American Idol - Girls

Okay, I'm a little behind in watching the gals because I have choir on Wednesday nights so I didn't get to watch it until today.  So here's the lowdown of what I think of the girls and let's see if I'm right after the results show this evening.

I'll first start with Alaina Whitaker and she is from Tulsa which obviously makes me want to root for her and the fact that she's just 17.  As you probably recall, she sang "Hopelessly Devoted to You" which is a song that I love.  I used to love Olivia Newton John, Grease, etc. and I thought she did a good job but nothing spectacular.  I agreed with the judges that she should have sang something with a younger feel.

Next up is Alexandra Lushington which I find very likable.  I thought she did much better last week with her performance and I find last night's performance a tad boring much like the song she sang.  There's not much you can do to make that song exciting.

Amanda Overmyer -She has been named the "rocker" of the bunch.  I must say she is not my favorite and I find she is very limited on what she can perform.  I think she definitely showed her lack of range on last night's show.  I wasn't crazy about the hair either.  I think she's definitely at risk for elimination tonight.

Asia'h Epperson - She's sang the big "All By Myself" song which, of course, originated in the 70's like the other song but was remade spectacularly by Celine Dion.  I thought she did an "okay" job on this but no one can top Celine on this one so why try it?  I still think she'll be safe tonight.

Brooke White is definitely my favorite of the girls and I've liked her from the very beginning.  She has a clear and honest innocence about her and is not afraid to show it.  I think she really rocked last night and showed how talented she is.

Carly Smithson is another one of my favorites.  I think she has the best voice of the bunch and will definitely make it far in the competition.  She just strikes me as someone who is very honest about who she is and is comfortable in her skin.

Kady Malloy is someone I have tried to like but she just doesn't appeal to me.  As the judges shared last night, she shows her personality in the little clips about her life but when it comes to performing she doesn't connect with the audience.  I think she's very talented but a Heart song was not a good song for her.  In my humble opinion she should stick with more of a pop vibe.

Kristy Lee Cook also appeals to me but I don't think she has the voice to make it all the way.  She is very likable and cute and has the whole package.  She did make a vast improvement during this weeks performance compared to last weeks.  She'll be safe this go around.

I believe Ramiele Mulabay will make it far in the competition.  She does have a powerful voice coming out of that little body and she's super cute.  Unlike the judges I really enjoyed her song last night and thought she did a great job picking it.

Syesha Mercado also has the whole package but I was not impressed with her performance last night and found it quite boring.  I even fast forwarded through most of it.  She definitely made a poor decision with her song choice.  

So, for the girls, I predict Amanda Overmyer and Kady Malloy will go home tonight.  We'll see!

 

My take on American Idol

As some of you already know, I am a big American Idol fan.  At this moment, it's really the only show I regularly watch.  I like the Closer but it's off right now so I'm going to share my take on last night's show with the guy's.

First I'm going to start with Chikezie.  Personally, he was my favorite last night because he really made a turnaround from the previous week. I enjoyed how he incorporated the theme from his interview into his song and poked fun at Simon during the song which was really great.  He also poked fun at Simon in his ending interview in good fun rather then in a "cocky" sort of way.  

Next up is Danny Noriega.  I really don't know what to say about him.  hmmmmm.

David Archuleta is definitely the one to beat (like nobody else knows this).  He's cute as a button and the pre-teens/teens love him.  I enjoyed his rendition of "Imagine" last night but I still like John Lennon's version better.  It was a little to "sing songy" for me.  It will be a miracle if he doesn't at least win the guy's side if not the whole thing.

My sister informed me that David Cook has been residing in Tulsa the last few years which is pretty neat.  I think he's pretty likable but I don't see him having the commercial success of a couple of the others.  I did like how he took the bit of color out of his hair last night and made him look at bit more "normal."  However, his conversation with Simon after his performance did not help him with votes and I think he knew that by the expression on his face.  I did think it was harsh of Simon to give him a hard time about the crossword puzzles.  Give me a break.

David Castro - I think he seems like a very likeable guy but I can't get past the dread locks.  I know they set him apart from the rest of the pack but I can't help but wonder how often he washes his hair.  Maybe I'm just hung up on hygiene.  I don't know.

Luke Menard - He seems a little arrogant for my taste and seems to know he's good.  I think he did all right and he does have the look but I'm not sure about him.  I wasn't crazy about his performance last night either.

Robbie Carico - He definitely has the rocker look but not quite the sound.  I agree with Randy on this one and that he didn't have umpf for a real rocker.  He may be dropped this week.  

Jason Yeager - Here's the contestant that I was really hoping that would do well because he's seems like a really nice guy.  Also, my in-laws went to a singing type restaurant in Branson this past summer and he was their waiter and they bought his CD that he had released.  So, that little connection makes you want to see someone to do well.  However, I just don't think he's been delivering and he's definitely at risk.  Last night may have been his last performance.  

David Hernandez - I definitely think he'll make it to the finals of the guys as well.  I really like him and thought he did great last night.

We'll see how the girls do tonight!  Feel free to let me know your thoughts on the contestants.

I did something on Photoshop!

I know this is not perfect but I actually completed a task on Photoshop Elements tonight on the Mac.  It is a miracle.  I would like to thank those that helped me through this difficult moment in my life, namely Leigh Ann, who gave me the courage and confidence to get through this blip in my life and show me a few little things about Photoshop.  I would also like to thank Amy C. from choir who e-mailed me the Selective Colorization instructions about a year ago.  (I thought I would give this speech in honor of the Oscars.)  (Now if I could only figure out why this photo looks so small on my blog.)

Thank you and may all of you be blessed.

-Jennifer

Happy Birthday Meredith & Michael!

I must say that today was a success.  I was a little worried about everything working out but the Lord took care of me.  Alli seemed to be healed (even though she would deny being completely "well" because she enjoyed the perks of being sick), the tea party was able to be rescheduled to next Saturday and we headed to Grammy & Papa's for a little party tonight.  Meredith seemed to be thrilled with the day and didn't seem to be mad at me anymore.  At Grammy & Papa's house we ate Popeye's Chicken, enjoyed Strawberry Cake and Chocolate Cake and played the Wii with Becky & Patrick and the kids.  I really enjoyed the boxing match-up between Becky and Michael.  Michael challenged his big sister to settle some scores from the past.  It was quite a fight with ups and downs and all of the excitement of a real Las Vegas showdown (without the blood, of course).  However, Michael made a last desperate attempt at a knockout and pulled it off.  If it had gone to decision I don't know if he would have been so lucky.  

Update on Alli

Well our prayers must have worked (along with the Tamiflu) and Alli is so much better.  She's not even running fever today.  When I took her to the doctor yesterday she was just so pitiful.  She was running a fever and had to be carried everywhere (and this is so not Alli).  The doctor took a swab and ran the flu test on her and it actually came back negative.  However, the doc said that the tests are wrong sometimes and she just felt sure that she had the flu since she exhibited all of the symptoms.  She had achiness, sensitivity to light, fever, tiredness, etc.  Anyway, she gave us a prescription for Tamiflu (along with Michael who was the only one in the family that didn't receive the flu shot) and sent us on our way.  I started the tamiflu last night and either she truly didn't have the flu, the medicine is amazing, and/or God really worked.  However, I did go ahead and reschedule Meredith's party until next week as to not infect all of the attenders and so Alli could attend.  Needless to say, Meredith was not happy about that and quite upset with me.  I tried to explain to her that we would do the same for her if she were sick and Alli was having a party which she did agree to that.   But she was still made.  Oh well.  It was pretty much a lose lose situation for me and I accept that.  

I have tried to include a picture of my new cool iMac computer (which I'm getting very frustrated with) since I did invest $10 in a card reader from Wal Mart yesterday.  Hopefully I'll have better luck with it.  However, when I tried to upload the picture to blogger it would stop midway through.  UGH!  I also need to figure out some of the basics of Photoshop on the Mac.  I think I need a class or an indepth book without any distractions.  Good luck with that!

Take care!

Sickness, ain't it grand?

Well, I have a little prayer request to add to my blog.  My sweet little Alli is sick with fever, cough, etc. and her big sister's birthday tea party is scheduled for tomorrow at 4:30 p.m. so I'm taking her to the doc at 3:15 p.m. today to hopefully nip it in the bud.  We'll see.  I knew that we had been extremely lucky this far as far as health is concerned and wouldn't you know that the lucky streak would end today.  Either way, if we cancel the party Meredith will be very disapointed and if Alli can't attend she will be very disappointed so it's pretty much a lose lose situation.  UGH!  

There's no new pictures today because apparently even though I have a new computer it still isn't recognizing my camera so it's either the USB cable or the camera.  So, let's hope it's the cable.  I think I'm going to get a card reader this time instead of just hooking up the camera.  I feel that's the smart thing to do this time (like you all really care).  

Meredith lost her second tooth last night.  It had been loose for the past few days and it had gotten to the point where it was just hanging by a thread and bleeding a little along the bottom.  So, I had Meredith let me "look" at it and I gave it a little tug and out it came.  Meredith, of course, went running through the house screaming (not in a positive nature) and was quite traumatized by the event and the blood.  I then reminded her that the tooth fairy would be coming and asked her if she was just scared or if it actually hurt.  She then had a little smile on her face and said that she was just scared and seemed to recover nicely.

Earlier, since I was speaking of prayer requests I wanted to mention for you all to keep my friend Amy's husband and family in your prayers.  Her husband is in the Navy and headed to Afghanistan a week or two ago.  I can't imagine the emotional roller coaster of being a wife a serviceman and the responsibility it must entail.  Anyway, I have a link to her blog on the right hand side of my screen and I would encourage you all to look at it.  She is quite a talented writer and I thoroughly enjoy her sense of humor.  It keeps me laughing.  She grew up in the church that we attend and her parents and brother are still active members. 

I'll update the blog after the appointment!

New Computer

I must say I am very excited. We finally got the last of our credit card "thank you" award Best Buy gift cards and we headed to store and ordered our new computer. I am so thankful because I believe this one is heading downhill. We are even switching sides and getting an iMac. We'll see how quick I catch on now that I'm "older" but I'm ready to learn something new. We figured since I mainly used our computer for pictures, e-mail, and Internet that the Mac would be right up our alley. So, it's supposed to take 4 to 6 days to get it so we'll see. At least at that point I'll be able to use current pictures rather some that I've saved to a CD.

I was trying to think of some good stories to share on my blog (I just haven't been feeling the creative vibe lately) and the best one I could come up with was for Alli and many of you have probably heard me tell it, but here it is. A few weeks ago at Mother's Day Out at our church Alli had one of her moments where she didn't want me to leave her (for some reason she thinks I secretly have a lot of fun when she's not around). Anyway, I pryed her off of me and, of course, headed on my way. Well, when I went to pick her up I made the mistake of asking her teachers how she did that day (what was I thinking?) They then gave me the look. You know, the look that says it all and you then say ah oh (sp?), what happened. They then proceeded to tell me that she got into a food fight with her buddy Mason in her class and when they told her to stop she then proceeded to throw her goldfish, cracker, whatever it was in the floor and then stepped on it. Her punishment was that she wouldn't be allowed to sit next to Mason for a few days during lunch. Ugh. My sweet strong willed child. I must say though that this news isn't quite as devestating with the second child as it would have been with the first. I actually almost started laughing. We of course discussed the issue with her and she denied any involvement at first and once I asked her over and over again in various ways and wording she did admit throwing food but continued to deny all other accusations. I really think she's going to be a lawyer one day. She should be good at it and maybe she'll make a lot of money to support us and my rule abiding oldest child.

I have also included Meredith receiving her "Good Citizen" award and "Writing" award for the second nine weeks. I'm not really sure what kindergarteners write about but she told me they could draw. Okay I can't get the crazy spellchecker on my computer to work so I apologize in advance for all of the mispelled words.