Books, Movies, Parties.....

Last night our MOMS club had our monthly "Moms Night Out". We went to the movies and saw "Nights in Rodanthe" (a Nicholas Sparks book turned movie). I loved this book...it was great! The movie was great too, but as they always say, the book was better. The book definitely had more details. But the movie was beautiful, the setting was great, and you can't get much better than Diane Lane and Richard Gere...(although I don't see eye to eye w/ Richard Gere off-screen, he's still a wonderful actor). And now I'm ready for a trip to the Outer Banks, NC.! :-) I highly recommend seeing the movie, but also reading the book....and any book by Nicholas Sparks! (especially, "The Guardian")
After the movie we went to a mexican restaurant and enjoyed reminiscing about the 80's...big hair, funny clothes, music, etc. I think we need to have an 80's flashback party, I'm all about some big hair!!! LOL
Thanks girls for a fun night out!

Before I went to "moms night out", we had a Birthday party to go to. We had a wonderful time! Great weather (still a little too hot IMO for the end of Sept), great food, wonderful friends! If anyone needs a cute outside toy for toddlers/preschoolers, you need to get a Little Tykes (I think) "roller coaster". It was a HIT at the party with the kids!! It's a hard plastic "wavy ramp looking hill", it has a "car" that goes with it, they hop on the car and ride down the hill. I know this is not a great description, so here's a picture...view is from the back of it.

The one at the party was on a slope outside, which made it more fun and the kids really went a long way in the yard...they loved it!!!!
Happy Birthday Isabella, and thanks Jessica and Ryan for a great party!

Ok, so now on to the books. I just finished reading "Love the One You're With" by Emily Giffin. (thanks Jennifer for letting me borrow your book for so long!!!) This was our MOMS Club Book Club selection. I personally thought it was great!! A fun read, although I shed a little tear here and there. It was one of those books you could actually FEEL her heartbreaking decision. She was torn, she loved 2 people differently, they each brought something to the table for her. When she was on the plane flying back to NY from LA with her "former love" and he put his hand over her hand for the entire plane ride home, the author made that so passionate, again...you could just feel it! The author did a great job!
Our book club meets this week, we'll talk about this book and possibly pick our next selection. I'll let you know what it is, once we know!
The next few books I'll be reading are, "The Choice" by Nicholas Sparks. It's on my nightstand to be read. Also, I'm wanting to read "The Shack", and "The Year of Fog" by Michelle Richmond. Once I finish these I'll give you an update!
I don't remember if I talked about "Dear John" by Nicholas Sparks?? It was wonderful, tearful, and heartwrenching.....just the kind of book I love!!! :-) It needs to be made into a movie! It was a tale of two loves, and all about making decisions that change your life forever. A must read!
If anyone is wondering why I'm talking about all of these books, it's because, A) I love to read, and B) in a previous post, I told you I would be posting about books I read, and we could have an online "blogging book club". I think I have let you down. I don't remember which books I have posted about, so I'll go back and look to see which ones I need to review. If you've read any of these, I would love to hear your thoughts on them as well!

can't make a decision???

So I've been playing around with my layout for my blog off and on all day. I didn't like reading my blog on a green background, so I changed it to a fall background. However, it was too bright orange! So, I changed it to this (brown w/ blue & green polka dots). But, I don't like the brown background, I feel like it makes it hard to read?? So, I changed my text to bold, but I don't like that either!? So, please bear with me as I change it around some, eventually I'll find something I like...hopefully!

UPDATE: Ok, so I changed it again! I really didn't like looking at the black, bold text on the brown background. I kinda like this one, but I don't like the "splatter dots" on the text?? It makes it awkward to read. But enough procrastinating for now! It's time to pay the bills, and do laundry. I worked on my blog during Nathan's nap, when I was supposed to be actually working on other things!! I always procrastinate when I have something I don't want to do???

"Lessons in Life"

Sometimes cards are dealt to us that we don't like, we want to give them back, not remember they were dealt to us, hope they are never put back in our hands again. But that doesn't always happen. And when we're given those cards, it's what we do with them that matters, what makes us who we are. We may not do too well with them at first because they are hard to accept, and it may take a while for us to come out of our hole and deal with them. And it's ok to be sad, and to hurt, because that's part of dealing with those cards. But eventually God helps us through, because he always has a perfect plan. And we have to always remember that. And as hard as that is to remember sometimes, it's still true.

Someone sent the below "story" to me in an email, and I thought it was a great "lesson on life". Hope you enjoy!

LESSONS ON LIFE

There was a man who had four sons. He wanted his sons to learn not to judge
things too quickly. So he sent them each on a quest, in turn, to go and look
at a pear tree that was a great distance away.

The first son went in the winter, the second in the spring, the third in
summer, and the youngest son in the fall.

When they had all gone and come back, he called them together to describe
what they had seen.

The first son said that the tree was ugly, bent, and twisted. The second son
said no it was covered with green buds and full of promise.

The third son disagreed; he said it was laden with blossoms that smelled so
sweet and looked so beautiful, it was the most graceful thing he had ever
seen.

The last son disagreed with all of them; he said it was ripe and drooping
with fruit, full of life and fulfillment.

The man then explained to his sons that they were all right, because they
had each seen but only one season in the tree's life.

He told them that you cannot judge a tree, or a person, by only one season,
and that the essence of who they are and the pleasure, joy, and love that
come from that life can only be measured at the end, when all the seasons
are up.

If you give up when it's winter, you will miss the promise of your spring,
the beauty of your summer, fulfillment of your fall.

Moral:
Don't let the pain of one season destroy the joy of all the rest.
Don't judge life by one difficult season.
Persevere through the difficult patches and better times are sure to come
some time or later.

-- Author Unknown

HAPPY FALL!!!

Oh, how I LOVE Fall!! It's my favorite time of the year! Fall means football, pumpkin patches, apple cider, cooler weather, leaves turning, feeling a hint of crispness in the air as you walk outside in the morning, festivals, the list just goes on and on!! And, 13 years ago today on September 22, 1995 my husband and I met on a blind date...awwww! My college roommate and her boyfriend at the time, set us up on a blind date for my sorority's Fall Date Party, "Strawberry Fields Forever". It was a fun night!
Anyway, just wanted to say "Happy Fall"! It is absolutely GORGEOUS outside today! Fall could not have been welcomed in by a better day!

"Never Forget".....Remembering 9/11

As I watched Fox News this morning, I couldn't help but cry. I do this every year on Sept. 11th. I cry not only because I'm such an emotional person, but I still remember the terror on that day, and I always will. I cry because I see the tears in the family members eyes of the victims/heroes of that day. I think of all those left behind, never getting to say goodbye to those they loved so dearly. I think of all the heroes of Flight 93 that crashed in Shanksville, PA. I can't imagine what they must have been feeling as they charged the cockpit, to stop the terrorists from destroying more lives. They are true HEROES! John McCain was in Shanksville this morning speaking about those Heroes. I wish I could remember John McCain's exact words but they were something like this: "there is no greater love than the sacrifice made by giving your own life for others, except God's love." That is so true. As Todd Beamer said "Let's Roll", he wasn't thinking about himself. Those wonderful people on board Flight 93 knew they needed to stop the horrible terrorist from hurting our country more. And that's exactly what they did.
The beautiful Pentagon Memorial was unveiled today. I thought it was very reflective. The memorial is made up of benches with the names of the victims who were on the flight that crashed into the Pentagon, and those that lost their lives in the Pentagon. Those victims range in ages from 3 to 71 and the benches are in chronological order. There are "waters of life" under those benches with a reflective light. There were specific maple trees planted close to the benches which turn a symbolic bright red in September. I think this is the first completed memorial since the 9/11 attacks. I think they did a great job with it.

I remember exactly where I was when I heard what happened on that day and what I was doing. I remember everything I did on that day. I'm sure you all do as well. I remember being very scared on that day the days that followed. Brian was 8 hours away from me at school training for his new job from July through December of that year. I came home to an empty house, watched the news coverage, and prayed. I prayed for all the victims and their families, the troops that were being called overseas, the President, and for our country to be safe.

I know a lot of people like to "bash" our President, George W. Bush. But I applaud him. No other US President has been faced with that kind of terror attack on our own soil. Thankfully, we have a president that stood up to the terrorists and is still standing up to them, and standing up for US! He did what he did because he loves this great country, and he doesn't want to ever see that happen again. Thank you President Bush for all that you have done for this country. It is because of the president and all of our Military, that I feel safer today than I did 7 years ago.
My prayers are with all the family and friends of the vicitms of 9/11, and those still dealing with medical issues as a result. My prayers are with this country, all the military members and their families, and with the upcoming election. I pray this country will elect a President that will continue to STAND UP to the terrorists that threaten us.
Let us all "NEVER FORGET"....