~16 Sweet Things About You~

My little sister's 16th birthday is today...oh my gosh did I really just type that out!? Let's all wish her (my sister Mary) a happy birthday shall we? I just wanted to tell you that I love you Mo-mo...to the moon and back a zillion times over!

16 sweet special things that I absolutely love about My SiSsY (in no reasonable order whatsoever):

(1) You are not afraid to be different...never have been.

(2) You are trendy, and often teach me things about fashion and makeup that I am totally clueless about.

(3) You are a brilliantly talented cake designer...and they taste yummy to boot!

(4) You have the most beautiful blue-green-brown-gold 'mood eyes' that I've ever seen! 

(5) Sometimes when I need you to, you seemingly switch roles with me, and become the older sister that I need you to be for me at that moment. Sometimes I swear we were born out of order...and secretly you are the bigger sister!

(6) We are polar opposites...and well, that makes life unpredictable and a lot of fun!

(7) I always know that you strongly stick up for me and everyone else in your life...and you always think of me and others too!

(8) Beneath that strong tough exterior you are a big softy...you are very caring and thoughtful even if you don't like to admit it! (Sorry, I've told your secret! =P)

(9) You sing loud and proud (literally) alongside me even if we don't always hit the notes. (...and we've 

recorded it...)

(10) You are a beautiful dancer...one that I only dream and wish I could be! (I cannot dance at ALL!)

(11) You are a 'Towanda' girl through and through...unless you just painted your nails again! (Inside. Joke.)

(12) You typically rise to the occasion...and I know you will continue to do so throughout your life. (Remember...Jeremiah 29:11-13 dearest! He will continue to lead and guide you through your life as you keep your beautiful eyes and heart focused on Him...and especially when you step out and do hard things!)

(13) You can put up with my constant badgery of goofiness daily...and you can dish it too!

(14) You are never afraid to stand up for what you believe and say aloud what you truly believe in your heart, whereas I am more guarded and scared to say things aloud sometimes. (I am learning from you daily...)

(15) You always know when something's wrong...reading me like a book. I say I can't stand this at times, but really it just makes me feel comforted and loved all the more!

(16) Everything about you is vibrant and vivacious! Your room (which is hot pink, lime green, tangerine, and purple), your bubbly personality, your bold outlook on life, your ability to sing off key at the top of your lungs in your room while standing there with the biggest Cheshire Cat smile on your face looking in the mirror as you sing (I love sneaking a peek at you doing this when you are unaware...hehe), your trendy clothing choices, your lovely face that is beautiful and painted with vast color pigmentations...etc.

...and this is a picture of my sissy's present that I got for her...think she'll like it? Although she already knows she's getting it I hope she will love the songs on it....guess we'll have to wait and see! =)

{image via: glambamm.com}

HaPpY SwEeT 16tH BiRtHdAy SiSsY!

Inception...Just A Dream...Or Is It?

My boyfriend Jared took me out on a date this past weekend to go see the movie Inception. I had heard from many different people, and various sources, that this movie was amazing. From the moment the opening scene started rolling I knew that Jared and I were truly in for a treat...one of a visual eye candy buffet, as well as a storyteller's dream.


Inception was the most original and brilliant film that I have seen in years, and this film is by far the best film that I have seen in 2010. Don't get me wrong I loved going to see The Twilight Saga: Eclipse and The Last Airbender this year (which were movies I was psyched about seeing as well) and I will most likely end up buying both of those movies when they come out on dvd.....but Inception was the movie this year that totally rocked my world!


Between the visual delights, great actors, and the phenomenal music scoring to be heard I can surely saw that this movie was stunning and flawless...minus a few choice words. This movie truly was the most epic and thrilling movie I've seen in a long time! Christopher Nolan, the writer/director, obviously knew what he was going for in writing a tale about people who heist dreams and implant ideas for redemption...and nailed it! Can you tell that I am excited about this movie? 


Have you ever been asleep...dreaming...only your subconscious brewing and grinding gears for you...it's a dream within a dream within a dream? Well, personally I've had a dream within a dream many times...but never a third level of subconscious activity swarming my mind all at once. Inception is the multileveled and layered story of dreams within dreams, heists pulled on the unsuspecting person lying asleep ruled by their subconscious, quiet battling business-men opting for the hire of inception, and a team of skilled dream thieves and many more other interesting characters...

The Main Cast of Characters:

-Leonardo DiCaprio- 

Dom Cobb, played by Leonardo DiCaprio is the Extractor of dreams. DiCaprio was amazing in this role, the role of Dom seemed to fit him quite well...as far as I can tell DiCaprio is back in the spotlight once again! if you haven't seen DiCaprio in some of his early films I suggest you do.

-Joseph Gordon-Levitt- 

Arthur, played by Joseph Gorden-Levitt is the Point Man who does all the research on the potential 'targets.' My favorite scenes in the movie all have ARTHUR in them, especially the scene between Ariadne and Arthur, and Arthur's amazingly epic fight scene in the hotel hallways.

-Ellen Philpotts-Page- 

Ariadne, played by Ellen Philpotts-Page is the Architect who constructs the visual delights in the target's subconscious, and who also happens to be the newest member of the team...she's introduced around midway through the film I think. She was my favorite character, alongside that of Arthur in this movie. I was not an Ellen Page fan until I saw her in this role....now I believe it...this girl can act after all!

-Ken Watanabe-  

Saito, played by Ken Watanabe is the Tourist, the man who employs Cobb for the team's mission.

-Cillian Murphy- 

Robert Fischer, played by Cillian Murphy is the Mark, otherwise known as the intended target of inception. May I just say that Cillian creeped me out when he was acting as Scarecrow in Batman Begins, and then again as the character of Jackson Rippner in the movie Red Eye...there's just something about his haunting blue eyes....*shiver* 

-Marion Cotillard- 

Mal, played by Marion Cotillard......well I will just leave her as 'the unknown woman of mystery' for you all! Marion is very lovely in real life and in the other film roles I've seen her in....in this movie she is haunting...


{All 'Character' images were via imdb.com}


A Sampling Synopsis of The Story:
"In a world where technology exists to enter the human mind through dream invasion, a highly skilled thief is given a final chance at redemption which involves executing his toughest job till date, Inception." 


A little bit about the artistry (in photo form):

{image via: filmschoolrejects.com}

{image via: filmofilia.com}

{image via: moviecarpet.com}

{image via: vanityfair.com}

{image via: digitaltrends.com}

{image via: cache.gawkerassets.com}

{image via: calitreview.com}

{image via: 30.media.tmblr.com}

"Arthur: Quick, give me a kiss! [She kisses him then looks around] Ariadne: They're still looking at us. Arthur: Yeah, it's worth a shot."

Really I could go on and on about this movie and tell you every small farandolae-sized detail that I noticed and loved about it, but I won't, because I'd rather you go see this movie for yourself rather than me telling you everything about it and spoiling it for you!

So...step away from the computer screen...go see Inception right now...was this all just a dream?

I *HEART* DATES

So I said that I would get around to doing another 'Recession Confession' post......so here it goes!


I absolutely love going out on dates with my boyfriend, Jared, whom I have been Courting for the last 10 months (and have loved for even longer.) "What does a date have to do with another one of your confessions?" you may ask. Well, it has a lot to do with it actually. Jared and I don't have a lot of money, so we've had to be quite creative with the dates we've gone on so far.


Some of my favorite dates (and hopefully J's too) on a budget have been:

• Eating lunch at home together, while watching the History channel and just chatting it up.  COST: $0.00
• Watching movies at home on a Saturday all day long, then heading out for a walk around the 'neighborhood' in the evening. COST: $0.00
• Walking around at the mall (the exercise is good), and then plopping ourselves down on the floor in the Books A Million store with a few books in hand for a long while (this is one of my personal favorites, and it hasn't gotten old yet because J and I have done it quite a few times and I'm sure we will do so again in the future.)
• Doing chores at Home with our families. I can't believe I admitted it, but working on different chores and projects like: washing the cars, pulling the weeds, moving mulch bags, raking pine straw, and running to the dump to unload the garbage together holds the title for some of my most memorable dates that J and I have shared. COST: $0.00
• Doing a photo shoot together. COST: $0.00 Click HERE to see photos.
• Eating lunch out at McDonald's and then heading out to 'The Lake' to sit by the rocks and play in the mountain streams. COST: I'd say no more than $15.00. (The gas money to 'The Lake'...we ate off of the dollar menu at Mickey D's.)
• Going to the movies together. Cost $15.00 for a matinee showing (This is our splurge, and we don't go too often to the movies.)

Going out on dates can be as expensive or inexpensive as you plan them out to be. Be creative, and you just might have the time of your life with the one you love, and at the end of the date your wallet won't be as sore for being in want of cash. So does anyone else have any ideas for fun inexpensive dates? If you do PLEASE SHARE it with us! I know Jared and I would love to have more date ideas in our arsenal for our future adventures in our Courtship together.

Even if you aren't in a Courtship currently I hope that one day these ideas will spark ideas for you and your future special someone all your uniquely own,

My Oh...My Little Pony

"Mad Hatter" My Little Pony

I was doing some research a while ago, and I just so happened to be searching random things on Google images. I typed in My Little Pony just for a small dose of nostalgia and what images popped up made me smile and totally floored me at the same time!

My Little Pony has sure changed since I was a little girl. Who knew you could custom order your own My Little Pony to be fashioned after just about anything you could possibly dream of these days? I was quite surprised to see all of the funny looking horses that are now being made. I remember the original My Little Pony's that used to amplify my whimisical side during my free play time, and gave me hours on end of play time as a little girl.

Just look at these pictures below which I found....some of these are pretty neat I have to admit, but some of them are well, just plain weird and astound me that someone even thought of turning them into an original toy icon!

"Twilight Book Cover Pony's"

"Captain Jack Sparrow"

"Edward Scissorhands"  Scissorhoofs? =/

"Godzilla"

"Harry Potter" ...or is it Harry Trotter? lol

"Iron Man" Oh my it's Pony Stark!

"Gandalf" Grey or Bray?

"Alien from A.V.P"

"Batman & Robin"

"Darth Vader" Luke, I am your pony!

"The Joker"

"Princess Leia"

"Lady Gaga" REALLY? 

Well, I hope you got as much of a smile and a shock out of these little icons as I did! Have any of you seen any other My Little Pony's that are cool or weird?

The Beautiful Biltmore Estate

The friendly lion who greeted us at the door.

The gardens, nearest to the estate home itself. Such a lovely flower carpet....now I want one in my yard too!

I love the architecture of the balconies at Biltmore......they made me start daydreaming....which is unusual that any piece of architecture would do such a thing! haha

~ St. Joan ~

~ St. Louis ~

The old horse stables where we ate lunch. How cool is it that we ate where one of the Vanderbilt's horses ate at once upon a time?

French Dip.....more like Heaven on Ciabatta bread! Yum-o!

Ummmm......

Lily pads.......

This is the side view of Biltmore House from the Carpet Garden.

Now that's an estate. The man who designed the gardens and landscaping for Mr. Vanderbilt, Mr. Frederick Law Olmsted, also designed the landscape for another large icon.......can you guess what it is? *Hint: it's in the middle of NYC*

The greenhouse and other garden areas are also very lovely. Vibrant crimsons and greens bring this seemingly dull place to life.

I have recently noticed that whenever and where ever I go on a trip I typically try on a hat. ;)

I love old tins! I have a few in my room....and while we were in a store in Antler Village (which is still on the Vanderbilt estate) I had to take a pic of them.

• We arrived at the Biltmore Estate only to find the weather to be slightly overcast, but with a lovely temperature of 65 degrees. Fall was in the air...
• I was able to truly appreciate all of the architecture on the outside and inside of the estate....and learned exactly what a cantilever actually means/is.
• I was able to get a fairly decent shot with my camera of my favorite Saint....set in stone...she's lovely.
• I got to glimpse, yet again, one of the loveliest libraries that I have ever seen. The ceiling is covered in a mural that was painted by the Italian artist Giovanni Pellegrini. The painting once looked down on a ballroom in the Pisani Palace in Venice. Mr. Vanderbilt had the piece cut into 13 long strips and then glued it and nailed it to the ceiling of the library. How awesome is that! The mural depicts Aurora the Roman goddess of the Dawn and is simply breath-taking! I would love to sit there in the library surrounded by the partial book collection (the Vanderbilt's had more than 23,000 books and only about half are actually kept in the library) and just gaze at Aurora and day dream forever....
• I was able to pick out more of the Latin words and phrases hidden inside the tapestries and carvings of the Estate. Da~Pacem~Domine
• While in the basement of the Biltmore House I glanced up at one of the walls and saw a portrait of Nike of Samothrace which was odd because just the night before I had done the 'Crown of Creation' post and used that art piece in the blog entry. Coincidence? I think not!
• I ate inside of the old horse stables, and had the best sandwich on planet earth, also known as the French Dip. My mother, grandmother and I also shared a serving of Strawberry Shortcake which was superb....so much in fact that we had it devoured before I remembered that I hadn't snapped a photo of it!
• I got really close to Koi fish at the courtyard garden pond (even snapped a pic of them), and no, I did not faint I am happy to report. Even taking and posting pics of fish makes me squirm....trying to face it though. (I am an ichthyphobic.....weird I know!)
• I saw a woman cut leather the good ol' fashioned way, a man blowing a glass bulb, and another woman making a candle stick on her pottery wheel.
• and etc.............

I so very much enjoyed my day trip spent at the Biltmore House alongside my momma, sissy, and Oma. I hope you all enjoyed perusing through what my eyes beheld... Have any of you ever been to the Biltmore House before? If so what were your favorite rooms? By far my two favorite rooms were The Winter Garden and The Library.  I cannot wait to go back to the Biltmore again....and next time I hope to take the guided tour...the one that takes you up to the rooftop.

Phew! I am so glad that I caught up...

P.S. .....and while there in the Garden Shoppe I tried Wassail for the first time...and I fell in love immediately!