Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Wordless Wednesday

before
before
before
after
after
after
sooo big!

brrrrrr

Sunday, January 25, 2009

My name is Rachel....and I'm a T.V. addict

After being gently chided in the comment section by a creative, orange gourd-like fruit loving someone, who will remain nameless, about my lack of posting.....I must confess. It's because of my love of T.V. Here's a rundown of shows that I like to watch. They are not in order of popularity, but rather days of the week.....I think. And allow me some time to justify at the end of the list.

Cold Case
CSI: Miami
The Bachelor (not every season, though)
The Closer
American Idol
The Biggest Loser
The Mentalist
Life On Mars
The Office
CSI
Damages
Burn Notice
Monk
Psych

These are shows that we DVR, but we will let them accumulate and watch much later...

Celebrity Rehab
Rock of Love (don't judge me)
Charm School
The Pick Up Artist

These are shows that are "out of season" right now, but work their way into the rotation.

America's Next Top Model
Amazing Race
So You Think You Can Dance
The Apprentice

Then there are shows that I enjoy if nothing else is on..

Intervention
What Not Wear
Ruby
Any house flipping shows

I don't really "watch" any daytime T.V., though it is always on in the background. I do enjoy Ellen and The Bonny Hunt Show (she is quickly squeezing out Oprah due to political differences she and I are having at the moment)

Now, with the list finished, allow me to explain/justify/excuse......I do not want you to think that I sit around for hours a day allowing my creative muscles to atrophy. Most nights, I don't sit down to watch until well after 9 p.m....after the kids have long been asleep, the house has been redd up, and things are ready for the morning. Also, we have company over every Tuesday night and every other Thursday. We go to church on Wednesday evenings and Sunday dinner on (duh!) Sundays. And I read at least one book a week. Being that Jay is the "voice of the Penn hills Indians" and it's right smack dab in the middle of girls and guys basketball season, there are many evenings when I'm home bymyself (with sleeping children), and a girls got to do something to pass the time,right?

Not to mention, since the invention of the DVR, I have not watched a "live" show in ages. An hour long episode is quickly whittled down to 44 min. less if there is any gross kissing or food eating. A 30 minute show gets banged out (yeah, I said it) in a measly 22 min. Can't beat that with a bat!

All that being said....don't you think there are better things I could be dong with all this T.V. consumed time? I don't know....like organize a closet, make some scrapbook pages, post on the ol' blog, go to bed before 1 a.m.? So, how about this...next week, someone ask me about those things, and I promise to be honest!

Now....who's next? What are YOU watching?

Monday, January 19, 2009

And the word of the year is......

PROGRESS

progress - (noun) 1. a moving forward 2. development 3. improvement (intransitive verb) 1. to move forward 2. to advance towards a goal; develop or improve


Yes, I know we're already a few weeks into this new year, but hey, you don't know...maybe I've been making progress on some things that have prevented me from blogging about my word. Or, I just haven't gotten to it, yet. Well, now is the time.


The challenge is to pick a word that will stick with you throughout this year. A word to reflect on or focus on. Something to work on or move towards or revel in.....a couple of words I've seen floating around the blog-o-sphere are CALM & CULTIVATE. Good choices indeed.


I thought that picking the word would be difficult, but really....the word came to me quickly.


Progress encompasses so many areas for me, from simple all the way over to difficult. I would love to organize our closets and home office and have a "system" that works for organizing. But that means more than just cleaning out the closets....I've done that a million times before. I need a plan....


I'm making progress in health related areas, too. Specifically, shedding baby weight! I'll probably post more later about the gym I go to (CrossFit) and how ridiculously hard the workouts are.


I'm dedicated to making progress in really abstract areas of life, too. For example, NOT Christmas shopping on Christmas Eve and freaking out at my dear husband as the minutes tick by. Also, starting some cool traditions that can bring us closer as a family. Maybe I'll work on not leaving clean clothes in the laundry basket for a week...or make a few scrapbook pages for children other than my first born.


The most important area of progress is happening in my relationship with Christ. Even though I committed my life to Christ 17 years ago, God isn't done with me yet! Thank goodness! He has shown me a lot of things that I need to work on to be more like the person He created me to be. The work is hard ( terrifying, excruciating, humbling, etc.) but the results will be well worth it!


So, as you can tell, I'll be making a lot of PROGRESS over here....


What's your word?

Sunday, January 18, 2009

On This Day in History... 1.18.2009

On this day in history many excited things happened (by exciting, I mean important enough to warrant being written down)

~The Hawaiian Islands were discovered
~The x-ray machine was exhibited for the first time (I'd hate to be the first patient!)
~The Jeffersons debuted (go ahead and sing the theme song)
~The FDA approved the use of saliva based ovulation tests!

However, much more exciting than all of those things combined....on January 18th, 1984.....Courtney was born!!! Yeah for us! Today, she turns the big 2-5! Is that the benchmark for official adulthood? Several years of marriage, home ownership, contribution to the work force...all of these things have meant nothing up till this point. You've finally made it!

Congratulations also to Courtney's mom, who successfully made it through the 1983 holiday season carrying her sweet baby!

Courtney is a great friend and sister in Christ. So,
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, COURTNEY!


Among Courtney's many talents is the ability to throw a great party a la '84 including drinks like Pretty in Pink, Footloose, Member's Only, Valley Girl and Danger Zone. Don't forget the 80's Trivial Pursuit and a good ol' Rubix Cube!

Aw

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Wow Wii & Wow weird

So, what did everyone think of American Idol last night? Don't pretend like you don't watch...especially if you were at my house watching. I gotta say, it was kind of weird. The girl with the bikini???? Comically, I could understand the banter, etc. But after awhile it kinda got uncomfortable to watch. Then again, the girl DID wear a teeny bikini to a singing audition.....and my heart breaks a little for the super freaks that look even worse on DVR when SOMEONE (Jay) might hit pause at an unfortunate moment.....

I do have a segue....I just can't remember it specifically. At some point last night, something was said that made me think of all the funny things that our sweet girl Bella says incorrectly. Let me enlighten you....(I'm also following Crafty P's theory of this being a good way to journal for future scrapbook memories)

Since Bella was first allowed to feed herself french fries and cling to a Happy Meal toy she has referred to McDonald's as....Uncle Donald's! We were able to decipher this one because her older brother, Joe, has always called it Old McDonald's, like the song and she just took it from there.

She has always called a mirror a.....meever.

For Christmas, we got a Wii. (Thanks Santa...or the guy at a friend's work who bought it, never played with it and his wife made him sell it at a loss) Bella calls it our Wow Wii every time, which I think is too cute!

This one was not so cute...one day she runs into the living room and asks, "Mommy, Daddy can I have a f*** cicle?" WHAT??? WHAT??? I started having involuntary muscle spasms and trying to think of where I had gone wrong with this precious child that she would use such language....then we realized, she was asking a Ze Fronk cicle. Ze Fronk is a cartoon dog with a little 5 minute show in between other shows on the Disney Channel. He teaches kids to make easy snacks...like pouring juice into an ice cube tray, sticking a toothpick in it and calling it a Ze Fronk cicle.

Now, most of the time we try to correct her but really, we let it slide. Except for that one...thank goodness Grandma was not here!

Saturday, January 10, 2009

Look Out, Loretta!

Well, hello blog world! After some encouragement from a few friends who blog, I decided to take the plunge. I have been a blog voyeur for quite some time and have felt like I missed out on some fun blog adventures like The Christmas Tour, Wordless Wednesdays, Flashback Fridays, Tell-it-like-is Tuesdays...wait, that was Dr. Phil.

I have to give many thanks to my friend, Diz, for teaching me to be blog savvy until my phone battery died. Many of you may know Diz as Crafty P. She is currently in the running for Queen of all things crafty and yummy. She's kind of like the MacGyver of crafts. I think if she was trapped in a JoAnn's store she could create something to save the world....or at least make an incredible scrapbook about the whole ordeal with a gift bag filled with treats for everyone to take home, with her 4 boys in tow and a smile on her face!

I'm not sure what I can contribute to this blog community....and I have been told many times that I should be writing for myself, not for others. I get that. I will write whatever I want, when I want. However, if it were strictly for my own enjoyment, I certainly wouldn't put it on this inter-web thing. I'm not particularly crafty like Diz, or a brilliant writer like Courtney (and her hubby Dustin!) Courtney also has some great links to trendy sites that I don't visit because I think "they" can tell that I'm sitting here in really uncool, ill fitting sweat pants with baby drool somewhere on me.

My wonderful hubby has a blog as well. His is very thought provoking and sometimes controversial, and occasionally funny.

So, some days I may share a funny anecdote about the kids (I'll try to have my camera ready!), maybe just the ramblings of a mind spent with a lot of toddlers, or maybe something more. God has been teaching me A TON of great, yet tough stuff recently, and I might just pass it on.....

Check back and leave comments!