The Lake and some noodle love

We spent some time at the lake on our camping trip. As you will see, Jessica is in love with her noodle, a little much I must say, she's never without that orange noodle.

Jess loving her noodle soooo much she's using it as shade for her face?

The gang on the inflatable trampoline...note the noodle is still at Jessicas side

Travis and Ahsley being goofy after a "sexy" photo shoot, which I did not capture, after all, this blog is not xxx rated....hee, hee.

Ashley lookin cute on the trampoline

Uh, the noodle again (the orange thing, not Jess)

My niece Cassidy

My brother Todd hanging with his grandson Dominic and Cassidy

Love, that's what this is, that together forever kind of love, well, until the noodle falls apart, or her kids want to take it away from her.

August Future Fun

I'm looking forward to.....

• Baking chocolate chip cookies and making rice krispe treats with the Babe to send to Heather (she's craving homeade stuff)
• Not so many social gatherings....uh, definetly not a people person :)
• Picture taking at the park
• Going to see two movies next wknd...G.I. Joe and A Perfect Getaway
• My Amazon shipment which contains: Gorillas in the Mist DVD, Highlander DVD, Amanda Palmer 'Who Killed Amanda Palmer' CD, Kissing the Hag book by Emma Restall Orr
• My Wedding Anniversary
• Babes big beach bash birthday party
• Diana Krall concert
• New Skillet CD coming out
  

Ipod Shuffled

I copied Jules post...when I shuffle my Ipod, here's what comes up:

1. Friend of the Devil by Grateful Dead. I haven't always been a Dead fan, but am starting to listen to them a lot more lately.
2. Never Think by Rob Pattinson. He's a vamp, he shimmers, he's hot, he never sleeps, he buys you pretty things, and he can sing? Man, what more could a girl ask for?
3. I'm Yours by Jason Mraz. Heather had asked me if I had ever heard this song before, but she didn't tell me who sang it, so I said no. It came on the radio and she's like "this is that song", I'm like "oh, this is freakin Jason Mraz, I have this cd."
4. Modern Moonlight by The Dresden Dolls. I LOVE the Dresden Dolls, I could listen to them all day long.
5. Black Dog by Led Zeppelin. Uh, Jimmy Page....hot, hot, hot!
6. Will Your Future Blame Us by Our Lady Peace. I like these guys, but haven't listened too much to them lately.
7. Mandy Goes to Med School by The Dresden Dolls...hmmm, my Ipod aparently knows I like to listen to The Dresden Dolls all day long.
8. Hollywood Nights by Bob Seger. Classic song, takes me back to high school.
9. I don't wannna go on with you like That by Elton John. Elton has one of those voices that I just love. But that is a long song title.
10. Stir it Up by Bob Marley. Ahhh, Bob Marley. Want to kick back and just listen to some tunes? Minus the smokin of course.
    

Two New Moon Sneek Peaks

Below are two sneek peaks for New Moon. They were recorded at Comic Con by fans, so there are A LOT of girls screaming.....I'm thinking this is what the experience of the midnight showing is going to be like, a ton of screaming and crying whenever Jacob and Edward are seen shirtless...oh boy.

Whole Foods again & hobo pie

Tonight we are going back up to Whole Foods for my marshmallows. I did find a yummy looking vegan chocolate they carry there too, so I can take smore's fixings with me. I now want to get a hobo pie iron, but will have to wait until next time for that. I was browsing hobo pie recipes, and ran across a post that made me want to get one soooo bad. Their pie looked delicious....http://tomorrowaustin.wordpress.com/2007/11/19/vegan-camping-coffee-and-hobo-pies/

A random thought when I can't sleep

I am a very light sleeper, and have to sleep with a fan going, it's called Blizzard, has 3 settings, with the final setting sounding like a jet engine. Last night I woke up at 3:00 am, had to go pee, and then couldn't get back to sleep because my fan was making weird noises. I can only compare it to the annoyance of sleeping next to someone snoring really loud.

As I lay there, I thought of how much I really can't stand the word 'myriad'. I have been coming across that word in a lot of books lately, and still can't stand it. It looks weird, and it's even weirder to use in a sentence. I mean, why is it that this thought would enter my mind at 3:00 in the morning? I kept trying to use it in different sentences, but it still just bugged me to no end. It's funny how when you can't sleep, things like that bug you more. I mean, it's not like I dwell on that word on a daily basis, letting my hatred of it consume me. From freedictionary.com....

myr·i·ad

1. Constituting a very large, indefinite number; innumerable: the myriad fish in the ocean.
2. Composed of numerous diverse elements or facets: the myriad life of the metropolis.
n.
1. A vast number: the myriads of bees in the hive.

Yep, weird, weird word. I don't like it. I know I'm not the only word hater out there, so whats your word you don't like running across?

Back to my fan....it kept making this strange loud noise every few seconds. I got up and beat it a few times (there are no laws against fan beating), but it didn't help. So, I decided it would be a fanless night. I turned it off, opened up my windows and laid back down to go to sleep. A few seconds laying there in the quiet, I hear a loud crash right outside. It sounded like a squirrel fell out of the tree and landed on our tin shed. My dog freaked out, and I knew I would not be able to go back to sleep, conjuring up many images of what that noise was....I turned the fan back on, and what do you know, it stopped snoring. I stopped having a myriad of thoughts racing around (maybe like my fear of spiders, I just need to accept the word and use it in my vocabulary), and finally fell into peaceful sleep.

Hunting for Marshmallows

Saturday my mom and I took a trip up to Whole Foods in Tigard. Wow, I'm getting spoiled, first I found Lush and now Whole Foods. It was so much bigger then Lifesource, and they carried more of my Aubrey Organics stuff, I even got some shave cream. The whole point of the trip up there was for Vegan marshmallows, which they don't carry at Lifesource. We are going camping this Wknd, and I wanted some marshmallows for roasting. So, after my initial "wow, this store is awesome" moment, I discovered the marshmallows right next to some yummy vegan brownies, which I had to buy. Oh, I also discovered vegan nacho cheese. They carry the cheddar kind at Lifesource, but I didn't even know they made a nacho one. So, this week I'm going to make some yummy nachos. Back to the marshmallows, I found them by searching online, and discovered that they carried them at Whole Foods. I had read that they needed to stay in the fridge for freshness until you used them, so I made sure to take a cooler with me. They seemed fine, so I put them in my cupboard (good thing I don't follow directions well), and yesterday I decided to read the back of the bag to see if I had to keep them cold. So, I discover nothing of the kind, but see that they are stamped with "Whole Foods Bakery", and realize these are not the marshmallows I was after (gelatin in the ingredients). UGH!!! I was so mad. I have to have marshmallows, I just do. John was like, "why didn't you read it?" I'm like, "they looked just like the ones online, and I was so overwhelmed with excitement I guess I didn't pay attention". So, I told my mom about it, and she said, well, we will just have to make another trip on Friday morning. They are in the dairy dept, so I was looking in the wrong place anyways. These had better be some pretty amazing marshmallows.

Birthday Babe

Baby turned two last week, so we had a small get together on saturday because we wanted to give her presents, any excuse to spoil a grandbaby. She got an Elmo, My Little Pony and a new princess bike. She hasn't figured out yet how to ride the bike, and she got pretty mad when someone would try and help her.

Poking her Tinker Bell ice cream cake.......

Playing with her My Little Pony......

We left the bike in the car, so she wouldn't ignore her other presents. Grandpa is trying to help her with the pedals.....

Taking Elmo for a ride (I tried getting her on video saying Elmo, cause it's the cutest thing, but she only said it when I wasn't recording).....

Showing her indpendent side when Mommy tried to help her pedal.....

Half Blood Prince

I went and saw Harry Potter at the 12:10 am showing with Amy and Jon (not my John, he had to get up way too early for work). First, I drove to the wrong theatre. We pulled in and I was like, "uh, nobody is here". They were like, "it's the Lancaster Mall one were going to". I even knew that, guess it was past my bedtime and I was delirous?

When we get to the right theatre, we know we are in the right spot. I cannot believe the line there was. They said that earlier in the day it went clear back to the freeway. I believe all the shows except for the 12:30 were sold out. We stood in line (the long line) and waited for our theatre number to be called, so I told Jon and Amy my skipping tax class story. Then this lady in front of me turns around, and it's my old tax instructor, that was a bit awkward...ha, ha.

Anyways, we finally get in, and are in the 3rd row from the FRONT. Thank god Lancaster Mall was redone, because their seats lean back, and it was not a bad experience like when I saw Lord of the Rings. This guy in front of us had been waiting in line since 5:00 pm, and some other people had been camped since Sunday. This is with tickets, so they waited in line for a good seat. At this theatre, I don't think there is a bad seat, so I'm glad we didn't show up too early.

I hoped to see a Twilight trailer on the big screen, and I got my wish. It was the first trailer they showed, and of course all the girls screamed, and the jeaulous guys booed....it was funny. So, to the movie...it was AWESOME!!! It was my favorite one so far. I couldn't really remember too much of the book, except for the main parts, so I won't compare it to the book, although, all the other potter films were very close to their books. It was 2 hours and 32 minutes, but it went by way too fast, and that's coming from someone who thinks 11:00 PM is too late to be awake. If you are a Potter fan, don't wait for DVD on this film.

Vegas: Highlights, a love story and some pictures

We made it back from Vegas, a bit sore (from way too much walking), but back in one piece (well, thank goodness for that huh). The highlights:

• Las Vegas Fruits and Nuts - My very favorite place to get yummy snacks. I even got a key chain of a nut.
• The Beatles stuff - I got a Sgt. Peppers t-shirt, some buttons and an Abbey Road key chain. I was going to save all my money and just get more Beatles stuff, but I fell in love, and spent my money elsewhere (see love story below)
• Skipping class (yes, at 41 I will still skip school if an opportunity presents itself).
• Playing cards with Jessica (fun, fun, fun)
• Getting a picture with a Showgirl
• Drinking a very strong margarita
• Seeing Jubilee - I felt like I was right there in the middle of a musical, that's what I call heaven!
• Seeing Jessica have so much fun (minus all the anxiety of the plane and the late night panic attack) on her first out of state trip.
• Did I already mention skipping class, I like to live on the wild side, as you can see.
• The plane trip back - the search, the confiscation (see Jessicas blog for details)
• Landing in Oregon - how I love our green state!
• Seeing the Babe be so excited to see her mommy
• Hugging my honey when I got home, oh, and having him go get me Taco Bell, he even offered to go by himself with my vegan order (big step for him, ha, ha).

THE LOVE STORY

While walking through the Luxor, getting stressed because someone (not mentioning who *cough* mom) gets so tense when they don't know where theyre going, I spot it. I let out a scream of excitement. "Oh my god", I exclaim. Jessica says, "Is it a celebrity"? I'm thinking 'a celebrity, no way, this is way better then that'. "Oh my god, it's Lush", I say. I leave them behind, running to my new love, barely looking back at the two of them, who are at this point thinking I'm sure I'm a complete loon, and wondering what the heck Lush is, I say "I will see you inside". Man, I am in heaven, not the living in a musical heaven, but actual, I can just sit here the rest of my days heaven. The soaps, the smells, the shampoos, oh my! It's double heaven too, cause everything is marked with a V that is vegan, so I don't have to strain my eyes searching for ingredients. I buy: Daddy-O Shampoo, Veganese Conditioner, The Olive Branch Shower Gel, Pied De Pepper Foot Lotion, Ceridwens Cauldron Bath Melt, and as if that isn't enough, the sales lady introduces me to The Buffy, so I of course have to get that too. I carried my Lush bag out proudly, and was super jealous when people commented on how cool and pretty Jessicas handbag was, but can you believe, not one person commented on my Lush bag? I guess they just saw the brown paper bag, and didn't realize the treasure it held inside. Oh well, their loss, I'm in love with Lush!

Our Hotel

I love this picture of Jess in the pot. It was taken in front of our hotel. It was a rushed shot, because we didn't know what could be living in there, but I now call it her super model shot (there were a ton of people looking on wondering who the crazy in the pot was)

The Jessica Showgirl pose
Going up to our room on the 25th floor

Me and Jimi Hendrix

The Babe on the way home from Jens after we picked her up. She's wearing mommy's new shades. I bet you thought I wouldn't get a Babe pic in here.

My book dilema

Ok, so when I finished Breaking Dawn, I went through withdrawl symptoms. I picked up Twilight to start the series over, then decided to read Harry Potter over because of the movie coming out next month. I'm now on book 2, and have to read it and the other 4 BEFORE July 15th, because I'm going to the midnight showing of Half Blood Prince. I don't think, well, I know that I will not finish all these books before then. So, I'm thinking on bagging the whole Potter reading, watching all the movies like Jess already suggested, and starting Twilight over. Am I the only one that has book reading issues? Please, say it isn't so.