Bullseye

We just got back from playing darts with our friends (Brad, Christen, Benson, and Emily.) I have to admit that I really enjoy a good game of darts. The two games that we get the most enjoyment out of are Cricket and Gotcha. I'll leave out who won the earlier games, but in the final round of team cricket...Ben and I walked away with a W. woo hoo! And the last win is all that matters right!!

Oh and I just came to the conclusion tonight that I have to stay in shape as long as possible. Not so I will be a healthy old woman, but so I will never actually have to sit on a public restroom toilet. I need these legs to stay in shape to protect me from whatever is on that seat. I get the heebie jeebies just thinking about it.

On a different note...I love our friends! We just can't seem to get enough of them...I wonder if our kids will play together later in life. How cool would that be? I have heard of a lot of couples talk about arranging their kid's marriage. I am also guilty of that kind of talk....how amazing would it be to have your kid marry the kid of some of your best friends. Watch out little Brayden and Kylie you WILL get married and you WILL let me dance to Baby Got Back at your wedding.

note: Brayden is not my 1st choice for a boy name, but I don't want you to steal it and name your kid my #1 name

Talking about this subject, however, does not imply anything!! Mom this is mainly for you! :) I told Ben that we can't have children until he stops bringing his GameBoy to weddings. So I am guessing that it will be another 20-30 years. Until then we are that couple at the wedding playing a quick round of Mario Kart while waiting for the Bride to come down the aisle. Classy huh?

Never Gets Old

I still get a huge kick out of beating up my brothers. I think it is even more fun with a tag team partner! However, Jordan isn't exactly small anymore...he is 14 now, about 5'9, and has a death grip. I give it one more year before he can kick the crap out of me. So my goal is to get in as meaning beatings in this next year as physically possible. :) Logan, I apologize now...but you still have about 3 more years of thrashings to endure.

You'll Shoot Your Eye Out....

Here is a post to show my appreciation of the Christmas Classics. Nothing says "Merry Christmas" like a paint can to the face, a dysfunctional family, or a big green Grinch trying to steal Christmas.

Here are a few clips to fill you with Holiday Cheer!

A Christmas Story


Home Alone


Love Actually


Others I also recommend

- Charlie Brown's Christmas
- It's a Wonderful Life
- Elf
- "Original" How the Grinch Stole Christmas
- Mickey's Christmas Carol
- National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation

If you haven't seen any of those...you should this season. Quality!

Time for Christmas Music

So sometimes I'm embarrassed of the Christmas music I like. I mean seriously...just look at the cover to her album. I understand it is older and maybe a red onsey with a black belt was cool at one time...but how are you supposed to feel cool when you listen to this? Regardless....it is my ringtone for my phone during the Christmas season. Love it! All I Want for Christmas is You....one of my all time favorite Holiday songs. I wish I could say it was a Frank Sinatra version of a Christmas song (which I do love), but nope it is Mariah Carrey! Here are some other songs that I thoroughly enjoy around the Holidays...but am not necessarily proud of...

1. Santa Baby by Britney Spears

2. Christmas Shoes by Newsong

3. Kenny G's Faith - A Holiday Album

4. Deck the Halls by SheDaisy (A country band kind of like The Dixie Chicks)

5. Chipmunks Christmas song (reminds me of my childhood)

6. The whole Home Alone soundtrack

I also am a sucker for Christmas movies. I'll do a post later about that one. But...I know I can't be the only one who loves cheesy Holiday music....I'd love to hear what your guilty pleasure music is.

Black Friday

The Thanksgiving break was a tad busy...so this will just be my blog for all of those missed days. Brace yourself!

I had a great Thanksgiving on both sides of the family. I always forget how great family can make you feel until I am stuffing my face at the the table. I think it is the family that is making me feel great...or maybe it's that 5th piece of pumpkin pie.

After traveling to see Ben's family we drove home to sleep. Now we decided to be one of the crazies for the holiday season and participate in Black Friday. I have been trying to talk Ben into getting a new tv. We have this 21 inch television that I got when I went to college. You can't see crap when you watch it from our couch. So I begged and begged him...showed him ads to convince him. He told me no. Then his uncle told him it was a good buy and to get him one if we waited in line. Now Ben was on board. Glad that my persuasive skills work wonders on him. pshhh! Oh well...I am just glad that somebody talked him into getting this 37 inch flat screen LCD television for $550.

Anways so we got home at 1:30am, slept until 3:30am, bundled up, grabbed our Nintendo DS and headed to Target. We were about the 30th ones in line at around 4am. Now I have never been shopping on the day after Thanksgiving...and I was thinking that it couldn't be as bad as everybody said it was.

So here is the quick version of how it went down.
- Froze our butts off until 6
- Doors opened at 6 on the dot. We power walked (I looked super cool) down the isle at Target.
- I saw one of the newspaper photographers so I put on a normal face as I passed him and then resumed my scrunched determination face as I approached the stack of television boxes.
- Ben grabbed one TV and I grabbed another. Those puppies are heavy. We set them down in the women's clothing section. Then I left Ben to watch them as I made my way to the electronics.
- I never thought I would push or shove, but when every other person there is pushing and shoving you...it becomes a defense mechanism. So I pushed my way to the guitar heros. Which by the way included 2 guitars and Guitar Hero III for 85 dollars.
-There was some more looking, I went back and got Ben.... and then we got in, what we thought was the check out line.
-For the next 2 and a half hours we circled the store with other customers thinking we were heading for the registers.
-People starting yelling and getting very frustrated. Not even the employees knew which line was the real one. One guy even sent us to the back of a fake line that didn't move.
-By 8:00am there wasn't really anybody shopping. Just people trying to check out.
- We finally got home at 9:30 after our debit card failed at the checkout line. I guess it is a safety thing and wont allow you to spend very much at one time. So I had to hold up the line, run out to my car, and get the check book.
- We showered and slept until 4.
- Finally ate our first bite of food for the day around 5:30pm
- Set up our tv
-Picked up the house
-Played indoor soccer at 10:45pm and felt like DEATH!

But gosh darnit we got that TV!

Here it is in all of it's glory!




Following our experience...Ben told his Dad that he would be free for hunting on Black Friday for the next 50 years!

Turkey Day Eve

Today was jean day, pay day, and the last work day of the week. It totally feels like a Friday. I am beyond excited about this 4 day weekend.

Tomorrow will be a bit crazy due to the fact that me and Ben are people pleasers. Therefore we will try to make it to both Thanksgivings and stay for as long as possible at both. I know there will be a day when we will have to make one of our mothers upset, but we will try to delay that as long as possible. Until then we don't mind using up a tank of $3.09/gal. gas.

Let me just tell you that I Love My Family!! They are so layed back and witty...my brothers are getting so big and we can have actual conversations...and my sister is back at home! I am very blessed!

I am also thankful to have the In-laws that I have. I have never once dreaded going to a family event...I even look forward to them. Ben's siblings and their spouses are close to our age and we all get along really well. Not to mention that Lindsey and Adam have the cutest baby ever. We never get enough of Simon...and now that he is getting to the playful age, we can't wait to get our next dose of his giggles and constant tongue sticking outing. I just sat here for like 3 minutes trying to think of how to phrase that...so just go with it.

So with tomorrow being Turkey Day... I feel compelled to make a small list of my Thanksgiving favorites and what I am thankful for.

First the food:
Pumpkin Pie
Pecan Pie
Mashed Potatoes

Seriously, I could just eat those 3 and be a very happy camper.

Things I am Thankful for:
My wonderful, Godly, forgiving, funny, and good-looking husband. "woo"
Family and friends who care and love me/us
Our new place (we moved into a Duplex, maybe I should blog about that sometime)
Health
An Amazing Church
My sister being back at home

Not important, but still thankful for:
The Office
Halo
Guitar Hero
Super comfy sheets
Candles

That is all from me. Happy Thanksgiving Eve!

Proofreading Saves Relationships

Texting. It comes in very handy at times.

Where are you at?
What time should we meet up?
You smell funny!

You know...the usual texts. Sometimes they get a bit more in depth and a bit longer. The faster I try to type them and the longer they get...the more errors. T9 word is amazing...saves me tons of time. But it can make you look stupid, weird, or even get you in trouble if you don't proof what you type.

For example, here are some words that have the same key strokes on the number pad.

- HUN first comes up as GUN
"Hey gun just wanted to tell you that I love you"
Not awful, but will make you say....huh?

- HOME first comes up as GOOD
"I think I'm just going good tonight"
Might confuse you a bit

- BEAUTY if you miss the first B comes up as FATTY
"Hello there my hot fatty"
Ben has almost done this one countless times...lucky for him he hasn't.

- HEATHER first comes up as HEAVIER
"Heavier you are one hot fatty"
Ben is just doomed when it comes to the world of texting"

Ben told me to put that it is like he is a balloon man walking through a pine needle forest. Eventually he will stumble or slip into a low hanging branch. ha. He's funny!

Then there are times that I will send full messages without proofing. They usually sound a bit like this.
"well we are going out to eat and than to a movie you are welcome to john up he you want mitig to exciting thoug give ma a call late"

It makes no sense. I usually get a message back that says "What the heck Heather!"

So there you go! Hopefully I will save you from looking stupid, a possible break-up, or a 3 hour conversation of how you don't really think that your wife named Heather is overweight. If you aren't going to proof your texts...maybe you should take an extra 5 seconds and actually call the person.

Children's Dreams

So I have been reading Digg lately. For those of you who don't know, it is a website that lists links, websites, photos, etc for you to look at. The subjects usually consist of computers, technology, movies, music, photos, and videos. I like it! My husband, as well as millions of computer/gamer nerds, love it! He thinks this makes me a nerd as well, but I will fight that until the day I die. I'm cool! right?

Anyways....you should check it out. Here is a link to a photographer's gallery that was listed on the site. I think it is awesome....he has to be one of the coolest Dad's ever for taking photos of his kids and their friends swimming, flying, and even floating in space. It is hard to explain so go look at them. Make sure you scroll through them all. There are 12 different photographs. It made me smile...so I thought somebody else might like it as well. ENJOY!

http://www.janvonholleben.com/dreams_of_flying.php

Only Can Share So Much

Crazy weekend. No doubt about that. If you do read this just pray for my family. Some big changes are going on right now and there is some forgiveness being asked for. My sister is moving back home with my parents and that opens the door for possible headaches. There are other issues that make the situation stickier and all that I know is that there is a lot of need for prayer.

On a semi-lighter note... the Bears lost. All I have to say is boo to that. Not only am I a Bears fan and hate to see them lose, but now I have to comfort my depressed husband. Ben really does think that if he yells loud enough at the television...the Bear's will hear him. There are times that I think he gets the hint that they can't hear him. So he will crank it up a notch and throw in a jump, stomp, or a punch to the ground. Once when he was excited and had already exasperated his normal "moves" he looked around and then ripped off his shirt. Just took it right off and threw it to the ground. Luckily it was only the two of us watching the game...but I just stared at him in amazement. I am always nervous about what he will do next...I might start duct taping his clothes on him before we watch the Bears games. That's not overkill is it?

The Start

So I'm new to this. Never really understood the point of blogging, but after reading my friends blog...I thought I would give it a try. Now first I better explain the title that I chose.

Ben is usually the one who drives the car when we go somewhere. Which in turns means he is the one who gets full control over where we park at stores, restaurants, etc. Besides the fact that he likes to back into every space (regardless of how tight the area), he gets great pride out of finding the closest parking as possible. When we do find his dream spot and he parks...he will look over at me, smile, and wait for me to tell him how awesome him is. A few months ago he thought it would be better to sing a song/chant after we find such a space. He will not get out of the vehicle until I sing along with him. So....being the wonderful wife that I am, I play along. We chant, "Sniders Win Again....Sniders Win Again!", usually twice, at most 3 times, and once OF COURSE, is not enough!

So there you go. My blog title!