iTunes is cranking out the Christmas music here at my desk (these speakers ROCK, by the way!),
and I thought it would a good time to give away some tunes!

I've made a playlist of my current favorite Christmas songs.
My favorites change often (every few hours sometimes),
but this is the "short list" of songs that have stayed on the favorites list
for at least a week now!

Here's the list...
If you love Christmas music, check these out:

1) My favorite carol: O Come All Ye Faithful, Shaun Groves and George Rowe
2) The newest addition to the list: Bring me Love, Marie Digby
3) A modern classic, often heard at church: Breath of Heaven, Sara Groves
(I think this one's better than the Amy Grant version)
4) This guy's too darn cool: Baby It's Cold Outside, Brian Setzer Orchestra
5) This one makes me stop what I'm doing to listen: Joseph's Lullaby, MercyMe
6) Rockin' head-boppin' beat, and I love her voice! Sing Mary Sing, Jennifer Knapp
7) I wish I could sing like this, but I can't: Carol of the Bells, BarlowGirl
8) This one's been on my list the longest: A Strange Way to Save the World, 4Him

You can win this whole playlist if you play my little matching game.

Here's what you have to do:
Answer these questions:
1:Which song did my friend, Katie Smith, sing in church with my friend, Terra on piano & me on keyboards?
2:Which artist above sang at our wedding? (12/11/1993 -- 15 years next week!)
3:Which song did I sing in church with a rock band backing me up? (that was fun!)

Post a comment online, and if you're the first to answer all three correctly,
I'll give you all of these songs!

You won't see your post until I approve it, so be patient. I'll try to be fast!
Once you guess, you can't guess again until you see someone else try,
so keep checking back!

Good Luck!

~Carey

The election is over.
Thank goodness the telemarketer political calls & TV ads have STOPPED!

But, if you don't mind, I'd like to ask for your help with a very important vote.
I pinky-swear promise that I will not call you at dinner time
or buy ad time during your favorite TV show!

Mat's picture is up in the photo contest for a team trip to the David Beckham Academy!

CLICK HERE to see the contest page.

Browse through the galleries if you like.
Click on the "VOTE NOW" button under Boys 2, and you'll see Mat's name there:
Matthew - Bonita Rebels

They'll send you an email with a link you have to click to verify your vote.
I asked the contest folks, and they said they won't spam you or sell the addresses.

Here's a bigger view of the picture in the contest:


You can vote once per day until voting is over.
I know you're probably super busy, so THANK YOU SO MUCH for helping out Mat's team!!!

~Carey

This morning's session was moved to a warmer day, so I don't have any pictures
to share today, but I do have a fun video to share, and a game!

The kids and I have been really enjoying Discovery Channel HD lately.
So many of their shows are fun to watch together.

There's a new TV ad that plays on the HD channel pretty often, and
whenever it comes on, I sit there and watch the whole thing.
Sometimes I rewind the DVR so I can see it again.
The kids like it, too, so they don't mind me rewinding.
(unless they're waiting to play Wii)

I found the video on YouTube if you'd like to see:

(email subscribers, go to the blog to see the video)
If you have Discovery Channel HD, try to find this ad during a show-- it's AWESOME in HD!

So many of our favorite Discovery Channel guys are in there:

The crew of my favorite boat on Deadliest Catch:


Adam & Jamie from MythBusters:


Dirty Mike Rowe:


Jason's favorite, Mack, from Future Weapons (the REAL LIFE Jack Bauer):


Bear from Man vs Wild:


BUT, one of our Discovery HD favorites is MISSING IN ACTION!!!!
Post a comment on the blog, be the 1st to guess who it is, and you'll win a $10 iTunes card!
**UPDATE**Zak (Mr. Speedy!) has won!

There's a show on Discovery that Mat, Rory & I watch every day,
and the host isn't on the video commercial!! He should be!!
Who is it???
It's BEN BAILEY from Cash Cab!!!


Mat and I are really really hoping to get a ride in the CASH CAB when we're there in June!!!
(or at least see Ben driving around!)
And, for the record, we WILL RISK IT ALL on the video bonus question!

~Carey

Today has been a great day!
First, I talked to my dad this morning, and rubbed in the fact
that I'll have a hard time finding any clouds this weekend
after he finished whining about their cruddy DC weekend weather coming up.
(It's always fun to get in a few fun jabs at my dad)

Then, I headed to Fashion Valley to pick up a birthday gift for that goofy dad of mine.

After I roamed through my FAVORITE store and got his gift,
I was feeling a very serious and uncontrollable urge for CHIPOTLE.
I had to have a taco or two, and some chips, and I didn't care
how far I'd have to drive to get it!

I finished one last errand in Mission Valley, and my Chipotle yearning
had well surpassed any previous all-time high.

I began a mental map check.

Hillcrest? a definite maybe...
Sports Arena? easier parking, might be worth the extra drive for that...
Fletcher Parkway? I could get home by zooming down the 125, but it's kind of out of the way...

As I was going through this debate in my head, driving through Mission Valley,
something caught my eye that was so unbelievable I had to shake my head
to make sure I wasn't dreaming!
There, in the Mission Valley Center (across the parking lot from the big 2-story Target)
was a CHIPOTLE!!

I made a quick left-turn, my parking magic got me a spot right up front,
and I saw the signs out front amidst the HUGE CROWD:
"CHIPOTLE!! GRAND OPENING!! FRIDAY, APRIL 11th" (today!)

I know this probably isn't as magical to anyone reading this post,
but I sure was happy!!

I got in the very long line, happy to wait, and another cool surprise emerged
from behind the cash registers:
KEVIN!!!
Kevin was the manager of the Pacific Beach Chipotle,
where we've always gone for lunch after MyFUNCamera workshops,
and he even delivered a big Chipotle meal for a photographer get-together
I arranged last year in La Jolla:

(that's Kevin with Jason at the surf hut @Windansea)

Kevin is the manager at the new Mission Valley Chipotle,
which answers my questions of why he hasn't been at the PB store lately!

He rescued me from that line and hooked me up with my tacos, chips, & large drink,
and we got Mr. Corporate Chipotle Dude to snap this picture with my phone:


To celebrate this wonderful day (yes, I know I'm very dramatic about Chipotle. So?!),
I bought a $10 Chipotle Gift Card as the prize for today's Blog Game.
The winner will get this card mailed to them.
You get my sincere thanks for reaching the end of this long, babbling blog post, too!

Answer this question by posting a comment on the blog:
What is my favorite store in Fashion Valley (where I bought my dad's birthday gift)?

FYI: Comments have to be approved by me manually,
so if you submit a guess and don't see it right away, don't worry. I'll get to it!
Just be sure to include your email address (nobody sees that but me)

Good luck!
~Carey

UPDATE:
We already have a winner, but feel free to read below & play along!
To win quickly, subscribe to the RSS feed that arrives immediately.
Email sometimes takes a bit longer to arrive.

ON TO THE GAME!

For this game, you'll need to share an interest with me if you wan to win.
You'll also have to know a little bit about what's going on in San Diego this weekend.

The question is simple:
Mat and I will be at event tomorrow starting at 10:30am.
What event is it?

For folks who know me & share my excitement about this,
you can answer that question without any hints.

For everyone else, here are two hints for you in the form of pictures.
These are from the same event, 2 years ago:

Mat "on the horn"


And Spongebob (who needs no caption):


The first person to POST A COMMENT ON THE BLOG (be sure to enter a valid email address)
will win a $10 iTunes gift card delivered via email.

Good luck!
~Carey