Deanna Lunt

Another post!!

2012-01-31T11:49:00.000-08:00

Hey, everyone! Check daleandddeanna.blogspot.com for new posts!!

Love,
Deanna

I'm posting!!

2011-10-04T15:47:00.001-07:00

Hello, all!!!

So I'm probably going to start posting on Dale and I's combined blog, which is

daleanddeanna.blogspot.com

and I actually posted something! Not very long or exciting but I actually had a fifteen minute break at work and access to a Mac...so there you go :)

Word to the wise...get collision insurance....

2011-01-09T15:35:00.000-08:00

So I was driving to work Friday morning, and as I was switching lanes I thought that a big gust of wind was blowing me a little bit...

Turns out I had hit a patch of black ice...going 70 miles an hour. I fishtailed really wide and spun into the median between the I-57 north bound and south bound. I took out a wooden pole which I think took off my bumper cover and sent me spinning even more...which then made me take out 5 or 6 of the yellow crash barrels they put in front of the cement columns underneath overpasses....I'm VERY grateful for those barrels. They threw me around a little bit but I ended up hitting the barrels on both sides and back of my car and I finally stopped parallel to the south bound I-57...two feet from on coming traffic....yikes.

What's really amazing is I am 100% un-harmed. I really should probably be seriously injured or at least have whip lash...but nothing. I know that I was watched over during that whole thing. I saw six or seven cars go off the road after me, some of them hitting other cars and one truck doing a really bad role over. They had to call in a couple ambulances and over hearing the state troopers radio that was helping me, I gathered that there were potentially some bad injuries in all that mess. It was really scary. A super nice guy who saw me go off the road stopped to make sure I was ok and was amazed when I got out of my car just fine. He even went and picked up my bumper cover for me :) Once he really established that I wasn't hurt he told me that it was amazing because when I went off the road I actually caught air...I like to do everything with style! ;)

Anyway, long story short, I know I'm really blessed to be alive and well! I just wish that I had gotten collision insurance and not just liability...because my car is totaled... but still drivable...it's going to be a glamorous year! hehehe

Kenny Rogers = The Christmas Season

2010-12-02T20:00:00.001-08:00

In keeping in line with the Ned Lunt family tradition, we decorated our Christmas tree this past monday...

and all to the soundtrack of my childhood...

Yes. I am aware that this CD is AMAZINGLY cheesy and not necessarily that good...but I've heard it every December of my life and I dig that soulful sound of Kenny...(insert your laughter here...I really don't dig Kenny...in fact if I hear any of his other stuff I kind of die...he really is so corny and ridiculous...but I do love this CD)

My mom is about the most organized human in the world so we each have our own boxes with ornaments in them...within this box our ornaments are divided between ornaments for the tree (good looking, not tacky ornaments) and ornaments not for the tree (the ugly, usually only kept for sentimental reasons ornaments).

So apparently some of my ornaments broke in storage...this reminded me of the island of mis-fit toys on the old school Rudolph movie...

You will also notice that the ornament on the left says best grandma....when I picked it out when I was a young one I didn't realize it said that...I just thought it was a cute mouse...oh well...someday I'll be the best grandma and then it will totally be applicable...

The children getting their ornaments ready to go...

April loves this picture of herself...

and I'm not quite sure why Seth has a vampire tan in this picture....

Christmas tree decorating has never looked so good...

So April got to put the star on the tree because it is her last Christmas living at home...

She struggled...

And she was concentrating really hard...if you can tell...

And last but not least....

The sweet nectar of the gods....hot chocolate. I used my most favorite kitchen appliance for this occasion and even used my fancy hot chocolate not sold around here...

Behold the cocomotion...I love it so much.

I have a few other posts I need to update on...but I'm way tired. So don't be mad, Dale :)

Just call me June

2010-11-25T18:24:00.000-08:00

So I helped prepare things for thanksgiving today. I thought ALL of you would really want to know what I made and my recipes...
that's what we do on blogs, right?? :)

First I made this:

Homemade cranberry sauce...NBD (translation for those who aren't as into the text lingo: no big deal)

1 cup orange juice
1 cup granulated sugar (dissolve into oj in medium sauce pan over medium heat)
12 oz fresh cranberries (stir into oj/sugar and wait for them to pop and get all mashed together...DELICIOUS)

once it's cooked for how long you want it, put it in a serving dish and let it cool. Will thicken as it does. So good.

THEN I made this:

Cranberry butter....so fattening...so worth it.

I honestly don't have measurements for any of this. I used about 6 oz of cranberries and put them through the food processor, then I dumped in a whole lot of powdered sugar and mashed all that together, then I dumped in about 3 sticks of butter and whipped that all together....so basically it's like frosting but with the powdered sugar and butter in different proportions so we don't feel as bad :)

And last but not least, I made this:

and I even made it all pretty.
There's just a whole lot of stuff all over this turkey. I marinated it over night in a bunch of things...maybe if I plan on ever blogging about recipes I can't just fly by the seat of my pants with all this stuff.

Much more food was had, but those were my main contributions. I had several friends from church come down because they couldn't go home for thanksgiving.

My friend Dan had a food baby.

I tried doing a food baby but it just hurt, and it wasn't super hot, so I just failed and started laughing...and that's where this picture comes from.

Here's me being June Cleaver (or however you spell her name).

I got bangs!
I'll post a picture where I actually do my hair so you can see what they really look like soon :)

tell me the truth

2010-11-18T20:04:00.001-08:00

I need COMPLETE honesty on this response. And this is something really not important at all...but I want to know if doing this hair cut would be a bad idea (I'm talking about the mom...not the dad)...

My concerns are that I don't have the jaw line/chin to do it or that it would de-emphasize things that I like about myself like my eyes...is this shallow? I'm not meaning to be, I just sometimes see people like this girl and I want their hair so badly. I think it's so cute.
But REALLY. If you think I look better without bangs or they would eat my face or anything please let me know. I will in no way be offended. I just really want to know if this is something that would look good, and not just something I could pull off. Catch my drift??
K, fire away.

Also I'll have more interesting/meaningful posts soon.

So sorry!!

2010-11-04T15:16:00.000-07:00

Let me make the disclaimer that I told you all that I wouldn't necessarily become a regular blogger just because I was doing really well for a few weeks....
But I am sorry!! I've been meaning to update for who knows how long but I get really nervous about putting more stuff on my computer's hard drive. I've had that bad boy since December of 2004. Just wrap your mind around how ARCHAIC it is. My hard drive is around 40 GB....people have ipods and cell phones now with more memory, and I even bought mine with extra. Technology is crazy!
My family was nice enough to let me upload a bunch of stuff on their computer (fact: they don't know I am...but they will when I publish this next slew of posts)

So here is what has been happening for the last while! I'll do multiple blog posts so we all don't get visually overwhelmed.

For starters, I helped my little sister do her extra credit project for biology. I LOVE projects. I really do. Especially projects you can do in a few hours that involve planning and then hands on work. April needed to make an edible DNA and I was all over that.

April didn't want to do the sign....but I told her she should. EVERY project should have a snazzy sign.

This next pic is of my friend Melissa's face....she ran into someone's shoulder playing tag football. It was cuh-razy looking.

Doesn't that look rad??

Next up is the Lake Geneva trip 2010. I went back up to Chicago sept. 11th because I was still helping with this activity. It was really fun. I stayed in Champaign the night before with my friend Tina and then we left early so I could do a trial wedding hair run in Carol Stream (suburb of Chicago) and then head to the WI/IL border. No, I did not meet my eternal companion at this activity....

This is my good friend Tina. A lot of my family might remember her from the Lunt Family Nuavoo reunion in 2003. She lived with my family for a while and joined the LDS church when she lived in my home town.

This is my friend Eric and me. Mostly I have this picture up here because I made the card and it actually looked really awesome, though the picture doesn't do it justice. Like I said, I really like projects. Also validation.

The activity consisted of a super nice family hosting us at their lake house and providing tons of awesome food. There were also jet skis and games. At the end of the evening there was a big ferry boat with catered desserts and we toured all the houses around Lake Geneva (google it...ridiculous homes) and then had a dance. Several of my friends from Milwaukee came down so that was really nice to see them.

It was a super nice night and a really well done activity. Sunset from the boat!

If you got it, flaunt it...

2010-08-24T06:44:00.000-07:00

So it's FINALLY started to cool down here in good ol' Charleston, IL....

but for about 2 weeks here it was CRAZY HOT and HUMID.

We all deal with things in our own way...some of us by staying home in front of a fan as much as possible (me)...others by driving around in their air conditioned cars (most people)......

and then.....

there's this guy.......

what better way to beat the heat then to have as little clothing on as possible while out on your hog?? His outfit is complete with old-man boat shoes, SHORT cut-off denims (all right if anyone has ever watched arrested development...never nudes??? ahahaha oh I love it)...and top it off with an almost (not quite cut to the seams) sleeveless shirt that has been handily rolled up to be a mid-drift top.....

So hot right now......

Brought to you by the every day population of small town mid-west.

You're welcome :)

And in this corner...weighing in at 9 lbs and 9 oz is....

2010-08-24T06:24:00.000-07:00

Hannah Louise Danielson!!!

I must say, that's a pretty cute kid, huh?? And she's even a new born!!!! Usually those are kind of tragic looking for a while haha.

She was born this morning at 4:30....2 days late....Mommy wasn't very happy about that but is very glad she is here now and is healthy and safe! Everyone is doing well!!

That is niece #6 for me which brings the grand total to 9!! And I have two more on the way!!!

I love being an aunt....also it makes me want babies....but I'll wait till I have a husband to change their diapers :)

check it out

2010-08-21T20:48:00.000-07:00

hey, folks.

Just completed my first web-site. Woot!
It's to promote my work as a hair stylist. It only has a few of my events up there right now and the home page is a little bare because I'm waiting to get another picture sent to me to put as the background yadda yadda yadda...but check it out!

And if you live in Illinois or know people living in Illinois or the bordering states that are needing anything fancy done with their hair or just looking for a good stylist for everyday...go ahead and throw my name out there :)

hairDsign

John Mayer

2010-08-21T09:56:00.000-07:00

I did the hair and makeup for a wedding back up in Chicago last weekend....oh, by the way...I moved back home...so I'm no longer in Chicago....surprise, I guess?
Anyway, went back last weekend to do the wedding and went to the John Mayer concert that night with some friends. This is my second time to see him live. He has definitely improved as a musician...and as a tool. For those of you wondering what a tool is, I'm pretty sure you can urban dictionary it...but I don't actually know what urban dictionary says about the term...and it's probably inappropriate because a lot of stuff on there is...so maybe don't do that...
but anyway. So amazing live, but you can definitely tell he thinks he's the cats meow. He was wearing the most ridiculous outfit I've ever seen. Let me paint the picture for you because I just don't think my pictures do it justice.

He was wearing white, um, slip on tennis shoes maybe? I don't know they kind of just looked like sports socks. And then his pants, or should I say...man-pris???? That's right....he was wearing capris...but he's a man...so therefore 'man-pris'...they were hidious. I don't know if they're some designer something or other so thats why he wore them but I spent the ENITRE concert trying to figure out what on earth was going on. They were *gulp* tapered on the bottom...just below the calves...and then they ballooned out on top...like parachute pants.....
PARACHUTE PANTS!!!!!!!! seriously, John Mayer??!!!! SERIOUSLY???!!!!!!
for a while I thought he actually had capri over-alls on and had done the super hip, mid-90s folded down at the waist look with the straps hanging down...I could never quite tell.....they were also made of I've concluded a really really shiny black denimn...that looks a lot like leather....so upsetting....
Then he was wearing a white, sleevless shirt....apparently too sexy for sleaves now-a-days. That was followed up with a Brett Michael's bandana on top....truly awful. I used to think this man was really attractive...but I'm having my doubts. Thank goodness he is a ridiculously good musician or I would have lost all faith in him.
Is that shallow??
Whatever.

Anyway, here are some pictures of the evening and a little diddy I got during his encore. I ran up closer to where he was playing...potentially with the intention of perhaps throwing a certain supportive undergarment that some women throw at live music gatherings....but obviously I'm a chicken and did not...plus I didn't have a second one with me....so it just would've been an awful idea. Again. Don't judge me. I was caught in the moment. Someday I will though...hopefully at Neil Diamond.

These guys were the opening band. The Avett Brothers. I loved them!!! Seriously they were folk-rocking it out. So amazing. And they all sang really really well. Their singing style isn't the trendy breathy thing that so many male singers are doing right now but more of a belt it all out deal. That's really hard to do live and they had a really clear tone and it was pretty impressive. One guy was literally walking around playing his cello during part of it too....celloooooo!!! That's amazing:)

I attempted yet again to take a group picture...this is try one...

and try two...

and I still fail. I at least got a portion of everyones face...

J May...seriously I wish you could've gotten a detailed picture of his outfit...

Just thought this pic was kind of cool. Looks more like a drawing...

Mark and Kathryn had never been to a concert before. Crazy to me. We broke them in.

During the encore. We were closer to him so it's a little more detailed. The next one isn't so blurry.

And heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeere's Johnny!!!
And no, I'm not that voice singing loudly over john mayer...but at least she knows the words.

Also I feel like I'm giving everyone the false impression that I'm going to become a regular every-other-day blogger. That probably won't be the case. So enjoy it while you can:) I'll definitely be better than I was before though!!

Motownphilly back again...wahdah wadah wadah wah wah... Doin' a little eastcoast swang

2010-08-19T06:09:00.000-07:00

Yes. That IS a transcription of a song from one of the greatest singing groups ever. Boyz II Men. But that's neither here nor there...

So here is another update!!

I went to Philadelphia to visit my sister Melanie while her hubby was out of town for school. She was 38 weeks or so prego at the time and had progressed some so being alone with two kids when you may have a baby is no bueno. It was really fun to go help and hang out! But none of these pictures can be explained until I talk about my journey getting to Philadelphia...

So...

My flight leaves at 9:05 in the morning. It takes about 45 minutes to get there. I tell my buddy that's taking me to the airport that I need him at my house by 6:45 at the latest. No big deal he says...

WELL.
His phone doesn't go off. I really didn't judge him at all and I wasn't even upset with him. It happens to everyone and he's a super responsible kid. It was just a little inconvenient. I call him about 5 minutes before he's supposed to get to my house...wake him up...and he says he'll get there as soon as he can....

there's just one problem....

he lives about 45 minutes away....

welcome to singles in the midwest. None of us live by each other. He was the only one not working Saturday morning AND he's my home teacher so I thought he would be the best option.

Anyway, he gets to my house about 7:20 or so. He feels super bad but I tell him don't even worry about it. Southwest is usually super fast and if I'm there about an hour ahead I'll be fine...

or so I thought...

First of all this kid drives like a maniac which makes me super nervous. That day, however, he didn't drive like a maniac at all...and what's funny is I was kind of hoping he would so we would get there faster...interesting how that works.

There is construction, of course.

So we FINALLY get there with about an hour before my flight takes off.

I HAVE NEVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE THIS IN MY WHOLE LIFE.

Apparently southwest planned for all of their flights to leave at the exact same time. They had us looped through the entire zigzag line in front AND THEN had us looping around the back of the airport through the employee hallways....

Wrap your mind around that. If I were to guess how long the line was I would say between 3-4 football fields.

IT. WAS. NUTS.

So I start to panic. There is NO WAY I'm gonna make this flight. My sister is pregnant, I don't know how the next flight would be and yadda yadda yadda.

So I'm talking to the lady next to me in the eternal line and we're just discussing how amazing this is and how nobody had ever seen anything like it. She asks where I'm going and why and I tell her and that my flight leaves at 9:05. I told her my sister was about to go into labor (which may or may not have been a small exaggeration, but throw me a bone. I needed to get on a flight. It could've happened!) and that her husband was out of town.

This woman was awesome! She gets all excited and says "Babies don't wait!! You have to cut!! Start asking people to get in front of them!!". I was super hesitant because I didn't want to be annoying. But by about 8:35 I was freaking out because we were still in the part of the line in outer darkness. So this lady goes with me to the front of the line and basically tells people there that I have to get in. I proceed to tell them my sister is going to go into labor...again, don't judge me - It could've happened...and a super nice guy lets me cut in front of him to check my bag. Once I get it checked I SPRINT to security.

I pick the ONE line where captain chatty is checking everyones tickets and IDs...

Then I hear a flyer's worst nightmare....

"this is the final boarding call for all passengers on southwest flight 2424 to Philadelphia. Final boarding call"

....so I start cutting again. I don't remember what was said or done, but there is a small possibility that I might have said that my sister was actually in labor and I had to get on that flight. Captain chatty is talking to people about there upcoming trips. "Oh you goin to Disney Land? You gonna ride any rides? I hear the weather is real nice! What's your name? Oh yeah? How old are you?"...I was amazed at this man. His co-workers right next to him looked up and saw the gi-NORMOUS line and tried to light a fire under it. But oh, no, no, no! Not him!

So when I get up there I again hear my nightmare confirmed...but now worse...

"Passenger Lunt for flight 2424 to Philadelphia. Please report to gate B19. Passenger Lunt. Your plane is ready for takeoff"...

So again I RUN to the security line. Kind people let me cut in front of them. I finally got all my stuff through the scanner. I grab my belt and don't even think about putting it back on and I BOOKED IT across the midway airport. My lungs felt like fire. I blew into the gate like Kramer and BARELY made it onto the plane. They closed the doors maybe three minutes after I got on gasping for breath.

It was ridiculous.

Also my luggage didn't make it on that flight so we had to come back to the airport later that day to get it.

Either way it was darn near amazing that I made it onto that flight. I never want to repeat that experience again. It's not good for your nerves.

But on a lighter note!

Here is a recap of my trip!

My niece, Rachel. She and I were buddies when they lived in Provo. I'm still her favorite aunt :)

Rachel had been really concerned about the fact that I didn't get my luggage and I think it exhausted her. So she passed out. Lincoln was cranky because they were waiting at the airport forever and he needed a nap.

He feels better if he holds Melanie's hand though. I thought that was cute.

The Liberty Bell. I had to fight my way through a bunch of tourists that I'm pretty dang sure weren't even American....

Independance Hall. Melanie was looking pretty pregnant and she noticed one of the security guards was eyeing her and her condition...so she stuck out her belly even farther. He came over and offered to let us go to the front of the line so she wouldn't have to stand. It pays to be with child.

This is the courtroom in Independance hall. They used to make the prisoners stand in the center in what looks like a cage. I think that would have an effect on the jury:)

Also don't be jealous of how put together I look. You can accomplish this too if you just wear dirty clothes and have your hair in a nasty bun. It's that simple! :)

This was another day. Washington Memorial Chapel. It was really pretty. Also I wanted to show how pregnant Melanie was - well I guess is. She still hasn't had her baby. She's ticked.

Lincoln is so dang funny. He likes to jump off of anything and everything. Each time he says "big jump!" My favorite is how none of my nieces and nephews can pronounce my name. He shortened it the most though. The most common phrase I hear from him was "Na! Ook! Bih Jum!"...translation: Deanna! Look! Big Jump! :)

Another "bih jum!"

These kids are stinkin cute. We had a good time.

I thought this was beautiful.

Pregnancy has never looked so good...

Lincoln likes to be sung to at night. So Melanie was in there singing them to bed and he wanted to cuddle. How convenient baby Hannah was right there. I thought this was hilarious so I took a picture.

The Friday I was there we had a princess birthday party for Rachel. We got out her princess tent that she got from her grandpa and grandma Danielson. It was a hit.

All the little girls at the party making princess cupcakes. Also Lincoln.

So one of the little girls at Rachel's party is at least a year younger than the others...and the social development differences between children that have just barely turned three and just barely turned four are pretty different....watch the video to see....

Talk about yer' Party Foul.

Tearing open the presents. She got some good ones.

But this one might be my favorite. Soooooo one of her friends bought her this outfit. We added the t-shirt underneath. It consists of a tiara that looks mostly like showgirl feathers. A choker. A mid-drift tube top. A mini skirt with mesh on the bottom. And a pair of heels. Yikes. Melanie and I were discussing today that we wouldn't be that sad if it accidentally fell apart...

And now the moment you've all been waiting for...

Epic.....

Here is the documenting of the run. My camera was turned sideways...which apparently is only autofixed on my camera and not anything else. Oops. You still get the idea. Also listen to what Melanie says/sings. I think it's funny.

Remembering not to forget

2010-08-17T08:42:00.000-07:00

I didn't really get to document the little things in my college years very well. When I was in Utah I wanted to try to capture some of the old memories. One of my favorite things that I miss so much was being able to go on a walk and end up in a completely isolated area in the foothills somewhere. Mountains are my favorite.
I decided to relive a walk that I took a lot. One that my roommate and I discovered when we were juniors in college.
It starts....
walking by this beautiful apple orchard...

always seeing at least a few deer...

walking past the state hospital and up a hill and falling upon this...

wandering around the castle ampitheater and feeling a little bit like a kid that just found a super awesome spot to play make-believe in...

seeing a great view of Provo and the greater Utah valley...

Finding great spots to do photo shoots...(I took a lot of engagement pictures over the years at this castle in the woods. It was perfect!)

Seeing where Juliet would have stood...(though obviously this balcony does have a flaw....)

and then we get really adventurous....

you hop this fence...

wander around for a while in the foothills and then accidentally fall upon this...

for some reason the grass was dead this year in the middle, almost like it was intentional. I hope they're not planning on building something there. Catherine and I found this place by accident and I wish the pictures did it justice. A bunch of trees had grown together in a clump and the branches had grown together on top making a tunnel. It was really hot and sunny the day we found it so walking into a shaded, quiet retreat was awesome. Again, I promise it was a lot prettier when we first found it over 4 years ago haha!

Then if you wander around a little while longer you'll make your way out of the woods and onto a surface street in Provo, not to far from....

7 PEAKS!!! I had a summer pass to this after I graduated from BYU. It was awesome. A little gem in Provo. So nice on hot summer days.

Next up: Philadelphia and the running of the Rocky stairs....

This one is for Taryn...and all the rest of my girls:)

2010-08-12T15:34:00.000-07:00

I've been super super lucky in that I was able to meet a group of amazing girls my freshman year and we have been friends ever since! Even as some were getting married or moving or whatever we always tried to do a girls' night once a month and we really were able to keep that going until this last year where most of us moved away. But we always still try to stay in contact and whenever someone comes into town we try to get together with whoever is there. My wonderful friends came through and FIVE of us were able to get together while I was in Utah!!! It was so great!! I really wish Erin, Natalie, Angie and Meg could've been with us but we're grownups now and don't all live within a ten minute drive like we used to:)

We all got together at Amanda's cute house. Amanda made some AMAZING cinnamon rolls that were about the death of me. Her little boy Jack is SO BIG! He is going to be a cute older brother:)

Jenny was in town!! Her and her husband had just moved from Minnesota to Texas and she just happened to be in town visiting family. I am a lucky girl!! And I got to see her beautiful new little girl, Maddie (full name Madlyn...and I have no idea on any of the spelling).

I don't even know if you can tell in these pictures, but her children have the most perfectly shaped heads. I know that's a pretty weird thing to notice, but my family makes babies with funny lookin noggins so we tend to notice:) Also her babies have gorgeous blue eyes.

Taryn and Amanda holding down the couch:) Taryn's little girl Olivia is ADORABLE!! So cute. She's got some rockin baby blues too. I'm so glad that all of my friends have really attractive kids haha. It makes my life so much easier.

Ok, so this was hilarious to me. Apparently Jack once had a boo-boo on his nose that they applied neosporan (or however you spell it) too. So now anything that resembles some type of antibiotic ointment he applies to his face. So he also loves chapstick, and was putting it all over himself. We found him outside the door like this:

What you can't see is he then proceeded to get it into his eyes. He was making some pretty funny faces and I had a hard time not laughing as Amanda kept telling him that he can't put chapstick in his eyes. Also when she told him that he's not allowed to pick up poop. Kids are hilarious to me.

My fantastic friends!!!! We are really proud of this picture because it was our first shot of the day with the self-timing camera and we actually all look normal in it!!!! There were some hilarious ones to follow on other people's cameras. Who has those anyway, ladies?

I love that Liz and I are holding down the title of 'cool, single friends' in back:) So wonderful of her to take off work and come down from Treemonton! Seriously those were some of the best hours I've had this whole year. In the over 7 years that we've all known eachother, everyone that has gotten married got married in the temple to GREAT guys, some have had BEAUTIFUL children and all have finished or are finishing school and are being awesome women and moms. They're all such amazing examples! I can look at their lives and know that it's possible to have marriages and families like that and be strong in the gospel. My single friends have been such great examples too and we sympathize with eachother's struggles:) I'm so glad I know all of you!!! Love you guys!!!

Another post with pictures!! You lucky ducks:)

2010-08-11T10:27:00.001-07:00

For those of you that have just tuned in, I'm finally updating my blog with pictures! I did a MASSIVE post yesterday so make sure not to miss it:)

I'm realizing that posts covering multiple days and events are just overwhelming...so I'm just going to do one event at a time...so here's Utah!!!!

Dale took me to the Ben Fold's concert at the Deer Valley Ampitheatre as a graduation present. He played with the Utah Pops Symphony that I've seen a couple times, once while they backed up Gladys Knight. So good!!! Thanks, Dale!!!

So this guy kicked me a couple times and then seemed to always find his bum really close to our heads...so of course we captured the moment here....

and here.....

This is the theater. It's a temporary one because it's set up right on a ski hill. So gorgeous!! There are amazing condos to the east of the lodge and theatre that I'm sure you have to sell your first born to own. It's mostly retired people that worked for really impressive companies and now spend their summers vacationing in their condos and drinking wine. At one point in the concert Ben looked up at them and said hey to all the people in the condos, and then said "don't worry--when I'm done you can crank back up your Jimmy Buffett." I laughed. A lot.

He sang a song he wrote about a town he once drove through called Effingham--That's totally by my home town!!! I may or may not have yelled, loudly, 'I'm from there!!!'. It was awesome. The town really is hilarious. Besides the fact that it's called Effingham - seriously - their high school mascot is the Flaming Heart - seriously - and when I was in high school they were the only school in our entire division to have a guy cheerleader...and he was EXTREMELY homosexual. Your mascot is a flaming heart and you're their gay cheerleader?? You can't make that stuff up....

His voice was a little under the weather but overall it was still an awesome concert!!!!! He played some of my favorites that made me so happy. He likes him a little bit of colorful language which I think made some of the symphony members extremely uncomfortable. I don't support bad language at all....but some of their faces were a little funny to watch :)

More to come!!!

The moment you've all been waiting for...

2010-08-10T13:10:00.000-07:00

I'M UPLOADING PICTURES!!!!!!

What's bogus is they may not be that exciting, but now everyone can know what's going on in my year of being twenty five and fabulous....

This will potentially be a really long post so I'll try to dispense with a lot of wordiness, though I make no promises :)

We'll start from oldest to newest...well, as old as the pictures on my camera get...which is around May. And actually this may not be truly chronological because I can't remember certain dates of when some stuff happened and I'm not sure why I'm even going into detail explaining this because none of you were really there....so it doesn't matter!!! N E WAY--

GRADUATION, June 14th commencement:

We had full cap and gown...I also had gold ropes to indicate I was graduating with honors....didn't get those at BYU :)
This is Julio the hairdresser. We both won special awards. His was for looking put together and saucy every day.....mine....was NOT. I got mine for highest GPA. There was no way on this green earth anyone was gonna give ME an award for getting ready for school. Just ask my sister Sarah. She saw me leave every morning...

This is Kim Vo. I LOVE him. He came and spoke at our commencement. For those of you that watch reality TV at all he has the show Shear Genius. He has 4 super high end salons throughout the west coast and his own product line and a bunch of other stuff and is genuinely a really nice person. He didn't toot his own horn at all during his speech and tried to give really helpful advice on job searching and all that. I walked up to him afterward and told him I was born in the west and would love to move back and if I move to the Bay area would he hire me?? :) I think he liked my boldness so he told me to come look him up because he would remember me. Woot woot!!!!

CLOCK OUT Jun15th, my official leaving of hair school:

This is Linda, my very first client. I love her!!!!! She came to me at least twice a week for 6 months. She is a flight attendant and likes her hair teased and stiff but doesn't like to do it herself. I totally respect that. I shampooed and styled her and colored and cut when she needed it. She was the funniest and super thoughtful. She appreciated that I was a responsible adult, or that I was at least trying to be. She tried to give me dating advice a lot. I think we had a few different opinions but I still was grateful :)

Linda brought me this cake as well as balloons and a gift certificate to New York and Co. because I love that store. She was wonderful.

Gina clocked out the same day as me. People bought us some swag to wear.

Clocking Out!!!!
Tradition is to run through streamers in the hallway. No, I don't run like that normally. I was just trying to make sure to get them all.

I got them all :)

This is my friend Jessica from the single's branch out here. I am so grateful for this girl!!!! She is really upbeat and we got to be pretty good friends. She started hair school a couple months after me and it was so nice having a friend there that didn't do crazy drugs or a million other uncomfortable things!

Jess (from above) and my buddy Jason decorated the entry way to my house while I was at the commencement ceremony to tell me congrats. I thought that was so nice of them! They didn't want me to come home to an empty house haha.

LADY ANTEBELLUM AND TIM MCGRAW CONCERT, June 26th (I think):

In the car on the way there!! Jason and Jess, the same friends that decorated my house. Great kids:)
This is the lead male singer for Lady A. You may not be able to tell in this picture, but this man is extremely attractive, tall, AND can sing. I support him.

Workin the crowd.

Up-close shot. Is it sad that I took a picture of the big screen? We had lawn seats that were actually pretty good but cameras don't do justice.

OK I know that this is probably a gross picture but I was laughing pretty hard. Lots of women come to these concert trying to look all foxy as if somehow Tim McGraw is going to leave his absolutely BEAUTIFUL and successful wife and be with them. Anyway, it was a really hot and humid day and these girls did not plan well. The chick on the left has crazy back sweat, and, well, it's obvious what's happening to the girl in the middle ahahahaha. Oh bless her heart.

The dramatic curtain drop on Tim.

And here's Timmy. I got in a discussion with a girl a few weeks before the concert about the attractivness of Tim McGraw. I just didn't see it and she was so convinced that he was super good looking. I thought she was crazy. I take it ALL back. He was doing just. fine.

Yay for concerts!! The two other people in here are my other good girlfriend from the branch, Emily and our friend Jake. I'm trying to take the picture and I'm lookin awkward.

FRONTIER DAYS, or actually it might have been prairie days...eh. July 3rd:

The significance of this?? We were listening to the lead singer of Stix. All the classy mid-west people were rocking out. It was awesome. I think his name is Dennis DeYoung. He was actually doing the robot to the Mr. Roboto song...maybe the worst robot I've ever seen. So funny.

FIREWORKS! July 4th:

So I hung out with Jess and Emily's families on the fourth of July and we walked to a park to watch fireworks. They were pretty good! This is more evidence of the fact that I'm just not very good at taking pictures of people when I'm trying to be in them...

Try again....
And I still fail....oh well!

And I think that gets everyone up to date on what's been happening...in Illinois. I haven't even touched my Utah and Philadelphia trips yet, but I've been on this thing FOREVER so I should probably try to go accomplish something else today...like a shower. More to come tomorrow!!!!

Up to my knees in mp3s

2010-07-30T09:06:00.000-07:00

Who has two thumbs and stayed up till 3:30 in the morning attempting to clean up her itunes files???.........this guy!!!!

It has been about 5 years since I've attempted to clean up my itunes. I had started to once and then one of my roommates was using my computer and magically erased my itunes library. Luckily it was backed up, but the not-cleaned-up version....so I lost motivation and just let it go wild.

It. was. a. MESS.

I had the Braveheart soundtrack 4 times....FOUR TIMES....Seriously?

And I had the complete Star Wars soundtrack at least twice as well as Lord of the Rings and some other random stuff.....maybe my computer likes to make duplicates of epic film soundtracks??

I also have every R.E.M. song....ever....and plenty of other ridiculously random things.

I spent a little over 6 hours working on it yesterday and will spend a couple more today...but you know what's really sad? That's JUST the music in my itunes folder...which is about 12 gigs....

I have at least 20 more gigs of music on my computer/on DVDs Dale burned them to for me when my computer couldn't handle all of the files.....SO MUCH MUSIC.

So cleaning my itunes out is really a baby step....

Just keep swimming.

Just keep swimming......

Frustration

2010-07-27T19:15:00.000-07:00

So I was all pumped to actually upload some pictures up here for all you, my faithful fans...which is probably no one since I post something every few months...

So I get all excited and write my little blurb and go to upload the photo............

and it won't work. I don't know if it's just tonight that it won't work or what. It kept saying it was trying to send the info to the blogger website. I'm ticked. My computer won't connect to the internet at the house I'm staying at, so I took it on over to the public library and set up shop. So now I'm just sitting here....staring at all of the Indian people studying for various medical and law exams....and just staring at my computer hoping it will magically work as I go in and out of facebook.

Boo, archaic Dell computer. Boo.

*don't you all worry. I'll figure this thing out. But not tonight...because the library closes soon :)

My roommate is a WIZARD

2010-07-25T14:39:00.001-07:00

Ok...can we talk about my roommate Catherine??

Now I know we aren't technically roommates anymore, but come on...we lived together for basically six years....she'll always be my roommate :)

ANYWAY, this girl is ridiculous...in a good way!!! She is just one of the most brilliant musicians I have ever met, on top of being a loyal friend and a beautiful woman.

She and I both struggle I think with being vulnerable...meaning we just don't like to do it. Who does??!! But I think we've both in our own ways been trying to open up more to different possibilities and directions in life...I know that's really vague...but I'm still working on being vulnerable :)

She has been able to really open up and expose herself through her music which is just so amazing to me. I only sing what's written for me and I've found that I am able to lightly tap into my experiences and emotions and I can portray that in what I do...but it's still through someone else's words or melodies. I never really put it all out there....ever. She has opened up her mind and even let people see into her heart through her art and I admire and respect that so much.

So at risk of just babbling on forever and ever about this girl, because I really can...ask anyone....I'm the best PR rep she has :)....I'll just stop right now and post a link to her blog. Some of her posts are really insightful to not just her, but I think a lot of people that read them...because you feel like she's writing things that you were feeling but didn't know how to think or say....AND you HAVE to listen to her music!!!!! The variety is endless, but I really love her latest full track she posted. It's called "trapeze"...

Listen and weep....I did!!!

http://catherinepapworth.blogspot.com/

I love you, Cat!!! I'll talk to you SO soon!!!

An announcement

2010-07-18T16:24:00.000-07:00

I got a digital camera!!! That means more blog posts and there will actually be interesting pictures....well interesting to me:) I'm in Utah right now without the cord to upload the pictures...but they will come soon!!! Get excited....

Oh hey

2010-04-20T18:23:00.000-07:00

Soooo...it's my twenty fifth birthday next friday....and I think that's a little weird....

One of my best friends and roommate of about six years and I were talking a couple months back and we were both thinking about the change from 18 yrs old to now. What was really funny is we both really thought that we would have everything figured out by 24. It just made sense and seemed like such a refined age. We would be done with school, at least moderately successful in our fields of study and we would meet great guys and be in functional relationships and then get married when in our twenty fourth year and everything was going to be great...a couple laughs later we both commented on how twenty for had come and was going....and it seems a lot of our plans didn't work out for us....

we both finished our majors though...so that counts for something....right?? :)

Cat and me at age twenty....we were just babies!!!! :)

This thing confuses me

2010-02-28T13:16:00.000-08:00

So I started another blog as a project for school. Artsy hair stuff, ya know? And I can't figure out how to do separate profiles...so there is a goofy profile on my regular blog that doesn't make any sense. But if you want to see it in context check out my other one I'm working on.

hair-d-sign.blogspot.com

If anyone is super blog savvy I could use help.....

"Agh. I forgot."

2009-12-21T18:29:00.000-08:00

This is I think the most common phrase I utter. And you wanna know what's really sad?? It's completely true. I have zero memory. Ever. I forget EVERYTHING.

"Hey did you bring *insert any given item here* like I asked you??" as spoken by friends, family, coworkers, etc.

'Oh dang it!! I forgot!'

"Did you go through your finances like I wanted you to?" usually said by Mom

'Aaagh, sorry. I totally spaced it."

"Were you able to do that for me?"

'Oh, no, sorry. I totally ran out of time/forgot.'

And the list goes on and on....

Though I stalk her blog and am so excited for her new baby, still consistently forget to call Brooke to say congrats.

I also forget to call back almost everyone that calls me in a timely fashion. This includes some of my voice students. Not good policy.

I always forget to write missionaries. This is one of the ones that frustrates me the most. Almost all of my guy friends that went on missions I didn't write at all, maybe one letter. I think I wrote one of my best guy friends 8 or 9 times and I thought I was awesome.
One of my best friends, Liz, just got home from her mission....I wrote her maybe 6 or 7 times....half of those being in the last month and a half she was out....better late than never, right??? The other sad thing is she got home from her mission almost 2 weeks ago and I didn't know....why?? Because I always forgot to read the letters her mom would forward me because I would forget to check my yahoo account I rarely get into. I've been wanting to call her since she's been back. Honestly I've been burning both ends of the candle...but I also keep forgetting to find out her number....I'm an awful friend.
My little brother has been out on his mission since July....and I have written him ONCE. Make that twice...but I never sent the second one because it wouldn't make it to him before he left the MTC.....I stink.

Do you see how this is a problem??? I'm ruining relationships and probably people's lives!!! No wonder I've never been given a calling that would have me be responsible for people throughout the week or why my family gets weary asking me to do anything. Maybe that's why I'm perpetually single too:)

Other things I've forgotten, recently or not:

Send jewelry back with Chad after Laura's wedding for Jocey and Lucy.
Bring black fabric for Melanie.
Bring a dress to wear to church when I was home (thank you April for the use of your closet)
Nail polish remover for Laura's girl party.
Mail package for Sarah (that was actually a combo of not having time and forgetting going back and forth)
In general I forget directions to places. Ask my friend Amanda. I think I called her every single time I was going to her house except once.

I forgot to 1) Call Dale on his birthday. I actually called but just because I wanted to say hi...so mostly I forgot it was his birthday. 2)Forgot to mail him his birthday card 3) forgot to bring the birthday card with me when I went to Utah 4) Still haven't mailed the card...why??? Because I keep forgetting. He, however, remembered that I forgot to get stephen's hot cocoa when I was in Utah and mailed it to me....because he is a good friend...and I stink.

There are a million other things I have recently and not so recently forgotten...but I can't remember them right now.

People not mentioned before I keep forgetting to call:
Kara
Michelle
Jenny
Amanda
Taryn
Angie
Amy
Danelle
Alexis
Jennica
Erin
Cheri
Marc
David
Dave
Dr. Coles (multiple years of forgetting)
Ms. Rappe (also multiple years of forgetting)
Grandma Bushman
Grandpa and Grandma Lunt
various aunts and uncles
cousins (especially Ashley and Becca whom have physically called me and I didn't return phone calls).....

and many many more, just to name a few. Don't be offended if you're not on this list...it could just go forever.

There are hundreds of cards I probably should have mailed, hundreds of texts I should have sent and hundreds of notes I should have written....but I keep forgetting.

So don't take it personally anyone if I don't call you, write you, fulfill responsibilities towards you etc.

I truly and honestly never mean to not do something....
I just.....
forget......

Sooooo....about that concert

2009-11-28T06:41:00.000-08:00

A lot of you probably know....but the concert got postponed:(

I was JUST walking onto the airplane when I got a call from Dale asking if I had talked to Catherine in the last few minutes....which I hadn't. The conversation went about like this....

Dale" ummmm.....I just went on smith ticks to see about getting a ticket.....and it said your concert is postponed till February 19th....

Me "......what?!?"
Dale "yeah"
Me "Are you serious?"
Dale "yes"
Me "Are you joking? You're joking. Are you serious? You're joking. That's really not a funny joke if you're joking"
Dale "No I'm not joking I'm totally serious! They posted it just a little while ago. I haven't gotten a hold of Cat yet so I don't know if she knows...."
Me".........uhhhhh......"
Dale "Yeah"
Me ".......welp.......guess I'm takin a weekend trip to Utah then!"

And basically that was it. Not sure if I will be able to make it back out to see billy joel and elton john which makes me sad. Doubt I can raise those funds. I'm going to make a tip jar to put in front of my clients to let them know if they tip me they are sending me to see the concert. I think it's a noble cause. Maybe McDonald's will back me up too:)

Either way I was happy to go to Utah. I was able to see a lot of friends and see Laura and Jay. She and I were goofy so I bet it made Jay even more excited to be stuck with our family FOREVER hehe.

I stayed with my old roommate Michelle whom I actually didn't get to hang out with that much which was sad. I was all over the place. I owe you Shellroni!! My other roommate Kara was at home in Washington which was sad too. She's great! Love both of them!

I still don't have a digital camera so again this will be a boring post, but here is a rundown of what went down:

Friday:
Went to campus, bought some stuff at the bookstore, had lunch with Laura and Jay, ran into a couple peeps hadn't seen in a while, ran into an ex-boyfriend whom is still a girl, went to singers rehearsal (choir I was in for a while) which was awesome, saw my friend PJ who always makes me happy, picked Cat up from airport, went to dinner at pirate island (I got a hat) went to icecream because I'm a heffer and talked with friends for the rest of the night....
**deep breath**
Saturday: Went with dale to see dave's soccer game which they won, visited brady, taryn and new baby Olivia whom I hadn't seen yet, went to BYU football game GO COUGS!!! Went to Red Robin where Dale spit strawberry lemonade at my new white shirt which I might have deserved because I spit ice at him because I'm immature, visited Taryn and Brady again so I could give Taryn a haircut which made me happy went back and talked with friends for a long time.....so when SUNDAY rolled around I was dog tired at church but I loved seeing my old ward.......
and then I went home.

It was a really short trip which was sad, but really good to see everyone. I'm sad I didn't get to see Amanda or Alexis and I'm sure some others but hopefully I can see you guys when I'm out for Laura's reception in January.

Well that's the update!!! I'll try to do something about pictures so these posts aren't so boring. If anyone feels like putting together a fund for billy joel and elton john concert....let me know :)

I'M ALIVE!!!

2009-11-09T09:54:00.000-08:00

Hello, all!!

So my friend Erin reminded me that many of you I haven't talked to in a while....like 5 months.....sorry!!! I'm alive! And I love and miss you all!!

Here's a briefer of what's going on:

I live in the northwest suburbs of Chicago in Schaumburg. It's really really flat out here.....all sense of direction I ever had has hit the fan. Oh well!!! I think I'm better than I was when I was in high school at least. I live with my sister, Sarah and her family. They're really good sports to have me around. I'm busy with school and work and being crazy so I'm sure it's stressful. I think her kids resented me at first but hopefully it's getting better haha.

I just finished my 3rd month of cosmetology school...only 7 more to go!!! I really hope they go by fast. I haven't particularly enjoyed it but I've done really well...so at least I don't stink at it! I'm also teaching about 12 private voice students which takes up quite a bit of time. Most of them are through a music academy in the area. It's nice because they find the students for me, but not as nice because I make about half as much as I would if I found the students on my own. I have a week off from school this week though so hopefully I can do some networking and get more in my private studio.

My church branch out here is.....well....small. There are on average about 15-18 active young single adults, sometimes more sometimes less. It's definitely a learning experience. Lot's of opportunity to serve!! The branch members are really good kids and are really strong which is great.

Chicago is awesome. I would love to actually live in the city someday. I've only visited a few times but I really enjoy it. I like just walking around and looking at stuff and it's perfect for that! I've met some other people from the Chicago wards that I've hung out with a couple times in the city which has been fun. They know their way around which is pretty nice.

Sooooo...I really miss Utah....whoever thought I would say that?!:) My heart hurts for the mountains and being outside and all my friends...but I'm coming to visit in a few weeks to see the BILLY JOEL AND ELTON JOHN concert!!!! Yay for radio stations:) So I'll get to see a lot of you out there which will make me so dang happy.

Well that's the briefer. I'll get some pictures up here soon and some more specific stories....but for now just want to let you all know I'm here and I love and miss you all wherever you are!

Change in plans

2009-07-13T12:10:00.000-07:00

So I'm no longer moving at the end of August...I'm moving at the beginning....gulp...

I'm leaving August 7th to drive out to the good 'ol mid-west. For those of you in UT, we'll probably be doing a going-away par-tay the 31st of July....so pencil me in because I want to see everyone! I'm already getting pretty sad:(

Also if anyone is looking for some good finds I'm doing a big moving sale this saturday, the 18th, on my front lawn (68 N 700 E). I've got tons of appliances, matching dishes, bookshelves, art pieces, all kinds of good stuff that I can't fit in my little car...so come on out and look through everything!

So I'm dating someone....I think.....

2009-06-18T09:02:00.000-07:00

I'm pretty sure I have a boyfriend.....

I don't know his name......

age......

or really anything else about him.....

But I'm pretty sure we're dating......we just HAVE to be......it's a FOR CUTE story....
I'll tell you ALL about it.....

It all started when I was flying back from Seattle this past weekend....
I was feeling pretty jazzed about the fact that even though I was "B" boarding group (all you southwest flyers will feel me on that one) I was able to get an exit row seat. That means leg room galore.

Then I met him....well I guess we didn't really meet....but I can tell he wants to date me.

How, you ask???

Well it started like this....

First he was REALLY THOUGHTFUL and wanted to share the arm rest, but then I think wanted to sit even closer so he just put his arm completely over it so it hovered above my leg.....so precious.

THEN he leaned over to the left, past his seat and over into mine, so that way his shoulder was in front of mine and I had to lean back really far into my seat or lean all the way forward...but I know he was just trying to put on the moves.

THEN he had his leg go UNDERNEATH the arm rest so that way it was on my seat.....I know he was just trying to be close.

THEN he had his elbow WAY over into my seat while he was reading his magazine. He must have been trying to smell my sweet perfume because he kept his magazine really far to the side so every time he turned a page I had to lean back to miss his elbow....so romantic.

THEN when the lady handed us our thin crisp crackers he took mine, and then looked at me to see if I actually wanted it....turns out I did, so he gave it to me.....such a gentleman.

He was so smitten with me that he managed to be touching me the entire 1 hour and 40 minute plane ride. Can a girl get so lucky???

I REALLY knew it was love though, when he ATE MY COMPLIMENTARY PEANUTS when I was turned around......

See????

we MUST be dating!!!

We're even sharing FOOD!!!!!!!!

It's just SOOOOOOOOOOO magical.

True we never actually talked, and he is probably in his mid 40s, but I just know we're meant to be together....I KNOW it......

otherwise how could one explain such forward, romantic behavior????

...........

Now to reality.

I. almost. killed. him.

my thought processes were these:

'well, he is Indian by heritage...maybe in India they all stand really, REALLY close so he doesn't have any space boundaries??? Or maybe they have the type of culture that puts men really far above women so he's just acting normally and doesn't realize it's rude??'......

he talks to the flight attendant....definitely from America.

'well, well, well maybe there is something really wrong with his arm so her has to keep it really bent and sticking out all weird in people's faces?'

......then begins his yawning, stretching and brief arm folding phase.....yeah....the arm is fine

'hmmmmm....well MAYBE I'm on the VH1 show called boiling point where someone is set up by their friends and a REALLY annoying person does something for a certain amount of time and if you don't DESTROY them then you win $100 dollars!......'

..........

nope...no $100 dollars

'ok. that's it. I'll just fidget really bad so he's just shaking right along with me and maybe he'll go back to his space'....

....he held strong, EVEN when I was pumping my leg so hard I was practically sweating....

'dirty looks??'

....nope. Doesn't even phase him....

'stealing the arm rest when he leans forward?'

.....nope he just puts his on the empty space and gradually moves back until I' m forced to retreat again....

'rolling and flicking a booger on him?'

...yes I was getting desperate....no I didn't actually do it.....

'well maybe I'll just lean forward on my tray and try to take a nap'

....I put my head on my arms and I open my eyes and low and behold....there's my boyfriends hand. RIGHT. THERE. about 2 inches from my chest.....but that was probably my fault....I shouldn't have leaned forward if he's planning on being halfway in my seat.....

So BASICALLY I was going crazy. I don't know if I've ever been so annoyed with someone I've never actually talked too.....that's about it.

Also he took his SWEET time getting off the plane.....AWESOME.

Moving Date

2009-06-12T09:40:00.000-07:00

Sorry I didn't post a date! I'll be moving middle to end of August...somewhere in there. So I'll still be in Utah for a few more months.

Oh yeah....I'm moving

2009-06-11T07:06:00.000-07:00

So I briefly mentioned it in my last post....but this may be news for some......

I'm moving. Yay.
Though very sad. I have so many good friends in UT and turns out I'm not as good at making new ones as I used to be. I'm sure it will be fine though.

I'll be living with my oldest sister, Sarah, and her babies....I love babies!!!

Also I may go to cosmetology school if I can swallow my pride. It's something I've always liked and been good at, and I can make more money doing that as a side job then being a receptionist. Shocking. The issue is hair school girls didn't portray the finest of the Provo social scene while I was here....but I have very normal, attractive, and functional cousins who did it so I'm hoping I'll meet their equivalent if I go....because if it's me and the 18 yr olds I may struggle....being an old maid and all:)

Anyway I want to see everyone in Utah before I go! So freshman year ladies, we better have a party...or just eat some dessert somewhere...I'm good for whatever! :)

Split ends and recreation

2009-06-11T06:50:00.000-07:00

So I don't know if it's a bad diet or just dry Utah....but my hair gets gnarly split ends.

GNARLY.

It actually drives me crazy. Especially because I really didn't get them before.

But not only that, it tends to manifest my O.C.D. tendancies....

How you ask? Let me tell you about my in between patients recreation at work.....

It involves

and my hair......for HOURS......

That's right. I go through the ends of my hair and one by one I snip off the split ends....
the only problem is they're growing faster then I can cut them...it's like trying to garden weeds.

I've decided I can't take it anymore. So I'm getting my hair cut next week....and probably going to cut at least 3 inches off to try to make it better....the second saddest part about that (the first being the fact that I love my long hair and don't want it to get any shorter) is that it may not get all the split ends.....I've got problems.

On the bright side, I'm moving to Chicago in August....and I think the humidity might do wonders for my split ends....just not for any other part of me!

Old guys love me....

2009-05-08T09:39:00.000-07:00

So two days ago I had an older gentleman call my office to set up an appointment for a root canal. He was super nice and in a lot of pain and so was just really hoping to get in soon.
Well, as some of you may know, I have an awesome phone voice, which I utilized in this phone call, as i do in every phone call. Also I was nice to the guy (which I always am), but especially because he was such a sweet heart.

Anyway, long story short, someone canceled for an appointment the next day, so I told him I would just squeeze him into our schedule....well he thought I was WONDERFUL. Went on and on about how nice and accommodating I was. Really so cute.

WELL, he came into the office for his appointment yesterday...and he came up to the desk and asked if I was Deanna, to which I responded in the affirmative....

And he gave me a rose!!!!

HAHAHA it was amazing. I was a little shocked and started laughing and I told him no patient has ever given me flowers before. And he just went on and on about how grateful he was that I was so nice to him on the phone and for getting him in so soon. I heard him telling my boss during his root canal how great I was too.

I'm thinking this guy must be a great husband.

Also this makes the second elderly gentleman who thought I was pretty awesome at my work :)

Festival of Colors

2009-04-27T10:56:00.002-07:00

So I may not have a digital camera...but other people do!!! Here are a bunch of pictures that I took from the color festival thrown at the Holi Christna temple (no idea if I spelled that right and I'm too lazy to google it). Basically thousands of people are at the temple and they burn an effigy (sp?) and then people throw colored chalk....EVERYWHERE...it was pretty fun, but I got a couple hand fulls of chalk to the mouth which didn't taste awesome. My boogers ( I know, ewe) were purple for like a week.....enjoy!! :)

I went with my buddy Dale, if you're wondering who the guy is. We're the only hard core friends that wanted to be pelted with colored chalk. We went and bought goggles before hand to protect our eyes because we're brilliant. That top one is the before shot...the after shots follow....

Pay it forward....

2009-04-27T10:56:00.001-07:00

I'm sorry I still haven't gotten the gifts to my Pay it Forward winners!!! So soon, I promise!!!

Posting

2009-04-27T10:41:00.000-07:00

So I think I feel like if I don't have pictures I can't post anything...however I don't have a digital camera...so if I only post when I have pictures...I'll never post anything!!

So here is some updates....

First and foremost....I won MORE concert tickets!!!!!!!!
This time to ELTON JOHN and BILLY JOEL......seriously I'm so dang excited. Catherine (my college roommate for the last 6 years) is a brilliant singer/songwriter and almost a year ago we talked about how amazing it would be to go to this concert and see some of the best at work. Well the cheesy light-rock station I listen to at work was giving them away, so I had to write a fabulously cheesy email about how they're our musical idols blah blah blah but we're too poor to afford tickets blah blah blah (which is totally true...the cheap tickets are still almost $100)...anyway, after 4 emails they called me on my work phone and told me I won!!! And they commented that I had a very lovely phone voice....you BET I do.....

So basically..... I. LOVE. RADIO STATIONS.

In other news....not tons has happened.
Voice lessons are starting to look up...I got destroyed by the end of my college career...probably singing a lot of opera that was too big for me and having teachers that didn't believe me when I said my voice hurt....not all of them...just the ones in the beginning.

ANYWAY

I'm now working with a teacher who is amazing and has a lot of unconventional teaching techniques....which is EXACTLY what I needed. It's been about 6 months and things are finally starting to improve. She has sung everywhere, including the MET and several other amazing houses and still has an active performing career...it's nice to know you're working with someone who not only teaches it but has done it.

ALSO....
I think I would rather be a broadway singer then an opera singer...which probably doesn't come as a huge shock to some. I've got to dust off the old, and I mean OLD, dancing shoes though...apparently you have to be good at that in musical theater :)

Welp...that's about it!!! I'll try to be better about posting...thanks for the encouragement, Erin:)

Pay It Forward

2009-02-18T13:14:00.001-08:00

The first 3 people to leave a comment on this post will receive a hand made gift from me during this year.

When and what it will be is a surprise.

There's a small catch...You knew there would be didn't you? Post this on your blog then come back and leave a comment, telling me you're in.

Fun, huh? Remember, only the first 3 comments receive the gift. Let's see who looks at my blog!

I may not have your home address, so please tell me your e-mail so I can GET your home address! :)

This should be fun!

Sweet Pork Heaven

2009-01-23T07:24:00.000-08:00

All right, folks.
So I love Costa Vida's sweet pork, but I hate paying obscene amounts of money for it. So yesterday I decided I would look up knock off recipes on line and try a few out.... SUCCESS!! And the best part is the easier recipe tasted the awesomest. woot WOOT!

So if any of you are looking to try one out, here is what you need:

3-4 lbs pork shoulder butt
1 Cup Favorite salsa (I'm a wimp so I got the extra mild, but you can go as high as medium; I would recommend blending it so it isn't super chunky; I used pace which worked really well with taste)
1 1/2-2 Cups brown sugar (I went closer to two)

Put everything in the crock pot and slow cook it for all day (I didn't have as much time so I cooked it on high for probably 3 hours and then put it on low for another two)

Shred it and enjoy!
I used their nacho idea and used a foil pie pan. I put in white corn tortilla chips, put black beans on (heated up), put the pork on that then a cheese blend. Put it in the oven on broil for a minute until the cheese is melting. Then I put sour cream and home-made guacamole on top. You can also make a pico de gallo for it, but I'm not a huge tomato fan.

Anyway, there it is...and it is TASTY!

I'm going to figure out the dressing and the rice for the salad next...I'll keep you "posted"....
Get it? Posted?? Like blog posting??? HAHAHAHA :)

N.K.O.T.B.

2009-01-14T14:52:00.000-08:00

Thought I would show the two pictures I have from the concert...basically they just show the excitement in our souls....That's mine and Laura's buddy Dale...our masculine support for the evening.

A POST!

2009-01-14T14:36:00.000-08:00

I know...I know...you're all so pumped that I posted something!! :)
Sorry I'm not a very good blogger. I'm hoping to secure a digital camera so I feel like posting because lets face it...posting with out pictures is BORING...well...most of the time.

N
E
WAY...

So this is more me thinking out loud, and I have no idea how to go about bringing it up, so I'll just bring it up.

I want to start a charity called Foot Rubs and Hugs. I got the idea when I was watching a french film the other night called the butterfly and the diving bell or something like that (again...in french...also it was edited...I suspect the un-edited version is not appropriate for ANY age group).
There is a man who is completely paralyzed from a stroke, and in one scene it shows them rubbing his hands and feet so the joints don't calcify. Laura just got back from Ecuador and she said they had to do that for some of the disabled children they looked after as well. So basically, it comes down to that I want to organize a group of people that if called can go and give foot rubs or hand rubs or just talk to people who are sick or elderly or whatever. Not sure how I'm going to make it all happen...but thought it was a good idea...

Anybody else have suggestions to go along with that or a way to make it happen??

HELP!

2008-12-16T07:33:00.000-08:00

So I'm making chili for the masses tonight (ward activity)...and I don't have a recipe. Anybody have a relatively easy chili recipe that is easily doubled, tripled, or quadrupled?? I need it S.T.A.T.
I have access to several crock pots and I have about 4-5 hours in which to do it. I'm probably gonna need to make enough for 50 people or so...
Thanks my domestic friends!!

This night was number one!!

2008-12-03T10:15:00.000-08:00

So as all my blog followers know...I won tickets to see coldplay...and it was the best concert I have ever been too...but that's not all!!! Let me tell you why it was the greatest...

First, I don't know if I mentioned this before, but we won 4 different tickets. Laura was caller 10 twice...I think it's because she is more righteous then me, because really that is statistically impossible. So that means that Laura, Chelsea (one of her best friends), Catherine (one of my best friends and eternal roommate, we're working on our sixth year together) and myself got to go.

This is the D.J. for the radio station that we won tickets from.

So it went down like this. We got to go to the sound check which was a few hours before the concert. It had been advertised that we would be able to go back stage, meet the band, take pictures and get things autographed...however, all we got to do was watch the sound check, and then the band came down and shook our hands and we all had a group picture...no autographs and no individual pictures. That's okay though because I stood by Chris Martin in the picture and leaned in...it was the best.

So then we had almost 2 hours to kill before the actual concert, so we went to the mall next door and got some deep-fried Chinese food which is always an excellent idea. We went back and bought some concert paraphernalia and went to our free seats, which were WAY up in nose bleed...that was okay because they were free. THEN...

we're sitting there in our upper-bowl nose-bleed seats, and this random guy come up to us and says in a very authoritative tone
"um, excuse me, I'm with the tour...can I please see your tickets?"
us: "um yeah, that's fine"
him: "yeah, could you come with me?"
us: "uh, okay"

so we walk to the portal entrance...
him: "so did you guys win these tickets or something?"
me: "yeah I listened at my work all day, probably gonna get fired"
him: "ah."
.....
me: "I'm sorry, is there a problem with our tickets?"
him: "well, yeah....they're just really bad seats..."
us: " We agree!!"....at this point I think we knew that only good could come from this
him: "sooo, are you guys big fans?"
us: "yeeeeeess..."
him: "are you guys screamers?"
us: "YEEEEEEESS!"
him: "we want to move you to the floor"

AND THERE WAS MUCH REJOICING

Seriously we were screaming for like 5 minutes and we kept hugging him and his buddy and we made them take a picture with us...

So basically we were moved to pretty much the front and the band sweat on us and it was awesome. During one song millions of paper butterflies came out of the ceiling and it was unreal. Plus they are just amazing live and really re-vamped a lot of their songs, had crazy lights, and were just amazing performers...

Slightly demonic looking...but we were trying to get a picture of me with the butterflies

I'm still on a concert high....God Bless America...also the UK...because that's where they're from.

Sorry all of the pictures are blurry!! I'll try to get better quality ones.

I fulfilled a child-hood dream....

2008-12-03T09:12:00.000-08:00

Donnie, Danny, Jonathan, Joey and Jordan....yes....yes I DID see New Kids on the Block in Concert....and it. was. AMAZING!!!!!!!!!

Seriously I have fulfilled a child-hood dream. I didn't know they were coming to Salt Lake until the day before, but on November 15th I was able to go with thousands of other women, most middle-aged and inappropriate, to see the ultimate boy band.

A few highlights:

I would post some videos on here...but all you would hear would be the screaming from the PSYCHOTIC women sitting around us...seriously so intense.

There was a guy behind me...yes, a male at a news kids on the block concert. He was the type of guy you would expect to see at a maybe a Metallica concert or something like that...but that man was a hard core NKOTB fan. He knew ALL the words from ALL of their songs...old and new. One of the funnier things I have ever heard.

I went with Laura and our friend Dale who thought it would be hilarious. He was kind of freaked out by all the cougars everywhere who were scantily clad hoping for a chance with Joey McEntire...again...hilarious. By far my favorite was a woman who was EXTREMELY past her prime, though I'm sure a wonderful lady, who was wearing a shirt that said "It's too late Joey...I'm already married"

I'll get some pictures up here from the concert soon!

I LOVE LIFE!!!!!

2008-11-13T06:04:00.000-08:00

I wasn't sure if yesterday was going to be a good day or not. My phone died during the night so I didn't wake up when I needed to...I found ANOTHER WASP in my room as well as a fly (both of which I terminated immediately)...and due to the full moon, all of the crazies in the greater Utah Valley area came in to see about getting a root canal. So my morning was relatively stressed. Also I got a five dollar footlong at subway and I decided to switch it up and get the chicken pizziola sub...not good. Then, my day took a dramatic turn.

A gentleman who is probably in his 70s came in to pay his and his wife's bill. So after he did that he said
"oh, I have one more question"
(me) "sure, what is it?"
"are your eyes registered?"
(me)......"I'm sorry?"
"are your eyes registered?"
(me)......"I'm sorry sir, I don't think I'm following..."
"You're eyes, they should be registered as lethal weapons!"

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

So basically I got fed a pick up line and I thought it was one of the funnier things I have ever heard. This remark sufficed to make up for all of the stuff before him.

Now for the next thing.
So a local radio station started giving away tickets to coldplay three days ago...I LOVE COLDPLAY...one of my favorite bands. They're playing a concert in Salt Lake on the 22nd, but wouldn't you know it the cheapest tickets are about $75 and those seats aren't even that good. So obviously I couldn't afford to go to the concert. Also Laura (lil sister) and her boyfriend broke up about a week ago, and I was sad for her because he had tickets to the concert which she was obviously uninvited to attend, which brought her sadness. So I wanted to win her and me tickets. The way the radio contest works is you have to listen all day from 9-5 and write down the coldplay song from every hour. I had been faithfully doing that for 2 days. I would stay after work when everyone had left and after I had clocked out...and just listen for the final song and call on my cell phone and the two office phones close to me. (there are 3 lines to the radio station, so I was trying to cover them all) Well the first day after much effort and praying, no luck. So the next day after the second to last song I had an epiphany...why not just call Laura, tell her I'm trying to win us tickets, give her all of the song names, and then just tell her when to call?? I know...genius. It makes me think I should be a manager somewhere, like a cell phone kiosk or something. Anyway, so I called Laura, gave her all the song names, and then told her I would call her when the final song started playing so she would know when to call. She took one line, I took one line, and her friend Katie called the other.............
LAURA WAS CALLER TEN!!!!!! I had given her all of the songs and info she needed so she told the guy everything and we got tickets to the concert, tickets to a pre-show with only a thousand people where they're going to play a little private concert, back-stage passes for after the concert AND $101.90 (the station was 101.9) to buy cold play paraphanelia that the band will sign....

=

my life is complete.

Worst. alarm. ever.

2008-10-31T07:21:00.000-07:00

So this morning I was super excited because I didn't have to be to work until 8...sounds a little sad, but that's starting late for us. I don't have to leave my house till 7:40 so I was planning on sleeping in till about 7:20. I refuse to take any more then 20 minutes to get ready any given morning. This is probably why I'm single, but I really enjoy my sleep so it's totally worth it. Anyway, at seven I stirred from my slumber because I felt something on my arm. I thought maybe it was a hair, but then it felt like it was moving. So I reached back and grabbed it off my arm...and ouch! Whatever it was either bit me or stung me or something, and I'm a little over-concerned about poisonous spiders because one of my friend's owns a pest control business. So I immediately jump out of bed and flip on my light and grab a lamp and start hunting around my room. Then I hear something hitting my light. I look up...and lo and behold there is a huge wasp in my room. I was ticked. I grabbed a shoe and started chasing it around my room. I cornered it and slammed it with my shoe. Only problem is I'm not actually for sure it's dead because when I hit it it flew somewhere. But I don't think it actually flew. I think I hit it so hard it just back-fired under a table or something. Either way, I'm sure I looked like a crazy face running around my room with out of control bed hair and messed up pajamas. Happy stinkin Halloween.

Official official

2008-10-29T08:03:00.001-07:00

So last night some of my buddies called me and asked me to be the line judge at their BYU intramural volley ball game. I told them I was completely unqualified for this and my buddy Cory responded "Are you serious? Can you see lines on wood? Can you tell if things hit to the left or right side of that line? If you answered yes to one or more of these questions, then you are qualified." I thought he made a good point. So then I asked what I should wear...and he told me to look official. I take these instructions literally. My roommate Michelle used to be a ref for bastketball...so she has the official zebra striped shirt. I most definitely borrowed it and looked totally legit. The best part is line refs don't have to be legit...you can wear whatever you want...a kid was there in a suit because he had come from work. This did not phase me. I still rocked the outfit and called it like I saw it...it was awesome. I think I'm going to do it again. It also further confirmed my belief that any one and their dog can ref for BYU intramural sports...hence the reason so many fights break out between refs and students. I only had one kid kind of give me attitude though...and I told him he wasn't the boss of me. I think that threw him off a bit because he didn't talk to me after that.

So....I sing opera.

2008-10-23T10:23:00.000-07:00

I don't have very many pictures of it, but i thought it would be enjoyable for some of you to know that I sing opera. It's fun but tons of hard work...but you wanna know what makes it all worth it???....
THE WIGS!!!! Seriously costumes and wigs were so fun...not so much fun to wear...but definitely fun to look at. Some day I'll post sound clips so y'all can tell me if I'm any good!:)

Maiden Voyage of blogging...

2008-10-23T08:58:00.000-07:00

Well...here is the first post! Only problem is it's not that exciting. I'm just posting to post mostly...so I'll just try to give a quick update of life as is:
I'm the office manager for Utah Valley Endodontics in Orem...and probably my strongest asset is I have a really good phone voice:) It is a good job though and I work with fun people.
I graduated from BYU last April in music...which is why I am working in an office! I'm teaching private voice lessons still. (so if any of you need voice lessons, or you know someone who does this is a shameless plug!!)
I don't know of anything else that exciting...I'm still very single...and I'm still working on singing since I will eventually be going to graduate school in performance, well, at least thats the plan at this point.
So...there you go!! The Maiden Voyage is complete!