Things I am Thankful For In 2008

- Love.
- Childhood friendships renewed.
- Music. After being lost in talk radio, I rediscovered music and didn't realize how much I missed it. It makes me feel alive.
- Edward Cullen.
- Color.
- Running shoes who forgive me though they have been neglected. (I'm baaaack!)
- President Hinckley.
- Diet Dr. Pepper.
- My Ward. Its the land of misfit toys but they are all great examples to me of enduring the toughest trials, living faithfully and doing so with a smile.
- SHOES! They always make me happy.
- My father, who treats my mother with the most utmost love, adoration, and respect a human can give.
- America.
- My discovery of 40's music. I love it!
- Hearts that can heal. Sins that can be forgiven. Trials that can be overcome.
- The many examples of good and healthy celestial marriages in my life and the dream that I will have one someday.
- 2012.
- Inside jokes....galore!
- Santa Claus and Jordan Knight. Both remind me of my very perfect and happy childhood. Where's a time machine.
- Brave people, who do the hard and scary thing despite the resistance. They are great examples to me.
- Hair color. Lots of hair color.
- Uyen's return to Utah. Yeah!
- Dr. Carrie.
- The prophetic messages of the scriptures and the application in my life. Its scary.
- My Family. They have been surprisingly non-judgemental and supportive. I underestimated them. I love them so much!
- Gummy bears.
- Being a girl. Makeup, hair, heels, cloths, perfumes...I love it all (in a non-gay way).
- Rated G movies. They too can be VERY entertaining...and guilt-free...like Diet DP.
- Dublin (my cat). She lives on!
- My Savior and His sacrifice for little old undeserving imperfect me.
- Getaways...with friends and family.
- My new roommate.
- Pinesol (is it that wrong that its an aphrodisiac?)
- Family together forever.
- A rockin' live concert. Nothing can beat it.
- Forgiveness.
- "The Nice Ones" (you know how you are.)
- My employment. Not just because I have a job, but because I LOVE my job.
- Laughter. It heals.
- Scrabble.
- Second chances.
- The feeling of PEACE. We only tend to notice it when its gone.
- McKenna, Tyler, Kylie Sue, Anthony, Phoenix and baby Brough on the way.
- Our founding fathers who made brave moves to bring about the inspired path of this country.
- Yellowstone. Where God goes to get away.
- Ironport.
- The ever present, unceasing love of my Heavenly Father. He's always around, I've just never realized it until now.
- Charity. Its true, it has a healing affect on the soul.
- Stephenie Meyers for helping me prove that not only could I read, but I could read a lot! Its miraculous to say the least.
- My testimony.
- Unconditional friendships.
- FUN...my favorite three letter word.
- Capitalism. May it never ever go away.
- Gang Panang and smothered burritos.
- Hope, in the future.
- You.

Michelle & Amy Loved Them Some New Kids On The Block Last Night

For me...before there was U2, there was New Kids On The Block. After 20 years of waiting and ultimately giving up on a pre-teen dream, I FINALLY got to see my first favorite band in concert. Let's just say, it was worth the wait. We were not disappointed.

The highlights…

- Michelle and I spent the first two songs of the show….laughing! It was like “what in the crap are we doing here? Is this really happening? I'm so confused and so freakin' excited all at the sametime.” It was quite the surreal, hilarious and unbelievable moment. Then we joined in and got down to "The Right Stuff".

- I thought he lost it, but Jordan still has it.

(Jordan looks mad. He lost a button and oopsie, what a mess. A hazard of the job. I even caught this unfortunate experiance on video. See below.)- Danny still looks like a monkey … but he can break dance like a mad man! I freakin’ love break dancing.

- That Joey sure has grown up (except his voice still hasn’t hit puberty yet.) But he can sure dance...those "Dancing with the Stars" lessons really paid off.

- Poor little Jon is so shy, its obvious but he just oozes “nice guy”. At one point though, something happened that made him start laughing…he was trying to stop so that he could actually sing…but he couldn’t. We got a kick out of that. Wonder what was so funny? Maybe he was laughing for the same reason we were..."Am I really at a NKOTB concert?"




- Someone threw a shirt at Donny and he put it on for us all to see. It said “I heart Mormon Girls.”

Short of U2, I’ve never seen such a large production…
- moving stage
- pyrotechnics…LOTS!
- streamers falling from the ceiling
- about 7 costume change (I lost track). I thought costume changes were for female artists. I was wrong.
- back up dances and mucho choreography (Even Kanye West didn't have that.)
- a second hidden spinning stage at the opposite end of the floor in the middle of GA. It made our 9th row seats into 25th row seats for a few songs. The people who thought they had crap seats found that to be quite an amazing surprise, I‘m sure.

- I’m an experience concert goer, but this was actually my very first "boy band" concert. My ears have never been pierced by so much noise. Yes, 30-something women can still scream like teenage girls. Ouch! Michelle tried to warn me.

- Those nearly 40 year old New Kids can still dance…and they looked like they were really having a blast.

- A lot more guys in attendance than we expected. Some came dutifully with their dear wives/girlfriends. (Fletcher, I know you would have bit the bullet and came dutifully with me if it weren't for Michelle. I love your support. Thank you for being excited for me.) The others guys in attendance had to be gay or just not embarrassed about letting their guilty pleasure out of the bag. (Oooor it just occurred to me…maybe they were just there to pick up chicks. They had some good odds, but they probably underestimated the draw that is NKOTB. They had our full undivided attention.)

- Despite our 9th row seats, tall hand waving chicks, and my very average camera, I must say I took some amazing pics and video. I’m a dang good concert photographer…I’m just saying. Only problem is that apparently I’m a little bias towards Jordan. Old habits die hard.

There was a lesson to be had from this concert. I don’t have be embarrassed to be NKOTB fan anymore. We fans came out of the closet again in droves last night … dusted ourselves off and had the time of our life. There were a LOT of us...(crazy ones too.) So judge us, I don't think we care anymore.

Thanks you Michelle for snagging us some sweet seats after the first ones didn't work out. I had so much fun. And thanks for making me rush the stage at the end so we got to see the final three songs from the 2nd row. Awe. That is where we belong isn't it?

I wish that Lori, Staci and Liz would’ve been about to join our 12 year old fantasy come true. You know you wanted to. Maybe next time. New Kids said they’d come back...but if they wait 20 more years, the "right stuff" will probably be all the wrong stuff. "Please Don't Go Girl" will take on a whole new meaning...several, actually.

ONE LAST CONFESSION...we followed their tour bus all the way to North SL last night. HA! It was one of the funniest things I've ever done. Seriously, if we were 12, we couldn't have done that. We were seriously obligated to do so. Funny thing is....we weren't the only ones. LOL. There was like 15 cars following behind their slow bus going only 65mph with no other traffic around. It was painfully obvious what was going. The funny thing is that one car full of girls got so possessive of their #1 spot right behind the bus, that it was tailgating so close it was ridiculous. Another car was trying to get in front of her. HEADLINE: New Kids killed in tragic bus accident b/c of crazy fans fight for a LAME #1 tailgating position. They were serious...but we were doing it just for laughs. LMOA. It was great. Us Rocks! Thanks again Michelle...please don't kill me for this confession.

(Video: A snippet of "The Right Stuff"... sound is lame but they look like they are having fun and so were we.)

(Jordan Fan...this is the video for you. I'm pretty sure it was Michelle's fav part (a repeat from a show 20 years older) for obvious reasons.)

Classic "The Right Stuff" moves.

Its so on...again...tomorrow!

New Kids, E-Center, Row 9, with Michelvis....my inner 12 year old just squealed.

A super huge "THANK YOU" to....

Britta

Carrie

Fletcher

Michelle

Uyen

Your donation of time, money, and items to my Sub-For-Santa Charity Auction on Saturday, made it possible for us to reach our goal of $20,000!!!!!!!! This will benefit more than 160 children!!! Truly amazing what people can do when they put their mind to it.

I recognize you were supporting me just as much as you were this worthy cause. Many blessings be upon your heads! I'm truly indebted to you. We couldn't have done it without you.

Thank you so much!!!

If Obama wins, this will be my new look...

I haven't yet decided if it'll be because I'll need so much comfort food OR because Armageddon is nigh, so why diet and exercise? Either way, Jenny Craig will not be my friend...that freakin' capitalist.