talk, talk, talk

From the prompt from 10 on Tuesday, here are 10 things I love talking about (in no particular order):

1... my faith
2... my kids/family
3... teenagers
4... movies
5... blogging
6... parenting
7... my past
8... certain TV shows
9... youth ministry
10... Hawaii

It was a blessing to get together with my prayer group and spend time in prayer.


Blessing #17 in a month's worth of blessings.

take me out to the ballgame...

Ten On Tuesday's prompt this week is 10 favorite sports to play/watch. Here are mine, but in no particular order.

1. Probably my favorite game to watch is baseball. I don't know why exactly. Most people complain that it's too slow of a game. But I enjoy the statistics and the precision of the game. It really is a game of inches. I also thoroughly enjoy watching a game live and that's because I love the atmosphere of the ball park.

2. I also love volleyball. I wasn't good enough to play on my high school's team, so I did the next best thing; became the manager for the boy's team =). Living near the beaches of southern California, I ended up playing a lot of beach volleyball with friends or picking up a game in the local park. I still enjoy playing. It's one of those sports that age doesn't affect as much as in other sports. And of course, I enjoy watching it, too. High School level is my favorite.

3. Lacrosse. I didn't even know of this sport 4 years ago. But Jake gave it a try his freshman year and I really enjoyed watching him and his team. That then transferred to watching the televised games of college teams playing. It's a fast paced game that's just fun to watch. I've seen indoor Lacrosse games but those aren't quite the same.

4. I also used to play Soccer. I was a young teenager and not all that good at it, but it gave me a healthy respect for the skill involved in playing the game. I enjoy watching the sport just for that reason.

5. Another sport I used to play was softball. I can't say that I enjoy watching the sport because you usually don't see these games being televised and I haven't had the opportunity to watch a live game recently, but I sure did enjoy playing it.

6. Hockey. Even though I have a hard time keeping up with the puck and I don't enjoy the fighting, this fast paced sport keeps my interest.

7. I've enjoyed watching football since I was a young girl. I attribute that to having my father explain the game to me. I've continued enjoying the sport, mainly because I live in Bronco territory.

8. Track and Field is actually many sports, but I'll lump them all together here. Again, part of it is the atmosphere of a meet that I enjoy so much. During Jake's meets, I enjoyed watching all the events knowing how they were scored and knowing that they all contributed to the larger score of the school's and waiting for a winner to emerge.

9. I really like watching the Olympics. For the Summer games, my favorite sport is gymnastics.

10. And for the Winter games, much to my family's distaste, I'll be sitting in front of the TV for all the ice skating events.

If you leave me a comment, tell me what your favorite sport to play or watch is.

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link of the day:
http://www.howtome.com/

body crash

Wow! It's been a crazy week and a half. I felt like I was going non-stop. First, I got sick which made doing anything more difficult. There were days where I didn't feel like doing anything and therefore did less than I had planned. But somehow everything got done.

The graduation ceremony was very nice and the party two days later went off without any major hitches. It was nice having family come into town and help out so much and to help us celebrate. Things wouldn't have been as nice if they hadn't been here.

Jake's party was Saturday, we all went to church Sunday morning, and then by Sunday noon, I hit a brick wall [figuratively]. I had made it through all the major stuff and somehow my body knew it, and so it crashed. I couldn't do anything but fall into bed and sleep. And sleep I did - for hours!

It definitely helped but I still feel like I'm in a fog. My mind and body don't quite know what to do. One way that is apparent is that I'm having a hard time getting back into blogging. My brain seems to go blank whenever I sit down and try to figure out what to write. I'm sure I'm just out of practice. I just need to start writing again - writing anything.

So I went over to 10 on Tuesday to see what today's prompt was. It is the 10 movies you're looking most forward to seeing. Since I'm a movie person, I figured I could do this. Here they are:

1. Indiana Jones
2. Prince Caspian/Chronicles of Narnia
3. Young At Heart
4. The Happening
5. Get Smart
6. Hancock
7. Wall-E
8. Mamma Mia
9. X-Files/I Want to Believe
10. Henry Poole is Here

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link of the day:
http://www.partydotts.com/products.html

i love my life

Ten on Tuesday
What I love about my life

1. I love having a relationship with an awesome God who loves me, cares about me, and has blessed me with the life I do have.

2. I love my family and family life. It's not perfect and there are problems to deal with along the way, but I feel like I have a good relationship with my husband and two children. They fill my life with joy.

3. I love being a stay at home mom. I think there's been great benefit in being home while raising my kids. It's also given me the opportunity to do volunteer work and develop and nurture relationships with others.

4. I love the people I have met along my journey. People who have helped me understand God, myself, and others better. People who have ministered to me and the opportunities I've had to minister to others.

5. I love my extended family and the way I was raised. I may not have been able to say that 10 years ago, but I can today. Again, we were a long way from being perfect, but I believe my parents, grandparents, siblings, the way I was raised, and my experiences - both good and bad -has shaped me to be who I am today. The love of a family is a true gift from God.

6. I love having Don's family as part of my life. I couldn't ask for better in-laws.

7. I love having good health. Yes, I have diabetes, but it's manageable and hasn't affected me greatly, except to get me into a healthier lifestyle. There are so many who are less fortunate when it comes to their health, and I am thankful for being able to live without any major issues.

8. I love where I live - America, home of the free and the beautiful state of Colorado. I can't really imagine what it would be like to live somewhere where there aren't the freedoms we enjoy here in the United States. And I'm thankful for where my home is. I love the weather (most of the time) and the four seasons. I love the open land and the wildlife. I love the slower pace of life (compared to California) and the fact that we were able to afford a home and lifestyle that we might not be able to do the same some where else.

9. I love the gifts, abilities, and skills that God has blessed me with. For the past [nearly] 10 years, I've been able to minister to teenagers. I've had a passion about something and given the opportunity to live out that passion. I want the rest of my life to look like that.

10. I love that my life will look a little different next Fall after my youngest goes off to college. I'm appreciative of and have loved the last 20 years of having my kids live under my roof, but now it's time for the next phase of my life. I look forward to that.

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link of the day:
http://www.televisiontunes.com/

10 best memories

I haven't done a 10 for Tuesday lately so I headed on over there to see what today's prompt was. It's the 10 best memories of 2007. I think I can come up with 10. Let's see...

During Danielle's spring break in April, she and I spent three days in a cabin up in Estes Park. We had a great time. I love the mountains and I enjoy spending time with Danielle. We did a little shopping and visited the famous Stanley Hotel (where The Shining was filmed). It was a perfect little get-away.
In the beginning of June, the whole family plus Jake's girlfriend, Hollee, traveled to California. We enjoyed being near the beach, sight-seeing, seeing family, my nephew's graduation, and even a trip to Disneyland.
I was able to attend our church's women's retreat in August. It was a great weekend because it was up in the mountains (Grand Lake) and it was time spent with God and a bunch of lovely women.
One of Jake's cross country meets was at a park next to Columbine High School. Visiting the newly dedicated Columbine memorial had a great impact on me and one I won't soon forget.
I always enjoy going to Jake's band's performances. And with booking, their show improves from the previous one. One of the best shows they've had, in my opinion, was at a local venue by the name of The Gothic. It was exciting to see them up on that stage because a lot of big names have also played there. They were one of the opening acts and they were awesome. They even caught the eye of a local promoter and are now working with her.
I'd have to say one of the best memories was Rocktober. That would be the Colorado Rockies winning so many games to get them into the wild card playoffs, sweeping the division series and the league championship series. It was an exciting time for Rockies fans, which I am, and all that lived in the Denver area.
It was bittersweet to watch Jake run his last season of cross country. He's ran all four of his high school years. It was great that his team qualified for state and to watch him run in that meet for the second year.
It's always a pleasure and thrill to take a trip over to Hawaii. So Don's and my trip in November was no exception. We had a great time and visited sites we had not seen in previous trips.
Our second night in Hawaii, we were evacuated from our hotel due to an electrical fire in the kitchen. Needless to say, it was a scary time and a memory that will stay with me forever.
And that brings us to the end of the year and another special memory is having my sister and her family come to visit and spend Christmas with us. It was so fun having my little niece and nephew here and spending time with my sister was priceless.

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link of the day:
http://www.motionbox.com/

10 favorite games

Ten for Tuesday has given the prompt of listing the 10 Best Games (video games, board games, card games, etc). I am a game player and our family plays games, so I thought I'd play along this week. This is my list of my 10 favorite games, in no particular order.

First I will list the games my family often plays:

1. Blokus. We just starting playing the latest version of Blokus which is in a trigon shape (versus the original square shape). Many people have never seen or heard of this game. I encourage you to check it out.

2. Phase 10. We actually play a lot of card games, but Phase 10 seems to be played more than anything else. Hearts, Speed, Peanuts, 500, and Up and Down the River are also played often.

3. Sequence. Long time favorite.

4. Catch Phrase. Another long time favorite and one we bring out when company comes over.

5. Apples to Apples. Another one that not a lot of people have heard of but is a great one for larger groups. Our youth group loves it and would rather play that than do any kind of lesson :]

6. Balderdash. Danielle started playing this with her roommates and thought we needed one. We just bought it for the Thanksgiving break and played it a few times. It's fun and challenges your creativity.

Now I will give you five that I personally play either on the computer or on a video game console.

7. UNO through MSN games. I play this with other internet players.

8. Mario Brothers from Nintendo. I don't play this anymore because I'm not very skilled in playing 3D video games. But before the new technology, I used to play a lot of Mario Brother games. I miss it at times.

9. I subscribe to Comcast Real Arcade games and have a few favorites through them. A few are Mahjong Towers, Shape Shifter, Ultra Ball, and Zuma. I enjoy strategy/puzzle games.

10. I saved my all-time favorite for last. Please don't judge me... I can't help it. I love playing a virtual game called Roller Coaster Tycoon. You get to build and manage an amusement park, building your own roller coasters, and working to achieve specific goals. For me, it's an addicting game. I usually only play it on Sunday afternoons because I know I'll spend too much time playing it and I feel like that's my time to play.

Now it's your turn... what are some of your favorite games?

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link of the day:
http://www.johnsadowski.com/big_spanish_castle.php

i am a procrastinator

It's been a while since I've done 10 on Tuesday. I had no problem coming up with 10 things for this week's list, which is: 10 things you've been putting off.

I feel like I should be saying, "Hi, I'm Diana... and I'm a procrastinator." I am terrible. I think the older I get, the worst my procrastination gets. Sometimes I have a good or legitimate reason why I don't get to something in a timely fashion. But most of the time, sadly, I don't. I usually just find something I'd rather be doing. Is there any kind of help for me? Don't answer that - it was a rhetorical question.

So, here are 10 things I've been putting off (in no particular order):

1. finish a birthday present for Jake's girlfriend (can't tell you what it is... who knows, maybe she reads this)



2. clean out and fix up spare bedroom to be my scrapbooking room



3. start working on a scrapbook for Jake as one of his graduation gifts (I have until May, so I'm not jumping on this one for a while)



4. clean out my closet



5. learn Photoshop (I have the program after all!)



6. read the many books I have



7. go to the eye doctor



8. take the car in for it's maintenance check



9. go through the pile of papers on my desk (I don't even know what's in there)



10. paint one wall in my dining room - it's purple - don't ask!

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link of the day:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HClNcAvD1AY

interesting websites

this week's ten on tuesday is 10 interesting websites you'd like to share. i think i can come up with ten. here they are and in no particular order.

1. make you own snowflakes at http://snowflakes.barkleyus.com/. it may just be me, but i love snowflakes and i visit this site often just to create my own.

2. http://www.vmk.com/ (which stands for virtual magic kingdom) is a fun site where you can virtually enjoy disneyland. you create your own character, earn credits, play games, ride rides, and experience the happiest place on earth (kid friendly).

3. if you haven't been to http://www.postsecret.com/, i encourage you to check it out. it's one of the most honest, gut-wrenching sites there is.

4. of course, i need to include myspace and facebook here (i know, i'm lumping them together as one). and i know they've gotten a lot of bad press and they're not for everyone, but they are the present and future of internet networking and social gathering. as testimony, a childhood friend of the family, that i haven't heard from in years, found me today on facebook. cool, huh.

5. i find http://www.squidoo.com/ a fascinating site. here is where you can build your own page on your specific passion. i haven't built my own page, but i've spent a lot of time browsing and reading through the many offerings.

6. http://www.ourstory.com/ is another interesting site. it allows you to save stories, photos, and videos on a collaborative timeline. i use it to write about certain times in my life; stories i want to remember and to keep track of different places i've lived and jobs i've had. i keep all of my information private, but you can make it for friends or family viewing only, or for the public eyes.

7. being a youth worker, i visit http://www.youthspecialties.com/ often. enough said.

8. http://www.43things.com/ is a site where you can list 43 things - usually goals, however important or frivolous. you can then get inspired about those goals by reading others who have listed the same or writing about the process you are taking to reach your goals. i did it for a while but lost interest mostly because of the lack of time i had. it's still a cool site.

9. i use http://www.netvibes.com/ to keep track of all the blogs i read. it's very similar to bloglines or igoogle (which i considered putting on this list). i just add the rss feeds of my favorite blogs and all i have to do is check one page however often i want and it shows me any posts that have been made. i love it.

10. and to end my list of 10 interesting web sites, i give you http://www.stuffonmycat.com/ just because it's fun.

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link of the day:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWow42TCwzg

oh, the places i'd go

this week's ten on tuesday asks us to give the top 10 countries we would want to visit.

at first, i wasn't going to participate. because, although there are countries i would want to see (and they are listed below), i probably wouldn't visit them even i was given the chance to. it may seem silly, but i'm not comfortable traveling abroad right now. maybe that will change someday, maybe not. but here's my list:

1. tanzania; i've always wanted to go to africa. i think going on a safari would be the coolest thing ever. of course, that would be a photo safari. and i'm not sold on tanzania. it could be some other country in africa. we had friends who went to tanzania and loved it.

2. greece; another place i've always wanted to visit. when i was young, i saw a movie that took place somewhere in the grecian isles. i thought it was breathtakingly beautiful. i still have that image in my head and would love to experience it first hand.

3. australia; it seems so familiar yet since it's half a world away, most people don't get to visit the land down under.

4. new zealand; this is someplace my husband has always wanted to visit. so the little i've seen in pictures and what research i've done, it looks beautiful.

5. england; again, because it feels so familiar.

6. italy; i'd like to see venice and the canals, among others sites.

7. vietnam; because my dad served in the war there, i would like to know what it looks and feels like. i'd also like to see the jungles there.

8. brazil; i think it would be super cool to see the amazon river and the rain forest.

9. indonesia; from what i've seen, this area looks absolutely beautiful - tropical and mysterious.

10. israel; i would love to walk the same part of the earth as Jesus did. i would love to just soak up the atmosphere that's so rich with history.

added note: i've been enjoying these 10 on tuesday memes because it has become a topic of conversation and comparison in my family. since my daughter usually posts about the topic each week, her and i obviously talk. today my son joined in the conversation. he took european history last year and had a lot to offer about some of the countries we talked about.
thanks, jake.

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link of the day:
http://www.johnsadowski.com/2007/07/10-rocks-that-look-like-faces.html

be nice

today's 10 for tuesday is the 10 nicest things someone has done for you. here are mine (in no particular order):

1. my good friend, terri, offered to run any errand(s) i needed to have done before i left on an extended trip. this was after staying up half the night with a family who had the husband/dad die during the night. terri's good deed was appreciated more than she'll ever know.

2. another terri act of kindness: she brought over a breakfast dish for the weekend of dani's graduation when we had a houseful of guests. her kindness never ceases to amaze me.

3. on one of my birthdays, my friend sara brought me a cupcake with a candle in it and sang happy birthday to me when she came to pick up my son for carpooling to school. it made my day.

4. when dani was very young, out of the blue, my step-dad, lee, sent us money to buy a cam-corder. back then, they were more pricey than they are now. it meant a lot to us.

5. when don and i were youth leaders at our previous church, we had a mom/friend who always made us cookies at christmas time. for some reason, i was always surprised and it made me feel valued.

6. when my kids were young, i had a friend offer to watch them for a day so i could do some christmas shopping. it was such a treat to be able to have a day to myself and get some quality shopping time in.

7. we have some good friends who invited us (just don and i) to go with them to hawaii. we had never been before and they had been once. if you think about it, it was gamble for them to take. what if we didn't get along. it would have been one looooong week. but it was great. we made 2 more trips with them and we included all of our kids.

8. we have some other good friends who have done so many nice things for us. so many, that i can't put one over another. so here's the top three: we were their guest at a dude ranch, we were their guest for a stay in a beautiful house in beautiful vail (colorado), and we have been the guest to countless rockies games where they have some of the best seats in the stadium.

9. i love receiving cards from my kids. they usually pour out their hearts with such kind and loving thoughts. they make me cry every time. those are some of the nicest things i've ever received.

10. don has done so many nice things for me but i'll just name one (okay, two). he actually did this one thing many, many times. when the kids were younger, he would give me time away from them without any explanations. i could just say, "hey, i need to get away for a little bit." and he would say, "no problem." those times helped me keep my sanity and hopefully, made me a better mom. the second nicest thing he's done is buying me my laptop :D

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link of the day:
http://www.wickeddelicious.com/

favorite childhood movies

it's time for ten on tuesday. this week's ten is your ten favorite childhood movies. so here's mine (not necessarily in first to last order):


1. sound of music i put this at the top of the list because it truly was my favorite childhood movie and still is a favorite. i would put this movie in my top 5 of all time. i love this movie. i know every song. and i can watch it over and over and over again.

2. island of the blue dolphins this movie will always hold a special place in my heart because i saw it all by myself - when i was in 3rd grade. there was some kind of summer movie going program in my neighborhood where i went to 10 movies throughout the summer. it was certainly a different time back then when you could send your 3rd grader to the movie by themself.

3. wizard of oz not a movie that i saw in a theater, but still just as special. i remember every year when it showed on tv. it was a family event complete with popcorn and soda. and those darn monkeys scared me every time.

4. jungle book i don't know how many animated movies disney put out during my childhood but this is about the only one that i remember and that's because i loved it so much. part of that love is for the songs. hearing the bear necessities transports me back being an 8 year old.

5. mary poppins what can you say about this classic. i remember seeing it nearly 10 times while it was out in the theaters. i'm sure that's because my parents loved it as much as their children did. great upbeat happy movie for every kid during that time.

6. oliver this movie was so different from the usual movies my parents allowed me to see - and that's probably why i liked it so much. i did not know the story of oliver twist and i just fell in love with the story. it helped that i had a crush on the two stars, mark lester and jack wild.

7. born free i don't know if anyone from my generation remembers this movie or if you're younger, if you've ever heard of this movie. it was about a pride of lions and i remember the cubs being soooooo cute. that appealed to my pre-adolescent heart :)

8. the absent minded professor today's generation would know this movie as flubber. although flubber was good, it wasn't the original. and the original is always better.

9. the love bug this and #8 were disney classics. they knew how to make fun family movies for that time. i think there was a sequal or two, but like i said, the original is always better.

10. any shirley temple movie again, not movies i saw in a theater but what fond memories of i have of them. most of the time i watched these when i went over to a girlfriend's house after church.

all of these movies were ones that i saw before i hit middle school and i included them because i consider those years as my childhood. as i was coming up with my top ten i came across a few others that i absolutely love but didn't see until i was in middle school. those would be: willy wonka and the chocolate factory (in my top all-time 5), bless the beast and the children, butch cassidy and the sundance kid, and fiddler on the roof.

feel free to let me know some of your favorite childhood movies or if you loved some of mine as much as i did. i'd love to hear from you.


::REMINDER::
don't forget to enter a captionfor the picture in my previous post

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link of the day:
http://mentalfloss.com/quiz/quiz.php?q=82

(photo) favorite things

this week's 10 is your favorite things
with photos (optional) ..... want to play? .....

it was actually harder than i thought to pick only 10 things, but here they are - in no particular order...


my family
(photo by diana)


photography
(photo by danielle)


my computer
(photo by chaparral/flickr)


going to the movies
(photo by final station/flickr)


scrapbooking
(photo courtesy of google images)


chocolate covered strawberries
(photo by diana)


hawaii
(photo by diana)


thunder storms
(photo by robrealm/flickr)


anything mary engelbreit
(photo courtesy of google images)


starbucks
(photo courtesy of flickr)

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link of the day:
http://www.servingheroes.com/

before i die

i came across a blog site i hadn't seen before. it's ten on tuesday. they give a new top ten prompt every tuesday to blog about. this week's prompt is the top ten things to do before you die.

so here's my list: (and not in any particular order)

1. take my grandchildren to disneyland
2. have all my pictures in scrapbooks
3. spend time in new york - especially central park
4. go on a safari in africa
5. swim with dolphins
6. travel around the u.s. in a motor home
7. learn how to use dreamweaver, photoshop, and flash
8. to become more proficient in photography
9. see my children happily married
10. celebrate my 50th wedding anniversary

wishing you all a happy 4th

check out my link of the day for your own firework display.

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link of the day:
http://www.fireworkspop.com/liberty.htm