Random-ness in the New Year

I'm not full of anything interesting and blog-worthy at all these days. I feel like my brain is just dead. I am also so so so so tired. I think it's the weather and the time of year and the fact that my daughter is not sleeping well these days and I am woken up 4 times a night (that may be a big part of it) so it feels like I have a newborn suddenly again. Ugh. It's so not fun. At all. So a combination of all of the above has me feeling so . . . at a loss. So here's the random things that are in my head right now and random-ity going on in my life. Not very blog-worthy, but at least it gives me something to post.

* 6-ish years ago I did yoga just about every day. At that time in my life I was in the best shape I think I had ever been in since high school weight training (I also hadn't ate meat in over 6 years so that, too, helped me out a bit, I think). The good news is, I'm back in yoga and it's nice. Really nice. I love yoga and how it makes me feel. Always have. And it's something that doesn't take much coordination like aerobics (which I don't have), but balance and a little endurance (which I do have). Neil has even been doing it with me some and the kids attempt to. It's so cute! (Maia is actually really good at it!)

* I have my first wedding of the year on Saturday. It's a big one, too. 8 attendants on each side and over 400 guests. Thankfully we're doing all the pictures beforehand, which will help A LOT and makes me feel a tiny bit less overwhelmed. The neatest thing about this wedding is that it's completely black and white. Their invitation even requested that all the guests wear either black or white (<-------yeah, that says white). It will look awesome in pictures. I really look forward to the event. Snow on top of that would be amazing, but I'm afraid it's going to be too warm for snow. Shoot.

* Neil isn't a big traveler like he use to be, but when he does travel, it's far-away places. This time, in 2 weeks, he's off for China. Yep, China. He just got his VISA back so it's pretty official. I'm not sure how long he'll be gone yet, but it will be at least a week. I'm just not use to these long travels anymore. He's had every shot in the book now to prepare for it. I think he's ready, but I'm not. I get really anxious and nervous thinking about it. Thankfully I have friends here who have already volunteered to have me live with them for a week, and even if I don't, I know they'll be stopping by every day. I just don't do well without Neil here. He's more than just the one who brings home the bacon. He is the greatest daddy in the world and is a pretty amazing Susie Homemaker. (I really am blessed and when he is gone it reminds me how blessed I am and how amazing he is.)

* I bought some new photography books last week and last night I almost finished one of them. I haven't read anything other than maybe a recipe or a Christmas newsletter (?!) in probably 6 months or more. To finally have the time to do so after about 6 months of non-stop running and working, is just so very nice and so rewarding. Hard work does pay off and there really is light (and a break) at the end of the tunnel :c)

* My cousin who will soon be 40 just announced that he is going to be a daddy again later this fall! He will be my oldest cousin with the youngest baby! I think it's kinda neat!! Congrats Clint and Stacy!! We're so happy for you!

* I bought Annie, the musical, and watched it today with my kids. Maia was mesmerized and it reminded me how mesmerized I get watching it. I love love love that movie. Probably (in my opinion) one of the best movies ever, ranking up there with The Sound of Music, The Parent Trap and The King and I. I'm such a sucker for musicals, Disney movies, Classics or all of the above. Okay, fine, a.k.a. corny movies. I love corny movies. But they sort of bring me up into the clouds into a fantasy world and I love that feeling. And there's something about catchy songs like "It's a Hard Knock Life" or "My Favorite Things" that just really make you happy (even if they aren't the happiest of songs like the Hard Knock Life). My husband thinks I am the queen of dorks with the love I have for these movies and I don't deny that! :c)

Speaking of "happy" . . . Happy New Year! Hope it's a really really great year for all of us.

Read to me, Daddy.

So far, in my 4 years of being a mother, my favorite thing ever, is to see Neil read to the kids. And, being that he's a world away right now, and we're missing him so, I thought these pictures would suit well to be shown right now. Every night before we put the kids to bed, one of us or both of us, read to them in our bed. They look forward to it, and so do we. Come Friday night, he'll get to read to them again. . . and that time just can't come quickly enough. I'm just now going to bed and he's probably just getting up. That's just so . . . weird to me. I could never be a military mommy. Kudos again, to those who are. You rate high on my list of admiration.P.S. That's a sticker on Maia's chest :c)

Ramblings from Life is Challenging YOU.

Make her happy . . . go join her challenge. (Some of you already have . . . Michelle, Corie, Jamie, Erin . . . anyone else??)

She'd love for you to participate in her book challenge. Summer Reading Challenge, I think it is called. Sounds like a very cool challenge. I would love to join it. I love love love to read. But my life is so busy, I can't find time to pick up a book. I'm either chasing kids, cleaning my house for showings, leaving the house for showings, shooting pictures, or working in my dungeon glued to Photoshop at my computer. I love my life, but seriously wish I had an hour to read. I guess if I forced myself, but once I make it to bed at midnight or 1, I'm ready to catch some zzz's to wake up to another glorious day! :c)

So, instead, I challenge you to be challenged. And tell me what your very favorites are. Maybe then I will read? I have bookcases full of unread books. I love chick lit, so if/when you get done with something that you think would strike my fancy, please do let me know and I'll add it to my un-read collection. One day I will get to it. It may be when my kids are in college, but at least then it will really be a gift and a pleasure!

Have fun!

{Wait, I just had a thought. Can parenting magazines count? Or photography ones? That's about all I read these days. I'm also working on Erin's book :c) Hey . . . I do read!!}

E. Crane's Promise

My friend (I'll call her "J") introduced me to an author and blogger, Elizabeth Crane, today. Her writing is fabulous. Her entry here made me tear up some. Many of her paragraphs I was saying to myself "Me, too!" or else laughing hysterically. It really is a good read and I recommend it.

Now I have to buy her books. I'm told she's a great author -- and best thing, she's native to Illinois and from Chicago. You can check out Elizabeth's blog here. Hopefully she won't mind me plugging her.

J sent me this article because Elizabeth is adopting a child, and my friend (who I am leaving her name out because I'm not sure how she feels about my doing so) knows how close I hold adoption to my heart. Oh, and J is adopted, too. :c)

My only brother is adopted and two of my dearest girlfriends (J one of them) are adopted. And I yearn to adopt one day because I have had all these powerful influences in my life thanks to my parents and to my friends's parents. They've all got the most amazing families. And perhaps I am biased because I am part of one of these families, but I don't know anyone who could argue with me ;c)

We started in on the adoption process right before I got preggers with Noah. So it's been put on the back burner and it's honestly not something I want to back burn and just forget about. This is maybe something you didn't (or possibly did) know about me . . . one of the many things I hold dear to my heart, but this I hold dear and very strong to my heart. It's something I want to do and one day will do.

Read this article. It's really touching and powerful and just a really great read.

Books

I'm stealing this from my good friend, Tori, over at Bunny's Babblings. I'm not going to do very good at this because while I loooove to read, I've not been too good at it lately. I'm trying to change that.

Take the list below, paste it into your own blog, and mark them as follows:
READ for those you’ve read;
WANT TO next to those you are interested in;
AGAIN & AGAIN next to those you’ve read and loved, over and over;
REPEAT for those you’ve read more than once, without necessarily loving them;
MEH for stuff you read and weren’t impressed by;
STARTED for those that just never got finished;
and leave blank those you don’t care to read.

1. The Da Vinci Code (Dan Brown)
2. Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen) Want to
3. To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee) Again & Again
4. Gone With The Wind (Margaret Mitchell)
5. The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Tolkien) (sci-fi & fantasy does not interest me)
6. The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (Tolkien)
7. The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (Tolkien)
8. Anne of Green Gables (L.M. Montgomery) Read
9. Outlander (Diana Gabaldon)
10. A Fine Balance (Rohinton Mistry)
11. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Rowling)
12. Angels and Demons (Dan Brown)
13. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Rowling)
14. A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving)
15. Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden) Want to
16. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (Rowling)
17. Fall on Your Knees (Ann-Marie MacDonald)
18. The Stand (Stephen King) Read
19. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Rowling)
20. Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte) Want to
21. The Hobbit (Tolkien)
22. The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger) Read
23. Little Women (Louisa May Alcott) Read
24. The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold)
25. Life of Pi (Yann Martel)
26. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams)
27. Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte) Want to
28. The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (C. S. Lewis) Read
29. East of Eden (John Steinbeck) Read
30. Tuesdays with Morrie (Mitch Albom) Read
31. Dune (Frank Herbert)
32. The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks) Again and Again
33. Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand)
34. 1984 (Orwell)
35. The Mists of Avalon (Marion Zimmer Bradley)
36. The Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett)
37. The Power of One (Bryce Courtenay)
38. I Know This Much is True (Wally Lamb)
39. The Red Tent (Anita Diamant) Want to
40. The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho)
41. The Clan of the Cave Bear (Jean M. Auel)
42. The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)
43. Confessions of a Shopaholic (Sophie Kinsella) Want to
44. The Five People You Meet In Heaven (Mitch Albom) Want to
45. The Bible Read; not the whole thing from front to back, but I wish I could say that I have.
46. Anna Karenina (Tolstoy)
47. The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas)
48. Angela’s Ashes (Frank McCourt) Want to
49. The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck) Meh
50. She’s Come Undone (Wally Lamb) Want to
51. The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver)
52. A Tale of Two Cities (Dickens)
53. Ender’s Game (Orson Scott Card)
54. Great Expectations (Dickens) Read
55. The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald) Read
56. The Stone Angel (Margaret Laurence)
57. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Rowling)
58. The Thorn Birds (Colleen McCullough)Want to
59. The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood)
60. The Time Traveller’s Wife (Audrey Niffenegger)
61. Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
62. The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand)
63. War and Peace (Tolsoy)
64. Interview With The Vampire (Anne Rice)
65. Fifth Business (Robertson Davis)
66. One Hundred Years Of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
67. The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants (Ann Brashares) Want to
68. Catch-22 (Joseph Heller)
69. Les Miserables (Hugo)
70. The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupery) Want to
71. Bridget Jones’ Diary (Fielding) Read
72. Love in the Time of Cholera (Marquez)
73. Shogun (James Clavell)
74. The English Patient (Michael Ondaatje)
75. The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett) Read
76. Tigana (Guy Gavriel Kay)
77. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)
78. The World According To Garp (John Irving)
79. The Diviners (Margaret Laurence)
80. Charlotte’s Web (E.B. White) Again and Again
81. Not Wanted On The Voyage (Timothy Findley)
82. Of Mice And Men (Steinbeck) Again and Again
83. Rebecca (Daphne DuMaurier) Again and Again
84. Wizard’s First Rule (Terry Goodkind)
85. Emma (Jane Austen) Want to
86. Watership Down (Richard Adams) Read - Jen Francis sent this to me for Christmas! Love it!
87. Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)
88. The Stone Diaries (Carol Shields)
89. Blindness (Jose Saramago)
90. Kane and Abel (Jeffrey Archer)
91. In The Skin Of A Lion (Ondaatje)
92. Lord of the Flies (Golding)
93. The Good Earth (Pearl S. Buck)
94. The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd)Want to
95. The Bourne Identity (Robert Ludlum)
96. The Outsiders (S.E. Hinton) Repeat
97. White Oleander (Janet Fitch) Want to
98. A Woman of Substance (Barbara Taylor Bradford)
99. The Celestine Prophecy (James Redfield)
100. Ulysses (James Joyce)

Wow, I truly did awful! I knew my list would not be good, but that was baaaaaad.

Whitney Gaskell

I have to plug a friend of mine, Whitney Gaskell. She is amazing for more reasons than one.

Here is reason #1:

I met Whitney about 5 or so years ago, at the same place I met Alexis; online at Storknet. She's one of my lifesaving friends who helped dig me out of the trenches while I tried my best to do the same for her. Problem is, while I went through some rough stuff, nothing compares to what she and Alexis went through with losing their sweet infant babies, so I don't completely understand what they went through. They are both, in my eyes, true heros. A sort of mother no one wants to be but admires greatly for their love and immense strength. I don't know how any woman could survive what they went through, but they did, and still keep on going like Energizer bunnies . . . in their own lives, but in others' lives by fulling supporting people like me in my walk as a mommy, two things I don't think I could do if I were them.

Reason #2:

Whitney works very hard. She went to school to become a lawyer but ended up as an author. And one mighty fine (and funny) one. She writes chick lit and it's fabulous! Her books are so witty, yet so true-to-life. Her characters are each so unique but I feel like I can relate to most all of them in one way or another. Her latest, the 5th book, is about to come out in August titled Mommy Tracked. I can't wait to read it. She is a mommy to Sam, a sweet, adorable, energetic little boy the same age as my Noah. She's a professional mommy so I can't wait to see what she has came up with in this new book as a professional author. Being in graphic design, I loooooove this cover. She told me a while back that she never knows what the covers are going to look like. She seems very pleased with this one. I think it will fly off the shelves not only because of the attractive cover and also because of who she is: Whitney Gaskell, famous author at large!

Way to go, Whitney! As a friend, as a fellow mommy of a 3-year old, as an avid reader of your books, I have to say, I'm proud of you! You can catch more of Whitney at her website, Whitney Gaskell, or at Literary Chicks, another blog she is a writer for.

I am pretty sure you can pre-order the new book at Amazon. You can also buy any of her current books at a bookstore near you. I've bought all of mine at Barnes & Noble. (And here's Alexis and my secret - shhhhhh: when we see her books at B&N or the like, we take a stack of them and put them on the Best Sellers table. Are we bad or what?!)

Whitney's Book

In hopes that she becomes the #1 Chic Lit author in the nation (she is not far from it!), I have to plug her. Alexis and I have a friend who just recently published her 4th (fourth, right?!) book this year. Go to Alexis's blog to read more about the book and learn more about Whitney. You can also read Whitney's latest thoughts at her own blog. Whitney is a kick-butt author and an amazing person and mom. Please check her out when you have a second and then go buy her books - one for yourself and then one (two or three!) as Christmas gifts to your book fanatic friends. Oh! And you can also check out her entries at Literary Chicks, a great blog written by 6 women authors!

One of my faves of Whitney's