Me Moments Winner

I just found out today that I am the winner of the Me Moments Basket from Dayngr Girl, who can now be followed at: dayngrzone.com.

The beauty basket is part of the marketing promotion for the movie Playing for Keeps, here is the clip from youtube:

Christmas Card Time

As I have mentioned probably way too many times on this blog, I like to start working on Christmas cards in November.  I even like to mail them off a bit early - beginning of December.  However, this year, I have been feeling like it is just one more thing that I have to try to do.  Not such a fun way to start the whole process.  This was pretty much my attitude until I found some exciting news on Dayngr Girl's Blog (Dayngrous Discourse).  I was one of three winners selected to receive holiday cards from Shutterfly.  Now, I just have to try and get some cute pictures of the kids.

Easter Dress

Even though I love holidays, Easter Sunday wasn't that thrilling for me this year.  I have a huge proposal due today and it needed lots of attention this weekend.  Of course, we did the whole bunny thing.  The kids woke up and found their baskets.  Then we got ready for church.  After church, they went to a party/picnic with my mom, step-father & sister, while I worked.  The highlight for me that day was wearing my new Easter dress which I got courtesy of Tropic of Me and Family.  Winning something is SO exciting!  Thanks Holly!!!

Favorite Black Friday Activity

Last night, I decided to give shopping on Black Friday a try.  I had done it once before back when I was married and we went to spend Thanksgiving with his Grandma, Aunt and cousins.  His three cousins are all girls about my age and they love to go to Kohls every year.  We got up early and got there about 4 or 5 am, whenever it opened that year and were able to go right in.  We were able to get one cart and we would take turns standing in line while the rest of us would gather items.  Later, we went to Panera Bread for breakfast.  It was actually quite fun.

Sadly, my experience this year was nothing like that. First, I decided to go to Toys-R-Us at 10pm when they opened. Second, I couldn't get anyone to go with me. My mom and sister are still suffering from jet lag from their trip to Egypt and have been going to bed around 7:30 or 8pm every night. I probably should have picked Walmart at 5 or 6am and they would have been up for it.

I arrived at Toys-R-Us right at opening time to find an overly crowded parking lot and a line that wrapped around the entire building. In fact, the end of the line was directly in front of the door. I had to follow it all the way around. The first half of the circle went rather quickly, which gave me false hope. That was when they let in the first 300. Then about every 15 minutes, we moved up in line. They were letting 50 people in every time 50 had left. I kept waiting thinking that it couldn't take THAT long. Plus, Jordan's birthday was on my mind (Dec 1st). I thought that this was a good opportunity for me to shop for the kids without them. It ended up taking exactly two hours to get in the front door. I was still optimistic at that point. It was only midnight. I decided to grab a few things as well as a gift for Jordan and head home. As I was winding through the store, I noticed the extremely long line for the registers. I couldn't believe it, so I asked how long it was taking. I was told about an hour and a half to two hours. That is when I put my stuff down and headed right home, because I knew I was defeated.

From these experiences, I have learned that going with a fun group and making it more of a social outing is the only way that Black Friday should even be considered (for me anyway). From now on, I'll save my shopping for less busy times.

This brings me to my usual Black Friday activity, which is working on Christmas cards. I just love sending them out at the beginning of December. I planned to work on them today, but Lexi was also excited about making cards this year. I helped her make some for her friends. I'll have to start working on mine tomorrow. If any of the regular blog readers want to get on my list, just send me your contact info at: frecklefacegirl01@hotmail.com.

Just Posting

This year, my blog has clearly been neglected. Too bad this isn't one of those situations where I can blame it on someone else. Not that I am into that, but knowing I could would be cool. Unfortunately, I have simply lost interest for the most part and for no tangible reasons. However, this month has been different. Some of you may be wondering if I joined the NaBloPoMo (http://www.nablopomo.com/). Well, I haven't.

For years, I have seen other blogs, which I follow, join and I have enjoyed their frequent posts. I always thought that there wasn't any way I could produce that many topics in one month. I also wondered if I would even have the motivation to try. Besides, I am not a blogger that comes up with a fascinating topic and adds lots of creative/humorous insight. I wish I could be like that. My posts are basically about a bunch of drivel on this and that. Sometimes, I don't even like my blog because I feel like I am much more pessimistic or negative on here than I really am. Perhaps, I just get inspired by negativity, which frankly sucks.

Anyway, see... blah, blah, blah about this and that. I guess this proves my point. If I keep up with my little quest of posting almost every day this month, you can be sure that there will be more randomness chatter about this and that. - Don't say you haven't been warned.

Tie One On

My ex rarely wore ties, but I have always found them a little attractive.  I must admit that these take the cake:

Cake Ties

A post that is just in time for father's day.  It kind of makes me wish I knew how to create with fondant.  Then again, my father passed away and I am without husband now.  That means I should get a break buying gifts right?  No... 

Lucky Book Winner

This morning, we held the contest to find out who won Palace Beautiful.   The lucky winner is....(drum roll please) .... Shokufeh.  Congrats!!! 

For those of you who are interested in reading the book (but didn't happen to be the lucky one today), feel free to order one from amazon:

Palace Beautiful

The amazon price is only $11.55.  They even have a used one for $7.22.

Barnes & Noble is another option:

Palace Beautiful

Blogger Love

For the past year or so, I have almost fell completely out of the blogging world.  I cut back on the number of blogs that I keep up with and have lost most of my readers in turn.  Fortunately, those who are left are all gems. 

To my surprise, a few minutes ago, I actually got a blogging award.  I swear it has been a decade since that has happened, so I am more than thrilled!  THANKS Dayngrous Discourse!  I am especially honored given the fact that you truly are the queen of social media. 

The award looks amazingly mouth-watering, right?  It is my turn to pass it on to five great blogs (avoiding a few that I like that Dayngrous picked):

1. Aerin's Cranberry Blog
2. The Diva's Thoughts
3. Relish, My Relish
4. Crazy Bloggin' Canuk
5. Gluten-Free Girl

Please check out the blogs above and if you own one of the ones I picked, go ahead and pass on the award.

Book Contest

For many, tomorrow (April 15) is a stressful day. This year, I am quite excited about it because my friend, Sarah DeFord Williams, is going to be experiencing one of the most thrilling days of her life. Tomorrow, her book, Palace Beautiful, is going to be released!!!! (amazon link)

I met Sarah when we were 16 right after my family moved to Katy, Texas. We went to the same school and church. I was always impressed by her creativity, artwork, and musical skills. Of course, I had no idea that she would one day become an accomplished writer. We went off to different colleges and I think I only saw her a few times after that. Fortunately, through the magic of FB and blogs we have been able to catch up.

About a month ago, she received several galley copies (which I now know are advance soft-cover copies that are given out for people who write reviews). She decided to have a little contest on FB and somehow, despite the fact that I am usually unlucky, I won one. She even wrote a great note and signed it for me.

Of course, I could rave about what a fabulous book it is, but most of you would think I was just saying that because we are friends. Instead, I am posting a review from an unbiased party:

Review

I am also posting an article written about her:

Article

Besides the fact that I am very happy for her, I am posting about her book because I have decided to have a contest. I think someone else should get the thrill of winning her amazing book, so I am going to draw names on April 23rd. You can enter by leaving a comment or e-mailing me at frecklefacegirl01@hotmail.com. Please let me know that you are interested and provide a way for me to contact you in case you win.

I will print out the entries & put them in a bowl for Lexi to draw. Then, I will post the winner’s name (or blog identity) & contact them for their address so I can send a copy of this great book.

Flash Back

For my long time blog readers, you might remember the heading above. I had it a little over 3 years ago. It was resurected tonight when I realized that the comments problem I noticed a few days ago wasn't going to go away on its own. Apparently, HaloScan wants to charge now. While I am sad to lose all those comments, I am not too sad about switching back to blogger. There are a few advantages to blogger comments. Mainly, that they work more often. Since I had also dealt with problems uploading graphics, I realized that the easiest solution would be to just use blogger's templates & just upload a header. That works for me. At least for now. I know I need to do some cleaning up and add links, but this will have to do for now.

The thing that make this switch HORRIBLE was that I didn't save the old template. I thought I had a copy of it or at least the links to blogs I read. I don't though. Please leave a comment, so I can find your blog and add it to my sidebar.

New Blog: The Design Buzz

My cousin, Kim, has started a new blog devoted to vintage items and her own designs. She also has an Etsy shop. Check it out:

The Design Buzz

All About the Number Eight

I have been tagged to do ‘8 Things’ by Del from My Relish, so here it goes
To do list (i.e. “the rules”):
1. Mention the person who tagged me.
2. Complete the list of 8’s.
3. Tag 8 bloggers & tell them I tagged them.

Eight things I am looking forward to:
1. Spending lots of time swimming with my kids and our friends this summer
2. Having Lexi complete swim lessons. She is doing so well. I just can’t wait to see how good she’ll be at the end.
3. Visiting the BlueBell Ice Cream Factory
4. Getting past several work deadlines that are coming up
5. Taking the kids to see Disney’s “Up”
6. Going back to Sea World San Antonio
7. Catching up on housework (not the doing it part)
8. Finding people to rent our house

Eight things I did yesterday (Saturday):
1. Was invited over to some friends' house for fun and dinner
2. Enjoyed socializing with adults while the kids played
3. Made oatmeal/craisen/white chocolate cookies
4. Scrubbed the refrigerator, oven, and microwave
5. Remembered that I hadn’t paid for the storage unit that we recently got and had to throw the kids in the car and rush over there.
6. Argued with Lexi about what she was going to wear (everyday)
7. Combed Lexi’s hair while she screamed (everyday)
8. Carried the sleeping kids in from the car after a late night of fun

Eight things I wish I could do:
1. Travel a LOT more, especially internationally
2. Sleep 7 to 8 hours a night at least once a week
3. Be independently wealthy (wishing…)
4. Fluently speak several foreign languages including Spanish, French, Japanese, Arabic, & Mandarin Chinese
5. Live as an Expat again
6. Save enough money for my kids’ college funds
7. Have the kind of body that I would want to show off
8. Find time for the things I like to do not just for the things I have to do

Eight shows I watch:
1. You Are What You Eat
2. Lie To Me
3. Bones
4. Any Dream Will Do
5. Monk
6. Psyche
7. HBO…
8. HBO… (this is the toughest list for me b/c I don’t watch very much tv)

Eight favorite fruits:
1. Cherries
2. Watermelon
3. Cantaloupe
4. Honeydew
5. Fuji Apples
6. Grapes
7. Strawberries
8. Mangos

Eight places I’d like to travel:
1. Morrocco
2. Greece
3. Peru
4. Australia
5. Japan
6. China
7. India
8. Alaska

Eight places I’ve lived:
1. Provo, Utah
2. Savannah, Georgia
3. Melbourne, Florida
4. Katy, Texas
5. Doha, Qatar
6. Miami, Florida
7. Little Stirrup Cay, Bahamas
8. Soon…La Jolla, CA

People I’ve tagged:
The Princess & Johnsy
Jeanette
Annette
Aimee
Anna
Reformatting My Brain
The Diva
Carmen

Proximidade Award

Del from My Relish Blog has kindly selected my blog for an award, which kind of makes me feel guilty since I have been neglecting it lately. Maybe this is the motivation I needed.

The Proximidade Award is described as:
‘This blog invests and believes in PROXIMITY - nearness in space, time and relationships. These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes for self-aggrandizement! Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers!’

This blog award should be sent to your favorite eight bloggers and they, in turn should forward to eight of their favorites. You should include the text for Proximidade (above) in your announcement blog.

As you know, it is not easy picking eight blogs for an award. All of the blogs I read tend to draw me in because they are charming and/or candid. I guess I'll select some of them that I can imagine being friends with in the real world and I am going to list them in random order:

Tropic of Mom: Her blog contains beautiful pictures of Florida, fun stories, and she is pregnant. What mom doesn't like reading posts about pregnancy?

Brand New Tatoo: There is a lot that has happened to her in life and she writes openly about it all. I love her honesty.

Crazy Bloggin Canuck: She is a popular blogger who writes very creatively and really pulls people in. Who doesn't love her?

Amyeliz: She is witty, funny, candid, and a million other great things.

Aimee-Enchalada: She is kind hearted, yet makes me laugh with her sometimes snarky comments. Plus, she organized a whole Valentines exchange, which is super fun.

Aerin's Cranberry Blog: She always has interesting and well-thought-out topics. We've even exchanged a few wondeful e-mails. She is a very understanding person.

Now, for 2 recently discovered blogs by people I know in real life, but don't know about this blog and will only discover it if people click over there & they track it.

Pixie Chick: She is a free spirit who is extremely creative and kind. I knew her in high school, when people thought she belonged in the 1960s because of the way she dressed, played guitar, and loved the Beatles. I always liked her. She lives in SLC and started having kids at a fairly young age. Now, she is going to the University there and is about to have a book published.

Mortensens: I also knew the writer of this blog in high school. She has one of those cute little family blogs and has become quite the cake decorator.

Here I am at the end of the list with a few more blogs that I had intended on awarding. I don't read a whole lot of blogs anymore. If I read yours and/or your blog is listed on my side bar, please know that you are worthy of the Proximade Award in my eyes.

Wii Giveaway

I am putting a link to a WiiFit Giveaway, because I know lots of people would like one and mainly because I like Crazy Bloggin Canuk. Click on the link and leave a comment, so you'll be in the drawing.

Social Networking

A few years ago I had a conversation with a friend about blogs, MySpace, and Facebook. I had a blog and she had joined MySpace. She told me that blogs seemed like too much effort. She also mentioned that very few people our age were on MySpace. After that, I have never really thought about social networking sites again. Since there was nobody for us to network with, what was the point?

That changed about 2 months ago when a friend of a friend sent me an invitation to join Facebook. I was quite surprised that she had my e-mail address, so I joined mainly to be nice. Oh yeah, I was also a little curious. I was immediately surprised by how many of the people I knew that had accounts. I had no idea what the next few months had in store for me.

As I have mentioned here before, I have moved A LOT in my life. I have made and lost touch with so many friends that I can’t even begin to count (or come up with names for the searches). I have really enjoyed finding and being found by friends. I have been able to reconnect with friends I had while living in Qatar 11-12 years ago. Just this week, two friends from different high schools and different states found me. I haven’t talked to either of them in over 17 years. I feel like I am just seeing the tip of the iceberg here and I am a bit sad that I didn’t know this before.

I am guessing that everyone who is into blogging and is reading this is thinking - duh! Over ten years ago, I was very frustrated that so many of my friends hadn’t jumped on the e-mail bandwagon. Now, I am very late in joining this movement.

A few friends have told me that they are afraid of losing their privacy. For that, I must say that you pick and choose your “friends.” I currently have two requests from people I don’t know and who will not be gaining access into my profile. On top of that, like a blog, you are responsible for the content in your own profile. Don’t share anything that you feel iffy about (perhaps your home address). I honestly feel like I put more of my personality and opinions into this blog.

If more people my age (mid-thirties) and older would just admit that it was great, then the rest of us would have joined sooner. Here I am admitting, actually declaring that I am on Facebook and there are LOTS of people (who are much older than high school or college kids) to network and reconnect with. To be honest, the older you are the more friends that you have and want to keep in touch with. It should be more for us (the over 30 crowd).

Lucky Number Seven

Lucky for me, Del of My Relish Blog kindly decided to give me an “I LOVE THIS BLOG” award. I was very surprised & flattered, especially since she has such an interesting blog herself. For the past few days, I have been trying to come up with a mental list while I have been working on a huge project for work. My mind flips back and forth between the blog list and all the work things I need to do. You can easily guess which one I’d rather work on.

Unfortunately, it was not easy only picking seven. I had to leave out several of my favorites. I did follow the rules though. So, here it goes in alphabetical order:

Aerin’s Cranberry Blog
Aerin is always thought provoking, witty, and somehow manages working full time, taking care of her twins and dealing with her crazy large family.

Amyeliz
Amy simply cracks me up with her adventures in Miami, Utah, New York and other places.

Crazy Blogging Canuk
Amber is a talented writer who can make hiking, traveling, and the everyday adventures of a mom quite hilarious.

Death Chic
Stephanie is one of those people who just aren’t easy to sum up. She has so many diverse interests and talents including mortuary school, photography, running, and many other things.

Diva Tee’s Thoughts
The Diva is a working single chic with lots of fascinating experiences, people in her life, and thoughts.

The Princess and Johnsy
The Princess has two adorable daughters that I absolutely love and I know quite a few of the family members that she mentions from time to time. I’ve been able to meet up with her in person a few times. Did I mention that she is my husband’s cousin? I'm sure I would love reading her blog even if we weren't related.

Reformatting My Brain
RFM is a mom with two cute boys who runs a daycare out of her home, works part time, and still finds time to post.

There you have it ~ seven GREAT blogs.

The rules of the award are:

1. The winner can put the logo on his/her blog.
2. Link the person you received your award from.
3. Nominate 7 other blogs.
4. Put links of those blogs on yours.
5. Leave a message on the blogs of the people you’ve nominated

That is So Nice

The ever so kind Princess of The Princess and Johnsy Blog has graciously selected me for the Nice Matters Award. She even posted a picture of the two of us. Her award has inspired me to stop complaining and start being nice again, because really that is more like my usual self (most of the time).

Given the fact that I am basically a nice person, I prefer to read blogs of people that I consider nice too, which means selecting 5 will be difficult. Here is my list in alphabetical order:

Aerin from A Cranberry Blog: She is a mother to twin toddlers, a full time (plus) working woman, deep thinker, great writer, avid reader, and still finds time to pop by my blog. She is also very down to earth and kind.

Annie: I really do not want to like someone that only gained 10 pounds during her pregnancy. On top of that, she came home like a week ago has lost the 10 pounds as well as an additional 15. However, I must give her the award. She is such a nice person. If you click on the link you can also see pictures of her little baby and that is always nice.

JAG from Nothing to Show But This Brand New Tattoo: She has been through a lot, but keeps her head up and always encourages others.

PageWize (my sister): Although her scary Halloween themed blog seems like it would be from some monstrous weirdo, she is nice. Actually, the blog theme is my fault. I have decided to award her this honor because she was kind enough to be Lexi’s nanny two summers ago. Then, last summer she was kind enough to fly to Miami to help me entertain Lexi on our long drive/move out here. …and she is going to spend her winter school break here helping me with Lexi and the new baby. What other college kid would put up with a demanding sister like me? That means she is pretty nice.

Sofi from A New Blog, A New Day: I bumped into her several times around Miami when I was looking my absolute worst and she always said Hi. She is just nice like that. I also like her blog. Her writing is always entertaining and edgy enough to keep me coming back.

There you have it. Bloggers who are very nice and deserve attention for it.

Last Day in Miami

Today is an exciting day, not only is it my last day of work, but it is my last day in Miami. We are heading out tomorrow morning. At this point, I just feel like I am going on a strange vacation. The reality will probably set in within a week or two. Yipee!!!

I have been so busy lately, but I have wanted to say THANKS to one of my favorite bloggers, Lemon Blossom. Two weeks ago, I wrote a post about craving cinnamon bears and not finding them in Miami. I mentioned that I had ordered some online. After reading my post, she bought some, asked me for my address and shipped them to me all while juggling school, family, and summer fun. I was so touched. Beyond that, I was thrilled because the ones I got from Amazon.com were horrible. Apparently, Jelly Belly makes little cinnamon bears called "unbearably hot." They are tiny, have a sugar coating, and are hard-ish. Nothing like the larger gooey yummy ones that I was craving and that Lemon Blossom so kindly sent. THANK YOU LEMON BLOSSOM! Your kindness has made me whole again.

Anyway, I am wrapping things up in Miami and will probably not be back to the blogging world until we’ve unpacked and set up the internet in our new place. Considering the fact that I am a computer junkie, I’m guessing that will not take long. I already set up the service, but I have to pick up the modem once I get there. So...TA TA for now.

Passing of Loved Ones

There are so many crazy things going on in my life lately. Sometimes, it is easy to be mired down in all of the little distractions, but this week I had moments where I was able to step back and look at the big picture. It is all about relationships.

On Monday, I attended the opening and first burials of the South Florida National Cemetery. While I was extremely impressed with the new cemetery, I could not help but reflect on my father’s burial a year and a half ago, especially since he was buried in a National Cemetery. Re-experiencing the details of that day like the little outdoor pavilion, trumpets, flag folding, etc. brought back a flood of memories mostly good (being surrounded by my family).

At the Opening Ceremony, I guess I looked like I was there on official business because quite a few people approached me to ask questions. I talked to several of the family members about the passing of their uncle. I also spoke to a cute older couple that just wanted to see the cemetery because they planned on being buried there in the future. These conversations really made me think about life and appreciating the special moments and relationships. When I got back to Miami, I heard the news about the Virginia Tech shootings.

That isn't all, one of my favorite bloggers, Dayngr, is going through the death of her mother. Her posts and tributes have been so touching. I can not even begin to imagine what it is like to lose your mother. My husband lost his mom 10 months ago and every month without fail he falls into a slump that last several days. I don’t think a day goes by that he doesn’t miss her. I hear that the death of your mother is something that you never recover from even though you get better at living with it.

These moments force one to step back and realize that life is about enjoying the people around us and appreciating the time we have with them.

Funny How Things Happen

The way back from our wonderful vacation in San Diego was less than pleasant. Our day started at 4am, which is never a good beginning. I had booked an early flight thinking it would be nice to get back to our house in the early evening. We had a little hopper flight from San Diego to LA and were told that it wasn't necessary to get there really early, which is probably true most of the time.

My mom & sister dropped us off about 5:30am. We walked up to probably the longest line the airport had seen in a year. By the time we got to the front, we couldn't check luggage in time for our flight, so they booked us on the next one that was only a half hour later and still gave us plenty of time to catch our next flight. When we got to the very empty security line, the girl that looks at the IDs decided that I was a security threat because my driver's license still has my maiden name (I hate the local DMV) & my passport had expired recently. She made us go back to the airline counter. The airline people didn't understand why the security girl had a problem and they sent us back. We went back and forth and missed the next flight. Finally, the airline printed a boarding pass that said I needed to be patted down so she let us through. That took about 2 seconds.

The airline person at the gate told us we just might be able to catch our regular flight IF everything goes very smoothly. Fortunately, it did. We bolted across LAX and made our connecting flight. Lexi was asleep for the first hour and a half, which was great since I had bronchitis and was not feeling up to entertaining her. She woke up fussy and restless. The five hour plane ride was horrible from then on (for us and those around us). We tried walking her down the aisle, when we could. There was quite a bit of turbulence, which meant we had to sit with our seatbelts on (joy).

We finally got to MIA to discover our bags (all five, including Lexi's carseat) had not made it. While standing in the mile long line to fill out the paperwork, Lexi fell asleep. When I couldn't hold her any longer, I handed her to Steve. After about 2 minutes, he suddenly looked at me and said, "Take her, take her, take her!" He had a pee spot on his belly from her leaking diaper. I grabbed her and the diaper bag and headed for the bathroom.

That's where/when it happened...I had Lexi on the changing table and I heard a voice say, "You're Stephanie and that is Lexi, right?" It was the last thing I expected. She told me her name and it took me a while to jump back to reality. I actually had a real life encounter with a fellow Miami Beach blogger. Hi Sofi! Funny that this happened at the airport instead of anywhere on the beach.

I have to say that was the highlight of the day, because we ended up being in the baggage claim line FOREVER only to be told the bags might be on the next few flights that were in another hour. We ate airport pizza and waited to find that they weren't, so we headed home at 9pm (4 hours after we landed). Can you say Happy New Year's Eve? Our bags were located the next day, but 2006 ended with a day from Hell.

Tags: MIA, lost bags, airports