A Sad Day for BNL Fans Everywhere...

To some of you this won't seem like a big deal, but my favorite band in the whole world is Barenaked Ladies. They are brilliant. They have amazing voices, they are BRILLIANT lyricists, and they are the best live performers ever. I have been to every one of their concerts since 1999 (when I discovered them) and am pretty much obsessed with them and everything they do. Meg and I even slept outside of a Hallmark during the Olympics in 2002 to get tickets to their Medal Ceremony performance. It was well worth the horribly bitter-cold night on the pavement just for the experience and for the free tickets we received.

For those of you who don't know, there are two lead singers in the band. Steven Page and Ed Robertson. I have always been a "Steve" lover and Meg has always been an "Ed" lover. We both like the other singer too but lean more towards one than the other. Anyway, the news broke today that Steven Page has left Barenaked Ladies. As nerdy as this sounds my eyes filled with tears as Jesse told me the news. I was worried that I'd never get to buy their next new CD or go to their next concert, but the good news is that the 4 remaining members (Ed, Kevin, Jim and Ty) will continue to be BNL and will go into the studio in April to start recording a new album. I am grateful that they will go on and that I will continue to be able to get to adore them and listen to their music but Steve will be missed. Here's what their website says:

A MESSAGE FROM BARENAKED LADIES

"By mutual agreement, Steven Page will be parting company with the remaining members of Barenaked Ladies. Jim Creeggan, Kevin Hearn, Ed Robertson, and Tyler Stewart will continue recording and touring together as Barenaked Ladies. Steven Page will pursue solo projects including theatrical opportunities while the band enters the studio in April 2009, and hits the road in the fall.

Page says "These guys are my brothers. We've grown up together over the past twenty years. I love them and wish them all the best in the future."

The band also wish Steven well in all of his endeavors. Ed Robertson says: "It's the start of a new chapter for all of us. Here's to the future!"

Everyone is looking forward to making new music and thanks their fans for their support."

(And for those of you who care I will list the names of the band members in the picture above from left to right: Steve, Jim, Ed, Kevin, and Ty)

I hope one day Steve will return to his roots and be a member of the band again but I am so very glad that they will go on without him.

Thanks for indulging me and my thoughts on the greatest band of all time...

American Fork Idol

I was just cast in the next show at Desert Star! I am so excited! We are doing American Fork Idol and I will be playing the part of Polly (obviously a knock-off of Paula Abdul). It's been fun to study Paula and try to get some of her movements down. We'll see how it goes though...it's also a little intimidating since everyone watches her and knows what she is like. But it will be fun and I'm grateful that they continue to cast me at Desert Star. It is such a blast! Anyway, I get to sing 2 of Paula's songs (they change the words but the tune is the same) and I am so excited! I am singing "Straight Up" and "Cold Hearted". I just love her music. Why have I gone so long without listening to it? Well, that's going to change right here and now. So I hope you enjoy a little Paula Abdul as it plays right now :)

Now the only problem is finding the time to go tanning so that I can be as tan as her...

007

When I'm backstage at Desert Star we talk about a lot of different things, but mainly we talk about movies. Who knew you could talk about movies so much...Recently we've been chatting about James Bond. Ever since High School I've been a fan of James Bond. I wasn't a fan before then because no one ever sat me down and said, "You should watch these movies, they are good." But in High School my best friends were boys and thus my watching of Bond movies began. And boy am I ever happy that I watched them. Now, I am not a fan of ALL Bond movies. Some are obviously better than others, but in general I appreciate the Bond films. I love that they have spanned across decades. I LOVE the music from the films. Some songs wouldn't be something I would generally listen to, but I love that Bond music is different than any other kind of music. My favorite Bond song would have to be "Die Another Day". I especially love the violins in the song. And I love Madonna. So the song as a whole is amazing, in my opinion.

My favorite Bond is Daniel Craig. I know not everyone agrees with me on that point, but he's my favorite and that's that. I mean, have you seen him? And my favorite Bond movie of all is "Casino Royale". It was just so different from the others and I appreciated its differences. Here's a picture of my favorite Bond:

So there you have it. My thoughts on Bond. What's your favorite Bond movie? And if you haven't really ever gotten into the movies before give them another shot. They are in a world of their own and I love them because of that :)

Oh, and I hope you enjoy the Bond music on my playlist!

Greatest Birthday of All Time!!!!!

As many of you know Meg and I went to Disneyland for our Birthday. We flew out at 8:00 AM on Saturday morning, landed in California around 9:00 AM, got our rental car, and drove to our hotel right across the street from Disneyland. We then took a Birthday nap (so we could get all of our energy to make it until midnight without having to rest, and it is also our tradition to nap on our Birthday...I mean, why not nap when you can? Do I sound like an old lady? I don't think so since I've been a lover of naps since I was 16). We got to the park around 12:00 PM and waited in the ticket line for 45 minutes (I've never had to wait that long before, but I knew it was worth it!) Here's Meg waiting in line:

After we got our free tickets into the park (you get in free on your Birthday in 2009) we walked in and Chip & Dale were dancing (I know that sounds bad, but I mean Chip and Dale the Chipmunks, not the other dancers...hahaha...) which we appreciated since we've always thought Chip & Dale have a "twin" relationship and they have always been our favorite characters :) Here they are dancing in front of the fire station:

We then proceeded to the New Orleans Restaurant to eat lunch. We were wearing our "Happy Birthday" pins that they gave us when we entered the park so we got special treatment, which I didn't complain about :) we shared a Monte Cristo (which I'd never tried before, it was amazing, but I don't think I'd ever eat one again, it was a little greasy for my taste), Parmesan fries (which were equally amazing and I would definitely eat them again) and then they gave us free dessert (these are bignettes, they were the greatest things I've ever eaten!!!! I wish I could have one right now...mmmmmm....).

This is half of the Monte Cristo:

These are our bignettes (I have no idea how to spell it people, or say it for that matter, but they were amazing!) and our Birthday cards :)
We also did not drink Diet drinks on our Birthday (we only drink diet drinks in general because we don't like to drink our calories, but as my Mom always taught us, calories do not count on your Birthday, so we drank regular soda all day long, and oh how I love Sprite! Meg had orange soda...I know this is probably WAY too much detail, but I love the details of things. That's what makes life more fun, the details...)

Here's Meg and her orange soda:

And me and my Sprite:

After lunch we went on a few rides. The entire day was just perfect. It did start to get cold as the day went on, so we got some soup for dinner. There were flower shaped butter slabs on our plates and when our waiter set them down Meg said "how cute, they gave us white chocolates"... which was extremely funny at the moment. Here is a picture of the "obviously butter" flowers that Meg thought were chocolates...she sure is crazy...

And here are a few random pictures from the day...
I have to say this was the greatest Birthday of all time! Meg and I obviously enjoy the same things, and several times throughout the day we laughed until tears streamed down our faces which I LOVE! Also, our sweetest Mom gave us spending money so we didn't spend a dime of our own on food and souvenirs. We are so blessed that we got to take this trip and that we have each other. I am grateful for Meg and how much fun she is every single day and I'm glad that I got to give her (and myself) this gift. The only problem is we're going to have to do this every year or else our Birthdays will never be as much fun, but I think that's a problem I can deal with. And thanks again to Jesse and Quenten for sacrificing their Valentine's Day with us to let us have the greatest day ever!!!!

Valentine's Day

So the song that just started playing is "Happy Valentine's Day" by OutKast. I LOVE this song. It is just random fun. But I must warn you that 3 minutes and 27 seconds into it he says a bad word. I just thought I'd warn all of you. Now, I do not condone swearing, but I skip past this part. So you can too if you want, or else you don't have to listen to it, I just think it is funny and I love to dance to it (I'm not much of a dancer so I do this part alone :) so here it is. I hope you enjoy.

And I'm going to Disneyland tomorrow!!!! So my next post will be about my Birthday fun in Disneyland with my twin sister Meg! I can't wait! Oh, and thanks to our husband's for sacrificing their time with us so we can go...they are so good to us and we are lucky to have husbands who appreciate our relationship and give us our "twin time". We will celebrate Valentine's Day and our Birthdays with them on Monday...so I'll get a stretched out Birthday celebration this year and I am just fine with that. I hope you all have a wonderful Valentine's Day!

The Birthday Boy

Today is Jesse's Birthday. He is 28 years old. He is so much dang fun. He truly is. I am so lucky to have him as my husband. Life is never dull when he's around. Here are a few pictures that I love that show his personality very well:

This is his "weasel" facial expression...it goes along with his weasel laugh...you know he's up to no good or very excited when you hear and see this....

This is his "I want to make you uncomfortable" facial expression...he and Quenten do everything they can to make each other laugh, and they especially love it when they can shock you and make you a little uncomfortable.
This is also his mischievous face...he has ideas running thru his head at all times and I never know what he's going to do next...I love that! (and I love that my brother Jeff and my brother-in-law Quenten are the same way)

And finally, this is his "I am doing this because I love my wife" facial expression. He's so good to go along with things for me.

And finally, here he is on our Wedding Day. This is the Jesse I picture when I think about him...he's so happy and full of life...I LOVE HIM SO MUCH!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JESSE! I hope your day is wonderful!!!