Confessions of a film critic... hardly!

SUPPOSEDLY if you've seen over 85 films, you have no life.
Mark the ones you've seen. There are 239 films on this list.Copy this list, then, put x's next to the films you've seen, add them up, and click post at the bottom.

( ) Rocky Horror Picture Show
(X) Grease
(X) Pirates of the Caribbean
(X) Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest
( ) Boondock Saints
(X) Fight Club
(X) Starsky and Hutch
(X) Neverending Story
( ) Blazing Saddles
(X) Airplane
Total: 7

(X) The Princess Bride
(X) Anchorman
(X) Napoleon Dynamite
(X) Labyrinth
( ) Saw
( ) Saw II
( ) White Noise
( ) White Oleander
(X) Anger Management
(X) 50 First Dates
(X) The Princess Diaries
(X) The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement
Total: 8

(X) Scream
( ) Scream 2
( ) Scream 3
(X) Scary Movie
(X) Scary Movie 2
(X) Scary Movie 3
(X) Scary Movie 4
(X) American Pie
( ) American Pie 2
( ) American Wedding
( ) American Pie Band Camp
Total: 6

(X) Harry Potter 1
(X) Harry Potter 2
(X) Harry Potter 3
(X) Harry Potter 4
( ) Resident Evil 1
( ) Resident Evil 2
(X) The Wedding Singer
( ) Little Black Book
( ) The Village
(X) Lilo & Stitch
Total: 6

(X) Finding Nemo
(X) Finding Neverland
(X) Signs
(X) The Grinch
( ) Texas Chainsaw Massacre
( ) Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning
(X) White Chicks
( ) Butterfly Effect
(X) 13 Going on 30
(X) I, Robot
(X) Robots
Total: 8

(X) Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story
( ) Universal Soldier
( ) Lemony Snicket: A Series Of Unfortunate Events
( ) Along Came Polly
( ) Deep Impact
(X) King Pin
(X) Never Been Kissed
(X) Meet The Parents
(X) Meet the Fockers
(X) Eight Crazy Nights
(X) Joe Dirt
(X) KING KONG
Total: 8

(X) A Cinderella Story
(X) The Terminal
(X) The Lizzie McGuire Movie
(X) Passport to Paris
(X) Dumb & Dumber
(X) Dumber & Dumberer
( ) Final Destination
( ) Final Destination 2
( ) Final Destination 3
( ) Halloween
(X) The Ring
( ) The Ring 2
( ) Surviving X-MAS
(X) Flubber
Total: 8

( ) Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle
(X) Practical Magic
(X) Chicago
( ) Ghost Ship
( ) From Hell
( ) Hellboy
( ) Secret Window
(X) I Am Sam
( ) The Whole Nine Yards
( ) The Whole Ten Yards
Total: 3

(X) The Day After Tomorrow
(X) Child's Play
( ) Seed of Chucky
( ) Bride of Chucky
(X) Ten Things I Hate About You
(X) Just Married
(X) Gothika
(X) Nightmare on Elm Street
( ) Sixteen Candles
(X) Remember the Titans
( ) Coach Carter
( ) The Grudge
( ) The Grudge 2
(X) The Mask
( ) Son Of The Mask
Total: 8

(X) Bad Boys
(X) Bad Boys 2
( ) Joy Ride
( ) Lucky Number Slevin
(X) Ocean's Eleven
(X) Ocean's Twelve
(X) Bourne Identity
(X) Bourne Supremecy
( ) Lone Star
( ) Bedazzled
( ) Predator I
( ) Predator II
( ) The Fog
(X) Ice Age
( ) Ice Age 2: The Meltdown
( ) Curious George
Total: 7

(X) Independence Day
( ) Cujo
( ) A Bronx Tale
( ) Darkness Falls
( ) Christine
(X) ET
( ) Children of the Corn
(X) My Bosses Daughter
( ) Maid in Manhattan
(X) War of the Worlds
(X) Rush Hour
(X) Rush Hour 2
Total: 6

( ) Best Bet
(X) How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
(X) She's All That
( ) Calendar Girls
( ) Sideways
( ) Mars Attacks
( ) Event Horizon
(X) Ever After
(X) Wizard of Oz
(X) Forrest Gump
( ) Big Trouble in Little China
(X) The Terminator
( ) The Terminator 2
( ) The Terminator 3
Total: 6

(X) X-Men
(X) X-2
(X) X-3
(X) Spider-Man
( ) Spider-Man 2
( ) Sky High
( ) Jeepers Creepers
( ) Jeepers Creepers 2
(X) Catch Me If You Can
(X) The Little Mermaid
(X) Freaky Friday
( ) Reign of Fire
( ) The Skulls
(X) Cruel Intentions
( ) Cruel Intentions 2
(X) The Hot Chick
(X) Shrek
( ) Shrek 2
Total: 10

( ) Swimfan
(X) Miracle on 34th street
(X) Old School
( ) The Notebook
( ) K-Pax
( ) Krippendorf's Tribe
(X) A Walk to Remember
( ) Ice Castles
( ) Boogeyman
( ) The 40-year-old Virgin
Total: 3

(X) Lord of the Rings Fellowship of the Ring
(X) Lord of the Rings The Two Towers
(X) Lord of the Rings Return Of the King
(X) Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
(X) Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
(X) Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Total: 6

( ) Baseketball
( ) Hostel
( ) Waiting for Guffman
( ) House of 1000 Corpses
( ) Devils Rejects
(X) Elf
( ) Highlander
( ) Mothman Prophecies
(X) American History X
( ) Three
Total: 1

( ) The Jacket
( ) Kung Fu Hustle
( ) Shaolin Soccer
( ) Night Watch
(X) Monsters Inc.
(X) Titanic
(X) Monty Python and the Holy Grail
( ) Shaun Of the Dead
( ) Willard
Total: 3

( ) High Tension
( ) Club Dread
(X) Hulk
( ) Dawn Of the Dead
(X) Hook
( ) Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe
(X) 28 days later
( ) Orgazmo
( ) Phantasm
(X) Waterworld
Total: 4

( ) Kill Bill vol 1
( ) Kill Bill vol 2
( ) Mortal Kombat
( ) Wolf Creek
( ) Kingdom of Heaven
( ) the Hills Have Eyes
( ) I Spit on Your Grave aka the Day of the Woman
( ) The Last House on the Left
( ) Re-Animator
( ) Army of Darkness
Total: 0

(X) Star Wars Ep. I The Phantom Menace
( )Star Wars Ep. II Attack of the Clones
( ) Star Wars Ep. III Revenge of the Sith
(X) Star Wars Ep. IV A New Hope
(X) Star Wars Ep. V The Empire Strikes Back
(X) Star Wars Ep. VI Return of the Jedi
( ) Ewoks Caravan Of Courage
( ) Ewoks The Battle For EndorTotal so far: 96
( ) The Matrix
( ) The Matrix Reloaded
( ) The Matrix Revolutions
( ) Animatrix
( ) Evil Dead
( ) Evil Dead 2
( ) Team America: World Police
( ) Red Dragon
( ) Silence of the Lambs
( ) Hannibal
Total: 4

( ) Dirty Harry
( ) Magnum Force
( ) The Enforcer
( ) Sudden Impact
( ) The Dead Pool
( ) Every Which Way But Loose
Total: 0

(X) The Blues Brothers
(X) Ferris Bueller's Day Off
( ) Rent
(X) Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
(X) The Untouchables
Total: 4

Now Add them up and...TOTAL- 116

Who says I don't have a life? I am just cultrally enriched.

Oscar Fashion Yay and Nay in my book

It was the best of times


Sarah Jessica Parker

Her "nearly mint" gown as she referred to it was AMAZING. So flattering on her. The bodice is so pretty!

Marisa Tomei

Everything is perfect about this! Look at all the HAND PLEATED pleats. So amazing!

Queen Latifa

It seems like she always gets it right. This gown is so pretty and the color is such eye candy!

Kate Winslet

I don't even know what to call the color on her dress. So beautiful. I love how there is minimal accessories so all you see is her amazing dress.

Penelope Cruz

OK, this is my FAVORITE!!!!!! So amazing! She looks like a princess for real! I love everything about this dress and about her jewelry! MAMA LIKE!

It was the worst of times!

Miley Cyrus

What the crap? It looks like something from under the DEEP sea!

Tilda Swinton

Its a shame that she is such an amazing actress yet her fashion is always awful!

Heidi Klum

What the crap was she thinking? Her fake bake is awful and her hair looks like she just got out of the shower. The cut and color of the dress is not for her!

Jessica Biel

It seriously looks like she took the sheet off of her bed and tied a few knots in it. So sad.

Allen, Shupe, Owens, Bivens, McDonald-Davis Family Fun Night!

Well this last Sunday we had Harrison's side of the family over... sort of. Well, Harrison's brother, Nick, is married to Joy. Joy has a lot of sisters. Most of her sisters live here in Utah. Those sisters have become pretty much our family too even though we are not blood relation! We enjoy them all! So, we had them all over for the monthly family dinner. Well, of course we had to set up the camera and lighting and snap some photos of our kin.

Here are some test photos we took and the only guinea pig was.... me.... so here is ME....






I just can't get over how freaking cute my niece is! I pretty much want to eat her up! In an Obama supporting baby-eating sort of way (sorry to all of you who do not understand this very innocent and very inside joke)

Emily and Geoff

Melanie and Taylor

Shawn, April, Hailey, and baby on the way

Nick, Joy, Eli, Gabbs, and baby on the way

Harrison and Jaala

We had lots of fun. If I had planned a little better, I would have totally had an Oscar themed party since the Academy Awards were on that night! Way to drop the ball, I know!

We love our families, no matter how non-blood related they are! YAY!

Gladden Family Fun Night!

Well, this last Sunday I had the "Utah" family over. We had so much fun. Harrison and I broke out the studio lighting and took some photos of all of us (minus Harrison since he was the photographer). There were tons of candid shots. I don't really need to explain a lot of them. They are what they are... funny!

Bryce being a gangsta like his older cousins

This was supposed to be our Abercrombie and Fitch shot.... oh well

I think Lisa stinks!

Love means many things

OK, this one I have to explain. Lisa, Vermil, and I put on really red lipstick for some of our pictures. Well we were dorking around and all of the sudden Uncle Bryant comes from around the corner with lipstick on too! We all about died! This shot is priceless. You couldn't recreate this shot if you wanted. It was so funny!

We told Bryce to kiss his daddy but it looks like he is telling his daddy secrets.

Needless to say, it was a good time. It was fun to try out the lights and figure things out. Most of all, it was fun spending time with family! Family is so important to me. The bonds we share as family should always stay strong... through good times and bad times. Life is too short to be mad at each other. There is only time for love.... and red lipstick!

I love you family! I really do!

What the shiz?

Well, some very interesting things have happened in my world of eclectic, cozy, and shabby world of decore and lifestyle. At the end of last year (2008) I found out that a couple of awesome mag's were not going to be printed anymore (Mary Englebreit's line of fab. reading to name some). I currently have a subscription to Country Living (thanks Jane for the awesome Christmas gift of that) and I haven't seen my February issue.... I didn't get ANY cute and amazing ideas for Valentines Day.... is this magazine gone with the wind as well?

The worst part of this spiral down is that Shabby Chic filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy a few weeks ago. Poor Rachel Ashwell. She is such an inspiration to me. Everything about her and her style of living intrigues me. I also order from a cute little online store called One Hundred Wishes who is also scaling down quite a bit as of late. I can't find or order all of the amazing little notions that I have in the past. I just hope I can still find places and things to read that still inspire me!

Shabby Chic.... May you rest in peace.

OK, I think I am done sulking.

Thankful Thursday even though it is Wednesday

I need a pick me up today.... it's a downer of a day. So, Thankful Thursday... since it will be Thursday in like 4 hours anyway!

Good News
Who doesn't like it? I had some good news today... I calculated my raise for the year! A whole 18 cents. HA! The company is focusing on big bonuses and not big raises. But as a co-worker of mine says "It is better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick!" Aint that the truth?

Sleeping
I have finally been sleeping through the night thanks to White Noise (click here for link) and some amazing anxiety meds that I have been prescribed. An entire week with at least 6 hours. It's a Christmas miracle.

Post Its
They are the handiest things EVER! I seriously use like 40 a day. That is NO exaggeration what so ever! Have you seen the SUPER STICKY ones? They stick to just about everything... including the back of someones shirt with an obscene word on it!

Belly Laughs
I need one everyday! I need somebody to make me laugh so hard that a tear may fall. I love a good belly laugh and I have had quite a few lately.

Boylan Soda
Harrison and I discovered this gourmet soda at the grocery store the other day! It is delicious to the taste and very desirable by those who partake of such a wonderful creation of man. And the best part is... the glass bottles it comes in are so cute and I am keeping them to put some spring and summer blossoms in and keep them as vases! So cute.... and how environmentally friendly I am being.

Well to end this blog post... I need to apologize to my sister in law Robyn. I have copied her blog look. But I SWEAR I did it before I knew she did! The background is so freaking cute... I had to pick it... and then I read her blog and realized she had the same. Maybe it is true that great minds think alike!

YAY.... another addition of Thankful Thursday. Hey... comment on some of these posts. I would love to know if anybody reads this totally random crap that we post on the "Inter-web".

Peace out!

Back by popular demand.... THANKFUL THURSDAY!!!!!

Ladies and Gentleman... boys and girls... I here by give you... Thankful Thursday!

But really. I know it has been a LONG time since I have posted anything on this here blog. I have been super busy and to tell you the truth... I have not given this blog thing a second thought the last couple of months. It got so bad HARRISON started posting... now that is saying something. Especially since he told me he would leave the blog thing up to me. Well... I have decided to reform and get back to my old ways. So to kick off the "Jaala's back in town" revival, I thought I would post a Thankful Thursday post.

Things I am thankful for:

Earmuffs!
The Provo winter days can get bitter! Since I have been walking to work in the snow (I don't drive in that white crap) and I have short hair, I decided to purchase some earmuffs. Oh boy are they a life saver! My ears are saved from frostbite every single morning and evening! Thanks earmuffs, I love you!

Little House on the Prairie
If you know me at all, you know that I have loved the Little House on the Prairie series from the 70's pretty much my whole life. I have recently been watching the series on DVD and I have loved every minute of it. Ma is so kind and Hot Pa is such a good husband and father (I call him Hot Pa because Michael Landon is one smokin' hot dude). I remember when I was little I would pray at night that I could be like Half Pint. Now that I am older and wiser I have come to appreciate the good moral messages contained in every episode... and yes... I cry at EVERY episode at some point.

Clean Dishes
Since being diagnosed with Seasonal Affective Disorder (yes I am allergic to winter) this winter, I was given homework to find things that I could do everyday to make me happy. One of those things has been housework. Yes, its true... Jaala Allen has become a pretty darn good house cleaner. I now find enjoyment in sweeping the floor and vacuuming the hallway. I even like doing the dishes (I am sure my mother has fainted right about now... I loathed the dirty dishes as an adolescent). The feeling of going to bed with a clean house and waking up to a clean house has sure boosted moral for me. Ah, the joys of clean homes.

Well, that about wraps it up for this week. I vow to be a better blogger. I promise to keep this up to date... between Harrison and I, I am sure we will keep you well informed on our life happenings and we might entertain you too!

PEACE OUT!

Skip Forward to January

We made a visit to Denver this weekend to go to a concert for The Killers. The weather was beautiful: high 50s and low 60s with sun the whole time.
The show was very fun and exciting. Unfortunately we were not allowed to bring any cameras into the show, sooo there are no photos of that event. We did however take a trip to The Buckhorn Exchange which is the oldest restaurant in Denver. It was created in 1893 and they have liquor license #1 for Denver County.



It is located in a very strage place however. Apparently the city center has moved a little in 106 years. The food is very meat oriented and the restaurant is very western.



This is a melding of two photos of the ground floor in the restaurant. We took Robyn and Jordan and we all ate upstairs.



We had Rattlesnake as an appetizer, Jordan and I got Beef Tenderloin, Jaala got the Buffalo and Elk combo plate, and Robyn was even able to fill herself with a loaded potato and a salad. The other special was Yak and Ostrich, and another appetizer we could have gotten was rocky mountain oysters.



That is a wax statue of the Duke checkin out a baby bear. Western.

The day after we went to the Buckhorn Exchange was MLK day, and we went downtown to check out the capitol and all that jazz. We didn't really put together the fact of what day it was until we got there however. So the civic center area was loaded with people gathered for the holiday.



You can't really tell here but there were quite a few people there. I think when we got there, whatever had been happening was winding down, because the people gradually got to be fewer and fewer.



Jaala and I were intrigued by a large group of guys of all ages wearing purple shirts and jackets with Omega Psi Phi on them. We got a few of them to group together to take photos of them. They are affiliated with a fraternity designed for young black men and they boast members nationwide.



We then went over to the capitol building and Jaala stood on the mile high marker on the steps leading up to the front doors.





After this we said goodbye to Denver and caught a flight back to frigid and hazy Salt Lake and Provo.

Nick Turns 30

Nick turned 30 on Dec. 27 so we brought Mom back up with us so she could go to the party for him. The party had a Rock Band theme with one caveat: to play you had to be in costume. So there are some funny pictures of folks in wigs and leather jackets.










Fun was had by all. Most everyone who came to the party played a song or two.



There was a gorgeous spread of sandwichables, and pizza.



Joy was excited to use her new pizza cutter.

Holiday Update

Harrison Here:
It turns out we didn't take hardly any pictures of our Christmas escapades. There are literally about five total pictures from Christmas on our camera. We spent the time in Grand Junction going between Jaala's parents' and my Mom and Dennis' house. Jordan and Robyn were in town, making for the first time we have seen them since they moved to Ft. Collins at the beginning of November. So here are the photos we did get:

This is Jordan and Jaala one night at Mom and Dennis'

Jaala's Family does a White Elephant on Christmas eve and here are Laura, Harry Larry (a friend of Curtis) and Jaala's parents.

That about does it for decent photos of the Christmas holiday. New years was also pretty uneventful but we did take some fairly good photos of Nick's 30th birthday. More on that to come....