Melissa, Olympics, Yellowstone and Theatre Thursday!

After many days of sanity threatening Walmart experiences, I'm finally taking some time off! Tomorrow at the crack of dawn, I'll be moving my car to Ames, Iowa where the enchanting Melissa lives. I just need to get through one more shift and I'm home free. I couldn't be more excited about it. I haven't been to Melissa's new apartment so I'm eager to see how she's living these days. If she lives with bugs...I'm visiting from the hotel. :) Melissa dislikes bugs almost as much as I do so I don't think this will be the case. While I'm at Melissa's, a little known sporting event will be getting started. I'm on the edge of my seat to see as much of the Olympics as humanly possible. Gymnastics, swimming, diving, rowing, running, basketball, volleyball....I love everything! I think I'll pass on trampoline and badminton but sign me up for everything else!

About a week after I get back from visiting Melissa, I begin an epic journey to Wyoming to enjoy its wonder and adventure. Yellowstone will be our home for about 8 days and I intend to make the most of it. I'm also very excited to hit up Elitch Gardens on the way. I haven't been on a roller coaster in many years and I can't wait to end that abstinence. I will definitely have stories to share after that trip. I can't imagine 6 people stuck in a van/tent for 10 days not having amazing stories. So get excited for Melissa, the Olympics, and Yellowstone. I've been waiting for this part of the summer since it started and now, it is all within my grasp! Muafafafafafa!

THEATER THURSDAY!!!

This week we will actually be talking about something I saw in theaters. I know that's what Movie Monday is for but I missed it and I really want to talk about this movie. So deal with it! The movie is (drum roll)........Dark Knight Rises.
Adrian, Phil, and I went to Sioux City on Monday to see this movie and I liked it quite a bit. Now that I've gotten over the fact that Christian Bale has to destroy his vocal cords as part of his epic heroism, he's finally grown on me. There were so many things about this movie that I liked and a couple that I didn't. Let's get started!

I really appreciated the ridiculously attractive cast. Christian Bale, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Anne Hathaway, Marion Cotillard, Matthew Modine, Daniel Sunjata...it was pretty much all good news. Even Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, and Morgen Freeman were rocking the attractive old guy thing. Can't lose!
I also loved that Marion Cotillard, turned out to be the bad guy. I totally didn't see it coming and she shifted effortlessly into an evil persona. She had conviction, passion, and explosive weapons. LOVED IT! I liked that the movie was a bit of a tear-jerker. If Michael Caine is crying, so am I. He is such an amazing actor and he really sucked me into everything. I adored Anne Hathaway as a pseudo-reformed bad girl. She really pulled it off. I didn't think she had it in her. I'll be interested to see the miracle of her pulling off Fantine in Les Mis...but that's an entirely different blog. I liked very much that they made Bane much cooler than he was in Batman & Robin. It wasn't hard, as that movie was an epic train wreck (sorry George!), but I was legitimately terrified of Bane. The bad guys have been so amazing under the guidance of Christopher Nolan. I'm a little sad that this will be the last one, but I think that it is good to go out with a bang. The Batman franchise will be revived again and again but I believe that this re-boot will always stand out as great.

That brings me into what I didn't like. If this was the last movie and they have no plans for more, why was there such an epic cliffhanger with the Robin character discovering the bat cave and Bruce Wayne not dying. It is too much for my fragile emotions to handle! I suppose if that is my biggest problem...it isn't so bad.