Happiest Place on Earth?

Vacation day is quickly upon us and I must admit that I can hardly contain my excitement! I think I might even be more excited than Brook. We have a very busy itinerary for our week in the South of California, starting off with an authentic piratey dinner on Saturday evening and finishing off with a trip to Thrifties for those wonderful cylinder ice cream cones before we catch our return flight home. Of course the days in the middle will be packed full of Mickey Mouse & other wild animals including Shamo.

Is anyone as thrilled as me? I think it is the excitement of sharing a favorite vacation spot with my kid, and nieces and nephews. It is so fun to see this wonderful world of talking critters and magical fairy tales through the eyes of a youngster.

Can't wait. 24 hours til the airport!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ships Ahoy - Girls Get Away Cruise

It certainly is no secret that taking a ride on a boat can be a life changing experience. Just talk to Noah, Cary Grant & Deborah Kerr, or the Unsinkable Molly Brown. Love blooms on boats. Love of life and of creation, love of adventure and many scrumptious desserts (as many as you can eat!)

My hope or prayer, really, is that my mother would be able to experience life for awhile in the floating comfort of a southbound vessel. To state the obvious, I would not be here if it weren't for my mother. She is AMAZING, to say the least. A true example of what it means to be a woman of God.

My mothers father spotted my 14 year grandmother walking down the street one day and decided right then and there that he would marry her. And he did, and they started their family right away. My grandma was a young 16 when she had her first child while her husband was away at war. They ended up with 5 children and my mother was their last. She was only 8 when her dad died of cancer. At the age of 16 my mother fixed her mom up on a date with a man from their church and that is the man that I call Grandpa today.

My mom met my dad while in high school and invited him to church with her. She of course had a HUGE crush on one of his friends, all the while my dad was dating my mom's best friend. But God knew better. He worked his magic and after a number of years of my bag boy dad walking my mom and her little bag of gum out to her car, love bloomed. And then the good Lord blessed my parents with three BEAUTIFUL girls ;o) One day my dad sat down with my mom and told her that he felt the Lord calling him into the ministry. She smiled and told him that he was quite mistaken, but it didn't take long before the Lord called her too.

My parents have been very happily married for 35 years and serving the Lord together in the ministry for 24. Six years ago my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. After a total of 3 surgeries, many prayers, months of chemo and trusting God - she was better.

My mother is the best example I could ever give of what it means to be HOME. She is warm and inviting. She an amazing listener. She is accepting and giving, quiet yet strong. She is everything it takes to be the very best mother. She was born to be a mom.

About 4 years ago I met and fell in love with the man of my dreams. He was my one true love. He got sick. Cancer. He went to be with Jesus just three months after our wedding. I needed my mom. She was there everyday and still is. Whenever I need her. I would not have survived without her. She watches my niece and nephew so my sister and her husband can both work. She opens her home to whomever needs it, whenever they need it.

Two weeks ago we got the results . . . Cancer. Again. I don't understand. Why God? Why my mother? I don't know of anyone else on this earth that deserves this less.

I want for my mom to go on your cruise with you. I want her to be surrounded by hope and inspiration. To be engulfed in God's beautiful creation while she is pampered to pieces on that big boat.

She deserves it!

And now a haiku to convince you of the truth . . .

oh to see the sea

Gods creation shows His love
sunshine, sand & stars

Imaginary Friends.

I have recently resurrected a once loved and treasured past-time. I have returned to the land of vivid imagination through the doorway of a book.

I STARTED READING AGAIN! And although it is something I haven't done in years, I quite think it agrees with me.

After so recently finishing the TV series 'The O.C.' and my thoroughly high level of appreciation for the Southern California lifestyle I picked up an old favorite. A series about a girl, a young girl living in the South C. The Christy Miller Series by Robin Jones Gunn. I grew up reading these books and I have truly loved revisiting my old pals, peculiar treasures, my imaginary friends.

Years of watching TV series after TV series definitely has my mind working in an episode by episode mode. I like to put faces to characters. If they were to make the Christy Miller series into a TV series, who would play the characters???

30 years of Cheese

The Cheesecake Factory Serves Up a Delicious 30th Anniversary Celebration!


Celebrating “30 Delicious Years,” The Cheesecake Factory is serving up several sweet initiatives throughout 2008. To kick-off the anniversary celebration and in commemoration of National Cheesecake Day on July 30th, 2008, The Cheesecake Factory restaurants will offer every delicious slice of its more than 30 varieties of cheesecake with a dollop of nostalgia by featuring all cheesecakes at $1.50 per slice, limit one per guest, dine in only, on that day—as they were when the restaurant first opened in 1978. In addition, a special, limited edition cheesecake, the 30th Anniversary Chocolate Cake Cheesecake, will be introduced on July 30th with $0.25 from the sale of each slice sold this year benefiting the national hunger-relief organization, America’s Second Harvest – The Nation’s Food Bank Network. Additional activities will be announced throughout the year.

Greece is the word!

July 18th. My birthday. I am 30. I had a wonderful day. It started with a dentist appointment, but don't worry. It got much better. I spent the day part of my day with my beautiful neice Anah. It was her birthday. She is 8. We went and saw a movie and did a little shopping. I then met up with my sisters and mother and drove off for a night out with the girls, which is ALWAYS tons of fun. We went up to Southcenter and had a meal and most importantly dessert at the Cheesecake Factory. Because of all the wonderous choices we decided to each get a different kind and then share. After much deliberation over the heavenly menu we decided the following;

ADAM'S PEANUT BUTTER CUP FUDGE RIPPLE Creamy Cheesecake Swirled with Caramel, Peanut Butter, Butterfingers® and Reeses Peanut Butter Cups®

CHOCOLATE TUXEDO CREAMTM CHEESECAKE Layers of our Fudge Cake, Chocolate Cheesecake, Vanilla Mascarpone Mousse and Chocolate

COCONUT CHOCOLATE CREAM Coconut Cheesecake with Chunks of Chocolate, Topped with Layers of Coconut Custard and Whipped Cream all on top of a Chocolate Macaroon Crust

KAHLUA COCOA COFFEE CHEESECAKE Layers of Rich Brownie, Kahlua Cheesecake, Creamy Chocolate Mousse and Chocolate Ganache

It was marvelous delite. We had a lovely time over our meal and even had K-Fed as our waiter. He was quite spectacular it's true.

After we had filled our bodies with blissfulls of yumminess we headed over to the GRAND OPENING of the SouthCenter movie house. It was GINORMOUS and GRAND. We watched Mamma Mia on its opening night. It was such a fun movie and that brings me to the point of my post. The scenery in the movie was so beautiful. I REALLY want to visit Greece.

There are couple movies to check out to get the Greece going bug.

Captain Corelli's Mandolen

Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants

My Big Fat Greek Wedding

Mamma Mia

My vow and promise to you all is this. I am 30. I will have visited Greece by the time I am 35. Count on it!

Good News!

Let's hear it for the Trilogy

I just saw some great news. They are coming out with a Toy Story 3. I love Woody. I love Tom. I just recently found out that Tom has a son named Colin. I just think that Mr. Hanks is so talented! He wrote a bunch of the songs on 'That Thing You Do.'

When I feel wimpy . . .

Brook says to me in the car as we are driving home from daycare. "I want to listen to HSM 1 - to the basketball song. You know Janeen, Sometimes when I feel wimpy, like when I'm playing football or something . . . I just sing this song and it helps me a lot" You gotta getcha getcha getcha getcha head in the game.

Story about Brook Austin Jones

Las Vegas Baby!

After finding out that one of my favorite groups (Rockapella) is giving a free concert in Las Vegas, I've decided to recruit a few friends and take a short vacation there.

If you had a couple days in Vegas, what would you do?

kNoTb - HeRe We CoMe!

As I was driving home from grocery shopping on Saturday morning, I had to make a quick stop at the T-Dome to buy our tickets to see New Kids On The Block. I felt crazy riduculous standing in line minutes before the TicketMaster opened to get my New Kids tickets. It was funny.

November 22, 2008 - Can't wait to finally see you in person Donnie Wahlberg.

Please Release me, let me go

TV Show - Release Dates

Bros & Sis S:2 -October 14th

Californication S:1 - June 17th
Desperate Wives S:4 - Sept. 2nd

Early Edition S:1 - June 24th
Grey's Anatomy S:4 - Sept. 2nd
HowIMetYourMom - October 14th

Jericho S:2 - June 17th
Las Vegas S:5 - July 22nd

Lipstick Jungle S:1 - May 27th
Lost S:4 - December 9th

Prison Break S:3 - August 26th

Private Practice S:1 - Sept. 16th

Smallville S:7 - Sept. 9th
Supernatural S:3 - Sept. 2nd

The Closer S:3 - July 1st
The Dead Zone - June 3rd
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Please update as you hear of new developments.

Broadcasting, Broadcasting 1-2-3

As you already know I am an addict. Hi, my name is Janeen Jones and I am an

addict. For about 2 years now. I watch TV on DVD. That's what I do. It's how

I pass the time. I go through series and seasons so fast that I often find myself

thinking, what did I watch before this? When did I last watch that? When can

I watch it again! I've decided. I've made the decision to go ahead, starting now

and maybe even a little retro action going on, to log my bad bad TV habit. I'll also

make a comment here and there about "Things to notice" about each TV Series.

I am currently watching . . .

The Dead Zone S:1 (May 4 - 6, 2008) - I like it. It reminds me a little of Quantum Leap. Every once in awhile Anothony Michael Hall will make a look that will take me back to 16 Candles and in that moment I can't take him seriously at all as a psycic! Things to notice - Sarah's husband Walt is extraordinarily understanding. Lucky Sarah.

Before this I watched . . .

Friday Night Lights S:2 (May 1 - 3, 2008) - Totally good show. Riggins I love. (Rory's Logan is on this Season). Matt Saracin KILLS me but he is SO cute. He makes every scene SO awkward. That is what stands out about Friday Night Lights, the realness and awkwardness that it is. The scene's that don't resolve just end. But I do like the show.

What did I watch before that?

-Parental Advisory-

A woman goes to her boyfriend's parents' house for Christmas dinner.
This is to be her first time meeting the family and she is very nervous.
They all sit down and begin eating a fine meal.
The woman is beginning to feel a little discomfort, thanks to her nervousness and the broccoli casserole. The gas pains are almost making her eyes water. Left with no other choice, she decides to relieve herself a bit and lets out a dainty fart.

It wasn't loud, but everyone at the table heard the poof.
Before she even had a chance to be embarrassed, her boyfriend's father looked over at the dog that had been snoozing under the woman's chair, and said in a rather stern voice, 'Skippy!'.

The woman thought, 'This is great!' and a big smile came across her face.
A couple of minutes later, she was beginning to feel the pain again.
This time, she didn't even hesitate. She let a much louder and longer rrrrrip.
The father again looked at the dog and yelled, 'Dammit Skippy!'
Once again the woman smiled and thought 'Yes!' A few minutes later the woman had to let another rip. This time she didn't even think about it.
She let a fart rip that rivaled a train whistle blowing.

Once again, the father looked at the dog with disgust and yelled, 'Dammit Skippy, get away from her, before she shits on you!'

Oh, Beautiful

As most of you know, I love to travel. I have been to lots of places all over the world. Recently my niece had an assignment to interview someone who had been on a very exciting adventure. I was so pleased to be the object of the interview. I love to travel and I love to talk about my journeys. I love that I have had the opportunity to have such amazing adventures. I have been thinking recently that there are many things that can be done here in my home country. I have done lots here, but there is still much more to experience. I was thinking that it would be great fun to do at least one cool thing in all 50 of the United States.

Alabama - Never been, what is the coolest thing to do there?
Alaska - Never been, but I would love to see the Northern Lights from there.
Arizona - Mariners Spring training at Peoria (I got so sun-burned), Lake Havasu (I got to walk across the original London Bridge), The Grand Canyon (WoW) - Arizona is very pretty, much like Southern California and smells good too! Flagstaff too. Historical Route 66.
Arkansas - My family (minus Kimberly) drove through. It was deluging while we drove through Little Rock. BUT we didn't really do anything. Just drove through.
California - Lake Tahoe (paddle boat dinner cruise, kayaked the lake, casinos), San Fransisco (Fisherman's Wharf, Cable Cars, Guiradelli Square, Golden Gate Bridge, etc.etc.etc.) Disneyland, Laguna Beach (my favorite) Universal Studios, LaBrea tar pits, Solvang, Lake Shasta, Family Vacations galore. Plus it's my birth state.
Colorado - Estes Park, Denver, Drive Thru a number of times
Connecticut - Lovely country drives
Delaware - Only driven thru (on a bus behind Clark Kent)
Florida - never been, I would like to see the Keys
Georgia - Airport only - I want to see the Peaches and visit Savannah!
Hawaii - Oahu (PearlHarbor, Waikiki, Dinner Catamaran cruise around Diamondhead, Polynesian Cultural Center), Kauai (Wiamia Canyon), Maui (The Road To Hana)
Idaho - Twin Falls, Shoshone Indian Caves
Illinois -
Indiana -
Iowa -
Kansas -
Kentucky -
Louisiana - I want to visit New Orleans very bad!
Maine - I illegally drove a rental car in and up the coast to the first Lighthouse we came to. It was fun!
Maryland - Flew in during Hurricane Floyd.
Massachusetts - Boston and Cape Ann
Michigan -
Minnesota -
Mississippi - Drove in as far as the Welcome to Mississippi sign, just to say we went to Mississippi
Missouri -
Montana - Lived here. Beautiful. Snowmobiles. Big Sky
Nebraska -
Nevada - Las Vegas and Lake Tahoe
New Hampshire - Drove thru
New Jersey - Lincoln Tunnel
New Mexico - Albuquerque - Hot Air balloon festival. This was so cool!
New York - NYC (Macy's Parade, Empire State Bldg., Hutson River Cruise, Rockefeller Center, Statue of Liberty, Subway ;o)
North Carolina - Visit w/ Friends
North Dakota - I would really like to see Mt. Rushmore.
Ohio -
Oklahoma - OK City (Bombsite)
Oregon - Ecola State Park, Haystack, Seaside, P-Town, Grants Pass
Pennsylvania - Lancaster County
Rhode Island
South Carolina - Myrtle Beach
South Dakota
Tennessee - Graceland ;o), Grand Ol' Opry
Texas - Drove Thru
Utah - My scariest plane ride EVER was out of Salt Lake it was a lightning storm and I was on a little 10 seater plane, turbulence the whole trip and lightning out the windows. CRAZY!
Vermont - Bridges of Madison County - so much fun driving around looking for these bridges. Truly beautiful country.
Virginia - Arlington Cemetery
Washington - Mt. Rainier, Pike Place Market, Mariners at King Dome & SafeCo, Space Needle, Leavenworth
West Virginia -
Wisconsin -
Wyoming - Drove the whole length of the state. Ate dinner in Cheyenne.
_____________________________________________________________________
So the goal is then to visit the places I haven't been to yet and do something cool there. What kinds of things have you done? And what have you yet to do that you need or really want too?

Six Degrees - more or less -

You've heard of 'Six degrees of Separation' which led to the 'Six degrees of Kevin Bacon'. Let's take a few moments now to ponder JJ Abrams. Amazing guy. Really. He's given us some of today's greatest TV shows. Felicity, Alias, Lost, What About Brian. Not to mention the movies; Forever Young, Joyride (Candy Cane), MI:III, and Cloverfield. In the entertainment world I think we should be able to work our way back to JJ Abrams in 6 moves or less. But it's JJ Abrams, so even if it took a few more, he's worth it! For Example - let's start w/ Kevin Bacon, yeah?

Kevin Bacon was in Pictures Perfect w/ Jennifer Aniston who was on Friends wear Tom Selleck's character Richard (Monica's older boyfriend) had a son, in which Monica actually went on a date w/, who was played by Michael Vartan who was on Alias, Mr.Abrams most AMAZING work.

We can also get to him through Hillary Duff (I thought this one might be more challenging).

HD was on Raise your Voice w/ British cutie pie Oliver James, who was in What a Girl Wants with Kelly Preston who was an ex-girlfriend in that fairly unbelievably cheesy movie Jerry McGuire to Tom Cruise who actually asked Jeffrey to write the third installment of the Mission Impossible series And we all must agree the 3rd is most definitely the best of the 3 movies!

Now you go . . .

I am ............. TV.

I don't have cable and so I don't get live television. I do however love to watch TV on DVD. I have an old old TV set, that is my faithful companion. I am very "well-watched" on most all 'regular' TV series from at least this decade. I recently stumbled upon a website buddytv.com. I took the quizzes.

I am Stanley Richmond

I am Rory Gilmore

I am Michael Scoffield

I am Peter Petrelli

I am John Locke

I am Barney

I am Haley James Scott

I am Clark Kent

Jim Halbert is my TV Boyfriend

My 'Bachelor' of choice is Bob Guiney

I love to watch TV on DVD. What are some of your favorite shows?

I've got RATS!

I sit in the living room and I hear noises. I lay in my bed and I hear noises. I brush my teeth in the bathroom and I hear noises. At first it was just in the living room coming from the fireplace. I thought that maybe I had a nice family of birds living in my chimney. Because the noise sometimes sounded 'like a chorus of little birdies'. Actually it was more like a fluttering. Then I thought -maybe it's bats- as the noise started to get a little scarier. But still I could live with that. I mean, what goes down must come up right? As the weeks go by the noises are really starting to freak me out. I am hearing them more and in more places of my home. Now I am certain I know the truth. I've got RATS. I hope they are cute like the one pictured here. I hope they are nice. I mean if I ever meet them face to face I hope we can be civil to one another, after all we are living under the same roof. It all comes down to this though. I really would rather not share my home with this form of rodent. To be completely honest I'd rather not share my home at all! I like having it all to myself. Pet free, animal free, rodent free. I need help! Any ideas at all about how I can get these guys to leave without actually looking into there beady little eyes and telling them straight up to get the hell out of my house. What do you think? Can it be done?

Gotta Dance!

I love Musicals! They are so fun to watch and listen too. It has

been a lot of fun starting to watch the old musicals with the new kids. All our kids seem to really like the music. Ro is taking a little time getting used to the whole singing thing, but listening to him sing the VeggieTales theme song is definately on the list of MUST hear things of 2008!

Because I like playing games on my blog I want to play Name that Musical. Below I will list a couple lines from different musicals. See if you can figure them out.

1. 'He's a what, he's a what?'

2. '. . . though you may wear the best . . .'

3. 'and they were sobbin', sobbin', sobbin''

4. '. . . confering with the flowers'

5. 'the final threshold'

I was robbed!

You've heard it time and time again. A fool singing along to the radio, and the guy has absolutely no idea what he is even singing. It's funny. We've all done it - thought we knew the words, or just wanted to sing along so badly that we just sang whatever we thought sounded close enough. Certainly this is good enough topic to bring up.

Here are a few from my life . . .

"At least those girls are hip ..." - "Well East coast girls are hip"
"I wish they'd stay off the streets ..." - "I wish they all could be"
"Kanagroo Love" - "You can't hurry love"
"I was robbed, and I just can't live without it" - "I was wrong, and I just can't live without you"

What have you heard?

WWJJD,D! {what would Janeen Jones do, dude}

How much chuck could a woodchuck chuck, if a wood chuck could chuck shoes!

Would you rather? Lets play . . .

Example:

Would you rather be addicted to buying shoes or hummals?

And I answer - SHOES, of course. They are much cheaper than hummels and you can use them a lot more. You can stand on them without breaking them and you can throw them at the wall if you want.

Now you try - Answer and then ask.

I suppose all is fair in love and war . . .

This here is for the boys!

So you don't feel left out -

Girls Just Want to Have Fun ! ! ! !

Can all the girls say YaY for the CW! This is just a little eye candy to get you through this "middle of the work week" day. Hey what do YOU think CW stands for . . . .??

******Can't Wait?Cute Whities? . . . ???******

I "don't know" what ""this"" means ? ! ? ""

Quotes come in all shapes and sizes.

There are the meaningful ones - "Life isn't about the number of breaths we take, but the moments that take our breath away." - Anom
The historical ones - "But, soft! what light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun." - Romeo
Political - "Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country." - JFK
A Families "inside" quotes - "I run my own mind!" - Rene' Tanner
Then you got your movie quotes, and I could go on and on "fluffy, fluffy," - "He's delusional" - "Hey, you said you'd give me a ride!" - "I had to let him go." - "You slip me the cash and I'll slip you the weiner, if you don't have the cash, I don't have a weiner."
I laugh. I can't help it.
:o) ;ol ;o>
Can you name where my quotes came from? See if you can stump me! Let's share quotes . . .

SanFran and other great cities!

In my life I have had the greatest pleasure of visiting many AMAZING cities in many AMAZING countries. My list of the top 10 cities in the world . . .

1. Paris

2. London

3. New York

4. Rome

5. Vernazza

6. SanFrancisco

7. Venice

8. Bacharach, Germany

9. Florence

10. Capri

The Eiffel Tower actually has twinkling lights at dusk and an awesome Crepe cart at its base. It's magical!

Big Ben and the House of Parliament is breathtaking on the bank of the Thames, and the view from the London Eye is gorgeous.

Being in Times Square at almost anytime of the day ABSOLUTELY CRAZY and SO MUCH FUN.

For being one of the oldest cities in the world Roma is so nice and clean and aniqued and new. It's important and aweing to see what and where history, so much history, took place.

The Cinque Terra is a little bit of Heaven on Earth. It is Nature at it's very best. Although it does kind of smell a little moldy.

San Francisco and Venice a photographers paradise. Everywhere you turn you see beauty. Water and bridges and long skinny boats and architecture.

Bacharach is the perfect little German village with cobblestone streets and old weathered people who have no idea of your language but they smile and visit with you anyway!

The brown city of Florence has to be the Art Capitol of the World. Michaelangelo's home and the birthplace of the Renaissance.

Capri has the most glorious colors. The water is a blue you have never seen before unless you've seen it there.

_________________________________________

I love to travel and I love the differences in the different cultures. And I have a hankering to go to San Francisco. I think I am going to ask my people to see if anyone would want to go to San Fran for a couple days. Maybe my mom and dad will want to go!

Watch Me!

watch video What Hugh Grant Movie to you like best? A. Mickey Blue Eyes B. Two Weeks Notice C. Love Actually D. Music & Lyrics

© 2008 YouTube, Inc.

MoreThanMeetsTheEye (& Ears!)

Brook and I watched Transformers the other night! What a great movie. I found out something very interesting about our hero Optimus Prime. OP's voice is also the voice of our favorite meloncholy donkey Eeyore! Isn't that crazy. What is your favorite part of the movie? Brook likes the part when the hacker guys yells at his grandma and when the FBI come storming into his house. There is a line towards the beginning of the movie where Sam is talking to someone about taking his mothers bike. It is hilarious. You guys should watch that tonight!

New Kids On The Block-Didn't I (Blow Your Mind)

Bring 'em back!

Who are you? WHO who WhO wHo

Which is your favorite CSI show and why?

Save the Cheerleader, Save the World !!!

I just recently watch the new hit TV show 'Heroes'. To me it seems to be quite similar to the concept of X-Men, which I love. If you haven't watched it, I recommend giving it a try.

If you could have a secret power, what would it be?

Let's talk, Joe.

It's morning, it's early - let's talk Coffee!

How do you take yours? I'm for cream. I like to use a big cup (one that keeps my liquid nurishment nice and toasty) pour about a quarter of the way up with flavored creamer and the rest of it up with HOT HOT medium brewed strength. Favorite creamer ever - Peppermint Mocha, present use - Gingerbread, everyday flavor - Hazelnut. Are you a international delight or coffeemate?

Me and my sister.

This is Rene' and me in New York City. We were riding on the top of a double decker bus and it was freakin' freezing outside. But we were having fun ;o)

High their - Pleased to meet you ;o)

Hello there!
I dediced it would be fun to try this blog thing. So here I am. I am pleased to find that they included (in the few fonts available) Georgia - my favorite font. I was going to name my daughter Georgia. Georgia Kate, which I know that Harry Connick Jr. would appreciate, but Rene' and Martin however would not since Georgia is the name of a their good freinds dog.
Anyhow ~ Girls often think about what they will name there kids once they have them. What were you going to name yours?