Snaps for an excellent weekend

A couple of years ago, "Legally Blonde the Musical" was shown on MTV and I've kept it on my TiVo ever since. Since then, I've had Christina, Kim, Lynda and Rachel over to watch it and they loved it as much as me.

When I heard last year that the show was finally coming to our corner of the world, I knew we had to go. I bought Christina's ticket as her high school graduation gift and she flew up from Provo for the weekend. The morning of the show, we went to breakfast at this cute little place out in the country. So yummy! I'm still dreaming about the hash browns and bacon. Why does bad food have to taste SO good?

Finally, 5 PM came and it was time for our big night on the town. We had dinner at Old Spaghetti Factory before heading into the city. Ahh, mizithra cheese, how I love thee (again, why is food SO good?) My dear friend Boni joined us and got to experience the craziness that is us (so happy she did!)

Here we are downtown outside of the theater and note that we all wore pink because it's Elle Woods' signature color. We're cool like that.

The show was so darling and happy. Of course, they had to throw in stuff that wasn't in my TiVo'd Broadway version (i.e. naughtiness that was not necessary) but I still smiled throughout the whole thing. Christina and I were probably the most giddy about being there and we tried hard to not sing along out loud. :)

During intermission, we decided to try and take a self-portrait in front of the "no photography" sign - ha. Kim tried first but we decided that "kids" have better skills in taking self-portraits because Christina took this awesome one of us (okay, I love how I look in this one - yes, I'm vain. We've discussed that already. Get over it.)

We had such a good night. I'm so glad we take advantage of opportunities like this to see fun musicals when they come to town. I love making memories with fun experiences like this.

I'm so grateful for the special relationship I share with Christina. I know she used to think I didn't love her as much as I love her sisters (haha -- remember that, Chrissy??) but hopefully she knows now how much I totally love her. She's a beautiful, special, hilarious, smart, faith-filled young woman and I'm so proud and grateful to be her friend. Love you, Christina!

My favorite commercial - right now

I saw this when I was at the movies this weekend and then saw it a bunch of times this week during American Idol. This is just hilarious - watch.

The end is near...the Bachelor recap

Thoughts I had after watching "The Women Tell All" special last night:

1. Even though it was nice they were doing charity work, the past contestants just seem sad. Shouldn't they maybe move on from this whole Bachelor thing instead of just getting drunk and making out with each other?

2. I still find Matt Grant extremely yummy.

3. I like Gia a lot more after watching her segment of the show last night, especially when she spoke up to Rozlyn.

4. Poor Michelle. How sad to not have a clue at all.

5. I like Ali better than before. She just seemed genuine and honest. I even believed the stuff she said about Vienna (still don't like Vienna but I think Ali was being truthful.)

6. Oh my GOSH. I cannot stand Rozlyn. First of all, do NOT insult my boyfriend, Chris Harrison! What the heck? Why do you treat him like he's gum on the bottom of your shoe? You are not better than him so quit trying to act like you are. And did you love how my boyfriend Chris Harrison was so obviously trying to check his temper and not haul off and hit her during her segments? And what in the heck was that crack about my boyfriend Chris Harrison hitting on the fired producer's wife? Why? Where on earth did that come from? I love how she totally rehearsed all of her snappy one-liners. Poor, angry, deluded Rozlyn. She's a horrible liar and I cannot believe she dropped the whole "on my child's life..." to try and prove she was telling the truth. I'm guessing she doesn't get invited to the next Bachelor reunion/charity event.

7. It's too bad Valishia didn't get more air time and that she's isn't the next Bachelorette. She's got a nice girl/good head on her shoulders vibe.

8. Jason & Molly's wedding is gonna get huge ratings. Why? It's on the night after the Oscars. Imagine how many ads they are going to run on Oscar night. My eyes are rolling into the back of my head.

9. Jake's "heart was crying" when he said goodbye to Gia? Holy cow. That line made me laugh. And when my boyfriend Chris Harrison asked Jake if he was happy with his decision, Jake did not answer that question like a man who is blissfully, head over heels in love. Hmmm. Next week is gonna be GOOD!

10. I loved the bloopers. My boyfriend Chris Harrison can't really sing and those girls were pretty dang funny. Instead of a two hour women tell all show next time, just show us more bloopers, okay?

Do I or don't I?

Do I accept a friend request from someone I told more than ten years ago I couldn't be her friend anymore because she was sucking the life out of me? I kind of want to know what's going on with her but not sure it's worth the risk.

Opinions, please.

Seven on a Sunday

Let's review what happened in my fantastically exciting life this week, shall we?

1. I was sick with a rotten head cold. I sounded like a 3 pack a day smoker for awhile and coughed all night instead of sleeping but I'm better now.

2. Kim and I sang "For Good" at our Relief Society visiting teaching conference on Tuesday.

It was on the 3rd day of the sickness so my voice wasn't in great shape but it worked out okay. We had to share a mic so I asked Kim to hold it and she decided to shove it right into my mouth (yes, my lips even touched it - sick.) I kept trying to push it back to her and we got lots of laughs for our play-fighting. Look at this picture of her below - you can just tell by her expression that she is up to NO good.

The theme was some sort of chocolate extravaganza which may or may not have affected my progress at WW (keep reading for an update on that!) Here's my cute friend Joyce. I know it's hard to see but the decorations were so great -- pinks and browns everywhere and seriously, chocolate everything. Yum.

3. I gave the leadership training at our first stake camp board meeting on Thursday. You know those talk/messages that just come together exactly as they should? This was one of those. Hopefully those listening felt as good about it as I did.

4. Saturday morning, I reached -29 lbs. Very exciting. I also checked my measurements and I've lost a total of 12 inches since the first of the year. Happiness.

5. We have had the BEST weather -- sunny and nearly 60 every day. Kim and I took a glorious walk Saturday afternoon. I still feel a tiny bit sad we didn't get any snow this year but the sun is amazing.

6. I celebrated my WW milestone by having an amazingly delicious burger at 5 Guys with Krysta and Kevin Saturday night. Afterward, we saw the movie, "Valentine's Day." I had very low expectations for the movie and ended up really liking it. My random thoughts: Jennifer Garner is just lovely, Taylor Swift and Taylor Lautner were hilarious and darling, and I loved the Pretty Woman references.
I appreciate my married friends who invite me to do things and don't make me feel like a 3rd wheel or whatever. We had such a great time, despite smelling like we took a bath in burger & fry grease the entire night. Why don't places like 5 Guys have good ventilation?

7. And what's on my schedule for this week? Well, I'm doing my taxes, updating my resume, going to the dentist but best of all, seeing "Legally Blonde, the Musical" with some of my most favorite people this weekend. My darling Christina is flying up for the weekend to be my date. Can. Not. WAIT!

My least attractive quality

I've been thinking about this a lot lately and I've finally figured out the personality trait I have that I really wish I didn't.

I'm a crier (cry-er?)

I really, really, really hate that I cry so easily. I think my crybaby-ness makes me look weak and well, like a baby. And honestly, I really prefer looking strong and like a grown-up. Plus crying freaks people out and it lets everyone know something is wrong. I think I would rather not have the sort of attention that comes when you are observed crying your eyes out. But unfortunately, I'm stuck with the crying gene.

Today I cried my entire drive home because I'm considering an opportunity to move into a new position where I work. The new job is a pretty amazing opportunity, working for a great leader, and I would sit a mere two desks away from where I sit currently. Yes, you read that correctly -- I said two desks away.

So now you're probably wondering why my opportunity to move into a pretty cool new position is one that would cause me to cry so much that I have a nose as red as Rudolph's. Did you read the above paragraph where I said I was a baby? Okay, good.

Anyway, this move would mean I would no longer work for my beloved boss nor would I work in what I feel is the greatest group in my entire company. I'm not afraid of taking the leap and making this change because the new job is one of those dream positions for someone who does what I do.

The thing that makes me so sad is the impending change in the relationships I have with the incredibly special people I've worked with for the last five years of my life. When you spend that many hours a day with people, you become almost like family with some of them. Yes, we'll still see each other, yes we'll still have some sort of friendship, I'm guessing but things will be different. I'm honestly not scared of that - I just hate that "loss" feeling and it makes me so very sad.

I really don't want to cry at work so my mantra for the next few weeks (thanks to "You've Got Mail" via "The Godfather") is "it's not personal, it's business." And like Kathleen Kelly, I just wish it wasn't so personal to me.

My hope is that I figure out some way to remain dry-eyed at work throughout the process.

Oh, who am I kidding? There's no way that's gonna happen.

Bye, bye, bye Gia

Lindsey and Holly have mad Bachelor watching skillz. They are way better at this than I am. Why? Because they don't have unrealistic expectations when it comes to this stuff. I on the other hand always have unrealistic expectations. ALWAYS. So even though everything about this show is irritating me, I made a commitment to you, my six readers, to finish out this season and I'm gonna do it.

But first, please tell me you all read last week's US Weekly? Lots of good Bachelor trash in there.

Okay, here's what I thought about while watching this week's show:

1. Gia was too quiet to be a contestant/finalist on this show and I'm still surprised she lasted as long as she did. You need a personality besides just a hot body to be on this show and I'm surprised nobody told her that beforehand.

2. Vienna's hair weave is quite possibly the ugliest thing I've seen in awhile (well, next to Shaun White's scary girl hair on the Olympics. Shaun, you are amazing but that is so not a good look. At. All.) Sorry. Back to the show. The way Vienna had her hair pulled back this week was awful and all it did was emphasize that her hair is not all hers. Why can't people be happy with short hair? Short hair is cute. Bad weaves are not cute.

3. Why oh why did they show Jake talking to Vienna about what kind of ring she would want? I'm guessing he talked to Tenley and Gia about rings too. I mean, the producers probably told him to talk to all three of them about rings. Unless of course it really IS going to be Vienna for the win. (Perish the thought.)

4. I like Jake less and less every week. Yes he is nice eye candy but he has that whole Brad Womack/stilted/bad acting way of talking. I can hardly stand to listen to the scripted stuff that comes out of his mouth.

5. I'd love to go to St. Lucia. Mmmm pretty.

6. Jake dancing like a white guy in the street with Gia? Horrible. I'm scarred for life after watching that.

7. Licking? We had to see Vienna & Jake licking each other? Gross. She is just yucky. There is nothing about her that's NOT yucky. The weave, the horrible makeup, the tattoo, the stupid teenaged girl ruffled bikini. Nothing.

8. I still like Tenley but her voice is challenging to listen to so that's why I'm thinking it'll be Ali for the Bachelorette. That and the fact that Ali = snotty/snippy drama whereas Tenley seems to be sweet as sugar. We know sweet and nice does not equal good TV, right?

Next week is the girls tell all episode which means they'll have all sorts of made up stuff to prove Rozlyn really was messing around with the producer AND more crazy Michelle stuff. That should be totally awesome!

I love...

First and foremost, I'm getting sick. Or I'm actually sick...I'm not really sure. And oh yeah, I have to sing on Tuesday night and my voice is not pretty. Pray for me to heal quick, please, okay? Thanks so much.

Here's my list of things I love on this Valentine's Day:

• I love Chris Noth. I finally got around to watching all of those episodes of "The Good Wife" I'd TiVo'd the last few months. It's such a great show but Chris Noth? Seriously, yum. The final scene on Tuesday night where he just says "hi" and then it's over? So dreamy.
  
  


• I love my calling. It's hard, time-consuming and exhausting but those little kids just fill my cup to the brim every Sunday. I adore being in Primary.


• I love stretchy cotton-knit pajamas. I love putting them on as soon as I walk in the door.


• I love Halls cough drops (the original flavor.) Besides being so nice on my raw throat, they remind me of my dad who was never without a pack in his pocket.


• I love singing in the car. I sound SO good in the car.


• I love crock pots. What a fantastic invention (dinner's cooking away right now!)


• I love Survivor. Seriously, was that not the greatest opening challenge ever on last week's premiere? Holy cow. Can't wait to see how this season plays out.


• I love successful camp meetings. This week's first meeting with the girls went totally well. Lots of enthusiasm and great attendance. Such a relief!


• I love my friends and family. I'm surrounded by wonderful people who love me -- I'm some kind of lucky girl.

Reality Show Catch Phrases

You know I enjoy the reality TV, right? These shows generally provide a nice escape and watching them almost always make me feel better about my own little life because everyone on these shows are basically freaks.

Besides the fact that most of the shows contain lots of crazies, they almost always have a little catch phrase each week. Some are good, some are embarassingly bad.

We all love Survivor's "the tribe has spoken" right? (Can't wait to see tonight's premiere!)

Heidi's "you're out" also works well on Project Runway. And hello, who doesn't love Tim Gunn's "make it work?"

But am I the only one who rolls her eyes when Tyra says "you're no longer in the running towards being America's Next Top Model?" Sigh. Tyra is hard for me to take. I still can't believe she's actually won Emmys for her obnoxious talk show.

But I digress.

So has anyone watched Shear Genius on Bravo?

They got rid of Jaclyn Smith as the host and it's now hosted by Matthew McConaughey's baby mama Camilla Alves.

The show is really pretty bad. It's filled with these annoying and obnoxious people who give people mostly really scary haircuts and styles. But to me, the absolute worst part of this show is the way Camilla ends it every week.

I hope you're sitting down because this is some deep, moving stuff.

Are you ready? It's so deep. I really hope you're ready.

She says, "And remember, hair is important."

What the heck?

Sure hair is important but in the big scheme of things, is it really? Is that the best they could come up with?????

I'm sure she has more meaningful thoughts going around her head than "hair is important." I feel bad she has to say something so embarassingly dumb. Well, not that bad because just look at what she sees when she wakes up every morning:

Yum.

Jake the Bachelor - this show KILLS me!

Why does stuff like this happen on this ridiculously stupid show? And by stuff, I mean, totally scripted cry-fests like the one we were forced to watch by Ali tonight.

Have I mentioned here that The Bachelor has six story editors listed in the credits each week? Oh they totally do. And you know what? Those six story editors outdid themselves this week by creating a fake reason to inject a little more drama into the season.

Ali came to Jake and said she had to decide between keeping her job or staying there with Jake. He basically told her she was getting a rose but she still left.

What kind of job does she have? And how long have they even been in that house, anyway? Two or three months? Unless she totally lied to her employer or works in a 3 person office, I'm thinking she would have been able to get a leave from work to be on a big-time TV show. Maybe I see things differently since I work for a ginormous company and we can basically go on leave for anything. But truly, the whole thing just didn't ring true to me. The previews show her calling him next week while they're in fabulous St. Lucia (as Vanessa called it, pulling an "Ed" a la the Jillian the Bachelorette season.)

Other "highlights" from tonight's snoozefest of an episode:

1. Vienna making out with Jake and being caught by her dad. CHEESE. Vienna is just gross.
2. I can't tell you even one thing that happened on Gia's home visit. Wait, there was a boat. And it was in New York. That's all I've got.
3. Tenley's ultra-emotional family was the most normal. Jake also asked her dad if he could propose to her (if the time comes and all...and I am guessing he asked everyone's dad** the same dang question but they only showed us the one time.) And really, you know what this means. Tenley doesn't stand a chance. I mean, why tip their hand like that??? Stupid show.

Okay, in a nutshell? This show bugs.

** Apparently I missed the part where he asked Ali's mom if he could propose. Hey, if you want a perfect recap, go to Holly's blog instead. ;)

Blogs of the (last two) week(s)

I didn't do this last week so I now have two weeks worth of blogs I want you to check out. Again, if I don't mention your blog, it's not because I don't love you. Come on, you know better than that!!! You're all my favorite.

Christie's life memories are beautifully captured here. I wonder if I could ever write something so beautiful and detailed about my past?

Janssen gets TWO mentions this week. One is because of her very helpful instructions about getting iPod-ready audio books from the library (SO cool and SO free!) and the other is her extremely clever way of announcing some totally joyous news.

Do you sense a theme here? The exceptionally beautiful Holly announced her own joyous news here. I love good news!

Liz posted a cool thing I want to try someday. Who wouldn't want their picture to show up in a music video?

Vanessa helped feed my obsession with wondering just who is dropping me as a friend on Facebook. Yes, I bought the app. Come on. Do you not know me at all??? So I dare all of you to just try defriending me...seriously.

This post from Gabi made me want to read "The Help" and I also really want to try making that pie. Have I mentioned that I've yet to make a pie all by myself? Me, the Baking Sensei? Pie crust scares me. I might get brave someday.

Thanks to everyone who entertained and informed me these past couple of weeks. Promise me you won't ever quit blogging, okay?

Time to ramble

You may call this a snoozefest post. I call it interesting yet random stuff that's going through my head.

• I finally made appointments for a teeth cleaning and a physical. It's been way too long. I can't wait to ask my doctor what I can do about my freaky dry skin around my eyes. Why won't it ever go away??? However, I hate going to the doctor for girl stuff. Yuck.
• I love that there's new TV tonight on NBC but don't find anything funny about Community. I can't wait to see Kathy Bates on The Office but would love it if she showed up as Annie Wilkes instead. Wouldn't it be great if she called Michael "Mister Man" tonight?
• Songs I've downloaded this week: Earth Song by Michael Jackson, 21 Guns (the version with the American Idiot cast), Speechless by Lady GaGa, Bridge over Troubled Water by Andrea Bocelli & Mary J. Blige. Would you say my purchases were influenced by the Grammys? Um, yes.
• Is it sad that I can't stop thinking about visiting this place on Monday? I'm so overdue for a real treat and it's going to make me be super disciplined between now and then.
• Did I mention that I'm singing with Kim at an RS thing in twelve days? I am. Have I mentioned that I'm just a so-so singer and much better in a choir than as a soloist? I am. Did I mention that we're singing "For Good" from Wicked? We are. I get to do the Glinda part. I am SO over my head here.
• Um that Dear John movie? I didn't read the book but how obvious is it that this movie does NOT have a happy ending? I will not be seeing it, thank you very much. It screams "The Notebook" to me. Watching super sad movies is just not my idea of a good time.

My Open Letter to Jake the Bachelor

Dear Jake,

You're probably wondering how I'm feeling after watching last night's episode. If you must know, I'm sort of stunned. Seriously. There are really no words. Well, except these: what on earth do you see in Vienna? Okay, blonde extensions, implants and a WHOLE lot of makeup, for sure but seriously, what else? What am I missing? It must be something great because seriously, I see nothing besides physical attraction between you two.

Don't you think it's strange that nobody else likes her? There has to be something to that, you know. Not that you should always take everyone else's opinions as the truth but where there's smoke, there is usually fire. And come on - she can't even fake cry very well! I've also done some checking online since you are probably unable to google her at this point and of course, she's done some topless modeling. Nice, huh? She doesn't seem like someone you would want to bring home to meet your mother.

Anyway, I hope you know what you're doing by keeping her around this long, Personally, I'm scared to watch the rest of these episodes. If you wanted some free advice from someone who's been there, I'm sure Chris Harrison could put you in touch with a few past Bachelors who went strictly on chemistry (Matt Grant comes to mind...and not just because I still love him.)

Good luck to you...seriously, you are going to need it.

We have video, people!

My sister's BFF Keith got a much better video from Jaylene's party than I did!

Please watch. You must. You also have to know that the voices are ALL my sisters'. They aren't singing over the song itself but to a karaoke CD. Jaylene is the one singing the Linda Ronstadt part and Jenilee is singing the Aaron Neville part (yes, she sounds EXACTLY like him.)

And you have to love the kids laughing at their respective moms. So cute (but then, I'm biased.)