Amy J. Bennett

Ready to Go!

March 11, 2009 by Amy 3 Comments

Tomorrow afternoon Heather and I will pull out for Wilmington for the unofficial One Tree Hill fan reunion. What that means is there are going to be all these fans sitting in the same restaurant and have no clue that other OTH fans are sitting right next to them. LOL.

Basically there has been a schedule posted of when to meet and where but there have been no RSVPs. You just show up if you want to show up. No reservations or anything. So yeah, it could be funny. But a few of us have exchanged cell phone numbers so hopefully a few of us get to meet.

We leave tomorrow afternoon, have a dinner tomorrow night which I think we’ll barely make. Friday we’re supposed drive to a bunch of filming locations and possibly do lunch and dinner. Then Saturday we’re doing the studio tour.

The bad part is it’s supposed to be really cold and rainy the entire time we’re there so I’ve already given up hope on seeing filming. Heck, if all we do is shop a bit and catch a movie, I’m satisfied to be out of town for a few days!

But trust me, I’m crossing all my fingers and toes we run into some cast and maybe even Mark Schwahn the writer who is in town!

American Idol Top 13

March 10, 2009 by Amy 2 Comments

Honest to goodness I’m about American Idol-ed out by this point. I’ve videoed and screencapped and posted and discussion boarded and voted myself crazy this evening for Danny. But alas, I still want to get my thoughts out on ALL the contestants.

Anoop Desai – Beat It Anoop is in trouble. That was not very good.
Lil Rounds – The Way You Make Me Feel I thought I’d be blown away by her again but I just wasn’t. She’s got a voice and the song was ok. She just didn’t blow me away. And may I be so bold to see that Lil’s got much back? Even white boys gotta shout.
Kris Allen – Remember The Time I loved. Kris Allen. The beginning was better than the end. I think he got a tad excited and kind of went off on a tangent but wow, he WAS sexy and so much more comfortable behind the guitar. I really hope we get to see more of him. One thing I have to say here is Kris’ wife’s reaction to Simon’s comment was HILARIOUS!
Matt Giraud – Human Nature I lurved me some Matt tonight. Definitely could see buying his record. And I think he sounded pop like he wants yet kept the soul in there. Very JTish of him. Nice!
Adam Lambert – Black or White I said it on Twitter but you either love or hate Adam. I’ve said before I do not like him. And I still don’t like him.
Jorge Nunez – Never Can Say Goodbye Jorge was very forgettable tonight. I think he’s in trouble too.
Scott MacIntyre – Keep The Faith I feel bad for saying it but I wasn’t entirely impressed with Scott. Little boring and a little off.
Danny Gokey – PYT (Pretty young Thing) – Go Danny!! I have to admit it was a little questionable at first and I felt at times he was screaming the song but wow, he’s really amazing. The dancing was not good but he even admitted and making fun of yourself is the first step to people accepting you. It’s ok, Danny!
Alexis Grace – Dirty Diana She was great! The girl knows how to put some fire behind her songs. Love it.
Michael Sarver – You Are Not Alone He was better than I thought he was going to be tonight. Not sure he deserves to go home quite yet but I don’t see him lasting more than a few weeks.
Allison Iraheta – Give In To Me Girl is awesome. She reminds me so much of Kelly Clarkson but she’s got grit that Kelly lacks.
Jasmine Murray – I’ll Be There It was ok. Safe and boring.
Megan Joy Corkrey – Rockin Robin – Isn’t she googling herself and reading how she has to quit the hip thing? Oh my word, it makes it all weird. If she had gone funky with that instead of Playhouse Disney, it might have been good. She’s in trouble too.

Favorites tonight were Danny, Allison, Matt and Alexis. And honorable mention to Kris.

As noted, Megan, Anoop, Jasmine and Jorge are IN TROUBLE.

Tell Me the Story of Jesus

March 9, 2009 by Amy 4 Comments

Ever since Christmas I think Lexi has been fascinated with the birth, life and even death and resurrection of Jesus. Several times a week right before bed Lexi says “Tell me the story of Jesus”. And if you try to start anywhere in the story except “Mary and Joseph went to Bethlehem” you’ll find yourself starting over again. I keep it simple and to the facts and don’t try to explain the whole thing of WHY Jesus came but we have to start somewhere right? So this is what I tell them:

Mary and Joseph went to Bethlehem and tried to find a place to stay. All the hotels (LOL, we don’t use inns) were closed so they had to stay in a stable (at which time Lexi interjects “Mommy, that’s a baarrnnn.” in her little drawl). Jesus was born and put in a manger. Jesus grew up and did wonderful things but some people got mad that so many people liked him so they decided to kill him. They put him on a cross and nailed his hands and feet to the cross and he died (And don’t even think of skipping those details because Lexi will make you go back). They put him in a tomb and three days later, he came alive again. He stayed on earth for 40 days and then went back to heaven and one day He’s going to come back and get us.

And that’s almost verbatim what I repeat. In fact, I stopped about halfway through that paragraph to put them to bed and Lexi asked me to tell it.

Well, in Target Saturday I saw in their Easter display they had an animated version of the Passion of Christ and they asked to get it. They’ve watched it at least 3 times since then. And it’s awesome. It points out all the parts I just told except they really play up Judas and the Sanhedrin’s decision to crucify Christ. Mary, Martha, the soldiers, Pilate, the earthquake, it’s all in there. And they really get it.

Lexi was watching it today and in part of the movie it says Jesus died for peace and Lexi pipes up “and so we can go to heaven”. I love that she’s amending a DVD and that I taught her that.

Tonight in our youth small group, we talked about why knowing that God created a perfect world mattered. And I realized that Jesus is only half the story. You have to start at the beginning.

So one thing I added tonight was the question ‘Do you know WHY Jesus came to earth?’ They said no, so I said:

When God created everything it was perfect and you remember when he created Adam and Eve (which they know from church and were like Yesss!) and they disobeyed God? When we disobey God and do something bad it’s called sin and we can’t get into heaven with sin. So when Jesus came and died on the cross, he took our punishment for us. You know when you get in trouble and Mommy punishes you sometimes? Well, Jesus takes our punishment for all the times we sinned and if we believe in Jesus, he takes our sin away and we get to go to heaven.

And Emma said, “I believe in Jesus.” and Lexi says “me too”. And I said, “Me too because Jesus is awesome.”

Weekend Recap

March 9, 2009 by Amy 10 Comments

It was a beautiful weekend in the Carolinas. Emma said Saturday “felt like spring” and Sunday “felt like…well, Summer”. I can’t wait to hear what she says about today when it’s supposed to be up to 82!

Scott worked all weekend so I think we actually ate all our dinners over at my parents’ house. We did manage to get in a few fun things with the great weather.

The kids begged for me to do breakfast in bed. Not sure where they got that idea from….but they did well with it.

We packed a picnic and went to TWO different parks for the afternoon on Saturday. This picture isn’t so great but I thought the light was cool. It looks like an Angel is making an appearance! Really, it’s just the sun was shining off a car window but it’s a cool thought!

We also went to see Joni and Wayne’s new baby who is ADORABLE. And THEN we went to buy one of these.

I don’t speak TV but this what I know…Samsung 52″ LCD 650, 1080p, 50,000 something something something. Maybe you TV aficionados can piece that together LOL. I think it’s a good ‘un.

Somehow Sunday we ended up staying in for the afternoon, Scott mainly working on the TV and I was working on some web site stuff for the church.

So yeah, lots of great stuff this weekend. Very blessed.

Southern Word of the Day

March 8, 2009 by Amy 6 Comments

Word: Mamanem

Function: Noun

Meaning: One’s mother and father, possibly siblings or even aunts, uncles, cousins and family friends.

Usage:

“I’m hoping mamanem take us out to lunch after church.”

“We’re gonna stop by and see mamanem in a bit.”

So Proud

March 6, 2009 by Amy 4 Comments

So proud of Emma tonight. She told me after school the new big thing at school was all the Dr. Seuss books. Now, I bought her a Dr. Seuss book before she was born and a few more since then but they’ve always gone unnoticed. Any time I’d try to read them, she’d be highly uninterested. But she was insistent on telling me several times Mrs. Teacher had A BUNCH and they all rhymed. I was happy to show her several of the books we had and she started carrying them in her arms. And then. She read two of them. All by herself. That’s the most she’s read in one sitting to date.

So proud I could shout loud
on a cloud I’m so wowed.

Taxes Smaxes

March 6, 2009 by Amy 2 Comments

As you might recall, I’ve been dreading tax season. With a nice lump of extra income last year, I was definitely not looking forward to getting them done. I dropped them off last Friday and went today. I was STUNNED when the first words were “From federal you’re getting back…” and THEN she says “From state you’re getting back [even more]…” Now, we didn’t get the HUGE return we’re used to but I thought I would be paying the same amount this year. I was ecstatic to hear we’re not just not paying but getting about $1,000 back. Now, Scott’s been saying this whole time “If taxes turn out ok, I’m getting a new TV”. And I guess it is “his turn” since the last big purchase was my mac. SO. We’re on the hunt for not only a big flat screen but also debating on whether to build a custom cabinet or buy one.

I love tax season again!

Like Father, Like Daughter #2

March 5, 2009 by Amy 3 Comments

See Like Father, Like Daughter #1 for reference.

So I’m sitting here and Lexi says for me to look at the TV. I lean over to see she wants some swimming My Little Pet Shop puppies. They do this a lot, telling me to look at the TV for toys they want. Darn commercials.

I go back to work.

Next commercial comes on and she wants me to look at the TV, “Mommy, can we get that?”

I lean over to see the TV and it’s an OxiClean commercial.

Lexi: If we got our dollys dirty we can get them clean. Can we really get it?