Chip Craving

From time to time I get sandwiches from Subway. And you know what else I always get there . . . Lay's Salt and Vinegar chips. I don't know what it is, but it tastes so good with my sandwich. I love the puckering salty and sour taste. At no other time does getting these chips ever even cross my mind. It's kind of like how I only get tomato and V-8 juice on a plane, but don't drink it at any other time. Is it just me or does anyone else have any quirky food habits?

Disco Inferno

We had our big youth fundraiser this weekend . . . a spaghetti dinner and auction. I got to the church early to start working on the pasta. Knowing church kitchens, we thought it would be best to have all the pasta cooked and then just re-heat it all in hot water when we got there. I started the water boiling and noticed that something was starting to smoke from the burner underneath the pot. Not a moment later, ALL of the fire alarms in the building were going off . . . flashing lights, screaching sounds, and a message that blared all through the building and through the outside speakers as well (who knew?!?! . . . does every church have outside fire alarm speakers?) informing everyone to evacuate the building immediately and that the fire department would be on its way. I panicked! I quickly took the pot off of the stove, tried to prop open all the doors and windows and called 911 to let them know it wasn't an emergency, just some food apparently baked on the coil burners, but that the fire alarm needed to be turned off. When I'm at home and this happened once, I could just remove the batteries to get the screaching to start, not so at the church. Pretty soon, here came some neighbor kids on their bikes to see what was happening since the blaring message was on a continuous loop, then the High Council rep who had been on the job a week and didn't know where the shut-off keys were . . . I kept looking and hoping for the fire department.

Some of our girls got to the church early and helped me open windows and shared my panic with me. Luckily, the baptism that was supposed to be happening at this same time didn't . . . now that would have been the ultimate embarrassment. And, because I live in the sticks . . . a literal half hour went by before the fire department and several police vehicles made it to the church. (Now I know why they stress emergency preparedness so much out here . . . it really will be days before we get some response when something really happens). The firemen jokingly asked what was for dinner, got the fire alarm turned off, made our report with the police department and we started airing out the building of smoke. Needless to say, I wasn't touching the stove burners again and we tried using the ovens instead to warm the noodles. My heart rate was going a mile a minute by the time everyone started coming. But, the church didn't burn down, we got everyone fed and then some, and ended up having a successful evening.

Happy Birthday Melinda!

It's Earth Day today which also means it's Melinda's Big Day. In honor of her special day, we always like to do a virtual balloon with different qualities that match the letters in her name.

Mah-velous . . . As Billy Crystal would say, you are simply "Mah-velous". In going through different M words to see what would fit her best, we rejected the following: She is not . . male, married, mammoth, mechanical, miniature, messy, Morroccan, Mexican or Mediterranean (although she does tan suspiciously well), so we decided being marvelous suited her best.

Efficient . . . Melinda is very efficient with everything that she does. Mom used to like it when Melinda would run errands for her instead of me. When I go to the store (or anywhere really), I like to look at everything, see what's new and end up buying things that may or may not be on the list. I would be gone a while and spend more than my allotted funds. Melinda goes with a list, sticks to the list, and doesn't deviate. I must also say that she is a great e-mailer. We both love it when we e-mail a list of questions and the responder replies to every one of our items. Melinda is great at that.

Loves Lunch . . . and really going out for any meal. This is why we like to vacation with Melinda. She is always up for going out to eat and trying new places. She especially likes to break away from work to get out and enjoy lunch.
Ice cream . . . she likes it. Especially any kind of chocolate ice cream and it can include chocolate chips and/or peanut butter.

Nice . . . A quote I have always liked, "It's nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice". Melinda is both important and nice . . . what a great combination.

Dancer . . . Melinda and Kristen have kept up with their tap dance lessons every Saturday morning. I am still waiting for the next performance with the fishnets and feather boas.
Adventure . . . Melinda is always up for a trip or a new adventure somewhere . . . especially if it's warm and tropical . . . she's a good travel buddy.

Melinda is a great sister and blogging buddy . . . we hope the upcoming year is a great one!

I Smell Fantastic!

For my Easter gift this year, Kristen bequeathed this little gem to me:

If you can't see the label, it is Pacifica Tuscan Blood Orange lotion. I don't normally like lotions with "blood" in the title, but Julie had stumbled upon this during our last visit to Sephora, and we all fell in love with it. Now that I have it in my possession, I am obsessed! It smells delicious, and I have been slathering it on multiple times a day. For anyone lucky enough to see me in the next few days, I'll let you sidle up to me and take a whiff. You're welcome!

After the Race . . .

After Kristen's race on Saturday, we had dinner at the Dodo restaurant in Sugarhouse. The meal was yummy and the best part is always a slice of Tollhouse Pie, which our server noticed we quickly devoured. A new twist we tried this time was having it heated so the ooey gooey, doughy center just oozed out. We highly recommend it!

See the Resemblance, I Do

You know how when couples get older they start to look alike?

Luke Skywalker is all of a sudden old! Anyone else notice the resemblance?

I Owe it all to Frank and Bonnie

Whenever I run a race, the most important part of my preparation the night before is creating a playlist for my iPod! I like to put the fastest, most upbeat songs towards the end when I need a final push.

The playlist I created for the Salt Lake half marathon today was no exception. I lovingly crafted it yesterday on my day off. And then - I realized I had left my iPod at work! Of all the weekends to forget my little buddy!

Of course I had to drive out to work to get it. I couldn't run a race without it.

And I'm so glad I did. I was struggling up the final hill along State Street (so mean to put a hill at mile 12!) when like manna from heaven my go-to motivational song came on: Frank Stallone's "Far from Over."
Some of you kids may know it from a little movie called Stayin' Alive (that apostrophe is in the original title - that's how great the movie is). This song is pure, 80s-tastic and it was just what I needed. And then what song came on next? Only Bonnie Tyler's "Holding Out for a Hero," which I have crowned the Best Song Ever? on a previous post.

Frank and Bonnie, when I was about to slow down, you pulled me through. I owe it all to you. Look how happy I am:

Biggest Load Ever

I've mentioned that climbing up 32 stairs with armfuls of groceries can be quite the trick. I think this is my biggest load ever -but I made it in one trip! One more sack and I might've keeled over!

Ironic

Today I was nominated to be a member of my company's Green committee. Lucky they don't read this blog. Especially this post.

Gleeful

I was absolutely giddy with the new episode of Glee last night. Kristen texted me to see if I had already downloaded the songs from the show because she knew that the songs were right up my alley. A brand new episode based on "Hello". This girl loves nothing better than a shout out to the Lionel Richie classic. It was one of my absolute favorite covers by David Cook on American Idol and it was great on Glee. Then, to have a shout out to the Hello song by Neil Diamond in the Jazz Singer in the same episode, I could hardly contain myself. I love that movie and that song! It was such fun. As if that isn't enough, I read that in the coming weeks Olivia Newton John will be on to remake "Physical" with Sue. I may faint.

The other thing I'm pretty happy about is the new color that I painted on my toes. I searched all over and finally found it . . . OPI's Mad as a Hatter. What girl doesn't like to sparkle?

Over React Much?

I did not have one of my best moments today. My car has been in the shop for a few repairs, and happily, it was done today. Brent has found a great mechanic who does a good job and is honest, but the English is not his first language, and I sometimes have a difficult time understanding him. So I go to pick up my car today, and he whips out the invoice, and I hear him say that the amount due is $8400. Apparently, my social filter was not working, because I may or may not have gasped and shrieked, "What??" I totally scared him. Luckily, the actual damage was less than that, since you know, my entire car with me in it, is not even worth $8400. So sad.

Deseo un flauta delicioso!

So I've mentioned before that in addition to wanting a hot meal at a fair price, I just really want to find a truly fantastic Mexican restaurant. I have tried virtually every option possible, and I invariably leave feeling disappointed. I've had portions of a great meal at various places-a delicious chip and salsa here, a wonderful TJ Taxi there, and such. Some weeks I crave Mexican food every day, and I have yet to find a place where I might actually consider going every day.

Well, every year, Salt Lake City magazine gives awards for the best restaurants. I usually always agree with their choices, and love finding new places to sup. This year, the editors could not stop raving about the Sonora Grill in Ogden, of all places. We were told that the tableside guacamole was ridiculous, and that their tacos would make you want to do a Mexican hat dance. Since I perform a mean Mexican hat dance, Kristen and I strapped on our Kevlar vests, put on our steel toed boots, secured the pins in our grenades, and we made a trip up to O-Town a few weeks ago. (It was my second time there!) Since I am rather addicted to guacamole, and I love anything made tableside, we of course had to order that, as well as a selection of the now famous tacos. While the food wasn't poor, it was a smidge bland, and I was once again, muey disappointed. And if I can be honest here, Kristen makes much better tableside guacamole! However, they did redeem themselves by serving my favorite part of the meal: face-sized tortilla chips! Brilliant.

New Favorite Thing: Baking Sheets

Melinda turned me on to one of my new favorite things . . . parchment baking sheets. Since dishes and cleaning up after cooking are my least favorite part, I have always been a fan of using parchment paper on top of any baking pans to help eliminate the mess created. Melinda discovered that Gygi's, the mega store with all things related to cooking and restaurants, has pre-cut parchment paper baking sheets that perfectly fit the must have sheet pans also from Gygi's that we have. Well, it was one of those things that I decided that I must have so I went to Gygi's last week and got a pack of 100 for $9.99. These came in very handy at our youth activity with all of the ooey gooey pizza toppings the kids used. And the best part of all is that after you're done, you crumple the sheet up and throw it away. Love them . . . thanks for the tip, Melinda.

Let the Music Play

We enjoyed attending another successful season of University of Utah gymnastics with the final meet on Saturday. We have been going to these meets since we were young. There is always a company sponsor of the meet and Dad would find out who was giving away tickets and we would go. It was a fun thing to do with our Dad and I came out of the meets always thinking I could tumble my way through a floor exercise (nope . . . could never even do a cartwheel). My favorite was always Lisa Mitzel's floor routine to Shannon's Let the Music Play. . . a classic even if it does date me.

Anywhoo . . . we give Dad season tickets each year for Christmas and rotate who goes to each meet. For the regional meet, we all got to go. We started out eating at our new favorite place by the U, the Corner Bakery. Melinda has discovered the mini bundt cakes, which are brilliant, because you have frosting on the outside of the cake and on the inside trademark hole of the cake. Delicious. Then off we went for a hardcore 3+ hour session with six different teams. As usual, our U of U team made it to the Finals which will be held in a few weeks in another state . Once again, it is a fun thing to do with Dad and we had a great time together. Looking forward to next season.

General Conference

Love this...someone made a "wordie" of the most frequent words said in this April's General Conference. It was hard to miss that family was a major theme.

Texts of the talks are online! I especially liked Elder Ballard and Elder Holland and (of course) Elder Bednar.

Laurels vs. Priests

We had a fun activity this week with some of our Priests and Laurels. We meet together monthly so they can learn to interact and do fun things with each each other. We made creative pizzas for dinner together, which is always a good time. One boy may have shaved off a little skin from two fingers with my microplane grater . . . ooops. He sacrificed all for yummy Parmesan cheese with our salad. (Luckily, I often do the same thing, so the Band-Aids are very handy in the kitchen). Then, we had a Boardgame Triathalon which consisted of three events . . . 1) Break the Ice; 2) Perfection; and 3) Catch Phrase. It was tied 1-1 at the end of two events and after a rousing game of Catch Phrase, the girls were victorious! Until next month for the rematch . . .

Burning Questions

Who keeps voting for Kate Gosselin? Whoever it is, stop!

Why is Florence Henderson always in the audience?

Reptiles are Oogie, but I Can't Look Away

I've been taping "Life" on the Discovery Channel (it's by the same people who did Planet Earth and is narrated by Oprah Winfrey). This show is amazing. The shots they get are incredible. And I'm actually learning a lot about animals (or "creatures" as Julie would call them).

I'm quite a few episodes behind, but tonight I watched the one on reptiles and amphibians. I'm sure my face is amusing when I'm watching this show. It's a mixture of revulsion and fascination. I would gasp out loud when Oprah would say things like "The tarantula is one of the water toad's biggest predators." Cut to the tarantula easing its furry legs over the hill JUST AS the toad was climbing into its direct path. "Things don't look good for this little toad." I found myself saying things like "Get out of there, dude!" and covering my eyes.

But in the end, it's like a car wreck. You just have to look (Incidentally, the toad escapes by curling itself into a ball and tumbling down the mountain). And if I thought the toad's escape from the tarantula was hard to watch, before long we had to learn about the mating habits of reptiles. I told you I was learning a lot.

In a Good Place

I'm about a month shy of my year-a-versary in my condo, and it's strange how quickly time flies. The roommate situation a year ago was - shall we say, less than ideal. There was more packed-in drama in that year that Melinda had offered to "extract" me more than once (we got that from "Alias"). I tried to stay positive, but going back to read my journal entries from that time, I remember how un-fun it was. Sometimes you don't realize how hard a situation really is until you realize how nice it is to leave it (junior high is another example) :)

Anyway, the point is - I have really enjoyed being able to create my own home environment. I looove coming home after a long day and feeling very comfortable in my house. Now all I need to do is find a male roommate...

Easter Fun

Easter is a great celebration with lots of fun traditions that Mom started when we were young. Our cute Dad has continued to make this a special holiday for us through the years.

It was fun to have Lilli's Aunt Kathy join us for the festivities

After a yummy dinner, and a lesson by Grandpa, we were ready for the annual hunt. The little kids always get to line up first . . . here is Maggie peeking out through the door already to go. The boys were very clever in their hiding spots this year. (Melinda, did you even see this on your car?)
Jacob hit up the huge pine tree which always has some treasures

Brian and Sara searching together

Maggie discovering surprises in the Magnolia tree

Here she is . . . the winner of the 2010 Silver Egg . . . Miss MAIA. This is always a special egg to get with a sweet prize inside. After all of the regular eggs are found, we start the search for the silver egg that is hidden very deep each year (note her muddy hands . . . you've really got to want it). Grandpa gathers everyone around for a set of clues and the first one to retrieve it is the big winner. Congratulations!

After the hunt, it's off to count the loot and figure out the tithing. All the kids did great and Aiden did especially well.

Grace and Brent with her winnings

Then it's time for the adult basket hunt. We all draw names for each other and create a basket that we hide around the house (of course . . . what holiday is complete without something hidden). Here are us girls with our sweet baskets. Thanks to all of the basket makers for the thoughtful gifts inside!

Jacob and Emma the bunny

Kristen had been looking forward all week to getting her basket and enjoying her favorite treat . . . a regular Cadbury egg. Here she is diving into it as soon as she got her basket.


Thanks, Grandpa for making this a fun family day together.