Easy A

So Marshall took me on a date this week to see Easy A.

I was way excited about seeing this movie! Not because I'm a fan of any of the actors, or because I see all high school comedies in the theater, or because I thought it was going to be particularly good.

I couldn't wait to see Easy A because it was filmed in Ojai!!

The movie itself was your typical high school comedy. It tried to do a take on Scarlet Letter. It was like Mean Girls meets Saved meets 10 Things I Hate About You. And Emma Stone is Lindsey Lohan before she went crazy.

The idea is that a girl makes up a story about a date to get out of an obligation, and ends up pretending to have lost her virginity. This is somehow scandalous and the rumor makes its way around the school. Ultimately she starts trading sexual lies for gift cards. Etc, etc, etc. There is more to it, but this girl is pegged as a "trollop" in a conservative high school for pretending to be a skank.

The unique thing about movie is that, unlike other high schools shot in random locations, Easy A embraces the town it's shot in. Ojai wasn't a nameless backdrop, and the film didn't claim to be shot in "Anytown, USA." Ojai is plastered everywhere!

The high school in the movie, Ojai North, uses the same school colors, the same large 'N' school logo, and the same PE uniforms. The only change was from Nordhoff to Ojai North. (Oh, and we don't have a woodchuck for a mascot).

The film was entirely shot in Ojai, and it is like a travel brochure for the town. Highlighted among Ojai's charms are Bart's Books, the trolley, the Ojai Playhouse, the bell tower, Libby Park, the orange orchards, the arcade including Rains and Ojai Ice Cream, and the beautiful lookouts above the valley.

Also tying the Ojai connection was the use of large number of Ojai teens as extras. It was really hard to watch in the theater because the high school crowd scenes were too much to take in. "Oh, there's _____! Is that _____? I know ______ is supposed to be in here somewhere, watch for him!" I can't wait to watch this at home with the power of pause and rewind. There were so many times Marshall and I lamented that we couldn't rewind to see if that guy who walked past in the background was one of my little brothers.

For as much as this film was "life in Ojai," there was one thing I couldn't get past. Losing virginity being a big deal at Nordhoff? Really?? I don't think so. Her clothing scandalous? Um, not as bad as what I saw actually worn on campus most days. And a profanity getting you sent to Principal's office with the threat of expulsion? Hahaha! Have you met Mr. Mohney??

Easy A kept much of Ojai's backdrop, but definitely not the culture.

Mia Maids Time Capsule- 1999

So in 1999, our Mia Maid class at church (group of 14-15 year old girls) made a Y2K time capsule. The idea was that we'd write letters to ourselves and have a forced reason to get back together in 10 years. In the last 10 years, we'd forgotten that it had been a church activity, and forgot who all was involved. But we knew that we were supposed to get together around New Years Eve in late 2009.

I can't believe how fast the 10 years flew!

We remembered that it was buried at Emily's parents' house, and we remembered some of the people who were involved: Emily, Breann, Jessica, Amber and Me. So we picked a day when we would all be back in Ojai and available for a get together. We brought our little families and dug that time capsule up! It was nice that this time around we each had a husband, so that the men could do all of the dirty work.

We also couldn't remember where exactly it was buried along Emily's fence. So the guys were digging for a while. They basically tore up the whole flower bed. But we finally found it, just when we were wondering if we all had a collective false memory.

There was some concern about how well the bucket could have held up. We figured that the pictures and letters must have all been yellowed or water damaged.

But the outside of the bucket was in pretty good condition! We could even read all of the signatures we had put on the outside the day we buried it. Once we read the outside of the bucket, we quickly realized that we had not gathered the whole crew. We were missing a few other girls and the leaders who had organized it. (Sorry Wenona!) But honestly none of us had remembered it being a church activity.

I made sure to take lots of pictures so that those who weren't there could enjoy what we found:

Breann Keller (now Farlow) Wenona UtterLaurel RenteriaAmber Criger (now Alvarez)Emily Ashby (now Bishop)Jessica Johnsen (now Aikens)Samantha KelschLauren Erickson (now Andrews)Aimee Crossett (now Poyner)

On the bottom of the bucket we had all been brave and declared who our crushes were at the time. We must have figured that after 10 years and once we were all married, this would be silly fun. I don't know why we didn't think this would still be embarrassing! lol! So I'll skip those pictures. Some of us had written names of boys others of us had eventually married, or names of guys who are good friends now. So some things are probably still better left unsaid.

When we opened the bucket we were pleased to find that the contents inside still looked as new as the day we put them in. We had included a newspaper with the headlines, and some ads so we could compare prices (not all that different...lol!)

But the best parts were the letters we had written to ourselves back in 1999. Some were all about the boy that person was in love with at the time, some were about our goals we hoped to achieve, others our testimonies. Mine was my testimony and the declared hopes I had for myself at 15. I listed the things I hoped I would have achieved by 25, and admonished myself to stay true to my testimony of the Gospel. It was really, really neat to read what I had to say to myself. I couldn't have been more proud of the girl I was at 15, or more tickled that I stayed true to what that girl had hoped for. I listed a few goals for myself, defined where I hoped my life would be at 25.

My hopes for my life at 15 included:

-Attend and graduate from BYU

-Have a career I love

-Meet a "choice son of God"

-Marry in the Los Angeles temple

-Have kids (I even suggested names I liked, though I have to pass on those now)

And I am very happy to say that I reached each and every hope and goal. That's knowing you've lived well! To know that you made all of the 10-year resolutions you made as a kid.

I hope that in 10 more years I have reached all of my new goals for myself.

It was really fun to see all of these girls I love. It was especially fun that we are all old married ladies now. I have 2 kids, and 3 of these ladies are expecting their first (as you can tell in the picture!) It is amazing what a difference 10 years makes.

What a fun idea our young women's leaders had. What a rewarding experience and fun reunion.

The Bachelor: Ojai Calling

Did everyone see "The Bachelor" last night? You all know I did! (I'm such a reality TV junkie...they should seriously have rehab for people like me.)

Anyway, that town they went to...Ojai (pronounced "O-Hi")...yeah that's my home town! I grew up there. Now you can all go and be jealous. Unless you are also from Ojai, which probably over half my readers are, in which case you get to be smug like me!