Back to School

Well, the time has finally arrived (actually is was here 3 weeks ago) and I'm posting the gratuitous first day of school photos. This was a really big year for us for a few reasons.

First we have Big A at her new school. The school that I might have been stressing and complaining and losing sleep over getting her into for the last, say, 18 months. Phew. She is finally an official student there and she LOVES it! This Pre-K class is like Kindergarten. She goes 5 days a week (full school days) and she's taking Spanish, Science, PE, Music and all sorts of other fun things. She has homework and field trips and we couldn't be happier with how this is all working out!

And then we have Little A who is thrilled to be in her new classroom at the same preschool that she attended last year. She's in a "big kid" room that's seen a lot of changes. This preschool's curriculum is based on the Reggio Emilia style of learning. It's fabulous and we're really lucky to have a director who is so committed to constant education of this concept and it's applications to our little school.

The girls are off to a great start to a very busy school year! I'm quite certain there will be many pics this year of activities because both schools have very busy social schedules. Yay!!

"Trim the Fat" Thursday

I'm a slacker. Ever since school started back up, I'm in a total tizzy with my schedule. Let me give you an example of what my Monday looks like each week.

• 6:30am - Drag myself out of bed, wake up Big A & Little A, get them ready for school, feed 3 pets, pack lunch, shower and do various other tasks around the house
• 8:55am - Fly out the door with Little A to drop her off at preschool
• 9:20am - Arrive at my Kindermusik class to teach
• 10:30am - Head to gym to attempt an hour workout (this hasn't happened yet because of a funky preschool phase in schedule and commitments from another job)
  
• 12:15pm - Arrive to pick up Little A from preschool. Head home for lunch and (fingers crossed) a short naptime for her
• 2:20pm - Fly to pick up Big A from preschool
  
• 3:10pm - Arrive home to feed a snack, get a load of laundry done, catch up on emails, prepare an early dinner
• 5pm - Head back downtown for girls Kindermusik class and to teach my own evening class
• 7:30pm - Arrive home (hubby brings the girls home earlier) to try and feed hubby & I dinner, do dishes, catch up on more email and work
• 9:30pm - The time I should be going to bed
• Midnight - More likely the time I'm ACTUALLY going to bed

And I wonder why I'm so exhausted all the time?

Ok, now that I'm done making excuses for why I've totally fallen off the wagon the past few weeks, it's time to shake it off and figure some things out. I knew that Fall was going to have a ridiculously busy schedule. I knew that I had taken on too many things. I knew the minute that Shannon mentioned those Entenmann's donuts that I would seek them out at my grocery store. Sigh.

I have got to come up with a better time management schedule. I really believe in that motto "If you fail to plan, then you should plan to fail." That is me to a "T"! I think my biggest struggles these days are:

1. Seriously scheduling my workout time and not setting myself up for failure by planning a 5am workout when I got to bed at 12:30am. UNREALISTIC.

2. I have GOT to get to bed earlier. Cutting out the majority of my caffeine has helped and being crazy busy certainly makes me tired at night (and most of the morning & afternoon), but at night, I get amped up about all the things I want to accomplish and then the adrenaline is pumping and next thing I know, I'm falling asleep at my keyboard at midnight. I think I'm going to have to cut out computer time after 9pm. GASP!

3. I was doing SO WELL about cutting back sweets to like once a week. Yeah, that's all shot to hell. I went grocery shopping last night and brought home the aforementioned box of donuts, a bag of Lindt Truffles (YUM!) and a slice of bakery cake. It's a sickness.

4. I simply must start meal planning and stick to it. Obviously, I don't have time to cook a meal every night. Mondays & Tuesdays are a nightmare. And this is a house full of picky eaters (except for hubby), so I hate to cook things that are not going to be consumed.

Do you guys have any advice? What's working for you? Please, I need some positive stories from you guys because I'm searching for my mojo (and another 2 hours of sleep at the moment).

You like me. You really like me!

**Wreck this Journal Wednesday will return next week when I have some time to actually complete some pages in my book. It's been one of those weeks.**

I'm such a sucker. I love getting bloggy badges and awards. (ahem, hint hint) When I started this humble little blog, it was purely for my own enjoyment and to keep in touch with my BFF, who was blogging long before I ever considered it. Since then, it's turned into my lifeline to adult conversation and a way to pontificate on a whole host of subjects that would bore my hubby to tears. So, he especially thanks you for reading.

Anyway, one of my bloggy friends, Julia, bestowed this award on me! Thanks Julia! Here's the rules in keeping with this award.

1) Say thanks and give a link to the presenter of the award. (check)
2) Share "ten honest things" about myself. (check)
3) Present this award to 7 others whose blogs I find brilliant in content and/or design, or those who have encouraged me. (hmm, maybe)
4) Tell those 7 people that they've been awarded HONEST SCRAP and inform them of these guidelines in receiving. (oh boy)

So, 10 honest things about myself. Let's see what I've never told you guys before.

• I tell everyone that I'm so NOT the minivan driving kind of mom, but I secretly (and desperately) want a Honda Odyssey minivan so badly that I often dream about it
• I love weddings. Something about the big white dress, gorgeous flowers and act of committing to one another just makes my heart swell every time.
  
• My dream is to renew my vows at Disney World, complete with the glass coach and Cinderella dress, but it'll never happen. Hubby refuses to do a vow renewal ceremony. Hmph.
• I'm a serial collector of things. Scrapbooking supplies. Cross stitch supplies. Cooking utensils. Books. I seriously need a support group or something.
• I'm a greeting card whore. I physically cannot walk into Hallmark without coming out with at least 1 card. I have a box full of cards for any occasion under the sun because I hate to be unprepared. BTW, if ANYONE has seen the Twilight cards, please let me know. My local Hallmarks don't carry them. GAH!
• I'm a wannabe celebrity stalker. Oh yeah, this is a real shocker I'm sure. If I had the time & money (and lived closer to L.A. or N.Y.) I would be that crazy fan that makes it onto the celebrity gossip blogs for doing something really stupid.
• My oldest is showing signs of being a leader amongst her friends. I'm a little jealous of her because I was definitely not THAT kid growing up. I'm not that person as an adult either.
• I love to put a nice meal on the table, but I really don't enjoy cooking. I do, however, like really nice cookware!
  
• If I was stuck on a desert island, and had all the basic necessities, I would prefer my iPod over books every time. Music is such a major part of my being.
• My favorite book of all time is The Catcher in the Rye. And the reasons behind that are a whole post of their own.

Now, to tag people. I hate this part. I feel like the popular kid, excluding very deserving friends. I'm just going to name some blogs that I truly adore, but please know that there are many, many more of you in my reader that I follow!

Julianne - She has been a blogging mentor of mine for a few years now as she was the first friend of mine to really make this whole thing work. And now she's a published writer (many times over) and I'm just so impressed by her. And she's funny. Really funny.

Jen - Fridays at her place are just delicious. Yum.

Lula - As far as bloggers go, Lula tends to be my barometer. She's unabashedly honest about who she is and she's truly in this for her own enjoyment, which is something that's taken me a long time to get to. I just love her.

Matt - Ok, Matt hasn't the slightest idea who I am, but I read his blog religiously. If you've never heard of him & Madeline, get thee to his blog now. You won't be sorry.

Amy - She's a southern belle who used to be a Yankee, but I would never know it. She makes peach pie better than I've seen in many restaurants and she's uber-mom. And funny.

NieNie - Again, another blogger who wouldn't know me from Eve on the street. People who overcome immense odds are so inspiring to me. And I feel like I become so involved in their lives through their blogs. NieNie and her hubby survived a horrific plane crash last year and this is the story of where she's been and where she's going.

Creepy - I love bloggers who keep it real and it doesn't get much more real than this blog. Warning, foul language ahead, so if you're easily offended, you probably won't get her.

So, there's just a sampling of what I'm reading these days. Thanks to all who read my mindless drivel and thanks for sharing your words of brilliance with me. I'm discovering new blogs every day, so I might mention your little slice of the internet next time!

The Tuesday Entertainment Roundup

It's been 2 weeks since the last roundup. Have you guys missed me? Let's see what I've been checking out lately.

Lars and the Real Girl - I have been wanting to see this movie since I saw the first preview for it. It stars the delicious Ryan Gosling as an introvert who invents a girlfriend, in the form of a blow up doll. I know, the premise sounds ridiculous, but let me say that I enjoyed this movie. It was sweet and touching and the performances were quite good. And I love Patricia Clarkson. Amen.

No Reservations - I have been avoiding this flick for a while because I was so concerned that it was going to be a let down. I am glad to say that I was wrong! I was expecting more romantic comedy than touching drama and I'm glad that I was mistaken. Although I found Catherine Zeta Jones performance to be flat at times, Aaron Eckhart and Abigail Breslin came through to save the day.

The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio - Ok, a show of hands for people who have even heard of this one. Anyone? Hello, is this thing on? Yeah, that's what I thought. This was an adorable little movie that had most of the things that I look for in a good movie. Great lead actors (Julianne Moore & Woody Harrelson). Based on a true story. Moments that made me laugh and cry. And an ending that I could be happy with. It's the story of a 50's housewife in a difficult marriage with 10 kids and how she enters contests to help make ends meet. Really liked it!

I received several books for my birthday last week (YAY!) and I've already started diving in to a few.

I Was A Really Good Mom Before I Had Kids by Trisha Ashworth & Amy Nobile - THIS is the book that you should receive at your baby shower instead of "What to Expect...". It's an honest portrait of how moms really feel about this blessed job of motherhood and how we can work toward keeping our sanity. I highly recommend this read for ALL moms out there who feel like they never measure up to the ridiculous standards that we put on ourselves! This book will show you that you're not alone and give you the dose of perspective that we all need.

Alright, that's it for this week. I'm in the midst of reading 3 books right now and I'm planning to stick it to Netflix this week. It's about time that we utilized that membership. Until next week!

It's the thought that counts

Wow, this year's birthday has been a memorable one! And this is a good thing for once.

It started with my buddy Lisa giving me the Harry Potter set of books, which left me speechless. I can't thank you enough Lisa for helping me feed my habit! LOL!

My buddy Shannon gave me a subscription to Picnik! Oh happy day! I can finally start using their "instant thin" feature which takes the lbs off without diet & exercise. Hallelujah!

My parents gave me some books that I've been wanting, so expect to see some reviews on those in the coming weeks.

Hubby & I traveled to Atlanta to see a concert that I've been waiting 18 years to attend. Yes, I am a Def Leppard fan (um hello, British band!) and I was denied the opportunity to see them in high school, so I finally got another chance and I jumped on it. The concert was great and I hope I never forget how great it felt to be out there, hearing them live!

We crashed at my BFF Angela's house for the night and she surprised me with a present. Yay!!

She reminded me yet again why it's a fact that we are 2 people who were clearly separated at birth. Great minds think alike! She gave me a bevy of goodies that are direct from Britain! She felt badly that I was totally scammed in a swap a few months ago and more than made up for the British goodies that I never received. Check out the swag!

That tote bag has now taken the coveted "favorite purse" spot. And the flag sticker is about to make it onto my bumper (between my Maine stickers) , but not before I use it for another project that will be coming up in the next few months. Ahem. (Gatlinburg will never be the same) And I probably shouldn't mention that there was also a bag of chocolate chip shortbread cookies that were, um, consumed in the 6 hours between receiving my gift and taking this picture. What can I say? I was hungry.

The Giveaway Winners

Wow, after 900+ comments, 7 days & a lot of amusement, I'm happy to announce the 7 winners of my birthday giveaways! All winners have been emailed and they have 48 hours to claim their prizes. Any unclaimed prizes will have new winners drawn on Saturday. And without further ado...the winners!

Giveaway 1 for the $10 LL Bean giftcard is comment #64

Julie said...

I am a LLBean fan also-love their styles and how long the clothes last :)

aunteegem@yahoo.com

Giveaway 2 for the $10 Lego giftcard is comment #43

degood said...

My son is still very into Duplo blocks but I keep thinking that once he turns 4 we should get some real legos for him.

Giveaway 3 for the Paula Deen cookbook is comment #17

Angela said...

'Cause I have bunches of comments lined up for this one, LOL! My first thought is how much fun I can have making some of Paula's recipes this fall and winter, as "heavier" foods come back into my seasonal eating preferences! YUM!

Giveaway #4 for the $10 Barnes & Noble giftcard is comment #129

lisagee1234 said...

I am a fan of Max Lucado.

Giveaway #5 for the $10 iTunes giftcard is comment #40

Katie said...

80's, yeah! I also love Cake, Flight of the Conchords, Radiohead, Gipsy Kings... how could I fit them all into one comment?
katiekarr at gmail dot com

Giveaway #6 for the $10 Fandango giftcard is comment #53

Jen B said...

I love to go to the movies, but rarely get to go see anything that isn't a kid movie. Before we had our son, my husband and I would go to the movies at least once a week.
Thanks!
jenbrookern@hotmail.com

Giveaway #7 for the $25 Amazon giftcard is comment #45

carissaad said...

I would use it for Christmas gifts.

Thanks!

carissaad (at) gmail (dot) com

Congratulations to all the winners and thanks for making my birthday fun this year!

Wreck This Journal

Hello everyone! Happy Wednesday and I hope some of you have joined Angie and I on our journey through creativity! I decided to do random pages instead of doing them in order. It is more fun that way! Here is my page of four letter words...I kept it clean!

This was probably the most enjoyable because Jeramy (the finace) was getting ready to go to work when I came across this page...so I threw it at him! It was really quite funny!

This is my doodle page. This is actually what I doodle when I'm on hold at work!

Writing one word over and over makes me think I'm spelling it wrong. It just seems to look funny the more you write it.

I used my sharpies and highlighters for this one. You can put a lot of circles on just 1 page.

I hope you guys are having a wonderful week and I hope we get to see what you have been up to!

Birthday Countdown - Giveaway 7

For the scoop on why I'm going all of these giveaways, click here.

I'm doing a week of giveaways just for y'all! Each day will be a different item. I'm giving away some of my favorite things. You can enter each giveaway as many times as you want. Yep, that's right. But, you have to leave a meaningful comment. Not just "pick me, pick me!" Compliments will score you brownie points. Telling me about your favorite birthday memory is a good one. What you like to give/get for birthdays are also good. Anything that you want to tell me.

All giveaways are sponsored by yours truly. All of these birthday giveaways will end at midnight on August 19th (my actual birthday) and winners will be emailed and announced here on the 20th. Good luck and make sure you check back daily for the newest giveaway announcement.

Giveaway Day 7 ~ The FINAL Giveaway!

Alright folks, this is the finale. The pinnacle of the gift giving this week. I have REALLY enjoyed reading all of your comments and hope that you guys have had as much fun with this as I have! So, let's get right to this.

One of my absolutely favorite online shopping sites is Amazon.com. I mean, where else can you literally shop for just about everything you could possibly want and get free shipping on top of it?! And their wishlist function, well, genius! It has made my life so much easier when relatives want to shop for my kids for birthdays and holidays.

Today's giveaway is a $25 giftcard to Amazon! What would you spend your giftcard on?

Birthday Countdown - Giveaway 6

For the scoop on why I'm going all of these giveaways, click here.

I'm doing a week of giveaways just for y'all! Each day will be a different item. I'm giving away some of my favorite things. You can enter each giveaway as many times as you want. Yep, that's right. But, you have to leave a meaningful comment. Not just "pick me, pick me!" Compliments will score you brownie points. Telling me about your favorite birthday memory is a good one. What you like to give/get for birthdays are also good. Anything that you want to tell me.

All giveaways are sponsored by yours truly. All of these birthday giveaways will end at midnight on August 19th (my actual birthday) and winners will be emailed and announced here on the 20th. Good luck and make sure you check back daily for the newest giveaway announcement.

Giveaway Day 6

Most of my regular readers know how much I adore movies! If I could afford it (and had the time), I would be in a movie theater at least once a week, watching a feature on the big screen. There's just nothing like it!

My giveaway today is a $10 giftcard for Fandango. This is the service that I use to purchase a lot of my movie tickets online, especially if it's for a feature that I think might sell out. It's super easy to use and I hope one lucky winner will enjoy it!

Birthday Countdown - Giveaway 5

For the scoop on why I'm going all of these giveaways, click here.

I'm doing a week of giveaways just for y'all! Each day will be a different item. I'm giving away some of my favorite things. You can enter each giveaway as many times as you want. Yep, that's right. But, you have to leave a meaningful comment. Not just "pick me, pick me!" Compliments will score you brownie points. Telling me about your favorite birthday memory is a good one. What you like to give/get for birthdays are also good. Anything that you want to tell me.

All giveaways are sponsored by yours truly. All of these birthday giveaways will end at midnight on August 19th (my actual birthday) and winners will be emailed and announced here on the 20th. Good luck and make sure you check back daily for the newest giveaway announcement.

Giveaway Day 5

I am a lover of music! There are very few genres that I just can't stomach. I especially love Pop, Rock & 80's/90's Classics. Today's giveaway is a $10 gift certificate to iTunes!

So tell me, what artists do you listen to? Who are some of your faves?

Birthday Countdown - Giveaway 4

For the scoop on why I'm going all of these giveaways, click here.

I'm doing a week of giveaways just for y'all! Each day will be a different item. I'm giving away some of my favorite things. You can enter each giveaway as many times as you want. Yep, that's right. But, you have to leave a meaningful comment. Not just "pick me, pick me!" Compliments will score you brownie points. Telling me about your favorite birthday memory is a good one. What you like to give/get for birthdays are also good. Anything that you want to tell me.

All giveaways are sponsored by yours truly. All of these birthday giveaways will end at midnight on August 19th (my actual birthday) and winners will be emailed and announced here on the 20th. Good luck and make sure you check back daily for the newest giveaway announcement.

Giveaway Day 4

I love to read and I'm so glad that it's a hobby that I'm going out of my way to focus more time & energy on. Today's giveaway is a $10 giftcard to one of my favorite bookstore, Barnes & Noble! Now, leave me your comments. Maybe some book recommendations? Your favorite authors? Mine is Jen Lancaster. She's HILARIOUS!

Birthday Countdown - Giveaway 3

For the scoop on why I'm going all of these giveaways, click here.

I'm doing a week of giveaways just for y'all! Each day will be a different item. I'm giving away some of my favorite things. You can enter each giveaway as many times as you want. Yep, that's right. But, you have to leave a meaningful comment. Not just "pick me, pick me!" Compliments will score you brownie points. Telling me about your favorite birthday memory is a good one. What you like to give/get for birthdays are also good. Anything that you want to tell me.

All giveaways are sponsored by yours truly. All of these birthday giveaways will end at midnight on August 19th (my actual birthday) and winners will be emailed and announced here on the 20th. Good luck and make sure you check back daily for the newest giveaway announcement.

Giveaway Day 3

Alright y'all. My Paula Deen giveaway from last month was a roaring success. I knew she had a lot of fans out there, but you guys didn't disappoint. I'm still bummed that I missed out on my opportunity to meet her and get an autographed cookbook, but I'm trying to move on. LOL! So, today's giveaway is one of favorite cookbooks from Ms. Deen! Now, go forth and let's see those comments.

Birthday Countdown - Giveaway 2

For the scoop on why I'm going all of these giveaways, click here.

I'm doing a week of giveaways just for y'all! Each day will be a different item. I'm giving away some of my favorite things. You can enter each giveaway as many times as you want. Yep, that's right. But, you have to leave a meaningful comment. Not just "pick me, pick me!" Compliments will score you brownie points. Telling me about your favorite birthday memory is a good one. What you like to give/get for birthdays are also good. Anything that you want to tell me.

All giveaways are sponsored by yours truly. All of these birthday giveaways will end at midnight on August 19th (my actual birthday) and winners will be emailed and announced here on the 20th. Good luck and make sure you check back daily for the newest giveaway announcement.

Giveaway Day 2

Is there anyone else out there who couldn't get enough of Legos when they were a kid? That was one of my favorite toys, hands down! I'll never forget a traveling Lego exhibit that came to my town when I was in elementary school. I was so envious of all the amazing creations that people built. And so, today's giveaway is a $10 giftcard for the Lego store!

Believe me, if you're a bargain shopper online, you can make that $10 stretch like crazy. Now, go forth and leave your comments!

Another toy that will cause me to lose sleep at night

Meet Bebe Gloton. It's a baby doll who breastfeeds.

I think my head just exploded.

I realize that Americans tend to be a little more uptight about having any kind of sex talk with their kids. And I am way far away from the conservative line. However, apparently the toy makers in Spain have me beat by a liberal mile, with putting this doll out there that even comes with a halter top for your child to wear so that she can "feed" the doll. Oh yes, the baby even makes sucking noises as it's pressed to your child's chest.

I'm all about informing my girls about their bodies and having an open line of communication about any questions that might come up surrounding babies, but I have to draw the line at enabling my elementary school-aged child the ability to pseudo-feed an infant by means other than a bottle.

I guess I'm not as liberal minded as I thought.

How about you? Would you buy this doll for your child? What other fun toys can we expect to see next?

Birthday Countdown - Giveaway 1

So, this is my least favorite time of year. Not because of school shopping and all the madness that surrounds getting the kids back into the groove. Not because the weather is still ridiculously hot. It's because this month houses my least favorite day of the year...my birthday.

And rest assured, it's not because of the whole aging thing and all that nonsense. I stopped caring about my age many years ago. It's because my birthday has never really felt like a special day to me and it just makes me sad. (and it is mildly possible that I now overcompensate with my kids birthdays as a result, but that's a whole other blog post)

This year I'm determined to not let my birthday get me down. And because I love the feeling that I get when I give a gift, I'm doing a week of giveaways just for y'all! Each day will be a different item. I'm giving away some of my favorite things. You can enter each giveaway as many times as you want. Yep, that's right. But, you have to leave a meaningful comment. Not just "pick me, pick me!" Compliments will score you brownie points. Telling me about your favorite birthday memory is a good one. What you like to give/get for birthdays are also good. Anything that you want to tell me.

All giveaways are sponsored by yours truly. All of these birthday giveaways will end at midnight on August 19th (my actual birthday) and winners will be emailed and announced here on the 20th. Good luck and make sure you check back daily for the newest giveaway announcement.

Giveaway Day 1

I love LL Bean. They're one of my favorite companies and the fact that they're located in Freeport, Maine is just a bonus. Their Maine Isle Flip Flops are the BEST I've ever found. And so, today's giveaway is a $10 giftcard to LL Bean!

Believe me, if you're a bargain shopper online, you can make that $10 stretch like crazy. Now, go forth and leave your comments!

"Trim the Fat" Thursday

Hey gang! Sorry I flaked last week and missed the update. This new puppy is all kinds of adorable, but boy, he has seriously kept me on my toes since he arrived last week. I think I've finally got a handle on things, so let's recap the past 2 weeks.

I finished the 4 days of torture known as the Flat Belly Diet Jumpstart. I ended up with an overall loss of 4 lbs, which was great! What's even greater is that I've kept it off despite working out sparingly and not diving right in to the regular FBD. I've been doing pretty well with staying off sodas and other sugary drinks. And I was doing really well with staying off desserts until the last couple of days. Suffice it to say, PMS is here. I did make it back to my 5am workout on Monday and am trying to figure out when to schedule my regular workouts now that my Fall schedule is in full swing. This is proving to be more of a challenge than I expected. 5am, while great, is so hard for me because I'm such a night owl. And I don't have time to nap during the day, which makes me not very nice to be around come about 1pm. Such a quandry!

Anyway, here are my goals for this week.

1. Implement some of the FBD recipes into the mix
2. Get in 3 workouts
3. Take the puppy for a walk/exercise twice this week

So, how did you guys do? Tell me all about it!

Oh, and be sure to check in later tonight for the announcement about my first of 7 days of giveaways!

Wreck This Journal Wednesday

**Today is the last day for the Auction for Kori. Please go check it out here!**



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This week is my turn to show some of the things that I've worked on in my journal. Here are some of the highlights.

My first task was to crack the spine. You have no idea how hard this was for me. Ask any of my friends who have borrowed a book from me. You can't tell that I've read it because the spine is in perfect condition. I know, it's one of my anal retentive habits that I need to just get over. So, I performed the task. Aren't you proud!

My next task was filling this page with circles. This was a chance to use all the cool pens that Tonya gave me in my swap package!

Next, I was supposed to make a sign on this page. The only thing I could think of was something advertising my qualifications for jobs. Most who know me in "real life" know that I have more jobs than most normal people. I'm just not happy unless I have tons on my plate.

Finally, I was to glue some random newspaper clipping to the page. I knew when I spotted this article about our famous "Space House" this is what HAD to go into the book. If you want the scoop on our famous landmark, just google "space house chattanooga" and I'm sure you'll get more articles than you could ever dream of.

That's it for me this week! Next week, Tonya is going to share some of her pages with us. If any of you out there are also working on this journal, please link up here. I'm anxious to see what others are doing!

The Tuesday Entertainment Roundup

Well folks, it was another lean week of movies. I swear, I'm not sure I remember most of last week because I was so busy. So let's recap the few that I did see.

Fool's Gold - I was a fool to rent this movie. I was a fool to watch it for the 40 minutes that I did. I'm a bigger fool for watching past the 10 minute mark when hubby & I agreed that this movie was crap. And that's the nicest thing I can say about it.

The Secret Life of Bees - I really liked this movie. Great cast. Great writing. It's a sad story though, so be prepared. Dakota Fanning is such a great actress! And I'm really starting to love Queen Latifah also.

Defiance - Ok, I only saw about 10 minutes of this film, but what I saw was good. So, this is hubby's review. Take it honey! "It was good. I liked it. It was better than CATS." Ok, so I'm not sure about that last part, but that was a raving review, so go rent this one, especially if you like war movies that are somewhat uplifting.

And that's it for this week. And here's your homework.

First, head over to Shannon's right now to bid on some great items for a great cause!

Second, make sure you come back here on Thursday for the first of 7 giveaways that I'm doing to celebrate my birthday! It's my birthday and you're getting the presents!

Monday Morning Eye Candy (and a bonus)

Hey y'all! Today is a very special edition of MMEC for a couple of reasons. I'm here to promote 2 very awesome things that are happening tomorrow!

First, please make sure you that you read this entry and make plans to visit Shannon's blog TOMORROW all day to bid on lots of fabulous items to raise money for a family that is in serious need. You won't be sorry and I can tell you first hand that this family truly deserves anything that we can do to help them. Thank you!

And now for the second order of business. Eye Candy. I've introduced this cutie before, but let me reacquaint you with a certain Mr. Chris Mann.

Chris is a fantastic artist who made an awesome video for his version of the Kanye West song, "Heartless". Look it up on youtube. (And for the record, he did it before Kris on American Idol made it popular and I like both versions!)

Chris is being highlighted today because his highly anticipated EP is being released tomorrow and I for one cannot WAIT to hit iTunes to download it.

I know one person who might beat me to the punch though.

Shannon, this a-dork-able pic is just for you.

Congrats on the EP release, Chris!

See you MMEC enthusiasts next week!

Puppy Power

On Monday evening of this week, hubby called to me from the other room and said, "Hey, there's a 13 week old German Shepherd on Craigslist that some people are trying to re-home." And so, foolishly, I emailed the lister and didn't give it another thought.

Tuesday morning, I got an email back from the guy and we ended up swapping phone numbers. He told me this story that was kind of a bummer, but made me a little intrigued about checking out this puppy. Hubby agreed and so off we went that afternoon to check out our prospective family member.

The little guy was adorable! His parents were both on site, which gave us a pretty good idea of what he would look like when he grows up. And the temperament of his dad appears to be who he's taking after. Yay! So, we made the quick decision to commit to giving him a forever home and we agreed to return the next day to pick him up.

Wednesday, the girls & I were enjoying lunch when I asked them the following question. "If we could have another pet come and live with us in the house, what kind of pet would you want?" Here's how that conversation went down.

Little A: I want a pet mouse.

Big A: No, I want a baby giraffe.

Me: We're not getting a mouse and a baby giraffe is too big to live with us.

Big A: But, if we just buy a bigger house, then it would be much taller and then the baby giraffe can live with us!

Me: Nice try. We're getting a puppy instead.

Little A: Oh, I want him to chase me around. That will be fun!

Big A: NOOOOOO! I don't want to pick up my toys.

Me: You would have to pick up your toys anyway.

Big A: Can we get a baby giraffe instead?

Me: {bangs head on table repeatedly}

And so here is Big A welcoming our new horse, er, German Shepherd pup into the house.

Checking out his new backyard (that he doesn't have to stay in full time...yippee!)

Oh my, this looks like nothing but trouble.

His name is Roman and he's your typical 3 month old puppy. He's playful, very wary of his new surroundings, and incredibly loving. He's going to be a great member of the family!

Now if only we could get the cats to agree to that last statement.

We interrupt your regularly scheduled programming...

Wanna know a quick and efficient way to completely turn your life upside down overnight?

Add one of these to your house.

This is our new puppy, Roman. More info on him in tomorrow's post. In the meantime, Trim the Fat Thursday will return to it's regularly scheduled slot next week. For any of you who did a TTFT post this week, please link it up here and keep up the good work!

Wreck This Journal Wednesday

Hey guys! I'm so excited to post the first round of "Wreck This Journal". My name is Tonya and I met Angie through her last blog swap! I fell in love with this journal because it's something totally new and unique. Plus...you get to act like a kid again! :) So this week I have done 8 pages and I had a blast doing them!

I did the names and the numbering of the pages. I didn't post pictures because they were kinda boring! On to the fun stuff!

So I burned the page because I didn't want to completely burn the whole thing. I went outside to do it and I almost burned up my whole book! lol But I got the job done!
I waited until this morning to do this one. I have coffee every morning at work so I made a mess at my desk. The guys I work with think I'm crazy!
I got a little crazy with poking the holes...as you can see I ripped the page.
I was excited about this one because I got to dig out my colored pencils that I haven't used in a long time.
I work at a transmission shop so it wasn't hard to get my hands dirty. I got grease all of my hand and printed away! (Again...the guys think I'm crazy!)

This one brought me back to when I was a teenager. I used to do this kind of puzzle coloring all the time. I enjoyed it!

I can't wait to see what you guys have done! Let your creative side out and run with it!!!

The Tuesday Entertainment Roundup

It was a lean week of entertainment. I've been busy with back to school plans and work commitments (and possibly an hour a day playing FarmTown on Facebook). So, here is the 1 movie that I did manage to see this past week.

Lions for Lambs - This one had been stuck in the Netflix queue for a while and showed up unexpectedly. I was really enjoying this movie until the ending. Which sucked. Hard. And so, I'm not recommending this one. Sorry to Robert Redford and Meryl Streep, both of whom I thought gave good performances. Tom Cruise...you still suck.

There are so many movies out in theaters right now (or coming out very soon) that I want to see. Has anyone seen "The Ugly Truth" or "Funny People"? I love seeing movies in the theater! It's just a totally different experience than watching one in your living room. Working at a movie theater was my first "real" job in high school and there are days that I miss it. I worked my way up to head projectionist pretty quickly at my theater and that was awesome! Sitting upstairs in the cold projection room, listening to the humming of 8 projectors and watching movies all by myself over and over again. And my hubby wonders why I have no issue with watching the same movie on tv over and over again. It was a habit I picked up pretty early in life.

Monday Morning Eye Candy

Recently, I heard about a new movie that will be coming out next year. The title is "Valentine's Day". Since I spend a ridiculous amount of time on IMDB, I checked this movie out and was delighted to learn 2 things.

1. The director is Garry Marshall and I just adore him

2. These are just a few of the delightful cast members

Yeah, it's a safe bet that you know where I'll be on opening weekend.