I Looked Out the Window and What Did I See?

A snow covered yard on Sunday morning! Crazy Utah weather. It's all gone today, except for the loads up in the mountains. And the big piles in the parking lots at work. I love the bright blue sky in the background...

Is it Spring yet?

Death of a Fridge...

I'm not sure what it is about General Conference weekend, but the last 3 in a row I have had trouble with my fridge. The problems led me to multiple repairs, each time I had faith that this would be the one that would fix it. The repairman had faith too. After spending what could have purchased half of a fridge, I decided it was time to let it die. So the 4th problem was in actuality it's demise...a sad, slow, lingering illness the cause. RIP. The frost that became the decay, then the downfall...looks harmless. It's was malignant and fatal. Welcome to your new home...let's hope you last more than 9.75 years like the last one. I have faith you will!

Ye Olde Spaghetti Squash

Vegetables...an important part of any healthy diet. Here are two new ones to try. Roasted spaghetti squash served with a classic marinara sauce and melted mozzarella. Delicious!!!Steamed broccoli topped with freshly grated Mizithra cheese. Bright, crisp and tasty-tasty! If you would like to try these items, visit your local Spaghetti Factory today or, make them at home. I was lucky enough to share them with two delightful ladies and dear friends: Diane and Aldana! Thanks for our spontaneous outing! Great to see you and catch up!! Love ya both!

Idol Chatter...top 11 (again)

Well, this is a bit late...I've got to figure out a better system for getting this all posted on Wednesday night. So here's a quick run-down of the best and worst. My top 3 performances were Casey, Lauren and Paul. They all picked really good songs that fit their voices and their personalities. And they all have a personality! I especially loved Lauren and Casey. That Lauren has just got the "x" factor as Simon calls it on his new show, soon to air. And Casey saved himself last night with a stellar performance and a cleaned-up version of the scruffy leprechaun. Nice work! Worst performances: Naima. Seriously, America...vote her off the island. She's cooky and reggae is NOT what America wants, or the dancing. Thia. I loved her voice in the beginning...but now she just seems so vanilla and boring. Kind of a snoozer. Then there's Hailey. The judges seem to LOVE her and were really selling her hard last night. I don't get it. And way to ruin one of my favorite Elton John songs. Ugh. Two contestants will be voted off this week. Here's what has been predicted: Casey-1 Hailey-1 Jacob-1 Naima-3 Stefano-2 Thia-2 We'll see if any of our predictions are right this week. With all those options somebody's got to win a point or two on the leader board game. Good luck everyone!

Congratulations to Nikki who picked both of tonight's "winners" or rather losers. We say goodbye to the African Queen, Naima and the PYT (pretty young thing) Thia. And, Paul escapes narrowly. Whew!

Hilight of tonight: Scotty & Lauren's duet...I might actually become a country fan for these two. Lowlight: Former Idol winner Fantasia's hair roll...what on earth? Whatever..."W"? Who will be next week's victim? My prediction...Stefano or Hailey (please, enough already!).

Famous Dave's

The boys have been dying to eat some quality BBQ at Famous Daves for months now...so Saturday night the craving was finally satisfied! For BBQ, it was really good. I particularly enjoyed the Mac & Cheese. Nikki downloaded the recipe so I'll have to try it sometime. We had a really fun time this weekend with a trip to the Scrapbook Expo, Guadalahonky's, Denver Mattress, Ikea, RC Willey then ended it all at Famous Dave's. Thanks friends...

Idol Chatter...top 11

Well, we had to watch both the performances and results show tonight. I was out of town in the glorious city of Layton for a work conference on Wednesday. So, after Jimmer & the Coug's disappointing loss, we tuned in. For the performances: most everyone stepped up the game this week. Hilights: Paul (Simon) McDonald, Lauren (cute-as-a-button) Alaina and surprisingly, I must say James (I wear a turbin at my waist) Durban. Lowlights: Hailey (really?) and the African Queen herself Naima and the other Queen, Jacob Lusk.

We all predicted that Hailey would be outta there...

Big surprise!

That actually was the MOST DRAMATIC elimination ceremony EVER!! It was just missing the Bachelor's Chris Harrison to tell us this was the final rose for the evening. Holy Smokes! Casey. America, wake up! Glad they saved him. America had it completely wrong and it should have been Hailey (she knew it too). Well, now they're all going on tour. Yeah! I'll be sure to buy my tickets early.

Idol Chatter...Top 12

Okay, top 12. Overall I wasn't terribly impressed tonight. No readl stand-outs for me. I hoping they start to kick it into high gear. There's a lot of potential among them, some are getting too comfortable, others are trying too hard and some just seem to be getting lost in all of the hype. Here's my review of their performances:
1. Naima-pitchy and scream-singing all the way, which is just a louder version of talk-singing. Seemed really disjointed.
2. Paul-though I keep hoping he'll blow me away, it was really boring for me. Freakishly long-legs...?
3. Thia-this girl has an amazing range, put a few nice twists here and there, a bit flat and a bit boring. You're 15, not 55!
4. James-and the tail is back, at least off to the side tonight. Good song choice, poor performance. Quit running around and just sing the song so you do run out of breath.
5. Hailey-as they say, pitchy-kareoke-and that song was WAY too big for you, you're trying too hard.
6. Stefano-best vocals of the night! He seems real comfortable on stage, just needs to connect more to the audience, make me care.
7. Pia-um, the 70's called and they want their pantsuit back! Just okay for me.
8. Scotty-he's got a really smooth voice, nice job singing, but your facial expressions are too cheesy for me.
9. Karen-points for the dramatic hair and giant loop earings and still managing to keep your head up! Every thing seems really forced and un-natural with this girl. Just be.
10. Casey-here I am, now...entertain me. Little creepy with the "crazy" eyes. But you looked like a jr. high kid playing around in his garage. Cobain did it better...never thought I'd say that.
11. Lauren-second best performance of the night! She's got that spunky, young, fun attitude--even with the flu. This should take some lessons from her.
12. Jacob-great song choice!! He seemed pitchy and lagging behind the music, but I've got to say I love the passion and emotion he puts into everything. Loved the ending, wish he'd do more of that kind of stuff.

Well, 3 votes for Hailey to go home, and 1 vote for Naima. Tune in tomorrow for the dramatic results show!
Probably not as exciting as the most dramatic rose ceremony ever...

Well, nobody earned any points on tonight's wagers. Karen, was sent packing. JLo Jr. is hasta la vista baby. Sounds like the real JLo is going to fix all the sound mixing problems, which is why everyone was so "pitchy" last night. Come on, really, it's just a sound mixing problem?? Guess we'll see next week.

And then there were 11...