BIO:
Born and raised right here in Birmingham, the daughter of a phenomenal and nationally recognized artist (mother) and a Frogman that later became one of our country's very first Navy SEALs (father).
Studied Mass Comm/ Journalism @ Jacksonville State University.
The Wife of one very brave Birmingham Fire Fighter.
The Mama of one very strong willed 4 year old.
Started her radio career as an intern at the rock station across the street.
Landed her first job on a local morning show and (literally) got the call from Magic (on the request line) and the rest is history!
Click on Ericka's pic for more ofthe craziness that is her life as a Mother, wife, daughter, friend, etc... Ya' know, just like you!
This is the best sleep I've had in years. Love her so!
Getting ready for the FOX 6 News, shot...
Dressing as a flight attendant from the '60's, was not in the job description, but I must admit...it sure was fun!!
Wait, you want me to say WHAT??!
On our way to school this morning while singing The Cure's, "Friday, I'm in Love", while wearing her shirt by the same name and she (my daughter) wanted me to point out, on a Friday. Ava wanted to do this for her Aunt Misty (who loves The Cure and teaches Ava all about the band) and who is also at home recouping from gallbladder surgery. Aunt Misty would be very proud and so would Robert Smith, I'm sure.
My all time absolute FAVORITE pie in the WHOLE WIDE WORLD is, pumpkin pie. I thought about sharing my Mama's pumpkin pie recipe, then I thought: "Naaaaah". ; )
So instead, here's another recipe that I found that sounds almost as good as my Mama's.
CLICK HERE (for the other recipe)
I borrowed this from, Meri Catherine, my SIL's fb page. Thanks for posting it. :)
While reading the 10 actions, I realized this is EXACTLY what I saw my parents do all the time! Their actions were just a normal part of our lives. I bet you may think the same way when thinking of your parents. :)
My sweet Mama and Daddy on their Honeymoon! :)
(The article was written by, Doug Fields, and this is a portion of that article.)
1. Affection: Cathy & I are very affectionate and I like having my kids see me holding their mom’s hand, hugging, kissing, cuddling, etc… as often as I can.
2. Saying “I’m sorry”: I want to be quick to use this phrase and I want my kids to hear me say it (and I have to say it a lot more than Cathy).
3. Affirmation: this is my primary love language so it’s easy for me to dish out encouraging words. My kids get a lot of verbal affirmation, but they also hear me directing it toward my wife (which is really easy).
4. Attraction: I think Cathy is hot… and, I make it known around our family. I’ll regularly say, “Isn’t your mom beautiful?”
5. Time: our kids know that we like to spend time together. When they see us steal time away to sit in the backyard and talk, or go in the hot tub, or go on a date night, or sneak away for the weekend…that’s a good message I want them to see.
6. Laughter: we laugh a lot in our house and my wife’s cute sense of humor cracks me up. I like having my kids see that my wife makes me laugh.
7. Respect: opening the door for Cathy, saying “thank you” and “please” and showing her simple signs of respect.
8. Faith conversations: we’re not always praying in front of our kids, but they hear and see our faith conversations and know that we’re always talking about Jesus and what it means to be a follower.
9. The value of friends: our house is well worn from the traffic of friends in/out of our house. We love having people over and the Fields’ house is a regular hangout for some incredible friends.
10. Servanthood: I know my kids have had a better example in Cathy than with me because she’s the ultimate servant. Always asking, “How can I help? What do you need to make life better?” Serving one another is seen in the daily, little things and there’s many opportunities to serve.
According to a new study, to stay safe on the road one must listen to a certain type of music. In fact the study narrowed it down to specific bands/artist(s) and even more so, specific songs.
Rounding out the top safest songs/artist(s) are:
(All the above artists and songs are played here on, Magic!)
Rounding out the most dangerous:
I have a personal list of songs that I shouldn't (but do) listen to while driving. One of my ALL TIME FAVORITE BANDS....
The Foo Fighters! Ava and I have a routine that we do before we play them in the car. I'll say loudly: "It's the Foo Fighters!!" Ava will respond with: "The Mighty Fighters of Fooooooo!!!". You know, it's my responsibility as a mother to teach her the important things in life. ;)
Needless to say, "The Mighty Fighters of Foooooooo", are my weakness. It doesn't hurt that Dave Grohl reminds me of my husband when he was younger w/the hair. Soooooo Hot! :) hee!
For your listening pleasure (It must be listened to full blast. Those are the rules, I don't make them up.)
A mother w/her two young children are at home when a man w/a
crowbar breaks down their door. The home invasion occurred in broad daylight earlier this week in, Walton County, Georgia.
The young mother used a .38 that the family kept in a
safe. She hid her children in the attack as she was on the phone w/her husband (Her husband was at work & also on the phone w/911.).
The county Sheriff believes that if the mother had not acted
responsibly in defending her two young children and herself, that he might be investigating a triple homicide.
My Mama and I were discussing just last night that if anyone
were dumb enough to break into our home, that they wouldn't leave our home alive. My Mama may be older, but she has lots of spunk. To quote her directly, "Anyone comes into my home uninvited will find themselves w/a belly full of shotgun.". Believe me; she KNOWS how to use it.
My Daddy, (a retired Navy SEAL) would
often take me with him when he went to the firing range. I was taught the dangers, consequences and to respect the power of firearms. He had rifles, shotguns, pistols, revolvers, etc... All which were used for hunting trips, collection and personal safety. I never saw them, although I knew where they were safely kept. Guns were never a topic of conversation at my house unless it was purposefully brought up by one or both of my parents. In fact, I haven't really thought of guns until the subject and our 2nd Amendment was brought to the forefront recently.
It is my opinion that this mother acted responsibly w/her .38 in defending her two children and herself. Is it a coincidence that her husband two weeks prior to the home intrusion, took her to a firing range and taught her how to properly handle and use her .38? I have never believed in coincidences. I believe God does everything for a reason, His reason, but that's just me.
I can only speak for myself when I say that if anyone comes into my home and they are uninvited, the only way they will leave will be in a body bag. This mama-bear will not tolerate anyone trying to harm her family. Period
Yesterday in the car on the way home from school, Ava hands
me a ziplock back with a neatly folded tissue inside.
"Here Mama!! I have something for you!!!"
Thinking that it may be her second front tooth that is
hanging on by a thread, I immediately whipped my head around and told her to open her mouth.
"Nooooooo, it's not my tooth. Just open it!!"
"Ava, what IS it??"
"Just OPEN it!"
When a child tells a parent to, "just open it", there is NO TELLING what that parent might find. I slowly and carefully unfolded the white tissue, as if I was Bruce Willis in one of his movies defusing a bomb. Again I asked, this time with more of a, "Mama-authoritative", sound in my voice: "WHAT IS IT, AVA?!".
Again, I got the: "MAAAMAAAAAA. JUST. OPEN. IT.".
Finally I got to the inside of the tissue and what did I
find?
A gnarly, surprisingly huge, hard not-quite-shaped-like-a-ball of wax with Ava's (ear) tube stuck right inside the middle.
"Ava! What in the WORLD? When did this happen? Did it hurt?"
"No ma'am, not at all. I felt something 'itiching' my ear and I went to scratch it and there it was!!"
Now I know for certain this mass of hard yuck was not there
in my child's ear before I sent her to school, because she had her bath that morning (instead of her usual, the night before). I clearly remember making her giggle about letting me clean behind and gently in her ears or "watermelons would start to grow".
When did this hard mass of yuck make its grand appearance in
school, you may wonder?
"Oh! While we were in the middle of Chapel, Mama. It was so funny!!"
Yes, I bet. Soooooo funny.
Okay, yeah, it actually is. Her Daddy's first question was: "Well, are you able to hear now? You have to be able to hear a pin drop from across the room."
"You betcha'! May we go get some ice cream, now?"
I know it's only January, but it's so cute not to plan ahead. The weird thing is, I'm soooooooo not a "cutesy" person - at all. I like this, in a this could go on our back door sort of decoration. It's made out of two round wreaths and a heart shaped one for ears. Easy enough, right?
(If you're looking for the, "BIG PEP TALK", video you may find in the post right below this post.)
ROLL TIDE ROLL
In honor of the BIG GAME tonight, thought I'd share a BIG pep talk.
In this scene from the submarine thriller, “Crimson Tide,” the sub commander played by Gene Hackman delivers a fiery pep talk to the crew aboard the U.S.S. Alabama. He reminds them they should be proud and honored to represent the people and the state of Alabama.
The crew responds in unison with a rowdy, “ROLL TIDE!!”.
"It gives me goose bumps.", the movie's screenwriter, Penn State graduate Michael Schiffer, said in a 1995 interview with The Birmingham News. "You don't have to know what it means to feel it."
The Alabama portion of Hackman’s pep talk begins at the 1:37 mark of this clip.
