fee. To pay for their advertising. Which is media.

The Hunger Games

Yep, I'm one of those people, and I'm going to write a post about it. I read the series in one week (last Christmas?? 2010?? Seems right..) over the break and absolutely loved it! And when I heard they were making a movie? - BEST DAY EVER!! Now I should have been wary of this news - the film industry has been known to severely screw up an awesome book. But I will say this: I was not disappointed! A buddy got his company to hook us up and booked a theater for a 7pm showing on Thursday, and it was awesome! Very well done, in my opinion.

But then yesterday, my older sister posted on facebook how disgusted she was by this story, and how it is crazy that this is what we call entertainment. And it got me thinking about all the stuff we've been learning in class about violence and being critical consumers and whatnot. And as much as I really, really enjoyed this, I must say I have to agree with her. How is it that a game of fighting to the death is what we all want to see? It's a little insane, and probably not that good for our young, impressionable children! In light of what I now know concerning media, I can definitely see her point of view.

So does that make me a bad person if I still love the film/books and cannot wait for the next one to come out?? I sure hope not. Because despite my better knowledge, I can guarantee I will be out there with the rest of the diehards on November 22 next year, when Catching Fire comes to theaters!!