





Except for, I have to mention, this whole long haired out of control look that Jon is sporting these days? I'm seriously not a fan. This is just to wicked long mate!






Except for, I have to mention, this whole long haired out of control look that Jon is sporting these days? I'm seriously not a fan. This is just to wicked long mate!



I love Judi Dench. She's in another of my all time favorite movies ever, Chocolat. She's done everything and can be anybody. Really she's inspiring to me just because she's so strong yet still remains to caring and aware of herself. She's not brittle when it counts and really, would you want to meet her in a dark alley if she was pissed at you? M or not.
We also picked up this little jewel last night and will be putting it together one day coming up soon. It's a great book case that matches our media cabinet. I've never been one for matching stuff till I just gave in and realized it's so much easier to just by the matching stuff and stop worrying about if it all goes. Now I know it goes.
I've also got my eye on this little baby. I know. How excited can you really be about a vacuum right? WRONG. I'm wicked excited about it because with my back/shoulder weirdness it's hard for me to lug our regular old full sized vac around the house. This one is super light weight and will suck that nasty dog hair off the carpet from the next room. You know you've grown up when you'd rather have a new vacuum than a new pair of shoes. Scary.
Happy Weekend all.
I'm looking for a serious summer cut that I don't have to spend forever on. I want something that fits the stuff I like to do and makes it easy for me to manage. Hello Cute Cut. Nice to see you again. I'm also going to make my standing appointment while at the shop this time. I so often get my hair cut and then don't go back to keep it up. I'm ready to keep this up though.Anyway, nose back to the grindstone for a few days. Looking forward to a three day weekend coming up with nothing to do.
Enjoy some videos from the conference I took...
This one I forgot was sideways, it does turn at some point. It's some of the Delirious? show. Sorry for the shaky cam version. It was me recording in a sea of jumping people.
This is of the crowd during one of the Delirious? shows. We were all getting into it pretty much...
I'm looking forward to the conference and also spending time with my mom.
Myself and my best girlfriend, Alison.
Kathy, whom I sit next to at work and Michelle, who covers for me while I'm on vacation but is also very funny and nice.
Momo number two.




I actually ended up liking what happened a lot. John was holding his breath for the flood of tears to come but they never did. I got out the straight iron and some hair stuff, went to work and ended up being rather pleased with my happy accident. It's pretty liberating to have those blasted bangs off my forehead.
In other news, I'm already in vacation mode and having trouble focusing at work. All I can think about it packing all my new summery clothes into my cute suitcase and flying off to someplace warm.
Brit has already been voted off the show but has lost over 66 pounds. Roger is in the final four and has lost the most weight of anyone on the ranch, ever. He started out at 363 is now down to 219. That's 144 pounds people. That's crazy! I really hope he can make it to the final three but I don't know if he will. Their before and afters are amazing. Amazing! I say it every week. 
I read a quote today I think is really wonderful. Watching this show and reading things like this really makes you stop your everyday routine and think about what you are doing.
"It's not who you are that holds you back, it's who you think you're not."
This makes me think about all the time I've wasted being freaked out about my body. Being worried because I couldn't wear skinny jeans or a pencil skirt. I realize today that I'm less worried about those things than ever in my life. I have days were that's still hard but overall I'm really liking who I am. I'm ok that my skin is pale, that my hips are big that my smile is toothy. All those things that I used to just want to fade into the background for being, don't seem so important when you really stop to examine your life. I have life. I have health. I have family. I have future. Some people don't have those things. Some people are completely alone with no one else. Some people have health problems they can't rise above. I'm thanking God today that even though my body isn't model perfect, I'm strong and healthy. Loved and cared for. Well fed and warm. Content and pleasantly surprised.
This summer robe looks so light and comfy. You can't tell it from this pic but it's also gingham, which when I saw it in the Boden catalog last night instantly transported me back to when I was a kid. I had a blue gingham baby blanket that was super soft from years of wash. I really think I must have this robe.
This cookbook, which I actually just purchased minutes ago from Amazon, looks to be what my summer meal planning will be all about. Ellie makes some really great recipes that are healthy but also seem sinful. I'm excited for grilling out but doing it with a more healthy spin. I love the ideas Ellie brings together in this book. I'm really excited to get it. I also ordered a exercise DVD along with it. A little toning will be good for me this summer.
Hopefully once I've got the DVD going just about everyday, I'll be more excited to wear this. I haven't decided for sure on it but I love how it's sort of vintage looking. Then I have to decide on a color, which is also hard. I may go with a two piece instead but at least I'm thinking about it. I can't, however, swim. Interesting huh.
Also, I've been dreaming of a fruity drink to make this summer while friends are over. Something simple but pretty. This one fits the bill. It's called Raspberry Iced Tea Punch and I got it off the food network site. Here's the recipe:
-In the 1950s and 60s he was one of a handful of Hollywood actors to speak out openly against racism and was an active supporter of the civil rights movement. Heston later came to advocate conservative politics, being a friend and confidant of President Ronald Reagan and standing against what he saw as the excessive influence of liberal media commentators to the detriment of the common man.
-He was President of the National Rifle Association from 1998 to 2003.
-In 1944, Heston enlisted in the United States Army Air Forces. He served for two years as a B-25 radio operator/gunner stationed in the Alaskan Aleutian Islands with the Eleventh Air Force, rising to the rank of Staff Sergeant.
-After Marlon Brando, Burt Lancaster and Rock Hudson turned down the role of Ben-Hur (1959), Heston accepted the role, going on to win the Academy Award for Best Actor, one of the eleven unprecedented Oscars the film earned.
-Heston campaigned for Presidential candidate John F. Kennedy in 1960.[9] When an Oklahoma movie theater premiering his movie was segregated, he joined a picket line outside in 1961.
-Heston was the president and spokesman of the NRA from 1998 until he resigned in 2003. At the 2000 NRA convention, he raised a rifle over his head and declared that the Bill Clinton administration would take away his Second Amendment rights "from my cold, dead hands."
-Heston died on Saturday, April 5, 2008 at his home in Beverly Hills, California with Lydia, his wife of 64 years, by his side. He was 84. The cause of death is currently unknown.
A sad day indeed. Such a great man, willing to stand up for what he believed in no matter if it wasn't the cool thing to do. Such a great example of what men should be. I always wanted to meet him. Tell him how his passion for people made me want to get out there and do something in the world. How he was inspiration for a generation that had none. Our government is beige. No life, no color. We're white toast with grits. We've got nobody willing to stand up and be a true leader and frankly that scares me. If you know me at all, you know I'm not political. I don't follow the news and what is going on with the candidates or what the current "man" in office has to say. I don't know much about the issues but I do know what I believe in and it takes people like Chuck and my husband who truly stand for what they believe and aren't ashamed of their beliefs to run this country. We need passion, purpose and compassion in our office today. It's gonna take an act of God. Thank the Lord He's able. Thank the Lord always...
I'm going to whine. Be forewarned.
Of a little house in the woods. A little weekend getaway place. I think it all started when I was thinking about the house my Mom and I used to live in before I married John. It was a tiny strange little house. Rooms that seemed to be just tacked on as after thoughts, secret hiding cubbies, original everything. It was old but seemed enchanted almost. At least to me. We had a huge yard that backed up to a small pond and some woods.
We were in the middle of nowhere it seemed like. I loved the sun porch and how we moved the furniture around a lot. Life was slower then. Things like baking and doing laundry were magical somehow. Funny how you look back on times in your life and the pictures you have in your head all seem to glow. We had tons of plants and flowers around us and that to me has a large part to do with it. I'm terrible at plants.
Anyway, thinking about all that lately and then I ran onto these photos from Blue Print magazine. I've seen them before, I have this magazine at my house but I love this little house.
It reminds me of the charm that our old house had and how I hope that someday we can have a little spot like this someplace tucked away. A place I can not be afraid to decorate in bright colors because there is tons of light streaming in the windows. A place where all the dishes can be mismatched and the bedding soft with years of use.
A place my kids can play outside in the sunshine and make memories just like I did...