2008 October « Smalls

Katie & Dan

October 30, 2008 at 4:26 pm | In Family | Leave a Comment

I received some exciting news on Tuesday that my big sister Katie is engaged!

Congratulations Katie & Dan! I can’t wait for the big day!

“Oh, I’m with the vampires, of course.”

October 22, 2008 at 3:47 pm | In Friends, Random Thoughts | 1 Comment
Tags: Books, Twilight, Twilight Saga, Vampires

A couple weeks ago my friend Kelly came up to me at church: “Oh my gosh, Meghan, have you read the Twilight series? You have to read them!” I had never heard of the books before, but I’ve gotten some good recommendations from her in the past so I made a mental note to add them to my never ending reading list. The last couple times Eric and I have been at Target, I saw the books and thought about getting the first one, but I already had a few other books at home that I wanted to read. Well, Eric and I made a stop at Target before meeting up with his friend at Starbucks so they could study some engineering stuff. I decided to get the first book, Twilight, while at Target and then it would give me something to do at Starbucks. I read two chapters while waiting on Eric and then three more at home later that night (this was Monday). Tuesday night I finished the book. Oh my gosh, you have to read this book! It is SO good, I could not put it down. During my lunch break today I went back to get the next two books, but they only had #2 in stock in paperback. I’m one of those people that I can not have half paperback and half hardcover books in a series, that’s just not right. I’ll just have to wait until I can get paperback versions of the other two. But seriously, if you haven’t read this book yet I think you should. I give it a solid two thumbs up!

Fireproof

October 18, 2008 at 10:19 am | In Friends, Random Thoughts | Leave a Comment
Tags: Fireproof, Friends, Movies

Last night Eric and I went with some friends of ours to see the movie Fireproof. This movie was fantastic! If you are married, or want to be married, you really should go see this movie. Below is one of the songs that was in the movie and it is such a beautiful song. Hope you enjoy!

Bug Central!

October 16, 2008 at 10:30 pm | In Random Thoughts | Leave a Comment
Tags: Bugs, Silver Fish, Squash Bugs

This afternoon, I was quietly sitting on the couch enjoying my lunch while watching an episode of 7th Heaven. All of a sudden, I see a big, black bug fly out from behind the TV to the fireplace. I started to freak out just a bit, but then realized that Eric was not home to take care of this thing so I needed to calm down and try and get it out of the apartment! The bug landed on the handle of our fireplace broom, which was right by the wall and not the best place to try and trap the bug. By this time, Maddy was thrilled with our new friend and was doing all she could to try and get it. I ended up getting a small ziplock container and almost got it in there when it decided to fly away! That freaked me out again but thankfully the bug landed on the floor and I was able to trap him! But then I had to wait for it to climb up the sides of the little container so I could get the lid underneath and trap it before it flew away again. After a few minutes and some coaxing on my end, I was able to trap him and take him outside (I left the container on the deck and then waited until Eric came home for the release. I didn’t want to risk the bug flying onto me!).

I did some research and discovered this was a squash bug. But this was not the end of the bug day. This afternoon I had FOUR more of these squash bugs land on the screen of the window by my desk. I also had a grasshopper come visit me this afternoon on my window. This evening, Eric had an encounter with a silverfish that took a stroll down his leg before taking a swim down the drain.

Tuesday Trivia

October 14, 2008 at 8:43 pm | In Tuesday Trivia | Leave a Comment
Tags: Candy, Jelly beans, Jelly Belly, Memories

Growing up, we would often make weekend trips during the summer to our grandparent’s cottage in Bayfield, Ontario. A visit was never complete without a trip into town to the local gift shop to get a bag of Jelly Bellys. If you’ve never had Jelly Bellys before, you need to try them. They are the best jelly beans in the world! It is a tradition for my mom to give boxes of them to our neighbors and friends for Christmas. Yum yum yum! Below are some fun facts about Jelly Belly!

~ Jelly Belly produces 34 million pounds of candy each year!

~ Jelly Bellys were endorsed by former President Ronald Reagan who kept a jar of them on his desk in the White House and on Air Force One. Pres. Reagan also made them the first jelly beans in outer space, sending them on the 1983 Challenger shuttle as a surprise for the astronauts.

~ The first flavors were Very Cherry, Tangerine, Lemon, Green Apple, Grape, Licorice, Root Beer and Cream Soda.

~ Traditional jelly beans started out with plain, uncolored centers that were sweetened with sugar. Only the outer candy coating was colored and flavored. The Jelly Belly Candy Company decided to produce a superior jelly bean to set itself off from traditional jelly beans. The centers for the company’s mini jelly bean were colored and flavored. This flavor enhancing process was also used on the outer candy shell. With the new generation of Jelly Belly beans the company used real fruit juices and natural flavors when possible to boost the taste experience further. The finished Jelly Belly beans contained about half the sugar of the regular jelly bean, and were more flavorful than the generic jelly beans sold in stores.

My favorite Jelly Bellys include Juicy Pear, Buttered Popcorn, Raspberry and Watermelon. What are your favorite flavors?