If you're a bird, I'm a bird...

Who doesn't love a good love story? Well, sometimes me. But sometimes, I am in the mood for Hollywood to tell me what they think love is supposed to be like...and then I watch it and become slightly depressed at my less-than-silver-screen-worthy romance with my dear husband. Don't get me wrong...I love that man...but he is no Noah from The Notebook or Gerry from P.S. I Love You. (Both of which leave me with tears running down my face every time...especially P.S. I Love You...hubby got home one night and I was finishing the movie, and was just sobbing hysterically...he told me to hide it and never watch it again.)

Watching those movies make me wonder if there are any real people that are wooed like the women in these love stories...there seems to be a constant stream of wooing in these women's lives, rather than just, say, anniversary wooing once a year (if you're lucky). (P.S. My husband is amazing once a year on our anniversary. He makes a meaningful gift every year. That's right. He's mine, ladies...I may only get wooed once a year, but you better believe that when wooing occurs, it is powerful.)

The reason I am feelin' the love right now is because I am making a slide show for my grandmother's 95th birthday. As I was scanning old pictures, I came across one of her and Granddaddy, whom I never really got to know as he passed away when I was very young. On the back was this, written by him:

"(My question)
What do you think about these 46 years together?
(Your answer)
Well, I thought I had drove my ducks to a poor pond. But now I know it ain't so."
from him to Grandma
"I love you."

This brought a tear to my eye. How sweet is that?! I scanned it and it will be included in the slideshow.

You (well, I) just never think about the kind of love your parents - or grandparents in this case - have for each other. All of those feelings you feel for your spouse or significant other are feelings that they feel, or felt. As I was looking at all the pictures of the many members of our large family, I thought about how we are all here because Grandmama and Granddaddy fell in love. Amazing, isn't it? I'm just sayin'...

True Stories

Need a laugh? I've got some good stories for you...

• If you know me, you know that I am not exactly Bree Van de Camp. I am not the best cook in the world, I keep my house clean, but it could definitely be cleaner, and I don't sew or do any of that, although, really, I should learn how. While living in Illinois, we became friends with a very sweet couple. The wife was just so so nice and pretty much Betty Crocker/Martha Stewart rolled into one. The woman made her own granola for Heaven's sake! My hubby loved going to have dinner with them, because the meal was sure to be spec-tac-u-lar. Good ol' home cookin' from scratch. Well...we had been to their home several times, so we invited them to ours. Ha. First of all, I cleaned like crazy. Second of all, I made roast beef, because, honestly, who can screw up a crock pot meal?? My friend, being the sweetheart she is, called to ask if she could help in any way. I said, no, no I have it all handled. She asked what the menu was. I told her. She asked me if she could come over and help shuck the corn. I held it together while I politely told her no and got off the phone. As soon as the phone was off, I laughed hysterically. Hubby asks what's up and I tell him, and HE starts laughing hysterically. Our dear friends, who even have a massive garden and seedling tank thing, come over to a home cooked meal, by me, that consists of roast beef on top of canned potatoes and carrots, microwaved creamed corn, frozen biscuits, and destroyed gravy. They were very polite about it, but she did the cooking from then on. We were all grateful.
  
• My dad, a pastor, once cleaned out my brother's car and found a Kazoo. You know, the little toy that whistles or whatever. He stormed into the house holding it and demanding to know what it was. We (and by we, I mean me, my hubby, my brother, and a couple of our friends) stared wide-eyed and our friend finally said, "A kazoo?" in a very careful voice. Daddy demanded to know what it was for. So, she slowly and carefully took it from him and played a pretty little note. When she played the note, we all died laughing, and looked at it and it had a scripture verse on it. More hysterical laughter from us kids. Daddy just stood there dumbfounded and finally said, "Oh. Well I wondered why the scripture was on there." I will let you guess what he thought it was.
• I love a biscuit from Hardees, and one morning I had an interesting experience while waiting at the window. The girl, who was being observed by her boss, takes my money, and asks how I was doing. I told her I was fine and asked how she was. Her words - and this is almost an exact quote - "I am doing great, other than this weird rash I have down there. Hope my boyfriend didn't give me something!" Boss's face turns bright red and he says, "That's it! You are fired!" She smiles at me and walks away. Oh boy. Shouldn't my breakfast have been free? I was too busy thinking how amazingly ballsy that girl was and then laughing my butt off to think to even ask if I had to pay after witnessing that little episode. But, really, couldn't we have thought of something a little less disgusting to get fired for in front of a customer??
  
• One year during the week of Thanksgiving, I was at good ol' Wally World getting a few things when I witness a hysterical scene between husband and wife. I was on the baking aisle, and a husband and wife had a buggy full of groceries. She is checking items off her list and looking a little stressed. They walk by the cake mixes and he says, "Hey, why don't you bake a cake?" She turned to him so fast and said, "WHAT?!" She picks up the cake box and throws it at him and says "YOU make a cake!" Then she stormed off down the aisle. I started laughing, as did some others, while some pretended not to see anything. Hilarious! He put the box back on the shelf, tucked his head, and followed his wife. Bet they didn't have a cake at Thanksgiving OR Christmas...and he may not have gotten one on his birthday, either!

Laugh, friends! It's good for you...I'm just sayin'... :)

Songs I Love

Here is a list of just a few of the songs that I love...some are old, some are new, but all are worth a listen or two. (I made that little rhyme up myself! Be impressed!)


Rascal Flatts - My Wish
(This song makes me cry almost every time I listen to it! It just makes me think about everyone I love, especially my son!)

Uncle Kracker - Smile
(This song makes me, well, SMILE! I love love love it! Listen and dance, people!)

Mat Kearney - Closer to Love
(Go ahead and check out more by him while you're listening!)

In the Sun - Joseph Arthur
(The version I have of this song has the guy from Coldplay singing in it...I couldn't find it for some reason.)

Audioslave - Doesn't Remind Me
(I love Audioslave...just ask my brother how awesome I sound when I sing "Like a Stone." This song is one of my favorites by them.)

Travis Tritt - It's a Great Day to Be Alive
(This just makes me sing every single time I hear it. Love it!)

If Everyone Cared - Nickelback
(The first time I heard this song, we were driving through the countryside in England. I love Nickelback...there aren't many songs by them that I don't like.)

Simple Man - Lynyrd Skynyrd
(Love me some Skynyrd! We've been to 2 of their concerts. I fully intend on giving my son this speech several times during his life!)

I have a wide range of music that I love. Expect more posts like this one!

Music can alter your mood in so many ways...if you are having a crummy day, go find a song that makes you smile and dance! Music, to me at least, can be almost a therapy of sorts...I'm just sayin'...


Note to my BFF: There shall be another post that has a list of our songs! I didn't want you thinking I disrespected the iPod! haha!

Yes, I am one of those "Twilight" People...

Hi, friends! I had no intention of blogging today as I am fighting a nasty cold, but when I ran across this article while checking my daily websites, I couldn't help myself.

Apparently Stephenie Meyer (love ya, mean it!) has truly given in to all the hype that Twilight has created. I love the Twilight series, but this is taking it a little far. A graphic novel? Really? Anime Twilight? I think I speak not only for myself, but also for many of my fellow (adult) Twilight-lovin' friends when I say, "No, thank you."

Stephenie, babe, give us Midnight Sun. We want it. We crave it. Follow it up with the other three novels told from Edward's point of view. You will make millions! I promise. I'm just sayin'...

Facebook Etiquette

I have a love - hate relationship with Facebook. This pretty much means that I love it and I hate that it has turned me into a first-class stalker. Don't sit there and gape at the screen thinking, "Oh my goodness!" You all know that you love a little silent Facebook stalkin' too. I know I am not the only one.

Now, while I do indeed love knowing what is happening in all of my FB friends' lives, there are some things that are just better left off of your status or on a comment. Really, people. Just because it's the internet doesn't mean you should forget your raisin'!

Here are some tips:

1. Boring statuses. Okay...I admit that I have put up a boring status or two - especially in my early FB days, but really...some people only put up "doing homework" or "getting dressed" or even "goodnight fb!" I don't care. Honestly. Tell me something interesting. Elaborate. How about, "... is doing homework for geology. Anyone know anything about rocks?" I could see this turning into an intersting status, where random people will put random - maybe even funny - knowledge about rocks. (I'm easily amused, people. Humor me.) Or you could say, "... is getting dressed while my dog stares at me. What do you think he's thinking?" Again, this has potential to be hilarious. So, if you are doing something boring, at least liven it up a little so that I can get a laugh or two out of it.
   
2. TMI statuses. These seriously irk me. I do not care if you need some Midol or a heating pad. I do not need to keep up with your menstrual cycles. I don't care if you are running late to get your monthly birth control shot. I also don't care if you had a "satisfactory" poop. (It's happened, people!) Really...not necessary. Oh, let's not forget the "awesome sex," "good lovin'," or statuses that involve talk of certain, um, positions. Stop. Just don't do it.
3. Manners. Let's say it's your birthday or your anniversary and you decide to put that up as your status. When people leave you messages saying Happy whatever, please say "Thank you!" Even if it's a status that says "Thanks for the ___ wishes." Same for photos. If someone compliments your photo, please thank them. It's just nice to do.
4. Photos. Oh, boy. These can get out of hand. I want to see pictures of you, your family, and your friends. However, I do not want to see pictures of you drunk or doing something inappropriate. (Well, I do, but e-mail them to me...don't post them for hundreds of FB friends to see.) Go out and have yourself a good ol' time, but save the pictures for yourself. And if you were the person with the camera at the party, please consider people's wishes as you post your pictures - some may not want everyone seeing them lettin' the good times roll. (A teacher actually got fired from a school because she had alcohol in her hand in a picture on FB! I don't agree with that at all - if you are of age you should not be fired from your job for having a drink as long as you were not working or letting it affect your performance - but it happened and says a lot of how others are thinking of your documented shenanigans. There is a little more to this teacher's story than that, but the picture sparked it - just follow the link for what I thought was an interesting read.) I am really starting to become a believer in having people tag themselves in photos if they want to. Oh, and let's not forget...if you have recently given birth, please do not put up pictures of everything. Just some nice, sweet newborn pictures will do.
   
5. Oops...back to statuses real quick. Ranting statuses. Oh man. I seriously don't like it when people completely nut up on their statuses. I know we all get mad sometimes, but please just vent to your spouse or your parents or your best friend. It may not happen right away, but you will regret putting up your vent for hundreds of friends to see. Find another outlet for your anger.

My best friend and I have had many conversations on this topic, and have even considered writing a book on all the rules that we think folks should follow while using this addictive website that fills most of our free time.

I know that there will be more thoughts on FB as my blog continues, but this will be it for now. If we don't agree on something I've written as far as FB Etiquette goes, that is okay...I don't expect everyone to agree with my thoughts - except you, BFF. haha!

Don't feel so bad about your silent FB stalkin', friends...if people didn't want the details of their lives playing out on a social networking website, then they wouldn't have a FB profile in the first place. I'm just sayin'...

Sweet Child of Mine

I found the following quote after hubby and I found out we were expecting:

"The decision to have a child is to decide forever to have your heart walking around outside your body."

My son is the light of my life. I love that little boy more than I ever thought I could love anyone. It is unbelievable the amount of love your heart will hold for just one person. Of course, my little man sure does make all this lovin' easy. I have said it before and I will say it again - he is amazing! He has the best personality - always smiling and laughing and saying "hey" to random people we meet in the store and just doing the silliest things. Today I am going to take some time to write about some of the many things I love about my son.

Talking. This is the new big thing with Little Man. Sure, he has been saying a few words here and there for months now, but he has started repeating everything we say. (Yes, we are trying very hard to cut out the few cuss words we let slip occasionally, and he is never with his uncle unsupervised! haha!) My favorite word right now that he is saying is "monkey." Any time I am on the phone with anyone, I make him say "monkey." He is going to think that is one important word since I make him repeat it all the time! His Grammy asked me to please be sure to teach him more words!

Playing. Well, duh. He's 18 and a half months old. Playing is a huge part of our life. The thing about his playing that I am loving right now is that his playing has shifted focus from just toys to pretending to do things that his daddy and I do every day. At least once a day, he picks up a bucket that has a handle on it, slips it over his arm, picks up Curious George (his favorite stuffed animal) and looks at me (or us, if hubby's home) and says, "Bye bye!" and walks over and tries to open the door. Hilarious! He sees me get my bag, pick him up, and go to the door every single day and now he is copying it. My husband thinks it is hilarious, too, but he is not so thrilled about his thinking that he needs a bag over his arm to leave. haha! He also likes to put George in his high chair and give him stuff. Not to mention share his sippy cup with his stuffed animals. He has even put his stuffed lamb in his push-toy and pushed him around like it was a stroller. One of the funniest things to watch him do, however, is talk on the phone. The boy loves a phone. He always steals our phones and pretends to talk on them. He opens the phone, says "hi" or "hello" and then proceeds to speak gibberish, laugh a couple of times, and then say, "bye" and flip the phone closed. I love that he has to include the laugh. I seriously need to videotape it, because it is hysterical!

Dancing. I put in a previous post that I love music. I love to turn on our Xbox, go to Last.fm, and play all kinds of music. We have a dance party at least once a day! (Hey, shouldn't I be losing some pounds due to that? Ahh, that's a blog for another day...) Little Man copies most of my dance moves (which, let me tell you - are mind-blowing! haha!). He grins and laughs and moves to the music and we just have the best time!

Hugs and Kisses. There are times when this sweet little boy of mine will all of a sudden run at me and throw his arms around me and give the biggest hug...and if I am lucky, there are kisses involved, too. When he hugs, he sometimes pats your neck or shoulder and kind of hums. Best. Feeling. In. The. World.

I could go on forever, but I will stop there for today...I am so blessed to have the most amazing little boy...I'm just sayin'...

What makes you happy?

I am having a wonderful weekend...I am in my hometown with my family celebrating my brother's birthday, and will also be celebrating my husband's Granny's birthday tomorrow. I feel relaxed and even took a two hour nap with Alex today. I feel so good that I thought I would take some time to write about things that make me happy in no particular order...

• Family: My family loves to indulge in two of my favorite things: laughter and food. Today we are celebrating my brother's birthday and did so with yummy steaks and good conversation speckled with much laughter. Tonight some of us will be taking the fun on the road to celebrate a little more, where I expect more fun will abound!
• Dancing: I absolutely love to dance. I am not saying I am good at it, but boy do I love it. There is nothing like hearing a good song and moving to it...even if those movements are officially dubbed the "white girl dance" and mocked at every chance available. I LOVE IT! My husband, not so much. He will dance with me on a slow dance or two, but he is not about to stay on the floor all night. Thankfully he doesn't mind sharing me with my stand-in dance partners.
• Driving alone: Strange, I know, but sometimes the only time I am by myself is when I have to run an errand or take a day to drive two hours away to have a girls' day with my favorite people. I feel so relaxed when I am driving alone. I listen to whatever I want to, I sing at the top of my lungs, I think about all kinds of random things that usually get pushed aside, and I drink a large Coke or Mountain Dew in peace without my hubby looking at me like, "Really, do you need that?"
• Friends: Now, I am blessed with some amazing friends, but there are two or three in particular that are AMAZING. They have been there through thick and thin, we don't have the silly little dramatic episodes that others have, and we just "get" each other. I don't know what I would do without these people, and you most certainly know who you are. I talk to one of them every single day, and it just doesn't feel right when we - rarely - miss a day. And even with the ones that I don't speak to every day, I know that at the drop of a hat we would be there for each other no matter what. I love, love, love my friends - all of them and am so blessed to have y'all in my life.
• A day/night/hour with just me, my husband, and my son: I love spending time with my two boys. When we make the time to just be together playing, watching a movie, going to a park, or any other fun we decide to have, it is so precious and I am sad when it ends and we get back to the hustle and bustle of life. They are the best, and I am glad they are mine and I am theirs.
• Baking and Cooking: I have always loved to bake and cook, even though I am mediocre at it. There is something about creating something out of all those ingredients that makes me feel good and proud.
• A clean house: OK, I will admit that I do not like the effort that it takes to get to the point of "a clean house", but I sure do love the feeling of everything in its place, spic-n-span.
• Music: A friend of ours told us that he feels that music is universal, understood by everyone, and he is so right. I love the abundance of ways music can make you feel. I love the memories that it can bring back, and the memories it helps to create.

Take some time every day to do at least one thing that makes you happy...it's good for you! I'm just sayin'...

Random Ramblings

Since I can't think of just one thing to write about today, I am going to share with you some random thoughts from my day...

• My son is seriously hilarious. Every single day, he does something that cracks me up. Today, he picked up Andy's socks and tried to put them on his feet, meaning he just took the socks and laid them on top of his feet and tried to walk...needless to say, they did not stay on. He gave up on that after a few tries. Next, he decides to crawl around for a little while, laughing the whole time (I guess since crawling is not something he does much of anymore) and he crawls over his little Leapfrog mirror, backs up, and looks at himself. Then he proceeds to sit and stare in the mirror and make hilarious faces and high-pitched sounds making his mouth move around. Every once in a while he'd get tickled and fall over laughing. I was dying laughing watching him playing with that mirror. He also gets tickled over the silliest things...some words we say just make him burst out laughing. My husband had him cracking up by just saying the word "squeak" over and over. My friend says I should bottle his laugh up...and I completely agree. It is the most amazing sound ever.
• I love Regis and Kelly. Let me rephrase...I love the first 15 minutes of Regis and Kelly. After that, I don't really watch unless they are having a guest on that I am interested in...for instance, this person. The first 15 minutes of back-and-forth dialogue between these co-hosts never fails to keep me entertained.
  
• I found a ziploc bag full of old pictures today, so I took a little trip down Memory Lane. Our Xbox has last.fm on it, and it is awesome...I put it on the 90s station on there and blared some music from the old days while I took a little time to slip back in time. Boy did we have fun in high school. Our group of friends had its ups and downs, but overall we had a blast and enjoyed every minute of our time together. Would I want to go back to those days? Absolutely not. But, they sure are fun to reminisce about! Some of my favorite memories from my high school days include driving around aimlessly, Journalism class, watching "Drop Dead Gorgeous" over and over, singing all of our favorite songs over and over, "Put your hands above your head!", my Z-24 and my BFF's Blueberry, "Ice Ice Baby", and so many more.
• My thoughts and prayers are with the people of Haiti. I cannot even being to imagine destruction that terrible. Hearing about a catastrope like that makes you question just how big your troubles are, and makes you thankful for everything you have.
  

I leave you with this thought...
"A day without laughter is a day wasted." ~ Charlie Chaplin
I'm just sayin'...

A Letter to Heidi Montag

After reading this, I felt the urge to share some thoughts with the self-promoting celebrity...

Dear Heidi,

We all know who you are, and we find ourselves dismayingly amused at your and your husband's reality TV based antics. Your lust for the spotlight is unequivocal, and the fact that you have launched yourself from "LC's friend" on The Hills to "Speidi" is, I'll admit, slightly impressive. You have even written a book on how to become famous, where you and your just-as-hungry-for-the-spotlight hubby share the secrets to earning a celebrity status with us "little people." And I think I speak for the majority of this country when I say, "Eh."

This latest news on you really disturbs me for a couple of reasons:

• You were a beautiful girl naturally, yet you have felt the need to become "the best you" as you stated in the article referenced above. That is just depressing, and says a lot about the expectations of young Hollywood.
• As much as it pains me (and surely many others), you have become something of a role model for young girls. When they see that you felt so bad about yourself that you had to alter your already-beautiful features, what will these girls think about themselves? Will they look in the mirror and wish for nose jobs, breast implants, brow lifts, and liposuction? I can't help but think that this article will send the self-confidence levels of many young girls through the floor.

I will not sit here and say that I am against plastic surgery, because I am not. Heck, if it wouldn't hurt so friggin' bad during recovery, I might would consider having some one day! And I know that plastic surgery is not only used for self-improvements, but also for re-constructing after accidents. But, when you have procedure after procedure because of selfish reasons chasing after ridiculous expectations that have been set in place by our society, then I believe you have more serious image issues that go much deeper than your skin.

Next time you want a major transformation to become "the best you", may I suggest you try a psychiatrist. I'm just sayin'.

All the best,
A

What's this all about?

Welcome to my very first blog. Exciting, right?!

Why am I writing a blog? Well...for several reasons:

• I am a Stay At Home Mom. Yes, I am busy chasing my toddler around, running errands, cleaning, and cooking, but I do have some down time throughout the day, and sometimes I am not in the mood to do the productive things that need to be done!
  
• I have an abundance of random thoughts on all sorts of topics that need to be shared.
  
• Everyone else is doing it.

What will my blog be about?

• Well, I am a mom, so there will most certainly be some talk of toddler antics. My son is amazing...adorable and has the best personality!
  
• I have a wonderful husband...he will probably be the main character in more than one post. ;)
  
• I love to read, so you can bet that I will be sharing my thoughts on books I am reading.
• I love music, and will be sharing some of my favorite songs.
• I watch more TV and movies than I should, so no doubt there will be discussions on what I've seen lately.
• I am one of those people who checks this website at least once a day. You will more than likely receive my commentary on the adventures of Hollywood.
• I also keep up with the news, so you will hear about that, as well.
• Since I am trying to cook a broader range of dinners for our family, you are likely to hear of my cooking adventures and mis-adventures!
  
• Pretty much everything is up for grabs when it comes to my posts. You never know what I will be thinking about on a day-to-day basis.
  

My blog is going to be a fun read...I'm just sayin'... :)