Tell me it's not just me...

Okay, so I'm pretty sure I'm not totally nuts but here's the deal...I have my phone set to vibrate before it rings.  I usually keep my phone in my left front pocket or in my desk drawer at work.  Here's where I start to go nuts.  I feel my phone vibrate in my pocket...when it's not even there(insert eerie music or sarcastic "oh brother" here).  And it's not just once or twice this has happened, we're talking multiple times everyday!  It's driving me slowly insane. The worst is on the drive home when my phone is either in my front shirt pocket or in the cup holder and my thigh goes nuts!  I have to check several times to make sure I don't have some magical phone that has appeared in my pants pocket even though I can see my phone in the freakin' cup holder next to my leg.  I'm pretty sure they make pills for whatever form of crazy I'm currently experiencing.

Oh Noes!!

I swear it’s the end of the world…

This weekend was one of the best I’ve had in a very long time. Saturday started off with a little jam session with me, 2 cousins and an uncle. We will be the musical entertainment at my cousin, Julie’s, wedding next month. I had never really played with any of them (in an organized fashion anyways) so it was really cool for me. Two of them are amazing musicians and a big reason why I picked up the guitar over 10 years ago. You’d think I’d be a lot better after 10 years, but as long as I look like I know what I’m doing, I’ll keep everybody fooled as long as I can.

Later that day we all went to the temple as immediate and extended family because Julie would be receiving her endowments. It was awesome. It was the first time my parents, my sister and I had been in the temple together since Holly got home from her mission. That, with the addition of Julie and her family, made it an even more incredible experience. And Rick. Rick is the guy Julie is marrying. He’s phenomenal and oh so perfect for Julie. He’s a perfect fit for our family full of weirdos. Good find Julie. Now find one just like him for Holly.

Sunday only intensified the family togetherness. Let me preface this first: My grandpa Val was born and raised in the Church in a small Idaho town. He was a good kid. Then he joined the Navy. A few wrong turns later and alcohol and tobacco were part of his life. He married a sweet girl named Mary and they started a family. They had five kids and settled down in Arizona once Val left the Navy. The kids grew up and started their own families. By the time I was born Grandpa Val had stopped smoking and drinking. He never went to Church though. The only times I’d ever seen him in a church was to send a grandkid off on a mission or if someone had died, always wearing his patented “Marryin’ n’ Buryin’” suit. Out of Val and Mary’s five kids, only the two oldest daughters (and their families) are active members. We’ve tried countless times to get them back to church and if they did go it was only once or twice and then nothing more. Fast forward to 2008. When Julie got engaged she went straight to Grandma and Grandpa’s to tell them. This was a moment that would change our family. Julie told them about her engagement and then, whether led by the Spirit or her heart, asked Grandma Mary to be at her Temple wedding. Grandma replied, “I’ll be there”. She then turned to Grandpa Val. The same question followed and his reply, “I’ll try”. These were amazing words for Julie and for the rest of our family. Grandma and Grandpa have never been to the Temple so there was much preparation ahead. But their willingness to put forth all the effort necessary was a miracle in itself. As of today they have received all the Temple Preparation lessons. Fast forward to yesterday. We went to Stake Conference in Scottsdale where we all raised our hands in support of my Grandpa receiving the Melchizidek Priesthood and being ordained to the office of an Elder. On a whim, the Stake President called Julie and Grandpa up the stand to share their testimonies. Julie went first and bore a sweet testimony of forever families and the story of our Grandpa’s journey. Then Grandpa got up. It was amazing to see him up there. He spoke for a moment of the love and support his family has given him. Then he said something I had never heard him say in my entire life. “I know the Church is true. I know Joseph Smith was a true Prophet.” It was a first for many of our family to hear. All of us had tears in our eyes as he spoke, including Grandpa. After Conference we all gathered in the high council room. We stood in a circle, placed our hands on his head and gave my Grandpa Val the Melchizidek Priesthood. Another amazing experience, not only for Grandpa, but for everyone else in the family.

We all are hoping and praying that my Grandparents can attend the Temple in time for Julie’s wedding but mostly we’re just praying they get there.

Get your food storage together people...the Second Coming has gotta be close!

Signs you need to loosen your schedule...or take special pills...

When you actually buy pre-cooked, pre-peeled Hard Boiled Eggs In a Bag. The package boasts that it contains 9-10 eggs per bag!! Oh boy!! Less eggs for more money!? Where do I sign up? The cost of this confusing time saver is roughly almost $5. So you pay twice as much for less eggs...but, hey, they're cooked AND peeled! Seeing them floating around in the bag reminds me of that huge jar of pickled eggs that used to sit on the counter of the meat department of every grocery store. You know, the ones no one bought because 1) they're nasty and, 2) they're probably at least 20 years old. Well, now you can try them in the comfort of your own home. These ones aren't pickled but they're probably just as gross. The awesome people at thekitchn.com, part of apartmenttherapy.com (recommended), actually bought them and put them in their mouths. The result..."stale", "rubbery whites" and "hard yolks" were a few adjectives thrown out. You'd not only have to be pretty hard-pressed for time to consume these but probably a little bit overdue for some therapy as well. If you have the time, however, here's some tips to make the process all the more easy!

So...what do you do all day?

I’ve been asked by several people where I found some of the stuff I’ve posted. While some of it came from random surfing, there are several websites that I visit throughout the day that I love. My day doesn’t seem complete without at least one visit to these awesome sites. This isn’t all of them but these are the big ones. Also, I haven’t posted stuff from all these sites, just a few. But I highly recommend all of them. I’ll include a little description with each so you’ll know what it’s about and if it’s worth the trip across the World Wide Web for you (in my opinion they all are). Here’s my list of great time wasters:

www.woot.com – This site has one thing for sale each day until it's sold out and it’s usually at a good price.
www.tanga.com – Much like Woot but this one has daily puzzles you can solve. I think Woot is better for buying though.
www.uncrate.com – If something cool or awesome or both is about to come out or is available now, these guys will find it and let you know where you can get it. One of my favorites. They also run www.bargainist.com (good deals and freebies) and www.outblush.com (for the lady folk).
www.thesneeze.com – This is one awesome site. It gets kinda cussy at certain points but not overwhelmingly so. I highly recommend starting with Steve, Don’t Eat It and then going anywhere on the site after that. It’s all great. I got my sister hooked on this one. Definitely at the top of the list.
www.craigslist.com – If you don’t know what this one is you obviously don’t know how to use the internet, or don’t have it, and you probably aren’t even reading this anyways, so…yeah…
http://howaboutorange.blogspot.com – This is a great design/DIY blog done by a talented Graphic Designer named Jessica Jones. She’s also funny and very entertaining and has tons of snazzy projects to make your house/apartment cooler than it currently is (and, yes, that’s possible). She also has a bunch of links on the left side of her blog that lead to equally cool websites.
www.gmail.com – I pretty much leave this one up all day. I check email, write emails but mostly chat with my sister and whatever friends I have left. If you don’t have a Gmail account, ditch Hotmail or Yahoo and do yourself a favor. It’s, like, 1.21 Jigawatts better!
www.google.com – I’m not even going to bother explaining this…
www.gizmodo.com – This is one of my top favorite because I’m a nerd. I like gadgets and electronics and dorky stuff. I also like humor. Lucky for me this site combines all of them into a super-techno-funny-blog. If you’re at all interested in cool gadgety stuff, check this site out. It’s updated throughout the day so there’s always something new to read.
www.musiciansfriend.com – This is where I go to drool over guitars. Faded Cherry Flying V, you will be mine some day. Oh yes, you will be mine.
www.tigerdirect.com – This is where I go to drool over computer parts. Newegg is good, too.
www.azcentral.com – Local and Global news. I’ve even written reviews of four restaurants on this site right HERE. So you know they’re top notch.

That’s all you really need to know about right now. I’m sure there are more but it’s too much effort to remember all of them. Besides, these should keep you plenty busy. If you know of any other fun sites that aren’t listed please leave them in the comments for me and the other three people who actually read this blog. We’ll entertain each other indirectly through the internet. It’ll be fun.

Orange is the color of Feral Cat Awareness

We’ve all seen the pink ribbons for Breast Cancer awareness, right? This is a great idea to raise awareness for a disease that has affected many people’s lives. But did you know there are other colors for other types of awareness? I bet you only know a few. Puzzle Pieces for Autism, Green for Organ Donation and Yellow for Support Our Troops are the relatively popular ones. But did you know that PURPLE is the color for domestic violence awareness and religious tolerance? It’s also the color for lupus, the homeless and children left unattended in cars. ORANGE is the color for Leukemia awareness as well as hunger, racial tolerance, and Support of the Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip and North Samaria (Israel). Orange is also the awareness color of, I kid you not, feral cats. That’s right…feral cats. I love the fact that we’re raising awareness for diseases and certain conditions but feral cats? C’mon...is this really an issue everyone needs to be aware of? Is this even a problem anymore? And by awareness are we protecting them or wanting to be rid of them? So many questions. Anyways, let’s continue. BLUE is for child abuse prevention, hurricane support, Officers lost in the line of duty and free speech. My dad is a great man. He only wears grey t-shirts. I wasn’t sure why until today when I found out that GREY is the awareness color for brain cancer, asthma, diabetes and allergies. All my life he’s been trying to make a statement and I finally got his message. My hat’s off to you dad in your war against allergies and asthma. I salute you.

There are no less than 50 colors and color combinations that raise awareness of things like Prostate Cancer (light blue) and Homeopathy practices (emerald green) to chronic pelvic pain (light green) and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (teal). Members of my family have suffered illnesses for which people are trying to raise awareness. I am a proud organ donor and encourage others to do the same. I guess the whole point is sometimes we can go too far. I can only imagine the kind of person walking around with an orange ribbon on supporting feral cat awareness. So pick a worthy cause and stand behind it. Slap on a purple ribbon for Patrick Swayze and let the world know just how aware you really are.

Fun and Ewoks at the TMF

Kristi and I went to the Tempe Music Festival on Saturday because I won free tickets from Movin' 97.5 FM. We had a blast and the highlight for me was definitely seeing the Gin Blossoms. It had been forever since I had seen them and they still, to this day, remain one of my favorite bands. Fergie was the headliner that night but we left before she even came on stage. Neither of us are big fans and we probably couldn't handle all the Fergaliciousness that was about to be released. We also won passes to the "Glamour Lounge" which consisted of a 10'x20' space closed off by chain link fence with music that was too loud and free food and gelato. Man, I love winning stuff. So, we both had a good time, saw some bands, had some funnel cake and then went home.

Today at work I was looking at AZcentral.com and saw that there was pictures from the festival. I started looking through them and stopped when I swear I thought I saw an Ewok in one of the pictures. Maybe I know a little too much about Star Wars and recognized it too easily but I've made a comparison chart below...I'll let you decide: Ewok descendant or unfortunate coincidence?