The 50th Anniversary is over!!! Yesterday was my Grandparent's 50th anniversary party at the Birch Creek Golf Course. It was an incredibly busy day full of floral mishaps and stressed out children, but overall everything turned out very nice. It was actually kind of fun to see people from my Dad's side of the family that I haven't seen for about 10-13 years and to meet some of my Grandparent's really good friends. I learned a few things from this party.
1. You can always maintain a conversation by asking about one's children or commenting on fashions from a specific time period.
2. Women from the 1950-1975 generations believe that an appropriate compliment for a young woman is to make projections about how soon she will be married or "Hooked," "Hitched," or my personal favorite, "Landed."
3. When you make a commemorative DVD and have extra copies, include an instruction guide for some of the older guests.
4. Levi should never be made into one-piece outfits. One of my step-cousins wore an outfit made entirely of levi and I am still trying to figure out what clothing category it would fit in. Seriously, I was waiting for the What Not to Wear team to pull up and take her away.

The whole day really did turn out very well and one of my very favorite aunts who is a photographer (she took the picture of my displayed on this blog as well as my senior pictures) complimented on the pictures I took of my grandparents! This was a huge relief because all week I had been anticipating the sarcastic remarks she would make about them.

The party only lasted until about 7:30 and I was actually home by about 7:45. I spent the rest of the night with Kristy and Marissa. Kristy and I met at Mack Park to play football, Frisbee, and blow bubbles, but decided that the park was far too crowded. We are a bit anti-social when it comes to outdoor activities. So instead of playing at the park, we when coloring book shopping and got frozen yogurt. Erin's Wisdom #2: Seagull Book has an excellent coloring book selection for very reasonable prices. Kristy and I also found princess encouragement stickers with inspiring quotes and certificates at the back. Of course, we couldn't let this opportunity go by! We purchased coloring books and crayons first and then went to Tummi Yummi for frozen yogurt. Erin's Wisdom #3 Pineapple Coconut, Original, and Strawberry yogurt is delicious when mixed together. We ate our yogurt and colored while listening to live music. The girl who sang had a very interesting voice and an even more interesting song selection. She did the acoustical version of everything, so it was just her and her guitar. After we finished our yogurt, we went to Marissa Olson's house to deliver her coloring book and just to talk. I think that her dad was a little shocked to see Kristy and me on her doorstep at 10:05 in the p.m. We stayed at Marissa's house for until about 11:45 and then headed home. All-in-all, it was a wonderful day!

I borrowed the Kierra Knightley version of Pride and Prejudice from Marissa because I haven't seen it in forever and wanted to compare it with the 6 hour version of P&P. Here is my analysis. Overall, I think that I prefer the 6 hour version simply because it stays so true to the book, however, I enjoyed the Kierra Knightley version's artistic qualities much more than the 6 hour version. Also, I think that Matthew Macfadyen is a much better Mr. Darcy than Colin Firth. David Bamber pretty much created the character of Mr. Collins for me, so Tom Hollander was just a nuisance. I also REALLY dislike Simon Woods as Mr. Bingley, but a lot of this distaste probably comes from his hair and because I saw him in Penelope before Pride and Prejudice and he is a total jerk and a moron in Penelope. Rosamund Pike is Jane, end of story. Oh, and Donald Sutherland was amazing as Mr. Bennett. I really like how the 2005 version of Pride and Prejudice shows a bit more of the daily life scene. You actually see that living on a farm is dirty business and even Meryton isn't shining clean. I also love Pemberly in the 2005 version! After seeing how Mr. Darcy lives and comparing that to the dirty country life, you start feel a bit of sympathy for Caroline Bingley and understand the truth in many of her derogatory statements about life in the country. It was an interesting sympathy line to draw, but something that made me love the movie. However, the 1995 version of Pride and Prejudice is much more accurate and has a better character portrayal of Mrs. Bennett, Lizzie, Jane, The Hursts, Mr. & Mrs. Gardiner, Lady Catherine, Mr. Collins, Mr. Bingley, Caroline Bingley, and Mr. Wickham. It is almost hard to compare them because they are so different and the only real assessment that can be made is that one is more accurate than the other. When it comes down to cinematic quality, costuming, scripting, casting, and other movie details beside plot, they come up about equal because where one fails miserably the other exceeds all expectations. One thing that both movies have in common, however, is that they are both much more entertaining than the book.

The temple dedication was amazing today! I am really impressed with how...contemporary and almost art-deco the Oquirrah Mountain Temple is! I didn't have a chance to make it down to the open house, but my mom and sister did and they both gave me further description of the interior design as we were watching the opening display of the temple before the dedication. I love Pres. Monson and his thoughts today were spectacular. I also love Silvia H. Allred! She has some of the most amazing talks. Since I've finished with Young Womens, I've trying to learn and get to know the General Relief Society Presidency and have fallen in love with all of them. They are awesome ladies in the most literal meaning there is. I started The House of the Lord by James E. Tamage today and it has been very eye opening. I'll let you know if I make any discoveries worth sharing!

My aunt just called and is trying to find another tune for a song she is singing with her kids at school, so I've got to run. If you know of any short nursery rhyme type songs that are about the same length as Mary Had A Little Lamb, please let me know!