live from left field

101 Things I Love

2012-02-14T18:38:00.001-08:00

In honor of this special holiday I am posting a list of the things that I cherish. Thanks to my good friend, Charles, for the inspiration. These are in no particular order- except the first one, of course!

Money

Cardigans

Whistle necklaces

Pearls

Glitter

The color purple and seafoam green

Stripes

Boys who wear Sperrys

Pedicures

Martha Stewarts Cupcake book

Apple iPhones

Holding hands

Baseball

St. Louis Cardinals

Concealer

Juju hearts

Peanut butter

Nibs

Meatloaf

Mac and Cheese

Travel

Endorphins

Country music

Going to the movies alone

Gossip Girl

Netflix/Hulu

Seat warmers

Diet Dr. Pepper

Bad boys

Church snacks

New haircuts

J Crew

Target

Costco

Tillamook Wild Mt. Blackberry ice cream

Tetherball

Pillows

Purses with long shoulder straps

Public transportation

Mormon Tabernacle Choir

Super sonic car wash in Orem

Cowboys

Zipped hoodies

Nike Frees

Chick flicks

Burt's Bees Chapstick

Brunch

Scategories

Cuddling

Coats/jackets

Instagram

2 Nephi 2:25

Truffle fries

Patriotic music

Real World/Road Rules Challenges

A Poor Wafarying Man

Fireplaces

Scolding hot showers

TiVo

The smell after it rains

Summer nights

Snail mail

Cream cheese frosting

Blogs

Taco Tuesday

Crossword puzzles

Crockpots

Writing on whiteboards

Whitney Houston pre crack is whack

Making lists

Karaoke

Happy hour

When people call me Carly Katherine

Cookie dough

Surprises

Dairy Queen Blizzards

Saying "whatever"

Wearing socks to bed

Declining Facebook invites

Living alone

Golfing

Texting

Chuck Bass

Little Big Burger

Going to the Symphony

Lazy mornings

The Blazers

Spontaneity

Packages at my door

Pay day

Twang

Ted Drewes

The SWKT

Dove soap

Guys who wear glasses

Holding babies

My KitchenAid Pro

Coupons

Law and Order: SVU

The Fremont Bridge

Powell's Books

RIP CITY

2012-01-19T22:41:00.000-08:00

I really shouldn't be doing this right now. The Blazers are currently on a 6 game road trip. They have only won one out the four games they have played so far. They lost to Atlanta in the final minutes last night 89-92. They had a chance but couldn't connect. Most people predicted only 2 wins out of this road trip anyway. But I still had high hopes for better. They let me down. We just can't win on the road. They need me. Of the 7 homes games this season, I have been to 5. Of those 5, they have only lost once. I blame it on the seats I was in. I was able to trade out a buddy pass for the Lexus Club seats. All-you-can-eat. I was selective in the friend I wanted to come with me. I hate to pass up free dinner, candy and drinks. So I had to choose someone that would be as excited about that stuff as me. I chose correctly. Dagny and I were loving the pulled pork, cheesy grits, unlimited candy and chips and salsa too much that we realized we weren't giving our heart to the game. It wasn't until the 4th quarter when we were really into the game. The Blazers made a good comeback and even in the last few seconds it looked like they might win, but... they didn't. Story. Of. Our. Lives. Even though my heart is starting to break over this team, I wanted to update blog world of my fun times at the games so far.

Opening Night: Blazers vs. Philly

Game 2: Blazers vs. Sacramento (Jimmer Night)

Game 3: Blazers vs. Lakers (Beat LA)

Game 4: Blazers vs. Clippers (Beat LA)

Game 5: Blazers vs. Orlando

Can't wait for more games to come!

The Verdict Is In...

2012-01-16T18:22:00.000-08:00

KitchenAid fail. It's going to cost $140 to repair that sucker. I told myself if it was over $100 for the repair I was just going to buy a new one. This one is a couple years old already and may last a lot longer after the repair, but I am kinda nervous to put that much into something that could fail again sooner rather than later. So it is better for me to put that money towards a new one with a new warranty. So... now it's time to choose a color.

Need. Some. Help.

Which One??

Blue Steel

Dark Pewter

Nickel Pearl

Pearl Metallic

Death...

2012-01-09T19:21:00.000-08:00

My KitchenAid Pro mixer just broke down. It's been sounding a little weird lately. I think there's something wrong with the motor. Sounds like something is off a little. It runs smooth when not mixing the air. But when it has to cream my butter and sugar, it isn't happy and stalls on me. I am so depressed. This is the best thing that every happened to me. Plus I was in the middle of making cupcakes. Now I just want to give up and go to bed and cry. I am going to see about getting it fixed tomorrow after work, but if it's unfixable, I don't know what I'm going to do! Christmas just happened. My birthday is 4 months away. Who's gonna buy me a KitchenAid?? I cannot. I repeat. I cannot make cupcakes without it. So those of you who enjoy my baking, get together and donate money to buy me a new mixer (sea foam green please) or else say goodbye to delicious baked goods.

Here's some inspiration guys:

Happy New Year

2011-12-31T18:10:00.001-08:00

2011 was great! Lot's of excitement for me and everyone around me!

From moving into my downtown apartment in January...

to Adrianne's wedding and my bff from the beginnings of elementary school getting engaged in February...

Netty and Mike's wedding, Cardinals Opening Day and paying off my car in March...

to Emma and Bball's wedding and Jessica Beaumont having her baby boy on my bday (like I asked her to) in April...

to crossing off another stadium from my list with a weekend trip with my mom to Phoenix in May...

to my one year anniversary at SWA and Utah friends trips in June...

to baby showers, trips to see friends and family, and a big interview in July and August...

This is where Laura is telling me my kicks will be Drewki's favorite gift by far...

to Duck football games in Dallas, my first time to Autzen, one epic end of the season rally run for the Cardinals and one very special Christmas Miracle born in September...

to the World Series in October...

to a fun Hawaiian trip in November...

This year has been pretty good to me. I hope it continues on through 2012. Here's a little video of me popping champagne (for others to drink)

T is for Ten, Tuesday and Tidbits

2011-12-13T18:44:00.000-08:00

1. Today I was in line at the bank to deposit a check. Lately I have been depositing them from my phone, but I was out and about all day so I stopped at a branch. There were a few people in front of me and the two people being helped by tellers seemed to have complicated transactions. So I pulled out my phone. Logged into my Chase account. Took a picture of the front and back of the check. Pressed deposit. And proceeded to walk out of the bank. It was as simple as that. Who needs branches anymore these days?!?!

2. Speaking of phones, I got a new one yesterday! I went back to the iPhone. This time with a carrier that is made for the iPhone. No more shady jailbreaking. So far I love it. Siri does everything for me. She's so kind. I had to get a new phone number. If you did not receive the mass text of the new number and you consider us to be friends, then I must not have had your number or screwed up. Message me on my old number and I will give you the deets.

3. Yes I still have my old phone. So apparently on TMobile the cancellation fee is $200 no matter where you are in your contract. In Jan, it will have been a year since my last upgrade. But I am on my parents family plan, so my service is only $10 a month. It's more economical to pay that $10 a month for another year than to pay the $200 cancellation fee. Figure that one out. So I'll keep this phone. Right now I carry it with me just in case some people didn't get the memo. But soon I will only use it to run with. Since it's raining a lot more these days and I don't care about getting it wet anymore.

4. Running is on hold right now. A. it's -20 degrees outside. Ok, not nearly that cold, but pretty dang cold. and B. I rolled my ankle last night in my soccer game. Walking around today running 5 million errands was not good for my ankle. Will need to ice again tonight.

5. At least I scored a goal.

6. I was reminded of my hate for hatchbacks last week. When I was looking for a new car back when, I remember how turned off I was by the hatchback. Especially on the civic. Yuck.

7. I learned that my body won't tan anymore. All my years of beautiful sun kissed skin are gone. I used to be so dark after my trips to St. Louis to visit my dad. I would tan so easily. Five days in Hawaii and all I have to show for it is a heat rash on my hand and a tan chest. haha. Wait, my upper legs were a beautiful brown. But who sees that in the middle of winter?!?! My face probably would have been more tan, but I protected that money maker like crazy with sun screen. I'd rather not have the wrinkles when I'm older.

8. No offense to one of my grandmas and her sister, but I went to an "Office Christmas Party" and chose to go by the name Barb. Is that an officey name? I thought so. Brooke's roommates put together a fun little party on Saturday night full of laughter, dancing and voodoo donuts.

9. Speaking of VooDoo. I was walking through the Fresno airport on Sunday morning and I saw this:

The funny thing was that I had just taken a redeye from Honolulu the night before and my body felt like I was home, but I was really in Fresno to extend my vaca and visit my cousins. So at first I didn't think anything of the VooDoo siting. But then I realized where I was and had to take a double take, and a picture. While flying out on Tuesday I noticed that there as a Denver tree too. So they must be highlighting different cities that they fly to.

10. I successfully left the Nike Employees store today with only buying 3 things for myself. Most of the things I bought were for other people! That never happens. I usually spend way over my budget I give myself. This time I was serious. Being Christmas and all I don't have much money to spend on myself. I bought cold weather stuff for running. So no excuses anymore.

Albert Pujols

2011-12-12T19:04:00.000-08:00

Everyone keeps asking me my thoughts of the Angels' acquisition of the greatest baseball player. I am so tired of talking about it. From now on, I will refer them to this blog.

First of all, I am ok. Haven't shed a tear. "I won't cry, I won't cry. No I won't shed a tear." I was slowly getting over Pujols this past season. For some reason, I just knew we wouldn't be able to keep him. So I was prepared. Personally, I am glad the Cardinals did not go broke over him. Ten more years is a long time for Pujols to be playing. He'll see soon enough why the Cardinals weren't willing to take that financial risk. It was smart of him to go to an AL team, so that a few years down the road, he can just DH. And I am pretty sure he'll be good at that. But probably not 25 million good. Pujols making 25 mil a year makes me realize how little I make. hmm. At least I can fly for free right?? Right??

I will still consider him one of the greatest players of all time. Those great years were spent in my ballpark and for that I am happy. He will do well in LA. And I am sure the fans will love him immediately. But always know this, we were the fans that never boo'd him for not running out a ground ball. We were the fans that loved him on his 0 for days. I will always be a fan of Pujols.

One more thing: Glory Glory Hallelujah, Pujols is not wearing a big, blue C on his jersey. I wouldn't have given up baseball if that had happened.

Good luck to my good friend Craig Berrett and your Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

p.s. Freese is the new Pujols. Just saying...

This is an interview my favorite sports broadcaster, Rene Knott, had with Pujols and Deidre. p.s. Rene agrees with me on the above statement.

Look It's Tuesday Again

2011-11-29T01:50:00.001-08:00

1. I should be asleep right now. I have to get up in 2.5 hours to catch a flight to san jose to catch a flight to Maui! This trip with my parents started when we bought our tickets to the BYU v. Hawaii football game. Now I really could care less about the game, but more excited to spend a few days in the sunshine. We leave today and I come back early Sunday morning. I am hoping to catch a redeye Saturday night after the game.

2. I haven't talked to my cousins about this yet, but I am actually hoping to go to Fresno right when I get home. The flight leaving Honolulu at night either goes to Seattle or to Phoenix. I would get in early Sunday am and both cities have nonstops to Fresno. I don't have to be back at work til Wednesday afternoon so I thought I could spend my last days of my vacation in the No seeing my cousin's new baby!

3. I may not have a single picture to show of Hawaii. The camera on my phone died a few days ago. I am trying some fixes from some internet sites for droids, but if this doesn't work, then I won't be taking any pics. I hate having to carry my camera everywhere. And as I think about it, I don't even know where it is at the moment.

4. Reason why my phone is slowly dying? Rain. It has been raining a ton here lately. But I'm not letting it stop me from getting my run in every day. I have grown accustomed to running with music lately, so even when it's pouring, I still bring my phone for music. This would be alright except on one particular day of heavy downpour (sideways rain and wind literally pushing me off the path at one time) I learned that the jacket that I thought was waterproof was merely only a windbreaker. There wasn't a dry spot on me, and my phone sat in some water inside my pocket. I tried the whole sit in rice deal but I guess the water got to the camera.

5. I'm sick of my droid. I considered going and signing up for the iphone and service with Verizon today. But I got distracted by other things thank goodness. I don't really want to be paying a large phone bill right now.

6. Last night during one of our rainiest days, the drivers side window of my car decided to stop working halfway up! I realized this just as I was getting into the employee lot for work last night. Because it was raining hard, I decided to go park undercover in the long term garage. I figured it was worth the $16. I also removed as many valuables from my car as possible. Luckily when I got back to my car after work, everything was still there. I took my car into the Clutch Doctors today and they fixed it. Free of charge!

7. I love Clutch Doctors. They are really the best! I called them this afternoon to see if they were busy. Heather there said they were kind of swamped but I could bring my car in and they would take a look. I got there and there were 3 people waiting on their cars. I knew there was no way I would get my car back tonight. I told her take her time, I would be gone for a week so I was in no rush. She gave my an estimate of what the problem was and that they would need to replace parts. I go home, get a call about 2 hours later. They are done. No parts needed to be replaced. Just a little fix. They finished the oil change and everything. I had a coupon for the oil change and when I pulled out my card to pay they said no charge, they just put the labor under the oil change. Any other place would get you where they can with labor. These guys are the best. Take your car there.

8. I worked on Thanksgiving for one reason only: The food. We have our holiday meals catered by Beaches. They make the best stuffing and mashed potatoes. And that's all I ate all day at work. Stuffing and potatoes. And then I went home, napped, ran, and ate lots and lots of yams. No turkey for me on turkey day. Didn't want to fill my stomach with the boring stuff....

9. The search for a new apartment has begun.
Conversation I had with my Grandma tonight:
Gma: "Why did you leave your old apartment anyway?"
Me: "The lease was up and I didn't like the kitchen anyway. Plus, Heavenly Father told me to leave because he knew I would be spending all my rent money on baseball and have nothing left over."
I am mainly looking in NW Portland but have also ventured into SE area to look. Anything North of Powell would be acceptable. It's hard to find something in my budget when I want to live alone. Everything is cheaper with roommates. But it's just not worth it to me.

10. Black Friday shopping this year kind of let me down. Although I did find a fun holiday dress. But the movie selection at Target and the overall deals weren't as good as last year. It was still fun to carryon the tradition with Dagny of seeing a movie TG night and then going shopping. We even got our Shari's breakfast in. Love traditions.

Ten Tidbits Tuesday

2011-11-08T12:09:00.000-08:00

First of all, I am almost all caught up on Desperate Housewives on Netflix. Now that I am on Season 7 I was wondering what would be my next show to start on. Until... I saw that Gossip Girl Season 4 is now available Netflix. Heaven! I have missed this show so much. Working on Monday nights has put a serious dent in my Gossip Girl watching days. I just got out of the habit of watching and now I am so behind! Now is my chance to get caught up and bring Chuck and Blair back into my life!

"We don't need tickets. I'm Chuck Bass."

Unfortch this YouTuber disabled the embedding. Lame.

Second, I am signing up for the Rock n Roll Half Marathon in Portland in May. Now is the time to get back in the habit of running daily. I went for a run yesterday. I explored new parts of my neighborhood. That's the best part about running outside. I can't stand to run on a treadmill so I need to get outside before it gets too cold!

Third, I am planning two (maybe) trips to Hawaii for this month. I might meet up with a friend in Oahu on Sunday. I am trying to get an Alaska guest pass so I can bring a friend, but that's proving to be harder than I thought. Then I am going with my parents at the end of this month to Maui. My first time to that island. Can't wait.

Fourth, my computer battery lasts about 45 minutes and it makes me mad. Maybe soon I'll go get a new one. I spent all my moneys in October though.

Fifth, Frank on Real World is crazy.

Sixth, I was in St. Louis so much last month. Each time I would stop at the news station that I used to intern at few years ago. I was there so much that people were asking if I still worked there. Not only was I there so much, it was consistently on the same days so I would see the same flight attendants on my flights. They remembered me and my love for the Cardinals each time. Not that it wasn't obvious from my clothes and my backpack.

Seventh, my jaw is in pain. It started a few weeks ago and hasn't stopped. I have been to the dentist twice already to get my bite fixed to see if that helps with the pain. I have tried to stay on a liquid only diet. My blender has never been used so much! But I have cheated a few times. I feel the pain the next day when I do cheat. It hurts a lot when I talk, so I try not to. Luckily I have had 4 days off in the past week due to starting a new schedule so I can actually stay away from people and talking. It's my excuse to catch up on all my favorite shows on our DVR.

Eighth, I like the Singoff. And I was really excited for last night's episode because they had to do a country song. But everyone did new country! I was so disappointed. I wanted to hear the classics. It was lame. BYU's group, Vocal Point is really good. I'm slightly obsessed with Tanner- the kid with the buzz cut. He's cute.

Ninth, Thor is a slightly cheesy movie. Watched it last night. While drinking a pumpkin milkshake from Burgerville. Oh Em Gee. I feel like the shake alone deserves it's own subject. So good. On a side note, we went to a McDonald's to rent the movie and get shakes. But they don't have pumpkin anymore. Who stops pumpkin shakes in November?? I bet theirs isn't any good anyway.

Last but not least, I was introduced to this band last night. They are hot. And have English accents. And are hot.

Woops

2011-11-04T23:50:00.000-07:00

I had a problem with showing myself in the Rangers fan's pictures during Game 7. Although I think I made the photos better. The guy got a kick out of it and text the pictures to me after the game. What a trooper.

This last one I didn't even realize I was doing it. Even though I was staring right at the camera while he was taking the picture.

11 in '11

2011-11-01T22:57:00.000-07:00

My friend in St. Louis made this video. I love watching it!

I still can't get over that the Cardinals won! I'm sad Tony LaRussa is retiring. Anxious to hear who the new manager will be. Hope this doesn't mean Pujols will leave. Wonder what games will be like next season without all of Tony's double switches and millions of lineup changes.

World Series Champions!!

2011-10-29T14:39:00.000-07:00

The St. Louis Cardinals are World Series Champions, and I was there! It was so fun experiencing it with my family too. Morty, Nate and my dad made it out to St. Louis for the game! We got 4 seats together 3 rows up from the Cardinals bullpen. Allen Craig's homerun was literally right in front of us! A very nice Rangers fan took this video right when we won and emailed it to me this morning!

St. Louis was CA-RAZY after the game! The streets were LITTERED with beer bottles and cans! At Mike Shannon's Bar you couldn't even take a step without stepping on a bottle or can. I high fived way too many people! I hope no one has any diseases... The whole game I was up and dancing around so by the end of the night I was completely exhausted. What an experience. I love my job for giving me the chance to be here. I got tomorrow off so I will be staying out here for the Championship Parade! How could life get any better??

Oh by the way. I text a certain player on the team at 3:30 last night. He responded this afternoon... Then I realized that I made no sense in my text. The grammar was way off. I should have double checked before I sent it! Oh well. It's over now and he responded. Dream Come True! :)

Postseason Magic

2011-10-26T01:16:00.000-07:00

Hoping this post will bring the Cardinals luck today as they take on the Rangers at home in Game 6. We need to win tonight to secure a Game 7. I couldn't get work off today so I won't be able to make it. If they win tonight, I will be on the first flight out to St Louis Thursday morning for Game 7! Go Cards!

Pictures from the World Series Game 1 and 2:

Rally Towel

My World Series shoes. Only been worn to World Series games at Busch Stadium. Purchased in 2006.

One of my favorite parts of the World Series

Post Game celebration in the streets. People were going crazy after the Game 1 win!

The All Star game Arch

Budweiser Clydesdales pre-game.

Game 2. Sporting my World Series swag that Brian made me get.

Field Trip

2011-10-26T00:56:00.000-07:00

Last Monday I felt like a 5 year old. I got the day off work and headed to the zoo with some friends. Five "kids" in their 20's roaming the pathways of the Oregon Zoo probably isn't the best idea. We ventured to the Great Northwest area first. Is it just new, or have I been deprived of this section of the zoo for so many years? I definitely discovered some fun new parts of the zoo.

This is a snakes view. White is the hottest and blue is the coldest. Obviously Mike's first reaction was to lift his shirt to see how hot his stomach is. Dagny and Max both had cold hands so they stuck theirs on his stomach for a few seconds to see if it would leave a handprint. Sure enough, it did.

The zoo was followed up by Little Big Burger, Blizzards and pumpkin carving. Best day off.

Maui

2011-10-25T21:57:00.001-07:00

So... I am going to Oahu with my parents for a football game in December. I've only been to that island whenever I go to Hawaii so I want to try something new. I've been thinking a friend would be a nice addition to the trip. Play with friends on Maui and then meet up with my parents in Honolulu for the football game. So who's up for a few relaxing days in maui or another island? I'm working on getting an Alaska buddy pass or two. Nov. 28/29 thru Dec. 3/4. Or Dec 2/3 to Dec 8/9.

White sandy beaches anyone? With a buddy pass on Alaska you pay 10% of the full fare.

Taking Everything Literally

2011-10-16T09:38:00.000-07:00

Literally coming at you from left field today... As I was sitting at the game on Thursday (Game 4 of the NLCS) a thought came to me. I am in left field. I should do a blogpost right now so I can say I'm really live from left field! But... seeing as how any kind of 3g/4g, edge or anything doesn't work when there's millions of people close by trying to post pics to fb, I was having a hard time posting from my phone and gave up. Remember the days when the whole world wasn't on Facebook so it was easier to post in crowds or even less cluttered... ahhh the good ol' days.

The Cards ended up losing this game. I have decided that I am bad luck. We have tickets to the world series home games if we are in it, but I am concerned my presence will screw everything up yet again, so I don' know if I will be making it out to St. Louis again.

We just have to win tonight! p.s. I am CONVINCED that God changed the game to 5 tonight so I could go to church today. Game was originally gonna be at 1, but with the Rangers and Tigers not playing tonight our game got moved. Last week I chose all 3 hours of church over the Cardinals ( I didn't even bring in my phone to get updates!) and that didn't go my way, so I was reconsidering the need for all 3 hours again today. But now I can go to church and then come home and watch some Cardinal baseball!. The Brewers pitcher has a 12.64 ERA in the post season. Hope we use this to our advantage!

Go Cards!

As Chip would say, Win The Day!

p.p.s. Remember when I was started obsessing over this guy and everyone thought I was out of my mind?? Yeah, who's leading the team in HR's and RBI this series?? David Freese. That's who. I hate all these bandwagon Freese lovers. I am his only true fan!

Hanging With the Liver

2011-10-12T11:25:00.000-07:00

Saturday night after work I was deciding what I was going to do. I had two different options of things going on. So the logical thing was to skip both and call Brooke. Lukcily she was home. Luckily she left me in her home. Luckily she was watching Arrested Development. I was so tired from working that I fell asleep in the second episode (sorry!) As soon as it was over she suggested we go get a treat. I jump (literally) up and exclaimed, "Let's go to random order!" A few months back I was reading the Spirit Magazine on the Southwest planes. This edition was all about pie - mmmm. In one article they were listing the best places in the country to get pie. I decided I would go try one of these places. On the list was Random Order Coffee House right here in Portland. I had never heard of this place so I was a little skeptical, but I have been dying to try it. So off to NE Alberta we went. We got ourselves some pie - I chose peach blackberry pie and she chose pecan. This is what was left:

Next we decided to stop by a friend's birthday party. Fire and Ice was the theme and we both randomly fit the part. We are that good. After the party Brooke was wanting some coke, so we headed to China Town. Backspace had to high of a cover charge so we went to Ground Kontrol and drank (cokes). And played Pac Man. And dominated Pac Man.

Finished the night off with a free donut from Voodoo thanks to Brooke's new roomie who works there. Love hanging with my Liver.

Southwest Deal

2011-10-11T08:30:00.000-07:00

Many of you have asked me about Southwest deals. I don't get discounts and I am not usually one to know about specials going on, but I did stumble upon this today. Two of my favorite things have come together - Groupon and Southwest Airlines. Take advantage of it! It's available from Portland, San Francisco and San Diego!

Southwest Airlines – Portland

$40 Toward a Roundtrip Flight from Portland to Las Vegas

Honor Flight

2011-10-11T01:56:00.000-07:00

Oregon World War II vets arrive in Washington to see 'their' memorial

I was working the gates at work when these Veterans came back from D.C. It was an honor to be able to thank them for their service so many years ago. Despite different opinions about war these days, there wasn't a single person in that boarding area that wasn't clapping in appreciate for these men. As they came off the plane, it was great to see the smiles on their faces to know that they are appreciated. We have the freedoms we do because of them and clapping for 5 minutes was the least we could do to thank them for that. I love being apart of such an awesome company that supports so many amazing organizations!

Go Ducks!

2011-10-10T00:50:00.000-07:00

Thursday night I made my first trip down to Autzen for a Oregon Ducks game. It's funny, I've been to the Rose Bowl game two years ago, the Oregon/LSU game in Dallas this year, and I was about to board a plane for the Natty in Phoenix last year, but I still hadn't been to Autzen til this week.

It was amazing! We stopped at the Duck store at Washington Square first. I wasn't liking what I was wearing so I splurged and bought a jersey and shirt. Then we headed down to Eugene. The whole experience was amazing. NOTHING at all like a BYU game. NOT. EVEN. CLOSE. From the tailgating, to the attire, to the excitement level of every single fan in the stadium. I definitely chose to the wrong school to go to as far as athletics are concerned. I missed out. But it's alright, I can experience it now.

Although it never rains in Autzen, it started sprinkling right before the start of the game. Then it became heavier. There were a few moments of downpour, but it really wasn't that bad. It stopped for the second quarter. We were all dry by the end of the game. The ducks were losing at the end of the first half, so the superstition in me decided to change things up and go sit with Kelli and Brian for a bit. I stayed with them the whole second half because we were actually winning and I didn't want to ruin that.

Besides the whole LaMichael James getting hurt, it was a fun game. Makes me want to go to more now! Bring on ASU this Saturday! It's gonna be fun.

Meet Me in St Louis!

2011-10-09T23:30:00.000-07:00

This has been the week of sports sports sports!

Monday I got off work and flew to Las Vegas to hang out with my brothers. Tuesday morning we rose early to head to St. Louis for the Cardinals game that night!

After the traditional pre-game meal at J Bucks, we headed to the rally across the street from the stadium.

We had heard they were giving away tickets to the games and thought we could maybe score better seats. Instead I scored this...

They said the first person to show a ticket from another game would win it. We pulled one out of the bag Morty had and I started jumping up and down waving it in my hand! I think I was the only one who had one, so there wasn't really a need to freak out about it. I went to the front and collected my prize. Now, what to do with it??

Although we lost, the game was still exciting! There was lots of rally towel waving. We came so close to pulling ahead so many times.

After the game we met up with Jennifer for another tradition: Ted Drewes!

I've mentioned their pumpkin pie concrete before. It was delicious as always. A trip to St. Louis is not complete without a little Ted Drewes. I am so glad we got to see and stay with Jennifer. Her trip to Napa this week fell perfectly with my trip out there so that we could hang out, go to the game and watch the sing-off together at night. We love our shows!

Here's to hoping I can get a ticket to the game on Thursday. I am making the trip no matter what. I can't miss the action!

Go Crazy Folks!

2011-09-30T11:51:00.000-07:00

So proud of my Cardinals! Never giving up. Thanks to the Braves downfall we had a chance. It came down to the final game of the season and we were able to pull out the W with a Braves big fat L. Post season here we come! I accidentally picked up a shift tomorrow night at work. But I am confident the game will be over by 4 here.

{Don't even try to use this ticket. The barcode is missing...}

Can't wait for Tuesdays game in St. Louis! Let's get it done in Philly so that we can celebrate a Division Championship on Tuesday night with some Ted Drewes! :)

Sunday Funday?

2011-09-29T23:16:00.000-07:00

Everyone these days is using the term Sunday Funday. This obviously implies that Sunday is a day of fun, right? I wished so much as a child that Sunday could be another play day. But my religion strongly believes that we must use Sunday as a day of rest.

"Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy" Exodus 20:8

When I was a kid and my grandma would come over for dinner, I knew I had to stay in my church clothes or I got a lecture from her. Back then I didn't see the point - it was a race for me and my siblings to see who could change out of their church clothes the fastest as soon as we got home. But now I definitely feel a difference when I choose to stay dressed nicely. It reminds me constantly that it is still the sabbath day and therefore I should be acting differently than any other day.

So the point of this rant... Last week was the first Sunday in a long time that I was able to fully enjoy. I didn't have to work. I wasn't waking up early in a different city to catch a plane home. I didn't have plans with friends. I was able to wake up in my own bed and get ready for church without being rushed or preparing a change of clothes for my activities afterward. I knew that I needed to take advantage of this day because starting this Sunday I will be working on the weekends again. So I won't be able to attend my ward.

But while sitting in church listening to some Family History specialist spew off stats about ancestors, temples and such I got a text from a friend -yes I look at my phone in church, who doesn't?- asking if I wanted to join her and another friend on a drive to the coast later that day. I was totally in. My only stipulation was to leave a little later so I could stay for church. While explaining the Keep the Sabbath Day Holy aspect of my religion to another friend, he didn't understand why going to the coast was any different than meeting him at a restaurant later that night. I argued that it is completely different. But is it really?

Is a walk along the beach breaking the Sabbath Day? I think not. I called it enjoying the creations. God gave us this beautiful earth. And I took the time to enjoy it on Sunday.

We parked at the first beach entrance we came to in Cannon Beach and walked all the way down to haystack rock. The tide was way out so the tide pools were fun to look at. Lots of mussels and starfish were hanging from the big rocks. The weather was perfect. It had been raining in Portland so we were unsure of the weather at the beach. But it turned out to be so perfect. I love days like this. Sometimes I find myself thinking that the coast is too far away. But for just an hour and a half drive I was able to enjoy one of my favorite scenes. I need to take more advantage of that.

Go Cougs

2011-09-27T10:36:00.000-07:00

Two weekends ago (yes I am behind) I had planned on spending my Saturday watching football and organizing all my stuff at my parent's house. I hadn't really touched any of my stuff since I moved at the beginning of the month. But on the way home from work on Friday night circa 11pm I decided that I would rather attend a football game then watch it on TV. So I made arrangements and set my alarm for early the next morning. Saturday I woke up and no sooner was I heading to SLC. (My coworkers tease me that SLC is the only place I go to. Yes, I may fly there a lot, but I go many other places too!) I met my brothers in the airport. Their flight from Vegas got in an hour after mine. Then we headed down to Cougar Town for the BYU vs. Utah football game - The Holy War or The Desert Duel as some like to call it. We stopped at Grandma's to drop our stuff off and visit. Then we met up with some friends at Costa Vida aka Cafe Rio copycat. My Guru's suggestion got knocked down. I was not happy about this. Sometimes I crave those sweet potato fries. If only there was one in SLC, I would be flying in just for lunch at that place. So good.

After lunch we headed up to campus to get some stuff at the bookstore. I love my little visits back to campus. Especially with Mallory. After nap time and some more visiting we were on our way to the stadium with streamers in hand for all the touchdown celebrations we expected. If only we'd known...

Minus the fact that we lost, it was still fun to be there with friends and family. It was to be able to meet up with old friends that I no longer get to see anymore. Plus we got a picture with Cosmo!

My plan was to fly out early Sunday morning to get back for my church in Portland, but I decided Saturday night to stay and fly out later so I could go with my brothers to my sister's house for dinner. Finally got to see their new house. Their girls were fun to play with and Bill and Heidi made bomb dinner as always. Plus we were treated to some of Bill's famous apple pie!

Fun weekend. Love my job. Can't wait for the next trip!

Go Ducks

2011-09-16T12:16:00.001-07:00

Follow up from last nights post:

The final product from the paint your own pottery playdate I had last week. The green didn't turn out the right color but all in all I think it turned out well. Some things I'll do differently next time. But I'm pretty happy with this. Moat of all, I've never considered myself good at drawing. But this duck looks pretty good if I do say so myself. All freehand baby.

Who's down for a playdate next? I'll do my BYU plate next I think.

Blog Catch Up

2011-09-16T01:18:00.000-07:00

I love blogs! I just spent the last hour and a half catching up on old friends via their blogs. Each one inspired me to not only be more consistent at blogging, but to have more interesting posts. Because I feel that everyone else's blogs are more interesting. But maybe that's only because I love knowing what's going on in everyone's lives.

What's going on in mine?

1. I am working a ton right now. I am trying to pick up a few hours here and there so that I can get some extra money saved up for some sunshine getaways when it gets cold and dark here in Portland.

2. Speaking of cold and dark, it rained today. And I am happy. I love jacket weather. Boots and a light jacket/sweater plus a scarf are my fave! Especially this summer. I didn't feel like wearing all my summer skirts I have so I was always struggling to find outfits. So bring on the cold!

3. I also am trying to work more and get more cash flow so I can move out into my own apartment. I am not finding anything I love right now which frustrates me to no end. But I am holding out. No need to rush into a lease if I have a perfectly good place to stay for now.

4. I got a tip today at work. $15! I was helping this guy who missed his flight to BOS by 10 minutes because he read the time wrong. If I were to rebook him on my computer it would have cost him over $200 more than what he paid for his original ticket. I felt bad for the dude and we had no line so I started looking at other options and decided to go on our website to see if there was a cheaper deal. Sure enough I helped him rebook himself online and it didn't cost him a penny extra. So he was very grateful and handed me a tip even though I told him I wasn't allowed to take it. He was cute, so he probably just was hitting on me. Typical. But really I am glad I was able to help him out.

5. My body hurts. In preparation for Hawaii: Dec '11, I am restarting to be serious about working out. Jillian Michaels is affecting me more now than ever before. Once I add regular running with it maybe things will be different.

6. BYU/Utah football game. Do I go? Or stay here in Portland for a relaxing weekend of football all day Saturday?

7. I missed Peanut Butter French Toast by 30 minutes today. So Ben and Lauren and I have started a weekly tradish of going to breakfast every week. We go to a place called Jam. I LOVE it. I always get the same El Paso scramble. The thing I love the most is the portions are gargantuan and I am able to eat leftovers for the next few meals. Well today we went a little early so we could eat before Lauren had to work. As we were finishing up the cook started erasing the daily special and began putting up a new one. Texas Toast filled with peanut butter and white chocolate chips. drizzled with chocolate syrup. I asked the waiter how often that is the special and he said it was the first time he has seen it. So just in case we never saw it again, Ben and I considered ordering it to go for a later meal. After much deliberation we decided to forego the extra food and just press our luck. So cross your fingers it's there next time. Speaking of next time, I was wearing a SWA shirt today and the waiter commented on it and said he remembered seeing me in my uniform last week. Yeah, don't worry about it. We've become regulars. N.B.D.

8. I get to pick up the final product from my hours of painting last friday:

I can't wait to see how the green and yellow turn out. I have decided to make my own dinnerware. I will make one for all my favorite teams.

Ok, that's it for now. Until next time.

Cowboy Classic

2011-09-06T11:50:00.000-07:00

On Saturday I went to the Oregon vs. LSU game at Cowboy Stadium. My brother, Morty, had two extra tickets so he gave them to my other brother, Nate, and me. They were SRO, so we didn't actually have a seat. But it was still fun to be there with all of the excitement. Despite the loss, I would do it again. (Maybe bring my LSU shirt this time instead... Juuust kidding)

I got off work early on Thursday just in time to catch the last flight to Las Vegas where my brothers live. So Friday morning we got up and all flew together to Dallas. We wore our matching shirts. I had suggested that we do that when I bought them and never thought it would happen. But we all came downstairs in the same shirt that morning. Our connecting flight in ABQ was a plane that had come directly from PDX so it was full of 97 Duck fans already. The few non-Oregon fans definitely felt out of the loop. Luckily I sat right in between two of them. They were both cowboys from TX and Tulsa. I love cowboys!

After getting settled at the hotel we met up with a friend from BYU. He introduced us to THE BEST BBQ in Dallas. I was a little skeptical of him choosing a good place at first. I wanted some real BBQ, and I was kinda feeling like I was about to be disappointed. Boy was I wrong. We went to Hard Eight BBQ. So first things first, you walk outside to the smoker and you choose the meat that you want. You point to what you want and tell him how many pounds you want. Then they put that on a tray and weigh it and price the meat right there.

Then you walk inside and pick all of your sides. You have so much to choose from: Fries, the most delicious onion rings (you can tell they are homemade), mac and cheese, potato salad, creamed corn, salad, all the fixin's. Then you pay for what you picked and find a seat and eat away.

This is the before picture. My brothers and I had two trays together and were sharing it amongst all of us. This was one of the trays.

This is the after... This restaurant definitely is something to add to the pro list when deciding if I will move to Dallas. I HIGHLY recommend this place to everyone. Their brisket is delish!

We decided not to go to Gameday at the stadium in the morning. We enjoyed lazily waking up and watching football in the hotel room. Man that Auburn game was close. It would have been nice to see Utah State beat them, but alas, the better team always wins. (usually) Morty and I took a halftime break and went to get some Sprinkles cupcakes! Always gotta get my Sprinkles!

Then we headed to lunch at Pappasitos by the Stadium to watch the Alma Mater before heading to the Oregon game. If I had a penny for every time I heard an LSU fan say "Tiger Bait," I'd be rich! We started just saying it for them. Most of them were three sheets to the wind by the time the game started anyway. After we were done with breakfast at the hotel circa 10am we say the LSU fans leaving their rooms, alcohol in hand, dragging coolers full of more heading out to tailgate. So 8 hours later around game time they were goners.

I've decided I shouldn't go to any big games anymore. After seeing them lose at the rose bowl and this game I must be bad luck... But it was still fun to cheer on the ducks for the first game of the season. Let's hope the rest of the season pulls out some W's!

Go Ducks!

I Don't Want To Grow Up

2011-09-04T14:12:00.001-07:00

Cause I'm a Toys R Us kid...

Remember when you were a kid and would give anything to do adult things? I couldn't wait to reach the tall cupboards, stay up as late as I want to, have no curfew, make my own decisions, not have to go to school anymore, make lots of money... We'll now that I've grown up and had the chance to do all these things I'd say they are overrated. After spending all my free time searching for a place to live that fits in my budget with no luck I'm definitely over being a grown up. Sometimes I wish I could be back in elementary school where the biggest obstacle is figuring out how to get Tommy to stop chasing you on the playground.

But mostly I miss being able to hula hoop! I used to be a pro at it. But last weekend at my company picnic I was challenged to a hh contest. I failed miserably! I could barely keep it up long enough to take a picture! All the 5 year old girls were kicking my butt! One of them was giving me advise. "It just takes lots of practice." If I was their age, things would have been different that's for sure...

Moved

2011-09-02T19:23:00.001-07:00

Wednesday afternoon I said goodbye to my apartment in the city. I gave my 30 days notice at the beginning of the month because I was read for a change. I loved the studio minus one thing: the kitchen. Although it had what most apartments don't have, a dishwasher, it was too small for what I need. With one drawer I was struggling for room to put lots of my kitchen stuff. A few more feet of counter space would have been helpful too. So I decided to find something that fit my needs better.
Unfortunately the whole first have of last month my residency in portland was up in the air. I didn't know how much longer I'd be there, so I didn't want to sign any leases. So my search was put on the back burner. Once I knew for sure I'd be staying in the city of roses for awhile it was too late to find something I loved in my budget. So moved all my stuff to my parents house in beaverton.
I don't know how permanent this situation will be, but I'm definitely grateful this is an option. Living in a different state for 6 years, its weird having my parents as an option to fall back on. I've always been such an independent person.
Next step, gotta do some rearranging. Adrianne's old room is now gonna be mine. Seeing as how I don't love horses, or even animals in general, I'm gonna change a few things in her room. Sorry adrianne. It's time to get out the boxes...
As for the future? I'll be actively searching for a new place to call my own. Preferably in NW Portland so I can be a #nwneighb!

Pay It Forward

2011-08-25T12:51:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was a day filled with unhappy passengers. It seemed nothing I did was good enough for people. Funny that the two people that were the most frustrated were the people who I helped the most. They were just too busy seeing the negative (negativity they actually brought upon themselves by not reading the guidelines for traveling on southwest) to see that I was being super helpful.

Tangent:
Let's say you flew to Oregon for a big fishing trip... would you look at the airline's website to see what the rules were for checking the fish?

If you were traveling with an infant, would you check with the airlines to see what kind of documentation you needed to make that possible?

Ok, back to topic.

So among all these unhappy passengers I was delightfully surprised when a random guy gave me a gift after I helped him. He asked me if I rode public transportation or drove to work. I was happy to report that I took the max. Then he asked how I pay for it, if I have a monthly pass or buy individual tickets. I told him I just buy tickets. So he handed me a pass good for the rest of this month! He was leaving town til September and wouldn't be using it anymore! I nearly jumped for joy! I thanked the guy a million times while trying to think of what I could give him. Nothing came to mind unfortunately. I wish I would have written down his name to send him a thank you.

So if by chance you're reading this post, Mr. Anon from Phoenix, THANK YOU!

Now its my turn to pay it forward.

Hygiene Checklist

2011-08-24T13:08:00.001-07:00

This afternoon I boarded the blue line train in beaverton heading towards my apartment downtown. After only having a handful of cheerios for breakfast I was pretty hungry and getting to the point of feeling sick to my stomach from the hunger. After I got on a very large woman boarded the train wearing a sleeveless dress. All of a sudden I got a whiff of her stench and almost lost it. Why do people choose not to wear deodorant? How do you not smell yourself when you smell that bad? Unfortunately I was 15 minutes from my apartment when she got on. Every time she moved we would get a fresh smell.

When I have my own world I am going to add a few rules non existent to this one.

Rule #1: if you plan on riding public transportation you must complete a checklist prior to boarding the bus or train. If you do not answer yes to all of these, you may not board.

1. Did you shower?
2. Did you brush your teeth?
3. Did you apply deodorant?
4. Did you brush your hair?
4. Have you recently washed the clothes that you are wearing?
5. Do you wash your hands after going to the bathroom?

This shirtless guy did not pass. In my world, he would not be able to board.

p.s. as I am typing this post, 2 smelly people have walked past me to get off the train. Showers people!!

Blogging from my phone

2011-08-24T12:44:00.001-07:00

I never update my blog. I have the time for it. But after a long day at work, for some reason sitting at my computer and typing out a post feels like a chore. Plus the times when I get inspiration to write about something are when I am out and about. So I found an app for my phone. Hopefully this will mean more frequent posts!

Be seeing you soon!

Utah, People Working Together

2011-07-29T09:20:00.000-07:00

I realllly need to go to Utah for a few reasons. (Never thought I would say that) And I can't find the time with work and other fun stuff out here getting in the way... I feel like I am booked up for the next two months and it's giving me anxiety. I remember the days when I could just hop on a plane on my day off and get away from everything for a day or two. Now I have "responsibilities" out here that limit that. My reasons for the needed visit to the Beehive state?

1. I miss my friends
2. I have a groupon expiring next month that needs to be used. Well two actually. But one is important because it was a bday present to Malpal. And I need to set up a time with her to use it.
3. I NEED a haircut! My hair is getting too long! I only go to a girl in Provo these days. I have gone to others in between Utah visits and have not been satisfied with the outcome. So no one else gets to touch my hair.
4. I want Cafe Rio.
5. I miss my friends. I might have said that already but it's worth repeating.

So in honor of my desire to return to Provo, I will post about my last trip out there. Which, by the way was probably my favorite. I wish I would have taken more pictures to document the day, but you'll just have to use your imagination.

First off, I had to go to Provo to use a groupon that was expiring for the Sweet Tooth Fairy. So I stopped there first to stock up on cupcakes and treats for everyone. Then I headed to Ty's. The day was spent running errands for him. Some of you may question the excitement level of running errands. You just haven't experienced it with us.

I made my annual return to the No Shhh zone at the Harold B. Lee. That and the 4th floor were my favorite places to be in the Lib. We were on campus to print and post these fliers for Ty. He needs work people. So if you know anyone needing an accompanist or needing someone to play at a wedding give him a call!

Mal and Ty thought it would be fun to walk on the red tape that was hanging in the HFAC hallways, only to find that it was there to keep people from walking on the sticky floor. Now the red tape was stuck to the floor. So Ty did some damage control.
Since Ty is poor these days he rarely eats out when I come visit. So this time we catered to his needs. He had coupons for free kids meals from Rubios. Mal and I were a little skeptical about using them since it so for kids 10 and under. And let's be honest, we clearly do not look 10. But Ty will do whatever it takes to get something free.

Next stop, were else but Walmart. It's the place to be these days. We were on the hunt for the OraBrush. Ty has cured his horrible bad breath with this bad boy and he was determined to help his father out also. Mal and I decided to take the plunge and check it out for ourselves also.

Not only do we get the orabrush with our purchase, but we get follow up emails from our own personal consultant to see how things are going:

How are my ora-brush girls doing???

Just wanted to follow up with you two and make sure you were getting the most out of your $4 purchase.

I want you to know that I'm here for moral support and can testify as a success story of someone who has MAJOR gagging reflexes, yet has made ora-brushing part of my daily oral hygiene for the past year or so. You can do eeet!

I am also willing to provide a complimentary How-To demonstration for both of you. Mal, we can do it in person. You just may need to let down your guard and be vulnerable so we can do it together.

Katie, we can skype it. Or heck, just fly out here again lol. Golf and an ora-brush demonstration.

Either way, I want both of you using it so you can be on your way to a healthier and breathier lifestyle.

Much love,

Your Ora-Brush Consultant and Friend
Ty

Stella was looking a little dirty so we took her to the car wash to get cleaned up. Another one of mine and Ty's favorite things. It seemed like every time he was going to take it to get a wash he would call me to see if I wanted to come along. We fell in love with the Sonic car wash in Orem because they had free vacuums after the wash. Isn't she pretty?

Next stop, UVU campus to post more fliers. I wish you could have seen the precision at which Ty hung each paper to the wall. It had to be perfect. This picture is a little blurry but you can see he was serious about it. Plus with the chairs there he had to make sure when people sat down they wouldn't pull it down with their back or head.

Next we went to play ping pong with some of Ty's new meat head friends. Correction: Ty played ping pong. Mal and I got to sit on the couch and watch him.

Our final stop of the day was Redbox to get the best movie to come out this year. I hope it gets all the awards it deserves. Never Say Never. Yes, I made Ty watch it. Mal didn't come along for that part. She had to go home. Even though we had an early tee time the next morning, Ty and I stayed up and watched the first half of the movie. After golf the next day we finished it. I think he's a new fan!

The trip was capped off by an early morning tee time on Tuesday at my favorite place in Utah, Hobble Creek. Such a gem. It felt like we were the only ones on the course for awhile. We had fun. I think I won. After golf we at breakfast and then it was time to drive my SUV back up to Salt Lake to go back home. Yes, I rented an SUV. No, I did not get the economy car that I had a reservation for. Reservations with car rental companies are worthless. See my old post for more explanation. I ended up paying like $30 in gas just to fill the tank to go from slc to provo and back. Thanks gas guzzler.

It was a fun packed trip and I am itching for another one soon. I love those two kids very much. They are always so much fun to be around. I need to get them out here to Portland!

so good so good so good

2011-06-03T20:33:00.000-07:00

Hi guys. I'm alive. I promise.

Are you ever wondering what to do with dying bananas? Instead of making banana bread (because sometimes you plan so well and even bring the bananas with you on your trip to Las Vegas to make it for your brothers and it doesn't turn out.) make these cookies instead. I hear this is an Emily and Jake specialty.

Creepy Vans

2011-04-22T14:55:00.001-07:00

Yesterday while walking out of my apartment I saw two people around the corner. Even though it didn't look abnormal, for some reason I had the feeling that they were fighting. Sure enough after this thought popped in my head they began yelling at each other and using their arms and feet to convey their message. They were in a serious fight. I was on my way to catch the max to meet my parents downtown so I had to keep walking. But the funny things is that the farther away from them I got, the more I could hear them. Funny how that works. From my glances over my shoulder every few seconds I could see that the boy had now moved into the van they were arguing next to and the girl was still standing outside of it yelling at him. She was kicking and screaming and everything. I got semi nervous.

This van has been parked outside of my place for the longest time. It's slightly creepy, mainly because it hasn't moved much. Parking outside my place is metered parking. Leaving a car there for days can get quite expensive and annoying having to feed the meter every five hours from 8am to 7pm. Anyway. I never do this, but I called 911. And reported a domestic dispute. As I was talking to dispatch I could still see the couple and the girl seemed to be giving up and starting to walk away. I debated whether or not to tell the dispatcher this though, because I still thought it best for an officer to come make sure everything is alright. Who knows if anything bad was about to happen. I decided to tell her. She asked if the police were still needed. I said it would be a good idea for them to at least drive by. She said they would only come if there was hitting. Our conversation ended there.

Right then the max came and as I hopped on I felt great about being a good citizen/neighbor. But I know somewhere in Portland at least one police officer could have ended their donut break a few minutes earlier in order to make sure things were ok. The van was still there when I got home that night. I was half tempted to peek inside to see if the boy was sleeping in there. So weird.

In other news. Kelli and I walked to get our nails done a few days ago. I was wearing a Cardinals shirt and she was wearing a Red Sox sweatshirt (one that I had given her ;) As we walked across the street we not only passed by a Cubs fan, but also a Yankees fan. What are the odds?

Who's Bed Have Your Boots Been Under

2011-04-10T18:17:00.001-07:00

I did karaoke last night. My friends and I actually go quite often. I don't usually sing when we go though. A beautiful voice is not something I was blessed with. So I usually sit it out and let others shine on the stage. So nice of me, I know. But last night Lauren came with me. And right away she chose a song for us to sing. Before I knew it I was handing our slip to the DJ. After what seemed like eternity, we were up on the stage singing a good country tune. "Who's Bed Have Your Boots Been Under" would have been much better if we were both wearing our boots that we bought together in Dallas. But it was still great nonetheless.

That song prompted me to do this before church this morning...

I spent my whole first paycheck from Southwest on these boots. And I never wear them now. Lauren got some that were way cooler. But I am not completely in love with mine anymore. They are so huge on me. That's supposed to be the style, but when you already have large feet, there's nothing cute about wear boots with an elongated toe. So, any takers??

My BFF, MAX

2011-03-23T21:01:00.000-07:00

I now regularly commute to work on the MAX. Although it requires being ready 30 minutes earlier than if I drove to work, it's worth it. I hate driving my car lately. I park it far away from my apartment downtown so it's inconvenient to use it. I like to challenge myself to figure out alternative ways to get around. Apparently it didn't take me long to return to the Portland roots I left behind almost 7 years ago. Living with the parents in Beaverton made using public transportation a little difficult, but now that I am downtown it's so much easier than driving around.

Last month I was starting work at 5am. The first MAX gets to the airport at 4:45. And the next one isn't until 5:15. So I only have one option. I can't miss the train. I was doing so well until the final week on the dreaded schedule. I was down at the station in enough time but I had a feeling I didn't have my badge on me. So I quickly scanned my backpack. I didn't find it so I ran up the stairs to my apartment. Threw apart my room to look for it. After a minute I decided to check my backpack again. It was in there the whole time. So I flew back down the stairs. Ran to the stop only to see the back of the train already gone. My instincts kicked in and I started to run. See here's the thing. The weekend before that I had decided instead of driving home in rush hour traffic I was going to leave my car parked at the airport and take the MAX instead. It seemed like a great idea until this moment. Of course I had to miss the train on a morning when my car wasn't parked downtown. After running through downtown unsuccessfully I walked up to a parked cab, bartered my way down to a $20 ride instead of $35. After that I swore I would never leave my car at the airport.

I love my commute though. The crazy things I see every day keep me coming back. Exhibit A:

How did you forget that you weren't wearing your shoes anymore?

I do have one suggestion for TriMet. Everyone riding should be required to be clean and smell good. I'm just saying...

SHOUT IT OUT!!

2011-02-19T18:16:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago my cuz, Laura texted me and told me she was craving my cupcakes. Funny, cause I was too. (The baker inside of me has disappeared for awhile :( ). I told her she must come up to Portland and visit in order to get some. She told me she couldn't right now. Why? Because she's feeling a bit under the weather these days... Why? Cause she's PREGGO!!!!!!!! I got so excited I called her right then (even though I was working). I didn't care if I got busted on my phone.
THIS was BIG news! She's been trying for years and not having any luck. Finally a little Field baby is coming to Clovis!! Then she proceeded to tell me, I couldn't tell anyone yet. WHAT?!?! how was I supposed to keep a huge secret like that?? Well, I am happy to report that I was successful. I almost slipped a few times. But she has finally announced it to the world, so now I can be super excited for her and tell everyone. I just read all of her blog posts about the pregnancy and couldn't help but get a little teary-eyed. This was a looooooong time coming for a well-deserving couple.

CONGRATS LA AND DREWSK!

You guys are going to be great parents. I can't wait for September 17th!
I love Christmas miracles :)

WANTED: Roommate for SWF

2011-02-02T12:39:00.000-08:00

I successfully convinced someone to move to Portland! All it took was two visits and she was sold. Actually I am pretty sure she was sold during the first visit, but she had to pass a little thing we like to call probation before she could transfer... It's official now though and I am SOOOO excited! I wish I would have held off on moving just a month longer. But I am here in my new place for a few more months and there's not a whole lot of room for two people in here. So that means we've got to find Lauren a place to stay in Portland. Anyone looking for a roommate or know of others looking for one? She starts out here March 1st.

If you know of anything let me know!

Under the Weather

2011-01-04T12:11:00.000-08:00

The fact about music is its power to evoke emotions. Music has the ability to inevitably tap the still, mysterious deep well of our emotions. What's also interesting is the different emotions that come from a single song depending on your current state. I have listened to a certain song many times and thought nothing of it. But when I listened to it last night, I felt the words speaking to me and really comforting me when I needed it. Music has so much power!

I am also amazed at the perfect timing of some things. The inspiration we receive to help others along, is truly a testament that there is a God. Many times I have done things for others without a single thought that it would be just what they needed at that time. We are the hands of God on this earth. Phillipians 2:13 says "For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure." When I recognize this in my life I can't help but thank God for the people he has placed in my life. I am surrounded by amazing people!

Thank you Ty for sending the CD. It arrived yesterday and could not have been at a better time. I love every single song you chose. It's exactly what I needed to feel comfort from a friend when I felt so alone.

On my agenda today:
Listen to this playlist on repeat. All day.

New Life, New Hope, New Joy He Brings

2010-12-06T13:00:00.000-08:00

Heard this song on my way home from work last night. Reminded me of the Holidays back in Provo a few years ago with Malpal. We LOVED to blast this song and sing at the top of our lungs. How about a repeat of that when I fly out there next week??

No Way Josessica!

2010-11-10T00:19:00.001-08:00

Last night while working super hard I looked at my phone to see a text from my bff saying "leave work and bake with me." Only because I had been wanting to bake something pumpkin did I think this was a great idea! Who cares about making money at work, when you can bake delicious treats at home with a friend. Right???

So we rendezvoused at my house an hour later. After perusing through recipe books and Food Network Magazines we gave up and went online to find the perfect pumpkin treat.

This is where Rachel Ray sometimes comes in handy. The other times she's just loud and makes weird recipes with hot dogs...

Cheesecake-Filled Pumpkin Cupcakes

We read the comments and saw that the frosting was no bueno so I just whipped together some cream cheese frosting and it turned out great. You can never go wrong with cream cheese.

{My friend thought she could steal one before they were frosted.}

{the final product}

I'm saving mine for my lunch tonight at work. Can't wait.

and they call it pumpkin love

2010-11-09T13:03:00.000-08:00

I love fall for two reasons. First: I love jackets, coats, hoodies, ponchos... you name it. I love layering. Second: I love pumpkin!

Pumpkin pie, pumpkin cookies, pumpkin cupcakes, pumpkin bread, pumpkin bagel with pumpkin shmear, pumpkin ice cream, pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin cheesecake... i.e. I love anything that has pumpkin in it. Last weekend while in St. Louis I tried the pumpkin pie concrete at Ted Drewes. It was a slice of pumpkin pie mixed in with vanilla custard. OMG. If only it was around all year I would probably fly to St. Louis on a weekly basis just to eat that. I had it on Friday night and I am still thinking about it. Even after getting the pumpkin milkshake at Blue Plate Diner yesterday, I couldn't erase the delicious memory from my taste buds. I must go back. Soon.

Moral of the story. I wish November could last forever.

Road Trip!

2010-10-20T10:54:00.001-07:00

I live for these things. Taking a drive through the Southern states this weekend. I love my job.

OMG! OMG! OMG!

2010-09-13T10:00:00.000-07:00

It's BAAAAACCCKKK!!!! My life will officially return to normal when I watch tonight's season premier of Gossip Girl. I have been waiting for this day for sooo long. So many unanswered questions. It's a good thing my new schedule starting in October has Monday nights off so I can watch GG! I will miss GG nights at the 3030, but I hope to quickly find a replacement.

Although I am a little nervous that I am over television. I haven't turned on the tv in a LONG time. Over 2 months probably. Except for my Monday night Bachelor Pad at Kelli's, I don't watch the tube. My life is too exciting right now to sit on the couch.

Nothing will stop me from watching Chuck Bass. Thank you CW.

p.s. I am also excited for Life Unexpected. Did anyone else watch that last season? I thought maybe it wouldn't make it to a second season, but I'm glad it did. It's filmed here in Portland so it's fun to watch.

Listen to the Music

2010-09-12T21:54:00.000-07:00

Last night while pulling up to my driveway I remember Coldplay "Clocks" playing on the radio. When I turned my car on this morning, guess what was playing?!? "Clocks" What are the chances? Well unfortunately they are great, because the radio keeps playing the same songs over and over again. While it's fun to hear Wilson Phillips often and remember Aric Johnstone and the Walner brothers lip syncing to "Hold On" at an assembly in high school, it gets kind of annoying that the station can't pick other songs. I usually listen to 101.9 these days. I love getting to hear new music from Portland bands. But when I turn to other stations like 103.3 and especially 100.3 I hear the same music over and over. While I loved California Girls when I first heard it, after the 3,000th time, it's gotten pretty old.

Why are these stations not playing some old school hits? They don't even have to be that old. What about all the top songs of the decade? We've had some pretty good music over the years. At what point does a station determine that they will stop playing a song cold turkey? It seems like they play it 50 times a day and then all of a sudden you never hear it anymore. I should be a radio DJ. I would be so good at it. I need to get a new iphone hookup for my car so I can just be my own DJ.

In other music news, I just found out Hanson is coming to Portland at the end of the month and I REALLY want to go. Who wants to go with me? September 22nd at the Wonder Ballroom. Has anyone realized that they've come back? They're album, The Walk, is actually pretty good. Grooveshark them next time you're getting ready and you'll love it.

Steal of a Deal

2010-07-02T10:11:00.000-07:00

Fresno Groupon has a great deal today!

$40 for $100 worth of Clothing and Accessories from Shabby Apple!

I love Shabby Apple. It's a bit over my budget right now though, so this groupon is perfect!

You can buy 2 of these so you pay $80 and get $200 SA buckaroos! Sweet! PLUS they are having a 20% off sale right now. Not sure if that will work with this deal yet.

To get yours click here

Happy Shopping!

Life is Rough

2010-06-15T09:50:00.001-07:00

Dear KION,

I really wish I could have said yes to your offer. You made the decision tough. But ultimately I had to go with my gut. My heart is in PDX. I can't leave this place just yet. I already left it back in 2004 and it was rough then. I didn't want to have to go through another heartbreak. I hope you'll understand. I am so lucky to have been your top choice. Good luck.

Sincerely,

Just another college grad who decided her major isn't really what she wants to do anymore.

Do It Yourself

2010-06-10T10:48:00.000-07:00

This is going to be my next project! I stocked up on pocket v necks a few weeks ago for easy summer wear. And now all I need are a few fun skirts to go with them. I have been shopping around for some, but with my non existent funds, it's hard to feel good about buying any of them. So I am going to try this out! I'm off to the fabric store!

For a tutorial, go here.

Oh What Do You Do In The Summertime?

2010-06-08T08:57:00.000-07:00

Yesterday in a phone interview for a job I was asked what I do when I'm not working. I'm pretty sure my future employer is not the only one who would like to know. I am frequently asked that question by friends and family. I'm done with school and have no job. What do I do everyday?!?!

1. Traveling. I have all this free time, so I am taking advantage of it. I have gone on a lot of fun trips in the past couple of months. From last minute trips to Utah and California to long awaited trips to Spain and Hawaii. I love to travel! There's nothing better than packing up and leaving for a few days. As long as I don't have a job, I will keep filling my time with fun (yet cheap) trips!

2. Running. Well at least that's what I used to do apparently. With all the above traveling, it is hard to stay on a steady running schedule. I am supposed to be training for a half marathon coming up in a few weeks. But can't seem to get back into my long-run groove. I wouldn't say that I love running yet, but I do love the escape. Hopefully Portland is done with it's monsoon rains so I can get back onto a good schedule.

3. Reading. School killed my love for reading. Textbook after textbook of boring material from boring GE classes made me never want to pick up a book again. But while in Hawaii, my friends and I had a little book club. We'd thought it would be fun to all read the same book and discuss. I wasn't too thrilled with the book choice so I skipped reading for the first few days. But as soon as I was forced, I was hooked. Now I find myself going to the library once a week to return a handful of books for a new handful of books. I love my new library card! Right now I am really into Jodi Picoult books thanks to Lindsay. I love her style of writing!

4. Baseball. It's baseball season. I have nothing to do. So now I can concentrate on it 24/7. I am able to catch a lot of the rare Cardinals games on TV out here. And I have been able to catch 2 A's games in Oakland already. In a few weeks I'll be going to St. Louis to catch a few Cardinals games at Busch Stadium. I. Can't. Wait.

5. Baking. I'm still making lots and lots of cupcakes. My grandma usually calls me about once a week to make an "order." So that gives me the opportunity to make a new kind or test my new decorating skills. I have been given a few fun decorating books recently so I have lots of ideas to try. I usually try and find something that will go along with my Sunbeam lesson every Sunday. Sometimes it's easy, and sometimes I have to really stretch to justify taking cupcakes to them all the time. I just got a few new accessories for my KitchenAid and can't wait to break them in. When I was in San Francisco last week I found myself spending a long time in Sur La Table. I don't know why, since we have one here. But I wanted to get everything in their baking section!

6. I'd never thought I'd say this but the Singles Ward. I thought I would just stick with the home ward and I would be good. But a few months ago I decided to try out the Canyon Road ward and had success. Love the people there. Lots of fun activities. We had an Amazing Race through Portland last week. Guess who's group won? That's right, mine! I've got the blisters to prove it. (I wore new shoes... and we literally ran from point to point) Yesterday we worked on floats for the Rose Parade. I got to cover a Native American's shoe with Walnuts. Now I must go to the parade to see the fruits of my labor. I am enjoying the singles ward and I'll take back almost every negative thing I've said about it in the past. The saying is true, don't knock it till you try it.

7. If I had a pool, that would cover #1-6. That's all I would do. Brings me back to my days at King Henry. When all we cared about was going to the pool and happy hour at Sonic.

Why Do They Hate Your Bags?

2010-05-18T19:48:00.000-07:00

Read this:

http://news.travel.aol.com/2010/05/13/aol-mystery-flyer-southwest-airlines-report-card/

I travel a lot. I love going places. And my preferred way to get there is and has always been Southwest Airlines. Actually, when I was really young I did like TWA. But they're not around anymore and I probably only liked them because that's really all I ever knew.

I had an experience while traveling on Southwest Airlines that I will never forget. I was about 7 or 8 years old. I was traveling with at least 2 of my older brothers to go visit my dad in St. Louis. Being the youngest and a sister I was teased all the time. And this didn't stop in the air either. So after awhile one of the flight attendants noticed me traveling with my brothers and asked me to come to the front of the plane with him. His name was Buddy. He was really nice. I am not good with names at all. So remembering his name tells you how great this experience was. He had me sit down on the flight attendant's seat and he began fixing a bowl of ice cream for me! It even had chocolate syrup on it. Not only did he give me ice cream, but I am pretty sure one of my brother's came up to the front with me. So he had to sit there while I enjoyed a treat. :) I have always been a little uneasy about flying. It used to be 8 times out of 10 I would get queasy during the flight. So I would dread flying. (Now it has gotten a lot better) I swear for the next year after this experience I looked forward to flying! And I always looked for Buddy after that. Still do.

What company hires genuine, nice people like Buddy? I am convinced Southwest Airlines does not hire anyone that has ever been in a bad mood. Because it's rare to find an employee that isn't smiling, helpful and genuinely interested in making your flying experience magical! As I sit down in my seat on a flight I look forward to seeing what fun things are in store. Have you met a Southwest flight attendant that does not sing and dance? And who doesn't love their bags fly free commercials right now?

Why do they hate your bags?

As I read this article, I kept getting goosebumps thinking that I may have a chance to work for this company. May 27th can't come soon enough.

Don't Leave Without Me

2010-05-13T16:53:00.000-07:00

Do you ever find yourselves making the best purchases on items that caught your eye on your way out of the store? It's almost as if they are calling after you to say, "Wait, don't leave without me!"

I went to Nordstrom Rack today to do a return. I told myself I would only return, not buy today. But as I was walking out of the store I passed through the home accessories and saw this:

$22 is a little steep for me right now, so I almost walked away from it. Then I remembered I had american Express gift cards from graduation and my birthday still. Oddly enough while running my errands today I thought about what I would use them for. I had to stop and get a bunch of essentials at Target and thought of using one then. But I thought that was way lame to use a gift card for boring stuff. But I still hadn't decided what items I would allow myself to purchase with these cards. As I was walking away from this stand it hit me that this would be the perfect way to spend one! Because I would have loved to get this for my birthday! So thank you to my mom or grandma or the others that gave me an Amex/Visa card. Whoever wants to claim this gift to me, THANK YOU!

I already have visions of cupcakes and cookies to place on this all the time. I am just going to leave it out on my counter in my kitchen and always have it filled for visitors ;)

p.s. This Rack only had one available. If anyone sees one in another rack let me know. I kinda want two for entertaining purposes maybe? Online they are $35, but at the Rack they are only $22. What a steal.

Also I went online to look up more stuff from this company. I want all three of these! But mostly the cake stand. Or mostly all of them.

{photos courtesy of Rosanna}

Catastrophic Failure

2010-05-10T20:13:00.000-07:00

I am a big fan of Gmail. I love discovering new and exciting (to me) things about it. When I realized you could actually move emails into a folder instead of just labeling them. Loved that. Love the color-coding. It helps a lot in folders with too many emails. I love the chat function. It is the simplest way to video chat with someone. Today I found something new with Gmail that will really save my life...

A common mistake I make while sending emails is I forget to add the attachment. I have done it multiple these past few months when I have sent my resume to an employer. I tell them in the email my resume is attached and then once I hit send I realize I forgot to attach it. Then I contemplate which would be worse: sending the email again with the attachment and an apology, or just forgetting about that job because they probably think I am incompetent now anyway.

Well just a few minutes ago I almost made the mistake again, expect when I clicked to send I got a popup (like the ones that say you are sending an email without a subject line...) that said, did you forget the attachment?

Genius!

Then while checking my local library for some good books I came across this funny page.

I was trying to put a hold on a book and something went wrong. But instead of it just being a failure and telling me to try again, it was a "catastrophic failure" sounds scary. I x'd out of the page immediately before my computer blew up. (after stopping to press function F8 to take a screen shot first, of course) I am excited to encounter another problem on that website to see the different levels of failures. Unless they just consider everything that goes wrong to be catastrophic.

I love the laughs technology brings me on a daily basis. It's the simple things in life...

Out Of Control

2010-05-06T22:34:00.000-07:00

For my 24th Birthday I went skydiving in Hawaii... I know. I'm pretty cool. These were my final words before the jump.

Giveaway

2010-04-20T12:05:00.000-07:00

Want this KitchenAid? I can't tell you how much easier and more fun it is to bake now that I have my Kitchenaid. Everyone that bakes a lot should have this in their kitchen!

Start following this cooking blog that I am obsessed with and you could be a winner! Just Cook Already will choose a winner when they get 1,000 followers. So go there and follow them! And if you win, you have to share with me ;)

Craving

2010-04-14T00:27:00.000-07:00

I can't wait for a little Red Mango in Orem in a little over a week. Oh and graduating. :)

Always on Vacation

2010-04-08T13:04:00.000-07:00

I get newsletters from alwaysonvacation.com every week sent to my inbox. I don't actually read them. In fact I delete them right away. I don't know how I got signed up for them, but I am too lazy to unsubscribe. But every time I do receive an email from them I smile. It is so fitting for me to be a recipient of a newsletter from this website. As it seems I really am always on vacation. Especially right now in my unemployed stage of life. I have all the time in the world to do whatever. I may not have the unlimited funds I would like, but I make do.

On Tuesday I returned home from the most amazing trip to Spain. It was my first time traveling to Europe and I am in love. Everything was perfect. (sans the food in Spain) I will show pictures later.

Next week, on Wednesday I will fly to Fresno for some birthday celebrations. I am excited to make cupcakes for Ava's birthday party. I went to the library yesterday and came out with a few more cupcake/cake decorating books.

From Fresno I fly to Las Vegas for a few days, before I head up to Provo for my graduation. It will be a fun gathering of many family members and friends. I am excited!

A few days after graduation I will hop in a car (or two) with 6 of my friends as we make the trek to San Francisco. We will do a day in the bay area before flying to Hawaii!

I will be in Hawaii for 7 days. One of those days will be my birthday! Second time celebrating my birthday in the Aloha state. Me and 6 great friends relaxing on the white sandy beaches of the North Shore sounds so amazing right now. We are all stoked out of our minds and can't wait for April 27th to get here. I can't wait to get my hands on some delicious papaya :) This time I think I will skip trying to smuggle it back into the mainland.

Upon return, we will do a few more days in San Francisco and then it's back to regular life here in Beaverton. Hopefully I will get my butt into gear these next few days and I can have some work lined up for me upon arrival.

But right now I am just enjoying this time I get to spend with the people I love most.

Holiday in Spain

2010-03-26T17:42:00.001-07:00

In 2.5 minutes (really more like after my 13 hours in an airplane tonight and 8 hours in London) I will be taking a holiday (Easter) in Spain. Leaving my wings behind me. Drinking my worries down the drain. And flying away to somewhere new!

See ya in 10 days!

Peace, Love and Luman

Let's Ask

2010-03-25T19:22:00.000-07:00

Thursdays Tidbits of (T)Wisdom:

-Yellow polish does not look good on my toes. I have been wanting to do yellow (like taxi cab yellow) for a long time now and decided I would do it today at my pedicure. Wow did it look bad! Good thing I had pink as a backup. And I am loving this pink. (Pink Flamingo I think. Or maybe it was Flamenco)

-Tomorrow I will be taking the longest flight of my life. I hate flying. Going to Hawaii a few years ago was a killer for me. I don't know how I will do the 10 hours to London tomorrow. I might need to enlist the help of drugs.

-I dream about the Cardinals on an almost nightly basis. 2 night ago I dreamt that we landed seats on their charter flight after a game. I was in heaven.

-My ears don't like to be pierced. They are extremely infected. But I read somewhere that I shouldn't take the earrings out. If I did, the infection would stay in my ear when the holes closed up. So now I try to cover my ears with my hair when I am close to people.

-I vacuumed up a worm today. I was vacuuming downstairs by the back door and moved something out of the way only to find a worm was living under it. I panicked and just ran the vacuum over it. I don't think that was a smart idea...

-I am excited to be free from cell phone contact for the length of my trip. I opted out of getting my phone prepped for european travel. I just decided to go without it. It's quite liberating.

-I vacuumed my room and washed my sheets for the first time since February. Sick. Now I will have clean sheets to come home to in a few weeks.

-I still haven't watched this week's episode of Gossip Girl. I didn't watch last week's episode until Sunday. What is wrong with me? Am I just too busy? Doubt it. I guess it's just not the same unless I watch it with the 3030.

-I am currently fighting a speeding ticket from Tillamook County and I will cry if I don't win. I don't have $200 to pay for speeding for 2.5 seconds.

-I want to go skydiving on my birthday in Hawaii. I will only do it if I find at least one other person to go with me. The reason for wanting to do it on April 30th?? You get a free t-shirt for risking your life on your birthday. That's worth it, I think.

-I can't think of anything else at the moment. And I need to get to the mall before it closes.

I'm In Love

2010-03-25T12:43:00.001-07:00

I didn't think this was possible, but I have grown more in love with the Northwest. It's just so beautiful. In my humble opinion the Northwest is God's gift to mankind. He gave us a little taste of heaven on earth. A few weeks ago the trees started blossoming, and flowers started to bloom. Our long driveway is now lined with colors! This is my favorite part of spring. I love driving around and seeing all the flowers growing.

Yesterday I took a trip up to Seattle to check out the city with the help of a friend. I could not have chosen a better day to go. The weather was just perfect. Not too hot and not cold at all. It was in the 70s the whole time. It finally cooled down a bit around 8. I felt like I was in San Diego where it's like 68 degrees every day. One of my favorite things to do is eat outside at restaurants. It makes for a calmer meal because when you're inside the noise level is so high that you have to talk louder to the people at your table to hear each other. Plus who doesn't love sitting outside and letting the sun kiss your skin? We had BOTH lunch and dinner outside. What a treat!

The best way to explore a city is to walk, I think. So we did a lot of walking around. We even got halfway over a bridge and decided to park at the end and walk over it. The skies were so blue, so it made the view so much better. Everywhere I looked, I was in love with the view in front of me.

I have always said that after a few years of a career somewhere else I want to eventually come back to oregon and live. But right now, I don't really want to leave. Although, I will have to live in Seattle so that I can be close to a baseball stadium. Of course.
This is the best picture of the view I got all day. I need to be better and bringing my camera out for pictures. And this was even at night, so you can't tell how beautiful the day was. Plus the fact that it was blurry. We tried to hold the camera steady enough, but my little camera couldn't hack it.

We went up to this neighborhood on a hill. It had the coolest houses! We decided we should live there someday. Especially in the house in the bottom left corner of the picture. It was huge! And had a huge yard- in the middle of a city. One thing I know - I need to have a big yard when I have a family. My backyard growing up made my childhood 500 times better. Especially the days that we mowed a baseball diamond into the grass and played wiffle ball.

Moral of the story. Northwest = best place to live. Especially Beaverton.

Baked With Love

2010-03-25T11:31:00.000-07:00

I haven't blogged about cupcakes in a long time. That doesn't mean that I have stopped making them. Because if anything, I am making more lately. Ever since I got my new kitchenaid mixer, baking has been a thousand times easier and so I love doing it more. If that's even possible.

A few months ago my grandma asked me to make some cute cupcakes that she could take to a friend who had just adopted a baby girl. So my first thought was pink. After looking through my "bible" (my Martha Stewart cookbook) I decided to make little piggies. Obviously they didn't come out as perfect as Martha makes them, but they still were pretty dang cute! I used mini m&m's for the eyes and bubble tape for the ears. I made a ton extra so I could take them to my sunbeams the next day. I don't think they had anything to do with the lesson. But of course that particular Sunday the other teacher decided not to show up so I had double the number of kids and didn't have enough cupcakes. So I had to wait until after church and deliver them instead.

The last week I was in Provo I decided to make the s'mores cupcakes from the cookbook. I searched all over for graham flour the whole summer and finally found some at my favorite place in Provo, Sunflower Market! So all semester I planned to make these cupcakes. But I never had a special occasion for them. Since the marshmallow cream is torched, they had to be eaten right away to be able to fully enjoy them. Well I tried making them in December and failed miserably. Miserably. But once again, this kitchenaid has saved my life. I could not live without it. I tried them again to make them for my grandma's send out cards party. They tunred out a thousand times better. They are so fun to torch too!

Bill and Heidi came to town last month and we celebrated Jenna's birthday while she was here. She loves strawberrys so I decided to try out the strawberry cupcakes with strawberry butercream frosting.

It all started with some fresh strawberries.

Then we put them in the yummy batter.

This is the finished product.

Rebekah helped me frost some of them.

Jenna loved them. It was also Valentine's day weekend, so I took them to my sunbeams at church. When Spencer's brother picked him up after class he exclaimed, "You got cupcakes again!?!?!" It made me laugh.

Because it was Valentine's Day weekend, and Adrianne came out for the weekend, I wanted to send some cupcakes back to Provo for some of my friends. Once again, this batch was a rebake. My very first cupcakes that I made with the Martha Stewart book were the Chocolate Marshmallow cupcakes. The book says to mkae them jumbo, but they didn't turn out very well. Plus the marshmallow cream for the filling was gross. So I decided to give them a try again. This time I made them regular sized. They turned out great! And then I covered them with a chocolate ganache and my mom (who has better writing with frosting skills than me) wrote Valentine and I love you on all of them. It took me hours that night to get them secured perfectly for travel the next morning. But it was so worth it. I am glad I could send a special treat to some people in Provo.

A favorite cupcake in our house is the flourless cupcakes. They bake like normal cupcakes but when they cool down they fall into the liner. And then you put a scoop of Tillamook Vanilla Bean ice cream. It's a delicious combination. I got these huge cupcake liners in my stocking this Christmas, and they are perfect for this recipe.

mmm. chocolate and butter.

turns into this.

and then poured into the egg mixture.

to make these yummy and easy treats.

Two weeks ago the sunbeam lesson was on flowers and trees, so I wanted to make some cute flower cupcakes. I decided this a little too late on a Saturday night, so I raced around town before the stores started closing to find the supplies I needed. I didn't find exactly what I wanted, but they still turned out pretty cute.

On Monday it was Howard's birthday and we had a bunch of people over for dinner. I was in charge of the cupcakes. Of course. He loves cherries and chocolate. So I made the black forest cupcakes sans the alcohol. These are very chocolately cupcakes that are then cut in half after baking. They are brushed with marishino cherry juice on each side. Then a handful of cherries are put on top on the both half. Followed by some pastry cream (think cream-filled donuts) Then I put the top back on and cover it with a layer of chocolate ganache. They were a hit. I don't really care for canned cherries, so I didn't actually have one.

There's still more yummy recipes to try. I picked up a few cupcake books from the library, so I keep adding to the list of recipes I need to try.

I Need Some Papaya

2010-03-06T00:25:00.001-08:00

Despite the fact that it actually has been quite warm here lately, I want to be here instead...

Someone please take me there. For my birthday? OK!

Is It April Yet?

2010-03-03T21:57:00.001-08:00

10 hours and 23 minutes (at the time of post) until the Cardinal's first Spring Training game...

Can baseball season just get here right now???? I need games, games, games! I need the 9 texts a day for 401 updating me of the Cardinals games. I usually get annoyed with the texts when I am at the game, but now I would appreciate them anytime!! Just start coming please...

I have already looked up trips to Seattle, St. Louis, Boston and San Francisco to catch a series or two. Why do I always go to the same ballparks? This isn't helping me reach my goal of going to all of the Major League Baseball Stadiums...

I am liking the fact that the Mariner's Opening Day is a week after baseball starts. Seeing as how I will be traveling back into the country on April 6th, most likely with an empty bank account, it will be semi-impossible to catch the Cardinals opening day... So second best is Seattle, right?? I am a little worried for the Mariners that their 2nd and 3rd home games of the season they are already offering half price tickets. Is it really that hard to get fans to come? By the way, on my birthday (April 30), the Cardinals are giving away Cardinals Snuggies... If that's not a sign that I have to go, then I don't know what is! Done and done!

I am excited to see the Cardinals this season. We dropped a few, picked up a few and had a few struggles during the off season. But doesn't everyone? I am cheering for Freese no matter what anyone says. I am excited to see Pujols, Yadi and Holliday back in action. Let's get a Cy Young from Waino or Carp this season. Good riddance to Ankiel (or HGH) and Thurston. I'm surprise LaRussa let go of his man crushes. I wish I could go to Jupiter right now.

April-October/November = PURE BLISS! And I can't wait for it to begin!

Get ready for me, St. Louis! I am coming!

p.s. I am in love with the first picture that comes up on the Cardinals home page right now. It's McGwire and Freese in the batting cages... It makes me smile everytime :)

Let's Link Together!

2010-03-02T23:01:00.000-08:00

I've fallen into the trap of yet another online social networking site. This one will hopefully help me get connected with a job! PLEASE!!

LinkedIn. I have heard about it for a few years now. In fact, I remember in my sports broadcasting class my teacher was about to leave BYU Broadcasting to pursue a different field. And I think he was trying to get us going in that direction also, because it seemed like our lectures were a lot of business and not so much sports. And this was my second time taking the class (I loved it that much. Seriously) So I remember a lot less business and a lot more sports the first time around. One lecture he showed us all the great things about LinkedIn. At the time, I never thought I would jump on the bandwagon.

But here I am. One of LinkedIn's newest members. Thanks to a friend who persuaded me tonight. And then of course minutes after adding my dad, he sent me an email telling me it was a great idea to join. Glad I got your approval...

So if you're on LinkedIn, add me to your network. Let's get me hired!

Click here to connect with me

America's Attic

2010-03-01T23:55:00.000-08:00

After posting about my friends' fun , spontaneous trips I decided I needed my own. I had been wanting to visit Emma in Vancouver ever since I knew she was going to be working the Olympics. Duh. Free place to stay. (Thanks Emma!) Short drive. Not only new city to explore, but new country as well. Yes, yes, and yes. Well seeing as how the last time I had a passport was when I was 10 years old, this brought about a slight problem. I applied for one about a month ago so I can go to Spain in March (!!!!) but I didn't think it would come in time. Plus, I was babysitting for some people in my ward while they were at the beach all week, so that eliminated one available week to go.

Well I get home on Friday to see that my passport had arrived! So of course, I start looking at flights to Fiji and Amsterdam... So typical of me. But it's like when you turn 21 and you have this sudden freedom that you didn't have the day before. Even if you're not going to use the freedom, it's still the fact that nothing is stopping you. That's how I felt when my passport arrived. So of course Sunday I began contemplating the idea of going to Vancouver. And there I was... Monday morning... in my little red Honda... driving up north. As I said before, the drive was beautiful. Loved it. That is until I reached the border... Story time!

Disclaimer: My Canadian brother-in-law should not read the first part of this. Thanks :)

This whole border thing is new to me. I was too young to remember my experience of going to Mexico. Please, I was just so excited that the PHX airport that our layover was in had an arcade room... Plus our flight was delayed. And then when we got there our bags were missing... It was a horrible experience. So driving up to Canada I didn't know what to expect. Though, I for sure didn't expect to be treated like a freakin criminal.

I pull up to the border and hand the man my passport. He seems to be about 5 years older than me so I thought in my head that I got lucky. This should be simple. He asked me a TON of questions. Ranging from my employment (sad) to where I was staying, how much money I had available to me, and what's my favorite major league baseball team... (just kidding... i wish) I thought things were going well. But then after about 10 minutes of questions, he hands me my passport back with a yellow slip and tells me to proceed to the left to park and go inside the building for some more questions. I ask him if this is normal, and he says they just want to make sure I am really staying where I say I am and if I have enough funds just in case I get stuck up there.

Whatever. I pull in and notice that "SWAT teams" are searching the others cars. They've got all their stuff out of the car, looking under the hood, under the car, every little crevice. It felt like I was watching one of my law and order shows. I walk inside and get asked the same questions over and over. So bugged at this point. I was making such great time. And I wasnted to get into the city before it got dark. At this point, it didn't look like that was going to happen... So after a million questions again he searches my wallet for money, me, and then takes my keys to search my car. 20 minutes later he comes back, gives me my keys and tells me I'm good. Well DUH! I am too stupid to smuggle anything into another country. Besides when I am lying, you can definitely tell. Although I did want to smuggle Kelli in because she didn't have a passport. But my mom said it probably wouldn't be a good idea to have a criminal record while job hunting... As I hand my yellow slip back to the man I tell him "I hate Canada" and "Thanks for making me feel like a criminal." I should have probably thought about the gun in his holster before saying that. But thankfully he just took me as another "Stupid American." and let me on my way.

I arrived in Vancouver just a short while later. Got into the hotel relaxed for a few minutes. Changed my clothes and went out to EXPLORE! I was hungry so I asked the hotel concierge where the best food was. She thought I was going to ask where all the Olympic stuff was going on. Nope. Don't care about that. But on my way I walked right into it.

All this was taking place at Robson Square. The games were being shown everywhere in the city. Every TV was showing CTV's broadcast. Even the sides of the buildings were showing the games. Before going to Vancouver I had watched about 1 hour total of the games. Now, I couldn't escape it. You always knew when Canada did something good, because cheering would irrupt in the crowds. "Oh Canada" was sung so many times I feel like I know the words...

This is more of the crowd at Robson Square. And the magician doing some hat trick that he talked up for about 10 minutes. I didn't feel like waiting long enough to actually see it.

My yummy nutella and banana crepe! After having no luck with the food search, I happened this crepe cafe. I had to wait awhile for this, but it was definitely worth the wait. In fact I went back every day after that.
I walked around downtown for about 3 hours waiting for Emma to get off work. Right before I met up with her I found the torch. It's funny because everything Olympic that I saw, I happened upon. I didn't have a map of anything. I just walked all over until I found things. It was great.

Emma got off work at midnight and I met her at the IBC. We got into a van full of NBC workers and rode up to Grouse Mountain. We had to take the gondola up to the actual mountain. That's us in the gondola.
After all that walking I didn't think I was going to feel like ice-skating. But it was actually a lot of fun. Grouse mountain is also where the Today Show set is during the Olympics so it was fun to be up there. Doing the "Olympic" thing. :) It was fun meeting all of the people Emma works with. I think broadcast people are more fun than anyone else... Is that true? We skated for awhile, until someone got "hurt." Then we headed back home. Meredith and Al were arriving while we were leaving and I thought to myself, "I will never have a job with a horrible sleeping schedule like that." I hope.

The next day I explored the city while Emma was working. I wish I had had a friend with me though. Especially when I wanted a picture by this Vancouver sign. I am always so weary of asking complete strangers to take pictures of my in front of things. It always turns out bad it seems. Like this. So I asked for picture with the Vancouver in it. This is what I got:

Great.
At least this one was better. There was a line to be able to see the torch without the fences in the way. But I didn't feel like waiting in any lines, so this is what I got.

I really wanted to rent a bike and ride it around Stanley Park. But because of the rain, the rentals were closed. Apparently the rain will make you melt... One lady said, "You want to bike in this rain?" I said, "Ya. I'm from Oregon." Oh well. It was better weather the next day so I considered renting a bike, but I figured I could always come back and do that another time. It wasn't going to go away when the Olympics were over. So I HAVE to go back sometime and do that.

That night after Emma got off work we went to what seemed like the only bar that was open and serving food. Alex met up with us too. I interned with him in St. Louis. And he was working for NBC also. It was fun to talk with him. Now that the Olympics are over, we are both living the unemployed life. great.
The last day I was there, Emma and I did a little exploring before she went in to work. This sign said please don't feed the bears. They're fake. Weird Canadians.

This is at Robson Square again. I was trying to fit in with all the Asian tourists...

I said goodbye to Emma, went back to the hotel and got my stuff and took off. Interestingly enough my stop at the border going south was smooth sailing. He asked me 3 questions and then handed me back my passport and said have a nice day. I love the U.S.A!

Even though I basically hate Canada right now, I loved Vancouver. I will definitely go back again someday. It has the northwest feel that I love. Everyone is so "green." I love it. Especially after being in Utah for 6 years, where finding a place to recycle was like finding gold at the end of the rainbow. Thanks again, Emma for a fun trip!

p.s. if you made it this far, wow. you must be bored right now!

I Want To Rock 'n' Roll All Night

2010-02-28T20:33:00.000-08:00

I signed up for my first 1/2 marathon! It was kind of fun to mark that it was my first on the questionnaire. It is the Rock 'n' Roll Seattle Marathon.

Driving up to Vancouver through Seattle on Monday was just stunning. I am so proud to be from the Northwest. We have the most beautiful scenery. On Monday it was a gorgeous 60 degrees and sunny with not a cloud in the sky. I wanted the drive to last forever. On the way back down south on Wednesday I was driving through downtown Seattle right before sunset. The sun reflecting off the water and onto the buildings was picturesque. In fact I searched through my purse for my camera with one hand and one eye while using the other eye and hand to watch where I was driving. There was one specific 30 second stretch of the drive that I wanted to capture. Unfortunately on this particular occasion I was sporting my big yellow purse. Finding one small thing in a big huge bag is difficult at anytime, let alone while driving in rush hour traffic. So I have no beautiful picture to show. But just imagine it with me. As I passed downtown I found myself checking the rear view mirror every few seconds to catch one last look.

After seeing this I have had a new found love for Seattle. I would love to live there someday. a. It's close to home. b. There's a Major League Baseball team. (even if they are in the American League...) c. there's a NFL team. d. There's water. e. It's green. d. It doesn't cost an arm and a leg like San Francisco (my other dream place to live) I could go on and on...

So with this new found love I decided to check out marathons in Seattle to do this year. And immediately I found the Rock 'n' Roll 1/2 marathon and new this is the one. It's June 26. Perfect time of the year. Not too hot, not too cold. Beautiful scenery. Fresh air. What more could you ask for?? Ok, maybe a friend to run with?? Kelli, get on that!

Go here to sign up.

I am excited for this new challenge!

Get Your Popcorn Ready!

2010-02-27T23:59:00.000-08:00

I have a list of things I need/want to blog about. And I think, when I get time, I will. But I have all the time in the world these days, so I don't know why I am not blogging. Sometimes it just seems so tedious. But I have so many thoughts. I wish I could just convert my thoughts to written form easier... hmm...

With all my extra time lately I have been seeing a lot of movies. While meeting up with friends in Vancouver this week they were asking what I do these days. And this is what I said to them. I wake up and say to myself, "What can I do today?" "Are there any good movies I want to see?" "What time should I go to the gym?" "Can I take a trip to the mall and just look?" This is literally what my day consists of. Oh and actually trying to remember what day of the week it is so I know which of my favorite shows are on at night. Tough life...

Reason for this post? Besides to make all you busy people jealous of my life? I have beef with a few movies I saw recently. If anything please read my review on Up In The Air. I recommend it completely to everyone. It was good enough to see multiple times.

First: Dear John. If you haven't seen the movie, don't keep reading this. Skip down to the next picture. First off, I was waiting for the part in the movie where she travels to Italy and finds an old letter to Juliet and responds to it. Ya. Wrong movie. I got the two confused. I thought the overall movie was ok. I only read the first few chapters of the book, a long time ago, so I didn't expect much. My main problem with this movie was the cast. They needed to choose better people that age better. Amanda Seyfried will always look like she is 15 years old. So please don't cast her as someone over that age anymore. Channing Tatum wasn't any better playing his older self. I kept getting confused at the end of the movie when they would show Savannah and John 3 years later and 5 years later. They looked like they were still 15. It didn't look realistic. I was really bugged by this. And what's with the ending? Where the heck was that random meeting? I did not fall in love with this movie like the rest of the world did. I don't care to ever watch it again.

Next: When In Rome. Another typical chick flick. I went with my grandma to see it on opening night. And as we were walking out of the theater she said that next time we should wait a week or two to hear if it's a good movie or not. We definitely could have saved ourselves a few dollars if we would have waited. We made that mistake awhile ago with Leap Year. Saw that on opening night and was dissapointed too. But I guess we are expecting too much from these chick flicks. They are all the same. You know that the girl will end up with the guy in the end. Especially when the movie shows significance on the "meet cute" of the two. You know within the first 15 minutes of the movie what is going to happen in the end. Plus Napoleon Dynamite was in When In Rome. That was dumb.

Now on to the movies I loved!

An Education: One day while watching a movie, I decided that afterward, I wanted to go see another one. So I whipped out my handy dandy iPhone and check movie times. An Education caught my eye. It seemed like an independent film because I had never heard of it before. It sounded good, so I thought I would give it a try. I loved it! It's a story about a girl in high school who meets an older man. She lived a very sheltered life and this man shows her all the things she is missing out on. She falls in love with him and is left to make a big choice. Carey Mulligan is amazing in this film. She deserves an Oscar for this performance. I don't think anyone is going to see this, seeing as how I don't think it's in the theaters anymore. But I think you should rent it. In fact, I KNOW you should rent it. It's very good. It received great reviews on rotten tomatoes. You may think you know where the movie is going to end up, but that definitely doesn't happen. And then once the movie is over you find yourself thinking, "wow, I did not think that would happen." Plus I love that the movie takes place in Britain. All the characters were cast so well. You find yourself falling in love with David (Peter Sarsgaard) while Jenny does. I cannot say enough good things about this movie. GO. SEE. IT!

Next: Crazy Heart. Maybe it's just because I love country music. Or because I love Maggie Gyllenhaal. Or maybe because Jeff Bridges is such a good actor. Or it could be because I am all about the independent films. Whatever the reason, Fox Searchlight picked a great movie! And I was captivated the entire 112 minutes. I think Maggie is one of the best actresses in really becoming her character. It seems so hard to imagine that these two characters would really fall in love. When she is first interviewing Bad Blake it looks like something would happen between them. And I kept thinking, no, no, no, he's too old for you. But then when it happens it seems so real. And you find yourself cheering for it and hoping that Bad Blake can change his life around to better fit with Jean and her son's life. You see Blake in the lowest times of his life. And you see him starting to turn it around and become successful at everything again. It hurts my heart to think about the ending. I would have wished for a different outcome. I think they both are deserving of their Oscar nominations. I hope Maggie wins. But among the people she is up against, I am not holding my breath. Another must see.

Next: Up In The Air. First of all, I was so excited to see this movie. A lot of it was filmed in St. Louis when I was living there last year. In fact I remember one time a viewer called in to tell us there was a limo being escorted by what looked like unmarked police vehicles around town. So I got the job of calling the police department to find out who was in the limo. We were assuming it was George Clooney. They never would tell us who it was. But I think they were saying they knew nothing about it.
Second, I often find favorite quotes/lines from movies while watching. But in this particular movie one scene fit so well into my daily life that I HAD to pull out my phone and write it in the notes. So Ryan and Natalie are flying on an airplane together for the first time. Ryan hates Natalie at this point because she brought about a new way of doing his job that would mean he didn't have to travel all the time. But traveling was his life, so he didn't like it. So they are on the plane and she is typing on her laptop working on something. Before they show the characters you can hear the typing noises from Natalie's computer. I knew right then that Ryan would say something about it. And I knew before he even said something that this would be my favorite scene. He turns to her and says, "You mad at your computer?" She says, "I'm typing with purpose." Then he says, "What is it that you're working so furiously on." I LAUGHED OUT LOUD during this part. You may not think it's one bit funny. But to me, this is hilarious. One of my biggest pet peeves is people typing too loud on their computers. It BUGGGGGSSSS me to no end. It's on my "In my world, you would be punished if you..." list. See future post for explanation. I am always looking for new ways to explain the banging on the keys... "You mad at your computer?" is just genius.
Back to what I thought of the rest of the movie. I read some reviews for this before I went to the theater. I remember one person said you think you know what's going to happen and then the film goes in a complete opposite direction. While watching the movie I completely forgot about this review. So I kept thinking one thing was going to happen and then it didn't. It wasn't until afterward that I remembered I was warned about that.
Ryan Bingham, Clooney, is a man who travels 90% of his life for a company that fires people for other companies. His one goal in life is to reach 1 million frequent flier miles with American Airlines. You think of him as heartless and so void of any human emotion. You think nothing can phase him. Until the prospect of losing the traveling part of his job comes up. Once that happens, we see a different side of him as he brings along a coworker, Natalie, (Anna Kendrick) along on his trips. She teaches him a lot about love and human emotions. His "one night stand" that turns into multiple meet ups in the different cities they are in, Alex (Vera Farmiga) seems to be the perfect match for him. But he doesn't see it as more than a physical relationship. That is, until he goes back home for his sister's wedding. He realizes that human emotion and attachment are what he has been missing in his life. Then his outlook on life and love change. I don't want to say anymore about the movie because out of all of these, I want everyone to see this the most. It was so good. One thing I really love about the casting of this movie is that they used real people who had recently lost their jobs. So the emotion coming from these characters is real. You feel for them while they are trying to grasp the fact that they have just been fired. Great decision to use that real emotion.
I had not seen it before the SAG awards or else I would have been cheering on Anna Kendrick and Vera Farmiga both to win that night. They did an excellent job. I will own this when it comes out on DVD.

Last but not least: Valentine's Day. This movie was not amazing. But it definitely was a fun one to watch. There's too many big actors and actresses in this to not like it. But at the end a song was played that made me melt in my seat. Literally. I am not kidding. If you can remember, I posted about a week ago songs that I have been loving lately. 4 and 20 is one of them. I had not seen the soundtrack for this movie before I saw it. So it was a complete shock towards the end of the movie when I heard Joss Stone's voice. I DIED. And I will honestly say that I like this movie because of that one song. And it fits so perfectly... AHHH!! I love it.

So there you have it. My recommendations for movies to see and movies to avoid. (or wait until the dollar theater) I am excited for next week. I have plans to see some more films that have Oscar nominations. Like Precious, It's Complicated, Lovely Bones and maybe The Messenger. I refuse to see Avatar though.

Great Deal on Mani-Pedi!

2010-02-25T19:15:00.001-08:00

For those of you who live in the Portland area, get this great deal. I have no idea how good this place is, but I'll pay $20 for a manicure and pedicure anywhere!

Click here to buy yours too! You have until midnight tonight to buy it. But you can redeem your mani-pedi anytime between now and October 26th! You know you want your toes to look great once summertime comes!

Oh Canada

2010-02-23T20:46:00.000-08:00

I am having a blast up here in Vancouver! This place is so much fun! So much excitement all of the city. I am so glad I decided to come up here. Here are a few pictures of what I have been doing/eating so far. I "talk" more when I get back to the U.S. (I love how that sounds!)

I Don't Sleep, I Dream

2010-02-20T20:12:00.000-08:00

Sidenote: I love when Kelly Ripa complains about there being no break in between football in and baseball season. Apparently she could do without all the sports topics that Regis brings up in the morning chat on Live. Just days after the Super Bowl was over, Regis was talking about pitchers and catchers getting ready to report to Spring Training in Florida or Arizona. I can't believe this time is here already. Even though last Winter feels like forever ago, I still can't believe it's time for baseball to start up. This begins 9 months of pure bliss for me. :)

Do you remember all your dreams? Lately I have been having some pretty weird ones. Like one NIGHTMARE that keeps happening over and over where a kid from school (elementary through high school) is stalking me. He won't go away. And he keeps attacking me. For fear of him somehow seeing this I won't divulge too much information about him. But it needs to be said, that I haven't thought of this kid AT ALL until I recently saw him here in town. I see him at a place I have been frequently going to. After the second nightmare, I haven't been back to that place. It creeps me out that he is the one giving me nightmares. Is there a reason why we have nightmares anyway? Is it a shift in our normal daily routine that urkes our mind so much to want to scare us while sleeping? When you wake up for one, are you like me and can't fall back asleep for fear of having the same dream? Sometimes I try to think of something real hard so that I can dream about it. But that never happens.

Well last night I had a great dream. Well one of the many dreams I had. While getting ready for bed last night I decided to put on my Cardinals pjs that have been in my drawer since last November when baseball season ended. Actually, probably since last October when the Cardinals season ended. I thought nothing of it, except that it put a smile on my face knowing that baseball season is here! Well apparently my sub concisous loved it too! And I had a dream about being at Opening Day in St. Louis again. Last year was so amazing. It was a wonderful experience and opportunity to finally be at the first home game and in the case of last year's season, the first Cardinals game of the season!

I woke up so excited for this season! I am anxious to see how the team does this year. I hope Waino is bueno again. And I hope Carp is still on his game. Last year those two were amazing. One of them should have received the Cy Young Award... But that's a different post... I hope Freese can work through his whole drama and secure his place at 3rd for the season. I am interested in seeing what Big Mac can do with the hitters. Tony has a lot of faith that he can do it, so I hope he can prove all the haters wrong. I am excited for another wonderful season of Albert Pujols. I still go back and watch this commericial all the time. It still gives me chills. Matt Holliday did great things for our team last summer when he joined it so I hope he can continue that this season. How many web gems can Yadi get this year from behind the plate. I was watching Baseball Tonight the other day and they showed like 5 highlights last year from catchers and one of them was Yadi. I just love that guy. :)

Here's my nephew. And A's fan. Recognizing greatness when he sees it. Now we have him saying that the Cardinals are the best team in baseball. In fact he called me last night to tell me.

Long Live Lumie

2010-02-12T22:02:00.000-08:00

This weekend I was so proud of some of my Provo friends. All those years together and I finally rubbed off on some of them.

Mallory actually flew in an airplane to visit a FRIEND (no relatives here) and go to the All-Star Game. Wow! This is big time for Mal! Not only did she take a trip to another state by plane, but she did it for a major sporting event. :) I am so proud of my Malpal!

This weekend is a 3-day weekend at BYU and when Ty's weekend trip with his roommates fell through he hopped onto a classmate's road trip to California. Deciding at the last minute to go he had to shuffle some things around, but decided it was all worth it when he took in the view from their beach house in Oceanside. [EDIT] I just found out today that this trip was even more spontaneous than I had really thought. He was invited to go on the trip at 9 am on Thursday morning. With classes, and assignments left to do for the day, he thought he wouldn't be able to go. But after calling them around 11 am he decided he ought to go. So by 11:30 he was in the car and cruising I-15 to the Happiest Place on Earth. Not only was he following my example with a spontaneous trip, but he's going with complete strangers (minus his friend from class) PLUS he ignored his responsibilities ie. class... That is SO me! Go Ty!

Leave Provo for this view? Duh!

This makes me feel that there is still a part of me left in the frozen tundra of Provo. I miss my friends.

LONG LIVE LUMIE!

Today I was thinking about all the things I want to do with my friends, especially once Annette gets back from her mission. And I realized I will have a full-time job by then (hopefully) and won't be able to take the time off. It's so easy to skip a class here and there. But work, that's a different story. Oh well. I always figure out a way to have a great time whereever I am. Good thing I am so much fun!

Please Don't Stop The Music

2010-02-10T14:27:00.000-08:00

I love getting new music! My friend has been sending me a few gems here and there that he heard on Pandora. And I've never been a big fan of Pandora. I guess I just never really understood how it works. But because he has been finding a lot of good songs on it, I thought I would give it a try. So now I am Pandora's newest fan. I love that I can put in an artist or song that I love and it will play me music like it. So then I find more music to love. Genius!

So last night I typed in Duffy. And now today I have 15 new songs in my iTunes because of it. First of all, I love the song Warwick Avenue. I only shared a room 3 times while at BYU. First was the dorms. But that was only for a month and a half. My roommate moved out in the middle of October and they never had to put someone else in my room, so luckily I got to have my own space for the rest of freshman year. Then sophomore year I shared a room for a semester. I was living with 5 other girls in a very small space and I couldn't handle it anymore. I am someone who needs her own space. Some place to escape to. So I moved out at the end of the semester. And then 3 years later I moved into a huge townhome/not really a townhome. And I shared the basement room. It was 3 times the size of every other room I've lived in so I figured it would be great. And it was. My friend Maddie moved in and we had a grand ol' time. :) Right, Maddie?? Well back to the reason for this tangent. Because I was in the same room as someone who loved to sing I got a great taste of good tunes. Like the trolley song from Meet Me In St. Louis. and another good one, Warwick Avenue by Duffy.

I can play this song on repeat for hours on end. It's so great! So I asked Pandora to find me more music just like it. And it pulled through. Here are a few songs that I am currently loving:

1. Daydreamer - Adele
2. Little Things - Lily Allen
3. 4 And 20 - Joss Stone
4. Free Me - also Joss Stone (she's just great!)
5. Don't Wait Too Long - Madeleine Peyroux (I LOVE her voice!)
6. Saturdays - Holly Brook
7. 1234 -Feist
8. Nothing Ever Hurt Like You - James Morrison

Music has the power to brighten my day! I hope you love these songs as much as I do!

Ted Drewes

2010-02-09T11:23:00.000-08:00

Lately I have been wanting a treat. I have been running outside or going to the gym every day (minus Sundays) since I last posted about running! Go me! So I deserve a delicious refreshment. I always get the urge when I am out running errands, because we all know how boring they can be sometimes... So I try to decide of a good place to stop for a treat. My go-to sugar pick-me-up used to be Cold Stone. Oh man. Cake batter ice cream with gummi bears and graham cracker crust. I got that every time I went. I remember Mal and Craig even brought it to me after my surgery two years ago. It was the first thing I ate and it tasted soooo delicious! It always does! But for some reason I don't really crave it anymore.

Excuse the bad picture of me. We had just spent a few hours at Six Flags.

And it's probably because I spent a couple months living in St. Louis, only a few miles from the best treat ever. Ted Drewes Frozen Custard. Nothing compares. And nothing feels as good. But the problem is, once you pop, you just can't stop. Once you taste the amazing goodness of this delicious treat you'll want more. And unfortunately this is what I want right now. I want a strawberry shortcake from Ted Drewes. Or mint flavored custard with crushed Oreos. I wonder if they deliver...

I just thought of Ted Drewes because I had seen a friend on Facebook become a "fan" of it. And I don't usually do the whole fan thing. Unless I really LOVE it. Like Anthropologie. :) Well I could not pass up this opportunity to become of something that I really do LOVE.

When Kelli came to visit me last year in St. Louis, I told her I would take her here. She sounded a little hesitant, but I know she fell in love with it instantly. I am pretty sure that seeing how many people were outside standing in line at 10:30pm was a pretty good indication that they were good. This is the crowd that they get all the time. There never really is a good time to go. It's always busy. Kinda like my other love, Sprinkles. :)

Who wants to take a trip to St. Louis with me??

Happy Birthday To A Fellow Blogger

2010-02-08T20:02:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday Lindsay!

I was thinking about our friendship today and remembered when we first became friends. 6th grade. Mr. Robinson's class (remember how weird he was??) We just clicked from the beginning. And have been great friends ever since. (with a few ups and downs in between. but who doesn't have those?)

I hope you had a really great day. My intentions were to post this earlier today but I have been gone all day. I am sure you and Mark celebrated well. Probably went to Cafe Rio. I am jealous. You never know how much you love something until it's gone. (you and cafe rio :) )

I can't wait for you to come out next weekend. Kelli will come up and we can have a night like old times...
p.s. these are the best pictures i could find...

A Little Something Different

2010-02-07T22:15:00.001-08:00

I'm gonna go a little spiritual here for a minute. I am so grateful for the Lord's hand in everything. Today I taught the Sunbeams about Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ's love for each one of us. And I truly felt that today.

So right now I am trying to find a job. Who isn't? And it feels like I send out a stack of resumes everyday. The people at the post office in Thriftway are my friends now. I know they look forward to seeing me 2 or 3 times a week. Not only am I desperate to find a job because I want to start my career, but I am also slowly going BROKE. And only slowly because I moved home to save money. And thankfully that is actually helping. I don't spend any money except gas, postage and food maybe once a week. It's wonderful. My parents are so great right now to put up with me.

All week I have been looking forward to today for a chance to fast and ask for extra help at this time. [Let me just tell you that fasting while being a nursery or sunbeams teacher is hard. Well not hard, but it sure doesn't make it easy. Especially when you're serving the best animal crackers ever (the organic ones from Costco!) for snacks.]

I need some guidance as to where I should be looking. My main concern right now is that my personality and drive will not be well-represented on a piece of paper displaying my resume and cover letter. And my DVD, a chance for on air people to show themselves to news directors, only shows my work, not me. When they open my envelope I want them to instantly see that this girl Katie, she's fun, has a love for directing, and would be a great addition to their station.

Yesterday evening I started to feel a sore throat come on. I didn't want to be sick for when my nieces get here this coming week, so I drank a ton of fluids, drank an emergency and tried to get to bed early. Upon waking up I felt the sore throat even worse. My first thought was that I shouldn't fast so that I could drink lots of fluids today. I also thought about not going to church so that I wouldn't get my little Sunbeams sick. I debated it for a few minutes and then decided I would still fast. So among everything else I asked for my throat to feel better so that I would be able to fast. As I was sitting in church I realized the pain I felt when swallowing was gone. And it was gone until earlier this evening. And now it's back almost as bad as it was this morning. But it didn't bother me at all while I was fasting. I know it's small, but it's something that would have kept me from fasting and receiving blessings and guidance that I need right now. The Lord prepares a way for everyone to follow Him!

"...for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them." (1Nephi 3:7)

I had a great Sunday. I feel prepared to take on the job world tomorrow. Please someone just hire me.

I Love Costco

2010-02-06T11:53:00.000-08:00

This week while stopping at Costco for a routine gas up, we decided to go inside and grab a few things. What was going to be a quick stopped turned into a lunch break! As we found our way to the back of the store I thought I could smell some things cooking and a lot of commotion. We turned the corner and found this!

All the samples were set up in one area. You just went along the row and grabbed what you wanted. We parked our cart and began enjoying all the delicious samples. Pizza, chips and dips, drinks, hot wings, meatballs, pulled pork sandwiches, chicken salad sandwiches, ice cream and blueberries... it was Costco sample heaven! My favorite by far was the chicken salad sandwiches. It was the canned shredded chicken with a little mayonnaise and PESTO sauce on wheat bread. I loved the pesto in it. I am going to have to add that next time I make those sandwiches.

We used our cart as our lunch table.

This wasn't our normal costco that we go to, so we asked the cashier if it's always like that. And he said it's not always clumped together in one spot, but that they do have between 20 and 30 samples out on any given day. He said that Costco has the one of the highest volume of traffic so they sample A LOT. I'll have to stop at this one more often! Needless to say, we left with full stomachs, grinning ear to ear.

But I don't think I have ever left a Costco store with a frown on my face.

In Transition

2010-01-26T09:39:00.000-08:00

Why can I not find a template that I like for this blog? I spent a long time yesterday looking. I did find one that I absolutely LOVE but the person who makes them and unfortunately SELLS (i don't want to have to buy one) them is away from her blog for awhile so I can't get ahold of her.

This is what it looks like:

Any ideas of where to find some cute templates? I'm not talking about just backgrounds, I want the whole layout style changed.

Love Will Fall To The Earth Like A Crashing Wave

2010-01-15T23:26:00.003-08:00

I hate Valentine's Day for one and only one reason... Juju hearts. They are the devil in the form of a heart-shaped cherry-flavored amazingness.

At least I am not at BYU anymore. Every time I would walk through the bookstore, past the candy section I would have to stop and get a 1/4 pound of these. While remembering the holiday was coming up I realized I might be able to avoid this temptation because so far the bookstore was the only place I found them. But on a quick stop to WinCo tonight to get sugar free dots (see at least I was trying to be good!!) I spotted them. Uh oh!

Luckily we rarely shop at WinCo and it's not very close to my house. So either my car will be putting on a few extra miles between now and Lovebirds day or I will show great restraint and avoid the constant temptation from my taste buds...

It's like when you pee after drinking a lot of water, and then you find yourself having to go a lot soon after. You broke the barrier. But if you hadn't gone, you would be fine. Well... I broke the barrier. My mouth tasted the cherry goodness. I am going to need some serious will power to resist the urge for more.

I know that sitting right outside of my room there is a bag with a few left in it (my mother and I may have gone a little crazy... and we may or may not have practically finished the "pay by weight" bag before we even got to the register. but that's beyond the point) and they are calling to me. I told them to wait until morning. Breakfast of champions.

A New Day Has Come

2010-01-14T18:07:00.004-08:00

Exercise gives you endorphins. Endorphins make you happy.

Thank you Elle Woods.

No I am not unhappy right now, I just need a little perk in my life at the moment. I am kind of in a slump again (circa summer '09 when I was taking only one class, had no job, and no friends in Provo to hang out with) Well isn't that funny? Looks like I am in that same situation. No job. Taking one class through Independent Study. (which I have yet to start) No friends in Beaverton. Last summer I had the grand plan of getting a pass to Gold's Gym and make working out my job. Well that kind of fell through the cracks. Typical of me.

Right now I am completely out of shape. I can admit that. I can count on one hand the number of times I ran in Provo since August. Not good. Since coming home for Christmas break/to live I have been walking a few times with my mom. On Tuesday I left my car at my Grandma's and decided to walk home instead. In the pouring rain. It's just under 3 miles from her house to mine. Then the next day I had to go retrieve my car. So I walked again. In the pouring rain. You see the trend here?

Today I had no car to retrieve so I didn't know where to walk to. Plus I thought I would do a mix of walking and running to get back into shape enough to run instead of just walking.

I walked out to a makeshift track made from a trail that circles a park close to my house. I estimated it was a little less than a quarter mile around so it would be easy to keep track of my distance. My plan was to start out small. I didn't want to push myself and burn out. So I told myself I was going to really listen to my body and stop to walk when I needed to. I was thinking I wouldn't get farther than a mile.

I ran for 30 minutes straight!! Around mile 2.5 I answered my phone and had to stop only to type an address in my phone for a job interview tomorrow morning (yay!)

With this new enthusiasm I decided that I would set a goal for myself. So I have been researching HALF marathons to sign up for. My sister-in-law ran the Nike Women's Marathon in San Francisco last fall. I told myself I would never put my body through that much pain, but the course sounded so cool, going along the San Francisco Bay. Plus you get a sweet little Tiffany necklace if you finish. That's way better than a medal you'll never wear. If I'm going to do this, I am going to show it off. Of course they offer a half marathon at that time, so that might be my goal. But that's too far away. I need something to run sooner. Any ideas?

Right now I am going through my music to create a better running mix. I find myself having to change the song too much. So I am being very picky with this one.

I am excited to see what tomorrow will bring.

On The Wings Of Love

2010-01-11T22:30:00.005-08:00

While watching The Bachelor tonight (thank goodness I have another Monday night show to provide quality FHE time) I realized a few things:

1. Jake has weird lines on his face when he talks and smiles. It gets distracting.

Also, I don't think he's a good bachelor. He just doesn't have much to say. He's kinda boring to watch. And plus, hello?!?! did anyone else have a flashback to the bachelor with Jason and the girl who wore the diamonds and the yellow dress and rode in an airplane on their romantic date. I thought things would turn ugly for Ali also. But I'm glad they didn't. I like her.

2. I thought it was disgusting that Rozlyn acted like doing things with a member of the staff was ok while on this show "falling in love" with Jake. I feel like being a contestant on a show like this should make you a one-man woman... guess not.

3. I think Michelle needs to peace out. She is crazy. And I'm scared she's going to hurt someone. I love how Jillian and Ed told him to get rid of her on the first episode. I felt the same way. Obviously Jake didn't. But he did have to get rid of that weird Christina girl first.

4. I hate the girls who spend their TV time talking about how bad the others are.

5. And since when did the phrase "here for the wrong/right reasons" become so commonplace on this show? Was it always like that? I'm getting sick of it. Just concentrate on yourself, play the game to the best of your ability and hopefully you win.

6. I kinda like how Elizabeth said those things about not wanting him to kiss her until he knew for sure that she would be the one in the end. But I know she sure regretted that while watching the fireworks with him. She was tempting him too much and you could tell she just wanted to lean in and give him a kiss.

As cheesy as I think this show is, I always know one thing. I'll be back next week. Monday night. 8 pm. On my couch watching it.

Until next time.

These Streets Will Make You Feel Brand New

2010-01-09T00:25:00.005-08:00

I am bored of this layout, but I really love this picture from Busch Stadium. Because, get it, I am in left field... Well left-center. That's as far left field that I got last season. Unless you count the one time I had a Standing Room Only ticket. Or the other stadiums I went to.

But none of these other layouts I am looking at fit with this picture... What to do? What to do?

I'll figure it out in the morning. I might go girly...

Your One And Only Source

2010-01-08T10:44:00.006-08:00

The past two years I have celebrated Turkey Day in Las Vegas at my brother's house. Oh man 2008 was amazing. N9NE Steakhouse Turkey meal... The food was sooo good. And the pumpkin cheesecake desserts. That was a good Thanksgiving. Anyway, back to the topic. So celebrating Thanksgiving in Vegas also meant that I'd be doing Black Friday shopping there. For some reason the thought of doing the biggest shopping day of the year in Vegas just overwhelmed me. So last year I opted out and got my rest instead.

But this past TG I spotted one thing in the Target ads that I JUST HAD TO OWN. Gossip Girl Season 1 and 2 were only $12!!! Can you believe that?? I already own season 1 from Blockbuster or something when I forgot to return them and just had to pay the fee to buy them. But I have been dying to get my hands on a copy of season 2 since it came out in August. I checked Amazon a few times a week. I just never had the money for it. It would get down as low as $35 and I would think, sweet I'll get it when it goes even lower, and then when I checked Amazon a few days later, it would be back up to $45 or $60. Ugh... I struggled all fall with wanting to just buy it so I could watch the episodes.

At midnight on November 27th Gossip Girl Season 2 was in my hands and I was a happy woman. Bring on the drama!

[Side note: Did you know that on Black Friday you can take other store ads to Wal-Mart at midnight and they will honor everything in there as long as you're getting the exact same thing? (same brand and everything) So on most things from Target and other stores you don't have to wake up at the butt crack of dawn only to wait 2 hours in line. You can just go to Wal-Mart and get them. You can also get everything in Wal-Mart's ads at that time except the door busters. You're welcome.]

Which brings me to my original point of posting. WHY?? WHY?? WHY?? Is CW making me wait until March for the next episode of season 3?? This is so cruel. I woke up this morning and thought about how it's getting later in January, so my shows should be starting up again. But then it hit me. Not GG. Luckily the Bachelor just started last Monday.

So until then I am left with my nightly (sometimes just a few nights a week) ritual of a gossip girl episode before bed. But if CW were to change their mind and start airing episodes early I wouldn't mind.

XOXO

Dwight Howard Farted And Then Smiled At Me...

2010-01-07T16:21:00.004-08:00

My last week at BYU was a blur. I tried to think today about my last few days in Provo and I seriously couldn't remember a single thing I did... One thing I know I did one of the last weeks was go to the Jazz game with BYU Daily News media passes. This was my last chance and I just wanted to get the experience one more time. I went last year with Maddie when the Jazz played the Blazers. That was fun. Mostly I just wanted to get into the Blazers locker room and talk to Brandon Roy and Rudy Fernandez. Turns out I tense up in the presence of my favorite players. But it was just being on the court during the game. I had to take advantage of it one last time, so I arranged with a friend to go with me to the Orlando Magic game.

Rules are if you're going to sit on the court with the media you have to be holding a camera. We got busted for that one at the Blazers game. So this time we came prepared and both brought cameras to take video during the game. Turns out there weren't very many media people there anyway that night so there was plenty of room on the court. Plus they had designated a space for us so we got to sit where ever. Obviously we chose to sit next to the Magic bench. I love that the person I was with didn't care about the Jazz either.

Although the Jazz won, it was an exciting game. Vince Carter and Deron Williams were inches away from falling on me. I didn't know how to react. But my favorite was Carter doing his pre-game stretches right in front of me. He walked over to a few feet away from us and proceeded to bend over in stretch. Ya, that wasn't obvious... After the game we shot a few stand-ups and then went to the Magic locker room. And that is definitely where all the Magic happened. We had to stand and wait for at least 20 minutes waiting for Vince Carter and Dwight Howard to get showered and dressed. Howard took the longest by far. He would come out for one thing, go back into the shower, then come back a few minutes later for another thing. But he entertained us while doing this and while getting dressed so it was worth it.

It was a lot of fun. A great way to end my Daily News experience. I now am a big an of Dwight Howard and feel like we are best friends. He will tell you the same thing. He loves me.

Oh p.s. another highlight was seeing Hall of Famer, Patrick Ewing coaching for the Magic. He's a big guy!

Little Did I Know That Girl Was An Assassin Too

2010-01-06T22:00:00.006-08:00

November 17th:

the day I flew to Fresno to start my Thanksgiving break
the day my necklaces and iPhone charger were stolen from my suitcase while it sat at the horrible PHX airport
the day I sat at the PHX airport for 6 hours because my flight has serious issues
the day I decided never to fly US Airways ever again
but most importantly... the day I bought Battle Studies in the Salt Lake airport at 6 am MST and didn't stop listening to it on repeat until about 3 pm PST

That album has changed my life. I can listen to it anytime, anywhere, for any amount of time. John Mayer's lyrics are so powerful!

Now I have to admit. I heard Who Says and I wasn't completely convinced... It didn't make me want to buy the album when it came out. But I was sitting there in the airport and thought, what better way to spend a full day of traveling then listening to John Mayer's voice.

From Edge of Desire's "I want you so bad I'll go back on the things I believe. There I just said it, I'm scared you'll forget about me." to Half of My Heart's "Half of my heart is a shotgun wedding to a bride with a paper ring and half of my heart is the part of a man who's never truly loved anything."

Perfectly Lonely is my theme song right now and I LOVE it. "Nothing to dooooo, nowhere to beeee, a simple little kind of free. Nothing to doooo, no one but meeee." AHHHH love this song!!

So why did it take me 2 months to post about this amazing album?? I decided today that I want to go to his concert this year. Well... He's coming to Portland and Seattle when I will be in Spain. So that's out of the question. So I looked up the rest of his tour dates and found out he will be in LA the day before we fly out of LAX for Spain! How amazing. Go see John Mayer one night and then hop on a plane the next night for Europe! Could that week be any better?? I think not. Only problem though, only crappy seats are left. So I got to find some gems on craigslist to purchase.

I am a little sad though that I won't be able to have the same John Mayer concert experience that I had two summers ago in North Carolina (minus the rain and my iPhone breaking because of getting wet) I LOVED sitting on the grass at the outdoor arena and listening to perfect music. Sitting inside a closed arena in uncomfortable seats won't be the same... oh well. Anything to hear him perform live again...

Bravo Broadway

2009-11-14T10:26:00.004-08:00

Last weekend i went to the Utah Symphony up in Salt Lake. they were performing select songs from the best broadway musicals. they also had three actors singing along with them. one of them was the original elpheba from wicked! she was unreal. the other lady was too into herself and was not as good as she claimed to be. she got a pity standing ovation just because everyone felt bad for standing up for the other two peeps. the one guy played the phantom in Phantom of the Opera. he was amazing. i loved his voice. the whole performance was breathtaking. i did not want it to end. i could have gone the next night if it wasn't sold out. i could listen to them forever and ever! in this picture i am smiling SOOO big because i was SOOO happy after the performance. best idea ever to go to that.

I Miss Xanga

2009-11-12T21:36:00.008-08:00

Lindsay came over tonight and we rediscovered our online diaries from high school. remember xanga? and how we would all hang out on the weekends, and then everyone would go home and recap (in each's own words) about what we did?? i loved those days. so lindzyshs and i (superlumie) we back to some of my older posts. what was i thinking those days??

just a few highlights from my senior year of high school:

we kidnapped colin from daniel's house and took him to dancing mary. then we went up and touched her. then we drove around a catholic cemetery looking at the creepy statues. we proceeded to get out of the car to go walk through the scariest part of it... while kelli is in the back seat begging for us not to go, it was the most scared i have seen her... we see a light in the trees so we hap back into the car and turn the car on and drive away.

kelli drove my car... now i know what it is like to be a parent giving their kid driving lessons.. i was literally holding onto the handle on the door

met up with dan and did some fun things with construction stuff... saw the same cop again about an hour later... he was out to get us last night... went to dan's and watched tv...it was one of the best days ever, cause i was ungrounded and i got to see almost all of my friends...

p.s. winter formal was definitely fun! corie actually danced! everything was fun, up until 8 this morning...

my old friends got mad at me for not talking to them at the dance... haha, they were just jealous that i was having fun and they weren't.

i just wanted to apologize to everyone in the van saturday night... i hope it wasn't as scary to you as it was to me...

on the way to church today, my parents informed me that yet again, some drunk driver has crashed into our back fence. they were saying how worried they were, cause the guy gave them a name, but they thought he was lying. cause he didn't have his licsense with him(stupid). they were like, its a teenage boy who said his name was reggi. i was like "i know who that is..." so this morning at 4 am, reggi crashed into our fence/concrete wall, and broke a powerline cord that was holding the pole up with. first one to break that. many people have tried, but failed. good job reggi. mom called the cops. they came, and took him away. took about 2 hours to get the car out of the tree and fence that is was stuck in between. haha. you're so stupid! anyway... that was my excitement for the day!

Emmy, a bibliophile, and i were hanging out with some friends one night. we are all acolytes (not really) of Lindsay, who thinks she is urbane. we were driving around and trying to eschew the cops. we were taking our truncheons, a dolphin and a james brown doll. this isn't germane to the topic, but the james brown doll was palpable. we drove up to a parking lot where some kids were being very acrimonious towards us. they were trying to be cynosure and were yelling pejorative things at us. we decided to capitulate and abscond from the parking lot. we felt very chagrinned, because they said some fallacious things about us. in the midst of all this lampooning, we gave them a monition that if they didn't stop, we would evince our anger towards them. as we absconded, we were unphlegmatic about how we felt, we decided to lampoon them back. we went to a house that was very fetid. we, very redolent people, felt that the house wasn't condign enough for us. the people were watching a video that was full of enmity. i decided not to cant towards the room to occlude to the video. my paradigm, lindsay, decided to stay away from it also. we both felt that it was too bane for our minds.

I love xanga. we had a great group of friends in high school. so many fun times. I don't have any pictures from high school on my computer. so i stole these two from dane and lindsay's facebooks...

Everything's Amazing and Nobody's Happy

2009-11-11T12:01:00.001-08:00

i have a technology presentation for my comms elective tomorrow and this provided much inspiration. enjoy.

What Not To Wear

2009-11-03T07:15:00.001-08:00

I always missed out on the cool people that came into channel 5 when I was interning there. Jimmy Carter came, I was out of town. Conan O'Brien came, I was out of town. :( Although you might think I was out of town a lot during my internship, that was not completely true. Just when the cool people came.

When I read all of my former co-worker's twitter and facebook updates saying Stacy and Clinton from What Not To Wear were in the house. I got depressed once again. I LOVE Stacy and Clinton and What Not To Wear. It's one of those shows that I could watch a full day marathon. They ambushed a guest on Channel 5's Show Me St. Louis show. Man I wish I was there. So this one won't let me post the video on here, so just click here and watch it.

TLR, No I Did Not Just Misspell TRL

2009-11-02T09:16:00.001-08:00

I like to frequent a few websites to keep up to date on the news of the Cardinals. A few sources I can trust to have the latest stories are the Post Dispatch and Newschannel 5 (Although I was a little disappointed to see that they were the only local station that was NOT present in L.A. for game 1 and 2 of the NLDS. Apparently budget constraints are getting in the way of being the "Home of the St. Louis Cardinals," which they claim to be.) Anyway, I am a big fan of Tony La Russa. Sometimes I feel like he makes stupid decisions from game to game. But overall, this man is a genius and knows how to use the resources/players he has to win. Not only has he received the best manager award in both leagues, but he has managed both the Oakland A's in the American League, and the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League to the World Series titles.

SPOILER ALERT!

2009-11-01T20:48:00.005-08:00

In every single movie i saw this summer, this trailer was shown in the previews. and every time i would say there was no way that i was going to see it. it looked too creepy. but after like the 30th time seeing the trailer i thought i would maybe give it a chance. First of all Penn Badgley is hot and i love anything that can relate to gossip girl in even the littlest of ways. and second, i was very interested in seeing what happens when the stepdad takes his foot off cord to the saw as it's hanging over amanda's head. but GUESS WHAT!?!?! That never happens in the movie! That trailer was a big fat lie. and was successful at getting me and my friend to go spend $8.50 on that movie. That is the ONLY reason why we went (well that and i wanted to avoid any halloween activities going on in provo)

For fun i googled it to see if others felt the same way. Here is someone's review: (Ignore his poor grammar.)

This was a major dissapointment! Which yes I'm a big fan of the original(and sequel not so much the second sequel)but still I had big hopes for this and if you ask me the trailer and marketing was a big lie to us all! I mean come on the most exciting part in the trailer is with the saw going toward Amanda's face and him letting it go! ok well the scene never happens he dont even direct it with his foot toward her.It simply falls beside her after she falls through the floor? the scene isn't nothing like the trailer! Just very false things here AND there is a lot more in the trailer that isn't in the movie! stay away! the only thing going for it is the acting!

I actually have to disagree with him on the acting. i didn't think that was stellar either. plus it was only scary for like 5 minutes. the whole rest of the movie was leading up to the 5 minutes of scary. i was just waiting for him to start trying to kill. LAME. anyway. moral of the story: don't go see stepfather. it's a waste of time and money.

BYU Football Needs Help

2009-10-31T17:26:00.002-07:00

Last weekend ESPN College Gameday came to Provo. too bad they didn't come on a weekend where Lee Corso would have put on the cougar head. I was considering not going because i didn't like the idea of getting up at 5 am to wait in the cold for 3 hours for it to start. a lot of people slept in tents in the parking lot the night before. and i rained! haha. but my friends and i decided that we would just go around 9 and catch the last hour. it was perfect. and it was so much fun being there. i am glad i didn't miss out on this experience.

plus i even got a chance to go to the game. i am so glad i didn't buy an all sports pass this year. when i have been in town for a game, i have been able to go for frizee. i am glad i didn't pay to go to the tcu game. was a disappointment.

No Pain, No Gain

2009-10-26T12:43:00.004-07:00

In my soccer game 2 WEEKS AGO i was playing goalie. and some guy that plays on the men's soccer team for BYU had the ball and dribbled it as close as he could to the goal and then shot it as HARD AS HE COULD. I stopped it with my body, but I felt like it sent me back into the goal... it hurt SOOOOO bad! and that night i had a raised mark of a soccer ball on my leg. This picture doesn't do it justice. then the next day it was just a normal mark that i thought would go away. in fact i was so excited to show it to some people and was worried that i wouldn't get to show them before it faded away. well IT'S STILL THERE! there's no way of getting rid of it. i hope it's not permanent... but hey, at least i stopped the ball, right? this reminds me of when my mom was always so worried watching me in goal. she always was scared i was going to get kicked in the face. i was fearless then. i have loved being back in the goal for some of my games. i love the rush of adrenaline. i miss playing in high school. my freshman year was the most fun i had. those were my glory days.

cupcake update

2009-10-17T10:50:00.010-07:00

I realize i haven't posted about cupcakes in a very long time. this is not because i haven't been making them, but i am definitely still going strong! i have found a lot of favorites. but i must make them all before i can remake some of them. here are some pictures of what i have been up to lately in the kitchen.

i absolutely LOVED the peanut butter cookie cupcakes and the frosting that went with them. So i decided to try out the peanut butter and jelly cupcakes. the frosting was different, i didn't like it as much. i wasn't a big fan of these. i think they came out a little too dry. but they were ready for when my mom and carol came to town for education week.

luckily i was able to make up for them right away. i had been planning on making a summery cupcake right before i went to la and san diego so i could share them with my friend and his family that i was staying with. the triple-citrus cupcakes were soooo good! they had a nice citrus glaze over them. lemon, lime and orange zest came together to make these delicious, fruity cupcakes! my friend's dad said the only thing that could make these better was a little rum in them. haha. i'll be sure to try that next time... jk

while in la, i made sure to make a stop at sprinkles cupcakes to get my favorite pumpkin cupcake! and of course i bought a yummy chocolate marshmallow for later! soooo good!

i love snickerdoodle cookies, so i knew i would love the cupcakes. unfortunately this was the first batch of cupcakes i made with an old stand up mixer that grandma gave me. i didn't incorporate the ingredients well enough and the cupcakes came out weird. the frosting required being whisked, but the mixer only had beaters. so it turned out kinda weird too. but i think this process helped me find a good marshmallow filling for the chocolate marshmallow cupcakes i made this summer. these were still pretty good.
i have been eyeing the cookies and cream cheesecakes for a long time. i am not a big fan of straight oreos, but i died every time i took a bite of one of these. luckily this batch made 30, because they definitely were loved by many. these will definitely be made over and over and over again!

I made chocolate malted cupcakes for my friend, jimmy's, birthday. i couldn't find dutch process cocoa powder so i had to substitute regular cocoa for that. i hope that didn't alter the flavor too much.

Before i left for colorado with morty in september, i made some applesauce-spice cupcakes. these are made with a brown sugar cream cheese frosting. basically you just substitute brown sugar for powdered sugar. its delicious! i put them in the fridge so that they would be fresh for when i got back since most of the family would be in utah then also. so monday i brought them over to share with all the family and cousins at grandma's. mom frosted them. she put way more frosting than i usually put on them, but they turned out to be great! they were definitely a crowd pleaser.

I realize that i missed taking pictures of a few of my creations. the peanut butter-filled chocolate cupcakes. i LOVED these ones. and i made a few batches of them to test out the different times for baking. so i took a batch into work one morning. i dropped them off on my way to class. when i got back to work they were gone. so i guess they liked them. they were so good i just had to show a picture. so here's one i stole from someone else's blog.

last week i made mint-filled brownie cupcakes. i don't remember if i had a specific reason for making these. these cupcakes didn't turn out like i imagined. i cooked the batch at two different times so i could get it just right, but i seemed to over cook both of them. so they were a little hard, and they were not thick like i imagined. i made them before i went down to vegas and la so i took the rest of them to the boy's house to eat. they weren't gone when i got back, so i guess they were no good. good thing i was able to go to sprinkles in beverly hills TWICE while we were down there. we got the chocolate marshmallow, black and white, pb chocolate, pb chocolate chip, red velvet and orange cupcakes. sooooooo good! i also probably gained 500 lbs in those two days. it was well worth it. :)

so there's the update. i still feel like i am missing some. oh well. these were the memorable ones i guess. until next time, happy baking!

This Is Beyond Baseball

2009-10-09T20:34:00.003-07:00

New York, New York

2009-09-24T14:49:00.003-07:00

I feel like in honor of my Grandpa Bitter passing away last night I should cheer for this team I love to hate. Nothing brings me more happiness than seeing the Yankees lose, especially in the post season when they are up 3 games to one to get to the world series.

Grandpa passed away on Wednesday night. Tuesday night, the Yankees were the first team this season to clinch a place in the playoffs. I can only think that he was living long enough to see that happen. He is a big time Yankees fan. A few weeks ago we were talking about the new stadium and he said he would love to go see it sometime. And of course grandma said, seeing it on tv was enough for them. But now grandpa will be in Yankee Stadium every night they play to cheer for his team.

In other words (i can't believe i am saying this) it wouldn't kill me to see the Yankees win it all this season. Love you Grandpa.

birdie birdie birdie birdie

2009-08-29T08:42:00.006-07:00

i am back from a very fun trip to california. did a lot of fun things, had lots of beach time, went to lots of baseball games, and ate at lots of great places.

while in temecula, my friend and i went golfing. in order to make things smoother, i decided to play from the men's tees with him. i'm a bogey golfer. i don't play very much, but i can keep up with anybody. i get pars often, but mostly bogeys. i rarely get a birdie. it just never happens for me. i have had multiple birdie putts that probably should have gone in. but of course i blow it.

but on this one day of golfing at temeku hills golf course i had a shot for a birdie. hole #4. Par 5. i hit an okay shot off the tee. my next shot was not so good. it went off the fairway a bit. my third shot i got it uphill up on the green, but since i was downhill i couldn't see exactly where it landed and where the pin was. i remember my friend getting up to the green first and telling me i was only about 6 feet from the hole. i got so excited. this was a chance for a birdie. well this guy was on our tails and my friend suggested we let him play through and i said no way. we are finishing this hole right now. i didn't want to lose my momentum. so we finished it, my ball went in the hole and i jumped for joy. my first birdie in temecula. from the men's tees. i was beaming for hours after (in between moping because i wasn't playing well on the back 9)

also, this beauty of a swing earned me a free twix on hole #9. we had a driving contest. with me still playing from the men's tees. which presented a slight challenge. but i rose to the occasion. it a smooth, solid shot and rocketed that ball up the fairway. my friend got pretty close to me. in fact we probably hit the same distance, but his went in bushes off the cart path so he was penalized a few yards.

the back 9 = not my best stuff. a few mental breakdowns happened. but upon finishing i was grateful for a fun day on the golf course. any day i can play 18 holes is a good day. i love to golf.

In your love, my salvation lies

2009-08-28T22:28:00.000-07:00

i have so much to blog about but i want to write something quickly right now.

i went to see a movie last month that i just LOVE. Away We Go. i saw the previews for it multiple times on tv and at the theaters and wanted to see it so bad. the only problem was the rating. after finding out a friend wanted to see it as bad i decided to give it a whirl. and boy am i glad i did. it is such a good movie about loving the one you're with. got to give credit to the writers who created such rich, humane characters. but john kradinski and maya rudolph did a perfect job in bringing the to life. they were perfect for these roles.

the story line is about these two people who, a few months after learning they were expecting their first child, find out his parents are moving away to europe. so they don't feel the need to stay in the town they are in and decide to try new places all over the country. along their journey they reconnect with family and friends and their love grows stronger for each other as they discover other's relationships. there is so much to learn from this movie about real love for another human being. i wish it didn't have the rating that it does so that more people would watch it and learn. i loved the movie so much that i saw it again in the theaters. and cannot wait for it's release to DVD on September 29th!

anyway, the soundtrack to this movie is also amazing, so i downloaded it right away after seeing it the first time. and i really didn't get to listen to it that much. but the other day my friend was "dying" to listen to alexi murdoch (a major contributer to the soundtrack) so when i got back home from cali i decided to revisit the music. i have been listening to the 7 songs that i have of his over and over and over tonight. i am in like. so you should go to itunes and download some for yourself. i highly recommend Wait or Song For You or All My Days or Orange Sky. love them all. just some quality chill music...

You're The Meaning In My Life, You're The Inspiration

2009-08-11T13:55:00.008-07:00

I have been inspired! I just spent the afternoon watching Julie and Julia and was enraptured all 120 minutes of it! I walked out of the theater debating the pros and cons of going to cooking school. Two years ago I was very interested in doing it so I went online to check out the ones in Portland. Western Culinary Institute sent me information and called me a million times. Finally I had to tell them that I was very interested, but at this time I could not make it work. They eventually stopped calling me. But I still get emails from them every once in a while. I would LOVE to go to cooking school. And not even to become a chef or professional cook. I just want to learn for myself. Isn't that was school is all about anyway? Gaining knowledge, and in this case experience.

But alas, I am almost done with my communications degree, which is what I really want to do in the workplace for the rest of my life. Well as long as I can balance it with the happenings of my life. So no cooking school for me. But I wouldn't be surprised to find myself enrolling in a cooking school when I am older and all my children have gone off to college. I think I would enjoy it more then also because hopefully I will have much more mature taste buds by then. This will help in me actually enjoying cooking all different sorts of foods. Currently I avoid any kind of seafood. I, just a couple of years ago made myself a ham sandwich with leftovers from dinner, because there was no more turkey and I loved it! I used to remember having ham and potato casserole for dinner and in order for me to have more potatoes I was supposed to eat some ham. This just killed me. Well at the time I thought it was killing me. But now I enjoy eating ham. So one day I do believe that I will actually like seafood. One day...

Like Julie, I have already started to blog about my baking. I LOVE my Martha Stewart Cupcakes book. I have yet to find one that I love just as much. I did spend a good 30 minutes looking through the recipe books at TJ Maxx yesterday and came away with three new books, 2 being cupcake books. I am returning one after looking closer and seeing that most recipes use cake mixes. It's all or nothing for me. As for now, all my recipes will be made from scratch. I have however fallen behind on my updates. I haven't talked about four cupcakes that I have made! So here's a quick update.

Two weeks ago I drove with a friend to Fresno. It was a surprise to everyone. Except my aunt Carla. and Laura, because Carla told her... We drove through the night so we arrived around 6/6:30 in the morning. Laura let me in the house, and when Reshea woke up she called for Laura's help and I walked in with her. I loved her reaction. She said at first she didn't think anything of it because I am basically there all the time... That is too true. It was fun to surprise everyone and see newborn baby JJ. And I brought treats! I decided to make Martha's Cookie Monogram Cupcakes in honor of Joseph Jack's arrival! I spent the day before going to Michael's and other stores looking for tiny J cookie cutters, but could not find any. So then I looked for cowboy cookie cutters. Didn't find those either. I need to find a specialty store in the area. I settled for little tiny animals. Which actually turned out to be pretty cute!

The day we left I took too much time walking to the grocery store to get the buttercream (it was a nice day and I didn't feel like driving), so I was pretty rushed in making them. The cupcake part was yellow buttermilk. mmm. :) My cousin was over and suggested that I put food coloring in the sugar cookie mix so that I didn't have to frost them. I remembered a little too late so it wasn't completely mixed right with the dough and the color came out a little lighter than I had hoped. Since I was changing the recipe so much, I decided to go with a quick and easy cream cheese frosting. I picked up some blue sprinkles at the store and decided to cover the cupcakes in sprinkles and then set the animals in. They came out alright. I don't feel I can completely cross this one off the list, since I didn't do everything exact the same. How am I ever going to learn if I do that?!?! But this day, desperate times called for desperate measures.

After my mediocre performance I was itching to prove myself in the kitchen. I was dying to make oatmeal chocolate chip cookie cupcakes. And I thought for sure Reshea would want me to make them too, because she practically yelled at me for not picking occ cookies at Hungry Bear last time I was in Fresno. I even found special liners for the cupcakes for the girls. Spiderman and Hannah Montana! We had a plan to make cupcakes one day and I was really excited... until Reshea pulled out the box to make strawberry cupcakes! WHAT?!? you have me there. Someone who loves to make real cupcakes, and you are going to have me make them from a box!?! She claimed they were good. I reluctantly made them. They were not good. Oh well, it's what she wanted.

When I got home from Fresno, I was anxious to make the Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie Cupcakes. They actually are Oatmeal Raisin, but I don't care too much for them, so I substituted chocolate chips. They turned out good! I thought they were a little too dry at first, but then I realized its the cookie consistency... The next day another cousin was over and she helped herself to two of them. That means that they're good. Anyone can say they are good, but I don't really think that until they go for a second one! It was fun to share these ones with my peeps.

Then I went on a cupcake hiatus. My aunt and uncle were in town and staying at the grandparents and I didn't want to get in the way of what they were doing. Plus I was spending every evening up in Salt Lake watching baseball games. Will blog later about my love.

Finally on Sunday I couldn't take it anymore and I had to make some more cupcakes. Unfortunately I didn't have any butter. Do you know how much unsalted butter I go through on a weekly basis??? You don't want to know... So on my way home from Saturday nights game, I did the dreaded Saturday evening trip to Walmart. I wonder if they have their best business that night? It is always packed with people picking up stuff before the sabbath. I got my items and left as fast as I could.

Sunday after church I made Streusel Cupcakes. mmm. Reminds me of the coffee cake muffins from Costco that I loved. I was so sad when they stopped making them. The recipe book says, "All the features of a traditional coffee cake - tender cake base, crumbly, streusel top, and simple milk-and-sugar glaze - are packed into portable, single-size portions." Does that sound delicious?? And then the best part, "Try serving them for brunch." That makes them sound not as bad as a regular cupcake. When eating these ones I didn't feel as guilty! I like that. Like this lady, I felt that something more should have been in the actual batter. They were just too plain. I felt like i had to always get a bite of the topping in order to enjoy it. But I have plenty left over and will be delivering some to my peeps tonight. They have one more day until the book says they go bad. I don't really listen to that though...

There's my "quick" update. I hope to be more consistent with this now. I can't wait to try another recipe!

Zucchini Spice Delight

2009-07-28T13:41:00.004-07:00

when i was home i took advantage of a vegetable in the garden. ZUCCHINI! i wish i had a garden all the time. it would be so much more fun to cook when i am using fresh fruits and veggies. i decided to make the zucchini spice cupcakes since we had too many ripe zucchinis in the garden. they were soooo good. and just like the blueberry ones, i felt like i was eating healthy when i ate them! haha. well if i at them without the cream cheese frosting on top.

the best part was i had plenty to take back to utah with me so i was able to enjoy them for days. :) i even brought two to fresno this weekend to share with everyone out here. i think they were skeptical of them being so old. but they were still moist and yummy.

my favorite frosting in the world is cream cheese frosting. that's why i love sprinkles so much. they use cream cheese frosting. mmm... :) when i went to sweet tooth fairy cupcakes i was so disappointed. there frosting was nasty. there oreo cupcake tasted too much like coconut. sick.

i remember having a birthday cake covered with coconut shavings when i was little and i cried because i didn't like it. the only thing coconut i like is ocean water from sonic. love that blue tongue goodness. :)

Enjoy!!

Zucchini Spice Cupcakes
Yields: 24 cupcakes

3 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon grated lemon zest
2 cups packed light brown sugar
3 cups packed grated zucchini
1 cup walnuts (about 3 ounces), toasted and coarsely chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. In another bowl, whisk together oil, eggs, vanilla, and zest until well blended; whisk in brown sugar until smooth. Stir in zucchini, then add flour mixture and stir until just combined. Stir in walnuts.

Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three quarters full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool completely before removing cupcakes. Cupcakes can be stored overnight at room temperature or frozen up to 2 months, in airtight containers.

To finish, use an offset spatula to spread cupcakes with frosting. Refrigerate up to 3 days in airtight containers; bring to room temperature before serving.