I got addicted to America Idol a few years back when Jon Peter Lewis was in the Top 12. I even made t-shirts for my sisters and I to wear with his picture on them! I really don't remember anything after he got kicked off though. Not even who won that season. Fantasia maybe? Before that season and since then I only watched an episode here and there, never really getting too involved. I guess I just didn't want to get my heart broken again.
Until this season...
I watched one of the audition episodes with my friend Newton because he loves the ridiculously funny people. But I still wasn't impressed enough to watch every week, twice or three times a week. Then my friend Janae invited me over to watch the Top 12 guys perform several weeks ago. I was addicted after that! And it's all because of the amazing David Cook. I love his look and his voice and his songs and his guitar skills and even his "modern comb-over." I'm a sucker for long hair! So now I do watch twice or three times a week. And I download all his songs so I can listen to him during the other five days he is not on the television. And thanks to YouTube I can watch his amazing performances any time I want!
I wanted to share my obsession with all of you out there who may not be fans (yet) and hear what you think. But really, if you don't like him I don't want to hear it. Haha! So here are videos of his past 4 performances from oldest to newest. Rock on!
Happy Together
Alright Now
Hello
Eleanor Rigby
Well? What'd you think? Isn't he an amazing performer?!
Oh, I have other favorites too! Jason Castro, David Archuleta, Carly Smithson and Brooke White. But no one can get me like David Cook.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Fenton's Creamery
After we went to the Oakland Temple on Friday night, my parents, Midiam, Troy and I went to dinner at Fenton's Creamery because Troy was really wanting to go. I love love love the place so I was super excited because it had been a couple years since I've gone.
Here's a little preface of Fenton's...It is a legend.
And being the legend it is, it is a really popular place to eat. So popular in fact that there is usually no available parking for a several block radius. Then when you do park and get to the restaurant there is usually a long line spilling out onto the sidewalk. Then when you get a table it is usually inches from the next table which is inches from the next table and so on. Basically they cram a lot of people in there. But the food is great and the ice cream to die for. The ice cream creations are a spectacle and I like to watch as every person in the place is delivered their dessert.
So after me telling you all that you can imagine my hesitation in going there on a Friday night. But I think we were really blessed because when we pulled up to the tiny parking lot there were no spaces open but a group was on their way to their car. So we waited a minute and took the empty spot. Now this was not just any parking spot. No one could have parked closer than we did. (Okay, a handicapped person could have parked in the space next to us) It was amazing!! Never in my life have I gotten a parking spot in so ideal a location at so popular a place. Not even at Wal-Mart. This is is the picture of our new van in the astonishing parking spot and my mom, Midiam and my dad walking into the restaurant.
Mom & Dad
Midiam & Troy
Me & the little kid with a giant sundae
It's kinda hard to see but in the exact middle of the photo is a tall stack of plastic cups that a worker would, every so often, carry over his shoulder to restock the drink station. It was so tall and teetering that we were afraid for him that it would collapse on him or other customers or ourselves. It was pretty cool though.
Pages 1 and 2 of the menu: sandwiches, salads, burgers, etc. Bascially, real food.
Pages 3 and 4 of the menu: ice cream, ice cream and more ice cream. Basically a whole bunch of ice cream.
This is the, already half eaten, Leprechaun's Treasure my mom and I shared. It is a big, ol' brownie, with Heavenly Hash ice cream, Mint Cookie ice cream, marshmallow topping, fudge, whipped cream, sprinkles and a cherry on top. It was fabulous! My dad's cup of CCAC is in the background. "CCAC" is what the place, and we caught on soon, affectionally call their Cream Caramel Almond Crunch ice cream. It was seriously it die for!!! I highly recomend it to anyone going to Fenton's!
All of the photos were taken with my phone so please excuse the poor quality.
Here's a little preface of Fenton's...It is a legend.
And being the legend it is, it is a really popular place to eat. So popular in fact that there is usually no available parking for a several block radius. Then when you do park and get to the restaurant there is usually a long line spilling out onto the sidewalk. Then when you get a table it is usually inches from the next table which is inches from the next table and so on. Basically they cram a lot of people in there. But the food is great and the ice cream to die for. The ice cream creations are a spectacle and I like to watch as every person in the place is delivered their dessert.
So after me telling you all that you can imagine my hesitation in going there on a Friday night. But I think we were really blessed because when we pulled up to the tiny parking lot there were no spaces open but a group was on their way to their car. So we waited a minute and took the empty spot. Now this was not just any parking spot. No one could have parked closer than we did. (Okay, a handicapped person could have parked in the space next to us) It was amazing!! Never in my life have I gotten a parking spot in so ideal a location at so popular a place. Not even at Wal-Mart. This is is the picture of our new van in the astonishing parking spot and my mom, Midiam and my dad walking into the restaurant.
Mom & Dad
Midiam & Troy
Me & the little kid with a giant sundae
It's kinda hard to see but in the exact middle of the photo is a tall stack of plastic cups that a worker would, every so often, carry over his shoulder to restock the drink station. It was so tall and teetering that we were afraid for him that it would collapse on him or other customers or ourselves. It was pretty cool though.
Pages 1 and 2 of the menu: sandwiches, salads, burgers, etc. Bascially, real food.
Pages 3 and 4 of the menu: ice cream, ice cream and more ice cream. Basically a whole bunch of ice cream.
This is the, already half eaten, Leprechaun's Treasure my mom and I shared. It is a big, ol' brownie, with Heavenly Hash ice cream, Mint Cookie ice cream, marshmallow topping, fudge, whipped cream, sprinkles and a cherry on top. It was fabulous! My dad's cup of CCAC is in the background. "CCAC" is what the place, and we caught on soon, affectionally call their Cream Caramel Almond Crunch ice cream. It was seriously it die for!!! I highly recomend it to anyone going to Fenton's!
All of the photos were taken with my phone so please excuse the poor quality.
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Weekend Getaway Vacation to....IDAHO?!?
I needed to escape for a couple days and thought about driving to Las Vegas or southern Utah or something with little or no snow. I told my friend Danny this and he said he was leaving to move to Idaho the next day. I mentioned that I would love to go with him if he had room and wanted some company. I have 2 sisters in Idaho and could definitely stand a couple days in freezing cold Idaho to hang out with them. So we left the next night to start to Idaho.
What was I thinking?!?
This fine looking gas station is in Sacramento. See...no snow:
Early the next morning in Wells, Nevada.
I didn't mind too much, but Danny's car's heater decided when and for how long it would work and there was nothing we could do about it! Look at us all bundled up in coats, hats, sweaters and gloves!
Danny stopped and showed me this super cool look out point over the Snake River in Twin Falls, Idaho. The bridge is beautiful too! And if you look carefully behind Danny there is a golf course at the bottom of the canyon near the river. It was covered with snow though. Of course!!
Danny dropped me off in Idaho Falls with my sister and her husband, who I was going to be staying with. We were starving so Kurt took us to this yummy little deli to get monstrous sandwiches!
The marquee for the deli says "Jerky Jerky and more Jerky" and it is true! There was one whole wall in the shop covered with every kind of jerky you could imagine!
When I found out I was going to be going to Idaho I wanted to surprise both my sisters. But my return home travel plans were stressing me out so I called Lori and told her that I was coming and asked for help to get back to California. Kimberly still did not have any idea that I was coming. She had talked to my mom the night I left and my mom covered for me. So Lori, Kurt and I went to Kimberly's apartment to surprise her.
I wanted to take a picture of her being surprised, but my flash wasn't on and it turned out less than ideal. You can still see the look she had on her face though.
After the initial shock wore off she started to smile and I got a good picture of that. She was still too surprised to even move! She just stood in her room in that exact spot. I had to go up to her and say, "Are you gonna give me a hug?"
Then Kimberly was just so excited she started showing me her room and all the things she has been doing. She sewed this button up shirt for Kurt. So he had to try it on.
Lori sure likes it!
Then we went to Lori and Kurt's apartment to get me settled in and so I could take a nap. They got a cool new shower head so this is them being all Home-Improvement-like and installing it.
Since I was in town the three of us girls thought it would be yummy to make our famous (or at least favorite) nachos.
Later, some of Lori and Kurt's friends came over to play games. Kurt made up a new pitcher of Kool-Aid for everyone to drink because the other pitcher had some floaties in it!
Their friends Danielle and Clayton brought over this amazingly fun game called "Boxers or Briefs" It was so much fun!! It is played kind of like "Apples to Apples" where you have a category and then everyone puts in their best card from their hand that fits the category. But the six categories are: "I like..." "I want..." "I am..." "I don't...", things like that. Then on the cards it has a hilarious sentence that starts with each of the six phrases. Then you get tokens, with a picture of boxers or briefs, for your card being the truest or the funniest. We had a blast playing and getting to know each other better! I told my mom all about the game and we searched all over the Central and Sacramento Valleys to find the game without any success. We'll just have to buy it online.
Danielle and Clayton
Later, Jed and Jill came over and we played Balderdash! I love this game!
Here is the game board in the middle of the game. I am the orange piece in the middle. But I pulled ahead on the last round and won the game when I had everyone guess my answer and I was the only one who guessed the right one! I'm pretty sure that should go into the Guinness Book of World Records.
Here is Lori and Kurt getting ready to go to the Rexburg Temple dedication Sunday morning.
Kurt's future is so bright he has to wear shades. Even though it was not a bit sunny and super foggy outside. Lori paid way too much for the sunglasses and gave them to him for Christmas though.
This is the Rexburg Temple the morning of the dedication. See how foggy it was!! The dedication started late and we heard it was because President Thomas S. Monson's flight into Rexburg had to be routed somewhere else because of the fog.
We went to the 9am session broadcasted in the Gordon B. Hinckley building.
We went super early to make sure that I could get in because I didn't have a ticket. It was no problem getting in though. President Monson, Elder Russell M. Nelson, Elder David A. Bednar and Elder Claudio R. M. Costa were there for the dedication.
After the dedication it was bright and sunny. In this picture you can see the temple and the Hinckley Building.
After the dedication we came home and took naps then made hot chocolate with the drinking chocolates from Ghirardelli's. It was really good!
Later that day I went over to Kimberly's apartment to have dinner and play games with her and her roommates. I forgot to take any pictures except this one of me walking to her apartment in my flip flops in the snow. I'm such a California girl!
This is Lori's GINORMOUS 24" iMac!!!!! It is huge and so freaking nice!!!! I am so jealous!
Lori had class on Monday morning so I went with her to see what she does and not be bored sitting at the apartment all by myself. This is Lori looking really frustrated while looking for a parking spot near campus. She was in Kurt's big, old work truck so she couldn't just park it anywhere.
We finally found a spot and had to book it (carefully on the ice and snow) to her class on the 3rd floor of some building. When we get to her classroom there was only one person there and a note on the board saying that class was cancelled! We were happy and frustrated! On the walk back to the truck we saw that some girl had written my name in the snow. Silly girl though, she spelled it wrong! So Lori changed the "E" on the end to an "A"
Since Lori's class was cancelled we went with Kurt to Idaho Falls to play. Well, actually, Kurt had to work, but Lori and I went and played! We went to the craft store where my old roommate and best friend Heidi works and I surprised her! We talked for awhile and then made plans for her and her husband, and another of my best friends, Sky to come over to Lori and Kurt's for dinner.
Lori and I then went to the mall to go shoe shopping.
And did we ever go shoe shopping!!!!! This one store was having a buy one get one free so we both got 2 pairs. Lori's were both flats and mine both high heels. I'm a sucker for high heels!
Take a look at these hot pink things!! I'm so excited!!
After shopping we met Kurt and his dad Scott and Scott's business partner for lunch at a Mongolian BBQ place. I wasn't hungry so I didn't eat...but I did eat one and a half fortune cookies. I don't usually like the way fortune cookies taste but these were really good!
Kurt made this funny face the entire time he was washing the car at the car wash place. It was so cute and funny!
Awhile later, back the apartment, I came into the kitchen and somehow these two had got themselves into this position and were torturing eachother! Luckily I had my camera nearby and caught the two crazy kids on camera.
Self portrait of me at Dominos getting pizza for dinner.
Then we had to go the grocery store to get stuff to make fried Oreos for dessert.
There is a popular beer in Idaho called Killian's so we had to take a family picture in the alcohol section with the neon sign. But the story doesn't end there. Lori told us she was going to ask the manager if she could have the sign! Kurt and I were totally embarrased and ran out of the store and hid. We peeked around the corner to see how it was going with Lori and she had 2 or 3 workers around her and following her to the sign. So Kurt and I followed too. One woman told her she would have to come back during the day and ask the general manager. Last I heard Lori hadn't gone back to ask again. But it's really only a matter of time before she does. The girl is persistant!
Kimberly was the only one who knew how to make the fried Oreos so she came over and made them for us. It's really nice to have an amazing, soon-to-be professional cook in the family! They were really yummy!!
Here are my super, amazing, fabulous, hilarious, great, grand, wonderful, best friends Sky and Heidi!!!! Or Hy and Skeidi as they are commonly referred to.
I make anyone who lets me try on my brace so here is Sky modeling the contraption:
And the lovely Heidi:
And Lori, who, I'm not gonna lie, kind of looks like she belongs in a mental institution:
One last picture of the 3 of us before Sky and Heidi left. Good times!
My trip was just about over. I had to take a shuttle from Rexburg to the Salt Lake airport and then a flight into California to get back home. I caught the shuttle at 6:30am. It was still dark. So I got to see the sunrise on the way to Utah. It was beautiful!!
Here I am after an amazing and perfect long weekend with my sisters. I went home happy.
What was I thinking?!?
This fine looking gas station is in Sacramento. See...no snow:
Early the next morning in Wells, Nevada.
I didn't mind too much, but Danny's car's heater decided when and for how long it would work and there was nothing we could do about it! Look at us all bundled up in coats, hats, sweaters and gloves!
Danny stopped and showed me this super cool look out point over the Snake River in Twin Falls, Idaho. The bridge is beautiful too! And if you look carefully behind Danny there is a golf course at the bottom of the canyon near the river. It was covered with snow though. Of course!!
Danny dropped me off in Idaho Falls with my sister and her husband, who I was going to be staying with. We were starving so Kurt took us to this yummy little deli to get monstrous sandwiches!
The marquee for the deli says "Jerky Jerky and more Jerky" and it is true! There was one whole wall in the shop covered with every kind of jerky you could imagine!
When I found out I was going to be going to Idaho I wanted to surprise both my sisters. But my return home travel plans were stressing me out so I called Lori and told her that I was coming and asked for help to get back to California. Kimberly still did not have any idea that I was coming. She had talked to my mom the night I left and my mom covered for me. So Lori, Kurt and I went to Kimberly's apartment to surprise her.
I wanted to take a picture of her being surprised, but my flash wasn't on and it turned out less than ideal. You can still see the look she had on her face though.
After the initial shock wore off she started to smile and I got a good picture of that. She was still too surprised to even move! She just stood in her room in that exact spot. I had to go up to her and say, "Are you gonna give me a hug?"
Then Kimberly was just so excited she started showing me her room and all the things she has been doing. She sewed this button up shirt for Kurt. So he had to try it on.
Lori sure likes it!
Then we went to Lori and Kurt's apartment to get me settled in and so I could take a nap. They got a cool new shower head so this is them being all Home-Improvement-like and installing it.
Since I was in town the three of us girls thought it would be yummy to make our famous (or at least favorite) nachos.
Later, some of Lori and Kurt's friends came over to play games. Kurt made up a new pitcher of Kool-Aid for everyone to drink because the other pitcher had some floaties in it!
Their friends Danielle and Clayton brought over this amazingly fun game called "Boxers or Briefs" It was so much fun!! It is played kind of like "Apples to Apples" where you have a category and then everyone puts in their best card from their hand that fits the category. But the six categories are: "I like..." "I want..." "I am..." "I don't...", things like that. Then on the cards it has a hilarious sentence that starts with each of the six phrases. Then you get tokens, with a picture of boxers or briefs, for your card being the truest or the funniest. We had a blast playing and getting to know each other better! I told my mom all about the game and we searched all over the Central and Sacramento Valleys to find the game without any success. We'll just have to buy it online.
Danielle and Clayton
Later, Jed and Jill came over and we played Balderdash! I love this game!
Here is the game board in the middle of the game. I am the orange piece in the middle. But I pulled ahead on the last round and won the game when I had everyone guess my answer and I was the only one who guessed the right one! I'm pretty sure that should go into the Guinness Book of World Records.
Here is Lori and Kurt getting ready to go to the Rexburg Temple dedication Sunday morning.
Kurt's future is so bright he has to wear shades. Even though it was not a bit sunny and super foggy outside. Lori paid way too much for the sunglasses and gave them to him for Christmas though.
This is the Rexburg Temple the morning of the dedication. See how foggy it was!! The dedication started late and we heard it was because President Thomas S. Monson's flight into Rexburg had to be routed somewhere else because of the fog.
We went to the 9am session broadcasted in the Gordon B. Hinckley building.
We went super early to make sure that I could get in because I didn't have a ticket. It was no problem getting in though. President Monson, Elder Russell M. Nelson, Elder David A. Bednar and Elder Claudio R. M. Costa were there for the dedication.
After the dedication it was bright and sunny. In this picture you can see the temple and the Hinckley Building.
After the dedication we came home and took naps then made hot chocolate with the drinking chocolates from Ghirardelli's. It was really good!
Later that day I went over to Kimberly's apartment to have dinner and play games with her and her roommates. I forgot to take any pictures except this one of me walking to her apartment in my flip flops in the snow. I'm such a California girl!
This is Lori's GINORMOUS 24" iMac!!!!! It is huge and so freaking nice!!!! I am so jealous!
Lori had class on Monday morning so I went with her to see what she does and not be bored sitting at the apartment all by myself. This is Lori looking really frustrated while looking for a parking spot near campus. She was in Kurt's big, old work truck so she couldn't just park it anywhere.
We finally found a spot and had to book it (carefully on the ice and snow) to her class on the 3rd floor of some building. When we get to her classroom there was only one person there and a note on the board saying that class was cancelled! We were happy and frustrated! On the walk back to the truck we saw that some girl had written my name in the snow. Silly girl though, she spelled it wrong! So Lori changed the "E" on the end to an "A"
Since Lori's class was cancelled we went with Kurt to Idaho Falls to play. Well, actually, Kurt had to work, but Lori and I went and played! We went to the craft store where my old roommate and best friend Heidi works and I surprised her! We talked for awhile and then made plans for her and her husband, and another of my best friends, Sky to come over to Lori and Kurt's for dinner.
Lori and I then went to the mall to go shoe shopping.
And did we ever go shoe shopping!!!!! This one store was having a buy one get one free so we both got 2 pairs. Lori's were both flats and mine both high heels. I'm a sucker for high heels!
Take a look at these hot pink things!! I'm so excited!!
After shopping we met Kurt and his dad Scott and Scott's business partner for lunch at a Mongolian BBQ place. I wasn't hungry so I didn't eat...but I did eat one and a half fortune cookies. I don't usually like the way fortune cookies taste but these were really good!
Kurt made this funny face the entire time he was washing the car at the car wash place. It was so cute and funny!
Awhile later, back the apartment, I came into the kitchen and somehow these two had got themselves into this position and were torturing eachother! Luckily I had my camera nearby and caught the two crazy kids on camera.
Self portrait of me at Dominos getting pizza for dinner.
Then we had to go the grocery store to get stuff to make fried Oreos for dessert.
There is a popular beer in Idaho called Killian's so we had to take a family picture in the alcohol section with the neon sign. But the story doesn't end there. Lori told us she was going to ask the manager if she could have the sign! Kurt and I were totally embarrased and ran out of the store and hid. We peeked around the corner to see how it was going with Lori and she had 2 or 3 workers around her and following her to the sign. So Kurt and I followed too. One woman told her she would have to come back during the day and ask the general manager. Last I heard Lori hadn't gone back to ask again. But it's really only a matter of time before she does. The girl is persistant!
Kimberly was the only one who knew how to make the fried Oreos so she came over and made them for us. It's really nice to have an amazing, soon-to-be professional cook in the family! They were really yummy!!
Here are my super, amazing, fabulous, hilarious, great, grand, wonderful, best friends Sky and Heidi!!!! Or Hy and Skeidi as they are commonly referred to.
I make anyone who lets me try on my brace so here is Sky modeling the contraption:
And the lovely Heidi:
And Lori, who, I'm not gonna lie, kind of looks like she belongs in a mental institution:
One last picture of the 3 of us before Sky and Heidi left. Good times!
My trip was just about over. I had to take a shuttle from Rexburg to the Salt Lake airport and then a flight into California to get back home. I caught the shuttle at 6:30am. It was still dark. So I got to see the sunrise on the way to Utah. It was beautiful!!
Here I am after an amazing and perfect long weekend with my sisters. I went home happy.
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