Stuff & Things: Currently

Linking up again this week with Kristin and Joey for Stuff & Things.

And let's be honest, if I didn't do this these days, I probably wouldn't blog about anything besides books....

Currently...

Watching: Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath on A&E.  If you haven't seen this, I highly recommend it.  I had listened to the audio version of Leah's book Troublemaker in February last year, and apparently, I somehow forgot to share it in my monthly book review:

Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology by Leah Remini

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I LOVED this book. I've always liked Leah Remini, and I really enjoyed hearing her story. I listened to this on Audible, and it was to great to literally hear her read her book.

I did not know that Leah Remini was a Scientologist, nor did I know a whole lot about Scientology. It was fascinating and horrifying to hear all of the things that Leah went through, as well as to hear about her successes in show business.

The show includes interviews with people who have left Scientology, including many people who were high up and in some type of leadership within the organization.  It's just fascinating.  And infuriating.

Feeling: The baby move!  I've been feeling him or her hopping around for a couple of weeks, and it's seriously the weirdest (but coolest) thing.  Words can't even accurately describe what it's like, but I will just say that I have officially learned the difference between Baby moving and gas bubbles....

Listening to: The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton thanks to Kristin's recommendation!

Looking forward to: Monday.  Normally, I hate Mondays, but THIS Monday, Scott and I will be going to my next doctor's appointment, and if Baby cooperates, we'll find out if we've got a boy or a girl growing in there!

Recovering from: The plague a cold and the stomach bug I was fortunate enough to have over the weekend.  It was a quick hit, and it didn't last long, but I am SO bad at being sick.  My stomach is back to normal, but the cold thinks it's cool to hang out.

Wishing: That we hadn't had a snow day today.  We had some icy conditions, but I actually feel pretty confident that our original 2 hour delay would've been sufficient.  Now, we've lost a day from our break in February.

Reading: The Atonement Child by Francine Rivers  I borrowed this on eBook from my local library, and I suppose I should probably get back to it because it's due back on the 17th, and I haven't gotten very far!

What stuff and things are currently happening with you?

What I'm Watching Wednesday

Something else I'm pretty sure that I love about fall is the premiere of new seasons of TV shows!

Here's what I've been watching lately:

Michael Weatherly left NCIS at the end of last season to pursue other career opportunities.  Apparently, Bull was this opportunity.  I love him and his character, Tony DiNozzo, so I had to check out his new show.  After seeing the first show, I definitely want to watch more.  I enjoyed seeing him in a different kind of role, and I'm interested to see where it goes from here, and how Dr. Bull develops as a character.

I started watching Dancing with the Stars last season since Jodi Sweetin (from Full House and now, Fuller House) was one of the contestants.  I fell in love with the show!  Unlike singing shows that make me furious and are sometimes painful to my ears, this is a fun, low-stress show for me because I know diddly squat about dancing.  There's definitely a great cast this season including some of my favorites: Maureen McCormick ("Marcia Brady") and Gold medal Olympian, Laurie Hernandez.

Did anyone else watch this 2-Part mini series??  I was in middle school when JonBenet was murdered, and so I obviously remember hearing about this all of the time.  I thought it was a really intriguing, well-done documentary.

I've always liked Kevin James, and I loved him as Doug on King of Queens.  So I thought I should check out the debut of his new sitcom.  I liked the first episode, but I don't know if I'm going to love it.  The hard part about sitcoms is they have less than 30 minutes to make you fall in love.  It will probably take a few more tries for me to form a solid opinion.

This show is an exception to my list in that it just wrapped up its season instead of starting it.  Big Brother 18 was a great season!

SPOILER ALERT (In case you for some reason have still not caught up on the finale.)  Highlight the text to continue reading as I've done it in white to avoid ruining any one's day:   Big Brother 16 Veteran contestant, Nicole, and one of my personal favorite players, WON BIG BROTHER 18!!  I literally screamed when she won (and scared my poor cat off the bed)!  Not only has it been years since a female contestant won Big Brother, but Nicole also made Big Brother history by becoming the first female contestant to win when up against a male contestant in the final two.

While I would have ultimately been happy with any of the final six contestants winning, I was supremely happy with the outcome.

SO that's what I've been watching lately!

Still on the DVR:
-NCIS Season 14 Premiere
-Blue Bloods Season 7 Premiere
-"Once Upon a Time: Evil Reigns Once More" & Season 6 Premiere
-NCIS: Los Angeles Season 8 Premiere

What I hear that I should probably watch:
This is Us

What have you been watching this Premiere Season??

Also, have you signed up for The 5th Annual Great Pumpkin Swap yet?  Click the link to join us!

What I'm Watching Wednesday

There are pretty much only two shows that I can't get enough of right now: Gossip Girl and Big Brother.

Thanks to Kristin, I started watching Gossip Girl on Netflix this summer.  Oh, the drama!  I have been totally and completely sucked in, and I just can't get enough.  I'm bordering on obsessed.  In fact, the other night, I'm pretty sure these characters invaded my dreams.

While falling asleep one evening, I was actually trying to think about all of the different dating combinations of these characters.  It's pretty complicated.  I considered making a chart.  I realized that this would be 1) almost impossible 2) a sign that I have some kind of problem.

I'm currently on season three, and there are a total of six seasons.  When all of my other shows kick back in this fall, I don't know how I'll manage it all.....lol

Before I met Scott, I thought that Big Brother was so stupid.  I just didn't get the idea of why anyone would want to watch a bunch of people that had to live in a house together.  Why would that be exciting?

Little did I know what it entailed.  And just in case you don't, here's how it works.  A bunch of people (16 this season) are selected to live in isolation in the Big Brother house.  Each week, they compete to become the Head of Household (or HOH).  The HOH nominates two other house guests to be evicted.  The nominated house guests, the HOH, and three other house guests get a chance to compete for the Power of Veto (POV).  Anyone who wins the veto can take someone off "the block" (aka remove a nominee) or keep the nominations the same.  Once the final nominations are set, the house guests vote someone out.  The last two house guests left at the end receive votes from a jury of evicted house guests.  One will win the grand prize of $500,000, and the other wins $50,000.

They are doing the HOH a little differently this season.  They compete for two HOH spots.  Each HOH nominates two house guests, and their nominees compete in the Battle of the Block competition.  Whichever team wins, dethrones the HOH who nominated them, and they are no longer nominees.  Things then proceed to the veto as described above.

I don't know why I love it so much, but I do.  It's especially fun because it gives me some sort of TV to look forward to three nights a week.

What are you watching this summer??

Music Monday: TV Theme Songs, Part III

I am having way too much fun with these TV Theme Songs!  It's really taking me back to so many shows that I loved watching!

Just in case you missed them, here's Part I and Part II!

Saved by the Bell (1989-1993)

 

This doesn't SHOW the actual theme song, but it does play it. 

 

Words cannot express to you how in love I was with Mark-Paul Gosselaar (Zack Morris).  Mario Lopez (Slater) wasn't bad either.  I learned to appreciate him long after Saved by the Bell was off the air.  :)

 

The Brady Bunch (1969-1974)

  

  I seriously loved this show so much?  Cheesy?  Sure.  But it was SUPPOSED to be.  It was a show that demonstrated good family values.  :)   The Partridge Family (1970-1974)  
I had a hard time finding the actual video for this one, too.  But this theme song is great! :)  Who doesn't love a family that travels around singing and playing instruments!?  

The Facts of Life (1979-1988)

   

 

This is another one of my all time favorite shows AND theme songs.  It's another one that my cousin, Jaime, and I used to love watching...and quoting! :)

 

This concludes my TV Theme Songs series!  Next Monday, I will be featuring my READERS' favorite Christmas songs!  Thank you to everyone who shared your favorite Christmas songs so far.  If you haven't yet, there is still time.  Just fill out the form below!

 

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Music Monday: TV Theme Songs, Part II

Last week, I started writing about some of my favorite TV theme songs.  Since I am a self-diagnosed TV addict, the post kept getting longer and longer.  I figured it was best to write another installment, and so, here we are!

Cheers (1982-1993)
Honestly, I never really watched Cheers.  I was really too young for the content of the show, but I remember that my parents watched it, and it's got a great theme song!

Three's Company (1976-1984)
Please note that I watched this show in reruns.  It was seriously so funny! 


 

Greatest American Hero (1981-1983)

Ok, I'm including this for Scott.  As I was writing this post, he asked what I was doing.  I told him what I was writing about, and he was like, "You better include Greatest American Hero."  I never saw this show, but I do know the theme song because he likes it so much, and it IS a good one.

 

 

Laverne & Shirley (1976-1983)

Last week, I shared the Happy Days theme song, and I can't believe that I didn't think of Laverne & Shirley right away.  For starters, this show was a spinoff of Happy Days.  My cousin, Jaime, and I LOVED watching this show.  We always said that she was like Laverne and I was like Shirley.  :)  This theme song is great!

 

  The Flintstones (1960-1966)      The Jetsons (1962-1988)    

I hope you're enjoying these posts as much as I am!  I have more to come next week!  There's still so many more good theme songs out there.  They just don't make them like this any more!

 

In case you haven't done it yet, I'm going to be writing a Music Monday post in December featuring my readers' favorite Christmas songs!  Fill out the form below to share yours!  (You don't have to have a blog to participate!)

  

 

Music Monday: TV Theme Songs

I wrote a music post a couple of weeks ago on a Monday, and so did Julie!  Great minds think alike, I guess.  I have some more music themed posts in mind, so I'm going to keep up with my own little Music Monday for a bit.  :)

Scott and I downloaded some TV theme songs a couple of years ago.  I was listening through the songs on my iPod in ABC order, and I had quite a few come on in a row.  It got me thinking about some of my all-time favorite TV theme songs, and what better place to share them than right here on my blog??

Happy Days (1974-1984)

For you "young-ins" out there, the show Happy Days took place in Milwaukee in the 1950s and 1960s.  It focused on the Cunningham family.  Ron Howard...yes, the movie director, had a starring role as Richie Cunningham.  And Henry Winkler starred as Arthur Fonzarelli, aka "The Fonz".  I would also like to clarify that I watched this show in reruns since I was born two years before it's final season.  :-p

Full House (1987-1995)

 

I don't care how young you are, I shouldn't have to give you the details on this one, right?  Right?

 

 

Family Ties (1982-1989)

 

*sigh* I'll explain this one, too.  ;)  Or rather, I'll let you read the words from Wikipedia.

 

Set in suburban Columbus, Ohio during the early years of the Reagan administration, Elyse and Steven Keaton (Meredith Baxter-Birney and Michael Gross) are baby boomers, liberals and former Hippies, raising their three children: Alex (Michael J. Fox), Mallory (Justine Bateman) and Jennifer (Tina Yothers). Married in 1964, Elyse is an independent architect and Steven, a native of Buffalo, New York, is the station manager of WKS, a local public television station. The couple later has a fourth child, Andrew (Brian Bonsall).

Much of the humor of the series focuses on the cultural divide during the 1980s when younger generations rejected the counterculture of the 1960s and embraced the conservative politics which came to define the 1980s. Both Alex and Mallory embrace Reaganomics and exhibit conservative attitudes: Alex is a Young Republican and Mallory is a more materialistic young woman in contrast to her feminist mother. Mallory was also presented as a vacuous airhead, who was fodder for jokes and teasing from her brother Alex. Jennifer, an athletic tomboy and the youngest child, shares the values of her parents and just wants to be a normal kid. Elyse and Steven have a fourth child, Andrew, born in 1984 whom Alex doted on and quickly molded in his conservative image.

 

I will also share with you that Michael J. Fox was my first Celebrity Crush. 

 

I was 5.

 

 

Perfect Strangers (1986-1993)

 

Again, the words of Wikipedia:

 The series chronicles the relationship of Larry Appleton (Mark Linn-Baker) and his distant cousin Balki Bartokomous (Bronson Pinchot). Larry, a Wisconsin native from a large family, has just moved into his first apartment in Chicago, Illinois, and is savoring his first taste of privacy when Balki, a hitherto-unknown cousin from a Mediterranean island, Mypos, arrives intending to move in with him. Balki, who was a shepherd on Mypos, interprets what little he knows about the United States by relying on his own (often out-of-context) recollections of American pop culture.  After initially gently rebuffing his cousin's request to stay at his apartment, aspiring-photographer Larry decides to take Balki under his wing and teach him about American life. However, the neurotic Larry frequently proves to be as inept as Balki, if not more so, and often gets the pair into situations that only Balki can set right.

 

Family Matters (1989-1998)

 

Please tell me you've heard of Steve Urkel!!

 

 

Step by Step (1991-1998)

 

Wikipedia states: Set in a substantially fictionalized version of the city of Port Washington, Wisconsin, Frank Lambert, a divorced contractor with three children, sons J.T. and Brendan and daughter Al, impulsively marries Carol Foster, a widowed beautician who also has three children, daughters Dana and Karen and son Mark. Both were residents of Port Washington, but met while vacationing separately in Jamaica. Their children are surprised and angered when they learn of the marriage. Stories depicted typical situations of a new blended family, their differences causing arguments and resentments between them, but the family eventually growing to tolerate and develop loyalty to one another.

 

 

Full House, Family Matters, Step by Step, and Perfect Strangers made up my Friday nights for a short period of time.  ABC used to have TGIF, which was an evening of family friendly TV shows.  I honestly just don't think they make shows like these any more! 

 

I think I may have to share some more TV theme songs.  As I was writing this, I thought of so many more! 

 

Do any of your favorite shows have good theme songs??

 

***Last year, I wrote a daily blog post with my favorite Christmas songs.  This year, I am going to be writing a music post about my readers' favorite Christmas songs!  If you'd like to help me out, please fill out the form below!!  :)***

 

 

TV Addict

Hi.  My name is Becky, and I'm a TV addict.

Don't get me wrong.  I still love an appreciate a good book.  But I love TV.  I watch a lot of TV.  I get stressed out because I don't watch most of my shows live, and the DVR starts filling up....

Since TV is a big part of what I do, I decided to write a TV post to share what I'm watching (or getting stressed because I haven't watched) each week this fall. 

Sunday
The Amazing Race (CBS)

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The Mentalist (CBS)

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Monday
The Voice (NBC)

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Tuesday
The Voice (NBC)

NCIS (CBS)

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NCIS: Los Angeles (CBS)

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Wednesday
Criminal Minds (CBS)

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CSI (CBS)

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Law & Order: SVU (NBC)

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Thursday
Glee (FOX)

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Ok, this picture doesn't feature nearly enough cast members as I want, but I had to finally stop and just pick one.  Google yielded too many pictures including, season 5 promos, that still feature Cory Monteith (aka character Finn Hudson).  I'm still so sad about his untimely death this summer.  :(  This week's episode is going to be a farewell to Finn.  I will need a box of tissues.  Seriously.

Friday
What Not to Wear (TLC)

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This is the last season of What Not to Wear, which is a bit sad.  :(

Blue Bloods (CBS)

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Saturday
The Pioneer Woman (Food Network)

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There are some more shows that I watch regularly that either haven't started yet or aren't in season right now:
Big Brother (CBS)
Mad Men (AMC)
Psych (USA)
Rizzoli & Isles (TNT)
Sister Wives (TLC)

Feeling Glee-ful

I should probably be ashamed to admit this, but I'm not.  I love the show Glee.  A few days ago, I started streaming the past seasons on Netflix.  I might just be a little obsessed right now.

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For any of you Gleeks out there, you will know that Season 4 (the season that ended in May) was not NEARLY as good as the previous three seasons, and some fans were already criticizing Season 3.  People were going on and on about how it wasn't realistic.  They were complaining about some of the serious issues that the show tried to tackle, and probably more than anything people were outraged that Finn and Rachel wanted to get married.  To the haters I must first say: IT'S A TV SHOW.  It's not supposed to be realistic.  It is a show aimed at teenagers.  They are supposed to be addressing issues teens are dealing with today.  I can think of another show that used to do that....

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Saved by the Bell pretty much did the same thing Glee is doing....only with less singing.  :)  I'm sure people were critical of SBTB, too.  But I just think people need to put things into perspective.

I totally digress.  The point of this post is not to rant about Glee's critics.  It is to gush about my obsession.  AND to state that watching the previous seasons is making me look forward to Season 5, but feel depressed about it all at the same time.  I was making progress with starting to like the new characters, but I think my trip down memory lane is kind of making me hate them again. 

With that being said, here are some great Glee quotes and funny things:

First, because you all know how much I love Harry Potter...

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And one final one (for today anyway...)

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Because the hopeless romantic in me NEEDS them to get back together.

Told you I was obsessed.  ;)



My Review of "The Taste"

I love food!  So when Influenster asked me to unlock The Taste badge and get involved with the show The Taste, I thought it would be a fun idea!  The Taste is a cooking competition show that airs on ABC at 8/7c on Tuesdays. 

The show is similar to The Voice in its setup.  There are four judges: Nigella Lawson, Ludo Lefebvre, Brian Malarkey, and Anthony Bourdain.  Each judge has chosen a team of cooks who are asked to make different food creations each week.  The first task is a team competition.  Each team works to create a specified food.  The team decides on the best dish, which they serve on a spoon to the guest judges.  These judges pick a winner out of the four, and the winner earns immunity from the elimination and the team gets the advice of the guest experts throughout the next challenge.  After the team competition, the cooks work to make their best food to fit the theme for the show.  Again, these are served up on a spoon, and their coaches do a blind taste test.  The coaches taste ALL of the foods and pick their best and worst.  The contestants who made the best and worst meals are revealed.  Sometimes the coaches are thrilled that one of their cooks made a best meal, and other times, they are sorely surprised that their cooks made a worst meal.  The "bests" share their creations, recieve feedback, and are sent to safety.  The "worsts" discuss their dishes and the judges choose whom to send home.

The Taste is fun to watch!  Although I like to cook, I know nothing about creating my own dishes or how to combine these flavors for this effect....basically, I can follow a recipe and make relatively decent food.  So sometimes, I get a little lost as to what they're actually doing.  haha  Last week's episode, "The Art of the Sandwich" took the simple idea of a sandwich and made it advanced!  You would think that making sandwiches would be easy, but it didn't really turn out that way. The two eliminated contestants, Mia & Huda, made some pretty big mistakes.  Mia chose to make her own bread for the sandwich, but it was burned.  Huda used chicken for her sandwich, but it wasn't fully cooked.  This elimination sent Anthony Bourdain's first contestant packing (Mia), and Huda's departure leaves Nigella with only one cook in the kitchen. 

Nigella is my favorite judge, probably because she's the underdog at this point.  With only one cook left, she could easily be out of competitors this coming week.  There's just something about rooting for the underdog!

All in all, if you haven't seen The Taste, it's definitely worth checking out!  :)  Tune in on Tuesday at 8/7c on ABC for Episode 6: Nose to Tail.  THAT should be interesting....