When the dog bites..

When the bee stings, when I'm feeling sad...I simply remember my favorite things, and then I don't feeeeellllll soooooo baaadddddd!!! Please excuse my blog rendition of an old favorite. Didn't you just love The Sound of Music? Anna and I did! Although, I heartily disagree with parts of that song. How in the world could snowflakes that stay on your eyelashes possibly be a favorite thing? Sounds thoroughly annoying to me. But I digress...The main point of this blog is actually not to talk of one of my beloved movies. It's about my favorite things! Yay!!


I have lots of favorite things. Probably it will take up more than just one (or two or three blogs), but I must start somewhere. Please understand me...these are my favorite products. Words would never do justice to my true favorite things/people/relationships. Anyway, if you are anything like me, you are a sucker. I get sucked right in by advertisments, recommendations, etc. If someone swears by some product, I promise you I will go out and buy it the next day. In fact, everything I am going to list is from someone raving about how wonderful they think it is. So...here goes:

I feel like I must start with coffee. I.love.coffee. Maxwell House. Good to the last drop.

If you saw my post from a few days ago, you know I love Nutella. I eat it every morning on

my whole grain Pepperidge Farm english muffin. With my coffee. Have I ever mentioned how

much I love routine? Because I do. I eat the same thing for breakfast EVERYDAY. And

the same thing for lunch EVERYDAY. And I love it. But seriously, people, try some Nutella.

A friend of mine introduced me to this next product. It's Mr. Clean Magic Erasers. Oh.my.word.

They are amazing. Ink stain on your leather purse? check. Paint on your baseboard? check.

Scuff marks on your wood floors? check. Nasty bathroom grossness? check. (Not that MY bathroom is EVER gross)

Oh...where would I be without this next product?? I really am going to do an entire blog about my Chi one day. But for now, it just gets a little shout out. Without going any further, please do not judge this amazing little straightening iron based on how my hair looks MOST of the time. Anna bought one years ago, and I held out for quite some time. Too much money. But then my crazy, afro hair got the best of me. So I buckled down and bought one. (From Ebay...at a significantly cheaper rate than retail stores...but still pricey) But oh...how my life changed. My hair is crazy thick with a LOT of body. Great for my "curly" days...horrible when I want to look polished and sleek. (Did I just say that?) Really, though, it's a miracle worker. I plan to post before and after pics at some point. Only if you promise not to laugh.

Okay, this is SO not a product. But my new favorite show is Community on NBC. It is hilarious. I think the writers are genius, and I laugh hard every Thursday night.

And last but not least, my new favorite author. Yes, I know...not a product. But I'm really digging him. I made a new years resolution to go back and read some of the classics that I have never read before. I am making good on that resolution (about the only one). But it has been well worth my time. I really, REALLY love to read. I am not just one of those people that say that and then rarely pick up a book. I am never without some book. Usually a few. And I like a lot of different genres. But I have discovered something about myself. I love a good book that I just can't put down for the life of me. But my favorite type of book is one that makes me think. I love a book that deals with major issues...It makes me want to go back to college and write a killer essay. I'm a dork. But this is precisely why I have a new favorite author (although he is by no means new....he's six feet under). John Steinbeck. I recently read of East of Eden and LOVED it. It was so juicy and rich and thought provoking...good v. evil, nature v. nurture, free will, sin...It was amazing. I don't agree with Oprah on everything, but I agree with her on this: It's a must read. Now I am going back and reading every other book he wrote.

Now you have my short list of favorites. There will be more to come. Anna has a list, and I have many more things to recommend. What are some of your "can't live without it" products? Or TV shows? Or authors? Or books? Looking forward to a shopping spree after I read your suggestions:)

Our Blog Rocks!

Blog Award!

Corrie and I are happy to announce that we have received our first blog award! YAY!! We won the Master of Karate and Friendship Award!! For this award, we have to list 6 things that I, Anna, (since I am writing this blog) am a master in and then pass it on to fellow bloggers who I think are masters at friendship and making blogging awesome. My dear friend, Lindsey, at her awesome blog: Magnolias and Goobers gave us this lovely award!

This will be all from my perspective though because I am on my couch in Jackson and Corrie is three long hours away from me right now.

1. I am a master at remembering dates.
What were you doing April 9, 2007? Most probably do not remember. I, however, have an ability to remember what happened and when most of the time. Obviously, I can remember big events (birthdays, weddings, engagement dates, moving dates, etc…) but I can also remember those unimportant things like dates of last years doctor appointments (mine, Bella’s, Nathan’s), an uneventful weekend, dates of all my wedding showers… anyway, you get the point. This is what goes on in my head: I think back to the time, remember something I did around that time, connect it to what I am trying to remember, figure out how long the time was between the two things I am remembering, and BAM! I know it! Oh, and April 9, 2007—that was easy. I was showing off my new engagement ring and getting a manicure- it was cloudy that day- but I was oh so happy!!

2. I am a master at budgeting.
No not really budgeting, budgeting. Not like the everyday kind of budgeting. (Yeah, right!) I’m talking about the fun budgeting-like when you get a pretty nice size tax return, and you must decide where to spend all that money! Before the check was even in our bank account, I had every bit of it budgeted… literally down to the penny. I must say, had that check not come, I am not sure how we would have survived the next few months. But now, thanks to my husband attending a very expensive school and me making very little as a teacher, the government gave us what was due to us, and our families will enjoy gifts at Christmas and birthdays. Other than that, it is all going toward upcoming expenses. YUCK! However, I did budget in a small portion of it for a new table and rug.

3. I am a master at avoiding cops.
I feel as though I was born with a super natural ability to spot those half-hidden police cars sitting behind bushes waiting for their prey. I should be careful in saying this (pride comes before the fall), but I have never gotten a speeding ticket. I can spot a Ford Crown Victoria miles away. The only ticket my little car has ever received was a ticket for my expired tag. And I wasn’t even driving it! Ha.ha. Nathan just doesn’t have the abilities I do. This leads me to my next master craft—

4. I am a master procrastinator.
I come by this honestly. My mom is a procrastinator (on some things), Corrie is a procrastinator, and so am I. It is a learned art. In school, I would wait until the night before something was due to do everything. Papers, tests, projects, everything! I work well under pressure because I also am somewhat of a perfectionist. So, I may wait until the last minute—but it is going to be good!! I am a procrastinator at its best. Sometimes it comes to bite me in the rear though- (i.e. ticket for my tags). Similar to procrastinating, I am always late. I can wake up 30 minutes earlier than normal and still manage to be late. That most definitely runs in my blood, thanks mom!

5. I am a master at falling asleep.
When my head hits the pillow-I’m out. I go to bed when I am sleepy (which for me is around 10:30), so when I lay down, I can be in dreamland within minutes. On nights Nathan stays up to study (which is often), he tucks me in. I am literally in the beginning stages of sleep while we are saying goodnight to each other. He has told me that he has come back in the room two minutes later, and I am in a deep sleep. I love it!

The above picture is an actual picture of mastery #5 in action. Nathan snuck in our room (five minutes after telling me goodnight) to take this funny picture of me sleeping with me legs up. I had no clue he was ever in the room.

6. I am a master planner
What will I be doing three weekends from now? I most assuredly already know. What will I be doing three Thursdays from now- I know that too. I like everything planned out. I am not spontaneous at all. I was asked to go to a movie on Wednesday for later Wednesday night… um, no! It was already Wednesday! How could I possibly have that little of notice and still go? I know I should probably work on this, but it is just the way I am. I even plan times to relax. Most days, I have every minute planned from the time I wake up until the time I go to bed.

We will now pass this lovely award on to some of our other favorite fellow bloggers…
Nathan at With A Name Like Rucker, It Has To Be Good
Sarah at Sarah Talks Too Much

Melissa at Absolute Surrender

Jessica at The Fin

yuck...

Hi blog readers. It's Corrie, and I feel quite yucky today. All I want to do is crawl in the bed and sleep this off. But...you can't call in sick when you're a mom. So....I guess I'll just have to suck it up. Anyway, I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter weekend. We sure did! We had a great time just hanging out as a family. This was the first year Lily seemed to really grasp the meaning of it all. She literally sang "Up from the grave He arose!!" the ENTIRE day. She was thrilled! I loved it. I get chills just thinking about that Sunday morning two thousand-ish years ago when Christ victoriously conquered the grave. Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Oh! We have some fun blogs coming up! (How's that for extreme subject change?) We've been compiling a list of some of our favorite things. You know, various products or things we really enjoy using. I always love reading other people's favorites. I guarantee if you swear by some product, I will probably go out and try it myself. So...we thought we'd share with you some of our favorites! We'd love to hear some feedback on some of your "must-haves", so be thinking!! For example, one must have for me: Nutella. I truly love it. It's just a dream in a plastic jar as far as I'm concerned. Which brings me to my funny story that will wrap up this rambling post.... Last week, I walked into the bathroom where Patrick was getting ready for work, and he asked me what was on my neck. I looked in the mirror and to my absolute horror, I saw quite the ominous looking brown mole. Well, if you know me at all, then you probably know where my mind immediately went. I was thinking..."I wonder if I can get in to the doctor today?" I mean, people, this looked bad. Really bad. I needed to see a specialist ASAP!! I reached up to touch and check the ABCD's of my mole (asymmetrical, border, color, diameter...for those people who don't read Mayo Clinic website daily), and lo and behold, my "mole" came off as I started to rub it. And that, my friends, is because it was Nutella. I told you I loved the stuff.

Good Friday

"But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed
for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was
upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed." Isaiah 53:5