Cabo Pics
Friday, January 25, 2008
RJ and I wrapped up 2007 with a trip to see the Blackwells in Cabo. We had such a ball. Thanks again to Shelley, Jeremiah, Owen and Elias for all the fun adventures. We loved every second of it (except for that food poisoning thing at the end!); from the "cold" ocean swims to the abundance of hot dogs, beach camping, kayaking and go-cart racing. We can't wait to go back.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
On Sunday night I finished the book The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien and last night RJ and I watched A Mighty Heart. 
The Things They Carried is a Vietnam war tale. It is labelled as fiction but the author is one of the characters in the book, so it think there are elements of truth. I'm not usually a war story kind of girl, however this one sounded interesting. It won a bunch of awards and was a Pulitzer Prize nominee. And it was actually a pretty good read. Not one of my favorite books (it won't get one of the coveted spaces in my much-to-large-and-crowded bookcase)but worth reading. In particular I recommend The Things They Carried to people who like war stories because the tales of battle and soldiering are spectacular. What takes this book even further than a blow-the-enemy-up war book is the depth of emotion, without being sappy or preachy. The character development and prose are wonderful. You really feel like you're marching throughout he jungles with these guys.
A Mighty Heart is the story of Mariane Pearl's account of her husband's kidnapping and murder in Pakistan. Angelina Jolie portrays Mariane; she does a phenomenal job. While I am not a huge Jolie fan in "real life" you have to admire her work as an actress. I decided to Netflix the film because next week Jolie is being awarded with the Outstanding Performance of the Year Award here at the Santa Barbara Film Festival. She deserves the award. I didn't follow the Daniel Pearl story in 2002 when the Wall Street Journalist was kidnapped in Pakistan, held hostage for more than a week, and ultimately beheaded by his captors. A gruesome and horrific experience that I can't image going through as a wife (not to mention that Mariane was 5 months pregnant at the time). While there were moments in the film when I was confused by the unfolding events, and sometimes the politics were over my head, I would highly recommend it for Jolie's performance alone. A few years ago I was on Team Aniston but I might have to be on Team Jolie for this one.
I think I need a rating system. I don't want to do thumbs or stars b/c they've already been done. What do you think?
The Things They Carried is a Vietnam war tale. It is labelled as fiction but the author is one of the characters in the book, so it think there are elements of truth. I'm not usually a war story kind of girl, however this one sounded interesting. It won a bunch of awards and was a Pulitzer Prize nominee. And it was actually a pretty good read. Not one of my favorite books (it won't get one of the coveted spaces in my much-to-large-and-crowded bookcase)but worth reading. In particular I recommend The Things They Carried to people who like war stories because the tales of battle and soldiering are spectacular. What takes this book even further than a blow-the-enemy-up war book is the depth of emotion, without being sappy or preachy. The character development and prose are wonderful. You really feel like you're marching throughout he jungles with these guys.
A Mighty Heart is the story of Mariane Pearl's account of her husband's kidnapping and murder in Pakistan. Angelina Jolie portrays Mariane; she does a phenomenal job. While I am not a huge Jolie fan in "real life" you have to admire her work as an actress. I decided to Netflix the film because next week Jolie is being awarded with the Outstanding Performance of the Year Award here at the Santa Barbara Film Festival. She deserves the award. I didn't follow the Daniel Pearl story in 2002 when the Wall Street Journalist was kidnapped in Pakistan, held hostage for more than a week, and ultimately beheaded by his captors. A gruesome and horrific experience that I can't image going through as a wife (not to mention that Mariane was 5 months pregnant at the time). While there were moments in the film when I was confused by the unfolding events, and sometimes the politics were over my head, I would highly recommend it for Jolie's performance alone. A few years ago I was on Team Aniston but I might have to be on Team Jolie for this one.
I think I need a rating system. I don't want to do thumbs or stars b/c they've already been done. What do you think?
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
The stores might be decorated for Valentine's Day but I see no harm in posting my Christmas pictures now. Christmas 2007 was a really good one. RJ and I both got to take more than a week off work; allowing us to visit both families and head to Cabo for New Years with the Blackwell family.
Fist we hit the Hosking house in Placerville. We enjoyed cooking lessons with Papa Richard (an experience I'm going to need to blog about separately), visiting with all the sisters, a great Christmas eve dinner with family, and for the first time in a while a Christmas with Justin. Great memories!
After Christmas Eve dinner at the Hosking house we headed to Auburn to celebrate Christmas day with my Mom, Dad and April. As usual, we woke up early on Christmas morning (who cares that we're not children anymore. I am not going to deny that I''m still excited about presents!) We had a wonderful, traditional Christmas morning with coffee, french toast, reading of THE Christmas story, and fun gifts. Later that afternoon my extended family came over for Christmas dinner and dessert. I also go a special Christmas treat, late that night my three best girlfriends from high school came over. While we've all stayed in touch we haven't all been in the same place and the same time since my wedding. A great ending to my day!
I would finish up this blog with Cabo photos but it is getting late for me (9PM), so I'll have to post them soon.
Fist we hit the Hosking house in Placerville. We enjoyed cooking lessons with Papa Richard (an experience I'm going to need to blog about separately), visiting with all the sisters, a great Christmas eve dinner with family, and for the first time in a while a Christmas with Justin. Great memories!
After Christmas Eve dinner at the Hosking house we headed to Auburn to celebrate Christmas day with my Mom, Dad and April. As usual, we woke up early on Christmas morning (who cares that we're not children anymore. I am not going to deny that I''m still excited about presents!) We had a wonderful, traditional Christmas morning with coffee, french toast, reading of THE Christmas story, and fun gifts. Later that afternoon my extended family came over for Christmas dinner and dessert. I also go a special Christmas treat, late that night my three best girlfriends from high school came over. While we've all stayed in touch we haven't all been in the same place and the same time since my wedding. A great ending to my day!
I would finish up this blog with Cabo photos but it is getting late for me (9PM), so I'll have to post them soon.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
I thought it would be fun to keep track of the movies and books I watch/read throughout 2008. SO I've decided to blog about my media ventures.
This last weekend we a real movie marathon. On Friday night i watched Cinema Paradiso. It was amazing! Somehow I had gone 25 years without hearing about this movie (well 19 years since its release) and it truly is a must-see. RJ thought it was slow, but slow doesn't have to be bad. You never felt bored, just reflective. The story is about a young boy in Sicily who befriends the crusty yet kind-hearted town movie projectionist. It is a great film that illustrates the importance of friendship, celebrates the power of film, and is one of the greatest coming-of-age stories I've ever experienced. Oh, and the ending is one of the most beautiful film endings I've ever seen.
On Saturday night RJ was helping a buddy move so I went to one of my favorite places in Ventura - the $3 theater! It is so fabulistic. You can see a movie on the big screen for less than rending it at Blockbuster (but popcorn is still a gajillion dollars). See that I was solo lady at the movies I chose the chicklettest chick-flick and saw Dan in Real Life (The catch with the $3 ticket price is that you can only see movies that are transitioning from the "regular" theater to DVD.)"Dan" was darling and funny, just like I expected. One of the better romantic comedies I've seen in awhile. Nice and clean, full of good old Steve Carrell humor, and a fuzzy, pertictable ending.
Finally, on Sunday evening I went to the movies with a friend and got my socks knocked off. We saw the movie Juno which has had a lot of buzz but I didn't really know anything about the film. It was wonderful. Tthe movie was hysterical. I was laughing my pants off. Ellen Page is unbelievably comedic as well as dramatic. The acting was superb. The storyline was fresh and the writing spectacular. From a Christian stand-point I had a few problems with the movie: language, premartical sex and sexual innuendoes, and it wasn't anti-abortion; however, the general movie was extremelly pro-choice. I want to see it again.
This last weekend we a real movie marathon. On Friday night i watched Cinema Paradiso. It was amazing! Somehow I had gone 25 years without hearing about this movie (well 19 years since its release) and it truly is a must-see. RJ thought it was slow, but slow doesn't have to be bad. You never felt bored, just reflective. The story is about a young boy in Sicily who befriends the crusty yet kind-hearted town movie projectionist. It is a great film that illustrates the importance of friendship, celebrates the power of film, and is one of the greatest coming-of-age stories I've ever experienced. Oh, and the ending is one of the most beautiful film endings I've ever seen.
On Saturday night RJ was helping a buddy move so I went to one of my favorite places in Ventura - the $3 theater! It is so fabulistic. You can see a movie on the big screen for less than rending it at Blockbuster (but popcorn is still a gajillion dollars). See that I was solo lady at the movies I chose the chicklettest chick-flick and saw Dan in Real Life (The catch with the $3 ticket price is that you can only see movies that are transitioning from the "regular" theater to DVD.)"Dan" was darling and funny, just like I expected. One of the better romantic comedies I've seen in awhile. Nice and clean, full of good old Steve Carrell humor, and a fuzzy, pertictable ending.
Finally, on Sunday evening I went to the movies with a friend and got my socks knocked off. We saw the movie Juno which has had a lot of buzz but I didn't really know anything about the film. It was wonderful. Tthe movie was hysterical. I was laughing my pants off. Ellen Page is unbelievably comedic as well as dramatic. The acting was superb. The storyline was fresh and the writing spectacular. From a Christian stand-point I had a few problems with the movie: language, premartical sex and sexual innuendoes, and it wasn't anti-abortion; however, the general movie was extremelly pro-choice. I want to see it again.
Saturday, January 12, 2008
I have five cousins of my Dad's side of the family (there are 7 grandkids total including my sister April and I.) My Dad has two younger brothers and the three of them are close. Therefore, I've grown up next to Willie, Sallie, Steven, Joey and Brad. As we gotten older we don't get to see each other as much but we still try and reunite over the holidays. This last Christmas everyone gathered at my Mom and Dad's house (except Sallie and her new hubby David). We tried taking a family picture (which RJ organized using the camera's timer) on my parent's stairs, like we did last year. I posted the photo on Facebook this morning and got the following photo comments from my family:
April Joy Saltenberger wrote at 1:10pm:
Not as good as last year...but thanks for all your efforts RJ :)
will saltenberger wrote at 1:18pm
I wish I could say the same RJ. I feel it is your responsibility to ensure the picture is better then the previous years. I suggest you practice the next 12 months. Better luck next time.
Steven Saltenberger wrote at 1:27pm
lets look at a few mistakes. Aunt Becky is almost completely covered by Nonnie's afro. Moving on, RJ's shoulder took Brad pretty much out of the picture. April's head is half covered. This is just pretty sloppy. Next year we might have Sallie and David in it too, so there's some definite work needed to make it better.
will saltenberger wrote at 1:30pm
I will gladly second all of Steve's comments.
Anna Hosking wrote at 2:59pm
Ha! You all crack me up. I'll have a talk with RJ and see what we can do about this. We might need Nonnie (is that really the correct spelling?) to shrink a few more inches to ensure that everyone makes it in!
(From top left. Row 1: Steve, Willie, Joey. Row 2: April, Anna, Brad (barley). Row 3: Uncle Dave, RJ. Row 4: Uncle Ken, Aunt Kathy. Row 5: Dad, Aunt Becky. Row 6: Mom, Twitch dog. Row 7: Uncle Dave, Nonnie (OR Nounie, Noni, Nonie, ???)
April Joy Saltenberger wrote at 1:10pm:
Not as good as last year...but thanks for all your efforts RJ :)
will saltenberger wrote at 1:18pm
I wish I could say the same RJ. I feel it is your responsibility to ensure the picture is better then the previous years. I suggest you practice the next 12 months. Better luck next time.
Steven Saltenberger wrote at 1:27pm
lets look at a few mistakes. Aunt Becky is almost completely covered by Nonnie's afro. Moving on, RJ's shoulder took Brad pretty much out of the picture. April's head is half covered. This is just pretty sloppy. Next year we might have Sallie and David in it too, so there's some definite work needed to make it better.
will saltenberger wrote at 1:30pm
I will gladly second all of Steve's comments.
Anna Hosking wrote at 2:59pm
Ha! You all crack me up. I'll have a talk with RJ and see what we can do about this. We might need Nonnie (is that really the correct spelling?) to shrink a few more inches to ensure that everyone makes it in!
(From top left. Row 1: Steve, Willie, Joey. Row 2: April, Anna, Brad (barley). Row 3: Uncle Dave, RJ. Row 4: Uncle Ken, Aunt Kathy. Row 5: Dad, Aunt Becky. Row 6: Mom, Twitch dog. Row 7: Uncle Dave, Nonnie (OR Nounie, Noni, Nonie, ???)
Thursday, January 10, 2008
This was taken at Rincon. It was a crazy day. The tides were really extreme and you could walk out nearly three times further than on a normal low tide.
Our buddy Stan from Capitola came stopped by for a visit a few weeks ago. We don't get to see Stan as much as we used to since Santa Cruz is quite a drive for us from Ventura, so it was a special treat to spend the evening with him.
Good friends here in Ventura. The Cicileo's (minus Hannah who was down for the night) and the Carey's. We're so thankful for these two couples. We've already shared so much great fellowship, growth and lots of laughs.
Downtown with Patagonia friends.
Crazy Sock and Hat Party
There pics are way overdue but I still needed to get them posted. They're too good to miss. For my 25th birthday RJ threw me a wild dance party. I wanted to wear hats and rJ didn't want to ruin our hardwood floors with all that dancing so he threw in the socks. It was good times all around!
Matthew, Jessica and RJ
How much do you love Laura's chicken hat in the background?
This was the 7th birthday Kelly and Sarah have helped me celebrate!
We be dancin'!
Matthew, Jessica and RJ
How much do you love Laura's chicken hat in the background?
This was the 7th birthday Kelly and Sarah have helped me celebrate!
We be dancin'!
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