I Suck At Blogging...

Or at least keeping up with it. 

I just get SO busy and I forget! 

I'm sorry!!

I promise to try really hard to post more and all that jazz.

Be patient with me.

Here's some pics to tide you over.

Took this one on my back deck.

T-man flying high on our Boyne trip.

My cousin Staci on our photo shoot. :)

Grand adventures all around.

Until next time...

And The Winner Is...

Well We'll find out in 2 hours! I just started watching it.

But I'll give you a run-down of the whole show as it goes.

Beginning with the opening number performed by the 10 contestants previously voted off, and can I just say... IT SUCKED!! I HATED IT! The highlight of that number was when the dance break happened and when Josh fell trying to be all cool. Just. Please!

Then Phil rocked the house with former CCR frontman Jon Fogerty. LOVED IT! Thanks Phil for bringing the TALENT back to the show. Just goes to show why you were voted into the final 2. I'm sure it has NOTHING to do with the fact that you're a cute WGWG (white guy with guitar) haha the past 3-4 years suggest the White Guy W/ a Guitar is the clear winner. First they sang Have You Ever Seen The Rain then into Bad Moon Rising. Right up Phil's alley. This is just a preview of what his CD should sound like. CCR mixed with Mumford & Sons.

The montage of all the horrible auditions and crazy antics  really wasn't needed. We saw it in the audition round. Thanks for wasting our time....

I take that back, this mess is hilarious! Keep. It. Going. 

Then there was the Josh Ledet & Fantasia disaster. Good Lord almighty what just happened. From her hair to the outfit to the voice. I just cannot handle this. If I were watching by myself I would be fast-forwarding. But alas... I am not so I must suffer. And then the producers got smart and cut them off & went to commercial. 

Thank you! THANK. YOU!

Dear Josh,

This is why you were eliminated. 

The End.

Thank you Jimmy for never getting J-Ho's name right. She doesn't deserve the time or energy. The she-devil. Go hide in a hole somewhere... 

Up next is the ladies of the top 12. I have not a clue what they sang, I just know the hook was sampled in a Kanye West song. Which is disappointing, but they sounded good. Then they sang I'm Every Women with Chaka Khan (who came out in a skin-tight brown something. My sister said she looked like a giant turd. I kinda agree! WHO DRESSES THESE PEOPLE???????) I liked Erika's hair better dark though. She shouldn't have messed with a good thing. I forgot about Shannon. There was a reason for that. She wasn't very good.

Can I just interject here for a second. I heard a rumor that my boo Philly Phil will be taken to the hospital right after the finale and will NOT be on the tour. Say WHAT? He better be there! I will cry forever if he's not. I'll donate both my kidneys if I have to.

Back to the show... Oh never mind. It's just dumb Rihanna. I just threw up in my mouth a little. That was an excellent lip sync job you did RiRi. Way to make a mockery of the very thing you do to make all your millions. (if you even make that much) But good job making sure you sound all out of breath like you actually did something out there. 

You get a gold star.

Steven Tyler's hysterical. 
Jessica Sanchez sang I Will Always Love You.

Guys of the top 12. Not sure this was a needed performance. So I'll skip it. 

Deandre better watch out in Detroit. I'm bringing my clippers.

Where's Neil Diamond????

That's right... Neil saves the day with Sweet Caroline.
Take notes guys.
And then they SANG THE PHONE BOOK!!!
Are you kidding me??


zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz of sorry JLo's on stage and I fell asleep. Excellent choice of outfits. Your hips look massive! I'm done.


Hollie Cavanagh & Jordin Sparks sang. and that's 5 minutes I wish I could have back.
Add another 6-7 for the Robin Gibb tribute. Sad for the loss, but It wasn't a good tribute.


Jessica Sanchez & Jennifer Holiday? I guess I missed that Jennifer Hudson didn't originally sing that song. My bad. Beautiful wig she's got on though. Kudos hair people.
How Jessica is NOT dying of laughter watching J. Holiday perform I will NEVER understand. That was hilarious! Sounded awesome, but the faces were killing me!


Then some Aerosmith thing happened and I fell asleep again.
Jessica & Phil sang a duet and my heart broke a little because you can tell just by looking at him that Phil really is not feeling well. 

They waited until the last 30 seconds of the TWO HOUR SHOW to announce the winner. And it ran over... SHOCKER!


And the winner is... *drum roll please*
ME!
Kidding


PHILLIP PHILLIPS WINS!


But I really win too, because Philly Phil was my choice to win and now I get a free dinner. 
The. End.

Home Again, Home Again.

I don't even know where to start. Honestly.

In the past 57 hours I've been driving I've been driving (well riding, Jodi drove) for 17 hours, paid $27 in toll fees, about $80-something in gas (each of us), slept for about 8-9 hours and HAD THE TIME OF MY LIFE! Words cannot describe truly how much fun was had, you just HAD to be there! So if you weren't I would seriously consider making it to the next one. Whenever that happens to be.


 Now, I guess I should rewind a little and explain a bit about what this weekend was all about. Spencer Bell was an extraordinarily talented musician, artist, lyricist and just amazing person in general, who was taken way to early by Adrenal Cancer in December 2006. You can find all about Spencer's story and more HERE. Since his passing his wonderful father Bill Bell and numerous other generous individuals have put together the Spencer Bell Legacy Concerts. A day of music, fun and new found friends all to raise money for Adrenal Cancer research through the University of Michigan ACC Research Program. If you'd like to make a donation to the program, you can do so HERE. (I hope I explained that all right) 


The majority of the SBL show's I have been to have been right here in Auburn Hills, Michigan, BUT this go round we took it back to Madison, WI. Now, I don't fully know all of the stories and details to Spencer's story but I've had the privilege of reading precious memories from Spencer's family and friends. Words cannot express how grateful I am that they share Spencer with all of us strangers! I say strangers because a lot of us never knew Spencer until AFTER his passing, but we really have become a tight-knit family. A family that keeps growing & growing the more Spencer's legacy spreads around the world. 


OK, back to this particular SBL show. We took it to the High Noon Saloon and we really rocked it out! The line-up was longer than a TSA check-in line and the party didn't stop til the wee hours of the morning! I've got very few pictures from the show. Shocker, my camera battery was "exhausted" (as am I) and my phone camera just doesn't really do the trick all the time. I'll share what I have for now.

  

 From top down we've got Jake of The Kissing Club, A Coonasaurus Rob, The world's largest Culver's, Chicago traffic, Mat Black AKA Interabang Sarcastrophy AKA Tall Drunk & Foreign, Rob Coonrod, A Foxy Shazam poster I HAD to send my sister, Beautiful Chicago, a nice tall Pepsi from the Comeback Inn and the bridge at the border of Illinois and Indiana. 


Those are mine, and here are a few from my road trip buddy Jodi.

Jodi won a sweet piggy bank to start saving for the next show!

Me & my road trip buddy Jodi at the High Noon Saloon

The Fab Foursome. Mat, Jodi, Myself & Rob.

Those are just a couple from her album. My faves. The epicness of this weekend will never truly be explained. From smiley face suckers to punctuation explanations to 12+ hour shows to random hotel room encounters. Let's just say if you aren't physically & mentally exhausted after an SBL weekend, you really haven't done it right. I cannot wait for the next one. The drive is worth it. The money spent is worth it. The memories are priceless!

Where Is My Brain These Days...

I swear to you all that I actually do stuff. 
I just forget to post about it. 
You see, with the 30 meals project I had a set little schedule, now I am just going going going one direction or the other and then I sleep.
So I am sitting in my hotel room and I thought "self, you need to take the time or your blog will disappear just like all the others have."
That is a situation.


So I want to fill you in on my weekend plans. Some have yet to happen, but if I don't do it now I will forget later!


Yesterday me & my girl Jodi drove from Michigan to Madison, WI for the Spencer Bell Legacy Show (Follow that link to learn more about Spencer Bell.) 
We drove through Chicago, which was a nightmare!
As soon as we got to the city it was bumper to bumper traffic.

Got this sweet shot while we were sitting in traffic.

Then we got to Madison and went bowling. No pics from the alley, because I suck.

But we made a spur of the moment decision to drive over to Milwaukee to see these 2 knuckleheads. 

Jake Miller

  Rob Coonrod

They are the bomb-dot-com.

Now I'm off to lunch with Jodi, then on to the show! 

I will fill you in on all the fun later!

Glorious Day 30 - Gwen Space, Bill Space & Bill Korthas

It's glorious DAY 30!!! Can you believe it's over???

First of all, I want to thank you all for enjoying this wild ride with me. 30 meals for 30 families in 30 days turned into so much more than just me learning how to cook. I sit hear crying as I type this all out, but I mean every word. I learned so much more than how to make a great meal, more than budgeting my money. I learned about the greatest group of people anyone could ever have the privilege of knowing. I mean that from the bottom of my heart. I only hope that everyone out there can have as great of a church family (Yep, FAMILY) as I do. Thank you to all of the families that let me come in and cook, THANK YOU to all of my sponsors, every single person who donated had a hand in this project, without you guys I wouldn't have been able to do this! And a very VERY special thank you to Juanita Willard for making ALL of the delicious desserts. I was blown away by your kindness. I seriously cannot thank you all enough for the support you have given me throughout this project. I try, but there really are no words.

Now, onto my final meal. Tonight was fun and full of surprises! I cooked for Gwen & Bill Space, Bob Korthas, Chuck, Bobbi & Makenzie Adams AND Connor Donohue. 
Way to go out with a bang right??? 

I know what you're thinking right now. Where's Bobbi & Chuck??? Chuck had to go pick up Maddi, their other daughter, from work and Bobbi said "No way, Jose" to the picture. :) She helped cook so I gave her a "Get Out Of The Picture Free" card.

We had the most delicious Old World Manicotti ever to grace the earth. For. Reals. Surprise numero uno. Most of the meal was prepped and put together when I got there. (Thoughtful of them right?) I had to put the finishing touches on it, so TECHNICALLY I helped cook it. :) 

So lets total this up. I officially cooked 32 meals for 35 families in 30 days. 
But I actually cooked 34 dishes. I cooked 2 separate pastas and a soup for "Young Adults" dinner. Yep... I'm that awesome!


OK... Final meal, you gotta try it!

Old World Manicotti

Ingredients:

12 large manicotti shells

4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

2 cups ricotta cheese

6 tbsp chopped fresh basil or 2 tbsp dried basil

1 26-oz jar spaghetti sauce

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese or Ramano cheese

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 13x9 inch baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.

Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain; rinse with cool water. Let pasta dry on paper towels.

For filling, in medium bowl, stir together 3 cups mozzarella with the ricotta and fresh basil. Using a teaspoon, carefully stuff pasta shells with prepared cheese mixture.

spoon 2 cups of spaghetti sauce into prepared baking dish. Arrange stuffed shells over sauce. Pour remaining spaghetti sauce over top of pasta. Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella.

Bake manicotti for 15 minutes. Sprinkle with the Parmesan; bake for additional 10 minutes. Serve immediately.

I Asked For A Sign...

And then I heard this song.

 

By Your Side - Tenth Avenue North

Why are you striving these days?
Why are you trying to earn grace?
Why are you crying?
Let me lift up your face, just don't turn away

Why are you looking for love?
Why are you still searching as if I'm not enough?
To where will you go child?
Tell me where will you run, to where will you run?

'Cos I'll be by your side wherever you fall
In the dead of night whenever you call
And please don't fight these hands that are holding you
My hands are holding you

Look at these hands at my side
They swallowed the grave on that night
When I drank the world's sin
So I could carry you in and give you life
I wanna give you life

And I'll be by your side wherever you fall
In the dead of night whenever you call
And please don't fight these hands that are holding you
My hands are holding you

Here at my side wherever you fall
In the dead of night whenever you call
And please don't fight these hands that are holding you
My hands are holding you

'Cause I, I love you, I want you to know
That I, yeah I love you, I'll never let you go
No, no

And I'll be by your side wherever you fall
In the dead of night whenever you call
And please don't fight these hands that are holding you
My hands are holding you

Here at my side wherever you fall
In the dead of night whenever you call
And please don't fight these hands that are holding you
My hands are holding you

Here at my side
My hands are holding you

Here's the video so you can enjoy:

Have a good day all!

Ordination Day.

Even though I ran around like a chicken with it's head cut off all day today, it was a very special day. Today my good friend, and Pastor of my church, Jon Hall was officially ordained! How cool is that! Never been to one of those ceremonies before and even though it was long, I am very proud to have been a part of his ordination!

Congratulations P.J.! We're all proud of you!

American Idol Top 7 & Elimination.

So. I hate to be a party pooper this week but I am so dang tired I just don't have the energy for a full post like I did last week. So I'm just going to give you a quick rundown of both shows and let that be that. Don't like it? Tough cookies!

Performance Show

Hollie Cavanagh:

Song 1 - I had goosebumps with the first notes. She seriously did an amazing job! 

Song 2 - Not really a fan. Just didn't hit me like the first one did.

Colton Dixon:

Song 1 - HATED. IT! Sorry Colton, this just was NOT a good choice in song. 

Song 2 - AMAZEBALLS! I seriously loved it! 

Elise Testone:

Loved it! Both songs. She seriously is amazing to me! Her voice is so unique and I really just wish America would get on board and vote the right way! I did not however, like the orange dress she wore during the first song. The sheer orange billowy material just kinda made her look a little fatty fat fat. I'm. Just. Sayin'.

Skylar Laine:

I really enjoyed both of her songs. I wasn't a fan of the country Gaga version when it came out, but Skylar really did it justice! 

Josh Ledet:

Ya know, I think I have just had enough of Josh. I really am just not a fan. He didn't do a bad job, I just don't really enjoy him.

Jessica Sanchez:

While I agree with America Jessica is a great singer, I just don't think she has "it". I don't believe she will win, but she did a great job on both songs.

Phillip Phillips:

Philly Phil can really do no wrong for me. Anyone out there who thinks so deserves a salmon slap! 

Results Show

*Mr. Soul Patrol, Taylor Hicks, was in the crowd. Irrelevant. *eye roll*

*Kris Allen performed, and I adore him! I like... no LOVE his new song to!! New album here I come!

* LMFAO sang. meh... I like the song, performance was mildly entertaining, but it really did nothing for me.

*Bottom 3 was Hollie Cavanagh (umm why?), Elise Testone (seriously America?) & Colton Dixon (not surprised) and Colton went home. He didn't deserve to go home, in my opinion, but what can ya do. He had an off week and he was man enough to admit that he picked bad songs. He wasn't himself and that cost him a shot at winning.

A little Something I've Noticed Lately...

I often find that I adopt the way other people talk; accents, lingo, etc. It's not something I do purposefully or because I want to be this other person. It just happens. You could say I'm sort of a chameleon in that regard. It's really the weirdest thing. For instance, when my cousin Craig comes up from Tennessee, I find myself going home with a little twang in my voice. When I watch Jenna Marbles videos for a long time, I get that high pitched tone she uses at the end. I have to stop and remember that's not really how I talk. 

I've been looking at some of my texts, blog posts and just little random notes that I write myself sometimes & I noticed something in them. I've noticed that I am starting to use lingo from Lauren Brimley's blog (found at busybeelauren.com) If you hang out with me, you know I'm not much of a swearer. It just really isn't me. Don't get me wrong, sometimes I just get mad and let it fly, but it's not an all the time deal. What made it all come to my mind was yesterday, while driving, someone made me mad and I said (to myself, haha) that they needed to be salmon slapped. Only person I've ever heard say that, BBL. I've also adopted awesomespice & lamespice, bomb-diggity-bomb-dot-com, Obiv, and I notice I am saying stuffs legit a lot more. 


Adopting Lauren's lingo is actually a good thing for me, because it gives me alternatives for swears, which I love! If I could live the rest of my life without another swear, I'd be perfectly happy! I just think there are better choices of words you can use. 


This is Lauren & her awesome husband Ted. (Go read her blog, you'll soon understand his awesomeness.) I hope she doesn't mind I borrowed the pic, but for real, how can I tell you about her and NOT show you who she is??? I. Can't!

She's to legit to quit, so seriously go read her blog. She brings the funny & she's prego, so we get to share that with her. She's so cool, you'd think she was your real life friend. I know I do! haha So congrats to Lauren & Ted. Thanks for the good swear alternatives! Now do me a solid & check out her blog. :)