Ode to Christian Slater

Any gal around my age who grew up in the late 80’s/early 90’s would probably agree with me on the merits of Christian Slater. I know in an earlier blog I had expressed my anticipation of Christian’s new show (yes, we are on a first name basis…okay not really, but if I really knew him, I bet we would be…and then I would call him Chris…or maybe Tian…I’ll let you know if/when that happens what we decide on). The new show – My Own Worst Enemy – has aired and let me just say, I am NOT disappointed! I was a little afraid to watch it because, lets be honest, it could’ve gone either way. So, I had it DVRed for a week before I built up my courage to bite the bullet. NOW I love it! It has only been on for two episodes but I encourage everyone to watch it…primarily so it will stay on the air and I will be a happier person.
So, to honor his new show I’ve decided to devote this blog to extolling the virtues of Christian Slater. I don’t know about you, but as a young teen/pre-teen I watched the movies Robin Hood and Kuffs (thanks mainly to my sis Trudy) an inordinate number of times. Although I know he has had a few personal problems through the years (I’m definitely not casting any stones), I’ve decided to list some of my favorite things about CS.
1- His voice. It’s very unique and dare I say, it makes him seem even more attractive.
2- His acting chops. This may come as something as a surprise to some of you, but he is actually a pretty good actor. If you don’t believe me watch the new show, he plays two completely different characters and you can totally tell which character he is playing purely based on his acting!
3- His boyish good looks. I know he is pushing 40 but he sure does make pretty good eye candy!
So, my question today is what is your most/least favorite thing about Christian Slater? Or you can tell me what your favorite/least favorite Christian Slater movie is!!...and watch the new show!!!

Let them eat cake

Is it just me or has life been a little crazy lately? When it rains it pours and all that jazz. Don’t worry, I don’t plan on boring you with all the gory (okay, and kinda boring) details. Last weekend we went to Hobbs (shout out to all the Hobbits!!!...no, that’s not what they are really called, but how cool would it be if they were?!). It was a lot of fun and we discovered the greatest food ever invented…SNOWBALLS!! You Hobbits know what I’m talking about (if you don’t you should definitely investigate it). For everyone else who hasn’t had the pleasure, let me tell you a little about them. I know most of you have had some sort of shaved ice/snow cone concoction but imagine for a minute a cup full of heavenly snowflakes perfectly flavored throughout (my mouth is watering just thinking of this divine delight). The flavor that I had was called ‘Birthday cake’ and I’ll be darned if it didn’t actually taste like I was eating a birthday cake!! I was so good! They apparently also have one called ‘wedding cake’ which tastes like a wedding cake and not like birthday cake. They are also very reasonably priced, a “jumbo” is ONLY $2 (in this economy anything for $2 is a steal…not really, I don’t condone theft either). I tried to return for one last fix before leaving town but I guess they decided to be closed on the Monday holiday too (I was so bummed out, we had to settle for a Dairy Queen treat…you know, DQ something different…it was definitely different). I’ve been home for several days now and can’t stop dreaming about it (they must put in an addictive chemical that makes you crave it fortnightly). Hello, my name is Amanda and I’m a snowball junkie.
This new addiction has got me thinking about what some of the foods that we can’t seem to get enough of. If any of you are like me, you dread the thought of what’s for dinner… only cause it’s one more thing to put on your brain and quite frankly I don’t have that much room to spare up there (as I’ve mentioned before, it’s reserved for mundane and non useful trivial facts…like the slogan for DQ and random quotes from So I Married an Axe Murder). Here are my top favorites which I would indulge in far more frequently if the stars were to align. 1. Outback steak, baked potato, and French onion soup. 2. Homemade lasagna (Stouffer’s frozen in a pinch) and 3. Roast beef with all the fixin’s. So, what are some of your food faves or secret food addictions?

Eenie, meanie, miney, moe...

I don’t know if you noticed or not, but today is the deadline to register to vote! I’m sure, like me, you all have been enduring the nuisance of political advertisements. I don’t care what your political persuasion is (okay, I do care… but as long as you have a legitimate argument, the constitution and proper human decency dictates that I should respect your opinion…if on the other hand you don’t have a legitimate argument I highly encourage you to become educated on what you and those running believe…otherwise I retain the right to mock you mercilessly) no one can enjoy the relentless barrage of political propaganda. I know that I for one am ready for November 4th to roll around, if for nothing else to give us all a break from having to watch the commercials (yes, I too have noticed that they are on every channel) and read other peoples’ political opinions off the back of their cars (as if having your candidates name plastered all over the back of your hybrid makes you somehow a political guru….I did see one bumper sticker that I enjoyed, it said “Annoy a Liberal, work hard and be happy”….I was trying to be non partisan, but it’s my blog and I’ll partisanize if I want to). There are also the endless signs along the road, as if reading one candidates name eight hundred million times will somehow change my opinion and/or sway my vote (don’t get me wrong, seeing a few more “Nader 4 Prez” would make me smile or maybe “Bob Barr - ‘cause 72 Libertarians can’t be wrong”). On a semi unrelated note, last month Obama came to Espanola and there were about 7 billion Obama signs posted throughout the city. Most of the signs were the typical ones that I’m sure dot the entire country, but some of them were hand made painted signs. The morning before someone went around and painted over these signs and put an “S” over the “B”. I thought it was funny…but, take note kiddies I don’t condone vandalism.
I know I may ruffle a few feathers with this blog, that’s what’s so wonderful about being American, we all can express our views and feelings…and we don’t have to take anyone else’s if we don’t want to (someone should really inform Oprah about that). So this fine October day I would like to encourage all my fellow Americans who aren’t registered to vote to get registered. If you don’t vote, I don’t want to hear you complaining about it later.
At this point the tide is shifting and we are down to the wire which means even more playground mud slinging campaign ads. So, take heart, close your eyes and hold on tight, and grin and bear it, and all the other clichés you can think of, it’ll all be over in a month. So, what do you think about all this political hoopla?

Come listen to a Prophet's voice!

Well, I couldn’t possibly let the day pass by without noting the super General Conference!! Although I had to endure the torture of school all day yesterday (it really was like torture…luckily I barely escaped with my fingernails still attached) I did get to watch conference yesterday night (I cannot stop singing the praises of the greatest invention of the 21st century…the DVR). I still have one more session waiting for me to catch up.
I thought I would share with you some of the highlights that really stood out to me.
First of all, how cool is it that they announced 5 new temples?!!? I will admit that I was one of those who gasped audibly at the Rome Italy temple. Anyone who knows me well knows that I have a really strange, possibly unhealthy, obsession with Italy…now in a few years I will have yet another stop on my “someday” tour of the Mediterranean.
There were so many wonderful talks that I couldn’t just pick one favorite. It seemed to me that a lot of the conference focused on hope. I really enjoyed listening to Elder Wirthlin talking about learning to laugh. Elder Holland’s talk about angels, both seen and unseen made me cry. Of course President Uchtdorf’s discourse on hope was amazing and really touched my heart. I think that sometimes we get so caught up in the everyday that we forget to have joy and hope. I know I get mired down in my own self pity, trials and problems way too often when I know that I am truly blessed beyond my own comprehension. So it’s my new resolve to follow President Monson’s council to find joy in the journey, because whether we notice it or not, change is always happening and it goes quickly. It’s like all of the talks were connected in a way. I love that we have a loving Father in Heaven who wants us to be happy and sends us prophets to guide us through troubled times, both on a global and on a personal level.
Another of my favorite part of conference was the primary choir on Saturday afternoon. I loved that they were trying so hard to be reverent, even when you could tell that they could see themselves in the monitor and were trying not to look. My very favorite part was when one of the boys in the choir was singing with his hands in his pockets and his buddy next to him must have reminded him that he wasn’t supposed to have them in his pockets so he jerked them out with a face that obviously said “there are you happy now?”
If you missed conference this weekend…don’t despair! You can still watch all of them at lds.org or wait until Thursday and they will have the print version.
So, what were some of your impressions from conference?...and Hurrah for Israel!!!

It's FALLtastic!!!

Yesterday as I looked over a couple of the mountain ranges that surround my beautiful hamlet…my thought was ‘What the heck is wrong with the mountains?’ After a few minutes I realized that the diseased looking yellow/brown/red spots of the mountain were the symptoms of autumn. (Now that I know what it is, it is quite pretty) It seems like just last week I was complaining about how stinkin’ hot it is and now I’m wishing I had grabbed a sweater and am having to turn on the car’s heater in the morning. It’s that time of year again, the early morning air is crisp, the days are shorter and the trees are starting to shed. It’s fall once again! I don’t know what it is about this time of year, but I just love it. So, I decided I would compile a few of my favorite things (now as I am writing this Julie Andrews is singing in my head) about fall.

1.HALLOWEEN!! This is definitely one of my top five favorite holidays (After Christmas, Thanksgiving, my birthday…which I totally consider a holiday, and flag day…okay, maybe before Flag Day but a definite toss up for the 4th of July). I love dress up and honestly how often do we get to play dress up as adults? By the way, I have changed my costume once again and yes…I did start planning my costume in August…I even started sewing it last month!!! Plus how great is it that we can legally petition complete strangers for candy and fully expect to get some?!! Whoever thought of this holiday was a GENIUS!

2.The shorter days…I like waking up when it’s still dark and being able to stay up for hours in the dark. I totally sound like a vampire person but I can’t stay up late or wake up too early (it sounds like someone won’t let me, but honestly I’m too tired and can’t handle it and you do NOT want to be around me when I need some sleep).

3.The smell…Am I the only one who loves the early morning smell of the air when it’s fall? It reminds me of being a kid and standing at the bus stop. I’m a little surprised that this is a positive memory, because honestly I wasn’t a fan of going to school most of the time.

4.Fall TV programming!!! I’m totally a dork but I love TV and enjoy living vicariously thru fictional characters…lets be honest, I know I will never get to really experience West Beverly Hills High School or be able to investigate any sort of crime (thank goodness) but I can enjoy the fake reality world of television.

5.College football! I don’t claim to be a football aficionado, but I am a Cougar thru and thru. I can’t help but get excited for the thrill of victory! I am also one of those nuts who screams and yells at the top of my lungs at any sporting event I attend (even the ones that I only marginally understand). I do however understand football thanks to my uncle Tommy for explaining it my freshman year and taking my to my very first Cougar football game!

I just love so many things about fall. So, tell me what are some of your favorite things about fall?....And GO COUGARS!!!!

Fear Not!

Happy October everyone!! The Halloween countdown is on...as is the BYU v. UNM homecoming game countdown. I hope you all are as excited as I am!!!

I was reading a devotional from the 'Time out for Women' website and found this gem in one posted by John Hilton III. I figured it made me laugh so I should share it with you all. The whole of the article was about persevering and not fearing. It gave me a boost today.

Sacrament meeting was about to begin and a mother couldn't find her son. She searched everywhere and finally located him sitting outside on the curb with his head in his hands. She said "Son, we have to go in now. Sacrament is about to start." He responds, "Mom, I’ll give you three reasons why I won’t go. 1. Nobody will talk to me, and 2. Nobody likes me. 3. I’m scared of the youth.

The mother said, “I’ll give you three reasons why you should go. 1. You need to take the Sacrament. 2. You’re 42 years old 3. You're the Bishop!”

Hope it brightened your day!!!