Am I a Grown-up Now?

It's time...

2010-12-13T14:35:00.000-06:00

Time for what, you ask?

Time for me to stop leaving the faithful few hanging anymore...

After just a year and a half, I think it's time for me to hang up the blogger hat.

For now.

Even though many noteworthy things have happened in my life over the past couple of months, I have had NO desire to really write a blog in a long time.

I have hardly even kept up with the blogs that I used to read daily.

I really don't know exactly why this is...but I'm just feeling kind of burnt out on the whole thing and I don't want to keep pretending that I'm going to get to my next post soon.

So, until this mood passes or I have something spectacular to share with the world, this blog is officially on hiatus.

And if you are dying to know what is going on in my/our life...I guess you're just going to have to do it the old-fashioned way...by being IN my life. =)

To those of you who took the time to read my ramblings, thank you.

I sincerely appreciated your participation and feedback.

I wish all of you a joyous Christmas and many, many blessings for the new year.

Thank you once again,

Music Monday #20 ~ First Love

2010-11-15T15:23:00.000-06:00

As a kid I had a jacket that looked something like this:

And a school folder with this image on it:

Yeah, I was a little bit in love with the original "King of Pop", Mr. Michael Jackson.

Of course, as I got older, I ventured away from the pop music and he ventured away from being admirable.

But there has always been a place in my heart for that young love of Michael.

The Michael that was cute, vivacious, and well...normal.

Of all things MJ that I used to adore, the original Jackson 5 was one of them.

I loved his little, yet amazing voice and smile that could warm a thousand winters.

Today I wanted to share one of my all-time favorite songs...by the Jackson 5 or anyone else for that matter.

To my daughter

2010-11-10T12:50:00.000-06:00

12 years ago at this very moment, my daughter was taking her very first breaths of air and then alerting the world to her presence with a scream.

Today she has taken many breaths and still likes to alert us all with a random noise or two.

She's so many things to all of us...but what she is most is growing up.

Just yesterday she was a baby in our arms and now she is all but done with childhood.

Here is a video I made just for her and how I feel about all this.

The music is "Watch Them Grow" by Zach Gill.

Music Monday #19 ~ Cancer

2010-11-08T15:17:00.000-06:00

One of my absolute favorite songs by My Chemical Romance.

Love while you can.

Music Monday #18 ~ This is Halloween...

2010-11-01T10:32:00.001-05:00

Halloween may be now be gone, but my decorations aren't yet, so I figured I would stretch out the celebration just one more day in order to procrastinate having to yank webs out of my yard and remove paper skeletons from my walls.

This has always been a fun occasion for my husband and I, especially now with the kids.

We even give presents for the holiday.

(I got the soundtrack to "The Rocky Horror GLEE show"...yay!!)

I'll be posting pics later in the week of our festivities, but for now I wanted to share with you three of my favorite songs to hear/play at Halloween.

Though "Monster Mash" should be in this list, I've heard it just one too many times over the past week and would like to take a break from it for now. =)

So here goes...my short-version Halloween play list:

"I Put a Spell on You" by Screamin' Jay Hawkins

(yeah, CCR also did this song...but I'm a fan of this version in particular. And from what I've read, it was QUITE "out there" when it came out in the 1957.)

"Every Day is Halloween" by Ministry
Though I grew up with the industrial/metal Ministry of the 90's, their 80's synth-pop beginnings aren't half bad!
I love to hear this song...any time of the year.

"Thriller" by Michael Jackson
Okay, so who HASN'T heard this song?
But hey, it never gets old in my opinion.
I just wish I had taken the time to learn the entire dance like some.
(oh, and this video used to really scare me as a kid!) =)

Well I hope you (if you celebrated) had a fantastic Halloween.
I'm exhausted today actually.
But we did have a good time.
Time to start planning next year's costumes!
(yeah right! didn't you read above where I said that I was a procrastinator?) =D

Music Monday #17 ~ Wordless

2010-10-25T09:10:00.000-05:00

Gosh, I so love a good sing-a-long.

Typically, if I can't sing a song, I don't like it.

(We won't bother discussing whether that singing sounds good or not)

But there are exceptions to every rule and there are definitely some in this case.

Sometimes it is just nice to sit back and listen...

...to just feel the music.

I'm pretty sure that all my continual howling over songs takes away their full meaning,

so when a song comes along that doesn't have any words,
I am forced to keep my mouth shut and open my ears.

Sure there have been some amazing compositions created over the centuries.

Who doesn't love a bit of Mozart or Beethoven now and then?

But the instrumentals I am highlighting today are some of my all-time favorites composed within the last century.

I will post them in chronological order.

First up is from 1946...my dad will love this one.

He and I were both born too late.

We listened to this a time or two thousand when I was a kid.

And I love the theatricality of the band in this performance.

Here's "In the Mood" by Glenn Miller:

The next two songs were both recorded in 1959.

I have to admit right here and now that I am not a fan of the saxophone.

There are just very few songs out there with that instrument in it that I really enjoy.

But here's another exception to another rule...

...Dave Brubeck.

Amazing jazz artist.

Amazing song.

(and prepare to be blown away by the drum solo)

Good stuff.

Here's "Take Five":

And the other from the same year is seriously one of my absolute favorite songs.

Even if it weren't associated with "La Bamba".

Here's "Sleepwalk" by Santo & Johnny:

(Les, you can just skip this one ;-)

And last, but certainly not least, is a piece composed by Bjork for the movie "Dancer in the Dark".

It is the opening overture and is simply titled "Overture".

It's not very long, but incredibly powerful.

This song alone has, at times, brought tears to my eyes.

Well, I hope you enjoyed this chance to just sit back and listen to some incredible songs by some incredible artists.

We should probably all give our mouths a break from time to time and let our ears get some use.

Take care,

Music Monday #16 ~ Let It Be

2010-10-18T15:30:00.000-05:00

Though my opinions may steer my political leanings pretty far to the right, I find that many today think that means that this makes me an ignorant, hateful, war-mongering bigot.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

I am first and foremost a Christian.

And the Bible tells me these things:

God is love.

God created us out of love.

God intends for us to love each other.

Sin is another matter.

Sin, and the architect of sin, the devil, are constantly struggling for control of our lives.

No one but Jesus has ever been perfect, or will ever be.

So in light of this, it is impossible for me to hate one of my brothers or sisters in Christ because of his sin.

Being a sinful person myself keeps me from truly being able to place judgement on another.

I do hate the sin though.

I hate war and fighting.

And I hate what sin does to obscure the love and happiness that God wants for us.

If for one moment we could all (left, right or middle) just stop and realize

that not one of us is perfect,

that not one of us is doing things exactly right,
then we might be able to see each other for what we truly are...

creations of love.

Every person that God has created is worthy of being loved.

Because God first loved us.

If we will only gather ourselves into that love of God
and see that love in each other,
then it will be that much harder for the devil to overshadow it with hatred.
And for just a moment we could "let it be".

(I am well aware that The Beatles were not professing Christians, but the message of letting go of our hate for a person, if only to allow that person to live to see another day, is quite compelling, don't you think?)
Excerpt is from the film "Across the Universe"
"Let it Be" performed by Carol Woods & Timothy T. Mitchum

Music Monday #15 ~ My Björk

2010-10-11T14:55:00.000-05:00

She's been my dearest musical love for over 15 years now.

She made my room look like this...

...helped cultivate a deep friendship with this guy...

...and broke my heart in this movie.

I am eternally connected to her...though I will likely never meet her.

But the thing that got me the most about her was the purity of her voice.

Most often in her music it it hard to truly hear it's power because it has to compete with the electronic sounds and orchestras in her music.

But I have finally heard a gorgeousness from her that I haven't heard years.

A collaboration with Antony and the Johnsons.

Fletta

Completely in Icelandic...only accompanied by Antony Hegarty and a piano.

Absolutely gorgeous.

And it comes at a perfect time in my life.

These days have found me very introspective and pondering.

And that is the emotion I also feel while listening to this song.

I do hope you'll give her voice a chance.

Catching up...Part III ~ A funeral, a wedding, fun w/ friends, birthdays and more

2010-10-07T16:24:00.003-05:00

Well I am determined to finish up this "catching up" business with this post.

I do not want to get this far behind again.

It's definitely not worth having to overwork my scattered memory to rebuild the past.

As you recall, my last post included a birth in family.

Well, a few days later we received tragic news that one of my mom's oldest friends (since 2 yrs old!) passed away after a long illness.

To make the pain even worse was the fact that less than a week before his death, his mother, who practically helped raise my mom, suffered from an aneurysm and was on life support.

She never knew that her son had passed.

We attended his funeral on the 18th and a few days later his mother went to see Jesus as well.

The whole ordeal was extremely upsetting to my mom of course and therefore to me too.

It had also been just 6 months since she had lost her brother.

It's been a rough year for her, but we have consolation in the fact that none of them are suffering from their earthly pains any longer and are hopefully resting joyfully in the arms of the Savior in Heaven.

Now that I've shared the bad news in our lives, I'd like to move on to some good news.

The same day that we attended the funeral, I also got to attend a wedding.

My husband's good friend, Brian, was the groom and Terry was actually a groomsman in the ceremony.

Jude was very excited to see us getting all dressed up that he even wanted to participate in the occasion as you can see in this shot of him walking around in my shoes. =)

(can't wait to embarass him with this pic in a few years!)

The outdoor wedding and indoor reception were both beautiful.

It was a small gathering which made it really nice.

I felt like I knew everyone in the room.

And check out how well my skateboard tee and jeans hubby cleans up!

Here we are with the happily married couple, Brian and Shauna!

The following weekend was a bit less busy, but I was able to finally get two of my bestest buds together with me for dinner, Baskin-Robbins and great conversation.

Michael, on the left, I met in the spring of 1995 in a drawing class that we were taking in community college.

We quickly became great friends, as we shared very similar tastes in music.

He is an amazing artist and is currently in graphic design.

It's not often that a talent like that actually gets to be put to use in one's work, but I am so proud of what he is doing.

Scott, on the right, you have seen here before.

He is totally my BFF.

My crazy and spontaneous BFF.

We have been this way since we were freshmen in high school...21 years now.

Back in our early college years...I say early, because out of the 3 of us, only Scott has an actual degree, and it took a while for that to happen. Michael is almost there with his degree and me, well...one day...but back in the day, these two guys and my husband, Terry, were my closest friends in the world.

Each one played an integral role in the person I am today.

But only one would be my perfect match...my soulmate...and that is the one that I married.

I was and am blessed to have these three best friends.

Though all of our lives have taken different paths and time and responsibility has stolen away the opportunities to see each other as often as we'd like, this one night with two of my greatest friends was truly priceless.

In the meantime, I've noticed that my little 2 yr old is turning into a "big boy" more and more every day.

He is becoming more confident in his physical abilities...

And quite the little artist as well!

Below you are viewing the piece entitled "Tree and Two Suns". =P

Well, that's what it is!

A tree (with a few leaves) on the right and two suns on the left.

Pretty good for a 27 month old!

And we can't forget his self-portrait entitled "Grumpy Jude". (haha!)

On the 28th, we celebrated Terry's 39th birthday.

Only one more year and I'll be married to a 40 year old! GASP!! =)

But he's not letting the numbers bring him down.

He celebrated the day the way HE wanted...at the skatepark.

Jude spent some time watching Daddy skate.

He became more comfortable in the bowl this time.

He had never had the opportunity in all his years of skating to be in a bowl before they built this skatepark nearby.

So he spent a great deal of time enjoying it.

I suggested that he try dropping in from the corner here so as to build up some speed to hopefully get some height on the other side.

Um, yeah...probably wasn't the greatest suggestion to a concrete bowl novice as he turned too fast and had quite the spill. I was really afraid that he had hurt his hand/arm, but he came out unscathed.

I was of course forthcoming with the apologies.

Oh, there was one injury...the faceplate of his kneepad was knocked off.

When Terry tossed it out of the bowl, Jude kept pushing it back in to him because he knew Terry was supposed to be wearing it.

That evening we ate Terry's request of Goode Co. Pecan Pie.

Yes, the pie costs almost $32...IF you're having it shipped.

If you live in the area though it's only $15.

Is it worth it?

Um, I hated pecan pie.

That is, until I tried this one.

It is amazing. Period.

Sooooo worth it.

And Terry even got a candle in his piece of pie.

Cecilia, on the other hand, doesn't like pecans in the least, so she had a piece of the tres leches I made from scratch (whipped cream and all) for my Bunco gathering the day before.

Well, she tried it at least. Then she discovered she doesn't like soggy cake.

But seriously...it's tres leches...it's supposed to be like that.

And personally, I thought it was excellent.

Four days later, on Oct. 2nd, it was mine and Terry's 6th wedding anniversary.

We enjoyed the rare treat of a night out alone.

My dear parents watched the kids while we dined at Buca di Beppo.

Great food...great atmosphere...noisy homecoming teenagers.

But we'll definitely be eating there again.

After dinner we walked along the Woodlands Waterway and to the market street area nearby.

We sat and ate ice cream and purused the bookstore...ALONE.

Let's just say, we enjoyed the quiet time.

And here we are....caught up again.

In three days, on the 10th, it will be my 35th birthday.

10-10-10

Very cool.

Thanks for taking the time and interest in this long post and catching up with my family.

Take care and God bless,

Music Monday #14 ~ Anniversary Mix Edition

2010-10-04T14:29:00.000-05:00

Over the weekend Terry and I celebrated our 6th year of marriage.

Sure there have been a couple of rough spots here and there, but overall we have been blessed with an incredible relationship.

I credit this mostly to the fact that we were such close friends before we began to really date.

I cherish our ability to just hang out and chat like old buds.

I once opened a fortune cookie that read:

"A good friendship is often more important than a passionate romance".

And I couldn't agree more.

I'm not saying that there's no romance in our relationship, because there is.
There is simple sweetness about our love that remains as fresh today as it did so many years ago when we began.

But that friendship, that is what I value above all else in our relationship...and that is what I think will keep us together to the end.

Anyway, this is a music post, so I wanted to use this occasion to highlight some of the songs that my dear husband has given to me over the years.

He has such a great love and knowledge of music.

I have often told him that he would do well in the music industry...production wise...because of his incredible ear for quality.

He doesn't skimp on quality one bit when choosing songs to "dedicate" to his wife either.

Though I'd love to share every song he's given to me with you, there obviously isn't enough time or space in this post.

So, here is just a sampling of the feelings and music that my love has shared with me...

Thank you for letting me give you a peek into our lovely little life.

I do love every moment of it...good and bad.

Enjoy the love in your life as well because you never know how long it will be there.

Take care,

Catching up...Part II ~ New baby, rock concert, ghosts & a jackpot

2010-09-30T16:00:00.019-05:00

Can I just say that "catching up" is really hard to do when you're still finding yourself in the middle of something constantly?

Oh, and a 2 yr old who refuses to nap most days slows the process down a bit too.

Some may have even noticed that my life was full enough this week to cause me to miss (and completely forget about for the entire day) my Music Monday post.

But I will forge ahead with the hopes of having caught up to myself by say...January?

So I left off last time about the end of August.
Summer was winding down, school starting.

Then the ball really started rolling.

On September 3rd, my good friend who also happens to be my sister-in-law, Leslie, blessed the family with a little girl.

I now have a niece!

Those that know me, are aware that she had a son (Ryan) a month before Jude was born and we were very excited to be having two boys almost the same age.

But Grandad (my father-in-law) was adamant that she make sure and also give him a granddaughter (and I also was eager to buy girlie things again!).

So Les and her husband Saleem did their best and granted our wish.

My precious niece, Camryn, who is almost a month old now!

And Camryn napping with her big bro Ryan...

Leslie and her family live in New Jersey, so unfortunately it will be a while before I get to see them.

But since I have no siblings to provide me with nieces or nephews,

I am so blessed to be able to have these two call me Auntie Andrea!

A few days after Camryn was born, Cecilia went to see Paramore in concert with Terry.

They are her absolute favorite band.

We bought the tickets last spring as her end of the year, straight a's gift.

We like to reward her after a good academic year.

Unfortunately I have no pics to share from the concert.

I asked Terry several times to attempt to get a pic of Cecilia in the concert environment, but all I got was a shot of her face. That wasn't quite what I had in mind.

A week or so later I was able to join my mom on one of her Travel'n Gals trips.

Basically it's an organized trip attended by a bunch of ladies (most from our church) to various spots around the state and bordering areas.

They typically shop, tour, socialize, eat, etc.

This is the first trip of this type that I have been able to attend and our destination was Natchitoches, Louisiana, the oldest town in the state.

Now if you aren't from around here, I must teach you how to pronounce that.

It's nothing like it looks.

It's pronounced NAK-A-DUSH.

Weird huh?

Yeah, but it is Louisiana...haha.

We shopped, of course, in Natchitoches.

Lots of little shops with lots of cute things.

Oh, and it's also the town in which "Steel Magnolias" was filmed.

So we took a horse buggy ride around the main part of town and saw some of the areas where they filmed.

I so need to watch that movie again.

Here are a few pics from around town:

A VERY old cash register in a VERY old general store.

They have to crank it and everything!

A spiral staircase from Bordeaux, France with it's very own ghost story.

"Meat Pies" sampled by my mom and I.

Very tasty by the way.

But in Texas we call them Empañadas.

My view from the front seat of the carriage ride

The best shot I could get of the "Steel Magnolias" house

After Natchitoches, we headed to Alexandria, LA, where we stayed the night.

The next day was full of plantation tours.

Very interesting and very beautiful.

And all included some extremely large trees.

A few plantation pics...

African house built by slaves

This is a window on the side of the African house that something wouldn't let me take a picture of.

I must have tried 20 times to take this pic, but my camera would malfunction every time.

I finally went inside and took the second picture and then was able to come back out and take this.

Weird.

The Kent Plantation in Alexandria was built by hand, by slaves.

Slave fingerprints can still be found in the bricks.

Inside the Kent Plantation dining room.

The "tile" flooring was actually just painted canvas!

Slave quarters at the Magnolia Plantation.

(duplex style with two families living in each building)

The show "Ghost Adventures" investigated these buildings in one of their episodes.

But it wasn't until I walked into one of the buildings and recognized this sole chair in the corner that I realized that this was the same place.

After a tiring day of traversing large plantations, we enjoyed a leisurely dinner and then off to the casino!

Too bad casinos aren't legal in Texas.

I did pretty well actually.

And it was definitely needed.

So I am certainly grateful.

The next day we started heading back to the Houston area and on the way, stopped at another casino.

This one was way nicer, but wasn't as forthcoming with the jackpots.

So home I went with my pockets and memories much richer.

Well, it is time once again for me to break away from the catching up and get back to the doing.

I will be back sooner than later to finish up.

To be continued...and finished?...next time...

Catching up...Part I ~ No surgery, BFF, DUI victim & junior high

2010-09-22T10:50:00.002-05:00

Life...

It hasn't been busy so much as it has been FULL.

There is a difference.

To me anyway.

To me, being "busy" implies that you have too much going on and not enough time to enjoy what it is you're doing.

We have had a lot going on, but not TOO much and I've definitely been enjoying every minute of it.

So what has been going on?

Well, my last update was at the beginning of August and now we're knocking on October's door...so there is much to talk about. Hence the "Part I".

Summer came and went without too much excitement.

There was the impending tube surgery for Jude's ears at the end of August, but our prayers were answered and his ears finally let go of the fluid they had been hanging onto for months and months. So the surgery was cancelled! We will now keep an eye on the situation during cold & flu season and just continue to pray that he grows out of this.

The summer consisted of a lot of hanging out and goofing around.

We also had a nice visit from Scott, my best friend since 9th grade AND the kids' Godfather.

He had just come back from a 2 week mission trip to Kenya and I was eager to hear all about it.

He was also eager to spend time with the kids.

He is loving the "boy" time he gets with Jude as well.

Well, I guess we had one little moment of excitement this summer when someone drove over our mailbox.

Terry happened to be running on the treadmill in the garage when it happened and saw the whole thing.

The worst part was that the driver never stopped...yet left ALL of his side mirror and some other debris on our driveway.

Since Terry saw the car, I made him hunt the guy down and when he did locate the car he attempted to talk to the guy about it.

Well, it wasn't even his car...he was just visiting a relative in the neighborhood and had borrowed it

AND he didn't even seem to realize he had hit anything.

I'm thinking that if I did this to a mailbox
and left parts of my car behind
and had shattered part of my windshield
and likely banged the door up enough so that it couldn't be opened properly...
...I would probably know that I had hit something.

So yeah, we're pretty sure that he was under the influence of something.

Called the sheriff...nothing could be done since the guy wasn't on the road anymore.

So we still have a temporary mailbox up for now until Terry and his dad can rebuild the original.

The end of August also brought the beginning of school for Cecilia.

She is now a 6th grader.

She seems to be enjoying junior high.

It definitely has been an adjustment, but she is adapting well and loves the opportunity to make new friends.

The worst part of the year so far?

Having P.E. 1st period.

Yuck.

But her first progress report came home last week and she has A's in all her classes thus far...actually, four 100's, a 96 and a 97. Not too shabby!

She is now wishing that she had taken pre-AP (honors) for all of her core classes instead of just science and language arts. The regular math and social studies classes are really too slow for her, but she plans on loading them all on next year.

Glad she's up for the challenge!

Well, I think I'll stop here for today.

To be continued....

Music Monday #13 ~ Gaga for GLEE!

2010-09-20T15:08:00.000-05:00

This will be an awesome week of t.v. for me!

Though I don't watch much television, there are a few shows that I just can't miss.

Two of them begin their new seasons this week.

I adore Modern Family, which starts on Wednesday I think, but my absolute fav show is GLEE!

I've been anxiously awaiting the season 2 premiere and tomorrow it will finally arrive!!

So I figured I would use this week's music post to share a couple of clips from season 1.

Can't say I was a huge Lady Gaga fan before Glee came along, but yeah, the show definitely helped bring her into my personal radar.

Here's one of the best Glee performances, in my opinion, from the last season.

Singing Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance", here are the ladies and Kurt:
(I have to share that my fav part of the song is Santana's solo - she's the one in all black)

Another performance from the same episode was this one by Rachel (Lea Michelle) and her biological mother on the show (Idina Menzel).
I am still in awe of how much these two look alike! Are they SURE they aren't related?? =)

Here they are singing the slowed-down piano version of "Poker Face"...also originally by Lady Gaga.

So yeah, I'm totally stoked about the premiere tomorrow night!
So if you want to know where I'll be between 7 p.m. & 8 p.m. tomorrow night...I'll be be Gleeked out in front of the t.v.
And I won't be accepting phone calls.

p.s.
A post will be coming later this week about recent happenings in our life.
This is the first week all month that I don't have something going on, so I'm definitely going to try to enjoy the downtime.

Have a "glee"ful week!! =)

Music Monday #12 ~ Pomplamoose Multiple Choice

2010-09-13T12:02:00.007-05:00

So I wanted to introduce a group called Pomplamoose to all of those who aren't in the know yet.

Well, until just a few months ago, I wasn't in the know either.

I don't know a whole lot about them yet, just that the singer, Nataly Dawn, has the coolest voice, they do lots of random song covers, and they tend to use an odd variety of instruments in their music.

Oh, and one other thing, even though I have their album "A Tribute to Famous People" on my iPod and listen to the songs quite regularly, I have found that none of it can be truly appreciated until watching the videos. Their videos all have the same theme, in that they are pieced together from their recordings of the song.

And these are some funny people.

So when I was trying to decide which song(s) I wanted to post here...I just couldn't decide!

Therefore, today I have created my first musical multiple choice.

I am posting as many of their covers as I feel up to today and YOU have the choice of which to play.

WARNING: You may end up listening to/watching ALL of them...they're just so dang good.

Gotta start with my personal fav:

And just so I don't leave out the fact that they DO write their own songs, here are a couple:

Whew! Well I'm exhausted...time for a nap!
Hope you heard something you liked.

Have a fun week!

Music Monday #11 ~ A Song from Terry

2010-09-06T14:56:00.002-05:00

Since we are all home together today, I don't have much time to devote the music post this week.

So I asked Terry to give me a song...any song that he wanted to share with the world (as small as my blog world may be).

This is the song that he gave me....

Oddly enough, after last week's post being on mix-tapes/CD's, he just told me that this song was supposed to be on the next one he was planning for me.

I loves me some Terry for sure. <3

Have a fantastic week!

Music Monday #10 ~ Mix-tapes

2010-08-30T14:36:00.005-05:00

Mix-tapes.
Gotta love 'em.

I grew up making and receiving them.
Traded them with friends, made them for crushes and recorded my own personal mixes in order to hang onto some memory.
But the most treasured ones were the ones given to you by your serious significant other.
Creating them took much time and contemplation.
Every song had to hold special meaning to your relationship.
And receiving that home-made mix of tunes was more important than a hundred store-bought "things".

Cassette tapes may have made way for discs, but they still serve the same purpose of being able to bottle a portion of your feelings and hand them over to someone else in a neat little compartment.
That's how it was for me anyway.

Well, that's still how it is actually.

From time to time, Terry and I still make each other mix discs.
I love how it always takes us back to the beginning times of our relationship.
I was 19 years old when I fell in love with him.
And as I told my daughter not long ago, no matter how old Terry and I get, in my mind he will always be 23 and I will always be 19.

Anyway, today I wanted to share with you a couple of the songs that I included on the last mix that I gave him.
In a month and 3 days we will celebrate 6 years of marriage, but we will also celebrate 16 years of devoted friendship.
Because before he was my husband, before he was my boyfriend...he was my dearest friend.
And none of this would be in existence without that friendship.

Songs to my love...

(Both of these videos were created by HiiCactus and are unrelated to the original artists...but aren't they the sweetest things you've ever seen?)

Love...

2010-08-27T15:22:00.001-05:00

...this.

Wishing you a huggy-wuggy weekend.

Squeezies,

Music Monday #9 ~ Cecilia

2010-08-23T17:05:00.005-05:00

Today is her first day of junior high.

My little girl is no longer a little girl.

So I thought I would devote my post on this momentous day to her.

Well, to her name actually.

Obviously I am a fan of music in general.

You may be thinking, "who isn't?", but that's where you would be mistaken.

There are different types of musical tastes in this world.

And I'm not talking about genres...rap, country, rock, etc.

I'm talking about being either a casual music fan, a hardcore music fan, or worse yet...a-musical...that is, a life void of music.

I have only ever known of one person to whom the last description applied, but after a few months' exposure to me and my incessantly singing friends, she came around.

I think she had just never been awakened to what music could do for a person.

Anyway, the casual music fan is one of those that will tell you that they "like pretty much all kinds of music", yet can't pinpoint any specifics on favorites or aspects of their liking.

Then there's the hardcore fans.

They KNOW what they like and they KNOW what they don't like.

They can list some of their all-time favorite musicians at a moment's notice and will also list their favorite songs by those artists.

They have either seen their favs in concert or dream of the opportunity (especially if their favs are long gone).

And what point am I trying to make?

I am and always have been...a hardcore music fan.

So when I was a 22 year old pregnant with my first child, I was dead-set on giving her a musical name.

Mostly that meant that she was going to be named after a song.

Actually, "she" was supposed to be a "he" and was going to be named Jonas.

As in "My Name is Jonas"...the Weezer song.

But she had other plans for us all by turning out to be a girl.

Fortunately I had prepared names for either gender.

I still remember where I was when I heard this song....

Driving home from work one day, that song came on the radio.

I had already at some point been enlightened to the meaning of the song.

Many think it is about an actual girl, but "Cecilia" is actually a reference to the patron saint of music, St. Cecilia.

He is singing about his struggle with musical "writer's block" and the frustration of the elusive musical inspiration.

Then "jubilation, she loves me again"...the inspiration flows finally.

So the moment I heard that song that day, I knew that was it.

I hoped it would hold some meaning in her life...that she would embody my love of music somehow.

Well, she loves music, for sure.

But I'm thinking that if there is a patron saint of talking, she should have been given that name instead.

And her middle name?

Oh, I mean names.

2 middle names.

Couldn't narrow it down.

Cecilia Regina Claire

Claire was my mom's suggestion.

And since I was most obsessed with the Latin language at the time, I really loved that it had the Latin meaning of "bright".

Regina (the "g" pronounced like the "g" in good) is Latin for "queen".

But guess what?

It's also a song.
One of my favorite songs.

Sung by The Sugarcubes...Bjork's band before she went solo.

Huge Bjork fan here.

Bjork sang a few songs with female names as the title.

Cecilia could have been Charlene or Regina or Isobel or...well, you get the picture.

Here is the song "Regina" by The Sugarcubes:

So here's to my talkative, musical, bundle of joy.
My junior high pre-teen.
And here's to hoping that she will one day grow to live up to the potential of her hugely important name...or at least not grow tired of telling people that they are pronouncing her Regina wrong. =)

Music Monday #8 ~ Happy Birthday Dad!

2010-08-16T15:41:00.000-05:00

Since my dad's birthday this year has fallen on "Music Monday", I thought it fitting to share some of the songs that I grew up listening to with my dad.

I have many fond memories of sitting in front of the record player listening to music with him.

I most definitely got my love and appreciation of music from my father.

I always thought it funny when he would hear a song on the radio and could tell me exactly what year it came out and what was going on in his life at the time.

But now I find myself doing the same thing.

Anyway, I picked out a few songs/artists that I particularly attach to my dad for various reasons.

The first is one of our all-time favorite musicians...Glenn Miller.

I was fortunate enough to be raised on Big Band music.

Though it was even before my dad's time, he too had an appreciation for the classics as do I now.

My exposure to Big Band also helped me relate more to my grandparents, as I usually knew and loved many of the songs that they had grown up with.

My dad and I both loved this particular song...especially the section featuring "The Ink Spots".

Another fond memory I have of time with my dad is the many hours he spent pushing me on the swing at my grandparent's house.

He would push me for what seemed like forever while I sang songs at the top of my lungs.

What songs?

Whatever came to mind usually, but I tended to pick the next two songs more often.

Both of my parents can be so silly at times and I inherited my share of that trait.

And they both loved silly songs.

One of the songs that my dad liked was "Tie Me Kangaroo Down".

We would listen to the 45 over and over again.

Well, just for him, since he also is a Beatles fan like me, I found this funny version of the song that Rolf Harris recorded with the Beatles.

And if you are unfortunate enough to have never heard the original, here is the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_D-LmRNdQiQ&a=GxdCwVVULXdrY_4AZUUPwOdieE5ovhC6&playnext=1

One of the other songs that I would sing while on the swing was this one.
Such a fun song and not many lyrics to memorize.
This performance on The Ed Sullivan Show is great.
(apologies that the sound doesn't quite match the video...not my doing!)

Janis Joplin.
My dad loved her when he was growing up.
I inherited that love.
He likes to pretend that the late sixties/early seventies never happened to him, but I have evidence to the contrary...

I think this was an attempt at a band photo at some point.
My dad is the on the bottom right crouching down.
He was the bass player in a band for a few years.
He even played for a couple of years after I was born.
He gave it all up for me.
It was time for him to "grow up"...or at least that's what I was told.

Anyway, back to Janis...yeah, we are both fans.
I found this cool performance she did in Stockholm of one of my favorite songs.
She was genius.

So as you can see, my dad was a big part of developing my love and taste in music.
Mostly he helped me keep a musically open mind.
So his gift to me is now my gift to him.

Thank you dad for everything.
I hope I get to share many, many more birthdays with you!

Love,

Ear fluid update? Need opinions!

2010-08-11T10:59:00.000-05:00

I just wanted to throw a quick question out there for anyone who may read this (whether I know you or not!) and have been through this before.
Backstory in case you haven't read the past few posts...
My 2 yr old has had fluid behind his eardrums and we are set to have tubes put in on the 27th.
But the doctor gave us some Nasonex spray to hopefully help the ears drain on their own.
He will check them again on the 23rd to see if the spray has helped.

We started the Nasonex on August 5th and yesterday (5 days later) I noticed that Jude's voice was hoarse.
It got worse as the day went on. Otherwise he seemed fine. No runny nose or anything.
I started wondering if maybe his ears were draining into his throat, causing the irritation.
Then last night he woke up repeatedly crying. You could tell that something was draining, as he kept swallowing and coughing occasionally.

So here's my question...has anyone ever had this issue and been prescribed a nose spray to help?
And if the ears did drain on their own, do my son's "symptoms" sound similar to your experience?

I'm keeping an eye on him because both of my kids are prone to sinus issues and I really don't want him to get sick on top of the ear problems.
I guess I'm just praying that the ears ARE draining and that this means he won't have to have surgery...at least not at this time.

Thanks for any and all comments and opinions!

Take care,

Music Monday #7 ~ Reggae....really?

2010-08-09T15:05:00.004-05:00

Yes, really...well, kind of.

But this isn't the dope-smoking, Rastafarian, Bob Marley stuff.

Not that there isn't a time or place for Marley.

He was the master.

But there is a new development in reggae that seems to be pulling in some types of people that otherwise wouldn't give this genre a chance.

Like me.

Neither of these artists are particularly "new", both have released more than one album.

But both are now among my top ten artists.

Definitely.

Vampire Weekend

Yes, they have a weird name.

But even weirder is the fact that though they sound reggae-ish, they are actually more influenced by African rhythms...and get this, classical American music.

Interesting blend, huh?

Makes for some amazing indie pop sounds though.

Today I'm sharing songs from their first album because as of now, it's my favorite of the two they have put out.

Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa
(I wasn't able to embed the official video here, but the song's here anyway)

A-Punk

(Fun song, funny little video...and they use a portion of it on PBS Kids!)

The Kids Don't Stand A Chance/Oxford Comma
(Obviously not the album versions of these two songs, but I do love this impromptu "concert" for one. It also shows off the singer's brilliant voice.)

Matisyahu

Now this is Reggae.
But not your weird uncle's Reggae.
This is Hasidic Jew New Yorker Reggae.
Yeah, and you thought Vampire Weekend was odd.

But don't count this one out.
Though I'm obviously not Jewish, I tend to find my own interpretation of his songs, which are, by the way, immersed in Jewish themes.
He sings about God.
The Old Testament God, but God nonetheless.

Though the acceptance of Jesus Christ divides us, I can still find use in his songs because I always feel myself praying and praising every time I sing along.

And it's good stuff.

Refuge
(He speaks of and quotes King David's psalms in this one.)

King Without a Crown
(Not the album version, but a performance at Stubb's in Austin, TX. I prefer this one to the original. This, so far, is his biggest hit...Top 40 even. If it helped even one person discover God, great. If they found Jesus at the same time...all the better.)

So next time someone offers you a taste of a genre of music that you might not usually be interested in, go on and take a chance.
Music is always evolving and you just never know what might happen when you try new things.
Take care and have a beautiful week!

Doctor visit update...

2010-08-06T16:26:00.000-05:00

Just wanted to update those that are interested in how our doctor appointments went yesterday.

My appointment went well enough. The doctor (who was very nice, by the way) put me back on the thyroid medication and will be checking up on how it's going in a month.
Since I was there for a complete physical, she also had my full bloodwork done.

I hate having my blood drawn these days.

It's not that I'm scared of needles or anything, and the pain isn't usually too bad. It's really more about the frustration of the tech not being able to find a good vein and then get that vein to flow well enough.

I have 3 more holes in me today than I did yesterday morning.

Even though I always warn the techs that it's very hard to get blood from my arms, they almost always try anyway...and always fail.
Then they go into my hand and they don't always have the "butterfly" needles needed for that, so sometime they just have to use a small straight needle which is even more tricky.

Well it was cold in the dr.'s office and then again in the lab waiting room, so by the time she tried to get blood out of my hand, my veins weren't warm enough to get the blood flowing out...so the left hand failed.

So she had to get a heat pack to warm my right hand and was finally able to get the blood going.
But having the full blood screen done plus my TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) meant filling 5 vials.

Took FOREVER.

But I'm less bruised today than I expected to be and I'm just grateful that she didn't try to put the needle in the TOP of my forearm like the last one did...moron.

So anyway, I guess I'll have more information to share on my health once we get the blood results back.

As far as Jude's appointment...well first off, I have to say that Dr. Albright's office and staff were excellent and the only trouble we had was with another child in the waiting room wanting Jude's toy.

Let me rephrase that...the child wanted the toy (identical to the toy lawn mower he has at home) that Jude has already claimed as his own, even though he wasn't actually playing with it at the time that the other child tried to use it.

Anyway, he had his hearing test first and behaved really well.

But his test didn't come out as good as we had hoped.

He tested at the low end of normal.

That means that as of right now, with the fluid still behind his eardrums, he is having mild hearing loss...like having water in your ears after the shower the doctor said.

And speaking of the doctor, he was so nice and was thorough and wonderful with Jude.

He said that the fluid behind Jude's eardrums isn't pus.

But leaving it there brings a higher chance of more ear infections and of course the limited hearing.

He told us that the fluid in the ears normally drains out through the nasal cavities.

So he gave us some Nasonex spray to hopefully help the fluid drain.

We go back on the 23rd to see if the spray has helped and if not, then surgery to put in tubes on the 27th.

Like Dr. Albright said, "We'll plan for the worst and hope for the best".

I do hope Jude's ears clear up on their own.

I hate to think of having to put my 2 yr old through the process of going under general anesthesia.

Not to mention having to deprive him of any liquids or food until surgery.

That boy wakes up asking for milk!

So let's please keep praying for the best possible outcome with this.

I'm not overly worried, I just want to avoid having to put Jude through something like this at an age when I can't really explain to him what's going on.

Thanks for taking the time to read.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Life update...

2010-08-04T11:21:00.001-05:00

Life...it is what it is.

And right now, it's summer.

I am SO not a fan of summer.

Don't like heat, don't like mosquitos...and during this time of the year in Texas, there is plenty of both.

But we have gotten out and enjoyed the summer when we can.

Jude loves being outside and Cecilia...well, not so much, but she enjoys the time she gets to spend with us while she is outside. Honestly, she'd rather spend her time inside reading or drawing.

She has had a rather uneventful summer this year, but it has gone by quickly. She is also looking forward to her big step into 6th grade. We have already bought all of her school supplies, but now have the daunting and almost financially impossible task of buying her some new school clothes and shoes. Wish these kids didn't grow out of their clothing so fast!

She has also transitioned her future career dreams from being a rockstar into being an artist of some sort.

She definitely has the skills. Gets it from both sides. Her paternal great-grandfather was a commercial artist and her paw-paw is a draftsman. Her father also had amazing drawing skills.

She told me this morning that she is nervous mostly about P.E. in the 6th grade because they told them that they wouldn't be playing games so much like they did in elementary school, that they would instead be playing sports. She is not sporty. She knows very little about how to play most sports. Energy she has...sports saavy, not really.

But I assured her that she will pick it all up pretty quickly as she does everything else and not to worry.

Jude, well he's a typical little 2 year old. Learning new things every day, sentences ever-expanding and stubborn like nobody's business.

He loves to play with his Hotwheels (has 3 in hand at all times) and has enjoyed our many trips to the library this summer. He is amazingly good with books, even with the regular paper pages. I don't have to worry too much about him destroying the library books we check out. His favorite book this summer has been Pumpkin Town! Or, Nothing Is Better and Worse Than Pumpkins by Katie McKy. After the initial time we checked it out, we tried to get it again, but it has been out since June. I finally put in a request for it and now we plan on keeping it for at least a month by renewing it at return time.

His 2 year checkup in June went well except for the fact that he had fluid (not infected) in his left ear. He had also had fluid and an infection when we went to see the dr. in March.

Not knowing if the fluid had just stuck around all that time (this can cause hearing delays...and eventual infection), she told me this time to just watch for any ear-tugging or discomfort.

Well it finally came, just as I was reaching my breaking point on wondering if the fluid was still there...he got sick. The fever came and off to the dr. we went. He had ear infections. The dr. told me to go ahead and schedule him an appt. with an ENT to see what was going on. So that is the first thing on the agenda for tomorrow. We have to drive down to the medical center and see the ENT. They will do a hearing test and then he will see the dr. I do hope they tell me that he won't need tubes, but at least summer is almost over and we won't have the swimming/water in the ears problem to avoid so much.

As far as his growth, it is finally leveling out some, still a bit on the tall side, but weight is average...and as usual, a BIG head. More room for that big brain the dr. says. ;-)

Terry has been doing well. Been working hard to keep us out of the poor house. He and I have also been trying hard to watch our food portions. We're both doing pretty good with it, but he has been exercisely regularly and though the scale isn't showing a huge decrease, you can tell he has gained muscle mass and slimmed down considerably. I'm very proud of him. Just wish I had the energy to exercise as well.

Which brings us to what's up with me...I'm off to my first visit with my new primary care physician tomorrow afternoon. I'm having a complete physical done. Um, don't think I've had that done since I was in grade school. I'm also having her get me back on the thyroid medication that my gynocologist had prescribed back when I was having the menorrhagia problem. I do hope the medicine helps with many of the problems I've been having, including fatigue, concentration problems and hair loss. So Thursday will be our doctor day, for which Terry will be taking off to help me out. If you don't mind saying a little prayer that all comes out well in the end, I would appreciate it.

So summer is coming to an end and we have all enjoyed the family time we have gotten to spend together.

Hope you all have had and continue to have a wonderful summer!

Music Monday #6 ~ Star Wars fans only need apply

2010-08-02T08:47:00.002-05:00

Star Wars

Long time fan here.

An Ewok was the reason I now know that there is no Santa.

(sorry mom for snooping and finding that "From Santa" gift long before Christmas when I was 8 yrs old)

Anyway, I didn't have a lot of time to ~~research~~ look for videos on youtube for this post, so I thought I would share this awesome song with those of you who haven't seen it yet (and I know many have since this video has almost 10 MILLION views).

The song was originally created by Moosebutter who are kind of a parody/comedy singing troupe.

But this skinny kid named Corey Vidal came along and decided that he was going to recreate the original video.
Now the original contains four people singing four parts, but Corey "sung" (as in lip-synced) all four parts separately and put them together so that he looks like one of four identical quadruplets singing the song at the same time.

The music? Well, it was compiled from multiple songs...all by John Williams, the man who composed the scores for Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Jaws, etc.

The lyrics, created by Moosebutter, combined with John Williams' genius, makes for an amazing song...and funny to boot. You have to watch it a few times to pick up on the small nuances that give light to the Star Wars characters (listen especially close for Luke's part...so funny).

I loved this song enough to acquire the mp3 and put it on my ipod. Now Cecilia and I can belt it out in the car whenever we like. Good times.

Here is Corey Vidal's recreation of the Moosebutter song:

And if you're one of those types who likes to remain true to originals, here is the Moosebutter version:

I don't know about you, but I think Corey is much easier on the eyes than the Moosebutter guys...but I have to give credit where it's due and this group did an awesome job with this.

Have an amazing week and may the force be with you. =)

Music Monday #5 ~ Throwbacks

2010-07-26T14:52:00.002-05:00

Musical throwbacks.

What are they really?

The easiest way for me to explain it is that moment when you hear a song and you are instantly catapulted backwards through time and feel like you are listening to your parent's radio (or your own radio if you're old...haha).

I love me some throwbacks...and the better music these days (in MY opinion) has been taking task with reminding today's generation of the history of the stuff they call music now.

Rewinding memory to a day when rock and roll was groundbreaking and inspiring...that is an amazing feeling.

Today I will introduce you to some of my favorite throwbacks as of late.

And I assure you that all of these songs are from recent years and are NOT from the era that they sound...THAT is the coolest part of this music!

King Khan and the Shrines

I've been diggin' this group for a couple of years now.

I was amazed and intrigued by the fact that a current band could recreate this sound so well.

I'll let the music speak for itself now...
(and feel free to get up and dance if you like:)

Band of Skulls
A pretty recent addition to my collection.
As soon as I heard them I thought of my husband.
He is the throwback king.
He loves old garage rock, rockabilly, punk, etc.
He doesn't always dig my personal choices in artists, but he actually came home with this CD the day after I had him listen to it.
This is a great new band.
The have kind of a White Stripes sound.
But this song in particular made me think of another band from recent years called Wolfmother.
If you haven't heard of them and like this song, definitely check them out on youtube.
They have an old Led Zeppelin, late 60's/early 70's feel.
Love it.

She & Him
Before rock music went crazy in the mid 60's, it was sweet, polite and pleasant.
(if you don't believe me, check out the Beatles discography and see at what point all heck broke loose on their music)
This duo is so reminiscent of that innocent era, it's ridiculous.
And before you go racking your brain to figure out where you've seen that singer, I'll give you a hint:
Almost Famous...the kid's stewardess big sis?
Bridge to Terabithia...the music teacher?
Okay, so if no bells are going off, her name is Zooey Deschanel and yes, she is also an actress.
And who knew she had such a cool voice too?

Oh, and just so you don't get away from here without hearing an actual oldie, here is She & Him's version of "You Really Got a Hold on Me" (originally by The Miracles circa 1962).
(my apologies that the song cuts off at the end, but it was the best clip I could find)

Well, my friends, thanks for experiencing this flashback with me.
I do hope you'll join me on my next trip...no matter which direction in time or sound it takes us!

Music Monday #4 ~ Musicals

2010-07-19T15:48:00.000-05:00

Nothing...and I mean nothing...gets me like a good musical.

I'm a sing-a-long type of person AND I love movies.

(need I also say that I am a huge Gleek?)

So yeah, musicals are right up my alley.

I probably have musicals on the brain this week because my mom (the one who raised me on musicals) was generous enough to take Cecilia and I to see Wicked this past weekend.

I didn't know much about the storyline and hadn't heard any of the songs, aside from "Defying Gravity", beforehand.

Gotta say, it was impressive as a whole...though I don't think I'll be obsessing over the soundtrack of this one.

But I do have my particular musical obsessions.

There are those certain movies/musicals that I will sing along with until the day I die.

Today I will highlight a few.

The Rocky Horror Picture Show

Man how I love this one. This is probably the top of the heap for me.

Just this morning I was in the car on the way home from the grocery store belting this one out.

Glad my kids are used to listening to my loud singing.

Wonder how long it will be before the pre-teenager starts getting embarassed of me (or for me)...haha.

My favorite one to sing along to from this show:

Dancer in the Dark
I confess, I am a huge Bjork fan, ugly swan dress or not.
But what, pray tell, can get better than Bjork...singing...in a movie?
If you haven't seen this one, check it out.
I bawled my eyes out for the last half hour.
I felt like I had lost my best friend by the time it was over.
Quite embarassing doing this at the theater...but I honestly had no power over my emotions.
This clip is my absolute favorite part of the entire movie and was also the point at which I lost all control.
(a little backstory so that you'll understand the clip just a bit...in the movie, she is nearly blind and depends on sound to get through life (though no one else knows how blind she is). she is also obsessed with musicals and tends to hear music in everything.....SEE THIS MOVIE!)

Moulin Rouge
Beautifully done movie.
Great use of "modern day" songs/music in an old setting.
Awesome love story.
Best song of the whole show:

Jesus Christ Superstar
This was probably one of my first experiences with a real musical.
My mom and I listened to the album when I was small and we even were able to see it on stage at one point.
I understand that some find this musical sacreligious.
It is scripturally incorrect in many areas.
But what it doesn't miss and even sheds some much needed light upon is the fact that the followers of Jesus were just mortal men...same as you and I.
Most of the disciples went on to spread the Gospel of Jesus until their deaths and I can appreciate the value of that...but they were not perfect by any means and I am certain that they all had their weaknesses and doubts about their ministries at one point or another.

Judas...the traitorous one.
He was the epitome of the "manhood" of the disciples.
Human nature is sinful and selfish and Judas had a hard time letting that go as a disciple of Jesus was called to do.
This song opens the musical with a taste of that humanity.
I do not agree with the things he states, but I do understand that as a sinful man he had these concerns and doubts about where Jesus was leading them.
Judas' life (and end) should be an example of what sin can do to us.
We must have faith, dear friends, that God's path is the most secure one.

(oh, and Carl Anderson, as Judas, has a magnificent voice!)

Thanks again for lending an ear to my musical opinions.
If there is a musical subject or genre you would like me to cover at some point, please let me know.
Have a wonderful week!

The Photo Shoot

2010-07-13T09:52:00.000-05:00

We were able to participate in our first official non-studio photo shoot this past weekend.
(It was hot, humid, and the mosquitos were aplenty. 7 bites on Jude, 14 on Cecilia...none on me. How does that happen? Anyway, my fault for not bringing the OFF.)

The photographer, Brandi Hendrix, is

so sweet

so patient

so cooperative

and

so talented.

She's still working on editing them all, but has given me access to the ones that she has completed.

Some of my favs...

And I thought this one was funny because it's such a normal scene around here...Jude running away while Cecilia looks frustrated.

Here's the link to the rest of them:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandihernandez/sets/72157624477972896/

She will be adding more as she gets them edited...so check back if you like!

Music Monday #3 ~ My iTunes Top 5

2010-07-12T10:33:00.003-05:00

We don't have cable or satellite TV at our house (yep...bunny ears and a converter box for us), but from what I recall from experience at my mom's house, you can have hundreds of channels at your disposal and still can find NOTHING to watch.

This is how things are with my iPod sometimes.

I have 1350+ songs in this tiny, handheld device and there are times when I will flip through songs for 5 minutes straight until I find something I feel like listening to.

I have whittled down my collection too...meaning that I have eliminated all those songs from each album that I either don't like or am ambivalent towards.

But like on TV when you always end up watching reruns of your favorite shows when all else fails, I always end up listening to the same songs over and over.

These are the songs that I will almost never skip past.

The iTunes library lets you sort out your songs however you choose and this is my top 5 according to "play count".

Now some may find it odd that some of my long time "favorite" artists aren't even in this list...come to think of it, I find it odd as well. But it is what it is...and my favorites are slowly evolving I guess.

So here goes...

My iTunes Top 5

Way to Blue ~ Nick Drake

This isn't the original album version, but is from the collection released by his sister a few years ago of his personal home recordings. I do absolutely love this version much more than the original.

(i was unable to embed the video here, so you will have to use the link to watch)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S40DdlD9JxI

Lonelily ~ Damien Rice

I was privileged enough to see Damien Rice in concert in a small setting and it was the most amazing show I have ever seen (this can only be said when you are actually moved to tears during a concert).
Then to top it all off, Terry and I stalked Damien down in the freezing cold in the parking lot afterwards while he talked on the phone. When his call ended, Terry got out of our car and got him to autograph my CD. He even drew a little picture of a person flying a kite. So cool...

#3
Famous Last Words ~ My Chemical Romance
An epic song to end an epic album. Don't know why this album appeals to me so much, but I love it from beginning to end...and it may be the only album I can say that about.

#2
We Are Going To Be Friends ~ The White Stripes
Such a sweet little song...and the only song I have ever attempted to play on a guitar.
(not that I ever really figured it out...not knowing how to play the guitar and all)

#1
First Day of My Life ~ Bright Eyes
Okay, so this was the first time that I actually watched this video and by the end I was in tears.
Guess I was just feelin' the love, so to speak.
Love the concept of this video especially since this is one of mine and Terry's songs.
Amazing song.
Enjoy.

Music Monday #2 ~ July 4th Edition

2010-07-05T10:39:00.001-05:00

I don't have a lot of time to write today since my husband is home for the holiday and we will be enjoying the last day of his extended weekend together.

I did though want to share this awesome video that I saw a while back (last year maybe?) and hope it will inspire you to grow closer with the history, people and nature that make up this great country of ours.

Remember...being a citizen of the United States of America gives you responsibility to uphold the ideals upon which the country was built.

God Bless America!

(Video courtesy http://www.bornagainamerican.org/ )

Music Monday #1

2010-06-28T09:02:00.000-05:00

It's been over 2 weeks since my last post and that really irritates me.

As much as I like sharing pics from our events, I really don't want that to be all this blog is about.

Also...this is MY blog...and as much as I love my children and husband, there are still a few scraps of my identity left to be found at this time.

So about a week or two ago an idea popped into my head that I felt might help me be at least a little more consistent about posting and at the same time share a bit of myself with whoever decides to read this.

Music

This has always been a great love of mine.

And it doesn't really matter what type of music it is...it just has to be right with either my ears, heart or mind.

So each week I will highlight a song that I love

or may have just piqued (yes that is the correct spelling...i looked it up:) my interest.

Regina Spektor.

She is a more recent love of mine.

She has this brilliant voice with which she enjoys being experimental and even, at times, silly.
You can tell that she knows her voice and loves it.
And I love it.

I have quoted this song before on my blog.
It has some wonderfully heartfelt and profound lyrics along with some goofy ones.

Oh, and Jude calls it the "uh oh radio song".
(you'll see why at about 2:40 in the video)

"On the Radio" by Regina Spektor

Well, I hope you enjoyed the song as much as I do.
And if not, my apologies, but try again next week, as my musical tastes do vary quite a bit and you never know what you're gonna get!

Have a wonderful week!

One-Ingredient Ice Cream???

2010-06-11T12:31:00.010-05:00

I just met the most amazing food today.

If you know me, then you know that I am a huge sucker for ice cream.
I blame my dad for this.
Can I help it if I was a daddy's girl?
Can I help it if the strongest bonding memories I have of him as a child were made over bowls of Blue Bell?

Well if you also know me, you know that I am not skinny.
There, I said it.
I'm a fat girl who loves ice cream.
And the only "healthy" ice cream I have ever found that I liked was an amazing sugar-free strawberry version put out by Kroger.

But guess what?
They discontinued it.

Nice.

So despite my best efforts, Blue Bell has found its way back into my house time and again over the years....and the weight has found its way back too.
(can't blame it ALL on ice cream...but it's the biggest offender in my opinion)
So when I read an article about a one-ingredient ice cream...that was healthy...I was all ears.

So here goes folks...

If you love cold desserts

If you can't eat dairy

If you love EASY foods

Have I got a treat for YOU!

This amazing bowl of sweet, cool, creaminess

made

from

one

ingredient:

BANANAS

I'm not kidding.

I made it today and it was absolutely delicious!
The directions to make it were found here.
The cool thing about this is that you can add little things like chocolate chips or a tablespoon of peanut butter and it doesn't hurt the calorie count too badly.
Plus...the PB adds protein!
Just remember that you need to use those overripe bananas that you are about to toss in the trash.
I've got 3 trash-worthy bananas headed to the freezer right now.

Give it a try.

I dare you.

You'll thank me...I swear.

Terribly Terrific Two!

2010-06-10T09:27:00.007-05:00

It's Jude's day!

He won't officially be 2 until later tonight, but as I recall, this whole day 2 years ago was about him.

I was scheduled to be induced on June 10, 2008

This is me the night before...

...and the last night that he was in my belly.
The next night, after a lot of pain, drugs and ultimately, surgery, I was finally holding my son.

He was beautiful

He was BIG

He was ours

I just wanted to stare at him all day long

To soak up the miracle of this gift

Though I knew from experience that the next few months were NOT going to be easy...

But he was still my precious child and I fell in love all over again

And now...

He is 2 years old.

How does 2 years go by so fast?

Now he is a...

...happy...

...active...

...curious...

...little boy.

And I feel so blessed to be a mother.

Happy 2nd Birthday Jude!

Jude's Birthday Party

2010-06-09T12:39:00.009-05:00

Tomorrow Jude turns 2 years old.

We celebrated his birthday with friends and family this past weekend.

We had a wonderful time and Jude received some really cool gifts.

We are so grateful to have such awesome people in our lives.

Here are some pics from the party...

We were only able to hang out outside for a short time as the weather was just unbearably hot and humid. Here is Jude entertaining two of my oldest friends, Michael and Scott.

Scott is also Jude's Godfather.

My mom braving the heat to push our friend Michelle's daughter, Morgan, on the swing

And my dad chatting away with Michelle

Jude enjoyed opening his presents.

He tried to hop out of Terry's lap after every gift so that he could play with it.

Then it was time for "Happy Birthday" singing and candle-blowing...

(awesome shirt courtesy of Astrid, who sadly couldn't come to the party)

Time to eat the cake and ice cream!

Afterwards we played some more.

Here, Jude is playing cars with his great-grandma (Gigi)

And showing his new bed (thanks Nana & Paw-Paw!) to Morgan

And a quick pose with Grandad (the hat coincidentally matched his shirt)

When the older kids got bored with the toys, they pulled out their DS systems.

And although he is pouting here because we wouldn't let him play in his sandbox, he is still my precious little guy.

Just one more day...

Catching up...

2010-06-08T08:58:00.008-05:00

Whew! I've spent the past week or two getting ready for Jude's birthday party last weekend and am way behind on pics I wanted to post...so I'll just start catching up this week as I can.

Two weekends ago we took a trip to the beach. Gotta love Galveston. Gotta have even more love for Galveston after all it went through almost 2 years ago during Hurricane Ike. It was definitely a bittersweet reunion for me as I haven't been there in a few years anyway. Seeing places I've known my whole life and then NOT seeing places that I've seen my whole life was completely surreal. The hurricane completely erased some memorable spots from the landscape but it was nice to see that a lot has been and is still being rebuilt.
Anyway, this was Jude's first time at the beach and the first time that Terry had been there with us since Cecilia was a pre-schooler.

Here's a comparison of pictures I took the first and last times Terry came to the beach with us:

The other big change between then and now is the addition of this little guy....

...who absolutely loved the beach and had no fear of the water by the time we left.

Although I was more scared than usual of the water after my encounter with one of these guys swimming just a foot or so behind me...

Yeah, that's a stingray...and there were several of them.

I spent a long time trying to catch one on video and had finally given up and started packing up for us to leave when this one showed up:

Yes, I'm chasing it down...but it made for a cool video!

We actually saw lots of wildlife while were there (besides the kids). There were crabs of all shapes and sizes, tiny mollusk things, gulls, brown pelicans that were dive-bombing the fish and, of course, the stingrays.

We had such a great time there. I do hope to do it again sometime this summer. We had to drag the kids away from the beach, so I'm sure they'll be up for it if we do!

Here are some more pics from our day...

Tomorrow I will post about Jude's birthday party.

He will be 2 this week!

Time definitely flies when you're having fun!!

Wow...

2010-05-27T14:07:00.002-05:00

Do you see what I mean about her growing up??

This was taken on the first day of 5th grade back at the end of August:

And this was taken this morning...the LAST day of 5th grade:

I don't know how much difference you see, but I see a baby in the first picture and a young lady in the second.

A 9-month school year...that's all it took.

Definitely gotta hold on to those babies for as long as possible.

They don't stay babies for long enough.

She's a big girl now...

2010-05-13T07:52:00.013-05:00

My Cecilia.

The relationship between the two of us is a complicated one that no one (not even us at times) can truly understand or explain. I will refrain from trying to expand on the past too much or delve too deeply into the psychological ramifications of our complicated-ness. But one thing I will share is that from the time she was born, I knew she was something special.

Yeah, yeah...I know what you're thinking...all moms think their kid is special.
No, really, she was different.
Something about her and the way even complete strangers reacted to her told me that she was destined for more than the average Joe...or Jane in this case.

She and I have had our trying times over the years. Seriously trying.
There have literally been times where I was certain that one of us wasn't going to make it to see another day.
I was either going to die from irritation/stress/anger or I was going to strangle her.

Either she and I are completely opposite or we are exactly alike...I'm still not sure yet.
Sometimes I think it's some of both, if that's possible.
Whichever it is, it causes A LOT of heartache and even more laughter.

She is an amazing child.
And I don't give her enough credit.
But I do feel that in this day and age of feel-good parenting, it is my duty to keep her ego and attitude in check.
I am fed up with this generation of children who have no sense of what it means to be humble, grateful or considerate.
I figure that if I can instill those 3 things in her along with a strong faith in Jesus Christ, everything else will just fall into place.
So I make sure that she knows I'm aware of her capabilities, but that it's up to her to do the right thing with them.
Kind of reminds me of the Spider-man catchphrase "With great power comes great responsibility". =)

I have always been eager to see her move on to the next level.
I couldn't wait for her to talk, to walk, to go to kindergarten, etc.
I just knew that she would do great things and I wanted her to hurry up and get there.

But in 2 weeks her elementary years will be over and my daughter will be moving on to a new chapter in her life: junior high.

Scary.
Madness.
Growing up.

The biggest road bump in life is in her very near future.
In my mind, the next 6-8 years can and will determine the rest of her life.
The choices she makes, the friends she acquires, the projects she undertakes.
She can do it right or she can do it wrong.
I just pray that I have instilled enough good judgement in her that she does it right...or some variation of right.

So flippin' scary.

But it's all in God's hands.
I can't control her life.
I made a promise to raise her as a child of God at her baptism and I have to remember that she is HIS child even more than she is mine.

Worry is a sin.
I have to remember that.

I pray that I can remember that she IS amazing and all of this will be for something greater with God's help.

So let's move on to some of her wonderful achievements as of late.
We have spent a lot of time in the past couple of weeks attending her events.

The National Honor Society decided to add into its ranks the exceptional 3rd-5th graders.
Cecilia is now a charter member of the National Elementary Honor Society.
Qualification was based not only on their grades (average of 95 or higher for 2 previous semesters) but also on their participation in activities that allowed them to give back to their families, schools and communities.

It was really neat to see the kids read the oath, get pinned and sign the roll book showing that they are now charter members of the society.

Cecilia and Mrs. Ward, the principal

The 2010 charter chapter of the National Elementary Honor Society

The next event was her honor choir concert.

This was the 10 best choir members of each of the 8 elementary school in the district.

It was a wonderful concert and all of them did so well.

They were actually taught parts for the songs for a change. Much more advanced stuff.

Below is a shot of the entire choir. Her school is wearing the blue shirts to the far right.

Afterwards we attempted to get a few pics...Jude wasn't cooperating.

The last of recent events was her school's choir concert Tuesday night.

It was dedicated to the memory of Mrs. Tarver, the school's music teacher of 27 yrs who passed away from cancer in December.

The concert was one that she had arranged for a show a few years back and the new teacher thought it would be nice to use it this year. They even sang a song that was accompanied by a recording of Mrs. Tarver playing piano.

Here is Cecilia and her good friend Allison singing

After the concert they dedicated a windchime in Mrs. Tarver's memory so that there will always be music at the school even though she is gone. Her husband hung the chime.

Cecilia's Nana and Paw-Paw were sure to attend all of these events.

We are all so proud of her.

Next week she heads to Huntsville for the Regional Scrabble Tournament.

I'll post the results of that afterwards.

I won't be going with her, so let's pray for a safe trip for all.

So here's to my beautiful, wonderful, hilarious, talented baby.

Her first steps were amazing...but this next step is terrifying.

My Cecilia.

There's no place like home...

2010-04-27T07:55:00.006-05:00

So after spending our weekend getaway in EXCITING Austin, we quickly got back into our normal routine.

During this time of the year that means a lot of time spent outside.

This past weekend we washed cars, picked a few blackberries and spent some time with Grandad Morgan.

Jude impresses me almost every day with how fast he's growing up!

He even helped out with the car washing...well tire scrubbing anyway, since that's all he can really reach! =)

The big boy helping out daddy

And helping himself out to some bubbles...he splashed all the bubbles out of my bucket while I was washing my car!

Later that evening, Grandad came over so that we could go out for dinner and then we came back and spent some more time outside.

They were all being so silly!

Here they were chasing each other around in a circle on the driveway.

The kids were cracking up the whole time!

Attempted to get a shot of Terry and me...but the sun was on our faces...eh...not so good.

These flowers are at least 2 to 3 times bigger than they were last year!

I think all of the winter rain helped with the flower and berry populations around here.

It was a great family weekend that left my goofballs jumping for joy...

Enjoy your week and your family!

Vacation??

2010-04-19T07:10:00.013-05:00

A wonderful weekend spent here

(that's Vegas by the way)

Frolicking, playing, and having a fabulous time away from monotony of real life

under beautiful, sunny skies

Awesome isn't it?

If you're my parents....

Not us.

No.

We spent our "vacation" here

(that's Austin, TX by the way...a few hours up the road)

Frolicking...not really.

Playing...maybe a bit.

Time away from monotony...only briefly.

Under sunny skies?

Um...no.

This was our view for a good chunk of the trip.

But WHY?

Why were my parents in Vegas while we were in Austin?

Because they are old enough to be able to enjoy those sort of trips without having to worry about the added responsibility of taking children along.

And we will probably be their age before we can afford a trip like that anyway.

No, spending one night in Austin was about as much as we can financially stretch these days since I quit working to take care of Jude.

But there was a reason for our going to Austin.

Cecilia

Her 5th grade GT class was given the assignment at the beginning of the school year to come up with a community project that would be both a challenge for them and would be something that the school would be able to maintain for years to come. It would also have to help to fill a need in the community.

So after some debate, the group agreed upon the creation of a school clothes closet.

They would promote their project at school and in the community and receive used clothing that would then be sorted by them and dispersed as the need arose.

Not only has their project given to children in need at their own school, but they have also given to county services as well from what I understand.

Cecilia came up with the name of their project:

Wear-A-Smile

Because not only can the recipients now wear a smile along with their "new" clothes, but the givers can also wear a smile because of their ability to help others.

The project was then submitted by the GT teacher, Mrs. Simpson, to the Texas Future Problem Solving Program for review for an award.

The project placed first in the Human Services division.

And that is why we were in Austin...so that the group could be recognized and given their awards.

They had a bit of a "fair" set up before the awards so that everyone could see each other's projects. The groups ranged in age from 5th graders to high school.

The kids had to stand by their display and explain their project to anyone who stopped by.

There were about 15 kids who worked on the project, but these are the 7 that were able to attend the awards ceremony (wearing their handmade shirts)

Here they are being recognized and receiving their medals

We are so proud of her, not only for being a part of this, but for taking such an active role in it.

She not only named it, but also wrote a skit that was performed on the morning video announcements. She has realized just how much she enjoys being a leader.

I hope she continues to be a leader for the rest of her lifetime.

Back to Austin...

Terry and I spent many days hanging out in Austin...B.C. (before children).

We would go to record conventions and dig through record stores.

And we ALWAYS made time to eat at Threadgill's

If you've never heard of it...you should read a bit about it's history.

This is the place where Janis Joplin got her start.

And before they recently remodeled it, they had a table set up on the tiny stage where she stood and performed. I ate at that table once. Amazing.

Anyway, we did eat at Threadgill's and we did check out one record store this weekend because it was "Record Store Day" on Saturday.

But the days where we can spend hours scouring through old records and current CD's are on hold. The children (at this point) have no patience or appreciation for stinky old vinyl.

And during our drive around Austin it was nothing but nasty blah rain.

We were kind of glad to head back east towards home where it wasn't raining as much.

We also had yet to accomplish my goal of snapping some pics of the kids in the bluebonnets.

So we TRIED to do this on the way home.

The problem was that once we finally found a good spot to stop, Jude had already been asleep for a while.

And we had to wake him up.

Yeah...he can be quite grumpy if he wakes before he's ready to.

He would not partake in any of the flower-ness.

So this is what I got from him...

A bit calmer in Terry's lap, but still wouldn't get down in the flowers.

I did get a good one of Cecilia at least

Oh well, maybe next year there will be TWO smiling children sitting in these beautiful flowers

And despite the weather's best efforts to ruin our weekend, I think that we all had a pretty good time overall. We got to spend some quality time together and everyone came through it safely.
What more could I ask for?

(well, maybe a weekend excursion with my husband to Vegas would be nice :)

Another Beautiful Easter!

2010-04-05T13:30:00.019-05:00

Jesus Christ is risen!!

Through His death and resurrection we are forgiven and have received the gift of eternal life!

Nothing I do can take that gift of pure love away from me and for this reason I consider the celebration of Easter to be the most special day of the year.

Like most years, we spent almost every waking moment of Easter Sunday preparing for and celebrating Jesus' resurrection.

I took LOTS of pics this weekend....170 by my camera's count...so bear with me.

And though I would love to share every single one, I don't think you want to stare at pictures all day. =)

So we'll start with Saturday evening.

We had to prepare the Easter eggs for our egg hunt at home on Sunday.

Terry and I both loved doing this as children and so it's something we will do with our kids for as long as they'll take part.

Jude did a lot more "helping" this year by putting eggs in and even drawing on his own eggs.

Both of the kids had a lot of fun with the egg dying.

Here we are at the beginning...lots of clean white eggs and every Fiesta mug we have!

You know they dye faster if you stare at them, right? =)

Jude LOVES pumpkins...well, drawings of them anyway. So we made sure to create a "pumpkin egg" for him. When he found it during the egg hunt, he held it in his hand the whole time until his hand was completely orange!

Our colorful creations!

Terry had fun drawing on some of the eggs

Cecilia made some of the girliest eggs I've ever seen!

Jude is pointing out the egg with his name on it

So after a short rest (I was up at 5 a.m. to get ready for church), the kids got up to see what the Easter bunny brought them. I'd say they did pretty well!

Then we were off to church for Easter breakfast before the service. My parents and my grandmother (90 years and counting!) go to our church as well and we enjoyed the morning with them.

My mom and dad with the kids

After breakfast, it was time for the kids to hunt eggs....except that it had rained earlier in the morning, so they had to settle for just picking up eggs off the floor. This happened last year too. Hope next year is dry!

The church service was as beautiful as ever, but I didn't get to take any pics in the church this year.

After church we all went to eat lunch at Olive Garden.

During lunch Cecilia received her gift from from all of us...a necklace and cross from James Avery. She really loved it.

Pics of the family at lunch...yes, I was there...but always behind the camera!

After lunch we headed home for a little rest and then Terry's dad came over to see the kids while they hunted eggs.

For the fist 18 years of my life I attended a predominately Hispanic church and always enjoyed the traditions that the culture brought to Christian celebrations. One of my favorite memories of Easter at my old church was making and breaking confetti eggs.

Everyone at church got into the fun and reveled in the wonderful celebration of the day.

Well....my current church is NOT predominately Hispanic. Let's just say that most members are a bit more "reserved". A few years back, my mom and I thought it would be great fun to bring some confetti eggs to church for old times sake. Hmmm...the confetti didn't go off so well with the gringos. Haha! But really, it's just a culture difference. German Lutherans aren't known for their flamboyance and spontaneity now are they?

So this year I kept the confettiness at home and busted a few on the family.

And yes...they got me too.

We all had lots of fun this Easter Sunday and enjoyed the wonderful time with our families and each other.

Happy Easter!

Hope yours was as beautiful as ours.
(My wish may be a day late, but Jesus' great gift is an eternal one and should be cherished EVERY day of the year!)

The Terrificly Terrible Twos

2010-04-02T22:36:00.009-05:00

So imagine that you are a little boy who is nearing the ripe ol' age of 2.

What do you think life is like?
Can you imagine what might be going through your head?

Not too long ago I read that the phrase "terrible twos" is really a misnomer.

Even the man who wrote the book that coined the phrase has since regretted placing that label on those specific children.

You've all heard someone say (or have said it yourself) about a child: "they sure are starting those terrible twos early!". And then you have the parents who are baffled (and beyond frustrated) by the fact that their child is seemingly NEVER going to grow out of their terrible twos (You will still hear me say from time to time that my 11 yr old began the phase around 18 months and STILL hasn't grown out of it :).

Anyway, the reality is that this "terrible" phase usually begins around 18 months and can extend through ages 3, 4 and sometimes longer depending on the tenacity of the child.

Why is it terrible? Because for a year and a half you have had this precious, malleable, scrumptious little ball of perfection in your hands, rarely putting up a fight and always ready to warm your spirits with a simple smile.

Then the terribleness starts....why oh why do they need to be independent???? Oh yeah, because we don't want them living in our homes forever.

So this new desire for independence, identity, etc., comes with a catch: we have to live with buttheads for a few years. Oh come on, you know you've thought it at least once. And I don't use that word as a derogatory term...to me it simply refers to someone who will have things no other way but their own. And that, my dears, is the essence of a toddler....

So why all the "terrible" talk?

Because my little Judie Patootie has recently started to really show his age.

He has learned how to manipulate his screams so that every time he is the least bit displeased, you would think that he has actually just had his arm amputated sans anesthesia.

Or his need to have a specific toy in his hand the entire day (God forbid you should ask him to put it down)...even if it means that it will cause his falls to be worse because the hand that would have caught him was filled.

Or discovering all those drawers that you had hoped would remain invisible to him...and then emptying those drawers out repeatedly.

Does a toddler know how to get your attention or what?

But there is always the "other hand".

These times are also the most amazing. The most exciting.

They are learning EVERYTHING!

Everything they will need to know for life is being learned right now.

How to eat on their own

How to remove/put on their clothes

How to use their manners

How to use the toilet (eventually!)

How to speak correctly

This list is endless really.

And so at the end of the day, when you've finally gotten the goofy kid off to bed and you're hopefully left with a quiet house, you can reflect back on the cool things that he has done today and anticipate the wonderful things that he will do tomorrow.

And just think...not only is he painstakingly working his way towards bigger and better things, he is also molding YOU into a better parent.

Truly, no good thing comes without a cost.

Here are some recent pics of my terribly terrific Jude doing the things he loves most

(and always with something in hand)

Can I trade noses with you please?

2010-03-22T22:58:00.006-05:00

UGH.
That's all I can say today.
My head/nose/face are screaming for relief.
I don't think I have ever not liked the spring season until now, but the weather changes, pollen and spring cleaning dust have culminated into a disaster for my sinuses.
I don't typically suffer much from allergies, just an occasional stuffy nose.

But today...it seriously feels like I have been snorting lines of black pepper.

Every mucus lining in my head and mouth is burning and I have been producing these crazy screaming sneezes every few minutes that make anyone within a 100 ft. radius jump out of their skin.

Yeah...so due to this unforeseen blahness...you will get no interesting blog from me...just a few pics of some of the causes of said blahness.

A bloom from my tulip tree

That's my footprint...in pollen.

The little one trying his darnedest to end up like me.

Let's just hope this crud goes as quickly as it came so that I can actually enjoy the beauty of springtime.

Camera Play

2010-03-04T08:58:00.007-06:00

So I've had my Nikon camera for 7 months or so now and I really wish I could figure out how to use it the "right way". By that I mean that I wish I could learn how to use it in "manual" mode.

I want to learn how to play with the focus and lighting and such, and I've read up on how to start doing this, but I think I just need someone to put their hands on the camera and SHOW me what it all means. Until then, I think my pictures will not be nearly as good as they could be, but even so, I still think the camera, even on automatic settings, takes great photos.

I figured that today I would showcase some of the shots I have gotten when I've just been playing with perspective and detail. I love how a good camera can really preserve the fleeting beauty of a moment or detail of nature.

Aside from the black & white one, all of the pictures are straight from the camera and "untouched". As much as I love to play around with a picture, I think I appreciate a natural picture even more.

Enjoy the pics!

Have questions about any of the pictures (what they are and such)?

Just leave a comment and ask!

This is what happens when it snows on a Texas boy...

2010-02-25T07:55:00.002-06:00

How do you annoy me? Let me count the ways...

2010-02-22T10:41:00.009-06:00

Ah...annoyances.

Part of everyday life, huh?

Being a stay-at-home-mom has really rid my life of a lot of the working world annoyances such as traffic, bad drivers, bosses (some, not all), etc.

But every person, no matter what their life situation may be, has SOME annoyances.

So I thought I would expand on 3 of my everyday peeves, annoyances, irritations (you get the picture)...if only to be able to look back on and see if they still bother me in the future.

**DISCLAIMER**

I have no intent of purposefully offending anyone with my post. All opinions are solely my own and do not necessarily reflect the views of anyone related to or associated with me.

Besides, in truth, I cannot cause you to be offended. Only YOU can choose to be offended. Keep that in mind for future incidences also. So if you don't think you can control your ability to not be offended, just hit that back button and go back where you came from. =)

3 THINGS THAT ANNOY ME

1. Let me start with a simple one...bad spelling.

I will be the first one to admit that I am not the world's best speller and for that you can refer to my unsuccessful attempts in city-wide spelling bees and constant usage of spellcheck.

I am a simple girl and don't typically use huge words in my vocabulary, but I try to do my best to make sure when I am typing something out, that I quickly check over it to see if I've misspelled anything. Yes, things slip by every once in a while (like when my mom called me to tell me that I had accidentally typed "whole" in my blog when I meant "hole").

Yeah, so I'm anal about things like that and fixed the mistake instantly.

But here's my real pet peeve...typing "there" when you mean "their", or "loose" when you mean "lose". It can seriously make a person loose there mind!! =P

Do you see how awful that looks...how ignorant?

Now I have full sympathy for those whose first language isn't English, because as I was told many years ago, English is THE HARDEST language to learn...so many exceptions to the rules, so many strangely spelled words and homonyms.

The annoyance comes in when I know that these people were born and raised in this country and have had the same education as others.

Yeah, maybe it's a stupid thing to be bothered by, but I just wish more people would be a little less lazy with their language skills and at least strive to TYPE intelligently.

2. Grocery store sackers

The sackers, baggers, whatever you want to call them...I swear they are out to get my groceries!!

I am seriously wondering if they even train these people anymore.

I have full appreciation for grocery store workers in general, as I did my time for 8 months as a cashier with a large grocery store chain...but please tell me that common sense in our youth these days isn't going the way of the dodo bird.

For example:

Let's see just how many cans I can fit into this micro-thin plastic bag...I mean, all cans go together, right?

You really want your sweaty milk jug in a bag? You mean you don't like having to rinse dirt and carpet fuzz off of the jug before placing it in your fridge?

Oh, and my groceries always come home completely violated when the "nothing better to do" sackers gang up on my groceries and 3 of them plus the cashier are tossing things recklessy into bags and no one knows what's going where and you end up with at least 4 bags with only 1 thing in them.

Ugh...I just want to tell them to move and let me do it myself!

Which leads me to THE WORST incident I've ever had with a sacker/cashier.

I was shopping alone and my unresponsive lump of a cashier was just a delight to stare at as she blankly tossed my groceries to the other end of the conveyor belt. But her sacker was even more lovely...especially when she finished sacking my groceries, loaded half of them in the cart and just walked away. So I'm just standing there trying to figure out what has happened and expect my cashier to finish up the job...but what does she do? She turns her back to the groceries and waits for ME to clear the rest of my stuff out of the way so that she can get on to the next customer in line. I should have loudly thanked her for her help as I walked away or as my mom suggested, "raised hell" with the manager, but I just took my things and left. For I'm certain that even if I had raised Beelzebub himself in the middle of H.E.B., it would do nothing to change the lazy minds and attitudes of people like these.

I will not include all grocery store workers in this rant because I have worked with and had some wonderful people help me in the past, but they are becoming a rarity in recent years.

Shall I add better customer service in the world to my prayers?

3. Selling dogs on the side of the road

This one gets me every time.

My first instinct when I see those puppies sitting in their crates just feet from the asphalt is to pull over and take every one of them home.

I am a sucker for puppies and kittens...well most any furry animal actually and I hate to see those babies being pawned by breeders like any other roadside junk such as ceramic pots and lawn statues.

But up to this point, I have never taken home an armful of puppies purely because of the amount of money being requested for these animals.

Then there is annoyance of just how many of these sellers there are around here! On any given weekend when the weather is nice, you are sure to find at least half a dozen types of dogs being sold in a one mile stretch of road near my home.

AKC this...purebred that...it's just nonsense.

How is a purebred animal's life any more valuable than the lives of the beloved mutts that I owned as a child? Not to mention the fact that purebreds typically aren't nearly as hardy as mutts are.

I know that in some cases this is how these breeders make a living...but at what expense? Making more dogs just for profit when our rescue operations and shelters are full of "unwanted" animals? I truly find that cruel and heartless.

Please don't get me wrong, I am definitely no PETA member and don't believe that an animal's life should be placed above a human's.

(Of course, I'll do anything I can to avoid hitting an animal with my car...which in my husband's opinion means that I would have us all killed while trying to not hit a squirrel...which is NOT the case...I had complete control of the car. =P)

But animals do have a purpose...food, work, companionship, etc.

And I could understand the breeding of these dogs if they did a specific job that no other type of animal could do or if there were a shortage of companion dogs...but I'm pretty sure that this is not the case.

I think the phrase that most applies in this case is "Waste not, want not".

Life is a precious thing...most definitely for humans, but also for all of God's creatures.

Anyway, if you have read this far and still don't detest me....thanks.

I know some of the things that bother me may seem trivial, but in reality they are all just symptoms of a bigger problem...one that won't go away...sin.

Laziness, disregard for others, greed, devaluing life...these things have always been there, but seem to be more steadily taking over.

It's part of human nature to do these things...which is why we can't let what "feels natural" guide our lives...or we'll end up a bunch of misspelling, lazy-sacking dog-sellers!

'Til we meet again...

The FIRST Haircut

2010-02-18T09:04:00.016-06:00

Yeah, I know...some have been wondering when we were gonna get my hippie kid's hair cut finally.

Well let's just say that cutting off some of the sweetest strawberry-blonde ringlets you've ever seen was not an easy task. Most people never got to see just how precious they were since they looked best just after a bath or if I wet them. But as soon as we got in the car to go anywhere, those curls would get crazy messed up in his car seat and therefore most only saw the blah version of his hair.

Here's proof of some of those curls...

But when you see this...

...and this...

...all of that gorgeous hair in it's perfectly uncut and natural glory...

...you HAVE to admit that interfering with that beauty has to be difficult for a mother.

But Jude isn't a girl and I can't let his hair grow out indefinitely...especially since the back of his hair tends to be thicker and longer than the top, ending up with a mullety type thing. AND we live in an area that has strict rules for boys' haircuts once entering school.

So we decided that it was time.

And we would only trust the first cut to the woman that has been cutting Terry's hair (and sometimes mine) for years. She is the highest level cutter at the salon and though we paid much more than anyone should for a toddler's 5-minute haircut, we thought it was worth it for this first time around.

So he wasn't gung-ho about the cape and ripped it off immediately. Then he didn't want to stay in the seat. But like in every other situation where he doesn't want to do something that we want him to do, we just distracted him long enough to make it happen. Fortunately, since it was Fat Tuesday, there were Mardi Gras beads available for distraction. That pretty much did the trick.

So now he looks more like a boy. I obviously didn't let her cut too much off. I do still like the long, shaggy look. But I would like to avoid the comments in stores about the cute "little girl" I'm pushing around in the cart...despite the unmistakably boy outfits he wears.

So, aside from the rocky start with the haircut, he ended up doing pretty well overall. And they gave us a cute little "first haircut" certificate with a tiny bag to hold clippings of his hair.

I held out for over 20 months. It's hard to cut such beautiful hair unless it's necessary...something I think my mom (regarding my hair) and in the case of little boys, Astrid, can completely relate to.

On a totally unrelated note, I have to share Jude's newest development. He has some bristle blocks that he received for Christmas and until now, his interaction with them has usually been limited to watching us build things for him. But for the past few days, I have seen him sit for 15-20 mins or more at a time BUILDING things! He has so much patience with his creations...something I've also noticed while playing with his Mr. Potato Heads (yes, I said heads...as in 3...he has THREE...talk to my husband). But he will sit there and put them together and take them apart and put them together again. My daughter could never sit with something for that long when she was a toddler. She had no patience for such things. Shoot...neither did I. This is something new that I've seen mostly in boys while teaching pre-school. They will sit there with Lego blocks or something similar and just build...over and over again...and some of the most creative things ever at times! I was/am in awe of this behavior. And I'm so glad and amazed to see Jude already devising plans in his head and manipulating things to create something.

This morning though was the first time he made something that was SOMETHING and he knew it! He was sitting there for the longest time playing with those bristle blocks and then all of a sudden came running up to me with his creation...proudly announcing to me "BOAT!". I laughed with excitement for him...for it truly looked like a boat!

So proud of this little boat...

...and this little guy.

Awesome Giveaway!

2010-02-11T07:30:00.003-06:00

No, it's not something being given away by me, but it's a giveaway I just stumbled upon.

A local professional photographer who does beautiful work is giving away a free photo session!

I have been SO wanting to have my kids do something like this, but these sessions just cost much more than we're able to afford.
To sign up for the giveaway or just to see her work, go HERE.

For Dad...

2010-02-09T11:09:00.019-06:00

You know you are blessed when although you live half an hour away from your parents and usually see them at least once a week, you still get bugged by your dad to update your blog more. =)

You see, being an only child has given me the greatest gift of having parents that are fully attentive to my needs, dreams and day to day boring activities.

But really, what more could I ask for? I am truly grateful that I have two wonderful parents who care what is going on in my life and are willing to drop everything in their lives to help me when needed and offer advice when it is sought. Yes, sometimes the advice does come unsolicited...but it is always sincere and full of good intention and wisdom.So while talking to my mom a bit ago about her surprise Elvis scarf that arrived in the mail for her birthday today (Happy Birthday Ma!), she mentioned that my dad was anxiously awaiting my next blog update. Well, this daddy's girl certainly doesn't want to disappoint. =)

So what's been going on? Well, lots.

There's been the usual occurances of Cecilia drawing and Jude wanting to do everything with Daddy...

(Can I add that this kid (20 months old now) has the most amazing vocabulary?? He also recognizes the entire upper case alphabet and most of the lower case!...Yes...he got his momma's brains...LOL!)

Cecilia also earned a spot in her school's spelling bee, but didn't place this year. We are very proud of her anyway. Below are the 5th grade contestants.

We also were very excited recently by the visit of Terry's sister, Leslie (who I was friends with BEFORE Terry came into my life), and our nephew Ryan. They live in NJ and are only able to come down for a visit a couple of times a year. And because Jude and Ryan are only a month apart in age, we always look forward to the visits to see how they will react to each other. This was the best visit yet in my opinion for the two because they got to really enjoy playing together...and we even got to take Ryan to his first trip to Chuck E. Cheese's!

The weekend following Les and Ryan's bittersweet return to Jersey, I was able to attend a girls' getaway with some ladies from church. We had a great time despite the cold weather, but I did get out for a bit and take some pictures. The location of our retreat was a ranch which not only contained the usual cows and horses, but also some exotic animals. Unfortunately the weather kept me from venturing far enough out to get pics of the exotics, but I did check out the VERY old cemetary on the grounds and some of the horses and their donkey friends.

Let's see...last week took us to see the doctor a couple of times.

First, on Monday, my dear graceful Jude attempted to bust his lip, yet again. This time he wasn't so successful. You'd think that would be a good thing, but instead his bottom teeth punched a hole right through the area under his lip. That's right...a hole on the inside AND the outside. Of course when I first picked him up I assumed it was the usual busted lip, but once I saw the cut on the outside...I pretty much freaked out. All at once before my eyes flashed a scene of painful shots and stitches and all kinds of uncomfortableness for my baby. We then spend 10 minutes debating on whether this warranted a trip to the ER or not. In the end we decided to take him to a nearby emergency care center where we were informed that it wasn't bad at all and he would require no stitches. What a relief! He now is almost completely healed. Thank the Lord that it wasn't worse!

Wednesday was then my day to head to the hospital. For the past few months I have been suffering from menorrhagia. Let's just say that when the gyno nurse asks when my last period was, I want to slap her because as I've told the rest of them...let's say um...about September 1st until January 1st. I know it's their protocol to automatically ask that...but please, can we at least check the records and see WHY the patient is there before we ask these questions? Anyway, when they did an ultrasound and biopsy in November it was discovered that I had many polyps in my uterus which was the cause for the bleeding. My options were to have an endometrial ablation and tie my tubes or have a hysterectomy. Since the recovery time for a hysterectomy can be a month, I chose the ablation. I do have a toddler to take care of! The tube tying (tubal ligation) was necessary to prevent pregnancy since after the ablation, it would be impossible for an embryo to attach and/or grow without that endometrial lining. So that's what I had done on the 3rd. Recovery hasn't been too bad and Terry was here until yesterday to do all the lifting and such until I could. I had to see the doctor yesterday though because my bellybutton incision is infected. But it's already looking better.

So no more grandbabies for my parents, but I've made 2 very beautiful and remarkable children. I have so much to be proud of.

So, yes, a lot has been going on, and maybe that was the reason for the delay in my blogging. I do apologize though to those who actually look forward to the updates. I will try to blog a bit more often so that my blogs don't end up being these novel-length monstrosities!

Thanks for reading...thanks for caring.

Evening at the Park

2010-01-20T14:05:00.009-06:00

A week or so ago we went to the park so that Terry could run some laps on the track that circles it. The kids and I spent the time playing on the playground. This section of the park is older and it definitely shows in the playground equipment. But I took advantage of the the evening lighting and took lots of great pics. Besides...how many parks do you see these days that still have a super-fast merry-go-round?

Good times...

Mucho Pics (Christmas Pt. 2)

2010-01-05T12:25:00.012-06:00

Yes, I know, we're a good chunk into January now and I'm finally posting the rest of the Christmas pics.

Let's just use it as a chance to reminisce and hold onto that Christmas spirit for just a while longer. Besides, as Christians, we are still celebrating the season until Epiphany which isn't until tomorrow! So I'm not THAT late. =)

I really love the Christmas season.

Our family has traditionally put up the Christmas tree and decorations as soon after Thanksgiving as we could...and this year was no different.

While everyone else was off snagging their Black Friday deals at the crack of dawn, I slept restfully and then decorated for the rest of the day.

This year was a first for us because we finally put up lights on our house that we have lived in for 5 years.

It was a planned thing though, since we bought the lights for cheap post-Christmas last year.

I think my design and management skills coupled with Terry's hard work turned out nicely.

But, of course, we're already planning to do it even better next year.

Another fun part about Christmas is the fact that I finally get to spend a good chunk of time in the kitchen. Since Terry usually does most of the cooking, I only get to do the big cooking during the holidays.

Aside from the 2 rounds of stuffing (Thanksgiving & Christmas), a ham, desserts, appetizers, broccoli cornbread, King Ranch Chicken (New Year's), oreo bark and 2 batches of peppermint bark, I also managed to make these 'Smores brownies for Cecilia's class Christmas party. They looked so yummy, I just had to take a pic of them!

But I really have to say that the best part about Christmas is the time we take to focus on what it is we are celebrating.

Our church holds a Christmas eve candlelight service and I absolutely love the end when the lights go out, the candles are lit and the congregation sings "Silent Night".

It's so beautiful.

(I could have never gotten those good of pics with my old camera!)

Just before Christmas we had a visit from my oldest (20 yrs!) and best friend, Scott.
He is also the kids' Godfather
He is so silly and fun to have around

We love our time with him

Just before we went to bed on Christmas eve we set out Santa's cookies and milk

Quality control was done first, of course.

And finally after all the anticipation and preparation...Christmas had arrived!!

And the kids were too excited about their Santa gifts....

...um...so excited that we got on our new 4-wheeler backwards!

Cecilia got a digital camera

Then we opened our stockings

My family finally arrived and we opened the rest of the presents.

Jude got his own recliner from my parents

Here is Cecilia in her new chair with my dad napping below. =)

My mom with her new electronic wine chiller.

Like she needed another wine related item....haha.

The kids with my grandma...their Gigi.

Jude playing with Grandad (he just calls him "Dad" for now)

The kids had a wonderful Christmas and got a lot of great new things.

The season is finally winding down...or is over completely for some, but we had a happy, healthy and blessed holiday season with our closest family and for that I am truly thankful.

"The happiest moments of my life have been the few which I have passed at home in the bosom of my family."
~Thomas Jefferson

Christmas Videos

2009-12-28T13:59:00.006-06:00

Well, better late than never, but here is part one of my Christmas posts.

This is the first time since sometime last week that I've had the peace, quiet and time to sit down and post anything related to the holiday.

It's gonna be a short one though, because there are still things that need to be done today.

The first video is Christmas related purely because it has the song "Frosty the Snowman" in it!

Jude has taken quite the liking to snowmen in general(daddy likes them too) and really likes the Frosty song. Well Terry found a fun rockabilly version and Jude loved it.

You can hear him saying "snowman" through part of it.

Here he is dancing to the song

The kid has got some moves!

I especially like the little move towards the middle after he comes out from behind Terry.

The next video is from Christmas morning.

We got a better reaction than we were expecting from our 18 1/2 month old Jude.

He had the cutest grin on his face when he saw his toys from Santa.

He got a battery-powered 4-wheeler and I was certain that he would have no idea what to do with it.....boy was I wrong!

I do regret that I wasn't recording the moment he first hopped on it though, because he pushed the button and ran right into the tree! Haha!

Here he is though on his first real ride on it in the living room.

He looks so happy.

Well that's it for today.

I will soon post the rest of the Christmas pics.

We had such a blessed Christmas.

Hope you did too.

'Til then...

Just Kickin' It

2009-12-19T14:48:00.002-06:00

Boys.

I truly believe that no matter how hard you try to teach a boy to be calm, well-mannered and clean, he will always manage to find a way to act out as a REAL boy.

Loud, destructive and always happy about being both.

That is a boy.

Here is my boy being a boy.

Take note of how meticulous he is about arranging the objects of his destruction.

I have SO much fear and fun to look forward to as I raise this little guy.

SNOW!! (or Part 2 of yesterday's video)

2009-12-17T14:22:00.003-06:00

So I guess since this video uploading thing takes forever (or maybe I just don't have the patience for more than one video to upload), I will just post these videos one at a time.

This is a video shot just after the one in yesterday's post .

Jude was thoroughly enjoying those bubbles.

He even got upset when it was time for him to leave them.

Silly boy.