When you're the president of the Breakfast Club, and you're not hesitant to fall in love, To fall in love with the eighties...

* Warning: This post contains a random assortment of childhood books/authors/memories. It may or may not be coherent :) *

With the opening of Ramona and Beezus in theaters today, People.com had an interview of sorts with Beverly Cleary. I have to admit, I was more than a little excited to click on the article. I grew up reading books, and one of my top 5 favorite authors was Beverly Cleary. I read every book she wrote - more than once. Henry Huggins and his dog Ribsy, Ralph S. Mouse, Beezus, Ellen Tebbits, Socks, and my all time favorite - Ramona Quimby. I fell in love with the all of Cleary's stories, because on some levels you could relate to them, but they were also outlandish enough to make you laugh and cringe all at the same time. Ramona had this incredible imagination - one that I wish I had.

Anyways! I started this post because I read the article with Cleary, and I felt like she is exactly the person who I would have expected to write such wonderful books. She's 94 now, and seems like a wonderful woman who has done so much in her life! (I ended up reading a Wikipedia article on her as well, so not all of my thoughts stem from the People.com article.) She has a love for books and children, and both are evident in the way she has lived her life and the way she talks about her books. My favorite quote from the People article:

She doesn't analyze her characters.
During one meeting with Ramona and Beezus director Elizabeth Allen, "[Beverly] asked, 'What are the themes in Ramona?' " recalls Allen. "I said, 'It's about this iconoclast who's learning how to navigate in society.' And she looked at me cross-eyed and said, 'No. It's about growing up.'

I love the simplicity that she keeps to her charters and her stories. They are timeless, as she says, and she wants children of any generation to be able to pick up the books and be able to relate to them, or feel a sense of normalcy when they read them. I know it worked for me. Growing up, we moved around a lot and I was constantly changing schools. While I would eventually make new friends in the neighborhoods we lived in or at school, I never felt like I had a place. One thing I did have was books! The characters never changed no matter where I lived, and I would read books over and over again and it gave me a sense of security in new places. As I've grown up, every now and then I will pick up one of my childhood favorites and those feelings and love of the characters are still there. I look forward to sharing those books with my own kids one day! (In fact, I just cleaned out about 3 or 4 boxes of those books from my mom's basement and now they are in my basement! It was fun to go through them all.)

Since this is sort of a hodgepodge of ramblings, I think I will leave you with my some of my favorite childhood authors.

Beverly Cleary, of course.


Ann M. Martin - Babysitters Club Series

Louise Fitzhugh - Harriett The Spy and The Long Secret

Norton Juster - The Phantom Tollbooth


Francine Pascal - The Sweet Valley Twins and Sweet Valley High Series


Judy Blume (there are so many that I loved!!)


Roald Dahl (also, so many favorites!)


Carolyn Keene - I loved anything and everything Nancy Drew

Anyways, those are just a few. I read so much that I can't remember them all now! It was fun to take a trip down memory lane though...I really want to go home and read the Phantom Tollbooth now :)

Did you notice I was afraid? I thought I'd run out of things to say. Two more hours until today burns this away, and it starts all over again.

Some days are rough and tedious. Like today. I thought that yesterday was Wednesday, and it turns out - nope! It was only Tuesday. Now this is becoming the LONGEST Wednesday of my life. I need to laugh, so I found some entertaining Liz Lemon clips that did the trick. I love Tina Fey.

Stars shining bright above you, night breezes seem to whisper "i love you", birds singin’ in the sycamore trees, dream a little dream of me.

Well, to say that nothing has really been going on with us would be one big fat lie! Where to begin??

Well, for starters, for those of you who don't know yet - I'm pregnant! We are expecting the little one to arrive on or around December 10th - just in time for the holidays, poor thing! What a time to have a birthday. Jacob and I are really excited about it (and I'm mildly terrified!) I'm almost 14 weeks now...so I look forward to that 2nd trimester being better than the first thing to start happening. I have been blessed for sure, as I know plenty of people have it way worse than I do, but I'm ready to stop feeling so icky all the time. I've had lots of doctors appointments and a few ultrasounds, and we know that things are going well and that the little one is doing great. I'm right at 14 weeks, so hopefully I will start feeling better soon!

I survived the annual board meeting at work. It was a bit harder this time around since I was in my first trimester and all, but I did it and I didn't complain (well, I didn't complain at work. Jacob would probably say I complained a lot!) We had an even on Thursday night that was quite impressive. I have to admit, that my boss really knows how to put together an event. I have learned a lot from working with her on these things, and this one really took the cake. All the hard work we put in to making it happen really paid off because the Trustees loved it. It was nice to see people appreciate your efforts.

Jacob has planted our garden again, and it's doing really well so far! And I actually have pictures - good pictures to show!! Let me post some pics of the garden then I will explain my new picture taking circumstances. I wish I could remember all that he planted, but I know some of the things are tomatoes, cucumbers, jalapenos, cayenne peppers, bell peppers, strawberries...and a few others. Hes so good!

As far as having these beautiful pictures is concerned, I got a new camera! Well, I didn't get it persay, but my amazing husband and friends and brother all chipped in to get me this amazing camera that I have been wanting for my b-day! I turned 28 on the 28th, and I couldn't have been more grateful and humbled by what awesome people I have in my life! Heather took some pics and made a cute collage for her blog, so I stole it to put on mine! Yay for my Canon Rebel XS! It's such a stud :) Now I can take real pictures of things we do, people we love, and of our growing family! Bowser has proven to be a great subject so far!

Speaking of Bowser, what post would be complete without a few shots of the cute pup! He's about 50 pounds now and 8.5 months old. We totally got lucky when I picked him out - he's the best dog we could have asked for. Since I've been pregnant, he's gotten a lot more protective of me and the house. He barks when he hears or sees cars/strangers coming up the drive way or when he hears random noises that he knows aren't common. I love it! I feel safe and loved, especially when he comes and sits in front of me on guard and barking. Too cute! He also seems to be getting more well behaved (though if he steals my bottle of prenatal vitamins one more time....) Anyways! Enough about him! Here are some cute shots of him taken with my new camera!! Check out that tongue!

Oh, and so I know I have admitted that I have a deep love of the TV show Bones, but I also have that same love for Glee!! I'm a Gleek, and proud of it! I don't want to write about the finale in case some of you haven't watched it yet, but holy heck was I LOVING it! Not only do I love Journey, but I love the McKinley High Glee Club - great finale!! Here is them preforming at regionals - sigh. I just can't get enough :)

Can we pretend that airplanes in the night sky are like shooting stars; I could really use a wish right now...

Life has been a bit crazy and hectic lately! I will save those reasons for another post, but I'm grateful for little weekend getaways to see amazing and wonderful friends who make everything better :)

This past weekend I hopped in my car and drove down to Destin to see Mary!! I really needed a little break from work and such, and even thought I was sad to leave Jacob for the weekend, I needed me some Mary time. I love that they live closer now - even though I know they miss being near family. We had a lot of fun just hanging out, shopping, going to the beach, and hanging out some more. Mary and Cam seriously are the sweetest people and have some of the cutest kids! I had so much fun being with all of them. I miss her already and can't wait to go back and see her again!! Sadly, I don't have any pictures...but check out her blog to see just how cute their family is. I'm grateful for their hospitality and friendship. Mary has been such an amazing friend for so long, I just don't know what I'd do without her. I love you!!

Making the drive by myself wasn't to bad. I like driving and just listening to music - it relaxes me most of the time. I did great on the way down there and I made great time! I even bonded with Google Maps on the iPhone. (For those of you who don't know how much I usually don't like that app, this bonding experience was a HUGE step for me!) Well, on the way home it failed me. Once you load the directions, it doesn't matter if you have service or not you can still navigate the directions just fine. That's how I made it to Destin in one piece. Plus, I had printed out directions for the way there, just in case. I went home a different route than I came (mistake)! So, I was driving through a no service area on the way back, and something happened and I lost my directions! I couldn't even get the map to load! I tried to remain calm and not panic...I kept thinking that I will hit service soon and my map will come back. I had no idea where I was and I was fairly certain I had missed my turn. I finally pulled over when I had service and tried everything I could do to get my map back! When I tried to restart my phone, it would just freeze up for a while. Finally I called Jacob. I tried to be calm, but I'm pretty sure I was mildly freaking out. I couldn't have him get me directions because I didn't even know where I was. He told me of another way I could force my phone to shut off (I'm pretty sure if I hadn't been so flustered I would have thought of it eventually....maybe..) and once I did that, everything reloaded. I wasn't to far off the beaten path, but boy do I never want to rely on Google Maps again! (just the app, I still think they give the best directions from point A to point B). It made me further my desire to own a GPS. I don't travel far distances that often, but when I do I want to know I can make it home, and not be stuck in the middle of nowhere Alabama :)

**Mary posted a picture of us before we went to church on Sunday! I thought I'd post it too - I'm such a copy cat!

Still like that old time rock'n' roll, that kind of music just soothes the soul; I reminisce about the days of old, with that old time rock 'n' roll..

I love my iPod. I love my iPhone. I love music. These three things all go hand in hand quite nicely, especially when I can load my iPod, that's on my iPhone, with lots of music and plug it in to listen to in the car! I have been doing that for a while now, and have always thought that it's great! I love the shuffle feature, and when I turn it on, I just let it go and let it surprise me with what it plays next. It's really a great system.

Sometime over the last 2 weeks or so, I started flipping through some CD books that I had in my backseat that I haven't touched in a LONG time. As I flipped through the pages, a flood of memories came back as I saw the albums or mix cds that were in there. I unplugged my iPhone and put in some albums that I used to listen to all the time, that get lost when my iPod is on shuffle. It's been so much fun to listen to complete albums again. I love flipping through CD book and seeing the graphics on the different albums, or finding CD's that you can't buy on iTunes! (I used to listen to a lot of not so famous bands, so I have quite a few albums like that.)

It might sound silly, because music is just music, right, no matter what form you listen to it in. Not for me. I love flipping through all the old records that I got from my dad a while back - can you even believe he was going to just get rid of them?! Sheesh! I'm glad I saved them! I love the sound of the music as it's played on a record player - it sounds so authentic and vintage to me and I love that. I love finding old mix tapes that I used to make - the choppy editing or the clips from the radio right before and after the song. Or the mix tapes that people made for me! I still listen to this Offspring mix that a friend made me in high school - we did a mix tape trade. He gave me awesome rock music, and I gave him awesome boy band music - HA! I love the nostalgia and the memories that go with those sounds. Like listening to the records when I was little with my dad and brother - my dad was a big air guitar player and I remember him jamming out while we played along with him or danced around. I remember driving around with friends listening to those mix tapes.

I love being able to buy music instantly on iTunes. But as I flipped through the CD books, I remember waiting in line at midnight to buy the new release with my friends, or the concerts I went to where I discovered a new band and had to have the CD right then - sometimes they would even sign it. I miss going to record stores and perusing the aisles and getting into conversations with random people or employees about what bands are good and why they like them. I discovered so much music that way. I also miss holding the CD case in my hands and reading through the CD books. The art, pictures, lyrics and bios always fascinated me. I feel like those things made music personal to me, and I have lost that spark now. Don't get me wrong, I still love listening to my music and am grateful for all the technology that goes along with making it accessible and enjoyable. I just miss the experience that used to go along with that. Maybe those feelings and ideas are part of being younger, and as you get older it just goes away.

Regardless, I'm grateful I kept some randoms CD's in my car and I think I will keep listening to them for a while before I jump back into the world of iPods and digital downloads.

When I saw him I felt the room divide into pieces, Oh the lights danced around us just like stars in the sky...

In my attempt to be a more consistent blogger, I decided I need to post. But what do I post about? How about the random thoughts that have been plaguing my mind lately.

1) I don't know how many of you know, but I love the TV show Bones. It's on its 5th season right now, and for a while I never watched it. But season 1 was on sale at Target for like $10 bucks one day, so I bought it. It looked interesting, so I thought why not. It took me forever to actually watch it, but once I did, I was hooked! Such a good show! I blew through all 4 seasons and was watching the new episodes on Thursday nights. I am a huge fan of Booth and Brennan, and I want them to get together. They recently had their 100th episode and things came to a head, but now we are in that limbo period waiting to see what happens. I know it's ridiculous, but I am a bit of a hopeless romantic in some ways, and I can't help feeling so defeated when another episodes goes by and it's still not happening. I haven't wanted two people to get together so badly since Pacy and Joey on Dawsons Creek!! (Have I said to much?!) Anyways, I just look forward to the season finale because I am thinking that a little closure will come my way. I hope.

2) I am really sad about all the education cuts going on in Cobb County right now. I really hate when education takes a huge hit, because I feel that it's one of the most important things we can do for children and our community! I have always wanted to one day be a teacher, and it seems like it gets harder and harder to be able to do that since they are constantly having to lay people off or have salary cuts. Working for a university, I have been able to see the effects of budget cuts more and I know its tough. It just makes me sad to know that kids could get a lesser quality education because of budget cuts. I was really involved in the arts in high school and I know that they can be the first ones to go, and I think it's a travesty. I don't know tons about government budgets and how they make the decisions they do, but this budget cut has inspired me to get more informed. I want to know that our kids are being taken care of and getting an education that will help them go far in life. Plus, there are so many friends I have in the education field, I hate to hear about the possibility of them getting laid off. I should probably be more informed about things before I rant about it, but it's on my mind so I thought I'd share.

3) I'm super excited and proud of Jacob and all the amazing work he's done at the house this week. Our yard is looking a million times better! I wish I could have taken some time off to help out, but he's doing such a great job. His parents have been very helpful to! I can't wait to see what it looks like when it's finished. I will save the details of what they are doing for a later post so we can post the pictures of it. It is definitely inspiring to make the inside of the house look as good as the outside though. I have some serious work to do!

4) I'm really happy it's Friday. I need some downtime from work. It's been a busy week! My boss has been stuck in France due to the volcano in Iceland. She was supposed to be gone for two weeks, returning to the office on Monday. They can't even catch a flight until next Tuesday. They had to drive down to Madrid from Paris to even catch that flight! I can't imagine having to deal with all of that mayhem, let alone the extra cost of spending an additional week and a half in Europe. I personally would have gone down to Italy and tried to catch a flight out of there, after some exploration of course!

5) Apparently I look as tired as I feel today. Multiple people have mentioned to me how tired I look. It's funny that some people can say that to me and it doesn't phase me at all - I know them well enough to know it's not a mean comment or I know them well enough to where they are allowed to say things like that to me (in a nice way of course.) Then there are the people who I don't know well enough, or at all really, and it comes across as a rude comment. Today has lacked the rudeness, thank goodness, but I went to the bathroom after the 4th comment and yeah...not only do I look super tired, my hair is a mess too. Oh well! Happy Friday!!

Remember spring swaps snow for leaves, you'll be happy and wholesome again, when the city clears and sun ascends...

Today is my hodgepodge update. I've been told by a few different people that I need to get on the blogging ball...so this is me..on the ball!

It's been pretty quiet here at work, which I am so grateful for. I know this is just the calm before the storm, since my boss is out for two weeks, and I know once she gets back it will be high stress all the way. We have our Annual Board of Trustee Meeting in June, and that one is always more stressful than the Quarterly ones. It's a big song and dance of putting on events and meetings and it is seriously the most stressful thing I have ever done. This will be my third one. I worked through my first one while passing a kidney stone. I had been in the ER that weekend and I still hadn't passed it by Monday morning, but I had to come in because the meetings were that week. Can we say miserable? For the record...taking Vicoden while working isn't the best idea in the world. Anyways! I am really grateful for this time where I can get as much of my stuff done as possible, so when it's gets insane around here, hopefully I won't be as stressed.

Heather and I started up a recipe blog - Don't Forget to Lick the Spoon! We have been talking about doing one for a while, and we finally did. Check it out!! It will be lots of fun to start documenting the things we love to make and to be able to share those things with you!

Bon appetit y'all!

So, I don't have kids yet, but I do have an adorable puppy, so....I'm going to talk about him for a minute :)

Bowser is adorable as ever and getting bigger every day! He has eaten a random assortment of things no dog should ever eat. The list includes: a bottle of prenatal vitamins, earwax remover, shampoo, toilet paper, make up removing face wipes, and lots of cardboard. He really loves to play outside, but not if we aren't out there with him, which can be a pain. Jacob has started teaching him how to catch a Frisbee, and he's getting pretty dang good at that. He's started trying to catch bees and other bugs that fly around. Apparently the other day he caught one, and then he opened his mouth back up and the bee flew out! HA! He's also getting more protective. Usually when people come over he goes up to them and wants them to pet him and all, but when the AC guy came the other day, Bowser didn't go up to him. He hung back and stayed near me most of the time. He would go see where the guy went and when the guy would come back, Bowser would be near me again. I won't lie - I kinda love that. This first picture is my favorite!! That's the grumpiest face I have ever seen!

I know this is pretty behind the times, but it snowed in Atlanta a few times this winter, and I love the way our house looks covered in snow! Bowser also loved the snow, but got neutered the day before the big snow hit, so he didn't get to enjoy it as much as he would have liked..