Hobbits, Dwarves, and other news.

Hello, everyone! I know, it's been a long time since I've updated. Not much has happened until this past week, and Procrastination has been winning all our battles. However, today, I finally have something blog-worthy:

I SAW THE HOBBIT!!!!!!!!!!

As many of you probably know, I'd wanted to see The Hobbit once it came out pretty much since I found out it would be coming out. I was originally hoping to (read as: wanting to but was pretty sure I wouldn't be able to) go to the midnight premiere, but I'd kind of given up on that by the beginning of this past week. That was probably just as well, since I was sick and short on sleep on Thursday night. I then planned to try to go see it with my friend sometime this coming week, but on Friday afternoon, my wonderful daddy surprised me by asking if I wanted to go see it with him! My answer, of course, was YES!

I absolutely loved the movie of The Hobbit. They did change a few things, and they added in quite a bit (especially in the way of orcs), but it was all good, especially since one of those added-in parts was the story of how Thorin got the surname Oakenshield. (The story can be found in The Book of Unfinished Tales, and it's one of my favorite stories in that book.) Another part I loved was the Riddles in the Dark scene, which happens to be one of my favorite chapters in the book. I also liked the Misty Mountains song (or the little I heard of it), and I wish they'd sung the whole thing.

I wish I could share my two favorite (very inspiring) quotes from the movie. Unfortunately, they're both near the end, and they'd both be something of spoilers. I will say that I absolutely loved Bilbo and Thorin. Actually, I loved all the dwarves. In the book, few of the 13 dwarves are particularly memorable. In the movie, however, you can't help remembering them. Each seems very much his own person, with his own stories outside of the general take-back-the-mountain plot. Of the dwarves, I think Thorin and Kili were my favorites.

In other news, Daddy gave me the job of making the calender we send out every year to some of his family, and that's been going well. I've been working on it since Wednesday, and I only have 4.5 months left to do. (I have the pictures and all for March; I just need to arrange them.) School has been going ok, though I'm glad Christmas break is approaching.

Last night (Saturday, December 15) was my Youth Group Christmas party. It was a lot of fun. We did a gift exchange like a White Elephant gift exchange, except that all the gifts had to be something you would want. I brought a McDonalds gift card in a jar of candy (Mommy's genius idea), which turned out to be a big hit. I ended up with two movie tickets, which I think you can all guess what I'll do with them. (The Hobbit just came out, and I've already said how much I love it, after all.)

Well, that's about it. Thanks for stopping by!

Isusarad 'elir!*

- Sarah

*"Merry Christmas" in Elvish