I mean am I totally wrong here? Or do you see it?
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
our movies 2009
Hunter and I watch a lot of movies. I mean A LOT. One of our favorite things to do is go to the movie theater across the street (in the summer time we walk), fill up our refillable High School Musical popcorn bucket for $1, and kick back and escape into the big screen for a couple hours. Afterward we always love to discuss everything about the movie for the rest of the night, what we loved and hated about it, and give it a score 1-10. In 2009 we sometimes went to the theater so often that upon looking up show-times in hopes of hitting the movies, there was none we hadn't yet seen. So are you getting the picture here? We love movies.
Something fun that my uncle B. does every January is send out a list of his top 10 movies of the previous year. Hunter and I decided to do the same this year! So here are our Top 10 Movies of 2009 Lists. Keep in mind that we don't watch R-rated movies (unless on our wonderful clearplay) so these are probably considered incomplete in the REAL film world, but we thoroughly enjoy the film industry without the ever-increasingly-shmucky movies.
Aubrey's List
10. The Proposal- I mean it's no Oscar-winner or whatever, but it was a sincerely entertaining chick-flick that didn't bug the heck out of me. That's an accomplishment.
9. State of Play- We actually didn't even know about this movie until we randomly checked it out in Redbox. The plot line feels familiar (not totally unique) but the acting was great and Ben Affleck is in it, who is Hunter's celebrity twin.
8. Hannah Montana the Movie- Hahaha. Okay I sincerely love this movie. Stop judging me. "Caterpillar in the tree, oh I wonder what you'll be..." Yeah also my Beehives and I performed the Ho-Down Throw-Down for our ward talent show, so I know that entire dance.
7. Sherlock Holmes- Quick, witty, and Jude Law. Amen.
6. The Princess and the Frog- IT'S A NEW DISNEY PRINCESS!
5. Taken- I love a movie where the protaganist is always a step ahead.
4. The Blind Side- Sandra made it into my list twice! Love her.
3. Easy Virtue- The costuming, the cinematography, the smart, witty, confident, fabulous leading female. I watched this movie 3 times in 2 days. Yum.
2. Avatar- This is the #1 grossing film in the history of movies. I scoffed at every preview and ended up being sucked into watching this with my family over break. During the movie I was so enthralled that after drinking 44 oz of Mr. Pibb, I literally could not last another second without a restroom break and literally lept over a metal railing, sprinted to the restroom, and sprinted back as to not miss a second of my adventure to the land of the Na-vi.
1. Bright Star- The life of my favorite poet John Keats. A beautiful, beautiful, beautiful movie. Just so beautiful in every way.
Hunter's List
10. The Proposal- I sincerely enjoyed this comedy. If you haven't seen it check it out.
9. Sherlock Holmes- Robert Downey Jr. is great in this movie, I loved the story. One of those movies you'll have to see more than once to catch it all. LOVE the music
8. Ice Age- Dawn of the Dinosaurs- Could not believe how much I liked this movie. Def the best of the three ICe Ages
7. Taken- suspenseful intense movie
6. State of Play- Clever, had me on the end of my seat the whole movie
5. The Princess and the Frog- Great Disney movie. Impressed with the storyline and LOVED the firefly Ray
4. UP- Great Pixar production
3. Avatar- Didn't have any interest in this movie until I saw it and flew through 2 1/2 hours. Story, production, directing all were great
2. The Blindside- I had to fight to not put this at number one. Maybe because of my love of sports maybe because it's a true story, maybe because Sandra Bullock was AMAZING .
1. Everybody's Fine- VERY REAL movie. I thought the acting was phenomenal and I thought the story line seemed very real. Felt for a few minutes that I had actually seen into someone else's life. If you haven't seen it, check it out.
So there you have it. A look into the movie taste of a&h. Let us know if you love/hate any of the movies we listed, we are always interested in having a great discussion about film.
Something fun that my uncle B. does every January is send out a list of his top 10 movies of the previous year. Hunter and I decided to do the same this year! So here are our Top 10 Movies of 2009 Lists. Keep in mind that we don't watch R-rated movies (unless on our wonderful clearplay) so these are probably considered incomplete in the REAL film world, but we thoroughly enjoy the film industry without the ever-increasingly-shmucky movies.
Aubrey's List
10. The Proposal- I mean it's no Oscar-winner or whatever, but it was a sincerely entertaining chick-flick that didn't bug the heck out of me. That's an accomplishment.
9. State of Play- We actually didn't even know about this movie until we randomly checked it out in Redbox. The plot line feels familiar (not totally unique) but the acting was great and Ben Affleck is in it, who is Hunter's celebrity twin.
8. Hannah Montana the Movie- Hahaha. Okay I sincerely love this movie. Stop judging me. "Caterpillar in the tree, oh I wonder what you'll be..." Yeah also my Beehives and I performed the Ho-Down Throw-Down for our ward talent show, so I know that entire dance.
7. Sherlock Holmes- Quick, witty, and Jude Law. Amen.
6. The Princess and the Frog- IT'S A NEW DISNEY PRINCESS!
5. Taken- I love a movie where the protaganist is always a step ahead.
4. The Blind Side- Sandra made it into my list twice! Love her.
3. Easy Virtue- The costuming, the cinematography, the smart, witty, confident, fabulous leading female. I watched this movie 3 times in 2 days. Yum.
2. Avatar- This is the #1 grossing film in the history of movies. I scoffed at every preview and ended up being sucked into watching this with my family over break. During the movie I was so enthralled that after drinking 44 oz of Mr. Pibb, I literally could not last another second without a restroom break and literally lept over a metal railing, sprinted to the restroom, and sprinted back as to not miss a second of my adventure to the land of the Na-vi.
1. Bright Star- The life of my favorite poet John Keats. A beautiful, beautiful, beautiful movie. Just so beautiful in every way.
Hunter's List
10. The Proposal- I sincerely enjoyed this comedy. If you haven't seen it check it out.
9. Sherlock Holmes- Robert Downey Jr. is great in this movie, I loved the story. One of those movies you'll have to see more than once to catch it all. LOVE the music
8. Ice Age- Dawn of the Dinosaurs- Could not believe how much I liked this movie. Def the best of the three ICe Ages
7. Taken- suspenseful intense movie
6. State of Play- Clever, had me on the end of my seat the whole movie
5. The Princess and the Frog- Great Disney movie. Impressed with the storyline and LOVED the firefly Ray
4. UP- Great Pixar production
3. Avatar- Didn't have any interest in this movie until I saw it and flew through 2 1/2 hours. Story, production, directing all were great
2. The Blindside- I had to fight to not put this at number one. Maybe because of my love of sports maybe because it's a true story, maybe because Sandra Bullock was AMAZING .
1. Everybody's Fine- VERY REAL movie. I thought the acting was phenomenal and I thought the story line seemed very real. Felt for a few minutes that I had actually seen into someone else's life. If you haven't seen it, check it out.
So there you have it. A look into the movie taste of a&h. Let us know if you love/hate any of the movies we listed, we are always interested in having a great discussion about film.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Council conference 2010
The Evans family reunion has officially gone from stale to stellar!!! The last three years we haven't done anything big, just roamed from various homes in Northern Virginia eating jell-o and playing the Evans family Olympics. Little did I know, all this time they were saving pennies in a jar to rent THIS mamma-jamma!
The only question is, how-ever will they decide who gets to sleep in THIS pretty little room? Hmmm?
The only question is, how-ever will they decide who gets to sleep in THIS pretty little room? Hmmm? 
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Christmas
We kicked off our Christmas holiday by heading to the beautiful, classy, wonderful Virginia. I just love this place, people. Can't get enough of that east coast class. Our Virginia trip included 2 feet of snow, snowball fights, tons of playing the Wii and Xbox, playing computer games with my little brother Dan until the wee hours of the morning, playing lazer tag, caroling at the homeless shelter, and trips to the movie theater. Jen, AJ, and Lizzy came up and stayed in Ashburn for almost the whole week so the whole family was together for potentially the last time in several years. Aw, SO FUN. It was exactly everything a Christmas break should be.
The light of my life!
Intense snowball fight between the brothers and my dad, AJ and Hunter vs. Tanner and my Dad. At this point my Dad is yelling "man down!" because Hunter just pegged him in the chest.
At my cousins wedding just a few days before Christmas. My poor sister Kate and her husband Tanner missed it because they missed their flight due to crowded airport madness.
On December 28, after enjoying our time in the snowy east coast, we headed across the country to find the sun. San Diego didn't disappoint. Beach wiffle ball, getting spoiled by Hunter's parents for Christmas, picking terrible movies from the redbox and listening to Paul snore about half way through, pedicures, watching the sun go down at the beach we got engaged at, and running 6 miles down the pier in the rain to get to a restaurant. Overall, a great success.
This not-so-little guy was just chillen here in the rain. He was so cute I wanted to hug him, but its a good thing I didn't because we later came to find out he likes to bite people.
We must have opened presents for HOURS. After expanding the family to now NINE kids, my parents still managed to spoil us. Cute little Nate (my 10 year old brother) spent all the monies in his piggy bank to get Hunter and I this sweeeeet Wii racing game. The best part was my adorable litle niece Lizzy loving her new dollhouse.
The light of my life!
Intense snowball fight between the brothers and my dad, AJ and Hunter vs. Tanner and my Dad. At this point my Dad is yelling "man down!" because Hunter just pegged him in the chest. 
At my cousins wedding just a few days before Christmas. My poor sister Kate and her husband Tanner missed it because they missed their flight due to crowded airport madness.
On December 28, after enjoying our time in the snowy east coast, we headed across the country to find the sun. San Diego didn't disappoint. Beach wiffle ball, getting spoiled by Hunter's parents for Christmas, picking terrible movies from the redbox and listening to Paul snore about half way through, pedicures, watching the sun go down at the beach we got engaged at, and running 6 miles down the pier in the rain to get to a restaurant. Overall, a great success.
This not-so-little guy was just chillen here in the rain. He was so cute I wanted to hug him, but its a good thing I didn't because we later came to find out he likes to bite people.
Thanksgiving
Christmas break was a blaaast. But I still have yet to update about THXGIVING. So, uh, the condensed version is...went to San Diego, enjoyed glorious sunny weather, ate like kings (between the amazing Mexican food and Pammy's cooking, my waistline didn't stand a chance), walked on the beach, went to Disney Land!!!!, and read 4 books: Twilight (stop judging me), A Map of the World, The Hunger Games, and Catching Fire. So fun. Here are a few photos:
In front of the magic castle. So magic.
Pam and our glorious Thanksgiving feast. You wonder why I gained 4 lbs over the holidays?
After Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, which was hilarious because Paul, Hunter, and I all crammed into one car and I literally almost fell out several times. That ride is caaa-raaazyy!
In front of the magic castle. So magic.
Pam and our glorious Thanksgiving feast. You wonder why I gained 4 lbs over the holidays?
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
michael jordan
So yesterday morning Hunter comes bounding into the room saying got a text from his friend Larson that Michael Jordan was going to be at the D-League basketball game in Orem last night. My initial reaction was a "Pfffftthahahaha okay, yeah, right, ha" but as the day wore on, rumors were flying that he really was going to be there to challenge Brian-whatever his name is, the ex-Jazz player, to a one-on-one game. The Flash owner had invited MJ to come and settle the score (whatever animosity they had between them) on the court and the winner would receive a $100,000 donation to the charity of his choice.
So 6:30pm rolled around and curiosity got the best of Hunter and me. We didn't want to miss out on a possible opportunity to see the big man himself, so we headed over to UVU. The traffic was HORRENDOUS around the arena. I mean just baffling, never seen anything like it. So our blood starting pumping...thinking there would be no other explanation for such an exodus to the lame Utah Flash basketball game. As we finally got a parking spot and headed into the arena, it was packed (probably 10x's more than I had ever seen at one of those games), and I overhead several anxious conversations about Michael Jordan possibly being there. At about 4 minutes until the half, a voice came on the loud speaker and the crowd went WILD as he announced that "BRIAN (whateverhisnameis) IS GOING TO BE PLAYING ONE-ON-ONE WITH MICHAEL JORDAN AT HALF TIME"....I was still in disbelief. Still skeptical, but Hunter was practically bouncing in his seat. 2 minutes until halftime, another announcement- "MICHAEL JORDAN IS HERE TO PLAY BRIAN WHATEVER!" People are going crazy. The guy in front of us was practically pulling his hair out. Then the clock runs out....its officially half-time...The lights go out...strobe lights and spotlights start swirling and Bulls music is blaring...I'm officially converted to being a believer. Every person in the arena had out their cameras and phones and were screaming, wide-eyed, waiting for the basketball legend to make a personal appearance for the good people of Utah Valley. After about 5 minutes of this build-up, Brian whatever comes out in his basketball gear and starts calling MJ out..."Come out come out where ever you are!" The crowd, as you can imagine, is deafening. It's unbelievable...Michael Jordan! Here!? Then suddenly...surrounded by 5 body-guards...OUT COMES MICHA--uhhh no> that is just a fat little black guy. Brian whatever: "Well, guess he didn't show up. See ya!" And the lights come back on, music stops, and the crowd goes silent. The court is cleared. Everyone is just standing there in shock, not willing to believe that the Flash would make such fools out of their patrons.
But well, it was true. Nothin'. And this story was just about as pointless as us going to that dumb Flash game and thinking we were actually going to see Michael Jordan. Bottom line: I am baffled how the Flash owner thought he could promote blatant LIES (the rumors were one thing, and I could understand if it stopped there, but the announcements? and the build-up? unforgivable) and get returning customers. You got me, Flash, you got me good. But are you going to get my business ever again? Most likely not.
It's funny because Hunter was SO excited I practically wanted to cry for him when MJ turned out to be a myth. But he cracks me up because he is still talking about how fun it was, even though we didn't really see his childhood hero. I do love this crazy husband of mine and his perpetual good attitude.
So 6:30pm rolled around and curiosity got the best of Hunter and me. We didn't want to miss out on a possible opportunity to see the big man himself, so we headed over to UVU. The traffic was HORRENDOUS around the arena. I mean just baffling, never seen anything like it. So our blood starting pumping...thinking there would be no other explanation for such an exodus to the lame Utah Flash basketball game. As we finally got a parking spot and headed into the arena, it was packed (probably 10x's more than I had ever seen at one of those games), and I overhead several anxious conversations about Michael Jordan possibly being there. At about 4 minutes until the half, a voice came on the loud speaker and the crowd went WILD as he announced that "BRIAN (whateverhisnameis) IS GOING TO BE PLAYING ONE-ON-ONE WITH MICHAEL JORDAN AT HALF TIME"....I was still in disbelief. Still skeptical, but Hunter was practically bouncing in his seat. 2 minutes until halftime, another announcement- "MICHAEL JORDAN IS HERE TO PLAY BRIAN WHATEVER!" People are going crazy. The guy in front of us was practically pulling his hair out. Then the clock runs out....its officially half-time...The lights go out...strobe lights and spotlights start swirling and Bulls music is blaring...I'm officially converted to being a believer. Every person in the arena had out their cameras and phones and were screaming, wide-eyed, waiting for the basketball legend to make a personal appearance for the good people of Utah Valley. After about 5 minutes of this build-up, Brian whatever comes out in his basketball gear and starts calling MJ out..."Come out come out where ever you are!" The crowd, as you can imagine, is deafening. It's unbelievable...Michael Jordan! Here!? Then suddenly...surrounded by 5 body-guards...OUT COMES MICHA--uhhh no> that is just a fat little black guy. Brian whatever: "Well, guess he didn't show up. See ya!" And the lights come back on, music stops, and the crowd goes silent. The court is cleared. Everyone is just standing there in shock, not willing to believe that the Flash would make such fools out of their patrons.
But well, it was true. Nothin'. And this story was just about as pointless as us going to that dumb Flash game and thinking we were actually going to see Michael Jordan. Bottom line: I am baffled how the Flash owner thought he could promote blatant LIES (the rumors were one thing, and I could understand if it stopped there, but the announcements? and the build-up? unforgivable) and get returning customers. You got me, Flash, you got me good. But are you going to get my business ever again? Most likely not.
It's funny because Hunter was SO excited I practically wanted to cry for him when MJ turned out to be a myth. But he cracks me up because he is still talking about how fun it was, even though we didn't really see his childhood hero. I do love this crazy husband of mine and his perpetual good attitude.
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Everybody's Fine
I know that I don't write on this blog very often and I now Aubrey does a fantastic job of showing everyone what we are up to but I thought after last night I would post a blog for all to read. Last night Aubrey and I headed out across the street to the movie theater to watch what we believed was going to be a Christmas themed movie. We chose Everybody's Fine because Aubrey is a big fan of Drew Barrymore and it had a good cast (Robert DeNiro) and seemed to have a good trailer that we had seen from watching other movies. We walked in after getting our popcorn bucket filled and our Large Mr. Pipp (really enjoying the movies) and sat in our seats.
As the continual trailers for other movies played, I thought that we had come to a movie that might not be as good as I was hoping but I have to admit that I thought this movie was a top 5 for the year of 2009 that I have seen. I don't think Aubrey enjoyed it as much as I did but I really, really enjoyed it. Without trying to spoil the movie for others, the movie is basically about a widower father that has four children that live all across the country. He was a father that always pushed his children for success and always wanted them to have the best for themselves. Because of this they would tell their mother everything (bad things) and not him. One holiday when he all four of his children flaked on him he decides he will go to their homes and surprise them. He gets on a bus and train and shows up at his chilrdren's places hoping to surprise them. Each child acts excited to see him but then makes excuses of why he can't be there with them. He then leaves to go to the next child's house. While this movie didn't have the cheer and joy that I was hoping for from a Christmas movie it touched me in a way a movie hasn't in a long time. It was very heavy, even so much so that Aubrey said she liked it but likely would never want to see it again. The moral of story and what I got out of it could be entirely two different things but I thought the movie was attempting to portray that the most important thing is not how successful you are but rather that the most important thing is family. The movie had Aubrey and I walking out speaking how lucky and grateful we were for our family and how lucky we were to be put in a situation where we could succeed. I felt inspired enough by this movie that I thought I would even post a blog about it to publicly express my gratitude for my family and my new family. I am very lucky for the people that I have had in my life and for their influence on me and in this Christmas season, the most important thing is certainly family.... not items. Merry Christmas to all, and if you get a chance, go watch 'everybody's fine'.
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