I'm not sure how I feel about Summer hitting an end this weekend. I've enjoyed much of it, except for the super hot days, and have tried my best to soak it in despite it being a whirlwind and blur of a Summer!
As I look toward Fall, my very favorite season, I'm excited but am also filled with a little dread. I've been loving the daylight hours and the chances to do things with Elijah outdoors. I'm not ready for bundling him back up in a coat or boots, especially as he's getting so much better at walking and will surely be running by then.
But in the meantime, let's talk about August and some good, enjoyable, non-children things. :)
What I've been up to this month...
Books I'm Reading:
The Shunning. Oh it is SOOO good!!! I've always loved learning about Amish culture, especially after my brother lived for nearly 10 years in an Amish area in Indiana. So intriguing. I cannot stop reading this book!
The Fault In Our Stars. Oh you guys, I am trying. But as much as everyone simply raves and raves about this book, I'm so. very. bored. I'm taking a break and will try to go back to this, I promise. But... ugh.
Loving the Little Years. Such a great book. Helping me to remember to focus on the good things of raising a little one. I know I need to stop feeling guilty about the hard days {after waiting sooo long for a baby, I often feel super guilty about telling anyone about a hard day because I really am so grateful to have my baby...}, and this book helps me stay level-headed about it all.
TV Shows I'm Watching:
I'm a big fan of the Summer shows. We've been watching America's Got Talent, Running Wild with Bear Grylls {I'm such a goober, I LOVE this show!!!!}, American Ninja Warrior, Franklin & Bash {I love their banter so much, love these lead actors together, but so far am not loving the changes to this show this year}, Food Fighters {at-home cooks competing against professional chefs for money with every-day people on the judging panel}, Penn & Teller's Fool Us, and probably something else I've forgotten.
TV does go by the wayside some as we focus on Elijah - and especially as we get him down for bed between 8 and 8:30 - but we still love it whenever we get to see even parts of our favorite shows. Especially after hard times with the little guy! It's a good way to just relax and enter another world.
Movies I've Seen:
The only movie I've seen in the theatre lately, is The Hundred-Foot Journey. And oh. my. word. You guys. This movie is SO GOOD! Go see it, for real. It's heartwarming, endearing, encouraging, inspiring, funny, sweet, romantic but not annoyingly so and nothing is shown {so rare and so nice when not everyone is having sex left and right, after all romance IS more than that!}, and if you love food, this is a good comfort meal!! I was really impressed. There's nothing bad in it except a little violence that wouldn't even scare my 11-year-old niece. It's unsettling, but a good, realistic look at some of the issues in the world. Loved it.
Spiderman 2. A lot of people criticized this but we thought it was pretty good actually. Right on par with the way this line of movies has gone and we were entertained. Good acting and some nice comedic parts too.
Noah. Ugh. So completely off-base from the Bible, it was startling. But as a movie, technically it was good. Just so very wrong too.
RoboCop. I thought this was surprisingly good, but I also kept falling asleep. A combination of me being really tired, and the movie dragging in places. An intriguing concept, but one I hope we don't get to anytime in the near future. I never saw these original movies, but Tim said it was very similar.
The Other Woman. Pretty lame and a waste of time, except Leslie Mann was superb, her comedic timing with Cameron Diaz was hilarious and stellar, and there were some really, really, really funny moments. But ultimately the storyline is just ridiculous. It shows a pretty sad trend in our society these days with husbands cheating on wives way too much, and it's just a buzzkill.
What I'm Cooking:
Oh man. I've been so bad in the kitchen this month. With our vacation and lots of looming work deadlines, we've done some eating out or some light cooking. But certainly nothing worth mention here.
----
So that's what I've been up to in August. Anything exciting on your end?
Showing posts with label What I'm Into. Show all posts
Showing posts with label What I'm Into. Show all posts
Monday, September 1, 2014
Sunday, September 8, 2013
What I'm Into :: Summer 2013
My life and this blog have been circling around one little individual for quite some time now. Not a big deal, but... I need a slight break from all the baby talk, back to my normal self for just a bit! :) So I'm going back to a post tradition that I haven't done in a while (and maybe only did once or twice). Usually this is per month but since most of June & July were a blur for me, and August went by quickly, I'll combine it into a Summer post.
What I'm Watching in the Movies:
Star Trek Into Darkness [theatre right before baby]
I watched Star Trek on TV here and there with my dad when I was younger. But I'm not a "Trekky" by any means. Some of those people hate the revised movies, but I have to admit I love them! I think this new line of films have been done very, very well. They give an updated perspective, storyline, and special effects.
White House Down [theatre, first & only date night thus far after baby]
It was GREAT!! I'm easily pleased with movies, but honestly I think this was one of the least talked about but best movies I've seen this year. It was filled with laugh-so-hard-you-nearly-fall-over humor (which I think I loved so much because it surprised me) and lots of intense action that has you at the edge of your seat. Some of the special effects could have been a bit better (Tim noticed that some of the CG stuff was too obvious and could have been fixed so easily), but for me it didn't matter. I thought it was terrific.
Safe Haven
Tim rented this movie for me recently. I had absolutely no idea what to expect. I was impressed with the storyline and I enjoyed the romantic aspects of it. But it was a bit slow-going and too scary for my romantic-comedy-easygoing movie. I wanted to relax and instead felt my adrenaline skyrocket and my blood pumping fast. However, the twists and turns in the storyline also surprised me so much (I'm pretty easily surprised while Tim would have probably seen it all a mile away). And it was just enough to keep me enjoying it all the way to the tears of joy at the end.
The Lucky One
I wish Nicholas Sparks could do a romance story without so much sensuality and sex. Romance is great without all of the skin showing in the movie! It was a relatively enjoyable movie though. Suspenseful and intriguing with sweet romance.
42
So good. Based on the true story of Jackie Robinson. Truly a great story and a great movie!
Identity Thief
Wow! I wasn't sure what to expect from this one. Shouldn't have watched it. It's rated R. There's language, Christ's name in vain, and sexual content that should not be in there. Nothing is shown except for one older guy's naked butt (ew), but there's enough to understand what's happening and it's a good time to fast forward. BUT it is hands down one of the funniest movies I've seen in a while. Granted, I think anything with Melissa McCarthy basically is. She's hysterical. She & Jason Bateman play really well off each other, the acting is tremendous, and I was laughing so hard I was crying. Multiple times. Really stinking funny. Just could have been better with those other issues. Why they put all that crap in there is beyond me. I truly think it'd sell better without that stuff. Oy!
Now You See Me
We just rented this on Friday night. This movie messed.me.up. Do you like magic? We think it's kinda fun to try to figure out. Tim is really good at it. He's also really good at predicting endings, solving crimes on crime shows before they reveal it, etc. I like to just get into it and be surprised in the end. Well, this movie is a big shocker to me while Tim had figured it out. Hence, we both loved it!! But I will have to watch it again. I mean... I really never saw the ending coming AT ALL. It nearly blew me off my chair (translation, I covered my head and my jaw dropped for at least a full minute). So crazy. So good. Skip the sex part toward the beginning and it'd be even better.
What I'm Watching on TV:
I'm a bit of a summer-time geek when it comes to watching TV. We can miss episodes and it's not a huge deal, but it's still refreshing to have some outlets of comedy and action! Especially after such a chaotic/intense summer. Some of these might be seen by some as ridiculous, but hey, I'm being honest....
America's Got Talent
Every year they change judges I say I'm going to stop watching. Every year they end up with a singer as a winner and I get mad that a talent show yet again has a singer for a winner when there are plenty of singing contests/shows. [Except last year when a ridiculous act we didn't like won.] So I say I'm going to stop watching. And yet every year I get sucked back in. Gah! But this year the talent has been so incredible. I can't wait to see who wins, but I have a gut feeling it won't be a singer!!! [Here's to hoping.]
Franklin & Bash
I absolutely love these guys and how they play so well off each other. Makes my week. I hate that it's such a short show every summer! And I just hate that it's already over for the year. [I think they do like 10 episodes a year - it's a bit ridiculous.]
Baby Daddy
Shamefully I admit I'm a total sucker for this show. The character Tucker just kills me. Kills. me. Soo funny. If it wasn't for his acting and humor, I may tend to think this show is too soapy/cheesy.
Melissa & Joey
Sometimes this one really gets on my nerves. And yet I can't stop watching. The chemistry between these two makes me keep watching. And because I like the two main actors. Otherwise, it's getting a bit old.
American Ninja Warrior
This is just crazy good reality stuff. Work hard, fight hard, and try your best to make it to a final challenge that really tests your endurance and athleticism. Amazeballs.
Get Out Alive
Um, wow. This show is new this year. I absolutely love it. What a great reality show. I'm addicted. Too bad it was so short and it's already over! I loved it. Totally hooked. Please bring it back.
Switched at Birth
We've watched this constantly every year. Until this year. It was an easy one to kind of let go. I love watching a show about deaf kids and their lives. They even had one episode where they went silent to show us viewers a bit of what it's like inside the life of someone who is deaf. I love that. It's a new concept... BUT I'm really tired of the drama of this show and I'm tempted to stop watching it altogether [we've kept some episodes to be able to catch up on soon, but we'll see]. I feel like I'm stuck in a stupid soap opera that's no longer really making a lot of sense and that has been using a chance lately to make fun of Christians and generally show us in bad light. Again. No thanks. This might make a quick exit out of our house as we start limiting TV more while Elijah grows. And when we got behind around his birth, we never fully caught up. And I don't care.
Hollywood Game Night
We just randomly watch this or parts of it if we run across it. Sometimes this is really fun and sometimes notsomuch. The host could really take a chill pill and honestly... I think she kills the show. Sorry Jane Lynch fans, but she's not my cup of tea and her hosting sucks.
Whose Line Is It Anyway?
I love Aisha Tyler as an actress (esp Friends) and on The Talk but Drew Carey was definitely a better host for this show. Yet another show that could die because the host doesn't draw you in well enough. Also it was way better when they used audience members for their show instead of famous guests who often just are ridiculous instead of funny. Still, totally worth watching because the 3 main guys still make us laugh our heads off. For real, laugh.our.heads.off.
What I'm Reading:
Confessions of a Raging Perfectionist
This book is written by my friend Amanda. Not like BFF friend, but like know her kinda friend. She goes to my church and is the wife of our media director, the son of big-time author Jerry Jenkins (The Left Behind series). I officially met her two years ago at a church picnic. When I introduced myself, I figured it'd be a quick chat and off we'd go. Instead we got to talking about kids, my newfound longing to adopt, and the chat went on for a while. She openly shared with me about her struggle with adoption and how she thought it was going to be easy. As you'll see in her phenomenal book, it ended up being super duper hard. Amanda is genuine, honest, open, vulnerable, and admits her struggles with a humility and wit that is refreshing and wonderful. I've been soaking this book up. Re-reading as I go. It's taking me quite some time to get through it - which is what always happens when I truly love a book like this. Knowing the author and hearing her voice in it as she writes is certainly a plus for me. But let me just vouch for her by saying how this book is very her. She's a good woman with honest struggles and she's for.real.
Heading Home with Your Newborn
This book has been SO helpful. I read a good chunk of it while I was pregnant, but it's also a tremendous resource after bringing baby home. Before questioning things or running to the pediatrician, we started referring to this book. I'd recommend it highly for every new parent (guys too!).
Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire
Jim Cymbala really has an amazing story of how The Brooklyn Tabernacle went from nearly defunct when he came along, to now being such a tremendous outreach where God is glorified weekly and the lost come to Christ. It's an easy, good read, and it stirs up my passion for the gospel. And since I love New York City and the surrounding areas so much, this is right up my alley. I love it!
Next up for me:
Stones of Remembrance
Crazy Busy
Give Them Grace
What I'm Listening to:
Nothing new here - listening to the same stuff I've loved for a long time (David Crowder Band, Kutless, Matt Kearney, Josh Garrels, FFH, Tenth Avenue North, Rich Mullins, etc etc). Anxious for the Vertical Church Band's release of their new album this October. That's our church's band and we LOVE them! What a great ministry they have. We can't wait for this!!!
And for the sake of no one thinking I'm crazy holy with my Christian music... I admit that I also enjoy playing radio-switch-a-roo and listen to some of that other stuff too. Not as much now with baby in the car to respect hubby's distaste of secular music. But I do otherwise honestly like the hippy hoppy poppy sounds of Taio Cruz, Usher, One Direction, Coldplay, Pitbull, The Wanted, Jennifer Lopez, and yes... even, ahem... Justin Bieber. I really enjoy our oldies station too. I really don't like listening to one genre for very long and I play with my CDs a lot. With such a long commute, I go batty after a while of the same stuff over and over. I use my discretion and it's really not a big deal. But shh, don't tell my mom! ;)
What I'm Eating/Cooking:
Baked Fried Chicken - Tried this recipe the other night. Did not love it. Paired it with cornbread. Of course the cornbread decided to mess up too, so it wasn't the best meal night.
Baked Ravioli - Loved this. Experimented with it and added sausage to the marinara sauce on top. Super yum!! Served with biscuits instead of garlic bread.
A favorite of ours:
Crockpot BBQ ribs [taken from Busy Woman's Cookbook] - 1 1/2 to 2 lbs pork ribs, 1 bottle BBQ sauce, 1 small onion or some onion powder. If you want to, brown ribs in broiler for a few minutes each side for extra crispness. I skip this step and just cook in the crockpot on low for 8 hours. They are perfect and delish! I served them with fresh corn on the cob from the farmer's market. My favorite way to cook corn on the cob is on the stovetop - remove husks, rinse, cover in water, bring to boil, cover, turn off heat, let sit 10 minutes, roll in butter, and eat! Soooo good, especially when fresh corn!
Fresh fruits & veggies from the Farmer's Market! I've loved getting into this a bit more now with baby at home and less stress. :) Still learning the right amount of stuff instead of splurging and getting too much because I love it so! Must. learn. restraint.
What Blog Reads I'm Loving:
Strength of My Heart
Infertility and the Sovereignty of God
When Dreams Change
How Constant "Screen Time" Affects Our Lives [ironically]
When You Think You Should Just Get Over It Already
Impossible Goals and The Things I Never Say [author/friend Amanda's blog]
What Online Video I'm Loving:
What I'm Doing other than caring for Baby:
Helping plan a dear friend's *Sparkle* baby shower for her baby girl.
Trying to catch up on uploading and printing pictures.
Making digital scrapbooks.
Trying to catch up on house projects and purging/organizing.
Experimenting with baby announcements and wondering if we should just do it as part of our Christmas cards to save money (oy these things cost $$)!
STILL writing thank you cards that should have been done a while ago. Seriously, this is so not me. It's quite pathetic. I feel terrible. But alas, there it is.
Wrapping up daycare/baby paperwork now that he had his 2 month physical and immunizations.
Trying to clean/prepare our house because baby will be crawling and getting into everything before we know it! And our house is about the worst when it comes to baby-proofing. Oh man. We are in for a wild ride.
What have you been into this Summer?
What I'm Watching in the Movies:
Star Trek Into Darkness [theatre right before baby]
I watched Star Trek on TV here and there with my dad when I was younger. But I'm not a "Trekky" by any means. Some of those people hate the revised movies, but I have to admit I love them! I think this new line of films have been done very, very well. They give an updated perspective, storyline, and special effects.
White House Down [theatre, first & only date night thus far after baby]
It was GREAT!! I'm easily pleased with movies, but honestly I think this was one of the least talked about but best movies I've seen this year. It was filled with laugh-so-hard-you-nearly-fall-over humor (which I think I loved so much because it surprised me) and lots of intense action that has you at the edge of your seat. Some of the special effects could have been a bit better (Tim noticed that some of the CG stuff was too obvious and could have been fixed so easily), but for me it didn't matter. I thought it was terrific.
Safe Haven
Tim rented this movie for me recently. I had absolutely no idea what to expect. I was impressed with the storyline and I enjoyed the romantic aspects of it. But it was a bit slow-going and too scary for my romantic-comedy-easygoing movie. I wanted to relax and instead felt my adrenaline skyrocket and my blood pumping fast. However, the twists and turns in the storyline also surprised me so much (I'm pretty easily surprised while Tim would have probably seen it all a mile away). And it was just enough to keep me enjoying it all the way to the tears of joy at the end.
The Lucky One
I wish Nicholas Sparks could do a romance story without so much sensuality and sex. Romance is great without all of the skin showing in the movie! It was a relatively enjoyable movie though. Suspenseful and intriguing with sweet romance.
42
So good. Based on the true story of Jackie Robinson. Truly a great story and a great movie!
Identity Thief
Wow! I wasn't sure what to expect from this one. Shouldn't have watched it. It's rated R. There's language, Christ's name in vain, and sexual content that should not be in there. Nothing is shown except for one older guy's naked butt (ew), but there's enough to understand what's happening and it's a good time to fast forward. BUT it is hands down one of the funniest movies I've seen in a while. Granted, I think anything with Melissa McCarthy basically is. She's hysterical. She & Jason Bateman play really well off each other, the acting is tremendous, and I was laughing so hard I was crying. Multiple times. Really stinking funny. Just could have been better with those other issues. Why they put all that crap in there is beyond me. I truly think it'd sell better without that stuff. Oy!
Now You See Me
We just rented this on Friday night. This movie messed.me.up. Do you like magic? We think it's kinda fun to try to figure out. Tim is really good at it. He's also really good at predicting endings, solving crimes on crime shows before they reveal it, etc. I like to just get into it and be surprised in the end. Well, this movie is a big shocker to me while Tim had figured it out. Hence, we both loved it!! But I will have to watch it again. I mean... I really never saw the ending coming AT ALL. It nearly blew me off my chair (translation, I covered my head and my jaw dropped for at least a full minute). So crazy. So good. Skip the sex part toward the beginning and it'd be even better.
What I'm Watching on TV:
I'm a bit of a summer-time geek when it comes to watching TV. We can miss episodes and it's not a huge deal, but it's still refreshing to have some outlets of comedy and action! Especially after such a chaotic/intense summer. Some of these might be seen by some as ridiculous, but hey, I'm being honest....
America's Got Talent
Every year they change judges I say I'm going to stop watching. Every year they end up with a singer as a winner and I get mad that a talent show yet again has a singer for a winner when there are plenty of singing contests/shows. [Except last year when a ridiculous act we didn't like won.] So I say I'm going to stop watching. And yet every year I get sucked back in. Gah! But this year the talent has been so incredible. I can't wait to see who wins, but I have a gut feeling it won't be a singer!!! [Here's to hoping.]
Franklin & Bash
I absolutely love these guys and how they play so well off each other. Makes my week. I hate that it's such a short show every summer! And I just hate that it's already over for the year. [I think they do like 10 episodes a year - it's a bit ridiculous.]
Baby Daddy
Shamefully I admit I'm a total sucker for this show. The character Tucker just kills me. Kills. me. Soo funny. If it wasn't for his acting and humor, I may tend to think this show is too soapy/cheesy.
Melissa & Joey
Sometimes this one really gets on my nerves. And yet I can't stop watching. The chemistry between these two makes me keep watching. And because I like the two main actors. Otherwise, it's getting a bit old.
American Ninja Warrior
This is just crazy good reality stuff. Work hard, fight hard, and try your best to make it to a final challenge that really tests your endurance and athleticism. Amazeballs.
Get Out Alive
Um, wow. This show is new this year. I absolutely love it. What a great reality show. I'm addicted. Too bad it was so short and it's already over! I loved it. Totally hooked. Please bring it back.
Switched at Birth
We've watched this constantly every year. Until this year. It was an easy one to kind of let go. I love watching a show about deaf kids and their lives. They even had one episode where they went silent to show us viewers a bit of what it's like inside the life of someone who is deaf. I love that. It's a new concept... BUT I'm really tired of the drama of this show and I'm tempted to stop watching it altogether [we've kept some episodes to be able to catch up on soon, but we'll see]. I feel like I'm stuck in a stupid soap opera that's no longer really making a lot of sense and that has been using a chance lately to make fun of Christians and generally show us in bad light. Again. No thanks. This might make a quick exit out of our house as we start limiting TV more while Elijah grows. And when we got behind around his birth, we never fully caught up. And I don't care.
Hollywood Game Night
We just randomly watch this or parts of it if we run across it. Sometimes this is really fun and sometimes notsomuch. The host could really take a chill pill and honestly... I think she kills the show. Sorry Jane Lynch fans, but she's not my cup of tea and her hosting sucks.
Whose Line Is It Anyway?
I love Aisha Tyler as an actress (esp Friends) and on The Talk but Drew Carey was definitely a better host for this show. Yet another show that could die because the host doesn't draw you in well enough. Also it was way better when they used audience members for their show instead of famous guests who often just are ridiculous instead of funny. Still, totally worth watching because the 3 main guys still make us laugh our heads off. For real, laugh.our.heads.off.
What I'm Reading:
Confessions of a Raging Perfectionist
This book is written by my friend Amanda. Not like BFF friend, but like know her kinda friend. She goes to my church and is the wife of our media director, the son of big-time author Jerry Jenkins (The Left Behind series). I officially met her two years ago at a church picnic. When I introduced myself, I figured it'd be a quick chat and off we'd go. Instead we got to talking about kids, my newfound longing to adopt, and the chat went on for a while. She openly shared with me about her struggle with adoption and how she thought it was going to be easy. As you'll see in her phenomenal book, it ended up being super duper hard. Amanda is genuine, honest, open, vulnerable, and admits her struggles with a humility and wit that is refreshing and wonderful. I've been soaking this book up. Re-reading as I go. It's taking me quite some time to get through it - which is what always happens when I truly love a book like this. Knowing the author and hearing her voice in it as she writes is certainly a plus for me. But let me just vouch for her by saying how this book is very her. She's a good woman with honest struggles and she's for.real.
Heading Home with Your Newborn
This book has been SO helpful. I read a good chunk of it while I was pregnant, but it's also a tremendous resource after bringing baby home. Before questioning things or running to the pediatrician, we started referring to this book. I'd recommend it highly for every new parent (guys too!).
Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire
Jim Cymbala really has an amazing story of how The Brooklyn Tabernacle went from nearly defunct when he came along, to now being such a tremendous outreach where God is glorified weekly and the lost come to Christ. It's an easy, good read, and it stirs up my passion for the gospel. And since I love New York City and the surrounding areas so much, this is right up my alley. I love it!
Next up for me:
Stones of Remembrance
Crazy Busy
Give Them Grace
What I'm Listening to:
Nothing new here - listening to the same stuff I've loved for a long time (David Crowder Band, Kutless, Matt Kearney, Josh Garrels, FFH, Tenth Avenue North, Rich Mullins, etc etc). Anxious for the Vertical Church Band's release of their new album this October. That's our church's band and we LOVE them! What a great ministry they have. We can't wait for this!!!
And for the sake of no one thinking I'm crazy holy with my Christian music... I admit that I also enjoy playing radio-switch-a-roo and listen to some of that other stuff too. Not as much now with baby in the car to respect hubby's distaste of secular music. But I do otherwise honestly like the hippy hoppy poppy sounds of Taio Cruz, Usher, One Direction, Coldplay, Pitbull, The Wanted, Jennifer Lopez, and yes... even, ahem... Justin Bieber. I really enjoy our oldies station too. I really don't like listening to one genre for very long and I play with my CDs a lot. With such a long commute, I go batty after a while of the same stuff over and over. I use my discretion and it's really not a big deal. But shh, don't tell my mom! ;)
What I'm Eating/Cooking:
Baked Fried Chicken - Tried this recipe the other night. Did not love it. Paired it with cornbread. Of course the cornbread decided to mess up too, so it wasn't the best meal night.
Baked Ravioli - Loved this. Experimented with it and added sausage to the marinara sauce on top. Super yum!! Served with biscuits instead of garlic bread.
A favorite of ours:
Crockpot BBQ ribs [taken from Busy Woman's Cookbook] - 1 1/2 to 2 lbs pork ribs, 1 bottle BBQ sauce, 1 small onion or some onion powder. If you want to, brown ribs in broiler for a few minutes each side for extra crispness. I skip this step and just cook in the crockpot on low for 8 hours. They are perfect and delish! I served them with fresh corn on the cob from the farmer's market. My favorite way to cook corn on the cob is on the stovetop - remove husks, rinse, cover in water, bring to boil, cover, turn off heat, let sit 10 minutes, roll in butter, and eat! Soooo good, especially when fresh corn!
Fresh fruits & veggies from the Farmer's Market! I've loved getting into this a bit more now with baby at home and less stress. :) Still learning the right amount of stuff instead of splurging and getting too much because I love it so! Must. learn. restraint.
What Blog Reads I'm Loving:
Strength of My Heart
Infertility and the Sovereignty of God
When Dreams Change
How Constant "Screen Time" Affects Our Lives [ironically]
When You Think You Should Just Get Over It Already
Impossible Goals and The Things I Never Say [author/friend Amanda's blog]
What Online Video I'm Loving:
What I'm Doing other than caring for Baby:
Helping plan a dear friend's *Sparkle* baby shower for her baby girl.
Trying to catch up on uploading and printing pictures.
Making digital scrapbooks.
Trying to catch up on house projects and purging/organizing.
Experimenting with baby announcements and wondering if we should just do it as part of our Christmas cards to save money (oy these things cost $$)!
STILL writing thank you cards that should have been done a while ago. Seriously, this is so not me. It's quite pathetic. I feel terrible. But alas, there it is.
Wrapping up daycare/baby paperwork now that he had his 2 month physical and immunizations.
Trying to clean/prepare our house because baby will be crawling and getting into everything before we know it! And our house is about the worst when it comes to baby-proofing. Oh man. We are in for a wild ride.
What have you been into this Summer?
Sunday, July 1, 2012
June 2012 :: What I'm Into
I decided to join in with my friend Mary at Giving Up on Perfect as she monthly does a "What I'm Into" post. So here's what has been going on around here in that sense....during the month of June.
{I refuse to believe it's already July. Nope. Not possible.}
What I'm Hearing:
I love, love, love the latest single from Owl City, along with Carly Rae Jepsen called Good Time. I could repeat this constantly right now. Yes, eventually I'd tire of it, but for now I love listening to it whenever I get a chance. It's just sweet, peppy happiness. Also loving the latest from The Wanted, Chasing the Sun. Fun stuff.
![]() |
(image) |
But ohhhh mannnn... I totally found my latest musical love with Mat Kearney's album City of Black & White (Universal, 2009). I am a bit behind on music sometimes, didn't even know this dude existed, and when this came up recently on my Josh Garrels station on Pandora, I immediately fell in love and bought the album promptly on iTunes. Seriously, so, so, so good.
What Movies I'm Seeing:
Whoosh, we've watched a lot of movies lately. Hopefully you saw my latest review, but if you stopped reading because I wasn't posting for a while - you should know I've been catching up a lot the past few days! Check out my latest review here on "People Like Us".
We've rented, we've been to the theatre, I'm still behind on my full Hunger Games review, and so on. Hubster bought me a couple of DVDs for my birthday including Thor and Secondhand Lions. Love them both! Just rented Sherlock Holmes 2 again. Humor, romance, action, and some of my favorite effects ever - what could get any better?!?! And one of my more recent favorites is Midnight in Paris. I'm not altogether too sure of what possessed me to want to watch it since it's not normally the type of thing that looks that interesting to me {that tends to be the case with Oscar-nominated films, as I often like the ones that don't get the best reviews or are the no-name films...}. But I just love this one!
What I'm Watching on the Tele:
We are total America's Got Talent (NBC) geeks. We skipped it at first this season because we aren't fans of Howard Stern, but I have to admit it's not too bad. I actually almost prefer him to Piers Morgan {gasp!}. He's not crude or as frustrating as I would have thought, whew. That's a relief because it's the only talent show we watch, and we just have to show them our love!!
Wipeout just started again for their summer season and we usually get a big kick out of that. This year, our new loves include American Ninja Warrior (NBC) and Franklin & Bash (TNT). The latter of which we were surprised by - we'd tried it last year but it was too riske' and we didn't care for it despite loving the main actors. After some encouragement from my TV-loving blog friend Mary, we immediately fell in love with it this season! The actors are a hoot and just play off each other so well, and we have always loved Breckin Meyer so we're really glad it's much better this season! And come on, Team Morris forever!! (Still love watching Saved by the Bell episodes when they air reruns!) My summer addiction/guilty pleasure TV show is Melissa & Joey (ABC Family) - I don't care, I love this show! Recently premiering after it is Baby Daddy which so far has also been enjoyable, but we'll see - the jury is still out on that one.
We used to be big fans of The Next Food Network Star, but it's kind of fallen off our radar lately, and it's changed and we just aren't as into it anymore. Same with Iron Chef America. I think we've been neglecting The Food Network. Hmm, sorry dudes! We are, of course, throwing some Olympic trials in there, and will for sure be watching the Olympics at the end of July!
What Foods I'm Cooking:
We just finished a week of vacation in which I did no major cooking, and it was amazing. :) I think it's really helped refresh me with a desire to get back into it!! {Shhh... don't tell my hubby. ;)} I'm determined that despite how much I detest the clean-up part, I'm going to try more things soon!!
This week I have a bunch of summery foods I'm planning, but a lot of the meat or veggies require Tim to cook them on the grill. :) This is a bit of an 'off' week with the holiday, but I'm still going to do what I can to make sure we're eating out less and enjoying fresher foods.
Tonight's good food:
Fresh angus beef burgers, seasoned with Famous Dave's Steak & Burger Seasonings, topped with Honey BBQ sauce, cheddar cheese slices, and dill pickles served on whole wheat buns. Along with that was fresh corn on the cob grilled in the husks, then rolled in a little butter. Added later was some fresh watermelon, eventually rounded up with ice cream sandwiches. Yummo - I love the foods of summer and the flavors of the grill!!
What Books I'm Reading... or Trying to Read:
I just got even more loaded with books for my birthday, and I'm SO excited!! Plus I'm trying to do at least part of our church's summer reading program. I'm also finishing up one of my favorite fiction trilogies of all time. It's amazing. But I've heard people who don't like it, so certainly give it a whirl and see if it's for you or not!
There's definitely a LOT of books strewn around here, even more than usual for someone who gets a free book every time it's released as an employee of a publisher!
Here are the books I'm currently reading and enjoying each one in their own way:
I have started reading parts of each of these books. I'm enjoying each of them, but I really have trouble with finishing one book at a time even when I'm loving it. I just get antsy. Man... I need more bookmarks!
A Woman's Wisdom by Lydia Brownback
Loving the Way Jesus Loves by Phil Ryken
Fireflies in December by Jennifer Erin Valent {2007 winner, Christian Writers Guild's Operation First Novel contest; 2010, Christy Award winner}
The Kingdom by Bryan M. Litfin {Book 3 in the Chiveis Trilogy - one of the best fiction trilogies ever!!}
Get Out of That Pit by Beth Moore
The Explicit Gospel by Matt Chandler, with Jared Wilson
Here are the summer reading program books at church, of which I've only started the top one:
Here are the books I've received recently as gifts - and I'm SO excited about them! I got the top 2 for Christmas so I've started them, and 3 of the 4 at the bottom I got from my mom for my birthday. I'm really itching to get going on them - but I have just got to finish at least one of the above books that I've already started!
There are also a couple of books I've checked out from the library that are due back in a couple of days that I'm quickly trying to finish skimming through {I've already renewed it once}, but those I'll mention on another upcoming post.
WOW. I have a lot of reading to go do....
What I'm Seeing:
We've had some freaky storms lately. We had a crazy long drought, beautiful sunsets {as shown above}, and then poof! we've had a couple of storms over the past few days. One produced hail and this afternoon's storm produced very strong (75-95 mph) winds that left a lot of trees down over power lines in neighborhoods closer to my work.
What I'm Feeling:
I've been on and off very frustrated with having Fibro. Spent a lot of time on vacation resting, thinking, praying, crying out to God, resolving how to move forward, being thankful, and studying Bible verses that made me focus more on other things and less on my dealing with a chronic illness. There are such bigger, more difficult things out there in the world. I'm trying hard to focus on the positives, but I admit it was really hard when we were in Chicago for our anniversary for 2 days. Lots of walking and moving around, and a lot of flaring up in my body. I'm thankful that it wasn't worse, because I know it could have been, but I'm also just really sad to have to deal with it at all and not be able to do things like a normal person.
But still, ultimately, learning to be thankful in the midst of it, and use it to teach me things about myself, about God, and how to be more compassionate, gracious, and kind to those around me.
Having celebrated 12 years of marriage and turning 34 this past week - I had a good amount of time to also think and pray about not having kids and what that means for us. Had one amazing and blessed conversation with a friend on Tuesday over lunch that really encouraged me and gave me more resolve than I've had in a long time. Resolved to just totally trust the Lord with this, and stop dwelling on it so much and just live my life as God is calling me to. I won't do that perfectly, but I'm sure going to try harder!
What's Happening:
It's back to work for me tomorrow, for the first time since Thursday, June 21st. So far our work doesn't have power yet after the storm from this afternoon, so we'll see how things go! We've enjoyed our week off and aren't quite ready to go back to work, but alas, it's time. Back to reality.
Anything special you want to share that you've been up to lately?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)