Fast and Furious 7

The most recent Fast and Furious movie, #7 is said to be their last. With the passing of one of the movie's legends, Paul Walker, it's unclear how the franchise can continue.

This movie opens as Shaw first meets up with Hobbs, Dwayne Johnson, the "Rock." This time Jason Statham is the bad guy and is after blood. Shaw pulverizes Hobbs and needs Dom's help to bring Shaw down. Statham's character, Deckard Shaw killed Han one of the Fast and Furious crew.

Meanwhile, Paul and Mia's baby boy, Jack is around 3 years old now. They live in the same house, as always, in LA with Dom.

With Mia and Jack shuttled away to safety, Brian is ready to help the crew out. Mia worries that domestic life bores Brian. She hasn't even told him she's pregnant.

Letty is back from the dead, but things still aren't back to normal due to her memory loss. She breaks up with Dom and needs a break to "find" herself.

Ludacris and Tyrese Gibson fill out the crew, as always.

Kurt Russell even has a strong role as the guy with money and equipment at his disposal. He'll let Dom use the new cutting-edge, God's Eye software if Dom and crew will retrieve hacker, Ramsey. The job of gaining Ramsey is where the biggest action scenes take place. And surprise, Ramsey is a girl. Letty is back and ready to help her crew.

Like with all these movies, clues lead them around the world including to Dubai where Ronda Rousey makes a cameo as the part of a prince's security. She and Letty have an epic fight scene. Brian and Dom crash a billion dollar car through 3 buildings; nothing new.

They get Ramsey and the chip they need to give Russell's character to utilize God's Eye and find Shaw. The damage and body count runs high. Shaw doesn't give up without a fight, that's for sure.

I expected the ending to be sad, but it wasn't as sad as I thought it might be. Like the other movies in their series, this includes the themes of family, cars, speed, fighting, and heists. It is high energy and if it is the last, a great way to end the series.

Last year, I posted a music video for the song, "See You Again," which is prominent at the end of the movie. Here's the link to that post with the music video, See You Again.

DC, Part 7

I enjoyed the Gallery of Art-Sculpture Garden. We were able to stroll around in roughly 30 minutes. They have a beautiful, central fountain and many abstract sculptures. See my favorite sights.

We ate lunch at the nearby Pavilion Cafe. It's a hidden gem with salads, sandwiches, and pastries.

The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History was really enjoyable with a variety of exhibits. They had a really neat safari photography section. I really enjoyed their minerals and gems exhibit. They had a really neat gift shop where I added a few more bracelets to my bracelet collection. :)

Such a fun trip!

Matt Chandler; One Life-Sacrifice It

Starting Thanksgiving night here, it rained and the rain froze. So, we essentially stayed home all weekend. I hate missing church, but found a sermon on podcast by Matt Chandler called, One Life-Sacrifice It. I always enjoy his sermons and this one was no different. I found myself nodding along and hurriedly taking notes, not wanting to miss anything.


Points are things from it that Matt Chandler said that stuck out to me:
It focused on this scripture: Romans 12:1-2 New King James Version (NKJV)
Living Sacrifices to God
12 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
Source: Bible Gateway

-We are all broken, we have this in common
-Alone, we can't follow the 10 Commandments
-We are:
1: Guilty of Preferring Creation to the Creator
-We were created to stir up worship
2: Guilty of Believing We're Smarter than God
-We won't say it, but we believe it
-We disregard His plan
-We justify out rebellion by saying we know better than God
3. Fail to acknowledge God as Author and Giver of all things

-Psalm 139: God knit together our form
-All glory is due God for our talents, skills, and abilities

-We were created for worship
-If we worship the wrong thing, it'll betray us.

-We need to lay our hopes down and hold them loosely.

-We need to worship God today.

-He leads us into joy. Happiness is cheap.
-Joy makes us steadfast.

May this bless your heart as it blessed mine.

DC, Part 6

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial is a must-see site that is iconic and well-known. There were guides there to answer any question you had. They shared with me there the wall contains 58,307 names. Too many names. :( Knowing that many people died in the Vietnam War was sad and shocking.

The Korean War Memorial was touching and best to see in person. Words can't adequately describe it.

One of my favorite newer memorials was the absolutely beautiful World War II Memorial.

There I am reppin' my state; Kansas

See Me by Nicholas Sparks

I am a massive Nicholas Sparks fan. I've read EVERY book he's ever written. My favorites are: A Walk to Remember and the Last Song.

I was excited to read Nicholas Sparks' newest book, See Me. I broke my rule of not reading a book for fun during the semester, but I was on a waiting list at the library and couldn't give up my spot.

See Me is about a Mexican women, named Maria in her late 20s and her family. Since I'm Mexican, I thought it could be even more interesting.

All the books involve love and plot twists you don't see coming, so this one was no different. Let's see...Maria works in a law office. She meets a tattooed guy often on the wrong side of the law. Colin is going to school to be a teacher, tends bar, and is an MMA fighter. They come from very different worlds, but still fall in love. Shocking, right?!

A twist is that Maria gets a stalker. Yeah, I know; weird. Then the stalker gets violent. Then, there turns out to be 2 stalkers, but no one can figure out who they are until the end. Maria and her family's safety is at risk. Colin wants to protect her, but can't get in any trouble with the law or risk going to prison. Yada, yada, yada. They all live and stay together, while the stalkers face justice and unhappy fates. Pretty much just like we want plots to end, right?

It was an interesting read, but not one of my favorite Nicholas Sparks' books. Here's hoping they don't make it into a movie!

DC, Part 5

So, I imagined the White House sitting on five or 10 acres, not in the middle of buildings and a bustling city. I imagined it being on a busy street with lots of traffic, but it was on a closed street filled with Secret Service agents. I got to see their organic veggie garden too.

The White House was quiet and still. Outside, the fence, it was hard to get photos of it with all the vacationers taking photos.

Lady Victory is well known at Fort Riley, KS near where I'm from. Here's a terrific article on her. There in DC, I saw her again and it was a pleasant surprise.

We also visited the White House Gift Shop and got lots of souvenirs, including a coffee mug and Christmas ornament. I didn't know until after my purchase, but they charged $0.25 per shopping bag. With a minimum of a $25 purchase, you could get your photo taken at a replica White House Press Conference podium, White House Presidential Desk, and in the "Oval Office." It was neat to get my photo by the well-known areas.

I loved all the history and the opportunity to see places I'd only ever seen on TV!

Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2

Anyone who knows me knows that I am obsessed with the Hunger Games series. So, I highly anticipated this last movie in this beloved series. The last movie in a series has a lot of big expectations to fulfil. While I'd read the books and knew what was going to happen, I wasn't sure how the series would tie up everything together. I also knew some super sad stuff happens in the last book and for that I wasn't ready.

Last weekend, I saw it and here's what I've come up with. It was a good end to a beloved series. Like in life, not everything ends like a fairy tale, but you make choices and you live with them.

The movie opens with Katniss after the last movie ended with Peeta strangling her. She's bruised and struggling to live with life after Peeta has been brainwashed by the Capitol.

To get revenge, Gale helps develop bombs. A first wave a bombs will panic people and the second wave would get the rest of the people. Katniss doesn't like how cruel that is, but the Capitol has made Gale harsh.

She gets her way into the fight against the Capitol. They want her just to shoot film for film clips against the Capitol, but that's not Katniss, she can't stay away from the fight. Peeta gets sent along to be filmed and of course Gale is there. too. The Capitol is as evil as ever. As expected they face lots of traps and monsters from the Capitol. So the "sewer monsters" were scarier than I'd envisioned and as a result, I screamed the whole time they chased Katniss and company. Everything happened so quickly, it was hard to figure out who had died. I thought some of the losses would be focused on more in the movie than they were; that was disappointing. They eventually find an ally within the city in the form of a lady named, Tigress who has surgically changed her appearance to look like an actual cat/tiger.

Katniss's goal is to make it to the capitol to kill President Snow. She makes the trip from Tigress's store to President Snow's mansion where all residents are being ordered to come for shelter. Gale makes the trek with her, but he gets recognized and captured before arriving there. As Katniss gets closer, a bomb goes off. People rush in to help and there she sees Prim helping. People are encouraged to bring their kids to safety in the mansion. As she gets closer to the front, another bomb goes off. We know who it kills...and we know who created it. Her relationship with Gale ends with him apologizing and her ordering him to leave.

She finally gets her chance to execute President Snow, but instead chooses to take out President Coin who has vastly overstepped her role and has become part of the problem.

Katniss returns to her former District 13 and tries to live. Peeta returns to and they spend time together. The movie ends with Katniss and her family with Peeta. #TeamPeeta

While the movie was full of action, I wish there'd be more about her relationships; with Gale, Peeta, and Prim. She felt disconnected and I didn't feel the love.

DC, Part 4

On that same busy day that we were in DC, we also checked out the Thomas Jefferson Memorial. It was across a body of water and shimmered in the distance. It was a balmy day and the Thomas Jefferson Memorial gave us respite from the sun, heat, and a lovely breeze. I so appreciated the wonderful quotes from Thomas Jefferson featured on the walls of the memorial. His words remind us of the strong Christian values that our country was founded on. This was one of my favorite sites in DC!

DC, Part 3

Next, we checked out the Lincoln Memorial. The statue is so much larger than I thought it would be. Sadly, the memorial was crazy crowded, but I did walk away with some good photos. Also, the memorial has a cute little gift store. I took this terrific photo there:


From the Lincoln Memorial, I was able to take several great photos of the Washington Monument. Here are my favorite photos of the Monument:

Here photos from the Monument:

A fun panoramic shot from the Washington Monument:

DC, Part 2

We checked out the outdoor Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial. It featured lots of his famous quotes, which were nice to read again.

Here my group was posing at the memorial.

Next, we made our way to the Martin Luther King Junior Memorial. It, along with the FDR Memorial, I was told were the newer memorials.It featured many of his most famous quotes.

I'm glad I could finally see these memorials for myself. Pictures never do the places justice.

DC, Part 1

I had such a great time in DC!

First night, we visited friends and had dinner in Springfield at Mike's American Grill. It's such an impressive-looking restaurant, but unfortunately for us, the service was awful and the food was pretty good, click here to see my more of my thoughts.

The next morning, we hit the sights in DC. I was warned that DC is extremely hot and humid, but wow very unaccepted!

The first stop was the poignant Arlington Cemetery. I knew I had to see the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier during changing of the guard. I wasn't sure what to expect. It was solemn and still as we watched the lone soldier keeping guard. The changing of the guard is a must see with the beautiful military traditions I've come to love! It was hard to believe that there were 150,000 graves!

Such a wonderful start to my DC trip!

Myers-Briggs Personality Test: ESFJ

In college, I took the Myers-Briggs personality test as part of my Organizational Behavior class. At that time which was 10 years ago, I was ESTJ.

These really described me to a T.

As I've gotten older the "feeling" part of me has grown. Now, I'm an ESTF. I feel like this is more representative of who I am. It's always fun to learn more about yourself.

You know I love the Hunger Games series, so this shouldn't surprise you. I moved from Effie to Primrose: