Book recommendations??

I'm in need of some new books to read. I just finished Same Kind of Different as Me (I know book titles are supposed to be underlined, but I can't figure out how to do it!!). I've also already read The Shack (I was not impressed). I don't care for Science Fiction or Fantasy Books. I do love Christian Literature.

What do you recommend?

Ipod Shuffle...aka Go Light Your World

I saw this on another blog I follow and thought that it would be fun to try it out on my blog. It's the Ipod Shuffle!

1. Put your iPod (or MP3 player) on shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS!
4. Tag friends who might enjoy doing the note as well as the person you got the note from.

IF SOMEONE SAYS "IS THIS OKAY" YOU SAY?
Shout to the North -- Delerious

WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY?
Jive Talkin' -- The BeeGees

WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?
Jewels -- The Peasall Sisters

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE'S PURPOSE?
Remember Me -- Mark Shultz

WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?
Our Last Summer -- Mamma Mia Soundtrack

WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
Peace of Mind -- Boston

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?
Tonight The Heartache's on Me -- Dixie Chicks

WHAT IS 2+2?
When There Was Me and You -- High School Musical Soundtrack

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
You Do All Things Well -- Chris Tomlin

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
How Great Is Our God -- Chris Tomlin

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
Soak Up The Sun -- Sheryl Crow

WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
Lifesong -- Casting Crowns

WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
Clumsy -- Fergie

WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?
Amazing -- Janelle

WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
Fergalicious -- Fergie

WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
When a Man Loves a Woman -- Percy Sledge

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?
What About Love -- Heart

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
Life is a Highway -- Rascal Flatts

WHAT'S THE WORST THING THAT COULD HAPPEN?
I Wanna Know What Love Is -- Foreigner

HOW WILL YOU DIE?
Chasing Cars -- Snow Patrol (lol!)

WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU REGRET?
Don't Matter -- Akon

WHAT MAKES YOU LAUGH?
Love of My Life -- Jim Brickman

WHAT MAKES YOU CRY?
To the Only God -- David Crowder

WILL YOU EVER GET MARRIED?
For Good -- Wicked Soundtrack

WHAT SCARES YOU THE MOST?
Take On Me -- A-ha

DOES ANYONE LIKE YOU?
This Man -- Jeremy Camp

IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN TIME, WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE?
Summer Love -- Justin Timberlake

WHAT HURTS RIGHT NOW?
There's Your Trouble -- Dixie Chicks

WHAT WILL YOU POST THIS AS?
Go Light Your World -- Chris Rice

I tag anyone who reads this!!!! So, if you are willing to do it, let me know by leaving a comment and I'll come read your shuffle! :)

"Her lens popped out"

So today, I'm sitting on the couch watching "The Women" when I get a phone call from the Elementary School. As a mom, when you see that number pop up on caller ID you know it's usually not a good thing. So, I answer and hear, "Hi Mrs. Lindley, this is Nurse Liz, don't panic everyone is okay." Whew, that's a relief. The nurse then says, "I just wanted to call you and let you know Emma was just in my office and her lens popped out." At this point, I'm totally confused. Her lens popped out?? What?? The nurse, having no idea that I have no clue as to what she is talking about, goes on to explain that Emma had been in the lunchroom when it popped out so they sent her to the clinic to have it fixed. So, finally I say, "What lens are you talking about?" and she said she was talking about Emma's glasses. So, I tell her, Emma doesn't wear glasses....are you sure you called the right mother (there is another Emma in her class that does, in fact, wear glasses). Fortunately, Nurse Liz was a great sport...she knew she had the right Emma (and the right Mom) and just laughed it off. Poor thing spent 15 minutes fixing those glasses! Turns out, Emma had taken a pretend pair of glasses to school with her today without my knowledge! I was just thankful it was something simple as a popped out lens, and not anything more serious like a stomach bug. Fortunately, we've been spared from those!

Zumba, anyone??

I tried Zumba out 2 weeks ago. It's a new class that is being offered at my gym, Bodyplex. So far, I really like it. It's more fun than actual exercising, but don't get me wrong...it burns some calories! I've burned over 500 calories each time I've taken the class. (I wear a HR monitor watch during class, that's how I know how any calories I burn.) I'm hoping they add more classes to the schedule. Currently, it's only offered at 4:30 on Tuesday afternoons. I'd like to see it offered in the morning one or two days a week. If you want to get "physical" but aren't looking for standard aerobics, look for a Zumba class near you! It's SO much fun!

Off to Zumba!!!

Rough weekend....

Saturday was a bittersweet day for our family...as I guess it will always be. It was my Dad's birthday, but also the 9th anniversary of my brother's death. Time is a strange thing. It does not heal all wounds. The death of a loved one creates a void, an emptiness that can not be replaced. It's like a missing puzzle piece. There is not a day that goes by that we don't think of Robby. It's amazing...my kids never met him, I was 20 weeks pregnant with Emma when he died, but they each have a little "Robby-ness" to them. Amy is the most like him. She's never quiet, and she has a bit of a mean streak. She's even left handed like he would have been if he hadn't of had a stroke as a baby.

Each year feels a little different. I'm thankful that I'm another year closer to seeing him again, but sad that it's been so long since I've seen him. He was an awesome brother, always willing to take care of his little sister. I'm thankful for all of the fun memories I have with him and I love how sometimes something will pop in my mind at just the time I need it most. I always enjoy hearing other peoples stories about Robby. Sometimes it's things I've never heard before, others it's things I may have forgotten. I'll never tire of talking or hearing about Robby. If you have any memories to share, please do!

I hope this post isn't too jumbled. My head has all sorts of thoughts swimming around. I just felt like writing some of them down.

New Year...new eating habits???

I'm not a fan of diets. I think they put too much pressure on a person. Not only that, but it seems whenever I restrict myself from having something...I immediately crave that "something" I'm not supposed to have. It's not a winning situation for me. That being said, I am a supportive person and the person I support most of all is my sweet hubby. So, this year, when he asked me if I'd be interested in going "low carb" with him, I hesitantly agreed. So, last Monday, I went low-carb.

So far, it hasn't been too bad. I don't miss the breads, rice, sugars, etc. as much as I thought I might. I have learned to drink my morning coffee with sugar free flavored non-dairy creamer (and it's actually tolerable...not great, but I can handle it). I've been eating eggs and bacon or eggs and sausage for breakfast. For lunch I usually have a salad or I'll make some chicken or tuna salad and eat it rolled in a piece of romaine lettuce. For dinner, we've had pesto stuffed chicken, salmon, steak fajita's without the tortillas, Cobb salad, chili, and grilled chicken. I will say I have missed my desserts!! I have a big sweet tooth, but I can have 3 teaspoons of peanut butter a day, so I've been using that as my "dessert" this week. I would say the hardest parts are the breakfast and lunch....I like a little more variety in my menu. But, all in all, it hasn't been bad.

I also got back into a better routine at the gym this past week. I started out on Monday running a mile and going to BodyPump (weight-lifting class). On Tuesday I ran a mile and went to Zumba, a fun latin-dancing inspired aerobics class. I took Wednesday off because I was SO sore from working out on Monday night. Thursday I went to BodyStep and Friday morning I ran another mile and did another BodyPump class. It felt good to burn calories! I wear a heart rate monitor watch when I workout that calculated the number of calories I burn...I was happy to see that I burned over 2,400 calories last week!

This morning, I stepped on the scale. Now, I usually fluctuate about 2 pounds all the time. So, based on my "high" weight fluctuation, I lost 5 pounds last week. But, if you base it on my "low" fluctuation, I lost 3! Still, not too shabby! So, I guess something is working! I've committed to going "low carb" with David until our Dwarf House Holiday Dinner on the 23rd of this month. Hopefully during this time I can get off a few more pounds! After that, I'm going to add in a few carbs (like non-sugar free creamer and maybe some oatmeal) but still restrict them as much as I can. I'm hoping this better way of eating will become a habit.

Oh, and David lost 5 pounds as well!

Testing

Just testing sending photos from the phone to the blog!

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Audrey's first Nutcracker!

Long before my kids were born, my mom and I decided that when the kids were old enough, we would make it a yearly tradition to see The Nutcracker at the Fox Theater each Christmas. Once they were born, we decided that the "magic age" would be five years old. Emma is an old pro by now, this year being her fourth Nutcracker, but this year was Audrey's first! We all were counting down the weeks until it was finally here! I knew she would love it...I could remember how mesmerized Emma was the first time she saw it (and she had been throwing up all night the night before) so we couldn't wait to see what Audrey would think...let me tell you, she did not disappoint!

I bought her a new fancy dress to wear and even dusted the girls with some shimmery powder so they would really sparkle and off we went! We got to the Fox about 30 minutes prior to showtime. We went to the potty, visited the concession stand (you just can't watch the Nutcracker without popcorn!) and bought the both of the girls an actual Nutcracker. It didn't take Audrey long to choose hers...the Mouse King. Emma ended up with the Mouse King as well...she already has Clara and Uncle Strosselmyer from previous years. By the time we made it to our (front row) seats we only had to wait about 5 minutes for showtime.

When the show started, so did the questions! The show starts with townspeople walking across the stage...and Uncle Strosselmyer appears in an upstairs window. Audrey immediately wanted to know who the people were and "how in the world did that man get up there?"! Once the opening scene was finished and the crowd applauded, Audrey leaned over to me and said, "Is it over?" I had to explain to her that you are supposed to clap after each song, but that doesn't mean it's over. It only took about 7-8 songs before she stopped asking and started telling me, "Mom, it's not over, they are just clapping."

She was full of questions throughout the whole performance and I was so glad that I had purchased front row seats...I can just imagine how many dirty looks we might have gotten if there were people in front of us to hear her talk so much! One of my favorite moments was when all of the mice are on the stage fighting with the nutcracker...Audrey was so caught up in watching them that she failed to notice the furniture being moved around on stage....when the Mouse King came out of the Wardrobe, she noticed the large grandfather clock had moved....she said to me, "Okay, how did that clock get over there?" My other favorite was during one of the many dance scenes a couple came out and the man had on some baggy pants and a vest, but no shirt (sort of like Aladdin). Audrey leaned over to me and said, "Mommy, he forgot his shirt!" She knew we had been several years in a row so she then asked me if they wear the same costumes every year...I told her that they do, but sometimes they change a little bit, they might be different colors, etc. Her next question..."Did he forget his shirt last year too?" I think I enjoyed watching Audrey experience the Nutcracker more than the actual ballet itself!

Once it was over, we made our way to the Old Spaghetti Factory for dinner. We love going to eat there after a performance at the Fox! We arrived at 4:30, and they don't start seating until 5:00. We got choice seats...right inside the train car! We've been fortunate enough to sit in the train every year after the Nutcracker. Audrey and Emma had a great time and they both agree that the Macaroni and Cheese is delicious!

From there we followed tradition again by stopping at the Krispy Kreme that's just 2 doors down from the restaurant. We were happy to see the "Hot Doughnuts Now" sign illuminated. Audrey and Emma got to watch the production of the doughnuts we brought home! It was a wonderful night...full of great memories! I can't wait to take Amy next year as she turns the "magic age" in July.