Book Review, Eclipse!!!, and HP!!!

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The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner: An Eclipse Novella
By Stephenie Meyer

Loved it! And if you are a Twilight fan, you'll probably love it too. This is a very short book that tells Bree's story. She was one of the newborns created for Victoria's army in Eclipse, and during the battle surrenders to the Cullens, but in the end the Volturi refuse their request to let her live. I read this online and finished it in just a few hours, which it's probably a good thing it's a short read, otherwise I probably wouldn't have liked it so much (because lets face it, if Edward isn't in the picture, then nobody cares :).

As a gift to her fans, Stephenie Meyer is allowing this book to be read for FREE at the Bree Tanner website until July 5th (thanks Stephenie!). And thanks to my sister, Lindsay, for getting this book for me just because she loves me. You rock :) And just for the heck of it, here is the newest trailer for "Eclipse." Just one more day until the midnight showing!!! But, alas, I must wait until this weekend so I can go see it with my sistas and cousins (and maybe Brandt if I decide to let him come).

And THIS ONE IS SOOOOO FRIGGIN COOL!!!!!! The new Harry Potter trailer just premiered 45 minutes ago and it looks AMAZING!!! I can't wait until NOVEMBER!!! Seriously, watch this one - it will give you GOOSIES!!!!

<br/><a href="http://video.msn.com/video.aspx?mkt=en-US&vid=f2822d1e-af61-45f5-b674-f3f697170e3d" target="_new" title="'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows' Trailer">Video: 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows' Trailer</a>

AMAZING right?! You can watch it in HD on YouTube, but they've disabled the embed function, so I had to share this video from MSN. LOVE IT!

Las Vegas Trip Part III: Black Canyon Float

This is the third and final installment of the Las Vegas trip in picture book style.

Somewhere in between these events we went and saw The Lion King Musical. It was a good show and the costumes were impressive.

















On our second to last day we enjoyed a float trip down Black Canyon located directly below the Hoover Dam as seen here. Apparently few people get such a view as this since it is restricted for security reasons and regular boaters can not travel this far up river or they will be shot on site and the waters are patrolled with man-eater sharks :)













If the Hoover Dam is an impressive display of human engineering than this bridge certainly makes the list as well. It will open later this year and will help take an hour or more of time off of those traveling through the area because currently everyone must drive over the dam and it gets very congested. I imagine it will also become a popular bungee-jumping destination.







Here is a couple of Cheesers not knowing what cold water and perils await.














This is our noble and seaworthy vessel used to travel down the canyon.














Here is our fearless captain demonstrating what should be done in the case of emergency. She said the life jackets were not required but anyone could have one if they so wished. Of course no one did because that would be uncool.
















These ducks came to join us while we stopped at a beach to have lunch. They definitely were not shy.













Here is a view from the bow of our ship where the waves crashed over and soaked me to the bone with cool 50 degree water while Dani clung behind me to stay dry. That is my foot in the lower part of the photo.










This was an old gauging station. Some poor fella, I forget his name, had to travel along the steep canyon and then cross it on a little cable with a small platform hanging from the bottom to reach this spot. I hope he got paid well. Of course as our captain said this was during the depression and any job was a good job.














This shows part of the little catwalk he had to go along in order to reach the station. These boards are supported by metal poles anchored into the side of the canyon wall. A tad precarious? Perhaps.










If you look at the man in the very left of this photo you will see how wet he is. For some reason we never took a picture of me after the trip but I was as soaked and numb as this poor man. But, it was worth it and a lot of fun.

This shows a group of foreigners who just sat and talked the entire time in what we think was Portuguese . They didn't even look around at the scenery which was the point of the whole trip. I am not sure why they came except to steal the towels our captain handed out which I believe should have been for the poor fella soaked to the bone and myself. Instead they took the towels and put them around their head and on their legs to protect from the wind or something. Grrr!






Last. We ended our trip with a bang! Here is seen the volcano at Mirage. Dani had never seen it and it had been years since I had. It was fun.

The whole trip was a lot of fun and much thanks goes to my parents for inviting us. Now we just hope I.F. can catch up to the warm weather soon.

Las Vegas Trip Part II: Bass Pro and Red Rock Canyon

Next up we visited the local Vegas Bass Pro Shop. This photo shows only a small portion of all its outdoor glory. Even Dani was impressed and enjoyed the store.

We decided to stop at this shooting range and test our Old West shooting skills. It is now in my top 5 best ways to spend 50 cents along with bouncy balls and Glo-sticks.

Here is Dead-eye Dani hunting for dinner. Good thing we weren't hungry. Just kidding!

Here is Pappy and me releasing our aggression on tin cans, rattlesnakes, and ground squirrels.

Have you heard of the "Rut". If you hunt I imagine you have. If not read this sign. Dani got a kick out of it.


Sure its funny and natural when bull moose do it, but when I try the same thing it suddenly becomes disgusting.

Read this with an accent: Here, the urine coated moose show an impressive display of strength and stench. All the while the female stands by ...

...and here she is. And, what is that? A coy smile on her face. It must be the "intimidation through sheer physical appearance or antler size" the brings such a smile to the young female.

You can stop the accent now. Or not.

Here we see how the human species is enticed by the opposite sex. For the male Homo sapien it is not through the smell of urine that he is enticed, thank goodness, but through a Realtree Camouflage nighty. Ohhh yeah!

When's the next holiday? Fourth of July. Perfect, nothing says Independence Day like Camo-lingerie.

Ever wonder what the last thing a gazelle or zebra or unfortunate safari tourist sees before they die?

This is a mermaid blowing kisses. She was a part of the Silverton Casino which is attached to Bass Pro. She's boring, moving on...

After a fun morning we went to Red Rock Canyon State Park. It was a nice hot day and we were able to see some wildlife. Here is an elusive female big horn sheep stopping to pose for us.

Here is a group of male big horn sheep chasing the previous female. Actually I don't thing they were chasing her. Supposedly it was not breeding season. But, you never know. Throw a little urine behind the horns and she may be whistling a different tune.

Here is some more wildlife posing in front of a petrified sand dune. Who knew?

You could save 15% or more on car insurance by switching to Geico.

Dani was not fond of this little fella, though I was. He let me get real close for a good photo and then scurried away very quickly. This of course sent Dani scurrying towards me for protection which I did not mind.

Stay tuned for the final installment. Las Vegas Trip Part III: Black Canyon Float Trip.

Las Vegas Trip Part I: The Grand Canyon

Last week Dani and I were able to enjoy a vacation with my parents and travel to Las Vegas for some much needed warm weather. Due to the variety of activities and pictures, which centered more on the outdoors than the glittering lights of the city, I have decided to make this post in picture book style and divide it into three parts.

First, we traveled to Grand Canyon National Park. It was a grand day but there was a lot of grand wind as well. Here you can see the true grandness of said canyon. From the Grand North Rim to the Grand South Rim. Isn't it just grand? You can't see it but the grand Colorado River is flowing grandly somewhere down there.

Some have said The Canyon could never be made more grand. We found it was quite easy to improve the landscapes grandeur as seen here.

This little fella is known as Brighty. He is a sculpture of a once very real burro who inhabited the area in years past at Grand Canyon Lodge. I am rubbing his nose because it is supposed to bring good luck as the plaque behind me reads. It is also known as a great way to infect thousands of travelers with swine flu.

Not sure what type of bird this is but he sure was pretty. The next couple of pictures show a sequence of him stealing a potato chip that blew off of our picnic table. (We did not deliberately feed this bird as that is against park policy) Keep the wild wild, so they say.

Here he snatches the chip in his beak and gives a little pose for the cameras, we were beginning to think this was not the first time this "wild" bird had consumed processed food...











...and here he takes off to feast on a very natural diet of vegetable oil fried potato covered in salt. I am sure these can be found in the wild. I believe they come from the Potato Chip Plant Fritos layus.











After a fun but short day at the Canyon of Grandness we headed for Las Vegas. Last for this post is a picture of the Vegas nightlife as seen from our hotel. This is a picture of the new City Center. It is one heck of a hotel/condo/mall with refreshing and hip names such as Aria and Vdara. And this picture only shows about half of it.



More fun and adventure to come in Las Vegas Trip Parts II and III.
Next up: Bass Pro Shop and Red Rock Canyon.

Four Years Baby!

Happy Anniversary to us!!