Team Ledet

If you know anything about me, you know I love American Idol. Love it.
If you watch it, you know how Joshua Ledet is a favorite.  He is certainly one of my favorites because he is absolutely awesome.
Take a look at this incredible performance he did of "When A Man Loves A Woman":

W-O-W!!!!!

And here is Joshua with another brilliant performance of "Without You."
I remember this as a young girl and I've loved it ever since.  Harry Nilsson sang it back then.  I didn't think anyone could ever sing it as well as Nilsson...that is, until I heard Joshua sing it.

(Mariah Carey also sang it and I actually don't like the way Mariah sings it, but that's my personal opinion.)

Joshua does an an amazing job.  Here is the video I've mentioned another female contestant with a beautiful voice.  And her voice is beautiful but if the choice were mine, Joshua would win.  Hands down.

I think I am such a fan because besides his amazing talent, he seems like such a sweet and wholesome young man.  I think he deserves to win.

Jennifer Lopez summed it up best with her comment of:

"The best thing I have ever seen on American Idol."

I agree.

I spy

Most anyone with children can tell you they've played I Spy a time or two with their kids.  You know these books with the amazing picture with tons of hidden "things" you have to look for:

(Picture via Google Images)

I know I have.
Well, the last week or so, I've been kind of playing it again.  By myself.  This time it's because for the last week or so, I've been Spying things.  Lots of things, such as:
This Robin hanging out on the fence:

 He actually hung out there for quite a while and since I happened to have my camera with me, Mr. Robin had a little impromptu photo shoot.  Isn't he handsome?  I think Yes. (:

Later in the week, I totally Spy'd an epic Redneck Moment for us after I Spy'd this on our drive home from Wyoming (!):

(Picture via Google Image)

Yummy!

Ok, I didn't technically see (not to mention smell) a beautifully stuffed turkey with all the dressings.

This is what I actually Spy'd:

A turkey!!!  On the side of the road!
And I may or may not have yelled "STOP!!!" to the hubby while he was driving.
Ok, Ok, and he may or may not have slowed down and (cough) made a U-Turn (cough)..

Cay you believe there was a turkey sitting on the side of the road??!!  Well, he was.
Then he RAN away.  Fast.

Oh well...the turkey running away was probably for the best.  I mean, seriously.......where in the hell would I have kept the damned thing until November?
(:

Oh, another interesting and exciting I Spy moment for me this past week?  Cyndi Lauper (!)  That's right.  I am pretty sure it was her I saw in Wyoming.  I even pointed her out the hubs, but he didn't think it was her.  Now, you have to understand that when he thinks of Ms. Lauper, he probably visualizes her in her heyday, which was of course, way back in the 80s, when she looked like this:

(Picture via Google Image)

Who can forget the She's So Unusual album with these songs, just to name a few?:
Time After Time
Girls Just Want To Have Fun
She Bop
When You Were Mine
Money Changes Everything
Ahhh...the memories of your youth (:

I didn't have the album.  I actually had it in cassette and let me tell you...I must have listened to that cassette 18+ million times.  I L-O-V-E-D every song, which was so awesome!  Who remembers buying the cassette for a song you heard on the radio and loved, but you hated all of the other songs (?)  It happened to me all of the time and it was so disappointing.  So Cyndi's album was very special to me.


Anyway, this is the lady I Spy'd:

The hubs tells me I am mistaken, but I think she is one and the same.  I think he's just not that good at playing I Spy... What do you think?

Have an awesome day, because I Spy a great Saturday for anyone reading this post!
(:

Taps

Yesterday was a day of unity, sorrow and incredible pride.

Yesterday, we attended the funeral for my tio (uncle) Ebaristo.

My tio was a very soft-spoken man.  He was a good, family man who married the love of his life, raised his sons and was always kept himself busy on DIY projects on his house.  He taught himself to play guitar, and even during his final days, when he was so incredibly sick and so weak, he would be caught playing air guitar in his bed at hospice and tapping his foot(!)

The mass at the church was beautiful and the singer/guitarist was I.N.C.R.E.D.I.B.L.E

I seriously could have sat there and listened to her all day.

Well, after serving 20 years in the United States Air Force, he was given full military honors at his funeral.

Here are the six USAF Honor Guards ready to serve as the casket team.

The perfect folding of the United States flag that draped his casket.

Did you know each fold holds a meaning?  They do:

Fold 1: Life on earth;

Fold 2: Eternal life;

Fold 3: The veteran who gave a portion of his life for the defense of the United States;

Fold 4: Humanity's weaker nation and the American's reliance on God during both peacetime and wartime;

Fold 5: Tribute to our country;

Fold 6: The state of the American's heart;

Fold 7: The United States Armed Forces;

Fold 8: Tribute to the one who entered into the valley of the shadow of death that humanity might see the light of day;

Fold 9: A tribute to motherhood;

Fold 10: A tribute to fatherhood;

Fold 11: The eleventh fold, in the eyes of a Jewish citizen, represents the lower portion of the seal of King David and King Solomon, and glorifies, in their eyes, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Fold 12: The twelfth fold, in the eyes of a Christian citizen, represents an emblem of eternity and glorifies, in their eyes, God the Father, the Son, and Holy Ghost.

  
Here is the folded flag in the shape of a bicorne hat:

The firing of the volley shots as a salute:

Then the lone bugler played "Taps":

"On behalf of the President of the United States, the Department of the Air Force, and a grateful nation, we offer this flag for the faithful and dedicated service of Ebaristo Aguilar."

My tia was then presented with the three spent shell casings from the volley shots.  I love this picture because my tia is holding the United States flag, the crucifix and the shell casings:

 We are very proud of you,Tio.  Thank you for being such a wonderful husband to my tia, such a good dad to your sons and thank you for serving our country.

December 26, 1934-March 26, 2012

May you Rest in Peace.

Sticker time!

My math professor handed out our graded tests today and here's mine:

Apparently, gold stars are used at university levels. HA!

There were two parts to the test, the first part was worth 200 points and the second was worth 300 points, plus there were a couple extra credit problems.  I was very pleased with the A on the test, but I was even more pleased with the "progress report" we received showing where we stand in the class for the semester:

I may or may not have given myself a little pat on the back (:

Hope your day has been awesome as well.

Marko's misadventures..

The hubs picked up the kids from school and then they picked me up from my school.  The second I got to the Jeep, I heard all about Marko jumping a hurdle in PE and landing wrong on his foot.  I had him take his shoe off and his foot instantly swelled up.  Poor guy was in a lot of pain.
Off we went to Urgent Care where, after an hour and a half, the doctor told us that he could see what appears to be a hairline fracture in his ankle.  He also said that he would consult with the orthopedic doctor in the morning to confirm whether or not it is in fact a fracture.

So they sent him home with this:

He and Tita were actually excited when the nurse wrapped the purple gauze on it because purple is their school color.  Gotta show that school spirit anyway you can! (:

When we finally got home, we helped him to his bed where he played a 3D game for a while.

I don't know if anyone reads this, but if you do, please pray for my son's foot to heal quickly and that it not be fractured.

Thanks.

prepping for Easter!

I L-O-V-E Easter.  I love all of the beautiful pastel colors you see in just about any store you walk into during the weeks leading up to Easter.  I love the traditions and the way the church is decorated for such an important day.  I love going to church on Palm Sunday and receiving the palms and I love Easter mass.
I love Easter baskets and I love to see little girls wearing their brand-new white patent leather shoes and their beautiful Spring dresses and little boys with their new Easter outfit and their new black dress shoes looking so handsome.  I remember seeing my Gabriella wearing hers when she was little.  Marko looked so handsome too.    As a matter of fact, I even love the way the word Easter looks.  Yeah.  I'm that weirdo.
Anyway, I pulled some of my Easter decor out and I'm just giddy over their awesomeness.  There is no rhyme or reason for the order of the pictures, BTW.

These are the eggs I wrote on last year and hung on the mirror.  I was not the brain behind this little creation, I saw it on pinterest I think, but at the time, I was even more blogosphere illiterate than I am now, so I didn't know how to link it.  I know!

 Tita and I made the glitter eggs by using double-sided tape and dipping them in a sandwich bag with a little glitter inside.  This might very well be my favorite egg this year (:

The eggs are nestled in a real bird's nest!  And no, I did not evict a bird family to get my hands on it.  My friend Lori found it in her yard last year and was going to throw it away!

Isn't it awesome??!!  I love it.

I even made a cross out of pages of a magazine.   I got my inspiration here. 

Little Julian came over tonight while I was in class and he didn't realize the eggs were fragile, so a couple of eggs broke.  Before I even got home, he, Tita and grandpa painted me some more eggs.  Aren't they beautiful??!!

How adorable is this little paper chick's tail?! Love it!

It isn't a whole lot of decorations, but I think I'm finished for this year.

Although.....Easter is still two weeks away...

(:

WTH??

Today's lecture in my journalism class touched on law and ethics as a reporter, the First Amendment, etc.  It was a pretty common lecture for that class.
From your very first journalism class your professor will start pounding Responsible Journalist "rules" into students' heads, such as what is legal vs. illegal while reporting and also what is ethical and what is not.
The professor mentioned (again) how ethics aren't "laws," but rather "what you ought to do."  She used the classic example of how unethical it is to yell "Fire!" in a crowded theater.
I seriously thought I was in kindergarten again when one student raised their hand and said "You mean you can't yell 'Fire!' in a crowded theater?"
There were giggles as the professor said "No."

The professor continued with her lecture and the same student again raised their hand and said "Umm.........So......I can't yell 'Fire!' in a crowded theater even if there IS a fire?"

GA!!

I wish I were kidding, but unfortunately I am not.

I hope your day has been better than mine.

My sonshine (:

I need to brag on my favorite boy in the whole world: My son Marko.
Marko is 13-years-old, so handsome, so amazing, so smart, so talented and just so, you know, plain awesome.
He taught himself to play guitar and he is very, very good at it!  I love listening to him play.

He's playing his acoustic guitar before leaving for school in this picture.  Gotta live by that motto of Practice makes Perfect (!)

Not only are his self-taught guitar skills amazing, but have I told you how he is also an INCREDIBLE artist?  I think I have.  And yes, THAT talent is also self-taught. 

I first noticed his natural artistic talent when he was about 2 1/2 years-old.  He loved to dance to Michael Jackson's music and I even made him a sequined jacket and glove.  He NEVER wanted to take them off!  He danced every single day.  All day long.
He also loved to color like most 2-year-olds and he LOVED this movie:

Anyone with toddlers can tell you that when your toddler likes a movie, you will literally watch that movie 24/7.  Right?
Since his favorite things when he was this age was "Spirit" and coloring, he would color while watching the movie.  I'll never forget the day when he proudly brought me his first masterpiece.  He ran to the kitchen with it and he was so happy about it he couldn't stand it.  He said "Honey, Honey, Spirit!!"
(Yes, my babies both called me Honey.  I don't know why, they just did.  They now call me Mom, but still refer to me as Honey when they mention me in conversation with someone else.)
Anyway, here is his masterpiece:

I excitedly told him how awesome it was and how proud I was of him!  I'll never forget his beautiful smile and how proud he was when I grabbed a magnet to put it on the front of our refrigerator.  I'd catch him walking by the kitchen just to see his masterpiece on the fridge.  I remember I asked him why Spirit had so many legs and my beautiful baby said "Running!"

Duh.
I was amazed at how at his age perceived Spirit's legs while running and that he thought to actually draw them the way he visioned it.  I absolutely treasure this drawing.

I am so proud of him.
This is a drawing he did last weekend:

Pretty amazing, huh?
I believe my son has sketched every single picture ever taken of Bob Marley.  (Not kidding.)
Oh, and I must mention that all of my son's talent, of course, comes from (cough) my side (cough) of the family (:
I love you Marko.  And I am so proud to be your mama.

You truly are my SONshine. (:

Birthday girl (:

Today is my mom's birthday.
So I want to wish her a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!
I went to Nebraska last weekend to visit family.  That seriously deserves it's own post (!), but anyway, one of my aunts brought old pictures she had for us to look at.
Imagine my excitement when I ran across this one:

This is a picture of me and my mama when I was 10-months-old.  I will treasure this picture always.
I love my mom very much and thank God for allowing me the privilege of being her daughter.  She is an amazing, hard-working, strong woman.
Happy Birthday Mom!  I wish you an excellent day, happiness always, health, and that God bless you with many, many more birthdays.

xoxo,