Saw this on a friend of a friends facebook wall... you must watch the video...hilarious! And the article is swell as well. But it really will only make sense if you have read the books or seen the movie.
ENJOY!!
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Monday, November 30, 2009
I'd like to thank the Academy...
Oh my word! I am almost famous! HA! I just received my first blog award!! How does that happen??
I am the proud recipient of the Superior Scribbler blog award!! It was given to me by Cassandra at MoonBoat Cafe. She has 2 blogs. I read both and love them...very inspirational and gives some really good homeschooling advice.
Here are the rules:
1. Each Superior Scribbler must pass the award on to 5 deserving blog friends.
2. The Scribbler must link to the Scribbler who gave him or her the award. (that would be me)
3. The Scribbler must display the blog and link to this post, which explains the award. (that would be the Scholastic Scribe post)
5. The Scribbler must post the rules on his or her blog.
So without further ado...what does that mean anyway? What in the world is "ado?" Anyway, here are my winners!!!
*Mara at Sincerely -She is my 18 year old niece. She is so real. No fluffy teenage goofiness coming from this girl. She has awesome taste in music. She has an amazing boyfriend. She writes about both and so much more!
*Bethany at do.think.wear.see.love.dream -She is fashionable and quirky and has the cutest little girls ever! She is as cute as a button!
*Meredith at in progress -She writes from her heart and challenges me to think about things differently. She is going after God and isn't afraid to share it!
*Haverlee at connect with the colyers -She is Bethany's sister and she writes about her life as a mommy to two precious boys and wife to one adventurous (aka crazy) man. She is one of the sweetest people I know.
*Emily at recoveringgavin -In her words, it is "My journey to rescue my son from autism." So inspirational to hear about all the changes they have made as a family to help Gavin.
Visit the winners-Enjoy!!!
Sunday, November 29, 2009
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...
The only pic I took on Thanksgiving day. Lola is so thankful for parents that spoil her.
YAY! We got our Christmas tree this afternoon! I love love love real trees...the smell, the soft needles, the realism (ha) and I don't mind the needles all over my carpet. So begins vacuuming the living room every day. YAY!!! Chad put the lights on. He is an expert. He tucks them back into the branches and it looks so purty. Then I let the kids go at it with the ornaments reminding them to spread them out and to not ignore the sides of the tree. We put up our stockings. I bought new ones last year from Pottery barn and they have our names embroidered on them. I totally forgot about them so opening the box was like my own personal Christmas. YAY again!! I have 80% of my Christmas shopping done and what is left is just a matter of going to get it or ordering it. Woot woot!! How are you coming along in your Christmas preparations??
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
meeting HER
It seems like I should start this recap of my adventure to meet HER....the Pioneer Woman-Ree Drummond with "It was a dark and stormy night..." or "Call me Ishmael" since it feels like an adventure of epic proportions. It started about two years ago. I was reading a blog which linked to another blog which then linked to pioneerwoman.com. I read for hours and hours. She is witty and inspirational on a very practical level. I have read every post, past and present, on her blog and loved every one of them. The cooking section of her blog is one of my faves...seriously, I really shouldn't pick a fave since they are ALL so great. She posts step by step pictures of her recipes....so easy to follow and makes a girl like me feel like I can cook anything!! Soooo, about 5 months ago she announces that she has a cookbook coming out in October! WOOHOO! I was so excited! Then she goes on to say that she is going on a Griswold Style cookbook signing tour. If you know me than you know I have great fondness for the Griswolds....PW is a girl after my own heart. Double WOOHOO!!! Then to make it even sweeter she was going to be in Minneapolis at the Mall of America on November 21st. Triple WOOHOO!! That was only four hours away! Easypeasy lemon squeezy!
So I planned a weekend in the Twin cities to meet her, get my book signed and to do some Christmas shopping at the big ol' mall with my sister and my nieces. Big fun!! We drove up Friday and hit IKEA. Saturday morning we got up and to the mall by 9:30am. There were about a dozen women already waiting so my sister and I and the girls enjoyed a Magic Pan Crepe Stand crepe ( I had the bananas and caramel crepe-delish unless you are Meredith and then it didn't taste good at all....too much gluten.) I went back to see how the line was doing and was alarmed to see about 80 women in line...so I hopped in line and wished my sister and nieces "Happy shopping."
It was about 10:15 at this time. Only 2 hours and 45 minutes to wait to see HER! I was ill prepared to be standing in line for almost 3 hours but I did have my cookbook. I sat on the hard tile floor reading the cookbook while grumbling that my womanly cramps (ha! I have never called them that in my life...it just sounded more appropriate somehow) were back in full force. Texted Chad to pray that they would go away. They eventually did...yay God! It was a pretty boring wait. I wasn't sitting by anyone particularly friendly but I didn't really put myself out there either. Can you see me??
There was a little bit of excitement when the audio guys came and hooked up the sound system or when the Barnes and Noble guy clarified to the crowd which page PW was going to sign. There was a representative from Barnes working her way through the crowd with Post-It notes. She was asking if we wanted Ree to personalize our books. ABSOLUTELY! So I told her one was for "Cinnamon-C-i-n-n-a-m-o-n." and the other was for "Manda-no A at the beginning-M-a-n-d-a." Pretty simple right? You would think that a person whose job it was was to write a person's name on a Post-It for the author to be able to read would have clear and concise penmanship. Right? Hold that thought.
1pm finally arrived and Ree came out looking as fabulous as ever. Don't let her self deprecating humor fool you...she is gorgeous!! Tall, skinny, absolutely lovely! She did a quick Q&A. She was witty and clever and so freaking sweet! Just like I imagined her...only better.
She sat down to sign books...FINALLY! Her husband, Marlboro Man, and her two boys showed up at the signing for a bit. Very fun to see them! I didn't assault MM with my book to have him sign it although I heard later that he and the boys were at their own table signing. Maybe next time-like when "From Black Heels to Tractor Wheels" comes out. It is her retelling of how she and MM met and ended up getting married. She is adding to what is already on her blog and then extending the story. Can't wait!
The line moved steadily (is that the right word) and with about 80 people in front of me it took an hour to get to the front...EEEEK!!! What the heck was I going to say? Would I stumble over my words? Would I bombard her with useless trivia? Would I gush all over her and make her feel uncomfortable??
I had made a marriage proposal booklet from Lola to Ree's basset Charlie so I figured that would be a good ice breaker. The moment came...my stomach was in knots...my hands were clammy...I was a tad sweaty....here goes...it was my turn to approach "the table." I sat down. She started signing the first book (Cinnamon's) and said some sort of greeting. I stumbled about and told her she was so beautiful and touched her arm...twice. Seriously, I think I had stalker written all over me. I gave her the Lola pics/marriage proposal. She set it aside and we started a deep and meaningful conversation about bassets and their smelliness. We compared basset stink and breath. It was a beautiful moment between two besties. I swear I heard birds chirping, ocean waves, and soft music playing while gorgeous rays of sunshine filled the mall.
Do you think I talk with my hands much? Notice the first picture in the third row....we have the same facial expression. We are practically sisters. You would think that I would have had better posture. Her statuesque-ness makes me look kind of troll like (y'know-short and squatty) in these pics but whatev.
Then I looked down as she signed my book. *gasp* Who the heck is Manola? What in the world? The poor thing (her, not me) had misread that crazy girls Post-It note. This is what it looked like....I can see how that would happen.
I pointed out the mistake (last pic in the collage) and she VERY graciously turned it into a silly moment when she covered my page in hearts. Then she said, "I am going to call you Manola from now on." That is fine with me, Ree!!! Call me!!! Anytime!!!
I have to tell you this was SUCH a FUN FUN experience. She is the best blogger out there and she has found such success. You meet her and you seriously see her for exactly who she is. She is fantastically generous with her time. She adores her fans/friends/stalkers. She sat and signed books for HOURS and HOURS and she gave us all a totally adorable Pioneer Woman t-shirt commemorating her book tour. Sweet!! She is a true inspiration and I feel so blessed that I got to meet her.
The Liturgical Year-Book review
Wow. I picked this book "The Liturgical Year" by Joan Chittister as my next selection as a Nelson Book Review blogger. It is in the Ancient Practices series of books. I had absolutely no idea what this book was about but thought it might be an interesting read. It is written by a Benedictine nun. It follows and explains the liturgical year starting at Advent and continuing through November. It explains how to use the liturgical year and its meanings to draw closer to the life of Jesus.
This was a very interesting book to read. Growing up Lutheran I thought I would have a certain understanding of the liturgical year but reading this book made me realize even more that I grew up in a very very non-traditional Lutheran church. Ha! There were some definite truths in the book and I appreciate the yearning to grow closer to Jesus and to be true "followers of Jesus all the way to the heart of God." However, my beliefs don't really line up with this books teachings. The history presented in the book is captivating but the rest of it is not my cup of tea. I don't think this review should be about how our beliefs differ but it should be about the writing style and how the author, Joan Chittister, got her point across. I think she did a great job explaining the history of the liturgical calendar and how the different feasts and days came to be and how to implement them in modern days. I appreciate her heart and wanting to grow closer to her Creator. I would not read anything else in this series or by her simply because of our differing beliefs but think she is a great author for her specific demographic.
Monday, November 23, 2009
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