Quick Snippet

**UPDATE** Ksks.com's website is back up. The music is streaming. People, you can stop fearing for your lives. I am calm now. Okay. Back to work. :)


OKAY.

I have had it!

First, Pandora tells me I only get 40 hours a month, which now is already used.

Second, I found the AWESOMENESS that is Kiss Country streamed online. (Which abated my anger at Pandora)

NOW KISS COUNTRY'S WEBSITE IS DOWN.

Seriously? SERIOUSLY?

Why can't I just listen to music as I work? I focus better. It helps me think. Why am I being punished by silence?

It's not fair.

And yes... This is my pity party and I'll cry if I want to.

Confusing Directions

This might seem random, but I find that I am a tad more honest and open when I blog at night. Is that weird? I mean... I generally think of myself as a very honest and straight forward person. But even I have my moments when I am guarded... although I try not to be on here.

Last Tuesday night, Ryan, Denise, Andy, Anna, Anna's sister Sarah, their friend Erin and myself went to the midnight showing of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.

I liked it a lot, obviously. But I felt that the book had a great line up for a screenplay. As much as I understand that the book will always have more details, I feel that the lines of the movie should parallel to the book. I think that the Half-Blood Prince was one such book that could have been translated into the theater without risking too much of the meat.

I was pretty disappointed. There were little things that were changed for seemingly no reason at all. Anna also made a great point: The movie focused so much on the relationships of the characters. But not on the most important one - the love story between Harry and Jenny. This story was all about building our knowledge of Voldemort. And yet we didn't learn very much about him. We didn't learn about Merope or what happened to Voldemorts father. We don't see what happens to Voldemorts grandfather. The whole thing really saddened me. The entire premise of the Half Blood Prince is to learn how to defeat the Dark Lord - and yet we hardly learned anything at all.

Anywho, I am still happy with the books and still an avid fan. Hopefully the next two movies will be worth the craziness in this one.

Early Wednesday morning I got up and loaded the Vdub. I made great time to Alisons' house where I am spending my vacation.

It has been so nice playing with Emma and Brody. They are so cute. Impossibly so. Last night, Alison and Mark went out on a date and Emma and I had a date of our own. We had dessert which consisted of a freshly cut pineapple that was delicious. We played Crainium's Hullabaloo and we watched Pinocchio... Which I haven't seen in years.

Okay... so maybe I am extremely lame for not knowing this, but does anyone else realize the similarities between Pinocchio's Hi-Diddelee-Dee (An Actors Life For Me), Snow White's Yo Ho, Yo Ho, It's off to Work We Go and Pirates of the Caribbeans A Pirates Life For Me?

I just put that together. Here are the links:

Pinocchio
Pirates of The Caribbean
Snow White

Moving on from that distraction...

I've been stressed lately. All this life stuff. When did things get so complicated? It feels like my life as 360ed in the past few weeks. The beginning of July set off a course of events and now I'm left with the remnants and I have no clue what to do with them. It's like I am trying to deal with it but I really don't know where to begin the process.

So, I do what I can.. I pray. Last night after the kids went to bed and I went out on the balcony and watched the cars pass. I had a long talk with God. I went through all the emotions... sadness, anger, confusion and then by the end of course, I apologized. I forgot that He has a plan. And right now His plan is changing MY plan and it completely frustrated me. Even though I shouldn't I felt like he was scolding me.

"Do you think you know more than I? Do you think you can plan your life better than I can?"

And of course, I know that I cannot. How could I? Against the one who knows every hair on my head... every desire of my heart.

Again, I am in the position of letting him take the reins. Which is hard for me to do. I feel like my heart is changing and I'm kind of scared what that brings. I've always known that I wanted to be a wife. I've always known that I wanted to be a mother and maybe even a stay at home mother. I mourned for a while when I learned that none of those things may be in the cards for me. I might not ever get married or find 'the one'. I might never get to experience motherhood.. and that saddens me to the highest degree.

Such is life. I just have to learn that things will come when they are meant to. And not when I desire them to be so. I have to keep my head straight and do what I can.

Hmm... off subject... the window is open in Alison's living room and the neighbors are smoking and its wafting in here. SERIOUSLY? Does this follow me every where I go?

The neighbors to the left of us at home smoke on their back porch... our swamp cooler sucks it in and blows it right into our living room. Geez.

Moving on. Tomorrow, I make the trek back to Hanford. I'm excited to go home and see my bestie and my babies, Duey and Danny. I guess I should be going off to bed to get some rest.

Until the next time....

Good Times at the KC Fair

It has been too long. I know, I know. I am slacking like crazy. Alas, my life is busy, and when life gets busy blogging is placed on the back-burner. But, what is nice is that I actually have things to write about!

The past two weeks have been Really. Freaking. Crazy. There has been a bunch of stuff going on at work, PLUS getting ready for the new year.. PLUS closing out the old year... PLUS trying to get completely organized so that this year is nothing like last year.

I have also been trying to get the house situated because the owners are coming to visit and I really want them to SEE how much I love their house. Which proves to be difficult when
A.) I am poor.
B.) My roommate is poor.
C.) We both stink at gardening/physical labor for various reasons.

But, we've gotten some things done and we need to do more but all the super hard work is pretty much done.

Luckily, my friend Ryan who came to visit from Kansas, helped us out A LOT with the gardening. (He even cleaned our kitchen.) It was really awesome and helpful considering the fact that I've been so stressed trying to coordinate everything by myself.

Don't worry, I didn't JUST put my friend since 4th grade to work. We had a lot of long conversations about life and about our goals. We caught up as much as week could in the time that we hung out.

This past weekend was the Kings County Fair and Anna, Denise and I carpooled over to it. Here is a SUPER CUTE picture of us waiting in line... (which Anna was TOTALLY not happy about.)


Finally, we made it into the Fair! In true Hanford Fashion, when we walked in, there was an amateur rapping duo that was laying down the.. whatever it is they lay down. I really wish now I had snapped a picture because I think that it was hilarious.

So, we walk the strip and go down to animals. There was nothing too spectacular but Denise held a bunny... which was really nice until it spooked and tried to end it all by jumping like 4 feet away from her and back into the little petting area.

We met up with Ryan and got our over 21 wristbands and decided to go to the Josh Gracin concert which was good but not great.


We stood close to the stage and sang to the songs we knew... but what we were really interested is was the cute guitarist/singer/pianist/violinist. He was soooo cute. Every time he would pick up the violin my heart would melt a little inside. To our dismay, he doesn't photograph all that well, but we tried anyways:


And Anna was definitely enjoying the eye candy:

And in the background Ryan is trying to mess with her ear because that is what he does.

Now... I'd like to take a moment to reflect on our Favorite Fair Moment.

There we were... just minding out own business, when All Of A Sudden a man walked up with his lady. This wasn't just any man. This man had style, this man had class. This man was and is really everything that a woman could desire:

When this guy walked up, He was wearing the boots, wranglers, and a tucked in wife-beater shirt. Which was funny in and of itself... but then, he slipped on his light brown leather vest and he went from funny to DOWNRIGHT AWESOME. In fact, he was so awesome that Denise wanted to take a picture with him:

I wish, beyond wishes, that Anna's hand was just a TAD higher so that it would be right under his butt... Just because it would be hilarious.

After the concert, Denise and I took pictures with the Really Hot Guy.



We took some other pictures but I'll post those in a supplemental blog, since this one is already crazy long.

Oh, by the way. I had one and a half beers and a corn dog which was the Worst Idea Ever and I got totally sick.

But other than that it was a great fair and I can't wait for the next one!

I have tons more to update you with so make sure to check back!

Thought Process

- It's annoying when people don't take care of business and do the right thing.

-Its annoying when doing the right thing bites you in the you-know-what.

-I'm annoyed.

-I also wish I had an accent like the person who recorded the phone menu for the Houghton-Mifflin-Harcourt publishing agency.

Thought Process

July is going to be SUCH a great month!

-New Fiscal Year

-Ryan is visiting from Kansas

-Fair

-Harry Potter 6

-Visiting Alison and family in San Diego (NEXT WEEK)

-Meeting the owners of the house

-GETTING AN AIR CONDITIONER

I am so blessed!

Matters of the Heart

**This post is totally coming from a disheartened Megan. Just an FYI for you.**

Most of the time I am okay with coming from a broken family. Most of the time I feel like I have overcome a lot of obstacles to get me to where I am today. And I feel like so far, I've succeeded.

Yes, I've made mistakes. Little ones and big ones. But I've learned. I've grown. I've managed to escape huge disasters. A lot of people that know me have said at one point, "I have no clue how you and your sisters turned out the way you did."

But sometimes things happen. Events in a day. Something that triggers a memory. Sometimes I'll look at the picture I have of my Mom and Dad in the mountains with snow surrounding them and I remember the casualties.

I feel the ache in my heart knowing that my future children (if I have any) will never see their grandparents together. And maybe worse, I know that Emma and Brody, who are here now, will never get to go camping with their grandma and grandpa.. something that they loved to do. Or go to the lake and swim. Or swim in the pool with them together. When they are old enough, they might hear my parents love story, but they won't really get it, won't understand it. It'll be foreign.

I know that everything happens for a reason. I know that God has a plan that I am not going to even try to figure out. And I know that the people that my parents are with now are so awesome and I am happy to have them in my life.

But I also mourn the loss for my original family of 5. I get sad at how much the decisions that our parents made has affected not only their lives, but all of ours too. I'm sad that there are all these rivers and valleys between the five of us and we'll never find a bridge or walk the distance to find each other again.

Luckily, humans adapt. Even though part of me will always wish that I could revert time and control every detail to make things happen a different way, I will always reject the idea. I would never want to disrupt what we all have now.

Alison, a woman I admire so much, has a wonderful husband and a beautiful family. I would never risk altering her life.

Kari, my fierce and loving sister is so happy with her life and her hubby and lil Gunther and their new house that they are making a home more and more each day... and to think of doing anything in the past that might change that gets automatically thrown out.

Maybe because I am single and still figuring life out, I have time to think about these things. Maybe because I was the only one left when my family finally cut the ties and I watched it all happen I have a different view. I don't know.

I just know that nights like tonight I wish I could call my parents and get some type of advice. Which I could probably still do, but why bring it up when everyone has moved on?

Q: Is Eating Raw Spaghetti Noodles Bad for My Dog?

Cause if so, Houston... We have a problem.

Rewind to the beginning.

I borrowed The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks from my Mom. I got home and sat down, thinking to myself, "Oh, I'll read for a little bit to unwind, then I'll get some stuff done in the house." (Unwind because on Monday my auditors will be here... and this entire week has been really stressful and trying in order to get ready for that.... Not to mention that the caterer I was going to meet up with my canceled when I was already on my way. Annoying!!!)

Big. Fat. FAIL.

After a hundred pages or so, my stomach starts to ache a bit. Twenty five more pages and my stomach starts to churn. Seventy five more pages and my stomach is screaming - FEED ME NOW OR YOU WILL REALLY REGRET IT. And just to show it Means Business, my head gets a little twinge of a headache.

I concede, set down my book, realize that I have FOUR text messages (which is a lot, trust me.) and its 7:45. Whooooaaaa.. No wonder I am so hungry. I ate at 11:30 today.

I get up, decide to have some s'getti and I go to the pantry to get the noodles. I look in the usual area and there is nothing but a HUGE box of the noodles. I could have sworn that we had more than this box. Well, I quick scan the shelf above that and I see a smaller box of noodles that seems like it was sealed. I was like.. hmm... wrong placement. Oh well. So I grab it, THINKING that it is sealed. Lo and behold it is not sealed. Nosiree. The wonderful part is that the part closest to me was the bottom, and the part farthest from me was the unsealed part. In my raw Wonder Woman power, I yanked the box spilling noodles every where. Don't believe me? Oh, I have proof.

The damage:


Yes. I kid you not. I was like... Oh. My. Word.

I got the camera because I knew you guys wouldn't, couldn't possibly understand what a mess it was.

I'm taking pictures and when finished, I turn around to see this little guy doing a very naughty thing:

It's almost like he is thinking: Don't look at me, Mom. I'm just hanging out, being innocent.

What? I'm sitting here innocently... Can't you SEE?

Well...You are taking pictures so obviously you are not that mad. I'll just continue doing what I'm doing and you go about your business.

It was a pretty eventful start to my dinner preparation. But my food is now finished and my stomach hasn't gotten any fuller. Time to eat!

The Honest Scrap Award

There are a few requirements and they are as follows:
- I must thank the person who gave me the award and list their blog and link it
- I must list 10 honest things about myself
- I must put a copy of The Honest Scrap Logo on my blog.
- I must select at least 7 other worthy bloggers & list their links
- I must notify the bloggers of the award and hopefully they will follow the above requirements.

---

As you can see I've been nominated for an award. Thanks to Hypnosis To Transform Your Life for tagging ME! I'm relatively new to the blogging world so I don't have seven blogs to tag, so I'm going to be totally lame and wait to tag people. I'm getting interested in a few more blogs so I'll tag some as soon as I am able and have blogs worthy of being tagged!

So, all I have to do now is blog Ten Honest Things about me.

1.) I am a morning person. I love waking up early in the mornings, sitting on the porch, having some coffee and reading a book. Or even just sitting there.

2.) I would love, (love, love) to be a stay at home wife and mother someday. I have such a desire to have the kind of life where I can be at home for my husband when he gets home, with a warm meal on the table and the house clean. I would love to have the privilege of watching my children grow and being able to really be there for them. (At least when they are younger.. once they get to middle school, I'd like to either have a part time job ooorr....)

3.) If I am able to be a stay at home wife/mom, I would love to put extra energy into writing. A long while ago I wrote a book, probably one that will never get published and I am writing my second one now. I would also love to write screenplays. Even if it is just a past time. But I'd love to write and get paid for it!

4.) I wish so badly that I was more creative. I wish I could paint or sew, or something!!! I would love to make my own dresses and build my own jewelry boxes... But have no clue where to start on that front. Haha... and I fear it will always turn out different than what I have in my head.

5.) You may or may not know this but I love to read. I love reading any books about relationships. I love reading about the interactions of people and just their daily life. Maybe that's why I love blogs!

6.) I love to watch movies. Give me a movie, some fruit, popcorn or ice cream and I am good. to. go.

7.) I am super-duper shy...even if it doesn't seem like it. I have to make SUCH an effort to be outgoing. I rarely ever make the first move... and half the time I'm getting to know someone I am trying to A. figure them out and try to gauge their personality and B. I wonder (and worry) if I'm going to be totally rejected.

8.) I am longing to develop long and lasting relationships with a girls at or close to my age. I am really missing the connection between girls... which probably stems from my sisters being either far away or enveloped in their own life. I would love to have a Sex and The City type group but without all the sex... and The City. But I'd love to have some real friendships where we can be honest and supportive with each other.

9.) I am never satisfied with my life. I always have goals... once I achieve the goal I take a few moments to bask in the awesomeness of achieving the goal... I then figure out my next goal... and I keep moving. I like to keep 'climbing the ladder." I guess that's the Republican in me. ;) They don't even have to be life changing goals... they can just be reorganizing the pantry! But I always have little things to accomplish.

10.) If I could go back in time to any moment, I would go back to this one vacation where my family and I went camping. I woke up in the morning and it was just me and my Dad and he was getting ready to cook breakfast...and he was making coffee.. I remember the smell.. Anyways. I was trying to climb up this little hill on the side of the mountain to get to a trail but I kept falling, so my Dad gave me his hammer and showed me how to notch foot holes in the dirt and climb up. I was so ecstatic. When I came back down my Mom and him were making breakfast and my sisters were waiting at the table. My Dad had Glen Campbell playing. It was such a nice family moment. I miss things like that.

There it is. I tried to be as brutally honest as I could. Hope you learned something new about me. :)