Dance in the Rain

Daylight Savings ruined my day!

2011-03-13T14:30:00.000-07:00

How on earth did I not know or realize that this weekend was Daylight Savings?! I woke up at 7:15am and thought NO WAY am I getting up at seven...on a Sunday! Had I known it was actually eight that would have been a different story as THAT is a more reasonable time, I had plans today, and lots to do and it was all ruined by forcing myself to go back to sleep and not waking up until 3 hours after that!

If I had no cell phone or computer with the auto update option I would STILL think it was 3 o'clock when it was really 4, thank you technology for making me aware of daylight savings time, I knew you were a true friend.

That said, I LOVE when the days are longer and it gets darker later in the Spring and Summer, bring on the sun, I am ready for it!

Hence the Reason I DO NOT Keep Bread in My House

2011-03-12T18:02:00.001-08:00

I just ate THREE English Muffins for dinner...all because it is too "hard" to grill up some chicken. Yes lazy :/

Gym tomorrow FOR SURE...I swear!

Extra Crafty

2010-06-13T15:43:00.000-07:00

Okay so I have been extra crafty the last two weekends and FINALLY finished a bag I have been meaning to make for almost a year...or over a year. I also made a couple camera strap covers from left over material. I could make the pics better if I knew how to use my camera but that is still a work in progress ;)

Reversible Camera Strap both sides:

And the main event! An Amy Butler Birdie Sling bag:

My Spring/Summer Goal

2010-04-29T07:40:00.000-07:00

Okay, my Spring/Summer goal is to NOT let it be a year before I update this blog. So I WILL find something to post about before August...

Crafty

2009-08-23T15:01:00.001-07:00

So for work every year we have a United Way campaign that lasts all week. The big event for the week are the auctions. A live one and a silent one. My team decided that we were going to donate a basket to be auctioned off. So we decided on a baby themed basket (those are always BIG sellers.) It's called It's Definitely a Girl so we all made/bought things for a baby girl. I am so impressed with my crafting abilities that I just had to blog about them to show them off:)

The first thing I made was a decorative travel wipes case. It was SO easy to make and turned out really cute (so cute that I am making another one for a lady at work:)

I also made some reversible headbands that turned out super cute!

I am thinking about going into business:)

California!

2009-08-12T18:36:00.000-07:00

So the two of you who read this mentioned that my last post was awhile ago so I guess I'll update it with my trip to CA. I have a really awesome PTO accrual at my work so when I realized that at the end of the year I would have over the 160 hours that we can carry into the next year I decided to take another week off...even though I had just taken one off in April. So I went to CA. It was a lightly planned trip with ideas of what I wanted to do so it was just a nice chill vacation.

I drove there so I could bring Otto and Hampton (Jill's dog) so they could be reunited with their long lost brother's, Mom and Uncle. So while I was there my Mom's house had 5-6 Miniature Schnauzer's running around. They had a blast.

On the Sunday after I got there we drove my Grandma Jones to Monterrey to stay with my Aunt and stayed the night. So we went out to dinner that night and then lunch the next day. We went down to Cannery Row and the Aquarium...Monterrey has THE BEST aquarium ever!

After Monterrey we hung out at home for the day then headed down to L.A. to go to the Getty and do some other things. The Getty was fun! And way more interesting then I thought. And since I am a speed museum observer we were able to see everything in one day even though the guy at the front said it couldn't be done:)

After the Getty my Dad and Aaron went home and me and my Mom went to Marina Del Rey and got a hotel for the night. I had my first PinkBerry yogurt and it was delicious...all the hype was real. We also went to El Cholos for dinner...they have the yummiest salsa. The next day we drove down the coast to Long Beach. It was a gorgeous drive and then in Long Beach we went on a short little boat tour that was cool. It was just nice to be at the beach.

The trip was a blast and of course too short:) But it also threw me WAY off my food/workout plan and I am still suffereing trying to get back into cardio. So needless to say I am not planning any vacations in the near future...I sometimes even contemplate whether or not I should go home at Christmas...which is crazy! Of course I am going home at Christmas:)

Coming up on my next post...my recent crafty endeavors, you will be impressed!

Accomplishments

2009-06-26T19:47:00.000-07:00

So for a couple months I had a seperate blog that charted my progress to becoming healthier and losing weight but decided that since that is such a huge part of my life at this point it should just be recorded on my regular blog. So this is a long post all bout me but in reality that is what my blog is for...for me to write all about me:)

I have had a personal trainer for awhile now and at this point in my life this is the best investment I could have made. I say investment because I am constantly broke between paying for the personal training and because unfortunately eating healthier and eating at home instead of eating out is more expensive for a single person. But it is worth every penny! I would rather live in my car at this point than not have a personal trainer. She has provided more support than any of my friends or family ever could...not that my friend's and family don't support me because they definitely do also just in a different way.

Anyway there has been a lot of progress since I started and I have not onced gained even a pound since I started. I have been consistently losing...through holidays, vacations etc. In the beginning the progress was slower to start it was a HUGE adjustment to change my eating but now it is usually really easy to eat healthy. Aside from being a great personal trainer my trainer, Mackenzie, is also a very creative cook. Every recipe she has given me is awesome tasting and healthy too and most of them she changed herself to be that way.

Doing cardio was also difficult in the beginning but now that my body and heart are stronger I am actually to the point where I enjoy exercise...and anybody who knows me knows that I never thought that would happen! At this point healthy eating (and it's not dieting, it is just eating like I should and I will always eat this way) and exercise take priority in my life.

I have a great support group from friend's, family and especially people at work (which I think is often the HARDEST place to find support.) I know I am progressing but it is awesome when people at work or even at the gym comment on how great I am doing, it really helps with motivation.

I don't write in a journal so this is where I have decided to record my accomplishments. As of last week I have lost a total of 35 pounds (and will lose 15 additional pounds at least by the end of Summer.) My body fat percentage has decreased 10%. My waist has lost 10 inches! And those are just the most amazing measurements to me. I have lost several inches all over, my arms, my hips, my neck even. I am starting to see and feel muscle definition in my abs, my biceps(which I am in love with right now:) etc. I just need to lose more body fat so I can start showing off these new muscles:)

This is how I imagine my bicep under the flab, it feels that awesome:)

Other accomplishments have been my cardio activity at the gym. I have built up a decent endurance to my cardio workouts now I just need to catch my joints up to my heart, my knees usually stop before my heart does. I still jog at least 5 sometimes 6 miles 5-6 days a week. I once dreaded taking a Cycle class but now go to one every week after having already worked out for 1.5 hours that day, and not only survive it but really push myself and I still don't die!

Anyway I guess the whole point of this post is really to share and document how proud of myself I am. It is really HARD work and I love it at this point, so as hard as it is, it is also a lot of fun.

The Past:)

2009-06-14T18:38:00.000-07:00

This is going to be a LONG post since it is updating over 2 months:) Okay so since Seattle I HAVE had a life it just hasn't been blogged about. About 2 weeks after we got back from Seattle I went to CA for a week for Jill's fabulous 30th birthday celebration. We went to Disneyland and just hung out in good ol' Agoura Hills. Disneyland with Jill's whole family was a blast and the weather was wonderfule and a welcome change from Utah's weather, which even two and a half months later is still struggling to decide what season it wants to be. Here are some pics:

This was the plane ride to CA. My friend Gina is not a flyer but this pic was definitely fake:) The castle at night so pretty! We watched the fireworks the first night and it was so cool! Tinkerbell even flew across the castle!

We waited in line for Bert and Mary Poppins.

After two days at Disneyland and over 7500 calories burned and close to 50,000 steps(information courtesy of my Bodybugg) in those one and a half days at Disneyland we went back to Agoura for more birthday celebration. Jill's Mom "surprised" her with a barbie cake that was so yummy!

Then we went to the 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica and dinner at El Cholo's. El Cholo's was yummy! And I loved their salsa. I can't wait to go back. I did not take pics of my dinner so there is no evidence of the yumminess but trust me:) Other than those things we just hung out at Jill's parents house with her family, which was good...I missed them!

Going back to work and Utah was hard after so much fun but I did it and got back into my workout and eating right routine, which I am sure Mackenzie, my trainer, was so happy about.

After Disneyland were the Supercross races at the University of Utah stadium. My Uncle called and said he wanted to come up and go so Me, Jill and Julie went along with my brother Bryan, Ryanne and one of her friends. Initially I was not totally excited to go but the second I got there I realized how much fun it is, freezing, but fun!:)

A few weeks later I went up to Flaming Gorge with some friends for my friend Tawny's birthday. This was the first year I had gone and it was totally fun! We went on a Dam tour, had a Dam burger, ate some Dam fries and so on:

Feeding the Dam fish, the Green River and me and Jill at the Lake.

Okay so I am updated for now, until I go to CA again the end of July, I can't wait:)

Update coming soon!

2009-06-09T06:59:00.000-07:00

It has taken me awhile to get my hands on some pics from Disneyland in April and the tiny bit of OCD in me was not allowing me to post anything out of order so I have just had to wait. Now I have the pics so will be updating this soon so stay tuned...

Seattle Day 4:(

2009-04-06T08:24:00.000-07:00

This was a cool pic of the skyline at night

This was our last half day in Seattle and I need to get it posted before I leave for Disneyland! Which is today! Our flight didn't leave until 5:30pm so we did have a lot of time that morning to do whatever. We went to The Crumpet Shop again and I had the most yummy Crumpet with Pesto and Tomato on it! I will miss The Crumpet Shop.

After having crumpets we went to the aquarium (FYI I actually can't remember if we went to the aquarium first or had crumpets first so we are going to pretend it was in this order:) The aquarium was fun...of course there is no comparison to Monterey Bay Aquarium but it was still pretty fun.

I made a slidshow on flickr

I will change it to my program

that I usually use later

After the aquarium we just walked around snapping shots of different places like THE REAL WORLD HOUSE! Really it was the real world house 10 years ago and totally different but fun to see just the same.

The hotel where the Beatle's stayed and fished from their hotel window (which is now illegal.) Our hotel. Our room was one of those baconies.
And other fun little sculptures around the Waterfront.

Slideshows

2009-04-06T08:19:00.001-07:00

So how come not one of the 3 of you who read this told me that the slideshows don't work? I fixed them all so they work now:)

Seattle Day 3 Part 2!

2009-04-04T10:30:00.000-07:00

The second part of Day 3 was cold! We took a ferry over to Bainbridge Island to shop a little and have an early dinner. The ferry ride was fun and we got to see the Seattle skyline from the water but it was COLD and windy.

When we got to Bainbridge Island we walked down town and went into a couple of shops. We found the cutest pet store, got the puppies each some treats and then continued on to eat. The city was a cute little city with cute buildings and it had a very small town feel to it.

We asked a lady in one of the shops where is a good place to eat and she mentioned a pub so that is where we went. Of course they were closing early to begin some remodeling so we went to a place next to it called Doc's Marina Grill. We had roasted garlic again as an appetizer...its just so yummy! I got Halibut and chips and clam chowder. And of course Diet Coke was our life line the whole trip. It was yummy.

That was pretty much it for day 3. We took the ferry back over to Seattle and just walked around near our hotel to see the sights, buy some gifts and take some pics.

Seattle Day 3!

2009-04-01T17:03:00.000-07:00

Okay Day 3 of Seattle! If you haven't read the other days yet please do:) Day 3 was a blast. Partly because we Rode the Ducks! It was so much fun! It was a tour of Seattle on an amphibious old World War 2 vehicle that can drive around the streets but it can also drive right into the water. If you are ever in Seattle (or any of these other places) DO IT! http://www.ridetheducks.com/
The tour showed us all of the must see places in Seattle. It drove around down town and then to the house boats. We saw the Sleepless in Seattle house, some of the Deadliest Catch boats and great views of the city.

Our guide was crazy but a lot of fun too! He wore different hats according to the part of the tour we were on.

Through the city...
Pioneer Square

It was cold so the plastic windows were down on the vehicle but I still took pics

This view was really breathtaking. A camera can't even begin to show it.

I always loved the part in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang when the car drives right into the water, which we did!

Another boat that we passed on the water.

Sleepless in Seattle House

Deadliest Catch Boat

City Views

Other cute boats and houses

More on day 3 later!

Seattle, Day 2 Part 2

2009-03-29T21:08:00.000-07:00

Okay so for the second half of day 2 we went to Dick's for burgers. Everywhere I read said this was the place to go...meh. It was okay. It was no Five Guys or In and Out. It was more like Crown Burger but not even as good as that. Then Leslie (Jill's friend) had to go so she dropped me and Jill off at the Space Needle next. It was pretty cool, we had to wait in a bit of a line but the view, of course, was amazing.

After the Space Needle we took the monorail back over to our hotel. It was a small walk back to our hotel through Pike Place Market and the other shopping.
After asking our hotel about where a good pasta place was we went to the pink door. This is a restaurant over in Pike Place Market that does not have a sign or anything indicating that it is a restaurant. It is just a pink door. The atmosphere was great and the food was good too.

Yummy Roasted Garlic

My pasta was SOOO good. I forgot to take a pic before I started eating it.
A mural that was on the wall that I loved. It took Jill about a dozen tries to get this pic for me. People kept walking in front of her. Jill's friend told us that sometimes they do some sort of burlesque show which is why there are swings and stuff hanging from the ceiling.

After dinner it was the end of another fun day! We were exhausted and I was VERY excited for the next day to Ride the Ducks! We went home to our hotel and took in the view from our deck...
Except it was dark by that time...and our view was blocked all 4 days by this HUGE cargo ship! But really not even a huge cargo ship ruining our waterfront view could have ruined this trip!

Seattle Day 2!

2009-03-28T13:36:00.000-07:00

Okay so I may put Day 2 and 3 into two separate posts each so that the post is not REALLY long and I can't decide between pictures.

We went to Seattle with very few plans. We had ideas of the things we wanted to do but no schedule. We also decided not to set an alarm in the morning. It worked out really well. The one thing I don't like about vacations is how tiring they are running from one place to another.

Jill had a friend from her mission that lives in Seattle who met up with us and drove us around which was nice. We walked down to Pike Place Market to meet up with Leslie and while waiting for her we went to a fish stand. They just happened to be throwing fish around while we were waiting it was pretty fun.
After Leslie got there we went to do the underground tour which basically boils down to the history of how Seattle came to be the city that it is. When it was first settled they built too close to the tide and had problems with sewage (they also had the first flushing toilets.) Then the city burnt completely down with no one being killed and they all got to start over the right way by building everything higher, but they left the original buildings so that is why there is still the underground. I also learned that by taxing hookers and other people breaking the law is how Seattle got their money in the beginning. It was pretty interesting. That first picture of the guy on the wall...I forget who he is but I thought he looked like Brigham Young.:)

More to come on the second half of Day2 another time.

Seattle! Day 1

2009-03-24T17:28:00.000-07:00

I am back from Seattle and it was SOOOOOO much fun! Thanks to Jill's connections we stayed at the Marriott Waterfront hotel. It was a great location. Right next to Pike Place Market, right on the water so walking distance to the Seattle Aquarium, the ferries to other islands, and the Real World Seattle house just to name a few. We were also walking distance from some good shopping and a monorail that took us over to the Space Needle and other attractions on that side of the city. All of our adventures in detail are soon to come. I figure I will post at least one post per day.

So our first day, Friday, we got in at around 5:30 and were picked up by a town car, who took us to our hotel. We checked in and took our luggage up to our room and decided to walk around a little before eating dinner so we went up to Pike Place Market first. Everything was closing down so we did a quick walk through and then went down to the water. After becoming more familiar with what was around us it was time for dinner. Anthony's Pier 66 was recommended to us so that's where we went.
We were seated right on the water and would have had an amazing view if it weren't for the cargo ship that resided in our view the entire trip. But they were still rock star seats!

It was YUMMY! We ordered:
Waikiki Coconut Prawns

Caesar Salad it was REALLY yummy and had fried crispy cheese on top that was the BEST!

And I ordered Crab Legs as my main course, they were SOOO good but I was so full at that point I could only eat a couple of legs (Note that my butter is still there. I dipped it once and then the rest I ate without to save what calories I could)

After we ordered our food and before they brought out our appetizer and my salad, they brought out another dish that was ordered for us courtesy of our concierge. (I tell you we were being treated like rock stars!) The dish was called Seared Swordfish Poke (pronounced like pokey) it was swordfish in sweet sesame and soy sauce on a bed of spinach lettuce and other veggies...it was REALLY good!

After finishing all of our dinner we decided to go for it and top it all off with dessert. It was okay but the presentation was cool

It was a YUMMY meal and worth every penny. The service was great! There will definitely be a repeat visit when i go back to Seattle!

No they didn't!

2009-03-15T15:30:00.000-07:00

There is a Redneck Olympics! I happened upon this while googling who knows what, but there is such a thing as Redneck Olympics. When the summer olympics were in Atlanta a radio station in Dublin, GA decided to hold a Redneck Olympics and from what i can see they do it every year. I think other cities have them too! Just to get an idea of what goes on I have found evidence:

Road trip anyone?

Presents!

2009-03-15T15:21:00.000-07:00

I know a couple of people who are having babies any minute so I got to get them a present and I just have to say I am very impressed with my bow making abilities. At Christmas time I googled how to tie your own gift bows for presents and because Google is so trusty I found step by step instructions for tying bows. As a result all of my bows at Christmas were home made. I was so excited to wrap one of my friends baby presents so I could revisit my bow making skills. Isn't it so cute?

New bed!

2009-03-13T14:05:00.000-07:00

My bed that I currently have is bad...it has been bad for quite awhile. It sinks down in the middle, there is a weird, huge grease stain on the box spring, it is old and it was purchased at my parent's neighbors yard sale. (I know getting a mattress at a yard sale is kind of gross but they were neighbors and my bed before this was even worse!) And I never get a good nights sleep on it.

Well last weekend a couple of my friends (names will be omitted due to the hilarious nature of this story) were at my house helping me go through stuff to take to D.I. We were taking a break to watch Survivor, which was recorded on the DVR in my room. Me and one of my friends was sitting on my bed and my third friend jumped into the middle of the bed to watch the show...and I mean she jumped. Well since my bed is OLD and just really BAD, as she jumped on it we heard this loud crack and the middle of the bed touch the floor. We all jumped off but I was sure the box spring was broken because I heard the wood crack.

Well I looked under the bed expecting it to be all sunk down and touching the floor but it looked okay. So I have been sleeping on it all week. Well the last couple of days I have started to roll to the right because my bed will no longer stay on the bed frame...it is really broken.

SOOOO I am getting a new bed! I decided that it really is necessary. I have to get up and leave for work by 5:30 in the morning and this cannot be done without a good nights sleep, which I can't remember the last time I had one of those (It may have been during my Motel 6 stay in St. George.) That is how bad my bed really is...I loved the bed at Motel 6. The one I am getting is pretty cheap but I really don't think it can get any worse than the ones I have and the reviews for it are really good. So I am already looking forward to sweet dreams on a new, not gross bed. Yay!

The Big 3-0

2009-03-01T12:19:00.000-08:00

So in 22 days I am turning 30 and to be honest it does not feel any different then when I turned 29, it really is not that big of a deal to me. I do not think 30 is old and I do not feel old so its just another year. BUT that does not mean that I do not want to do something special for my 30th birthday so I decided to go to Seattle. It just so happens that I made my schedule at work, the weekend of my birthday, to be a four day weekend, so my friend Jill and I are going to Seattle from Friday to Monday...I CAN'T WAIT! I have big dreams of doing a red double decker bus tour (they're my favorite!) among other things so hopefully there is one running when we are there. And of course there will be LOTS of pictures.

Parade of Homes

2009-02-26T13:34:00.000-08:00

Every year for the past 5 years I have gone to St. George President's day weekend for the Parade of Homes with Jill. It is a blast. Jill's parents live there so we have a place to stay and for the last few years my Mom, Sister-In-Law and nephew Logan (who loves looking at these houses) have met me there. The houses are amazing and sometimes ridiculously extravagant but so much fun to check out. I have gone to the parade of homes in Salt Lake a couple of times and it does not even come close to comparing.

This year you could definitely see the effect the economy was having on the housing market. Instead of there being a couple houses that were 6 and 7 million and then a lot in the 3-4 million range then most between 1- 3 million and very few under a million there were a couple that were 3.5 million (one NOT worth it!) and a few 1-1.5 million then everything else under a million. Don't get me wrong the ones under a million are still gorgeous homes just not with the crazy add ons of arcades, bowling alleys and other fun stuff. I made a goal to take over 200 pics and I overshot that by 65 so here are a few of my favorites.

1st attempt...there will be more

2009-02-18T16:29:00.000-08:00

Okay so my first attempt at making sugar cookies turned out with some pluses and some negatives. Let's start with the positives: The actual cookie tasted REALLY yummy! The frosting turned out edible. The improvements that need to be made are that I need to NOT over cook all but one batch...even though the overcooked ones still tasted yummy. I also need to find a little bit better frosting that doesn't taste like powdered sugar mixed with water. Here are the end results!

The heart is my favorite! I did lose patience with the decorating and coloring the frosting but hopefully I will get more patience the more I practice at it.

Cookies!

2009-02-04T13:59:00.000-08:00

Cute shaped cookie cutters (i.e. one is the shape of California!) have inspired me to bake some sugar cookies this week. Not just any sugar cookies but cream cheese sugar cookies...yum! Well hopefully yum, I have never made sugar cookies before that I can remember so we'll see how they turn out (pictures below are my end goal.) Since I cannot eat all of these cookies I am going to take them to work and to my family in St. George when I meet them for the Parade of Homes and force them to be my experimental taste testers.

A WII!!!!!!!!!!

2009-01-26T10:55:00.000-08:00

I can't remember if I mentioned in my Christmas post that I go t a WII for Christmas! I love it and have already bought a lot of fun games. But last week I ordered THE CUTEST/geekiest WII accessory that is also very practical...seriously. It is a carrying case. But it is not only a carrying case it is a WII blowling bag and is VERY cute!

Now I can take my WII everywhere...okay not everywhere but to friends houses who don't have it...or work (I am working on approval for that:)

This book IS Freakin' Fabulous

2009-01-24T14:10:00.000-08:00

I got this book for a friend at Christmas after hearing about it on the radio and HAD to get one for myself! It is so funny and a great coffee table book to read through. It is well worth the $20 somethin bucks and probably even cheaper if you get it from Amazon. Anyway, who doesn't want to be fabulous?

While reading through the book today I found one of my favorite parts (so far.) It is about shoes and, seriously, what woman does not like, and sometimes even love, shoes? I totally agree with Clinton when he says, "You will never be FABULOUS without FABULOUS footwear...Wear a chunky, clunky shoe and you look chunky and clunky. Wear a fabulous shoe and you are fabulous. It's that simple." I couldn't agree more, I actually think not wearing clunky shoes is another thing that my Mom tried to tell me not to do all through Jr. High and part of high school that I didn't listen too...who am I kidding...I think I even wore clunky shoes after high school. Well I finally caught on...cute shoes definitely make an outfit!
Why is this my favorite part you ask? Well I bought the CUTEST shoes last weekend that were not on sale (I usually don't get them if they are not on sale) so I was feeling a little bad about spending the money, but Clinton told me it was okay because fabulous shoes make you fabulous. Plus look at how cute they are:
The pic is small, but I love them! I went to Aldo trying to find some black heels and tried these on for size and left with them. And I really do feel fabulous when I wear them! Anyway I am looking forward to Clinton's fountain of knowledge on being Fabulous and "better than everyone else."

Global Warming

2009-01-18T20:33:00.000-08:00

WARNING: Before anyone goes crazy over my love for global warming just understand that this does not mean I don't think we shouldn't take care of the earth that we have been given to live in...BUT...

If the reason that the winter here in Utah has been the most mild I have seen, since moving here in 2002, is global warming then I say, "Cheers to Global Warming!"

While looking for the picture above I ran into some interesting/funny things about how global warming is beneficial for us. Even Forbes weighs in on the issue:

"For example, cold winter storms kill a lot of people. More people die from blizzards and cold spells than from heat waves. Increased death rates usually persist for weeks after the unusually cold temperatures have passed, which suggests that the cold is killing people who would otherwise live into another season at least...So modest climatic improvement would be to have fewer and less severe big winter storms. Amazingly, that's exactly what we should get if global warming theory turns out to be true."
For the full article you can go to: http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2006/1225/038.html

Again I need to reiterate that this does not mean that we should not take better care of the earth, but the truth is that humans exist and are going to keep functioning in life and placing their carbon footprint all over the earth...it is unavoidable! And Al Gore is CRAZY!
If Global Warming is going to end the world someday let's live life to the fullest (while, I will add again so their is no confusion, taking care of the earth the best we can, which for some is more than others)and look at the positive like this incredibly warm winter and the other points made by this Forbes writer.

Don't Do It!

2009-01-14T09:39:00.000-08:00

This is just a little blurb about smoking. DON'T DO IT! First off smoking kills you and so can second hand smoke. "Warning: The Surgeon General Has Determined that Cigarette Smoking is Dangerous to Your Health." I wikepedia'd(I may have made up this word) this and it has a big page about all the warning labels on Cigarettes...some countries are awesome and it actually says "SMOKING KILLS."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tobacco_packaging_warning_messages

Check it out:)

Anyway back to my original thought. If you know me you know, after growing up with family memebers that smoke, I do not like smoking! Everyone obviously has their free agency so if you do decide to slowly kill yourself don't try to cover up the smell with some sort of menthol and eucalyptus scent! Those two scents mixed with smoke are toxic as I just experienced getting into the elevator at work. Trust me it is better to just smell like the stench of smoke. I tried to find a picture I could copy of Smoker Man but I guess the link will have to do.

http://www.fighttheugly.com/smokerman.php?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_content=super%2Bheroes&utm_campaign=smoker%2Bman%2Bcommercials

Here are some other funny videos on the topic:

I had to put this one it cracked me up!

There is something about these commercial that I just love...it must be the singing and dancing.

Ugh...snow

2009-01-09T06:03:00.000-08:00

Now I am going to start this post on a positive note. The winter this far, in my opinion, has been pretty mild. That is saying a lot coming from me. It seems like it has snowed a lot but it has never been during the time that I have to drive in it so I can easily ignore it. But there was one REALLY cold week and now this week it is back in the 40's during the day. I NEVER though I would say this but that is warm when compared to the 4 degree weather I had to walk in to my classes when I was in school. I am not going to say that it won't get that cold this year but I am pleasantly surprised it hasn't yet.

The only problem with this "warm" weather during the day is that it still reaches freezing temperatures overnight. This results in snow and ice melting then refreezing at night. Well jsut when I thought I could handle another snowy winter, since the last couple days had been warmer and there was no snow, I was convinced otherwise.

Where I live my garage is unattached and next to it are 3 unplowed parking spots and my garage is on the end of 5 garages...right where the water melts off the roof onto the street. As I was walking out to my car the other night (on my way to the gym which should bring some kind of good karma) I was walking very carefully as it was dark and where the three parking spots are is very snowy/icy. As I was walking I stepped off of the pile of compacted snow onto what I thought was normal street and before I knew it (actually I don't even remember making the step) the top back of my head slammed into the ground and by my head I mean no other part of my body touched the ground before my head! Literally!

Even the guy in this video broke his fall a little with his hands and butt...not me! So imagine it twice as bad and my feet totally up in the air.

IT HURT! I though I might die for a second then I got up, since I was in the street and did not want to get run over by a car also. But I stood there for a second and contemplated whether or not I was going to die or if it was okay to still drive to the gym...well needless to say I am dedicated, so I got in my car after possibly suffering a head injury and drove to the gym (I think the decision to do that without waiting for a few minutes was probably due to my head injury.) But to my credit I was not dizzy at all and I did not have blurred vision. My head just hurt...it was also numb, all at the same time. Luckily one of my neighbors got a picture:

Okay so thats not me (I am not as hairy.) Well like any smart person, when I got to the gym (since I didn't think it was a good idea to talk on my phone while driving with a possible head injury, people must do it all the time here) I called a medical professional. My Mom. I just needed to make sure there was not some secret head injury that the symptoms were my head felt numb after but otherwise I felt fine (it just slammed against the ground so hard I didn't see how I could be fine:). I came to the conclusion after talking to her and my trainer (who said it was up to me if I thought I could work out) I decided I could do it. So I did (it was not easy and I actually had to take tons of breaks, I was definitely affected) but I am okay, my head is still a little sore and my neck is more sore but I am positive I will recover with no lasting brain damage. This has solidified my goal to not live where it snows. I cannot have a snowy winter every year for the rest of my life I think I would rather poke pencils in my eyes. So this is my advice if you live or are visiting the snow. Don't go ice skating on the ice unless you have ice skates on and are at a skating rink.

Christmas is over...

2009-01-04T10:48:00.000-08:00

I went to California for Christmas and once again wonder why on earth I live in the snow! I am so excited that Christmas is over and I'll tell you why...it means that we are that much closer to the winter being over! Don't get me wrong, I like the snow...but I like it when you have to drive a couple of hours to get to it then you can go back to your 70 degree weather when you are done playing. I do not like living in it!
Anyway, back to Christmas. It was, of course, tons of fun! We spend Christmas Eve with my Dad's side of the family and it is always at my Grandma Jones' house. Well this year the turn out was pretty sparce, not everyone could make it into town. My Grandma has hosted Christmas Eve dinner for years and it is always so much fun. It is one of the things I look forward to the most at Christmas. It is A LOT of work for her to do this every year so this year we had Christmas Eve dinner at my parents house.
My Mom worked her but off this Christmas since she was hosting Christmas Eve dinner as well as Christmas day dinner with her side of the family. But both days were perfect! Christmas Eve was not even close to the same but it was still great!

Cutest kids ever!

Thanks Granny!

Aidan wasn't excited about his Spiderman shirt at all!

Logan, Aidan and Emily got the cutest puppets from Aunt Diana.

Emily's cute PJ's.
I don't know where they learned it but every time I tried to take a picture of Logan or Emily they would lean back in this Zoolander type of model pose. I think they might have learned it in their Hip Hop class...it was cute!

After all the Christmas Eve festivities we all went to bed so that Santa could come. The kids opened their presents from Santa at home then came up to Nana and Papa's to open the rest of the presents from all of us. I will start by saying, I GOT A WII! I am so excited!

This was my present for Emily all wrapped up cute.

Aidan in a Ninja costume that he got from Santa. Aidan loves to dress up and I think he got about 10 different costumes this Christmas to add to his collection.

Logan got the coolest present ever from the coolest Aunt ever...a Disney WII Sing It! We played it a lot that day and got some fun video...
(It's a slow start but she really gets into it)

Emily is such a great dancer:)

I also got a great video of Mandy but out of respect to her I won't post it.:) But the WII Sing It was so much fun!

The most fun thing about Christmas was just being with the fam. The last couple of Christmases it has been just me at home so it was so much fun to have Aaron, Mandy and the kids there this year and much more lively.

Happy New Year everyone!

I really sold my house this time!

2008-11-02T15:25:00.000-08:00

In the span of 10 days I went from being a home owner to being an apartment renter and I could not be more excited! After about 4 months (not bad considering the market) of the house being on the market we received an offer last Wednesday and accepted it. The only deal was that I had to be moved out by October 31st. So within a week I found a new apartment, packed up a house and, with the help of my Mom (thank heavens she could make it) and a few friends I have successfully moved to a new apartment. Now the goal is to get that put together by next weekend. Wish me luck!

Meh...

2008-10-05T13:36:00.000-07:00

So my last post was a big lie...not really but about 2 weeks before we were suppose to close on the sell of the house the buyer backed out and our backup buyer found another place. So it has now been a couple of long months of people looking but no offers...except for one that wanted us to wait until they listed and sold their house...that didn't work out...obviously. So life right now is kind of in limbo until the house gets sold. I am excited for the fall and then the winter but only because that means snow covers my whole yard and I don't have to worry about it:) OTher than that winters in Utah are not too fun.
I am starting 4 ten hour days at work this week which is exciting! I will now always have 3 day weekends and 10 hour work days. I think the trade off is good though.

I sold my house!

2008-07-20T20:31:00.000-07:00

It has been a crazy couple of months. My Mom came up to Utah to help get the house ready to sell and it was A LOT of work! I have to admit that I was grateful I had to work during the week and am grateful that my Mom was here to whip everything in to shape to get it sold. We found great realtors and listed the house and pictures on Tuesday and it was sold by Friday! It was just the right timing and price, I am so grateful it did not drag on. But that said I have to move out by the middle of August! Have I mentioned how much stuff I have? I am not looking forward to it! Hopefully I will find somewhere that I can move into straight from this house so I only have to move once. I have been looking at townhomes and condos but have not quite found the right one yet but I am narrowing the search down so hopefully soon.

My Birthday!

2008-03-30T18:45:00.000-07:00

So I got to go to California for my birthday. I went to take Ace, my first puppy ever, to live with my Uncle Bill. He has another lab mix who Ace knows and since I am going to try and sell my house I decided it will just be better for him to soak up the California sun and play with Cooper! It was really fun!

This is Ace the day before he left Utah...I will miss him! The other pic is the kids in their Easter clothes!

The most exciting part about my trip, besides seeing my family obviously, was that I got to see my new puppy! Since I have not written on here in forever I will have to update everyone! This last summer I brought home my grandma's (and my) dog Pepper to get her potty trained. We decided that we would breed her once or twice so while she was up here I found a really good stud dog and bred Pepper with him. Well she had the puppies on March 3rd! She is now back in California with 5 of the cutest little boy puppies.

I am getting a black one, my friend Jill is getting the other black one, and Aaron and Mandy and the kids are getting a salt and pepper one. Anyway they are THE CUTEST puppies ever! Here are some pics:)

This is mine and Jill's puppies whose names are as of now Otto and Hampton, I am not sure which is which but below Otto does not have a collar.

This is Pepper nursing them. She is about 13.5 pounds if that gives you any idea of how big they are.

Below are just some random pics of all of the other puppies.

The one on the left is Aaron and Mandy's and the other two are really cute too! Everyone in the family wants to keep one. I get to go pick mine up the last weekend in April and I can't wait!

The Cheesecake Factory

2007-11-02T07:07:00.000-07:00

Well I have proven to be a terrible blog writer but at least I am trying:) Well yesterday The Cheesecake Factory opened in Salt Lake so I deemed that experience blogworthy. Jill and I decided we would be going on opening night in hopes that it would be less crowded than the couple weeks after because people would think it would be too crowded on opening night...if that makes any sense? Well it opened at 5 and there were 5 of us going. Me, Jill, and Danielle, Brittany and Bekah(work friends.) Danielle and I got off work at 4 so we went down early to check it out. At 4:20 there was a line...not too long and not too short...so we got in it! We were ready to wait at least a couple hours.
They starting letting people in at a quarter to five and we started to get kind of panicky because Bekah and Brittany were not there yet and Jill didn't get off until 5:30. (Cheesecake Factory won't seat you unless half of your party is there.) Luckily right when we got to the door and seated at 5:10 Brittany got there. Only 10 minutes after the official opening time (I think mine an Jill's theory was right:) Now our goal was to kill time looking at the menu until the rest of our group got there. Once Jill and Bekah got there we ordered and enjoyed about an hour and a half of an out of Utah experience....pictures to come

Comic relief for my commute home...

2007-09-03T13:14:00.000-07:00

I realize this may not be as funny written down but I almost had to pull over from laughing so hard. Anyway I was driving home from work, and almost there, when I was stopped at a red light. The light for the left turn lane turned green and about ten cars went and one truck didn't go. The light was still green and the lady behind him (and next to me) was freaking out but not honking. I almost honked for her but decided she was a big girl. My light turned green so my line of cars started going and I looked over to see what the guy in the truck that was still sitting there was doing and he was sleeping! His head was leaning on his headrest and his mouth wide open. It was so funny...also a little sad for the poor guy who was so tired that he fell asleep at the stoplight...also a little scary that he was driving that tired.

What now?

2007-08-30T08:33:00.000-07:00

Now that I have FINALLY graduated (only 10 years after high school) I am finding that, other than work, I do not have a lot to do since ALL my time was previously taken with school and school work. So while I was mindlessly roaming the Internet I looked at the blogs of some family, friends and acquaintances and decided that all the cool people have blogs. I immediately (during one of my slower days at work) created a blog to include myself as one of those people. Now I just have to think of creative stuff to write that doesn't embarrass me. :)