Since I neglected to mention a MAJOR change in my life I will let it now be known - I AM NO LONGER IN THE NURSERY!! If that isn't proof that God exists I don't know what is. Okay, so it wasn't THAT bad, but I'm very excited about my new calling: Young Women Personal Progress Advisor. All the girls in my ward are way fun, friendly, and excited to be there so so far it's been a lot of fun. Since tonight was YM/YW Lindsay and I walked down to the church and we all learned from Brother Yancy in our bishopric how to take a good picture. He has taken wedding pictures for over 25 years so he taught us some great tricks to taking a great pic.

We took some pictures of the Pinewood derby that was going on and then went outside to see what flowers, plants, and people we could take pictures of. Mine, however, seemed to just come out exactly like I normally take them, regardless of any extra instruction and advice. I guess that means I'm either a naturally good photographer, or hopeless even with help. Knowning my luck, it's the latter. Oh well, we had a lot of fun and I got to know each of the girls - and now it will be nice to know some girls who can babysit!

P.S. pics of my new floor are coming - it's still a work in progress :)

Since I've been busy, and by busy I mean lazy, I've neglected to take the time to post about the uber exciting events that have happened to me. And by uber, I mean moderate.

My father in law and I took on the task of installing new wood floors in my living room, kitchen, and dining area. Alyshia had done hers a month or so ago and I was very jealous of it's easy clean up and how much better it looked than carpet. But boy was it a task! It took us a Saturday, a Tuesday, and half a Wednesday to get it done and and I wouldn't have been able to do it without his expert carpentry skills because there was a gigundo amount of cutting to be done. But it looks great and as soon as we get the baseboards put on tomorrow I will post some pictures. But it looks great! Also, thanks to Alyshia for watching Lindsay for a couple days so she didn't interfere. Linds sure likes to help, but her idea of helping is not equal to mine :)

Then last Tuesday, Lindsay and I drove up to Salt Lake to see Britney Spears lip synch live at the Energy Solutions Arena. And we almost didn't make it. Poor Tracy was nearly on her death bed, and we almost decided to sell our tickets, but she said "I AM GOING NO MATTER WHAT!" And she did, albeit painfully. We had bought our tickets early and got floors seats (our tickets said seat 234 and 235) but when we got there it was standing room only - and we're not vertically gifted if you know what I mean. And since Tracy was super sick and my back hurts after standing for long periods of time and we were quite upset that it said we had seats when we didn't we had to devise a plan involving a necessary lie in order to get our tickets changed. I made Tracy pretend she was pregnant and had preeclampsia and was under doctors orders not to stand for extended periods of time. We acted quite preturbed that we were told seats when there really were none and they exchanged them right away. I know, I know - it wasn't the truth but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.

Now, the concert was entertaining for sure. There were circus acts of all sorts and fireworks and smoke and crazy cool backup dancers; however, this was NOT a kids show. There was a little girl no more than 12 sitting in front of me and at times I felt like I should be covering her eyes! So if anyone asks you, "Hey do you think I should allow my teenage daughter to go to a Britney Spears concert?" I would say to you, No ma'am.. Because although she might come home with a t-shirt and a multicolored feather boa, she would also come home with a master's degree in sex education! Now, if your teenage son asks to go to a Britney Spears concert, you may have other issues to worry about :) As much as I love/am disgusted by Miss Spears and enjoy her crazy psycho escapades she is not - nor will she ever be - a role model for girls. We took pictures, but lets be honest, all you have to do is pick up the next issue of Celebrities Gone Crazy Magazine, and you wouldn't be missing a thing.

Today, I also had a cleaning company come and give my house a much needed Spring cleaning - and I'll tell you it was certainly worth what I paid for it. My house is sparkling from top to bottom and there's nothing more relaxing than watching TV while someone else cleans your house!

Anyway, that's my weeks in review and boring as it is....well that's my life. Not reality show worthy - unless someone out there is looking for show about a girl who chases a crazy child all day, screams at her dogs, and watches way too much VH1 - I'll let you know if one is ever in the works :) But chances are it would end up on E! and who really ever watches that? Sorry, Mr. Seacrest - the truth hurts.

Today we went to my family's annual Easter Egg Barbecue. This was the first one where Lindsay was old enough to play around with her little cousins and enjoy finding some fun, hidden treats. We all get together quite often at my Aunt Gayle's house for these fun barbecues and it's always fun to catch up with the cousins and see how fast and tall all the kids are growing.

We all ate til our stomachs could take no more - I partook of one of my all-time favorite foods: a severely blackened hot dog. My Uncle Arthur always knows that's how I like 'em. Then all the little kids ran like crazy to the backyard to search for eggs and treats. Lindsay was mostly content to play with a ball instead of hunt for eggs, but with a little coaching she found some foil covered chocolate eggs. She didn't mind the foil taste apparently because they went directly into her mouth. By the end of the day she was covered in dirt, chocolate, grass, and baked beans - the dirtier you are the better time you must be having. That's my philsophy.

The barbecue ended with I think a newly made up game of what I called Easter Basket Ball. Everyone was trying to throw a ball into an Easter basket full of treats. It doesn't take much to entertain us :) Give us some food and a ball and we always have a great time!

Here are some pics of the whole fam hanging out. I know there's a lot, but hey, we had a good time!

I find it a bittersweet occasion that ER is now off the air. And by bittersweet, I mean BITTER because my Thursday night television is now occupied by a number a relentlessly redundant ER reruns whom are watched by way too many people, and SWEET because it is finally off the air and will now be occupied by Southland starring my freebie Ben McKenzie, formerly of the unnecessarily canceled The OC. I love my Ryan Atwood!

15 years? I mean, seriously? Was it really necessary to keep it on THAT long? I personally pride myself on never having watched a single full episode of it. I say, Good Night, and Good Riddance!

Lindsay and I traversed the state from sunny St. George to winter-ridden Provo on Sunday in order to see Tracy and Darren and go to a much anticipated book signing of one of mine, and Tracy's personal favorite, author, Jodi Picoult. If you haven't read any of her books - DO SO. They're all good. All of them. Moral dilemmas + twisty endings = Good books.

It was a ridiculously cold visit my friends - cold, cold, and cold. Personally, I don't know how you Northern Utahns stand this weather :). It's swim time down south! It was so cold I nearly froze my toes off - literally - since I only brought open toes shoes for myself. Since Tracy and Darren had to work during the days Linds and I did lot of window shopping, sight seeing and playing. We went to Kangaroo Zoo in Pleasant Grove where they have about a billion inflatable jumping apparatuses for kids to play on. Lindsay only dare to crawl through the small ones and down the small slides (head first, mind you), but was honestly more interested in the machines that were keeping the inflatables up; however, she had a fun time running around screaming, stealing other kids' drinks, and pointing at nothing in particular.

Since Linds tends to wander around like a lost puppy, I resigned myself to getting her a baby leash - albeit begrudgingly. I keep my dogs on a leash, you know? But holy heavens, did she despise that thing. We went to the Dinosaur museum at Thanksgiving point and I put the little backpack on her that the leash attached to and she was okay with it as long as she didn't feel me pulling on it. One tiny yank and she immediately dropped to the floor like it was an earthquake drill and commenced screaming like a wild banshee. It wasn't annoying in the least. I'm sure the other museum patrons especially appreciated it. Lately, she has been OBSESSED with stairs and so she spent the majority of the time climbing the two steps up to this massive dinosaur scale and then back down. Up, down. Repeat. Oh, she also ran around screaming and pointing at nothing in particular :)

On Wednesday, Tracy took the day off and we went into SLC and played at the Discovery Center at the Gateway. More screaming and random pointing ensued :) It was the cutest little place though and we even saw a kid wearing suspenders - who knew they existed in that size? And who allows their kid to wear suspenders? I mean, really? Do you want your child ridiculed for the whole of his childhood simply because you're sick of pulling up his pants? Maybe buy a smaller size. But I digress.

That night we traveled the city Lewis & Clark style to find where the book signing was held (thank goodness for cell phone GPS or we might have ended up in Reno) and although Linds didn't sit still or keep quiet even though I brought 8 billion books and treats (perhaps duct tape next time?) and I wasn't able to hear much of what the author said, I did get my book signed first and learned she was also left-handed. We lefties gotta stick together. God made a few people perfect, and then he made the rest right-handed. Sorry, I don't make the rules :)

Today (Thursday) was bitter cold so we stayed inside as much as we could, but having the wildest child ever to live on earth, I had to take her out so she didn't completely destroy the hotel room. We decided to make a trip to The Quilted Bear. Now, normally I love The Quilted Bear. They have cute home decor and other fun and creative thingamajigs. On this trip, however, we found a rather odd and disturbing item for sale. And no, this isn't a joke.

Now, apart from the unknowing stars of To Catch a Predator, I was unaware that there was even a market for toddler lingerie. Sadly, I was mistaken. I can only imagine "Little Lady Lingerie's" competing products: Garter for Girls, Toddler Teddies, Baby Boustiers, etc. Now, I don't know about you guys, but I'm decidedly against toddler promiscuity. Call me crazy, but I'd rather not tell my one year old it's bedtime and now she should go "slip into something more comfortable." But I guess that's just me.

We also took a trip up to see the new Draper temple and it is quite beautiful. The houses that surround it were almost ridiculous in size. One in particular was quite extravagant - too extravagant even. I pity the fool who has to dust that bad boy. As I sat taking a picture of it, I could almost feel talking clocks, candelabras, and other come-to-life furniture staring at me through the windows - and an unbearable urge to check out the west wing. (Beauty and the Beast reference, in case you thought I was just word vomiting).

Later on, we decided to have Thursday television night at Tracy's, which turned into Thursday wild child driving us crazy night at Tracy's. My child is not unlike Animal on the Muppets. - climbing this, pulling this down, throwing toys, spilling drinks, etc. (but, in her defense, being unfailing cute all the while.) Tonight is a good example of why my child has a 7 pm bedtime. After 7 pm, my sanity is NOT guaranteed.

Tomorrow we drive home - hopefully snow encounters will be few and far between - and I will be back to wearing flips and enjoying the sun! Happy Extended-Winter to all you Northerners - give the Ice Queen my regards :)

1. Rihanna & Chris Brown - I can't believe how many people are shocked that she took him back. Not to be insensitive, but isn't that how abusive relationships work? Abuse, apology, reconciliation - repeat. "They Take Back Their Abusive Boyfriends!" That's not something they put in the "Stars! - They're Just Like Us" pages of Us Magazine. However, I'm sure Oprah's warning to her will mend her ways. Sarcasm intended - mostly because I can't stand Oprah.

2. The Movie Australia - I firmly believe that any and all movies should be limited to a 2 hour time limits. No exceptions. If a film cannot make it under 2 hours, well, then make it a sequel! Most of us DO have lives! (myself excluded) Australia is 2 hours and 45 minutes of dust and Hugh Jackman. And although I certainly prefer the latter, even too much of Hugh Jackman can't be a good thing. It was just way, way, way too long and not near good enough to make up for it. Less is more, people. Less is more.

3. This Bachelor Crap - Of course ABC couldn't settle for another boring season of their good old fashioned meet her 'n marry her show, so this year their Bachelor thought it would be fun to flip-flop Hillary Clinton-style and make himself look like a complete d-bag. Which probaby means he was an original d-bag to begin with - just hiding in a tailored suits. The Sutters being the exception, do people really think that they will find true and everlasting love while dating a bevy of desperate singles all while being constantly filmed? I mean, come on - really? Like really? I guess desperate times call for desperate reality shows.

4. American Idol - How many times are they going to throw in surprise changes in the show before it's not even American Idol anymore and just turns into a bunch of snarky judges making subtley homophobic jokes at a metrosexual host. Oh, well I guess that's something that hasn't changed :) I say let's just keep to the original format, no more sing-offs for your life, get rid of a fourth judge (and by 4th I mean Paula since she's off her meds and can no longer offer any more crazy, loopy, pain-pilled fueled interviews and lets be honest, it raised ratings). FOX better be careful because too much changes could mean AI ends up a karaoke contest complete with has-been stars of the 80's looking for their next big break. KEEP IT SIMPLE STUPID

5. Presidential State of the Union Addresses. Don't think me unpatriotic but I HATE with a PASSION when the address just happens to fill up Thursday night's television slots. That's MY TV NIGHT!! And does it have to be broadcast on every channel short of QVC and Animal Planet? I say how about Monday morning between 9 & 11. I doubt the elderly wont be mad about missing two hours of Matlock and Murder She Wrote reruns. It's not like I don't care about what the President has to say, I just care about the time he chooses to share it. I get very angry when I miss The Office and 30 Rock. You won't like me when I'm angry.