Why isn't life a musical?

Just saw Hairspray! I was once again reminded of how happy I am when I see a great musical! Chelsea and I had a girls evening. We went out to eat and then went to see a movie and even though Chelsea had seen Hairspray already, she told me she would happily see it again! Now I know why!!! LOVE IT!

So here is a list of some of my favorite muscials....

1. Les Miserables
2. Phantom of the Opera
3. Sound of Music
4. Hairspray
5. Grease
6. High School Musical--yes, I love this! I sing it all the time and on August 17th. I will be sitting in my living room watching High School Musical 2!

Oh saw a preview for the movie called "Becoming Jane". It is about Jane Austen!!! I love her novels!!!


I still need to see the current Harry Potter; Live Free, Die Hard; Bourne Ultimatum; and Ocean's 13. So many movies, so little time and money. But none of them will make me as happy as a good ole song and dance!

What are your favorite musicals?

Give me your best!

Ok, I have read two books this summer. I don't get time to read during the school year, so I soak it up during the summer. I started and finished book #2 today. So I need another book...preferably one I can find in the local library. So I need suggestions. I want to read something light, romantic, funny, a good mystery. Nothing sad, depressing or real life(unless it meets the qualifications of the above mentioned qualities). I am trying to escape for a while! I don't want to watch t.v. I don't want to read anything job/church related right now. I am burnt out.

So please please please give me your suggestions! I will add them to the post and hopefully others can enjoy them too! Now, I haven't read Harry Potter #5, 6 or 7 but I don't know that I really want to either....it doesn't matter, I know how each one ends anyway.

So here is my list so far--

1. "Before I wake", by Dee Henderson
2. "The fourth Traveling Pants book" by Ann Brashares

Suggestions
1. Confessions of a Shopoholic--Shayna
2. Secret Life of Bees and The Mermaid Chair--Tanya
3. "The Secret History of the Pink Carnation" and "The Masque of the Black Tulip" by Lauren Willig.--Jacque
4. "The Book of Jane" by May Vanderbilt and Anne Dayton.--jacque
5. "Legends" by Robert Littel--Mike
6. Life is So Good By Richard Glaubman,George Dawson --Dave

Some of my other favorites are Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers the story of Judah set in teh gold rush era. Also by her is the series of books about the 5 women in the lineage of Christ! LOVE them! They are quick reads! Happy reading! I am treating myself to a mani/pedi today but I am going to stop by the library first for a book!



WOW! Now I am excited to see what you all have to say!

finally the end of the trip....

when last we meet....we talked about san fran. So here's the rest of the story....

We headed for Kings Canyon/Sequoia National Park. Again--God must of had such fun with those GINORMOUS trees!!!









We got to drive thru the auto log. It is a giant sequoia tree that has fallen over and you can drive a mini van thru it! There are no words to describe how big these trees are!

We headed off for our final 2 days in Vegas. We were tired of being in the car, tired of walking, and it was freakin' hot!!! We saw a magic show! They were filming it and Brian, Lisa and I got to be a part of the show! We started to walk around Vegas but it was so hot and we were so tired that we jsut went back to hang out poolside at the hotel. Vegas is called sin city for a reason! We had to ahve all the boys walk with their hands in their pockets so they wouldn't be handed stripper cards and there were stipper cards all over the ground, so thye had to walk looking up! :) Everywhere you went you had to go thru a smoke filled casino. The lights, the smells, the sounds....it is sensory overload!

We ended our trip at the Bellagio hotel/casino (made infamous from Ocean's 11) they have a fountain show that runs every 15 min. The fountains move to the time of music. The song that we were there for was Lee Greenwood's "Proud to be an American". It was a PERFECT ending! Here we had seen some of the best that America has to offer and we were so proud to be American's. My friend Lisa and I sang loudly and with pride!



We were happy to fly home! We all had such an amazing time! The vacation was perfect!

not suitable for children?

Why you ask...well apparently for my use of death (8x) and hell (3x)....oh well! :)

Thanks Leann for the site!

I left my heart in San Francisco...

Well not really.....being in San Fran was an experience in itself. The reason why? It was beginning of Gay Pride weekend!!!! My kids have seen things that they have never seen before! If you know what I mean!!!
Before I continue on....

Here is the answer to the gas question.

Now we were blessed to be able to see the Golden Gate Bridge every day that we were there. San Fran is not a hot place....we all wore long pants and brought a jacket with us. The first night we ate in the restaurant called "John's Grill". That is the setting for the famous book/movie, The Maltese Falcon. I have to be honest...I have heard of it but never read it or seen the movie.

We went to Chinatown and down a sketchy alley to see 2 old Chinese women making fortune cookies! They charged us .50 to take their picture!!! We got some free fortune cookies.

The next day we went to Alcatraz and I have to tell you that was very cool! We took the audio tour and it was EXCELLENT!!! We met a real live ex-inmate. He wrote a book and he was signing the books! Too cool!!! It is about his life and how he got to Alcatraz and then how he gave his life over to God! He was missing fingers!!! eeekkk!




Anyone know what famous row of houses this is from....hint....major sitcom of the 90's on ABC on Friday nights....."Whatever happened to predictability? The milkman, the paper boy and evening t.v.?......"

We took a trolley car to Pier 39 and ate at the outdoor markets there. We saw the sealions of Pier 39. We drove down Lombard street...America's most narrow and crooked street! I have a picture on a cd but I can't get it to turn right side up.....
Then we headed to the Pacific ocean! Our kids had never seen, felt, or tasted the Pacific Ocean. It was the end of June and only 60 degrees that day! There was some wading into the ocean but no swimming! It was very windy too.....you don't swim in Northern California....too cold!!!

I don't know about you but I think I can sum up the last 2 destinations of our trip in one blog...so tomorrow is Sequoia and Las Vegas!

Happiness is Death Valley in your rear view mirror!

I am just kidding about the title of this blog. Death Valley has it's own beauty and wonder. One of the most fascinating things about this trip is that we have seen so much of God's imagination and creativity!

We have met people who are VASTLY different that us. I mean one girl we met in Death Valley, grew up in Utah (a.k.a. she is mormon) and left that life to come and live in Death Valley. There is a story there and if I was a bolder person, I would have asked her more questions. But she choose to leave and live in a trailer with her boyfriend in literally the middle of nowhere!!! People don't just do that for no reason!

For a group of Americans going to see America, we Americans were few and far between!!! LOTS of Asians and Europeans! But almost no Americans...weird huh?!

So we left Death Valley (below sea level) and headed to Yosemite (10k feet above sea level). Once we hit Tioga Pass and headed up....the view was well amazing doesn't do it justice. I just wanted to get out of the car and sing "I stand in Awe of you" or "Great is our God"....I was overcome with emtion at the beauty that this part of our country holds! Pictures don't even do this justice. If I haven't already said it, I will now....God must of had a GREAT time creating all of this! I don't know who could look on all of what we have seen and think that it happened by chance.

Once in Yosemite, we unpacked and ate good food. The next day we headed to the Merced River and rafted 3 miles down the river among THE most beautiful scenery, you have ever seen! The water was FRIGGED!!!! Seeing as that water comes off the snow pack...it was cold!!!!! We saw beautiful birds and HUGE fish! The water was crystal clear! After that we hiked to waterfalls. The kids had a BLAST hiking up the rocks to the waterfalls!!!

The Picture at the heading of the blog is a picture taken of the 4 of us in Yosemite, outside the Awahnee Hotel. It is a beautiful hotel...reminds me a lot of the main hotel building at Mountain Lake!
Yosemite is the home of the famous El Capitan and Half Dome! They are just ONE GIGUNTA rock formation! There was this group of elderly people who were hiking to the top of half dome! Yeah we all felt like fat slobs when we heard that! Lisa got to see a bear eating behind a tree. Other than that we saw no real wild life BUT in all the "dons jons" in the park there are warning signs that the area is bear habitat and to be careful! We never saw a bear.

At this point we are 1/2 way thru with our trip! We have San Fran, Sequoia and Vegas to go!

Day 3--Hit the Road Jack

After our day of fun in the Grand Canyon, we got up early and headed to the golden archs for a quick breakfast. We had a long day of car riding ahead of us! We were quite shocked to see that our breakfast cost us $45!!! That is until we saw the sign that said "Our prices are high due to the fact that we pay for the housing and utilities for our employees". I guess good help is hard to get in the middle of nowhere! So they bribe them with a paid apt. and utilities!

We were on our way to Death Valley!As we got close, the temperature started arisin'!

We got out at the scenic spots to see the beauty that is the desert! It was so hot that the moisture was being sucked otu of you and your skin started to immediately peel! It was very windy but it was a very hot wind! We all had water bottles in coolers with ice but they were HOT within just a few minutes!

We entered the National Park and headed for Badwater--it is 282 feet BELOW sea level! It is also the hottest place in the USA.
Yes, my fellow bloggers, that says 122! We couldn't keep up iwth the temp gauge and it did read 124 for a few minutes! One of our party asked if we were in hell and Jay said "No but you can see it from here!" We, the parents, thought we would take the moment for an object lesson and talk ot the kids about hell...."If you think this is hot, then make sure you have your life right with God...." Just kidding! But it would have made a GREAT object lesson!!!
This is the sign they have on the side of the mountain at the lowest point in America, to show you were sea level actual is!

After our few hours of driving around Death Valley, we headed to our "resort". Panamint Springs Resort to be exact. Let me just say that I don't what we were thinking because this place was an hour and 1/2 from ANY town!!! It was 10 tiny shacks with a bigger shack in the front that was the office and restaurant! They didn't have a/c, instead they had swamp coolers!!! That doesn't really count as any kind of coolant! There were road runners all over the place....and bats! When Alex sat on the bed...it touched the floor!!! We had a window in the bathroom with no curtain over it! Yes it was a see-thru window! But I don't knokw what I was worried about....I mean the trailers that the owners lived in was right behind our window! They only get mail like once a month!!! There is NO mail service there... they have to go into town! And no, there was no t.v., no clock, no phone...I mean who needs that stuff when you are in HELL!!!

I do have to say that they people and the food were GREAT! They really were! But we were so glad that we were staying only one night!!! The only gas station for another hour and 1/2 was right next door....guess how much the gas was....anyone care to guess?!! I will let you know the answer tomorrow!