Cherry blossom festival 2011

Paul and I zoomed downtown tonight cause we heard on the news that it is going to snow tonight and that all the cherry blossoms will be blown away by tomorrow. I hope it doesn't snow because Paul and I and some friends are planning on riding our bikes down here next weekend. Either way, here is a picture of the trees at dusk.




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Vote For My Friend Anna Kaelin

My friend Anna Kaelin is competing in the Utah Stadium of Fire Talent Search. Click on the link to vote for her.  Here is her video as well.

Stadium of Fire Talent Search

Thanks to all who submitted their videos for the Stadium of Fire Talent Search! Below you can view our Top 40. You may vote for up to three of your favorites. Vote by clicking on the button in the sidebar to the right or at the bottom of the page. You have until April 15 to cast your vote! The 25 most popular performers from this group will qualify for our live public auditions in May. From there, the three most talented contestants will be chosen to perform LIVE at Stadium of Fire on July 2, where one lucky act will win the contest and $10,000! Good luck to all our contestants! Note: The order of videos will rotate on this site each day. Scroll down this page to see all of the videos.


Check out what David Archuleta's singing coach Dean Kaelin, aka Anna's Dad, has to say

Anna Kaelin

Hello David Archuleta fans!
This is Dean Kaelin, voice coach for David Archuleta. I want to thank you all for your support of David and his career. You have been great and David and all of us that work with him are so grateful for your support of David and his music.
I wanted to make you aware if you weren’t already that my daughter Anna Kaelin is a Country/Pop singer whose career is rising. She was on American Idol season 8 and has been touring since last Summer. We showcased her for some labels and music industry people in Nashville in October. She will be moving to Nashville full time in March so that she can really get things going.

The labels are very interested in her, but are sitting back and watching how her fan base develops to see if she can generate some buzz and excitement among the listening public. If you enjoy David I think that you would really enjoy Anna.

I wanted to reach out to all of David’s fans and see if they would take just a few seconds and vote for Anna so she can get into the top 10 today. It would help show the labels that Anna has the ability to attract fans. I thought it would be an interesting experiment to see how active and strong David’s fans still are if they could generate some excitement for Anna as well! It would also be great if you could join her fan club on Facebook (just google Anna Kaelin Fan Club). That way you could keep up with all she is doing and be a part of things as her star rises! You could be one of the ones that says, “Yes, I knew her BEFORE she was famous!”

Anna has an EP that is available as well. You can find her songs on i-tunes, just search for Anna Kaelin. Thanks again for all your support of David and all he is doing!

Dean Kaelin – David Archuleta Voice Coach

Road Trip

This was our view from our campsite this morning.




Isn't it great? We are in Asheville NC and are heading into town to check out all its excitements.

Happy Friday!


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Camping

So Paul and I have packed up the car once again for a week long adventure. In the fall we headed north to look at the leaves and so this spring for our spring break we have decided to find the warm weather and head south.

Last night we camped at this great KOA in Wilmington, North Carolina and I woke up refreshed and excited about being with nature.

We spent today traveling along the coast in North and South Carolina stopping at beaches at sights of interest. We toured a navy battleship, which was amazing! I have no idea how those men stayed on those boats for so long.

Tonight we are in South Carolina just north of Savannah, Georgia. We pulled into a camp sight and noticed that there is only one sight for a tent and everything else is for cabins or RVs. Why do you think there is only one tent spot? I think it is for the person dumb enough to camp in a tent 40 feet from an alligator pond, that is why. So tonight dear friends I write to tell you that camping is not always like it is in the pictures and movies. Paul is sleeping in the tent with Jack ( the Doberman) and Charlie and I are hiding away in the car! I wonder if I am just a big wuss?



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Making Waves in the Blogging World

I just wanted to say that apparently I am becoming cool as I have been blogged about in Canada by this awesome chick named Caitlin. Check it out.  If you (meaning any of you that read my blog) want to blog about me then that is cool too! Unless of course you call me an ugly b-otch and draw mustaches on my pictures :) That I feel would be uncool.

Check out Caitlin's blog HERE and HERE.

Speaking of mustaches...check these wicked things out

Cool Hair Do

I love to read A Cup of Jo blog and the other day she posted this way cute hair style. I tried to recreate it and mine totally sucked and I ended up looking like a bad Princess Leia with 3 buns instead of 2. When Paul saw it he said "what the heck do you have in your hair?' so awesome for me. Apparently I suck at 3 twisted buns, but the style is so cute that I want to try it again until I get it right.

The full tutorial can be found here.
Try it out and send me a pic and let me know if you can do it.

Married 6 Years

I am proud to say that we have been married (click Here to see other past wedding post) six years as of March 5.  I realize that this isn't really all that long in the grand scheme of things, but in today's society where divorce is rampant and marriages are lucky to last two years, I am really proud of us.  I guess now we have to make it through the 7 year itch. 

Here are 6 Reasons Why I Wont Be Running Anytime Soon
1. He is 100 times more patient than me, which is a great balance to my NOW NOW NOW mentality
2. He cooks delicious food, which is just an added bonus considering that since he cooks- I don't have too
3. We push and support each other to be the best versions of ourselves
4. He loved me and took care of me during my horrible seizure every day multiple times a day period of our lives
5. He is my favorite person to travel with cause he is fun, easy going, and also cause we have similar travel styles
6. He is thoughtful and I love him

Our anniversary was spent enjoying brunch at a local restaurant called "Artie's" and feeling like we had gone into a diabetic coma after we ate the yummy Brioche French Toast (sweet bread dipped in sugary batter and then dipped in brown sugar granola), riding bikes together, going to see the movie "The Adjustment Bureau", and dancing.  Paul was so excited to give me my gift that he made me open it up the night before. He had been talking about it for weeks and that alone was enough, just knowing how excited he was to give me something that he knew I would love.  The best part is that I had mentioned that I wanted this in passing like 6 weeks ago.  I had been shopping at some little store and saw cowboy rain boots and  I thought they were absolutely adorable.  So when I opened up my box I was stunned and surprised to see...






They are dang cute and I love them and I love that Paul bought me something that I would have never bought myself.  Thanks babe.  Happy Anniversary!

Turn a Closet into an Office

I can not wait to own a house again.  I love this idea of turning a closet into an office.  Such a great color and great wallpaper.  Here are the details on how to do this project found at Country Living.

What do you think?

Buying the Caged Free Eggs 2

It is nice to know that my friends are so forward thinking and cool! I am planning on watching Food, Inc. tonight and recommend it to all my readers.  I will blog about what I learned and what I think.  I checked and it is available to watch instantly on Netflix.com if you have a subscription.  Maybe we should have a date night?  Lets all watch Food, Inc. tonight.

Lauren, I love that you have chickens in your yard. My old neighbors in Sugarhouse have chickens and my dear friend has chickens too. I saw this post on Sunset Magazine that made me think of everyone in Salt Lake City, Utah. If you don't get Sunset Magazine and you live in the West you are really missing out. I highly recommend it. I love this magazine. It has such great stories of cool earthy things to do, gardens, recipes, places to visit, etc.




Here is the chicken article.
Backyard chickens
Written by Vanessa Chang

Fresh eggs from your SLC backyard

One word: chickens. A new Salt Lake County law means you can now keep hens in your yard. Get a jump-start on spring with an intro class at the University of Utah. This month’s Coops de Ville: How to Raise Backyard Chickens gives you the 101 on which breeds to choose, how to care for fuzzy little chicks, and how to keep them safe in the suburbs. Mar 2 and 9 or Mar 3 and 10; $51; continue.utah.edu












How cool is that?  Charlie and Jack would probably eat my chickens, but I like the idea.  Go buy a chicken and have fresh eggs.

Have a great weekend.  Tomorrow is mine and Paul's 6th Wedding Anniversary.  It is so weird to think about.  We are planning on playing all day in Washington DC and then going to a play or music concert or something or other. 

Buying the Caged Free Eggs

Do you spend twice the amount to buy caged-free eggs? Recently, Paul and I have switched to caged-free as I watched an intense video on battery-caged hens and it made me realize that it was worth the extra money to know I wasn't helping fund their animal cruelty. Here is an interesting article by the Humane Society on the subject. Tell me what you think. 

Tree House Bed

I would have loved one of this as a little girl! This is seriously so cool and magical. I bet I would have pretended I was Repunzel or something fun like that. I want to have Paul build something like this for our little kids one day. What do you guys think? Also, the whole room is simply fabulous. Love the rug and all the fun colors in the room. Check out the full post on The Slow Life.