Miss Madison Grace

So tonight my family and a couple of friends went to dinner at Craigo's. This guy walks in in wranglers and a cowboy hat and my baby sister Madison yells... "That's a cowboy, he has a cowboy hat but he does not have a cowboy rope!"


She also informed Trevor that she was a beautiful princess and he was a ballerina! Thanks for being a good sport tonight Trev:)

Dear Willy, Johnathan, and Carl,

Please be kind when you mess with/hack my blog. I know there is no way to stop your powers combined. However, I still need to have some friends in the morning. Yes other than the three of you :)

Your new BFT,

Annie

I give up!

I don't typically share much about my dating life. I like to keep that really private, and for the most part I feel like he deserves that respect from me. I mean we are typically nervous enough on a date without worrying about the other party giving a play by play on the web. Tonight I don't care.

I was set up on a blind date tonight. I was really nervous because the guy is fabulously wealthy and that is really intimidating for me. I had a friend tell me that I needed to get over it because I was discriminating against rich people. So I was racked with guilt and agreed to go.

I will say this. He was really hot. He treated me really well... Opened doors, complimented me, conversation was easy. Until after dinner!

So after dinner he started asking me REALLY personal questions. I mean REALLY personal questions. It about that time that I just started to feel sick inside and was starting to think of every possible way to get out of the situation and go home.

I am not sure I have ever prayed that hard. When he put his arm around me I almost started to cry. Any way I got him to drop me back off at my car eventually. After I locked the door and before I did anything else I called Zac. I talked to him most of the way home. As soon as I hung up with him I started to bawl and actually pulled over and threw up.

I am home now. Just me and Mosely. I have never been more happy to be home in my very own house. I have never been more grateful for my best friend. I do not deserve him. I honestly don't.

I typically don't care about being single. I am happy with who I am and the place I am at in my life. I never want to go on another date though. Tonight left me wondering for the first time in a long time... "Where the heck are you? What could you possibly be doing tonight? Why aren't you here with me? How many more of these experiences do I have to have before you decide to show yourself? I don't know what it is that is keeping you but you better hurry before I get a cat!"

Happy Birthday to me

My birthday isn't until Wednesday the 19th but last night some friends of ours threw a 50th birthday for me and my sister. Her birthday was the 8th and together this year we turned 50. The party was awesome and full of good food, good friends, and good times! I am not one of those people who will start reflecting on her life on her birthday. I am hopefully always reflecting on it and trying to find ways to make it better. But as I find myself a year older I find myself a little bit closer to becoming this...

I figure we better stop trying to avoid the inevitable and that is why getting this picture from a friend is one of my favorite birthday presents so far...


I guess I am actually going the way of the dogs but that is basically the same right?

Cool like Lindsay

I thought I would blog about the gym like Lindsay does all the days.

1. I have a favorite elliptical machine because it is right under the ESPN TV so all the boys in the weight area of the gym are always looking at me and smiling. I know it isn't really at me but it's fun to pretend.

2. I have been looking for a good gym boyfriend. Haven't made a final decision yet but I am actually leaning toward the guy at the front desk. I see him twice a day I mean that is more than I see any other man in my life so I think he qualifies.

3. New favorite pick up line... So I was noticing your playlist... The machines shows your ipod playlist really big on the screen. You can minimize it but I have no problem with people knowing I am working out to "Big girl."

Quiznos

For a while, actually a long while in college I worked at a Quiznos. First off I would like to say I worked there for years and ate there everyday and I NEVER got sick of the food. In fact I could easily go for a Turkey Bacon Guacamole right now, if I hadn't just cooked the most amazing lunch ever already, and it wasn't all the way across town.

What I loved most about Quiznos though is I met a lot of my very best friends there. It was all my co-workers who showed up at my house the night my mom died with gifts and then said a prayer for me on my front porch. I am still very close with a few of them and hope to remain so for a long time to come. The store manager in both the Logan store and the one in the Kearney store were like moms to me when I desperately needed one.

I quit quiznos however not because of the people or the job. I quit because this had become me...

 and I was no longer a quality employee.

New Job!

I started volunteering at a hospice in town. In my training today we went over what to do when they are in the last few moments of life and they begin to speak with other people in the room. I was thinking ummm YIKES! But the more I thought about it and the more we went over the material the more I can't wait to be there for these sacred moments and be able to be a blessing in the lives of both them and their families. I love my new job! Oh I say job because I am volunteering now but as soon as I get my degree officially they are talking about hiring me as their bereavement counselor. I feel very much like my Heavenly Father is taking good care of me.

Oh P.S. If you have any questions about Hospice and the amazing work they do please ask me!

Early onset Alzheimer's Disease

I was telling Zac the other day that I think I am loosing my mind and that I may have early onset Alzheimer's Disease. I went home and looked it up in my self diagnosis book that my insurance company sent me last year.

Symptom One: Persons with AD forget names and numbers.
A couple months ago this way cute guy asked me for my number. I gave him what I honestly thought was my number. Turns out the number I gave him was my old work number in Logan.

Symptom Two: The person often forgets simple words or substitutes unusual words. (e.g. calling the toothbrush "that thing for my mouth)
I was in the car one night trying to tell Steven a story... "We were at that place. You know the one. The place where we go to class. The place were I have to wear a dress. You bring your scriptures." "Do you mean church?" "Yeah that's right church! So we were at that place.")

Symptom Three: Persons with AD can get lost in familiar places.
At least three or four times in College I would drive home to a house I hadn't lived in for years. Get out of my car and walk up to the front door.

Symptom Four: Persons with AD may dress inappropriately for the weather or show poor judgment about money.
I feel as though this one needs no explanation

Symptom Five: Persons with AD will misplace things. This is more than forgetting where keys are placed. The person with AD may place things in inappropriate locations such as a watch in the sugar bowl.
Remember when I put groceries away and put toilet paper in the fridge and cantaloupe in the bath tub?

Symptom Six: Persons with AD will rely on others to make decisions.
Who has ever tried to get me to decide what to order at a restaurant?

Symptom seven: Persons with AD will neglect to do normal activities such as bathing and dressing themselves.
Well I have been assured by my roommate that I am still good there.

Don't anybody think I am a hypochondriac or anything. I am not going to admit myself just yet. I am just saying.

The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

Kenny Chesney's new album has a Dirt Band song on it. The song is Down the Road and is quickly climbing the charts. It makes me sad that one more group is redoing a Dirt Band song, not doing it as well, and getting all the credit.

Do you remember the Rascall Flats song The Broken Road? The Dirt Band released that song on their Acoustic album in 1994. It has been my favorite song ever since. Oh and don't forget... Who wrote the song? Jeff Hannah, lead singer of The Dirt Band. What makes me sad is that The Dirt Band never gets any recognition for their amazing music.

So here is their version of "The Broken Road":



Their version of "Down the Road":



and my all time favorite Dirt Band Song "Don't Underestimate Love." I want all women, and even men for that matter, to listen to the lyrics of this song:



You may also recognize this tune of theirs:



My favorite song from their very latest album:



You don't have to love them as much as I do I just wish they got the recognition they deserved. Their music is the soundtrack to my childhood and there is nothing in the whole world that makes me feel better faster than turning up a Dirt Band tune.