Who You Calling Dummy??

Hey ya. I don't really have much to say except I have a LOT to say.

Except its stuff I really shouldn't say.

Do you know what I'm saying?

Really the only big thing on my mind would be all the crap thats going on around the election but its just starting to die down and I REALLY want it to stop, so I'm not going to add my two cents about it.

Anything else to talk about? Well, I'm sure I could come up with some random stuff nobody cares about! Whee!

I spent all day yesterday watching the third season of Downton Abbey and bawling my eyes out. Dang that show is sad! (No, it has not aired yet, I watched it on a probably illegal site okay? Don't judge me.)
I really needed a break from painting and house repairs.

I have to say, re-doing things around our house would be SO MUCH MORE FUN if we had money. I still like it but I would like it a lot more if I could buy whatever I wanted. ;) I have so got an itch to get out and buy crap. WHY CAN'T I BUY CRAP?!?

Its freezing here today. I know its not snowing like it is in Utah, but dude, I'm COLD.

My husband put two bookshelves together for me from Ikea. Which was very nice and much appreciated. All except the part where he put one piece on backwards and now instead of being white, its particle board. Dude. (For some reason, I feel like this is a metaphor for my life.)

I read somewhere earlier today that Christmas is in like 46 days. Shoot me now. I don't want to think about getting Christmas ready!! Doesn't time know that it needs to slow down for me right now?? I've got a lot going on with this stupid house and it just keeps whizzing by!

I just got called to be the Activity Days leader. I think it'll be great but I wish I could have started at the beginning of the year so I could spend more time getting things unpacked. It'll be fine of course, and I am happy to do it, just that time thing is happening again.

How long did it take you to unpack your house? Please tell me it was like a year so I feel better about myself.

Did you guys have a super fun Halloween?? I LOOOVE Halloween and we got to go to an adult party, and we went as a ventriloquist and his dummy. Here's a picture for ya:

It was so much freaking makeup, I felt so gross by the end of the night! haha

Well, missed ya friends, hope you're fantastic!

There's This and That and Some Other Stuff Too

Hey guys. Guess what? We bought a house!!

Yup, it finally happened. We finally, finally FINALLY moved in--after almost five months of waiting for everything to go through and just about anything and everything that could come up in our path did, but we persevered and we made it! 

I'm tired just writing about it. But you know, it feels like a million years ago already. Especially now that all my time is filled up with unpacking and painting and getting things hooked up and you know those kids I'm supposed to take care of...and Downton Abbey...

So since I'm so busy, I started another blog. I don't know why I do these things, besides that I'm crazy. But if you want to keep up with me on our house projects, you can go here.

Are you ready for Halloween? I'm not. I haven't even thought past "oh crap, Halloween's coming up, gotta get on that!" But really, this is no different than any other year. What are you going to be? We're doing what every other person in America is and being the Avengers. Heck yes. I'm going to be the most kick butt Black Widow you ever seen! (You know, if I can get that costume stuff together in time...)

I'm helping throw a baby shower for my sister this weekend too, because you know I'm a super hero and can do anything. It will be fun. (<--------statement.)

We're getting new iphones tonight and I can't wait to start instagramming!!! Wheeee! So awesome...

I just finished a Mountain Dew and maybe it wasn't a good thing because I think I'm starting to feel hyper. Crap.

Okay people, I'm gonna go run around in circles for awhile and try and wear myself out before bed! See ya!

Just A Quick One

Okay, I'm back. Things in my life are INSANE right now. Just freaking insane. But I wanted to update to tell you I didn't make the top 10 in the room makeover. :(

I did want to say THANK YOU SO MUCH for voting for me and trying to help me out! I so appreciated the love!

If you want to REALLY do me a favor though, would you just pray for us that everything will close on our house soon? That would be fabulous.

Funny Words

On my post about my Oregon trip I asked how you would pronounce "tillamook" and it got me thinking about other weird words where I live. You see, Washington has a lot of Native American influences and so a lot of the cities and things have Indian names. So I came up with a list for you! Yay!

First up, I wanted to set "tillamook" straight, its pronounced: till-uh-muck

I went to high school in Puyallup, its pronounced: pew-all-up (not as hard as you'd think right?)

Issaquah: Iss (like hiss)- uh- kwaw

Snoqualmie: snow-kwall-me

Steilacoom: still-uh-come

Cle Elum: clee-el-um

Yakima: yak-uh-muh

Quillayute: quille-ute

Sequim: skwim

Wenatchee: when-at-chee (not that hard but you'd be surprised!)

Chehalis: shuh-hay-liss

Kennewick: ken-uh-wick

Sammamish: Suh-mam-ish

Tulalip: two-lay-lip

Nisqually: nis-kwall-ee



Okay, I might have gotten a little carried away; but there's even more than that and I could keep going on and on and on. But I'll stop. I just thought it was interesting! So how did you do? Would you have pronounced them how I said? Do you have weird city names that you don't usually realize are weird until someone visits and can't say the town you live in? :)

Remember that Makeover??

Just a little reminder to go here and vote for me--PRETTY PLEASE!!

I'm #5 and just below my picture is a star with "vote" next to it, just click it and you're done! You can vote for me every day for like...I don't remember...I think just one week. :)  The top ten will be chosen by most votes, wild card and random.org.

I'm going to be honest here, I haven't been seriously blogging for a bit now--I know I don't have a ton of followers. So the odds that I'll get enough votes to qualify for the top ten is low (seriously, there's over a hundred entries!). BUT I still want to try, so if you love me, or hate me, or feel anything past "meh"--PLEASE GO VOTE!!

Thanks. I really want to win this. Really bad.

really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really...bad

Next Time I'll Eat Less Crap

Guess what guys?! I went on a trip. Alone, without my kids! Or my husband. But seriously, it was AWESOME!

My sisters-in-law put together a girls trip for labor day weekend and we went down the Oregon coast. First we stopped in Portland and got some "Big A** Sandwiches" (it was on a Food Network show, so we had to eat there) and then we walked around the corner and got some "Voodoo Donuts" (also from the food network). Then we drove down to the beach and shopped all weekend and played games and stole sand and shells off the beach (did you know that was illegal??). The weather was perfect, and sunny and wonderful (its always a little cool on the coast, windy and such--but seriously, still gorgeous weather). Then on the way home we stopped at the Tillamook Cheese Factory--I'm curious how you guys would pronounce "tillamook", please tell me in the comments! :) The only real bad thing about the trip was that I ate so much junk food I was pretty sure my body was going to revolt and cause some serious damage to...myself. It was getting kind of scary. (And now I have a few pounds extra to work off...but it was worth it. Probably. Not the revolting body...but...I'll stop now.)

Here's a couple of my favorite pictures! :)

In Which I Shamelessly Beg

So I LOVE craft blogs, and probably the one craft blog that I really connect with as far as style and projects and usefulness, would be Vintage Revivals. I've pinned, I've made plans, I've been ready to decorate my house for the last 11 years. The problem? Well, we haven't owned a house since we've been married. For about five years we lived in my husband's grandpa's house, and we could paint and stuff, but we were super poor so...yeah.

So I died last year when Mandi did her Epic Room Makeover--the results were so awesome, and I pretty much loved the entire thing. And now, guess what? She's doing it again!!

And you know what the even better news is???

WE'RE BUYING A HOUSE THIS WEEK!!! We're scheduled for closing on thursday and moving in this weekend!

The sad part is because of the timing and extra expenses that have come up (septic pumping, a whole new freaking roof, etc.) we don't have a lot of extra money to do all the fun projects I wanted to (especially the flooring, gosh dang I wanted to get rid of that carpet...), and we'll probably have to wait awhile before we can really do anything. (This sucks BAD, by the way.)

Have you ever wanted something SO BAD and had to wait ELEVEN YEARS for it?! If you have, then you know how hard that is. If you haven't had to wait eleven years for something, than go say a little prayer and be thankful for how lucky you are. ;)

Anyway, Mandi's doing another Epic Room Makeover, and this time I can actually apply for it! How freaking cool would that be?!

So here's some pictures of our house so you can see:
(the room I would makeover---oh gosh, so hard to choose!!--would be the living room)

These are the MLS listing pictures:

This third picture, in the left hand corner, thats the front door. So there's a bay window--thats fun right?!--and old gray berber carpet--not so fun I know--and high ceilings and plain white walls.

Of course, right now its empty. BUT I do have this great couch that will go in there:

Okay, I know this is a crappy picture, but I'm in the midst of packing and I'm lazy. (Yes, thats a two year old sleeping on the other couch.)

Oh and I just dyed a slipcover the other day a light turquoise for a chair, so it shows I can do decoratey things too! :)

Here is where I plead my case, and look as pathetic as possible:

I have spent the last week and a half packing my brains out--with no help from my husband because...well, he's dumb--I'm tired, I'm stressed, I got in a big fight with my husband last night and hardly slept at all. Feel sorry for me. I have four kids and my husband's in the military, I had my fourth baby alone (except my sister was there...and you know, the doctor) because my husband was at basic training, my kids are crazy, I'm sort of crazy. I don't even have an iphone. Am I laying this on too thick?

Okay, other reasons why it would be awesome if I was chosen:

I'm hilarious--right?! I'm super fun to be around. I don't work outside the home and I'm a night owl so I can work as late as we need to (just don't ask me to get up early...). I love thrifting, I hate spending money, I am ALL about do-it-yourself. We would have SO MUCH FUN!! Also, I live in Washington, which isn't too far from Utah and did you know that Washington is BEAUTIFUL?! Plus I would take you to the Space Needle if you wanted. Or to the mountains, whatever blows your hair back! Ummmm, what else....I definitely don't want the same look as everyone else, I like unique, I like fun, I HATE matched couch sets. I'm really good at painting--both walls and pictures. I have a really nice camera. I have a mac and a wii. Whats your favorite movie--I bet I have it! I REALLY WANT THIS.

Okay, pray for me friends.

Memories Can Be Confusing

Do you ever watch a movie you LOVED as a kid, but as an adult you think to yourself:

"That is not AT ALL how I remember this movie..."

My husband and I watched 'Forever Young' the other night. Ya know, with Mel Gibson--who I have to say, was very handsome--anyway, I remember we loved that movie when I was a kid; and my husband couldn't really remember what it was about, so I made him watch it.

But you know what? I remember thinking it was such a great movie before, and by the end of the movie, I was like, "that was really, really depressing."

I mean, the man's sweetheart gets in a car accident and is in a coma. He is so overcome with grief he decides he needs to cryogenically freeze himself until/unless she wakes up. Well, the guy who's supposed to be in charge of it dies just a few months in--and THEY FORGET ABOUT HIM. He's basically stuck in a warehouse for 50 years. And THEN when he DOES wake up, he finds out that the girl he loved woke up from the coma, got married and lived a nice happy life--without him. And now he's aged 50 years in three days. But hey, they can be together NOW. You know, for a year or something before they both die. They could've lived their entire lives together, but NO. No big deal.

So yeah, sort of weird.

Other movies that are different from my childhood memories:

~Goonies

~Dirty Dancing

~Space Balls

~The Legend

~Labyrinth

~Crocodile Dundee

~Superman

...okay, pretty much most movies I watched as a kid...

What about you? That ever happen to you?

Finding Balance

I know last post I wrote, I said I wasn't going to read comments anymore and then I just went and did the exact opposite. I'm a bad person.

I keep telling myself that I'm easing out of this slowly, that I'm not a cold turkey kind of person. But the thing is: I sort of AM a cold turkey kind of person.

Whenever I've struggled with something in the past, let's say a tv show for example (something easy), I'll just not allow myself to watch that show at all anymore, I will even try to stay away from that whole tv channel if it helps. I can't just watch every once in awhile or take a break and come back to it, I have to STOP and never watch it ever again.

I think I've explained this before, but I have a sort of obsessive personality. When I do something--anything really--I am super focused on it for until...I don't know, I can obsess over something else. It makes life difficult sometimes.

But this is my problem: I don't want to quit my computer time cold turkey. I want to learn how to moderate my time on it, I want to be able to see its been long enough and to go do something else already! How do I learn this? I don't know, but I'm trying. And by trying, I mean, I really suck at this. But I AM trying, even if to others it doesn't look like a very good effort. (Tell that to my husband, please.) ;)

I'm also really hoping for a big change to happen in our lives very soon and maybe that will be like a kickstart for changing my schedule, plus school will start soon; all that HAS to help right?? Kind of like when you do a detox or whatever to kickstart losing weight. I don't know what that means, but it relates  I think.

Okay then, my computer time is over... (see progress!)

I have on my Angry Eyes

Oh my goodness guys I'm feeling so ranty!! I don't know whats gotten into me lately but the normal filter I usually have is cracked or something.

Why is it so hard to see a comment on a news article or on YouTube or Facebook or WHATEVER and just let it go? It doesn't really matter, if I comment its probably not going to change a dang thing or anybody's opinion and YET it is so hard to walk away from! I don't want to argue with people, its just maddening not to share an opinion when you feel you have something to say. (Thats right and they're dumb.) ;)

I usually try really hard not to comment on things. I might type up the comment and then delete it. I might spend a lot of time writing up what I would say. But usually I'll just delete it because halfway through I feel like its just not worth getting sucked into.

BUT every once in awhile I do it. I type up a comment. I hit post. And then my hands go numb. And my arms start shaking. And I start obsessing. I can't stop thinking about it. Is someone going to reply?! Are they going to be horrible to me?! When should I check for replies?! Oh man do I get worked up!

Is it not ridiculous that I get that much anxiety over this?! The person isn't even standing in the same room as me. I'm alone. And yet here I am, heart beating fast, getting all worked up like someone's about to hit me.

So silly.

Because of this, I've been trying really hard not to read comments anymore. Have you guys noticed how bad comments have become?! You can't click open a picture of a kitty cat playing with yarn on Facebook without almost every comment on there being negative. Its crazy!!

I'm really getting tired of it--and yet, its hard to look away. I go in all innocent and then there I am, sucked into the comments. AGAIN. How do I stop this?

I think the answer is to stay away. Its tough since I LOVE social media, but is it worth all this anxiety and negativity? I really don't think so. I need to be more disciplined. I need more will power. Mostly I need some energy to do something else than veg in front of my computer screen. I need to get out of my house. I need a change.

I haven't been on here in forever. I've been having ups and downs feeling like I'm in control of my computer time. I was doing good, now I'm feeling not so much. :/ I am vowing here on out to get control of my schedule. No more of wasting my time feeling crazy and upset and angry over what perfect strangers are saying and doing--especially when I have plenty of real life people in front of me to do that. ;)

Cross my heart. Wish me luck.

Bits and Pieces

Okay friends, its been awhile and I'm finally back with updates and all kinds of greatness. Maybe. Probably not. Did I say greatness? I think I meant mediocrity.

My husband's out of town, its been almost a week, with a little less than two weeks left. One of the worst parts of him being gone is that I CANNOT GO TO SLEEP!! Its really bad, like I've been staying up until after midnight, more like 1 am--and THEN right when I'm about to fall asleep my two year old wakes up and screams for half an hour to an hour. Seriously. Just kill me. The whole thing is this crazy bad cycle, where I stay up late, am cranky all day long, have no patience for my kids, want to stay up after they go to bed to "get stuff done" and have some peace; lather, rinse, repeat.

The weather has been FANTASTIC the last few days--FANTASTIC!! Yes its been so nice it deserves to be yelled TWICE! (!!) And yesterday we went to the park twice because it was just too beautiful not to be out in. And I was totally pitting out through my shirt, but I didn't care because there was SUNSHINE!!! (lots of twirling with face upturned toward the sun going on here...)

I recently started reading this blog: Mimi G. Style and I adore her!! She loves to sew and has awesome style, and even shares tutorials on how to make some of the stuff she does! So I was inspired to make a skirt for Mother's Day (remember how I made a list of 30 things to do before I turn 30? No? Seriously??) One of my goals is to do some sort of crafty thing every month, so thats what I did. Here's a terrible, low quality picture, but its going to stay that way because I don't want you to see in high quality all the mistakes I made on it. ;)

So yeah, I'm pretty much awesome now. 

Like I mentioned before, my husband's out of town; so Mother's Day was pretty much how it is when he's in town...aaaaand thats all I'm going to say about that. Except, I LOVE YOU DEAR! xoxoxo

We're trying to buy a house. That should be super exciting (and it is) since its our very first house (been married for over 10 years, so I think its about time already). The thing is, since we've never bought a house before, we have no idea what we're doing and all the ideas I had in my head of what it was "going to be like", were completely out in la-la land (shocking--thats never happened before...). The first time we went to look at houses, we had two on our list to go see and I thought FOR SURE we would buy one of those houses. From the pictures they seemed GREAT! We get there and all my expectations are blown away, why are people so gross? Anyway, we just put an offer in on a house last week, but even thats not very exciting since its a short sale and who even knows whats going to happen. At least I know there will be lots and lots of...waiting. Plus our agent just called and said they wanted to counter a few things from our offer--like that WE have to pay $1200 for the septic tank to be cleaned and inspected since they haven't done it AT ALL since they've lived there for the last 10 years. Awesome.

Well, thats about all I have time for, its "homework hour" and all the joy that brings me... Later.

I Wrote This When I Was PMS-ing

I've been a loyal Facebooker for years now. YEARS. Like four years. Thats longer than half of my children have even been alive. And in that four years I would say I've put up with a lot of stupid things.

Here are some of the things that just in the last day or two have irritated me about Facebook:

1- when my Mormon friends put OMG. Come on guys, you have to know what that stands for, why do we teach our children to not use the Lord's name in vain, and then you turn around and do it on Facebook just because you don't  have to type out three more letters. Its annoying and I hate that I have to still read it that way in my head. Stop it. (This also reminds me of the youth on Fast Sunday that continuously use the drinking fountain. Hello?! Are you not fasting? Well, you just told the whole world. And stop tempting me.)

2- The people who threaten they're going to quite Facebook. "Hey guys, I think I'm done with Facebook, I just never use it and I'm going to delete it tomorrow at 5:30." Never happens. If you're going to delete it, just do it and quite teasing us.

3- The people who's over the top needy comments just make me want to punch them in the face. Face...book? Anyway, you know the comments where the person is basically begging you to give them attention? And its not just once in awhile because that I get, but EVERY time they post, its needy and feel sorry for me and annoying and you just want to tell them that their life is just not that bad and quit it! Instead, I'll just block their updates.

4- The people who use Facebook as a platform to slam The Hunger Games. Hahaha! Okay, I was a little annoyed by this. The best response to the whole, "Its children killing each other!!!!" was: "Did you not know what it was about before you saw it??" Seriously though, did you not? If it sounds horrible to you, don't go see it. And please for the love, DON'T take your little kids!

5- Worst offenders for Facebook are the bandwagon jumpers. I'm going to be mean here (I know what you're thinking, I'm just starting to be mean--what about the rest of the post?? Yeah well, whatever), but the big thing going around Facebook this time is 'Justice for Trayvon Martin' and I'm not saying its not a horrible situation and sad that this boy was killed, it IS, I'm just saying-- do you REALLY think a man walked up to a 17 year old boy, shot him in the chest and that he wouldn't be convicted of murder? REALLY? Please people, think about these things. Does that make sense?? Its like Stop Kony all over again, my gosh! Why do we have to jump on these things and get all riled up and freaked out and indignant when we don't even have the facts?

(So, I wrote this and saved it because I wasn't sure if it was too mean. Now that I'm off my period, I think its hilarious! :D So you can laugh at my irritability from my hormonal imbalances too!)

Only ONE Year Left!

So it was my birthday Saturday. I didn't really do much that day but I'm not a huge celebrator and I'm good with it! haha We weren't going to do anything but my mom called and we went out to dinner that night, so that was a plus! We're supposed to go see 'The Hunger Games' tonight, so I'm extending birthday celebrations out for awhile! :)

So last year about this time my friend Debbie was getting ready to turn 29 and was asking advice on a list she was making. She wanted to make a list of 30 things to do before she turned 30, I loved the idea and thought it was really fun! So now this year is here, the year that I turn 29 and I have been making a list of 30 things I want to do before I turn 30.

Unfortunately this isn't a magic list that grants me money and time and everything I could ever dream of. Also unfortunately when I asked my friends on Facebook what they would suggest, they thought my list was magic and gave me money because they mostly suggested things that aren't really feasible for me to do in one year. As much as I would like to travel out of the country, or go on a cruise or go to Disneyland or...go a whole day naked...it wasn't necessarily as helpful as I wanted. You'd think after 64 comments, I'd have my whole list of things to do, but no, my friends just think they're soooooo funny. ;)

Anyway, after people coming up with such awesome big plans, maybe my list will seem dumb and a little silly, who knows? But when coming up with my list, I tried to have a balance of things that would help me be a better person, things I've been wanting to work on, things that will help my family, things I'm interested in hobby wise, things I thought sounded fun and most importantly: things that I felt were actually possible in achieving this year. :)

So without any more explanation, here's the list I came up with: 

30 before 30

1- Learn to play the guitar

2- Exercise 3 times a week or complete "Insanity"

3- Finish 1 craft project a month

4- Buy our first house

5- Go to Forks

6- Run a 5k

7- Watch 30 classic movies

8- Go to VooDoo Donuts

9- Homemake everyone's Christmas presents

10- Donate blood (plasma maybe?)

11- Grow hair out--no cutting at all!

12- Paint 3 paintings

13- Decorate a cake for each birthday

14- Take the kids hiking this summer

15- Find a waterfall

16- Go on a date once a month

17- Go to the Temple once a month

18- Be a 100% visiting teacher

19- Advance my "photography business"/ get paid for a big event

20- Do 3 photography trips/ creative shoots/ outdoor shoots

21- Yell less/ be more patient

22- Keep an organized calendar & dinner menu (no procrastinating!)

23- Have an all girl's themed party

24- Go to a concert

25- Make a slideshow/movie for each kid

26- Get new family pictures taken

27- Stick to a budget

28- Make more friends/ have more playdates

29- Decorate new house on a budget/ document it on blog

30- Have a big birthday bash!

If you were making a list what would you want on it?!

Have You Ever Felt Like That?

You know when you get new toothpaste and you're just not feeling it? We just got some Crest with SCOPE! and I just don't think I like it. Because well, I don't like the taste. And I don't feel like it gets my teeth as clean as our last toothpaste.

You know what I mean?

Yeah, I don't like that.


You know when you're sitting there with a friend chatting and they suddenly interrupt what you've been talking about to point out something weird about your face? Like the other day, my friend pointed out how one of my teeth is fairly small (she works for a dentist, so I get why she might notice these things). And you know when its okay that they asked it, except you hadn't ever thought that your tooth was weird and now you have just discovered something else not to like about your face?

Do you know? Do you know what I mean?

Yeah, I don't like that.


And do you know when your husband says he's going to switch the laundry over, but when you go to look for some nice clean underwear in the dryer, its not there, because your husband never really did switch the laundry over? And then do you know when you go to get the very large pile of laundry, you drop a piece, and when you pick it up, you drop about five more pieces, and when you pick those up, you drop a couple more pieces, and you spend about five minutes finally getting it because you refuse to just make two trips?

You know THAT right?

Yeah, I don't like that.


And you know when you get a pimple on your nose, how badly it makes you feel like you're in junior high? And then you walk around feeling young and silly and naive and thinking about junior high and all the stupid boys you loved, and how stupid you were and cringe at all the dumb things you did and said?

I hope you don't know what I mean.

Yeah, I don't like that.


And you know when your son won't keep his hands out of diaper for less than five minutes out of the entire day, which causes him to pee all over the place out the side of his diaper? And he starts spitting at you every time you tell him to get his hands out of his diaper? And then when you tell him to not spit, he laughs at you like you're just the funniest thing in the whole world? And you have dreams at night that your sweet baby is going to grow up as a big jerky pervert and you worry constantly how to fix this problem?

Please tell me you get that guys!

Yeah, I really don't like that.

And you know when you haven't posted on your blog for so long that when you finally hit "new post" it sends you to some new fangled place thats totally different from the last time you blogged and you're confused and then feel guilty you haven't blogged in like two months?

You probably don't know what that feels like, because you're all good bloggers right?

But yeah, I don't like that.

And you know when you're scared you're going through menopause and it really freaks you out because holy crap you're way too young to go through menopause?! And you have no energy, and feel emotional and crazy all day long? And you can barely drag yourself to do anything besides mindlessly stare at pinterest or facebook? And it seems like no matter how much sleep you get, you're still dead all day long? And you wake up and its freaking snowing outside? And you really need to go to the grocery store, but who wants to do that anyway? And you have no patience for anyone and everyone and then you have no patience with yourself because there's no one left to be impatient with?!?!

Yeah, you're right, I don't know what you're talking about...

Life Problems

I was at the beauty supply store Saturday evening, like most stores they play music for everyone to hear. I was browsing the hair color when "Another One Bites the Dust" came on. I was most likely singing along.

Just around the corner from me a couple of the gals who work there were trying to figure out who sings the song.

"Is it Michael Jackson?"

"No, I don't think its Michael Jackson."

The words promptly burst from my mouth: "ITS QUEEN."

"Oh yeah, its Queen."

"Yeah I didn't think it sounded anything like Michael Jackson...blah blah blah...I'm an idiot." (I may have added that last bit. Maybe.)

I mean, I knew our country was bad off but I didn't know it was THAT bad! I just don't know if I can live in a world where people don't appreciate Queen...    *sob*

Validation is a Two-Edged Sword

I like validation. Validation is important, not just to me but for most people. I took a relationship class once at BYU Education Week and they said the key to good communication was: validate, validate, validate! I don't know why, but I *need* people to understand where I'm coming from and what I feel. I just do.

BUT sometimes validation is not a good thing. For example, when we lived in Utah we lived in my husband's grandpa's very old house. It was a tiny house, built in 1904, it had two bedrooms and one teeny tiny bathroom. With brown carpet. And what I mean by that is nasty brown carpet IN the bathroom. Don't worry, eventually we got rid of the carpet, but I remember having a conversation with two of my cousins: one was saying that she thought I'd done such a cute job on our little house (it was pretty gross when we moved in, the person living there before us was a bachelor and smoked), and I was saying something like how much I hated that little bathroom. The one cousin said "Oh no, its just fine! You've made it so cute!" and the other cousin started laughing and said "Yeah, not my favorite bathroom! hahaha!" And I remember thinking, yeah I know I just said I hated it but I didn't want you to agree with me. *big tear drop, sad face* (side note: I LOVE that cousin, and I get she wasn't trying to be mean, I get where she's coming from too, it still hurt though.)

So in some instances validating people is not a good thing. I hate it when you admit to something, you've already acknowledged it and someones like "You really DO do that!" Thanks, yup, already aware.

So, here's a list I thought of that you should NEVER validate someone on:

*"I always look so fat in this shirt."

*"I know I sound selfish, but..."

*"I'm really bad at..."

*"I'm a bad parent."

*"I struggle with..."

*"I'm not very nice."

*"I'm ugly."

*"I hate my hair."

*"I know this is silly to be upset over but..."

*"I have issues with..."

*"My teeth are yellow."

*"My nose looks like a rats."

*"I have muffin top."

*"I need to lose weight."

*"My husband's a jerk."

*"My kids are naughty."

*"I know I sound crazy, but bobby pins are important to me..."

Please, don't agree with someone on these kind of statements. You are not doing anyone a favor, you are not "helping" them be a better person. Usually someone says those kinds of things for you to tell them that its not true and they really are a great person. So, unless you are that person's sister and they are really truly asking you for advice, then just don't do it.

Don't. Do. It.

Adventures in... What Was That Word Again?

When you can't sleep at night, a lot of things go through your mind:

1. Go to sleep, go to sleep. GO TO SLEEP. PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY LET ME SLEEP!!

2. Then you might get your ipod and look at every single Facebook status update and read each comment and look at every picture you can possibly find.

3. Sure that was boring, but not enough to put you to sleep.

4. You *think* about going downstairs and getting on the computer but no matter how bored you are, there isn't any way you would go sit in the freezing, scary downstairs where a murderer is probably waiting for you.

5. Whats that word for when you can't sleep?? Narcotic...omnipotent...aahh...ihhh something?

6. Did we have something garlicky for dinner? Why does my stomach feel so upset?!

7. Pass gas.

8. Oh yeah, we had CHILI for dinner. Duh.

9. Realize you are an idiot for staying up past midnight every night for the last two weeks. You'd think that it would make it easy to fall asleep earlier than normal since you've been exhausted. But no. Your body's all "Ha ha! Its not midnight yet, you can't sleep!!"

10. You check the clock every couple minutes. Nope, not asleep yet.

11. "I'm sexy and I know it..." replays over and over in your head.

12. Impotent...Armania...incontinence...

13. Start to finally doze.

14. Your husband rolls over and throws his big fat, heavy, hairy, fat arm on your back and startles you back awake.

15. Curse the day you ever got married.

16. Armoire? Insipid? Start to doze again.

16. Your baby wakes up crying.

17. Curse the day you ever had children.

18. Get baby and bring them back to your bed, hoping to get some sleep.

19. Baby coughs in your face every few minutes.

20. Punch yourself in the face so you can finally sleep.

21. Oh yeah: Insomnia!

Because I Just Can't Let This Go

Okay People.

I will be honest with you. I can admit that I have a somewhat obsessive personality. Sometimes its just whatever, and sometimes its really hard to deal with. Something gets under my skin and it just itches and itches and ITCHES until--I don't know--I've scratched it until it bleeds? (Thats metaphorical. I don't actually scratch an itch until it bleeds. Usually.)

So I've talked before of the addictive qualities of Pinterest. One of the things I've seen repinned quite a few times is this one lady's hairstyles. So I clicked on the link and started browsing through her hair blog. When I came upon this post.

Let me just preface this by saying, NO I am not a professional hair stylist. So YES, maybe I should just keep my mouth shut-- BUT I can't. In my defense I've been using bobby pins for a LONG time. I've done countless prom hairstyles, I've done people's hair for fun events, weddings--for both bridesmaids and BRIDES. I DO know something about hair and bobby pins whether I went to school for it or not (besides I'm POSITIVE there is not a section on the correct side of bobby pins...).

ANYWAY, if you didn't read the post, she says the the CORRECT way to wear bobby pins is the wavy side down. Where she came up with that is beyond me. Look at the package, the wavy side is UP. Why would they put it that way if it wasn't supposed to go that way in the first place? There is a little thing on the end of the wavy side that sticks up, why would you stick that into your head? It works to stick your thumbnail under that thing and open the pin up, you couldn't do it the other way. If you look at any product that has something stuck to a bobby pin, its on the WAVY side. Indicating that that is the RIGHT SIDE UP.

GRRRRR.

Okay. So now, IF she had said "Hey peeps, do you have a hard time keeping a bobby pin from sliding out your hair?! Guess what?! Put it in upside down and it works so much better at staying put! Awesome huh?!" I would have been like: cool beans.

Its just the fact that she said its SUPPOSED to go that way, it was MADE to go wavy down. Then I start reading the comments, SURE that someone was going to say, UM NO. And of course not, there are hundreds of people with their "minds blown they've been doing it wrong their WHOLE life!!!" and I don't know why it bothers me but it SO DOES.

So I left a comment. Just basically saying what I told you in a much shorter version, like: just needed to say, bobby pins really *are* meant to be zigzag side up, if you'd meant it as a tip to help people I would think thats great but it bothers me to say its wrong to put them in the other way...kind of thing.

And she left a comment back, saying in her professional experience everyone who does hair does it zigzag down and it works so much better, but keep doing it the way I feel like...

Uhhh...okay?

And so I went and looked at pictures of people with their hair done up where you can see the bobby pin, and you know what?! I COULDN'T FIND ONE where it wasn't zigzag side up. Huh. Interesting. (This is from Goody's website and this one too...AND also there's this...and I may have possibly looked up more...)

And so I replied again. Saying that it wasn't about what works better, it was about the wording of which way was actually correct. I also told her I thought she did great hair and I thought it was great she shared tutorials on how to do hair--because I'm not a total jerk.

So please, PLEASE validate me. Not whether or not it works better either way but do you think Goody made bobby pins to go zigzag side up in your hair or zigzag side down? (I don't trust big blog mindless readers who will comment on every stinking post with "I LOVE IT! THATS THE MOST BRILLIANT THING I'VE EVER SEEN!"even if its the stupidest thing I've ever read in my life, just because that blog is popular and they want them to like them. I DO trust you guys, who are awesome and honest. So do the right thing and tell me I am actually correct and she's a big fat doodie head.) ;)

Also, yes I know this is incredibly pathetic and ridiculous. I KNOW. But like I said, I can't stop scratching until it bleeds, so this is what I have to do to feel better, alright? help me.