Alpha Dog

So, I've been sick most of the week and I've had the opportunity to watch many movies in between my daily dose of wedding television shows. One movie I watched really had an impact on my life. The movie Alpha Dog. I was a little skeptical because Justin Timberlake was in it, but when I asked Murad about it, he said, "it's messed up. It'll make you sad, but you should watch it." He was right. I guess the hardest part was that 95% of the movie was true (there was like some threesome pool scene that wasn't true). It really made me sad for the future of our youth. It just goes to show that you can move your kids to the lily-white suburbs, but you're never far enough from drugs and ultimately peer pressure. I won't give too much away, but if you can google "Jesse James Hollywood" and you'll get what the story is about. So sad.
Since I had a lot of time to watch movies, I also got to see a lot of previews. I now have a new movie that I can't wait to see. The Other Boleyn Girl. My friend Ashley Post introduced me to the book back in 2005 and I loved it. I could not put it down! I absolutely loved the author's writing style and I'm always a sucker for historical fiction. So, when I saw that the movie was coming out on February 29th, 2007, I got very excited. On top of that, Scarlett Johansen and Natalie Portman are starring in it.
Another movie I've been wanting to see is Atonement. I really would like to read the book first, but I know that probably won't happen. Atonement is still on my list. If anyone would like to go see it, please hit me up!!!

W's

Well the W's are woodard, weight loss, wedding, work and wonderful puppies!!!

Woodard

Well Woodard is my last name, so this is about me. I've officially been twenty-six for over a week now! Last weekend, my friends Christina and Evan came down from OKC to visit. They brought along their dog, Lucy to play with Sam and Maya. We had a great time. We ordered pizza and watched the KU game and then we went to eat at Benihana's http://www.benihana.com/. It was great. Murad ended up getting me XM radio for my car and Seasons 1 & 2 of The Office. I love my XM. At first, I thought XM seemed like a luxury, but it really is a necessity! And I love The Office. We've been watching it everynight this week.

Weight Loss

Okay, so I've really tried to start the weight loss process early, but it has been hard. Over Christmas I gained five pounds. Doesn't seem like a lot, but it's a lot easier to gain than lose. So, I've been working out when I can. I try to go to the gym at least three times a week. Well this week, I had a miraculous weight loss experience. Okay, so maybe not miraculous. However, I lost three pounds in four days and it's all thanks to my puppies. Walking them is an exercise, mostly because they fight the entire walk. I never expected it to impact my weight loss though. My arms actually have some definition now. So, I now have my own 40 lb. weights!!!!

Wedding

Well we've found the place to hold our wedding! It is absolutely beautiful. I've put some pictures up of the ballroom. The ladies who run the place are two sisters, and they're absolutely great! They're so willing to help us and are doing a lot of things for us free of charge. It's almost like they're our wedding coordinators. The thing we love about this place as that we can bring in our own caterer and alcohol, so we will be able to save a ton of money that way. We also like the fact that the facility is ours beginning the day before our wedding. This will be great and allow my mother and I to do a lot of DIY projects and set it up the day before. I'm so excited and so if my fiance and, of course, my mom!

Work

Work is great, but it's getting a little hectic. The TAKS writing assessment is in exactly one month! I'm a little nervous, but we're getting ready to start a big writing unit. We've got some fun hands-on writing activities planned for the kids. They're all capable of being excellent writers, but they just need to believe in themselves as writers! Trying to convince them they're writers is the hard part. After the writing TAKS I'm taking a little vacation to Atlanta to see my friend, Himee and then after that is spring break! Yay!!!

Wonderful Puppies

Sampson and Maya started puppy training class yesterday. While I don't really like the instructor, training class couldn't have come at a better time. Sampson ate an entire bag of jelly beans and Maya tore up all our paper towels. When we went to training class though, we realized that our dogs are pretty good dogs. Murad and I were by far the youngest owners and Murad was the only guy there. Some of the things they were explaining we have already done with Sam and Maya. Sam and Maya are just so smart. Sometimes, I can't believe it. They're so cuddly and fun!

I guess we'll see how they do next week at training class!