Have a Holly, Jolly Christmas!

Since I’m a holiday nerd (Halloween was just the beginning…), it should be of little surprise to those that know me that I have been addicted to both of our Houston stations that are currently dedicated to “all Christmas, all the time.”  Again with my love for lists, I wanted to think through some of my favorites (and not-so-favorites), and hopefully learn from all of you which tunes you enjoy as well.

1. Favorite All-Time Song:  Bing Crosby’s “White Christmas”

I love this song, and yes, it has to be Bing.  I actually just saw this movie for the first time a few years ago (a must-see!!), and the beauty of this man’s voice has had me smitten ever since.  And just as an added bonus to this particular release, we get to enjoy the artful whistle of Mr. Crosby.  I’m told that my Grandaddy had a similar whistle, so it makes this song that much more dear.

2. Favorite Instrumental:  “Sleigh Ride”  Boston Pops Orchestra

When I was a student at Harding, I looked forward to “Christmas Chapel” every December.  I loved the entire show, but the highlight for me was definitely “Sleigh Ride”.  Because of Harding I now still catch myself jingling my keys along with the bells in this song and secretly wishing I had a songbook to slam…

3. Favorite “Modern” Song:  “All I Want For Christmas is You”  Mariah Carey

Even before the movie Love Actually, this was one of mine and Ryan’s favorites, but after we saw the movie it became a seasonal song we’d anticipate.  If we were to have a Christmas version of “our song”, this would be it. We even call each other when we hear it on the radio.

And this is not a favorite of mine, but still I feel it worth mentioning…

4. Most Played Non-Christmas Song: “Same Old Lang Syne” Dan Fogelberg

Because of my fierce holiday loyalty, I feel like I am pretty well-equipped to determine just what does and does not qualify as “Christmas-worthy”.  No offense, Mr. Fogelberg, but this song just shouldn’t make the cut.  In my opinion calling it a “holiday song” just because it mentions Christmas Eve is about as ridiculous as calling Die Hard a Christmas movie.

Happy Holidays, Everyone!!  Please feel free to share some of your favorite Christmas songs as well–I’d love to think of you whenever I hear them.

Fright Night Report

After careful calculation, I’m happy to share my Halloween favorites for this year!

MOVIES

Scariest New Movie: Paranormal Activity. Believe the hype–it’s terrifying! I read that the director’s intent was to make a movie that captured the “subtle scare”, and I believe he mastered just that. Unfortunately in recent years the scary movie has evolved in to a gore-fest, and it’s refreshing to see some real suspenseful genius at work. I believe a good scare is about anticipation, not about how disturbing one can make their blood-filled images. I saw this movie with my sister, and we can both attest to its fright factor. In our 430+ theater, there wasn’t a single viewer that didn’t let out a yelp at least once.

Best “New” Classic: Wolf Man. As one who would like to consider herself a “horror movie connoisseur”, there are some oldie-but-goodie movies I need to see. I’ve set out to capture some of the classics, and I thoroughly enjoyed this one with Lon Chaney, and Mr. Terror himself, Bela Lugosi. I was happy to be reminded of some scenes that I’ve caught before (all Sandlot fans would be pleased!) and was decidedly impressed with this movie’s impact on future scares. An honorable mention goes to Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? with Joan Crawford and Bette Davis. It’s amazing how one can still jump without the assistance of special effects.

TREATS

Best Homemade Treat: Ashley’s Rice Krispie Treats. For our Bible study last Tuesday, my sister treated us all to this classic snack but added a delicious twist: Reeses Pieces. My dear friend Mandy has also made this wonderful dessert before, and I’ve decided that along with pumpkins and costumes, this treat MUST become a Halloween mainstay.

Almost Too Cute to Eat Winner: Debi’s Pumpkin Cookies. My talented mother-in-law is an iced cookie pro. For many holidays all of her adoring cookie fans cross their fingers and anxiously hope for some of her fantastic treats: Christmas trees, beautiful Valentine hearts, and for Halloween time, pumpkins! They are so precious with their pretty icing (that she cleverly etched so it had a more realistic pumpkin look), and I really wish I had a picture to share. Unfortunately, I gobbled mine up too quickly.

Favorite New Packaged Treat: Kraft BooMallows. This year I was eager to grab and freeze bags of Halloween treats that could easily be thrown in to a lunch box for Jordan. I found some snacks that I’d run across before (PB Ritz crackers, Teddy Grahams, granola bars), but these marshmallows were new to me. Their pumpkin and ghost shapes make them a bit Halloween-specific, but besides using them for decorating (they are adorable as treat-toppers!), I’ve been happy to share a few with Jordan for desserts. And yeah, they’re mostly sugar, but since they round up to be about 15 calories each, I’d much prefer her munching on these instead of some of her other Halloween candy finds.

COSTUMES

Most Popular: Pirates/Wenches. Granted we didn’t see many trick-or-treaters because we weren’t home to greet them until after 8:00, so most of our visitors were pretty close to, if not teenaged. For that crowd, pirate-wear was preferred. A way-too-close second was the unfortunate popular choice of showing up in NO costume. I remember my Mom letting me know when she thought I was too old to continue trick-o-treating, but at that time at least I was still dressing up. I decided for these folks that their non-reward for showing up to my house without actually getting in to the spirit of Halloween (a true crime, indeed!) would be one piece of non-chocolate (non-brand name if I could find it in Jordan’s collection!) dinky candy. My family let me know that I was shot many dirty looks, but at least they got something! I wish I had thought of this brilliant plan that a dear lady from our church decided to do with her non-costume wearers: no costume, no candy…unless you sing or dance for it. Awesome.

Most Creative Costume: Lego People. A precious family at our church had their sweet little boys paired in these adorable homemade costumes. I have never seen this before!

All-Around Favorite: Elvis. Besides my own little 50’s girl, this costume was my favorite. The little boy who sported it is a neighbor of my in-laws, and he was fully decked out in Viva Las Vegas style, complete with a fantastic wig. I think what made it particularly great was the fact that he can’t be more than 11 years old. I don’t want to post his picture without permission, but trust me, it was great!

Favorite New Costume Trend: Sibling Pairs. Buzz Lightyear and Woody, real monkey and sock monkey, a ballerina duo. I loved seeing families celebrate the day in complementing style. One of my favorites was an entire family decked out as a football crew: two older brothers as A&M football players, Dad as a coach, Mom as a referee, and baby brother as the football.

This concludes my favorites for this year. I’d love to hear some of your favorites, too!

Only 363 days until our next great Halloween!!

Happy Halloween!

Halloween is and always has been one of my favorite days of the year. When I break it down, it’s obvious to me why I relish this day so much: it combines so many of my favorite things! Precious kids in costume, sweet treats, and of course, all things scary.

For me this day ends too soon, so I decided to savor every spooky moment and end this day with a fright-filled report. Come back later to see my favorites for the day including my costume tally, great pumpkin reveal (if I can figure out how to download pictures), and my review for best new scary movie.

Happy Trick-or-Treating, Everyone!

Guess How Much I Love You

Today I was impressed by an encounter I was sharing with my daughter.  As I took to the computer to write my sister (also known as Jordan’s precious Aunt “Ashy”), behind me Jordan was dancing about our living room and talking on her pretend phone.  Pretty soon I heard her speak in her gibberish, “Blah blah blah Ashy.”  I started to smile at her monologue when I was overtaken by the bizarre truth of her timing; I hadn’t told her that I was writing Ashley an email.  Ashley was just, as she often is, on Jordan’s mind.

After including this episode in my email to my sister, I asked Jordan if she’d like to play with Ashley this weekend, which resulted in her running to the front door and yelling in her little voice, “Ashy!!!  Ashy!!!  COME!!”  I then added this to my note, and then tried to comfort my kid as she mourned the fact that our playdate wasn’t for a few days.

I’ve been pleasantly surprised and blessed by so many moments in my new role as a mom.  I expected to be overwhelmed by mine and Ryan’s increased capacity to love another person, but so many wonderful aspects of parenthood came as a total shock.  Like not minding the increased housework.  Or watching a personality develop in an entirely new person, and seeing how some of her traits mirror mine or Ryan’s—or come completely out of left field!  One thing I didn’t expect was how quickly and fiercely Jordan would decide to love and adore our family members.

Among Jordan’s first words were the names of those in our family.  When she plays, she talks about them (or to them on her phone), and one of her favorite things to do is look through her pictures and name off each of her loved ones (Mimi, Pop, Gigi, Poppy, Ashy, Tim, Jason, Kiss-Kiss {Cristen}, Ma-moo, Gamma, Papa, Holly, Holly {Ismael is also Holly}, Megan, Joe-la, Hedder, Him {we’re still working on Eric–that name’s hard!}, and the list continues…).

It warms me to see how attached she is to our dear family.  And just to look at the beginning of her list of loved ones, it’s no wonder we have such a happy kid.  Keep up the good work, everyone!!

Anyone Up for a Road Trip??

Does anyone like to drive?  Are you looking for an opportunity to see the open road, visit wide open spaces??  Oh boy, do I have the excursion for YOU!!

In all seriousness, I need some drivers.  Last week I was able to enjoy a week of vacation with my fantastic in-laws, and after several days of gleeful stepping across London, I returned back home to my family, my routine, and my part-time job.  This morning when I go to the office, I saw a list of to-dos on my desk, and blaring across the page were the words “MPulse–Still need 2 drivers”.  And when do I need these 2 drivers??  THURSDAY!!  As in 2 DAYS!!!!  Holy cow!!!

I tried to push my heart out of my throat and immediately got to work to find these 2 precious people.  8 hours, several emails, and even a Facebook plea later, I’m still in the same boat.  Sigh…

So here’s my last resort:  hello, dear Blog Friends.  Would any of you like to drive and pick up some campers from ACU?  Our drivers would need to leave Thursday afternoon, and would return Friday afternoon or evening.  The church would provide your hotel accommodations and gas cards, and I’m pretty sure that Jesus would become your new best friend.  I DEFINITELY would!!

If you are at all interested, please let me know ASAP.  I appreciate all of you!!

You Were Always On My Mind

Earlier this evening I caught a couple of grins while watching my husband talk with his forever friend, Jeremy, on the phone. Last month our dear friends moved to Colorado Springs, a mere 980+ miles away, and Ryan was calling to pass on his birthday wishes to his buddy. It blessed me to see Ryan’s big happy smile as he talked with his friend, and as I heard his chuckles from across the house, though I couldn’t quite hear the jokes being shared, I caught myself laughing as well.

After Ryan got off the phone, we leaned on each other and shared a sigh. We are both so excited for our friends and their adventure, but the fact remains that though we are happy, we still miss them painfully. You see, a year ago at this time, we were sharing a few adventures together. Jeremy and Mandy along with our other dear friends (Regan and Maren) planned a trip with Ryan and myself during the 4th of July holiday. This past weekend served as a constant reminder of their friendship and our precious memories as we enjoyed our holiday weekend, but this time not alongside our friends.

Once we got over our sighing, Ryan and I started counting up our blessings and our “Jeremy and Mandy Moments” from the past few days. On more than one occasion this weekend we’ve smiled together about different situations that reminded us of our wonderful friends, and we thought it would be fun to create a memory list. Here goes:

1. Pop Ice. Or as our daughter now refers to them, “Iiiiiice!!!” Jeremy passed on his huge barely eaten box of frozen treats to us before they moved, and every time Ryan grabs one we both think of where we got them. Ryan was even eating one while on the phone with Jeremy.

2. Constant Colorado talk. Currently it seems that there are quite a few people that we know that are either moving to Colorado or are planning a trip there quite soon. Even the characters in the novel that I am currently reading have all moved themselves to Boulder, and one character just decided on a day trip to Colorado Springs. Apparently that’s the thing to do.

3. The “Over-the-Fence” Disposal System. On Saturday I noticed that several of our neighbors had decided to use the empty land between their respective fences as a dump site. When I asked Ryan, “Now who would just throw their crap over their fence?”, he looked at me for a second and then just started to laugh…

4. The Solitary Sidekick. As we wrapped up our 4th of July fun with our church Saturday night, I caught a glimpse of a sweet little boy name Enrique. Enrique has a special place in our hearts not because of the time we’ve spent with him (we really don’t know him very well at all), but because he and our precious Caleb were great friends at school this past year. I really couldn’t fight the tears as I watched Enrique wander outside without his (quite literal) running buddy, and my heart ached as I then peeked at my husband, missing his great friend as well.

My intent is not too end this on a sad note, chiefly because “sadness” doesn’t adequately describe our current state. Yes, we miss them terribly, but their current physical absence from us does not at all suggest that we don’t have them with us everywhere we go. There has not been a day when we haven’t been reminded of our friends, been enriched, been blessed. We can’t have a void in our lives of where they used to be because their presence in our hearts is where they will always be. I said before that Ryan and Jeremy are forever friends. Forever is bigger than Colorado.

Allison the Soundtrack: Volume 1

Several years ago, a friend of mine had to construct a list of personal songs for a grad school class.  Her assignment was to select ten or fifteen songs from her life that either represented monumental moments, or through their lyrics somehow identified with her history.  Though I have not been in grad school,  nor was I a psychology major, I thought this assignment was awesome, and my friend Regan and I both began making our own song lists as well.

I was reminded of this list again today as I was surprised by one of the songs from my “playlist” on the radio. My brain started trying to put together all of the songs from my Life’s Soundtrack, and as I did so, I began to smile with each song’s memory.  I would LOVE to know the songs from everyone’s Soundtrack, so I begin today with my first Volume in hopes that I am able to discover the Playlists from you, my friends.

Allison the Soundtrack

Volume 1: The Early Years

1. The Kids Incorporated Theme Song.  How I cried when this show moved to cable!

2. “Good Enough” by Cyndi Lauper (from the movie The Goonies. I still have this entire film memorized.)

3. “Footloose” by Kenny Loggins.  Though I don’t think I ever knew the actual words, it never stopped me from singing along. I’m pretty sure my opening line was “I’m washing my car” rather than “I’m punching my card”…

4. “Thriller” by Michael Jackson—or any song from this album. This was my first cassette!

5. “Only in My Dreams” by Debbie Gibson.  At this point in my life, she was the epitome of cool.  Those fantastic hats!!

6. “Please Don’t Go Girl” by New Kids On the Block.  I could just see Joey McIntyre singing this song to me.

7. “Opposite’s Attract” by Paula Abdul.  I actually asked for this tape because I knew all of the other girls had it. This song was my favorite because of the cartoon cat in the video.

8. “Hold On” by Wilson Phillips.  I know I was probably the only female under the age of 40 with this tape, but I loved this group.  I really loved the idea of having a girl group just like this one.

This is probably it before middle school.  Honorable Mentions for “U Can’t Touch This” by MC Hammer, “Friends in Low Places” by Garth Brooks (my first taste of country music), “Danger Zone” by Kenny Loggins (we always had to run to this in Elementary School P.E.), “Jump” by Kris Kross, and “Ice, Ice, Baby” by Vanilla Ice.

Jenny’s a Genius!

Many months ago I resolved that I wanted to spend more time reading and writing. I decided to create a blog so that I could chronicle my reads and get a little practice putting my thoughts in to words. Since then I have been reading, but I have not been very consistent with my story summaries and reviews.

Enter my genius friend, Jenny. Jenny is a wonderful book enthusiast who currently works in a very fitting profession; she and my buddy Jeremy are tied for the best librarians in the world. Several months ago, Jenny invited me to join an online Book Club, and I think (I hope!), this will help me catalog a book list a bit better, as well as give me an opportunity to see what my other friends are reading. For those of you interested in sharing some great book titles, please consider this my informal invitation to get in on the fun.

www.goodreads.com

Happy reading, everyone!

Previously…on LOST

Dear J. J. Abrams and Co.,

First of all, thanks for your show. The past four seasons of LOST have been delightfully confusing, and my husband and I are quite literally counting down the days to the frustrating, mind-bending stalemate that we are confident to find in Season 5.

As has become our annual tradition, the husband and I rushed to our DVD player with our new complete Season 4 set (thanks, Mom and Dad for the Christmas present!), put the baby to bed, unplugged the phones, and proceeded to marathon last year’s show. Once again it was fantastic (such talent–really!), and we began our futile follow-up of scenarios, “Did-you-see-that?”s, and unanswered questions. It is the latter that has prompted this letter to you and your fellow writers.

You do realize you have only 2 seasons left, right?

Not that I’m in any rush to see this show come to a close; quite the opposite actually. But the fact remains that you guys have opened an abundant number of doors, and I feel it my duty to remind you of these so that we may avoid the pain of our unanswered questions after your series ends. I created this simple list of reminders for you, and I must warn you—it’s a lot!

1. Jacob. Who is he? Where did he come from? What does he look like? What does he want? And none of this “He’s really Christian Shepherd” junk. Not buying that. And while we’re on the subject…

2. Christian Shepherd. How is he connected to the island?

3. Locke. He’s dead?! How did that happen? How is he OFF the island? And who is “The Chosen One” now? And while we’re on THAT subject…

4. Walt. Don’t think just because you offed Michael at the end of last season that we’ve forgotten about Walt. He’s “special”, remember? Just what are those hidden talents of his? Does the island want in on any of that?

5. The Smoke Monster. My husband has tried to advise me that the Smoke Monster questions have all been answered, but I must tell you, I’m not satisfied with that. How does that thing work?

6. Charles Widmore. Now that there are survivors out in the open, what’s he going to do? Desmond’s back in the picture now—is he going to just give up this whole “conquer the island” plan?

7. The Man Who Doesn’t Age. Really good LOST fans can probably provide for you a name, but I’m sure you know who I’m talking about. The guy who’s like the Island Recruiter who has spoken with several different folks over several different generations about joining his Others Troupe (Juliet, Ben, LOCKE). Who is that guy? And, seriously, why doesn’t he age??

8. Significance of the Numbers. Why those numbers? What do they mean?

9. The Fate of the Island. Where did it go? What happened to the people who were on it? And how did Locke get off?

10. The Paradox of Time. Why does time move differently on the island? Is it just so you could have a plausible scenario for Walt growing up while the rest of the survivors move one painful day at a time?

11. Fairaday’s Boat. So Season 4 ends with Fairaday taking a group of extras on a raft to the freighter when it explodes—seconds before the island disappears. With no obvious place to go, what happens to all of those people?

12. Sawyer’s Favor. Sawyer asked Kate to do something for him, which apparently, to the chagrin of then-fiance Jack, she does. What was it?

And these are probably considered lesser questions, but still, I’m rather curious:

13. Jack, Kate, Sawyer, Juliet…who ends up with whom?

14. Libby. Why was Libby in the booby hatch with Hurley? You killed her off before we found out the rest of her story! Not all of us were able to just let that go.

Now I don’t expect you to answer all of these questions at once; by all means, pace yourself. But please remember, you have just a little bit of time left to answer to all of this confusion you created. I mean, 14 questions—that’s more than the number of episodes you provided last season. I’m just saying…

Thank you very much for your time, and please keep up the good work! I really enjoyed Cloverfield, and I’m doing my best to get in to this other new show of yours. Looking forward to Season 5!

Allison

P.S. Please don’t think that I don’t like Fringe. It definitely has it’s merits, but I’m a bit puzzled as to why you chose Pacey as one of your main characters. Do you really think die-hard LOST fans and avid Dawson’s Creek viewers have a whole lot in common?

Saddle Up Your Horses!

Alright, admittedly Labor Day has come and WAY gone, and it would seem that I have been avoiding the Adventure vs. Tattoo Issue.  So maybe I publicly put a deadline for myself regarding an adventure, and maybe I placed a conditional mandate suggesting that if said adventure didn’t happen then a tattoo would be offered on its behalf.  And maybe that deadline has come and gone, and I have not yet mentioned either the would-be adventure or the consequential tattoo. You call that avoidance??

In all honesty, I haven’t publicly mentioned either yet because of my shame of failing to follow through.  Sadly I did not have my Internet-posting-worthy adventure, and though I am now completely resigned to this tattoo, I haven’t quite gotten it yet.  I’m pretty sure I know what I want to get, but I have not yet determined the “where”, and since I hear they’re kind of permanent, I’m waiting for my inspiration.  My husband was a bit bummed that I did not honor “Tat-ober” this past month, but yes, the tattoo is coming.  I’m actually pretty excited about it.

Despite my failure to achieve that “worthy adventure”, my summer and fall were filled with a few pseudo-adventures, and since I love a good list, allow me to chronicle those excursions that didn’t quite make the cut:

1. Attending a Red Sox visiting game with actual Red Sox fans.

2. Driving down Lombard Street in San Francisco. This was really more of Ryan’s adventure, but the rest of us in the car were able to enjoy its roller coaster-iness.  It’s really pretty impressive—you should look it up.

3. Dancing at a club for my new sister-in-law’s bachelorette party. Perhaps the most exciting part was experiencing the club perks one gets when she is part of such a party: no waiting in line, strangers picking up the tab, etc.  I would love to say that I was struck with how great a dancer I actually am, but…too many witnesses to refute…

4. Evacuating with a 10 month old.  She did really well with all of the hurricane hoopla, but I’d rather not flee without my husband again.

5. Contracting major work on our house.  I feel like such a grown-up.

So again I am looking for adventures, but for now there is no deadline.  As soon as I get this tattoo, after friends and family, this blog will be the first to know.