i need my phone...

so i never thought that i was so needy when it came to my phone. i have been trying to not rely on it so much for basically no good reason. i turned it off one night and i was still pulling it out of my pocket every 10 minutest to check the time...then remembered it was off. even when i am not expecting a text, i find myself frequently seeing if i might have received one and didn't  notice. i feel like my phone has a little bit of control over me...and i don't like it.

whale rider

i went to my sisters class with her and they were watching the movie whale rider. it was a really interesting movie and i really enjoyed it. what was most interesting to me was how it showed the culture of the new zealand tribe slowly being influenced by western ideas. there was a kid in lakers jersey....really? i think it is funny that memorabilia from our athletics can be found anywhere in the world. do these small tribe people really know who kobe bryant is?

product placement

i was telling bryce (my husband) about what we discussed in class dealing with product placement. his automatic response was, "they do that with cars all the time." i thought that was interesting because cars are something that i rarely notice in movies/tv/etc. however, bryce really likes cars and knows a lot about them. as a loan officer he also does a lot of car loans. then i thought about things that may jump out at me that might not for other people. i think the style of clothing someone is wearing can influence me to want to get a new outfit. i guess anything can be product placement if it appeals to the viewer and influences their purchasing.

tuning in

I think the radio has become less popular due to advances in streaming music. They have had to come up with interesting ways to keep people tuning in. They have elaborate games with prizes, they tell interesting facts, and update you on the traffic and weather. I am someone that doesn't always have to have music on when I drive, but when I do listen to it, I change the station every time it goes to commercial or just talking...and if I can't find a song I like, I turn off the radio. My husband, on the other hand, is a talk radio junkie. That is his favorite thing to listen to when he drives. He always has some new story or fact to share with me that he heard on the radio. He has his favorite host of the different stations and knows them by name (and voice). I don't really get it. The funny thing is he would rather listen to radio announcers that ESPN commentators when it come to watching BYU. During the football game the other day he listened to it on the radio with headphones with the TV on mute. It is all very strange to me.

"not a single picture in this whole book, how do they expect me to learn?"

this would be what my husband said as he was preparing for test and looking through his text book. i laughed  and then secretly considered my animosity for textbook pages that only contain text. text books can seem to be so overwhelming at times.  it is the break of a table, picture, or graph that keeps me going. i had to read about 100 pages in a text book yesterday...i was so glad there were pictures or i could not have done it!  

favorite book

When I think about the books I read as a child, I am reminded of a quote from the movie You’ve Got Mail. Meg Ryan’s character Kathleen Kelly is sharing her passion of books and reflecting on helping her mother in her bookstore as a child when she says, “…it wasn't that she was just selling books, it was that she was helping people become whoever it was they were going to turn out to be. Because when you read a book as a child it becomes part of your identity in a way that no other reading in your whole life does…” Because books can be so real to children, they are an opportunity to experience things they would not it any other way. These experiences are influential to development.

In third grade, my class read The BFG by Roald Dahl. This book stands out as one of my childhood favorite because it was one that connected me to my classmates. We were all reading it together so it became a part of our conversation and play. I remember using some of the unique words from the book like “snozzcumber” with my friends as if they were a part of our normal vocabulary. We would also try to come with our own words to use, similar to those in the book. I specifically remember doing this with one little girl who became my best friend through high school. I have never really considered The BFG having a great impact on my life, but looking back, I think it was a great socializing tool for me as a grade-schooler. 

kitchen design

In my design in the home class this week I presented my empire style kitchen I designed. This class used to only have design projects that  were hand drafted. Now it is really cool because we are using online programs to create the general look, then finding specific pieces through any resource we prefer. Most of my design selections were made online. I found my appliances, tile flooring, concrete flooring, etc. all online. This is just a simple 3D image showing the layout of my kitchen design. This class has changed a lot as technology has advanced. 

conversation TV

Recently my husband and I have watched a lot of the DIY network. It has been really fun. We talk about what we want in our home one day...we don't plan on living in a basement apartment forever. We get inspired by how simple some of the do in yourself projects look. This network has been fun because we discuss things for the future and share our opinions of what the people on the shows are doing. It is different than just watching a regular sitcom show because we actually have conversation during the show that doesn't interrupt it.