Hi, my name is Amanda and I have Design Paralysis

One of the things happening in our house right now is that we are thinking of doing some painting and getting new couches. This is an exciting event and I can't wait, but I have a problem-I have design paralysis.

What's that? you might ask. Well, basically I am so terrified of making a mistake in the decor of my home that I virtually do nothing with it. Don't get me wrong, I love design. I love to look at design magazines, I love bold color, I love when I go to someone's house and they do something really cool and imaginative. But, then when I get home, I just can't seem to get that to translate to my own life.

I particularly love modern design and would love to incorporate that into my house. But how? I wish I had tons of money and could hire a decorator. I think what I really need to do is just be bold and pick the pieces I love and hope that they all go together.

For March, my goal is to get those couches and do some painting. After that, I want to start thinking of other items I can add or other things that would work. I am going to be bold, throw caution to the wind (that's really hard for me to do), and see what happens. So what if I end up with a fuschia wall and yellow end tables-it will all be okay, right?

Last Month's Top Ten

I have been a slacker, but please forgive me. I have been very busy and I am still busy, so here are the top ten things happening at the Parry's this month.

10. Bought a beautiful (and completely gigantic) poinsettia at Costco-Can you say gorgeous?

9. Bought a new flat screen for our bedroom and now have HD in all areas of the house.

8. The University of Utah beating Alabama. I was in a state of shock and awe, and then total happiness. Go Utes!

7. New Year's Eve at The Red Butte Cafe. Delicious food and fun company-Spencer and Lilly!

6. The Yo Gabba Gabba Guitar: annoying to parents, but priceless to a funny 3-year-old.

5. Christmas Eve-Got to watch Mamma Mia! I love the holidays when you can catch up on your movie watching.

4. Buying tickets to see Adele on Jan 23. See, I keep my resolutions

3. Watching Lilly play with her cousins over the holidays. She's just adorable-in spite of a nasty case of bronchitis.

2. Lilly is finally almost potty trained! What a relief after a year of stressing about it. In fact, today is the best day she has had so far. She is learning to poop in the toilet and has already mastered going on the big potty. I am so proud of her!

1. The blessings of a wonderful family; I love you all!

Thanksgiving weekend in St. George

Over this last weekend, we went to St. George to spend Thanksgiving with Spencer's family. We were invited to stay at our brother-in-law's new house and it is really beautiful. Thanks to the Marshes for putting up with us! I am kind of into lists lately, so here are the top 5 things I will remember about this trip.

5. We had pancakes for 3 mornings in a row. This was mostly because I failed to bring any other breakfast food and the store is a few miles away. Luckily Jason is the master of the griddle.

4. I almost pooped my pants driving through Hurricane. Are there no gas stations in this town? Yes, that's a little gross to mention, but I believe in full disclosure. By the way, I did not poop my pants. Just so you know.

3. Waiting in line at In-N-Out. It was a long line, went quicker than I thought, and was totally worth it. Yum!

2. Watching the 2nd half of Hancock and falling asleep during Iron Man in the Marshes really dark basement bedroom that has a king bed. I did not see a full movie while on vacation but I really have not had better sleep in a long time.

1. While at the live nativity at Tuacahn my 3-year-old niece and my 5-year-old nephew argued loudly over whether Mary was on a horse or a donkey. "It's a HORSE!" "No, it's a DONKEY!" I know it probably stressed their parents out, but it was really hilarious.

The Stalker

Now that I am a famous celebrity from my little article in the Salt Lake Tribune, I officially have a stalker. I came home one day and Spencer said there was a message on the machine for me. I said, "Who was it" and he said, "You have to listen to it to fully appreciate it"

So I listened and it was a lady from Herriman who saw my name in the paper and read that I liked to run. Mind you, she is a complete stranger. She is apparently in need of a running partner and was trying to recruit me to become her new running buddy. Where did this person get my number? Creepy! My favorite part was that she said, "If you are interested please call me back. Well, even if you are not interested call me back either way."

Um, okay. I am not calling you back. It's just weird. I mean who calls random people they see in the paper to go running with them? Not me, so I don't think we would get along. When I told my mother-in-law about this incident, she theorized that maybe this lady was a lesbian. I would venture to guess that this is not the standard way that gay people look for dates, but I guess it's always a possibility.

Coldplay!

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to see one of my favorite bands in concert-Coldplay! The show did not disappoint. Here are my observations on the evening:

• The opening act was super weird. At first I thought it was the bands intro, but after about 40 minutes I realized it was not. It was very techno. And not in a good way.
• They played my favorite song, "In My Place" and it really brought a tear to my eye.
• The bassist for Coldplay-Guy Berryman is very hot. I had not noticed. I just googled him and none of the pictures I found did him justice. He must have got better looking recently.
• Chris Martin like to say, "F**k it" alot. But with his British accent and the super great acoustics at the Energy Solutions arena, I hardly noticed and of course found him cute and charming.
• Their camera work was amazing! When I looked at the jumbotron, I felt like I was watching about 20 different concert films. Whoever designed their stage was a genius.
• These guys sweat a lot. Like from the first song they were dripping sweat. Sometimes it made them look like rock stars, and at other times it was just gross.
• I found myself wondering at odd moments, "I wonder what Apple and Moses are doing tonight"
• I had never really been a fan of their song, "Yellow" but after they did it for an encore, I really fell in love with it.

So that's it. After attending 2 concerts in the last few months, I have resolved to be a better music fan and go to more concerts. That's my New Year's resolution, so if you have heard of any of the following musical acts coming to Salt Lake, please let me know: The Killers, Death Cab for Cutie, Jack's Mannequin, Adele, Matt White, or Jason Mraz.

Yeah, I'm famous

Believe it or not, but I am featured in the South Valley section of the Salt Lake Tribune this week. Although I like to think that I was chosen because of my growing Salt Lake fan base, the real reason I am featured is that a co-worker at my last job does some freelance work for the Tribune and was desperate for someone to write about. I told her to make me sound good; I hope she succeeded. Check it out for yourself:

http://www.sltrib.com/southvalley/ci_10975154

My new favorite show: Whatever, Martha

I was just sharing this with a co-worker today, and I thought the rest of the world would like to know about my new favorite tv show. Whatever, Martha is where Martha's daughter and one of her daughter's friends watch old episodes of the Martha Stewart show and just mock her. If you have ever seen Mystery Science Theater 3000, this show is just like that, only with homemaking. Sometimes Alexis (the daughter) and Jennifer (the friend) attempt to do the crafts that Martha is doing-usually with terrible and hilarious results. The great thing about the show is that Martha created the show and just lets them totally make fun of her. Check out this clip and you will see what I mean:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npBPuJwbwyI

I don't know how to embed the video. If someone knows, please tell me.