Last year’s John Mayer all in one gave us “Where The Light Is”. This year’s is being streamed live on the intarwebz. Once again he knows exactly how to soothe the pain of not being able to attend.  So if you’ve got nothing else to do on Sunday night… we will be watching it and sighing and swooning and singing (and salivating.)

Nothing says Thanksgiving like Turkey, football, naps, and John Mayer on Letterman before bed. This year with a lil coercing and benevolence some of my non-JM loving friends and family tuned in for me and might have enjoyed themselves. (I promised I wouldn’t out them though.) I don’t even need to tell you how much I loved this rendition of a Sinatra song with Chris Botti. If you’re too convinced he’s a douchebag to enjoy, you could always close your eyes and forget who it is.

Somehow in the time my cousin was out of Zac and my sight on Black Friday he managed to stand in line and have his picture taken with Santa. He was so proud of this gift for his mom, and I’ll admit I thought it was pretty freakin’ cool. I’m just not sure why Santa looks so uncomfortable. Despite Myles’ pleading, he was not allowed to sit on Santa’s lap. Boo on his Christmas cheer or lack thereof!

As I was driving home for Thanksgiving today and stuck traveling at a snail’s pace through most of Phoenix, I had the opportunity to turn up the iPod and reflect on for first 11 months of this year. My simple conclusion… I have so much to be thankful for. Somewhere between 40th Street and Ray Road, I realized that the list of everything I have been blessed with and by in 2008 that I was building in my head was too long to remember or copy down while driving (if I hoped to make it home safely). So seven hours and 326 miles later, here is my Thanksgiving list.

I’ve never been more thankful than I am right now for my faith and the joy I have in waking up each day knowing that there is both a purpose and a plan for my life. I am thankful for my church home both in Flagstaff and all of my life-long church family members in Willcox. I’m thankful for finally having a place to worship at and the open arms of everyone at FSBC.

My parents and their unconditional love and acceptance are more than I could ever hope for. Click To Continue Reading…

Zac: So this rabbi came into work today.

Laurel: Oh?

Z:  Yeah, while we were talking I asked him if he did circumcisions, and he said yes.

L: Umm ok.

Z:  I asked how much he charged.

L:  Why?

Z: He said nothing… he just kept the tips.

L: (silent laughter/groaning)

Z:  You there?

L: Yeah.

Z: That’s from Family Guy.

L: Awesome.

I ran to the store last night to grab a few things I needed and was amazed at the extravagance of two women describing how they would be preparing their turkey.  Brining, stuffings composed of 26 items, and the perfect breast massage (cannot believe I just typed that) all seem like way too much in comparison to our way of doing things.  If you’re looking for a simple, easy way to make a delicious and moist turkey, let me introduce you to Mrs. C’s brown bag turkey recipe.  I swear it will change your life!

Mrs. C’s Brown Bag Turkey:

1 lg. paper grocery bag
1 stick butter
Kosher salt
Fresh ground pepper

Use whole stick of butter to grease inside of bag starting with the bottom and working your way out.  All butter must be rubbed into bag.  This creates an oil sack that bastes the birds as it cooks.  Salt and pepper the cavity and top of the turkey.  Slide turkey into the bag breast down.  Twist ends shut and tie with string.  Put on rack in broiler pan and back at 325 degrees.  For a bird 12lbs or smaller cook 20 minutes per pound.  For a bird larger than 12 lbs cook 25 minutes per pound.  Don’t peek, poke or baste.  Juices will run into the bottom of pan. Remove after allotted time and let set for thirty minutes.  Carve and enjoy.

For those of you who somehow missed (or were geniuses and avoided) this year’s American Music Awards on Sunday night, I thought I’d hook you up with the best performances and videos of the night.  Why???  Because I care.

5 Best:

5) Beyonce’

4) New Kids On The Block – Medley

3) Kanye – Heartless

2) Taylor Swift – White Horse

1) Sarah McLachlan and Pink – Angel

Most Painful:

3) Rihanna’s eye patch (even though her performance rocked)

2) The JoBros

1) Alicia Keys… Queen Latifah… and some random opera chick

Dear Sarah Palin, you might want to consider hiring new staff members who want you to succeed and appear as if you have it all together.  How in the name of all that is right and holy does no one who works for her tell her that there are turkeys being slaughtered in the background?!?! Watch their legs kick.  It’s amazing.  If you’re feeling up to watching it a second time, check out the MSNBC version that is censored but has hilarious captions.

Holy crappamoly!  It’s amazing what you can do when you’re not turning your apartment into a haunted house or feeding an apartment complex three times a month.  As much as I’ve missed being a CaresTeam, there are a few benefits. My house is cleaner. I don’t stress out about getting home from work at 8pm or going in on a weekend.  I get to enjoy baking and cooking again, and as of 9pm today, I have ALL of my Christmas shopping done except for two (hard-to-shop-for) people.  Now I just have to wrap, pack and ship (the easy stuff) and refrain from giving people their gifts early or letting Zac convince me to tell him what he’s getting. That kid is way too smart for his own good.

It’s almost Christmas time, and the only thing on my list this year is for Ryan Adams and The Cardinals to play within a 5-hour drive of Flagstaff soon. Since nothing has been scheduled yet, I’m hoping 26-minute acoustic show will keep us all satisfied until it does. I’ve watched it at least a dozen times in the past week and love how different it is from the album. I know I promised that the parade of all things Ryan would eventually end, and you’re probably tired of me begging you to fall in love with this musical genius while you have the chance.  But I’m willing to give you one last chance to change your mind… for me?

What can I say?!?! Love the beard.

You know, maybe SNL has more to offer than political satire. Mr. Justin Timberlake stopped in Saturday night and killed it as always. He’s one of my favorite hosts of the past few years and with good reason. Remember the Nick and Jessica: Newlyweds sketch? Brilliance.  Or how about this musical video classic… in a box.  So wrong but so right.  Saturday he just stopped in briefly during Paul Rudd and Beyonce’s episode to lending a supporting hand.  Apparently, you can host SNL in two minutes.  But the shining moment of his impromptu appearence involves Andy Sandberg, Beyonce and four pairs of high heels.  If you missed either, here they are. Now, put a ring on it and enjoy!

Zac was here over a week ago, and I finally pulled some of the pictures from his visit of my camera to share with ya’ll. From the moment he arrived until the moment he left, it was an absolute joy to have him around and the party refused to stop. After our his great toilet debacle, we met up with the gang to head downtown for some Thai food on Saturday. I’m still relieved that any of us survived that lunch meal after our orders were all way spicier than normal. Jeff literally was red with sweat dripping down his face while my lips burned uncontrollably. After lunch, we all loaded up and went to see Role Models with Paul Rudd and Sean William Scott. If you get the chance to see it, GO! It’s hilarious! Joe left after the movie, and Jeff, Zac, Cory, Lauren and I headed to Jeff’s place to watch last week’s episode of The Office in HD. Jeff is convinced everything is funnier in HD; the rest of us are not so sure. After we had had our fills of Dwight and Andy (is that even possible?) we headed back to my place for dinner and The Strangers, a horror flick of Zac’s choosing. I’m not a huge horror movie fan, and I definitely am not a fan of my friends whispering and making plans to sneak in and scare me in the middle of the night. Why the heck did I give those guys keys to my apartment?!?!

Sunday morning Lauren, Jeff, Zac, and I headed off to church together and had the experience of a lifetime… “What’s Up With That“. Man, I love when people write their own songs. Jeff, Zac and I headed back to my place to watch the Pack lose to the Vikings and then headed off to play frisbee golf. First of all, Zac and I had never played before and had to have set a record of ‘trees hit with a disc’ in a single day. But despite the cold and wind, we had a killer time and laughed til we cried on more than one occasion. Lucky for us, we were able to finish our 18-hole outing before the FIRST SNOW OF THE YEAR happened. After the first few flurries fell the gang with Jeff’s gf, Liz, headed to Galaxy Dinner to grab some food and play ‘telephone’. Yeah, we really are 11 years old. Eventually, our lamer friends headed home and the rest of us headed off to Wal-Mart in search of gloves, snow shovels, and $5 movies.

Click To Continue Reading…

After fourteen seasons, MadTV is finally being taken off the air. Most of the time, MadTv was more than a tadbit painful and unfunny to me. However, over the years they have had a few sketches that were pretty stinking funny. Michael McDonald, Stephanie Weir, Mo Collins, Will Sasso and Alex Borstein were among my favorite cast members in the amazing sketches. At least with the goodness of youtube, these gems will never be forgotten. So because I have a feeling you’ve missed them… Here are a few of my favorite MadTV sketches. (Each is just one in a sketch arc, so please please please checkout all of the others.)

Dot:

Stuart:

Miss Swan: