Missing the OC

Have you tried these?

2011-02-15T12:09:00.004-07:00

They are seriously amazing! Do yourself a favor and go out and get a bag right now! They are spicy and sweet and kind of have an asian style flavor. I'm obsessed. Yum!

Oh, the Irony...

2010-06-01T00:36:00.003-06:00

Ok, so I've been a total slacker with the blogging but I'm trying to be better and I've got some things to catch up on...but first...I saw something awesome the other day and I want to remember it, so I thought I'd mention it here.

So, my dad and I were driving to breakfast and we saw a guy begging for money on the side of the freeway. He had a sign saying he had rough times and God Bless and all the usual stuff. Here's the awesome part...He was wearing a t-shirt that said "Born to Party, Forced to Work" Holey moley! I wanted to go back and pay the guy $10 just to take a picture of him in the shirt! People are amazing!

Pine Valley Snow!

2010-04-06T00:41:00.007-06:00

It's been pretty spring-like here in the STG lately but today it was cold and stormy so Kristie and I headed up to Pine Valley to see if we could find some snow...yep...we found it! It was snowing and freezing!!! We loved it! We made it as far as the resevoir but this is what the road looked like from there...

The resevoir was frozen over!

Kristie was a little excited!

But it was really cold!!!

I was pretty stoked too...

Yep.

It was so pretty!

I love taking pictures of old rustic stuff. Probably because it's such a difference from the beach life I had growing up in CA. Utah is A LOT different but it's not so bad...

It's supposed to be back up to about 80 degrees by Friday...the weather is crazy here...but today was a nice change of pace. :)

Ancestor Square

2010-03-26T23:34:00.004-06:00

I took my "nieces" to Ancestor Square last weekend for a photoshoot. We had so much fun! They both practiced their "model" poses and I couldn't have asked for more cooperative subjects. It doesn't hurt that they are super cute either! I think this one is my favorite of the day...

Ashley kept giving me her "model smile" so I was trying to get her to change her look and I asked her to show me her "It's your birthday" face and this is the reaction I got. Love it!

Emily is just WAY too grown up here...
This was Rachel's idea and I love how it turned out...
Seriously Emily, are you 8 or 28???
Had to capture the blinged-out shoes too...
Thanks Emily and Ashley for being such awesome models! You girls are so much fun!!

Photoshoot

2010-03-04T16:08:00.004-07:00

It was a nice day here yesterday so Mom and Zorro and I headed to the park for a quick photoshoot. I took 186 picutures and these are some of the very few that actually turned out...Mom was pretty cooperative but Zorro is a total diva and made things difficult...

He had a good time at the park even if he wouldn't look at my camera...

I think this one is my favorite...both mom and Zorro are happy...

I'm sorry...but isn't he just adorable when he's running? :)
This shot cracks me up...this is Zorro's "pensive" pose. Lol!

Craftapalooza

2010-02-23T21:00:00.003-07:00

My cousin Keri came down and stayed with us for President's Day weekend and she and my mom and I had a gigantic craft-fest. We made these really fun pincushions. This one is mine..

Keri made the first two in the picture here...

I made this one too. Here it is in progress...I had to make millions of those little fabric yo-yo's for this thing.
Keri and my mom made some wool flowers to use as lapel pins or hair clips.
Then we made satin flowers for our hair. They are really fun and easy to make. You cut out circles of satin and then melt the edges of the fabric over a candle flame and then stack them up, sew them together and add a button or a rhinestone in the middle. We made lots of these!
This one was my favorite...

So, I've had my fill of crafting for a little while. 3 days of crafting fun is a lot! hahaha!

Olympic Fever!

2010-02-13T12:46:00.002-07:00

So, I can admit that I am totally obsessed when it comes to the olympics! I love it! I'm glued to the TV and just can't get enough of the stories of the athletes and their struggles to get there and then the moments of triumph when they win the gold! Oh man, I cry my eyes out every day. I typically prefer the summer olympics and the Bejing games were so awesome!! I just hope that Vancouver doesn't dissapoint...I'm pretty sure it won't. Bring on the games! :)

Mrs. Claus

2010-02-09T00:49:00.003-07:00

Ok, so here I am with another long overdue post...but I'm getting closer to being caught up so bear with me. My mom has been known to dress up as Mrs. Claus from time to time. She made her own outfit and has starred in boat parades and family parties and makes appearances here and there. She's pretty famous. Anyway, she got all dressed up and went to my cousin Emily's school and read to her class "A Pirate's Night Before Christmas" which is a great read by the way! The school's mascot is the Buccaneer so it was appropriate. Here she is waiting for her big introduction.

Check out this library!! This school has pirate everything and it is awesome!!!

Here she is in action...the kids are way in to it!
Ok, now for the best part...when she finished reading the story (using different voices for the pirate characters) one of the kids raises his hand and says "Wow...you really put a lot of effort in to that!" So cute! THEN as we were leaving one of the boys sees the holly in her hair and says "Look, she's got mistletoe in her hair...someone has to kiss her...NOT ME!" lol! It was so funny! :)

I LOVE LA!!!

2010-02-04T23:41:00.003-07:00

Can I just say that my KINGS are freaking AMAZING!!! We killed the Ducks tonight and we've won the last 8 in a row! Of course, they choose to have the most exciting season ever as soon as I move to Utah! But I'm not complaining...I'm so STOKED! Can't you hear it now...I love LA...We love it!!!

Best Show on Television!

2010-02-04T00:08:00.004-07:00

Have you seen this show?!?!? It's on the Food Network and it's really called "The Best Thing I Ever Ate"

Ummm...it's the greatest show on television. It's sort of like porn for foodies. Basically, it's Food Network people describing in detail the best thing they ever ate...duh. I seriously salivate through the whole show and make a mental list of all the places where I simply must go just to eat whatever they are eating. Please tell me I'm not the only one who drools over this show! I love it!

Thanksgiving...yeah...I know...

2010-02-03T13:18:00.005-07:00

Ok, so I know it's February and I'm just getting around to blogging about Thanksgiving...but hey, better late than never right??? Everyone came here to Utah for Thanksgiving this year and we had such a great time!

Here is the table all set up and ready for the feasting to begin!

Chewy was helping Lauren with the preparations...

He loves it when I make him pose for pictures with me...

Kristie and David waiting patiently for the Turkey to be finished...
Me and my Dad...
Ken, Rachel, Emily and Ashley looking adorable...
Woohoo! Mom's got the Turkey out and it looks delicious!!!
David getting ready for some serious carving...
After this we were all too busy eating to take pictures but we managed to get one last shot with Bradley and Aaron after our bellies were all stuffed. They wanted to pose with the turkey!! Hahaha...

Somehow, Ryan and Casey managed to avoid my camera all day...they're sneaky like that...but they were there too! :)

Happy Birthday Zorro!!!

2010-02-02T19:59:00.002-07:00

Today is Zorro's 5th Birthday! I can't believe my "baby" is so grown up! He's had lots of extra treats and hugs today along with an extra walk. I know...I'm a little obsessed...I love this dog!
Happy Birthday Zorro!

Zion

2010-01-29T15:05:00.005-07:00

Earlier this week, my Aunt Kristie and I went up to Zion. It was so fun to see all the snow!

It was such a beautiful day with the blue skies and the red rock with just a dusting of snow.

It was like a little winter wonderland. We haven't really had any snow in St. George this winter so it's fun to have a place to see it so close by...

We had such a nice day that we decided to get an annual pass...get ready for lots more photos of Zion to come...

Valley of Fire

2010-01-13T12:00:00.004-07:00

My good friends Kim and Joe were visiting Vegas from Minnesota so I drove down to meet them and we spent the day at the Valley of Fire. I had never been there before and it was really cool! You drive through and see all kinds of crazy rock formations and petroglyphs and petrified wood and you can hike around and check things out too. It was so fun! Here are Kim and Joe looking adorable!

Yeah, so I climbed all the way up there to check out some petroglyphs. It shouldn't have been very scary but since I'm terrified of heights, it was pretty freaky for me.

This is what we saw at the top...

We saw some Big Horn Sheep roaming around. I had never seen them in the wild before so I was pretty excited! The pictures didn't turn out very well because they were far away and we were driving...

The rocks were really pretty and it was the perfect day for hiking around. It was in the high 60's and sunny. :)
We kept seeing these little rock piles all over the place so Joe had to make one too. He was so proud!
Kim and I had so much fun sitting in the back seat catching up. I miss the days at Option One when we could chat on the phone all day and get paid for it too! Such good times! I think I got a little bit of my MN accent back for the day too...don't cha know...

After such a fun day, we headed back to Vegas and I said goodbye to Kim and Joe and met up with Jodi and the Phyllis who just happened to be in Vegas too! Such wonderful timing! We hit the buffet at the Luxor and ate like crazy and laughed ourselves silly! It was such a fun day and night!

Baby It's Cold Outside

2009-12-04T12:41:00.004-07:00

The sprinklers came on early this morning and this is what my backyard still looks like at 12:30 pm...

Poor grass...

Brrrrrrr....

The dogs usually use these bricks as a pathway to and from the grass. It's pretty hilarious to watch Scooter trying to ice skate across them. :)

It's not even technically winter yet! Yikes!

Sometimes...I love it here!

2009-12-03T12:24:00.004-07:00

So, I'm driving down the street the other day and I see this sign...

How awesome is it that I live here!?! Stuff like this just cracks me up! Happy Fall Y'ALL!!! :)

Fun with Knives

2009-10-31T01:09:00.012-06:00

Happy Halloween!!!

My Mom, John and I had a fun time carving pumpkins a few nights ago. I think all of our creations turned out great but my mom's was especially awesome. Here we are with our finished products. Mine is hard to see in the light but it's an owl with a moon and clouds and spooky branches.

Here's John with his scaaaary smile...My Dad was there too but he didn't partake in the carving festivities.
Mom's pumpkin up close. Her's looks cooler in the light...
John's spooky glowy face...
My creepy owl...
Mom's in the dark...
Hope you all have a Happy Halloween!!!

Emily's Baptism

2009-10-20T22:42:00.008-06:00

My "niece" Emily just turned 8 and got baptized. She's now an official member of the the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. We are all so proud of her. Here she is all smiles after she got "dunked." I can't believe how grown up she is...
I was happy to be able to be there on her special day.
Proud Daddy...
The whole family...so happy...
Congratulations Emily!!!

p.s. If you're curious about baptism in our church you can visit www.lds.org for tons more information...or just ask me. :)

Slumber Party!

2009-10-20T21:50:00.007-06:00

A couple of weeks ago I got to babysit my "nieces" while Ken and Rachel hung out in Vegas for the night. We had sooo much fun! We started off by busting out the Halloween decorations to make the house all festive. Here we are in our Halloween hats...

Once we were in the spirit, we made some Halloween sugar cookies...

A little flour on the nose never hurt anybody...

So fun!

Then it was time for the best part...FROSTING!!! This is serious business...

Messy good fun...

The finished products...delicious!!!

After the cookie madness we went to Wendy's (the girls' favorite place to eat!) and everyone got kids meals and Frosty's! Awesome! Then we watched Hanna Montana, read a scary Halloween story, said our prayers and hit the hay since we were all pretty tuckered out.

The next morning, Ashley and I walked Emily to the bus stop for school and then she and I played every game in the game cabinet, had bath time, and gossiped. :) Then Emily came home, we had a snack, watched some Wizard show, and then Ken and Rachel came home and the fun was done. lol. I know I've said it before...but I am really good at this "Aunt" thing...did you hear that Lauren???

Sand Holler

2009-09-30T20:39:00.011-06:00

When Lauren was here visiting, John took us out on the boat at Sand Hollow (Sand Holler if you're from Hurricane)...it was SO much fun!! Lauren already blogged about it, check her post here:

http://laurenandcaseyparks.blogspot.com/2009/09/sand-hallow.html

Here are the pictures from my camera...

John getting ready for the killer cannon ball...

Mid-air

Making waves

Sisters in the lake...lake water...yummmm...tastes like dirt...

John showing us up at the water polo pop-out-of-the-water move

John being a gymnast

Ouch

Back to Cali...

2009-09-08T19:14:00.048-06:00

This is a crazy long blog but I'm way behind so it's coming at ya all at once.

A couple of weekends ago, I came back to the OC for a visit. It was non-stop fun! On Thursday I drove down from UT and went straight to the beach!!! Once I passed Barstow it took every ounce of self control I had to drive slower than 100 mph. I was so excited! As soon as I got to Laguna on the 133 the beach smell hit me and I couldn't contain myself! I parked at Aliso Creek beach and my toes were in the ocean in minutes! So HAPPY!!!

After getting my beach fix, I headed to Lauren and Casey's house to drop off my stuff. This is what I found on the door to my room...

Lauren is hilarious! I love it that my room was labeled just for me...and obviously Zorro is welcome here too! lol. I had just enough time to wash the sand off my feet and snooze for a few minutes before meeting Lauren at the mall to get our hair did.

Lauren looked like a super-model...

I wasn't crazy about the way Kelly styled my hair this time, but the cut is fantastic and totally worth the drive!

This is Kelly...she's hilarious...

After the salon we went to Cheesecake Factory. Yum!

On Friday, I met Jodi and the Phyllis for lunch at Oami. I have totally been craving this and when it came, it looked sooo good I had to take a picture. Heaven!

Here's me and the Phyllis...Jodi was present but not pictured...

After lunch, Casey and I went to see G.I. Joe. If you haven't seen this movie...don't. If you have, I am sorry. I wanted to gouge my eyeballs out. It wasn't even cheesy fun, it was just BAD. The best part of the whole move was when Casey accidentally threw Reece's Pieces at me because of a freakish hand-twitch! lol lol

After the movie I went to see my Monkey...oh and Heidi and Jason too. :) I haven't seen this kid in two months and she's grown up so much in that short time. I was having serious Monkey-withdrawals and this visit was just what I needed.

She's jumping here and her crazy hair is even more crazy!

We're playing cars...

So happy together again!

Such a serious Monkey...

Thanks Heidi and Jason for the delicious dinner and my Monkey fix! Love you guys!

After seeing the Monkey I got to spend some time catching up with Shanda, Mike and Ali. It was super fun chatting and getting all the latest gossip! I even forgave Mike for showing up in his Ducks shirt...Blech!

Saturday morning Lauren woke me up bright and early with this yummy smoothie brought straight to my bed. Such a great way to start the day! I only wish I would have been awake enough to remember to take the picture with her in it too.

The plan for Saturday was to spend the whole day at Corona Del Mar beach. Which, of course, meant that we had to stop by C'est Si Bon bakery for turkey sandwiches and those little cookies that I have no idea how to spell. We got a baguette too, just because...

The day couldn't have been more gorgeous!!! I'm sure it was meant just for me. :)

...Or maybe some other people had the same idea too...the lot was full at 11 am!

We were still stoked though...

We just put on our nerdy, but fabulous, backpack chairs on and huffed it down the hill.

Martha joined us too!!! So fun!

Sisters

It was crazy crowded since it was the second to last weekend of summer.

This picture was taken after "the incident." Lauren and I were out in the swells floating and having a wonderful time...all of the sudden...a set of HUMONGOUS waves started rolling in. We swam out to them and Lauren made it under the first wave, but I didn't get low enough fast enough and I got drilled. The next wave was equally huge and instead of getting drilled multiple times, I took it in to shore...Lauren did not. lol She was stuck out there with the huge waves, one after the other. Once she finally got back to shore, I was in big trouble for ditching her. Sorry Lauren, but I had to save myself. :)

After all of the beach fun, it was time to come back and get ready to see Spamalot at the Ahmanson theater in LA.

The girls...right before the show. Terri was supposed to meet us there but she got a flat tire on the way and couldn't make it. :( We missed you Terri.

Spamalot had moments of greatness, but long gaps of boring. I'm glad I got to see it finally but I wouldn't really recommend it. After the show, we hit up Denny's and ate a bunch of crap at midnight which I used to be able to do without a problem but not any more. I woke up at 4 am with a killer tummy ache and a 'food hangover' the next morning. yuck.

We went to church on Sunday and since we didn't learn our lesson at Denny's we decided to make homemade Mac and cheese afterwards. It was cheesy delicious-ness!!!

I was pretty excited!

Yum-O!

Believe it or not...that was just lunch. Yikes! A few hours later, Ryan and Naomi came over for dinner! It was so good and then we played the new Wii Resort games. So fun!

Naomi showing off her mad archery skills.

The best way to end a night like this is with Thrifty's Chocolate Malted Krunch ice cream cones!!! It's my favorite ice cream of all time and I can't get it in Utah. So sad.

As you can see, I was just a little happy about my ice cream cone!

Freaking DELICIOUS!!!

I was supposed to come back home on Monday, but I decided to stay an extra day! Since Tom is moving to Atlanta in a few weeks, we decided to squeeze in another beach day! Woohoo! It was crazy foggy in CDM. Normally this would have bummed me out but because Saturday was sunny and hot, it was kind of nice to have a chilly cloudy beach day too.

I was a little cold but happy.

It was fun hanging out with Tom before he takes off on his new adventures in Georgia. Good luck on the move Tom! I'm so excited for you even though I'll miss going to lots of Kings games with you.

After the beach Jodi, Lauren and I went to my new favorite place...the Bali foot spa in Westminster. For $20 you get a whole body massage. It was fantastic!!! I was like a walking marshmallow incapable of making complete sentences afterwards. Fabulous!

Then we had fried chicken dinners at Jodi's favorite little cafe that I can't remember the name of right now. I had to take a picture. Yum!

On Tuesday morning, I met Cameron and Garrett for breakfast at Bagels and Brew. I wish I took pictures but I didn't. :( It was so fun to hang out with them and it was a bonus to have my favorite bagels. There is not one bagel place in St. George! Isn't that crazy!?!?!

After a really fun breakfast, I hit the road and headed back to Utah. This trip was crazy good times! Thanks Lauren and Casey for letting me stay with you and for hanging out with me. I love you guys! I don't think I could have packed more fun in to this trip if I tried! I came home happy and exhausted and excited to make BBQ pizzas with John. I will blog about that soon. :)

Martha's Trip to Utah!

2009-09-07T17:52:00.009-06:00

I am WAY behind on my blogging. Two weekends ago, my best friend Martha came to visit me. We had such a fun time and I only wish we would have taken more pictures.

We started off Saturday morning with breakfast at Cracker Barrel...Martha's favorite! We did a little shopping and came back to the house and started some long overdue scrapbooking of our trip to Europe back in 2003. Here is the aftermath...

Saturday night, John came over and we had a Fast and Furious Fiesta! It was good times...we watched "The Fast and the Furious" and then we BBQ'd up some carne asada and corn on the cob. Then we settled in to watch "Fast and Furious" lol. It was all about the Nos! We finished the night with John's famous chocolate malts. Seriously, this is the best malt I have ever had. The picture is a little out of focus because I was way too excited to start drinking it. hahaha. Freaking amazing!!!

On Sunday we soaked up some sun in the back yard and then started the Schnitzel frenzy. We made enough schnitzel for about 40 people! lol It was insane! This is a picture of what was left over AFTER Kristie, Martha and I ate about a million pieces. It was scary.

After the Schnitzel frenzy, we drove up to Pine Valley to walk off some of the madness and it was gorgeous up there. Here is Martha doing her Sara Palin impersonation...

When we got home, John came over with a surprise for us...He found Nos energy drink!!! So funny! The weekend was all about the Nos and it was awesome!

Thanks for coming to visit Martha! It was so fun having you here. I miss you like crazy! Come back soon! :)

Sand Hollow

2009-08-21T21:42:00.008-06:00

Earlier this week, John and I went boating on a reservoir near here called Sand Hollow. It was such a fun time. Riding around, swimming, basking in the sun, listening to music and all around good times. :)

I got to drive...

We played with the underwater casing for my camera too.

We tried to get the sunset behind us but sort of missed it.

So fun!

80's Greatness

2009-08-14T11:02:00.003-06:00

If you have not seen the movie 'Rad' you need to. My brother and I used to watch it practically every day after school when we were kids and I watched it again for like the millionth time last night. It is just so much 80's fun! BMX bikes, cheesy lines, awesome music, the best 80's outfits you've ever seen and Helltrack! Seriously one of the best movies EVER! Check it out!

Craziest Lightening Storm EVER!

2009-08-04T17:01:00.008-06:00

About a week ago we had the craziest storm here. It started with the most lightening I've ever seen. These videos don't really do it justice but imagine this going on all across the sky for over 2 and a half hours. When I took the videos, the storm was just cool looking but after this, it turned in to a scary lightening, thunder, wind, rain storm. It freaked me out.

Getting started...

Full Swing...

I was on the phone with my aunt Kristie here. She lives way over on the other side of the city and she could see the madness too.

Lemon and Pistachio

2009-08-04T16:33:00.006-06:00

So, the Jello challenge continues. Last week I tried Lemon and Pistachio puddings. First was Lemon...I thought I would like it but it had that hint of Lemon Pledge in it. You know what I mean? It tasted like Pledge smells. Chemical lemon flavor is not good.

I give it 1 star. Yuck.
Next I tried Pistachio. This is my favorite pudding! I forgot how good it was. We used to have this all the time when we were kids. It is delicious!!!
It gets 5 stars for sure!

Ice Cream Party!

2009-08-04T16:14:00.006-06:00

Since Emily and I had so much fun at the movies, Ashley and I had to have a special day too. Since we both love ice cream we hit the local Blue Bunny ice cream parlor and had a blast! This kid is hilarious! We chatted the whole time and laughed our heads off. She is like a little mini-me...we love all the same things. It's scary to have so much in common with a 3 year old. hahaha.

Of all of the ooey gooey crazy flavors that a kid could choose from, Ashley chose Orange Sherbet. I love her! So excited here!

Yum!

Serious business...

She ate the whole thing! I was impressed. :)

We had so much fun! This "aunt" thing is pretty awesome!

FUN in 3D

2009-07-22T21:50:00.008-06:00

For most of my childhood, my Uncle Ken lived with us, so he is really more like a brother than an uncle and therefore his kids are more like my nieces than my cousins. I love his girls! And I love, love, love getting to play the Aunt Steph role.

Today I took my "niece" Emily to see Ice Age in 3D. We had such a fun time. The movie was good too! I haven't seen a movie in 3D since Jaws 3 which came out when I was about Emily's age and it can't even really count because I was so scared and had my eyes closed most of the time. This time around I got to see the whole movie. I don't know if Emily can say the same though. 3D is still a little scary when you're 7. :)

So excited for the movie to start!

Am I a great aunt or what? Yep that's M&M's AND gummy bears in her popcorn. lol
Man, we look gooood in glasses...

During the movie Emily kept pulling her glasses on and off and one of the lenses fell out. It was pretty funny. I gave her mine and sort of got the lens squished back in but we had to document the look...this is my favorite!

Unfortunately she had to take one of me too.

When we got back to the house Ken and Rachel had chicken tacos ready for us. Delicious!!! Today was a pretty great day!

This is Not a Test

2009-07-22T09:39:00.002-06:00

You know when you get the emergency tests on the radio? You hear the "Beeeeeeeep...this is a test of the emergency broadcast system, this is only a test." Well, here we get these ALL the time...but they are never a test! I'm always hearing "Beeeeepp...this is a flash flood warning, head to higher ground. or Beeeeeeppp...this is an extreme thunderstorm warning or Beeeeeeppp...heavy storms with golf ball sized hail is expeceted, get indoors and away from windows." Nothing ever happens but we are always warned. This place is wacky.

A-Bomb?

2009-07-19T00:23:00.004-06:00

This is what we saw when Kristie and I finished lunch at Marv's today. We thought it looked sort of ominous...

Much later tonight, a big storm came through. Big lightening and loud thunder and some crazy strong winds. The dogs were really scared but I was very brave. :0

Lime

2009-07-19T00:13:00.004-06:00

So, last night I tried Lime Jello. I always think of hospitals when I see green Jello so I was expecting the worst. It wasn't too bad though. There really wasn't a whole lot of flavor. I think if I were blindfolded, I would have a hard time guessing it was Lime flavored. I rate it 3 out of 5 stars. Just average for flavor.

It was a nice cool treat on a VERY HOT day though.

Unwanted Visitors

2009-07-19T00:08:00.003-06:00

These bad boys were running up and down the walls of the patio yesterday. It's like Wild Kingdom in my backyard. Sometimes a little too wild...these guys freak me out. Yuck!

Driving Backwards

2009-07-16T18:54:00.005-06:00

Seriously!!! The speed limits in St. George are insane! The main street that goes through the city is 30 MPH! AND it's downhill! I can't even coast down the street, I have to ride the brakes. I dare you to go out and try to drive 30 MPH...it feels like you're going backwards! Ugh. I'm longing for 55 MPH down Antonio.

JELLO Challenge

2009-07-14T22:06:00.003-06:00

Did you know that there are 20 flavors of Jello and 17 flavors of Jello instant pudding? I didn't either. Not until my sister challenged me to make and try every flavor of both Jello and Jello Pudding and then blog about it. I know it sounds stupid but like I said, this blog is for her so I'm going to give it a try.

Last night I started with my first pudding - Banana Cream.
This was an easy one to start with since I already know I like it. It was just as I remembered...yummy! I give it 4 out of 5 stars all by itself. Then I cheated and made it even yummier with fresh bananas and cool whip. Yum-O! It gets 5 out of 5 stars this way.

So there we go...only 36 flavors left to try. lol

Summer Reading

2009-07-14T21:53:00.003-06:00

Since I'm pretty bored and completely broke, I went out and got my very own library card this weekend. I guess I'm officially a resident here now. Here's the proof:

The libraries around here are super nice and they have great AC! Thank goodness! I went to two separate branches to find a book I was looking for and they were so different but both pretty sweet. Yep, I'm a nerd and I love a great library.

I know what you're thinking...my life here in Utah is just too freaking exciting!

I knew it!

Just Horsin' Around

2009-07-12T19:43:00.006-06:00

My Aunt Kristie's boyfriend David has a horse ranch about 20 minutes north of here. It's a beautiful place and it's a little bit cooler there too. Awesome. We got to hang out the other night and take some pictures.

Here is GiGi. She's brand new, just born this spring. She's such a sweetie.

GiGi and her mom Hot Sauce at dinner time.

The dogs...Condi on the left and Oprah on the right.

I think Condi looks a lot like Zuul from Ghostbusters.

Two of the other mares. We're pretty sure the one in the background is pregnant so there will be a new baby next spring! So fun!

Yum-O

2009-07-06T22:28:00.005-06:00

Ok, so there are just a few things that are good about living in Utah. One of these is being able to have lunch at Cafe Rio. Oh man, it's sooo good! Sweet pork salad with rice and beans on top of a fresh hand-made tortilla topped off with crazy good cilantro lime dressing. Heaven.

Oh, and do you see what's on the cup? Yep, that's a Coca-Cola logo! Woo hoo! Finding a place that has Coke instead of Pepsi is a miracle all by itself. This is the land of Pepsi...so scary.

Cafe Rio makes me smile and makes me take cheesy pictures of myself with my Coke. :)

Granola Girls

2009-07-06T22:00:00.007-06:00

I am a beach girl at heart but the mountains are starting to grow on me. My Aunt Kristie and I went up to Pine Valley today. It was so beautiful! First of all, it only took about 30 minutes to get there and it was about 20 degrees cooler there. It's been over 100 degrees in St. George every day for a while now so any break in the heat is a very good thing.

We found this little stream and parked our chairs next to it in the shade and read our books for like 3 hours. It was awesome! Cool breeze, good books, the sounds and smells of clean air and nature all around. I can't believe I live so close to a place like this.

We had to put our feet in the water.

The water was FREEZING!!!

The altitude and clean air brought out our inner models...

I have a feeling we will be spending a lot of our summer days here.

Enjoy the Silence

2009-06-27T20:07:00.009-06:00

It's almost impossible to describe how quiet it is here. After going to dinner with my uncle Ken, I was sitting out on the back porch tonight and it was still about 98 degrees but in the shade it was actually pretty comfortable. I love the dry desert heat!

My mom made all of these little bird feeders along the back wall in the back yard and while I was sitting there I noticed that I could actually hear the tiny birds popping each individual piece of bird seed in their beaks from about 15-20 feet away. It is really that quiet.

These pictures don't do justice to the view but I took them all from my backyard at 8:15 pm tonight. It stays light pretty late here.

There are lots of lizards and they are way bigger than the OC variety. Here is one of my friends that hangs out on my wall.

This is the view from the other side of the back yard...

So, it's been a very quiet Saturday night for me but I actually enjoyed sitting in the silence and taking in my new surroundings.

Under Pressure

2009-06-21T23:41:00.000-06:00

I don't know about you, but I love lots of water pressure. I didn't realize how much I needed it until I moved here and took a shower in my new bathroom. Seriously, it's like a light drizzle in there. I have been having nightmares of never again being able to rinse all the conditioner out of my crazy curly hair.

Today, a miracle happened...I bought a new shower head (actually it's the same kind that I had in my old bathroom) and it actually creates water pressure! I am so excited! I want to buy like 20 of these things and keep them on hand just in case they stop making them.

I know it's probably wrong to get this excited for a new shower head, but I can't help it. I love it!

Moved

2009-06-21T21:45:00.000-06:00

So, I live in Utah now. Thanks to Ryan and Casey, all of my stuff has been moved and now I get to unpack it all. Yikes!

This blog is for my sister. We're having separation anxiety already. We spend so much time together and it's going to be so hard to live far away from each other. She insisted that I start a blog and has already provided me with a list of things she wants me to do and then blog about. Hopefully, this blog will give her some laughs and make us feel not so far away. Lauren, I love you and I miss you already.

Just in case you needed proof that we spend too much time together...we even dress alike. hahahaha...