Amy J. Bennett

Extraordinary Faith for Everyday Life

You are here: Home / Archives for 2009

Archives for 2009

The Bachelorette: After the Finale

by Leave a Comment

Not to be confused with After the Final Rose.

So, as predicted, I’m ok with Ed.  But as well spoken as the guy is, I was a little disappointed with his proposal.  Even Reid’s comment about what was going on there without him was wrong was more moving.  Nevertheless, I think Jillian and Ed or “Jed” as some hardcore fans might say will be quite happy.

I was a tad disappointed with her not picking Reid after him coming back for her.  It would have been good drama for her to pick him and he’s such a cutie.  He will make someone very happy.  As for Kiptyn, after I saw the home visit I was sure it wasn’t going to be him.

As much as I twittered about the show tonight, there’s not too much left to say.  Although I have to end with mentioning the funniest 2 seconds of Bachelorette history.  The shot of the volcano at the end of Ed and Jillian’s date was probably unnecessary and unprofessional but I was laughing for the entire commercial.  And then?  The tweet at the end of the show:  Cue the volcanoes!

For a season I hadn’t planned to watch, I have to say it was a good one.  Congrats, Jed!

Filed Under: tv

The Bachelorette: Thoughts Before the Finale

by Leave a Comment

Even though it’s Ed and Kiptyn in the finale, we all know Reid shows up tonight.  We also know that someone has a secret and things go awry.  I have no idea what that means.  Even RealitySteve doesn’t know what it means this year.

But since I didn’t get to blog last week, here are my thought going into tonight.

She still has great chemistry with Kiptyn and I think she likes him.  It just worries me that she worries too much about him and doesn’t seem to be 100% comfortable.

For Ed, she seems 100% herself but I do know there are rumors swirling about a girlfriend back home so he might be the one with the secret.  He also seems to be a sweet talker and I just wonder when reality sets in and he’s not all the time convincing her how much he’s thinking about her what will happen.

As for Reid, I really, really like Reid.  I was sad to see him go last week.  I really think they are great together.  I love how she is giddy with him. Their lifestyles seem to mesh.  Reid just lacks the ability to commit and communicate, all of which I think can be taken care of with time.

All that said though, a tiny part of me is rooting for Kiptyn so I can say “I called that”.  Part of me is rooting for Ed because they seem like they’d make a great couple.  And then a larger part is rooting for Reid because he’s the underdog and well, I just think he went too soon.

So, all in all, I think I’ll be A-ok with any of the 3 and trust me, this is the first year I’ve ever not cared very much.  Which leads me to think…maybe if I’m not convinced on any of the 3 that she really shouldn’t pick any of them.

Seven minutes to go for me and I can’t wait to see how it goes down.

Filed Under: tv

iPhone Purse

by 9 Comments

Etsy.com has a few really cute iPhone purses but none of them were quite what I wanted.  I’m not a fan of belt clips and a lot of times, don’t even have anything to clip it to.  That left me carrying my phone or sticking it in one of my pockets which left me with unwanted bulk.  [Cue that commercial with the phones in their back pockets.]

I simply wanted a phone on a strap.  I wanted a plastic front so I could use my touch screen and I wanted to be able to put it upside down in the pouch so all I had to do was tilt it towards me to see the screen.  In other words, I wanted to be as lazy as possible.

I mentioned it to Dani’s mom who had a small business making custom purses for people.  She was intrigued enough and had a prototype a week later.  A day later, I had this:

IMG_7146

IMG_7147

IMG_7151

While not the MOST stylish thing ever (well, except the back because that zebra and lime green monogram is CUTE), it was FANTASTIC while I was cleaning the house the other day.  It has been great while running in a store without needing my entire purse.  And really is there any kind of phone holder that is stylish??

I just thought it was fun actually designing something and seeing it happen.  Well, Dani’s mom of course designed all the technical specs but you know.  I just wish I could sew and do this kind of stuff on my own.

And for the record, she’s willing to make more.  She said she could make it all fabric and could make it any size to fit any kind of phone so let me know if you’re interested.

It’s Going Swimmingly

by 1 Comment

Well we’ve had a good month with our pool.   After a week with the cover on and blazing temperatures it was NINETY FOUR degrees yesterday.  It felt more like a hot tub to the point you had to keep half your body out of the water just to breathe properly.  I love it though.  89 is my favorite temperature and anything above that is just icing on the cake.

The girls are improved so much in just a few weeks.

IMG_6321

Lexi was technically swimming at the end of last year.  But this year…oh boy.  She’s swimming and now diving.  She does canon balls, belly flops, back flops and literal dives into the pool.  One time she did such a perfect dive I was scared she had hit her head.  We nixed those dives and she can only dive straight out from the steps.  She will do pretty much anything you ask her to.  I help her do handstands and front flips because the poor girl is too little to get to the bottom on her own.  She really amazes me with her fearlessness and Mom is insistent she should be getting with a coach on diving/swimming.

IMG_6330

Emma has had a harder time.  She has been swimming above water for a while.  The thing with her is she hasn’t quite mastered blowing air out of her nose so she’s had to do underwater things while holding her nose.  Most of the summer she’s been barely jumping off the side, making sure to go feet first and trying to keep her head above water.  She was swimming above water as much as possible and only going under when we’d really challenge her.

Well, last week she finally put on a mask that covered her eyes and nose and wow, what a difference.  She is now swimming underwater and doing her own canon ball.  And then today…she started doing flips underwater on her own.  And then all the sudden she did THREE flips without coming up all on her own.  And she’s trying really hard to get to the bottom to do a handstand.

So, all in all, it feels really good that the kids are swimming so well.  All the pool trouble has been worth it just for the girls to be comfortable in and around water.

Bathroom Makeover Step 1

by 8 Comments

So we’ve started on the small renovations that Sally suggested. I started with painting the bathroom because really that’s the only thing I could do on my own.  Well, let me not forget the couple hours that Darian helped.  She was fantastic for doing that.  It was great timing with the girls at the beach but wow, did it wipe me out.  After six hours of painting Friday and Saturday, I was out of it.  I think it was worth it though.

Before:

Suggested:

Actual.  Wow.  The reds are eerily similar.

IMG_7143

I think it turned out well, or at least per plan.

Scott is going tomorrow to get the mirror.  I need to order the lights today so we can get the holes done.

This weekend Scott is putting laying new tile and installing the new toilet.

So I’m guessing by next week we’ll have a new bathroom!

Beach 2009

by 1 Comment

Last Sunday morning we woke up in Maryland and left for the long trip to Myrtle Beach…technically Garden City.  We’ve never done that trip before and after only one missed turn, we made it in ten hours.

Each day at the beach was relatively similar.  Beach, shower, lunch, shopping, dinner, pier/beach/house.  Each day held a different shopping mall and place for dinner.

This year the girls were both really into the water and sand.  By the last day the girls were riding small waves in on their own which gave me both great joy and anxiety.  Pretty much like the rest of parenting.

After one year stepping on a fish and then getting stung by a jellyfish, I’ve been enjoying the beach from ankle deep water for a few years.  This year I tried to ignore all the sea creatures (Emma and Lexi said Spongebob and friends were out there somewhere!) and had a lot of fun swimming and jumping into the waves.

As for shopping, we made it to Broadway, the mall and the Tanger Outlets.  I was able to start some school shopping for the kids and just a few things for me.

Our “big dinner” was out at Crabby Mike’s.  I enjoyed lots of crab legs and finally have gotten pretty good at getting the meat out in one piece.  Scott and I both promised Lexi a dollar and she tried crab meat.  She said she liked it but had an awful look on her face while eating it.  Emma refused to try it but did try and like fried baby shrimp.

We also tried Mellow Mushroom for the first time and OH MY WORD.  That place was so good.  Like, so. good.  I had a olive oil and garlic base with onions, pepperoni and pesto.  I really think I could eat that every single day.  The toppings were great but the crust was just out of this world.  Can’t really recommend that place enough.

One sweet moment was Emma asked Scott if they could do something just the two of them.  He told her they could go eat ice cream together.  And in Emma fashion, she asked the next day if Lexi and Skyler could go with them.  We all took the kids that night for ice cream at the pier.  People keep telling me they will be Daddy’s girls soon and that is the first I’ve seen of it and have to say it was pretty sweet.

A few last noteworthy moments of the year was spotting 3 6′ sharks at the end of the pier and also seeing someone catch a stingray.  Lastly, we were able to see a wedding being set up a few hotels down from the pier.  On the way down the road, we saw a golf cart decorated with white balloons and the bride on the back fully decked out in a wedding dress and veil.

Scott and I had to leave the beach Thursday so Scott could work for the weekend.  The kids decided to stay with his parents until Sunday.  Part of me thoroughly enjoyed getting a ton of stuff done at home but I missed them like crazy.  Lexi kept calling and asking if I was happy for her to come home which I always gave a resounding YES!

Jesus Wants to Save Christians

by 2 Comments

I can not get this book out of my head and it’s a good thing.  It’s difficult to describe what it’s about.  But I would say it is a theology book that begins at Creation, describes the Jewish history through Christ.  He talks a lot about Egypt and Solomon and America.  He talks a lot about the poor, the needy, widows and children.  He hits at the core of what has always been close to my heart…we need to be Jesus to people.  Christianity isn’t about pushing religion down people’s throat.  It isn’t about making sure you’re right.  It’s not about committees and classes and agendas. It’s about doing good (I wrote a post about this and I can NOT find it).  Helping, giving.

There are a few quotes that I’m not sure will transfer out of context but they help me remember.

A priest shows you what his or her god is like.

The answer leads us to a universal truth: God needs a body.

Exile is when you fail to convert your blessings into blessings for others.

When the goal of a church is to get people into church services and then teach them how to invite people to come to church services, so that they in turn will bring others to more church services – that’s attendance at church services….Church is people.  People who live in a certain way in the world.  People who have authority in the world, but authority that comes from breaking themselves open and pouring themselves out so that the world will be healed.

A church is an organization that exists for the benefit of nonmembers.  If our church was taken away – from our city, our neighborhood, our region – who would protest?

If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a dozen times, God has blessed me and my family. Right now I’m trying to figure out how to convert it into blessings for others. And yes, Scott and I give a lot…time and money. But somewhere deep down I’ve done it because I want to but also because somewhere down there I KNOW that exile will happen if I don’t. God doesn’t bless for you to hoard. I’m so scared of wandering in the desert. Of Babylon. Of America. Of me.

And I’m scared for so many churches out there who would be missed by no one but their members. We’re not doing church right. Most of us aren’t doing Christianity right.

And just as I’m writing this, this song came on iTunes and it seems like a good way to close this one.

‘Cause we are not okay, we’re not alright, and we need to pray for help
Forgive us for our pride, Oh God, Oh God, please save us from ourselves

Something’s Got To Change:

Belated Birthday

by 2 Comments

So last Saturday was my birthday. I turned 31.  I was dreading 30 so much last year but I have to say it turned out to be one of my best years ever.  Turning 31 isn’t what I would call fun…I’m IN my 30s now instead of just being 30.  At the same time, I love who I am in my 30s so much more than in my 20s.  Here are just a few things I did this year:

Wow.  A lot of those are BIG things.  It’s been an amazing year.  On Friday night, we were at my aunt’s house for a cook-out.  She made a cake for my dad whose birthday is the 28th but he wasn’t there yet and she realized my birthday was Saturday so everyone sang Happy Birthday to me.  I know it wasn’t planned for me, but it’s the first birthday in a really, really long time that my grandmother, aunts, uncles and cousins sang Happy Birthday to me.  On Saturday night we went out with my mom’s side of the family to Applebee’s.  They sang Happy Birthday to me there and also had cake at home.  I’m so very blessed!