Wordless Wednesday: Ice Fishing Competition

An explanation for those of you who have never seen this phenomenon. There’s an ice fishing competition happening on Maple Lake. So everyone drives out onto the lake (like its NO BIG DEAL), sets up their fish house or a bucket, and then they try to catch the biggest fish. Yep, those are porta potties on the lake. Yes, the lines and lines of cars are ALL going onto the lake. Yes, there was a fire department there in case someone (or the entire fishing town) went into the water. Those items in the red holder are ice augers. Sometimes when the ice is too thick you have to power drill through it. Of course, there was the polar bear plunge that took place in that cut out piece of ice. NO thanks is what I say.

Make sure to check out these other Wordless Wednesday participants: 5 Minutes for Mom, That Bald Chick, and Mom Spotted.

My Superbowl Recap

I’ve been in Minnesota for nearly 13 yrs. I haven’t developed an huge following for the Vikings. Sorry guys. The last couple of years for the Vikings hasn’t been so great. In fact I’ve called how the games would go the last 2 yrs.

So, when I heard the Greenbay Packers were heading to the Superbowl, I was pretty excited. Maybe it’s because Brett Favre wasn’t playing with them this year. Who knows.

Regardless, I placed my “bets” on the Packers even though everything I was hearing was saying the Pittsburg Steelers would take it easily.

As soon as I saw the Packers win the coin toss I tweeted that for me it was a great sign. They were starting off with possession of the ball and I hoped that would be indicative of what was to come.

My watching of the game was pretty 1/2 and half with watching everyone tweeting on Twitter. I have to admit, I’m glad I missed a lot of the tweets because there was so much swearing. So irritating. There was also a number of people from other countries putting their 2 cents into the mix. It was fun connecting with people who were rooting for the Packers. I wonder if #Packers or #superbowl ever trended on Twitter.

The first Quarter and a half was really good and in favor of the Packers. A couple of interceptions gave Greenbay the opportunity to get touchdowns. At the end of the 2nd qtr the Steelers started revving it up and even though Greenbay was on top as they went into halftime Pittsburg was putting on the heat.

The halftime show. Hmmm, not really sure what to say about that. Ok, I do. I personally liked it. I’m not a big halftime watcher. It’s my break time. The Black Eyed Peas sang live. That part I loved. It gets so tiring nothing being live anymore. One person tweeted something to the effect that studios rework the musicians sound so much they don’t sound “good” when they sing live and obviously that would be true.

I thought they did great for singing live. They had Usher and Slash join in during a couple of the songs. I did cringe a bit when Fergie started singing Guns N Roses’ Sweet Child of Mine. It didn’t work for me. Their costumes were very Tron-ish, too. Lots of light show going on. Doodle loved that they sang the song I’ve Got A Feeling because it’s the song they play for the summer college baseball team. BUT, and this is a big but, my 7yo kept asking me how long the singing was going to last. He was so bored and every time they switched to a new song he’d get his hopes up that the game would start playing only to be dashed by them moving into a new song. LOL

The third quarter the Steelers came on very strong and I swear I thought the Packers had left the 1st half team in the locker room and sent out an entirely new team. It was the craziest thing. The Steelers started racking up the points and I saw the gap in the score close to a 3 pt lead for Greenbay. Holy cow it was stressful.

Mix into that stress, I was trying to watch for the hidden code for the Angry Birds app that my son loves to play on my Droid2. A few of us had tweeted back and forth about it. It finally came on and I sat glued in front of the tv looking for a code that I had no idea what it would look like. The commercial went so fast I saw a number on a crate, but didn’t catch it. So I went to Twitter and asked the people I’d been chatting with to see if they’d seen it. Sure enough they had and one of them tweeted it to me. Thank Goodness. Doodle would’ve killed me if I hadn’t gotten that code. LOL

The last 7 minutes of the 4th quarter nearly did me in! I couldn’t believe how close this game had come. Honestly, I thought the Steelers were going to come in under the wire, get the last touchdown, and the game would be over. My stomach was just in knots! I knew the only way we were going to win this game was with another turnover and for the Packers to get another TD. Well, they were able to get a field goal to make a 6 pt lead. That was enough for the Packers to take home the Vince Lombardi trophy.

The Packers went in as the underdogs and came out Superbowl champs. Aaron Rodgers was named the MVP and I thought Greg Jennings should’ve gotten it. In my opinion he was the play maker.

All in all this was a great game to watch. It came really close and got a lot of people sitting on the edge of their seats! It was awesome and I’m excited to do it again next year. Now, on to the MLB and hoping the Twins have a great year!

Chevy Superbowl Ads: Check Out These Videos

I was so stoked to be able to see these Chevy commercials before the Superbowl and to pass them on to you! Do you have a favorite? I think my boys would like the Transformers commercial while I like the Chevy Cruz for the status updates you can make with OnStar!

I’m participating with BzzAgent in sharing these YouTube Videos. If I’m one of the top 100 Agents to drive traffic to view these I can win a Flip UltraHD! AAHHHH

Thanks in advance for checking them out!

Project 52: Week 5

Yep, I did it again. I forgot to take photos this week. Actually there really wasn’t anything exciting to take photos of. I did take a few pictures of my son’s basketball games today that went very poorly. These boys try so hard, but the other teams, I don’t know they just get the shots. We have one boy who always gets these shots that just POP out of the hoop constantly. It’s so frustrating!

Here’s Buddy doing his best to play the game:

Here’s a preview of some photos to come on Wordless Wednesday. You won’t believe it if you’re not used to this kind of thing.

Check out the rest of the participants at Life as a CEO.

Lady In Waiting by Susan Meissner GIVEAWAY

Lady in Waiting
by Susan Meissner
ISBN: 9780307458834
Publisher: WaterBrook Press

About the Book:

Love is a choice you make every day.

Content in her comfortable marriage of twenty-two years, Jane Lindsay had never expected to watch her husband, Brad, pack his belongings and walk out the door of their Manhattan home. But when it happens, she feels powerless to stop him and the course of events that follow Brad’s departure.

Jane finds an old ring in a box of relics from a British jumble sale and discovers a Latin inscription in the band along with just one recognizable word: Jane. Feeling an instant connection to the mysterious ring bearing her namesake, Jane begins a journey to learn more about the ring—and perhaps about herself.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In the sixteenth-century, Lucy Day becomes the dressmaker to Lady Jane Grey, an innocent young woman whose fate seems to be controlled by a dangerous political and religious climate, one threatening to deny her true love and pursuit of her own interests.

As the stories of both Janes dovetail through the journey of one ring, it becomes clear that each woman has far more infl uence over her life than she once imagined. It all comes down to the choices each makes despite the realities they face.

My Review

If you have not read a Susan Meissner book you are missing out! I have read 3 of her books and have loved each of them! This one will probably be in my top 5 books of 2010. I was so enraptured with the story! I was even crying at one part I was so taken with the character’s lives!

We meet Jane who has just separated from her husband, sort of. He needs a break. Jane is floundering because she is so used to someone making all the decisions in her life. First her parents, then her husband. Then she receives a box from a gal in England who sends her antiques for her aunt’s shop. Inside one of the books she finds a treasure linked to the past.

Lucy becomes a seamstress for Lady Jane, who is only 11 yrs old. Lucy is only a few years older than her. Lady Jane and Lucy develop a sweet relationship that is held secret because Lucy is the hired help. Lucy spends her life sewing for Lady Jane and in a way grow up together. Lady Jane spends her life being tossed around like a rag doll because everyone around her makes her decisions for her as well.

This is what a love about Susan’s books. She goes back and forth seamlessly from the present and the past. She creates these characters we come to care about and hope for. We can see what’s coming and makes us want to rewrite history so it doesn’t happen all over again. It’s an interesting format for a book, but one I love tremendously and find Susan has a gift for this type of writing.

About the Author

Susan Meissner has spent her lifetime as a writer, starting with her first poem at the age of four. She is the award-winning author of The Shape of Mercy, White Picket Fences, and many other novels. When she’s not writing, she directs the small groups and connection ministries at her San Diego church. She and her pastor husband are the parents of four young adults. Visit her Web site at http://www.susanmeissner.com/.

Here’s how to enter to win:

Required: Tell me what one book you are looking forward to reading this year.

Giveaway open to US residents only 18 yrs or older. Please leave your email in the required entry or have it available in your profile. No email/contact = No entry. Giveaway ends 2/20/11 at 11:59 PST. Winner has 48 hours to respond.

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I’d like to thank WaterBrook Multnomah and Susan Meissner for sending my copy for review. I will be giving away one of my copies.