Oprah fans are nuts!

So I was trying to watch NYC's The Early Show on DVR today, because I happened to see a taping of Alicia Keys while I was there... so cool... I'll talk more about it in my New York trip post.

Anyway, while I was navigating my way through the channels, I happened across Oprah. Now I really don't have anything "against" Oprah per se, but I don't buy into the whole Oprah world. I know she's a great humanitarian, and she's done amazing things for all kinds of charities and what-not, but if you ask me she is a little full of herself, and her fans are f-ing NUTS!

Which leads me to my point: The show that just happened to be on today was the infamous "Orprah's favorite Things". Now I know these people were not expecting to walk away with all the gadgets and gizmos they did, but C'MON!!! I've never seen a more crazy bunch of people ever! (Except for maybe the whole N*Sync Phemonemon. HA!)

Warning: Sentimentality and Cheesiness ahead.

Okay, this facial hair is not usually a part of Blaine's normal-everyday-look (Thank Goodness!) but it was Halloween, and I figured it was as good a time as any to give my husband the green light of having fun with his hair. I guess we girls try out hair dye, bangs and headbands... why not let him have his fun?... As long as it only lasts a day or two. Am I right, Karin?

I know I am a little cheesy, but I adore my husband. I could make a list that would exceed all your lists of reasons why he is the bomb (and I have-- I love lists!), but I won't here. Most of the reasons I think he is perfect for me lie in the everyday stuff, i.e. : I am just so comfortable with him and we have so much fun together... I love his humor-- he has such a quick wit, and makes me laugh all the time. But, probably the biggest reason is that Blaine allows me to be me. I feel like the best version of myself when I am with him... it's like coming home when we are together. And I know that is such a cliche-- I'm sorry!

I was talking to Ang the other day about this phenomenon, and we both realized that when we were single, we liked to have more alone time than we do now. Whether it was writing in my journal or driving up the canyon, I found that I needed time to be on my own and feel close to my own feelings...while I still have "Alicia time" every now and then, it's not the same. Now when I want to have that closeness, I have Blaine. He understands me like no one else can, and how cool is that?

My mom and I were talking about timing the other day-- it was a great conversation and so much of it pertains to my topic here, but since I've already over-shared (it IS my best worst habit), I'll tell you all a little about a Father's Blessing my dad gave me when I was really down and out, and feeling lonely. This was about three months before I stalked and found Blaine again--yes, I said stalked :) (another great story that most of you know... but way too long to add here). Basically my dad told me that I needed to be patient, and that I could NOT "settle". Let me tell you all that I did not "settle" with Blaine. I am constantly blown away at just how much I didn't "settle"... It's wonderful!

So sorry to be all sentimental and gooey, but I just love him! I never thought I could be this happy... *sigh* Blaine is leaving tomorrow morning to fly to NYC for a business trip and I will join him late Tuesday night. I'll be calling in "sick". I've never been to New York and I figured this was an opportunity I couldn't pass up. Plus, I just don't know if I can stand being away from him for longer than the one night I already will. I am so pathetic.

Don't worry, I'll be posting this trip, I promise!

The Christmas . . .er Bathroom visitor

Maybe I should preface this picture with the fact that I have nothing against children or their inquisitive behavior. Now on with my rant.

I was shopping for a bathroom today at work. I'm not sure if anyone else does this but within walking distance from my desk there are three distinctive men's rooms. I'll list them in order of preference starting with the worst.

1. "Employee" bathroom. This bathroom is your standard men's room that smells like a cross between wet dog, urine, and a Jr. high locker room. Let's just say it is a last resort to a desperate situation. I've never actually "hovered" as my wife calls it, but this bathroom has caused me to consider the action more than once.

2. "Flying solo" bathroom. This bathroom is sort of an anomaly in the workplace. It's a single user facility with a series of 3 doors to get in, the last of which locks. Hence, your forced to "run the gauntlet" to even find out if someone is occupying said bathroom. Usual etiquette would dictate that if the bathroom is currently being utilized that you continue shopping but some like to camp by the door like it's the line for U2 tickets. Hence, if your going to be taking your time it can be awkward facing everyone with strained looks on the way out. Only slightly better than option 1.

3. "VIP/visitor" bathroom. This bathroom was somehow designated for customers or important visitors. This means it is cleaned more than once a month and contains sinks that don't resemble something from a men's correctional institute. Whenever an employee walks in and catches the eye of another fellow employee coming out, a secret bond has been formed. Both nod like they are agreeing on a mob hit and never mention a word about the encounter.

The last bathroom is by far my favorite but can sometimes be tricky to get into. This will be the setting of my visitor incident. I was lucky enough to get the handicapped stall where there is always a newspaper left for people to read. It's like being at home. I was taking my time and reading about the TV writer's strike when I became aware that I wasn't alone in not only the bathroom but my inner sanctuary known as a stall as well.

Another employee had brought his two children into the bathroom and was cheering on his son occupying the stall next to me while his daughter was doing the same for me. She had poked her head under the wall and was peppering me with questioning looks.

I'm going to stop here and ask, where was her father during this conversation? Is this something that is not only acceptable to their family but encouraged? Either way, I pulled the deer in the headlights look as I lowered my paper to find a toddler staring straight at me. The conversation went as follows:

Blaine: Uh . . .
Toddler: . . . .
Blaine: Can I help you?
Toddler: . . . .
Blaine: Where is your daddy?
Toddler: . . . Well my real daddy ran away with a dancer named "Bambi" but this man takes care of me anyway.

Ok, that last line was fabricated, but you get the idea.

Eventually she wandered away from the peep show and her dad never mentioned the event. He might have even been oblivious to the incident. I am however scarred for life picturing this girl as the harbinger of doom in every restroom i now visit.

Voting Day

Well it's November 7th... the day after "voting day".
I'll be honest with everyone, I've never been this passionate about an issue before. I guess I'm getting old. Blaine and I felt very duteous as we went to the polls last night. Both of us were suprised at the numbers out voting, as well as our elation in doing our "civic duty." It was kind of cool.
So the good news (to me, at least) is that Referendum 1 failed in the polls yesterday. Hooray! Those that talk to me often know this has been a heated topic for me for quite a while. Needless to say, I am a happy girl.
What I find myself dissatisfied with are the results of the East/West district split. Being a west-sider for a majority of my life, I realize that I'm a little biased. I've felt the wrath of a certain "east-side-mentality" on several occasions that I find ludicrous. However, there is also prejudice on the flip side too--I'm not naive enough to be blind to that fact. I just don't understand what Utah and Jordan School District are going to gain by empasizing this mentality and going ahead with this division.
The worst part of it all is that yesterday, only the East could vote on the issue. The West had no say. Hmmm... interesting. Well, apparently, there are lawsuits in the works now, and this is an issue we haven't seen the last of yet.

P.S. (On a lighter note) Very intersting results on the "favorite season" poll last time. :) Overwhelmingly, fall is everyone's favorite season...and NO votes for either spring or winter? Wow!

Now that's a happy pump-u-kin!

Neither of us are really that into this particular holiday... but we do like our pump-u-kin. We fired him up to scare the trick-or-treaters. It didn't work. He's just too happy.

By the way, I totally got away with teaching Pop-Culture today... I passed out lyrics to Michael Jackson's "Thriller" (the Vincent Price rap part), had them highlight and underline the Alliteration(s) and Couplets. Then we watched the "short film" in its entirety. Ha! What do you all think? Am I a bad teacher? Oh well.

Denver and stuff

Apparently I'm boring. Thanks Michelle. :) Actually I really am boring. It's my last day of UEA (Ultra-Education-Away-time... I've been on a break from teaching for a whole SEVEN days now, thanks to Blaine's Denver business trip. Yay!) So I'm stuck sitting on my kitchen counter, watching Gilmore Girls on TV, waiting for my floor to dry. (Ooh! Lane and Zach just got engaged-- love this episode!) It's been forever since I've mopped and Quick-Shined my floors, and I thought today's the day... way too much information... whatever.

Anyway, I had BIG plans for the blog and our Denver trip, but instead I suck; I didn't do a great job of taking pictures, and I was totally sick for a majority of our trip. Seriously, I didn't even leave the hotel the first day we were there. Oh well, it really was a great trip--very relaxing and good for my sleep deprivation. :) When I did exit the hotel, it was to venture out to the Park Meadows Mall. A.k.a.: the greatest mall I've ever been to... Very cool, hip mall with every great store imaginable--including Sephora! Hooray! Anyway, the amazing thing about this amazing mall, is that it had amazing sales. Apparently, no one shops sales out in this part of Denver. According to Uncle Steve and Aunt Kristin, it's just not "cool" to shop the sales... very wealthy area. Needless to say, I went a little nuts. I love a good bargain.

And yes, we did get to see some of the Denver Kempton Clan. Steve, Chase and Cole met us for breakfast early Saturday morning. I LOVE these guys! Steve has been a Lee favorite forever. His hilarious, mostly off-color comments have a tendency to be immortalized by us. I guess crude humor breeds more crude humor. We love Steve.

Sadly, these are the only pictures we came home with. They were taken on the rental-car-commuter...On the way back to the airport, of course. :) At least Blaine is sporting the latest Beanlee from Megan.

Ode To Autumn

I know that I'm a bit of an "English Nerd," but I think this is just about the best time of year... and who can give an "ode" better? I just love my old college boyfriend's way with words. *sigh*

Ode To Autumn

Poem lyrics of Ode To Autumn by John Keats.

Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness,
Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;
Conspiring with him how to load and bless
With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eaves run;
To bend with apples the mossed cottage-trees,
And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;
To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells
With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,
And still more, later flowers for the bees,
Until they think warm days will never cease,
For Summer has o'er-brimmed their clammy cell.

Who hath not seen thee oft amid thy store?
Sometimes whoever seeks abroad may find
Thee sitting careless on a granary floor,
Thy hair soft-lifted by the winnowing wind;
Or on a half-reaped furrow sound asleep,
Drowsed with the fume of poppies, while thy hook
Spares the next swath and all its twined flowers;
And sometimes like a gleaner thou dost keep
Steady thy laden head across a brook;
Or by a cider-press, with patient look,
Thou watchest the last oozings, hours by hours.

Where are the songs of Spring? Ay, where are they?
Think not of them, thou hast thy music too,--
While barred clouds bloom the soft-dying day,
And touch the stubble-plains with rosy hue;
Then in a wailful choir, the small gnats mourn
Among the river sallows, borne aloft
Or sinking as the light wind lives or dies;
And full-grown lambs loud bleat from hilly bourn;
Hedge-crickets sing; and now with treble soft
The redbreast whistles from a garden-croft,
And gathering swallows twitter in the skies.

Couch Day!!

I cannot tell you all how excited we are about finally getting our couch... Now that we actually have seating for more than two (although the mattresses have come in handy in the past), we want everyone to come hang out and watch a movie or two...or three :)

By the way, the couch that eats you will now reside in Blaine's office.

See you soon!

Okay... I've been tagged.

Normally I just ignore these, but LaChae called me out by name, so I guess I'll go.

1. What was I doing 10 years ago?
Like LaChae said in her blog, I had graduated from West Jordan High, and was attending my freshman year at UVSC, and living with my cousin, LaChae at good ol' Raintree apartments. Regardless what our parents may think about this "dark time", I had the time of my life. Yes, I did go on academic probation :) but honestly, some of my favorite memories came from these early years. Party on LaChae!

2. What was I doing 5 years ago?
Hmmm... working on my degree, (Alicia's college experience, Part Deux) working as Life Editor for "The College Times", and workin' the single life. I Loved loved loved my educational experience this time around. At this time I was swimming in Romanticism: John Keats, William Wordsworth and Mary Wolstonecraft Shelley. I simply cannot say enough about going back to school. English Education is definitely my "calling", and working for the newspaper was such a fun and motivating experience for me. And, hello-- the College 10th Ward was phenomenal! I lived in Pinnacle Apartments for four years and loved it. I had the very best roomies, and made lifelong friends.

3. What was I doing 1 year ago today?
Blaine and I were settling into our townhome and I was settling into my first year of teaching at Alta High School. I was overwhelmed (still am), but loving every second of it.

4. What was I doing yesterday?
Yesterday was a Professional Development day (no students). It sucked at first, but got better. I also got to go to lunch with Blaine and the Carters before they left for New Mexico. We always love it when they are here, but so sad to see them leave. Later I had plans to go to dinner with Annie and Candice, but I completely spaced it! Not being in front of a computer all day and this cold that just won't go away has left my brain more than a little fuzzy. Girls-- we will do it again, this time with me; I promise to be there! Oh yeah, and we watched Heroes last night... Good stuff, but I'm already bugged with the whole Claire and West romance. Lame city.

5. What are 5 snacks I enjoy?
Diet Coke.
Chips and Salsa.
Fresh fruit.
Tillamook Cheese and crackers.
Popcorn.
Anything chocolate.
Anything peanut butter.

I know, I know... that's seven. I really like snacks.

6. What would I do with 100 million dollars?
Oh wow... you know, I really don't know. I'm sure that I would buy cars and a house and travel and all that, but honestly, I really don't know what I'd do with that amount of money. I'd probably give a lot of it away.

7. 5 bad habits I have:
Biting the inside of my lips. It's gross and it looks weird when I do it.
Swearing.
Picking at my cuticles. It's a nervous habit.
Verbal diarrhea.
Being late. Though being married to Blaine has really helped.

8. 5 things I like to do:
Read a good book.
Watch and talk about my favorite shows.
Going out to eat. LOVE IT!
Go to the movies.
Hang out with Blaine. I just love him. :)

9. 5 TV shows I watch:
The Office
Lost
My Name is Earl
24
Heroes
Grey's Anatomy
Gilmore Girls (I still watch them on DVD)
Arrested Development (ditto)
Sex and the City (TBS)
Conan O'Brien

I know... there's more, I just don't want to embarrass myself too much.

10. My 5 biggest joys:
Blaine.
Family. Mine and Blaine's-- I am so blessed to have such amazing people in my life.
My girlfriends. I wouldn't be the same person without my girls. Again, I am really very blessed.
Teaching.
Sisters. (And mom-- you're on this list.)
Good writing. I love good writing-- tv, movies, books, magazines, etc. Anything that's just written well and witty.
Music. I LOVE music.
And of course, the Gospel...specifically, prayer.

Okay, that's eight. Hey, I teach English-- numbers really just aren't that important to me.

Costumes?

So, Megan's most recent post got me thinking... Halloween costumes. I have dressed-up as a lot of funny things over the years. Though I really don't get into Halloween anymore. The movie, Mean Girls gave voice to my opinion that Halloween is for girls to dress slutty and somehow, "It's okay-- I am just pretending to be a hooker-- just for tonight." Hmmm...

Anyway, I do love the better costumes out there. Megan, your Chiquita costume is fab! A couple of years ago, Blaine's brothers and Markelle dressed up as Popeye (Brent), Bluto (Sean), Olive Oil (Markelle), and Willie Wonka (Doug)... Freaking hysterical! I wish I had the photo to post here... Oh well. And I can't wait to see all the little trick-or-treaters who come a-knockin' this year!

So, here is a list of "Halloweenie" things I have been. Let's see yours!

1. A Cat. I think I was this for several years, actually. My mom just cut the feet off the pajama bottoms, and added knee-socks to create the "illusion".
2. A Witch. A "scary" one with a green face and everything.
3. An Egyptian. This one was really cool. Janelle Garner and I dressed alike, and we looked so sleek in our unitards and Egyptian embellishments.
4. A Pencil. Yup. A pencil. Cara Meservy and I dressed alike this year. Sally and my mom had us in all black--with pink faces and hair--sporting a big ponchoesque cardboard pencil. Pretty creative eh? That's DeAnn and Sally for you.
5. A Gypsy. I loved this costume. Looking back on it, it really was just an accidental tribute to Stevie Nicks.
6. Grumpy. Okay, so Katrina Robinson HAD to be Snow White, and Janelle and I were the only two to agree being her dwarves. haha Hilarious! At least I wasn't Dopey... Sorry Janelle.
7. A Disco Babe. One of my vain college attempts.
8. An Army Hero. Another sad, vain attempt that trickled into college--left over from high school.
9. Marilyn Monroe. This was a great night. Valerie Richards and Becca Sorensen said I couldn't fit into a certain red dress (one of Rosalie's many amazing costumes), and sure enough I zipped it right up, donned a blonde wig and a beauty mark, and headed to the stake dance.
10. A Sailor Girl. Becca and I dressed in little matching sailor dress outfits. I'm pretty sure she told me I looked like I was dressing in drag.
11. A Geisha. Actually a cool costume from my aunt Lisa's Japanese mission. (Kind of a "hooker" huh? Oops, I guess I broke my own rule... well, I hadn't read Memoirs of a Geisha yet, :) so I guess I'm in the clear.)