In Memorial

Today I have all of our men in women in the military in my thoughts. 

Today I am grateful and humbled by their service. 

Forgive me but I'd like to discuss a few I am associated with. 

on August 21st, 2009 Sgt. Matthew Ingram died in Chapa Dara, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle and his unit came under small fire from enemy forces.

I was at Matt's wedding; he married a good friend of mine, Holly in the summer of 2006. 

I have lost touch with Holly. Today I found her on Facebook, and hope to reconnect. 

The local news did a story on Matt and interview Holly last August, which is how I learned of his death. 

My heart goes out to Holly and her (now, year old) daughter Chloe.

<source>

I have to also mention Mrs. Rachel Porto today. Visit her blog, here if you haven't already.

Johnny is in my thoughts today. As are you and Ariana. 

John William Finn

Medal of Honor earned by manning a machine gun from an exposed position throughout the attack, despite being repeatedly wounded. Through all of that he continued to serve in the Navy until the time of his retirement.

John Finn passed away at 100 years of age on 27 May 2010. 

He was the last Pearl Harbor Survivor. 

Take some time today to remember and appreciate the military who have given their lives for the freedoms we hold so dear. 

"Greater love hath no one than this, that he lay his life down for his friends." John 15:13

I Want it Wednesday...

I want...

to know when name-calling became commonplace in Washington? 

Maybe it's always been there? Maybe I've just began to pay enough attention to notice it?

Seriously GOP... nothing better to do than call names. Where-o-where are the facts? 

just curious, I simply Want to know.

I want...

to thank Jessica, from The (Mis)Adventures of an Army Wife for my latest award:

Upon receiving this award, I am to share 7 things about myself and then pass it on to some other fantabulous bloggers.

1) I have a total of 6 tru-blu, honest to goodness friends in life right now. 

The majority of which live in another state. 

(shocking isn't it?)

2) I love the smell of Garlic, fresh rain and gasoline. 

3) I love to clean because I can see immediate results; makes me feel successful.

4) I already have baby names picked out. So far I only truly love the ones for boys, yet I feel in my soul I'll have girls...

what's that all about?

5) I've never had a broke bone.

*knock on wood*

6) I sorta think blogger awards are lame, yet love the recognition.

I'm a walking, talking contradiction. 

What else is new.

7) I just discovered Thomas Dekker 2 days ago, via My Sisters Keeper.

I've been missin' out. He's hot. Yet can be so unattractive. Strange.

I'll pass this award onto:

(1) My Bestie-McBestie, Amanda.

Haha... I popped your Bloggy-award cherry!! 

;)

(2) Krista

and

(3) Amy

I want...

I blog make-over and signature. 

For Free, you know because I'm broke (and jobless). 

I want...

to meet a celebrity. 

(preferably a HOT one, that will adopt or employ me)

I've never done that before. 

(by "that" I mean, met a celebrity)

Have you? 

Share your story! 

Logan

I haven't posted ANY pictures of my baby nephew since two days after he was born! Can you believe it? I know, I'm on the verge of being a very bad Auntie! 

Logan Christopher:

{2 months, 1 week & 3 days Young}

WTF?

What the "eff" is up with TV this past week? 

Lets start with Grey's Anatomy: 

HOLY SHOOTING SPREE BATMAN! 

I was glued to my seat the entire show... automatically (like a robot) shoving popcorn into my face with WIDE eyes! It was so intense. Everything that a finale should be! 

PS: I now have a serious crush on Owen Hunt

Pretty sure it has to do with how he stuck up for Christina. 

Am I totally alone here?

On to the Series Finale of LOST. 

What did you think? Honestly... I wanna know if people liked or hated it. 

Beware: Spoilers ahead!!!

Personally, I think the ending was complete CRAP!!! CRAP, CRAP, CRAP!!!

A BIG 2 thumbs down. 

Dead..? seriously. DEAD? 

What was with the "flash sideways" if they were dead? Did they die in the plane crash or no? I'm leaning toward No... Then how were there flash sideways'?? GRrrR!! 

If the island was real and not a form of purgatory (as some suspect) then what happened to Clair, Sawyer, Kate (and those other people) when they flew away from the island? Did they talk about their crazy experiences? 

This finale was completely ridiculous. It only succeeded in creating more questions than it resolved. It was infuriating. 

....that's all I have to say about that...

WTF?

Today is the FINAL week of my first class?!  BOOP BOOP! Can you believe it?! 

I can't.

I'm super excited about this because, I really don't think I could have dealt with the individuals on my learning team for another week. I more than likely, would have hurt myself. 

It's official... I drank The Bachelorette kool-aid and it tastes yummy! 

I'm a fan. 

I know... stop rolling your eyes asking which rock I've been living under. It doesn't matter, I've crawled out from under it and I am now out and about with civilization. 

My Pick:

Jesse: A General Contractor from Kansas City, MO. 

I don't think he photographs all the well, he was totally cuter during the episode. 

Not only was he my pick, but he was the FIRST to receive a rose from Ali! 

What a difference a day makes

So Monday I was hopeful and confident that I would get a call/email, be contacted in so way informing me that I would receive an offer for the position I was interview for last week. Tuesday I was "broken up with in a email" as a friend put it. I call it "hate mail".... my sad but seemingly inevitable rejection. 

"What are you gonna do?" I thought.

Not out of desperation.... but just to say there isn't anything I can do about it. Remember the end of last month when I blogged about Rev Run's Words of Wisdom? Well something he says repeatedly that stuck with me, "Do your best and forget the rest." and also "Let go and let God." I'm not an overly religious person but the idea of what he's saying resonates with me especially under my current circumstances.... In my eyes these sayings are one in the same. Once you've done everything in your power you have to let go of the rest... it's out of your hands! 

I have to say it wasn't all overwhelming confidence though. I did wonder how I could have been so wrong. I thought I nailed it. I'm currently pursuing a BS in Management, I answered all the questions 'right', I had great questions prepared for the interviewerS, I was over-prepared for the interview, I smiled and shook hands, AND even sent my "Thank You" note!! How could I have been so confident about this interview and been so wrong? Whatever it is, it doesn't matter! I'm doing my best (so what if it takes all of my energy and motivation) to maintain a positive attitude and keep moving forward. 

In other news, my Best Friend is just a few weeks shy of her due date! I've spent some time recently picking up a few things for impending bundle of joy... I am excited for her (and me) to have her family grow! 

And yes, I know it's Wednesday and you're all desperate to know what I want... but I'm sorta just not in the mood today. Other than needing to get to the gym, I want for next Tuesday to arrive. "Why is that?" you ask. Well because Next Tuesday will be girls night (he-man-man-haters-club) at my house. NO BOYS ALLOWED! Next Tuesday also marks the DVD/BluRay release of:

Which obviously I WANT!

What to do....

What to do... What to do....... 

Today I feel like I'm just treading water; twiddling my thumbs. I'm not bored. I'm sort of uninspired. 

Have you felt this way? What did you do to change it? What do you do to maintain??

I'm waiting to hear about an interview I had on Friday. I KILLED the interview. I was extremely confident when I left the site, I sent my Thank You email so I feel like I've done everything I could to prepare for the interview and everything prior to and now it's out of my hands. They told me they wanted to make a decision by today. So of course I've been on pins and needles all day and I still haven't heard anything.Good news is that my candidate profile on the company's website indicates that I'm still in the running. 

time will tell

I Want it Wednesday...

Today I Want for nothing materialistic. 

Today I Want to be thankful for all that I do have and not truly Want for more.

Today I am thankful and content and grateful. 

Today you should all know after a year and a half of looking everywhere I could think of, I've finally landed a job. Yes that's right people. It's a temporary position filling in for someone going away on reserve duty for 5-7 weeks. I don't have the exact dates yet but what I do know is that it's good money and will buy me some time. I was also told that the last 2 people that filled in for this person were offered permanent positions within the company. 

When it rains it pours. 

After I got the called telling me an offer letter was on it's way to me. I got another call for a phone interview today! 

I am thankful that I've turned a corner with my job search. 

One thing I can tell you that I do Want... I Want my husband to pursue what he's passionate about. I want him to be clear (for both of us) what he wants for his future and GO GET IT! Because, I know he can. 

Happy Wednesday. 

Inspiration

Do you watch Oprah?

Confession: I do. I just started watching Oprah about 3 months ago. I know, I know... I'm behind the curve. All the same I'm on the bandwagon, until the end. Even though that end will be just next year.

I have to say this is one hell-of-a week on the Oprah show.

Lets recap:

Yesterday

Oprah had Harpo Hookups.

(boy were they some good hookups too)

The best thing I've seen in a while was Will.I.Am of the Black Eyed Peas giving two struggling families their homes. Both families were on the verge of having their homes foreclosed on and he used his own money to pay off their homes. See it here. Will.I.Am has started the I.Am Home Fund to help American families keep their homes. Will.I.Am said yesterday on the Oprah show,

"A lot of people are losing homes; not because they are living beyond their means, because there aren't any jobs." He also said, "I'm ok. I don't dream to be like mega-crazy-rich. I just wanna create, make music and help people when they need it, and not wait for a big natural disaster, but look at the things that are happening right now."

I couldn't have said it better myself. Will.I.Am paid over $350,000 to save these two families' homes! He was  extremely generous and very gracious and I couldn't have been more surprised. I don't know why. I guess I just assume Hollywood folks aren't that way. I assume they're thankful for what they have and at some point they may work hard but I never expected this kind of generosity. Bravo, Will.i.am!

Today

Oprah had young stars/singers on the show: Justin Bieber and Charice. What an amazing voice that girl has. Justin is pretty good for what he does too. Lets face it, I'm not really his target audience but I can appreciate the boy's got talent. All the same, the kid is a big deal. Take a look at these 3 young girls getting the surprise of their life! Their father, Cpt. Simon had promised them he'd take them to a Justin Bieber concert, sadly he was deployed and was unable to keep that promise. HOWEVER, when the Oprah show found out they found a way to make it up to the girls! Oprah flew the girls, Micaiah, Amari and Eniya and their mother to Chicago for some site-seeing with Justin Bieber and front-row tickets to his performance on Oprah. 

Why do I care? 

Sort of not sure. Other than the fact that when they showed Cpt Simon on webcam telling his daughters of their surprise, I lost it. Just cried like a friggin' baby. I'm not sure why. Lately I haven't been able to keep myself together when I see things like this happen. Last week for Ellen's Mother's Day episode she had Marines sending their love to their prego wives and I cried then too. 

WHAT THE "F" IS WRONG WITH ME?

I really am not usually like this. 

Phew... now that I've pulled myself together I wanted to say that watching things like this really just kind of, warm my heart. I appreciate people who have the ability to help others, actually HELPING OTHERS. 

Before I'm inundated with comments of possible pregnancy (due to my emotional-ness)- no no I am definitely not with child. Sure of that. "Aunt Flo" paid me a visit this week. :) just FYI.


Heads up for my fellow Twilight Fans:
Thursday, 13 May, the cast of Eclipse will be on my girl Oprah's Show!
Robert Pattinson, Kristin Stewart, Taylor Lautner and Dakota Fanning. 
Oprah calls Rpatz and Kstew out on their "alleged" relationship. So that should be interesting. 
I know I definitely will not be watching intently.

Mother's Day

What'd you today? How'd you celebrate your mom and the other moms in your life?

I was volun-told yesterday that I would be making breakfast this morning for my momma and the rest of my family. I was semi-overwhelmed because I didn't have anything in the house and I had to get over to Erin's for her birthday shin-dig. All's well that ends well. I made Baked French Toast with Praline Topping (courtesy of Paula Dean- who I really can't stand but that's another topic for another post), scrambled eggs, bacon, and Potatoes O'Brien. I should have taken a picture of the spread but I forgot! Boo... Here's a picture and link to the  French toast recipe:

Paula Dean's French Toast Casserole

This was such a hit! Everyone absolutely loved it. I'm sure it was because it was really healthy and contained no calories- at all. I did take the advice of one girl and use 6 eggs instead of 8, and 2 butter sticks instead of 4 in the Praline topping. 

PS: Anyone else see Betty White on SNL!? 

CLASSIC. 

HILARIOUS.

that's all I have to say about that.

From one spouse...

to another.

I'm going to dedicate today to a military spouse I've never met, and to those like her. Today, like many days before I'm thinking about Mrs. Rachel Porto. A lot of you know her story and follow her blog. Which is to say on Sunday 14 March, Rachael's husband, Cpl Jonathan Daniel Porto was killed in Helmand Province Afghanistan in a roll-over accident. On March 17th "Mrs. P" blogged about her loss and has since shared her grief and love of Jonny with all of her readers. 

Just yesterday she posted links to her husband's burial service and a tribute made in his honor. I barely made out the sobs of from his family through my own. It was very moving. Jonny's father spoke towards the end of the service and expressed his gratitude for the outpouring of love his family had received, even said that the funeral home has his contact information if anyone wanted to get in touch with him. The part that touched me the most; literally took my breath away was when Rachel made her way to the podium to speak to the group. There's no words. I couldn't even imagine. Her grace and love of her husband really touched my soul. 

Today, as the days before she's a military spouse, a Marine spouse and she should be recognized and appreciated.

Happy Military Spouse appreciation day- I appreciate you all past and present. 

Rachel's Blog: A Little Pink in a World of Camo

SHOPPING..!

I know you all like to shop

Probably more than I do... 

But that's cool --- I'm here to share with you wonderful site for frugal shoppers like ME!

You can find everything from dishes, to electronics to Track Lighting... you have to check it out next time you're shopping online!

I Want it Wednesday...

Amanda WANTS it Wednesday EVERYDAY:

One Mr.

WENTWORTH MILLER!

PS: Amanda, requested that I dedicate this week's addition to her and Mr. Wentworth Miller. 

I happily obliged because she's my Best Friend (not to be confused with BFF!) and she recently got on the blogger bandwagon. Please go check her out and give her some support and encouragement while she navigates her way through being a new blogger! 

Just Two People Who are Just Meant to Be

25 WHAT???

YEARS!!

pinkcakebox.com

Can't believe that. Do I feel it? NOPE. I feel all of 6 or 13ish... you know, give or take. Honestly, if I could stay one age forever it'd be 6. Seriously, just hear me out on this: You're still young enough that all you really do is run and play... mixed in with minimal education. You don't care about your weight or fashion. You aren't stressin' over boys. Aren't worried about politics or world issues.... Peace in the Middle East (ut umm). Nothing, not a care in the world. You're mommy still cooks for you, cleans your bathroom, does you're laundry and (most importantly) pays your bills! 

All the same, this past Saturday I had a great birthday! Got up bright and early and went to Nathan's soccer game (which is truly the cutest thing I've seen to date)! Then Kev and I rushed home and got all cleaned up for our journey to Denver. We had a great lunch at Maggianos... yumm Chicken Parmesan. After lunch Kevin and I took a nice long 8 block walk down to Kuulture. Kuulture if you aren't familiar, is a Pinkberry knock-off; the concept is basically a Coldstone knock-off just minus the ice cream and plus fat-free frozen yogurt with fruit and cereal as mix-ins! Super yummy and an amazing birthday treat! 

Once we finally made our way back home we had some of my bestest friends come over for cake, snack and good times! 

All in all... a GREAT way to celebrate the 25th anniversary of my birth!!

Questions

You know what... I considered comin' back and bitchin' whining and complaining about the fact that I only got 9 questions for the anniversary of my 306th blog post! BUT, instead I thought it better to just answer the 9 questions I did receive and remember who really cares about me; who my true friends are!! 

Let us begin:

 Erin said...

My questions are....how excited are you for eclipse?? Do you dream about Rpatz everynight??

Lets just say there aren't words to accurately convey my excitement- 30 June, BE THERE! 

As for my dreams.... No! lol BUT TEAM EDWARD allllll the way-- there's never truly been a "team jacob" (notice: not even deserving of caps).

What initially made you fall in love with your husband?

He loved me more than I deserved. He was so good to me and showed me how I deserved to be treated. He made me feel good about myself and that really attracted me to him.

 What is your favorite quality about him? 

He really is very generous and forgiving.

What is your least fav quality?

I wish he'd take better care of himself. He did quit smoking 5 months ago tho!!! That's definitely a step in the right direction!

Crazy Shenanigans said...

Have you ever stayed in one of those hotel rooms that has a heart shaped hot tub? hahahaha

Let me think back to Summer 2001.... wait... that'd be a BIG-FAT NO! You're crazy girl.

If you could only watch one tv show for a week which would you chose? 

ENTOURAGE! 

Anonymous said...

My question is why did you decide to go back to school if you are that unenthused about it? It is hard enough to get though when you are thrilled about it.

My main motivation for going back to school is to make myself more marketable; in hopes of finding a job! Sometimes being a grown-up sucks.... sometimes that means taking one for the team, or doing something you aren't completely enthused about.

jenn said...

if you could have any job in the world what would it be?

On a practical level I would love to be a sonographer! I recently discovered that I could really be happy ultra-sounding (my own-new word) other's babies! How great would that be? I've been researching how to do this, and will be talking to a school nearby tomorrow!!! WOooo :) 

BUTTTT since we're talking ANY job in the whole wide world I think I'd love to be a celebrity assistant. You get all the perks but none of the nightmare-ish paparazzi and life-interfering non-sense! Could you imagine what Oprah pays her assistant/s!? wow.  

if you could trade places for 1 day only with any celebrity who would it be and why?

Oprah. Because she's on TV, she has amazing contacts and does some great charity work. Also I would extend some of that generosity usually directed to the Africans and Lower Class to some AVERAGE-Middle-Class folks who really just need a lil' more to get by. 

Not to mean her causes aren't justified just saying that because you're not suffering horribly doesn't mean you can't use a little help also.

~~~

So those were my questions... and answers (obviously) and I loved them! 

PS: Birthday was awesome. 

PSS: Found out I didn't get that job on Friday! 

=( 

Boo... 

Back to the Grind. 

Telephone Remake

Here's something very funny and heartwarming for you all to enjoy on my BIRTHDAY!!!

Happy Birthday to ME!