NYE NEON

O.K. all you losers with no NYE plans (which would totally include me if I weren't a part of this by marriage)...Come rock with Neon Trees at The Gallivan Center on new year's eve (that's tomorrow) at 9 p.m. They're part of SLC's EVE (formerly First Friday). It will be fun. It will be worth it. See you there.

P.S. They keep winning on Sophie's Challenge. Thank you for voting! Keep doing it!

Neon Wins Again

We're going for win #3. Please vote for NT on Sophie's Challenge HERE. It's only takes a sec and you don't have to enter any info, so that's swell. PLEASE VOTE!

Neon Wins Again

Not sure if the polls are closed on this one yet....but Neon Trees are at 97% and ScarJo and PeYo are at 3%. That's pretty awesome. You can vote online here: VOTE
Can't wait to see who the next challenger is.

AND MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!

Neon Wins

This was a pleasant surprise. Listen for this again tonight if you live in the San Diego/L.A. area. It's 103.7 FM

Creed - 4%
NEON TREES - 96%

Actually, I'm not surprised at all.

Two Cool Things

Yesterday The Unc gave Baby Connor a true blue (red/purple) hickey.

The tour is over in 3 days. WOOT!

This Hombre

The Unc will be serving in the MEXICO CITY EAST mission. YAY!!! He goes in April. BOO!!!

Rainbow

I don't think I ever posted this amazing pic. This is what it looked like out of our back window on Oct. 9th:

Twilight Zone

Today I was in Katie's 1st grade class helping with one-on-one reading. I had one little boy come over to read a book about a cat named Jasper. He got quite excited as he explained to me that there is a guy in Twilight named Jasper. I asked him how he knew that and he said, "Because I've seen Twilight 1 and Twilight 2 which is called, New Moon."

He is a boy. And he is six years old.

STOKED!

I am going to NYC next Friday to watch my boyfriend rock out, take lots of pictures, see lots of friends, and have a great slice of pizza. What a needed Christmas present!!

This coolness is sponsored by my mom & dad, Deb Glenn, and The Unc. LOVE YOU!

Griswalds

My dad sent me this. It makes me so happy.

On Tour

If you're in any of the following cities on the scheduled dates, you will be really bummed if you miss these shows. You will be especially bummed in 2010 when you hear them all over the radio and see them everywhere and you think to yourself, "Man, I could have seen them in a small venue before anyone else." I'm just sayin'...

Dec 1 - Cavern w/Nico Vega & Inward Eye - DALLAS, TX
Dec 2 - Hard Rock Cafe w/Nico Vega & Inward Eye - BILOXI, MS
Dec 3 - Jack Rabbit's w/Nico Vega & Inward Eye - JACKSONVILLE, FL
Dec 5 - The Masquerade w/Nico Vega & Inward Eye - ATLANTA, GA
Dec 6 - Mileston w/Nico Vega & Inward Eye - CHARLOTTE, NC
Dec 7 - Red & Black w/Nico Vega & Inward Eye - WASHINGTON D.C.
Dec 9 - The Khyber w/Inward Eye - PHILADELPHIA, PN
Dec 10 - TT The Bears w/Nico Vega & Inward Eye - CAMBRIDGE, MA
Dec 11 - Studio Room at Webster Hall w/N.V. & I.E. - NEW YORK, NY
Dec 13 - Pirate's Cove w/Nico Vega & Inward Eye - CLEVELAND, OH
Dec 14 - Magic Stick w/Nico Vega & Inward Eye - DETROIT, MI
Dec 15 - Schuba's w/Inward Eye - CHICAGO, IL
Dec 18 - Bender's w/Nico Vega & Inward Eye - DENVER, CO
Dec 19 - Burt's Tiki Lounge w/N.V. & I.E. - ALBUQUERQUE, NM
Dec 20 - Wasted Space at The Hard Rock w/N.V. & I.E. - LAS VEGAS, NV
Dec 31 - Gallivan Center - New Year's Eve Fest - SALT LAKE CITY, UT
Jan 15 - Velour's 4th Anniversary Show w/TBA - PROVO, UT

Check out some new songs, venue info and video here:
NEON TREES

Go back to Cleveland, Cleveland!

My Latest Project...

Well, Internet, I have finished another photo project. For years I've been trying to decide what to do with all my favorite images of Bulgaria. Some of them I shot while living there as a missionary. Most of them I shot in 2000 when I went back to do my senior project for my BFA in photography at Brigham Young University. I've finally gathered them all into one place. There are two galleries: People and Places. They are available for purchase and you can see them here:

Everything Beautiful

The phrase "everything beautiful" is something Bulgarians say at departure. It's along the lines of "til next time", "have a good day", "take care"...but so much cooler. Enjoy.

Baby Cowboy

This is what Baby Connor does every Friday morning. It's pretty much the best thing ever...

The Loner

We hope you had a happy birthday yesterday, Neil. Bdog and I want to marry you. You're still our #1.

This Is How He Rolls...

You wish your bedhead was as completely awesome as this everyday.

Old School

Amber sent this to me the other day and I love it. It's funny 'cause it's true...

When I was a kid, adults used to bore me to tears with their tedious diatribes about how hard things were. When they were growing up; what with walking twenty-five miles to school every morning...uphill...barefoot...BOTH ways...yadda, yadda, yadda...

And I remember promising myself that when I grew up, there was no way I was going to lay a bunch of crap like that on my kids about how hard I had it and how easy they've got it! But now that I'm over the ripe old age of thirty, I can't help but look around and notice the youth of today.You've got it so easy! I mean, compared to my childhood, you live in Utopia! And I hate to say it, but you kids today, you don't know how good you've got it!

I mean, when I was a kid we didn't have The Internet. If we wanted to know something, we had to go to the actual library and look it up ourselves, in the card catalog!! There was no email!! We had to actually write somebody a letter - with a pen! Then you had to walk all the way across the street and put it in the mailbox and it would take, like, a week to get there! Stamps were 10 cents!

Child Protective Services didn't care if our parents beat us. As a matter of fact, the parents of all my friends also had permission to kick our butts! Nowhere was safe!

There were no MP3's or Napsters! If you wanted to steal music, you had to hitchhike to the stinking record store and shoplift it yourself! Or you had to wait around all day to tape it off the radio and the DJ would usually talk over the beginning and mess it all up! There were no CD players! We had tape decks in our car. We'd play our favorite tape and "eject" it when finished and the tape would come undone. Cause - that's how we rolled, dig?

We didn't have fancy crap like Call Waiting! If you were on the phone and somebody else called they got a busy signal, that's it! And we didn't have fancy Caller ID either! When the phone rang, you had no idea who it was! It could be your school, your mom, your boss, your bookie, your drug dealer, a collections agent, you just didn't know!!! You had to pick it up and take your chances, mister!

We didn't have any fancy Sony Playstation video games with high-resolution 3-D graphics! We had the Atari 2600. With games like 'Space Invaders' and 'Asteroids'. Your guy was a little square! You actually had to use your imagination!! And there were no multiple levels or screens, it was just one screen... forever! And you could never win. The game just kept getting harder and harder and faster and faster until you died! Just like LIFE!

You had to use a little book called a TV Guide to find out what was on! You were screwed when it came to channel surfing! You had to get off your butt and walk over to the TV to change the channel! NO REMOTES!!! There was no Cartoon Network either! You could only get cartoons on Saturday Morning. Do you hear what I'm saying!?! We had to wait ALL WEEK for cartoons, you spoiled little brats! And we didn't always have microwaves; if we wanted to heat something up we had to use the stove! Imagine that!

That's exactly what I'm talking about. You kids today have got it too easy. You're spoiled. You guys wouldn't have lasted five minutes back in 1980 or before!

Trick Or Treat

Somebody is awesome this Halloween...



And somebody is gorgeous...

All I Want For Christmas

I was just going through a box of old kid's books I inherited from my parent's garage, and this fell out:

I think it's especially fitting that I found this today since as of this morning, Miss Katie has no front teeth.

This Is It

We saw the Michael Jackson movie last night. {No words}. I just feel bummed after seeing it 'cause I didn't know that MJ was mostly normal again and ready to rock the world again. He still had it. He was singing and dancing and being nice, funny and respectful to all the incredible musicians, dancers and crew putting that amazing show together. You need to go see it a.s.a.p. and have your love of MJ restored. This is not a show featuring the Michael Jackson of 2001ish to 2007ish. It was FANTASTIC.

Crafty

A couple weeks ago I took a bunch of kiddos to Corn Belly's for Halloweenie fun. While we were in the corn maze, the kids kept picking up these dried out ears of corn that were all over the ground. So, I kept shoving them in my diaper bag. Turns out, they make a really awesome wreath. Me likey.

Neon Trees - Halloweenie

When the trick-or-treating is over, there's more fun to be had:

and p.s. I'm STILL looking for a babysitter for this. I've emailed about 10 people and no takers.

Mish Pics

O.K. Internet, we're getting ready to send in The Unc's mission papers and we need to choose a photo. Let us know which one you like best.
#1:

#2

#3

#4

#5

And my personal favorite, The Nacho Libre Smile:

Diamond Fork Hot Springs

This is what we did over the weekend:









Fall hiking is THE BEST! It's been years since we've hiked to these springs. They are better now. It was fun. And of course, it wouldn't be a day out of the house with Miss Katie without seeing a snake:

Harvest Moon

Our back yard carrots:

I've had a hard time keeping up with the harvest this year. I've made more salsa, applesauce, plum jam, beets (with goat cheese of course), basil concoctions and grilled squash than any one family can eat. I love picking stuff that grows in the dirt. It's just hard to eat it all before it's not so yummy anymore.

The Contour

I have a renewed love and appreciation for our old Contour clunker. My parents gave me this car in 1998 when I got home from my mission. It's been with us since then...through many breakdowns and repairs, countless states, 2 countries, 9 recalls, 200,000 miles and a near death experience. We know we are lucky to have a second car, and I really needed it this week. As I drove Baby Connor to his second Dr.'s appointment at Primary Children's Hospital yesterday, I felt grateful to have a running mode of transportation. Branden is in L.A. this week with "the good car" so I've had to rely on this clunker. I don't mind that it's old and worn. Not having a fancy new car has never bothered me. In fact, I felt super awesome all week every time I looked in the rear view mirror and saw my rad NYU sticker on the back window. I made that puppy in 1998 also. That must be why the car is still alive. It has Neil power.
And don't worry about the dirty rain spots. In Utah, we don't wash our cars in October 'cause, it's Utah.

Hooray For The Unc!

We got an amazing surprise package in the mail today. It's The Yellow Bird Project coloring book. It's from The Unc to Miss Katie & one to Baby Connor. It's the bomb. It's got 32 pages of The Shins, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Bon Iver, Broken Social Scene, Joseph Arthur, Wolf Parade and more to color. And the royalties go to various charities. How Indie is that?

Fall Colors

If you wanted your family pictures with fall leaves this year, the time is now. They are peaking and fading faster than I've ever seen. Here's a sample of Saturday's leaves:




Call or email me and I'll send you a price list.

Sketchy Arm

Unfortunately, I can't embed this video, but it's a must see. It's "literal" lyrics to A-Ha's video, Take On Me. The Unc showed it to me late at night, and for some reason, I laughed and laughed and laughed and couldn't stop laughing. I had throat and chest pain the next morning.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnjYrP5J6rE

The Killers

I did not shoot the show Saturday night, but Morgan snapped some shots with his Blackberry, so enjoy the mobile photo montage below. The show was awesome. The fire and spark showers were very cool, but I'm always worried that Ronnie will get burned. The confetti was eye candy, Ted was brilliant with his guest spot on Losing Touch (my fav), the after party was interesting but crowded, and I'm pleased that the loose spotlight didn't fall onto B-Flow. It was a very good night.

O.K. What's going on?

No joke. I had another rock 'n roll dream last night. That makes three nights in a row.

So last night, in the dream, Iggy Pop and Kate Pierson reunited to do a television performance of Candy. This, in and of itself is so random 'cause I barely remember this song and didn't care for it at all. So, there they were on TV and THEY WERE SO OLD. They looked like they were in their 90's. Which isn't hard for Iggy. And the both wore really thick, coke bottle glasses that made their eyes look 4 times their natural size. And neither of them were wearing their false teeth so their lips were all sucked in and weird. It was really bizarre.


In unrelated news, today is my birthday and I had a really great day. Even though I ate too much at Tucano's tonight (Thanks, The Unc). But that balances out with the bike ride to Bridal Veil Falls this morning. {Provo Canyon + fall leaves + biking to the falls + the mossy river smell = birthday BLISS!} It didn't feel like my birthday at all this morning when I woke up. Just been too busy to really remember or think about it. But that changed when I saw my doorstep after Miss Katie left for school. Amber and Commander Power plastered my door and porch with 'Happy Birthday' signs, balloons and a gift card. It was a really great way to start my birthday. It made it really feel like a birthday. So also did all the cards, emails, texts, calls, surprise cakes, and wall comments. I love it. Thanks for being my friend. Loves...

Another Dream

I don't know why I've had 2 celeb dreams 2 nights in a row. Big Connor (a.k.a. The Unc) says this is the house of weird dreams 'cause he's been having them too since he moved in.

On with the show....

So, last night I dreamed that my little family and I were staying in a huge, fancy mansion with a bunch of other peeps, most of whom were family. The Daines' were there. And so was Jack Black. And Brandon Flowers.

J.B. was doing some sort of appearance wherever we were, and stayed with us in the mansion. So, the night we were there, I took Baby Connor (who was a 2 week old newborn) into Jack's room so we could chit-chat in his bed in our pajamas. We talked about Neon Trees, about us being total Mormons, about how awesome I loved him in The Cable Guy, and other fun stuff.

B-Flow was there to be our family chef. He made huge, gourmet burgers that night, but for some reason they were all gone when I came down to eat. He was in a good mood and feeling very generous, so he gave me his burger. Then he gave me a pep-talk on what a strong, intelligent person I am and how I should demand the things I want out of life. (Should I tell him about this when I see him Saturday night?) It was weird. And awesome.

Dreams

Last night I dreamed that Justin Timberlake lived next door to us with all his little brothers and sisters in a super ghetto shack. Something was happening inside their house and they all had to wear gas masks and chemical-protectant suits or something. J.T. asked me to go in my house and get him a hat and gloves and a bullet-proof vest, which I did, then he was going to try to go inside and help. Problem was, he had a disorder that's like the opposite of agoraphobia and he didn't like to go indoors. Ever. So, he lived underwater in a bath tub in their front yard.

Next thing I know, he's in a convertible shooting a video with a bunch of ladies. One was supposed to be J.Lo, but it was more like an SNL skit where someone was dressed up like her and acting weird and funny. It was very entertaining.

p.s. Remember this dream about J.T.?

Mt. Hollie

After church on Sunday, we decided to head down south to my parent's condo at Mt. Hollie for the night. Fishlake National Forest is beautiful right now. I didn't expect to see so much color, but this is what we saw: