The Best Fictional Vacation Spots

There are times when life gets hard, and you just need to get away for a time. While most people head off to Hawaii or their grandmother's house, I sometimes wish I could go to somewhere a bit different. So, without further ado....

*trumpets sound*

-Ashley's List of Best Fictional Vacation Spots-


Hogwarts: Though it's a bit drafty, it comes with an endless feast at your arrival, a free cloak, and a whole bunch of Hufflepuffs to play pranks on and scoff at to your heart's content. (Bonus: That dude who plays Edward Cullen is in there, so you can FINALLY drop-kick him down the stairs or give him a swirly. Whichever you prefer.) The room-service is also fantastic: little house-elves will bring you whatever you want and will clean your room, all while singing a happy little working song.

Jurassic Park: Nothing like being in a tropical location, traipsing through a jungle full of exotic wildlife. And of course by "wildlife", I mean "extremely cranky and bloodthirsty dinosaurs". Sure, it's dangerous, but that's part of the charm. Pack plenty of sunscreen, a granola bar or two, and something to beat up those pesky raptors. BTW: How awesome was the pterodactyl scene in Jurassic Park 3? The answer: Extremely.

Narnia: I shouldn't even have to explain this one, so I'll spend little time on it. Narnia is the coolest place I've ever heard of. Frolicking around with big gentle lions and badgers? Bliss. Also, Peter and Prince Caspian are extremely attractive. The only tricky thing about it is you have to find the right closet to get in. Happy hunting!

100 Acre Wood: Where Christopher Robin plays. (Note: This is the forest from either the book or the original movie of Winnie the Pooh...not from the sequels or crappy W.t.P. tv shows.) It's full of happy, giggling, innocent little animals that you can easily subject to your will and then become their king. Plus, I hear the honey there is to die for.

Middle Earth: You'll want to spend most of your time at the Shire here. The elves in Rivendell are snobbish, and the orcs over in Mordor won't exactly leave little chocolates on your pillow. The home of the hobbits, however, is full of little (and I mean LITTLE) people with furry feet who enjoy dance parties and ale. Can't go wrong there.

Mushroom Kingdom: Don't even try to tell me you haven't wanted to go here once in your lifetime. First of all, there are gold coins everywhere that you just have to run around and grab. You can collect thousands of dollars with every step you take! This is a wonderful place to just run amok; stomping on turtles and saving princesses.

Background Characters

In every movie and book, there are background characters. They usually don't say too much; sometimes it's only a line or two of dialogue. You might not even know their name, so when you talk about them you're forced to refer to them as "That One Guy" or "What's Her Face". They usually just stand around the main character, eating fries, or doing whatever background characters do. However, we must realize that the movie/book/whatever would be bland and boring without them. Here are a few of my favorites.

Trixie (from Toy Story 3)
Who she is: Trixie is the internet-savvy and adorable little triceratops toy in Bonnie's bedroom that Woody befriends.

Why I like her: She made me laugh when the rest of the movie made me cry.

Mr. Narwhal (from Elf)
Who he is: If you don't know, I'm not going to tell you. You have to hate Christmas or something not to have seen this movie. Scrooge.

Why I like him: It just wouldn’t be Christmas unless we saw Mr. Narwhal pop mysteriously out of the water to say his only line of dialogue: “Goodbye, Buddy. Hope you find your dad.” If you’re setting forth on a journey of self-discovery, wouldn’t you want a few kind words from a gentle, horned sea mammal? I sure would.

The Grandma (from Mulan)
Who she is: The kooky and fearless grandmother who believes in lucky insects.

Why I like her: She's such a cute old lady. And she's pretty blunt about what she thinks. For instance: when Mulan comes home from saving China and kicking some Hun derriere, the first thing she says is "Oh, she brought home a sword. If you ask me, she should've brought home a man!" *Shang walks in* "Ooh! Sign me up for the next war!"

The Gate Key Guy (from The Princess Bride)
Who he is: Um...self explanatory.
"Give us the gate keys."
"I have no gate keys."
"Fezzik, rip his arms off."
"Oh, you mean *these* gate keys?"

Why I like him: He just makes me laugh. That's all.

Pascal (from Tangled)
Who he is: The loyal and fantastic chameleon that is always at Rapunzel's side. Also another great one from that movie is Maximus, the horse...who acts like a dog. And that old guy who looks like Cupid. He's great too.

Why I like him: Click on his name and watch the video. You'll see why.

Who are YOUR favorites?

The Little Things

Some things that make me happy/smile:

• My wonderful family
• Hanging out with my old and new roommates
• Rain
• Thunder
• My church
  
• Classical piano, especially Chopin
• Playing the piano
• Nice texts/posts on facebook
• Temples
  
• My ice skating class
• Karl. Aka the best friend/poster ever. He now lives in Soph and Jenna's room.
• Daisies
• Good hair days
• My best friend, Kassie Jo, and how we can talk about anything... And I mean anything.
  
• Listening to good music
• Gorgeous sunsets (yes, I did take that picture below)
  

• Mail! Especially missionary letters.
• STARGAZING
• The Payson Snowcone Shack
  
• Taking off heels after walking around in them all day
• My cute puppy
• Midnight snacks
• Guys' cologne
• The 'fit right in' feeling
• Stepping on crunchy leaves
• Those photo booths in the mall where you get a strip of pictures
• Laughing, with anyone
• Taking goofy pictures
• Pictures I look great in
• Painting fingernails
• Hot chocolate on a cold day
  
• Changing into sweats after church or a long day
• Thoughts of summer
• This list
• Licking the beaters after making brownies
• Singing in the car
• When boys open doors for me, including car doors
• Ice cream. Also Spoon It Up and Yogurt Bliss. (happy in a cup!)
  
• Tecktonic dance
• Otter Pops
• Putting your clothes in the dryer in the mornings for ten minutes, just so you can pull them out and put them on cause they're SO WARM!
• Reading a good book
• Hugs
• Escalators
• Running into a huge flock of birds and watching them all fly away at once
• Homemade bread
• Sleeping in
• Night games
  
• 11:11
• Disney/Pixar movies
• Being all twitterpated and giddy when Spring comes
• The sound of popcorn popping
• Inside jokes
• Smiling at strangers
• Icicles that hang from trees or houses
• The feeling you get when everything is going right
• How weird my family is, especially my sister Amanda :)
• Sleeping on the trampoline
• When a bubble lands on you and doesn't pop right away
• Penguins
• So You Think You Can Dance, and how Alesha shares my obsession for it
• 'Aha' moments
• Mud-sliding after it rains really hard
• Driving up Payson Canyon in the fall
• Naps
• The old guy down the street whistling in the summer so the whole neighborhood can hear
• Cute earrings
• The way frost looks on my window on wintery mornings
• Fluffy socks
• Post-its
• The smell of a brand-new book

Artista Sista

This post is solely to brag about my little sister. She's a crazy good artist...and sometimes I want to smack her with her easel cause she's so talented. So I figured I would let you all partake in my jealousy. Note: I only have a few pictures at the moment, but I'll post more later.

(Unfinished, but still) Audrey Hepburn from "My Fair Lady". Colored pencil.

Working on her first ever oil painting

"God Hath Made Everything Beautiful" - This one she entered into a few competitions, and was her second oil painting.

This one she did in about a day for a Reflections contest with the theme "Together We Can". It's a bit of a family joke because this painting has progressed to the State level so far and she barely spent any time on it.

I'm Baaaaack!

Hello dear readers. I realize its been a while since I've last posted. However, the dawn is breaking and I am writing once again!

Today's subject: Facebook.

Facebook. The addictive site with an outrageously high number of users, all posting, tagging, updating, adding you as a friend, and playing Farmville. You can keep in touch with all your friends, family, acquaintances, co-workers, and that kid you may have talked to once at band camp. Or maybe you just lent him a pencil. Either way, you're friends now.

Facebook is the place where people answer the age-old question, "What's on your mind?" to update a "status". The purpose is allow others have a little sneak peek into the person's life. The good ones are informative, witty, and humorous. The bad ones are...not. There are a few types of bad status updaters.

• The Sympathy-Baiter: "Today was so terrible...", "I'm not doing too well...", "I'm so ugly...". These people leave morbidly vague statuses...(statusi?) in order to trap the unsuspecting reader into commenting and asking what's wrong or leaving compliments. Now every once in a while there are legitimate problems that do not count for this category, such as death, cancer, or a lost llama. However, I'm not talking about those things. I'm talking about the stupid little ones that everyone goes through, and you should just keep it to yourself. But if you must complain to the world, just come out and say it!
  
• The Bad Grammarian: "im sitting wit friendz", "yuu too!!!", "no not reallii". (These are actual examples, mind you.) These people just need a good smack upside the head. I know that in the cyber world, things are different, and no one likes a grammar/spelling Nazi, but enough is enough. Reallii.
  
• The Creeper: This is the dude that just sits back and never updates a status or posts a picture, but will randomly bring up something that someone ELSE posted in a conversation. They just sit back in the shadows and lurk. Creepy.

Note: This is entirely different from the phenomenon known as "facebook stalking". If you are unfamiliar with it...look it up. I'm too lazy to explain. But its fun. And highly useful. :)

• Mr. "Popular": This is that guy (or girl) who is "friends" with about five trillion people. I'm sorry, but unless you're Oprah Winfrey, there is no way you know that many people, let alone the random lady from Botswana.
  
• The Constant Updater of Boring Life Trivia: "Eating a sandwich", "Going to the gas station", "Reading a book", etc. Really? Nobody cares. I'm sorry...but they don't.

There are many more, but I think you get the point. After all, they are everywhere.