I interrupt my regularly scheduled blog post.....

To say Happy Birthday Brother!

So 35 years ago the first chosen one of the Ken Bryant family came into the world. As the oldest he has set some pretty high standards for his younger siblings to follow. After all, he is the "glue" that holds our family together. Here are some of the lessons I have learned from him.

• The best advice I ever received, just after graduating high school. Cade told me to really load up my first semester of college and take as many credits as I could. That way, anything less would seem like a piece of cake. I took his advice and although I didn't graduate in 3 years like him, I still apply this same principle to other aspects of my life.
• When I first started getting into running, Cade was always encouraging me and motivating me to push myself. The night before I ran a marathon he called me to remind me that it would be hard but that was what would make it so great. He loves to quote Tom Hanks from "A League of Their Own" and say that if it wasn't hard, everyone would do it. I still hear Cade's voice telling me this whenever I want to give up on something.
• Cade can be pretty generous. When I was a "starving college student" the football team at my school was set to play in the Fiesta Bowl in Arizona. I happened to be going down there for a friend's wedding the same weekend they were supposed to play. Tickets were pretty expensive and even though I really wanted to go, I couldn't justify the cost. Cade told me that it killed him that I wasn't taking advantage of the opportunity to go to the game, even though it was a team he really disliked. So he gave me money to buy a ticket to the game. I don't know if I've ever been so surprised or more touched by this gesture.

Thanks for the memories bro, and I hope you have a very Feliz Cumpleanos!!!

They Say Good Things Happen in 3's

Or is it bad things? Well, this week 3 good things will definitely happen (or have happened as the case may be). If anyone has anything less than ideal going on in their lives, I hereby give them 3 good reasons to keep their chin up and a smile on their face! I call it the Pleasure Trifecta:

1. *HSM3. Don't try to pretend that you haven't gotten caught up in all of the fanfare. We finally get to find out what will happen with Troy and Gabriella, the next "Brad and Angelina" of Hollywood. Also, it's senior year so new cast members are being introduced so we will be able to look forward to HSM4, 5, 6, etc, etc, etc. Also, the music is louder, the choreography is saucier, and the plot....well, it's the same but what would HSM be if it wasn't consistent? If you haven't seen it yet, don't wait for the DVD release, this one HAS to be seen on the big screen!

2. Halloween. If anyone hasn't figured out by now, I heart holidays. Halloween is no different and I have a feeling this year is going to really rock my (and your) world. If anyone isn't a Halloween fan then you can at least look at it as a kick-off for all of the other very important holidays ahead. All I can say about Halloween that I haven't already said in years past is, free candy. Okay, so that's exactly what I said about Halloween last year but I just can't hear it enough, say it with me now, FREE CANDY!

3. The second best holiday of the year (next to Christmas of course). My birthday. The time has come, yet again, for the world to celebrate the year of my birth. I learned from an early age that my birthday was special. I think it stemmed from my mom referring to it as her "favorite day of the year." Go out and do something special for yourself on this day, in my honor, and I think that you too will come to appreciate it as much as I do. This will be the last year in my 20's and I have a feeling that great things are in store for me!!!

*If anyone doesn't agree with item #1 of the Pleasure Trifecta, you can go and check out my sister's new blog here. (or go to http://www.bunchofbns.blogspot.com/). All of the Bryant siblings are now online and that in itself is reason enough to celebrate!

Political Declarations

It's unusual for me to post on a serious topic but desperate times call for desperate measures. With the 2008 presidential elections soon upon us I thought it would be an appropriate time to officially declare my political intentions come November 4th. I want to preface this by saying that I've spent a lot of time scrutinizing platforms, listening to the debates and analyzing accusations made on both sides. With that said, I will be voting for......drum roll please......

Tina Fey for Vice President.

Conference at the Bryant House

It has become an unofficial Bryant tradition to get the whole fam damily together on the Sunday morning session of conference to eat breakfast and watch conference together. I use the word "watch" loosely here because with eight grandchildren ages eight years and younger you can imagine how much of conference everyone really get to "watch." I thought I would share with all of you what a conference session "in the life of the Bryant's" is like:

Start time is 9:30 am. It is 9:45 and I am just pulling into the driveway of the Homestead. It's okay that I'm late though because Jake's family isn't there yet so my mom can't be too mad at me. Plus, I'm pretty sure that she already figured I'd be late so she told me 9:30 so I'd really get there by 10. Great! I'm early!

I walk in the house and smells of bacon, eggs, hash browns, pancakes and french toast envelope me. My mom had to make french toast AND pancakes because the night before she asked me and Shanel what we wanted for breakfast. I said french toast. Shanel said pancakes. In order to make ME happy (because I know my mom secretly wanted pancakes) she prepares both.

Jake's family arrives just as we start dishing out the food (in his defense, he does have to travel the farthest). I realize that everyone in my family is dressed nicely, their hair is combed and all of the women are wearing make-up. Apparently I am the only one who thought 9:30 was early enough to justify rolling out of bed, throwing on jeans and a hoodie and heading on my way. Hey, at least I put in my contacts and left the glasses at home. And I brushed my teeth. I'm feeling pretty good that I could at least accomplish THAT much.

So we all eat breakfast. The french toast is a hit (don't worry mom, I won't say, "I told you so.") and we get conference started. After about 15 minutes I look around. Dad is starting to snore in his recliner. Cade is massaging Jill's neck while he is simultaneously checking something out on his phone. Brian is reading the newspaper and Shanel is dead asleep on one of the couches. Mom is in the toy room with some of the grand kids, talking to Becky while the little ones are literally pulling out every single toy in the toy room. I don't see Jake but I assume he is downstairs on the computer working or trying to get his blog started up (that's right, another Bryant has started blogging. You can check it out here). Jill, setting the example for all of us, is intently listening to the speaker. I hope she took notes so she can fill me in on what was said, I was too busy watching everyone else!!

I'm Baaaaack!

Yes, it's true. I'm back. It's no secret that I've been absent from this blog for quite some time now. I haven't been absent from life though, and that's why I haven't been able to update you all on my comings and goings. There's so much to tell. However, as I spent the better part of this evening reading and getting caught up on all of YOUR blogs, I became consumed with an overwhelming feeling of blogger envy. So many blogs I read are full of inspirational and uplifting posts that strengthen me and my faith. After reading about those amazing experiences I went to update my blog and felt that it was, in a word, shallow/superficial/lame. Mostly I use this blog as an outlet for my quirky sense of humor and refrain from posting anything even remotely serious or thought provoking. So I guess it is shallow, or my thoughts are shallow, or (gasp!) I'm shallow! I mean, is it really that interesting to hear about the next vacation I'm going on, or the next toy I'm considering purchasing, or the latest Hollywood gossip that has captivated my attention? I might have to possibly revamp my whole platform.

P.S. Just in case some of you ARE interested in my recent travellings, Alaska was amazing! I enjoyed it much more than I expected to! We went kayaking in Ketchikan, whale watching in Juneau, hiking in Skagway and then saw the Butchart Gardens in Victoria, BC. The scenery was breathtaking and the group of friends I was with kept me laughing all week long! I never thought that Alaska would be a place that I would visit, let alone recommend to others, but I must say that if you ever have the chance to go you should jump on it!!

P.P.S. Has anyone ever seen the movie The Ultimate Gift? It's a major cheeser but is really touching. I'm watching it as I'm typing this post. Rent it. Watch it. Love it.

P.P.P.S. There are less than 34 shopping days until my birthday.

P.P.P.P.S. I'm really not THAT shallow, right?

P.P.P.P.S. (last one, I promise!) I just wanted to give a big shout out to my cousin Mark, who has passed the first section of his CPA exam!! As one who has been in his situation and had to suffer through those hellacious tests, I take my hat off to his success (hypothetically of course, I'm not wearing a hat because hat hair doesn't really work for me). Take the time to congratulate him on this amazing accomplishment!!!

Goin' Green

So I'm still sitting on the fence on this one. I'm all about helping the environment and doing my part to "save the world" but I find some aspects of this trend......unsettling. I've been travelling a little bit more as of late and in every hotel I've been in there is this fun little card that encourages me to "go green." I can do my part to help the environment, the card says, by helping the hotel cut down on its laundry services. The housekeepers will only change the sheets every 2nd or 3rd day, which is totally fine with me since I tend to wait just a tad longer than that to wash my own sheets at home anyway. Check one for me! Okay, so another way I can do my part is to re-use the towels in the bathroom. Not a prob. Seriously, I've always thought it was a little unnecessary to wash the towels everyday anyway. The card recommends hanging up the towels that one is going to re-use, and dropping the towels on the floor if they are to be washed. Easy, right? Wrong. The vital piece of information that the little "green" hotel card fails to include is that the housekeeping service will fold your towels right back on the rod, as if they had been laundered and never been used in the first place. No problem if you are the only one using the towels. Add another person in the mix and those towels just get all jumbled up to the point that no one knows whose towel is whose. Ew, ew, ew. Wouldn't it make sense to just leave the towels in the exact location that they were when the room was serviced? That way it's a win, win (win) situation. The hotel saves energy by not having to launder the towels. The customer gets that warm and fuzzy feeling knowing that they are doing all they can to "go green." They also win the piece of mind knowing that they are re-using their OWN bath towel. Genius, right? So I'm still trying to figure out who I can write to about this because it seems like the ENTIRE travel and entertainment industry is dead set on encouraging me to be unhygienic. I just can't stomach "going green" at that price. I'm going to Alaska this next week so although I'd love to do all that I can to keep those icebergs frozen, I'm going to have to do all I can to make sure those towels get washed everyday.

My Secret Obsession With Kitchenware

It all started with a spoon.

Growing up at my house there was one spoon that didn't fit in with the normal pattern of my mom's silverware set. The head of the spoon was round, instead of oval. The round spoon quickly became my utensil of choice and I tried to use it whenever I could. It just made eating cereal (or soup, or ice cream, etc, etc, etc) that much more enjoyable.

Then came the cup.

I don't even remember the day the red Coke cup came into my life but it has never been the same since. It's the perfect size for your beverage AND your hand. My mom can always tell when I've been to her house because there is a red Coke cup on the counter (interestingly enough, I don't have my own set of red Coke cups, go figure). But just think about it...why would I want to drink out of a glass when there is a perfectly good red Coke cup available?

Now it's the plate.

I have a random plate at my house that I always choose to use whenever I get up enough courage to cook for myself (and just to clarify, when I say cook, I mean put a frozen burrito in the microwave). It's a great plate. It doesn't match any of my other plates. It doesn't really match anything in my kitchen because it was passed on to me by a neighbor. It's a "neighborhood" plate. I've had it in my kitchen for approximately two years, which means that it was delivered to me soon after I moved here. This is what it says on the plate:

This is our traveling N-E-I-G-H-B-R-H-O-O-D P-L-A-T-E to say "We love you! We think you're great!" Enjoy these goodies we have for you, then here is what you have to do... fill it with treats and pass it along, share love with your neighbor - and don't wait too long!

Do you think my neighbors would classify two years as being too long? I feel guilty whenever I use this plate, but obviously not guilty enough to stop using it and pass it along. But don't you think the whole spirit of the plate has passed? If I started it up again people might start to talk. I've considered making treats and passing them along several times....but I never feel like I can part with the plate so I just put it in the dishwasher so that it will be clean for the next time I'll need it. My other plates are really cute, they're just so BIG and all your food collects in the middle because the edges are so curvy. Great for aesthetic purposes, bad for burritos. I guess I could go buy a set of cheap plates and just use those but old habits die hard. I just don't know if I'm ready for that kind of change.

Long story short, I'm revealing this all too true secret obsession in hopes that you'll all reassure me that I'm not the worst neighbor on the block and that I shouldn't feel guilty about not "paying it forward" so to speak. After all, it's just a plate.

Summer Updates

There has been so much going on this month that I haven't had time to post it all on the blog. Who knew that having fun could be so much work!! Here are some of the highlights from this last month:

1. I went to a baby shower for cousin and met up with some of my favorite bloggers! It was so fun to see so many family members that I haven't seen in ages or have been otherwise neglecting (sorry again Sara, does this shout out in my blog make up for my laziness? When are we going to get together?). Everyone looked awesome, especially the mother-to-be. Someone needs to get married or pregnant so that we can get together again soon!

2. I went to Champaign, IL for a week for some tax training. It was great to get away from the ins and outs of work for a week and the tax training was quite insightful. I couldn't list this trip without mentioning that I fit a week's worth of necessities into nothing but my carry-on bag. My mom was doubtful....I scarcely believed it myself.....but I did it! I am the world's worst packer and am always taking too much stuff with me wherever I go. Let's just say I've turned over a new leaf. I considered having this trip count toward my monthly vacation quota but decided against it once I found out some of my peeps were down with visiting Moab! (see number 4 below).

3. I ran the Des News 10K with Shanel and Jill. It's been a while since I've ran in an actual race so I was a bit nervous. It brought back a lot of good memories though and it was fun to run with people for their first time!

4. I went to Moab, UT for my first time ever!! It was so beautiful and HOT!!!! After taking the LONG way to get there (7 hours in a car when you are expecting to be in there for 4.5 hours is not a pleasant beginning) we finally made it to a campsite and watched as the boys set up the tent! I mentioned to my mom how fun it was to camp with guys because I could sit back and watch while they did all of the work. She tried to tell me that maybe they were expecting the girls to do all of the cooking but then I reminded her that I took along an ample supply of Costco muffins....so we didn't really even have to cook. Our activities for the weekend included hiking at Arches National Park and river rafting down the Colorado river. It was an awesome weekend with a lot of laughs and good memories!

4. I was able to get together with a great friend while she was visiting from Des Moines. She just had her second baby and had the baby blessing in Utah while they were in town. It was so fun to catch up and see some of our other friends that we don't get to see too often! She didn't name her daughter after me but I didn't hold that against her....for too long!

5. I saw The Dark Knight, the latest installment of the Batman movies. I had received mixed reviews from both ends of the spectrum so I really didn't know what to expect. Overall, I thought it was an entertaining movie (sorry Mom) but I liked the first one better. Christian Bale was as gorgeous as ever and Heath did a great job as the Joker.....although I'm going to go out on a limb and say that I didn't think it was as "Academy Award Worthy" as everyone has been saying. You heard it here first.

6. I patroned a couple of concerts and plays. The first concert was Jon Schmidt. He's an awesome pianist who I've always wanted to see live. I've tried playing some of his music but it's so fast, it's definately better listening to him play! Concert #2 was Colbie Caillat and John Mayer (I didn't see Jennifer Aniston anywhere in the audience but she may have been lurking backstage, no one really knows at this point). OK, well technically I haven't been to the plays yet but they are this weekend so technically they count, right? I'm taking my niece Jocelyn for her birthday to Broadway's version of High School Musical. She's basically my cover so that nobody questions why a 28 year old would want to see this play. Troy and Gabriella will go down as one of Hollywood's greatest couples if you ask me. Anyway, I'll also be going to see a spoof off of Indiana Jones with my family. It looks pretty funny so hopefully it will live up to the hype!

7. I've been HOOKED on yet another reality tv show......So You Think You Can Dance. It's amazing. The dancers are incredible and each week provides 3 full hours of blissful entertainment. If you haven't seen any episodes you can tune in for the finale next week and you won't be disappointed. I think I may even like it more than American Idol......

8. I've been losing my mind with anticipation for the newest book in the Twilight series, Breaking Dawn, by Stephenie Meyer. Not only is this the latest book in the series, it's also the final book in the series. Although I love a good story, especially a good love story, I'm ready for it to finally end. I don't know if I'd last another 2 years for another book to come out! It sounds crazy, I don't know why I'm so addicted but I have really loved reading these books. It will be released on Saturday, August 2nd so hopefully people will be ready to blog about it by Monday!

Well, that's about it. It's been a pretty crazy month, but so much fun getting together with friends and family that I haven't seen in a while and creating unforgetable memories!!!

Proud to Be an American

It's July. For me July means fireworks, bbq's, and sprinklers. I don't know why I think of sprinklers but I do. Maybe it's because I have to manually water my lawn and consequently have to rotate the sprinkler location every other day, every hour. I digress. I was fortunate enough to attend the Stadium of Fire on the 4th of July and see.......wait for it......Miley Cyrus live in concert. That's right, I don't know if there's a better way to celebrate the freedoms of our country than by fanatically cheering on a 15 year old girl singing about loves lost and finding an escape from life's pressures. I hear those Jonas Brothers sure are gaining popularity among the tweenage crowd so I can only imagine the sort of stress Miley has been under lately. The Blue Man Group performed right before Miley Cyrus and it was just a little ironic that a portion of their show focused on the lack of talent among modern rock stars. It was a great night of entertainment and fireworks.

June

My travels for June took me to sunny St. George, Utah for the annual Bryant Family Reunion! We stayed at an AWESOME vacation home on the Entrada golf course (click here for photos) with it's own private pool and pool house. Unfortunately, the pool boy was not as pleasant on the eyes as they usually tend to be in the movies. However, pool boy aside, we had a great time! I decided to jump start my vacation the day before we were supposed to leave by "laying out" in my back yard so that I could establish a "base tan." Unfortunately, two hours in direct sunlight without sunscreen on my white body didn't establish quite the base that I was looking for and I ended up frying myself before the fun even started! I go through this painful process every year and you'd think that somewhere along the line I would have learned my lesson.....maybe next year I'll get it. Anyway, St. George was amazing, the vacation house was amazing, the food was amazing (I just loved the Hawaiian Haystacks that we ate when Michelle, Judy, and Warren came to visit). The lizard that I found in my room one afternoon when I was trying to take my daily nap however, was not so amazing. I was on the brink of dozing off when I heard what sounded like a mouse scratching on the blinds. I mustered up the courage to take a quick peek and saw the tail end of a lizard running through the windowsill. I yelled for Cade to come and "remove it" for me and after two attempts he finally caught it! All of the little ones thought it was hee-larious that there was a lizard in my room. Ha, ha, ha.

One night "the girls" went to see the Sound of Music at the Tuacahn theatre. We found ourselves surrounded by geriatrics but it didn't matter because the Sound of Music is simply magical. Let's just say we weren't too unhappy when Maria, Captain Von Trapp, and the seven children walked off of the set at the end of the final scene. On the way home from the theatre all of the adults were laughing about what the worst part of the play had been when Shanel's daughter Taylor piped up from the back seat, "Hey guys, you know what part I liked best? The popcorn!" The popcorn was pretty good, but those snow cones really beat the heat if you know what I mean.

Another evening Shanel and I were able to see a late showing of Iron Man. I was a little skeptical because I had heard such raving reviews about it and I'm just going to put this out there right now, I'm not a Robert Downey, Jr. fan. I don't know what it is about him but he bugs. Shanel and I both had our reservations but we ending up LOVING it! It is really an entertaining movie and RDJ redeemed himself (slightly) in my book.

Mostly our days were spent swimming, eating, swimming some more, taking naps, eating, and then getting some more swimming in before bed. Oh ya, we did squeeze some shopping in too. Boy, vacations sure can be exhausting!

Well, after six full days of family togetherness I can now state with certainty that I am officially the favorite aunt of all my nieces and nephews. Logan proved it when Cade tried to throw me in the pool fully clothed but ended up letting me go because Logan started to cry for me. Hmmmm, I wonder why JaKayla didn't cry for me when Jake soaked me in the outdoor fountains at the park. Oh well, I guess you can't win them all.

All in all it was a FABULOUS family outing and I just want to give a big shout out to my Mom for making it all happen. Although I claim the title, she really is the glue that holds our family together!

P.S. I also thought you'd like to know that my sunburn has officially bronzed. However, I had a slim 28 hour window in which it lasted. The brown skin has subsequently begun to peel and I'm slowly becoming the brilliant white color that I was just two weeks ago.

The Alchemist

I've been in quite the pensive mood lately. My thoughts have led me to reflect on one of my favorite books, The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a good read. It containes numerous quotable passages and although it gets a little crazy in the end, its greatness far outweighs any weirdness that can be found therein. To summarize, the story is about a shepard boy whose greatest desire is to pursue his "personal legend." He has a dream and travles from Spain to the Egyptian desert in search of a treasure buried in the pyramids. Along the way he meets many people, one of which is a merchant who sells crystal at the market. The boy tells the merchant about his personal legend and in turn the merchant tells the boy that ever since he was little he had dreams of making the pilgrimage to Mecca. All he wanted to do was make enough money to be able to make the journey. He started the crystal shop and started to make money, but could never bring himself to leave someone in charge of the shop. The boy asked the merchant why he didn't go to Mecca then, when he had plenty of money and the boy to watch the shop. "Because it's the thought of Mecca that keeps me alive. That's what helps me face these days that are all the same, these mute crystals on the shelves, and lunch and dinner at the same horrible cafe. I'm afraid that if my dream is realized, I'll have no reason to go on living."

After working for the merchant for a couple of months, the boy makes a recommendation to the merchant on how he could make more money in his shop. The merchant did not want to implement the idea but later tells the boy, "You have been a real blessing to me. Today, I undertand something I didn't see before: every blessing ignored becomes a curse. I don't want anything else in life. But you are forcing me to look at wealth and at horizons I have never known. Now that I have seen them, and now that I see how immense my possibilities are, I'm going to feel worse than I did before you arrived. Because I know the things I should be able to accomplish, and I don't want to do so."

When I first read this book I thought it was so sad that this merchant was too afraid to follow his dreams of going to Mecca when everything he was working for in life was pointing him in that direction. However, the older I get the more I realize how scary it can be to give up everything you know to pursue the unknown. I think a lot of times in life we can get pretty comfortable with what we are used to, even if it may not be what we ultimately want. It gets pretty easy to rationalize our way out of pursuing our dreams. We may even be given opportunities to see the possibilities that can come our way if we make certain changes in our lives, but if we are too afraid to implement them we may end up lamenting about the "what might have been." Anyway, I really love this aspect of the story because it forces me to examine the major decisions I make in life. Am I doing something because it will ultimately lead me to what I really want, or am I just doing it because I am afraid of pursing what I really want?

Read the book, in the words of Pedro from Napolean Dynamite, "It will make all of your wildest dreams come true."

Peace out.

And the Truth Shall be Spoken out of the Mouths of Babes

So this weekend I promised my niece Taylor that we could have a slumber party. She's 3. She has been wanting to sleep over at my house for a couple of weeks but I haven't had a free Friday night until this last Friday. She was so excited! Or so she told me. She called me on Friday and told me that she was all ready to go and that we were going to have so much fun. I talked to her mom and she told me that she had already packed her bag and was just sitting on her bed waiting for me to come and get her. I was really excited to spend some one on one time with her and was totally willing to spoil her rotten by letting her do whatever she wanted! I picked her up and after she showed me her new Disney Princess suitcase we were off! I asked her what she wanted to do and she said, "Um, let's go to your house and pop popcorn and watch a movie." I asked her what she wanted for dinner, or if she wanted to go somewhere for dinner and she said, "Um, let's just go to your house and pop popcorn and watch a movie." Sigh......okay. So we go to my house and after looking around a bit she gets into her suitcase and pulls out the bag of microwave popcorn that she brought with her, yes she actually brought some with her just in case I didn't have any. I guess we really were just going to pop popcorn and watch a movie. So out of all the super cool Disney movies that I own she picks out Sleeping Beauty, which is a good show but let's face it, it's a little on the boring side and doesn't even come close to being as good as say, Little Mermaid. So we watch Sleeping Beauty and she has to remind me on one occasion that if I don't open my eyes I will miss the movie. Finally the movie ends and I ask her what she wants to do next. Can you guess what she said? Watch another movie. I guess I should disclaim that my siblings hardly ever let their children watch tv so when they get the opportunity to do so they want to take full advantage. I convince her to walk to the store to get a slurpee before we start another movie. Can you all just tell how great of a mother I'm going to be? Popcorn and slurpees for dinner and nothing but movie watching all night long. So we eat the slurpees and I can really tell that she's in sugar overload mode because the fact that her tongue is red is the funniest thing she's ever seen in her life! I tell her that we should put on our pajamas and get ready for bed before we watch another movie. Her second movie selection of the night is Pete's Dragon. About 1/3 of the way into it I notice that it's 10 pm and I should probably be putting her to bed. I tell her it's time to go to bed and she bursts into tears and says that she doesn't want to sleep over and that she wants to go home. I called her mom and let her talk to her for a minute, she reiterates the fact that she doesn't want to sleep over and she wants to go home so her mom and I decide that I should probably drive her home. On the way there she happily tells me that she didn't really want to sleep over, she just wanted to come to my house to watch tv.......great, I was suckered by a 3 year old! So I guess when I told her we could do anything she wanted to do I I really didn't mean anything she wanted to do, I really meant anything she wanted to do that sounded fun to me because I spent the whole night trying to convince her to do something different than what she wanted. Sigh. Oh well, lesson learned. Do not have children because they will walk all over you. Okay, so maybe that wasn't the lesson of the evening but it was just a little depressing that I couldn't even handle taking care of a 3 year old for more than 12 hours.....I guess I'll stick to what I'm good at.......and as soon as I figure out what that is I'll let you know!

The High and Low of my Memorial Day Weekend

The High:

Angel's Landing at Zion National Park

The Low:

The Grand Canyon

I decided that Memorial Day weekend would be a great time to jump start my goal for 2008 (for the record, yes, I am aware that 2008 began five months ago). One of my great passions in life is traveling. I love to meet new people, explore new surroundings, and examine new cultures. In order to add a little spice to my life I am making a goal to travel somewhere every month for the rest of the year. It's kind of been a tradition of mine for the last several years to go to Zion National Park over Memorial or Labor Day weekend, so although I didn't travel anywhere new, I started the year off traveling to the much loved Zion National Park. I have some friends who flew in from out of state and we decided to keep up with our tradition and hike Angel's Landing. You'd think hiking the same hike every year would get boring but this is such a great hike that you can do it over and over again and it's breathtaking every time. You feel like you're on top of the world! I took some great pics but my computer is on the fritz and isn't too keen on letting me download anything else that requires memory so here are some that I found online:

commons.wikimedia.org

http://www.dankat.com/

They're not the greatest photos but the view is just amazing. The peak of the hike is 5,785 feet and you can see almost the whole canyon. It's awesome! After church on Sunday we all decided that it would be fun to take a drive and see the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. We stopped at a park and had a picnic and then drove to Arizona to see one of the seven natural wonders of the world. I had visited the South Rim of the Grand Canyon on a family vacation a couple of years ago and was excited to see more of it. At it's deepest the Grand Canyon is 6,000 vertical feet from the rim to the river and at it's widest is 18 miles wide. It was so amazing to see the beauty of the world that we live in from two very different perspectives!

http://www.pinker.wjh.harvard.edu/

www.student.britannica.com

It was a great trip and a fantastic way to start off my year of traveling the whole world over (or at least traveling the whole continent over, or the whole country, or the whole state......we'll see how my funds hold up!).

Black Thumbs and Other Various Disappointments

So with all the free time I have on my hands now I have been able to notice things that I want to change. A lot of things. So many things that I don't think that I would be able to accomplish them all if I tried. First and foremost is my yard. Since I mowed it last week I don't think it currently qualifies as the most ghetto lawn on the block but it's pretty close. I think the only house worse than mine is the one that totally deadend the lawn for some reason and now has various vehicles parked on it. I've never been much for yard work and I guess I didn't realize when I purchased a home how much effort it takes to actually maintain a decent looking yard. Why didn't anyone warn me????? I now know why so many single females purchase condos or townhomes......no maintenance. I was all motivated this last Saturday to get some work done, mainly weed pulling and lawn treatments. The first hour as I was jammin' out with my iPod I thought to myself, "This isn't so bad. I can actually kind of see why people would enjoy doing this." The second hour I started to get a little fatigued but was proud of myself for sticking with it. The third hour I was about to die from exhaustion and the fact that I had only made a small dent in the massive amounts of work I have to do. To top it all off, today a lot of the weeds are back and it doesn't even look like I did anything!!!! Life was so much easier when I really didn't care about my yard! But I really have started to care now so I guess I'm SOL. I hear that if you do a little bit each week that it's not so bad to stay on top of it but I'm inside updating my blog right now instead of pulling weeds so I'm guessing that's not the best way to stay on top of it. Oh well, I have always enjoyed complaining about something before I actually get around to doing it!

Another problem I've come across is that I've tried to take up cooking. I know my mom laughs at me every time I call her about some things because it's probably common sense but I'm so paranoid about ruining it that I make her give me specific step by step instructions.....like how to maranade chicken. I'm sorry but that's just not stuff that you learn in your accounting classes at school! She'll probably post a comment about all of those cooking classes she gave me as a younster but that was almost 20 years ago so I think time is on my side with this one, don't you think?

Cleaning is always an issue with me and keeping up on a 5 bedroom house isn't the most fun in the world. In my defense I do like vacuuming but my vacuum broke (again) so I'll have to fix it before I can do that and put off my other chores. Don't be too impressed that I know how to fix my vacuum. It only took 4 previous breakdowns (the vacumm's and mine) for my dad to teach me how to fix it. I think the problem is all of the hair that I shed that gets caught up inside. Consequently I have decided to shave my head and use my hair clipping to make a wig. That way I won't shed 100 pieces of hair per day or whatever the quota is, which will result in a fully functioning vacuum, which will also result in additional financial savings, which will result in an overall more pleasant demeanor on my part. Also, if I ever come down with cancer I'm thinking that wig will come in real handy.

I'm beginning to realize that it's not so much fun being a responsible adult....

Mom's the Word

I've realized that approximately 93.7% of my blog readers are mothers so I could not let this holiday pass without giving a big shout out to all of the maternal beings out there! I admire you!

Not only is it Mother's Day, but it is also my own mother's birthday. This time of year is always just the teensiest bit stressful because I have to come up with two gift ideas for my mom, ideas that outshine the prior years' gifts. I'm not going to lie to you....I've had some pretty outstanding ideas and it's increasingly getting harder and harder to outdo myself. This year.....I have failed.....sigh. In order to re-gain some creditability as the most creative and favorite daughter, I have decided to post a tribute to my mother. As some of you know, I have posted a Tribute to My Ma before, and although it could possibly be classified as my most creative work yet, I do not think that it does my mom justice. Therefore, I have decided to make a second attempt and hope that this Mother's Day isn't a complete letdown for the brave woman who brought me into this world.

Tear jerker alert: Mom, do not continue to read this post unless you are properly equipped with an ample supply of tissues.

For those of you who don't already know how absolutely fabulous my mother is, I just wanted to post some facts that you may or may not know about her.

1. She loves my dad. I'm not talking about the unspoken love that kids automatically assume exists between their parents, I mean she really loves him and outwardly displays that daily. When I was little I used to think it was gross that my parents would kiss in front of us kids and I just assumed that it was normal that moms and dads went out every Friday night on a date. I also never remember ever hearing my parents argue or raise their voices toward each other in front of us. The older I get the more I realize that this behavior is the exception rather than the rule. I also realize what a source of comfort it is as a child...and an adolescent...and an adult, to have the knowledge that your parents really love each other. They have taught me a lot about creating an eternal marriage and I think my mom is one of the best examples of what it means to be a wife.

2. She goes walking every morning. And has done so for the last 20+ years. She also hasn't ever missed a month of visiting teaching since she became a visiting teacher. She also woke up every morning while her children were in school to make us sack lunches. She also never missed a piano recital that my sister and I have ever been in. She also cleans the house every Monday morning and has done for as long as I can remember. These may not seem like significant accomplishments to some but to me they speak volumes about my mom's character. She is the most diligent person I know and growing up I took for granted the stability that these small actions created for me and our family. She is a model for what it means to be consistent in the areas of life that matter most.

3. She is a great cook. It runs in the family. Most of my aunt's are famous for their cooking and my mom is no exception. I have fond memories of coming home from school to freshly baked cookies or homemade bread. When I went away to college I knew that whenever I went home I would leave with enough meals to last me for a week. Even still whenever anyone goes to her house she always wants to give them something to eat and there is always something delicious available. Eating a homemade meal as a family around the dinner table is becoming a rare behavior but my mom still makes time to cook for her whole family every other week....and I still look forward to those leftovers. Her skills in the kitchen have provided her with great opportunities to serve others within and without the walls of her own home.

This list is by no means all inclusive. My mom has so many more incredible qualities that I admire. She's smart (even though she claims otherwise), funny (anyone who has ever read one of her poems can attest to that), and she's got great genes (how else would I have been born with such fabulous hair?). I know that I've never made life easy for my mom. I've probably been the most emotional of all of her children and my perfectionistic tendencies are enough to drive her batty, but she has always been a great support to me and continues to inspire me to become a better person. When I grow up on of my greatest desires is to be the kind of mom that my mom has been to me. I doubt she realizes the magnitude of love and appreciation that my siblings and I have for her but I hope that on this Mother's Day she will be able to understand what an impact she's had on those who surround her, especially her family.

Happy Mother's Day!

Here's to Good Health

I was born with a unique gift.....super human health. I blame my mother. She has an immune system that rarely, if ever, breaks down. Genetically, I have followed in her footsteps and have had a relatively disease-free life. When I was little my sister caught the chicken pox and passed them on to me. They lasted three whole days. I see people get flu shots year after year and the single, solitary year I decided to get one I caught the flu. I was really excited when I was putting in my mission papers because I thought I'd have to get my wisdom teeth out before I left. I had visions of being bedridden in front of the tv for several days, with my mom bringing me soft serve foods like apple sauce, yogurt, and my personal favorite, ice cream! Alas, I am wisdom free and did not have to get any teeth pulled. I didn't even catch any sort of worm or bug in a third world country chock full of little guys just waiting to latch on and take over your body. I'm making myself sound like the victim here when in reality my good health is actually a blessing. However, I am a very lazy person and I get frustrated that I'm not able to slack in my responsibilities due to an unforeseen illness. This gift of immunity comes with two unhealthy side effects. First of all, because I rarely get sick I have little compassion for those who do. I just can't empathize (or is it sympathize?). I try to sound compassionate and understanding and charitable and caring....but it's all a big fat lie. The second damaging side effect is that fact that my tolerance for pain is extremely low so when I do come down with something, I tend to milk it for all its worth. The slightest body ache, sore throat, headache, cough, sneeze, or unidentifiable rash results in me calling my mom in tears, begging for help and advice on what to do to get better. When I get sick, it's a big deal and I want the world to stop until I'm ready to re-join it. On the other hand, maybe I have a super human tolerance for pain and so when I actually do get sick it really is just that bad. Maybe I've been a walking virus my whole life and have passed disease after disease on to my friends and family without it even affecting me......

Probably not.

Well, I guess the time has come for me to confess that I am sick, and at the most inopportune time too. I first felt the effects on Saturday, the weekend. Of course, there's plenty of time to rest and get better without missing a single ounce of work. Also, family dinner on Sunday consisted of my least favorite meal of all time, sloppy joes. My mom was practically begging to send some food home to me (in a normal situation I would have been thrilled. I take all the leftovers I can get because that means cooking less while simultaneously eating better food). However, I had to pass on the sloppy joes and ended up settling for some Chex that I had in my cupboard at home. Sigh. I really don't expect anyone to feel sorry for me, but just a little sorry would be okay. If anyone happened to be in my neighborhood and wanted to drop by with some good movies and chicken noodle soup, I wouldn't be mad. Cough, cough.

Reunited With A Former Love

A couple of years ago I fell in love. It wasn't the take your breathe away, love at first sight kind of love, but after time I gradually realized that I was in over my head. It's like I became addicted. For various reasons we had to part ways but in the back of my mind I have always been contemplating getting back together. I have been a little hesitant because, what if it's not the same? What if my feelings have changed? What if I can't be as committed as I once was? My fears have held me back for over a year and a half. A couple of days ago I mustered up some courage and decided it was time to get back together. The reunion was a little bittersweet. I definitely felt different but also felt that there was potential for things to develop into something similar to what they once were. It's going to take a lot of work on my part but I guess I'm finally willing to take responsibility.

Hello dear friends, I have missed you! I went running for the first time in a long time the other day. I couldn't run nearly as far, or fast, or quite as effortlessly. But it was time to let bygones be bygones and I'm hoping to make this a daily habit once again.

A Stay-At-Home Mom, Minus the Mom

So for the last 5 days I have been able to experience what it is like to be a stay-at-home mom. Almost. Technically, I'm not a mom so I guess I didn't exactly experience what it is like but I was able to stay home from work for 5 glorious days. No work, no stress, and definitely no schedule! At my job we were released from our work for the rest of the week following the tax deadline so I was able to "de-tax" myself and try to get some sort of normalcy back in my life. I might have enjoyed myself a little too much. For starters, I was able to get more than 4 hours of sleep a night! Also, I went to lunch at Costco with my mom and sister. This is a weekly get together that I'm always forced to miss because of my work schedule. They weren't going to get together but when they heard I had the day off they planned a special lunch just for me! Another fun surprise was getting a text from my secret admirer, aka my cousin AD, and being able to go to lunch with her and her daughter who were coincidentally in town during my week long hiatus. I was also able to visit Sonic during happy hour, where drinks were half price. Yum.....caffeine free diet coke with lime and crushed ice......I was in heaven. Of course, what would any vacation be without loads and loads of shopping? I packed it in and it was magnificent. I'm embarrassed to report that I also went to a movie.....in the afternoon.....by myself. The movie pretty much sucked but the experience was a treasure. I'm sure that if I was forced to account for every hour that I had off, the statistics would indicate that I wasted 90% of my time because I really can't remember much else of what I did during those precious 5 days. However, I can't really remember anything that I've done besides work for the past 4 months so I guess it's okay. Maybe I'm coming down with Alzheimer's, would that buy me some more time off?

If not, it sure was nice not to have to go to work last week, I could definitely get used to that kind of lifestyle!

A Night Off

So my parents have season tickets to the Jazz this year and have generously let me go to a couple of games. Although the seats are in the upper bowl of the arena it's still a great time to be had! I haven't been able to go to any games for the last couple of months though because of my hectic work schedule. Well, things are starting to slightly slow down at work and my dad asked me if I would be interested in going to last Wednesday's game. I really didn't feel like I could leave work early on a Wednesday but I graciously offered to take the tickets off of their hands for Friday's game. The Jazz were going to play the San Antonio Spurs and not only would it be a great game.....I was really interested in seeing Tim Duncan play. He's the center for San Antonio and he's captured my heart! Well, it turns out that my Dad and Mom weren't too keen on letting me go to such a highly anticipated game. I hinted several times that I would be willing to go but I felt a definite NO in their brush-off laugh. I shrugged it off and didn't think much of it since I probably shouldn't even take time off on a Friday night right now. So then I'm working on a tax return at work for a client who is closely involved with the Jazz. He is always offering tickets to my boss and my boss always declines (I know, I've had to talk to him about this). I was on the phone with the client several times last Monday and kept wanting to mention something about Friday's game but didn't just couldn't. I guess I couldn't get the guts to casually mention something. I get so nervous and it would've sounded more like begging than anything. So I gave the return to my boss and just happened to mention to him that if this client happens to offer tickets to Friday's game against the Spurs, I would be more than happy to accept his offer and go! We had a good laugh but I new my request was falling on deaf ears so back to work I went. The next day my boss walks into my office and announces, "your wish is my command." Huh? Well, I guess a different client had called him up that morning and said that he had 4 tickets to Friday's game against San Antonio and would he be interested in them. I'm sure that had I not said anything the day before he would've said that we were too busy and to give them to someone else. However, he accepted and said that I could go! Yahoo! I was so excited! He told me that it was an early game because it was on ESPN so we'd have to leave a little early. No problem for me! So Friday rolls around and we leave at 4 pm. The game started at 6 so I was a little confused why we left so early. Come to find out, the seats were VIP, 10th row, center court, and included free dinner before the game with free snacks during half time. I'm dying! So we go to get dinner and it's a full on fancy feast at the top of the arena. We're talking cloth napkins, 3 forks, appetizers that include sushi and shrimp, the whole nine yards! I told my boss I could definitely get used to this kind of lifestyle! So we eat and then go down to our 10th row seats. I see Tim Duncan on one end of the court and Kyle Korver on the other end.....my heart is beating because this is like a dream come true! I'm taking pictures like a fanatic and then call my parents to brag about my excellent seats. The game starts and it was pretty intense the whole first half! We (the Jazz) scored two points in the last 20 seconds of the half that put us ahead at half time. It was the only time the whole first half that we had a lead. Tim Duncan was playing great but I knew I had to cheer for the Jazz since they're my team. Anyway, I go and get some nachos and soda for my parents during half time and have a little visit. I tell them that next year they should buy season tickets where my seats were at! The second half of the game started and the Jazz totally pulled ahead and kept the lead the whole rest of the game. It was so much fun and the excitement level of the game was just like it was a playoff game! It was such a great night and I think it was my destiny to go since the cards aligned just right in my favor!

Tim Duncan. Some call him incredulous, some call him a jerk, but he holds a special place in my heart! I don't know why but for some reason I just can't get enough of this guy! It was great to see him play in person and although he didn't get as much playing time in the last half, it was worth skipping out on work for a couple of hours so that I could see him in action!!

....Sigh. Kyle Korver. Isn't he just so cute? I tried to get a better close up of him but I'm no photographer so this will have to do. He is one of the newest players for the Jazz and boy can he shoot 3 pointers! He's also the newest rage in Utah, all the girls love him!

My parents were sitting near the top in this section, can you see them? Ya, I couldn't really either.
The final score of the game! Although it was a neck and neck first half the Jazz totally dominated the last half and ended up just killing the Spurs! My man Timmy didn't play the whole 4th quarter, basically the team had given up and was only playing 2nd and 3rd string players. It was a great game though, and a much needed night off!

News Flash!!!!

I thought I would post a quick update on since I've kind of been out of the blogosphere for the last couple of weeks. Well, first of all I have great news to report....I'm engaged!!!!! I'll post all of the details at a later time but I just wanted to give everyone a heads up on the new and exciting news in my life!

Okay, so I'm not engaged but it is April Fools Day and in the spirit of the holiday I thought I would participate via the blog.

Really, there is not a lot going on with me right now except for that I finally finished "Persuasion" and I LOVED IT!!!

March Madness

I lu-u-u-u-u-v this time of year! It is March Madness in every sense of the word.....

1. The NCAA men's basketball tournament
2. It is the month before taxes or extensions are due, don't say I didn't warn you!
3. I'm not 100% sure but I think spring has sprung. I'm hesitant to verify that fact because I don't want to come down with the fever, spring fever that is, until after April 15, 2008.
4. American Idol, LOST, The Biggest Loser, the only thing that would make tv better right now would be The Office (I miss you Jim!).

For those of you who haven't filled out a bracket yet for the men's college basketball tournament, I highly encourage you to do so. We're talking 64 teams playing 63 games in a time span of three weeks and it's some of the most intense basketball you've ever seen! It's a single elimination tournament so once you lose, you're out, and that motivates the players to play their whole hearts and souls out! I'm sure there will be quite a few upsets this year! Visit this site for up to date info on the scores and to see if you're teams are winning. We fill out brackets at my work and then I also fill one out for a little competition that I have with my roommates. Of course, no gambling is involved (cough, cough) because it's all for the sport of it. Also, I really have no idea who the best teams are but it's just a great time to see how well you picked the winning teams. Hopefully Kansas will go all the way and win it because that's who I have as my #1 pick. Now that I think about it, I think I choose them every year......

Anyway, let me know how your teams turn out!

A Legacy

I've been pondering lately about legacies (or is it legacys? My spelling has gone down the drain ever since I learned Spanish so I'm sorry, you'll have to live with it for this post because I'm just not sure and my computer is too slow to open another window to look it up). As I was saying, I have been randomly pondering today about legacies. "What about legacies?" you ask. Well, I guess my own legacy. You see, I just realized that my little sister will be celebrating her 5th wedding anniversary this weekend. FIVE YEARS????? Where has the time gone and what the heck have I been doing with my life? Okay, so I've done some things but I was still blown away by the fact that she's been married for five years. She's got these two great little munchkins named Taylor and Hudson that are seriously the cutest little redheads ever! We went to lunch the other day and I realized that if anything were to happen to my sister, her legacy would live on through them. Then I got to thinking......how would my legacy live on if I were to one day kill over? I currently am without child and I guess you could argue that my legacy could somehow be linked to one of my nieces or nephews, but really they are the direct result of my siblings so I'm not going to buy into that theory. I guess I just want to know that "my story" will live on through someone.....not just through journals or pictures or letters that I've left behind. So, I've been thinking about how to make this happen because who doesn't want to be reassured that they will be remembered after they bite the dust? I have come up with a fabulous idea that anyone can take to heart, and I'm hoping, will help me in my quest. In fact, I hope someone does because without your help my project can't happen. Yes, I'm talking to you. Well, I'm talking to you if you are currently, if you are planning on, or if there is ever the slightest chance that you will ever become pregnant. I firmly believe that if someone will name their child after me I will be comforted in the fact that my legacy will live on beyond the grave. You may be wondering how my legacy would live on through someone who isn't my direct offspring? Well, it's all in the name. Whenever people would ask this amazing little person where their name came from they could say, "My mom had this fabulous (insert your relation here, beit sister, friend, cousin, mission comp, daughter (just in case Mom), neighbor, niece, aunt, etc) and really wanted me to grow up with that kind of example and influence in my life." Then they could relate the list of accomplishments and talents and desirable attributes that I was blessed with in my life, and finish it all up with "......sigh, I just hope that someday I'll be able to be half the person that she was." And that my friends is how my story will live through the ages.....or at least for another century or so. Now, I haven't completely given up on the thought that I'll one day have my own kids who will be able to carry on my legacy, but if anyone knows me they know that I like to have a plan. This is my backup plan. You know in the movies how a guy and a girl decide to be each others' backups? Like, if they are 35 and not married, they will marry each other? Well, this is my backup plan for kids I guess. You may be thinking that I am asking a lot, subjecting a poor innocent babe to a lifetime of a name that let's face it, may not be your first choice. That is why I, in turn, promise to spoil the living daylights out of my little namesake. AND....I will even consider the possibility of making them the beneficiary of my meager 401k (that is, unless I need the money for something else......like retirement or something. You just don't know how the Social Security system is going to hold up, but I'll save that post for another day). Anyway, this is my plea. If anyone can find it in their heart to help me in this manner I will be reassured that my legacy will live on. If you aren't too keen on the name Kandis (or if you have a boy and need a more male worthy name) I have listed some acceptable variations on my name and spelling that would qualify one to be the recipient of my spoilings. Thank you.

Kandis
Kalinda
Meldis
Mandis
Bryant
Kryant
Bryndis
Brykamel

These are all variations of my full name that will be withheld for my privacy (you never know what kind of freaks are stalking you in your blog, ya know? It's better to be safe than sorry).

P.S. The proper spelling is "legacies", at least that is what the handy spell checker on this blog is telling me.

Is anyone else as excited as I am??????

From left to right: Emmett, Rosalie, Esme, Edward, Carlisle, Alice, and Jasper

Photos produced by Summit Entertainment

Photos produced by Summit Entertainment

Photos produced by Summit Entertainment

Okay, so maybe they aren't exactly how I imagined them to be but the Cullen family will be hitting the screens this fall and I CAN'T WAIT!! I know that I'm not the only obsessed person with the "Twilight" book series by Stephenie Meyer. I was perusing through her website the other day and saw these pics of the actors who have been cast for the movie that is currently in production and will be coming to a theatre near you this fall. To be honest, these specific actors would not have been my first choice to play their respective roles but I guess I'll take what I can get! Let's get serious here, I doubt there is any actor who could live up to the perfect picture we have painted in our own imaginations. So, I hope their acting is really good so that the movie isn't a complete letdown! It'll be a tough audience....every female that I know has really been "sucked" into these books so I'm betting that the film will become a major controversy among women. That, and whether Bella will finally become a vampire in Breaking Dawn, to be released on August 2, 2008. If you haven't read the books, I recommend that you do because there will be a lot of posts published this year relating to this very subject! You gotta keep up on current events.......

I Need Your Help....

......with a decision that I've struggled with my whole life. I can be pretty indecisive and I really rely a lot on other people's opinion so I'd appreciate it if you would take the time to respond to this very important post. Okay.....here it goes......I am trying to decide if I should cut bangs. There, I said it. I've been back and forth for months now, debating within myself if I should do it or not and I've officially decided that I can't make a decision. Here are some pros and cons that I have come up with:

Pros:
1. I would like a new look. People change their hair all the time but I just struggle with it so I end up with the same hair style day in and day out. A change could do me good.
2. Bangs seem to be "in" right now, or at least they've made some sort of a comeback but they could be on their way out soon, I'm just not up on the trends enough to base my decision on it.
3. That's about all I could come up with on the pros but I think they should be more heavily weighted since personal satisfaction with one's look and having a fashionable appearance tend to trump some of the superficial cons that are holding me back.

Cons:
1. I know people say that you can do anything with hair because it will always grow back but I've been working on growing my hair out ever since my moment of pure insanity when I cut it to my chin. The year was 2004 and I'm just barely reaching my desired hair length so I'm a little hesitant to make any rash decisions that will put me through another 3.5 years of hair agony.
2. Once I dedicated a whole journal entry to why it is not a good idea to cut bangs. I wrote that it is always a mistake.......even when you think it might be a good idea........maybe I should go and read that journal entry again.
3. My hair just doesn't seem to want to "swoop" the right way for bangs. It's a nice idea and I can see in my mind how I would want them to look but actually training my hair to do that is another story.
4. I have a short forehead and can't remember if bangs are good for people with short foreheads or long ones.....

Okay, so that is what I have come up with. Not really a very comprehensive list but I think I've covered most of the major factors. You may think this is a joke but I take my hair very seriously so I'd appreciate any input you have on this topic. I'll keep you "posted" on what I ultimately decide!

And the winner is.....

Sunday, February 24, are the Academy Awards.....the Oscars......basically the biggest award show out there. I love movies, I love movie stars, and I love watching the Academy Awards. Before you start judging me with a list of all of the Sunday worthy activities I could be participating in tomorrow, let me tell you about the elite Academy Awards gathering that I have been able to finagle an invite to. It all happened about three years ago. One of my roommates at the time mentioned that her family was having their annual Academy Award party and invited me to join in the festivities. Of course, I accepted. Little did I know that this one little act would alter the course of the next three years! Okay, not really but I really didn't expect it to be such a big deal. So there's a pretty selective list of family and friends that are invited to this shindig. There is tons of food and really awesome people and we all fill out ballots on who we think the Oscar winners are going to be. The person with the most correct guesses wins. There is a statue of an Oscar with all of the prior years winners' names engraved on it (I learned early on not to try too hard because if a "friend" makes the list, they aren't invited back the next year). The winner also wins a DVD package. Everyone also puts their names in a bowl for some drawings for free DVD's that occur throughout the evening. I know....it's bigger than the Superbowl. Now, my roommate got married and moved out of state but luckily I've remained close friends with her sister so I've been able to get invited again this year. Really it was a close call and I basically had to beg for my invite but I'm not ashamed....I love this family and I love their parties! Really, this is an event that I look forward to every year. Thanks Sara, for taking a chance on me!

All you need is LOVE

Another holiday has finally come and let me just get this out right now......I actually like Valentine's Day! I know that you're not supposed to say things like that, especially when you're single and "don't have anyone to spend the day with" but what can I say, I'm unconventional I guess. There are so many great things about Valentine's Day! First and foremost, what would any holiday be without presents? I know that our commercialized society has turned even the most minor holidays into a gift giving extravaganza but I'm personally not opposed to this because of my deep love of gift receiving....I mean giving. Secondly, the heart shaped sugar cookies are enough to make me want every other day be Valentine's Day (alternating with Christmas of course). Nothing says "I Love You" quite like a mouth full of sugary goodness. I've saved the best, and probably most contraversial, aspect of Valentine's Day for last. How great is it that we have a day set aside to tell the most important people in our lives how much we love and care for them? Ya, ya, ya, I've heard the whole argument before about "not needing a special day to express your love to those close to you" because "you should be doing that anyway." Oh, don't forget the whole "it's a 'couples' holiday that excludes singles" and it's "just another reminder that I don't have anyone." I'm not buying it. Yes, we should be showing our loved ones everyday that we love them, but do we? Do we actually take the time out of our busy schedule to show our loved ones that we love them? It's like those people who say we should celebrate Christmas all year round, not just in December. It's a nice thought, but I think our human nature is to be more self-centered and self-serving and it usually takes a holiday or special event to wakes us out of our self absorbed slomber. And I'm sorry, everyone has someone in their life to love, or someone who loves them. It would be cold, dark world otherwise. Maybe my feelings are a wee bit strong but Valentine's Day (and holidays in general) are exciting in that we get to celebrate life, love, and the little pleasures that brake up the monotonies of life.

Wait....maybe my life just sucks and I need holidays in order to escape the boredom! I actually think that my love of holidays, and Valentine's Day, stems from my mother and the fond memories she made for me while growing up. My mom took every opportunity to celebrate every holiday (I would get little presents on Memorial Day even) and special event in our lives. Thus I have come to really love holidays, even the one that I'm supposed to hate.

I hope you all have a Happy Valentine's Day!

Lord of the Flies

I guess I'm going to write a mini review on the "Lord of the Flies" since I wrote one on "Eat, Pray, Love." I am happy to report that I actually enjoyed this book once I got into it......about 3/4 of the way in! Okay, so it was a little slow going but it ended up being really weird and I guess that's what I liked about it. I just really felt for Ralph once he was all alone and fending for his life. I know there was a ton of symbolism that I missed out on so I'll be checking out the cliff's notes to get a deeper analysis than that my own little mind can conjur up. Another thing that I liked about this book is that it totally parallels LOST on so many levels! So there is a plane crash of young boys and there are two main characters who are basically leading the group, Jack and Ralph. They are stranded on a desserted island and Ralph's main goals are survival and rescue. Jack is obsessed with hunting and will forego all responsibilities to pursue this obsession. The only problem is, it's not hunting for hunger's sake but to make him feel more powerful and more like a man. Oh yeah, and he also tries to take over as the leader of the pack and basically leads everyone away from any sort of civilized lifestyle. Okay, is anyone seeing the similarity? Jack's main goal on LOST is to get off the island and survive all of the attacks from the Others. Locke gets really obsessed with the "magical" powers of the island and that he gets to live out his dreams of being a manly hunter. Then, Locke goes and tries to take over as the leader of the group, thus splitting everyone up. I think everyone can see where I'm heading with this.....Locke is a crazy man and will lead the group to their ruin! Okay, so maybe I'm making too much out of LOST but I was a little shocked (to say the least) of how many Locke supporters there are in my family! It's okay, I'll understand when you change you're mind and realize that Jack's the way to go.

Anyway, I highly recommend Lord of the Flies if you are in the mood for a book that is dark and twisty and feel like reading something outside of your normal genre. Also, just a side note, sometimes the author will write from the perspective of the boys. There are two twins named Sam and Eric but sometimes he will refer to them as Samneric. For a while I thought this was the weird name of one of the boys until I figured out that Samneric is simply "Sam-n-Eric." It was like a lightbulb went off in my brain! If anyone has read this and has any further insight to offer I am all ears!

Jack v. Locke

That is right, the new season of LOST has finally begun! I had almost forgotten how intense it is and sadly, how evasive it is. Everytime I watch it I hope for more and more answers but unfortunately I end up with more and more questions. So, here are some of my theories and some of the questions that I hope will be answered within the next 7 episodes this season.

Questions:

1. Who was in the coffin in the season finale last year? (I think that it could be Ben or Locke, I haven't completely decided yet but I'm probably way off).

2. Why the heck did Charlie feel like he had to lock himself in the hatch to "save" Desmond? (He easily could have swam out of the hatch with Desmond.....maybe we should be examining the motivations behind Desmond's "premonitions").

3. Will Kate choose Jack or Sawyer? (Puh-lease tell me that no one is even considering the Kate and Jack combo.....Jack's little declaration of love last season was quite laclustre).

4. How did the original Others come to arrive on the island? (The ones that were hostile to those belonging to the Dahrma Initiative, the ones who were so eager to make Ben their leader after he grew up and assinated all of his friends and family, and the ones who are now possibly turning to Locke for leadership).

5. Is Jacob for real? (.......yeah, I just don't get this whole story line. Where are they going with this?).

Theories:

I don't really have to many theories at this point. I was so sure at the end of last season that Ben was the one in the coffin but now that I found out that there were only 6 who were rescued, I'm just not so confident anymore. Why would only 6 be rescued? And we know for sure that they include Jack, Kate, and Hurley because of the flash forwards (which was such a brilliant move on the part of the writers if you ask me). Also, I'm not sure who to trust at this point.....Jack.....Locke.......Ben.......Jack has a God complex so I almost want to not like him anymore but then Rose sided with him at the end of the premiere. I really like Rose and Bernard, I think they are solid and know what's up. Locke has been pretty level headed since the beginning but he's kind of falling off his rocker after the Others have accepted him in their group and may even be looking to him as a leader. Ben is so cracked out but he may be psycho enough to be telling the truth. Who would I choose? Boy, I'm glad I'm not in that predicament.

It also appears that the "6" who were saved left behind everyone else but swore to keep it a secret and never go back. Maybe everyone else does die but I just think that would be a travesty. You know they'll go back though, Jack usually ends up doing the right thing after he realizes the extent of the situation and goes into an alcoholic frenzy. They have to go back.

I guess I choose Jack.

Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

.....Sigh.

I really wanted to like this book. I really did. Maybe I was expecting too much. It wasn't a horrible book.....I mean this author was basically living out my lifelong dream of traveling the whole world over and meeting many fabulous and interesting people. Every other person that has read this book has really loved it, I mean really loved it.

I just don't have much else to say.

I hope that the Lord of the Flies has a better effect on me but it's not looking too promising since I took a break in the middle of Lord of the Flies to read Eat, Pray, Love.

Please save me from my reader's block!

My new favorite recipe

So I have a lot of friends and family who are excellent cooks and they frequently post some of their new or favorite recipes to share. I thought I'd jump on the bandwagon with this one because I discovered a great new recipe this week! I know, watch out Betty Crocker! Okay so at the store, I think it's at any store but I purchased mine at Smith's, there are boxes of pudding powder. You mix 2 cups of milk with the aforementioned pudding powder and whisk it for approximately 2 minutes. Then you "chill" (this is the fancy term for refrigerate) for about 30 to 45 minutes and POOF! It's done! Total prep time is about 5 minutes, perfect for a family on the go! I added sliced banana to my chocolate pudding for a little bit of added flavor and it tasted fabulous! If you're not into chocolate there are a variety of other flavors to choose from. Also, if you ever forget the recipe it is listed right on the box. So convenient, right? If anyone ever gets the chance to try this out I highly recommend it because it is so tasty and just so simple to prepare. I'm excited to hear how yours turns out!

One is the loneliest number...

I know what you're all expecting.....a blog update with fabulous pictures from the AMAZING cruise that I just went on to the Western Caribbean (Key West, Cozumel, and Belize). Maybe something like a photo of me drinking a virgin margarita out of a pineapple with a little umbrella in it? Or perhaps a before and after of an awesome tan? I hate to be the bearer of bad news but after a whole week of laughs, fun, sun, and tons and tons of food....I only have one single photo to show for it and I'm not even sure what that pic is of, or what I'm doing, or where it is! I know, I know.
Okay, in my defense I do have access to a roommate who went on the cruise and subsequently took over 400 photos....I just don't have access to those photos right at this moment. So, in order to update the blog because I've had some complaints and frankly I think it's a little rude....give me some time to recoup people! Anyway, I am going to list the top 10 moments of the cruise to satiate any of your blogging hunger. Photos will hopefully follow but I make no promises!

10. Sitting by channel 5 news celeb John Hollenhorst on the plane ride home....my one and only claim to fame. He tried to hit on my mom but she just wouldn't have it. It's a good thing too because my dad was REAL excited to see her and I think that would've just broken his heart.

9. Going to Keith and Lara's wedding at the beach in Key West and seeing how so dang happy they are to be together! Oh, and the "ugly naked guy" in some of the wedding photos.

8. Meeting our stateroom guy (that's the classy way of saying "housekeeper" or "slave") and finding out his name was Nygle....just like my car! I knew then that it was my destiny to go on the cruise.

7. Seeing our head waiter flirt with my aunt Marion and then teasing her about it the rest of the trip!

6. Being eye witness to my uncle Lamont throwing my mom fully clothed in the swimming pool at the "trash the dress" ceremony! If I wasn't there to see it I never would've believed it!!

5. Having Erika ask me at the airport right before going through security, "does this lotion count as a liquid?" Yes Erika, it counts. "How about my lip gloss?" Yup, that would count too. "So would this hand sanitizer be considered a liquid too......" Maybe you had to be there but with zero sleep the night before I was feeling just a little lupey and it kept me laughing all week!

4. Having Cade scream in my ear every 15 seconds via the walkie-talkies in Cozumel, "Hey Kan, are you and Erika done shopping yet? Jill and I want to go to the beach so if you guys are going to we might as well share a cab." "Hey Kan, what's you're ETA so we can catch a cab?" "Kan, are you guys done shopping? How long do you think you'll be? Jill and I would really like to share a cab with you and Erika if you're going to the beach." "Kan, where are you at?" "About how much longer do you and Erika think you'll be shopping? Jill and I are just here at the end of the strip and it'd be more cost efficient if we all shared a cab." "Kan, come in Kan. Are you and Erika interested in sharing a cab with Jill and I?" "We've got a cab here if you and Erika are interested in going to the beach....we could share one." Yes, these are direct quotes and were all uttered within a 10 minute time span. I didn't say these were my top 10 favorite moments...just the most memorable and in Cade's exact words "some things just never change."

3. Seeing my cousin Sharla, Mary, and my aunt Martha on the zip line in Belize. Their screams will forever be embedded in my ears!

2. Being first in line with my 2nd cousin Jaron for the cave tubing excursion in Belize. "Extreme butts up!"

And the winner is.....

1. Winning a free movie from Sharla because although she thought Patrick Dempsey was the hottest male actor behind Brad Pitt and George Clooney, I knew in my heart it was Matt Damon and it paid off! I tried to tell her, I really did, but she just wouldn't listen. Hey Shar, when are we going to see 27 Dresses?

Bon Voyage

On Sunday, January 6, 2008, at approximately 4:30 am, I will be en route for my very first cruise! I'm pretty excited about it, especially since a TON of family members will be there too! You don't hear much about ships sinking anymore, like the Titanic and all, but if anything does happen I would just like to officially gift all of my clothes to my sister, who has longer hair than me now and would probably look better in them anyway! Also, Nygle, my pride and joy, I would like JaKayla, my oldest niece, to have so that in 8 and 1/2 years when she can finally drive she'll remember that I really was her favorite aunt! Lastly, Dad, I love you but I probably don't have anything that you would want or that you don't have yourself already...please don't miss me too much! Well, that's about it! If I make it back in one piece then there will be an AWESOME post on Monday, January 14. If not, well, please shed a tear or two at my funeral because I will be there taking notes from above!

Adios!