My Friend's "List"

I have to point you to this blog post I just read because it's midnight and I'm in bed, laughing hysterically. Thanks to my friend, Nicole, I might have trouble falling asleep tonight because of the constant laughing.

As a quick little teaser, here's my new favorite quote:

"See, only good things would come from me marrying someone who is illiterate."

Maybe L.A. Doesn't Suck, Too!

Thanks to some fantastic musicals/feats-of-"His-Legs-Flail-About-As-If-Independent-From-His-Body" moments. Mary Poppins one weekend, and Riverdance the next.


Some awesome ladies who were awesome company to an awesome play. Can we also talk about how much I loved our dinner before the show at Pete's Cafe? The blue cheese fries were seriously good, as was the mac and cheese. How Rayna manages to look that incredible in a yoga outfit is beyond me. Can I be her? Please? Thanks.


You can't help but smile when being around Rayna and Brieg. So that's what Brittany and I did.


The next weekend, Riverdance! I have to admit that I had a loop of FRIENDS running throughout my head for pretty much the whole night. "What scares the bejeezus out of Chandler?" "Michael Flatley, Lord of the Dance!" "The Irish Jig guy?" "What? His legs flail about as if independent from his body!" (yes, that's memorized) Highlights included the Russian folk dancers, the Pantages, and Allison's "I think I'm autistic."



Not autistic. Awesome.

Vegas doesn't suck anymore!

Who knew? I've always hated Vegas. Both driving through (too much traffic!) and staying there (smelly, trashy, and more smelly). But what I learned on this recent trip for work is that it's not always smelly, trashy, and more smelly! I hooked us up with some pretty sweet rooms at the Trump hotel thanks to Hotwire. It's a non-smoking, non-gaming slice of heaven. Check out my room!


That bathroom you see on the left? One of the two bathrooms my suite had. How fantastic is that? The bathroom off the bedroom was HUGE--way bigger than my bedroom here at home.


I didn't spend too much time on this couch, but it was a cool room with a cool TV.


Would have been a great picture if I hadn't closed my eyes. So nerdy that I had to post it.


Paris at night. Or at least, the closest I'll probably ever get to Paris at night.


I stood in front of many statues on this trip (a huge Buddha at TAO, for example). This is just the one in the Bellagio. We'd already done our conferencing for the day, and we were on our way to wait 2.5 hours in line for standby tickets for "O". Considering we ended up with 10th row seats . . . totally worth it! The most spectacular thing I've ever seen--can't wait to see it again!


Fred, buying the most ridiculous sweats I've ever seen. But I love that he loves them so much that this is his second pair! And I love that I got to see him thrice on my trip--yay!


Waiting for the Bellagio water fountain show--super cool! I'd never seen it before, but it's pretty fun. Got a mini show during the picture. And by mini, I mean, the tiniest.


Tiger at Bellagio. Pretty cool, huh?

Funny How Things Work Out

Last month when I was in Utah, my best friend mentioned something that her husband had said to her about me recently. Something along the lines of how, when they first started dating, he figured he had the least in common with me out of all her friends. Now, five years later, apparently I'm the only friend of hers he really talks to or with whom he has anything in common.

It's hilarious to me because, when they first started dating, he didn't talk all that much and I didn't get to know him all that well. But over the years, we found out we had a mutual love of old-school Nintendo. They would come over, he would play, and my best friend and I would scratch each other's backs while catching up ("Oh hey, that joke's still funny," she would say while not moving her hand scratching my back, knowing I love a soft-and-slow back-scratch).

Recently we discovered that we have a similar love for (obsession with?) basketball, and specifically, the Jazz and Lakers. Yes, the Jazz AND Lakers. Fandom of the two does not have to be mutually exclusive. Turns out we both love motion offenses, and those two teams are rare in a league filled with isolation plays and no set systems.

It's funny how things work out. I never would have guessed, when they first started dating, that I would so enjoy getting to know this guy, and that I would come to love him for how much he loves her, how much he adores her and how well he treats her--they could not be a more perfect match. I was super excited when it worked out that he'd be the one picking me up from the SLC airport since he was finishing up with his KSL sports gig late that night anyway--we'd have a whole hour to talk Jazz on the way to their place! It was fantastic.

You like to think when your friends are starting to date someone that they're making a good choice and that they're seeing everything with eyes wide open, that they're picking someone with whom they can have a really great, healthy, fulfilling relationship. Sometimes it turns out that way, and sometimes it doesn't. In this case, I had no idea how much she was rocking the choosing-your-eternal-companion concept, but she nailed it.

Things I Learned While Tending Jack

These last few days, Mom and I tended Jack while my sister was in Atlanta for work.

Some things I've learned in the last few days:

Two-year-old sentences and logic are so precious. He's always saying, "Coming?" "Look!" and "Kobe!" The funniest is when he says, "Kobe! Look!" He wants Kobe to see what he's seeing. It doesn't always work, though . . .

Dogs and little kids playing together . . . pretty much my favorite thing ever. Throw in the beach, and you're golden. We went to the beach twice with Jack and Kobe in just under two days. Went to the park five times in that time period. Five.

Personal hygiene is a blessed, blessed thing. And purely a luxury. I never thought I'd be so happy to take a long shower and wash and blow-dry my hair. Wow.

He's going nonstop. You'd better catch up. And I didn't, really. I'm EXHAUSTED.

Little girls, in my experience (which, admittedly, is VERY limited, and is limited to my cousins' kids), are way easier than boys. I'm sure that all switches in the teenage years, so it balances out, I'm sure.

He's totally OCD and we love it. He's always wanting to wash his hands. If he gets a non-food, foreign object on his hands while eating, he won't eat anymore. He'll just say "Hannies!" and hold them out until you're able to wipe them. Then he's fine. He took one look at the kitchen floor and said, "Dirty." He's also been known to say "Messy" at random times. So cute!

Dogs are way easier. Even my dog. WAY easier.

My sister is an AMAZING mom. I knew she'd be awesome and competent because she's a total rock star, but I'm really blown away--she's fantastic. It's touching and sweet and cute and incredible, all at the same time. And now she has multiple feelings (she used to love to say, "You could have hurt my feeling."), all tied up in this precious boy.

I really love that he calls me Ya-ya. I'm going to miss hearing it 938 times a day.

Good times

My mom's cousin and his family is down from Utah, staying in a beach house in Capo Beach, so we've spent a lot of time there the last week or so. Kobe is especially a fan. =) But here are a couple of classic quotes:

John: That's MY Barbie! (he's my cousin, my age, and he was playing with his nieces and nephew)

Later, Jake: They're using that reverse psychiatry on me.
Jen: Reverse psychology?
Jake: Yeah, whatever.

Also, if I can ever find me a guy who treats me as well as Jake and John do (forgetting the fact they're my cousins and you're supposed to treat your family well), I'll be thrilled.

Lastly, I'm thinking Kobe will kill himself by overexertion at the beach before old age takes him. 3.5 hours of running, chasing, swimming, digging, etc. and I had to drag him away from the beach. He wasn't done!