Celeb Crushes

The other night I couldn't sleep. That's nothing new. I was trying to find something to watch on TV and came across an Oprah re-run. Yes, I hate Oprah (well, not the person -- I dislike her, but hate what the show has become but that's another post for another day). But, she had a show on your teen celeb crushes and it made me start remembering mine. I'm really lucky to be married to John, because if he blogged about his crushes, I'd be totally insecure. He, on the other hand, just laughed. Thanks for indulging me, Babe!

**Editor's Note: the people I refer to are the following: Brad, my older brother; Amy, my cousin and dear friend; and AK (Anne-Katherine) and Leslie, my two best childhood friends. Their husbands are Adam and "Pug" (his name is really Matt).

Yes, this was my very first celeb crush. When John saw the picture, he burst out laughing "You had a crush on Adam West?". I wish I did. My crush was on Robin. I put ALL the blame on Amy. She's the one that introduced me to the celeb crush and when I visited her up in Idaho for a week one summer, she decided that Batman and Robin got the honors. She was a year older, so of course, she got Batman. I was left with Robin. Good thing I didn't know that Robin doesn't like girls or I would've been crushed.

My crush on Dirk Benedict was short-lived, but Brad started watching "Battlestar Galactica" and I decided I liked him. I caught him in a few other movies, but by the time he hit "A-Team" I had moved on. Sorry, Dirk.

This crush lasted for years. I was SO into Bo and Luke Duke. Leslie and I would play "The Dukes of Hazzard" all the time. She has brown hair, so I made her be with Luke, and naturally, since I was a blonde, I got Bo. We pretended we were twins that met them and had all kinds of adventures running away from Boss Hogg. They've both aged really well, especially John Schneider. Yummy!

Oh, Baby. This is the crush that keeps on giving. I fell for Harrison after seeing "Star Wars" on VHS. I'd watch it with my friends over and over. Once, Leslie and I paused the tape and took photos of the screen. When "Raiders" came out, AK and I watched it every time she came over. In middle and high school, we went and saw every movie he was in. One time, we went to "Pressumed Innocent" (which is rated R and we were 17) and her mom tracked us down in the theater to tell AK that the car was leaking oil. I've never been so embarrassed in my life to turn around in my seat and see Anne Pingree sitting there! The Harrison obsession has gone on for years. Once, I was in Jackson Hole with Leslie and our other BFF April, who's mom knew where he lived. We totally drove out to his ranch's gate and thought we were SO cool. Fortunatley, we all married into the love (AK, does PugYHarrison Ford?), because John and Adam have man-crushes on him. Adam even met him in Jackson and talked to him for a while! Anyway, this crush has cooled a bit ever since he did that lame Russian movie, started wearing an earring and hooked up with scrawny little Ally McBeal, but he's definitely an emeritus on my list.

Fonzie was WAY too old for me, but I sure Yed me some Chaci. And then, in "Charles in Charge." He's weird now doing that reality show "Scott Baio is 45 and single", but he still gets some points for playing Bob Loblaw on "Arrested Development."

I loved "Silver Spoons" and in junior high, I went through my Teen Beat Ricky Shroeder phase. Not a bad choice since he converted and was a hottie on "24".

My Cary Elwes crush started when Leslie and I watched "Lady Jane", a great movie with Cary and Helena Bonham Carter before she got all creepy-looking. We would weep over that movie and watch it over and over. But it was Welsey that really won my heart. That crush lasted a long time until he started doing these character roles and playing the nitwit ("Twister", "Liar Liar", "Ella Enchanted") and in really scary movies ("Kiss the Girls" and eww, torture porn "Saw").

My Val Kilmer crush is a lot like the Cary Elwes one. That crush started back when Brad showed me "Top Secret" and a year later, during that yummy volleyball scene in "Top Gun." But, it was his turn as Madmartigan that put him on The List for years and years. Leslie and our friends, Jennifer and Jodi, were obsessed with that movie and I'd listen to the soundtrack when I went to bed. He really went downhill after "Batman", although I do Y him in "The Saint." Too bad he's weird in real life. I'll always have Madmartigan.

The Mel love affair. Aaah, that one is shaky thanks to his recent weirdness, but the crush lives on. I want to stop loving him, but I can't! The first Mel movie I ever saw in a theater was "Bird on a Wire" with AK. We were totally hooked. We got Leslie obsessed with it too and this movie has become a staple of my high school memories. We then started renting all the rated R movies he'd been in like the "Lethal Weapons" and "Tequilla Sunrise." Bad idea being 17, but it started a life-long love with Mr. Gibson. Leslie actually sat a table behind his up at Sundance once. He was in his exiled, bearded Mel stage after all his controversy, but how cool is that?

Sigh. This is making me nostalgic. I'm going to go pick some of these movies for my Netflix Q!!!

Jude's Thursday Dish

The Olympics are over. That was an exciting two weeks! So I don't end up having Olympics postpartum, I can look forward to 2 of my favorite things: the fall TV season and Oscar worthy movies coming out. So, here we go...

1 & 2 (since it goes on forever!). I poached this from E! online, but they've got a list of TV shows and their scheduled premieres! Yeah! Last Spring after the Writer's Strike, I stopped watching a lot of shows, but I'm going to jump back on board. It's been a long drought. Here is a list of what I'll be tivo-ing. That baby is going to be busy! I don't watch any daytime tv (I hate Oprah and Dr. Phil, I stopped watching soaps, Ellen is okay but gets kinda old). And I have a rule (that John and Katie HATE) that we don't watch any tv, movies or get on the computer on Sundays until 5 PM. So, when I have free time during the weekdays, I just catch up on my evening shows. Especially the saucier ones that I don't want Katie seeing. That, or I watch them after Katie goes to bed, which is killer for my sleep schedule.

Wednesday, Sept. 3: America's Next Top Model
A true guilty pleasure. A train wreck you shouldn't watch, but can't help it. I usually don't watch the whole episode and just FF to the photo shoots and the final vote.

Tuesday, Sept. 16: Biggest Loser: Families
I FF through this show a lot, but still love to see the results. Even though Sami from "Days" drives me crazy.




Monday, Sept. 22: Dancing with the Stars
Major FF on this one. There's too much filler, so I just watch the dances and the end. The new cast has me completely puzzled. They usually have some odd balls, but Cloris Leachman? She's great (Y her from "North Avenue Irregulars"), but seriously? And Ted McKinley? They have a section in Jump the Shark just for him. When he comes on a show, it gets cancelled. Like DWTS will ever cancel, I just think it's kinda funny.

Thursday, Sept. 25: Grey's Anatomy, My Name is Earl, Kath & Kim & The Office!!!
GAH!!! What am I going to do? I can record the NBC shows, but then I don't want to miss Grey's and John doesn't want to miss CSI -- both on at 8. We may be watching those over the weekend online. And in January, Lost will be on! Thursdays you want to watch live, or at least Tivo and watch 20 minutes later to miss the commercials. It's definitely water-cooler tv and you don't want to be the loser that didn't see what happened the night before.

Sunday, Sept. 28: Amazing Race, Brothers & Sisters, Desperate Housewives
Big Tivo night. We're rarely home on Sunday evenings, so these are usually shows I catch up on during the week. Good treadmill shows. Amazing Race is my (and Katie's) favorite reality show.

Wednesday, Oct. 1: Pushing Daisies, Private Practice

If you haven't checked out Pushing Daisies, you need to. I Y it! Actually, I call it Push-up Daisies, because Kristin Chenoweth (and really every other actress) shows a LOT of cleavage. But it's very charming and has a great cast. And it's narrated by the crazy talented Jim Dale who narrates Harry Potter on tape. It's totally different than anything else on TV.

Thursday, Oct. 9: CSI: Crime Scene Investigation

For John. I hate that show.

Thursday, Oct. 30: 30 Rock (NBC).

I seriously have to wait until October 30th???

I'll "date" a few of the new shows before I'll commit to anything more serious and then, if they're Tivo-worthy, they can get a spot on my Season Pass. A lot of these shows get dumped throughout the year. It's not that I don't enjoy them, but my Tivo space is precious. I've got standards! Plus, I have to keep things open for 24 and Lost, or any other interesting mid-season replacements. So, if anybody discovers a great new show, let me know and I'll give it a shot.

3. Is it me or was the Democrat National Convention super annoying? So, as my brother-in-law Doug describes me, I'm a democrat in Salt Lake City, but anywhere else I'd be a republican. This isn't about politics; it's just they turn these things into such spectacles!!! The Republicans do the same. It's such a production,that you don't see anything genuine. And the so-called genuine moments are so staged. Like when Ted Kennedy spoke or when Obama just "showed up" for a surprise appearance. Plus, you don't get to see what the politicians are really like. Talk about pressure! I got so sick of hearing "Michelle Obama will give the speech of her life" and commentary like that from the media. And don't get me started on the celebrities! Like I'd really vote for someone because Ben Affleck does. At least it's not Mike Huckabee with his one celeb endorsement...Chuck Texas Walker Ranger Norris.

4. I'm trading in my Harry Potter movie postponement bitterness to excitement for Baz Luhrmann's "Australia" with Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman. "Moulin Rouge" is one of my favorite movies, so this looks like it will be totally up my alley. It looks epic and romantic. The promo pictures are gorgeous! It's not rated yet, so cross your fingers for me that I won't have to be tortured by my Off-the-R's and wait until it comes out on DVD, so I can Clear Play it.

5. So, what do you think about "American Idol" bringing on another judge? It's obvious they are phasing Paula out. I'm thinking that they'll see if this new girl has good chemistry with Randy and Simon this season, and then Paula's contract won't be renewed next year. I think Paula gets a bad rap. It would be so hard to have 30 seconds to comment on someone's performance and give them a decent critique, especially in front of a live audience and getting heckled and interrupted by Simon all the time. I think Randy is better than people give him credit for too. It's just the set-up that doesn't do them any favors. Will another judge actually improve this? The 3 don't have enough time as it is. Simon is always getting cut off, no thanks to Ryan. It will be interesting to see how it pans out.

That's it for this week!

Ghetto Backyard Update

It's been a week since the rusty nail incident. Foot is fine, thanks - but my itchy red tetanus shot still hurts. Well tonight, we found yet another crazy thing in the yard. We were working on the clearing up the nasty myrtle/ivy/Virginia creeper project. John started digging and we found some kind of tunnel! John thinks it's some kind of irrigation canal, but I don't think so since there's a canal in the back of the yard. I personally think Fate put it there to drive me crazy. John started to dig around the thing only to break up part of the concrete on the buried under dirt/sort-of patio. And yet another discovery...there was more brick under the concrete!!! For crying out loud, I know I live in the Brickyard area, but this is nuts. I should really take a picture to give you some idea of the crazy making, but it's dark out and I'm too exhausted. I used muscles tonight I didn't even know I had. I'm not sure what we're going to do with this tunnel -- or where it ends (creepy?), so I'll update you with the progress. You're dying with anticipation, I know.

Under Construction

My blog is under construction. I'm trying to create a new header in Photoshop. Stay tuned...

Honest to Blog

It's been almost 2 months since I've started blogging and obviously if you visit often, you know I'm addicted. It indulges the writer in me. I can use all kinds of multimedia from slide shows to video and music to photos. It's fun to peek into other people's lives and get comments in return on yours. My sister told me about a business that will print and make a book out of your blog entries, so even though it's said a lot, it truly is my journal.

Praises aside, I've been thinking of the journal comparison. There is a BIG difference between the two. In your journal, you're completely honest. You'll vent about your day, your spouse, your family. You'll express every emotion, because you know that your journal is for your eyes only (or you'll kids will have a "Bridges of Madison County" experience after you die). But with a blog, if you're like me, you censor everything in your head first. I won't go off about a sibling, because I know some family visits my blog. I can't rip on a ward member, because some ward friends check it out (well that, and it's not really Christian, is it?). I don't go into my political views because I know my opinions are different than most my friends. I don't write about the irrational, emotional thoughts I'm having after a bad day. And I definitely won't go into details about my married life for the whole world to see.

A good example of this would be my language. I started swearing when I was about 16. It was a childish way to rebel against my strict parents. I didn't really do anything else bad, so this was my crazy way of veering off the straight and narrow. The problem was/is that I started a really bad habit. It's embarrassing and I still really struggle with it, especially when I write. I've had a hard time in this blog not including swear words. I'll even proof my post for them. I'll let a few slide, especially if there is really no better way to express something. I just feel like I need to filter it, because I don't want people's opinion of me to lessen or offend anyone. If I was really honest (with myself), I'd just post as is and hope everyone accepts me anyway.

I'll never blog about certain things and I'll always censor before I post, but my goal is to be a bit more honest about who I am. Not for your sake, but for mine. It just feels good to truly be who you are and if I'm going to keep up with this addiction, then I better start now!

Oh...and I do want to give props to a friend in my ward, Liz. She's doing a weight loss program and she's posting her weights and progress on her blog. Now, THAT'S honest. Way to go, Liz!

First Day of 2nd Grade!

Beauty Sleep

Katie has been wanting a sleeping eye mask ever since I got a Tempurpedic one for my birthday last April. John finally gave in and bought her one this weekend. She was thrilled! John passed by her room and called me to come and see her. This is not staged; she was sound asleep. I love this picture. She usually has 20 + stuffed animals on her bed, but we had just moved them off while looking for said eye mask. And she's too hot for her comforter. I love how clean the bed looks! Oh, and don't you love John's original Star Wars pillow case? It's Katie's favorite. She's got this girly girl bedding, but won't sleep without her Star Wars pillow.

Our Graveyard

If you know us well, you've definitely heard John and I complain about our yard. Well, pardon my french, but "bitch" is really the only way to describe the ferocity of our complaining. It's a good size yard. Long and narrow on a lot that's 0.19 acres, which is a lot when you live in a tiny bungalow that's probably on 1/4 of it. It's got a lot of potential, which we're reminded of a lot by happy, yard-loving friends and family. But we are NOT yard people. It's too much work. John and I are computer, photo, website, making movies projects and home improvement kind of people. We definitely didn't get the gardening/yard work genes.


Here's a "Monet" shot of the yard. Looks nice from a far, but up close it's a mess. But here are the dirty details we're up against. We have a "death tree" that's about 75 feet tall and cost us over $1,000 to prune last year. We have a lot of fruit trees and a huge walnut tree that shed something year round. We have a well that doesn't work. We have a canal in the back to use for a garden we don't have. And we have mice and rats that love all of the above. We may as well be living in the country. Needless to say, we are SO in over our heads.

When we first bought the house, I was pregnant with Katie and hormones clouded my judgement; we were naive thinking the yard would be fun to fix up. But as these details present itself, we've just neglected it for 8 years. The sad thing is that the owner before us neglected it for his 8 year residence and who knows how far back it goes? I have a feeling someone hasn't touched that backyard since the 50's. Our house was built in 1925 and I know we've got a graveyard of baggage back there.

This has never been so obvious as lately. We are on an "extreme makeover: backyard edition" kick and have been doing a lot of work this last month. We've known about some of the crazy things, but have unearthed all kinds of stuff that's enough to make me move our butts into a low maintenance townhouse, pronto. These pictures don't EVEN do it justice; you can't really appreciate unless you've seen it as we go. But every story is better with pictures, so I thought I'd try to give you an idea and bring you in to the current "bane of my existence", as my dad likes to say.


There must've been a cottage back there -- or some kind of shanty town. John thinks another family lived back there during the depression. Whatever the history, we've got a steel bathtub that is IN the ground. You can't see it well in this picture, but it gives you the idea. John tried to get it out pulling by vehicle and chain, and yep, the chain broke. He tried all these different contraptions, but we're going to have to dig it out. There was a brick fireplace which we removed a few years ago, but now we're trying to haul out all these cement blocks, broken bricks and parts of broken rock walls that were around it.


This picture was when we were about 1/2 done and looks completely harmless, but it's been a huge pain. We had a ton of ground cover: a mixture of myrtle, nasty Virgina Creeper and ivy behind the garage. It was a mess and under our huge walnut tree, so the walnut shells just drop and pile up in the ground cover. John built this great shed, but the ground next to it was so ugly, we decided to clear it out. We couldn't have imagined how many walnut shells we'd find. We found about 50 original bricks from the house, two huge pipes from who knows what, a dilapidated stone and wood flower bed, more chunks or concrete and broken stone walls and another cement wall. And of course, all kinds of small things like tools, bottles, parts of torn tire, etc. I keep seriously waiting to dig up a dead body. But that's not the craziest part, all of this and inches of dirt cover an entire cement pad! There's been a freakin' patio under there the whole time! It's cracked and in terrible shape, but to find that out after 8 years blows us away.

This week I almost hit my breaking point. We were out cleaning and started painting a part of the shed we hadn't reached thanks to the mess. I wore my crocs out there. After days of working in the yard, my feet were killing me and I couldn't bear to wear my tennis shoes again. It was a completely IDIOTIC thing for me to do, because just minutes into painting, I step on an old, ghetto, rusty nail poking out of an old rotted piece of wood! It went right through my croc! Fortunately, it just scraped in between my second and third toe. It cut through the skin and hurts like hell, but it could have been a lot worse. When I saw the blood pool up in my croc, I started bawling. You would have thought I was seriously hurt. I think I was just more pissed and tired about our stupid yard. So, the next day, I went and got a tetanus shot and now, I'm dealing with a hot, itchy, red, hard spot on my upper arm and my foot is killing because I'm try to overcompensate with it instead of putting pressure on my toes. So fun!

I did suck it up and worked some more yesterday. We got a lot more cleaned up and I'm seeing the vision. Our goal is to finish cleaning up and start working on the garage. That is a huge problem too -- and a whole other post -- so I'm sure I'll over-share on that too.

Anyway, send us over your good vibes and wish us luck (and no real injuries) during this crazy project!

"What I Did My On My Summer Vacation" by Katie

School starts Tuesday! This evening Katie gets to find out who her teacher is. She is so excited and nervous. For a 7 year-old, this the equivalent of getting a mission call. I had Katie journal about what she did this summer vacation.




"We spent a couple of days in Moab. I scootered and we went rafting and I got in the water. I was like, "Get me out, get me out, get me out" because it was so cold. And we went to Park City to stay in a condo with Ethan and James. We went down the Alpine Slide and the coaster, but a dumb guy in front of us stopped and we bumped into him. We went to Heber. We had fireworks because we were there at the 4th of July. All of the kids got to sleep together in one room and I slept in the pink bed. It was awesome! I could hear a real rooster. And we went to Idaho and they had a hot tub and a pool in the hotel. I saw my 2nd cousins."

"I went to a lot of camps. Princess Camp, Imagination Workshop, Bad Dog Art and I learned a lot about Pirates. And Body-ology camp at the museum. I tasted celery and I like it. It was really sweet and scrumptious, actually. I went to art at Camille's."

"I learned how to swim without water wings. Ashley and Rachel (her cousins) taught me. We swam a lot at Paula and Ga Ga's house. We had a lot of barbecues. We went swimming with the Young Womens and Mens. We swam with Ethan and James and Rachel and Sarah and friends and family."

"I got glasses. I scootered a lot. I played with friends. We went to Boondock's and the Children's Museum. We had the Mortimer reunion. We went to Red Butte Garden. We went to the drive-in and saw Wall-E. I read a lot for Catch the Reading bug at the library. I worked in the yard a lot and earned money to buy a Webkin."

Mom here. It's been a great summer. Bittersweet to see it go, but I think we're all ready for school to start!

Jude's Thursday Dish

It was a really exciting weekend watching the Olympics! Especially with the glorious golds from Michael Phelps! I got a little burned out, so I took a break and after 3 days, I got caught up on my pop culture fix. Let's get to it!


1. Come on, Darryl! Didn't you learn anything from the episode "Drug Testing"? Here's a refresher to keep you out of trouble...and jail.


Dwight: Do you know what this is? [slides a photo of marijuana to Phyllis]
Phyllis: It's marijuana.
Dwight: How do you know that?
Phyllis: It's labelled.

Michael: This year, more people will use cocaine than will read a book to their children.
Stanley: Where did you get these facts?
Michael: Are they scaring you, or are they not?
Stanley: They are not.

Dwight: Let's go over some symptoms of marijuana use, shall we? You tell me who this sounds like. Slow moving. Inattentive. Dull. Constantly snacking. Shows a lack of motivation.
Kevin: Hey!

Creed: [when asked to ID a photo of marijuana] That is Northern Lights, cannabis indica.
Dwight: [sighs with disappointment] No. It's marijuana.



2. Great cover, bad timing. I am VERY bugged with the WB for pushing back "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" to Summer 09! That's my favorite Potter book and I've been waiting on pins and needles. I've read a lot of different theories. One was that the WB was trying to put some distance between Daniel Radcliffe's nudey run in Broadway's "Equus." But that doesn't make much sense since he already did that in London while filming the other films. The theory I buy is that they made a fortune on "The Dark Knight" and they're trying to spread the wealth into the new 09 fiscal year. Plus, we're going to see a real shortage of great movies next summer thanks to spring's writer's strike. So very bad news for me, but good news for all you "Twilight" fans out there who are getting their movie bumped up a few weeks and taking Harry's spot.

3. In better "Office" news, this is the BEST casting news I've heard in a long time. Two of my favorite actors, from two of my favorite shows (YYYY "The Office" and "30 Rock") are doing a movie together. Tina Fey and Steve Carrell have been cast as a married couple in the upcoming film "Date Night." It's supposed to be a real, grounded comedy about trying to keep that spark alive. It won't be out until 2010 since they have to film during the NBC hiatus. Coming up a little closer is the movie "This Side of Truth", a film by the original Michael Scott (I mean David Brent), the star and creator of the British "Office" who is SO hilarious: Ricky Gervais. It also stars Miss Fey and has a killer cast. Can't wait!

4. Last week, I lamented how I'm Off-The-R's and wouldn't be seeing "Tropic Thunder" until I could Clear Play it. I had this dream that I went to it anyway and I even imagined what it was like down to picturing what Tom Cruise looked like in his bald head and pot belly. I only got to watch 10 minutes of it when hundreds of people who read my blog (ha! more like the 1/2 dozen who read it) started yelling at me, throwing popcorn and treats, and calling me a hypocrite for going back on my resolution. They ran me out of the theater! It was an early morning dream, so I woke up kind of freaked out and more resolved to stay away from R's. But with a little distance from my dream, I have to ask...what were all of you doing there anyway?

5. Finally, I have to comment on the John Mayer and Jennifer Aniston break-up. John Mayer is a mimbo. He's a serial dater and kind of smarmy anyway. I tried to Google all the celebs he's dated and there's too many alleged girlfriends to even list. Yet, I'm not sure I feel sorry for Jennifer Aniston. She comes off desperate. I know there's a lot of loyal Rachel fans and I'm one of them, but she just seems to make the lamest choices in guys. And it can't help they are all celebrities. It probably doesn't help that the papz just won't leave her alone and all the tabloids make her seem really pathetic. Julia Roberts went through that phase (hello, Lyle Lovett!), then she married a normal guy. Jennifer Aniston needs to do the same, settle down with Joe Regular, go away for a year, then resurface with her fabulous self and some accessory babies!

That's it for this week!