Hi everyone, I’m about 15 weeks into my first pregnancy now, and I’m actually starting to feel like it’s a real thing. It’s funny, I have a lot of friends who were always so excited about being pregnant, but to be honest it has always completely freaked me out. I’ve always had trouble explaining how much it freaked me out or why exactly, but it did. This has nothing to do with my desire to have kids- I have always loved children and wanted to raise a family of my own. Pregnancy just kind of seemed like a scary but necessary thing that would happen at some foggy point in my life to result in said children. Continue reading “Keeping it Real: 10 Surprises of Early Pregnancy (and the 15 Week Bump)”
Month: January 2015
Kale and Three Simple Ways to Enjoy It
I suppose these days you might say that Kale is trending. Kale is a great food to incorporate into your diet because it is low-calorie but jam-packed with vitamins A, C and K as well as iron and potassium. It’s shown evidence as an anti-cancer food and may also help fend off diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease (info from Medical News Today). Continue reading “Kale and Three Simple Ways to Enjoy It”
AMWAM Review of Magic in the Moonlight
Magic in the Moonlight (2014)
Rating: PG-13
Run-time/Word Count: 97 Minutes/Words
Review: Which is most charming: the timeless Colin Firth, the fresh and vibrant Emma 
Stone, or a French-country setting in the 1920s? It’s hard call to make in this classically whimsical Woody Allen film. Luckily, the three complement each other in a way that is…well…charming. Magic in the Moonlight is listed as a “romantic comedy,” but it doesn’t quite fit into that genre. If you’re expecting “chick flick” then you might be disappointed. However, it is magical, eccentric and refreshing…Sort of like you went to a Gatsby party but knew when to leave. Frankly? I loved it.
AMWAM Review of The Giver
The Giver (2014)
Rating: PG-13
Run-time/Word Count: 97 Minutes/Words
Review: What may se
em to copy Recently-Popular- YA-Dystopian Lit-Based-Films is actually based on Lois Lowry’s book which preceeded Hunger Games or Divergent by twentyish years. The casting is mostly well-done: Jeff Bridges is empathy-stirring as the exhausted Giver, Brenton Thwaites is innocent and passionate as Jonas, Katie Holmes is surprisingly believable as “stoic, creepy mom,” and Meryl Streep has weird bangs.
If you’ve read the book, don’t be deterred by the full-color movie trailer with high action shots: the film actually does follow it pretty closely. With more heart than you’d expect, this book-based flick is worth seeing.
AMWAM Review of Left Behind
Left Behind (2014)
Rating: PG-13
Run-time/Word Count: 110 Minutes/Words
Review: A completely nonsensical remake that vaguely resembles the source material. It’s poorly acted, with Nicholas Cage being the only exception. What exactly is a big name actor like Nicholas Cage doing in this film anyway? The tone of the film fluctuates greatly between horror, thriller, and disaster all while conveying a heavy-handed sunday church message. The actual moment of rapture is both shocking and hilarious. Christian pilots apparently had a meeting and decided not to use autopilot that day because planes start magically falling from the sky in the moments following. Towards the end, the film dwindles into an airplane disaster movie as Cage has to try to safely land.
-Dane
Introducing Something New: AMWAM Film Reviews!
Introducing AMWAM (As Many Words As Minutes) Film Reviews
The idea for this concept came about on New Years Eve when my husband and I raided the local Redbox for our New Year’s Party of Two (Yes, we are wild). Normally, we dress up, make some kind of fancy dinner, dance and have some champagne at home followed by a late-night movie. Well, this year I am pregnant and our fridge was broken, so I got some low-prep appetizers and ingredients for mock-champagne (will post on my food section) along with three movies of 2014 that we hadn’t seen: The Giver, Left Behind (the remake) and Magic in the Moonlight.
It had been awhile since I had a movie marathon, and the contrast between these diverse films (and our enjoyment of them) left me wanting to share about with friends and on my blog. However, I also wanted to keep it short and to the point. Movie reviews can be kind of daunting without a word limit. Too much pressure often means it doesn’t happen! So I had a thought: Why not make the word limit the same as the number of minutes in each film? Thus, I give you, AMWAM (pro-nounced “Am-Wham”) Movie Reviews. These will include my brief, honest, and non-spoilery opinion to help you in your film-choosing. Keep an eye out for my AMWAM Reviews of movies recently released at theatres, Redbox or even Netflix!
About Me
My name is Kathryn, but you can call me Katie. I was raised as the only child of two right-brained p
sychotherapists. I’m married to a creative (but incredibly logical and practical) Viking guy from Florida who balances out my ADD and surges of emotional intensity. We currently live on a farm that was started by my great-grandparents in the middle of Nowhere-On-The-Outskirts-of-Extremely-Small-Town Mississippi. Sometimes things fall apart out here in a manner reminiscent of the Chevy Chase film, “Funny Farm,” but we love it anyway. I’m a Southern girl who’s not really all that Southern (though my family is). While I am working towards my Masters degree in English and Creative Writing, I am also teaching Zumba classes, writing my own material and trying to get people around me into healthy lifestyle changes (not such an easy thing in Mississippi). I love movies, books, the arts, healthy cooking, and people watching. I am a Christian who is not afraid of feelings, and I dabble in fiction. I’m also expecting my first baby, so I’m sure there will be blog posts about that, too. I suppose this blog is for anyone who has trouble defining them selves by one thing. I think most of us do have difficulty with that, if we’re honest. I hope you’ll follow me as I write where I am.
Letter to a Concerned Friend from The Grieving Heart
Dear friend,
As the words “How are you doing?” or “Are you okay?” spill out of your mouth, I know that you are only asking because you care. You are trying to help by showing me that yes, you remembered, you understand, you know it’s been hard.
Sometimes maybe you ask because you feel like you have to before we can discuss anything else. You want to get it over with.
A lot of times you just ask because you think it’s probably the only thing you can do.
Actually, there is nothing you can do. Continue reading “Letter to a Concerned Friend from The Grieving Heart”
Write Where You Are | Books, Life, Food, a Little Bit of Everything 