Hobbies
As you all know, my most recent hobby is couponing. I am getting pretty good at it, if I do say so myself. :-) My stockpile has really grown and my 2 shelves are full. I sheepishly told Michael I may need to take a break for a while and use the things on the shelves, but he said, "no way, you just need more shelves!" He loves hearing me say things like I did on Thursday: "I got $180 worth of stuff for $60". :-D WELL, next week one of my favorite grocery stores is having a 'super doubles' week. That means, not only do they double coupons up to $0.99, but they'll double coupons up to $1.99! That means all those $1.50 coupons I have will double up to $3 off! I'm SO EXCITED! I also have 2 $10 off a $50 purchase coupons I've been saving for such a great week. Let's see how good I can do. :-)
Another hobby/interest I have is the Twilight books. I know they're kind of juvenile and silly, but I like them anyway, and here's why. Besides the sci fi aspect of vampires and werewolves (I'm a real sci fi fan), there's a beautiful love story in there. Not only is there good vs evil, but there are two good guys the girl, Bella, has to choose from. One guy (Edward) she's insanely, unhealthily in love with, and the other guy (Jacob) is the "right" guy for her. They compare it to crack vs oxygen. The addictive, crack guy is the vampire. They overcome their differences (vampire and human) and stay in love anyway because their love is so strong. Unfortunately, there is no room for family, children, humanity, and her soul with this guy. (Can you tell it's not the one I would have chosen if I were her?) The other guy is an old family friend who knows everything about her and is her soulmate. The love with him isn't so crazy strong, it's healthy and beautiful and leaves room for family, children, humanity, etc. I think the reason I feel so strongly about a silly story is I had an Edward. An unhealthy love that left no room/no need for friends, God, etc. Not good, but definitely all consuming. God saw fit to take that person away from me, which was VERY difficult, but boy am I glad now! God gave me a Jacob who is my soulmate, who is my best friend, and our love is very healthy. I have plenty of need/room for God, for friends, for family, and my whole life in general feels very balanced.
Another reason I love Twilight is the Christian aspect of it. The author may not have written it like this on purpose, but this is how I see it. The vampires are "good" vampires. They choose not to drink human blood, they live on the blood of animals instead. (Mind you, I realize how weird this all sounds as I'm typing it, but bear with me.) I really like the idea that even though they are vampires, that doesn't mean they have to succumb to their desires. They chose to rise above and live according to their morals and beliefs, instead of what would be expected (and accepted) of them. I like to apply that to my life. This world/our culture says things like "we're only human" or "the flesh wants what it wants", but I like that these books teach you don't have to be whatever your stereotype or whatever is, you can rise above and live according to your beliefs instead. They decide to use their "differences/talents" for good and make the world a better place.
I also like how the main characters, in love, don't sleep together until after they're married. The subject comes up several times, but they insist on waiting until after they're married. Since a lot of teens and young adults are reading this super popular series, I'm really impressed and hope some of these kids who never thought they should wait, might now want to - if only because they did in the books.
There's more that I like about the books, but I think I'm really going on and on now. :-) It's not for everybody, but you can see a bit of why I like it. Anyway, the newest movie is coming out in a few weeks and I'm going to the marathon the day before. The movie comes out at midnight, so the afternoon before at 4pm, they're going to play the first movie of the series in the theaters. Then after a short break, the second. And so on until the new one starts at midnight. That's four movies and they're only charging $20! I'm so excited. My sister is coming with me, and I hope one of my friends if she can get off work.
Another hobby/interest I have is the Twilight books. I know they're kind of juvenile and silly, but I like them anyway, and here's why. Besides the sci fi aspect of vampires and werewolves (I'm a real sci fi fan), there's a beautiful love story in there. Not only is there good vs evil, but there are two good guys the girl, Bella, has to choose from. One guy (Edward) she's insanely, unhealthily in love with, and the other guy (Jacob) is the "right" guy for her. They compare it to crack vs oxygen. The addictive, crack guy is the vampire. They overcome their differences (vampire and human) and stay in love anyway because their love is so strong. Unfortunately, there is no room for family, children, humanity, and her soul with this guy. (Can you tell it's not the one I would have chosen if I were her?) The other guy is an old family friend who knows everything about her and is her soulmate. The love with him isn't so crazy strong, it's healthy and beautiful and leaves room for family, children, humanity, etc. I think the reason I feel so strongly about a silly story is I had an Edward. An unhealthy love that left no room/no need for friends, God, etc. Not good, but definitely all consuming. God saw fit to take that person away from me, which was VERY difficult, but boy am I glad now! God gave me a Jacob who is my soulmate, who is my best friend, and our love is very healthy. I have plenty of need/room for God, for friends, for family, and my whole life in general feels very balanced.
Another reason I love Twilight is the Christian aspect of it. The author may not have written it like this on purpose, but this is how I see it. The vampires are "good" vampires. They choose not to drink human blood, they live on the blood of animals instead. (Mind you, I realize how weird this all sounds as I'm typing it, but bear with me.) I really like the idea that even though they are vampires, that doesn't mean they have to succumb to their desires. They chose to rise above and live according to their morals and beliefs, instead of what would be expected (and accepted) of them. I like to apply that to my life. This world/our culture says things like "we're only human" or "the flesh wants what it wants", but I like that these books teach you don't have to be whatever your stereotype or whatever is, you can rise above and live according to your beliefs instead. They decide to use their "differences/talents" for good and make the world a better place.
I also like how the main characters, in love, don't sleep together until after they're married. The subject comes up several times, but they insist on waiting until after they're married. Since a lot of teens and young adults are reading this super popular series, I'm really impressed and hope some of these kids who never thought they should wait, might now want to - if only because they did in the books.
There's more that I like about the books, but I think I'm really going on and on now. :-) It's not for everybody, but you can see a bit of why I like it. Anyway, the newest movie is coming out in a few weeks and I'm going to the marathon the day before. The movie comes out at midnight, so the afternoon before at 4pm, they're going to play the first movie of the series in the theaters. Then after a short break, the second. And so on until the new one starts at midnight. That's four movies and they're only charging $20! I'm so excited. My sister is coming with me, and I hope one of my friends if she can get off work.
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