Best Night Ever!!!

I have no idea how to start this post. So much to say...

We found out before we left that we would be able to take our camera. So I am already excited. I worked in the morning, then helped Lou in the afternoon, then Nik came with dinner and we hung out til we needed to go home and change for the show. Admittedly I am nervous that we would be late because we left Lou's the time the doors opened. There were two opening bands, MuteMath (pretty good) and Alanis Morisette (Amazing) so I knew we wouldn't miss Matchbox 20, but after we left Lou's we had to go home and change, then we hit a bunch of traffic and took some wrong turns, not to mention the mad house that parking was. I still can't believe that the E Center gets away with asking $10 for parking.

Anyway, we made it just as MuteMath was going on, but spent that time looking for ear plugs because we forgot ours. I was so mad! I even thought about it! But the only place that was selling them was the Merch desk, and they were $2 a pair! Rip off! Last time, the concession stands had them for a buck, but this time they were all out. We settled for wadded up toilet paper. Oh well. It helped a little.

We were back in our seats before MuteMath was off stage and didn't leave the for the rest for the show. Alanis Morisette was amazing, but Nik looked like he was in pain for the majority of it. He says he likes some of her stuff, but he is like me and only knows what is on the radio. She played all of that, plus a lot of stuff that I had never heard before. She really is an angry girl rocker. Some of those songs were pretty heavy. Good though. Oh, and during the MB20 show they said that she is being inducted into the Canadian Hall of Fame today. I am sure that the moose and geese are happy to have her. Sorry, that was mean. I like her and I think she deserves this. Yay for Alanis!

When the main event started I got really excited! Matchbox 20 was my very first concert. My mom got me tickets for my birthday in high school, but didn't necessarily want to come with me, so she had my best friend Talina come with me! It was great! And this time I was with Nik! Yes, that is a good thing. I was so excited to have my camera. We have been to three shows lately that we didn't know we could bring our camera too. I didn't want to miss this one! The couple in front of us was recording all of the songs on two different cameras. We started talking to them and found out that they were at the Mika show too, and had some videos up on YouTube. I am going to look for their stuff from last night while I am at work today. I only recorded bits of the songs that were my favorite. Took lots of pictures though. Which brings me to the rest of my post. I am going to leave the description of the show to my photos. They are nothing amazing, and I couldn't move around to get a better shot. But they were tons of fun to take. Enjoy!

This pink boa is from when she sang part of the Fergie song "My Humps". This version has been on the radio and is like 7 minutes long. Luckily she only sang the first verse. Funny though.

I have never really found Rob Thomas attractive, but he doesn't look half bad with his hair shaved. Just a thought.

This is right at the end of the third encore song "Push". I had been waiting all night for this song, and when the show ended and they hadn't played it yet, I was so sad. I had to wait till the end of the end! Put they played it!





The guy playing the guitar in the back is from SLC. Yay!

"Discussion"

I would like to preface this with a statement. I think we are equal on this subject. I only make the argument to show that there is little difference between the two. Thank you.

Ok, so the other day Nik informed me that in a while (possibly a year or so) there would be another WOW (World of Warcraft) type game coming out that he wanted to play. If you don't know WOW, that is fine, I actually envy you a little. The post should still make sense with out the knowledge of Hit Points, Mana, and Quests.

I told him that was fine, I just wanted him to put a limit on how long he played each day so that I would not lose him for days at a time, to this game. He said he would, but said that he would still want to play it all the time. I reminded him of the days of WOW when we were dating and how little I got to see of him when he was on a high level quest or playing online with friends. He laughed and said that it was like when I watched Gilmore Girls. I laughed and said that it was no where near like when I watched Gilmore Girls.

To make an already long story shorter, the basic argument from Nik was that yes, he may play games a lot, but at least he changes up the games. He doesn't jut play one game all the time. Sometimes its a video game like Madden, or Rock Band, or Ping Pong. And sometimes it is a computer game like Age of Empires or ....(sorry Nik, I can't really think of any of your other computer games). But I ALWAYS watch Gilmore Girls. Nothing else.

I laughed at that, because I watch tons of other shows! Trust me, I watch a lot of TV. He said I didn't watch any new shows, but I am watching the new episodes of One Tree Hill and America's Next Top Model with Vivian every week. I even get out the house to do it. Plus, I watch a bunch of shows on the Style Network, like Clean House, or How Do I Look, and on TLC like What Not to Wear. And I have developed a taste for the BBC as well, I like You Are What You Eat and Bargain Hunt. I very rarely watch two of these shows in a row, and honestly, I don't want to. I get bored.

We argued back and forth about whose time-passing habit was the least pathetic. I talked about how he is basically dead to me when he plays games, and how I will always change the channel if I am watching a show Nik doesn't like that has more than 10 minutes left. He talked about how he will play the games I like, or don't hate as much when I am there watching, and will play on the computer so that I can watch TV.

I really think that we are even on this one. We just like to argue. What do you think?

The Things We Do For Free Stuff

Earlier in the week I heard on the radio that the station (107.9 The Mix, the same that sent us to U23D) was going to do a special promotion at the Sky Bar on top of the Red Lion Hotel down town on Friday night. I immediately knew I wanted to be there. The promo said that they would be giving away a pair of Matchbox 20 tickets every 10 minutes from 9pm-11pm. I have been dying to go to this show since I first heard about it. They are coming this Thursday the 6th to The E-Center and Alanis Moresette is opening for them. For some, this may be a down side, but I am excited about it.

I called all my girlfriends begging them to come down with me, and no one could come. Everyone has real lives, like school. Oh well. When I told Nik about it he was surprisingly fine with going. My spirits were raised once more! When Friday came around, we both had the day off, so we spent it running errands. Unfortunately, Nik make it too far into the day before he got a really bad head ache. I took pity on him and let him lay on the couch and watch DVR wrestling while I scrubbed the Gross chocolate milk smell out of his passenger seat, and moved boxes out of the kitchen. I know, that makes me sound angry, or like some sort of martyr, but I am not angry, and my only motive for letting him lay and watch TV was that I needed him whole for the thing that night.

So last night about 8:15 I start getting ready (amid a slightly heinous stomach ache that I can't figure out why keeps coming back) and as we are talking about the things we will need for the night I turn to Nik and say "I bet I need my ID to get in, huh?" He responds in the affirmative. DANG!!! I left my wallet, and all the contents there-of, in my drawer at work! I knew this all day, I even couldn't close my stupid account at Mountain America cause I didn't have it! And I never thought to get it. I was going to be at work the next day anyway. ARGH!!! I was almost in tears trying to find a valid phone number for my manager at work, thinking that she lives close, maybe I could convince her to let me in if I promised to be fast. Unfortunately I got bupkis. Nothing. The only number listed for her was the credit union number. *sob*

I finally called the Sky Bar and asked if there was like a stamp or something I could get that said I wasn't going to drink, but they said no. I needed an ID. After thinking for a moment I asked if there was any alternative to a drivers license I could use to get in. After a few suggestions the guy mentioned a passport. Hey! I have a passport now! And I know where it is! Hoorah! So I wake Nik from his couchy slumber and we head down town.

The whole way Nik is saying, "I don't know if we will even get in." But I never lost faith. And low and behold, no line. We went right up, showed out ID's, paid the cover charge, and found a seat.

Nik got nachos and I got water (anyone surprised?) and then they announced the first winner. IT WAS NIK!!! OH MY GOSH!! We hadn't even gotten our food yet! Awesome! Matchbox 20! Yay!

Anyway, I convinced Nik to stick around to see if I could win too, then we could take friends, but alas, two more hours and nothing. (plus, I am not a big dancer, so we just watched everyone else dance and played the "Who would you do" game") At the end they gave away meet and greet passes, and an autographed guitar, but we didn't win those either. Oh well. At least we have tickets!

The show is this Thursday at the E Center and I am so excited. Although, I am at a disadvantage. Since Nik is the one that one the tickets, he gets to decide who he takes with him. Which, he says, is not necessarily me. Even though...It was me that heard about the promotion and it was me that dragged him down there. He says I "have to be good" to earn the ticket. Everyone wish me luck. On a similar note, Nik did say that he would leave the second ticket open for anyone who wanted to "compete" for it. But you won't, if you know whats good for you.

Yay! Matchbox 20!

Random things you didn't know you wanted to know

First, I want to thank everyone that gave me advice on the Enrichment thing, it was all great. And I think I will ask Em to speak. You're right Amy, I think she would do great.

Next, I stole this from Lou's blog, who stole it from her friend Carrie's blog. So all you out there in blog world, feel free to pilfer as well.


1. What is in the back seat of your car right now? A 7ft long cabinet, a laundry basket and more crap than I want to think about.

2. When was the last time you threw up? I think I was 11. Boo on throwing up.

3. What's your favorite curse word? I say "crap" and "suck" all the time. Are they swears?

4. Name 3 people you made smile today. Probably Nik, Shana at work, and Stacy at work.

5. What were you doing at 8 am this morning? getting ready for work, wondering if Nik was going to get up any time soon, and suffering from a heinous stomach ache.

6. What were you doing 30 minutes ago? working, and suffering from a heinous stomach ache

7. What will you be doing 3 hours from now? still working, and hopefully not suffering from a heinous stomach ache.

8. Have you been to a strip club? not of the strip variety. Many regular clubs though.

9. What is the last thing you said aloud? "Have a nice day." I say that a lot.

10. What is the best ice cream flavor? Vanilla. With lots of mix-ins

11. What was the last thing you had to drink? Water, like as I was reading the question.

12. What are you wearing right now? Grey slacks, light blue cotton shirt, black ballet flats, and my sweet new wireless bra that Nik got me last week.

13. What was the last thing you ate? Honey Nut Cheerios, possibly the cause of the heinous stomach ache.

14. Have you bought any new clothing items this week? I don't think I have in the last week...bummer, I should get on that!

15. When was the last time you ran? Yesterday my mom and I worked out on the Elliptical machines at SLCC, it felt like running...

16. What's the last sporting event you watched? Part of a Jazz game I think...if not, it was the Super Bowl

18. Who is the last person you emailed? Either mom or the Humanitarian Center, I can't remember

19. Ever go camping? Used to all the time with my family. Not so much since Dad's bum knee. I'm not too upset.

20. Do you have a tan? Only thanks to Mary Kay.

24. Do you drink your soda from a straw? If it's in a cup at a restaurant.

25. What did your last IM say? "How are you feeling now that you are at work?" No response.

26. Are you someones best friend? As far as I know, yes.

27. What are you doing tomorrow? Nik and I have the day off, so hopefully, lots of stuff!

28. Where is your mom right now? At home, I think...hopefully she will still be there around one, so I can come over for lunch!

29. Look to your left, what do you see? receipt(sp) printer, Fairy wand, reading book, a couple of stackers, water bottle, purse, calculator, large desk callendar. Wow, I need to clean up my station...

30. What color is your watch? no watch today.

31. What do you think of when you think of Australia? Cousin Kay C on his mission teaching those Chinese Aussies.

32. Would you consider plastic surgery? Probably, but not for anything right now.

33. What is your birthstone? Sapphire

34. Do you go in a fast food place or just hit the drive thru? We usually go in.

35. How many kids do you want? maybe 4? Unless we don't have any boys, then who knows!

36. Do have a dog? No, Nik is allergic

37. Last person you talked to on the phone? Nik...i think, NO! It was Vivian!

38. Have you met anyone famous? I have SEEN celebs, but not really met any of them. Although, Doug Wright from KSL Radio will be at my work tomorrow.

39. Any plans today? Working, then something while NIk is in class. I don't know yet.

40. How many states have you lived in? 2, but I don't remember the first one.

41. Ever go to college? Finished, finally

42. Where are you right now? At work.

43. Biggest annoyance in your life right now? Stupid members that can't read the "Please wait here for next available teller" sign, or read it and interpret it to mean as soon as the last member leaves my station it MUST be their turn to come right up while I am still endorsing my checks or putting money in my drawer and then get mad at me when I tell them it will be a minute still. Whew.

44. Last song listened to? 1, 2, 3, 4 by Feist, now it is Rocket Man by Elton John. We get the weirdest songs on our radio station here...

46. Are you allergic to anything? Metal...and maybe tomatoes...and I think Cucumbers...

47. Favorite pair of shoes you wear all the time? I have two black ones for work and one pair of tennis shoes for the rest of the time. They are all my favorites.

48. Are you jealous of anyone? Not really anyone specific. I am jealous of those with money to spare, and no health problems.

50. Is anyone jealous of you? Maybe. I kind of hope not, I am not well off, and if someone is jealous of me, they must be worse off, and I don't want that.

51. What time is it? 11:13 am

52. Do any of your friends have children? Some. Most of them older, and some are my age.

53. Do you eat healthy? Only when my dad cooks, or when we go to souper Salad.

54. What do you usually do during the day? Work, watch tv, talk to Nik, maybe go out...

55. Do you hate anyone right now? Hate is such a strong word...

56. Do you use the word "hello" daily? Mulitple times!

58. How old will you be turning on your next birthday? 24

59. Have you ever been to Six Flags? Nope.

60. How did you get one of your scars? One of the only scars I have was from carrying Mason on my back when I was like...6, and I over corrected and fell and cut my knee. Mason was fine. Though he cried more than I did. They said that if it hadn't been on my knee they would have stiched it up, but, now stiches yet!

HELP!!!

So last night was my first official Enrichment Committee meeting. For the Relief Society Birthday Party we are doing a Purse Party. They are lots of fun, we have had them in past wards. The meeting went well, and we gave out the assignments. I was put in charge of the invitations, a score sheet for what's in peoples purses, and the program. THE PROGRAM!! Is she kidding? How can I be in charge of the program! She never came out and said it, but when I explained what my last ward did, she said that was a wonderful idea and that I should see if I can find a similar talk. Does this mean I have to give it too? She never said I did. But what would I say to someone else, "hey, would you be willing to give this specific talk for us? Thanks." Who knows, maybe that would be better.

Anyway, I am here to plead for help. If you have ever done anything like this in any way, shape, or form, please share your knowledge. Let me know if you have seen those score sheets and where I might find one. If you remember ever reading anything about what the contents of your purse say about you (or could represent, especially in the Gospel sense), please, pass it on. I am desperate here people. Thanks for your time.

Happy Birthday Dad!

As my mom said, today is my dad's birthday. But I don't think she bothered to mention how old he is. So I will take the liberty to do that now. He is 49 toady! Yay! From today until April 14th my mom and dad are the same age. Revel in it mom. Then you go back to being older.

Anyway, my Dad has always been my biggest supporter. When I was in school he always encouraged me to take as many classes as I could and to experience as many different things as I had time for. And I am always glad I did. Even though it took me 4 years to graduate. Heck, he was paying for most of it, so, why not take a lot of classes? He came to all my Young Women's Daddy-Daughter functions and has seen me speak in church numerous times. He taught Mason and Jeff in the 11 year old Scouts and is always around for help with math and science homework.

Last year I had the opportunity to do a website for my dad and learned a ton about him that I didn't know. He has been published! Did you know this? I think that it all was essays and such that he wrote with his professor about ergonomics stuff, but still! Published! He gave me a list of all his accomplishments and it was like 10 pages long. I didn't realize all the things he has done with his life. Its amazing. It reminds me of an episode of Simpson's that was on the other night (bare with me). Home was comparing himself to Edison, and seeing that by his age, Edison had already invented like, over 200 things. And I think that my dad isn't even 50, and that list was long! Go Dad!

Also, my dad has had a ton of cool jobs. I think my favorite was when he got to take pictures for Sky West. I have seen some of the pictures he took, and he explained that he was hanging out the open door of a propeller plane to take pictures of the new Sky West liners in flight. Amazing. He also worked at the airport weather station sending weather balloons up and collecting the data. He was in the Navy and went on Ambulance runs with the EMT's. I wish I could think of some more...Mom, help me out. Right now his job as a Safety Consultant (of sorts) allows him to travel all over the US, and has previously been to such cool countries as Japan and Kuwait. Recently he and mom went to southern Texas for a one day conference my dad was presenting at. Lucky.

I love my dad and I am looking forward to many more years with him. Happy Birthday Dad!

What my name means

I just jumped on the band wagon. I like what this says and I agree with about 98% of it. What do you think?

What Lena Means

You are relaxed, chill, and very likely to go with the flow. You are light hearted and accepting. You don't get worked up easily. Well adjusted and incredibly happy, many people wonder what your secret to life is. You are friendly, charming, and warm. You get along with almost everyone. You work hard not to rock the boat. Your easy going attitude brings people together. At times, you can be a little flaky and irresponsible. But for the important things, you pull it together. You are very intuitive and wise. You understand the world better than most people. You also have a very active imagination. You often get carried away with your thoughts. You are prone to a little paranoia and jealousy. You sometimes go overboard in interpreting signals. You are usually the best at everything ... you strive for perfection. You are confident, authoritative, and aggressive. You have the classic "Type A" personality.

What's Your Name's Hidden Meaning?

Happy Anniversary Amy and Jason!

Today is Amy and Jason M's 3rd wedding anniversary.  In honor of the event, and cause I just realized I do not have any recent pictures of the two of them together, I used this picture of their wedding day.  This picture cracks me up!  Amy is laughing and you never see Jason do stuff like this.  If it were Nik, no one would realize why this was different than every other day.  But its funny to think of Jason removing the garter with his teeth.  Good times.  Happy Day guys!

Some stuff about Nik, on Valentines day

I thought, since this is the Day Of Love, that I would do a short post about the man I love. Here is some information about Nik, and my relationship with him. Enjoy!


What is his name?:
Nikolaus Charles English, a.k.a. Nik, August Christopher, Nikolibodini, Boy, Boy Wonder, etc...

How long have you been together?:
Met in January 2004, started dating in March, broke up in May, got back together in June, and have been together since!

How long did you date?:
2 and a half years!

How old is he?
27

Who eats more?:
Definitly him

Who is taller:
He is!

Who said "I love you" first?
He did, but reciprocated by me right after.

Who can sing better?
Him, I cant sing

Who is smarter?
Depends on the subject....

Who does the laundry?
me

Who pays the bills?
We split them. I pay the little ones, and he pays the big ones.

Who sleeps on the right side?
of the bed? Him.

Who mows the lawn?
No lawn to mow, but I fore see it being me...

Who cooks dinner?
If we "cook" its usually me, but he has the abilities...

Who drives?
usually him, but if its my car, sometimes me.

Who is more stubborn?
I say him, he says me

Who kissed who first?
He kissed me first, but I didn't have any problems with it

Who asked who out first?
He asked me

Who proposed?
He did

Who has more friends?
Probably him. I get together with my friends more regularly, but he knows more people.

Who is more sensitive?
hmmm...

Who has more siblings?
He does

Who wears the pants?
I like it when he wears pants. Especially tight jeans....

Hey Mika!

Friday night Nik and I were lucky enough to attend a freakin amazing concert. Brittish musician Mika played his very first acoustic show at In The Venue down town.

Given the circumstances it could have been a bummer of a night, but because SLC has some amazing fans and Mika was an amazing guy, it turned out to be one of the top 5 concerts I have been to in my life. And I was there with Nik, so that makes it even better.

The evening started with me rushing home from work and then Nik and I rushing down town. The tickets said "doors at 6:00, music at 7:00" and we got there right at seven. As we approached the club there was still a HUGE line that wound around the building. I was astonished. I thought, "there is no way that this whole line is for Mika, and it can't be there still be a line, the doors opened an hour ago."

We parked and found my two friends Annie and Ally in line and stood in the cold and waited for the line to move. As we were standing and shivering and talking we started to hear rumers that Mika's band was stuck in Wyoming behind the road closures. He was here, but no band, and no instruments. That is why the delay. After standing in the cold for an hour (Annie and Ally had been there since 5:00) they finally started seperating us in to Ticket and Non-Ticket holders. That is a good sign. And we were ticket holders.

We finally made it to the front of the line (which meant a good pat down for the boys and a quick wave through for the girls. I love being a girl.) and were ushered in the back door where our tickets were stubbed and stamped and then we were given a $10 refund per ticket. Awesome! The four of us made our way to the 21 and over cage so we could get good spots high up. And we did. We were sitting on the raining behind the railing on the balcony. But we had an amazing view. The stage was small, but it was covered in wing back chairs and string lights. It was very intriuging. It was about 8:15 when we finally made it in out of the cold, but Mika didn't come out till about 9:00. This part of the reason for the refund. Oh, and the band. The band was there too. When he finally came out the place just about crumbled from the vibrations of the crowd. After greeting us, Mika went on to explain about the weather conditions and that they didn't have any of their real equiptment. And that this would be their very first acoustic show. And that he was terrified that it would suck. At this point everyone started cheering because we all knew that there was little chance that this show could suck.

Of course he opened with "Grace Kelly" and it was amazing. He said numerous times that because they didn't have the equiptment they couldn't play all of their songs. But that meant the only ones they didn't play were Big Girls and Happy Ending. We were bummed about both of them. But the rest of the show was fantastic! When they played Love Today, I thought the balcony would collapse with all the energy! The whole place was shaking. And they led right in to Lollipop, which just kept the energy going. It was amazing. AMAZING! I loved it!

Even though they only played for 45 minutes, it was well worth the ticket price. Even before the refund. Mika said that because the show went so well, despite the set backs, that they were definitly coming back to Salt Lake. I hope he is right! LOVED IT!!!!

Oh, and Annie took some pictures, so as soon as I can get her to post them, I will do the same. Or you can check out her link on my blog to check up on them your self. Yay Mika!

Ernie Fish, We Hardly Knew Ye

Saturday night we received some sad news.  Noah's fish of 10 months had died.  Noah's mom and I were at a bachelorette party for a friend when Noah called to tell us.  He was so cute about explaining the situation.  He even had to tell me himself after he told Laurie.  I felt so bad for little Noah.  He loved Ernie from day one and was a devoted owner.  He fed Ernie every night before bed, and knew that he loved to have the light on.  Nik and I have been invited to accompany Noah tonight to see if we can find a suitable replacement for Ernie Fish.  

The picture above is from Noah's birthday last April where Nik and I gave Ernie to Noah.  We didn't name him though, that was all Noah.  I etched the name on the bottom of the bowel, but unfortunatly the bowl is no longer with us either.  Oh well.  

I am honored that Noah would want us to come with him when he finds a new friend.  We love you Noah!

Elections?

So tomorrow is the Utah Primary. And no, I don't mean a large group of uncontrollable tweens. I mean its time to decide who we want on the November ballott. Have you made up your mind? If so, good. If not, please don't vote. I know, everyone needs to do their civic duty, but I am much opposed to guessing cause you want to feel included. Please don't close your eyes and stab the ballot poker where ever it lands. Thats how Bush got elected. If you want to vote, read up on the candidates. Multiple news stations have information on the web sites, CNN is a good one. I won't mention who I am going to vote for tomorrow, I may change my mind by then. Thank you.

ps- don't vote for Hillary

Happy Birthday Uncle Pres, Engagement, Explaination

Uncle Pres!

Happy Birthday yesterday to my Great Uncle Pres. His family held a big party in his honor last night at their house and we were invited. I love visiting Uncle Pres. For as long as I can rember he has been part of every major event in my life. This is even better because I have never had a lot of family around to celebrate with me at these times, so having him there made it feel more like the rest of the family was represented. He even came to my SLCC graduation. And he wasn't even obliated! The party was great and his daughter Elaine read some stories she had gathered from friends and family about Uncle Pres throughout his life. It was great to hear the ones from his siblings, they have the best dirt. Thanks Uncle Pres for always being there for our family. You are an amazing man!

These are all the things Pres is famous for saying. My favorite is "First thing Monday Morning." I should start saying that more often.
Mom reading her stories about Uncle Pres. They were pretty funny. She mentioned at time when I was little and Uncle Pres was trying to get me to laugh and it had the opposite effect. It resulted in months of saying "Is that Uncle Pres over there?" To get me to stop crying. I guess it worked especially well at church. Well it doesn't work anymore! I love Uncle Pres! He is always telling us he is the "rich uncle" and even introduced himself to Nik that way. And if your not careful he will "cut you out of his will." I hope I have been good.
In this one is Jeff on the left, Mom's cousin ( I think) John and his wife JJ and Mom's cousin Elaine.
This is me and Nik with Uncle Pres and his wife Bobbi. They are a great couple.

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Last night we were all waiting with bated breath for the call from Emilee saying she was engaged. True to form, Jeanne knew ahead of time and called everyone to let them know. I think that Emilee was the only one in a 50 mile radius that did not know she was getting engaged last night. They were great and came to see Nik and I while making the rounds, so we got to see the ring and get a first-hand account of the events. Emilee was giddy with excitement, and we are so happy for her.

The lucky man I named Gearold. (Said like Gare-old) He has been a part of Emilee's life a for a little while now. And a part of the family a little while after that. We all fell in love with Gearold right away, but it was Emilee that took her sweet time. But we are all estatic for them both, and can't wait for our new brother-in-law!

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Now for the expalination. Most of you may not have noticed, but just incase you did, and questioning my mental health, I will point out that I have changed the sub-heading on my blog. It now reads, "We're the new face of failure, prettier and younger, but not any better off. Only proof of lonliness, at best." This is a line from a Fall Out Boy song that I love. I know that it sounds a little depressing, but I am not dwelling on that. I just love the poetry of it. It says that we are the same as those that came before us. We strive and suffer the same. Maybe for different reasons, but but it is a struggle none the less. All the new things we have in this world only mask the problems we have underneath. We may look 'prettier and younger' but we are most likely not any better than the next guy. I think that it should humble us to think that we are not "better" than our neighbor. They are struggling the same as we are. Sorry if this has depressed anyone. I just like the lyrics.

Shameless Plug

Last Saturday my friends and I got together for what has become a traditional Tea Party. But this one was different. My friend Christi is starting her own catering business and we were her guinee pigs! The pictures below are of some of the beautiful things she uses to create the atmosphere that is so important at these parties. We are not formal or anything, but it really does make a difference when the room is decorated with girlyness. Christi has acquired so many beautiful pieces to display her wares. And she does all the baking herself. She is amazing. The chocolate cupcakes she made last time were divine. I don't realy know what else to say about Chirsti's new business...except maybe the name, yeah, that would be good. It is called Tranquilitea Parties. Notice the play on words. She has a blog that I have linked at the bottom of my list, so feel free to check it out. She is looking for all the business she can get, and I believe that her contact information is on her blog. If not, and you are interested, let me know and I will hook you up. Since she is so new in the business, her pricing isn't set, so you would need to contact her about that too. Enjoy the photos!

Flowers for me!

Last night Nik needed to do some picture taking for his painting class and it involved roses. Which means...Lena gets roses! Two dozen to be exact! Thank you Costco. Nik asked me if I cared that he wasn't getting the flowers just for me, and I told him no. What do I care the reason, as long as it results in pretty, pretty flowers in my living room? And because of the number, I have two vases full. One is the pottery pitcher that Al gave me and the other is a cool vase I got at a yard sale...I think it was from Emilee actually. But she was selling it at a yard sale. So I wasn't lying.

I will post pictures later, I was just so excited to get flowers again, I had to share it with everyone! I will also post some of the pictures that Nik took for class. They are pretty good.

Be Strong

I just have to express my thoughts about our beloved past Prophet Gordon B. Hinckley. President Hinckley was the only Prophet I knew. I remember my mom calling me upstairs when I was 11 years old and having me raise my hand to sustain him during Conference. At the time I wasn't really interested in Conference and didn't know what was going on. I asked mom what that was for and she said, "We just got a new Prophet and I thought you might want to be a part of it." Thanks mom. She easily could have raised her hand to the square by herself in the family room, but she shared the moment with me, and now I have a memory of an important day in history. I am sure I will sustain more Prophets in my lifetime, but I will always remember President Hinckley as the first.

So far I have not cried over this loss. I feel very saddened by it, but I am not in mourning. I know that he is happy. I know he is with his childhood sweetheart.

I am excited for the new Prophet, Thomas S. Monson. I know he was very close to President Hinckley, and will be very intune with the Spirit as well as what Hickley would have wanted for such a "peculiar people."

He will never be forgotten.

U23D

Oh. My. Gosh. That show was amazing! Ok, start from the begining. Four or five days ago I won tickets on 107.9 The Mixfor the U2 in 3D show at Jordon Commons. I had no idea what this was at the time, but thought, "hey, Nik likes U2 and the last few 3D shows I have seen have been half way decent, so what the heck." I actually got through twice while calling. Once as caller 6 and then again as number 10, so I won! Yay! Well, the show was last night at 9:15 so Nik had to get out of class early. Luckily Mr. McKay is awesome and lets Nik do what he wants.

We got there early and redeemed our pass for actual tickets. Before the show started the morning DJ (Jay Parker, who has hooked me up with quite a few fun things through out the years) handed out some prizes. I got a tee shirt because I won on the radio, and Nik got a CD cause they still had prizes left over and he aske for one. Lucky Nik. He got the Pat Monahan album, and is letting me listen to it. For those of you who don't know, Pat Monahan is the lead singer of Train, and is doing some solo stuff. I like it.




We all got to wear Bono glasses to complete the experience. When the show started, I had no idea what to expect, but it turned out that it was a U2 concert filmed live in 3D. So cool! The arial shot of the drummer was my favorite, but the bass player does some cool stuff with the 3D. They had a HUGE tower of screens that would show different images like a posterized version of Bono or this funny stick figure guy walking on a tredmill. It was pretty cool. The whole show was about an hour and fourty-five minutes. And worth every minute. And this is saying something because I am really not a huge U2 fan, and I was amazed too.


(ps-I think this is an awful picture, but here it is anyway.)

I encourage everyone to go see U23D at the IMAX Theater at Jordon Commons. They said it will run though mid February.

Quick post

This will be fast, I promise.

I found out the other day that I will not be staying at the Main branch here at Granite Credit Union. I will be moving to the Taylorsville branch at the end of January(ish). This branch is conveniently located at 4700S. and about 3100 W. This is even more conveniently located right around the corner from my parents house! This means many lunch hours with my mom. And dad if he is home. I am excited for this move because I have been missing my mom lately! And she just got to take this great trip to Texas, so it was even harder to have her gone for a week!

So I am excited to be so much closer to her so she can entertain me like she used to!

Icicle's, Rocking out with Noah, New Frog and New Couch Cover

Ok, if this works out I will have covered all the stuff I wanted to blog about.  Here it goes.

First here are some pictures of the icicles around my building here at Spring Hollow.  I originally took pictures of these pictures because I thought they were really cool looking.  After a revelation though, I grew to hate them.  A few weeks back I started to notice the carpet my side of the bed  (the one by the outside wall) was very cold.  A little while later I noticed that it was also wet.  Wet and cold.  Great.  When I finally reported it the repair guy said it was probably water backing up into my room from the drain pipe that was frozen solid with ice(the first picture).  He took his blow torch out and cleared off the icicles and gave me a heater and a fan to run so the carpet would dry out.  Amazingly enough...IT WORKED!!!  My carpet is all dry.  I was sad to see the ice go, but I was more glad to have my problem fixed.

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Saturday Nik and I enlarged our family again.  We added little Harvey to our frog tank.

Nik got to name this one and he chose Harvey because this one has brown spots on his back, so Nik said he looked like Two Face (from Batman). Here are a couple pictures of Harvey's entrance to his new home.

Harvey is the smallest of the frogs and he is right up front in the picture above.

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Another addition we made on Saturday was a new couch cover! It is what Emilee got us for Christmas (in the form of a gift card to Bed Bath and Beyond...stay away from that Beyond section...). Unfortunately when we got to BB&B they did not have any covers that we liked. Ok, I take that back, we liked a bunch of them, but we didn't LOVE any of them. We decided that we would go to Target and search there before we settled for something from BB&B. After much searching for the Slip Cover section, we finally found someone to direct us. We looked long and hard before finding the best one. It is sage green and I love it. It is actually the same material and layout as the last one but with one very important difference...the seat cushions are in their own cover. That means that the whole cover is not screwed up every time you sit down. I am very anal about my couch cover always falling off. This new idea of having the cushions in their own cover is making my life much less stressful. The best part about this find is that it was on clearance for $22. That is amazing in the world of couch covers. And now we can use our Bed Bath gift card for something extremely useless. It will be lots of fun!

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Last but not least is to spot light a budding talent. Nik and I brought Rock Band (surprised?) over to Lou and Ten's so Kersten could see its coolness. Lou was nice enough to let us play while she was feeding the baby, who we found out is not a big fan of Nirvana, Ok Go, or Red Hot Chili Peppers. Too bad. Kersten loved playing, but I think the star of the show was Noah as he rocked out on the drums. I don't think he missed a note (of course the drums were not plugged in, but he was doing awesome hitting the colors in the right order and playing with the sticks the right way). He was upset when we told him we were done and needed to put it away. I think his parents could have a budding musician on their hands! I am going to try and post a short video I took (with my sweet new camera) so you can all see how cool Noah is!

A post for Lou

Hey, Lou!  Nik and I are watching Music and Lyrics and we just figured out the real reason you named your new daughter Sofia.  Because it is Drew Barrymore's characters name in the show!!!  All that talk about it being a family name...that was just to get Kersten to agree to it, wasn't it?  You are a sneaky one Lou, real sneaky.

Happy New Year!

Happy 2008 everyone! I have so many things to blog about, I guess I should start at the beginning. I have tons more pictures than I have posted, but I think these give a good idea of what the evening was like.

Nik and I really wanted to have friends over for a party, but our place is so small that it never would have worked out. My parents were wonderful and offered to let us have our party at their house. I am so glad they did! We only had three friends over, but with the rest of the family it ended up being a full house anyway! Mom and Dad had put out quite a spread so you know we didn't go hungry.

Lisa also brought her New Years tradition of Lil Smokey's, which were a big hit!

Of course, Nik can't go anywhere where more than two people will be with out pulling out Rock Band. That was also a big hit. This is Lisa on drums, Jake on guitar and Nik on vocals. They played for about 2 hours occasionally switching band members. I even jumped in on vocals a couple of times. My little brother Jeff is a wiz on the drums and helped out a couple times as well. While the jam session was going on my mom and I were playing Boggle. I am not quite sure why I keep subjecting myself to this. My mom is one of the best Boggle players ever...right next to my Grandma. I love playing, but I always get my rear end handed to me when I play mom. Seth came over in the middle of the blood bath and challenged a couple of our words. It was pretty funny watching Seth look up the words on his phone on Google.com.

This is how Dad spent the night. Relaxing. I think. He wouldn't participate in much, but he did observe everything. He was a big help with Boggle though.

After the count down and the ball drop and the kissing, we went out side for some fireworks. Mom must have been stashing them cause there were way to many of them to have been left over. It was a ton of fun! We all got a couple of sparklers and Seth and Jeff lit the magic whips. They were loud.

This is Jake and Lisa, two of the friends that came over. We love them.

Dad played short order cook by fixing everyone custom eggs while we watched the movie Murder By Death. I love that movie. I want to own it very badly. People started going home after they finished their eggs. It was a good night.

This is how Nik and I finished the night. All tuckered out.