Heart Choices: 2008-07-13 -->

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Go See Mama Mia



Mama Mia was great! My niece Brittney and I went to see the movie today and we both loved it. I didn't know how the movie would compare to the play but I have to say I enjoyed both. In the movie, they had the luxury of shooting the scenes on the Greek Isles and let me tell you, that's one place I want to go before I die! The water looked so clear and the mountains, oh my.

I knew that Meryl Streep was a very talented actress but did you know she can sing too? I thought she did a fabulous job as the mother of the bride. Her voice was great! She was perfect as the carefree hippy from the 60's who never got married and was an independent woman. Now here is her daughter who was getting married and she wanted to know who her father was so he might walk her down the aisle at her wedding. Unbeknownst to her mother, she had read her diary and invited the three men who might be her dad. It created some funny scenes between the three men and Meryl Streep. The music was fabulous! I think one of my favorite parts of the movie was when the three girlfriends were singing "Dancing Queen" and the women of the village left their men and aprons behind and joined them as they sang and danced all the way to the pier at the water's edge. Scenes like that were so memorable! I found myself singing along in my head to many of the ABBA songs that I love.

I love that I was able to spend time with my niece Brittney. She is now 13 years old and is growing up so quickly. She has long wavy hair and I thought she looked a bit like the actress who played the part of the bride in the movie. Making the choice to spend precious time together with the people you love is so important. Since I've been so busy, it's just been too long since we've done this. I had a great afternoon...thanks Brittney!
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Mama Mia Opens Today!


Mama Mia is one of my favorite Broadway plays! I've seen it twice in New York with my nieces, Kristin and Katie and each time I loved it more. Any play that can get you up out of your seat, singing and dancing - I love! It brings a smile to my face just thinking about it. Here's a picture of Katie before we went into the theater.

I am anxious to see if the movie is good too! I can tell you that the previews look great. I can just imagine the scenery would be spectacular. I am learning to enjoy the moment so I may need to take some time this weekend to go to the movies. I think the last movie I went to see was "Rocky Balboa" with my husband, Greg. I never seem to have enough time. The ABBA music is fabulous! I know all of the words to the songs so it's fun to sing along. At the play, nobody seemed to care because they were too busy singing too. I hope the movie is the same way.


I didn't have a picture of Kristin at the play so I thought I'd upload one of her too. Isn't she cute?
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Getting Away From it All


Life can be challenging and overwhelming at times! A vacation to Hawaii might be just what is needed but it's not always easy to get away. I was fortunate to have an invitation from a friend to visit her home and stay overnight. Mind you, she only lives less than an hour away but since I've been so busy working I simply haven't had the time to do this. So, after dropping my husband Greg off at the airport for his business trip to New York, I packed my bag and headed up to the King's house.

John and Helen King are two of my closest friends. A little over a year ago, they decided to move out of the city of Phoenix to a more country atmosphere. It seemed like "timbucktoo" as far as I was concerned but it was only Vistancia, a newly developed area outside of Phoenix in Peoria, AZ. Although I had visited once or twice before, everything is changing in that area and with all of the new development and construction going on, I didn't recognize much of it. I had to call Helen twice because I wasn't sure where to turn. However, I finally arrived!

I hadn't realized how much I had missed my friends. We met at church about 15 years ago and so I used to be able to count on seeing them at least once a week. However, with the move they now go to a different church that is closer to their home. Helen and I had so much to catch up on and we wanted to get it all in. We kept switching from one topic to the next and somehow seemed to understand each other just fine as only good friends can do. By the time John got home from work we had caught up somewhat but still had more ground to cover. John is like a brother to me and the kindest person you ever want to meet. He took us out to dinner at a wonderful restaurant on the Vistancia community grounds. We had fun laughing and talking. They even stopped at their local Safeway grocery store to show me how beautiful it was...and bought me a toothbrush since I forgot mine. I guess I must have needed it!

I've been so busy lately that's it been hard to choose to take moments like this to spend with good friends, to gab and laugh and cry. Choosing to take even an overnight visit to get away from it all helped to refresh my soul and spirit. How grateful I am!
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