Saturday, August 14, 2010

Friday Blog Hops...link ups to follow











Day 13 - a fictional book
This is easy.....but it's not just one book!  The Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer.  Kinda funny story for how I got into it....I was chatting online with a friend who was telling me about a book she was reading that she couldn't put down.  I asked what it was.  She said Twilight.  OK....  What's it about?  It's a young love story about a vampire.  OK..I was done. Moved on to next topic.  I have never been interested in anything vampire, except maybe the Count on Sesame Street (and he wasn't even my favorite character).  That weekend, my daughter came home from a friend's house reading a book.  Every time I saw her, she had her nose in this book.  I asked her what it was.  (Mind you I had already all but disregarded my previous conversation with my friend.)  She told me what it was about...I said that sounds alot like the book Jenn is reading...so I asked to see it.  I skimmed it..it looked interesting, so I asked her to ask her friend if we kept it a bit longer..I'd like to read it.  I started it before I knew it was a series....and could.not.put.it.down.  I read the first 3 books twice in 2 weeks.  This was April-ish of 2008...the fourth book came out that August.  I have watched all 3 movies the weekend they came out, I own all 4 books, I own all of the movie companion books, I have the novella that just came out, and I have been to Forks and La Push.  (I didn't mention my friend I was talking to lives in Vancouver...which is about 4 hours from Forks.  We went to visit her in March of this year and we could not be that close and not go.)  It was AWESOME.  I loved it...spent way too much money, but it was great.
Here is a picture of my son on a piece of driftwood on the beach at La Push.

http://singedwingangel.blogspot.com/p/30-days-of-truth.html
Day 11 → Something people seem to compliment you the most on.
I get complimented alot about my eyes, my hair, my nails (or I used to, when I had acrylic nails).  As for non physical characteristics, I get complimented about my ability to keep going day to day in the midst of my many many trials.









pictures/stories of funny things from the week
Yesterday was Kraig's first day of school...they do "stagger" days here for Kindergarten, in which each kindergarten student attends one day the first week of school, then return the following Monday to attend each day after that.  Kraig is very resistant to channge...he gets a schedule down...and has a hard time when that changes.  So we began trying to prepare him a couple of weeks ago.  We would periodically ask him if he was ready to go back to school.  His answer was always NO...no pause, no thought, no question.  He was not ready, and in his mind, he was not going.  Over time, he got tired of us asking...so Thursday, my husband asked him if he was ready to go back to school....he said, NO...why don't you go?  Sunday, I asked him if he was ready.  Still NO.  So I asked him a different question...You do know your first day of school is Thursday.  Yes, but I don't see the point.  He went to school yesterday, tears, hanging on to me, begging me not to leave...I met him when he got off the bus yesterday afternoon and asked him how his day was.  His response all night to this question and what did you do at school today was "it's too hot to talk"...said in a very long drawn out exasperated voice.  (At the parent meeting today, the teacher said that he didn't cry for long after I left.  It really is just the transition...he loves it once he's there.  And the crying will stop once he gets accustomed to school again.)

http://naturalsuburbia.blogspot.com/2010/08/creative-firday-and-this-moment.html
anything you have created and A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.
I love my son's expressions!


Friday Photo Flashback

This is kinda cool that I found this one....I have been working on a project to scan all of my scrapbook layouts (and I have been scrapbooking since um 1997, off and on).  Next project is to scan the boxes of pictures that my mom has of myself and my siblings growing up plus some pictures we got when my grandmother died.  So here are a few pics of me from high school....

                         Prom Junior Year                                                             Prom Senior Year 

             UIL Sophomore (I think)                                   UIL Senior Year
Don't ask....absolutely no idea (and this
was in the yearbook...LOL)
         
I competed in Spelling Sophomore and Junior and Senior years, and added Newswriting/Journalism my Senior year. Went to Regionals Junior and Senior years in spelling. Almost went to regionals in Newswriting (as I placed 4th, and one of the 1st - 3rd place winners were unable to go), but the contest was at the same time as the spelling contest. I even got invited to meet with the Journalism director at the local community college.










Friday Favorites


I found this blog this week, totally by accident, which then led  me to this one,which has led me to others I hope to be able to relate to. 

Being Tazim
ways to relax
1.  A HOT HOT bath
2.  Scrapbooking
3.  Journaling/Writing Poems
4.  Computer time (blog hopping, playing bejeweled on facebook, or free cell on the computer)
5.  Crochet
6.  Editing pictures, scanning scrapbook layouts and pictures
7.  Working on various projects
Some of these probably sound like work...but when I need a release, this is what I do.









Foursons



Just Me and My Life
Five Favorite Websites...
1.  Facebook

2.  Blogger

3.  lds.org


4.  Sparkpeople.com

5.  don't have a fifth.... 


(snuggie for chrissy...months late)
Back in January-ish...I made a crocheted snuggle up throw for my son (which is Red Heart yarn's version of a "Snuggie").  Shortly after posting pics of it, a friend asked me what it would cost to make one for her husband, she wanted to surprise him.  I gave her the price, she paid me, and I started working on it.  Well, as is often the case, life somtimes seriously messes with my timelines.  We went on vacation, and I did seriously consider taking it with me to work on while on the plane...even had the yarn packed in my carry on bag.  But at the last minute, I decided it was too bulky, was afraid I  might get more done and not have brought enough yarn, yada yada yada.  So I took it out and didn't take it with me.  We returned..and I did work on it...but mind you, I not only work a full time job, I also had a part time job then, plus my family, plus my church responsibilities, etc.  So my time to work on it was very very limited, especially if I was to get enough sleep to actually function each day. I started it at the beginning of March.  By mid-May, I had not finished it, and found out she and her family were  moving....to Florida.  (I'm in TN, remember).  So I got seriously busy...did nothing else for nights on end when I was able to be home and had no other obligations.  Their move got delayed a couple of times...she picked up the snuggle up throw the Wednesday before Father's Day.  She was very understanding...said she knew I was busy.  But I felt so horrible for the time it took me. 
She loved it, and as far as I know, so did her husband.  He is an Ol' Miss alumni, so she asked for those colors.
 











1. Have you ever visited another country?

visited...not exactly.  I have lived in Germany twice as a child.  My dad was in the Army, so we lived in Landstuhl (I think) the first time.  I was very very young, and don't remember much.  I remember we lived upstairs and my sister tripped going up the stairs and had stitches in her forehead.  I also remember that we had balconies...and we would play under the first floor balcony.  There was sand there, it was shady...it was cool.  The second time we lived in Germany, we were in West Berlin (back when it was still West Berlin, when  the Berlin Wall was still in existence).  I remember a bit more about this time, as I was older.  We still lived in apartment style quarters (as they are called), and we were upstairs again, on the fourth floor. We had a dog, a German shepherd named Stanley, who was forever wanting to go outside.  One day he did get out...and we did not find him that time.  I walked to school...and for a bried period of time, was bullied by a boy in my class on the way home.  My mom met me afterschool a few times, and he would stop for a bit, but always started again.  The last time he ever bothered me was one day when a man saw him push me down, and made him stop.  The man walked me home, with this boy in tow, made sure I got upstairs,  and I presume then walked that young man home.  He never bothered me again.  I had a several  good friends during the course of our 4 years there...one of whom I have found on facebook.  I have looked for the others, but no luck yet. 
2. Where is the strangest place you have ever been?
I don't know that I have been to any places I would call strange....My husband and I recently watched a show on the Travel station in which Samantha Brown traveled to Vietnam.  They have cities that are actually totally, completely afloat on water.  That was probably the strangest and most unique thing I have ever seen.  I didn't even know such cities existed.  They are completely self sustained.  The homes are connected to each other, the kids row/motor boat themselves to and from school--there backpacks double as flotation devices.  They even have fences around the front of the homes, complete with "yard" dogs and clothes lines.  It was incredible.


3. What is your favorite season?
Weather seasons---spring and fall.  I hate to be cold, and I hate to be hot.  I don't like extremes either way.  Partly because if I get cold, I don't warm up easily; being hot is just miserable.  And also because my children's asthma and lung issues worsen in either extreme hot and cold temperatures or sudden changes from either one to the other.  I like spring because of the newness...new flower buds, new leaves on the trees, new animal births, etc.  I like fall because of the changing colors in the trees.  And of course the milder temperatures in each make being outside so much more pleasant and tolerable.
Holiday seasons--used to be Christmas, and I guess it still is, but not as much as it used to be.  I guess Easter is pretty close up there as well as it is a reminder of the great opportunity provided to us to be forgiven and improve our lives so that we may once again live in eternity with our Heavenly Father.

4. What one song will always cheer you up?
Songs evoke a myriad of emotions...but I am not sure I can say there is one that cheers me up.  There are few that make me reflective and long for things and people that are no longer here...but I guess Happy Girl by Martina McBride and/or The Way You Love Me by Faith Hill.


5. What Disney character do you resemble most?
oh geez.....I haven't any idea.  Probably one of Sleeping Beauty's fairy godmothers..  :-)



1. Birthdays are: a sign that I am getting older and running out of time to do the things I want to do.

2. My favorite birthday memory was the year my husband and children came to eat lunch with me at work (planned) and brought a cake with them (a surprise).  It was pretty cool to be showered with love and  attention  from my family in front of my coworkers. 

3. A birthday tradition I (or my family) has is baking either cookies or cupcakes for Kyle, icing them with a "K", and then going to the cemetary to sprinkle rose petals and release balloons for him.

4. If I had to choose one birthday meal to eat for the rest of my birthdays hence forward, I would choose salmon (any kind, cooked any way), vegetables, broccoli cheese soup, and yellow cake with whipped cream frosting.

5. My birthday is on June 3.

6. If I could take a birthday trip I would go on a cruise, anywhere for a minimum of 7 days, but preferably more.

7. The best gift I've ever received for my birthday was I don't know.  Every gift I have gotten was the best one at the time.  I don't have favorites.  Just having my family celebrate with me is plenty.













The host used an underwear theme...so I will follow along.  When I was a teen, I attended EFY (Especially for Youth...a church program held in different areas of the country).  While there, I met a young man from my stake (which basically means we should have met without having to travel miles away to an event such as EFY).  On the last day, I had packed up, taking my stuff down the stairs to be loaded.  I went back up to my room (we were at Stephen F. Austin University in Nacogdoches, TX,  and stayed in the dorms) to make sure I had gotten everything...and he had come to help me.  The dreaded monthly visitor known only to harass females had made her arrival just that morning, and somehow in my packing, I had dropped or missed putting away the 'evidence' of her arrival (aka  the soiled undies).  They were right in the middle of the floor, next to the bed.  He was sitting on the desk opposite.  I presume he saw them, probably (hopefully) thought they were my roommates.  I shoved them under the bed with my foot as I walked in...and left them there.  Obviously, neither of us mentioned it at all.  I was mortified, but hopefully pulled it off fairly well.








 
I shared this on another post this week...but it is what I am working on. Still.
I am making an afghan for my husband.  At the time I took the pictures of the squares, I still needed 13 more orange squares.  Now I just need 4 more.  Then I get to start working on the white ones, of which I need about 100+.  But they will worked as a traditional granny square, so hopefully will work up faster.
 
 

This is the pattern I made....the "X's" will be orange, the blank will be white.  I wanted to make the longhorn logo, but just couldn't get it scaled down enough and still look like a longhorn.  So, he agreed that this would be OK.





1. BLACK OR WHITE: “It’s a turf war on a global scale....I’d rather hear both sides of the tale” …
What was the reason for your last argument?
I don't believe that rehashing past (and hopefully resolvled) issues  serves any benefit at all...so I am going  to decline answering this question.  sorry...

2. DON’T STOP TILL YOU GET ENOUGH: “Touch me and I feel on fire, Ain’t nothing like a love desire…I’m melting like hot candle wax, Sensation lovely where we’re at” …
Where was the last place you were intimate with someone?
um...not that it's anyone's business, but that would be my bedroom, with my husband
3. ROCK WITH YOU: “Out on the floor There ain;t nobody there but us…Girl, when you dance, there’s a magic that must be love” …
What is your favorite dance move?
I don't dance....so no favorite

4. OFF THE WALL: “So tonight, gotta leave that 9 to 5 up on the shelf, and just enjoy yourself…groove…Let the madness in the music get to you, life ain’t so bad at all, If you live it off the wall”
What do you like to listen to in the car or train/bus when you head home from work?
the radio, the faster the better

5. SHE’S OUT OF MY LIFE: “She’s out of my life. And I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. I don’t know whether to live or die. And it cuts like a knife. She’s out of my life” …
Who are you glad is out of your life?
if they were out of my life, I'd be really glad...but that point has not occurred just yet

6. THRILLER: “They’re out to get you, there’s demons closing in on every side. They will possess you, unless you change that number on your dial. Now is the time for you and I to cuddle close together, yeah. All thru the night. I’ll save you from the terror on the screen” …
What is your favorite monster or creepy person?
I don't have a favorite monster or creepy person...unless Elmo counts...
7. BEN: “Ben most people will turn you away. I don’t listen to a word they say. They don’t see you as I do, I wish they would try to. I’m sure they’d think again if they had a friend like Ben” …
Who have you hung out with that no one else seemed to like?
hmmmm.....don't know...I don't tend to care what other people think...I associate with whom I choose

8. HUMAN NATURE: “Get me out into the night time, 4 walls won’t hold me tonight. If this town is just an apple. Then let me take a bite” …
What is your favorite thing about New York?
the one and only time I was in New York, I was like 10 years old...and we only drove through.  I think Times Square would be pretty awesome or Central Park.
9. MAN IN THE MIRROR: “I’m starting with the man in the mirror. I’m asking him to change his ways. And no message could have been any clearer. If you wanna make the world a better place take a look at yourself and make that change” …
What was the last noticeable change you made in your appearance?
I color my hair about every 6 - 8 weeks....usually blonde, but a few years ago, I colored it red...
10. BEAT IT: “They told him don’t you ever come around here. Don’t wanna see your face you better disappear. The fire’s in their eyes and their words are really clear so beat it. Just beat it” …
When was the last time someone refused to let you enter somewhere or threw you out of a place you were in?
that has not ever happened to me...maybe I just go to the right places...
11. BAD: “I’m giving you on count of 3, to show your stuff or let it be. I’m telling you to watch your mouth, I know your name, what you’re about” …
What celebrity or politician do you think is a total jerk?
that's a loaded question....let's just say I didn't vote for our current president....
12. EARTH SONG: “Did you ever stop to notice all the blood we’ve shed before. Did you ever stop to notice this crying earth, this weeping shore” …
What do you believe is the worst environmental or political tragedy to date?
to date....I don't know.  current...that would be the oil debacle in the gulf
13. ROCKIN ROBIN: “Every little swallow, every chickadee, every little bird in the tall oak tree. The wise old owl, the big black crow, flappin their wings singin go bird go, rockin robin”
What is your favorite regional bird?
i like hummingbirds....the speed at which they move their wings amazes me


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6 comments:

Jazevox said...

i was smiling reading your experience about Twilight and vampires thingy, im almost the same way, im not a fan of vampires at all. Although I never read the book series, i heard everybody crazy about the Twilight movie, until one day i got curious, bought a dvd, and since then i watched all three movies, cant wait for the next one.
found u here, blog hopping from New Friend Friday at the Trendy Treehouse, jazevox

Rebecca said...

great blog. I'm a new Friday follower. Have a great weekend!

More Than Words said...

Wow, girl! You are a busy blogger on Friday! But, how sweet of you to join in on mine! Love the prom dresses. It brought back memories for me during my prom!!

Life Without Pink said...

I'm right there with you. I finally decided to read the Twilight series after a few of my friends begged me...so I did...and then I was hooked! Felt like a teenager all over again but there is nothing wrong with that! Thanks for linking up to my Friday Favorites!

SuperMom Blues said...

Those squares are too cool! What pattern are you using?

I have had issues with my "monthly visitor" my whole life! Needless to say, I now have a drawer of undies dedicated to that time of the month!!

Your son is too adorable, by the way! His facial expressions are HILARIOUS!

Great blog!
Thanks for linking up!

Personalized Sketches and Sentiments said...

Oh Wow!!! I have a hard time posting one post a week and the ones that I manage to get up take for.ever for me to do!
It was fun learning about you through this post. I am a military brat too :o) Air Force. and am married to a retired Army aviator...I love the military life I lived, but do wish that I had kept in contact with more friends from all the places I have lived.

Great photos!
I am finally gettting a chance to stop by Friday Photo Flashback... and yikes! It is already almost time for another!

Blessings & Aloha!
I would love it if you get a chance to stop by my place :o)