Tuning Out

Tomorrow is the start of my mostly-tuning-out-of-electronics week. I might take sneak-peaks at email(I mean, I have to know if I win any more giveaways!) and Facebook(only because a friend is getting engaged tonight and my brother is taking pictures that might be up--but thats a whole 'nother story.)I also have a couple applications that I'll be online for too.

I've just been getting really annoyed with all the computers and cell phones and ipods and iphones and websites and the whole "I'd rather spend time with my ____ then with people" mentality. So, I decided to start my semi-break. :) I want to do a complete-as-possible break soon but with other things I have going on right now, it just isn't a good time. We'll see how long this one lasts...

When I return(sounds like I'm going to some foreign country!)I'm going to start documenting what I learn every day based on the "you learn something new everyday" saying/thought. I started consciously thinking about it a few weeks ago and its amazing what you notice and learn when you're really trying!

Have a wonderful week(or so)until I see you again! :)

Not Me Monday

Check out what Mckmama and everyone else have not been doing this week!

This was the week in which:

* I did not mistake a letter opener for a knife and being to cut my pie with it.(In my own defense, the letter opener exactly matched the silverware. Exactly. I don't think I can be fully blamed for the misunderstanding.)

* I did not eat half of the said pie.(In my own defense again, had I eaten half a pie I'm positive it would have been half of a small pie, which is not like eating half a Thanksgiving pumpkin pie.)

* I did not get my various usernames and passwords mixed up,confused, and forgotten. Again.

* I most definitely did not start throwing my friend's pocketknife around after church after he made a remark about "how well it threw." Church is not place to be throwing knives around even if almost everyone has left and you're slightly bored while waiting for your parents to come out of a meeting. I'm much to much of a lady to do that.

* I did not completely embarrass myself when throwing the knife around. I no longer agree with John's assessment that his knife throws well.

* I did not tease and tease and tease my friend(who's a mom and also my Sunday school teacher)about her bad memory on Facebook where the whole world can see what I've written.

* I am not procrastinating about cleaning my room and doing school. Nope, not me!

Fashion Week-Tuesday, Thursday

In case you're wondering and would like to plan your fashion budget for the next three years, the little brown flower earrings at the bottom cost $165.00. I also found a black purse that I decided not to put on that cost approx. $1,665. You could buy just about three wedding dresses for that much.

Fathers Day

Happy Father's Day Dad!! Thank you for all you did and are doing for all of us!! Thank you especially for playing badminton with me when no one else wants to! Love you lots!! ♥♥♥

Its Almost Time! (YAY!)

amandabethonline.blogspot.com

Friendship Friday Edition 2

Meet my beautiful friend Melissa. There has never been a time in our lives that we didn't know each other(not counting the 3 months I was around before she was born). In September we'll have known each other for 20 years. Can we really be that old? Lissy grandfather was my pastor since I was born so we were nursery friends. This picture was taken the day of his burial service in April.


I was soooo sad that Lissy's family had to move to North Carolina because of her dad's job when we were around 4. I remember the little birthday tea party we had for me right before they left...we set up our tea things on my little plastic table, drank our "tea", aka milk, and ate little snacks. Then we went on one of our favorite toys: our little green see-saw. Our mom's took the cutest picture of us of it and Lissy sent me a copy in a little heart frame a few years ago. She gave me a little foam pen in the shape of a flower that I've always kept, even though there isn't much of it left!

Its been hard living so far apart because they aren't able to come up much and I've only been to her house twice in all these years but we've sent many,many letters back and forth. For a while there we would each get one-sometimes two-a week. Yeap, the U.S. Postal Service can thank us that they're still in business! But even with letters, its just not the same going two or three years between visits. Last time she was up, we talked about how sometimes it can be hard because since we don't see each other alot, to really know what the other is into and how our styles and personalities may have changed. We know without saying that we'll always be the best of friends even if she has Katherine and I have Katie as our "bestest" close-by friends. Its like when she bought three friendship necklaces for us that said "best" "friends" "forever" on them. She said "you can have 'friends', give 'best' to one of your friends, and I'll have 'forever', because that's what we are."

I love you soooo much, best far-away friend!! ♥♥♥

Here I Am

Here I am watching over our friends' house while they're on vacation and hanging out with Gram, who lives in their in-law apartment. Gram is like the grandmother of everyone at church and their three best friends. I was trying to avoid reading blogs for atlest the weekend but being bookless/friendless/and everything funless at the moment, I decided that I could take just one little peek at whats been going on with everybody.

I had to rush out of the house too fast to pack many of the things I wanted to take with me(I was at Staples too long waiting...waiting...waiting for my paper to fax)so I've been a little bored. Thankfully Katie was with me last night and my friend Marissa is coming soon so I'll have more company(aka someone to do stuff with). I'll be back again on Sunday very well stocked with all things necessary items!

I hate using the word "bored" alot because I'm a firm believer that there is always something to do--you just have to find it. Usually when I go over someones house and its not a "real" sleepover, complete with buttery popcorn and giggly girls, I bring crafts, school, or stationary so I can keep myself busy. I did manage to grab a book but I don't want to finish it today because what will I read when I'm done?? I don't want it to sound at all like I'm not doing anything with Gram---I love spending time with and listening to her talk. Its just that she does take long naps in the afternoon and goes to bed early so its nice to have company for the "when Gram's not around" times. Plus, who wants to sleep in a big house by yourself when you can be with great friends?!

I just thought of something to do...Mrs. T wanted me to clean the bathroom. How exciting ; ) Soon I'll write a not-really-up-to-date post about what Katie and I did while she was here. It involved spending 33 minutes trying to get good directions and the dvd player not working. You won't want to miss it!

Not Me Monday

* I did not begin to make a vanilla cake only to realize that we had NO VANILLA. I mean, seriously, isn't one of Emeril's first rules for cooking: always be prepared with all the ingredients before you begin?

* I did not borrow the vanilla from our friend down the road then discover that we had NO EGGS. Clearly Emeril's rules weren't sticking in my head.

* I did not want to sink through the floor, quickly, when my sister told our friend(when we went to get the vanilla) that the doctor gave her a prescription for Tylenol with cocaine instead of Tylenol with codeine for her concussion.

* I did not make up "one of Emeril's first rules for cooking" just to sound cool(and to make people stop thinking about my cooking unpreparedness)

* I did not fold the butter wrapper into a nice, neat square before throwing it away. Like the trash guys care anyway.

* I did not say I was done eating cookies then eat four more. But they were small!!

* I did not "taste" the butter/sugar mixture when making the aforementioned cake. And since you asked, no, I did not have to beg/borrow/steal/buy the sugar and butter; we happened to have a nice stock of those two ingredients.

* I did not secretly hope that the baby visiting our church yesterday would start crying and be taken out by her mother so I that I would "have" to take her up to the nursery for come cuddle time.

* I did not even for one little minute consider kidnapping the adorable baby boy at my cousin's birthday party on Saturday. Nope, not me!

Friendship Friday Edition 1

In this first real edition of Friendship Friday, I couldn't possible start with any friend other than Katie.

We've been friends every since we "met" in the nursery at my church when I was 2 and she 3; neither of us remembers that day. :) Since then we've spent many, many wonderful times together. When we were young we used to think "when we're old and can drive, we'll get together every weekend for sleepovers and whenever we want!!". Sadly we didn't realize that "when we're old" doesn't really mean that we have all sorts of free time to get together whenever we want! We've never lived closer then about 35 minutes(currently we live almost an hour away,)but I think it makes that time when we can get together even more special.

Whenever she would sleep over my house when we were little, we'd always say "is the prince in a good mood this morning?" to my brother Daniel first thing in the morning. We have nooo idea where this statement steamed from, but I'm pretty sure that it didn't help put him in a good mood in the morning. We also tried this with Katie's sister Marylynn, but it never caught on. I mean, we did substitute the word "prince" for "princess".

She introduced me to her, and now my, friend Erin who in turn is going to introduce me to her boyfriend in July. I just recently introduced her to Daniel's fiance, Erika. (by the way, Katie and her other sister Joy were a ranking-commitee of sorts and Erika passed with an A+. Not the I'm bragging or anything, I'm just saying.)

I also adore her family. She is the third of eleven children and each one of them are so special to me. If I'm ever feeling unloved, all I have to do is hop over to her house and I'll be covered with kisses and affection and "please play with me!" requests from the youngest five. Hr mom has become a second mother to me.

I feel that I should share this latest picture of Katie. I'm going to put it in a scrapbook for her future husband.(by the way again, I've already told Katie that I might not like her husband. I might have a tendency to become jealous in these situations.

I love you, bestest ever friend! ♥♥♥♥

-----------------------------------

As for blogger "friends", this week I'll mention Amanda. I first met Amanda a very long time ago at testing(for you unhomeschoolers, most homeschoolers do testing for 2-3 days at the end of the school year and send the results to the state)and while I'm sure she's a fabulously fun person to hang around with, I've only seen her once or twice since then. I would love to see her again, though. :) Amanda's fashion blog is fun to read and so educational. That's where our blogs differ-Amanda's is educational. She is having an online fashion show in a couple of weeks that I'm sure is going to be super fun!

Until Next Year...

Today was last day of school at the preschool that I volunteer at.

Translation: I had to say goodbye to the children that I've seen atlest once a week for a year(and in some cases, two years).

Translation of the translation: I've gotten very attached to these kids

Translation of the translation of the--you get the point--: it was really sad.

I managed not to cry when we were all giving hugs and they were leaving to go home, but still, I wanted to. Its not easy to let go of things, or as in this case people, that you've become so attached to! Its still not easy, even after three years. I knew when I started volunteering there that we would eventually come to the end of the school year but its 1) just one of those things you don't really know about unless you've done it, and 2) I thought I could handle it. Ha.

Handle it just about as well as a Dunkin Donuts addict can handled going without his daily French Vanilla coffee with extra cream and three chocolate donuts.

Anyhow, I'm going to miss Aleecya's fabulous little outfits and adorable voice(she was at the preschool for two years so she's one of those I'll miss the most); Sara A's coming up to me every single week to say "I like your necklace/shirt/shoes/ring". I'll miss Ethan's shy little face and how his round little cheeks slowly smile and suddenly delicious dimples appear. I'll miss always being called Sarah F so I wouldn't be confused with Sara A and Sarah O. I'll miss asking Juliette what they're going to name her new baby brother or sister and her always saying "Chico!"(I asked her many times just incase she would say some other name, but she never did!), and I'll miss Lucas doing that little flip thing with his head to get his long blond hair out of his eyes. I'll miss Leah, Riley, Dylan, Laura(so cute!), and all the others so much too.

One thing I won't miss so much is the sheer chaos that ensued every single time we'd get ready to go outside in the winter. Imagine jackets, hats, boots, mittens/gloves, scarfs and snowpants for approximately 16 children(in my room alone)getting horribly mixed up with the jackets, hats, etc. that belonged to children in the other rooms and you have(like I said before)sheer chaos. Next time you complain about putting gloves on your child's 10 little fingers, imagine doing it for 160 little fingers. I think I've made my point.

I'll miss you all so much and thank you for giving me so much joy every time I'd enter the Purple Room. I can't wait til next year when I'll see some of you again! ♥

Wordless Wednesday

In Which We Celebrate a Birthday

Happy 23rd birthday to my wonderful, albeit somewhat crazy, big brother Andrew!! I love you so much and am sooo glad to have you!! ! ♥♥♥♥

When It Pays to Play

You may have noticed that I post about/link to giveaways alot. You might even think "why's she doing this again? Doesn't she know I don't come here to read about giveaways when I could just go directly to the sites themselves." That, my friends, is what you may be thinking.

That's not what I'm thinkin'.

There's more to the story then just telling you about cute/hip/fun products you could get for free. Every time I do, I get extra entries. Now I'll admit that I'm not that great in math but if I'm told "blog about it and get another chance at winning"...you'd better believe that I can put 1 + 1 together and get 2.

Lest you think that my thinking doesn't work, here's something for you to think about:

Isn't this cute? I won it.

Of course, my adorable onesie from Mitetees won't say 'a rebecca and billy production'(I don't know any Rebecca's and Billy's. Well I do, they're just not together--like in a couple. Oh never mind, I should have just left it alone.) Anyhow...mine is going to say 'a erika and daniel production' and I shall save it for that glorious day when I become an aunt. : )

And you'd better believe that Daniel and Erika will get some extra credit for making that glorious day happen sooner rather then later! : )

(And don't worry-they don't read this blog so the surprise won't be spoiled!)

A Yummy, Smooth and Crunchy Breakfast

Breakfast Parfait

granola(I used gluten-free oats)

blueberries

cut-up peaches and mango

vanilla yogurt

Layer granola-yogurt-peaches and mango's-blueberries til you reach the top of the glass. Find your favorite spoon(if you have one)and enjoy this yummy, smooth, and crunchy breakfast!

Friendship Friday-The Edition Before the First

I was going to write a post about some of my friends today but then I thought why not have a post about friends every Friday(hence Friendship Friday)! It might even be fun to also write about some of our "blog friends"...you know, the people you read about and think "I would love to be friends with her! We could have so much fun together!"

Unfortunately I don't have time to write about any of my friends today(we have a triple birthday party tomorrow so I'm really busy today cleaning, cooking, wrapping...translation: I really shouldn't even be on here)but next week I will.

I would love to hear about your friends! Don't forget to post a picture too so we can all see your beautiful faces. : )

The Airplane Ride

To One of My Top-Ever Boyfriend's...

Dear Noah,
Today on your 9th birthday I have to tell you how much I love you and how happy I am to have you as one of my best friends. It really isn't much of a stretch to say you're definitely one of my top-ever boyfriends. I love giving you gum every week at church, sitting next to you during the service and listening to all your stories about baseball, vacations, dirt bike riding, and answering every time you go *wink wink* which is our special code for "do you have a mint or some gum I can have?". Whenever I say "I don't know, sometimes I think you only love me for my gum!" you always say "no, I don't!! I love you anyways...do you have any gum?" I remember the very first time I was with you. I was holding you on the stairs at your house when you were only a week old and from that minute on the rest, they say, is history. One of my favorite things you've ever said to me was when I was walking up the stairs at church; I turned around and there you were, walking right behind. You looked up and said "I think I'll follow you for the rest of my life." Because they're so special, I'm going to write here two of the "love notes" you've written for me:

Dear sarah I hop you hav a grat time wiel wer gon yer one of my best pals and happy birthday. Love Noah

Dear sarah I love you so much. I hope you had a grat thanksgiving i love you. from: Noah

to: sarah I love you

Since I've decided that you *sadly* really are to young to marry me, you'll just have to be one of my ring-bearers when I get married. I'll make sure not to plan it for a Saturday at 10:00 because, you told me, thats when you have karate so you wouldn't be able to come.

Happy birthday Noah! I love you!

Love, Sarah

Not Me Monday

Head over to read what MckMama and everyone else have not been doing this week.

* I most certainly did not spend time on Facebook seeing "What Taylor Swift Song are You?" (apparently I'm Only Me When I'm With You) and "What Will You Name Your Son?" (Oliver. Oliver???? What? Where did you get that from?). I defiantly did not even consider finding out "Which Potato Are You?"(there is, after all, a limit to what I will waste my time on.)

* I did not feel the intense need to fix the bathing suit on the female manikin at the mall. Its not my store so I really don't need to worry about that. In these situations you just quietly tell the manager or somebody that *something needs to be fixed asap* and leave the store in peace. I did not go up to the poor lady and replace the bathing suit where it should be on her body. But if I had done that, I'm sure I would have been the recipient of some Medal of Civic Duty...or the profuse thanks of a mother out shopping with her young son.

* I did not practice the message I was going to leave on an answering machine about 83 times and therefor was not completely confused and stunned when someone actually answered the phone and drove everything I was going to say out the window leading to much stuttering and stammering.

* I did not reset the "I'm getting off the computer now" timer one, or five, times in a row. It was getting late and I needed to get ready for bed; that would have just been very irresponsible.

* I did not spend time reading blogs that had 'twins, triplets, or multiples' in their name. I'm not infatuated with twins, triplets, or multiples(or any baby for that matter).

* I did not buy a 9-pair pack of earrings from Wal-Mart to give my friend for her birthday with the full intention of keeping one three pair for myself.

* While volunteering at the childrens hospital, I did not get stuck multiple times in the automatic revolving doors because I was pulling one of those big red wagons.

* And finally, I did not almost have a breakdown because I turned 20 on Thursday. My mom, in her kindly sympathetic way, did not join me in wearing black shirts because of the aformentioned occasion.

* I did not just write "aformentioned" because its so professional sounding. Not me!