Goosebumps & Palpatations

I saw this hip-hop routine on So You Think You Can Dance last week and it STILL gives be goosebumps all over. I've never watched a hip-hop routine that has made me almost cry until now.

A little background: They are telling the story of a boy who just received his deployment papers to Iraq and he's breaking the news to his girlfriend.

*Note: If you have a significant other, you may want them close by... cause you're going to want to jump their bones!*

The credit of this next tibit of YouTube.com goodness goes to my penpal, Kawika. He told me about this particular artist. Naturally, I "Googled" him and found this.

His name is Justin Nozuka. I love his sound ...and his face. Those of you that know me well will know right away one of the reasons I'm so drawn to him. He makes my heart skip a beat (just a little bit).

This song is called "Criminal". He also plays the guitar. Only downside--he looks crazy young!

Katie

This is a formal shout out to my MOST EXCELLENT SISTER KATIE! Today is her birthday and I want her to know how much I love her and look up to her!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KATIE!

She recently moved and is livin' it up in Kanab, UT. I miss her being up north with us, but I am so impressed with the way she so gracefully takes on new challenges and acts in COMPLETE faith. Within a year she moved to NYC for 6 months, moved home, and now lives in Southern Utah (how opposite can 2 places be).

Katie has always been one to forge her own path...she's fearless! I love that about her. Because she always strives to do the right thing, she's always able stand by her choices with integrity.

Katie is so wise! I feel really blessed to have my own personal life "guru" (for lack of a better word). Countless times she has been there for me when I've needed a shoulder to cry on, advice on a frustrating situation, dating advice, fashion advice, or just a good laugh. Whatever the advice, one thing is always there, and that's the spirit. She has this amazing ability to tie everything into the gospel. You can't not feel the power of here testimony when you talk to her.

Thanks for being such a spectacular sister Katie! I love you! Happy Birthday!

Quotable

I feel I know the most amusing people! Everyone is so clever...which I thoroughly enjoy. Nothing is funner to me than listening to witty banter between friends. Sometimes I feel like I could be living in a sitcom because my friends and family are so funny.

In several of the apartments I have lived, my roommates and I would keep a random quote board with the funny things we would say on them (I loved it!) Which brings me to the point of this post. Many have noticed the quote box I have placed in the top right hand corner of my blog, but in case you haven't, there it is. I like to update it on occasion with some of the clever, funny, or thought-provoking comments of the amazing people in my everyday life.

So take a minute--read-- and perhaps you'll be as entertained as I am!

FINALLY!

It has been way too long since my last post...even I was annoyed that nothing had changed. Like previously stated in my last blog, I can only access the internet at work and never have the time to post anything at the new job. Luckily, I'm still picking up shifts at the old job that allows plenty of time to read other's blogs and make some new posts. Tonight I'm working at the old job and have found the time for a quick update (starting with the last post entitled "Monticello")

• I did not find a "mom n' pops" burger joint in Monticello. Instead, we went to a burger joint in Moab that unfortunately left me unsatisfied. Mostly because it was over-priced.
• New job--LOVE IT! The people I get to work with are hilarious and really good at what they do, so I learn a lot and laugh the whole time.
• "The House of Blonde" has re-located and is now "The Duplex of Blonde"--we moved around the corner last week. I thought it would be easy to move so close, thus I did not recruit any help. I spent about 20 hours of two days moving. My back hurts just thinking about it.
• I have a pen-pal! The last time I had one was when I was in high school (sophmore to be exact) and he lived in Kearns. I know, waaaay far away (at least it felt that way when you couldn't drive). My current p-pal lives in California.
• Went to Goblin Valley--We camped. We dutch-ovened. We shot guns. We hiked. We didn't have toilets. We played "Truth, Or Truth". I disposed of a dead mouse that fell out of my roommates cot in the tent...and we had a great time!
• I attempted to ride the FrontRunner once and ended up getting off and going to CPK instead. The car was over a half hour late and way too crowded.

There you have it! Just some of the small happenings of my life. It's good.

Monticello

This won't be a lengthy post by any means, but I thought it would be fun to post something directly from Monticello, UT. My ward came down here to visit the temple and are staying in the Rodeway Inn & Suites. It is a very "glamorous" facility, mostly due to the fact that they have internet access from a community computer in the lobby (right next to where they served the free continental breakfast). Each room also is equipped with a 19" TV and a mini fridge. All in all and in all honesty, the place worked out perfectly. The lovely people here gave us a group discount and the bishop said the ward would pay for half of the cost...that means each of us only have to pay $9 (don't forget, that includes breakfast!)!

I love visiting these types of small towns. What I love most is that there always seems to be one of those amazing "mom-and-pop" type of burger/shake joints. My goal for the day is to find one before we have to leave...burger, onion rings, shake...seriously what could be better?

PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN

I got this email today from my mom who got it from my uncle. I found it very interesting and believe it just might work...

Read it and pass it along if you agree!

WHERE TO BUY YOUR USA-GAS, THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT TO KNOW. READ ON--Gas rationing in the 80's worked even though we grumbled about it. It might even be good for us! The Saudis are boycotting American goods. We should return the favor. An interesting thought is to boycott their GAS. Every time you fill up the car, you can avoid putting more money into the coffers of Saudi Arabia Just buy from gas companies that don't import their oil from the Saudis. Nothing is more frustrating than the feeling that every time I fill-up the tank, I am sending my money to people who are trying to kill me, my family, and my friends. I thought it might be interesting for you to know which oil companies are the best to buy gas from and which major companies import Middle Eastern oil.

These companies import Middle Eastern oil:
Shell.......................... 205,742,000 barrels
Chevron/Texaco.........144,332,000 barrels
Exxon /Mobil..............130,082,000 barrels
Marathon/Speedway.. 117,740,000 barrels
Amoco..........................62,231,000 barrels
Citgo Gas comes fro m South America , from a Dictator who hates Americans.
Do the math at $30/barrel, these imports amount to over $18 BILLION! (Oil is now $90-$95 a barrel)

Here are some large companies that DO NOT import Middle Eastern oil:
Sunoco................ 0 barrels
Conoco................ 0 barrels
Sinclair................ 0 barrels
BP/Phillips.......... 0 barrels
Hess................... 0 barrels
ARC0................... 0 barrels
Also: Pilot, Flying J, Love's, RaceTrac, Valero

All of this information is available from the Department of Energy and each is required to state where they get their oil and how much they are importing.

I'm feeling very patriotic right now!

10,000 seconds of my life I'll never get back!

I know that I'm no Siskel, or Ebert, or even Roeper for that matter, but I'm going to give the new film "10,000 BC" two enthusiastic thumbs DOWN. My roommate and I went with some friends from our ward to see this supposed "epic depiction of life at the dawn of civilization" and instead we were all epically disappointed. The only redeeming factors were 1) we had free passes to get in, thus not wasting our own money and 2) the ice cream cones provided by Beau and Jessi were delicious(I love swirly cones!).

When the movie was over, I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to express how ridiculous I thought this movie was and would have keep my comments to myself (in order to not sound ungrateful for the free pass)...much to my delight we all agreed that:

• The story line was lame--it was like a bad rendition of the story of Moses mixed with the story of Troy, but with made up legends and names no one can remember or pronounce.

• We were all sure that the "spear-tooth" (translation: sabor -tooth) was going to start talking to the main character and offer to let him climb up on his back and take him the rest of his journey.

• The old wise-lady from the village was the scariest part.
  

...And last of all, everyone sounded like Madonna--you know, kind of spoke with a quasi-English accent and never used conjunctions (can't, won't, didn't, etc.)

Bottom line...awful. Just plain awful!