thankful thursday

things i am thankful for this week:

**nakano seasoned rice vinegar balsamic blend dressing--this little baby has seen me through many a salad over the last few months. it has only 15 calories per tablespoon and it tastes DIVINE. maybe not as good as the full-fat ranch from pizza factory, but really, what dressing could?

**my ROCK STAR daughter--she straight killed it on her grades and i couldn't be more proud. i am the proudest. the PROUDERESTEST.

**the steak burrito at diablo's cantina in las vegas . you go without for long enough that it becomes your supreme fantasy: i couldn't eat it without making "oooooohing" sounds with each bite. it was a tad bit obscene. and, yes, i thought i was gonna need a cigarette afterwards. (but i refrained.)

**this commercial that made me burst out laughing when i heard the first line while walking through new york new york on monday. there's nothing like watching something that says 'menopause' multiple times on their jumbo-tron with a few drunk bachelor-party attendees.

good times!

thankful thursday

things i am thankful for this week:

**THIS spectacular and high quality gold ring from the "california gold rush" vending machine at mr. d's convenience store. mia has been wanting to put a quarter in that puppy for so long. she finally realized her dream this week and couldn't. be. happier.

**my awesome las vegas weekend at the jw marriott with my even awesomerrrrr man. we lounged at the pool and felt like rock stars. traveling with the rbc is always so wonderful--i heart getaways with him. i am eternally grateful that we get to travel so much--it's the biggest perk of his job, and we take full advantage of it at every opportunity.

we were also STOKED to find a few new things to do down there that were F-R-E-E:


zowie bowie --these two are the current, totally hip lounge act at the palms. they rocked our world. who doesn't love an act that covers britney, the black eyed peas, and justin timberlake? we felt like we hit the proverbial las vegas jackpot. and were TOTALLY entertained.

jc wooloughans irish pub --we were thrilled to see "the joshua tree", a spot-on u2 cover band that played outside in the courtyard under the stars. they were awesome.

**for bangs that jody cut which make us feel so much older. which the mother isn't a fan of. (the looking older part. not the bangs part.)

**and speaking of things i want megan to do--i'm hoping she'll make my girl kami's freaking radical all american fruit flag cake.

it has 3 of my favorite food groups: cookie dough, cream cheese, & marshmallow cream.

i {heart} carbs

so i've been on a fairly restrictive diet and i've come to one conclusion, and ONE CONCLUSION ONLY: carbs make my world go 'round.

everything that i crave, unfortunately, falls into the "naughty/NO NO NO/BAD GIRL" carb category--chips, mexican food, cookies, brownies, sweet rolls, pizza, cheetos etc. hell, at one point i was ready to sell one of my kidneys for a freaking bowl of frosted flakes.

what frustrates me is the fact that i've never been motivated by good, healthy foods that are for the sole purpose of fueling my body. i would bypass a really good piece of fruit for a single reese's peanut butter cup. (okay, i lie: TWO.) and i've always been of the opinion that lettuce is for rabbits and garnish, not for consumption. but, on the other hand, i feel strongly that carbs should be incorporated into every single meal. nay, BITE, if possible.

what the last couple of months how told me, however, is that this love affair is strictly one-sided. carbs simply just don't love me back.

by cutting back on the amount that seemed to find their way into my mouth, i was able to drop more than twenty pounds. (with some other help. but mindi doesn't want to start ww3 today--that's for another time.)

i was surprised that it worked. i've never gone without to this degree before, so i refused to believe in my heart that it would actually work. i couldn't bear my blogimony of restricted carb intake. because then i would ACTUALLY HAVE TO RESTRICT MY CARB INTAKE.

so what i want to know is, how do i maintain my relationship with carbs without making it feel neglected? and i am NOT the girl, btw, who says, "i'll just never eat carbs again." because life wouldn't be worth living.


DIET is always gonna be a 4-letter word in my book.


{image courtesy of tammy}

anybody have any great advice? bueller? bueller?

camera envy

"Ok, now tilt your head a little to the left, make a fist and bring it up under your chin, and gaze off into the distance. There...that's perfect."

i am a crappy photographer.

there. i said it out loud. but i think the world in general already knew that about me.

for years i didn't even own a camera. i relied on the kindness of family, friends, and the occasional stranger to provide me with photos of my offspring.

i don't know if it's because i didn't want to then SCRAPBOOK said photos, (a fate worse than DEATH) or if i just thought that i would always remember the moments because i had such a spectacular memory and recall of all events in general. (note to self: DON'T do that again. your memory sucks.)

so i've decided to step up my game when my man surprised me with the mother of all mothering day gifts: a nikon d60.

it's similar to the camera that my girl kami has, and her photos are fanFREAKINGtastic. so i hope that just by possessing the camera i will work photography magic.

there are a LOT of numbers, however, and many dials to turn or break or adjust to the wrong setting and a few buttons to push that i think might have been invented by the dharma initiative.

what i'm most excited about? to join the club of "really good moms" at the school play/recital/program who have those ginormous cameras with the fancy straps ordered off of etsy. with what appears to be a scope worthy of the hansen planetarium attached.

while at chandi's school program the other night, i had a small epiphany:the level of your mothering greatness is in direct proportion to the size of the lens attached to your camera.

well now i'm gonna be able to hold my head high come next school year.
my game plan is to walk right in with my largest lens attached and scream,"what NOW, BIZNATCHES?!"

btw: i am already to page 10 of my manual. i feel that i should be ready to open my own photography business within the week. specializing in glamour shots and "concept" photos.

"Now, just imagine you're weightless, in the middle of the ocean, surrounded by tiny little seahorses."

smartest 4 year old in the world

how do we know?

SHE ALREADY GRADUATED FROM PRESCHOOL.

(she gets her good looks from her dad and her incredible, mind-blowing intelligence from her mom.)

peachy KEANE

{l to r: jen tix, tiburon, mindi, april, megan, & jody}

wow.

keane totally made it to the TOP FIVE on my concert list tuesday night. they were spectacularly uh-MAYYYYYY-zing. and we were right there, center 9th row to get in on all of the finger-licking goodness.

for some reason we didn't take the blogger-required photos until AFTER the concert (again! do i sense a pattern in my life? lame.) when i looked like i'd been ridden hard and put away wet. but it was a exhilarating and keane-loving induced concert exhaustion, so i was more than happy to comply.

we danced. we screamed. we wore glo-sticks. we knew nearly every word. and were totally amazed at the enthusiasm of the crowd--i was thinking it was gonna be a little more of a "adult contemporary" crowd. (forgive me for even uttering those words.) but these fans were preeeeetttty hardcore. they stood the whole time. and yelled even a little louder than i did.


what was also cool was how gracious and humble the whole band was. it was refreshing.


tiburon waited outside afterwards and got photos and autographs of each member. (see her funny/stalker-worthy post about it HERE)

this photo was with the rockin' pianist, tim rice-oxley. as you can see he is QUITE DREAMY. we were a little feklempt.



it was a wonderful gno and i couldn't have asked for better company to enjoy it with~i can't wait until they come to utah again!

thankful thursday

things i am thankful for this week:



**the freaking AWESOME white trash wedding photos that i saw of seal and heidi klum renewing their vows, trailer-park style. i've always been 'medium' in regards to them as a couple, but now they go to the FRONT OF THE LINE.

i just wish i would have thought of it first.

**this cute little lady and her mothers day gift that she was SO. EXCITED. to give me~

**the fact that i am as pretty as PINK LAUNDRY. beat THAT, internet mothers!!!

**this guy. who wears a shirt that says:

**he kept the fort under control and even took a day off to watch mia so i could gallivant around slc with my gals. he is wonderful and thoughtful and i am one lucky chick.

that someone DID NOT give me this mommymobile license plate holder for mothers day--EGADS!

**for the "give me liberty" program that chanandler bong rocked last night. it only confirmed our suspicion that she looks fabulous in red, white, & blue!

MOTHER OF ALL DAYS

my mothers day was lovely.

i ate breakfast in bed, had my praises sung at a lunch i didn't prepare, and consumed (more like HOOVERED!) home-made oreos like they were never gonna make them again. (thanks megan--xoxo )

i always experience the typical 'mothers day guilt' while sitting in sacrament meeting, listening to the inspirational stories of mothers who went without food or water OR clothing for fifty days just so they could buy junior his band uniform. while walking barefoot. in the snow. UPHILL.
what i can't understand is WHERE oh where are the stories of the moms in their mediocre/somewhat poor judgement call moments? like perhaps when one mother (allegedly) used the twenty dollars given to her daughter for christmas from the grandmother to go to 'titanic' and buy a large popcorn combo? (ALLEGEDLY.)

or what about the mother who's daughter called her from school (allegedly) saying that her teeth hurt after having her braces tightened? and so said mother (allegedly!) took a lortab to said daughter, which only made her dizzy and fall asleep during 6th period? WHAT ABOUT THAT MOTHER?

so, if there are any mothers out there who participate in this, i salute you:

and i say: welcome to my club!

yesterday,one of my highlights was the MAJOR AWARD i received. i was so pleased because i truly think that it was deserving.

thankful thursday

things i am thankful for this week:

**for the sunday afternoon we spent with our girls in zion national park--i hadn't been since i was a teenager and was astounded by the beauty. AND the amount of foreigners. and for the joy it brought me every time they pronounced it "ZYYYYEEE-AHHHHHHN."

**for the puss-filled present growing on my brother mike's back that i got to squeeze last weekend. words cannot describe the sick & twisted, sadistic pleasure that it gave me. i thought i was going to need a cigarette after we finished. SO wrong on SO many different levels.....

then i found out that there were entire web SITES dedicated to the fine art of zit popping--glad to see that there are other freaks of nature out there....(*cough. *cough. "HEAAAHH **AMY.**)

**that i can wear one of these ULTRA-CHIC swine flu masks during the pandemic and still look fashionable while achieving forwardness at the same time. {WIN/WIN.}

**that my sister in law got a new camera. so she could take priceless family heirloom quality photos like this one of my brother.

mindi's confession: my very own stalker

now that confession booth is closed, i thought i would post my own confession:




so, about 2 months after i started blogging, i set up sitemeter on my account. it's a tracking system that will tell you who's on your blog in real time, which blogs referred to you, how many visitors, which cities they came from, etc.

i like to pop on several times a day to check out my blog's action (she gets around, you know) and check to see if anybody from antartica might be visiting that day.

but as i would get on each time, i noticed that there was somebody that was always, and i mean ALWAYS on my blog from goshen, indiana. and for 30 or 40 minutes at a time. sometimes a few hours.

i had no idea that i was so big in goshen! i imagined that i had a large following there, perhaps at a university or (dare i might dream?) the local bowling alley. i could picture them just enjoying my oh-so-witty bloggy style so incredibly much that perhaps they might just ask me to be grand marshal in their 4th of july parade. or at the very least, judge a beauty pageant. (i'd be SO good at that!)

but then, as EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. i would log on and see the same ip address in 'goshen, indiana' on my site, i started to get nervous.

i'd always joked about wanting my very own stalker, but i was starting to sweat. maybe this WAS the proverbial and mythical internet wack-job who was obsessed with my good looks and even gooder-looking children. they would increasingly step up their stalking until they snapped and came for me in the night. in the rain. when all the power was out. and there were no phone lines. and i had just stepped out of the shower.

i knew that my friends and family would all shake their heads and say, "WE TOLD HER SO. WE TRIED TO WARN HER. SHE DIDN'T LISTEN. SHE SHOULD HAVE GONE PRIVATE."

i even tried calling them out publicly after a hater comment that i was SURE they published. i told them i KNEW WHERE THEY WERE--GOSHENINDIANAGOSHENINDIANAGOSHENINDIANA--but, still, they persisted.

so, finally, i got up the courage to call infowest (my internet provider) about it:

mindi: "yes, my blog is 'word to your mother'--perhaps you've heard of it?"

tech: (silence.........................crickets chirping............)

mindi: "ummm, so anyway.....what do i do?"

tech: "ma'am? this ip address you gave me? in goshen, indiana? yeah, it's YOURS. YOUR OWN COMPUTER ADDRESS. FROM YOUR HOUSE."

i almost expected for him to then scream, "THE CALL IS COMING FROM UPSTAIRS!!!!! WHERE ARE THE CHILDREN???"


well, HELL.

i was stalking myself. and it apparently was a full-time job.

for whatever reason, my computer service was routed through goshen and it was my own computer i was worried about.


mindi: 0
internet: 1