Best In Show

The moment we've all been waiting for has finally come...the World's Ugliest Dog has been crowned for 2008! There was some stiff competition at the show in Petaluma, CA this year, but here's the unfortunate little pup that took home the grand prize!
This dog won a couple of years ago...













And this mangy mutt won three years in a row!!

I'm sorry, but this is seriously the ugliest dog I have ever seen. I actually screamed when I saw this picture, and he will now haunt my nightmares for weeks to come. Could you honestly love a dog like this? He looks like something out of those "Scary Stores To Tell in the Dark" books. You know, those ones by Alvin Schwartz with really dumb stories, but horrifying illustrations?

Here's a little comparison for you...























I can't believe this competition actually exists, but it's airing on Animal Planet in October. That channel is really stepping up their game lately.
First they somehow managed to get A-lister Mario Lopez to host "Pet Star", and now they won the bid to air the Ugliest Dog in the World competition. I think we can really expect to see a lot out of this station for years to come.

A little reminder

Every once in a while I see certain things that make me realize what a baby I am for feeling like I have any problems in my life at all. This morning that definitely happened to me. I can't lie, it was on the Disney channel, which I was watching shamelessly in my pajamas. They do this thing where they highlight kids that are really involved in sports or something, I don't really know the whole premise. But today it showed this little kid Rudy. He's only 13, and he had both of his legs amputated when he was little. And this kid runs, swims, skateboards, bikes...everything. He does triathlons all the time, and he can run a 6 minute mile on prosthetic legs. And he seems like the nicest little boy. As soon as his legs were amputated, he just started figuring out ways that he could still do stuff like everyone else. His dream is to do an IronMan competition. If you don't know, like I didn't, it's a triathlon in Hawaii where you do a 2.4 mile ocean swim, a 112 mile bike ride, and THEN you run a marathon, which is 26.2 miles. I mean, are you kidding me?? My dream is to be able to run like 5 miles on a treadmill, and I have both my legs. Rudy is my new inspiration, and makes me realize I can gripe a lot less about my own, not so difficult life. Here's a link to his thing on the Disney channel website if you want to see how adorable he is!

This is the only "Tag" I will ever do!

I have been tagged, and I'm only doing it because Rache gave it to me!!

5 things on my "to-do" list this week:
1. Finish decorating our house
2. See Rachel and Jessica
3. Take a CPR class
4. Play tennis in the park
5. Get enrolled in Nursing school for the Fall

5 snacks i enjoy:
1. Caramel corn Quaker mini rice cakes (SO GOOD!)
2. Diet Coke
3. Pink Lady apples
4. Pistachios and Soy nuts
5. Vanilla chocolate swirl Jell-O pudding

5 things i would do if i suddenly became a billionaire:
1. Move to a massive flat in South Kensington, London and buy Jess, Rachel, and Jilly places right next to me so we could play all day!
2. Give money to a Human Trafficking women's recovery program
3. Buy a house so I can adopt kittens and puppies for me and my sister
4. Fly all of my friends and family to New York/London/Paris/Milan for a shopping spree
5. Retire in an adorable Southern home with shutters and lots of land, and a wrap-around porch with rocking chairs

5 places i've lived:
1. Camas, WA
2. Provo, UT
3. Orem, UT
4. London, England-six weeks does count Rache!
5. I've only lived in 4 places!

5 jobs i've had:
1. Paper route for the Camas Washougal Post-Record when I was 10
2. Working for my Dad's office during the summer doing data entry when I was 12
3. Advisement Secretary at the BYU School of Technology
4. "Membership Associate" at Utah Education Association
5. Medical Assistant at an Ear, Nose, and Throat clinic

5 things people may not know about me:
1. I have never ever broken a single bone
2. My family nickname is "Nunny", and has been since I was like 2
3. I was in the play "The King and I" when I was 4
4. I am really good at Chemistry
5. I am extremely ticklish

5 fav musicians/bands:
1. Journey...obviously
2. Regina Spektor
3. Kelly Clarkson
4. Jewel
5. Brad Paisley

Save the World

I've never considered myself an environmentalist, or tree hugger if you will. I was raised in the Northwest, where you are brought up to feel like throwing paper in the trash is a one-way ticket to hell. Recycling is a part of life, and every house, every classroom, every business, has a recycling bin. We frequently watched Captain Planet, and knew what it meant to do our part to save the world.
Then I came to Utah.
And apparently outside of the Washington/Oregon borders, I am an extremist in the ways of environmentalism. My friend Ashton even told me that she wasn't allowed to watch Captain Planet because her dad said it was "too liberal".
At my last job, it was a six month battle to get them to pay for recycling service, because it is so expensive here. And on BYU campus, they have plastic recycling, but no aluminum. So with so much working against me, how is a girl to save the planet?
Then I found these on Urban Outfitters. Envirosax. Reusable shopping bags that are freaking adorable. I've had some bags that I try to remember to take with me to the grocery store, but I always seem to leave them at home by accident. But how could I ever forget these to die for, cute little things?
Plus they are huge, they can hold at least double what a regular shopping bag can. They are washable, durable, and just plain amazing.
So if you feel like saving the world, you could start with these.

Happy Happy Birthday, Rache baby!!!

Today is my beautiful, wonderful, adorable friend Rachel Bradshaw's 20th Birthday! Everyone should know how lucky they are that this doll was born today. =) I was blessed to meet Rache when we were roommates in London, a random placement that changed my life forever. She is the kindest, funniest, most genuine girl, and she has made my life better ever since she became a part of it! Happy Birthday, Rachel! I love you!!

The Beautiful Northwest

Here's a funny, and oh so true cartoon my cute mom sent me today.

The northwest may have one of the highest rates of depression, but we don't have very much skin cancer!

Another reason why it sucks to drive in Utah

The woes of adult responsibility are fully open me now, and one of these is sadly, paying for car insurance. I've never EVER been in an accident (knock on wood), but it seems that car insurance is still outrageously expensive. I signed up for Progressive in January, which I had learned during my research is one of the best. I paid about $630 for six months of insurance. Not so bad. But I got my renewal notice, and apparently my NEXT six month premium is $932!!!!!!! Umm....what?? I haven't had an accident, I haven't had a speeding ticket, I haven't even had a parking ticket. So I wrote to Progressive to find out why it went up so much. Here is their explanation:

"Your renewal premium also reflects a premium change that affected our customers in Utah. Like all auto insurers, we periodically review our claims experience to determine if our premiums are adequate to cover our cost of claims. The results of our recent review indicated that it was necessary to increase our premium levels."

Interpretation?? The claims from people in Utah were so high, that now we all have to pay more for our premiums to cover all of them. Absolutely ridiculous. But also, not that shocking. So now I get to help pay for every sweet bro with a popped collar to ram his Audi A4 into whatever car he wants in the Belmont parking lot.

Thank you, Progressive.

Bringing Sexy Back

So it's been ridiculous over the last years how scandalous clothing styles have been getting. Which is why I am so relieved by the swim suit collection at Urban Outfitters this summer.

It's such great progress to go from this being in style:
To THIS being what's in:

And especially this adorable little number my sister purchased:

And who doesn't wanna look like Marilyn Monroe in "Some Like It Hot" on the beach??
So be a little classy this summer. Learn more geometry than triangles when it comes to picking out your swimsuit.