LINDA.EDER.

Since about 8th grade, when I first heard my sister Seana play her CD of Jekyll & Hyde, I have been STAR STRUCK by Linda Eder. I listened to her on that sound track over and over, trying to get my voice to have even 1/10th of the emotion and awesomeness as hers. In highschool, my friend Josh and I would go down into the basement, blast the tracks, and sing to eachother as if we were Lucy and Jekyll. We never made it through the serious songs, because he was gay and as we got to the intense moments we'd crack up. For my 19th birthday, my dad got me the Linda Eder GOLD CD. It was worn out in a matter of months. Thank goodness for burning software. In college, my sophomore year, I took Vocal Performance. Our homework? Linda Eder's song book. My vocal teacher pushed me to be better and stronger performer. She pushed a bit too hard and I stopped singing for a few years. However, I still adored Linda's songs.
I have been stalking her website the past 5 years, hoping she'd come anywhere NEAR me for a performance and then--that I'd actually have the funds to go see her. Well ladies and gents...SHE'S COMING TO OREM UTAH of all places JUNE 24. Her website wasn't selling tickets yet, but the SCERA theater--where she's performing, IS! I went on and bought 8 tickets this morning. I'm beyond excited and am sure the next 2 months will d---r----a-----g on, but that's ok, because she is worth waiting for. If you've never had the immense pleasure of listening to Linda Eder, I would STRONGLY suggest you do. You will not be disappointed.
here's a youtube of the song josh and I used to attempt--starring Linda Eder 1997.

So, Easter candy. Not really conducive to weight loss. So we'll skip the part where I admit to eating it. and also skip the Caramel popcorn chapter of last weekend.

Marathons. My sister runs 1/2 marathons all the time. This year, she's running her first full one. and so am I. Lissa is going to do the Layton Marathon in October, and I've committed to run with her. I haven't run long distance since the summer prior to Senior year. You know, with the Center Cross Country Team. I believe I lasted 2 weeks, 7 miles. My last practice, crazy coach grabbed my hand and had me sprint the last hill down to the track. I remember going to practice early in the morning, running hard and thinking I was surely going to die. Then, I'd come home sleep for 3 hours, wake up and eat a box of taquitos. I imagine it's the closest I'll ever get to understanding the life of a teen boy. Not much running has occurred since then. Close to zero-to be frank. Training week 1...has 3 miles every other day. I can do this? Right? The weather is warming up and that is surely to be a benefit to me. So, here's to my 1st training of a marathon. I'm stronger than I think. And with Lissa by my side, I can do this!

blogging in transit

How insane is it that I'm blogging while Chris is making the 4.5 hour drive back to the grey Wasatch Front? Technology pretty much blows my mind. Oh verizon HP mini, how I love thee.

St. George was worth the crazy Friday I endured to get there. I almost told Chris to go without me, but I'm glad that I didn't let my temper get the best of me. Ava has what the docs say was allergies, but I am leaning toward something stronger than that. She just hasn't felt good all weekend. But, we promised her all last week that she could spend the weekend in St George with Granni, so when the doc cleared her to go, I had no reason to keep her in the winter wonderland of Clearfield. the drive down was nice. The kids did really well, and we did the whole drive without stopping. My bladder must be made of titanium, because I swear I spent the last 1/2 of the trip on full. I figured if my 3 year old didn't have to stop, than I shouldn't have to. We got there about 30 minutes after Bec and Trav and Nat.

We spent our weekend in the big room. my favorite. it gets SO dark. Things I love about st. george...ready?
=COLOR. every where you look is a bright, bold color. green, red, yellow, blooming lovliness.
=EVERY DAY WAS 70 DEGREES! We went out at 10 am for an egg hunt in SHORTS! I loved it
=SUN! SUN! SUN!
=Family walks around the Reserve Subdivision. We walked through a new massive home that is being built. It's amazing what people can dream up when the amount of zeros following the $ is insignificant.
=Scrabble. Board scrabble isn't a fav, but bec and nat played with me so that ava could . participate. they are great aunts. my brain felt rejuvenated.
=movie nights. we brought down the PS3 and bluray. sherlock holmes on like an 83 inch tv with surround sound in blu ray AMAZING.
=SALSA ala Dave. Dad made his homemade salsa. this stuff heals my soul. i'm not even kidding. the freshness of all the ingrediants, the perfect blend of amazingness. let's not discuss the amount of tostito bags that were consumed in a mere moments following the completion of salsa batch 1.
I could go on and on, pretty much the only drawback to st. george is that we're never there long enough. But, we're going back in a couple weeks with steve and pam. WORD!

Simon is bored out of his mind...and we're only 139 miles into the nearly 400 mile trip home. anyway, i just want to say this was a great easter. Ava got a pink baby pony from the easter bunny (thanks to nat for not letting me wuss out on easter basket gifts ;) and we loved every moment.