Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Wayne, Butterfly and Pin-Up Girl

Jordan went as Wayne from Saturday Night Live! The hair is really quite nasty. Funny how a person's mind thinks and remembers things...as soon as I saw Jordan I knew he was Wayne!

Jordan didn't have to work too hard on his outfit....the shirt I hear is actually one of his own that he actually wears! Although I have to say that he owns quite an eclectic wardrobe of T-Shirts. Never a dull moment with Jordan.

I snapped this picture as he was doing the hair behind the ear pose and it struck me as funny...because he almost looks like he is stoned! He IS NOT though...just clicked the camera at the right time.

Madame Butterfly is Melissa...she had these fabulously long eyelashes on, which made it extremely difficult for her to see. I won't give you the full story, because I don't want to embarrass her...but if you know Melissa ask her about the garage door tonight!!!


This cute 40's (ish) pin-up girl is Kristina. She wasn't a part of Puyallup Foursquare and all of us moving down here; however, she is from Oregon and good friends with a P4 friend. She found out a bunch of us moved down here and hooked up with us. She is crazy fun....she is also in love with anything Shaka Khan!

The Undertaker and His Fiancee Barbie

Abby is Barbie Girl! She is posed like that because Barbie dolls are like that! :)




She had the big blonde hair and cutsie pink high heels!






This is Jonathan, Abby's fiancee. He is just gruesome! The mask said, Undertaker...so I guess that is what he is. He stood outside trying to scare kids....a three-year old Elvis (in white lame!) didn't think too highly of the undertaker standing outside. Actually Jonathan was nice enough to take the mask off when smaller kids came up to the door.








Just a little close up of the Undertaker! Jonathan and I are of the same thought...have fun and scare kids! LOL...I personally loved his mask (hair and hat were attached).








Don't they make a cute couple? Him trying to off the plastic Barbie? :)

Halloween Fun!

We had a little Halloween get together tonight. We met over at Shannon and Liz's house to pass out candy to the trick-or-treaters. I'm kind of sad...there are not nearly as many kids that come out these days as there were when I was a kid!

We also played Catch Phrase, ate snacks and some watched basketball...I guess the Sonics were on tonight!



This Tootise Roll is Holly...she is a cutie patootie.









Minnie Mouse is being played by Jamie...a friend from Holly's work. She fit right into our group tonight!






Josh was a fried egg....Spatula included! He had a bit of a hard getting through doors and tight places...he had to go through sideways!




The dancing Gypsy is Josh's new wife Laura! She totally got into the role of the Gypsy....she was dancing round and round and all the jingle jangles on her outfit were making lots of noise!





This is Eric...he is also a new friend to the group...he lives in the same apartment complex as some of the group. He was introduced to our ways when we played Battle of the Sexes last Sunday...we play to win...fighting dirty is expected! The glasses he is wearing were Abby's Drew glasses...Eric loved them...he wore them all day today at work. ALSO...today is his birthday...Happy 22nd Birthday...hope you had fun!!

Snow White

We had some trick-or-treaters at work today...but the CUTEST by far was Snow White!

This is Erica...and I think she is adorable...although she isn't quite as in awe of me as I am of her! Her mom Monica is one of the teachers at Ever After (the scrapbook store I work at).

Erica came to trick-or-treat; however, she also brought us goodies....we got little pumpkins buckets with M&Ms! Thanks Erica...they were yummy.



This is Erica and her Mom Monica!

The Guys In Your Life

What are you going to buy those guys in your life for Christmas? Are they hard to pick something out for? Do you sit there pondering the life changing impact your Christmas present may have on your husband, dad or even granddad? Well, how 'bout something for the garage! I know gifts for guys can be hard to buy; however, gifts for the garage can be serious (like storage) or it can be fun and whimsical (oh, wait for guys it would be loud and manly!!). What about a NEON clock...hey it's the garage you can't see it all the time...go ahead buy it for him. Or how about a designer toilet bowl plunger with a car gear shifter handle and motorized coolers....He might think you are pretty cool if you go this route for Christmas!

This is a sponsored post

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Another Round of WHOGETS.COM

So those of you who are new to my way of winning prizes and goodies of the internet...let me fill you in. I register for FREE prizes at Whogets.com, and in turn they send NO SPAM to you and your email address. The way a person wins these prizes is by having people vote for them. So I've said all that to say that I've entered into two contests and need YOUR HELP to win!! I am actually in the running for the same thing in two different contests....the contests are for $5 international calling cards. Why do I need these? Well, I really want to talk to my favorite friend in Zimbabwe...Chipo Chikara! I usually use Plingo.com...but would much rather use FREE calling cards.

So click on the links below and vote for me (Mom, I already did it for you!). If you aren't a member of whogets, then all you have to do is create a member ID and start voting...it's easy!

Calling Card #1

Calling Card #2

Thanks for voting!

Monday, October 29, 2007

Christian Dating

Ok, so I am one of those thousands of people who doesn't date much...this is due to the limited places that a good Christian girl can meet a nice Christian guy. We don't go to bars to pick up people (seriously, do you really want to marry from there?) and spending years in ONE church kind of leaves the possibilities bare. So where do you turn? More and more individuals are turnign to online dating sites. There are many that are leery though...it can be a scary place. However, there are free dating sites that are specifically geared towards Christian men and women. This particular site is free to anyone in the world and is CHRISTIAN. I've heard testimony after testimony of how couples found each other online...maybe you can too. Just go slow and be safe! Who knows your prince charming might be waiting to hear from you!

This is a sponsored post.

Saturday, October 27, 2007

Daylight Savings Time

By Associated Press

UNDATED, Ore. (AP) - If you were planning on setting your clock back an hour Sunday night as people are used to doing on the last weekend in October, you'll find yourself an hour late for work on Monday.

Legislation was approved in 2005 that added four weeks to Daylight Savings Time.

That move was finally implemented this year. Three of those weeks came last spring when Daylight Time began early. It will end a week later than it has in the past.

Standard Time is set to start the first weekend in November, on the fourth.

(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

When God's Busy

If you don't know GOD, don't make stupid remarks!
A United States Marine was attending some college courses between assignments. He had completed missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. One of the courses had a professor who was an avowed atheist, ardent Democrat, and a member of the ACLU.
One day the professor shocked the class when he came in. He looked to the ceiling and flatly stated, "God, if you are real, then I want you to knock me off this platform. I'll give you exactly 15 minutes."
The lecture room fell silent. You could hear a pin drop.
Ten minutes went by and the professor proclaimed, "Here I am God. I'm still waiting."
It got down to the last couple of minutes when the Marine got out of his chair, went up to the professor, and cold-cocked him; knocking him off the platform. The professor was out cold. The Marine went back to his seat and sat there, silently. The other students were shocked and stunned and sat there looking on in silence.
The professor eventually came to, noticeably shaken, looked at the Marine and asked, "What the heck is the matter with you? Why did you do that?"
The Marine calmly replied, "God was too busy today protecting America's soldiers who are protecting your right to say stupid stuff and act like an idiot. So, He sent me."

Thursday, October 25, 2007

Sales Training

Do you run your own business? Do you have employees that you want to coach in a sales capacity? Are you yourself needing some additional how-to's in regards to sales? Well, here's your chance to learn from a company that has taken sales training to a new level. Avand.co.uk started out as a plumbing training company in the UK a few years and has expanded to 3 training centers throughout the UK as well as training in actual sales not just plumbing. They must be doing something right if they are expanding their business and training so many people in the art of sales! Sales Courses UK are now available to more and more individuals who are looking to brush up their sales techniques, learn new techniques and make your business grow....if you own a business the obvious sign of success is that you are selling your product. Right?

This post sponsored by avand.co.uk

Life Changes

Some of you are aware that I haven't felt right about moving to San Diego; however, I wanted to be fully obedient to the voice of God and his leading in my life. Therefore, I moved down. I decided to give it six months; however, I feel as if I need to return home to WA sooner than that. So I am moving back the week before Thanksgiving.....YES MOM, I REALLY AM!!!

The main reason is that I have been given a great work opportunity making more money and getting health insurance (something that I have been lacking for at least five years!). So I have decided to take this opportunity and still continue working on schooling. Where is the job? Moses Lake, some of you who are familiar with me know the company and all it entails.

I feel great peace about this decision and feel like this was an open door of opportunity from God. I do not feel as if I am a failure, and that coming to California was a mistake. I say that because so many people set out on adventures and listen to the voice of God, yet when they get to their destination they turn around sometimes. I want you to know that sometimes God just wants to see if you are obedient and give you the opportunity to break ties that were keeping you from going forward. He had to take you out before you could go back and be an impact. That I believe is what God is doing with me. I severed work ties that needed to be broken, I did sever a few relationships that were unhealthy BUT I know he has great things in store for me....work, schooling, relationships with friends and even possibly a husband :O!

All in all, I have enjoyed my three months down here. It just simply isn't the place for me! However, if you are ever in the Oceanside area, there is a GREAT church to come and visit...Mission...pastored by Shannon and Liz Kapp!

Blessings

Great Quote

"Life isn't about the breaths we take....

....it's about the moments that take our breath away."

Get the Word Out

Ok, so I like to talk...alright, I LOVE to talk. More importantly, I love to share my wealth of information (where it comes from I don't know) to others. Where to buy things on sale, where to go for the best deals, and to let people know when the new things hit the market! So now there is a networking website, Chatterjam.com, that tells you when the latest and greatest hits the market...what's hot and what's not. Best of all, it is a Christian based company that offers readers the chance to try the product and share their experiences. We all know that the best way to get information out is by word of mouth, and the only way for people to share is if they have experienced it themselves! So go, get the word out...see what's hot!

This post sponsored by chatterjam.com

Update

Hi...still going strong down here in Southern CA. The fires are devastating and a bit overwhelming! A few people in our group voluntarily evacuated on Tuesday, as they were only a mile from an evacuation point. They figured it was better to just leave and be safe! The air quality is terrible, you can't stay outside very long....it is hard to breathe, the smoke is overwhelming and just dark! I haven't seen blue skies in days...really miss it! The car is covered in ash every day, and I live at least 10 miles from the nearest fire.

A few people have called me because they have heard Oceanside in the news as the latest city affected. However, this isn't the city of Oceanside proper..they are really talking about Camp Pendleton...the Marine base here in Oceanside. There was a fire in Fallbrook, the city right next to the base and then two (or three) fires started on base.

The devastation left behind though is unbelievable. Over 2000 structures....homes, commercial buildings, etc....have been destroyed. The cost of the fire damage has been estimated at over 1 billion already! WOW. Out of the 11 or so fires, in San Diego County alone, only 2 have been contained and they aren't expected to be contained until the end of the month (at least).

So, right now we are just going about daily business as much as possible and praying for higher humidity and lower winds. Some rain would be nice too, but seeing as how this isn't Washington I doubt that I'll see rains....but you never know, I serve a God of miracles!

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Theme Parks

Zip...

...Zoom....

....Wheeee.....

.....OMG, I think I'm going to DIE!.....

Those are just some of the sounds that you hear 'round the world at Amusement Parks throughout the United States and across the pond in Europe! You might also hear me laughing hysterically, as I feel like I am going to fall and die! OMG....I just love rides! The going way up....the plunging way down....and back up again! WOW!!! Fantastic.

There is a fantastic Amusement Park in Pleasure Beach, Blackpool (that's the UK folks). The 6 million (or more) visitors each year have voted their rides some of the best in the world. What are those rides? The Pepsi Max Big One, Infusion and Big Dipper! Right now they have unlimited rides for 20 Euro for their big Halloween Extravaganza....ohhh, can you imagine all the rides you want to go on? If I wasn't in San Diego, CA right now, I might be over there checking out all the rides...two of my favorites things combined....thrill rides and Halloween! Yeah!!! Maybe Susana and I need to add this place to our list of places to visit.

http://www.blackpoolpleasurebeach.com/

This is a sponsored post

Monday, October 22, 2007

Fires

Still holding steady down here in Oceanside! Towns all around us have been evacuating throughout the day, but we still are good here. TH eonly major difference is that now we can really smell the fires when we are outside...especially up at the Kapp's house. Their neighborhood is up on the North side of Oceanside near Fallbrook, and Fallbrook (next to Camp Pendleton) has been evacuated.

Basically...just holding steady! If we do have to evacuate we will probably head to Yuma, Arizona where Shannon has friends....but at this point we don't think we will have to! Thanks for all your prayers.

Trade Show Truss

Do you work in an environment that requires truss? For example, a nightclub, concert arena, tradeshows...anyplace that might require truss. What is truss? It is modular material that helps build your stage area....a display, a background to hold curtains, etc. This website has truss for reasonable prices and they also build what you design. So if you can dream it, they can build it! Just think, whatever needs you have can be met and for a reasonable amount. They also have free designing for qualified customers. How do I know if I am a qualified customer? Call 877-268-7469 to find out and have any questions answered.

This is a sponsored post

Southern CA Fires

I'm sure that most of you have been hearing about the wildfires in Southern CA this weekend? Yes, they are close to my house, about 3o miles away. At this point, we are safe....no news for our city. However, my boss and some co-workers live in areas that have been evacuated yesterday and today. One of the major freeways has been closed, and quite a few cities have had mandatory evacuations. They are asking everyone who doesn't have to go anywhere, including people in my area (as a way to stay off of freeways), to stay home. My work has actually closed down for the day...like I said my boss is dealing with living near the fires. So, please keep Southern CA in your prayers today......primarily, for small fires not to be started, the winds to die down, safety of firefighters and homeowners, peace vs. confusion. I'll let you know more when I know more.

Sunday, October 21, 2007

Happy Birthday Dajia!

Happy Birthday Dajia! She turns 3 years old today!!

Yeah for Dajia!

She is hilarious...I'm tellin' ya someday you need to meet this girl, because she will make you laugh! This is her, "Are you lookin' at me?" look. Plus she has (or had...I don't know the recent status) a fascination with Hello Kitty stuff....so this day she was decked out in Hello Kitty blue outift, a backpack and some fancy high heel shoes! She is definitely a girly girl!

This is her, "I'm grumpy, and I don't care who the Hell you are, LEAVE ME ALONE!" This was the last day I saw my sister and Dajia before I moved down here to California and we decided to go to the mall; however, she had just woken up, so she wasn't at her best yet!

Aren't those curls cute? I guess the rumor is that the curls aren't so even on both sides anymore due to some young lady getting into some scissors and trying to be like her mama and cut hair! LOL....my sister wasn't happy when it happened...but hey, everyone knows if you have kids then one day they will cut their hair or someone else's hair. Or they will take a big poop on someone's floor! (ummm, I won't tell you which sister of mine did that!!!)

And this is her just chillin' at the Mall! She is totally fun to be around and I miss her terribly! But I will get to see her at Christmas time for sure!

Dajia Rose, I love you so much! Hope you have a fantastic 3rd birthday...eat lots of cake and ice cream! Love Auntie Rachel

Saturday, October 20, 2007

JaNay GIbson, Come On Down....

...You're the Next Contestant on the Price is Right!

That's right, JaNay got picked to be a contestant during the second taping we stayed for. I'm sure she is glad at this point that we wanted to stay!

She was actually the first name called for the second show! It is going to be funny watching the show on TV, because she really didn't want to go up at first, and it actually took a few moments for her to get out of her seat and head on down to Contestant Row!!!


So she got to contestant row, but everyone knows that you have to bid and win in order to get up on stage with Drew Carey...but she DID!! I think she was the third player up...she bid on 2 MP3 players and won! $495 was her bid. Then she had to play Barkers Bargain Mart...there were two items...a grandfather clock and a dirt bike...she had to chose which price (not actual retail price) was the better bargain of the two. She picked the Grandfather clock, and whaddya know...she WON! Sadly, she over spun on the wheel and didn't make it into the Showcase Showdown....but HEY! She was on the show and won something! This episode is supposed to air in January sometime....I will let you know when for sure so you can all watch it...because you know I'll be on there too....as I am sitting by her!

Since we can't take pictures inside, I have none! These are of JaNay outside as she is calling Alex, her husband, with the good news. Funny thing? Alex has been praying lately for a motorcycle...I guess God answers prayers in funny ways sometimes!

So even though I didn't get chosen, I still had a lot of fun. I'm glad that someone from our group was chosen and that she won at least part of it! I'm thinking that I might have to go again someday! Holly, you can come down and go with me.

The Price is Right

So we got up at 4am Thursday morning so that we could leave Liz's house by 4:30 am...we left almost on time, but not quite. We were out of Oceanside by 5am...after picking up JaNay at her house.

We were doing good with traffic until we hit LA, and then kaput...nothing...it was stop and go traffic for the last hour or more! We were hoping to get to the studios no later than 6:30 am; however, by the time we got there and parked and then ran around trying to find the entrance to the studio it was just about 8am. The benefit to getting there early is that you received a priority ticket for entrance into the taping. Thankfully we made it in enough time so as to make it in...we were a bit nervous for awhile!

After processing (took forever!) we were taken to another set of benches (still outside) where we were interviewed by CBS officials? Those that get on the show? Yeah, not random....they interview you and pick who they want on the show. I still haven't quite figured out what they are looking for. It is a quick interview...the guy asks you one or two questions and moves on to to the next person.....I'm guessing, upbeat, happy, excited....????

Then you move to another set of benches (still outside) where you turn over your cell phones, cameras and any other electrical devices. And we sat there for quite sometime. Finally, we made it into the studio. It was cool to be inside where they made the show! However, it was ghetto....it was small, smelled like a thrift store and cameras everywhere. On TV they make it look so much bigger than it really is!

So we were sat in the back corner of the audience, and the seats kind of sucked! You could barely see anything!

During this taping some guy, John, won a corvette and his showcase which included a huge sailboat for a total of over $89,000.....amazing! Sadly, we weren't picked to come on down! On the way out we were told that we could stay for the second taping if we wanted. Abby and I were on it right away. Liz and JaNay were tired and were actually contemplating going shopping or something, but in the end they decided to stick around and go with us to the second taping of the day! It went a bit faster this time, and before we knew we were in the audience yet again!

CBS

Am I going to get to what happened at the taping of Price is Right? Yeah, I will; however, here are a few photos of us at the CBS Studios. When they say you can't bring a camera...I really thought they just meant inside the studio when they are taping....NO, they don't even want you to take pictures outisde of the studio when you are waiting in line (for hours!). They were a bit anal about it! The pictures of us on top were taken before Chuck (the "tour guide" for the day told us not to!).

This is the CBS logo on the building...took this picture afterwards...I guess by that time they don't care! Liz and Abby posing outside!

Getting Ready....

As you know, I got tickets to go see The Price is Right with Drew Carey. Really, all you have to do is go online click the date you want to go and you get tickets...it's easy and they are free!

Of course, we had to have T-Shirts for the big day. We were originally going to make t-shirts that said "Carey's Cuties" but when we were watching the show on Monday (which was the first air date with Drew) there were girls on there with that saying.

Instead we went with the saying, "I heart Drew"....the eye being the CBS eye logo! They looked great! This is Abby painting one of the shirts the night before we went.

Here I am with paint brush in hand, and dorky Drew glasses...did I mention to you that we also had Drew glasses? They were great...so great that Abby and JaNay kept wearing theirs all day!

Here is the beginning on our shirts....Eye Heart....

Here are me and Abby modeling the finished product and here are Liz and JaNay working on theirs as well.

Side Note: Don't wait until the night before to make your shirts....go to bed early!

Celebrity Alert

Ok, so I admit it....I like to keep an eye out for celebrities. Who knows who you are going to see, where you are going to see them and when you are going to see them. As we were in LA yesterday it seemed expected to maybe see one or two celebrities...well, we were really only expecting to see Drew Carey (we did), but we saw a few others as well....

While at the taping of The Price is Right, Drew Carey pointed out to everyone that Jessica Cauffiel was sitting in the audience. Who is this you ask? Remember Legally Blonde? She is one of girls who is friends with Reese Witherspoon's character. She is the one who has a lucky scrunchie! She has also played on The Drew Carey Show and various movies.

Then when we were hanging out waiting for the fashion show to start, Abby noticed some lady, pointed her out to us and said she thought it was an actress! I actually wasn't right there at that point so I couldn't tell them her name. So Abby and I decided to take a walk into the movie theater and pretend to look at movies and "decide" if we wanted to see one! We were of course waiting for this lady to turn around so we could get a good look at her. She turned around and I knew I recognized her but couldn't place a name...I guessed Farrah Fawcett! JaNay was sure her first name was Diane....so who did I call (No, not Ghostbusters!) Susana! I asked her to start naming famous Dianes...turns out we saw Dyan Cannon!

Interesting tidbit about Dyan....she was born in Tacoma, WA (hello, WA? Weird), and she is a born-again Christian who leads famous bible studies all around Southern CA and revival meetings at the CBS station! Way to go Dyan. PLUS, she was married to Cary Grant and has a daughter by him (his one and only child)....she was something like 35 years his junior.....because when I heard that she was married to him, I thought no way because he is dead and was old, and she isn't that old! But true story...she was!

So, I thought that was cool enough to see those two women, but wait there were more! The fashion show advertised that there was going to be celebrity catwalkers....and there were, although I'm not the one who recognized them.

These two girls play on the Disney movie, Cheeta Girls and the other young lady is the daughter in the Dr. Doolittle movies.


LA Fashion Show

After a long day yesterday (remember we went to the Price is Right, but I'll get to that shortly) the girls and I stayed for an Ed Hardy Fashion Show, which was a part of LA Fashion Week.

The show was being held in LA at The Grove Shopping Center. As we were walking back to the car after being at the taping of the Price, we saw adverts for the Fashion show. Mind you it didn't start until 9pm, but we decided to stick around anyway and check it out!

Here are Liz, JaNay and Abby posing in front of the red carpet!

This is the way cool neon sign outside of the movie theater promoting The Grove. It really is a cool shopping complex. It is like a huge mall, but it is all outdoors. You kind of walk around everything, like in a mini-city. Very nice! There are also restaurants and such in the midst of this!





This is Ed Hardy himself. OMG...can't believe it! LOL...actually? I have no idea who is is, and I wouldn't have even taken this picture if someone hadn't pointed him out to me! I'm really not that into fashion, and I definitely don't know who the designers and other fashion people are!

These are just pictures from the fashion show itself. Unfortunately, they had quite a few, erm, quite A LOT of outfits that I didn't see fit to take as they were highly indecent. The dancers they had at the beginning of the show simply looked like strippers taken right out of the strip club. The way they looked and the way they danced was highly inappropriate! Like I said, I don't know fashion...but if that's it, then I'm better off not knowing!

But HEY, I can now say that I have been to an official fashion show, during LA Fashion week nonetheless! How cool is that?






This guy's name is Joe! We actually met him a few hours before the show as he was walking around handing out fliers to people in the shopping area. He was a bit out there...language and such, but we said we would root him on when he came down and we did. LOL...he probably didn't even remember us!

Monday, October 15, 2007

Happy Birthday Brittany!

Happy 13th Birthday Brittany!

Wow, my niece Brittany turns 13 today...although it feels as if she has been 13 for at least 3 or 4 years....and she looks like she is 16 or so! Brittany and I didn't get along too well when I was living with their family a few years ago, but now her and I get along famously! One of the reasons we get along so well is that her sense of humor is fairly dry and witty and I LOVE IT!!!

So, Brittany doesn't really like anyone taking her picture; however, she will take her Dad's cell phone and go play glamour girl in the bathroom...so quite a few of my only recent pictures are from her and the bathroom!!! Go figure....I guess she is only 13. Her hair is normally blond; however, she convinced my sister Camille to cut it and color it before Mom could actually say yes! Personally, I don't know why my sister would say no...she looks cute with long dark hair...the black eye makeup could be eased up on!

This picture of Brittany and Camille is from Mason's birthday party. Don't they look cute together? See what I mean when I said she doesn't look 13? I love this picture of them...they look so much alike...kinda weird!

Happy Birthday Brittany....welcome to teenage land!