No More Facebook, and No More Netflix

I've spent some time, recently, in the decision of whether or not I should cancel Netflix....AND Facebook!  Well, the decision has been made and I am no longer a member of Facebook, and I canceled my instant queue on Netflix.  Wow - amazing huh?  That's what I think.  Why did I do this - well, there are several reasons.  Let's start with Netflix first shall we.

During the summer, most of you Netflix users like myself, received an email explaining a price increase.  Boy oh boy, did this shoot me over the edge.  Yes, most of you saw/heard my outrage on this matter.  A few months later they sent another email stating that they would be changing the way they are doing things on Netflix.  This was the final straw that broke the camels back.  BUT, I still decided to stay with them.  Although, I should be super busy with school this last semester, I have found that having both the DVD, and instant viewing were ending up being too much money, and a waste of my time.  I was using the instant queue a lot more then the DVDs.  All of my time was going to stupid shows, like the TV shows Felicity (which I sadly sat through all four seasons - good thing they canceled because I was about to cancel) and My So Called Life which I still can't seem to get through and it's ONLY one season.  It took some time and thought in the matter, but after my Sis took the plunge and canceled her instant queue I decided I should follow her footsteps and do the same.  She canceled due to wasting too much time also.  It feels good to cut that out of my life, for the time being.  The great thing about Netflix is that any time I want to go back to my old ways I can, and they are willing to always take me back with open arms.  Seven more months till graduation, and my gift to myself is adding back my instant queue on Netflix.

Facebook and I have had a love hate relationship for some time.  It took me some time to join, and it was late one night around 1:00am when I took the plunge.  I knew what I was getting myself into at the very beginning.  I joined and loved it.  I thought, this is great, I am able to keep in touch with those people I have met in Alaska, and with those from my years of serving a mission in Kentucky and Ohio.  Recently, I have found myself on this website all the time.  I am not doing anything productive when I am on the website, I spend hours looking, and looking, and looking.  I rarely comment, and when I do my email is flooded with notifications.  However, the notifications stopped suddenly when Facebook made some new changes to their website.  It was a breath of fresh air for me, but not receiving those emails was making it hard for me to know what was going on in Facebook land.  As I was not knowing via email notifications, it made me hop on to Facebook more frequently, and thus I would spend more hours just looking.  I guess what it comes down to is I have no self control?

As I was perusing Facebook a few weeks back (when I should've been doing homework), I found that my cousins wife Shellie wasn't on Facebook anymore.  I was shocked and concerned.  It was late, so I decided that the next day I would contact her and ask her what was going on.  She informed me that it had become too much for her.  Her constant Facebook perusing was getting out of hand, so she canceled her Facebook.  Way to go Shellie, for setting the stage for me.  After much thought and serious consideration I have done the same.  It wasn't like I made the decision over night.  I thought about all the pro's and con's Facebook causes me, and then decided to cancel.  No more offending other people by comments I leave (which I had done recently), no more tagging pictures of people who don't want pictures tagged, and no more wasting my time spending countless hours looking into the lives of people I care and don't care about.  Now that sounds rude, but most the people I'm friends with on Facebook already are people I have contact with by other means. The other people are just those who haven't seen me in years and wanted a quick look into my life right now, and by so doing they had to "add me as their friend."  All along I should've listened to my Bro, "Facebook is stupid, haven't you heard of a phone?"  Yes little Bro, you are right, I have the ones I love dearly right at my phone, or email.  What else do I need?

There it is - I canceled Netflix (just instant queue) and Facebook.  Now I'm loving life even more...or finding more to do that doesn't involve me wasting my time!

108 Days of MY Summer Vacation

Woweeeeee!  Where, oh where, did this summer vacation of mine go.....

My summer vacation started out with a bang.  The Sis and I did a VERY LONG ROAD TRIP - remember that???

14-15 days...give or take a few, (I can't remember) of traveling in a circle amongst the states of Utah, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Wyoming.

4 days of Cake Decorating Classes - to which I might add, I'm not a fan of decorating cakes.  I was stressed the whole time because of my chemistry class that was going on the at SAME TIME.  And, I think the icing we had to make was absolutely disgusting.  Therefore, my cakes that I ended up producing got thrown in the trash.  My final cake for the class didn't even make it to class because of stress and poor planning - that cake was a complete mess, and so was I!!!  I will say that the one thing I gained from this experience was some nifty baking tricks, and an admiration for anyone who decorates cakes.  Let me just fork out the big bucks to those cake decorators in the world, because you won't ever see me decorating another cake!

Me and my two girls - Staci and Reagan at our favorite flower bed - Presidents house.

 Some of the other fun flower and ground girls.  (Back:  Julianne, Kim, Kali, Reagan, Staci.  Bottom:  Vonae, and Me.)

63ish days of working the grounds of SUU.  I got "stuck" with two younger girls in a threesome this summer, and let's just say I wasn't looking forward to it.  BUT, I ended up having a blast with my two young co-workers, and we had a fun time working together each day.  Reagan (20) and Staci (18) taught me a lot.  I go back to what my Boss said when he paired us up, "You can learn a lot from these two girls."  I said, "How can I learn something from a 20 year old and fresh new High School graduate???"  I looked passed the age difference (finally) and had a great time working the grounds with two young'ns.

Kyle, Me, (Kyle + Me (Libby) = "Kibby") Erin, and Auntie Cami!!!  Best 31st Birthday EVER!

3 days of birthday celebration!  The night before my birthday my Sis and one of my Bro's baked me some cookies, lite a candle on fire, sang "happy birthday," and let me open my presents.  The day of my birthday I was surprised with flowers, singing, and Dairy Queen ice cream cake!  What a wonderful surprise from dear friends!!!!  A few days later I was then treated to dinner by another friend to a very yummy BBQ restaurant in Cedar City.  Tasted so good, but left smelling like a fire pit - worth it, I think so!

5 days of Tiki Shack snow cone eating!  I know, totally disappointed in my lack of support to one of the best Snow Cone shacks this side of Hawaii!  Next year I will not disappoint!  (If you haven't stopped on main street in Cedar City at the decorated camping trailer known as the Tiki Shack then you, my readers, are missing out!  When you go, (next summer since they closed for winter) please get a snow cone with your choice of flavor, vanilla ice cream on the bottom, sweet and condensed milk on top, and then lastly topped off with whip cream - HEAVENLY!)

73 days, and still going....UGH!  I planted a garden.  I have decided that gardens as big as mine are for people who have kids that can help, or for people who have a spouse, and you are both retired.  I bit off more then I could chew, and this garden has been a lot of work.  However, I have reaped the benefits, okay a lot of benefits. I have more squash then I know what to do with - anyone want some?  Contact me!!!!  Sheesh! They say that when planting a zucchini plant or squash plant you plant two.  Two, just in case one plant doesn't make it you'll at least have one.  Oh no, I planted three different types of squash and six plants each of the different squash.  That makes a total of 18 FREAKING plants.  And, on top of that, I accidentally dropped some pumpkin seeds that surprisingly popped up, so now I have a huge pumpkin plant taking over a section of my garden.  Anyone need pumpkins this fall????  Well, at least I can say that I learned a lot from this garden experience.  I know what to do next time, and what not to do.  Next year, I do not see a garden in my future, at least not a very big one.

5 days of culture, as I spent time going to plays at Tuachan and Shakespeare.  I got to see "The Glass Menagerie," which was very interesting, depressing, and hit a little to close to home.  "Romeo and Juliet" where I leaned back and slept through most of the play...it was free so I wasn't out any money, and I was taking my Sister - who loved it!  "Noises Off!" which was was hilarious, clever, and I very much recommend.  "Grease" which was SO AWESOME - such a classic in my book!  And lastly, I got to see "The Little Mermaid," which was actually kind of silly - cool affects, but super silly.  (I also get to go see "Dial M For Murder" in October, which is a fall play during the Shakespeare festival.)

This is me FINALLY passing chemistry - thumbs up yo!  (Don't worry I just signed my tutor up for another semester with my Food Science class - Lord help me!!!)

38 days of studying my pea brain out over chemistry!  And not to mention I spent $700.00 on a tutor who FINALLY got me to pass organic bio chemistry.  How does it go....
A big bag of sunflower seeds $3.59
Over due fees at the library for using a study room $2.30
70 hours for a personal tutor $700.00
Passing chemistry after the fourth time (or 9th time - all together)...PRICELESS.  Heck yes, FREAKING PRICELESS!!!

 The whole hiking gang at Kanarraville Falls.

A couple of days (here and there) hanging out with family, having barbeque's, going hiking, camping, and river rafting - yeah buddy.  Our latest hike took us to the canyon right up the road from my bro's house.  Kanarra Narrows, as we always called it growing up.  We finally set a date and went and hiked the narrows.  Had a most beautiful Saturday afternoon, and couldn't have picked a better date.  The narrows were packed with people and we had some interesting experiences, but we didn't see any snakes and we all survived each other.

Lastly, out of my whole summer vacation I only watched about 20 days of Netflix.  Shocking, I know!  I should've just put my account on hold as I was so busy with chemistry, chemistry, and well whatever else I did this summer.  I didn't put it on hold, so my very few dvd's I recived over the summer sat in their envelope for days, sometimes weeks without me watching the dvd.  I also watch instant, so the rest of my watching days were set to my latest crave, (or the flashback to mid 90's watching "My So Called Life" with the beautiful Jared Leto) "Take Home Chef" - which I used to watch when it aired years ago on TLC.  This show only lasted two seasons, but has over 100 episodes.  AND, the only time I would get to watch that show was when I had dishes THAT HAD TO BE DONE.  I clean dishes and watch a beautiful (straight) Austrialian man cook dinner.  Oh the life I live!  I also want to put in my two cents about this whole Netflix - raising the price thing.  IT STINKS!  But, as my Mommy tried to calm me down...she said, "Libby, it was bound to happen - get over it!"  I'm sticking with Netflix, but they can forget me converting any more people over to their company.  SHOOT - I used to have such a strong testimony of them and their company, but then that thing called money and greed got in the way and this is how they treat their consumers.  Nu Uh - I don't think so.  I tired to wait it out by making a threat (either "you don't make us pay or I'm canceling my account") via Facebook, along with umpteen thousand others....but those Netflix folk are sticking to their guns and I am just going to have to buck up and pay the extra money a month.  So, I'm sticking with them! I am even paying the $16.00 (actually $17.07 - just got my first bill) a month so I can have one unlimited and instant viewing.

My new home - what a mess.  Wish I could find time to unpack instead of just doing a little here and little there!!!!!!

And lastly, I spent all my other time trying to pack up my CRAP and move.  Yes, I cut the cord from my younger brother and moved out to the big city of Cedar City.  I wish I would've done it sooner.  I will miss my Bro - he has been a fantastic landlord/storage unit, but the time has come.  Now I really can make fun of people who are my age and still live at home!  I moved to Cedar City, and it has taken me forever to get my CRAP to my little basement apartment that is just blocks away from campus, and in the heart of downtown.  I live below an old family friend who is my age and has a little boy.  I love my new crib, and I am almost done decorating it - you want a tour...I will be making a video of my new digs just cause it's been a while since I have made a lame video.  Stay tuned - it's going to be a good one!

I know my summer wasn't as exciting as most of my family and friends, but I sure did stay busy.  I guess that's all that matters at this point in my life.  Won't this next year of mine be interesting to watch....can't wait to see where I end up!

Technology - Good, But Also Bad?

What did we ever do before technology?  Don't you hate when people say that?  We got by just fine.  Don't' get me wrong, I love technology, I think it's great, but I also think with all good comes some bad.  My latest technology behavior has allowed the bad to seep in quite a bit in the past few weeks.  

I have been feeling for some time that my habits of using/dealing with technology are getting out of hand.  About a month ago two of the girls I work with decided to do a "media fast" which was to cut out movies, TV, Facebook, and music.  As they told me their plans I thought to myself what a great idea - good luck to the both of you.  But, I also thought to myself, I should try to cut at least Facebook out for a month, or something.  Not that I got on Facebook that much in the past, but as of recently I have spent FAR TOO MUCH time on that social network.  And what am I accomplishing on there to begin with - NOTHING!  

Just yesterday I was on the phone with my cousins wife Shellie, and the topic came up - "technology, and how it's taking over our lives."  She told me of a friend of hers who decided to do this "no technology day" once a week.  As I continued to think about this during the day I decided that I need to take one day of the week where I don't have any use of technology.  I have decided that I will do Sunday, only because it's a day where I know I won't have any need of the computer, texting, TV, and movies. It would probably be hard to do this during the week when I am in school, and at work.  On top of all that I am teaching my Gospel Principles class on Sunday which is about "Keeping the Sabbath Day Holy," and figured that one way of keeping the Sabbath holy would be cutting out technology.  

Listen, I'm not PERFECT by any means, but a person can try!  So, I am going to try! 

Let me begin with texting.  I have done my fair share of hanging out with people and in the middle of "hang out" I'm texting another person - I try not to do this, but if they start texting someone I just go ahead and text someone also.  I'll show them, right?  That is a huge irritation of mine, texting when you are with people - totally rude.  So is texting at church, but we won't get into that today.  Next media downfall of mine, is TV.  I don't have TV anymore, thanks to the cable company who finally caught on that we shouldn't be hooked up.  It's been 4 months without it and I really haven't missed it that much.  However, I have turned to other things - like the internet, and more frequent Netflix watching.  Speaking of internet, I am grateful for my neighbors who were nice enough to give me their password to use the internet.  The other thing I am grateful about is that by using their internet I don't have full bars so it doesn't allow me to watch videos online unless I'm willing to wait hours for the movie to download and that would be a negative...I'm not that patient.  So, how do I watch my show Glee and other instant movies - oh yeah, I wait until I'm at school, or my parents house.  Which both of those places don't allow much time for movie or TV watching.  I'm not watching much TV these days, and my movies at this time are about two at a time per week due to work/school/life.  Lastly, it all then comes back to this wonderful world wide web.  I'm an addict to Gmail, Netflix, Blogger, allrecipes, Goodreads, and that social network Facebook.  It needs to stop, it all needs to stop.  I need to get this technology lifestyle under control before I lose all control.   

This is what I'm going to try to do on my one day off of technology a week.  

1. No Texting!  I will do phone calls only on this day.  Besides, what happened to the old fashioned "calling someone" to shoot the breeze.
2. No TV (already do that) - so, in my case NO MOVIES!  I will read a book, or study my next lesson for Sunday school.
3. No COMPUTER.  PERIOD!  No computer for me means, no solitaire, no playing with photo's, no iTunes organizing, and anything else that has me using my computer.  Oh hello, the internet - none of that will be going on.  Duh!
4. No Internet.  As stated above.
5. I want to say no music, but I feel that some music is okay to listen to.  Maybe eventually I'll just cut it all out.  

*  As for my latest social media addiction I am going to limit myself to once a week on Facebook.  I can do this, I did it before, and I need to start doing it again.  Besides, my brother hates Facebook and already gives me a hard time when he catches me on there.  He usually say's something like, "Are you on Facebook?  I want you to get the hell off of there in my house!"  Rude, huh.  It's all out of love.  He's right though, he is most definitely right in my opinion; I need to stay the hell off Facebook for a while. (Side note:  Facebook isn't all that bad - there are people from my mission that make me grateful for Facebook because it has helped me stay in contact.  Facebook does have some positive things...)

I can't say this is going to be easy, but it is going to be worth it to try.  (I bet this reminds some of you of my mission homecoming when I said no more "Friends" TV show...the worst part about that whole thing is my families wonderful dedication to recording all the episodes that I missed as I was out serving - then me asking them a month before I got home to get rid of all the VHS recordings they had made...only to find out several years later they released all the episodes on DVD - who knew???) 

What are your thoughts on no media, is there anything else I can do to limit myself? 

Dear Hollywood, Thank You For Making Some Good Movies!

Dearest Hollywood,

I want to thank you for the recent stream of movies you have been producing.  I just spent the majority of my spring break watching movies (THROUGH NETFLIX, OF COURSE).  I happened to time my Netflix just right, and was able to send out movies and get movies practically back to back.  Oh yeah, I totally have the system down for Netflix.  But Hollywood, I'm not here to testify and praise Netflix, I'm here to praise you on your array of great movies recently.  Where do I begin?  I don't really get out often to see movies in the theater because I am usually disturbed by obnoxious kids and adults.  However, my friend Lisa and I ventured out one lonely Friday night, at the spur of the moment, to go see the recent Adam Sandler movie, "Just Go With It."  Once upon a time I was a major Adam Sandler fan, (was a teen in high school and Adam was totally COOL!) I even wanted to have his babies!  I know, crazy?!?!?  So Lisa and I went and saw "Just Go With It" and yes, I was a little hesitant because the last Adam Sandler movie that I saw, "Grownups" was so LAME to me.  Such a waste of time.  But, I tried not to judge, and we went and saw.  Oh MY GOSH how good was this movie, SO GOOD!  I haven't laughed so hard in a movie in a really, really, really long time!  Of course there was one of those scenes that are in all of Adams movies where you are like, "really - does a human have to do something perverted to an animal?"  Okay, so I looked passed that scene and loved the rest of the movie.  Jennifer Aniston plays the luv interest, and because I am a fan of her I thought that she did a great job too.  My recommendation - if you need a good laugh, rent this movie, or heck, if it's still in the theater go see it.  Another side note, the little girl in the movie = DARLING!

Oh yes, back to you Hollywood.  You have also produced some great award winning movies that I actually agree on winning Oscars this year.  "The Social Network."  I know the majority of people out there use that social network called Facebook.  Well, you need to rent this movie and see where it all started!  My bro, whom I live with, hates Facebook.  I have to agree with him sometimes, but I got him to watch this movie with me, and he still hates Facebook.  However, he thought it was a pretty interesting story, and was amazed, like myself, about this Harvard college drop out who is now the youngest billionaire.  What the!?!  If I were to be a college drop out - well that would just be plain sad.  Very interesting story - totally recommend.  Another award winning movie you produced Hollywood was "The Fighter."  I love fighting movies like "Rocky" (only 1-5 though).  I figured I would like this one as well.  If you can look past the extensive "F" word out of Amy Adams mouth it's not that bad of a movie.  Mark Walhberg is now my favorite hottie to walk the red carpet.  YUMMY!!!  Christian Bale, and Melissa Leo also won Oscars for their roles in this movie, and were well deserved, in my opinion.  Melissa Leo, whom I have never heard of was also in another movie I took the time to watch called "Conviction" which is also a true story, and very inspiring.  However, both these movies were a little long for my attention span, but I stayed with them and was pleased with the happy endings in both.  Hollywood, I love when you make movies with happy endings - even true stories that end happily.

Okay, let's get back to more of those cheesy, romantic comedies.  That is where my heart lies.  During this week long movie watching I also viewed, "Going the Distance" - eh, "It's Kind of a Funny Story" - ohhhh, "The Switch" - yes and no, "Morning Glory" - another ohhhh, "Life As We Know It" - loved it, might have to buy it, "You Again" - cute, but once was a enough, and "How Do You Know" - boring, but liked the story line.  "It's Kind of a Funny Story" was not really funny.  It is about a young man who checks himself into a mental hospital for a week.  A lot happens in one week, he realizes life is going to be hard and suicide is not the answer.  There is a great rendition of the song "Under Pressure" sung by the cast - totally awesome!  "The Switch" was kind of slow, but I liked the story line.  And, I'm 100% in love with Jason Bateman!  Gosh, he is so dreamy to me.  I have to say that "The Switch" was a lot more tasteful and better than that STUPID Jennifer Lopez movie, "Back-Up Plan" - DUMB, with a capital D! "Morning Glory" was just a great feel good movie!  There was a little bit of romance, but the story was more about a young woman who loved her job and loved what she was doing.  It was kind of inspiring to me, and of course I teared up.  The movie "Life as We Know It" was probably my most favorite movie that I have seen in a long time.  I laughed, I cried, I laughed some more, and you know it, I cried some more!  The two main characters are set up on a blind date several years back by their two best friends.  The blind date was horrible, yet they still keep popping up in each others lives because of their best friends.  The friends are married, have a baby, then die in a car crash leaving their two friends they set up on a blind date (that didn't work out) as guardians to their little girl.  This movie reminded me a lot of the movie "Raising Helen" which is a movie I also love.  However, the story is a little different, and of course the main male character Josh Duhamel is so nice to look at!

Well Hollywood, I now have to get back to reality and can't spend all my time watching movies back to back.  But I do appreciate a lot of your recent movies, and ask that you keep producing so that people like me, who are obsessed with Netflix and movies, can continue fulfilling my life with these solid films.  I look forward to the next "up and coming" new releases to hit the big screen.  Until then, keep up the good work of making movies that I love and will even rent more than once on Netflix.

All my motion picture cinema love,
Libby

Netflix, and a Bad Movie Review

I'm not so happy with Netflix these days. Netflix is my favorite, however, they took away one of my favorite applications. That application was my "friends." See, here is the thing with Netflix, they had this feature where you could have friends, and I had a lot. When you were friends with your "friends" you could see their Queue (pronounced by just saying the letter "Q" - unlike me who likes to pronounce it "Q-E"- not correct. Also your Queue is where you list your movies that you want to rent, and the order you would like to receive them). For the past two weeks I have been devastated over the fact that I can't see what all my "friends" are watching and rating. It really has put a damper on my life. Oh the life I live. So, because I just have SOOOOO much time on my hands I called Netflix to ask them if this "friends" application had moved, or got removed. Much to my disappointment they have REMOVED it permanently from the website, and don't plan on ever bringing it back. What a shame. I was in a bad mood the rest of the day. Okay, not really, but I was sad about it. I guarantee my Mother Dearest is not sad that they removed this feature, because she hated the fact that I could see her Queue and all the horror/weird movies that she rents. Hi Mommy, I know you are rolling your eyes at that comment. (Does that mean most likely you are going to call me and tell me to take that last comment off, right?)

Now, let me get down to business. As being "friends" you could also write reviews on movies - you can still do that, but none of my "friends" will ever see my review. So, to utilize my blog I am going to write a review on here - not that I have never done that before, because I have.

Movie: The Canyon

My Rating: 1 Star out of 5 Stars

Rating: R, for brief disturbing content - according to Netflix

Genre: Thriller - I never once got scared, bored, but never scared!

Time: 97 minutes I WILL NEVER GET BACK!

***Spoiler Alert*** (I am going to tell you the ending. But, I can guarantee you won't want to waste your time on this movie)

Two honeymooners, Nick and Lori elope to Las Vegas and then spend their honeymoon at the Grand Canyon. The two love birds want to do a "back country excursion" on donkeys to the bottom of the Grand Canyon. The two newlyweds can't seem to get a permit at the snap of their fingers, when one night at the bar this old Mountain Man tells them that he can get a permit and take them down. Blah, blah, blah! On the first day of trekking their rustic Mountain Man Guide gets bit by a rattle snake and dies. The two love birds are left to try to survive and make it back to the top.

A bunch of boring survival stuff happens throughout the majority of the movie. They get tracked by wolves the entire time, and I kept thinking that the ending would be the love birds getting ate by these wolves. Not so. Having said that, I did my homework on this fact about wolves in the Grand Canyon, thus, the Grand Canyon does have an endangered wolf known as the Mexican Wolf which is approximately 5 feet long from end to end. These wolves in the movie were big, meat hungry wolves, that are not found in the Grand Canyon. Another thing that bothered me to no end was the fact that the girl, Lori, kept trying to get cell phone service - PALEASE! Really, come on? Everyone knows that you can't get cell phone service in the bottom of the Grand Canyon. So, to ruin the movie for you. Her newlywed hubby gets his leg stuck in a rock and the wife has to cut it out. Which brings me to my favorite line from the movie, Lori: "Here, you have to bite on this." As she places a piece of wood in his mouth to help with the pain she is going to cause by cutting his leg off. He say's, "I love it when you talk dirty." Gag! They did some great writing in this movie. She does cut his leg off and she gets him to hobble for some distance when the wolves attack again...where I'm still thinking this may be how the movie ends. Oh no, she ends up killing him by cutting off his air - plugs his nose and covers his mouth. Just moments after she cuts off his air a helicopter lands to save them. Yup, I just wasted 97 minutes of my life - kind of. I never waste anytime when watching a movie because I always make sure I am doing something, i.e. dishes, laundry, crocheting, SOMETHING. So, technically I did accomplish a lot why I watched this terrible movie.

Lastly, I am still trying to figure out why this movie was rated "R" because there was no sex, no violence, no disturbing images, and only one use of the "F" word. I have seen PG-13 movies dirtier than this one.

Take my word - don't waste your time on this movie.