SoapNights / Kristin Nicole

Holidays = Crazy?

Is it me or do people tend to go a little nuts during the holidays? I’ve heard 2 car chases for police in literally one day? A girl got killed at her friends house accidentally because they were playing with the gun, I think? There is a crazy rapist in the Coconut Grove area, you can see the so called sketch on this link cbs4.com I say “so called sketch” because it’s covered with a mask and you can’t even really see the man, on other news, a bugler was found in the store vent, you heard me right. Yes a store vent! You can see for youself at nbcmiami.com . And a father was arrested for “accidentally” suffocating his daughter and then he tried to cover it up, you can see that story at channel7.com . Then not has related to those other stories but Donny Osmond won Dancing with the stars?!?

Did I miss anything?

Wow, that was all in just one week, and I’m sure there are some stories I missed. Is it me or do people just seem to be getting crazier, children are more violent and REALLY??? Donny Osmond over Kelly Osbourne & Mya? I didn’t see the show from the beginning but I saw recaps, and I saw the season finale last night, since nothing else really caught my eye. Besides did you get to see Whitney Houston’s performance? She is great! Ok back to Donny, yea he’s a performer, and I’m thinking that most viewers are older and big time fans of him, this has to be the only reason he won. I saw him with my own eyes, and he just wasn’t as great as Kelly or Mya. I was really rooting for Kelly and I’m very disappointed that she got 3rd place. She at least deserved 2nd, but in all honesty it should have been between Kelly and Mya. Another reason I don’t like watching this show, it’s totally rigged, it’s all about popularity and not the actual facts, who can really DANCE! It’s just like American Idol, I STOPPED Watching because it’s not even about who can really sing anymore, it’s about who is more popular!

So back to the question?

Do Holidays make people go crazy? I’m starting to think YES! I just hear about so many things, and most things you are thinking to yourself, did that really happen? Is this happening right now in our own backyard? I don’t know how it used to be, but I know when I was little it wasn’t has bad, right??? I love the holidays, and I just hope that this Thanksgiving people calm down, stop and smell the humid air and sit back for once, look at what you have that others don’t. Even if your life isn’t what you want it to be right now, stop the crying and be thankful for the things you do have in life. Remember there is always someone worse off then you, and if you think you have hit the all time low and no one could be worse then you, just remember you can be in that grave too. If you think you should be in that grave, stop and breath for a moment, think about the people that love you and if you think no one does, there is always someone who loves you, you just don’t see it right now. Have hope and faith because a new year is approaching and we can change the things we didn’t get to change this year. Where there is a hope there is a will.

Keep your faith for when one door closes… another opens.
~Revelation 3:8

“When God leads you to the edge of the cliff, trust Him fully and let go, only 1 of 2 things will happen, either He’ll catch you when you fall, or He’ll teach you how to fly! The power of one sentence”

Happy Thanksgiving all!

xo,
kristin nicole

American Music Awards…

So the controversy on the radio today was how ABC – The American Music Awards edited footage from the live version us East side folks got to see. The West side only got to see the edited version.

Adam Lambert’s show was a little more then what they expected, I assume. He did mention prior to his show that some people may have a problem with his show, and that he’s sorry but then maybe he just isn’t for them. He said he would feel discriminated against if they did edit his show because women have been doing exactly what he’s going to do on TV for years, and just because he’s a male doesn’t mean they should edit his show. Well Adam, was grinding with some men, and kissing some girls, who cares! ABC Cared! They edited his footage and the west coast only got to see the clean version of his show.

My thoughts:

GO ADAM! I thought his show was unique, and funky and crazy all at the same time. And yes it was a bit much for some viewers, but like Adam bluntly said, if you don’t like it then he isn’t the artist for you. Personally I agree with Adam, it is discriminatory to say he can’t grind up against men and women but women can do it to both sexes. I say go for it Adam, be who you are and don’t hide it.

Jennifer Lopez

Jennifer Lopez fell, lets get over it. It’s all over youtube as if it’s this huge thing. She climbed up like 5 guys jumped off and slipped, it happens to the best of us. Well ABC also edited that out of the footage. That’s just ridiculous, but I guess if I was Jennifer Lopez I wouldn’t mind. Even though you can see it on youtube over and over again.

My thoughts:

Poor Jen…. I think she did a great job recovering and I felt so bad for her when she fell. Having danced in the passed I know how upset she must of been after the show, although I didn’t perform in front of millions of people nation wide. Ohhh so scary! But I think she pulled off a great show and I say DON’T WORRY JEN We still love you!

I also just wanted to say that all the performances were exceptional. Janet Jackson’s opening act was great, Black Eyed Peas, JayZ, Alecia Keys, Lady Gaga, Kelly Clarkson, Whitney Houston, wow the list goes on…. if you missed it, you missed an incredible show this year!

xo,
kristin nicole

Another year is close to an end and we are only 3 days away from Thanksgiving 2009.

Everyone has their own traditional Thanksgiving dinner. I want to know what you do for Thanksgiving?

My family each bring a plate and someone in the family hosts the Thanksgiving dinner at their house, this person cooks the Turkey. This year my mom is taking the day off and we are doing Thanksgiving at my cousins house. So this year I was told to bring a green-bean casserole, wine and a fruit platter. TOLD? Yes TOLD, I didn’t get to choose, I left early when they decided this and so I was told to bring these things. Mind you, I like cooking but I don’t really eat green-bean casserole and I’ve never made it. So…. Wine, Check. Fruit platter, Check. Green-bean Casserole….hmmmm, my sister in law was so kind not to only give me coupons but a nice recipe to go with it. I hope it comes out good, does anyone have any other recipes they would like to share other then the Campbell Recipe? Well if you are interested here is the recipe:

Ingredients:
- 2 cabs (10 3/4 oz each) Campbell’s Condensed Cream of Mushroom Sup (regular or 98% Fat Free or Healthy Request)
- 1 cup milk
- 2 tsp. soy sauce
- 1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
- 8 cups cooked cut green beans
- 1 can (6oz) French’s French Fried Onions (2 2/3 cups)

Directions:
1. Stir soup, milk, soy suace, black pepper, beans and 1 1/3 cups onion in 3-qt casserole.
2. Bake at 350F for 25 min. or unit hot. Stir
3. Top with remaining onions, Bake for 5 min. more

And there you go, Green-bean casserole. Not that hard huh?!?

Every year my brother, sister in law and group of friends do a Friends Thanksgiving the Friday after Thanksgiving. So this year I chose to bring a Baked Mashed Potato with Parmesan Cheese and Bread Crumbs, Thanks to Giada De Laurentiis (Everyday Italian from the Foodnetwork channel).

Ingredients:
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 4 pounds russet potatoes, peeled, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1/2 cups grated mozzerella
- 1 cup freshly grated parmesan
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons plain dry bread crumbs

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Coat a 13 by 9 by 2-inch baking dish with 1 tablespoon of butter and set aside.

Cook the potatoes in a large pot of boiling salted water until they are very tender, about 15 minutes. Drain; return the potatoes to the same pot and mash well. Mix in the milk and melted butter. Mix i the mozzarella and 3/4 cup of Parmesan. Season, to taste with salt and pepper. Transfer the potatoes to the prepared baking dish. Stir the bread crumbs and remaining 1/4 cup of Parmesan in a small bowl to blend. Sprinkle the bread crumb mixture over the mashed potatoes. Recipe can be prepared up to this point 6 hours ahead of time; cover and chill.

Bake, uncovered, until the topping is golden brown, about 20 minutes.

Of course I will let you know how each dish comes out. Wish me luck.

Other ideas are to decorate with pumpkins and turkeys. Colors are fall, so bring out the oranges, and browns. If you have small kids, cupcakes are always fun to make with the kids and you can use orange dye for the frosting.

Have a wonderful Holiday and Please share your recipe’s and ideas with me.

xo,
kristin nicole

So many things come to mind when you think about dreams.

Dreams

Dream = A series of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations occurring involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep.

Have you ever had a dream so intense, so clear it just sticks with you forever? How many years has it been since you had that dream? Was it a good dream or a bad one?

My Dream

I had a dream when I was about 6 or 7 years old, that I will always remember. It started off that I was in the neighborhood I grew up in, it was dark and foggy (Yes here in Miami), and I was walking with one of my mom’s friends. We were looking for my mom and went up to the shopping center by my house and I found a dirty looking restroom, and inside their was a shower. The shower was running and the curtain was closed. I opened it and found my mom shot, and bleeding. I yelled for her to wake up and she told me to run, run as fast as I could home, and call for help. I ran out, trying to find my house when I bumped into my mom’s friend, I told her about my mom and she grabbed my arm, telling me I wasn’t going for help and that I would listen to whatever she told me to do. I struggled from her grip and ran around my neighborhood trying to find my home, crying and scared that mom was going to die. I then woke up in sweats, and crying for my mother. For some reason that dream as always stuck with me. A dream I’ll never forget.

I have had a couple dreams that have stuck with me. Dreams I can visualize so vividly in my mind as if I had them last night. And yet these were dreams I had when I was a little girl. I have also had dreams much older that I also will never forget. Dreams that looked so real, and felt so real, and the next day have actually happened, just as I dreamed it would.

Have you ever had a dream like this? If so please let me know so I can blog about it.

“There are those who look at things the way they are, and ask why… I dream of things that never were, and ask why not?”
~Robert Francis Kennedy

xo,
kristin nicole

The story:

This story is shocking. So called friends of Tom Daniels reports him missing after 9 days. They last saw him leaving Cici’s pizza feeling agitated. He was saying that someone was coming after him. He’s now been missing for 12 days without any word. He hasn’t touched his facebook account, called his girlfriend or his mom and he hasn’t used any of his credit cards.

His mom lives in California and says last time she spoke to her son he was seeing a psychiatrist. She hopes him missing has something to do with his mental health and not that someone hurt him. Family didn’t find out about him missing until his aunt who lives in Gainesville got a knock on her door from police wanting to know if her nephew was there. His aunt helped raise him, which is why police thought he might be at her house.

Daniels weighs 230 pounds and has brown hair and eyes. He was last seen wearing a gray tank top and beige cargo pants. FIU is also trying to help in the investigation and are posting pictures all around and will post an article in their newspaper.

My thoughts:

Okay these aren’t his friends, because if I couldn’t get a hold of my friend and didn’t see him in school for more then 2 days I would have gone knocking on his dorm room door. If I still couldn’t find him and no one has seen him, I would have reported him missing. Now the mother was complaining that the friends should have reported him sooner, but she hadn’t talked to him for more then 9 days either and didn’t find that strange? I am assuming they didn’t talk very often then. My mother would have been on a plane over here if I didn’t answer the phone on the second day.

Also where does the girlfriend come in, why didn’t she call the police sooner? If my boyfriend didn’t return my phone call after 2 days, I would try going to his place, or calling someone that might know where he was. If I couldn’t find something out I would then call the POLICE! (Maybe they were having problems and so she thought he was just ignoring her phone calls) this could be a possibility I don’t know, but why else wouldn’t she be worried?

This just sounds strange to me all around. Missing for 9 days before anyone reports it? Not a friend, not a family member, not his girlfriend were worried sooner then 9 days? The fact that he hasn’t used any of his accounts is also scary, he isn’t just hiding out in a hotel depressed about something. If he was seeing a psychiatrist was he depressed? There seems to be so many missing links to this puzzle. I hope that someone has some kind of information and I hope that Tom Daniels is somewhere safe out there. If he is, he needs to report in, I don’t care how old you are. People are worried. I know I would be if I knew him…

Anyone with information about Daniels should call FIU Police Sgt. R. Diaz at 305-348-2626 or 305-348-2633.

xo,
kristin nicole

You can read more on this article at Miamiherald.com

The story:

Okay, so this sounds like a bogus story right? Well it’s not. A 29 year old man named Joshua Basso living in Tampa Florida called 911 repeatedly asking the dispatcher for sex. Asking if he can go to her house even. The dispatcher hung up but Joshua continued to call four more times. Joshua claims he called 911 because his cell phone minutes ran out and it was the only number he could call. Police arrested him in his home 15 minutes later and charged for making a false 911 call. Joshua Basso says he didn’t think he would get in trouble. He has a Tampa jail record showing crimes from back in 2001 for theft and other crimes.

My thoughts:

I couldn’t stop laughing when I heard this story. This guy is a grown man, and he really thought he couldn’t get in trouble by calling the Police and asking for sex? Really? He ran out of minutes on his cell phone, it all makes sense now (laughing). Okay so he has a criminal record, that doesn’t mean anything. At least he was calling the police for sex and not some innocent person in the street. We have to look at the bright side of this story. Right? Hopefully next time Joshua will get a job so he can pay for his phone bill.

xo,
kristin nicole

You can read more on this story at yahoonews.com

Have you tried Apartment searching? When I thought trying to buy was difficult trying to Rent is just as hard. Unless of course you have lots of money!

Apartment/Condo Searching…

So as of recently my boyfriend and I decide to rent. It’s a lot easier then buying at the moment and it gives us a chance to keep looking for something we truly love before we decide to buy a home. We’ve spoken to a hand full of Realtor’s. Realtor’s complain that the market is doing bad, that they aren’t making that much money, yet every time I turn the corner to talk to one about finding a place to rent, they send a few things my way, I tell them I didn’t like what they sent and they stop there with out returning an email or a phone call.

Postings that don’t exist

I contact a Realtor on a posting that is either on the MLX or Craigslist etc. Every time I have called about a Unit that I am interested in, miraculously it is already rented out. Explain to me one thing please? If that unit was just posted today how is it possible that it has already been rented out? I’m starting to believe that these realtor’s just post things that look really nice, so that potential renters can call asking to see the place, then when they do they tell them it’s rented out and maybe they can help them to find something similar to that unit. However, they talk the talk but they aren’t by any means walking the walk. Not one realtor has gotten back to me with potential places that I may want to rent out. Is it me, or do they really want the business?

If I was a Realtor?!?

If I worked in the industry, I would be on top of things. If a potential renter or buyer called me on a property they were interested in, and the place they were interested already had a contract or a renter, I would offer to help them more. I would look for locations and ask what they were looking for (inside the home). This way I can research this for them and try to have them as a client. I would also pick up my phone. I can’t tell you how many times I have called a Realtor who doesn’t pick up their phones or call me back. Most Realtor’s seem to want the full commission so if you call telling them you have a Realtor your chances are low. Now that I’m renting I call without a Realtor and it seems my chances are still low. What’s going on?

I still have hope

I still look every day and I’m hoping to find something by the new year. If my stars are aligned correctly then I’ll be having a house warming get together at my new place soon Wish me luck

xo,
kristin nicole

The story:

In Tyler, Texas a 38 year old man named Mark Anthony Johnson called 911 on Monday night and reported that he had committed a homicide and was armed with a weapon. Police rushed over to Johnson’s resident only to find he made the whole thing up. Jonson was found lying only to get Police to his house quicker so that he can report a simple assault complaint.

Tyler police did act quick and they also ended up arresting Johnson and charging him with filing a false report. He’s in Smith County Jail with a bond of $3,000.

My thoughts:

Is this man an idiot? He called the police telling them he committed a homicide. He deserves to get arrested after that lie. Now, I can understand that Police don’t rush to your aid when it’s a simple complaint about an assault but come on! Really?!? Homicide? I’ve heard some stories, but this one is just funny to me. What did he think was going to happen. Did he honestly think the police would arrive and just be like, Oh okay Sr. you lied to us, so tell us your real problem? Wow…. the mentality of some people truly shocks me.

If you follow reason far enough it always leads to conclusions that are contrary to reason. ~Samuel Butler

xo,
kristin nicole

If you want to read more about this story go to yahoonews.com

Oprah and Ellen on One show!!!

I didn’t get to see the entire show because I have school but I saw a few clips and I’ve been hearing about it non stop. Some people say that Ellen is competition for Oprah. They are even on at the same time. So are you wondering how Ellen filmed her show and was on Oprah all at the same time? Well she pre-filmed her show and then headed over to the Windy City to be on Oprah. On Ellens show she was watching herself along with a Michael Jackson dancer, Chippendales/showgirls/opera singer/guy in panda suit, girls from the audience playing a board game, George Lopez, Robin Wright, Ellen giving a struggling mom in Georgia money to pay her rent and bills for a year, and the mom flipping out and naming her baby Ellen. All this in one show… WOW~!!!

Mean while, on Oprah, Ellen took her wife on the show and talked about their marriage, and she was oh so Funny Ellen. They have a clip of Ellen and Oprah signing Oprah’s O Magazine. This is truly funny to see. Ellen says she doesn’t feel like she is competing with Oprah but she is on two shows at the same time she says, so she is winning LOL.

Personally I haven’t really had time to watch Oprah and fall in love with her, I have seen some episodes when I’m off work sick, but honestly since Ellen came on when I get a chance and I actually have time, I love to watch her. Her little dance in the beginning and just the over all ELLEN!

xo,
kristin nicole

The story:

Baby Gabriella was born March 5 being premature at only 23 weeks and only weighting 1lb 1 oz, is one of the smallest surviving preemies at Jackson Memorial Hospital and they said she only had a 15% chance of surviving. She not only beat the odds but she survived a lung disease, multiple surgeries, and several infections. Her parents where always there cheering her on, singing to her and giving her hope to keep living.

Gabriella’s parents mother Maruja and father Miguel where excited that after eight long months in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unite at Holtz Children’s hospital, they finally got to dress up their baby girl and take her home.

Now Gabriella weighs 12 pounds. Doctors are astounded by her progress. She has to still take a little bit of oxygen and a few medications but Dr. Shahnaz Duara says she’s quite healthy.

My thoughts:

This is one of those stories that you can’t believe. A story and a miracle. This baby had very low chances of surviving, and this just proves that when your odds are low, have faith, because there is always a small chance that the door on the other end will open. This baby now has a chance to life thanks to all the doctors who helped her survive.

This is the kind of the story that makes you sit back and appreciate life.

xo,
kristin nicole

If you want to read more on about this story go to www.nbcmiami.com