For Julia

These photos are for my Aunt Julia who is using them for her AAGPS company. These are the pictures she has chosen to use and this is an easy way to give them to her. I tried to e-mail them and it ruins the quality. So, yeah. Just a little explanation.

This explains A LOT!

I , along with many other people in this country who can appreciate a good singer, could NOT figure out how Kris won over Adam! What the heck? Is this not a singing contest?? No, apparently its not anymore. It's about other things that don't have to do with singing, like sexual orientation and religion. (Which I fully support my sexuality and religion, but people should be allowed to be different.) It became a contest about everything else BUT singing. Hmmm...funny huh?


Usually I don't search for articles proving my case. Maybe a little of my Dad is coming out in me now....this is for you DAD! (And all you Kris fans!! :) JK . like who you wanna like, I don't wanna cause fights and hatred. I just thought this was interesting...

This article explains A LOT!




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"American Idol": And the Winner Is ...
by: Ramin Setoodeh







Whoa. So it's really true: Kris Allen is the new American Idol. Really. Seriously? This is the biggest upset—well, ever, in the show's eight seasons. Even more than when Chris Daughtry was voted out or when Ruben Studdard beat Clay Aiken. It wasn't just that Adam was pimped out by the judges more than any Idol contestant this season—Paula practically crowned him the winner when he sang "Black or White" 11 weeks ago—it's that he really was the best vocalist we've ever seen on Idol. Simon Cowell has even said that he thinks Adam's going to be an international star.
So what went wrong? Here are the top seven reasons why Adam Lambert lost American Idol.

1. Blame the judges. Just like it's now bad karma to be the front runner in the Oscar race (as Frost/Nixon can tell you) or the presidential election (as Hillary Clinton can tell you), it also doesn't help if you're the foregone winner of Idol long before the season is over. And here is where the judges didn't help Adam's case. Week after week, they didn't just praise him; they declared him The. Greatest. Singer. Ever. In. All. Of. History. Yes, he's a rock god, but when there's a preconceived notion that you've got the Idol crown in the bag, it makes your fans lazy and you lose votes. Kris Allen, on the other hand, consistently delivered solid performances and received mildly positive reviews from the judges. His fans felt like they had to fight harder to keep him in the contest.

2. But you should especially blame Kara DioGuardi. The new judge hasn't been getting much love from the blogosphere—especially after her gaffes involving "Studio 57" (she meant "Studio 54") and "Saturday Night Live" (she meant "Saturday Night Fever")—but she really proved to be the Joe Biden of Idol after she co-wrote the worst coronation song ever, "No Boundaries." The last song is usually how Simon manipulates America into voting for his favorite contestant, by unleashing a parade of superlatives. Not this year. "No Boundaries" was such a train wreck that neither of the contestants could pull it off. It literally left all the judges speechless, including Kara, who said she wasn't going to judge Kris based on her own song. Huh? In the end, the confusion was good for Kris. The judges weren't able to make one big last push for Adam.

3. Did we mention that Adam is a rock god? Idol has always favored syrupy balladeers or pop singers. It doesn't matter how well you can rock out—ask Chris Daughtry or Bo Bice or Carly Smithson or even Allison Iraheta. Rockers don't win American Idol.

4. The Christian factor. Last week, I wrote about how Adam (who hasn't spoken about his religious beliefs on the show) might be hurt by the fact that he was going up against two devout Christian finalists, Kris and Danny Gokey. Most of Gokey's fans probably ended up voting for Kris over Adam, giving him the boost he needed to win. You could say—as many of you have in the comments—that religion is an irrelevant criterion for judging a singing competition. But the fact remains that Idol is one of TV's most family-friendly shows, and it draws a large number of Christian viewers. Five out of seven of the past Idol winners have been very vocal about their Christian faith. Kris Allen had the edge here.

5. The gay factor. Adam Lambert hasn't talked about his sexuality publicly, but TV Guide reported that he was "openly gay," Perez Hilton reported on his (alleged) boyfriend and there are photos circulating online of someone who looks like him kissing another guy. This shouldn't be an issue in 2009. But if you've read any of online chatter about Idol this year, you know that sadly, there's still plenty of hate out there. Adam has millions of fans, and it looked like he could strike an emphatic blow against homophobia, much the same way that Obama broke through the race barrier when he became the country's first black president. But his ambiguous sexuality still cost Adam votes.

6. The youth vote. Remember last week, when they played footage of Kris and Adam visiting their hometowns? Both were met with adoring crowds, but only one was greeted by wailing tween girls who looked like they were in the presence of a long-lost Jonas brother. Kris was the heartthrob who covered Kayne West and dressed like Chace Crawford. Lambert was the Broadway kid who sang Aerosmith and wore eyeliner. The girl vote went to Kris, an important victory—tween girls are the diehards who stay up for hours after the show texting and calling in their votes.

7. In the end, Adam was the better singer, but Kris might have been the more unique artist, despite what the judges said. Don't believe me? Prior to the finale, here are the Adam performances I most remember: "Black and White," "Tracks of My Tears," "Mad World," "If I Can't Have You." Here's Kris's list: "Ain't No Sunshine," "Falling Slowly," "She Works Hard for Her Money," "Heartless." Which songs are you more likely to have on your iPod? Kris beats Adam on mine. They're both terrific guys who have great careers ahead of them. But maybe Kris is the more deserving American Idol after all.

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I also liked the comments:

Posted By: loveidolmusic (May 21, 2009 at 11:00 AM)
OK, so I agree with alot that is mentioned above. I am saddened that Adam did NOT win, but he is iconic. He will make platinums on his albums. Kris, congratulations that you did win, but you were not a better singer than Danny Gokey, why did he make it to the finals and not Danny? This is another upset, worse than with Ruben Studdard and Clay Aiken. I am a Christian and I enjoyed listening to Adam. Adam is an ARTIST when it comes to music, great performer and entertainer like Carrie Underwood. So why did he not win? I am still pondering this myself. Do not take this as I did not like Kris, he is a great guy, southern smile, sweet personality, young married and in college, kinda the all american boy next door, but he cant perform and make music like Adam OR Danny. Someone has some pull out there in America, but Adam does not need the title, he already is a winner in my eyes, no matter what his choices he makes in life, he can SING!!

Posted By: hildabrown (May 21, 2009 at 10:58 AM)
What a shame...Every week the judges say "it is a singing competition". So how did Allen win? Like him or not, Adam was a much better singer than Allen. The best part about this, is Adam will go so much further than Allen and he will not have to go by the Idol rules for the 1st year...
Good Luck to you Adam...
I have watch Idol every year, but bye bye..no more...

Posted By: tryin' (May 21, 2009 at 10:57 AM)
Adam's voice is a thing of beauty and I love his individuality. He is the only artist I've ever heard that matches the talents of the late, great Freddy Mercury. So --- when QUEEN actually appeared on the stage, I thought I'd died and gone to heaven (I only wish Adam had been able to solo with them...Kris was no match with or for QUEEN). Adam did Freddy proud - Adam does Adam proud. Kris is talented, but Adam is a superstar. American Idol winner or not, Adam will be the winner in the long run ... his talent and horizons are limitless.
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I don't necessarily agree with all of it. For instance, I like Kara and don't think she had anything to do with it. AND I see nothing unique about Kris, but whatever. I don't know if I will ever be watching American Idol again. Lets just re-name the show, "who can be the biggest teenage heart throb?" Or, "Who could we hear being played on the radio over and over and over again?" We all have our opinions and that is a good thing , I guess! Usually I don't get so worked up about things, but THIS! C'mon. This helped clear up a lot. Now, maybe I can sleep at night!!!

Dinner is served

This is what happens when I "make" dinner.
ALSO
Combined with these non-motherly traits:

poor+disorganized+last minute planner+culinary challenged+kitchen loather




"COOKING"

I loathe the very thought of it. It's pure misery to me.


Here is what dinner consisted of that sad, miserable & unforgettable night:

-fried eggs
-unsalted peanuts
-saltine crackers with mustard
-tomato soup
-apple sauce
-canned peaches
-strawberries

It was actually kind of fun to see how totally random I could be. Andrew said he liked it. And I know he meant it because we've been married almost 3 years and we don't lie about things like that. If it sucked, he would tell me. I think. We are brutally honest about things. It did suck though. It's pretty sad that he thanked me for THAT.

I guess he was just happy to get a dinner at all, and that is sad.

There should be laws against people like me. There should be cooking classes starting at age 5 for all women. I am not sexist, but in the LDS culture, it is automatically assumed that the sweet little wife has dutifully prepared an awesome dinner for their family. Along with a clean house. If I were to be judged on those things, I would be a complete failure! UGHH! I hate it!

Why can't this "Motherly" thing just come natural to me??

My Fun Project

I've been so busy the last few days. My Aunt gave me a fun project to work on. She is helping start up an Amber Alert GPS company. She asked me to take pictures of "Kids being Kids", to put in the brochure (if they are good enough). So, since I had Thursday and Friday off, Jax & I went down to Richfield, where my Mom had rounded up a bunch of cute kids for me. It was sooooooo much fun. I took sooooooo many pictures. It was such a fun project. I'm STILL editing. There are still more to come. I've posted tons of them on my photography blog.

you should take a look and tell me what your favorites are. There are sooooo many. I really hope they can end up using some of them in the brochure. What great fun!!

Mothers Day Flowers

I told Andrew that if he didn't get me snap dragons for Mothers Day, that I would go get my own. I don't think he believed me. But dangit, I wanted some snap dragons! So, I went and got my own. Kind of sad, but oh well. Here they are :

Yeah, I know they look dead. I didn't do that to them. I bought them that that way. They should bloom , if I can take care of them the right way. I know nothing about flowers. But this should be fun. I also don't know what colors they will be. I am excited . I've never really planted my own flowers and taken care of them. Yipee for flowers. Pretty soon, they'll hopefully look like this:

More Flowers

I can't sleep. Ugh. It's frustrating. I can't sleep at night , but love to in the day. That style doesn't work out so hot when you have an 18 month old up at 8 am who requires much caring for. When that time rolls around , it's not gonna be pretty! Anyway, I'll share some flowers I've been working on. I took these on Mothers Day and it was a complete blast. SO SO SO FUN.





There are more. A lot more.
you know where to go for that...






Here are just a few.

t

Mamas Day

Mothers Day festivities started the night before. Andrew told me we could go shopping and I could pick out a couple new shirts! yay! I dragged him and Jaxon through every store in St. George searching for the perfect, cutest, cheapest deal I could find. Andrew endured to the end, chasing Jaxon through all the stores, without one single complaint! Wow!

The next day started out beautifully. Andrew got up with Jaxon and let me sleep in. If you know me, sleep ranks up there right next to cookies and photography. So that was just wonderful. Then, Andrew brought me some breakfast in bed! Well, this might be the worst thing ever, but at our house, we treat holidays special. We let the 'celebrated' person choose what they want that day. Such as...if there is 9 am church, this person can choose not to go. And that's what I did. Sue me.

Andrew then had a picnic & a long scenic drive planned. (He knows I love those.) He planned on us going to Navajo Lake and Cascade Falls up Cedar mountain. We got up there and everything was still frozen! The roads were too bad to get very far. We'll have to go in the summertime, which apparently must start in July or August up there. It was still pretty and fun. We drove around and stopped in some places. It was great just to get the awesome fresh air.

It's funny how you don't realize what you grew up with, until you're grown up. It's also funny how you don't realize you NEED those things, like you need air in your lungs, until you are all grown up too. I swear, when I was a kid, and my parents dragged me around from mountain picnic to mountain picnic, boring me with the long drives crowded in a hot van with my annoying brothers, I vowed to myself that I would move to the city as soon as possible. I would spend my days shopping in big cities, pampering myself with today's conveniences. Not in the wilderness swapping away bugs from my face.

BUT. I didn't realize that while sitting there on a rock, reading my Teen Magazines & listening to my discman (we didn't have i-pods back then), trying to block all these mountainous ways of life from my being, it was seeping into me, imprinting itself all over my whole person. Becoming part of me. Part of who I am.

NOW. Andrew knows that every Sunday, I want to go in the mountains. On a drive or on a hike. I want to feel the fresh, cool air on my face and in my lungs. I want to smell the dirt, and the pine. I want to hear nothing, but wind through trees! What is happening to me??!?! I am turning into a mountain-lover, tree-huggin, nature girl!

It was a great Mothers Day. Thanks, Andrew!

These things are undeniably part of my being:

Quakey aspen trees & the smell of pine. Who woulda thought?

Navajo Lake was pretty in it's very own frozen, dead way. It has major potiental for summer though!

During our Adventures , we ran across this. Somebody please explain, cause I can't.

I love Cedar mountain. It's a beauty!

My favorite trees: Quakeys. Dead or alive.

Okay, here is the question:

Which of these trees looks the meanest? To me it was obvious. One of them looks so horrible and awful. A tree you don't want to come across alone on a dark alley. Can you guess which one?

Jaxon's favorite part of the whole day: throwing rock into the fry sauce colored river.

The day did not end here. When we got home, Andrew let me go have my alone time with my camera. At the Temple. Where many beautiful flowers are in bloom. More to come!!!

HOPE YOU ALL HAD A FAB MOTHERS DAY! I LOVE YOU, MAMA!!!!