The Kite Runner

I have not had the pleasure of reading this book, but I rented the movie over the weekend and I loved it. I've heard all the buzz about the book and have friends that have read it and liked it, but being that I haven't picked up a book since January (unless it relates to children), I knew I wasn't going to be picking up this one anytime soon.

Most know that I'm pretty emotional, heck, I cry during Hallmark commercials for goodness sake! So you can only imagine how the tears were falling during this movie. I was literally crying from beginning to end.

I'm usually not a fan of 'book to movie' movies just because pieces are always missing and I'm going to assume the same with this movie. But I would recommend this movie. And it's not even about 'having to be in the mood' to watch this movie. Yes, it's sad, but it's a great story. There are subtitles, but how weird would it be if it was all in English? The viewer would have missed the essence of the movie. Heck, Bill watched the movie and he's not a subtitle man at all! I think he was pleasantly pleased.

4 stars (out of 5)

Mmmmm...

Gee, do you think he liked it?

Sole Support for Parkinson's

Most of you know that supporting Parkinson's is a cause that is close to the hearts of my family. September 14th was the annual Sole Support for Parkinson's walk at the Willamette Park in Portland and the family put on their tenni-runners to to a little walking. We have participated in this event for several years now and it's a great way to raise awareness and money to help find a cure for this debilitating disease.

The family had a great time and met friends of my M-I-L. We definitely felt the comraderie amongst all the families that were participating.

If you would like to learn more about Parkinson's, please go to http://www.parkinsonsresources.org/

Jae and Hannah are big supporters!

Sitting Pretty

I just had to post some pictures of Hannah. We were having a mom and daughter morning while the boys were at swimming and decided to take some pictures.

She's like a deer in headlights

Right after bath time

Russell Street BBQ

I don't know about you, but I enjoy my bbq. Last Friday evening Barb and I hit up Russell Street BBQ (http://www.russellstreetbbq.com/). If you've never been, check it out. It's located on the corner of MLK and Russell Street. The atmosphere is laid back, the staff is cool - especially one named Caryn Grunwald, and the food is GOOD!

It was a nice evening out sans hubby and kids. A nice evening hanging out with my sister in law, enjoying good food, quenching my thirst with a diet coke (I was DD), and having my background noise as adult voices rather than a non-stop chatter box named Jae. LOL. Don't get me wrong, I love listening to Jae talk!

I ordered the brisket with collard greens and yams and as Rachael Ray would say..YUM-O! I'm usually not a fan of collard greens, in fact, I would say I'm not a fan of them at all, but the ones at RS are good. The yams were cooked in butter and cinnamon and add the natural sweetness, it was a great compliment to my brisket. And who doesn't like brisket? Barb had the Friday night special special - pork chops with stuffing. From what I was told, it was very good. I was going to get it to go for Bill, but it was sold out!

Most of you know that I'm not much of a drinker and especially when I'm in charge of driving, so I watched Barb enjoy some adult beverages and I will admit that I took one sip. Per Caryn's recommendation, she suggested that we try some ginger infused vodka. So I had one sip of ginger infused vodka. This stuff was very good, however, I knew that if I were to down a shot of this, I would literally be on the floor and someone would need a human sized spatula to pick me up. I was pleasantly surprised that I liked it.

Anywho, if you like good food, good atmosphere, and nice servers, Russell Street Bar-B-Que is the place to go. The next time you're thinking of dining out, check them out. And say hi to Cousin Caryn!

Oh and you have Hannah's approval. She may not be able to eat BBQ yet, but she already gives her thumbs up. Thanks for the outfit Caryn!!

Quick Update

It's been a while. Life has been pretty hectic lately. Bill's been working a lot of hours and I've been pretty busy at work too. This just makes for longer days for the both of us.

The kids are great though! Jae is learning so much and he's got such the sense of humor. He's still in swimming lessons until November. We will probably stop for the holidays and start back up in the new year. I've signed him up for a 'kids sports' class at Conestoga Rec Center that goes until November too. This class will introduce him to a variety of sports ie. basketball, soccer, volleyball, baseball, etc. I think he will like this (he's got a very good arm). He did very well in the tumbling class that he was in over the summer.

Hannah is almost 7 months and she's sitting up by herself, she's eating solids, and drinking milk like a champ. She's still sleeping through the night and continues to take 30 min naps (sometimes wish they were longer) every couple of hours. She offers smiles like it's nobody's business and loves getting hugs from mommy. She still has her blue/gray eyes, she blows raspberries nonstop and babbles away. She loves watching Jae and will follow him around the room with her eyes. Everytime he dances/jumps it brings a smile to her face.

We are definitely blessed to have such wonderful kids!

Cary Brothers

I know, once again, I'm behind the times in music. I've actually known about this guy for a while now, but am just starting to get into him. I think the creation of the ipod is wonderful. Now that I have one, I'm finding myself listening to a lot more music than I used to. I never listen to music unless I'm in the car (which, now I don't turn on the radio b/c I'd rather talk to Jae) so I only listen to it on my way to work after dropping off the kids and on my way home..a total of about 30 min a day!

Anyway, since I've gotten my ipod, Bill and I have downloaded all of our cd's and I've also downloaded some additional music thanks to handy dandy gift cards.

So I've been following this guy on MySpace for a while and I like his sound, but since I only listen to music every now and then, I never really paid attention.

So I'm sitting at work and I've got the ipod on shuffle and the song "Ride" comes on and I realize that I really like it! For those of you who have watched the movie "Garden State - the song Blue Eyes" will probably recognize his voice. If you are a fan of Joshua Radin, you will know of/like Cary Brothers.

Check him out at http://www.carybrothers.com/

You won't be sorry.