SATC & Eclipse Special Edition & MTV MOVIE AWARDS

OME! On Friday night I went with a group of wonderful ladies to see Sex and the City the movie. I had so much fun with the group. They were hilarious - poor waiter at Santa Fe - he never knew what hit him til he hit Darlene's knee... lol anyway. The evening was full of laughter, stories, and definitely craziness. Marcus went gambling with the boys since I was out with the girls. He had a good time - broke even - no big winnings :(

Saturday came bright and early. He got home around 9 a.m. & we headed into town to pick up my new copy of the Eclipse Special Edition featuring chapter 1 of Breaking Dawn. Yes my sister called me at 8 a.m to see if I already had the book "no Nina, they don't open til 9:30a.m." i laughed into the phone. She was driving to Virginia with the kids & I promised to read it to her once I had it. After picking up the book, grabbing some groceries, and swapping some items at Academy I was back at the house - 3 hours later. Nina had called and left me an aggrivated message I laughed outloud when she answered the phone with " it's about dang time!!" then she proceeded to tell her kids " no one talk to me until I say you can - okay Courtney - now read." I was tickled pink in that I had made her wait a bit - she was surprised that I had made myself wait too. So began to read I did. WHEW! Um, Can August 2nd come faster?????? It was great so many wonderful things are going on in chapter 1 & though I am nervous for how the saga will end, I am more excited for the possibilities. The cover is awesome too.

Sunday night the MTV Movie Awards promised a clip from the movie. A full clip - yes they delivered. I personally LOVED IT!! Cam Gigandet is the ultimate James. We also were treated with a quick & awkward interview with Kristen & Rob. Um why do people continue to bug them about off-screen romance? Geez come on people. Ask about the MOVIE!! lol. Anyway, my weekend was TWILIGHT terrific in every way. Of course I put up pics - see below from the whole weekend & the Twilight link for the clip is on the side panel with the date of June 1.

I hope you all had a great one!

Updates

LOL! 13 days since my last post! wow - so many little things to update... my goodness.
Okay:

4-25-08: My beach trip with mom was a blast! It was SOOOO relaxing! We chilled on the beach, we ate our way through SanDestin & definitely shopped our way around the area! Mom got a beautiful new Coach purse! So proud. :) I found some adorable clothes & jewelry. We had sno-cones, the best sweet potato chips you have ever eaten & some wonderful seafood. More than all the outings though I really enjoyed the time with mom. We rarely get out of town just girls, it is needed more often than it is able. We did miss the fact that Nina was unable to attend, but are glad she got to go to Savannah at least. (plus we are jealous she ate at Paula Deen's The Lady & Sons).

5-9 & 5-10: Dad's Birthday & Mother's Day weekend! Wow so much to do in 3 short days. Dad had a good birthday. An amazing birthday dinner - fried deermeat, mashed potatoes, beans, gravy - YUMMY!!! Nina's crew came down for the first time in many, many years! We played volleyball in the yard, swam, cooked it was so much fun!!!

5-15: Movies with Eric & Mindy- What Happens in Vegas! - very funny. Eric & Mindy were good. We were supposed to all be at a Tim McGraw concert but it was rescheduled for June 3
Eric's birthday was the 16th as well as my brother in law Keith's.

5-17: Crawfish boil. It was a lot of fun! We went over to some friends & they had a huge crawfish boil for everybody. Yummy!

5-18: Movie - Prince Caspian. This one was awesome, we actually enjoyed it better than the first iteration of the Chronicles. So good, but the highlight of the movie experience was in the previews: YEP I SAW THE TWILIGHT PREVIEW ON THE BIG SCREEN!! OME! OME! OME! I could not breathe while it played across. I am so excited. (I actually chose that time slot for Caspian based on the theater assuring me that with that time I would see my trailer :):):):) hee hee!)

Anway, that is the 2 weeks while I have been away! I promise a more enthused post later!

The Host

Well I bought The Host yesterday on my lunch break. I read 1 chapter at lunch then at 5 p.m. got home & began a new journey. This book is by Stephenie Meyer (you know my Twilight author); it is her first adult/sci-fi/fantasy book.
Okay I finished the book around 2:47 a.m. It was very good. I was caught off guard by its twist and turns through humanity. Twilight is first & foremost a love story - the Host however will make you question your depth of compassion. The true meaning of being 'human' and the way we take advantage of the beautiful world we live in. It explores our flaws, the concept of a supposed more intelligent peace minding species that could better our world. I found myself crying through most of the book. There are light areas of laughter, but on the whole your main characters are really being tested, they are going through a difficult discovery that is both exciting and terrifying. Emotions run higher than any I have read...If you don't usually read sci-fi don't shy away from this one. Stephenie manages again to create characters that make the abnormal very normal. I really enjoyed this book. It cannot be compared to Twilight in any way - they are apples & oranges. But their one resemblence is the depth of her characters, how she makes you want to know every facet of their reactions. I found in the core of this story on compassion the meaning of family. Who we encounter day in and day out is not always our family, where we live & who we live with does not immediately mean acceptance. It is when our hearts & our minds are open to the character, to the 'soul' of someone that we begin to create or break family ties. Anyway, I hope that any of you with any spare time will read it and remember to keep an open mind & open heart for each person you encounter during the journey...

OFFICIAL HD TWILIGHT TEASER TRAILER

At the bottom of my blog is the Teaser Trailer released today 5-5-2008 by Summit Entertainment.
This video is from MySpaceTV & is the Official.
IT IS AN AWESOME TEASER!!!
Enjoy

Sea & Sun

Woohoo! Heading to the beach this weekend~ yep finally truly get to welcome the Spring! Mom & I are headed to Sandestin, Florida. Thankfully Marcus has a very good friend who owns a house at Baytowne. It is a precious cottage! I cannot wait for the seafood & shopping! Pray for sun! Anyway, I will be updating on our adventures when we get back!

A weekend in the country... redneck country...

Okay, now I am from small town USA. Actually SMALL TOWN SOUTHERN USA. Meaning that the terms "country" and "redneck" have floated in & around my vocabulary since I opened my eyes to this world. I have had many redneck moments in my life, I am quite proud of the endearing way the term is used in Camden as well as when it is used purely to explain crazy actions by a male or female who live in the country. I am also very proud to have grown up in a rural community. Camden is truly rural Alabama. You cannot get to a mall within an hour, you cannot find a Wal-Mart without crossing multiple counties & truly putting some mileage on your car, you cannot find a true fine dining establishment nor will you find anyone who does not know you or your parents or some form of kin. That being said there are many pockets of "country/rednecks" all around this great state & the rest of the US. This past weekend I was introduced to not only a large number of these great people but also introduced to a past time that I knew existed, but had never witnessed: Dirt track racing - no I'm sorry - Knockout Racing. Let me start from the beginning:

We spent the weekend in Shelby County, Al. Wilsonville & Columbiana really. Kerry (Marcus' best friend is no living in that beautiful house I posted below in the slideshow & it is gorgeous!) We went up on Friday night & just watched a movie & relaxed. Saturday was lunch at PaPaw's (one of the BEST bacon cheeseburgers & onion rings I have ever eaten) then Marcus & I went to the Galleria for Regan's "Libby Lu" birthday party. Holy Crow! Lets just say that the store in the Galleria is not big enough for a bunch of little girls, their parents & extended family to view a party. Regan had a great time & that is really all that matters, but I will say Libby Lu needs a bigger location. (see pics below of the girls all dolled up). Marcus & I shopped a bit in and out of the party - found a great new purse btw :) Then we headed to the Summit to meet Kerry for dinner at The Tavern. The day was BEAUTIFUL! We ate on the patio & people watched. I had a great Watermelon Martini - ooh so good. Then we headed back to Columbiana for "the Races".

Okay - this is an oval red dirt track. The infield is grass with 4 light poles to help light the track. There is a press box (about 2 stories high) the bleachers are on one side & at the end of the track you can pull your truck up & watch on the tailgate. The turn embankments are at a pretty steep angle with a cement wall at the top then a wire cage that climbs above the bleachers to protect the spectators. The opposite side of the track is merely a drop off. (no caging, no wall, it just drops off the hill) A wrecker, ambulance, & four wheeler sit on standby in case they are needed.

The first few races are super modified & time trials. Now these cars really are race cars, they are sponsored monte carlo's & such that travel everywhere to compete. It was interesting to watch, then you have different categories. There was one that one just Ford Pintos on the track racing, then one was just old Camaros. But then there was the event. The 50 Lap Knockout Race. This race was what people came to see, this race is what got people off the bleachers & against the wire fence. ANY car, ANY car can enter. Just make sure you don't want that car to survive. They do not have a Caution flag for this race, it is no holds barred. There was a cadillac, a pinto, a cavalier, a camaro, a lumina, a mazda if it runs & you want to drive it for $500 dollars then come on down. There is no glass in the cars, the drivers are people like you and me only with helmets on & the object is to be the last man standing - knock every one else out of the race & you win. Literally KNOCK everyone else out. It is basically a demolition race. Rubbing, bumping, slamming, is allowed.There was a point where the 37 car a maroon mazda type thing actually was pushed off the track, disappeared over the hill & when the ambulance & wrecker went to check on him he wasn't even there = no car, no driver. 3 minutes later he re-entered the track from another direction!!! YEP! The craziest though was yet to come. A white lumina actually went into the embankment & flipped upside down 2 times then land up right & even with the front end hanging on for dear life continue to race. YES CONTINUE TO RACE!! He did eventually T-bone a green car, the lumina then caught on fire. No one was hurt. I watched back quarter panels fly off, tires roll across the track, multiple car fishtailing around the turns. A small white cavalier won the race. IT WAS CRAZY. People were shouting "TAKE HIM OUT!! HIT HIM FROM THE SIDE" madness - total madness. It was fun in the "scary, exhilirating form of spectatorship" I now though have a great deal of respect & belief that all the rednecks I grew up with are actually of a higher IQ than previously thought & some choices I questioned before were actually brilliant ideas compared to what I watched grown men do Saturday night. Anyway, a few pics below (the one with the two cars behind the light post is right after the white lumina T-boned the green car & right before the lumina caught fire) Sorry for picture quality this was with my cell phone:).

*Please do note that I truly had a great time & would actually attend this event with Marcus & Kerry again, now I will know what to expect - which will help. It really was a great time, I found myself smiling at the concept & realizing that in my teen years there were some guys I would have cheered on if they had gotten behind the wheel, would have gasped in horror as they took a turn too sharp, & would have scolded on their idiocy with all the love in the world had they participated. No matter what type of redneck/countrified persons I encounter they all make it worth getting up & smiling about. :)

Rambling....

Thank goodness the weather is showing signs of Spring again. It felt like we lost Spring for a little while... anyway, we have a busy weekend coming up. Our niece Regan turns 5 this weekend & there is a party planned for Libby Lu in the Galleria - yep bunch of little girls getting makeovers! It actually should be a lot of fun. We are going to spend the weekend in Calera at Kerry's house starting on Friday. Peanut will love the mini-vacay.
Next weekend is the first of our beach trips! YIPPEE!!! Marcus is actually going to go to Talledega with my Eric, Mindy, Dad, & the twins. Mom & I are going to Sandestin (I also hope that Nina will be able to go with us - we are working on logistics right now). I cannot wait!! Thank goodness for friends with beach houses. ;)
Also - Twilighters out there - all these teasers are awesome. I am hoping that the tidbits from the movies will keep me occupied at least until book 4 comes out. ;)

New Pics from the Ballet Studio scene of Twilight...

If you click on the pics they will open in High Resolution.

Courtesy of Twilight Lexicon, Entertainment Weekly, & Summit