Top Ten Tuesday

I am loving posting a photo every morning as part of the 5,076 Miles Apart project with my friend, Sara.

But lately I have felt like I have been neglecting the actual art of blogging. It really has to do with the fact that I have been SUPER busy. So I thought a meme would be a great way to get back to chatting. Yes, it is cheating a little, but it's better than nothing, right?

So this morning I will take part in Top Ten Tuesday. Today's topic: (drumroll please)


Top Ten Things I Would Like To Be If I Could Not Be A Homosapien -

• 1.Canary
Oh to just sing and fly all day long! It couldn't get better than that. I wouldn't want to be a caged canary though. I would want to be free. 

• 2. Wild Horse
I love horses....always have, always will. 

• 3. Piano
I would prefer to be a loved piano in a home, perhaps belonging to a piano teacher. This way I could be played by trained fingers, creating musical masterpieces, as well as little hands, proud over their accomplishment of playing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" perfectly. 

• 4. Dolphin
I have always loved dolphins and their friendly, playful nature. I think I would make a good dolphin. :) 

• 5. Fairy
Who wouldn't want to be a small and sparkly fairy living in the woods? Every little girl's dream at some point, right? 

• 6. A Kodak Theatre Balcony
Oh the performances I would get to see, including the Academy Awards. Oh and Idol too. :D 

• 7. A Field of Tulips
They are beautiful and cheerfully greet the morning, something that I still need to work on myself. 

• 8. A Rainbow
The beauty that appears after a storm and also symbolizes God's promise. What a delight that would be. 

• 9. A Cherry Tree
While I personally hate cherries, I LOVE, LOVE cherry blossoms. 

• 10. Sleeping Beauty's Castle at Disneyland
Well, it is smack dab in the middle of the Happiest Place on Earth.

Head on over to One Thing for more Top Ten Tuesday fun.

Check out my friend, Tiffany's, Top Ten Tuesday post.

Carnival Birthday

Well the miss is 6. We had a carnival birthday party yesterday and it was LOADS of fun!

There were bubbles and face painting.







We played a few games, including a tin can toss, goldfish toss, balloon darts and a duck hunt. Of course there were prizes as well. Each family also went home with a goldfish.











We had delicious Ice Cream Cone cupckaes which were super fun and easy to make. The kids devoured them.














All in all it was a total blast. I think all of the kids had great fun.

The Man On The Street Corner

This will most likely be lots of rambling...I'm not the best at being direct/getting to the point. Sara, says I'm verbose...it's true! But I have so many thoughts right now...stemming from the homeless man I saw this afternoon on the street corner..and I have to get them out.

It's cold outside...VERY cold. The weather channel says that it feels like 17 degrees right now. Despite the bitter chill in the air...and the THICK layer of ice I had to scrape off my windshield...I still ran an errand this afternoon.

But the cold isn't so bad when you blast the heat in your car...coffee helps too. I saw many drivers holding Starbucks cups. Thank goodness for cars, coffee and heat.

I sat in the left hand turn lane...headed home....and I saw him. He was across the way...at the other side of the intersection. I've seen him once or twice before, I think. He seems to hang out on this particular street corner a lot. He looks to be in his 50's...maybe older. He just stands, very still...holding a sign that says that he is homeless.

He doesn't get pushy...he never even directly looks at anyone...he doesn't go up to the cars and stare at the drivers, as I have seen others do in the past....He just looks straight ahead...holding his sign.

Seeing him today though, made me teary-eyed. It is just so cold outside. He had an old, worn baseball cap on...but that was definitely not enough to keep his head warm. He had nothing covering his ears. His coat was not very heavy. Thank goodness he did have some gloves on.

I couldn't stop watching him out of the corner of my eye. So badly I wanted to drive over to him..tell him to get in my car...take him to my house and give him a nice hot meal....but since this world is a scary place....since I have young children in my home...and since I don't know anything about him...I didn't.....I wouldn't....but oh how I wanted to.

Maybe he really is the sweetest man...maybe he served our country once....maybe he wouldn't hurt a fly...but of course...there is no way to know that.

I did wipe a tear from my eye...when I realized that I really couldn't help him. I did watch one lady roll down her window and hand him some cash. That was nice. If I had had a cup of coffee with me...I would have given it to him.

I know that many people say that the people who hang out on the street corners with their signs...are just trying to get some easy money...just trying to hit up a bar for a drink...or get some cigarettes. But, I don't know how much I believe that....not sure if that is true in all circumstances...BUT I do feel that anyone who is out there in THIS WEATHER...really has no other choice.

As I finished driving to my WARM home...I couldn't shake his image out of my head. Funny thing is, this morning when I woke up in my comfy bed.....ate breakfast....and played with my children in various rooms in our house...I never once thought about anybody else...about any homeless people dealing with the cold weather....never even crossed my mind.

I know I have a compassionate heart...I know I have helped people....I know that there are causes that I care about....but it seems like I do it in spurts....I'll really rally behind something for a bit...but then I get caught up in my life...my day to day.....and I find that some time goes by....before I REALLY help another person (outside of my family).

But then I see someone...like this man on the street corner....and it hits me. Why is it that we have TO SEE IT before our hearts break?

How different would it be...if all street corners were lined with young children from Northern Uganda with signs asking for help....or if street corners were lined with abused children....or children looking for someone to adopt them....or homeless families.

Is that what we need before we take action?

If you woke up tomorrow morning...and a mother from Africa was in your front yard with her babies.....would you help her then?

Just something to think about.

I prayed for the man on the street corner. I prayed that he would have somewhere warm to sleep tonight. And I'll continue to pray for him.

And I Told Her That I Loved Her Butterfly Dress

Yes, you all know that I love American Idol and also that I adore Brooke White. I was such a fan of hers during her season of Idol. I loved her personality, her vocal style and her clothes. I especially loved her butterfly dress.

I can get a little obsessive about things that catch my eye. I remember googling as soon as that episode aired to find out where I could get that dress. I did finally find it, and the designer and saw the price tag. And some obsessions, well you just have to let them float away...because there was no way I would be able to afford Brooke White's dress.

If you want to know, it's alice + olivia. $396 for the long dress, $330 for the short version. But that was awhile ago, so it might not even be sold anymore. Or maybe it's on clearance somewhere...hmmmmmm

Anyway, this past July, I had the opportunity to watch Brooke perform a few songs from her new album, High Hopes & Heartbreak. She also included her version of "Let It Be", which she performed on Idol. Because I am obsessive such a fan, I caught her right after her sound check, but right before hair and makeup, and talked briefly with her about American Idol.

I also told her that I loved her butterfly dress. She laughed and said, everyone remembers that dress. Supposedly she wore it on the night she infamously stopped her song and asked to start over. I honestly didn't remember that.



Anyway, we snapped a picture, and I left so that she could go get all dolled up for her performance later that night. A little later on in the evening, Janice interviewed her.



While the interview was being conducted, I chatted briefly with her manager and almost begged him to um, listen to me sing, or help me make an album..or anything..something. Actually, I awkwardly asked him his advice on how a young mom can get an "in" into the music business if they have no demo or representation....he looked at me like I was an idiot...and told me that Youtube helps to get exposure.

So, check out my Youtube page soon for various karaoke style numbers ... KIDDING!!!

I am over the whole wanting a music career deal. I love the life God has blessed me with. Anyway, enough about THAT.

Check out our interview with Brooke White. She dishes about American Idol, talks about her new album and shows us once again that she is just the sweetest person EVER.



Oh, and check out her album too. :)

Toot Toot Chugga Chugga

I took Isaiah to see The Wiggles last week. He is a HUGE, HUGE fan of the foursome, and I mean HUGE. You should see Isaiah rock out to The Wiggles.

Funny thing is, when the concert started, Isaiah froze up. Perhaps he was in shock or very star-struck. Whatever it was, he sat on my lap and clung to me for almost the entire show. I tried to get him to dance around and play his new Wiggles guitar that I just HAD to buy him before the show started. But Isaiah would have nothing to do with dancing.

In fact, when Murray, his favorite Wiggle, came down the aisle, stood right next to us, and waved hello, Isaiah just stared at him, with his jaw to the ground. But you know if Brad Pitt came right next to me and said hi, I would most likely have the same response.

Before the very last song started, The Wiggles asked everyone in the audience to stand up and dance along. Finally, Isaiah jumped off my lap and boogied down, just like he does in our living room.

And, since our seats were just four rows from the stage, and on the aisle, Isaiah got to move around and get pretty close to the stage. (Side note: My tickets were only $33 a piece.)

Anyway, I filmed Isaiah dancing and playing his guitar to the last song of the night. He's just so stinking cute.

What I Learned At BlogHer

I learned some valuable things this year at BlogHer 2009 -

1. I NEED a cell phone. It's true, I don't own a cell phone. I haven't owned one for over 4 years. Apparently that is a very rare thing these days. The car service people I talked to using the payphone at the airport, were in shock....so were the lovely reps at the T-Mobile booth, when I spun the prize wheel, hoping and praying to win a phone. I didn't win one by the way. But I did receive a container of mints...in the shape of a cell phone.

1.5 If I had had a cell phone, I would not have found it necessary to walk for miles and miles around the Sheraton, in horrible shoes, trying to locate Janice and Susan. And just so you know, those ladies can be HARD to find!

2. My favorite booth at the expo was the Hanes booth because it had cupcakes..tons and tons of little, delightful cupcakes. They were a smart bunch, those Hanes folks...and attracted many.....or maybe just many visits from me.

3. The only swag you need to bring home for your kids is Mr. Potato Head. All of the other stuff will hardly get a second glance.

4. Speaking of Mr. Potato Head, his wife, Mrs. Potato Head, is an extraordinary dancer and loves to jam out to Baby Got Back.



5. PR people are the beautiful people, seriously. They are also super friendly and easy to talk to.

6. Some of the sessions at BlogHer are for people who are quite a bit more liberal than I am. I was a bit uncomfortable in the few that I did attend....to be honest.

7. When you are sorting through pounds and pounds of swag with your roommates and cameraman at 3:00 A.M. and are so tired that all of you are acting drunk (very loud, hyper, funny) the knock on your door won't be a hotel employee or security. It will instead be a group of drunk folks hoping that they found a happening party.

*side note: we gave tons and tons of the swag away to charity and were so happy to have the opportunity to do that.*

8. The conference and parties are almost more exhausting than caring for 3 kiddos.I still haven't caught up on sleep.

9. It's fun getting to the parties a tad earlier than everyone else...due to setting up for interviews. There was something relaxing about getting to chill in the party area...before all of the screaming, blasting music and hundreds of people.

10. I do get teary-eyed listening to a former American Idol contestant perform...because deep down I want so much to be making albums and putting on shows. But then the tears stop as I reflect on what I do have in my life....my gorgeous, amazing children and wonderful husband. Mine is a far more blessed life. :)



11. When you have been away from your kids for a number of days, when you finally get to see them again...they look tons bigger. I swear my kids grew like crazy while I was away.

12. Janice and Susan rock! They are incredible, seriously. When those two are at a conference, they work so hard. They've got the X factor in the social media world. I am so blessed to work with them.

13. Rachel at Grasping For Objectivity, has got to be one of the sweetest people I have ever met....and has convinced me that I need to visit Alabama.


14. Gwen Bell is such an amazing, incredible person. We have a fabulous interview with her....that you must watch as soon as it's live.
Photo from Flickr (http://www.flickr.com/photos/eyeficard/3755804825/)

15. I am already looking forward to BlogHer 2010 in NEW YORK CITY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Walk Like An Egyptian

He's walking, so I HAD to make a little video!

Just promise me that you will ignore my messy house. It's easy to do, if you just focus on his cute little legs, instead of all of the toys strewn about. Deal????

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com