"The Mother" Finale (Spoilers included)

"The Mother" finale was great. It showed the highlights of the next 15 years. 

Barney and Robin ended their marriage after three years. She was travelling a lot for her job and it was just not working. She began to distance herself from the group and travelled more.

The Mother and Ted were planning their wedding when she got pregnant. So they put it off and after  2 kids and seven years, they finally got married. 

Barney got one of his random conquests pregnant and proclaimed his new baby girl the love of his life. 

We get to see the flashback of the first time Ted and the Mother met and hear them figuring out how they have almost crossed paths over the years. Then it shows him talking to the kids. Turns out The Mother had gotten sick and passed away six years ago!

The kids joke..this story is not about Mom..it's about Robin! They told him they love her and are okay with him asking her out. He starts to pick up the phone and then goes..wait..

He retrieves the blue tuba he stole from a restaurant on his first date and shows up to see Robin. So they ended up together!!

We didn't think they would end up together because she was marrying Barney and was unable to have kids. So she wasn't the Mother but they got together after all.

It was a very sweet ending and showed life may not turn out as we planned and the journey is important!

The Mother-The How I met Your

Most couples have a song. The Petester and I had songs FOR each other but we def had a SHOW.

Monday night is the series finale of "How I Met Your Mother" or as Pete and I called it "The Mother-The How I Met Your".

This wasn't our first show together. We met after the series "Friends" ended (which we both loved) and there was a new spinoff show that fall called "Joey" with Matt LeBlanc's character trying to make it as an actor in LA. We would get together every Thursday night and get Jersey Mike's and watch "Joey". We actually had a friend stage a party one Thursday to impress a girl and she liked the show also so he had it as a "Joey" viewing party (Pete was like that's our "Joey" night" but if you show it we will come).

"Joey" lasted about two years and was cancelled. So then our show together became a little show on Monday nights on CBS called "The Class" (one of the girls from Joey moved to this show). This starred Jason Ritter (John Ritter's son) who staged a 3rd grade reunion party so he could propose to his girlfriend (he had originally met her in third grade). The proposal does not go well but he and his classmates become re-intertwined in each other's lives..and it was really cute. Jesse Tyler Ferguson was also on the show. By Season 2, we were married btw. We both loved tv and wanted one show we could watch together.

That show lasted a year but there was a show around that called "How I met your Mother" so we started watching that late in Season too  (I think this was late in Season 1) and that became the show we could watch together, about a group of friends in their 20's/30's, one in particular that was trying to meet the future mother of his kids.

I can't say I have watched it as much in recent years-sadly, it has not kept my interest, maybe went on a little tooo long (even this final year I found myself choosing the Real Housewives over it) but I will def be tuning in Monday and remembering my precious husband/best friend that I enjoyed watching this with so much.

Toxic Friends-Just Say No!

I just had a dream about an old friend of mine. We are no longer friends..sure I have seen her on Facebook but there is no need to reopen that friendship. This particular friend was known to get a boyfriend and basically not be around. When she was single, if you had a boyfriend, she would actually try to get their attention.. If you were both single, she would tell me there is no way that guy liked me..they liked her. It wasn't just me, one time she said that the guys were all looking at her and no one else in our group! It's funny because we both had the same first name and same major and were in the same program in school so I figured we should be great friends. I am the type of person I was super friendly and wanted to be friends with everyone. It took a while but I realized she really wasn't a friend.

Toxic friends..reading my friend Shanimal's blog (http://www.shanimaltalks.com/#!Girl-Code-101/c1wia/3BF02EA4-F790-49CA-9282-5201ED754405) on girl code, really made me think recently. It is so important to have good friends that lift you up and don't put you down. They don't want to compete for the same guys at all. In my 20's, I said goodbye to several friends. Unfortuantely, a few I gave a few parting words. I realized years later you need to be careful about that..it's not like a soap opera where you get to tell someone off and win..you may run into them again and they may have words for you. It's best to quietly take yourself away from these friends and honestly since they are not that there for you, it's pretty easy to tone down the friendship.

As someone who really wants EVERYONE to like her and be everyone's friend, it was a hard thing to realize that some people are not just good friends. I am really proud that I did start to weed out my friends back in my 20's..in my 30's I have the best set of friends ever. And when you are a grown up, you will go through all kinds of things that you can't imagine ever happening to you--death, divorce, etc. You need good people around.

Enjoy Shanimal's blog and thank you for being a friend!!

The Bookshelf Turns

My bookshelf has been turning!! Here are some of the reads I have read or books on my wish list since I last updated you--

Bios:
-Deep Thoughts from a Hollywood Blonde by Jennie Garth-Jennie played "Kelly" on 90210. It's a cute book with some behind the scenes on 90210 and some info on her marriage breakup.
-Grin and Bear it By Jenni Pulos--Jenni is on "Flipping Out" a reality show on Bravo where she works as an assistant for the very OCD (but likeable-he always makes me laugh) Jeff Lewis. She writes about coping (her first marriage ended while shooting the reality show). It is too advicy (not much dirt) but I do like her.
-Romance is my day job by Patience Bloom. Patience is a romance editor but she was very unlucky in love. She tells of her journey and it has a really neat twist to it.
-Columbine by Dave Cullen. Very interesting thorough account..did you know one of the shooters went to the prom a few days before the shooting?

Fiction
-I just discovered Mary Kay Andrews (only read Summer Rental so far). Very cute beachy read about relationships/friendships/etc. I love finding a new author that has a lot of books that I can go read!
-All you Could ask for-by Mike Greenburg. Mike of Mike and Mike (yes the sports show) wrote a chicklit book and it's good!! It's about three women who are connected by breast cancer. This was inspired by a friend of his and his wife's.
-Tempting Fate by Jane Green. She is my fave author-book will be out tomorrow!

Ready for Spring!

Purple vase painted by The Family Attic-flowers were from Pier One

Ceramic Easter basket and animals made (or painted?) by my Sunday School teacher when I was 5

NEW RUG!! Only $16 (total!) from Bealls online
I can't get the picture to rotate.

Reading is Fun!!

Ok I am obssessed with reading (as you can tell!) and I always love having something new to read..esp when you are going through any kind of transitional time-it keeps you busy, excited and learning!!

I just bought FOUR, yes FOUR, FREE e-books online this am!! ($0, #girl on a budget!). They are all thrillers and look good..I bought mine through amazon but you can also buy through itunes!! My choices were free but they also have quite a few that are only a few dollars. Plus no clutter when you are finshed reading!

I used to buy all my books but when I was married, my husband got me hooked on the library. I didn't realize all my favorite authors could be found at the library and sure sometimes you may not get to read the book on the very day it comes out but it's FREE and if you are smart, you can get it pretty quickly. I love the online library directories you can search for the titles you are interested in reading in. If you are part of a library system, don't be afraid to ask to reserve a book from another library in your system! That's someone's job to bring it your library for you to pick up #helpingtheeconomy! Then they call or email you when it's ready! I am very fortunate where I live as well..we have a county system and a sep city system that I am allowed to have cards in both-for FREE! So if the book is not through your library system, check about the next closest system and find out what their policy is..they may have the book you want in theirs!

There are MANY ways to get good reading suggestions--I use amazon.com to find out the latest books, People.com or People magazine when I get to look at it usually has suggestions once a week. Shelfari.com is my go-to-search. I search out my favorite authors and take note of their latest titles coming out and when. They also have descriptions of books too (as does Amazon) so that is helpful. I also check out Target and find books I might be interested in. Then I get on to the library website and start marking requests (or watch for the title to show up shortly before it's release date). I always request the book unless it is already at my branch..that also eliminates guesswork (they will call you when ready) and puts you closer to the front of the line.

If the book is not in the library system or the alternate library system I use, I check out amazon or ebay--you can usually buy an e-version for very cheap OR a used book. (To eliminate clutter, I usually give to a friend after for them to read, borrow/pass on, it saves them money, or I donate to the library to help them out--or you could yard sale and make a few bucks).

And those are my best tricks for reading a lot-and affordably!!