Thursday, May 28, 2009

Fabulous Friday and Then Some...

Fabulous Summer TV Shows!
If you want to join, click the above button and leave a comment.

I haven't been following very many TV shows recently, just don't have the time. But I did start watching...

Little People*, Just Married* on TLC*
I love the interaction between the two and the fact that she's a doctor! Just blows my mind.


Wipeout* on ABC*
This show aired on Tuesday nights last summer, our Weight* Watcher* meeting night. All of us that did Weight Watchers would gather around and watch this and just die laughing. It was a good distraction from snacking and what not.


The Baby Borrowers* on NBC*
I thought this was going to be a corny show, teens trying to be parents... It turned out to be very interesting. Some teens made it, some didn't. Goes to show you that teens now days aren't always fit to be parents.


Jon* & Kate Plus* 8 on TLC*

I will always love this show. No matter the mess that is surrounding it. I even own it on DVD! Yes, I do. I told someone that last night and they laughed and said, "Are you serious?". I would DVR it every Monday at 6PM. Come home from work, get some dinner together and watch it. This show was my Monday evening relaxer. I hope they work things out...

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My sister's bridal shower was May 15th, the theme was Costa Rican since this is where she is going on her honeymoon. The bridesmaids and our church ladies joined in the efforts and let me just say it got wild. But so much fun!

I got her this... of course the full picture wouldn't be on here... ;)



The following night we had a girls night. Just the Bride and Bridesmaids. We went to the Spaghetti Factory in Newport since we are all on a budget with having to pay for the party the night before AND our tickets to the wedding. The food was delish and I didn't take pictures with my good camera, so nothing to show for it if you don't count the extra pound hanging around my behind.

We went back home and had another spread. Another spread. My cousin made virgin margaritas since most of us don't drink. So yummy!
All in all it was a crazyfun night with some wild stunts and extra crazy gifts for the bride-to-be.

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Memorial weekend was a busy one. Emotional and tiring, but Memorial Day turned out to be oh so nice! We went to our local fair for some good food, BBQ'd shish kabobs and corn and swam. The day had to be the most perfect weather of the year.

I did take one little thing to bed with me that night...

This is me and my sunburn. Darn thing.

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Just Topics!

Happy Belated Memorial Day! I love Memorial Day and Labor Day. For some reason I look forward to having a Monday off... maybe I need a new job? Oh boy.

Life
My sister left on Saturday. Boohoo. I felt like my world fell apart on Saturday night. It snuck up on me and I wasn't prepared for the gut wrenching feelings of seeing her room empty and her things gone. All my life she's been there; being eight years older, she is like a second mom and my dearest friend, but now everything has changed. I'm sure it's for the better... just waiting for the "better" to reveal itself, which , of course, I know it will. But, today I am doing better. Much better.

Church
On Sunday we had our first service in our new building! If you've followed my blog for a while you'll remember that this has been a long journey... but it's over! Our building is in the heart of Southern California and it's an empty shell that is be worked on practically every minute of every day. So exciting to see it unfold.

Money
I am having my first yard sale this weekend. Very first. I have to buy a plane ticket for my sister's wedding. An expensive plane ticket. So, I am gathering everything for my first yard sale... hopefully it goes well because if it doesn't I may be hitchhiking my way across America.

Books
I am itching to read a good book! I'm even going so far as thinking, thinking, of reading a friends copy of the teeny bob book - Twi*light. Yep. I said it and I may just do it. I want to see what all the fuss is about. How can teens be so swept away with a love story that even mom's are gushing about?

Reality
You all know that I am a huge fan of the Goss*elins... I was so upset to hear the junk that's been said the past few months. I know it's TV and media, and I know I don't know them from Adam, but I really do enjoy, or enjoyed, watching this show. I loved the kids and the interaction between Ka*te, Jo*n and the kids. But it looks like it's all over. I am sad and wondering if I'll bother watching the rest of the season. Looks like it's going to be a tabloid mess.

Pictures
Last but not least, my camera is bulging with pictures that need to be uploaded. I have so many pictures to share from my weekend, bridal shower, and a new puppy (not mine)! So be on the lookout.

Friday, May 22, 2009

Fabulous Friday - Sunglasses



It's Fabulous Friday again!

This Friday is about Fabulous Sunglasses. I love sunglasses and used to buy them when I didn't need a new pair, I'd break em' or lose em' and re-buy em'. Complete waste of money. I found out my vision was not 20/20 a few years back and I was in fact looking at a blurry world, I wasn't aware of this until I put on a pair of glasses and realized that the lights and trees and everything around me wasn't supposed to be blurry. So that ended my sunglasses shopping. I bought one pair of prescription sunglasses at the same time of my regular glasses. They were practical and plain ol' ugly. They fell apart a couple of days ago... guess what that means? New glasses! Cute ones. I've been looking around and I. Love. these!


Dolce* & *Gabbana prescription sunglasses. They would go perfect with my face shape and I prefer brown over black or any other color.


This Bur*berry style was my first choice when I went into the store, but I'm not too sure now...

Join in Fabulous Friday by clicking on the button above!

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Changes

I've had a really interesting past two weeks. We did my sister's bridal shower on Friday night, Girls night out on Saturday night and her last service at church on Sunday. A little overwhelming for my heart. Everyday I think, "This is my sister's last Saturday night here", "This is our last time going to church together"... so many changes about to take place. I won't even try to fake it and say, "I'm fine". I've been a wreck. A big bawling baby. How else should I feel? My best friend and the closest person to me is moving 2000 thousand miles away. Being a creature of habit, I feel horrible and a little lost.
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Any change, even a change for the better, is always accompanied by drawbacks and discomforts.
- Arnold Bennett
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My standard answer to, "Oh, poor Deborah. What are you going to do?" is "I'll survive". I smile and walk away as quickly as possible. The second thing I've heard, "So Deborah, you're next". I'm next? My answer to them is, "No. Don't want to be." I smile and walk away again while they look shocked. =)

If you were a fly on the wall with my sister and I you would find us arguing and fighting 85% of the time and laughing and carrying on the rest of the time. That's what sisters do. You'd think I'd want the separation but that's not the case.

If it were up to me, I'd tie her down or find a way to give her the biggest guilt trip. lol But I can't find a way and I know that neither of those would work in the end because life goes on. I can't stop it and to tell you the truth, life would be miserable if it listened to me. ;)
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God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change...
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So, there you have it. A little insight into my dealings with changes. Get ready because I can guarantee this will be harder next week and I'll probably use you as a soundboard! Whether you like it or not... ;)

Saturday, May 16, 2009

And The Book Goes Toooooo...

Bookwurm 70 (Gail)!!!
Gail can pick any one of Julie Lessman's 3 spectacular books!

Congratulations!

Thursday, May 07, 2009

Interview with Julie Lessman - Author of A Passion Denied

One of my favorite post of times past is the interview with Julie Lessman for A Passion Most Pure. I couldn't help but ask her to do another interview after I posted my review for the blog tour.

She is without a doubt one of the best authors on the scene today. Her writing exceeds all my expectations and she thinks like I would... Could a book be better than that?

Julie Lessman's Bio

Julie Lessman is a new author who has garnered much writing acclaim, including ten Romance Writers of America awards. She resides in Missouri with her husband and their golden retriever, and has two grown children and a daughter-in-law. She is the author of The Daughters of Boston series, which includes A Passion Most Pure, A Passion Redeemed, and A Passion Denied. You can contact Julie through her website at http://www.julielessman.com/.

Julie, I always love having you here on the Daily Bee, such a treat. I think I've gushed to everyone that hasn't read your book and just about pushed it into their hands. There really is no one else with your writing style. You write so passionately about love and family, what was your family like growing up?
Gosh, Deb, in all the over 60 blog interviews I’ve done, no one has EVER asked me that question, which kind of shocks me. Way to put your finger on the pulse of an author, girl! First of all, thank you for your kind words about my writing style – that blesses me to no end. Secondly, you would think given how I write so passionately about love and family that I had lots of good experiences with both in my past, but unfortunately, the reverse is true … at least growing up.
I was #12 in a very dysfunctional family of 13 kids (3 brothers, 10 sisters … talk about PMS gone wild!) where depression, suicide, physical/mental abuse and mental illness were rampant. I was a really skinny drama queen that my brothers and sisters loved to tease. They used to call me “walking nervous breakdown” because frankly, I was a hoot to watch if they ticked me off. Like the time they picked on me and I ran outside and knelt in the snow, praying God would send them all to hell. Uh … see what I mean? I was not close to any of my family except my baby sister, Kate, who used to ask me to read my first novel to her over and over (written at the age of 12 after reading Gone With the Wind, which, incidentally, is the same novel that became my debut novel, A Passion Most Pure forty years later!). Once I gave it to my mom to read, but she gave it back to me the next day and said she couldn’t get past the first page because it was so “dry.”

Needless to say, my family growing up was NOT the O’Connors. BUT … the good news is that at the age of 23, Jesus Christ transformed me from a hard, Bible-burning, caustic agnostic into a woman who lived and breathed for God, channeling all that ridiculous drama into total passion for HIM! And because my life changed on a dime when I applied His precepts, He not only restored my relationships with my father before he died and my sisters and brothers, but He also blessed me with a man who makes me feel as if I am living in my own personal romance novel. And the icing on the cake is that He has given me an incredible family as well, with an amazing daughter, son and daughter-in-law who are as passionate about God as I am. So, YES, I can finally say in all honesty that my wonderful family and I ARE the O’Connors … uh, with a little less drama!

I knew there had to be something behind the O'Connors and not just a good imagination.
..
In a Passion Denied, which character can you best relate to and why?
Well, you did it again – asked a wonderful question that allows me to talk about one of my favorite things about book 3 – the parent’s story, Marcy and Patrick. Every time I read their scenes, I sob my eyes out because I have been there. As inferred, Marcy and Patrick’s relationship is based on mine and my husband’s, which is tender, affectionate and communicative most of the time. But, there was this one particular moment in our marriage when I said something to my husband that wounded him to the core. So much so, that he literally shut himself off from me for days, as if his love had completely died. Suddenly I went from being a woman so secure in this man’s love that it was as natural as breathing, to having that love totally withdrawn as if a glass partition had separated us. The absence of his love jolted me so badly, that it was a physical ache and I thought I was going to die. We eventually talked it out and resolved it through my repentance and sorrow, but I will never forget how that feels to lose the love and respect of someone you cherish. Which is exactly how Marcy feels in the book, although she didn’t deserve it … but I did!

Reading about Marcy and Patrick really made me think about the price of Grace. To be so hurt and broken, yet be able to forgive and move forward. It's a priceless gift.
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I figure you could have picked Brady to have any "hang up", why this one?
Mmm … three for three today, Deb. You are asking the good questions! Ironically, Brady’s “hang-up” was not the original problem I had in mind. You see, John Brady was such a godly Billy Graham-type character that I strongly felt I needed to give him an equally bad past. So I had things like pornography and child molestation with his step-sister (which never really happened, mind you, but he was accused of it nonetheless), but my editor said those subjects were way too dark for an Inspirational novel. So even though I felt that the sister connection was something I needed in order to explain why Brady could not “love” Lizzie (the girl he saw as a “sister” despite his attraction to her), my editor asked me to revise it. And in hindsight, I now see that my publisher was right, and the story is not near as heavy and dark as it was before I made those changes.

Molestation and Pornography are deep real issues that a man like Brady could possibly have in his past. That is one thing I've noticed in the Christian Fiction world lately, as new authors come on the scene, it seems that real issues are being written about and not covered up like they used to. My life is far from perfect, why would I want to read about a perfect life that is unattainable? I thought you covered that part of Brady's life well.
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Were you ever unsure about putting "real" things in the book? For instance the issue with Patrick and Marcy or the very real indiscretions of Brady's past?
No, never, because it’s “real” things that teach us the biggest lessons in life, ESPECIALLY when God is involved. One of my favorite scenes in the book is when Brady feels his past is unforgivable and Father Mac tells him that he knew a man who not only committed adultery, but murdered his lover’s husband. And yet, Father Mac says, this man is the only man God calls a man after his own heart. YES!! Three cheers for King David – a man of God who gives fallible people like me great hope. Because I have had more than my fair share of “real things” and dark failures in my life, and it thrills me to no end that God loves me and forgives me despite them all.
I asked this because I wondered what was going through your mind as you were writing about Brady's past... what would the readers think. Too much, too harsh or would they be drawn to it and see themselves mirrored in the pages of your novel.
...

Brady was a mentor and inspiration to many. Who inspires you?
Right off the top of my head, I would have to say King David in the Bible for the very reason mentioned above and more. David was a man who loved God with such abandon that he didn’t give a rip if he made a fool of himself doing it. King David had an emotional relationship with God that was as deep as any father-son relationship I know. He worshipped God with everything in him and loved Him deeply, and was always grief-stricken when he sinned against Him. That’s what I want to be like – a real, down-to-earth, feet-of-clay woman who loves God with every fiber of my being and every word that I write. A woman after God’s own heart – oh, God, let it be so!
I really cannot think of a better example of Grace than King David. He was a murderer, a liar, deceiver, adulterer... and so much more, yet he knew he was all these things and a man so unworthy. He also knew the most important thing of all - Who to run to. What is man, that thou art mindful of him? Psalm 8:4
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Thank you, Julie, for joining me today. It was a pleasure seeing a different look at you, as a person and author.

Leave a comment between May 7th and May 14th for a chance to win a free copy of A Passion Most Pure, A Passion Redeemed or A Passion Denied from Julie Lessman.


A Winner will be posted on May 15th - Luck of the Irish to you!

Monday, May 04, 2009

Showers and Farms

Is this weekend really Mother's Day weekend? It came way to fast. I haven't prepared anything for my mom or the mothers in my life. I feel like time is slipping by so fast. Wouldn't it be nice to have a pause button on the clock of life. Maybe 5 uses out of a lifetime. I'd use one this year, for sure. I'm trying to think of an inexpensive gift for the Mom... any ideas?

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I bought and printed my sister's Bridal Shower invitations last week. They cost too much but I couldn't pass them by. There's this store by the Newport bay that sells fine invitations for you to print or have printed. I chose the "have printed" since I don't pick my money off trees, which is what they must think the amount they charge.

Here is what I sent out.

The night after the shower will be the "Girls Night Out". Just the bride and bridesmaids. I am looking forward to this... Since it's just family (My sister, cousin, sister-in-law and unofficial someday-t0-be sister-in-law) we can get pretty crazy. Girls will be girls...

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Among all the parties, are house is in a little bit of a disarray with my sister moving. She is selling things she's held onto for 30 some-odd years and packing her stuff up. One good thing... I get to keep clothes she can't fit into her suitcases. ;)

A little over two weeks and she'll be gone.

I've made plans for after she leaves to keep me pretty busy until the wedding in July.. hopefully they will work as a distraction...

::

I have an addiction. Seriously. It consist of farming. Pigs. Cows. Trees. Seeds. And other farmers. Oh boy.

I don't normally play games online, I would rather be reading or watching a movie, but this one has pulled me in. It's called Farm Town and can be found on Facebook. It's completely addicting.

You know your addicted when you experience the following...
#1 You wake up at night talking in your sleep about fields around you ready to harvest ( and no... this wasn't a spiritual dream lol).
#2 You're singing and worshiping in church, on the platform mind you, thinking about God and then you're reminded that you need to hire farmers to harvest your fields tomorrow... oh my.

Do you see why it's a problem?

My name is Deb and I'm a faux farmer.

Friday, May 01, 2009

Fabulous Friday - Candy

Danielle at That's Just Fabulous is starting a new Friday themed post...


I signed up to join and let you all in on my choice for FABULOUS CANDY. Okay so truth be told, I am not a big candy person. I prefer chocolate. BUT there is one candy that I just can't help but eat.
As a little girl, I used to eat these like crazy while my lips and tounge turned red and I begged for water. As a young teenager, I would rub the candy on my lips to make them turn red; the things you resort to when you have pale lips and can't wear lipstick! Beyond all that, they tasted so good.

If you want to join in this Fabulous Candy Friday, click on the button above.