Twilight Cliff Notes

Here is a sneak peak at the animation my hubbys been working on lately.

Twilight Cliff Notes

(Click on the name above to watch the video!)

Meeting an author!

My friend Rachel and I were in charge of book club this month. Rachel happens to know cute miss Ally Condie (the one holding the book in the middle) and she graciously agreed to come and chat with us.

It was fun going all out on red, white and blue. The book we read was called Freshman for President. She's also written a handful of other books including some for LDS YA.

We asked her all sorts of questions about her writing process and how she is able to make it work for her and her family. She also told us some fun stories about other authors she's met through sharing the same publishers.

As always the girls and I had a great evening and laughed so hard my jaw was aching. Before we left we all talked about the books we've been reading lately and I came home with a list of well over 30 books that are all on my to be read list now.

In celebration of my mom!

I set a personal goal to raise $75. This is my first 5K and what a great cause!

Dear Friends and Family,

I recently accepted the challenge to raise funds to support the Komen Salt Lake City Race for the Cure® on May 09, 2009 in the fight against breast cancer. One in eight women will be stricken with breast cancer in her lifetime and the more we raise, the more the Salt Lake City Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure can give back to fund vital breast cancer education, screening and treatment programs in our own community and support the national search for a cure.

Click here to visit my personal page and pledge your support.

Please join me in the fight by pledging in support of my participation in the Race or contributing generously to the Komen Salt Lake City Race for the Cure®. Your tax-deductible contribution will fund innovative outreach and awareness programs for medically underserved communities in the Salt Lake area and national breast cancer research. It is faster and easier than ever to support this great cause - you can make a donation online by simply clicking on the link at the bottom of this message. If you would prefer, you can also send your tax-deductible contribution to the address listed below. Whatever you can give will help! I truly appreciate your support and will keep you posted on my progress.

Thank you so much for your time and support in the fight against breast cancer! Every step counts!

Sincerely,

Debbie

To sponsor my participation online, click here.

Click Me

Hubby ran out of socks today. Whoops! Good thing it was easily fixed. Better go get myself into that laundry room. At least the dishwasher is currently going. :-P

I love this blog! Trapped Between a Scream and a Hug

Giveaway on this blog: Meanest Mom

Schlotzskys (Funny name, Serious Sandwich)

Have you heard of this place? Several (read 10+) years ago there used to be a half dozen or so within a 40 mile stretch near my home. Now there is two (I believe) in my whole state.

Luckily for me one is just about 5 minutes from my parents house (although sadly thats 45 minutes from my house). There also happens to be another one near my in-laws house (again not too close to my house as it's 4 hours away). I won't be discouraged though.

This heavenly goodness is a great treat (yes treat because these puppys pack a huge deli meat punch). I always order the Turkey Original on Sourdough bread. Delicious! They pile on the deli meats and the bread is that perfect blend of soft and chewy yet crispy deliciously toasted. My mother in law knows how much I love this delectable divinity and kindly took me out to get one this evening. Props to a good sandwich!

BMW The TV Show (not the car)

I LOVE Boy Meets World! L.O.V.E. When it first started to air on TV (in 1993) they were the same age/grade that I was. I think part of it's appeal was that it was in the TGIF lineup but it easily was my favorite show even back then.

A few years ago when Buena Vista started releasing some of their television shows they threw BMW into the mix. I was there at the store the day they came out. However after smaller sales (I"m assuming) then they were hoping for, only three seasons out of the seven were released. The fourth season had been scheduled for release but kept getting put off until they finally said they weren't going through with it.

Through the magic of the internet though I found a nice young man who had ALL seven seasons (read 157 episodes of pure happiness for Debbie) on disc. For years now I've been able to continue my love for a fun childhood memory. While I may not be the most avid trivia fan I do know my share of crazy facts about the show and it's stars if you're interested. Haha.

A little sample of my happiness:

YA Author (Free Book)

I have this adorable cousin (well I think technically she's my 2nd cousin) who is in the process of getting her new YA book published (read about it here). In the meantime she keeps many entertained with her witty, silly, (self proclaimed geeky) sense of humor on her Blog.

I think you should certainly check it out. She even told me that the first 5 people (that I send over) to follow her blog and then email her and tell her "I saw you on Debbie's blog" (or something w/ my name) "and I've been really wanting to read [insert a YA book here]" she'll send you the book for free!! (Edited to add: Offer no longer available.)

Cool right? A free book! Plus hours of entertainment as you read and enjoy her blog. Leave me a comment if you hop over there. I'd love to know if you enjoyed it or said hi.

Road Trippin'

I remember when I was growing up and my parents owned a huge Chevy van (similar to the one pictured here). My two sisters and I would have the entire back all to ourselves.My dad would lay down the back bench and mom would make it into a bed. They'd have our little television set up so we could watch movies (yes this was back in the late 80's). We had a table that sat between the bench and the captain chairs. I dont think seatbelts were ever really enforced (by my parents).

I can only imagine how hard it must be for these little bodies to be barricaded down for long amounts of time.

Win one of these! (Or pick your own image.)

Tarls Scribbles (over on facebook) is having another contest this week. Go check it out (under the boxes tab) and leave a comment there to enter. I love the steins. We have one with some wildlife art on it and my hubs loves to use it for his soups.

Food Storage Binder

I won!! The cute gals over at food storage made easy had a contest last week and I won one of their fabulous lovely baby steps binder! (We had to email them how enthusiastic we were about spreading the word and what we were currently working on.) Click on the picture below if you are interested in more of their information or to order their binder (10% off before Friday!!). It's filled with fabulous ideas and tips on how to set up your food storage and emergency preparedness information.

Absolute Association in All Areas

Several months ago my hubby went out of town for a job interview. The original plan called for a 3 day stay. After a few things came up it turned into 6.

While the hubs was away it was a little quiet at night so as I worked on my many random projects and read my stories I liked to have some movies playing just to make noise.

Of course with my little OCD problem with associating all things (I call it my AOCD), I got it into my head to start relating all the movies I watched. Originally it started with just one thing in each movie matched the next movie I watched, but then I started thinking how all the movies I'd been watching linked to each other. Of course, again with my OCD, I had to make a chart to help my visual side of things. I know I know, insert your eye rolls here. I can't help it. Associating things makes me giddy with delight. Seriously. My friends can attest to this. The funny thing is usually it doesnt make much sense, but here for our appreciation and "oh good at least I'm not as crazy as that girl" is my movie association

Food Storage Made Easy

I've been following this site for a few months now and LOVE all of their wonderful ideas. For reasons probably like everyone else I decided it was imperative I needed to start my food storage immediately. This week this site is talking about their newly finished 'baby step binder'. Doesnt that name just scream easy, you can do it, it's possible, it's about time to get started, nothing holding you back now! Right?

I cleared out half of my sons closet (it was mostly just boxes anyway) and put in some big nice shelves and it's amazing the boost it is to see those shelves fill up! This is where it was about two weeks ago. (Our year supply #10 cans are taking the entire space under my girls beds.) I'm pretty excited considering that about a month or two ago this didn't exhist and all I had is what was in my pantry. I obviously still have some things to do but I'm thrilled I have a vision now.

Anywho hop on over to this site for some great tips, tricks, ideas, and encouragement!

My first official date-Birthday Buddies

A few days ago when I was getting all my wonderful birthday comments on facebook I got a comment from a dear old friend who just happened to be the gentleman who took me on my very first official 16-year-old date. And of course I started to reminisce.

It was awesome. He was three years older than me and our birthdays were the same day (if you know how much I love my birthday, let me just tell you the only thing that could have made it better to my young mind was a handsome hottie sharing that same birthdate). I had had a major crush on him for at least a year but obviously when you're that young the difference in age feels greater. Well we had been talking, and so had our moms (go moms!) and we got it set up that we'd go out together for our birthdays. (So yeah, I was sitting pretty that day. After all, at the young little age of 16, I was going out on a date a 19 year old college boy!)

I was first in line that morning at the DMV to get my license so I could drive my parents cherry-red Sunfire, even though the rest of the group we were going out with all could drive, it was another right of passage I was desperate to achieve. I'm not sure if it's that post-baby memory (tell me I'm not alone in losing brain cells while I was pregnant) but to be honest I dont remember much of the actual activity of the date. I remember about three things.

1) We climbed over a fence to get into a no-tresspassing area so we could see some crazy statues. It was dangerous, exciting and a little scary.
2) His cologne was to die for. In fact a few days after this date I went to the mall and smelled the cologne samples so I could find it and got one of the paper testers so I could put it in my backpack.
3) I wanted him to kiss me badly (My first kiss was a few years before this--perhaps a story for later). Can you blame me? He was a hottie. Alas he did not.

The date was wonderful and I'd have to say a great start to my dating adventures that came after.

So I'm curious, what was your first date like?

Success

It was awesome! We took the family bowling and we all had a fabulous time! Then the kids went to my parents for a sleepover while hubby and I had the entire afternoon and evening for a super date. We went to a movie, out to eat, to the mall, bought new clothes, rented a movie. Got to sleep in. It was FANTASTIC!

One Year Older and Wiser Too

Happy Birthday to me! Well I'm not sure about the wiser part....but I've been waiting 364 days for this one to arrive and I'm so excited for what I have in store! Pictures to follow.

Free Food Storage Sample Pack

Over at Mormon Mommy Blogs they're hosting a foodstorage giveaway. Be sure to check it out quick though, it's only up for a few days!

Will Debbie become Deceptively Delicious?

Hoorah! I won this awesome book from The Obsessive Shopper blog. If you haven't seen this blog I'd highly encourage you to check it out.

It's now part of a great team over at Fun With Food Storage where they teach you all things Food Storage for your family needs.

I can't wait to get this book. I've heard great things about this from my sisters-in-law. However if you know me, you know I am not a fan of vegetables. Yes I'm an adult. I know how can I be so crazy as to rule out vegetables. Well for what it's worth this year I started eating broccoli and cauliflower. Haha. So we'll see if I can actually handle KNOWING what is going into these foods. I need a cook who will do this for me--sneak in healthier food. Wish me luck!

Kids In Forks

Tarl Scribbles is having a contest on Facebook (all you gotta do is become a fan). You could win these adorable things! Go here for more info (click on the 'boxes' tab). Good luck to ya.