Meanwhile, in Rivendell . . .

Arrival   (2016)   I'm not much for aliens, or for stories that mess with the space-time continuum, but this was actually a decent movie.  The ending got a little weird, and I'm still not sure I completely understand everything, but it was interesting.  I went into it very skeptical and it kept my attention. Beautiful Boy   (2018) I thought this would be great, and it was.  There was a loooooot of very strong language; and a sex scene that's pretty easily skippable; and, of course, "substance" out the whazoo; but for what it was supposed to be, it was very good. Fun fact:  I had a cold the night I watched it, and I had been planning to take some medicine for it, but I was so disturbed by the show that I was determined that I would never put any kind of substance in my body ever again under any circumstances whatsoever.  So that was interesting. :-P Gods and Generals   (2003) AhEM.  I don't know how accur...

Do you ever watch something that you don't like the first time around?  And then you go back and re-watch it and find that you actually enjoy it quite a bit?  I do that kind of often--my opinions are somewhat changeable :-P--so here are some of the most notable movies that have won me over. ;) State Fair The first time I watched this I felt somewhat 'meh' about it; it was nice, but not great.  But I quite like it, now.  It's very cozy, yet something about it is almost a little wistful, to me?  Maybe because it's so extremely vintage and One Wishes For Simpler Times, and all that . . . I don't know. :-P Anyhow, again, I like this very much now.  The music, especially, has grown on me. White Christmas I was definitely 'meh' about this the first time I watched it, but I re-watched it this past December and it made me cry, so.  And then I showed it to my mom and she cried, and I cried again, so. I still don't think many of the songs...

What-ho, all!  A few things. ✾ I really want to be blogging right now.  The problem is that all the posts I'm working on at the moment are a little more time-intensive, so I'm just having to be patient.  I want to be able to just whip posts up and post them within a single evening, and that's just not happening at this stage.  I'd welcome suggestions of any potentially shorter posts if y'all have any on hand, but if not we shall all simply have to wait.  Which is fine, I guess. ;-P   shout-out to Saving Mr. Banks for being an awesome movie [I also am starting to want to change the blog over to my spring/summer look.  I feel like I should maybe wait, but at the same time, it's possible that this next one could stay up longer than usual.  (Not probable, but possible.)  So, I'm not sure . . . I'll probably leave this one up at least until the beginning of February, at which time I might change.  We'll see.  I could a...

I love Lord of the Rings , which basically everybody knows; and I also love parodies, which everyone may not know.  So when I watched the Veggie Tales spoof of LotR (titled Lord of the Beans ) for the first time a few years ago, I loved it instantly (and I'm not even a real Veggie Tales fan). Today I'm sharing some of the reasons I think it's absolutely hilarious, and basically, that's just going to mean quoting some of the best lines + a few of the best parody elements.  Hope you enjoy, and that it makes you want to try this if you've never seen it! :) Here's a rundown of the Veggie Tales characters and their LotR doppelgangers, to hopefully make things a bit clearer (the names are pretty self-explanatory, but still): Todo = Frodo Randalf = Gandalf Bilboy = Bilbo Ear-o-Corn = Aragorn Leg-o-Lamb = Legolas Grumpy = Gimli AND Boromir Ahem = Gollum ✾  ✾  ✾  ✾  ✾ - how Grumpy's first words are, "Oi, could we have parked any farther away?!...

✾ It is not your job to fix you.  That's God's division.  Your job is to stay as humble and malleable as you can, and beyond that to entrust everything to God.  Your job is Micah 6:8. ✾ Try to fill your mind with good, affirming, life-giving thoughts.  For me, this may look like spending a little less time on places like Pinterest or YouTube (where I am easily drawn into comparison or other traps) and a little more time reading and rereading authors who encourage me (like Kayla Aimee) and whose words might begin to soak into my soul with the truth of who I am as a beloved daughter of God rather than feeding my insecurities or misconceptions of who I have made myself out to be. This can't become a legalistic exercise, though, or it will undo whatever good God is trying to accomplish through it. ✾ Please do not allow either Satan or you yourself to trick you into bludgeoning yourself with guilt and should's and ought's over things that are completely and object...

This is fairly self-explanatory, so I shan't do much in the way of introduction, other than to say that for this particular year-in-review post, I've included links to some Goodreads reviews. :) { The Best Books of 2018 } Behold the Dawn by K.M. Weiland The Book of Sorrows by Walter Wangerin Jr. The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman Snow White and Rose Red by Regina Doman Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens Dancing and Doughnuts by Rachel Kovaciny Anchored by Kayla Aimee In Bloom: Trading Restless Insecurity for Abiding Confidence by Kayla Aimee Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) by Mindy Kaling Why Not Women?: A Fresh Look at Scripture on Women in Missions, Ministry, and Leadership by Loren Cunningham and David Joel Hamilton The Shield Ring by Rosemary Sutcliff The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo Bread and Wine by Shauna Niequist Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai { Notable Re-reads } ...