Justice Pirate

Justice Pirate has Moved! New Outfit Post at Justicepirate.com

noreply@blogger.com (Victoria / Justice Pirate) — Fri, 20 Jul 2012 15:07:00 +0000

Please update your blog feed! My blog is now at http://justicepirate.com!

There is also a new outfit post there (this is a preview of it in this shot above).

Summer Excursions - Part 2

noreply@blogger.com (Victoria / Justice Pirate) — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 17:01:00 +0000

My niece Meiha turned 1 year old earlier in the week. We got to celebrate her birthday, which was really a lovely time! She just started walking and has quite the sweet personality (ball of energy).

Leto loves holding his cousin and playing with her. My eldest brother is the funny one in the family and he gave me his "little boy" face.

You can see some of the personality of my sons and niece in this shot. They had so much fun!

Micah's face cracks me up in this shot!! Oh goodness. Leto was enjoying his cupcake.

This is my beautiful niece Kyana (Meiha's big sister).

Meiha was doing a touchdown dance for her Uncle Rob.

My brother Jeff and his little girl

My big brothers who tell me about being "old" in their late 30s to prepare me and make me laugh and glad to still be in my 20s.

My sister-in-law helping Meiha open her presents. My mom got the cute dress on the left and Meiha decided to munch on the neon green tutu Rob and I bought her.

Summer Excursions - Part 1

noreply@blogger.com (Victoria / Justice Pirate) — Fri, 13 Jul 2012 17:57:00 +0000

This summer I haven't had much time to relax. Between all the graduation parties, birthday parties, homeschooling, and Vacation Bible School events, I rarely even turned on the computer. This is the first day in nearly a week that I actually sat online for more than 3 minutes. As I type this the boys are napping and I am watching a James Stewart movie while eating crackers with Nutella.

Overall, this summer has been quite enjoyable and I've adored spending time with my boys and my loving husband. July has been devoted to them and our families, and August will be devoted to my best friends as we hang out with them through visiting, receiving visits, and catching up on our lives.

Looking Back at Pregnancy

noreply@blogger.com (Victoria / Justice Pirate) — Thu, 28 Jun 2012 19:08:00 +0000

There are many women I know who are pregnant right now or are just having babies! It is really beautiful to know that people are cherishing children and wanting to raise them in a world that seems to make babies a burden and disposable. It has certainly brought me back to my own pregnancies (which I've only had two, in case you are new to my blog and haven't seen pictures of my two sons).

"A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world." -John 16:21

In high school when I dated my husband and we were planning on getting married one day. During my senior year (or right after, in which we were newly engaged), I mentioned how it would be nice to be pregnant by 22. Rob laughed about it, but was not against the idea and said, "We'll see." He was more practical and didn't think too much about the future, but about what we were planning at the moment (to get married in general). We married when I was 20, and by 22, I was in fact pregnant!

This was me at 4 weeks pregnant with Leto in 2006.

My first pregnancy with Leto was really rough. I did not enjoy it at all. I worked at a food place and had my own puke bucket. Thankfully I only puked once per day (well sometimes 4 times in a row or within 15 minutes, but it was during a segment of a day). I felt so sick with so many smells. Yesterday I was thinking about my Indian neighbors where we used to live. The smell of curry was delightful, until I was pregnant! Chicken teriyaki is one of my favorite things to eat, until I was pregnant and felt so sick whenever near it (I eat it now again). I lost interest in eating anything I normally did other than eggs, bread, and cookies (which I gorged myself on). I thought I was supposed eat and eat and eat. LIE! I gained double the weight I was supposed to, which caused me to give birth to a 9lb 14oz baby!!

I was 13 weeks pregnant and just threw up . . .yes, you're thinking, "why would you want a picture taken like this?!?!" Because it is funny looking back!!!

I almost lost Leto at 25 weeks pregnant. It was very scary to have pre-term labor contractions. Thankfully he settled down in my womb and did well in the remaining 16 weeks I carried him. My body swelled up everywhere (which is why I won't show the later pregnancy photos of me when I ballooned). I had my first stretch mark by 34 weeks which increased across my lower abdomen, my inner thighs, my breasts, and my calves. I was so sad and cried a lot because I'm a vain person. I received a rash on my hands and feet that lasted 4 days (until a few hours after giving birth). Regardless of it all, I had a beautiful baby boy and am thrilled for the suffering.

33 weeks pregnant with Leto (yeah, I had dreadlocks during the end of my pregnancy).

With my pregnancy with Micah, I was more careful in what I ate, and blessed with gaining half of the weight I had gained with Leto. I was just as tired as I was the first time, just as sore, but scents smelled a little better to me and I only threw up 7 times total. My face still swelled up, I didn't get any new stretch marks, and I was much happier but still hated being pregnant. It is sad. Although pregnancy is uncomfortable and doesn't make you feel as pretty at all, it really is wonderful. I actually miss it a little. . . because the best part about pregnancy is feeling your child hiccuping, kicking softly, feeling their bodies rolling around, and seeing their bums raised in one spot depending on how you lay! The little galloping heartbeat is adorable, and seeing pictures of them being secured in your body is joyful, as you wonder how they'll look outside of the womb and anticipate holding them!!!

25 weeks pregnant with Micah in 2008 (in both)

The result: TWO CUTE BABY BOYS I LOVE SO MUCH!!!

Leto

Micah

Now for the bottom text most will not read, so I might as well go for it. . .This is extremely personal for us. I'm a heavily convicted person who often prays to God to reveal my wrongdoings so I can work on them and walk in His ways. While reading through the scriptures each day over the year (Psalms, Proverbs, Genesis-Joshua), I've felt God's word tell me know how much He treasures children and how much we should trust in God as He provides us with finances, children, and blesses us through having them. Our boys are such vast joys in our lives and we are so proud of them and have seen how God provides for us to raise them!

For nearly 10 months we've been praying for miracles so we can have more children. The painful problem is that a month and a half after having Micah, because I hated pregnancy so much (very selfish) and because we didn't have much money, and because Rob and I don't like contraceptives (I'm not going to explain), we made a stupid mistake and got Rob a vasectomy because we had a miscommunication about how we really felt (we both really wanted to have more children but thought the other didn't). We did not put any trust in God or go to Him with our decision at all and were foolish. 10 months ago, not even a full 3 years after Micah was born, we discussed and decided we want more children. We've been praying for a miracle from God to help us have another or for the Lord to provide for us $6,000 (very slowly saving, since we just get by as it is) so we can reverse Rob's vasectomy through a place that does it in NJ in which I've called and have loads of information from (they are so sweet and talked to me for a good 45 minutes and sent me a folder of information). They sent me pages of successful reversals and testimonies from men who decided they wanted more children as well and went to their place to get it done. It costs $3000 for first payment and $3000 for the second only a month apart, and they don't take partial payments or we already would have had this done. Most places charge thousands of dollars more for reversals, but because this is a practice specifically working only on vasectomy reversals, they do the job right and want to lift the financial burden from people who want more children.

In reading the scriptures, we learned that through this process of waiting on God and trusting Him, we have drawn closer in our walk with the Lord individually and as a couple. Our boys actually pray for their future siblings every single day, sometimes several times of their own freewill. It is really beautiful. God says to wait on Him, so we wait. We believe it is God's will for us to have more children, but we interfered with His plan with our own and want to now raise more children. If God shuts the door (or disciplines us for our mistake by not allowing us to have more), we will plan on adoption, but because we are still in our 20s, we have time to have more. If God instead gives us children to adopt, either way we will raise them in His word and will love and cherish them. We've thought about the fact that if we never did get the vasectomy done, we'd probably have another child by now (or even a fourth on the way).
Please pray WITH us for this issue. Be kind and considerate with your comments on the issue, because I've done ten months of enough crying over it and have listed loads of options and prayed out many times about it, and really don't want people to be negative or hurtful further with the pain I already feel. Thank you.

"Children are a heritage from the Lord, offspring a reward from him. Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are children born in one’s youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. They will not be put to shame when they contend with their opponents in court." -Psalm 127:3-5

Summer Blast in a Floral Dress!

noreply@blogger.com (Victoria / Justice Pirate) — Fri, 22 Jun 2012 20:34:00 +0000

Outfit details:
1950s Vintage dress: fmvintage

1940s vintage hat: Old Faithful Vintage
Shoes: Modcloth

I went to an annual street fair with my family a few weeks ago wearing this amazing dress! My hair was pretty much dripping in sweat and I tried to blot my head best I could before getting these shots taken. I don't complain about weather. I get annoyed when I hear people say, "Ew! It's so hot" and whine and then "I'm freezing to death in this cold!" and whine more. No one seems satisfied with anything in Northern New Jersey, but are filled with selfishness. The Bible says to do EVERYTHING without complaining or arguing so you may be blameless and pure (Philippians 2:14&15). It is summer now. It's going to be hot. Take each day with rejoicing and thank God you have a day to live!

This week Rob and I celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary and had a great time together. We have family bowling coupons for every day this summer to bowl two games for free and have been bowling a lot lately. As presents we got bowling balls. Rob has never owned a bowling ball before and he lacks consistency from using lane balls made for other people's hands, which can be rough (and he's not bad at bowling with those). Now he can practice and adjust to his own ball. As for me, I've been using a 9 lb ball for too long and needed to upgrade to a 12 pounded ball so I can get better marks. We bought the cheapest balls in the shop and I received my first Turkey ever (three strikes in a row, in case you don't know the bowling lingo). It was exciting. After we bowled two games, we went out to eat sushi (because we couldn't decide on anything else, and there is a sushi place near where we live that is amazing so when we can't decide on a nice place to eat, that's the winner).

Movie Suggestion Post #62

noreply@blogger.com (Victoria / Justice Pirate) — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 18:17:00 +0000

The Secret World of Arietty 2010 (anime, w/ English voice of Bridgit Mendler, Will Arnett, Amy Poehler, Carol Burnett) - 4 Stars - Based on the book called The Borrowers (which I never read, though I grew up watching The Littles in the US which was also based on it). Arietty is a Borrower. Her family lives inside a house within a human house. They take little things that no one will notice is missing. It is not allowed for Borrowers to be seen by humans. Arietty believes a young boy has seen her, but she is so curious to learn about him. This story was very simple, the art was beautiful (as all Studio Ghibli work is). My sons really loved it and have since watched it a few times. content: a human seems to believe it is her duty to destroy a life of a Borrower

The Warrior's Way 2010 (w/ Jang Dong-Kun, Kate Bosworth, Geoffrey Rush) - 3 stars - This was a unique story filled with a lot of action. A man becomes the greatest warrior in the Far East and travels to the US to the badlands mainly because he doesn't know what else to do. It takes place in the early 1900s. There seems to be a bunch of left-over carnies living in the area he arrives, and a woman who seems to have a past that he is interested in. He enjoys learning about the people and finds more of a reason to exist than just being the greatest warrior. It was filled very nicely with great colors. content: immodesty (cleavage pumped out), attempted rapes, underwear seen (bodices, bloomers, not like today's underwear at all), a young girl being publicly abused, violence (kicking people, gun fighting, sword fighting, knife throwing, and more such things), blood shown. bad language (God's name in vain/profaned, a couple lighter swears, s word), racist remarks, drinking, kissing

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof 1958 (w/ Paul Newman, Elizabeth Taylor, Burl Ives) - 3 stars - This is a story of a married couple that has something brewing between them that has caused them to not touch one another for who knows how long. When they go the family celebration a birthday of "Big Daddy", who is rich father of two sons and seems to have many people sucking up to him, there are things he stirs up and things stirred up in his own life. There is definitely a lot of passion and great acting in the dialogue throughout this film. When people are annoyed, you get annoyed, when people seem upset, you get upset. There is great emotion flowing in this film. It seemed pretty realistic. content: drinking, smoking, kids being a bit mean/rude to adults, adults being a little mean/rude to kids, talk about suicide, talk about affairs, talk about death, 4 lighter swear words, woman standing in a whole scene wearing a slip, a man's bare chest seen, a woman lifts her skirt a little to the thigh to fix her stockings

Soul Surfer 2011 (w/ AnnaSophia Robb, Dennis Quaid, Helen Hunt, Kevin Sorbo) - 3.25 stars - I remember hearing the news about 13 year old Bethany Hamilton surfer from Hawaii getting her arm chomped off by a shark when it was broadcast. She was a sweet kid who was inspiring and loved God. This is about that time of her life, though some parts were slightly alter to make it more of a challenging storyline. I have not read her book, but I do follow her Instagram haha. The movie had a good message and it was sweet. There were a couple cheese-ball moments. content: lots of girls in bathing suits (bikinis, 2-pieces), immodest outfits, a girl who is supposed to be a young teen girl talks about being sexy, shark attack, blood seen, guys' chests exposed

Libeled Lady 1936 (w/ William Powell, Jean Harlow, Myrna Loy, Spencer Tracy) - 3 stars - This was a pretty funny story about a woman who gets stories published about her in newspapers, so she decides to sue the publisher. Of course the publisher has been delaying his marriage and decides to have someone come in to pretend to marry his fiancee and work out a way to get the woman who threatened to sue to drop her charges. It was confusing and didn't make sense what they were doing either, but in watching the movie, they explain things and there are some interesting circumstances and situations that come about. content: kissing, immodest outfits, drinking, smoking

School of Life 2005 (w/ David Paymer, Ryan Reynolds, Andrew Robb) - 2.5 stars - A new teacher is coming to middle school to replace a great teacher who had died. The son, and also a teacher of the deceased teacher doesn't seem to be as "cool" as his father was. When the new replacement teacher seems to grab so much attention from the students, this causes jealousy. The son of the jealous teacher loves his new teacher, which makes it tougher! It isn't that great of a movie, but it was cute for the most part. content: some language, a girl giving a kid the finger in public, a teacher digs up a swimsuit magazine as part of his lesson, a teacher says as a joke that 3rd graders get "boob jobs", kissing, a wife of a teacher calls out the name of another teacher, spying

Billy: The Early Years of Billy Graham 2008 (w/ Armie Hammer, Martin Landau, Lindsay Wagner, Kristoffer Polaha) - 2.5 stars - I was curious to find out what Billy Graham's life was like before he started Evangelizing. The bits about his life in this film were well done, though a little cheesy at times. This film not only talks about Billy Graham, but his old friend Charles Templeton and how he went downhill. I think the scenes with him were honestly something that I didn't think would be included. The worst part about the movie was that it ended so abruptly. It didn't make sense for it to end where it did and made the film seem extremely short.. content: an unnecessary d word, kissing, smoking, drinking
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan 2011 (w/ Gianna Jun, Bingbing Li, Vivian Wu, Wu Jiang, Hugh Jackman) - 3.25 stars - I haven't finished reading the book, but because I tend to like books better than movies, I thought I should read the book after seeing this. We get to learn of two stories from different times in China. One story is set in the modern world with two girls who feel that they are like sisters. As they grow older they seem to be torn apart until a tragedy comes about and one of them explores what led to it. The other story is about two women who were from long ago when they still bound feet. The same situation occurs where they try to stay in touch and learn a secret language to communicate throughout the time. It is very beautiful, but sometimes was a bit dry in the acting department. content: a foot is shown being bound, a husband beats his wife (not shown), a woman peers in on a married couple laying together (you see the man's back on top of a woman and hear the woman making noise), naked bright yellow statues of women are seen, drinking, an opium pipe shown, a woman appears to attempt suicide, kissing

Part of my Heart is in Child Sponsorship

noreply@blogger.com (Victoria / Justice Pirate) — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 15:51:00 +0000

I just became a World Vision Child Sponsor Ambassador for New Jersey a couple of weeks ago, and am truly excited about it! I have been talking to people about the sponsorship program that World Vision does, and have a few specific children that I have been working on gaining sponsorship for. It isn't as easy as it sounds. I know too many lower/middle class people who live paycheck to paycheck, which makes the task a challenge. Thankfully I have been given the opportunity to share about how amazing they are right here on my blog, in hopes that readers would be willing to learn more about becoming a sponsor themselves!

World Vision is a Christian based organization that strives to help children, families, & communities out of poverty & injustice around the world (about 100 counties, working with 100 million families) in order to shine a light of Jesus to them through His love! Many families struggle with providing for their family, food & water needs, medical issues, disaster emergencies, AIDS/HIV, educational needs, and oppression. World Vision works to lift those burdens from their lives.

As an example, I want to share my own experiences as a Child Sponsor. For years I had hoped to sponsor a child from World Vision (since I was a teenager). When Rob and I felt more financially secure ourselves (where would could actually afford our own bills), I was searching through W orld Vision specifically for teen girls from India. Those of you who have been to my blog may have seen I have a heart for victims of human trafficking (and I wore many outfits last year while making posts dedicated to tackling and speaking out on the oppression of slavery). Human trafficking is pretty bad in India, and many young girls usually around the age of 11 and up (some younger) get put into bondage through sexual exploitation and prostitution. I wanted to help a girl from India who came from an AIDS community, because that could mean there are red light districts in that area. There was a smiling girl named Rajiya who was 14 (which is rare when you look through the pictures on WV, because they have such difficult lives and are in desperate need). I was looking at her smile and wanted to keep that smile on her face forever. I did not want to see it destroyed, considering what life usually means for a young girl in India. Females are not important other than for birthing boys throughout the land, and many of the girls are left to die and are a bit "useless" to many families.

[This is one of Rajiya's letters, don't worry, they had it translated for me. Also that is one of the photos we have of her]

After writing back and forth to Rajiya for two years (learning about life for her, what she liked to do, what her chores were, and how excited she always was to receive our letters and show her friends and family), her family had enough money to provide for her needs and she was even starting to write to me in English! It was so cool seeing a bit of a transformation. Because her family was doing so much better, World Vision considered her a graduate of the program and gave me a new child to sponsor from the same community in her place who is also a teenager named Sreedevi. I was a little sad because I grew an attachment to Rajiya, but I now can begin learning about Sreedevi!!

[Sreedevi wrote a lovely letter and drew a picture of a bus, which was really great!]

In case you are wondering the cost for sponsorship; you will be sending $35 a month for your child (which in a way can expand considering how little things cost in third world countries). This not only provides for your child, but for their family and also helps build a better community through the love you are showing to that child. You will receive a packet of information on the child as well as a headquarter's address for your child in which you can write to them. Throughout the year you may receive a few things from World Vision that are activity cards. You can write little notes to your child in that card, send it to the US headquarters, and then you have an option of donating $5 to help with delivery costs to whichever country your child lives in. They do often times deliver these cards during school, in which the child delights in receiving it. You may also send emails (though they can't email you back) and letters, as well as a list of safe things you can mail to them in a 6x9" envelope (like colored pencils, notepads, stickers, hair ribbons). You can also give your child a birthday party once a year!

In the past I posted a picture of drawings my own sons had sent to Rajiya. They ask me questions about India and have learned bits and pieces (that a 3 and 5 year old can comprehend). It has really been fun because they sometimes choose to pray for our sponsored child during dinner or bedtime, as well as for the people in the whole country and for God to help provide food, water, and toys for them. They come up with this all on their own.

If you are interested in becoming a child sponsor, please click on one of the links throughout this post, (because it contains my ambassador referral code). Also I added a sponsorship button to my blog! Through the link you can choose a child from whichever country you might have a heart for (or even a random one for them to choose for you who has a need), you can choose age groups as well as a boy or a girl. The child's information will be available to you whenever you want to double check on their info, as well as tips and info on any questions you might have on their website. Feel free to ask me questions too! If I know you in person, PLEASE talk to me face to face because I have 5 children who long for sponsors, and I would like to find people to sponsor them by August! May you have an exciting journey as a sponsor! You have no idea what an impact you might have on them!

Northern New Jersey Life

noreply@blogger.com (Victoria / Justice Pirate) — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 15:13:00 +0000

I've been so worn out lately. We've been very packed with plans in the end of May through all the graduation parties we have every weekend for the next few weeks! Youth group is coming to an end, and usually that is when we have so many events happen.

I wore this to a 5 year old's bowling birthday party. This isn't an outfit post, so I'm sorry to disappoint you! This is more of a "remix" since I've worn these pieces at other times on older blog entries.

Leto LOVES bowling so much. He did get a spare without hitting the bumpers! I've been trying to teach him how to bowl properly.

The youth group does have a few barbecues that have been going on, and here is Micah having fun with some of the girls on the trampoline.

A piggy back ride

The youth pastor's little girl sleeping. Shhhh.

The youth Pastor's son and Leto chasing down one of the kids from youth group, and one of the girls thinks it was hilarious to see her friend getting "tormented". They were squirting him with water swords.

Some of the kids playing music together. They are involved in a "youth band"

My boys wanted me to drag them around in a wagon.

Leto played volleyball with Rob and a load of the youth group kids

We went to a street fair as well, but it was so hot outside that the boys started to get pretty moody.

Leto finished Kindergarten yesterday! He did a great job throughout the year, and when I showed him all of his 1st grade materials (I homeschool the boys), he started to demand that I teach him right away. Therefore, Micah is officially in Preschool and Leto is officially in 1st grade now. Keep in mind that the reason why you don't see me doing as many blog entries as I used to, is because I spend so much time teaching lessons.

We don't get to see my niece Meiha too often, but I saw her about a month ago, and she's a little active sweetheart! She is getting near to a year old now in a little less than a month!

We have been raising money for a missions trip for the youth kids to go to Dominican Republic next month. The car wash was successful.

5 of these individuals will be going on the missions trip together.

Family Fun with Butterflies

noreply@blogger.com (Victoria / Justice Pirate) — Mon, 04 Jun 2012 17:26:00 +0000

A few weeks ago my family and I ordered some butterfly larvae as part of Science Class (I homeschool the boys). We received them in the mail. They were really tiny and had food on the bottom of their container. We pretty much just sat and watched them grow into normal sized caterpillars in a week's time. After a week of those caterpillars hanging out making some webbed-looking silk, we watched all 5 of them make their cocoons! I transferred the cocoons to the netted habitat. We weren't sure how long it would take for them to emerge as butterflies, but when they finally did nearly a week later, it was so exciting! In case you're scared of blood, they do have blood dripping from them after they emerge. Our boys loved to watch them. Once the last butterfly emerged, we waited an extra day before setting them free. Our 5 winged friends were set free. The boys were sad to see them fly away, but the activity as a whole was really exciting and enjoyable.

We obeyed all the instructions given to us, and were told by many that it was rare for all 5 to survive, but they did! I thought I'd share some pictures from when we were setting them free. If you want to do this activity yourself, we bought a butterfly kit on sale at a homeschooling site (sale's over, but you can buy the kit here). Then once we received the kit, we went online to order our larvae (they are free, but you have to spend $5 for shipping. I recommend being home for when they arrive).

If you follow my Instagrams (username: justicepirate), you probably saw that I posted some pictures of the first few butterflies after they emerged.

This was from when our first butterfly emerged. You can see all the cocoons on the side there. . and the blood from the one that emerged.

bye bye our little butterfly friends.

Movie Suggestion Post #61

noreply@blogger.com (Victoria / Justice Pirate) — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 20:09:00 +0000

Movie Ratings are on a scale of 1-5. Anything rated over 3 stars and is in bold, is totally worth seeing! - I rate pretty harshly. Content is listed for those who are careful about what they or their children view.

True Grit 2010 (w/ Jeff Bridges, Hailee Steinfeld, Matt Damon, Josh Brolin) - 4 stars - A young girl is out to bind her father's killer. She is willing to do whatever she can to see him dealt with for his crime. This is set in the post Civil War period and is a very incredible story. I was thinking I'd be bored by it, but that was certainly not the case. I have never seen the original version of this film, so I am sorry I can't compare for once to the original storyline. content: there is violence (example: murder, knives cutting body parts briefly), kidnapping, God's name used in vain, language (profanities: about 3 all together), a teenage girl gets spanked by a grown man she doesn't really know, a man tells a teenager he was thinking about kissing her, gun fighting, a man seen in his long johns, smoking, drinking

Pirate of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides 2011 (w/ Johnny Depp, Penelope Cruz, Geoffrey Rush - 1.75 stars - None of the Pirate of the Caribbean movies are worth it after the first one, honestly. This one was the worst of the bunch. There is a search for the fountain of youth. Supposedly Johnny Depp knows where it is. Everyone is out to find him and have him lead them all there. Of course this also means that there will be a need of a mermaid. This was such a terribly boring film! I couldn't stand how it was not child friendly one bit as well (thankfully I did not see it with my children). content: sexual innuendos throughout the film, mermaids that have shiny plasticy stuff covering their breasts, but you can see the shape and all but nipples (far too much I believe, I don't care if mermaids are supposed to be that way or not), kissing, sword fighting, language (one word), mockery towards people, immodesty, drunkenness, alcohol seen

A New Kind of Love 1963 (w/ Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward) - 1.75 stars - It is cute to see movies of actors who are married. However, I do recall seeing this film in the past when I was a teenager and finding it awful then. I wish I had recalled it before renting this. An androgynous business woman who works at cheapening high fashion designs meets a man in Paris who works as a journalist. She doesn't know what it is about him that is making her change a bit. Maybe she is just in shock at all the women he somehow picks up. content: a lot of focus on women's bums, kissing, innuendos, immodest outfits, a man goes to a burlesque and watches a strip show (no nudity seen), a man seen with two women and it is assumed he had slept with both, smoking, drinking

Courageous 2011 (w/ Alex Kendrick, Ken Bevel, Kevin Downes, Robert Ayama, Ben Davies) - 4.25 stars - This was an excellent film. I have seen all the films that this company has made, and some have been a bit cheesy, but not this one. This is a Christian film about men who work in the law enforcement and due to a sudden tragic event, one of them decides to change how he runs his family. As a mother and a wife who serves Jesus, this was something really beautiful and Biblical. I did cry. content: teenager gets a gang tattoo, teenager gets beat up, drugs shown, stealing, death, guns and shooting, someone gets tasered

Griff the Invisible 2010 (w/ Ryan Kwanten, Maeve Dermody) - 2.5 stars - This was a pretty unique story! At first I didn't understand it and was a bit confused and bored. After a little while, the story builds up and becomes highly imaginative. The idea is that there is a man who seems to have some sort of social disorder and wants to save so many people who are bullied. He believes he has super human powers! content: kissing, fighting, bullying, pranks, language

Royal Wedding 1951 (w/ Fred Astaire, Jane Powell, Peter Lawford) - 3 stars - A dance duo works hard and very well together. Everyone seems to enjoy them. The two of them go to London and meet people who sweep them each off of their feet. Their act can't end though! What are they to do? It was cute. The dance numbers were lovely as could be. content: kissing, immodest dance outfits

Spellbound 1945 (w/ Gregory Peck, Ingrid Bergman) - 3.25 stars - This film is a combination film of Hitchcock with Dali art. It was very interesting and kept me wanting to know more. There is a psychoanalytic in a mental hospital who is very good at what she does, but she shows little interest in anything outside of her work. That is until a new doctor arrives. Perhaps there is a dark secret to his past. She will do whatever she can to help him. content: kissing, unmarried people seemingly being in one room together (probably one bed), drinking, smoking, violence (nothing seen).

content

The Americanization of Emily 1964 (w/ Julie Andrews, James Garner) - 2 stars - This movie is about a woman chaser who works for the military in England but he is from the US. His chauffeur is a woman who seems to be cold and unkind to him. His ideals of war don't seem normal for a military man at all, who seems to be against the idea of seeing action himself. Emily of course (the chauffeur) questions his sense of justice and virtue. It was dry and awful, which is a pity, because I have enjoyed other films with both of these actors. content: a man often barges in on a couple having intimate relations and the woman is topless but not much is seen, but you can see her breast bounce in the buff on the side, kissing, talk of making children when unmarried, people in bed together and unmarried, a man slaps a woman's bum.

Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer 2011 (w/ Jordana Beatty, Heather Graham, Jaleel White) - 2.75 stars - This was actually a cute kid movie about a young energetic girl who longs to have a wonderful summer vacation, but all her plans go to waste when she learns that her friends are all going away. Her aunt comes to visit which changes the summer completely. content: an immodest woman (cleavage, short shorts), children go to see a zombie movie and the imagery might scare children (an eyeball comes out of a man's face), God's name used in vain

October Road 2007 [TV series - seasons 1 & 2] - 2.25 stars - The beginning of this show was kinda interesting but halfway through the first season it went downhill and the second season was terrible. A man returns to his hometown after being gone for ten years. He had written a book about life in his hometown and it didn't go too well with the people he was once friends with. The biggest shock was that he found out his girlfriend, whom he abandoned, has a child. could it be his? If you do see this show (which is pointless, it was cancelled because of how poorly done it was), there is a final episode on the last disk in the bonus features to explain things. content: there are 3 women shown within probably 4 episodes throughout the seasons in bras. People are unmarried and seen in bed together, there is a woman who had an affair, drinking, a man is nude throughout an episode and his front and backsides are covered while he walks about. language, child born out of wedlock, kissing, sexual scenes (a couple scenes get a little steamy, which is too much considering the show's rating is PG).

Roman Holiday 1953 (w/ Gregory Peck, Audrey Hepburn, Eddie Albert) - 3.25 stars - I can't believe it took me this long to see this film. You know what I love about it? It seems more realistic than other love stories! I really enjoyed it. Basically, a princess longs to get out and live a little, so she runs away. There is a reporter that she comes across who helps her enjoy that "living". content: kissing, man and woman sleep in the same room (different beds, both clothed), smoking, drinking, an innuendo

Every Day is Mother's Day!

noreply@blogger.com (Victoria / Justice Pirate) — Mon, 28 May 2012 21:07:00 +0000

Outfit Details: Vintage Dress from Hihlo Studio | Necklace from a friend | Headscarf from Garlands of Grace | Shoes from Lulu*s

I am awfully late on reading blogs and posting them. In case you're saying, "Mother's Day was so long ago already!". . .well to me, today is still Mother's Day. I spend each single day with my two sons teaching them and watching them learn and grow. On (actual) Mother's Day, I spent time with my family exploring nature for bugs. My sons were inspecting an ant hill in this particular shot. It wasn't about focusing on me (though it was nice to do a photoshoot again), but about focusing on my little ones.

"Let your father and mother be glad; let her who bore you rejoice." -Proverbs 23:25

Movie Suggestion Post #60

noreply@blogger.com (Victoria / Justice Pirate) — Mon, 07 May 2012 19:20:00 +0000

Movie Ratings are on a scale of 1-5. Anything rated over 3 stars and is in bold, is totally worth seeing! - I rate pretty harshly. Content is listed for those who are careful about what they or their children view.

The Avengers 2012 (w/ Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Samuel L. Jackson) - 5 stars!!!! - This is the 67th Robert Downey Jr. Movie I've seen now (I always keep track). Regardless of my RDJ fangirling, I've been a Thor fan since I was a child (I read many of the comics), so he's my favorite. Marvel super heroes are teamed up together to help save the world from destruction by the threat of Loki, Thor's brother. This movie was hilariously witty, beautifully filmed, had amazing fight scenes, really wonderful graphics (minus one very computer graphicy part I recall), Each character had parts where you felt you could connect to them, and it was just really fun and a couple times sad. I never saw audiences laugh and make cheering noises like they did during this movie. There were many other reactions too. If you go see it, make sure you stay through ALL the credits (there is a scene in between the credits and one afterwards). content: fight scenes (not really showy graphics at all but blood is shown sometimes), some language - mainly lighter profanities, both B words were the worst ones used), immodest outfits (tight fitting, cleavage revealed slightly, short shorts), a man wakes up naked (his front and backsides are both covered)

Adam's Rib 1949 (w/ Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn) - 3 stars - When a woman catches her husband having an affair, she reacts poorly and gets arrested. A married couple who are both lawyers go up against each other as one defends and one prosecutes. Will this lead to problems in their marriage? It was an interesting story, and sometimes a bit funny. content: a man and woman caught in an affair (both dressed), violence (nothing shown), A woman is given an opportunity to cheat on her husband, kissing, a woman's back is being massaged and she is not very modest, kissing. (if there is more content I forgot, it is because I forgot to write my review down right after watching the film like I usually do)

Twilight: Breaking Dawn Pt. 1 2011 (w/ Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner) - 2 stars - Yes, of course I read the books. This was the second best book of the series, in my opinion. Therefore I probably had higher hopes for this movie, but thankfully I didn't waste my money seeing it in theatres. Bella and Edward are going to get married, but this might lead to some difficulties in their lives together since Bella is still a human and Edward is a vampire. Their lives are going to change forever. I was pretty bored watching the film and considering the scene in the book of their consummation of marriage was briefly stated and not described in detail, they went overboard in the sexual department. I do think it is cool that they waited to have sex when they got married (rare in films today. . if it even happens at all). content: graphic kissing and sex scenes, though no nudity that I saw but they were indeed nude and touching one another (and supposedly there was a nipple slip, but I did not see it because I skipped through the scene), immodest clothing (bikini, underwear/lingerie), bruises on a woman's body (though no violence or intent to hurt), threats to kill an unborn baby, threats to kill a woman, men without shirts on, a woman drinks blood, a man murders murderers, fighting, a malnourished woman's body shown from the back (no bum shown though), a lot of blood is shown

It Started with Eve 1941 (w/ Deanna Durbin, Charles Laughton, Robert Cummings) - 3.25 stars - A rich old man is dying. He's famous and the public is waiting to find out what's going to happen to all his money. His son has a fiancee whom he hasn't met yet, so the son quickly finds a lower class girl to pose as his fiancee (since his real one was in another country at that time). She agrees to pretend along, but of course this causes for problems when the old man starts to get better. It was a very sweet story and I always love Deanna Durbin's voice! content: deceit, smoking, drinking, (possibly kissing, but I really don't recall it at all)screenshot captured by me

Dream High 2011 (TV Series) - 3 stars - This Korean show (you can watch it on http://dramafever.com) was about a group of 6 individuals who want to become stars for one reason or another (and their teachers who try to help out). Some dance, others sing, some can do both. There is a bit of a love triangle in this show, some rivalries, struggles with families, and some other romances in the making. It was pretty interesting but I was a little surprised by the ending, but it was still a pretty cute show but sometimes it moved too slowly. content: underhanded ways to get at people, name calling, a couple swear words, kissing (nothing like our TV kisses. . they hold still on the lips without moving), deceit, punching, talk of sexual abuse, guy topless and his towel falls off (nothing shown other than his chest), girls in semi-short shorts and skirts (otherwise it's pretty modesty).

Can't Help Singing 1944 (w/ Deanna Durbin, Robert Paige) - 2.75 stars - A woman runs away from home to meet the man she loves across the country by wagon train, as he went to California during the gold rush. While on her journey she meets a couple of interesting characters and a man who seems to cheat in his gambling. Of course there is singing in this movie. It was lovely and in technicolor. content: deceit, people gambling, people bathing (shoulders up seen), kissing

The Moon That Embraces the Sun 2012 (TV series) - 4.25 stars - This show was addicting. It is a Korean show (only 20 episodes) that you can watch for free on http://dramafever.com set in Historic Korea when they had a king and queen. The show starts off with an important back story episode that brings the rest of the series into play (the second episode was where I got addicted). Ultimately it is about two brothers who both seem smitten with the same girl and the issues with politics surrounding the throne. One of the brothers is the crown prince and the other was born from a concubine. I could explain so much more about the storyline and various characters but it would take too long, but all of them were very interesting. There is a lot of crying in this series but it is done so realistically and splendidly. I was amazed by the costumes and the storyline. The only downside is that each episode is an hour long! It was worth it though! content: people kiss (nothing like our Television kisses. . they hold still on the lips without moving), people drink, there are a couple torture scenes (nothing really shown other than blood), sword fighting (non-graphic other than blood shown), some summoning of spirits (but regarded with it being wrong), talk of suicide, people who are not married of the opposite sex sleeping in the same room (fully clothed), talk about consummating marriages, deceit
screenshot captured by me

The Other Side of the Mountain 1975 (w/ Marilyn Hassett, Beau Bridges) - 2 stars - This is a biography movie on a skii champion named Jill Kinmont. She was hoping to become an Olympic star when tragedy struck. . .or maybe a few tragedies even. This whole movie was sad and depressing. content: language, a little boy walks in on his older sister getting dressed and she is in a bra and he says he saw her boobies. Also a woman's bra is seen through her wet shirt. People mocking handicapped people. I can't recall anything else off hand.

Flower Boy Ramen Shop 2011 (TV series) - 2.75 stars - Another Korean show, I know, expect more in the future! A young woman is trying hard to land a teaching job in Korea. She was in a relationship for a few years and has missed her boyfriend after he was in the Army for two years. He came back but he doesn't seem interested in her any longer. Through the heartbreak she seems to always bump into a handsome guy who complimented her mole on her face, but wait, he's 6 years younger than her?? Also she meets another man 6 years older than her who seems handsome to her as well and he keeps calling her "wife" when he was given her father's ramen noodle shop. content: 6 year age gap between a woman interested in a teenager (though he played a 19 year old, but it may seem very odd to people), people of the opposite sex sleeping in the same room together (with clothes on), people talking about cheating and making excuses for it, women hitting guys, lots of poop humor, language, actual kissing (not like the other two shows I mentioned), guys topless, girls in bikinis in one scene, a guy sees a woman in a tight volleyball uniform in random places, a guy seems to be a womanizer, a man is in a tub

Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story 2009 (w/ Cuba Gooding Jr., Kimberly Elise, Aunjanue Ellis) - 3.25 stars - We follow a boy who felt dumb and had horrible grades as a child. He never thought he'd amount for anything but his mother inspired and pushed him (as well as his older brother) to do whatever he wanted to do. As he excelled in life he became a world renown pediatric neurosurgeon, being the first to successfully separate Siamese twins. This is his story and it was very good and interesting! content: racism, name calling, threats to hurt someone with a hammer, someone being "stabbed", operating room graphics (not nasty looking though), blood shown, kissing
bad screen capture by me

Oh, the Books We Read #1

noreply@blogger.com (Victoria / Justice Pirate) — Fri, 04 May 2012 14:11:00 +0000

My sons really love us to read them certain books over and over again. Sometimes they'll return back to books they remembered they loved months earlier and ask us to read them again. Usually from these books, we read it again the following night when they ask. This can sometimes last up to a week at a time before they switch to another book. I wanted to share with you some of their favorite books (and I'll be making more of these posts in the future). I tried my best to fit the books in my scanner to get some pictures of the art. If you have any recommendations, let me know them!

The Little Engine That Could

by Watty Piper and art by Loren Long

This is a familiar story that's been read throughout the past few decades. This is slightly different but has gorgeous artwork. A train runs down filled with toys and goodies for a village over the mountain. They hope a friendly train will help them get to their destination. Our boys adore this and it is the most read story out of all their books.

Clink

by Kelly DiPucchio and Matthew Myers

This is such a cute story about a friendly robot who wants to get noticed and bought out of a shop. So many of the other robots are useful, but he can only seem to make burnt toast. The art is really lovely (this scan doesn't show much compared to the other color-filled graphics).

Josh and the Woo Woo

by David Bedford and Daniel Howarth
Josh does not like loud noises, and he knows noise, because he has loads of brothers and sisters who are constantly making noise in one form or another. He just wants to have fun and enjoy some quiet time alone. Is there any noise that could possibly be enjoyable to him? It is unlikely. My boys love this story because there are a lot of noises that get read. They find it funny.

The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear
by Audrey Wood and Don Wood
I love the art on this story, and it is really fun. The idea is that there is a little mouse who has a big red ripe strawberry. While you're reading you warn the mouse about the bear that is after the strawberry and how to handle it. It's really cute and one of my favorites to read, but the boys adore it as well and laugh!

Hermie, a Common Caterpillar
by Max Lucado
This is a Christian book. A couple of caterpillars think they are so boring compared to other caterpillars they know. They also meet so many other insects that seem to be so special. Why are they so plain and ordinary? They complain a bit to God about it, but He lets them know a thing or two about their purpose. My 3 year old especially adores this book (and he loves learning about insects and animals).

If You Give a Moose a Muffin

by Laura Joffe Numeroff and Felicia Bond

I'm sure many of you are aware of the If You Give a . . . series of stories. There are many (we own the Mouse one as well). This one however is what the boys adore. They think the moose is silly. Basically a boy sees a moose outside and gives him a muffin, but he wants too many other things in the meantime. What a fun moose.

The Kissing Hand
by Audrey Penn, Ruth E. Harper, and Nancy M. Leak
The art in this book is so pretty. A mother raccoon prepares her baby to go to school. Of course this is going to be difficult on the little one, but there is a way that the mother tries to help make it easier. Although my sons don't have to go to school and leave me, it is still really cute and is a very touching story!

Look Out for Mater
by Andrea Posner-Sanchez
My boys adore the Cars' films like crazy (so therefore they love anything involving the story). In Radiator Springs, Mater will do anything to spend time with his best friend Lightning McQueen. He doesn't get to see him as often as he had before. When he gets his chance to hang out with his friend, it seems like all he does just gets him into trouble. Will Mater ever learn?

I Don't Blend Well with Others

noreply@blogger.com (Victoria / Justice Pirate) — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 13:07:00 +0000

I know what you're thinking right now, if you've been coming to my blog for a long time: "An outfit post? About time!"
Thank you for your patience. I haven't posted an outfit since January. I don't know how often these posts will show up, but I figure every so often they'll pop up on my blog.

There is a thing that I adore about wearing skirts (and ones that are knee length and longer). They make me feel girly, and most of you know that I appreciate modesty a lot! They are really fun.

I noticed that this outfit blends in well with the background choice. I think it is funny, because in reality, I don't blend in well with others one bit. I've always been called "weird" and "unique" and "odd" and "different" since I was a very young child, not just because of what I wear, but because of how I act or the way I think. When I was younger it hurt when people would mock me, but once I got to about the age of 10, I actually appreciated it and embraced it a lot. It became fun for me to be different than the people around me. I liked being me. I think today too many people who are young are so set on being "in" with their peers and the trends, that they miss out on creating individuality in themselves. They blend in with people around them or try too hard to look like someone they admire in entertainment industries. I have always been fond of people who stand out and who are noticeably different than others through their personality.

Outfit Details:
Shoes: Modcloth
Necklace: c/o Gigi (which their site is gone now, so I don't know what happened to them)
Shirt: Delias (so 8 years ago)
Skirt: Vintage Urban Renewal
Headband (can't really see it): a friend gave it to me
Flower Hairclip: c/o Lila-Jo

Another Adventure as a Mom

noreply@blogger.com (Victoria / Justice Pirate) — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 01:27:00 +0000

My husband is not very sporty. I was raised in a family that taught me many various sports and made sure I was active in some sort of activities revolving around sports. I always liked playing for fun rather than to win, so I hated being on competitive teams (so I stopped playing on them). It disappointed my family who still tells me, "but you were so good at ____." blah blah. . .

My older son Leto loves to win and I keep telling him that it is okay to lose. He gets easily frustrated and upset and everything seems to be a competition to him at this point in time, and I've been trying to train him to have fun and that winning and losing isn't really the issue, though I'd cheer for him if he were to win.

I'm slowly teaching the boys how to play sports because they show an interest in them. I started with baseball and they've also been learning about bowling (and recently went bowling with my oldest brother who probably has a 240+ average). Check out Leto's face here. haha.

It is hard to teach my kids at the same time to play when I want to focus on each one at a time. I tried to have my husband help me, but he wanted to sit and watch us play and see me teach them. >.<

Thankfully Micah did get some attention and help with learning, but he hung out with his Daddy most of the time. He would run after and towards the balls in the "outfield" when Leto would hit them.

Probably the most difficult task is teaching them how to hold the bat. No matter how often I'd show Leto, he'd bring his arms back in towards his body and lower his elbows and put his feet together. He got better each time though. Thankfully I understand that I can't expect him to pick up on it immediately. It takes practice and patience.

I'm very proud of my big little guy.

And I'm also very proud of my little little guy (and my man too).

My favorite people ever.

I lift them both up on my legs sometimes.

And when they don't listen and run around after I tell them to stay nearby, I grab them and spin them and throw them around (they love it).

Movie Suggestion Post #59

noreply@blogger.com (Victoria / Justice Pirate) — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 19:22:00 +0000

Movie Ratings are on a scale of 1-5. Anything rated over 3 stars and is in bold, is totally worth seeing! - I rate pretty harshly. Content is listed for those who are careful about what they or their children view.

Hugo 2011 (w/ Ben Kingsley, Sacha Baron Cohen, Asa Butterfield, Chloe Moretz) - 3.75 stars - This was an excellent film. I saw this without knowing what it was going to be about (I saw the teaser trailer and that was it, which didn't explain a thing). Hugo is an orphan boy who has been living inside a Parisian train station. He misses his father desperately who left him a mechanical doll who seems to have a message to write. Hugo has been trying to fix the doll but comes across a young girl and her grandfather who might be helpful and have some answers. The story was so well put together and everything was beautiful. content: a kiss, a child is put inside a cage, there might be some scary imagery for small children (I did not watch this movie with my sons), "idiot", a man drinks and is drunk, a woman is wearing a leotard

I Was a Male War Bride 1949 (w/ Cary Grant, Anne Sheridan) - 2.75 stars - Usually I adore Cary Grant movies, but this one didn't really pull me in as much as I hoped it would. Of course he was witty, as always. Supposedly this was a true story. A flirty French Captain had been chasing after an American female Lieutenant. They decide to marry, but there are problems upon problems for them to try to do so considering they are both active in the military from different countries and have a hard time figuring out how to finalize everything. This is where the fun comes in for the poor Captain. content: kissing, a couple innuendos, a man dresses as a woman

One Tree Hill (seasons 1-9) 2003-2012 - 3 stars - To sum up all 9 seasons in one paragraph is going to be difficult. I started to watch this show in September or October. Basically I held off watching this show for years because I went to high school with Bethany Joy Lenz who plays Haley on this show (she was a senior my freshman year) and since she was just getting her start in acting in bigger things (like Guiding Light or something soap opery) and I had talked to her a few times (she was a bit of a loner, like me but most seniors didn't normally hang around freshmen, so I only have a few memories and conversations with her), it was just weird to think about watching her actually act outside of the school play (weird enough to see her in magazine ads for Tampax and a Pepsi commercial when I knew her)! The storyline for this show in the first 6 seasons was highly addictive, but I will state that I had to skip a lot of scenes because there were things put in that seemed to just try to get ratings and show off girls in underwear. The story was about a boy in high school (Lucas) living with his mother (Karen) who raised him alone with the help of his uncle (Keith). His father (Dan) didn't seem to care about him at all. His dad had a family of his own, including a son (Nathan) only slightly younger than him (same grade and all) who seemed to have it all but was not kind. This leads to a lot of problems in their relationship but they both have a bond of basketball. His brother has a girlfriend (Peyton) who doesn't seem to like her boyfriend. She loves music and drawing but is the head cheerleader along with her best friend (Brooke) who seems to have a thing for the brother of her boyfriend. Of course the smart girl (Haley) who is best friends with the main character has a crush on her friend's popular brother and starts tutoring him. This explains basically the first season. You get to watch the drama unfold of high school relationships and messed up families and how they all grow up and what their lives turn out to be. I couldn't stand the last three seasons simply because the main character Lucas and the music/artist fanatic Peyton as well as the main character's mom - all left the show (his mom left even a season earlier). They were my favorite characters! The show just got lame and boring because it lacked the great monologues, the great music, and the lovely art. It as if it was a new show but without the addictive hold. The last season just finished airing last week and it was terrible. :: sigh :: This 3 star rating is an average sum-up of all the seasons. content: girls in underwear - some strippers, kissing, make-out scenes, people appearing to be naked (nothing shown), drug content (cocaine, heroin, weed), a lot of the b-word is thrown around, talk about orgasms, bad language (less of it is used as the seasons progress), talk of sex, talk of pregnancies before marriage, affairs, trash talking, fighting, underage drinking, smoking, party scenes, murders, . . .seems like there isn't much that isn't in it (which is why I skipped so many scenes).

Water For Elephants 2011 (w/ Reese Witherspoon, Robert Pattinson) - 3.25 stars - An old man retells a story of his life in a circus that didn't last too long but how it changed his life forever. a veterinary student wants to work with the animals when he loses all he has and finds himself on a circus train. He starts to become good friends with the circus owner and his wife. The problem is that he starts to fall in love with the wife. This was a very lovely story in the long run and very sad but also very happy. I enjoyed it. content: It seems at times that they justified this young man's love for the wife simply because she was abused physically by her husband (which is wrong in itself, and they show her being punched and also show her having her throat grabbed at a couple times), there was kissing, a woman who is stripping at the circus but when she is taking off her top they only show from her shoulders up and proof that she has nipple tassels on as you see them flicking towards her face (this was a brief scene), a married woman has a secret relationship with a man who is not her husband, many girls go up to a man and all kiss him, circus workers who aren't dressed very modestly are shown throughout the film, there is animal abuse shown (and corrected in time), murders, The Lord's name is blasphemed, there is bad language (not a lot of it, but it is said at different points), drinking, smoking

Skateland 2011 (w/ Shiloh Fernandez, Ashley Greene) - 2 stars - This is one of those coming of age tales. I thought it was going to be heavily about roller skating in the early 80s, but it wasn't really (but the main character worked at a roller skating rink). When his parents get divorced he sees so many problems occuring in his life and the people he hangs out with. It's tough for him to handle. The story was slow and boring. The colors are pretty with how it was directed though and I adored the music throughout it. content: pre-marital sex (You see that the girl takes her shirt off but only see the top of her bra straps), underage drinking, smoking, weed, women/girls are objectified, some violence/fighting, some bad language and name calling, threats, immodest outfits, kissing

You Were Never Lovelier 1942 (w/ Fred Astaire, Rita Hayworth) - 3 stars - Maria seems to be filled with a heart of stone. No man can get her to even look at them. Her younger sisters want to marry, and after their oldest sister gets married, her family is determined to get her married off as soon as possible (what a sad concept). Although she seems satisfied with her life, her father tries to woo his own daughter off her feet through romantic set-ups to soften her up. This doesn't help that Robert comes into the picture unexpectedly. Wonderful dance numbers. content: kissing, immodest outfits, an assumed affair

Cracks 2009 (w/ Eva Green, Juno Temple, Maria Valverde, Imogen Poots) - 1.25 stars - This movie bored me so much. It is a thriller, but there was no thrill at all, just a lot of wasted time. I felt like I was watching a strange version of Lord of the Flies but without the island and without the cannibalism. A diving team in an all-girls' school set between the first world wars has a wacked-up teacher who seems to have her students wrapped around her finger. I had no idea this movie had nudity in it (couldn't find content reviews). Anyway, they have a new girl who shows up from Spain to be protected from harm who also is a diver. She is a sweet girl who gets mixed up in a bunch of jealous pulls. This film had beautiful sets and costumes but it was just terrible. content: young girls go skinny dipping and are filmed taking off their clothes and swim together with a female teacher, a teacher lets her students get drunk and one of them is so out of it that her female teacher kisses her and pretty much rapes her, a terrible death takes place, smoking, lying

Best Foot Forward 1943 (w/ Lucille Ball, June Allyson, Nancy Walker, Harry James, Tommy Fox, Virginia Weidler) - 3.25 stars - There is going to be a dance at a military academy. After one of the cadets sends letters and pictures back and forth to Lucille Ball, her agent pushes her to go visit the dance as a way for publicity. This of course causes problems for all the girls who are trying to get the attention of the guys they like and keep their interest. How dare that Lucille Ball come around to make them feel less important! This was a hilarious movie and I really loved all the quotes from Nancy Walker's character (poor thing). There were great songs in this film too. content: undergarments shown (lingerie), an adult man seemed to have been hitting on a young girl
[sorry for the terrible screenshot I took]

Things You May Not Have Known About Me

noreply@blogger.com (Victoria / Justice Pirate) — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 13:04:00 +0000

It has been a few months since I've posted fashion pictures. The truth is I am a woman of deep convictions. I often get newsletters from missionaries and organizations that work with the poverty stricken. When I see a child pictured in a tattered dress and cut up bare feet, I get so mad at myself for wanting any clothes at all. So many people wear the same thing over and over again for as long as they can. I'd rather buy shirts from Sevenly that help people and these organizations and wear the same pair of jeans every day for as long as I can too. I know it might sound weird, but that's something God has put on my heart. Of course I will still photograph pretty outfits from time to time, but I really get so down when I see people wearing so many outfits that they constantly buy all the time and to have loads of wishlists, etc. Most people don't have my conviction, but I wish many would see how what they get is so temporary while someone is in dire need elsewhere.

On some less serious notes I wanted to share some older photos of me.

I used to be a blonde but it started to darken and looked funky. That's when I decided to start dying my hair. This is me when I was a freshman in high school. Also I didn't pluck my eyebrows and have mentioned before that I rarely pluck today other than once every three weeks or so.

My fashion sense was always mocked by others, but now looking back, I see that these people probably were intimidated by my confidence and love for what I wore. This is me in 1994 (5th grade). I used to wear only hippy and historical type of styles (bellbottoms were not popular during the grunge explosion). I don't laugh at anything I used to wear on my own choosing because it helped create the individual that I've always been.

I was always very tall for my age. Of course this caused for many to call me terrible names because of how skinny I always was. In this photo I was 3 years old. Everyone thought I was more 5 or 6 years old. These are my nursery school teachers who specifically took care of the 3 year olds. And yes I do have shoes that are similar to these that I wear today (but in black). I was 5'6" in 5th grade and am now 5'9", which isn't that tall, but it is tall. Doctors thought I'd end up being 6'0". . .with heels I am even taller than that sometimes.

All my clothes were hand-me-downs until I was 6. They were usually too baggy for me or too short for me because of my size. I always have ruined every dress I wear. No joke. Most of the vintage dresses you've seen me wear and post on my blog have been repaired a few times because I end up ripping them somehow or I get stains on them. I would wear them every single day if I could but because of how badly I damage them, my husband has told me that he'd prefer I only wear them when I go out or for special occasions. I have been known for playing in mud and ruining dresses so many times since I was a child to currently. I like to run around! So much for looking pretty when I have stains and dirt all over me all the time.

As a baby I was dedicated to the Lord. While many people choose to baptize their babies (which is unBiblical), my parents chose to raise me up on Christ and the Word of God so that one day I would choose to become baptized through submersion in water as was done in Jesus' time by adults who were able to confess their sins and willing to transform their lives to follow Him (which I chose to do in my early 20s). Someone handmade this cute outfit for my dedication. My family publicly declared to their church that they would raise me to understand God and the congregation agreed to help them. My husband and I had our sons dedicated as well.

I got married when I was 20. A lot of people thought it was unwise or that we were too young, but it was one of the best decisions of my life. Sometimes we wish we married even earlier, but our parents often told us to wait (we were engaged nearly two years before we married). Rob is my best friend and in many ways we've been able to grow up together and I'm extremely blessed to have him for my husband for nearly 8 years now.

I love being a mother. Although I hated being pregnant, I'd give birth 50 times if possible. I really am blessed to have such amazing little boys. They are frustrating at times, but have been learning and growing so much. They are lovable and so sweet.
(picture of me pregnant with Micah. . and yes I go swimming covered like this. If only I had 1920s bathing suits)

baby Leto

Baby Micah

I used to have dreadlocks (they were babies here) but if you've been at my blog for a long time now, you are fully aware at all the hairstyles I've done. I missed brushing my hair so much that I had to cut all this hair off and I need to have 4 more inches to get back to this length.

I was a very sad and very lonely little girl. There were no girls in my neighborhood, I had no friends at all, and I pretty much had to entertain myself. (this was a hand-me-down dress but I love it. I was 7 here). I'm very thankful that I have a few very close friends.. . .

I'm really silly (but don't tend to like jokes and am a very serious person). Here's one of my dearest friends (Laura) wondering what I was up to (taken this past weekend).

And my husband is silly with me . . .and he stalks me. My personal paparazzi.
(the following pictures were taken by Laura)

The Best Whoopie Pie Recipe

noreply@blogger.com (Victoria / Justice Pirate) — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 20:56:00 +0000

I've posted pictures in the past of whoopie pies/Amish Sandwich cookies, but they were from a box. I decided to try my hand at homemade ones, and these are amazing! I only have a hand blender so it gave me a cramp to make these, but I want to make them all the time! They're so good! I included the recipe for you all to try it too!

What you'll need:
For the Cookie part:
2 18-1/4 oz packages of Devil's Food cake mix
4 eggs, beaten
2/3 cup vegetable oil

For the Icing:

1 cup milk
5 Tablespoons all purpose flour
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Beat together cake mixes, eggs, and oil, the dough will be very stiff (pictured below).

2. Roll dough into one-inch balls; arrange on ungreased baking sheets. Flatted balls slightly; bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes. Cool on baking sheets for 3 minutes; remove to wire rack.

3. Combine milk and flour in a saucepan over medium heat; cook and stir until thick. cover and refrigerate. In a separate bowl, beat together butter, shortening, sugar and vanilla until creamy. Add chilled milk mixture; beat for 10 minutes with an electric mixer on medium speed.
(It will end up looking like this picture below)

4. Spread icing on the bottom of a cookie; place another cookie on top. Repeat with remaining cookies and icing. Makes 4 dozen (although I made mine a little bigger on purpose, so it made about 2 dozen)

They were really soft and soooo very tasty and creamy. Excellent to eat! I found out that after a couple days of having them sit out (under saran wrap) they still were soft and even BETTER tasting (since the icing settled a little, and no it wasn't hard at all, in case you're wondering).

My taste testers!

He was a bit unprepared for this shot haha.

Movie Suggestion Post #58

noreply@blogger.com (Victoria / Justice Pirate) — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 19:01:00 +0000

Movie Ratings are on a scale of 1-5. Anything rated over 3 stars and is in bold, is totally worth seeing! - I rate pretty harshly.

The Lorax 2012 (w/ voices of Zac Efron, Danny DeVito, Ed Helms, Taylor Swift, Betty White) - 3.5 stars - Since I was a child, The Lorax has been my favorite Seuss story and I have seen the 70s cartoon countless times. I was a little nervous about the storyline when I first saw the trailer for the movie because it seemed like they changed it so much, however, they didn't change the story at all, they just added an extra surrounding story to it while maintaining it's classic characters, creatures, and plot. Ted is a boy who lives in a happy town filled with plastic-made trees and much of the rest of their world is just plastic! He has a big crush on a girl named Audrey who wants to have a tree so badly. She loves trees and had heard stories about them. Ted learns about how he can get a tree himself, and in doing so he learns about the truth of his town and a story about the Lorax. This was animated very well and had a few really wonderful songs (wish there were more!). My sons really enjoyed it a lot (but they said that they liked Cars 2 better). content: I was bothered that in the first scene all the moms seemed to be a little immodestly dressed considering this was a child's movie. A couple times a character is seen wearing a bikini as well (though she has no curves to lure in the audience), a boy talks about kissing, one tall thin character shakes his booty about, a child gets harassed and threatened, the word stupid is said once (which my 3 year old said, "that's a bad word" while in the theatre), a woman is mentioned to look like a man and has a mustache, the environment is damaged

One Day 2011 (w/ Anne Hathaway, Jim Sturgess) - 2 stars - I honestly don't know why so many people rave about this film. I was bored out of my mind most of the time and it was just a completely depressing story with maybe 3-5 minutes of happiness in it. Two people graduate college and end up forming a friendship with one another as they try to pursue their dreams and make a living. They believe they can find love and constantly fear giving in to admitting their love for one another because their friendship might be destroyed. This covers over 20 years of their lives focusing on a the same day throughout the years and what that day's significance had each time for them. The content ruined this film some more for me too. content: kissing, people in underwear, a girl nude walking along a bed frame (mainly her backside is shown, and a corner of her breast), people living together before marriage, drug use (cocaine and weed), party scenes, drinking & drunkenness, smoking, child created out of wedlock, an affair, middle aged people naked on a nudist beach, skinny dipping, talk about sex toys and orgies, a physical fight between men, profanities, vulgarity, and innuendos,

The Trouble with Harry 1955 (w/ Edmund Gwenn, John Forsythe, Shirley MacLaine) - 2.5 stars - This was such an odd story. There was a man's body found in a wooded area. Many people end up finding it and wondering who he was, what he did to get that way. So many people assumed they did it themselves. However in figuring out things, a bunch of people get to know one another and have such a wonderful time over this man's death. It was done by Hitchcock and I never heard of it before. At times it was a little boring, but it was an interesting story. content: possible murder. I'm unsure about anything else (perhaps there was one swear word, but I don't recall).

Lemonade Mouth 2011 (w/ Bridgit Mendler, Adam Hicks, Hayley Kiyoko, Naomi Scott) - 2.5 stars - This is a Disney musical for pre-teens/young teens. The music was actually really catchy and I enjoyed it, especially Hayley Kiyoko's character. She was cool. I would have been her friend. Anyway, what really bugged me about this movie was the terrible lip syncing. Why couldn't they just sing out for real instead of singing with their recorded music? It is about a bunch of kids who end up in detention (Breakfast Club anyone?) but there are a bunch of musical instruments around and they end up forming a band and a bond with one another even though their mocked a bit. The storyline didn't really hold up but it is cute for kids. content: rebelious girl goes against her Principal's authority, teenagers disobey their parents, mocking people/bullying, semi-immodest tween outfits (though for the most part this is very modest)

The Ladies Man 1961 (w/ Jerry Lewis, Helen Traubel, Kathleen Freeman) - 1.75 stars - Terrible movie. Jerry Lewis makes me laugh, and we know he's very silly with the roles he's always taken. The problem is that this whole movie just makes you go "no!!!!" because he's too much of a klutz that you just get annoyed throughout the whole movie. The story is of a guy who doesn't know how to be around the opposite sex but ends up being hired as a handy-man in a mansion filled with women with different talents. content: immodest outfits, a couple sexual innuendos, kissing

I Wanna Hold Your Hand 1978 (w/ Nancy Allen, Bobby Di Cicco, Teresa saldana, Eddie Deezen, Wendy Jo Sperber, Susan Kendall Newman, Marc McClure) - 3 stars - This story revolves around a few teenage girls. One is obsessed with the Beatles, one is going to elope, one is a photographer who wants to photograph the Beatles, and another is a folk-song loving anti-Beatle picketer. They are all friends and end up going on an adventure together to see The Beatles in person at their hotel. Throughout the whole movie they each face problems and most of them involving guys. I had always wanted to see this movie in full, but always saw little bits and pieces of it in the past. The plotline was good and it was entertaining! There were some things that bugged me (read the content). content: profanity, sexual innuendos, a young girl is ready to prostitute herself to get $50 and dresses immodestly, a college girl who is prostituted by a middle-aged man has odd demands and the girl is seen in her bra and underwear with garters, a young girl licks objects and gets very excited about touching things belonging to The Beatles. Underage drinking, smoking, a kid gets mocked, kissing, some punches, a demanding boyfriend

The Whistleblower 2010 (w/ Rachel Weisz, Benedict Cumberbatch, Monica Bellucci, David Strathairn, Vanessa Redgrave) - 2.75 stars - I had high hopes for this film because I'd been waiting for it to be filmed and followed news on it and I read the book in which it is based on. They changed a bit of Kathy Bolkavac's personal story and made a bit of a stretch of her search for one girl throughout the film when really the book had focused more on the crimes of the people she worked with. Anyway, this is a story about a woman cop who gets a job working in Bosnia with the UN and more. She learns about human trafficking in the bars near the place she works filled with teen girls who are forced into prostitution from countries from Ukraine, Moldova, and more. In her research, people in her company don't like her prying in their "affairs" and try to put a stop to it. This is one of thsoe stories that is better off reading the book and not watching the movie at all. content: sadly they show a few girls in immodest clothes, a few girls are in their underwear, girls get groped, one girl gets raped with a bar?? in front of people (they show her face at times and the reaction of those watching), There are photographs of girls in bondage, there is a photograph of a girl topless about to be tortured, a woman is seen spending a night with a man she works with and everything is out of focus and she says, "I'm out of practice". A man says he is still married and working on a divorce after he spends the night with a woman, an old woman expresses how she was raped, men say that a woman deserved rape because she was Muslim, there is bad language throughout the film, people get slapped (girls), a girl has a gun up to her head, there are used condoms and drug paraphernalia laying around a room, a man wants to live with a woman. If I forgot something, I'm sorry. I tried to remember it all.

The Talk of the Town 1942 (w/ Jean Arthur, Cary Grant, Ronald Colman) - 3.25 stars - as a former Oscar nominee, I had thought it was quite funny and I enjoyed it. A woman and her mother have a house that they put up for rent from time to time. A professor is expected to arrive, but instead an old childhood friend of hers who broke out of jail arrives wanting to seek refuge when there was a crime that occurred that is thought to have been done by him. The professor happens to arrive the same night and she has to try to hide her friend and help him out while hoping the professor doesn't find him there. content: kissing and "white lies" are the only thing I can recall.
[screenshot from me]

The Moon-Spinners 1964 (w/ Hayley Mills, Eli Wallach, Peter McEnery, Joan Greenwood) - 2 stars - A girl named Nikki goes to Greece with her aunt to collect songs from different countries. They come to a place called Moon-Spinners which was named after a song, but they find that they are not welcomed there (nor anyone from the UK). They meet a young man who seems to have trouble with them as well and Nikki gets mixed up in an adventure filled with danger with him. The storyline was nice but it was a bit boring. content: kidnapping and some blood (though the violence is not seen)

Rust 2010 (w/ Corbin Bernsen, Frank Gall, Lloyd Warner) - 2 stars - A man seems to have given up on being a preacher and following the faith he thought he held so dearly. He goes back to his hometown to visit a friend who is charged for murder. He wants to see what happened, because he doesn't believe his friend would ever do such a thing, no matter how strange he is. It was hard to follow and understand what was going on and I was bored out of my mind. The last 15 minutes were good though. content: troubled kids, murder, name calling, smoking, teenage suicide - nothing shown at all with violence though. . all just talked about

Ziegfield Follies 1946 (w/ Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, Judy Garland, Lena Horne, Esther Williams, Red Skelton, Lucille Ball, many others) - 2.75 stars - This movie was basically just a way to show stage performances by big actors at the time. I'm not saying they weren't good performances, but I thought there was going to be an actual storyline. I loved one scene that involved a man trying to make a call and having issues with the operator. Also the best scene in the whole thing was Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire dancing together. I love Gene Kelly more though (always have). There are dance and song and comedy numbers throughout it. There was some impressive claymation of sorts in the beginning too. content: immodest outfits (like a completely open backed outfit that cuts off into the rib area too as women are dressed as cats and are whipped by Lucille Ball. . .very strange).

Man's Favorite Sport 1964 (w/ Rock Hudson, Paula Prentiss, Maria Perschy) - 3 stars - A man is a fishing expert. He even wrote a book about it and works for the fishing company Abercrombie and Fitch (didn't know they were originally fishing gear). He comes across an impossible woman while fighting over a parking spot and turns out that she might be the only person he can depend upon with a secret he has regarding his line of work that no one else knows of. This is a funny movie. I laughed a couple times. It was also a little corny which can be fun. content: kissing, a woman ends up sleeping in a man's bed (he leaves the bed), a woman's zipper gets pulled down accidentally and reveals her back and some of her underwear. A man is thought to be fooling around with various women, a man and woman are seen in a sleeping bag together, immodesty

American Pimp: Raw Outtakes and the Hard Truth 2000 (documentary) - 1 star - This is a documentary of interviews with a bunch of different famous pimps. although this says it was made in 2000, I think most of it was filmed in the early 90s before the boost of the internet which has changed everything regarding how pimps work. However, we heard many different accounts, some who beat and search out girls on the streets, and others who say that girls choose it - but they all get the money that is made and the girls don't see much of anything other than they get outfits bought for them and such. One of the pimps interviewed was Snoop Dogg who wanted to be a pimp since he was a kid and even bragged of sleeping with his prostitute cousin for free. It was really boring but did have some informative bits and pieces. It was sad. One pimp even said his daughter and wife are/were prostitutes. content: the entire thing has men bragging about how they mistreat women and the whole time they call the women their female dogs (well not that nicely), body parts are talked about as well as types of tricks, some things mentioned are graphic, there is a girl with a boosty-a on on the streets who is one of the prostitutes for the pimp that talks to him through the window for a little bit, two pimps are smoking weed - one watching his weed being produced/handled on a T.V., language throughout.

It's Always Fair Weather 1955 (w/ Gene Kelly, Dolores Gray, Dan Dailey, Cyd Charisse) - 3.25 stars - Gene Kelly directed this as well as starred in it. The story is about three war buddies who plan to meet in ten years' time, only to have some fears of doing so since they haven't fulfilled their dreams. Someone wants to televise their reunion. Of course there is a bit of romance too. Wonderful songs and dance numbers throughout it, including a trash can lid dance and a fun roller skating tap dance that the amazing Gene Kelly did. content: immodest women, a woman stage shooting/blowing up men with dynamite to go with the song, a room of men whistling after a woman, kissing.
[screenshot from me]

Being a Mom

noreply@blogger.com (Victoria / Justice Pirate) — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 19:42:00 +0000

As you might have noticed, I've rarely posted on my blog, even though I used to post about 3-4 times a week. I have my hands full taking care of my sons (homeschooling the older one in Kindergarten). When I do get free time, I tend to read books. My life is relatively a bore! I am at home most of the time, and when I'm out it is usually for church functions like youth group.

You might notice that my hair looks lighter in these photos. I messed up in dying my hair and tried to fix it with some blonde hair dye from the box so that I could dye it correctly. It failed, so I've waited a month and now I have stripped my hair of all the years of chemicals and dyes in it (last night) and will be dying it red again (been a year, and having it red for so many years in the past, I miss it incredibly). This would explain why I haven't posted any fashion posts in a month.

My silly little men (with their messy hair).

We went out to Friendlys and Leto decided to draw some turtles.

Upside down turtle

Micah drinking milk from Friendlys

On Sunday we were given this double reclining couch in which the boys call "Fluffy Couch". It's very comfortable and we made this section our "reading nook". Just to let you know the third shelf are all books I'm giving away through paperbackswap.com - all of them I've read and I don't buy ANY of my books. My husband Rob reads a lot as well and he spends more time in our nook than any of us.

Leto was getting sleepy

He isn't sleeping, just relaxing

Cuddling with my firstborn

And cuddling with my little guy

My man playing for us. . he doesn't like that he looks so serious in this shot.

Sweet brothers

I love being a mom!

The latest update video on my fundraiser. If you have 11 minutes to spare listening to me speak on human trafficking, please do so. Also if you could donate $10 at least, that would be so great. It all goes to Love146! To donate, go here or do it the super fast way through the top left corner of my blog! I've raised $750 (original goal was $500) and now I'm attempting to raise up to $1000!!

Movie Suggestion Post #57

noreply@blogger.com (Victoria / Justice Pirate) — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 14:40:00 +0000

Movie Ratings are on a scale of 1-5. Anything rated over 3 stars and is in bold, is totally worth seeing! - I rate pretty harshly.

The More the Merrier 1943 (w/ Jean Arthur, Joel McCrea, Charles Coburn) - 3.25 stars - A woman decides to open up her home when there is a housing shortage in Washington D.C. Two men end up living in her home and she has everyone on a schedule. There were quite a lot of funny scenarios. Of course the lead character also has been engaged for an extended amount of time and might be falling for one of the guys living under her roof. He's so mysterious though! - content - men are living under the same roof as a woman, a woman walks around in a robe and has a couple immodest outfits, a man's bare chest is shown.
[screenshot by me]

10 Things I Hate About You 2009 (T.V. show version w/ Lindsey Shaw, Meaghan Jette Martin, Larry Miller, Ethan Peck) - 3 stars - The first review I ever did on here included the movie version of 10 Things I Hate About You. This show at times was really cheesy, but I adored some of the lines throughout it. It made me laugh often. The downside was a lot of the content in it. There wasn't anything sexual or too immodest until the last two episodes (immodesty and sex) so I was so upset with that. As for the storyline, in case you don't know about The Taming of the Shrew which this was based off of, it's simply about sisters who are very different from one another. The younger wants a man but no man can seem to do so until her older sister is able to get a man (but it is difficult for her because of how wild she is). The modern version is similar. content: immodesty, talk about sex, kissing, underage drinking, two girls kiss for a second, people talking about being gay, some language, a lot of guys take their shirts off, a guy in underwear, a girl in underwear, girls in bikinis.

It 1927 (w/ Clara Bow, Antonio Moreno) - 3 stars - This is a silent film about a store owner. His friend constantly talks about finding a girl who is "it" and able to draw someone in through her charm and beauty. A clerk in the store might be just that. A little bit of drama happens throughout the storyline between the main characters. It was a very good silent film. content: a woman is seen in her undergarments

Megamind 2010 (animated with voices of Will Ferrel, Tina Fey, Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill) - 3 stars - I originally heard about this because Robert Downey Jr. was going to do a voice for it when it was called "Oobermind". This movie's story was created by Ben Stiller. It is about two alien babies (one who looks more human than the other) who arrive on earth at the same time and grow up in different environments. They always seem to be at battle with another and possess different talents and gifts. When the villain seems to win in battle, he comes to a new turn of events in his life of boredom. What can he do now? This was a cute movie and my boys loved it and love "Minion" (and both have drawn him a few times). content: violence (people fighting one another throughout it, one appeared to have died), kissing, insults, threats

Super 8 2011 (w/ Joel Courtney, Kyle Chandler, Elle Fanning, Riley Griffiths) - 3.25 stars - A group of kids are entering a Super 8 film contest in 1979. They really want to do a great zombie movie together. There are events that occur that turn their town upside down. They fall witness but keep their secret while still trying to be kids and deal with their own problems! I thought it was filmed really beautifully and at times it had an E.T. effect (which I love that movie). It seriously didn't seem like one of those periodical films because of that feel of how well they recreated the time period. Really great. My only problem really was the amount of language, especially coming out of kids' mouths and the drug use by a former Seventh Heaven actor. content: language (profane, vulgar), violence (some a little graphic), one girl is seen in immodest shirts revealing her back, belly, and cleavage, a guy gets high on weed and tries to sell some (but the kids around him say "Drugs are so bad!"), children disobey their parents, a guy drinks some beer and seems to be drunk

Gulliver's Travels 2010 (w/ Jack Black, Jason Segal, Emily Blunt, Amanda Peet, Catherine Tate) - 2 stars - A modern day tale about a guy who doesn't seem confident or able, but somehow he makes it into a land filled with extremely small people. He might be a hero after all! It was a typical Jack Black movie. Of course he has to rock out in it, and the best part of the whole movie is the song sung at the end. Otherwise life is good without needing to see this and Jason Segal is awful at attempting a British accent. - content: cleavage, sexual innuendos, a couple slangs/swears (maybe one), public urination and done on people (that took it too far for me), man without a shirt, legal social drinking, a dead man's bones

No Greater Love 2009 (w/ Anthony Tyler Quinn, Danielle Bisutti, Aaron Sanders, Jay Underwood) - 3 stars - A marriage gets messy and the wife walks out and becomes missing. The husband misses her so much and their son grows up before his eyes. He is so involved with his work, but also his son. When he is just about to propose to another woman, the sight of his changed wife makes things more complicated. This was a good Christian movie. Usually they are a bit boring and cheesy. Although there was a slight bit of that, the acting and storyline was well done and convincing. It was odd for me to see Jay Underwood all bald and fat now since I thought he was soooo cute in The Boy Who Could Fly and those Not Quite Human movies in the 80s. Anyway, good movie. content: kissing, talk of people living together, people seen drinking with hints of alcoholism

Girl Crazy 1943 (w/ Mickey Rooney, Judy Garland) - 3.5 stars - You've probably seen that I've reviewed many movies with this team-up of actors. I can't get enough of the duo! Even though I had favorites since childhood, this one is definitely my favorite of them that I've seen up to date! A rich playboy is sent to an all-boy's college in Texas. He doesn't know how he'll survive without his usual flock of girls at his side. He comes across a girl who is the Dean's granddaughter who seems to be loved by the whole campus. There are a lot of funny scenes in this and great songs! Definitely wonderful! Also there was one song sung by June Allyson (and that's all she's in this for). - content: kissing, some immodesty, pranks
[screenshot by me]

The Big Street 1942 (w/ Lucille Ball, Henry Ford) - 2.5 stars - A singer of a club who pushes people around and wants to get her own way all the time meets a man who wants to do everything he can for her. She gets in an "accident" and has nothing left. Despite it all, the man is still willing to help her even if she is going to continue being terrible towards everyone. It was just a really sad movie! content: nothing I can recall

Bunraku 2010 (w/ Josh Hartnett, Gackt, Woody Harrelson, Ron Perlman, Demi Moore) - 2.75 stars - The way this was filmed was pretty cool. It reminded me a bit of Kill Bill meets Dick Tracy. A Samurai without a sword (played by a former Japanese singer) and a Cowboy without a gun are both after something. There is a killer who is in control and he has a set of killers under him. The Samurai and Cowboy meet a bartender who helps them along the way. content: I believe there were 3 swear words (two are the F word). Immodest clothes, human trafficking and prostitution (nothing shown at all), violence

Sherlock Jr. 1924 (w/ Buster Keaton, Kathryn McGuire, Joe Keaton) - 3.25 stars - I really enjoyed this, but it was a pity it was so short (44 minutes). It was so brilliantly directed with so many interesting things! A guy who works at a movie theatre wants to buy something nice for his sweetheart and he also is obsessed with learning how to be a detective. He has competition with a guy who thinks he is all that and will win the girl's heart through deception. content: nothing bad that I recall
[screenshot by me]

Snow! Ding Dong Merrily on High + Fundraiser for Love146

noreply@blogger.com (Victoria / Justice Pirate) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 16:17:00 +0000

I'm doing a fundraiser for Love146, which is an organization that has safe houses for child victims saved from light districts, massage parlors, brothels, etc. Some of these kids are as young as 5 years old and were forced into prostitution and were heavily sexually exploited. I'm trying to raise $500, but I'm getting so near to the goal, that I'm probably going to raise it a bit soon! This coming Valentine's Day, give a gift of love to someone who only ever knew of abuse. These children who were exploited into sexual slavery have never known of love. They don't even know if it truly exists. Their hearts have been severely broken and many suffer from great trauma that is unimaginable. Through your donation, they will be able to have medical attention, therapy through art, dance, music, etc, the ability to gain an education, and a chance to integrate back into society without being put back into the modern-day slavery they escaped.

More Info: Love146; My Fundraiser: Justice Pirate's Broken Heart

In case you wanted to see a close-up of the hairstyle, there are a few angles for you below!

My husband Rob will be 29 tomorrow, so Happy birthday to the man I've been in love with for 12 years, been my man for 11 years, and married to for 7.5 years! I love the relationship we share together. God truly blessed me with a husband who is a hard worker & provider for our family (and such an amazing father too), who is careful to obey the Lord, who is sensitive, a great listener, honest, understanding, silly, fun, and so much more.

So didn't know these last two pictures were taken of me until after they were taken (I was picking up on it in the last one so I am so confused in the shot).

OUTFIT DETAILS:
Dress & Blouse: Modcloth (the huge 70% off sale they had)
Gloves & Stockings: Target (from two years ago)
Out Coats: American Eagle (his is circa 2002)
Shoes: Paprika (over a year ago)

Movie Suggestion Post #56

noreply@blogger.com (Victoria / Justice Pirate) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 21:31:00 +0000

Movie Ratings are on a scale of 1-5. Anything rated over 3 stars and is in bold, is totally worth seeing! - I rate pretty harshly.

The Help 2011 (w/ Emma Stone, Viola Davis, Bryce Dallas Howard, Octavia Spencer) - 4 stars - A young woman named Eugenia is single and lives in Jackson, Mississippi where all her friends are starting to marry and have babies. She herself was practically raised by a woman of African descent who was her family's housekeeper. She starts to take an interest in the lives of the housekeepers who work for her friends and other people in Jackson. She starts to write a book with them about what they've gone through living as maids raising white children. It was a very good story and had excellent costumes, hairstyles, and had me laughing and nearly crying at various times throughout the film. content: profanities and racial remarks, smoking, a couple immodest outfits (cleavage showing), a slight kiss, talk about going to the bathroom.

Strike Up the Band 1940 (w/ Mickey Rooney, Judy Garland) - 3 stars - Another cute movie with one of my favorite movie duos. This one is about Jimmy and Mary trying to put on a show with a band they put together so that they can live out their dream and go to Chicago. Cute story with lots of singing and dancing and fun. content: a couple costumes that might be immodest, otherwise nothing I can recall

Mr. Popper's Penguins 2011 (w/ Jim Carrey, Carla Gugino, Madeline Carroll, Angela Lansbury, Ophelia Lovibond) - 3 stars - I remember reading this book in grammar school and this movie was quite a bit different, but it did hold a similar ideal. A boy with an adventurous father eventually grows up feeling unimportant to his dad. He himself is now a father and receives an inheritance of penguins which just drive him nutty but make his kids so happy. content: a lot of penguin poop, kissing, reference to penguins reproducing, champagne shown, one use of God's name in vain (no other language)

The Last Emperor 1987 (w/ John Lone, Peter O'Toole, Victor Wong, Ying Roucheng, Joan Chen) - 3.25 stars - A long movie that I put off watching for a really long time. What gorgeous costumes and cinematography! This focuses on the life of the last emperor of China, Pu Yi. Although he was Emporer for a time, as he got older he realized how he wasn't in power for his country as he had always believed. This also focuses on some of his wives and his relationship with them (which they forgot a few, but got his first two). We get to see the struggle he had with his title, wanting freedom, and being controlled by people around him in both China and Japan. I would have rated this higher if it weren't for all the things they didn't have to include in this! content: the Emperor's wet nurse's breast is shown, the Empress' body is visible through her nightgown, although a sheet is covering them - there is a scene where you can see arms reaching around when the Emperor is in bed with his two wives, a woman licks the toes of another woman, smoking, drinking, opium, clips from an old film of footage of the Nagasaki bombing shows violence in murder and graphic dead bodies, a man is shown being shot in the head, another man is shown shooting himself in the head with much blood dripping, a man attempts suicide by cutting his wrists but is rescued from it, kissing, some language use, a naked toddler is shown running around (front and back), an infant is killed (not shown)
[screenshot provided to you by me!]

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules 2011 (w/ Zachary Gordon, Devon Bostick, Rachel Harris, Robert Capron, Steve Zahn) - 3 stars - I thought this sequel was cute and really funny. It is about two brothers trying to get to know one another so they can get along even though they usually never get along. content: boy runs around with underwear on, an Indian boy gets ignored by his whole school, kids get teased, some name calling, kids disobeying their parents

Christmas Lodge 2011 (w/ Peter Benson, Michelle Creber, Michael Shanks) - 3 stars - It was a bit of a corny Christian Christmas movie (but really cute and I enjoyed it) about a woman who finds an old lodge where her family spent many Christmases. She decides to restore it with the permission of the man who owned it. content: maybe a kiss, but really there is nothing at all in this that is bad.

The Conspirator 2010 (w/ James McAvoy, Robin Wright Penn, Tom Wilkinson, Kevin Kline, Evan Rachel Wood) - 3.5 stars - A young Civil War Union veteran, who was a lawyer became the defendant of Mary Surratt who was charged with conspiring to kill president Abraham Lincoln. This was a great story and I adore historical biopics. It was a really sad movie though. content: someone gets stabbed repeatedly, blood is shown, a couple profanities are used, small amount of kissing

The Spy Next Door 2009 (w/ Jackie Chan, Amber Valletta, Madeline Carroll, George Lopez, Billy Ray Cyrus) - 2.5 stars - It was a funny story about a spy who was in love with a woman who had a few children from her late husband. The kids weren't so fond of him, but he wanted to get to know them and watch over them. He didn't realize how much trouble it would get him into with their mom and with his job. content: kissing, pre-teen and woman in immodest clothes, name calling, a boy talks about watching porn

South Pacific 1958 (w/ Rossano Brazzi, Mitzi Gaynor, John Kerr, Juanita Hall) - 3 stars - I would have liked this more but the color usage and the focus drove me crazy. I haven't seen this film since I was a child. The songs were really nice, and the storyline was sweet, but the film bored me here and there (far too long). The story focuses on two couples during WWII set in the South Seas. One is of a Frenchman who is in love with an American woman, but is keeping something from her. The other is a young American soldier who is falling for an Island girl. This is a depressing movie with a sad and happy ending combined. content: kissing, immodest outfits, racism

A Hard Day's Night 1964 (w/ Ringo Starr, Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison) - 3.25 stars - Obviously a Beatles movie. I've always loved this movie and still do. The direction and humor in it cracks me up and of course I love the music. I saw it was on instant play so I decided to watch it for probably the 40th time. content: pretend cocaine gestures, smoking, drinking, a couple sexual references such as an orgy mentioned, one word of language used, man in a bath (though he has trousers on, but is topless), women chasing and crying over men
[screenshot provided by me!]

Bundle Up! It's Getting Colder in NJ!

noreply@blogger.com (Victoria / Justice Pirate) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 18:40:00 +0000

For the past few months of wearing my coat which I bought only a little over a year ago, I was starting to hear a lot of complaints from loved ones because of how broken my coat was. I am one who is known for wearing beat up and ripped coats.

I had my eye on one from American Eagle for a month, but when I went to purchase it online it was not available in my size (probably gone in general now). I happened to go to the mall a couple of weeks ago with my best friend Lynsie (who spoiled me to some new make-up as a Christmas present) and decided to see if the coat I loved was in the store. It was and on sale! I got this coat for $30 when it was about $95 originally. Score. It's so comfortable.

Okay, so this isn't an actual outfit post, but I have one planned coming soon!

Everything Put Together

noreply@blogger.com (Victoria / Justice Pirate) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 20:43:00 +0000

I haven't actually posted anything of my family since before Thanksgiving time, I believe. So sorry for that. Oh, hello internet! I forgot you existed and that I had a blog that I posted more often on once upon a time. Here I am.

So Let's catch up!! Hopefully you won't be all, "This is outdated already, no thanks". . pfft!

Here are the boys from when we picked out a Christmas tree!

Micah turned 3 on the 22nd of December. He loved his birthday big time!

We got him a stuffed mouse named Mortimer (Leto has one named Simon from last year) from Hazel Village. I wish I got a shot of him smiling and hugging it tightly but I missed it. He also has a remote-controlled Lightning McQueen.

The boys have been really funny about constantly wanting their photos taken.

The day after Christmas I had to visit one of my brothers and his family. That's my sister-in-law and my niece/God-daughter Meiha. She's 6 months old now!!
I gave Micah a new haircut and hairstyle too.

I love when little boys have proof of being little boys in their pictures. . Leto with chocolate on his face. aw.