Home Soon Home...

So I have left my beloved Idaho once more to move to Utah.


This time I will be calling Salt Lake City home ~that is as soon as I can find an apartment to rent. Right now SLC is where I work and I am staying with friends back in Utah County. I finally got that HR job I have been planning on getting for the last three or so years ~how did that happen? Anyways the company is Westech ~an engineering firm which I won't be discussing here because you never blog about work. I think this is going to be a good thing ~I just need to get into the swing of it.

perfection and tears...

This week just like everyone else I know I have been trying to get a million things done in time for the holiday.
The good news ~my brownies turned out perfectly even though I was talking very animatedly on the phone while measuring ~not always a good idea
The bad news ~the copy shop ruined a present I was working on and i cried on the way home ~i was so close to pulling off Christmas this year ~so I am going to have to either do a complete redo or a start over ~have been busy subbing and haven't had time to decide.
This next week will be better ~I am making tapioca which is good juju to ensure it.

Advent?

How in heavens name did it get to be so late in the month already? Well Christmas is just getting pulled out of the boxes and that includes Advent. I love advent I love each and every day watching the count down to the last & best part of the year.
When I was growing up we had the best advent calender ever ~each and every day one of Santa's elves would leave a note in the calendar for us, each day we did a little something dictated by the man himself to get ready for the 25th. Here is the photo of my very own "Pretty Lady's" advent, and since I am the only child home I have been making up what the elf has been saying the last couple of days ~tonight it said "dinner & a movie" I had PF Changs and The Holiday ~all oh so lovely.


I love advent so much though that I don't just do one calendar. ~Last year I stitched up this lovely little idea from Bareroots.


This year I made envelope advents and sent them off to Swell & Roo both of whom have given them rave reviews ~one of which included premature opening.
I hope everyone has a lovely time celebrating this holiday ~I will show you more of my celebration later~

So sad flip flop...

It snowed today and so once again my favorite flip flops will be headed to the back of the closet sniffle sniffle weep weep weep. I love sweater weather but I long for the dry warmth of the flip flop season.

I use to be thankful for...

I found this in an old e-mail I sent to my family as I spent my second Thanksgiving on the east coast without them.

i am thankful for...
hobbes my car so i don't have to metro or bum rides
my short commute to work ~so i can sleep late and still make it to work on time
non stick skillets
gap jeans
recess
watches that are set five minutes fast
mom's spaghetti
videos so you don't have to leave the house every time you want to see a flick
albertsons grocery stores because they make sense
e-mail so my friends and family can write me
co-workers so i don't have to do all the work
federal holidays and 15 vacation days so i can make it through the year
the d.c. temple
peanut butter and chocolate ice cream
my friend both near and far
the holidays because i get all those christmas cards and the music is good too
grip staplers because they make me look cool
spoons because it is hard to eat soup with a fork
nieces so there is always something to spoil
baby brothers so there is always something to tease
water to drink and swim in and to throw on unsuspecting roommates
my charlie the tuna erasers -so i always have someone to talk to in my cubical
and most of all i am thankful for my family, all of it even the mean ones that had thanksgiving without me

This year I am thankful for...
Talents that I have been blessed with & get to share
Family including eight nieces & nephews to spoil
My orange cardie
Diet Coke
DVR
My friends all far away
Blogging so I can keep in touch with friends I would have never have met otherwise
The Library
My car LOLA that runs beautifully
Temp teaching because those 8th graders are a real kick in small amounts
Flip flop weather
Most of all I am grateful that the whole family could gather together this year and that we all love to be together ~and tattle tell on each other 20 years after the fact.

May everyone be blessed this holiday season.

In the Mail...

So I just got back from the post office where I put my first holiday package in the mail. I really meant to have it in the mail on Monday to make sure it got to its destination by December 1st but I think it will be okay as is.
Here is a little hint as to what it was...


I got the idea for this little gift here. Jenny Harris is truly talented.

Happy Holidays ~Aready?

I am already madly working on Christmas gifts ~some promise to be a huge success while others are already taking on an undertone of disaster. I promise to show pictures of the good, the bad and the ugly when I know they have been opened by the recipient.
But Christmas isn’t all about giving silly little tokens of affection that remind people that I love them it is about getting the gifts. So this year I am once again publishing my list just in case any of you need to get a little something for me (he he he.)
1. Marta Barware ~This is the most beautiful thin glass to drink out of anyone could ever put to their lips ~I would love to own 10 of them in 18oz version.
2. Jim Henson's the Storyteller - The Definitive Collection ~This was short lived series on Sunday nights that told the best folk tails ever. My favorite is about Sapsorrow she had a dress that looked just like moonlight and I love moonlight.
3. Pearl Bracelet ~I have lovely ring, earrings and necklace that I was lucky enough to have brought back from China for me but I still need a bracelet to complete the set. Also pearls are a classic and always a good idea.
4. Dylan’s Candy Bar Tee ~Little Manhattan is one of my favorite movies and Rosemary wears a Dylan’s Candy Bar Tee on their first day and I love it.
5. Knitting School ~I have been learning to knit this year and I looked this book over and it has rather nice illustrations on some knitting moves and well I need all the help I can get.
6. A Passion for Desserts ~I love me a good cook book
7. I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influence by Amy Sedaris ~She is funny enough said.
8. Flea Fabric ~Denyse Schmidt is my quilt hero and any fats of her stuff would go to a good cause I promise.
9. Mixed CD ~Here is an example of what I mean ~but not in this order I am the worst at putting things in their proper order musically. These are just song I like and don’t currently own copy of.
a. Whole Wide World by Wreckless Eric
b. With a Little Help from my Friends by Joe Cocker
c. This Never Happened Before by Paul McCartney
d. The Way We Get By by Spoon
e. We Just Disagree by Holly Jean Cosner
f. Hide & Seek by Imogen Heap
g. If I Fell In Love With You by Maroon 5
h. Hold You in My Arms by Ray LaMontage
i. Let Myself Fall by Rosie Thomas
j. Save Me by Jem
k. Everyday is a Holiday (With You) by Esthero
l. No Sleep Tonight by The Faders
m. Wait by Get Set Go
n. Catch My Disease by Ben Lee
o. Never Leave Your Heart Alone by Butterfly Boucher
p. Someone to Love by Kate Earl

A woman's place is in the kitchen?

I don't believe there is any place that women belong I do however believe that there is a right way and a wrong way to load the dishwasher ~but that is another post.
Today I baked birthday cakes ~I tried two recipes the first one tasted like particle board and the second one was edible, and once it is toped with berries and cream it will be lovely. It is a simple old fashioned yellow cake that is sugarless ~the cake is for my brother in law who is himself sugarless yet somehow really sweet.
The best part of the day though was this...



Bottsie loves the kitchen and she loves being in the mix and I more than anything love sharing my love of cooking with her. She is busy helping make the first cake here the one that tasted like asphalt that was going to be a carrot cake.
~Here is the recipe for the second cake in case any of you want to cut sugar out and punish your self with cake.

The Doable Sugarless Yellow Cake

This recipe makes one 8" round cake so double it for two 8" or a 9x13. It would make a great base cake for a jell-o poke cake made with sugar free jell-o in my opinion.

2 eggs
1/2 Cup frozen apple juice concentrate ~thawed
1 stick of butter ~melted
1 Tbls vanilla ~good vanilla
2 Tbls honey
1 1/2 Cup flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder

Preheat oven to 350' Spray and flour an 8" round cake pan.
Mix eggs, juice, melted butter, vanilla & honey together. Sift flour and baking powder together and then add to liquid. Mix just until combined. Pour into prepared cake pan and bake for 25 minutes. Check with a toothpick to see if it is done and add a couple more minutes if necessary. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes and place on rack to finish cooling.

~Good luck and well if you ever wonder my place is in the kitchen ~I rock the kitchen.

No Hablo Espanol...

So the fun of being a Sub is you have no idea what you are going to teach most days when you show up and well I sub 7th 8th & 9th graders and most of the time that is the last time I actually had to learn these subjects for testing. ~Yeah for a liberal arts degree or as I like to call it my Arts & Crafts degree.
Well this week I got to teach Spanish ~I have been to Mexico & Spain and survived just fine so I figured how hard can it be to work with 8th & 9th graders on Spanish. The teacher had been for warned that I was a non-spanish speaker so he had prepared a fitting lesson for me ~Cognates these are words that look the same in English and Spanish ~I knew this Spanish and all went well until we came to the second part of the lesson plan... I had to hand out last weeks exams for the kids to correct for half credit. These kids knew I didn't speak Spanish except for what I like to call Survivor Spanish I can count to ten, find out where the bathroom is and ask if anyone speaks English ~along with helpful words like milk, water, green. So why on earth did these kids keep asking me to help them correct their test? Most of the classes were find with my reply to use their neighbor or their book but 8th hour turned on me and said mean things to me about not speaking Spanish ~I hate the last class of the day.

My life in the movies...

This is a warning I might ruin the movie stranger than fiction for you so read only if you don't mind that sort of stuff.

The photo was added because I like it and well it gives a little bit of space so you won't accidentally read the post. O-kay I loved the movie I saw it Friday afternoon with my sister while the baby took a nap at my parents house and it was the best way I could have ever imagined to spend the afternoon.
I loved the movie because of the way they used words in it ~I miss use words all of the time and I love big words and I love words that have just the right meaning at just the right moment ~this movie on two occasions did it perfectly.
1. "I want you" this is what Harold says to Ana when he lets her know he is into her ~not "I like you" or "I am interested in you" he fully admits that there is something deep down in him that is connected to her and he wants it ~it is a gut feeling that I so often get and I love that he says it just like that instead of something cheep like "I love you" ~he doesn't know her he just wants to.
2. "I adore you" this phrase in my opinion is so much better than "I love you" better like the difference between a hot water bottle and the surface of the sun in terms of heat. "I adore you" is surface of the sun hot.
For 113 minutes I felt like I was living in Chicago and enjoying myself completely as I got to know Harold, Ana, Kay, Penny, Dave & Professor Jules Hilbert. It was just what a movie ought to be 113 minutes of else where, where I wanted to be.

Don't tell me show me...

So on Friday I was teaching World History for Mr. Peachy as my sub assignment. For reasons I can not explain the fifth time I taught the class we got done 20 minutes early ~I saw this coming about 10 minutes into the class these kids were quick and on task and seamed to be listening ~something that didn’t happen every hour, plus by now I had my speal pretty well down by then. Mr. Peachy had prepared two options for me if this happened.
1. I could have them read an extra chapter in the book.
2. I could let them watch a video on Vikings.
So I told the kids they had the two options to choose from and I would be making my decision based on their behavior.
~two hands shot up I called on the first student.
“ I really like your tights.”
“Thank you.” I said as I called on the second student.
“Your outfit is really cute.”
Now my hand goes up “you do not flatter subs by complimenting them on what they are wearing you flatter them by behaving and keeping quiet.” The students were quiet the rest of the hour and enjoyed 20 minutes of Vikings on video.
~Just for the record though my tights were really cute and the whole outfit really came together in my opinion as well as that of some really astute students.~

Halloween Fright...

So I love making halloween costumes ~I just hate to wear them so I love the fact that I have an outlet for my costuming love ~my nieces usually benefit most and here are this years Magee is the Witch and Mac is the Corpse Bride ~and I said I would never make another wedding dress after Goo's.

Just because I made the costumes for the girls doesn't mean the other nieces and nephews didn't look great

Here is Swell in a train his dad made for him...

Here is Rager the cereal killer with two of the 101 dalmations Smillie & Zezra

One angry bee named bottsie that did her own makeup

And of coarse a very lovable ferry princess and devil clown (because clowns aren't evil enough)

I hope everyone had a great holiday and yes I did exercise a candy tax on my older nieces that made quite a haul.

mobile is again mobile...

My life is in a bit of a crappie phase right now ~and all I can hope for is that this is truly a phase and not my life. A lot of things aren't exactly how I would love for them to be but I can take the blame for some of it.
Today though I fixed something that wasn't my fault in the first place and it felt oh so lovely. Two months ago my ipod mini died on me sort of ~it worked if it was plugged in and charging ~if it wasn't charging it didn't play. So it wasn't totally broken but it really wasn't working like I wanted it to. I am pretty sure it is suppose to be mobile other wise I would just listen to my itunes on my computer. Well when I mentioned this problem to my sister my brother in-law very handily told me I could fix it and it would be a lot cheaper than the $50 apple wanted to help me out. Yesterday a new battery that I spent a whopping $16 which included the shipping on arrived in the mail. Today while watching the demo video on cnet I was able to replaced the battery almost all by myself I made my dad hold the screwdriver while I pried the top off with the wedge that came in my kit (I did the bottom with out any help.) After letting my ipod charge up it is now mobile once again and it has twice the battery life than it had when it was new from the bookstore. Also I didn't loose any of my music so now I can run run with one of my favorite itunes mixes again.
I do have to make a confession I tried to document this whole thing with photos but I took one photo of my ipod and tools and then got so into the project I forgot to take progress photos until I was all done and the completion picture looked just like the ready set pictures so there wasn't any point. ~next project I hope to do better.

First time better be the last time....

So last year at this time I cut myself with a rotary cutter ~a mistake that quite a few quilters make but I had avoided for about 18 years I am good at avoiding most things as you well know ~but this week another seamstress worst nightmare finally caught up to me after 25 years of using a sewing machine.
I was putting the finishing touches on Mac's halloween costume when I caught part of the costume out of the corner of my eye and flinched as a natural reaction to being scared ~I put the sewing machine needle through my finger!!! I know three people who have actually done this before ~my mother being one of them and all of them put the needle into their finger tip and all of them broke the needle in the process. I didn't do it that way I have a wound that goes from my middle knuckle to my end knuckle where the needle went in and out as it was zig zaging along and that I tore the flesh on as I yanked it away. I must say I much rather have my wound that the ones that go through the finger tip.
All I can say is sewing in October doesn't suit me and next year I am sure I will some how manage to kill myself with that machine ~or maybe I will take a break next October.

Happy Blogiversary...

Happy Blogiverary To Me
Happy Blogiverary To Me
Happy Blogiverary Dear Diet Coke, Light Ice
Happy Blogiverary To Me

So I have been Blogging now for one year in that time I have managed to write 85 times about what pleases me ~this is a journaling record for me the only time that I have been so diligent was study abroad but that doesn't really count as nothing that happens in foreign countries really counts.

I just want to say thank you for all of you that read my blog it makes me happy that in some little way we are close because the only thing that fits between us is a little cyber space.

I do have to say I want to thank one of you a little more than the rest ~who ever can comment with the secret word that I am thinking of first will get a Blogiverary present! I can't help but give a hint ~it has to do with the second entry on my blog~

Projects make me happy...

So I have some extra time on hands right now so I have been working on projects...

Here is Witch Stichy I made for my mom & one for Whit


For Whit I made a matching table runner...


The hard to see ghost is so cute!


But the candy corn nose is supper cute!!!


I finally finished my Scarf and it looks fabulous ~thanks Erin


But the best for last a house warming gift...

This was my first attempt at machine quilting and it worked well but I am glad it is a gift and I don't have to look at it everyday because it isn't perfect.

Welcome...

I would just like to say welcome to the 300,000,000 citizen of the US. The Census thinks they have a good idea of what sort of person this is ~a baby or an immigrant but most like someone with a Latino background because they are the fastest growing population ~but all this does is make me wonder

What number am I?

Because Lizzie Bolden is #1

Stocker blog...

My friend Erin recently wrote a lovely piece about fall that I loved and found truly inspiring ~so far from her list of fall things to accomplish I have accomplished the following
1. I have made soup ~see yesterday’s blog.
2. I have watched both the BBC and the Focus Features Pride & Prejudice in rapid succession to make a better decision about comparing and contrasting the two. I have decided that I love the stuttering Matthew Macfadyen does during his declarations of love and I prefer the way Colin Firth looks in love.
3. Attended a Fall festival ~I have gone to the Hidden Springs Harvest Festival and to the pumpkin patch.
4. I finished a quilt project ~and that is the same as finishing a knitting project in Erin's world
I think 4 out of 8 isn't bad and you never know I might do a couple of more...

~Tomorrow I think I will do a Fall Photo Shoot to get you caught up on what I have been crafting!

Bake into Fall...

So fall is in the air and well nothing makes you want to bake quite like crispness in morning and warmth in the afternoon that turns into a cool evening. I have been cooking and loving it. Last week my local siblings let me tag along to the pumpkin patch with the nieces and nephew to enjoy a hayride and pick a pumpkin anyone I wanted all I had to was carry it ~I was surprised how much this limited my selection I am weak sauce.
I thought it would be so lovely if after the pumpkin patch we all went to GrammyPops for soup and homemade rolls. My mother had other plans that day and I was left to enjoy the idea much to myself ~she said if I helped it could happen. Mom made the roll dough and I was in charge of proofing and shaping and starting out the soup that she would finish along with baking the rolls. I got to spend the whole afternoon watching reruns of West Wing off the DVR with a kitchen towel tied around my waist dicing and slicing away. If you are so lucky to find yourself doing the same here is the soup recipe.

Canadian Cheese Soup

1/2 cup Chopped Onions
1/4 cup Butter
1/4 cup Flour
1 1/2 Tlbs Cornstarch
1/2 tsp Paprika
1/2 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Pepper (oh the whole blues clues family)
4 cups Milk ~heated
4 cups Chicken broth
1 cup diced carrots cooked and mashed to a pulp
1 cup diced celery cooked and mashed to a pulp
1 cup Sharp Cheddar grated
1/4 cup minced parsley

Sauté onion in butter until transparent, but not brown. Add flour, cornstarch, paprika, salt, and pepper. Cook on low heat for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add milk and chicken broth and cook, stirring constantly, until thickened. Add carrots and celery to soup. Just before serving stir in shredded cheese and parsley. Enjoy ~this is any easy recipe to double to serve a crowd but be for warned as is the recipe serves 10.

Sinking the Sub....

So during my current unemployment situation I am subbing for the school district I grew up in to give me a little pocket change and to get me out of my parents house a couple of days each month.
I quote from the Boise Substitute Guide "Keep in mind that you are not a baby sitter...it will be your responsibility to assist in the teaching of the class” Let me state clearly right now besides giving a couple of class presentations I have no teaching experience ~and it took the kids about two minutes to figure that out.
First a couple of the kids first hour after harassing me all period said they were really excited that I was going to be with them next week too. ~I am so screwed but I can tell you this right now I have detention passes that I was afraid to use on Friday but I fear them no more! I don't care if the administration thinks I can't handle the kids ~I am the Sub I don't have to put up with that ~it makes my job "baby sitting" in my opinion.
Well I would write more but I have to read two chapters on earth science for the lectures I am giving on Monday ~this ought to be good.

Why 31 is so awesome...

Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Joaquin Phoenix
Ryan Adams
Giovanni Ribisi
Ryan Seacrest
Drew Barrymore
Niki Taylor
Eva Longoria
Sutton Foster
Zach Braff
Dulé Hill
Enrique Iglesias
Lauryn Hill
Jamie Oliver
Angelina Jolie
K.T. Tunstall
Tobey Maguire
Sufjan Stevens
50 Cent
Jack White
Charlize Theron
Casey Affleck
Michael Bublé

And most of all because...
Tatum Delynn Enyart Johnson turns 31 today!
Happy Birthday Tate!!!

Hi my name is...

and I am an addict. For about the last year I didn't watch TV let me explain. I lived with my sister and it was really more trouble than it was worth to watch anything that wasn't on the disney channel ~then I lived alone and didn't bother to have a TV plus I don't like to watch TV just for TV I like to watch my shows I like to pretend I live in Stars Hallow and work at the White House as the Aid to the Deputy Chief of Staff. I only watch TV when I can be apart of it. Just for the record I use to date the Laird of a Scottish estate but it became to difficult ~PBS had a hard time getting all the episodes in order. I don't watch reality TV because it is too real and if I can't be a part of it I want no part of it for the most part ~except Project Runway but only the first 10 and last 10 minutes the dram in between I can do with out.
I am now jobless and live with my parents and will do just about anything to fill the time and...
This last year I had on several occations noticed people talking about Grey's Anatomy and my friend Mary Anne watched it and recommended it highly and couldn't believe I didn't watch this show. Well this summer I turned on Oprah one day to see what the world was doing and she was talking about Grey's Anatomy and then I noticed it was going to be on on Thursday night so I decided because I had nothing better to do to see what all this fuss was about ~I am hooked. I am now a surgical intern at Seattle's Grace Hospital which is a good thing because my job at the White House just ended this last spring and I am looking for a new challenge especially because I have really low expectations for my life in Stars Hallow because the original writer has left and things are just too weird with my boyfriend Luke these days.
So to prove how out of hand this addiction has gotten I bought the second season on DVD if you want to brow it please let me know the guilt I feel over buying TV is over whelming and I would love to share it. I am slightly justifying my actions though by letting you know I have been very productive on my knitting while watching TV and even though I have no idea what I am doing I am working on a baby sweater I will let you know what happens to it.

Schlemeel, schlemazel, hasenfeffer incorporated...

Yesterday my sister and I went to the cannery ~this isn't a hip club it's church service. My sister is in charge of getting people to go and do this act of service and since she has never done it before she decided to go and since I am jobless and like to get out of the house I said I would go with her. We worked on the line making sure all of the pears that went into the cans were free of stems, skins and yucky spots. I personally felt very responsible in doing my best knowing how some mothers struggle to get their kids to eat fruit ~I wanted to make sure I did my part not to gross any kid out so they would never eat a pear again. At dinner that night when my very serious oldest niece asked about the cannery I told her I had to tell her mom not to leave her glove on one of the pears at the end of the shift ~she didn't get it and asked more than once why you would leave your glove on the pear. I have to tell you that four and half hours working at the cannery felt very much like Lavern & Shirley a show my 11 year old niece knows nothing about.

Former Olympic Glory...

So this last week my parents moved from their house of 37 years to a new house six miles down the street ~I don't have any real interest in the new house but the old house is where I grew up and all of my childhood memories reside. My brother bought the old house so I can visit anytime I want to ~they plan on doing a bunch of remodeling but my parents have already painted and changed enough things that it no longer looks like the house I grew up in so remodeling doesn't bother me.
The best part of the move has been remembering things, we found all of the old play people and a bunch of other toys that never get brought out any more and my mom went through a lot of my grandmothers things so it was nice to see them.
The best thing though ~my parents gave their old freezer the heave hoe so when it got hauled away they found things under it. My mom was absolutely amazed by a nickel that looked like it had been pounded with hammer about five times. I asked to see it and I said indeed it was a nickel that had been pounded with a hammer and had it not flown under the freezer it would have been pounded until it was unidentifiable and then we would have put a whole in it and added it to the rest of the medals for the backyard Olympics we often played. I ask you what is the point of Olympics without medals? Mom seemed confused by my explanation but seemed to let it go as she has most of the crazy things we did as kids that she didn't know about.

Future Cool Mom or....

I am either the saddest 31 year old I know. I have been hanging out with my nieces and as we were running errands yesterday I let them listen to Radio Disney ~I knew every song. I have no idea how this can be I mainly listen to NPR and when it starts to drive me nuts I just usually float around channels to what ever isn't playing a commercial. I will on occasion watch VH1's top 20 count down but that can't explain it. I do however love that song skater boy and I am blaming knowing all of those words on living with the 8th graders it sounded like something they would have liked and listen to all of the time.

Oddles of Projects...

So I told you I would show you what else I have been up to project wise.

Here is a quilt I made out of Amy Butler Fabrics and a Buggy Barn pattern. Botsie was told to show me her teeth in this photo in hopes that she would smile ~doesn't she have nice teeth.



Here is a pillow that I made that looked like a really good idea but I have my doubts about it at this point ~plus what does one do with decorative pillows. All I can say is it is an Amy Butler pattern and I am a sucker for Amy Butler.



I do love projects and just as a heads up I am still working on the scarf and it is coming along nicely and I should also have another quilt top done this week out of my new Denyse Schmidt book.

So I like certain things lay off...

I am trying to get all of those things that I have unpacked back into boxes right now and I am learning all sorts of things about myself so here is what I know so far.
~I love bowls I own 20 of them ~four of them match my dishes.
~I love Cardies I own 19 of them ~six of them are white you don't want them to get to dirty.
~I love dishtowels I have 21 of them that are brand new ~three weeks of doing dishes with out doing laundry awesome.
~I love ribbon 33 spools ~and that doesn't count the cut yardage of ribbon I own.
I know I have a couple of issues to resolve but what can I say I am working on it.

What could I have possibly been doing...

So when I wasn't busy blogging in May, or June really for that matter I was doing something. I was working on projects ~here are just a couple of them ~I will post a couple more later this week I don't want to brag all at once.

For my birthday I made myself a skirt you can't really see how silly this skirt is in this photo but it is a beach scene with people swimming and sunbathing on it ~I love to wear this little bit of silliness to church.


Here is the knitting project I am working on ~I bought the yarn when I lived in Virginia it is a lovely brown heathered wool from Ireland it matches my favorite winter hat to a tee and I can't wait to sport them together.


I hope everyone is having as much fun working on projects this summer as I am ~this last week I was very naughty and started on a new quilt I will post a progress picture of it later too.

Night Games...

I think everyone in some ways loves where they grew up ~I love the Boise ~my sister Whitney really loves the Boise so she moved here ~I just visit but I love visiting in the summer. It was just shy of 100' today here and the line at the Sonic to get my Diet Coke was so long I almost melted ~my skin really did feel funny. Tonight though driving home from enrichment it was so lovely out. It is that perfect high desert night that makes you want to play night games or roam the neighborhood with your friends or have a spend the night out on the tramp ~I love Boise all of the time but there are some moments that remind the most why.

why supper heroes wear costumes...

So I am still going through boxes and there really isn't any end in sight. All I can say is I am getting to be good friends with the guys at DI this week and I am tired of SPIDER WEBS!!! Yesterday in the 90' weather I had resort to wearing gloves. The reason for the gloves is they make me completely invincible ~some how a microscopic layer of plastic makes it so I can touch anything even groddy spider webs. This has got to be why the supper heroes wear those silly costumes because it makes them feel invincible even against things like bats ~poor Robin the Boy Wonder he just wants to be a bird and he has to hang out with all of those creepy bats.
On the box front the only thing that I am really proud of getting rid of is the emotional clothing ~these are pieces of clothing that no longer fit are no longer in style ~won't be cool to pull out of a box in 20 years and make my nieces feel like they have found a treasure. This is the purely emotional stuff like my Hard Rock Cafe t-shirt from Paris that I had matching with Rob ~a boy I dated 12 years ago or the sweat pants my mom made me when I was ten and were my favorite and I wore them so long I cut them into shorts so I could wear them in high school where the wore me more than I wore them ~ick. Sometimes you just have to move on so you can collect other things that won't mean a thing to you in 12 years.

Friends for a while...

As some of you may or may not know I am currently in Boise going through my boxes ~my parents will be moving next month and in an effort to not have my things lost in the shuffle I am consolidating and relabeling a few things and well yes I finally threw out all of my undergraduate notebooks ~I have no idea why I saved my testing center score of 56.6% on an exam for the last 11 years but it has finally been thrown out with a lot of other papers. I did how ever come across some interesting papers in a couple of notebooks like an unsent letter to my sister Whitney telling her about my first kiss with Rob ~I am saving that one.
Also I came across a game of MASH ~for those of you who don't remember Junior High School or their Freshman year of college let me remind you what MASH is, it is a way to see your future by choosing four boys you want to marry, four cars you want to drive, and four numbers at random that turn out to be how many children you will have, and then of coarse there is the MASH will you live in a mansion, an apartment, a shack or a house ~only MASH can tell. Well I played this game of MASH with my friends Erin & Stacey our freshman year in the dorms. Erin just so you know you were going to marry Evan, have five children, drive a truck and live in a house. I on the other hand was going to marry Mitch have no children drive a truck and live in an apartment.

Because I don't post enough Photos...

Here is a photo of the cake I made for Noellie's Birthady Happy 40!!!

Home from the Coast...

Who knew you could get a sunburn at sea level when it was only 70' out. I found out the hard way as my chest is all pink now. I spent one lovely day at the beach knitting ~nothing makes you think of a wool scarf like a clear day with surf rolling in the background. On other days I was lucky enough to do some sight seeing ~I went to Fort Clatsop the winter home of Lewis & Clark. I walked around town enjoying the shops and even got a couple of really lovely dinners out ~I do love Thia fried rice. I can't wait for my next vacation to the Oregon Coast it is such a lovely place. Oh and I also got all gooey a couple of nights eating smores roasted on the beach ~west coast rocks.

anything is better than nothing...

I know you are never going to read my posts again you don't want to be my friend any more and I have to live with that because I never post anything ~well I promise a good post sooner than later this just won't be it.
I have spent the last week with family and it has been lovely ~I started last weekend in Idaho Falls celebrating my Granny's 90th birthday ~that is a long time just ask any 31 year old if they think they can do this three time over and I am here to tell you I have my doubts ~thank heavens I live recklessly so I can die young ~although they say only the good die young so I guess I will live forever. After a lovely start in Idaho Falls the family moved on to Boise for the rest of the holiday weekend and I was a trooper I didn't even get bent out of shape when it rained on the parade ~I got my homemade cheeseburger so it was a great holiday in my opinion. Also here is a shout out to my sister Nollie she turned 40 this fourth so I got to be on cake duty ~she got a toad stool in an effort to make a yellow bowl cake into something of interest.
tomorrow I am off to the Oregon coast for a week and then I will be back in Boise again to work on a project I have been meaning to get around to this year ~better late than never as I say.
I promise cross my heart photos soon soon soon.

The Awesome Night We Had Eating & Knitting...

I sometimes wonder why people knowing what a challenge they will have ahead of them ever take drugs ~I am told they think things are either so bad it doesn't matter or they are tough enough to take it.
I started a new hobby and well I thought I would be tough enough to take it ~I can't imagine right now what rehab will cost me. Last night in a casual attempt to get out of Utah County I decided to go to Salt Lake and visit my friend Erin "the girl who knits" and try knitting again. Let me tell you right now the self taught are the most amazing people I know ~I am the talent stolen, I make others share their talents with me and then I will later claim them for my own. A good example of this is "my" brownie recipe ~thank you Kay Dubbs!
So Erin got me started she taught me the slickest way to cast on and now I am working on the scarf ~i am about 12 rows into it and have only added a stitch twice ~Erin had to fix the first one and I had to fix the second one all by myself ~I figure if I can finish this scarf and maybe a couple more with something awesome like a cable in it I will try for socks ~I have a huge crush on some of Erin's sock yarn. Also the baby hats with things like peas or cherries on them are just too cute not to try. ~eek it is taking over I feel it ~tonight videos and knitting I am so excited.
Besides learning how to Cast On, Knit & Pearl. Erin and I also did dinner and dessert. Dinner was nice enough at Pagoda in the Avenues ~but dessert was truly a worship service. We just decided to grab something at Hatch's Chocolates I got a Chocolate Pots de Creme ~it was this love rich chocolate custard with dark chocolate flecks in it ~they are genius! and yes I plan on figuring out this recipe and claim it as my own soon.
Thanks for the lovely evening Erin and soon I will post a picture of my scarf.

Home again Home again...

I made it home this last weekend ~I love going home especially when I am headed home for no particular reason. I was headed home to celebrate my Birthday but that isn't a real reason.
When I got home on Thursday night I had presents waiting for me ~I love that. I got two t-shirts from Nollie and a new wallet from Jason's Gang I also had wedding announcements from two friends and a card from my Granny.
When I woke up on Friday morning and made my mom french braid my hair and put on one of my new tee's I got to go to quilt group and then Mom Dad and I went to the movies.
I really liked the Da Vinci Code I thought it was entertaining and well I think the actors were fun to listen to ~Tom Hanks not who I see as a Harvard Prof but I still can't think of who I would have cast in the part ~but the hair I consider a necessary evil ~it makes it almost believable that he teaches at a college. After the movie I headed out to Whit's house to hang out and baby sit for the evening. The two older girls decided that playing at a friends house all evening instead of hanging out with me so it was just me and the baby. We had dinner and a bath and she let me put her hair in ponies and we didn't have to share our kissables her mom had bought for us knowing that both of us love them. ~we played hide & seek and watched tv ~well I watched tv she played with her fisher price bubble gum machine. The one really cute thing was her love of my t-shirt it has a picture of Buddha on it and said "shake your Buddha" she thought it was hilarious and when I said to her "shake your Buddha" she would show me her tummy and she would point at my tee again and I would say "shake your Buddha" and she would show me her tummy once more ~man I love messing with the baby.
On Saturday morning we celebrated my birthday with ice cream pie ~my favorite and a trip to the farmers market. We also ate at the beanery and went shopping ~mom got new jeans & I got a skirt. I also worked on some sewing projects and well I even got two of them done ~well sort of I might take the skirt I made apart and remake it.
All I can say is that weekend passed by way to fast but good times always do.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!

Thanks to all of you who wished me well on the 31st celebration of my Birth any one who missed it ~don't worry about it I wasn't really that into this year anyways. I still have to report on the celebration of my birth regardless.
I started the day out by going into my yard and cutting all of the blooming peonies and making an arrangement. I then went to breakfast with Annie & Brent at Brian’s deli ~I had the polo grounds, Brent made the sandwich. After breakfast I came out to my car that had a big Happy Birthday sticker on it complements of Annie. Annie and I then made a Target run so she could buy me my favorite Target Tees ~I now own one in every available color but mustard yellow. Annie also made a big batch of chocolate chip cookies for me to take to work ~it reminded me of grade school when you got to take a treat on your birthday for all of the kids.
Soon it was time for lunch and I got to keep my usual lunch date with Brad this week on my Birthday ~we went to the Training Table ~I love the cheese fries and dipping sauce. At work I had more peonies waiting for me Susan had made a love arrangement from those blooming in her yard for me and promised when her good ones came in I could come and cut them also. Mom & Dad sent a cookie bouquet to work for me too. I definitely felt special and very full when Marsha brought the homemade raspberry ice cream for me ~I don't like cake but I love ice cream. At work I got 10 fat quarters and I bought all of mine in the Flea Market Line ~it is oh so cute! I also bought some fabric to make a skirt out of from work.
After work I decided to go shopping ~I got new mascara ~once a year weather or not I need it. I also picked up a pair of sunglasses and looked at some shoes but couldn't decide between this pair and that pair ~any opinions?
It was a good birthday and the parting will continue on this weekend when I head home and it started on Tuesday night when I went to the movies with Goo and Tam-ma-fique I highly recommend "She's the Man" it was a good adaptation of 12th Night in my opinion and I would like to state for the record that Duke is 26 in real life so it is legal to oggle him ~on Tuesday night we also got some ice cream with Jonafin and Eden ~who loved watching cars zoom by with me.
I hope everyone has a day as nice as mine was for their birthday!

I am Like a Star Shinning Brightly

Today I am wearing my ittsy bittsy star earring that Tatum gave me for Christmas years ago. I really do love the little star earring ~everyone knows stars are my signature shape. ~I am sure you are asking your self though "~Why on a Tuesday isn't Ann wearing her usual ladybug earrings?" Once again I have lost one of them ~I don't loose things I have a very sharp mind and I just don't loose things I can remember what my friend Lisa Marie's favorite outfit in the ninth grade was I certainly can remember where my earrings are. Unfortunately the ladybug earrings have a tendency to jump ship ~I lost one about 18 months ago while shopping and well I believe I lost this one playing volleyball ~further proof that I should never have to play that game. ~So now once again my mother the sweetheart that she is is getting not just a replacement made for me but two spares and she is having a clasping back put on them.
Lately I have been feeling like I am a complete disaster and well loosing the earring is proof of that ~I just have to remember also that when I am at my worst others seem to do their very best for me and I will always be grateful for that.

Fake Bake...

Yesterday I got to celebrate a birthday ~not my birthday just to clear things up but an other May birthday. ~My friend Britt turned all of 23~ I made the cake oh and it took the cake. If you have never made a flourless chocolate cake you are missing out ~so easy to make and so good to eat. Plus my recipe is basically sugar free so you can feed it to all of your friends that don't eat sugar or flour. It was also so pretty with the whipped cream on top and all of the candles. ~I would like to mention here that the whipped cream would not have been possible with out my dear friend Marce. Also Eric was in charge of lighting the candles and did an excellent job with the fire.

Flourless Chocolate Cake

8 Eggs
1 lb Bitter or Semi Sweet Chocolate
1 Cup Butter

Prepare an 8' spring form pan with parchment paper on the bottom ~don't use wax it doesn't work I found out the hard way. Also secure the outside of the spring form with tinfoil so the water from the water bath doesn't ruin it.
In a double boiler melt chocolate and butter together until a smooth consistency.
In a mixer mix all eight eggs together until they triple in volume and are very fluffy.
Fold eggs in to chocolate mixture 1/3 at a time until they are just incorporated.
Pour mixture into the spring form pan and place spring form pan in water bath.
Bake at 325' for 25 - 30 minutes or until it smells very chocolately and the middle is almost set.

Best of luck with this one and may you have the happiest birthday ever with this one.

It finally got here...

So Spring has finally sprung in Utah ~it has been a long hard wait but quite worth it. My friends with allergies would say that Spring came to Utah about a month ago and they can't wait for it leave ~but for me it isn't spring until you start to eat out of doors ~and well this weekend I ate out~
On Saturday I was invited up to Salt Lake to take in an early matinee with my friend Aimes ~and after words we went to the Blue Plate and ate on the Patio. I had the buffalo burger and Aimes she had cranberry pancakes ~I am not a huge fan of pancakes or cranberries but I had a bite of hers and well I almost became a believer ~next time I have every intention of getting the pancakes ~most likely the chocolate chip ones though. Lunch was really fabulous more for the company than for the food and the food was good. I also luckily was wearing my swirlie shirt so I got a little bit of tan on my chest.
On Sunday there was even more eating out side ~unfortunately the company this time was the exact opposite of the company last time aka "not awesome." It was a large pot luck dinner with the luck of the pot being wether or not people actually brought something ~and I am even bending my rule of a two liter of coke is not something here and people still didn't bring anything. Don't get me wrong some of the kids brought things, there was really amazing guacamole, and strawberry shortcake and a fruit dip that is the definition of lovely ~but still a lot of the crowd wasn't cool and didn't bring anything cool. This is were I am going to admit to bringing something impressive even though I knew this crowd ~I was just hoping one of the boys I am currently crushing on was going to be there and well I have a reputation to uphold. ~The secret to this impressive dish is that it is easy and awesome so I am going to tell you right now if you have a pot luck to go to this summer and there might be someone worth impressing at said pot luck take this dish.

Fruit Salsa

1 Bag Frozen Raspberries
1 Bag Frozen Strawberries
3 Kiwi
2 Green Apples
3 Tbls Jam
2 Tbls Granulated Sugar
1 Tbls Brown Sugar

In a large bowl pour in frozen raspberries. Dice frozen strawberries and add to bowl. Peel and dice Kiwi add to bowl. Dice apples with peels still on for color and add to bowl. In a small bowl mix jam, sugar and sugar, when combined pour over fruit in the large bowl. I usually put a lid on the large bowl at this point and just shake it all together but if you don't have a lid you can just stir to mix.
It now needs to sit in the fridge for about an hour to get really juicy and for all of the flavors to mix together.
To serve you can use corn chips or you can make your own cinnamon and sugar chips.

Cinnamon & Sugar Chips
24 8" Flour Tortillas
1 Cup Cinnamon and Sugar mixture
1 Cube Butter Melted

On each tortilla lightly butter and sprinkle C&S on both sides. Cut into ten wedges, 12 if there is a double dipping issue ~these are too small to double dip. Place on a baking sheet and Bake in a 350' oven for about 8 to 10 minutes.

Super Sweet Maggie...

I love it!
I got a package in the mail this last week ~it wasn't a surprize or a present but none the less it was super sweet. I love this t-shirt designer I found online last summer and at the time I got her Double Goldfish shirt in Chocolate and but for this summer I got the Swirlie in Lemon and I love it ~it is totally skimpy and my sister Whit thinks the neckline is a little much but hey you got to flaunt what you got.

And he writes too...

I listen to a NPR as I commute I love it ~I am instantly in my fathers car commuting with him to swimming lessons at the Y every time I listen to NPR in the morning and I loved having time with my father all to myself when I was growing up so NPR automatically makes me happy with that memory. Besides the memory though I usually learn cool things that I repeat and desperately hope makes other people think I am cool ~it doesn't work but I am sticking with this one, because it may work at some point.
Well a couple of weeks ago I was listening and heard the most beautiful ascent read this fabulous first page of book and I was hooked. I had to know more so I googled the name and ended up here. Where I found out Markus would be at a reading in Salt Lake the next week so I made plans to see him because I knew if we met we would love each other forever. Well we did meet and well we aren't going to love each other forever ~it would be awkward with his wife and all but the evening was a huge success none the less.
I met up with one of my freshman from college friends ~she knew me 12 years ago and still can be tricked into returning my calls. We went to the Kings English this great local book store for the reading where we met several authors not only Markus it was a Random House Young Adult Author tour. Five authors were discussing there books that evening and one other set of authors sounded really interesting you can check them out here. But this is where it get good ~Shannon Hale author of Goose Girl was there too and we talked to her and I had her sign a book for my cute niece Mac who is the Goose Girl herself with beautiful blond hair that will not be cut. It was too much fun to talk because she was so amazed that she had fans ~she has a lot of fans believe me.
After the signing we got Chinese take out and watched shows off TVio ~you already know how I feel about that magical box. The night was huge success I met a cute Australian, had him sign a book for me and a friend, gushed all over Shannon Hale and got Chinese food and ice cream.
Hurray for Me!

I do have my good days...

Good days are few and far between for me right now ~some of which is my own making so am trying to be a good sport about and well not make myself miserable. Partly because work is always on a computer these days and I am a little bit miserable I don't blog like I should I mean who really wants to know that I consume more diet coke than anyone thought humanly possible or that I am currently at my highest weight ever according to my parents scale this weekend ~maybe i should only consume diet coke. Anyways I am going to write a couple of blogs now about really good days I have had over the last couple of weeks that I feel really bad about not writing about... so enjoy.

Happy Good Friday!

This Blog is a Shout out to my favorite Catholic Svinny ~Hi Svinny I hope you are having a lovely Easter Season out in D.C. ~Just so all of my D.C. friends know I miss you teribaly especially in the spring when things are in bloom the the Orieals are playing at Camden Yards ~I now secrectly long to go to a Senators game and become a fan of theirs too. May you all enjoy this season of the resurection, especially you Svinny.

Rain Drops on Roses & Wiskers on Kittens

If you have watched the Sound of Music about 5000 times like I have you know every word of every song and personally I have a really great time sing them with my niece Bottsie she loves show tunes. Often times though I will replace the real words of a song with other words especially if the word is in a foreign language that I don't know and well my word makes more sense than those crazy German words they are sing out really loudly so who can understand them anyways.
This weekend I couldn't get the song "My Favorite Things" out of my head especially the line "door bells and sleigh bells and schnitzel with noodles." I had the best schnitzel with noodles at the German deli downtown and it also had fried potatoes and brown gravy and was just plain nummy! I will admit right now it has been a long time since I have had this meal and so I might be a little more impressed with it than I should be but it was the perfect meal for a rainy Saturday afternoon that made it seam like "when the dog bites"

See Jane Run...

So I have to run ~not as in I don't really have time to write but as in I invested $90 in running shoes this weekend and so now I have to run to feel like it was a good idea.
I have run two of the last three nights and feel really good about it so we will see if I can keep this up. One of my incentives to run also is to see where I could get to if I was to do all of my running at one time ~so far I think I am out of the neighborhood.

I'm the Boss of You...

Whitney & Brent left for Boise around 5pm yesterday leaving me in charge of the house ~which isn't unusual except they left me not only the dog but Mac, Macgee, & Bottsie. Everything has gone fine except I didn't get much sleep last night ~Whitney was concerned whether Botts would go to sleep with out her last night ~Botts when down fine ~I never really slept. Botts like to sleep right up next to you and well I don't sleep with other people so I'm not use to having all of that body heat next to me. I got up once in the middle of the night to adjust the heat and get a drink of water but man it was a rough night for me. I am looking forward to seeing how the next twelve hours unfold when the girls parents get back home.

Spring my eye....

Um I am a bit confused here ~why do they make you think that the certain events are seasonal?
Rain = Spring
Sunshine = Summer
Crisp Wind = Fall
Snow = WINTER!
It Snowed today ~the first day of Spring Happy Vernal Equinox!
It never snows when I want it to in December for a pretty Christmas card look, and I have been in a May snow storm which was all to blame on choosing a poor location to be ~Rexburg. It should be warm I should be able to wear skirts again. There should be Tulips in every lawn~ where is my sunshine tempting me into Summer?

Sunday dinner rocks...

One of my favorite dinners is Fried Chicken with Mash Potatoes and Gravy. It is one of my favorites because I love to both make it and eat it. My recipe would make anyone who calls the South home run the other direction but that’s the beauty of being from Idaho ~I can cook any way I want to the only rule I have to follow it to take my potatoes seriously ~oh and I do.

Fried Chicken
4 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts
2 Cups Flour
½ tsp Salt
½ tsp Pepper
½ tsp Paprika ~the child of Salt & Pepper
½ tsp Onion Powder
½ tsp Garlic Powder
The Colonel adds eleven herbs and spices but I have decided that is a bit of an over kill but if there are six more herbs and spices in your cupboard you want to add go right ahead El Colonel.

Turn your oven on the Warm setting ~it helps keep the dinner warm, this meal is a little tricky to have one person get it all warm all at the same time but the oven helps you put it on the table all nice and hot.

In a large skillet ~cast iron if you have it add about a ¼ “ of oil ~if for even a second you thought of getting out a ruler you are no friend of mine. Heat oil on medium. ~also make sure you have a lid or plate or something to cover the top of the skillet during the cooking.

In a large plastic baggie or brown paper sandwich bag, add flour and seasoning, close top of bag and mix ingredients by shaking. Now take your chicken ~cut off all of the nasty fat and tendons left on it so no one finds them in their dinner, also cut the pieces in half so they can be arranged a little nicer in the pan.

Add four pieces of chicken to the bag with the flour mixture in it, the chicken needs to be a bit slimy for this to work well so either use the chicken before it dries out at all or add it to a little bit of milk or water to give it a nice slimy feel ~shake it making sure all of the chicken gets well coated ~this was my job when I was little and my mother made this meal for dinner. Add the four pieces of chicken to the hot oil cover and leave it alone for five minutes. Using either a fork or a pair of tongs turn the chicken over and forget about it for another five minutes. Now remove those first four pieces and transfer them to the oven on a plate. Repeat this process with the other for pieces of chicken. Throw out the bag of flour it has raw chicken germs in it and can not be used to make gravy. When you have finished cooking them for the second five minutes remove pieces from the oven, turn the pieces in the pan and add the oven pieces and cook them for two minutes on each side, now choose the fattest piece and cut into it to check for doneness ~if the juice runs clear and all of the pinkness is gone you are good to go ~other wise keep repeating the two minute intervals until it is done. Now remove chicken from pan and plate it ~put it in the oven to keep it warm while you make the gravy.

Gravy
1 ½ Cups Flour
Milk
Salt & Pepper
To make the gravy use a good whisk to keep it from getting too lumpy, turn the heat down just a number or two, add flour to the oil and stir. Once the flour is all mixed into the oil start adding milk ~I never get this next part just right so I end up scooping a bunch of the mixture out and throwing it away so there is a reasonable amount of gravy and I don’t use two gallons of milk to make gravy. How much milk you use is based on how much gravy you want and what consistency you want. So I add that first cup of milk and see what the gravy does ~usually it makes a horrid paste and I am pretty sure I have just ruined the meal but as I say I just scoop about half the mixture out and start adding milk again, once the consistency looks right I then season the gravy with salt & pepper to taste.

Mashed Potatoes

1 potato per person ~you can’t have too many potatoes
1 15 oz can of corn.
1 cube butter
Sour Cream
Milk
Salt
Pepper
Garlic Powder

Set a large pot of water to boil on High. Peal, the potatoes as you please and quarter, add to water. ~Do this before you start the chicken because the potatoes take longer. Periodically test the potatoes for doneness by sticking a fork in them ~when there isn’t any resistances to the fork the potatoes are done. Drain them, add the can of corn, and butter along with various amounts of the other ingredients to get the consistency and flavor you are looking for. You can use either a masher or a set of beaters to make these but as I said I am from Idaho and we mash there and lumps are a sign of honor. I often have to put them in the oven to keep them warm while I make the gravy.

I promise this meal is a little easier than this recipe may lead you to believe but this meal has never disappointed so it is worth any effort in my opinion.

Happiest Feet Ever...

My friend Kay Dubs in town and so I got to go and play with her today ~we went shopping even though I don't have any money because we shop beautifully together ~our outlet mall trips were famous. Any ways she was looking for a pair of casual black shoes, diesel made several pair that she liked but no one in the mall carried them in her size. I was being supportive and going store to store and giving my honest opinion on the shoes she was trying on and wandering around looking at the other shoes in the store to see if there was something I didn't really need but wanted ~I found the perfect pair of shoes for me and I know I shouldn't have but I tried them on and that was it ~my feet had found a soul-mate and I couldn't leave the store with out them even if I did have to pay with my first born. I love my new shoes and I hope you will love them too and that they will make you happy when you see them on my feet because my feet are so happy to be wearing them.

The freedom that suffocates...

I hate being told I am lucky because I could do anything, because I have no strings to tie me down. Just so you know I would kill for a mortgage, car pool and not a moment to myself ~and yes I know this makes me the saddest person on earth.

I want to vacation with the Russian Army...

Everyone has those moments when they realize they are their mothers daughters. I had one of those this weekend. My parents were in town and we had a lovely visit especially on Sunday when Gage, Kinsey and Miles came down for dinner. Whit made a great Lasagna and we had bread and salad along with it (both green and jello) after dinner was over and we had sat around and talked and many of the family members had moved to the comfy sofas in the family room mom announced that she need to clean up the mess by saying it looked like the russian army had been camping out in Whit's kitchen ~Man those russians are neat people, when this announcement came there were all of three dirty dishes about, along with glasses on the table and placemats, oh and I shouldn't forget the lasagna spots on the top of the stove. If that is all a russian army leaves behind I think they would be a very nice group of people to hang out with ~I like a clean kitchen. I like to clean the kitchen, more importantly I really like cleaning others kitchens ~I know this makes me a bad person that I should like getting together with friend but really I prefer going into their kitchen and loading the dishwasher and wiping down the counters because that means I did something and doing this make me feel better about myself. As someone who has a deficit of self esteem there is often no greater joy than knowing I cleaned the kitchen, that I left things better than I found them and that I am a good for something. So I wondered this weekend as my mother cleaned up the invasion of the russian army if she felt better about herself because she did it and if she too needs that is she this daughters mother.

Bunko is sort of like Relief Society...

So tonight I was supposed to go to Relief Society but I ended up going to Bunko instead. This would be proof that I was a bad person except I won tonight and well a lot of girls from the ward were there so it was almost like I went to Relief Society. If you don't know what Bunko is you are missing out. I was first introduced to it in high school my friend Shay's mom loved the game and was constantly hosting Bunko parties for her kids it was a lot of fun. My sister Whitney is actually in a Bunko group and I am a sub so I get to come most months. Every Bunko group plays by their own rules and if you do a google search for bunko or bunco you will find a million hits for a different versions of the game ~I played a couple of times in d.c. for money where a lot of drinking was also involved ~i didn't participate in that part of the game but I still never won so that will tell you about my skills.
Anyways at Whit's group you get dinner, dessert, and prizes along with all the gossip fix you can imagine. Tonight's prizes were purses and since I won I got choose first. I would just like to say I truly feel like "Charity Never Faileth" and isn't my purse cute.

the best five things I ate last week....

So tonight I had a toasted tuna sandwich and I thought hey I should blog about the five best things I have eaten every week ~mainly so people would know that I easily eat popcorn for dinner at least once a week ~this week I did it twice both wednesday night and thursday night and even though I also went to the movies on friday night I did not eat popcorn for dinner that night ~two nights in a row I found was a bit of over kill. So here is my list of the top five things I ate this week.
1. Chewwies (Brian's Birthday)
2. Re-run Spaghetti (I do not like spaghetti as a general rule but love the re-run.)
3. Strawberries (Abby's Birthday)
4. Milk (I like this even better than Diet Coke which is saying a lot because if Diet Coke was boy I would marry him.)
5. Toasted Tuna Sandwiches ~I could eat one every day and never tire of them.

~A little side note Tate once made chewwies for a boy named Jeff and he loved them just like every worth while boy does. So I am including the Recipe here in case anyone who reads my blog needs to impress a boy.

Chewwies
1 package plus 3 Honey Graham Crackers
1 can Sweetened Condensed Milk
1/2 package Chocolate Chip Cookies

Crush Graham Crackers, add Sweetened Condensed Milk and Chocolate Chips. Pour into a 9x9 pan. Bake for 25 minutes at 350. Be careful who you feed these to because they will love you ~well at least for your treats.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARCE...

To day is my friend Marcilyns 22nd Birthday. Marce is easily one of the funniest people I know and is definately hands down no contest my favorite 22 year old. Marce also has a fabulous sense of roommate fashion (taking your roommates clothing and making them into a much better outfit than your roommate ever could,) and dance moves that make indie boys hearts melt.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARCE ~YOU ARE LOVED!!!



P.S. We need a better photo of the two of us.

Mini Me...

Often when I watch Brooke it is in the morning so we get ready for the day together ~she has usually had her breakfast when I get up but she will still eat some of mine because she loves the flakes, yogurt & toast which are my morning staples ~plus you can pawn your crust off on her she doesn't know that is the bluckers part yet. We also get to get dressed she plays with my bracelets while I get dressed and well I get to pretend she is my supper model when it comes time to dress her ~I like to put her in layers a lot of the time ~the more the merrier.
Last week Brooke and I had been hanging out most of the day together and I got ambitious and did her hair ~she screams like you are trying to tear her apart when you get a comb next to her but I felt like tormenting her so I put her hair in two little pony tails ~it was soooooo cute I then put her in a t-shirt, khakis, and a cardie. When the other girls got home from school they asked me why Brooke was dressed just like me ~I hadn't even realized we were matchy matchy until they pointed out my little "mini me" to me. All I have to say is this gig is better than barbies.

I am taking two outfits to work tomorrow

When Tate and I were undergrads one of my favorite things about her was that when she wanted things to change she would change her clothing ~the days not going well, a different outfit might do the trick ~good thinking the clothes often make the day.
Today I could have used about three more outfits...
1. the irs lost my refund and i should get it in about a month ~not today like i had planed on
2. work sucks and i do not get paid enough for sucky work
3. to anemic to give blood

It ain't what it use to be...

Years ago watching the Olympics meant rooting for the USA over all of those nasty eastern block countries and most of all the USSR, but once that was really hard for me to do. I loved the outfit the girl in Russian pair’s figure skater wore on for her short program. It was the palest blue you could imagine and it had sweet little pastel chiffon roses come down over the shoulder. I felt guilty willing them to win because her outfit was too pretty to loose ~it was just too un-American to own up to. I don’t remember if they won or lost I just remembered at my friend Heidi’s house you didn’t root for the other team. To this day that has been my favorite Olympic moment. I just finished watching the girl’s figure skating with my nieces tonight and well ~I can safely say they don’t get it. They weren’t rooting for anyone they weren’t heartbroken about the falls or impressed with any of the outfits. Mac did notice the plunging necklines of some of the skaters and note that those were immodest. Abby commented on how rude her mother and I were commenting on how a Japan’s skater can seem way to tall ~aren’t they short there. Anyways I am blaming the professional side of things on ruining the Games ~but I can tell you right now I still think America rocks when the games are played and sometimes I secretly root for other countries if they have better outfits.

Desserts on Me...

On Saturday I had a lovely dinner with my friend the Harrison's and the Alisa's. The Alisa's hosted the meal at their new table and the Harrison's brought me a date ~she is four months old and wore her best bloomers for me and even let me hold her for a while but she only really smiled for her dad. Anyways the meal was great and the company couldn't be beat and I got to make dessert for the meal. In honor of our hosts and the fact that I love to be culturally insensitive to my friends I made Samoan Brownie Sundays ~Joe Alisa is Samoan among other things. So you want to know how one makes Samoan Brownies Sundays, that's easy you let the Girl Scouts do most of the work. I made brownies from the box, topped them with Dryers Girl Scout Samoan cookie ice cream. Then poured caramel sauce on them and finished them off with beautifully toasted coconut. If it hadn't been 20 degrees out that night I am pretty sure it would have been just like the island oasis that is Samoa. If any of you love the Samoa cookies like I do I really do have to tell you this was a hit and should be tried at the next possible opportunity.

Smart Ass Brother One, Dumb Sister Zero...

Just as a way to get to know me better it should be say I look forward to January 31 as a gleeful holiday. When I have done my own taxes it has been on January 31st and I filed them that very instant over the phone ~I only did my own taxes when I lived in Virginia and people still filed their taxes over the phone. I still really like to do my taxes very first thing that I can and will be a bit pesky about it (sorry dad.) Anyways this year my dad decided to pawn off my taxes on my little brother Gage ~there was some confusion as to what need to be done about my five months living in sin city but declaring my self a Utahan.
Anyways I called Gage my little brother who has an accounting degree and works for some sort of tax software company up and he said he would be glad to do fill out my 1040EZ for me. So the very next day February 6th I drop my W-2's in the mail and waited to see what would happen. Gage a boy after my own heart as far as taxes were concerned said he had gotten my stuff that day and had already gotten them taken care of and just need to know which of my bank accounts I wanted the direct deposit to go into. He also said he was sending me back the stuff for my own records and instructions on how to pay the state the $35 I owed them ~or am going to stick to them.
So on Saturday night when I got home just before midnight I was reading my mail and saw the letter had come from Gage so I quickly flipped through it and then FLIPED OUT ~$96 there was a bill for $96 all I could say was "What the Hell was he thinking." I then remarked on how mom & dad should never have been allowed to have a sixth child they were clearly too old and the birth defects of a late life pregnancy had only really reared there ugly head in his 26th year. I called mom the next day and let her know how I felt about her last child. Anyways when I talked to my dad the next week he said he felt bad at what had happened at his suggestion and was sending me a check for my tax processing. I finally decided to face the bill again on Wednesday after 10 days of cursing my little brother and telling several people how stupid he was. AND NOW IT IS MY TURN TO BE STUPID...
I looked closely at the bill trying to figure out exactly who to make the check out to when I realized it was FAKE! The numbers on it were things like 123-4567 opps. In my defense I would like to say it was late on Saturday night when I looked at the paper work. Also because of my current financial situation (making a pittance,) I am a little sensitive when it comes to bills. Anyways the first phone call I made was to dad ~who got a good hearty laugh about it praising Gages ability to make me sweat. My mother called later that day telling me I had to eat crow and that clearly Gage was not the mistake that had been made. She let all of my other siblings ~that I hadn't even whined to about the whole thing know how dumb I was. Dad also called back later that day saying that I had to take Gage and his family out dinner this next week and praise his wit with the check that had been sent. The last phone call of the day was made by me to Gage congratulating him on his coo and letting him know of the dinner on dad.
I hate little brothers especially SmartAss ones.

Death by Chocolate...

A million years ago and an other life time ago Tatum and I were co-eds and we had the best Valentines Days together. Tate is married now and has lovely married people Valentines Days but once upon a time she had to make it on her own on the worlds silliest holiday. Well not exactly on her own she had me and a lot of other very single friends that had to make it on there own so what did we do. We had Death by Chocolate! Death by Chocolate is the celebration we came up with when I broke up with the love of my life on February 8th and there was no way in hell I was going to spend the 14th pouting about it. We delivered invitations to all of the kids in the ward and invited kids from classes and friends in general. The turn out was so good that first year we did it the second year again. We didn't do it a third year because well we weren't in 54 anymore and well it just wasn't the same. So Death by Chocolate was chocolate pot luck party ~I can't believe I don't do more of these. It was not only a lot of fun to eat a lot of chocolate but it was also really great to see what people brought. The boys always brought way better things than the girls ever did to the party. My favorite to this day was Stephen our home teacher who brought chocolate ice cream with chocolate sauce and chocolate cool whip.
So all I can say even though I have yet to have a lover on this designated day of lovers I still love this day and hope that everyone else can have an absolutely lovely day today!

Arghh...

I went an entire month with out a cold and now I have one. On the way home tonight I was driving and realized that the dripping of my nose wasn't just that drip you get when you come in from the cold but a full blown cold again ~I went to the closest store and purchased both airborne and zicam. I am now fully medicated with some pain killer and a humidifier helping me fall a sleep also. I can't face an other cold, and rumor has it we are in for snow again ~but it has been so pretty the last couple of days.

Just an other talent to add to the sheet...

So every once and a while I like to try my hand at something new and well this week it was chocolate. I am sure you are thinking "chocolate is nothing new for Ann I have seen her consume ungodly amounts of it in a single setting." Yeah but I have never made truffles before with it, and well now I have. I Tvioed an episode of the Barefoot Contessa that had chocolate truffles in it as well as an episode of cheap eats with them ~so I decided I had to give it a try. They tasted just lovely and the texture was spot on. The failure in my chocolate career is shape ~for the life of me I couldn't get that melon baler to work properly I tried a about a dozen different methods to get these cute little round truffles and well they looked like I put Brooke in charge and I felt like Brooke had been in charge because I was slathered in chocolate by the time it was all over ~(right now my internet boyfriend is thinking that is sexy.) All in all I think a little more practice and I will be able to reach perfection ~I will also be reviewing the tvio to see if there are any little wrist flips or slow rolling methods I seem to have over looked. If you would like to try my lovely recipe I made up for "Hint of Citrus Truffles" it is as follows.

Hint of Citrus Truffles

1 12oz. bag semi sweet chocolate chips premium brand
1 half pint whipping cream
1/4 tsp real lemon extract
1/4 tsp real orange extract
2 tsp very fine orange zest

Heat cream with extract and zest in a small sauce pan on medium heat until a slow boil occurs ~remember to stir so you don't scorch. Place chocolate chips in a shallow bowl, pour boiling cream over them and let stand for two minutes. Wisk cream and chocolate together until smooth. Cover and refrigerate for one hour at this point try to form balls (good luck,) refrigerate again for 15 minutes. Roll in hands to smooth surface and then roll in powder of coco and sugar for a lovely finished look that keeps them from sticking together.

Getting called out...

Tonight at dinner with a friend I totally got called out on being a mental health hypochondriac ~it is so true.

In Protest

Today I wore flip flops and went with out a coat ~ I refuse to acknowledge in any way that we will be having six more weeks of winter and to prove this point I have altogether stopped acknowledging winter. I may have to fake sick if there is a snow day again this year because I can't get to my car in flip flops, but I will not give into this season any longer. Just so you know I at times protest summer in a similar fashion refusing to leave anything air conditioned unless it is for a water activity.
All in all I did have a lovely holiday and heard warm greetings from many of my friends which was the real celebration for me.

Grid what grid where...

Alright I gave it a good try and made it all of two days with out using my phone or the internet~ my how my life seams even more pathetic.
I gave in and used the phone because I had to text a friend in a class information about us meeting for lunch. It had to be done~ The internet thing was just because I missed it. I do plan on not using my phone as much and well I will no longer be using the internet in bed.
The internet in bed became a problem when I was staying up till 1:30 in the morning reading blogs and doing important research on topics that had entered my mind that day ~When is Beethoven’s birthday you ask ~December 16th I would even wake up in the middle of the night and start to google I caught myself googling at 4 am one night thinking of the possibility of a trip to Iceland ~should I go in the spring or in the fall. One can never be too prepared to take a vacation to Iceland; you never know when the need may arise.
So I am back, but I am pretty sure I am going to try to do this again at some point.
Just so you know as soon as I post this I am going to work on a quilt project and watch a show put on the DVR the other night ~easily the greatest thing ever invented.

Off the Grid...

I have decided to have a little contest with myself to see how long I can go without the internet or my cell phone. I have just felt a little controlled by those two things lately and well I thought if I left them alone for a bit ~well maybe I can feel a little bit more in control. Mind you I will have the land-line phone at Whit's so if I need to get a hold of anyone or if there is some sort of dire emergency people will be able to get a hold of me ~I am not headed to any sort of cabin in the woods and well notice I didn't say I was giving up TV, I totally feel in control of TV because I have DVR. Also as part of this experiment I will not be calling anyone's cell phone for a while ~I like the idea of not getting a hold of someone because they have this little thing that always carry around with them.
So if you don't hear from me for a while or can't get a hold of me for a while ~this may be why, but don't worry I will still be thinking of you.

Killing me slowly...

So eleven years ago today I was in Israel, most likely standing in the rain ~it rained most of that first month I was there. While in Israel I got to take some really exciting classes like Paul & the Apostles and some really lame classes like the New Testament ~I blame the professor for that one. Anyways one of the classes I took and really enjoyed was Jewish Culture, it was taught by a very nice Rabi and I learned lots of cool things, also the Rabi would answer any question we had and that was cool. One of my favorite parts of the class was the unit on Kosher Dietary Laws, I try to follow the word of wisdom and well I like the idea of a dietary law or two. I love the fact that you can't eat dairy for three hours after you have eaten meat ~my world of cheeseburgers would come crashing down it isn't quite the same when you eat the cheese part three hours after the burger part. Tonight though I couldn't help but think of the Kosher laws observant of meat, its slaughter and its preparation. To kill something in a Kosher manor it has to be done in what is considered to be the most humane, for beef this is a quick long slice to the neck with a very sharp knife. The meat is then blessed and people buy it. To prepare the meat as much of the blood as possible must be removed ~the essence of life must be taken from the meat. This is what kosher salt was designed for even though I love the way it flavors soups it really was meant to be rubbed on meat to soak all of the blood out of it before you wash it off and repeat over and over until you are satisfied that it is void of life. ~I wouldn't recommend eating Kosher beef.
Tonight I couldn't help but think I am killing myself in least humane way possible, but I am pretty sure I have been well rubbed down with salt and washed of all life.

Tuesday is Nanny Day

So on Tuesdays I get to do a fair amount of babysitting in the mornings before I head to work for my oh so very lame afternoon shift of 3 hours ~so not worth the drive but I get to work in the stichy room which I really like so it is a trade off ~anyways back to the morning part of my Tuesdays. Whitney has Weight Watcher in the morning and then just after noon she has Kindergarten Take Home Reading Sorting and then Centers, so I am in charge of one or the other of the two younger children a good part of the day, and I don't usually mind but this morning I could have rung Abby's neck.
On Tuesdays I get up at 9:30 when I hear Whitney leave I usually head right to the shower and it isn't usually a problem. Usually Abby likes this time because she gets to feel like she is home alone with out the fear of being home alone. Today while I was in the shower Abby knocked on the door I told her I had to finish up and would be out in a minute ~10 seconds later she started to knock again I told her to hang on and well when she started to kick the door I jumped out the shower soapy and opened up the door ~I figured there had to either be blood or fire for her to knock so violently and yell at me. When I got the towel around me and opened the door there was no Abby so I ran upstairs and yelled for her. When I reached her there was neither blood nor fire just Abby in her winter coat and flip flops ready to head out to her friend India's house and she was just trying to let me know. I pointed out to her that I would have liked it if she could have just waited a minute more for me to get out of the shower, and this is the part that has made me never want to have children "You know I didn't have to wait for you I could have just left." If life is a game of Uno she just handed me the Wild Draw Four card declairing yellow and I was screwed because I knew she was right. On rare occasions Abby goes with her mother in the mornings, either to the meetings or to be dropped at a friends house and I would have had no way of knowing that either of these things hadn't occurred until her mother showed up an hour later asking after Abby at which point I would have had to call the two house most likely to harbor a fugitive in the neighborhood or call the police telling them I had misplaced a child in the name of a citrus scented soap.
I was so dumbfounded at this point instead of playing a Skip I pulled out a Yellow Six and just told her that she had to change her shoes before she could leave.
She didn't end up changing her shoes by the way India showed up on our door step ~in slides that had gone through the snow and yes India got an angry phone call from her mother about five minutes later reminding her that she was supposed to call upon safe arrival.
When Whitney got home I told her what Abby had done to me and asked her to please talk to me before she leaves so I know what is going on. Whitney just laughed and said she would~

The US Postal Service Rocks

So I love to send mail and I wish I sent more of it ~oddly enough I am to busy drinking diet coke much of the time and couldn't possibly fit in things like writing letters, reading more books, finishing quilting projects and saving the world. I do write Granny when possible and so every once and a while I stop in and pick up a new book of stamps and well this last week I saw they have come out with a new set of stamps and I am just so excited I want everyone to write me so I can have these stamps on letters that I get not just give. ~the problem is you have to buy them in a book of 16 and well most people I know never use stamps so it would take them forever to use the other 15 stamps up. So if you do go to the post office this week or this month please buy the picture book animal stamps and send me a letter using the Olivia stamp ~she is my favorite! And maybe just maybe I will write you back and use a great stamp on you like the hungry caterpillar ~if you write me you can request a stamp for a return letter.

Moma's Chow Mien

Tonight for dinner I made Mom's Chow Mien ~I am not sure the last time I made this meal, but I do know that it is what I made for the dinner party I threw myself for my 24th birthday party ~and yes I prefer to throw my own birthday parties, other people ruin them I find. So it may have been six and a half years since I have had this meal which is better than Whit who has never made it and so it is more likely to be 16 years since she has had and well that means it has been a lifetime for Mac, McGee & the Botts. This is one of my favorite recipes from my mother ~Why? Because it was her mother’s recipe and well we don't have a lot of my Grandma Deschamps recipes. You see my mother didn't learn to cook until she went away to school and well shortly there after her mother moved abroad so a lot of my mothers cooking base comes from roommates (thank Glenna for Chewies) and well my Dad's mom Granny who she lived with for a while and well who are we kidding Dad loves to have dinner his way.
So when ever I make Chow Mien instead of thinking of the most populated country in the world I think of one of the prettiest ladies I have ever had the opportunity to be hugged by. Grandma Deschamps had the most amazing hair when I was little, and beautiful hands that were always busy but beautifully kept, her outfits were just that outfits not something slapped together in a rush to get out the door and she had the most amazing collection of accessories that I have ever seen outside of a museum. I was deathly afraid of her and yet at the same time I knew to be near her was something special and amazing.
So if you have a hankering to get nearer to Grandma Deschamps run to the market and make this meal for dinner.

Chow Mien

2 Pork Chops trimmed and diced
1 Medium onion diced
3 Tbls Butter
3 Celery stalks diced
2 15oz Cans Chow Mien Vegetables drained and rinsed.
Flour, Water, Onion Powder, & Soy Sauce to taste.
In a large sauce pan add 2 Tbls butter, pork chops, and onion. Brown on medium high heat until the onions is translucent and the chops are just about to brown. Now add remaining Tbls butter and celery. When the butter has melted add enough flour to soak up all of the butter, so you have a nice paste covering all of the veggies and meat. Now you add the water I usually add around three cups but this meal can be watered down to feed a crowed or kept pretty think if you prefer. Now add the canned veggies and season with onion powder and soy sauce.
To serve you layer it on a plate with fried rice and chow mien noodles ~so you will also need the fried rice recipe.

Fried Rice

2 Cups Uncooked White rice cooked your favorite way
3 Strips of Bacon quarter inch slices
4 Green onions diced
1 egg
Onion Powder & Soy Sauce to taste.
In the largest frying pan you can get you hands on add bacon and let it cook until it is almost done.
Add COOKED white rice, & green onions. Now you cook stirring constantly and adding more onion powder than you can even imagine being a good idea along with a little soy sauce. ~remember to taste it constantly, you will know when you have added the right amount of onion powder because the rice will be a light tan color from the onion powder and it will have a rich onion taste to it that isn't overwhelming. When the rice is warm and seasoned to perfection squish it to one side of the pan and on the other side of the pan crack an egg and scramble it till it is just done then mix it into the fried rice.
Enjoy!