D-O Double G

I've been wanting to post for a while on a few more of my favorite things. One of which was a newer reality show "Snoop Dogg's FatherHood." I kept thinking, "no, I can't post about that... people will think I'm a ganster or that it's irreverent..."

Honestly I like to watch the show and for some reason I'm always fully entertained when I tune in. Something about his demeanor just makes me laugh. Re-runs are shown a lot... so if you happen to catch it on the tv, look for the part where Snoop's wife is singing her version of his new song, "sensual seduction"... a song which I think is hilarious.... (I know, are you seeing a side of me you wish you hadn't?) Click here to hear a sample of the song, and P.S. I like the video even more...

It's not like I've been a huge Snoop follower forever, but his music brings back fond memories. A few of you may have seen a music video Lacey and I created to his last hit, "drop it like it's hot" on our way to Celine's show in Vegas. (special thanks to Heidi for shooting and Taryn for driving).

So after six weeks of not posting on "FatherHood" ( I even love the show's theme song)... I got this article e-mailed to me this morning. Click here to read the article about Snoop's conversion to Mormonism. CNN reports have always seemed credible to me... take a read for yourself.

After having this post 'up' for only minutes, my dear reader Blythe informed me that this was some sort of crude April Fool's joke by some source pretending to be CNN. How rude. What a dirty trick. What's so funny about april fool's anyway? Well, I still like Snoop. It's not the first time I've been duped... and certainly it won't be the last.

Reese

I always miss seeing my sisters and brother and parents... vacations just don't happen often enough for us, and it's hard to get anywhere on the weekends, let alone Cincinnati, DC, and Montana at the same time.  Who could choose?  

I miss you all equally, please know that.  But right now I am longing for a trip to DC to meet the newest addition to our family... Reese.  I've only seen photos via e-mail so far, but to me she looks like the picture of perfection! Oh Taryn, we all knew you and Michael would have beautiful children, but we never expected this! Be sure you blow up my picture, point and say, "here is aunt lauren. she loves you THIS much"  Maybe I'll make you a cardboard cut-out so she can get to know me. :)

Love you Tar and Mike. Congratulations on the most precious little baby girl.

Going Private

After a few random posts/scary virus links left on my comments page, I have decided to go private. Which is bittersweet because I like for my friends' friends, etc. to be able to click around on my blog if they are lost while blog-surfing. It's such a fun way to re-connect with old pals, isn't it?

Leave a comment and let me know if you'd like to be on my list of allowed viewers. If you don't feel comfortable leaving your e-mail but you're not sure I have it... just leave your name and I'll try to find your e-mail through my existing network. :) If you do leave your e-mail, once I receive the comment I'll write down your email and delete the comment. 

Dream Home

Every day since January 3 I have logged on to hgtv.com and entered the Dream Home Giveaway. I entered the sweepstakes last year, but never really got into it. This year, for some reason, I am obsessed with entering and make absolutely certain that I never miss a day for my chance to win! The house to be given away is brand new and located in the Florida Keys in a place called Islamorada, doesn't that just sound like paradise?!

I've never been into sweepstakes much, I guess I always figure that there is a catch, or that there are just too many entries and that there's just no way I'd ever win. But with this, for some reason, I want it sooo bad... and, what's worse, I've been deluded into imagining that Ben and I could actually win this prize worth 2.2 million dollars!

Tomorrow is the last day to enter... and then after that the winners will be chosen on a show that will air sometime in March. I could only imagine how many millions of entries there have been... but still I know I'll be crushed if we don't win the sweepstakes. (you can laugh, I know I'm crazy!) Oh help.

Tribute

I was sent this clip from my Granny- Glenn Beck's piece on President Hinckley. Click here to watch it. I think there are other clips of the prophet on this website. Also - for those of you who dont' know, ksl will broadcast President Hinckley's funeral and service tomorrow, Saturday, starting at 10 mst I think. Oh how we'll all miss President Hinckley! He was the dearest man.

Christmas 2007

We had the greatest time in Montana this Christmas celebrating with my family. It was my parents' year to have everyone home - and my mom has been excited for/ planning this two-week stay for the past 11 months!

Each day we awoke to an itinerary of the day's events. For example: 9:30-12 - wake up at your leisure, check e-mail, hit the gym, etc. 12: lunch together at home, 12:30 - head to Lake Blaine for hockey and skating, 5:30 Dinner at home and then to National Treasure movie. It was SO much fun! Planning for ten adults is a must (without the itinerary one day we just sat in our pj's watching sportscenter until 2 p.m., yikes).

We had so many fun things to do, despite the cold cold weather! There was hockey, skating, skiing, sledding, shoveling, last-minute shopping, paint-your own pottery, puppy visiting, quilting, movies, dad's homemade popcorn, dinner parties, make your own sushi night, snow bocci ball, 2-on-2 basketball, gingerbread house contests... to name a few!

Here are a few pictures of the adventures. There were about 40 pictures of the puppy visit (we each had a yellow lab to hold, there were nine in the litter!)...so I had to practice some restraint there. The golden retriever puppy we saw was my personal favorite. :)

Mom, thanks for a vacation that HAS to top the Stimpson charts. And Dad, we are seriously missing your popcorn!

Birthday

I had such a wonderful birthday! It's been a weird adjustment to have birthdays away from my family (at home) and my twin sister, Taryn. I have to say that Ben takes over the responsibility very well. He took me to a nice dinner. (I love when he lets me dress up)
Among the many birthday greetings and nice little gifts was something I could only imagine... my very own sewing machine! My mom surprised me with a package at my doorstep, underneath my mat. I thought, "hm, what is that?" and then the large letters- s-i-n-g-e-r. EEEE! I shrieked!

I have been dreaming of learning to sew. And today, after some tedious manual reading, I SEWED! Check it out here:
An extremely bumpy start. yipe. But someday I'll be able to whip up a room like this:
Mom, now along with the many, many other skills/talents I attribute to you, I can add this one! (once I'm good). THANKS mom.

December Wish List

Who likes the bitter cold? The icy sidewalks, the dry skin, (the white skin!), the dirt on your car that turns all your clothes dirty? It was a long time ago, maybe the first winter we spent in Mississippi twelve years ago, that I realized if I was going to make it through the long winter, there were a few things I'd need... here they are, along with some of my other favorite holiday treats this winter.


Philosophy Cinnamon Buns
I love this stuff. It smells heavenly. I can smell it now. I used to think it could help me with my diet, like if I could smell the buns it would be like I were eating them. Not exactly. This season I want to try the "candy cane" holiday flavor.




Stephen's Hot Cocoa
Can you get this stuff outside of Utah? I was introduced to it at the creamery at BYU. I've never had so much hot chocolate in my life as I've had this winter so far. Combine the cold weather with my weird inability to eat things too cold or hard (strange dental dilemma) and get my addiction. Stephen's is yummy.




Ahava Mineral Hand Cream
For a senior graduation gift in high school I was given a tube of this. I felt like I was pampering myself at the time, but now I seriously consider this a staple. It works so well without any greasy leftovers, and I can use it year-round. Give me something else that works as well, and I'll take it. Until then I'll recommend this to everyone.



Sarah McLachlan Wintersong
I'll admit I don't have the whole cd. But I am obsessed with "River" and I listen to it on repeat when I am home alone. It makes me daydream about skating down a river. (without the whole "I made my baby cry" part)



Glass Glittered Doves
I was wandering through Potterybarn a few weeks ago, and with a little money left on a gift card, I bought a few of these cute little doves, I couldn't resist. When I got home to the tree, I just couldn't bear to separate them, so I made them kissing! When Ben came home I said, "look! two love birds. that's us" As cheesy as it is, I still think it's pretty cute and I'll enjoy putting them together on the tree from now on.



Vietri Foglia Bread and Butter Plates
After 10 months of being married, I had to hurry and decide on a few things with a credit I had at a gift shop in Tupelo. I chose these plates without seeing them in person. They are so fun! Love the green color with my current creamy plates. Now if I could just learn how to cook really fantastic meals so I could have a fabulous dinner party with these cute plates. Taryn, where are you when I need you?? I just know I shouldn't serve microwaved nachos to my guests.

Fresh Garland
In hopes of bringing some nice woodsy smells into our place (we have an artificial pre-lit tree that I love), I thought I'd buy some fresh garland to hang. I found 15 feet for $10 and hung it over a window like this. It looks so festive and was inexpensive and easy to hang.

One Year Ago...

I can't believe how the year has flown by. In some ways I feel like my wedding was yesterday, but in other ways I feel like I can't remember my life before Ben. We've been looking forward to celebrating our 1st anniversary. November 10th fell on a Saturday this year, so we got to celebrate our big day on the actual day and spend the whole day together. Ben planned the whole day as a surprise to me. We started out walking through the Gateway - it was the most beautiful day outside- almost the same weather as the year before. We got in some shopping (how did he know me soo well?) and a little bit of golf in the afternoon. Then we went to The Roof at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building for dinner. What a spectacular view.
I thought it would be fun to go to the top of the Wells Fargo Building to remember our reception, but sitting almost right on top of the temple was so much more memorable. I felt like we had the best table in the whole place. It was just incredible. I had the belt taken off my dress and I wore it with a black dress, I felt like a princess all over again.
The night wouldn't have been complete without eating the top of our wedding cake... and I have to say it was just as delicious to me as it was last year. After we had our bites, Ben said, "should I throw it away now?" um, no, let's keep it... I'm looking forward to eating the rest of it! As soon as I'm off this sugar high from all the desserts at the buffet.

We had a fantastic day. I'm so nostalgic I love these days to come and I'm sad when they're gone. Help... I still want to get teary when I drive by the Wells Fargo building.

Halloween Weekend

Ben and I had a great halloween weekend. I am not one to really get into this holiday... simply because I don't have kids yet to dress up in darling costumes, and secondly I think it's slightly odd that adults dress up with no where to go (today our mail lady was dressed in full pirate apparel, and the girl at Arby's who helped me was a ladybug... is that weird to anyone else?)

This year we did have fun. Ben and I were invited to a party for adults, how fun! We originally wanted to find partner costumes to be figure skaters, but that proved pretty difficult. We went to a vintage clothing store and found some sweet alternatives. My first idea was 'we are beach movie extras from the 60's!' That was a little too hard to convey, so we went as "Vintage Beach barbie and ken" (even better, I got to wear heels with a bathingsuit!) So here we are.

I borrowed a cotton kimono from Granny (thanks Gran!) and put some flowers in my hair, how fun! More than me, people couldn't belive Ben's sweet outfit. A few of the guys wanted his seersucker yellow shorts (I swear). So we didn't win the costume contest, but Ben did win the Bunko tournament we had that night. It was fun to dress up... complete with hairspray, a week of solid self-tanning, and lots of fun makeup that I haven't worn since showchoir in high school.

On Monday night was the Oviatt family halloween party - all the grandkids wear their costumes and come to grandma's to decorate cookies, break a pinata, etc. Ben and Matt dressed up for fun - check this out! Ahh! I'm not sure of the exact costume name, but let's just say it reminded me too much of some people I'd seen in Mississippi. :)

Here's to Lulu

I am so lucky. I have not worried about my hair in years. This is more than I can say for many of my friends/relatives, even conversations I overhear about disliking their current stylist, moving and being scared to try someone new... etc. Sometimes I even see people and think, "she should try someone new..."

I will gladly drive an hour to Springville to see Lacey. I'd probably drive from Nebraska to see her. She is, how-do-you-say, Magnefique! Those of you divas who have since moved away from Utah, I would dare say that the thing you miss most about this great state is Lacey and her magic hands.

So here's a tribute to you, Lace. I need to see you more often, for the fun stuff. Remember my 21st bday? What about the next one? (ps - I heard "goodies" on the radio this morning - I smiled so big I could hardly contain myself.) So many great memories, some better kept between our small group of friends, no?


And just to set the record straight for those of you visiting this blog... I loved Lacey long before she reached celebrity status.

Love the Fall

I have always loved the fall... it never lasts long enough for me. Here in SLC its already becoming cold and rainy/snowy. But there have been a few beautiful, heavenly days. I took these pictures from the LDSBC campus the other day in the afternoon - and from the top of the parking structure this morning as I left class. The view from the Triad Center is fantastic, a totally new vantage point from what I'm used to. Enjoy!