Mitch & Jodi

I finished two books this weekend. I read the last 1/4 of For One More Day by Mitch Albom and the last 3/4 of Songs Of The Humpback Whale by Jodi Picoult.

Oh, Mitch. I loved Tuesdays With Morrie and The Five People You Meet In Heaven SOOO much. I have to say...I was disappointed with For One More Day. I like how he pulled it all together at the end, but I really was quite bored during the majority of the book. I would love to hear your thoughts if you've read it. Perhaps I was just expecting too much because I loved his other books so much. Sigh.

Now, you all know I love me some Jodi Picoult. I've now read 6 of her 13 books. I hope to finish the other seven in the next few months. Songs Of The Humpback Whale is Jodi's first novel, and I really enjoyed it. It is written in the same fashion as My Sister's Keeper (amazing book, by the way. Faye! Why haven't you read it yet?!?!?). You hear the story in five different voices. The same scenes from many different perspectives.

It was wonderful to read so much this weekend. It inspired me to take more time at home to read...not just before bed.

Do you have any recommendations of books for me to read? I only have 10 books out from the library right now. Don't you think I need a few more? :)

Ah! What a relaxing weekend!

I spent SUCH a relaxing weekend with Ellen, Laurie, Christy, Kim & Paige at Oak Island. We drove down on Friday, and even though it was raining and the wind was CRAZY...we went out to dinner and then went back to our awesome oceanfront house and hung out.

Saturday morning after breakfast, we headed to Southport for shopping and lunch at Provision Co. Then the real fun began...we never left the house again until we headed home on Monday morning. We frolicked in the ocean for a little while, then...we put on our PJs and stayed that way. Yippee!

Throughout the weekend, we watched 7 movies, 3 episodes of Big Love and we all read quite a bit. I finished two books I had started before the trip. I love reading early in the morning, so I took full advantage of that each day!

Sitting out on the porch in a rocker was my favorite activity...especially early in the morning. The wind & the waves & the clouds & the blue sky. Seeing the sunrise. I was absolutely in awe of God's creations. Tearfully amazed. It was so peaceful and calming.

I had forgotten just how breathtaking sunrises and sunsets are at the beach. It was nice to head outside in the evenings and watch a beautiful sunset with my friends. My camera got a workout this weekend! I can't wait to scrapbook my memories!!

Laurie! Watch out for the dolphin!!

I just won an auction on ebay!!!

I have been wanting a JBL On Tour Portable Speaker for my iPod ever since Ellen let me borrow hers to see if I liked it. I did indeed like it, AND it can run on batteries. Batteries that I can purchase before leaving for Ireland. An iPod speaker I can use in my hotel room in Dublin. They cost $100 in the stores. I found it cheaper on some webites.

Then today I decided to check ebay. I tried to win it twice to no avail. Then I asked my friend Jake a few questions about ebay since he's an expert...and I've only bought a tube of Mary Kay lipstick on there once. So, I followed his advice and VOILA! I won! After all was said and done, I paid $35.90! YIPPEE!

I'm a wee bit excited. :)

Monday Night Comedies

I'm not watching many 30-minute sitcoms anymore, but there are two comedies on Monday night that are GREAT!

First, we have How I Met Your Mother. Overall great cast, but Doogie Howser makes the show. He is HYSTERICAL as Barney. His character is a complete ass, but he's just so freakin' funny.

Next...New Adventures of the Old Christine. I've always been a big Julia Louis-Dreyfus fan and this show is no exception. Her character is so neurotic and she makes me giggle every episode. The guy who plays her brother is ADORABLE and very funny. The son and ex-hubby are hilarious. And Wanda Sykes plays her best friend. SO funny. I could start quoting lines, but I won't. OH! And Julia's physical comedy. Excellent.

Needless to say, I highly recommend these shows. :)

College Pals

Saturday night, I had SUCH a fun time with Faye, Robyn & Tammy from college. We hung out in Target for about an hour and a half. I got some great t-shirts for Shoeboxes on a 75% sale...we tried on shoes...Tammy tried on some horrible Elton John-ish sunglasses...Megan (Faye's cutie daughter) got our opinions on clothing...basically just acted like big dorks.

Then we went to Shabashabu, one of my favorite restaurants in Raleigh. We laughed and laughed and laughed some more. Faye & I got our yummy sushi. Three of us did shots just like old times (Faye was being all responsible and sat out on that one). I think they were probably happy when we left.

It was great to be with my college girlfriends. We met so many years ago and we don't all get together very often, but we just pick up where we left off last time. We talk about the same stupid stories from college every time, and I'm sure we will be reminiscing about the same memories for years and years to come. We are just going to have to drag Tammy back to the Triangle again SOON! :)

Chris Tomlin

Last night, my small group and I went to the NC State Fair to see Chris Tomlin in concert. We walked around a bit before the show, then had a GREAT time listening to Chris and his band for two hours. He writes such beautiful praise & worship music...we sing many of his songs at church. The highlight of the night for me was How Great Is Our God. It was truly an experience singing this song with 4500 people.

Next Friday night...CASTING CROWNS! I canNOT wait! They are one of my favorite bands. I saw them at the RBC in March and I'm really looking forward to seeing them again! I haven't really been so into concerts the past couple years, but I really like attending the Contemporary Christian ones. They are just different. I don't know how to explain it.

An added bonus to the evening...I saw Kim Terry!!

My weekend in Black Mountain, NC

I had a wonderful weekend on my retreat. We stayed at YMCA Blue Ridge Assembly in Black Mountain, NC. We had three adorable cottages that each had four bedrooms, a den, a kitchen and one bathroom. Chris & I had our own porch off of our bedroom, where we HAD to go out and read in the rockers. Hee hee! The mountain breezes were so refreshing, and it was nice to get away.

Laura Petherbridge was our speaker, and she was great! She gave me a lot to think about, and I look forward to listening to her CDs I bought...to remind me of the lessons she taught us on Friday and Saturday.

I took care of the Praise & Worship music for the weekend and everyone seemed to really like it. That made me happy. :)

I took Monday off so I could recoup from the retreat. I like to have a day to just chill before returning to work...after spending four days with a bunch o' people. And, the Fall retreat tends to be a bit emotional, so it's nice to relax and ponder after that, too.

Everytime I'm in the NC Mountains I remember just how much I love it up there. So beautiful. So relaxing! I've been there several times this summer, and I can't wait to go back again soon!

Gods In Alabama

I have book club tonight and Ellen picked a GREAT book called Gods In Alabama by Joshilyn Jackson. It is laugh out loud funny and a quick read.

Arlene is from Alabama and does NOT want to go back. When she left 10 years ago, she promised God three things: (1) that she wouldn't sleep around anymore, (2) that she wouldn't lie anymore and (3) that she would never return to Possett, Alabama. Well, she is being coerced by family to return for a gathering. AND her black boyfriend, Burr, wants to go with her. The majority of my laughter came from the fact that Arlene's boyfriend is black and she is from a not so open-minded family. SO funny. Their ignorance and banter is hilarious. I really liked the characters and the story kept me intrigued.

Please read it!!! Then let me know what you thought of it!

My weekend

This has been a great weekend! Friday night, Laurie, Ellen & I went to a reading at a bookstore in Durham. Julie Powell read from her memoir Julie & Julia and did a Q&A session. Her book started out as a blog about her cmmitment to prepare all 524 recipes in Julia Child's "Mastering the Art Of French Cooking"...in one year's time! It was my first reading and I really had a lot of fun. Then we went to dinner at George's Garage across the street on Ninth Street. I had salmon cooked with dill and some saffron white wine something something sauce. REALLY tasty!

Saturday Ellen & I went to the gym and had a great workout. Charlotte and I watched The Lake House in the afternoon and organized my scrapbook stuff. Then the best part of the day...Scrap Mania at Archiver's! Six hours of cropping with Charlotte, Content, Ellen, Micki & Elaine. SOOO fun! We got a little goodie bag and there were snacks and a catered dinner and door prizes (one of which I won). It was great being able to head out to the store for anything I needed for the scrapbooking endeavor!!

Headed to the gym again today after church...the pool with Laurie. A more relaxing workout. It was fun to just hang out and chat while swimming around. Then I hit Kroger to begin the restock for next month's Bumper Crop. Now I'm watching DVR stuff. Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip is really good...