American Idol

Not much time for a recap, but I did catch Idol this week, and I just have to say - David Cook's redition of Mariah Carey's "Always Be My Baby"?

Amazing!

If he came out with an album right now, I'd be all over faster than a redneck on bacon.

Still snowing. It's like a snowglobe here, I swear.

Alaska Pictures

Lowman John Brown (L.J.)




Ashton and Aunt Betsy



Playing with blocks



Snowy snowy Alaska!

Alaska Update

My new nephew L.J. is perfect and adorable and divine.

My neice Ashton is funny and sweet and a kick in the pants.

My brother Sam is quite possibly the best husband and father in the known universe.

It snowed all day yesterday. Apparantly Alaska is unaware that April means it's spring.

I brought my camera, but forgot my drive to load pictures, so they will have to wait. The links will take you to pictures in other places.

Life is fabulous!

A List of Things I'd Like to Tell You

1.) American Idol - hallelujah! How glad are we that this girl is gone? Answer - SO GLAD.

2.) Remember the snarky Post Office experience a while back? Well, a few days later, this came.

If you can't read it, it says, "Damaged by Mechanical Equipment. Please accept our apologies," followed by "Returned for Better Address." What do these people want from me?

3.) If you read Vintage Thirty, you might remember the post Tootsie Farklepants wrote about blue sheep butts. If you're about to click on that link, the good stuff is in the comments. I was reminded of this while putting inventory in at work recently. This is a product we carry that is used to determine when cows are in heat:

Let's just zoom in on that bottom corner, shall we?

Okay, seriously? How freaking funny is that? Just in case you can't quite figure out what this product is for, we'll illustrate it for you. And notice that it's two female cows. Actually, there's a reason for that, but it's funnier if you don't know it.

4.) You know how "Spring Fever" doesn't really refer to body temperature, but to a fit of looniness? Well, I had my first bout the other day. It involved singing a Primary song, complete with actions.

I looked out the window

And what did I see?
Popcorn popping on the apricot tree!
Spring has brought me such a nice surprise
Popcorn popping right before my eyes.

I can take an armful and make a treat
A popcorn ball that would smell so sweet
It wasn't really so,
But it seemed to me
Popcorn popping on the apricot tree!

5.) So. Have you heard I'm going to Alaska? I'm kind of excited about it. I'm leaving in 2 1/2 days. Two days and 14 hours, to be exact. I might be outside of the blogosphere for a while, so try not to miss me too much. I know it'll be hard, but just do your best.

6.) You may recognize this little baby from my Christmas wish list.

Well, I bought one yesterday. It's just a silver one, because it was $65 cheaper than the colors. I am so not paying $65 just for red. This purchase was necessary because my ancient iPod Mini finally crapped out. Totally. No worko. And once you go iPod, you can never go back.

7.) And finally, in case you missed the memo, I'm about to go on kind of a big trip. I've got a four hour lay-over in Seattle. Can anyone recommend a really good book? I've been having a hard time finding one lately.

Hugs and kisses, Blogger friends!

I love Disneyland!

Okay, seriously. I had SO MUCH FUN in Disneyland. I only have a few pictures to post, as Jessie is sending me a disc. She took all the pictures because she's like five times more amazing than me, and her camera is a billion times more amazing than mine.

So, on Thursday I drove out to Cedar City to meet up with Jason and Jessie. I left my car parked at my aunt and uncle's and we drove their Prius (which I love) to Victorville. It was a long drive. We had reservations an a Motel 6 (oh, the class) just off the freeway. Jessie said it was a creepy hotel, but I didn't really notice. I just took off my bra and crawled into bed, wearing the same clothes.

I did notice in the middle of the night when someone tried to come into our room, though. It wasn't someone trying to break in - they had a key. The hotel had double booked our room. Luckily, we had fastened the chain, so they couldn't get in. Jason pulled up the curtain and looked out, at which the guy said, "Hey! There's someone in there!" The girl said, "No way!" And he said, "Yes! Someone just peeked out at me!"

My hotel standards are pretty low, but strangers coming in while I'm sleeping definitly crosses into creepy territory.

The next day, we drove the rest of the way to Disneyland and met up with my cousin Randy, who works for Disney. He signed me in on his pass, so I got in for free! I love Randy. The first thing we did was Space Mountain. I hadn't been on it since the remodel, and it was fabulous! It's my favorite. It was a fantastic day - it rained a little bit in the morning, just enough to keep people away. I didn't wait in a line more the 20 minutes the whole trip. It was perfect.

Oh my gosh, we saw SO MANY characters! It was definitly the most I've ever seen in Disneyland. Maybe they were just easier to spot because there weren't crowds, but I saw some people I didn't even know were at Disneyland! We tried to keep count, but it was too hard. Here's what I can remember: Cruella Deville, Minnie and Mickey Mouse, Pluto, Goofy, Peter Pan, Cinderella, Honest John, Pooh, Tigger, Eyeore, Brer Bear, Jack Sparrow (not acutally Johnny Depp, we checked) Mary Poppins and Bert, and that's all I can think of, but I know I'm missing some. But heck! That's 15 right there! And Mary Poppins! I was estatic. I was embarrased how excited I was to see her. She was fabulous, too. The Bert was okay - he acted really well, but he didn't look anything like Dick VanDyke.

We also went over to California Adventure, which is a bit of a letdown, but it had Tower of Terror and California Screamin'. I was nervous to go on Tower of Terror because I have this thing about falling, but it was unbelievably fun. Totally scared the pants off me, though. California Screamin' is - no joke - the best roller coaster I've ever been on. It shoots off, leaving your stomach behind, and then it's filled with fantastic drops and turns, and even a loop, which is amazing.

I think my favorite part of the whole two days was the parade. I loved it! It started out with fairies - Cinderella's Fairy Godmother, the fairy from Pinnochio, and FLORA, FAUNA & MERRYWEATHER!! I was so excited. There was a float with Tink on top and Peter Pan driving. That was followed by a Beauty and the Beast float, complete with dancing flatware, then an Ariel float being chased by Ursula. The princesses came last. Frankly, I was happy after seeing the 3 Good Fairies and Tink.

Three highlights of the trip: 1) The parade 2) Turtle Talk with Crush 3) Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (I know I didn't write about it, but it's so fun!).

Two lessons I learned from Disneyland: 1) Your most comfortable shoes are not comfortable enough, unless you're Jessie and your boots are made of clouds. 2) All rides are better in the back!

Gettin' Jiggy with Disney!

I. Am. So. Excited.

In 10 days, I will on my way to DISNEYLAND, BABY! That's right. You know you're jealous.

I love Disneyland. I'm kind of embarrased about how excited I am to do. I mean, I am an adult. Not that you would know from my attitude towards Disneyland. That's one of the great things about the Land of the Mouse, though. It brings out the kid in us, and who doesn't love that?

I'm going with my dear friend Jessie, her husband Jason, and Jason's sister and nieces. His mom is coming for a day, too. Good thing Jason's family seems to like me. I'm meeting Jessie and Jason in Cedar City and we're driving the rest of the way. We'll be partying at Disneyland Friday and Saturday.

Like I said, before, I'm like a kid when it comes to Disneyland. I always go hoping to meet some good characters. I've met a few, but never who I wanted. I've met Cinderella,

Minnie Mouse

and Goofy.

This one was my favorite. I was at D-Land for a band concert, and we were back behind ToonTown. So was Goofy. He must have been on a break, because he was just chillin' back there, puffin on a ciggy. Have you ever seen Goofy smoking? It's funny. Trust me.

You know who I've always wanted to meet? Flora, Fauna and Meriweather, the good fairies from Sleeping Beauty.

They've always been my favorite. I didn't think they were at Disneyland, but apparantly I was wrong, because I found this picture:

Bloody paparazzi. A fairy can't go anywhere anymore.

Ah, Sleeping Beauty. I love that movie. My favorite part is when the fairies are trying to get ready for Aurora's birthday without magic. Fauna tries to make a cake. It's hysterical. And then they finally decide to use magic, and Flora and Meriweather get into this fight and keep changing each other different colors. Oh man, that cracked me up.

I'm excited for the rides and Disneyland too. Especially Space Mountain, as it was closed for renovation the last time I was there. So was Indiana Jones. I like that one, although the snake scares the bejesus out of me EVERY TIME. I hate snakes.

You know the best part of this all? I'm getting into the park for FREE. Ah, the joys of mooching off family.

Jessie's Wedding

I got to go to my friend Jessie's wedding last week, and I had so much fun! She married a great guy named Jason Evans who makes her ridiculously happy. Even her family is happy about it, which is a triumph for them. They got married in Manti, which was beautiful, even though it made me sneeze a lot (Manti, not the wedding). And they both looked amazing.




I also caught the bouquet, which has never happened before. I think she sort of aimed for me.

And I beat her at pool. What a great weekend.