crush, crush, crush

We all have our first crush--that first person we spend our days and nights dreaming and thinking about. We convince ourselves that this person is "The One" and then are crushed when it doesn't work out. You would think that we would get a clue. There's a reason they're called CRUSHES. But we don't. What is it about unrequited love that keeps us always coming back for more? There are three crushes that stand out for me.

My first crush was in 2nd grade and ever since there I've become a professional crusher. Lol. Those of you who know me well know all about my numerous celebrity and other crushes. The one who started it all was Dustin. Dustin Lewis. He was the cutest boy I'd ever seen and I fell hopelessly in love with him at the ripe old age of 7. We were in the same class and I was convinced that we were soulmates. One day, while were were waiting in line outside, I leaned over and kissed him on the cheek while our teacher was looking the other direction (I thought I was sooo sneaky....). I wrote: "I love Dustin" on the inside cover of all my notebooks (side note: my Mom found one of these notebooks several years later and teased me about it...). Then we moved. And I never heard from or saw him again. CRUSH.

The second one that stands out for me is Matthias. I was 14. He was 16. Though I don't remember ever actually talking to him, I convinced myself that we were perfect for each other and we were going to get married one day. He had amazing blue eyes and the first time I saw him at church I was a goner. This infatuation lasted for the next 2 years. Nothing ever happened between us. Again my family moved and I never saw him again. CRUSH.

The third was about 5 years ago when I first moved back to Arizona. I was working for my uncle as the receptionist/office manager of his Occupational, Speech and Physical Therapy office. Daylyn came and interned with my uncle for a semester. We talked and laughed and worked together on a few projects. Once again I convinced myself that HE was the one for me. Something was going to happen between us, I knew it! All the smiles and "moments" had to mean something, right? Then the semester ended and he was gone. Nothing happned. A couple months later I decided to give the whole "online dating" thing another go. Who did I find on the site I was a member of? Daylyn! I got excited. This had to be a sign, right? Right?? I sent him a message. Nothing happened. CRUSH.

Last night I found out that I am someone else's crush. Ryan has confessed to my sister, Julia, that he things I am really pretty. Last night she told me that whenever he hears that I am coming over to the house he wants to come over as well. He has said he would "totally" date me. Why oh why is he only 14?! LOL. Why can't I get a guy my age to feel this way about me?? I feel bad for the kid because I know what it feels like to be crushed.

I wish there was a way to avoid all this crushing.

here comes trouble

Last night was the Phoenix show of the Honor Society "Here Comes Trouble" tour. Here's how it went down:

5:00pm - I drove to my parent's house to pick up my sisters, Faith (16) and Julia (13). I love having sisters that are the actual age that I like to pretend I am! lol...I drag them with me to all the concerts that the people my age don't really want to go to....

5:20pm - We left my parent's house and headed North to Scottsdale and the concert venue: Martini Ranch. Scottsdale is only about 10 minutes away from where I live but it is an ENTIRELY different world! Here are my observations: as soon as you hit that invisbile city line all the fancy cars suddenly start appearing. Lexus, Mercedes, BMW, another Lexus, H3, and oh look: another Mercedes or 15. Also, the guys are all REALLY good looking in Scottsdale. Oh! And don't let me forget to mention the really good looking guy wearing an expensive suit on his motorcycle. Can you say hot?! Aiy! Okay, moving on....

5:45pm - Faith, Julia and I get to Martini Ranch. We park and get in line. The tickets say the show starts at 6:30 so we're looking good and feeling excited!

6:00pm - Still waiting outside as the line grows a little. Thankful that it's March and not August. It's only 75 degrees outside instead of 120.

6:30pm - No sign of the doors opening. Weird.

6:45pm - Still waiting to be let in. Still laughing about the fake, blonde, "Scottsdale-girls" in front of us and a funny conversation between Faith and Julia that went a little something like this:

"We're kind of quiet." Julia observes.

"I don't have anything to talk about." Faith replies. "Well...I do, but you guys don't want to hear it." She contiues with a little giggle.

"Because it's about your boyfriend, Josh?" Julia teases.

Faith giggled some more and her cheeks warmed slightly. "My life kind of revolves around him right now, what do you expect?" She asks.

"Your life should revolve around Jesus." Julia responds, completely serious.

I laughed. A lot.

7:00pm - We are finally let into the bar. Faith and Julia get their hands marked to indicate they are underage. I on the other hand get a nifty wrist band that indicated I could buy something if I so wished. (Too bad I don't drink! lol). We go over immediately to the "merch" table. As has become tradition, we bought lanyards (is that what they're called?!).

Pretty cool, huh? Notice anything odd about it? Look closely. It's for 2009! 2009, people! Honor Society Tour FAIL!! lol...oh, well.....

7:30pm - We have now been standing for 2 hours and my back is kinda starting to hurt. Luckily the openers comes out and we're able to get this party started! First opener: Ashlyn Huff. Second opener: Just Kait. Uhm...gonna be honest. Not really that impressed with either of them. I mean, don't get me wrong they weren't bad and I wasn't wishing they would get off the stage, but.....they were kind of forgettable for me. Don't think I'm going to be running out anytime soon to buy their albums. Might be harsh, but that's how I feel. The highlight of the opening acts: Julia got hit by one of the drumsticks that Just Kait's drummer threw out into the crowd! Not even joking! lol....it was pretty funny! And yes, she took it home and is keeping it as a momento.

9:00pm - Honor Society FINALLY gets on stage and OMG they are HOTTT!

I love them! Have from the first time I heard them when they were the openers for the JoBros! Also love the fact that we were literally 5 feet away from the stage! Yea for small venues that let you get close to your favorite groups! Also love the fact that Mike had sexy scruff going on and has sexy eyes and was making funny faces as he was singing. Also love the fact that Alex was being all crazy on the drums. I frickin love that guy! They did a great set but it was over WAY to soon! We were done and headed home right after 10pm :( Next time I want less of the opening acts and more of the main attraction, please. Oh! Also: Julia caught one of the guitar picks that Mike flicked out into the audience! Kinda made up for being beaned with a drumstick! lol

mental health day

Decided to take a "Mental Health Day" today and it was the best decision! Except for the thirty mintues I had to spend at the doctor's office waiting for and then having them draw some blood so they can do some routine blood tests the day was awesome! I have very small, hard to find veins. The one and only time I have even given blood willingly was not so fun and when I was 16 and having my appendix removed the anethesiologist tried every vein in my body--literally, ask me and I'll tell you the whole story--until finally inserting his needle into my ankle. My ankle! Needless to say, it has been a LONG time since I have let anyone near me with a needle and I found out today that I might have a slight case of needle-phobia....

After I was done at the doctor's office (which by the way, she tried my arm and failed and had to resort to drawing blood from my hand so I walked out of the office with two cotton balls taped to me...now that's hot!) met my mom and dad and sisters back at my place. We grabbed my two and a half year old niece, Barbara and headed for "the Mountians."

The Bashas' grocery store up in Payson (which is about an hour and a half north of where I live in Mesa) is the only store in the entire state of Arizona that sells Caffeine Free Dr. Pepper. The purpose of this trip was so my dad could re-stock. Also, Barbara loves the mountians and wanted to play in the snow. When we were driving up there she excitedly exclaimed, "Papa helped me go to the mountains!" It was the cutest thing ever!!

Oh yeah, side note: I semi-mutilated my thumb last night and wanted to document it for posterity. Moving on...

After we stocked up on pop for Papa, we decided to go check out the Shoofly Indian Ruins that were north of town. It was literally out in the middle of nowhere and there wasn't a whole lot to see except a few places were rocks were still stacked together showing where the foundation of the houses and other buildings used to be. We decided that on a scale from Lame to Very Cool, this place was inbetween Kinda Cool and Cool.

What made it better than just Kinda Cool was the fact that I found a baby horny toad! He was so little and cute. My dad was surprised, stating that "he shouldn't even be out of hibernation yet!" (Do lizards really hibernate??) We took a few pictures of him and then let him go again.

We stopped in at a few antique stores in town which was fun (except for the fact that we had a very wiggly 2 year old with us that refused to hold our hands and wanted to "pet" every stuffed animal and doll that she saw...).

Working on my sexy, come-hither look. Obviously....I still need to work on it! LOL...

I'm not exactly sure why this picture is upside down, but it kind of fits the tone of the photo, don't you think? Moral of the story? I had a great day. And I don't feel the least bit guilty about calling in "sick."

the new man in my life

I have recently been introduced to the new man in my life: Nathan Fillion. Hello, gorgeous!

If you are thinking he looks familiar, you may know him as Rick Castle from "Castle" on ABC (thank you Katy and Kristen for making me watch this show! I'm just sad I've missed the first season...thank goodness for DVD's!!) where he plays a best-selling mystery writer who is shadowing a police detective as "research" for his new character. I love this show for the humor and the fact that he's a writer.

Or, you may know him as Mal from "Firefly" (again, thank you Katy for the introdcution...yet another show to add to my ever increasing list of favorites...) and the subsequent movie, "Serenity."

He is my current guilty obsession.......

I am who I am

Happy Valentine's Day

For Valentine's Day this year, I drove up and spent the weekend with my friend/former roommate Katy in Cedar City, Utah. I drove up on Saturday. We spent the weekend laughing, Katy tried to avoid getting eaten by huge waves of zombies that were trying to attack her, and watching episodes of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer." We went and saw the movie "Valentine's Day" and then I drove home Tuesday. The weekend was WONDERFUL! No stress, no homework, no responsibilities and way more junk food than I should have eaten!

Big Horn Sheep on the side of the road...

Hoover Dam (every time I drive over the dam I have a strange urge to watch Transformers...)

The motorcycle "gang" in front of my as we were stopped, waiting to get across the dam...

The new bridge they are building that will bypass all the traffic issues trying to get across the dam. It's supposed to be done in Sept...I can't wait...

pandora's box

A few years ago I was introduced to pandora.com by my roommie's finacee (now husband). If you have somehow been living under a rock and have no idea what Pandora is, check it out. It's pretty awesome. You can select a specific artist or genre of music and the website will only play songs from the category you select or will play songs by similar artists. I think it's great because I am constantly being introduced to new artists that I never would have found otherwise.

Last Sunday I was listening to my "Colbie Caillat" station while I was getting ready for church and a song came on that I instantly fell in love with. I had to stop what I was doing and come investigate who was singing the song. The guy's name is Ryan Cabrera and he's been around for a few years (has 3 CD's out) and he has become my artist of the week! I went to FYE (For Your Entertainment--used to be Warehouse Records) and bought the two CD's they had of his and now I'm pimping him out. His voice is great, the songs are catchy and he's not too bad to look at either, although his hair is a little out of control at times...