Monday nights are booked... unless you want to watch one of these shows with me!

Forget trying to have Family Home Evenings Monday night... not with all the entertainment between ABC and the CW! (Come to think of it, growing up, my family always had FHE on Sundays anyways). I mean, really, how can I possibly miss the most apologetic Bachelor in the history of television?

Honestly, I could care less that Brad sent home both of his ladies last time around. If he wasn't feeling it, he shouldn't have to be pressured into picking one. I don't think he really needed years of therapy to get over making a wise decision. I just want him to get over it already. The weekly sessions where he sits down with a therapist to discuss how his days are going on this show are stupid, because he basically just gets encouraged to make out with more girls in hopes of finding "The One."

So if you can't stand Apologetic Brad, at least watch for Crazy Michelle. This girl is either the most insanely jealous person ever to be cast on this show... or its best actress. I'm going for the latter... check out her chops in an upcoming LDS chick flick.



Is it me, or does Kirby Heyborne basically play the same character in every movie? Aren't there other young studly LDS actors? Nothing against Kirby, but the guy is 33... playing a college student. Maybe he should be a parent or something in his next movie.

As much as I love The Bachelor (the show, not Brad), part of me wishes this guy had said yes to being the next Bachelor. He wouldn't say the same lines over and over again ("I've changed," "I'm here for the right reasons," "I'm opening myself up to these women."). No, this guy was awesome on The Bachelorette for how sarcastic he was... he subtly made fun of the show while still being adorable.

But no, Hottie Cape Cod Chris has standards and would prefer to fall in love the traditional way... you know... without dating 20 women at once and having those moments shared on national television. And it seems like it's working out for him, he's dating down-to-earth Peyton. Good job Chris!

Out of all the modern conveniences available today, I am most thankful Monday nights for DVR. Otherwise, how else would I get to watch these kids on my other guilty pleasure show?

I.LOVE.THIS.SHOW.

Even if the story lines are awful, the acting is oftentimes questionable, and I want to throw something at the television every time Vanessa opens her mouth and slap Nate because the guy is sooooooo dumb.

I wouldn't feel complete Tuesday mornings without checking out my favorite recaps/bashings of these shows:

The Bachelor: I'm sure anyone who watches this show knows all about Reality Steve... but he's just too dang awesome to ignore.
http://realitysteve.com

Gossip Girl- The Weekly Reality Index is hilarious... but you should be a pretty big fan to appreciate its genius.
http://nymag.com/tv/gossip-girl/

Am I the only one who thinks this?

Disclaimer: I love the Church and its programs... but I'm human too.

So once a year or so, a particular meeting occurs in every ward I've been in that irks me to no end. It's always the same... the Bishopric pulls in all the adults together for third meeting of the day. Then they go into a long speech about...the benefits of scouting. How Scouting is sooooooo great for these young men who will eventually become Priesthood holders! It teaches boys everything they need to know about life! It makes them respectable young men!

They shut the doors so no one can escape... and pass out donation envelopes

Every year, I sit in my seat and bite my tongue hard enough that it's bleeding so I don't accidentally blurt out what's running through my head... "But what about the girls?"

By "girls", I mean the cute little Activity Day 8-11 year olds, and the Young Women. I'm a Mia Maid adviser, and recently, I asked some of my girls what they would really like to do for activities because I know when I was their age, I got really bored of crafts and cooking all the time. Their reply? They wanted to do "what the boys do," as in fun stuff like camping, hiking, shooting, fishing, sports, etc.

They basically want to do things that Boy Scouts do... but we're asked to help fund only the boys. And we're asked a lot. The suggested donation was $158 dollars, so one boy could be a Scout for a year. We live in a pretty poor area, and most families in the ward would have a very rough time coming up with that money. Fortunately I missed this meeting this year as I had to be with my girls, probably a good thing.

I asked my husband, who is a Scout leader, where that money actually goes. He says since all they've done recently in the past several months is sit around and talk about merit badges, that money has paid for the badges. He's just as frustrated as I am, because he isn't allowed to teach the boys how to survive and care for themselves in the wilderness. The Scout's new policy on "surviving" is "staying where you are until someone finds you." He can't teach them how to build a fort, look for food, water, anything.

I agree with the Church that a strong program needs to be in place for the boys to keep them close to God and help them become respectable citizens. The Boy Scout program is separate from the Church... but young Mormon boys are strongly encouraged to attend. But I also believe that an equally strong program needs to be in place for all the girls. Girls are more independent now than they have been in generations past, and they're equally susceptible to temptations.

Activity Day girls meet once, maybe twice a month, whereas the same age group for boys meets every week. I asked once why the Church doesn't invest in Girl Scouts, and I was told the program was "too liberal". Maybe that's my problem, I did Girl Scouts for years!

Young Woman's is great... but it could be better. These girls want to learn more than how to be good homemakers someday. They want to go on field trips too and learn to be strong individuals. We have so many girls in our group that are either the only members in their families or come from very inactive homes. Activities need to be fun for them so they'll want to come back. I don't want them to be bored.

I know tithing pays for the Young Woman activities, but if we're asked to donate to the boys, shouldn't we keep it even?

Just some thoughts.

Baby Nephew Jett!!

Just hours old... this is seriously the youngest baby I have ever held!
The proud/tired/awesome parents Robin and Dave! Congrats, guys!
I love this little guy!
I think the baby thing might be growing on Judd!



Judd and I are finally an Aunt and an Uncle!!

Our first nephew ever... Jett David Cordova... was born at 4:01 a.m. January 2. Crazy thing was, we had just seen Robin hours earlier and she was fine! I admire how tough she was giving birth so fast, she's a trooper!

We came and visited Jett and his parents at the hospital right after church. Like I said above, I've never held a baby that young. He's absolutely handsome and he has so many doting relatives. It's so neat to watch the way a newborn takes in the world, he couldn't stop looking around, there was just so much to see.

Judd was so cute, they came to take the baby's blood, and Judd sat with him and tried to make him feel better while the rest of us were cringing. He'll be a good dad in the distant future when we decide it's our turn!

But for now, we're absolutely in love with the little guy, and now we can't wait for our niece Izzy to get here in April!

Pizza and Special Heads for Christmas

One of Bindi's many toys she opened herself...
Judd's loot
Kristen's loot
AHHHHHH!!! The Head!
Doesn't that look fantastic?
The Dads and Judd attempt to switch the pizza over to the paddle...
My Alfredo/Smoked Turkey pizza creation! Molly and Telly are working on a Loony Toons Puzzle in the background. 1,000 pieces= day long process!

This Christmas was full of toys, gag gifts, diamonds, and plenty of homemade brick-oven pizza!
Judd and I started off the morning at our place, playing Santa for our pseudo child Bindi. Yes, we're nerdy enough to actually wrap presents for her and get a kick out of her opening them. Since we just went on a trip, we didn't do any huge presents this year, but Judd's highlight was a remote-controlled helicopter, and mine was the fantastic Black Friday diamond bracelet!

We spent the rest of Christmas at Judd's family's house. We've been doing the drawing-a-couple's-name-out-of-a-box deal for the past few years as far as presents go... and Mike and Molly got us. They wrapped up the most...um...unique Grecian (or is it Roman?) head and gave it to us. We were super polite and appreciative, especially when Molly made a comment about having one herself. The act went on for awhile, finally they couldn't take it anymore and brought out our "real" presents! It was hilarious, but I think the funniest part is that there were a few people who actually thought the head was beautiful and wanted one for themselves! Even though Bindi is terrified of it, we're keeping it around... he'll make a reappearance one of these holidays! Judd keeps hiding it in places I don't expect to find it and it always creeps me out!

Christmas Dinner consisted of a variety of homemade brick-oven pizzas out of the Kidman's new backyard pizza oven! My dad came over for this part to show off his East Coast pizza skills and make the pizza as flat as possible (the best way, really!). I think one of these is in store in the distant future when we have a backyard!