MAMMA MIA AMAZINGNESS

GO SEE MAMMA MIA.

It is so so so so so GOOD! Yes- it is a little 'girly' and a slightly bit cheesy with Pierce Brosnan trying to look natural while singing, but it's an incredible story. I haven't been fortunate enough to see it on Broadway, but the movie made my heart melt... it's still melting.

And now... I am obsessed with the soundtrack! I mean, OBSESSED!

I haven't been able to get it yet, but I think Jon may get it for Christmas. WOOOO HOOOO. So, in the meantime, I am 'youtubing' them and will play them over and over again until Jonathan turns blue.

Yep. Here's for your listening pleasure.

HONEY HONEY

MONEY MONEY MONEY

MAMMA MIA

LAY ALL YOUR LOVE ON ME



TAKE A CHANCE ON ME



I DO I DO I DO I DO I DO



I HAVE A DREAM



THANK YOU FOR THE MUSIC

I'm in love... forever humming. I wonder if my throat will get sore. I normally hum and whistle, but no like this. Hehe. BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!!

Shadow: The Legend

I realized that I praised sweet little Peaches when she first arrived, but I hadn't introduced my sweet boys! Well, here's fixin' that! I'm pleased to introduce the legend- my wise ole Shadow and the coolest cat you'll ever know...

He's quite the handsome fellow and is one smart kitty.

Shadow just turned 13 on 9.5.2008. My Mom and I got him when he was about 1 year old. He was an outside cat turned stray, needed a home and we fell in love with him. It took him about a week to adjust but he finally fell in love with us too. Since then, he has been such an important part of my life. My Mom moved to Florida and I got to keep Shadow; he lived through my first apartment experience, my first roommate experience, my first multiple roommate and pet experience, and so much more. He actually got outside once (thanks to my roommates leaving the window open!!!) and got lost; he was gone for 3 months and then I saw him one day when I was walking home from class.

"If you love something, set it free. If it comes back to you, it is yours. If it doesn't, it never was."

He's been a little different ever since but he's still Shadow; he got a little nick on his ear and has a small limp from trying to protect himself, no doubt. He's a legend and the sweetest kitty in the world! He's been through a lot with us and we've been through a lot with him. He's our baby and a true part of our entire family. I love him sooooooooooooooooooo much!!!

Happy Birthday Shadow!!!

Quote of the Day - 12.5.08

Jon and I are sitting at The Black Eyed Pea eatin' some good ole home cookin' and we both decide to order dessert. I hadn't finished dinner but wanted to take it home for later and enjoy a yummy treat there. Well, of course I didn't finish it either and wanted to take it home but didn't want to get another to go box (because I hate to waste). So obviously, I had a dilemma.

Well, we started talking about taking the restaurant's dish so I wouldn't ruin both my dinner and my dessert because they were in the same to-go container. After a while of joking around, Jon starts cleaning the dish off to get it ready for my dessert and we started kidding about getting caught; we were joking that the waiter would come up and see him cleaning the dish and would ask what he was doing and Jon said,

"Well, I can't take the dish if it's got shit all over it."

It was the most hilarious thing I've ever heard.

Of course, Jon fixed me all up; while I was chatting over some nonsense or other, he snuck my dessert in the cute little dish they served his in and stuffed it in my to-go box and we were off. I know, I know! But hey, I couldn't let the mashed potatoes and gravy mess up the deliciousness that was the chocolate and whipped cream!

Thanks to Jon for saving the day and making me laugh my ass off for several 'starred-at' moments.

A Note from Mama: Succulents

My Mom sent me an email after she read my first gardening blog.

"Amy, your plants have other names. They are of the succulent family.

What are Succulents?

Fat plants! 10,000 species of plants are considered succulent which is about 3 or 4% of all known species and 12% of recognized plant families. They have the ability to store water in their stems, leaves, or roots, or a combination of the above. Succulents may be giant trees or tiny two-leaved miniatures. They come in an endless array of shapes, textures, colors and forms. Therefore, they are of great interest to collectors for their strange and beautiful forms. The cactus family consists of plants which are all succulent. Whereas, other succulents are members of many other families which also have non-succulent members. More than many other plants succulents are threatened by man's encroachment on habitat. Succulents are worthy of cultivation as either house plants or, garden plants, and take far less maintenance than their non-succulent counterparts."

Thanx a bunch Mom!!!!! =) Very cool, but I guess I better try and figure out what the heck they are...

To be continued...

Gaining a Green Thumb

I've attempted to care for plants in the past... and it's never ended in green. The best I'd managed is the Chia Pet shown below- and even he didn't last that long.

R.I.P. little buddy

My first real attempt was Jonathan's first as well; we got a cool little tree-bush that I actually bought for my father. We decided to keep him but forgot about him and left him in my trunk for 3 days!!! Obviously, he's a real trooper! And since then he's done incredibly well; we named him Sprout because he hasn't stopped sprouting!

Sprout, our little trooper

The second plant we got is an Ivy named Ivy (imagine that). We figured, "Who the hell can kill an Ivy?" Well... we probably could if we tried hard enough; for some reason, Ivy didn't do so well in the beginning. But we finally got the hang of it. =)

Ivy's gone wild!!!

Then one by one, we started acquiring new plants; our third purchase consisted of two little Hibiscus flowers. The flowers lasts a day at a time- it's really pretty neat. One has orange flowers and rounded leaves and the other has pink flowers and jagged leaves. They've bloomed over 30 flowers since we got them and we've saved every bud! The pink one was chopped by the stupid apartment gardeners but is recovering slowly but surely.

Our pink and orange Hibiscus twins.

We got our fourth set of plants not too long after- they're cactus flower-like plants called Succulents. They multiple continuously and are the coolest little things; we've started several new plants from the three we first purchased.

Succulent Clusters and Succulents in my Grandmother's frog.

After a while, our garden started being invaded- we had Pot Bandits. One day, I went to re-pot one of the Succulent clusters and I discovered the culprits. It was invasion of the frogs!!!!

To be continued...

Austin Lovers- Vote Yes For Prop 2!!

VOTE FOR PROPOSITION 2 ON NOV. 4TH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Keep Austin Weird!!! Stop the money-hungry Domain! Save Local Austin Businesses!

http://www. stopdomainsubsidies. com/

Watch below:

Part One reveals how the City of Austin was rushed into approving the Domain subsidies, and how the developers misled city leaders.




Part Two explores the benefits local merchants have on our community and how the Domain subsidies threaten those businesses.




VOTE YES TO PROPOSITION TWO ON NOV 4TH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Newest Member of the Family

Jonathan and I would like you to meet the newest member of our family... We are pleased to welcome PEACHES P JONES!!!!

She was warmly welcomed by Jonathan, me, and her two new brothers, Shadow Yeilding and Jefferson Sidney Jones. She's adjusting well and has spent the first 24 hours exploring her new home, pestering her brothers, and running from Jonathan and I.

We brought Peaches home Friday, October 10, 2008- a year from our wedding. We were honored to meet her at our awesome Lake Austin Vet when we went to buy a bag of Shadow's special food. We fell in love with her and inquired about the adoption process... once we got home we couldn't stop thinking about her. I called the next day, drove down there after work, and brought home our new baby girl.

The first name we thought of before she was even ours is what really sealed the deal; I had a conversation with a coworker earlier in the day about Princess Peach and Princess Daisy from Mario Brothers... long story, but when we got home after meeting Peaches, we were discussing the idea of getting another kitten and for fun started thinking of what we would name her; Jon's first thought was Peach. I asked him why he thought of that particular name; he said he'd first thought of Princess because she's a little prissy princess, which then made him think about Princess Peach, which then made him think about Peach. I suggested Peaches and remembered the conversation I'd had earlier in the day; "IT WAS MEANT TO BE!" I said. She looks like a ‘Peaches’, orange and white like peaches-n-cream.

Shadow's always been like my shadow and his name stands alone, while Jefferson gets first and middle name from my wonderful PaPa's birthday and Jefferson's adoption day, and Miss Peaches has a very unusual middle name; P is her actual middle name and it stands for Princess (one of the origins of her name) and Priss (cuz she is!!!)

Three awesome kitties, years and years of fun:
Shadow- September 5, 1995 (Became a member of the Yeilding family around 12 years ago.)
Jefferson- May 12, 2007 (Became a member of the Yeilding-Jones family on July 4th, 2007.)
Peaches- August 8, 2008 (Became a member of the Yeilding-Jones family on October 10, 2008.)

We're lovin' every second and sure enjoy sharing our joy.

ACL Awesomeness x 3

ACL 2008 - Day 3

Okay, by Sunday I was pretty darn beat. My butt, back, and head felt like I'd been hit by some type of large motor vehicle. My ankles felt like they were going to break, my feet felt like they were going to explode, my nose was raw from blowing black boogers, and I was ready to party!

ACL is a very special thing; the music, the people, the party. It's a life celebration for music lovers and it is something everyone should experience... dust and all.

Yep, dust. And lots of it. We didn't get enough rain this year and we need it badly, especially since we missed all the rain from Hurricane Ike. With the lack of rain and major walking going on, the ground stayed dusty and was pretty miserable by Sunday afternoon. However, we sucked it up and partied; dust cant stop Austinites and music lovers combined!!

Our Sunday lineup: Flyleaf, Against Me!, Colour Revolt, Okkervil River, The Raconteurs, & Tegan and Sara. No words- just pictures.

(Fly Leaf rockin' out) (Against Me! Awesomeness)

(Caught) (A fantabulous flag if I do say so myself)

(Good times with good people) (Relaxing in the shade with Colour Revolt)

(Okkervil River doin' their thang)

(The Raconteurs jammed out)

(Tegan and Sara- so cute!)

(ACL after dark... superb)

***Bye bye ACL- see you in 363 days!!!***

ACL Awesomeness x 2

ACL 2008 - Day 2:

Oh my. What a day. A totally amazing day!

We got to the park a bit earlier than Friday and were stoked to begin another music filled day. We walked through the gates, showed our wristbands, and walked right into The Fratellis' jam session. We joined the upbeat crowd; smiling, singing, dancing, cheering, drinking, enjoying... awesome. Live music, a badass city, and amazing people having the time of their lives- ya just can't beat it!

Our flippin' fantabulous Saturday lineup included The Fratellis, Man Man, Les Freres Guisse, MGMT, Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band, and Beck!

Some of the guys and gals were new to me and some have been long time loves- they all rocked out and were the reason I had one hell of a good time!

Pictures below... there were so many awesome shots of such an awesome night! Some of my fave faves are shown below.

(The Fratellis) (Pumped up at Man Man)

(Man Man) (Day 2 craziness trying to get to MGMT)

(We love Art)

(Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band awesome-ness)

(Beck incredible-ness)

(Beck blew our minds)

(We love ACL- the end)

ACL Awesomeness

ACL 2008 - Day 1:

The weekend FINALLY came... and it was Austin City Limits Music Festival amazingness. OMG!!! What a fantabulously amazing Friday we had! The bands were amazing, the cloud coverage totally rocked, and the company was superb.

It was Jon and my first time to go all three days. Last year was our first time to experience ACL but we only went on Sunday; it definitely wasn't long enough and we knew we had to come all three days this year.

Weather wise, this year was much nicer than last. It was over a hundred degrees and ridiculously humid last year! This year, it was hot but definitely do-able. Although, it did get a bit hotter each day; Friday was overcast and somewhat cool, we had brief moments of relief with some cloud coverage on Saturday, but Sunday was just plain hot- not a cloud in the sky and one brutal sun.

Despite a hot Sunday, the weekend was flippin' fantabulous. Friday was a SUPERB start to an excellent weekend of live music awesomeness. We made our rounds and enjoyed the sounds of the following bands: Vampire Weekend, Del tha Funky Homosapien, Gogol Bordello, Hot Chip, David Byrne, and Mars Volta. Crazy awesome.

Some of my favorite shots are shown below.... Bands, crowds, friends, smiles, and a bit of Austin history..

(Vampire Weekend incredible-ness) (Gogol Bordello going wild)

(Groovin' to tha music) (Walking to Hot Chip- Fans a flappin')

(The awesome David Byrne and some awesome folks enjoying his awesome music)

(ACL 2008 Friday Sunset) (The ACL Ball in all its' awesomeness)

(Mars Volta rockin' it out)