A Few of my Favorite Things....

OK, so I am in the mood for writing a fun blog. It's a little "shout out" to some of the many things in life that make me happy. If you haven't tried any of these things on my list, I highly recommend it.

1. Mango Fruitista from Taco Bell!! YUM!! (A little piece of vacation in a cup.) I think I even hear reggae music in the background when I drink one of these.

2. LOVE LOVE LOVE driving in my new car with the top down. Traffic is not a bad thing anymore and I look forward to driving. It just makes everything better once I get in the car with the top down and radio up.

3. The Robert Pattinson Pandora station. Trust me on this one.

4. Which brings me to an obvious favorite. My Ipod. (*thank you Ami and Justin!!) I didn't know what I was missing before this thing!! :) Life is just better with great tunes.

5. Lemon pie and sweet tea at Chick-Fil-A. 'Nuff said.

6. McDonald's sugar cookies. Best. Cookies. Ever. (which then brings me to my next favorite thing)....

7. Embarrassing as it may be.... every woman needs to know about this little secret called the "SQUEEM". (Especially after eating all those Lemon pies and sugar cookies.)

Yes, my best friend, the Squeem. (model 26J to be exact.)

Yeah... um... so when I was online researching body shapers and came across a review that said this thing sucks in your tummy so much that it might even make you pass out, I was like, "BINGO!!" 50.00 later and I wonder how I ever lived before without this thing. Hey ladies.... BEAUTY IS PAIN. Are you with me?.... One day I might actually do some real exercise to get skinny, but as for now, I will embrace the laziness that is THE SQUEEM.

8. Facebook. I love you facebook.

Lets face it, once we become a Mom, our social days are history. Hanging with the girls can be hard to squeeze into our busy schedules. Trying to balance work, the home, getting the kids to school, helping with homework, grocery shopping, etc... it feels like there is never a time to just hang with our homies. At least facebook gives me some sort of way to socialize and keep a little bit of sanity.

9. Books!!

Facebook has taken some time away from this love of mine, but when I do find a really good book it makes me happy. ♥ Some of my absolute favorites: Lolita, Chang and Eng, The Host, Memoirs of a Geisha, Harry Potter series, Twilight Saga (more of a guilty pleasure), and just recently getting into The Hunger Games series. And the best website to keep up with my book habit is www.goodreads.com (love this site).

10. Dance Parties with my kids! Okay, so once in awhile I have to force myself to get off my butt and try to squeeze in some exercise. I mean, I think I can see a definite trend above with my favorite things. Most of them involve me sitting on my happy butt, or scarfing down some sugar loaded goodies that are sure to add a few more bulges. No more bulges thank you, my SQUEEM already fits tight enough!

So...... what better way to exercise than in the privacy of my house, with my kids, who are the only ones that can appreciate the awesomeness of my white girl dance moves? I mean, I do have some MEAN robot skillz!

Alright, well anyway... I guess 10 things oughta do it for now. Just thought I'd share. Back to reality again and time to go do one of my not so favorite things and start some dinner I guess. Peace out!

Hole in my heart

Well.... it is nearing 11:00 pm and my brain is swirling with anxiety and since I am unable to sleep, I thought I would try to blog. It feels like longer than a week ago that my Grandpa passed away, yet it has only been 4 days ago. It is weird how sometimes you will be going along okay and then other times it hits you again like a wave in your stomach. Tonight was one of those nights. I was lying there reading my book and was actually starting to fall asleep and then, "Wham"... from out of nowhere I got this dropping feeling in my gut knowing that his viewing is tomorrow and funeral services the next day.

It really is like each person close in your life has this special place in your heart or like footprints they leave in your soul. When they are gone you get these panicky feelings once in awhile thinking about how things are going to be different without them. Like there are these holes left in your heart and soul....

Like a part of you, is also going to change without them. Each person that I love so dearly in my life makes up who I am as a person. Without these people, I would be a completely different person.

Although my heart has more of a hole than it did before, I know that because of this amazing man, our family has been blessed with the lessons he taught us. He was a man who even when he made it big and had a successful business that was making a large amount of money, never let it go to his head. He became well known in the racing industry, but remained humble and generous. He never forgot about the people that weren't as fortunate as him. He would donate money, buy gift cards for food to those who were in need. He would tip big, smile big and talk to strangers. He genuinely cared about people and was such a likeable man because of his warmth. He was always thankful for the blessings in his life and so many times would talk about what a great family he had and how proud he was.

Death can be a wake up call to remind you that life is a constantly changing thing and that you never know what will happen next. That it is out of our hands and that we need to let God guide us, so that we can make the best choices in life to stay a good person and do things according to his will. I am so proud and thankful that I was able to have such big footprints in my heart that helped mold me into the person I am today. Thank you so much Grandpa. You will be missed, but never forgotten.

Inspired to Blog again...

Yes, it has been awhile. I have been inspired to blog again due to a new friend's most AWESOME blog site. ( http://traceygjones.wordpress.com/ )

Her blogs make me smile, some make me get choked up, many are inspiring and heartwarming, some are just plain silly, but mainly they are just HONEST and so well written! They inspire me to write blogs again, but in a different way.... Not just about what happened in the past week, but about my random feelings or thoughts. Not about the specific things that I did, but more about the crazy stuff that goes on in my brain. I think I will try to blog a little more often about that.

I wonder sometimes if people take as long to write a blog as I do. So many jumbled thoughts that run through my brain, but they never seem to come out right when I do finally decide to write one. I always feel like if I could paint pictures of what I see in my head, or write down the things that I think about, I could have written some awesome books. But nope. I start writing a story, and half way through, my brain freezes up. I am impatient and ready for it to end, and I find myself rushing through a great story to finish up with a sloppy ending..... Kinda like the movie, "IT" by Stephen King. (What on earth HAPPENED in the last half of that movie anyway?)

Anywhooo... where was I? ...Oh yeah. - I guess that is why when I was younger I stuck to just writing poems instead. (And some very lame, rushed diary entries that are too embarrassing to read over again.) When I write, it has to be short and sweet or I will bore myself. So I guess I will see if I can try this blogging thing out again. I want to get in touch with my creative side and know that art is NOT an option for me. (didn't get that gene). My theater days are in the past now, so maybe I will just blog once in awhile.

Peace out for now.

Long time No Blog :)

Once again I have neglected to blog on here! Since I last posted, so much has happened in our family! Kori turned 9, Gwen turned 4 and Michael turned the big 4-0! We had a fun celebration with family and friends at the lake near our house for Michael's birthday. It was great! Thanks so much to all the friends and family that came out and celebrated with us! :) Kori had an awesome 9th birthday party with 8 friends sleeping over and a whip cream fight in the backyard! It was so much fun! Gwen also had a great birthday with friends and family at the house. I can't believe Kori will be starting 4th grade in a few months! Before we know it Gwen will be starting Kindergarten! Time sure is flying by!


This weekend me and my sister and all the kids went to COMIC CON. So much to see there! Once again it was fun chaos! :) Sooo many people go to that thing, it is definitely a challenge getting around with a huge stroller and 4 kids, but worth it! :) I am just a little bummed that the cast of Twilight didn't come on the day we were there! They were there along with Johnny Depp and Tim Burton on Thursday which was opening day of the convention!! Alot of fun though!

Anyway I just thought I'd post a little blog with some pictures to at least try and keep somewhat of an update on here, although most the time I am doing all my updating on facebook anyway. Anyway, enjoy the pictures and maybe, just maybe I will be on here again one day soon. ha! :0)

Blog, Blog, Blog

Okay, so I guess it is time for a blog. It's been awhile. Well, 2009 has arrived. Happy New Year everyone! Man 2008 went by fast!!

Michael, me and the girls just got back a few days ago from a mini vacation to Discovery Bay, CA. We had a great time with a house full of family! :)

Kori and Gwen had a blast playing with all of their cousins! I think there were like 12 kids in the house at one point!! ha! It was fun though! I got my hair highlighted for the first time :) THANKS LORI!!! She does awesome hair! I will post a picture of Kori with her new hairstyle too. I just wish I could style hair as well as like Lori does. It is a bummer that I didn't get more pictures while we were there. Seems like lately I am not good with remembering to get pictures of everything! Anyway the trip went great just spending time visiting with Michaels family and getting in some much needed reading time also! :)

Christmas was a blast as well! The kids had fun opening all of their gifts from Santa and then on Saturday we went to my sisters house and had Christmas lunch and visited and spent the night. It was nice.

Gwen has started her new preschool (which is the preschool Kori used to go to that I loved). She is still trying to get used to it, but doing well and much better with the potty training! :)
Boy she is definitely taking a long time with that one, but finally starting to get it.

Not a whole lot to blog about. It is more fun to post a blog with a bunch of pictures, but I haven't really taken many lately anyway. Well, I will post what recent pictures I did have and blog a little more later with updates, when I am in the mood. By for now :)

Picnic on the Mountains

What a nice relaxing Sunday. Today all of us decided to take the Land Rover and 4 wheel drive it to the top of the mountains where we could have a picnic. We stopped and got a bucket of KFC chicken and headed up to the mountains. It was such a nice day for it too! The girls had a blast with the off roading on the bumpy dirt roads, as we bounced our way to the very top of the mountain! They were giggling in the back and going, "whoooooooaaaa" over every bounce! It was cute! When we got to the top, we stopped and took some pictures and then laid out some blankets and had our picnic overlooking an awesome view. Soon enough some other guys came up to go hang-gliding! (Is that one or two words by the way?) :)

We decided we would hang around to watch them take off the mountain! It was really cool watching them set up and get ready for the take off. We got some neat pictures of it too. After watching them take off, we headed back down the mountain and I took some video of us bouncing around on the ride back down. Then we went home and Michael stayed with the girls while I got some much needed Christmas shopping out of the way. :o) I swear NOBODY beats ROSS prices! I love that store! Anyway, here are the pictures of our little outing! It was fun :)

OMG!! Kori's First Poem! Age 8

Oh my goodness! Kori just brought me in this piece of paper and said, "Hey Mom, I wrote a poem, you want to see it?"

OH MY GOODNESS! Her FIRST poem and I LOVE IT and had to share. Here it goes:


By Kori Graham Age: 8 Date: 11-15-08

NIGHT TIME
The moon is out, the stars are bright.
I wonder what will happen tonight.
The sun's not up, the clouds are down.
No one knows when to howl.
I wish I may, I wish I might
See a shooting star that's bright.
It doesn't matter, it doesn't depend
How this night is going to end.