THE MJ AND MITCHIE SHOW THEME SONG!

ONE OF THOSE FACEBOOK THINGIES

25 RANDOM THINGS ABOUT ME.

1. I drive myself crazy...a lot.

2. I wish I were Ethiopian so I could use that as a cool fact.

3. I like to write, but often times feel like I'm no good at it.

4. I secretly wish I was a drummer

5. I like music, and often rely on it too much.

6. I wanna go to London...real bad, and I don't even know why...i just do.

7. I think I'm a little OCD

8. I like sports movies, but don't really like watching sports that much.

9. I love God, but sometimes think I'm annoying Him. But He never gets annoyed...which is like a fun fact in itself.

10. I'm a little bit of a loner sometimes, and other times I like to be social.

11. I like to make movies.

12. My favorite TV show right now is Friday Night Lights.

13. I spend too much time watchin TV

14. I kind of have this dream of me bein an actress...but I have no idea if I can actually act.

15. I wish my life were a musical, and I'm totally aware of the corniness of this statement.

16. Sometimes when I'm trying to be funny, I just offend people. And sometimes people laugh, and it surprises me, every time.

17. My 17th birthday was spent at a football game I was cheering for, and the whole student section said 'happy birthday' to me, that was cool, and probably a good memory of high school for me, even though it's kinda lame.

18. I have 2 blogs that I like to plug, even though I get a little insecure every time someone tells me that they've read it.

19. Ooh! I'm 19 right now. Even though u could have seen that on my profile.

20. I really dread turning 20. I'm gonna feel so lost, not being a teenager.

21. I have a confused looking dog, named Toucan Sam...which is probably why he's confused.

22. I wanna be a film critic, a director, singer, sports writer, photographer. Too many things.

23. I feel like a big family is in the future for me. Like, it's kind of inevitable, since I come from one...I couldn't imagine life any other way.

24. Someone asked me if my parents were cool today, and I didn't know how to answer, but now I'm thinkin they're pretty cool.

25. I wish I were friends with America Ferrera.

Lost without my tunes.

Today, I was unable to listen to music on my way to class.

Unlike my brilliant friend Carly, (click link here-- see Carly's blog ) :) It wasn't my choice not to have my own personal theme song playing in my head.

Because of technical ipod issues, I had to leave "Lani's pod," as it is affectionately referred to on my computer, in my room.

It was like, an hour total of missed music time. The one hour of my day when I can get lost in my own little world, where I don't have to worry about who's lookin at me, or who's noticing what I'm wearing. For some reason, when you can't hear anything around you, the rest melts away too. There's no insecurity in Jillana's ipod land.

I know those things aren't supposed to matter, and believe me, I tried to remind myself of that continuously today. Because today, when I had to participate in everyone else's land, they mattered. They mattered a lot.

Because I was going to be tune-less, I decided to take this opportunity to talk to God on my way to class. I still did not want to accept the option of mentally being a part of the streets of downtown Atlanta, and my fellow students, so I decided to focus my thoughts upward, and talk to my very best friend.

Unfortunately, that didn't last as long as I hoped. My stupid, unfocused, ADD, human mind was too involved in everyone else's world to focus into God's for more than a minute or two at a time.

Even though today was a little bit of a shock, I was definitely having withdraw pains, I'm sure tomorrow will get better. I can use this opportunity to get closer to God, meet a new friend, who knows really?

Soon enough I'll have my security blanket back, and I'll be back to pretending I have my own 'life soundtrack,' and my life really is a musical. ---which would be AWESOME.

It's a Boy!

     Until I was six years old, my family life consisted of dolls, Disney princesses, and lots and lots of pink. Every little girl likes to play with Barbies dolls when they are young, but my sisters and I got so many of them, that every Christmas, our living room looked like Barbie's dream house had thrown up. Our house reeked of femininity, and my two sisters and I, were a trio of the girliest girls in the world.

     Our "girl power" lifestyle came to a screeching halt in the two seconds that it took my mom's OBGYN doctor to announce, "it's a boy."

     I'll admit, I was a little disappointed to hear that instead of a third sister, I was going to get a brother. I understood that boys were different, but I did not think that adding a male sibling into the mix, our whole family dynamic would soon be turned upside down.

     I was pleased to realize that I was no longer the middle child. In the short five years of my life, I had already developed a complex being in the middle of my two sisters. My older sister still received the perks and pitfalls of being the oldest, and my younger sister will always be the "baby girl," but I was free from the Jan Brady-like stigmas of being the middle child.

     My brother M.J. received the long awaited "Jr." title. Contrary to the predictions of some who thought that because we had so many girls in the family, he would turn out to be a little feminine and spoiled, he grew to be the most masculine little boy I have ever seen. When he was only one, he picked up a basketball for the first time and in his little baby voice, declared "Baw!" That orange piece of rubber has been permanently attached to his hand ever since.

     The first prominent moment when I realized that life as I knew it would never be the same, happened on a summer day in Charlotte, North Carolina.

     I had just woken up to find my sister Jannelle, watching the Puzzle Place on PBS. Cheerfully sitting down to join her, because the Puzzle Place was my favorite show, I looked over to find my mother video tapping M.J. crawling around on the carpet.

     I wondered what was so fascinating about a baby, and why my mother seemed to have the lens glued to her eye, in an effort to capture his every move. My ability to do five cartwheels in the length of our family room and to belt out my favorite song from Sunday school were far more interesting than his baby noises, so I went over to try and steal some camera time from my small baby brother.

     To my surprise, when I reached the corner where my mother was sitting, I was showered with what seemed like water, but it accompanied a farting noise that had escaped from M.J.'s mouth. I could not believe that he just spit on me. None of my sisters would ever think to do something so gross. I was shocked to realize that such a young child could be so corrupted to think that shooting saliva onto my face was anything close to acceptable.

     I immediately screeched and ran away form the horrendous little monster that was once my brother and my sister Jannelle did the same. M.J. however, felt as if our running away was a signal for him to continue to chase us around the room, and spit on us. 

Soon, Julie awoke form her night's sleep and joined the chase. She should have saved herself from the monster, but being only three, she also felt as if M.J.'s behavior was funny, and some sort of game.

     Ever since, our house has never been the same. To make matters worse, we have added another boy child to the dynamic, giving M.J. a partner in crime. Our house seemed to split according to gender, because my dad finally had people to relate to. He no longer enjoyed spending hours in Toys R Us checking out the latest occupation that Barbie had ventured into, and she was soon replaced with Bionicles, Legos, and Power Ranger action figures.

The one day I decide to work out...

I see Chris and Kyle Massey at our school's fitness center.

In case you were wondering, Kyle Massey plays Cory on That's So Raven, and Cory in the House on the Disney Channel, and Chris plays Michael on Zoe 101 on Nickelodeon.

While no one else in the gym seemed to notice or care that they were sitting there, on the inside, I was totally geeking out.

I mean, these kids are BIG in my family. Our whole house stopped when That's So Raven came on, all of us kids loved watching the new episodes of Zoe 101 together, we would quote their lines for weeks on end, and the funniness would never wear off.

My sisters and I mighthave been a little out of the target audience towards the later seasons, but it didn't matter. Spending that time with our younger brothers helped bridge the age gap between us I think. I mean, I don't know too many 19-year-olds who are as close with their 10-year-old brothers as I am with mine.

I was processing all of this in my head as I was passing by them, trying not to linger, so this was all happening in the course of only like 30 seconds.

As soon as that shock wore off, I sort of came to the realization that they were two normal teenage boys.

They are extremely talented, but it would probably have been totally awkward going up to two strange--even though I FEEL like I totally know them--boys, and like.....well I don't know what I would have done actually, I hadn't gotten that far in my head.

I always wondered what I would do if I ever met someone famous. I guess now I know that I would hide behind a wall and call my sister.

The more I thought about the whole situation, the more I wished I had the guts to go and say something because of the importance they had in our family bond. Besides, Mario and Luigi, they are probably the most well liked brothers in our house.

We didn't always eat together every night because of various sports team practices or mommy's favorite, "free nights," which basically meant we were on our own, but we DID watch TV together. And while some may say that families need to get away from the TV and spend "real" time together, that was real time for us. Real, quality time.

So would I thank them? They had no knowledge that they contributed to the closeness of my family.

My friends wanted to work out anyway, so I just went along with them, second guessing my decision the whole time.

My dad said that if HE were there, he would've said something.

As he said this to me on the phone, I realized he probably would have said a lot more than 'hi' and made the situation all the more awkward, so I started to be really grateful that he WASN'T there.

But in the end, I didn't regret not saying anything. I guess geeking out inside my mind was enough for me. My whole family was calling me a 'chicken' for not being their champion and getting an autograph or a picture. But, in my defense...I was going to the fitness center with the notion that I was going to work out, and not to scope out celebrities, so I didn't have anything for them to sign, or my camera on me. :)

The Road Warriors

I was sitting in the back of our eight-year-old, purple Plymouth Voyager, pulled over on the side of the highway in downtown Charlotte, North Carolina. It was two o'clock in the morning and we were rocking back and forth as cars, vans, trucks and semis whizzed past at 80 miles per hour.

I was packed in the seven seat minivan, accompanied by my rather large family of seven who fit perfectly into our family car. Dad was driving; Mom was in the passenger seat. Behind her was my older sister Jannelle, listening to her Ipod loud enough for the whole car to hear. I was behind my dad enduring the multiple kicks to the butt from my brother whose legs were still short enough to get a good swing before slamming his sketcher into my seat. Also in the back was my younger brother Mitchell whining form being squished, and my younger sister Julie whining about how Mitchell's whining was getting on her nerves.

Besides riding for 20 hours (aka forever), listening to endless arguing and countless "are we there yets?" in a mini van full of Game Boys, CD Players, food, blankets, pillows, and the six people I am forced to claim, family trips don't really bother me.

My father, whom I call "The Road Warrior," because he is very adept at driving miles without resting, had the brilliant idea to take the risk of driving the "purple van" all the way to Warner Robins, Georgia. The van already had 100,000 miles on it, be he figured we would be fine; he recently had almost everything fixed on that van. Everything but the water pump.

He is always willing to literally go the extra mile to get to our destination. My dad will not stop for food even when we are starving, and he will make us hold our pee until we feel as if our bladders are going to burst.

Before we left our house for this particular trip, my dad presented his usual speech and the departure conversation between he and my mom was the same.

"No liquids!" He said before we even pull out of the driveway, "I'm not stoppin' every five minutes!"

My mom, the voice of reason said, "Michael, they're gonna dehydrate!"

Then he gave us a lighter sentence and told us to try not to drink anything.

We had made it all the way to Kentucky when my parents realized that something was wrong with the car. Of course I was oblivious to anything that was going on, we kids had fallen asleep hours ago. My parents made the conscience decision to make it to Charlotte, because my dad knew of a place we could stop for the night.

Well, we made it to Charlotte, our goal was accomplished. But when my overambitious dad decided that we should try and make it to the other side of Charlotte, the suburbs, where we used to live, is where we ran into trouble.

That is how we ended up pulled over on the side of the highway in the middle of the night. We were riding down the familiar streets of downtown Charlotte when, after a huge popping noise; my dad quickly pulled us over to "safety."

We probably pulled over at the worst spot on the interstate. He had to so quickly, that we ended up kind of right next to the exit. Cars were whizzing by so close, that if I had put my hand out of the window, I would have come back with a nub.

I woke up confused and wondered why my dad had just pulled over so quickly. When I realized that we were stuck, I suprisingly didn't spring into a fit a fear and fury but I stayed calm. I was scared on the inside, but it didn't show. I knew God was in control, and my dad would figure something out.

We sat on the side of the highway for hours as my dad called every car rental place at the Charlotte airport. As he discovered, no one in their right mind would bring us a rental car at two in the morning.

Hertz, after putting us on hold forever, told us that there was no way they could bring us a car. We called Avis and no luck there either. Finally, we called Enterprise because their slogan is "We'll pick you up." Turns out what they really meant, is "We'll pick you up any time except for 2 o'clock in the morning." Instead, the nice lady working the night shift, called the police to come pick us up. Close enough.

It was our first attempt to go back to Georgia since we'd moved, and this is what happens.

When the police finally showed, he immediately realized that he should have called for back up. How was he going to fit six people in his little patrol car?

Realizing his dilemma, I laughed at what the policeman must have been thinking.

Six of us piled into the North Carolina state patrol car, while my dad stayed with the van and waited for the tow truck. Mom and Mitchie sat in the front seat next of our nameless hero, Jannelle sat in the back with M.J. on her lap and Julie and I squeezed in close proximity. I could see the excitement in my brother's faces as the policeman turned on his siren and sped down the street in pursuit of a hotel for us to stay the night.

Noticing their excitement, my mom said, "This better be the last time you two are in a police car." We all laughed and M.J. enlightened us on he deja vu experience. The last time my dad broke down in Charlotte because of his ambitious nature, he and M.J. also had to be picked up by the police, atleast they got some donuts out of it, but that's a whole 'nother story.

We found our place to set up camp, but our adventure wasn't over. Someone was really trying to test my patience that day, because first we waited on the side of the road, and now we were waiting in the hotel lobby watching the news as the hotel clerk tried to get us a room.

"Well we're really not supposed to have seven people in one of these rooms," the clerk said. My mom tried to persuade him to let us have a room for just one night, and he contemplated whether or not to be a Good Samaritan and risk his job.

It was times like these when I wondered why my parents didn't stop having kids after me. With this many kids, we were always squeezing into things. First, we had to squeeze into the police car, now we were squeezing into a one bedroom hotel "suite."

After spending the night curled up on the pull out couch with my brothers and sister, with no blanket, I was looking forward to spending the day in the van; at least there I had my own seat. Dad and Jannelle went to pick the car up from the mechanic, while the rest of us stayed to eat our complimentary stale hotel bagels and yogurt.

Soon enough we were back in our purple prized possession. Little did we know, this trip to Georgia would be the old van's last, and soon she would be replaced by a newer, shinier one complete witha DVD and six disc changer.

We packed all of our things, and prepared to forge ahead on our journey to Georgia. The rest of the trip was uneventful compared to that night, and we immediately went back to our normal ways like we'd been through nothing.

After the events of the night before, we could all call ourselves Road Warriors. We had endured things that made regular family trips seem boring.

Now when we take family trips, we have more space and we watch DVDs the whole way there. Even though we are more comfortable, and in a brand new van, I often find myself missing our old van and how our trips used to be. Uncomfortable, annoying, long, but full of memories. Even though I don't wish for us to break down again, I will always remember the night that the Jones family bond was tested, and our adventure when the Road Warriors hit a speed bump.