Blog Training Wheels

We have been participants and contributors in this crazy blog-o-sphere for about nine months. And when I say we I really just mean me. I have. Because, as you may (or may not) have noticed, Adam has said not one peep. Which is funny because it was his idea to start this blog in the first place. He was the one who wanted to do it. He was the one who pushed for it. And he may (or may not) contribute in the future. Only time will tell.


It's possible.


But maybe not.



No promises.




It has been fun, this blogging thing. I've been surprised at how much I have enjoyed writing about different situations or random thoughts – there are lots of times just in the course of a day when something will happen and I will think, I should blog about this so I never forget it, so that my family and friends can be a part of it too, so that this moment is acknowledged and preserved. Looking back at the number of posts from the last nine months has made me want to set a goal to post a little more frequently. Because there are many moments that I have not shared.

One thing that you may (or may not) have noticed is we changed our color palate. Yay! That was exciting. You may (or may not) remember that I am not super-savvy when it comes to technology. I can manage fairly well with very basic programs, but anything that is just beyond basic, just beyond common knowledge is unfortunately just beyond me. So I was excited when I was investigating some of the customizable tools on our “dashboard”.

I'm really digging the lighter hues. They make me happy.

I also made the font bigger in a few places. That makes me happy too.
Ah, the simple things in life.


But that's not all.



Not even close!



You may (or may not) have noticed that we have changed a few things on the column to the right of our posts, specifically:

1. I moved the archive list to the top,
2. added a place for a list of blogs that we frequent,
3. added a spot for movies that we've recently seen, and
4. added a list of books that we've (ahem, I have) read recently.

The thing I wanted to mention about these changes is this: we've instigated a system to also rate the movies that we've watched and I wanted to explain a little about our system – just in case ya'll were wonderin'.

It's pretty simple. After much deliberation, and soul searching, and meditation, we decided on a five star rating system. And here's what each rating means:

1 star means that we really did not like the movie. Hate might be a strong word. But it might also be the perfect word, like hate is the word that best describes our feelings about the movie. It's the feeling that you have after watching a movie, just after the credits start to roll and you are staring at the screen thinking, “That's it? That's the whole movie? That's the end? They're really not going to try to salvage anything that may have been redeeming about it? It's over? I can't believe I just wasted 2 hours of my life! I can't believe I just wasted $20 of my hard-earned money! (Or even $1 if you redbox-ed it!) That sucked!! I never want to hear the name of that movie again.” That's what 1 star means. Ish.

2 stars means that we didn't really like it. We didn't hate it. But we didn't like it either. It's the feeling that you have after watching a movie and you are not enraged but you are not happy; you are disappointed. Like, maybe there were short moments of the movie that you really liked,
or there were certain aspects of the movie (the music, cinematography, special effects, etc.) that went well but as a whole they just didn't get it right. You are left wishing it had been better. You do not want to ever see this movie again. Ever. EVER.

3 stars means that we liked it. We did not love it. It was good; not great. It's the feeling you have when you are not upset but you are also not elated. You are a luke-warm happy. You don't feel like it was a waste of time/money but it's not a movie that you would buy to have in your personal collection to watch over and over and over again. It was entertaining, you are glad you saw it, and you might even like it enough to see it again... sometime... if the opportunity presented itself... but it wouldn't be the worst thing if you never got around to it. Once might have been enough.

4 stars means that we really liked it. It was a great movie. It's the feeling you have when you really appreciate what the movie was – you have a big smile on your face as the credits roll. You are glad that you saw the movie and you can easily imagine seeing it again. You feel like it fulfilled your expectations of what you wanted it to be. There are only a few things that you would change about it. It will likely be a movie that you would like to have a copy of that you can watch anytime the mood strikes. It's one that you would not tire of easily.

And lastly,

5 stars means that we loved it. It was excellent. You feel great, elated even, as you watch the credits. It was probably a movie that taught you something important, that inspired you, or one whose story was really important to you and it surpassed your expectations. There are very few things that you would change about it – all of the little details came together beautifully (the casting, the acting quality, the cinematography, the script, the plot, the music, the effects, everything complemented everything else). It's a movie that you can't wait to see again. You will definitely want to buy a copy for your DVD library. It is one you could watch over and over and over again – one which you will quote in your everyday conversations. A classic.

Now, you may (or may not) have noticed that not all of our ratings fall within those particular parameters. We have a few fractions thrown in there – but we'll just trust your abilities to distinguish what would fall between two numbers.

We believe in you.

And your reasoning abilities.

One of the reasons we added this was to make our blog a little more interesting, a little more of a reflection of who we are and what we do. I have a specific vision to add some pictures. But I'm just not sure how. I will have to consult my sister's husband (who is pretty much a genius in a lot of ways, but especially with computers and web design) to see if he can help me make my vision a reality.

What else would you suggest we add? Any requests? Suggestions?


One day it may look like we've taken the training wheels off. For now, we're comfortable with our amateur status.


And on another (related) note: if you've seen any great movies or read any great books lately, we'd love to hear about it! Pass on your recommendations!