crafting with blendy & becky: birdseed cakes

I found this month's project in my mom's Country Woman magazine. Blendy and I made these cute and easy birdseed cakes while watching the Oscars the other night. (I adapted the recipe from the one found here.)Step 1: Gather your supplies—bird seed (I picked up a $2 package at Wal-Mart), 2 packages unflavored gelatin (1/2 oz), waxed paper,...

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we "choose to lose"

Wish us luck. Blendy and I have just begun a diet. It's Chris Powell's carb cycling diet—he's the guy on Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition. Blendy is following a modified version of the diet, but I'm trying to follow it to a "t" (including the recommended exercises) ... for at least a month. Then I'll reevaluate. For now, though, I'm eating lots...

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happy birthday, blendy!

I don't know how it's possible, but my baby sister is turning 21 today! In honor of this momentous occasion, I thought I'd post a brief retrospective of her life ...The four siblings. I adored her then, and it shows how much I adore her now that I'm willing to post this picture from my ugly duckling phase!Elementary-age Blendy with our Grandpa Roth. High...

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media musings

It's time again to catch up on the media I've been consuming ...The Vow—I saw The Vow opening weekend with my sister and a friend. The story is about a woman (Rachel McAdams) who wakes up from a coma with no recollection of the last five years of her life—which included transforming from a conservative meat-loving law student to a free-spirited vegetarian...

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have you said this?

I came across a brilliant video today. Whether you read reviews or write them yourself, you've surely seen some of these phrases. And I must admit, I've used my fair share in my reviews. Enj...

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valentine's day

It's Valentine's Day. As a single woman, I'm supposed to loathe this day, right? Here's the thing, though: I don't. Do I wish that I had a significant other to make this day special? Of course. Do I sometimes fantasize about a secret admirer coming out of the woodwork to profess his love for me on this day of romance? Yes. (However, if this actually happened, I'd probably find myself creeped out beyond belief. It's a nice rom-com scenario, though!)...

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best books of 2011

I intended to post this before the new year ... obviously, I didn't quite make it!I read a ton of books in 2011. I reviewed 59 of them, and I probably read at least 10 that I didn't review. If you figure an average of 5 hours per book, that comes to a whopping 345 hours—or just more than 14 days! When you read as much as I do, it's hard to remember...

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it's dc Talk ... sort of!

I love dc Talk. This statement will come as no surprise to anyone who has known me very long. One of the biggest regrets from my teen years is that I never saw dc Talk live, and I've often said that I would travel ridiculous distances and spend insane amounts of money to see them on tour, should they ever decide to reunite. (Seeing them live made my "35 before 35" list—if sheer willpower could make them reunite, they'd be on tour tomorrow!)So in...

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goals for 2012: january update

Here's the first monthly check-in on my goals for the year. I'm happy to report that things are going fairly well!Read through the Bible. I am a little behind, which has happened just in the last week. The plan I'm on is set to finish up in September, though, so I have a few days to play with! The problem with this plan is that it's so intense (it takes about 40 minutes to do each day's reading) that catching up is difficult. I'm not sure if I'll...

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the. best. news.

A couple weeks ago, I wrote about Taylor Swift being offered the role of Eponine in the Les Misérables movie. Tonight, Les Mis fans breathed a collective sigh of relief—Swift will not be playing Eponine. (OK, so I didn't sigh so much as clap and cheer ...) Instead, the role has gone to Samantha Barks, who played Eponine in the 25th Anniversary Concert in 2010. She will be fabulous! &nb...

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