The Blue Man Group

After our naps from our long morning at Animal Kingdom,  we left Eli to play with Ginny and Pops and Wesley, Katie, and I got dressed a little nicer than what we have been and headed back to City Walk at Universal Studios to see the Blue Man Group!

If you ever get the opporutnity to see this show, you should definitely go!  It was so good!  I was expecting mostly music and paint, but it was a lot of comedy and theatrics too.

Waiting on the show to start.

There was no photography permitted during the show, but I snapped this picture of the stage before it started.

I can't even explain all of the stuff they did, I wouldn't do the show and performers justice, but it was REALLY good; definitely a highlight of the trip!

the Royal Wedding

What kind of blogger would I be if I didn't post about the royal wedding?

Royal Wedding....I'm excited! I wasn't alive for Charles and Diana's wedding, but I do remember coming home from a Point of Grace concert (woot, woot!) in 7th grade and learning of the news of Diana's fatal crash. I plan to get up really early for work tomorrow and get completely ready so that I can watch the wedding before work.

And now, a little royal wedding trivia.....

1. At 29 years old, Kate will be one of the oldest royal brides (Sophie was actually the oldest when she married Prince Edward at age 34).

2. Approximately 1,900 guests were invited to the Abbey ceremony.

3. At the ceremony, royalty sits on the right, and commoners on the left. Also, all the women in attendance must sport their hat, out of respect, of course.

4. 'All the Single Ladies' are out of luck if they're counting on tradition to land their man. Kate will lay her bouquet on the tomb of the Unknown Warrior.

5. Kate will pull a Diana and say, "love, honor, and keep" in her vows instead of "love, honor, and obey". Apparently it was much more controversial 30 years ago when Diana did that.

6. While 1,900 are invited to the ceremony, only 650 are invited to the reception. No five course meal though. Buckingham Palace chefs are whipping up 10,000 appetizers for the par-tay.

7. William and Kate are now their own postage stamp in Britain.

8. Apparently, Kanye West got an invite but Obama did not!

9. Thanks to the way things turned out between Diana/Charles and Andrew/Fergie, William and Kate (I'll be calling her Kate instead of Catherine...we're tight like that) will be the first royal couple to sign a pre-nup.

10. Sending invites (technically save the dates) by fax would be deemed tacky had it been done by me, but when it's the Queen it's no biggie.

And, finally, Mrs. Taff (Wesley's grandmother who watches The Insider and True TV) said that she heard Kate was pregnant. haha!!!

The Taffs in the News

I mentioned in my post on The Glass Egg, that we got interviewed by the OA News (Opelika-Auburn News). Click here to read the story!

And, completely unrelated, Eli made a dance video while in Colorado! The first half of the video is him laughing (we finally caught him in action). Go to 3:38 to see Eli dancing. : )

(I'm working the camera...the laugh you hear is Aunt Katie!)

Anniversary Trip - Day 4

Today was a light day compared to every other day so far. In fact, we slept in and didn't even leave the room until after 11.

Our first stop was The National Archives. You couldn't take pictures inside, but we saw some INCREDIBLE things, including:

- original letters and drafts of speeches from people like Washington, Robert E. Lee, Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, Reagan, FDR, Benjamin Franklin, and more!

- Magna Carta

- Bill of Rights

- Declaration of Independence

- United States Constitution

They were all incredible to view. The Bill of Rights, Declaration of Independence, and the US Constitution, were breathtaking. The ink was so faded you could barely read some parts of it. In fact, on the Declaration of Independence, most of the signatures weren't visible, but you could certainly see the impression on the paper from John Hancock!

After that we had our usual picnic lunch of sandwiches and fruit before heading to Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum. If you've never done this before, it's something that is really neat and a lot of fun to do. I highly suggest it! It was nuts how lifelike the statues were. It was almost freaky to look them in the eye!

I have no pictures to show you because while I was standing in front of Bill and Hillary, I dropped my camera and broke it. It won't even turn on anymore. There are a few pictures to share from Wesley's camera, but I'll have to do a separate post when we got home (he didn't pack his camera cord).

After I broke my camera, I cried the rest of the time and most of the subway ride back to the room (hormones are lovely). We're going tonight to buy me a new digital camera. Wesley does not want to at all, I can tell, but, I really don't care. I love him, but he doesn't understand why I want (almost need) my own camera. Does that make me a brat?

The Museum of American History

We had SUCH a busy day today and did SO MUCH that I'm splitting it into two posts. This one is picture overload as it is...but we saw some REALLY cool things! The last thing we did today was spend about 2 1/2 hours walking through the Museum of American History.

Before I show you the rest of the pictures, I'll tell you about the one thing we saw and weren't allowed to take pictures of: The Star Spangled Banner. It was the actual flag that flew over Fort McHenry during the War of 1812, and the one that Francis Scott Key saw and inspired the poem that is now our national anthem. It was beautiful and breathtaking!

Julia Child's test kitchen

One of the original cheese wagons!

(Had to take this picture....the hubby has his CDL now, ha! Coaches in our district will now be driving their teams to away games - scares me!)

Dresses worn by the Supremes

Ella Fitzgerald's dress and Louis Armstrong's trumpet

The First Ladies Exhibit was one of my favorites. These aren't anywhere near all the dresses we saw. But, I won't bore you with all of them! (Wesley stayed on his blackberry through this exhibit!)

Mary Lincoln's inaugural dress

On the left, Nancy Reagan's inaugural dress, and on the right, Barbara Bush's inaugural dress.

On the left, Hillary Clinton's inaugural dress from '93, and on the right, Laura Bush's inaugural dress from '01.

Michelle Obama's gown she wore at the Inaugural ball.

Dorothy's ruby red slippers

Apollo Ohno's skates

Kermit : )

Fonzie's leather jacket

Lion King mask from Broadway

Rafiki's costume

Archie Bunker's chair from "All in the Family"

The radio microphone FDR spoke into for his Fireside Chats

Wesley about to give an Inaugural Address, ha!

The robe Sandra Day O'Connor wore when she was being sworn in.

Chelsea Clinton's ballet shoes

The gavel used during all four of Clinton's impeachment trials

Abraham Lincoln's hat

Lincoln's suit and Mary's dress

The blanket that covered Lincoln's coffin

The flag that flew on the train that carried Lincoln's body.

We saw so many amazing things today. This was only the tip of the iceberg. I've got a ton more pictures, but I'm too exhausted to do anything with them tonight! : )

Justin Bieber

Last week at school, I had an "I feel old moment." It was one of the first that I've had that made me feel like I had no idea what was going on with the "youth" these days (ha, that makes me sound old too). We've been doing standardized testing the past two weeks, so our schedule has been very low key. The mornings have been very relaxed before we start testing, so some of my girls were looking through some kind of magazine for kids and there was a picture of this guy on the front:

Do you know him? That's Justin Bieber with Usher (who 'discovered' him). Well, I knew his name, or so I thought. I completely butchered the pronunciation of his last name, and of course that sent the girls into giggling fits. The girls then asked me what I thought of him, and I said he's cuuute. Oh my word. They giggled about that ALL DAY LONG! They then said that they were going to tell my husband (we teach at the same school - me third grade, him PE), and I just played along, held my finger over my lips, and told them shhhh!

Well, that afternoon one of my girls stayed behind after school because she had to talk to me. She told me that another girl had actually told Coach Taff at PE that I had a crush on Justin Bieber. I tried not to laugh, and told her thank you for letting me know and she said, "Well, I just wanted to warn you before you got home. I didn't want you to walk into that!" HAHAHA! They crack me up!

(I'm catching up on blogging tonight. Stay tuned for more posts.)

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Today, Wesley and I celebrated our SIXTH (gahhh-lee!) Valentine's Day together, but our first one as a married couple.

In the past, every Valentine's Day we've made breakfast for supper together, complete with heart-shaped sausage biscuits! I was all for doing that again this year, but Wesley said we should do something different since we were married this year and we both have jobs. So we did! He surprised me, which was the first time he's ever done that! haha, I hate surprises.

So, tonight we got all dressed up and headed out to dinner. But, not before I got some very pretty flowers! : ) I didn't know where we were going until we got there. But, we ended up going to Houlihan's in Columbus. It was my first time going there and it was sooo good! I had chicken fettucini alfredo and Wesley had chicken parmesan. We even went all out and sprang for dessert! I had strawberries creme brulee (my aboslute favorite!) and Wesley had a Snicker's ice cream dome thing (which I of course tried some of). They were both delicious! It was a nice treat; we never go out to eat (unless it's with our parents or Wesley's grandmother or ChickfilA, ha!).

When we got back home, we exchanged gifts. It was killing me to wait that long. I had no idea what Wesley got me. I hadn't really dropped any hints this year - mainly because I couldn't think of anything I was just really wanting.

I gave Wesley some 20lb weights that he was wanting for his P90X stuff and a ping-pong paddle/ball holder to go on the wall in the storage closet. And Wesley got me tickets to see these two in March! SOOOOOooo EXCITED about it! : )

Funny enough, our very first Valentine's Day together (5 years ago) Wesley gave me tickets to see Rascal Flatts (and Blake Shelton). The concert is in March and I'm really excited!

Happy Valentine's Day!

"This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us..."

1 John 4:10

Super Bowl Commericials

I don't think I've ever watched a Super Bowl before, but I have seen the commercials! Have you heard about Tebow's controversial commercial he's doing?

Tebow seems to be one of those guys you either love him or ya hate him. Although, regardless of loyalties to universities (my in-laws are huge FSU fans!), you can't tell me if you had a son or brother just like Tim Tebow, you wouldn't be proud of him?

You must read this article.

Seriously, go read it. It will be worth your time.

Here are some of my favorite parts:

"We're always harping on athletes to be more responsible and engaged in the issues of their day, and less concerned with just cashing checks. It therefore seems more than a little hypocritical to insist on it only if it means criticizing sneaker companies, and to stifle them when they take a stance that might make us uncomfortable."

"Here's what we do need a lot more of: Tebows. Collegians who are selfless enough to choose not to spend summers poolside, but travel to impoverished countries to dispense medical care to children, as Tebow has every summer of his career. Athletes who believe in something other than themselves, and are willing to put their backbone where their mouth is. Celebrities who are self-possessed and self-controlled enough to use their wattage to advertise commitment over decadence."

And, finally, I love the part where she talks about males having some sexual-restraint, and if they did, women may be scheduling fewer abortions (although, I think it's important to note, "it takes two to tango" and maybe women should have some sexual-restraint too...I'm just saying....). Then she says that the best way not to have an unwanted pregnancy is don't get the sperm and the egg together in the first place!

So, on Sunday, I will be watching the Superbowl, not for the Colts or Saints (pro football just really doesn't do it for me), but for Tebow and his ad. And hey, regardless of how funny they maybe (and they are), this ad sure has a better message than some of those beer commercials decked out with idiocy and scantly-clad women.

*Quotes and image courtesy of the Washington Post (see link)*

Miss America

We've had a very busy weekend around here. We got up yesterday and Wesley started on some manly projects (replacing a broken shower knob and fixing the toilet in the guest bathroom) while I began cleaning the house, folding laundry, doing dishes, etc., etc., etc. (does anyone else find it hard to clean during the week? I sure do). We got all of that done mid-afternoon and did some mega grocery shopping (we were down to a bottle of syrup!). By the time we were done with that, it was time to start getting ready for church! We love going on Saturday nights now, it's so nice to have "another lazy Saturday" on Sunday mornings. We stayed for church and our BFG (Bible Fellowship Group) and then hurried home for the 2010 Miss America Pageant!

I came in just before the evening gown competition. My favorite was Miss Kentucky. She ended up coming in 4th runner up. I had stumbled across her blog earlier in the week; it was kind of neat getting to read what all she does as Miss Kentucky - man, she is BUSY! I don't know if I could do all that.

Anywho, congrats to Miss Virginia, the new Miss America. I just loved her yellow dress. Not everyone can pull off yellow, but I think she looked gorgeous!

I also read that the outgoing Miss American (2009, former Miss Indiana) got engaged the night before she gave up her crown. How sweet! : )

I only wish I'd been watching Miss American with my mom and sister eating some boiled peanuts - that's how we roll!

A "New-Do" ... or maybe a "Don't - Do It"

Y'all, I love the Gosselins. I really do.

I blogged about them here and here.

Yes, I got a little sad to hear that their divorce was finalized. But that's not the topic of this blog post. Kate Gosselin has made her hair-do famous. Now, I don't think I could EVER. EVER. pull this off. Nor do I have a desire to. I love "rockin' a pony" (Bump-it commercial, anyone?)! But, on Kate, it was beginning to grow on me. Here she is with her famous "do."

And here's the new "do" ..... or do you think it's a "don't"?

I'm really kind of shocked. I don't know what to think of it.

I almost didn't recognize her.

I'll probably be buying that edition of People Magazine though!

(Photos courtesy of Google Images.)

Who Doesn't Love a Little Make-Up?

That's my sister, Caitlin, a.k.a. The Bride, getting her make-up done just before the wedding. The lady doing it was AMAZING. Her name was Audrey. Audrey did Caitlin's (and mine, Mom's, and Debbie's ) make-up. Audrey did it for FREE, her husband works at the mission where Clark and Caitlin work.

Here's Mom getting her make-up done.

Audrey was very talented and very nice. We enjoyed questioning her about her job. She's done make-up on several celebrities including Laura Bush, Lady Bird Johnson, Paula Deen, Roseanne Barr's daughter, and Anna Nicole Smith....to name a few!

She had such funny stories to tell us about Paula Deen and Anna Nicole Smith (Paula has Diet Coke and a cigarette for breakfast. Anna Nicole was much more down-to-Earth when she had no make-up on. She got "into character" with the more make-up Audrey applied.).

Thanks Audrey! Caitlin was beautiful and I know she enjoyed

the extra pampering too (as did Mom, Debbie, and I)!

More to come on Caitlin and Clark's wedding festivities....

The Moment Is Here

Are you ready for it? : )

I'm very excited for it!

I LOOOOVE the books. I was a Harry fan back in the day (and still am!), but I've fallen hard for the vampires. The series are soooo different. You can't even really compare them. They're on two different levels. I have read all four of the books and seen the Twilight movie (well, I actually own it). It was alright, but I'm hoping this one will be better (like it's rumored to be).

I can't turn the channel off of the TV Guide channel. It's all things New Moon right now. I know my husband is probably bored to death. Sadly, I'm not going to see the movie until next week. I have a date with a teacher friend!

So, all of this being said, there's one important question left to ask:

Are you Team Edward or Team Jacob?

I must say. It was very, VERY hard for me to pick a side. I honestly didn't make my decision until the end of book 3, but I am Team Edward!!!

But, I do love Jacob too! : )

P.S. - I'm sure New Moon will be the top money maker at the box office this weekend, but I reallyyyy want to see The Blind Side with Sandra Bullock and Tim McGraw AND THE SEC Coaches!!! It looks soo good!

Jon and Kate + 8

I've always gotten completely wrapped up in television shows, movies, books, etc.  I love books in a series, but at the same time, I miss the characters once the series has come to an end.  On the Season 5 premier of J & K, Kate mentioned that the fans and viewers are so important, because we allow the Gosselins to come into our homes each week.  So, I do feel for them and their loss.  I've been thinking a lot how Satan does everything he can to attack the home.  The easiest way to do that is through attacks on marriage.  I must say, I am guilty of reading tabloids and googling them frequently to keep up with what is going on in their marriage and family life.  I'm not entirely sure who cheated on whom and whether or not their marital strain comes simply from having so many children, having a reality television show, work situations, or how they have treated each other in the past.  And quite frankly, it's none of my business.  However, I have noticed a few things.  In the early episodes of their show, I noticed that scripture was posted all over their house.  Kate even mentioned that this was encouragement to her as she went throughout her day.  As their popularity has grown, I've noticed that the mention of God or any signs of the Gosselins being believers have faded.  A cord of three strands is not easily broken.  I am upset and saddened for them that they are getting divorced.  I do not believe that a divorce glorifies the Lord.  Now, I'm not married (18 days!!), but I do now what the Word says.  A marriage is a holy covenant.  A marriage is not a business agreement that if one person fails to keep up their end of the deal, then the other is free to go.  Marriage is not 50/50.  Each person is entering (or should be) 100%.  You promise for better or worse, sickness or health, and until death do you part.  Marriage does not glorify the Lord because marriage is a picture of how the Lord loves the church.  God would never leave or forsake his church, no matter what the church may do.  Yes the church has problems, we are still sinful creatures living in a sinful world.  One of my favorite quotes is from an Audio Adrenaline song (I think, ... really bad with songs/artists), "The single greatest cause of atheism in the world today, is christians who profess Christ with their lips, and then deny Him with their lifestyles.  That is what an unbelieving world finds simply unbelievable."  I've read on many blogs that people are saddened because of what it will do to their family, they feel badly for Cara, Mady, Leah, Alexis, Hannah, Joel, Collin, and Aaden (I told you, I <3>

So, I do not feel foolish in saying that I am praying for Jon and Kate (and the eight).  I pray that God would be glorified and for His name and renown to be spread.  That an unbelieving world would not find our lifestyles and words unbelievable.