always crashing in the same car...

Unfortunately the blog title isn't just an off hand lyric, it's true.
Fortunately:

• My car still drives
• No one was hurt (not even the curb I hit!)
• Nobody else was involved
• I have insurance

I've decided that Christmas vacation isn't long enough, I still have to pack for my move. It is going to be hard to say good bye to everyone for a little while. It has been really wonderful to have the whole family together again. Avery is super cute. We'll be together again in a while, I'm sure.

Happy New Year!

But for all my years of reading conversations...

A real life conversation, it happened tonight.

Dad: "Do we have any old quilts?"

Mom: "Why do you need old quilts?"

Dad: "We have some things to paint at work."

Mom: "What are you painting?"

Dad: "Body parts"

Mom: "And passions?"

And at that my Mom and I started laughing out loud.

We are massive nerds.

(The title is an old Bowie song and the joke centers around the Nicene Creed.)

It finally happened (happened)...

I graduated today, FINALLY! I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

Okay, except for this one. My friend, Kristen, and I did a simliar thing at our High School Graduation. She graduated last year.

Afterwards we ate at Texas Roadhouse.

I've decided to use song lyrics this month as blog titles. This time around it's Queen's "I'm Going Slightly Mad."

All alone I sit at home...*

Thanksgiving weekend was sort of odd this year because I was ALONE. My family was visiting my sister and her family in Vegas while work and school obligations kept me at home. It was really odd to be home with just the dog. I don't have anything against the dog, I just prefer people. I ate Thanksgiving dinner with my Mom's side of the family and dessert with my Dad's side. Although I brought a camera I didn't get many useful pictures to document the holiday. Here is a small sampling:

I tried to take a picture of myself with two of my cousins. It didn't exactly turn out.

Some things that DID work out were the cake balls I made for a Jazz party on Saturday. Yellow cake, chocolate frosting, and chocolate candy coating.

I was looking at pictures from my family's trip to Vegas and I have come to a conclusion (although not for the first time.) My mom does NOT look like a Grandma!

*The title for this post comes from a T. Rex song. I could have finished the line but it involved a chrome guitar, which is something I do not have.

Happy Thanksgiving!

My friend Annie posted 100 items that she is grateful for on her blog earlier this week. I have decided to follow suit because I thought it was such a great idea. In no particular order (although the most important will probably come first.) I have also added a Christmas playlist because now that Thanksgiving is basically over, Christmas music is now appropriate.
1. My family
2. The gospel (this is all encompassing)
3. My friends
4. Art
5. Music
6. Books
7. Electricity
8. Modern health advances
9. Indoor plumbing
10. Education and opportunities
11. Grammar
12. My car, Tessie
13. Contact Lenses
14. Sephora.com
15. Cooking
16. Baking (they are different)
17. Scrabble
18. Movies
19. Love
20. Windows
21. Sunshine
22. Jane Austen
23. James Bond
24. The Beatles
25. Cute Shoes
26. Rainy Days
27. Scarves
28. Unexpected songs on the radio
29. Figs
30. Prismacolor colored pencils
31. Humor
32. Coupons and deals
33. Socks
34. Eyeliner
35. My sewing machine
36. Water
37. My plaid shoes (even though they are falling apart)
38. The Clash
39. Lip Stain
40. Sweet Potatoes
41. Manual Transmissions
42. E-mail
43. Picture messages that allow me to keep up on Avery's progression
44. Watercolors
45. Sunscreen
46. Chap stick
47. The Bartimaeus Trilogy
48. Funny blogs
49. Smart people
50. Sincerity

Due to time constraints I'm going to stop with 50.
Happy Thanksgiving!

Sad, Exciting, and Strange

Word on the street is that Pushing Daisies has been cancelled. This is really sad news because I liked that show. It was funny, it had mystery, it featured pie (who doesn't like pie?) it seemed to have a really high production quality, Jim Dale was the narrator, and it had Lee Pace as Ned!

Quick Ned, touch the show! Bring it back to life!

Fortunately not everything this past week was sad. My friend had an insanely wonderful medical miracle, another friend went to the MTC, and I had fun with friends on multiple nights. On Friday I went with my super cool party people coworkers to dinner and a movie. Yes, the movie was Twilight, and it was better than I was expecting. Strangely better.

I was also able to log on to my grad school's website and register for classes. It's strange how something as small as knowing that you have a new e-mail address for a new shool, can be so comforting. It's as though the letter wasn't enough to let me know it's official. It was all cemented with an e-mail address? Weird! Lindsay.Keller@aggiemail.usu.edu

And now for the strange:

Exhibit A: British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown.

Exhibit B: Terry Jones, actor, director, writer, Python.

See the resemblance?

Just wondering.

Dinner with Friends

I went to dinner with some friends from Buffalo last night. What I mean by "friends from Buffalo" is they are all friends that I met while I was serving on my mission in Buffalo. From left to right in the picture below: Jess Piwko, Kim Allen, Natalie Lund, Me, Lexy Hjelm, and Amber Ackerson. I met Kim and Jess when I was serving with Lexy. Kim was investigating the church and Jess was her fellowshipper and roommate (convienent!) Amber lived in the Buffalo ward and is friends with Kim and Jess. Natalie took Lexy's place after transfers. It was really great to have everyone together for the last time. Not to worry, we'll probably all get back together when Kim gets back from her mission to Canada. It was a fantastic night!

Lexy, Me, Amber

Jess, Kim, Natalie

Jess, Kim, Natalie, Lexy, me, AmberJess, Me, Kim

I forgot to mention that we were only going to have 5 people at dinner. Right after we were seated Jess walked up, a massive surprise for everyone but Amber. Not only was the company great but the food was fantastic too (thank Buca!)

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

This past week was extra exciting. I had a day off of work (horray for veterans), my niece reached an important milestone, a package from Sephora arrived, I got my hair cut, AND my acceptance papers from Utah State arrived!

I tried to get a better picture of the envelope but it was harder than I anticipated. I'm going to start on January 5th and I'll finish in December 2011. It seems like a long way off but I'm sure it will go by quickly. I'm so grateful to the many people who have made this possible. I am so unbelievably fortunate! I'm really looking forward to moving and finally experiencing the whole college away from home experience.

My sister called and said that her daughter had a bowel movement last night. This is so exciting! Hopefully Avery will continue to improve and then she'll be able to go home. For anyone who doesn't know what I'm talking about check out my sister's blog. My niece is so stinkin' cute.

I got my hair cut last Saturday and the jury is still out on the cut. Youngest sister thinks it looks stupid while a lot of other people have paid compliments. It's tough to figure it out sometimes.

On a good day I think it's cute, ala, Agent Fields in Quantum of Solace.

However, on other days it's like a mix Mary Alice from Ace of Cakes and that girl from Madmen. Nothing against those two, I just wasn't going for that kind of look. Although, they all sort of have a retro edge to them. I think I was a little too vague when I talked to the girl who cut my hair. She was really nice, but I forgot that your hair sort of shrinks when it dries. I should have been more specific, maybe.

Before:

After:

Oh dear... Hair grows, right?

The Week In Review

This week was sort of weird as far as consistency goes.
Monday: I spent the day doing homework and working. Not too strange.
Tuesday: Not only did it snow but I drove up to Weber twice, all in the name of my patriotic duty. I'm so glad that I voted. I'm pretty sure that I giggled a little out loud. I've noticed that I do that, it's something I'm working on. Unfortunately I had a set back at school and for about 24 hours I thought that my chances of graduating were out the window (Midterms are VERY important.)
Wednesday: I had a bit of a realization, I'm down to mere WEEKS at Weber. I made a cool hooter-hider for Hil. Although I had instructions, I didn't follow them so it took a lot longer to make it. It turned out.
Thursday: I turned in my midterm, with a penalty of some kind. A lesson to everyone-keep an iron grip on EVERYTHING. Yeah, it's vague. I went to the temple after work with my ward and it was wonderful. I'm really going to miss my kickin' ward. They are fantastic.
Friday: Apart from receiving a very reassuring e-mail concerning Utah State, I spent the morning watching: The Office, Life on Mars, and 30 Rock. It was fantastic (ooh, I already used that word) it was splendid.

My favorite moment from 30 Rock:
Kenneth: "Oh I don't believe in hypothetical situations, Mr. Donaghy. That's like lying to your brain."

Which brings me to Life on Mars. I was fully prepared to hate this show because I loved the original so much. Here's how they stack up, character-wise.

On the top is the US version, and the UK version is on the bottom.
First up, the battle for Sam Tyler.

UK Sam earns points for being the first but US Sam earns more points for showing more emotion AND being more attractive. Sorry John Sims but Jason O'Mara is just hotter than you.

Next up, Gene Hunt.

Sorry Harvey Keitel, but Phil Glenister will ALWAYS be Gene Hunt. He's guv. No contest. (And apparently not very many words either.)

The Annie throw-down:

Not only did the US writers totally change Annie's last name (from Cartwright to Norris) but they also totally changed the character. Annie Norris is much more intellectual and ballsy than Annie Cartwright who was more sympathetic and girl-friendish towards Sam. It's a bit of a toss up here. The UK Annie seemed much more emotionally invested while USA Annie is more logical, especially when talking to Sam about his theories. I was fully prepared to hate Gretchen Mol because I was under the impression that she was a terrible actress whereas I hadn't ever heard of Liz White.

Ray Carling:

Michael Imperioli wins this one based solely on his impressive mustache and hair. Dean Andrews loses it further due to the horrible perm his character gets in the next series, "Ashes to Ashes." US Ray is also much tougher, and he is slightly more intelligent. UK Ray seemed a little too blunt, not too much activity going on upstairs, just lots of punching and stupid comments.

Which leaves...

Chris Skelton

Once again, the US version is much more attractive than the original. Despite that I'm going to have to go with Marshall Lancaster as UK Chris. His depiction seemed much more real, he seemed like he had much more of a inward wrestle between his loyalty to Gene and his admiration for Sam. He also seemed to have much more of a personalty. Granted, Jonathan Murphy does cut a cuter figure.

And the results:

Sam Tyler: Jason O'Mara

Gene Hunt: Phil Glenister

Annie Cartwright: Liz White

Ray Carling: Michael Imperioli

Chris Skelton: Marshall Lancaster

UK: 3

USA: 2

I really enjoy this show. It's like a cop version of Pushing Daisies.

Desert Island Discs

My friend Scott tagged me and gave me the following instructions:

This is an idea I got from my friend Dave. The basic idea as he puts it is "what albums would you want if you were stranded on a desert island that just happens to have a stereo and electricity but still no way to contact anyone for help".

There are a few rules that he decided to make:

• Only one album from each artist (forcing you to make some tough choices).
• No greatest hits or compilations of any kind (that would be cheating).
• Limit the list to 10.
• Ignore the iPod factor since it essentially makes this list obsolete. It's not about the technology anyway, it's about the music! Plus "Desert Island Discs" sounds a lot snappier than "Desert Island Playlist."

This has been REALLY hard for me because I love music. Here it goes, with great difficulty.

10. I figured it would be easiest to pick something for Sunday first. This CD was a favorite before my mission and my friend Kari gave it to me for my birthday. It is a good mix of songs and I love almost every track of this CD. Plus it reminds me of my mission and that is usually good.




9. Kind of in the same vein as the MoTab, my favorite classical album. Technically this is a compilation but I think it can be an exception because Camille Saint-Saens SO did not make albums as we know now. I adore the piano concerto #4 on the second disc and when you pair that with the Danse Macabre and carnival of the animals on disc one and you've got it made!



8. This is my absolute favorite No Doubt album. Unfortunately this is about where things started to get difficult. Seriously, only ten albums?


7. I bought this album last year and thought,"Where have you been all of my life???" I listened to it solidly for about, oh, a month. It was sort of out of control. I think everyone needs a little New York with a shot of London on every desert island. Plus, Lou Reed, David Bowie, and Mick Ronson? Classic.


6. Sondre Lerche is probably my favorite singer of today (as opposed to what, of the future?) He's from Norway and he is sort of random. Although I love all of his albums, this one won for the following reasons:
-A great combination of "rainy day songs," old school crooning, and covers of songs by Elvis Costello AND Cole Porter. It is quite a trick.


5. Choosing between Bowie albums was harder than choosing between Beatles albums ONLY because Bowie has a more albums (and styles) to choose from. I chose this one because it is the only Bowie album that I can listen to all the way through without skipping songs. I almost chose "Live at Santa Monica" but it is technically a compilation. "Station to Station" is great because it's Bowie at his best (even though he was probably on cocaine for most of it.) Any how, as far as personas go you don't get any cooler than The Thin White Duke.


4. This album makes me sad because it was the Beatle's last one recorded ('Let It Be' was released later even though it was recorded before.) I love this album even though it marks the end of the Beatles. "Carry That Weight" into "The End" could almost bring me to tears, depending on my mood and the time of the month.


3. I have to have The Clash on my desert island. I chose this based on the ratio of fantastic songs to not so fantastic songs. Even though there are two songs that I never listen to (they did some f-bombing) I don't think I could be angry without "Career Opportunities" to help vent some of that.


2. I just couldn't have only one Beatles album on here. I just couldn't do it. This one has too many fantastic songs; "If I Fell," "Things We Said Today," and "I'll Be Back."


1. Flight of the Conchords. Just in case the desert island isn't a funny place. These guys are hilarious.












The runners up:









This wasn't even the tip of the iceburg. I hate choosing.

Although I don't hate choosing when it comes to voting! I'm so excited that Barack Obama was elected!