Random things that Nikki has been enjoying

This is going to be a bit random, but I thought it would be fun to tell you all about a few things that I've been enjoying lately.

1. Music:

The band Metric. I love them. I had been listening to them off and on but after we (Todd and I) saw them open for Muse I really started listening to them even more. My favorite song by them right now is called Gimmie Sympathy. You can check it out here: Metric Gimmie Sympathy Music Video

A friend got me into the group called XX. They label themselves as being pop/experimental. At first I wasn't sure what I thought but the more I listened the more I liked them. What I like about them is that they are a little funky. Here is one of their songs that I really like called Crystalised Crystalised Music Video and another one called Basic Space Basic Space Music Video

2. Reading.

Since we got rid of the cable I've been doing a lot of it. Not always the same type of stuff but the last book I finished was called Dracula in Love by Karen Essex. It takes the classic story of Dracula and turns it around so it's in the female perspective. I picked up this book at random when I was at the library last time and I'm glad I did. It was a very enjoyable read. The best part of it was all the historical refrences. The author really took the time to make sure she stayed true to the essence of the classic story and I thought that showed in her work. Oh and this book isn't as innocent as Twilight as far as the romance stuff goes so if you plan on letting your kid read it be warned there is some sultry scenes in there.  You can see more about the book here: Dracula in Love

I've also just finished the House of Night series by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast (well all  7 of the books that are out currently anyways). This is a vampire series but it's set in a high school realm. I wasn't really sure what to think of the series when I started it but as I read more I found that I liked the good and evil/light and dark thing that they were doing and how it touches on lots of subjects that affect kids now. The only thing I wasn't crazy about in the beginning was the 'teen speak' that was going on. After awhile though I didn't mind it and got use to it I think. You can learn more about the House of Night series here: House of Night Series

Besides my reading about Vampires I've also been doing lots of reading about becoming Vegetarian, Raw food eating, mindful eating, and just general educating my self on how the food industry works. It's really interesting reading and I have to offset it with my other reading since some of the books can get to be very heavy in information. Here are some of the books that I've been reading: Being Vegetarian, The Everything Guide to Being Vegetarian, Super Natural Cooking, Raw Food, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, Eating Animals, Omnivore's Dilemma, Savor, and 101 Reasons Why I'm a Vegetarian. As you can see lots of reading and lots of information.

3.TV/DVD:

When I have watched tv I have wanted to watch documentaries. Checked out a few from the library. In a few days I managed to watch Bowling for Columbine (documentary about gun control and it's impact on teens and society), Sicko (talks about socialized health care and the state of healthcare in the USA) and Food, Inc. (a closer look at the cost of convience foods and the damage it's doing). All very thought provoking stuff. The first two documentaries are by Michael Moore which I head heard as being very controversial. Despite his political views I thought he made some valid points on some things and at least made me want to find out more about other things.

To continue the Vampire theme from above I was pretty happy when my dvd for Eclipse showed up in the mail. I did get to watch the movie but have yet to explore the bonus features. I love watching all the behind the scenes stuff after I've seen the movie so I get a better look into the filming process. I'm not a fan of that before the film though since that tends to be all I can think about prior to viewing it. Anyways if you are a Twilight fan and haven't gotten your copy the best deal I've seen as far as price and features has been at Target. You can check it out here: The Twilight Saga: Eclipse Movie

4. Celebrating:

I love seeing my friends/family doing great things and so I celebrate with them. Here are a few things that I've been celebrating:

Today I got word that my former neighbors (and still great friends) that Hilary had been published. He's been talking about this book for awhile and it was awesome to see that he's now published and his book is being sold on Amazon. Very excited for my friend and to read the book myself. It's a Western which doesn't fit with the Vampire reading I do (hahaha) but I am excited to read it. Check it out here: A Wayward Tale

Todd had his work Christmas Party last weekend and we won a cash prize that allowed us to buy a dryer. Woohoo! It's been too darn cold out to hand laundry up to dry or out so it's nice to have a dryer that works again. When it warms up though I'll be back to line drying. I don't mind the extra work and it did reduce our electric bill so it is worth it.

I was suppose to run the Reindeer Ramble 5K with my sister Siobhan and her teacher crew but was too sick to go. Even though I wasn't able to go Siobhan ran and did great. Her team finished around 35 mins and I'm so proud of her for doing it since I know she wasn't overally excited about since running isn't her thing. Way to go Sis! We have talked about running together in the future since I missed out on this race with her. Looking forward to doing that with her and celebrating that afterwards.

Opportunity (and seeing Santa)

Last Saturday we had the wonderful opportunity to go to the local Ronald McDonald House in Lexington. Todd and I have been feeling like we need a place to volunteer so we got in touch with an old friend of Todd's to see if they could use at the RM house. Oh course they said they could and we were invited to attend the open house they were having for Christmas.

We didn't know Santa or that Ronald McDonald was going to be there but the kids were suprised. I didn't take my camera but the pictures above are from Kelly Hamilton the director of Volunteers there at the house. Sam loved seeing Santa and told him for Christmas he wanted an orange dog and a some trees. lol. Sophia was not impressed and wanted nothing to do with Santa. I have bruise marks on my arm from how hard she was holding on to me.

All in all we had a wonderful time despite the freezing snowing temps outside and we are thrilled to join the RM house after the new year as volunteers.

Our newest family member

Everyone this is Rufus. We adopted Rufus from the Lexington Humane Society. He is 3 yrs old and is super sweet. He loves the kids and doesn't seem to mind a lot of noise and chaos. He's a small breed dog that is a mix of a Terrier and something else. We think the something else may be a beagle. Because of his size he doesn't scare the kids which is good since the kids showed some anxiety with some of the other dogs we looked at that were a lot bigger than Rufus.

Besides being the smallest dog he was also the only one that showed in interest in the kids and gave lots of love right off. He's a perfect fit for us (though I don't really think he'll be going on morning runs with me).  He's already got a bed and his carrot toy and has been exploring the house like crazy. We have had a handful of accidents but are sure in a couple of days he'll have it figured it and that wont be an issue. It's a learning curve for all of us. Oh and yes Rufus was his orginal name and we decided to keep it. Seems only right to let him keep it since that's the name he's had his whole life.

It's that time....

We have our 2010 ornaments. Todd and I took the kids to pick out one ornament each this year at Target. After much debating and lots of "no" from Sophia we all finally found the one that we loved. They are all now happily up on the tree with the ornaments that we got last year.

Here is the break down of who picked what:

Todd got the pirate nutcracker man
Nikki picked the doll in the sweater
Sophia picked out the penguin
Sam got the lion