Have YOU Forgotten?

I meant to post a link to this and because my wonderful grandma just reminded me of this, I am posting it tonight.  :)  

I made a video to my fabulous cousin, Jimmy, with several pictures of him to the song of "Have You Forgotten" by Darryl Worely.  Please, never forget and please read the description bar when you click this link: CLICK

I leave for Tennessee in the morning and I'm not sure if they have wifi, but if they don't I'll post when I get home on Saturday!  

Have a wonderful and blessed night!

With eternal love and blessings,
Officially Inspired 

Basketball and Life

Yes, I'm aware that this is not my brother's blog and that I'm talking about basketball.  I'm also aware that it's shocking!  But alas, it's the height of March Maddness!  And so far, my bracket fails, but one of my teams that I had going all the way to the championship is still in the running--KENTUCKY!  *my other championship team was Kansas...* I'm so proud of Kentucky and I really hope they can go all the way and win the championship.  I think it's their time to shine!  Oh, and Xavier lost, and (because I'm a sick person) that makes me happy.  Personally, I think Xavier is overrated.  My brother is a HUGE fan, as is one of my best friends, and I have teachers that are Xavier-junkies, so I was burnt out on Xavier before I even became a fan.

On to better and more important things.

1. Monday morning I am leaving for Tennessee.  I'm going to be there from Monday-Saturday.  Monday-Friday my grandparents will be with us, then Thursday-Saturday, my parents, grandma, and aunt and uncle are coming down!  It's going to be so much fun.  Even if my great aunt and uncle couldn't make it...which makes me sad.

2. Today is Saturday, March 27th, 2010 and you know what that means...

ONLY ONE MORE MONTH UNTIL THE DARKLY LUMINOUS FIGHT FOR PERSEPHONE PARKER BY LEANNA RENEE HIEBER IS RELEASED AND I CAN FINALLY READ IT!

If you can't tell, I'm really excited!

With eternal love and blessings,

Officially Inspired

EDIT:  I posted this article BEFORE Kentucky lost on this day.  :'(  I think I jinxed them!  Noooo!

Sunday Plans

I'm not sure what I'm doing today--but I do have a few things to say.

Firstly, I haven't had time to watch New Moon yet. Or Twilight in Forks.  Which makes me very sad.  But yesterday was a fun-filled day.  I played outside with my sister because the weather was very nice--but there's a possibility for SNOW tomorrow!  WHAT?!?  IT'S SPRING! Then, I had my eyes checked, which I'll write about separately in a second.  Then we went to my grandma's because my cousin and her husband were home and visiting.  Then we went to dinner with my other cousins, and when we got home it was late and I was sleepy, so I went to bed pretty early.

Now, the eye appointment.  I have to get glasses, but I don't have to wear them all the time, just in class or when I feel I need them.  Which is good.  I picked out really cute and 'bold' glasses, so I'll post pictures when I get them.

Today I think we're going to the outlet mall--which kind of excites me.  I haven't been there since it opened back in August.  And we might be going to see Alice in Wonderland in 3D!  (@Leanna Renee Hieber I think the lady who plays Alice looks a good deal like Miss Percy.  Which reminds me, if you read this, I passed the B&N you'll be at next month last night and said 'I love you B&N...I'll see you in a month and seven days!" lol) I really want to see it and hope that it lives up to the hype and I think it will!  Johnny Depp is the PERFECT Mad Hatter!

Well, I must go and dry my hair so I can get ready and everything! 

Have a wonderful and blessed day!

With eternal love and blessings,
Officially Inspired

Quick Update

Emphasis on the word quick--bullet points will be used in this post.

• I did horribly at regionals--State does not seem likely for my future.
• Remember Me is abso-freaking-lutely amazing!
• I'm FINALLY reading Bran Hambric: The Farfield Curse by Kaleb Nation.
• I fail epicly at remembering the date of Richelle Mead's newest Vampire Academy book's release date.
• I'm behind on reviews of novels read this year.
• New Moon comes out on DVD tonight!  I'm going to Wally-World at midnight!
• Only two people from my WHOLE school showed up for book club today.
• I'm having my eyes checked tomorrow--probably need glasses for distance.
• Yep, that's about it.

Have a wonderful and blessed day!

With eternal love and blessings,
Officially Inspired

To Catch a Pirate by Jade Parker

This is the fifth book I've read this year and abso-freaking-loutley loved it!  I had already read it once, but I totally forgot the whole plot and how wonderful the whole book was!  It's not a popular book, but I think it deserves much more attention than it gets.  To Catch A Pirate by Jade Parker.  This book kept me guessings and kept me turning pages!  I picked it up one Saturday morning and by two in the afternoon had already read over half.  Throughout that night, I hardly put the book down!  Here's a little bit of a summary.

The novel starts off with Annalisa's boat being attacked by pirates.  Her father was given a large sum of money to create a port on an otherwise deserted island, but when Red Kelly and his crew, which happens to include the oh-so-handsome James Sterling, ransack the ship and take the coins, the king suspects that Mr. Townsend is involved with piracy and throws him in jail.

A year later, Annalisa is back on the high seas determined to find the treasure that James Sterling had taken.  Sterling, however, had not only taken the treasure but also a worthless ring of hers and a kiss from her.  Her first mate, Nathaniel, is totally in love with her, and she knows he's a reasonable choice, but she doesn't return the feelings.  Anna finally finds Sterling and while he's on the ship, she finds herself falling for him.  He's already stolen once from her, and now he has stolen her heart.

But what if betrayl was right around the corner?  After all, once a pirate, always a pirate...

4.5/5 Stars!  The only reason this didn't get the full five is that it got a little slow at parts, but never slow enough to make me stop reading!

p.s. The author of this novel used a pen name because it was a different book than her other series.  Jade Parker and Lorraine Heath are also known as Rachel Hawthorne.

OM Goodness!

Yes, Taylor, I used your word.  ;)  *well, words*

Anyway, so I was at my grandma's and I just thought to my self "SELF!  You have something to blog about!"  Two things, actually.


One, my cousin, Katie , sent me a friend invite for a website and I fell in love with it!  It's an amazing site and it's just...I mean, it's the best site ever!  www.goodreads.com is the site and you can add books to your shelves for books you have read, you're currently reading, and books you want to read.  AMAZING!


Secondly, I have regional Power of the Pen Saturday so wish me luck!!


Okay, I must go now.  And the picture above is of David Tennant from Dr. Who--Taylor, you understand why this is funny!


With eternal love and blessings,
Officially Inspired

Two Posts in One

So, I wrote the above post yesterday, but didn't post it until today.  But today I also have something to blog about. 

Today, as you're probably aware, is the release of REMEMBER ME starring my beloved Robert Pattinson.  Although it is opening night and I have a thing about seeing movies on opening night, I am not going tonight.  By choice.  Tomorrow is REMEMBER ME Saturday and if you go tomorrow, you're showing your support for Rob.    But I cannot wait to see it!  And Mr. B has kept saying "I'm going to go see that movie tonight" rubbing it in my face. 

But, hey, I'd rather go show my support for Rob and not have us fighting about it when we're married.  *he he.* 

Rob is a great actor, and I think a lot of people will see that in this movie.  The TWILIGHT Saga movies just don't allow him to be himself because he has to fill the shoes of the next best not-so-fictional character next to Mr. Darcy.  That's a lot of preassure.  I have a really good feeling about this movie.  For the first time he's doing a normal movie where he can adapt the character as he wishes--not how everyone views him.

But just remember--Rob's mine.  ;)

With eternal love and blessings,

Officially Inspired

Dear John by Nicholas Sparks

I cannot believe it has taken me this long to review this book!  I finished it last Friday (my fourth book of 2010) and just couldn't bring myself to review it.  But now I shall review it in my horrible reviewing manner because I'm so afraid of giving anything away.

(Prologue)Dear John by Nicholas Sparks starts out with our main character, John Tyree, wondering what it means to truly love another. 

(Part one) John is home on leave in Wilmington, North Carolina.  His only family is his dad and since he joined the army, he no longer enjoys the company of his so called 'friends'.  He has a very strained relationship with his coin-collector dad because John, frankly, is tired of hearing about the coins.  It seems to be the only thing his dad cares about and the only thing his dad can talk about.  And since John told him he didn't want to talk about coins anymore, they hardly talk at all. 

One day, John is out surfing when he sees two girls and says "Hi".  The blonde doesn't respond, but the brunette (Savannah) does.  When John jumps in the water to save Savannah's purse that was knocked over the edge of a dock by a friend, Savannah feels the need to repay him.  She invites him to the house where she and a lot of other people are staying while building houses over the summer for Habitat for Humanity.  Including her best friend, Tim.  Savannah and John fall in love and before they know it, John has to go back to Germany.

When John has leave the next year, he goes to Savannah's home town and spends time with her while she's at college and then they go visit his dad, who, Savannah has suggested, has Asperger's.  They are still very much in love and when John gets out of the army, he tells her that he'll marry her.
But neither of them saw 9-11 coming and, although John only had a few months of service left--already being to Iraq once, he reinlists, feeling the need to serve his country. 
John has another leave, because his dad is sick.  And, when he actually gets to see Savannah, he knows something's changed.  Something's differnt.

(Part two)
John feels he's truly all alone.  His dad's not doing so well and his friends from the army have all gone home.  Where is he to go?  Sometimes when he talks to Savannah, he feels that something's missing, but other times she's just the same girl she's always been.  His dad has a second heart attack and he goes home to be with him, finding him in worse condition than he ever thought possible.  And even before he got the letter from Savannah, he knew something has changed. Something wasn't not there anymore.

(Part three)

Now, without Savannah, he feels even more alone.  When he has leave, he goes hom to his dad who is even worse.  John ends up having to put him in an assisted living home, which not only breaks his heart, it also breaks his dad's heart.  And that was the last time John ever saw him alive.

Given emergency leave, John goes back home for his dad's funeral.  He's lost and alone.  He goes to a bar in Savannah's home town and sees a jar collecting money for someone who has cancer.  Not looking too closely, he throws in some money.

He asks the bar tender about Savannah and he tells her she hasn't moved--still lives right near her parents.  When he goes to Savannah he realizes that nothing can ever happen for them...

And that's where I'll stop.

(Epilogue) John understands what it means to truly love another.

I rate this book 4/5 stars--it had some slow parts.  Part two is really slow, but then again, Nicholas Sparks said that that section took him the longest to write and it was the hardest to write. 

This novel gave me a better understanding of what my cousin, Jimmy, has gone through in Iraq and why he won't hardly talk about his experiences.

Big Ben and big news!

In math class we have been constructing famous buildings using scale factors and so my group chose to make a scale model of Big Ben.  It looks AMAZING!  From the detail, the water, Houses of Parlament, down to the flag and the boat on the river that holds my group members and I (Oh, and of course Robert Pattinson).  We even have chimes!  *And Robert Pattinson proposing to me.*  We present on Monday, so pictures are to come!  (And I really mean it this time--not like with my D.C. pictures that I've yet to get printed...) picture above is a picture of me from D.C. in front of the Capital Building.

I've had a few exciting things happen to me this week--but I don't think they'll be that exciting to you, but I'll tell you anyway.  *Whoever's listening...* First, Jimmy is coming home in April on leave--which is great!  But that means it'll be even longer before he comes home for good from that visit.  Secondly, I got a reply from Mike Pelfrey (remember my post about him?  If not, click HERE) and it was a responce to the questions I asked and he also gave me a few inspiring words to never give up--which was amazing!  THANKS MIKE!  And his grandpa, Harry, even wrote me a little note.  Thirdly,  Kaleb Nation released the cover for his second book, Bran Hambric:  The Spector Key, out late 2010!  It's amazing!  Fourthly, Spirit Bound by Richelle Mead comes out Thursday, March 18th!  Fithly, Alice in Wonderland comes out in theaters today!  Sixthly, I didn't place at Power of the Pen last Friday, but I did make regionals! Which is amazing!  Finally, my awesome reading and writing teacher just informed me today that Leanna Renee Hieber will be coming to my school in April!  OMA!  *jumps*

All that information that you don't even care about... ;)

If anyone's listening--let me know, okay? 

Have a wonderful and blessed day!

With eternal love and blessings,
Officially Inspired