What in the world???

So here it is almost eleven o'clock  and I am watching a Help Haiti Live Concert sponsored by Compassion featuring some Christian bands..old school and new school and Alison Krauss (which I unfortunately missed!)
Anyway... they are having an auction and they are auctioning off some pretty cool things... a gibson guitar. tickets and backstage passes for Dave Matthews this summer. passes to Hannah Montana tapings (if you are into that).
However... by far the highest selling item on this whole dang auction is a three night stay at the Pioneer Woman's Lodge.  It is going for double the gibson guitar (the second highest item) for a whopping $1625.00 (with 9 hours left). Good Grief!!
Not to mention you still have to get to her super remote location in Oklahoma. I don't know why, but this strikes me as so strange... I mean great for her, and compassion, but she is up against Dave Matthews!! A year ago I wouldn't have had a clue who Pioneer Woman even was!
Her husband did take their oldest daughters on a Compassion trip to visit their sponsored child, which is cool.

Crazy Cuteness

Here is another video of Jonathan and his cousin Emily. We had the pleasure of watching Emily one evening in early January.  Again I realize that was over a month ago... but this is how I operate. You should all be kissing my feet because I am even taking the time to post them. Because it takes FOREVAH!!!!
When we found out my sister-in-law was pregnant and due only a few months after me, we all knew it would be so much fun to watch them grow up together, but in knowing this, I think, even we have highly underestimated the pleasure it brings.
Watch....
And try not to let your heart melt into a little puddle.

And please excuse Everette's belly shirt. It really isn't, even though it looks like one. And while it would be easy for me to poke fun, precious footage of a father playing with his son, and an uncle playing with his niece is worth far more than an easy joke.
In short, it is far more meaningful to me that my husband loves to play and takes time to play than how fashionable he is.  I love him. So I will refrain.


Jonathan and Emily--besties. from Megan Mills on Vimeo.

Something to watch

Since I have already confessed my shameless love of period movies (if you are new to this blog: 1. I am sorry and 2. you really should read this post as it will most likely change your mind about ever reading this blog again).... Here is my latest love.

I accidentally stumbled across it last Monday when Everette was at Bible Study and there was nothing good to watch on TV because everyone was showing reruns so we could watch figure skating on NBC.

It was a PBS Masterpiece classic. Usually I have a difficult time getting into those PBS dramas... they are a little too BBC for me.
But I had seen a preview for it earlier and my interest was already piqued.
It was Jane Austen's Emma.
It was awesome... if you happen to like those melodramatic (although this one wasn't too bad), fabulously costumed, non-salacious chick flicks.... And I do.

Check your local PBS listings or start watching it now right here!
It is three episodes. The first is two hours, and the rest are only an hour. I recommend you clear four hours in your schedule because once you begin, you will not want to stop.

I have watched it mostly twice, in random order.
I promise you won't be disappointed!!

In other news

In other news... Jonathan got a super awesome new Fort.

He and Everette assembled it last weekend.

Unfortunately it came with a bunch of new pots and pans.

Once they had emptied the boxes of their bothersome contents, they set to work duct taping each of the different parts together.

While mom was left to deal with those boring old pots and pans.

Those shiny... new... Calphalon... stainless steel...delightfully annoying pots and pans.

Those newly washed... ready to cook delicious food with....  pots and pans...

Yes, while Everette and Jonathan were "playing" in their new fort,

poor unappreciated me had to clean and put away those unwanted pots and pans.

such drudgery.

Not My wedding photos

So today is February 18 and way back in January (technically December 31st) my brother and his wife celebrated their 10 anniversary with an Orthodox Crowning Ceremony. An Ortho-whaty? Yes, My brother and his family (as well as my sister) are Eastern Orthodox. Please try to keep up people. Anyway, it is kind of like renewing your vows.... kind of.
Anyway, My sister and I took some pictures of the whole ordeal. But since it was in the middle of my back nightmare and the church was extremely dark, and I wasn't impressed with the pictures I promptly loaded them onto my computer and completely forgot about them. That is until my sister-in-law called asking to see them.
Not wanting to give her a bunch of uber dark, uninspiring pictures, I busted some photoshop moves on them and they didn't turn out half bad.
Michelle your disk is ready for you, but the rest of you can see them here!

more video

In case you were going through Jonathan withdrawal here is another video. It was taken before Christmas (as evidenced by the Christmas Tree in background-seriously people like I would still have my Christmas tree up). Anyway, Jonathan is even more verbal now than he was then, and is frequently bursting into spontaneous improvisational song.

Don't forget about the All Mills All the Time Channel on Vimeo!!


Musical Medley from Megan Mills on Vimeo.

Church Relevance

yes, that bottle of ketchup does say "church Relevance". That is what happens when you do a google image search while you are watching PBS, Masterpiece Classics :Emma and not paying attention.  I was going to secretly switch it when no one was looking, but Amber caught me. So I am totally busted. I have no idea why this bottle says Church Relevance,and I am not sure if its funny or offensive. Maybe I will write some sort of deep insightful blog about ketchup and church relevance. Or maybe not.
People put ketchup on everything, does that mean the church has lots of relevance?

Mary Poppins Was Wrong

It isn't a spoonful of sugar....
It's a medium sized blob of ketchup that makes the vegetables go down.

Tonight at dinner, Jonathan was dipping his potatoes in ketchup. Everette asked me, "how unhealthy is ketchup?"

Me: Well relatively speaking, not that bad. Assuming he isn't drinking it by the cupful.

E: well, I guess is it better for him to eat asparagus dipped in ketchup or not eat asparagus?
Me: Oh definitely better with ketchup than not at all.
E: Oh well then, (dipping an asparagus bite in ketchup) Here you go Jonathan.

Like I said, it isn't sugar, it's ketchup,  or maybe it's the sugar in the ketchup.

A double post

There is just too much going on to only post once today. I try not to post too many times in one day so I can spread things out a bit... but... oh well.
So over Christmas we had the opportunity to purchase our digital proofs from our wedding. And I have been going through them and reminiscing...
SO I will share...
First here are some of our engagement pictures...

This picture is to share how totally young we look. It is ridiculous. There is a picture of me when I was 8 with that exact same expression on my face.

See how happy we were! And look at Everette's super sexy watch!

As I looked at these pictures, I remember STRESSING about what to wear for them. For both of us... And I cannot figure out what the heck I was thinking. That top has zero color and I hardly ever wore it... Ever. Everette had some lame-o striped t-shirt. Who gets their engagement pictures taken in a t-shirt?  Someone should have staged an Intervention. But let's move on... there will be plenty of time to criticize wardrobe choices later. I promise.

I am however, digging my makeup... I should try to go back to that.... I wonder if I still have that in the bottom of my makeup drawer, six years and two moves later. Probably... is that gross? On a side note.. over the past six years, Everette's skin has gotten so much better, my skin has gotten sooo much worse. WARNING-A HAZARD OF SHARING YOUR BED WITH A MAN: at night hairs from his head crawl down his face and creep onto you and root themselves in your neck and on your chin.  It has to be true, I have no other explanation for what is happening to his head and my throat.
Please send help.

Speaking of wardrobes.. let's discuss pants. 1. Please forgive Everette's freaky stone washed jeans. It was the early 90's afterall.  No? It wasn't? It was 2003? Please forgive me, I know I picked these, but I am sure they were my best option. Everette's wardrobe makeover has been long and slow. Just keep in mind he wore rainbow colored sweatpants into middle school. Plus did you see the watch?
2. Let's discuss my pants. They are the "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" pants. They are miracle pants. They were from Old Navy, and my sister had a pair, my sister-in-law had a pair and at least three of my friends as well. They looked great on everyone. I still have them, and sometimes I like to put them on and prance around, singing, "I Feel Pretty". And then I have a pillow fight with myself and watch The Breakfast Club and Sixteen Candles.  Everette puts on his stonewashed jeans and joins me. He wears a blazer and I call him Blane.

You might notice that Everette was super smiley... There was a period of time in his life when he was smiley. It began soon after we began dating and ended when he had to start paying a mortgage and worry about supporting his family.

This is my favorite picture. It is so whimsical, Everette's shoulders look super broad and super strong and my hair... looks pretty amazing. Please take a moment to appreciate the wash of my jeans. I am telling you magic pants.

All Mills All The TIme

First here is another video... Remember when I posted about Jonathan's Car? Remember when I described the rocket boosters?
Here you can see them in their full glory, zooming around the house terrorizing the dog. Please excuse the disaster on the counters... it was right after dinner. I promise it doesn't always look like that. You believe me right???

Cozy Coupe: Muscle Car Mayhem from Megan Mills on Vimeo.

Also, for those of you who can't get enough of Jonathan. We have our own Vimeo channel. and you can go there to watch all Mill's videos all the time! I know, you are feeling overwhelmed.

Did anybody know about this?

Hello my dear vegetarian and sometimes vegan friends... did any of you know about this?
I just heard about this new restaurant in Lafayette, from a friend's blog.  It claims to use locally grown produce. Yay!!! This sounds so exciting. Any reviews??

The Importance of Good Diction

Today will be the first in a series of Jonathan videos I took ages ago but was too lazy to edit, render, upload and post.
I have actually been working on them for the last three days. so there you go.
This one... emphasizes the importance of having good diction.

Good Diction from Megan Mills on Vimeo.

Teriyaki Wings

In honor of Superbowl Sunday, I made wings, and they turned out pretty good. So this post is as much for me as it is for any of you interested.

Teriyaki Glaze

• 1/4 c Sesame Seeds
• 3/4 c Soy Sauce
• 1  c Orange Juice
• 1/4 c Kikkoman Teriyaki Sauce (the sauce not the marinade)
• 1/4 c Ketchup
• 1/4 c Seasoned Rice vinegar
• 1/2 c Light brown sugar
• 5 garlic cloves minced
• 3T ground ginger
• 1 small pinch of crushed red pepper (these wings are not supposed to be spicy, so don't add too much).
• 2 t cornstarch

1 lg bag of frozen chicken wings, thawed
canola oil

1. Whisk ingredients together, bring to a boil on stove top, simmer uncovered until reduced to a glaze.
2. In a cast iron skillet heat 2 inches of oil to 350 degrees. Add rinsed chicken a bit at a time, skin side down. Wings fry for about 13 mins, until golden. Drain on paper towel.
3. after glaze has thickened, turn heat to low, and drop in drained wings.Turn wings to coat completely, remove, plate and serve.

I had enough glaze leftover to stir-fry some veggies and serve.

NOTE: the original recipe I adapted from directed that I fry the wings. And I won't lie they were really good and crunchy, but it was so messy, next time I am going to try the oven technique.

Nightmares and other random things

I used to have nightmares. I know everyone does. But my nightmares used to be real-honest-to-goodness nightmares. Nightmares about killing rampages in my church, nightmares about babies being unzipped from my body ...(thank you pregnancy hormones). Now my nightmares are different.
Last night I had a nightmare that Jonathan pooped in the bathtub and I couldn't do anything about it. It was a like slow motion. I could tell it was going to happen, but I couldn't get him out of the tub.
I seriously woke up all panicky and sweaty and tossed and  turned and couldn't get back to sleep.
I am officially weird.

***********************************************
In other news, any of those out there looking for Jesus. We found him! Jonathan informed me that this is Jesus.

You can all thank Jonathan, he found him in his train magnet board set. He was a little shorter than I pictured, and I would have guessed a hammer over a wrench. But there you go.

Something to read

So as I generally try to stay away from all things serious. I generally feel there are bajillions of blogs out there spouting off about politics, religion, etc. So why would anyone want to read mine. Although I guess I have been guilty of hijacking this blog to preach from a soap box.
Anyway, I came across this article (a friend posted it on their facebook page).
I found it so interesting and refreshing and amusing.
So I have decided to force it on all of you (ok, both of you).
p.s. it's 1:30 AM and I can't sleep and my husband is snoring. equals crazy.

How to Get Along...

...with your family.

I began this post last night as I was lying in bed.
I just returned from spending a week with my mom and dad, and aunt and uncle.
And while our famliy is far from perfect, we genuinely like each other and choose to spend time together.
I was thinking last night as to how that is possible. I know plenty of people that would get nauseous at the thought of spending a week with their parents. So here are my tips on how to get along with your family.

1. Love the Lord and seek to serve Him.
2. Apologize often (and quickly-don't wait, if you know you said something harsh apologize in the next breath).
3. Practice the art of forgiving (even before someone asks).
4. Keep short accounts.
5. Keep your family stocked of adorable, well-behaved children.
6. Find reasons to be thankful in all situations.
7. Practice the art of deep-breathing.
8. If step 7 proves to be too difficult or ineffectual keep a bottle of whiskey on hand just in case.
9. Remember Love covers a multitude of sins.
10. As much as possible remember that your parents, in addition to being your parents, are people: with feelings, battling their own selfish desires, and working out their own salvation. Try to forget everything they did that embarrassed you when you were younger.
11. Extend grace whenever possible.
12. Try to identify what exactly is frustrating you, then when you are no longer angry about it, simply explain why you feel that way.
13. Be quick to listen.
14. Find a place you can be alone for a few minutes.
15. Laugh together as much as possible.
16. Hug a lot.
17. Have slumber parties (with your mom, or your sister, or your niece).
18. Say "I love you" whenever you can.
19. When you are all together, add music, and maybe a little wine.
20. Have a family like mine.

Who wants some hate mail?

So sometimes I read other blogs and think... wouldn't that be so cool if I got hundreds of comments on every post. Then I would be so popular and so cool.
But then I think, "well Megan, you will probably have to post more than once a month for that to ever happen."

Then I think, how frightening it would be if that many people really read my blog. Because I think I am happy with my small, familiar audience (thanks for reading, Honey). Because what if I opened my big fat mouth and said something really stupid (I know, I am sure you are dumb with disbelief at even the insinuation that I could possibly say something stupid). If I said something really stupid, then I would get hate mail. I am pretty sure I am not ready for hate-mail. I am too fragile for hate-mail. Everette, now Everette could handle hate-mail.
I would shrivel up into a tiny puddle of pathetic self-loathing, lie in a corner weeping, and writhing on the floor.  Please do not send me hate-mail. I am a mother, and I have responsibilities. You would be ruining this child's life, if you sent hate-mail to me. Do you want that on your heads?