because its christmas...

and i want to spread holiday cheer!! for some reason this christmas, i am TOTALLY in the holiday spirit. happy holidays everyone!!

since we all need to buy presents and gifts, i present you with a few holiday gift guides. i scoped out a few to offer different ideas and price ranges.

this one has a TON of gifts. for EVERYONE. need toys? need slippers? wine? rain boots? its all there. plus 96 other gift ideas.
100 gifts under $100

don't let the name fool you. although a lot of the products are made with the environment in mind. i put this one on here because it offers unique gift ideas. however, some are quite pricey. so, my suggestion: if you see something you like. hunt down a cheaper version. and i like the set up of the website. the guide is divided into categories. then once you click on one, let's say "animal lover", you get to go through a picture slide show of the gift suggestions! fun!
Treehugger Gift Guide

i put this up here for myself. not because i want the stuff on the page. but because i love wine. and if i love wine. i know others love wine. its such an easy and great gift.
wine gift guide

if you need some gag gifts. or just don't like your relatives that much, i suggest this site.
holiday crap

some gift ideas for her. use the menu bar on the left to navigate through the slide show. not the arrow buttons. you'll see what i mean.
Gifts for Her

and of course, gifts for him! i put two here because one has pictures! (again, use the menu bar on the left to navigate through the slide show). and the other is an article. the article is good. just requires a bunch of reading to get all the ideas.

Gifts for Him pictures
Gifts for Him article

ENJOY :o)
and merry christmas!!

Shaq does have a HUGE heart

i am sure most of you have read this story, but it touched my heart. the events of shaniya davis' death have rocked north carolina's communities over the past week.

this story just goes to show that even in the face of great tragedy, there are still people out there with kind hearts and tender souls. there are still people who care. and people who want to reach out to help and lean a hand in times of despair. in any way they know how.

Basketball's Shaquille O'Neal pays for North Carolina girl's funeral

By Hank Bishop, CNN

November 26, 2009 4:18 p.m. ESTNovember 26, 2009 4:18 p.m. EST

Police say Shaniya Davis, 5, was sold into prostitution by her mother.

(CNN) -- Professional basketball star Shaquille O'Neal paid for the funeral of a 5-year-old North Carolina girl whose body was found last week, O'Neal's team confirmed Thursday.
Authorities believe the child, Shaniya Davis, was kidnapped, raped and murdered after being reported missing November 10. Her body was found six days later on a roadside about 30 miles from her hometown of Fayetteville, North Carolina. Her funeral was Sunday.
O'Neal said in a statement released by his team, the Cleveland Cavaliers, that he was touched after seeing Davis' story on CNN sister network HLN's "Nancy Grace" show.
"What happened to her was tragic. I wanted her to have a funeral that would be as beautiful as she was," O'Neal said in the statement.
Corey Breece, of Rogers and Breece Funeral Home, told the Fayetteville Observer he wouldn't discuss the cost of the child's service, but he noted a child's funeral "averages around $4,500."
The girl's father, Bradley Lockhart, and his family had set up a trust fund to help raise money to pay for the service, according to the Fayetteville Observer.
Family friend Vaughn Eason told the paper any remaining money would be used for groups and charities working to assist abused and neglected children.
Police have charged Mario Andrette McNeill with kidnapping and said he also will face murder and child rape charges.

Preliminary autopsy results indicated the child was asphyxiated, Fayetteville Police Chief Tom Bergamine told reporters last week, as authorities awaited final autopsy reports.
Davis' mother, Antionette Nicole Davis, has been charged with human trafficking and other offenses. Police have said they believe she was prostituting the girl.

O'Neal, as a volunteer for law enforcement agencies in recent years, has been active in causes that deal with domestic violence issues, mainly child-abuse cases.

drilling for whiskey!?!?

If this isn't good news. I don't know what is.

a scotch whiskey company is drilling for lost whiskey in a surprising place: ANTARCTICA.
sounds awesome.

a company may be revitalized all due to some hidden whiskey. my question: this whiskey has been buried for almost 100 years. why hasn't it been dug up already!?


Drilling for Scotch whisky on frozen continent

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ceremonial contract

This was posted last march, but i found it today and thought it was a wonderful story. so i just had to share it. 

National Hockey League Team signs cancer patient to one day contract

March 30, 2009 by admin  

The Columbus Blue Jackets added to their roster by signing terminally ill cancer patient, Ryan Salmons. Nineteen-year-old Salmons, a long-time Blue Jackets fan, was given a ceremonial contract including a $3 signing bonus.
General Manager Scott Howson announced, “We’re very pleased to add a player of Ryan’s caliber to our hockey club as he brings tremendous versatility to our lineup and can play either wing position or defense,” said Howson. “He also has great character and is the type of person who inspires others with his courage, tenacity and positive attitude. We’re lucky to have him on our team.” The fact that Salmons won’t play a game was not important to Howson.
Blue Jackets stars Manny Malhotra and Jason Chimera were amongst the folks who surprised Salmons at his Columbus home with the offer. Blue Jackets’ defenseman Marc Methot granted Salmons permission to wear his number 3 jersey. “I typically wouldn’t give up my number, but it is a small price to add a player like Ryan to our team,” Methot said.
Salmons became a role model in the pediatric cancer unit as he took time to explain how his treatments made him feel to parents of other patients. Salmons hopes to attend games in a Blue Jackets playoff run.
See the official team release: http://www.teamsalmons.com/

goats attempt to hitch a free ride

Ok. this is too funny.
but turn your sound off because all of the background noise kind of ruins it.

its the video cam from a bus recording it, so its a little shoddy. but basically two goats are trying get on this local bus. repeatedly.

goats need a ride too.

Goats Try to Board Bus

its raining meteors!

Leonid meteor shower to peak Tuesday

November 16, 2009 10:42 a.m. ESTNovember 16, 2009 -- Updated 1542 GMT (2342 HKT)

NASA says that this year's Leonid meteor shower will be light over the United States and heavier over Asia.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• This year's Leonid meteor shower will peak at 4 a.m. Tuesday over the United States
  
• Shower will be lighter than in previous years, with 20 to 30 meteors per hour in the U.S.
  
• Asia will see a bigger display -- maybe as many as 300 an hour, NASA says
  
• Leonids are debris from the Tempel-Tuttle comet, which visits every 33 years
  

(CNN) -- This year's Leonid meteor shower will peak early Tuesday, forecasters say, producing mild but pretty sparks over the United States and a more intense outburst over Asia.
"We're predicting 20 to 30 meteors per hour over the Americas and as many as 200 to 300 per hour over Asia," said Bill Cooke, of NASA's meteoroid environment office. "Our forecast is in good accord with ... work by other astronomers."
The Leonid shower is made of bits of debris from the Tempel-Tuttle comet, which streaks through Earth's inner solar system every 33 years.
It leaves a stream of debris in its wake. Forecasters, however, say it's hard to know exactly how many of the meteors will be visible.
"We can predict when Earth will cross a debris stream with pretty good accuracy," Cooke said. "The intensity of the display is less certain, though, because we don't know how much debris is in each stream."
The first stream will cross over Earth about 4 a.m. ET. That stream should produce about two or three dozen meteors per hour over North America, NASA said.
Experts say people who want to watch the shower, which is visible with the naked eye, should get as far away from city lights as possible. The darker the sky, the brighter the meteors will appear.

High-altitude sites are best for viewing, reducing glare from the moon, and there's no particular direction one should look for the best shot at seeing one, they say.
The next Tuesday streams will peak over Indonesia and China shortly before dawn there. The pair of streams there were actually laid down by Tempel-Tuttle in A.D. 1466 and 1533, and the two of them crossing at the same time is the reason for the 300 or so visible meteors expected.
"Even if the rates are only half that number, it would still be one of the best showers of the year," Cooke said.
Overall, and especially in the United States, this year's Leonids are mild.
From 1999 to 2002, the streams produced outbursts of more than 1,000 meteors per hour.
But one added plus this year, Cooke said, is that, coincidentally, Mars will be passing nearby at the time of the showers.

"Leonids will appear to be shooting almost directly out of the planet Mars," he said.

CNN's Doug Gross contributed to this report

**so this is more of an informative story. BUT by actually going out and watching the meteor shower, it will probably make you feel good. 

picture this: a cold november night, you grab your sweetie, a warm drink (preferably one that is spikable), TONS of blankets and go snuggle up under the stars.

it is a perfect time to just enjoy the person you are with. and to forget about the stresses of your daily life. even if you only go out there for 30 minutes and only see a couple of meteors. you will still have a blast. so DO IT.  

and also, i know it says the peak is at 4am. you don't have to go out there at 4am. that is just when the "shower" will be the heaviest. haha.  

What is Feel Good News??

it is exactly what it sounds like.

don't get me wrong, i love my other blog of randomness. however, i have been searching for a blog that has a purpose. a meaning. a direction.

first thought: recipes. i love to cook. so why not share my recipes?? but, there are so many recipe blogs out there. seemed slightly unoriginal. and if you know me, i don't follow the crowd.

next idea: eating out for cheap. and healthy. we're all in a recession. i thought great money saving tips while eating healthy would be great for everyone. bad news: i hardly ever eat out.

another idea: environmental causes. i am semi-passionate about the environment. i recycle. i pick up litter. i walk instead of drive, if its close. but i have no real passion about a particular cause. plus, i have noticed most people who are into environmental stuff believe in global warming. i do not.

so, as you can see i went through numerous thought processes. and there were many others like this. then one day, it just HIT ME.
keith and i were in the car talking about some other disgusting news story we had heard. and i was just like "i am so tired of the news. it is so negative. and that is part of the problem with our society. we get so wrapped up in the bad news." and then that's when i was like "that's that i'll blog about!! good news!!" and of course, i'll have to add my witty, two cents to each story.

so welcome to the Feel Good News. it is definitely for YOUR reading pleasure! enjoy :o)