The Resolution

A lot of you have heard me talk about my goal of reading 18 books in 2008. Last year it was 12 and I found myself finishing The Alchemist at about 5:15 on December 31st. This year I wanted to be a little more ambitious so I upped it to 18 and hope to finish by noon New Year's Eve (I'm embracing the procrastinator in me, though I'm not sure that's a good thing). Thank goodness for going on vacation with the Knutson's or I never would have made it! I think I knocked out 3 in Nantuckett and 2 in Miami. Since you're dying to know, I'll tell you what I read. I really wish I could remember the order I read them in (that's the OCD talking) but I don't, so in no particular order, here they are, Lindsie's 2008 reading list:

1-Stardust by Neil Gaiman (see the movie, skip the book)
2-The Wednesday Letters by Jason F. Wright (cute, read it mostly at the gym)
3-To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (it's been one of my favs since 9th grade)
4-Twilight by Stephanie Meyer (almost twice, I had to erase the bad movie taste)
5-Eclipse by Stephanie Meyer (had to re-read in preparation for Breaking Dawn)
6-Breaking Dawn by Stephanie Meyer (Duh!)
7-The Host by Stephanie Meyer (I also never would have made it without Stephanie)
8-The Accidental Tourist by Anne Tyler (which apparently is a 1988 movie . . . who knew?)
9-The Time Travelers Wife by Audrey Niffenegger (which apparently will be a 2009movie . . . Yay!)
10-Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale (such a cute story)
11-Enna Burning by Shannon Hale (I love Shannon Hale!)
12-Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli (Britt, I swear I'm gonna get this back to you! I've had it in the car everytime we've gotten together . . . )
13-The Bronte Project by Jennifer Vandever (my least favorite of the year, I actually threw it away after I read it)
14-The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks (Loved it! I read it so fast in Miami, I think I'll need to re-read it again soon)
15-An Abundance of Katherines by John Green (funniest book of the year, I want to read more of his stuff)
16-The Martian Child by David Gerrold (an excellent book, very different from the movie, which I also loved)
17-Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen (very clever, I'll hafta read her other book)
18-The Traveler's Gift by Andy Andrews (the perfect Christmas gift, a short and sweet book that I still need to finish before the day is done . . . so far so good)

Well there you have it my friends. My 2008 library. I laughed, I cried, I fell asleep. I didn't so much love Stardust or The Bronte Project, but I really enjoyed the others. Having said that, I wouldn't necessarily recommend every book on the list. If you have questions about any of them, feel free to leave a comment or shoot me an email. ;)


Who knew?

Do What I Can

It's no secret, I LOVE shoes! I've heard rumblings here and there about TOMS shoes and unfortunately I didn't discover until today what they are. Watch this . . .



A little background info . . . TOMS Shoes was founded in May 2006 when an American traveler befriended the children of an Argentine village and found they had no shoes to protect their feet. Wanting to help, he created a company that gives a pair of shoes to a child in need for every pair sold. Since its beginning, TOMS has given over 70,000 pairs of shoes to children in need around the world.

For every pair you purchase, TOMS will give a pair of shoes to a child in need. One for One.

Now I understand that these shoes may not be the cutest things ever but I know a good portion of you out there own and wear crocs, so I'm not too worried. And they look just as comfy as crocs are suppose to be! ;) Then there's the price. The cheapest pairs cost $42, but when you think about it, that $42 is getting two pairs of shoes. One for you and one for a child who otherwise wouldn't have any. AND if you type in the code HCT (HCT=Hotel Cafe Tour, a bunch of artists promote TOMS, including Hotel Cafe artists) you'll get $5 off. They're running the same deal for t-shirts that don't cost quite as much. Did I mention FREE 2-6 day shipping??? What a deal! ;) You proabably already have your Christmas shopping done, but I thought I'd put it out there for anyone who might be interested. Christmas gift or not, it's a good idea!



I obviously "borrowed" these pics. ;)

Far Away

Before we get to Christmas, let me tell you about Thanksgiving. (Obviously I'm a great procrastinator). This was the first Thanksgiving I've ever spent away from home, so it was a little strange. Not to worry though, I was taken care of; I had three different offers for places to go for dinner! It was never really a question of where I would go though, seeing as Spencer is family to me, but it was nice to know that there were others out there thinking about me.

Spencer and I started doing prep work for Thanksgiving dinner the night before because we had to marinate the turkeys. Okay, so Spencer was the one doing all the work; I was dead tired so I read the directions to him from a nice comfy chair. But the next morning we got up and started right in on the rest of the food. I now have new found appreciation for my Grandparents! That was a lot of work and we only did appetizers, the turkey, cranberry sauce, and desserts! I can only imagine adding more of the meal to our list of responsiblities . . . It was so worth it though, the food was delicious! See for yourself! :)


Our Maple Orange-Glazed Turkey. Of all the deliciousness that day I'm fairly certain my favorite thing was the apples that cooked with the turkey. Well, that and the bread pudding. Mmmm!


The desserts! Pumpkin Cheesecake with caramel and pecan topping, apple pie, and bread pudding. My mouth is watering just thinking about it!


A close up of my very first apple pie!


The table setting.


The flowers.

Now let's hope Christmas pics go up before Valentine's Day . . . ;)

The Way I Am

I realize a good portion of my posts are about the concerts I've gone to, but it's pretty much my favorite thing to do, so you get to hear about it. :) I think I've gone to my last concert for 2008 though. Just before Thanksgiving Spencer and I went to The Birchmere to see Ingrid Michaelson play the last show on her Be Okay tour. Of course it was fabulous, this is Ingrid we're talking about! She is one musician I will glady see over and over again for the rest of my life. This was my 6th Ingrid show and every single one has been top notch. Not only is she a talented musician but she is one heck of an entertainer! Here are some pics from the show along with a video of an unreleased song she sang at the show. Listen closely and you'll hear someone you know during the intro. ;)


Spencer and me waiting for Ingrid. I promised him it wouldn't go up online, so don't tell him. :)


David Ford, one of the openers. I have a couple of his songs that I really like, so I was excited that he was going to be there. Yeah, I didn't so much love him.


Newton Faulkner, another opener. I'd never heard of him before but was pleasantly surprised. He has amazing talent and was fun to watch. He's not anyone I would listen to on my own, but I'd go see him again.


And of course we have Ingrid!


And her friends. Note the creepy looking guy in the left hand corner. He's not real, just attached to the wall above the door. A little disturbing/hilarious.



Now the whole crew.


Blueberry Boy

It was a great evening and I'm looking forward to more Ingrid shows in 2009!

Living in Twilight

The books, loved them! They aren't the greatest work of fiction out there by any means, but they are definitely entertaining. In fact, for me, there's no better way to pass time on on the elliptical or bike, than to get lost in the world of Edward and Bella. No, joke, try it. Before you know it you're half hour is up and you'll likely add time to your work out so you can keep reading. It's fabulous!

The movie, hated it!!! I'm sorry, but when I read the book I was under the impression that Bella and Edward actually liked each other. Their relationship wasn't the least bit believable and that's what the story is ultimately about. I could go on and list the other reasons for my distain, but I'll spare you. I will say that it was a complete waste of $10.50! I knew I wasn't going to love it, so I just should have held out a few more weeks and seen a matinee while I'm home, but I caved. I know I'm in the minority when it comes to my opinion of the movie, and that's why I wanted to post about it. Twlight movie haters unite!


Now as to end on a positive note . . . I was super excited to use The Weepies song, Living in Twilight for the post title. I discovered The Weepies around the same time I was introduced to Twilight, and so I thought it was kinda funny when I listened to the song. They have three albums and World Spins Madly On is easily one of my top 10 favorite songs! They really are amazing, so you'll for sure want to check them out. :)

A Good Day

A few weeks ago I finally hit the big 2-7. I feel so grown up now . . . Okay not really, but maybe someday. I had a great birthday despite the fact that I'm thousands of miles away from family and the good majority of my friends. I thought I'd mention a few of the highlights of my day . . . or days because it almost felt like a week long event. :)

The cards-One great thing about not being by many loved ones is all the mail you get! I got so many cute cards from friends and family, and they started coming last Wednesday, it was awesome!

Phone calls-I hardly ever get phone calls these days, so it was a lot of fun to talk to a bunch of family and friends.

My "party"-The kids were so cute today. not that they're not cute everyday, but they were just so excited that it was my birthday. We went about our day doing most of our normal activities. When we got home from the library, Karen was already there (earlier than usual) and they had made me a cake and got me presents. We ate cake, well Karen, Matt and I did, Ingrid just eats frosting. Then Matt helped me open my gifts and sat on my lap the whole time. After that we went to a Mexican restaurant here in Arlington. It's highly unfortunate that I can't get to the picture of me in the Birthday sombrero, but here's me and the kids . . .






These are the beautiful flowers my parents sent me. :)

And I can't forget one of the coolest things about the day:

That's right, Greg Laswell took the time to wish me a happy birthday. (If you don't know who Greg is, then you need to look through my first posts). I have my good buddy Trent to thank for that one, he sent GL a message on myspace asking him to do it. If only everyone had a friend as cool as Trent . . .

Spencer ended up having to work all day Monday, so we decided to celebrate on Tuesday. We tossed around ideas of going on a little road trip, finding some sort of show to go to, etc, but nothing was really working out. We'd planned on giving my room a little makeover at some point, so we decided Tuesday was the day it would happen. We headed to Ikea, Potomac Mills, and Wal-Mart to get new bedding, lighting, curtains and other fabulous item that would help my room feel a little more like home. Something you probably don't know is that Spencer and I are two of the funniest people on the plant. No joke. So you can only imagine the kind of fun we had as we drove around and went shopping.

Before we could take the goods home and get to work we decided to stop and get something to eat. I'd been craving coconut shrimp and we thought maybe TGI Fridays could help me out. They couldn't. Don't worry though, I got this amazing jalapeno chicken popper sandwich that was beyond delicious and we actually re-created it last weekend, but in a healthier way. A little tip for all of you who are thinking to head on over to try it out: don't order a slushy! Number one, they're carbonated and it says nothing on the menu about that, and number two, all it is crushed ice and flavored soda. What a waste! Unless of course you get the Red Bull slushy, that was also delicious.


Here's me playing with our food. There were so many other good foods we were eating that we didn't have room for the potatoes. :)

We finally made it back to my place and Spencer proceeded to work his magic. Seriously, he has to be one of the most talented people on the planet! And I'm not just saying that because he's my best friend. You'll see.


I wish we took a few more before pictures, but I do have this one Karen sent me before I moved out here. It wasn't bad, it just didn't feel like me.

Here is what it looks like now:






And that's only part of the room! We're going to take a few more pics of my room for Spencer's portfolio, so when we do that I'll post those. There are a few finishing touches that need to be done, but I absolutely LOVE it!!!

Twenty-seven is definitely looking like a good year! :)

Love and Doubt

I'm a little behind on the blogging. A lot of fun things have happened over the past few weeks, so I'll try to play catch up. That means multiple posts in the next little bit; get ready. :)

We'll start off the blogfest with William. Fitzsimmons of course. He stopped by good Old Dominion earlier this month and my good friend, Spencer, and I went to see his show. I'll be honest, WF was not the greatest entertainer. In fact, he was pretty lame. I'm going to give him the benifit of the doubt and say he had an off night because all the things I've seen and heard about him don't match up to the William we saw. He didn't really have anything great to say and was overall pretty negative. His explanations of his songs were brief and vague. I have heard him say in the past that he likes to leave song interpretation up to the listener, but if that's the case he should mention that at all his shows. Also, there was the language issue. I worked at The Children's Center long enough to hear three year olds say every word in the book and then some, so unfortuantely I kind if go to hearing it, but this was just disappointing. Choose some more articulate words, you're an artist for crying out loud! I would never recommend going to a William Fitzsimmons concert (unless he's on the Hotel Cafe Tour, he might do better as part of an ensamble) but I would still totally recommend his music! Check him out here. You know if I'm endorsing the man after that show his music must be good. ;)

I will thank William Fitzsimmons for one thing: Slow Runner. A new favorite for sure. Check em out!


They have so many great songs, but I couldn't find either of my favorites, so you'll just have to settle for great. :) They have three albums. I bought their latest, Mermaids and have listened to Shiv. I'd recommend either of them. Oh, and in case you were wondering, that is William Fitzsimmons on guitar. He played most of their songs with them, which I thought was pretty cool.

Spencer and I decided to make an event of the evening so earlier in the day we went shopping for new concert attire at the greatest outlet mall in the world, Patomic Mills. I love that place . . . We both scored big time, especially in the shoe department!

FYI-I have not picked up any dirty habits as this picture may accidentally indicate. :)

Halloweenhead

It's a week late, but I wanted to write about all the Halloween fun that went on around here. Let's start with our visit at Cox Farms. A couple Fridays ago Matthew, Ingrid and I headed to Centreville, VA to have ourselves a little adventure. It's always quite the experience for me to take the kids places when I haven't the slightest clue where they are and what to do once we get there, but somehow it always works out and we end up having a great time. Cox Farms was no exception. Pumpkins, slides, a corn maze, the best apples I've ever tasted in my entire life, a hay ride . . . Well, just see for yourself! (click on the image for better viewing)


Then there was the haunted gingerbread house we decorated. The kids had a blast coming up with ways to make it "scary." Most of all I think they liked eating the icing . . .


I also made it to a couple Halloween parties this year. And I dressed up; not something I ususally do. Remember when I got drenched in the rain after coming out of Target a few weeks ago? Well, when I was nice and dry, inside the store, I ran into a couple girls in my ward who convinced me to go to a Halloween party with them. I was having a hard time coming up with a costume, when I remembered that my Mom made me a Harry Potter scarf a couple years ago. It was an easy costume to put together. A black skirt, white button up shirt, sweater, wand, the scarf and there you have it! I also used the occasion to get a new pair of shoes. They aren't exactly what you'd picture Hermione wearing, but they worked perfectly! I wore the costume twice, once for the party I mentioned and then again on Halloween. I'm not the biggest fan of Halloween and I pretty much hate dances, but where did I find myself on the 31st? In a barn where a bunch of young single adults dressed up in costumes, put on some loud music and decided that it'd be a good idea to re-live junior high. I'm not so sure why we feel the need to torture ourselves like that, but we do. And we call it fun. Sure it's entertaining, but fun? Not so much. But hey, it gave me something to do on a Friday night and I made a few more friends in the ward, so I guess it was worth it. :)

Monday!

For all of you who have yet to hear the amazing and talented Joshua Radin perform live, here's your chance! And if you are fortunate enough to have had a live experience with Josh, I know you're going to want to hear him again. ;)

With A Little Help From My Friends

You know you live in DC when this is the conversation that takes place in your car . . .

Ingrid (3 yrs): Teddy Roosevelt.
Matt (5 yrs): He was the first president of the United States . . .
Lindsie (26.9 yrs): Teddy Roosevelt wasn't the first president of the United States! Who was the first president?
Ingrid (3): John McCain!

If that's not funny enough, let me tell you what one of Ingy's best friends said to her nanny the other day . . . They were going by The White House when Elice, (2.5 yrs) points and says "Look, there's Barack Obama's house!" The funny thing is her parents are 110% republican! Maybe she knows something we don't . . . ;)

I think it's hilarious that both of these girls know enough to even associate John McCain and Barack Obama with being president in the first place! Unfortunately that's probably more than some Americans know . . .

One of my favorite things about moving to DC when I did is that I got here just in time for all the election excitement. I've always wanted to learn more about politics and be more informed and now I can't help but be informed. I feel like I am so much more prepared to make a decision this year than I have been in the past two elections . . . Even if I'm not the biggest fan of either candidate. Now if only my absentee ballot would get here . . . ;)

One more thing. Watch this and be sure to pass it on!

Rain

Normally I love the rain. Being inside wrapped up in a nice warm blanet or playing in the puddles, they both make for a good time. Well not today! I went to run some errands this afternoon and it was lightly raining. No big deal, not enough to need an umbrella or anything. I went to Target first and the trip ended up being quite successful . . . I picked up everything on my list, I talked to a friend on the phone, and I even ran into some people in my ward and made plans to go to a Halloween party with them tonight. Not too shabby. I was there for well over an hour because of all this fun and excitement. When I went to leave I looked outside and saw it pouring down rain. At that point I wished I'd grabbed that umbrella out of the back of my car, but figured it wouldn't be too bad. My plan was to hurry as fast as I could to my car. Genius idea right? I got out my keys, put my finger on the unlock button and made a run for it. This all would have worked out nicely had I remembered where I parked my car. I looked. And looked. And looked. No car. I started walking up and down the isles, swearing that I remembered parking my car near the back and wondering if I'd lost my mind. The pouring rain was now coming down in buckets. There was so much water on my face that I could barely open my eyes. This is when it dawns on me that I parked near the other entrance! I blindly made it to the other side of the parking lot and finally found my car. When I got inside I looked like I had showered in my clothes! I'm so glad I took the time to get ready today . . .

Find It In Me

I've been tagged by my fabulous former roomie, Brittany. I'm suppose to come up with six things people don't know about me. I'm pretty sure that there's nothing about me that someone doesn't know, but I'll try hard to come up with some of the lesser known facts for your reading enjoyment . . . :)

1- I love to run. Crazy, I know. My gym teacher would never believe it, but it's true, I love running. I think it has a lot to do with the quality time I get to spend with my i pod :)

2- I have an insane memory when it comes to social things. I can remember stupid little details that don't really matter about what day it was, who was there and what we talked about type things. Of course my everyday memory's not so great. Go figure.

3- Sometimes I get embarrassed because of what I remember so I play dumb . . . I say something like "have we met before? I'm not sure. Maybe. I think so . . . Oh yeah, we did hang out a little." Truth is I know where we met and what we were doing. If I thought about it enough, I could easily figure out the date as well. One time we played Cranium and I couldn't for the life of me figure out that you were humming Mary Had a Little Lamb.

4- I really don't watch a ton of TV, but I feel like I know what's going on in a bunch of shows I've never seen because I keeping up on them through their commercials. My favorite show I kept up on through commercials: Ed. You know, the bowling alley lawyer. I eventually caught most of the series in syndication. LOVE it! :)

5- I picked up a swearing haibt from the kids at the group home where I use to work. I'm doing a pretty good job of getting rid of it these days, but I refuse to let go of "bitcher," it's way too funny!

6- I'm going to Florida next month with The Knutson's. I think maybe three people know that. It's not some hidden fact about myself, just a recent development, and since I've been trying to come up with a sixth thing for over a week now, it's gonna have to do. Karen actually reminded me about it today, so it's been on my mind. I'm pretty excited about it. ;)

To Remember

Last Monday I went with my friend Anne to the Pentagon Memorial. I've been to almost all of the memorials and this one by far is my favorite. It seems to me like it was more thought out than the others . . . There's more detail to it. When we got there we didn't really know how to make sense of what we were looking at, but then we started talking to a nice "older" couple who explained it to us. They said that the walk way around the memorial is made out of the rubble of the building, then they pointed out how you can see on the Pentagon, where the plane crashed. Chilling. Then there are these interesting markers coming out of the ground. They pointed out that the direction the marker is facing indicates where the person it's representing died; in the plane or in the Pentagon. The markers are arranged by birth year and has each person's name on the end of it. If that person had family members who also died in the attack, their names are listed below the marker, in the water. You are then able to go around and find the site for each individual in the family. The youngest person to die in the attack on the pentagon was born in 1989 and both her parents and sibling were killed along side her. Going to any memorial is a somber experience, but the fact that I distinctly remember 9/11 enhanced this particular visit. It's surreal to actually stand in the place where this tragedy took place and remember all the things that went on during that period of our country's history. I guarentee this won't me the last time I go there.

I would highly recommend that if you ever get the chance to visit DC, that you put The Pentagon Memorial on the top of your places to see. Just a little tip: take the metro and go at night. There's not really any place you can legally park at the Pentagon at anytime, and also if you go at night it's all lit up and it adds to the atmosphere.

I Want You

Watch. Listen. Act.

Passion Play

Today was a big day for two of my absolute favorite people in the entire musical world. Both Joshua Radin and William Fitzsimmons released their new albums! (Note: if you haven't realized this by now, let me just point out that I tend to get a tad passionate about music. Especially when it comes to Josh ;) ).

Let's start off with Joshua Radin a.k.a. the love of my musical life. If you haven't heard him before then you obviously need to check out my playlist. :) The man has been compared to Nick Drake and referred to as a modern day Simon and Garfunkle. Josh's new album is called Simple Times and it's brilliant. A little different than the first album, but it's still Josh. Let me just tell you why I love this man so much (well, one reason anyway). Colombia Records signed Josh probably two and a half/three years ago. He went with them because they said they'd produce his album just as he recorded it; no changes. Then when it came time for the sophomore record, they wanted him to make changes; move towards more of a mainstream/pop-ish sound. He wouldn't do it. He bought himself out of his contract and signed on with Mom and Pop Records, an indie label and was able to release his music how he feels his music should sound. Even if you hated his sound, you'd have to respect the guy for that.

The album has been up on i-tunes for the past four weeks and beat out Metallica for the number one selling album it's first week out. I was going to wait for the hard copy, but I just couldn't hold myself back. I did of course, order a hard copy but of course it wasn't in the mail. Hopefully tomorrow! Josh also performed on the Ellen Show today. I was stoked until I got home and found that the DVR did not record the event. Tragic. I feel I handled myself well though; no tears were shed, I didn't break anything, just complained a little. Good thing I'm going to see him perform live this weekend, or thing may not have turned out so pretty . . . Now if someone could just get the clip up on youtube . . . :)

Next we have William. William Fitzsimmons also released and album today called The Sparrow and The Crow. It's his third album, and possibly my favorite. I can't get over how talented this man is! I first heard WF towards the beginning of the year when I noticed him on the Hotel Cafe Tour's line-up. I instantly bought one his albums and later fell in love with it so much that I had to have the other one as well. Imagine my delight when I found out he had a third album on the way!

I pre-ordered the cd rather than waiting to buy it on i-tunes because it came with a free subscription to Paste Magazine ("the entertainment magazine for thinking adults, Paste looks for "signs of life" in music, film, and culture") and I like getting mail. I'm generally not big into the whole pre-order thing, but this time it turned out to be the best thing I could have done because when I got home on Friday afternoon, the cd was sitting in my mailbox . . . that's four whole days before I could have gotten it anywhere else. The album is amazing, I can't wait for November 7th when I get to see him perform the songs live!!!

For more details on Josh, William, or the Hotel Cafe tour, or to listen to their music, direct your eyes to the right side of your screen. For those of you who are directionally impaired, just take a look at this . . . (Josh appears at approx. 6:07) ;)

Someone Else's Life

Wow! I have been so busy these past two weeks going on all sorts of fun adventures. I really do feel like I'm living someone else's life. There is just so much opportunity to go places and see things! I've been to Baltimore, Fredricksburg, Annapolis, and all over DC. I've visited the National Aquarium, the Naval Academy, The Bureau of Printing and Engraving, The Capital Building, Lincoln Memorial, Jefferson Memorial, The Botanical Gardens, The Sculpture Garden, Barack Obama's office, Old Town Alexandria, Georgetown, and so many other places, all in less than two weeks! It helps that I've had a friend in town visiting for the past week. I haven't done too much in DC on my own since I've moved here, mostly because I have other things going on. Now I have a renewed excitement about going to all the different museums that exist right in my backyard! So cool . . . I have a bunch of pics to go through, and some that I'm waiting for my friend to send, but don't you worry, I'll post some soon! ;)

I can't believe how blessed I am to be able to do all these things, it's absolutely amazing. Up next on the list: Harrisburg, PA!

Take Me Out To The Ball Game

I pretty much have the greatest job ever. I play all day, go to museums, and take naps. Then at night I get to go to baseball games! Okay, well, that's what I did tonight anyway. Last week Kent mentioned that he was going to give me his company's tickets for an upcoming baseball game. He said there would be six tickets and two parking passes. I was excited to go because I LOVE going to baseball games, but then I realized I don't exactly know six people around here. I invited those I did know and a girl I met in my ward. Then I used the good old listserve (a yahoo group for my ward) to see if anyone else was interested in coming. We ended up using five of the tickets, though I did get plenty of emails saying people wished they could come.

So the game was the Washington Nationals (obviously) versus the New York Mets. I'd heard our team isn't all that good, but I was still confident we'd have a good time. There's something about going to a baseball game . . . it's a happy thing no matter what team wins! The game actually turned out to be pretty good. Our seats were awesome (right behind home plate!), there were some great plays, and the Nats won! What more could you ask for?

Here are a few pics to prove I was there!

Best Thing In My Life

Meet Garmen. Without her I would be absolutely lost. Literally. I don't know how people find their way around this crazy place without some kind of GPS system! Between the one way roads, streets that have two names, lanes that change direction depending on what time of day it is, and all the TRAFFIC, I'm shocked peopole ever get it straight. I would never dream of leaving home without little Garmie. I guess it just comes with time . . . If a three year old knows how to get around, I guess I'll eventually figure it out! And if Garmen ever breaks, at least I have Matt and Ingy to tell me when I'm going the wrong way.

As wonderful as Garmen is, it hasn't been 100% correct. I went to find a Wal-mart last week, but after following the directions and arriving at the supposed destination, there was no Wal-mart to be found. Later that night I tried another location and Garmen lead me to the right area, just the wrong shopping center. Maybe Wal-mart needs to pay Garmen a little more money . . . At least if I get lost I can always find my way home!

I will say that I am quite proud of myself. Today I made it to and from Matthew's school without Garmen's help. I did go to Spencer's house on Sunday without it, but I needed some help on the way home . . . it was dark. :)

You are the one I've been waiting for, today! Pt. 2

You are the one I've been waiting for, today!

It's about time I blogged about this, and I know you're all shocked that I've waited this long. :) I figured that i anticipation of Tuesday's big event (the release of his second full length album) I would dedicate this post to the love of my musical life, Joshua Radin. I saw Josh (don't worry, we're tight, so I can call him that) in concert for the fourth time about three and a half weeks ago, right before I moved to DC. In fact, the only reason I was in Utah half of August was so that I could go to the show (BIG thanks to the Knutson's for allowing me to push the start date back).

The concert was fabulous, as usual. I went with my favorite concert going buddy, Trent. It was his first time seeing Josh, so that was exciting. We bought our tickets on the presale so we were invited to a special meet and greet before the show. At first we were told we could go to sound check and I was eccstatic! Yet another dream come true . . . too bad they changed their minds. Then things didn't work out like they were suppose to during sound check and it ran long, so they pushed the whole thing back until after the concert. Trent and I were slightly disappointed, but we weren't going to let that get to us! We were able to sit right outside the door and hear sound check pretty clearly. And because of our sitting location all the artists, including Josh, walked right passed us.

Because we got there early we ended up being the first people in line (not and uncommon position for either of us). We're also generally the front row type, but this time when we walked in the venue we stratigically placed ourselves so we would be in good shape for Josh's final number, which he performs in the audience. (I knew this because my crazed passion for Josh drives me to look him up on youtube on a regular basis to see what new stuff he's performing). There were the standard annoying concert goers who don't care about anyone around them or act like idiots during the performance by shouting out something stupid or doing something to embarass themselves. We frequently mock these people both during and after the show for weeks to come. Anyway, the concert was phenomenal, as usual. Different from the other shows I've been to, in that he was way less personal, not so talkative. I'm sure there are a lot of factors that play into this, but mostly I think it's the audience that determines the feel of the show. He performed a good mix of new and old material . . . I think there will only be two songs on the new album that I haven't heard. I love hearing new stuff for the first time live . . . Who am I kidding I love hearing everything live!

So after the show we stuck around so we could chat it up with Josh. We again stratigically placed ourselves, this time so we would be at the end of the line and hopefully have more time with Josh. The meet and greet went as follows: Introduction, picture, move on. The people in front of us asked for an autograph and of course Josh said yes, if they had a pen. They looked around and I said I had one, Josh then looks over, smiles, and says "hey, how's it going?" Like I said, we're tight! :) Then it was officially our turn to talk to Josh and he again, smiles and asks me how I'm doing as he gives me a great big hug. I felt special! We talked for a few minutes about various things, then I asked him to sign my EP (extended play, too short to be a full length album, but too long to be considered a single). This was and EP that I paid a pretty penny for. They only made about 2,000 copies, and it'd pretty hard to get your hands on one for under $150. Don't worry, I didn't even pay half of that . . . I love the man, but I'm not rich! Anyway, he said he hadn't seen one of those in a long time. After discussing what he should write, he decided on this . . .

In case you can't see it, "Lindsie- You are the best! I love you!"

I'd say it's an upgrade . . .


All in all, it was an awesome night! I can't wait to see him again . . . Soon!

The Special Two

I thought I'd introduce you to the cute kiddos I get to take care of. First we have Matthew. He's five years old and had his first day of kindergarten on Wednesday! He has a great imagination and is SO sweet to his little sister (most of the time :)). He loves to play with pirates and army men. Today on the way home from school he told me he is going to be a soldier for the Unites States Army when he grows up! Here are a few pics:

Matthew enjoying his "midnight snack" at 9:00. Three Golden Oreos and a glass of milk. He's quite specific in his requests!
Me and Matty!

Then there's Ingrid. Ingy. Ingaroo. IVK. Princess. She will turn 3 at the end of the month, and Karen (her mom) is throwing her a fairy princess party! Ingrid has an amazing sense of humor is so loving. I'm also fairly certain she is one of the smartest little girls ever to walk the planet! Seriously. Now the pictures so you can see how cute she is:

Ingrid . . . and Ole! She sure loves her dog!
Me and Ingy!

Waiting For My Real Life to Begin

So pretty much I'm in love with Nantucket. The beach, bike rides, the best lemonade ever, sunsets, wandering around town, shopping, yummy ice cream . . . I could do it all over again! Not immediately, of course, but some day. Though, I don't know if I could ever afford to go on my own, but it'd totally be worth saving up for!

It was a lot of fun getting to know The Knutson's while on vacation; they were so nice and I had a great time! There was a good mix of taking care of the kids, spending time with the family, and exploring on my own. I easily got in two books and an entire season of Scrubs while relaxing on the island, it was great. I will say that after taking a month off of work and then spending two weeks on vacation, I'm ready to get started on "normal" life . . . whatever that is! :)

So I spent waaay too much time trying to figure out my stinkin' slide show and it never worked out, so here's a good portion of those pics to give you a glimps of my life in Nantucket. Enjoy!


Our house in Nantucket. It was a cute little house with a porch that wrapped all the way around it. All the houses have names, ours was called Hedges . . . possibly because it was fenced in my a bunch of hedges. :)
My room.
The view from my window.
Me at the Harbor on my first day out exploring on my own.
The best lemondate I have ever tasted . . . Nantuckt Nectars. My mouth is watering just thinking about it!
I also had some of the best ice cream I've ever tasted in Nantucket. This particular flavor was chocolate peanut butter cookie dough. I also tried ginger and peanut butter cup. Mmmm!
Me sitting on the front porch. One of my favorite things to do was sit on the porch and read.Great Point Lighthouse
Me at Great Point. Probably my favorite beach. More of Great Point

The sunset the last night we were in Nantucket.


P.S. I posted to slide show to my myspace blog if you're dying to see it. (www.myspace.com/rememberthatonetime)