Confession

I've been a tad remiss in blogging duties of late. To tell the truth, I've been slightly neglecting other responsibilities as well. It all started last Friday when I borrowed a copy of Twilight from my friend Marnie. I read the book in one night and was thirsting for more. I was supposed to go over to Marnie's house on Saturday and get the next book, but a terrible thing happened. Marnie had her baby 3 days early and was going to be in the hospital till Monday. The thirst was overwhelming and I was not going to make it. Luckily, I have an awesome husband who volunteered to drive to the hospital, pick up their keys, drive to their house, pick up the books, go back to the hospital to deliver the keys and come back home with the other three books. No more of this one at a time business for me. He says it's because he loves me the most, I say it's because I was two seconds away from going to Barnes and Noble and buying the whole series.

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I know everyone read these books a year ago. I didn't put off reading them, because I thought they were silly and I wouldn't like them. No, I put off reading them, because I knew I would like them too much! Before you judge me, please know my obsession with vampires is not a new thing. From the moment I watched Dark Shadows as a child, I knew I wanted to be a vampire when I grew up. I've seen every vampire movie out there and most are sadly lacking, but my favorites have always been the ones with some good vampires involved-Lost Boys, Interview and for my family-Blade (but only on Christmas.) That being said, none of these good vampires could have prepared me for Edward.

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I was expecting to like the books. I was not expecting for the books to turn me into a vampire. I don't eat. I don't sleep. I'm very pale and have dark circles under my eyes. I haven't checked a mirror, but I'm sure I look sexier than I ever have before. All the signs, I know. I read all four books in five days, some how still managing to make it to church and work and doctor's appointments. Even as I was devouring the pages, I wanted to stop, slow down, make the sweetness last a little longer, but I was no match for the hunger.

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Now that the books are done, I've tried to fulfill my needs in any way possible. I watched the movie. I took the quizzes. It just hasn't been the same. The movie only made me angry they cast Kristen Stewart, who has all the charisma of a flip-flop, as Bella, when they should have cast me. The quizzes just made me sad. At work, all I could think of was how I could find a way back into my magical land. Not that I'm not happy in South Salt Lake, but magical vampire land is so much cooler. Then my loving husband saved the day. Completely not intimidated by Edward, he went to the Stephanie Meyer's website and found me part of another book to read. He made me promise not to read it tonight, as I have work very early in the morning, but he didn't say I couldn't blog about it. I love my husband so much. He's the most thoughtful person in the whole world. Don't get jealous Edward. I said person, not vampire. *wink*wink*

March Sadness

I was looking forward to an epic battle....

VS

Alas, it was not meant to be. USU fell to Marquette by one lousy point and my hopes of playing my family's golden team were crushed... not to mention my bracket. Just so you know, I've picked all but two games correctly. Why, oh why, couldn't this be one of them. Still the Aggies had an amazing year and it's nothing to hang our heads about. Good luck MU. May you be the Cinderella story this year, but no matter what, whoop the pants off Marquette!

Utah

I've spent a big chunk of my life living here and I have one major complaint... The complete lack of enthusiasm and participation in St. Patrick's Day. In Kansas City we dress up, dye fountains green, go to parades and dance jigs. My first St. Patrick's Day in Utah, I dressed up in glow in the dark, shamrock boxers over white and green leggings with a leprechaun hat and walked to my first class. Needless to say, there was much finger pointing at the "weird girl" who actually celebrates St. Patrick's Day.

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Flash forward a few years, okay a lot of years, and things haven't gotten any better. I work at a health food store with a bunch of hippies. What color do hippies love the most, why green of course. On any given day in my store, you would probably find 2/3 of the people wearing green, but not on St. Patrick's Day. Oh no! That would just be conforming.

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Since when have Utahans had a problem getting crazy. Let's just pretend it's a high school dance and go all out. People with kids, hide treasures from the leprechauns in their shoes. If you really want to have some fun, set traps for the leprechauns. Use their favorite food as bate, broccoli and carrots, of course. I've never actually caught one, but they usually leave behind some gold chocolate coins for good measure.
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Is it the alcohol thing? I know St. Patrick's Day has a general association with green beer, but if we dig deeper Utah, I think you might be able to find some things you can get behind. Patrick was born in Wales. He was kidnapped and brought to Ireland as a slave. He escaped and later returned to the country that enslaved him, to be a missionary. He converted over 120,000 druids to Christianity and used the three leaves of the shamrock to teach them about Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost. No matter how many times druids tried to kill him, he continued to spread the message of Christianity and spoke out against slavery. Some even consider him the first abolitionist. Freedom, Forgiveness, Missionary Work... I'll drink to that! (Water with a little food coloring of course.)

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Melanie Rees-You are excused from the above chastisement. You were born and raised in Utah, have lived here almost your entire life and may even love St. Patrick's Day more than me. Way to be an example!

Popcorn Popping

This is why I love teaching in Primary.

Don't get me wrong, I miss all the wonderful insights and in-depth scripture study that comes from teaching adults, but I don't know if it could ever surpass a heartfelt declaration of righteousness from a cute five year old named Jackie. She ran up to me after Sacrament Meeting and gave me this note. The enthusiasm of the primary children is contagious. Even Bear now loves the Popcorn song, after he witnessed a rousing rendition by my friends three year old son. Keep doing what your doing parents. It's working.

Oh Baby!

If you have one, or have a friend who has one, you might want to enter this blog giveaway. My friend Selissa makes the most amazing crocheted baby paraphernalia you have ever seen.
http://forevrandaday.blogspot.com/2009/03/spring-fling-giveaway.html
By the way... did you know their is an "r" in the word paraphernalia??? I didn't.

Sweet Pics!

In celebration of her 100th Post, my friend Melissa is doing an awesome giveaway. If you live in Utah, take advantage of her talents.http://melissasuephotography.blogspot.com/2009/03/100th-post-giveaway.html

And Then She Was Gone...

My old roommate Becca came to town for a whirlwind weekend. Her little sister Annie was kind enough to pick the Logan Temple to get married in, just so Becca could come to Utah and visit me. Well... that might not have been the only reason, but I definitely benefited.

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Becca and I never had to try and be friends. We just were. From the second I let her move into the dorms early, it felt like we had always known each other. In college people would ask if we were sisters. I didn't understand that for a long time. After all, I was blond and fair-skinned and Becca was brunette and olive-skinned. Then one day, while looking at a picture of us, I realized we had the exact same smile-big and toothy. Only slightly smaller than the big, bad wolf's.

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It went by all too quickly. I tried to squeeze in every ounce of coveted face to face conversation that I could. We covered the gamut of husbands, babies, religion, politics, books, friends, movies and memories. Whatever we could think of and then she was... well, you know.

Crab Apple

That's me lately! Yesterday I was complaining, because none of my friends and family live near me. I felt like calling each and every one of them and saying, "I'm bored. Come play with me." I mean, you can only be a bookworm so many days in a row, before you need to get out and mix it up a little. I wonder why it is so hard to make new friends at this age? Maybe everyone is too busy with kids? That must be it. It can't just be me.

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Then today... I had just said to my husband, "I am so glad I don't close tonight.", when the phone rang and it was a very sick coworker asking me to close for her. Does service still count if you do it begrudgingly? There are some that say no. Well I hope it does. Now that its over, I am glad I helped her out, but at the time, not so much.

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Hopefully tomorrow, I will be more sweet than sour, but every now and then a crab apple just tastes good.

Commitment

We did it. We're committed. Bear and I officially switched from T-Mobile to AT&T. Two years baby. Two years! If you are a fellow AT&T user, call me and lets talk. If you're not, there is always nights, weekends, facebook, myspace, email, our blog and if you really get desperate... you could write a letter with a stamp and everything. We were really split on switching for a long time, meaning I wanted to and Bear didn't, so I hope it ends up being a good thing. By the way non AT&T users, I will make certain exceptions to answering your call during daytime minutes. #1 Call twice in a row and I'll think it's an emergency. #2 Leave a voicemail and tell me you have some "juice" i.e. gossip that I have to hear and finally #3 Text me and ask a question like, "What have you been up to lately?" I'll call you just so I can tell you not to text me a question that will take me longer than 10 seconds to type a reply to. Please note, it takes me 10 seconds to type the word "yes".