Day 6 - A Toughie!

Day 6 asks for 20 of your favorite things. I'm not going to go with the obvious "my kids, my husband, etc..." because I think that those are kind of a given. Instead I'm going to go with obscure things that you wouldn't think of, but make like just a little sweeter. I recently read an article about a guy who has a gratitude blog. Every day, he posts about one thing he is grateful for. These things can be big or small, but they are a little piece of what makes life great. So, I guess that's my inspiration for these choices:



1. My Emu Slippers I got for Christmas last year.

2. My dishwasher. I spent 2 months without it, and I could hug it every day.

3. Spin Brush toothbrushes. They just clean so much better than manual.

4. The northern lights. They are amazing where I live.

5. An email from a friend.

6. A really good hair conditioner.

7. Looking at pictures of when my kids were babies to now.

8. A good movie, a tasty snack and a cozy blankie.

9. Chocolate bars.

10. Going to Las Vegas with my husband for vacation.

11. Laughing until it hurts.

12. The sound of my kids singing, especially when the words are wrong.

13. Popcorn and m&m's - seriously, if you haven't tried this together, you really need to!

14. Season premiers of my favorite shows!

15. A cool fall day with the sun shining enough to keep you warm.

16. Waking up feeling refreshed (hasn't happened in a while, but I remember the feeling).

17. Not only going on a trip, but all of the planning involved (Internet research, buying the ticket, checking and rechecking for lower prices - I'm a little anal that way!).

18. The noise in my house during the day, and the quiet in my house in the evening.

19. Reading a really inspirational story.

20. Deciding to dedicate more time to my blogs, and meeting my goals.

So, there are some of my favorite things, I probably could go on and on, but if you've made it this far in my post, kudos to you!

Cheers!

Day 5

Favorite Quote....

Well, I've always been a fan of "what goes around, comes around" and "karma is a bitch" (not sure if that's a bonifide quote, but I use it).

I found this quote one day, and felt that it fit my life thus far to a tee:

"It's true that we don't know what we've got until we lose it, but it's also true that we don't know what we've been missing until it arrives".

Cheers!

Day 4 WOO HOO!

Yeah! I made it 4 whole days in a row! Go me!!
Ahem. Anyhow, today's topic is favorite book.


I love reading (when I get time) and usually only read at night before bed, which more often than not, leads to a very late bedtime. I think the kids know when I've been up reading late, the next day tends to be very early. So, needless to say, I don't get as much reading in as I used to.


Having said that, I just finished a book (for the second time) called Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer.





It is the first hand account of the 1996 Mount Everest Disaster, where on one day (the day he made summit on the mountain) eight climbers were killed and others injured when a storm suddenly came in.

For some reason, I've always been kind of enamoured with Mt. Everest, and find this story so interesting. It covers the whole climb, from his arrival in Tibet, to base camp to the top and all of the intricacies involved in a climb. This is such an amazing, exciting and tragic story all at the same time.

I have always been a huge fan of non-fiction, I find autobiographies intriguing and love true stories of tragedy and triumph. This story is riveting to me, and I highly recommend it to anyone. Like I said, I finished it for the second time (I read books like I watch movies, apparently!) and I will probably read it again in a year or so.

What is your favorite book?

Cheers!

Day 3 Fav TV Program

Let's just say that living in the extreme north presents plenty of opportunity to watch television. How the heck did I ever live without DVR? Seriously, besides having my kids in the last few years, it's my DVR that has boosted my happiness level by a bajillion percent. That may be a little bit of an exaggeration, but not by much. Anyway, needless to say I have a few favorite shows. I am going to categorize them by old shows and new shows.

Here goes:

(Oh, and by the way, in case you haven't noticed, I have a problem limiting my favorites to just one, so please bear with me!)

Old Shows:

Friends

Roseanne

Cheers

All in The Family

Seinfeld

New Shows:

Chopped

Hell's Kitchen

Survivor

The Apprentice

Dexter

Glee

Arrested Development (kinda new, although it's now off the air)

Of course, this is just to name a few. I generally love a good series, and am interested in getting into a couple of new shows (namely How I Met Your Mother, and Modern Family). It's interesting to me to see more reality shows on the new list than non-reality.

But....if I had to pick just one show to watch, it would be this one...

The Shield. It's now over, and can only be seen in reruns, but what a great show! Michael Chiklis is awesome in this show, the story was riveting every week. If you like a good cop/action/drama, this is the one for you.

So, what's your favorite show?

Cheers!

Day 2 - Fav Movie

I have a love of movies, as well as music. I love to watch a good movie over and over again. This is something my husband won't do, and shakes his head at me when I'm in the middle of, say, "28 Days" for the 43rd time. (And for the record, I love Sandra Bullock, and loved her before it was hip to do so. Damn that Jesse James - what a dillhole...) Ahem.

Anyway, I will admit that I love cheesy chick-flicky movies, some of which I won't even admit to, seeing as how I'm not a 14 year old girl who will turn to Bring It On when she sees it playing on the movie channel. Okay, it's only because Kirsten Dunst is such a stellar actress. Right. I'm not much for action movies, although I'd never get to watch a movie with the hubs if I didn't ever watch one.

So, back to my favorite movie....

There are a few movies that really affected me, and the more I watch them, the more I love them. Here is a little list:

"Schindler's List" - just amazing.

"Forrest Gump" - another great movie, every time I watch it, it amazes me how they worked history into this movie so cleverly.

"Good Will Hunting" - I love the story of this movie, and love the story behind how the movie was written.

And one of my all time favorites.....

To me, this is a completely brilliant movie - Quentin Tarantino is so brilliant and twisted, I love it! This is probably my favorite of all of his movies, but many of his others are close seconds!

What's your favorite movie?

Cheers!

My 30 Day Challenge

I stole (okay, borrowed - stole is kind of harsh!) from a blog I have been reading for quite some time. She is a really great read, seems like a really great gal, and has gone through fertility issues as well, so I feel kind of connected to her in some way. She started this blog topic list at the beginning of September, and it seemed like a really interesting way to get to know someone. Here goes my crack at it, and knowing me, I'll get to day 2 and not post again for a month, but I'm really going to give this a good effort!!



Here is the list of topics, and below it, I will tackle day #1...

Day 1 - your favorite song
Day 2 - your favorite movie
Day 3 - your favorite television program
Day 4 - your favorite book
Day 5 - your favorite quote
Day 6 - 20 of your favorite things
Day 7 - a photo that makes you happy
Day 8 - a photo that makes you angry/sad
Day 9 - a photo you took
Day 10 - a photo taken over 10 years ago of you
Day 11 - a photo of you recently
Day 12 - something you are OCD about
Day 13 - a fictional book
Day 14 - a non-fictional book
Day 15 - your dream house
Day 16 - a song that makes you cry (or nearly)
Day 17 - an art piece (drawing, sculpture, painting, etc)
Day 18 - my weddingfuture weddingpast wedding
Day 19 - a talent of yours
Day 20 - a hobby of yours
Day 21 - a recipe
Day 22 - a website
Day 23 - a youtube video
Day 24 - where you live
Day 25 - your day, in great detail
Day 26 - your week, in great detail
Day 27 - your worst habit
Day 28 - what's in your handbag/purse
Day 29 - hopes, dreams, and plans for the next 365 days
Day 30 - a dream for the future



Day 1



Favorite Song

I have a lot of favorite songs. It really depends on the mood I'm in... I'm the kind of person who would say "oh, this is my favorite song" and then I'd hear another song and say "oh, wait this is my favorite song"... Most of the songs I love have a great memory attached, or some sort of sentimental meaning for me.

Here are a few of my favorites:

"American Pie" by Don McLean - it's just such a poetic song to me about such a sad tragedy. I love anything with a story.

"My Little Girl" by Time McGraw - This song came out in 2006, the same year our daughter (whom we waited almost 10 years for) came along. Just play this video for me and you'll have me in tears.

Pretty much anything by Garth Brooks. Yep, the man is that good. And, better in concert!

I'm not a huge fan of U2, but the song "With or Without You" is such a gut wrenching, all or nothing song, I just love the passion it has.

I could go on and on, but I'll leave you with another one of my very favorite songs:

(I promise, I'm not a 16 year old girl, but you know, because my daughter loves Jacob from Hedley, I kinda have to watch the videos....)

Hedley - Perfect

Cheers!

Wishing...

Wishing we didn't have to remember this day.

Wishing the family members of those lost didn't have to feel the pain they feel today and everyday for the rest of their lives.

Wishing the people who made it necessary to remember this day for the rest of history were never born. (it's much nicer than wishing they burn in hell)

Wishing that 9 years ago, our day wasn't spent in front of televisions, no matter where we were, open mouths, tears rolling and hearts hurting.

Wishing that everyday further we are from this horrific mark in history, the world can get it's shit together and find a way to live in some semblance of peace.

Wishing that the wishes that really matter really did come true.....