My Random Addictions: Not-So-Scary Halloween Movies

HAPPY ALMOST HALLOWEEN!

If you haven't figured it out yet, I LOVE HALLOWEEN! It is my favorite holiday. So many people ask: "don't you love all the creepy stuff about Halloween?" That's a negative. "oh okay so since you love Halloween, don't you love scary movies?" No. I like the pumpkin carving, candy corn, dressing up, non-scary Halloween movies parts of Halloween. So here is a compiled list of Halloween movies that are appropriate for most ages and are some of my favorites to watch this time of year!

1) Halloweentown
Duh, who doesn't love this movie? You know you legit can go to Halloweentown where they filmed some of the movie in Oregon? Kimberly Brown has gone before too! AMAZING.

2) Under Wraps
A mummy awakens from the dead and goes to live with some kids for a week. What could get better than that?

3) It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown
"I got a rock". I remember watching this when I was a little kid with my family. It's a classic. And a must watch.

4) Tower of Terror
Because it's my favorite ride of all time, and I always wish that I could walk around behind the scenes there and everything would be just like the movie. Minus the creepy as heck old lady.

5) Haunted Mansion
A funny twist on a Disney classic. I wasn't sure about Eddie Murphy playing in this movie before it came out, but I actually love it. And I got to visit the set at Disney World as a kid so I thought that was so cool.

6) Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet Frankenstein
The songs alone make this movie worth watching. If you can handle the chipmunks voices that is.

There are so many more, but those are my absolute favorites. You still have time to squeeze a few in before Halloween on Monday. Which movies did I leave out that you also love? Last night we had our annual Halloween party, and it was a blast! We love having friends over for games and a good time, but it's even better in costume! This year we decided to be the Incredibles (Nike included :) ).

Have a great and Happy Halloween!
- Olivia :)

{RealTalk}: The Struggles of an Oncology Nurse

October is breast cancer awareness month. Why does that matter to me? People who know me would say, duh because you're a nurse who works in oncology. People who know me well would say, duh because your mom battled that beast. Yes and yes. But also this month is always a time of reflection for me, not just about breast cancer, but about ALL types of cancer. And it's my personal favorite time of year to say: WAKE UP PEOPLE. I'll tell you why I say that, and why I'm so passionate about it. It's because of what I do and what I see every. single. day.

In my department we see about two hundred people per day, give or take. Whether that is people on treatment, people coming for follow up visits, or people who are walking in our doors for the first time ever. Since working with the sarcoma group and at Duke in general, I have seen too many people, from kids to ninety year olds, pass away from this terrible disease. I honestly don't think I have ever been so frustrated or saddened than I have in the past year. It's bad enough these people have to go through this terrible thing once, being diagnosed the first time is awful. But then, some of them go through it all over again. From getting close to these patients, seeing them week by week, having them ask for you by name when they come into the clinic, and then sitting there with them when they get the worse news possible: their cancer has come back, there's nothing we can do except cross our fingers for a clinical trial or a new drug. It's terrible. It's heart-wrenching. And its a struggle that I deal with and happens way too often. Some of them have this disease by pure genetic chance, some by unknown reasons, and some by lifestyle choices they have made in their lives. 

So I'm getting up on my soapbox as I do every year at this time to BEG you, PLEAD to you: change what you can in your life to eliminate putting yourself through these awful conversations and leaving your family members behind because YOU made these choices over and over again. Tobacco is the leading cause of cancer and death from cancer. You can quote me on that, it's published just about everywhere. I honestly don't even know how this crap is still being used. But I guess we could say that about a lot of things. You're not just hurting yourselves you're hurting people around you. Your kids, your family, your friends. Even if you go smoke outside, unless you burn your clothes before coming in, you're giving them secondhand smoke. If you're going to use marijuana, even though its still illegal, put it in some brownies and eat it, don't smoke it. You're still damaging your lungs and increasing your chance of head and neck cancer, as well as other kinds. And if you smoke cigarettes or marijuana AND drink in the same period of time, you're just asking for head and neck cancer. Want to know why head and neck cancer sucks so much? Google some pictures, you'll regret it. I send pictures to my friends who tell me they smoke and drink. Yep, hope I ruined your "fun time". You'll be having a real "fun time" when you're in your 50's or 60's getting surgery and facial reconstruction because of your "fun times" in the good old days. You can Google some pictures of that too. And get used to not eating, because that delicious food you love so much, now you'll be having a feeding tube for longer than patients with these kinds of cancers who didn't smoke or drink. Yum liquid diet. Yum thick mucous that is so hard to swallow you usually vomit when you try it. DELICIOUS! 

Anyways I could go on for hours about this, but you catch my drift: smoking and excessive drinking is stupid. Don't ruin your life or the people around you. Watching people die from cancer is bad enough when the reason is unknown or can't be controlled, but when it could have been prevented, that is when it is even worse. So your "imma do me" attitude about life is really saying "imma end up killing my lungs, possibly getting some kind of cancer, and possibly giving the people around me cancer as well". Just don't do it. There are so many ways to get help to STOP smoking! GET THE HELP YOU NEED AND DO IT TODAY. And BONUS, you'll save TONS of money by not binge drinking at the bar or at home and by not buying cigarettes. And you may save your life? Who could ask for more of a win-win? But when you get to that point no matter what caused your disease, nurses will treat you with compassion and take care of you until the end, whether that is death or remission. That is one of the biggest struggles. Watching people regret their past choices and then watching the same people walk out the door and smoke a cigarette. It's hard guys, but I DO treat my patients the same no matter what, I'd just rather not watch people make a CHOICE to have cancer. Some people don't get to choose, and end up with it anyways.

Another one of the struggles of being an oncology nurse is being frustrated with our great advancing modern medicine that isn't advancing quite fast enough to help save people from going through this. So support the American Cancer Society, local cancer research, or whatever you are passionate about related to cancer! It DOES make a difference. And keep praying that soon we find a cure or at least a way to help prevent this disease. I know I am.

Thanks for reading my annual rant and PSA! Make good choices friends!

- Olivia :)

Wifey Wednesday: Disney Movie Club- Deal or No Deal?

Hello fellow and future wives!

Okay, so basically anyone who uses the internet and is reading this blog has heard of the Disney Movie Club. I probably see five ads for it per week online. And I've always wondered the following things: 1) Is this legit? If yes then: 2) Is this a deal? If yes then: 3) Is it worth it? So after receiving some birthday money, I decided to try it; and here is what I did and what my outcome was.

1) Pay attention to the first deal on your first order.
Some of the "attention grabbing" deals they post, aren't the best deal. Look for something better, it's probably out there. For example most of the time you see "4 Disney Blu-rays or DVDs for $1 each". But I was able to find a deal for 5 Disney Blu-rays for $1 total AND a free kid's Olaf blanket. Better deal up front, better deal over all.
#1: Ratatouille Blu-ray + DVD $0.20
#2: Fox & the Hound 1+2 Blu-ray +DVD $0.20
#3: Pocahontas 1+2 Blu-ray + DVD $0.20
#4: Pollyanna 55th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray $0.20
#5: Swiss Family Robinson Blu-Ray $0.20
Total for this order: see below, #6 & #7 on this order

2) Order the second two discounted movies, it's worth it.
On my initial order they offered a second deal, movie #6 for $14.95 and movie #7 for $9.95. If you do this, you are ultimately saving money. Especially since the movie #6 counts as 1/4 of your "full price" fulfillment movies.
#6: Return of Jafar & King of Thieves Blu-ray+DVD+ Digital Copy $14.95 *FULFILLMENT MOVIE
#7: Up Blu-ray + DVD $9.95
Total for this order: $21.90 (free shipping)

3) You have to pay full price for 4 movies in 2 years, look for deals when you buy those movies
You are going to have to plan to pay $29.95 each for 4 Blu-rays or $24.95 each for 4 DVDs. So when you buy these movies, find a "deal" at that time and order extra movies at a discounted price. See what I did below:
#8: Finding Dory Pre-Order Blu-Ray + DVD + Digital Copy $24.95 *FULFILLMENT MOVIE
#9: Alice and Wonderland Blu-Ray + DVD + Digital Copy $14.97
#10: Mary Poppins Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Copy $11.97
Total for this order: $58.86 (Shipping $6.93 included in total)

#11: Beauty and the Beast Enchanted Christmas Pre-Order Blu-Ray + DVD + Digital Copy $22.95 *FULFILLMENT MOVIE
#12: Rescue Rangers Volume 1 $4.95
#13: Bolt Blu-ray + DVD + Digital HD $12.48
#14: Zootopia Blu-ray + DVD + Digital HD $29.95*FULFILLMENT MOVIE
Total for this order: $73.82 ($8.42 shipping included in total)

4) Remember to cancel your monthly featured title

Unless you want it, remember to log onto your account and cancel your featured title. You can do this online or they will also mail you a card to send back, online is way easier. So far I haven't missed on or been wrongly charged.

5) Sign up for Disney Movie Rewards

You know those little inserts in the front of movies that have a code? Sign up for DMR and use them! With my 14 movies I got two more free from DMR! They have other cool rewards too!

#15: The Lone Ranger Blu-Ray+DVD- Free

#16: Tarzan Blu-Ray+DVD+Digital HD- Free

So overall, I ordered 14 movies, 4 of them being my "full price" fulfillment movies, and got two for free from DMR. The total I paid, was $154.58. Total value if you bought these on Amazon: $260.78. In the end I ended up saving about: $106.20. Yeah, as a Disney obsessed person, I would say this is 100% worth it.There are movies that you can get in no other place yet like Return of Jafar/Aladdin and the King of Theives, or Beauty and the Beast Enchanted Christmas. Like I said, you have to be a big Disney freak for this to be worth it. And if you don't already own a ton of Disney movies, like I do, then it is even more worth it because you can get tons of good deals on them and have first access to originals when they come out of the vault. Also, you can stay a member after you complete your fulfillment movies so you can keep getting discounts, you just have to remember to cancel your monthly title. So what do you think? Have an extra $150? Are you a big Disney fan? Think about it, it is SO worth it.

Thanks for reading,
- Olivia :)

DIY: Mini-Pumpkin Decorations

Hey everyone!

Since the weather has officially cooled off, to me fall has finally begun! Even if it technically started a few weeks ago, and yes our house was fully decorated, including these awesome leaf candles I made with my mom last year and some of our free Yankee Candle minis! Also my favorite picture of fall in NC, featuring Madi and Nike on the trail :). October is my FAVORITE month of the year, for many reasons. The cool weather, beautiful change in colors, Halloween, pumpkin flavored baked goods, and the start of college basketball. There is not a better time of year, in my opinion. This year I added some cute mini pumpkins to our front door outside decorations! And they only costed $5 to make, not kidding!

Here's what you'll need:

- 2 foam pumpkins from dollar tree

- 1 bottle of cream paint (or color of your choice)

- 1 foam brush

- 1 bronze permanent marker

- Pencil

Step One: Paint the pumpkins the color of your choice, it will probably take about 2-5 layers depending on if you go light or dark with the paint color. 

Step Two: Let dry over night

Step Three: Draw out your calligraphy letter or choice of font onto the pumpkin and then on top use the bronze permanent marker to go over it.

There you have it! I LOVE the way these turned out and now our fall outdoor decor is fabulous! October is going to be a busy month for us between work, school, people visiting, and basketball season. It's exciting!

Thanks for keeping up with us!

- Olivia :)

#BookWorm: The Kill Order

Hello fellow readers,

The latest book I finished up was The Kill Order by James Daschner.  This was a prequel to The Maze Runner. So the series itself was a challenge for me to get through until book three, The Death Cure. Well The Kill Order actually had me interested almost the whole way through! I really enjoyed the plot, figuring out what caused the flare and the events leading up to it! Basically the story starts off with two main characters, Mark and Trina, and their friends Alec and Lana. They all have experienced the flare and made it through. Now they are trying to survive when a ship comes out of the sky shooting needles of who knows what into people. People start to get really sick, so the four friends try to unhinge what is happening and what was in the needles. The book is adventurous, and switches between their journey post and pre-flare.

These science fiction type books usually don't keep my interest, but James Daschner does a good job! He is coming out with a new book that is in between this book and The Maze Runner so still a prequel. Which is great because the ending of The Kill Order was kind of confusing... Anyways, I'm also super excited for The Death Cure movie (the 3rd book of the Maze Runner series) that is supposed to come out in February 2017! It feels we've been waiting SO long for this one due to Dylan O'Brian getting injured badly enough to be hospitalized. Must be one crazy movie!

Thanks for reading with me,

- Olivia :)