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Growing up with Elvis

Posted on August 16, 2010 4:48 pm by TheAngelForever

I was just eight months old when Elvis Presley passed away, yet I grew up with him. My father is a HUGE fan of the King. From an early age my brother and I learned to rock out to Rock-A-Hula, Blue Suede Shoes, Don’t Be Cruel and other Elvis Presley classics. Each year, on my parent’s anniversary, they would dance together to their wedding song, Can’t Help Falling In Love (the classic is still so much better than the remake by UB40). Over the years, Dad’s record collection has been replaced with CDs to keep the tradition going. Now, Papa is proud that his grandchildren learned to hula with the King!

Since today marks 33 years since Elvis Presley passed away, I thought I would share my father’s growing collection of unique Elvis items.

So on this sad day for Elvis Presley fans, I ask you what is your favorite song from the King?

Categories:
family interesting looking back me moments Music

Wandering NYC and better NY State license plates

Posted on August 9, 2010 4:41 pm by TheAngelForever

On Friday, I wrote about the ugly new license plates in New York State. If you missed that post, you need to check out how far we came over my lifetime, only to go back 10-15 steps. Ugh!

While in NYC for BlogHer, TechyDad and I opted to walk around the streets by the Hilton for a little while. Please note, we were so close to everything it was amazing. We walked a block over to Broadway. First, we saw this:

We opted not to have pizza there and continued to walk down. . .

I drooled and wished that we had tickets to see this:

Sad to say, we did not get to see that or the following:

We kept walking down and saw marque after marque of plays we would not get to see along with other interesting signs. Then we went into the Hershey Store for a few minutes.

There was a lot to see, but it was nothing like their home store in Hershey, PA.

Across the street was another chocolatey retail wonder. Here is the sign as it changed outside:

We had to go inside to wander around the three stories to compare it to the Las Vegas store. Not quite as much, but my oh my a lot of M&M packed into one NYC store!

While there, we saw the solution to the UGLY new New York State license plates. Here they are:

After this, we went back toward the Hilton and stopped by Ray’s Pizza for some slices to go. We wandered back around the corner to the Hilton and went back to the 31st floor to inhale, and relax before day 2 of BlogHer.

A cherry picking family record

Posted on July 12, 2010 8:51 pm by TheAngelForever

If you have never been cherry picking, I urge you to go. Even if you are not a fan of cherries, the experience is well worth it. Two years ago, we went cherry picking with my brother and his family. When we tried to go last year, it did not work out. The crop was late and we were out of luck. This year, we watched carefully and planned the weekend to go.

Two years ago, we had four adults, an almost five year old, just one year old and 10 month old with us. This time we had six adults (Nana and Papa joined us), an almost seven year old, just three year old, almost three year old and four and a half month old. Having two extra adults was a blessing. This year, we went to a new pick your own cherry location called Singer Farms. Our first impression was not the best thanks to too many people swarming and too little parking. After we got over trying to find a spot in weeds that were taller than our little car, we got situated. JSL was sleeping after the pre-cherry picking fiasco and so was the baby. Everyone else went over to get buckets to collect cherries.

When we got to the orchard, it was amazing. The trees were overloaded with tons of cherries. For as far as the eye could see, there were trees filled with different types of cherries. We stuck with the sweet cherries. As we were getting settled, JSL woke up and joined the picking crew. Nana helped the little kids some, but was also in charge of pushing sleeping BA around in his stroller.

The cherries were absolutely amazing. Each time we were ready to stop, more sucked us in. It was like ADD of the cherry kind "Oh look . . . pretty cherry!" Finally, after just under an hour, we decided that we had more than enough to feed all of us and many others. We carried our precious cargo back to get weighed so we could pay for them.

We mainly picked two kinds of sweet cherries. One was similar to a bing (or may have been) and the other looked like a rainer cherry. Those were definitely a fan favorite. They have a yellow hue to them and when you bite inside the flesh is light colored. The interesting part, they taste like a peach – without the annoying fuzz outside.

If you read my Tweets from our adventure, you know how many pounds we had. If not, what do you think?

I will end the suspense. We picked 33 pounds of cherry goodness. That beat our record of just over 22 pounds! We ate a lot of them Saturday throughout the day and Sunday morning. Then, we divided them up. We took about half of them home to share with others. Tonight, when the kids are in bed, there is a bowl of cherries with my name on it!

Thank you to Uncle I, Aunt M, Nana, Papa, SG and my boys for a wonderful experience with my extended family.

Categories:
cousins family food glorious food fun interesting jl jsl nhl photos road trip summer weekend yummy

The Mommy Moment (aka The moment I knew)

Posted on July 8, 2010 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Do you remember that moment? You know, the moment you saw the line on the pregnancy test and knew that you were having a baby. I remember both times pretty well.

Let me take you back to the end of December 2002. TechyDad and I had just gotten back from Las Vegas and were upset to learn that our digital camera had been stolen from our backpack while we were in the Pittsburgh airport coming home. We went to bed that night furious about the memories of Cows on Parade that were gone. Still, we both knew that the next morning our lives may change. We had bought a pregnancy test and I planned to use it first thing in the morning when I woke up.

At about 5 in the morning, I woke TechyDad up and told him that I had to use the bathroom. Unlike my usual self, I was having to make pretty frequent trips to the restroom. My teacher bladder had gone out the window, making us curious if I was indeed pregnant. So we went into the bathroom and I did my thing with the stick. We walked out and waited. When we both went back into the bathroom to check, we were greeted with a plus sign! We never took photos of that positive sign, but we did make calls to relatives at that early hour. We also made a special book of sonogram photos of NHL as he grew from a little bean shape into the little guy who would be born.

At the end of August 2006, just before I was heading back to teaching, I had a feeling that I was pregnant. We had bought a kit of ovulation and pregnancy tests to use. One morning, I left the bed and went into the bathroom while TechyDad still slept. I did the test and hardly had to wait. Within seconds I saw the following:

Yes, I took a picture later on. I planned to use this picture to e-mail to family and friends to announce that we were expecting our second little one. I did and it was fun seeing/hearing/reading their reactions. After I saw the positive test, I ran into the bedroom and woke TechyDad up telling him he was going to be a Daddy again! Over the next nine months, we took photos of me pregnant and kept the sonogram photos of the little guy who looked like this once he arrived on the scene.

What did you keep, document, or take photos of when you were expecting? Did you take a photo of your pregnancy test, or dare I ask . . . do you still have it? Yes, I’m serious. Apparently, people keep their positive pregnancy tests as keepsakes. When Mom Central asked people to sign up to tell people about our Mommy Moments, I signed up because it sounded like fun. As my baby days are behind me, I still cherish that time in my life.

Mom Central also let me in on the pregnancy test keeping thing. I had never heard of this before (I’m naive I guess) and E.P.T. is making it easier for those that want to keep their pregnancy test memories for years to come.

Yes, if you go to the e.p.t.. website you can read about their keepsake case and products. Here is a little more information:

According to a recent survey commissioned by the makers of e.p.t. brand, the top three pregnancy keepsakes are ultrasound photos, items from the delivery day and at-home pregnancy tests. What’s more, 67% of expectant mothers saved their at-home pregnancy test – the first proof that they were pregnant – for reasons ranging from showing it to a partner to saving it as a poignant life-milestone keepsake. Now, e.p.t. offers women a commemorative Keepsake Case and scrapbook card to mark the life-changing occasion (available with a mail-in proof-of-purchase).

I guess I am in the minority since I never saved my test longer than to take a photo for later use. Am I sad about this? No, not really since I have the memories of those magical moments to last me along with my two beautiful little boys.

Disclosure: I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central on behalf of e.p.t. keepsake case. I received a keepsake case to facilitate my review (willing to donate to anyone interested) and will also be receiving a $20 gift card to JustGive.org for my participation. I look forward to donating this to a great charity close to my heart.

Categories:
Blog Tour interesting jsl looking back me moments nhl photos pregnancy

Commenting on comments

Posted on June 10, 2010 1:44 pm by TheAngelForever

Admit it, we all like to hear from people after we take the time to type up a post. Whether it is something the family did, a Wordless Wednesday, product review or giveaway, all items published are a labor of love to bloggers. I will admit that I have a TON of blogs in my Google Reader that I follow and I do not get to each of them to leave a comment. Lately, I have been trying my best to stop by and say something at least 1-2 times a week.

As you may have heard, Telling Dad has done another Song Parody. The last one was just after the BlogHer drama and was loved by everyone. This time around, he changed the lyrics from the song "Seven Things" by Miley Cyrus. The new song is called "Say the Things" and has fun video from many bloggers that you will recognize. Here is his fabulous creation:

Be sure to head over to Telling Dad to read the wonderful lyrics of the song and to thank him for this masterpiece. I look forward to more creations from him in the future. Remember, the real message here is that as much as you like people leaving you comments, you must also do the same in return. Happy commenting!