Very Special Person Day

Today, my nephew Tony (age 4) had a "very special person day" at his pre-kidnergarten school. He asked me to come and be his special person for the day. We had a really good time. When I got there, we went into the gym. Tony brought me a card that he made. Then the kids went up on stage and sang a couple of songs and recited a snowman poem. Then we all went to the back of the gym and held hands in a big circle to do some action songs together. It was a lot of fun. After the presentation we had donuts and juice, took pictures, and Tony took me around to all of his classrooms to show me his projects and what he has been working on in school. We had a great time and I was very honored that he asked me to come. Here are some pictures from our day.

I had a hard time getting the camera to focus while zoomed in on the stage. But here the kids are getting ready to sing their first song.

Here's Tony in the reading room. We sat and read a book about a little fish who wanted to become a big fish.

Here's some of Tony's artwork hanging in the hall.

Here is the card that Tony made for me.

Here we are hanging out in the reading room.

Tony and his buddy show me an interactive story/game on their classroom computer.

We counted out the days in the month of January.

In the music room, we checked out the piano.

Tony on the stage in his school uniform.

We went through his entire journal and saw all of the projects he did for Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas. He's doing a great job! It seems like he is a really good student!

Tony's teacher took a picture of us in front of this big snowman that their class made.

And here is Tony with his snowman project. - What a cute kid! We had a really great time together today!

And now you know the rest of the story....

KURTIS THE STOCK BOY AND BRENDA THE CHECKOUT GIRL

In a supermarket, Kurtis the stock boy, was busily working when a new voice came over the loud speaker asking for a carry out at register 4. Kurtis was almost finished, and wanted to get some fresh air, and decided to answer the call. As he approached the check-out stand a distant smile caught his eye. The new check-out girl was beautiful. She was an older woman (maybe 26, and he was only 22) and he fell in love.

Later that day, after his shift was over, he waited by the punch clock to find out her name. She came into the break room, smiled softly at him, took her card and punched out, then left. He looked at her card, BRENDA. He walked out only to see her start walking up the road.

The next day, he waited outside as she left the supermarket, and offered her a ride home. He looked harmless enough, and she accepted. When he dropped her off, he asked if maybe he could see her again, outside of work. She simply said it wasn't possible. He pressed and she explained she had two children and she couldn't afford a baby-sitter, so he offered to pay for the baby-sitter. Reluctantly she accepted his offer for a date for the following Saturday.

That Saturday night he arrived at her door only to have her tell him that she was unable to go with him. The baby-sitter had called and canceled. To which Kurtis simply said, "Well,
let's take the kids with us." She tried to explain that taking the children was not an option, but again not taking no for an answer, he pressed. Finally Brenda, brought him inside to meet her children. She had an older daughter who was just as cute as a bug, Kurtis thought, then Brenda brought out her son, in a wheelchair. He was born a paraplegic with Down Syndrome. Kurtis asked Brenda, "I still don't understand why the kids can't come with us?" Brenda was amazed. Most men would run away from a woman with two kids, especially if one had disabilities - just like her first husband and father of her children had done. Kurtis was not ordinary - - - he had a
different mindset.

That evening Kurtis and Brenda loaded up the kids, went to dinner and the movies. When her son needed anything Kurtis would take care of him. When he needed to use the restroom, he picked him up out of his wheelchair, took him and brought him back. The kids loved Kurtis. At the end of the evening, Brenda knew this was the man she was going to marry and spend the rest of her life with.

A year later, they were married and Kurtis adopted both of her children. Since then they have added two more kids to their family.

So what happened to Kurtis the stock boy and Brenda the check-out girl? Well, Mr. & Mrs. Kurt Warner now live in Arizona. If you tune in on February 1, you can watch him quarterback the Arizona Cardinals in the Super Bowl against the Pittsburg Steelers! Is this a surprise ending or could you have guessed that he was not an ordinary person? Some athletes are also great people.
It should be noted that he also quarterbacked the Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI. He has also been the NLF's Most Valuable Player twice and the Super Bowl's MVP.

Splish splash, we put up a backsplash

Before this week, we had a a regular painted wall behind our stove, sink, etc. Having wanted a backsplash for a while we finally went out to pick out tile (which you may have seen in an earlier post) and my dad volunteered to help us put the tile up and even picked up some last minute supplies as a birthday present to me. The project took a lot more time than we had expected. Last Saturday (1/17) we attached most of the tile to the wall with the mastick. Sunday, we finished putting it up. Tuesday and Wednesday we grouted the tile. We would have done it all on Tuesday, but we ran out of grout. Friday we sealed the tile which completely changed the look of it (made it nice and shiny how we had hoped) and this past Saturday (1/24) we caulked around all of the edges, floated out the (nine) outlet covers and cleaned up the mess! Here are some pictures of the finished product! I love it! THANKS DAD!

Staying Organized

If you know me, you know I like to keep things organized. Until now, I had a big bulleting board hanging in the kitchen. I have had my eye on this organization system from Pottery Barn for quite some time. My mom ended up buying it for me for my birthday. Since it arrived early, I took the change to install it this weekend. I am proud to say I did it all on my own, it is perfectly level and holding up well. It did take about 2 hours to measure it all out, find the studs in the wall, and hang the metal rods and then to slide on the organization boards and bins. Here it is! I love it! THANKS MOM!

Whooo hooo! :)

And here we have it with all of our crap on it!

Dinner Party!

This post includes pictures of about 90% of my blog readers! haha Last Friday 1/16, our friends Tony and Wendy were in from North Carolina and had the chance to visit the rest of us boring people who haven't left the midwest...haha just kidding...I'm sure at least some of us are here by choice! :) Although we had to rearrange some of our furniture to fit everyone in the dining room, it was great to have everyone under one roof for the evening and to catch up with everybody.

At the dinner table

Nathan, Jen, Dennis, Jenne, Chris, Lyndsay, Jason (from the left and around the table)

Tracy, Matt, Tony, Wendy, (Nathan peeking in), Sarah, Cheyenne, Cindy and Rich


Dennis, Tracy, Matt, Jen, Nathan, Lyndsay, Jenne, Chris, Julie, Cindy, Tony, Wendy and Rich

Help Bands Of America Music For All Program

Spending 4 years at Marian Catholic High School, I had the opportunity to be a part of many different Bands of America functions - whether it was a competition, master class, or other event, I came away with a positive experience and having learned both musical and life lessons. Throughout my high school years, I was very active as a musician. I started by playing the clarinet. I spent 3 years of marching band playing the tenor saxophone and 1 year as a drum major. Our insightful band director, Mr. Bimm, pushed me towards playing the bassoon during my freshman year. After many lessons and several hours of practicing, I enjoyed playing bassoon in the Symphonic band for the next 3 years. (I have to say that I wasn't crazy about the bassoon at first, but I am so glad that Mr. Bimm encouraged me to play it, because it became one of the most rewarding and enjoyable things I have done in my life.)

I took part in the Bands of American Summer Symposium program, playing my bassoon. I was part of the BOA National Concert Band Festival, and who can forget the BOA Marching Band Regional Contests throughout the Midwest or the big National contest in Indy. Being in band taught me the value of hard work, dedication and discipline. It taught me that if you work hard enough, you will achieve your goals. It taught me the importance of being both a good leader and a good follower and most importantly to be a part of a team. I am a better person for having been in band. The contests, master classes, and events held by BOA gave me something to strive for. I cannot sum up in a small paragraph how instrumental (pardon the pun) being a part of the music program has been in my life. Besides learning important life lessons, gaining incredible musical abilities, and benefiting from the expertise of a great leader like Mr. Bimm, I made close friendships with some really wonderful people. Although it has been 10-13 years since most of us graduated from high school, we still talk and see each other on a very regular basis. We all know that we will always be there for each other when the chips are down or when it's time to celebrate.

I am posting this blog entry today as I received an email this afternoon saying that Bands of America is in a severe financial crisis. A combination of different factors, not the least of which is the current national financial trouble, has put BOA in a “do or die” situation. Basically, they have until the end of February to raise $250,000 or they face closing their doors. They have developed a plan to enlist the aid of “BOA alumni”- those students (more than a million) who have experienced (and benefited from) BOA. I am enclosing a link to the BOA campaign site in the GREAT HOPE THAT YOU WILL VISIT IT, READ ABOUT THE SPECIFICS AND CONSIDER MAKING A DONATION.
http://www.bands.org/alumni/index.html

I do believe in paying it forward and I can say with much certainty that I would not be who I am today if it were not for Bands of America or the band program. Although I have not been in band for the past 10 years, I have applied the many lessons I learned as a musician to my life. I am now a successful business owner with a confident and entrepreneurial spirit. I have decided to make a donation to help this program stay alive. I know that many many many other children / teens / adolescents / adults can continue to benefit from the Bands of America program in the ways that I did. I would like to see other people have the same opportunities that I did. Please consider making a donation.

Thanks,
Julie Brewer - Smith

Below is a note regarding the program.

Through the support of committed parents, enthusiastic educators, tireless volunteers and a forward thinking Board of Directors, Music for All has evolved into a national leader in music education, performance and advocacy.

Over thirty years ago an organization called Marching Bands of America (MBA) was established to unify the marching band activity. In 1984, that same organization became a not-for-profit called Bands of America (BOA) and expanded its reach to musicians in all instrumental genres. For the next twenty-two years BOA provided educational and performance opportunities to more than 1.25 million student musicians. In 2006, BOA merged with the Music for All Foundation to become Music for All (MFA) and expanded its mission to include not only education and performance but research and advocacy as well. Today, the organization serves hundreds of thousands of students and educators through its programming and influence on public policies to support music education in public schools.

Like our name suggests, Music for All is for the artist, educator and fan. We are an organization that promotes creativity and expression through music, bringing joy to the artist and listener alike. As a donor, you perpetuate our ability to provide positively life changing experiences through music. On behalf of the Music for All students, educators and fans, may your holiday season be filled with health, happiness and music.

Fondly,

L. Scott McCormick
President and CEO

P.S. Tell your friends about BOA's Alumni Campaign! Visit
http://www.bands.org/alumni/ for more details.

Happy Birthday Babies!

If you have a pet, a dog in particular, you know the crazy amount of love you can have for them and the wonderful unconditional love that they give back to you on a regular basis. We have 3 dogs here and I wouldn't have it any other way. I have had Rusty since he was a puppy. I got him from a Breeder for my 22nd birthday. Because I have the papers on him, I have always known that his birthday is Jan 12, 2003. I got BamBam when he was about 4 and for some reason I thought his birthday was in September. However, I was going through a big stack of papers on BamBam that were passed along from the various owners who had him before I got him from the rescue. On one of the papers I noticed his birthday was listed as Jan 12, 2000. Who would have thought that I would end up with 2 pups who have birthdays on the same day! Today, Rusty turned 6 and Bam turned 9. I really cannot believe Rusty is 6 already. If you know him, you know he is still a puppy at heart! They will always be my babies.

Here they are today, out in the snow - which they enjoy quite a bit!

BamBam - 9 years old and looking good!

Rusty - 6 years old, but still a puppy

Here they are about 5 years ago. Rusty had just turned 1 and I had just adopted BamBam from the Westie Rescue of Missouri. This was their first day as brothers. BamBam seems overly happy in this picture. Rusty has grown to love him.

Rusty as a teeny tiny puppy! Here he is only a few months old. This is by far my absolute favorite picture of him ever.

Here he is in his teeny tiny Valentine's shirt at just 2 months old. awwwww.

The day I got him, we headed to PetSmart to stock up and spoil him! Soooo tiny!

He's loved playing fetch since he was a baby. I think this CareBear was actually bigger than he was!

Me and Baby Rusty on the front porch 5 and a half years ago....My how time flies!

Pure Michigan

I spend plenty of time complaining about the cold weather months of the Midwest and talking about how much I love the sun and swimming and how some day we are going to move to Floriday and get the heck out of here. BUT, when I hear or see these Pure Michigan commercials, I actually think to myself, "huh - maybe we should move to Michigan!" The marketing team for Michigan.org really does a great job in promoting Michigan. Even if we do move to FL, or if we stay in IL, at least my dad has his little house in MI. That way, I can escape there whenever this commercial gets the best of me!

Tile Project

This coming weekend we are planning to attempt a tile backsplash in our kitchen. I will post some before and after pictures if all goes well. We went to The Tile Shop this weekend to pick out samples of tile and we have decided on this one. This is just a sample piece so there are a few little tiles missing on this sheet. Here, I am holding it up against our countertops so you can see how it will match. We haven't taken on a project like this before, so wish us luck!

=o)

You would need to turn your head sideways to see that =o) is actually a cute little smiley face. Yesterday I had to turn my head sideways to see everything on my monitor! I was sorting through mail in the morning and dropped a magazine on my keyboard by accident. When I looked up, I noticed that my enitre monitor had rotated 90 degrees to the left. The top of my screen was now at the left side, the bottom of my screen on the right side and I had to lean my head over to the left so I could see it and use my mouse. Besides turning my monitor to be portrait rather than landscape, I wasn't sure what to do. I pressed a few buttons and nothing really worked. Thanks to my friend Nic, I learned that you can rotate your screen by pressing ctrl+alt+one of the directional arrows. Ctrl+alt+up arrow puts the top of the screen back to where it belongs. Ctrl+alt+ left arrow moves it to the left. Ctrl+alt+down arrow moves the screen upside down, etc. I was quite amused with this little trick. I was also amused by the fact that my magazine fell just right to hit ctrl+alt+left arrow. I plan to go upstairs to my husband's office and flip his screen upside down for fun. If you want to screw with someone, you should do it to! hehe

A New Year, A New Blog

If you look at my blog often, you probably noticed right away that the bright orange is gone and the peaceful blue is here! Since I have been blogging for the past 4 years, I like to change things every now and then. Enjoy the updates to my blog....my new blog roll, list of links for things that I love, updated "about me" profile, and some new pictures, including Picture of the Day from National Geographic. I tried to add a countdown application, but it wasn't working - so I will go ahead and break the news to you now....30 more days until my 28th birthday! :)

Ringing in the New Year

As the clock chimed 12 and the ball dropped, we enjoyed a champaign toast with our friends Tony & Nicole, and Nadene. Happy New Year to all!

From left to right: Tony, Nadene, Julie, Nicole, Dennis

Another of our famous self portraits. YAY! 2009 is here!

The squeaky wheel....

I have already received my refund from Entertainment Publications thanks to the Better Business Bureau of Detroit...along with this letter...Looks like doing a little bit of due diligence on this matter worked out for me.

December 30, 2008

Better Business Bureau of Detroit and Eastern Michigan
Attn: Carmel Weems
30555 Southfield Road, Suite 200
Southfield, MI 48076-7751

RE: Julie Smith
BBB Complaint #7403448

Dear Ms. Weems:

This will confirm receipt of Ms. Smith’s complaint to the Better Business Bureau concerning Entertainment Publications, LLC. (“Entertainment”).

Ms. Smith has been issued a refund in the amount of $70 that has been credited back to her Visa used for the purchase. This credit will take approximately 7 – 10 business days to appear on any on-line statements or up to 2 billing cycles for the credit to appear on paper statements.

Ms. Smith may return one of the shipments using the return label included in her order. There will not be a restocking fee attached.

If I can be of further assistance, please contact me.
Entertainment Publications, LLC.