Attention Southwest Passengers

I am always amazed by the interesting things that I observe about people who are probably perfectly rational until they step foot into the airport and now suddenly view themselves as the most important individuals on the planet. So, here are some travel tips I thought of that we can all abide by and I am sure find people to remind about:
1. We all know that Southwest is the Wal-Mart of airlines. We all hate to fly it, but cannot justify paying more money flying something else. We all pay the same low airfare to be able to get our numbers, stand in line and hurry onto the plane to get the perfect seat. Never fail, there are always those passengers who walk through the lines and make sure that everyone is standing in the correct order so that no one with a higher number gets on the plane before they do. Newsflash: we all get to our destination at the same time, so hurrying on the plane is not going to get you there any sooner than anyone else .
2. There are certain rules about carry-on baggage that have been in place for years. They have not changed and will probably never change. You can take on carry-ons that will fit under the seat or neatly into the overhead bins. But, never fail, there is always at least one passenger that tries to take on a huge bag that will not fit into either of those places. When an airline employee tries to do their job and tell said passenger that they are not allowed to bring the baggage onto the plane there is all sorts of arguing that ensues. Really, if you are this passenger, please just check your bag and get over yourself.
3. When going through the security line, there are a few things you can do to make it go smoother. Wear shoes that are easy to remove. You will have to remove them. You can thank the now infamous "shoe bomber" for having to go through the security gate bare foot. Do not travel with over 3 ounces of liquid anything. There are giant signs that have all of the banned substances and pictures of things that you cannot take on the plane. If you do not understand something on the sign, please feel free to ask one of the seasoned travelers around you and I am sure they will be happy to help you if for no other reason than they do not want to get stuck behind you in line for anything.
4. Last but not least-please consider your outfit you will be traveling in very carefully. You will be slinging bags around and shlepping from one end of the airport to the other and will most likely find yourself in very close quarters with complete strangers. Things have a way of shifting when doing this and you probably don't want to expose anything that is meant to be covered. If you are having a hard time deciding what you would like to spend the day wearing, just follow this tip that I use when deciding what to put on: pretend that you will have the cameras from the show "What Not to Wear" secretly following you and that whatever you have on will be flashed on national television with all of your pertinent information. You will probably rethink those gold leggings and too tight t-shirt that you borrowed from the set of Miami Vice and spare being snickered at in a couple of different states.
I am sure that there are a bunch more travel tips that I can think of, but these are just the ones that I observed last weekend whilst going to Cali. I can't wait to see what the upcoming weekend in Vegas has in store...better make sure my camera batteries are charged.

Flashback Friday...on Thursday

In honor of my High School reunion that is this weekend I figured that I should share one of my senior pics:So, although I am going home to Pleasanton for the weekend (hence the post on thursday instead of friday), I will not be attending the reunion...I guess that all of my classmates will have to enjoy the open bar without me. Hopefully I will be able to find something to do instead...

Flashback Friday

So, at one point in my life it was a fun thing to dress up in our snow suits and go play in the snow for the day...But now that we have been enjoying endless days of snow and cold, I would much rather be somewhere else doing this:Ah...gotta love winter in Logan:)

What is it about this face?

So I have found that everywhere I go as of late, people seem to feel like they need to tell me intimate details of their lives. I am not sure what it is about me, but anyone from the check-out lady at Wal-Mart to a waiter at a restaurant, to the lady doing my nails, to random students deciding that they need to be my new best friend-I hear very personal things about people that I never wanted to know. And it usually makes me feel a little weird. Here are a few examples of things that have happened in the past couple of weeks:
-I was getting my nails done and the lady getting her nails done next to me starts making small talk with us. Then, all of a sudden, she starts to tell me about her husband and his health problems. Not just his health problems, but that he was going to be having surgery that would make him, "a little less of a man". What?!? I don't even want to know what that means, I never want to know what that means and I hope that she never has an appointment at the same time I do because I would hate to know what she talks about to people she considers to be in her inner circle.
-The other day I went to pick up some food at this cool El Salvadorian restaurant and the lady behind the counter decided it would be a good time to tell me about how she takes care of all of the bills for her father, she can sign his name just perfectly, her husband used to be a huge troublemaker in school, and that her baby wasn't feeling good. All I wanted was to have some food. Nothing more, nothing less. Really thanks for sharing.
-I was at Wal-Mart and the lady that was checking me out commented on everything I was buying. Not just commented, but told me that she couldn't eat apples because they make her gassy, she couldn't use the lotion I had because it gave her a red-scaly rash, then she proceeded to tell me as she bagged up my stuff that her husband always carries her bags in the house that I really should get one because they are really handy when it comes to doing the manly stuff. Okay, I'll work on that.
Now, I am not complaining, but it does make me think that I should consider changing my career path. Maybe I should be a Psychiatrist. Or an Interrogator for the Government-all I would have to do is say hello and they would spill their guts. Hmmmm...

I Wore Black Today...Seriously

So today, Barack Obama became President Barack Obama. Seriously.
Am I a little nervous about the future of our country? Yes.
Do I think that we just elected a president that has little or no experience on a lot of important issues? Yes.
Do I believe that we should all be educated, responsible citizens who stand up for what we believe? Yes.
But what do I know? I am just a middle-class white US citizen who believes that I should work hard for what I want out of this life and not fly my private jet to a meeting with the government to ask for billions of dollars to bail out my company, living within my means and not taking out a mortgage that I can't pay for.Seriously.
Okay I'm done. For now. Seriously.

A Great Christmas Break

Now that I am back in Logan and immersed into my life of work, school, friends and snow, I am especially grateful for the opportunity I had to spend 10 wonderful days in Cali with my favorites. Before I left, though, I got a visit from The Grinch:He came to my house for a short visit and tried to convince me to stay, but was not very successful. So I headed home and we got to do lots of fun things whilst there,like go to San Carlos and visit Dad's new store:Take our annual trip to the city to shop with the girls and go to our favorite park to eat and watch the fog roll in:Laura gets really excited when we go and play at this park:
All in all we had a great time just hanging out watching movies and taped TV shows, playing games, shopping, watching football, going to a Boxing Day party to see a bunch of old friends and enjoying the company of a British man named Harvey (although I don't know his last name, he has been totally sloshed every time I have seen him, so in my mind his name is Harvey Wallbanger), seeing the lights at the Temple, and of course playing with the newest addition to our family:Although I had a great time at home, I was still excited to come back to Logan and see my friends and make sure the pile on my desk was not too high. I guess that my co-workers missed me, too, because when I came back to work, here is what I found on my desk:Now for those of you who don't watch The Office, you will not get the humor of the fact that my co-workers froze some of my things in Jell-o...but it was hilarious! I also got to catch up with two of my favorite boys in my world (who don't normally look like this and I am sure they will be excited to know I posted this pic):So really, it was a great break, but with all of this to come back to, who could blame me for wanting to be back in Logan?

Things That Were Great about 2008:

In no particular order:

1) I got to do a few things (well more than a few) that I had never done before:
Go to a Reba McIntyre (first time) and Kelly Clarkson (third time) Concert I also got to explore Utah and visit St George and Park City for the first time

2) For the first time in a long, long time, I did not have any broken bones this year! If you know me well, you will know that for me this is a feat in itself.
3) If you are a red-blooded American like me, there were 2 events last year that kept you glued to the TV:and
I thoroughly enjoyed watching all of the events unfold and didn't even feel bad when I didn't make any plans because I was going to be watching TV...
4) Our Family had a bunch of fun things happen this year: We were all together for the first time in a long time:
Got to introduce another Barlow girl to the world:
And got to add a law enforcement officer to the family: I am sure that there were a lot more things that happened that are newsworthy, I just thought I would condense.
5) I got to go on a few Recruiting trips for USU that I thoroughly enjoyed and I have a great job that makes me love Utah State more every day:
6) I have been blessed with a lot of good friends and roommates who make me happy and I have been able to reconnect with a lot of fun friends I haven't seen in forever (Yes, sometimes I am a little addicted to Facebook).
All in all, I was a little sad to say goodbye to 2008, and I am sure that there were a lot more things that made it great, but now I look forward to the things that 2009 will bring. Imagine the possibilities...