Breaking Dawn!!!

For those of you who know me, you know how giddy-stupid-excited I have been for the release of the final installment of the Twilight Saga by my favorite author, Stephenie Meyer. I have been not-so-patiently waiting for this book for over a year now, ever since I went to the "Eclipse" book signing at the Tattered Cover last August. I am absolutely IN LOVE with this whole series, and if you haven't read them yet, you need to run to your local bookstore and get them in hardback--they are that good.

Here is a synopsis of the first three books that I borrowed from The Twilight Saga (They summed it up better than I could...):

In Twilight, Bella Swan’s move to Forks could have been the most boring move she ever made. But when she meets the mysterious and alluring Edward Cullen, her life takes a thrilling and terrifying turn. Up until now, Edward has managed to keep his vampire identity a secret in the small community he lives in, but now nobody is safe, especially Bella.

Star-crossed lovers Bella and Edward return in New Moon to find themselves facing new obstacles, including a devastating separation, the mysterious appearance of dangerous wolves roaming the forest in Forks, a terrify

ing threat of revenge from a female vampire, and a deliciously sinister encounter with Italy’s reigning royal family of vampires, the Volturi.

As Seattle is ravaged by a string of mysterious killings and a malicious vampire continues her quest for revenge, Bella once again finds herself surrounded by danger in Eclipse, the third novel of The Twilight Saga. In the midst of it all, she is forced to choose between her love for Edward and her friendship with Jacob — knowing that her decision has the potential to ignite the ageless struggle between vampire and werewolf. With her graduation quickly approaching, Bella has one more decision to make: life or death. But which is which?

Anyway, being as excited as I am, when I found out that Barnes & Noble was doing a midnight release party, I immediately knew I HAD to be there. Katie and I went down to the bookstore at 9:00 a.m. to pick up our wristbands this morning, and to our excitement, we were near the front of the queue!!! We snagged the #34 & 35 slots!  (This may not sound super exciting to you, but last year for the Eclipse book signing, we were #312 & #313... it mostly means waiting for well over an hour for your book.)

I was so excited all day, I had a hard time concentrating on anything, but 

I made it thru the day and Katie & I headed out about 10:00. 

We hung out, had some Starbucks 

(who also stayed open for the release and even created a new "Vampire's Kiss" drink that I had to try--it was a vanilla bean blended creme with raspberry sauce...tasty!), listened to music, filled out the trivia contests and waited impatiently.

Midnight finally arrived, and we were 4th & 5th to get our books in our line. After we gladly shelled out our money (Katie has been saving hers since her birthday) we immediately headed home to get started. (Okay, it was just me, Katie was smart and went to bed.) I personally sat up until 4:30 a.m. reading and I finally had to force myself to go to sleep. It is that good! I won't say anything now, I don't want to spoil anyone else's experience. I am now torn between tearing thru the rest of it because I am dying to know what happens next and dragging it out because I don't want it to be over. I know all good things must come to an end... but what am I going to read now???

(This is Katie & I with our books last night/early this morning.   Aren't we cute??)

What I Am

I got this one from Holly... I promise I really do have other things to post, I just can't seem to get the time to sit down and do it. So for now, here is another fun one. Well, I was cracking myself up with it, anyway...

Here is what you do:
1. Put your iTunes, Windows Media Player, MP3 player, etc. on shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. You must write that song name down no matter how silly it makes you look.
4. Title this blog what the answer to your last question is.
5. Good luck and have fun!

IF SOMEONE SAYS 'ARE YOU OKAY' YOU SAY? The Small Print (Muse)
HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOURSELF? Everything Around Me is Changing (Sinead Lohan)
WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL? Mr. Midnight (Garth Brooks)
HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY? What You Waiting For? (Gwen Stefani)
WHAT IS YOUR LIFE'S PURPOSE? Beautiful Girls (Sean Kingston)
WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU? God Put a Smile Upon Your Face (Coldplay)
WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU? Whisper (Evanescence)
WHAT DO YOU OFTEN THINK ABOUT? In My Heart (Moby)
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE? Missionary Man (Eurhythmics)
WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP? Sparkling Diamonds (Nicole Kidman, Moulin Rouge Soundtrack)
WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE? Penny Lane (The Beatles)
WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING? The Remedy-I Won't Worry (Jason Mraz)
WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL? AM Radio (Everclear)
WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST FEAR? Shotgun Blues (Kalai)
WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET? Holly Holy (Neil Diamond)
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS? No One Sees You Like I Do (Plus/Minus)
WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO NAME THIS BLOG? What I Am (Edie Brickell)

Happy Birthday Luke!

I can't believe how fast time has gone! Today is Luke's first birthday. It's hard to believe that it has already been a year. It seems like just yesterday he joined our family. He is such a happy even-tempered little guy and I just love hanging out with him. He is such a joy and we are so blessed to have him!

Happy Birthday Katie!

Today was Katie's 16th birthday. Wow... now that makes me feel old. I first met Katie when she was about 4 years old. I had seen her before, in the nursery at church where my mom was working. That summer, the Hunchback of Notre Dame came out in the theater and I had gotten tickets to a special screening that the Disney Store was doing. I ended up with an extra one, so I called up Sandy and asked if I could take Katie to the movies with me. Trusting soul that she is (she had no idea who I was, just my mom from the nursery) she agreed to let me take her first born to the movies. The rest, as they say, is history. Mwahahaha! (Did you like that evil laugh?)

I was watching her at her party tonight and it's hard to believe how quickly time has passed. From that sweet little girl I took to the movies, Katie has grown into a awesome young woman. She is crazy and silly and a great sister and friend. (Yeah, I posted the video, haha... you knew it was going to come back and bite you one day.) And since I am making myself mushy now, I will just say, Happy Birthday, KP! I love ya!

Memory Game

This is something fun I got from Heather... jump in!

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. Enjoy!

Okay, okay...

It's time for some updates. Bear with me, I have a few and you will need to scroll down to see them all.*

*EDIT: So it turns out that this is taking me longer than I thought it would and so far there is only one new post. But it is now late and I need sleep. Stay tuned... more is coming....

Father's Day

I decided at the last minute to fly to Idaho Falls this weekend to spend the holiday with my entire family. (I cannot possibly express how I LOATHE being left out of things, and the fact that everyone else was going to be up there was just too much for me.)

I flew up late Friday night after work and the plan was to surprise my dad, who didn't know I was coming, but it turns out that at the last minute two of my ditzy sleep-deprived family members spilled the beans. The exciting part of the travel portion of my trip was that although I had a short direct flight from Denver to Idaho Falls, United still managed to lose my luggage, along with the luggage of about 5 other people. Turns out it never made it onto the plane in Denver. Lovely. Thank heavens for 24 hour Wal-Mart and the foresight to carry my make-up with me.

We spent most of Saturday shopping and running errands. Jake had to work, but I got to hang with the parents, my sisters and the Pip. OH! And, most excitingly, I got to experience the thing I had been looking forward to for quite some time. I had a delicious snow cone. I know, I know, that may not seem like a big deal to most people, but I have been wanting one BAD and they just don't have those "SNO-SHACKS" or whatever here in Colorado, more's the pity.

On Sunday everyone got together at Mandy & Jake's for awhile before Mom and Dad had to head home. The cousins had a good time and we even managed to get a family picture with everyone this time! We haven't had one since before Tanner was born, so it was definitely time. Later that evening after the parents left (which always makes me feel unsupervised) and Stephen & Heather took their boys home, Mandy, Kimberly, Jake, the Pip and I went to Jake's brother's house for banana boats. Can I just say delicious? Basically, you slice open the banana long-ways and then put in marshmallows, chocolate chips and nuts, close it back up, wrap it in tin foil and put it on the grill. Then when it's done, serve it with ice cream. YUM.

Monday Kimberly and I got to babysit the Pip and that is just one of my favorite things in the world. We attempted to have a mini photo shoot with him, but it turns out that nap time is a stupid time to do that. >You'd think the aunties would have been smarter than that, but turns out no. (Okay, it was mostly just this auntie.)



I also got to go over to Stephen & Heather's to hang out for a bit before my flight and hang with my two other favorite boys before my flight.

We mostly just played and visited and I stole sneaky attack hugs from Vance, which I like to tell myself he secretly loves. (I also finally got to try out MarioKart on the Wii. Fun stuff.)

Then about 30 minutes before my flight, I reluctantly decided that maybe we should head to the airport if I was going home. I love small airports. I checked in, went through security, and headed to my gate (from which I could still see the parking lot) and had plenty of time to spare. (Oh! And my luggage managed to make it to Denver, with my flight. Just saying.)

It was a really fun weekend, I just wish we all lived closer so we could do it more often...