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I started reading it when we got in the car. Of the two books I had purchased at Joy of Books, a used bookstore in Hendersonville, NC, this was the one that the clerk said she loved. I was more exited about it too, so I read on the way back to our little stone cottage in Saluda. I read while we he watched TV and dozed until dinner. It was intriguing, sexy, and not at all what I had expected from a glance at the cover and title. Catherine Land has a plan. She's going to marry the rich and lonely Ralph Truitt. She saw his advertisement in a Chicago paper looking for a "reliable wife" and she responded. Catherine wrote to him, telling him that she was a "simple, honest woman" whose father was a missionary and who isn't looking for love. Just practicality. Out of the many replies he gets, Ralph chooses her. Ralph doesn't know that Catherine also plans to murder him with a poison she keeps in her old suitcase. She plans to marry him, kill him, and i...

So here we are, it's down to Tenley and Vienna. Who will Jake Pavelka choose? I can only hope that Ali comes back as the Bachelorette! [ Source ] I've decided to live blog while watching. Why? Because I constantly want to tweet about it, but have issues about flooding my followers with nonsense about this show. Also I've never lived blogged before. I've got a bug in my ear and want to try it. The show starts in 15 minutes. See you then! 8:00 - Woo-hoo! 8pm sharp--it's on! The teaser is annoyingly confusing! 8:06 -  Jake: "You're not supposed to be in love with two women at the same time." Uh, yeah. 8:09 -  Mom: "Is she the girl that everybody hated?" Your momma knows something, Jake! 8:11 - Awkward = Meeting your boyfriend's family for the first time. On TELEVISION. 8:14 - Hook, line, and sinker. They're in love with Tenley....I am so shocked! 8:17 - Love the editing. You don't have an opportunity to like Vi...

I have been watching this season's The Bachelor since the second episode and I've been hooked! I never thought I would enjoy watching The Bachelor, or the Bachelorette, because I hate the principle of the show. I hate the idea that, at the end, he makes this ridiculously hard decision between two women, both of whom he loves. I would hate to be one of those women; knowing that there is another gorgeous woman right behind me in a very close second place. I wouldn't want to be the woman that won the competition. I would want there to be no competition! And I guess that's why I wasn't ever on the Bachelor. That being said. I'm fully loving this show! Excepting Ali's sudden departure, I've been able to predict the women that would leave fairly easily. Even today, I knew that Gia would leave. I didn't want her to leave, I along with the majority of Bachelor watcher want Vienna to be gone, but I knew she would stay. My DH and I formed a theory a few ...

[ Source ] 1) I totally predicted Gretzky even before that guy from Team USA did. Mike said it would be too predictable. It was. winning the stanley cup [ Source ] 2) The first nations dancing. Swoon. Loved it. Could hardly look at anything else! The beautiful regalia! The fancy feather dancers looked awesome. The tradition ladies in *drool* fully beaded shawls. The sparkly jingle dancers. Of course, the fancy shawl dancers were the prettiest out there! I might be bias. Oh this pic is totally not from the olympics. 3) Can't wait for the figure skating. ♥ Yes this is an old pic. Don't care. Kristi was my 1st fave. [ source ]

So, last night, while watching the Bachelor--yes, I watch the Bachelor...it's like a train wreck in cocktail dresses--I realized that all the girls wear stilettos. Yes, duh, of course all the girls wear stilettos. But they appear to walk so easily in them! Those gals wear stilettos all the time and their shoes are just gorgeous! Ugh. Every time I wear my stilettos, I feel like I'm going to trip! To be honest, I've worn stilettos very few times. I wore my white pair once. I feel like they make me look like a hispanic prostitute. I wore them to a lingerie shower I hosted and took them off after five, maybe ten, minutes. I've wore my black pair more because they are classier. Also, my husband is 13 inches taller than I am. I like being closer to him and the stilettos help. I decided that, in order to be able to WALK in these shoes, I just had to wear them more often! Maybe I'll get used to them and not feel like I'm always about to fall over. Today, I decided to we...

Maybe it's because I like words, (even though you'd never know that thanks to my frequent typos) but I don't get the shortening of words that has become trendy. The first time I got an emails that said " totes " and was not referring to bags, I had to ask my trust friend Google. Of course, I'm not entirely about scrutiny. I use vaycay , I have been known to refer to my parents as the ' rents and I definitely have some faves . But... obvi? presh? perf? din-din??? I'm reminded of talking with Davis who is two and does not have a proper grasp on the English language. He calls me "tee" and says "ga-bu" for thank you. It is so dang cute. If you're a lover of these cute abbrevs, I found this cute guide . However, I would strongly advise against saying din-din or night-night unless you are a) under five-years-old or b) talking to someone who is under five-years-old.

So, last night, while playing Wii Tennis with the dear Anne Marie , it was decided that Wii was racist. Or, perhaps, all of Nintendo, I don't know. We have yet to do research on other platforms. Why did we decide this? Because the computer tennis players that we were matched with while playing doubles. Each time, I was paired with a person with a darker skin tone and Anne Marie who is a full-on caucasian, was paired with another whitey. We named our teams: Team Aryan and Team Not White . It was very funny for us because we are very good friends (she was my bridesmaid , after all) and not all in the manner of hating each other. What's cool, is that those few segregated tennis matches led us to interesting discussions about racism. I love having friends that I can talk so openly about this with. Like, when I find myself in discussions about race-- ---Speaking of the word "race" by the way. I don't like that word. Because we're all part of the human race and no ...

A fellow lindy hopper asked me if it was hard to date a non-dancer. The swing scene, at least my local scene, is chockablock full of singles. The man behind the major swing organization in town says he likes it that way because once people start marrying off, they stop coming to the dances. Most hardcore lindy hoppers will not date a non-dancer. The few that do, stop dancing as often, if not altogether. Is it hard for someone, a previously self-described lindy-addict, to date a non-dancer? No. It's not hard for me. "Of course," I explained to my friend, "I would give up dancing for this guy." There was a pause on the other end of the line followed by an  "Oh wow!" I think many of my friends would be like ...oookay. So you'd give up dancing. Whatev. It's just dancing.  But, for those who refer to themselves as lindy hoppers, the dance becomes so thoroughly part of your identity that to give it up is completely unthinkable. Until priorities chang...

When people find out that I am an avid swing dancer, many ask if I watch Dancing With The Stars . Sure, I'll tune in from time to time--I'd rather be out dancing than watching it on the television, of course! This week on Dancing With The Stars, the two dances were the Argentinean tango and the lindy hop. Other than it being a very sexy dance, I don't know a dang thing about the tango. I do, however, know a thing or two about lindy hop! I did not catch this week's episode, but after finding out that some couples did the lindy hop, I went online and looked them up (and you can see them all here ) and--Wow! What great aerials and fun energy in those dances! High kicks, cute outfits--I love all of that. But...um...I'm so confused! Where was the, you know, lindy hop ? Why is it with ballroom dances, the judges are very nitpicky about footwork but with lindy (not a ballroom dance) the judges apparently turn a blind eye to the very absence of any lindy footwork? Lindy ho...

My sister wants to know why I paid so darn much for a computer. It was a hard decision to make. Because, really, I could have gotten a perfectly decent computer for 600. But, then again, the Mac was only 999. And that's not so darn much. I saw the beautiful computers with their glowing apple the minutes I walked into the store. But a mac? Seriously? I don't need a mac. And I quickly bypassed them and wandered around for the next 30 minutes or more--probably driving my mother crazy. Finally, I settled on the same computer my brother has. That was the computer I wanted. Pretty dang nice computer, I think. (I'm pretty sure it's this Toshiba computer.) But Mike called and was giving me some computer buying advice that, in the end, boiled down to... A Toshiba for 899 or a MacBook for only 100 more? That's a no brainer... B-b-but...it's a Mac . I mean. I'm not a creative person who needs a mac for any sort of appley things. I'm a simple computer user. I mean...

I love being a student. I love it even more now that I'm not at the local two-year/tech college. Yes, it's a good school, but it's a temporary place. It's a half-way point for many students and in most cases, people don't bother to get to know one another. I enjoyed my classes and my teacher and the education I was getting. My last semester there, I even made friends with a few classmates. But mostly it was a come-and-go place. Nobody really hung around for long. Now that I am at what I like to call a "real" college, I really love being a student! It helps that I'm in my major classes. I have something in common with the people in my class. We have several classes together. I have the same teachers that I had last semester. It's nice. I also really enjoy the limbo of being a college student. For the past three years, I have been a part-time nanny and a full-time college student. It's a very comfortable place for me. While I'm eager to move ...

You've got to accentuate the positive Eliminate the negative Latch on to the affirmative Don't mess with Mister In-Between Johnny Mercer ::: AC-CENT-TCHU-ATE THE POSITIVE When things get rough, it can be hard to not " latch onto the negative ." If I find myself in a funk and I don't take action, I could be in a crazy mess rough place real soon. The recession, the cold weather, and goodness-knows-what in your personal life can get you bummed. These little ideas I'm about to list are assuming that you're bummed and not genuinely in need of serious mourning. Sometimes, we need to be sad. But if you are in a little funk and want some tips out, here are some things that I use when I'm feeling down: Have a happy song. Okay, this is really cheesey. But I like cheesy. :D Certain songs just make me happy! Find the right song to counter your mood. Sometimes I'll need a female-empowerment song (hello, Beyonce!) or a God is almighty song or a fun swing danci...

Several cell phone companies are offering Valentine's Day sales--because nothing says "I Love You" like a cell phone. Who gets cellphones as gifts anyway? And who gives them? I just find it rather odd. A cell phone comes with a contract (and if it doesn't then it is usually ridiculously expensive!) and it's not like you can just sign someone up for a two-year contract that they didn't even ask for. There are, of course, exceptions. Maybe your boyfriend was just salivating over those iPhones. Maybe you surprised your best friend by telling her that you were getting her a new phone and you went to pick it out together. In the commercials--which clearly are mirrors of true and actual events--the people get phones as a surprise. Did the gifter sign them up for the two-year contract? Or did the gifter pay the ridiculous sum to buy the phone without any signing bonuses. Have you ever given/received a cell phone as a gift? Let me know, because I don't think I kno...

I've got all these friends on that I hardly even know. These friendships started from meeting them one evening, asking them if they had facebook, and the putting our heads together to figure out what mutual friends we could find each other through because we both have strange last names and/or lack of memorization skills. We've never talked since except for maybe the mandatory "Hey, it was great meeting you at that party last weekend!" Several names came across of people I never remember meeting. Delete . Family members of family members of friends I don't even talk to any more. Delete . Etcettera. I'm down to five hundred friends and that's still a lot. That's still a lot of people that aren't actually my "friends." I feel guily deleting some of these people..but then I realize. Do I really care that we're "friends" on Facebook? No...and they probably don't either. ♥, TiffanyAnne

Let us examine this adorable little adventurous gal, Dora the Explorer . Are her parents concerned for her? I would be if she were my kid. Her best friend is a red boot wearing purple monkey whose name is, appropriately, Boots. Monkeys can carry diseases, kid. But, I guess, having her own television show and all she can afford to have an immunized monkey. One that talk to boot. Get it--to boot ? Because the monkey's name is Boots? Ha-ha. Dora has regular run-ins with a fox in a mask à la Zoro . The fox, like the monkey, is also appropriately named. He is a kleptomaniac. You know--he's got sticky fingers, he likes to swipe things. Which brings me to his name: Swiper . Why is the deal with the swiping Swiper stalking the monkey toting tot? I don't know. In today's episode, Dora was chased by alligators . Two alligators . That could jump. Seriously? Her parents only wanted her to go to a soccer game and all of a sudden she's running from two alligators that really ...

Everything has got to be perfect. Isn't that the mindset we espouse? If all our little yellow ducks aren't in a row, then something must be horribly wrong with the world. Maybe something in your life seems so wonderful, so perfect, so nice. Well, that's good, isn't it? That's the way it should be. But if a little something goes wrong, if one of the ducks goes missing...well...that is quite another story. Am I the only one who sometimes feels like the world might end when something goes wrong? Emphasis, mind you, on that sometimes. I am far from a constant perfectionist. How about a happy medium instead: something in between perfect and horrible. I'm pretty sure that's what we call life. Oh, yeah sure, sometimes life can be perfect and sometimes life can be horrible. All too often, though, it falls somewhere in the vast expanse in between. It's okay if everything isn't just right. It's okay to mess up, to not get it, to have chosen the wrong door...

Along with many other people in many different locations, I went to a midnight showing of The Dark Night . Notably, this was my first ever midnight showing. Unlike nearly all my fellow midnight viewers, I am not a fan of the movie. It would be a lie to say that I disliked The Dark Night in it's entirety because I did enjoy some of it, but it was a very dark movie. I do not do well with very dark things. As I exited the theater with my gaggle of friends, one looked over at me. " Did you like it? " I gave a tiny but very perceptible shake of my head. He correctly guessed that the movie disturbed me. While I was bothered by the movie, I was not scared. (I scare easily and stay scared. Those zombies from I Am Legend still freak me out and I scare myself silly thinking of them.) Despite the fact that I did not like many aspects of The Dark Night , it was a pretty dang good movie. I will not bother going into the plot line because many of you probably already know it. If you...

My friends had a housewarming party last night. While I know the connotation of “housewarming” does not mean that the house has to be warm, the rising temperatures in that house gave made me consider this. It was, thankfully, not warm enough to cause me to…um…glisten. Two minutes after arriving to the party, a friend and I ascended the stairs to the loft. This actually turned out to be somebody’s bedroom. But how were we to know, for there was no bed. (Which begs the question, can it be referred to as a “ BED room” if there is no, you know, bed?) I sank into a comfy leather couch with my friend and we had one of those good conversations, the long kind is filled with story telling, poking fun, catching up. Eventually we descended back to the main part of the house. It was crowded and there were a few tight circles of conversation spattered about the small living room. I wedged my way into the largest of the circles and soon found fingers pointing in my direction. “Okay,” said they, afte...

In line with yesterday's blog about the most sinful cities in America, I thought I'd discuss the 7 deadly sins again. But, for today, a different set of sins. In case didn't hear, the Vatican announced in L'Osservatore Romano ("The Roman Observer" is the official Vatican newspaper) new and updated deadly sins earlier this spring. Here are the original seven deadly sins: Pride Envy Gluttony Lust Anger Greed Sloth The new seven are as follows: Pedophilia Abortion Ruining the environment Carrying out morally debatable scientific experiments Allowing genetic manipulations which alter DNA or compromise embryos Dealing or taking drugs Social injustice that causes poverty or the excessive accumulation of wealth by a few Now we have 14 deadly sins and I can't help but wonder...why the need for "deadly" sins at all? Is not all sin deadly? Perhaps people need to have a handy little check list to look over when the day is done-- Nope! Didn't ruin the...