St. George Vacation

Warning!  This is an extremely long post!  Continue at your own risk!

This weekend Nik and I were lucky enough to take a trip to St. George for Thanksgiving.  It was a rare chance to see my aunts and uncles down there, and my family was going as well, so it was even better.  

We left Wednesday night around 7pm and had a traffic filled trip that put us arriving just after midnight.  That wasn't as bad as it could have been, but for a mid-week trip, there were tons of cars.  Thats what we get for leaving on the busiest traveling day of the year.  We were staying at my Cousin Lacey's house cause she has tons of extra room.  We found out on our way down that she has a cat.  So, yeah.  Nik was pretty stuffed up by the next morning.  We stayed up talking to Lacey and went to bed late.  Thanksgiving dinner was at 12:30 at Aunt Debbie's house  Or, at least that was the plan.  I think we ate around 1:30.  We were expecting as much, so no harm done.  Just let me say, Dinner was amazing.  We had all the Thanksgiving staples, along with all the St. George staples, so I was in heaven.  Mmmm....Dixie salad....Anyway.  We sat and talked for a while after dinner and somewhere in there decided that we would all go to Enchanted the next night.   It looked like it would just be the girls till my uncle Kelly spoke up and said he wanted to come too.  So then it was the girls plus Kelly...and my dad.  He's always up for a movie.  Later that afternoon my family went to my cousin Eric's house (where the other side of the family was having Dinner) where we caught up with how tall my younger cousins are, how tall their kids are, and the latest movie news.  Unfortunately, Eric and his wife Noel have two big brown dogs.  Which did not help Nik's allergy problem.  Needless to say, he was having some problems by the end of the night.  We didn't stay long, and Grandpa had some Claritin-D, so he was able to sleep that night with no problems.  

The next day I avoided Black Friday.  Meaning, I did not get up at 3am to stand in line at Wally's World for the latest Mattel toy.   My mom, however, went to J.C. Pennies with her sister around 7am to catch the deals.  Which I guess there were plenty of.  After that they came and pick me up to go to the Michael's sale.  We missed the good coupons, they ended at 9am.  They were still having a good sale of yarn, which brings me to my next topic.  I have decided to make scarves for the lucky winners of my Pay it Forward game.  I finished one yesterday during the game and left it there for my Cousin Lisa.  So, one down, two to go!  We did a bit more shopping, stopped at Grandma's for lunch then it was off to the Santa's Workshop craft fair that is held down there every year.  I went with two aunts and my mom.  And a younger cousin.  We had a great time looking at all the booths.  This was the first time in all the years we have gone that either my mom or myself actually bought something.  I didn't spend as much money as I could have, and it took great will power to pass up the home-made fudge booth, but I did it.  While we were at the Fair, Nik and Jeff went to Target to get Transformers, but came back with Oceans 13.  You'll have to ask Nik why the change.  When we all met back at home it was time to go to the movie.  Phone calls were made and a destination was settled upon.  When we got there, it was sold out.  Bummer.  Even more of a bummer was that ALL the theaters in St. George were sold out.  No movie for us.  It was back to Grandma's.  We just visited after that.  

Saturday morning dawned with the smell of rivalry in the air.  The entire days events were being scheduled around the University of Utah vs. BYU football game.  It was settled that we would congregate at my Uncle Russell's house because he had just purchased a big screen TV for the event.  That is a remarkably Dad thing to do.  We had a good time watching the game surrounded by my younger cousins....the game was fun to watch anyway.  I brought my crocheting and worked on above mentioned scarves during the game.  I was being teased that I jinxed the game by bringing my blue and white yarn to the unanimously red house.  Personally, I think it was the reffs.  Sad game.  Sad game.

We chose to head back home after the ball game and after a second stop at Frost Top and gas tank fill up, we were on the road.  Our decision to leave on Saturday was two fold.  Our friends were having a game night at their house, and one of our friends that goes to school in DC was going to be there, so we wanted to see him if we could.  Also, I really wanted a day at home before I had to go back to work. 

We arrived at the game night after is started, but we were not late.  Yay for us!  We played this great game called Werewolves.  It is like Murder in the Dark, and Nik says they used to play a version of it on the mission with Angels and Demons.  We had a blast. 

Over all the vacation was fantastic.  I got to see tons of family and spend tons of time with Nik.  Which is ultimately the best part of a vacation.  I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving, and I want to hear all about them!

PS- Happy Birthday Lou!

Happy Naked Day!

This is what we reffer to Nik's birthday as now. It was his one wish. Naked day. And I obliged to the best of my ability. I will spare you the details, but I will say that we kept the house very warm.

Nik and I slept in this morning, then I cooked breakfast. In the afternoon we made a list of things to do and on the top was a trip to Wally's World. There we purchased a Chocolate Silk pie in leu of a birthday cake. I was going to make one, really, it just didn't happen. But Nik got to pick out the pie, so all is well. While we were at WW we had the oil changed on my car. There is a Goodyear right next door and I had a coupon, so it was great. Since we are driving the length of the state next week and I was a couple thousand miles off my recommened, it needed to happen. I can tell that my car feels better now. All full of oil. After WW we stopped at home for some quick games...of the video variety, and then off to the Flurers who were holding our towels for ransom. Well, not really, we washed them over there the night before and they were not dry at midnight when we left, so they dried them again for us and we picked them up today. After that it was back home and more games till we decided where we wanted to go for dinner. We were ready to leave before we made up our minds, so we just drove down State till Nik suggested Mimi's Cafe. Dinner was awesome and they even brought him chocolate pie with a candle. No singing, but thats ok. Later in the evening Spence and Jess stopped by for pie and we got to sing Hapy Birthday to Nik. I was glad to have them there, I would have felt funny singing off key by myself. They had something else to be to later, so they didn't stay long, but it was good times anyway.

We are currently just chilling and playing Viva Pinata. I have had so much fun today with my husband. He is always asking me if I love his birthday. Which I hope means that he loves his birthday. But I do love his Birthday. I love getting him presents, I love how he is always smiling because he knows I will let him get away with more for these 24 hours. Nik is such an amazing man. I am so lucky to have him in my life. He is smart, and funny, and so creative. I know he doesn't want to grow up, but he is doing it anyway, in his own ways. He tells me he loves me multiple times every day, and it makes me feel so good. I hope he had a great day and knows that I love him so much! Happy Birthday Baby!

Windex Anyone?

It was a day like any other. The weather was clear, my car had a full gas tank, and I got to work on time. About 10:00 I hear a *thump* from just outside my office door, in the lobby. And I think, "ha, i bet a bird just hit the window." But I was hard at work, so I didn't bother to check if out. No sooner had I thought this than the receptionist Shea, suddenly stands up and says, "A bird just flew into the front window!" I was immediatly interested. (You should know that the front lobby area is all windows. So this was very noticable.) We both ran to the door and found the stunned finch lying on his back on the concrete out side the office. After studying it for a while and discussing what we could do for it, we decided the best thing to do was to get some tissues and move it onto the grass and the shade. I wanted to bring it home and keep it forever, but I figured that would not be the best choice since I was at work and had no way of containing it until I got home. And even after that. Not to mention all that stuff mom used to say about not knowing where it had been and what diseases it might be carrying. Oh well. Maybe next time. So Shea picks up the poor bird and moves it next to a bush on the side of the building. We took turns checking up on it through out the day, till finally we checked and it was not there. I have no idea what happed to our little birdy, but I am imagining that it came out of its window enduced haze and flew home to tell his friends and family about how he has discovered a patch of solid sky. I am sure he has some sort of Chicken Little-esque nick name by now. But I am pulling for him. It won't do any lasting mental damage.

Iron Chef Michael Symon

Now, I know that this name may not mean anything to most of you, but to a select few, it is the future...of Iron Chef America. last night was the conclusion of The Next Iron Chef on the Food Network. Nik and I have watched this show religiously from day one. Luckily, we have had some partners in crime, Lou and Ten were just as engrossed, so we had some one to talk to about it. We were addicted to this show. There have only been a few Food Network "reality" shows, The Next Food Network Star was the last one they did, and I have to say that the lady that won has a pretty good show. You go Amy!

The Next Iron Chef was a short series that started with eight chefs from various parts of the country that had been challengers on Iron Chef America before. I love ICA too, so nothing about NIC could disapoint. All the Chefs either had restaraunts of their own, or were sous chefs for high end restaraunts. The origional contestants were as follows: Traci Des Jardins (out too soon), Jill Davie, Chris Consetino (looks like JD) , Gavin Kaysen (whiner), Morou Ouattara, Aarón Sanchez (stuck up), John Besh, and Michael Symon. It was an intense 6 week battle involving such challenges as: creating airline food for the largest air bus in the world, cooking out doors with just a grill and some essentials (what they were given was chosen for them by a competator), presenting six, one bite of thier signature dish, making deserts from such quality ingrediants as cat fish, tripe, lamb, etc, and the final battle which was a real Iron Chef battle in Kitchen Stadium with secret ingrediant Sword Fish. Symon even survived the crappy judges...stupid long haired Bon Appetit critic.

Since day one Nik and I had been rooting for Chef John Besh. He was amazing on his first Iron Chef appearance, against Chef Batali (I think) and we were so excited to see him here. And he did really well! Won a couple challenges, and was never in the bottom 2. And at the final battle, it was Besh against Symon. I will admit, after a couple battles, I was hooked on Symon as well. So it was really hard to decide who I wanted to win. In my heart I still wanted Besh, but when Symon's picture was revealed, I was not disapointed. That night they also revealed that Symon's Iron Chef coat was designed by viewers and would be revealed at the begining of the new season of ICA. I am excited. That is one cool thing about ICA, all the Chefs wear the signature light blue with red/orange trim, but they are all a different design. This should be good (Trust me, I know what a big nerd I sound like here, but the Food Network is my guilty pleasure, and it could be worse, I could be telling you about One Tree Hill, or how the final season of Gilmore Girls comes out on Tuesday...hint hint, Christmas).

I hope that even if you did not see this series, you can relate to the excitement I am feeling right now. I can not wait for the new season of Iron Chef America and Chef Symon's debut.

Late Post for Pumkin Carving

The Monday before Halloween Nik and I went over to my parents house to carve pumkins. We did this for two reasons: 1) my mom had just had surgery and was not getting out much, so we were her entertainment for the evening. 2) there is no room in my house for pumkin carving. It would have been a pumpkin-guts mess all over my living room floor because my kitchen table is doubling as a storage unit. So it worked well for everyone.

I was incharge of getting everything set up and cleaning out the pumpkins. Nik thinks its gross, and I really could care less, so it was no big deal. In fact, both of them cleaned out pretty quickly.

True to form it took me about 20 minutes or more to decide what I wanted to carve. I am a real stickler to getting it right the first time, so I think about it long and hard before hand. Nik decided on a smirking and had it done in about 15 minutes. He then helped me with the art for mine. I decided on a panda with some bamboo, and I can't draw pandas, so that was Nik's job.

The first picture is of Nik's creation, and the pic to the right is mine. I think they both turned out great. I know it is a little late in the season for this post, but I haven't had as much free time as I thought I would have, so deal with it. :)

I Voted! Despite it all!

Last night Nik and I did our civil duty and voted in the city elections. We knew that our voting location was the Christian Center on 7th east and 43rd south. We also knew that we were not registered in this new district. But we went anyway. We stood in the half and hour long line just to find out that we were right, not in this precinct (spelled that wrong). We were told that we could vote provisionally, and that would also register us in the new area. So we go over to the two old fogies at the short-bus table, Mr. I Invented Voting, and Ms. Where'd I Put My Pen, were more than happy to help us get even more confused about the process. Mr. I told us that if we were still registered at the old house then our votes here would probably not count. So we were in limbo untill nik called the Voting Hotline (or something like that) and the nice lady said that we were in exactly the right spot and if we would have gone back to the other place our votes would definitly not have counted. I ran into a friend of mine whom I haven't seen since high school, so I was able to pass the time talking to Nate. In the meantime, Ms. W. skipped over us a couple times, and voided my voting envelope. It set us back some time. So we voted. Voted for the only thing we were allowed to. Refferendum 1. Or should I say against, Nik and I were against this stupid school voucher law. I am so glad it didn't pass. Utah school systems are not ready for something like that. Utah government doesn't like to give school systems money. It only took us an hour from the time we got in line, to the time we walked out the door. I am glad we didn't have any other time sesitive plans.

I hope everyone else had a easier time voting.

Hey, I posted down there!

I just wanted all to know that I finished a post i started a while back, so it posted down a couple, and I wanted credit for doing my Tag thing. So, everyone, check it out. Thanks.

The Moment Of Truth!

Hello all! Its time to announce the winners of my Pay it Forward contest! Since my party last night was a bust, I had Shea, the loveley receptionist here at Zeit Company, pick the winners this morning. And here they are!

In no particular order:

Laurie


Lisa


Kathy...Mom


Yay for the winners! I considered giving fun-size Play-doh as the gift, since I didn't have many trick or treaters last night, but I will pick something better. In the rules is says that the winners promise to do something similar (in the Pay it Forward spirit) soon as well, and I hope to figure out what to give out by the time they do! Lisa has already done it, so she is off the hook, unless she wants to do it again! I have high hopes for Lou and Mom though. Don't let me down!

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I would just like to discuss trick-or-treating for a moment here. I was so excited to live in an apartment complex because of the high possibility of trick-or-treaters. I was sorely disapointed. I got four, count'em...4, door knocks last night. Granted there were at least three kids each time, but still, thats not even my whole complex, not to mention my neighborhood.

I even had cool Play-Doh instead of yucky candy to hand out, and it seemed to be a hit, but still, I was lacking the numbers. I still have a bucket full of fun-size Play-Doh at home. At least I know Nik will be entertained at church. I am substituting for the 9 year-old girls in Primary (yes, I worded that funny)and I am thinking I will bring that as the treat.

Thank you for participating in my little game!