Images from my friend GOOGLE

My friend Annie tagged me to do this Google images post... so since i had a bit of time and it looked fun I thought I would give it a try!

So you just type in the word to answer the questions and pick an image on one of the first three pages.

So here it goes!

1st name: Amanda

Middle name: Kate

Last name: Jones

Past Nickname: bus stop

Age: 22

Where was I born: Wenatchee, WA

Place I want to visit: Italy

Favorite place: library

Favorite object: book

Favorite food: bread

Favorite color: apple green

Pet I have had: Soft coated wheaton terrier

1st Job: lifeguard

One of your grandmother's names: Anne

College degree: Elementary Education

Doing right now:...

MARIO CART is BACK!!!!

So Chris and I saw the commercial the other day for Mario Cart for the Wii and this is what we both were thinking:

Chris: "Man I used to dominate at this game, and now I actually get a real wheel! Watch out!!!"

Amanda: "YEA! Now I can turn the control like a steering wheel and not feel like such a dork! Also Mario Cart is like the only video game I am actually somewhat competent in!"

Now, no we did not go out and buy a Wii just for the game.... that's what BROTHERS are for. Thank goodness that my brother was thinking the same thing as us and GOT the game for his Wii system. So Tonight we went over and tried it out and it is SUPER fun! I was so amazed at how responsive the wheels were! There are a lot of traditional parts but so cool extras too.

So for all you who used to turn your Nintendo controller like it was a steering wheel, like I did, they have finally made a game for YOU!

finally an ice cream scoop that will work!!!

as I was blog browsing yesterday I cam across the coolest thing:



I feel that finally someone has realized my frustration with ice cream scoops that:
1. hurt my "dainty" little wrists to get the ice cream out
2. once the ice cream is the scoop it won't come all out (not at least with out prying from a spoon or my finger)
* AND ITS SQUARE!

This scoop answers both of these problems!
I seriously need on and the usual price is only around 15 dollars.
Maybe it can be a graduation gift to myself.

This n' That

So I will admit is was blog "stalking" a little bit today (come on... admit it, you do it too!) and I came across the some really fun sites...

So here is the result of some of my blog "stalking"

Crafty Chicks is just a fun site with a variety of crafty ideas, including some recipes too! It helps inspire me...even though I will probably never follow through on the ideas.

Sweet Life in the Valley is another great site for all us Utah Valley dwellers (even though we won't be for much longer).

Karen's Tips is just a girl of some friends I know who post frequently and imparts little bits of knowledge. It is especially loaded with great baby/kids stuff (but don't worry I am not in need of this knowledge yet).

Hopefully you can enjoy these sites too!

Also our weekend has been filled with alot of great movies, oldies and goodies!
Here is what we watched:

Cutting Edge: some of you may have seen part of the cutting edge marathon on ABC family this weekend. But seriously the first and original is the only one worth watching.



Swing Kids: This is a great classic, where you can see Batman (Christain Bale) dance his little heart out.




Sneakers: I had never seen this movie, Chris made me watch it, but i am glad he did, it is a great flick!



August Rush: Ok, we didn't watch this onehis weekend but we LOVE it and it came out yesterday, we will have to go out and buy a copy of it. If you haven't seen it, you MUST!

let'splay a little game called tag...

Ok from the request of Diana, who tagged "everyone"... (which in the real game of tag would be impossible) I thought I would finally respond to one of them.

I will use some of her questions, but I also tweaked them to better fit my... well... mood:

3 Things I'm ALWAYS Craving

1. Pizza Hut deep dish pizza and breadsticks... I could basically eat pizza everyday and never get sick of it!
2. Cheesecake factory's orange chicken, and I haven't had it forever, maybe a trip to the new one in SLC is necessary
3. Olive Garden breadsticks... or really just about any kind of white bread!
   

~

3 THINGS that Have Inspired Me Lately

1. The I heart cuppycakes site (see my previous post)
2. The scriptures ( I know that's a bit "cheesy" but right now it really has been true
3. My mom's encouraging emails... she has a knack for that
   

~

3 Credit Cards in my Wallet

1. a Discover card, they let me pick any of their cool designs, so I have a cute lime green one with my initial on it.
   
2. A Pier 1 card, which I wish I could use more often so I could get more stuff there but, well, we are poor married people
3. A Chase Card
   

~

3 Things I've Been Procrastinating

1. Taxes (I need my old roommate to do them for me again this year!)
2. Refining my Resume (to begin applying for jobs)
3. Cleaning my closet
   

~

3 Things to guarantee to make me HAPPY

1. Any of my "happy" music (those who read that post a while ago will know what I mean)
2. having my cute 2nd graders tell me everyday that they favorite thing of the day was ME!
3. Chris greeting me at the door with a BIG hug and kiss when I come home.
   

~

3 Last Movies I've watched:

1. Little Mermaid (and yes I sang along with like every song, especially Part of your World)
2. Children of Heaven ( a great, tender foreign film about a love between Brother and Sister)
3. Rear Window (great classic Hitchcock film, and the whole time watching Grace Kelly thinking about how beautiful she was... I want to name a girl Grace/Gracie after her)

Now I am going to Tag EVERYONE just like Diana did!

a site I wish I hadn't found...

Ok so I stumbled upon this site while I was "blog browsing" (which Chris thinks is the strangest thing) and I am wishing I wouldn't have found it... for the sake of my waistline.

This site is dedicated to all CUPCAKE recipes! How fun... and even more importantly, how delicious! I have yet to try any of the recipes, and it may take me awhile to decide on which of the wonderful ones to try first!

CHECK OUT THE SITE HERE!

Happy Songs

Ok so you know there are songs that no matter what...they just make you plain ole HAPPY. Maybe it is becuase you have special memories attached or maybe you just love the song. Regardless of the reasons, pure bliss is felt as they ring in your ears. well here are some of my ALL time favorite happy songs:

Hide and Seek by Imogen Heap
Strict Machine- Goldfrapp (this one is kinda a strange pick for me but for some reason i love this song)
Girl from Ipanema- Astrud Gilberto (I can be a sucker for bossa nova sometimes)
New Soul- Yael Naim (new addition to the list... see last post)
Since you've been gone- Kelly Clarkson ( I can't help not belting out this one no matter where i am when i hear it)
Somewhere over the rainbow- Eva Cassidy ( I think everyone should hear this version...beautifully simple)
Crazy- Patsy Cline (If I could have a voice like anyone... believe it or not.. I pick Patsy Cline)
Hallelujah- Rufus Wainwright (ok even though the song is in Shrek i still love it, imogen heap also does a great version)
My little Girl -Tim mcgraw (any "daddy's girl" will LOVE and CRY after hearing this song)
Colors - Amos Lee

Ok i could add more.. and go on and on.. but i must leave you with the worlds best HAPPY song....

drumroll please.........

Whitney Houston- "I WANNA DANCE WITH SOMEBODY" who can help but bust a move and belt this song!!!



ps. one of Chris's happy songs is 15 step by Radiohead (this whole album " In Rainbows" he calls his happy album)


TELL US WHAT SOME OF YOUR HAPPY SONGS ARE!!

POWER of Advertising

Ok so who ever Mac pays to find the music for thier commercials...they should be greatly rewarded! You know how we all have songs that no matter what or how many times we hear them, they make us overflow with happiness. Well for me...this would be about every song found in the Mac commercials. I mean, come on... the Feist song "1...2...3...4" made me so happy I went out and bought my own new nano video i-pod ahile ago. Ok but the BEST Mac song yet is for the new macbook air (which I want so bad but will never be able to afford one...haha) which is by the wonderful French artist Yael Naim (I think this is a hebrew name) called "New Soul". She is such a cute artist and I thought her video for the song is super creative and of course just HAPPY. So I promise it won't be a waste of your time to click the video below.



ok also...another great song, "Music Box" from a commercial is by Regina Spektor (another GREAT artist). This is for a J.C. Penny's commercial from awhile ago but once again I can NEVER get sick of this song. Here is the commercial below:

recommended books

OK so far this summer I have read about 17 books some of those were for my Children's Literature class, but I have gotten hooked back on READING and have tried to pull Chris into it too.
Two of my favorites are:
The Devil's Arithmetic (great historical fiction about the holocaust)
The Bronze Bow (another historical fiction set in the time of Christ).

Chris and I both loved:
A long Way Gone (a wonderful memoir of a boy solider in Africa)
For One More Day (another great novel by Tuesday's with Morrie author).

But I am on a Mission now to read as many books of the Newbery Award List, 4 down... like a TON to GO!
But we will keep you posted on our other new book recommendations.

ok.. so when you are married and either working all day or going to school all day the simple pleasure in life really help... therefore we love wednesday and thursday nights becuase our two new favorite shows are on... So you think you can dance (we haven't picked our favorite dancers yet) and Pirate Master (which is like survivor with pirates!).
So yeah for simple pleasures!