A Few Things

30 March 2011 by

– All the winners of the Passion – Here for You giveaway have been notified and have claimed their prize. It was one of the fastest giveaway wrap-ups ever; all five winners emailed me LICKETY SPLIT and had their prizes by the end of day Monday. So fun. Here are the winners, by the way.

Congratulations to Kim, Marcia, Laurie, Elizabeth and Lydia!

– I’m oversharing about my obsessive pre-travel list-making as part of a giveaway sponsored by Slim-Fast.

– Meg says that marriage is not what she expected. And her post a must-read for anyone who’s married or who wants to be married. So good. (link via Dedra)

– I’m loving the before & afters from sweet AJ’s remodeling project. Can’t wait to see more.

– Tonight on American Idol it’s the songs of Elton John. And – AND! – tonight also brings us the finale of Top Chef All-Stars.

THIS IS ALL SO VERY EXCITING.

Filed Under: Daily Awesome

The Early Bird Misses The Restorative Snooze Button Nap

29 March 2011 by

This morning I woke up before my alarm went off, and since I felt pretty rested – and since I knew it was probably just a matter of minutes before the alarm started to blare at me – I made the uncharacteristic decision to get out of bed a little early and make some coffee. Granted, my eyes are almost always half-closed for the first ten or fifteen minutes after I wake up (the phrase “bright eyed” rarely applies to me before 7 AM), but after years of practice I am able to make a fine pot of coffee while squinting and bleary-eyed. I like to think it’s one of my more marketable skills.

(And yes, I know I could get the coffee pot ready before I go to bed at night.)

(But there’s something about water sitting in the coffee pot all night that gives me the heebie-jeebies.)

(Remember: I am a person with many annoying quirks and hang-ups.)

Anyway, after I got the coffee going and was walking back through our room so I could get in the shower, D rolled over and said, “Are you okay? You can’t sleep?”

And I just sort of grunted that I was fine because that, that is what I do in the mornings, I SPREAD CHARM AND GOODWILL TO ALL WHO KNOW ME. But after a few seconds D’s questions started to sink in and I thought, Wait. What time is it? I haven’t even looked at a clock. What time is it?

I grabbed one of D’s watches off the dresser in the closet and looked at the time, but then I realized that I was holding the watch upside down. So I flipped it around and tried to remember if he’d set the watch since the time changed and sure enough I figured it out and OH MY SWEET MERCY IT WAS 4:45 IN THE A.M.

FOUR FORTY-FIVE.

Now I’m guessing that many of you would bask in the blessing of being awake at such an early hour, that you would relish the chance to have an extra-long quiet time or just sit and read in peace until everybody else in your house got out of bed. BUT NOT I. I hopped back under those covers quicker than you could say ‘WATCHES ARE HANDY” and slept the sleep of angels for the next hour and a half. It felt like bonus sleep even though really it was just regular ole sleep. But I’ll tell you what: it was a COZY GIFT.

Which reminds me.

This past Saturday D and I had a conversation about the snooze button. He contends that the snooze button is a waste of time, that you should just hop out of bed as soon as the alarm goes off because the sleep you get after that isn’t quality sleep. And since it isn’t quality sleep, he says, it’s better to just get up and face the day.

Personally I could not disagree with him more. Love him though I do.

I think that post-snooze button sleep is meant to be savored. It’s dreamy. It helps me ease into my day as opposed to jumping out of bed the first time I hear THAT RUDE ALARM. Post-snooze button sleep helps me adjust to the idea of facing the day, and every single time I hit that button for ten more minutes of dreamtime, I feel like I’ve given myself a little present. A sweet little drowsy present. Wrapped up in a turquoise bow.

On an average morning I hit the snooze button twice, by the way, so that’s twenty minutes a day of extra sleep. As far as I’m concerned it’s kind of like having a hobby.

So what about you? Are you an up-and-at-’em person? Or are you a snooze button person?

And if you don’t need an alarm to wake up early in the morning, then please accept our collective congratulations and feel free to share your sleep secrets with the rest of us.

Thank you and amen.

Filed Under: Rambling

It Never Hurts To Be Prepared (A Slim-Fast Giveaway)

28 March 2011 by

This is a sponsored review from BlogHer and Slim·Fast.

Since I know what I’m about to say is sort of weird, I think the best course of action is just to say it. Put it out there. Jump into the deep end of the community pool that’s chock-full-o-crazy.

Ready?

Here you go.

There are few things I enjoy more than packing a suitcase.

Seriously. I sort of adore it, in fact.

And it’s not that I just like packing my own suitcase. Oh, no ma’am. I like packing suitcases for other people, too. I love the whole process of figuring out what to take on a trip, getting everything organized, sorting all our stuff into categories, figuring out the best bag for what needs to be packed – the whole thing.

And because I love packing so much, getting ready for a trip can be almost as much fun for me as the trip itself.

(Maybe I should stop now.)

(I fear I’ve overshared.)

(My only defense is that I’ve never claimed to be even remotely normal.)

So given all of that, you can probably understand why our recent family trip to see a very large mouse pretty much reduced me to a quivering pile of trip-planning anticipation. After all, there were just so many things that needed to be done ahead of time! So many, very fun things!

Keep reading & enter the giveaway

Filed Under: BlogHer Reviews

Just Because It’s (And You’re) Awesome: A Giveaway

24 March 2011 by

A couple of days ago on the Twitter, Melanie mentioned that the new Passion – Here For You CD (from the Passion 2011 conference) is well worth the purchase. I’d been meaning to download it for about a week and just hadn’t followed through, so Mel’s reminder was timely. I bought the CD, put it on my iPod and figured I’d listen to bits and pieces of it whenever I could.

However, what I didn’t take into account is that I would LOVE THE CD INSTANTLY. And that I would listen to it straight through the very first time I played it on my iPod. And then immediately listen to it again. And again.

Oh my goodness, y’all. It’s so, so good. And as I was listening to it for the second time, I sent Melanie an email that said something along the lines of PASSION CD!! SO GREAT!! MY WORD!! CAN’T STOP LISTENING!! And then she responded with something along the lines of I KNOW!! TOLD YOU!! SO GOOD!! And then we stood up at our respective computers in our respective states and did hitch kicks as we sang along with the soothing vocal stylings of the lovely Christy Nockels.

Only not really.

Anyway, yesterday Mel and I were talking about how Passion – Here For You is one of those CDs that you want everybody you know to hear, and at some point in the conversation we decided to have ourselves a little giveaway. Because it’s fun to share.

(Did I mention how great it is?)

(I wasn’t sure if I made that clear or not.)

So. If you’d like to win one of five free copies of Passion – Here For You (via download), just leave a comment on this post (you can enter here and at Melanie’s blog – just FYI). I don’t even have a clever prompt, so just tell me some fun detail about your day. Like maybe you ate bacon this morning! Or maybe you get to meet an old friend for coffee! Or maybe you’re going to get to take a nap!

(Or if you’re not feeling particularly inspired, just type a few letters in the comment box. I’m totally flexible.)

I’ll leave comments open until Sunday afternoon-ish, at which point I’ll use random.org to draw for five winners. I’ll contact the winners by email, so make sure you leave an accurate email address when you comment. Once the winners respond to my email, I’ll send them the mp3 version of the CD through Amazon. Because technology is a wonder.

And just to be clear: no one contacted me about mentioning this CD on my blog. No one offered me free copies of the CD. I’m buying the downloads for the winners on my blog. Mel is buying the downloads for the winners on her blog. Nobody in the Passion organization has had any contact with me whatsoever, unless you count the time I saw Louie Giglio at an awards dinner and couldn’t think of anything to say to him except for “LAMININ!”

But I’m guessing that he probably doesn’t think about that too often. Unless it’s on those rare occasions when he has to come up with a definition for the word “awkward.”

Good times. Good times indeed.

Love,
Me

This giveaway is now closed – I’ll email the winners Monday, March 28th!

Filed Under: Giveaways, Jesus Music

American Idol – Top 11

23 March 2011 by

I’m always a fan of a Motown show, because as I’ve said before (and I’ll say again): the songs are great. Great songs make for great performances, and here’s to hoping that holds true tonight. Also, here’s to hoping that Casey doesn’t do anything too strange. And that nobody sings “Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch.” And that somebody does a really cool cover of some old Motown song because oh my word, we are way past due as far as a cool cover is concerned.

There. I believe I’ve made enough demands. So here we go.

Casey Abrams – “Heard It Through The Grapevine” – My first reaction to this song choice is that I wish he’d picked something that hadn’t been featured thousands of times in California Raisin commercials. But I liked the little bit of blues infusion that he put into it, and I also liked how he stayed just a little bit behind the beat…it made a song that we could all sing by heart feel less predictable. All in all, nice job. Really good to see the “old” Casey this week.

Thia Megia – “Heat Wave” – I’m happy to see Thia sing a song that breaks her out of the Disney princess genre. And this particular performance was an important one for her, I think. She actually moved around the stage and showed some personality. The weakness was that her voice was weaker on the high notes – and did she forget the lyrics at one point? It sounded a little muddled toward the end, but good for her for mixing things up a bit.

Jacob Lusk – “You’re All I Need To Get By” – Now listen. I have been tough on Jacob for SCREAMING HIS HEAD OFF the last couple of weeks. But I adored the first part of this song. I loved hearing him sit in that pocket and build some momentum. And when he got louder, it wasn’t too much (save one section when it sounded like he and the background singers were cancelling each other out). All in all, it was an original, memorable performance – totally infectious and fun and sing-along-able. (Let’s just pretend that’s a real word.)

Lauren Alaina – “You Keep Me Hangin’ On” – It was fun to hear her do something different at the beginning of the song, and what I appreciated the most about this song was that she didn’t scream her way through it. I liked that she was confident without being over-the-top (as opposed to a couple of weeks ago, when she sort of skipped! across! the stage! and acted! very excited!). Nice to see her settle into the zone.

Stefano Langone – “Hello” – If y’all knew how many times I sang this song when I was in junior high? OH MY WORD. I recorded the video off of “Friday Night Videos” on NBC and watched it OVER AND OVER AND OVER. So all that to say: Stefano picked a good ‘un as far as I’m concerned. However, I didn’t really like the first part of the performance because it felt abrupt and a tad overdramatic, but once he got going it started to grow on me. He put a modern R&B twist on it, and he sounded great. If there was any drawback, it’s that it seemed very rehearsed – so while everything sounded okay, it didn’t really make me feel anything.

Haley Reinhart – “You’ve Really Got A Hold On Me” – Haley has an interesting voice, but this song was hard for me to follow. I never really figured out where she was going with it. And as much as I like her voice – which is unique and textured and controlled – I don’t have any feel for her personality, and in this competition, that’s important. So while I appreciated this performance, I can’t really say that I enjoyed it. And that makes me a little sad.

Scotty McCreery – BABYLOCKTHEMDOORSANDTURN“For Once In My Life” – When I was a little girl, my daddy had all sorts of country music 8-tracks in his car: Charley Pride, Ray Stevens, Kenny Rogers, etc. And honestly, that’s sort of what Scotty’s performance tonight reminded me of – something I would have heard in Daddy’s green Capri back in the early 70s. The arrangement was a little on the hokey side (all that harmonica? really?), and I guess I just would’ve liked to hear something more modern. He can sing, no question – but this wasn’t my favorite.

Pia Toscano – “All In Love Is Fair” – Well, after a one week break, it’s back to the power ballads for Pia. I thought the first few bars of this performance were rough – it was almost like she couldn’t find her footing – but she was back on course at the end. However, if at some point she doesn’t break out of this sing-a-moving-song-with-a-big-finish tendency, Chris Harrison is going to walk out on the stage, crown her Miss America and send her on her way. The big voice is great, but there also needs to be an element of fun and surprise, you know?

Paul McDonald – “Tracks In My Tears” – INTERESTING COVER ALERT! INTERESTING COVER ALERT! First of all, I think the having the guitar worked for Paul because it sort of anchored him on the stage. Second of all, tonight’s song choice – and arrangement – really capitalized on the qualities that make Paul unique. So for me, this was leaps and bounds better than last week. LEAPS AND BOUNDS.

Naima Adedapo – “Dancin’ In The Street” – The first thing I thought when Naima started to sing? Oh, I would totally wear those pants. I would, however, pass on the cropped top. There’s something about Naima that I just adore. She’s creative, original and fearless when she performs. And while I don’t think she necessarily put some big, memorable twist on the song, she clearly paid attention to everything the judges told her last week – and made changes accordingly. Smart girl.

James Durbin – “Livin’ For The City” – Let me just get this out of the way: THIS IS ONE OF MY FAVORITE SONGS EVER. And all things considered, James did it proud. Parts of his performance were a little rough around the edges, but he has that thing – whatever you call it – that just compels people to root for him. It’s a combination of talent and personality and a very real sense that he’s doing what he was born to do. So fun to watch.

Best of the night: Jacob (I KNOW!)
May be in trouble: Thia, Haley (again, it’s the respectable-but-not-memorable factor)
And as a side note: There were a couple of comparatively weak links in tonight’s show, but across the board it was probably the strongest Top 11 show ever. Pretty impressive.

What did y’all think?

Filed Under: TV Is My Friend

In Which I Am Concerned

22 March 2011 by

Earlier this afternoon on Facebook, my sweet friend Amanda posted a link to an article called “Why Do We Let Girls Dress Like That?” – and I can’t stop thinking about it.

Honestly, I can get riled up and soapbox-y pretty easily about the things I see young (and not-so-young) girls wearing. Last week at Disneyland, for example, we saw teenage girl after teenage girl after teenage girl wearing shorts so short that my husband finally looked at me and said, “Did any parents see what these girls were wearing when they left their houses this morning? Because those little shorts they have on don’t really qualify as clothing.”

And he was right.

But here’s the thing. It’s pointless for me to just stand on my soapbox and point fingers where this particular issue (or any issue, really) is concerned. Because the fact of the matter is that many girls who dress immodestly (and, you could argue, the authority figures who allow it) make that choice because they don’t know their worth. If they knew their worth, they wouldn’t be looking for unhealthy forms of validation. If they knew their worth, they wouldn’t confuse the absence of appropriate boundaries with freedom.

And the thought of a nation – oh sweet mercy, a world – filled with young girls who don’t know their worth? Who don’t know that they were made with great, loving intention by the God of the universe, by the One who can clothe them with strength and dignity?

It breaks my heart. And it scares me.

But on the up side, it also renews my admiration and appreciation for all you mamas and daddies who refuse to bow down to the culture, who consistently do an incredible job parenting and leading and discipling your young girls. I know it’s not easy. It can’t be.

So here’s to fighting the good fight (IN LOVE), y’all. It’s worth it. The girls (and boys) in our families, schools, churches and communities are worth it.

Especially when they don’t know it.

But let’s pray that one day they will.

Filed Under: Rambling
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