I simply can't wait for this amazing band's fifth full-length. I've been a fan since 2002 when this crazy boy Aaron took the stage and both blew me away and befuddled me with his interesting stage presence. It's been so cool to see him and the band grow and change musically and in maturity. 

mewithoutYou's care and detail in making an album produces a true masterpiece with always stunning cover art, lyricism, and progressive musicality. This will likely be my favorite album of 2012. 

Several days ago, I posted about the idea of my life as a movie. This couple really did get to see their story turn into a major motion picture. 

Tonight, David and I spent a lovely night in having dinner at home and renting THE VOW as it came out on DVD today. I had wanted to see the movie earlier, and I remember seeing friends at the movie theatre on Valentine's night who had just seen it. (Unfortunately, we went to see THE GREY that night. See my apathetic review tweet here.) Later, having heard on the local Christian radio station, I found out that there really is a couple who had endured the hardship of a terrible car crash involving the wife's loss of memory of her husband. Casually I thought perhaps David and I would see the movie sometime. 

I am SO glad I did. For the past couple of years, I've really been dissapointed with every love story movie I've watched. Either they're just too comedic and not enough of a romantic movie to be a proper (in my opinion) rom-com (whatever happened to the likes of NEVER BEEN KISSED?), they were way too teenager-y like TWILIGHT: BREAKING DAWN or RED RIDING HOOD, or they've just been really sad and void of real passion and too much about sex, i.e. BLUE VALENTINE. So, I am positively thrilled to have watched a beautiful story that touched me deeply. (I had not cried like that about a story since I first watched the 2006 BBC JANE EYRE.) And my best, Robin, knows exactly what kind of cry that is. The kind that affects you in a way where you have a little chat afterwards about how it made you feel and what you would do if you were in that situation. 

I'm quite interested to buy the couple's book they wrote first and find out more about their lives and the story within the actual context. As far as the movie goes, I thought both Channing Tatum and Rachel McAdams did a lovely job of giving the story a fresh perspective. I'm not reallly fond of either of those two,  and I usually tend to enjoy movies more if I like the actors, but I found myself quite delighted by their portrayals. In the video above, I think it's cute how the real couple got excited about who was chosen to play each of them.

Overall, I'm just really happy that a story "about hope, about perserverance, about commitment...about doing what you say you're going to do," as the actual husband put it, is out there and that I watched it tonight. Simply beautiful.