BC #4: My Favorites On My iPod

**Let me first start by saying that I am liking this Blog Challenge thing a lot more than I thought I would. I like how there are several people partaking in this challenge now and yet we all find our own unique way to talk on a subject. I like reading the other people's blogs so much that I decided to add all the other blogs (I am aware of) doing this challenge to the side bar of my blog. It just got kinda hard to sort through what-not to get their links. Maybe they'll stay forever, maybe it will be just for the duration of this challenge. But they're there, and I thought I should address that for whatever reason.**

Some time ago (like the first year I blogged, I believe), I did a post about how embarrassed I was when someone picked up my iPod and looked at my "Top 25 Most Played." I remember Ace of Base made the list, TWICE. I can't remember what other embarrassing music made the list and I tried my hardest to find that post but it must be hidden in some other post randomly.

But the point is, I have tried since that day to improve the quality of music I listen to because A) that's embarrassing and B) there is good music out there that will blow away Ace of Base.

(Though, I am kinda feeling at this moment that I want to bring back Ace of Base, I mean, it's a classic, right?)

So I've worked hard for two years (I believe) and I have made great strides. Now, some songs I am not proud of, they are just DAMN GOOD to work out to. I am going to put an asterisk before those songs, so you can tell the difference. :)

So here you go, whether you wanted the whole thing or not (and the number of plays of each), my CURRENT, no fibbing about it, Top 25 Most Played List:

1. Colors- April Smith and the Great Picture Show (129 plays- yowser, that's a lot! I would place a bet most of you have never even heard this song- but I LOVE it!)

2. Slow Show- The National (89 plays)

3. Animal- Neon Trees (89 plays)

*4. Swing- Savage & Soulja Boy (89 plays)

5. Sleepyhead- Passion Pit (88 plays)

6. Little Secrets- Passion Pit (87 plays)

7. Fake Empire- The National (86 plays)

8. Shoot 'Em Down- Ghostland Observatory (81 plays)

9. Poker Face- Lady GaGa (81 plays)

10. Heads Will Roll- Yeah Yeah Yeahs (81 plays)

*11. Cyclone- Baby Bash (80 plays)

12. Time to Pretend- MGMT (79 plays)

*13. Party in the USA- Miley Cyrus (79 plays)

14. Bloodbuzz Ohio- The National (79 plays)

15. Hold It In- Jukebox the Ghost (78 plays)

16. Maps- Yeah Yeah Yeahs (78 plays)

17. Cause A Scene- Ghostland Observatory (77 plays)

*18. See You Again- Miley Cyrus (76 plays)

19. Kids- MGMT (75 plays)

20. Little Lion Man- Mumford and Sons (75 plays)

21. Lisztomania- Phoenix (75 plays)

22. Boston- Augustana (73 plays)

23. Home- Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros (69 plays)

*24. Don't Trust Me- 3OH!3 (65 plays)

25. Empire- Jukebox the Ghost (63 plays)

BC #3: My Favorite Things & My Giveaway

(If I may begin with a side note, this is my THIRD time to type and try to post this! I can assure you this was going to be on time last night had blogspot decided to play nice.)

In preparation of today's favorite things, I watched an Oprah re-run today. I haven't watched Oprah all summer, but I did today solely for blog research.

Well, after all of five seconds of watching the show I was crying over some guy proposing to some girl on the show... not exactly what I hoped to gain from the experience.

But I did gain the want to giveaway something after watching the show... but we'll get to that later.

Here's my favorite things:

1. Scentsy- I neither sell nor want to sell the product (nor need someone to sell me it, I have my "dealer" and two back-ups already). So have no fear, there is no alternative motives here. But I LOVE the product! I love that I can enjoy one scent for five minutes or five weeks and not have to spend a fortune on the next scent. And, don't judge, but I may have stocked up for the summer and have this ridiculous stash of scents because I was fearful that I would have a break-down if I didn't have enough scents this summer.

2. P90X- My sister-in-law, Jennifer, got me hooked on this. She has it (is looking great!), I tried it, and now I own it too. As long as you aren't asking my opinion on it the very moment I am doing it, I love it! While I am doing it, I might be cursing it's existence. But no pain, no gain, right?!?

3. Saga of a Texas Ranger- This is a book written by a teacher at my school, Jeffrey Robenalt. If that wasn't the case, I doubt I would have ever picked it up (just not my type of book). But I love it regardless of knowing the author or the subject matter! He takes true Texas events experienced by Texas Rangers (starting with the Great Comanche Raid) and just made a fictional character and a story (and a love story) around those events. My grades in Texas History in middle school and college would have been much different had I had books like this to read about them! I am not done with this book (yet), and it's a saga, so it's only the first one of four (the second is going to be released sometime this summer). But I like what I am reading so far!

(Oh... and it's available on amazon.com, in hardback or for your Kindle, in case you are interested.)

(Oh, OH... and I am not making a cent or any sort-of gain from mentioning this, much like scentsy, I just like them THAT much.)

4. Tito's Vodka and Topo Chico- I've mentioned these before on my blog. But it's seriously the best drink ever, everyone I introduce it to LOVES it. Topo Chico is just a mineral water that is imported from Mexico, I can find it at a lot of places, but the "twist of lime" version is hard to come by consistently. Tito's is made in Austin and frequently wins awards for how good it is (says the label they've placed on thebottle, which means it must be the best, haha).

5. My Jam- I seriously love my jam! And either my best friend, brother, sister-in-law, roommate, her boyfriend, and her mom are all lying to me- or this is some good jam!!! I have eaten it everyday I've been home since I've made it, and I am not tired of it yet!

Which brings me to the giveaway... MY JAM!!!

Next Thursday morning... I am either going to give away the jar pictured above (which may not happen because those don't last long around here) or you will get the newest jar off the production line. AND, you will get your choice of with Chia Seeds or without (and if you are confused here, read my BC #1).

I know this isn't some fancy product that is manufactured and sold at a reputable website or store. SOOOOO.... I am not going to make it very hard. All you have to do is make a comment on this post about how you want to try "Jenny's Jam."

AND... because I have now typed this blog entry THREE TIMES and have come up with a new idea, I have a bonus entry into the drawing, if you are so inclined. Give a fact about the television show where the lady makes jam as her "plan" to get over her ex-boyfriend. No piggy backing here- I realize one person is going to get the name of the television show and then everyone else could copy, BUT NO! After that has been taken, tell me something else that happens during that particular episode (names of people doing things, plot points, etc.) correctly and first, and I will enter you in the drawing twice. BUT, no more than TWICE, so don't just recite the whole episode in hopes of more entries.

(Though, I know I am WAY over thinking people's excitement for my jam to think that anyone would go that far to further their chances to win the jam.)

(OH... and no need to point out the fact that once a few things are pointed out about the episode, that google could take care of the rest. If someone cares that badly for the jam to go that far, then I WANT them to have two entries into the jam drawing.)

So now you've got the "plan," now go request some JAM!!!

BC #2: Spill the Purse

Today I floated the San Marcos river with work friends. And honestly, I didn't think I'd be able to pump out this blog post today. But it's amazing what a nap will do for you.

And no, I do not take naps everyday.

And no, I did not come up with a new idea during this nap to top making jam.

Anyways, back to the point of this particular blog: What's in my purse. First things first, this is my current purse:

I got it at Target this past winter. I love it because it has all the right dividers and pockets that I need to keep things organized. I would LOVE to have a Coach purse, but the price is rarely right and the pockets and/or size is always wrong.

Now to the inside of the purse.

If I had to put a theme on my purse, I'd call it "Double Vision." I will explain, here it all is broken down:

• Sunglasses- For obvious reasons.
• iPhone- Also, don't feel I need to explain.
• iPod- Which is the first of many repetitive items in my purse, because I could just use the iPod that is on my iPhone. But for some reason I carry both, maybe for the extra weight?
• Camera- Which I couldn't really picture because I used it to take this picture, but I kept it's place with it's case, just in case you questioned it still.
• Flip Camera- Which seems REALLY repetitive considering my camera doubles as a video camera. But it's not as good quality, and you just never know when you are grocery shopping and might need to take a video of high quality...
• Two Watches- One is a Garmin for running, the other is decorative for wearing. Even though I don't ever wear it. But I like knowing that I could wear a watch if I wanted to. You just never know when you might be out and about and suddenly get sick of checking your phone for the um-teenth time and would like to throw the watch on instead, right?
• Locker Lock- For the gym, if I don't keep it in my purse, it won't make it to the gym. Simple as that.
• Pedometer- Last fall my school had a challenge over how much you could walk/run within a certain period of time. It ended in March, I just now realized that was still in my purse and that I didn't return it to the school. More less, actually wear it to take part in the challenge. Oopsie.
• THREE Chap Sticks- I literally might have a panic attack if I don't have my chap stick when I need it. So it's okay to have a back-up. And a back-up to the back-up.
• Two Wallets- This probably is the craziest things in my wallet. But I can't fit everything into one wallet so I've categorized the things in each wallet as things I use a lot and things I use a little. The stuff I use a only a little is in the ultra-secret pocket located in the exact center of my purse (hence, not SO secret). And sometimes if I am going out or somewhere slightly shady I will remove the "non-essential" wallet (and camera's, watches, iPods, and other repetitive things). I also feel that if someone ever runs away with the one wallet that I will have the other to get me by. If they just steal the whole purse, I am screwed. (Unless I pre-judged the shady-ness of the place, but now I feel I am just going in circles with this whole two wallet explanation thing.)
• Lipstick and Compact- Just for touch-ups.
• Two pens and a highlighter- The highlighter is for balancing my check book, because I have OCD tendencies about that. I could probably leave it at home, but for some reason I feel that at the same moment I need that video camera and that watch on that I will also need to balance my checkbook. You just never know...
• Keys - Duh.
• Portable Hairbrush with Mirror- It actually broke in half so now I have a two separate pieces, both still usable in their own ways. But I never realized that I already had a mirror in my purse in the compact, so I went ahead and threw that second one away. But kept the brush, cause that's just handy to have around.
• Sunscreen- That was just in there because I floated the river today. And had I had taken it out of my purse and floated the river with it, it would have been a WHOLE LOT more useful at preventing these lobster arms I am now sporting.
• Glucose Tablets- Not because I am a diabetic or anything. But I quite frequently get so hungry I get shaky and these will hold you over until you can get some real food. They are cheap and they don't ruin like most other foods I've tried carrying in my purse to help with this problem. I highly recommend them if anyone else out there experiences the same issues!
• A Receipt from Discount Tire- I recently (and by recently, I mean like two months ago) got three new tires (random number, I know) and I keep meaning to just leave that receipt in the car but I can never remember to actually leave it there. I am just hoping I can remember to do it before the receipt because illegible...
• Bag of Crackers- This is also because of the river float today. I brought them in case I needed a snack. Would have been more helpful if they weren't sitting in my purse in the car with the sunscreen, but I can't be responsible for remembering EVERYTHING to bring on the river.

And that's my purse, and all it's repetitive components. :)

BC #1: Behind the Blog

So, day one of the blog challenge:

Today's topic is things people don't know about me.

I am sure there are a million things people don't know about me. But after this weekend it became a must that I just post about this one thing some of you still don't know about me.

See, what happened was, day one of the summer I took a nap (ambitious, I know). And since I don't have cable, and television on regular TV on Saturdays sucks, I was watching PBS. I'm not positive about what was playing on PBS at the time, but I am pretty sure it had to do with jam making. Cause I woke up knowing A LOT about making jam. And I was dying to try making it myself.

So I googled it and found out everything I needed to know, but didn't already, about it. I am not going to bore you with all the details about making jam, there's already plenty of blog posts out there on the subject.

Oh, Oh, OH... I should interject here that I KNOW jam making sounds like I am around the age of 80 years-old. That's why we got a big kick out of talking about it this weekend. I wish I could have recorded some of those conversations of people laughing with me about my jam making, but I sadly didn't.

But here's a photo journey of my jam making.

First, the ingredients. The main thing is I use honey instead of sugar, but you can see for yourself what else goes in:

Sanitizing the jars:

Mashing the fruit:

Mashed fruit:

This is a lot of honey!!!

Cooking the jam:

Here's something I've been experimenting with, chia seeds. If your immediate thought is this, then you are on the right path:

Because they are the same seeds! Apparently, lately people have found that those seeds are super healthy, and you can read all about that here. But I added them to one of the jars in this last round, and I still really liked the jam! So maybe I'm onto something here...

The jarring process:

The mess it turns your kitchen into, yikes:

And here's the finished product, yum!!!

Okay, now I shared something you didn't know about me, no making fun, haha!

Blog Challenge Introduction

So I have never done anything like this and I'm not sure how this is going to go...

But somewhere between Chelsea and I sitting on the couch and forgetting decorations to the party I was talked into doing this blog challenge.

Chelsea was already doing this with a work friend, so now I am just kinda piggy backing off of them. I question my ability to write on some of the topics, but it is called a challenge for a reason. :)

Anyways, you should probably meet Chelsea.

Here's her blog.

I met Chelsea back in college. We were in the same sorority and roommates here and there all throughout the experience. We keep in touch regularly, especially over the summer since we are both teachers. Last summer we took a road trip to Omaha to visit her sister-in-law Andrea and her husband, Chris. This summer we are going to take a trip to Georgia to visit my mom. Chelsea and I just always end up having so much fun together. Every time I am with her I end up laughing so hard. She just cracks me up, and somehow, when we pair up, we find something funny in EVERYTHING.

Her blog is really funny too. I am jealous over how well she writes. I really think she should write a book one day, especially in conjunction with me. :)

Anyhow, that's what is going to be happening with my blog for the next few weeks, just so you know...

A Party Filled Weekend

Somehow I managed to go to three parties in three different cities this past weekend.

And, completely related to that, I managed to sleep for a full 12 hours last night.

And I may have some more napping to do today.

But before that happens, here's the (much abbreviated) details on the weekend.

Friday: 30th Birthday Party for a girl I went to high school with in Dallas.

Okay, so I actually haven't seen or talked to the Birthday girl, Brooke, since she graduated high school 12 years ago. So the reason I ended up at her Birthday party is the fact that the party was being held at another friend, Monica (that I have kept up with), from high school's house. I knew I was going to be in town that weekend and wanted to hang out with her. She suggested I just come to this party to hang out with her and everyone else.

But we had a great time at the Birthday party. They cooked some amazing barbecue and all the fixin's. We kinda went beyond the pre-determined end time of the party, midnight, by three hours. Which was fine by me, but probably didn't feel so good to Monica and her husband who left at 8am to drive all the way to Abilene. OUCH.

Saturday: Natalie's surprise Birthday Party in Fort Worth.

First, I went to Chelsea's where we did what we do best, nothing. I mean, we act like we're going to do a lot and be productive every time we get together. But really, we just spend money while wondering around town and then end up on the couch watching TV.

Then we headed to Natalie's surprise party where we were in charge of bringing the decorations that we spent half the day wondering around town getting.

Only, we didn't actually bring the decorations to the party.

Seriously, Chelsea and I are both teachers out for the summer. We have nothing other people expect us to accomplish during the months of June and July,

except bring decorations to a surprise party.

And yet, we didn't.

Luckily, Chelsea has a husband that is awesome and he went back to their house and got the decorations for us. WHEW.

But the surprise party went wonderfully! They had it at Chimy's in Fort Worth. Here she is walking in:

The party was great, I don't think I have laughed as hard

as I did at the party in a long time! Here's some pictures I stole from Chelsea:

After the party we went to 8.0's, I took about a billion of the same pictures, so I whittled it down to just these few:

Sunday: Going away party for Emily R. in Austin.

(And sorry Emily, this is the best picture I could find of you after about an hour of searching. She's the one singing on the left, fyi.)

First, I had to drive to Austin which was not very fun with the hangover I had. But I made it.

We went to the Draught House, which is a pretty cool place that makes you feel like you've walked straight into a pub in England.

(Not that I've ever been to a pub in England, but it's what I imagine it would be like.)

Emily R. I have written about a few times, we met over two years ago when we were put on the same kickball team, the Bad News Brews. But now she is leaving for Egypt.

And no, that was not a typo.

Yes, Egypt. I can't believe it myself.

But she had several of her friends come and go to the bar. I somehow managed to drink a couple of beers. We all had a great time.

Afterwards, we went to dinner at a place called Mandola's Italian Market. One of the guys with us was from Italy, and it was really funny when everyone started throwing out ideas of what to eat when the Italian said he didn't want to be stereotypical, but he wanted pizza.

Apparently, he's tried many Italian restaurants around town and this is one of only a few that got his stamp of approval. And I can see why, it was amazing food! I am definitely going to return to that place especially since I now know there's one closer to my house.

But I said goodbye to Emily. Out of no where, I cried as we said our good-byes. I had no idea I was going to cry about it, until it happened. It may have had a small thing to do with my lack of sleep. But mostly I think it has to do with the fact that I have a friend moving to a very far away place that I am unlikely to visit. She's a good friend that I can always count on and I am going to miss hanging out with her. She promised she'd be back to visit us, we'd keep in touch through blogs, email and facebook and we promised each other we would be at each others weddings... one day.

After that, well, I think I mentioned somewhere in there how tired I was after all of that. :)

Bats!!!

Well this explains why I haven't had a mosquito bite at home in years!

A few nights ago I went out on my porch and was surprised to see a swarm of bats flying over! I mean, I am no bat expert, but I am pretty sure when it's dusk and you see swarms of something flying over and you hear their high-pitched squeaking, their bats. The fact that I live in Austin where bats live, also makes it very likely that I saw correctly.

If you watch this video, you will hear a bird from the beginning and all throughout the video, but when you see the bats the closest, then you can hear their sounds, which to me sounds like squeaky breaks. I am not sure where they are coming from, but I doubt they fly all the way from Congress bridge (where they are known to live) all the way here still in a group like that. What I think is more possible is they live under the bridge on I-35 that is just beyond the tree line, where you see the highway in the video. But this is just my hunch...

The Babysitter's Club- San Antonio Edition

After it became apparent some time ago that my normal summer job of working at a doctor's office was not going to be an option this summer, I began seeking other options. See, I only had that job because a certain friend of mine was married to a certain doctor's son. And you should further see, that said friend divorced that particulars doctors son in the last year. So, "so said job" became obsolete for me.

I should insert a note here, I do honestly believe that the said doctor's office was too overstaffed for me this summer. But, either way, the fact remains, what to do for extra work this summer?

So that's where early childhood reading comes to the rescue: THE BABYSITTERS

CLUB.

Minus the club.

Cause that's just weird at 28-years-old.

But babysitting, that would be totally fine! So I joined enannysource.com, emailed a few different people I knew around Austin that I thought could put me in touch with people with kids.

So far the results in Austin have been slim. But I did babysit a few weeks ago for two little boys, one 5 and the other 3. It went well, they tried to pull a couple of slick moves on me, but I know the youngsters ways, and I called them on it. Overall, it was a great time!

So that leads me to this past weekend, my brother, Brad, had a wedding to attend in San Antonio and him and his wife, Jennifer, asked me some time ago if I would be willing to come down to watch their kids and I would be compensated by getting to enjoy San Antonio with them. I, of course, obliged!

Brad also knew I was looking for babysitting jobs (he even emailed a friend of his living in Austin about my wanting jobs). One thing leads to another, and all of a sudden I have agreed to babysit his friends two little boys as well.

Luckily, Jennifer's mom (and her aunt and two nephews) were planning a trip to San Antonio around the same time and decided to make it the same weekend as this wedding so they could all be there together and they could help out. Which worked out wonderfully for me, cause I had back-up, if need be (which was helpful for the girls because putting four kids to bed in the same room at the same time is quite the pipe dream). And we did have con-joining rooms,which was really helpful!

Friday night all of us family members went out to eat for Mexican food. It was a great dinner, minus the bees. They were out of control.

After that, we went back to the room and I watched the four kids while Brad, Jennifer, and the boys parents went out with their friends after the rehearsal dinner. Really, by the time they went out, we had time for one game, Richard Scary's Busytown (awesome game that I gave my niece the weekend before for a belated b-day gift, I played it when babysitting the other two kids a few weeks ago. I HIGHLY recommend it to anyone with children.). The kids all loved it (including my sister-in-laws older 10 and 9 year-old-old nephews who came over from next door to play) and all behaved very well for the game.

The next day we went to the Alamo. The temperature in San Antonio was 105 that

day. I think inside the Alamo it was about twice that. They had one tiny sign (that I saw) stating why it was that hot, they were working on the roof and had to remove most of the air conditioners. It made for quite the miserable time, which led to us taking the girls home for an early nap.

Afterwards we went for a short swim in the hotel pool, which can be seen here from the room, and the building across the street:

Then, they left for the wedding. With four kiddos in my command, I had a few activities planned. All of which took about 45 minutes to complete.

And that's when I started to panic.

Luckily, dinner (pizza) arrived at that time.

After that, the kids wanted to watch a movie (Tangled, after much motivation by the girls). But since the movie makers like to include about 15 DVD's in the same DVD case, it was inevitable that the one that actually works at playing a DVD on a computer was left at home. That's where things started to unravel with the kids waiting and not having anything to do and pillows and things started to fly, and I started to really sweat. But I quickly got things back under control, and I got a different movie to work.

After the movie was playing for some time the kiddos, individually, would decide to come back to one of the other activities I had planned. And they would go back and forth, which I was totally cool with, because they were occupied, happy and tamed.

By the way, the activity I had planned was making their dad's a father's day card or drawing. One of the boys, we'll call him Steve, REALLY got into making his dad a great father's day card! He spent most of his night making the best father's day card he could make! Here they are coloring and watching a movie:

The next day we walked around the river walk, here's Elle, Grey, and their cousins Hunter and Austin:

Then, we took the famous San Antonio boat tour, which I am pretty sure that between my brother and myself, we could give the tour ourselves based off of our knowledge we had already exhibited that weekend while walking around San Antonio. But regardless, you still have to do it. But when it's like LITERALLY 105 degrees outside, kids can't be interested in boat tours. In fact, I think you can see the decline in their happiness for the boat tour though these photos. By the end, Elle was sleeping on my brother and myself's lap (which I didn't get a picture of due to my own near heat exhaustion):

Lastly, we went to lunch at a nice little cafe that had most importantly, air conditioning. I had such a great weekend in San Antonio, and I would do it all over again! I would suggest maybe waiting until a cooler month, however. I had a great time babysitting (most of the time, when DVD's worked the way they should) and being around the sites! It's such a unique town and a great town to visit, love it!!!