Happy First Birthday!

Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday Bloggy Bloggerson! Happy Birthday to you!

It's been a year and the blog and I have had some great times. I kind of can't believe it's been a year and this post will be number 78. This started out as kind a trial and I feel it has been successful, to me at least. Let's take a look back at the past year. I remember when...

I got my very first comment from the one and only Kim Crane. That was the moment I realized the high that comes with creating comment worthy posts. My personal favorite posts were Miss Sullivan's Class Says the Darndest Things, one and two, which became a huge success (the kids are creating installment 3 now.) There was that month where Kim went to Europe and I didn't know if I would make it through. It's good she came home. My First Love was the first time I really opened up with my emotions on the blog. It was a good moment. The Sullivan Family Popularity Contest didn't go as planned, but it made for some good friendly competition. The Quest for Sleep came and thankfully went. I had great support from the readers during the quest, you genuinely cared. I set a personal record on guitar hero and felt proud. There was my graceful moment with the Cruise, the scooter crash, and the antibiotics. You endured endless TV posts including Survivor (that really happened, it wasn't a bad dream you had), American Idol, SYTYCD, and The Office. My drinking addiction was referred to frequently and I was never judged (or rarely) for it. We traveled to many states and countries including the Ugandan Adventures. I was consistent and inconsistent with the frequency and timing. I think that kept things interesting. I had a few loyal followers in that past year. I looked through the past comments and decided to see who my most loyal follower were/are. They include the following peeps... Kim, Emily, Carly, Hannah, Laney are the frequent commenters. Their is one person who commented 40 times (I really did count) on my blog and I now know supports me in all my endeavors. That person is... Emily Russon! Congratulations! You win a prize! (You really don't, it just sounded good.)

So overall, it has been a busy year in the blogospheare but a successful one at that. Thanks for all the sharing and caring this year! It's been a good one.

The Andersen Family

This past weekend was spent with one of my longtime best friends, Hannah Andersen, and her great family. Hannah and I have been friends since 9th grade technically (we're still not exactly sure about how the friendship came to be.) We have been through a ton together including Lindsi's teenage angst, high school dramaness, being college roommates, Hannah's dating life/marriage, Lindsi's single life/craziness, health ordeals for the both of us, etc. Through all our various stages and moments we have stayed great friends and she is someone who can make me laugh like no other and understands or at least accepts my weirdness. I really appreciate people like that.

The Andersen family live in Logan, Utah and they know how to show someone a good time. Hannah and Kendall and their 3 boys Sammy (3), Luke (2), and Brigg (3 months), showed me all that Logan has to offer. Kendall helped document the whole trip on my camera but surprise surprise, I can't find my camera cord. The highlights include...

• The Logan Farmer's Market- delicious honey and cheese samples
• The Top of Utah Marathon- It's always inspirational to see people running a marathon. I bet it would feel pretty amazing to actually run one. Thank goodness watching feels good enough for me.
• Getting webbed by Spiderman (his alternate personality is Sam Andersen.)
• Getting sick with Luke and Hannah.
• Going to the middle nursery at church. That's intense... I'm not ready for kids.
• Learning why Logan is getting another Walmart instead of a Target. Interesting story.
• Pigging out with Kendall and Hannah on Gummy Bears (with swirls), Diet Mountain Dew, Duo Cookies, and Milk. The combination was a little hard on the stomach.
• Jumping on the tramp with Luke and Sammy, making magic potions, telling secrets during sacrament, and having fun.
• A few good late night chats with the buds.
• Hannah helping me grade papers so that it was done in half the time!
• Watching So You Think You Can Dance, Office, and SNL clips on Youtube. They are my kind of people. I like that.

It was a great weekend for me because it was completely stress free and I absolutely adore those boys. I really needed that! Thanks for showing my a great time in Logan!

***Hannah: I radded your blog for a few pics. Don't feel weird. I also found my camera, right where I left it. :)***

Mommy WOW, I'm a big girl now!

I've taken another big step into adulthood...

I am now a homeowner!

My condo is in Salt Lake County. Goodbye Utah County, my home of 24 years! I'm leaving you in the dust (It may only be 7ish miles outside of Utah County but it's out, okay.)

My condo is in this complex and it's a nice little area and seems great!

This is the beautiful view of the east and to the west there is a spectacular view as well... I-15. It's breath taking.

The surrounding area has many attractions to entice visitors (that means you). There are so many great locations nearby I expect friends here pretty much every day, if not more frequently than that. The surrounding 5 blocks include the following attractions....

Real Soccer Stadium... Kind of weird looking on the outside.

Jordan Commons is just a block away. View this AMAZING video to get yourself exciting for the fun that awaits you at The Commons (That's what us locals call it anyway.)

Come experience the Mayan Adventure! I'm considering getting a night job as a diver. What? I dive.

The famous Crown Burger. This picture literally grosses me out... I probably won't frequent this place. Well, unless I get a serious craving for a SALAMI burger.

The Southtowne Expo Center- Upcoming events include The What a Woman Wants Show, The Senior Expo, and the Staying Sharp/ID Theft Forum. A little something for everyone.

I really am excited about my new place and the location is obviously irresistible. So plan a family outing, get yourself all gussied up, and get your booty up here! I except small house warming gifts like a TV, couches, table, bed, etc. Just small stuff.

**Pictures of a furnished cute condo coming soon. At least within the next year when that actually happens. :)**

Disappearing Act

It's that time again, ladies and gentleman (I say gentleman because I'm pretty sure my brother is the only male to read my blog)! The time where I, Lindsi Marie Sullivan, perform my best trick yet. The disappearing act! School started this week and it's like I'm a machine and I have no control over my actions. As soon as I get into school mode everything changes for me. The following things happen without me even trying...

• I start NEVER answering my phone.
• I have a very difficult time returning phone calls.
• I never text or e-mail (electronic communication goes out the window).
• I come home every evening and fall asleep wherever I sit down. The worst part about this is I sleep from like 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm and then I'm wide awake.
• I have to force myself to blog and I run out of good material. It's like all my brain power goes to working with the little guys and then I have nothing left.
• I lose touch with reality altogether. Which is scary because I'm usually so far away from reality anyway.

So I guess what I'm trying to say is I turn into a loser. Losers are okay people too, so don't judge. Also, if I don't call or text you back, send me hate mail and leave me nasty messages. Hopefully, I will get the point and call back. If not you'll understand. Right?

My Number One

Are they serious with this stuff!?! I loved it! I am such I big fan of this one that I didn't mind the weird smooshed face kiss thing. Freaking awesome!

Twitchington

One of my favorite dances of the season. Twitch is incredible in this! Love it.

SYTYCD Soapbox

Many of you won't care but for those of you who do this is how I feel about season 4 of So You Think You Can Dance. I would like to start by saying that SYTYCD is probably my favorite Reality T.V. show, okay besides Survivor.
I personally feel this season has had the best choreographed and memorable dances of any season so far. In the previous seasons I have watched, (2 & 3) there is a dance or two that I still remember vividly and even occasionally re watch on youtube. Some of my favorite are: The Park Bench with Heidi and Travis from Season 2, Hairspray Broadway routine with Donyelle and Benji from Season 2, The Negotiation with Neil and Sabra during Season 3. However, at this point there are 4 or more dances that stick out significantly to me from the choreography alone. I am always in love with the work of Mia Michael's but Mandy Moore has slowly gained great respect from me, the naive dance lover. The new faces of Napoleon and Tabitha have been fun and refreshing and Tyce DiOrio always pulls out some awesome stuff. So choreographers you are doing your job well. Thanks. I love that they threw in a few new styles like Bollywood, Country Two Step, and Pas De Deux. Also, the music I have been introduced to (see my playlist) through this season is fabulous and I always get excited about new great music.
However, when it comes to the dancers I have been slightly disappointed. My favorites and who I think were some of the best dancers have been booted early. I of course was shocked, upset, and saddened when Will left. What happened there? Also, I was a big Gev fan because his solos were AMAZING! Kherington was another disappointing loss to me. I thought for sure she should have gone further in the competition. It's sad to me the way it worked out for those three.
So now there are four left, Katee, Courtney, Joshua, and Twitch. I'm not that into Joshua or Courtney. I don't feel like either of them should win just because I'm impartial and don't feel like there is anything that exciting about them. I personally believe Katee is the best technical dancer left and she is good at every style she had done. However, I LOVE TWITCH! I don't think he is the absolute best dancer of the four but I think he is the absolute best entertainer of the four. I could watch him dance all day long! He is so entertaining to watch dance and he is amazing at his style. He is also just dang attractive. His abs, hello.
I don't really have any idea what will be happening this week or who will win. I am hoping for a crazy rad dance from Joshua and Twitch. They could do some entertaining choreography with those two. Could we be lucky enough get a hip hop with them? Probably not. I also think the group one should be exciting, I'm thinking lifts and tricks like crazy. Twitch and Joshua are strong and Courtney and Katee are small and flexible. I have high hopes for that number. My prediction for the winner is Katee or Joshua. I'm personally going to cheer and vote for Twitch to win... what are your predictions and who is your favorite?

Priorities...

As you all well know now I have been out of touch with reality for the past 7+ weeks. My life has been filled with adventure, greasy food, gas, dirt, hilarious moments, and other life changing experiences. Now I'm home and had to restart my life and get back to my responsibilities and obligations. On returning home I made a list of important tasks I needed to complete within my first week or so home. The list went a little like this...

• Visit important family and friends. If you haven't been visited yet, you know where you stand. Haha sucka!
• Organize my financial affairs and realign my personal budget. I'm obviously poor now from all my Africa shenanigans.
• Get back to work at school by setting up my classroom and preparing for the new school year.
• Take my car to get it's oil changed and tires rotated, apply it's annual summer wax job, and pamper it they way it deserves.
• Blog about Africa so that I have those personal memories for the future and my posterity. *Insert sigh here*
• Catch up on the whole entire season of So You Think You Can Dance before the next episode was to air. That gave me six days to watch 12 1-2 hour episodes, at least I had tivo.

Now when you look at this list it seems as though I listed them in level of importance in which they should have been completed. This my friend is so not the case. My priorities are definitely a little skewed. Can I use that word there? Whatev. I did visit most of the loved ones I had been longing to see and I did take care of my car in a semi timely manner. However, the rest of my days were spent in my quest to catch up on SYTYCD. Isn't it awesome that I use the trendy abbreviation?! I think so. I have put countless hours and dedication into reaching this goal and I am proud to say that I was able to reach the goal by the intended date. Thank you, I know what an accomplishment it is. I did procrastinate going to the school almost every day until I had watched at least one episode, I wrote blog entries after I had mostly finished catching up, and well the budget still isn't made. Shocker.

Anyone who really knows me or frequents my blog, is not at all surprised to hear about my slightly distorted priorities. They know how much I love Reality T.V. It's sad but true. Now that I have confessed my lack of ability to appropriately prioritize my time I can move on in future posts and talk about my feelings for these season of SYTYCD. Look forward to that.

Leaving My Mark...

I wanted to share my knowledge and abilities with the people of Uganda. It was also important for me to teach the Ugandan children valuable lessons that will help them in their lives. This is one of the ways I left my mark on the children of Lugazi. Classical.

A Weiner Man

This is a video of a the Crane's School Choir. They are an amazing choir and a fabulous group of children. They brought many of us to tears numerous times. Katie was able to work a lot with this choir and also teach drama lessons to these students. I know she really loved this project!


This video is of the choir singing my favorite African song. The words are, "Jesus is a winner man." If you hear something else when you listen, you are a horrible twisted person. :)

This is another clip of Crane's Choir that shows how talented they really are. I get goosebumps watching this.