Love is a Battlefield...

I heart the 80's!

Some have told me that I missed my calling in life to be a woman of the 80's. It's true, my hair has a way of performing well under the pressures of hot rollers, back combing and double decker bangs. My face can handle quite a bit of blue eyeshadow, blue mascara and dusty pink gloss. My ability to work a blue, shiny taffeta dress is proven well in the pictures that follow.

Kirst's Birthday Celebration was a blast!
Thanks, to all those that came to make it fantastic!

Everybody Cut Footloose!

This is where I'll be on Saturday night! Will you?

I'm so excited for this! With this excitement came a little trepidation. I was worried whether or not I would find the perfect dress for my prom. I had so many visions and ideas but I didn't know if any of them would come to fruition. I made up my mind to scour the county today in search of this perfect dress. My first stop was trusty Savers. Initially, a pink frock was spotted a la Pretty in Pink. "This might work," I thought, "with a few minor alterations and maybe some pink lace added like Andie did, I could really make this work." I didn't want to be tempted away too easily from my original vision, so I pressed forward through potato sack jumpers and denim mom dresses. When I was losing all hope amidst the floral prints, my eyes fell upon the most beautiful dress I had ever seen. My vision became a reality and I'm now a proud owner of the most perfect, fits like a glove, made for me, blue taffeta, puffy sleeved, lace covered dress come true. If you want to see what it looks like, you'll just have to see it at the party. Justice can only be served when you see it in person. See you there!

Valentine Weekend-O-Fun!

This Valentine's Day Weekend was fantastic. I spent the weekend having a few of my nieces and nephews over for slumber parties.

Friday night started with the two "B Family" boys. They were so excited to come over that they packed the day before and this is what their suitcases looked like. Yes, all this for one night.

We had fun eating treats (at least they did), watching Scooby Doo and Stars Wars Return of the Jedi. Of course we had to take silly pictures and make a music video like their older sister had.


After those two boys returned home I hosted another slumber party this time a bit more girly and with two of my nieces. We made dinner together, played together and of course danced together.


If you ever wonder what is takes to be a favorite aunt, this is all you have to do. They don't need more toys, they just want a sleepover party. That's my little secret.

On my soapbox again...

The Evils of Hidden Sugar

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Nie Nie Concert

Last Monday my sister and I attended the benefit concert for Nie Nie. We were kind of slackers in getting our tickets, as in the day of, and there were limited options. To sit close to the stage instead of the balcony we forgo sitting together and opted for near each other. We could at least touch.
I kind of felt like a celebrity or at least a celebrity stylist because I was able to go to the retro house before the concert and style hair for c jane, her sister Lucy and the two cutest little ladies, Jane and Claire. Before the show started, the little ladies saw me and waved to me. The couple sitting behind me had to of course ask me how I knew them. Was I family, was I a famous blogger too? I informed them that I was their hairstylist. Not too shabby of a job. It's really hard being so close to celebrity and remembering to keep it real.

How to be...

The Favorite Aunt:

Step 1: Invite 7 year old niece over for a sleepover.
Step 2: Make dinner together
Step 3: Take a few silly pictures


Step 4: Introduce niece to the wonderful world of ward stare, I'm mean ward prayer.
Step 5: Go home, play Polly Pockets on line.
Step 6: Go to bed, big day ahead of us.
Step 7: Wake up at 7:15am, go to track, run 2 miles and stairs. She kicked my butt, pretty sure she got her running skills from her other side of the family.
Step 8: Go home, get ready, play more Polly Pockets, that girl loves fashion.
Step 9: Dress up in costumes and make a music video

Step 10: Eat lunch while niece wears her Favorite Aunt Ruthie's, sassy shoes.

Step 11: Continue in my reign as Favorite Aunt.

Spain in a Nutshell

I've done it. I have finally posted pictures from my trip to Spain. I know I've been back for quite a while now, a slacker I am.

My nephew, Mr. Spanglish. He is opening his Christmas presents from his FAVORITE AUNT Ruthie, on the day of my arrival.

On a walkabout with the fam. In the background is some sort of famous submarine but several years ago on a visit there I thought it was a torpedo. Maybe Spain likes large weapons, I'm not one to judge.

Mr. Spanglish, looking oh so cute at the docks. He's always ready with a pose.

Mr. Spanglish and the new addition to the family, Mr. Superman

Los Magos Reyes (Three Kings Day) Parade

Ward Party for Los Magos Reyes. Pictured here is one of the three wise men, Baltazar. Keeping with tradition a white guy paints his face black to be the African King. Hmm...
(Side note: I love the guy in the background that looks like he's being attacked by an unknown force)

All the kings and el obispo, my bro in law

Traditional dessert eaten on Three Kings Day. Yes, I ate some. Don't worry I might have fallen of the anti-sugar wagon in Spain, but jumped right back on it while crossing back over the Atlantic.

Posing with Mr. Spanglish, whose trying his best impersonation of Michael Jackson. I think he really pulled of the Michael attitude.

Walking towards the beach. Probably the coldest day while I was there, but fun none the less.

Catching some rays at the beach with Mr. Spanglish.

Just two superheroes saving the world, one day at a time.

Let Us Compare: Part 1

After my return from my recent visit to Spain, I couldn't help but make a few comparisons between, My Country Tis of Thee and Spain. With said comparisons came the obligation/duty to decide; which country is better, or at least in that particular genre or category.

Category #1: BEST IN DANCE
as related to reality show television competitions

The first video is from Spain and the show is called Fama! A Bailar! (roughly translated: Fame! To Dance!) Imagine a mix between So You Think You Can Dance and Big Brother, with a much smaller production budget. Just remember that these dancers are in the top 20 of the show from the thousands that auditioned.

Exhibit A:


Need I even continue, but alas I shall. The next videos are from my favorite summer time show, So You Think You Can Dance. Which of course they CAN dance, but I digress. I could not decide on only one. I love this show! Enjoy all of them.

Exhibit B:






There are no words. I'm going to assume you figured out which country won the BEST IN DANCE category. God Bless the U.S.A!

Returned

Reverse the order of the last post and that sums up the trip home pretty well, with a few exceptions.

• I watched 4 movies on the way home and only watched 2 on the way there.
  
• I was blessed with an extra seat next to me so I could relax and sleep on my ten hour flight.
• I saw a girl/women (age 23) in the Atlanta airport cradling her doll. Yes a doll. I tried to take a picture but didn't get my camera out in time.
  

Check back soon, I will be posting about my astute observations of the cultural, political, and socioeconomic differences between, Spain and the United States.

Oh the joys of travel

On the road/plane/taxi/train to

Cartagena, Spain

Dec. 30th
5am: (MST) Wake up call
6:20am: Airport
8:26am: Flight Departure
2:30pm: (EST) Arrival in Atlanta
4:30pm: Realize I don´t have my sister´s number in Spain in case I need to call her
4:31pm: Call 3 other sisters to get number and none have it. (She lives in Spain people, we don´t often call her, and when we do we get the number from the parentals who are in Spain, we email)
4:37pm: Ask one sister to open my email. Maybe I have an old email with her number... nothing
4:45pm: Oregon sister calls, she hacked into my dad´s email account and found cell phone numbers. Day saved.
5:00pm: Eat
6:29pm: Turn cell phone off, I´m having withdrawls.
6:30pm: Depart from Atlanta to journey across the Great Atlantic.
Unknown time zone: Movie watching, airplane food eating, attempt at sleeping
Dec. 31st
8:45am: (Madrid time) Arrival in Spain
9:15am: Catch Taxi, have an almost conversation with the driver, I have some Spanish deep in the dark resources of my brain.
9:35am: Arrive at train station, buy ticket and proceed to wait.
11:45am: Purchase Jamon (Ham) flavored chips, tasty.
12:30pm: Train departs to Cartagena, via 2 (platform 2)
4:00pm: Debate in using the train bathroom, then realized I had an hour and a half left and defintely could not hold it that long.
5:26pm: Arrive in Cartagena, Spain. Last stop on the line. Reunited with my peeps.
Midnight: Groggy, half asleep, eat 12 uvas (grapes) on the strikes of midnight.
2am: Get into bed and crash. It´s rough not sleeping for 37 hours...

...but well worth it.