Barlow Birthday Week!

In honor of another birthday in our family, I have posted another Flashback Friday a little early, I know, but her bday is today). See if you can figure out who this is:I will give you a hint: She has always been one who is having a hair-raising good time:Okay, did you guess it right? It is Jen's Birthday today!So, sister-have a great birthday and make sure to not do anything that I wouldn't do!

Flashback Friday/Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday Dad! Since your birthday is on the 3rd, this week's Flashback Friday is dedicated to you:
Thanks for being a Dad who...

LAUGHS AT OUR JOKES:READ US ENDLESS BEDTIME STORIES:
IS ALWAYS A GOOD EXAMPLE TO HIS KIDS:
LET US PLAY WITH YOUR HAIR:
ISN'T AFRAID TO WEAR MATCHING T-SHIRTS WITH THE WOMAN HE LOVES:
MOST OF ALL HAS BEEN A GREAT EXAMPLE, COACH, ADVICE GIVER, CAR FIXER, SPORTS ENTHUSIAST, JOKE TELLER, LISTENER AND DAD TO ALL OF HIS KIDS AND GRANDKIDS:
So, Happy Birthday Dad-we all love you! Thanks for being born on this day just a little bit over half a century ago:)

To Go Private or Not...

As a full-time University employee, I find myself with the unique opportunity to be surrounded by a diverse group of people at all times. Today, for example, I was able to talk with some new freshmen about blogging and one of them brought up the topic of having your blog be private. Now, I know that some people feel very strongly about this and have private blogs and I am totally fine with that. I respect your decision. These girls were talking about how they thought there were a bunch of "creepies" out there probably looking at their blogs right now. I was rather perplexed by this. I do not worry that some creepy person is looking at my blog.I am sure that there are a lot more websites out there that are way better suited to creepies than my blog. I also don't worry that someone is going to attack me whilst I am in the shower, either, but I digress. Now, I am not saying that we should not be aware of the world or it's happenings, because we should, but even if some creepy was looking at my blog, what does that mean?
So, until I have some concrete proof that having my blog out there for all to see is a big deal, I will stay public with my blog. But, if you are a creepy that is looking at my blog for one reason or the other, stop it right now. Turn your computer off and go outside to get a little air. Then go to the police station and identify yourself as a creepy. They will appreciate you doing this because they are hard working officers of the law and are pretty busy trying to catch stalkers, murderers,thieves, kidnappers, etc. so you will be doing them a favor. Oh yeah, and one more thing, creepy, if any of them happens to be tall and single, go ahead and show them my blog. Thanks.

An Amazing Spring Break

So anyone that has been watching the headlines in Utah lately knows that there have been some major budget cuts to higher education. While my job is safe so far, we did get put on furlough for Spring Break, meaning that campus was closed and we are not going to be paid for a week of work (which gets spread out every paycheck until July). So what did I do? I hightailed it out of here and spent 8 glorious days in California! My roommate Michelle came too and we had a great time that included seeing the sights in the City:Going to see Wicked-which was AWESOME!Hanging out with Sammie, who pretty much looks like this every time we are around her:And introducing our new brother Ryan Wallace to everyone with an Open House:
Which, by the way, means that I have officially lost my title as tallest person in the family now that he is around.
All-in-all, we played, enjoyed the sunny weather, got some much needed R&R, ate lots of good food and were a little sad to come back to Logan. It was a great break, but maybe best of all, my curse of the canyon is broken-it looked like this both times we drove through:

Ah-I love that Spring is right around the corner...

You Think I Would Learn...

I am sure that for most of you that are friends with me on Facebook, you know that I have been a little concussed as of late. So, I thought that I would share the story of a girl, her head, and a metal thing that did not feel like a pillow when being smacked into. So there I was minding my own business and doing my laundry at our apartment complex laundry room. I leaned down to get my towels out of the bottom dryer when this jumped out and smacked me in the head: All of a sudden, the room went dark and filled with stars and I decided to sit down really fast. Don't you worry, though, I recovered quickly and only a few tears were streaming down my cheeks when I got the rest of my clothes and went home. I just had a little bit of a knot on my head, so I put a bag of frozen popcorn kernals on my head and took some good painkillers and went to bed. The next day I was a little bit dizzy, but my pupils were the right size and the knot on my head was considerably smaller. Fast forward a couple of days with a headache and a couple of dizzy spells, and you will find me at the Doctor's office. After a stern lecture about when to go to the doctor (apparently, most people go right to the doctor when they hurt themselves-weird)and a diagnosis of "Mild" concussion, I was allowed to leave. I use the term "Mild" lightly because the headaches accompanying said concussion were not mild by any means. Anyways, long story short, I gave myself a mild concussion whilst doing my laundry and now I am much better. Luckily, this is concussion #4 in the history of my life and I know exactly how to handle them.
I do have to give props to my Dad, though, who heard the story and stayed very calm when commenting, "Wow-There is probably somebody out there who could make trendy, nice-looking, oh what are they called? Oh yeah-HELMETS!" Thanks Dad, apparently I should look into that, because who knows when the next sharp metal thing will jump out and smack me in the head?

Seriously? Seriously...

So there are two kinds of people in the life of a single girl like myself who like to ask the question, "So, are you dating anybody?" The first is the cool friend or acquaintance who responds to my answer with, "Wow, I do not understand why somebody like you has not been snatched up yet," or some other flattering response that makes me feel like I am not a total troll because they can't see why someone has not pledged their undying love. The second is the one who recoils in horror when I state my single status as if I have just revealed the tragic results of my biopsy. Lucky for me, I ran into such a person this week who made me ask, "Seriously? Seriously,"and for the sake of this story I will change her name to Mandy:

So there I was minding my own business as I walked down the hall of the Taggart Student Center when I spotted Mandy and her Husband coming towards me. Now I have known Mandy for a while and have never really been friends with her, but since I am not a jerk, I think she believes we are closer than we really are:
Mandy: Oh hi Anne! Long time no see-how are you? (I also forgot to mention that she is one of those that talks to everyone as if they are 5 years old)
Anne: I am doing great! How are you guys?
Mandy: Well, we are so happy-we are expecting a baby! Are you dating anyone?
Anne: I am not-when are you due?
Mandy: (putting her comforting hand on my arm)Oh no! Well, don't lose faith. One day you will find someone and then you can be happy too!
Anne: (this is where I am thinking, Seriously?) Great-well I will see you later.
Mandy: Oh okay-see you later and remember don't lose faith.

Seriously? Seriously...I know that maybe this Mandy girl is a bit of an extreme(but true)example-but unfortunately this is a real phenomena that happens to us single people. Here is what I have to say about that: I can be single and miserable or single and happy so I choose to be single and happy. I have had a book floating around in my head that is titled, "Making the Most of Your Singleness" which is what I am hoping all of my single friends are doing. Because I am making the most of my singleness and I am truly happy with my life. And I don't need any reminders to keep the faith. Seriously.

Hey Baby Let's Go to Vegas!

We had the opportunity to spend 32 hours in Vegas last weekend, so of course, there were lots of picture opportunities!Laura and I got there hours before everyone else, so we decided to take a walk on the strip and find some grub. We got to see the fountains at the Bellagio, an indoor rainstorm (which wasn't that cool) and there was even a star on the sidewalk honoring a lady who was a humanitarian/stripper. We held hands with Shaq:Hung out with Nicolas Cage:

Saw the Statue of Liberty whilst staying at the New York New York Hotel and Casino:But best of all, we added a new brother to our fam when our sister named Jen married Ryan:It was fun to see the whole family and even some of the Vegas Barlows that we never get to see:
Can you tell that we are siblings?Even Sammie had a blast with her first visit to Sin City and hanging out with her Johnny (our "adopted" brother):
All in all it was a great trip where we saw many interesting things, had people trying to hand us unclean things with phone numbers for more unclean things, and had a blast just being with each other. Then, as many may not know, I have been cursed with really bad weather coming back to Logan through the canyon the past 3 times I have gone out of town. This time it was bad enough to have chains required (which in Utah means it has to be BAD). Luckily, I have the trusty Jeep that never lets me down and always gets me home safe. Even when the road ahead of me looks like this (which I took a picture of whilst driving and I think that I am somewhere just past Mantua, but I am not sure):So basically, if there is a drought where you are, invite me there because we had rain in Vegas when I visited and blizzard in Utah when I got back. Forecast for this weekend when I am staying home? Clear skies and unseasonably warm temperatures. Unless the Jeep and I decided to go out of town...