Life as We Know It film review

Life as We Know It is a film I desired to view while the feature was in theaters. Sadly, I never had the opportunity, nor did I know anyone who wanted to view the film as badly as myself. So there I was, waiting patiently for DVD to the point that forgetting was inevitable in many ways. One morning though while going through on demand, I stumbled upon the film being presented through one of the various movie channels. Excited, I forgot about the other pick for the day and pressed play without hesitation. One of the coolest aspects of the film is that Life as We Know It was filmed in my own backyard! The film takes place in Atlanta and was not only filmed in Atlanta, but also filmed in Norcross. One of the locations the film features is the Belly General Store, which is where the bakery scenes were shot. That is just a cool tidbit of trivia for all you Georgia folks who gets overly excited knowing films and shows are getting shot here more often than not these days. There is something undoubtedly cool about being able to have such a connection to a film and recognize locations so that made this film even more of a treat.

The synopsis is about two people on very different paths in life. Holly Berenson (Katherine Heigl) is on the road to get married and have babies. This is one of the many things she wants out of life. She also runs and owns a successful bakery and desires to expand and remodel. She wants a successful restaurant attached to her location as well. Eric Messer (Josh Duhamel), on the other hand, enjoys his playboy lifestyle and his job with the Atlanta Hawks in the control room of Philips Arena letting audiences in on the best plays if they have to sit at home. They are best friends with Peter (Hayes MacArthur) and Alison Novak (Christina Hendricks). Without Eric or Holly’s knowledge, the couple name both of them as guardian to their daughter Sophie should something ever happen to both of the Novaks.

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Stop letting fear run rampant

For years I have let what ifs run my life. Not good what ifs, but the negative ones. I’ve let them run my life far longer than I should have. I’ve given people far more power than they have deserved. And I’ve reached a point in my life where I’m not going to beg anyone to be in my life. Are there people I feel I should be in touch with far more than I am? Yes.  The only problem with this desire is that I’m human and I make excuses just like everyone else when when the end of the day is quickly approaching. Am I grateful for those who make an effort when I don’t? YES! Even if we see each other once a year, I know that you thought enough about me to make that effort. Do I want to see you more? Of course. Do I always have the time? Unfortunately not. Am I trying to re-prioritize?  Yes.

The majority of my days are filled with work. Forty hours of my week is devoted to my job. At least thirty minutes to an hour is devoted to walking or some form of exercise. Another hour or two goes to writing something every night. Even if I have to walk away from whatever is on my mind, like my Friend Request review, and come back to post it later. My goal is to write, which is more work. Harder work than people give it credit for at times that is certain. I also want to read for at least an thirty minutes to an hour a night as well. During the week plans for anything else is generally shot to hell or sometimes time gets chipped slowly from somewhere else.

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Friend Request film review

Friend Request is a film I’ve been curious about since noticing a cardboard cut out when exiting another film one evening at the theater. Initially this made me think of the 2014’s Unfriended.  The unique thing about Unfriended is that the entire film took place through characters computer screens.  So while the two films have a popular social media site in common, they are drastically different in terms of execution.

Friend Request opens on a classroom where a professor informs his classroom that a student has killed herself.  Upon asking those in the room to report anything that might help authorities understand what occurred the camera pans to two friends, focusing on one of the most popular girls in school, Laura Woodson (Alycia Debnam-Carey).  Moments later audiences are transported to two weeks earlier and we watch as she absentmindedly clicks on numerous confirms without truly acknowledging who she is friending online.  In fact, Marina is the only person she examines even remotely in depth.  Though I have to believe in hindsight she wishes she would have kept scrolling.

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Butterflies in the sky, I can go twice as high

Reading Rainbow was one of my favorite shows growing up. I remember being excited when my teachers throughout elementary school used this program as a teaching aid. The truth is I’ve always loved reading. At one point I broke up with reading though. This happened while I attended college. There are lots of areas to place blame for this lack of interest to read. Most of the blame was a lack of time. If I read for thirty minutes a day then there would be thirty minutes less to contribute elsewhere. Thirty minutes less to work on perfecting a project. Thirty minutes less relaxing after a long day. At one point though my idea of relaxation was to read for fun.

A lot of people I have talked throughout the years say they quit reading around the same time. Part of that is that most of us had so much required reading that by the time we had free time we did not have the desire to pick up yet another book. Maybe that is part of it. Maybe reading is something that we are supposed to reconnect with over time. Last year one of my aunts asked me if I still read like I used to because her daughter does now. When asking this question she meant am I still the same girl who constantly had a book on her. Not an ebook, but a book. I would even bring books to family functions. If things grew dull among the adults I’d go off to my corner in whomever’s house and read. And as we can recall that was viewed as about 97% of the time as a child.

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I cannot avoid having shows make me cry today

I just finished watching the season eight premiere of Blue Bloods. Typically, I will go down my DVR from top to bottom and watch in that order. Plus, I am semi avoiding Chicago Fire because I don’t want to watch one of my favorite characters die. That isn’t because I know definitively if one of them has died or not, but I get far too emotionally attached to fictional characters and don’t want to deal with the fictional massacre today.  With that said, if you are a fan of Blue Bloods and have not watched the premiere, come back to this post after you have viewed this week’s episode. Spoilers ahoy.

When we last left the Reagans Danny’s house was burnt to the ground. I’ve had some friends who have loss everything before via fire, floods, and tornadoes. Everything can be rebuilt but that initial loss leaves this numb feeling inside of one.  That is the description that has been given to me multiple times. I’ve also been told throughout the years that people tend to merely stand and look at the remains wondering what to do first. Where do they go? Depending on how bad the damage is of course those are things one must think of. How do we rebuild? And considering all the devastation in Texas, Florida, and Puerto Rico that is a hot button topic. How can we help?

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start being excited about what could go right

My mom hated my first name. Every now and then this is a story I share with people. She hated the name Christina, yet made a compromise with my dad when I was born that could be my first name. They agreed I would go by my middle name, which as everyone knows is Michelle. For years when people ask me my middle name and I say Michelle they laugh and tell me to stop joking. Only I’m not joking. I even have friends who are so used to me being Michelle they often times forget my first name is Christina.

I’m what I have dubbed people over the years as middle namers. I’m a middle namer because my mom hated the typically shortened version of Christina, which is Christy. She never thought about people calling me Chris though. I don’t know if she would have necessarily enjoyed that either. Maybe that is because I somehow got stuck with the nickname Mitchell in middle school and she didn’t quite understand that one either. The stranger part is I got called Michael by various students passing back papers my whole life too.

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