The Shack (Film)

A couple months ago, my friend and I decided to go hang out on a Saturday. We considered going to a movie. We eventually decided to go and see The Shack. I haven’t read the book, but now I see why I probably need to.

This movie/book brings up a lot of controversy among Christians everywhere. Why? Because people think that the way that the Trinity is portrayed is wrong. But I saw it, and I felt extremely refreshed by it. It helped me to understand the Trinity more, and the metaphorical way this story is told is absolutely amazing. I’m not sure if this story is true or not, but I do know that it is a useful tool to grow closer to The Lord if The Holy Spirit leads you to it.

Spoilers may be present:

Mack is a father who loves his children dearly. His youngest daughter, Missy, loves to refer to The Lord as “Papa.” Mack and his three children go on a camping trip, and tragedy strikes. A murderer kidnaps the young Missy, leaving a ladybug behind (I think its the trademark of the murderer). They frantically search for her, but find a crime scene in this Shack in the woods. Missy has been murdered, and Mack feels absolutely hopeless. This tragedy changes he dynamic of their entire family. One snowy day, Mack finds a letter from Papa that tells him to go back to the Shack. Mack doubts that it is from God, but still decides to go. He arrives and meets The Holy Spirit (an Asian woman), Jesus (a darker skinned carpenter (a man)), and God (an African-American heavyset woman). Throughout the movie, he ends up having a huge experience with Them and learns to forgive and to love Him, who is Three in One. The Holy Spirit is God, Jesus is God, and God is God.

 

This movie is definitely a must-see. It is amazing, and shares His unfailing love for us.

 

FIVE STARS

 

 

Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park (Movie)

We recently watched “Mansfield Park” (the Billie Piper version). I had seen some of another version we found on Netflix about a year ago; it was terrible. It had the most pornographic sex scene, and although something was quickly done about it, it was still the most I had ever seen. This version was very refreshing because it was pretty much clean.

First off, I really don’t understand the use of the name “Fanny.” I really don’t. A fanny is a rear end, and I personally would prefer to have a child named after a flower, or a martyr, or a literature character, or a Bible character, but definitely not after one of the most undesirable body parts.

SPOILERS:

The story was rather confusing; basically Fanny lives with her aunt and uncle and loves Edmund, her cousin, and he eventually realizes that he loves her too and they get married. Edmund thinks he loves another girl who is not a nice person but he breaks up with her. What was confusing about this story was the characters: I couldn’t keep most of them straight! The names and faces seemed to mesh with the same characters. It really was confusing.

If you know the storyline, watch this movie. If you don’t, then I’d advise learning it before viewing unless you like confusion.

Emma by Jane Austen

This was the first book I had to annotate from start to finish. I know that a lot of people really don’t like annotating, but I enjoy it.  Annotation is one of those things that can help enhance a piece of literature in a personal, unique way. No one’s annotations will ever be exactly like someone else’s. There can be similarities, but there is a uniqueness to annotation worth discovering.

 

 

Anyways, to my Emma analysis:

SPOILERS:

Emma Woodhouse is a twenty something girl who has a considerable fortune and lives at her father’s estate, Hartfield. Mr. Woodhouse is a widow and is overly cautious, easily worried, and OCD. Miss Taylor, Emma’s ex-governess, had been living with the Woodhouses as Emma’s best friend once her services were no longer required as a governess. The novel opens up with Mr. Woodhouse lamenting, “poor Miss Taylor” who has recently gotten married and left the family. The air at Hartfield is pretty solemn. Mr. Knightly, Emma’s elder sister’s husband’s brother, appears, and they have a lovely chat. Emma reminds her papa that she matched Miss Taylor and Mr. Weston together. Mr. Knightly and Mr. Woodhouse urge Emma not to make any more matches. Emma won’t get married herself, but she loves matching up others. Emma meets a new friend, Harriet Smith, who visits Hartfield. She is the illegitimate daughter of some unknown man, and was raised by Mr. Woodhouse’s dear friend. Emma takes to Harriet instantaneously, and wants to continue a friendship. The girl’s friendship grows. When Harriet is proposed to by a commoner, Mr. Robert Martin, Emma approves of a refusal. Harriet refuses, and Mr. Knightly is upset because Mr. Martin is a wonderful man. Emma hopes to match Hariet up with Mr. Elton, the town vicar. Emma encourages Harriet that Mr. Elton is good for her, and believes Mr. Elton likes miss Smith. Unfortunately, Mr. Elton announces his love of Emma, not Harriet, and Emma refuses. Mr. Elton is furious and leaves Highbury, only to become engaged soon after. With the arrival of Mr. Weston’s son, Frank Churchill, who lives with his uncle and aunt, and Miss Jane Fairfax, niece of Mr. Woodhouse’s dear friend, Emma becomes very close to Frank and not Jane. Emma thinks frank fancies get, and wonders if she likes him, too. These feelings are short lived in Emma, for when Frank leaves town for awhile, Emma looses any romantic feelings for him. Frank returns, and saves Harriet from gypses. Emma encourages Harriet to like Frank, but unbeknownst to Emma, she unwittingly encourages Harriet to like Mr. Knightly! Frank and Jane are secretly engaged, and this news comes as a surprise to Emma, but only now does Emma learn who Harriet actually loves. Emma becomes very jealous of this, and realizes she loves me. Knightly. Emma and Mr. Knightly get together, and Harriet marries Mr. Martin, whom she loves, and everything ends well. This story would make an excellent movie.

I really hated Emma in the beginning because her character was so annoying, and rude, and haughty, and etc… But then she grew on me. And I loved the novel. Definitely worth the read (and annotation!). Austen used a lot of repetition in Emma, which was a great technique used to enhance the novel’s quality.

Worth reading

Blogging Break

Why haven’t I written in so long? People may be asking this, and I can’t blame them. After such a long hiatus, I am thankful for those loyal followers who have continued to stay here even though my writing has diminished significantly over these past 10 months or so. To summarize my life as simply as possible and the reason I’ve been missing for so long from the blogging world…the answer really isn’t that simple. Part of it is my own lack of remembering that yes, I have a blog. But, there is a lot more to it than that.
I’ve been struggling with anxiety. Not just the typical, everyday anxiety that everyone has when a test comes up or when they have a term paper due the next day, but the anxiety and fear that paralyzes and makes everyday functioning an idea of the past. I pretty much gave up writing during this time; not much journaling, little in the poetry category, and practically nothing a novelist writes. Here and there I did pick things up, but it never lasted long. And this continued for about nine months. My writing was mainly the bare minimum; writing papers for school, or the everyday life writing that happens. My reading was also non-existent. I only read books for school. Of course, my reading has needed to pick up again for years, but when the last full book you read is Emma by Jane Austen and you finished reading it early this year…Well, you get the picture.

My anxiety is getting somewhat better, but I’m healing. I finally started writing again this morning, and it felt…good. Good to go around the house formulating ideas in my brain; original quotes that I might use in my stories. I may not have much written, but this new story of mine is, Lord-willing, going to be very relatable to so many people. It might be the epitome of who I was, and who I will be.

And I hope you guys will stay along for the ride.

Little Men by Louisa May Alcott

Little Men by Louisa May Alcott is the book I most recently finished. I read this in the course of over a month, but if I had read it more frequently, I would have finished it sooner. It is the book between Little Women and Jo’s Boys in the Jo March trilogy.

Jo March has started her school, taking in boys and girls of all different backgrounds to teach them and love them. Similar to Jo’s Boys, there are quite a few different characters, and plot lines, because Alcott basically writes a summary of what happened at Plumfield over the course of six months. I won’t get into much of the story, but if you like Alcott’s work, this would be a good book to read since it has a lot of beloved characters in it.

Alcott’s style can be slightly confusing. It is definitely not modern; therefore, it might be necessary to reread sentences multiple times to understand who is speaking, or what the meaning of the sentence is.

Overall, I’d suggest this book to anybody who really likes Little Women. It’s definitely not as good as Little Women, but it continues the story of our beloved March (and Lawrence, and Bhaer, and Brooke) family.

Versatile Blogger Award!

Thank you so much to Anna at A Wondrous Bookshelf for nominating my blog for the Versatile Blogger Award! It is such an honor. The rules of the award are below:

You must show the award on your blog, thank your nominator, share seven facts about yourself that are different, nominate fifteen blogs of your choice, and link your nominees so that you can let them know of your nomination.

Okay, so seven facts about me:

I have congenital heart block and long qt. I have a pacemaker, and cannot be startled (or I could die!). Because of heart related things, I have had four surgeries.

I am supposedly related to Pocahontas, and I’m related to Robert Hunt. I’m American, but I am very happy to have a ton of European roots (English, Scottish, possibly etc.). Europe has a special place in my heart.

I’m the kind of girl who falls in love with different features based on different characters/people. Thankfully, my hair and eye color=very versatile. My hair has been classified as dark blonde, light brown, and medium brown, and has red highlights, so I can pretty much say my hair is every color. My eyes are hazel with a little bit of grey, but they tend to be brown or green.

My personality is very confusing. My family can’t figure me out. I’m mainly (I think) extroverted, sanguine and phlegmatic, and a firstborn. The first time I did a Meyer’s Brigg’s test, I was introverted. But, the past couple of times, I’ve either been ESFP or ENFP.

Some of my favorite characters include: Beth from Little Women; Lucy Pevensie from The Chronicles of Narnia; Mina Harker from Dracula; Queen Esther from the Bible; Silvia from The Two Gentlemen of Verona.

If I was a character in a book, I’d probably be Anne Shirley (unfortunately, I haven’t read the full version of the book, but I’ve seen the miniseries, which is fantastic!). I got her as a quiz result, and she and I are very similar: we are both extremely dramatic and romantic, love writing, sometimes outspoken, have Ann in our names, etc.

I know what it’s like to loose a best friend. Almost every close or dear friend I have ever had has either moved out of state, gone to public school, or stopped their frequency in my life (not because I’m scaring people away, but because their lives lead them in different directions!). So I really can’t say I’ve had the same close friend throughout my entire life, because I keep loosing them, making them, and then loosing them.

I know some of you have already been nominated for different awards, even this one. I also know that some of you may not want to accept the award. Because of this, I will not be offended if you decide not to accept this award. Some blogs I wanted to nominate already had this award. If I nominated you and you already have this, than feel free to ignore it. I blogs I want to nominate are:

By Hook or By Book

Versatile Blogger Award

thepearlsisters

Jessica Letchford

Page by Paige

Royal Odds and Ends

Book Blogger Directory

Lemon Shark

In Service to Him

Women of Warfare

somawrites

Xingsings

Xpression of Faith

Let’s Enjoy~Tanoshimou!!

Bookmuffin
I really want to thank each and every one of my followers! You guys all mean a lot to me! I feel bad for not being able to nominate everyone, but I think each and every blog is versatile and unique in their own way.

Prayer

We were recently able to spend some time with friends on a mini-vacation. On the way home, we were detoured because of a big accident. Then, we found out about another accident on an alternate route home. As we were about to pull into our street, another accident hindered our entrance, making us go down another street in our neighborhood. Instead of getting back home within a decent timespan, we got home hours later than expected.

But here’s the thing. It’s only a detour. All of the people involved in these accidents probably would do anything to be in our shoes; safe with just a slight inconvenience. I’m alive, right? I’m healthy. I have Jesus. So why are so many people discontent with being patient and thankful that they’re alive? After all, it could be you in that accident. The tour isn’t bothering me that bad. What bothers me is all of those accidents. I praise God that I’m not in it. But, I pray for those who were involved.

If you’re reading this right now, I ask that you join me in prayer for any car accidents that happened today, that will happen tomorrow, and the victims of past accidents who are in critical condition. Pray for God’s peace and protection for those affected. Pray for everyone to be safe while they drive.

Letters to Juliet

My friend and I watched a movie that we both really love, Letters to Juliet, recently.
Letters to Juliet is a pretty clean romance film starring Amanda Seyfried. Set in Italy, Sophia (Seyfried) is a fact checker who wants to become a writer. She goes to Italy with her fiancé, hoping to have a romantic, pre-wedding honeymoon. When she visits the House of Juliet, she discovers a group of ladies, called the Secretaries to Juliet, who write responses to love letters written to “Juliet” (from Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare). She becomes intrigued by this, and gets willingly pulled in to an adventure to help an older lady find her true love.

I love how romantic this story is! There are a couple scenes which just cry out for an “Aww! That’s so sweet!” moment. The lead male is super cute, and adorable, and sweet, and kind, and handsome, and romantic. It’s a good movie for people who just love romance movies. Definitely worth watching.

Robin de Noir…Er, um…The Secret of Moonacre (movie)

 

The Secret of Moonacre is a movie with Augustus Prew (Robin de Noir), and Tim Curry. I’ve seen this movie multiple times, and it’s really, really good! It’s definitely appropriate for younger children if they can handle some intense fantasy, and a somewhat darker storyline.

Maria Merryweather is a young girl, recently orphaned, who goes to stay at her uncle’s house in the country. Weird things go on there, and as the plot unfolds, we find out who Maria is, and what she is destined to do!

One of my favorite characters is Robin (Prew). When I watched this movie a couple nights ago with my friend, the actor who played Robin reminded us both of someone, but we couldn’t figure out who. We finally figured it out, but there’s more to Robin than the actor who portrays him.

Robin’s character is really complex (in a good way). PLOT SPOILERS WILL ENSUE.
DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER UNLESS YOU LIKE SPOILERS.
Because he starts out as evil, we really don’t like him. He’s one of those black haired, stereotypical bad boys who you can’t help but have a crush on, but who you hate so much that you can’t even stand it. He’s extremely attractive, but you also don’t like him. As his character develops, we see that he isn’t so bad. When he helps Maria and becomes her friend, his place in our (every girl’s) hearts is secured. You really love him, and your heart goes crazy.
Let me know what you think of the movie, and if you felt the same way I did about Robin!

Death Comes to Pemberley

Death Comes to Pemberley is a miniseries with Trevor Eve, Matthew Rhys, and Anna Maxwell Martin. It covers a mystery surrounding Pemberley, the famous home of the Darcy’s from Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. It is filled with an extremely talented cast, an exciting storyline, and some romance. The nice thing about it is that it is overall clean; there is kissing, an affair that is not shown, and one scene in episode three that is obviously coming and easily skipped, but it’s one of the better shows out there. There are only three episodes, but they still did a good job.

I’m not going to get into the storyline; it’s worth watching and discovering as you go along. It’s pretty true to the characters of Jane Austen from what I know and what I’ve heard (I have read some of Pride and Prejudice, but I never finished it…). I’d recommend it to friends and family.