Walking Dead Finale Predicitons

**SPOILER ALERT** if you aren't caught up then don't read this!

So the big prediction is this:  Who dies?
Well, Cameron and I both pretty much agree that Hershel and his whole clan will die--except for Maggie.  Hershel is not going to leave his farm and he'll die defending it.  We also think Carol will probably die, with Sophia gone there really isn't anything left for her.  T-dog has a chance of dying as well, but we don't see this happening.

Who do I wish would die?  Andrea.   I don't like Andrea--and I think there is 50% chance she won't make it through tonight episode.  But she is also getting to be more of a crazy character as the series progresses so they may keep her on to fill the Shane void. 

Who do I definitely not want to die?  Daryl.

Daryl is my favorite character and I will be devastated if he dies--so I'm gonna need him to live.  No matter what.  If we have to sacrifice Carl for Daryl to live...so be it.

Airborne Zombie Virus?
Um yeah.  No question about it.   I spent a good deal of time thinking of all the ways the zombie apocalypse could have spread so quickly.  Let's be honest--people going around biting people is not a quick way to spread something at all.  Especially worldwide.  It would need to be airborne--or even something in the water possibly.  So if it's airborne why isn't everyone a zombie?  That was the next question.  Perhaps it takes place after death.  Yes. That's the ticket.

Say the zombie virus is released in the air one day.  Everyone becomes infected.  Over 100,000 people die everyday.  BOOM.  You have 100,000 zombies walking around and attacking people.  That causes more death, either through being bitten and bleeding to death, having the bite cause so much damage that it leads to death, the bite itself increases the infection and kills you, or by other causes like car wrecks and people being shot in hysteria.  Suddenly you have an apocalypse on your hands.


 Last week we had two zombies on our hands.  Two zombies without any bites.  What does this prove?  That everyone has the virus.  Remember these two guys?

The two walkers with no bites?  Remember the obvious remarks that Shane and Rick made about their being no bites?  Remember Rick's lack of concern?  Rick knew.  Rick knows.  I'm pretty sure we finally know what the CDC guy told him.  It's airborne.  It happens after you die.

I'm pretty stoked for tonight's episode.  It has a lot to live up to after last week's was so phenomenal.  The combination the Shane/Rick duel, Carl shooting the gun, and the army of walkers at the bottom of the heel is almost too much to handle and I can't wait to see what happens.

Dark Shadows

Hey remember my previous post?  The trailer for Dark Shadows hadn't been released it.  But now it has! ENJOY

So Many Great Movies!

There a lot of great movies coming out this year and I can barely contain my excitement.  The only thing that would make it better would be if I could find a movie theater that would sell Red Vines instead of Twizzlers.  So here we go---a preview at the amazing things coming to a theater new year (hopefully in order)

The Hunger Games.  (March) To all those that don't know much about Hunger Games here is the most important thing you need to know:  IT IS NOT THE NEW TWILIGHT.  Twilight is not good.  Twilight is a lot like getting addicted to Sno Balls.  They aren't that good and yet you somehow feel compelled to eat them.

Anyways...The Hunger Games.  The books are phenomenal and I hope that the movies stand out on there own.  As everyone knows, the movies are never as good as the books--but that's not important.  The movies should be good on all their own. I already have my midnight ticket to this one and there is no one else I'd rather see it with other Paige (although if Sage could be here that would be awesome).

Titanic.  (April) Oh yes. I'm not including a trailer.  It's Titanic---everyone knows it.

Dark Shadows (May)  Based on an old soap opera involving a vampire.  I don't much about this one but what I do know is that it's a Tim Burton with Johnny---and that's enough for me






MIB 3 (May) I can't imagine this being bad.  The second one wasn't great but a lot of time has passed and Will Smith doesn't need this movie.  Therefore I assume if it's good enough for him to agree--it's good enough for me.

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.  (June) You read that right.  Abraham Lincoln--Vampire Hunter.  It's Time Burton without (gasp) Johnny Depp or Helena Bonham Carter!

Dark Knight Rise (July) Nothing really needs to be said about this one.

Frankenweenie (October)  As a Tim Burton girl---I'm already familiar with this movie, I've seen the short and it was cute and demented.

The Hobbit (December)  No words.  Just the trailer.

Tragedy and Revelations

A little over a month ago my uncle was put in the hospital for what seemed to be something to not cause too much worry.  Four weeks later I was speaking to a huge, packed out church standing over my uncle's casket.  I'm not going to go into the emotions that my family experienced and are still experiencing--it's unexplainable and impossible to emphasize with because each loved one lost is a different experience to everyone.  What I do want to go into are the things that God has revealed to me through this tragedy.

Life is short.  No matter how long you live--life is still short.  I've spent so much time saying "I'll do this eventually when I can.  What I can afford to. When I loose weight;" the excuses are endless.  So I'm trimming the fat in my life.

I'm no longer going to surround myself with people mindlessly.  I know who my best friends are.  The ones who called me.  The ones who cried with me. The ones who know me inside out.  Those are the ones that I'll keep close.  I like all my friends, but my heart can only be open to a select few.

My family is everything to me.  I cherish every moment I spend with them and I'm happiest with them.  It's time to make them a top priority.

There is a reason I haven't found a church in Raleigh.  I already have a church.  That I love.  That I intend to become more involved with as things start falling into place soon.

 God has revealed a new life to me.  A life that I ignored and decided against when I moved to Raleigh.  It's time to change.

This post is dedicated to my Uncle Mike

Blog recommendation!

Check out my best friend's new blog site:

Into the Beautiful

Chronicle/Woman in Black

"It's a short movie.  It's less than an hour and 30 minutes"
"Well, some movies are better shorter than long and drawn out.  Take Breaking Dawn for example, it should have been only 30 minutes."
And as my brother and I discovered, an hour and 23 minutes was the perfect amount of time for Chronicle.  Later I discovered that an hour and 35 minutes was also the perfect amount of time for Woman in Black.  It was refreshing sitting through a short and sweet movie---even though both Chronicle and Woman in Black were far from being "sweet" films.  Of course, not every movie should be short.  I fully expect my butt to be numb after I watch The Hobbit---each minute of that movie is bound to be glorious and well deserved.

Cameron loved Chronicle.  When we left the theater he raved and raved about it--long enough for me to realize that he was not being sarcastic.  Not that I thought it was horrible---I just didn't think it was fantastic.  I had low expectations for it to begin with and while it exceeded my expectations it's still not a movie that was remarkable or something I would watch again.

The movie centers abound three--high school? college?--kids who find a stone type thing that gives them telepathic abilities.  As almost anyone will tell you--not everyone should be granted with powers.  Because one emo kid will ruin the fun for everybody.  You easily sympathize with Andrew, the abused, poor, misfit, emo kid.   But  you also enjoy the other two confident, easily popular kids as well.  It's extremely well done.  The effects are well done.  It's just a little to predictable for me.  But it as fun movie to watch.


I had to drag myself to go see Woman in Black. In fact is Ashley hadn't been persistent I probably would never have gone to see it.  Not that it looked bad--I just don't handle scary movies well.  This episode from Boy Meets World still freaks me out:

Well, to be honest, I can't give the best review of the movie considering I spent a considerable amount of time with my eyes closed, fingers in my ears.  Or doubled over in my seat so I couldn't see the screen.  Or with my hands over my face, leaving a small enough gap in between my fingers to see Daniel Radcliffe's face.  But from what I did see, I thought it was well done.  It's not revolutionary but it's a scary movie with secretive British people and a freaky marsh. 

Daniel Radcliffe's character has to travel to this town to got through the paperwork in an old house---in the middle of a marsh.  Conveniently, you're stranded at the house often because when the tide comes in on the marsh and the road is in accessible.  Perfect setting for scary crap to happen.  So many warning signs for his character to get the heck out of dodge.  The people in the village want him gone, the house is in the middle of a marsh causing you to be stuck at the marsh except when the tide is low, and the house looks like this:

Um. Yeah.  I would never have even stepped foot in that house.  But he does....because he's Harry Freaking Potter (you're a legend man to us all---oh AVPS).

It was great seeing Daniel Radcliffe in a different on screen role and he did great.  All in all it was a jumpy, scary movie that will keep your heart racing.

Guest Post: Fear

As you may recall, I challenged my friend AJ to write a devotion last week.  I also challenged myself to complete my character profiles--I did not do this.  But in my defense, I'm in crisis mode with my family and my mind is not fully devoted to anything besides prayer and family.  However, AJ completed the challenge.  And here is her wonderful devotional:

Today I want to talk about the F word.  Oh yeah, I’m going there.  It’s the ugliest four letter word you can think of.  Okay, ready?  Here it goes…

FEAR.

At some point, we’ve all been scared of something.  As children we are scared of monsters under the bed, the boogeyman in the closet, or in the case of one of my nieces…the tooth fairy.  J  But as we grow, fear begins to take on a more real form in our lives.

Have you ever let the fear of failing keep you from going after something you wanted?  Maybe it’s a new job, or trying to reach your goal weight (boy have I failed at this one a time or two…or ten), or maybe you’ve been holding off on dating someone new because you are fearful of what a new relationship could bring. 

We often let it {fear} paralyze us from pursing our goals because we have a fear of failing.  I look back on my life so far and already I see many times where I have let the fear of failing stop me.  I didn’t try out for the dance team for the first 3 years of high school because I was scared.  Scared of what? I was hesitant to even tell people that I was thinking of starting a side business because I was scared of it failing.  If we let fear stop us from everything, nothing in our lives will ever get accomplished!

 But not after today.  No more.  Yeah, I know…easier said than done, right? 

But friends, today I have great news.  There’s someone who wants to take all our fears and worry away!  He wants us to completely and utterly TRUST in Him.  To not even worry about that new job, that diet, or that new relationship.  Know why?  Because He already knows how it turns out.  J  He has a plan for you, for me, and He doesn’t want our FEAR of failure to stop us from pursuing His will for us.  Oh yeah, by now you know who I’m talking about…God. 

No more will fear stop us.  After today I want you to take the F word, FEAR, out of your vocabulary.  Two verses I leave with you today:

Jeremiah 29:11-  For I know the plans I have you, says the Lord.  Plans for good and not for evil,           to give you a future and a hope. (NLT)

Mark 11:24- I tell you, you can pray for anything, and if you believe that you’ve received it, it will be yours. (NLT)

I don’t know what fear you’re battling with today friend, but I know that if you truly give it up to God and trust in Him and His will, you will be blessed.  I encourage you to replace the word fear with another F word.  You’ve probably heard it a time or two…

FAITH.  J

Blessings,

Amanda

the words "I Love You"

Last night as I stood with some of my family in the ICU waiting room and listened to our voices reaching out to God for healing I was filled with happiness and love.  Despite everything around me--not one dark thought was able to enter my mind.

Afterward while we talked about how my uncle has a family filled with fierce love for one another, my uncle Glenn said something that has stuck with me:
(for reference purposes, my uncle Glenn is married into the family.  As is my uncle Mike.)

"This family loves one another.  It's shocking.  When I first met this family I was shocked by the amount of people who said 'I love you' to another and how many hugs were exchanged.  It took time for me to get used to it.  My family didn't do that.  This family says it every chance they get.  And that's special."

I tell people I love them as often as possible, including my close friends.  It's natural.  It's normal.  I need them to know.  I want them to know.  But as I've gotten older I have noticed that it throws people for a shock.  I dated someone once whose family hardly ever exchanging hugs, compliments, or much less "I love you."  They just didn't do it.

I don't know how many families and friends exchange these words on a daily basis.  Of course, just saying them isn't enough--you have to mean it.  I know that my family loves me without pause.  I have floods of memories with my family that are entrenched with love.  And when I speak to my family and see them, I am 100% happier than I was the moment before.

In that room last night, I felt God's spirit as well as the weight of a family's love in the room.  And it's because of that feeling, because of the knowledge that my family's love is true that I know these present circumstances will not stop us.  We will continue fighting.  My uncle Mike will continue fighting.  For his family.  For Kelley. For Katie. For Lauren. And for his wife, my aunt Sandra.  We don't know why things are what they are--but I pray that we can show the hospital and others that our love for one another is unwavering.  And that our love derives from our relationship with Christ.  And that it is because of Him that we will survive this.

Accountability

Hey! Guess what is a great motivator?  Accountability.  So in my effort to get in shape mentally and physically I've decided to post my efforts---good and bad---here on my blog.

Goals:

Weight Loss:  Loose 20 pounds by May 1 (Just in time for Hong Kong!)

Book:  Have early character profiles done by the end of this week

Ok.  Now let's get this thing on the road.


And to my dear and beloved AJ:  I have goal for you....post something by this Sunday.  I believe in you and know that you can do it.

And because no blog post is complete without a picture:

Bam.

The Mixer

For Christmas my papa gave me my late Mama Lou's stand mixer.  It's fantastic.  So I thought I'd share.

My grandpa and my mom were able to find most of the attachments my grandma had and I spent the better part of a night playing with all of them.

The classic.

So Sweeney Todd

mini baseball bat. just kidding.

Dough hook

or a hook hand.  You decide.