Hunger Games + New Pics!

I saw Hunger Games. I loved it! 

I felt like the actors were amazing, so many things were just as I imagined them.

I think a lot of this is because Suzanne Collins (the author) was involved as director and producer.

So, if we envisioned it differently...we were wrong! ha!

Some things were different. They have to be. And some things were left out. 

Movies can never really be as good as books.

But this one was pretty darn close!

I especially liked the behind-the-scenes look at the Gamemakers

and the commentary by Caesar and Claudius. 

I felt like these additions really helped us understand everything,

without being able to read Katniss's thoughts, which is basically what the book is.

The scene of The Reaping was one of the best.

I felt like the ending was rushed, and lacked the sense of urgency and desperation you felt in the book.

I didn't feel the emotional confusion with Peeta as much as I did in the book.

The cave scene is my favorite part of the book, and I felt that they rushed through it.

I didn't feel the inner turmoil about Peeta and Gale that I did in the book.

I hope I feel that more in the second movie. I think I felt it more in the second book anyway.

Jennifer Lawrence is awesome.

Liam Hemsworth is HOTTTT (though I'm technically a Team Peeta fan!)

And despite some outrageous and upsetting complaints about the casting of Rue, Thresh, and Cinna...

I thought they were all perfect. 

And it makes me sad that people are that racist.

And I feel bad for those actors who have to hear these remarks

instead of comments on how great they were in their roles.

Have YOU seen Hunger Games yet?

What are you waiting for???

Oh, PS--here are some recent pictures of me, as promised! :)

Forgive the poor camera quality.

~Christy~

What's new with my weight? Glad you asked!

I know it's been a while since I've blogged about my weight. This time last year it was practically all I was writing about. I lost 10 pounds last year in only 2 months, and I was hoping to just keep dropping weight like a mad woman and be super slim by Christmas. Yeah...that didn't happen! I fluctuated around for the remainder of the year, and by New Years, I was within 4 pounds of my original weight.

Thankfully, I started eating better and working out as soon as I got back home from the holidays and dropped the extra weight within only a couple weeks. But even so, I was about 152.

My best friend Hayley & I decided to keep an accountability chart, keeping track of our workouts, meals, and weight loss. I was doing this back in September in my own personal "food journal," but I quickly stopped keeping up with that. Now that I share the information with someone, I feel much more accountable for what I do and eat. We are on our 3rd month of doing this. We've both managed to lose some weight. I've lost about 6 or 7 pounds total, which is really not a lot in 2 months time. There has been some fluctuation from week to week. Mostly because of special events like birthdays and weddings (speaking of, I have a wedding this weekend!) which offer tempting, fattening food. But the good news is, neither of us have given up. Which is more than I can say about myself last year. By this time last year, I had decided to take a break before going for another 10 pound loss. And I never really picked it back up. But I feel like Hayley & I are both pretty devoted, and will be sticking this thing out!

My current weight is 146! I haven't weighed less than 150 in at least 3 years, maybe more. Growing up I was always thin, generally weighing around 115-120...though there was one year in high school I got up to 140! But I managed to lose 20 pounds in 1 summer. Don't know how I did that craziness! Apparently back then all it took was some light jogging and eating less Pringles! Now I feel like it's a constant battle.

But I feel amazing! My clothes all sag and hang off of me. And while it's not always the most attractive look, I still feel really good about myself. My clothes are not all very flattering, but I know it's because they're too big. And that feeling is 1,000 times better than the opposite--having unflattering clothes b/c they're too small. And I've been there SO many times. I'm actually relishing the fact that I can pull down every single pair of pants I own without even unbuttoning them! ha! One day I'll buy some new ones. Part of me is scared to do it in case I gain the weight back. Granted, I could just keep the old ones. Also I want to wait until I feel more like I'm plateauing so that I don't have to turn around and buy MORE in just a couple months. I just bought all my work pants in December...and now they're all too big. I don't really want to spend the money on new pants so soon after buying these. And I suppose I could get them altered, but I've never done that. Have y'all? Is the process fairly easy and inexpensive?? Or should I just suck it up and buy new pants?

Anyway, that's what up with me and my weight! Hopefully tomorrow I will see that I've lost even more! :)

Christmas 2010...probably weighing around 164ish

New Years 2012...probably around 155

This is crazy for a blogger to say...but I don't have any recent pictures of me!! 

But I look thinner than the picture above now! 

I will have to take a picture soon! :)

~Christy~

Justice

Last weekend Scott & I watched the movie Courageous. It is a Christian film, and is very powerful. I cried about 6 times while watching it! I definitely recommend it. Even if you are not a Christian--the story is captivating.

I don't want to tell you specifics about the movie, but for the purpose of this post, I will say that one of the characters dies in a car accident. The offender was a drunk driver, and he/she (we never meet this person) does not die. One of the characters is very upset and angry and wants to know why God would allow such a thing to happen. Why is the drunk driver still alive and the sweet, young, and innocent victim dead? Where is the justice in that? 

As I watched, I thought about how so many people have asked me questions like this. Many non-believers use this as grounds for debating the existence of God. If there is a God, why do good people die? Why are murderers allowed to go on living? And to be honest, I don't really know. I don't try to come up with something, but I do trust that there is a good reason for it. Naturally, this doesn't really sell people on my point. But of course, I cannot sell them on anything--only God can do that.

But as I watched this movie, a thought came to me. Is life about the good being rewarded and the bad being punished? Is that God's goal? Or is His goal to see as many people come into salvation as possible? He doesn't want to punish us. He will, but He delights to see people saved. And killing off the "bad" people wouldn't necessarily help this goal. Once they're dead, they're going to Hell. They are out of chances to come to salvation. But if they go on living, God can keep working in their lives, and maybe, just maybe, one day they will be saved. And then they can be forgiven for all the bad they've done in their lives. And then when they do die, they will go to Heaven. 

This also led me to think...what is really the punishment in this scenario? If the person who died was a Christian, they are going to Heaven. They now get to be in the best possible place and get to be with Jesus! That "better place" isn't just something we say to comfort others. It's true! They are in a better place! And what of the person who gets to live? The drunk driver in this scenario, for example. He has to go on living, knowing he killed someone. So which is the punishment? What is more just? And if he had died in that accident too, if he was not a Christian, he would go to Hell. Maybe God spared him to give him more time and more opportunities to come to Christ. Does that sound like an unjust God? Or an incredibly loving and merciful God? 

It's just something that makes you think. Or it makes me think. And it brings me peace knowing that God has a bigger plan. And even though we can't see it, we can trust that it's good. And you may never figure out why it's good. But that doesn't mean that it isn't. We are not God. We do not think like He does. Our ideas about justice are not necessarily the same as His. But can you accept that His way is better? It's not always easy, but more and more I'm learning to believe, trust, and accept that. 

 ¹ For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. ² Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, ³because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. ⁴ For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. ⁵ Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

 ⁶ Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord.⁷ For we live by faith, not by sight. ⁸ We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. ⁹ So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. ¹⁰ For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad. 2 Corinthians 5:1-10

I've Got the Hunger

I know I can't be the only one who's ACHING for The Hunger Games movie to come out on March 23rd. I decided, to get ready and excited, I would re-read the book. A few days in and I only have a few chapters to go (it's been a busy week, otherwise I could have read that junk in just a day or two!). I'm no less addicted to it than I was when I first read it a year ago. My heart is completely wrapped up in the drama and suspense. It is SUCH an emotional book. And I'm not just talking about love triangles (though those are pretty enticing, too). This book is full of complex feelings--about love, justice, family, freedom, responsibility, life, and of course, death. I've been staying up past my bedtime every  night just eating up this novel, and I literally feel like bouncing I'm so excited for the movie to come out. I just hope it comes close to being as good as the book.

If you haven't read it, climb out from under the rock you've been living in and read it. Now. Before the movie. Don't be one of those people who just waits for the movie and claims that it's better b/c it didn't involve any reading. If 11 year olds can read this book, so can you. You won't regret it. I promise!

Okay, well if you're not sold on that...watch the trailer and YES--see the movie! Then we can talk about if it lived up to the hype. Also, check out this spoof the Muppets did for Hunger Games. Did y'all see the newest Muppets movie? No??? Okay, you need to get your Netflix queued or put it on a to-do list for visiting Red Box. It was amazing.

The end. :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNxb28j5C1w&ob=av3e (for some reason Youtube won't let me embed .)

http://marquee.blogs.cnn.com/2012/03/07/the-muppets-take-on-hunger-games/