It's Not What You Think

So, our kids have always been interested in our President. This is not a political statement--it is just the truth.

Despite what you may be thinking, we don't politically indoctrinate our children--at least not yet. Kristin and I are both registered Republicans. We do probably discuss politics more than the average family and we'd like to think we keep an open mind about people throughout the political spectrum.

So, the story:
On Wednesday, we turned on the State of the Union address. We weren't watching it very closely and left the room. When we came back, the kids had set up this viewing station. They brought the chairs, blankets, etc. in all by themselves and sat down just as if it were Curious George or SuperWhy.

If you recall, Alyssa called the election during the second presidential debate when she told me, without any provocation or prompting, to McCain, "He's grouchy, I don't like him." and to Obama, "I like him, he's fun."

One last plea, this is not a political post--I don't want to hear how much you all hate Obama.


This is Steve by the way.

My life on the "D" list

So last year we had a fantabulous time going to the Sundance Film Festival, and don’t overestimate me and think I attended any films while I was there. We strictly went to gawk at celebs, which we did, quite successfully.

This year, we decided to try it again because we had so much fun last year, despite how cold it was and we were. We were a little better prepared this year with warm weather attire.

We were also prepared with a map and a schedule and a spreadsheet that Steve made (don’t you just love CPA’s) detailing where and when each celeb we were interested in seeing would be at each screening venue.

So we got there and parked at a LDS church near the high school which was also serving as a screening venue. We trudged the block from the parking lot to the venue and we found that Park City has slightly more snow than at home.


This is not a snow bank, the snow is really 5+ feet deep. Craziness. As we made our way to the front of the school we noticed a back door with some celeb on-lookers hanging around. We hung out there for a few minutes and then came the entourage of D list celebrities.

There was this guy named Pablo Schreiber.

Not sure why or how he is famous. But a lot of people were taking pictures of him and getting his autograph, so we did too.

Another guy named Josh Radnor.
He is famous for his roll on “How I Met Your Mother” Which apparently is very popular although I’ve never seen it. He also wrote and directed the movie we saw him at.

And then…and here’s the big one Malin Ackerman.
She plays a supporting supporting actress in a lot of D list movies such as Couple Retreat and The Proposal.

Danny McBride. I believe he is famous for being in all the dirty “R” rated movies (like Pineapple Express) I would never consider seeing.
And yeah…gooh. Doesn’t he just look like a dirt bag? Did I really get that close to him?

After we left that venue we caught a shuttle to the racket club (also transformed into a screening venue) to see if we could catch Kristin Stewart (Bella the Vampire lover) (and seriously what is she thinking when she could be with a werewolf who is way hotter and less likely to kill her).

We hung around there for a little while. Got a hot chocolate. Made friends with the Sundance Volunteer workers. Found my friend Amy Cook O’Brien whom I work with at the Valley Journals who was volunteering there.

After a while we really started to notice that there were no crowds of on-lookers doing what we were doing, which we took to mean that we were either in the wrong place or there at the wrong time. Yep. Her movie was the next day. Oops. So we caught a shuttle to Main Street to see if there were any celebs walking on Main Street.

We got back on the bus which was extremely crowded. We felt like sardines in there.

We met a couple of 20 year-old guys who were trying to find the place The Fray was playing. They picked our brains for our vast knowledge of Sundance happenings hoping we could help them find a direct route because they were slightly disabled. One of them was a week out from having his ACL repaired and the other one was a week out from having shoulder surgery. Here we were trying to keep these boys from hurting themselves on this super crowded bus where we were all standing together swaying as the bus moved.

We were able to get them to the venue…an art gallery where the band was. Unfortunately, once we arrived, it was obvious that we would not be admitted as the line was a mile long and the Fire Marshall was standing at the door counting people in and out. And double unfortunately…one of the boys was under 21 and it was a 21 and older venue. Bummer. But it was fun to hang out with some random boys for an hour.

It was a really snowing. It snowed all day. They were big white puffy flakes too. It was actually very pretty and quite enjoyable if you were able to block out the fact that later we’d have to drive back down the canyon in it.

We traipsed up and down Main Street for a while and didn’t see a single celebrity cruising the town. So we decided to call it a day and get a nice dinner then pick up the children. We took another long bus ride several blocks back to our car, this time on an empty bus (thankfully).

After shedding off all of our many layers of warmness, we ate at one of our favorite places…The Red Rock. It was delicious, because we were especially hungry. I had a diet coke with lemon and a Chicken Schnitzel with horseradish mashed potatoes and green beans. Steve had the same thing, minus the coke if you can believe that.

So we really didn’t see all that many celebrities or many that were worth seeing, but Steve and I did get to spend the entire day together outside. It was super fun and we loved every second of it.

See you next year Sundance 2011 who is in? If you come you have to have warm boots (not regular boots) Coat, scarf, hat and snow pants. It’s a long day. You’ll need the layers.

Special thanks to Bob and Hana for watching our children and especially when one of the was apparently sick. Sorry guys.

Post note: We had planned to go back for a second day at Sundance to see some bigger premieres and more “A” list celebrities, but Sunny had other plans. We spent the night up with her crying. We were unaware of her ear infection and puss filled sore throat. So we took her to the MD instead of taking ourselves back up the canyon…Kids. She’s feeling better now after a few days on the pink stuff.

Indigo, a real color

Last night, in ten minutes, I ate my weight in chocolate fondue. Sad but true, I don’t know how I even let it happen. Oh well…what’s done is done.

After a long night of feeling sick, I woke up before dawn to try and repair some of the damage. It was very black outside.

I rode my stationary bike. When I was done, I noticed it was a dark navy blue outside instead of black. Nice.

I got onto the treadmill and ran that for a while. After a while I looked out the window again and the color of the world had changed from navy to indigo. Wow. Impressive.

I have never seen a natural indigo glow before. Only on watches and my alarm clock light, but I think that’s actually called “indiglow”.

It was one of the most beautiful colors I have ever seen.

After I got done with the treadmill I moved to the weight bench. As I was doing bicep curls, I looked out the window again and it was periwinkle outside. Periwinkle, for reals. I have never seen natural periwinkle before either.

I think seeing all these colors was a gift from the universe for being up before dawn.

Thanks, universe…you make pretty things.

Put Your Money Where Your Prayers Are

Listen…I know times are tough and everything like that, but the peeps in Haiti can’t find their children, probably because they are buried and dead underneath all the rubble.

They have no water, no food, no phone, no Internet, no electricity and on top of that most of them can’t find their family members.

There is already looting and gunfire in the streets. They need our help. We have money. Even if you think you don’t, you do. Even ten dollars would help.

I heard on the Today Show this morning that the Red Cross is already out of supplies. It only happened a two days ago.

If you have food and water and a warm place to sleep, give. It will tangibly help someone who doesn't.

By the way, we live on a fault line. Our turn is coming. I sure hope that people will donate when we are in need so we can get some clean water, food and supplies in a timely manner when we have our disaster.

Click this link and have your credit card in your hand. It’s easy and takes less than 30 seconds. It’s LDS Philanthropies. We obviously trust them with our money. 100 percent goes to the Haiti Quake relief.

Do it. Then you won’t feel so helpless when you see the devastation continuing news coverage.

Big Kiss 2009 You Were Good to Me!

I see famous people…Sundance.Steve and I have an interest in star gazing (and when I say star gazing, I mean celebrity watching). We always make it part of our Southern California vacations.

This year we decided to make the most of the Sundance Film Festival, when the celebs come to us. All-in-all it was a pretty thrilling evening. Although it was the coldest I have been since my stint in upstate New York, I still hailed the evening as a success.

When all was said and done, we saw…Kevin Bacon, Kira Knightly, Robin Thicke, Christy Brinkley, Monique and…Mariah Carey.

We are totally going again this year. Having learned some things, this year we will be sporting new boots and snow pants. We will also do our research ahead of time so we won’t be forced to follow around and eavesdrop on the other celeb watchers so much.

Missy’n Krissy around the block. For those of you who missed it, you better go check it out. Missy and I in an effort to fin Susan Boyle like fame wrote, produced, filmed, starred and posted our wildly popular talk show called Missy’n Krissy around the block.
True it is a little hard to watch in some places, but we had the most fun putting this show on. It was a real highlight for me. The biggest lesson learned, show biz ain’t easy.

72 hour kits, Check!I assembled 72 hour kits for my family this year. Probably it’s time for me to go re-vamp them being as Sunny is off the powdered milk now. Fortunately we didn’t need them. But we have them if we ever do.
To assemble, I used the site Foodstoragemadeeasy.net. It was a very easy way to get the job done. I also assembled some other things and got my documents in order before I ran out of steam. This year I intend to do a little more with this.

Smell you later Nevoles!This year we found the most delicious place in Utah. Nevoles.
But before your mouth starts watering…It went out of business, so don’t get too excited. Utahans’ just don’t understand good pizza.

Sea ShelvesWe actually did something to our house. We installed(and when I say we installed, I mean we paid someone to install) this shelves in the garage, so we’d have something to hold Pepsi and water jugs.

We loved the shelves, but Alyssa was very disappointed because as we discussed having shelves installed she was hearing that we were having some Shells installed…Sea Shells to be exact. So after the job was done she ran out to look at her new sea shells only to find that they were Sea Shelves. Bummer.

Yes ManWe saw the movie Yes Man starring Jim Carey. One of the worst movies of the year for sure. However, it did have a redeeming message that impacted my year.

The basic premise of the movie is that the main character is a stick-in-the-mud who never wants to do anything and thus is extremely lonely, Until……….something happens and he decides to say yes to every question or offer that is given him. He ends up living a very exciting life full of fun and adventure and things he’s never experienced.

So after that movie I tried to say yes to more of the offers that were given to me. I ended up doing a lot more, going a lot more places and trying some new things (including a piece of sushi…yuck).

Bike MarathonA few years ago I ran in the Salt Lake Half Marathon. This year me, Steve, Missy, three of my brothers and my father and sister in law rode in the Salt Lake Bike Marathon. 26 miles on the bike.

It was one of the coldest rides I have ever done, but it was great to have so many people I knew and loved do it together. Good memories, good pictures.

Bike MSWhen Missy asked me to do the MS150 bike race I said yes.

It was one of the funnest most unique days of my life. Missy and I had such a good time and were able to push ourselves farther than we thought we could go, 75 miles pedaling on a bike. It took all day long, but was totally scenic and beautiful and worth the effort.

Plus, training for it made exercising much more…purposeful. It was really nice to have a reason to exercise other than to lose weight.

Amy’s WeddingMy friend whom I talked into moving to Utah got engaged and married this year. I told her if she moved here that she could find someone to marry in less than 2 years. Done.


So, I helped her plan her wedding. It was so much fun, and way more work than I thought it would be, but it was very satisfying when it went off so beautifully and without a hitch.

The Landfill, a cross roadI attended a media event at the landfill this year. It was a very behavior-altering event. I recycle a lot more now. If you’ve never spent any time at a landfill, you should, everyone should see what happens to the trash they throw out. Everyone should see how much trash there is.

Eureka!In an effort to go somewhere we’d never been we toured Eureka Utah.
It was cool and unique.

My second first, my first fourth!My second baby had her first birthday. It was such a cute little birthday party.
I made the cupcakes. Note to self: always name a child a simply frost-able icon. It was a pleasure having my sweet sunny in the house all year.


My teeny-tiny baby Alyssa turned *choke* four this year. How did that happen? Where has the time gone?

July, you’ve outdone yourself againDid I ever mention that I love the entire month of July?
All my favorite things happen, parades, baseball games, grandeous fireworks displays, summer concerts, my birthday, hot weather, swimming, sunlight that lasts until 10pm, BBQ’s.

This July didn’t disappoint.

Club HAM and the lengths we went to After the big 75 mile bike race all the ladies in our weight watchers group plus a few spent weekday mornings working out together, walking, running, swimming and biking.


We did a few 5K’s together and supported each other living good health guidelines.

JSD, you ought to be ashamed of yourselves!I had my two minutes telling the Jordan School District what I thought they should do in front of 800 or so people. Very intimidating and liberating. In the end they did raise my taxes an indecent amount, but it was only half what they were planning to do before.

I was also interviewed on Fox News and they ran the interview on the 10 O’clock news. Of course it was a day I hadn’t really done my hair.

Five years with SteveSteve and I celebrating our 5 year anniversary.
We spent the weekend together at the University Marriot and rode our bikes up immigration canyon, ate dinner out and had a great time celebrating our specialist day.

It happens…skunks stink.I got sprayed by a skunk on my first ride on my brand new bike and ruined all my race clothes and had to throw them all away. I also got scrubbed down ad hosed off like a dog in my bra and panties in my yard.


Note to self and all other readers. Skunks are everywhere, even in your neighborhood. They are nocturnal. Do not ride bikes in the dark. Ever.

Kristin Tri’s againAfter a long season of swimming, biking, and running I competed in my second triathlon. It was so radical.


If you have ever considered doing even for one second....just do it. It's totally worth the time and money. You'll never be the same again. I Believe I can fly...

Harold and Louise are reunited!My Grandma died in May of this year and my Grandpa died in October.
They were married 62 years and had a lifetime of love together. Someone should make a movie about thier lives.

DISNEYLAND!!!!!!!!!! We went to Disneyland with some of my brothers and their families and with our friends Angela and Brad.

It was super fun and worth the time and money. It's the happiest most magical place on earth you know.

Utah Temple Passport a reality!I had this idea for a Temple Passport and with the help of my gifted friend Curtis Moore, we brought it to life. We submitted it to a publisher and got a publishing contract.

Keep your eyes open for The Utah Temple Passport-Tour Guide this spring at Deseret Book or wherever fine LDS products are sold.

17 reasons to be thankful.Every year I make a Jell-O for Thanksgiving.
It’s a layered Jell-O. This was my best year ever for Jell-O. 17 layers of Jell-O in a Bundt pan equals Jell-O glory!

Kristin gets a silver penAfter working for the Valley Journals for over three years, I won my first award as a writer. Really, I think it’s my first award for anything.

I won the Silver Pen Award, which involved neither a pen or any silver in its presentation. It was a plaque, but still…I was honored.

Santa’s Christmas Elves We were given a chance to help some truly needy people. I was able to ask some nearby friends and family for some assistance and we pulled of a really nice Christmas for a needy little family in Smithfield.
It was one of my greatest pleasures of the year seeing how generous people are to help those who truly needed it.

I can’t wait to see what 2010 holds. I only hope it was as good to us as 2009 was.