Creative Confections of the Mind...

My Subconscious Likes Football Players

2012-01-27T07:42:00.000-08:00

Hey! Look! Another blog post! Don't die of shock, okay?

I had a dream last night. Well...more like this morning in a post-alarm, pre-actually-getting-up haze, I had a dream. My dreams rarely RARELY make any sense. Cause my brain is bizarre. But this one was pretty clear. Ish.

I had a dream about the one, the only....

...Tim Tebow.

Now, I am not a football person. At all. AT ALL. It's not that I don't like it, I just don't watch it or follow any teams or players or know anything about it really. I just...don't. But, apparently SOME information has seeped in. Like this guy. He's basically everywhere. His name. His face. He's super religious. Crying. "Tebowing". Yeah...that's about all I know about him. But that's enough for my subconscious, apparently.

Cause according to it, we're totally getting married.

This dream. Kinda bizarre, like the others I've had. Looking at it in context, it really makes no sense. Why would I be at a football game? Who would I go with? Why is this game being played at BYU (my default football location, apparently)? My subconscious knows he's in the NFL and plays for the Broncos. Right? I think?

Yeah. I'm pretty sure. After all, I do live in Broncos Country. Which I have largely ignored. Yup.

But, anyway. This dream occurred in Provo, Utah, for nonsensical reasons. Just go with it.

So I went to the game. We met somehow. End up walking through a deserted BYU campus with snow lightly falling. It was romantic and crap. He toooootally liked me. Said he wanted to take me somewhere, but I didn't have my own car to drive home in. I drove with...my parents? Yeah! THAT'S who went with. Okay. Whatever. So he said, "Next time?" And I totally said yes. We were supposed to meet by a bridge and so on and so forth and then married.

So, there you go. Who knew? I certainly didn't. But somewhere in my weirdo brain, I like football players.

Strange, right?

Finding the Fundamentals

2012-01-22T22:11:00.000-08:00

I've never been one for resolutions. It's...too much pressure. They're usually too big and scary to keep up on and are mostly forgotten by March. I have tried, though. Made a list to change about myself. I have no idea what they were, so there ya go.

I've been rolling around an idea in my head for the last couple weeks. It was sparked by a friend of mine, I suppose. She's also my visiting teacher. We met for a visit at a nearby bakery for a bagel. This was during the craziness of the Holidays that nearly killed me, so half an hour in the morning before a 16-hour work day was barely what I could spare. We sat and talked. She brought up the subject of resolutions. She, too, doesn't believe in New Year's Resolutions. Instead, every year on her birthday, so decides to make the coming 12 months the "Year of ____" (fill in the blank). This latest birthday brought the Year of Letting Go. Just...letting go of the things that you've held on to, grudges you've held on to, things you can't change.... Excellent idea.

So, I decided to do something a little similar. Sorta. I've been thinking a lot about the simple things I miss these days. And why i was missing them. I would say I don't have the time (which is pretty true, actually), but it's not just that. What am I doing with what little time I DO have away from work? Not much. Nothing of consequence, anyway. Silly tv shows and nonsense online, which I do enjoy, but it's really not that important in the long run. So, here's my "resolution": go back to the fundamentals. Back to basics. There's WAY too much nonsense going on in my life. Time to keep it simple. Go back to what was good and sincere.

And here's what I mean:

Reading:
I've always been a HUGE bookworm. I absolutely love books. Seriously. Even though I haven't had (or found) the time to read much, I still have bought at least 4 books in the last month or so. I can't stop myself! Bookstores have always been my solace. I see the books on the shelf and I just want to give them a good home! So, I resolve to read at least half an hour a day, probably before bed. Not much by my usual reading standards, but it's a start.

Sleeping:
I have no problem sleeping. Really. Probably cause I'm tired all the time, but alas. What I mean is that I need to aim for 8 hour of sleep. No more stay-up-til-2am-and-wake-at-10am silliness. Even when I get home from work at 11:30pm or so, I need to be in bed by midnight (and read for a bit) and then wake at 8am. Simple, I know, but that's the whole point! Remember back when you had a bedtime and you grumbled and groaned that it was too early? Well, too early is not an issue now, but I do need to get on a better schedule. I try to set an alarm, but I tend to shut it off and go back to sleep. And then I wonder why I'm rushing to work at noon.... *sarcasm*

Exercise:
Now, I've never been super diligent in working out. But when I do, I prefer to do yoga. It's too cold to do anything strenuous (for me anyway) outside and I don't snowboard often enough (or at all) to call it a workout, so yeah. Yoga. 3 times a week. Usually at home, but I did find a beginner's class at a local yoga studio that just might work with my schedule! Yay. : )

Eating:
I eat better than some already, what with my higher in-take of vegetables and stuff, but I still do enjoy the junk food. Less is the goal. And to eat more regularly. Work kinda kills that idea most days, but I'm gonna work on it.

Spirit:
Once again, back to the basics. I just need to get back into the habit of scripture reading and scriptures and everything. Apart from preparing my Sunday School lesson, I've slacked off a bit. Improvement is necessary.

Unplug:
Now, I love my gadgets. A. Lot. My iPhone is my life and connection to the outside world. I rely on it. But I do need some time away from my phone and computer at times. An hour or so a day is the plan. Unplugged.

So, that's how I plan to simplify my life and bring back the things that make me happy. Wish me luck!!

Any resolutions for you?

Typing Without the Use of One Finger is a Suckfest

2011-10-25T23:40:00.001-07:00

I cut my left pointer finger pretty badly at work today. I was julienne-ing some orange zest for Orange Honey, used on the cheese plate served as a first course. The knife was sharp. My focus was not.

I chopped off part of my nail and a good chunk of flesh. Now THERE'S a visual for ya. Ick.

So now there's a band-aid on it and it keeps bleeding and it hurts like a mo-fo. Nerve-endings exposed and all that any touch makes me cringe and curse internally.

So, yeah. Typing hurts. Tons. Tried to type on my computer without using that finger, but my fingers are specifically trained a certain way. Typos. Frustration. OW.

Which is possibly why I'm writing this on my iPhone. Thumbs. I can do thumbs...

One year ago...

2011-10-11T23:20:00.000-07:00

One year ago, I hated my job.

One year ago, I was heartbroken.

One year ago, I felt lost.

One year ago, (almost exactly) I made a scary journey to Boston that taught me a lot.

In the past year, I have

...accepted a job without seeing where I was working/moving to.

...moved out of state for the first time in my life. Alone.

...met some great people.

...had my heart jerked around, but here I am: stronger.

...survived on a lot less than I thought I could.

...worked outside of my field getting hours to make ends meet.

...been laid off from a job I loved with no solid plan to follow.

Recently, I have

...applied for jobs I never thought I'd get.

...learned who deserves to be in my life. And who doesn't.

...interviewed at a job I never thought I'd be considered for.

...accepted a job that is more prestigious, more challenging, higher paying, and more than a little scary.

I am so incredibly amazed at what can happen in a year and how the Lord has led me by the hand so often. I was lonely sometimes, but I was never alone. I have become stronger than ever, more sure of myself, more capable than I ever thought. I can do this. This is my time to shine.

Next week, I become Pastry Chef Anika Allred. : )

Obsessed

2011-10-06T15:02:00.000-07:00

Hi. Remember me? It's okay if you don't. I know it's been a while. I suck. Whatever. Not even gonna look through past posts to see how long it's been. Nope. Oh, well.

Anywho, just thought I'd reveal the things that have consumed my time as of late.

Ready? Let's go!!

DAVID TENNANT

Oh, heavens. I love LOVE this man. Scottish. Gorgeous. Gravity-defying hair. Looks smashing in a suit (see above). Holy TARDIS. First time I saw him was in the 4th Harry Potter. Not the best representation of his awesomeness. Then I got into Doctor Who. Speaking of which:

DOCTOR WHO

Oh, man. I can't even describe it. Officially obsessed. Above is the Eleventh Doctor (played by Matt Smith) and his latest companion, Amy Pond. David Tennant was the Tenth Doctor. He was a HUGE part of why I fell in love with this show. It's kinda hard to explain if you don't know it. Time travel. But SO MUCH MORE. Sigh. You'll just have to look it up. : )

But let's just say, I may or may not have asked my Dad to build me one of these:

It's called the TARDIS (Time and Relative Demensions in Space).

And I totally want one, no matter how IMPRACTICAL it may seem.

Pleeeeaaaaaassse, daddy?!?! :D

MUMFORD AND SONS

Amazing AMAZING band. Kinda Bluesgrass-y. Kinda FREAKIN' AWESOME. They totally get me. Yes. Yesyesyes.

HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON SOUNDTRACK

This soundtrack is INCREDIBLE. Something I had forgotten cause I only saw the movie once in theaters. But I just watched it again recently and WOW, I was blown away. The movie is amazing as a whole, but the music just adds this depth and heart to it. "Test Drive" is my favorite. Check it out. Do it.

BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH and SHERLOCK

Oh, Benny, Benny, Benny. Glorious, wonderful man. Funny name. Voice like a jaguar in a cello (my fellow fangirls online describe it as such). Marvelous actor. Yes. The whole package. He played Stephen Hawking, for pete's sake!! And did a marvelous job:

And BBC Sherlock, well, I just can't even describe in words how much I loved it. Literally. Best. Adaption. EVER. It physically pains me that I have to wait til 2012 for more Sherlock. Siiiiiiigh.

HURRY UP, SEASON TWO I AM DYING!!!!!!!

Well, I think that's enough fangirling for one day. There's more. SOOOOOOO much more. I can obsess about multiple things simultaneously. I am THAT talented. Anyway, I hope you'll consider looking into these things I enjoy so much. And share what YOU are obsessed with. I so can't wait. : )

Occupational Hazards

2011-09-10T11:26:00.001-07:00

You know what's REALLY AWESOME? When a hot sheet pan touches you JUST ENOUGH to melt off a layer of skin and expose the nerve endings. Then. THEN. It feels so awesome every time you open the oven door. Oh yes. it's super awesome.

Im a baker/cook. I love my job. I love what I do. It's just a little rough for such an accident-prone person to be around hot and sharp things all the time. My left forearm has 8 burn scar in varying stages of healing. The newest burn I'm speaking of is on my right arm. And throbbing.

In addition to burns and cuts(none of those today, thank goodness. Unless you count a paper cut...), I've had tall, heavy oven racks fall on me, slipped on wet floors, run into things often...once, opening a door with my foot with both hands full resulted in a sprained ankle and two bruised knees. Speaking of which, I've lost count of how many times I've sprained/twisted my ankle in my life.

My mom thinks I should be covered in bubble wrap at all times. I'm starting to agree...

My Morning So Far...

2011-08-25T12:54:00.000-07:00

Thursday, August 25

Awakened at 11am (give me a break! it's my day off) by a phone call from my youngest sister. We chatted about her starting school, my bizarre dream, and parking permits.

Phone beeped with incoming call from older sister. Phone would not switch over, so ended conversation with lil sis (she had class anyway) and called Big sis back. News: her bun in the oven will be a GIRL!!! Very exciting! Emma will have a sister. She deserves one. : )

Told big sis about my job situation and housing and the crapfest that is my life at the moment. Talked to her current youngest, Isaac who just CRACKS ME UP, he's so darling. He wanted her to put on the sprinkler so he could run through. I MISS THEM SO MUCH. She had to go. Love you, Ranga! (not her real name. nickname. ahem.)

Finally left bed to visit bathroom. Checked bank account (it's payday. whoo!) But wait...I canceled that online payment 2 weeks ago and it's coming out TODAY?!? NONONONONONO!!! Very bad. Bad Bad Bad. Call establishment the payment is going to. Me in a bit of hysterics. On hold. "ARE YOU STILL THERE?!?" Them: did you call your bank? Um...no. I will do that.

Called lady who opened my accounts originally. No answer. 2 more calls left message. Call general number for my bank. Talked to a dude. Transfer. Questions. My verbal password? What? I have no idea. Mother's maiden name? Oh, right. I know that one. Blah blah. Lots of talking. All ended well. Stopped payment. Whew.

Yeesh. Many highs and lows this morning. Mini heart attack to boot. Oy. I should really eat something. I need a chocolate chip pancake...

Hold On to Dreams

2011-06-22T15:36:00.001-07:00

Words to live by. Dream on. : )

Sent from my iPhone

How to Tick People Off

2011-06-20T20:29:00.001-07:00

I already posted this on Facebook and possibly twitter, but it's worth repeating. *chuckle* ; )

HOW TO TICK PEOPLE OFF

Leave the copy machine set to reduce 200%, extra dark, 17 inch paper, 99 copies.
In the memo field of all your checks, write "for sexual favors."
Specify that your drive-through order is "TO-GO."
If you have a glass eye, tap on it occasionally with your pen while talking to others.
Stomp on little plastic ketchup packets.
Insist on keeping your car windshield wipers running in all weather conditions "to keep them tuned up."
Reply to everything someone says with "that's what you think."
Practice making fax and modem noises.
Highlight irrelevant information in scientific papers and "cc" them to your boss.
Make beeping noises when a large person backs up.
Finish all your sentences with the words "in accordance with prophesy."
Signal that a conversation is over by clamping your hands over your ears and grimacing.
Disassemble your pen and "accidentally" flip the ink cartridge across the room.
Holler random numbers while someone is counting.
Adjust the tint on your TV so that all the people are green, and insist to others that you "like it that way."
Staple pages in the middle of the page.
Publicly investigate just how slowly you can make a croaking noise.
Honk and wave to strangers.
Decline to be seated at a restaurant, and simply eat their complimentary mints at the cash register.
TYPE IN UPPERCASE.
type only in lowercase.
dont use any punctuation either
Buy a large quantity of orange traffic cones and reroute whole streets.
Repeat the following conversation a dozen times.
"DO YOU HEAR THAT?"
"What?"
"Never mind, it's gone now."
As much as possible, skip rather than walk.
Try playing the William Tell Overture by tapping on the bottom of your chin. When nearly done, announce "No, wait, I messed it up," and repeat.
Ask people what gender they are.
While making presentations, occasionally bob your head like a parakeet.
Sit in your front yard pointing a hair dryer at passing cars to see if they slow down.
Sing along at the opera.
Go to a poetry recital and ask why each poem doesn't rhyme.
Ask your co-workers mysterious questions and then scribble their answers in a notebook. Mutter something about "psychological profiles.

Sent from my iPhone

2011-06-20T20:24:00.001-07:00

Testing...1,2,3...

2011-06-20T20:19:00.001-07:00

Hiya. Been looking into alternative ways of posting, mainly from my awesome, awesome iPhone. : )

Texting was a no-go. All came up as gibberish!! Lame. So here's to try number two. Email!!

Did it work?

Sent from my iPhone

Quarter of a Century

2011-06-13T20:51:00.000-07:00

Hey, guys. Guess what? I had a birthday. Last month, actually. Yup. I hit the big 2-5. Geez. I'm still letting it sink in. I wanted to do a blog post closer to the actual day, but when have I ever been prompt about these things? Exactly.

So, yeah. It happened. May 23rd, if you didn't know. It fell on a Monday this year, and oddly enough, I had Sunday through Tuesday off work. Nice gift to me!! Sooo nice to not have to set an alarm (and I also remembered to silence my phone completely, anticipating facebook alerts). So on Monday, I slept in looong and hard. Woke up a time or two, rolled over, and went back to sleep. I LOVE doing that. On occasion on my days off, I'll even set my alarm just so I can shut it off and go back to sleep. It's really satisfying. : ) I lounged in bed a while, but hunger and my bladder eventually forced me out. I wanted a yummy breakfast, so I made myself a Single Lady Pancake from Joy the Baker's blog. I love this recipe! It makes one big pancake instead of making way too much for one person. Which I've done. : )

After breakfast, I lounged around some more, possibly laid in bed for a while (is it lied or laid? eh.). I eventually got my but in gear and dressed in my Breaking Benjamin shirt and good jeans. Chucks on feet. Oh, yes. Feelin' good. : ) Had to run some dumb errands like putting the cable in my name at the new apartment and checking my PO Box in Eagle. But I had mail!! And not just bills!! So, that was good. Then I went to the Pugmire's and tagged along to the twins' soccer game. They totally won!! It was awesome. And there was pizza. Cheese, please! EmRee was kind enough (and a little nervous to) make me a birthday cake. Got my favorite cake recipe from my mom: Cream-filled Chocolate Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting!

Photographic evidence:

Lighting my 25 candles in the shape of

a smiley face.

Crazy Pugmire kids. They're awesome.

Scotty, Zac, Allie, Anna, and Grant.

They're singing to me. I'm all embarrassed!

Parents on speakerphone, too.

Make a wish!!

Cake was yummy!! Then I skyped with mom, dad, Ashleigh and Alex so they could see me open my presents. Check out my haul!!

So awesome!! 2 of the books I bought for myself. ; )

It was a great day. AND I got a bonus birthday as well!! On Tuesday, EmRee took me to get my first mani/pedi. No, I'd never had either before. Criminal!! It was fun and VERY relaxing. Check it out:

Green is keen.

Took me all of five minutes to ruin one of my fingernails, as predicted, plus after working in the dirt and stuff, the manicure was hashed after a week. I took it off. But it's still on my toes! Yay for flip flop season!! : )

After the mani/pedi, we picked up Grant from preschool and drove to the outlet shops in Silverthorne, about 20 minutes from Vail. I got some black long shorts (all I had was denim), a peachy button-up sweater, and a thin beige sweater all for really good prices. I hadn't been clothes shopping...pretty much since I moved here, so way overdue! Grabbed some lunch and headed back home. Another good day! Thanks so much, EmRee!! : )

It's pretty much required for a person to look back on their life on the day of their birth. So I did.

Here are my thoughts on the past year:

-Last Spring was hard. Really hard. I wasn't in a good place. I'm glad I've moved past that.

-It is best to stop holding on to someone who doesn't want to be held on to.

-I still enjoy being vegetarian. 2 years in May! One of the best things I've done.

-My sisters are, and always will be, one of the best things in my life. I LOVE MY SISTERS!!!

-I picked up my life and moved hundreds of miles away where I didn't know a soul. I never thought I could do that, but I did. I'm really proud of myself and now I know I'm capable of a lot more than I thought.

-I really love my job and I'm good at it. I love the people I work with and I LOVE being closer to work. 10 minute walk definitely beats a 30 minute drive PLUS 10 minute walk. ; )

-I love my family more than anything. I miss them like crazy, but I feel like this is where I'm supposed to be for now. I can't say what will happen in the future, but here is good for a while.

-I'm thankful to have the church as a constant in my life. I have a great branch to go to and friends there. THE CHURCH IS TRUE!

-I've learned to open myself up more to change. Obviously. Change is the only thing in life that stays the same.

-The Lord will provide. I'm not meant to know all the answers right now. I'm trying to trust Him more.

-I won't sell myself short. I know I deserve the best because I'm willing to give it.

-I've shifted my focus a bit. I know what I want now and how to get it. Now I'm just working toward it.

- EUROPE. NEXT SUMMER. NO EXCUSES.

-Books are still some of my best friends. I read to lose myself as well as find myself.

-Music is vital to my life. Then. Now. Always.

Well, this post is getting rather lengthy. I guess I'll wrap this up. Here's to another year!!

From Eagle to Vail

2011-05-18T19:18:00.000-07:00

Hi. It's me. Yes, I know. Been a while. I say this every time, so I should probably stop making false promises, but I REALLY MEAN IT THIS TIME when I say I'll try to be more consistent. Mmkay?

Righto. So, I moved. Again. Consensus: I HATE moving. Seriously. I have waaaaaay too much stuff. I should just get rid of it all. Simplicity is the key! Except my books. Gotta keep those. And movies. Boxed tv shows. They stay. And I love my bed. And all my kitchen equipment. I'm not parting with that. Well, shoot. Guess I'm screwed, then. I'm doomed to lug all my crap from place to place for...however long. The rest of my life! Hope to minimize the frequency of this. Guh.

Anyway, my lease was up in Eagle. I really wish I didn't have to move. I liked it there. The house. Roommates. Mostly. Kinda....but I DO miss the dog. Matty.

C'mon. Look at that face! And such a cuddler.... *sigh*

But Eagle was just way too far. 30 minutes each way. Plus the friggin' gas prices, it was just killing me. So I started looking at new places mid-April, searching in Avon and Edwards, which are 5 and 10 minutes away from work, respectively. NEVER dreamed I could find something in Vail cause it is dang expensive! Well, it is everywhere around here, but ya know. But I did! I found a place 2 minutes from work! Right near where I was parking all winter, actually. I can walk to work now!

Middlecreek Apartments. Old roommate called it Sing-Sing, cause it

kinda looks like a prison. : )

Rent is a bit higher, though. And had to figure out how to pay a deposit and all that crap. Bleh. AND I had to figure out the logistics with my landlord/roommate cause I already paid my "last month's rent" and then paid it again cause I didn't know I was moving so soon. Took some convincing to get that money back. But it all worked out! Started moving stuff with my car the end of April. Got help from Brother Brook from the ward and his truck with my bed and stuff. And my cousin Alicia and her husband Jason happened to be nearby on vacation and offered to help! Soooo sweet of them! Pretty easy to move the big stuff with so much help. Thanks you guys!! : )

Me and Alicia in front of my new apartment building.

Officially moved in May 2nd, a Tuesday. Always weird the first night in a new place. Different smells, different sounds...plus all your stuff is in boxes. I hate that feeling. But I actually slept okay. Which is good, cause I had to work the next day. Slowly unpacked the next few days. Felt TOTALLY settled once my books, movies and kitchen stuff were situated. Sigh. Feels pretty good now. Getting used to roommates. One I completely get along with. We talked for and hour and half the first night we met. Good sign! Other, we get along, but she's glued to her boyfriend. He's quite a winner. (Sarcasm). Nah, I'm kidding. Mostly. He's nice enough. Just...I dunno. *shrug*

Anyway, I'm feeling pretty much at home here. Still paying the deposit in installments, which sucks, but the girl who's contract I bought has been very understanding. Work has been inconsistent, which doesn't help money matters, but I picked up hours in Engineering. Landscaping. Ick. That's for another post, though.

So, yeah. Soooo nice to be close to work. I walk every day, unless weather is bad. And sometimes even then! And, I mean, look at this view!!

That's what I see getting off the elevator on the 7th floor.

Yeah. Location, location, location.

I'm excited for a beautiful Summer in Vail, Colorado!! : )

You

2011-04-27T22:15:00.000-07:00

You. Yes, you. I am writing this for you.

I know you are reading this. And I want you to know I am writing this for you. No one else will understand. No one else knows. They think that this is for them. But it’s not. I am writing this for you.

I want you to know, life…it’s hard. Every day can be a challenge. It can be a challenge to get up in the morning. To get yourself out of bed. To put on that smile. But I want you to know, that smile is what keeps me going some days. You need to remember, even through the tough times, you are amazing. You really are.

You should be happy. You are gorgeous.

I know that the weather might not be perfect. You might have to turn your back to the wind or feel the cold nipping at your nose. But you know what, at least you are there to feel it. At least you can enjoy the sun’s warm rays on your face. Or that cold February wind biting at your cheeks. You know what that means?

You are alive.

Everything will be okay.

I found this on lettersillneversend.com

So, thank you to whoever wrote it. I really needed to hear that.

<3 Anika

ANNA & THE FRENCH KISS

2011-04-04T21:15:00.000-07:00

Hey, all. Um...so my blogging track record hasn't been awesome lately. I should be better. I want to be. I WILL be. Right? Uh huh.

Anywho, this is just a short one. Wanted to pay homage to an INCREDIBLE book. Seriously. I love it so much, I have on more than one occasion considered making it legal. Make an honest book out of it. Or something... *looks around awkwardly*

So...yes. ANNA. It is greatness. Page after page after page. Awe. Some.

LOVE.

This is the story of a girl named Anna from Florida who, for her senior year of high school, is sent to Paris, France, by her father. And she DOESN'T want to go. Crazy, right? But she has a maybe, almost, could-have-been boy/friend and she has this awesome job working with said boy, and...yeah. Getting uprooted for the most important year of high school isn't easy. But she goes, she meets a boy. Etienne St. Clair. Not just any boy. An ENGLISH boy. Who is technically an American. Confusing...but AWESOME. But it's complicated. Of course. And it happens in the most romantic city in the world! And...yeah. I just can't even describe it right.

The writing is just so effortless. Stephanie Perkins has completely captured the teenager in all of us. The uncertainty, the dialog, the feelings...all of it. I seriously can't wait to read it again. And the rest of her upcoming books! She is amazing.

The Genius.

Not only is the book entertaining, but it's educational. Yup. Some vocabulary terms I learned.

Callipygian: having well-shaped buttocks

Meretricious: alluring by a show of flashy or vulgar attractions; tawdry

See? Very useful in everyday conversation. Especially when you can use the 1st covertly in...mixed company. ; )

And a few of my favorite quotes:

“His friendship alone has strengthened me in a way that no one

else’s ever has. He swept me from my room and showed

me independence. In other words, he was exactly what I needed.

I won’t forget it. And I certainly don’t want to lose it.”

“How many times can our emotions be tied to someone

else’s--be pulled and stretched and twisted--before they snap?

Before they can never be mended again?”

“Boys turn girls into such idiots.”

“I wish for the thing that is best for me.”

“Meretricious. Showily attractive but cheap or insincere.’

Yes. Amazingness. Really. HIGHLY RECOMMEND. Seriously. Okay. Now go read it.

Mmkay?

Random Piece of Paper

2011-02-20T21:48:00.000-08:00

I found this piece of paper in a random place while packing up stuff to move a couple months ago. I have absolutely no idea where it came from, but it is freakishly accurate. Thought I'd share. : )

ANIKA

Temperament: Idealist

You are the quintessential dreamer- spending more time thinking about the possibilites that the world holds for you, rather than your reality. You don't settle for anything less than what you truly desire, and you work very hard. You tend to live in every place except the present- you are prone to daydreaming about the future and re-thinking the choices you made in the past. Sometimes you get overly caught up in your thoughts.

Interests: Simple

You are continually pursuing a simpler and less complicated life- and you don't allow yourself to fall victim to all of the "should do's" that society continually bombards you with. You are thoughtful about your life choices and think in terms of yourself, others and the world in which we live. You have a great sense that we are part of something much bigger and we must be good to others, if we want others and the world to be good to us.

Amusement: Thoughtful

You are easily stressed out and overwhelmed- and you need to take care of yourself first and foremost. Because you tend to be self-reflective, you know your limits quite well and must remember to not exceed those limits. When you overwhelm you life with obligations and responsibilities, you tend to shut down and go into yourself even further. Take some time to find your serenity and kick back your feet.

Passion: Traditional

Your notions about romance are viewed as unrealistic by many, but don't let that stop you. When you think of romance, you think of huge gestures of commitment, sacrifice and love like we see in the movies. Flowers, chocolate, and wine are just some of the ways to your heart. You want to feel loved and treasured by your partner and you expect to be courted, admired and hotly pursued. You long for old fashioned dating.

So...yeah. Like I said, I haven't the slightest clue where this came from, but it pretty much got me right on the nose. Freaky. Haha!

Rated: The Fall

2011-02-01T21:07:00.000-08:00

Hi, all. What's new? Hope you're well. What's that? Oh, my shoulder? It's okay. I've stopped wearing the sling because I would still use my left hand and end up bent over because of the sling. It still gets a little sore, but much improved. Estimated complete recovery is another 4 weeks. Sigh. But I'm sure it will pass quickly. *crosses fingers*

Anyhoo, I just wanted to talk a bit about one of my favorite movies EVER. "The Fall". Directed by Tarsem Singh, starring Lee Pace of "Pushing Daisies" (ahem. I LOVE THAT SHOW SO MUCH I CAN'T EVEN TELL YOU BUT IT WILL HAVE TO WAIT FOR ANOTHER POST).

So. The Fall.

I first heard about this show when I was looking up Lee Pace. I clicked on the link for this movie on imdb.com and started reading about it. The story really captured me and the movie stills I saw were incredible, so I looked for a way to watch it online and that's how I first saw it. I really researched it beforehand and struggled with the fact that I was aware of the its rating before I watched it.

It was rated R.

For some people, that's really not a big deal, which is fine. I mean, to each their own. I'm not gonna tell anyone what they can or cannot watch. But for me, it gave me pause. I've always been very "NO. NO RATED R MOVIES EVER." For pretty much my whole life.

Although in full disclosure, I have seen 2 Rated R movies. 3, including The Fall. The first I saw was "Billy Elliot" when I was, like 12. I had no idea what it was rated and I didn't find out til afterward. My mom even rented it for me. I'm pretty sure she's not aware of that, but I guess she is now. : ) I liked the movie, but it was British, so I didn't understand half the dialog. Which is a good thing because the reason it was Rated R was because of language. I think.

The second movie I saw I borrowed from a friend. He highly recommended it, so I watched it. The rating wasn't clearly displayed on the case, but I had my suspicions. Once again, for language. It was "The Blues Brothers" with John Belushi and Dan Akroyd. I had heard references to it for years and after seeing it, I finally understood the inside jokes and everything. I liked it. But I don't think I need to see it again.

This is a still from the opening scenes of the movie. Gorgeous.

So, The Fall was the first movie that I watched knowing full well that it was Rated R. Let me explain a bit why I did. On imdb, there's a link on the movie's site where you can see all the reasons for its rating. Language, nudity, drugs, violence, etc. I clicked on that for The Fall and saw that there was no nudity, no language, a small amount of violence, and a small drug reference to Morphine. That's all. And there's the subject matter as well, which I will also explain in a bit.

Now I'm not trying to rationalize my actions. I knew what I was doing. I'm just telling you that I was well-informed of the entire matter before I made my decision to watch it.

Our heroes meet the Mystic. Look at that sky! And the reflection in the lake! Love.

As for the violence? There are a couple people who are shot or stabbed. There's a bit of blood splatter and fisticuffs. But honestly? I've seen worse on CSI or Bones! Bones, seriously. There's an episode I watched last week where a woman's head completely exploded after being shot with a high-powered rifle. And you pretty much see the whole thing! And there's blood squirting out of her neck and stuff. It was seriously gross. I love that show, but I really can't watch it while eating. Ever. *gag* The Fall has nothing as bad as that!

Alexandria visits Roy. I love their dynamic.

And for the subject matter and drug reference...well, I'll just sort of tell you the storyline to explain.

It's the story of a 9-year-old girl named Alexandria with a broken arm who's stuck in a hospital while her arm heals. She befriends a man named Roy (Lee Pace) who is confined to a bed after falling from a horse and injuring his back while doing a stunt for a silent film. (I can't remember what the actual date period is, but I'm thinking the '30s?) So Roy starts telling her this elaborate story to keep her entertained and to also coerce the little girl into getting a full bottle of morphine for him to "help him sleep" (it is implied that it's to take his own life, but never actually said as suicide explicitly). That would be the "subject matter" that I guess contributed to the higher rating.

A mounted butterfly transitions into a sandy island surrounded by

a butterfly-shaped reef. One of my favorite visuals.

I don't want to give too much of the story away in case you choose to see the movie. It is truly one of the best movies I've seen. All of these pictures are from the movie. Amazing, aren't they? The entire film is just visually stunning and so moving. The performance by Lee Pace is incredible, and I don't know how they got that little girl to cry so much! She did a great job.

I was watching the Special Features on the DVD and I discovered that Lee Pace was actually in a wheel chair the entire time he was playing Roy. They didn't tell Catinca (who played Alexandria) that he could walk until after they filmed the last scene at the hospital. I find that amazing. I don't know if it was because Lee is a method actor, or just to make it easier and less confusing on the little girl. She also called him "Roy" the whole time, on and off set. I suppose so she wouldn't say the wrong name. Completely brilliant performance from both of them!

The surrounding figures are people twirling, which seems bizarre, but

somehow fits just perfectly in the scene.

Anyway, so I'm not saying that I'm all about Rated R movies now. I haven't seen one since. I do own "The Fall", but it's the only Rated R movie I have. I watched it just yesterday and it still makes my mind reel. I love it. And I'll see it again. And again and again.

This is a video of the opening scene of the film. Along with the visual brilliance there is also the music which just blows me away. They included my absolute favorite symphony, Beethoven's 7th, 2nd movement. I really love it. And if you never see the movie, at least watch this. The black and white with the music and slow motion? I can't even explain how great it is. Just watch:

The lovely Lee Pace, who also plays the Masked Bandit in

the story Roy tells. But I like him unmasked. ; )

And I thank the glorious Lee Pace for bringing it to my attention. *stares at the picture, drools*

Hm? What? Oh, right. Ahem. So, yeah. This is my little "controversial" blog post. Comment at your leisure. Remember, no judgments here. As long as you do me the same courtesy. : )

Until next time...

Fractured

2011-01-24T22:16:00.000-08:00

Hey, guys. Just a little note about my injury. This isn't MY actual x-ray. They sent a cd home with me that had my x-rays on it, but it doesn't like Vista. Which I have. So, I found this online an it's very similar to my fracture. Mine is a little closer the end and not as much slippage of the bone. Luckily.

So. The story.

I went snowboarding on Tuesday afternoon with my friend EmRee Pugmire, her 5-year-old-son Grant, and another lady from the ward, Gwen. We went to Arrowhead, which is actually where Gwen lives so we just met her there. First run was fine. A few stumbles, but no big ones. I'm still trying to get used to the whole speed thing.

We were about half way down the first run (which is long, by the way) and EmRee warned me that it's pretty flat near the end getting back to the chairlift, so I needed to pick up some speed. Well, I didn't do that great a job. I was too far to the left and using toe edge to turn more just slowed me down. I ended up popping off my board and walking a bit back to the lift. Annoying. I hate that, but one of the perils of boarding. No way to propel yourself forward, like with ski poles.

So, we headed up the lift again. I followed EmRee down a different run, a little more steep, but not too bad. After that run, it merges into the same run we came down the first time. I knew about the flat spot at the bottom, so I was determined NOT get stuck again. I got to a steep part and was tempted to slow down, but I knew I needed the speed. I guess it was more than I could handle, cause I must have caught my toe edge and tumbled down hill. I hit the outside of my left shoulder and the left side of my face on the snow. My goggles and hat bounced to the top of head and I laid on my back for a few seconds.

Bruise by my eye from my goggles hitting the snow.

Hard to see, but it was swollen. And sore.

I sat up and knew immediately that something wasn't right with my shoulder. But I had to get down to the bottom one way or another, so I got back up on my board and rode down. Luckily I had enough speed to get all the way to the lift. My friends were waiting for me and I just said that I had a bad fall and I was done for the day. I was leaning on my board and must have been swaying a little, so I sat down and had some water. I could hardly use my arm. I made it back to my car and called my dad on the way home. I didn't really know if I needed to go the the ER or anything. I have the mentality of "What are they going to do, put me in a sling? Give me some pain meds? Pff." I think I get that from my dad. ; )

But I finally did. My roommate told me about a clinic a few miles away, so I drove there and got some x-rays. The diagnosis? Fractured clavicle. Great. And yes, I got a sling. And a prescription for pain medication. But at least the pain was justified. I've never had a broken bone before. Gotta say I'm not a fan.

I called my boss that night and she totally understood that I couldn't work the next day. She's been really great about the whole thing. I ended up taking Tuesday and Wednesday off and then worked Friday, Saturday, and then Sunday night after church.

It sucks, being injured. Yeah, the pain sucks, but also the annoyance and frustration of being so...restricted. I can't do all the normal things I do, like dress myself, shower, or bake without pain.

Tomorrow will be a week since the accident, and I'm really hoping thing get A LOT better. And fast. Yeah, yeah, I know it takes time. But, still.

Oh, and I also discovered a lovely bruise on my hip.

Nice, huh?

So, yeah. That's the story. I'll try to keep you posted. I'm feeling pretty good right now. No work today or tomorrow, so just rest and healin' time. Yay!

Until next time... : )

Wings, Spells, and Illusions

2011-01-24T21:29:00.000-08:00

Hey, all. So...I really love to read, right? Yeah. Shiny electronic things have been capturing my attentions more often, though. I'm trying to change that. It totally helps that there are SO many awesome books out. Case and point: The Wings Series by Aprilynne Pike.

Wings is not your usual supernatural series.

I love fantasy, but after a while...it all starts to sound

the same, you know? Honestly, I haven't read many faerie stories, so this

is new to begin with, and the story that unfolds is even more unique.

Laurel is a teenage girl who has been

home schooled for years, but after moving to a new town, her parents think it's time to enroll in a real high school. She makes new friends and, of course, a boy. But one day, she discovers a small bump in the middle of her back. It continues to grow until one morning...it blossoms. Into the most amazing flower. With the help of her friend David, and the mysterious boy she meets in the forest near her old house,

she discovers her true identity.

I won't give too much away, but I highly recommend it! The second in the series is "Spells".

I just finished it.

Laurel and David have a relatively quiet six months after the events that happen in "Wings", but when Laurel is summoned to the Academy in Avalon, she learns how much she doesn't know about herself and her past. A really good read. Can't wait for number three!! "Illusions".

Release date is May 3, 2011. So stoked!!

I hope you'll check them out.

Until later... : )

The Move

2010-12-14T18:45:00.000-08:00

Hi, guys. Still working on the post for Boston. It's becoming lengthy. And my memory sucks. Also, I tried to bring it up to work on it, and blogger...wouldn't. I'm trying not to panic. STOP PANICKING!!!

Ahem.

So, yeah. I moved. To Colorado. It all happened VERY quickly.

I had an interview by phone with the Pastry Chef at the Lodge at Vail on Monday, October 25. It went INCREDIBLY well. She kept saying she loved my resume. Always a good sign. We talked about 20 minutes and she said she would make her decision by Wednesday of that week. I would most likely hear from Human Resources by Friday. Eeep!!

Too bad I didn't. Hear from HR, anyway. I was going out of my MIND the whole weekend. Nothing on Monday, either. Finally called Tuesday. No answer. Left a message. Gah!!

Got a call Wednesday, November 3rd. They were out of the office the day before and had I received the job offer through email yet? Uh...NO. Well, they resent. I GOT THE JOB!!! YAAAYYYY!!!! Um, starting the 11th? Like, in a WEEK? No bueno. Start date changed, after deliberation, to the 18th of November. EEEEKKK!!!!!

Still hadn't sunken in. Surreal. Bizarre. Me? Colorado? Move? Wha...?

Oh, and Laura, the Pastry Chef, DID make her decision that Wednesday morning to hire me. Somehow, I didn't find out for a week. Clerical error my...butt. ; ) Gave my 2 weeks notice that day. With my current schedule at Snowbird, my last day was actually the 13th, so the move occurred the next day, November 14th. A Sunday.

My room. Mid-packing. Chaos.

Trailer, van, and my car all packed. I slept

on the floor that night.

Good bye, room!! *sniff*

I was accompanied on my move by my awesome dad and my two crazy/wonderful younger sisters. I'm so glad they could come and we were able to spend this time together!! I love you guys!!

Um, thanks? Weirdos.

My awesome dad was willing to haul the trailer.

Thank you daddio!!

I'm sooooo GLAD I didn't have to pull the trailer!! I had to return it, and let me tell you, it was crazy. And it was empty!! It almost hit my car while I was trying to back up. Um...don't ask.

Windmills!! Somewhere in Utah. Yay!

Ashleigh is SUPER EXCITED to be driving my car.

I needed a break. : )

My best friend, GPS, and Sven, my polar bear

from IKEA.

Alex. Stoked to be in the back seat. ; )

And her new Blackberry.

Um...what? And no services? WHY IS THAT TOWN THERE?!?

Man, these town names...

GASP!!

I felt welcomed. : )

Ironically, we saw a rabbit here. By the side

of the road. : (

Sweet dad still towing. : )

A VERY blue building.

Interesting mountains. Pretty!

TUNNEL!!

INSIDE TUNNEL!!

That's the West-bound lane above us.

Yeah. I-70 is crazy.

Getting closer!! Whoo!!

Almost there!!

ARRIVED!!! And yes, that's a Wendy's.

Hallelujah!! Haha. ; )

I work here now.

Work uniform.

But more about that later. Anyway, things are good. Feeling pretty much settled after a month.

I'll try to update more often, but you know how it is. Or at least how *I* am. Heh.

So...later!! : )

T-shirt Obsessed!!

2010-11-22T19:44:00.000-08:00

So, I'm having a bit a brain-fart when it comes to blogging. I'm trying to write about Boston, but I've forgotten some stuff and keep getting distracted and crap. Frustrating!! So...in the mean time, here's an easy post that hopefully won't bore you. Enjoy!

The Doors!! Love me some Classic Rock!! : )

The Hunger Games. Heck yeah!

More Classic Rock. Floyd, anyone?

Brings back good memories.

WIN!!

Not mine! My sister's, but AWESOME.

Good cause. Look it up.

Ah...good times. Mostly. ; )

Newest one!!

*chuckle*

Whoo!! Love it!!

Gotten many compliments on this one.

Super ladies UNITE!!

Classic.

And just...yes. ; )

Hope you enjoyed them!! My collecting shows no signs of stopping. They make me happy!! Hope they do the same for you.

Technical Difficulties: Part 2

2010-10-17T20:02:00.000-07:00

Hey, all. Been a while, I know. At first I was like, "Whoa! That post was suuuuper heavy. What can follow that?" and then I was all, "I'll do it later." And then I got mad at my computer (or actually online job applications specifically) and closed it in anger. It didn't respond after that and even restarting....it wouldn't boot up. Gah!! I hate it when I do stupid things that ruin everything!!

*sigh*

I took it in on Friday. $159 at least for the fix. IF it doesn't need new parts. Crap. Well, C'est la vie.

So, anyway. I wanted to blog. There's a bunch of stuff in my brain that I should really get out and pictures and things that should be seen. Hopefully Charlie (that's what I decided to name my laptop) will be fixed by Tuesday!! Cross your fingers for me!!

Oh, and pray that they can save all my data and stuff. Cause if not, I'm screwed.

: )

The Falling Man

2010-09-11T15:46:00.000-07:00

Note: This is a more serious post for me. I've tried to document my feelings on this anniversary before --last year in fact--but I...couldn't. I'll try to explain why.

Today is the 9th anniversary of the September 11, 2001, World Trade Center attacks. Everybody knows this. This day will always be remembered. It's strange how one day on the calendar, a day like any other day, can be forever changed. It's there. Always. Ever present. Even seeing those numbers on the clock, 9:11, sparks that memory embedded in my brain. Everyone has their memory. A story to tell about that day 9 years ago. I've decided to add my memory to the masses.

In Fall of 2001, I was a sophomore in high school. 15 years old. The 11th of September was just another school day. I got up, got dressed, had breakfast, as I did every day. Nothing special. I carpooled with my neighbors, the Orgills. I remember the little red car they had, a stick shift, that we were riding in that day. The radio was on and there was a Breaking News bulletin. A plane hit a building in New York City. Wow, I thought. That's terrible. I bet Air Traffic Control is freaking out. What a terrible accident. I wonder what happened?

Minutes later, we got to school and I went to my first class, Banking and Finance. I walked in and saw the tv was on, which was unusual, but as I sat at my desk and glanced at the screen, the second plane hit. I was shocked. How could a second plane just happen to hit the building right next to the first one? Then it dawned on me. It wasn't an accident.

I remember watching tv during that class, and in the next class, and the one after that. The bells kept ringing. We kept going to our scheduled classrooms, but all we did was watch the news. I watched the towers fall. Then the news about the Pentagon. And a plane crash in Pennsylvania that was supposedly headed for the White House. I couldn't believe it. Things like this just don't happen. This is the United States of America! We're invincible! Or so I thought. That day changed everything. I remember calling home from someone's cell phone (I didn't have one of my own at the time) and my mom was crying. She had heard already. Did we know anyone in New York? I asked her. No. I felt relieved.

At 15, I knew that this was a terrible tragedy. That many people had died and my heart ached for them, but I don't think I really "got it". I didn't know anyone who was there or anyone who died, so it didn't affect me personally. And it was so far away. Images on a television screen. That's all.

I went to New York City in 2004 with my high school choir. We went to Ground Zero with a tour guide. I remember him getting emotional talking about it. In fact, he couldn't say much at all. We just wandered around, looking at the signs and pictures on the fence, taking pictures. It just looked like a construction site to me.

Every year on the anniversary of 9/11, I would remember, as we all do. We think back to that day and say a prayer for those who lost their lives. Year after year, the same thing. Remembrance. Memories. Moments of sadness. But it still hadn't sunk in for me. Sadly enough, it took me 8 years to finally "get it".

I have to interject some information for a moment, just to help you understand. I'm not an outwardly emotional person. My family always makes remarks about how I don't cry in sad movies or books and they can't believe it doesn't affect me like everyone else. I feel bad about it sometimes. Like there's something wrong with me. Ice queen, perhaps. Incapable of emotion. But that's not it. I've figured it out. I don't LET myself get emotional.

I've learned that I'm a very controlled person. No matter what emotional turmoil I may be feeling on the inside, I'm pretty good at keeping it in. Not letting it show. I don't know why I'm this way, but it's something I'm still trying to come to terms with. Part of it is because whenever I DO let something in, let myself feel the sorrow of 9/11, for example, it stays way too long. I dwell on it. It starts to take over and slowly comes to the surface. This happened last year on September 11.

Last year, I made the mistake of watching tv with my parents that day. CNN was airing the news coverage from 2001 in a constant loop. They showed the news of the first plane, the confusion over what was happening, and as a camera was trained on the towers, the second plane hit. They showed that footage over and over again. It had happened quickly, so no one really knew what had happened. Was it a bomb? Some sort of explosion as a result from the plane hitting the first tower? And then they showed the footage frame by frame. A frozen image cleared things up. A plane. Another jumbo jet commercial airliner full of people had hit the second tower.

I watched the whole thing. All the coverage. I continued watching after it started over again. It was happening. I should stop, I knew. But it was sinking in. Getting stuck in every part of me. Grabbing hold of my psyche and wrapping itself around my mind. At some point, I stopped watching and went downstairs to my room. That should have stopped it, but no. It stuck. I looked up that day on Wikipedia and started reading. There was so much I didn't know or had tried to forget. Then I came upon an entry about the people who decided not to wait for death. The jumpers. These were the people who were trapped above where the plane hit in the towers. Many tried to take the stairs down the 90-something floors, but for some, it was impossible. Smoke, heat, too many people trying to escape...they knew they wouldn't make it.

On the news footage, you can see objects falling from the towers. Not many realized that they were people until after the fact. Some say that they could never take their own life. I would probably say the same, but until you're in that situation, no one can say for sure.

This photograph really hit me. The Falling Man taken by Richard Drew at the Associated Press. There are pictures of other "jumpers" where the person is falling, flailing out of control. In this one, he seems to have direction. Control. He's chosen his fate and has no fear. This is ridiculous, of course. The photographer took several photos of this particular jumper and he was falling head over feet, careening out of control. But this particular photograph was taken in the one second where the man is vertical, one leg bent, shooting like an arrow toward the inevitable death below. There was an article about this photo in Esquire Magazine in 2003. I read it one year ago and it shook me. The author talked about the photographer, that day in general, and the unknown identity of the man in the photo.

By looking through the other photographs and enhancing the photos, they thought they had found the identity of The Falling Man. By looking closely, the man appears to be wearing a tunic of sorts, not a regular shirt or jacket. It looked like a chef's jacket. Just like the one I wear every day at work. This could possibly be one of my comrades, a fellow pastry chef. This made it very personal for me, oddly enough. I read on. Those investigating the photo tried to contact the man's family, but they would have nothing of it. They wouldn't even look at it. They were convinced their husband or father would never do such a thing. He would find another way. Is it better to not know? I'm not sure.

While looking for this photograph to post, I read something more recent than that article that said it was not the man they thought. Perhaps it was an engineer who worked in the same area. To this day, The Falling Man's identity still remains a mystery.

After that day a year ago, that image and so many others stayed with me constantly for over a week. It put me in a strange set of mind, almost a depression that was hard to shake. I don't think anyone knew, but it was evidence of why I don't get emotionally involved. Don't let it in. It has a habit of staying.

I'm still trying to find a good medium between being unemotional and becoming a wreck when I DO get emotional. This may reveal a little too much about me, but don't worry. I'll be okay. :' )

What is this thing you call "BEDA"?

2010-08-31T19:11:00.000-07:00

Ahem. So, I'm willing to admit my failure. Yes. I failed to blog every day in August. I did pretty well in the beginning, missed a few days, got back on the horse and then completely fell off and kind of just laid there on the ground for the rest of the month. Crap.

I had the best intentions, and I could give a million excuses, but I won't. *cough* Mockingjay *cough*

Anyway, I tried. I failed. But it's okay. It did make me realize that it doesn't HAVE to be super long to be called a blog post. A picture or five, a few paragraphs...call it good. So lets hope that if any good comes from this, it's that I may be inclined to blog more often, if not every day.

On another note, Mockingjay was AWESOME. Surprising. Shocking. Angering, at times. But for good reasons. You know it's a good book when it raises emotions, makes you care, makes you take sides and argue to the bitter end to prove your point. Wow. That is one kick-butt book.

Read it. Love it. But be prepared to have it (and the rest of the series) consume you life for a good 2 weeks. Depending on how fast you read. : )

Now. On to my next book endeavors.

This is what I am currently reading:

I love it so far.

Next in line (and just came out today):

This is the first book in a prequel series to Cassandra Clare's The Mortal Instruments series. Which I also HIGHLY RECOMMEND. First book in that series is "City of Bones". Wicked awesome. : )

So these will consume my time for the next little while. I'm a nerd, I know.

Last note: I can't believe it's September tomorrow!! I feel like I should buy school supplies, although I have no real need for them.

Also makes me think of a line in song:

"August, die she must,

The autumn winds blow chilly and cold;

September I´ll remember.

A love once new has now grown old."

--"April, Come She Will"

by Simon & Garfunkel

Farewell, Summer. Hello Autumn and hoodie weather!! : )

MOCKINGJAY!! YAY!!!!

2010-08-23T21:11:00.000-07:00

Have you read "The Hunger Games"? No? Well, what about "Catching Fire"? Huh. Yeah, I guess it would make sense if you had only read the 2nd book in a trilogy....

Anyway. If you haven't, you ABSOLUTELY SHOULD!!! So not kidding.

They are amazing books. I love them whole-heartedly.

The 3rd book comes out TOMORROW!!! Yup. August 24th, 2010 is the release date for "Mockingjay". I can't even use enough exclamation points or caps lock to portray how excited I am, so I'm not even going to try.

You may not see much of me tomorrow. And this is why. : )

Read them. Do it. You'll thank me later.

Technical Difficulties

2010-08-19T18:29:00.000-07:00

Hey, all. Sorry I've missed the past few days, but this time it's not my fault!! My laptop has been glitchy lately. Shutting off whenever it feels like it, usually when I'm about to blog. Heh.

So, sorry about that. I'm gonna take it in this weekend, see what the hopefully-not-expensive-to-fix problem is. Until then, I'll do my best!!

Laters!

Closer to the Edge

2010-08-16T22:40:00.000-07:00

That is the title of a song. An amazing song. By 30 Seconds to Mars. The lead singer is Jared Leto. I blogged about this a while ago when I went to their concert. Mind-blowing. But that's beside the point.

It also describes me, at this moment. It's hard to put into words, but I'm going to try.

Right now, I feel like I'm on the edge, right at the precipice of something big. Something life-changing. I know it. With every fiber of my being, I know that something's coming. I'm getting impatient because I'm SO ready for it. I need it. Badly. I can't just...stay...anymore.

I'm made enough changes and enough changes have been forced upon me in the past year that I feel more ready for this. MORE ready. Not completely, because by nature I've always been a more reserved person, but being so open to this change, this time of transition, it's hard to keep getting pulled back. It's like I'm on a cliff, ready to dive into the unknown, but there's a bungee cord that keeps snapping back, just enough to keep me...here.

I need release. I need to cut the cord. It's time.

I pray for patience. I pray for opportunities. I pray to be ready.

It's all I can do.

Eat Pray Love

2010-08-15T20:02:00.000-07:00

So...I finally finished my book. It took me 2 months or more, which is ridiculous to me. I'm used to blowing through a book in a week! And it's not cause it wasn't interesting or that I didn't WANT to read it. I absolutely LOVED the book and it completely blew my mind. I'm still reeling from it, in fact. I can only say that it took me this long because of...distractions. Life in general. Lack of sleep made it hard to sit/lie still while remaining conscious. (p.s. it took me a good 5 minutes to decide whether it was supposed to be LAY or LIE. Things lay, people lie, right? I'm still not sure...)

So here's my review of this incredible book. Loved it. Highly recommend it. You should read it, if you haven't already. : )

To me, reading has always been and integral part of life. According to my mom, I started reading Reader's Digest at the age of 6. There were times where she would have to hide my book so I would do my homework. Or she would bribe me with books or reading time so I would do chores. The written word has always captivated me. Taken me to far off places, given me mind-blowing new ideas, filled my head with more awesomeness than I could possibly comprehend. I LOVE READING!

So this book. Fantastic. I loved the travel, the food, the people, the languages, and her writing is so effortless to read. She really is a great author. I'm gonna look up her other stuff.

I learned a lot too. So many things that I never even thought of. So much advice given to Liz that I swear was meant for me. That quote from a couple of posts ago, about being "zapped"? Yup. Totally for me. The book is really quotable, which I love. I even HIGHLIGHTED some passages, which I pretty much never do. I think it's a bit sacrilegious to damage books. I'm overprotective when it comes to my books. You ruin my book while in your possession, you buy me a new one. My sister Ashleigh can attest to that. : ) And NO DOG-EARING. No. That's what bookmarks are for. I usually use a receipt, a movie ticket, a post-it, whatever. I haven't used an actual bookmark in years.

But, anyway. Yes. Very quotable. I think I'll share a few of those quotes.

Liz:

"...I seriously believed David was my soul mate."

Richard from Texas:

"He probably was. Your problem is you

don't understand what that word means. People think a

soul mate is your perfect fit, and that's what everyone wants.

But a true soul mate is a mirror, the person who shows you

everything that's holding you back, the person who brings

you to your own attention so you can change your life. A true

soul mate is probably the most important person you'll

ever meet, because they tear down your walls and smack you awake.

But to live with your soul mate forever?

Nah. Too painful."

"Faith is walking face-first and full-speed into the dark.

If we truly knew all the answers

in advance, as to the meaning of life and the nature of God

and the destiny of our souls,

our belief would not be a leap of faith and it would not be a

courageous act of humanity,

it would just be...a prudent insurance policy."

"Destiny is...a relationship--a play between divine

grace and willful self-effort.Half of it you have no

control over; half of it is absolutely in your hands, and

your actions will show measurable consequence.

Man is neither entirely a puppet of the gods,

nor is he entirely the captain of his own destiny;

he's a little of both."

"...I can choose my thoughts."

"I will not harbor unhealthy thoughts anymore."

"This is the supreme lesson of karma--to take care of the problems now,

or else you'll just have to suffer again later when you screw everything

up the next time."

Felipe:

"We must have your hearts broken sometimes. This is

a good sign, having a broken heart. It means we

tried for something."

"--I was not rescued by a prince; I was the administrator

of my own rescue."

Amazing. Amazing quotes. Amazing book. Read it. I can't wait to see the movie, but there's no way it will compare. Sigh. I need to contemplate some more. Good night, blogging world. Until tomorrow...

: )

CAGED!!!

2010-08-14T21:57:00.000-07:00

Hi. Late night post. You ready? Mmkay.

So, "Popular" was one of my all-time favorite tv shows. Incredibly awesome. Seriously.

This episode is SO fantastic!! It's called "Caged". This is what happens when 5 girls have their "lady time" simultaneously and are locked in a bathroom together. HA!!! Love it. : )

The whole episode is on youtube so you can enjoy the goodness in its entirety. But if you don't want to watch the whole thing, at least watch this particular part from 5:00 on. So. Funny. Dramatic, yes, but scarily enough, not that far off.

I may or may not be able to identify with this at this specific moment. *cough*

So, enjoy!! Oh, and watch out for all the actors who went on to bigger and better things! And those who didn't. ; )

G'night!

Wide Open Spaces

2010-08-13T18:37:00.000-07:00

Hey, guys. I'm tired. Again. I know, I'm sure you get tired of me complaining about it. Well, I'm tired of being tired too!! Sigh. Shake it off!!!

Ahem. So, I've been looking at jobs. Quite a few out of state. Nothing solid yet, but the idea of a new town, new job, new experiences....SO EXCITING!!! And a little bit scary. Definitely.

Anyway, this song comes up on shuffle on my ipod every once in a while. Totally strikes a chord. I'm ready to move on! Explore! Have my own life!! I'M READY!!! YOU HEAR THAT WORLD?!?

So, I posted this video. It's just the song playing with the lyrics. I like the picture, though. A canopy of trees sheltering a long country road...I like.

So, enjoy!! : )

So NOT Kosher!!

2010-08-12T18:21:00.000-07:00

We've all heard the term "not kosher", right? It usually means something's not okay or not allowed. Yeah, well, I had the privilege of learning the literal meaning of the term. Lucky me. : )

NOTE: I apologize in advance to any Devout Jewish people I may inadvertently offend with this post. I know next to nothing about being Kosher except from preparing the food for 2 weeks. I'm 87.4% sure that none of you will find this blog, but you never can be too careful. So sorry! And shalom...or something. : )

Hi, peeps!! Sorry for that disclaimer above. I just wanted to cover my bases cause I'm about to complain. Ready?

*clears throat* KOSHERIZING AN ENTIRE KITCHEN AND BAKERY FOR 200 PEOPLE AND KEEPING IT THAT WAY FOR 2 WEEKS IS A PAIN IN THE BUTT!!!! ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU KNOW NEXT TO NOTHING ABOUT WHAT YOU'RE DOING!!!

Whew. Glad I got that out of my system.

So, basically, there was a group of 200 who we know was coming months ago. We were prepared. Or so we thought. Preparations involved scrubbing every single surface and sanitizing, buying new equipment and labeling it correctly, keeping red and blue items separate ( I'll explain that in a sec), designating areas in the fridge and freezer for kosher, and finding somewhere else to prepare food for the OTHER groups who are at the resort at the same time.

So, red and blue. Basically, those who keep Kosher don't eat meat with dairy. At all. Which means every meal was either a "meat plate" or a "dairy plate". Red for meat, blue for dairy. So when preparing a meal for a meat plate, no dairy products can be used and all red-designated equipment must be used. Here's a few pics to illustrate:

Red-taped tongs, spatulas, and whisks

for meat plate

BLUE.

Blue on the left, red on the right.

The fridge. It's Kosher.

Oh, and we had to line the shelves

with foil. Mm. Good fun. : )

So there were some visuals for ya. Awesome, right? Uh huh. So, once something has been kosherized, it is designated meat or dairy and stays that way for the duration. No switching around. BAD. Yellow was used for things that are neutral, like flour, sugar, oats, nuts, etc. You can use a yellow item for meat or dairy, but once it's used for one or the other, it stays that way. However, you can "kosherize" something and re-designate it by steaming the piece of equipment for 15 minutes, boiling it for 3 minutes, and then letting it air-dry. Dunno why, but them's the breaks. Oh, and NO equipment with wooden handles. Not allowed.

Oh, and after the cleaning and taping things and stuff? Yeah. It had to be okay'd by the Rabbi. We got a certificate and everything. Whoop. And he hung around for a while every day just to check up on us. He also helped himself to whatever food he could find, mostly without permission. Definitely has a sweet tooth. Lucky us.

So, this went on for 2 whole weeks. And then we were DONE!! YAY!!! But then we had to put things back to normal and some of the new equipment for kosher got packed away for next time. NEXT TIME!! I really really REALLY hope I'm not here for that. Gah.

Well, that was my little spiel. Lovely, I know. Now lets NEVER speak of it again. Mmkay?

Playing Catch Up

2010-08-11T19:01:00.000-07:00

Hey, y'all. Geez. I can't even type that phrase without sounding lame. Some people can pull it off. I can't.

Anyhoo. This is going to sound incredibly pathetic, but I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed....by tv shows. Stupid, I know. But there's so much good tv on these days!! There's definitely a lot of crap, too, but there's A LOT of good shows I'm trying to keep up with.

You see, here's my problem. I go to bed super early, so I can't watch them when they're actually ON. I, however, don't have OnDemand or a DVR or Tivo or whatever. I do have a super lame old school VCR!! Yippee!! Problem there is cause of the stupid little boxes Comcast required us to get for full cable, it doesn't run directly through my VCR. I can record what's on RIGHT NOW, but I can't program it and all that jazz.

So. My only other option is online. Yay for Hulu!! You have to wait sometimes, but most of them make an appearance days after airing. Good news for me! But, like I said, I get overwhelmed. Hard to catch up in the 4 hours I'm actually home and conscious. Yowzah.

Here's a list of shows I'm trying to keep up with right now:

Covert Affairs
Pretty Little Liars
Huge
White Collar
Leverage
Make It or Break It
Lie to Me
Psych

I think that's all of them. I also may or may not also be rewatching the entire series of "Veronica Mars". Heh.

Ahem. So. What about you? Any tv shows you're hooked on? Any you can't get enough of? There are some shows I see a promo for and I WANT to watch it up all I can think is "I can't fit it in!!". Sad. And pathetic. Alas, I must retire for the evening. Sleep tight. : )

Failure

2010-08-10T21:04:00.000-07:00

Um, so I come to you all with my tail between my legs. Yes. I have failed to blog the past 2 days. I know. Each day I knew I should, and yet...nothing. I'm sure you'll all be very gracious about it because you're awesome like that, but I'm always the hardest on myself.

I made it 7 days!! Why couldn't I keep it up?!? Lame.

So, I'm sorry. I'll be better. I promise. : )

Sweet dreams.

Travel

2010-08-07T18:26:00.000-07:00

Hello. Um...so, once again, it's past my bedtime and I'm trying to blog while half-asleep and slightly brain-dead. Yay, for BEDA!! Heh.

Anywho, I mentioned the other day that I'm reading "Eat Pray Love". Ah-MAZING. Still not done. I am in the third part, though, where she's in Indonesia. Bali, to be exact. Reading this book makes me INSANELY JEALOUS that I have yet to truly travel. I have all the intentions in the world to do so. I WILL. I'm just still working on the specifics....like money.

I'm getting closer!! See?

This is my Europe Fund. It's 3/4 full!!

Very exciting. : )

Yup. That's part of it, anyway. We'll see where the rest comes from. And that's an amazing black and white picture of the Eiffel Tower behind my jar. Love it!! I have posters and maps all over my walls!! Inspiration. I WILL GET THERE!!!

Paris la nuit. Paris at night. Gorgeous!!

My favorite, I think. A park in Paris just

off the Champs Elysee. In Fall. LOVE!!

"London Calling" and a map of the

United Kingdom. Woot!!

See? Big HUGE plans. And it's gonna happen. All in good time. Sweet dreams, all!! I shall dream of Europe... : )

Total Eclipse of the Heart: Literal Video Version

2010-08-06T20:17:00.000-07:00

If you have not seen this, you must. MUST!! Caution: empty your bladder before viewing. : )

Zapped

2010-08-05T18:20:00.000-07:00

Hi, everyone. Sooo I almost forgot to post today. ALMOST. My head was about the hit the pillow and BAM. I remembered. Aren't you glad?

Obviously this is going to be a short one cause I'm half asleep already, but I just wanted to share a quick thought.

I've been reading the book "Eat Pray Love" by Elizabeth Gilbert. It's completely amazing. I wish I had more time to read it!! I hope to finish it within the next couple days cause there's so much for me to learn from it and there are SO many other books I want to read. I'll probably give you a full review of sorts of this book after I finish it.

Anywho. The thought. It's a quote that really hit me. Advice given to Liz from Richard from Texas in India.

“Big deal. So you fell in love with someone. Don’t you see what

happened? This guy touched a place in your heart

deeper than you thought you were capable of reaching,

I mean you got zapped, kiddo. But that love you felt,

that’s just the beginning. You just got a taste of love.

That’s just limited little rinky-dink mortal love. Wait till

you see how much more deeply you can love than that.

Heck…you have the capacity to someday

love the whole world. It’s your destiny.”

Amazing, right? I love it. Well, thanks for reading. I'll be back tomorrow, hopefully with a more prepared and thought-out post. Good night, dreamers. : )

Demotivation

2010-08-04T17:54:00.000-07:00

Hey, peeps. Look! I'm posting a blog!! This one's sort of a cop-out, but hey, I'm tired. Which is kind of my constant state of being....Anywho. I also may have spent a bit too much time on the website www.verydemotivational.com. Cause sometimes you really need to laugh at other peoples' misfortunes. : )

Here's a few examples. Enjoy!!

There. Now, don't you feel better? Sweet dreams!! : )

The Day the Oven Rack Attacked Me

2010-08-03T16:55:00.000-07:00

In my line of work, there are quite a few hazards you have to be careful around. Knives, hot ovens, hot pans, heavy objects, and in my case, doors, door knobs, the corners of tables, large mixers, and much more. Sadly, I have been injured by pretty much ALL of them. No joke. But there was one more I hadn't considered. Until one particular Wednesday...

Dun Dun DUUUUNNNNN!!!

The Culprit

This is an oven rack we use at work. We put sheet pans on it and roll it into the walk-in oven. We don't actually call it that cause it's creepy, but that's pretty much what it is. It's like a walk-in closet that heats up to 500+ degrees Fahrenheit. We can fit two of those racks in the oven at a time. Yup.

A picture for height reference.

Don't I look pleased with the thing?

So, on this particular Wednesday, I had opened that day (4am) and I was wrapping things up and doing pan-up at about 1:30pm. Pan-up is when all the frozen pastries and everything are put on trays then on a rack, and rolled into the fridge to be baked the next morning. Anyway, it had been a long day and somehow I ended up being the first person in AND the last person out. This happens way more than it should.

So I had just started and put one tray of pastries on the rack and I decided to pull it closer to make it a bit easier on myself. Yeah, well, I kinda pulled it the wrong way. I really should know better, but alas, I did it anyway. It's a little unsteady if you pull it width-wise as opposed to length-wise. So, yeah, I pulled it, I turned around, had a split-second thought of "Hey, what if that fell on me..." ---and then it did.

The damage. Minutes after.

You can see blood on my sock too.

I had my back toward it, so it hit my back, struck my left hip bone, scraped down my left calf (pic above) and landed on my foot. Which it also scraped. But at first, I didn't realize how bad it was. I just thought, "Gall, that was stupid. Ow." and then I just picked it up and the tray of pastries and went about my work.

About 10 minutes later I realized my pants were sticking to my leg. Looked down. Uh oh. Blood.

Blood-soaked pants with my finger

through the hole it ripped through.

So, I went into the office to inspect the damage. Ew. A lovely scrape. I grabbed some tissues and the First Aid kit (which I use more often than a normal person should have to) and proceeded to patch myself up.

The fix. 5 large band-aids, which I'm pretty

sure are meant for fingers...

I finished my work and went home for the day. I didn't notice until later that it had ripped my pants AND my chef coat where it had hit my hip. Man, that rack was thorough!! I told my family the whole story. Only THAT would happen to ME. Accident-prone to the nth degree.

The next day. Lovely, isn't it?

I removed the band-aids the next day to let it air out and *gasp* what a surprise!! A lovely bruise to go along with it. I dreaded going to church and wearing a skirt. And our family vacation began the next Monday where I would be in shorts and/or a swimming suit the entire time. Eh.

A few weeks later. Mostly healed.

Anyway, it healed pretty quickly and not many people noticed except for my sister, Ashleigh, who had the decency to scream, "HOLY CRAP, WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR LEG?!?!". Yeah. Thanks for that. : )

So, this has been another chapter in the Chronicles of Anika's Injuries. Hope you "enjoyed" it. haha.

Workaholic

2010-08-02T14:24:00.000-07:00

Hey, everyone. Day two of BEDA!! So far, so good!

So, remember how I said that I tend to jump into things without thinking? Yeah. Case and point: today is my ONLY day off work this week. Yup. I worked the past 4 days (Thurs-Sun) and I work the next 6 days (Tues-Sun). Sounds like the perfect time to commit to a month-long blogfest, right? Uh huh. I'm a bit crazy. Haha!

Oh, and keep in mind that I will be waking up at 2:30am every single one of those work days and working 8 to 10 hours as well. Yay!! *shakes head no*

Now, I do enjoy my job. Most of the time. : ) And I've gotten used to the getting-up-early and the being-on-my-feet-for-10-to-12-hours part. Doesn't mean it's easy, though. Getting up that early means going to bed at 6:30 pm (well, more like 7:45pm...). Kind of limits my social life. Actually do something with friends, or get enough sleep to make it through the workday? A constant battle. And it can be hard on my body. Sore feet/ankles/legs from standing and walking and I already had surgery on my right wrist from tendinitis (also known as Carpel Tunnel) as a result of repetitive movements at work and in Culinary school. It still gets sore sometimes. No fun.

I've been at my job for over 2 years. That's quite a while in the food industry. At this point, I can honestly say that I am awesome at my job. I know what I'm doing and have a semi-managerial position in the bakery. First is the Executive Pastry Chef Anna, then Pastry Sous Chef Cynthia, and then me. I don't really have a title. Except Baker 3, which isn't really that great sounding. But I can do ALL the duties of the Sous Chef and I did just that for about a year before Cynthia came back. I actually was next in line for the position, but Cynthia had more "experience" (grumblegrumble). Yeah, whatever.

Anyway. I'm feeling the need to move on. I'm not sure when or where that will be, but I'm keeping an eye out for new opportunities.

Wish me luck!! : )

BEDA

2010-08-01T21:41:00.000-07:00

Hello, all. It's late. I'm tired. But here's a little snippet of news.

I've decided to join the BEDA crowd. That stands for Blog Every Day April (but in this case, through the example of Maureen Johnson- author extraordinaire, I'm doing it in August. See? It still works. : ] ).

Ahem. So. Yeah, I'm going to try to blog every single day in August. Starting with today. Which probably means they'll be pretty short most days. That should be a nice change, eh? HA!!

We'll see how this goes. I have a habit of jumping into things without really thinking them through ( *cough* vegetarian *cough*) so, wish me luck!!

'Til tomorrow....

Anika

Oh, What Can Happen in a Year?

2010-07-25T17:56:00.000-07:00

Image courtesy of BiggerPockets.com

A lot, apparently. I meant to post this at the beginning of May, so...according to MY schedule, I'm right on time!! ; )

So. A year. Yes. May 2009 sort of changed everything. I didn't see it coming. I wasn't prepared, that's for sure. And it all started with a book, an idea, and the courage to jump right in.

I became vegetarian.

Now I'm not saying that going vegetarian was a big HUGE thing that changed everything, but it was definitely the catalyst. A pebble tossed into the pond that created all the ripples that spread and brought me to where I am now.

I was at a point where I needed a change. A kick in the pants. I wasn't happy. I couldn't continue going the way I was. Anyway, I've already talked about that here, so if you missed it, there it be.[<---Hey, I think I just did my first successful link!! Yay, me!! : ) ]

So, that's how it started, but I couldn't have predicted what came as a result of that decision.

Such as:

I lost 70 pounds and went down 5 sizes.

I overhauled my entire wardrobe, mostly cause nothing fit me anymore. Can't shop at Lane Bryant anymore (which is a good thing cause they're expensive!) and only jeans and sometimes dresses fit me at Torrid (great store!!).

I've become a bit obsessed with awesome graphic T-shirts. They rock. I have a lot now. But I'll probably buy more. : )

I became more confident, and therefore a bit more social.

I became more confident in my work also and became a "supervisor" of sorts. (More on that later).

I learned to snowboard. You can read about that here. [Hey, I did it again!!]

I was almost, sort of, a little bit more confident in putting on a swimming suit for Bear Lake this year. (More on that later also).

I put myself out there for a guy and got rejected. Not harshly, but it was still a "no". (Still dealing).

I loved for the first time. Didn't turn out as I had hoped, but we're still good friends and I'm grateful for that. : )

I became an opener at work when a co-worker and close friend moved away. Both of those have been hard to deal with. When your alarm goes off at 2:30am, you kinda wanna die. And not getting to look forward to seeing that friend at work makes it harder.

I was called to be the Family Home Evening chairperson in my Singles' Branch. That has its difficulties at times, but I'm learning a lot. And I'm forced to be more "in charge" and stuff. Heh.

I gained an admirer of sorts at work. He often tells me I "look good today", although I always wear the same thing: chef coat and checkered pants. It's flattering, but a bit awkward and creepy cause he's, like, twice my age. Yeah.

I feel more comfortable wearing shorts now. Got a cute pair of denim ones that I practically lived in at Bear Lake! Well, those and a swim suit and capri sweats... ; )

I turned 24. Whoop. : )

I renewed my love of baking at home through www.joythebaker.com

Anyway, there's more, but I just wanted to put in print a little rundown of the changes I've noticed while looking back at the year. Thanks for reading and I'll really try my best to post more often. Hugs!!

Anika <3

30 SECONDS TO MARS

2010-06-02T14:15:00.000-07:00

So, I went to an AWESOME concert at the beginning of May. 30 Seconds to Mars headlining

with Mute Math and Neon Trees opening. It was INCREDIBLE!!! It had been a while since I'd been to a concert and never have I been part of the standing-room-only-bumping-and-jumping-with-strangers-sweating-and-screaming-your-lungs-out group before. And I LOVED IT!!! Amazing. Here's some pics. All from my Blackberry, so the quality sucks, but whatever. : )

I was the ticket buyer. So excited when they came!!

Neon Trees. They were SO GOOD!! Local. Hadn't heard of them,

but definitely will look them up!!

Lead singer of Neon Trees. He was INSANE!! Crazy, crazy dancing,

awesome mo-hawk, very interactive, very cool!! I'm pretty

sure he ripped his pants while dancing. HA!!

Neon Trees. Very cool. Bassist was awesome too!

Mute Math. I knew some of their stuff, including one song from

the "Twilight" soundtrack--"Spotlight" ring a bell?

My fave is "You Are Mine". Goosebumps!!

Drummer for Mute Math. He was so cool!! He sat down at his drums, taped

some huge headphones around his head (very emphatically), and totally

ROCKED it!! At one point he poured water on his drums

and the effect of the splashing water was AWESOME!! :D

He's playing a key-tar. HA!! Awesome.

Mute Math.

Angie and I. There was a LOOOONG wait before 30STM came on.

We took pictures!! I look crazy!!

Kissy face Ange.

Pretty normal pic! I look tired. Cause I WAS!! Waaay past my

bedtime. ; )

Ladies and Gentlemen, Mr. Jared Leto!!! And his pomegranate

mo-hawk!! :D Lead singer of 30 Seconds to Mars

and sometimes actor. Perhaps Jordan Catalano from "My So-Called Life"

rings a bell??

Our turn to sing!!!

WOOOHOOO!!!!

He demanded a lot of jumping and yelling and moshing.

We obliged. : )

He appeared at the back of the venue and played some stuff

acoustically. Very cool!! He asked to be an "honorary Mormon"

HAHAHA!!

I had SUCH a great time!! Despite the fact that I had been awake since 2:30am, worked until 12:45pm, walked The Gateway for 3 hours, and then preceded to stand/jump/dance from 6:15pm until 11:30pm in shoes that squeezed my feet, woke up at 4am the next day and worked until 1:30pm ALL on my sore feet. I was useless the next 2 days. Haha! But it was worth it!!

From Student to Teacher

2010-05-13T16:16:00.000-07:00

Hello, all. I haven't been in a blogging "mood" as of late, but I thought I'd try today. Mostly pictures, I'm thinking. So a few weeks ago, I finally got my younger sisters to come snowboarding with me!! But since it was their first times, it was kind of more of a lesson. From me. Yeah. I'm not sure I'm qualified to teach, but I did my best. Here's the proof:

Getting ready to ride!

Chillin' on the chairlift.

Double chairlift pic = SUCCESS!! :D

I was there too. See?

Alex rockin' it!!

Ashleigh is looking good!!

Alex taking a break at the bottom.

Looking fly in their gear.

Took a break for lunch. Whew!

Some crazy dude walking in the snow in flip flops with a

can of beer in one hand and a case of beer in

the other. Brilliance!

Some heel edge for Ash!

One last ride!

They both did VERY well for their first times. Better than I did, I'm ashamed to say. Each had a few successful chairlift unloads. Yay! And a lot of heel edge practice. A few falls, but the snow was what we call "mashed potatoes", so it didn't hurt. Just a little sore from getting up. : ) They closed Chickadee last

weekend, so that's it for them this season. And mostly for me as well. Ah, well. It was fun!! We'll see how

we all do next season!! Hope to see you out there!!

V-Day and more Snowboarding

2010-02-14T09:59:00.001-08:00

Here's a lovely dessert we did for some VIP clients the day before Valentine's. It's a Napoleon with Lemon and Raspberry Mousses, sweet cream anglaise (sauce), and raspberries. Sprinkled with pink toasted coconut.

And at some point on Monday, I got inspired to make some sugar cookies. Here are some pics for ya. I kinda went nuts. haha! Pink and white icing, a piping bag and some little blank "canvases", nothing to it!! Didn't taste too bad either. ; )

Now, I'm still not really sure why I felt impressed to make those cookies, other than I was bored, cause I'm not really big on the "holiday". Quite frankly, I kind of hate it. And yes, you could put me in the category of "bitter singles". For years, I've referred to it as "Singles Awareness Day", because for those of us who are single on that day, we are VERY VERY AWARE OF IT!! Also, it's just a made-up holiday to sell cards, candy, flowers, etc. Blah blah blah.

This year, I guess I wanted to feel better about being single. Cookies always seem to help, right? And just to keep my mind and hands occupied, perhaps. I don't think it worked. This year seems to be harder, for some reason. Now, I don't mean to be all self-pitying or whatever, but I just thought I'd actually SAY how I feel on the subject. Also, I've decided that it shall now be known as "VD". Yup. My greeting? "Happy VD!". Gets the point across, but slightly insulting. Haha! So there. Enough on that subject. On to happier things!!

More Snowboarding Adventures

Here's a pic of Snowbird from the top
of Chickadee (the bunny slope). It was snowing
a bit. Beautiful, chilly day!!

So, I went snowboarding again last Wednesday. I was a bit apprehensive because I hadn't gone in 3 weeks, since the HUGE HIP BRUISE INCIDENT, but I felt like I was ready to get back out there!! And guess what I discovered.....SNOWBOARDING IS FUN!!! Crazy, right?!? Haha. Yes. I have reached the point where everything is starting to click and I'm actually enjoying myself! It's a great feeling. First of all, the guy at the rental place didn't charge me (yay! I swear, it all depends on which guy I deal with. Never the same guy...weird.) so that was a nice surprise. I felt bad I couldn't at least leave a tip, but seriously, I NEVER have cash these days.

Here are my feet strapped to the board.
I really liked this board, so I took a pic, to maybe
get the same one next time.

I was determined to work mostly on toe edge this time. It still scared me, but it was time!! The first thing I had to get in my mind was that my LEFT foot is my lead foot. For some reason, probably cause I'm right handed, I just kept thinking I had to lead with my right. Just one of those stupid things stuck in my brain. I had to let go of that. Once I did, it became MUCH easier! So, I was still attempting to ride to one side of the hill on heel edge and ride to the other on toe edge. I was still afraid of that transition, so I did it VERY slowly. To begin with, anyway. It got easier each time I tried it. For some reason, I still have a hard time going from toe edge back to heel edge, probably because I've fallen on my butt so many times and I'm trying to avoid that. : ) I did fall twice on my bum, but nothing serious. Somehow, I did hyper-extend my left elbow. That didn't feel very good. And my right wrist, my bum wrist, I wrenched it somehow during the course of the day. Other than that, I felt pretty good afterward. Arms were a bit sore, but that's all.

So, I'm thinking one more day of practice on Chickadee and I MIGHT be ready to venture out on another slightly more difficult run. Oh, and guess what?!? I have totally mastered the chair lift!! I didn't fall ONCE getting on or off!! YAY YAY YAY!!!! Whew. That means I won't fall on my hip like the time before!! That was part of why I was so nervous to go out again. What a load off my mind!!

Also, I'm really sorry if I scared anyone away from trying snowboarding with my last post. I really didn't mean to!! You should ABSOLUTELY try it!! I just wanted you to be prepared. Know what you're getting yourself into. And, hey, you could totally be a quicker learner than I am and pick it up right away!! But you never know until you try. Good luck!!

And Happy VD!! ; )

Adventures in Snowboarding

2010-01-24T20:40:00.000-08:00

This is a diagram of a snowboard. Most of it means nothing to me,

but hopefully it will give you an idea of what I'm
talking about, like heel and toe edge. Oh,
and by the way I'm Regular footed. Not Goofy. : )

Well, hello, blogging world!! It's been a while. So, I figured since something DID happen that was news-worthy, I should blog about it: I attempted snowboarding!! Such an accomplishment for me because 1. it was scary to even think about and 2. I've worked at a ski resort for a 1 1/2 years and had never tried it!! Disgraceful, right? Yeah, well. Not anymore!! I'm sure anyone who has read my previous posts knows that I am never short for words. And this post is no exception. : ) I'm gonna give you ALL the gory details. Ready? Here we go!!

So, my first obstacle in my pursuit of snowboarding was finding the appropriate clothing and equipment. I had my green and blue ski coat that would do, but I really did need a new one. Had to wait though. During the Summer, Snowbird has a Lost and Found sale every year and through some miracle, I found some snowboarding boots for $7!! Ridiculous, right?!? Sure, they were used and a little big, but still!! Jackpot!! I also got some goggles and a pair of gloves, so including the boots, it only cost me $11!! Yay for Lost and Found, right? : ) So, when it got closer to Winter, I started looking for pants. Now, I'm not a small person. Yes, I have lost a good amount of weight, but I'm still 5' 10" and I have hips. This presents a problem. I checked online and quite a few stores including Sports Authority, Ross, TJ Maxx and several others and...no good.

First of all, the sizing is whack and most have a super high waist, which sucks. I'm ALL about the low-rise pants. Yes, I know that higher pants meant less snow DOWN my pants, but did I really need them right under my armpits? Really? I think not. Well, one day in December, I was dropping off 2 co-workers at the Trax station at 7200 S. and....something East (directions are not my strong point. Clearly.) and there happened to be a Sportman's Warehouse across the street. I decided to check it out. After a good amount of searching I FINALLY found a pair that fit me!! Huzzah!! Bad news: they were brown. Not ideal. So, I decided to put them on hold and mull it over a bit. Blah, blah, blah. I finally decided it didn't matter THAT much to match. Bought them the next day. Yay! Pants!! So, it turns out my mom was planning on helping me get pants for Christmas...so, it was either she could pay me back for the pants I had already bought (with no surprise on Christmas) or she was willing to help buy me a new coat. Yay!! My green/blue coat was a great coat and it had serve me well over the past 6 or so years, but...it was time for an upgrade. We checked the same stores I had looked at for pants, and again, no success. We randomly decided to check a place called Recreation Outlet (I think?) and I found one that was this ice blue color with brown on it (maybe to match my pants?) and it totally fit!! And only a little over $100 (my mom's cut-off point as far as her contribution). Very generous of her and I LOVE IT!!! We also found some base layer clothing (I paid her back for that) and at that point, I felt like I was finally ready!! I planned on renting a board and bought a cheap hat I could wear, so I was set!! All I needed was someone who was willing to teach me... : )

First Attempt

These are the bruises from my first "lesson"

My friend and co-worker, Matt, was kind enough to "volunteer" to teach me to snowboard. I say that because I sort of coerced/guilted him into it. Haha! But being the good guy he is, he was willing to giving me some beginning lessons. My lesson occurred on a Thursday. The 17th of December, I believe. First of all, getting all those layers on and boots laced up took a while that first time. You want to be warm, but not TOO warm, not bulky. The boots, tight but not TOO tight. I got mine at such a good price, that I didn't mind that they were a bit big. Matt says that they should fit tight, but not uncomfortably so. Better fit, better control on the board. Hm. Well, I did what I could. So, he waited for me to get all suited up and then we took the elevator up to Cliff Sports, the rental place in the Cliff Lodge. I already had boots, so all I needed was a board and bindings. Had to fill out some paperwork first, which included my height and weight (awkward), necessary to get me the right size board. They also determined whether I'm regular or goofy. Meaning, is my left foot in front (regular) or my right foot (goofy). They did that by having me stand with my back to them and the guy pushed me to see which foot I would step forward with. In my case, left. Which make me regular-footed! Also, we told them we worked down in the bakery and Matt casual asked if there was any scenario where rentals could be exchanged for baked goods of any sort. That had worked in the past, but they're a little more strict these days about that sort of thing. Meh. It's fine. So I got up to the register and the guy was nice enough to say that I "seemed like a nice person" and since it was my first time, I was just "good to go", unless I wanted to contribute to the tip jar. I threw in a $5 and off we went. Yay!

So, we walked outside of the rental place and then down the hill a bit to where the bakery is. Matt has his own board, which he keeps in the bakery office, so he went to go get it. And now, I was....ready. : ) He taught me how to put on my bindings, although I did almost lose my board down the hill first. Haha. He caught it, though. Luckily. Anyway, I got strapped in and he then explained the edges: toe edge and heel edge. Sounds easy enough, right? Well, the first step in snowboarding is mastering the heel edge. It's all about finding that medium where you are just sliding down the hill on your heel edge, controlling your speed and basically trying not to fall. Well, that was the plan, but I had a hard time getting in the standing position from my butt. Like I said, sounds easy, but you have a slick piece of wood strapped to your feet and, honestly, I'm a bit top-heavy. Haha!! So, that first time, Matt got in front of me to brace my board with his so I could get up. Yay! I was up!! Then...I'm pretty sure I fell. What? It's hard!! Anyway, after some difficulty, I discovered I could get up on my own from my knees instead of my butt. Progress!! Sort of. The only thing is, if I don't get flipped around facing down the hill the right way, I ended up catching my heel edge and falling flat on my butt. Which HURTS LIKE A MOTHER!!! Seriously. You can't stop yourself from falling at that point. Down you go. Yup. Best thing is to catch yourself with straight wrists and your fist instead of with an open palm. That hurts your wrists after a while and you're more likely to break a finger that way.

Anyway, so I finally made it all the way down the hill after a few more falls. Matt was waiting at the bottom by the chairlift for me. I took a while. haha. Now, when getting on the chairlift, you have to take one of your feet off the board, but keep the other strapped on. From there, you have to navigate your way through the chairlift line with an awkward piece of slippery wood stuck to your foot. Not. Easy. Really. I fell a couple times just doing that!! I felt like such a retard. WORSE than Bambi on ice, I swear. I contorted my body somehow so I was sitting on the board with one foot still strapped on it at some point. *sigh* Whatever. Probably took me 15 min to get on the chairlift that first time. Matt shared a chair with me that first time. Not the best idea. I almost broke my ankle after sitting on the chair cause my toe edge got caught under the chair. Yeah. Fun, eh? After getting on, the ride is pretty calm. Then....the anxiety of getting OFF the chair builds. There's a certain finesse to getting off the lift with a board stuck to your foot. I did not master it that first day. Fell every. Single. Time. Mostly onto my knees, hence the bruises.

Well, it was a long 2 1/2 hours with many, many spectacular falls involved. I think I even ran into the pole of the chairlift at one point. Don't worry. They pad those things for a reason. : ) My last fall of the day was a doozy. I started at the top of the hill, sliding on my heel edge when somehow, I adjusted my weight and caught my entire toe edge and totally face-planted. It happened so quickly and it kind of knocked the wind out of me, so I sort of laid there in the snow for a minute. I could here Matt calling my name and he was scampering up the hill with one foot off his board at a pretty quick pace. I think I worried him, cause he was all serious and all "Anika, are you okay?!?", which was weird. I finally lifted my head and told him I was okay. I don't think I actually hit my face, but I tried so hard not to, that I sort of gave myself whiplash. My neck and shoulders were VERY sore the next couple days. In the course of that fall, I somehow bounced my goggles to the top of my head and I think I lost my hat. It was almost, what Matt called, a "yard sale". Goggles, hat, gloves, everything lying everywhere. Quite the sight, I can bet. So, I sat there for a minute, gathering my senses, and I decided that was enough for one day. Matt was headed in anyway, so I thanked him and he headed back to the bakery. I slowly got up and rode my heel edge over to where the rental place was. I turned in my board and walked through the lodge to the bakery. I could already tell how incredibly sore I was going to be. Neck and shoulders from whiplash, arms from picking myself up, knees and butt and hips from falling, legs from using unusual muscles from dealing with that board....yeah. Pretty much everything. It hurt SO bad to move for the next WEEK!! My knees were really the only physical evidence of the soreness, but they were pretty good bruises. I had to show them to everyone. : ) So...that was my FIRST attempt. Ready for the second? Mmkay.

Second Attempt

On the chairlift. This pic is actually from my third attempt,
but I didn't have a pic from my second. : )

Before I even started this adventure, I had to promise myself that I would go a second time. Everyone told me it would be better. I had my doubts, but I was determined!! I gave myself about 2 weeks to heal up before trying again. Well, actually, I waited until all the vacationers and crazies left until I went, so it was closer to 3 weeks, which was good. I think it was the 8th of January, a Friday. I had gone into work early that day, like 5:30am, so I wouldn't miss out on hours and also could get my work done. Matt had opened that day and planned on snowboarding as well, so he said he would do a couple runs, the harder runs obviously, and then come over the Chickadee (the bunny slope) and give me a few more "progress reports". Very nice of him. I'm sure it was painful to watch the first time around. And boring. Haha!! Anyway, he headed out before me and then I got all suited up. Didn't take me as long as last time, but it's still a process. Went upstairs to get my board. I dealt with a different guy, so it cost me $12.15 with half day and employee discount. Eh. Still, not bad. Walked out onto the hill, strapped in, and off I went!!

That day, I was still working on my heel edge and not falling. Oh, and the chairlift. That dang chairlift!! Getting on was a bit easier and the one boot off the board movement, too. Getting off, though? Man!! Bain of my existence, I swear. Fell every. Single. Time. DANG IT!! I did 6 or 7 runs, the actual boarding down the hill getting better every time. I even tried going around trees and changing direction and stuff. Much improved. Yay! I was sort watching out for Matt, but he was wearing black pants and a black/blue coat, which is surprisingly popular on the slopes. Including Snowbird Mountain School. So, I just kinda did my thing, listening to tunes on my ipod. Without music, boarding alone kinda sucks. : ) Anyway, so on my 7th lift ride up to the top, I fell of course, getting off. Boo! I got up, dusted myself off, and headed over to the side to strap my other foot in. I saw someone out of the corner of my eye, glanced over, and hey! It was Matt. Just watching me look retarded. He was literally 3 feet from me and didn't call attention to himself. Odd. So I just said hey and took a seat right by him, very gracefully of course. It's not like my board slipped out from under me and I sorta plopped down in the snow in a heap. I swear. Riiiiiight. We chatted for a bit. He told me where he had gone boarding, he said he saw me on my last run when I went around a tree. Impressive. Sorta. haha! I said I wanted to work on my toe edge, but it freaked me out a bit to go down the hill backwards. He gave me some pointers. He was about to head in, I thought I had 1 or 2 more runs in me, so he headed back to the bakery and I carefully and slowly attempted sliding down the hill on my toe edge. Scary! I like to see where I'm going! I'm weird like that. He watched me for a sec from further down the hill and gave more advice. At that point, I accidentally caught my heel edge and, of course, fell flat on my butt. OUCH!! He's all "That's the worst way to fall. Most painful" I assured him I knew that by now. Ha!! He headed in. I tried toe edge a little more, then gave up and slid down the rest of the way on my heels. One more run after that, or more like just rode down to where the rental place is, and I was done. A few falls inbetween, but very much improved from last time! Still a bit sore, but not nearly as bad as last time!

Oh, I almost forgot!! KNEE PADS!!!! Best invention EVER!! I highly recommend them for beginners. Or anyone, really. I bought mine at Sports Authority in the snowboarding section for $19. They actually DO have what you could consider a "butt pad", which is actually like bike shorts with padding. They were about $50 and I just couldn't do it right then, unfortunately. Anyway, the knee pads TOTALLY saved me. Seriously. Worth the money. I wear them under my ski pants. Can't even tell. : )

Ready for try number three? I know you are!!!

Third Attempt

Yes, that is a bruise. On my hip. About 8 inches in diameter.
Yeeaaahhhh. Ouch.

Try number 3 occurred the Wednesday after attempt number 2, which was, like...January 13th? Yeah. I definitely should have waited a few more days, I've decided. My body needs more healin'. But before I get into THAT, I guess I should tell you how it went. Pretty well, actually. Totally solo this time. Rockin' the iPod. Got dressed, got my board ($18 this time, what the...?), and I was good to go. I mostly worked on toe edge. Sorta. It still kinda freaks me out, quite frankly. Sliding backwards down a hill with a board strapped to your feet? Sounds safe, right? Plus with my whole history with catching my heel edge and falling flat on my butt, it's still possible to happen again. Ick. Anyway, I still tried it. Just sliding perpendicular to the hill and after a bit of that, I tried something Matt suggested. He said to ride on heel edge to one side of the hill and then ride on toe edge to the other side of the hill. Definitely helpful, but I'm still kind of chicken as far as speed, so I end up almost completely stopping before I turn to toe edge. haha! Yeahh...heart of a Lion, this one. : )

But guess what?!? I totally mastered getting on the chairlift!! No trouble whatsoever!! Yay!!! Now, the first couple times getting off were shaky (aka falling) and two of those involved my board sliding out from under me and falling straight on my right hip in the exact same spot, resulting in the above-pictured fabulous bruise!! It's been 3 weeks and it is still discolored. Seriously. Definitely getting better, though!! ALMOST healed. I'm hoping to go out again on maybe Friday, February 6th, but I'll just have to see. The bad thing is that I got it getting off the chair, so there's a high probability that it might happen again. See the problem? Yeah. Here's hoping though!! ANYWAY, the first couple times off the chair, I did fall, but then, one time I just stood up on my board and just rode down from the lift! I was completely shocked!! I just laughed and looked around for someone to tell, but of course I was by myself, so I just proclaimed it in the biggest caps EVER on facebook and Twitter!! Next best thing, right? ; ) So, ahem, I may have fallen the next time, but the next TWO times I stood up!! Fell one more time, but the last time? Totally nailed it!!! Yay!!

So, after 3 attempts, I have mastered getting ON the chairlift, heel edge riding, and improved on toe edge and chairlift unload!! There is a definite learning curve to snowboarding and it's fun to see yourself improve. It's still HARD though. To begin with, anyway. Not to discourage anyone from trying!! Just know that you WILL fall, be SORE, and be discouraged. But make sure you go again!! It really is worth it. But seriously, KNEE PADS!!! I kid you not. Life savers. After the third time, I would have to say I was less sore than the first time in general, but in more pain than the second time because of that dang hip! I could seriously FEEL it swelling and bruising as I drove home. And even putting on jeans hurt for a while. And sitting. And brushing against anything. Really. I couldn't sleep on my right side for about 2 weeks. Really sucked. BUT all is almost well now. Hardly sore at all! : )

Mmkay. Well....I guess that's about it. This post only took me a week and a half to write!! And yes, it was long, but you enjoyed it, right? RIGHT?!? Alrighty then. Peace out!! : )

My Five Faves

2009-11-16T15:30:00.000-08:00

Hello, Ladies and Gentlemen. "What?", you say. "A blog so soon? Shocking!!". Yes, I know. But this one's a quickie. I was looking at my friend, Hilary's blog and she and her husband were discussing their favorite actors and actresses, so it made me think about MY faves. So here you go!

First, the ladies:

Reese Witherspoon
I just love her. Sweet Home Alabama, Legally Blonde, Walk the Line,
Penelope, Just Like Heaven...I love them all!!!

Rachel McAdams
I like her best with brown hair. But she was deliciously evil as
a blonde Queen Bee in Mean Girls. I love The Notebook,
Red Eye, The Time Traveler's Wife,
State of Play, and more!!

Claire Danes
My So-Called Life, Little Women, Romeo + Juliet,
The Family Stone,
and especially Stardust!!

Amy Adams
Enchanted (of course), but also Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day,
Julie & Julia,
Catch Me If You Can, and Night At the Museum 2!!

Meg Ryan
So many!! Sleepless in Seattle, When Harry Met Sally,
You've Got Mail, I.Q.,
City of Angels, Kate & Leopold, etc.

And now for the men:

Johnny Depp
Wow, he is so versatile!! What's Eating Gilbert Grape?,
Benny and Joon,
Edward Scissorhands, Pirates, Cry Baby (teehee),
Chocolat, Finding Neverland
and sooo much more!!!

Ryan Gosling
The Notebook (woohoo!), Lars and the Real Girl,
Young Hercules (teehee),
Remember the Titans...oh, yeah!!

Tom Hanks
He's the MAN!!! Big, Sleepless in Seattle, You've Got Mail,
Forrest Gump,
Castaway, That Thing You Do!, Splash,
...the dude is amazing!

Nathan Fillion
Now, he's on really widely know (sadly), but
this guy is AWESOME!!
Notably, Firefly and Serenity are incredible!
Loved him in Waitress, Dr. Horrible's
Sing-Along Blog (haha!), and the new series Castle!!
Sweetness!! : )
Ryan Reynolds
As talented as he is, the man is just BEAUTIFUL!! Haha! Wow.
But, yes. Talented.
The Proposal, X-Men Origins:Wolverine,
Definitely Maybe, and
there's more to come, I'm sure. ; )

So, there's my list. Can't wait to see all of yours!!

6 Months Vegetarian?!? Yup!!

2009-11-04T16:59:00.000-08:00

I promised this post a while back, and yes, I am just getting to it. I've been told I'm a good writer, in fact my mom was sure I should have gone into Journalism, but my problem is that I don't write well under pressure. I like to take my time and choose my words wisely. That would be why I took A.P. English, but never took the test. It served me well, though, in college. English 1010 was pretty much the same class, therefore I looked like I was super smart or something. Haha! But anyway, blogging isn't something I can do spontaneously or in a short period of time. It usually takes me at least a few hours (not writing continuously, but by doing it is spurts. Taking breaks.) And I'm usually doing something else at the same time like watching tv or listening to music, which helps and hurts. But I can't just sit down and blurt words onto the computer screen. I have to feel inspired, or at the very least, I have to MAKE myself do it. Along with the "encouragement" of others. ; ) So there's my explanation for why I don't blog more. I really will try to post more often. But as I said, no promises. : )

So, here I go! Yes, I have indeed been a vegetarian for 6 whole months! Which is really hard to believe, considering how it started. It wasn't at all planned. I was always one of those who said, "What are you INSANE? You don't like MEAT? I could NEVER do that!!". Seriously. And yet here I am. It all started with a book. I'm not going to type the name of the book in the text just...because. But I put a picture of it at the bottom of this post, if you're curious. : ) So I'll just refer to it as "SB". Ahem. So it started on a Monday. May 3rd, 2009, in fact. I had work off, as I usually do, so I went to a movie and lunch with my friend Ally. I don't remember the movie, but I know we ate at Fazoli's. I had never been there, so I didn't really know what to expect. It was more...fast-food-y than I thought, but I love Italian, so I ordered some pasta dish with sausage. It was pretty good, but the sausage was WAY spicy and it reminded me that I really don't like sausage. Seriously. This goes way back to those meat and cheese Hickory Farms boxes you get at Christmas. I think I had waaay too much of the sausage stuff, and I got really sick. After that, even the smell made me want to hurl. Also, for dramatic effect, I'll tell you that in school I MADE sausage several times and I KNOW what goes into it. I won't divulge that information, but trust me...ew.

Anyway, little did I know, that was the last piece of meat I would eat for the next 6 months. Or however long I decide to remain a vegetarian. My mom still asks when I'll start eating meat again, and I really don't know. It started out as just an experiment. "One month", I told myself. And then it became 2, then 3, and so on. At this point, I kind of know what I'm doing. And I kinda like it. But back to the point, after I dropped off Ally (or she dropped me off at my car at her house, I can't remember) I headed to Barnes and Noble just to browse. I cannot be trusted in bookstores, just so you know. As much as I would love working at one, I can't. I would come home with no paycheck. : ) I REALLY LOVE BOOKS!!! Ahem. So, I was browsing and a certain book caught my eye. If you've looked at the name, you know it is definitely eye-catching, right? Yeah. So I picked it up, looked at the back and I found it intriguing. It says something like "A no nonsense guide to stop eating crap and start looking fabulous" (I don't have the book with me, I loaned it to a friend). Sounds good, right? I read a few pages and I automatically knew this is what I needed: a swift kick in the pants to point me in the right direction. I was sick of feeling bad about myself and trying to lose weight without really changing the way I live. I was at the breaking point. It was all or nothing. Something had to give. And here was my answer. SB. : )

The book wasn't lying about the no nonsense part. They (2 female authors) sort of used the "break you down so we can build you up" philosophy. More swearing than I would care for, but that was their version of "hard love", I guess. Anyway, needless to say, I bought the book. I actually ended up reading the book within the space of a few hours. It was interesting and new and "in your face". And NOT at all what I was expecting. Well, it was...but it wasn't. It started talking about how you need to get rid of the horrible vices and habits you have like coffee(not a problem) and alchohol(also, no problem), but also fast food, junk food, carbonated and caffeinated sodas, and all the other crap the TV commercials tell us to buy. I was indignant at first, but when they started listing all the stuff they put in it and how literally, chemically, really REALLY bad for you it was....I started to believe. Like diet soft drinks. Yes, there are less calories, but the artificial sweeteners they use like aspartame? I don't remember the info verbatim, but basically, it will kill you. And also, it just makes me feel bad, you know? I have never eaten at a fast food place and thought afterward, "Wow!! I feel awesome!!". It's all very dramatic in the book, but they definitely prove their point. So after the junk food kick in the pants, they went into meat. Like I said, I didn't think I was signing up for vegetarianism when I started to read this book, but it is very convincing. There is indeed a chapter in there about animal cruelty, which was a factor in my "transformation" that I won't go into, but once again, VERY CONVINCING!!

Not only was it the animal cruelty, but the hormones they put in meats and therefore get into cow's milk and chicken eggs and everything...anyway, it's involved. And yes, the "recommendation" is to go vegan. (I use that word loosely because they basically call you an moron if you don't) I did try veganism for a few days to begin with, but I knew I couldn't do it properly and safely on the budget I live. And I love cheese. Haha! Also, my boss and my parents were concerned about my protein intake, so I do eat eggs. I don't really drink cow's milk anymore, though. I loved it SO MUCH, but I drank a lot of it, and...anyway, that's easy to explain but, now I put soy or rice milk on my cereal. Neither are good by themselves, but I do like chocolate soy milk! : ) So a vegetarian I became! Everyone has had a different response when I tell them. I don't actually blurt it out to everyone, but if it comes up, I let them know. Many are curious and supportive. Some like to tell me how "unhealthy" and "crazy" it is. A lot don't even know. Or didn't until they just read this. ; ) It's still hard sometimes, but for the most part, I don't miss meat at all. But I will say that I still enjoy the smell of bacon frying. I miss it a little. Besides, there is a meat-like substitute for almost anything. I've tried a lot of them and they are not all good. Like this soy faux turkey deli "meat" stuff. One bite, and I tossed it. Truly disgusting. I have an issue with certain textures, and that one was too much for me. I keep trying stuff to see what I like, but I haven't actually technically tried tofu. I really need to cause it's an excellent source of protein. Next on my list, I swear!!

But this vegetarian choice wasn't all I had to do. It is very possible to stop eating meat and still gain weight. So, basically I had to completely change the way I looked at food. It doesn't even need to be said that I LOVE FOOD!!! If I didn't I would not have chosen the culinary profession, you know? But for so long, I had been living to eat. I now eat to live. My portion sizes are a lot smaller and no between-meals snacking. Or if I do, it's something healthy. It's not like I've gone TOTAL health nut. I still have sweets occasionally and I do eat out. I just don't go crazy. I have to ask myself, "Is it worth it?". Also, I do my best to exercise. Evening walks, yoga, resistance bands, that kind of thing. So, basically I've lost....40 lbs, give or take? I try not to be super concerned about the amount cause it'll drive me nuts. And I'm still working on it. But, yay for progress!! I'm getting better at altering recipes and I have vegetarian cookbooks that help. Yup.

Anyway, this has gone on long enough, as predicted. So there it is. There's more to it, but that's pretty much the gist. And then some. ; ) Hope you enjoyed it!!

Grandma's 80th Birthday Cake

2009-09-11T18:49:00.000-07:00

Well, here is the blog post I promised you all in my last post. So it's been, like, a month, but whatever. Haha! Anyhoo, this whole thing started with me volunteering to do my grandmother's birthday cake. In the long run, I want to eventually do wedding cakes. Well, at least on the side. But I don't have any experience, per se. We did some decorating in school and I've seen my boss do dozens of wedding cakes at work, but I decided I should do an actual, for real, full-scale cake for practice. What I did is a little elaborate for a birthday cake, but it was "fun" and definitely an experience. The quotations will make sense later, I promise. : )

So, for the actual cake, I decided to use a family recipe for "Best Chocolate Cake". That is the actual title for the recipe. I wasn't really sure how the cake would work in layers, since we usually just bake it in a 9"x13" pan and throw some frosting on it. Some cakes are better for layers and some are....not. It has to do with how moist it is, how crumbly, etc. So that was a challenge. The bottom layer was to be German Chocolate Cake and the top, cream cheese-filled. Family favorites. Three layers of cake, two layers of filling. Buttercream-covered, ribbon on the top of each layer, piped "pearls" over the ribbon, blah blah blah. Well, from the beginning my biggest obstacle was...the fridge. Sounds strange, but I could only make a cake as big as the fridge would allow. My parents have a side-by-side fridge, which is fine for everything else EXCEPT a large cake. So, I figured out how big it it could be and went from there. I had already bought round cake pans from a lady in my mom's ward, but I only had one pan of the larger size. Oh, and I didn't know what to multiply the cake recipe by. I think I did a double batch to begin with and that made 2 small cake's worth and the one large cake, which is fine, but it meant making another for that last large layer. Whatever. Anyway, I made those cakes Sunday night (the party was Monday night). I had work off Monday, so that is what I was doing. THE CAKE!

So! Monday morning, I had every intention of waking up at 8am to finish that last cake. But...it didn't happen. I got up about 10am and did the cake, stuck it in the fridge. Then I made the cream cheese filling. My mom was kind enough to get the stuff ready for the german icing, so I did that next and stuck it in the fridge to cool. We normally pour it right onto the cake, but as a filling, it had to be cooler and more...solid. Yup. So I filled the smaller layer and put it in the fridge. Oh, and I forgot I had the made the buttercream the night before. Now, that was and experience. I had taken a recipe from work and cut it down by, I think, a fourth, but as I whipped the egg whites while adding the cooked sugar, I began to realize that...it just wouldn't fit. Whoops. So I poured some of it into my mom's mixer (the rest remained in my mixer) and continued to whip the meringue until cool. Blah blah blah. I then had to figure out how to divide the butter so I could add it to the meringue, since it wasn't exactly even in each mixer, but once that was done and added in, I think I put it all back into my mixer to whip until smooth. I stuck that in the fridge over night and then pulled it out before I made the last cake so it would be warm enough the use.
Anyhoo, I filled the smaller cake, put it in the fridge, eventually cut the last cake, filled THAT layer and did a crumb layer for both, which is a thin layer of frosting that hopefully will prevent crumbs from getting in the final layer of frosting. More blah. Well, that was done and I finally looked at the clock...and freaked. My timeline was WAY off!! I needed more time!! Well, I just pressed on and frosted the cake. The plan was to do the frosting layer, cool it, and then "square it off", meaning make the top and sides smooth and straight with a sharp corner. Much easier to do when the frosting is more solid. But I didn't have time, so I squared it the best that I could and put it back in the fridge. We were leaving at 6 or so, and it was very nearing 5:30, so I got dressed and faced the music. This cake wasn't going to turn out like I hoped. But, once again, I did what I could and dove back in. I assembled the cake, with some difficulty, and using straws pushed through the bottom layer for stability, and put the ribbon on. I started to do the pearls, but time was up. So, we folded the middle seat down, placed the cake on it, and attempted to finish the cake en route to the restaurant, Biaggi's. It was located downtown at the Gateway, which gave me time, but speed bumps, pot holes, stop lights, and everything in between made it difficult to keep my hand steady enough to use a piping bag. Well, somehow I got it done, mostly in a hurried manner once we had parked in front of the restaurant. I carried it in and quickly typed "Happy 80th" on the top. I was DONE!! Definitely not how I wanted it to turn out, but not bad for a first big cake.

So, there you have it. Everyone enjoyed eating the cake and the party as a whole was a success!! I learned a lot, mostly "what NOT to do" things, But it was "fun". (You got the quotations now? I thought so.) I'm not sure anyone will read this, or if they did, if they enjoyed it or even thought it worth reading, but at least it's out there. For posterity...or something. Whew! And THAT is why I rarely blog. That took FOREVER. Well, ta ta for now!

Summer time, and the livin's easy...

2009-07-31T15:45:00.001-07:00

Whew! It's been, like, months since I've blogged!! I would have every intention of doing so when I was away from home, but when home became reality, napping seemed more important. Haha! So this one will probably be a short one, but just thought I would actually post something new. Hmm. So...what's new? Not a whole lot, honestly. Been working a lot. After a long day at work, I kinda just lounge and chill, mostly because I can. ; ) Summer has been pretty good so far, and it's almost 2/3 over!! Crazy!! The beginning of June, I went up to Bear Lake for a week with the family. So wonderful!! I really needed the time off. I didn't even mind that it rained almost every day. I love the rain! Two weekends ago was the Annual Allred Family Campout. We always camp up at the Spruces in Big Cottonwood Canyon. It's nice to be away from everything and just play cards and read. It's fun to run around with the little kids too! I love my neices and nephews!! The next week, we celebrated my Grandma Morrells' 80th birthday. It was fun! We had a great dinner at Biaggi's and somehow I volunteered to do a huge fancy birthday cake for it! Now THAT was a learning experience. That's have to wait until another blog, though.

August is looking like it will be a time of transition. Alex leaves for college (Eeek!). I'll miss her so much! Work will be getting busier for a whole different reason than before. Oktoberfest is just around the corner! (Double EEEK!!) It starts the end of August and there is much to be prepared, like 100 german chocolate cakes and soooo many cookies and brownies. I do not look forward to it. But I am sooo ready for Fall!! I love the changing leaves and the crispness in the air!

Hmm, well, what else is there? Oh, well, a bit of news that I neglected to mention. I will be in 3 days declared 3 months Vegetarian. What?!? I know, right? That's a blog in and of itself, but that's gonna have to wait. I about to head out the door to a Relief Society retreat. Whoop. So, ta ta for now!

Huh. That's odd. I can't see!

2009-04-18T15:45:00.000-07:00

So, I work in a bakery, right? Well, among other things, that means opening and closing oven doors all day. We have a HUGE walk-in oven at work. No joke. Huge. Well, I was getting something out of the oven the other day and it was set at 400F. About average. But this time, for some reason, I got a big blast of hot air, which hurt my eyes, so I closed them. When I turned away from the oven, I went to open my eyes, my eyelashes were STUCK TOGETHER! My mascara had MELTED!!! Now, that's just not normal, right? I've worked in the industry for years, worked at Snowbird 1 year, and that's the FIRST time that's happened. What the heck? And who else would that happen to but me? No one. Exactly. Weird.

The Car Gods Must Be Angry.

2009-04-08T16:40:00.000-07:00

So, as you've probably seen in one of my past posts, I recently purchased a Chevy Blazer to enable me to drive to and from work safely. Good plan. I love it. Except...the whole idea of me buying a vehicle with 4WD was to be able to use 4WD when the roads up the canyon were bad. WELL IT'S NOT WORKING!!! Last week, I kicked into 4WD at the top of the canyon cause there was a few inches of snow on the road. The past few times, I did it, it was like the car jarred a bit when it kicked in, but then it was fine. This time, it was like I was going over a bump every few seconds, when I wasn't. Bad sign. I told my dad and we took it in to have it looked at. Bad news. Apparently, there is supposed to be oil in the transfer case and it was bone dry. It's not like if leaked out...it was just never there. At least, not as long as I've owned it. Awesome.

So, my dad, being the Knight in Shining Armor he is, he went to the dealership where I bought my Blazer and made them aware of the situation. As far as the warranty, well, there isn't one. It was a trade-in and it had 135,000 miles on it, so, yeah. BUT it seems I had found the one honest dealership in the world. Well, not really. I suppose they're not ALL as sleazy as they seem. Heh heh. Anyhoo, Smith Family Motors is a very honest, very moral, family-0wned place to buy a car. Because when they heard what happened, they offered to help. They aren't required to do so, but morally, it's totally justified. They didn't know there was a problem, but neither did we. So, it looks like I'll be paying $300 instead of the original estimate of $737. An improvement in price, but still...ugh. *sigh* Stupid car.

This is what I do.

2009-04-01T18:39:00.000-07:00

Hi, everyone. I don't really have any thoughts to share, advice to impart, or anecdotes, but I do have a fair amount of pictures of stuff I've made at work. Wanna see? Good!

The above picture is of a Pumpkin Roulade. Pumpkin sponge cake spread with a mascarpone filling. It had a lot of rum in it. haha.

This here is a Lemon Meringue Tart with blackberries, raspberry sauce, and candied lemon zest. We did this for a very VIP group. VIP= pain in the butt, in my world. Haha.Key Lime Pie

Honey Lavender Creme Brulee

Graham cracker crust topped with a cream cheese mousse and fresh strawberries. Pretty much Cheesecake-in-a-glass.

A close-up of a petit four tray we did. We used Chocolate-covered strawberries, meringue cookies, Espresso truffles, Milk chocolate raspberry truffles, and one other truffle I can't remember.

This is the full shot of the petit four tray

A pomegranate and mandarin orange tart with fresh mint. Very VIP.

Chocolate hazelnut torte with a mandarin orange compote, chocolate sauce, and a pantella stick.

Chocolate Cream Pie. Super rich.

Key Lime Pie.

New York Cheesecake.

If this didn't make you salivate, then I haven't done my job. ; ) Hope you enjoyed it. Or hate me a little for not having any to share. Haha.

The Perfect Fit!! And a bag to match...

2009-02-25T20:20:00.000-08:00

This past Monday in the late morning, I ventured out in search of 2 things: jeans and a new purse. Simple, right? Hm. In concept, yes. In execution, no so much. First of all, I am not one of those girls who owns many, many pairs of jeans in different styles, colors, fittings, etc. I usually own one, maybe two, pairs of jeans at a time. I’m very loyal to my jeans. Once one pair starts to show signs of wear, I buy another pair from the same store in the same style, same color, same size, everything. Why fix what’s not broken, right? Well, that formula stops being effective when the store CHANGES the style, sizing, or whatever. Stupid Old Navy. So, what’s a girl to do but search out for a new loyalty? Ugh. I dread it. Really. You know how it is. They’re too short, too wide, too high in the waist, too already “worn”, they make my butt look big, my knees too knobby, my hips too wide. There are a thousand different reasons with one result: the wrong fit. At this point, I’m looking forward to those shiny silver jumpsuits everyone supposedly wears in the future.

So, it seems this time around, I waited a little too long to order a new pair of jeans (Old Navy does carry a long inseam in the stores in my size, therefore I usually order them online, which is fine by me). When I finally did, I ordered what I thought was the same pair I already owned. Haha! Ahem, apparently not. They arrived and I tried them on. La dee da. Soooo not the same. Wrong color (too dark), wrong size (that was my bad), and the wrong style. Since when did the “flare” style remain fitted until mid-calf? Um… never. Back to the store you go, stupid pants. They refund me everything except the $7 for shipping. Whatever. And yet, I still remain pants-less.

Days go by, my pants being held together with iron-on patches and my desperate prayers that I won’t bend over one day and expose my underpants in public. Or in private because THEY’RE MY ONLY PAIR!!!! So after much whining and avoiding, it was finally time to do it. Find new jeans. Again, ugh. Where to go? There are only so many stores that carry jeans for women with *ahem* curves. My last and, pretty much, only prayer was a store called Torrid in Fashion Place Mall. It’s like Lane Bryant except for people who have a sense of style. I kid, I kid. It’s not that bad. Torrid is more my age, though. Now, I’ve always been a little wary of that particular store because they sell a lot of items with skulls on them. No lie. Why is that fashionable, I don’t know. They also sell lingerie. Awkward. I had to give them a chance, though. I literally HAD to.

The worst thing about finding jeans at an unfamiliar store is the sizing. You never know how they relate to sizes at other stores. A 6 at one store could be an 8 at another (yeah, like I’m a 6. HAHAHA!). Anyway, that has to be established before the try-on stage, because it’s super embarrassing to yell over the door to the lady and say, “Um, this 10 isn’t working. Can I get a, um….16?” Yeah. That’s not awkward. So when the sales lady asked me what size I normally wear I told her, adding the “long” or “tall” or “freakishly tall” or whatever they call it there. She’s like, “Oh, cool. I wear the same size. I’ll just show you some of the pants I love and we’ll go from there.” Huh. Pretty good plan, actually. Once I got in the dressing room a.k.a. “the moment of truth”, I pulled on the first pair and…TA DA!!! They fit!!! It’s a freakin’ miracle!! Not only do they fit, they look pretty flattering. Pretty fantastic. Pretty perfect, actually. Second pair was a huge letdown, and so on. So…I bought the FIRST PAIR I TRIED ON! That NEVER happens!! It was weird. But good weird, you know?

On to item number 2. La purse. There’s a story there too, and I just know you’re dying to hear it! As it so happens, I am just as loyal to my purses as I am to my jeans…but they seem to last longer. And it’s harder to replace it with the same since I somehow keep getting bigger ones to suit my needs! My first gotta-have-at-all-times purse was green camo from Old Navy (shocker, I know!). It was just the right size and really cute, but didn’t really “match” with, well, any of my clothing. Ha, oh, well. I had that purse for 5 years until it seemed too small and was falling apart. I replaced it with a slightly bigger black one with white polka dots that was, no joke, $1. Seriously! One of the best purchases I’d ever made. Buuut, at some point, the zipper broke and once again, seemed too small. That one lasted about 2 years.

Onward and upward! I found one at Payless Shoesource, of all places, and it seemed perfect! The right size, cute, plain black (seemed more professional or whatever), and had a divider in the middle to contain my assorted crap. I can’t do the huge one-huge-pocket purses where everything’s mixed together. Too much chaos for me. Anyhow, this new pursed worked well for a few weeks…until the strap started to split where it was sewn together. I now know to look for purses with straps that don’t have that. You live and learn. Once the other strap started to split, I took it back with the receipt for a refund. Of course, the sales lady tried to get me to exchange it for the same purse (yeah, right) or another questionable purse of the same value. I just asked for the refund and she seemed pissed off. What? I don’t want your freakin’ purse!! Thanks anyway! Jeez.

On that same trip, I was on the search for the perfect purse! Not an easy task, since at that point I was very anal about what I wanted. Ready for my description? Mmkay. Black. Not too big, not too small. Divider in the middle. Stands up on it’s own (don’t want it to slump over). Small pockets inside and pockets outside, if possible. Fits over my shoulder. Reasonably priced. In depth, huh? Yeah. I warned you I was particular. Well, I looked in every possible store that could carry purses in Fashion Place Mall…and nothing. What?!? I was getting desperate. I had borrowed a purse from my sister and it was the basic sack kind. No pockets. Cute, but not gonna cut it. Crap! As last resort, I stopped by Shopko on Redwood Road. Jackpot! They had semi-designer purses on sale 40% off!! Score! But being me, it took me a good 45 minutes to decide. But I found one!! As close to perfect as possible. *sigh*. I hate shopping. But I love getting results! So, it was a pretty good day.

I know that was waaaayyy too long. Sorry. Hope it was at least entertaining. ; )

8 Things About Me

2009-02-04T16:24:00.000-08:00

Here are the Rules:
1) Post rules on your blog
2) Answer the six '8' items
3) Let each person know by leaving them a comment

8 Favorite TV Shows

1. Gilmore Girls!
2. CSI:NY
3. The Big Bang Theory
4. Monk
5. Psych
6. Supernatural
7. Angel
8. The Black Donnellys

8 Things I Did Yesterday

1. Woke up at 6am (A feat in and of itself. ick.)
2. Drove to and from work (45 min each way. again, ick.)
3. Sliced tiramisu.
4. Made Green Tea Mousse for a banquet
5. Made Flan for the same banquet
6. Showered. (Glorious!)
7. Watched "Privileged"
8. Tried Thai-ish food.

8 Things I Look Forward To

1. Draper Temple open house this Saturday
2. Finally, a Saturday off!!
3. GNO with my sisters!
4. Payday (always!)
5. Going Bovine (a book) by Libba Bray
6. My new digital camera coming in the mail! (Hurray, hurray!)
7. Twilight Movie on DVD
8. New jeans without holes. Yippee!

8 Favorite Restaurants

1. Cafe Rio
2. Wingers
3. Olive Garden
4. Cheesecake Factory
5. Carrino's
6. Del Taco
7. Panda Express
8. Thaifoon

8 Things on My Wish List

1. EUROPE, EUROPE, EUROPE!!
2. To have all my debt paid off
3. A boy. ; )
4. For my new camera to come!!
5. Actually have a savings account again.
6. Get better at the guitar
7. Learn to ski/snowboard. (All in good time...)
8. Have my own place eventually.

8 People I Tag

1. Lindsey Christensen
2. Hilary
3. Shantel
4. Anna
5. Lindsey Lambert
6. Kathryn
7. Sharane
8. I'm all out!!

R.I.P. Oliver

2009-01-11T21:46:00.000-08:00

1999-2009

NEW CAR!!!! YIPPEEEE!!

2008-12-10T14:59:00.000-08:00

Well, if you've read any of my previous posts, you've probably noticed how often I gripe about how bad my car is in the snow. It was pretty much a suicide mission every time I tried to drive up to Snowbird in the snow. So, the original plan was to get snow tires and possibly snow chains as well. But the more I thought about it, it didn't make sense. Even if I had both of those, my car is so low, I would be able to get out of more than 3 inches of snow. Maybe not even that. Pathetic.

So I talked to my parents and they agreed with me. I started looking at used cars online and trying to figure out how much I could afford. (Not much, by the way.) I set the maximum at $4,000, which is hard, but not impossible, I found. After much research, I started calling around and looking more into the 4WD vehicles I was interested in. I looked at Ford Explorer, Nissan Pathfinder, Chevy Blazer, Dodge Durango, Jeep Cherokee, and many others which were in my price range. I also had to inquire at the bank to see if they would even give the money for a car. I was pre-approved. Yay!

Then came the hard, horrible part. Going to dozens of used car dealerships. Luckily my dad was willing to go with me, otherwise, I'm pretty sure I would have been screwed. We went to one dealership when I had seen an ad online for a 98 Blazer and we took it for a drive, but it was just...no good. We drove a white Durango at another place that didn't have a console in between the seats because it was a cop car and they removed it to make room for the computer and all that business. It was okay. Those were the only ones we drove out of all the crappy, scary, shady car lots all along State Street. And, by the way, for the most part, everything you hear about used car salesman is true. Seriously. *shudder* So, after about 2 1/2 hours of misery, we headed home for dinner and to warm up a bit. I had a whole list of other cars to look at, but hardly the energy nor the resolve. My dad and I decided we would look at one more that night because it looked pretty good.

The last place we went to was Smith Family Motors in Draper. I had seen an ad for a 2002 white Chevy Blazer for $3,695. Not bad, eh? I called ahead to make sure it was still there and off we went. Let me tell you, this dealership was a whole other species of dealers. It was clean, the car was clean, the salesman (named Rustyn, by the way) was super nice and helpful. He was nice even though we showed up 15 minutes before they were supposed to close. He let us take it for a drive and told us there was no need to hurry and he explained the repairs that they had done on the Blazer and why they were done. Very upfront about everything. Nothing shady, thank goodness. They specialize in Lexus and Toyota, so the Blazer was a trade-in. No biggie. Rustyn and his brother Corbin had both worked for Larry H. Miller dealerships and then they each opened their own dealerships. Years later they decided to combine the two and make it a family business. They're last name really is Smith (of Smith Family Motors). He told us the whole story while he drew up the paperwork, so obviously I decided to buy the car. It was everything I was looking for and more. I had a really good feeling about it. It's a 2002 Chevy Blazer. White with beige interior. I love it so far. I've had it all of 24 hours, though.

So, besides the blasted sales tax and dealers rip-off fee (required, I find, at even the best of dealers), I'm happy with the result.

And now to pay for it....Grr.

That Dang Meringue

2008-11-04T10:36:00.000-08:00

This is a picture of the lovely meringue cookies that I made. But not without some difficulty. You want the whole story? Okay. So at work, we have a prestigious party in the middle of November which includes many trays of petit fours (which translates to "small cakes"). Although, we're not doing actually cakes. Mostly just cookies and chocolates and whatnot. Anyhoo, these meringue cookies are for that party. So I planned on using the Italian Buttercream recipe we use, but it makes quite a lot, even if you're not adding the butter. I then decided to just quarter the recipe because I had done it before. Not hard, right? Ha! Well, I gathered all my ingredients and off I went. I whipped the egg whites and cooked the sugar to 245F. Next step, pouring the sugar into the egg whites while the mixer is running. A little precarious, but done with little difficulty. It looked okay, but sort of like there was more than usual in the bowl. Eh, oh well, I thought. I then started piping the meringue with a pastry bag, to create the cute little cookies in the piture (at that point it looked a little airy to me, but whatever). Well, when I tried to pipe them, it looked...wrong. Very wrong. And for the life of me, I could not figure out why. I tried whipping it longer, but that didn't help. So I figured I would just add 1/4 of the butter in the recipe and make some buttercream. As I added the butter, it started to liquify. Um, what? Exactly. So, at that point, it was clearly trash. Soupy meringue. Yum. Not. As I was throwing the ickiness away, I started going through the ingredients in my head. Sugar, water, sugar, egg whites...wait. Egg whites. How many did I do? Um, so apparently, I add 1/2 of the about from the recipe instead of 1/4. HUGE difference. Well, at least I know I made the stuff correctly, I just had my brain on pause when it came to amounts. So, to make a long story short (which isn't possible at this point,but...) I screwed up the first time, but got it right the second. The picture is proof of the second batch. The cookies in the the background were sprinkled with cinnamon, the front ones left plain. Looks pretty good, eh? Well, I just thought I would share one of my failures, for some reason. The end, I suppose.

And so it begins...

2008-10-11T16:27:00.000-07:00

Hey, look! That's my car!! But wait, what's that white stuff on it? Oh, yeah. That's snow. Yup.

It has officially snowed for the first time at work. Today is October 11th. I am so not ready!! Did Fall just start? Shouldn't we have a little time to adjust? Yeah, right. So, it started snowing the second I got to work and it continued to do so off and on all day. It was seriously blowing at times too. I know all this because there is a window that looks over a patio right outside the bakery. It's a pretty good view too. I enjoy it. There was a time today, thought, that the snow was honestly blowing sideways. No joke. The trees were all bent over and stuff and I could see the clouds settling in. Really cool looking, but a little scary.

Anyway, with all this snow going on, you know it had to be cold, right? Yeah, well, it WAS!! Honestly, I walked into the bakery and my co-worker, Matt, had 2 of the ovens open for heat. No joke. With that, it felt pretty good. There was a point in the day where I had to be in the freezer for 5 minutes straight and, let me tell ya, I just about lost my fingers. Obviously I'm exaggerating, but still, I really couldn't feel them. So, besides the freezer business, I just went about my business making strawberry shortcake and whatnot. Matt left before 1pm and after that, I just finished up stuff and then typed recipes into the computer. Super exciting, I know. At one point, though, I was finishing up the dishes and freezing my butt off, still, when Mikey, a guy who works in the main kitchen, came over and asked me, "Can I stand in your oven for a few minutes?". Haha! And he was totally serious. We do actually have a "walk-in" oven. We put sheet pans of whatever on tall racks that we roll into this big oven. Yup. So, yeah, I said Mikey could stand in the oven. Set at 400F. Don't worry, he didn't burn himself or die or anything. He stayed in there for a minute, shut the door, and said "Thanks". And that was that.

I headed home soon after that. I took that picture just as I was getting to my car. I am kinda nervous about driving the the snow. And for good reason. I've gotten stuck twice since I've worked at Snowbird. And that was in April and May! Ha! Should be interesting....

...and I helped!!!

2008-10-05T16:53:00.000-07:00

Now, don't get too excited. I didn't do the cake itself. But I did put the flowers on, with some help. Anna, my boss, did the actual cake and finished it on Friday along with another cake, but she doesn't work on Saturdays so she asked me to do the flowers. Not a big thing, right? Right. See, the problem is I always seem to overthink things. I agonize over what looks good and what doesn't and what happens if the bride doesn't like it or if my boss doesn't like what I did or if I somehow screw up the cake itself....the list goes on and on. So Emily, my co-worker/boss, told me to just do it. So I had to stop thinking just stick the stupid flower in the cake. And I did. And with some help from Emily, it turned out pretty good. At some point, I hope to do wedding cakes myself, so watching Anna and doing little things every once-in-a-while can only help. In the past, I've made the cake for a wedding cake, not the decorating, but that will come soon enough. I'm looking into buying some equipment from a lady in my parents' ward, so I'm working on it. Wish me luck!

Cupcakes!!! Yay!!

2008-09-21T21:59:00.000-07:00

Hey, all. I just thought that after that really uplifting previous blog, I should probably give you something a little more entertaining. So, here it is! Some really yummy cupcakes I decorated at work the other day. The furthest ones were pumpkin with cream cheese frosting and topped with pecans. The others were yellow cupcakes topped with vanilla or chocolate buttercream and then decorated with various items. It was way fun. One of the most fun things I get to do at work, even though it doesn't happen very often. This time, I used chocolate sprinkles, colored sprinkles, coconut, raspberry sauce, kiwi-lime sauce, caramel sauce, and the aforementioned pecans. In the past, I've done rocky road (choc frosting with marshmallows and almonds), Almond Joy (almonds and coconut), choc and caramel sauce swirled on top, and lots of others. I love it.

I enjoy the other aspects of my job, but some can get a little monotonous. Like now, for instance. Now is the time for Oktoberfest (and yes, I know it's not yet October. The whole snow thing causes us to move it up.). So, here in the bakery, it means hundreds of both German Chocolate Cakes and Apple Streudels. Oh, yes, indeed. Three layers of cake, two of german filling and ganache, buttercreamed (yes, I just made that a verb. yay!), and then frozen for later use. To finish, they get ganached (yes, another non-existent verb. yay!), covered with more german filling on the top and then cut. We do at least 35 of these each weekend. Now, the streudels are not really my department, for which I'm grateful for. The Sherpas handle most of that. The process starts with tons of sheets of puff pastry (which is used for making danishes and other desserts and even savory stuff) and these sheets are cut into 4 inch strips on each long side. The apple filling is made and added to the middle and then the side strips are folded over the filling, made to look sort of like a braid. They are brushed with an egg wash and sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar and then baked for about 1 1/2 hours. Yup. That's how the magic happens. The drunks down at Octoberfest just love it. Apparently.

Speaking of drunks, every time we have to take either of these items down the hill to the huge tent, we pass dozens of these sort of people. And they all think it is hilarious to stumble up to us and slur something like, "Oh, gimme some!" or "Cool, you brought me some dessert!" or "Wow, for me? Thanks." Yeah. Almost funny the first few times, but the last few hundred start to wear a little thin.

But hey, only 2 more weeks of Octoberfest left! Yay!

But, besides that, I really do enjoy my job. The occasional cupcake decorating, experimenting with new desserts, working with fun people, listening to music, learning new things, it's all good.

*sigh* Well, I'm getting a bit sleepy, so goodnight.

Migraine, anyone? No? Hmm.

2008-09-20T23:53:00.000-07:00

So, in case not everyone knows this about me, I suffer from severe migraines on occasion.
Sounds pretty awesome, doesn't it? Yeah. It's kinda like someone trying to over inflate
a balloon inside my skull while having thousands of photographers all firing their flashes
simultaneously. Oh, yeah. It's quite the party, alright.

I remember the first time I had a migraine. I was about 9 or 10 and it was one of my first sleepovers with my best friend at the time, Chasidy. She only lived about 6 houses down and across the street, but it was super psyched about it! I don't remember much about the whole evening, but I just remember looking at one of her books and not being able to see the whole title. I just thought, "Hm, that doesn't seem right." My parents have both had migraines since they were young. My dad told me that the first time he ever had one was when he was playing peewee football. In the middle of the game, his vision started to go wierd. And then this amazingly horrific headache came. After the game, he said he just layed down on the livingroom floor, still in his full football gear, and stayed still for hours. He honestly thought he had a tumor or something. He later described this to his mom, my grandma, and she explained.

So as I was at this sleepover, I was thinking about my dad and what his experience was and I just knew what this was. It scared me, so I reluctantly said good-bye to Chasidy and had my mom pick me up.

After that night, every once-in-a-while I would get migraine. It always started the same. I would be looking at something or somone, and it just didn't look right. I always tried to suppress the thought, trying to think positive, but it came anyway. Every time it happened, a weird, flashing, crescent shape would appear in my vision. The look of it is hard to describe, but the closest thing I can compare it to is sort of like snow on a tv screen. But so, so, so, much more distracting and annoying. If this happened while I was at home, I would just lie down in a dark, silent room and wait for my vision to return. Sleeping was always the best thing, but not always possible. Anyhoo, after the crescent-shape disappeared, then came the horrible, horrible headache. The balloon analogy still applies, but it's also like my brain is too big for my skull and any movement of my head made the dull, pounding ache increase exponentially. And to make it so much better, the dull ache remains for at least 48 hours following. Awesome, right?

Another way to describe it is having what I would imagine to be the most incredible hangover after a long night of tequila shots or something. Which is exactly why I will never, ever drink. Ever. I mean, why would I want to have that experience if it could be avoided? I wouldn't. Because that would be incredibly stupid.

And on top of the vision thing and the headache, migraines make it so I'm super, super sensitive to light and smells and sounds and everything. I normally have a sensitive nose anyway, but even smells I like or don't notice can almost make me puke. Oh, wait. I haven't mentioned the nausea yet, have I? Well, lets add that to the mix. When I was younger, I pretty much always ended up getting sick after a migraine. But luckily I usually felt better after losing my lunch, or whatever meal it is that applies. Now that I'm older, that doesn't happen so much anymore. To make the nausea at bay, I usually just have to avoid strong smells and breathe evenly and keep my head mostly level. Yeah, that doesn't work so well when I'm at work or something. I actually had one my first day of work when I was working at Provo Canyon School the Summer of '06. I normally try not to show what an invalid I become when this happens until I have at least worked there a few weeks, but alas. It happened on my first day. Now I think that maybe that was a bad omen because that job was terrible. Really, really sucked. Really.

The reason I bring up this whole subject is because I somehow developed one of these said migraines this past Thursday at work. It started at lunch time and I can still feel some of the headache even now. But luckily, I like this job and my boss and co-workers are very understanding, so it's not all bad. I somehow live through it. *sigh*

Well, I guess I should share the good news. I have been taking this medication for a while now that seems to prevent my migraines. That wasn't the prescription's original, purpose, but I'm not complaining. Nowadays, if I ever accidentally miss a day of taking my drugs, I most likely get a migraine, which i obviously try not to let happen because of the aforementioned reasons.

So, that's my goal. NO MORE MIGRAINES!!!

Ahem, so thanks for reading this, if you actually made it all the way through.

p.s. I hope no one else ever finds himself or herself in this situation, but if it ever should happen, at least now you'll know . Right? Right.

Well, it's late. Bon nuit, mon ami.

And the wheel of life turns on...

2008-05-23T20:09:00.001-07:00

It's my birthday. Yup. I'm the big 2-2, officially at 11:03 pm. But as I celebrate the anniversary of my birth, the other side of the spectrum rears its ugly head. My grandpa died today. We all knew it was coming. He's had Parkinson's for a few years and it came to the point where it was almost cruel to just keep him here. His mind was mostly gone and his body was deteriorating, so it was just a matter of time. He was in his 80's. He lived a long, full life and knowing what we know of the next life, it isn't such a tragedy. It's still hard, though. He slipped into a coma last Tuesday and never really regained consciousness. I'm glad I went to see him yesterday. The last words I said to him were "Goodbye, Grandpa." I really didn't think it was going to be the official goodbye, but it was. He didn't know I was there, but I'm glad I got to say goodbye.

My Grandma has been taking care of him mostly by herself since he got really bad. You'd think she'd see him as a burden, but a while ago she put him in a home just for the weekend and she really missed him. I know it's going to be really hard for her. For all of us. My eyes are tearing up just typing this. They had been married for, I think, almost 58 years. Now that's devotion. I want that some day.

We got the call that he was gone at about 5 or so and we headed right then to be with Grandma. I'd never seen a body that hadn't been embalmed or so close after they passed. It was strange to look at him and know that he has taken his last breath. I know that he has been release from the prison that has been his body this last while. I know he's probably looking down and wondering why we're all so sad. But now I can remember him as he used to be. Whole, joyful, and full of life. So, goodbye, Grant Blackhurst Morrell. I'll see you when it's my time. I love you.

2008-05-22T20:20:00.000-07:00

<--[Look! It's a ski bum!! And no, that isn't Jesse, who I speak of lower down in this blog. I found this on Google Images under "ski bum". It made me laugh.]

Good evening, ladies and gents. So, remember that other snow story I was going to divulge the next day? Yeah, well, it’s only been a few days, right? Plus, I did say I was using the “tomorrow” loosely, right? Well, anyway, this second encounter with the horrid snow occurred about a week after the first. Apparently, Mother Nature didn’t get the memo that it’s MAY!! Not January. Nonetheless, I made my way up the canyon very, very carefully through the possibly treacherous roads up to Snowbird. I passed Entry 1, 2, 3, and finally ventured down Entry 4, knowing that it was not a good idea. I made it about half the way down before my back tires slipped to the left, almost to the point where I was perpendicular to the road. Scary? Uh, yeah. Somehow, I managed to ease my car so it was heading the right direction and veered to the right of the road, parked, put on the “E” brake, and put on my hazards, which I had never used before, by the way. I called what I thought was the number for the bakery, but all I got that weird sound and some chick saying that the number was out of order. Awesome. Luckily, I had my boss’ number and luckily she was working that day and answered her phone. I informed her of my predicament and she said she was gonna send two of my co-workers, Jesse and Jonas, to come to my aid. Too bad the whole damsel-in-distress thing is so passé. In my case, it was just embarrassing. Twice in a week and a half? At this point, it’s becoming to be more my fault than the car’s. Besides, you’d think that I would be smart enough not to drive on these sorts of days, but no. Anyway, so as I sat in my car by the side of the road, I watched all the people pass by with their 4-wheel drive and snow-equipped cars, giving me looks of pity. I know they’re all thinking, “She tried to get up here in that? She’s crazy!!”. Yeah, well, join the club, dude.

Well, eventually I see someone coming from the direction of the Cliff Lodge, where I work, and it looks like they have checks on (which is what we call our checkered chef pants), but I’m not sure. He (well, I think it’s a he) has a hoodie on and with the hood up and it’s also snowing at this point, so visibility isn’t at it’s best. Also, I thought it would be 2 guys, so, you know. Well, the person eventually got close enough that I could see their face and it happened to be Jesse, my co-worker.

Now, at this point, let me interject a quick note about Jesse. Jesse is a ski bum, in every single sense of the phrase. Not that there’s anything wrong with that because almost everyone who works at Snowbird is a ski bum. Their whole purpose in life is to ski and party. And they only get jobs so they can earn enough money for the skiing and partying. Jesse will take the early shift (which is 5am, by the way), work until 1 or 2 pm, ski for a few hours, party until the early morning, and then repeat. Don’t know how they do it, but somehow they do. A lot of them even move from far away just for the snow during the winter. In Jesse’s case, he came from Palm Beach, Florida. This past winter was his second season at Snowbird, so he pretty much had the routine down and already knew everyone. I came in just at the end of the official season, so we only worked together for about a month. I came to realize what sort of person he is in this short time. On the whole, he’s a pretty good guy. We just don’t have that much in common. He’s all about the ladies, the snow, and the parties. And I’m…not. I couldn’t tell you how many stories he has related that included someone getting drunk. Always lovely.

Anyway, back to the story. As Jesse approached my car, I rolled down my window and greeted him with a “Hey” and an embarrassed look. He asked if I just wanted him to drive my car for me and I was all for that. So I think he was waiting for me to get out of the car or something, but I just decided to scooch over to the passenger’s seat and only when I opened the drivers’ side door for him did he realize I had moved. So, he gets in and I tell him he can adjust the seat if he wants and I’m pretty sure I blabbered a little cause I was nervous. Crazy. So, he puts it in drive and the second he takes his foot off the brake, we start to seriously slide. He says “How did you get up here like this?” My response, “ I have no idea.” Just then he realized the emergency brake was still on, which is why the sliding was so bad. He then explained to me that braking in any form while heading down that hill will cause my car to slide. Awesome. Well, then it’s good I didn’t try to get down the hill alone cause I totally would have died, or at the least, hit another car. Ah, the glories of snow. So Jesse makes it down the hill and heads to the right toward the Cliff Lodge. He drops me off and tells me he’s gonna park my car on the 4^th floor of the structure, which is underground parking, but it’s above ground. You know what I mean? Yeah, so I’ve never parked in there. Once I got off work, I headed there, but it took me a while find the friggin’ stairs. A sign said the stairs were out of order for maintenance, but I took them anyway. I think it was just because there was a leak somewhere and ice had frozen on the stairs, banisters, everywhere.

Well, it was a pretty eventful day on the whole. One that I really wouldn’t care to repeat, actually. Hope you enjoyed my account of it. I’ll try not to wait so long between blogs, but no promises. Ciao.

That's IT, snow! I've had ENOUGH!!! I'm sorry...we're done.

2008-05-01T22:24:00.000-07:00

(This picture is not of my car but this is just to give you a visual of what I will speak of further down.-->
Keep readin'!)

Well, since I haven't blogged since my surgery 2 months ago, I'll fill you in a bit. Ahem, so the surgery went fine. The most annoying part was having my wrist wrapped for 2 weeks and not being able to remove it or shower without a plastic bag involved. However, I became quite good at doing things with my left hand. Yay, me. Anyhoo, so after that, I started to search for jobs again and after a long and unproductive online search, I finally found one that peaked my interest. Baker 1 at Snowbird Resort. Super! I applied, blah, blah, blah, had an interview, yada yada yada, second interview, doo da doo, and I got the job. FINALLY!!! Yes!! I swear, the worst part of being unemployed is the job search. It's very stressful.

Well, I finally started work on April 2, and all was going well. Long commute (45 minutes one way), but I didn't mind. And then, the dreaded event occurred....it snowed. In the mountains. Right where I work. And, let's just say, my car is less than "snow-worthy". It's a Ford Taurus. Very low. Very long. But otherwise, just fine. However, heaven forbid I try to drive to work last Thursday. The road itself wasn't bad, but the parking situation was...less than ideal. Let me give you a picture of Snowbird. It's nearly at the top of the canyon, with only Alta beyond it. The first sign of Snowbird is a sign stating "Entry 1". Anyone unfamiliar with it would be like "What? There's more than one entry? WHICH DO I TAKE?!?". Ahem, well, there are 4 "entries", depending on where you are headed. I take Entry 4 to work and there's a pretty decent hill going down toward the Cliff Lodge, where I work. That particular Thursday, I got down okay, but my usually parking area was blocked. Well, for anyone else, no big deal. But for me, once I find my groove, I NEVER leave it. Better to know where you've been, I say, than the unknown. So, I'm forced to bypass my usual parking, turn around, and venture for some other parking. I headed back up the Entry 4 main road and ended up parking along there. Not so terrible. BUT, there was already at least 8 inches where I was parking. Brilliant. I get 3/4 into the parking space before I seem to find myself...stuck. No going forward, no going backward. Stuck. *sigh* Fine. I just put it in park and went to work. Defeated.

While I was working...it continued snowing. Shocker. At some point during the day, I called my dad to inform him of my predicament. Well, once I got to my car at the end of the day I was --what, ladies and gentlemen?--still stuck. Now, why would I think that MORE snow would allow my car to maneuver more easily? Dunno. Not only did it snow, but the plows and made a few passes cementing me in even WORSE! The snow was higher than my license plate. Needless to say, I wasn't driving out of this without help. Well, my dad decided the best course of action was to come up and dig me out. Mmkay. So, as I waited, I listened to music, chilled, called my mom to tell her what happened, and then texted Kathryn just to vent and to give her a laugh. As I was in the middle of doing this, the sun came out. Only to mock me, I assume. I believe it was saying "Oh, were you waiting for ME to come out? Whoops. I guess you're stuck cause I'm late." I swear I heard it chuckle at me. But, lo and behold, my dad came and I was maneuvered out of it's pile o' snow. When I finally get home, I'm seeing grass. It didn't even friggin RAIN!! It's hard to imagine being stuck in the snow when you're seeing green grass. Stupid frozen precipitation.

Well, I have another anecdote to share about the cursed snow, but it's gonna have to wait until tomorrow (using the term loosely). ;)

Say goodbye to my right hand....

2008-03-05T19:19:00.000-08:00

Ahem. So…surgery. Yeah, not a lot of fun in general. My latest will occur in…14 hours and 36 minutes. Sure, it’s just on my wrist, but I’m still just a little bit nervous. For all who would care to know, I sort of developed tendonitis in my right wrist after doing several types of repetitive motion through cooking school and employment in the food industry. At first, cortisone shots did the trick, but my body then began to be immune to it or something. El sucko. So, it was either physical therapy, which takes forever and I would still be doing the work that caused the pain, or surgery, long recovery, but definitely most permanent. So here I am, about to lose the use of my right hand, which includes writing, typing (which means this will be my last blog for a while), eating, and every other thing that I do using my right hand. Showering should be interesting. Makeup, too. And blow-drying my hair. Gall, am I gonna look like crap. Not to mention the difficulty in dressing myself. Yuck. As much as the recovery is gonna suck, the surgery itself is freaking me out too. I trust my doctor and stuff, but going under anesthesia in general is scary. I don’t the like the feeling you have when you come out of it. You’re all groggy and confused and stuff. *sigh* Well, enough about that crap. Let’s talk about something else.

So, I moved back in with my parents this past weekend. Sort of. All of my stuff is there, yeah, but I still haven’t sold my contract to my apartment down in Provo. It’s a problem. You wanna throw another dilemma into the mix? I just heard from a job I applied for about a month ago that I really wanted. I had an interview last Monday and I think (hope) that it went well. What do you think the odds are that they'll wait a month for me to be able to work? Any takers? No clue. So….what if I get the job and I’ve sold my contract? Screwed. But if I get the job and don’t sell my contract, I still have to pay rent for the month or so where I’m still recovering at my parent’s house. And I’ll have to move all my stuff back to my apartment.

Man, I didn’t mean for this blog to be such a downer. Sorry. Ah, well. Once I can type again, I write about something happy. Later, peeps.

WEAR A RING, why don't cha!?

2008-02-24T23:25:00.000-08:00

To the left is a picture of the Eleanor Rigby statue found in Liverpool, England, as and homage to The Beatles song and also because apparently there was an actually grave for a woman named Eleanor Rigby. Now, why would I have a picture of this besides the fact that one day I will visit it? Well, no worries. I'll get to that.

Ahem. So, I've been out of school for about 2 months and unemployed for longer than that, so I've been staying at my parents' off and on. Whenever I'm there on weekends, I go to the family ward where I was a member from infancy until I moved for college. Anyway, when I started going more regularly, I noticed the low numbers of single people (guys in particular). I was bound to notice this since I've been going to college/single wards for the past 3 years or so. It was slim pickings in this family ward, but I did happen to notice one guy who was there almost every week and always sat alone. He looked to be in his late 20s, tall, and pretty attractive. So one week, my mom mentioned something to me about him. His name is Jordan "Jory" Dalling and he lives in the basement of someone in the ward. She said that he used to come every once-in-a-while with his girlfriend, but she hasn't seen her in a while. Huh. Intrigue. So....single? Not sure. I didn't want to discuss this with my mom, so I just listened and gathered info whenever possible.

Over the next few weeks, my mom would write me a note or just mention to me that he was the guy she had pointed out a while ago. Of course, she didn't know that, yes, I did notice that he was there and, yes, did remember you telling me about him. I am nothing if not observant. But what did she want me to do? You'd think she'd know that I don't just go up to guys. I did, however, smile if we ever locked eyes or say hi if we crossed paths. Yup. That's my idea of flirting. Maybe that's why I don't really date.....*sigh*. Anyway, I hadn't been to that ward for a while, so when I came this past Sunday, I was hoping to see him there. And see him, I did. He was actually on the stand and it looked like he was speaking. YES!!! This means that one, I can find out more about him through his talk and two, I can stare at him without drawing suspicion. Everything's coming up Anika. Score! My mom, once again, pointed him out to me and I waved it off, hopefully saying " I KNOW MOM!!". My sister, Alex, did notice that there was a new girl sitting all alone and she thought that she might be his girlfriend. Or sister, she said. Well, you never know. Nothing's set in stone.

So after the first speakers he was up to bat. He seemed nervous (so cute!), so he made a sort of joke and played it off. He was speaking on Repentance and he had a different approach, which is always good. All in all, I nice talk. As he was wrapping up his talk, he casually mentioned that HE WAS MARRIED!!!!!! Um, exsqueeze me? WHAT THE EFF??!!!?!? Well, apparently, they've been married 2 weeks and no one knew he was dating someone, let alone engaged or MARRIED!! How was I supposed to know? He wasn't wearing a ring and I didn't really care to check the finger of the supposed girlfriend. So, I just glanced at Alex and we both bust up laughing because the guy my mom has egging me to talk to is--what, ladies and gentlemen?--married. Huh. Well, that's that. So decided to do the decent thing and nitpick about his new "wife" in my mind. Fake-baker. Bad posture(ha! good one, Anika). Ears are lopsided. Yeah, that's all I got.

Once sacrament meeting was over, I hoped that I would be free of him/them. But, no. We had Sunday School in the chapel with, who, do you ask? Yup, them. They sat one row ahead of us and a little to the left, so I got a nice shot of him putting his arm around her and them whispering to each other. Grr. So I spent most of class with my eyes closed, going through the guitar chords of a song I've been learning. It helped, thankfully. But, then it came to Relief Society and guess who came? Her. And how was she addressed? "Sister Dalling". Yeah. Let's twist the knife a little more. Thanks. Gah. *sigh*.

Anyway, I'm really tired and a bit depressed, mostly because I've been listening to The Beatles' "Eleanor Rigby" nonstop for an hour, hence the picture.

(Verse 3)
Eleanor Rigby died in a church along with her name
Nobody came.
Father Mackenzie wiping the dirt from his hand as he walks from the grave
No one was saved.

Ah, look at all the lonely people.
Ah, look at all the lonely people.

Alas, good night (or morning, I guess). We lonely people gotta get some sleep.

The Sky is Falling!!

2007-12-22T19:54:00.000-08:00

I have a very active imagination, mixed in with a generous amount of paranoia. I always have. When I was younger, maybe 12, my parents would leave me to look after my younger sisters for a few hours occasionally. They would give me a time, say 9 pm, when they would probably be home. I was totally fine the whole evening, unless they happen to not be home on or before 9. Then, all bets are off. My mind ran wild with irrational thoughts like, maybe they were in an accident or there was a plane that hit the building they were in. Maybe they were held hostage in a robbery or ANYTHING that could go wrong outside the safety of home I would imagine was going on. They always came back, clearly, and my fears were always calmed, but every once in a while I will still get fear that something is amiss. This usually happened really late at night while everyone else was asleep. I could SWEAR that someone was trying to get in through my window. Once, I even had my dad check it. Each time this happened, I would like awake, extremely still, trying not to alert these invisible "robbers", and listen for any sound that would prove my theory correct. I even thought that someone was in the basement. I tried to find a makeshift weapon (a steel wire brush, in this case) and searched the basement, then the whole house and all the locks and windows. I then proceeded to take that weapon with me to bed. I swear, I just need to by my own baseball bat just for my sanity.

Wow, this really makes me sound like a nut job, huh? See, this is why I don't divulge these kinds of fears. I swear they've got a padded cell just waiting for me somewhere. There is an actually reason for these frobbery fears. We were robbed before, though never at night. Somehow they did it during the day and got away with it. How is that possible? I'll never know. My brother's Jeep was also broken into and because he was in Iraq and no one drove it, it wasn't noticed for at least a week. This kind of crap does happen, unfortunately.

Anywho, there is a point for this background story. I have been recently working at a bakery in a Reams in Layton. So I get to work at 6 am (oh, the horror, the horror!) and notice that no one is there. My boss, Mark, usually shows up around 5 am to get things jump started. This particular morning, however, it looked like all the breads, donuts, and rolls were already done. Curious. I looked around everywhere for Mark or anyone, but not a soul was in sight. Not even the people who cut up the meat next to the bakery (p.s. there is a whole other world going on behind the scenes of Reams that I had no idea about. Crasazy!). So, I just started doing dishes that were left from yesterday. In the back of my mind, however, I had this illogical thought that maybe all the other employees were being held hostage somewhere in the store and I just barely missed the guys with guns taking people away. It totally burst my horrid thought bubble, though, when I was one of the employees walking past. Yup. I'm just nuts. Another bakery employee showed up about 6:30 and she found a note on the counter from Mark that he had worked through the night so he could get other things done during the day. Yeah...so I completely missed the note because of my unnecessary panic. Moron! I totally need to get my head examined.

p.s. I also had another crazy thought, though almost as scary, that my married boss was having an affair with the 65-year-old Hispanic bakery employee and they were hiding in the walk-in fridge waiting for me to leave so they could come out. I AM ABSOLUTELY NUTS!!!!!! Seriously. Also, not a pretty image.....

p.p.s. Christmas music is meant to get you in the spirit and make you all merry and stuff, right? Ahem, yeah. Listening to countless bad versions of once-loved Christmas songs 8 hours a day for 5 days actually has the opposite effect. It's made me very Grinch-like and crabby. Just thinking about it makes me want to flog EVERY SINGLE ARTIST who made me listen to their stupid songs. If I hear "The Christmas Song" one more time, I'm gonna hurl, scream and viciously attack the singer simultaneously. Won't THAT be a pretty sight. Ick.

Adventures in Babysitting

2007-12-20T15:50:00.000-08:00

Direct your eye gaze slightly to the left and you will see an adorable pic of my niece, Addy, who is trying to avoid the lens of my camera phone. I must say, 2-year-olds are incredibly funny. I ended up babysitting last night and it was anything but boring. And so it began. Shantel (my sister) and her husband, Joe, (said parents of 2-year-old) had just left for a business dinner, so I was in charge of feeding myself and Addy. I took the lazy way and reheated mac and cheese and microwaved spring rolls. Yup. (My fellow culinarians have scheduled my flogging for next Thursday). Addy so adorably asked for a movie, so we watched "Meet the Robinsons" on my laptop (I had downloaded it on Limewire a while back. Don't tell!) while we ate. Such a simple dinner somehow lasted over an hour, mostly because Addy was so enthralled by the movie that she would forget to eat, meaning I had to prod her every few minutes to "take a bite". She also has a tendency to fill up on milk, so I had to monitor her milk consumption as we watched the movie. Following dinner, Addy asked for some chocolate, which her dad had promised she could have if she ate (plus, you can't deprive a girl of chocolate. It's inhumane!).

Anywho, after dinner, we ventured downstairs to play. Addy is pretty good about keeping herself occupied, so I decided to check my e-mail and stuff. I would glance over every few minutes to make sure she was still within sight and not destroying anything. She mostly played with her toy kitchen, Barbie tent, and strange tunnel that resembles a large spring covered in pink fabric. At one point, she was walking around inside the tunnel and, unable to see, she did a spectacular face-plant right in front of me. I had to laugh. She's resilient, so I wasn't worried about her being hurt. She just laughed it off. Unfortunately for me, I decided to get inside the tunnel and "hide" from Addy. I promptly got stuck and somehow appeared to be an intruder to the dog, AJ the Black Lab, who barked incessantly, even after I had managed to extract myself from the tunnel. Since the barking continued, I, forgetting I was in the presence of a 2-year-old, said to the dog, "AJ, SHUT UP!". Addy quickly said, "You said 'shut up'", which in the Van Wagoner household, is a "bad word", or phrase, in this case. Bad aunt. Bad, bad aunt. I did, however, seem to say "the bad phrase" once more, again to the dog. Once again, I was caught by the ears of the 2-year-old. Bad aunt.

After that, Addy decided she wanted to play Foosball (sp?), which of course, she doesn't really know how to play. She was standing on some boxes of Christmas decorations on one side and I was on the other. To Addy, the point of the game was to place the ball directly in front of one of the players and give it a tap. However, any time I attempted to actually "kick" the ball toward the goal, she felt the need to pick up the ball. No matter how hard I tried to tell her to keep the ball on the table, she continued to pick it up. At that point, I just started to keep the ball away from her by "kicking" the ball back and forth. Did I mention I'm a bad aunt? Messing with a child. Horrible of me. She did manage to catch the ball one time and she decided to toss the ball into the air and let it land on the foosball table. However, as she was tossing the ball, she promptly fell into the box she was standing on. I laughed, of course, while I was trying to see if she was hurt (Shouldn't it be the other way around?). She was fine, fortunately. It's a good thing she doesn't bruise easily...

Next on the agenda was another movie. "Cinderella", she decided. A classic, so I consent. Once again, I find myself in the realms of the internet, while keeping an eye on Addy. I have been reading the blog of the author of the trilogy I am reading, Libba Bray. She is friggin hilarious and such an incredible writer. Her blog makes me laugh out loud at times and I did so a few times as we were watching the movie. To Addy, my laughing was a signal that something funny was going on in the movie, meaning she should laugh, too. It was a fake and adorable laugh that only made me laugh harder. Goll, I love her! Tel and Joe returned later, raving about the restaurant they went to, Bucca de Beppo's. Sound good. I can't imagine what the appeal of pork with blueberry sauce is, though. As Joe was talking to Addy, she unexpectedly decided to use the previously mentioned "bad phrase". The question is always, "Where did you hear that?" and I remained silent. Bad aunt.

And so, there is my evening with the cutest, funniest, most adorable 2-year-old ever. I hope I'm not a bad influence on her.... ; )

p.s. Libba Bray's blog has made me want to write more on here, so you haven't heard the last of me.

Bear Lake

2007-08-07T19:53:00.000-07:00

My Sister, Ashleigh, and I

Sick of Being A Fall-back Friend

2007-04-23T20:24:00.000-07:00

What is wrong with me? No, actually, what is wrong with THEM!!!?!!? How do I always end up being the backup friend? I stand by as they have fun with other people until they get hurt or disappointed then they come crawling back to me. Every time, I welcome them back with open arms. Of course I'm pissed. They never know though. I just bottle up all the anger until they come back and by then I decide it doesn't really matter. I don't blow up, I don't freak out, I just let it go. So here I sit. Watching a slightly inappropriate episode of Sex and the City and listening to Melissa Ethridge. I should be studying for my 9am final, but I'm not. How sad is it that I can't talk to them about it. Heck, I won't even write this where they can read this. Some form of venting helps though, on some level. Sing it, Melissa!

2006-08-22T22:52:00.000-07:00

NO SLEEP TONIGHT!

Once upon a time I had this grand idea of going to bed early so I could arise bright and early the following morning...says the person who is still awake at quarter to midnight. This brilliant idea was once again dashed, only by self destruction. However, it only stands to reason that it is impossible to go to bed at 1:30 am one night and then go to bed at 10pm the following night. Therefore, I have my reasoning which I am constantly searching for. So, to all the sleepy people of the world, I hope to join you in the near future....