As The World Turns.....

Camping Again

2011-12-03T18:51:00.001-08:00

Since we have all this camping gear and we have been bitten by the camping bug we set out for one last camping trip before it was too cold. We went up behind Timp and found this cool little spot amongst the aspen trees. We brought our guns, skeets and targets for a little morning shot out.

We went up Provo Canyon and ended up out at Spanish Fork Canyon which was beautiful to drive. The road has lots to be desired but we made it eventually. Utah has soo many beautiful areas and I have discovered I haven't seen all that many of them. I think I will have to get out some more.

Camping In Moab

2011-11-03T16:36:00.001-07:00

Jesse and I went camping with our friends over the summer in Moab to do a little off-roading and relaxation. Since Jesse and I have only been camping once since we have been married we needed to get our own camping supplies. We got a two room tent and some stakes.

The weather was of course HOT but it made playing in the river that much better. We did a little, okay a lot, of rock crawling and dune racing with our rented Razors.

We found this waterfall and dammed up area that was prefect to float around in the afternoons when it was too hot to do anything else!!

We had a crazed chipmunk chew through our lovely new tent to chew through the lid of a hot cocoa container. Then he didn't know how to get back out and pooped all around our tent in a panic, yeah super happy with that one!!

On our way home we stopped at Goblin Valley to see all the cool rock formations. It was too hot to spend as much time as we wanted but fun what time we did spend there.

Neices

2011-05-21T18:15:00.001-07:00

It is seriously the best thing in the world to be an Aunt. You get to spoil your little neices and nephews and play with them and rile them up then send them off to their parents when they get cranky and tired. I was checking on my online album and saw some cute pictures of my wonderful neices
Cute Miranda slurping up the spaghetti!!

Ames chowing down on her BG (Baby Goat)

Charlie's Hair Cut

2011-05-21T18:11:00.000-07:00

Natalie comes over and helps me clip Charlie every few months but this time it has been a bit longer. So he was quite hairy for Charlie!! Natalie suggested we give him the "Lion" cut that is typical of a Water Dog which I have never done on Charlie because I think it makes them look silly but I was feeling adventurous so we printed off a picture and had at it!!

He is soo little looking when he has no hair so now he looks even tinier!! He seems pretty happy about it though but I am sure the other dogs are snickering behind his back~~ I know I was the whole time we were clipping him!!

Baby Blessing Whirlwind

2011-04-25T15:35:00.000-07:00

The past two months have been filled with baby blessings. I think my mother-in-law is sure I am making up the amount that I have been attending since every sunday she asks if we can come to dinner but I have to decline due to another baby blessing!! I think we have been to six in the last two months. I do love going to baby blessings becuase you get to be present for such a sweet time for a new member of the family where their dad is able to bless them and give them a name. The spirit is always soo strong and each are very unique and special to that little baby.

The last one we were able to attend was my cousin's baby boy from Boston who is quite the chunker!! He is huge next to my little neice and it was really funny to see how small she really looks. She is just shy of 4 months and he is 2 months

Of course getting to see family and freinds is always great about baby blessings as well!!

My cousin Nadia and I

Round Table Pizza From Home

2011-03-22T15:31:00.000-07:00

Growing up in California we had Round Table pizza that we loved!! They have a Garlic Chicken pizza that is fantastic and my friend had told me she found a recipe for it that actually tasted like the real thing. Here is my interpretation of the pizza, next time I will use fresh pizza dough instead of canned becuase it was too thin for how melted I wanted the cheese.

Jesse gave it a thumbs up and at 1/2 of it and I liked it so I will give it a go again. I just got some dough from the Lehi Bakery so I may use that tonight.

Update:

Here is the recipe that I used:

Put Ranch Dressing for sauce
1-2 cloves of minced garlic
Shredded Mozzarella cheese (lots)
Shredded Chicken Breasts (I cooked mine with Garlic, Salt & Pepper)
Diced Green Onions
Chopped Mushrooms
Diced Tomatoes
Bacon (if you like)
Sprinkle top with Parmesean Cheese

Follow baking directions for the dough used. I think mine was 350 for 20 minutes.

This was the yummy banana bread that my SIL made for the event that I chowed down the rest.

Surprise Package Arrived

2011-03-12T10:23:00.000-08:00

All day Thursday I called and texted Jesse wanting to know if the package arrived of course he had to do "errands" and wasn't home impatiently waiting for it like I was. He just doesn't get as excited about packages as I do. So when I got home I ran out to the porch and picked the box up and it ended up being our sump housings for our water filters!! Yeah the lady told me it would be at least another 3 weeks before it was even shipped I guess harassment moved me up on the wait list!! Now it will only cost about $30 when we need a filter change instead of $250 for the company to come and do it!! I love saving money and having a handy husband!

Mystery Package

2011-03-08T09:17:00.000-08:00

The other day I received a shipping notification about a package that will be arriving for me from FedEx. I love getting packages, the only thing is I haven't bought anything so I have no clue why I am getting this package. It says that the package will arrive on Thursday so hopefully it is something good that I have forgotten about and not some dumb unsolicited book that I didn't order!! I still haven't sent back a cookbook that was sent to me, I rediscovered in my cleaning of the office. I guess that is what they get for sending me a book I didn't want or order in the first place!

Charlie In The Mornings

2011-03-02T08:51:00.000-08:00

This is how Charlie looks when I am getting ready in the morning

This is how Charlie looks when Jesse is getting ready in the morning

I think one of us gets a bit distracted getting ready for the day!!

Oh Maria...

2011-02-25T10:12:00.000-08:00

If you have hit up Maria Bonita's you will know the glories of the monster dishes that they serve!! Here is Jesse's Fajita Salad, yeah and then Jesse had a taco as well!! This is why Jesse loves this place so very much is because it is cheap enough that I will agree to go out to eat there and he comes home full and sometimes with left overs!! Well, left overs are for me but still exciting!! See how happy he is!!

UUGGGHHH Snowing Again!!

2011-02-25T09:50:00.000-08:00

Being in the warm weather for 3 weeks makes coming back to the cold miserable!! I am always cold and all i want to do is go to sleep and wait for warm weather. This is what happens also when I don't go skiing because that is the one thing that makes me enjoy all the snow!! I know it will be a few more months of this but come on, lets have a short winter!!

Panama Temple

2011-02-20T16:12:00.000-08:00

Saturday my mom and I decided to hit up the temple for a session and were a bit nervous about how it all worked with translators and such. The temple in Panama is beautiful and is up on a hill overlooking the canal. We got there and I think a stake was visiting because the parking lot was full of taxi's and Red Devils (the bus mafi). We had a nice American lady that helped us get our clothes and point us in the right direction. Even the Temple runs on Panama time, which is ssslllooowww!! The session started 45 min to an hour late, what Temple do you know that doesn't start sessions on time?! It was great to just relax and feel the peace that is there and enjoy watching the young men that were taking their endowments out. It brought back lots of fond memories and was a wonderful way to spend the afternoon.

A Sloth!!

2011-02-18T13:18:00.001-08:00

My mom and I were driving back to our apartment which is at the very top of the island and we saw this orange furry thing in the road so of course we stopped. It was a Sloth!! We thought it was run over but he was looking around and moving a little bit and didn't look like he was run over or in pain just like he was chillin' in the middle of the road!! So of course after a little Google search I learned sloths don't move very fast even if in danger and that their only defense are their long claws. They usually only come out of the trees 1 x a week to go to the bathroom or find a mate to breed. He was either out to use the facilities or to find a little action, not sure which!!

Happy Valentine's Day

2011-02-15T15:13:00.000-08:00

While out to dinner this monster ball drove by strapped to a little car. Kinda stalkerish message but creative!!

Hope you all had a great Valentine's Day with your loved ones!!

Spread The Word Get Your Taxes Done For A Cause

2011-02-12T14:50:00.000-08:00

Kerry, a wonderful friend of mine is in the process of an international adoption. She is a tax preparer and is offering to do your taxes for a donation towards their adoption fund. You can read more about their journey here. They also have a donation link on their blog if you would like to donate to their wonderful cause. If you haven't had your taxes done yet you can call or email her to set up an appointment. She is wonderful to work with and is excellent with taxes. Call Kerry at 801-471-9682 to set up an appointment.

Attacked by a Semi

2011-02-09T17:46:00.000-08:00

Today I just got into my second ever car accident! The first was in my dually crew cab Ford truck hauling two horses in the middle of the City which was stressful but this was worse!! In Panama there is craziness everywhere in the city and the roads are not sufficient for the amount of cars that are on the road. My mom and I had just ventured over to the fish market and bought some delicious ceviche and pineapple juice and were on our merry way to have the "Better Soup In The World" as we were informed by a Panamanian when our little happy world was uprooted!!

JUST LOOK HOW HAPPY I AM EATING FRESH CEVICHE

There is a large interchange where three different three lane roads converge into one 3 lane road. I am edging my way into traffic and there is a Semi Truck that has stopped so I pulled in front of him into the lane. Traffic started to move but then stopped again, apparently the truck did not see me, I will admit I was in a tiny Yaris so I can understand the visual impairment the driver had. He proceeded to hit the back of us and push us into a truck in front of us and then pushed both of us a few feet until he figured out there was us between him and the truck I was know attached to it's bumper!

SEMI IN MY FENDER

THIS IS HOW BIG THE SEMI WAS, VIEW FROM BEHIND

THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN A SEMI PUSHES YOU

The best parts of the accident was we were in bumper to bumper traffic and now we were causing a huge back up and people were laying on their horns left and right, then it was incredibly hot at the moment, then it took about 2 hours for the police to process the accident, then the torrential downpour as I am driving my newly smooshed car back to the rental office. Needless to say our day a just a bit ruined!!

Amador Causeway

2011-02-09T06:10:00.001-08:00

With a little wheeling and dealing I was able to get a great apartment for the rest of our trip for a great price!! We are on the top of a hill on the second island of Amador. We have two bedrooms and two bathrooms and we each have a balcony with beautiful views of the ocean and Panama City.

Pedicure Jesse Style

2011-02-08T20:13:00.000-08:00

My mom and I hit up one of the malls to pass some time and decided that a pedicure would be a nice relaxing way to spend our time. Ha! We picked a professional looking nail salon and the lady said they did clinical pedicures, we figured that meant they were clean and thorough? They walked us into our own little rooms with a chair facing the wall and we waited for our pedicurists to come. They offered us a drink and so I thought this will be lovely. That was until she whipped out the blade, cuticle clipper and stick thing-a-ma-jig and proceeded to terrorize my toes!! She also removed part of my big toe nail that apparently was ingrown, I wanted to kick her in the head with my free foot and sprint out of there! Instead I tried to politely and in Spanish tell her to lay off the toes and move on!! The best part that made me laugh though is she whips out a dremmell tool to smooth out my feet and nails!! I know I have ugly feet that are fairly caulousy but I have never had anyone attack them with such vigor and perfection! I thought if Jesse were a pedicurist that is exactly how he would do it, with power tools!! Maybe I will have him start dremmelling my feet when I get back, they are awfully smooth now.

Bocas

2011-02-08T20:05:00.000-08:00

My mom and I were able to stay in Bocas for 5 blissful days. We stayed in these cute bungalow/treehouses that were in the middle of a jungle. We didn't see or hear anyone and there was plenty of wildlife to keep us on our toes!! The last night the howler monkeys came by and boy are they creepy to listen to!! I had images of them attacking us all night long! The weather was amazing and the water was just beautiful!

So our taxi driver that we used most of the time was William and he sported most days a Hustler shirt of some variety! On the back it said, "Relax it's just sex". Soo funny we were dying of laughter about him, he seriously thought he was a hustler!!

We are now staying on the top of an island near Panama City in a lovely 2 bedroom apartment overlooking the ocean and City. More pictures to come!

And The Knitting Continues...

2010-12-27T14:18:00.000-08:00

Here are two more hats that I knitted over Christmas for my new little niece!

This one is soo soft and I love the white. I am working on some matching booties.

This is my favorite because it is so fun looking and was actually fun knitting it as well.

My New Niece!!

2010-12-27T14:15:00.000-08:00

My sister had a little girl today!! We are soo excited that she is finally here and that she is a girl!! She is 7lbs 1 oz and is 20.5 inches long. She is such a mellow baby and hardly has cried today so she will be a perfect baby to take to law classes!! Breck and Spencer now get the big job of naming this precious baby!!

Coolest Christmas Card/Gift

2010-12-19T16:31:00.001-08:00

At work we received this cute box of chocolates with the companies employees and logo stamped in the chocolate. I thought was really cool and creative!! Too bad it didn't have some delicious caramel or nuts in that chocolate!

Fleming's Steak House

2010-12-19T16:22:00.000-08:00

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE going to Fleming's for some delicious steak. Unfortunately it is quite a bit out of our eating out budget to go anywhere near a regular basis. I should learn to cook steak better so I can enjoy it at home but that would also entail me actually forking over the money to buy a nice piece of meat to start with! Although I have been looking into purchasing a share of a grass fed cow which will provide a good starting point!

Anyways, Jesse and I were able to hit up Fleming's twice in the past two months due to some amazing 50% off coupons that we got of KSL Deals. Then I was able to score a $25 gift card to Fleming's from Staples for ordering over $100 in Office Supplies, one of the perks of ordering office supplies! So we went and shared a delicious Porcini encrusted Filet with asparagras, scalloped potatoes, mac & cheese and a chocolate lava cake with the most divine shantilly whipped cream!!

Then I did a review online after our first trip and got another $25 off our next visit and got $40 in gift cards from credit card points so Jesse and I could each get our our steaks and an appetizer. The first time we only had to pay the tip and the last one we went over about $10. Overall we spent less than $50 for four meals at Fleming's a pretty sweet deal if you ask me!!

Year Long Project

2010-12-19T16:12:00.001-08:00

I finally got this car seat cover/blanket finished, it has only taken me a year!! I really struggled with staying focused on this project, not really sure why since I was to the point of needing to put the blanket together and inserting the elastic so I had the hard parts already done. It took realizing that it was the ward Christmas Service Auction that it had been almost a year since I was asked to make another one!! How embarrassing! At least it is done and the lady has lots of grandkids being born!

I ran out of the fuzzy minky so I went with the minky dot for the blanket which is probably easier to keep clean that way! Who knows I guess I will have to ask the mom that will use it what she thinks! :)

Baby Shower

2010-12-08T09:17:00.000-08:00

(the guest of honor doing a little work)

The baby shower is over and done, what a relief!!! It went great, everything tasted good, the decorations ended up cute and the cake even turned out!! The shower was during lunch so we served these delicious appetizers:

Then I made with the help of my SIL the Market Street Grill Clam Chowder (Seriously the best clam chowder there is!) and a knock off Jason's Deli Broccoli Cheese (Not the best due to my overuse of broccoli!) in some bread bowls of course!!

You can't have a winter party without some delicious Cider either:

My mom and I spent weeks trying to figure out the color scheme, how to fit 23 people in her house and where to put everything. The day before we finally found something that wasn't the typical baby colors (since Breckan hates anything cutsie baby)but still kind of like a baby shower! Expedex is definitely the place to go when you need to decorate for a party, not party land, target, or any of those other party places!!

Now for the cake!! I found a cake on this great blog that has these "Make a Cake Series". I decided I would make a scaled down version of the cake since it was 1:00 am while we were cutting out the onesies and I had about enough!! I made my own fondant and colored it, rolled it out and made some onesies, quilt squares and these really cute booties for the top of the cake. On the side of the cake it was supposed to be a clothesline of onesies, bibs and quilt squares but I scratched that and just made onesies to top my mom's cupcakes she was making. Here is the final product!!

The brown spot is chocolate frosting that was used to stick that one random onesie on there and then decided to remove it!

Shutterfly is Soo Great

2010-12-04T17:40:00.000-08:00

Shutterfly is doing a special where you get a $25 gift certificate if you share one of your projects with your friends. Here is the card I picked for this years Christmas card hopefully my sister can take our pictures next week so I can get them out before Christmas!

With Love Chartreuse Christmas Card

Shop Shutterfly for elegant custom Christmas photo cards.

View the entire collection of cards.

Knitting Adventures Lately

2010-12-03T16:47:00.001-08:00

As Breck is getting closer to her due date I have been pulling out some of my crafting skills to get some cute stuff out for the future Hum Baby. I started with sewing a pair of the really cute booties and then was going to do some Kimono PJ's but the booties have given me a lot of grief so I have put them aside to get some knitting in. Luckily I have a nice stash of soft yarn to choose from to make some cute stuff. I haven't knitted in a very long time and have several projects that are half finished sitting in my drawers longing to be completed, probably won't happen for a few more years but at least I have looked at them. What I love about knitting is it is really easy to do, the instructions are soo straight forward and I don't need lots of pictures to reasure me that I am doing something correctly. Unlike sewing where step-by-step visual instructions are almost mandatory or I freak out and stop what I am doing. I whipped up a pair of grey booties and a lovely tan hat that Hum Baby can wear on his/her little self right away. I will have a few pictures of those later when I get around to it.

I have this great knitting book that shows you how to make all different fun decorative stitches. I was browsing through it and was trying to come up with my next project that I could use some of them and luckily a friend was having a baby shower. I made this cute little pom pom hat with a diamond pattern which was way more fun to make than the plain stitch that the pattern suggested.

Shutterfly Holiday Cards

2010-12-01T09:38:00.000-08:00

Shutterly is doing a promotional deal where if you write a blog post about thier holiday cards you can get 50 free cards. This is a pretty sweet deal and they make nice Christmas cards. We have used them for our Christmas cards for the past 3 years and have loved each one. For those uncrafty, creative challenged Shutterfly has a ton of different formats to choose from that you can just drop your pictures in. They print and ship your order quickly and the quality is great. They also have cards for every occasion, you can make a calandar or even a photo book. They also will mail the cards for you so it elimates that tedious stage of handwriting out the envelopes and making it to the Post Office in time!

This year I am thinking of using this Holiday card this year.

I like the ones that you can put lots of pictures in since I really like to look at pictures rather than read stuff!! I am excited to see all your Christmas cards this year!!

Surgery Pictures

2010-11-13T21:01:00.001-08:00

After my recent laproscopic surgery the doctor took pictures which I of course love to look at. So here they are for your viewing pleasure!!

Before the surgery:

After the surgery:

My Creative Streak

2010-11-13T20:53:00.000-08:00

I decided to make my sister's baby shower invitations and after a few days contemplating it I came up with these. With the help of Jesse and my sister-in-law of course!!

Now I am onto making a quilt, sewing some booties and Kimono PJs, knitting a few hats and booties for the soon to be here Hum Baby!! I can't wait!!

Celina & Adams Wedding

2010-10-14T08:49:00.000-07:00

The 5th of this month Celina my great friend got married to a wonderful fun guy. I have been friends with Celina from the time that I moved to Utah which doesn't seem all that long ago but now counting back it was a whopping 8 years!! Wow how time flies when you have too much fun. I have to contribute many years of good memories, laughter and lessons learned with Celina at my side. We met when we lived at Belmont and we were the youngin's, well she was a baby and I was a youngin', as we inflitrated the "old" crowd. We loved living across from each other so we moved to The Avenues the next year next door to one another. Our two apartments became best friends and most of us still are very close to this day. Celina loves to meddle and create a little drama in everyones life (said with love!!) and so does Kristen (again said with love!!) who were roommates and so we were led on many of fun adventures. A few examples 1) We prank called this one guy asking for Sam Temple but it wasn't one time and one person no I believe it turned into at least 20 people that called this "Sam Temple" with varying stories of how they knew him and how they got his number for at least a week or two 2) One of the roommies got a job at LDS Mingle and was able to get all of us free accounts. Of course that turned into two apartments all with laptops chatting with the same boys playing mind games and such. We even decided to create the "perfect" girl. She was a young school teacher that was half ethnic, her goals in life were to get married have children and serve her husband, she loved animals, long walks in the park and did service in her free time. We even had a line on our answering machine for her. Oh the boys that flocked, it was really funny (now I suppose a bit cruel for the boys)but that kept us going for months!! We even shared a twin bed that was at least 3 feet in the air that you had to climb on a box then the desk to the bed (yes it was my bed) for several months until we remembered the upstairs bedroom was empty and had a full size bed!! She has pushed me outside of my comfort zone more times than I wanted to but am grateful she did, she has been there for the bad and ugly and the good and pretty times. We did a "Summer of Fun" and planned a gazillion great activities so we wouldn't be bored, the summer I met Jesse as well. Anyways, I love Celina to death and was soo happy for her and being able to see her in the temple and getting sealed to the man she loved was a great day. It is always great to see one of your close friends on one of thier happiest days. So congrats Celina and I am excited for you to get home from your honeymoon so we can play again!!

This is What we Usually are Doing When Together

The Great Photo Booth

The Group of Girls

Outside the Provo Temple Looking Our Best

Thanks Sarah for taking all the pic's I would've been pictureless without you!!!

Panama Trip So Far

2010-09-12T13:00:00.000-07:00

We have arrived!!! It was a decent flight, bad food and entertainment, but not a horrible flight. It is humid her for sure!! We were picked up by a driver who was very friendly and gave us lots of information about the city and the history. He dropped us off at our hotel which I thought was a nice little bed and breakfast but ended up being a John's house for the single guys!! There is a girl that cooks and cleans there and she was wonderful and took us around to get our cell phone chip and minutes and shopping. She told us all about the prostitutes her boss brings in for people and his guide to the sleezy places in town. Our room had two naked ladies on the walls, my mom and I were dying of laughter!!

The next day we went to the bus station to go down to the beach where we are staying the rest of the time. The bus is four seats wide, air conditioned, I think a suped up muffler and a dubbed over american film and we were all packed in there for an hour in the dark. The resort management company met us at the market and took us to our house. We were soo exhausted that night and all we wanted to do is fall on the floor and sleep!!! The next day we lounged around and checked out the beach.

We walked to the next town via the beach and found a baby starfish that was soo little. Lots of shells and sand dollars were everywhere on the beach. The ocean was pretty and green-blue. We are having a great time and enjoying all the relaxation.

Little Orphan Child

2010-09-03T12:12:00.000-07:00
My neice came home with me to play for a little bit with the neighbor kids. She loves, loves, loves playing in the dirt and since I am the aunt I like let her do what she likes best becuase a happy neice is a happy aunt!! In about an hour the kids all had ditched their toys and moved onto more fun things like dirt!! This is what she looked like when they were all done!!

Yes I did send her home that dirty and with a little candy in her tummy as well!!

My Boots Arrived!!

2010-09-01T15:49:00.000-07:00

I got these online at Piperlime with them being on sale and then with the Gap Friends and Family 30% off coupon I was able to buy my first pair of Frye boots at a lovely 56% off!!! Thanks Sarah for being a Gap employee!! They were sitting on my porch, earlier than expected but a great treat as they were my birthday present to myself!! I am excited to wear them somewhere so I am going to have to figure out where they will be debueted!!

The Big 3-0!!

2010-08-31T12:47:00.000-07:00

That's right it is my birthday and I am 30. It has been a great birthday so far, Jesse took me to Mimi's for breakfast and then off to Target to get some more games. I love to play games so it was great to get some more and try them out.

I am not sure that I feel any different and it definately isn't one of the birthday's that make me feel old. so all in all a pretty good year and I hope that it has some fun times for me to enjoy!!

Anniversary

2010-08-26T10:52:00.000-07:00

This year my friend Nicole called me up and she was all stoked becuase she had found a dude ranch that was equal distance between us that was in our price range and available for the weekend between our Anniversaries. So we made our reservations and planned out the riding festivities and off Jesse and I went!!

Weirdly, most people did not think a dude ranch would be all that fun but let me tell you it was loads of fun!!! We went trail riding, on a cattle drive, skeet shooting, fly fishing (Jesse and Kevin did), roping, hot tubbing, a little running, lounging and a lot of eating!!

We were in the middle of nowhere in Idaho so the view was amazing and soo very peaceful.

CrossFit is Da Bomb

2010-08-25T14:52:00.000-07:00

I know I do start a lot of different exercise programs but I think I have found something that I will never get bored of and I see amazing results in a short amount of time which I LOVE. CrossFit is a high intensity workout where every workout is a new and hard!! I have gone from never being able to doing a pull-up to doing a pull-up, I am close to doing dips without any bands, I am back to lifting what I used to when I was back on the Equestrian Team where we had lifting coaches and I have my muscle tone back that I have been commiserating about since my Equestrian days. I have had a great time getting to know the other people at the gym and love getting to compete against some of the people that I am close to thier fitness level. The great thing is there are people of all ages and fitness levels that come and everyone does the same workout just modified for where you are out. It makes me feel good that I am doing the same thing as the super fit ironman competitor or the guys that look like they don't have an ounce of fat on thier bodies(just a bit slower!!) Oh and workouts on average are 20 minutes long how is that for not consuming my whole life!!! So if you want to know more just ask and I will talk your ear off or ask Jesse I think he is even more of a spokes person than I am.

There is a Light at the End of the Tunnel

2010-04-07T14:04:00.000-07:00
Tax season is coming to a close and that means I will have a life back again!! No more tax obligations after work, no more having to work Saturdays and no more having to pass up all the fun stuff because I have to work!! I will be missing my co-workers and all the fun times that we do have even while do taxes!! Luckily I will get to see them all again when tax season rolls back around!!

No Sugar Please

2010-04-07T13:55:00.000-07:00
Last month I decided to join my friend Amanda in eating no sugar for a month. So I was going to go all out and not eat any sugar what so ever but that would mean no fruit, dairy, salad dressings, etc. I did eliminate soda though which turned out to be easier than I thought. I have attempted this feat on numerous other occasions and have crashed and burned miserably after a few days. This time I don't know what was different, no soda even diet coke which I LOVE or that I saw the scale go down on a weekly basis, probably the latter. So at the end of the month I had lost 7 lbs and am back into my skinny jeans which I have been hemming and hawwing about getting rid of so they stop taunting me from my closet!! Now I wear them all the time and am loving it!!! I will be fitting in my old summer clothes as well and be busting out my size 4 dresses for the spring!!

After the month was over I treated myself with some pie, ice cream, whipped cream and a little diet soda and have decided that they don't really taste anywhere near what they do in my "head" so I am going back to no refined sugars ie desserts and sodas for the next month to try and get the last little bit of weight that I want to be off. Oh and the best part is I haven't worked out even a 1/16 of what I have been the past year and a half where I was beating my head against the wall with the weight gain or platuea and feeling exhausted all the time. Now I sleep in and bum around and all I have to do is not eat that sugary treat!! That is a trade off I can take!!

Dink's Gear

2009-11-27T19:42:00.000-08:00

So I decided that I would give selling my baby clothing & accessories a go. I have created a blog for my creations and will be starting an Etsy store as well. Check out what I have so far!

I Learn Something New...

2009-11-15T21:38:00.001-08:00
every day from my dear husband. The other night Jesse had a volleyball game that he needed to be at and of course I had washed his undershorts that he wears. They also had not made it into the dryer but that did not phase Jesse he slipped them on wet and grabbed my blow dryer and proceeded to blow dry them till they were no longer wet. I was laughing soo hard when he was telling me his creative drying method. I am surprised I haven't thought of that one yet!! I will be implementing this last minute method in the future as well.

Ode to Neti Pot

2009-11-13T08:44:00.000-08:00

Neti pot you are a miracle worker!!! I sleep at night without all that annoying drainage, you allow my husband to sleep as well which translates into me sleeping even better!! My sinus' haven't felt this clean in a long time and Jesse's either!!! I am glad I tried you even if it does entail sticking you up my nose!!

Beautiful Fall Day

2009-11-05T10:59:00.000-08:00

Today is gorgeous!!! It makes me soo happy when it is warm inbetween cold days, I feel like there is hope that I won't be freezing cold the rest of the winter. Rarely true but it does provide a false hope, that is all I need!!

The Package Has Arrived

2009-11-01T15:16:00.000-08:00

We have a new Nephew!!! Vance Harper Goulding arrived on Thursday at 3:27 pm. He is a cutie and likes to sleep!!!

Happy Halloween!!!

2009-10-31T18:01:00.000-07:00

It is Halloween finally!!! I have had my house decorated, thanks to my pesky neighbor, and I actually bought pumpkins to carve this year. It is a good year!!! My mother-in-law is glad to see that I am making progress in decorating my house for the seasons!! So I love getting the biggest pumpkin possible and I found these cheap pumpkins at Winco this year for only 6 cents a pound, so I could get my fat pumpkins for a under $2!! I guess I haven't carved a pumpkin in several years becuase I have forgotton how much work it is to scrape away the insides. Also, I apparently am rough on knives becuase I have gone through three of those dinky carving knives on just one pumpkin!! Oh well I guess I will have to find something a bit sturdier next year. So Happy Halloween!!!

Soo Funny

2009-10-22T15:59:00.000-07:00

Saw this baby in the news today and man was it funny!!! Even if he is stupid I will give it to him for being creative!!! I would like my bed to be motorized, I guess a twin size bed, so I could be really lazy and still get things done!!!

California Fun

2009-10-20T10:18:00.000-07:00

For Fall Break this year Jesse and I decided we would head out to Southern California to hit up Magic Mountain and Knotts Berry Farm. Luckily it was also Jesse's cousins Court of Honor so we got to hit that up as well. Jesse was asked to be his escort at the Court of Honor which was pretty cool. The weather was amazing and the crowds were minimal making a perfect roller coaster trip!!! I think every fall break we will be hitting up roller coasters somewhere!!

Onesie Extravaganza

2009-10-11T19:32:00.001-07:00

I first saw these babies about two years ago on my friends friends blog and saved the picture for a new craft to do one day. With my sister-in-laws baby shower coming up I thought that would be a great gift to give that is cute, unique and personal. Luckily Danni has been making them like mad over the summer so I had an excellent teacher to help me along the way. Then Nicole called me and told me about this cute idea of a bunch of onesies and toys strung up with clothes pins in a basket. So I went with that idea and got a cute basket and found some really cute little baby clothes pins and away I went. It turned out really well and will definitely be a future baby shower gift.

In Project Overdrive

2009-10-06T15:05:00.000-07:00
I get a bit stir crazy and love having tons of projects becuase it makes me feel productive. Also it is getting cold and this is when I start up my knitting festivities but I am feeling bored of knitting so I have been tinkering with sewing. Lately I have been sewing quite a bit and have fallen in love with all the cool fabrics and dreaming up the things I can try to sew. My sister-in-law is expecting and has been talking about wanting a car seat cover/blanket. So in my strange craziness I have been googling away and oogling away as well to get ideas and I think I have found what I am going to make.

There is a killer sale going on at the fabric store and I want to try and knock one of these off. So if you want one let me know so then I will have a deadline and will finish it before the cold weather ends!! The fabric sale ends on the 10th so if you want one let me know before then and what color schemes you would like and I will try to work around those. Or you can pick your own fabric and bring it over. I think I will need 2 yards of a minky fabric and a 100% cotton or other similar type of fabric for the outer layer.

Logan Marathon

2009-10-03T19:23:00.000-07:00
I was talked into running another marathon and this time it was a bad, no fun day!!! Well...the first 18 miles were actually wonderful and I ran them faster, happier than last run but then it just got downright ugly!! I believe they call that hitting the wall and man did it hurt!! Needless to say I am glad I am done and will not be doing another ever again!! Cassidy was also talked into running by myself and Kim and I think she, okay know, she had the same feelings about running as I did!!
(Cassidy and I's early morning start, we were soo happy looking)

(Very glad to see some familiar faces)

(Starting to feel the Pain)

(Just hoping and Praying that It will be Over Soon)

(Cassidy and I Finally Finished)

Jesse's Birthday Bash

2009-10-03T19:09:00.000-07:00

Jesse is finally a quarter of a century old!! I have been there for some time now so it is nice to have him reach that milestone! For the special occasion I decided that I would put to work my cake baking skills and make him a homemade chocolate cake. Fortunately it turned out well and was way more delicious than if I had bought a cake from the store.

(Somehow whenever there is a camera around my butt finds its way into a solo picture)

(I can't resist licking the serving utensils)

(My "Edgy" sister)

(Doesn't it look delicious, yes all three layers)

(Good thing I have lots of help from my friends!!)

(Jesse's second birthday cake that I made at his parents house)

Finally Finished

2009-10-03T18:54:00.000-07:00
x
It took waaaayyyy longer than I wanted to but I finally finished refinishing the kitchen table and chairs!!! Ahhh at last, what a relief, sense of accomplishment, giddy joyous event, etc, etc, etc!! Now we are one step closer to being able to park into the garage, maybe before it starts snowing!! A girl can wish.

Before

After

I LOVE how it turned out and am glad I decided to do it myself even if I had some issues and wanted to give up a few times!! :)

Apron Complete

2009-09-08T11:00:00.000-07:00

I have been attempting to start an apron for myself and then do one for my mother-in-laws birthday for a few months now and have been preoccupied with the table and chairs. Well the birthday was just around the corner so I shifted focus and got to work on the apron. Luckily it is a really nice pattern that was easy to follow and understand, which is sometimes a struggle that I have!!! I tend to work best under pressure and that is why I procrastinate soo much and once again this turned out better than expected.

Snake Surprise!!!

2009-09-01T14:42:00.000-07:00
Today Kim and I went on a run during lunch which was hot and miserable and horrible and hot and I will NEVER do that again. More exciting though than the run was who we encountered on the run. Yes this little guy, Mr. Rattlesnake in all his rattling glory!! Luckily my instinct in any startling situation is to leap high off the ground and away from whatever I am startled by. It has been very helpful in numerous situations. This was one of them for sure!! It was Kim's first experience in seeing a live and wild rattlesnake so she had to snap a picture of him. I think he was just a teenager rattler cause he wasn't too big but he had a rattle and they don't have rattles when they are fresh out of the egg. So everyone watch out on those hiking, camping, walking on the path adventures it is baby rattlesnake season and they are a biting!!! (ha, ha, ha I am soo funny!!)

Wonderful Birthday Weekend

2009-08-30T16:15:00.000-07:00

I was given a great birthday present this year by my in-laws. Jesse and I got a nights stay at the Cliff Lodge & Spa up a Snowbird with a 50 min massage, breakfast and the apline slide. Jesse and I's parents also came along so we had a great time. The bed was fabulous, the dinner was delicious and the massage was a dream!!! Luckily we were able to extend our massage from 50 min. to 80 min massages. It was also the first weekend of Oktoberfest up at Snowbird so we spent the day playing and eating yummy German food. I love Bratwurst and sauerkraut so I was in heaven. I think I want a nights stay at a nice hotel and massage every year!!

Triathlon ....Check!!!

2009-08-24T08:40:00.000-07:00

The Triathlon has come and gone and boy was it an adventure!!! I was fairly relaxed about the whole thing when it came down to it which was nice. I found while chatting with others that it was a lot of people's first time doing a triathlon as well, 235 people out of the 800 to be exact. As for training I really didn't do too much just some work on my swimming, a few biking (once on a stationary bike, once on a mountain bike around a golf course and then finally yes on the back of a tandem)go rounds and a lot of running!! You would think with my fear of biking and lack of swimming endurance I would've been training more but hey why be soo stringent and have no life, been there done that!!!

First fun incident was going and trying on the wetsuit that I was renting. The helpful guy told me in detail how to properly pull it on and how to lick the pads of my fingers so as not to tear the material, etc, etc, but he failed to mention that the zipper goes in the back. so I sucked myself into the wet suit and came out with it on backwards and provided everyone in the store a little chuckle!! Then I had to unsuck myself and turn it around and reface the waiting audience!! Luckily it fit and I was done with that cool event!!

A few days before the race my friend Biz graciously lent me her road bike and shoes w/ clips which I had visions of tipping over stuck onto the bikes pedals and being run over!! Breckan luckily is a pro and gave me a quick lesson on clipping in and out and how to shift and such on the bike the day before and after a few rounds I felt as good as I was going to be.

Race day I had my bag packed, car loaded and was off up the canyon to Jordanelle. The same day there were two big bike races biking in the same area as we were Tour of Utah and 1,000 Warriors bike ride so as we passed the groups of "real" cyclists I took in their form and technique to memory to try out on my bike portion. Luckily we had to bike into the park so I could practice my new skills and figure out the shifting before I was in the middle of it all.

I was body marked up, my station was all set and my wetsuit was on and zipped up, swim cap on, googles on and timing chip was in place and I was ready to hit that water!!! Swimming was a whole different event once I started the race, I found that I don't like putting my face in the water (breathing issues), I love the back stroke (spent 85% in this stroke the other a mixture of freestyle with my head out of the water and doggy paddling to maneuver around those pesky slow swimmers!!!), Googles and a wet suit are a bit inhibiting and would like to have neither next go around and third I wish I had a nose plug for those moments when I was behind some kicking feet!!
What I Faced Going In

Can't Wait to Get The Wetsuit Off!!

The bike portion was fun becuase everyone is soo friendly and cheery for the most part. I only jumped once when someone passed due to their eager greeting & well wishes and I only thought about careening off the road into a ditch once, I watched people wash the front of their houses, mooed at some cows, talked to some ponies in a trailer, cheered on fellow bikers as I passed or was being passed, had a few conversations with myself and successfully unclipped at the appropriate spot without falling!! Success!!!
Getting Ready to Leave

Glad to be Back

Running was surprisingly weird in that you felt like lead for about 1 mile. I seriously thought I was running an 11 1/2 minute mile, luckily I was going at an 8 1/2 min/mile which encouraged me to keep on moving. My family was on the side lines early on and cheering me on, they even gave me a drink of gatorade, which I discovered was given to them by some random runner who asked them to throw it out for him and they thought ah this would be perfect for Dareth, well they were right!!! Luckily, I had a lovely gentleman to get through the first two miles with that was in is late 60's and was doing the Olympic distance ta-boot who kept me moving until it got easier!!
Just Starting Out

Almost There

All Done with my Fans

When it was all over, I was really glad I went ahead and did it even if I was solo. It was great getting to meet all the cool people, change up the activities and be done before noon!!!

I finished 25th in my division and 238th overall. I completed all three in 1 hour and 49 minutes. Swimming took less time, biking took a bit longer than thought and running was right on!! So all those people that are wavering if they should attempt a triathlon, just do it and you won't regret it!!

The 4-Runner is Gone

2009-08-18T21:31:00.000-07:00

Last week we officially sold the 4-runner. It may have taken a few hours for the family to decide to purchase it but they ended up going through with the deal!!! I am soo excited to have one less vehicle to think about and hear all the great "plans" Jesse has for it~!! Now for the scooter and then we will be back to our cars and Jesse's scooter!!!! Oh I can't wait!!!

If you know of anyone that wants to take a look let me know!!

Table Project

2009-08-13T11:22:00.000-07:00
I decided to tackle the kitchen table and chairs refinishing project a few weeks back with some guidance from my very generous neighbor. I got my supplies, laid everything out and then tentatively began the large project of sanding the chairs and prepping them for painting.

Luckily I was informed that I didn't need to sand as much as I thought, since I was painting, and using spray paint would be a lot faster!!

So I dived into painting after my sanding ventures and low and behold they came out quite nicely. Actually a little better than I thought.

Although my right hand and arm were very, very sore from spray painting soo long which I didn't think was possible but for two days I was fairly useless with my right appendage. Luckily I had some very helpful neighbors to assist and play around in my garage with me!!

The table top I wanted to restain it a warm cherry color which would prove to be the bain of my existence!!

After stripping the old varnish, sanding away for a few hours Jesse went out and got me rougher sand paper and sanded down that table in less than an hour, making it look brand new!! In my haste to get the project over and done with I opted out of sanding the table with the finer sand paper and convinced Jesse that we could just put the stain on.

That is when all my good luck came to a screeching halt and my table has been stuck in this state of disarray. We applied the stain and it was looking fairly dark which Jesse assured me would lighten up. Yeah...not so much!!! My dreams of an easy and fast refinishing job were squashed when the next day my table looked like it was painted a blah red/brown color instead of a beautiful brown with a hint of red stain. After dragging my leaf into Four Chairs to see if they could help me figure out what to do next it was advised to try paint thinner to pull up some of the stain and then to take varnish remover to try to get it off as well.

After leaving the state and then having family in town the project has remained in its unfinished state in the garage!! Last night I began my feeble attempt to respark my interest in the project but it is not very fast moving thus my interest is lacking to say the least. My mom suggested to just paint it so I would move onto reupholstering the seat cushions so that one day in the near future I would have a kitchen table again. Oh no, that makes me just want to try all my options before throwing in the towel by painting that darn thing!! So hopefully I will be successful tonight and will be restaining and it turning out and me finishing it!! Aaahhhh now that would be nice!

Hicks Reunion

2009-08-10T23:00:00.000-07:00

We went from the California Olive Reunion to a Hicks Reunion in Utah. My sister-in-law Jessica and my nephews came over from California to spend the week with us. So in honor of all making my nephews visit the best they have ever had we filled thier week with festivities galore. My dad took them to the Dinosaur museum, we took them to the Scera pool, had a few picnics, went to Lagoon, ate lots of junk food, watched Hook at the Scera outdoor theater and had a joint party for the boys. We were exhausted every night but the boys still had energy every night to wrestle and chase Charlie around the house and on their bed. It was a lot of fun and I miss them and wish they were still here!! Charlie misses them as well!

Olive Reunion 09'

2009-08-10T22:46:00.000-07:00

This year we got to go to Folsom, California, for the Olive Reunion. This is one of my favorite locations since it is close to where I grew up and I get to see my friends and family, along with the Olive family!! We got to go white water rafting with water gun wars, sadly I think our boat lost that war. We of course got to eat at lots of fun and yummy restuarants, hit up a Giant's game, biked across the Golden Gate Bridge on a Tandem Bike, visited the Exploratorium, played tons and tons of card games, roasted smoares, played volleyball (yes I am terrible at Volleyball and everyone was nice enough to let me play on their teams without too many complaints), played with Katie & Nicole, assisted in a garage sale and even got to sleep in some!! I would have to say that was a pretty darn good reunion!!! So until next year I will just have to remember all the fun memories we had.

Sleep-Overs

2009-07-23T22:14:00.000-07:00

My neice Miranda has had a few sleep overs at her favorite aunties house, me of course! Miranda is very helpful around the house which is great becuase I am useless around the house!!!

Even though she is small and only three she can carry Jesse's huge shoes and mine in her arms and even figures out how to get them and her up the stairs right behind me. I will have to have her over more often so I can keep my house clean and organized!

One More Thing

2009-07-21T18:32:00.000-07:00

I love finding new jobs, for some strange reason. In assisting Jesse in finding a job I came across a part-time position for House Parents in the Crisis Nursery at a local non-profit organization called The Family Support & Treatment Center. So of course I applied and got Jesse and I in for an interview!! We got through the first round of interviews and was called back for a second interview with one of the counselors at the facility and guess what....yes we got the job. Even though I was a bit apprehensive after some of Jesse's amazingly detailed answers!!! Man do we have different interviewing styles!! So after an interesting job shadow causing Jesse to have second thoughts, and getting recertified in CPR & First Aid and Food Prep Certified we took on our first 24-hour shift in the Nursery. At first it was a little strange being in charge of little lives and trying to remember all the training but then it just became natural and a lot of fun. What a better way to be at a job that enables you to make someone else's day a little happier and easier to get through. Getting the first smile and seeing walls come down just a little was worth the lack of sleep and nervousness of the day!!

I am really glad that we have this opportunity to work here and get to spend some time with some of these amazing and fun little kids. Jesse and I both came away from our first shift with mixed emotions but were glad that we could be there for these little guys.

The Family Support & Treatment Center is always looking for donations either monetary, in-kind or volunteer hours and I would definitely recommend doing one of the three to help out the children in our community that need our help!!

Oh and that day I was extended the call as Nursery Leader in our Branch!! How funny is that!!

Fourth of July

2009-07-21T18:14:00.000-07:00

Yes I know this is late but I have been very laxadasical about everything so I am just getting around to posting.

My mom's decorating skills

My dad decided that we were going to do an early morning picnic with the fam hoping to get everyone together. Since that rarely works it was not any different this time and it ended up being my parents, myself and my sister playing cards, eating and playing with the dogs. It was a lot of fun just a bit early for my taste when I may have a chance to catch up on my sleep!!
Isn't this cute fabric!!

The rest of the afternoon was dedicated to me trying to get my skirt pattern cut out which has been a HUGE struggle and has taken about 2 months so far!!! I think instead I watched a film festival movie and took a nap, then started a new project, an apron, instead but hey what else is new? This year we actually went and watched the fireworks from the grass area below the temple with my family. My mom and I staked out our spot early in the afternoon carefully aligning ourselves to be in direct sight to the fireworks. A lot of work went into thinking this through, an exact science to be exact!!
This is why I have very few cute pictures of Jesse and I

The fireworks were a lot of fun, I love fireworks!! The best part though was the cotton candy guys selling 4 different flavors of cotton candy, yes you read that correct 4 flavors. I think they were bubble gum, apple, grape and .....okay so I can't remember the fourth but it was good!!! I ate almost all four bags on my own and Natalie helped me out some.
I LOVE Cotton Candy!!

Great New Place to Eat

2009-07-03T14:49:00.000-07:00

Today my mom, Miranda and I hit up this great little Asian restaurant called Rooster Dumpling & Noodle House that is delicious!!! It has a great dumpling menu to choose from and fun noodles and rice dishes. The desserts are out of this world good, besides that it is an Asian restaurant!! We ate practically half the menu and it was all delicious and very light!! Go give it a try the owner is really nice and friendly and she will give you tips on what you might like.

My Sisters Keeper

2009-06-30T21:41:00.000-07:00

Tonight I saw My Sisters Keeper and thought the producer did a decent job of following the book. It of course was sad and depressing but so is the book so you I expected that one!! I think I almost always like the books better than the movies since there is just a lot more detail and background but overall this was pretty decent. So if you have read the book you should go see it or just want to be sad!!

Business Trip

2009-06-26T07:36:00.001-07:00

My dad injured his knee so he had me come along with him on this past business trip to California. I was less than excited about going becuase we were doing three days of due dilligence sessions which equals hours of document reading which can put the most awake person fast asleep!! Luckily being in central California the food can redeem any boring meeting that I may have to endure! In Reedley we swung into a drive thru mexican restaurant called El Mexicano, let me just say this was the most divine Mexican food I have had in a very, very long time. That was great but the best part was they also had Sno Cones which is probably one of my most favorite things of summer!!! I can eat at least 2 a day and these snow cones were amazing!!! The ice was a perfect cut, the syrup was rich but not too sugary and it actually stayed icee and didn't ever in the 45 min it took to eat it get melty!! Pretty amazing!! Then we went to the Vineyard in Madera which is a great place that I guess has been around for at least 50 years. The bread and dip is out of this world and I would just want to eat that daily. Then we hit up one of the many fruit stands along 99 and had the most amazing raisins. they were the size of a small prune and were the juiciest raisins I have ever had!! Oh how I miss all the yummy fresh veggies and fruit that are dirt cheap on the sides of the road!!! Oh and lets not forget the Thai place that we ate at in Banning that had amazing Sum Tum and this Watermelon shake that reminded me of my trip to Thailand!!
Yes, I do love food and my thoughts do wander constantly to the topic!! Thank you California for making my tummy happy!!

I Hate Needles

2009-06-22T14:06:00.000-07:00

I loathe being poked by needles!!! I have always hated shots for as long as I can remember and have always tried to avoid getting poked by those dang needles. I have had several unpleasant instances with needles that have reinforced my hatred. Well I have to have my blood drawn every so often and have been very blessed in that the two guys that have been drawing my blood for the past two years are pretty much amazing and I rarely even feel a thing. These two wonders have sadly moved on from the doctor's office and have been replaced by incompetents!!! I will give them that my veins aren't the easiest to find but if you can't find them get someone else that is better at it!! I have one lady try twice and she met the 2 poke limit and she went in search of someone new. The second lady checked out my arms and decided she wasn't going to do any better and went off to find another lady. Then the third one comes and thinks she has found a vein and pokes me to no avail. But no she doesn't just pull it out she stabs it further into my arm moving it all around trying to hit a vein!!! Then she moves to my other arm with no luck as well. At this point I am ready to run out of there screaming and am about to suggest I come back another time becuase I am not sure I can handle anymore. Then she says well lets try on your wrist. She pokes her needle in and of course gets nothing!! Yeah and then continues poking it around, at last she got something and I filled two lovely vials before she pulled that little bugger out!! Now I have needle marks all over my arms that are going to bruise very nicely! I am seriously contemplating changing doctors so I can get my blood drawn elsewhere!!!

Great Place to Eat...Fusion Asian Grill

2009-06-20T21:29:00.000-07:00
Tonight the siblings and I took my dad out to dinner for a Father's Day treat. Since the golfing adventure is out due to my dad injuring his knee and being out of commission for a while!! If you know my dad he loves any kind of asian food, even the bad stuff so I thought it would be nice to find a new asian place to eat. I went onto Utah Diners Guide and started searching and came upon this place called Fusion Asian Grill in Provo. It serves Chinese, Japanese and Korean food so that pretty much meant a winner for what I was looking for. Also next door is a mexican creamery, I know strange huh, so what could be more asian food with some mexican dessert!!!

It is located in the crappy shopping mall off state street in Provo and 1720 North diagonal from DI. I am hoping that this little place will make it inspite of the location!! Anyways the service was great, they were attentive to all our needs before we thought to ask them!! They had a chinese movie on a projector for us, pulled the shades, got drinks and rice and dinner for my little niece before we ever needed to ask for it, gave advice on the menu about what "Americans" usually liked or disliked, and the best part the food was great!!

So if you are looking for a fun new and tasty place to go try the Fusion Asian Grill.

Week 1 Done

2009-06-14T21:16:00.000-07:00
It is official I have started the Triathlon training and restarted the marathon training. It is definitely a bit crazy going but I am hoping once I get into the swing of things it will be normal again. Waking up in the mornings was quite a struggle till Friday when I was bright eyed and bushy tailed at 5:30 in the morning!!

Kim found some great cheap swim caps that are kinda interesting to get on my head. If anyone has experience with swim caps please let me know how to get them in place without feeling like your face is pulled in all directions!!! Oh and if you can get them on without getting your hair wet?! I finally was able to open up my pack of Speedo swim goggles that I bought several years ago at Costco and what do you know they work just dandy!!

Reality Check

2009-06-09T17:10:00.000-07:00

It is official, yesterday was the first day of training for the triathlon in August. Jesse's response was, "this is way too easy I should be working harder!" I just laughed and told him to wait and see what he thought in a few weeks and to just follow the plan. I love to work out with Jesse becuase he is the typical guy who hits the gym full force no matter how long it has been since he was there last. I have that attitude till I actually get to the gym and then reality knocks me over and I work out within my limits. Nope not mister Testosterone!! He is running at my speed and shorting his walking and complaining that it is too easy. Meanwhile, I am dying with my run (would like to note that mine was 4 3/4 mile sprints at 7.8 on the treadmill not the same as Jesse)wishing it was over and that I could do Jesse's. Oh to be a man and have all that machoness. Gotta love em!!

Marathon...Check!!

2009-05-28T15:05:00.001-07:00

The Ogden Marathon has come and gone and it now seems like a distant memory that I was running in it. Fortuantely I do have some documentation of the event so I know that it was real!! All I can say is YES!! I am done!! Sadly I have been talked into another marathon in September by some amazing ladies that we met at oh yes 5 am waiting for the buses to load us up and take us up the canyon! Before we get to that though there are some more interesting events that occurred the day before.

Friday night Kim and I ate our carb loaded dinner of whole wheat pasta with homemade summer squash spaghetti sauce. Yes I can vouch it was delicious!!! Packed and thinking we were all prepared we headed up to the runners expo to pick up our packets in Ogden where we picked up a wide variety of gadets and accessories for our run the next day, oh and we were informed we were rubbing anifreeze all over our bodies and were killing ourselves but what else is new?! I still love BioFreeze!!! Maybe that is how they got the name from AntiFreeze, could be I will never know! Next we head off to locate our hotel so we can get settled for the short sleep we would get before having to get up at 4:30 to get ready and on the bus. Side note: Kim is a germ-a-phobe and as most of you all know I am nowhere near one and I picked the hotel soooo I was a bit nervous if she was going to last in my selection. I picked the Ben Lomond Hotel becuase that was where the busses were picking us up at and I figured it would be less of a hassle. So we pulled in and it was a bit run down. As we enter the lobby it reeked of something not sure what still and there were two cops in the lobby and nobody at the front desk. Kim was seriously doubting my choice and I was begining to as well. So we get to the front desk ring the bell and wait, and wait and wait. So I ring it again and this lady peeks around the pole and asks, "You aren't here to check in are you?" Well actually yes we are and why in the world do you sound apprehensive?? The lady informed us that not only did they not have our reservation due to thier computer crashing 2 weeks ago but they did not set aside any rooms for those lost reservations and so there were no rooms available unless we wanted the room without a bed in it? Yeah we sure did want to sleep on a hotel floor, uh huh exactly. So she wrote out a few other hotel phone numbers in the area and said that they are probably full but she couldn't do anything about that becuase it wasn't her fault!! Kim is a bit more forward and blunt than I so she gave the lady several choice words and I got to work calling hotels. Eventually we found one about 20 minutes away in Layton that was lovely and the front desk girls were nice enough to take off about $50 of the room rate becuase we were the 3 group that came from Ben Lomond!!

As we were leaving the ghetto that is called Ogden Kim turns and says, "Hey that guy has a gun!" I thought she was joking till I turned and the kid was shoving the gun under his shirt as he noticed us looking!! Then I was glad we were heading out of Ogden and over to Layton!!!

Saturday we rose at 4 am, showered, got our matching outfits on, taped our thighs and knees, watches synched, shuffles in place and numbers pinned we headed out to run our little legs off. WEll from the last run I didn't remember how chilly it was while waiting for the start of the marathon but luckily we bumped into this mother daughter marathon racers on the bus who gave us thier garbage bag to share. So Kim and I wandered around from the porta potties to the bon fires front to back with our heads stuck out of a garbage back. Let's just say we became a lot closer in those 45 minutes we were stuck to each other!!

The race started and we were off to win the race!! This time around I was not as happy of a camper, my hip was bothering me from the get go and therefore other parts of me were achy shortly after. Kim pulled ahead at mile 15 and I was alone with some very funny people. I also ran into a girl from my old singles ward who recognized me while we were running, what a small world!! I finished in 4 hours and 18 minutes about 18 minutes slower than my goal but I am done and the pain is mostly a memory until I think of running again!!!

Those lovely ladies that we rode the bus with invited us to run in the Top of Utah marathon in September and they would love it if we would stay at their house! Free lodging, who wouldn't run another marathon for that!!! Haa haa haa haa!!!!

To Be Continued.....

Triathlon....

2009-05-13T11:02:00.000-07:00

Possibly?! So now that the marathon is looming in the very near future my mind is wandering off to what I will do next to keep me at the gym and working out. Yes a Triathlon came to mind so I of course did some googling and found several Triathlons in the next few months that are nearby that has got me itching to give it a try. The nice thing is that there are Sprint distances, olympic distances and then there are the half and full Ironmans that you can do. I will admit I was thinking I would just do the Olympic distance after watching the Biggest Loser finale but have been talked down from my dream world that I call my head and am back to the Sprint distance.

If anyone is interested in going for it with me let me know I will put an email together with the information but it would be fun to have a group to train with, at least some of the days.

Biggest Loser is the Bomb!!

2009-05-13T10:53:00.000-07:00

Okay I have found that I really love watching Biggest Loser!!! I got introduced to the show I think over Thanksgiving when Sarah came over and helped me build zillions of gingerbread houses. I then still took until a few months back when I started watching my shows on my computer instead of the TV since I am weaning myself from the DVR.

The finale was amazing and Jesse was soo emotional it was really cute. He has all the emotion in our relationship and it makes me feel whole!! So Jesse and I sat there glued to the TV gasping and aahhing over the results with all the contestants. I was just soo motivated after watching this show and how dedicated these contestants are and how hard they work. So when I was griping about having to get up and run I just remembered if they can do it I can too!! Now that the show is over I am not sure what my motivation will be, I guess I should just find my own inner motivation!!

Last Long Run ....Done

2009-05-09T21:52:00.000-07:00
Today I got in my very last long run of the training schedule and I am soo happy!!! Now I get to kick back and relax till Saturday. It has been a struggle for the past few weeks and finally today I felt good again while running. All I can say is its about time!!

Neat Moment

2009-05-06T16:29:00.000-07:00

Today my dad and I set up the office for a few hours on the back deck so we could enjoy the fresh air and warm weather. After getting settled in this humming bird came flying in and sat about 2 inches from my dads face. It stayed there staring my dad in the face for a good 30 seconds. Pretty amazing!!!

Chauffeuring to Prom

2009-05-05T10:00:00.000-07:00

Last weekend Celina called me up and wanted to know if I would be interested in being a Chauffeur with her to take Morgs and her friends and their dates to Prom. I of course asked if we would be dressing the part and the answer was YES!! So I thought about my outfit, set it out hours beforehand, borrowed a lovely black and white cap to match and was ready to go. Now Celina rarely does anything half way and this time was no exception. She had her mom's black expedition decked out with globes, a privacy curtain, sparkling cider served on a platter at each pick-up, cheese, cracker & fruit trays hand served, fruit & fruit dip, dessert with princess crowns for the girls sent to their table, photography moments, background music and of course a little awkward questioning!!!

Being a prom chauffeur brought back all those fun memories of High School dances and the excitement of getting ready and going out with your friends. Oh to be in High School again!!!
(if you would like to check out all the lovely pic's from the evening go to Celina's blog and scroll down a few posts)

Goings On In My Head

2009-05-01T10:22:00.000-07:00

Sometimes these thoughts come to me and I can't stop thinking or Googling about them. Here are just a few of my millions of quandaries throughout the day:

*How is it possible to weigh more after you go to the bathroom than you did before going???
*How do you not know you have 4 testicles and how does that even happen??
*What does the different colors of snot mean again?? (I am not sure how I don't remember that but every year I am looking it up several times)
* How is it that one person can have such rank gas and there be nothing wrong with them??
* Why is the gym so hot and where are the fans!!
* Is there something you can take that will make you poop on demand without having to do it continuously?
* Why does water taste so nasty?

Sorry if some of these thoughts are a bit gross but that is what goes on in my head!

Another Water Disguise

2009-04-29T15:08:00.000-07:00

My mom has purchased these before and I have tried them a while back and thought they were pretty tasty. I love lime and lemons in my water or soda or juice or really anything so this is great. There is not that bitter taste that is accompanied a lot of the time with the real limes or lemons when it is in your drink. I was checking out the website and you can even use it as a replacement for the fresh stuff in cooking as well!! It is crystallized lime or lemon juice so it has no added sugars or artificial sweeteners, zero calories and it makes you water taste ooh soo yummy!!! Just though I would spread the word to fellow water haters out there.

At Last

2009-04-27T15:17:00.000-07:00
I have finished my last 20 miler in my training schedule this past Saturday and boy am I ever glad that is over with!!! It was HORRIBLE!!! I was tired and sore and tired and sore 80% of the time. If Kim wasn't running next to me talking up how much we LOVED running and that it would be over soon and that she was very sorry that I was not having the time of my life, etc, etc, etc. I would have seriously stopped at my parents house and gone to sleep on the couch!!! In the end we did finish and we actually ran 8 minutes faster than we did on the previous 20 miler we ran. So I suppose that in the end is all that really matters, time, time, time!!! If we are going for the "W" there isn't much time for enjoyment just to push ourselves. I am just glad the next few weeks are shorter runs and then we will get this thing over and done with.

Look at the difference from our first long run (WAY too excited)

Our last 20 miler, week 13,(Not excited at all)

I Kinda Want These

2009-04-21T09:22:00.000-07:00

I saw these online and would've loved these and yes still would for under my skirts. I was just telling Dani that I am always inadvertenly flashing people when I get in and out of the car in skirts, especially in Jesse's truck!! Kim can we get these at wholesale?? I wonder if they make them for adults??? So many questions with so few answers!!

Snowing Again....Seriously!!!

2009-04-15T14:29:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that it is a blizzard outside when we were having nice warm sunny spring days!!! The flowers were starting to bloom and now they will be all gone!!! Soo sad I am really ready for the warm days and short sleeves!!!

Thailand & Laos Pictures

2009-04-07T13:12:00.000-07:00
Are finally up on the slideshow to the left, enjoy!

I Hate Water

2009-04-07T10:33:00.000-07:00

I know you need water to survive and a good majority of people LOVE water. I personally hate the taste of water and very rarely crave water. While running I will MAYBE drink 8 ozs of water no matter how long or hard I am running. I don't go home and drink soda or juice or really anything I just don't seem to get very thirsty the majority of the time. So in order to tyr to comply with ALL the running articles, healthy living articles and any other article talking about your health in general I have fallen in love with crystal light to go packs. I can now drink about 32ozs of the flavored water without feeling ill or making a bitter water face. Thank you Crystal Light for your assistance in obtaining better health.

Saturday Run

2009-04-06T10:24:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday we had a 15 miler to tackle and I made Kim promise that she would run outside in whatever weather awaited us. Of course it was snowing and cold but I was bundled in my cold gear, jacket and hat so I would not be cold. I hate when my ears get cold becuase it makes my head ache something fierce. Unfortunately I was too bundled and at Harmons I was sweating up a storm and not enjoying the lovely snow storm at all. So we stripped down to our cold gear and hid our clothes in the fruit stand and resumed our run. Luckily my ears didn't hurt the whole time even though I was frozen solid. I did however hit a crack in the road and made a very ungraceful collision with the asphalt but thanks to being frozen I didn't feel a thing and was back up and going after a few moments of laughter on the ground. After running 15 miles we successfully ran completely around Orem which does not take that long in a car but on foot it is quite a trek. I suggested next week we should run errands on our run so at least we could stop in between!!

Reminiscing

2009-04-03T13:33:00.001-07:00
As some of you may know I was quite the little equestrian for the majority of my life and have just recently taken a sabbatical from it. I was just thinking back how much I loved riding, grooming my horses, mucking stalls (I know you wouldn't think that would be possible but it is satisfying), traveling to shows, competing, taking lessons and the long drives out to the barn where I got to think about my day. Riding was a very therapeutic activity ever since I can remember. When I was little and upset by something I would just run down to the pasture hop on one of the horses go for a ride and when I was done the world was all better again. At night I would lay down on the back of my horse and look up at the stars breathing in the hay, dirt and fresh air. I spent more hours at the barn than I did at my own house growing up. Instead of long summers playing with my friends, swimming in the pool, I had spent my summers at horse camps, showing, getting up at the wee hours of the morning to get to the barn to ride before it got too hot. Over my 20+ years of riding I broke 5 different bones, dislocated my shoulder, sprained my wrists and ankles a handful of times, been rolled over on, stepped on, slammed into several walls, thrown into fences,kicked and bitten but with all of that I still managed to learn about hard work, responsibility, patience, perseverance, how to handle disappointment and even how to run a business all just from riding a horse. It was a lot of work and sometimes a lot of pain but well worth it in the end. Hopefully one day at least one of my children will have the desire to ride horses and they will have the same wonderful experience that I did.

Best Lunch Around

2009-04-03T13:27:00.000-07:00

Costco by far has the best deals in town, or anywhere for that matter, on affordable tasty food!! I can never get enough of a big fat polish dog with sourkraut, onions, spicey mustard and relish with a drink for a whopping $1.50. Jesse and I can eat there for under $10 and that is with 2 polish dogs, 2 drinks (unlimited refills for those thirsty days), slice of pizza and yes 2 churros all for under $7. Then I am full, Jesse is full and my pocket book is still full!!! What more can a penny pinching person ever want? Nothing I tell you nothing!!! So rush out to your local Costco and try some of their tastiness!

Temple Square

2009-03-31T16:59:00.000-07:00

My parents have a boy from Thailand staying with them for 2 months who is a member and he had wanted to visit the Salt Lake Temple. Since today lured us into a false sense of hope that it would be a warm and sunny day my mom and I headed up with Ben to do a little sight seeing at Temple Square. Although the weather tricked us and it was cold and overcast in Salt Lake we had a lot of fun. Ben did not want a tour although we were offered many of them instead he thought my mother and I would suffice in our slow and loud talking to make sure he understood what we were saying. Overall, we did an exceptional job and he seemed to really enjoy himself. We learned some new things about the temple and he got to learn a lot more. We also were able to watch the Joseph Smith movie which was well done and I actually stayed awake this time so I was able to enjoy all of it instead of bits and pieces. It is amazing what you learn if you stay awake!!

Forward This

2009-03-27T14:05:00.000-07:00
I love email forwards mostly becuase it is something that breaks up my day of staring at the computer and working on documents. They also get me thinking about all the crazy things out there and all the many things that I don't know. Like these past few forwards...

1) Sit down in a chair and lift your right foot and turn it clockwise and then try to draw the # 6 in the air, your foot will automatically change direction to turning counterclockwise. Try it you cannot make it stop from changing directions.
2) This amazing artist paints huge 3-D murials on building walls. Eric Grohe is his name and he has an awesome talent that is just shocking. Check out his website to see more of his amazing work. Below are just two before and after pictures of his work.

3) Color test: You are given several screens that have a word that is a color and are colored a different color that the word. You have to click on the answer that is what the word is colored as not what you are reading, harder than you think. It took me twice to get a 100% and some others I know 3 times. Give it a whirl and give your brain a workout today!!

Goal for This Week

2009-03-27T09:13:00.001-07:00

Coming back from being gone for 3 weeks somehow causes disarray in my house. It may be becuase I have left Jesse home to leave things around and the dirty laundry in nice piles on the floor and the dishes still in the sink or becuase I have dropped all my luggage on my floor and am slowly unpacking every day but my house is a MESS. I hate organizing, cleaning and figuring out what should and shouldn't be thrown away. I have some weird attachment to inadement objects in that I think I MAY need it sometime in the near future even if it has been sitting in a box for 3+ years, now that I know it is there I am sure I will use it. Yeah you would think after doing this numerous times with the same items I would catch on that I am NEVER going to use the item and I can throw it out or give it away but no it somehow conviently slips my mind. But spring is coming back and it will be time for another garage sale so I guess I should just make a big garage sale box in the garage where I won't have to look at it and be tempted to bring that junk (someones treasure) back inside the house!!!

Catching A Little Shut Eye

2009-03-27T09:05:00.000-07:00

I wish this little gadget would work for me so I can catch a few more hours of shut eye at work! I suppose it would be a bit difficult when I sit directly across from the Boss!! My body is fighting the transition to getting less than 8 hours of sleep each night.

Thailand Summary

2009-03-25T10:15:00.001-07:00
Thailand was great!!! I had a wonderful time and the weather was hot, hot, hot just how I like it!! It was a lot of fun getting to see my sister and get to spend a lot of time with her. Our guide Spencer, was an indespensible asset to have along. It truly makes a difference traveling to a foreign country with someone that is fluent and knows the ins and outs of the country. I took soo many pictures while I was there that now I can just pretend I am there while I am looking through my hundreds and hundreds of pictures!!! Here is a list of some of my favorite things that we got to do.

- $3 massages (they were so nice I even had two sometimes)
- Delicious Thai and Esau food (Papaya salad, satay, fried pork strips and so much more!!!)
- Eating Ice Cream out of a hot dog bun with sticky rice.
- Riding on the neck of an elephant in the river and washing it
- Floating in the ocean
- Driving a scooter all over and getting lost
- Seeing the malls (they are HUGE, and really nice)
- Standing to pay tribute to the King before watching a movie in the theater.
- Riding in brightly colored taxis and Tuk Tuks.
- Visiting some of the hill tribes and playing with the kids.
- Swimming in the Mekong River.
- Outdoor showers

Pretty much I loved everything and wish I was still there!!!

I am off to Thailand!!!

2009-02-24T18:24:00.000-08:00

I am off to a fabulous vacation to Thailand for the next 2 1/2 weeks!! Have fun in the cold!!!

I Wear Many Hats

2009-02-20T12:43:00.000-08:00

My job title is Vice President in the company as a Financial Advisor but I don't just do financial stuff I am a personal chef for the President, secretary, supply manager, cleaner, tax preparer, accountant, shuttle driver, travel agent, mediator and now IT. Yes I have expanded my horizons and my job description too!!! My dad's computer crashed and so we got him a new hard drive and memory to help out his overtaxed machine but for some reason I was given the job to fix the computer. I think the assumption is that all "young" people are proficient with computers, let me just tell you that is far from the truth!! So after trying to avoid replacing the hard drive for a few weeks the computer finally stopped working so I had to do it!! I had done some research and discovered that you needed some other items to transfer over all your information from one to the next but didn't quite understand all the terminology so I was a bit lost. Against my ever encouraging husbands advice I forged ahead and proceeded to take apart the laptop and then discovered that the hard drive was on the side not the bottom of the computer and it slid out!! Go figure!! After an 30 minutes I figured out that you had to switch a few items off the old hard drive and onto the new one to get it to fit back in that little slot and voila it was in. Well....that is when all my problems started. Yes I then had to figure out how to load things back on so two days later I got everything loaded onto it and figured out how to transfer the missing drivers onto it so I could get the internet up and running. So today it is official the computer is up and running better than before!! And yes I did go running down the stairs cheering in triumph becuase that is me not very subdued in my many faceted life!!

Renewed Obsession

2009-02-17T07:40:00.000-08:00

Now that I have a DVR I get to become obsessed with particular shows or themes. Usually it is the mystery or murder shows but I have seen probably all the law and Orders, SVU's, CSI's, Without a Trace and Cold Case and have to sit around and wait for the new ones each week so they don't really fill my show quotas so I was in the market for a new obsession. Yes it has returned to cakes but now I have Ace of Cakes, Amazing Wedding Cakes, Platinum Weddings, Rich Bride Poor Bride and Whose Wedding it it Anyways!! Yes I know strange that I have a rekindled obsession with weddings and cakes but I just go with the flow. I have decided that I need to get better with cake decorating so that I can create magnificent cakes like Duff does and whenever anyone wants a cool treat they will ask me to make them one. This is in my quest to have a long, long list of hobbies since I am lacking in that department as of late. Since my last creation was such a success and I did really enjoy my first round of classes I though why not pick this one back up and continue it. I also have been feeling like I could be a good wedding planner but that is really just all in my head not in reality luckily I know the difference now. So Jesse has been informed that when he wants to give me a gift it is to be cake decorating lessons. So be prepared when I start baking again and dropping samples off to people that you should just take it and smile and then you can toss it when I am not looking!!

My New Hair Do

2009-02-12T14:16:00.000-08:00
The day has come and I have got my hair cut!! I love it!! Thanks you for your assistance in helping me narrow it down.

The results are.....

Votes Needed!!!

2009-02-11T10:17:00.000-08:00
Okay so I am going to have my hair cut tomorrow and I have been trying to decide how I want my hair cut. I have been using this website to check out different styles on my face and now I have narrowed it down to a few. So I want others opinions on what looks the best on this long face of mine!! Something to keep in mind is the new do is for my trip to Thailand where I will not have a hair dryer or other styling appliances. Please vote asap as I am getting my hair cut at noon on Thursday!!!

Here are your options:
Option 1:

Option 2:

Option 3:

Option 4:

Boot Woes

2009-02-05T13:19:00.000-08:00

So I was a very lucky girl this year and got two, yes two, pairs of really cute brown boots for Christmas. Unfortunately both had some issues with them so I was then forced to deal with the stores to try and resolve these issues. First I would like to say Banana Republic is a huge pain in the rear to deal with if something is not correct and I have had several problems with them in the past so I should've known that this one would be nothing different. Okay really it is just with the University Mall location but still. These precious boots here were sadly a mismatched pair of boots, one size 8 and one size 8.5!! Yes that does cause a slight problem when you are trying to actually wear that shoes!! So I finanlly, yes about 2 months later have gotten around to going to Banana to try and resolve this issue and informed them of the mistake. Well I was first told that since this Banana does not carry shoes they really couldn't do anything for me. Then when I prompted her to see if any other stores carried my boot in the correct size she said that nobody did. So then she said that I could return them if I hadn't worn them. Hmmm, lets see...oh yeah they are two different sizes what do you think, did I wear them or not??? Yeah anyways so she refunded my money and off I went to the car. Well the bright idea of calling the actual store where the boots came from jumped into my head and so I gave them a jingle and low and behold yes they did have my missing size 8.5 sitting in a closet full of other sad mismatched shoes!! So yes I had to take matters into my own hands to figure out what to do with a pair of mismatched boots that my feet are just itching to wear. They do have to wait till I ship back the size 8 and then for them to send me back my 8.5 but in the end I will have them in my possession so I can dance around in them!!!

Oh and yes you would think that one girl couldn't possibly have a problem with both pairs of boots, yes this girl did!! My other pair was a 1/2 size too big but was from the lovely Nordstrom that is actually geared towards customer service. So I brought in the shoes and they checked and saw that they did not have the size I was looking for and that nobody had the size. So bummed as I was I brought them home with me but then decided that I would check online for them. Low and behold yes a store in Utah has my size and yes they are in the same color and yes they would put them on hold for me!!! Ahhhh the joys of the internet!!! So soon, very soon I will have all my shoes back into commission and looking good on my feet!!!

First Long Run

2009-02-02T09:51:00.000-08:00

(Racing to the Finish)
I have started the training schedule and although I dread it each new day when it is over I am really happy with my performance and that I have actually met the days goal. It does help that I have Kim to run with me otherwise I would talk myself out of getting up in the mornings. Saturday was the first long run of the schedule of 12 miles but it turned to 13 miles due to the Provo Trail was a mile longer than the 12 mile run!! Since it was way too cold to walk the last mile we were forced to run. Essentially I a half marathon on my first go in 2 hours which is right on track for running the full marathon in 4 hours!!! I won't go into long boring detail of my run, that is for the other blog but we am on track and ready to go!!! Watch out Ogden Marathoners we are out to win!!!

(Okay we aren't this angry we just have the sun in our eyes)

Oh How I Love Snow

2009-01-26T15:26:00.000-08:00

As I went outside this morning to take Charlie to take care of his business I remembered why I love, love, LOVE when it has freshly snowed. It is soo peaceful, surprisingly warm and everything is quiet as if you are the only person around. That has to be just about the best thing in the world!!! So please let it snow more and more so that I can go out in the morning and enjoy this little peace before I start my day!!

Sundance Film Festival 2009

2009-01-23T06:26:00.000-08:00

Yesterday afternoon Celina and I went up to Park City to hit up a a movie at the annual Sundance Film Festival. Last year we saw Frozen River and really enjoyed it. Thus we had high hopes that this years pick Big Fan would be just as good.
Sadly, not so!!

Big Fans main character Patton Oswalt was way too pathetic of an individual who had no aspirations of even getting enough money to actually attend the Giants game let alone get a better job or move out of his mom's house!! Overall it was far too long of a story that didn't really go anywhere. We did score a great free parking spot so we didn't have to deal with that hassle at least.

I was given the name of a little cafe called Windy Ridge Cafe to try in Park City that was supposed to be good. I always like to try new places so I was pretty excited to see if it could be another one of my Park City favorites. We arrived and were seated, as we were perusing the menu I came upon Meatloaf and corn bread which sounded delicious. Celina decided upon the chicken and Pesto lasagna because she loves pesto and wanted something hearty as well. We double checked with the waitress as to how the Meatloaf and lasagna both were and we were assured that both were excellent and were patron favorites. When our food arrived Celina was not impressed with her meager portion and bland taste and my meatloaf was so finely ground that it melted in my mouth almost. Melt in your mouth meatloaf was not anywhere close to what I was wanting or expecting out of a nice big piece of meatloaf!! I think we may try the bakery out back next time instead of the cafe again. Oh well there is always El Chubasco and Davanza's to eat at still and be very satisfied!!!