Title of post came from Jesus was a Crossmaker (cover by Rachel Yamagata (sp?))
Easter is always a family filled holiday, full of children in pastel colored clothing fidgeting in church in anticipation of running around their yard in the hopes of finding as many eggs as possibly. Also with their parents hoping for minimal grass stains on the sear-sucker pants of their children. Since, well, forever... a group of parents has gone around the neighborhood stamping down a mixture of paint and chalk onto the pavement in the shape of bunny footprints. They go up the driveways and hop around cars and literally line the ENTIRE neighborhood in these footprints.
As a child... it terrified me... I did not realize the Easter Bunny was that big. The footprints are probably a foot long, which means the Bunny is about my height. Or as a child, he would have been taller than me. Scary right? I wanted him to be a cute little baby one... not a human/rabbit combination that could bear hug me. Moving on to the better memories of Easter... As a little child I would venture to my grandparent's house in Fairfax to have an Easter egg hunt in their backyard... oh childhood. Once my Nana moved down to Williamsburg and I had aged a few years... the hunt continued but instead of eggs it just became bags of jelly beans. And the hunt carries on today... here's a bag behind a picture frame. Sneaky, I know. Nana's a stealthy one. 
I'm pretty sure the current Western Culture's celebration habits of Easter are absolutely contributing to the childhood obesity that has become such an issue. For example... I have a foodbaby from candy... and I don't hate it. Ask me again in the morning and I may give you a different answer. Long run tomorrow after this weekend's eating habits! This is the final collection of loot after my Easter hunt and my parents just receiving candy. Sadly, 95% of that is mine. Jamie brought her candy from her basket with her back here and there's probably enough candy in here to give a 3rd world diabetes. No, seriously, it's scary.
Among all of the candy were two bags of gummies from Trader Joes (3 bags for Lee). These are the BEST GUMMIES EVER. Their little tummies of the animal they are shaped as have sour stuff in them. I opened this bag below and probably half of them were gone in about 30 minutes so I put them away... and hid them. Photobooth = backwards picture. Seriously, if I could marry gummies, it would be these.
As a theme of Easter and Spring... I bring you babies. No, no, no not the human kind. Those cry and drool and look like aliens. By a spring baby I mean a... PUPPY. On Saturday, (after seeing Water for Elephants... but we'll get to that later) I took a drive to Kingsmill to see Winston's new puppy corgy! Her name is Lilly and she is just the sweetest thing ever! She ran and ran that afternoon and chewed on sticks and you know, did puppy things. Absolutely presh.
So on the way out of Williamsburg today to come back to Harrisonburg, we can add another car problem that I had. My father and I stop to get gas and then I drive away, hoping to make it back around 730. Well, that was not in the plan apparently. It felt as though my car was pulling to the left a bit, but I tried to ignore it. Then it became persistent. So, driving down 199, I went over the dip right before the Longhill exit and suddenly it feels like something solid hit the ground. Okay, Kel, it's time to pull over. Sooo pull into the RecCenter and get out and sure enough... I have a flat tire. Lord knows where it came from, but hey- that's what happens. And it wasn't just like oh the air looks low... no, no... it was oh hey your hub cap is actually what is rolling on the ground. As seen below. Thank God it wasn't out on 64 and I had not made it out of Williamsburg, yet. Promptly called my daddy and he and my mother joined me in the empty WJCC parking lot. You know, it's Easter so we had to do things as a family of course. Props to my dad in this situation because I was in a dress and heels and oh also had NO clue how to change a tire! After changing said tire and then having to find the dumb key that goes on one of the lug nuts... I could make it out of Wburg. The whole trip home was a big experiment, though, to see if the untouched-in-ten-years spare tire could make it up the mountain. Que in the traffic and caffeine stop, and then we have arrival of 9 pm. Yes... I left my house at 430. Long. Ass. Evening.
On Saturday, we had a mommy-daughter date to go see Water for Elephants. It was phenomenal. What is even more phenomenal is the book Water for Elephants. If you have not read it, I HIGHLY recommend that you do. It is better than the movie and is probably one of my favorites of all time. The cinematography of the film was perfect though. It completely captured the elaborate and gaudy elements of a circus and also how the whole theme of the book is how everything is just an act and all an illusion- right down to the characters. What is missed in the movies are a lot of details, which is typical of a book turned movie. In the movie, there is a giant focus on the relationships/love triangle that exists between Jacob, Marlena, and August. In the book, the triangle is a big part- but it also discusses the other relationships that Jacob makes as a circus vet. He really becomes part of the family that is the Benzini Bros Circus. Either way, read the book and watch the movie. The post-movie discussion with my mother was interesting, because we attempted to recast the three main characters a bit. We came to the conclusion that August's character- played by Christoph Waltz- could definitely not be replaced. He played that character so on point, it was perfect. Sadly, Marlena, in my opinion, was disappointing. Played by Reese Witherspoon, she just didn't seem to be the same. Of course, Witherspoon is a great actress, but this just did not seem to be the right role for her. For one, there was a massive lack in chemistry between Jacob (RPatz) and Marlena, which was a fault. She had more chemistry with Waltz (August)! RPatz actually did a great job. He nailed the character and he as an actor was a great choice. While he did a great job, my mother made an extremely great point. If this movie had been made 10 years ago... Leonardo DiCaprio would have been the absolute PERFECT Jacob. He would have nailed it so well. While that makes a ton of sense, it was more difficult to find a better Marlena. We were thinking maybe Rachel McAdams if they made her look older. She looks too close to RPatz's age and Marlena is supposed to be an older woman. Not like Graduate type older, but definitely older than a college aged boy (Jacob).
Well Jamie and I are making an early run tomorrow, so it is about time to hit they hay. In light of Easter, though, I believe it would be a good opportunity to recommend some bands that are actually both Christian-based bands, but have become 2 of my favorite bands. As most of you know, Switchfoot is actually a Christian band. Their new CD, though, has a different sound to it. I saw them open this summer for Goo Goo Dolls and they were awesome. I actually got to meet them after, too, which was really sweet. My mom has the signed CD at home. These are my two favorites:
1. Your Love is a Song
2. Enough to Let Me Go
The second band is NeedtoBreathe. While they are a very much Christian band, they are actually one of my favorites... ever. They have a great acoustic feel and are just phenomenal in general. You should listen to everything they have, but here are a few highlights to get your starts.
1. Haley (Actually their first hit that was played on the radio. I heard it maybe my freshman year in highschool? They've been around a while.)
2. We Could Run Away
3. Shine On
4. Washed by the Water
5. Return
6. More Time (featured on PS I Love You's soundtrack)
7. Something Beautiful
8. Lay Them Down
Okay, I should stop. Can't really just pick a few. It's early bed time now... ONLY TWO DAYS UNTIL AUGY'S CD COMES OUT AHHHH
"With a secret like that, at some point the secret itself becomes irrelevant. The fact that you kept it does not."-Water for Elephants
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