Black Friday Traditions

It has been a tradition in my family for at least 6 years to go shopping on Black Friday. My mom, my honorary mom and my sister would all meet up at 4 in the morning to begin our adventure in savings. Because there are plenty of other people willing to lose their REM cycle in the name of savings, we would wear antlers to be seen over the crowds.

This year it was just my sister and I. We were standing in line by 3:40 this morning, ready to begin our Adventure in Savings '08. I have to be honest, the deals weren't that great this year. I wasn't as impressed as in years past. We didn't even get a Toys R Us ad. Which is a Black Friday cardinal sin, in my book.

While Black Friday is the official beginning of Christmas shopping, for me it represents the one day a year I know I'll get to spend time with my moms and my sister. Some of our funniest memories have come from Black Friday.

This year I was not only reminded of the importance of our family time, but also the spirit of Christmas.

Around 9:30 this morning I hit my wall. I was in need of some Starbucks to reboost. As I sat in the drive-thru I was thinking about all the people I could cross of my list, how much I still had to buy, how much I'd saved already, woudl I have time for a nap. The usual recap of the morning. When I got to the window with my money in hand I was informed that the lady in the car before me had already paid for my drink.

I was dumbfounded. I have no idea who that generous lady was, no way to thank her. In an instant I was brought back to the real spirit of Christmas. It's not the gifts, not all the stuff we acquire. It's showing people, both known and strangers, the real meaning of Christmas. Christ came to earth as a babe knowing His destiny would be a death, so undeserved, for me. He was more generous that I deserve, yet He paid for my sins.

Whoever that lady in the SUV was, she showed me the real meaning of Christmas in such a small act. Thank you for bringing a reality to Black Friday. It was a reboost, to my energy and my focus.

My heart overflows with gratitude

It's Thanksgiving and once again I'm reminded of what's important in life. I love thanksgiving for this very reason. Not that I need a holiday to do that, but it's a nice national reminder. It's a day to celebrate all that God has given me. A day to celebrate the things in my life I don't think I deserve, but was given anyway.

This year has been a true blessing. We are in a home of our own, our house in Puyallup sold and we're all still speaking to each other! This past year has been an eye opening experience. I'm so blessed N walked by my side. He is my best friend, my partner, my biggest supporter, my prayer partner and encourager. I truly don't know what I did to deserve him as my partner in life.

If that wasn't enough, he's an excellent father to our three girls. He loves, encourages, supports and trains them in the Lord.

N, I'm so thankful for you. I know I don't say it enough, but you are a blessing beyond anything I ever hoped for.

If it wasn't enough that I was blessed in the husband department, I got the coolest kid ever. I'm not even being a little biased. She is fun, charming, sweet and a bit goofy. I'm so thankful that God helped her survive and thrive. I honestly can't picture my life without her in it. She is the final piece that completes my heart.

What's even better than having a husband who loves you unconditionally and a daughter who brings a joy into your life? Having two step-daughters who allow you to be part of their lives too. D & E have allowed me to have a place in their hearts and in their lives. I'm so grateful that I get to enjoy them and love on them!

In all my life I never thought I would have deserved three beautiful girls or an amazing husband. Yet God had a different design for my life. There are days I'm overwhelmed with gratitude that He would trust me to raise three girls in Him. It's a task I don't take lightly, but one I'm so glad I've been given.

Psalm 107:1 - Give thanks to the Lord for He is good; His love endures forever.

Zoe's new BFF

My dear friend Steph and her husband Kendall welcomed their daughter on Friday. Jordyn came in at 8 lbs and 19.5 inches. Major kudos to Steph for all her efforts on bringing this beautiful girl into the world.

I hear she's laid back and sweet as can be. She's got some pretty kissable cheeks too.

Welcome Jordyn. Zoe can't wait to teach all the things about life on this side of the tummy. I think she's even got a BFF necklace waiting for you. We can't wait to meet you and to love on you, beautiful girl.

Girls Night In

Last night Zoe and I were a very productive bunch. What does every girl need? Chocolate and crafts.

N has been craving chocolate chip cookies for about a week. It seems that every time I went to make them I was out of some key ingredients. I think flour, eggs and vanilla are important for the cookie baking process. After making sure we had everything, Zoe and I decided to make N some cookies last night. While she wasn't too sure about the touch of flour that she tasted, she is totally hooked on cookie dough.

She's a girl after my own heart.

Since she likes to talk to herself in the oven and the oven gets a bit hot when it's on, we decided we needed a distraction. I had to make a birthday card for a client at work, so we decided on scrapbooking.

Zoe helped get everything out and found a plum colored sheet at the bottom of drawer #3 that would be a perfect canvas for her masterpiece. I found glittery butterfly stickers that she would love.

When I got out my colored pencils to fill in my stamp outlines, she decided she would "color" instead.

These are our masterpieces.

After all the baking and creating, we cuddled in her room before bed. It was the perfect night. I look forward to many more nights in with my girl.

The trifecta of awesome

After a 2 OT win by the Cougs in Apple Cup, I don't know if there is anything that could make the weekend more grand. Not being the worst team is such an uplifting experience.

Then on Sunday night, as Zoe was playing and watching Tigger and Pooh save Christmas, she turned around, hands in the air and said, "yippee." I have no idea where she's even heard that word.

Just when I didn't think life could get any better, I got a gym membership. I used it this morning. I was at the gym by 5:00 this morning. Starting off my day like that is something that has been missing for too long. I haven't been there since 2005 and most of the same people are at the gym in the mornings! It was like a small reunion.

It's a short week. Bring on the turkey and Black Friday shopping!

Say my name, Spidermonkey

I had a Friday Five Fave post all ready to go seeing how I'm running on limited sleep. However, I feel it is my duty to give this Public Sevice Announcement to you all.

My friends Becca, Kristi and I all stood in line last night at 10:45 pm with 4 theaters full of teenagers and their parents to see the midnight showing of Twilight. I think we were the oldest people there on our own accord.

If you've been reading this blog you know I have a real fondness for the series. The books create a wonderful love story. Becca and Kristi are just as crazy about the books as I am. We were as excited as the girls wearing Twilight t-shirts behind us. See. Pictures of us, not the shirts.

Becca and me
Kristi and Becca

We were also fully aware that it would be hard to take a 500 page book and condense it into a 2 hour movie. Especially since Stephenie Meyer goes into great detail to explain her characters. Not to mention one of the main characters, Edward, can read minds. That's hard to translate into the movies. Not impossible, but hard.

Since these books have outsold Harry Potter, I thought we could expect a similar calibur movie.

You know what they say about assumptions. Don't do it.

If you have read the books or are thinking about reading them, do not see this movie. Maybe it's because I'm not a teenager. The whole audience was laughing during a commercial for some video game with rabid animals. That really could be why I hated it. I couldn't relate to the movie like I could with the books. However, I don't think that's it.

Here's where I go into spoilers.

They only kept three things from the book the same. 1) The characters's names. 2) The fact that Bella drove an old Chevy truck (they had Edward driving a different type of car). 3) There was a baseball game.

Beyond that, nothing was the same. Nothing.

Stephenie Meyer created a fictional story in a real town, Forks, Washington. Did they film in Forks? Nope. When they talk about the Olympic Penninsula what do you think we saw? The Columbia Gorge and Multnomah Falls. Granted some teenager in St. Petersburg, Florida will never know the difference. Anyone in the Pacific NW or who has visited here knows. Multnomah Falls is a pretty big deal. Not to mention the beaches between northern Washington and Oregon are drastically different.

Stephenie Meyer is a member of the LDS church. The books contain no alcohol, no swearing and limited sexual tension. They are fairly wholesome. The movie had no swearing, which was great. Probably the only positive I have (next to Kristin Stewart really being the only good actor in the bunch). However, Bella's father is the chief of police in Forks. Apparently when you put his character on the big screen, he develops a love of beer. We're not talking any beer. We're talking 16 oz cans of Rainier Beer. Because that's all we have available in Washington. Being so close to Mt. Rainier and all. It totally didn't fit his character. I can't believe anyone on the Stephenie Meyer camp didn't complain about that.

The special effects were horrible. The relationship development between Edward and Bella was lacking. Their chemistry was non-existent. Billy, the Native American Chief, used the term "homeboy" like it was a normal part of his vernacular. They eliminated a character completely.

Here's the part where I became totally aware I would hate this movie. None of the characters had any of the same personality traits from the book. Bella is quite, thoughtful and inquisitive. In the movie she is forward, angsty and monotone. I have no idea what Robert Pattinson did with his facial expressions, but they were angry not charming and alluring. He's supposed to be born in 1901, so he should have some old world charm to him. He used the term "spidermonkey" for crying out loud.

I don't think it's because I had this vision in my head, I think it's because the poor direction, the horrible screenplay and the lack of the actors reading any of the books.

I could go one for hours on why I hated this movie. When you have a cult-like following you have a responsibility to create a visual world that the author created. They were able to do that with Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings. There is no reason they should've have been able to do that with this movie.

It was almost like the studio executives knew anyone who was a fan of the movie would see it, so they could give them the same budget as those Napoleon Dynamite kids. It was insulting. It was disappointing. They've paved the way for a sequel.

Consider yourself warned, spidermonkey.

Lasik's new marketing campaign

In addition to a sold house and spending some time with the animals, I got some new Nike kicks. To truly appreciate why this is important, I must give you some history.

The day after our wedding, N and I had some time to kill. We weren't leaving for our honeymoon until the next morning, so we went shopping for some comfy airplane clothes. That's what everyone does the day after their wedding!

Part of my airplane ensemble was a new pair of Nike Shocks. They were beautiful. White. Silver. Pink. I loved them. I wore them with pride.

On the return flight, I wore them again. They were, afterall, my airplane shoes. Back in the day, I would sleep on the plane to make the flight go that much faster. I'm sure N was so glad he had me for his life's travel partner at that point. I'd take out my contacts, put my glasses on and rest my head on N's shoulder. Plus that particular return flight happened to be on my 28th birthday. As you get older, you need more sleep.

We landed in LAX. I had my old prescription glasses. Anyone who wears contacts knows that when you go from your current prescription contacts to old prescription glasses you tend to not see as well. Especially since the glasses were about 4 prescriptions old.

I needed to use the restroom. The very first stall that I came to was open and appeared to be clean. I took it. As I was in there I realized that someone did not feel well next to me. The smell kept getting worse. That's when I discovered why the very first stall was available. I was stepping in human poop. In my new Nike Shox.

Because I couldn't see very well at a distance, you can only imagine how close I came to it. I quickly ran to the sink, washed my hands, put in my contacts and began the process of trying to de-poop my shoes. Unfortunately all my other shoes were in my luggage on their way to the next leg of our journey.

I'm stuck in my human poop shoes on my birthday for who knows how much longer.

All the while, N is waiting outside the restroom for me. When I finally emerged a changed woman, he said I was in there for about 40 minutes. He was about to send someone in there for me. Then he saw my eyes. They were almost teary.

As the new husband that he was, he demanded that I tell him what was wrong. I could barely get out the words human and poop. Then when I did, he kept a good 20 feet between us. That's love!

When we got home, I quickly disinfected the shoes until they smelled only of bleach. I probably should've just thrown them away, but after spending a small fortune on them, I wasn't going to let that LAX incident stop me.

I've been wearing them ever since. Always reminded of why we fly into John Wayne airport rather than LAX.

Now we've walked many more miles, always careful to avoid poop of any kind. It is time I say good-bye to my human poop shoes and onto the next chapter of Nikes. My new ones are black, so they'll hide everything and pink. Plus they're part of the Livestrong line, which I'm positive I'll need to be if we ever get to LAX again.