a little bit of me being me

not going down without a fight

2012-01-26T14:25:00.000-08:00

tragedy struck two weeks ago. i'd spent the evening with a friend in bountiful and enjoyed a nice oreo milkshake and order of fries. that night i thought i was going to die. natalie had no such symptoms.

the next thursday i was enjoying some chips and salsa from chili's and made myself a tall glass of chocolate milk. i love chocolate milk. not even an hour later my stomach was screaming at me. couldn't think of anything i was eating that i hadn't eaten numerous times before with no problems. natali suggested milk. i wanted to cry. but it was somewhere to start.

so i gave it a few days. then started with half cup with my breakfast. by noon it was confirmed. all i kept thinking of was soy milk, soy ice cream, tofu-yes i realize this is not a milk replacement but still. blah. not going to happen. i love milk too much. nothing like a cold glass of milk with waffles for breakfast.

so this lactaid pill everyone's telling me about better be a miracle pill. or i'll really cry.

a tender mercy

2012-01-23T16:28:00.000-08:00

on a day when all I was feeling was frustrated and disappointed and frustrated in the male gender (i'm a single girl, it happens and in this case was justified) what should happen to remind me that i'm being watched out for and that life isn't so rough?

two bags of oranges, fresh from california, show up at work for me from one of the guys in our warehouse in redlands.

as simple as it was, it's exactly what I needed.

dreary weather calls for yummy food

2012-01-21T21:39:00.000-08:00

i love yummy food. good thing because cooking for one can be a little depressing, especially when it can take over an hour to put something together since apparently i'm slow.

it's been raining buckets here for the last couple days. yep, rain in the middle of january. it finally turned to snow tonight but we've got 'lakes' all over town that are going to be small skating rinks soon. crazy weather. nothing better than yummy food on a dreary saturday. tried a new recipe tonight that is worth sharing:

bbq chicken salad with creamy bbq cilantro lime dressing

somehow mine looks completely different than the original (the recipe is linked to the recipe name above-a little deceiving) but when does it ever turn out like the picture? i also added my cilantro lime rice to the salad and it was fantastic.

best ever cilantro lime rice (cafe rio):

1 c. uncooked converted white rice

1 t. butter

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 t. grated lime peel

1 15 oz. can chicken broth

1/4 c. water

2 T. fresh lime juice

2 t. sugar

3 T. fresh chopped cilantro

in saucepan combine rice, butter, garlic, lime zest, chicken broth, and water. bring to a boil. cover and cook 15-20 minutes until rice is tender. remove from heat. in a small bowl, combine lime juice, sugar, and cilantro. pour over hot cooked rice. mix well.

a little untraditional

2012-01-20T22:17:00.000-08:00

stampin up card night tonight. theme: love

paper used: spice cake designer series, more mustard, chocolate chip, very vanilla

embellishments: antique brads, crochet trim, cricut die cut letters and heart

weakness confirmed

2012-01-20T13:21:00.000-08:00

another holiday, another set of mini cupcake liners (or two since you can't see the package underneath). i may need a bigger cupboard. . .

. . . especially with the christmas ones i found on clearance!

love this holiday

2012-01-17T15:36:00.000-08:00

no, i'm not a valentine's day lover, pretty indifferent in fact, but whatever holiday brings with it cherry juju hearts i'll embrace it wholeheartedly. nothing really special about roses or another box of chocolates (my vendors bring those why would i want them for valentine's day?) but only once a year can you get cherry juju hearts. original or chocolate covered, i'm not picky.

love love this time of year.

a little bliss

2012-01-12T20:16:00.000-08:00

my heart found a little bliss on the way to work this morning in the form of a bagel. ready for this? maple & brown sugar oatmeal with honey almond shmear. oh. my. word. try it. love it.

An unexpected announcement

2012-01-11T16:11:00.000-08:00

It began as a funny story telling how I had been asked out the night before at my first day of institute this semester and somehow it turned into this:

Apparently it is a rare enough occasion for the guys at work to hear about me dating that it quickly gets out of hand. Before I knew it I had a post on my facebook wall followed by two congratulations and another in a text. I'm a little curious if the day ever comes how they will react. . . probably won't believe me.

Lemi Shine-love you but really?

2012-01-07T13:23:00.000-08:00

No this is not a product review but at the risk of sounding like I'm a 40 year old house wife: I have a hard water problem. Milky glassware and filmy silverware. Slightly embarrassing when someone asks for a glass of water. It's clean, I promise. So an older and wiser friend told me about Lemi Shine-the hard water expert. Tried it. Love it. Until this morning. Do you see something wrong with this picture:

Yes, it is my 2 cup measuring cup . . . now without the measurements. Missed the fine print. Caution: Check manufacturers' suggested cleaning instructions on all dishwasher safe items. Not recommended for painted glassware. . . Sweet.

Abandoned as a child?

2012-01-04T21:49:00.000-08:00

Some people have asked me lately if I was abandoned as a child as if it would explain a lot about me. . . cold hearted and distant. . . Mom?

On the same subject but not necessarily to do with anything happening in my life right now, sometimes I don't mind getting my heart broken because it reminds me that I really can feel and get attached to people. Not so cold hearted and distant. It sounds horrible but it's really not. Honest. How does the quote go, "Still, a girl likes to be crossed in love now and then. It give her something to think of. . . " It doesn't happen very often, not that I get crossed in love but that I get attached so that being crossed in love is even an option. If that makes sense.

A bunch of pillows

2012-01-02T14:34:00.000-08:00

It's been a long time since I've done a sewing project so I'm not sure where the confidence came from to do this one, another example of me getting crazy ideas! Found a really cute quilt at Gardner Village and decided to do a new bed set for my mom's guest room for Christmas. So, I picked the colors and went at it, with a little help from Google image search and reluctantly Pinterest (still haven't hopped completely on the bandwagon).
Pillow #1 (and technically 2):

The Euro Shams. The fabric is almost a corduroy but that sounds not pretty for pillow fabric so we'll call it textured in stripes. Color is brown but has hints of gold in the right light.

Pillow #2:

The Petal Pillow. Made completely out of felt (but the kind with wool in it so it's stiffer). Started with 5 1/2 in petals on the outside and went down from there. Started sewing the petals down but once it got too fluffy turned to the glue gun.

Pillow #3:

The Ruffle Pillow. And since I don't actually pin things when I use Pinterest I can't even tell you who I got this idea from, I have horrible blogging manners, but whoever she is left the edges unfinished but I decided not to to keep the design a little less casual. I did leave the top serged edge showing and just including the serge in the flower to tie it together. Props to Natali and her fine ruffling skills!

Pillow #4:

The Buttoned Sham. Wanted to make this one a little more formal to tie everything together but let's be real, the buttons are the only thing formal about it. Love the fabric pattern though. And no hand sewing involved except for sewing on the buttons, huge plus!

And the final result:

Merry Christmas Mom!

Inter-office mail

2011-12-30T10:53:00.000-08:00

And this is how we make it through some days at work: fruities sent between Logan and Smithfield.

Distracted

2011-12-29T09:43:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I don't like getting phone calls because I am completely incapable of doing anything else at the same time. But it only happens with certain people. Then I feel bad because even though I love talking to them, I have to block out an alotment of time, which isn't always easy, because I can't multitask. Like last night. Pretty sure my roommate thought I was crazy. I was getting the oil ready to do some rice noodles, that I've done plenty of times before, then I get the phone call. Before I know it the noodles are burnt to a crisp, there's smoke in the kitchen, and I sound like a complete idiot on the phone because I'm running around like a crazy woman. Then I do nothing but focus on the conversation for the next hour and a half. So the real question-are these good phone calls to get? Because logic would tell me no but maybe I need to feel a little more with my heart and not my head. . .

Weed Centerpieces

2011-12-27T21:46:00.000-08:00

Strange as it sounds they turned out awesome! My good friend Candace's sister got married the week before Thanksgiving and needed some last minute centerpieces for their luncheon tables. . . so Candace and I got creative. It had just snowed but we wandered around the country side, or the gravel pit up by my parents' house, and cut a huge variety of weeds to put together.

My house became a flower shop that I literally had to sweep up before I could vacuum when it was all over but who cares?! And I may have gotten a little crazy the night before the luncheon and made a stop at Home Depot and an hour later left with wood and spray paint and tinted glaze. Luckily my friend Natali rescued me at 10:00 after I told her my dad was cutting wood for me. We were out in 20 degree weather spray painting, made a trip to Wal Mart for burlap, and running the power sander (pretty sure my neighbors hate me). But the finished product was great:

And if only we'd known sooner, as we were setting up I asked if we could light the candles and they said if there was at least an inch of glass over the wick-why didn't we think of that! Now I know where I get my crazy ideas from-my mom suggested going to the store and getting votive candle holders. . . 30 minutes before the luncheon started. And I nearly did it. It would have made it look so great. But it was already great. Better than we'd planned. So we didn't. And what would I have done with 32 glass votive holders when the luncheon was over?

Witches party!

2011-12-27T21:16:00.000-08:00

Exploding intestines, kitty litter cake, bloody worms, eyeballs . . . and fruit salsa, pumpkin dip, owl cupcakes, bacon wrapped water chestnuts. . . why do I always focus on the food? We had a way fun Halloween party the weekend before Halloween with the girls in our ward-caramel apple bar, minute-to-win-it relay, and another game I don't know the name of! But it was fun.

And for the costumes:

Daybreak home tours

2011-12-27T20:59:00.000-08:00

I love home designs. So much. A love I learned from my mom. Back in October I took off of work early and we went down to Daybreak in South Jordan to go through their open houses and it made me want to be all grown up and be able to build a house. Not good for me. They create some beautiful spaces and their houses aren't square! You can't really capture them in pictures but here's a couple I really liked:

Devoted blog stalkers

2011-12-27T20:41:00.000-08:00

Who knew that I had blog followers?! To you, the few, I apologize for the three month absence. Here's to catching up!

Certified Wilton Course 1 Cake Decorator or something like that

2011-10-02T16:11:00.000-07:00

Seeing that I mentioned the cake decorating class I was taking in a previous post, I figured I should show the fruits of my labor. After three weeks, six sugar cookies, one 8" round cake, six cupcakes, one double layer 8" round cake, six batches of frosting, and too many hours of prep that I didn't have, ta-da:

Yeah, don't look too close, I'll forever be a student. And when I don't have something every other night of the week I'll attack another one of the Wilton courses-gum past and fondant watch out.

A weakness of mine

2011-09-15T12:59:00.000-07:00

Mini muffin liners. I get them for every season. They're perfect with my mini Reese's Peanut Butter Cup cookies. First it was Wilton and now it's the Martha Stewart line. Love them! Saw some yesterday at Joann's for Fall/Halloween and almost talked myself out of it but they were 25% off-I didn't stand a chance. As I was checking out the cashier said her weakness was napkins. I felt a little better.

Air space

2011-09-13T14:36:00.000-07:00

An ongoing question, with all that space up there why do bugs and birds get hit as much as they do? Maybe it's the classic, you only hear about the tragedies and nothing about the millions that fly around avoiding baseballs and car grills, not sure. Well, I hit a bird this morning. A quail to be exact. Normally when they're in the road and a car comes they fly away. Not always the case apparently. I even saw a feather floating down in my rearview mirror. I felt bad but if it won't damage the car don't risk damaging the car to avoid it, right? Heartless.

Playing in the mud

2011-09-10T18:20:00.000-07:00

Completely not something I would normally do but after some peer pressure at work, two coworkers and I ran the Man vs. Mud 5K last weekend. I am not a runner at all, as in I struggle to run 1 mile before my lungs are about to collapse, so I was a little nervous I wouldn't be able to make it but everyone was there just to have fun in the mud so it was hardly a run. Tons of fun and definitely planning on doing it again next year!

This was the last slide into the finish line with a huge pool of mud and a mud crawl at the end. Don't worry, pictures directly following!

Sugar Cookies. . . from a pouch?!

2011-09-07T15:09:00.000-07:00

I sort of feel like I have to start this out defending myself but I'm not going to. I've been thinking about taking a cake decorating class just for fun and keep seeing them on the schedule at the local cooking store but never get signed up before the class is full. I noticed one starting in September but didn't get over to the store to sign up until yesterday, the day before the class started, at 7:45 pm, fifteen minutes before the store closes. As I'm signing up the cashier says, you'll also need the Wilton Basics Student kit, decorator icing, and half a dozen sugar cookies. I think she's warning me of the extra stuff I'll need for the class before I sign up but then I ask, 'For tomorrow's class?' You bet. Sweet. So I bought the student kit and decorator icing right there, yes, I bought the decorator icing in a tub, similar to the kind you buy from the grocery store complete with a foil seal. The shame. It gets worse. How was I going to get sugar cookies when I had to work all day and the class starts at 6:30? I am 25 years old and my first thought was to call my mom. My only defense is that she's so great and pulls through for me all the time when I fail to plan that she's enabled me to have that thought. But I had to go to the grocery store before I went home so I first checked the bakery to see what they had then did something I've never done before. . . bought a pouch of Betty Crocker's sugar cookie mix. Absolutely nothing wrong with Betty Crocker but when it comes to sugar cookies they are only mediocre and I don't do mediocre sugar cookies. I'm justifying myself because I really just need something to practice my shells and rosettes on and that's what I get for not planning better.

Some things that upset me a little

2011-08-30T15:02:00.000-07:00

Just to start the list. . . Peaches that don't peel. String cheese that doesn't string. Boiled eggs that don't peel. Oranges that are dry. Oranges that have no flavor. (All that work to peel them and nothing in return) Corn on the cob that is smushy. Waking up before 1:00 AM. Running out of soap in the shower. Waking up before 6:00 AM. Forgetting to get a towel once you're already in the shower.

Samoa Goodness

2011-08-26T10:03:00.000-07:00

Um hello. Brownie. Carmel. Toasted coconut. Chocolate. I found these awesome samoa brownies at Six Sister's blog earlier this week and haven't stopped dreaming about them since. Whipped them up last night, super easy, and they are prolly as good as I imagined.

1 brownie mix
3 1/2 cups shredded coconut, toasted
(2) 14 oz. package of caramels, unwrapped
1/2 tsp. salt
4 tbsp. milk
3 oz. semi-sweet chocolate + a little shortening to soften

Prepare brownie mix according to box directions for a 9x13 pan and cool.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and place coconut on baking pan. Cook until toasted, stirring every 2-3, took me about 10-12 minutes. Watch close so it doesn't burn.

In a large, microwaveable bowl, add unwrapped caramels, salt, and milk and cook on high for 3-5 minutes, stirring every 45 seconds. Cook until all caramels are melted and smooth.

Add coconut to caramel and mix together. Spread over cooled brownies. Refrigerate 4-5 hours or overnight. Remove at least 1 hour from the fridge before cutting. Cut into bars and drizzle with melted semi-sweet chocolate (Melt chocolate chips with a little shortening so when it hardens it's a soft chocolate). Let chocolate set and enjoy.

Catching each others' eye

2011-08-22T09:23:00.000-07:00

This weekend I noticed a boy. And he noticed me back. And we talked. Not sure that's ever happened before. The end.

Embarrassed by Cheetos

2011-08-15T13:27:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I'm embarrassed I like certain foods, like today it's Cheetos. I needed something to spice up my pb&j and that bag was calling my name. The fact that I would have to go into the cafeteria at work and buy them out of the vending machine nearly stopped me from getting them. Nearly. So today it was Cheetos, some days it's corn dogs, Kraft mac & cheese w/ hot dogs, bologna. . . this is turning into a confession of my love for questionable meats. . . all things Hostess, and plenty of other foods that I look around to see who's watching me as I buy/order/eat. Probably not a bad thing since it keeps me from eating them very often.

Green pants

2011-08-12T09:42:00.000-07:00

For those who haven't given up on me, I really am working on updating this thing. Apparently the Europe trip post had to be broken up since it was so long and I can't post that many pictures in one post . . . I'll blame the year + lapse on thinking about that. But until it all gets updated I'll work on doing the daily random posts since I'm opposed to doing status updates on facebook but for some reason I don't mind doing it here.

I'm wearing green pants today and loving it. Don't judge. Found them at Downeast for $13.75 which may seem like too much for green pants but I couldn't resist. Reminds me of a pair of green overalls I once had. . . the problem is every time I wear them I'm going to remember the amazing pair of burnt orange corduroy pants that were right next to them on the shelf that I'd seen and made fun of a week before but secretly really wanted. Well I finally tried them on and it just wasn't meant to be-one size too small. I still keep thinking about them. Amazing. Seriously. I'd like to think some really stylish people have them somewhere and paid the original $168 (7 For All Mankind) for them and I could have been just like them for only $13.75.

Part 4: All Good Things Must Come to an End

2010-08-07T21:39:00.000-07:00

Day #10
Since it's taken me over a year to write this the rest of this may be a little sketchy, tragic I know. My own fault I don't take the time to write it down when it happens! From Bern we went by train down to Geneva. I think I felt most out of place in Switzerland and specifically on this train ride because everyone spoke German and that is one language I definitely can't get any sort of idea what they're saying. There was a cute family on the train and the kids kept trying to talk to us and all we could do was smile, pretty sure they thought we were idiots! From Geneva we went by bus over into France to Annecy where Tash had been going to school for the summer. Gorgeous town on a lake. Got ice cream at Tash's favorite place then went and sat by the lake and wandered through town before packing up Tash's room to head to Paris the next day then home!

Day #11
Train up to Paris took most of the morning. Can I just say traveling through Paris with huge luggage to get Tash's stuff home was nearly a nightmare. All I'm going to say. After dropping off luggage we took off for more Paris sight seeing. Started off going to the Musee d'Orsay, had to hit up one museum while in Paris and didn't have the time to tackle the Louvre so we settled on Tash's favorite, mainly impressionist, Monet, Manet, Renoir, De Gas, and Van Gogh.

Then we crossed the Seine over to the Louvre and walked around the grounds then head down the Champs-Elysees which is essentially a schwanky street filled with shops and ends with the Arch de Triumph, the biggest mess of a roundabout you'll ever see but pretty cool. And it happened to be the 4th of July and they did a little military tribute under the Arch. And why not end the day and the trip with a performance of Les Miserables? In Paris. Yes that cool. I'll be honest I'm not the biggest fan of listening to broadway music, couldn't stand Wicked when all the music came out probably because I didn't know the story and was honestly turned off from getting to know the story by that dang song 'Popular', anyway, seen it twice now and absolutely love it. Not that I dislike the music to Les Mes but clearly didn't appreciate it until I saw it in person and love loved it! And it wasn't in French! Not sure if I was the only one surprised by that or not.

Day #12
Time to go home. Paris airport=nightmare. I swear I had to show my passport 5 different times just in case I got past the last guy since it is a little disorganized. Stood in the security line for for-ev-er to the point that they eventually called for anyone on my flight to get their butts to the front of the line or you'll miss your flight. Did happen to meet a missionary couple on their way home, recognized their Murdock Travel bags, and another two guys who'd been visiting one of their parents who are mission presidents in Sweden or Norway, can't remember. Don't worry that they were all on their way to Salt Lake as well but got on the non-stop flight, thanks for rubbing it in. So finally, after showing my passport one more time, getting patted down through security, did I mention that happened when we flew to Venice as well, anyway, I ran, literally, down the terminal to my gate, plane was already boarding and as they scan my ticket they tell me to wait and go talk to the ladies at the desk. I'm thinking they're not going to let me go home. Apparently there was a guy wanting to go to Cincinnati where my layover was so they wanted to move me from this flight to the non-stop flight to Salt Lake, would I be ok with that? Um hello, sign me up! Only down side, instead of my window seat I got one smack in the middle of two guys. Friendly guys but didn't really want to ask either of them if I could sleep on their shoulder. So it turned out my new flight leaves from the opposite end of the terminal and they're waiting for me there too so I start running to the other end while calling my mom (yes it was 2 in the morning at home i'm pretty sure) to let her know that I'm going to be in sooner but I don't know when and I don't know my flight number and I'm running and I'm sorry to wake you but can you find it all out and pick me up on time? My mom's the best, there and waiting when I landed.

Part 3: Goodbye Mediterranean Sea

2010-08-07T20:24:00.000-07:00

Day #7 continued
Found a bakery in the first town, Riomaggiore where we were staying the night, and had yummy greasy focaccia bread. Mine was a tomato and Tash's onion. Cinque Terre is apparently where focaccia bread and pesto originated so it seemed fitting to try both while there. We walked over to the second town and took the vineyard walk that winds up the mountain through lemon and grape vineyards, found a restaurant and had pesto pasta then headed back to the first town for the night.

Day #8
Took the train to the 4th and 5th towns where it's a little more beachy and hung out for the day. The water was so clear but so salty, you could taste it on your hands for a long time after.

I figured since we were at sea level it would take a lot to get some sun so why bother with sunscreen especially when you’re only allowed a quart bag of liquids for carry-on right? Oh don't worry that we got fried, well I got fried and Tash just added to her tan. Pretty sure everyone was staring at my bright red legs when we were walking back through town.

Day #9

Woke up at the crack of dawn to catch our 5:30 train out of town, surprisingly with 4-5 other people-the crazies. Took the train to Milan then up to Bern, Switzerland. We didn't get into Bern until late afternoon but walked through town to our hostel then explored the town. It was probably one of my more favorite cities, really clean, good shopping, delicious chocolate, giant human sized chess sets randomly placed throughout the town and people just sit around and cheer the guys on, concert in the park, bear pit, yes I said bear pit. Oh and did I mention chocolate? Legitimate Swiss chocolate, so good.

Part 2: And it continues

2010-08-07T15:48:00.000-07:00

Day #5 continued
Tash's dad has a mission companion who lives there and we were going to spend the night with them. We laughed and assured him we were in the right place.

Brother Marchisini came and picked us up, about got attacked by some flying bug that we were informed if bit/stung us we'd have to go to the hospital, and we had dinner with his family and another family from the ward. The food was great, real Italian food, and the dessert was amazing, still wondering if I can find out the recipe-some kind of layered mascarpone cake with cocoa on top. The area was beautiful and foresty and just a really comfortable place to be.
Day #6
Left early, after splitting the last piece of cake for breakfast, and headed on to Florence. Stayed with the cutest little Italian lady who went off in Italian and somehow you understood her. Wandered through the street markets, loads of leather jackets, purses, shoes, and scarves. Don't worry, I didn't even buy a purse! Went to the Duomo and walked through it, saw the replica of the David since my reservations were 1/2 hour after we needed to catch the train the next day so we missed the real thing. The main thing Florence is known for and we missed it! We met up with some of Tash's friends she studied with in France and had dinner and finished it off with some more gelato.
Day #7Got out early to hike up the Duomo. Wow, winding stairs and straight up, 400 and something steps to the top, did I mention it was hot and humid? We headed back to the market's in Florence to find some souvenirs: italian leather sandals and a couple scarves. Stopped at the fruit market for a pastry and some fruit for the ride to the Cinque Terre then headed to the train station and on to the coast. The Cinque Terre is five little villages that are on the Mediterranean coast of Italy just above Pisa. Each basically has a main road with buildings/houses up the mountainside on each side.
The mountains are covered with vineyards tiered up the sides. Trails connect each town that you can hike, between 20-90 minutes each. . .

Part 1: My flight flew!

2010-08-07T14:55:00.000-07:00

Day #1
Flight flew. Yeahh!! I was able to get a nonstop flight from Salt Lake to Paris this time and oh man I can't imagine doing it any other way. Left SLC at 5:00 p.m., watched a couple movies, read my book, oh and didn't sleep at all.
Day #2
Arrived in Paris at noon, got lost in the metro, found Tash and made it to our hotel. Spent the afternoon walking along the Seine from Notre Dame to the Eiffel Tower, ate baguettes and cheese, yogurt, and fruit with the locals on the lawn in front of the tower, felt like we walked forever but I think I was just super tired and hot.Day #3
Had a yummy chocolate pastry on our way to the Palace of Versailles just outside of Paris, crazy big Palace and gorgeous gardens. Back in the gardens is Marie Antoinette's hamlet that is so picturesque. Each little building had flower or vegetable gardens surrounding it, looked straight out of a movie. So so cute.

Flew to Venice, found a bus to the island, figured out how to use the Vaporetto boat system at midnight, there are absolutely no cars after the bus station on the island, even the ambulances are boats! To get to our hotel we rode down the Grand Canal, so cool at night.Day #4
Happy Birthday! Yep, the big 24, the last respectable age before it all goes down hill at 25. Good thing I started it out in Venice. Spent the day wandering Venice which honestly you can do in less than a day so we got a little bored. Found the absolute best gelato shop thanks to our new friend Rick Steves. Went to St. Mark's square (opening scene on the Italian job) and walked through St. Mark's Basilica. Listened to the bands, more like small orchestras, outside the shops in the square that night.
Day #5
Took a boat out to Murano island to the glass blowing factories, watched a man make a horse out of a ball of glass and it took probably 5 minutes or less-way cool to see. Got some more gelato, don't worry, Tash surprised the boy and got the 5 scoops and thoroughly enjoyed every bit of it.

Took the boat back up the grand canal and caught a train to Bologna then on to Pioppe di Salvaro. We're leaving the city and getting into some serious country side, a little nervous we're going to miss our stop but we find it and get off. Obviously looking out of place with our bags the man in front of us turns around and says, "This is Pioppe, did you mean to get off here?" Favorite quote of the trip. . .

My almost trip to Europe

2010-04-21T20:44:00.001-07:00

Most of you probably already know the tragic story that should have been THE trip of my life but for those who don't here goes. I've been planning for a couple months a trip to Paris, Italy, and Malta. Leaving Thursday, April 15th, traveling from Salt Lake to Chicago and then on to Paris to meet up with Tash. I won't even bother to detail the plans of the trip cause it just makes the outcome even more tragic.

Thursday morning I got up bright and early ready to leave the house by 8, my flight out of Salt Lake was at 11:15. While I was in the shower my mom called so I called her back only to have her tell me about a volcano that had erupted in Iceland that is disrupting flights in the UK and Scandinavian countries. I thought, why are you telling me this right now and I wasn't going that far north so what did I really have to worry about. My mom took me down to the airport, I got there in plenty of time and sat at the gate waiting for my flight. The flat screen flashed news of the volcano but with everyone around me clearly not going over seas I had no one to share in my worries. Then I heard a couple sitting next to me start talking about Amsterdam and I asked them if they were on their way there which they were. We talked for the rest of the wait before our flight left, the volcano more of a concern for them since they were on their way to Amsterdam through London which had definitely been affected by the volcano.

The flight to Chicago was uneventful, I did start reading a really good series called The Hunger Games, highly recommended. When we landed in Chicago I turned my phone on and had a voice mail waiting for me. My heart sunk a little even before I knew it was from American Airlines confirming my fears, my flight to Paris had been canceled and I was to contact them to make further accommodations. I immediately got on the phone with one of their agents who found a flight to Frankfurt that night so I booked it and waited. It was about an hour before that flight was supposed to depart when we heard the inevitable, "Ladies and Gentleman flight number XXXX to Frankfurt has been canceled, please contact American Airlines at blah blah blah." With no chance of getting another flight to Europe until the next week and that was if the air cleared, I decided to cut my losses and head back home. By this time it was about 7:00 PM in Chicago, the next flight to Salt Lake was the next morning at 8:30. The airlines gave us a hotel voucher for the night and so I didn't feel completely exhausted the next day, I took it, got a hot shower and about 4 hours of sleep.
Getting out of Chicago the next morning was another struggle. We were supposed to begin boarding about 8:00 and at 8:15 they got on the intercom and told us they were doing some maintenance checks on the plane, not exactly what you wanted to hear, and that they would have more updates at 8:55. At 8:55 they got on and changed our gate/airplane with a new departure time of 9:20. By the time we got all boarded and the luggage situated we didn't get in the air until about 10:00, only an hour and a half behind schedule. My mom made the trip again down to pick me up and in an effort to make up for the missed trip, took me to Spaghetti Factory for lunch, which I love, but sadly not an alternative to where I should have been at the time. Planning right now to rebook for the end of June, should be a good birthday present, and if that one doesn't work out it's just not meant to be.

Card Night!

2010-03-29T18:50:00.000-07:00

So it was about the end of 2008, my friend Jamie invited me to stamp club and I've been hooked ever since. A group of girls get together once a month and make a scrapbook page learning new techniques each time, chat, eat food, you know the normal girl's night! It's actually run by a Stampin' Up demonstrator, we basically take turns each month being the 'host'. Now I don't scrapbook, at all, so I make my scrapbook page into a card and also join in the card trade. This month we made mother's day and father's day cards. I make six of each card, we get them all together and end up with a set from each person. I probably have more cards than I'll ever use but it's a good excuse to get out for a night and try to be creative. Most of my cards I find the idea somewhere on the internet, other's ideas are way more creative than mine!
Here's my Mother's Day card:

And Father's Day, I found the tie pattern online:

And here's the card I made with everyone else. The pink butterfuly is a stamp cut out but the green butterflies are diecuts:

If anyone wants to join in just let me know, we love having new people come!

Weekend in San Fran

2010-03-09T20:43:00.000-08:00

The first of many over due updates:

Back in the middle of December, Tash and I took a weekend trip to San Francisco. Tash had to apply in person at the French consulate to get her visa so we made a weekend of it. Thursday morning, we flew from Salt Lake to Denver, randomly met a guy at the airport that has done some modeling for Icon and guess who ends up sitting by us on the plane?? How does that happen? So we chatted the whole plane ride, this guy has done some amazing things, made me feel a little underaccomplished if that's a word. Anyway, once we got to Denver our flight got delayed almost an hour and a half which along with our layover was way too long and ended up having a 'Taken' moment at the airport. There was a man waiting for our flight as well that apparently had a pretty great weekend planned and since he was going to miss most of it with the delay was trying to find a fitness spa nearby, don't ask questions. Don't worry he asked me and Tash if we wanted to go since we had plenty of time until our flight left and yes, we could even share a cab! Having seen 'Taken' we immediately looked at each other and thought, creeper! We politely declined the cab ride as well as some high cocoa content chocolate.

We finally got to San Fran and weren't sure if we would make the airport shuttle to our hotel but called and they came and found us. This was the first trip I'd taken not having a car which was pretty interesting. We made good use of the public transportation system and had fun with it, especially since it was pouring rain the entire trip! This is us waiting for BART at the airport:

Friday morning we ran, literally ran, to make the appointment at the consulate. Once that was done we acted like tourists, went to China Town so I could buy a purse (some say it's a problem but I don't think so) and found these to be slightly hilarious:

I only wish we'd first found a sign that said "Quality T-Shirts $2.22"-seems quality decreases the price in China Town. After China Town we went to the Golden Gate Park and did I mention it was pouring the entire time? The one downside to public transportation, you're never quite sure how long you'll have to wait or where the best place to get off is. We got off the bus on the outer corner of the park and didn't realize how big it really was. We finally found the Conservatory of Flowers which was pretty cool.

Most of this stuff was made of random parts, like computer parts including keyboard keys.

Friday night we went and saw 'Wicked' which was so good. It was my second time seeing it, nothing can beat the first time but still so good.

Saturday we spent most of the day on the pier visiting the classic Fisherman's Wharf, ate lunch at Boudin's and had sourdough soup bowls-so good, went to the Aquarium of the Bay, mostly just to get out of the rain since our pants were soaked up to our knees, though it was a lot more interesting than I expected. Stopped at Ghirardelli Square, kind of a let down after seeing the huge building from further back, and had some pretty intense hot chocolate. Road the cable car back to the shopping center and spent the rest of the day shopping (three H&M's in only a couple blocks!!) I'm pretty sure by this time we looked a mess from being in the rain but we had a good time.

Uneventful plane ride home on Sunday, too bad huh?

Random updates coming, you'll have to keep checking!

2010-01-31T12:48:00.000-08:00

So I know that I have neglected this blog over the last 9 months, but really what could top the chocolate covered cotton balls in reading enjoyment? Absolutely nothing but keep checking back and I'll work on the updates.

Couldn't have planned that better if it was scripted!

2009-04-01T21:58:00.000-07:00

Today was the funniest day I've had in a long time. To keep up my recent prankster reputation I had to come up with something fantastic for April Fool's Day at the office. I searched the internet and had my mom ask around for ideas and my Uncle Boyd gave the idea of chocolate covered cotton balls! I had never even heard of it before but I had everything already, including an old Blue Bird chocolate box from Christmas, so I decided to try it. Here's a picture of the finished product:

I dipped most of them in coconut, nuts, or butterfinger to disguise the impurities of the cotton balls but they turned out looking really good. And the reaction was perfect! I set them out after lunch and said I'd gotten the box from a vendor last week and had forgotten about it-not unusual at all. Andy was the first to fall for it but he played it cool so it wouldn't ruin it for anyone else. Then, the alarm clock, used in the previous stint with aluminum foil, began going off in Jeff's ceiling. I think he was just ticked he wasn't tall enough to get into the ceiling to find it but it may have been because it was going off for 10 minutes before he got it down. As soon as it was out it was thrown against the floor and deposited on my desk in pieces so it wouldn't happen to him again, at least I got him twice, what a party pooper. After being ticked from the alarm clock, Jeff came over to my desk with chocolate box in hand, not suspecting anything, bit right into one of the chocolates! I couldn't stop laughing. Jeff offered the box to Shelly and being a sucker for chocolates she bit into one and pulled it out thinking it was marshmallow and just started laughing. We asked Nicole, our assistant, if she'd tried one and she said her's had a really weird center almost like an old marshmallow! I hope she didn't eat it.

On my way out, I stopped by HR accross the hall and offered the two guys a chocolate. They suspected a little something but who would disbelieve me when I assured them I wouldn't do something like that :) Pretty sure one of them popped the whole thing in his mouth and didn't notice anything! I had to leave before the other bit into it and discovered the trick embarrassing the other guy-terrible I know.

Don't think I didn't get fooled too-walked out to the parking lot to leave and somehow my car had driven away! And I thought I had been so careful to watch my desk all day I didn't even go to lunch. The best part of it was that I'm pretty sure it was Jeff and I'm sure he thought he was so clever getting me not realizing the alarm clock and chocolates that awaited him later in the day!

Decorating with a little shine to it

2009-03-27T21:05:00.000-07:00

I may have started a really bad thing! Being single and the youngest one in my office I conveniently become the brunt of a lot of teasing. After one particularly intense day, I warned, "you better watch out." That night, Candace and I struck with two rolls of aluminum foil in hand. We covered everything in one guy's office that we could: pictures on the bookcase, calendar on the wall, clock, every binder on the filing cabinet, every drawer front, keyboard, mouse, speakers, 3-hole punch, monitor, lap top, light switch cover, a ceiling panel, and every paperclip in the box. We didn't want to mess anything up with papers on the desk or we would have covered the desk too but lucky for him he's too messy ;) The pictures don't really do it justice.

Too bad we ran out of aluminum foil and it was getting late or we could have gone to town. His reaction the next morning was price less! We may have also hid an alarm clock on the bottom of a desk drawer to go off at 10:15 in the morning. For some reason he automatically assumed it was me that did it!

Happy Birthday/St. Patrick's Day Katie!

2009-03-17T19:58:00.000-07:00

My little sister, Katie's, birthday is on St. Patrick's Day. How cool is that? A holiday that most don't really celebrate has become kind of fun the last couple years whether it be a completely green surprise dinner or just a fun birthday cake. I found a way cute cake decorating idea on the Wilton web site and not being a very experienced cake decorator, went to Kitchen Kneads to find someone who could teach me. This cake used Color Flow icing for the leprechaun which I had never even heard of. Kitchen Kneads suggested a lady named April so I called her up and she was super nice and let me come over for a couple hours the Saturday before St. Patrick's Day to make the leprechaun.
Katie actually wanted a Cheesecake so she didn't really appreciate the cuteness of the cake but it was fun making it anyway! Quick cake decorating tip: put one small box of pudding in the cake mix to make the cake more dense and easier to decorate.

Is Tash cooking again?

2009-02-19T17:38:00.000-08:00

I have the greatest roommates in the world, Candace and Natasha. This blog is going to highlight Tash and one of our favorite things about her. Let's just say our fire alarm has gone off maybe 2 times, each of which occurred due to the master culinary skills of Tash. Don't get me wrong, she is not a horrible cook, she is really good in fact and always goes all out, she just always seems to turn on the one burner that has something left from the last time she cooked :) We love her for it! She's going to kill me for writing this too! Here is a picture of the last cooking/fire alarm experience:

Please note the completely redneck way of keeping the windows open to let the smoke out-she is from Alabama.

I am my Grandma's granddaughter. . . so my mother says!

2009-01-29T19:06:00.000-08:00

My roommates think I'm crazy, probably everyone else too but I have a lot of fun decorating for holidays (which is the reason for the title of this blog). I don't really go all out but just little things. My good friend, Holli, makes 'flowers' for Valentine's Day that I have done every year since she showed me. The flowers are made with one cinnamon, sugar coated heart on the bottom, a Mother's Butter Cookie in the middle, and a cherry gummy heart on top. So here it is:

We'll see how long it lasts on the table!

*If you decide you want to make these let me know. Mother's Cookies have gone out of business but I have 2 more boxes if anyone wants some! There's just nothing else I've found that works as well.

Tis the season. . . to get engaged?

2009-01-03T16:48:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure if I was just completely out of the loop last year and didn't notice or what is going on this year but every time I turn around I hear about a new engagement. I guess when the Holidays come around you either break up with your significant other so you don't have to worry about a gift or decide it's time to take the next step. So to those of you who made it through the holidays-congrats! The only month without a wedding until June is April so let me know if I'm missing someone :)

The Update of a Lifetime!

2009-01-02T13:04:00.001-08:00

Some may have noticed the status "updated 7 months ago" relating to my blog-who has time to update it more than once every 7 months anyway??? So, you're in for a surprise because I am now sitting down to update you on some of the major events from the last 7 months-or at least the ones I can remember and may have pictures of :)

The Findlay Family Christmas Party

2008-12-20T17:24:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to show a couple fun pictures of our annual Findlay Family Christmas Party. As you can tell by my uncle, it must have been a party:
This was the best part of the party-we noticed my cousin Nathan's little boy, Jackson, start twirling in the middle of everyone as we started cleaning up. I had to shorten it because it went on for so long but I started taking the video a little after he started:

I'm pretty sure just watching the video made me dizzy! The original video went on for over 4 minutes before my camera ran out of memory. Not sure why my mom was vacuuming-should have wound him up with tape and let him have at it!

Redneck Gingerbread House

2008-12-18T17:11:00.000-08:00

Maybe you've seen the email floating around with redneck pictures on it. For some reason I think my Mom thinks I'm a little redneck-I guess spending 3 years in Cedar City could do that to a person. One picture I always loved-the Redneck Gingerbread House! When I got set up through a lady at work on a date where we were going to make gingerbread houses, I thought it would be the perfect chance to try it out-and show my date who I really was ;)! He was pretty excited to do it too so it was a joint effort:

Christmas Tree Hunting

2008-11-27T16:15:00.000-08:00

We thought it would be way fun as roommates to go cut down our own Christmas tree for our house. We'd heard a lot of people going up to Preston and getting permits so we planned to do it the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. Like most plans, they fell through and with Tasha leaving to Salt Lake for the Thanksgiving Break, Candace and I decided to just get it done.

We both got off work early the Friday after Thanksgiving so we borrowed my Dad's truck and headed north. After picking up a permit in Preston we headed for the hills. Spotting the perfect tree on the horizon we began our hike. After being chased by a moose, crossing two rivers, and nearly catching frost bite we arrived at our tree-which ended up being 15 feet tall-oops! Well I hope you didn't believe that story but I needed something good to tell. We actually ended up buying a tree at King's in Preston-lame we know. We did end up using the saw to cut off the end but that's all we can claim to our tree cutting adventure.

Not a bad tree for picking it out while it was wrapped up!

It was almost a little bit too full but it looked great in our front window, what else matters?

Surviving Family Pictures

2008-11-25T15:16:00.000-08:00

Oh the dreaded family pictures! The last time we took family pictures was 3 years ago, thrown together in our neighbor's backyard (while they were out of town I might add) and we have all changed a lot since, including the addition of a new brother-in-law. Christin's sister-in-law, Heather Taylor, took the photo's and did an awesome job. Here's a couple of my favorites:

Hit by a bus?

2008-08-01T15:49:00.000-07:00

So I work with a hard core wake boarder who is moving to China for 3 years for work. The day before he was handing over his boat to it's new owner he talked a couple of us into going wakeboarding, which took some work doing since I'm a little leary around water. Valerie and her daughter, Suzanne, and I met up with 5 other people out at Newton Dam.

After the 4 guys went out and amazed the new comers it was our turn. I swallowed my pride and went for it. I'm pretty sure I was in the water for nearly an hour and drank at least a gallon of water before I got up but I got up! Didn't have a clue what I was doing once I got up but I got up! I always get a little nervous going with people who are way good thinking they'll get tired of my lack of coordination but these guys were fun to learn with. The last time I got up I rode for a little bit-probably 10 seconds:)-and then fell hard. So hard one of my feet came out of the boot.
The next day Tommy asked if I had whiplash and I told him no but the next day I changed my mind. And let me tell you it wasn't just whiplash-I felt like I got hit by a bus. I don't know how those old-as in over 30-guys do it!

Packin up and movin out

2008-07-01T14:46:00.000-07:00

So after graduating college last year I moved back home. What followed was nearly a year of zero social life-my fault mostly, I had to get back out on my own. This is in no way a reflection on my family-mostly:) love you guys, but how does it go. . .absence makes the heart grow fonder? I have always loved the area around the temple and along the Boulevard here in Logan so when I drove past a house with a 'For Rent' sign in front I jumped on it. Everything sounded awesome about it so three of us got together working on the application. It was a Monday afternoon I was on my way over to drop it off, and the 'For Rent' sign was gone! I about freaked-I called the landlady and she said, "Oh yeah, I rented that out this morning." I and my friends were literally heart broken. We had set our hearts on this house and nothing else would compare. Candace and I went to FHE just depressed after driving around for over an hour calling on every house we saw for rent with no luck-they weren't the house on the Boulevard. We left FHE, which happened to be at a house on the Boulevard, and I saw I had a voice mail. I flagged Candace down while I listened to the landlady from our house! She got my number from my mom from when we originally called-it was meant to be! So Candace and I moved in July 1st and Natasha will move in before school starts in August. We love it!

Happy 22nd Birthday in LA!!

2008-06-27T13:10:00.000-07:00

Apparently I have a lot to learn and get used to-I had only been working full time for 10 months and needed a break. No vacation time presented a problem but my boss agreed to give me one day off for my birthday. What could be better than a short trip to LA? Well, I could probably think of a lot of things but anway. . . I found a plane ticket to Las Vegas on Thursday the 26th and met up with my best friend Holli. We got up early the next morning, did the usualy shopping (H&M mostly) that is necessary in Vegas, and began our drive to LA.

The drive went quick until we were about 5 miles away from Marina Del Ray where our hotel was. Then we hit the expected LA traffic and it took us about an hour to go the rest of the way (did I mention it was only 5 miles!). Our hotel was on the marina so it had pretty decent views.

We dropped our bags and headed to Santa Monica to find something to eat and do-it was a Friday night afterall. We found the Santa Monica pier, hard to miss really, and ate at this great Mexican restaurant that was at the end of the pier. We checked out the local Elvis impersonator, wandered around a while then headed back to the hotel. We're super exciting, we know already.

The real reason we went was to go see the musical Wicked. Holli got us tickets for Saturday night so we hung out in Venice and Marina del Ray (Pinkberry Frozen Yogurtis amazing http://www.pinkberry.com/) that morning and early afternoon then headed to Hollywood for the night. The musical was awesome! I really didn't know anything about it before we went, didn't know the story line at all, and wasn't a die hard fan of the soundtrack. I think I prefer it that way, better to not know anything before hand so there are no let downs. But it was so good! The music was great-way better when I knew the story behind it, and great acting. I forget how much I love musicals!

It was a short trip but tons of fun!

Too much time on our hands

2008-05-09T21:01:00.000-07:00

Let's just say we like to do a little something special for birthdays at work. This was a little while back but Val and I decided to leave a present for Ron in his office when he came back from the weekend. Pretty sure everyone was doing double-takes as they walked by his office all morning! We couldn't help but laugh as every 10 min. we would hear another round of "pop, pop, pop". It took half the morning for him to get rid of them all, kind of a party pooper. All that hard work seemed to have paid off:) Happy Birthday Ron!

She talked me into it!

2008-05-09T20:44:00.000-07:00

So it is with much pushing and prodding that I finally sit down and begin my blog. Well probably not, I've been thinking about starting one with my sister and everyone else talking about it and then when a friend mentioned I should start one, I knew it was meant to be. Then, when she actually agreed to start it for me, thanks Laura!, I thought what the heck. Let's be honest my life isn't very exciting with me working way too much and living at home :) but I'll see what I can do!