Aren't They Smashing?

Bill's pumpkin

My pumpkin

What d'ya think?

Eeeek!

I just saw this out of the corner of my eye on my msn homepage. It's the biggest chunk of a scene I've ever seen and I'm shaking a little. November 21st cannot get here fast enough. Sorry, I couldn't embed it. Just click the link.



'Twilight' Exclusive Clip: 'Your Theories'


Also, the tv promos have begun!! Check this one out: (I am lovin' the shot that's frozen on the screen.)



And this one, too.(If you watch closely, you get a glimpse of exactly how Hollywood takes everything and dirties it up. BELLA IN HER UNDERWEAR AS THEY'RE KISSING?! Don't recall that in the books.)

Come Out, Come Out Whoever You Are

So, you all didn't really think I'd let you off the hook that easy, did you? This game was never intended to keep you all anonymous. The idea was that you were anonymous just long enough for me to guess who you were, and then if I guessed right, great, if not, you told me who you were! The way I see it, you always knew there was a chance you would have to reveal your secret identity if random.org chose your comment. (After all, I can't send you cards if I don't know who you are! ) So you had to be at least a little willing to say who you were. Come on, are you seriously going to drive me to madness by never finding out who some of you are? And it will...it will drive me insane.

So not all of you have to step forward. I know most of you. Here are the ones I would LOVE to be filled in on:

#4
#16
#23
#30

There were a couple more that I guessed on that I still don't know if I was right, but like I said, unless you tell me otherwise I'll just assume I was.

So to the above four mystery people, I'd love to know who you are! If you are absolutely opposed to coming forward on my blog, feel free to email me. (Email addy on the sidebar) Come on, help a girl out.

High School Musical 3: Senior Year

SPOILER-FREE

It's embarrassing how excited I was to see HSM3. I didn't even hide the fact that I wanted to go see it for me...oh, and my seven year old daughter could come too, if she wanted. (Actually I took both my kids--Payson loves the movies too--and saw it with Michelle and her kids, which was so much fun.)

HSM stuck to it's tried and true formula while making the transition to the big screen. I was curious if it would be different at all, being a "real movie" now. I am happy to report there was not much change. I loved the things about it that I always loved--the singing, dancing, romance, squeaky clean and incredibly trendy teenagers. I cringed at the parts I always cringed at--Gabriella's giggles, Troy's solo dances, and basically all the parts that tried so hard to be "cute." (I don't do cute.)

Zac Efron is better than ever as Troy. You can easily tell he is the only real actor in the bunch, which makes sense, since he is the only one who actually has a resume under his belt. The rest can sing and dance and smile real good, but Zac can act. I don't know how he does it, but even when he's popping and locking and doing his best impression of a boy band member, he doesn't make me squirm in my seat, embarrassed for him. He totally pulls it off, somehow. However, every rose has its thorn, and of course he had to have his angst-filled solo song and dance (remember the Bet On It scene in #2?. I gotta say this one beat that one out.)

Vanessa Hudgens is still the same sugar-coated, ultra sweet Gabriella. She's so beautiful it's sickening, with a body to die for, and she can definitely sing, but usually as I'm watching her I want to hit Troy in the head and say, "Really?" No one who giggles that much is a "freaky genius girl." Even Sharpay seems to have more inside her head than Gabriella. And I swear, if I had to hear her call Troy "Wildcat" one more time I was going to throw my diet Dr. Pepper at the screen.

The Sharpay bit wore a little thin for me the third time around, but I was pleased to see that despite the nose job, Ashley Tisdale still looked like Sharpay.

The music (which is the essence of the film, as we all know) was as good as always--catchy, fun, soon to be running incessantly through all our heads. A couple of songs were ruined for me by the dance numbers that accompanied them, but I know once I'm rocking out to the soundtrack in my minivan, I'll fall in love with them too.

Michelle and I had fun gawking at some of the wardrobe choices. You won't believe it until you see it, but Gabriella wears a dress that seriously--I kid you not--has sleeves that look something akin to these ones, only on a smaller scale:


It was a cute, flower-print dress, with total 80's sleeves. And some of Ryan's and Sharpay's ensembles were laughable. It was funny if they were going for laughs, but if not...ouch.

All in all, I walked away satisfied with the final installment of High School Musical. In fact, I almost teared up a little at the end, which really concentrated on the "finale" aspect. For starting out as someone who swore up and down they would NEVER watch such a cheesy, gag-inducing movie, I've come a long way to the not-ashamed-to-admit-it-HSM fan that I am. If you're a fan, you'll love it too.

Giveaway Results

Here are your random numbers:

7

Timestamp: 2008-10-25 21:26:44 UTC

And commenter #7 said, "Superfudge!" leaving no doubt in my mind that it was my cousin, Michelle. Yay, Michelle! Email me what kind of cards you want, being as specific as possible (theme, colors, etc.) and I will mail them to you asap.

Thanks to everyone for playing! I cannot tell you how much fun I had guessing everyone. I felt like a detective, using every clue possible to figure some of these out. So here are my guesses: (Please, correct me if I'm wrong!! If I don't hear otherwise, I'll assume I'm right.) WARNING: LONG!

#1 said, "Ahh, the long awaited 21st of November. If I win I promise to shield the butter from your beautiful face. I love free stuff, especially stuff from you. With love, Adnerb"
Adnerb spelled backwards is Brenda, and I'm not totally sure, but I'm guessing Brenda D.

#2 (caught on tape) said, "Shoot. I didn't want to be the first to comment because random.org never picks the number 1! Oh well. I'll still enter and my hint is this...why pay $4 when you can pay $52? Too easy, I know. I'll take my Thank-You cards in Twilight's color scheme, thank you very much!"
After a long time of being completely stumped on this one, I FINALLY figured out it was Kim. She always says "shoot" like that, and she's referring to our clueless moment on our Forks trip when we shot past a toll booth on a Seattle bridge without paying. What would have cost us $4 quickly turned into $52 after our law-breaking was caught on tape.

#3 said, "Horray for Twilight. Here's my hint: You wrote to Bill before you met him on my computer while I slept. Maybe that was too easy."
Okay, Melissa, I'll admit, this one was easy. I was staying at my cousins' house in Utah the week I "met" Bill online. Melissa got to sleep through my clickety-clicks all night long as we chatted. Thanks, Liss! My kids thank you.

#4 said, "I'm sure you will be wondering who I am for ages! One of my fondest memories is spending the night at your house and playing in the basement. (Hmm I can't remember what grade we were in) Anyhow, I loved your laugh it was Way better than mine and I spent the whole night trying to make my laugh sound just like yours. I never did by the way. I think it may have been the only time I stayed over... I wouldn't have invited an hysterical (on purpose no less) friend back either so no hard feelings ;)"
This one had me so stumped I went to my sister for help and she (oddly enough) reminded me of a slumber party I hosted ten years ago for the primary class of ten year old girls I taught. Which led me to guess one of the Vaughn twins--Rachel?

#5 said, "Big, Philadelphia, Saving Private Ryan, You've Got Mail, That Thing You Do!"
This has to be Lisa S., Tom Hanks' self-proclaimed biggest fan!

#6 said, "Happy One Month Til Twilight Movie Day to you too! Can't wait. Stuart"
I confess I never did figure this one out. I wracked my brain for three days straight for what "Stuart" could possibly mean, and came up empty. Finally Jodi confessed it was her, and I couldn't believe I forgot what she and I named the mouse we set free after catching it in Kim's family room: Stuart, as in Little, of course.

#7 said, "Superfudge!"
Like I said, I knew immediately this was Michelle. One of my fondest childhood memories was sitting in my living room in the "bed" we had made out of blankets for a sleepover and taking turns reading Superfudge, back and forth, back and forth. I'm so glad you remember it too, Michelle!

#8 said, "Hmmmm.... a comment or a memory? Maybe the time I sat by MYSELF at Shari's cuz I'm too retarded to look around the restaurant for you. That was awesome. -girl who played tetris on her cell phone while friends talked in the "sunroom" at Shari's."
I'm gonna go out on a limb here and guess Heather B. I'm not sure, it was a tough one, but like I said, I used any clue I could get and her name and picture make me think it might be her.

#9 was Danyelle, who said, "I'm an idiot because I didn't remember to click "anonymous" with that last one. I'll try again later...you know, to keep up the anonymity." Silly Danyelle.

#10 said, "Wow, I've never been anonymous before. I have 4 kids and I teach piano and clarinet lessons. And 2 1/2 years ago, you were holding my baby while we were playing games, and you refered to his onesie as a very "yummy" color of blue. Which I agree, by the way. I'm sure you totally remember that, and I'm not 100% sure why I remember that. Maybe because 2 1/2 years later, my new baby gets to wear it..."
This is Amy M., who remembered way more details about a fun game night than I did. (Although I do remember holding your baby that night.)

#11 said, "DANG! I DO love free stuff! I like to hear all about peoples excitement for goooood movies! Hurrah! Okay, here is my memory: "Ohhhhhh I took a lick off my peppermint stick (bounce bounce) and I thought it tasted yummy (bounce bounce) oh it used to be on my Christmas tree (bounce bounce) but now it's yummy in my tummy (bounce bounce) YUM! YUM! HEE HEE HEE Good times!"
This is my cousin Aubrey, referring to a song we always sang together as kids. The "bounce bounce" parts will remain our little secret, won't they Aub?

#12 said, "Midnight walks in the snow (why can't the world still be that safe?)and running down the street in our swimsuits and towel capes, cackling like witches. Maybe you don't remember that."
Ah, Mary Ann, I can't believe you would even question me remembering this! I remember everything we did, even the cackling witches. But the midnight walks in the snow in our giant white Nikes were always the best.

#13 said, "It's the naked truth that my husband gave you a nickname when you were younger."
Yes, this would be my sister, Amy. Yes, I accidentally saw her husband naked. Yes, he used to call me Pooter. Yes, it's all things I'd rather forget.

#14 said, "Everytime we stepped into your white Escort, Amy Grant would serenade us from the radio. Today I think of it as "our" song."
Danyelle, you always talk about my iron-clad memory, and yet you remembered this and I didn't (until you mentioned it)! But now I remember how that blasted song used to come on every single time we got in my car, even though the song was six years old. Good times, good times.

#15 said, "A German, some must-have Mariah, some crazy Russians, and a road trip."
This memory made me laugh, thanks cousin Jen. All I remember about this road trip is those crazy Russian boys trying to run us off the road and the fact that we were with two people we have not and most likely will never see again (including the German).

#16 said, "humanitarian, 3 kids, a deep love for twilight, and a blogger who blogs about every 3 months."
I'm gonna guess this is Eden. (For some reason I can't open her blog to link to it.) She is the humanitarian person in our ward, she has three kids, and she doesn't blog very often. I didn't know about her love for Twilight, but she's the only person I can think of that fits this description.

#17 said, "Haven't known you long enough to have any "good ole times" stories, but I can say that I really admire you and thing you are very "cool" I knew I wanted to be your friend before I really knew you and and so glad that we are friends now. (I know it sounds cheesy, but when else can you be cheesy and nice and have no one know it's you!) -that one friend"
I obviously don't have much to go off of on this one, but I'm going to guess Brenda M. If it's not, I'm dying to know who it is!

#18 said, "i remember the "mariah" days, the "danny p" days, and i have a cute brother. too hard?"
This has to be Marisa, since she knew me well back in the day of Mariah and...ahem...ex-boyfriends. Seeing as I dated her brother, it's safe to assume I thought he was cute.

#19 said, "You like me becuase I keep you young. I think you've got the right stuff, so step by step we are becoming better friends."
Ha ha, I know exactly who this is. Andrea is my youngest friend (by about six years) who also happens to be a die-hard New Kids on the Block fan. Which is so funny to me, because I don't think she was even born yet when they were around.

#20 said, "coming to your house on a greyhound and having the feeling of 102 degrees hit me like a brick wall as i stepped off the urine soaked bus to jump in your moms BMW - how cool! i always slept in your room (thanks!) and dreampt that your mom would take me in for good 'cause she was the closest thing to my mom i knew."
This is my cousin Noelle, who often left her moss-covered, rain-soaked home to come visit us in the summer. I idolized her, and HATED the fact that she liked my brother better than me.

#21 (Rusty Shackelford) said, "The time I saw you and your hubby out ring shopping back in 2000. It was the first day you two had ever seen each other. Or playing basketball with about 20of us in front of your house about 17 years ago. So what is this Twilight business anyway? Is it going to be better than HSM 3? I doubt it."
Is this The Don? I remember the first memory I have of you was you playing b-ball with all the cousins in my front yard. I thought you were a new guy to hit on until I learned you were my cousin. I have no memory of running into you while ring shopping, but since we were engaged at the same time, maybe you were looking at rings too. Oh, and btw, it was like, the second day we had seen each other. (Who is Rusty Shackelford?)

#22 said, "I like free stuff. I remember sitting on your couch with my fiancee meeting you for the first time. You were chatting I was laughing my guts out!"
I'm thinking this is Nan. Although I don't remember this, it would make sense that you were on my couch with your fiancee, and "guts" seems like a word you would use. Also, I'm pretty sure you like free stuff.

#23 (eavesdropper) said, "eavesdropping."
Okay, obviously I have no way of knowing who this is, but using my detective skills, I sort of cheated and looked at my stat counter. It only ever shows two blogs other than my own, and this one just happened to show one at the same time this comment was left--so...I'm gonna guess Amy O.?

#24 said, "BUNCO gone wild!!!! I like to add random points to my recent score sheet!"
This has to be Kristen H., who almost won our last Bunco game by adding 100 extra points (unknowingly) to her score sheet. Luckily, none of us believed her and made her check, and the error was quickly fixed. But we got a good laugh. She's a good sport.

#25 (Newborn) said, "You are my resident Twilight expert and...you owe me a movie :)"
She could have just put "Newborn" and I would have known it was Marilyn. The newest Twilight addict, we have been having in-depth discussions about Twilight via email. Oh, and I still haven't taken her to the movie she won on my birthday giveaway. I can't believe I just admitted that.

#26 said, "Haven't known you as long as some of the rest, But our chats are always among the best. Movie watching keeps us both super happy, though I'm a crier and you're just not that sappy. Email is our preferred choice of communication, an endless back-and-forth (who's next?) conversation. I'd take credit for your total Twilight obsession, but apparently I rank low on your book recommendations. So silly and fun and real and true, Thanks for the friendship...is that enough clues?"
This has to be Shayla, my fellow emailer, movie addict, Twilight fanatic, book worm, etc. But why do you think you rank low on my book recommendations? This was SUCH a great poem I LOVED it.

#27 said, "We were in a competition together and we both wanted to win. You and I were the fiercest competetors by far. I didn't win."
Kristen G., are you still bitter? We sure did rock that giveaway of Kim's, didn't we? But I can't remember, who actually won it? Oh, yeah, I DID! Were you comment #28, too?

#29 said, "Happy One Month till Twilight! I can't believe it's only a month away. Maybe I will see you again at midnight for the Twilight movie, like the night Breaking Dawn was released! Only this time I'm leaving my makeup and dress behind..."
This could only be Ashley H., someone who just may out-rank me when it comes to Twilight Superfan, even dressing up at the Breaking Dawn release party.

#30 said, "When Lishy was at the Water Park, she went on all the rides. She swam in all the swimming pools and slid down all the slides. She ran around and shouted out, “This place is really cool!” But Lishy turned red when someone said, “Your suit is in the pool!”
Alright, the one person who has me completely stumped. Will the unknown poet please come forward? This has to be someone who knew me as a SMALL child because not only do they know my childhood nickname, but they remember something that I have no memory of. If this happened any time after I was, say, 8, I'm sure I would have remembered it. Like, say, scarred for life. So my only guesses are Tami M.? Rachel H.?

Whew! That took forever and a day. Again, thank you SO MUCH for playing. I had a blast. I seriously recommend doing this on your blog, it's so much fun. Plus, I want to play next time.

Don't Forget

Don't forget to comment on my giveaway post if you haven't already. The deadline is tonight at midnight, I'll be posting the winner tomorrow, along with my guesses at all the anonymous commenters! I can't wait. Some of these have me so stumped it's been making me crazy, but I think I've figured most of them out. Check back tomorrow!

THIS WEEK IN HOLLYWOOD

I can't believe it! Celebrities read my blog! And not only do they read it, but they obviously take what I say to heart. The proof is in the pictures:

Katie Holmes and Suri

Look at those newly trimmed bangs! She can actually tell it's
a cupcake she's eating. Although now she'll also be able to see
the scary guy following them. (Let's hope it's a bodyguard.)

Shia LaBeouf

Aw, now I feel bad. I've obviously given
him a complex about his spittle-covered lower
lip and now he tucks it in in embarrassment.
It's okay, Shia, you let that shiny lip out, I won't
say anything else about it, I promise.

Matthew McConaughey

I made a plea for no more pictures of Matthew shirtless,
playing some kind of sport. My wish was granted, and
instead we were all blessed with this shot of Matthew
wearing a shirt (j.k. livin', of course) cleaning out the
crap hose of his RV. Thanks for this gem, guys.



These celebrities obviously don't read my blog:


Portia de Rossi and Ellen Degeneres

Portia--apparently you didn't get my memo--
I'm seeing way too much of the red country plaid.


Mischa Barton

She has the nerve to launch a new line of these
rockin' headbands. Seriously, does her stylist
hate her? Somewhere Nicole Richie is celebrating
that her heinous trend is catching on.

Minnie Driver

Minnie, despite what Mary Kate
thinks, pants are a good thing.

Edward Doll

Check out this gem:


So very wrong in so many ways. Contrary to what you all may believe, I will NOT be purchasing one.

That's It, I'm Homeschooling

What are they teaching my kid at school?! Yesterday Macy colored this:



What are they teaching in 2nd grade, some kind of math/sex ed hybrid class? And apparently mom + dad = angry devil children.

Everyone Loves Free Crap

Guess what today is. Today is October 21st. What, you say? That's not anything special? I beg to differ. It is exactly one month until the premiere of Twilight. In one month I will be anxiously waiting for my ticket with iPhone in hand, shielding myself from butter gone berserk. No, wait, that's not right...

Anyway, in one month I will be watching my favorite love story ever come to life on the big screen, something I'm a tad excited about. You may think this is a ridiculous excuse for a giveaway, and I won't argue with you. It is. But I wanted to have a giveaway and lo and behold, it fell on today. So Happy One Month Til Twilight Movie Day to ya.

So here's how this giveaway works. Just leave a comment on my blog before midnight on Friday the 24th. BUT--to spice things up a bit, because I like things spicy (well, not food), leave your comment anonymously, but give yourself either a name or a clue as to who you are. I will have so much fun guessing who is who. You can say something about yourself, or a memory with me, anything you can think of to give me a hint. Then I will attempt using random.org for the first time to draw one of your names. (It doesn't matter if I guess you or not, if your number is chosen, you win.)

What will you win? Ten--count 'em, ten--custom-made, handmade cards. You can choose ten of the same, ten different, some thank you, some birthday, whatever you want. Heck, if you want ten National Foot Day cards, that's what you'll get.

So get creative and don't forget--don't use your real name when you comment!!

A Trip To Haywire Farms

Today we went as a family to the pumpkin patch. We had such a blast. Despite the overcast sky, it felt like a summer day. We got so hot. But the kids seriously thought we'd gone to some local off-shoot of Disneyland. It was great watching them have so much fun.

After climbing all over the hay pyramid, Payson started
scratching and said (in his serious, matter-of-fact voice)
"I have a haystack in my body."

Macy took half the hay home with her in the
cuff of her jeans.

Doing the hay maze

Flower children

Doing the duck races. Those things were so cool.

This goat is the most patient animal alive. It just stood
there and let the kids pet it...and pet it...and pet it...

It was fun seeing how tall the kids were...I had
no idea before this. Is that bad?


Payson thought the llama was the coolest thing ever.
I'm not sure why.


The cow barrel tractor ride. We told the kids they could have
their own car but they opted to share. I think Macy
was worried Payson was going to fall out. (Those tractor
rides are pretty dangerous. Hold on tight, Macy.)

Me and Bill took close-up pictures of ourselves as we
waited for the kids to come back from the ride.
Risky move, I know.

We had so much fun wandering around, finding
the "perfect" pumpkin. Macy wanted one with
no dents, no green, no marks, no flat sides, no
gross stuff on it, perfectly round. I told her they
had plastic ones at Walmart.

All in all it was a perfect day.

THIS WEEK IN HOLLYWOOD: Fashion Police

I in NO WAY consider myself to be some sort of fashionista. I love to look cute, but I know I'm not up there with all the trends. One thing that drives me insane, though, is flipping through magazines and pictures online and seeing all these gorgeous celebrities wearing the most ridiculous ensembles or just plain hideous clothes, and no one says a thing about it (or worse, they're praised for their cutting-edge fashion sense) simply because they're famous. So I'm gonna be brave and call them out. Because in Normalville, USA, they would so get laughed at.

Katie Holmes

Usually Katie is a fabulous dresser, but lately, I'm not feeling her wardrobe.
She is single-handedly trying to bring back the 80's tight-rolled jeans and
frankly, I hate her for it.

I'm pretty much at a loss here.

Okay, she and Tom Cruise have quite possibly the cutest
kid on the planet, and she insists on dressing her in over-sized
dresses and covering up those doe eyes with way-too-long bangs!
Half the pictures I see of Suri she's got her chin pointed upward,
just trying to see where she's going, the poor thing! And what is
up with the lumberjack plaid? Katie's wearing it here, and....

Heidi Montag (and Audrina Patridge)

Heidi is sporting it here. Although Heidi looks like she simply
forgot to change out of her pajamas from the night before.
I can't tell if it's a shout-out to 90's Seattle grunge or some
sort of "chic" country western, but really, it doesn't matter.
Either way it's heinous.

Nicole Richie (and Jay-Z)

Another trend I am soooo not loving is the hippy
headband. I know Nicole Richie has always been
very "free spirit" and all that, but I've seen it on
other celebrities trying to bring back the 60's trend.
And this one looks like she stole it off a Solid Gold dancer.

Elizabeth Hurley

And what is up with all the bearing of chests lately?
It's no longer just cleavage, it's like more is out than in!
Seriously, Elizabeth, what are you thinking?! At least
you know if your airplane ever crashes into the ocean
you have your own flotation devices.


Melanie Brown

Oh, Melanie, Melanie. Honey. Hoods and the
red carpet just don't mix. Hoods and corset
dresses don't mix. Hoods and skin-tight
white satin don't mix. In fact, how 'bout
we just stay away from hoods altogether?


Madonna

Madonna recently rocked these pistol high heels.
It's so that she can easily bust a cap in anyone
who makes a rude comment about her adopted
baby, or her crumbling marriage, or her delusions
about her age, or her embarrassing footwear...


Sarah Jessica Parker (and son James Wilkie)

Another thing I seriously don't get:
You know you're famous, you know if you go outside
paparazzi are going to take your picture, and yet
you go out looking like this: wearing Ugg boots, which
I believe stopped being cool at least 3 years ago (maybe more),
which you couldn't even take the time to tuck your jeans into,
and wearing a grandma sweater which you tied around your waist
as if you were actually a grandma. And again, what is with celebrity kids'
hair? They all have the philosophy that they're somehow oppressing
their children by cutting their hair, that they should be allowed to
express themselves through their hair...no, people, oppression
is not being allowed to see where you're walking, or a little boy
being forced to have girl hair. Messy girl hair, at that.


Hayden Panettiere

It looks like she tried to be resourceful
by making a shirt out of an old wedding dress.
Hayden, you got moolah. Do yourself a favor and
go buy a new shirt. Or if it's a money thing, steal
from the Heroes wardrobe. They have cute stuff.


Jada Pinkett Smith

Um....no. Just, no.


Kanye West

Not even a cool gangsta rapper like Kanye can pull off
an ice cream cone sweatshirt. Come on, someone hook
the guy up with some Sean John.

Leppert News

MACY
The other night I was putting Macy to bed and she said to me in a very concerned voice, "I really hope President Monson (the president of our church) doesn't get voted out at the election." Apparently they've been talking about the election in school, and I think someone got a little confused.

Macy is loving second grade and anxiously awaiting next Friday (the premiere of High School Musical 3). I came to the sad realization this week as I helped her with her homework that I think she has actually become smarter than me. She loves her teacher and has great friends and is trying to hide from me the fact that she's discovered boys.

PAYSON
Driving in our car a few weeks ago, Payson suddenly said, "I really hope I get the jerk next." I laughed and said, "What?" Where has he ever heard that word?! "You know, at McDonald's, the Lego Batman toys. I want the jerk." I wracked my brain for all the characters in Batman and finally realized what he must be talking about. "The Joker?" I asked. "Oh, yeah," he said, "the Joker."

We had the most exciting thing happen last Friday night...Payson started reading! We were completely shocked when he randomly started reading "words" off of his Applebee's kids' menu. (They weren't always words, it was the word search, and some of them were just letters put together, but still...he was reading them.) I have no idea when or how this happened, but I was ridiculously excited. I started spelling real three-letter and even four-letter words for him and he read them all! Yay Payson!

BILL
Our most exciting news is that Bill put in his two weeks at FedEx (his second job). I can't even begin to describe how ecstatic this makes me. This means I will have a husband again in the evenings. It means we'll get to eat dinner as a family, and I'll have help putting the kids to bed, and I won't have to find a baby-sitter for every function that takes place between Monday-Friday. But, wait, this isn't about me. Yay, Bill! No more working til 8:30 at night, no more hauling insanely heavy boxes, no more seeing his kids in the mornings only. He is so excited. He'll be picking up some extra hours at the shop, but mostly early morning and lunch-time. He is loving his motorcycle and spends all his free time trying to convince me to let him buy some sort of gaming system. "For Payson."

ALICIA
So as I count down the days until two weeks from now, I am staying busy doing the typical stay-at-home-mom stuff. Nothing too exciting going on here. Cleaning, cooking (really, I've been doing better at actually making dinner), helping with homework, playing chauffeur, cleaning, blogging, reading, doing laundry, cleaning, battling with Payson each day to take a nap (me, not him), trying to lose weight, cleaning, etc...My life couldn't be more monotonous, but I'm actually grateful for that. I'm trying to look on the bright side. There have been too many periods of my life when just doing the "norm" was incredibly difficult. I am so grateful that at the present time I am suffering from nothing...headaches magically disappeared, no unexplained nausea, no depression, anxiety....my family is healthy and happy and for that I have nothing else to complain about. I have taken President Monson's suggestion to heart and made it my personal motto, which I repeatedly tell myself throughout the day: Find joy in the journey. It was like he was talking to me--this is something I constantly struggle with. I have to find a way to be happy with my life at any given point because, frankly, nothing is ever going to change except my attitude.

Okay, that got a little heartsy fartsy. Just wanted to mix things up a bit by doing something I rarely do: blog about my life in a positive fashion. Weird, huh?

Eagle Eye

Since my genius idea of doing two separate reviews for each movie resulted in my first-ever ZERO COMMENTS on a post, I'm back to doing one. This review will have no major spoilers.
Please, feel free to read. And comment.


Let it be known that Eagle Eye is a guy flick in every sense of the term. And this chick liked it. It helped that I went into it expecting nothing more than a brainless, big-budget action movie with lots (and lots) of car chases, people running for their lives, and things being blown up. Don't get me wrong--it was all of those things, minus the mindless part. I was not prepared to have to think during this movie, but think I did.

So Jerry Shaw (Shia LaBeouf) is a highly unmotivated nobody mourning the sudden loss of his twin brother when he receives a phone call from some random female voice spouting out commands that he neither understands nor wants to listen to. He quickly learns that if he doesn't obey the monotonous voice, bad things will happen.

Rachel Holloman (Michelle Monaghan) is a single mother who receives a similar phone call from the same voice after shipping her son off to a band performance for the weekend. Once she is informed her son's life depends on her cooperation, she's running around like a mad woman, doing whatever the voice tells her to do. Soon she and Jerry are thrown together in a run for their lives.

The movie hooked me right at the beginning by first painting an intriguing picture of Jerry's depressing life before launching into the game of cat and mouse. I was quickly theorizing about Jerry and his brother and government conspiracies and musical instruments and terrorism. Shia LaBeouf is always a joy, although I can only focus on his bottom lip whenever he talks--why is it always covered in saliva? Michelle Monaghan is cute and does an adequate job of running around terrified, but _____________ could have done it just as well. (Fill in the blank with the name of any current actress.)

My only complaint was the use of the "sh" word. (Why do I always feel 10 years old when I call it that?) Good heck, it had to be some kind of record. Now, I have to admit that if a giant metal beam was coming at me, ready to decapitate me, I might drop an "sh" bomb myself. I guess it was probably realistic that in a constant adrenaline-pumping fight for life, they felt the need to swear a few times. But it doesn't mean I wanted to hear it. Again. And again. And again.

Okay, that was a lie. I did have one more complaint. I thought the end was a little hokey. I can't tell you why, though, because that would be a spoiler, and I wouldn't want to give anyone cause to NOT comment on this review. But I can tell you that my husband didn't think it was hokey; in fact, he loved just about every aspect of this movie, and since he is exactly the demographic they were shooting for, I guess that's what matters.

So make your husband happy--take him to see this, he'll love you forever. And you might not hate it yourself. But you don't have to tell him that.

I Love Blogging

I was tagged by my cousin Melissa to post the fourth picture in my fourth folder of pictures in My Pictures. What a fun idea! I was so nervous that I'd open it up and find that it was one that the kids had taken of me. Those are always smokin' hot: me, no makeup, hair pulled back, and of course at an upward angle because they're short, so it's all boobs and stomach. Oh, and usually I'm making the coolest face ever because I'm always on the phone, mid-conversation, oblivious to the fact that they've decided to entertain themselves with an impromptu photo shoot.

Much to my relief, this was the fourth picture in the fourth folder:


I LOVE this picture of Payson. It's so...him. This was taken last spring at around 10:00 at night after spending three hours in the emergency room, with no dinner. (Not to mention his mom completely ditched him in the ER to go to a GNO. Don't judge me, his dad told me to.) Earlier that night his sister had slammed his thumb in the door and ripped off his entire thumbnail in one piece. It has since grown back--hooray! How many kids would still be smiling after that?

I tag Rachel, Shayla, and Kim.

Also, the same fab cousin awarded me with my very first blogging award! I was one of seven blogs she chose to award, and in turn I'm supposed to choose seven blogs to award. So, to the following 7 blogs...I love your blog. (And these are in no particular order.)



Lauren's Busy Bee Lauren blog has become one of my absolute very favorite to read. Her humor is so my type of humor, she always makes me laugh. Hers is the only blog I've ever read of someone I don't know personally. That says a lot.

She also has a blog dedicated to all things Twilight, Lauren's Bite, and she seriously may be my only competition for Biggest Twilight Fan ever. (It was you on my iPhone, wasn't it?!) I know she is one person, but her two blogs are two of my favorites, therefore, I'm counting these as two.

Kristin's blog is private, so, sucks to be you if you don't have an invite. I love her subtle humor and her pensive mind. I can't link to it, but just so you know, her blog is called Polka Dot Perceptions. How cute is that?

Amy's blog is really fun. I know she's my sister, so you might think I'm biased, but in all honesty, I'm surprised I like her blog as much as I do. That sounds bad, but I know my sister like the back of my hand, so I thought it would all be old news, you know? But she's actually really funny, and super creative when it comes to posting. Her knowledge of books, photography and Adobe keep us well informed, and I never tire of pictures of her kids with hilarious captions.
Her blog is Cazier Corner.

Although Kim's blogging has been scarce, I still love her blog. She never fails to entertain with stories like Poop In A Bag and she loves the questionnaire tags as much as I do. Hopefully one day soon she'll realize that posting is where it's at. Kim's blog is called Oh Me Oh Myers.

I love Brenda's blog because she is HILARIOUS. I don't think anyone really knows how funny Brenda is until they read her blog. I think I laugh more reading her blog than anyone else's. She makes stories about daily life and the joys of being a stay-at-home mom fun and comical. She can even make a post about her favorite household cleaner entertaining. Go to Davis Family for a good laugh.

My cousin Noelle's blog is one of my favorites because she is so down to earth. She writes like she talks (I imagine, I haven't talked to her in years) and she always cracks me up with her stories of life in the Tomco home. Love her. Her blog is simply named Noelle.

So now, all you lucky winners, what you're supposed to do is pick seven of your favorite blogs to award the I Love Your Blog award to, by taking this picture off my blog and putting it on yours. Then leave a comment on that person's blog telling them they've won a major award.

Nightmare

Last night I had the worst dream. (And this is an honest to goodness description of EXACTLY how my dream went.) It was November 21st, and I was finally going to see Twilight. I showed up with someone whose face I never saw, and immediately I saw Nicole, so I knew I was in the right place. (The reason I was concerned I might not be in the right place was because I was not at a theater, but a Christian church that had graciously offered their auditorium for the Twilight viewing.) But there weren't any other people that I recognized. That's okay, I was early. I milled about doing completely random, nonsensical things that happen in dreams, killing time until the movie started. But as it neared the time, I realized there were still too few people I recognized. I started to panic when I realized the movie was about to start and Kim was not there yet, which meant neither was my ticket. THEY WEREN'T GOING TO LET ME IN!! I was starting to hyperventilate a little bit when the iPhone in my pocket rang. Wait, I don't have an iPhone. But it was in my pocket, ringing, so I answered it. (Bill and I saw Eagle Eye last night, can you tell?) It was my sister Amy, saying she was almost there. I didn't have the heart to tell her it didn't matter, we had no tickets. Then it was time to enter the auditorium. Even though I had no ticket, the people that worked at the church let me in but said I just couldn't sit down yet. I watched as the chairs quickly filled up, trying not to freak out. Where was Kim??!! It was at that point I saw Ally sitting in the front row with her friend, all decked out with Prom hair and makeup. Why was Ally here and not Kim? And why the freak is she at Twilight?! The workers wouldn't let me go over and ask her, but they went over and asked Ally where Kim was. Ally said, "The store." Okay. Then I started seeing all my friends file in (and by friends I mean friends from high school who don't even live in my state anymore) and they're all sitting together, laughing and talking, excited for the movie, totally NOT caring that I was standing there without a ticket, unable to sit down. I kept trying to tell them to save me a seat, but no one would. (Mean, mean friends.) FINALLY, just as the lights were dimming, Kim comes running in all frantic, apologizing profusely for being late, explaining that Brady had messed up his face in a bad fall (sorry Kim, hope this isn't prophetic). "You should see it," she said. "It's like, totally deformed." Then she went and sat down. WITHOUT ME!! I hurried and found the last empty seat just as the movie started (as dreams go, it just so happened to be the best seat in the house). But this volunteer kid from the church started making everybody popcorn up front and the butter machine went crazy and started spraying all over me. I quickly shielded it with my jacket, and ran to another worker and started yelling at them that we are trying to watch this movie for the love of Pete and this kid is hosing us down with butter!! They made him stop, and I walked back to my seat, thinking for sure everyone would applaud me for what I'd done. I heard one person clap, and another girl called my iPhone and said she wanted to fight me for thinking I was the biggest Twilight fan, when in all actuality, she was. I had to dodge her for a while, before realizing the screen wasn't even showing Twilight. I didn't recognize anything! I leaned over to my cousin Michelle and said, "Are we sure this is even Twilight?" And she said, "No, it's not. The church said they were going to show a short movie first." Frustrated, I sat back, waiting for Twilight to start, when my iPhone rang again, this time a creepy voice telling me I had to leave the theater immediately because apparently I'd gotten caught up in some government conspiracy. (Yeah, that would be Eagle Eye again.) So I left the theater, before Twilight even started, and missed the entire movie. I woke up in a near cold sweat.

So tell me, do you think therapy would be beneficial, or am I too far gone?

One Word: HOT

Here are some new drool-worthy pics of Edward...and some chick.

I believe this is a still from the movie.
Eeek!
(He's looking at Bella like that, but really he's thinking of me.)

Only he could make fangs this sexy.

Be. Still. My. Heart.

Now someone come scrape me up off the floor.

Final Twilight Trailer

The part where he says, "I just wanna try one thing"....Aaaaaahhhhhhh!!! My heart pounds out of my chest.

Do You Ever...

Do you ever have those days where it seems like nothing ever goes right for you?
Do you ever think that if you don't get a vacation soon you might go postal?
Do you ever want to just plop down in the middle of it all and say "I give up?"
Do you ever marvel at how something you love to do can be so hard?
Do you ever wonder if you are the only one who feels this way?
Do you ever try to remember why exactly you signed up for this?
Do you ever feel like if you don't lay down right now and sleep you'll be sick?
Do you ever do your best at something but still come up short?
Do you ever pray for things to be just a little bit easier?

I do.

10

1 me, wishing there were more
2 sweet kids, keeping me going
3 precious hours to myself every Mon, Wed & Fri
4 shows I love, back on
5 th shot at writing this novel
6 books on my list of things to read ASAP
7 times a day I check my email/blogs
8 lbs. lighter
9 loads of laundry needing either washed, folded or put away
10 things about me...right now

New Twilight Movie Stuff

Here's the new movie poster.

I'm not feeling the red glowing eyes.





Also, they released the official soundtrack to the movie.

Here's the list of songs:

1. Muse — Supermassive Black Hole
2. Paramore — Decode
3. The Black Ghosts — Full Moon
4. Linkin Park — Leave Out All The Rest
5. MuteMath — Spotlight (Twilight Mix)
6. Perry Farrell — Going All The Way (Into The Twilight)
7. Collective Soul — Tremble For My Beloved
8. Paramore — I Caught Myself
9. Blue Foundation — Eyes On Fire
10. Rob Pattinson — Never Think
11. Iron & Wine — Flightless Bird, American Mouth
12. Carter Burwell — Bella's Lullaby

And lastly, the thing I am MOST excited for, is the final trailer to be released on Friday, October 10th before some movies in the theater and a sneak peak on Entertainment Tonight the day before. Immediately following the sneak peak, it can be seen online via the Twilight widget (if you don't have the widget, you can get it from the official film site at TwilightTheMovie.com) at 8:00 PM on October 9th for one hour, then in HD on MySpace at 9:00.



Can't wait.