Okay, blog Friends: ***FINAL WAR CRY!*** Please help me move into first place in this video contest before the contest ends on May 31st. I’m asking you to help me do a LAST-MINUTE BLITZ to get as many votes as possible in the last two days of the contest. I’m only down by ~150 votes, so even if my readers vote once, I’ll surge into the lead. If you can vote and share today and/or tomorrow, and gather as many votes as possible, then I think we have a great chance of winning the cruise. You have all been so supportive and encouraging (thank you!) and I promise this is the last time I will abuse your generosity! 🙂

[Just click on the link below to vote. No registration or anything necessary. Just click on the orange thumbs-up icon below my video.]

http://www.prettydarnfunny.com/videos/90

Just to prove that I am still alive, here are some pictures from our Memorial Day weekend camping trip at Kodachrome Basin State Park.  I guess they don’t technically prove I am alive because I *took* the pictures, but isn’t my family lovely?

See? I can blog.

Yay!  Some of you know I’ve been working on a book (for much longer than it should take to write a book). Well, I finished it on Saturday!  Just the writing it part.  Twelve chapters, done. Now I have to edit it like a crazy woman, in about 1/348th of the time it took me to write it, because my goal is to submit it to an editor by the end of this month. If it gets accepted for publication, this blog will wake up and have a party to long be remembered. In case you’re curious, the book is basically a 150-page research paper about the different roles that the Savior played in His ministry, and how motherhood is a reflection of each of those roles.  I promise it’s more exciting than it sounds.

Ahem.  Continuing with the book theme, if you’re looking for a great gift purchase for a friend or family member, consider this one:

I really like it, but I’m biased because I wrote a part of it.  However, a friend at church today told me she loved it because it was uplifting without making her feel guilty at all.  High praise indeed.  If you go to this link, you can find out how to buy a cool Mother’s Day gift package that includes the book, a fancy bookmark, and chocolate truffles for a new discounted price of $20.  You’ll have to order it by May 8th to get it shipped on time, so hustle. If I had any blog button skills, you could order it right here, but alas, nope. If you want to just plain ol’ order it from Amazon, go here. (Also, in light of all the Mormons in the media, this book would be a really nice, non-threatening way to introduce your friends to what it’s like to live life as a Mormon.)

Please?  I just want to give a shout out to a great family I know.  My friend Yolanda and her husband are looking to adopt. They have an adorable son (adoption success story #1 for them) who I taught in nursery, and I can’t think of a more deserving family. If you know of anyone who is considering placing a child for adoption, would you please spread the word about my friends?  Here is a link to their adoption profile.  Thank you kindly.

LOL.  My funny video is in 2nd place right now at that Pretty Darn Funny contest. If you have 5 seconds, will you go right on over here and click on the little orange “thumbs up” icon to vote for me? Matt and I get to go on a cruise (!!!) if I win.  You can vote once a day until May 31st, so, you know, don’t hold back.  🙂 (The video is called “Don’t Tell the Health Department.”)

P.S. I chopped my hair off.  My kids don’t like it, but I think it looks just fine. And it’s easy.  Photographic evidence (before and after):

One more thing.  Tomorrow I start teaching my class at BYU.  I’m excited, but nervous.  Say a prayer for me; I might need it.

This week’s post is up.  Head on over.