been wanting to do this for a while.

I saw this somewhere, can't remember where, but you list songs that remind you of moments/seasons in your life. So, I thought I'd give it a try:



Vacation: Freebird (Lynyrd Skynyrd) - Dad played this on every car trip we took. We begged him to play it. This was also the Father/Daughter dance at my wedding.



1st Boyfriend: The Dance (Garth Brooks) - Even though you never know how things are going to turn out, it's always better to love than to not. Even though your heart may be broken, it makes you who you are.



Childhood: Walk Like an Egyptian (The Bangles) - I knew every single word to this album and I thought Susanna Huff was the coolest person ever.



Greg: When You Love Someone (Bryan Adams) - This was the song we danced to at our wedding. The first time I heard it, I knew it was perfect for us.



When I'm Sad: Held (Natalie Grant) - When I need to grieve, or when I need to remember that I'm not alone. Christians can be set apart, not because they are exempt from pain, but because they have accepted the arms that are holding them while they're going through it.



College: Stuck in the Middle w/You (Stealer's Wheel) - I just remember listening to this while we'd have little drinking get togethers.



Adoption: Into the Mystic (Van Morrison) - If you've seen the movie Immediate Family (one of my favorites) you'll know what I'm talking about.



Parents: Remember When (Alan Jackson) - Mom calls this "their song". I cry every time I hear it. I almost can't stand listening to it b/c it makes me cry.



Greg's Parents: Can't Help Falling in Love (Elvis) - This is their song. I can picture/hear Gary singing it now.



Karaoke: Summer Nights (Grease Soundtrack) - Me & Poke... All I have to say!



High School Job: You Oughta Know (Alanis Morrisette) - I knew (and still know!) all the words to this album. No, I'm not a man-hater!! :)



That's all I can think of right now... This was fun!

Bob & Tom

I met Drew Hastings last night! We went with Steve & Tami to see the Bob & Tom Allstars Comedy Tour. We had so much fun!! I know this picture isn't very good quality, but it was taken with a cell phone. No big deal - I met Drew Hastings! He was really nice. Want to know something else? Chick has a really wimpy handshake. Sorry, just had to say that.

We had a great time with Steve & Tami (as always). We ate at Bernardi's (I had the coconut shrimp - amazing) and then we headed to the show. We couldn't believe how many grandmas and grandpas were there watching all these guys make crude jokes and use potty mouths! It was quite fun to watch some guy in his 70's get picked on by Bob Zany.

Gabe stayed the night at Abba & PawPaw's, so we got to sleep in a bit today. It was quite nice! This afternoon, Tami is keeping Gabe for a few hours so Greg and I can try and get some Christmas shopping done.

Thanks for the double-date night, honey! I'm so glad we could celebrate your birthday with such a fun evening.

Bri's Husband

Tonight, I had the pleasure of going on a date with my husband. It's kind of a rarity nowadays! I actually lucked out... My sister Lindsey called to see if she could come over today to see Gabe. Of course she could! Then, I had a spur of the moment idea to see if she would mind watching him so Greg and I could go to dinner. She was thrilled! She is in nursing school right now, so she doesn't get to see Gabe very much. So, it worked out very well!

Greg and I had a very nice dinner at Biaggi's. We were going to go to a movie, but there wasn't really anything to see. So, our next stop was Good Will. Weird I know... Biaggi's, then Good Will. We had fun picking out some cassette tapes because Greg's truck only has a cassette player! Among our choices were the Pretty Woman Soundtrack, Heart, and Madonna. Oh, and Greg had to get the Bel Biv Divoe tape. Ugh. I told him that was fine, but he had to listen to "That girl is poison..." by himself.

After Good Will, we went to Sam's Club to price a new twin bed for our growing toddler. He wants nothing to do with the crib anymore. We also bought Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Oh, and we drooled over some furniture that we'd really like to have for our basement that we're remodeling. Finally, we headed to Borders to check out some books to read while we sipped on some beverages from their cafe. By the way, I just love that you can do that at Barnes & Noble and Borders. It's so relaxing.

It was just a really nice night to spend with my husband. We had a really great time. I'm really thankful that after 7 (almost 8, Greg) years of marriage that we can still enjoy our time together, still talk open and honestly, and still make the time for "us". As parents, it's definitely harder to find that time, but totally necessary.

Good night, hubby... Thanks for the date.

Momma Getaway

This past weekend, I had the absolute JOY going away on a retreat with my very best friends. I came up with the idea of having a Momma Getaway quite a while ago - I wanted to have a weekend with my friends in which we could scrapbook, talk, eat, sleep, as long as we wanted to without any hubbies or kids. As much as hubbies and kids are important and always the very most important people in our lives, we have to make time for ourselves as Mommas too. We need a break from responsibility every once in a while to get back to the friends we may not have been able to give much time to. We need to get caught up on the albums we're making for our kids. This weekend was everything I could've imagined and more. I am so unbelievably blessed with terrific friendships with these amazing women. And, a couple of them haven't even met before - everyone was talking, sharing stories and supplies, and having a great time together the entire weekend. How awesome. Here are a few more photos from the weekend:

Tami made me & Darci a birthday cake - Darci's was on the 11th and mine is the 17th. She's so sweet. Do me a favor, please don't count the candles!

Here is Darci busy at work scrapping. Check out the table! We were able to put the tables into a big square and sit around and talk while we scrapped. It reminded me of those quilting bee's the ladies used to have. We each had our own tables, so we had plenty of room to spread out.

Here we are... Darci did a great job of setting up here mini tripod to get a photo of all of us. L to R: Marya, Mary, Me, Tami, Darci, & Janell.

Our cabin had a big, stuffed, real bear in it. We had him as our protector, so we had to get a photo with him... or her... Who knows, maybe she was a scrapper!

One of my favorite photos from the weekend. I love Janell's face here. I told them I thought I may have gas while we were all so close in the pose, and we missed the first picture. We were still laughing at it when Darci set up for this photo.

This little guy worked his tail off this weekend! We had two Cricut machines there and it was fantastic. We got so much done! I was able to get 18 and 1/2 layouts done! I am now up to 19 months, and Gabe is only 20 months old. How great is that?! I snapped this picture when we went to bed - I shut off all the lights and this was the only light on. Suddenly, I was just kind of taken aback at how wonderful the weekend was.

And now, a tribute to each of my friends:

Oh, Marya - you are a friend I can laugh with, cry with, scrap with, and just plain old be myself with. I love that you are so forgiving, honest, and fun to be around. You are a fantastic mom, devoted to your boys, and I have learned so much from you about being a wife and a mom. I am so glad you joined us this weekend and I hope you enjoyed meeting some of my friends you haven't met.

I will forever be thankful for the countless hours we have spent together scrapping and talking and for your friendship. Love ya, Scrappy 2.

Janell, I am so glad you were able to join us this weekend. I am so in awe of your ability to keep it all together. Apart from being the mom of 4 great kids, you are able work and set aside time to spend with friends. You have been a terrific inspiration to me as far as motherhood and friendship goes. You are a very fun-loving, life-loving person. AND, your ability to do so many things and always be in such a great mood will never cease to amaze me! You are very generous with your time for others. You help your inlaws and friends and all the while have managed to raise a great family. Love you too!

Darci, where can I begin? You are such a very special friend to me. Your friendship has taught me so much about being a friend to others, being a friend to myself, being a mom, being aware of the pain others may be experiencing, etc... You are a teacher. You are a confidant. You are an amazing, devoted mom. You are a gifted scrapper. You and I have been through so much together and each time we go through something, our friendship deepens. We have been so blessed to be able to experience the birth of our children so closely timed to each other (that was a God thing for sure). We have been so fortunate to raise them together. They will grow up knowing their mommies are friends, just like them. I love you and thank you for all of the above.

Mary, you are my oldest friend (don't worry, I'm not talking age here!) You've been there for me through it all... First crushes, sharing stories of our first kisses, college, our weddings, the birth of our children, etc... You know me from way back when. I am so thankful for your dedication in making our friendship stand the test of time. I'm so thankful for your kindness, forgiving heart, caring attitude, phone calls (forgiveness when I don't return them on time!), reminders that I'm not a grandma when we go to Pizza Hut!, endless games of MASH we played when we were kids, countless walks, visits to Thomas Delight, college visits, etc... I'm so honored that you've spent so many memories with me. I'm thankful for your tears - when you've cried with sadness with me when we lost our baby. When you cried with happiness when Gabe was born. I will forever be grateful for your friendship. Thank you for being my first BFF. I love you too.

Last, but definitely not least, Tamalamadingdong. Tami, I am so thankful for you. You have been such an inspiration to me of what a mom should be. You have so greatly impacted my life with how you love your children, how you have had a marriage of many years, how you love God - how you come to Him as a child, and how you love that beautiful McCarthy. Your generosity has moved me to tears. Your sewing talents are amazing and continually impressing me. You & Steve have given Greg and me many great evenings by the fire, or at the kitchen table just hanging out. I love that you stalk me. :) I love that you love Gabe so much. I love that I can cry with you and I love how I can talk things out with you. I love that you want to be my friend because I so do not feel worthy. I love your humbleness. If I could be like anyone, I'd want to be like you - except for the bossyness.... I am TOTALLY kidding!! Just trying to get a rise out of you! I love you, Tami (niagw) and thanks for sharing the snoring room with me.

I am so blessed. So very, very blessed.

Girls Night Out

Last night was a lot of fun. I went with my sister in law, Missy, and my neice, Katie, to paint pottery. First of all, those two are pro pottery painters! They knew all the tricks of the trade. I didn't know there was a little pick-thingy you could use to scrap small amounts of paint off if you messed up! Sweet! Secondly, they're just awesome to hang out with. I had fun just chilling out with them.
There's just so much to choose from. I wanted to make everything. Here's what we ended up making:

• Greg's Wife: Crayon Bowl - read the story behind it here. And, the Gabe's Mom sign - too fun!
• Katie: The Apple plate - isn't she creative?
• Missy: The adorable chess nameplate for Julia, a soccer nameplate for Katie (not shown) and a small garden stone.

(Needless to say, Missy was a little faster than me & Kate!)

I love these two girls - we had a lot of fun. I can't wait to go back... I already know what I want to make!! You'll have to wait a week though to see the finished products!!

What made my night...

Getting some M&M's from the hubby. This is the M&M I created. You can create your own here.

Ima

Universal Friend.

One of my best friends' daughters described me the other day as a universal friend. I was kinda taken aback. I asked her what she meant and she said, "Ya know, you're like friends with my mom and like friends with me, and that's cool!". I took that as a great compliment. That's what I want to be. A universal friend. I did a search on universal on thesaurus.com. Here's some of the synonyms for universal:

• accepted
• boundless
• constant
• cosmopolitan (yummy!)
• undisputed
• unexcluding
• unlimited

See why I took it as a compliment? Getting a compliment like this one, sure made me feel like I was doing my best to be a good friend. Because I do strive for that. I know I fall short a lot. I know I mess up. But, I am trying to be a better friend. One that can be relied on. One that can be trusted. One that even loves my friends' faults. I'm working on it, and a comment like this one makes me feel like I'm accomplishing that.

Speaking of friends, this weekend we are heading to my other best friends' family cottage. I am so excited about it. We will be sharing the cottage with 5 other couples and 3 children between the ages of 8 months to 17 months. It'll be interesting to take Gabe there this time... It'll be hard to keep an eye on him and Caleb now that they're both walking, but it'll also be fun to take him out on the boat for a ride around the lake. I'll post pics when we get back. Have a great weekend!

Lighthearted

My most recent posts have been a little, how you say, heavy... So, I thought I'd throw another lighthearted one out there! Rock of Love 2 has become my guilty pleasure. It seriously is just one of those shows I can leave on and not worry about missing much. I mean, seriously, it's sad. It's really sad that I actually Tivo'd Rock of Love 2 this last Sunday so I wouldn't miss who got the boot.

I also found out on vacation that my brother in law & sister in law are Rock of Love 2 fans too! They DVR it while they're at church!! I just find it too funny that the new Rock of Love 2 episodes are on during the time most people are at church.

I'm hooked. I like it. I even find myself thinking, ok, maybe Bret Michaels does have a little charm... and he is pretty cute... hang on a second! Stop it! Stop it Bret Michaels! Quit working your voodoo mojo on me!! Nah, I'm just kiddin' around. It's a great show for vegging out and watching people with problems way crazier than mine!

STOP

Ok, I think today I hit bottom. I've known for a couple of days that I'm getting really worn out. With Greg travelling so much and with him being sick the last few days, I've had to take up the slack. Gabe was up last night for 2 hours. The night before, I got to bed at 2:00 am after going to the ER and got up at 6:45 with Gabe. So, today... I was freakin beat. When Gabe took his morning nap, I took a nap too. Then, this afternoon, I watched several hours of, get this, Rock of Love 2 with Bret Michaels of the famous band, Poison. Ok. Seriously. How worn out, tired, bored, and pathetic do you have to be to watch more than 5 minutes of that show?? I found myself getting into it, thinking, "No, don't get rid of Inna, your Ukrainian Love Tank"! Really?? I'm pathetic.

I think sometimes though, you need a stupid (and I mean, stupid), trashy, unrealistic reality show, or trashy romance novel, or something just to let your mind and body relax. I think that's why shows like that exist! Who would really add that to their Tivo list? I actually make it a point of not watching reality shows, because I don't want to get hooked on them. I think they're ridiculous. The shows are so obviously staged and some of those people that stay on and aren't "voted off" or "given a rose" or "given a backstage pass to stay in the house and continue to rock Bret Michael's world"are so obviously kept on for wow factor. In the episodes I saw today, Bret took his dates to a burlesque club, a lingerie shop, a 50's pin-up photo shoot, oh, and one girl actually cooked for him on the date she won.

Bret, I don't care if every rose HAD it's thorn (Had as in your glory days are way over!), you could not pay me enough money to play mud football, build you a chopper, clean your chopper in a bikini (if I was thin enough to wear one), or parade around you with fake boobs, lips, and eyelashes. IF I was thin enough.

But, as much as I think the show stinks, it did serve it's purpose for me today... I got to relax, take my mind off stuff, and veg out. Thank you Bret Michaels! You rocked my world.