On Gratitude Part 2

I am grateful:

I am grateful for my Savior Jesus Christ. He is my dearest friend and my rock and my strength.

I am grateful for my handsome, passionate, intelligent husband and best friend.

I am grateful for a little boy who makes me want to be better every day (and who just won the Geography Bee in his class)

I am grateful for a little girl who is just like me and who keeps me on my toes

I am grateful for a calling that requires me to stretch and grow beyond any capability I have

I am grateful for dear friends who walk shoulder to shoulder with me through this life

I am grateful for my pain and weakness which helps me rely on the God who gives me breath

I am grateful for this beautiful holiday in which gratitude is celebrated and which reminds me that I need to remember to be grateful every day.

I wish you all a wonderful Thanksgiving and thank you for your friendship, your stories you have shared with me, and your talents in writing, photography and wit. I am grateful for all of you.

It's All About ME

Ok I got tagged by my cute new bloggy buddy Tink. So here are 8 facts about me that I know that you cannot exist another second without knowing!! Let me put you out of your misery...

1)People sometimes call me for random Hollywood facts. Can't remember who plays an obscure part in an obscure movie? I'm you girl. Even if I haven't seen the movie, odds are I still know about it. Yes, I follow entertainment news and not just current stuff. I love old Hollywood as well-classic movies rock!
2)My nickname is Clarabella Firewoman. I am ridiculously delighted with it! I picked it up one year at a little place called girls camp and it stuck. Before I knew it people knew me as Clara instead of Rachel. If you want to make my day call me Clara (weird I know) I guess in all my moving around it's from a time and place that holds the happiest memories for me.
3) So along with that I have moved 19 times in my life. I have lived in 4 different states and the longest I have lived anywhere is 4 years. That was hard for me in not establishing deep roots, but I have loved, loved, loved the opportunity of all the friendships I have made along the way.
4)I took acting lessons as a kid. We lived in So. CA and I tried out for a McDonald's commercial. I was so nervous, I laughed through the whole thing. Drat! I could have been a star...Unfortunately, my only time on stage has been in ward roadshows (once as a dancing road cone...my proudest moment-sniff)
5)I love to write. I have been writing since the second grade when I wrote my first poem entitled "I Love My Baby Brother." Pretty professional stuff. I belong to a writing group and we critique each others work and it's something I try to make a priority in my life.
6)I went to junior high with Jaleel White. Remember Steve Erkel?? (snort, snort) I ate lunch with him everyday before he played a famous TV nerd- back then he was only in Apple Jacks commercials...hopefully I wasn't his inspiration...you know Junior high is an awkward stage and all.
7)My hubby and I got stopped by the secret service for filming footage of the Senate chambers. Yes you just read that sentence correctly. Oh, you're NOT supposed to do that?! They confiscated the camera and the battery died right then. Shoot...um, we are really nice people...kinda dumb...don't kill us...or take away our social security number. Luckily, my hubby is a Steeler's fan (is that really lucky?) Apparently, they respected that and let us go. Phew!!
8)I once worked as the Boots and Jeans girl at Reams...it doesn't get any more ironic than that. It was my first job and if there is any one person in the world who shouldn't have had that job...it is me. "These snake skin boots have real leather uppers...and would you like a belt buckle the size of a dinner plate with that?" Good times...

I am going to tag 8 friends if you want to play: Kerri, Melissa, Mindi, Bonnie, Cami, Angie, Lyndy, and Kimberly

Pasty Bloodsuckers And The Women Who Love Them

I’m going to the midnight showing of Twilight. A woman rented out a theater…no screaming teenagers, just screaming mommies? I just found out the ticket includes pizza, candy and a water bottle (sweet) Heck she would just have me at the water bottle, but midnight sugar and cheese…priceless. I’m hoping we are all on our best behavior and that there’s no pushing, shoving, or snoring (cuz face it we’ve already had a full day and Robert Pattison isn’t enough to keep all of us awake.) I'm excited to be with friends and for the adventure of it. And if it’s not good (which would just be SHOCKING :) or if it is, which also would be a bit shocking) either way…I’m going to the midnight showing of TWILIGHT!!

PS- I’m really looking forward to seeing Daniel Craig...er, um... Quantum of Solace-anyone seen it yet and what did you think? Honestly, even if you hated it, I'm still going to need to go see Daniel Craig... Also I can’t wait to see The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. Read the book first, it’s fabulous!!

The World's Longest Sentence (English majors I'm apologizing now!)

You know when it's late at night and you've only got healthy snacks 'cuz you're addicted to sugar and you sneak up into your kid's room and quietly borrow...take...steal a Kitkat which turns into seven, but then they're all gone and you realize there's only jugi fruit and candy lips and he'll notice, oh he'll know his own mother is a thief, unless he thinks the baby did it and you make a promise to yourself that you'll buy a whole bag tomorrow and just dump it in his sack and he'll never know the difference and how awful that you're taking candy from well you know the proverbial phrase, but he's not a baby, and you'd never really take candy from a baby because she would just happily hand it to you and trade it for a binky, and you sigh with relief as you finish off the last of your baby's teddy grahams...yah, me too.

Kleptos and Ferretts and Dustpans...OH MY

Did the title suck you in??? Well, did it? I remember back in the day when I actually used to scrapbook :) that my favorite thing was the titles. I had such compelling ones like 'The Benjamin Bunch on a Bench' and 'Rub a Dub Dub There's a Bub in the Tub'. Professional, huh? But this fascinating bit of trivia actually has NOTHING to do with my actual post so here goes:


AHEM...Dear friends would you do me the honor of taking a short, yet informative multiple choice quiz? If you get all the answers right there is no real prize, except finally getting through this post...

What items are currently missing at casa Benjamin?

A-the remote control

B-daddy’s glasses

C-dustpan for the kitchen broom

D-mommy’s favorite concealer

E-all of the above and a bunch of things undiscovered as of this posting

What items have been “misplaced,” but later found?

A-most of mommy’s jewelry

B-all clean clothes folded in the purple bedroom’s drawers

C-dirty cups from the dishwasher

D-Conner’s homework

E-yes, you guessed it all of the above

Who is the perpetrator to these crimes?

A-a pack of nearsighted, makeup wearing, tv watching wolves

B-Wynona Ryder

C-a ferret infestation

D-Her-------------------)

E-all of the above, now wouldn’t that be funny?

What should the sentence be?

A-we tried jail, but she tore down her surroundings

B-three more years (she’ll outgrown kleptomania eventually)

C-give everything we own to the Goodwill

D-ACTUALLY BABY PROOF THE HOUSE????

E- enjoy every moment cuz it all goes by way too fast :D