I LOVE Getting Together with Blogger Friends

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I was so thrilled when Crystal of Simply Being Mommy contacted me via Twitter and told me that she was in Orlando at a conference for Ford - make sure subscribe to her blog so you can see WHY she was there, you will be AMAZED!!  She and her family weren't going to be there for too long, but we were able to get together this morning for brunch at the Hilton Bonnet Creek where she was staying. We had such a great time and it wasn't even like we had just been together, not like it had been a year and a half since we'd seen each other. Except for how big her kids had gotten - WOW.

Here are some photos from our all to short get together......




Peyton



Rylan and Peyton





Taylor



Sleepy Peyton, Ryan (Daddy Digest), Taylor and Rylan 



Peyton, Crystal and Me



Crystal and Peyton



I SO can't wait for Crystal, Ryan and the kids to come visit again... for much longer. They are all so sweet and, I know Crystal will disagree with me, but her kids are really just the BEST.

Becoming "real life" friends with your "bloggy" friends is such a magnificent thing that if you EVER have the opportunity to meet some of the people you have gotten to know while blogging, I definitely suggest you take advantage of it... you will NOT regret it.

HUGGLES to you all Crystal, Ryan, Taylor, Peyton and especially to my little buddy Rylan!! =)

{Disclaimer: Text links are provided for my readers because I lubs you guys, I was not paid by any of the companies represented here. However IF any of these companies would like to work with me, I would love to represent you.}

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The Muppets are Coming! The Muppets are Coming!

It's been 11 years since the Muppets have been on the big screen and boy have I missed them. However, lucky for all of us.... thanks to writer/producer Jason Segel (who will also star in the film) and director James Bobin, we wont have to wait much longer to see our favorites Kermit, Miss Piggy, Fozzie, Animal, Gonzo and the whole gang in a new big screen adventure.

"On vacation in Los Angeles, Walter, the world's biggest Muppet fan, and his friends Gary (Jason Segel) and Mary (Amy Adams) from Smalltown, USA, discover the nefarious plan of oilman Tex Richman (Chris Cooper) to raze the Muppet Theater and drill for the oil recently discovered beneath the Muppets' former stomping grounds. To stage The Greatest Muppet Telethon Ever and raise the $10 million needed to save the theater, Walter, Mary and Gary help Kermit reunite the Muppets, who have all gone their separate ways: Fozzie now performs with a Reno casino tribute band called the Moopets, Miss Piggy is a plus-size fashion editor at Vogue Paris, Animal is in a Santa Barbara clinic for anger management, and Gonzo is a high-powered plumbing magnate. With secret, signature, celebrity cameos, “The Muppets” hits the big screen Nov. 23, 2011."

To learn more about the Muppets and keep up to date about the upcoming movie, you can follow them on Facebook and Twitter or check out their website.

I Have 1000 Twitter Followers - WooHoo!!

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I'm so excited.... today I woke up to find out this morning to find out that I now have 1000 Twitter followers... WooHoo!!  Thank you to all of you wonderful people who care enough to listen to the drivel that I say on Twitter or even here on my blog. I love you all... HUGGLES!!

Disney Social Media Moms Blog Hop

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Cindy over at Mom Maven had this absolutely fabulous idea for those of us attending the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration March 17th - 20th. She has set up a linky so all of us can write up a post about who we are, who is going with us, whether it will be our first time at the event, etc. This way, we will all ready "know" some people when we get there and have begun our social media networking. 

My husband and I live in Celebration, Florida which is just 5 minutes outside the Disney World main gate and we go there quite often using our annual passes. We also were VERY privileged to be invited last year to the Disney Conference last year and had an outstanding, unforgettable time. Which is why we were so thrilled to be able to attend this year as well.  This year, however, we WILL be staying on property because I have always wanted to stay at the Grand Floridian - one of the MOST majestic hotels anywhere, let alone Disney World. We are hoping that our two sons who live in Connecticut will be able to come down to spend the vacation with us - if they can both get the time off from work (they are age 20 & 23) ; they love Disney World and I know they will adore the special features of the convention. 

If you'd like to see the recaps from last year's conference, just check out my posts here and here. 

We are so looking forward to meeting all of the wonderful bloggers and their families and cannot wait to learn as much, if not more from the fabulous speakers (like Chris Brogan, who Cindy just informed me is going to be there again - WooHoo!!!).  It is getting closer every minute.... and I'm getting more and more excited!

Write up your post and link up with Cindy over at Mom Maven so I can get to know you.  HUGGLES!!

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Gift of Life Bone Marrow Foundation - Twitter Party

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Gift of Life is a national, publicly available bone marrow registry and cord blood bank that serves patients all over the world for bone marrow transplants. And they are currently trying to find a match for Ezra, a 22-month-old boy who loves the alphabet, music and his tricycle with a rare primary immune deficiency called Hyper IgM Syndrome, and others like him. The only cure is a stem cell transplant. These children need to find donors that are perfect matches for them.  Here is how WE ALL CAN HELP.....



Please join us Thursday, January 20th at 1pm EST for the Gift of Life’s ‘The Time is Now’ Twitter Party to learn more about Gift of Life and discover how easy (and painless) it is to become a potential donor. In keeping with the ‘time’ theme, Gift of Life will be giving away some very cool fashion watches during the party. They also will be announcing a very special offer for party attendees only — an easy way you will be able to get involved if you choose to do so. All it will take is a quick, easy and painless swab of your cheek! Please follow them on Twitter and register here for the Twitter party.

Check out the following video to see how easy it can be to become a donor.







For more information on Gift of Life Foundation, please visit their Facebook page and consider being a donor, or at least getting the swab done, you can make the decision later.  PLUS, they can always use monetary donations if you are unable to be a donor. 

I have sent away for my swab kit, won't you join me in helping someone like Ezra?

Hope to see you on Twitter on the 20th....

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What an Incredibly Busy Week

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This past week, on top of dog-sitting the three dogs for my girlfriend, we have been doing a favor for another friend who owns a dry cleaners in town.  Bill used to work there two years ago and the woman who took over when he re-retired (TeeHee) wanted to go on vacation and there was no one to cover for her, so they called Bill to see if he would work there for the week.  So we bartered and agreed to work the week in exchange for the cleaning and pressing of our 68 pieces of dry cleaning that needed to be done.

The hours all week were 7:30am to 6:00pm and we alternated which dogs we took with us each day (Nano went with us every day). {Photos to follow once I get organized again.}  But it was totally exhausting and my back is killing me. I was unable to get on the computer during the day as there was no Internet connection available, then by the time I got home at night, I was just so tired and in so much pain, I ended up sitting down (after Bill either took me out to get something to eat or brought something home so I wouldn't have to cook - gotta love that man!!) and watching about an hour of TV and then falling to sleep.

I am SO behind at visiting peoples blogs and responding to emails {I have about 1500 to go through}, but I hope to catch up this weekend and by the beginning of next week.  I hope you all had a fabulous week with your families and if any of your children started school, I hope it went fabulously, if you didn't yet, enjoy your last few days/weeks of summer. Thanks for always being there for me and for your encouraging words on Twitter.  Talk to you all soon as I catch up on my emails.  HUGS!!

Twitter - Here I Come @LorieShewbridge

OK everyone, I have finally gone and done it!! I signed up for a Twitter account. I said I would never do it, but there were some WONDERFUL speakers at the Social Media Moms Celebration at Disney World who convinced me that it really was worth it.

So, my Twitter name is @LorieShewbridge - really inventive, isn't it??? But at least it is easy for everyone to remember. :-)

Right now, I am battling a terrible cold, so I wont really be posting too much about the conference until I feel a little better, but it was GREAT!! I've got tons of photos to go through and lots of notes to go over. I met some really wonderful women (and a few men) that were just at fabulous in real life as they have been in the blogosphere - even more so.

So, back to Twitter... as soon as I get the whole thing figured out, I'll try to start using it regularly..... wish me luck!

Until next time..... Lorie