A Few Faves

In keeping with the writing prompts from the Facebook challenge, I’m grouping 4 together that all fall in the same kind of theme. 

My favorite band/musician:  I don’t really have a favorite band, but this is my current favorite CD.  I could listen to it over and over again… and Rachel even does a great job with the Carpenter’s song remake.  And I hate the Carpenters.  I bought the newest Christmas CD (volume 2) and it’s good, but not as good as the first one.  Many of the songs on this CD were sung in the Glee Christmas episode from last year (season 2, I think?)  It was my all time favorite episode of Glee ever.  Rachel trying to win back Finn’s attentions by taking him to a Christmas Tree Farm and singing “Last Christmas” by Wham.  And the Glee Club collecting donations for homeless kids, but losing them to Sue (the grinch…)  It was a great episode with great music.

My favorite TV show:  This was tough.  It was a 3 way tie between Bones, Castle and Psych.  But if I had to choose just one, right now it would have to be Psych.   I’ve decided in most TV shows it takes a male/female duo to make engaging chemistry on TV.  But not so with Psych.  The best friends from childhood duo, Shawn and Gus and hilarious.  And as a child in the 80’s I get most of Shawn’s “obscure 80’s references”.  In a nutshell, Pysch is about Shawn Spencer, who pretends to be a pyschic detective.  Why psychic?  Because he’s incredibly observant and has a photographic memory and when he tries to help the Santa Barbara PD solve a case, they think he most be invovled with it because he’s knows so much about it.  Thus, the “pyschic” charade is born.  It just gets funnier and funnier, the more you watch.

Here are two quotes from various episodes I lifted off IMDB:

Carlton Lassiter: Now I need to know your process.
Shawn Spencer: Do you really want to know my process?
Carlton Lassiter: Absolutely.
Shawn Spencer: Well, it starts with a holla! and ends with a Creamsicle.
Burton 'Gus' Guster: And if there's time in between? ThunderCats. Ho-oh!

 

********

Burton 'Gus' Guster: I'm not going out there.
Shawn Spencer: You cannot sit here in a dark car all alone. You'll be picked up for mopery.
Burton 'Gus' Guster: Mopery?
Shawn Spencer: With intent to creep. Trust me, you don't want that. It'll put a big hole in your future.

My Celebrity Crush:  Colin Firth, also known as Mr. Darcy 

      

Here he is on the left as Mr. Darcy in 1995.  On the right, doing a photo shoot for The King’s Speech.  He sure has aged well, hasn’t he?  I am DYING to see that movie, so if anyone gets their hands on an edited copy, please invite me over to watch it.  I’ll be eternally grateful! 

My Favorite Movie:  I have a lot of favorite movies, and it was a a close one between this and Star Trek (the newest movie).  In the end, this one beat out Star Trek because of the amazing music.  Plus, it has Colin Firth.  I am very excited that they are making another Star Trek movie, though. 

So there you have 4 of my favorite things.  I’m sure there will be plenty more posts like this to come!

Random Bits of Nothing

• We signed Taylor up for OYA at BYU-I this summer. (If you don't know what this is, it's a "outdoorsy" version of EFY that includes hiking, white water rafting and sleeping in tents.) It's probably going to cost me a small fortune to get him there (because Southwest and other discount carriers don't fly anywhere near it...). OR... I might drive him up and spend 2.5 weeks wandering Southeast Idaho and Utah visiting friends and family, crashing on various couches along the way... not sure which one will prevail, yet. If you'd welcome my behind on your couch with 3-4 kids in tow, let me know. That might sway the decision a bit!
• So, I'm on Facebook. It's fun, but kinda lame at the same time. I need to learn how to manage the feed settings better. Like I really don't care when a "friend" of mine comments on a picture of someone they are "friends" with on a picture of someone that I don't know. I've decided that facebook is for people that are too lazy to blog.
• The other day, Taylor accidently wrote on his facebook wall "Taylor is nothing." After several comments from friends and a concerned inquiry from the parents, he realized that he thought he had written, "Taylor is doing nothing." Big difference!
• I'm back on the "injured reserved" and not going to the gym. I strained some muscles in my rib cage which my PT friend told me belong to the "intercostal" family of muscles and I basically need about 2 weeks of rest and lots of motrin. I'm not in pain most of the time, but if I sneeze, I'm in agony for about 20 minutes while my muscles relax and unclench.
• Unfortunately, Eric and I were both lamenting last night that we were both feeling the slight onset of a headcold... and then this morning, my throat was screaming when I woke up. I guess I'm off to buy Zicam and other assorted drugs today. Must avoid sneezing at all costs!
• I'm celebrating the end of football season this week. I love superbowl parties... not for the football... but because I get to have friends over to hang out, eat lots of great food, and say goodbye to football on Monday nights for another six months.
• My DVR is busy right now... 24, Heroes, Lost and the Office. We've been invited over to a friend's house to watch American Idol tonight... maybe I'll convert over to that as well. Does anyone know when Project Runway starts again? And what channel is it going to be on... I seem to remember that Bravo sold the show to another channel, but I don't remember which one.

Random

Today I finally turned on my heater downstairs... I'm wearing a turtleneck and jeans and I'm still cold! I love the smell of the heater on the first use of the season... is that weird?

Three weeks ago I was planning a funeral... this week I'm planning a wedding/baptism for Friday night! Without the help of some VERY talented friends, this could not be possible, and I'm having so much fun in the process!

On Saturday we finally got the rest of the Christmas decorations put up. I'm really happy with how it all looks! I love turning off all the lights in the evenings and just having my house glow from the lights. Nothing beats it!

Blog reading for me in the morning is like a cup of coffee. When I'm tired and my brain is fuzzy, I log into google reader and it really helps wake me up!

Today all I've had to eat so far is Diet Coke and Triscuits... yes, it's time for lunch... I'm really craving a bowl of Corn Chowder from Mimi's Cafe, but we are on (hopefully) our last day of quarantine from Chicken Pox and I have so many things to get done around the house today that I'll probably just settle for some nuked Taquitos or something... and more Diet Coke....

Tonight we are taking the kids out for a drive around/look at lights FHE. Then we'll get Cold Stone for dessert (even though Hot Chocolate sounds so much better right now...) If you have any neighborhood you recommend, please let me know! I'm already planning to hit the Spongebob street and another area Sheri blogged about (McQueen/Warner). Any other suggestions?

And one last thing... the snowman serving set I bought last Wed for $18 is now like $14... run over to Sam's and grab one before it's too late....

Eight Things

So I had big plans for today - get up, listen to an audio book (Eclipse) and clean my house. Eric and the three older kids were supposed to be off on a caving adventure with the YM and YW of our ward. They were leaving at 6:00 a.m. so I had big plans to be VERY productive while I let Brayden become comotose in front of the TV....

Six hours later, still nothing noteworthy has been accomplished. Ian decided to stay home (he was afraid of going in the caves) and Brayden has been a "piece of work" today. That's all I'm going to say, but he's in his room right now having a meltdown because I can't seem to find the "perfect" underwear that he wants (which I don't even know because I can't understand him when he's crying....)

So, I've been blog reading and just generally goofing around and wasting time. Here's a fun "tag" I wanted to do, but I'm not tagging anyone else... just enjoy and copy if you want to!

8 Things I am Passionate About:

1. reading

2. spending time outdoors (swimming, hiking, boating, etc.)

3. supporting good public schools

4. teaching my kids how to work and be responsible

5. Having a positive attitude

6. scrapbooking, preserving memories

7. making time for "quality" family time

8. getting enough sleep (when I'm sleep deprived, nobody's happy)



8 Books I have Read (in the last six months):

1. Deception Point by Dan Brown

2. Slave by Mende Nazer

3. Fairest by Gail Carson Levine

4. Empire by Orson Scott Card

5. The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

6. Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale

7. The Host by Stephenie Meyer

8. The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan



8 Things I Say:

1. The world does NOT revolve around YOU!

2. Part of being in a family means working together

3. I love you, I love you, I LOVE YOU!! (sung in a goofy voice similar to Buddy's voice in Elf)

4. You are my favorite 8 year old, or 3 year old, or 11 year old... and so on....

5. Everyone in this family has chores to do, even Dad!

6. Did you remember to brush your teeth? (I have to say this a lot....)

7. Turn off the TV!

8. Where are your shoes????



8 Things that annoy me:

1. being late

2. agressive driving

3. teenage attitude

4. hot AZ summer nights

5. sweating profusely

6. people who have the "glass half empty" attitude

7. cooking dinner for picky eaters

8. my kids thinking they are "entitled" to everything



8 Things I Look Foward To:

1. all four kids being in school

2. the day when I no longer have a "leadership" calling at church

3. hiking, biking, or other outdoor activities with the family (no strollers, carrying toddlers, etc.)

4. the day when I finally break down and hire a cleaning service

5. the end of summer heat

6. our next trip home to visit the family

7. going on summer road trips with the kids

8. our next trip to Maui



8 Things I want to do before I die:

1. get over my fear of flying, so I can

2. travel the world with Eric

3. go on a church history road trip across the US

4. finish a full sized triathlon

5. go on a mission with Eric

6. take my grandkids to Disneyland

7. read the unabridged version of Les Miserables and visit Paris

8. become a really great photographer



8 Things I have learned:

1. laughter is the best medicine

2. worrying gets you no where fast

3. men have mood swings too

4. being nasty to someone who deserves it never makes me feel better

5. I can learn how to do just about anything if I make my mind up to do it

6. Some jobs are better left to the professionals

7. Freedom is never free

8. Fear is the opposite of Love