Anticipated Summer Movies

Anyone who has ever met me knows that I love movies. Last summer was a bit of a let down. There were a few good things, but not a lot. This summer is going to be excellent. Here are the movies that I anticipate to be great over the summer.

Avengers: Age of Ultron, May 1st
Okay it is an Avengers movie. And it looks amazing. Who wouldn't go to this? I bet it is the most successful movie of the year. Not the best, Mockingjay Part 2 will be better, but it'll be huge. At the theater, we have ordered special shirts for everyone to wear opening weekend.

Pitch Perfect 2, May 15th

Pitch Perfect was one of my favorite movies. Sequels for movies as awesome as Pitch Perfect usually don't turn out well. They try to hard and it just doesn't go well. I am optimistic about this movie. I think it'll be really funny like the last one, but I bet people are more excited than they need to be.

Tomorrowland, May 22nd

I think it looks cool. The girl in it is in a movie that my parents and I love, Dan in Real Life. She is the moody teenage daughter but now she is the star of the show. Tomorrowland is supposed to be about some town in the future that people study to save the future...? I don't know, but I bet it is successful and a lot of people go. 

San Andreas, May 29th

It is a huge disaster movie with the Rock. Good enough for me and my dad.

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, June 12th
Dad, Malsue, and I will all go see this. It looks like a cross between Fault in Our Stars with A Walk To Remember. It is about a girl who is diagnosed with cancer, and these two kids try to help her out. Looks  like a good movie. I don't know that it'll be big enough and we get in little Tooele, but we will go see it anyways.

Jurassic World, June 12th
This movie is going to be so awesome. Chris Pratt, who I love from Parks and Recreation and Guardians of the Galaxy is the star of the show. I could not tell if this was going to be a sequel or a reboot. It is sort of both. It takes place about 20 years after Jurassic Park failed and the dinosaurs took over and a bunch of people died. The park was rebooted and now called Jurassic World. It is open for about 10 years when visitor numbers start to go down. This means they need to make a new attraction. They decide to create a new dinosaur. Bad idea. Of course this horribly backfires into an awesome movie. So excited!

Inside Out, June 19th
This will be a fun one. So everyone has these little voices in their heads right? Each voice is an emotion, and they determine how we react to stuff. It is a Pixar movie so tons of people will go. I think it looks really good. I recommend watching the trailer, it explains it all. It looks like a a really fun movie that people of many ages will enjoy.

Terminator: Genisys, July 1st
I can't say that I am a huge fan of the Terminator movies, but they are huge and make a new one every few years. I'll go see it. I expect this movie to be pretty popular, as the Avenger crowd will have died down by this time.

Ant-Man, July 17th
Marvel dominates the super hero movie market. Once Avengers dies down, they will release Ant-Man. Paul Rudd is the main star, so I'll go because I think he's fun. I have a really hard time getting excited over a movie called Ant-man. It's a Marvel movie so tons of people will go.

Pixels, July 24th
This film is not yet rated. I think it looks interesting. It is about aliens that see classic video games, see it as us declaring war, so they attack earth as classic video games, pixels and all. Pac-Man, Donkey-Kong, all the classics are here to destroy. I think it looks good. It's an Adam Sandler movie. Usually his movies suck, but he has a good one every once in a while.

Paper Towns, July 24th

Paper Towns is a book written by John Green, who had Fault In Our Stars. He's pretty cool. Every time I finish one of his books I get a really bad  headache. Not sure why. Anyways, this movie is about some high schools guys, one of which has a crush on the girl next door, go on a mission to find the missing girl next door. Margo Roth Spiegelman. She is a very popular but very mysterious girl. After an awesome adventure with Quentin Jacobsen, she disappears. Malsue and I read the book and we are very excited to go.

Mission: Impossible 5, July 31st
It's another Mission: Impossible movie. What more can I say?

Fantastic Four, August 7th
They made this movie a few years back and it was pretty good. Since it was made, the Human Torch has become the much better Captain America. Plus, Marvel can do what they want so why not make another Fantastic Four movie? The cast is so much better. Miles Teller, Micheal B Jordan, fun people. I bet a lot of people go to this after Ant-Man dies down.

These are all the movies I can think of right now. I love working at the theater. It is so much more fun when there are good movies going on. This summer is going to be so busy with huge movies. And these are just the biggest ones I can think of. I recommend watching the trailers on imdb. Get all sorts of excited.

Finals Week

Finals Week is almost over. I only have two more to take and they won't be very hard. The worst ones are over.

Wednesday and Thursday- I needed a quiet place to sit and study and I just couldn't do it in my apartment. I called Gam Wednesday night and asked if I could come stay with her. She said yes and I was on the next train to Salt Lake. I really love staying with Gam and Pa. It is just nice and quiet and very relaxing. Plus I was really sick and just needed to be somewhere else. They were wonderful and let me come stay with them.

Friday- Friday was the first day of Finals. Each test you have to take can go one of two ways; the teacher sends it to the testing center and you take it whenever you want, or they schedule a time in class and everyone takes it at that time. Most of the religion courses are turned in to the testing center and you take them whenever you want. After I left Gam and Pa's house and got back to school, I headed over to the Wilk where they were doing all the religious testing. Book of Mormon and Pearl of Great Price are the two finals I was most confident about. The Book of Mormon one took me about an hour and half and had a big essay portion. Pearl of Great Price only took me about a half hour. They could have gone better, but the way those two teachers do grades it'll be just fine. Later that day, mixing the not-so-wonderful finals, the upcoming beastly finals, not getting a certain job I was excited about, and being sick, I was having a really rough day. I called my mom and we talked for like an hour. She's great. I love her. I feel much better now.

Saturday- Today was the day that I was going to have my hardest final. Not excited and I felt like no amount of studying would make me feel ready. First I had to go take my Crusades final. Really shot myself in the foot here. Once I switched my major, this class and one other only count as elective credits. Taking some rough stuff for elective credits. Anyways, that final went just fine. The teacher is really easy to get along with and you would have to try to not do well in that class, just super boring and not important. The US History final is what I was nervous about. I know my US History very well. But not the way he wants us to. We did not read things like the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Emancipation Proclamation, nothing like that. We hardly even talked about them. We spend a TON of time talking about journal articles and letters written by everyday people in reaction to the politics of the time. So stupid. Those documents do not have great historical significance. We spent less than one day talking about the Revolutionary War, which is probably the most important event in our history. Just can't win with this guy. He admits to being a very harsh grader and that people usually do not do well in his class or get good grades. Why did I do this? Taking his final took me about two hours. All essay. I feel like I answered everything as best as I could and I think my answers  were very good. However, he is very stingy and I may get docked points for anything. You could probably wear a shirt he didn't like and you would get docked points. I finished it and turned it in, but I still can't help but worry about it. It is over now and there is nothing else I can do.

Sunday- We all slept in and got ready for church. I have spent the last several Sundays with my family and my home ward. I have a routine for getting ready and it's all sorts of different when you have roommates around. I love them, but it is still very different from any situation I have been in before. Anyways, while I was sitting in sacrament meeting, Darick's mom Michele called me. She is not the easiest person to get a hold of, so I called her back right after the meeting. We talked on the phone for a long time. She is really fun to talk to. She tells me that Darick will be coming home July 15th at about 2:00 in the afternoon. That is only 87 days away!!!!! It has been so long... It will be crazy having him back but it will also be wonderful. I've started planning a few fun dates that will take pretty much the entire day but it is going to be so much fun.

Monday- I have my Environmental Biology Final scheduled from 11:00-2:00. Should be just fine. I haven't studied a ton, but since it is a topic I am so interested, I seem to have a better memory of things we talk about and the stuff we do. I know the material for that course a lot better than the material for my other courses. I am still going to study for a few hours before I go take it, but it should be just fine.

Tuesday- This is where it gets annoying. I have one last final scheduled for 8:00 that night. Stupid. Can't just take it whenever, have to be there at 8:00 in the evening to take an essay test. It is for Scandinavian History. I took the class because I thought it would be cool to take it and learn about where my hundreds of years of ancestors are from. They were some pretty prominent people. I was not aware that speaking Norwegian and Swedish was a prerequisite. That was not listed when I signed up.  Literally half the time the teacher talks it is in either Swedish or Norwegian. I am also the only student in there who is not married or engaged and did not serve a mission in the Scandinavian region. Really shot myself in the foot with this one. Anyways, during the day my mom is going to come and help me pack up my stuff and come home. Everything must be packed up, cleaned, and moved out by April 25th at 10am, but I am getting out early. Once we finish our tests we are free to go. Since my final is going to finish late, I can't decide if I will check out that night and come home, or if I will stay that night and come home the next day. Probably just come home that night. I'll get everything done on Tuesday so I may as well just go home late that night. On Wednesday I would just get up and check out.

Wednesday- Odds are I will be home by then and enjoying a nice long break! I will have a break of about 4 months! I was going to do spring semester, but none of the classes I need are offered so it wouldn't be worth it to stick around. I'll just get to be home with my family, work at the movie theater that I love so much, play with puppies, play games, I'll start a summer tv series and get hooked on it, Darick will come home soon, it is just going to be a great few months.

This is what my schedule looks like. Crazy few days. Last week was bad too because I had a ton of papers due.

Just like last semester, I try to find humor in things. Here are a few pictures that have helped me have a laugh.

End of Semester Meeting

So the end of the semester and the end of my Freshman year of school are almost here. I am excited for the first year to be done, but there are many things I will miss. Tonight we all had to go to a meeting that covered everything we will need to know for check-out. Pretty simple stuff. They said that the average person spends 5 hours cleaning and 5 hours packing. That sounds like a bit much. When I left home, I had everything packed up pretty fast. It's not that hard. Anyways, I have selected a final check-out time and know when I will be home for the summer. April 22 at 11:30 I will be moved back home full-time. My finals will be on Saturday the 18th, Monday the 20th, and one on Tuesday the 21st at 8:00 pm. After I finish my finals, I can come home.
Freshman year was fun. I'm sure I will do a full post about how it went, but now it not the time. Finals week is upon us yet again. This week I finished all my papers. A 7 page book review on a book I didn't really read much of, an 11 page paper on Swedish politics in the 19th century, and a 3 page paper on Mormon 6-8 for my Book of Mormon class. It's been a crazy few days. Oh well. My finals won't be too bad.
This week we said our final good-byes to our dear friend Christian. He went to the MTC yesterday. He'll be serving the San Francisco area for the next 2 years. It was fun to see him again. He is really funny and we will all miss him.

April loves Thursday

So my roommate April is always crazy on Thursday nights. I am not always sure why, but most of our adventures are on Thursday nights. Tonight we all came home from class to find that Marybeth's wonderful mom had left us all an Easter basket! In our baskets we had all been left these masks. We aren't sure exactly what their purpose is, but it does't matter. They are kinda cool. April freaked out and said we should all put them on and take pictures. I've learned not to question things so much.

I'm in the middle, April is in the green jacket, Ingrid in the blue.

April Fool's Day

So we all have this really good friend, Christian. He just left school a few weeks ago for his mission but he heads to the MTC in like two weeks. He would come over all the time and just hang out with us. We would go play basketball a few times a week. He was so much fun to have around. We, as roommates, don't really go out and do as many things without him. Anyways, he was texting my roommate Alex this morning. Another one of our good friends texted us all and said that his brother had just gotten engaged. It's April Fool's day so he was just kidding... it was kind of dumb. This conversation between Alex and Christian went down this morning. (Alex is green, Christian is gray)

Never been called a shaman before. But I guess I have his permission to get married whenever I want. Christian is a great person.

Completely unrelated, on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, April and I walk to class together. We will usually leave five minutes early and get a bagel on our way to class. We left a little late so we got them after class, but they are super good. Asiago Cheese bagels. Plus the creamery has awesome chocolate milk.

Since it is Easter time, they are selling these super cute cookies. Had to get one. 

Fall Semester 2015

I started to register for classes for the upcoming fall semester. All my roommates and I stayed up until midnight and registered as fast as we could. Since we are all still young students, we did not have first pick at classes. We all still got most of what we needed and now we just need to wait and see how the wait list activity goes.
My major is Wildlife and Wildlands Conservation. This will let me work in national parks, forest service, zoos, pretty much any place that needs someone who works with the environment. The possibilities are vast and specific so I won't list them all out. For this major, I have to take 20 something classes that are in this major, 10 or so biology classes, religion classes, and whatever generals I don't have done. It's going to take me a while. Most of the classes I need are taught at one time during certain semesters only. Very specific times. I was able to get most of what I need, only one will have to wait until next semester. I've talked with the people leading my department and we have all my required courses planned out for the next few years. Only a few of them overlapped and I am not able to take it fall 2015 so it'll have to be fall 2016. Oh well, it'll take me a while, but I will get it all done.

Here is what my schedule looks like as of right now. I might change a few things around just for time, but it is all very specific so we'll see what happens.

GEOG 306- Public Land Conservation
Environmental and social geography of public lands; analyzing historical, planning, management, and ecological issues

PHSCS 137- Severe and Hazardous Weather
Non-mathematical introduction to meteorology. Atmospheric structure and dynamic behavior, focusing on short-term violent weather and longer-term hazards; drought, floods, heat waves, cold waves, and climate change, including human environmental impact

PWS 115- Introduction to Wildlife and Wildlands Conservation
Assisting students in choosing individual professions and curricula

PWS 344- Natural History of Wildlife
Wildlife species and their habitats, including ecology, life histories, adaptations, behavior, genetics and population viability variables, and the ethics of global stewardship. Field trips required

PWS 350- Rangeland Ecology
Distribution and abundance of organisms and their interactions with the physical and biotic components of the earth emphasizing rangeland ecosystems

REL A 211- New Testament
Historical background, narrative, and doctrines of the New Testament. Covers the life and teachings f Jesus Christ set forth in the four Gospels

STAC 155- Self Defense
Fundamental principles, skills, and techniques
I have had friends take it and said it was really fun, and all my roommates want to take the class together

Most of these classes relate to my major but some are generals. Once you pick your major, you can take generals that relate to that major. Some generals even count as prerequisites for other classes in your major. Later in school, I will be able to take a lot of really fun classes. Some include:
Biological Diversity: Animals
Animal Restraint
Plant Classification and Identification
Animal Disease, Biosecurity, and Zoonoses
Wildlife Law Enforcement
Statistics for Geographers
World Religions
Pioneers and Persecution 1846-1899
Safety Certifications for Field Biologists (ATV, snowmobiles, chainsaws, fighting off bears, all that really cool intense outdoor stuff)
Mammalogy
Ornithology
Soil Sciences +Lab
There are so many more classes I have to take. It's a shame I can only do 18 credits per semester. I wish these classes were a bit easier to schedule. Too many of them are only available in certain semesters in certain years, only taught at one time, only taught at a certain time of year... very frustrating. It might take me a while to get everything done, but I'll get there.

Movies

Movies are clearly very important to me. Just about everyone knows that. I work in a theater and spent most weekends of my childhood going to movies with my dad. It was so much fun... ah to be a kid again. I love the environment of movies and movie theaters. There is so much going on, not just the stuff that you see as a customer, but there are armies of people working behind the scenes. Anyways, I wanted to make my few readers aware of what I think are some of the best movies. My research has been extensive and I've sampled just about every genre of movie.

1. The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, Mockingjay (1 &2)

If you know anything about me, you know that I am indeed the biggest fan of this franchise. I have been with them since the very beginning. I read Hunger Games about 2 weeks after it was first published. I have been hooked on everything Hunger Games since then. No movie could ever replace this franchise in my top spot. Jennifer Lawrence, an academy award winner, is nothing less than perfect. The movies, while close to the books, has action, violence, romance, and the example of Katniss and what she stands for are a great example for readers to look up to. Plus, Katniss is just so cool, but that's just my opinion. I can't fully express how wonderful this franchise is... just take my word for it, they are the best books every written.

2. Easy A
This hilarious movie stars the wonderful Emma Stone. The overall plot of the movie is not a great thing. It is about a girl who has some rumors spread, she takes... advantage... of the situation, but it quickly gets out of hand and she becomes one of the less wholesome people of the school. However, it is all just rumors and she comes out on top. The movie follows the same formula that many of John Hughes' movies did, and we all know he made excellent movies. She even makes many references to his movies and says "...but no. John Hughes did not direct my life." I think this movie is one of the funniest movies I have ever seen and highly recommend it if you are looking for a laugh. Emma Stone, playing Olive Penterghast, is full of witty remarks between her and he co-stars. My dad I quote this movie more than anything else and we have seen hundreds of movies together.

3. Moonrise Kingdom
I like the quirky films. For being a low-key movie, they have a pretty decent cast. Bruce Willis, Bill Murray, Ed Norton, Bob Balaban, Frances McDormand, and Tilda Swinton all play a part. The movie is about two twelve year-old kids who become pen-pals before they fall in love and run away together. Set in the 1960's, it looks like it could have been filmed in the 60's. The score for the movie is excellent, all classical music and very well done. The kids run away just before a massive storm makes its way to their New England island and everyone goes crazy trying to find them. I believe that the beauty of a movie is in the details. This movie is full of great little details that just make it so much better. Little comments, things they do, places they go to, it just builds to be a great movie. Plus it was nominated for a bunch of awards when it first came out.

4. Tangled
Who doesn't love a good Disney movie? Rapunzel was never my favorite Disney princess growing up, but hey, she didn't have her movie yet. Zachary Levi and Mandy Moore voice Flynn Rider/Eugene Fitzerbert and Rapunzel. Mandy Moore is pretty cool and she's a great singer. Zachary Levi played in one of my family's favorite shows, Chuck, as the main character. Unpopular opinion these days, I thought Tangled was way better than Frozen for reasons that can't fully be listed. Frozen is the most popular animated movie of all time, but Tangled is also great. Frozen and Tangled actually take place in the same universe and the characters are cousins. Anyways, watch Tangled before you watch Frozen, it's better.

5. Mean Girls/Pitch Perfect
Mean Girls is the most quoted movie of my generation. There are a few movies for my age group that you just have to see. This movie has a huge cast, Lindsay Lohan, Rachel McAdams, Tina fey, Amy Poehler, Amanda Seyfriend, the list goes on. Tons of people were in it before they were really big names. Big names anyways, but they just got more famous in part because of this movie. Mean Girls... how do I describe Mean Girls? You just have to watch it. It is one of the most popular movies for this day in age, even though it is like 11 years old.
Pitch Perfect came out just a few years ago. It didn't do great in theaters. It started to be really popular a few months later when people started talking about it. A movie about a college a Capella team doesn't exactly attract the massive crowds. Once people started to hear how funny it was, everyone saw it. Next to Mean Girls and Finding Nemo, people of my generation quote this movie all the time. The sequel comes out in a few weeks and I bet everyone goes to see it. Sequels are never as good, but it will still be good. Pitch Perfect is always a great choice if you want a laugh.