Christmas

I have neglected this blog as of late, mostly because I've been spending a lot of time with the majority of the people in my life who actually read my blog. I have taken almost no pictures this season, but I thought it would be good to briefly give an update of my life as of late:

-My old computer has been on the fritz lately, so I bought a MacBook, which means I am now a Mac person. I'm still not sure how I feel about that, but I got a good deal on the computer, and I am enjoying all of the programs on my computer that I will probably never use in my regular life.

-My life got really hectic at the end of the semester. However, I finished all of my requisite hours in Texas Tech's family therapy clinic. In addition, Layne and I finished taping four segments of our movie, and I will start collecting data for my dissertation in January.

-I spent some time in Utah with family and friends, playing with my nieces and nephew, going to the temple with my parents and siblings, and eating at all of the restaurants they don't have in Lubbock. Now, I am spending some time in Las Vegas with my parents while I try to get some manuscripts ready for publication (doesn't that sound exciting?).

-I have to go back to school in about a week. But it will be my last semester of coursework, so, if it doesn't kill me, it will only make me stronger, right? 

I wish I had more exciting things to say. I hope everyone is having a good holiday season!

Thanksgiving

O Canada!

A few months ago, Stephanie invited me to join her in Port Angeles, Washington for Thanksgiving. I gladly accepted, and we planned an itinerary which included a trip to Vancouver to see the Canucks play the RedWings!

If you are having trouble reading the writing on this arch, it says, "Children of a Common Mother." This arch is on the border between the U.S. and Canada. Speaking of the border, the patrolmen who stopped us on our way across (both times) were some of the least friendly people we had ever met.

While the hockey game was the highlight of the Vancouver leg of our trip, we also made a stop at the pier and Chinatown. We had dim sum, and made a stop at the mall to buy Canucks' shirts.

As for the hockey game, it was awesome! Well, it was as awesome as a game gets when your team loses. Previous blog posts have alluded to my disillusionment with hockey in Texas. So I was completely unprepared for how great a professional hockey game could be with the defending Stanley Cup champions visiting a Canadian hockey arena. Speaking of Canadian hockey, for some reason all of the teams are named after things related to Canadian pride: the Canucks, the Canadiens, the Maple Leafs. Of course, I'm pretty sure there's a team down here called the Texans. I guess it's not that different.

Here's a shot of the arena.

There's nothing in the world like a hockey fight. It's what holds the attention of non-hockey fans.

Here's a shot of a hockey fight on the Jumbo-Tron. Stephanie leaned over and asked me why they were fighting. I shrugged. When they showed the replay, it was still unclear. I tried to explain that, in hockey, you don't really need a reason to fight. You just need a place.

The RedWings ended up losing in sudden-death overtime. The arena erupted with excited Canadians. For those of you readers who are unfamiliar with professional hockey, Layne once likened the Detroit RedWings to the New York Yankees, the LA Lakers, and the Dallas Cowboys. In other words, they are a team that win often, have a ton of fairweather fans, and are generally hated by other, less successful teams. I bristled at the comparison, mostly because of how I feel about the LA Lakers. Nonetheless, the Canuck fans were pretty darn excited to beat the RedWings.

We stayed the night in Vancouver, and the next day, we were off to Washington for the Port Angeles leg of our journey.

If you are not from the Pacific northwest, but the name Port Angeles sounds familiar, it may be because of this book:

This is because Port Angeles is right near Forks, where Twilight takes place. When Stephanie mentioned this to me, and pointed out that the Twilight movie would be premiering the weekend before I got there, I asked her if we could watch it in Forks. She laughed and said, "We could if there was a theater in Forks. It's too small for that."

So, the day before Thanksgiving was a day dedicated to Forks and all things Twilight. For those of you who have already seen the movie, you can decide if the movie (which was not shot in Forks) properly captures the real Forks.

Here's a shot of the sign that you see driving into Forks. This does, in fact, look like the sign in the movie.

Here is another sign in Forks. Before Twilight, Forks was best known for its logging industry

Here's a shot of me in front of the Forks Timber Museum, which is next door to the Chamber of Commerce, where they offer Twilight Tours. Unfortunately, the tours were booked, so we had to lead ourselves on a tour, instead. Brace yourselves.

This is Bella's truck. You can clearly see it is Bella's truck because of the vanity plate.

This is Bella's house. You can plainly see this because there is a sign out front. Let's put aside the fact that Stephanie Meyer had never been to Forks when she visited Twilight. How irritating must it be for the people who actually live there to have cars driving by to visit the home of a pretend person?

Clearly, the problem with making fun of the Twilighters is that I couldn't actually set myself apart from them. Here I am with Edward (so I guess there was an Edward sighting, Tracy!), plus, I drove around Forks. And, I am ashamed to say, I bought a t-shirt that says "Team Jacob." So, it's pretty hard to throw stones. Still...

It started to get ridiculous!

We debated over whether or not to eat at the "site of Edward and Bella's first date" in Port Angeles. However, we had dinner across the street, and then we finished off the night with the Twilight Movie.

However, I was again one of those snobby people noting that the Forks portrayed in the movie was nothing like the REAL Forks.

There were things we did not see, like the hospital which has a parking space reserved for Carlisle Cullen. Oh, well. Maybe next time I'm in Forks.