cma's

who i think will win in bold, who i want to win in italics:

2006 Final Nominees

Entertainer of the Year
• Brooks & Dunn
• Kenny Chesney
• Brad Paisley
• Rascal Flatts
• Keith Urban

Female Vocalist of the Year
• Sara Evans
• Faith Hill
• Martina McBride
• Carrie Underwood
• Gretchen Wilson

Male Vocalist of the Year
• Dierks Bentley
• Kenny Chesney
• Alan Jackson
• Brad Paisley
• Keith Urban

Horizon Award
• Miranda Lambert
• Little Big Town
• Sugarland
• Josh Turner
• Carrie Underwood

Vocal Group of the Year
• Alison Krauss + Union Station Featuring Jerry Douglas
• Little Big Town
• Lonestar
• Rascal Flatts
• Sugarland

Vocal Duo of the Year
• Big & Rich
• Brooks & Dunn
• Montgomery Gentry
• Van Zant
• The Wreckers

Single of the Year
• “Believe”/Brooks & Dunn
• “Better Life”/Keith Urban
• "Jesus Take The Wheel”/Carrie Underwood
• “Summertime”/Kenny Chesney
• “When I Get Where I’m Going”/Brad Paisley (Featuring Dolly Parton)

Album of the Year
• Hillbilly Deluxe/Brooks & Dunn
• Me And My Gang/Rascal Flatts
• Precious Memories/Alan Jackson
• The Road And The Radio/Kenny Chesney
• Time Well Wasted/Brad Paisley

Music Video of the Year
• “8th of November”/Big & Rich
• “Believe”/Brooks & Dunn
• “Jesus Take The Wheel”/Carrie Underwood
• “Kerosene”/Miranda Lambert
• “When I Get Where I’m Going/Brad Paisley (Featuring Dolly Parton)

Song of the Year
• “8th of November/Big Kenny & John Rich
• “Believe”/Craig Wiseman & Ronnie Dunn
• “Jesus Take The Wheel/Hillary Lindsey, Brett James, Gordie Sampson
• “Tonight I Wanna Cry/Keith Urban & Monty Powell
• “When I Get Where I’m Going/Rivers Rutherford & George Teren

unfortch, i think brooks and dunn are going to clean up with a song i hate. i'd love to see sugarland, carrie underwood, and rascal flatts do well. and if boyfriend #5 (dierks) takes one home, that'd be alright by me.

any thoughts rae or lara?

the new 7 wonders

i’m a bit of a list girl. i like them, i use them. as such i’ve been following the new 7 wonders selection process, because i like the idea of being able to check all of them off of my ‘visited’ list.

good morning america is scheduled to announce the new seven, beginning on the 9th. i’m still a bit confused as to why the new 7 wonders site says they won’t be announced until next year (07/07/07, which incidentally, is my new wedding date) and gma is announcing them this week, but, whatever. the 21 finalists are as follows:

1. Acropolis of Athens, Athens, Greece
2. Alhambra, Granada, Spain
3. Angkor Wat, Angkor, Cambodia
4. Chichen Itza, Yucatan, Mexico (been there)
5. Christ the Redeemer, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
6. Colosseum, Rome, Italy
7. Easter Island statues, Chile
8. Eiffel Tower, Paris, France (been there)
9. Great Wall, China
10. Hagia Sophia, Istanbul, Turkey (been there)
11. Kyomizu Temple, Kyoto, Japan
12. Kremlin and Red Square, Moscow, Russia
13. Machu Picchu, Peru
14. Neuschwanstein Castle, Fussen, Germany
15. Petra, Jordan (been there)
16. Pyramids of Giza+, Egypt
17. Statue of Liberty, New York, United States (been there)
18. Stonehenge, Amesbury, United Kingdom (going there...in 18 or so days)
19. Sydney Opera House, Sydney, Australia
20. Taj Mahal, Agra, India
21. Timbuktu, Mali

(sorry, the list girl in me could not resist identifying those already visited)

In addition to these 21, you can apparently vote for the 8th wonder of the world from the ‘runner-ups’, only three of which are in the current top 21 (weird!):

1. Great Wall, China
2. Machu Picchu, Peru
3. Taj Mahal, Agra, India
4. Grand Canyon
5. Victoria Falls
6. Saturn V
7. Panama Canal
8. Venice

i am still confused as to how 4-8 ended up as runner ups since they didn’t make the top 21 to begin with. i also am not sure why saturn v would be considered, maybe a wonder of the galaxy, but of the world? And lastly, I need to express my sheer disgust at the fact that the great wall, machu piccu, and the taj mahal (all sure things in my book) are in the runner-ups list.

with that said, here are my guesses for the 7:

1. Acropolis of Athens, Athens, Greece (feeling confident about this one)
2. Christ the Redeemer, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (totally guessing on this one)
3. Colosseum, Rome, Italy (feeling confident)
4. Easter Island statues, Chile (feeling so-so about this one)
5. Petra, Jordan (here’s hoping)
6. Pyramids of Giza+, Egypt (the only remaining ancient wonder...t’would be quite an insult if it didn’t make the list)
7. Stonehenge, Amesbury, United Kingdom (feeling pretty good about this)

and for the 8th? i still think it sucks that i have to choose from three that should be on the other list, but i guess i will go with macchu picchu, peru.

kelly, guess what?!

one of the ironies about my recent macbook purchase is that i haven't been able to hear my playlist, on my site, on my computer--the downside to windows media player.

this annoyance prompted me to search for an alternative, and i am so happy with what i found! still working out a couple of minor glitches, but i think you all are going to love it;)

kelly, you can finally hear my playlists...and so can i!

ps - i decided that hearing my own voice is a little too unsettling, so podcasting is not in my immediate future.

giddy up

my mother was born and raised in preston, idaho (of napoleon dynamite fame), and my grandfather ran a farm. he was a large animal veterinarian and raced quarter horses. what that meant was that summer vacations often consisted of time at the farm with the family.

it’s amazing how a child can turn a farm in the middle of nowhere (at the time) into a playground. there was the horse walker that we loved to hook swings to and go round and round and round. there was the barn with the trap door for hay, that we used in the most mischevous ways imaginable. there was walking to will-o-way (now a burger king owned by karl malone) to pick up bubble gum for the bubble blowing competitions. there was grandma’s jewelry, which spawned several dance routines, the most memorable of which was madonna’s ‘material girl’. and there were the ‘cousin wars’--no holds barred prank battles between the boys and the girls. falling hay when walking through a doorway, putting makeup on the sleeping boy cousins while they slept (when boys sleep, they REALLY sleep), baking powder in bed, you name it.

but one of my fondest memories from those summer vacations were the horses. in fact, horses have been the conduit for some of my most memorable experiences. i must have been 7 or 8 when i rode my first horse. uncle verl pulled out one of the non-racers and brought her to the corral, where i climbed aboard. after about a half hour, when i showed no signs of being remotely done with the experience, he asked me if i was ok, and headed back inside. he would come and check on me from time to time, and after several hours of circling that 30 X 30 corral, i finally just felt bad that he had to keep coming out, so i got off. i could have stayed on that horse forever. i would have been happy falling asleep on it’s back.

that was the first, but not the last of my horse experiences. i had a lot of chances to ride when visiting the farm. some were thoroughly enjoyable and some (like the time i got dragged by a racehorse, unable to get my foot out of the stirrup) were a little more painful. good or bad, equine love is in my blood.

since then, i’ve had multiple opportunities, the most memorable of which took place a long way from preston. i’ve ridden on work retreats, dated guys with horses, and had random other opportunities arise, but between living in northern virginia, and grandpa’s passing, they have been far fewer.

i could ride every day and be happy, but every once in awhile i get an undeniable craving to be on the back of a horse, and i got one last week. knowing that lara is a horse lover as well, i asked her if she’d be interested, and we made plans to play hookey today to get our fix in.

we headed out to marriott ranch, where we saddled up and hopped on our horses for the hour and a half ride. it was a small group--our guide, lara and i, and a young couple--and it was nearly perfect. sunny and cool, and the leaves were in fine color. my horse was a dream, responding to the slightest movement of the reigns, and truth be told, i could have dropped them and would have been fine. i was in good hands, or on them, 15 or so. lara got a bit of a grasseater, but fortunately there were long stretches of the ride that were not grassy.

all in all, it was an amazing day, and an amazing way to spend a friday afternoon.

for the rest of the pics, click here.

farewell

only a few days until everything changes. stephanie is heading out west to reconnect with her roots in montana, and last night was her farewell gathering.


it caused me to reflect on my many experiences with steph, particularly the first time i met her. through sheer coincidence we ended up roommates at the langley ward’s annual ski trip almost three years ago (holy cow, has it been that long?!). after arriving at our hotel in pa, a few of us decided to go out dancing. the club was about as redneck as it gets, and when we arrived back at the hotel, we all reaked of smoke. we took turns in the shower and got cleaned up and ready for bed. for steph though, getting ready for bed meant staying stripped down to g’s and undies.


i have always been overly modest when it comes to ‘group’ situations. in p.e. i would change in the bathroom stall. my family was just always that way. and here was this girl walking around our hotel room with nothing but her whites on. i thought she was crazy. little did i know that i was right, but it’s the kind of crazy that you just can’t ignore, and end up loving.


since then we have shared many memories, and not a few laughs and tears. we often joke that we are living parallel lives. we think the same way more often than not, and i always know that when i am going through something no one else will understand, steph will. so her departure is not without some sadness. while i am thrilled for her and the new opportunities she will be experiencing, life in nova will simply not be the same. steph, we love you, and you will be missed!

on a random sidenote, my favorite moment from last night occured when a former co-worker arrived with some delicious looking pastries, and steph (in true steph fashion and being the only person i know who could get away with this) gave him a giant hug and said ‘leave it to the gays!’