Adam's Road

Here's a band I just heard about. They are former mormon missionaries who gave their lives to Christ while on their missions (2 were companions and the others were brothers and friends). They have a myspace and may be playing in a city near you, so check their Christian music out.

Alpha-Meme

A. Attached or Single? Happily married for almost 9 years

B. Best Friend? Krisina Dawn (Bowman) Cherot

C. Cake or pie? Pumpkin pie with whipped cream on it (I make it from scratch with free pumpkins they give away after Halloween. Yum!)

D. Day of choice? My days of the week will begin to have unique significance next Thursday when we start our school year. For now, I really like Tuesdays because it is the one evening we don't have STUFF going on.

E. Essential item? Stride gum. I chew it constantly. I'm sure I'm giving myself TMJ but I can't help it. The flavor never runs out.

F. Favorite color? Kelly Green

G. Gummy bears or worms? Bears, and only on frozen yogurt

H. Hometown? Prescott, AZ and I'm really hoping that we can find an affordable home in our hometown so we can continue to call it home.

I. Favorite indulgence? Body Shop cosmetics. I spend too much on them, but they beat other cosmetics all over the place. Plus, my sister is a rep, so I have to buy from her.

J. January or July? July, I love sunshine and hate the cold.

K. Kids? Three gorgeous little offspring

L. Life isn’t complete without? Jesus

M. Marriage date? October 16th, 1999

N. Number of brothers and sisters? 2 brothers 3 sisters

O. Oranges or Apples? navel oranges

P. Phobias? having a child kidnapped

Q. Quotes? "Consciousness of self is the greatest hinderance to the proper execution of physical action" Bruce Lee (Woot! Thank you, Larry, Rich, Kelly and Sam for making me memorize that. It has impressed people for a decade now.)

R. Reasons to smile? God keeps doing miracles all over the place. Am I the only one who's seeing this?

S. Season of choice? Spring

T. Tag 3 people: Annie, Kelly, and Sarah (and anyone else who wants to, comment so I can read your answers.)

U. Unknown fact about me? I had a long standing date for the turn of the millenium and I didn't go. And I don't regret it. And I don't care if he was there or not, because I was with my husband and happy.

V. Vegetable? cucumbers

W. Worst habit? Losing my temper with my kids.

X. X-ray or Ultrasound? Ultrasound! I love watching that little heart beating!

Y. Your favorite food? sushi is delicious

Z. Zodiac sign? I don't do zodiac. I am under the sign of the CROSS.

A weird snack combo

Okay, I thought I had heard the weirdest snack combo when I found out my ex boyfriend had resorted to eating cheddar dipped in mayonnaise (why bother with bread, right? This is the best part of the sandwich!) STONER!!!

But I stand corrected.

This morning I found baking soda strewn around the box in the cupboard. When I questioned my kids about it, I was told of their recent discovery. If you dip a tootsie pop in baking soda, it makes it taste fizzy! Wow. And they aren't even stoned. I don't think.

T-shirt design

LOL. I saw this over at http://www.tuesdayteez.com/ and couldn't resist a repost.

Movie Review

Last night we watch "The Wings of the Dove" with high expectations. Let me explain.......

My all-time favorite movie is A Room With a View, starring Helena Bonham Carter, Julian Sands, and Daniel Day Lewis. It is completely romantic, smart, funny, and has a wonderful ending. It is an artistic feel-good movie, which is a rarity. So, when I saw all the viewer reviews on Netflix for "The Wings of the Dove" also starring Helena Bonham Carter, I wanted to see it. Multiple viewers even compared the two films, stating that "TWOTD" was BETTER than "ARWAV". Both were adapted from classic novels - one by Henry James and one by E.M. Forester. I see some similarities to the plot, of course. A young woman who wants to marry for love rather than money - takes a romantic trip to Italy. And that is where the similarities end. I have to say, although "TWOTD" was poignant and beautifully filmed, it is a sad, sad story. I was very bitter that Kate turned out to be such a selfish bitch and that Merton even went along with her childish scheme. In my opinion, it didn't even compare with "A Room With a View". I still might be persuaded to read the novels and decide again, because I know that books sometimes vary greatly from their film adaptations. But for now, I'm sticking with my old favorite.

DJ Jazzy Jeff on We7

I've had a we7 account since before its inception. I haven't really used it much, though, because they didn't have much good music yet. I'm checking it out again, though, because it seems to have evolved into something better than it was in the beginning. And this album is all I have to show you to prove that.

The Very Best Of D.J. Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince

A Joke before I go to bed

I admit, I stole this from Erica's Life Unscripted blog. It was too funny to pass up.

A man who just died is delivered to a local mortuary wearing an expensive, expertly tailored black suit.The female blonde mortician asks the deceased's wife how she would like the body dressed. She points out that the man does look good in the black suit he is already wearing.The widow, however, says that she always thought her husband looked his best in blue, and that she wants him in a blue suit. She gives the Blonde mortician a blank check and she says, 'I don't care what it costs, but please have my husband in a blue suit for the viewing.'

The woman returns the next day for the wake. To her delight, she finds her husband dressed in a gorgeous blue suit with a subtle chalk stripe; the suit fits him perfectly.She says to the mortician, 'Whatever this cost, I'm very satisfied. You did an excellent job and I' m very grateful. How much did you spend?' To her astonishment, the blonde mortician presents her with the blank check.'There's no charge,' she says.'No, really, I must compensate you for the cost of that exquisite blue suit!' she says.'Honestly, ma'am,' the blonde says, 'it cost nothing. You see, a deceased gentleman of about your husband's size was brought in shortly after you left yesterday, and he was wearing an attractive blue suit. I asked his wife if she minded him going to his grave wearing a black suit instead, and she said it made no difference as long as he looked nice.'

'So I just switched the heads.'

Okay, now I can go to bed. Goodnight, Internets!

Luau on Sunday

This is the birthday season for my family. Augie turned 4 with a Batman birthday last Saturday. My nephew Alex is turning 11 this Sunday and he has chosen a luau theme. I love luaus. And for this one I have been assigned to hula dance/teach the kids to hula. You see, when I was, oh... seven years old, my sisters and I took hula lessons from a really sweet WHITE woman, who I believe attended BYU in Hawaii and learned to hula while there. We know 4 or 5 dances and have been performing them at silly little luaus ever since. It's fun. Don't ask me why my sister Jarnli doesn't do the hula dancing at her own son's birthday. I guess that would be more embarassing for him. Or her boyfriend would be jealous. Dane is cool about it, although I don't know if he really likes me doing it. Anyway, I practiced today and my almost seven-year-old daughter, Ardara, tried it with me. She is a natural. I'll post pictures after the party. Oh! And since I am also an expert pinata maker, I am making a cluster of pinata coconuts. How cool is that? I am the aunt/sister of the year. (:

3 New Things

I am just all about freebies lately (because we are totally broke). So, here are 3 things I've gotten for practically nothing that I'm stoked about. Beth Moore's Living Beyond Yourself Study Guide. Okay, it isn't free, but since my mother in law is teaching the class, she let me bring it home without paying (yet). When I have $15 I will certainly pay for it. But until then, I will be gleaning Biblical wisdom from one of my favorite women on planet Earth. Yay!

A sample/cutting board of Wilsonart's solid surface line. I think the color is sandrift. My brother in law Dewey works for Wilsonart and handed me one of these dandy items at my son's birthday party last weekend. It looks nice on my counter, and works great!

Finally...this is the biggie. I got one of those $10 off coupons in the mail from Kohl's. So, I had 30 extra minutes last night before my home fellowship. I decided to run in and see what caught my eye. I can't believe what I got! This gorgeous satin number from Vera Wang's Simply Vera line was on the clearance rack marked down to $18. With my coupon that made it only $8!!! I look HOT in it! I couldn't stop thinking about it all through my home fellowship. I kept grinning and no one knew why but me. (: What a sweet deal.

Lovesong

He loved her and she loved him.

His kisses sucked out her whole past and future or tried to

He had no other appetite

She bit him she gnawed him she sucked

She wanted him complete inside her

Safe and sure forever and ever

Their little cries fluttered into the curtains

Her eyes wanted nothing to get away

Her looks nailed down his hands his wrists his elbows

He gripped her hard so that life

Should not drag her from that moment

He wanted all future to cease

He wanted to topple with his arms round her

Off that moment's brink and into nothing

Or everlasting or whatever there was

Her embrace was an immense press

To print him into her bones

His smiles were the garrets of a fairy palace

Where the real world would never come

Her smiles were spider bites

So he would lie still till she felt hungry

His words were occupying armies

Her laughs were an assassin's attempts

His looks were bullets daggers of revenge

His glances were ghosts in the corner with horrible secrets

His whispers were whips and jackboots

Her kisses were lawyers steadily writing

His caresses were the last hooks of a castaway

Her love-tricks were the grinding of locks

And their deep cries crawled over the floors

Like an animal dragging a great trap

His promises were the surgeon's gag

Her promises took the top off his skull

She would get a brooch made of it

His vows pulled out all her sinews

He showed her how to make a love-knot

Her vows put his eyes in formalin

At the back of her secret drawer

Their screams stuck in the wall

Their heads fell apart into sleep like the two halves

Of a lopped melon, but love is hard to stop

In their entwined sleep they exchanged arms and legs

In their dreams their brains took each other hostage

In the morning they wore each other's face

Ted Hughes

Scientists Rebuild the Spanish Flu Virus!!!

You can read about this debacle here

Personally, all I can think is "Didn't they learn anything from movies like 12 Monkeys and I Am Legend?" It isn't worth it!!! Don't recreate any viruses that killed millions of people just to study them! And don't use the excuse that 'Most people are immune to it now, so it couldn't become another epidemic' Yeah, right! Anyone who has watched any amount of science fiction knows that viruses morph and become more dangerous. With all the horror in the world, we really don't need another plague. Just my opinion.

LL Cool J answers random questions

Yo, I have always had a special place in my heart for LL Cool J. Ever since my sisters and I learned all the lyrics to "I Need Love" when I was in junior high. I seriously like his acting - he did great in Slow Burn with Ray Liotta. He gave some funny answers here, too.

I was glad to finally find that we have a few things in common.

Barnes and Noble,

Michael Jackson,

fear of mice,

Breyer's ice cream,

disdain for men in heels.

We're like soul mates!

(without the Bentley)

Christmas 1974

I took the flickr thing a little bit farther, because I was born on Christmas. So I did a search for "Christmas 1974" and most of it was a lot of fashion feaux pas under the ole tree. But this one was interesting.

"On Christmas eve 1974 a severe cyclone hit Darwin Australia's most northern city.The damage was so severe that the government ordered the dispatch of a fleet of Royal Australian Navy ships.As a unit it was was fully self supporting and there was no need to call on the very limited resources of Darwin. "

The link below gives a detailed analysis of what happened to the Attack Class patrol boat HMAS Arrow.http://www.defence.gov.au/news/navynews/editions/4801/feature/feature03.htm

And thus, into the twisted wreckage, and very bad fashion sense, Tasha Christine Cheney entered the world, depriving her brother and sisters of the Christmas morning they had dreamed of.

China's Switcheroo

All I can say is, I think Yang Paiyi is way CUTER than the girl they chose to replace her with. China is sick. One little girl will grow up with a complex about her looks and the other will grow up labeled a fraud. All for the image of a country that we already know isn't perfect! Come on, China! Do you really think we don't see through it all? All your bending over backwards to show off to the world is disgusting. Didn't anyone ever tell you to just be yourself?

Anyway, if you want to get the REAL impression of what China is all about watch below:

I Wish I Was in Beijing

I remember watching the Olympics as a kid. It was so exciting. The gymnastics were my favorite part. Now I don't have cable, and to top it all off, watching it live means staying up all night. So, I'm missing a lot, and the highlights on NBC's web page just aren't satisfying me at all. I hope some stuff will show up on youtube before too long. This is excruciating.

Chicken Big Mamou

I cooked this recipe for 45 people on Friday night. It was one of John's specialties. My sister in law cooked Jambalaya, his other specialty. We even got to wear his old aprons. It was an honor. This stuff is yummy, too.

If you can't read it, you can findit online here.