blog #9 My ideal vacation...

Well some of you might think that my idea vacation would be to go on a great big out landish hunting trip to somewhere.  Which indeed my above all hunting trip I would like to experience is to hunt moose and carabou in Alaska, but to me hunting is something that is an passion and obsession.  I constantly am striving to do better, learn more, and go bigger with hunting.  SO my ideal vacation would not be a hunting trip because I would constantly be busy it wouldn't really be a hunting trip but more of goal.  So my acutal ideal vacation where I'd go on it and just totally relax and not have a care in the world would to go to one of those sandals all inclusive resorts : ) At the present time I do not have a significant other BUT a while back my Xbf and I were planning on going to a sandals resort and we kinda broke up before it happened, oh well what can you do. But when I do find someone special again I would like to plan one of these trips again. There are sandals resorts in the Bahamas, St. Lucia, Jamaica, and Antigua. These resorts include Exotic locations and perfect beaches, Ultra-luxurious and spacious accommodations, Plush king-size beds in all rooms and suites. Gourmet dining with candlelit tables for two, Intimate ambiance at all resorts,Vast choice of sports on land and sea, Sparkling entertainment under the sun and stars, Super-attentive and friendly staff, Plenty of secluded spots for romance and the best part is you don't have to worry about any money or bills.  You pay one full price in advance and all you have to worry about it going and having as much fun as possible!

When you come to these islands for get aways its like another world! Your basically treated like royalty with a butler service at your room.  Amazing spas to treat your self. With as many as 12 unforgettable restaurants per resort, your dining choices are as varied as your moods, and the food choices look amazing.

An open bar area in the swimming pool area, so all you have to do is swim up and have a seat in the water.  The rooms are out of this world, they really go out of their way to make you feel like your in your own wonderful romatic paradise. Imagine swimming to your room or being surrounded by magic in a seaside cottage in the round. Imagine retreating to a cliff-top sanctuary with your own private pool or experiencing the height of luxury with a two-story loft suite set within a coconut grove. These are only some of the unique ways to make your most romantic dreams a reality with the most extravagant collection of suites in paradise.

Each and every Sandals Resort has been designed to fulfill and exceed every need and wish that two people in love could ever possibly have. At Sandals some of the most gorgeous and exotic islands in the world will cradle you in their languid embrace, providing the ultimate setting for love. Infact a lot of people take advantage of this and get married right on the islands.

 Which there are many different wedding packages you can choice from to make your wedding a paradise event. 

Once I find my Mr. Wonderful I'm heading to sandals to have an romatic ideal pardise vacation!

For more Information check out the website..Sandals Resort

Blog # 8 Memoir black eyes and smiles

 I wrote my memoir about the memories i've had with my brother growing up.  There has only been one person in my life that’s ever given me a black eye; in fact he’s given me two black eyes! Then again on the flip side I’m probably the only person that’s ever taken out one of his front teeth with a steel toed boot.  Yes, this person is no other than my one and only, nearest and dearest, family, kin and blood… my younger brother Jon.  I think a lot of our spite for each other while growing up came from our parents.  Our roles toward our parents were a little reversed.  I was more of a daddy’s girl; I liked hanging out with dad on the farm, riding in the tractors and fixing things.  My brother on the other hand was more of a momma’s boy; he spent a lot more time with mom inside the house, and helping her. Further more Jon was the baby in the family and mom treated him as such showing favoritism, or at least I defiantly felt she did.  It would make me so mad, no matter what happened between us, I was always the one in the wrong.

Mom and dad got divorced in 1998, I was 12 and Jon was 9 years old. I took it a lot harder than Jon did, my dad had a very bad anger problem and in all reality the whole divorce was mostly his fault. Mom, Jon and I moved into a different house, as much as I loved my dad I felt betrayed, abandoned, and angry at him for how much of a jerk he acted to cause us all to have to separate. Even though I was with my mom and brother, favoritism factor constantly made it feel like a two against one deal. This I think was our turning point in Jon’s and my relationship where it became an all out world war III against each other. I look back and I have no idea how my mom dealt with us, hitting, biting, kicking, scratching, pinching, you name it! My mom use to always tell us, “you only have one brother and one sister you two should love and care about each other,” The only thing we cared about was what next despicable action we could do to each other.

As Jon continued into his high school years and I graduated our fighting started to decrease. I had grown more of a bond with my mom and a protective older sister attitude towards my brother, even though he wasn’t having it. My brother was 19 during the fall time of 2007 when he decided to sign up for the Marine Corps, without telling anyone.  When he came home and decided to disclose his kept secret information to my mom and I she burst into uncontrollable tears, all I could think to myself was, “what a selfish, ungrateful little prick to do this to mom”. My mom had made my brother and I her life after the divorce and now he just takes off.

That January at age19 and green behind the ears, Jon took off for Camp Pendleton in San Diego California for boot camp. At the end of his 7 week boot camp mom and I flew down to California to watch graduation, and another time to visit him down in North Carolina when stationed at Camp Jejune. Each time I noticed not only physical changes in Jon but also mental.  North Carolina was the last time I seen Jon for almost two years.  I ended up moving out to Wyoming and Jon got stationed in Iraq for almost a year. The next time I saw my brother wasn’t until October 2009 when I came home for a visit.  Where a once 19 year old adolescent stood, an intelligent, strong, respectable man had replaced him. I think my moms words of advice, “you only have one brother and one sister you two should love and care about each other.” Finally hit both of us and really took effect during our time of separation.

A lot has changed between Jon and I since our younger years. Instead of being my nemeses he’s now my best friend. When he’s home we do just about everything together, hunting, hang out, and have the same friends together; I look out for him and he looks out for me. In fact just recently I was with him and his girlfriend and she had mentioned how she wished her and brother had as good as a relationship as we do. Jon and I just looked at each other and smiled.

An Apple a Day is Not Enough - A Poem by Taylor Mali

Blog # 7- Research findings...

I did my research paper on the importance of health education in our school systems.  Many school have had to cut programs of health education such as PE.  Doing this has caused a problem for our youth, its quite evident from how many health problems our society is experiencing. Providing young people with the knowledge and skills they need to become successful learners and healthy and productive adults should be part of the schools health education curriculum.

Such problems as alcohol and drug use, emotional and mental health, HIV prevention, teen pregnancy, obesity, physical activity and fitness, Nutrition and dietary behaviors, injury prevention and safety, STD prevention, heart health, violence prevention, food borne illness prevention, tobacco use, and suicide prevention;  the list can go on and on.

Recent studies show that 1 in 5 high school students are current smokers, approximately 80 % of students do not eat the recommended 5 servings of vegetables and fruit per day.

More than 830,000 youth become pregnant each year, with such TV shows as 16 and pregnant gives teenagers the idea that having kids at such a young age is glamorous. Approximately 15 million school days are missed because of illness.  Overweight and obesity is a crisis among children.  The number of overweight children age 6- 11 has tripled over the past three decades, which should be no big surprise with more emphasis on TV. computers, and video games instead of actual physical activity.

If you look at the adults of today only 18% of American adults follow all three of the most important cardiovascular disease prevention measures; not smoking, maintaining a healthy weight, and exercising regularly. Approximately two thirds of the U. S adults population is now estimated to be overweight or obese.  The estimated annual direct medical spending from overweight and obesity is approximately $92 billion.

Obesity also is a major contributor to heart disease, arthritis, and some types of cancer.  Annual deaths associated with obesity are estimated to be between 100,000 and 300,000 in the U.S. By investing in our youth its like investing money back into the bank.  Its easier and less costly to keep children healthy and implement them with tools to be health adults then  to fix preventable health problems later in life.

The potential for school health education to improve health and save lives is significant.  If we as a nation want to keep children and adolescents healthy it is important to find better ways to provide quality school health education.

Blog #6- Black friday!! Ahhhhhh

One of my most hated days Black Friday!!! Why you ask?? Its not that I don't like shopping, or the holidays its because of the crazy people out shopping.  If you didn't happen to view the video and see how serious these crazed shoppers take black Friday, you should really check it out! Black Friday is the day following Thanksgiving Day in the U.S traditionally the beginning of the Christmas shopping season. Especially popular in the United States, the event is spreading to other nations such as Canada. On this day, many retailers open very early, often at 4 a.m., or earlier, and offer promotional sales to kick off the shopping season. Some people even camp out in front of stores in order to get the, 'first come first serve' deals. Black Friday is not actually a holiday, but many employers give their employees the day off, increasing the number of potential shoppers.

The day's name originated in Philadelphia, where it originally was used to describe the heavy and disruptive pedestrian and vehicle traffic which would occur on the day after Thanksgiving. Use of the term began by 1966 and began to see broader use outside Philadelphia around 1975. Later an alternative explanation began to be offered: that "Black Friday" indicates the period during which retailers are turning a profit, or "in the black.

Personally I'd rather just have the day off of work to stay home and stay away from the ridiculous people out on black Friday.  Who knows what one of those desperate, black Friday shoppers will do to get a PS3 or some lap top.... I think I'll just take my chances and go shopping AFTER black Friday!

Blog #5-Alaska home bound

I love to travel always have, when I was younger I always told my mom that I wanted to move down South I love hot weather.  First it was Florida, then it was Texas for a long time.  In a turn of events I ended up going the totally opposite way and moved out west to Wyoming.  After spending three years there I came back home to finish off my degree in Michigan, but I know once thats done i'll be once again back on the road looking for my next destionation to move to.  I've now turned my sights to the wonderous lands of Alaska, lot of people think Alaskas beautiful and a great place to visit for the hunting or to sight seeing but wouldn't really want to live there.  Me on the other hand, I love the thrill of adventure, and the since of doing something that most people don't want to. 

Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area over twice the size of Texas the next largest state.  It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Artic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Straits. Approximately half of Alaska's 698,473 residents live within the Anchorage metropolitan area. As of 2009, Alaska remains the least densely populated state of the U.S. Alaska has a longer coastline than all the other U.S. states combined.  approximately 65% of Alaska is owned and managed by the U.S federal government  as public lands, including a multitude of nation forests, national parks, and nation wildlife refuges. Of these, the Bureau of Land Management  manages 87 million acres (350,000 km²), or 23.8% of the state.

The Artic National Wildlife Refuge  is managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife. It is the world's largest wildlife refuge, comprising 16 million acres   The climate of the interior of Alaska is subarctic. Some of the highest and lowest temperatures in Alaska occur around the area near Fairbanks.

The summers may have temperatures reaching into the 90s°F while in the winter, the temperature can fall below −60 °F, The lowest official Alaska temperature is −80 °. Snow is sparse in the Interior of Alaska, often less than 10 inches but what snow falls in the winter tends to stay the entire winter.

 

I find Alaskas history very intreguing begining in 1867 with the United States Secretary of State negotiated the Alaska Purchase with Russian.  It wasn't until 1890 that Alaska shined during the gold rush it brought thousands of miners and settlers to Alaska. Alaska was granted official territorial status in 1912. At this time the capital was moved to Juneau. The 1968 discovery of oil led to an oil boom and in 1977 completion of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline. 

In addition, American Indians and Alaskan Natives or Esquimos are the largest minority group.  This makes for a great vibrant Native culture that is promoted and upheld by the locals.  The oil and gas industry dominates the Alaskan economy, with more than 80% of the state's revenues derived from petroleum extraction. Alaska's main export product besides oil and natural gas is seafood, primarily salmon, cod, Pollock and crab

 

My favorite part of Alaska is the unique hunting and fishing opportunities its provides.  Alaska offers some of the most spectacular fly-fishing, saltwater fishing, freshwater fishing and even ice fishing in the world.  Varity of grizzly bear and black bear, moose, caribou, sheep, wolf, deer, and elk brings in a good part of revenue for Alaska for hunting.  As for me going into the health field I think it would be amazing to work there because with such extreme conditions, and the vast amount of wildlife the types of problems you would come across in a hospital setting would be nothing similar to what would occur anywhere else.  It would make my job unique and it would never get old because it would have that "today is never going to be the same as tomorrow" feeling.     

 If you have more questions about Alaska or just want to see some great pictures and what it has to offer visit the states web site

Travel Alaska

First Look: Sarah Palin's Alaska*

Blog # 4-When I grow up.....

 I am currently going into the health care field to get my bacholors in Health Education, On top of my bacholors degree I am also getting my RN.  Health education is the profession of educating people about health. Areas within this profession encompass environmental health, physical health, social health, emotional health, intellectual health, and spiritual health.  It can be defined as the principle by which individuals and groups of people learn to behave in a manner conducive to the promotion, maintenance, or restoration of health.Nursing shortages occur frequently within the health care industry.  As an RN or an Registared Nurse is graduate trained nurse who has passed a state registration examination and has been licensed to practice nursing.  With these two degrees combined it can open the door for so many different Nursing jobs.

 I'm doing my research paper on the importance and need of having health education in schools. I feel this topic goes very well with my career i've choosen.  This research paper highlights the importance of health education in academic establishments. The paper describes the alarming increase in health problems in school-going children, and presents extensive research carried out by some of the best experts in the related field, that suggests urgent need for the enhancement, improvement and amendment of health education in both public and private educational institutions. 

 3 Overweight and obesity is a crisis among children. The number of overweight children aged 6-11 has tripled over the past three decades. Approximately 17 percent of today’s youth are overweight.

Recent statistics show that 1 in 5 high school students are current smokers; approximately 80 percent of studentsdo not eat the recommended 5 servings of vegetables and fruits per day; more than 830,000 adolescents become pregnant each year; and approximately 15 million school days are missed due to uncontrolled asthma each year.

 

Check out generation healthy for more information

Generation Healthy for kids

RE-DO of movie review

The movie that I choose to do my movie review on was Alice in Wonderland.    And for anyone that has been around for awhile would also know that this is a remake, in fact a remake of several different Alice In Wonderlands. The original Alice in Wonderland or Alice Adventures in Wonderland, was made in 1903 almost 100 years ago. All the Alice in Wonderlands follow about the same story line, a girl who follows a white rabbit into a magical world. This Alice, although follows about the same story line, has a very big imaginative twist on the beloved story.  .

The first Alice in Wonderland's were originally called Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, and Alice Through the Looking Glass. Much of the film and play incorporate both novels together as one. The first book has a game of cards theme, and the second a game of chess. These are touched on in the new version on Alice where the Red Queen has her soldiers as decks of cards and the White Queen has pawn pieces. The most unalike common theme, is that Wonderland is taken over by the Red Queen, and Alice is the heroine, this never happens in the novels. But this isn't where the differences end between novel & film. The character's themselves have interesting meanings behind them.  In both novels Alice is 7 years old, but a smart and adventurous child that acts beyond her years. In Disneys animated version she's older around 12 or 13 or so. In the more recent film, she's 19, and now dealing with the threat of an engagement.

As for the movie having being a remake of course there was going to be already pre-expectations about the it. And for the mere fact the movie being made by Walt Disney which is leader in family oriented, children friendly animated films.  I think viewers expected the movie to be more geared toward a childerns genre of movie.  Where I think this Alice in Wonderland had a little darker and a little closer to the Middle of Kingdom and "Narnia"-style movies, in which a good queen has been replaced by an evil one.  I differently think with director Tim Burton use of characters such as Johnny Depp as mad hatter, Anne Hathaway as the white queen, Helena Carter as the red queen, and Alan Rickman as the blue caterpillar. I believe the director had more of an adult audience in mind where there is differently more violence in this Alice. In the film we encounter a skewered eyeball, bobbing heads, and Alice has to slay the jabberwalky and drink its blood in order to return back home.

This Alice in Wonderland is different right from the beginning with the 19 year old Alice, a girl who’s facing the possibility of being married off to a man she doesn’t love and on the verge of enduring a life she really doesn’t want. As she runs off to consider the proposal, she falls down a rabbit hole and finds herself in Wonderland. However, on her entrance to Wonderland, she finds she has a destiny to fulfill in which she must free the land from the Red Queen and restore happiness to the land she visited as a child in her dreams. But with the Red Queen on the war path, and the evil Jabberwocky to be unleashed, it looks like Alice really has her work cut out.

The genre of this movie is adventure, family, and fantasy. An adventure genre, in the context of a narrative, is typically applied to works in which the protagonist or other major characters are consistently placed in dangerous situations, and a fictional character who lives by their wits and their skills is often called an adventurer. Adventure films are both prominent genres in their respective media. I believe Disney brings this to Alice and Wonderland by the who adventure of a 19 year who is stuck between a rock and a hard place as they put it with her decision to marry or stay single. Who in a fit of furry runs off and goes to a fantasy word of unbelievable make believe character's. As for a family genre of movie I feel it fits this category because in all reality Alice in Wonderland was made as a childern's movie. As for this Alice movie with its bright colors, animated character's, fun, magical and whimsical era about it makes it designed for viewing for childern. At the same time the more adult Alice and a sort of darker side to this movie in slaying the Jabberwocky makes it also geared for a more adult audience as well. Combining the two makes it a suitable for a family genre of movie.

Fantasy is a genre that uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of ,plot, theme and/or setting. Many works within the genre take place in fictional worlds, such as in Alice in Wonderland, Wonderland being the fictional world where magic is common. Fantasy is generally distinguished from science fiction in that it does not provide a logical explanation for the scientifically impossible events that occur, though there is a great deal of overlap between the two. Alice endeds up going to Wonderland and the audience is very much in the dark about the fantasy world or the character's she meets and her real reason of being at Wonderland to slay the jabberwocky. So really there is no explanation for the the impossible events that occur or mythical character's in the movie. The genre of adventure and fantasy I believe visually are held up by Disney in this movie to be stunning if not anything are enough to attract people of all ages to this movie.  Costumes that are used and the animations I think are brilliant. 

I personally liked the movie, but it took me a few times to watch it before I understood it completely.  There was some parts of the movie that was kind of a blur as to what was going on.  The characters, costumes, and animates were all really good.  I personally love Johnny Depp and he made the movie an advent full one. The Hatter is indeed mad, his orange hair, stained hands and eyes are evident of that, his eyes often changing color when his mood goes into a more insane demeanor. For more about the movie check out Disneys site on the movie....

Why Not To Wear Metal During An MRI

Why you DO NOT wear metal into a MRI machine!

What is an MRI??



So growing up I've always had back problems, and I've gone to probably over a dozen chiropractors for them. I've always been a very athletic person all through high school and even after I've gone on to college.  I played basketball, soccer and ran a lot in my free time which most chiropractors say is the root of all a lot of my back problems.  Last summer I tore my acl and meniscus in my left knee playing softball, in which I had to get surgery done to repair it.  Was differently a bummer deal, I've never had surgery before and has put a huge dent on my athletics.  My left knee just hasn't been then same since the surgery, and now in fact I find myself when standing putting my weight on my right side. Two weeks ago on Saturday morning I woke up and felt my feet kind of having a tingly feeling in them, but really didn't think much of it.   As the day progressed into night it got worse and worse.  My feet felt like they still had the numb feeling to them but when I moved them they had a prickly sensation to them which the numb feeling continued up my legs and especially on my left side it was more prominent.  I had a very had time walking the first 3 or 4 days of this numbness.  It felt like I was helplessly drunk trying to walk with "prickly" numb feet, its a horrible feeling.  I ended up going to the ER the 3rd night of it because this had never happen to me before and I was scared that something was differently wrong.  Ended up the ER found nothing sick wise wrong with me, but all 3 doctors that I went to were sure it was a pinched nerve in my back and I was instructed to get an MRI.  EH! An MRI!  And this is were our story begins.....

So what actually is an MRI?  An MRI or magnetic resonance imaging, is the use of a nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer to produce high electronic images of specific atoms and molecular structures in solids, especially human cells, soft tissues, and organs.   MRI is ideal for diagnosing multiple sclerosis, tumors, brain infections, torn ligaments, shoulder injuries, bone tumors, cysts or even strokes in their earliest stages.  Conditions that may be apparent from physical signs and symptoms may be clearly seen, providing better information to determine appropriate diagnosis and treatment. Meaning if you have a Torin ligament, cartilage or in my care nerve damage it can only be seen using MRI images.  X rays only posses the ability to view photos of bone or very hard tissue which is hard to make prognoses for soft tissue. 

When taking a MRI the patient comes into the room where the machine is.  The patient is instructed to have NO METAL on of any kind. When you are actually ready to have the MRI you will be asked to lie down on what is kind of like a long metal tray board attached to the long cylinder MRI machine. Depending on the part of the body to be scanned - you might or might not have your head inside the cylinder.  This becomes an issue for many people (including myself) who are claustrophobic seeing the inside cylinder is probably 2 to 3 feet around width wise and maybe 5 ft in length.  Which gets pretty tight, and the best way I can describe is is being pushed into a coffin. 

From there when you are placed in a MRI machine you will hear a variety of noises. I always relate these noises to men breaking up cement with those very noisy drills. These noises although very annoying to you, are very necessary for achieving a reading on the MRI scan. While you are in the machine and being scanned you need to lay very still. You can not move. If you move you will ruin the image or picture the technician is taking and it will have to be repeated.  And trust me you do not want to have to be in this machine any more time then you need to be, so my advice LYE VERY VERY STILL!  The whole process does not hurt you,  It is a non-invasive test. The only thing it will do is annoy you with the loud noise it makes through out the test. And I don't know about other people but I can feel sort of feeling as if I was in between two gigantic magnets fields pulling.

The best way in which I keep clam is to keep my eyes tightly closed and never open them while I'm inside the canister. That's the best way I think to get Thu it.  Sometimes they have ear phones you can listen to, which the previous MRI I had to do did.  If you are really claustrophobic you need to inform your ordering doctor about this fact. A sedative will be arranged for you to take before you reach the MRI Center. Always bring someone with you to drive and make sure you get home safely if you have taken a drug.  There are some open MRI machines and these are especially useful for people who are claustrophobic. I was just recently told by an MRI technician, although people prefer the open MRI machines, they are not as accurate in the testing results as the enclosed MRI machine. Which in fact I got to use one of the open machines to do my last MRI in, it helped more in the claustrophobic but I still had it.  The sides of the machine were open.  The best way I can put it is looking like a huge hamburger and you being slide in between the two buns.

MRIs have changed a lot from when they were first done On July 3, 1977.  It took almost five hours to produce one image. The images were, by today's standards, quite ugly.  Now a days it takes ruffly 35 minutes to an hour to take multiple images and complete the whole process.  I don't know if you couldn't get my take on MRI's but I am totally not a fan of them.  I get totally stressed out over the whole or deal and especially when they put me on the table and I look at the coffin looking hole there about to stick me into for an hour.  I start feeling my heart beating that its about to jump out of my chest, sweating horribly.  At the same time I know that if I don't do it, the problem I have going on with my feet and legs aren't going to get fixed and it a vital that I get the images done. This is now my 3rd MRI I've had to do.  First one was because I was in a car wreck for my back, 2nd was for when I tore my ACL which I acutally didn't have to go all the way into the MRI machine just my feet did.  And now this time for my numbness in the lower half of my body.  If you are ever in the situation that you have to have an MRI done I hope this short piece has answered a few questions and makes you prepared for whats in store for you.

 Photo of an open MRI

Blog #3-How the MRI works

Johnny Depp Dancing - Alice In Wonderland

One of the best parts of the new Alice in Wonderland movie 2010~!
Futterwhacken dance

Alice in Wonderland (1903)

Blog #2 Movie Review- Alice in Wonderland

The movie that I choose to do my movie review on was Alice in Wonderland.  The genre of this movie is adventure, family, and fantasy.  And anyone that has been around for awhile would also know that this is a remake, in fact a remake of several different Alice In Wonderlands. The original Alice in Wonderland or Alice Adventures in Wonderland, was made in 1903 almost 100 years ago. All the Alice in Wonderlands follow about the same story line, a girl who follows a white rabbit into a magical world. This Alice, although follows about the same story line, has a very big twist on  imaginative twist on the beloved story.  The genre of adventure and fantasy I believe visually are held up by Disney in this movie to be stunning if not anything are enough to attract people of all ages to this movie.  Costumes that are used and the animations I think are brilliant.  The biggest attraction I think people had to this movie was having Johnny Depp as one of the main characters, The mad hatter.  He made the movie entertaining and adventurous.

The first Alice in Wonderland's were originally called Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, and Alice Through the Looking Glass. Much of the film and play incorporate both novels together as one. The first book has a game of cards theme, and the second a game of chess. These are touched on in the new version on Alice where the Red Queen has her soldiers as decks of cards and the White Queen has pawn pieces. The most unalike common theme, is that Wonderland is taken over by the Red Queen, and Alice is the heroine, this never happens in the novels. But this isn't where the differences end between novel & film. The character's themselves have interesting meanings behind them.  In both novels Alice is 7 years old, but a smart and adventurous child that acts beyond her years. In Disney's animated version she's older around 12 or 13 or so. In the more recent film, she's 19, and now dealing with the threat of an engagement.
As for the movie having being a remake of course there was going to be already pre-expectations about the it. And for the mere fact the movie being made by Walt Disney which is leader in family oriented, children friendly animated films.  I think viewers expected the movie to be more geared toward a childerns genre of movie.  Where I think this Alice in Wonderland had a little darker and a little closer to the Middle of Kingdom and "Narnia"-style movies, in which a good queen has been replaced by an evil one.  I differently think with director Tim Burton use of characters such as Johnny Depp as mad hatter, Anne Hathaway as the white queen, Helena Carter as the red queen, and Alan Rickman as the blue caterpillar. I believe the director had more of an adult audience in mind where there is differently more violence in this Alice. In the film we encounter a skewered eyeball, bobbing heads, and Alice has to slay the jabberwalky and drink its blood in order to return back home.


This Alice in Wonderland is different right from the beginning with the 19 year old Alice, a girl who’s facing the possibility of being married off to a man she doesn’t love and on the verge of enduring a life she really doesn’t want. As she runs off to consider the proposal, she falls down a rabbit hole and finds herself in Wonderland. However, on her entrance to Wonderland, she finds she has a destiny to fulfill in which she must free the land from the Red Queen and restore happiness to the land she visited as a child in her dreams.
But with the Red Queen on the war path, and the evil Jabberwocky to be unleashed, it looks like Alice really has her work cut out.

I personally liked the movie, but it took me a few times to watch it before I understood it completely.  There was some parts of the movie that was kind of a blur as to what was going on.  The characters, costumes, and animates were all really good.  I personally love Johnny Depp and he made the movie an advent full one. The Hatter is indeed mad, his orange hair, stained hands and eyes are evident of that, his eyes often changing color when his mood goes into a more insane demeanor. For more about the movie check out Disneys site on the movie....
http://adisney.go.com/disneypictures/aliceinwonderland/

Camo and lace

(First off I hope i'm doing this right for english class)
So I just recently moved back home to Michigan from Gillette, Wyoming. I moved out to Gillette, Wyoming back in May of 2008. We went out to find work but at the same time I've always been one to travel, see new things, and always have wanted to move away from home. I LOVE horses and cowboys so I was ready to go. Its been a long 2 1/2 years out there. I've been in so many different situations I would of never thought i'd be in.  I've became so much more independent from the last time I was home.  I've had a lot of good things happen there....and on the down side a lot of bad things happen, but have learned a lot.  One of the best things that happened in Wyoming was that I learned to to hunt and grow an obsession for it.  And not just hunt squirrels and jack rabbits.  But big game animals such as antelope, mule deer, elk and moose. Hunting to me is a very intimidating sport....well at least I use to think so. : )

Hunting is a sport that has been very much dominated by males in history, its not until recent years have you found females that have taken an interest in hunting.  Even if you date back to the cave man days, frontier days, and even early 1900's.  It was always thought as the mans role to be the provider, hunter/ gather and the woman's role to be the care taker/ house wife.  I think a lot of women never really took any interest in it because of this.   Before I moved out to Wyoming I always wanted to learn to hunt.  My grandpa hunt, my dad hunt, and of course they taught my brother to hunt but none of them ever taught me. It was never something that my grandma or mom ever taught me to do.  I learned to cook, sew, play the piano, shop and garden from them.  As I had mentioned before as I grew up hunting was always thought as a mans sport, and something woman didn't desire to do. In which I did but was extremely intimidating to learn from a male figure. If it had been for my mom deciding to show me it would of been a different story.  Maybe not in every situation but I think most woman would be more apt to want to learn to hunt if it was another female that was teaching them instead of a male, I didn't get that lucky but I'm happy for the opportunity I did get to learn.

Anyways, back to my story, in Wyoming I ended up dating a guy that was a serious hunter.  Him knowing I had an interest in hunting he, not necessarily took the time to teach me how to hunt, because he wasn't the best teacher, but he did show me how to. I loved it! It wasn't necessarily the easiest thing learning from your boyfriend first off, we would constantly get into fights. Plus trying to learn something and not wanting to look like an idiot in front of your boyfriend wasn't always the easiest. I remember the first time I shot an animal and had to clean it myself!  I had no clue what I was doing, and he was trying to tell me how it was done, and it ended up being a huge argument. This is a big reason I think a woman teaching a woman to hunt would be a lot easier.  I've very much a believer in woman's independence.  That a woman can do anything a man can do (obviously in means). But I believe hunting to just be another one of those things that women shouldn't find intimidating, or afraid to do because it has been done mostly by men.  And with more women these days learning to hunt and taking an interest in it, it will only benefit our future daughters to be more independent.

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While out west it seemed that more woman took an interest in hunting, I guess it was just more part of the way of life out there with a variety of big game animals. Plus with hunting channels having shows with women host are promoting more female involvement in hunting.  Here in Michigan I find less woman involved in hunting, but I find its not because they're not interested in it they just haven't been taught.  Its somewhat of a goal of mine I would like to someday start my own line of hunting wear for women and possibly even a program in which women are teaching other women to hunt.  There are some programs going on that have started this but I'm talking on more of local scale for the surround area. A good place to start finding information for woman hunting is the NRA's Women's Program NRA Womens Hunting Program

....or you could just come talk to me :)