Tube: Tim McGraw with Motorcycle

OK, who wants to ride this pony double? (I do, I do!!) Here's Tim with his new $85,000 bike. Looks like something out of a futuristic movie.

(Image is linked to 4Shared download)

Tube: Tim McGraw in Bandana

Not too much to say about this tube....besides cute, cute, CUTE!!! I believe this picture was taken at a Nashville event which was a charity motorcycle ride organized by Dierks Bentley earlier this year (2008). Though you can't see it in this preview--Tim has what appears to be "Care Bear" band-aids on both of his thumbs. I guess his new $85,000 bike gives him blisters. Ha!

(Image is linked to 4Shared download)

Tube: Trace Adkins

Years ago I heard stories about women fainting at Trace Adkins concerts when he started to dance. LOL. I have been to a few shows and, although I enjoyed them a lot, I absolutley did not faint (nor did anyone near me)! Over the years, I have had several opportunities to meet him over the years and one of my fondest (or scariest??) memories is when I attended a celebrity golf tournament in San Diego about 7 years ago.


My friends Michelle, Dawn, and I thought it would be fun to wait on a bench on the sidewalk at the end of the 18th hole and greet all the players as they came off the course. Well, what seemed like a great idea almost turned into a tragic incident. Trace was playing the 18th hole and somehow completely missed the hole and headed for me!!! I heard a loud wizzing sound near my right ear and felt a small breeze as the ball nearly hit me in the head. I hit the grass on my belly as fast as I could and when the coast was clear I got up on my knees to look over at Trace. He was quickly turning red and shaking his head in embarrassment. That was a close one! I retrieved the ball and still have it today--signed by an apologetic Trace, of course!

(Image is linked to 4Shared download)

Tube: Sara Evans

Here's a tube of one of my favorite country music singers, Sara Evans. She always seems so bubbly and optimistic. I met Sara for the first time about 10 years ago at an ACM (Academy of Country Music) press party. She was 9 months pregnant and ready to drop at any minute--yet she took time to sign autographs and take picture with a bunch of folks. That was really nice of her!

(Image is linked to the 4Shared download)

Tube: Kenny Chesney Lucky Son 2

Sand, water, sun....aaaaaahhhh! It's the middle of freakin' winter!!!

(Image is linked to the 4Shared download)

Tube: Kenny Chesney Lucky Son 1

This tube is dedicated to my friend Jeannette in New Jersey. She is just a big, ol' Kenny fan. Anytime I see him, I think of her (I harass her a lot about him, too....LOL...but that's another story.)

(Image is linked to the 4Shared download)

Tube: Kenny Chesney Arsty-Fartsy

I am slowly coming around to Kenny Chesney. He was never one of my favorite singers, but he does have a few songs I find stuck in my head more often than not. He's one of those performers I'd rather hear than actually ever have to really watch moving around on stage. LOL. I can't deny he's one successful artist these days. He's an enigma to me. I think of him as the "down-home-country-fried-carribean-cowboy" guy. I guess it works for him. Anyhoo...I thought this was a cool image to tube. Put it to good use, my friends!

(Image is linked to the 4Shared download)

Tube: John Rich's Bruised Knuckles

I love this guy. He's the "P.Diddy" of Country Music. Seems like he has a hand in just about everyone's records these days....whether it's writing a song for the artist or doing all the production work in the studio. I remember seeing John Rich, back as a new artist, when he was part of "Lonestar" about 14 years ago. I recall him pouring tequila off the stage right into a fan's mouth in the front row. Now he's part of the successful group "Big & Rich" as well as hosts a couple TV shows on CMT.

(Image is linked to the 4Shared download)

Tube: Chucks Wicks

I had some time to make some tubes today, something I don't get as much time for as I used to. Here's my newest collection of country music tubes, starting with Chuck Wicks.

(Image is linked to the 4Shared download)

Some Thanksgiving Photos

Here are a couple photos of my beautiful family when they came up to visit in Big Bear last month for Thanksgiving. It was the first real snow experience for the little ones.

This is Gavin being a dare devil. He had a great time going down the hill!

(Click on the photo to see a larger picture)

Here is my niece Beth with her husband Brandon and their baby Rylee. This was Rylee's very first trip to the mountains and, all in all, she handled it pretty well for a newbie.

(Click on photo to see a larger picture)

La Seda Christmas Party!

Last week we celebrated the annual La Seda Christmas party. This year it was at Alex's house (what a cute house it was!). It was fun to get away from work and visit with coworkers as friends and not as harried collegues. The taco man had fresh carne asada, pork, and chicken tacos for us--and there was some really tasty salsa (Yum-Yum!)

As with any decent Christmas party, there was a bit of drinking, too. Thanks, Margie, for bringing the tequila! That was fun! Here are a couple photos from the evening.

Just click on the previews to see the full-sized images. After it opens up, click again on the image to see it even larger. :-)

Sleepless Nights & Infomercials

Either I need something for insomnia, or informercials are getting a lot more convincing than they used to be (probably both). For some godforsaken reason, I was still awake at 3:15 AM last night and found myself fascinated by the "Cricut Expressions" craft machine. So fascinated, in fact, that I called and bought the dang thing. What was I thinking???

I am so not a crafty person, yet for some reason, the commerical convinced me that I CAN BE a crafty person. Lol. We'll see. Heck, I have never even scrapbooked a page beyond a little something I did for a coworker who retired about 5 years ago.

I have a feeling I am about to spend a lot of money on something I won't have time for. LOL. Oh well. I can always take it to work and use it in the classroom, I suppose.

Chris Cagle at Buck Owens' Crystal Palace

This past weekend, I drove 2 hours north and headed to Bakersfield to see Chris Cagle in concert at Buck Owens' Crystal Palace. It was a GREAT show (and do I dare admit--((gulp))--my 36th time seeing him in concert?) Over the years I have seen the highs and lows of Cagle come and go, and I am pleased to say that this was defitinitely a high. The show was terrific--filled with lots of humor on Cagle's part. He joked with the crowd, did goofy little dances, acknowledged a heck of a lot of people who wanted to be acknowledged, (yeah, me too!) and smiled through the whole show. Loved that! I had a feeling it would be a great show. Right now Chris is riding into town on the back of a long-needed hit, "What Kind of Gone", and performed in a venue where he had a history of putting on a damn good show seven years ago.

So, here are some of my photos from the show...if you know Chris, then you know it's a rare occasion that he doesn't have on that black t-shirt...so stop by the photo album and take a look. He looked great--and sounded even better.

Follow the link below or on the margin at the right to check out the rest of the photos--and leave a comment or two--it's always fun to see what fans have to say about this photo or that one.

Chris Cagle Photo Album

Sword Tube Set

Here is an old set of my tubes--made back when the first "Pirates of the Carribbean" movie came out. Hope someone can find them useful.

(Click on image to go to 4Shared download)

Halloween Tubes Set 2

Brrr...finally I am starting to feel a change in the weather. After the 100+ degrees earlier in the week, the 44 degrees outside right now feels chilly and refreshing. I am so looking forward to fall.

Well, here is set 2 of my Halloween tubes. I hope you can give them a great new home (and lots of use).

Tubed by Cyndi-Lu for "Lu’s Tags & Moose Mountain Stats" http://moosemountainstop.blogspot.com/

This set was saved as a .rar file. Hope you can open that up...if you can't, drop me an email and I'll help you out.

Download Halloween Tubes Set 2 HERE

Halloween Tubes Set 1

I love Halloween. It's my favorite holiday for so many reasons. When I was a kid, I had to wait for permission from my mom to hang up the Halloween decorations (because I would hang them up in September, if I could), but mom always made me wait until the calendar read "October". My mom had this tradition where we couldn't go out and Trick-or-Treat until we had eaten a full dinner. Our Halloween feast always consisted of the same thing (and still does to this day!) grilled cheese sandwiches and a hot bowl of Campbell's tomato soup. YUM!! Maybe I love Halloween because I love the fun of putting on a costume and being someone else for a day, or maybe it's the opportunity to go door to door and actually beg for my favorite candies. LOL. "Please let the next house have Reese's or Bottle Caps..." I love the rich colors of Halloween, I love the weather--be it a chilly, nippy night of a rural Ohio Autumn evening, or the warm Santa Ana winds of southern California (I experienced both growing up). I love decorating the front of the house, stuffing old clothes with newspapers to make a scarecrow/dummy to sit on the front porch, hanging ghosties from the trees, stretching web-like cotton across the bushes in the front of the house, and playing creepy music for the kids to shiver to when they come to the door. I love the smiling and learing faces on the pumpkins and jack-o-lanterns and I even love going shopping for the perfect candy to pass out (which usually means lots of mini candy bars).

Tubed by Cyndi-Lu for "Lu’s Tags & Moose Mountain Stats" http://moosemountainstop.blogspot.com/

With Halloween on the way, I thought it would be a great time to post some tubes I have made. This is the first set of several that I plan to share. Everything is zipped up and waiting at 4Shared....come and get 'em! If you do download, please leave a comment. I'd love to hear what you think of my tubes.

Download Halloween Tubes Set 1 HERE

2-Minute Tim McGraw People.com interview

This month Tim McGraw appears on the cover of "Country People Magazine". In it he is interviewed about his ten year plan (can you believe he wants to be retired by then??) He also talks about touring with the kids, his upcoming Christmas movie called "Four Christmases, running for Governor of Tennessee and the new cologne that bears his name (and has the stamp of approval from Faith Hill, his wife. Check out the 2 minute video that is posted at People.com by clicking the link below.

Check out the video HERE

Kenny Chesney at Starfest '96

So, I thought it would be fun to pull up some old concert photos, refresh them a bit, and share them again. It's been a long time since I have looked at any of these photo albums tucked in the back of my closet and a lot has changed since then. Cameras have evolved into digital wonders, scanners have really improved in quality, and hair (in Kenny's case) has gotten a "little bit" shorter.

When I took these photos twelve years ago, Kenny Chesney was just a fledging concert act trying to make it big--and boy did he ever. Who would have thought that the kid in the too-tight beige wranglers with the nasaly voice would become the Academy of Country Music's Entertainer of the Year for three years running? Certainly not I. I kid a lot about Kenny, but even I recognize the many years of hard work that led him to where he is today.

These photos were taken at "Starfest" in 1996. Starfest was the west coast's answer to Nashville's FanFair in the east. For three years in May, the Los Angeles County Fair Grounds in Pomona, California was taken over for a long weekend and invaded by country music stars and fans alike. Several stages were set up for performances and newer acts like LeAnn Rimes, Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, Tracy Lawrence, and Toby Keith sang their hearts out looking for a bigger audience to buy their records. Every radio station that could get its signal heard was there and buildings were packed with the artist's booth hawking autographs, photos, and assorted swag. It was a great time for everyone and seemed like a huge success to us, the fans, but unfortunately, Starfest collapsed during it's fourth year. Promoters claimed bankruptsy, took our money (after we pre-paid for our seats), and ran.

To see the individual photos, you can go to:

http://public.fotki.com/Cynfulthoughts/concert_photos_mcgr/photos-kenny-chesne/

For this lay-out, I used the kit "Summer Blues" which can be found at: digimom@digimomdesigns.com

Tim McGraw "Swing" Wallpaper

Happy Tuesday! Gee...I seem to be on a roll. Don't get used to it--I have been known to disappear for weeks (ok...months) at a time! LOL. Anyhow, here is the latest edition to my McGraw wallpaper collection. Since it takes me a while to make these things, I sized it for myself and figure if anyone wants to use it--you'll make it work for you. So that being said, both of these sizes are fit for wide-screen use. One is 1024x600 and the other is 1280x800. Works for me. Anyhow, hope you enjoy it, hopefully there is more to come, and I'd love to hear what you think of this paper. (Oh yeah--one more very important thing, a big THANK YOU to Kim. I used the scrap kit called "Fried Green Tomatoes" by "Kim's Scrappin'" at http://kimscrapping.blogspot.com/)

Artwork ©Cyndi-Lu for "Lu’s Tags & Moose Mountain Stats" http://moosemountainstop.blogspot.com/

Download 1024 Wallpaper HERE

Download 1280 Wallpaper HERE

Tim McGraw "Boat" Wallpaper In 2 Sizes

Happy Monday! Isn't Tim McGraw just a cutie??? I wish we could all take him home for a little while. Well, OK. Maybe just I get to take him home. Once I get him to myself, I doubt I will want to let him go ANYWHERE--let alone EVERYWHERE! LOl. Here is the Tim McGraw Boat wallpapers to go with the matching tag I made. I designed it in two different sizes: 1024 or 1280. You can download them at the links below.

Artwork ©Cyndi-Lu for "Lu’s Tags & Moose Mountain Stats" http://moosemountainstop.blogspot.com/

Download 1024 Wallpaper HERE

Download 1280 Wallpaper HERE

New McGraw Tag

Here's my newest Tim McGraw tag. The photo is from the newest edition of "People Country". If you would like to receive tags like this or Incredimail stationary to match, check out my Yahoo group: "Country Music Themes"

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A New Lay-Out; A New Beginning?

So....how does the new lay-out look? I thought a new look might inspire me to pop in here more often. Lol! We'll see.

New CD "C'mon" by Keith Anderson TODAY!!!

Well...it feels like it's been forever! Keith's new CD finally arrives in stores today. It was well worth the wait. I can't help but crank up "Somebody Needs a Hug" and the title cut "C'mon", and the Foster & Lloyd remake of "Crazy Over You" takes me back a few years.

Mom's 65th Birthday

Happy New Year

Happy New Year my friends,

What a better way is there to kick off 2008 then opening up my blog and dusting it off? I can't beieve that it is 2008 already.

It's true what they say--the older you get the faster the time flies and this past year really flew past. I can't really say there was very much signigicant about 2007. I did get a great group of students to teach and I helped my mom celebrate her 65th birthday. I visited Death Valley again, went to a few concerts, and generally spent money when I should have been saving it. I read quite a few books....22 in all, I think, and even though I bought a new computer, I found it hard to find time to sit down and play.

I am looking forward to 2008. Not sure what's in store for me, but I feel ready for some changes....of some kind....ANY kind would be nice. LOL.