My Experience With... The Lego Movie

Now this is the first time I've posted a movie review. I wish I'd done this last year, when it came out.

On Sunday, I watched this at a friend's... house? Well, she's house-sitting for missionaries, and so, it's kind of her house. For now. Anyway, she invited a bunch of people, including yours truly, for post-church lunch, chatting, and The Lego Movie. Needless to say, I was quite excited. I had not watched it as of that point, and I had just talked about it with some co-workers a couple of days earlier. Not to mention, "Everything is Awesome" came up on my "Movie Time" (movie, tv, theatre soundtrack) Pandora station.... and it's been stuck in my head ever since.

Alright, then, on to the movie. IT WAS AMAZING. I kid you not, I figured that a movie based on a toy franchise loved by generations would be completely botched up. Nope. It was a refreshingly cool movie that was uplifting, and pretty much free of completely unnecessary gags! Even the protagonist, Emmet, a completely average Joe in every sense of the word, running out of the house without his "clothes" on and the ever-popular sitcom (in the Lego universe of Bricksburg), "Where Are My Pa[aaaaa]nts?" were still funny!

Basically, watching this video will give you an all-star cornucopia of both the Celebrity and Lego Celebrity realms!

In the Real World Celebrity realm you've got:

• Will Arnett
• Elizabeth Banks
• Alison Brie
• Charlie Day
• Keith Ferguson
• Will Ferrell
• Morgan Freeman (WHAAAT?)
• Jonah Hill
• Key (as in "& Peele")
• Shaq (not kidding you. Again, WHAAAT?)
• Channing Tatum
• SO MANY MORE!

In the Lego Realm... whoof... Okay, forget it, too many characters and realms, just watch the movie, and be amazed at the number of appearances that are made.

The movie itself starts with this weird, Sci-Fi Lord of the Rings-type scene of the main antagonist, Lord Business, settling some score with Morgan Freeman's kinda hippy Gandalf-type character. (Forgive my descriptions, they were the first things that came to mind.) Hippy Gandalf-type, whose name is Vitruvius, by the way, prophesies in rhyme about some chosen one ("The Special") who will stop Lord Business' no-gooding.

Cut SpongeBob-style (8 1/2 years later) to Emmet, a regular guy who wants to be cool, popular, and special. He follows instructions for everything. No, really, everything. How to start the day, how to go to work, he even misses the "getting dressed" step. Well, either he missed it, or he followed the directions so closely, he forgot to use common sense for a nanosecond. His instruction books pretty much tell him how to completely live his life. You can see that he's even influenced by what he's told to do if you take a close look at his posters, and his choice in television show(s). I will say, lego jumping jacks... hysterical. :)

It's kind of surreal, though, when you think about it. Kinda ridiculous for a block-man to be told how to live life by a bunch of block-shaped "books." Then again, are you reading this on your phone, tablet, laptop or electronic device? Is your next site Social Site, Buzzfeed, or Pinterest? I thought as much.

(I'm guilty, too! I just cut off my Facebook account, and it hurts so good! #FacebookFree, anyone? No?)

Emmet's failing search to become popular leads him to lose one of his instruction books, which in turn, has him distracted to the point where his adventure ultimately begins. He meets a young Lego-lady named "Wild Style," Vitruvius, Unikitty (my favorite character), and Batman. Oh yeah. Batman. It's really great, too, how they turned such a popular character-turned-meme into an integral part of the movie!

The movie takes a lot of twists and turns, and it makes a very touching ending. I won't give any more away, I don't want to ruin it for those of you who haven't seen it yet! (Hey, I told another co-worker about it today, and she hasn't seen it yet.) I will leave you with the fact that it is, well, an awesome movie! Lol. I would highly recommend it.


Peace out.

Everything is awesome
Everything is cool when you're part of a team
Everything is awesome when we're living our dream

So............... what insanely annoying song that you ended up liking has gotten stuck in your head, lately?

My Experience With... Using Coffee Grounds as a Scrub

Hey, guys!

Not much visual going on here, but I wanted to tell you that I sorta re-stumbled upon an awesome exfoliator: coffee grounds!

This is no stranger to naturals and beauty blog hunters out there on this great big internet many of us call a second home, but I decided to re-try this for myself. I first found out about it when I saw Michelle Phan use it as a cellulite scrub. I tried it... didn't like the greasy oily feeling; I ditched it.

Fast forward to last Friday. I decided on a whim to scrub my arms and hands with leftover coffee grounds.


MY SKIN HAD NEVER FELT SO SOFT AND NON-GREASY.


It worked really well, and my arms felt tingly, in a good way. I told two my co-workers about it, even mentioning the Michelle Phan video. One of my co-workers and I even discussed possible ways the scrub could be used!


In closing, use coffee as a beautifier. In any way possible. There are several websites out there with instructions!


Peace!


How do you use coffee???

My Experience With... Meeting Priscilla Shirer

Okay, some of you may be going, “Who?” Please, just bear with me. This was an exciting time. And for those of you who know who Beth Moore is, you probably know who Priscilla Shirer is, too. And those of you who actually know and love Priscilla Shirer, you may be screaming right now.

Priscilla Shirer is one of my favorite Women's Bible Study leaders. I've used her One in a Million and Gideon studies, and she's AMAZING. It's right on my level, and she gets to the point. When I first learned that she's the daughter of preacher Dr. Tony Evans, I kinda did a double-take. Nothing against Dr. Evans, and all, but.... she's so sedate! If you don't know who Dr. Evans preaches, here's a sample:

And now, Priscilla Shirer.

You see how I made the comparison, right?

Now, this is where the cool part comes in. For those of you who know what War Room is, she's the lead female in the movie. For the rest of you... have you heard of Facing the Giants or Courageous? The people who made those movies have made their fifth movie, War Room. And I can hardly wait to see it. Here's the official trailer:

I learned that they needed extras in that move, and lo and behold, it's right smack dab near where I live! Coincidence? Some might say. I call it providence!

By the way.... if you've never been in a movie... it is not all glitz and glamour at all.... and it is DEFINITELY not theatre! I would say the hardest part for me was when they said in the first scene they shot, “DON'T LOOK DIRECTLY AT THE CAMERA!” Crud. There's a humongous camera about ten feet away from me, with nothing to visually obstruct it. Yes, I'm in the movie, just hold your horses.

I saw Priscilla Shirer's hairstyle in the first scene... IT WAS SO GORGEOUS! That plus the fact that she was in the same room as I was made my adrenaline rush crazier than Fury 325 and the Intimidator combined! It was all a dream... a long, two-day dream, but hey, at least it wasn't a nightmare!!!

On the second (and last) day of shooting, I said goodbye to the people I'd connected with, and went outside... I'd noticed that I'd gotten a voicemail. At that time, I was job hunting, and it was a notification from a temp agency for a possible assignment. It didn't happen, by the way.

In any case, about 10 yards from me, there was Priscilla Shirer! She was just sitting by herself, talking on her cell phone! I felt like I was in a book, the scenario was just too perfect! I'm using a lot of exclamation points here!!! I waited until she ended her call (no, I'm not a stalker), then shyly walked up to her. I'd already taken a picture with T.C. Stallings, the star of the movie (AMAZING athlete, by the way), so I'd figured, why not seize the moment with the lead female / author of cool Bible Study workbooks? I shyly walked up to her, working over the conversation in my mind.

“Um, hello?”

Yes. That was the opening line I chose.

I ended up fumbling through my sentences, telling her I liked her Bible studies, and then telling her about the fact that I had a call for a possible job opportunity. She was very pleasant to talk to, and I'm not exactly sure what she said, but it was encouraging and sincere.

Then, the blurt happened.

“You wanna take a selfie?”

. . .

Okay. Speech... never my thing. Not talking to people personally. Despite the fact that I am slightly extroverted. I'm either awkwardly reserved, or awkwardly bold. Unless I know you very well. Even still. This was only last year, and I'm in my 20s. You'd think I'd have this one-on-one socializng thing pegged! Why are sentences in this paragraph so short?

You have no idea how happy I was when she agreed to it! Well, what did I expect, she was totally cool!

I looked at the picture on my phone, and my eyes widened. If I didn't know any better, I could've sworn we were somehow related! Priscilla Shirer, if you're reading this, please don't get offended by that remark, it was seriously the first thing that came to my mind. My mother said that we actually did look almost related, so I'm glad I wasn't the only person who thought that.

Anyway, that's how I met Priscilla Shirer. Boy, I can imagine the conversation she had with her family and Beth Moore after that little incident....

Awkward....

Oh, and I did take a picture with the Kendrick brothers. They're really swell people, you know?

This is definitely not my only “I-met-someone-famous” scenario. There will be more... in due time.

What's your awkward meeting-someone-famous story? Even if he/she/it/they is/are only obscurely famous? Who would you like to meet? What would you do if you got a chance to spend time with them?

You know what, I'd like to answer one of these questions, myself, since it looks like such fun!

Q: What would you do if you got a chance to spend time with [someone famous]?

A: I'd do a duet with Josh Groban, a song with Rhett & Link, and sing “I 2 I” with Bruno Mars. There, I said it. Oh, and have a jam session and arcade hangout with Stevie Brock. You have NO idea the crush I had on him way back when.

Oh, alright. Here's the video I'm in... It's really easy to spot me. Just don't blink. :-)