From BeccA’s Buzz:

Give Me Five favorite or un-favorite things to shop for.

1.  Fave:  Birthday gifts

2.  Fave:  A new car

3.  Fave:  Clothes for a wedding

4.  Fave:  Christmas gifts

5.  Unfave:  Clothes for a funeral

I would rather shop for anything else other than funeral clothes.  When my grandmother died unexpectedly last year, my aunts, my cousins, my sister-in-law and my mom and I went shopping to get clothes for her funeral.  Never was there a more joyless and excruitiating event.  We were so sad.  And trying to pick out clothes when you are sad is unbelievably hard.  Doing anything remotely normal when someone you love so dearly, suddenly and unexpectedly leaves the world, is unbelievably hard.

I LOVE shopping for Christmas gifts though and I can’t wait to start!!

From Becca’s Buzz: The ‘Give Me Five’ Monday meme is designed to share fun information with each other in a simple short list! Here’s how it works. Each week, I will put out a random topic from my list of topics and you share 5 answers of your choice on the given topic and link back here! You can add photos, links or stories or just a simple list of your own of 5 things that relate to the topic as it pertains to you and your life experiences. It doesn’t have to be in any order of importance unless otherwise specified.

Give Me Five things you would do, if money were no object.

1.  Buy every single member of my family a house, a car and a lifetime worth of groceries!

2.  Send endless funds to medical research (from AIDS to Cancer).

3.  Travel all over the world with my husband and children

4.  Have 6 more kids

5.  Send endless funds to public schools so that they could afford better resources and therefore make the educational experience of each child that much better.

If money were no object, I would want to change the world for the better!

What would you do?

From Patrick at Patrick’s Place:

Name your seven favorite episodes of The Twilight Zone.

THIS WEEK’S QUESTION:

Either answer the question in a comment or answer it in your journal and include the link in a comment. (To be considered “first to play,” a link must be to the specific entry in which you answered the question.) You may include this link in the URL space when leaving your comment, or in the comment itself. As long as it’s there in one spot or the other.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

All of my favorite episode happened in the 80’s and 2000’s

1.  The Curious Case of Edgar Witherspoon.

2.  Memories

3.  Something in the Walls

4.  Cat and Mouse

5.  The Pool Guy (who doesn’t love Lou Diamond Phillips?)

6.  Dead Man’s Eyes

7.  Evergreen

So there you have it guys!  For more Sunday Seven — visit Patrick’s Place!

Thirteen things I love about weddings!

1.  I love the entrance of the bride and how the groom looks when she makes her entrance.

2.  I love to see the bridesmaid dresses (some are awesome and others comical!)

3.  I love wedding food.  You want to eat good?  Go to a wedding.

4.  Open bar is the BEST.

5.  Swooning over the first dance between the bride and groom.

6.  The father-bride dance.

7.  Dancing the night away!

8.  The sentimental and sometimes comical speeches.

9.  Because we all believe in love on a wedding day.

10.  The fabulous wedding cake.

11.  Being able to pick out a new outfit for the event.

12.  Telling fun stories of the bride and groom on camera for them to see afterward!

13.  Sharing good times with good friends and family.

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others’ comments. It’s easy, and fun!

Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

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For more on Sunday Snickers, click here!

Take me Away…

Searching for Vegas vacations.
Feel like a perch on the ground for a spell,
Life at the moment is most surely not hell.
The piano is my friend,
My voice is my shelter.
In my prime they say,
Feeling miles away.
I stare at this screen,
Lost in the thought of what is to be.

~ Kellie J. Etterman

3x Thursday brings you questions about Michael Jackson!

1. Was Michael Jackson’s death a surprise to you? Why/why not?

Yes.  Michael Jackson’s death took me by complete surprise.  It was pretty sad knowing that he left 3 young children behind.  I think they will end up becoming exploited and used.  The whole thing is sad.

2. Are you/were you a Michael Jackson fan? Why/why not? If you are/were, when did you start listening to his music? If you quit, why did you quit? If you never liked him in the first place, is there a reason?

I was a Michael Jackson fan as a child.  “Thriller” and “Bad” were by far my favorite albums.  I stopped listening to him because his later albums weren’t as good in my opinion.  Plus, the bad PR with the child molestation cases didn’t help any.

3. Do you think any *good* came from Michael Jackson’s death? If so, what? If not, why not?

His children lost their father.  What good is that?

And I really need to say this… Michael Jackson gave me the creeps.

Remember to post these in your blog and don’t forget to post a comment letting us know where you posted them by posting a link here.

10 songs that sum up your weekend…or were on your weekend playlist…and one picture that relates back. (oh, and if you feel like it, tell us why you picked the songs you did)

10.  Thriller – Artist:  Michael Jackson –  This one is pretty self-expanatory given the singer’s unexpected passing last week.

9.  We’re having a party – Artist:  Rod Stewart — We prepared for Brodykins 1st birthday party.  The party incidentally was held on Sunday.

8.  My Bestfriend – Artist:  Weezer — I spent Friday night at my friend Gracie’s house.  We had a blast!!

7.  I’m a Bitch – Artist:  Meredith Brooks — Sometimes I get pissy.  I was pretty pissy on Sunday before the party.

6.  Tired of Being Sorry – Artist:  Enrique Eglasias — there is a point when we can say “sorry” too many times before it loses its meaning.

5.  Too Late Too Soon – Artist:  Jon Seccada — I had this song in my head for some reason.

4.  Glamorous – Artist:  Fergie — Recently downloaded Kidz Bop Greatest hits and my kids love this song!

3.  Crazy – Artist:  Patsy Kline — I’m still in love and loving it.

2.  Playa Hater – Artist:  Notorious B.I.G. — Sometimes love relationships aren’t the only ones where you find yourself playing or being a part of a game.

1.  Happy Birthday – Artist:  DJ Bobo — Because the weekend was that of my baby’s.  And now he’s 1.  I can’t believe time flies by in a blink!

Michelle over at “My Crazy Life with a Toddler” wrote a beautiful post for this week’s Thursday Thirteen, which encompassed all that she is thankful for!

What a beautiful thing it is to remember to be thankful!  So… here is my list of things to be thankful for (not to be a copycat but she had a pretty great idea ya know?)

1.  I am thankful for my husband.  The other day he put duck tape on the end of a broom handle to get a leggo piece out from underneath the stairs.  My son’s puppy dog brown eyes didn’t help matters much.. but it just goes to show how great of a dad husb really is!

2.  I am thankful for my kids!  They really are great kids… even if some days I want to jump in bed and pull the covers over my head… or when everyone suddenly becomes inconsolable at the same moment.  It’s great to be a mom and these little human beings are the bright spot in my world!

3.  I am thankful for my friends.  Life would be so crazy without good friends to laugh with and share with! (and to call when said kids are inconsolable)

4.  I am thankful for my health.  There is a lot to be said about having good health!  It is something we take for granted everyday until one day it goes downhill…

5.  I am thankful for Diet Pepsi Max — would not know how to survive without it.  Period. (4-month old… middle of the night crying… need I say more?)

6.  I am thankful that tomorrow is Thursday… Ugly Betty, Grey’s Anatomy and The Office… WOOT!

7.  I am thankful for Incubus (the band).  For no particular reason other than their music awesomely inspires me!

8.  I am thankful for tissues with lotion… great on little runny noses, red eyes, stuff like that.

9.  I am thankful for Digg.com and television without pity.  Whenever I need some serious candid sarcasm, I turn to those sites.

10.  I am thankful for humus.  Because it is soooo good!

WORD-ASSOCIATION SATURDAY

I found this meme on Jen’s blog over at Cheaper than Therapy! It’s a way cute blog and I definitely recommend it as a good read!  See what answers others have written over there!

Here is the list of words she gave and you give a word or phrase that comes to mind.

Excerpt from her blog:  “I’ll give you a word or phrase, and you answer (in my comments) the first word (or two) that comes to mind.”

1. Embarassment

2. Jealous

3. Capable

4. Upside-Down

5. Heaven

6. Mindless

7. Generation

8. Unkempt

9. Brilliant

10. Cocktail

More Booking it through Thursday

BOOKS vs MOVIES

“Books and films both tell stories, but what we want from a book can be different from what we want from a movie. Is this true for you? If so, what’s the difference between a book and a movie?”

The difference between a book and a movie is that the book often will offer more detail and insight into the situation and characters than a movie.  Speaking from personal experience, I have often been very let down by a movie after reading a book.  Most times, I would rather read the book than see the movie.

I think we all have a “movie” playing in our heads when we read books anyway.  So often times the characters look nothing like what you pictured them to be in the book.  That can be quite a letdown.

A good example for me is the “Left Behind Series”.  I read the books first and then I watched the first movie.  Kirk Cameron did not fit my visual of Buck.  Not to mention the movie (again in my opinion) fell seriously short of the dynamic the first book held.  As a result, I have not watched anymore of the “Left Behind” movies.

I can’t remember if I have used this one before or not….

Be sure to check out more Friday’s Feast!

Appetizer

What is the nearest big city to your home?

The nearest big city to my home is Chicago.  Only because I don’t know that I consider Grand Rapids a very big city.

Soup

On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being highest, how well do you keep secrets?

I would say 8-9.  I only tell someone if I feel the secret is in harm to someone else or the person telling me the secret.  Most of the time it’s a 10, but I have to be honest here.

Salad

Describe your hair (color, texture, length).

My hair is an angled bob right now.  Super short in the back and longer in the front.  The color is dishwater blond/ light brown (soon to have highlights) and the texture is wavy.  What I love about it is that I can spike it all crazy in the back and have it look elegant in the front!!

“Business in the front…. paaarty in the back!” ~ Joe Dirt
Main Course

What kind of driver are you? Courteous? Aggressive? Slow?

It depends on my mood and whether or not i’m late for something.  Normally, I am a courteous driver.  I try not to race like a bat out of hell toward my destination but I can have a lead foot sometimes.  I also try and let others in a certain lane when the traffic is backed up (or any time really).

However, when there are a lot of idiots out on the road I tend to get aggressive.  Normally when this happens, I am the only one in the car.

Let me just say that I understand how road rage happens.  There are a lot of idiots out on the roads.

Dessert

When was the last time you had a really bad week?

OMG… lately, it seems like every week has been a bad week.  According to my doctor, it’s just third trimester hormones.  Perhaps I should give him a “Suck it” rock … ala Michael to Toby on his last day at Dunder Mifflin (In reference to last night’s episode of “The Office”).  hehehehehe…

Click here for more Feast!

This is a fun weekly meme hosted by hairmetalqueen. This week’s topic is about the state of our world (so to speak).

1. No matter what country you live in, do you think the future is bright (or gloomy) in terms of the economy? Why/why not?

The rising price of gas, the war in Iraq, the outsourcing of jobs and the downswing of the housing market makes me feel as though the economic future is extremely gloomy here in the United States.  Drastic changes need to be made in this country and I do not think that we have the right people in government to produce such a change.

2. What about the current food shortage going on in the world? What are your thoughts about this?

I think it’s sad.  In an idealistic society, we could grow an abundance of crops and food and ship said food to the starving countries.  The problem with this?  Militias, corrupt foreign government, the delicate global economy and the fact that our farmers are paid NOT to produce here in the U.S.

3. What 3 things (among others!) do you think need significant change to make the world a better place? Why?

~ Governments start bonding and working together instead of separately

~ More attention paid to finding alternative renewable resources

~ The ability to find ethical common ground

It is hard for me to think so globally because we have a lot of difficult problems to face here in the United States.  It is hard to comment on the economic and sociological standing of other countries. Every government is different just as the value systems within each culture is different from that of other cultures.

I’ve been tagged by Jodi over at My Life as Mama Jodi.  This week’s tag is a Media Meme.

Books ~ The last book I read was called Inside of My Heart by Robin McGraw.  It was simply AMAZING!

TV ~ I’m waiting for Ugly Betty to come back.  Other than that, I watch Nip/Tuck on Tuesdays, Lost and Eli Stone on Thursdays.  Every once in awhile i’ll catch Paranormal State on A&E Monday night.

Music ~ I love all music except for heavy rap.  Music reaches my soul like no other!

I am tagging:

Tina

 Amber

Jen 

Know & Tell Friday by To Know Him

Question 1
Which is worse? Being gossipped about or being lied to?   Being lied to.  Women gossip all the time.  I think it’s just in our nature.  Not all gossip is bad gossip.  Some of it is mentioned in a conversational way other things are maliciously said.  But still, I hate being lied to.  It’s the worse.  I’d rather have honesty.

Question 2
I see that a lot of ladies out there in blogville are “Starbucks” gals… What is your favorite “Starbucks” drink?  I’m definitely not a Starbucks fan.  I don’t like coffee and the one time I grabbed a hot chocolate from a Starbucks vendor at the Chicago airport, it was gross and tasteless.  Bleh.

Question 3
Name an embarrassing moment (Make it good).  Man there are so many to name!!  There was this one time in high school where I was hanging out in the hallway with my pals and I was goofing around.  I tried to do some goofy ballet move and ended up falling on my back but I tried to make it look cool.  My friends were laughing hysterically.  However, I was still pretty embarrassed.

Question 4
I figure that most of us ladies out there are bargain shoppers and that we find ways to save money, but what is one thing that you don’t mind spending your bucks on? I don’t mind spending bucks on clothes for the kids especially if the outfits are uber cute.  Also, I don’t mind spending a little on good make up.  Other than that, I bargain shop on everything!

Bonus Questions
Question 5
Is it hard for you to ask some to forgive you when you have wronged them?   No.  I don’t have a hard time admitting when I am wrong.  Usually, if I make a wrong move, my conscience kicks in and I apologize.  I also don’t have a problem forgiving someone who has wronged me (as long as they didn’t hurt my family in some way).

Question 6
Give one of your best parenting tips…something that you have learned through experience… Be consistent with your kids and tell them that you love them!!

ROOM 101 – Rantings for Week 12/17/07-12/21/07

1. Holiday scrooges. The kind that pee on your parade and ruin your good Christmas cheer.
2. People who talk incessantly about themselves and have little regard for anyone else.
3. Cheaply made toys that break within 2 (count em 2) days.
4. Relatives who buy you something for Christmas even though you previously discussed just getting presents for the kids.
5. When the makeup manufacturer’s powers-that-be discontinue your favorite lipstick color.

Things, people, places, situations etc you hate/loathe/dispise/don’t like very much belong in Room 101. If you decide to do the same please comment or link as appropriate as I would love to hear yours too.

I missed “Marriage Monday” I think.  Or at least, i’m gearing up for the new Marriage Monday which will be hosted by Chrysalis on January 7, 2008.  I must say that I am excited to know that new life will be put forth into this meme in the new year!  I have always found this one to be theraputic and good for the soul to boot!

In the coming year, my two goals to continue to nurture my marriage:

1.  Respect my husband even if I don’t agree with him.

This is huge for me.  Sometimes, I have a habit of overstepping my boundaries with him.  He might lay down a rule for the kids and if I don’t agree I immediately pipe up my disagreeance.  Not only does that make us look like two rowers in the same boat paddling in a different direction, it is also disrespectful to his authority when it comes to our children.  He is a very good father and even though I am the main care-taker of our children, I need to respect that he also needs to have a say in their raising.  I can’t do it without him.

2.  Try to take care of his needs.

I do a pretty good job of taking care of my husband’s needs.  Or at least I did before we had two kids.  Now that there is one more child on the way, I worry that his needs will end up being pushed into the background (as so many husband’s needs are).  Now that I am not working full time, I can dedicate my time to my children and to him.   Making sure that everyone is well taken care of.  I must remember while I am nurturing our children that I must nurture him as well.  We mothers prepare from the day our children are born their imminent independence and d-day (the day they leave the nest to fly on their own).  We must remember that our husbands are with us for life.