Reorganizing...

I moved into my old bedroom...and I believe I have removed pretty much everything my parents decided to store in here, minus one desk that there really isn't a home for elsewhere in this house...yet. I mean, this is still my room! At the very least, it should be kept as a guest bedroom in my opinion. But I digress. In this process, I decided to move the room around to make more wall space. It makes more sense. And it feels better. I definitely needed a change...

I am not done yet...the closet will officially be tackled tomorrow, and I am not looking forward to it. I put it off for last. But I have dusted, washed, swept, sterilized, stain-removed everything that I have touched so far, including the floorboards. Now to figure out where to put all these blasted clothes I own. I did toss some of my old shoes before moving back here, which is great! (It's partially an excuse to go buy new shoes, but that won't happen for a few weeks...also gives me a chance to wear my sexy red heels that I usually only pull out for special occasions...they need some exercise).

I think I am finally going to get rid of some pieces of my childhood...toys, cards, things like that. Important things, like trophies, heirlooms and such I will keep. I had a good time throwing away old high school assignments. (wasn't hanging on to those, I am surprised they didn't hit the dumpster the day of graduation!) I looked at my old math assignments and there is NO way I could ever do those assignments today. Good thing I went with music...

Found some pictures of me as a toddler...once I get my printer out and set up, I will scan them and show y'all a few...

Feeling Out of Place...

Went to Church yesterday. In the ward I attended when I was in Young Womens. And it was very odd. For starters, they have a new building. A stake center actually. Since I moved away when I was 18, they created a new stake...and the stake center is across the street from my old high school. Very weird...at least, for me it was.

Then there is the ward. About 1/3 of the families in the ward were there when I moved away...but what's weird is that some of them are people that were youth with me, and they are now married, have different last names, and have KIDS...not just one, but many!

Yeah...weird. At least my old YW President is Relief Society President. Gives me a little feeling of normalcy...

And then I don't know anyone else in the ward...I know one member of the bishopric from when I lived here before...at least I know one member of the stake presidency...he used to be my Bishop. :)

The new building is HUGE...biggest stake center I have been in, and I thought nothing could top the Birmingham stake center...I of course am not counting the tri-stake center in Mesa...

Anyways...strange to be home. But nice too. Dad made me my favorite meal that he makes...spaghetti and meatballs, using Grandma Madsen's meatball recipe (SO GOOD). And I had me a tuna sandwich using Dad's relish for lunch today...yummers...and we've already had Mom's cheese toast...I am fully expecting zucchini casserole next. :) And homemade root beer. YUM!!!

Made it...

Made good time today, even with stopping at the Big Texan (that tourist trap in Amarillo where they give you a 72 oz steak for free if you can eat it and the baked potato, salad and 3 giant shrimp in under 1 hour...a bunch of my friends have gone there as they were passing through, so I decided I needed to check it out...9 guys were all trying that 72 oz deal when I left...crazy people) for nearly 1 hour. It was nice to get a steak...I think I am low on iron, cause it tasted REALLY good and I wanted another one...

As soon as I got home, my sister calls me and asks if I would like to go to a friends wedding reception. He went to our ward and was in the cello section with me in high school, so of COURSE I wanted to go! :) It was kinda fun seeing everyone there.

I am living amongst boxes...got the car halfway unpacked...it's amazing how much easier unpacking my car is...but then again, I don't have 2 flights of stairs to walk up and down between my room and my car...nor do I have 99% humidity outside here in NM. Anyways, I am already getting things moved out (Dad's old computers) and am thinking about moving the room around a bit...I suppose I better get the rest of the stuff out of my car first...but that can wait til Monday.

SO excited about sleeping in MY bed...I hope I sleep better tonight than I did last night...I had some wacko dreams last night, and had the hardest time staying asleep...but I am writing off the extra ounce of sleeplessness to be due to the Dr. Peppers I drank (I had a LOT of caffeine in my system) and being in a strange room...

Anyways...night ya'll.

OK.

I am OK and am in OK...haha...I just came up with that all on my own.

I know, I should stay as far away from comedy as a profession as possible.

Got a late start, but being a night owl, it didn't make a difference to me. The drive has been pretty much totally uneventful. I still hate Memphis with a passion, and try to spend as little time as possible there, but of course I hit rush hour traffic the Friday of a holiday weekend...yeah, I was fuming after a bit...

I got the hook up on a hotel room! I didn't even ask for it, but it has a microwave AND a fridge...too bad I don't have anything to put into either...and there is this ginormous bed in it! I really think it's a California King...too firm for my taste, but I am really looking forward to sprawling...I have been sleeping on a twin which is SO not long enough for me...

So...I've been expecting gas prices to go up, due to the oil spill AND being that this is Memorial Day weekend...has anyone noticed that they have gone down? I noticed that in 'Bama...

And then I get into Oklahoma. I seriously need to consider moving here. Gas is $2.23 where I filled up last. That's 35 cents cheaper than it was in Alabama...the lady who was filling up next to me said that last week they were 50 cents higher...Seriously, why are gas prices going down? Is the economy finally leveling out or something? Do we have a surplus of gasoline?

I thought of one more thing I am going to miss as I was driving along. This car was up beside me for a bit, and I looked over right when the front passenger looked at me, and he smiled and nodded his head, and so did I. I LOVE Southern manners and hospitality. There is nothing like it in any other part of the country that I have been to. I will miss that. I won't miss false manners...you know when someone is being polite when they really are angry and want to say something else entirely...I think people should be honest, but in a respectful way...anyways, I will miss true Southern hospitality a lot...

Anyways...I am safe. I had a good dinner, there are cops EVERYWHERE, so even if I wanted to speed I wouldn't, but I have kept within 5 mph of the speed limit the entire time (which is something close to a miracle for me), and am staying far away from scary drivers.

Night ya'll...(yep, already missing Alabama...)

Goodbye Sweet Home Alabama

Things I will/won't miss about Alabama:

Will: Lightning Bugs...they are just so fun!
Won't: Any other kind of bug that grows to ginormous sizes here.

Will: GREAT BBQ, GREAT Fried Chicken, GREAT Fried Fish.
Won't: Most other Southern cuisine due to the fact that pretty much all of it is either fried or dripping with fat...

Will: Green grass that grows everywhere without watering it. And all the beautiful flowers...the hydrangea bushes are astoundingly beautiful right now. And in the fall, the turning of the leaves!
Won't: Allergies.

Will: Having FOUR seasons (as opposed to Arizona...which has Summer One, Summer Two, and the short period that falls under spring-like weather).
Won't: Winter.

Will: The rivers that are actually rivers (not creeks like we have in AZ and NM) and the natural lakes (unlike all the man made lakes back west).
Won't: Massive amounts of rainfall that cause flooding that the South is prone to...

Will: Trees...massive trees, and they are everywhere...and they just grow, you don't have to plant or water them!
Won't: Hurricanes, tornados, and thunderstorms...they are scary enough on their own, but the idea of the wind and rain knocking over one of these massive trees onto me, my house or my car scares me A LOT. The sound of a falling tree is one that still haunts me whenever it is stormy outside...

Will: Alabama Football and tailgating. Rolllllllll Tide Roll!!!
Won't: The traffic that goes with Alabama Football.

Will: Driving with my windows down during the spring and fall.
Won't: Walking outside or opening the door to get out of the car and my sunglasses fogging up due to the humidity that just slammed me in the face.

Will: The Gulf Coast beaches...beautiful beautiful beaches...
Won't: Oil spills.

Will: The beautiful Southern accents. Love them.
Won't: Not being able to understand certain Southern accents.

Will: All my friends that I have made here...I am truly going to miss them. Today was tough for me, saying goodbye to a bunch of my Tuscaloosa friends. I seriously was given two honest to goodness job offers today so that I would stay. Both by good friends.
Won't: Being so far away from my family. And not having a date in...well, let's just say it has been a very long time.

I will be on my way to Oklahoma City tomorrow morning, and then Saturday will get to my parents home in NM. Goodbye Alabama. Hello new chapter in my life.

Ah Lee...

Well, I can't say I am surprised about Lee winning, however much I wanted Crystal to win. I tried calling both lines just to see how busy things were with the voting last night, and all of Lee's lines were constantly giving me a busy signal, whereas Crystal's I got through 4 out of 5 times...I called about 30 times for her before I got tired of hitting the buttons on my phone.

I thought he was good and deserved the win. I took a listen to the demo of his single on itunes, and I liked it even better than his live performance. I guess they got rid of having them sing a new song as the hit single they first put out, since he did a cover of U2's 'Beautiful Day'. Like the song, and he sounds good on it.

One of my favorite things about the two finalists was that they were both very humble. For some people, this is the thing that they hated most about this season...no one was out for blood, no one was trying to win this no matter what the cost. There was no controversy stirring up ratings. But this is exactly what I loved the most about the contestants this year. It really was refreshing, as opposed to other 'reality' shows where the contestants don't get along, back bite each other, and even try to sabotage one another. American Idol, for the most part, isn't like that. The contestants didn't forget where they came from, and it's obvious that they will stay that way. That's one thing I really like about David Cook (American Idol winner 2 years ago)...I voted for him, he won, and he has not forgotten where he came from. He does tons of charity work for cancer research, due to losing his brother to it. He has stayed close to his family, and far away from controversy. And here he is, still recording and doing very well. Love it. It is too bad that he wasn't able to attend tonight...you would think that the charity event could've been rescheduled to a day or two later so that he could attend tonight...he was the only American Idol winner that wasn't there tonight.

But Lee. Lee is a funny one. One thing that did bug me about him was that he didn't move comfortably around the stage...as the weeks went on, he got better and better at it though. I really hope now that he has won this that he will be coached up on stage presence by an experienced teacher. The 'deer in headlights' look still comes back every once in a while. And the man needs to learn how to smile! He hardly ever smiled, and when he did, there usually weren't any teeth showing.

I do like his voice, and I think he will do well. I think Crystal will become a bigger star, but who knows. I have been wrong before.

Crystal vs Lee

Yes, I am still moving, but I took time to watch the essentials on TV tonight. Is there anyone else in the world that isn't happy that American Idol and NCIS are on at the exact same time Tuesday nights?

I watched NCIS live...didn't really feel like a season finale, felt like a normal show. I was expecting a LOT more intensity, but after that Grey's Anatomy finale I don't think any show will be catching up for a long time...yes, I watch entirely too much TV in the evenings.

Anyways, I got online and watched Crystal and Lee perform all three of their songs. Thank you youtubers...

After last week, I was leaning towards Lee winning, but Crystal hands down was the best tonight. She totally blew Lee out of the water. Black Velvet was AMAZING. And like Simon said, that one is difficult to really pull off. She really pulled out all the stops tonight.

I think I am the only one voting. Right at midnight, all of a sudden every call I make goes through. Ryan Seacrest said the lines were open for 4 hours, and I always wait an hour at the least before I cast a vote...either everyone got the wrong message, or Lee is going to win. I won't mind if he does, but based on tonight's performance, Crystal won. Hands down.

Ok, back to packing. Blah...at least it's easier this time...half my stuff was still in boxes when I started Monday. :)