Seriously? Seriously...

Conversation overheard in the check-out line at The Wal-Mart today:

Daughter:(wearing a Class of 2009 t-shirt and a CTR ring) Mom, why do I even have to take the ACT to get into College? It's not like I will need any of those skills to survive in life.
Me: (thinking silently in my head) Yeah, you will never need basic reading, writing, and comprehension skills...
Mom:(wearing a BYU shirt and CTR ring as well) I don't see why they make you take that test. You don't really need to go to college anyways.
Me: (again silently in my head, except for screaming this time) What?! Even the prophet has instructed women to be educated!
Daughter: I know! You and Dad didn't go to college and we are doing just fine.
Mom: Right. Girls don't need a degree to be wives and mothers. You will just get married and your husband will take care of everything that you need.
Me: (silently in my head, trying with all of my might not to scream out loud) Seriously? What's the need to be educated?
Daughter: I know. When I get married, then I can just do what my husband wants me to do and I will be just fine.
Mom: (pulling out the food stamps, no joke, to pay for her food)That's true, now we just need to find you a husband.
Me: (pulling out my phone to make sure that the date says 2009 and not 1950) Wow! I wonder if these people have been frozen in time...

Seriously? Since when did it become okay to just not be educated? There are many ways to educate ourselves without having degrees, and some of the smartest people I know have been quite successful without having one. That's not the point. I just worry with the way that the world is changing that we need to be taking every opportunity to better our lives and be prepared. Seriously. I think that I will write the book that is floating around in my head. It's called, "Making the most of your Singleness". Seriously.

Happy Father's Day to my Favorite Fathers!

I hope that everyone has a great Father's Day this weekend-especially a few of my favorite Dads: I love you all and thanks for being such great Fathers and Friends!

Beautiful Disaster Behind These Hazel Eyes

It has been unusually long since I have blogged, but it is mostly because I have not been feeling very inspired as of late. This could partly be due to the fact that it has been raining for days and days here in Seattle, er...Logan. So, I needed a cure for the blues and fast. Anyone who knows the Barlow girls knows that we love love love Kelly Clarkson! We have been to her concerts any time that she has come near us and even flew home one time to see her play in San Jose. There's nothing like going to a fun concert with your sister (who, by the way could be Kelly's twin) and just having a blast to cure the blahs. So, we packed the rain gear into Lois the Montero and headed to Provo for the outdoor concert because let's be honest-we will always go see Kelly come rain or come shine or under the rainbow:As you can see, neither one of us has Hazel Eyes...but I for sure had some frizzies in the rain:Luckily, it only sprinkled for a few minutes and we stayed pretty warm the whole time. We sang and danced and got pretty close to the stage. It was great!And, I decided that I really love to go to outdoor concerts because it stays pretty cool and my ears don't ring for days and days after the concert...which may or may not have happened after seeing Kelly with Reba in the Energy Solutions Arena in October...anyways, it was fun weekend with Laura and Kelly and I think that the funk may be lifting:)

Laura's Birthday Part 2

Seeing as though today is the actual day that we celebrate Laura's entrance into the world, I thought it only fitting to dedicate a blog to her. I won't say how old she is, but here are 26 words that describe her. Laura is:BEAUTIFUL, SMILEY, HUGGABLE, BRIGHT, INSPIRED
FASHIONABLE, HAPPY, LOVABLE, PASSIONATE, HARD-WORKING ACTIVE, ADVENTUROUS, SPONTANEOUS, SUNNY, ATHLETICSILLY, INTELLIGENT, CREATIVE, AMBITIOUS, KIND
GENTLE, LOYAL, OUTGOING, FRIENDLY, GRACIOUS
And, most of all, she is a GREAT Aunt, Sister, Daughter, and FRIEND. So Happy Birthday Sister! Hope you have a great day and I love you tons! Thanks for being born:)

Laura's Birthday Weekend Part 1

This past Memorial Day Weekend (aka in the Barlow family as Laura's Birthday Weekend, not to be confused with Laura's Birthday Month) we all got together in Cali for a great time. We got to:

Take this one to the A's game and Pyrospectacular:Sammie + Dancing Aunties = TWO appearances on the Jumbotron!

We got to have a huge dinner with these people:Eat some yummy white-trash-decorated snickerdoodle birthday cake:Make sure to have some Sammie time so that she knows her Utah relatives. Auntie Anne fed her ice and she loved it! She looked like this after-which is also coincidentally when we found out that she has a fear of hair dryers:All in all we had a great weekend in Cali and then on the way back I got to see one of my most favorite friends Janette and hang out with her family in Taylorsville (which is also, coincidentally when I realized that I never want to live in Taylorsville):It was a great, relaxing weekend filled with the 4 F's: Food, Family, Friends and Fun! So many thanks to Laura for being born on a holiday weekend...the white trash snickerdoodle cake may just have to become a tradition:)

Free Frisbee?!? Awesome!

I got to go to a seminar today with my office and although the seminar itself was pretty lame-we were supposed to be learning about balancing work and life, but instead learned about how the presenter balances her incredibly talented 4 children and all of their activities-but they had prizes! There were some cool planners and binders and gym bags, but what I really wanted was the consolation prize: a collapsible frisbee! It starts out in a pouch like this: Notice how big it is compared to the keyboard. But the coolest part is that it unfolds into this:A fully functional frisbee! What exactly is it that makes us get so excited about free stuff? Not once have I ever thought, "Wow, you know what this day needs? Some frisbee...too bad I don't have one with me." But the prospect of having one today made me literally clap my hands in excitement. It doesn't seem to matter what it is that is dangled in front of us, but if it is free, it magically transforms into the coolest thing ever.
Not that I am complaining. I will now have a frisbee to carry with me in my purse so that I can play anytime and anywhere the need arises. I will just keep it next to my free measuring tape and floss. Perfect.

Flashback Friday from the Mouths of Babes

The other week I was playing with Ellie, a 5-year-old daughter of a member of the Bishopric in our ward. We were racing down the hallways of the church and I would let Ellie win (of course because she is 5), but she decided that she needed to help me out a little with my racing skills:

Anne: Oh man! You beat me again-you are SO fast!
Ellie: I know, I usually beat everyone in my class. Can we race again?
Anne: Sure, but I bet you will beat me...again.
Ellie: You know, if you were skinnier, you could run faster.
Anne: Ha Ha-Awesome.

As we all know, kids only speak the truth. They mean no harm by what they say, bless their little souls. But what Ellie said really resonated with me and got me to thinking-there are probably a lot of things that I could do better if I were skinnier. Now that school is over and I have a few more minutes of time, I will be rededicating myself to being healthy and getting in shape again so that I can beat people when I race them. I will definitely keep everyone posted on my progress, because I am sure that we can all use a little motivation...and I am sure that Ellie will keep me in check. Thanks Ellie:)
Anyways, here is the flashback picture of the week and it will give you a little hint to where I will be next weekend:That's right, I am headed to Cali for the weekend with Laura to celebrate her birthday and of course go to some A's games. It will be a blast and a well needed break for both of us and we get to just hang out with our family. Ahh life is good!