Christmas Vacation 2010

 We started Christmas off right--by going to Disneyland and getting annual passes! My parents and I surprised Jared & Noah. It was pouring down rain and we left early, but it was still fun and we're looking forward to going again and again and again (in better weather.) We took this picture in the parking structure.

 Christmas Eve brought the annual California Taylor family Christmas Pageant. It's always tough to cast. No one wants to be a wise man. 

They want to be sheep.

 Or the donkey.

Or the hay in the manger.

 The most coveted part, is of course, the innkeeper.

 But we always end up with a Mary and a Joseph. It's a cute tradition.

 We always get jammies for Christmas. Yep. Those are black and white camo print footie pajamas. They're awesome. Mine are way too big. 

 We got an ice cream maker! I'm so looking forward to using it. All the experiments we did before I left were the best I've had in a long time. And I was working at Baskin-Robbins.

It's probably because we're not just relying on the recipes that came with the machine...

The older kids all got iTunes cards in our stockings, so I got Paul Anka's album Rock Swings. It's big hits from the 80s and 90s in a swing style. It includes one of the best covers of Wonderwall I'm going to find. (Thanks for the tip, Rachel!)



Other non-holiday activities of mine included work, spending the night with my good friend Jenny, a rediscovery of my cat allergy, shopping and dinner with my favorite Yalie, and accidentally seeing a rated-R movie. (I was sure it was PG-13 at the time, I promise!)

Five Words.

Lyndsey and I watched the movie in preparation for this Tuesday. We loved it. The trick is to just take it for what it is--campy and fabulous.

Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog

The other day, the family watched a movie on Netflix on Demand about an evil genius.

It has clever and catchy music. It has Neil Patrick Harris. It has Nathan Fillion. What more could you want? I squealed aloud when I found it in the Bosses' DVD collection. I bought the soundtrack and listen to it ALL the time. I'm not the kind of gal who will watch a movie or listen to a song or read a book and start it over when it's finished. At all. But I can watch this movie over and over again. (I actually got through it 3 1/2 times on Friday.) It actually was an internet miniseries by Joss Whedon. There's the first part of it below.

watch it.

The Book is Always Better.

I'm re-reading my favorite novel, Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist. It's a lovely little love story that takes place on a sleepless night in New York City. They made a movie a while back, and I like it, but the book is way better.

Movie: "I love you so much it's retarded!"
             "You guys don't know what it's like to be straight. It's awful."
             

Book: "Nick stands up and offers his hand to me. I have no idea what he wants, but what the [heck], I take his hand anyway, and he pulls me up on my feet and presses against me for a slow dance and it's like we're in a dream where he's Christopher Plummer and I'm Julie Andrews and we're dancing on the marble floor of an Austrian terrace garden. Somehow my head presses against Nick's t-shirt and in this moment I am forgetting about time and Tal becasue maybe my life isn't over. Maybe it's only beginning.
I shiver at that thought and in response, Nick takes his jacket off and places it around my shoulders. I feel safe and not cold and from the vibe the jacket gives off, I also feel fairly confident that the original Texaco Salvatore was a good family man, with perhaps a propensity for wearing his wife's panties and betting his kids' college money at the track, but otherwise a solid dude."

I rest my case.

Jesus Camp

This semester I'm taking a Sociology of Religion class. I love it. Today we watched a movie that kind of summed up a lot of what we've been talking about the past few weeks: things like ritual, symbols, and emotion.

Yep. Jesus Camp.

It's a documentary about an evangelical summer camp. You couldn't help but love those kids. Like 9-year-old Rachael, who approached a woman she didn't know in a bowling alley to remind her that God has a plan for her. Or 12-year-old Levi, who is so excited about the Gospel (as he understands it) and looks just like Tyler Hudrlik, but with a mullet. But everything else in the movie just gave off the same vibe as watching The Fourth Kind--something that is clearly not of God is going on there. It's just as terrifying to watch these kids--not one of them older than fifteen--crying, convulsing, confessing sins, speaking in tongues with fear and shame in their eyes as it is to watch a psychologist be abducted by aliens.

It made me think about my seven years at Girls Camp. (YES, seven. I went back as a cook last year and I might be a cabin mom this year.) And my one week at EFY two years ago. How different they felt! Yes, there were tears there, but they came from a very different emotion. There was no anger, no shouting. Just quiet testimonies and powerful hymns. An acquaintance of mine said that watching Jesus Camp fueled his already staunch atheism. He was just as angry as that lady preacher in the movie was when she told the radio host that more parents should indoctrinate their kids. Me, I'm just grateful that I'm lucky enough to have the fullness of the Gospel and the absolute peace it brings. Maybe one day those darling children will have it too.

Top Ten Reasons that This Week was the Best.

10. J'ai trouvé ma cloche!

I finally have the coolest hat in the world back. I lost it in my French class on the second day of class and didn't see until yesterday, when Sœur Passe-Carlus said she had it in her office.

9. Hair Color Fades!

My hair is a normal color! But I did turn the towels pink at the temple...

8. Nutella Cupcakes!

Found this recipe while stumbling around the internet on Thursday and couldn't help but trying them. And they are DELICIOUS. We ate them for breakfast. (Since they're self-frosting, you can totally pass them off as muffins.) I will definitely be making them again in the near future.

7. I've finally seen The Dark Knight all the way through!

When my family rented this when it first came out, no one ever told me when they were starting. So I always came in the middle. Then last semester I started it with the guys, but we only got halfway through before curfew. Then we watched it last night because their new roommate is just off his mission and hadn't seen it yet. Hurray for 1am curfew on Fridays!

6. I finally found a good place to study!

I have a hard time focusing on homework when Sven the Mac's 20-inch screen offers so many other options. And I don't like the library--too many people. But there is a lovely little secluded place in the Ricks Building (pictured above) perfect for reading and studying. This should increase my productivity by infinity.

5. The Hello Kitty Coloring Book

My mom sent a bunch of crayons up with me after Christmas Break and I had nothing to color! In my determination to remedy this, I bought a 288 page Hello Kitty coloring book. I almost got the Star Wars one, but it was part of that crap Clone Wars franchise. I am not ashamed of my new hobby. You're just jealous. 

4.Endless Jam Sessions.

My roommate Jenna the Music Ed Major brought an acoustic guitar up with her. Now we're both using it to teach ourselves to play. I remembered a few things from back when I actually practiced Francesca (my guitar that's been sitting lonely in my room for the past three years). My fingers are sore and covered in band-aids, and Jenna's thumb has turned funny colors from strumming with it. But it's way fun. Since Thursday, we've spent at least three hours a day taking turns playing. 

3. Getting things worked out.

Don't you worry your pretty little head about the details.

2. Hearing from two members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

Elder Russel M. Nelson gave the devotional on Tuesday and Elder. M. Russell Ballard More will be on my Rexburg Blog.

1. Getting my family's temple work done.

Unless I'm completely mistaken, this is my great-grandmother,(my mother's mother's mother) Margot. I was baptized and confirmed for her and for my great-great-aunt, (my mother's father's mother's sister) Anna. I'm so excited to keep tracing my mom's family line and getting their work done, too!

I'll Be Home for Christmas.

Los Angeles as seen from The Griffith Observatory

While I'm home, let's: 

1. Go to the beach!

2. Go to Disneyland!

3. Grab a Vanilla Crème at Starbucks!

4. See The Princess and the Frog!  

 

5. Get me street legal!

6. Have the Taylor Christmas Pageant at Bill and Carin's on Christmas Eve (as per tradition!)

7. Get some allergy medicine into me so that I can sleep in the same room as my beloved Minnie!

8. Have all the Morgans come down for Noah's baptism!

9. Shop at Target!

10. Not worry about school!

"Congratulations, I'm 100 Years Old."

Last night I went with my friends on a spur-of-the-moment trip to the movies to see a 9:45 showing of "The Proposal."

I really liked it. As far as chick flicks go, it's up there with "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days," the ULTIMATE chick flick.

And Ryan Reynolds is WAY more attractive than Matthew McConaughey. Scarlett Johansson is a VERY lucky woman.