My top 5 favorite moments in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

I will forever be grateful to my dad, who took me to see the Lord of the Rings in theaters when I was 8. Because of this, I grew up loving anything involving Lord of the Rings or Middle-Earth. So of course I went to go see the second Hobbit film at midnight last night! And I am so glad that I did. It was so much better than my expectations. Peter Jackson is such a great director, because he really knows what works. He knows this world so well that he is able to add so much more to the Hobbit. There were so many scenes in the movie that weren't even in the book, but they all flowed seamlessly together, and made the story even better. For example, Legolas wasn't mentioned in the Hobbit, but he is in the movie in many scenes. As an elf, he lives an extremely long life, and as the Hobbit takes place about 60 years before the Lord of the Rings, it makes perfect sense that he is shown. Also, the book never really discusses the evil that is shown in the Lord of the Rings. In the movie, there are several scenes that mention that there is a dark evil force growing. This is later shown to be Sauron regaining his power because of the finding of the ring. Here are my top 5 favorite moments in the movie:

1. Anything involving Legolas
Seriously, any scene that involved Legolas was amazing. But that comes as no surprise, given that Legolas is such an amazing character in all of the Lord of the Rings movies. The moment he first made his appearance was one of my favorites. My 8 year old self was freaking out the entire time. Legolas has always been my favorite character, and for the first time in 10 years, there are new scenes with him!

2. The reference to Gimli
If you know anything about the Lord of the Rings, you know that Legolas and Gimli are pretty much best friends by the end of the series. Gimli's dad, Gloin, was one of the dwarves in the Hobbit. There is one scene where Gloin and Legolas are interacting, and Legolas asks whose picture is on Gloin's locket. And of course, it is Gimli. It is an awesome reference to what happens later on down the road in the Lord of the Rings.

3. Sauron's appearance
Sauron was never mentioned in the Hobbit, but there is an amazing scene with Gandalf approaching the evil that is growing stronger through the movie. In this scene, Sauron appears in complete armor, taunting Gandalf because he has returned. You also see several glimpses of the eye, which of course plays a huge role in the Lord of the Rings. Gandalf knows exactly who he is, and realizes that great danger lies ahead. This scene is great because you're starting to see how it all started, and it works as an amazing backstory before the Lord of the Rings even takes place.

4. The barrel riding scene
I can't even put into words how great this scene was. It was both hilarious, action-packed, and amazing. You just have to trust me on this, and see it for yourself. So much happens within the span of a few minutes, and it is so fun to watch. And yes, this is one of Legolas' best moments.

5. Smaug
I wasn't sure how Smaug was going to look, given that he is CGI, but he looks amazing. The production team did such an amazing job creating Smaug, that he is totally believable. There is so much detail to him, and he really is terrifying.

Obviously, there were so many other great moments in this movie. All of the Hobbit movies make such a great addition to the Lord of the Rings, and make the entire story that much richer and fuller.

The end of the semester is finally here!

After a very busy semester, the end is finally here! It's hard to believe that I'm halfway through Junior Year already! And after that, I only have one more year. I remember someone told me my freshman year, "Each year in college goes by faster." And they are definitely right! In a little more than a year, I will be done with college, and moving on to the next phase of my life. Sometimes thinking ahead is scary, because I have no idea what lies ahead. But then I remember that God is always there with me through every step of my life. My favorite verse is Joshua 1:9, which says: "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go." Reading this verse really comforts me and reminds me that no matter how scary the future can be, God will be with me through everything. Knowing this, I can look to the future and not be scared anymore, and instead be excited for what God has in store!

NYC Big Bold Gloss

I received this product from Influenster in my Varsity Vox Box. I have never really tried plumpling lip gloss, but I ended up loving this product! It tingles once you put it on, because it is made to plump up your lips. And it actually works! The color I received is a very pretty light pink, and looks great on all skin tones. It retails for $3.99, which is so affordable for lip gloss! I would highly recommend this product to anyone!

Influenster Varsity Vox Box

If you haven't heard of Influenster, then you're missing out. Influenster is a site that is free for anyone to join, and rewards you by writing reviews. The more reviews you write, the more your score goes up, which can result in you getting a VoxBox. A VoxBox is a box filled with various products and samples, and is send out to the Influensters who qualify. I qualified for the Varsity VoxBox since I'm a college student and my score was high enough. In this box, I received:

• 1 package of Airheads Xtreme Bites

I absolutely love the Airheads Xtreme Bites! They are so good! It's a sweet and sour candy, and it tastes great. It's hard not to eat the whole bag at once! Another good thing is that they are only $1.69 a bag! 

• Samples of Clearasil Superfruit Acne Wash

The Clearasil Superfruit Acne Wash is amazing. It smells great, and doesn't irritate my skin. It cleanses and helps prevent acne, so it's a great product overall! The sample I received came with a coupon, and I actually went out and bought the full size. I definitely recommend this one! This product retails for around $5.50 in stores.

• 1 package of Kiss Nail Dress

The Kiss Nail Dress was a decent product. What I like about this is that they come with many different designs, which you could otherwise not do with polish. However, it took me a good 20 minutes just to put all the stickers on and make them fit my nails. While they looked really cool on my nails, they only lasted for about a day before the tips started peeling back. While I really like the concept of this product, they need to be made to last for at least a week. They are also kind of pricey at $6.00 per pack.

• 1 Tide PODS

I love the convenience of Tide PODS! As a college student, they are a lot easier to use than carrying a huge container of laundry detergent around. However, they are pretty expensive, at $17.99 for 66 PODS. They do a great job of washing my clothes, but I'll stick to less expensive detergent for now.

• NYC Big Bold Plumping Gloss

The NYC Big Bold Plumping Gloss is awesome! It comes in a lot of pretty colors. Since it's a plumping gloss, it feels tingly once you put it on, but it makes your lips look great! The only bad thing about the gloss is that it has a weird taste. But, at only $3.99 each, it is a great deal!

Overall, I LOVED my first VoxBox! It was filled with great products, some of which are my new favorites! Hopefully, I can get some more VoxBoxes in the future :)

The Lovely Topic of Engagements

I know that posting this will most likely step on people's toes. So, I apologize in advance if I offend anyone. I am not writing this to judge anyone at all, but I felt that this is something I should write about. I don't know about you, but I feel like every couple of days for the past few months I've constantly been seeing couples get engaged. I'm not sure if it's because I've been getting older, or people are getting engaged younger, or simply because "love is in the air". But whatever is going on, engagements have become a lot more frequent lately. Don't get me wrong; I am truly happy for all these couples that I see getting engaged. But I can't help but wonder if maybe too much emphasis is placed on engagements these days.

I know that ever since I was a little girl, I've dreamed of being married. I still have that dream, but know that I still have a ways to go before that happens. Like many girls, I've pinned several ideas to my "Future Wedding" board on Pinterest. I've even pinned engagement rings, engagement photo ideas, you name it. But lately, I've been asking myself, "Am I just excited to be able to say I'm engaged, or am I excited to spend my life with someone I truly love?" This may be a question that many girls need to ask themselves. I have heard people say that they can't wait to be engaged. It seems that being in a relationship with someone you love doesn't mean anything anymore unless you have a ring to prove it. I've also seen people rush a relationship, becoming engaged after a very short time dating. It's a trend that is happening in Hollywood, and it's a trend that is happening with my generation. What's with the sudden rush to be engaged? I've been thinking a lot about this lately, and I think it's because being engaged has become a kind of status symbol, or a way to make someone happy. I'm not saying that this is a blanket statement that applies to everyone I know that's currently engaged; I'm just saying that this is something that can very possibly be happening, and we need to be aware of it.

As Christians, I believe that putting too much emphasis on being engaged can be dangerous. I believe that God created marriage for the ultimate purpose of glorifying Him. Marriage is a beautiful union between two sinners. God uses this as an example to show us how much He loves us; to symbolize Christ's love for the church. And when we take God's beautiful picture for marriage and put too much emphasis on engagement, that takes away from His glory. When we focus so much on getting engaged one day, that makes it all about us. And that is definitely not what God had planned. It's perfectly okay to be excited about being engaged, because I know I would be. But we do have to make sure that we do not focus only on that. We also have to remember that being engaged does not bring one happiness or fulfillment. If we think that, then we will be extremely disappointed one day. Being engaged is important because it means that two people who love each other and want to bring glory to God will be united one day. It is not just to make us happy. When we only focus on engagement, we are in danger of belittling God's creation of marriage.

Once again, I didn't write this to offend anyone. I wrote this mainly for myself to keep in mind whenever I am on Pinterest next. I need to keep in mind that engagement does not bring one fulfillment or happiness. I will definitely remember this the next time I see a pin of an engagement ring or engagement photo ideas. Engagement is not about someone trying to find happiness and contentment; it is leading to marriage, which is one of God's most beautiful creations for us as humans. 

If this post happened to help you in any way, then I am extremely happy for that! I would love to continue talking about this if anyone has any questions :)