Say Bye-Bye to 2008 (can you tell I hang out with my son wayyyy too much?)

2008 held alot of ups and downs and I'm ready to kiss it good-bye and start fresh in 2009. After Christmas I kind of forgot that it was still 2008, I was already in the new year mode..haha..I guess that's because I haven't really celebrated New Years Eve in about 5 years. The first year Mark and I were together, well I should say within the first few days of us being together we were ringing in the New Year, sort of, he had to work that night at the bar he was a bouncer for, so I got all prettied up and perched on a bar stool until he got off :), we were a whole 9 days into our relationship..I was devoted :)..After that I don't think we ever really did anything for New Years..Oh well, not a big deal to me, the holidays are over and a fresh start is just what this family needs :).

I decided not to do any resolutions this year, it's sort of a waste to me because I never stick to them, I do however have goals :) (not the same thing, I don't care what you say!). I will be starting school in 11 days! I have already started my healthy eating habits and since I have the Wii Fit to kick my booty I've already started my weight loss goal! So THERE! Hehehe..

I don't know about you, but I always feel a teeny tiny bit of hope at the start of a new year, it's as though there are a million possibilities ahead. I don't regret or feel that I wasted any of the last year and that is a great feeling :). I'm so proud of my boy for all the things he's learned and continues to learn. My daughter also accomplished a great deal this past year and is turning into quite the young lady! My husband got a promotion and finally loves his job and all before he'd been there a year! I learned how to be more patient and take one day at a time. I also learned how to breathe, I didn't know before that I wasn't...

Ok I'm done rambling about 2008 :) Happy New Year my family and friends! See ya next year..ba da bum bum..hehe...

Inspirational Tuesday

I was watching GMA this morning and saw a really great story/interview at the end about Dana Canedy, she is a senior editor at the New York Times, where she has been a journalist for twelve years. In 2001, she was part of a team that won a Pulitzer Prize for national reporting for "How Race Is Lived in America," a series on race relations in the United States. She is also the author of A Journal for Jordan which is a beautiful and tender introduction, a loving good-bye, a reporter’s inquiry into her soldier’s life, and a heartrending reminder of the human cost of war.

The reason this story inspired me is because it is a Father's words to his only son about life, love, and faith. This father kept a journal while fighting in Iraq and when his son turned 6 months old, he finished it, shortly thereafter he was killed while fighting. *Thats the short explanation*

It is a book that I will keep for my son as its message is one that I feel will guide him throughout his life's journey, as well as helping to guide mine.

There are many books out there have inspired me or helped to guide me, the one above is just the most recent. Another that I think everyone should read is The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch or at least (click on his name) watch the Video of him speaking!

I also love the Chicken Soup For the Soul series, there are some that are just really uplifting. There are others in the series that tend to make me a little sad, but there's always a good moral to it :).

So why am I doing Inspirational Tuesday? Well, I guess because I wanted to be different..lol..and every now and then I feel the need to put as much positivity out there as I can, it's more for me than anything, putting it out here means I have a place to come back too when I need a little uplifting. Anywho, I hope you enjoy my little list and take a moment to reflect on what inspires you :)

Stealing..for a good cause

My wonderful best friend sent me the sweetest email today along with a Youtube video and in the spirit of sharing I am stealing/borrowing her sentiment because I feel the same way about all of the wonderful women I have in my life, new friends and old ones alike. So in honor of True Friendship of all us gals please take a few minutes to view this beautiful video...I couldn't have said it better myself :)

Lots of love to all of you!!

A Better Place and The Twilight Movie

My brain seems to be in a better place today, I was reading some of my last posts and they have been on the somewhat bleak side, sorry about that. I am happy today, I went to the movies last night for the first time since living here in AZ with another person, my friend/tattoo artist! It was my first girls night out in months, and the other girls night outtings had all required me to travel to Las Vegas, don't get me wrong I LOVE GOING HOME to see my friends and family, but it gets a little expensive to drive that far just for a few hours of fun..lol..What movie did we see, you may be asking? TWILIGHT, yes I surrendered to the part of me that just had to see EDWARD CULLEN (Robert Pattinson) on the big screen. So, did I like it? **Warning- BIG SPOILERS TO COME, IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW STOP READIN HERE**

Here is what I did like about it:

1.Robert Pattinson and Robert Pattinson

2.The super hilarious scenes, i.e. Bella falling (reminded me of myself), Bella "dancing" with Edward with a cast on (he was supposed to be dancing the both of them ya know her feet on top of his, but she's in a cast and poor Robert pattinson just looked awkward)

3.Robert Pattinson dipped in Glitter/Diamonds

4.The scenery-I'm seriously contemplating moving to where they shot this movie, it's THAT beautiful

5.James. Laurent and Victoria- they were portrayed beautifully.

6. Bella's truck

Here is what I didn't like:

1. Kristen Stewarts performance as Bella, she really didn't capture my attention the way she should have and her chemistry with Edward Cullen was BLAH, there was no passion AT ALL from her. Any emtoion she was supposed to portray just fell flat, even at the end when she was begging Edward not to leave her, her supposed to be hysteria was not even Tantrum material.

2. The boy who played Jasper was HORRENDOUS! His face throughout the whole movie had my in hysterics, he looked CONSTIPATED, seriously it was so bad I wanted to give him an Ex-Lax to help him relax.

3. The girl that played Rosalie-Ummmmmmmmm, so not pretty. I mean according to the books Rosalie is supposed to be a KNOCK OUT, this girl was anything but, Bella is supposed to be plain compared to her, well Kristen outshined her for sure.

4. Carlisle- yea, NO...it was all wrong.

5. I liked Emmett, but he should have been bigger :)

6. Hated Robert Pattinson's face he made when Bella walks into the classroom for the first time, he looked like he was going to vomit, he even put his hand over his mouth and made his eyes bulge, he needed a trash can.

7.Hated his facial expressions when he was trying to hard to have emotion

8.The so-called super speed, frankly it could have been done ALOT better

9.All the plot lines that were NOT IN THE BOOK, that is what frustrated me the most, they deviated from the book SOOOOOOO much that I was at one point confused because they would use dialog from the book but it didn't correspond with what was going on.

10. The boy who plays Jacob Black looked like he was wearing a really BAD WIG, that was also very distracting.

I could keep going, but replaying it my mind is upsetting me..lol..Here's the thing, I did enjoy myself in spite of all the screw ups, I feel bad for the Author, did she not have any say at all at how her book would be portrayed on the Big Screen? I know also that they had a very low budget to work with so maybe that was why they did what they did and also when it comes to books turned movie I tend to be a snob, BUT I really feel that they didn't do the story justice and I hope with all of my heart that the second one is done much better.

So there is my official review of Twilight-The Movie, my review of the books is THEY ARE UNREAL (in a really good way!). I am reading them for the second time and I love how it takes me to another place.

Today is also my mom's birthday (or would have been), I am actually ok, I know she's in a better place and is more than likely hanging out with Jerry Garcia! I'm jealous! :) I am also doing a countdown to when my best friend is coming to visit which is in 6 DAYS!! Woohoo! Ok off to be productive before Mark leaves me for being a bad wife..hehe...Happy Sunday! And Happy Birthday MOM! I miss you and I love you! Tell dad, grandmas and grandpas hi for me :)

I LOVE COFFEE..Yes I do! Don't You? What about Hot Chocolate?

So over at Lovely SITS a really great, totally awesome, completely mind blowing, fantastically and magically delicious GIVE-A-WAY is happening RIGHT NOW to Win a Keurig Platinum Brewing System and $50 worth of K-cups. My suggestion if you happen to LOVE coffee, tea or Hot chocolate is GET over there right now, join the SITS movement and try to win this beautiful coffee, tea or hot chocolate making machine.....Look how pretty it is...

Not only is the magical machine perfect, it has some really yummy coffee, tea and hot chocolate brands such as...

So do yourself a favor and go over to SITS and enter to win!! You might get lucky!!

Did I miss it?

Christmas went well this year, having my uncle here was so fun for not just me, but my husband and son enjoyed him as well. The best part for me this year was Nathen's face when he woke up Christmas morning and saw all the presents under the tree, he was so excited and just exuberant, his little eyes twinkled and I wished at that moment that I could bottle that feeling and save it for later. We opened presents and watched the Disney Christmas parade (which I had never seen before) and it was so beautiful, makes me want to go to Disney World now for Christmas. There was a performance by David Cook during the parade that brought me to tears and made me miss my family and mom and grandma so much I almost couldn't breathe, so instead of dwelling on the pain I let his voice take me away...This video is from his performance at the Rockefeller Center




I asked the question "Did I miss it?" because I feel as though part of me hasn't been present for the Holiday season this year, I feel a bit guilty because I was dreading so much the emotions that this time of year brings up in me, that I feel as though I shut down for about 90% of it, I didn't grasp the full Christmas spirit until yesterday, and I knew by then it was too late. I did my best and I am happy that my son enjoyed himself, I can't wait til he can actually understand the meaning of the Holidays and not just presents. So, I hope that all of you enjoyed yourselves and that the coming new year will bring us some peace and happiness :)

Merry Christmas

I am going on a blogging hiatus for a few days, my Uncle is coming to town so I have to be entertaining :). I just wanted to wish all of my bloggyland friends a very Merry Christmas!! *so far we are kicking the cold's out of the house and Nate is no longer running away from me, he is now trying to wipe MY nose* Merry Christmas again!!

Some of my favorite Christmas songs courtesy of You Tube..




Josh Groban...



Rudolph

Snotty Sunday

The Bush family is currently battling the beast of snot. Noses are running and trying to stop from being attacked by the MOM WITH A TISSUE! How can so much grossness come from one so small?? I am praying that we will all be healthy again in time for Christmas, I don't want to have to change the words from "I'm dreaming of a Whie Christmas", to "I'm living a GREEN Christmas"...UGH! And not the environmental GREEN either (gross..gag..gross) I'm sure you all wanted to know about this too, which is why I felt the need to share the small details of my Snotty Sunday :)

*How do you make a tissue dance?*
**Put a little boogie in it!**

Yes, I am sleep deprived and am losing my mind. Stay tuned maybe I'll say something funny tomorrow. Or maybe I'll get sleep and the snot will go away..oh that would be nice! *Fingers crossed*

Enjoy all of your not snotty sunday, is it weird that I giggle every time I write snotty sunday...wow I am sick....

I'm a WINNER and Now go Enter this fabulous GIVEAWAY!

I never win anything until TODAY! I won a $25 gift card today just for following a great blog! My prize supplier is Kalei at Bloggedy Blog Blog , she is also the Rambler's sister :). She has a really great blog so please stop by and say hello and become a follower!! Thanks Kalei!!! :) Woohoo!!!

Ok so since I won something today I'm trying my luck with this great giveaway that my bloggyland friend Sandy has recommended, so go check out POOBA for your chance to WIN THIS....

An Award and why I'm a stinker :)

First of all I have to give a big GIANT thank you to Janna over at Janana Bee, on Dec. 17th, she gave me an awesome award on her blog and it gave me the warm fuzzies and I feel blessed to have her has a bloggyland friend :) Please go check out her blog..she's a great writer and makes me laugh everyday! :)

The award states "This blog invests and believes the PROXIMITY - nearness in space, time and relationships!These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers! Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award."

I have met some really amazing ladies and gents through the blogging world and they all bring something different to the table and they all give me something to look forward on a daily basis. I have always been of the mind set that everyone that comes into your life does so for a reason and that there are no such thing as coincidences or accidents, I believe with all my heart that the Man Upstairs is in his own way showing me that it's ok to come out of my shell and make friends, even if most of them live far away or are just through this vehicle of the internet, I am becoming comfortable once again with who I am and even better I'm being accepted for who I am :) So while I am supposed to choose my 8 favorites, please know that I pass this award out to all that take the time out their day to stop by and learn more about me and my craziness and family :)

The 8 that I'm choosing today are....

1. Georgie at Decisionally Challenged

2. AngelJoy at Hippy Chick

3. Randy and Angie at Psycho Hairapy & Running With Scissors

4. Sandy at The Adams Family & Just For Fun

5. Young Momma at Perfect Pen & Kim's Keepings

6. The Rambler at My Rambling Thoughts

Ok so I'm stopping here because I am getting stuck, I can't choose anymore, it's too torturous! There are so many blogs that I read that I love just consider My Daily Reads list as everyone on their getting an award!! Ok now that thats done I will share with you all why I AM A STINKER!

Monday- going about my business, not doing anything out of the ordinary, checking the bank account since I have to do it every other day out of fear and paranoia (I had my debit card NUMBER stolen about a month ago and someone racked up 200 bucks in charges) so while I'm doing this WHAT DO I FIND.....a pretty large charge on our Credit Card (I am immediately in panic mode thinking the worst), anyway I see the charge is for a plane ticket...still worried, but now very suspicious, I start thinking maybe my husband is going somewhere or sending me somewhere and so I send my BFF in Vegas a text message asking if she might know anything and of course she says no. I call my cousin, ask if she knows anything, she says no....So against the advice of my BFF I call my husband and ASK him if he bought a plane ticket (because I suck and hate surprises) and of course he lets out this giant groan and sounds all disappointed, because YES I HAD RUINED my Christmas surprise, the wonderful man that he is (most of the time..hehe) is SENDING MY BFF (the one who claimed to not know anything..she's good let me tell ya! and by the way SHE LOVES TO TORTURE ME!!) to STAY WITH US FOR 4 DAYS!!! I'm so beyond excited!! Anyway, so I'm a stinker because I should have just not said anything..but I can't help myself...hehehe.. Well that's my story anyway and I'm sticking to it! So, in case you ever want to surprise me, please don't tell me about it or use a shared bank account with me :) (Love ya babe..THANKS again for the wonderful gift!!)