It's Finally Over!

I freaking did it! I almost gave up multiple times and I'm honestly all blogged out. It was actually kind of fun and I feel a pretty good sense of accomplishment. I'm not really sure why, but I do.

Thanks for reading, commenting, and baring with me. I know it was kind of intense for those of you who read this too. Thanks. I appreciate it!

I'm taking the next week or so (probably more) off!

DWill

I bought this at the Jazz game last night....

My father has never been so proud.

I've never felt like such a sell out.

I look freakin' hot in it though. Duh.

I'm super excited about my new jersery. Can you tell?

AOTW- Ingrid Michaelson

Artist of the Week:

Ingrid Michaelson

I absolutely love Ingrid Michaelson. Her voice is beautiful and she usually plays the guitar or piano while she sings. She also throws the ukulele in as well which is fairly impressive. She has an acoustic-electric vibe which makes her slow songs uptempo enough that I'm never bored. I think she is beautiful but she just seems normal and real. I like that. I'm sure if we ever met she would totally want to be my friend. No doubt about it.

I think she is amazing on her own however she has some pretty sweet duets with some of my favorite artists including Joshua Radin, Jason Mraz, Sarah Bareilles, and Matthew Nathanson. Fantastical.

There are several songs by her that I put on repeat and listen to five times in a row before I move onto the next song. My favorite choices are The Way I Am, Keep Breathing, Be Okay, You and I (featuring Jason Mraz), Sky (with Joshua Radin).

Get to know Ingrid. You won't regret it!

I found a few clips of here that I really enjoyed. See for yourself:

Live: Breakable

Old Navy Commercial You may recognize her song from this commercial.

Fresh Prince of Bel-Air Funny

Turkey Jive!

Happy Thanksgiving!

The Smelling Diaries - Part 3

The scratch and sniff concept is ridiculous to me. Scratching a sticker, paper, shirt, etc. to then have an aroma produced seems silly. I just don't really understand. Honestly, I never will.

People magazines Sexiest Man Alive issue came out this week. Of course I bought it. I appreciate a sexy man. Anyway, while I was reading I came across an article I never would have anticipated

The Sexy Scents article - Scratch and Sniff style

The deal is they chose some sexy men and fragrances that make them feel sexy. In order to get a whiff of their "sexy scents" you RUB THE CHEST on their picture. HILARIOUS! The whole concept cracks me up

However, the no smell issue made it so I couldn't even enjoy the article. I'm sure if any of you had read the reasons these men gave for there choices you would have nodded your head and thought, "Oh yes, that smells nice." When I read them I thought, "Why is the world would you want to smell like that."

So here is a quick breakdown of the men, their sexy scent, and my thoughts on the matter.

Chase Crawford: Freshly Cut Grass

"I grew up playing a lot of football and golf, and I mowed the lawn as well."

My thoughts: You want to smell like cut grass? You want a girl to cuddle up to you and smell the sweaty outdoorsness of cut grass. Cut grass, weird.

Michael Phelps: L'Homme YSL

"It's good stuff! I got it as a present. I just spray a little of it on my wrist and then on my neck."

My thoughts: First- Do you know how hard it is to find a clothed picture of this man? Practically impossible. In fact, I didn't really find one. Second- I can't say anything about his cologne choice because I know nothing about it. However I can say that I am thankful to Michael for explaining how he puts it on. I would have been so confused about the process of wearing a fragrance if it weren't for him. Wrist first then the neck... interesting.

Taye Diggs- Vanilla, Chocolate, Sandalwood and Musk

"It's part of my little regimen to apply essential oils."

My thoughts: That just sounds like a horrible combination. Vanilla and Chocolate probably mix fine. Sandalwood and Musk probably do alright together as well. However, sweet baking product and essential oils smell good together? I don't think so.

Chris Meloni: A Day at the Beach

"There's just some calming effect about the beach... It's that soft, coconutty, baked, warm sun smell. It's fresh, it's clean, it's natural."

My thoughts: That sounds nice. I wish I could smell that. The only one of these four men that I wish I could smell is this man who I do not find sexy at all. That's ironic.

Miss Sullivan’s Class Always Says The Darndest Things

Ready? If you've never read the first two installments of "The Darndest Things" check them out here and here.

Quick preface before we get into the juicy stuff! This year my classroom runs a little different because I am not a regular home room teacher. I teach reading and writing to second graders during the morning block and third graders during the afternoon block. I really love this teaching job and feel like it's the perfect fit for me.

It is very interesting to have two separate classes because they each have their own "class personality" and dynamic. My second graders are sweet, mild, timid and quiet. My third graders are loud, energetic, and humorous (they think so at least.) Even though they have very different personalities they both keep me entertained by their antics and attempts to entertain. Enjoy!

• During Red Ribbon Week we were have the "Just Say No" talk. I told my class about the decision I made when I was their age to never use drugs or other harmful substances. The following conversation followed:
  

  
  

  Boy: So when did you change your mind?
  

  Me: I didn't change my mind. I still lived by that decision to be drug and alchohol free.
  

  Boy: You said that drugs make people do crazy things they wouldn't usually do.
  

  Me: That's true.
  

  Boy: Well... (long pause) you do a lot of crazy thing that most people wouldn't do. You must do drugs.
  

It was clearly time to re-teach and clarify. Oh, and laugh my head off.

• Shy Girl: What do you get when you cross an elephant and a rhino?
  

  Me: I don't know, what?
  

  Shy Girl: elephino! heee heee.
  

  Me: (Through uncontrollable bursts of laughter) Do you get that joke?
  

  Shy Girl: No. It's funny though, right?
  

  Me: Yeah! It's a good one!
  

  
  

• There is one student in my class that's late almost every day. She came in one morning with a Starbucks coffee cup in hand. I was bewildered. When I asked her what she had in her hand she said, "Oh Miss S., this is just my morning pick me up! It jump starts me into my day!" I couldn't argue with that.
  

  
  

• One day this week while on outside recess duty a boy fell and came running up crying. When he got to me he blurted this out before I could say anything.
  

  "Miss Sullivan! I just fell down and my mom makes me wear these really really tight jeans because she says they look good on me! They're so tight that I can't get to the hurt part! Dang pants."
  

  
  

• For weekend news a boy shared this story:
  

  "We got to ride Trax this weekend! It was awesome and my mom lost my sisters and me! It was so cool! My older sister who is twelve, me, and my five year old sister got on the train. My mom was fixing her shoes and looked up to see the doors closing. She ran barefoot up to the train door right as it shut in her face! We were laughing really hard and then my sister got scared because we were all alone in Salt Lake. My mom caught up with us at the next stop though. She had to pay some guy $50 bucks to drive her to the next Trax stop to find us. It was the best!"
  

I would now like to end this post with the best story I have had in my three years teaching. This one seriously wins! If you watch The Office you will die of laughter, at least I did. If you don't watch The Office it will still be funny.

• There is a stapler in my classroom that the students broke a part off of. It will still staple papers and function however it won't stay closed on its own. It just bounces on top of the spring. One day I told my students to staple their assignment and turn it in to the basket. This is what happened:
  

  Boy 1: Miss S. that stapler is broken! We don't want to use it.
  

  Me: It will still staple your papers and anyway you guys are the ones who broke it so you just have to deal. (Sympathetic, I know.)
  

  Boy 2: But its thingy is broken and so it just bounces.
  

  Girl: (From the back of the room) That's what she said!
  

  Me: WHAT?!?!
  

  Girl: That's what she said. My dad says it all the time and my mom always laughs.
  

  Me: HAHAHAHAHA!
  

  I think I laughed for five minutes straight. I really couldn't get control of myself. Could that joke have been any more well placed? No! And she had no why it was so well played. My class joined right along laughing with me. They had no idea what was funny but it distracted me for a few minutes and that's all they care about. I just love them and their innocence!
  

  
  

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

The giveaway is over and a winner has been chosen! I used random.org number generator to determine a winner. The number randomly chosen was nine. The ninth commenter was.... (drum roll)

PAGINA OTTO!!!

Congratulations Page! You are loving blue and brown right now and well the clutch is blue and brown! It was meant to be! We'll discuss specifics about you receiving the prize over e-mail. It'll be nice.

Thanks to all those that gobbled and wobbled. It was super entertaining to get all of the comments with you all sounding ridiculously awesome! I got a real kick out of it! We'll try this give away again at a later date (much later). Stay tuned for that.

Since Page the Great is the winner I thought it would be a good idea to write 5 random pieces of memory I have of Page. This should be good. (If you don't know Page this won't make much sense. Just warning you.)

1. When I first met Page, we lived across the hall from each other at Liberty Square! The glory days! It was Summer and I was hardcore chillaxin'. Page was dating Jonathan Brehms (I clearly have no clue how to spell his name)and as usual studying her brains out. I remember running into her apart at all hours of the day and night to tell her something awesome, sing the latest song, do the latest dance, etc. She was usually there studying with JB. She always humored me and laughed a lot at my jokes. She didn't realize then that I am like a stray puppy dog. If you feed it at all or show it any attention it keeps coming back. I kept coming back and well she never threw me out. That was good of you Page.

2. She tried relentlessly to teach me how to do a cartwheel. She only laughed a little, to my face at least. I still don't have any cartwheel game. She tried though.

3. The famous Arizona road trip. "Lindsi, which road do you take to get to Arizona? Do you know how long it might take? I'm gonna take Brittney's car and I'm leaving in ten minutes. Don't worry." I thought Kim and I would have a nervous breakdown. She lived. Barely.

4. When she came home from her mission to Chile she moved in with Brittney, Kim, and I. She took down "The Eagle" picture that Kim had lovingly given me for my birthday. She replaced it with some weird wooden sign that said "Cocina". I'm still sad about "The Eagle", it was obviously traumatic. I remember it vividly.

5. The roadie to DC for her wedding. There were many great crazy girl bonding moments that weekend! My favorite wedding picture out of any wedding picture in the history of the world came from that weekend.

This is serious runaway bride material.

Page, I'm so glad you won the contest! I'm also glad you're my friend!

A Quick Recap

I still hate Bella... maybe more even. So annoying.

Edward grew on me and by the end I was digging him.

Also, screaming women embarrass me. I don't get embarrassed often and rarely for something I did. I do however get embarrassed for others and last night I was.

Best part of the event was spending time with my mom. I love her.

To those saying they aren't sure they're gonna see Twilight because it will ruin the book blah, blah, blah. You'll see it. You have to. It might ruin the book a little too, but you will see it. I promise.

I'm a Conformist

I told myself I wouldn't. I said I didn't care and that I didn't need it. I promised myself I was bigger than it.

I caved.

I'm doing this in 20 minutes...

I only have one thing to say about this before I go. I hated Bella in the books. HATED, loathed, despised even. She bugged me so bad. Enough that I won't read book four. I bought it even but I am choosing not to. There are many reasons for my dislike but that's not important right now.

I'm wondering if the movie will change my feelings about her or engrave them deeper into my soul. Wow. That was the weirdest sentence ever. I expect I'll feel the same. We'll see.

AOTW- Scream and Shout

I am loving Artist of the Week! I have the AOTW picked out for the next 5 weeks! I get a serious thrill out of sharing my music obsessions. Sad life, eh?

This week I decided to switch it up a little bit.

I love to sing in the car. Not just sing but turn the volume as loud as bearable and just belt out the song. Most people wouldn't call it singing. Screeching. Screaming. Howling. Shrieking. You get it. I'm the person that everyone else is laughing at as they drive. The person dancing, singing, and who is oblivious to the fact that someone might be watching. Don't judge. You know you do it too!

There are thousands of amazing songs that I know all the words to and could listen to and sing over and over again. However, there are a few songs that are PERFECT scream and shout sing a long songs. Most of them are from the past few years.

The songs chosen aren't all fast and upbeat. The criteria I went off was songs that I can't help but turn up and sing when they come on. It doesn't matter how I am feeling or what I am doing. I just can't control myself. Some of these songs were way over played and I got sick of them for a while however I always come back to them. You might disagree with a few choices, but these are mine. Take it or leave it.

In no particular order- THE LIST:

• Bleeding Love - Leona Lewis
• Not Ready to Make Nice - Dixie Chicks
• Life is a Highway - Rascal Flatts (This choice was not inspired by The Office but could this clip be any more perfect for this post? I didn't think so.)
• I Want It That Way - Backstreet Boys
• Love Song - Sara Bareilles
• Should've Said No - Taylor Swift
• Come Home Soon - Shedaisy
• My Wish - Rascal Flatts
• I Think About You- Collin Raye
• There's More to Me Than You - Jessica Andrews
• This Kiss - Faith Hill
• Can't Fight the Moonlight - Leanne Rimes
• Live Like You Were Dying - Tim McGraw
• Apologize - One Republic
• Waiting On the World to Change - John Mayer

Just so you don't think I'm a super time wasting nerd, which in all reality I am but I like to pretend I'm not. You should know that I've been creating this play list in my itunes library for over a year. I just chose the best ones from it. I would recommend making a play list specifically for screaming and shouting songs you love. It's super useful at all times. What did I miss? If you have a really good suggestion I might consider adding it to the play list. Might.

Putting links to videos for each of the songs did take forever however. It was a super time wasting thing so I hope you appreciate.

Who doesn't love free stuff?!

I really am giving something away! For free!

Isn't it exciting! If you don't know what I'm talking about, read yesterday's post very carefully. I feel like I'm evolving as a blogger!

At first I announced the prize as Thanksgiving-esque. I changed my mind though. I decided to just do something I'm loving right now. I bought a super cute clutch bag on etsy and I absolutely love it! I use it to keep my ipod in but it's the perfect size for anything.

I am going to end the give away this Sunday, November 23. Get yourself entered to win by then or you'll end up disappointed! Good luck!

101 Dalmatians

Pongo, Perdita, and the babes. Who didn't love them? One can't help but adore 101 precious little Dalmatian puppies. Let's be honest, we all cheered when the puppies worked together and ambushed evil Cruella De Vil. Classical. Disney did a lot of things right when they made this movie however the most brilliant part was choosing an odd number of puppies. 101. That just stands out. Imagine this: "The 100 Dalmatians." It just doesn't have the same flavor.

The point? This is my 101st post. Everyone celebrates their 100th post and how amazingly awesome their blog is. Well, I like to be a little different. I want how amazingly awesome my blog is to stick in your head just like the title 101 dalmatians. So... HOORAY FOR ME!


I realize how ridiculous this analogy is. I'm using is anyway!


I'm not one to post lots of emotional feel good type stuff here. Every now and again, my deep, sensitive, caring side comes out. I have that side of me, I really do. Today is that day.


It's Thanksgiving time. I'm thankful for a lot and have countless blessing in my life. So on my 101st post I will put 101 blessings I have in my life. I don't necessarily expect you to actually read them all. I just know it's important to reflect. I decided not to be vague with these things so I'm putting specific names and everything. If you aren't listed as a person I'm thankful for that seriously blows. Haha, just kidding.


In no particular order.

1. Mama Sullivan
2. Slim
3. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
4. The whole other Sullivan crew (Ry, Jac, the baby boys)
5. Katie Sue
6. Donna Joe
7. G-ma Dart
8. The Ranjo Fam
9. All my extended family (Aunties, Uncles, cousins, baby cousins, etc.)
10. The Super Buds (You know who you are.)
11. The High School Girls
12. Kimba (You fit in the Super Bud category too!)
13. Hannah
14. prayer
15. my condo
16. my car
17. The United States of America
18. the color orange
19. Diet Mountain Dew
20. warm clothes
21. blankets
22. heaters (I'm cold right now, can you tell.)
23. Sunday Family dinners
24. cell phones
25. computers and technology
26. my education
27. sacrament meeting
28. books and good literature
29. Chuck (start watching if you don't)
30. Survivor (still a fan)
31. The Office
32. my students
33. the example my students set for me
34. Anna
35. priesthood power
36. avocados
37. Chili's chips and salsa
38. laughter
39. sarcasm
40. peacemakers
41. ability to learn
42. President Thomas S. Monson
43. church leaders
44. my bed
45. my orange fuzzy blanket
46. social gatherings
47. Target
48. IKEA
49. Redbox
50. our country leaders
51. funny people
52. You Tube
53. thoughtful people
54. CALM
55. appreciation
56. my red couch chair
57. my upbringing
58. blogs
59. music
60. musical artists
61. sunsets
62. monkeys
63. colors
64. seasons
65. kleenex
66. birthdays
67. q-tips
68. hair brushes
69. keys and locks
70. my peep hole
71. I-Tunes
72. free download Tuesday
73. parent helpers
74. support
75. people who reciprocate
76. hilarious stories
77. when people are patient with me
78. weekends
    
79. days off of work
80. holidays
81. my parents willingness to open their home to friends
82. the pool
83. that I only have 20 more to go
84. High School Musical (1, 2, and 3)
85. Nice guys
86. restaurants
87. tivo
88. bookmarks
89. bathrooms
90. shampoo and soap
91. washer and dryer
92. car door remote accessibility
93. fireworks
94. babies
95. working wireless Internet
96. Advil
97. doctors
98. policemen
99. fireman
100. ipod
101. happiness

This may seem superficial but I didn't want to be too sappy. There is so much to be thankful for that this list was super easy to make. If you are still reading this let me know. Type, "gobble, gobble, wobble, wobble" into the comments. You will then be entered into a drawing for a free Thanksgiving prize. (It's a surprise present to you and me! I promise this is a real prize giveaway! Fun!)

High Expectations

Every day for 30 days. Really. That is kind of high expectations I put on myself.

It's been 18 days of NaBloPoMo. I can't give up now. Only 12 more to go. Look at that good math.

This is going to be such a lame cop-out post but I have to put something up. It's not that I'm completely out of material. I have some good ideas but I haven't had time recently to make it happen. Also, my Internet isn't working at my apartment so I can only post during class or at school. That makes things very difficult.

A few housekeeping items:

• I'm working on the Internet connection thing. That should help me out.
• I also just fixed my camera. I have some picture posts coming soon including pictures of my condo. Wahoo!
  
• AOTW is coming soon with a pretty rad twist!
• Spoiler Alert: A new installment of Miss Sullivan's Class Says the Darndest Things coming this week! I've been saving this up since September. I'm excited!

Thanks for humoring the lameness of this post. Here's something to end you with a smile.

I love when the underdog comes out on top! Happy Turkey Day!

Declaring Myself a Fan

I'm not a sports fan. Never have been. Football = painful to watch. Baseball = boring. Soccer = makes me tired just sitting there. The list could go on from there. I've always been found of watching DJ play lacrosse and actually consider myself a fan of the sport. What will happen though when the little bro is no longer protecting the goalies net? I probably will no longer be in the stands. Sad but true.


Over the past year however there has been one sport and sports team that has been creeping up on my tolerance scale.


The Utah Jazz.


Last year I kind of got into the play offs and "Caught The Fever." I was always interested in what was going on, where they were playing, if they could win away from home, etc. It was weird for me to care about basketball or sports at all. I picked up a few statistics about the team during that time and got to know the key players.


This year has been a continuation of the interest. I went to a game a couple of weekends ago with my dad and found myself wanting to know more. Asking questions. PAYING ATTENTION! I still talked through a majority of the game but I knew what the final score was! I knew who the highest point earner was! I knew who was on the bench due to injuries! It was a completely knew feeling to me.

Then came the real challenge. They went on the road. Was I going to find out how they did on their games that weren't here in Utah? Was I that into it? I DID! I knew which day their games were scheduled and I even looked up the scores and read articles about how they did. (Which wasn't that encouraging because they do so poorly on the road.)

So... Tonight I went with my family to the Utah Jazz game against the Phoenix Suns. It was AWESOME! I couldn't stop watching. I didn't get up the entire game because I didn't want to miss anything! I asked my Dad and DJ one million questions. Questions about the players, the rules, why Shaquille O'Neil was the size of a bus. That guys is HUGE! I can't seem to get enough. The game was incredible and in the last quarter they decided to just seal the game and take a twenty point lead. It was exhilarating! I was jumping out of my seat when Millsap had the best block in the history of the world! I was back out of my seat when Korver hit a three with thirty seconds left. I was screaming, cheering, jumping! It was the weirdest feeling ever!

To you, being a fan of a sports team may seem like no big deal. For me this is uncharted waters. Territory I've never discovered. It's completely foreign to me. I'm new at this and I don't knew how long it will last or how far it will go but tonight, right now, I am officially declaring myself the newest member of the Utah Jazz fan club!

Wish me luck!

I Would Rather

I presented the following Would You Rather questions about a week ago. My lovely sister Katie is the only one that took the challenge and answered. Thanks Katie! The rest of you failed. Slackers.

The answer in bold is the one I chose. My answers are exciting and enlightening I'm sure. Okay probably not. Whatev.

I Would Rather...

1. be able to stop time while you slept or never need to do laundry
I love to sleep. I'm perfectly happy not having 6 or 7 hours of my day because those hours are dedicated to sleeping. I'm cool with that. Never doing laundry again... sounds fantastic to me!

2. be born with a refrigerator on your back or have an elephant as a close personal friend
I want an elephant as a close personal friend! That sounds seriously awesome! Think about it. You walk up to your friends and say, "Have you met my friend Mr. Elephant. He's rad."

3. be 4'1" 0r 7'9"
Short is sexy.

4. have 3 eyes or have webbed feet
If I had webbed feet, I would be a much better swimmer. Also, think of the conversations you could have with people. Good conversation starter.

5. have an obscene nickname you hate or have nobody ever remember your name
I wouldn't be able to handle having people not remember my name. It would hurt my feeling every time. I could turn an obscene nickname into a joke. Even if something bugs me I can always try and make it a joke. That's how I deal.

6. always get first dibs or the last laugh
I don't mean this in a vengeful laugh at you kind of way. I think of it more as be the last one laughing because life is that funny, kind of way. Does that even make sense?

7. be forgotten or hatefully remembered
I don't like to be hated. I don't like even thinking someone is mad at me or that I've hurt someones feelings. I'd rather not be remembered which is sad too but not quite as bad.

8. skip Christmas for a year or skip your birthday for a year
I'm being selfless. Thinking of others. I'll let you have Christmas and sacrifice my own birthday happiness. I'm a giver like that.

9. become uglier or become stupider
I don't know. I like knowing stuff. I need my knowledge. I'm a teacher. I'm attractive enough that a little more ugly couldn't hurt. Ha.

10. drink blood or drink urine
I've heard it's actually good for you to drink your urine. A friend of mine has a twin sister that drank her urine for a school project. It really grossed me out then but hey why not?

Smelling Diaries Part 2

First of all I am very happy about the good responses to Part 1 of the smelling diaries. It just encourages me to keep going. Well done group.

I don't have very many fears that cause me anxiety or even second thought. Except one. I am extremely anxious that one day there will be a fire in my home, at school, etc. and something terrible will happen because I didn't smell it soon enough. It's one of those fears where my mind goes straight to worst case scenario.
I have nightmares about it. My extremely handsome future husband is out of town. Sadly, he works too much. I'm asleep in my comfy bed and once I'm asleep not much can wake me up. My adorable, well behaved future children with functioning smellers are asleep. The smoke detectors in my home stop working even though I check the batteries regularly. By the time I am awoken the smoke is so thick I can't see my hands. I run around frantically trying to find all the children. It never ends the same or even starts the same but the one thing that is always there is the feeling of helplessness.

I don't do helpless.

So image the panic I felt last week when this happened.
My students know that I can't smell but they don't really remember or understand what that means. Last week one day we were in our classroom just working away when one little girl comes and says,

"Miss Sullivan, it smells like something is on fire!"

Whenever I am presented with a situation such as this it is hard to decide how serious to take it. Yeah I can't smell and would have no idea if there was a fire unless I

a. saw the flames

b. felt the smoke

c. heard the fire alarm go off

so it's important that I analyze the situation immediately. However, kids sometimes exaggerate. For all I know someone near her could of farted with a smokey essence to it. That would be really gross.

I quickly turned to my other 20 second graders and asked if anyone smelled anything. The immediate yelled out responses I hear are,

"It smells like burnt cookies."

"I smell burning."

"Fire! Fire!"

That is when I start to panic. I run next door and the whole class is nowhere to be found. The other nearest class is also gone. So I decide I better get the kids out. I line them up quickly and grab my cell phone so I can call the school and see what is up and why the fire alarm hasn't gone off. We start marching outside. I get the secretary on the phone and ask her in a slightly possessed voice, "Is there a fire?!!!"

The reply, "Oh no honey, somebody burned some popcorn in the faculty room. It's not that strong of a smell though. It should be gone soon."

BURNT POPCORN!

All that panic, immediate anxiety, frustration, confusion. I have got to figure out a solution to this problem. An invention of some type perhaps. I would call it the smelltastic 2000. I don't know what it would do though. Any ideas?

I'm Still Counting This

***Disclaimer: I had this post all ready to put up yesterday and then my Internet connection got all jacked up and it wouldn't connect all night. Lame. So I'm gonna call this one a technical difficulty in which I still get credit for posting yesterday. I make my own rules! :)***

Tonight will be a successful Friday night. It will consist of the following items.

Comfy Sweat Pants

Fuzzy Orange Blanket

This weeks episode of Grey's.

No, I'm not stress eating. I just happen to enjoy ice cream. :)

Tissues.

We all need a night like this every now and again. It's therapeutic. I'll be back to normal and ready to play tomorrow. If I bailed on you tonight please understand...

I'm lame.

Things I Will Never Do Again

Wear flip flops in the snow.

Smell.

Kiss my home teacher. After the lesson. Yep, it happened.

Live in Provo. (Sorry I'm just done with the P-town scene, FOR-EV-ER)

Paint my bedroom bright orange. This doesn't mean I won't have an orange room in my house at sometime. Just not an orange bedroom.

Participate in NaBloPoMo. It's fun but it's harder than it looks folks.

Raft the Nile. Too life threatening.

Tell my friends about my dream to have a tattoo on my ankle of the word orange in the color purple or blue. They just make fun of me and judge.

Quit drinking Diet Mountain Dew. It makes me happy.

Buy the frozen grilled chicken strips from Costco. I'm a picky chicken eater. Why did I think I that was a good idea?

Take an ESL (English as a Second Language) methods class. I want my evenings back!

Lend someone a LARGE sum of money. It puts too much pressure on me and them. Awkwardness always follows.

Leave my cell phone on my bathroom sink. It was ringing/vibrating and it literally vibrated itself into the toilet! It was AWESOME!

The Smelling Diaries (Part 1)

I can't smell.

Really. I really can't smell. Not just today. Never. I never have the ability to smell. Although this is a common known fact about me it still puzzles people. Friends I've had for years will all of the sudden ask me a random question about my non-smellability. It's puzzling I know.

Lately there have been a few smelling "incidences" (Isn't that word mysterious? I love it!) that were definitely blog-worthy. However, I don't feel like I can really open up the Smelling Diaries without doing a brief question and answer period to catch you up to speed. So here are the top questions I am asked when someone discovers my lack of a complete functioning set of senses.

Q: You really can't smell anything?
A: Yes, I really can't.

Q: Can you taste?
A: No I just eat because I like what the food does does my body.
OF COURSE I CAN TASTE.
Do I have a normal fully functioning set of taste buds? I have no idea. I can't really compare my tasting abilities to yours. Think about it. Impossible. I personally believe that my taster is slightly broken. Food is more based on texture. I'm not really into meat due to the roughness. I don't do cookies, too crumbly. Cake, fits in with the crumbly category.
Lifesavers/Jolly Ranchers/Starbursts= all one flavor. I don't like brown beverages. In all reality they probably taste exactly that same to me as yellow, blue, red, green, even purple beverages but I'm racist against the brown beverage. Oops. One day remind me to tell you about "The Beverage Test". Actually Jason should tell it. It's his "back in the glory days" story.
In conclusion: I can taste it's just messed up a little bit.

Q: When did you loose your sense of smell?
A: I don't know that I lost it. It's kind of like when you misplace your cell phone. Did you ever really have it? Maybe. Maybe you didn't even bring it with you. You just really aren't sure.
I don't know if I ever had a sense of smell to loose. Maybe I had it and then lost it but maybe I didn't bring it with me. Get the metaphor?
Basically the answer is I can't smell and I don't remember a time I could. So I probably never had it. Confusing, right?

Q: When did you realize you couldn't smell?
A: I was the stinky girl in seventh grade. I was told by the flyer on my locker announcing to the school that I had BO. I didn't know I stunk. I then realized. All very Mean Girls-esque. It just kind of fell upon me after that. I took care of the stinky thing right then and became obsessive.
I stopped caring a few years ago. I think I'm the stinky girl again. It's cool.

Q: So you can't smell ________________ (cookies baking, fresh rain smell, hot guy cologne, a baby's bum)?
A: No, No, No, and why do people think that smells good but no.

Q: Do you realize how lucky you are that you can't smell _____________ (poop, farts, skunks, dirty socks, Slim)?
A: No not really but I think it's pretty funny when others suffer. :)

And now the number one comment I receive when the questions are over (generally given by a male).
Your husband is gonna love you! He can be as stinky as he wants an you aren't gonna care!

Did I miss any questions? Do you still feel unanswered and confused? Let me know. I can continue this sarcastic fest all day.

Let The Smelling Diaries begin!

Our Future Leaders

I am taking a masters class that is held at a middle school in my school district. This afternoon as I was walking into class I overheard a conversation by two boys sitting on a curb waiting for a ride. They were probably 12 or 13 years old. It went like this:

Boy 1: Hey check out my new ipod!
Boy 2: Sick man. When did you get it?
Boy 1: About a week ago.
Boy 2: I thought your mom took your other ipod away.
Boy 1: She did.
Boy 2: How did you get her to buy you a new one?
Boy 1: She didn't buy it for me.
Boy 2: So, where did you get it?
Boy 1: I found it.
Boy 2: Where?
Boy 1: In some kids backpack during math.
Boy 2: Lucky!

Boy 1 is the future Governor of Utah and and Boy 2 is his future lawyer. We have a lot to look forward to. Pretty awesome, right?

AOTW Time!

Artist of the Week: Tristan Prettyman

Tristan Prettyman is another super chill artist. She a girl with a guitar and a unique, almost bluesy voice. She is phenomenal. I promise.

She has two albums out, Twenty Three and Hello, plus a scattering of live sessions and singles. I love both of her albums however I can't stop listening to her first album Twenty Three. You can listen to her albums at amazon. Just click on the name of the album above. My favorite songs by Tristan are Simple as it Should Be, Madly, and You Got Me.

The lyrics to her songs make me stop and think and I really admire artists that can do that. My favorite lyrics come from her song The Story. Choose the song in the play list on the right and listen as you read the lyrics. It just intrigues me.

Are you feeling Tristan? I am.

Oh Happy Day!

About a month ago the itunes program on my computer randomly got messed up and wouldn't open. Worst day ever. It kept giving me this weird error and I couldn't figure out how to fix it. I finally took my computer to my brother this weekend. My brother is a computer genius and can fix anything. Well, he was able to fix it and I AM SO HAPPY! Thanks Ryan!

I didn't realize how much I missed itunes. I really missed it! I love checking out new artists I hear about, searching through music, using the sweet new Genius side bar, free download Tuesdays, and so much more! So today is a great day!
I already downloaded this Beyonce single, and this Taylor Swift one too. Yeah itunes! Welcome back!

**Side Note: Not having itunes available to me did help with the money spending situation. I need to discipline myself now that it's back. I can do it!**

Google Reader

I use google reader. In fact, I LOVE google reader. I have organized all the blogs I follow into folders in my reader and I am very obsessive compulsive about how it is organized. I don't really know why. So I thought I would share the names of my folders because it gives a little insight into what a huge blogging dork I am (If you didn't already realize this from the NaBloPoMo participation.)

Here are the folders and how many links I have in each one...

• Family (6)
• Half Friends/Blogstalking (15)
• I know someone they know (9)
• Other randoms (22)
• People I don't know at all (15)
• Real Friends (40)

Pretty ridiculous I know! What can I say, I love to read about other people. It gives me material for my own writing.

There are a two blogs I would like to recommend to you today. Check them out, they make me smile.

• Project Domestication This blog is written by a friend from high school. She finds great deals on cool unique items, she finds awesome recipes, cute decorations, etc. She really loves to make cupcakes and always has fun ideas for that. Also, you can find great links to other cooking/domestic websites. It's great!
• Oh! How Lovely! This one is written by someone I don't know and I'm not even sure how I found it. She however, is completely on top of the blogging world and knows about a ton of fun contents, prize giveaways, NaBloPoMo, etc. She even told me about where I could find some cute free blog templates (which I haven't used yet, but will.) She is highly entertaining to read and a good resource to have.

*It has officially been one week of NaBloPoMo and I haven't missed a day yet! 7 DAYS (that's a week in case you forgot)!!!! I am proud of myself!*

**NaBloPoMo gives away prizes through a random drawing to people that meet the goal and post every day. There are a lot of great prizes. I am hoping to win one! Think happy thoughts for me!**

Details

A new obsession I have is shoes. I've always been a flip flop girl. ALWAYS. Then one day I woke up and realized all the amazing shoes the world has to offer. I have cheap shoe tastes. When I find a really cute shoe for under twenty bucks I'm ecstatic. This week I found these at Target. Yellow flats for 19.99.

Super cute right? I thought so to. I'm a size 9, I bought 6's! Somebody teach me to pay attention to detail! I'm so bugged!

Would You Rather

Would You Rather...

1.

-be able to stop time while you slept

or

-never need to do laundry

2.

-be born with a refrigerator on your back

or

-have an elephant as a close personal friend

3.

-be 4'1"

0r

-7'9"

4.

-have 3 eyes

or

-have webbed feet

5.

-have an obscene nickname you hate

or

-have nobody ever remember your name

6.

-always get first dibs

or

-the last laugh

7.

-be forgotten

or

-hatefully remembered

8.

-skip Christmas for a year

or

-skip your birthday for a year

9.

-become uglier

or

-become stupider

10.

-drink blood

or

-drink urine

So what would you rather do? I have my answers but I want to hear yours first! Stayed tuned for mine insights at a later date. :)

Conferences

This post is as good as it's gonna get. Conferences were tonight and tomorrow night. I'm so tired and don't have any patience anymore. They took it all.
Parent-Teacher Conference

by Darren Sardelli

At the parent-teacher conference,

my father made a scene.

He scared my fifth-grade teacher

with his mask from Halloween.
She showed him all my science gradesand

said she was concerned,

but he just stuck his tongue out

when my teacher’s back was turned.
He drew a monster on the board

and claimed it was her twin.

He even shook her soda,

which exploded on her chin.
My angry teacher crossed her arms

and said, “This meeting’s done!

I now see where he gets it from—

you act just like your son!”

And the winner is...

Over the past few days we have been talking about the presidential election in my second and third grade classroom. We have been learning fun facts about the candidates including their birthday, interests, hobbies, etc. Today we did a mock election. If my students were voting the winner would be...

John McCain

The final count was Mccain 23 votes (57%) Obama 17 votes (43%)

My students then wrote a journal entry on why they would vote for the person they chose. *** Remember the following information came from 7, 8, and 9 year olds. It's 100% correct.***

These are the reasons my students chose John McCain...

• "He reminds me of my grandpa."
• "I chose McCain because he has the same birthday as me, August 29."
• "I like him because he has lots of pets, including parakeets which are my favorite."
• "He seems really nice, and really old."

These are the reasons my students chose Barack Obama...

• "Obama was born in the same country as me, Illinois."
• "I like him because his favorite food is chili, YUM.
• "I want Obama to win because my dad says he will take money from rich guys and give it to us. That would be cool."
• "Obama should win because he would be fun to play basketball with."

I bet you wish you would have know all of these amazing reasons before you voted. I wish I had.

Don't you miss the days when life was that simple?

Artist of the Week- AOTW

I love music. In an obsessive, spend all my money on it, hear a song anywhere and have to find it kind of way. I am the person that can listen to one song 100 times in a row and not get sick of it. I just am that obsessive. I am a very ADHD music listener and generally skip a song mid stream if it is mediocre. My absolute favorite feeling is when I find an album that I can listen to every song on it without skipping anything. That's a great moment. All this blabbering is the lead-in into this post.

I'm going to choose an artist of the week. Someone I love and could listen to their entire album without skipping a song. Their music will be featured on my play list and in my heart (sigh).

AOTW- Joshua Radin

If you know me at all you know that this guy snuck his way into my music liking and then took up residence. I love his deep scratchy voice and acoustical sound. He calms me down. I love his lyrics and feel many of his songs explain the craziness of my life.

I first fell in love with his song Winter when I heard it randomly one day. It stuck. Both his albums (We Were Here and Simple Times) are non-song-skipper albums. I love it. If you don't know his stuff, check it out. If nothing else listen to "I'd Rather Be With You." You won't regret it.

Things I hate....

It's officially becoming Thanksgiving time, a time to show our gratitude, to express appreciation, and really reflect on all the blessings we have. I hate to be Debby Downer but I don't really want to do that today. I'm not in a pissy mood and I haven't had a horrible day. It's actually been a great day and I'm feeling good about life, I just don't feel like spreading sunshine to everyone I see.

I love when people post about "things they hate," or "why they suck at life". I think it is empowering when someone outs all their inadequacies or quirks and then moves on. It's entertaining and makes me feel better about myself to read that other people have issues too.

So it's my turn. I just can't get enough of hating the following things....

1. My hair. I feel like a shaggy dog. It's too long, but not long enough. I have this horrible cowlick at my hair line. The hair there doesn't lay flat and it creates this 80's Flock of Seagulls look with my side swooper bangs that is super sexy. My roots are also grown out to my ears. It's gross.

2. I hate my dryer. It shrunk all my pants. Literally. 6 pairs of jeans and 6 pairs of dress pants. It's awful. It had to be the dryer because there is no way I'm gaining weight. The muffin top I've been sporting lately is all due to the dryer. I'm thinking about calling the appliance company. It's getting out of hand.

3. I hate making my bed. Fancy pillows, special bed spread. What was I think. It's so pretty when it's done but I hate feeling like I have to do it everyday.

4. I also am hating all the political talk right now. I'm ready for the election to be over. I know this election is very important and there is a lot to say about. However, every issue and side has been stated, hashed out, restated, mocked, stated differently, and so on. I'm just kind of done hearing about it.

5. I hate that food spoils so quickly when only one person is eating it. I'm trying to be healthy and not eat out. That's really difficult when a half gallon of milk goes bad before I can drink it. I have to put my loaf of expensive 10,000% whole wheat bread in the fridge so it doesn't mold. There's nothing I hate more than fridge bread. My raspberries get spots on them before I can eat the whole container. My apples go soggy. Yuck. If it isn't crisp I won't touch it. I swear I'm not even buying excessive amounts of these items but I just can't make it happen. I'm so annoyed.

6. I hate that my favorite shows (Prison Break specifically) were rescheduled or cancelled during the week because of The World Series. I understood when it was for Presidential campaigns but baseball. I'm just not okay with that. I know it's over so I should move on but I'm still bugged about it.

7. I hate that I still have one room in my new condo that is full of boxes. I have now purchased, assembled, and installed all the bookshelves, drawers, cupboards, and organizers needed to empty the boxes. Yet still they sit.

8. Parent Teacher Conferences.

9. I hate that I compulsively buy an item fully knowing I don't need it, want it, have money for it, or won't use it. I come home feeling like a fool and before it even comes out of the bag it goes by the door to return to the store. Such a waist of time and energy.

10. I hate that it looks like I live out of my car. I kind of do but I hate it still.

11. The whole Hannah Montana obsession. I really hate hearing how awesome/irresponsible/good role model/bad role model/smart/dumb she is all the time. Who cares? It's interesting that I hate this due to my love for High School Musical, Jonas Brothers, and all things cheesy. Plain and simple, Miley just doesn't rock my socks.

12. Scary movies. I hate them. They give me nightmares and make me nervous. I not only have low tolerance for scary movies I have pretty much no tolerance. Give me sunshine, butterflies, and rainbows. No blood, guts, and slasher tales. I've been under pressure lately to watch them and I'm so glad that Halloween is past and people will get over the scary movie desire.

That's it for now. That was fun. I feel free and lighter now. I'm for sure going to do this again.

Why don't you try it too? I challenge you!

Don't think of it as being pessimistic. Think of it as being realistic, getting your feelings out so that you don't snap later on. It's a good idea.

Let me know if you try it!

Hell Month

So in football there is a tradition called "hell week". The players participate in two practices a day. They are pushed hard by their coaches and a lot is expected of them. The point is for the players skills to improve and to unify the team.

I have decided to participate in NaBloPoMo. I will be posting once a day for the entire month of November. I like to think of this challenge as my own personal blogging "hell month".

I realize coming up with a post every day will be challenging however I see it as a great opportunity. I feel like I can definitely improve my skills and become a little bit better blogger. Besides, I feel like I have a ton to say lately. So it's time to make it rain!

***Side note: I liked this challenge anyway but with an abbreviated name like NaBloPoMo, how could I resist?