Amy J. Bennett

Weekend Recap

December 5, 2011 by Amy Leave a Comment

We started the weekend off with a bang. Or should I say kick? Lexi tested for her green belt Friday night. I had video of her breaking her board but just as she was breaking it, my phone ran out of space so I didn’t get it filmed. But she did great and I fully expect her to be presented with her green belt during the next class. She’s serious about getting to that black belt and I have no doubts she’ll do it!

Saturday morning I got some much needed rest. The kids spent the night with Scott’s parents and Scott went out for a bike ride first thing Saturday. Even if I had laundry waiting on me, I just couldn’t make myself do anything with an empty house.

We were out before lunch though to see our hometown parade. The Nation’s Ford band, one of the high schools in town, marched in Macy’s a few weeks ago and it was great seeing them. The kids had a blast and it’s a great tradition they love.

Saturday evening Emma ended up staying with my sister-in-law all evening so it was just the three of us. We did a little Christmas shopping and had a nice steak and potato dinner.

Sunday was church and then we took it easy at home. I had some major, er, stomach issues for the afternoon so I was no good to anyone. This is when I’m thankful the kids are a bit older and can entertain themselves if I’m in the bed sick for an hour or two. I was soon up though and we went to the mall for a bit so Emma could spend some birthday money and I picked up another Christmas present. My family came over for the evening to spend some time with the girls and we worked on my bedroom a bit deciding on fabric as I think my mom is going to make some curtains for me for Christmas. I think we’re going to go with the fabric from my dining room. I am nothing if not consistent.

There was no 5:30 wake-up for me this morning. I think I was still catching up from last week being so tired. But I’m ready to start the week. I can’t believe it’s December and in just a few weeks it will be Christmas!

Five Minute Friday: Tired

December 2, 2011 by Amy 3 Comments

Today I’m posting along with The Gypsy Mama. Her word for today is tired. It’s hard to blog coherently when you’re tired so excuse the rambling…

I just told a coworker this morning how tired I am. Every day this week I’ve been consistent at actually waking up when the alarm goes off at 5:30 and snuggling in bed with my iPhone to read my 12 pages of the Bible in 90 Days plan. Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t have it any other way. I love that by 6:15 in the morning, I am done with my reading for the day and don’t have to think about it anymore. In fact, I love even more that I usually have time to listen to the audio at some point later in the day. But this week I’m also doing the Daniel Fast. I haven’t had sugar (ok, maybe a little in some Balsamic Vinagrette I had at Chickfila on Tuesday) since Sunday afternoon and I think I’m finally feeling the effects. I feel like if I could just drink a tall White Mocha that I’d feel a little more, oh, I don’t know, energy. In the meantime, between the early rising and lack of sugar, I’m tired.

But there’s more tired going on. I’m tired of working and juggling and and having a bad attitude because I’m in a hurry just so I can fit it all in even though I’m not fitting it all in. I’m tired of feeling like i don’t do enough with the girls while I’m attending to work. And yet, I feel like God is calling me to continue working right now so I don’t know how to not feel tired about it all. And honestly, I’m tired of being tired of it all. If I’m to continue for now in this job, then I want to enjoy it and be ok with the station I’m in right now.

STOP

My Favorite Things

December 1, 2011 by Amy 10 Comments

I knew I soon as I read this post I wanted in! TheNester did A Favorite Things party with her friends where they all bring one of their favorite things for each person. LOVE! At the end of the post, she invited everyone to virtually share a few of their favorite things under $30.

Now, before I start, I have to preface my favorite things by saying I always say something is my favorite. My list is ever-changing. But I kept it to five things that I’m pretty sure will never change.

TIGI Rockaholic Dirty Secret Dry Shampoo

Every person with hair needs this. Seriously. It has saved many a bad hair day. I did a review on it awhile back. Still so good.

Mary Kay’s lip gloss

beachbronze

I have no less than 5 tubes of this in my purse and a few more in my bathroom. I love this lip gloss. And I’m not just saying that because I’m a Mary Kay consultant. No, I’m a consultant because I need a discount for my own lip gloss obsession!

And I have my top 5 favorite colors, in order. No joke:

Gold Rush
Pink Diamonds
Beach Bronze
Cream and Sugar
Fancy Nancy

Pioneer Woman’s Cookbook

This cookbook was life-changing and I don’t say that lightly. Mine has fallen apart but I refuse to use the nice new copy that Ree signed for me. And did you see that her new one is available for pre-order. Oh Em Gee!

Reese’s Peanut Butter Trees

Maybe because I’m in the middle of the Daniel Fast but I just love these things and it seems appropriate since it’s Christmas time.

Friday Night Lights DVD Set

Every single person should watch this series. I just hooked my friend Carolyn on it finally. I’m so enjoying her emails saying she’s spent another night until 3am watching and how much she loves Coach and Tami and Riggs and Matt. *sigh* Every. one. of you needs to watch it. I’m cheating on the $30 price limit but if you must, Season 1 is my favorite and obviously a good place to start. But you won’t be able to stop. Promise.

So basically what I’m seeing is…cook some dinner, fix your hair and makeup for some Riggins face time and eat a Reese’s cup for dessert to top off the night. Yep. That works for me.

Works for me Wednesday: Laundry Bins

November 30, 2011 by Amy 15 Comments

I haven’t done a WFMW post in a LONG time. I’ve been meaning to do this one for several months. Actually, it could be years by now. I have to tell you about the best thing I ever did for my laundry. It’s not a new concept and we’re not breaking any ground here but I finally got SIX different bins to put mine and Scott’s clothes in (grammar geeks, how do I say that? me and Scott’s? Scott and my?).

Before, we had one hamper with all our clothes and once a week, or whenver we ran out of white clothes (the fastest growing) I would have to sort all the clothes and since they were all out, I’d wash all of them. Sometimes the poor red/pink/purple pile would be pitiful but I was unwilling to put anything back in the hamper.

Scott, my very organized better half, finally went out and bought six of these skinny bins. We sort as we go. We have jeans, whites, blacks, mixed, reds and even one for towels. When one gets full, I wash that and don’t have to wash the rest. As we speak, the blacks are in the washing machine and the rest are waiting for their turn in the closet. The other great thing is it’s so easy to carry them with handles on each side. When it’s time for the clean clothes to go back, I put all the small things inside the bins and then lay pants and shirts over the top but am still able to use the handles to carry it all.

I LOVE them and they were well worth the investment. I figure I’m saving time sorting and washing extranneous loads and money on water and energy. That certainly works for me!

The Hobbies

November 29, 2011 by Amy 10 Comments

Emma spent Lexi’s taekwondo practice drawing pictures of each of us doing what she perceived as our hobbies. I gotta say, she nailed it.

The Facebook cracks me up. Curious, what would Emma draw for you?

Thanksgiving Weekend Recap

November 28, 2011 by Amy 1 Comment

I’ve decided every weekend should be 4 days. And include lots of food that I don’t have to prepare. Our Thanksgiving weekend was the perfect amount of relaxation that I needed. And by relaxing I really mean cleaning. Oddly, I feel more relaxed now that I know all the stuff is taken care of at home. My laundry is done. My dishes aren’t piled up. I have plans for dinner. My fridge is clean. The piles of paper in my office are gone. All that took work, but so worth it.
But the weekend wasn’t all about work. Thursday we had a great morning. I found myself up at 6am and realized that CVS sales started early. I hated to shop on Thanksgiving but I knew if I didn’t do it right away, everything would be gone. And what would I do without another free tube of toothpaste?? Once I got home we had a great time watching the Macy’s parade. The girls loved seeing the Rockettes, Scotty McCreery from Idol and Elmo of all things. The parade also included a high school band from my city. So proud of our State champs! Little known fact…Scott was a drummer in the band in high school and my dad was the drummer at church back in the day. I appreciate a guy who can keep a beat! We had Thanksgiving lunch with my parents and then dinner with Scott’s. All very good food and company.
Scott had to work all weekend so even if I had found something for Black Friday, I couldn’t go. It was the first Black Friday in a while I didn’t get a single thing. Instead, my niece spent the night and stayed for the day which equaled busy kids and a busy mom.
Friday night I’ve already blogged about my trip to see Breaking Dawn. It was all high-praise from me but BusyBeeLauren had an awesome post on all the things that bugged her and indeed, a few of them I left off my review. The lack of sparkling and sudden appearance of a styrofoam cup were both very valid points.
So Saturday the girls and I did a little shopping just to get out. They each had coupons from Toys R Us and Barnes and Noble from their birthday so we made a round at the mall to use those up.
Scott ended up getting off early Saturday but the most exciting thing we did was make chicken and rice for dinner which is to say, not exciting at all. I ended up with a bad stomach ache by the evening, which I believe is unrelated to the chicken and rice, and basically was of no use whatsoever. It was then I decided that the bad eating had to stop.
I’ve decided to do the Daniel Fast again. More for diet purposes than fasting but I started reading the Bible in 90 Days again today and it all just seems right that I’m cleansing my body and beginning with this reading.
Sunday was another day around the house. I did a lot of research on Daniel Fast recipes and did some shopping to get ready. The girls had a neighborhood friend over so they stayed occupied. Or, I should say my front yard stayed occupied.
By this morning, I was very rested, ready to read for the Bible plan and get to work. So we’re off to another week! I hope your holiday weekend went well and your week is off to a great start.

Breaking Dawn Review

November 26, 2011 by Amy Leave a Comment

Twilight and Twilight Merchandise

Heather and I went to see Breaking Dawn last night. To be honest, even though I have been at the midnight showing of every Twilight movie thus far, I was not in a hurry to see it. But a week into the premiere and I was ready to see what all the hype was about.

And I have to say, I LOVED it. I really, really did. In fact, I would happily have sit through another showing right after the first. And here’s what I loved:

Edward. Edward, Edward, Edward. And not really Edward like you think. It’s more Rob. You can tell he has grown as an actor so much. After watching Water for Elephants, I was thinking wouldn’t it be nice for him to actually act well like that in Twilight and wow, he certainly did in this movie. Edward was finally the Edward he was supposed to be. Confident, protective and happy with Bella.
I felt like Kristen finally played Bella well. She was nervous at the wedding and on the honeymoon but not so much she seemed like she was having a nervous breakdown.
The wedding was amazing. The dress was GORGEOUS. The shoes were amazing. The decorations were beautiful. Charlie saying goodbye was heartbreaking.
We didn’t get to see much of the high school kids but they were funny and added just the right touch.
I liked that the other vampires were a part of the story but not the center of attention.
I preferred the honeymoon of the movie to the book. I was always disappointed they didn’t have more in the book. And no, not just the bedroom scene. I loved them playing chess and going on walks. And I loved them in Rio. I loved Edward taking them in the boat to Isle Esme.
I liked that the conflict in this movie was with the pack and not the Voulturi. I loved that Jake was confident and yet still torn about Bella. I loved him standing up to Sam. And him imprinting on Renesmee? SO much better than the book. I like that we got glimpses of the teenage Renesmee instead of picturing him solely imprinting with an infant.
They did a fantastic job of makeup with Kristen while she was pregnant. Wow, she looked amazingly awful. It was just perfect though. You really got the sense of how serious the pregnancy was. And I appreciated the conflict within the family about the baby and how Kristen held tight to what she wanted.
I loved when Edward could finally hear the baby and saw that she was pure and wonderful and not the awful creature he was imagining.
The birth scene was, well, the birth scene. I don’t know of any birth scenes real or fake that are particularly pretty to watch. I liked that the movie stayed true to the book but we didn’t ever have to see anything beyond Bella’s face. They seriously could have made that scene disgusting but I really don’t feel like it did. And how beautiful is Renesmee?
I’ll preface this point in saying I don’t care for vampires. I don’t read or watch this movie for that part of the story. For me, and a lot of people, this story is about the love of two individuals that live in a world of different rules. You could leave out the vampire stuff and I’d be happy. BUT. A lot of the book is Bella wanting to be a vampire so she can live with Edward forever. It’s not the actual vampire stuff she’s after, it’s the forever part. So when she turned at the end, well, it was just EXCITING. She was beautiful and everyone was just waiting. I’m not excited that she’s a vampire, per se. But I am excited she’s now like Edward and they can be together forever. Yes, it’s that cheesy.

So yes, count me in, I’ll be watching this one more than once. I’m just so happy this series keeps getting better and better and simply cannot wait until Part 2.

Christmas Card 2011 Pictures

November 25, 2011 by Amy 5 Comments

A few weeks ago I blogged about our Christmas cards but we didn’t have any pictures for them! Well, now we do! And all thanks to PJ who is the lady behind Red Oak Photography. She also did our pictures from last year so I knew we were in good hands.