A day late and a dollar short.....

.....doesn't even BEGIN to sum up my life right now. Somebody PLEASE tell me how my life got away from me. It's like it snuck out in the middle of the night and at first I didn't notice it was gone because I was so preoccupied with unimportant things that had somehow disguised themselves as important things. Then by the time I realized it was gone it already had such a big head start that I had no chance of ever catching up. Especially since it caught a jet plane on it's way out of town and I'm only on foot. My only hope is that perhaps it will travel all the way around the world and catch up with me from behind.

I'm not even sure if anybody is still around to read my random diatribes. (I'm not even 100% sure what diatribes means, I've just heard others use it before and it seemed fitting just now.)

I've been away so long that my 2 followers probably got tired of me taking up space in their RSS reader and dropped me long ago.

But I can live with that.

Because I did in fact need a break from blogging. Besides needing some time to deal with family concerns and time to serve people I loved for awhile I also needed some time to sort out how I was spending my time. And how I wanted to be spending my time. And what was important to me.

I wish I could say that in the months I've been gone I discovered some rich fountain of knowledge. I wish I had some profound truth to offer you.

Instead I just discovered that life is busy. And that I can't do EVERYTHING. And that's okay. Really, it is.

Because life is about seasons. And just because I can't do something RIGHT NOW doesn't mean there won't come a season in my life when I can do it.

These past few months have been a season of making new friends, remembering old friends, creating memories, renewing trust, serving, giving, crying, aching, laughing, reading, pondering, praying and a little magic for good measure.

So, as we approach a new year I've been contemplating life, the universe, and my living room. I know it's cliche to set goals at the beginning of a new year-but sometimes traditions stand the test of time for a reason.

But this time it's about more than just rattling off a few random check lists which will quickly be forgotten. I want to really focus on what is important to me, and then ensure I'm spending my time on the things that are most important to me.

And I decided that blogging is important to me. In my months away I have discovered that I NEED to write.

But I may not write as much as I once did. And my blog may have a slightly different feel to it this year.

It's still up for debate as to if Name that Movie Monday and Flashback Friday will be regulars around here. I haven't decided yet.

Since I realized that writing is core to me I started a writing group with two very talented and all around fun people that I am immensely excited. I have not decided how much, if any, of this writing I should make public.

I have also decided to give up my quilt block of the month class this year. Which was a hard decision because one of the fabric choices for the quilt next year is black and white and neon green. Sigh. But-I still have so many unfinished blocks from this year that I decided I need to actually finish a few projects first before taking on more.

Anyway-the point is not to outline all the things I will and won't be doing in 2010. Well, actually, I don't really know what the point is. Oh, yes. It was to start blogging again. Which meant I just started writing randomly and this post here is what I happened to spit up on the page. I probably should go back and edit it and make it sound all pretty and have an actual point and be thoughtful....but I'm not. :) Because the important thing was not how pretty it sounded. The important thing was to just write!

Name that Movie Monday-sort of

Hello.....hello? Is this thing on? Anybody there? Hello?

I'm headed out the door with the kids, trying to eek as much fun out of summer as we can since my oldest starts kindergarten in a few weeks. We are going to the Utah version of a beach. Laughable to you from California and Florida, but we make due. And my kids have lead a sheltered life and don't know any better.

But-on my way out the door my phone did it's little "you have a new text message" ring and I was pleasantly surprised to open my inbox and find a free movie code! I had nearly forgotten that those existed. So I had to pause and post it for you all. Because that's how much I love you!

And the best part is that you don't even have to endure one of my movie quotes to get to the free rental code. You get it for free today, just for stopping by. :)

Redbox free movie code: 27HZ4KT

Use it wisely.

Quintessential Quilting

Yes-I had to use spell check to spell quintessential correctly. Thanks for asking.

Finally getting around to posting pictures of my quilt blocks. These are the two I finished just this week around midnight the night before my class. Yea, I like to do things at the last minute. Actually, I don't-that's just how it worked out.

I don't think I ever mentioned that this is a Civl war quilt so all the blocks are named for States on either side of the Mason Dixon line. In fact, the pattern name is North and South. Clever, eh?

This block is called the Oklahoma Ladder



This block is called Baton Rouge, LA



Now, add these to the first two I finished-Indiana Puzzle




and Philadelphia Pavement



and I've done a grand total of four! I should have 8 done by now! And they technically aren't supposed to give me the new blocks until I've finished the ones from the previous month....so hopefully nobody reading this blog will squeal on me. I'll eventually catch up.

Someday

Hopefully

Maybe

Quilt blocks and appologies

Well, maybe not apologies. I have sworn never to apologize for not blogging because it feels trite and frankly, a bit overdone in the blogging world. So not an apology. Or an excuse. Maybe just an explanation.

See, my loyal follower will tell you that I'm starting to slip up. Yes. Me. Getting behind. First there was no Flashback Friday last week.

And today you will not be seeing a new Name that Movie Monday.

Life has dictated that I take a summer vacation. Not from blogging altogether, just from set deadlines on my blog. Because due to my life feeling a tad bit like a soap opera lately my time and energies are currently being spent elsewhere.

I am happy to report that my immediate family is fine. We are happy and healthy. Unfortunately close friends and extended family have experienced things in the past few months that have made it necessary for me to focus my attentions outside my blog.

Death
Divorce
Cancer
Miscarriage
Surgery
Suicide threats
Layoffs
Foreclosure

And that's just the beginning of the list.

Add that to family reunions, weddings, quilt block classes, book group, birthdays, baptisms, and projects in the yard and in the house and well, you get the picture.

I figure summer is a great time to take a little vacation anyway since most of you are off having fun and enjoying the fine weather anyway.

That's not to say I'm disappearing completely. I finished 2 new quilt blocks last night that I have to show off. And it's been brought to my attention that I still haven't shown pictures of my new floor in my family room. So I'll be here, posting when I find a spare moment or two.

And I promise that I'll bring back the weekly features you have come to love and count on, I just need a few months to catch my breath.

Lovin' it

I am seriously loving my new camera. I still have a TON to learn about using it. But I'm having fun with it just the same.

This past weekend my niece was baptized and my sister-in-law asked me to take a few pictures to remember the occasion. And, if I can say so in a humble manner, I even surprised myself at how good some of them turned out.

The Dress



Daddy's little girl



Contemplative



Okay, she was actually squinting because the sun was so stinking bright-not a single cloud in the sky! But I like to pretend she in contemplating the covenants she'll make when she is baptized.

Nothing I can say but super beautiful girl!




My first storyboard



My second storyboard: More than just cousins



Like I said, I still have a lot to learn and much to improve on. But not bad for a beginner, right?

Name that Movie Monday-WIth a free movie code!

Today is a special edition of Name that Movie Monday! Since it's the first Monday of the month there is a free movie code!!!!

And I'm going easy on you, too. A quote I think all of you will get.

"Just keep swimming, just keep swimming......"

Do you know it?

You do!

Well, for being so smart here is a code for a free movie from Redbox: 4J7LF6

ENJOY!

Flashback Friday

In my time zone I still have 2 hours left until Saturday, so technically it's still Friday so I'm right on time with my Flashback this week.

I thought I'd bring you a 4th of July memory this week. How original, I know. But it's a good one so I don't think you'll blame me for my lack of originality.

The summer before my Sr. year in high school I actually attended a semester of college. I was accepted into a program at the former Ricks College (now known as BYU-Idaho) that gave high school students a real college experience and college credit to boot. For summer semester I lived in the dorms, attended classes, went on field trips, wrote essays, and got to know a lot of really cool people.

Since we happened to be in school for the 4th of July the college sent all of us that were in the Summer Honors Institue program (as it was called) to the Rexburg Rodeo. But the really thrilling part was the fireworks. As the arena lights went out and the fireworks began so did a scratchy recording of Stars and Stripes forever. The song got over but the fireworks display wasn't yet and apparently that was the only song on the tape (yes, I do believe it was a tape) because it was silent for a few minutes, time I can only assume they were rewinding the tape, and then Stars and Stripes Forever started again. And once again the song ended before the fireworks display. So, you guessed it, there was a few blessed moments of silence (well, fireworks were exploding just a few feet away so not really silence....but you know what I mean) and then we were once again honored to hear that scratchy recording of Stars and Stripes forever.

I like a good Sousa march as much as the next guy but I for one was thankful when the fireworks were finally over only because it meant we didn't have to rewind the poor tape yet again.

I hope that for tomorrow's rodeo that the city of Rexburg has invested in CD player, and a CD with a larger variety of patriotic music.

Name that Movie Monday

Uncle! I cry Uncle! I haven't gotten around the posting today's movie quote. You may not realize the amount of effort I put into each Monday post. I don't simply rely on my own memory, or even the internet, which is often wrong. (I know, you're shocked) Oh no. I actually put in each movie I use a quote from and make sure I am quoting it exactly right, word for word. And well, I just haven't gotten around to that part yet. Sigh.

And since I still have miles to go before I sleep I don't plan on getting around to it today.

So instead of putting it off and doing a Tuesday Edition again this week I decided that I am going to let YOU, my faithful reader, quote YOUR favorite movie and see if I can guess it.

Go ahead. See if you can stump me. Could be fun. :) I won't even cheat and try to look it up. If I don't know it I'll admit so. How's that for a fair deal? Will you play along?

25 words

Tonight our lesson for FHE was given by my Sister-in-Law Emily. She took her lesson from President Monson's talk, Finding Joy in the Journey

A portion of the talk read as follows:

In the 1960s, during the Vietnam War, Church member Jay Hess, an airman, was shot down over North Vietnam. For two years his family had no idea whether he was dead or alive. His captors in Hanoi eventually allowed him to write home but limited his message to less than 25 words. What would you and I say to our families if we were in the same situation—not having seen them for over two years and not knowing if we would ever see them again? Wanting to provide something his family could recognize as having come from him and also wanting to give them valuable counsel, Brother Hess wrote—and I quote: “These things are important: temple marriage, mission, college. Press on, set goals, write history, take pictures twice a year.”

She then handed out paper and pens and challenged us to imagine we were in the same situation-having only 25 words to communicate to our family whom we haven't seen for 2 years and who we don't know if we will see again. What would we say?

So this is what I came up with.

Jesus is Savior. Atonement is real. Be generous. Serve others. Pray always. Be believing. Be responsible for choices. Eat your dinner because I LOVE YOU.

What are your 25 words?

Flashback Friday

Flashback Friday is over at other blog today. Enjoy!

Name that Movie Monday-Tuesday edition

I set for myself only 2 "deadlines" when it comes to my blog. Monday and Friday. Only two. That should be completely achievable! Right?

Yea, well, about that. Let's just say this is why I don't get paid to blog. I think you have to actually meet your deadlines when somebody is paying you to write. Good thing the only person I disappoint when I miss mine is my 1 faithful reader.

So, since I missed yesterday's edition of Name that Movie Monday I thought that today instead of making you guess the movie I'd just give it to you. Because it's kind of obscure anyway.

Raise your hand if you've seen the movie Stealth. Anybody? Anybody?

I hadn't either until this weekend. I had, however, seen the preview for it about half a dozen times. So when I saw it on the cheap rack at Walmart I thought what the heck.

And since I'm always on the lookout for memorable movie quotes here is my favorite line from Stealth

Ben: You and me we're....we're 2. 2 is a prime number, which makes it a lucky number. And i think we're very very lucky.

Kara: Just tell me you love me you pussy.

Happy Father's Day!

Or, as they say in blog land, Happy Falker Satherhood Day!

Flashback Friday

Your patience has paid off! As promised today I have for you a Flashback Friday that will make your day! But do not take a sip of that chocolate milk before watching the video below or you will be sorry. I promise.

For your viewing pleasure I have put together the most memorable bloopers from my college days and my time spent doing the campus newscast: ATV News.

Maybe it's only funny to me because I was there and know the entire back story to each and every blooper. But I'm hoping that even if you weren't there you can find the humor of the situation. (wait, isn't that a BNL song?) Because I find it HILARIOUS!

So without further adieu, enjoy!

ATV3 from Nicole Miller on Vimeo.

Swine Flu and Faith

The news is reporting the 5th known death from Swine Flu in the state of Utah. Which hits a little too close to home for me knowing that there are been confirmed cases of it in my neighborhood. In fact not just in my neighborhood but right in my ward. (church congregation)

Which means, of course, that for the past 2 or 3 weeks I couldn't help but keep an wary eye as the sacrament was passed to the congregation during services. I'd cringe each time somebody sneezed and then reached forth with that same hand to take a piece of broken bread, knowing that soon that same tray was going to be passed to me.

So you can imagine the giddy delight I felt when reading the following passage in the book I've been reading. It's from a book called The Longest Trip Home a memoir by John Grogan. (the author of Marley and Me) He was raised in a predominantly Catholic neighborhood and here he is recounting one of his many experiences serving as an Alter Boy.

"Some priests were so skilled they could deftly pop a host on the tongue without making any flesh-to-flesh contact and almost never fumbling. But most of them, in their caution not to drop Christ's body and risk sacrilege, ended up touching the recipient's lip or tongue, then doing it again for the next person in line, and the next. Standing beside him, I could actually see Father's thub and fingertips wet with saliva. The number of germs spread in communion lines should have triggered a four-alarm public heath alert, but no one seemed to mind. What was a little shared spit among true believers who were all going to heaven anyway? Besides, it was hard to imagine the Son of God would come into your body and then let you catch a disease simply because Father's host-dispensing skills weren't up to par. If Jesus could multiply fishes and loaves and raise the dead, he could certainly make sure no one contracted strep throat from the communion line." The Longest Trip Home, pg 69-70

I can't help but think that if the Lord, who is no respecter of persons, will keep the Catholics safe from strep in the communion line that He'll also keep the Mormons safe from Swine Flu during the sacrament.

Name that Movie Monday

Now that it's going on 2:00 some of you thought I forgot Name that Movie Monday, didn't you.

But I didn't. I just took my kids to the park this morning instead of blogging. So sue me. (please don't really sue me. It was just a figure of speech. Plus I've got nothing worth taking.)

But first a question and a confession. What is your weakness? The one thing that is going to be the absolute death of you? Mine? It's the $5 movie rack at every store I walk into. There are so many great movies that I can't quite bring myself to pay $20 for but when I walk into the grocery store and there it sits with a $5 price tag on it I just can't help myself. It somehow finds it's way into my shopping cart before I even know what has happened. And once it's in my cart I don't have the heart to put it back on the shelf. I can't stand those sad puppy dog eyes looking back at me, feeling all dejected and rejected. So of course I have to take it home with me. I tell ya, I'm going to go dirt broke over those stinkin' $5 movies! That and buy one get one half off shoe sales.

Why do I tell you this? Because today's movie is from the $5 bargain rack. So are you ready for it? Here it is.

Good morning, and in case I don't see ya, good afternoon, good evening, and good night!

Sorry, no movie code today. But I saw Valkyrie over the weekend and it was fab so if you are looking for a movie to rent that is worth the buck you pay to rent it then I suggest it. In fact, I'll likely buy it on from the discount rack someday.

How rude!

Does summer time make people more rude? Are we all so hot and crabby that we forget to think about others.

Not that it's been hot here yet. It's rained pretty much non-stop for 2 weeks now, nearly making me forget that we supposedly live in a desert!

Maybe that's the issue. Maybe the rain and lack of sun makes people all mopey and sad which leads to rudeness.

At any rate, last week I had my share of rude.

A sampling if you will.

Wednesday I was at Ikea with all 3 of my small children. Luckily 2 of them were able to go to smalland and play for an hour.

Which means I had the baby with me. And 3 very large items to get. So try, if you will, to picture the following. I have the baby in the stroller which I am pulling behind me with one hand. And a flatbed cart in front of me with a 100 lb dresser on it along with two very large paintings which I am also trying to manoeuvre one-handed. Quite a site, right? And yet not once did somebody who was completely empty handed offer to help me.

Mind you I made it just fine in the end. But still. Not a single offer of help. Although I did receive many judging looks from others as I pushed/pulled my load.

Thursday I took my children to This is the Place Heritage Park park. Before the day was over it started to downpour. We, of course, were still waiting for the train to arrive to take us back to our car when the rain came. One train came and was quite full, meaning we were going to have to wait for the next train to arrive.

No biggie, there was only a handful of us left waiting so I felt we'd surely get on the next train easy. Of course as we waiting several more groups of people arrived to wait for the train. I remained unworried because we were there first so they would let us get on first, or so I thought.

When the next train arrived me and my 3 small children were quite literally trampled as people crowded past us to get on the train before us. My 3 small children who were wet and cold and had already been waiting for 25 minutes to get on a train. And it's not like it was a bunch of inconsiderate teenagers who are notorious for thinking of only themselves. It was tweeners WITH their parents. Yes, the parents where not only accepting this behavior they were actually encouraging it.

I finally got desperate and walked up to the front of the train and asked the tour guide if we could sit in the front with the train driver were it was covered and warm. I thought she'd take one look at my poor wet children and say yes. Instead she said "Let me see if there is anybody else who needs to get on." HELLO!!!!! I NEED TO GET ON! I'M WET AND COLD AND IT'S PAST NAPTIME AND I JUST WANT TO TAKE MY KIDS HOME!

I didn't take no for an answer and soon we were sitting in the cab with the driver where all 4 of us were crowded onto the passenger seat but at least we were dry and warm. AND the driver was a very sweet old man who was the bright spot in the rain for me.

On the way to the car the kids wanted to take a stop at the Brigham Young house. Despite the fact that I just wanted to get in the car and go home I obliged them. On the way back down the very steep old pioneer home stairs I'm walking behind my two older kids, holding the baby when a bunch of older kids come careening around the corner and attempt to run down the stairs. I start seeing images of my small children tumbling down the steep stairs because they were bumped by these older kids so I start blocking the stairs the best I can and try to politely explain to them that my small kids are trying to go down the steep stairs (did I mention they were STEEP) and could they please slow down and wait for them to get to the bottom.

All this time the mother is standing at the top of the stairs watching me try to balance my baby in one arm while trying to keep my other two kids on their own two feet and she does NOTHING. Doesn't call her children back. Doesn't implore them to be careful or polite or considerate of other visitors. Just stands there. I wanted to cry. It was SOOOOO time to go home!

So of course the next day I'm at Lowes and I see a man in the parking lot struggling to load some plywood onto his truck. The issue was not really loading the plywood but rather the fact that each time he turned to put another piece on his truck his flatbed would start to roll away and then he would have to run after it. So guess what I did-I offered to hold the flatbed in place for him while he finished unloading it. And guess what-it only took me about 20 seconds to be polite. And hopefully it made his day. And hopefully it will create a little good karma for me and this week will be filled with a less rude people.

And hopefully more sunshine.

Flashback Friday

I come before you today groveling for forgiveness and it's not even 10:00 am yet.

See, I promised you a laugh-out-loud, pee your pants, spit milk through your nose funny Flashback Friday today.

It's ALMOST ready. The original bloopers reel was over 20 minutes long so I've been hand picking the funniest moments and re-editing it with some titles so help explain the maddness. And well, it's done but not perfected yet. And I don't want to show it to you until it's perfect.

So can I have one more week to get it ready for you? PLEASE? I know I can't keep making promises that I can't keep or I'll lose the 2 faithful readers I have. I just want it to be just right.

Instead I came up with something for today's Flashback Friday that I hope you find equally funny.

I know that what happens in Vegas is supposed to stay in Vegas.....so I'll change the names to protect the innocent. :)

So I begin with a question. Why do we insist in taking embarrassing pictures of ourselves and our closest friends? Pictures that can be used against us at some later date? Why do we do this? Why?

See the weekend before I left on my mission I went to Vegas with my mom and her sisters. (My aunts, for those of you who are family tree challenged) For reasons that I still will never understand I allowed my mother to take this picture of me.



Frightening, I know. But that's not the worst part.

While on my mission my, er, not cousin whose name I shall not mention.....went on a similar trip with the same crazy chaperons. And she let them take this picture of her.



So, of course, when Mike and I were dating we passed through Vegas on our way to California and I coerced him into this picture.



Oh wait, I'm changing names to protect the innocent. That picture is not of Mike. It's some guy I may or may not have dated at some point in my past.

To his credit he was mortified by the prospect of this picture. It took a LOT of begging! And even after all my heartfelt pleas and arguments about how it's tradition he HAD to do it he utterly refused to stand with his head between them.

You're right, maybe I should've let these pictures stay in Vegas after all.

world's nicest theif

I'm always slightly amused when I'm somewhere super exotic, like Dollar Tree, spending the impressive amount of $5 and the cashier asks for ID when I swipe my card. I always comply because, hey, she's just doing her job. But secretly I'm thinking "What kind of moronic identity thief would steal a credit card and then hit the dollar store for ant traps and gum?" Personally, if i had a stolen credit card I'd be buying big screen tvs online faster than you can say Amazon.com.

So you can imagine my surprise today at the library when whipping out my debit card to pay my library fine and the librarian asks for my ID. I'm thinking to myself, "you have my library card and have pulled up my account then I hand you a debit card bearing the same name as the library card and you still ask for ID?" Because how many people do you know who would steal a wallet and then immediately dig out the library card and go pay any outstanding fines. I mean really.

And note to librarians everywhere-if somebody else is trying to pay my fines please just let them. It would save me the time and hassle.

Name that Movie Monday

I know you all want to know how the weekend went.

So here's the reader's digest condensed version.

Flooring-finished in family room and one set of stairs. One more set of stairs left to do still.
Baseboards-painted but waiting to be installed
Primary newsletter-finished!
Sharing Time-a colossal failure despite, what I thought, was a well thought out idea. Sometimes kids just don't respond to what you think they are going to respond to.
Quilt blocks-Not done. Not even started if you want the absolute truth. Hoping that if I plead funeral excuse and promise to have them done next month they will still give me my new ones.

On that note let's move into today's movie quote. Are you ready?

You know, somehow, "I told you so" just doesn't quite say it.

I have now fulfilled my Monday obligation to you so now it's your turn-make a guess.

I suppose I should also tell you the answer to last week's quote since nobody guessed it. The Movie is My Best Friend's Wedding.

Have a great Monday! I'm off to my quilting class. You know, the one where I'm the only one under age 50. Good Times I tell ya!

Flashback Friday

I'm in over my head. But I just repented of my non-Flashback Friday ways. So I didn't want to blow it off completely. AND while looking for the clipart CD that I use for my newsletter I came across a DVD that I have been trying to find for months now. A DVD that is going to make a hysterical Flashback Friday.

But, as mentioned before, due to the craziness that is my life this weekend I don't have time to rip it and upload it and give it the proper presentation. In fact I don't even have time to be blogging, and yet and I am. I was working on my Primary newletter and I actually have all of the content written, But due to the untimely demise of laptop my template that I created for the newsletter has been lost. So my kind husband is working on the layout for me and I'm sneaking in a little blogging while he's not looking.

Thus today is the teaser for next week's edition of Flashback Friday. (I can use words like teaser because I was a broadcast journalism major.)

And speaking of my college days that is what next week's Flashback Friday is all about. And you now know that it also includes a video. And yes, I'm in it. But so are many other USU broadcast journalism students. So believe me when I say it's laugh out loud, pee your pants, spit milk through your nose funny!

And I can tell it is way past my bedtime because I have started every sentence with and, but, or so. My high school English teacher would be so proud!

I must now return to the insanity. Do NOT miss next week though. I PROMISE I will make it worth your time!

Happy Weekend ya'll. (I'm not even southern. It MUST be past my bedtime.)

Because I THRIVE on insanity

I have sharing time this upcoming Sunday. (In layman's terms I have to entertain 50 kids ages 3-11 for 2 hours Sunday afternoon plus somehow actually manage to teach them something about Faith as well.)

On top of that I also am in charge of our monthly Primary newsletter that goes out on the first Sunday of every month. Which means I need to get that written and printed before Sunday as well.

Then, I have my Quilt Block of the Month class on Monday which I have FOUR quilt blocks that are supposed to be finished. It's normally only 2 but I missed last month's class for the funeral in Nevada. And, of course, I haven't even cut them out yet, let alone started sewing them.

So why, I ask you, did I think that tonight at 9:30 pm it would be a good idea to rip out the carpet in the family room? Why I ask you? why?

Well, I did get tired of Zoey peeing on it. (Which she did yet again today.)

And I have been dying to put in laminate because I hate doing my aerobics on the carpet.

And I noticed that the neighboorhood clean-up dumpsters were up the street tonight. And they are typically only there for 24 hours.

So,Ｉused that small detail as leverage, somehow convincing my husband that if we pulled out the carpet tonight we could throw it in the dumpsters and then lay laminate this weekend.

Doesn't that sound like a grand idea?

So at 12:02 in the morning my family room looks like this:




This one complete with a Ryan sitting on the couch eating his Sonic bacon toaster that he bought when he went to get us all free root beer floats.




And as I sit here staring at the large cracks in my foundation concrete the reality of what we just did is starting to sink in and I'm thinking I must suffer just for fun.

In other words, I may come up for air Monday night. See you then.

Excited with a side of skepticism

About a month ago I got an email that basically said hey you have a great blog and we would like you to tell your readers all about our blog. At first I was like wow! Somebody likes my blog. And then reality set in and I realized my blog likely met some keyword search critera and that nobody actually READ my blog before sending me that email. Because well, as loyal my followers are (thanks for that, by the way) there are barely a handful of you. In other words, I'm hardly what you could call and influential blogger.

A few days later I got yet another email requesting that I promote a website and this time I didn't let it go quite so much to my head.

So you can imagine the skepticism I felt when I received the following comment on my blog.

Congratulations!

Your blog has been nominated for the 2009 Utah Baby Guide Blog Contest. The blog that gets the most votes wins! Voting ends June 30th, 2009.

Congratulations! You have a great blog!

Kindly,
Jessica Taufer
Editorial Director
Utah Baby Guide
j.taufer@utahbabyguide.com
http://www.utahbabyguide.com


Especially since I've had spam comments in the past. (before turning on word verification) Comments that served no other purpose than to get you to click over to somebody's insurance site.

My suspicion was furthered by the fact that my other blog also got the same comment. And when I've been spammed in the past both blogs got hit.

But finally my big head telling me "this one might actually be for real" got the best of me and I clicked to it.

It does look like a legitimate site. I think. And my Sister-in-law's two blogs are nominated in different categories which leads me to believe that maybe she nominated me (Thanks if you did!!!!) Or maybe she didn't. Who knows.

Her blog Orange World is nominated in the Discount/Giveaway Blog category. And her blog Orange You Special is nominated in the Product Blog category.

And so this is the part where I shamelessly beg for your vote. Because hey, it would be cool to win something! Plus you don't even have to register. Simply email contest@utahbabyguide.com and tell us the web address of your favorite blog for each category before June 30, 2009.

This blog is nominated in the Personal Blog category, right beneath Dooce. Yea right, like I'll win. But hey, it's a nice thought, right?

My other blog is nominated in the Funny Blogs category.

And I guess it would be nice if I told you their website. Because that's what a courteous blogger does, right?

So you can visit the Utah Baby Guide at, surprisingly enough, http://www.utahbabyguide.com/

I'll stop begging now. Since it's likely all really a hoax anyway. Thanks.

Name that Movie Monday

Today is a special day here on Name that Movie Monday because, being the first Monday of the month, there is actually a free Redbox code today. HOORAY!!! So you BETTER use it because by the end of the summer there will be no more free movie goodness.

So-here is your quote.

It's amazing the clarity that comes with psychotic jealousy



Mwahahahaha. That's funny stuff, if I do say so myself.

I also thought it would be fun to give you a little movie star trivia so maybe those of you who NEVER GUESS would still stop by on Mondays, even though there aren't as many free movie codes anymore.

So-today I thought I'd tell you which prominent stars have a birthday today, June 1st.

Morgan Freeman turns a young 72 today.
Andy Griffith turns an even younger 83. Think little Opie is coming over for some birthday cake?
And, Marilyn Monroe was born this day back in 1926.

So, there you go. And here for reading this far down I shall not reward you with a free movie code: FM63H7

AND for those of you who complain that you never know the movie if you think you are better at guessing songs you can hop on over to Shades of Blond for Name That Tune Monday which I happen to terrible at! How is that for poetic justice?

Flashback Friday

Somewhere pigs must be flying, because I'm finally posting another Flashback Friday!

As always, I had something much more elaborate in mind. Something that required scanning LOTS of pictures. And just thinking about it made my head hurt.

So I settled on something a little less elaborate but I think you will enjoy it.

Back when I was a wee lass of just 5 years old (I may have even started when I was 4) I was a member of a children's singing/performing group called The Rainbow Connection.



Wasn't I adorable?

The group picture is fun as well.



Yes, I still am THAT short.

AAAAAAND, for extra credit, only available to those who aren't actually related to me, can you pick out my older brother in the picture? (answer at the end)

It was a grand time, really. I once even had a solo. I got to sing the first line of Tomorrow, from Annie. "The sun'll come out, tomorrow. Bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow there'll be sun" Yes, that was my 3 seconds of fame, with no fortune. Plus I'm pretty sure I only got the solo because I had red hair.

My brother also had a solo-"Eyes that look like heaven, lips like sherry wine. Elvira!" Or something like that. I'm sure he could tell you.

I also remember wearing a single white glove and singing Beat It

We have many miles of old home movies, on 8mm, of The Rainbow Connection performing. Which is ironic, since it's a SINGING group, and 8mm is silent. Nevertheless, judging from all the reels of Rainbow Connection my parents have my dad recorded every single performance ever. I'm not sure this would've been the case had it not been silent film. Because, let's face it, you didn't have to audition to be in the group and we were, after all, just kids.

And, for those of you still playing at home, THIS one is my older brother.

just keep swimming, just keep swimming.....

I like to think of myself as an "on the ball" type of person.

I am on time. (most of the time)

I do what I promise to do. (When my kids don't cause me to do otherwise)

I return my library books on time (except for the 2 that were due today)

But all, in all I can be depended upon. Or at least I like to believe that I can be.

But the past couple of weeks life has just gotten totally away from me, and I'm not entirely sure how it got loose, or where it went!

I feel like I'm trying to move through molasses while everybody and everything around me is set on fast forward. I keep trying to catch up but only get further and further behind.

And I keep having that recurring nightmare of mine where I'm back in school and behind in all my classes. But the teacher won't accept any of my new homework until I've turned in all the old homework.

Sometimes I set my standards intentionally low so that I can live up to them. For example-I have only two days that I try to blog FOR SURE. Mondays, and Fridays. Any other day I blog is just extra credit.

And I can't even keep up with twice a week lately!

But as far behind as I feel, I am making baby steps.

If you recall, my husband's grandfather passed away a few weeks ago. I took lots of pictures at the funeral and had many family members ask if they could get copies, too.

Of course I told them yes, and then promised to have them up for view in a timely manner.

Well, I'm not sure you can exactly call it timely but I finally have a set on flickr of photos from the funeral ready to share.









And now a favor for family who may be reading this. My laptop took with it to it's grave many of my email addresses. And so while I will do my best to get the word out to family please help me spread the word.

Which means that Kaylene-you can tell everybody on your facebook page where to go to see pictures. Tell them they are welcome to download pictures directly from flickr. Tell them also that I am happy to send CD's or prints as well if they will contact me. And no, it doesn't mean I'll join facebook any sooner.

Still waiting

Remember when I said that I was going to do a Saturday edition of Flashback Friday? Well, yea. About that. Well. I didn't so much do that. Perhaps you noticed.

Instead I left Adam home with Mike to work out a construction project together (details and pictures to follow....someday....hopefully) and I took Zoey and Harrison to Ikea to get bedding. See, we assembled bunk beds in the boy's room and moved Zoey out of the toddler bed and so everbody needed new sheets and comforters and such.

And well-that was great and all.

Until bedtime.

See, I spent literally 30 minutes making Adam's bed-the top bunk. Making the top bed is the WORST part of bunk beds. And we had decided to let Adam keep the nice (translation: expensive) mattress he's been sleeping on because, as I said to Mike, "He hasn't peed the bed for a really long time."

Which of course means I am awakened in the dark hours of the night to Adam crying out to me that he peed the bed.

Not sure if he was just afraid to climb down from the top bunk in the dark, or if he was tucked in a little too tight....either way I spent half the morning unmaking his bed, washing the sheets, and remaking the top bunk.

To make matters worse he peed on his teddy bear and in his drunken/sleepy/peed on self state he was furious at me for not letting him sleep with his teddy bear the remainder of the night. I kept offering him other stuffed animals, which he kept throwing back at me.

Oh so much fun.

And just because I KNOW you all want to be kept up-to-date on all the pee at our house Zoey did great all day....until just before bed time. Then it was a river all over the floor in front of her bed.

Seriously-if somebody knows how to make the hurting stop please do share.

And as for that Saturday Flashback Friday....it may have to wait until next Saturday. But I promise it will be worth the wait.

Intentions

I began the day with such high hopes. Here was what I intended to do with my day

-Blog a humorous Flashback Friday post
-Comb my hair
-Apply makeup
-Brush teeth
-Get needed items to start an small herb garden on my deck
-Play with kids
-Clean my kitchen
-Read my book
-Cut out my quilt blocks
-Curl up with my honey and watch a movie once the kids were in bed

This is what I instead did

-Clean up pee-pee mess of 3 year old from carpet
-Scold 3 year old
-Get milk sippies
-Clean up pee-pee mess of 5 year old
-Scold 5 year old
-Change baby's diaper
-Load dishwasher
-Wash pee-pee clothes
-Clean up poop mess of 3 year old
-Scold 3 year old and send her to her room
-Make lunch for kids, which nobody eats
-Wash more dishes
-Mop bathroom floor where 3 year old has, yet again, peed her pants
-Send 3 year old to her room, again
-Wash more potty accident clothes and rugs
-Change baby's diaper
-Regret decision to put baby in toddler bed when he won't stay there during naptime
-Feel guilty for scolding children and call pediatrician to see if there may be a medical reason they keep peeing their pants
-Decide to go to Happy Hour at Sonic
-Discover that they are all out of Diet Dr. Pepper
-Order a Mango limeade instead
-Carhop brings a watermelon limeade to my car and informs me they were out of Mango, too
-Take one sip of watermelon limeade and decide it stinks
-Pour watermelon limeade down sink
-Get home and find that 3 year old has peed her pants AGAIN and Uncle Ryan had to clean it up
-Tell my children that we are SO NEVER EVER GOING TO DISNEYLAND!!!!
-Send her to her room again
-Start another load of laundy
-Call my SIL so she could talk me out of beating my children



Well, you get the picture. It was one of THOSE days.

In other words-you have to wait until tomorrow for Flashback Friday. I know, I know, then it won't be FRIDAY. But it's my blog and if I want a Saturday edition of Flashback Friday then, by golly, that's what I'll do!

That is, of course, assuming tomorrow goes better than today.

Perhaps I'll just put them all in swimsuits and lock them in the backyard. Then they can pee all they want! Right?

And just in case you were wondering...I still haven't brushed my teeth! I'll go do that right now.

Name that Movie Monday

Did you think I was lost? Did you think I had forgotten about all of you, my faithful followers? Never!

In case you missed the memo I was gone to Nevada for a funeral. And as long as we were driving that far we turned it into an impromptu family vacation.

I originally had intended to lug my laptop along and blog about what we were doing, including the beautiful pictures of Lake Tahoe taken from the deck of the home we were staying in.

But the day before we left my laptop up and died and I had to go on a computer fast for more than a week.

I will admit that I twittered via my phone. But I didn't blog. I didn't check email. (Well, I sort of checked email, via my phone, but it was hard to respond to any.) And you know what....I actually survived!

Oh it was hard the first few days. I was having some serious withdrawl. I didn't know what ya'll were up to. I missed your witt and charm. But I spent quality time with my family. And of course I watched a few movies. And played on the beach at Lake Tahoe. And took about a million pictures with my new camera.

And inasmuch as I am now tied to the desktop my computer time will still probably be limited. And I'm okay with that. It's summer. Time to be outside. Time to pull some weeds. Time to visit the park and the pool. Oh sure, I'll check in now and then.

Like on Mondays. So---are you ready for a new movie quote? Because I am SO ready to give it you!

Hey, who you calln' scruffy lookn'?

And now for the bad news. Redbox is discontinuing free movie Mondays. They will only be arriving the first Monday of each month through the end of summer and then they are Gone Like the Wind! (and no, that's not the answer to today's movie quote)

So-no code today. So go out and do some yard work instead!

Name that Movie Monday

Laundry day is in full swing. We're heading out of town on Friday to attend my husband's grandfather's funeral. So are you ready for today's movie quote?

No. Spiteful, vindictive, very large, but never crazy.

And as a hint....my kids are watching this movie right now.

And of course it wouldn't be a Monday without a free Redbox movie code: BT73H9

Word to the wise-don't rent Doubt or The Caller. Neither were very good. Well, Doubt was okay. Just not great. But Amy Adams was in it, whom I LOVE. So-rent at your own risk.

Good luck!

Flashback Friday

My wonderful Sister-in-law Karen has graciously consented to writing today's Flashback Friday. Her grandfather Edgar Carlson passed away this week and I thought it only fitting to pay him a small tribute today. (my husband's grandfather, too, in case your family tree skills are a little off)

I was only privileged to be in his presence a handful of times. So I thought it was fitting to have somebody who knew him well write today's post.

I think most little girls love their grandparents. I was no different. Some of my earliest memories with them are spending the night at their home at South Lake Tahoe. Grandpa's house had that sweet grandparently smell and when I close my eyes I can still sometimes bring those smells to my recollection. I know that I must have been a pretty cool or very bratty little kid because when I spent the night at their home I was allowed to sleep between them in their bed.

My grandpa was a large man, not just physically. Even his towering 6' frame seemed too small to contain his large heart and spirit. He was a man of substance, of character. I remember overhearing him talk to my brother and brother-in-law once about what he thought of goatees. He didn't mince words. He told it like he thought it.

As a little girl, I associated how much someone loved me with how tightly they squeezed when hugging me. I can assure you, I was certain that my grandpa loved me more than anyone else. Sometimes I wished he had loved me just a little less.

My sweet Grandpa passed away this week. I know him better now than I did most of my life. Funny how all our lives our grandparents are just our grandparents and that is all they are in our worlds. This week I learned my Grandpa was a man. A man with hopes, dreams, achievements, disappointments and plans. He was a son, a brother, a father. He was a husband, a friend, a business man. He was the son of two Swedish immigrants. All that said, the most important person he was to me was Grandpa. I feel blessed and grateful to have known him and to be a part of his family.

Hook, line, sinker

It's common knowledge that I'm the mean one at our house.

I'm the disciplinarian when it comes to the kids.

I'm the spouse most likely to pick a fight.

And I'm the one who has no problem whatsoever saying no to salespeople. When Mike feels himself falling prey to a door to door salesman he always pulls out the "well you'll have to convince my wife" line. It probably comes from the fact that I've worked in marketing and I know all the tactics salespeople use to try to get me to buy a product and I'm secretly irritated that they are trying to use their little tricks on me. As if I'm dumb enough to fall for that line!

So you can imagine my husband's shock when he came home yesterday to discover I had spent (ehem, embarrassingly clears throat) over $100 on cleaning products from a door to door salesman.

Raise your hands if you've ever had the Advanage salespeople knock on your door. Show of hands please. Come on, keep 'em up.

Okay, for those of you still sittn' there pickn' your nose let me clue you in. Advanage is a eco-friendly cleaner sold by black inner-city kids from Illinois. Okay, maybe they're not all black and not all from Illinois-but all the ones who have ever come to my house are.

The Advanage sales crew show up in my neighborhood about 2 times a year. I always know it's them from a mile away because well, let's face it, I live in a neighborhood predominately white and Hispanic, so when I see large groups of black kids walking the streets with spray bottles hanging from their back pockets I know I'm about to get the Advanage sales pitch again.

We have lived in this neighborhood for close to 6 years now and not once have I said yes to their sales pitch, although I've heard a dozen times. They've cleaned the oil from my driveway a dozen times, cleaned the siding on my house a dozen times, told me all about the company's goal to take kids out of the inner cities and give them a way to make a living and get an education a dozen times. I know what they claim their product does and still never bought any of it. Never even been tempted. Not once.

Somehow my resolve all weakened when I opened the door to Katrina Taylor. Well, actually Adam opened the door. So then I had to talk to her.

There she is, standing on my porch, he beautiful white teeth and long dark hair and her ebony skin. She was striking to say the least. And the first thing she says to me is "Can I ask you a question?" I resign myself to hearing the sales pitch, yet again, and answer in the affirmative.

She says, "Why is everybody in this neighborhood so nice? All your neighbors have been SO nice to me today and I'm just not used to that." I was taken aback for just a moment, not quite sure if she was being serious or if this was all part of her sales pitch.

Just then the Elders walked past my house and Katrina called out to them, saying Hi, and telling them they she thought they looked very professional. I was struck with inspiration and I called out to them "Hey Elders, Katrina here wants to know why everybody in the neighborhood is so nice to her." I'm feeling a little proud of myself at this point thinking I'm giving the Missionaries the perfect chance to swoop in, tell her that everybody is nice and happy because of our faith in Jesus Christ and give her a Book of Mormon or at least a pass-along card.


Instead they gave me a blank stare, as if I was speaking Russian. One of them mumbled something along the lines of "oh, are people nice around here?" and after a short, awkward silence they said, "well, have a nice day" and walked away.

After that strange exchange the sales pitch for the cleaner began. She cleaned the oil on my driveway, like usual. And then I did something I have NEVER let any of these sales people do-I let her into my house to clean something. She cleaned the mildew in my bathroom. She cleaned a spot off my carpet. She cleaned crayon off my wall. She even wiped down my stainless steel dishwasher and told me that this cleaner would repel the fingerprints for up to 2 weeks.

But during all this cleaning that was going on she kept noticing things around my home relating to the church. She pointed to the family picture that had the words "Families can be Together Forever" printed under it and then told me how much she loved the church's teachings about the family. Then she read my sign hanging on the fridge from my Primary Sharing Time on Sunday "By following Jesus Christ we can live with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ again."

She went on an on about how she wished her family was closer. She told me that she came from a home of 7 kids with a single mom who only had a GED. She talked about how life had been hard growing up and how she has a 2 year old of her own now and decided she wanted her daughter to have a better life. So she's going to college and working hard to give her girl a better life.

There was a part of me that was trying hard not to get sucked in by her sob story. I kept telling myself that this was all part of the sales pitch. I was supposed to simultaneously feel sorry for her and be happy for her that she was trying to do something with her life and thus feel obligated to buy her cleaner. I kept telling myself this mentally, but something deeper inside me just kept telling me that she was sincere.

So I told myself I'd just buy one bottle of cleaner. But when she pulled out the price list she said if I bought 1-3 bottles she got 20% commission but if I bought the kit (3 bottles, a cleaning brush, and bottles to mix the concentrated cleaner in) then she got 60%. And if I got the kit PLUS a bottle of the glass cleaner she got 70%.

And I caved. For some reason I still don't fully understand I found myself writing out a check to her for the kit and the glass cleaner. The entire time I'm thinking to myself "my husband is going to shoot me!" And yet I kept writing out that check, handing over his hard earned money. And a lot of it, too.

And before she left I gave her my copy of the Family Answers DVD.

So now I suppose it's time for some serious spring cleaning. And a "No Soliciting" sign on my front door.

Name that Movie Monday

I'm taking the easy route today. My movie quote is from the movie the kids have watched a dozen times this week and this line is stuck in my head. Okay, two lines actually.

I notice nobody's eating the gluten-free wheat grass cake. Come on trust me you just gotta get past the smell.

(I have to admit I keep thinking of this one because my sister made a gluten free cake for her wedding because her new husband is celiac and when I walked into my mom's house while it was baking I said "are you cooking something? It smells awful." Ha!)

Buy you're like the classic school principal. You're scary and bad with people and children are nervous around you. That doesn't sound right. I'm just saying what else can you do? Besides maybe Cuban dictator? Or the bogey man. You could be the bogey man.

Okay, I truly need to tackle that mountain of laundry now. So here is your movie code: I4CW33N

And now I'm off!

Flashback Friday-frusterated edition

Remember when I said my sister was getting married soon and that after the wedding I was going to have more time to blog? Yea, that was a funny joke. The wedding was a week ago today (hence no Flashback Friday last week) and my house hadn't quite recovered from that yet when Ryan moved back in. Now my house is in complete and utter disarray. Plus I got this masochistic idea that since I was out of diapers I'd try to do a two-for-one on the potty training and get all kids out of diapers for good.

So excess time is not a reality yet.

Which of course means I waited until today to actually start writing Flashback Friday. And I had a brilliant idea, too!

A few weeks ago while going through pictures for Flashback Friday I came across a picture of my sister as a baby, me holding her. So I thought since she got married last week it would be a great picture for my blog. I was going to put the picture of me holding her, and then this picture of her now holding my baby girl.



Brilliant, right?

So of course I looked and looked for like an hour for the picture and can't find it. And in the meantime my house isn't getting any cleaner. And so faithful followers-no picture of my baby sister as a baby. All you get is this.



Congratulations Natalie and Justin!

Hop on over to Katie's Flickr and her blog to see more photos of the big day. And if you just can't get enough of Katie's pictures check out her photography site as well. (which was designed by the talented Josh Piersanti.

Wow-one of these days I should start asking to get paid for all this free advertising I do, since I'm sure I'm sending 10's of hits to the above mentioned websites. Let's see, at a penny a hit....I think Katie and Josh both owe me about 6 cents. Now pay up. :)

Name that Movie Monday

Short, sweet, to the point. Here is today's movie quote. (from one of my current favorite movies....do I say that every week?)

This corn is like an angel.

Give it a whirl. If I have no correct guesses by this afternoon maybe I'll consider giving you a few extra clues.

In the meantime, enjoy a free movie on Redbox: M6FR97

If you haven't got a penny then a heypenny will do

Seems like everybody is asking for money these days. (Do the terms bailout and economic stimulus ring a bell?) And although I'm not usually the first to jump on the bandwagon and do something just because everybody else is doing it there are those rare occasions that I'll do the "in" thing because it is the right thing.

So although I come before you today with my hand out, I'm not asking for a handout.

My brother is riding in the Harmons 2009 MS Bike Ride. He rode last year. And this is my sister's third year riding.

They ride in honor of our Grandmother, Sharon, who died from the disease back in 1972. She was only 40 years old and left behind 6 children. My father, who was the oldest, was 19 years old. He never remembers a time in his life when his mother was not confined to a wheel chair.

This year the bike ride falls on my Grandmother's birthday.

I know economic times are tough. I know spare money is hard to come by. I know there are a lot of good causes out there to give to.

But if you are washing laundry today and find some laundered money in the bottom of the washer please consider donating it to the National MS Society by sponsoring Ryan in the Bike Ride.

Or if you get around to vacuuming under the couch cushions and find some spare change instead of tossing it in the ash tray of your car maybe you could instead donate it to the National MS Society by sponsoring Ryan in the Bike Ride.

Or if you use that by one get one free coupon at Arby's this week consider taking the amount you saved and donating it to the National MS Society by sponsoring Ryan in the Bike Ride.

Anyway, you get the idea.

Any small contribution is appreciated.

And if you haven't got a haypenny-well then God bless you!

Name that Movie Monday-Tuesday Edition

Sometimes movies merely entertain. And sometimes they touch you, cause you to think, and maybe even change.

As I mentioned yesterday I rented Marley and Me with my free Redbox code. Now I have to be honest, I wasn't sure if I really wanted to watch this movie. See, I didn't really know much about it except that there was a dog. And I'm not really what you would call a dog person. So thinking it was an overly emotional movie about a dog where they make you love the dog and then kill him off (can anybody say Old Yeller?) I had kind of steered away from it.

But I was at one of the busier Redbox locations (yes, I was at Walmart, please don't tell anybody!) and thus it was one of the only non rated-R movies available for rent. (one of my one complaints about Redbox-so few family friendly movies. Not that I would call Marley and Me family friendly. Despite it's PG rating a skinny dipping Jennifer Aniston and an over abundance of sexual innuendo made it not quite appropriate for my quite young family. But I digress!!!)

So what was I saying? Oh yes, I didn't want to rent it but hey, it was a free movie so even if it totally sucked I wasn't out much.

I am so glad I rented it! This movie is not just about a dog. This is a grown up coming of age movie which I totally related to! It was at times painfully truthful. Well, except that I don't have a dog and I am not as skinny as Jennifer Aniston after supposedly having 3 kids.

There are so many books and movies that are pre-teens coming of age. But the whole "discovering who I am and being comfortable in my own shoes" is not just a once in a lifetime experience. I could so relate to all the adjustments and difficulties involved in going from being single to being married. And then going from being married to being married with children. And redefining expectations. And figuring out what's really important in life.

My Sister-in-Law thought the end was depressing but I thought it was touching and realistic. Marley had helped John and Jen grow up, grow into a family. He had served a very important purpose in their lives. And now a new season in life was beginning for them. Because that's how life works.

So I guess this isn't really an official "Name that Movie Monday" since I already told you what movie the quote is from, and it's not Monday. But here's your quote just the same.

Jen: Honey, I'm sorry. I just got overwhelmed. No one tells you how hard this all is going to be.

John: Which part

Jen: All of it. Marriage, being a parent. It's the hardest job in the world and nobody prepares you for that. Nobody tells you how much you have to give up.

John: Sometimes I feel like they do tell you but you don't listen or you think "ah, they're just miserable."

Jen: I've given up so much of what made me who I am. But I can't say that because I'm a very bad person if i say that. But I feel it. I really do. I feel it sometimes. I just want you to know that.

John: I do know that. And you can say it. I say it.

Jen: But I did make a choice, I made a choice. and even if it's harder than I thought I don't regret it.

Name that movie Monday-Freebie Edition

Sorry-no movie quote today. (I know you are crushed!) I had my quilt block class this morning and wedding errands to run and my house has been declared a state of disaster thanks to my birthday parties and such last week.

The good news is that by this time next week the wedding will be over AND you still get your movie code.

Free Redbox Movie: J89LA2

Enjoy!


I rented Marley and Me to watch while I fold about a zillion loads of laundry that have been sitting in baskets for the last week! If I don't start folding them soon they are going to start swallowing up kids. Wish me luck!

Take Two

I finished my second quilt block. Hooray!



Don't look too closely at this one, though. There are some seams that I probably shoud've unpicked. But my class is tomorrow, and I was feeling rushed to get it done, and being Sunday night, I wanted to spend the time with my husband before the rush of the week starts again. So I wasn't really in the quilting mood. But I had to get it done.

To make matters worse my machine started breaking threads and binding up on me and I was getting more than a little frustrated. So I was just rushing to get it done.

But I hear the Amish people put mistakes in their quilts on purpose. So consider this my Amish block.

lather, rinse, repeat

Back in January my cell phone took a little trip through the spin cycle in the pocket of my pants. After many failed attempts to resuscitate it (which included dehydrate cycle in the oven) it was officially declared dead.

I got my brother's old phone, popped in my sim card and was good to go. Well except for all the ringtones, pictures, and phone numbers saved on my phone. Somehow I managed to move forward anyway.

Fastforward to this week-while shopping at JoAnn's for quilting rulers I dropped my phone.

And now it looks like this.




In case you were wondering yes, it is EXTREMELY difficult to read text messages this way. AND worse than that, this whole destroying 2 cell phones in 4 months is REALLY hurting my "I really NEED an iphone" arguments.

Yea me!

In my effort to be more creative I signed up for a quilt block of the month class.

And today, with the help of the fabulous and talented Aunt Bonnie I finished my first ever quilt block!




And this from the girl who pretty much hated all the sewing projects in 4-H!!!!

The only thing that could possibly put a damper on the excitement is that I still have one more to finish before the class meets again on Monday. I'm starting earlier next month!

Flashback Friday

Adam's birthday was this week so I've been thinking a lot about the day he was born, and the first week that he was home.

So today I thought I'd share with you the first time I REALLY freaked out. The moment I really realized I was responsible for this little life.

I am not entirely sure exactly how many days we had been home. I do remember that Mike had returned to work. And I was still on the really good pain medications. And for some reason that I can't now fully understand I found it absolutely necessary to go THAT DAY and buy Adam a blessing outfit.

Remember, I had just said that I was still taking the heavy pain meds (he was a 9 1/2 pound baby and was delivered with forceps so I was pretty torn apart) which means I SHOULDN'T HAVE BEEN DRIVING. But this didn't even occur to me. I just knew I HAD to have his blessing outfit that day. It was apparently imperative to life as we know it.

So I load my baby into his car seat and we climb into our trusty little Nissan Sentra and off we go.

And it was the LONGEST drive of my life!!! Evey bump in the road I was sure I had just blown a tire. Every intersection I came to I was CERTAIN the other cars were not going to stop. I was jittery and afraid the entire drive. Every car on the road seemed out to hurt my baby. In my mind's eye my little Sentra was going to end up as a twisted mass of steel before we reached our destination.

Gladly, we did reach our destination, but by the time we got there I was a wreck. I sat in the car sobbing. I knew I couldn't safely drive us back home.

So I called my husband. Through heaving sobs I explained to him where I was and that he needed to come get me and the baby and drive us home.

Being a good husband he came immediately. He returned me and the baby to the safety of our home and then had to call his mom to go back to the store with him to get his vehicle.

Needless to say it was a LONG time before I drove anywhere alone with the baby again.

Seasons

Before I get into today's Flashback Friday I want to take a moment and thank everybody who reads this little ol' blog of mine. It may not be kosher to admit, but I like thinking that people not only read, but actually enjoy what I write. I only wish I had time to write more. Really, I do. Throughout the day as I'm changing diapers and folding laundry I stare longingly at the laptop, my finger itching to type something quirky and amusing. But as of late life has just been so hectic. Even when I finally get the kids to bed there are a million more things to accomplish and I'm always exhausted. So writing must wait for another day.

I have started about a dozen posts. But am always interrupted by a small one needing something. Or somethings I just fall asleep at the keyboard and start to drool just a little, which is not something electronics like too much. And so, once again, writing must wait for another day.

I know that our life has seasons and right now is my season to have small children.

But spring is coming which means they'll be playing outside more and need me to entertain them less.

And Adam starts kindergarten in a few short months.

Until then the writer inside me will wait, patiently, for her turn. She will get her chance. Her season will come and I hope she will blossom beautifully.

Okay, enough of that sap-onto your regularly scheduled Friday Post.

No Movie Today

No Name that Movie Monday today. My oldest turns 5 today and we're heading out for a day of family fun and adventure!

Create

Things I've been thinking a lot about lately, put into words quite eloquently by others that I admire. Hope you enjoy.



An inspiring essay written by one of the most creative people I know.

This is why I blog.
This is why I photograph.
This is why I started a quilting class.
It's not much, but it's a start.

Tough As Nails

Aside from the Movie Monday and Flashback Friday I've been quite AWOL lately. Not only have I not written much on my own blog but I haven't read or commented on any other blogs in quite some time.

So the house is quiet tonight. The hubs if off doing what he does best, which is being chivalrous and helping others even though he is dog tired and starting to get sick. He would never think of saying no when somebody asks for his help. So after getting the little ones to sleep I realized I had some time to myself. I thought about cleaning and then thought better of it. So I've spent the last hour with my google reader, having a grand time catching up on everybody's blogs.

There is just one small problem. In all the hustle and bustle that has been my life lately I haven't had time to do anything with my fingernails for a few weeks and they have gotten quite long. As I sit here trying to type out witty comments on all your blogs my nails keep tapping on the keyboard and, frankly, it's driving me insane!!!!

3 times I've started upstairs to chop them off but then I remember that my sister's wedding is a mere 2 weeks away and I thought that perhaps it would be nice to actually do something nice with my nails for the occasion.

Not that anybody will be looking at my nails. No matter how real or fabulous they are.

But I'm having a stay at home mom crisis lately and have been looking forward to my sister's wedding for months now because it gives me a really good excuse to dress up really pretty and be non-mommy frump for one night. So even if nobody will be looking at my nails I need them to be pretty for me.

But the tapping on the keys as I type really IS annoying me.

What's a girl to do???? Aside from giving up blogging completely until after the wedding I am at a complete loss!

Flashback Friday

Today's edition of Flashback Friday is a tad scary. No, it's not about Halloween or haunted houses. But it does involve revealing a bit about my inner self, about the way I think. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is downright frightening at times!

So, before the memory you get a question. When you let your mind wander, when you have nothing else you have to be thinking about, what do you think about? Because I think about movie scenes. And I'm not talking about scenes from movies that I've actually seen. I mean I create movie scenes. Sometimes I'll even stick with the same scene for several weeks re-thinking it to make it better. I'll fix some of the dialogue or change the blocking or add some music for dramatic effect. Mind you I've never come up with an idea for an entire movie. It's always just a scene. A little tidbit. A teaser, a trailer. Sometimes the characters don't even have names. Does that make me strange? (please don't answer that question!)

For quite some time I was trying to work out a scene about how the male and female romantic leads would meet each other. I sing along to the radio in my car, quite loud and energetically sometimes. So I was trying to work out the details of a woman singing in her car while stopped at a red light. As she's singing away with much gusto she looks at the car next to her and sees a very handsome man singing along to the exact same song.

This scene was fresh in my head one morning as I was driving to work. As usual I was singing along to the song on the radio. While stopped at a red light I look over and see a guy I work with in the car next to me. And he was evidently listening to the same radio station because he was singing along to the same song I was! No joke.

Here's where it gets really weird though. Unlike the movie scene I had written and re-written in my head several times he was not handsome. He was a guy in our IT department and was the epitome of Geek! Now if I'm calling somebody a geek you know it must be bad because I score close to "total geek" on The Geek Test. But this guy he wasNapolean Dynamite Geek! Big glasses and everything. I seriously think that with all the stylish glasses available these days you actually have to special order glasses that ugly! But that's beside the point.

I couldn't help myself. The whole thing was so ridiculous that I started giggling. I couldn't stop laugh all the way to work. And I had to park on the opposite side of the parking lot so we wouldn't have to bump into each other walking into the building.

Thanks goodness I didn't need to call the help desk that day. I'm not sure I could've handled a conversation with the guy without lapsing into a total fit of hysterics!

Name That Movie Monday: Special Edition

Due to the bridal shower I threw this weekend for my sister who is getting married in a few weeks I did not publish a Flashback Friday last week.

But never fear my faithful followers. I am going to make it up to you with a very special Name that Movie Monday today. One of the games at the shower this weekend was a quiz of movie quotes from chick flicks. So today I have decided to give you not one, not two, but TEN movie quotes!!! You read right. TEN Movie quotes from some of my favorite chick flicks. Are you up to the challenge?

Match The Movie Quote to correct the chick flick

“I know you can be under whelmed, and you can be overwhelmed, but can you ever just be, like, whelmed?"

"It's such a nice sounding word for what it means: a fortunate accident."

“Death Cannot Stop true love. All it can do is delay it for awhile.”

“If you love someone you say it right then, out loud. Otherwise the moment just passes you by.”

“I've never seen my sister so happy. If you hurt her I'll kill you and make it look like an accident.”

“I'm also just a girl standing in front of a boy asking him to love me.”

“Please get out of my Van Halen t-shirt before you jinx the band and they break up.”

“That's wonderfully sensitive, especially from a man who wears such tight pants.”

“I've had a really lousy Christmas, you've just managed to kill my New Year's, if you come back on Easter- you can burn down my apartment.”

“A movie! That's your problem! You don't want to be in love. You want to be in love in a movie.”

Sleepless in Seattle
The Princess Bride
My Best Friend’s Wedding
Music and Lyrics
While You Were Sleeping
Notting Hill
The Wedding Singer
Serendipity
My Big, Fat, Greek Wedding
10 Things I Hate About You

There is no prize for getting them all right, except the satisfaction of knowing that you know your chick flicks. Oh, and a free Redbox movie, if you happen to live in a Redbox market:89ZQJ3

Although if any of my male readers get all 10 correct without the help of their significant other and without the help of Google I may have to wrestle up a real prize for you. So start guessing!

Name That Movie Monday

Each Monday I fret over whether it is better to quote an oldie but a goodie that many people are likely to guess or whether I should quote something new and fresh, thus introducing you, my vast readership of 3, to great new movies. This week I went with something new. (hint, hint) And, here's another hint, it's a movie I bought this weekend for my kids. (Meaning it's NOT Twilight.) AND I'm giving you not one but TWO quotes from the movie because I'm extra generous that way.

Just the knowledge that every minute spent in your company becomes the new greatest minute of my life.

Ring ring. Who is it? Destiny. I've been expecting your call.

And now before you get your movie code-a question. I have a little dilemma on my hands. I used to buy new movies the week they came out because they are $5 cheaper that first week at Target and Walmart. But the last few times I went to purchase a new Disney movie release week they were not on sale. I was baffled so I called my resident Disney movie expert, my brother. He informed me that he had read that Disney had raised the price on their DVD's so they could lower the price of Blu-Ray. So, now the price variance between the two formats is only $5. (Well, at least on Disney movies.) And so the question is, do I make the jump to Blu-ray? Or do I hold out a bit longer. Is the price of Blu-Ray players and movies going to fall even further once digital television becomes the standard? Because right now I don't even own a High-Definition television so Blu-ray isn't going to look much different to me. But my husband says that we'll eventually have HD and then we'll already have a nice collection of HD movies started.

What do you think?

Here is your reward for sitting through my inner debate-your free Redbox movie code:HG7W56

Happy watching!

Flashback Friday

Due to a special request this week's Flashback Friday is starring Andria. And although she didn't request it, it's also starring Heidi. Because, well, we're kind of like the 3 Musketeers.

I did have some pictures of just Andria, but you know, what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas so I had to opt for some different memories to share.

Here is a a lovely picture of the time we painted the playhouse in our grandmother's backyard.



We are supposed to be showing off all the paint that we got on ourselves.

And here is a time that we were Warrior Princesses. We had made the crowns, daggers, and shields our of cardboard, obviously.



I think it's funny that Heidi and I are both in our ballerina turned out toes stance.

I suppose this was before we were really rich princesses and could afford fancy dresses.


Ah, the simple joys of childhood.