It's a Zoo in here!

We made our annual trip to the zoo yesterday. I like to go in September because it's cooler and it's not as busy. Because of the move I kept unintentionally puting it off because we still have a lot of projects to do to get our house in order. Well, yesterday was the last Saturday before Halloween and it was PACKED! People everywhere. I think it worked out okay. We went later in the day and so a lot of people had left by the time we were done. The line for the train was about as long as it was last year. So, Note to Self: go in September next year.

Nathaniel was being a little grumpy about going but he had a lot of fun. Of course. Jonathan was so excited that he kept reminding us that we were going to the zoo the whole ride there, you know, just in case we forget and go somewhere else by accident.
Here are our fabulous pictures:


We decided it was worth the money to get a double stroller/wagon from the zoo. I'm glad we did, Brigham loved it and never tried to get out. Even Jonathan stayed in it most of the time.


We went to the elephants first. Since we had the stroller we couldn't get much closer but we still got some great views.


Then it was on to the monkeys. This one was just sitting right there practically begging me to take it's picture.


And then there was this rooster wandering around...


I'm not sure why but Jonathan was SO anxious to see the zebras. It went something like this: "Do you see the cougars?" "Yes, lets go see the zebras!" "Do you see the bears?" "Yes, lets go see the zebras!" After every animal he wanted to see the zebras. I hope it was everything he dreamed it would be.


Then it was on the the giraffe's. They are one of my favorite animals. I mean, their necks are so long! What's up with that?


We were looking at the giraffe's for a long time and one of them started looking at us so I snapped this picture. I'm pretty happy with it.


While the boys were looking at the giraffe's, I snapped this one of a cheetah.


Now we're waiting in line for the train. Brigham fell asleep on the way to the zoo and so he was in a very relaxed and happy mood. It was great for us.


Jonathan has always loved trains so of course he was very excited to finally ride it!


One last picture before we go. We let them pick out a toy at the gift shop. They both chose the animal puppets. Nathaniel chose a lion and Jonathan chose a zebra(he's really into zebras, apparently). They had so much fun with them. They talked with them the whole way home. You can see a video and a few more pictures on Nathaniel's blog. The whole outing went pretty well, everyone had a lot of fun.

To Pluto and Beyond

It's been a while since I've posted something and even longer since I've posted something really interesting so I thought I'd give you something else to look at.
Jaaromy works downtown now just a little bit East of Temple Square. Well his car broke down on Thursday so he took the bus to work on Friday and the kids and I went to go pick him up. Since it was Friday and we were in fabulous downtown Salt Lake City we decided to go to the Planetarium. We have a membership but haven't been able to take advantage of it as often as we would have liked since most of our summer was spent looking for and buying houses. Since we live so close we were able to just hop on down. It was too late to see any shows(at least ones that the kids would like) we just had fun looking at the exhibits and the boys each got to pick out a toy in the gift shop. It was a lot of fun.


Here's Brigham looking at the pendulum. We were lucky enough to see it knock one of the pegs over. Awesome!


Jonathan already knows all about the phases of the moon, but he still loves to play with the moon phase exhibit.


Brigham was quite taken with the sphere exhibit on the ceiling. I can't remember what it's called, unfortunately.


Here's another one because he's SO CUTE!


Nathaniel is getting some great ideas watching the Newton's Daydream exhibit.


Jonathan loved going from planet to planet finding out how much he would weigh on each.


Just to prove that Brigham is cute no matter what, here he is being cute on Mars!


And finally, a quick trip to the moon to hurry and take a picture before my camera's batteries die. I find it extremely ironic that, given how little time we had to take the picture, my boys were more cooperative than they were for Grandpa Jay when he tried to take our family picture. Maybe we just need to go to the planetarium to have our family picture taken. Hmmm, that gives me an idea!

My "Other" blog

Hey, so I started a blog over at Townhall.com. I've always wanted to discuss politics but I didn't want to bore anyone or make anyone uncomfortable with my crazy conservative ideas. I want this blog to stay fun and light, so if you want to see what I think about politics you can click the link on the side.

Look A-like

Real quick, to those in my family, doesn't Amy Poehler look EXACTLY like Kim? She doesn't read blogs so she won't know that we're totally talking about her!

Moving Violations

Sorry I haven't posted for so long, we were in the process of buying then then ultimately moving into a new house. I didn't want to talk about it until it was over because for some reason it didn't feel real and I wanted to make sure we were actually going to go through with it. The buying process was horribly long. We actually going to buy a different house but it fell through the day before we were supposed to close. So by the time we closed on this one, we'd been going through this for almost two months. Plus we still had to move all our stuff.
Our last move was very traumatic. We had to get it all done in one day and I just wasn't prepared for how much stuff we have and how much it would take to pack it all. That was only three years ago and moving so soon again brought back all the memories. It was really hard on Jonathan last time and he was 18 months old at the time. This time, we're lucky enough to live close to family and the kids we able to sleep over at Grandma Bonnie's. That helped so much. All the toys were packed away, and all the food. Plus, Jaaromy and I were able to get a lot more done without having to take care of the kids too. I think that one thing alone made this move so much easier on the kids. Plus, Nathaniel and Jonathan's room has planets, stars, and space shuttles on the walls and ceiling. Jonathan was totally cool with our new house. I think Brigham had the hardest time, but since our family was still together he adjusted really well. Now that it's over, it was worth it. During all the chaos I wasn't so sure.
Now, if any of you are thinking about moving, here are some reasons to think long and hard about it:

Here is our family room, no video or computer games to play. :(



Here's our toy room. While they're not technically packed, they might as well be since I wouldn't let them play with any of them because it was already a big mess.



Here's Nathaniel and Jonathan's room. Once again I'm glad they were at my mom's, I think it would have been hard for them to see their room like this. Specifically Jonathan.



Then we had to get it all into the POD and on the truck.



And then there's the wonderful opportunity of seeing what's been under your bed for the last three years. Luckily I didn't have to clean it. Totally worth the money!

I'm looking at these pictures and I feel like they don't do the experience justice. I was ten times worse than what these pictures show. I didn't cry at the end like I did with our last move but I was totally on autopilot. I was going because I had to. I wanted to stop but I couldn't. Our apartment had already changed from our home to the place where our stuff is, but our new house wasn't home yet. It's unsettling to be in limbo like that. Just another reason why I'm so grateful for family. Especially my parents who watched my kids for three days so they wouldn't have to experience this disconnect like we did. We've relied on family so much already since we've moved that it makes me wonder how we did it all those years by ourselves. Being close to family has been the biggest blessing of this move.

Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog

Hey everyone, Jaaromy and I are fans of Joss Whedon who was behind the movie Serenity and the TV shows Firefly(unfortunately, short-lived) and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Well, he has a new project that's only on the internet called Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. Jaaormy and I saw it a few weeks ago and loved it. It's awesome. It has Neil Patrick Harris as Dr. Horrible and Nathan Fillion (from Serenity and Firefly) as his nemisis Captain Hammer. I had no idea Harris was so talented, he has a great voice. Fillion plays such a disgusting Captain Hammer that I'm not sure I can enjoy him in Serenity anymore. It's a musical and it's about 45 minutes long. The songs are awesome. So if you have some time, I hope you'll give it a try. There isn't anything objectionable, although there are some adult themes, just so you're aware.

Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog

Brigham's Birthday

Brigham's birthday was Saturday but we didn't get to celebrate it because we spent the day looking at houses and then later decided we needed to go to the temple to clear our minds before we make any big decisions. We were supposed to celebrate it Sunday since we didn't go down to Grandma's but Jonathan fell asleep in the car when we drove by the temple (our tradition when we don't go to Grandma's) and I didn't want him to miss the party. So we celebrated Monday night instead.

I love this picture. He's upset that he can't touch the candles but it looks something from a horror movie.




Everyone enjoyed the treats.


Here's a picture of Brigham and his presents.

Jonathan especially enjoyed playing with Brigham's presents.

We celebrated his birthday with my family a couple of weeks ago. Here are a couple of pictures.

He LOVES that stacker. Well, actually all stackers. He stacks anything and everything, even his french toast! I think he may even have tried to stack his spaghetti once.

Jaaromy might have helped him blow out the candles, I'm not sure. Either way, isn't Brigham cute? He's my little neutron star.

I've been tagged!

Sara tagged me and I tried to pretend I didn't see but I can't pretend anymore. So here you go:

Three Joys:
1. Family
2. Music
3. Traveling

Three Fears:
1. Losing Jaaromy
2. Losing children (temporally and spiritually)
3. Falling

Three Goals:
1. Go on a cruise
2. Have a girl
3. Buy a house

Three Obsessions:
1. The Internet
2. Glen Beck
3. Political Blogs

Three Random Facts:
1. I love to play World of Warcraft with Jaaromy
2. I LOVE plaid
3. I sound exactly like my mother when I yell

I tag Megan, Jessica, and Cami

New Template...again

Many of you have been switching to templates from TheCutestBlogontheBlock.com so, as usual, I totally caved into peer pressure. I was hesitant because Jaaromy had done so much to make my last template perfect and I felt bad immediately casting it aside for bigger and better templates. Although I showed him some that I liked and he was completely supportive.
I really did like my last template but, honestly, the black and white started to hurt my eyes after a while. This is a little easier on the eyes. So I hope you enjoy it.

Nathaniel's Birthday

We celebrated Nathaniel's birthday this weekend. Saturday was his actual birthday and Sunday we had our family party. Saturday we went to McDonalds, Nathaniel's choice, and the boys played on the playground for a while. Jaaromy even got Nathaniel to go down the slides after a lot of screaming. I'm glad we were the only ones there, I started to doubt Jaaromy's plan of pushing him down the slide himself. Of course, once he got used to it he loved it and went down several more times after that. After that adventure we went home and had birthday donuts.

Since it was Saturday, the boys needed a bath. We told Nathaniel that he had to start showering by himself when he was eight so he did. He was nervous at first but he did great. Whew! Two brave things in one day! Here it is in his own words.

At the risk of making this post too long, I'm going to tell you about Sunday's party too. Everyone was there for dinner except Jared, who was in Chicago learning how to be an effective leader. I guess you can only go to Chicago for that. Jaaromy's family came for cake and ice cream. It was great having both families there.

I love this picture of Nathaniel right after he blew out his candle.

Grandma Bonnie gave Nathaniel a parachute launcher and all the uncles had fun playing with it. They had even more fun when it got stuck in the tree and they each took a turn trying to get it down.

Uncle Chris got it down first. Later it got stuck again and Uncle Scott got it down. They were the heroes.
It was so much fun. I love my family.

Here's one more picture, just for fun.

I love the look on her face!

BTW, we celebrated Brigham's birthday too, but I'm saving those pictures for his actual birthday. Stay tuned.

Glen Beck Book Signing

This is a little unusual for me since I don't really like to go places with big crowds but I went to an actual book signing today. Glen Beck is here today for the Stadium of Fire and stopped by the University Mall Deseret Book to sign a few books before the show. Jaaromy gave me his book for Christmas so I thought I'd go get it signed. How cool is that! Jaaromy isn't as big of a fan as I am but he came with me anyway and wrestled with the kids and everything while I stood in line. Mr. Beck was apparently taking a break so the line wasn't moving at all. I'd never been to one before so I didn't know what to expect. Well, Jaaromy gave up trying to keep the kids in the store so he took them to another one and Nathaniel stayed with me. Soon after, Glen walked right by me on his way back to the signing table. There were some other guys and a couple of mall security guards with him. He actually seemed a little embarrassed at the attention. Well, once he got going things sped right up. I had been planning on saying something to him, but his time was limited and they were moving everyone along pretty quickly so he signed my book, shook my hand, and said "thank you." He seemed to genuinely mean it. I said thank you too and that was it. It was a lot of fun, I'm so glad I went.

The Host: a review

I hesitate to even call this a review because I don't know if I know how to discuss the book without giving away too much information. I'll do my best. I really enjoyed it. It's kind of funny, I feel like I didn't enjoy it as much as Twilight, however, I felt it was a better book. Wrap you mind around that! It's possible that I feel that way because while the love story in Twilight kept me all a-flutter the whole time The Host was more thought provoking. I've read plenty of Science Fiction and this is my first one written by a woman, and I think it shows. The imagery of the aliens' lives and voyages seem, at least to me, much more fantastic and beautiful than any I've read before. In an interesting twist, the main character is Wanderer and she is one of many alien "parasites" that lives in the body of human hosts. The aliens have taken over pretty much the whole world. They saw the human race as too violent and felt they could do a better job. I'm always wary of books that try to stereotype humans as "evil" or whatever. I started to read a book like that but couldn't get past the first chapter in which all the magical creatures got together and bad-mouthed the humans. Look, we're not perfect but if you want me to read your book maybe you should lay off the insults. However, the difference was that while that was obviously the view of the aliens, the actual human characters were much more complicated than that. One major theme that Stephanie Meyer brushed over a few times is that everything in life has an opposite. True joy cannot be felt unless you've experienced the opposite.
On a side note: It's funny that I seem to be rolling my eyes at some of the over the top drama that could only come from a female, at the same time totally seeing myself in a lot of the thought processes. Complex indeed.

My new template and why my husband is a genius

So I finally decided to take a look at Pyzam.com since so many of you have used their templates, and I managed to find one that fits me pretty well, I think. It's frustrating to search under music and have 99% of the results be celebrities which I could not care less about. But I was persistent and came across this one. I hope you all enjoy it.
Now, many of you know my husband, Jaaromy, and many of you may even like him. I just want to say that he is a very smart man, which is why I married him, but his spectacular genius has finally served a useful purpose. Let me explain: When I put up the new template the black background was transparent so the picture behind was showing through the pictures of the kids. No problem to my genius husband, he merely fixed a few lines of code and BAM! no more background ruining the pictures. Then I noticed that the Youtube videos were wider than the black background, spilling over into the side or being cut off altogether. No problem for Jaaromy the Genius. Then I noticed that the Blogger bar and the Pyzam.com bar clashed terribly with my elegant black and white format. Once again, My Husband the Genius fixed it so it all matches and looks pretty.
My Jaaromy, I think I'll keep him.

Nathaniel's Karate Class

I've been sitting on this video for a while but I've finally decided to post it. Nathaniel has been in a Karate Class this year and as most of you know, he's not very aggressive. In this sparring match with Maddox, who is 4 and SO cute, he doesn't win but it's the most he's ever fought back. Usually he just lets them push him out of the circle. So GO NATHANIEL!

Afterwards you can hear the teacher say: "That's the most aggressive I've ever seen him."
Nathaniel gets paired with Maddox a lot because he's little but tough and Nathaniel is bigger but more cautious so it balances out. I think it's been really good for him. I'm glad we could do it this year, since I have no idea where we'll be next school year.

Nathaniel's Blog

In case you didn't get the e-mail, Nathaniel has started his own blog. I figure it's a good way for him to keep writing this summer. Plus, he has a way of saying things that just can't be duplicated. I hope you all take a look and enjoy a glimpse into the inner workings of a seven year old genius.

Day Out With Thomas

This is the second year we've done this and it's always a lot of fun. Leading up to it I wondered if it would be our last year because I wasn't sure if the kids were all that excited about Thomas anymore. I was wrong, Jonathan was so excited that he didn't want to talk about anything else on the ride up there. We'd ask: "Do you see the waterfall?" (Bridal Veil Falls) and he'd say "No, I want to ride on the Thomas Train!" Here are some pictures and a video.


There were a lot of fun things to do like this puzzle that Jonathan put together.



Brigham, despite his cool demeanor, had fun watching.



Here we are waiting for Thomas to pull us out of the station.



Jonathan was very excited.

Here's a video of all the excitement!




Brigham really enjoyed the ride. Heber is a beautiful place.



Nathaniel had fun too.



As a matter of fact, so did Jonathan.



After the train ride, we went through the maze.



Nathaniel was proud that he solved it.



I think Jonathan was trying to get lost on purpose.


There you go, that was our trip to Heber to ride Thomas the Tank Engine. We didn't get a picture of Thomas this year because EVERYONE was trying to get a picture with Thomas. Here's a picture from last year so you can get the idea.


I hope that wasn't too many pictures. I don't take pictures as often as I should so this might be the only chance you get to see us. I hope you enjoyed the show!

American Idol Finale

Okay, it's 2:19 am and I'm on the computer because I'm angry and I still need to cool off a bit. David Archuleta had this thing wrapped up ever since he sang Imagine several weeks ago. I was so shocked and now I'm depressed. I'm ready to accept any and all conspiracy theories.

Mother's Day

Actual Mother's Day wasn't super great. The Primary didn't sing any Mother's Day songs or make any Mother's Day crafts which was the whole reason I went to church that day. (I was really tired and Brigham and Jonathan were sick anyway)
HOWEVER, Thursday Jonathan came home from school with a wonderful Mother's Day card and a candy bar. Sweet. Friday Nathaniel came home with a decorated picture of him on the playground and a card that said: "Dear Angela, I love you so much I feel like I could hug you! You are the best Mom ever! Sincerely, Nathaniel." It made me cry it was so sweet.
The flowers are from Jaaromy for our 10th anniversary which was a few days before. I haven't decided what he's going to give me for Mother's Day yet.

Big Bang Theory

I've discovered this show on CBS called Big Bang Theory. Jaaromy and I have found it to be quite hilarious. It's very nerdy so we might be the only ones who enjoy it, but I thought it give it a shout-out anyway.

Now, as any real WoW-er knows, a weapon of that caliber would most definitely be bind-on-pick-up, but I won't hold it against them because it made me laugh so hard.

Pictures

I haven't posted pictures yet and I want to give it a try, so here you go.
Here are some pictures from the first Saturday of the year that Dad mowed the lawn.


Nathaniel and Jonathan helped water the lawn. The watering cans aren't very big so they had to go back and forth a lot.


Brigham had fun watching.


Jonathan refused to take that jacket off. He wore it for about five days.


Here's Nathaniel wearing his sun hat because his sunglasses are too small and now belong to Jonathan.


Here's Brigham trying to grab the camera.

American Idol...again!

Sorry to post about American Idol again so soon but last night's elimination was a shocker for me. First of all I thought Syesha had the best song. She was in her grove and, like Simon said, she was sexy. She was having fun and so she was fun to watch and her performance was flawless. As I've mentioned before, I'm not a fan of Carly's for some reason, but she had a good night too. Even though I don't appreciate the treatment of the subject matter of her song, she was having fun and it was fun to watch. So when it was Syesha and Brooke I figured it would be Brooke, as sad as I would be about it. It seemed Brooke was just as shocked, if not more, than I was. I heard her apologizing to Syesha, even though it's obviously not her fault. Then when it was Carly and Jason I was shocked yet again to see that Jason was safe and Carly was in the bottom. Of those two, I'm glad it was Carly. She's gotten so much exposure on the show that I'm sure she'll do much better than she was before trying to make it on her own.
So what about Syesha? She's obviously very talented and her performance was top notch, why was she in the bottom two? Voters this year, more than other years I think, are picking their favorites and sticking with them no matter what. I think Simon had it right when he said that Brooke's mistake of starting and stopping made her human. People vote for the person just as much as the talent. David Cook has a large following, but I wouldn't be surprised if he left before Jason or Brooke just because he's too confident. We love it when contestants are humble, not so much when they're cocky. This is not to say that Syesha is cocky or isn't humble, but the other contestants seem to embody one or the other trait more openly. For one reason or another, it seems she hasn't built up a fan base like the others have.
As a side note, I wonder if Carly left because of song choice. Sure it was fun to watch, but is it possible that some Christians might have been offended? I was a little put off by it, and non-LDS Christians might be put off by it too. Most Latter-Day-Saints don't appreciate that kind of treatment of something so sacred and it's possible that more Latter-Day-Saints are watching this year because of Brooke and David Archuleta. Perhaps I'm over analyzing, but if anyone else wants to venture a guess I'd like to hear it.

Top 8 American Idol

It's been a good season. There really is a lot of talent this year. Now that Amanda Overmeyer is gone I can see any of them doing really well.
I really enjoyed last nights show. The first to perform was Michael Johns. I've never been a huge fan because he always sounds like he's yelling, but I have to admit he does the rock ballads pretty well and I agree with the judges that he's at his best doing bluesy-rock.
Next was Syesha Mercado. I think she does really well. The judges gave her a hard time last week and this week for choosing songs that were too big. I thought both were very good. Fantasia's "I believe" is such a production number that to hear Syesha sing it in a more simple way was very satisfying. She was definitely up to the task.
David Cook is Jaaromy's kind of singer. I absolutely LOVED it when he sang Lionel Richie's "Hello", and when I finally figured out what song he was singing last week(Billy Jean) I loved how different it was. This week was a little weird, but I like the weird rock vibe he puts out. I think I do agree with the judges when they say he seems a little smug.
Carly Smithson sounds good but for some reason I don't like her. I don't know why. I read on Hatrack.com that she acts like she's the one to beat and I suppose it's possible that her attitude has effected my opinion. I don't know, for whatever reason I just won't be super excited if she wins. I agree with the judges that her song last night sounded to angry for a show that was supposed to be inspirational. I hope(although I don't know why) that she goes because of it.
I like Jason Castro, I love that simple vocal with guitar sound he does so well. His "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" was awesome. It's great music you can just listen to and be happy. I doubt he'll win the whole thing, but it's fun having him on.
Kristy Lee Cook has been second-to-last almost every single week. I don't think she should go yet, but I can see where her weaknesses have almost gotten her booted off. She sang Martina McBride's "Anyway" which I LOVE and makes me think I could actually like country music. She was a little flat during one of the verses but over all I think she did wonderfully. I think her version would be just as enjoyable(assuming she fixes her pitch problems) as Martina's.
David Archuleta, is there a cuter boy with a better singing voice? His humility just makes him more endearing. Last night wasn't my favorite of his("Imagine" was. That could have been sung in the finals it was so good) but he sure has a feel for the right ornamentation. It's amazing a voice like that could come from one so young.
I love Brooke White. She, like David, has a refreshing humility that has saved her in her not-so-great performances. I'm worried she'll go tonight because, while she sang well, it wasn't very memorable. Plus, everyone just did really well.
Very exciting!

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

I often have a hard time expressing my thoughts, at least out loud. It's a little easier when I write it out. Also, sometimes I avoid thinking about the hard stuff about the Gospel. Specifically the Atonement, Crucifixion, and Resurrection; basically what Easter is all about. The Crucifixion is hard. It's heavy stuff to explain to kids.
I've been blessed with a sensitive and inquisitive child. A little over a year ago, my husband's Grandma passed away. My oldest had a hard time with it. We talked about death a lot around that time. It's frustrating when your child has so much anxiety over something like that. We've been able to talk about the Resurrection a lot with him. Because he's such a worrier, I hope that he will learn to find comfort in Jesus Christ.
Last month his class watched a video about Abraham Lincoln and he came home so upset because President Lincoln had been shot. We had a really good discussion about the Resurrection then. Sometimes I wonder if I take it for granted that He was resurrected. When I'm telling my son that he doesn't need to worry because Jesus was resurrected, I realize that it truly is wonderful and although he still has his fears, I can see him relax a little at the thought that everything will be okay because of our Savior.
One other experience was just this weekend. As you might guess, I like to go to Townhall.com to get my politics. There was a blog posting that mentioned some churches that are omitting Jesus from Easter. I thought about it while I was making my rounds on the internet. I went back and decided to post a comment. I have been thinking about it ever since.
Sorry if this is going long. I've mentioned these experiences because this weekend I have been thinking about just how wonderful Easter is. It is peace and hope. Peace from knowing that everything will be okay. No matter what happens, Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love us and they're in charge. No one will be left behind or forgotten. Hope, because Jesus not only died for me, He lived again for me too. I will do my best to always remember His sacrifice so I can live with Him again.
Like I said, I have a hard time expressing myself so I hope you can forgive me if I sound clumsy.
Happy Easter!

"Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen." Luke 24:5:6

Isn't it wonderful!

ROFLMAO!

I don't know if anyone will find this as funny as I did. I play World of Warcraft regularly and so this is funny for many reasons. But even if you're not familiar with the game it's funny for it's use of L33T speak.

I've been tagged!

I was just thinking about what I could post (since it's been a while) when I was tagged by my sister-in-law. So here is my post:
Ten years ago I was engaged to my current husband after waiting two years for him to serve his mission. I was working at the computer lab at UVSC and living in a basement apartment in Orem with three other girls.
5 places that I have lived are Pleasant Grove, Orem, Provo, Draper, and West Valley City, Utah.
5 things on my "To Do" list today were: get Nathaniel ready for school and pick him up(does that count as two things?) do the dishes, sweep up all the Cheerios and peas on the kitchen floor from Brigham's dinner last night, brush my teeth (I have to make it a priority or it just doesn't happen) and call and make an appointment with the eye doctor because I'm all out of contacts. Wow, I sound a lot more productive than I think I actually am.
5 jobs I've had are: I worked at McDonalds, telemarketer for Feature Films for Families, computer lab assistant at UVSC, data entry for Insurquote (my husband's employer for a while), and piano teacher.
10 years from now I will be doing about the same thing as I am now except will have more kids and they'll be older. Nathaniel will be almost graduated from high school. Wow. I hope we'll have six kids. One or two of them will be adopted (by us) probably from another country. We'll have a house and may or may not live in Salt Lake valley. I'm torn, I'm growing very attached to Utah County but all the family is in SLC.
I don't think I even know 5 people to tag. So I'll do as many as I can. I'll tag Megan, Richard, and Jaaromy. I don't know if anybody even reads my blog so we'll see how it goes!

American Idol

So I just started watching American Idol this week. I usually skip the auditions because they're painful and as far as the producers of the show are concerned, the more painful the better. So now that the auditions are over the REAL show can begin. I had heard that they're trying to do more back-story on the contestants and it's already begun. There were several contestants that they showcased that were immediately cut. I feel bad but it makes me laugh when these kids, who are barely 20, complain that their life is over. "This was my one big chance and now it's gone!" Ah, kids.
Anyway, a couple of people stood out to me. Brooke White was the first person to sing during Hollywood week. They showed a clip of her original audition and she mentioned that she had never seen an "R" rated movie and doesn't drink or smoke so I immediately thought she was LDS. Now she's in the top 24 so I'm sure we'll find out. Also, David Archuleta is from Salt Lake. Hooray! He's a very cute boy and he sings great for someone his age, or even someone older for that matter.
Another cute boy, Kyle Ensley, unfortunately was the last to be cut. He did really well with a Josh Groban song but it still wasn't enough. I just know we're going to have some guy that stinks in the finals and we'll all wish we had Kyle back.
Okay, now I have to talk about Josiah. He is actually the reason I'm posting this since it's really too early to be talking about the show just yet. The first time I heard him he had a nice sound. It was a little different. The back-story they were giving us was of a homeless kid who lives out of his car and is trying to make it in the music business because it's all he has. Well, his last audition was absolutely horrible. He never quite got it together with the band and so he sang A cappella. Big mistake. He sounds good with a band because his voice gives the song a certain flavor. Take the band away and you realize that he can't actually sing. His vibrato is too fast which means he's not singing correctly and is hurting his voice. So after that and all the crying he did about how this is all he's got and he doesn't know what he's going to do after this started to bother me. And here's why: based on his personality, his confidence and his emotional softness, I could tell that he was raised in a good home. The way he talks about how he's had a hard life didn't fly with me. I just got the impression that everything hard in his life had happened because he chose to have it that way. I figured that I could be wrong, but that's the impression I got. Before I posted this I thought I should check to make sure there wasn't something in his back story that I had missed as to why his life was so hard. Guess what I found! He dropped out of high-school, said his mom wasn't too happy about it and he's been living in his car. He also said that he doesn't think his family knows he's living out of his car. He hasn't told them because he knows they'd be upset and want him to come home. I was exactly right! So I'm glad he didn't make the final 24 because he needs something to make him go back home. All this crap about how he's homeless. He has a home, he just chose to leave because his family doesn't "get" him. It's time to be a man, Josiah. Go home, finish school, and for heaven's sake, toughen up a little!

Mistborn

I just finished reading Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson, second book of the Mistborn series. Once again he has told an absolutely amazing story, I think I will go so far as to say it's the best fiction I've ever read. He has created a very unique world in which metals are the source of magic for those who have the gift to use it. The characters are engaging and even supporting characters have their own story and depth.
I can't recommend it highly enough. Even if you don't think fantasy is for you, a good book is a good book no matter what the genre.

Another try

I'm going to try one more time to get in the habit of posting. Lately, especially, I've felt like I wanted to express my thought but had no way to do it. I've thought that perhaps I could treat this blog almost like a journal. I already keep a journal but the format is a little more personal in that I talk about the mundane things that happen throughout the week that only myself and possibly my posterity would care about. I'm hoping that this blog can be the place where I can express my thoughts and opinions more openly.
There are a lot of things I'd like to talk about. None of them right now, however. I know I said something similar in my last post, but I think I'm going to make a goal to post here much more often. I don't have many people to discuss thing with so I've got to get it out somehow.

Boy I'm not very good at this

Like I just said... It's been over a year since I posted. I think the idea sounds good at first but is harder to actually do. I like to discuss things in person but it's harder for me to put it on "paper". I suppose I'm not a very good writer and that is a talent that is very useful when posting any meaningful discussions. It also could be that while I feel my opinion is just as valid as the next person's, I wonder why anyone would care to read what I have to say.
There are so many issues that are important to me that I'd like to put out there for the world to see, but I don't know where to start. I'd also like to talk about fun things like American Idol. Even though I can't stand pop music, it's such fun to watch. Maybe I can post some more on that subject Thursday after the results show.