Archive for the 'Family Portrait' Category

September 15, 2009 | Family Portrait,How coolio is THAT?,Life in General,The 4-1-1 on Me,Weekend Wrap-Up

To celebrate our 3yr anniversary, Mr. Maul and I went to Las Vegas . We took Friday off, drove down and came back Sunday. So here’s what we did:

FRIDAY –

We stopped at the Hoover Dam. TRANSFORMERS was filmed there, y’know.

Got to Vegas a little after 3, checked into our hotel, Excalibur, then explored our surroundings a little bit, trying to get ideas for what we wanted to do. That night, we went to dinner at Cathouse in the Luxor:

This restaurant was designed to look like a bordello. The setting was very intimate and it was where I had my very first real alcoholic drink. I say real because I am not a drinker. I don’t like the taste of hard alcohol, wine, beer, wine coolers, etc. The only alcoholic drink I’ve ever really liked is sangria. And Olive Garden makes the best ones. The only reason I can drink that is because the taste of the alcohol is heavily masked by additional stuff. Taking that into consideration, the bartender gave me a couple of choices that I could handle without gagging, so I tried a Strawberry Blonde (Ketel One vodka, strawberry puree and something else). It wasn’t too bad.

I had a few good sips before I started to feel tired. Thank goodness we had coffee with dessert (little red velvet cupcakes, btw). I had sauteed garlic shrimp pasta for dinner and Mr. Maul had grilled tuna, seared raw (ewww, gross!).

After dinner we walked over to New York, New York Hotel where I encountered show girls:

a little touristy kiosk that had this funky headpiece:

and Gallagher’s Steakhouse, which, according to Mr. Maul, has the best steaks he’s ever eaten:

On the way back to the hotel, we got some good shots of the Statue of Liberty:

and the special memorial for the firefighters and police officers who lost their lives at 9/11:

There were plaques placed at certain intervals, of quotes made by famous people, and I had Mr. Maul take a picture of two of them. This first one is by Martin Luther King, Jr.:

And it says:

“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in the moment of comfort, but where he stands in times of challenge and controversy.”

The other quote is by Nelson Mandela:

and it says:

“There is no easy walk to freedom anywhere, and many of us will have to pass through the valley of the shadow of death again and again before we reach the mountaintop of our desires.”

We also got some night shots of the, well, nightlife:

and our hotel:

But wait, there’s more (more…)

Technorati Tags: Las Vegas, Hoover Dam, TRANSFORMERS, Excalibur, Cathouse, Luxor, Olive Garden, New York, New York Hotel, Gallagher’s Steakhouse, Statue of Liberty, Martin Luther King, Jr, Nelson Mandela

September 9, 2009 | Family Portrait

It’s our 3 yr anniversary today! My how time flies. When I set our wedding date 3 yrs ago, I wasn’t thinking about the significance of the date 2 days later (9/11), nor was I thinking about the significance of another important date the following week: Mr. Maul’s birthday (9/16).

That’s just it. I wasn’t thinking. LOL.

I just wanted to a day that wasn’t going to be boiling hot. A day like that is hard to find in Arizona, needless to say. And I didn’t accomplish that on our wedding day. The fact that it rained in the morning that day didn’t make it any easier. He was still sweating. LOL. Literally, most definitely, and maybe a little figuratively, too.

We met online at Matchmaker.com.

Then we met face-to-face purely by chance at a nightclub in Scottsdale (The Buzz). I had no idea he was going to be there and vice versa. We hadn’t even talked on the phone yet!

I met him at a time when I was fed up with dating and was resigned to the fact that I would be living by myself. And I was okay with that. Seriously. I like my quiet time. LOL.

We have our moments, but he keeps me grounded. And he cooks. What more can I ask for, eh?

Tonight is just going to be a normal night at home, but we really plan to celebrate this weekend. We’re going to get a sitter for the “kid” and kick up our heels in Sin City.

Happy anniversary to us!

Technorati Tags: Arizona, Matchmaker.com, Scottsdale, The Buzz

August 4, 2009 | Family Portrait,Life in General,The 4-1-1 on Me

We were born 2 yrs and 2 days apart.

My mother used to dress us alike when we were kids.

We had shared birthday parties until we were old enough to say “Uh, no, we want our own parties”.

We fought over stupid, little things but grew closer as we got older

If I could just find a way
To make it so that you were right here…
right now

It was just the two of us. No other siblings.

We survived a car accident in my Dad’s mongo LTD.

When we laugh, it sounds like surround sound.

We shared secrets. And kept several.

She moved out of the house when she turned 18. I was devastated.

The time is passing so slowly now…
Guess that’s my life without you

Her first child was born the year I graduated from high school.

Her second child was born 4 years later, 5 days after my birthday. 7 days after hers.

They’re 16 and 20 now. An aspiring athlete and a wannabe actress.

So I’ll just hang around
And find some things to do
To take my mind off missing you…

She stood up with me at my wedding nearly 3 yrs ago.

We’ve never been apart our whole lives.

Even though we lived in different parts of the city, the comfort was in the knowing. Knowing that I could get in my car to see her.

My sister’s on the road right now with her husband and stepson; on her way to starting a new life in Orlando.

She’s sending “progress” texts.

I’m devastated. Again.

This is a lot harder than I thought it would be.

But the truth remains you’re
Gone…you’re ..gone ..you’re gone

*lyric snippets from “Gone” by N’SYNC

Technorati Tags: Orlando, Gone, N’SYNC

July 28, 2009 | Family Portrait,Life in General,Random Thoughts

Dessert is always best as dinner. My sister and brother-in-law are moving to Orlando (I’ll be blogging about that more this weekend), so me, Mr. Maul, and my parents met them at Cold Stone Creamery at 6pm. Mr. Maul and I hadn’t eaten dinner yet—no time—so I had a little cup of Our Strawberry Blonde ice cream (strawberry ice cream, graham cracker crust crumbles, strawberries, whipped cream). It was quite good.

One should always have dessert before dinner.

Technorati Tags: Orlando, Cold Stone Creamery, Our Strawberry Blonde

June 29, 2009 | Book One,Book Stuff,contests,Draven Atreides,Draven Atreides, Teenage Informant Series,Family Portrait,Life in General,Movie Queue,The 4-1-1 on Me,Weekend Wrap-Up,Writing Movements

This weekend we had our family reunion. It was so much fun, despite the small size. We were lucky to get as many as we did (31 total), but like I said, we all had a great time. My sister and I saw a cousin we hadn’t seen since we were in high school! It was crazy, but he still looks the same, just a little more filled out. I wish I had pics to show you, but my cousin has a lot of work ahead of her in posting pics and creating the DVD. Can’t wait for the next one in 2011. Wherever that may be.

I saw TRANSFORMERS 2: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN twice this weekend. Despite the length and the crappy reviews from the movie critics, it had a blockbuster opening weekend. It was too long and I thought the first one was better. I give it 3 Snaps. What about you?

Writing Movements - no writing last week. I’m done with The Lesson and will now have to incorporate it into the story. Meanwhile, you still have time to vote on whether or not I should change Draven’s last name. I’ve been getting some good suggestions. Head on over to my FUN STUFF page and give me your two cents. Oh, and the catch, of course, is that only teens can vote. Sorry.

This is a short but sweet post, folks. I think I’m still trying to recover from the weekend. How was yours?

Technorati Tags: TRANSFORMERS 2: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN