Summer, Don't Go

What we made with dinner the other night might be the most delicious thing in the whole wide world. Brown sugar does amazing things on the grill...

Things We Get From Superfans

A tiny bit creepy, but a lot bit cool...Christmas ornaments with Bdog's face on them:

This Girl

Yep, this is one of the few posts where I get a little personal. Indulge me. This is Mandy. My very first BFF. I've been thinking about her all week. And here's why:

Years ago...1996 I think, I was in Santa Monica visiting Liz. Of course I was there visiting Mandy too. Mandy and I have a long history of beach trips together and this day was no different. We went to Venice this day. I don't remember much about the day other than lunch. We decided to grab something cheap and quick at a hot dog dive along the boardwalk. It wasn't very busy, about half full of people. There was a man in a wheel chair trying kind-of unsuccessfully to eat his hot dog. It seemed like he was o.k. mentally, but he had a really hard time talking and his hands and mouth weren't working too well. He had mustard all over his face, even down his arm. He was really struggling. People were noticing his distress.

During this, he wheeled over to the counter and was trying to communicate to the worker that he wanted to buy another hot dog. The dude at the counter could not understand him. He kept trying to explain himself but it wasn't working. Mandy knew what he wanted and walked over to him, got his money out of his pocket for him, and bought his hot dog.

Then, she wiped the mustard off his face and arm and FED HIM his 2nd dog. Everyone watched her like they were watching a movie. I can't believe we didn't all stand on our tables and give her a 10 minute applause. It was one of the most self-less, truly Christian acts I've seen. She was my idol that day and I always remember that. I actually think of that sometimes when I take the sacrament on Sundays and promise to be "willing to take upon them [me] the name of thy Son, and always remember Him".

I've been thinking about this a lot because we have had a very special assignment this week in our young women's class at church. We have been helping at the Utah State Developmental Center. This is a group home for severely mentally and physically disabled people. Most of them do not walk or communicate. They are drooly and stinky and absolutely fantastic. We had a wheel chair dance with one group last night and we actually got some smiles. Which isn't easy. I've loved going there and we've got 2 more dates with them. It's a great experience to be there. They really are angels.

Everyone should at one time volunteer in a place like this. Or, volunteer in a hot dog joint some time to help someone in need, or on the street, or in the mall, or at Target. Wherever you are. Like Dieter F. said, "lift where you stand."

Neon Trees

Everyone keeps asking me about the Neon Trees accoustic show this Sat. HERE ARE THE DETAILS:

They are playing at Thanksgiving Point (Electric Park) as part of The Candlelight Serenade which is a benefit for Child Rescue. The benefit goes all day (10 a.m. to 11 p.m.) Here is the band schedule:

11:00 Fictionist
11:45 Making April
12:45 Third Eye Blind
2:00 Sherwood
3:00 Steel Train
4:00 Priscilla Ahn
4:45 Allred
5:45 Vedera
6:45 NEON TREES
7:45 Relient K
9:00 Nick Hexum of 311
10:00 Chris Carrabba of Dashboard Confessional

This is an outdoor, accoustic show. So bring a blanket. Tickets are not cheap, as this is a fundraiser featuring 12 bands. The festival also includes:

• vendors with food from around the world
• sponsor giveaways
• Sports Zone with skate park
• Kid Play Zone
• massive sand box pit
• carnival entertainment
• petting zoo
• rock climbing wall
• art displays...
• Neon Trees :)

Tickets are $40 ($35 at Costa Vida) and children under 5 yrs. are free. You can see even more info here: CandlelightSerenade.com

Car For Sale

We are finally ready to sell our favorite car. Here are the specs:

1998 Ford Contour LX/Sport/4 door
Greyish color
4 Cylinder
Automatic transmission
Power locks/windows/steering
Air Conditioning
Cruise Control
Alpine CD player with iPod hookup - GREAT SOUND SYSTEM
Dual air bags
194,326 miles
Everthing works.

And the best feature is the one-of-a-kind Neil Young University sticker on the back window :)

We've been the only owners of this car. It's had no accidents. It's been around the block a few times and doesn't ride as smooth as it used to, but it's definitely got some life left in it. It's been a great car. The only really ugly part is a minor munch over the front driver's wheel well. Someone back into in once while it was parked. The Kelley Blue Book value is 1,025. We're asking $999 OBO.

Let me know if you're interested!!

Lollapalooza 2010

I'm going to try to post my favorite shots of the weekend. Though I may fail...'cause I have that thing. You know...that rule where I can't spend more than 10 minutes on a post. And I'd like to post almost all of the 800ish shots I took. So, I may fail at posting my favorites. And these are in no kind of order. I'm not even going to deal with that. And it was the best weekend ever. EVER.

My hot, hot husband:

Lolla at night:

The Strokes:

Ga Ga:

Elaine:

Bdog on the bridge:

BMI after party:

Interviews galore:

BMI Stage:

At night:

Bdog:

Phoenix:

In the day:

Kaskade (Ryan):

Me & Perry:

Green Day:

I have cancelled my trip tomorrow. I. AM. TOO. TIRED.

Potty Time

Katie has decided that she needed to add her own reading material to our stack of books & mags in the water closet. It cracked me up to see her books there among all the rock 'n roll mags. Is this considered a rite of passage? Or milestone or something?

Kitty

O.K. Internet. I need your help again. We have another kitten that needs a home. She's beautiful, sweet and smells nice. Any takers?

Merry Christmas To Me, From Paul Banks

Over the last 10 days I have LITERALLY watched over 20 hours of Interpol performances on YouTube. Yeah, that's a little obsessive. But I'm like that about music and you already knew that. I have a lot to say about Interpol, too much to blog about (yes, I still stick to my rule of never spending more than 10 minutes on a post).

So when I woke up this morning and Bdog read me a press release about all the west coast dates they added to their tour, it felt like 5 big Christmas presents. I've been lamenting about their fall tour...all East coast and Europe. I felt seriously shafted. So now I am rejoicing and trying to decide who we will call to cash in some favors.

Enjoy a couple of my top 20 Interpol performances...you're gonna have to cover your ears once on Specialist though.

God bless all of Paul's moles and his little white Adidas. Amen.














And here's a link to a GREAT performance of Rest My Chemistry. At the beginning, it looks like it's going to be crappy video, but it's not.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZ6D8A01HjA&playnext=1&videos=7_h05K_tVdA

Keep Your Feet On The Ground And Keep Reaching For The Stars

Animal will be on America's Weekly Top 40 starting this Saturday or possible next. You know, the show that Casey Kasem used to host, but now it's Ryan Seacrest. Yeah, that show we all listened to growing up. The one I listened to on Saturday mornings waiting to hear a Michael Jackson song so I could record it onto tape. That one.

Damian's iPod Exchange

I love this idea. So I'm calling on all my rock 'n roll friends to participate:


Gladhanded.blogspot.com

This Guy

We love Danny. Danny is my favorite and everyone knows it. I've loved Danny since the first time he made me laugh uncontrollably and inappropriately in our Institute class at UVSC in 1993. He is funnier than anyone you know. His sense of humor is sharp & dry, witty, smart, and totally irreverent. People are very much attracted to him. Whatever you're doing, it is WAY better and WAY more fun if Danny's there. He has been a very loyal friend to us. He is strong, brave, thoughtful, sensitive to peoples' needs, he loves rock 'n roll, and he gives great gifts. We love Danny.

I Just Wanna

Enjoy this shiny little gem:

Happy moving Ron and Lisa.

I'll be coming to find you...if it takes me all night :)

PattersonTown

If you want to keep tabs on GloPat and The Chief while they're in Africa, you can find them here:

PATTERSONTOWN

Wish there were some pics from the last 24 hrs. in Freetown...Haven't seen any yet. Anxiously waiting...

Neon Bieber

Watch this if you haven't seen it yet. It's great. And best in full-screen mode:

Neon Trees Sing Justin Bieber

Enjoy.

This Week Bites

What a week...here are some highlights:

Monday...Connor driving mom & dad to the MTC. Surreal:

Mom wearing my mission tag...in Bulgarian:



Wednesday...ConDog and BDog having their last J Dawg together:



The Goodbye:

Even though I'm proud and feel excited for them, I can't say I'm really enjoying this. Not one bit.