Fun News: The Help

Y'all, I have news that is gonna bring a big fat smile to your face if you are a reader.

The Help has been made into a movie and it being released in August.

I KNOW!! Shut the front door.

I just watched the trailer and all I want to do is run to the library, check out the book and read it again, cover to cover. It's rather long, to the tune of 544 pages but SO worth the investment.

Check out the trailer and mark your calendars for August 12th. I am almost giddy...I can't think of a time of recent that I've been so excited for a movie to come to theaters.

The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face

Y'all, I have a big fat crush.

A crush on my brand new, shiny iPhone, that is.

My man has been trying to get me to leave the Blackberry camp for years and because I'm not much of a game player, I didn't think I really needed an iPhone.

Then we decide to fire our phone company and the new one we joined just happen to have iPhones.

To my great delight, I have owned my precious for almost a month and I could not be happier with my choice. The keyboard is taking some adjusting, but I'm making it just fine, thank you very much.

Of course, I sought out great protection for said device by purchasing a pink Otterbox in advance which just happen to arrive the afternoon I came home with my new treasure.

Fate, I tell you.

True to my word, I haven't been playing many games beyond Fruit Ninja and Words With Friends (which my man hijacks quite frequently, I might add.. as he still has a Blackberry because he needs a phone, not a toy, hmph) but I am loving all the apps.

Some of my faves?

411
Cozi Calendar (thanks, Nicole!) ..although I wish the reminders popped up on the screen instead of coming through my email. But the color-coding makes up for that.
My Fitness Pal
Groupon
ShakeIt Photo
Kindle

New to iPhone like me? Check out these apps:

The Weather ChannelNike Training

Lose It!

My Fitness Pal (currently using this one instead of Lose it and I like it...the database of food is pretty darn amazing but can I tell you that 1200 calories IS NOT ENOUGH. I am SO hungry, dang bathing suit season)

100 push ups

Google

Amazon.com

LPM-SMT (this is scripture memory through Beth Moore's blog)

USA Today

Fox News

AllRecipes

Epicurious

Urbanspoon

Flashlight

Bible

White Pages

TripAdvisor

OpenTable

Red Laser

CardStar

Around Me

Spring Pad

White Noise

GooCal (to link Google Calendar to iphone)

Dream Bot

Find Iphone

Currency

Emoji Free

Angry Birds Free

Angry Birds Rio Free

Fruit Ninja Lite

Cut The Rope Lite

Other fun things? I was able to go into my iTunes library and create my own ringtones. My man's ring tone is Danger Zone. Ya know, the one from Top Gun...circa 1986? How dang fun is that? Although I did date myself a bit when it went off the other day at the chiropractor where all the girls are maybe early 20's. And then they started asking me about my favorite decade of music.

OH MYLANTA. I'm only 37, girls.

The only 2 things that I'm working through are emails pushing through in a timely manner and not cheek dialing.

The email dilemma was solved today through the miracle of the internet. Have gmail or yahoo mail and it's not coming through your phone in a timely manner? Go here for gmail and if you have yahoo:

Delete your Y! Mail Account.
Turn off and then turn on iPhone.
Add your Account.
Turn iPhone off.
Go to your Computer and log out of your Y! Mail. Log back in.
Turn iPhone on.

Magic, I tell you.

Oh, and if you are a gmail user and you are receiving a duplicate sent message in your inbox whether you send it from your home computer or from your iPhone...click here for a remedy to that problema. That used to drive me bananas on my Blackberry and apparently there is a fix for Blackberry gmail email issues on that page as well.

And as for the cheek dialing... as soon as you dial, hit your home button and your apps will replace the keypad. Now, it might open up apps but it's better than conferencing in your mother-in-law like I did last week.

Laugh away....I am an IPhone novice.

I can hardly stand how fun it is and it makes standing in line, or just waiting in general, a much more pleasant experience.

What about you? Have any favorite apps?

Cell Phones For Soldiers

Lots of blog posts floating through my head but not quite clear enough to make it to the screen. I'm hoping the words will come in a few days. It's truly crazy how sometimes the words flow so easily and then other times it's truly like putting together a huge puzzle with missing pieces and no picture to guide you.

But in the mean time...do you have an old cell phone that needs a home? Cell Phones for Soldiers will provide a pre-paid postage label for you to ship your old cell phone and they recycle it and use the proceeds to buy calling cards for troops in need. Click here to print a label and be sure to erase all the data off your phone before you mail it.

Pages of Happiness Follow Up

Before we left for Scottsdale, I blogged about the joy of having 5 books to read on our trip. Little did I know that because I married Mr. Adventure, we wouldn't be doing much sitting....and my reading would be on the plane and maybe a little here and there.

Y'all, I rode in a hot air balloon, saw the Rangers play at Spring Training and climbed a dang mountain. See specs below and please, be very proud of me.

Trail Length: 1.2 miles
Elevation Gain: 1,264 feet
Summit: 2,704 feet
Difficulty: Strenuous

We had to rock climb the last part. Yes, you heard that right. Was it a beautiful view? Yep. Do I wanna do it again. NOPE, with a capital NO.

But, anyhoo....here's the follow up scoop on the books I read:

Second Time Around by Beth Kendrick

I liked the characters in this book a lot. Fun story line, not predictable. Left me wondering 'what now?" for all of them.

Whistlin' Dixie in a Nor'Easter by Lisa Patton

Meh...decent read. Had elements that were fun to discover as we visited Vermont last December and that is where the book is centered.

Skipping a Beat by Sara Pekkanen

Didn't like it a first but then it grew on me. I got a little stressed and flipped to the end on this one to see what was going to happen. I know, cheater cheater red bug eater. Sue me, I can't handle plot stress.

Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman

Y'all....you have to read this book. LOVED it....would read it again in a heartbeat. If you liked The Help, you'll love this one as well.

Alamo House by Sara Bird
Never read because when I flipped through the pages, the content and language made me a bit uncomfortable. I know, call me a prude, but I didn't want to want 4 hours of my life back after I finished the past page. Should have known, it was about a bunch of t-sips. wink, wink

All were found at the local library...give them a try!

A Daily Record

I'm not much of a journal girl.

Well, let's be more specific.

I LOVE the idea of journaling and as one would expect, I have about 5 or 6 cute little spiral journals in my possession on a shelf or in a drawer. BUT...Sister don't journal...I can't write fast enough to write down what I'm thinking. I even tried to type out my journal and that didn't work either.

I like to take notes in my journals. Notes from sermons, podcasts, and even notes from books I read. One would think highlighting would be the answer but I like to write down what sticks out so I can go back and read it later. I often check out books from the library and you can't highlight in those without getting in big fat trouble.

I have a friend who I've known for almost half my life. She's was my college roommate and truly is one of the most stinkin' hilarious people I know. I could never be as funny as her..even if I tried. And she's got these 4 hilarious kids too....4 GIRLS, y'all. Her man is funny too...If you don't need humor in that house, I don't know when you need it.

She actually likes to journal but as you can imagine, doesn't have an abundance of time. Her oldest is 11 and her youngest is almost 3....and that young one? Her middle name is Estel but I like to call her Stella. She single-handedly keeps B on her toes and her knees, for sure. But dang, they are all SO darlin'.

B introduced me to a very fun journal that is totally doable and quite fun.

Q & A a Day is a 5-year journal that asks you a different question every day. For example....Are you an original or a remix? Who would you trade places with for a day? What's your favorite piece of clothing?

Nothing too complicated. But the cool part is that it chronicles those same answers for 5 years...so you can see exactly how you answered the question each year. This journal is great for someone who is embarking on a new phase or maybe just a way to stop and think creatively each day.

365 questions, 5 years, 1, 825 answers.

How fun is that?

What's been fun is to answer some of the questions with Tray before we go to bed. Today's question/challenge is 'Write down a few lines from a song or poem that you identify with today'.

I guarantee his will be completely different from mine. Y'all know how much God speaks to me through music. How will I be able to pick a line or two? The space isn't very big, girls!

If you are in the market for a fun gift, this would be a great idea. They also have Mom's One Line a Day, a great way to capture what your kiddos are doing each day and My Quotable Kid.

I'll leave you with tomorrow's question: What invention could you not live without?

Ready..set...go!

And as a hint for a future post....I've acquired a new-to-me invention that I have the biggest crush on....love at first sight, I tell ya!

Ideas for Summer Fun 2011

Well, I'm a little over a week into this 40-day Facebook fast and I have to say I'm no worse for the wear. Sure, I wonder what I am missing a little bit but I am sure getting a lot of things done around here...namely updating my other blog In The Know Northwest.

Wait...hold the phone one minute.

Before I continue...did I mention that we got rodeo tickets offered to us tonight thinking they were Lady Antebellum only to JUST figure out they were for Alan Jackson? Yep..if I'd actually been on Facebook, I'd bet I'd figured that out a lot faster. For the love...

Back to the topic at hand...each summer I scour the internet for fun summer ideas and the start of that list can be found here. It takes a village, people. If you have 411, please share!

All joking aside....the removal of that one little distraction has been pretty amazing (that and a change of scenery to Scottsdale, AZ) and I hope to be able to put my thoughts to paper soon. He's still working on me, that is fo' 'sho.

Happy Friday!

Pages and Pages of Happiness

The Mr. and I are taking a trip soon and our two mullions, I mean precious angels from the Lord, are going to San Diego with the Mimi.

Yes, you read that right. Not their Mimi....THE Mimi.

She is the the bringer of all things fun and the inventor of their 3 favorite initials...WWW.

Whatever We Want.

Whatever we want to do and eat, whenever we want.

You can imagine the stories recounted when they come back from their adventures.

But I digress.

It's no secret I am a reader. I love me some books but I've noticed that I read more online these days than physical books and I miss holding a real book very much.

As our trip has gotten closer, I have been scouring Amazon for reviews of new books that I might like to take with me. (Yes, I read reviews. Who wants to waste their time reading a crummy book?) I almost did the happy dance right there in the middle of the Harris County Library when ALL of the books I requested were there for me to check out.

Does that make me a weirdo? Probably, but I don't care! I have 5 books to choose from and the ALL have the potential to be quite entertaining as I sit poolside getting some color on my pasty white legs. I'll have sunscreen everywhere else, but dang it...tan fat looks better than white fat and I need some color!

Speaking of sitting by the pool...when did I graduate into the swimsuit category of 'comfortable coverage'? I didn't know whether to laugh, be offended or sit in the dressing room floor and cry when I read the tag. Y'all, let's just say my very cute new suit is a Suck and Cover bathing suit. It sucks what needs to be sucked in and covers what needs to be covered. And it's a big fat bonus it happens to be stylish and not MeMaw, all tied up in a nice red blow.

Don't be that gal that needed to be covered more, supported more or just flat needed a bigger size. Employ the 3-way mirror, girls. It will save you serious regret when you happen to be in the background of a shot you never intended.

But back to my books. I can't say that any are authors I'm familiar with so here's crossing my fingers that my choices are PG-21....at least I got smart enough not to take a non-fiction book in hopes that I'd learn something on vacay. It was most definitely a mistake to take Wild At Heart to Cancun to learn more my man.

BIG mistake. Huge. No non-fiction should be aloud on the beach. 'Nuff Said.

Need some Spring Break reading? Check these out:

Second Time Around by Beth Kendrick
Whistlin' Dixie in a Nor'Easter by Lisa Patton
Skipping a Beat by Sara Pekkanen
Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman
Alamo House by Sara Bird


Have any good books you've read lately?