Movie Numero 2 ~ The Searchers

Here is my second movie on my list. It also made Yahoo’s list but this is my list and I can have what ever movie I want on it right? Well I’ve already done a post on this particular movie already which you can read if you click HERE. So I will leave you with the highlights of the movie for me.

Highlights of the Movie: The scene’s between Ward Bond, John Wayne and John’s son Patrick Wayne. Monument Valley.

Best Line of the movie for me: “Let’s go home, Debbie.”

Movie Numero Uno ~ Second Hand Lions

I posted yesterday that I was going to post my own list of movies that I think you should see before you die. Well here is movie numero uno….Second Hand Lions. If you liked the movie The Princess Bride you’ll like this movie too.

Second Hand Lions stars, Robert Duvall, Michael Caine, Haley Joel Osment, and Kyra Sedgwick.

The last place Walter (Haley Joel Osment) wants to be is on his great uncles’ farm in rural Texas, where he is dumped off by his mother Mae (Kyra Sedgwick), in the middle of nowhere living with two crazy old men, a pack of dogs and a pick with only the promise that she’ll come back for him. Walter has been lied to enough times that he’s not quiet sure what to believe in.

Walter’s eccentric and gruff great uncles, Hub and Garth McCaan (Robert Duvall and Michael Caine) who had been missing for 40 YEARS are rumored to have been bank robbers, mafia hit men and/or war criminals in their wild and wooly younger days. No one seems to know the truth, although the brothers do seem to have an endless supply of cash. During Walter’s stay begins to see a “new” side to his great uncles when he stumbles upon an old photography of a very beautiful woman hidden away in a trunk in the attic (known as the “Tower” in the movie) and asks his uncle Garth who she is.

Through the stories spun against the backdrop of the dusty Texas night, an amazing story comes to life through Walter’s vivid and very colorful imaginings – a tale set in a very long ago exotic, very mysterious place where the men rode on powerful stallions and fought with HUGE swords. Complete with beautiful princesses mixed up with evil sheiks and where to very unlikely heros lived an adventure that only most people can dream of.

Whether to story is true or not, the uncle’s tales become a “doorway” of sorts for Walter, to “experience” their many adventures. Little by little they also give Walter something true to believe in – a “world” where honor and valor mean more than money and power. A place, real or not, belongs only to him. While telling their stories to Walter, Hub and Garth begin to see their lives with a whole new set of eyes.

Over one unpredictable Central Texas summer in the early 1960’s, everything in the lives of this new family of strangers is about to change forever.

Highlights for me: The lion, and the “flashback” scenes to the uncle’s younger days.

My absolute favorite “line” in the movie: “Sometimes the things that may or may not be true are the things a man needs to believe in the most. That people are basically good. That honour, courage and virtue mean everything ; that power and money … money and power mean nothing. That good always triumphs over evil. And I want you to remember this…. that love….true love never dies ! Remember that boy … remember that. Doesn’t matter if it is true or not, a man should believe in those things , because those are the things worth believing in…… got that ?”

26 Years and other randomness

‘Tis be Friday again! For most people Friday is the end of their work week….For me it’s just the beginning. I’m hoping that this week is a little bit better at work than the last two weeks have been. It’s been a little bit rough for me….We’re waxing the floors at work and the smell from the wax and floor stripper gives me migraines. Toss in being treated poorly by a supervisor and a fellow team member two times in two weeks and you have me being pretty miserable. This two shall pass and I can hardly WAIT!

Yesterday was my parents 26th wedding anniversary. It was a pretty nice day too. Weather was decent….minus the wind. But we were still in the low 50’s which is better than the last couple of days around here, where it’s been pretty dreary.

I joined another Favorite Things Swap….Seriously, these bloggy swaps are a TON of fun. Now that I’ve done one I have a little bit better idea of what to expect. Flying by the seat of your pants isn’t always the most fun. If you want to participate, please click on the words “Favorite Things Swap” to go to the post with all the instructions in it.

I’m still waiting on Spring to actually show up and stick around. I’m pretty tired of this one or two days here and there. That sucks pond sludge.

Yesterday, I posted the “100 Movies You Must See Before You Die” according to Yahoo. I’m in the process of coming up with my OWN list of movies that I think you should see before you die. You might be pretty surprised to see how ecclectic my taste in movies really is.

I’ve been doing some “studying” on some of my money saving blogs that I’ve added to my blogroll recently and will of course continue to study until I find/figure out a system that works for me to help me save money on my everyday needs in this rather “shaky” economy. Of course I’ll be sure to share with all of you so that you can test these idea’s out for yourself if you’d like.

I’m coming up on my FIRST ever blog giveaway. I can hardly wait!

Ms. Laci went to the groomer yesterday to get her Spring ‘do done. Is it sad that my dog has her own stylist? She said that Laci was a good girl until she tried to trim around her face…then not so much. I thought that Laci would give her grief when it came time to brush her teeth but according to the groomer she actually enjoyed having her teeth brushed.

Well there it is….My week in a nutshell….Complete with a few blessings thrown in too. Have a great weekend for me!

Jamie

100 Movies to see before you die

I got this off of Yahoo….I’ll admit that I’ve only seen a handful of these movies…Guess I’d better get a move on!

Movie’s I’ve Seen

The Yahoo! Movies editorial staff has created this handy checklist to track the 100 movies you must see before you die.
0-9
12 Angry Men (1957)
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
400 Blows (1959)
8 1/2 (1963)
A
The African Queen (1952)
Alien (1979)
All About Eve (1950)
Annie Hall (1977)
Apocalypse Now (1979)
B
The Battle of Algiers (1967)
The Bicycle Thief (1948)
Blade Runner (1982)
Blazing Saddles (1974)
Blow Up (1966)
Blue Velvet (1986)
Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
Breathless (1960)
The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
Bringing Up Baby (1938)
Butch Cassidy and the
Sundance Kid (1969)
C
Casablanca (1942)
Chinatown (1974)
Citizen Kane (1941)
Crouching Tiger, Hidden
Dragon (2000)
D
Die Hard (1988)
Do the Right Thing (1989)
Double Indemnity (1944)
Dr. Strangelove (1964)
Duck Soup (1933)
E
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
Enter the Dragon (1973)
The Exorcist (1973)
F
Fast Times At Ridgemont
High (1982)
The French Connection (1971)
G
The Godfather (1972)
The Godfather, Part II (1974)
Goldfinger (1964)
The Good, the Bad, and the
Ugly (1968)
Goodfellas (1990)
The Graduate (1967)
Grand Illusion (1938)
Groundhog Day (1993)
H
A Hard Day’s Night (1964)
I
In the Mood For Love (2001)
It Happened One Night (1934)
It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)
J
Jaws (1975)
K
King Kong (1933)
L
The Lady Eve (1941)
Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
The Lord of the Rings (2001)
M
M (1931)
M*A*S*H (1970)
The Maltese Falcon (1941)
The Matrix (1999)
Modern Times (1936)
Monty Python and the Holy
Grail (1975)
N
National Lampoon’s Animal
House (1978)
Network (1976)
Nosferatu (1922)
O
On the Waterfront (1954)
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s
Nest (1975)
P
Paths of Glory (1958)
Princess Mononoke (1999)
Psycho (1960)
Pulp Fiction (1994)
R
Raging Bull (1980)
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
Raise the Red Lantern (1992)
Rashomon (1951)
Rear Window (1954)
Rebel Without a Cause (1955)
Rocky (1976)
Roman Holiday (1953)
S
Saving Private Ryan (1998)
Schindler’s List (1993)
The Searchers (1956) – One of my ALL TIME FAVORITE MOVIES!
Seven Samurai (1954)
The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Singin’ in the Rain (1952)
Snow White and the Seven
Dwarfs (1937)
Some Like It Hot (1959)
The Sound of Music (1965)
Star Wars (1977)
Sunset Blvd. (1950)
T
Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
The Third Man (1949)
This is Spinal Tap (1984)
Titanic (1997)
To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
Toy Story (1995)
U
The Usual Suspects (1995)
V
Vertigo (1958)
W
When Harry Met Sally… (1989)
Wild Strawberries (1957)
Wings of Desire (1988)
The Wizard of Oz (1939)
Women On the Verge of Nervous Breakdown (1988)
The World of Apu (1959)

Another Favorite Things Swap!

Kati over at Country Girl, City Living is having a Favorite Things Swap! I just did one with Mamarazzi over at Dandelion Wishes and had a GREAT time. I’m looking forward to doing another swap so I can hardly wait to get started! Stop by Kati’s blog if you want to participate in the swap!

What I’ve learned so far…..

I posted a little while ago that I was trying to learn how to live a more frugal lifestyle and try to put some more of my money away into savings instead of blowing it all on unneccessary items. I guess my main downfall is determining “need” from “want” right now. I think that “little” issue is going to to take some time to “overcome.”

Here is a little sampling of what I’ve learned/saved so far -

~ Making lists is a good thing….I’ve started making lists of things that I need to purchase and have been doing alright at sticking to the list….I’m still working on it….I’ve got a LOT of bad habits to break.

~ My dog is another one of my downfalls….She’s currently on a pretty expensive brand of dog food (Royal Canin….her tummy didn’t like the Solid Gold brand we tried her on). I put her on this brand because it makes a kibble specifically designed for Cocker Spaniel’s dietary needs. Well yesterday when I went into buy her some food I was comparing the Cocker Spaniel kibble to the regular Medium Adult kibble and there really wasn’t vary much of a difference and in the long run it would be cheaper for me to feed her the Medium Adult because the store only sells the Cocker Spaniel kibble in 6 pound bags. A 6 pound bag lasts us maybe 2 weeks if we’re lucky. So I picked up the Medium Adult 30 pound bag which will last us a LOT longer. Here’s the upside to this “story”….I actually saved money buying the bigger bag….For some reason the larger bags have the “instant instore coupons” on them and I saved a whole $4.00.

~ I don’t always purchase name brands….Most of the products that I currently use, the name brands are more expensive than the store brands (even with a coupon).

~ I’m in the process of learning to do all of my errands in one trip (if possible).

~ Clearance/bargin racks are a good thing.

I’ve also added some “frugal” blogs to my blogroll if you are looking for more ideas. Here are the links:

Bare Budget Beauty

BeCentsAble

Frugal and Fabulous

Frugal Fabulous

The New Frugal Mom

Thrifty and Chic Mom

Cheapskate Mom

My dog is a "slut" for pig ears!

See photographic evidence!

Twilight!

So Twilight was released on Saturday….That was pretty exciting. When I got off of work Saturday morning and ran over to Walmart to pick up a couple of essentials….There weren’t very many copies of the movie left in ANY format. When I got to work Saturday night we had exactly 1 copy of the movie in Blue-ray disc format. I can hardly wait to watch this movie! I’ve been re-reading Twilight the past few days and everybody at work has been giving me crap about “sparkly vampires.”

Happy First Day of Spring!

I bought my first pair of shorts for the summer yesterday…..Last summer I was in a size 14 pair of pants/shorts…..This summer I’m in a size 10! I can hardly believe it. The wonders getting out and walking the dog does for your body. As I’m typing this post I’m actually doing a little shopping on Old Navy.com getting ready for spring/summer. I’ve got A LOT of dressier shirts and stuff in my closet right now so I’m looking to invest in some tanks and nice t-shirts so I don’t have to be all dressed up all the time.

How to Save Money, Even When You Don’t Have Any

Even if you have a decent job and don’t waste a lot of money, it’s possible you’re in a situation where, like millions of other people, you are living from paycheck to paycheck. You think that you’d like to save money, but it just doesn’t seem practical when every penny you earn goes toward the costs of daily living. However, even in seemingly dire situations there’s almost always a way to put aside cash in small amounts, and the benefits of having a growing accumulation of savings will end up rewarding you in many ways, both practically and psychologically.

First of all, it might be worth it to define exactly what you mean when you say you “have no money,” and then redefine it in a way that’s more amenable to adaptation. Quite often I’m amused when a female acquaintance tells me she can never afford to put any money aside because she’s always completely broke, and then I look at her and notice freshly filled acrylic nails, new Manolos, or this season’s latest Prada bag. No wonder she has no money to put aside! Let’s be clear: if you can afford to pay all your bills and have enough left over to buy designer goods and spa treatments, you’re not broke, even if you consistently have no money left at the end of each month and are gritting your teeth until your paycheck comes.

It’s amazing the lengths we will go to try to convince ourselves that certain items we buy are necessities rather than extras. Often I hear the excuse, “But I have to have these designer clothes and expensive shoes because one of the requirements of my job is to look my best all the time.” That’s understandable, but it doesn’t mean you have to spend all your extra money, every paycheck. Let’s be honest, if you’re supplementing your wardrobe every single month, you’re doing it because you enjoy it, not because it’s strictly required. But that doesn’t mean you have to give up shopping altogether — even if you just cut your fashion spending down to every other month instead of every month, think of all the extra money you’d have. I promise you, no one is going to notice if you buy new clothes every eight weeks instead of every four weeks.

Even at lower levels of income there are always extras that we quietly slip into our budgets. Of course you want to treat yourself, and that’s an important part of keeping your sanity, especially if you’re constantly stressed about money. But even something as simple as a weekly night out with your friends can end up running away with your wallet if you’re not careful. It’s not uncommon to spend fifty or even a hundred dollars or more in one evening at a club or bar, especially if parking or cover charges are involved. Think about what would happen if you passed on the invitation even one week a month, and put that money in a savings account instead — it wouldn’t seem like much incrementally, and probably you wouldn’t even really miss it, but at the end of the year you’d have enough put aside to do something really nice for yourself, perhaps take a vacation somewhere exotic. If you really want to be forward-thinking, maybe you could even use that money to start on some small investments, which in return will pay for many more vacations in the long run.

One of the keys to making this work is setting up a system where the money you set aside is no longer money you consider “available” for any reason whatsoever. This can mean a simple psychological shift, or perhaps a more physical one. Some people have enough willpower that just telling themselves the money they put away no longer exists is enough to keep them from accessing it. Other people need a little more help to forget about a pile of money as if it weren’t there. Ask your bank (or shop around at different banks), to find out what sort of savings or incremental investment options are available, and choose the one that has the most excruciating penalties for withdrawals. Preferably, you want something where withdrawing your money would end up costing you almost as much as the withdrawal is worth. It also helps if getting your money is more complicated than just logging on to the internet branch and entering your PIN number. In this case, the more of a hassle withdrawals are, the better it is for your money situation. You’ll probably think twice about your perceived need of some luxury item if getting the money for it will incur significant service charges, take three weeks, and require lots of paperwork for which you actually have to go to the bank and stand in line.

Believe it or not, saving at least some money is possible in almost every circumstance. Even if you start out with very small amounts — say, five dollars a week — by the time a year has passed you’ll have put aside well over two hundred dollars, which isn’t earth-shattering, but it’s nothing to scoff at, either. Don’t avoid saving money on the grounds that you think miniscule weekly contributions will never amount to anything. If you can gradually raise your weekly savings to ten or twenty dollars a week, even if it’s not every week, you will soon find you have a respectable cushion of cash that can be used for small investments, as well as doubling as an emergency fund. Over a period of months or years, these things can really add up. It may require some small sacrifices on your part, but the if the end result is that you end up in a better financial position overall, no doubt you’ll feel that any minor adjustments you made to your lifestyle were worth it.

Borrowed from Totally Her