ELLEN!!!

Last Sunday I got home from a little trip with my sisters (Jen, Jill, Amy) and a few cousins (Jordan, Megan, Bryn) to LA.  We all flew in Thursday morning, the 16th.  The major event of our trip was going to a taping of The Ellen DeGeneres Show - totally on my bucket list!! I think most of my readers know I'm a little obsessed with Ellen.  In fact, she gets her very own label on my sidebar ;)  If I am home and able to watch Ellen (99% of the time I am because Aiden is down for his nap when she airs at 3), you better believe I am watching her! And I've been watching her show pretty much since she first started!

When us girls decided on a trip to LA, I knew we had to try to get to a taping of Ellen, so I was put in charge of watching for tickets.  For anyone interested, you can request tickets at ellentv.com.  You have to request tickets a few months in advance.  For instance, if you go to the site right now, everything is already booked until the middle of March.  

Here's the whole story of getting our tickets.  I'm really not a dramatic person, but I'm sure you all will think I was super dramatic about this whole situation!  I was just SUPER passionate about getting tickets!!  I mean she was on my bucket list for goodness sake ;) Anyway, we knew we wanted to try for tickets for the taping on January 16th.  I started checking the site every. day. at the beginning of October, sometimes a few times a day!  I did not want to miss them opening up!  Early on October 22nd, I saw the request available and immediately texted all of the girls to put in a request.  Each of us could request up to 4 tickets so I had everyone put in different names so we'd all have the same chance of getting in.  Ellen's site is a little misleading b/c they say a representative will call to book you in the order in which the requests were received.  I was definitely first of us girls to request tickets, followed by Bryn, and then Megan I think, but Megan was the first to get a call back at like 10:30 that morning and granted tickets for her, Tiersha, Jen, and Jill.  I was FREAKING OUT. I could not believe I was the one that had been watching for tickets all along and I wasn't even guaranteed a ticket!!!  Seriously, for the whole rest of the day I felt like my blood pressure was so high.  I was grumpy, frustrated, and on the verge of tears - ask any of the girls - sorry girls :/  What's funny is, in my heart I knew we'd all get tickets (I mean we had like 9 people put in requests), I just couldn't believe I wasn't the first one to get a call like the site said.  Turns out Tiersha missed a call from them that day and totally went out of her way to get back to them to get the tickets, even though we later found out she'd be moving across the country and wouldn't even get to come with us!!  Thank you Tiersha!!  And the next day Amy got a call, and I missed a call from them (I didn't bother to call back), so now we had MORE than enough tickets!  Oh the drama!  So there's the story of getting our dang tickets, but looking back on it, it was really easy to get them!  Just check back every day and get your request in as SOON as you see your wish date open up!!

Whoo, sorry for that long rant.  So anyway, a few months later and we all flew into LAX Thursday morning and headed straight for Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank to get ready for our taping of ELLEN!!  It was so exciting!!

Driving up to the studio.

We all got checked in and were each given a number - this number was just the order in which we could enter the studio.  Then we all hung out in this outdoor pavilion thing for a while.

We had a staff member take this photo (above) of us and she was so amazed when she found out 4 of us were sisters and we were all cousins!  She told us to meet her in a corner of the pavilion like 15 minutes later.  4 other girls (2 sets of friends) joined us and we were taken outside to the back.  We had NO IDEA what was going on, but we knew it was something special!  They then explained to us that IF Ellen was going to have any audience participation, it would be people from this group of 11 to go down!!!  We couldn't believe it!! They then explained the games to us and got our names, ages, and a picture of each of us!  They asked a few questions such as "Who is Ellen's biggest fan?" - the girls all pointed to me - AHH!! and "Who of your group is the most competitive?" - we all pointed to Bryn and Amy.  Then they had us act out a scenario - imagine you have been called down by Ellen, how would you react.  They told us to try to make everyone in the pavilion wonder what the heck was going on outside!  We were all screaming, jumping up and down, hugging, you get it!  Then they thanked us and had us go back to the pavilion.

We got back and were more excited than before to be seeing a taping of Ellen!  We were so anxious to know if any of us would be called down!  I was in limbo - the thought of being called down by Ellen was super exciting, although I thought I may cry, but I'm also pretty shy and easily embarrassed so I also kind of wanted one of the other girls to be called down.  If you watched the show, you all know there was no audience participation that day (the staff in the pavilion never know if there will be or not - it is just their responsibility to find people in case there IS).  We were all a little disappointed.  I would have loved to have seen what that would've been like, even if it was one of the other 4 girls (not my sisters or cousins) who were called down.  Oh well!  It was such a fun experience nonetheless!!

Sisters - this was when we were pulled outside for possible audience participation :)

Waiting in the pavilion - I discovered one of Aiden's little cars in my purse.  I was missing the little guy already - it was hard to see him ride off with Tanis that morning, looking so confused.  I kept that car in my purse the entire trip :)

Once we left the pavilion we got to hang out in the Riff Raff room for a little bit before we were seated.  This is where you could purchase any of the Ellen paraphernalia :)  There was a maternity Ellen shirt that I was eyeing, but not one in my size.

Then we headed to the studio and were seated in the FRONT ROW!!  We were over by Twitch.  So fun!

All of us girls.  Two girls actually sat where Bryn and Meg were supposed to :( so they're in the row behind us.

A little more waiting.  Here was the hashtag for those on Insta and Twitter.

Then it all began!!  We were informed that the guests would be Meryl Streep and Vanessa Hudgens, to air on Monday!  Remember it was Thursday, so we had to pretend it was Monday!  We thought we may be seeing Kim Kardashian who aired on Friday, but we were happy with who we got to see!  We knew our moms would be jealous that we got to see Meryl :)  

During the taping they had us get up and dance and cheer during every commercial break, so we were pretty worn out by the end! But it was seriously so much fun!!! Before we knew it, it was all over. Ellen took a minute at the end to thank all of us for coming and supporting her, which was really neat :)  If you ever get the chance, DEFINITELY go to a taping!  HIGHLY recommended!!  Maybe I'll have to take Trent back sometime ;)

A few more photos before they forced us out ;)

Our taping aired on President's Day!  It was way fun to watch for us on t.v. :)  The staff told us they make a real effort to make sure everyone gets shown.  We knew we had a good chance since we were in the front row by Twitch ;)

Thank you to Amanda and Jessie for snapping a few shots.  We don't have Tivo or anything where we can pause, and I just wanted to be able to enjoy the show, not be distracted with trying to get shots of us.

After the taping we got to do a kind of little tour of the Warner Brothers lot and check out the little gift shop - Central Perk.  By now it was close to 5, so we decided to head to our hotel and start to wind down..haha.  We all had a good laugh about our hotel - it was a little sketchy - but it made it all part of the experience ;)

We all walked to pick up a little dinner.  Saw the Hollywood sign while we were walking.

Then we called it a night.  We felt like total dorks because it was like 7, but we felt okay about it because we had been going all day ;)  We just turned on "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days" on t.v. and had girl talk.  Always a fun time :)

15 months

Aiden turned 15 months this last Sunday and we went to his check-up on Wednesday.  He weighed in at 21 pounds 7 ounces (30th percentile) and is 31.25 inches long (I believe that's 50th).  He had to get 3 vaccines again - one in each leg and one in his arm :(

• He has 8 teeth and 4 molars - 12 in total.  That seems like so many!

• Apparently I say "uh-oh" more than I realized because Aiden recently started saying it :)  It's pretty cute and I got it on video yesterday.  Most of the time it sounds more like "uh-whoo" :)

• Aiden was kind of matching Ellen yesterday so I had to get a picture ;)

• These pictures are from a few weeks back (he just happens to be wearing the same thing).  If we're just hanging out around the house, I don't put pants on Aiden because I love seeing his little thighs :)

 

• Aiden's been fighting nap time this week and even gets to the point where he "threatens" to get out - yesterday he proved that he can get one of his legs up over the crib.  I guess it's time to move his mattress down to it's lowest setting.

• Aiden's been doing this for a while, but I literally just saw him do it and realized I've never written about it.  He will often pick up his paci using his mouth instead of his hands.  He'll lean all the way over and suck it in with his mouth.  It is so funny and he knows it is. He'll always look over at us to see if we saw him do it and will kind of laugh.  He does this with food too.  For instance, if I have Craisins in my hand (which he loves!) and offer them to him, he'll bury his mouth in my hand to get them instead of just picking them up and putting them in his mouth..haha.  I'll have to try to get video of these.

• He has picked up some bad habits in the last few weeks.  He has started to pull my hair at times and laughs when he does it and sometimes he'll bite us.  He definitely likes to get a reaction out of us!  We are really trying to teach him not to do these things.  We don't want him to be the little terror when he starts going to nursery at Church..haha.  He will also stuff his mouth completely full of food, but then spit it all out.  I think his mouth gets too full to swallow.  And this last week he also discovered that his finger fits perfectly up his nose - oh no!

I don't want to end on a bad note though.  Aiden really is such a joy and I thank the Lord every night for him and Trent.  Trent and I have been talking a lot lately about how good life is right now.  Trent has a great job, I get to be home with Aiden, we live near both families, we are all healthy, and Aiden sleeps through the night (he has been for a year now, but I am just oh-so-grateful!).  What more could I ask for?!  Obviously that list is not even close to being all-inclusive, but you get the point :)

Aiden Loves Ellen Too!

I took this video a few weeks ago and have been meaning to get it up.  I think you all know how much I love Ellen.  I even have a label (on the sidebar) devoted just to her..haha.  We all watch Ellen together every afternoon and I had to get this on video when I saw how excited Aiden was about it ;)

Pick-Me-Up

Need a little pick-me-up?? Well I have another Ellen video for you..haha. It's with Natalie Portman back in January when she was promoting "The Black Swan."

Unfortunately I'm not allowed to embed the video on here, but you can follow the link here.

I love when Natalie screams "DANCE" and when she tells Ellen to be a black olive..haha. I don't know if you can tell (you probably can), but Natalie is pregnant in the clip and so at the very end Ellen says, "Pregnant women are crazy." I feel like it's kind of hard to understand her..haha.

I hope this makes you smile :) or laugh for that matter!

Deal!

Trent gets really excited when I make our bed (he thinks I do a better job than he does) so yesterday he made a deal with me that if I make our bed everyday, he'll make dinner every night! Man, I seem to have gotten off easy! I guess Trent already makes dinner probably 75% of the time and the other 25% we make it together..haha. Don't judge! He's just a little chef! He's also too impatient for me to finish watching "Ellen", which shows from 4-5 here..haha. He's always too hungry to wait! I'm definitely a lucky girl though! Love you sweet boy!

P.S. Please know that I have every intention of cooking more, especially once Trent goes back to school and goes on from there to get a full-time job :)

Happy Birthday Ellen!

So today is Ellen's birthday and she is 53. I think you all already know how much I love Ellen. I'm sorry if it gets old how much I talk about her. But really, attending her talk show is totally at the top of my bucket list! As if she'd ever see this, HAPPY BIRTHDAY ELLEN!

Here's one of her hidden camera pranks with David Beckham. What a hottie! I love his accent!

There are so many good parts to this video, but probably my favorite part is when he starts belting out "Happy Birthday"..haha

Wisdom Teeth

Any of you who have been reading my blog all along, know how much I love Ellen. I watch her talk show whenever I can. I think she's hilarious :) Last week she showed part of a video of a brother and sister who had their wisdom teeth pulled on the same day. Their dad is in Iraq so their mom decided to record them on the way home and send the video over to their dad. It's on YouTube and it's 10 minutes long. That may seem long, but I love the whole thing..haha.

I'm only going to put the link. When I've put YouTube videos on before they sometimes get removed due to "use violation." Does anyone know what that means and how I can prevent it? Anyway, here is the link to the video.

Of my sisters I'm the only one who's had their wisdom teeth pulled, and I was just really quiet and tired afterwards. I hope I'm there when the girls all get theirs pulled, if they get theirs pulled (goodness I can't believe they still haven't!), especially Amy.

Did any of you say crazy things when you got yours pulled?


Oh and totally random fact, but yesterday I learned that a woman who has lost her husband is a widow and a man who has lost his wife is a widower. Did you guys know that?! My parents and Trent were like "Duh!", but I had no idea. Random little fact :)

These movies seriously crack me up!

So as I mentioned in my earlier post, I love Ellen! I think she is hilarious and I watch her talk show whenever I possibly can. These are 2 videos (at different times) where she had Dennis Quaid wear an earpiece and told him exactly what to say in certain situations. I hope they make you smile :)





Trent and I can't help but quote these every once in a while:
"Dennis Quaid is here!"
or
"Dennis Quaid is hungry like a wolf" and we'll howl!
or last week while we were shopping Trent whispered in my ear
"Do you have ketchup?"

Too funny! We can't get enough of them!

Valentine's One Week Late!

So last weekend, Valentine's Day weekend, Trent and I were asked to give talks in church and I got sick and Trent had like the busiest week of his semester. It kind of ruined our plans for Valentine's Day (several weeks earlier we talked about getting out of Provo for a night or two and staying in a hotel or something..pretty common thing to do). Well a few days ago, Friday to be exact, Trent came home around 3:30 and said something to the extent of "I'm sending you on a scavenger hunt. Please just humor me." Haha. I was a bit reluctant (I was right in the middle of watching "Ellen"..I love her!), but I followed him upstairs to our bedroom and he had me sit down and count to 80 and then told me to come find him downstairs. I counted as fast as I could and ran downstairs and he was nowhere to be seen. In walks Amy (my sister) carrying a rose and a note. I read the note telling me that Amy was going to be my chauffeur and that I needed to go to the place we ate on our first date. So we head out to the car and Amy even makes me sit in the BACK SEAT..bahaha!

We get to Los Hermanos and Andrew (my cousin) is there with a rose and a note! I was a little embarrassed because every time I'd read a note I'd get all teary-eyed because Trent writes such sweet notes, so I was pretty quiet during this whole process. This 2nd note sent me to the Riviera where we had our first kiss. I knew this was over by Trent's old apartment, but Amy made me get out by my old apartment (she kind of messed up) and Bryn was there with a rose and a note! My next destination was supposed to be where Trent first told me he loved me which was at my old apartment, but because Amy mixed up we went over to his old apartment and Spenser (a friend) was there with a rose and a note! For the final note I wasn't given a clue, but was told that Amy was just supposed to take me to my final destination and that it was a bit of a drive. She made me put on my eye mask that I sometimes wear to bed. It was kind of annoying because I hate surprises and I was worried my makeup was getting all messed up b/c I had been teary-eyed. Amy ended up meeting up with Trent in a parking lot and I switched cars. I had a few guesses where we were going, but I'll get to that later.

When I switched into our car, Trent gave me a rose and I begged him to let me take off the eye mask because I knew the drive was quite a bit longer (I knew we were going to Salt Lake). He said I could as long as I closed my eyes when we got there. We got to Salt Lake and I closed my eyes and opened and we were at the Hyatt by The Gateway. Trent had booked a night for us there and had packed everything I would need (I had guessed we were going to a hotel because, like I said earlier, we had talked about doing this several weeks earlier)! Sadly, through all of this I didn't have my camera so we don't have any pictures. Anyway, that evening we went out to eat at Buca di Beppo (an Italian restaurant) and it was SO GOOD! It's a family-style restaurant so we shared chicken parmesan and both got raspberry Italian sodas. For dessert we shared a big slice of cheesecake with raspberry sauce..delish! We had talked about seeing "Valentine's Day" last weekend, so we went and saw that after dinner. We both thought it was alright, not fabulous or anything. By the time we got out it was around 11 so we headed back to the hotel for the night.

Saturday morning we got up and had our free continental breakfast and got checked out of the hotel by noon. We did a little bit of shopping at Gateway. Gap was having an awesome sale this weekend only and I got this fabulous zip-up hoody for $15 and it's normally $40! Once we finished at Gateway we headed to the Layers warehouse sale in Murray and I got a cute shirt for $10 there! Then we headed back home to Provo. We ate a late lunch at Cafe Rio (yum!) and had Coldstone for dessert (gotta love dessert!)

That was our late Valentine's adventure! It was such a blast! I am so grateful for Trent and all he does to make me happy! He knew that Valentine's meant a lot to me..I did tell him though that he doesn't need to feel like he always has to do something that big :) I love you sweetheart!