Apparently, I like country music.

I have never been a fan of country music. I think it's probably because I associate it with long 12 hour drives from Colorado to Idaho, the lonely wilderness of Wyoming, and carsickness. Then, I met Dan and he introduced me to Brad Paisley. After several exposures, I started coming around. I decided that I could listen to his CDs and not want to throw up. Eventually, I began to learn the words to some of his songs. There was one song in particular that I really liked because Dan would sing it to me. It's called "She's Everything." That song ended up being the song we first danced to at our wedding reception as husband and wife. At this point, I was able to say, "Yes, I like Brad Paisley." Flash forward to last December. I bought Dan Brad Paisley's latest two CDs and gave one to him for Christmas and one to him for his birthday. I found out that Brad Paisley was going to be coming here two weeks after Dan's birthday, and suggested to his mom that she buy him tickets for his birthday. I was definitely down for going to see him in concert because I like a lot of his songs. So last night, we went to the Brad Paisley concert.

It was INCREDIBLE. I had so much fun. The crowd wasn't really my scene--there was a lot of beer, many cowboy hats, and lots of plaid and denim. I even saw a group of girls that had shirts stating to the world that they were "Scotty's Hotty's," which of course is a complete punctuation fail. Anyway, the show was amazing. We sat in the second row of section 115. This is important because of the following diagram:

Yes. Brad Paisley was about five feet away from me. About halfway through the show, in the middle of one of his songs, he just started coming down through the crowd STRAIGHT FOR US. Let me show you my progression of pictures.

Yes. Brad Paisley decided to walk up the aisle that we were sitting, and stood there and sang for about 30 seconds. As you can see, my phone's camera and I both had a minor freak out. I was unable to decide whether to stop jumping up and down so I could reach out and touch him, or whether to stop jumping up and down and take a picture. I went with the latter, but my phone was a few steps behind so the pictures did not turn out very well. Long story short, I was five feet away from the best country singer (pretty much ever in my opinion) in the country. It was so exciting. Dan and I were freaking out and I had a crazy adrenaline rush (which could have been influenced by my chugging a 16 oz Mt. Dew Voltage before the show). Anyway, it was amazing.

He played a ton of really good songs (including "She's Everything" where I shed a few tears and held Dan close) and gave away TWO guitars. There was also one point where he took someone's iPhone and started taking pictures of the crowd and himself. The girl who owned it was probably peeing her pants with excitement.

I came away with the following realization: I really like Brad Paisley (and apparently, country music). He just seems like such a great guy. His songs are not about dumb things (for example Selena Gomez's latest song about how every good song has already been sung--so lame). He sings about fishing, about love (but in a non-cheesy, fresh way), about "the old red, white, and blue" and being a patriot, about trucks and mud, and about life. It was incredible, and because of this whole experience, I think I can say I like (some) country music.

Also, as a gift to you, here are two videos and some pictures that mine and Dan's pathetic little phones would like to share with you:

things little kids say.

Little kids really do say "the darndest things."

At my internship, I work with kids. Some of them are little (like 4) and some of them are older (like 13). It doesn't matter what age they are, they all say "the darndest things." Before I proceed with the story, I need to give you a little background information. A few days ago, I found a little zit right on my lip. Unable to control myself, I squeezed it. The next morning, I woke up with a lovely scab right on my lip. Very noticeable and impossible to cover with makeup. So this is how I went into my internship yesterday. In the middle of homework club, one of the kids goes "What's on your lip?" A normal person would not say anything. But of course, kids are not as versed in social norms and they have to say what they are thinking, no matter what. Needless to say, this made me feel self-conscious.

This experience reminded me of a story. When I was a pre-teen, I babysat the two little girls who lived behind us. They were very fun and I enjoyed babysitting them. One day, I was picking up the younger girl and her hand grazed my newly-growing chest. She looked up at me and blurted out "What's that bump!?" I was absolutely mortified. She obviously had no idea what she was saying, but it still scarred me. My poor little "buds" were just starting to bloom and of course, she had to notice, and she had to say something.

This little boy is the perfect example of little kids saying "the darndest things." Please enjoy.

getting rid of shoes.

Today it rained. Now on most days, that would be totally fine and dandy. However, today I wore my favorite pair of old shoes. As I was walking through puddles on my way to my car, the sad truth finally hit me: I need to get rid of these shoes.

Let me explain why this is not okay. Christmas of 2010, my husband got me a wonderful pair of cute, stylish, casual shoes. They were so cute when he bought them for me, and I loved them so much that I wore them every day. This is what they looked like when he first got them for me:

One year and one month later, after wearing them almost every day, my poor little shoes have walked many miles. They have endured sweaty feet, cobblestone sidewalks, and muddy roads. And they have finally given up:

They have holes in the bottoms and sides, are no longer black and white but grey and tan, and have ratty laces that make me feel like I need to wash my hands every time I tie them. Unfortunately for me, this makes them even more lovable and hard to get rid of. Last night on Last Man Standing, they talked about how women don't want to get rid of shoes because they think that the very next day, those are the shoes that they are going to need. And yes, I am suffering from this way of thinking. This is not a recent development. I feel the same way about my green and brown Coach sneakers, which I still have hanging in my closet even though I only wear them a few times a year. I also felt the same way about my black flats, even though I bought new black flats that were nicer and more durable. Even though I had a very similar replacement pair, I did not want to get rid of these shoes for months because they had sentimental value (I wore them in our engagement pictures!).

This disease is heart-wrenching, and as I face a dilemma about what to do with this lovable, dirty, ratty pair of shoes, I am not sure what to do. Lucky for me, I can keep them in our large walk-in closet for the next four months until we move. Maybe then I will feel slightly better about what I inevitably have to do.

Dan's Birthday Weekend!

Last Friday (the 13th!) was Dan's 23rd birthday. To celebrate, we went to Salt Lake City for dinner. We had a reservation for 8 and got there a bit early, so we walked around the Gateway for a while. We went into the planetarium and then suddenly, Dan was on the moon!

Needless to say, we enjoyed our time before dinner. Dan chose Tucanos to eat at because he had a birthday certificate. I was semi-excited, because after working there, it has lost its magic. I was looking forward to the cheese balls and grilled pineapple, though. However, after I cleared my salad plate and went back to get pasta, cheese balls, and mashed potatoes, my stomach suddenly remembered the many times I've eaten there and then my brain associated the food with misery from working there, and then I couldn't take another bite. I was able to enjoy my delicious guava lemonade, but it was still sort of sad that I didn't enjoy it very much. Dan, however, was very happy because he got his man meal and enjoyed every minute of it.

On Saturday we went back to Salt Lake City (goodbye gas and monies) and went ice skating! I bought a Groupon back in November for two skate rentals and admissions for only $8, so I just handed the lady the paper and it didn't even feel like we were paying. We had a super good time, despite my two falls.

This is the Gallivan Center where we went skating.

Handsome Dan in his skates.

Me holding onto the rail because I couldn't stop very gracefully.

A cute picture of us taken by someone who didn't speak English, but still knew what I meant when I said "Can you take a picture of us" and handed him the camera.

After ice skating, we went to the Jazz game. Dan's little brother Devin got to be the ball boy.

See, that is him wearing the Gordon Hayward jersey and throwing the ball.

Here he is again in the little Jazz line-up when they are announcing the starters. He's the tiny white one next to Earl Watson.

And of course, the game was made even better by the fact that we got to sit in the 9th row and that we won! Yay!

On Sunday, we drove up to Midway and spent the night with some of our married friends in their condo. I am not even kidding when I tell you that they lived in mini Switzerland. It was a lot of fun and we played some intense games.

Dan and I had a very, very good weekend.

Cooking for a meat eater.

I have been a vegetarian my whole life. Needless to say, up until I met my husband and actually cared enough about cooking good food for someone, I never cooked a real meat meal. Not chicken, not hamburgers, not roast, not even a piece of bacon. Since meeting him, the times I have cooked meat can probably be counted on my fingers. We have known each other for almost three years.

The first time I cooked him dinner I used a recipe I got from a Relief Society cookbook. It was honey mustard chicken. Never having cooked meat before, I didn't really know what I was doing. I followed the recipe, but I didn't want to make the sauce too overpowering. Of course I wasn't going to taste it before I served it to him, so I just assumed it was good and put it on the table. I could tell from his face that something was wrong, but, like a good boyfriend, he ate it. I later found out that it was terrible. The worst thing I have ever cooked for him.

Since that incident, I have tried making chicken a few other times. What usually happens is that I don't thaw it long enough and it burns on the outside before cooking on the inside. I have also tried to make a roast, but it always ends up way too dry. Even I know it looks disgusting. I guess that is just the curse of being an herbivore cooking or a carnivore.

Instead of this:

I serve this:

My poor husband. So tonight, I cooked him bruschetta chicken. Sounds easy enough, and I thought I was really going to get it right this time. But sadly, I had the thawing problem again, combined with the fact that it wasn't too delicious (according to him). One day I will master the art of carnivorous cooking, but until then, we can just eat pasta and cupcakes :)

New hair?

So over the past week I have been thinking about cutting my hair. It's looking sort of stringy and just not good. I was looking at some of my pictures from the summer Dan and I met, and I really liked my hair.

It was little longer than my shoulders, and I also had some side bangs. I also have been considering dyeing it dark again, but I want to wait until my hair is healthier to do that. Anyway, I haven't run this by Dan yet. I'm thinking of possibly surprising him one day when he comes home from school. We'll see!

Blogs are HARD

It's ridiculous how bad I am at blogging. But for real, I am going to do better! I think I will have more time this semester, plus when we move out of Utah next semester I want to be able to have something to share with our friends and family to show what we are doing.

Well, it's a new year and a new semester. I am working, going to school, and doing an internship. I've got three online classes (one is for my internship) and one class on campus. It'll be probably a little less busy than last year, but still rather busy. Which is fine because we graduate in April! Yay!