But I finally convinced them to give me 15-20 minutes to watch the beginning of the film.  The deal we made was if the acting and/or cinematography and/or music score was lame, they could leave and go do something else.

     They actually really liked it!

     Wow.  I was so surprised.  ☺  Pleasantly surprised.

     The acting was on par with other films in the theater, unlike some of the lower budget Christian movies I watch from time to time.

     The music score was original and fresh, without being distracting.  Not too busy - and not too boring.  It was pleasant to listen to.

     Cinematography was very good.  All in all, it was a film we were thankful we had the opportunity to watch.

    And my teen girls were very surprised that in the Great Depression era, sometimes babies and children were adopted out to other families simply because some parents couldn't afford to feed more than one or two children.  That's such a tragedy.  

     On Jan. 8, 1935, Elvis Presley was born in Tupelo, Miss. His twin brother, Jesse, was stillborn. 

     What if Elvis' brother had lived? 

     That's the theme of The Identical, a movie not actually about Elvis all.

     The Identical is about twin brothers Ryan and Drexel who are separated at birth.  During the course of this 107 minute long, rated PG film, the twin brothers, though separated almost at birth, grow up looking and sounding like Elvis.

     One of the twin boys grows up to have a wildly successful "rock star" career...while the other twin boy - 
well, I don't want to spoil the story.

     Anyway, here's why The Identical received a PG rating:

• mild "hip shaking" Elvis-style, and some couples dance in a mildly sensual way
  
• a wife wears a dress that shows cleavage
  
• a police officer hits one of the twins in the face
  
• one use of h---, one use of "Oh, my G-d", and one use of "Oh, my L--d"
  
• a few cases of characters drinking and smoking
  
• a police officer describes a roadhouse full of African-Americans as "dark and nasty"
  

     I thought some of you would want to know any negative aspects of this film for your own sake or in case you have children watching it with you.

    I will be verifying the winning entrant's giveaway entry options to make sure they are valid.  In the past several months, multiple winners were excluded from winning even though their names had been selected randomly as winners, because they said that they had signed up for email subscriptions but had not completed the process, which includes clicking on an email you will receive to confirm your subscription.  


     An email subscription to Joy In Our Journey.com is not a requirement to enter our giveaways, but if you do use an email subscription option to enter to win, please make sure that you click on the confirmation email that you will receive.  That will validate your entry.  Thank you!  

     This post was originally published on http://www.JoyInOurJourney.com.

 

     

Many thanks to Propeller Consulting, LLC for providing this prize for the giveaway. Choice of winners and opinions are 100% my own and NOT influenced by monetary compensation. I did receive a sample of the product in exchange for this review and post.

     Only one entrant per mailing address, per giveaway. If you have won the same prize on another blog, you are not eligible to win it again. Winner is subject to eligibility verification.

NOTE:  Some formatting, videos, images, and Giveaway forms may not show up in email or RSS feeds. If something seems to be missing, please click over to read the rest on my blog page.

    My girls and I like to hang out together while shopping.  We don't go shopping all that often, and generally have a list of items that need to be purchased...so I don't know that we've actually ever gone "window shopping" together (which in my mind is going to the stores to drool at the newest, latest items for sale without having any money to spend).  ☺

    So, Kelsi (our oldest, age 17 now - wow!) and I were shopping around Thanksgiving, picking up a few things we needed, and we burst out laughing!  Okay, so we were in a giggly, goofy mood already, but when I zipped and unzipped the mouths on these Zipit Monster Pouches, we both cracked up! 

    I think we got a few stares.  And maybe a few glares.  But it was fun, anyway. ☺ And very worth it.

    I bought a coin purse Zipit Monster Pouch and a dollar bill sized Zipit Monster Pouch for Kelsi for Christmas, since she didn't have anywhere to keep coins and bills in her purse. She didn't really want them to disappear for a few weeks until she would open the gifts at Christmas - but she patiently endured. Ha!

     Conquer your fear - of losing all your pencils again - by befriending a monster who promises to guard your pencils and more. 

     Pick one with one eye, two eyes, or two eyes topped with luxurious lashes. All Monster Pouches are made of a single, long zipper. Unzip the fun!

    I will be verifying the winning entrant's giveaway entry options to make sure they are valid.  In the past several months, multiple winners were excluded from winning even though their names had been selected randomly as winners, because they said that they had signed up for email subscriptions but had not completed the process, which includes clicking on an email you will receive to confirm your subscription.  An email subscription to Joy In Our Journey.com is not a requirement to enter our giveaways, but if you do use an email subscription option to enter to win, please make sure that you click on the confirmation email that you will receive.  That will validate your entry.  Thank you!   :)

This post was originally published on http://www.JoyInOurJourney.com.


     Many thanks to Zipit and Tomoson for providing this prize for the giveaway. Choice of winners and opinions are 100% my own and NOT influenced by monetary compensation. I did receive a sample of the product in exchange for this review and post.

    (By the way, this is not a paid review, just so you know.  This just happens to be a brand new food on the market that is THM-friendly and delicious at the same time!)

    I don't know about you, but when our family switched to the Trim Healthy Mama-style of eating, we began to miss some of the crunchy, crispy salty snacks that we had enjoyed in the past.

    We still keep raw nuts around the house, those nuts that haven't been combined with oils we prefer not to use, like sunflower oil, safflower oil, canola oil, and the like.

    So...imagine my excitement when I found this new CRISPY, CRUNCHY SNACK at Trader Joe's!

    What have you found to be your new favorite healthy crispy, crunchy snacks if you're following a low carb eating plan like Trim Healthy Mama, Whole30, Paleo, or Atkins?