Last night I saw Twilight. Even though I didn't love the book, I was still excited to see the movie. I thought I would probably have to go by myself or something since everyone saw it opening weekend. Nevertheless, my good friend, Jessica, said she'd go with me to see it, even though it was her second time.

Oh Twilight... I don't even know where to begin. Super cheesy, but enjoyable. What girl doesn't love a little cheese? My favorite part about the movie by far was the music. That movie has the BEST soundtrack. Muse, Paramore, Linkin Park= good times. Even the filler music was cool.

Edward. He had his hot moments. The first half of the movie, where Edward is supposed to be a little awkward, he comes off more retarded and autistic than just awkward. When he started to get more comfortable and he'd smile, I'll admit I thought he was pretty cute, but it was like that Seinfeld episode with that one chick... In some scenes she was a total babe, and in others she looked like a man. That was Edward in Twilight. In some scenes he was totally attractive, but in the next shot he'd look like a gargoyle. Bad lighting I guess.

Overall I think I'd give the movie a seven out of ten. It held my interest, but it's definitely no Oscar winner.

As Thanksgiving is upon us, I thought I would take this opportunity to reflect on some of the things that I am thankful for.

I am thankful...

• For my family. I love my family. My parents are amazing and so patient with me. I have wonderful siblings and in-laws, and the cutest nieces and nephews ever! Through the best and crappiest times, my family has always been there and I am forever grateful for all their support.

• That I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I love the gospel. I am so thankful for the knowledge that I have and for the joy it brings to my life.

• For my friends. I have the best friends and we have had the best times- trips to Vegas and California, geocaching, cookie adventures, cheese parties, Kmart commercials, so many concerts, and just laughing so hard (aka Body Flex, the upsetting death of Nicole Kidman, and... what do you do with a drunken sailor?). I love you guys.

• For school. I know I complain about school all the time and my usual response to "Laura, how was school?" is "I hate school!" but really I'm very thankful for my education. Even though school has taken me far too long and a normal person would have their PhD by now, school has been the best experience and something I will always be glad I did. And as much as I am thankful for school, I am even more thankful that I will be graduating in May. Hooray!

• That I have a job. We all know the economy sucks right now- companies are going under, people are losing their jobs left and right, and those that are unemployed are having a heck of a time finding a job. I don't have the best job, but I'm glad that I have one. I work with great people and for a great company. They have always been good to me.

We all have so much to be thankful for even though life sucks sometimes. Be thankful for what you have. We have a lot.

Last night I went to the New Kids on the Block concert. Yes, it's true. The tickets were free.

My favorite parts of the concert are as follows (and when I say favorite, I mean the most hilarious):

• One of the NKOTB standing on a platform, singing a solo, when a sudden gust of wind blows open his shirt revealing his bare chest.
  
• Some girl dancing on a piano in purple, shimmery, spandex pants.
• The multiple crotch and butt shots of NKOTB band members.
  
• Lady Gaga in her crystal meth dress with her disco stick.
• Hundreds of thirty something women screaming their brains out. Seriously, I don't know if I have been to a concert where the crowd was so loud.
  

Really though, the concert was fun. I had a good laugh and the New Kids on the Block actually do put on a good show.

I just finished reading Twilight and I'm not gonna lie, I was not that impressed. I mean, I didn't hate it, but I just don't think it has deserved all the hype. Maybe if I would have got on board like a year ago, I would love it like everyone else, but I think I missed the boat. I will read the rest of the books in the series and hopefully by the end I will have some understanding of why everyone thinks these books are so amazing. The whole time I was reading Twilight, I just felt like I was reading the diary of some thirteen-year-old girl in junior high. "We love each other so much and I know we've only been dating for like a week, but we're going to be together for the rest of our lives!" Gag me.

Win a free handbag! Register to win at http://www.handbagplanet.com.

These are the names for the 2008 hurricanes.






















How random is that?!

This is the first, and last tag I am ever doing. Tags are homosexual.

• A is for your age: 25
• B is for burger of choice: Crown Burger, I guess. I'm not a huge burger consumer.
• C is for the car you drive: 2007 Toyota Corolla Sport
• D is for your dog's name: No dog, and I'd like to keep it that way. Not that I don't like dogs, I'd just prefer not to own one.
• E is for essential item you use every day: Chapstick
• F is for favorite TV show at the moment: At the moment, Grey's Anatomy, but come January it will be Lost.
• G is for favorite game: I like a good trivia game.
• H is for home state: Utah
• I is for instruments you play: Piano
• J is for favorite juice: I rarely drink anything but water, but I'd say orange juice.
• K is for whose bum you'd like to kick: Jessica's because she tagged me.
• L is for last restaurant at which you ate: Training Table
• M is for your favorite Muppet: Cookie Monster. C is for cookie, that's good enough for me.
• N is for number of piercings: 2, one in each ear.
• O is for overnight hospital stays: Zero
• P is for people you were with today: Co-workers, classmates, friends.
• Q is for what you do with your quiet time: Something productive. When I have time just to myself, I have a hard time just sitting and relaxing.
• R is for biggest regret: Not trying harder to be better.
• S is for status: Single
• T is for time you woke up today: 7:00 AM
• U is for what you consider unique about yourself: I love looking at stars and knowing about constellations. I've been told that's unique.
• V is for the vegetable you love: I like almost every vegetable steamed.
• W is for worst habit: I'm a bit of a perfectionist and I tend to stress myself out.
• X is for x-rays you've had: One.
• Y is for yummy food you ate today: Cheese fries. Greasy goodness.
• Z is for zodiac: Pisces.
  

I know I'm supposed to tag someone else now, but I'm not. I'm ending the vicious cycle. You all should thank me.

BEFORE

12 INCHES

AFTER

I had been thinking about cutting my hair for a long time, but no one thought I'd ever do, I never thought I'd do it. I just kept thinking- My hair has been the same for so long, I need to do something different. I thought- Maybe I'll just try bangs, maybe I'll get some layers... Then on Saturday I took the plunge and cut it all off. My Mom thought I'd cry for sure, but it really hasn't been as devastating as I thought it would be. Plus, I can't feel too bad because I'm donating my hair to Locks of Love and someone will get it who really needs it.

On Friday night I went to the Utah Symphony/Mormon Tabernacle Choir concert at the Conference Center. It was seriously amazing. Brian Stokes Mitchell was a guest performer. He is most known for his work on Broadway- I know him from the show Ragtime. He did a couple songs from Ragtime and I love the music from Ragtime so that was exciting, but when he sang The Impossible Dream from Man of La Mancha, I got the chills. It was incredible. I'm so glad I was able to go.

Well, the Kmart results are in.

Good news: We were one of five first prize winners which means we each get $500 in Kmart gift cards and a Flip Video™ Ultra — the Shoot and Share Camcorder.

Bad news: No New York.

We were a little bummed- we were so looking forward to going to New York! But, we're happy to be first prize winners.

Thanks to everyone who voted for us! You can check out the winner if you feel so inclined at http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=Kmart.

Yesterday I got a call that is still making me laugh, so I thought I'd share:

Me: Hello?
Lady: Is this Laura?
Me: Yes.
Lady: Oh, hi. I'm calling about your cover.
Me: My what?
Lady: Your cover.
Me: I'm sorry. Where are you calling from?
Lady: *******.com (I seriously have no idea what she said)
Me: Umm... okay... and you're calling about what?
Lady: Your cover.
Me: My cover for what?
Lady: For your boat!
Me: I don't have a boat!
Lady: Is this Laura?
Me: Yes...
Lady: Laura Hurst?
Me: No.
Lady: Well, I must have the wrong number.
Me: I guess so.

Maybe someday I really will have a boat so when they call me about my cover I'll know what the heck they're talking about.

A few weeks ago, some friends and I pulled out some boondoggle. I've been working on it here and there, but today I finally finished. It's quite the masterpiece, if I don't say so myself. Now I just have to figure out what to do with it. We were thinking about submitting them in the "Plastic Art" category at the Utah State Fair, but we missed the deadline. Maybe next year...

This weekend I went geochaching. What is geocaching? It's okay, I hadn't heard of it either until this weekend. It's basically treasure hunting using a GPS device. People hide treasures and post the GPS coordinates online so other people can go find the hidden treasure. More details at http://www.geocaching.com

Our first treasure hunt was in Anzak Park. We fired up the GPS and walked around til we got close to the treasure. It took some time getting used to the GPS and figuring out which way to go. The first treasure took us to a big pine tree and we looked all over, but we couldn't find it. Bummer. The next treasure we looked for was also in Anzak Park, but we couldn't find it either. Sometimes people find the treasures and just take them, not knowing what they are. When you find a treasure you are supposed to leave it there so other people can find it too.

We went to find another treasure in the gully in Crestwood Park. This treasure had two parts. We had to locate the first treasure, which then gave clues to the second treasure. We found the first part, but we couldn't find the second part. The clues for this treasure were kind of retarded because we had to solve math problems using order of operations to find the coordinates. The math wasn't hard, but it just seemed a little silly.

At this point we were a little discouraged, but we thought we'd try to find one more treasure, also in the Crestwood Park gully. The coordinates for this treasure took us to the far corner of the gully into a wooded area where we saw a small metal box wired to a fence under a tree. We were so excited when we found it! We opened the box to find a small notebook, some go-fish playing cards, and a plastic spider (which scared me to death when we dumped everything out). We made a note in the notebook, took one of the go-fish playing cards (pictured above), replaced it with a John Mayer card, and put everything back in the box for the next treasure hunter.

Geocaching-- fun, random, and highly recommended!

There really are very few things about the summer I don't like. I love summer. I love how the sun doesn't go down until after 9:00 so the days feel like they last forever. I love watching movies outside in my backyard, which unfortunately we really didn't do a whole lot this year, and I love being able to wear shorts and t-shirts and not have to wear a sweatshirt and pants or... ugh... a coat.

One of the only things I hate about summer is all the bikers along Wasatch Boulevard. They drive me absolutely crazy. Some of them, I swear, are totally oblivious to the hundreds of cars that pass them. I have seen bikers swerve across lanes of traffic and run red lights and it seems like they always ride so close me and the other cars. I am more worried about them hitting me than me hitting them. Well, one good thing about winter is that snow means no more bikers. Thank goodness!

Holy moly people! As most of you know, some friends and I entered a commercial contest for Kmart and we have officially made it to the top 20. Now it's up to YOU to help us get the grand prize- a trip to New York. The grand prize is determined by votes so we need your votes! Here's how to vote:

• Click on the link http://www.youtube.com/user/Kmart
• Type "small" in the "search for a video" box. This will bring up our video titled "Defining Unexpected: Kmart" based on our username smallpebbleuncovered.
• After playing for approximately 10 seconds, cast your vote for us by clicking the thumbs up and then clicking the "next video" icon.
• Congratulations, your vote has been entered!

Voting is unlimited from Tuesday, August 26, 2008 to Monday, September 1, 2008. The more times you can vote the better!

Pass this info on to your friends, family, co-workers, and post it on your blogs, facebook, myspace... whatever you can do to get the word out so we can get tons and tons of votes!

Thanks in advance, and I'll bring you all back something amazing from New York!

I have been trying to get through the last Harry Potter and I have been STRUGGLING! Even though it came out over a year ago, I've never read it. The only books I've even looked at have been textbooks. I want to get through Harry Potter so I can start the vampire books that everyone's freaking out about. I don't know why I'm even bothering to read them. I already know everything about them. They're the only thing people seem to be talking about. School starts in a couple weeks so it's going to be really hard for to donate any extra time to a book about sexy vampires, but I guess I'll do my best.

Saturday night I went to a birthday/cheese party. First we did a cheese tasting game. They had 12 different cheeses and we had to match the cheese with the correct name. Some of the cheeses, like cheddar, weren't too difficult to match, but they had some other weird cheeses I had never even heard of. After the cheese tasting game, which I won p.s., we played a cheese trivia game, and then we had cheesecake for dessert. It was super fun. Happy Birthday Jess!

On Friday night, I went to the Pioneer Concert with the Osmonds at the Conference Center. It was so fun, but so different. The concert started out very mellow- they gave an opening prayer, the MoTab sang some hymns, and then the Osmonds came out. Lights started flashing, the band on stage started rockin' out, and people started cheering. It wasn't something you usually see in the Conference Center. It was a little odd, and I know some people were offended by the format of the concert, but I thought it was very entertaining.

Last night I went to watch the fireworks at Liberty Park. The fireworks were amazing, probably the best I've ever seen, but I think I was fascinated mostly by the people. There were so many people there, and I don't think I've ever seen such a diverse group of people. Even after the fireworks started, I kept catching myself people watching instead of firework watching. I couldn't help myself. It's a sad day when watching 14 year old girls with their ta-tas hanging out and some punk couple scream at each other is more interesting than watching bursts of fire in the sky.

I am so sick of people referring to themselves or others as "prego" when they are pregnant. It's the most retarded term I have ever heard. Prego is a pasta sauce. I don't care if you say knocked up, with child, or a bun in the oven, but stop with the prego... and don't even get me started on "preggers".

Today I went to the health clinic to get a tetanus shot. Last night I stepped on a tack strip in our basement where some carpet had been removed. It bled and hurt and I debated for a long time whether or not I should go in and get a shot, but everyone told me I should, so I did. We all know I can't make decisions by myself. I'm glad I did though because the nurse at the clinic told me that tetanus shots are usually good for ten years, but if something happens after five years, it's recommended to get the shot. My last tetanus shot was nine years ago. I was just about due anyway. So, now I have a sore foot, a sore arm, and I'm $49 poorer... but I'm tetanus free.

Today was a big day for this young man. It was fun to spend the evening with him and the family. Choose the right!

I'm dedicating this post to the girls. Thank you for always being there, listening to all my drama, giving me advice, and making me feel better about life. You're the best. I love you both.

Today at work we had our annual Meier's Chicken catered luncheon. I look forward to it every year. We had BBQ chicken and ribs, fruit, shrimp salad, baked beans, funeral potatoes, rolls, and brownies. It was so good. I ate way too much. Now I need a nap.

These are the infamous files. These are the files that are the source of most of my pain and anguish at work. I dread filing. There are six rows, containing thousands of files, and it is my job to file them away. The job jackets, as we call them, are heavy and dirty, and the filing area is usually hot and smelly from our moldy swamp cooler. I keep telling them we need to have a Monster's Inc. filing system where you just punch in the code on a key pad and the files rotate around until the one you need is right in front of you. They won't seem to listen though.

Success!

This is a test. This is only a test. I'm trying out the mobile posting feature.