American Idol Defense

Ok- I know Adam has some funky things going on- but I must defend my choice. I will admit that if he continues to perform like last week, he will be voted off due to not connecting with the Idol voters. However, there is no denying his talent as a singer and performer. I am not particularly into his kind of music. In fact, I doubt I'd ever buy one of his albums. (I DID buy his Black and White song- that was incredible!) But he is super talented vocally. No one can match him. And he knows how to work the stage better than anyone else. If he gets real with his audience and stays consistent, I think he will win.

Why not Megan? She's too much like Brooke White. Brooke White did awesome up to the end, but her voice is too stylized to get her to the end. All of Megan's songs are going to start sounding the same.

Why not Danny? Danny was actually my first choice in the beginning. He is great, however, he sounds so much like David Cook ( I totally wanted Cook to win last season- BTW) that I think American Idol fans will want a different sound this year. It gets boring pumping out the same kind of winners every year. I also feel the same about Lil- I'm tired of the same sound season to season- but I think she stands a better chance because she's different than last season's winner.

Who else has a shot in my opinion? I think Allison, Matt, and possibly Anoop will have a shot at the end. I think they need to up their game vocally and Adam needs to connect with his audience better (which he has been told in the past is his weakness as a Broadway performer).

That's my analysis. "Analysis" makes it sound like the topic is actually important to discuss- like politics or philosophy. American Idol is mostly a waste of time, but it is my guilty pleasure. What can I say?

Are these MY legs?

I was rounding the last bend of my run tonight and I thought "did my legs just do what I thought they did?" And they did. 10 miles. If you would have asked me a couple of months ago if I would be running this far, I would have laughed.

Pardon the brag- I'm mostly just shocked!

Your Next American Idol

Hands down.

I thought it was a fluke but it's really true!

I have a couple of friends I've been running with over the last while, and last Thursday we ran 8 stinkin' entire miles! I thought it was a fluke, but last night we did it again! 8 miles! Running the whole way without stopping. It took an hour and a half, but we did it! I am preparing for a half marathon in June, so I've got a lot to do still to get ready, but I'm over half way there!

Homemade Hair

I know there are several new and budding hair stylists in my family, but I must just say that I don’t think they are necessary. How can something as easy as hair take schooling? Honestly. In fact, I will give you a lesson in coloring and highlighting hair right now. I did my own just a couple of days ago and you can do it too.

How to Color Your Hair at Home

Before beginning, there are a couple of expectations you must change. When you go to a salon to get your hair colored, you are able to request a color and (for the most part) it will appear upon your head once you are done. This expectation must change when doing your own. When you do your own hair, especially when doing highlights, you must be flexible with the shades of color that may appear on your head when you are finished. When going for a dark blonde with blonde highlights, you may end up with medium brown hair and copper/blonde highlights. And I hear that when you are really lucky (I have not experienced this myself) you get orange or green hair.

Another expectation you must change is that when you walk out of the salon, you generally want to feel beautiful. You want to be able to flick your hair from side-to-side knocking over all in your path with your radiance. You want to saunter into your house, throw a quick smile at the hubby, and watch him so entranced by your loveliness that he grasps you in his arms, gives you a kiss and whispers- “I’ll make dinner and do the dishes.”

When you do it at home, the goal is to not end up looking like a freak.

So let’s proceed from there…..

Step 1: The first thing you need is to gather your equipment. I get a large towel. You need this to wipe up large gobs of goo that go sliding down your face during the all-over color part. You also need your color and highlight kits. Don’t bother spending too much time picking it out because no matter how long you spend trying to decide which shade to choose, you will still have your doubts when you get home and may even experience the phenomenon called the Split Second Panic. More on that later. And you will need gloves.

Step 2: Get in the buff. There is no reason to waste money with buying a cape.

Step 3: Next you apply the all-over color. Follow the package instructions to mix the color. Be sure you put your finger over the applicator tip to mix the color by shaking. It just gets a little annoying to have to climb all over your counters to clean the color off of the ceiling and vanity.

Step 4: This is the step that you will most likely experience the Split Second Panic. As you are ready to take the plunge and glop on the first blob of color, you may experience thoughts such as "WHAT am I doing? Is my hair going to fall out? Is it going to look like the chick I saw in Sally's who came in with wet black and orange hair asking the manager to help her dye her hair back to a normal color?" Your hand will falter, and you'll be cleaning up a smear of color that blips out of the bottle, misses your head, lands on your face, and slides down your nose. Do not give up. Proceed to follow the package instructions.

Step 5: After applying and rinsing out the all-over color, it is time to add the highlights. It is suggested that you start a layer or two under the top layer of your hair. As you are getting the hang of properly smearing highlighting creme in the right spots you can end up with tiger stripes, spots, uneven color, etc. The top layer of your hair will cover the "practice area" and you won't even notice- except when you try to style your hair by pulling half of it up. Then you have to get a little creative.

Step 6: At a salon you process your highlights by sitting under a nice, warm heat lamp thingy. You catch up on the latest Jen and John/Brad gossip while drinking a refreshing beverage. When you do it at home, it is important to process correctly. This consists of streaking around the house in a panic, fearful of what you'll end up with. Be sure to google 'how to fix highlights' and read all of the suggestions posted by 13 year old girls in case you need to use one of their ideas. Put you salon's number on speed dial and be sure your chocolate ice cream supply is stocked so that you can get the emotional support you may need once you rinse.

The Final Step: Once you have completed your highlight processing, rinse, and style- bug your friends and spouse with questions like "Does it look ok? It's not too brassy is it? Is it even on both sides?" This step may take the longest amount of time- like until you decide to it yourself again.

I miss the salon!!!

Weekend with the Cranes

This weekend we went to Phoenix to go to the temple and spend some time with Loren and Marlene. They spoiled us rotten! We got to go to the Botanical Gardens which was featuring art by Chihuly. It was amazing!! The pictures below doesn't do his work justice. My favorite was the canoe full of glass balls.

This globe was actually made for the Utah Olympics.

Renaissance Festival

For a school field trip, I went as a chaperon to the Renaissance Festival. It was like walking into the past! The buildings, dress, talk, and activities were authentic to the time period. I had a blast.

This is Sierra and I. Sierra is my student that I teach at the high school (permission granted to post picture). We dressed up as fair maidens. Isn't Sierra the cutest thing ever!?!

One of the hot lunch items was a turkey leg. I had to try one! It was so crazy to see people walking around with huge hunks of meat!

The highlight of the day was riding an elephant. They are so huge and have such rough, crusty skin. Isn't he a beauty?