Hey all! I have been informed by one of my loyal readers that I haven't updated in a while so I figured it was time for another posting. I don't have anything specific to type about, so this shall be a variety post :). After all my blog is called "Its All Random" so I guess its fitting. First of all let me notify you all of how my money saving challenge is going that I blogged about in my last post. We are beginning the 5th week of the month tomorrow, so I am up to date with my weekly challenges so far. I've only had to deposit a total of $10 to date, but its a start right. I know with the amounts getting higher it will be more of a challenge, but my debt is getting lower so I think I will be able to make it happen! I still think I am going to skip around weeks and get the biggest amounts deposited ASAP so I can just worry about the smaller amounts. Have any of you tried this challenge? How are you doing with it??
Next I was looking for suggestions or ideas of what to blog about. When I first started this blog, I had designated days for different topics ( My 5 Monday, YouTube Tuesday, Weekly Song Wednesday, etc). Clearly I have fallen off that regimen, but I am looking for new things to feature. I still will be featuring my favorite YouTube videos and songs I am loving, but not on a weekly basis. I am thinking about starting a "Flashback Friday" where I feature things that I loved in the past and now miss. You should all be aware of my love of the 90's since I featured a three part series on my favorite things from back then. Those postings also happen to be the most read posts from my blog, so clearly I am not the only one with a profound love for that decade. So with all that being said I think I am going to start "Flashback Fridays". Hopefully this Friday will be the beginning of that and I am crossing my fingers that it is a success!
Finally, I came across this article which I found to be extremely amusing. I seriously was reading it at 11:30 last night and actually laughing out loud. It is that awesome. Therefore I am going to share it with all of you. For my fellow 90's children you will get a kick out of this for sure. It is titled "22 Looks Justin Timberlake Needs To Bring Back Right Now" and it is complete with pictures which make it that much better. Enjoy!!!
Please, please, please leave me some comment love so that I know people are actually still reading my blog. It doesn't even have to be anything of substance if you don't want it to be. I will take anything!!!
Wow it has been almost 2 months since I have updated. That's just crazy!! I am back now though with a brand new "My 5 Monday". This week I will be counting down the TV news events that I remember most clearly. Now let me inform you all that I am 27 so I do not remember many important events such as the JFK or MLK assassination, landing on the moon, or anything that happened before 1995 basically since I was not born or very young still. With that being said, here are My 5:
Most Memorable TV News Events
5. President Obama Inaguration
Ok so let's be honest here, whether you love him or hate him, watching Obama being sworn in as President was definetly a historical moment. Go back 40 or 50 years and nobody ever thought they would see a black man become President of the United States. Clearly this was history in the making and nobody can say otherwise.
4. Princess Diana's Car Accident
I honestly remember coming home from the grocery store on a Saturday night when I was 13 and seeing the news about Princess Diana whenever I turned on the TV. Pretty sure this is the first major news event I can remember seeing on TV and I still remember exactly where I was when I found out.
3. Death (and funeral) of Michael Jackson
I remember being at Kohls and receiving a text message from CNN informing me that Michael Jackson had died. I couldn't believe it. As much controvesry that followed him, he without a doubt was one of the greatest artists of all time. I didn't really care for him too much before he died because of all the controversy, but I still love his music. Oh and seeing his daughter speak at his funeral was just heart breaking!
2. Bin Laden Dead
Once again I found out about this news event via text. As soon as I received it I remember turning the TV on to watch the news unfold live. I clearly remember it being a Sunday night and watching the coverage until about 1 in the morning. I knew I would be tired for work the next morning, but I just couldn't stop watching.
1. September 11, 2001
Well this is clearly the most memorable event to me and most likely everyone that is old enough to remember. I remember watching as the buildings collapsed in my trig class my senior year. Being I was only 17, I still didn't fully understand what was happening. As the day went on though I became much more aware how major this was. I am certain I will never forget 9/11/01. I'm sure the rest of the country won't either.
Have any of you fellow bloggers ever checked the stats of your blog to see what keywords are generating traffic?? If you haven't you should, it is both interesting and entertaining. I just checked mine for the week and 3 of the top searches are "Justin Verlander shirtless", "Rick Porcello Shirtless", and " Josh Harris shirtless". I should let you know in advance I don't have any pics of these guys without shirts. Sorry for your disappointment. I do have pics of them clothed, but no ab shots here. However, for you people looking for shots of Dane Cook, Justin Timberlake and Ryan Reynolds shirtless, you are in luck. You may find those pics by clicking HERE!!!!. For some added fun, I will add some more pics of gorgeous shirtless guys now.
William Levy
Adam Levine
Chris Powell
Firefighters (not sure where these guys work, or if they are even fireman, but they sure look good!)
So last night was the finale of American Idol. I'd have to say I was really glad to see it come. For some reason I just wasn't as into Idol as I had been in the past seasons. Maybe I need to take a season or two off like I did with Dancing with the Stars so I can get my obsession for it back. Therefore, now that it is over, I don't feel the obligation to dedicate 3 hours of my week anymore. Now even though I was glad for the end, I was also very happy with the ending. There were a few people I liked this season, but Phillip Phillips had been one of my faves the entire time. The fact that he wore whatever he wanted to, sang however he wanted to, and basically didn't change his style or image regardless of what people told him to do made me like him even more. Oh and the fact that the poor guy had been pretty sick with kidney problems the entire season, makes him even more impressive. Now I had liked pretty much all of Phillip's performances, but I'd have to say last week when he did "Beggin" and "We've Got Tonight" is what made me want him to win. Then when he sang "Home" on Tuesday night I LOVED it. I loved it so much that I am even thinking of downloading it from iTunes and actually paying $1.29 for it :). Jessica's song I didn't care for at all so I was really pulling for Phillip just so I could hear him sing that song again. And after 120 minutes of a bunch of performances and filler, a majority of which I could have done without, we got the best 7 minutes of the show, which you can watch below.
Now I must say I absolutely LOVE when the contestants sing their coronation song and end up crying before they finish it. Seriously. That sounds bad, but it is oh so true. So you can imagine how happy I was when Phillip, the guy who all season acted like he didn't care about anything pretty much, couldn't even come close to finishing his song because he was crying too much. BEST MOMENT OF THE SHOW!!! Congrats to Phillip and I wish him a speedy, healthy recovery from his upcoming kidney surgery and sincerely hope that he actually has a successful career ahead of him. Guy deserves it after being such a trooper the last five months and performing every single week.
While looking at Pinterest the other day, I found this HILARIOUS pin about why boy bands were better in the 90's. It made me laugh so much I just had to share it on my blog. So for all of you 90's kids and boy band fans, please check it out by clicking the link below. Actually check it out even if you aren't a 90s kid or boy band fan. It is guaranteed to make you laugh!!!
A little while back I posted about my new love of Pinterest and shared some of my favorite pins. Well its Saturday, I'm lounging in my sweats while watching my Tigers hopefully beat the Rangers, and I keep finding great new (to me) things on Pinterest so I figured I would share some more. If you like anything you see, feel free to click my little "Follow me on Pinterest" button at the top of my page :)
This is on my "Things to Make" board. It looks super easy to make and so cute!
"Dream Home" board. A pool and hot tub INSIDE. I WANT!!!!
"Gorgeous Guys" board. William Levy...please stay on DWTS as long as possible. Also please start acting in American entertainment!
"Old School" board. I seriously remember these toys from Happy Meals. I believe the chicken McNuggets turned into a dinosaur :)
"Words of Wisdom" board. I believe I saw somewhere that this quote was from John Lennon, but I may be wrong.
"Recipes and Food" board. White Chicken Enchilada's. I made these and they were so good and easy to make!!
"Smart Thinking" board. Decorating the back of bookshelf shelves with wallpaper or contact paper. I will be doing this!!
"Everything Else" board. This basically describes every trip of mine to Target!!
"My Style" board. I seriously love this handmade Detroit Tigers hoodie!!
Like what you see?? Follow me on Pinterest where you can be taken to the sources of all the images I posted :)
Well the title of my blog is "Its All Random", which is why I feel it is completely fine that I post this entry randomly :). Last night was the series finale of one of my fave shows "One Tree Hill". Now if you don't watch this show, you don't know how intense the entire (shortened) season has been. Well let me just say it has been pretty dramatic and action packed. That's why last night's calm, mellow finale was perfectly pleasing to me. Everyone ended up happy, which is just how I wanted it to end. The only thing that I was upset about this season was the removal of the iconic theme song "I Don't Wanna Be" by Gavin DeGraw. They hadn't played it the entire season during the credits. So therefore last night I was hoping they would use it since it was the final episode....but they didn't :(. Then I saw that the show was focused around live music acts and was hoping Gavin DeGraw would be one of the performers. Turns out he was. Not only did he perform two of his new songs, but the show and concert ended with the theme song to the show, with all the cast member singing along. Seriously, when I saw he was on the show I was secretly hoping for that exact ending, which means I was beyond happy when I saw that is exactly how it played out. Perfect ending to a great show if you ask me. Check it out for yourselves below. It has become one of my new favorites on YouTube :).
Well another month has past in 2012, so let's see how I have been doing on my goals for 2012 so far...
1. Blog more- In January I had 16 posts and in February I only had 6. Guess I slacked off a good deal last month. Need to get back blogging!!
2. Become More Organized- Hmmm this one is still a work in progress. I'm not LESS organized than I was though so I guess that's something. I'm hoping to use March and April to get a good deal of spring cleaning done, so in May I will see how successful I have been with this goal.
3. Shop Less- Eek!!! I did so well there for a while, but then Uncle Sam paid me my tax refund and I went a little...just a little! shop happy. Most of that money is in savings now though so I'm going to try to go back to my orignal plan of only buying one or two things on my wish list each pay period.
4.Try out a new recipe every two weeks- Well the every two weeks part hasn't been true, but I have made three new dishes, the taco casserole that I posted about, chocolate chip cookie dough dip, and chicken cheese roll ups, both of which I found on Pinterest. So we will consider this one partially successful.
5. Start couponing again- I have been using coupons everytime I go to the grocery store so we will call this goal a success so far :)
6. Donate to Charity Monthly- YAY a goal I have been 100% successful with so far!! January was to the World Wildlife Fund and February I donated to the National Wildlife Fund and renewed my membership in the Children's Miracle Network through the local radiothon. I am now once again donating $10 each month for the next year to the local Children's Miracle Network which is located right in my hometown.
Guess I haven't been too unsuccessful so far. Just need to get back to blogging more and shopping less!!!
So I know it is only week 1 of the new year, but so far I have met one of my monthly goals of donating to a charity by renewing my membership in the World Wildlife Fund. I made my donation for the month of January today for $17. Its not a lot, but it will sure help with something I bet! Oh and look at the cute bags they are sending me as a thank you:
How cute are those!!!
The shopping thing is a little bit harder. I did buy some throw pillows for the couch today at Target, but I got 2 for $12.99 so that's a pretty good deal right? Oh and WBshop.com had my new obsession, The Big Bang Theory, on sale for only $14, so I had to buy seasons 1-3 of that. I am calling it good for now though! No more buying anything for me except groceries until next paycheck. We will see how well that works out :).
The blogging more goal is going strong since this is, I believe, my fourth post of the new year.
I also plan on using coupons at the grocery store and buying the ingredients to try out a new recipe for this week, so we will count those as good too :).
Finally, my last resolution was to get more organized and with nothing on the agenda for tomorrow, I plan on getting some cleaning and organization done then.
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As I posted yesterday, I made a lot of goals last year and if you read my post, you know many of them didn't quite pan out. So of course since I was so successful last year, I figured I would make another list of goals for this year! So here they are, things I want to accomplish in 2012 (oh and I will spare you the traditional lose weight, eat better, etc. type :) ):
1. BLOG MORE!!!!
I have fallen so far behind with my blogging its ridiculous. Although it is only January 2 and I am two for two for the year so far, so that's an improvement right? I plan on posting reviews on various items including products, books, movies, and TV shows. Although I've decided that I think I will take this season off from "Idol Live with Nicole". Its just too time consuming and I seem to be losing interest in the show. I will be posting various ramblings, recipes, and other sorts of randomness so stay tuned and please, please leave me some comments so I know that I still have readers!!! I LOVE when you all leave me comments!!! I also plan on getting back into keeping up with the blogs I follow also. Love those giveaways you all have!!
2. Become More Organized!
OK so I know this is one of those traditional ones that many people make, but I really need to do it! Last summer I moved from a one bedroom to a two bedroom apartment, so I have more storage space now so this is a goal that I should be able to meet. In the next few months I plan on going through all my clothes and donating a ton of them. I have way too many and if I haven't worn it in over a year, chances are I won't miss it right?
3. Shop Less!!!!
I absolutely LOVE shopping. There are of course things I buy that I actually need, but I also buy things just because I want them. Now I know we all do this, but I need to cut back on the "want" things. I've decided that I am going to make a "wish list" of the things that I want to buy and then buy one or two items, depending on cost, with each paycheck. This way I won't splurge, but will still get the things I want. This Christmas I don't think I used credit cards at all so I have been basically broke the last few weeks so I haven't done a lot of personal shopping. This being said, my goal should be easy to meet! Oh and I will not be buying any "want" items unless they are on sale!!
4. Try Out A New Recipe Every Two Weeks
I would say I would try a new recipe every week, but that won't happen with me. So every two weeks is more realistic. I live alone so cooking for one seems like a waste of time sometimes, but leftovers always make good, cheap lunch options! I have tons of cookbooks too so I might as well use them right? I will post some of the ones that turn out good for you all to try out also :)
5. Start Couponing Again
I went through a phase where I was couponing pretty regularly, but then stopped for some reason. So starting with this weeks grocery trip, I will be back to using coupons. I absolutely love it when I can get my toiletries and some of my food items for free to close to it. I did hear that Kroger will be done with their doubling up to a $1 though sometime soon, so that bums me out :(. Saving some money is better than none though!
6. Donate to Charity Monthly
This was one of my goals from last year and like I mentioned I did somewhat well with it, but then got behind the second part of the year. I am ready to get back to it starting with this weeks check though! I have received so many free gifts from various charities lately so I guess its time I pay them back :).
So there are a few goals I have for this year. They all seem reasonable so there really is no reason why I can't make them happen!!
What are some of your goals for this year?? Please share below, I would love to hear them!!!
Happy New Year everyone!! Hope you all had a happy and safe New Year's Eve. I personally hung out at home, but that was fine with me :). So tomorrow I will be posting my resolutions for 2012, but before I do that I thought I would see how I did on last years goals. I went back through my blog to refresh my memory on what they were, so here we go:
1. Lose some weight/get more in shape:
Negative....although I don't think I gained any so I guess that's something right :)
2. Try to be more optimistic:
Hmmm yea this may have happened at the beginning of the year, but can't say I made it all 365 days with a postive outlook :(
3. Go to a Detroit Tigers game!!!
YES!!!! I did make it to a game this season. The Sunday of opening weekend to be exact :). They lost, but always a good time! Oh and they made it to the playoffs so maybe I need to go to opening weekend every season!
4. Go on vacation somewhere!
Negative!! Although I spent a good chunk of money moving and buying new furniture so I guess that's something. That by the way, was not one of my goals last year.
5. Make it "up north" again this summer:
Didn't make it up to Higgins Lake this summer, but thats partly because my BFF was prego throughout the summer and had an absolutely ADORABLE baby girl Taylor :).
6. Blog more!!!!
Hmm well I think I started out the year pretty well with the updates. My "Child of the 90's" posts were and still are pretty successful. Really got behind on the blogging towards the second half of the year though. I am determined to get back to it though! Stick with me my lovely readers!!
7. So for my last resolution I decided this year I am going to donate to a different charity every month.
Well I did this for about the first six months of the year. Then I moved and fell really behind on it. I do have an automatic donation taken from my account once a month to the Childrens Miracle Network so at least I was still somewhat chartiable! Gonna try this one again too this year!!
So looks like I wasn't too successful this past year. Hopefully 2012, I stick to the resolutions!!! I guess the fact that some goals were met is better than none though right??
How about you?? DId you stick to your resolutions from 2011?? Leave me a comment and let me know!!!
Wow it has been a long time!!! I hope I actually still have people that read my actual posts!! Well I thought it was about time to do some year in review posts so what better way to start than with "My 5 Monday"!! This week I will be discussing my 5 favorite discoveries of 2011. These may be brand new things from this year, or they could be a few years old, but I just recently discovered them! Enjoy!!
1. iPhone 4S
This is the first iPhone I have ever owned. I have had ATT for as long as I can remember, but I just now got the iPhone. I figured if I was going to wait as long as I did to get it, I might as well get the newest one right? Let me just say, I LOVE it. I seriously discover something new just about every day. There really is an app for everything!! You want to reward me for walking into stores Shopkick app? Alright I will accept! You want to provide me with basically a free GPS system, Mapquest app? I will accept!! Oh and don't even get me started on my addiction to Words with Friends (which is actually Scrabble with a diff name!). Siri is pretty cool too. She answers most of my questions and the ones she doesn't now the answer to, she apologizes. I actually ask her random things every now and then just to see what she says :). I love you iPhone!!
2. The Big Bang Theory
Yes I am aware this show has been on for, I believe, five seasons now. However, I just started watching it recently (gotta love syndication!!). It is becoming my new favorite show though!! It takes a lot to knock out Friends, but this one may be coming close to it (actually nothing really beats Friends, but this one isn't far behind). I don't know what the heck they are talking about a good amount of time, but somehow it still entertains me greatly. This show actually makes me laugh out loud. Sheldon, Leonard, Penny, and their friends that dress like they are from "That 70's Show", are just too funny!! If you have yet to see it, I HIGHLY recommend it!!!
3. Social Network
I am aware that this movie came out last year. I also am aware that it was nominated for multiple Oscars. Still, I was hesitant to believe that a movie about Facebook could actually entertain me. I was wrong. It started out slow, but once Justin Timberlake entered the scene, it got a lot better (as do most things). Like "The Big Bang Theory", I don't know what the heck they are saying sometimes, but that doesn't seem to stop me from watching it and being intrigued. Pretty cool to see how Facebook actually got started too! Once again, I recommend watching!!
4. The Voice
Watch out American Idol, The Voice is right in your rear view mirror! This show first caught my interest with the previews and the fact that they had FOUR current, popular singers as judges. I mean American Idol got better this season, but Steven Tyler is a little dated isn't he?? The Voice judges consist of Adam Levine from Maroon 5, Cee Lo Green, Christina Aguilara, and Blake Shelton. All pretty big names in their respectable genres. Add in the fact that everyone can sing pretty darn well and you have an amazing show! Of course the concept of the show is for the judges to pick their teams based on voice alone and not on looks. Looks and personality can of course play a part in the later rounds, but they were originally picked on their voices, and all the contestants this year were great. Javier Colon was the winner of this season (who you can check out below...AMAZING!!!). The show will be back for a second season this winter, premiering after the Super Bowl. Can't get a better lead in than that now can you??
5. Detroit Tigers
So I am obsessed with the Detroit Tigers, and this season they did not disappoint. They started out a little slow, but had a fantastic second half. They made it to the playoffs, beat the Yankees in the first round before getting knocked out in a tooth and nail fight by the Texas Rangers. MY Tiger, Justin Verlander, had an amazing season himself, which included a no hitter. He ended the season by winning both the Cy Young award and the AL MVP. He will also be gracing the cover of MLB 2K12 next year, which I will be buying for that reason alone. Looking forward to next season!!!
So there you have it, my completely random list of favorite things from 2011. What were some of your favorite things of the year, be it new things from 2011, or things you just discovered in 2011? Let me know in the comments, that way I will know people actually read this thing still!!!
If you remember a year or so ago, I posted a blog about the Netlix for Wii. It was a positive review too. I absolutely loved it. I had only signed up for Netflix about a month before posting that and was pleasantly surprised when they sent me a disc to put in my Wii that would allow me to access movies and TV shows whenever I wanted. Now of course when I had joined Netflix, I was only planning on receiving the DVDs in the mail, the instant streaming through my Wii was just a lovely, free added bonus. However, this past summer when they announced that they were going to charge 40% more for access to both mail and streaming I was highly annoyed, as were thousands of other subscribers. I worked through my annoyance though and just canceled the streaming service and stayed subscribed to the mail service. Recently though, Netflix decided to make more major changes. They decided to SPLIT the DVD and streaming services completely. Now in order to add movies to your streaming queue you would log onto the Netflix site like you always did, but to get them in the mail you were going to have to go to an entirely different site. They decided to name the mail order company "Quixster". This is what finally sent me to jump on the bus of people canceling their accounts with Netflix. So I have erased my queue and as soon as I watch "The Social Network" I will be sending it back and ending my membership with them. I'm kinda sad about this too. I loved being able to just pay one fee and get as many movies in a month that I wanted and open my mailbox to see my lovely red envelope. Too many changes in too short of a time though Mr. CEO of Netflix!
So, now to the title of my post. Recently I saw a commercial for Blockbuster Total Access which apparently is very similar to the way Netflix used to be. The commercial advertised that you can rent as many movies AND GAMES a month for under $10. Of course they have different subscription packages so obviously not all of them are under $10. However, this sounds like a great alternative for me. Actually it sounds even better because I will be able to rent games for my Wii and test them out before spending $30-50 on them just to find out they aren't as fun as I thought. I will be most definitely signing up soon and will let you all know how good or bad this service actually is!
Does anyone currently have Blockbuster Total Access now? If so, are you happy with it?
So here we are 10 years after the horrible attacks that changed America forever. I posted last year about where I was that day, which you can find HERE. Therefore I won't do that again. We all know where we were that day and will never forget it. So instead I will post a few YouTube videos remembering these horrible events. I will also be spending the evening watching some of the specials that are on. Yes they are depressing, but this is a day of remembering the heroes of that day and all of the innocent lives that were lost.
This is the flag that will be flying in NYC today. Obviously the towers are represented in the center outlined by the Pentagon with stars that represent the lives lost in Flight 93.
So if you are a frequent reader of my blog, you know of the obsession I had with the TV show "Home Improvement" as a child, pre-teen, and teen. Of course back then this obsession had to do with nothing else except for JTT!! I of course like the show for its humor and because it reminds me of my childhood and the simpler times. So you can imagine my excitement when I saw on the EW.com site this pic of the Home Improvement cast reunited:
So first let me just make a few observations about the above photo:
Patricia Richardson aka Jill, does not look ANY different whatsoever!
I have no clue what happened to Zachary Ty Bryan aka Brad. He was so cute when the show ended!
Debbie Dunn aka Heidi looks worse only because it looks like she has had a little too much plastic surgery
Tim Allen looks good, albeit a little older. He obviously has been in showbiz since Home Improvement ended though so I wasn't surprised by his looks since I have seen him many times since then.
Richard Karn looks pretty good, albeit older also. Nice to see him wearing the flannel still :)
Taran Noah Smith aka Mark looks different from when the show first started (obviously since he was only 6!), but not too much different from when it ended.
It is sooo nice to see Jonathan Taylor Thomas aka Randy in the pic!!! If anyone else is a fan of the show you are probably aware that he left during the final season and didn't return for the finale. Rumor was that Tim Allen was pretty upset by this (which is understandable). It says in the article (which you can find on www.EW.com, that the photo shoot was the first time Tim and Patricia had seen him since 1998!! Soo happy to hear that!! He is still the best looking of the boys too!! Doesn't look 30 at all!
EW.com also has another great article about Home Improvement, which you can find HERE. Since today is JTT's 30th (yes you read that right) birthday they also made an article just for him, that you can find HERE. Let me just say that the EW writers are becoming some of my favorite people since they clearly are just as obsessed with the 90's as I am :) This cast reunion will be featured with many others from various TV shows in a special Reunions issue of Entertainment Weekly which will be available Oct. 7. I just subscribed to this mag tonight (actually restarted my subscription) and received a free retro t-shirt (I chose the Bayside Tigers one). The best part is, it only cost me $20 for 52 issues and the t-shirt :)
Hope you enjoyed reading! Were you a fan of "Home Improvement" back in the 90's? What do you think about the cast reunion photo? Who are you most surprised to see??
Hello my lovely readers!!! I need a little bit of help and I am asking all of you for it. My "Child of the 90's" posts are becoming EXTREMLY popular! In fact if you google "child of the 90's", both entires of mine come up on the first page of results out of over 18 million!!! That makes me oh so happy!!! So here is where I need your help. I need a topic for the next few posts. I really want to keep the 90's flashbacks going, since I loved being a child then, but I want to know what YOU would like to read about. Therefore, please post a comment letting me know what you want to read next. I was thinking of heartthrobs, movies, fads, clothing, etc., but I am interested to see what you guys want. Please comment below and help me out!! Thanks so much!!!
So last summer I did a "My 5 Monday" featuring my celeb crushes, which you can find HERE. Had I known about the man I am about to mention, you can bet he would've been very close to the top of that list. That man would be CHRIS POWELL. Now many of you may not know who this is. Chris is the trainer that is featured on the new ABC show "Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition". Now I love "The Biggest Loser" (and the new trainer on there Brett is pretty good looking too), so I decided I would give this show a try. I am sooo glad I did. Not only is it an inspiring show, but most of the time when I watch it I can't even focus on the person being featured if Chris is on screen. Here are just a few reasons why he is absolutely GORGEOUS:
He has the most mesmerizing blue eyes. They look extremely blue during his confessionals on the show. Oh and he seems to have a beautiful smile too with those perfect white teeth!
Umm HELLO do I even need to explain this!!!!
Oh and I am currently watching the show as I type this and he is pretty mad. However, even when he is pissed off he is still fricking gorgeous!!!
Anyone else watch this show (if only for Chris!)?? Anybody else want him as their own personal trainer?? Oh and he apparently lives with the people he is training on the show for the first three months!!! Where do I sign up for that?!?!
Well my lovely followers, I am aware that I haven't been doing mch updating lately other than my Idol recaps so I thought I would change that by posting a new multi-post segment called "Child of the 90's". Now I was born in 1984, which means I spent the majority of my childhood in the 90's. Let me just say I think it had to have been the best decade to grow up in! We had great FAMILY friendly tv shows, movies, music and we spent a majority of our free time playing OUTSIDE with friends. It was the decade that the internet became popular, but not as time consuming as now. People also had cell phones, but for the most part they were all over the age of 18. You didn't see 8-11 year olds walking around with their OWN cell phone. Nope, back in my day we had to use the old landline to get in touch with friends or actually use our two feet to walk or ride to their house. I actually sometimes miss being a kid. Life was so much easier when you only had to worry about going to school and doing homework. No worries about bills, no $4 gas prices, no terrorism worries. Life was so much simpler back then!
The first part will be dedicated to the great family tv shows that came out of the 90's (or late 80's that were still popular in the 90's). Now I'm sure you all know that I am a reality show junkie! I love me some American Idol, Deadliest Catch, The Bachelor, Biggest Loser, The Voice, etc, but I think I can count on one hand how many scripted family shows there actually are these days (that aren't on the Disney channel or Nickelodeon). So without further ado, here are my favorite (family centric) shows from the 90's (in no particular order):
1. Home Improvement
Home Improvement followed the lives of TimTaylor, his wife Jill, their three kids Brad, Randy, and Mark, co-worker Al, and neighbor Wilson. I was seriously addicted to this show as a child. I absolutely LOVED Jonathan Taylor Thomas, or JTT as all of the posters on my wall said. This show came on in 1991 when I was 7 and ended after a successful 8 seasons in 1999. This was a great family show. I remember watching this every Tuesday night, never missing an episode. Of course there was adult humor in it, but I never understood it. Now watching the DVD collection that I am almost through buying, I get to re-watch them and actually understand the jokes that were being made by Tim and Jill. Funny for adults, yet safe enough to watch with the kids. Definetly a classic!!
2. TGIF on ABC
Okay well this was the best thing ever back in my day. Two hours dedicated to family comedies. Friday night used to be the best night of TV for me. Now TV shows are basically doomed if they move to Friday nights. Here are a few of my favorites that made the TGIF lineup:
A. Boy Meets World
Probably my favorite show ever from TGIF. I used to LOVE Rider Strong on this show. I actually recently started watching this again on the ABC Family channel in the mornings. I remembered how much I loved it, that I even started buying the DVDS. Great show that was just the right amount of cheese, without going overboard at all. Oh and I loved when Matthew Lawrence joined the cast for the last few seasons. He was just too good looking!! Ran for seven seasons from 1993-2000.
B. Step By Step
The 90's answer to The Brady Bunch. Like the Brady Bunch, featured two people marrying that each had three kids of their own. Of course this one was a little more realistic because the kids didn't instantly get along with their new siblings or even their new step parents. Ran from 1991-1998 (last season was on CBS).
C. Full House
Well even though this show didn't stay in the TGIF lineup for it's entire run, it was there for its first four seasons before moving to Tuesday nights. Full House was the story of a recently widowed father with three young daughters who had his brother in law and best friend move in with him. Of course this show was one of the cheesiest of the 90's, but it is still a classic and was one of my faves as a child. Also seems to have made a good career for the Olsen Twins and featured hottie John Stamos as Uncle Jesse. Unlike some other shows, Full House never aged the kids or made one of them suddenly disappear. The core cast members were played by the same actors for the entire series. Full House ran for eight seasons from 1987-1995.
D. Family Matters
Family Matters was a spin-off of another TGIF show "Perfect Strangers". It centered around the Winslow family and of course their nerdy neighbor Steve Urkel. The Winslow family featured father Carl who was a cop, mother Harriet, children Eddie, Laura, and Judy (who vanished from the family with no mention whatsoever), Harriet's sister Rachel and her son Ritchie and Carl's mom "Mother Winslow". Fun fact: Family Matters is the second longest running show featuring a predominatly African-American cast (The Jefferson's is #1). The show lasted 9 seasons from 1989-1998 (the last season was on CBS, along with Step by Step).
3. Roseanne
Roseanne certainly wasn't as wholesome as some of the other shows, but still focused around a blue collar family that loved each other. The show followed Dan and Roseane Conner along with their three children Becky, Darlene, and DJ and Roseanne's sister Jackie. Becky's husband Mark and Darlene's boyfriend/husband David (also Mark's brother) also were regular cast members for a majority of the show's run even though they were never featured in the opening credits. In the final season of Roseanne, the family wins the lottery and the show kinda took a bad turn. The last few episodes returned to the family dynamic that everyone loved though. In the final season it was revealed that the entire show was actually a book being written by the character of Roseanne. During the last few lines of the show, we learn that in the supposed real life of Roseanne Conner, Dan actually died from his heat attack and Becky was married to David while Darlene was married to Mark. If that confused you, thats how I remember feeling while watching it :). Roseanne aired for 9 seasons from 1988-1997.
Now of course I am aware that other great shows came out of the 90's. Friends, ER, Seinfeld (not a personal fave, but still incredibly popular), 90210, etc., but I mainly wanted to focus on family comedies since they don't seem to exist anymore.
Check out this fun little original song. Nice little trip down memory lane too!!
What were some of your favorite shows from the 90's?
If any of you remember reading my blog post about my new years resolutions (which you can find HERE), you recall me saying that I wanted to make a donation to a different charity every month this year. Well it is now March and I am happy to say that I have kept that resolution thus far :). In January I donated to the Michigan Humane Society, February I chose St. Jude's Children's Hospital, and I just made my March donation to the World Wildlife Fund. One of the local radio stations also held their annual radiothon last month for the Children's Miracle Network and I once again became a monthly donor for them. So, now for the point of this post. I need some help coming up with other great causes to donate to. As you can probably tell from my donation history thus far, I really support animal and children's causes. However, I am also planning on making donations later this year to USO, Breast Cancer Foundation, American Cancer Society, and the ASPCA. So if you add it all up that keeps me covered for 7 months, which means I need help choosing 5 more organizations for the year. So I am asking the help of my lovely blog readers; if you could leave me a comment with an organization that means a lot to you or one that maybe you make regular donations too I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks for all the help!!!
