way cool video

"Her Morning Elegance" by Oren Lavie

Muahahahaha!

I just discovered a hilarious, new (to me) blog. You should probably check out My Religious Blog. This person is my new hero. My personal favorite posts are "Mormons on TV," "Footprints," and "Brigham Young Quote." I'd give you links to each one, but I think you should read through to try to find them. Enjoy!

That poor dog!

I think this is my new favorite Soup clip. Just give the dog a cupcake already! Geez!

Boring Sunday Summary

Not much to report today. It was our turn for the Sharing Time presentation thinger, so we didn't have a full class time today. This, of course, was a blessing. We had just enough time in class to explain to the kids that next week we're going to be laying down the law and we won't be putting up with their shenanigans anymore. We (my co-teacher and I) have decided that we're going to do a monthly sticker chart for each child to earn something cool that has yet to be decided upon. We are also giving them a certain number of chances each day to behave and if they don't, we are going to take them to their parents and request that they be beaten. Or possibly just request that the child sit with the parent for the rest of church. We also had the kids come up with their own set of rules so they know exactly what is expected of them. Hopefully this will help to improve both their behavior and my sanity. I'm also trying to have a better attitude about the whole thing. So far it hasn't really worked, but I'm still trying.

Another great thing that happened today (besides the shortened class time) was that one of the women I visit teach sent her husband over with their snowblower to clear the sidewalks and driveway for me! Since I'm all about being honest, I'll admit that every time I've had to shovel in the past month I have said about a bajillion bad words in my head. Shoveling does not bring out the best in me, so having someone else do it significantly improved my day.

Unrelated to Sunday, but also important . . . if you live in Utah, KBYU is airing a three-part documentary on addiction that my boss participated in. It's on at 8 p.m. starting this Monday and going through Wednesday. I believe it's specifically about addiction in Utah, so I'm assuming it will cover the LDS perspective, but I could be wrong. Either way, you should watch.

Loves it!

So you know how everyone's been doing their own versions of Beyonce's Single Ladies video? Well, this is far and away the best. Well, other than the SNL one with Justin Timberlake. Loves it! If you don't know the Beyonce song, click here to watch the video. And here's the Justin Timberlake one. It's a crappy version of it, but it's the only one I could find on YouTube that didn't have the original version cut into it.

I'm baaaaack!

Vegas was great, as usual. I love that when I go there I can just relax and hang out. Lorri asked me what I did over the weekend and I was like "Well, yesterday we went and got the car washed and then went to CostCo." It doesn't sound like much, but I would much rather spend time with the family going to CostCo than um . . . not going to CostCo with the fam. That was deep. Here are some highlights from the weekend:

• Sariah was playing around with a fake lotion container and was offering everyone some lotion. Only problem is she can't quite say lotion yet. Instead it sounded alternately like "oh sh*t?" and "no sh*t?"
• The previously mentioned car wash was all fancy. They had gelato and paninis and stuff. Much fancier than Super Sonic. They also let you ride in your car through the car wash part of it. Super Sonic doesn't do that. Ooh, and the bubbles were rainbow colored. I don't know if this was an effect of the sun or if the spray was multi-colored, but it was very impressive.
  
• The nieces have officially been introduced to New Kids on the Block. Now when "Summertime" comes on in the car, they recognize it as Kimmy's song. My work there is done. For now.
• Ashley has started calling me Kimberly instead of Kimmy. She also calls her mom Mother. I think the mother thing is hilarious, but I'm not sure how I feel about Kimberly. It means she's getting older and that's just not allowed.
• Ashley has named her favorite stuffed animal Strawberry Donut. Apparently this has something to do with Strawberry Shortcake.
• Melissa and I had a mini Gossip Girl marathon one evening. Now I'm not going to accuse anyone of anything, but I will say that some people (my brother) claim they don't like or watch the show, but they were mysteriously in the room the whole time we were watching it. They were also laughing at pretty much every word out of Chuck Bass's mouth. Again, I'm not going to accuse anyone (Matthew) of anything, but I really think that some people should just be honest and admit their love for Gossip Girl. I'm just sayin' . . .

Later, gator

I'm off to Vegas for the weekend, fulfilling my New Year's Resolution of taking a road trip by myself. Is it cheating if I make a resolution to do something that I already know that I'm going to do, just so that I can say I actually fulfilled one of my resolutions? I didn't think so. :) I'll be back next week with tales of debauchery and going to see The Thunder From Down Under. Or maybe just hanging with the fam. Either way it'll be fun. And (possibly more importantly) I get to miss Primary! Muahahahaha!

Little Miss Attitude

My friend and former college roommate, Traci, was in town from Vegas yesterday and I feel like a failure as a blogger because I didn't take any pictures to post. To make up for it, here's a picture from back in the day that I stole from either her Facebook or someone's blog, I forget which. Traci is the one with the attitude while everyone else is smiling nicely. (The other girls are former roommates as well, just in case you were wondering.)

Traci and I actually lived together twice-during our Freshman year in the dorms and then again a couple years later. We had some good times, but I kind of feel bad because she was forced to live with me before I mellowed out and became fun. The fact that she is still my friend says a lot about her. What says even more about her is that while she was here she allowed me to force her to watch "Gossip Girl." And guess what . . . she liked it! A new fan is born! Let this be a lesson to anyone who wants to stay at my house . . . you will be forced to watch either "Gossip Girl" or "Arrested Development," so be prepared. And there will be no getting out of it!

The Idol

Well, for better or for worse, American Idol is back. I'm not a big fan of the early days of the competition. It's too painful to watch and I feel horrible for a lot of the people. I know a lot of them just do it to get on t.v., but for the rest of them who truly think they are talented . . . why has no one in their lives bothered to explain to them that this is just not the case? Where are their family and friends?

Other thoughts:

• Bikini chick made me vomit in my mouth a little bit. The worst part was when she was trying to molest Ryan Seacrest. Oh, and when she was jumping up and down, flinging the goods around. And when she was singing. And when she was wearing the bikini and stripper shoes. Oh, and when she was EXISTING! I was mortified. Is it possible to vote or sign a petition to have someone kicked out of your gender? She was the epitome of everything that is wrong with young women today. (So, Kim, how do you really feel?)
  
• I liked geeky Joe Cocker/cocker spaniel dude. I liked his attitude.
  
• Sexual chocolate? Um . . . no. Although when Simon said he must've stolen that nickname from Randy, I did near about pee my pants.
• All of the previews leading up to the blind guy kept making me roll my eyes. It's possible that I have achieved the pinnacle of cynicalness. I know, I know, he's a wonder to behold. Whatever. He's totally going to get cut in Hollywood. If for some reason he doesn't though, he'll for sure win because how could you not vote for him? Even I would probably get over the negativity and vote for him.

M'kay, that's all.

Best Show Ever

I just finished watching tonight's Gossip Girl for the second time. (I watched it when it was on, and then Lorri made me watch it again with her when she got home from work.) Have I mentioned that I enjoy this show? Have I mentioned that I enjoy Chuck Bass? Here are a couple things I haven't mentioned:

• I don't like Jack Bass. He needs to go. Chuck is the perfect blend of twisted, nasty, bad boy goodness, but Jack is just twisted and nasty and I would prefer that he leave now.
  
• I'm not sure how I feel about this whole Serena and Dan sharing a half-sibling thing. I could possibly overlook it if their parents weren't also hooking up, but toss that fact in, and the line has officially been crossed. Perfect opportunity to stop the endless, vicious cycle of Serena and Dan. I'm sick of them. I liked them in Season 1, but they really need to move on. Not that Aaron Rose aka Rat Boy was any better, but at least he was a step in the right direction.
• Speaking of Aaron, just because he was gross and needed to leave the show doesn't mean his dad did too. I miss Cyrus. Plus, you can't have Wallace Shawn on your show and not have him at some point say "Inconceivable!" I think that would have been the perfect reaction to the news of Lily and Rufus's love child.
  
• Why was Nate only in this episode for a total of like 73 seconds? Are they trying to slowly eliminate him from the show? This is unacceptable. (Or is it inconceivable?) Bring back the man bangs!
• I love that they brought back the little 12 year-old mean girls. I think they need to be featured in every episode from now on. They totally steal the show.

I could go on, but I'll stop now as I'm guessing that most of you probably don't watch the show. I think you should though, because really, how many people out there can make ensembles such as the following look cool?



Ahhhh, only Chuck Bass, my friends, only Chuck Bass.

Here's the purse

The photo (and the nasty background) doesn't do it justice. It has cute buckles on the sides and overall it's just magnificent. You really need to see it in person.

Also, completely unrelated, and yet not because this is a post about a purse . . . Gossip Girl is on tonight! Make sure you watch!

Primary

As more people in the ward read my blog, I have realized that I probably shouldn't talk so much about my Primary class, or at the very least I should only share the funnies and not so much the complaints. I can't do it, though. I don't want to step on anyone's toes by talking about their children or grandchildren or neighbor's children or best friend's children, but you know what, maybe if said children were better behaved, there wouldn't be any toes to step on. (Ouch, that was really mean-sorry! I meant that with all the love in the world.) I won't go into specifics, but I will say that I've been through a whole lotta crap in my life and come through it o.k., but this group of 6 year-olds just about broke me yesterday. I just kept repeating "You will not let these children see you cry." over and over in my head. I would have just walked out and quit right then and there, but I was afraid that if I left them alone in the classroom, it would turn into "The Lord of the Flies." Remember Piggy? Well, I didn't want a Piggy on my hands, so I stayed. But seriously, if next week isn't better (I talked to a member of the Presidency and told them they needed to do something), I'm never going back.

Top That

And this, my friends, is just one of the many reasons why I enjoy 30 Rock.

new must-have product

Perhaps I'm behind the times (as in a couple thousand years), or just too much of a snob to use something not from Sephora, but I have just discovered that you can use olive oil as a deep conditioner for your hair. Some cute little co-eds were talking about it in one of my classes today, so I rushed right home to try it out. Because only the best is good enough for my hair (and because it's all we had in the house), I used extra-virgin olive oil, or as Satan's Spawn calls it, EVOO. I'm sure you could use the cheaper kind if you wanted. You basically just slop some of it on your hair while it's dry (I used like 1/3 of a cup), then either put a shower cap on and sit under a dryer cap thingy (because we all have one of those at home, right?), or do what I did, and clip your hair up out of the way, and take a long, hot shower. The steam will help the oily, juiciness work its magic better. After you've let it sit on your hair for a while, you just shampoo it out. You have to shampoo a couple times, though, to get it all out. Also, this was kind of fun and it may have just been my imagination, but I swear to you the oil made my shampoo like fifty times foamier. So while you're shampooing, feel free to make shampoo mohawks and assorted fun shapes with the extra foam. Or not, if you prefer to act like an adult. Oh, and another sidenote, the oil will make the floor very slippy. Fortunately I was in a shower stall and you can only do the splits so far in a shower stall. I'm sure if I had been in an actual bathtub, bad things would have happened. So please, be careful! Obviously, after you shampoo, there is no need to condition as that's kinda the point of the oil. I am happy to report that my hair does appear to be much more shiny and healthy looking AND this was accomplished with stuff out of my parent's kitchen cupboard, so it was totally free (for me).

Possibly sacreligious afterthought: Ladies, I think we need to push for our own keychain oil vials, but for haircare instead of anointing purposes.

a funny

Click here. Too funny!

Tequila, anyone?

I just put the trash and recycling cans out for pick-up and realized that um . . . the recycling bin is full to overflowing (as in contents are kinda visible) of liquor boxes. Now I don't know if you're aware, but in the Mormon world, drinking is slightly frowned upon. And when I say slightly frowned upon, I mean if you drink, you had better sleep with one eye open because the destroying angel is totally coming for you. You're on his list. And much like Santa, he's checked it twice, so there's no escaping it. Now before you freak out and start praying for me, let me explain. My BFF and former roommate, Lorri, just moved in with me, and a couple of moves ago, we discovered that the best packing boxes are liquor boxes because they're heavy duty. They are, after all, meant to cushion glass bottles and such. So the days leading up to a move are usually filled with several trips to the liquor store to get boxes. They actually make it quite convenient (at least the store by our old place did) and just keep them right inside the door so you don't even have to really go in. But anyway, my point is that a member of the Bishopric lives next door and if I get a call in the next few days asking me to come in and meet with the Bishop, I'm going to have to laugh. A lot. And at least I'm recycling the boxes. Even if I were drunk and partying all the time, I think that saving the environment should count for something. I'm pretty sure Heavenly Father likes it when we respect the Earth and recycle. Maybe I could even get brownie points toward some future sin. Maybe if I recyle enough and earn enough brownie points, I could like go shopping on the Sabbath or watch an R-rated movie or something and not have it count. Or is that not how it works? :)

Bulgogi Beef

I love this stuff. I always get it at Dew in Provo, and I finally decided to try to make my own. It was delicious. I may never have to go back to Dew again.

Bulgogi Beef

1/4 c. soy sauce
3 T. sugar
1 T. vegetable oil
1 tsp. sesame oil
1 tsp. toasted sesame seeds
3 med garlic cloves
3 chopped green onions (including green parts)
2 lbs. sirloin

Slice the sirloin, against the grain, as thinly as possible. If you have a meat slicer you might want to try that, on the thinnest setting. Otherwise, just try to kind of shave off as thin a slice as possible. (This will take a while.) Mix together all the other ingredients and marinate the beef in it for at least half an hour. If you have a special Korean BBQ grill, use that to cook, otherwise, just pan fry with a little bit of sesame oil. Only cook a little bit of beef at a time, though, so you can keep your eye on it. You just want to cook it barely enough to be done, otherwise it'll be tough. Do NOT overcook it!!! You do not want to be eating shoe leather! (Unless you're my brother, and then actually, yes, you kinda do.) You can keep the cooked stuff warm in a bowl with foil over it while you cook the rest. Serve it with rice (preferably jasmine) and if you have any taste at all, tons of Kimchi (Found in the refrigerated area of the produce section. Not all stores carry it. Harmon's does. Smith's doesn't. I think Albertson's might.)

Special Kim directions: I added a little ginger to the marinade as well. I buy the already pulverized, in-the-jar kind. I used about a spoonful and a half, but I had doubled the recipe, so just do it to taste. I also used extra garlic and green onions. I ended up doing two batches of this stuff because the first was so stinkin' good. The second was even better because I sliced the beef way more thin and I marinated it for a couple hours longer. I also didn't bother to toast the sesame seeds with the first batch, but I would highly recommend that you go ahead and do that if you're going to try this recipe. It makes a difference.

T.V. thoughts

So, "Gossip Girl" was on last night and just confirmed how much I enjoy Chuck Bass. Any episode in which he says "I'm Chuck Bass." is my favorite. Lorri and I just watched the first disc of Season 1. I am determined to indoctrinate her into the Gossip Girl world. She will watch it and she will like it.

I also watched "The Secret Life of the American Teenager." Preggo chick is kinda getting an attitude, and I'm not really sure how I feel about that. I still love the show though, mainly because Molly Ringwald is on it and I wanted to be her when I grew up. So few famous people have red hair; we have to stick together. Speaking of Molly, "Pretty in Pink" was also just on, and maybe I've mentioned it before, but I'm not sure how I feel about that movie. I used to hate it, but it's growing on me. Now I like it, but still not as much as most other Molly movies. I think it's because Andrew McCarthy appears to be drunk and/or high throughout most of it. Plus, whenever they kissed it seemed very awkward. And, at the end (SPOILER ALERT), when she runs after him and they kiss in the parking lot, she drops her purse and it always irritates me because it looks like the parking lot is covered in puddles. I know it's this big romantic moment and all, but that doesn't mean you have to drop your bag in a nasty puddle.

Speaking of purses, Lorri bought me a new one today. It's super cute. I will take a picture and show you. You will be jealous. Trust me.

the twitching

I don't think that in yesterday's blog I accurately described the eye twitching. I made it sound like it was just once in a while and you were probably wondering what the big deal was. It isn't once in a while. It's every single day, most of the day, but not necessarily constantly. I get half hour breaks here and there. It gets worse at night and at church. Why at church, I don't know. Either the twitching is of the devil and is uncomfortable in the Lord's house, or it's more noticeable when I'm just sitting there and let's be honest, kinda bored. It's really distracting when I'm driving because I always want to watch it in the rear-view mirror, which probably is not the safest thing to do. So yeah, that's a more accurate description of the devil's twitching that's going on in my eyelid. Oh, and it's mostly in my right eye, but sometimes it'll go back and forth between my right and left eyes. That's always fun. Also, since I'm being honest (about being bored at church on occasion), I have to say that I have contemplated how painful it would be to try and dig the nerve out with some kind of sharp weapon/instrument. Not that I'm going to because really, I'm far too vain for that, but seriously, if I could figure out a way to have it not hurt too much, not leave an ugly scar (a Luke Perry-esque scar would be acceptable), and not paralyze the rest of my face, it's possible that I would perform surgery on myself. I could videotape it for YouTube! I wonder if Botox would paralyze it. Oooh! Now that is truly something to think about!

Drama in the house

So remember a while ago how I mentioned how the only thing that seems to help with my migraines is Topamax, but it's way pricey (like $250/month) and I can't afford it now that I have crap insurance? Well, my new hero, the nurse at the Student Health Center, hooked me up with some Patient Assistance Program (which is for the poor people of America, like myself), so now I get it for free. This is wonderful news, except that this time around I have developed an odd new side effect. For the last month or so, my eyelid has been twitching. It was like a jackhammer the other night and was keeping me awake, so I finally asked the pharmacist about it today, and he said I'm pretty much just shiz out of luck. Only he didn't use those words. Or anything close to those words. What he actually said was if I've been on it for more than two weeks and my eye is still twitching, then I should switch to something else. So . . . here is the dilemma . . . stay with what I know works and that I get for free, and just deal with the twitching (which is just off and on, not all the time), or get rid of the random jackhammering of my eyelid and try to find something else?

New Year's Resolutions

1. Be more prompt about responding to and/or actually respond to emails, texts, and blog comments. I would have included phone calls on the list, but let's be honest, that'll never happen.

2. Stop turning the t.v. on just because it's there. I have my shows, I know when they're on, there's no need for the t.v. to be on other than those times. If background noise is needed, music will do.

3. Stay caught up on my reading and studying. Muahahahaha! That was a funny one! What would life be like without cramming? It's just completely beyond my comprehension.

4. Cook more often. I love cooking, but I don't do it often enough because really, it's just easier to not. I want to start experimenting with some of the recipes I keep saving, though.

5. Be more honest and up front with people. If I don't want to do something, I'm going to just say no, instead of making up a lame excuse or avoiding the person. If my feelbads get hurt, I'm going to say something right away, instead of letting it fester until I blow up months later at something completely unrelated. (Are you frightened at the thought of an even more honest me?!?)

6. Continue the trend I started last summer of doing things by myself. I really like going to the movies by myself. Going out to eat by myself kind of sucks, but other stuff, like museums and shopping is fun. I really want to go on a trip by myself. A solo road trip would be fun.

7. Stop worrying so much about what other people think. I'm pretty sure that there are far less people out there judging me than I think there are. Of course if you're judging me and think I'm cool, that's o.k., but if you're judging me and think I'm a loser . . . who do you think you are to be judging me? Maybe you oughtsta be worrying about yo-self! Mmmmhmmmmm!

Kennedy Center Honors Tribute to The Who

Love The Who. Love Dave Grohl. LOVE Rob Thomas. Tolerate Joss Stone. Don't know who Bettye LaVette is (which probably makes me sound hugely ignorant), but she gave me chills. BTW, my aunt is a huge Rob Thomas fanatic, so we had to watch and record this last Tuesday and when the cameras showed Rob sitting in the audience, she got all excited, despite the fact that he was sitting next to, as my aunt calls her, "that woman he's married to."

Sunday Summary and Other Stuff

• During Sharing Time there was this big, elaborate presentation about how we're walking along this sidewalk between school (Earth) and home (Heaven). As we walk along, we come to a puddle (physical death) that we use a bridge (resurrection) to cross over. Then we come to another puddle (spiritual death) that has another bridge (Atonement), but this one is more of a toll bridge and you have to pay to cross (by going to church, pray, etc.). Well, in case you didn't know, kids take things pretty literally, and they couldn't figure out why we were using a bridge to cross a puddle. Some of their comments were: "Why don't you just step over it?" "Why can't you just go around it?" "Why don't you just jump over it?" Finally the Primary lady compared it to more of a lake or an ocean instead of a puddle. Then it became "Well, why don't you just swim across?" "Is it really deep like a well?" I think they were also caught up on the whole paying to get across thing because then one kid said something about borrowing some money to get across. Finally, one little kid compared the puddle to a giant mudhole and that's why you can't just go around or swim across it, and then I guess everyone got it. The whole gospel analogy apparently went waaaay over their heads though.
• Classes changed at the new year and I now teach the 6/7 year olds. I thought no class could be more hyper than my last class. I was wrong.
  
• I'm really trying to have a better attitude about Primary. For example, whenever I'm feeling depressed about being single and childless, I think of Primary, and then I find myself immensely grateful for my single, childless state. Primary really has helped me count my blessings!
  
• School starts again tomorrow. I'm hoping it will provide me with something to blog about. With the lack of school and t.v. shows these last couple weeks, I really haven't had much to talk about.
  
• Speaking of t.v., Gossip Girl, aka The Best Friggin' Show Ever (other than Arrested Development), is back tomorrow! Oh, Chuck Bass, how I've missed you! I've decided that instead of being embarassed that I watch mindless, skanky shows like Gossip Girl, I'm just going to embrace it, so expect to be hearing more about GG, Grey's, and Private Practice. You might as well just watch along with me. You know you want to.