8 Things Tag

8 things
I got tagged by Tess....so off we go!

8 shows to love
1. Chuck
2. Heroes
3. American Idol
4. Fringe
5. Game Show Network!
6. Food Network Challenge
7. Ace of Cakes
8. So You Think You Can Dance

8 Favorite Restaurants
1. Olive Garden
2. Chili's
3. Zulu Bagels
4. Johnny Carinos
5. Tomatos
6.
7.
8.

8 Things I did yesterday
1. Went to work
2. homework
3. blogged
4. took Landon to piano lessons
5. dishes
6. cleaned the bathroom
7. went to a jewelry party
8. planned February's menu and made grocery list

8 Things on my wish list
1. Sell my old house
2. A self cleaning house :0)
3. My pre-baby body back
4. be done with school
5. naturally straight hair
6. obedient children
7. go on a caribbean cruise
8. a bigger kitchen

8 things I like about this season
1. Are you kidding me?
2. This is my least favorite season
3. It's miserably cold
4. driving in the snow STINKS!
5. Walking on ice in heels is HARD
6. everything is dead....
7. The gray skies are kind of depressing too.
8. But I guess Landon was born during this season..so there is one good thing. :0)

8 weird things about me
1. I can't touch the shopping cart handles. Germs! I usually put my hands inside my coat or wipe the handle down first.
2. I have a hard time with complete silence.
3. I can't share a blanket with the hubby. We have separate ones. I'm a blanket hog. :0)
4. I LOVE shoes, but would rather go barefoot
5. I dance in my car while driving....
6. I like to watch figure skating.
7. I can't wear scarves or turtlenecks...my neck gets claustrophobic.
8. I don't celebrate Valentine's Day with the hubby.

Deep Thoughts...

It's midnight.....I'm tired....

But I can't sleep.

I'm stressed. A lot of stuff going on around these parts....but I thought I'd share a few thoughts that have gone through my mind today....

The other night it was 3 below zero here. That's crazy cold! At least for me. I prefer warmth and no snow. But....in the middle of the night when it was that cold....I was warm and snuggly in my bed and completely oblivious. There are those who spent all night shivering, whether due to no blanket, no heat, or no house....they did not experience the comfort that I did.

As most of you know, man evolved from apes. :0) Kind of a strange thought for me. Though I guess I do call my daughter a monkey. What was "refreshing" to learn today was that some scientists have proven that at least we weren't around when the dinosaurs were. Whew! I'm relieved. I was worried about our ape ancestors fighting with the Tyrannosaurus Rex. Now I don't have to worry any longer.

I need chocolate. I cannot survive without it. 'Nuff said.....

Three year olds CAN and WILL twist open fingernail polish bottles if they are allowed access to them. Don't even get me started on this one.....

Experience does not equal wisdom. Knowledge does not equal wisdom. It is how you apply your knowledge and experience that helps you to make wise choices. What is a wise choice for you may not be wise for another. You cannot force your opinions on others, either.

Should I cut my hair?

True happiness cannot be given to you. You have to find it within yourself.

Dora is an amazing Explorer. In our house alone she has saved the Mermaid Princess and the Snow Princess AT LEAST 20 or 30 times. Talk about perseverence. I would have given up on them by that point.

This has ended tonights feature presentation of "Deep Thoughts". Stay tuned for something hopefully MUCH more exciting.....

It's official!

Yes, it's true...

Today I officially submitted my application for the bachelor's program. Sure, I haven't even

received my associate's degree, but apparently, they don't care. OK, so if I completely bomb my last few classes here they'll deny my application, BUT! it's done. It's in. There's no backing out now.

August 18 I will officially be starting my journey towards my bachelor's degree. CRAZY! Who'd have thunk it? Not only will I have graduated from college with an associate degree in arts, but I will be moving forward toward my degree in brain shrinking. :0)

Honestly, though I thought I'd be nervous or scared, I am elated. Though I know we're not supposed to be "prideful", I am so proud of myself for pressing forward. After I went back to school last February there were all sorts of things that happened that would have normally sent me running. I would have had a perfectly acceptable excuse for withdrawing. But I didn't. And I'm still alive...ok, so nothing was life or death. :0) It has helped me to learn a lot about myself though and the kind of person I have the ability to be.

Wish me luck as I continue my journey!

Benjamin Button

I went and saw this movie tonight and I really enjoyed it. Would you like to know why? Because dear Benjamin Button shared some warm and fuzzy deep thoughts with me. So, I thought I'd share....

"Your life is defined by its opportunities... even the ones you miss."

"Along the way you bump into people who make a dent on your life."

"It's a funny thing about comin' home. Looks the same, smells the same, feels the same. You'll realize what's changed is you. "

"Sometimes we're on a collision course, and we just don't know it. Whether it's by accident or by design, there's not a thing we can do about it. "

"For what it's worth: it's never too late or, in my case, too early to be whoever you want to be. There's no time limit, stop whenever you want. You can change or stay the same, there are no rules to this thing. We can make the best or the worst of it. I hope you make the best of it. And I hope you see things that startle you. I hope you feel things you never felt before. I hope you meet people with a different point of view. I hope you live a life you're proud of. If you find that you're not, I hope you have the strength to start all over again."

"Benjamin, we're meant to lose the people we love. How else would we know how important they are to us?"

"Life isn't measured in minutes, but in moments"

See? didn't I tell you? Good thoughts.....deep thoughts.....insightful thoughts.....

No, this movie isn't for everyone. Yes, this movie was really three hours long. BUT! In the end I left the theatre feeling GOOD. Why? Because Benjamin reminded me that sometimes life can SUCK. And sometimes life is AWESOME! What is important to remember, is that it is up to us to decide if we are going to let the bad things in life change US. We are going to screw up, but it's up to us to learn and grow from our experiences so we can be better tomorrow.

No one is perfect....

We shouldn't expect ourselves to be.

Blueberries!

Yes, that's right!

I saw this at the grocery store the other day and knew I HAD to try it. {Plus, it was on sale, so I kind of had to right?}

I love blueberries. Not just a little bit...but A LOT. Blueberry muffins....blueberry scones....blueberry waffles...blueberry cheesecake....oh yeah!

As many of you know, I have been attempting to eat healthier. These last few weeks I have really been struggling to keep to my goals. Every night after dinner my sweet tooth kicks in and it's been hard to stay strong. In fact, last night I ate a bag of M&Ms. {They were SO good!} BUT! This is not good...once I get started I often have a hard time staying strong and it snowballs from there.

Well, this cereal is going to save me! {I hope}

Considering that most candy bars/chocolate items contain super large amounts of carbs, I figured why not swap them for a nice bowl of blueberry cereal goodness instead? What is the difference you ask? Well...let me tell you.

0 grams of fat in my cereal....10 grams of fat in a package of M&Ms

100 calories vs. 250 calories

7 grams of sugar vs. 30 grams of sugar

Plus, the cereal has Vitamin A and C, and contain 45% of your daily needs for iron.

My sugar craving is gone...and I didn't blow it for the day. Hallelujah! Both my brain and my tummy can be happy.

Dreaming of the ones you "love"

I am a night owl. I'm usually up until about midnight every night. Sometimes I am reading, sometimes I can be found blogging, other times I am stuck doing homework till the wee hours of the morning.

Last night was no different. Though I desperately wanted to get back to the new book I just started, my other new books {meaning textbooks} had been staring me in the face all day. Four chapters of reading. It's only 140 pages right? Just for this week...because next week I'll have closer to 200 to read. But....hey! I love reading...so this should be enjoyable right? Too bad half of my reading is about rocks and plate tectonics.

BORING!

Anyway...back to my reason for posting. Last night I was trying to get through my assigned chapters in my Geology textbook. For me, the most comfortable place to read is in my bed propped up with multiple pillows. So, at 10:00 last night I grabbed my book and walked upstairs to find my hubby snoring soundly in our bed. The hubby doesn't stay up late. Every now and again he will, but for the most part he calls it a night at about 10:00. So, it wasn't odd for me to find a dark bedroom and the hubby's toes peeking out of the bottom of his blanket.

This was NOT going to deter me however. That's what the bedside lamp is for. :0) So, I clicked on the lamp and got comfy with my pillows and began learning all about ROCKS. About 30 minutes later, as I was getting my highlighter "ON", the hubby shifts sleeping positions.

Now, I realize that it is fairly normal to do this while sleeping. I shift sleeping positions quite a bit. What ISN'T normal is when your husband rolls over and mumbles

"Jack Bauer"

What?

That's what I said to him. I figured he had been woken up by the light from my lamp and was trying to tell me something. I didn't get a response from him. So I said it louder....

"What are you talking about?"

He turned and looked up at me and said "I didn't say anything."

Um...yeah....you did hubby dear. And I told him so. :0) Followed by letting him know whose name he was calling out in his sleep....

All I got as a response from him was, "Really? That's funny."

Sigh.....

You know it's sad when your husband is dreaming of someone else, but it's even more sad when they are dreaming about Jack Bauer. I know they have been having a secret affair ever since Santa brought the hubby Season 1 and 2 of the series "24". He was so obsessed with his new boyfriend Jack that he borrowed Seasons 3, 4, and 5 from our friends so he could get "caught up". He's almost done with Season 5 now. I knew it was serious, I just had no idea it had gotten this involved. :0)

Let this be a word of caution for you ladies out there....

Jack Bauer will take your husband away! He'll be the name that is called out in the middle of the night. If you are toying with the idea of letting Jack in your home....he will NEVER leave. So, be prepared to make up the guest bedroom for him, or put blankets on the couch for him. He'll be sticking around for a while. :0)

Unique

HowManyOfMe.com

There is 1 person with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

That's right people...there's only one ME! How many of you are out there?

Just say no to country music! :0)

So, as many of my close friends know....I'm not a huge fan of country music. This is not to say that I HATE country music, or that I NEVER listen to country music, it simply means that I prefer other genres.

OK, honestly...."real" country music drives me batty. There are a select few that sound more like "regular" music than country and so I find myself able to listen to those. Otherwise, I'd just as soon have silence. {And that's saying a lot for me!}

Seriously, just read some of the titles of country songs past and perhaps you will understand my distaste for the twang....

Get Your Tongue Outta My Mouth 'Cause I'm Kissing You Goodbye
I Don't Know Whether To Kill Myself Or Go Bowling
I Flushed You From The Toilets Of My Heart.
Billy Broke My Heart at Walgreens and I Cried All the Way to Sears
I Don't Care if it Rains or Freezes 'Long as I Have My Plastic Jesus Sittin' on the Dashboard of my Car
If I Can't Be Number One In Your Life, Then Number Two On You
I'm Here To Get My Baby Out Of Jail
Queen Of My Double-Wide Trailer
Redneck Martians Stole My Baby
You're The Reason Our Kids Are So Ugly

Don't those songs just sound so heartwarming?
OK...so I'm being a bit stereotypical here....but seriously! People actually wrote these songs, and someone thought they'd be great to share with the public. It's crazy!

And, now that I have offended my country loving friends.....

Are you kidding me?

I went to the dollar store today. I have a love/hate relationship with stores like this.

I LOVE the price. I love that when I take my kids there I can "splurge" and let them get something without feeling like I've wasted a large sum of money. The kids feel like they've won the lottery and I can feel better when I see the item tossed aside knowing I spent a mere dollar on it.

I HATE how dirty some of them are. I feel like I need hand sanitizer after pushing a cart from there. :0( I HATE knowing that even though it's called the "dollar" store....I spend far more than ONE dollar. It's inevitable...I can't resist the "deal".

Today, though....my frustration was magnified exponentially when, in line at the check out counter, the little 4 year old boy in front of us flipped off my daughter. My innocent daughter who has NO idea what a middle finger being waved at her means held up her hand in an "OK" symbol. This is how she tells everyone she is three. :0) To her, the only reason a kid would hold up fingers would be to let others know their age.

Well, the kid kept flipping her off, and she kept holding up her three fingers....him first, then her, then him, you get the idea. Apparently the little boy was not pleased that my daughter was not understanding the meaning behind his "naughty" finger and so instead he decided to TELL her.

Yes, you heard me.

He said "F*%# you" to my daughter. I looked at his father who surely had heard him...right? Nothing.

How does a FOUR YEAR OLD not only KNOW that word...but also know HOW to use it? I could go on making all sorts of assumptions about his parents, siblings, or home life...but that's all they would be. I have no idea what this kid experiences on a day-to-day basis.

Sigh...anyway, the mom pays, and dad and son and mom all start walking away. I sigh a breath of relief, though apparently I did this a tad too early. Since he still got no reaction out my daughter {who has never heard that word before} he decided to tell her again.

What did my daughter do? She smiled and waved goodbye to her new "friend". She still had no idea what he was saying to her, but she was sure that they had somehow "bonded" over hand gestures.

I should have said something. The problem is...I don't think the parents would have cared. So what was the point? Thankfully my daughter was left unaware of what had really happened, but I was ANGRY!

I'm trying not to make rash judgments about these people. I'm sure they're very nice, right? But how in the crap does their son know about fingers and "F words" at four years old? I realize that kids hear their parents swear sometimes. I am not immune to this. I slip...I'm human. But my kids are NOT allowed to use profanities. Sure, they'll get older and do whatever they want anyway....but right now....when they are still young and moldable...bad words are BAD. In our house bad words are things like stupid, butt, ugly, and stuff like that. Words that are part of most people's vocabulary but that can be gross or hurtful.

Sorry for my rambling here....but seriously...am I the only one shocked by occurences like this? All of these little kids with potty mouths? It's sad.

Eric Hutchinson

Here is a new song for you all. I just grabbed this one from the Free section on iTunes and fell in love with it. It has a great message and an easy rhythmn. Good stuff. I thought you might be in need of something new to listen to to help you get going with your New Years Resolutions. :0)

Taking the good with the bad

Life is all about choices. Our choices directly affect what our future will hold. It's 2009...is anyone else shocked at how quickly last year went? A whole other year has flown by and I'm finding it hard to remember what I accomplished. :0) What decisions did I make that will affect this new year?

I went back to school....I will graduate in July!
I said some hurtful things....I will need to mend bridges this year.
I went back to work for the hubby....I have more to do and less time for extra curricular this year.
I formed some wicked awesome friendships...I have a wicked awesome support system for the rough patches this year.
I turned 29....I will turn 30 this year!!!!
I learned more about faith...where do I go from here?
I chose to change my Christmas routine for years to come....Christmastime will never be the same again.
I chose to face a few of my fears....will I continue to cope?

These are just a few of the many choices that I made last year that I know will affect how this next year plays out. As I get older, and life gets more complicated I start to wonder why I feel the need to further complicate things with my constant worrying. I over-analyze...overstress...and end up overwhelming myself with doubt. I think this will end up being a constant as far as New Years Resolutions go. I need to learn to take things as they come and not worry about the 40 million possible outcomes. There will be good, there will be bad. Some people will never change and I may never be able to please them or make them happy or even become friends with them. And I need to learn to accept that. For me...this is easier said than done. :0)

Anyway...to start the year off right I want to give a shout out to all my interpeeps! Thanks for stopping by and leaving me warm fuzzy thoughts. Keeping up in the blogosphere has been hard lately as my classes have become more difficult. I'm glad you haven't forgotten about me. :0)

Hopefully this new year will be full of lots of good times for me to post about.....or perhaps just more randome thoughts. Who knows....

This is me we're talking about! :0)