Arrow

So I watched the first episode of this new TV show called Arrow tonight. A friend recommended it to me so I thought I'd finally check it out. Wow. So intense. Here is the blurb:

"The series follows billionaire playboy Oliver Queen, portrayed by Stephen Amell, who, after five years of being stranded on an uncharted island, returns home to fight crime and corruption as a secret vigilante whose weapon of choice is a bow and arrows"

This all sounded interesting enough. But then I watched the episode and saw the main character...

Talk about babe alert. I'm hooked. Unfortunately there are only ten episodes at this stage so it won't take me long to watch the entire series. I encourage you to watch it too and enjoy Stephen Amell's aesthetics. 

You can thank me later ;)

xx

LOTR

I have recently re-watched the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, and have subsequently had a renewed appreciation for it. Gosh it's good, J.R.R. Tolkein and Peter Jackson are just amazing. I love when you re-watch something and 'get' all the links, jokes and plot details that you missed in previous viewings.

LOTR has so many good elements to it:

Friendship - Sam and Frodo. Sam's unwavering loyalty is incredibly admirable. And while you'd be hard pressed to find a movie that can make me cry, the scene where Sam carries Frodo the last little way to Mount Doom brought tears to my eyes, I do admit. I also love the friendship that grows between Gimli and Legolas, who don't like each other at first but by the end are constantly taking the mickey out of each other.

Love - Arwen and Aragorn. While I don't particularly like Arwen, Aragorn is beyond amazing, so to see him finally get married to his lady is nice. I do admire Arwen's sacrifice of eternal life for a mortal life with Aragorn though. Ahhh love. It's also realistic in depicting how love is not always reciprocated, as in the case of Eowyn.

Humour - Without it's snippets of humour I probably wouldn't really like the trilogy very much. Merry and Pippin in particular always make me giggle. They are the coolest little hobbits. And of course the banter between Gimli and Legolas: "do you want me to describe what's happening or would you like me to get you a box" (Legolas to Gimli during the Battle of the Hornburg).

Environmental messages - I only noticed this on this watching, but Tolkein is clearly preaching a 'save the trees' type message in The Two Towers through the treefolk who protest the felling of their kind by the orcs. It's Tolkein's way of saying save the forests yo!

Lovable characters - Sam, Merry, Pippin (the most lovable in my opinion).

A character you love/hate - Gollum. He's evil, yes, but you can't help but feel sorry for him and his situation. Poor wee guy can't help being consumed by his desire for the ring, and his internal conflict where we see glimpses of the sweet Smeegle makes it all the more tragic.

Eye Candy - Aragorn of course, who is so rugged and masculine. Then, on the other end of the scale is the pretty-boy Legolas who is also easy on the eye.

So yeah, LOTR is pretty freakin' cool.
xx

Lecrae - Like that

Why you let him get you like that?

Why you let him treat you like that?

He's a stone cold player

That's a no no no no

:( :( :(

Truth

The many gems (such as the one above) that this movie offers is just one reason that it is pretty much my favourite movie ever :)

xx

Oruawharo

Today I attended my Grandparents' 60th wedding anniversary luncheon. 13 members of my family met at the beautiful Oruawharo Homestead in Takapau, a place that is a bit off the beaten track but well worth a visit. It is an absolutely spectacular building, with so much character. It kind of reminds me of a Jane Austen era type home. My favourite room of them all (and there are many, many rooms) was the library which featured a wall of floor to ceiling bookcases and comfy chairs for reading. We had a lovely luncheon consisting of tea, devonshire scones, club sandwiches, ginger gems, mini savouries, strawberry tarts and fruit juice. All served on gorgeous tiered plate stands. After lunch we took some photos in the gardens and then played a bit of petanque (which I'm useless at btw). Unfortunately I didn't get very many photos. I forgot my proper camera, silly me. It was all so instragram-worthy too :(

I discovered a wooden swing suspended to a big old tree and quite enjoyed that for a while:

Visit Oruawharo if you ever get the chance.

xx

The new resolutions

I know it's kinda cliched to write out resolutions these days but I don't really care, imma do it anyway:

1) Keep up an excellent exercise routine.
2) Get into good eating habits! 3 meals a day, lots of fruit and veges and less sugar :)
3) Find a good career-relevant job!
4) Read more!! Only read 6 books for leisure in 2012. Disgusting.
5) Keep up the blog.

That's all I can think of at the moment but five is a good number I think. 2012 was a roller-coaster year, but I definitely look back at it fondly, as there were many many great moments :)
I'm looking forward to the challenges that 2013 brings!!

xx

The old resolutions

So the time has come to welcome in the new year - 2013. I am heading back to Hastings this afternoon to see the new year in with my best friends. I am really quite excited. We will probably head over to Napier and watch the firework display. So I found my resolutions that I made at the start of this year, and here's how I did:

• Do really well academically seeing as it's my final (and most important!) year

I did pretty well this year, though I could have done better for sure, but then that's always the case. I'm pretty happy to get top in class for a few of my papers, and to have a degree that has over 50% A grades. It's awesome to have a degree under my belt now! And can't wait for graduation!!

• Get into the habit of eating really healthily. Three meals a day, everyday. Here's to making this year the one where I finally kick those unhealthy habits!

Don't think I've really achieved this one. Had periods of eating really well but they didn't tend to last very long. I definitely still need to get into the 3 meal a day routine.

• Keep up regular exercise.

Yes!! Jaclyn and I have been excellent with the gym this year, and I've reached the point where I actually really enjoy going. We've varied things up this year by taking Les Mills classes to supplement our usual cardio sessions, and this has definitely made exercise more enjoyable :)

• Be more social, and make more friends!

Well I most definitely achieved this one! It has been my most social year to date. The people we flatted with helped with this as they were a social bunch. I have been out pretty much every weekend! It's been great. And I have made more friends as a result. Met so many new, interesting people. Didn't really have many guy mates before this year but I can say I now do, which is cool as.

• Become more self-confident....somehow...

These all kinda link in with each other. Definitely have become more self-assured and confident. No doubt being way more social has helped in this respect. Actually was talking to Jac about this a little while ago and she said she'd noticed it in me too. This makes me happy :)

• Go to more gigs!

Haven't really been to many local gigs. But I did go to Coldplay (which was beyond amazing) so that kinda counts, right?

• Blog more! And maybe get to 10 followers? 

Don't know if I've blogged more but I've kept it up! And yes I surpassed 10 followers! Yuss. 

A kiss for you loyal readers, cause you are awesome :) 

xx