UIS - The Real Deal

Monday, January 28, 2008

Lights, Camera, Action

Spring semester is going well so far! I survived the first 2 weeks and the first break (even though one day hardly constitutes a break!!). I also have survived the FREEZING cold weather of central Illinois...so far. I haven't really been up to much other than studying since classes are pretty tough. :(
But I have seen some movies (basically, by Friday night I'm so tired from school & work I just want to sit on the couch and veg!)

Reign Over Me-
It was a touching movie with Adam Sandler and Don Cheadle. It had some funny parts to it--however, it was pretty sad overall. It was unlike any other Adam Sandler movie I'd ever seen before. Overall I'd give it a B-.

I Am Legend-
This is one of those movies (for me) that when I left the theater I was like "Um yeah, I guess it was okay" but now looking back I'd definitely watch it again. The reason it wasn't jaw-dropping for me was because it was a very jumpy movie, which I don't usually like, and my friend had told me every single thing that happened except for the very end, which made it less exciting. This one gets an A.

27 Dresses-
I went to see this this past weekend with some girls from school. It has a premise of a girl being a bridesmaid 27 times. The key line is "the best part about this dress is that you can wear it again." What made this movie hilarious for me was that my sister had just picked out her bridesmaids dresses right before I went and had said that exact same thing. My older sister said it too when she got married over a year ago and to this day I haven't worn it again....Someday, Jen. Someday. So this romantic comedy gets an A also.

Casino Royale-
I'd already seen this movie a few times, but can't get enough of it. The blonde bond is great. Of course it gets an A!!

Sorry my life is so completely boring. I'll keep you updated on the best movies out there! :) Have a great week!!

Monday, January 14, 2008

Highlights of Winter Break

Winter break went too quickly, as do all breaks from school! :) But a lot of exciting things have happened in the past month.
First of all, and definitely most exciting, I got my license back!! :) The wonderful Secretary of State had it mailed to me in plenty of time for me to resume my driving privileges on December 22. So my winter break was made that much better by being able to drive myself around!!

Second, Christmas!! Who doesn't like Christmas?? I got a lot of clothes & gift certificates which are always great gifts. I also got some perfume & money. Overall, Christmas was great. I got to spend some time with my grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins and I got to spend lots of time with my sisters & brother-in-law who live out of town.

I also had the wonderful opportunity to do some traveling over the holiday. My family went to Florida Dec. 26th - Jan. 2nd. The airports were NUTS on the day after Christmas so we were 10 minutes late to get to our gate, luckily along with another 40 people so the plane hadn't left yet. But I seriously felt like I was in Home Alone when they all run through the airport. :) So we got to spend a nice long week in the Florida sun hanging out at the beach. While we were there one of my sisters (the single one) got engaged. Her boyfriend came down & proposed on the beach on New Year's Eve, so we then celebrated that in addition to welcoming in 2008.

We got home from Florida, were in Springfield for a day, then we traveled to Chicago. We went as a special thing for my little brother's 16th birthday. So we stayed downtown and ate at Grand Lux & Maggiano's and saw Phantom of the Opera. My brother & I had amazing seats--row D!!! And the show was very good. The next week I bummed around the house, caught up with friends from high school, and slept a lot!!! But on Friday night we left Springfield AGAIN to go to Indianapolis. My sister & her husband just bought their 1st house on Jan. 4th so we went to help them get their new house ready. It's in Fishers, IN, and my sister had lots of little projects for all of us to do: re-tile the bathroom, paint various rooms, put in light fixtures, take our the old washer/dryer, and clean the house so they can start moving their stuff over. We might go back this coming weekend again because we didnt' get everything finished that Jen wanted done, but we'll see. I also got sick while we were in Indy, of course the weekend right before school starts!! So I am feeling pretty crappy as I start classes up again.

This morning I started my Bio-organic chemistry and tonight I begin botany. :( It's going to be a long semester...