Save me a seat...

Here is the first in the movie series. I thought I would focus on a movie genre that is very near and dear to my heart - Chick flicks! (Get it near and dear to my heart? - these are the movies that tug on your heart strings. Or if you're a guy makes you wish you would have picked out the movie.) Let's be honest there are some chick flicks that even the manliest man likes (even if he doesn't admit it openly). Tom likes some better than others. I love the period love stories - "Pride and Prejudice", "Becoming Jane" and of course "Gone with the Wind". Tom, not so much. He fell asleep during "Becoming Jane". I, on the other hand, used up two hankies (not tissues, but fabric hankies).


I'll rate the movie with stars 1-5 - (5 being excellent). I'll also rate on number of hankies (5 being a real tear jerker). I understand we may be on different levels as criers. Let me go on and put it out there - I am a crier - Hallmark commercials, kids saying cute things, hearing a beautiful song and church (I'm a big church crier - I know some of that is the Holy Spirit, but some is me). So if I rate something as a 5, I woke up the next morning with a stuffy nose. Now that has been said let's "look" at some movies.

At the movies:
"Sex & the City" 3 3/4 stars and 1 hankie (I didn't cry in this movie - shocking I know. Could have done without the nudity - it did NOT add to the story at all. A good wrap up to let us know what happened to the characters we came to love (or not love - I never liked Miranda - I kept saying that the entire movie - just ask Jill).

On DVD:

• "Definitely, Maybe" 4 stars and 3 hankies
• "P.S. I love you" 5 stars and 5 hankies
• "Becoming Jane" 5 stars and 5 hankies
• "No Reservations" 2 1/2 stars and 1 hankie
• "Atonement" 4 stars and 4 hankies (warning: strong language and adult content)
• "The Holiday" 5 stars and 3 hankies
• "13 going on 30" 5 stars and 2 hankies

Don't forget some all-time favorite chick flicks. If you haven't seen them before, check them out. If you've seen them but it has been awhile, check them out again.

"Dirty Dancing"
"The Wedding Planner"
"The Wedding Singer" (anything with wedding in the title is probably going to be considered a chick flick)
"Titanic"
"Love Actually" (Hugh Grant - I love movies with Hugh Grant in them)
"Sweet Home Alabama"
"The English Patient"
"Sleepless in Seattle"
"You've Got Mail"
"City of Angels" (Meg Ryan/Nicholas Cage)
"The Bridges of Madison County"
"Grease"
"Shakespeare in Love"
"Sliding Doors" (1998 movie with Gwyneth Paltrow - great story)

Of course "Beaches", "Fried Green Tomatoes" and "Thelma and Louise" are chick flicks, but I'm leaning towards good ol' love stories. These are great friendship movies.

Okay, there are way too many to list. Do you have a favorite that wasn't mentioned? Please add it or them to the list. I'm always looking for a good love story to watch or re-watch whichever the case may be.

Looking forward to the coming attractions:
Next week: "Mamma Mia!"
August: "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2"
October: "He's Just Not That Into You"

Sorry, Charlie...

Remember the old Starkist Tuna commercials? I like tuna (in a can or pouch) but I hadn't had fresh tuna until we went to Nags Head. Man, it puts ol' Charlie the Tuna's tuna to shame. I had it once at Darrell's Restaurant in Manteo and then Daddy cooked some at the beach house. Well, tonight it was my turn to give cooking fresh tuna steaks a try. I marinated them in fat-free Italian dressing. Then I put a little oil in a hot pan and placed the tuna in. Once it had changed color on one side I turned it over and let the other side cook. As this was cooking I made a sauce to go over the finished dish. I put some fat-free Italian dressing, a little bit of soy sauce (not much because I'm watching my sodium intake), a little bit of sugar (to take the bite out of the dressing), and a couple of dashes of hot sauce in a pan and let it reduce (fancy cooking term which basically means I let it heat up). I served the tuna on top of some sauteed garlic green beans along side scalloped potatoes and finished off with fresh, sweet, white corn. The kids and Tom loved it. Wooten went back for thirds on the tuna (which always makes a Momma happy). I won't be cooking this every week, but it is nice to try something new. Anyone have any summer recipes to share? Post 'em here! I'll share some more recipes later. We're having a church anniversary luncheon on Sunday, so I'll be breaking out the cookbooks. Happy cooking!

Fourth full of fun, food, family & friends!

Artwork by Anna GracenThe kids and I actually started celebrating the 4th on the 3rd (Tom was working). We went over to Mama's (Nana) house and had an indoor picnic with her and Mr. Bobby. The kids had some of their favorites - hot dogs, chips, root beer for the boys, cola for Anna and ice cream cones. What fun! The Fourth of July started with a birthday celebration at Bill & Betty's (MeMa & PaPa) house . Tom's Grandma (a.k.a. GG) turned 89 on July 1st. We all had a good time but missed those who couldn't be with us. Colleen, Ronnie, Rebecca & Josh are in New Jersey visiting Colleen's Mom and stepfather. Jacob was with his mom and stepfather celebrating the 4th. Wooten was lonely.

Luckily, Wooten was surrounded by lots of boys later when we headed over to the Gram fam's. At one time there were 15 kids there. They had a blast!! So did the adults!! (Tom forgot to take pictures there, so check out The Graham Family's blog to see the ones Cameron & Laura got - I love the sparkler ones - too cool).

We are blessed to have such wonderful friends and family.

Happy Independence Day!!!

Thank you to all of the servicemen and women and their families. Our freedom was not and is not free. We thank God for His hand of protection upon our troops. We ARE one nation under GOD!

Have a wonderful Independence Day (& long weekend)!

"I Then Shall Live"

A friend of mine sent this video to me. I was totally blessed by it. By the end, I had tears in my eyes and glory bumps (as a wonderful lady at my church calls them instead of goose bumps) on my arms.
Lord, as we listen to this song, let our hearts sing out those very words to You.

Kid's say the darndest things...

Kids are too funny. Here are two examples of funny things Christian has said recently. When we returned from the beach Christian had to go to the bathroom. The toilets at the beach house we stayed at where oblong. Ours here at the house are more round. Christian announced as he was sitting on the toilet - "Either this toilet has gotten smaller or my butt has gotten bigger." He said this in all seriousness knowing that it had to be one or the other for sure.

On another occasion, I was explaining to Christian the importance of brushing his teeth (aren't you glad, Nana?). I told him that he needed to brush his teeth every night before going to bed. I said, "That is your job." He quickly respond, "So, do I get paid to brush my teeth?" In which I replied, "Do I get paid to take care of you?" Without missing a beat, he said, "Yes, you get paid with my love." How do you argue with that?

Clay Vessel

I received this story in an e-mail. I just had to share it! Tom took this picture I thought it went well with the story. Be blessed!

The Clay Balls

A man was exploring caves by the seashore. In one of the caves he found a canvas bag with a bunch of hardened clay balls. It was like someone had rolled clay balls and left them out in the sun to bake. They didn't look like much, but they intrigued the man, so he took the bag out of the cave with him. As he strolled along the beach, he would throw the clay balls one at a time out into the ocean as far as he could. He thought little about it, until he dropped one of the clay balls and it cracked open on a rock. Inside was a beautiful, precious stone! Excited, the man started breaking open the remaining clay balls. Each contained a similar treasure. He found thousands of dollars worth of jewels in the 20 or so clay balls he had left. Then it struck him. He had been on the beach a long time. He had thrown maybe 50 or 60 of the clay balls with their hidden treasure into the ocean waves. Instead of thousands of dollars in treasure, he could have taken home tens of thousands, but he had just thrown it away!

It's like that with people. We look at someone, maybe even ourselves, and we see the external clay vessel. It doesn't look like much from the outside. It isn't always beautiful or sparkling, so we discount it. We see that person as less important than someone more beautiful or stylish or well known or wealthy but we have not taken the time to find the treasure hidden inside that person. There is a treasure in each and every one of us. If we take the time to get to know that person, and if we ask God to show us that person the way He sees them, then the clay begins to peel away and the brilliant gem begins to shine forth. May we not come to the end of our lives and find out that we have thrown away a fortune in friendships because the gems were hidden in bits of clay. May we see the people in our world as God sees them.
I am so blessed by the gems of friendship I have with each of you. Thank you for looking beyond my clay vessel.