Saying Goodbye... For Now

Hello fellow bloggers -

Well, after thoughtful consideration, I have decided to give it a shot with the new blog. I'm actually a little uneasy about the switch since I'm one that is very against change, but I have been trying to put into perspective the things in life that are important. And I realized that change is one of them.

So I'm taking the first step into the world of change... and am changing my blog site (hey... nobody said it had to be LEAPS here people! Babysteps!).

I have posted my first blog to the new site -- http://lifeslittleals.wordpress.com.

I will work on getting everything transfered from this site to the new one. In the mean time, check out the new site! I'm excited about the change, but like I said, also a little uneasy! This blog site has been good to me... but it's time to move on... I think. For now. We'll see what happens. Hell, I'll probably be back to using this site in a few weeks! :)

Thanks for following, though! :)

Three things

Number 1: Being sick sucks. True, it sometimes does give you a day away from work, but when you feel like poo, it doesn't really count as a day off. Matt and I celebrated the Clark Christmas by getting the Clark flu bug that made its rounds over the weekend. Patty first, followed by Steve, Chel, then Matt and myself. As of today, Michael has been the only healthy one... but I don't know how much longer that can last!

Number 2: Prior to getting sick, the Clark Christmas was wonderful! Gramma Donna kept saying, "Oh my goodness, you all just did way too much", which is always what I love to hear! I'm a giver, what can I say! Seeing smiles on peoples faces after you've given them something they didn't expect but love, is pretty wonderful! Matt and I also loaded up -- I got the entire 'Twilight' series, which made me very happy (even though I have already read them all - I started to re-read the first book again!). Steve got us the 'Decade of Dominance' DVD's, which basically details the Bill Snyder era (part one), which will be fun to watch. I got some new sweaters from Patty and a gift card from Forever 21 from Michael and Chel (yessss!) and money from Gramma Donna and Grandad Jim. Donna just kept saying she's never had to buy for girls so she though money was a good way to go (I concur, but her story of how she went to Dillard's to get us Sarah Jessica Parker perfume was quite on track!).

Number 3: Lastly, I am considering switching blogs. I would not delete this one because it holds too many good stories for me to just destroy! I have attached the link for you just to browse (there isn't anything on it yet but a picture and I might still do a new backdrop, but this is the jist of it!) -- http://lifeslittleals.wordpress.com. I am wanting your feedback because I'm not the one that reads this thing on a regular basis, I just write on it on a regular basis. I like the other blog because I can change the pictures on the blog header and it just looks more clean -- me to a 'T'! :) Anywho, it's just a thought. I'll take votes though -- yay or nay to a new blog!

Happy first full week of January, everyone!

Happy New Year!

Welcome to 2009, everyone!

Matt & I spent New Years Eve in Kansas City with all of my good pals (minus a few important ones!). It was hosted by the Siders and we crammed as many people as we possibly could in every nook and cranny they had in their house! It was a great night, full of laughs (which always accompanies our large gatherings!) and lots of pictures!

Chad and Nicole rode up with us to KC so they got to trek along with us to Nebraska Furniture Mart this morning. I had never been there before so when we pulled up, I almost started hyperventilating - this place is gynormous!!! Seriously, it's absolutely huge and is full of anything and everything you could possibly ever need for your house!

We split up, Matt and I heading to the bedroom section, while Nic and Chad went on to the TV's. Matt and I decided we could have stayed there all day looking at everything!!! We checked out the bed we have been eyeing online and love it in person, too! We also tested a mattress that was on sale. So... we'll see! We know what we want, now we just need to buy it - which is always what takes us a year to accomplish! :)

Off to Sedan tomorrow after work for the Clark Christmas... and then Christmas is over for another year. I think it all went by a little too quickly!

Happy New Year to all of my blog followers... I hope 2009 brings you much joy and happiness!

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Where are we? Texas or something?!

One of the things that I love about this time of year is the bitterly cold weather. I'm a strange one that enjoys having to put on double-layers of clothes, gloves, hats and scarves just to go outside for five minutes. It is also something that Matt likes since he is used to spending Christmas in Illinois, where it is almost always snowing and atleast in single digits.

We kept watching the forecast all week. The meteorologists were expecting unusually high temperatures for this time of year, but I kept blowing it off, saying that you can never really trust a weather forecast, especially in Kansas where the weather changes every 10 minutes.

Well... this time, they got it right.

It was literally NOT COLD out Christmas day and ridiculously warm the day after Christmas. We all received an e-mail on Christmas day from my uncle Steve, who lives in Houston, who said that it felt like the tropics down there so my aunt Sherron was going to turn the air conditioning to 68 to make it feel a little more Christmasy! I only mention this because it felt like the tropics here as well! It was 71 out last night!!

Ofcourse, today the weather has done its normal switcharoo -- it's cold out. Not as cold as I like, but it's in the 30's... and there is an ice/snow storm making its way towards Wichita as I type.

So... another year passes and my hopes of a white Christmas have failed. Apparently Mother Nature and Old Man Winter decided to really screw with our minds this year!

Welcome to Kansas -- Land of Dorothy, Toto and really f'd up weather!

Christmas time is here...

Today is my last day of work since I'm taking tomorrow off... and I am so happy! I've decided I'm fine with coming to work on a Monday as long as it means I don't have to come back the next day! :)

Matt and I leave for Sedan tomorrow afternoon. Luckily, I was in Sedan this weekend so I was able to take almost all of of our gifts home. If I hadn't made the trip, it would be a tight squeeze trying to get everything in the car to go home, including our dog and his kennel!

Why was I home this weekend when I was only a few days away from being there for longer than 24 hours? Well, I made the 1.75 hour drive home to a) get my hair highlighted and trimmed - which hadn't been done in months - and b) to go to the Nutcracker ballet on Sunday.

The Nutcracker used to be an annual trip for my mom and I. In fact, because of The Nutcracker and Ms. Shoup (a former teacher at Sedan), I met Natalie Shoup, who had come to down to visit her sister for the weekend. Natalie went with us to the ballet and then about 10 years later, she became a Kappa! Fun (and true) story!

I hadn't been to the ballet since I was in 4th or 5th grade... but I'm not sure why I stayed away for so long. I LOVE the ballet! I think its because I really just want to be as poised and graceful as the ballerinas are rather than a very loud cheerleader (though my personality was not meant for the ballerina world!). I find myself mesmerized by the dancing though and am determined to have one of my children be a dancer... and have her teach me everything so we can dance together. Can't you picture that? My poor children are going to be embarassed their entire lives by their parents.

Anywho, the ballet was a good time. And any time spent with both my mom and sister is always an entertaining time so I'm glad I made the 1.75 hour drive... even though I'm doing it again in 24 hours. :)

If I don't see or talk to any of you before then, have a very Merry Christmas and a happy, happy New Year!!!

Out of Hand

I apologize for my incessant amount of blogging today, but I couldn't keep this one away.

Someone posted this website on their facebook status -- www.makemebabies.com. You upload pictures of you and your signifigant other to see what your future child will look like. I thought, "Oh, why not! Might be fun!"

Boy, was I wrong!

Just look at the kid's picture... doesn't he look like a little shit?!! Seriously, the first thing I thought of when I saw the picture was, "What a little shit!"

So... To those that thought I might get on the baby track any time soon, you can kiss that thought buh-bye. All because of this little shit's picture!

PS. It doesn't help to change up the pictures of myself or Matt -- I tried it!

PPS. I also did not pick out the duck outfit... it might be cute if it was on a baby, but not a 3-year-old -- he reminds me of a pissed off Ralphie from "A Christmas Story" when he has to put on the bunny outfit his aunt made him!

`Twilight' sequel speeds ahead for November 2009

Let's hope Kristen Stewart's (who plays Bella) attitude changes in the next movie...


`Twilight' sequel speeds ahead for November 2009

LOS ANGELES — "Twilight" fans have a short wait for the next installment of the vampire saga.

Summit Entertainment spokesman Paul Pflug says "New Moon" is following just 12 months after the first movie, opening Nov. 20, 2009, over the same weekend as "Twilight" this year.

Summit has tapped Chris Weitz ("The Golden Compass") to direct "New Moon," based on the second book in Stephenie Meyer's best-selling series about the dangerous romance between a teen (Kristen Stewart) and a vampire (Robert Pattinson) fighting his bloodsucking instincts.

Weitz is taking over the franchise from "Twilight" director Catherine Hardwicke. "Twilight" has shot to $150 million at the box office since debuting Nov. 21.

Cold as...

Well, I don't know what is this cold (maybe Edward Cullen's hands... anyone read it yet?!). But it's cold... And I'm one of the strange ones that absolutely LOVES it! And to top it all off, it started snowing last night and today, I woke up to an couple of inches of it everywhere!

Yes, it means a longer commute to work due to the slow driving and yes, it can lead to accidents... but it's Christmas! There is suppose to be snow! I love it...

And if at any point in the day I feel like I need a boost, I will head to the front door and stare at the snow! This is why I can never live in a place there is only one season ... hot.

Last night, I ventured out into the wild that is anywhere revolved around Christmas gifts. It was atleast five below outside at times, but I was in the stores sweating my face off! I walked into Forever 21 and just started throwing things over my shoulder (that place needs CARTS!) and almost asked the cashiers if I could leave my stuff on the counter!! :) But I accomplished alot in 3.5 hours... I have a few more things to get and I will be done. Today though, I must get my cousin Connor's gift in the mail so it gets to Virginia in time. The real question here is why am I doing this when Matt was the one that drew Connor's name for our cousin Christmas??? Who knows...

Anywho, I hope everyone is staying warm and if you are getting snow, that you are enjoying it!

Lastly, welcome Stephanie Siders to the blogging world! I have complete faith in your ability to produce great reading material! :)

Wrong...

But VERY funny!

It's Santa's Gmail Inbox...

Click on the picture next to the blog entry. Make sure you read all of the e-mail subjects and who they are from!

Baby's First...

Pictures of Addison's first Turkey Day and encounter with Santa...

Love!

Christmas Shopping

I absolutely love to do it! I could care less if I get any gifts in return, but I LOVE shopping for other people! Matt and I found a few things last weekend when we were in Tulsa, but I ventured out by myself this weekend (no offense, but alot more can be accomplished when you don't have a guy on your tail all day long).

Last year, I found myself doing alot of online shopping because 1) Tulsa at Christmas time is hell (not right, I know, but true) 2) there are great deals to be found on the Web and 3) Tulsa at Christmas time is hell! I recall sitting in traffic for nearly 30 minutes one night just trying to get from one city block to the next. That is not my definition of fun Christmas shopping!

In Wichita, you don't really have to deal with traffic on the roads as much as you do the traffic in the stores - it's like someone posted a sign that said 'EVERYONE GO TO THIS STORE TODAY!!!!!". Holy cow -- walked into Gordman's and turned right back around to go to my car! The lines were ridiculous!

I did find some good stuff though... I have knocked out a few people on the list. Next weekend, I will tackle even more. I did do some more online shopping for things for Matt, but other than that... I've stuck to the stores this year. Only because it's possible to accomplish things in Wichita.... and Tulsa was hell (did I mention that yet?!).

Happy Shopping everyone!

PS. Matt and I got our tree up on Thursday, somehow ended up in a fight over something and didn't get to decorate until Saturday afternoon -- but we are very pleased with it! We also got our first stockings... I love Pottery Barn! :) Pictures will follow when I get my camera back from the antique store -- accidentally took it out to take pictures of a cool cabinet and then went off and left it! Oops! Thank goodness the lady knows me and my mom really well (we frequent her store!).

BCS Rule Change

After determining the Big-12 championship game participants the BCS computers were put to work on other major contests and today the BCS declared Germany to be the winner of World War II.

"Germany put together an incredible number of victories beginning with the annexation of Austria and the Sudetenland and continuing on into conference play with defeats of Poland, France, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Belgium and the Netherlands. Their only losses came against the US and Russia; however considering their entire body of work--including an incredibly tough Strength of Schedule--our computers deemed them worthy of the #1 ranking."

Questioned about the #4 ranking of the United States the BCS commissioner stated "The US only had two major victories--Japan and Germany. The computer models, unlike humans, aren't influenced by head-to-head contests--they consider each contest to be only a single, equally-weighted event."

German Chancellor Adolph Hitler said "Yes, we lost to the US; but we defeated #2 ranked France in only 6 weeks." Herr Hitler has been criticized for seeking dramatic victories to earn 'style points' to enhance Germany's rankings. Hitler protested "Our contest with Poland was in doubt until the final day and the conditions in Norway were incredibly challenging and demanded the application of additional forces."

The French ranking has also come under scrutiny. The BCS commented "
France had a single loss against Germany and following a preseason #1 ranking they only fell to #2."

Japan was ranked #3 with victories including Manchuria, Borneo and the Philippines.

Interesting take... :)

Update

Matt and I went and saw 'Twilight' tonight.

Warning: Do NOT go see the movie until you finish the book. The book is 50 times better (as they always are) than the movie and you might think I'm insane if you go and watch it, wondering why I would like the series so much!

Though I did get a great laugh when, on the car ride home, Matt told me he could take Edward down. I tried to remind him that Edward - a vampire, remind you - has the strength of 100 grizzly bears and can kill in an instant... he couldn't believe that I thought Edward would be able to snap him in two.

Poor guy.... :)

New Obsession

I guess I easily fall into obsessions. Way back in the day, it was New Kids on the Block, followed by Hanson. I was (and still am) a huge Harry Potter fan. My obsessions usually involve heavy internet stalking, blog reading, bio reading, etc. It's a full-on obsession.

And I officially have a new one.

Twilight.

Yes, you've probably heard about it. The movie came out a few weeks ago. I for one knew very little about the four-book series until a radio DJ was talking about it on his morning show, saying that he was really into it and was comparing it to Harry Potter (my ears perked up because like I said, HP is one of my obsessions!).

I didn't really think anything else about it until I went to lunch with two of my coworkers. One of them, for some reason (which I understand completely now) was talking about the books and I was asking her questions about it and all she could tell me was that it was incredible! She said that she bought the first one and couldn't put it down. And with that, I asked her if I could borrow the first book, 'Twilight', from her. She brought it to me the next week. And from there... I'm a believer.

I started book one on Tuesday and finished it Thursday, during Thanksgiving at my aunt's. I got into a very deep conversation with my 13 & 14-year-old cousins (don't judge!) about the book and the movie. Abby has the entire series and it took all of her not to give me every detail of the other three books... I had to shush her many times and do earmuffs to myself so I didn't hear of any details that would kill the final books for me!

She asked if I wanted to borrow the second book, 'Eclipse'... and while trying to make sure Matt didn't see (apparently since my new obsession began, I have talked very little to him because I have been doing nothing but reading!), I shook my head yes and ran away with book two!

Well... I started book two on Thursday and finished it early this morning.

I know, I know. You're thinking I'm insane. You can't believe that I would spend so much time reading a silly book series.

But you cannot dog on me until you go and read the first three chapters of 'Twilight'. If after that, you still think I'm insane, it will be fine to let me know! But not until then!

I'm going to the movie tomorrow night and cannot wait... though I'm worried for my husband. I have a huge crush on a certain vampire (yep, the books deal with vampires -- again, hold your tongue!) who is perfect and beautiful... only problem with him is that he likes to drink blood. But really, can I really hold that against him?! :)

SO.... when you get a chance, buy the book. You can get it for $5 in paperback almost anywhere. I personally will reimburse you $5 if you don't like the book and don't fall in love with Edward Cullen (in the movie, the Edward characte also played Cedric in Harry Potter... for those HP fans).

Now go find your nearest bookstore. Happy reading!

(PS. Meg, I know you have a secret passion for teenage love dramas -- Friday Night Lights, Gossip Girl. You must go get this book and read when Stella is napping!)

Pic 1: 'Twilight' poster
Pic 2: I have a crush on a vampire. Do you see why?! :)

I'm so thankful for...

My husband of 3 months, but BF for almost 8 years (WOAH), my wonderful family, Coke products, Wrigley, the Clark's, Internet, antique stores, smart-ass humor, Harry Potter, cold weather, agenda planners, Christmas smells, paychecks (that I was just handed!), babies and two-year-olds, Manhattan, Sex & the City, cute coats, the Doty clan, cheap gasoline, online banking, wedding dress preservation, pilgrims, Fatcatrocks.com, text messages, phone calls from Annie, routines, Christmas music, paid-off credit cards!, Dillon's, work holidays, a clean house, 320 and our little mascot baby, Kappa's young and old (meaning my friends and Lauren's friends!), my little Grand Am that made it through four years of hell, memories, Hanson, snow, Sedan, hot tubs, Facebook, the Muppets, traditions, K-State, lake houses, Bob, Sports Daily, Mac computers, Aunt Sherron's goolash and on time flights.

I didn't even go back and look at my list from last year!

I am very blessed and very thankful for the life that I have... I should probably pinch myself every day! :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Tis the Season...

Yes, it is still November... I know. And I also know that we still haven't celebrated Thanksgiving. But I decided that today would be the day I dig out all of my Christmas decorations and get to work. Matt and I are leaving on Wednesday to go home and won't be come back to Wichita until Sunday. For that reason, I feel that it was OK to start putting up the Christmas deco's!

It was quite the productive weekend... We cleaned the basement yesterday afternoon (because we decided that we should really start to make an attempt to finish it sometime in the near future!), which entailed LOTS of sweeping and cleaning of all the dust and 'extra stuff' that fell to the floor while the ceiling and walls were worked on in August. We decided we are not the smartest human beings in the world when we came upstairs to see our entire house coated in white dust (we had the shop vac on in the basement and it stirred everything up which traveled upstairs!). I was trying to not have a nervous breakdown (since I'm a CLEAN FREAK and I had just cleaned that morning!). I waited until this morning to get out the wet vac and get to work!

Once I got the floors cleaned, I decided to rearrange the furniture so we'd have a good spot for our Christmas tree ... after some careful planning, I started moving! Rearranging furniture, decorating and cleaning are my versions of f-u-n!!! :) I spent the majority of the morning and early afternoon doing those three things and in the end, I think it turned out pretty well! I have some things I still want to do to the outside to spice it up - looks a bit drab! But I'm pretty content with the inside. I have a few of the cylinder vases to get from mom's next weekend to bring back and fill with ornaments and after that, I should be done!

Next up, Christmas tree shopping. Matt asked if I'd just like to cut one down. I said, "You mean from a Christmas tree farm? FUN!" He replied with, "Uh... it would be from a farm!" I'm not sure I want to make an attempt at searching for a tree at Hillcrest Farms... that's why God invented Christmas tree farms... or Lowe's (that is now conveniently located about a block from our house).

Happy decorating!

I Know... It's bad...

I do realize that my obsession with reality TV is a bit ridiculous. I have already confessed my love for 'The Bachelor' & 'The Bachelorette' (sidenote: did you all see that Jesse and DeAnna broke up? GO FIGURE!) and I'm an avid 'Hills' watcher (why, I have NO idea, other than that the show is my maiden name!). I have a love for Bravo TV, especially when it comes to 'Project Runway', which unfortunately is moving to Lifetime and I'm just not sure if it will be the same. But I have also been one to flip channels and land on 'The Real Housewives of...'.

I think I'm just intrigued (and envious) of these people who have so much money that they don't really know what to do with it, except brag about it and exploit it on national television. The latest version of 'The Real Housewives' was set in Atlanta, which is why I found the article below so fascinating... seems as if the housewives aren't as friendly or have as much money as they make us believe. I know... lying on reality TV?! :)

http://tv.yahoo.com/blog/how-real-are-the-real-housewives--40

Enjoy, you secret reality TV lovers!

Christmas Memories

Most people know that my two favorite holidays are Christmas and my birthday... celebrating Jesus and celebrating me! :)

Christmas time has always held a special place in my heart, though. Growing up, every year was the same... the Texas crew would roll into town a few days before Christmas. We'd wait at grandma's door all day long until they actually pulled up and from that point on, we only left grandma's to sleep, shower and change clothes. The rest of the time was spent together with the family. We'd do a cousins outing (which meant trying to squeeze 10 bodies into one suburban ... poor Neil was always sent to the trunk!) to Tulsa usually on the 23rd and on the 24th, everyone (Barnes and Hills clans) would come to our house for soup and sandwiches before we went to Christmas Eve mass. Christmas morning we would wake up early, open gifts with the parents and siblings, wait for the Hills side of the family to arrive, eat breakfast and open gifts, then off to grandma's for the rest of the day.

It was a tradition.

That tradition has evolved a bit since those wonderful days. Our Texas crew no longer makes the 11-hour car ride up for Christmas and there is no more waiting at grandma's door. Our Tulsa trip has been downsized to a Bartlesville trip that usually consists of me, Jordan, Lauren, Daniel, Will and Neil (always the trooper!). Christmas day has found us going to a movie in Bartlesville in the afternoon because we don't know what to do with ourselves!

Now, it may sound like I'm complaining about the change. Yes, I do get sad sometimes thinking about the transformation of our tradition, but when I think about why I have enjoyed the tradition so much, it all goes back to family. I am blessed to be apart of such a large, loving and happy family.

I do hate that we are not all able to be together around the holidays like in the past and do get sad thinking that my precious baby cousins - Annie, Luke and Stella - probably won't come to Sedan for a Christmas, but we are still able to carry out most of our traditions such as Christmas Eve dinner and the cousin trip. I will continue to call Seth when we take our Bartlesville trip and whine about how he needs to be there to be the head honcho -- I don't like being in charge and I'm only dealing with about 5 people. Him and Meg had double that and never lost their minds when ordering seven Happy Meals, three quarter pounders - one with cheese, one without onion and ketchup and eight cokes, one orange juice and one Dr. Pepper.

So... whatever your traditions are around the holidays, cherish them. They might not be around forever, but the memories will be!

Merry Christmas... a little early! :)

PS. This all stems from Wichita radio stations beginning their Christmas music playing yesterday! Don't tell Jenna, though -- she is very against Christmas anything pre Thanksgiving!

Check 'er out!

My mom is famous!

'Faith at a Crossroads'

http://www.ksn.com/news/extra/34463879.html