out with the old IN with the new! best of 2011. goals 2012.

it’s that time…the LAST WEEK of 2011! icanhardlybelieveit.

let’s review 2011. last january started off with snow and ice:

but spring came…so did family…and the Atlanta, GA lds temple re-opened!

the temple made it possible for our friends to become a forever family!:

i turned 24:

the summer’s garden was a success:

(some of the first fruits!)…cinnamon and kids came to visit…we enjoyed july 4th together

(and i succumbed and chopped off all my hair)

my two best friends had their FIRST babies in the same week! i took prego pics of both:

and my SISTER had her fourth…happy new little nephew to ME…this is miles august ayres:

me and miles…i made it back to utah after like 4 years…for B’s wedding! and a reunion of friends:

mine and elissa’s reunion was WAY overdue.

same with ry guy.

and i even MET my blog bestie in PERSON!! miss chelsea vose.

and the year got even better, joe beau came to visit…

and as you just saw..Christmas came, and so did my favorite Virginia family.

i try to reflect on the last year and it’s happenings. funny how it always feels like so long ago and yet also that the year sped by. i had to reference back to my old 2011 NEW YEAR blog post to see my list, how far i’ve come and what progress was made.

so, referring back to that list of goals, i DID in  R E V I E W:

- take more pictures: purchased a DSLR which was a major catalyst

- be more social? …eh, yes and no! haha.

- get back to school: i DID take some online classes in 2011. got a 4.0 in them! win!

- get in shape?: i joined a gym and fell in love with zumba. i would say a definite improvement/obsession for a healthier lifestyle was made. win!

- i HAVE done some painting in 2011. wish i’d done more.

- did i make it back to Puerto Rico? pick-up my old guitar skillz? or was there a boda? no, no, and…no. life goes on.

all in all, 2011 was a rough year for me. no lies. and although there weren’t many HUGE events for me…there was a lot of personal reflection and growth. i feel i have come a long way (but still with a long way to go). i feel i am so much more honest with myself and much more trusting in God and His timing. i also was employed full-time all of 2011…and blessed with a great job this year, too! i will count my blessings.

as for my Whitney Tutt 2011 BEST OF list…looking back, i have very little to offer as far as movies and music and all of that this year. so…please excuse my pathetic list.

MY top 2011 album releases:

haha…love how i had to throw in the Biebs there.

Feist, Wilco, Coldplay, and Adele all had noteworthy album releases in 2011 as well. I just haven’t spent too much time listening to them to be able to properly rate them. OH…and Pitbull…Planet Pit has some good ones! ha!

.

M O V I E S. i was the worst at seeing movies in 2011. but i did make it to THE END:

also, of course i saw the new Twilight. i should be ashamed of the few times i made it to the theater this year. i didn’t see the new X-Men. or Green Lantern. or Thor. or Cowboys and Aliens. or Bridesmaids. or The Adjustment Bureau. or…well. what DID i see?

that i can remember…Limitless. Fast Five. Super 8. Something Borrowed. Pirates 3. HP7. Breaking Dawn. Jane Eyre.

oh…i did thoroughly love this movie, if you have even heard of it, came out in Feb:

and, i’m such a fan of the 80′s classic, i loved the new one:

so, that’s that.

B O O K S!

my 2011 favvy:

and that concludes my 2011 review.

.

NOW

time for my 2012 goals. considering the last couple months of 2011 have been rather positive. it gives me hope for the NEW YEAR!

i mean, i WILL be spending my first two weeks of the new year in Italy. what better way to ring in 2012?! i feel like the year will be as eventful as it’s start.

2012 GOALS:

1. Thanksgiving Day half-marathon (with my sisters, that’s the plan)

2. maintain health and fitness (which will be needed to accomplish #1 – i also have new yoga dvds i need to try more regularly)

3. allow my hair to grow out at least long enough for a ponytail. ha! dye it less.

4. be more assertive

5. work on my sewing skills

6. practice piano often

7. maintain an eternal perspective

8. develop my art more – paint/draw more (aka: spend less time on Pinterest and more time actually DOING the great ideas)

9. complete one book a month

10. notice/do more for others. serve.

11. try a new recipe each month (i have so many “pending” to be attempted)

12. figure out my “continuing education” plan

13. travel somewhere new

14. work on my “technical” photography knowledge

15. true love

…i think i can handle those. realistic. attainable. worth it. i’m ready.

2012…bring it!

love, whit

talk about fabulous!

feeling good is beautiful!

i like seeing things that make me feel good. i like people that make me feel good. i like words that make me feel good. i like doing things that make me feel good!

well, who wouldn’t, right? DUH.

1 – i am grateful for the “little voice” inside my head. those thoughts and gut feelings. impressions. acting on them is generally wise. us LDS folk call that “following the spirit”. and i’m glad i did before it was too late. you know, sometimes we think we know best. we act selfishly. but people matter. even the people we don’t like or avoid. and often we are the answer to someone else’s prayer – if we choose to follow that spirit within us. i will never regret the sacrifice it takes to help someone in need.

2 – it’s FRiDAY! and we’re grilling steak burgers and weenies for lunch at work!

3- it’s General Conference weekend! i pray that i never take such things for granted. and you know, i’m expecting some much needed words. they’ll be there, too. i asked for them.

4 – i have too many photos that need posting! i love that. adventures, beauty, babies – all piling up and coming soon. i need to get on that, especially because i know next weekend’s event is only going to fill up my memory card yet again!

5 – really, OCTOBER!? that month smells so fresh.

6 – hearing from past close friends is happiness! even though time has passed, you realize how much you shared and know about that person… so that their company or conversation now, even after months or years, just feels like “home”.

7 – Jack Kerouac just makes you want to APPRECIATE people and places for what they are. to NOTICE. and DO things with your life!

this flavor cannot be described as merely “good”. nuh-no! it’s so much more than that…

and i thought i’d throw in a cheesy shot with a big grin…for feelin’ good’s sake…

love, whit

more books becoming movies…

i feel like almost every book i’ve ever read that i really got attached to is making it to the big screen. i don’t know if i should be excited or nervous about it.

i mean, in my opinion, the Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings movies were excellent. yes, the books are always better. but i feel the movies did the best they could given the 2-3 hr time slots they have to work with.

more recently – One Day, a story i so very much love, became a movie. a flop really. i doubt if many people who saw the movie would be inspired to read the book. it was a disappointment to say the least.

The Help. i’ve heard great reviews. but refuse to see the movie until i finish the book. so i have nothing to say about it yet.

The Twilight Saga. ok, i was one of those who read each book in a day. and yes, i enjoy the movies very much. but, of course the movies aren’t exactly like the books. yet i love them all the same! ha. “team jacob” all the way. haha!

Into the Wild. the book is always better. but i did like that movie a lot.

anyway…then summer 2010 i read The Hunger Games series. go figure…they’re making them into MOVIES! i saw the trailer for it last night…

let’s hope for the best.

but seriously…Hollywood must be hard up for story lines because i swear that ALL that’s coming out these days are “based on the books” movies. or redoing already done stories/books. makes me wish i was a writer…i could make mega bucks having a book AND a movie.

am i the only one that finds it interesting that EVERY book i read lately is becoming a movie??

i read Cassandra Clare’s The Mortal Instruments series too (well, books 5 and 6 are yet to be released). and…yeah, that’s right. they already have the movies casted! my goodness.

and today – from reading a couple blogs, i found out that more of my favorites are movies now too. Jonathan Safran Foer’s Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. excellent book.

Also his earlier Everything is Illuminated – that is an incredible book that was also made into a movie. (the movie i very much love though! i highly recommend both the books – and the movie)

maybe i’m behind, but i had no idea they’d made a movie of this one …comes out in December…

.

and yet another – my childhood FAVORITE. Is now going to be a movie. So they say. Roald Dahl was my author of choice as a child. I had all of his books. The BFG was my top pick. I seriously read it over and over. I even used to read it aloud to my grandparents and my parents. whoever would listen really. Dreamworks has the movie rights – so i’m hoping that means it will be done justice.

so what’s next? pretty much all the jane austen classics are movies. they made Jane Eyre into a newer movie now. (i love jane austen-esque stories). I’m pretty sure they’re taking Janet Evanovich to the movie level now. Dan Brown – been done. i’m not going to continue with a list, though i have myself convinced that every book will eventually also have the caption on the front – “Now A Major Motion Picture”. guaranteed, there are probably more in the making that i just haven’t caught wind of yet.

it’s frustrating because when i find these things out, i can’t decide if i’m excited or nervous about what the movie will do to my perception of the stories.

I’m waiting for my #1 - The Catcher in the Rye to become “a major motion picture.” and by waiting, i don’t mean anxiously. quite honestly…i hope it doesn’t ruin it for me.

you know, i’m not quite sure if all of this is actually inspiring people to read, or just come up with the excuse that they “saw the movie.”

and i’m not quite sure if i’m venting here or not. half the time after i read a great book, i get antsy when i hear the movie is coming out because i get to re-live the story in a different way! and the movie is great! but then, 10 times out of 10, i come out of the movie let-down that it just wasn’t the same as the book. which is a given in every case. but still. and then, 8 times out of 10, you wish they hadn’t made a movie of it at ALL because the movie offends the book. ha. whatever. i can’t make up my mind. i’m babbling now…

love, whit

the art of books

.

as for me, i am currently C.S. Lewis obsessed.

that inspired man inspires me.

and in his own words:

“Literature adds to reality, it does not simply describe it. It enriches the necessary competencies that daily life requires and provides; and in this respect, it irrigates the deserts that our lives have already become.” -c.s. lewis

kind of going on with thoughts from yesterday, today i read:

“But progress means getting nearer to the place that you want to be. And if you have taken a wrong turning, then to go forward does not get you any nearer. If you are on the wrong road, progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road; and in that case the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive man.” – C.S. Lewis Mere Christianity

“If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were precisely those who thought most of the next. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this.” – C.S. Lewis

and, so lovely…

“You don’t have a soul. You are a Soul. You have a body.” – C.S. Lewis

george bernard shaw said that “without art, the crudeness of reality would make the world unbearable.” and, i believe, that books are indeed works of art. keeping that in mind…”nature and books belong to the eyes that see them” (ralph waldo emerson, another genius mind)

now it would only be appropriate to quote Holden Caulfield, the greatest character in one of my all-time favorite books, “What really knocks me out is a book that, when you’re all done reading it, you wish the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the phone whenever you felt like it.” (The Catcher In The Rye)

…though i’d have to add that after finishing a good book, my heart aches and i mope around feeling like i lost a loved one. so i guess they are bitter-sweet, good books.

love, whit

photo challenge days 4, 5, & 6

let’s face it – i’m no good at this “photo-a-day” challenge thing. 30 days will end up taking me probably 3 months. i seriously hope less. but anyway…

DAY 4 – SOMETHING GREEN

mr emerson, i do love you.

.

DAY 5 – FROM A HIGH ANGLE  – i really don’t find myself on rooftops or bridges or high-up places all that often, which could have made for a better shot. but whatevs. i’m a little over 5 feet, does that count? boring.

DAY 6 – FROM A LOW ANGLE

can you please take another look at the beautiful sky this afternoon?…let’s allow this to replace my DAY 3: CLOUDS photo from before…

for kicks, i took a shot of the well-stocked fridge. it just seemed so full today! nevermind that most of it is fresh cut fruit and veggies. and the bottom drawer is LOADED with jalapenos from the garden. i made some fresh pico de gallo today to try and use up the over-abundance of tomatos and jalapenos….i’m afraid it only made a slight dent in our stock. it’s always interesting to see the insides of people’s fridge…or maybe it’s just me.

.

.

this week brought MAIL! i love mail.

all the way from RiO! my friend, erika, from my BYU days is in Brazil serving a mission. letters like this make my day.

.

.

movie review: ONE DAY

i’ve been very excited for this movie to come out. i mean VERY. only because i absolutely  L O V E D  the book. i won’t lie, i was rather offended to find the theater practically empty on opening weekend. it is what it is though. what can you expect when Captain America, Harry Potter, Cowboys and Aliens, and all these other big events are still in theaters. people would always rather see the super natural and things blowing up over a british love story. but i’m a sucker for real life love stories. anyway…i enjoyed the movie – but probably because i’m so very attached to the story and book. i think if anyone sees it and hasn’t read the book, they will probably not like it as much. having to cover over 20 years of story…the movie moves quick and a lot is missing. i was sad about that. but…

the books are always ten times better. i recommend both.

love, whit

one man’s trash is another man’s treasure

i finished ONE DAY. best. book. it became very personal for me.

as far as the photo challenge – apologies. things happen. and i’m behind. already. updates soon.

that is all.

and the challenge begins…

Borders is closing. tragic day for us all! or – me. it was once my happy place. though their going-out-of-business sale is GREAT for progress on my “TO READ” list. i came home with three new books all purchased at very low prices. one of which i’m already half-way through with — One Day by David Nicholls. i highly recommend it. i can’t put it down. i love, too, that the movies comes out in like 2 weeks?  

i found a super rad Calligraphy book too. great deal. i figure i need to spruce up and broaden what skills i still have from the class i took, what, three years ago? seems a beneficial goal. it comes in handy now and again, you know.

so i found this little “photography challenge” and decided i will do it. most often the “idea” is the hardest part for me…and this way, it’s given to me…i just need to interpret it my way. very nice.

so, DAY 1 (which was saturday) being a SELF-PORTRAIT – - – here you are:

not very impressive, i know. i was already all “LA Fitness’d” for the day, so i avoided anything with much detail. . future photos to not be so lame. promise. well, hopefully.

anyway

speaking of, i will share my WORK OUT playlist on the ipod…these various albums/songs keeps me going. not ALL are shown, but, for the gist: