Well Done

I'm going to start out my giving myself a BOOYAH BABY! That's right. Go me, go me. I'm currently giving myself a pat on the back and I'm about to tell you why. Drum roll please.....
I sang in Sacrament Meeting at church today. Yeah, shy-anxiety filled-stand in the corner-don't look at me please Cassie. That's me. I'm a new woman and she's coming out to play folks! I sang with little sista T and we did phenomenal. I would say the crowd was roaring and giving us a standing ovation but we were in church and reverence is looked upon very highly. We sang a lovely Sally DeFord song entiteld "When Mary Sang Her Lullaby", it was so pretty . After the meeting one of the members came up to us and told us that she was very touched and that we should record our song because we were so great. My head swelled a little at this moment. Anyway, one more fear conquered several million to go! It's the little accomplishments that must be appreciated. No sense wasting time wondring when I will do the next big thing. For now I am quite content where I'm at.
In other breaking news there is a GI-NOR-MUS (spelling?) I mean BIG raccoon taking up residence the the tree directly east from where we reside. I can see him if I look out the window. I thought perhaps I would name him Elmer as in Fudd. Elmer Fudd, get it? He's awfully cute but mom says not to get too close because he could attack me and kill me.

Tip of the day: do not mess with giant raccoons, they will eat you.

The Sugar Cookies...Tragic Story

My attempt at making a simple batch of sugar cookies turned into a complicated mess of nonsense. Appartenly my brain cells had ceased to function and I was no longer sane.
I had this great idea to hand out free Christmas sugar cookies to our customers at the store on Christmas Eve....spreading the holiday cheer, you know. So I proceeded to go to the grocery store with my little post-it recipe in my hand. I walked down the isles picking out the things I would need. I came to the baking soda and threw some in the cart. I got to work and ready to make the sugar cookie dough and realized that the recipe called for baking powder, I should have been wearing my glasses I guess. I decided that it would be okay for me to make the dough, put it in the freezer and knead the baking soda in later, no bueno.
After work I decided to make yet another batch of cookies the right way. The recipe calls for 1 Cup Shortening (1/2 butter). I assumed this meant 1 Cup of shortening or 1/2 cup of each. Well my father figure told me it was one of the other. So I put in 1/2 cup of butter, that is not what the recipe meant and they were not good. I was getting angry so I had my darling mother stand next to me while I made the third and final batch of cookies. I had her read the recipe while I put in the ingredients. The sugar cookies ended up being a hit although the angels turned out a little bit obese, perhaps they should lay off the sugar cookies.
Merry Chirstmas!

Long Time, No See

Well peeps, it finally happened...I got sprung from the lovely land that is known as Center for Change. I've had a rough go but I made it out alive and I'm oh so happy and healthy!

Let me recap the experience for you here: I arrived at the Center on September 14, 2009 in not so great condition. I sign my life away, get my bags and then it's off to Unit 1 while my dear mother goes with my therapist Dr. Julie to converse for a moment. I get my stuff dropped off and then Dr. Julie and my mom come back, we all talk together for a few minutes then it's time to say goodbye to my mom. She walked out the door and there I was by myself. The nurse took me, poked me, did an EKG and then checked to see how tall I was (not good news, I came it a whopping 5'2"). I did an assessment with the nurse that took like my entire life to complete and she determined that I was at a "re-feeding" risk so my heart could stop if I ate too much?!?! After the nurse was finished two of the care techs (who I affectionately call "babysitters") took me in a back room, made me strip down, of all the things! How indecent. I put on a hospital nightie and stepped on the scale, I do not know the results of my weigh-in. I met with a psychiatrist then I met with Dr. Julie then I met with the nurse practitioner Kelly who was such a dear. After that I was put in a WHEELCHAIR....did you hear me?!? A WHEELCHAIR! My heart was pretty bad and I wasn't allowed to walk. In the mornings I had to wait for a tech to roll me out to the scale and then stand with me while I showered and did my various other morning activities, most humiliating experience of my life. I was wheeled around for two weeks and then I was allowed to use my own to feet to transport myself around. However, I still had to take the elevator because stairs were strictly prohibited. That lasted for 6 fun filled weeks. The days pretty much were all the same. Food, group, food, group, food, group, food, group, food, group, food, bedtime! I was put on weight gain for 6 miserable food-filled weeks but happily I gained my weight.

That's basically my vacation in a nutshell. I missed my family and dear miss Lily so much!

Now you gotta see it to believe it. Observe the difference, which one do you like best?

I'm a changed woman people, a changed woman. I would like to take this opportunity to thank my wonderfully amazing and totally awesome therapist Dr. Julie, my awesome dietician Hayley and all my new best friends at the Center for Change. I would also like to thank my family for their support and I would like to thank Lily for her companionship and love.

Tales from the deli and beyond

Since I started working at the deli there have been many strange and somewhat bizarre occurrences. There are some weird people hanging out down there. To name a few of these things: A guy comes in the other day, he's probably around 40 and slightly Hispanic and he wants a coffee. He informs me and Miss J that he has just completed his community service and was on his way to court...okay great. While Miss J is making his breakfast sandwich to go with his coffee he starts talking to me and being the kind person that I am, I listen politely as he rambles on about something I don't care about. Then he asks me if I would like to go to dinner and see a movie with him! Whoa buddy, this relationship is moving a little too fast for me. I politely declined and returned to the back area to finish taking care of some business I had with 12 loaves of bread. Oh, he also asked if my dad was around because he wanted to get his permission to take me out...ewww.
The other day I delivered a catering order to the Catholic elementary school. It consisted of 50 sandwiches, 50 bags of chips and 50 cookies. I started bringing everything in and the old lady at the front desk strikes up a convo that went something like this:
Old lady: "Did you drive here?"
Me: "Yes I drove here"
Old lady: "Are you sure you drove here?"
Me: "Yes, I am sure"
Old lady: "Wow, are you even 12 years old?!"
Me: "Yes, I'm a lot older than 12"
The end.
We have a breakfast sandwich called the Chaz Bagel which consists of turkey, American cheese and avocado. Yesterday some lady calls Miss J and informs her that she ordered a Chaz Bagel the day before and it came without turkey and cheese. Okay crazy, we would have noticed if we just put avocado on a bagel because that's weird. Miss J told her that she needs to come back immediately if there is a problem so we can fix it and then told her to come back in and we would make her another sandwich free of charge. She comes in and neither Miss J or I recognize her and she tells us that she had gotten a CALLIE bagel and it was made wrong. Liar. First she says we forgot everything on the sandwich and then she tells us she ordered a different sandwich than what she had originally told us. Some people's children.
Work has been fun. I love making the breads and cakes and cookies. I tried a new recipe...Strawberry Shortcake and it's been a hit! We recently got cinnamon rolls that are as big as my head, it's too early to tell if they will be popular or not. I saw the big T for a sesh today and when I got there he had a Gandolfo's cup on his desk and he said he went there for lunch because he had to try my chocolate mousse cake which he loved by the way. I was happy to hear that. Speaking of the T, he is a weird one. He has informed me that if you step on a cheeto and twist your foot, it doesn't leave a mark on the ground. Also, blue M&Ms are good for your spine. It's true. I googled it. So, if you happen to have some spinal problems simply eat blue M&Ms and if you don't care of M&Ms, simply suck the blue of the blue ones and whatever ailment you may have had will most assuredly disappear. I have a candy machine full of M&Ms so if you need some blue ones you can put a quarter in my machine. That's the price you pay for good spinal health.

Brownies and Kittens and my dear Aunt Teen

I heard a rumor today that I haven't blogged since July 15th and that some people may be perturbed about this (I won't mention any names...Teen). As a result of not blogging for about 18 days there is much to tell.
A couple days ago I took the papillon outside to take care of some early morning business and in the midst of the quiet morning I heard a tiny little "meow" actually it was more like an angry meow. Lily and I went to scope out the situation and under a weedy bush we found a teeny kitten, maybe three weeks old and it was a very unhappy camper. I suspect that it was angry because it had been abandoned and also that it was hungry. Of course I picked it up and brought it inside and fed it some Ensure...I shared my nutritional, oh so yummy, please gain weight, homemade vanilla shake ensure with this poor unfortunate little kitty. It was pretty darn happy after that. Lily was rough with her so they had to take turns getting to play. Lily would go in her kennel while the kitten played then the kitten would go in her kennel while Lily antagonized it or whined at the door of the room we put it in. A family in our ward was in a need of a kitten so they took her. She should be happy and doing well. She will be loved where she is at.
I made brownies today. They were delicious brownies. My mother requested them a few days ago and my busy self could not get to them until this afternoon. We put some in the freezer and that made them way better. Also, I discovered that putting a brownie in a Fed Ex envelope and mailing it to Preston, ID would be a very bad idea. Virtual Fed Ex by email is much easier and less messy, however the brownie still seemed to arrive crumbly?? Figure that out. Now you must bask in the joy of the brownies and wish that you were eating one, it would be like a party in your mouth...now bask...
One other item of important business. I am employed. That's right! Come on down to Gandolfo's where you will NOT receive a discount for mentioning this ad and I will gladly make you any sandwich your little hearts desire. I only know how to make one but that it beside the point. I can proof and bake bread like nobody's business. I make a mean kaiser and hero roll. I work everyday from 7:00 A.M. to 11:00 A.M. and I have my very own key to the store and an awesome black shirt that says "Gandolfo's" all over it and shows Lily hair very well. That is all.
Farewell for now my lovelies.

Camp...young women's style

I've never been to an actual "young women's camp" before. I think when I was like 15 I went to camp for part of a day but never had the full experience. Well, this year you might call young women's camp our family vacation. Manda and Tim went since they are obviously young women, mom went because she's a laurel advisor and dad went because without him the girls would have starved. So, it seemed like a good idea for me to go as well. The afternoon before mom and I went up (mom had to work so we didn't go the whole time) I had a "procedure" which caused me a great deal of pain. The next morning we went to Idaho for girls camp. I was sure I would be fine but it turns out that I was in a lot more pain than I originally thought I would be. The morning we left was basically torture but....I conquered and came out mostly alive!! I really tried hard to enjoy girls camp and I did enjoy it, just hurting a little bit. We did all sorts of crafty things and I even got to be in charge of making magnet boards! It was great. I helped cook chicken and apple, cherry and peach cobbler. It was fun to watch the girls play in the water and do their various activities. I took Lily and she and I shared a sheep camp (totally cute). So I have now experienced a real young women's camp. Lily also enjoyed camp. She was tied up outside for almost the whole time we were there. The girls liked playing with her. When we got home she was exhausted! She slept for two days. I think a few days of camp is more than a tiny little puppy can handle.

Searching

I was assigned the task of taking comp pictures today in the most ridiculously addressed town in Utah, that's right, Plain City (or perhaps Farr West?). I'm driving along 2700 N thinking I can pretty much get to anywhere from that particular street, NO! It turns out that the streets wind aimlessly forever. You think you know exactly where you are only to find out that you are not even close. For example I started out looking for an address on 3900 W so it seems natural that I would take 3900 west and I did. The road curved around so much I got car sick and ended up coming out on something like 2300 W and I hadn't found the house I was originally looking for. I left the house at 11:00 and returned at 3:00, all but a half hour of those hours was spent looking for houses to take pictures of. Also, taking comp pictures makes me nervous. Like what if I'm taking a picture of some old lady's house and she sees me through her window and runs out in her house coat waving a rolling pin while I frantically search for the window button?! What if some big scary guy comes out and yells at me or some scared little mommy calls the cops claiming I'm a kidnapper?! These scenarios are entirely possible although I have not encountered them yet. Another thing, I was on some silly side road and I was stopped in CONSTRUCTION (hello people, who does construction on silly side roads) for 15 minutes (no lie). It was lame.
When I came home Tim and mom and I went swimming in sista P's pool and it was fab. I'm looking hot in my bathing suit and sweet pink goggles. I love the word "goggle" and couldn't stop saying it for like an hour. There were bugs in the pool but they didn't scare me, I was like a fish out there! After swimming I had an awesome piano lesson full of much praise and accomplishment then Tim and I took Lily to the park and went walking. Great fun.
On a sadder note: Little Man, my lovable, entirely too fluffy, psycho cat is in heaven now with his sissy Isabelle. Apparently he got hit sometime Monday and we didn't even know until that night. It was tragic. I couldn't look at him. Fortunately Kade was home for the weekend and buried him. It really is a sad thing. I really loved my kitty. RIP Little Man.

What are you looking at?

I went to Lagoon with Manda and Timini yesterday and it was fun. The weather was good, the lines were super short so we didn't have to wait a long time. I only got to stay there for a few hours though because I had an appointment with my T (when I got there he asked me why the heck I came to see him instead of staying at Lagoon!), Manda and Timini stayed almost the whole day! At one point we were waiting in line for the Spider, the line was short but still a bit of a wait. There were two girls in front of us, I would guess they were probably 15, anyway, one of the girls kept turning around and just staring at us. What the heck?! You don't just turn around and stare at people. Manda wanted to punch her in the face, I wanted to scratch at her eyes and tell her to mind her own business and Timini was, as usual, totally oblivious. We could figure out why this girl kept looking at us but finally came up with this:
"She is jealous that the three of us are so cute and she is not, she was feeling a bit self-conscious about her abnormally large nose".
We got on the Spider and didn't think too much about her. As we were walking through the park I saw her eating ice cream on a bench and again she just stared at us. How rude! I should've asked her what her problem was or if I could help her with something. Having people do that can make one feel self-conscious about themselves and that's a no good feeling!
In further news, I find myself sitting and staring at the computer yet again waiting for an order to appear. There hasn't been a single one ALL morning and I'm getting bored.
Michael Jackson is dead....um, why do we care so much? It seems like that's the only thing I've heard for the past 24 hours..."Oh my heck, did you hear Michael Jackson died", "Michael Jackson is dead, what happened", "The greatest pop icon dies at 50". I don't want to be insensitive, I'm sure this is a very difficult time for the Jackson family, I however do not care and I am a little bit sick of hearing about it. Also, Farah Fawcett died the same day, why don't we care as much about her? I think she's pretty much amazing...poor thing.

Italian Ice, Ice-less soda and Icecubes

Let's discuss ice. As I was riding around town with my mammy and sisters yesterday I realized that our trip in fact contained a lot of ice. First there was the Italian Ice from Zeppes (if you've never been to Zeppes you're missing out of the finest Italian ice EVER to hit planet earth), then we went to Maverik where I purchased a Diet Pepsi sans ice. I've found that ice makes the soda flavorless and flat which is not what you want in a soda. Hence, the ice-less soda. Our last stop was to the grocery store. At the checkout line there was a little plastic bucket of Icecubes, now I've never seen such a thing as this particular Icecube so naturally I had to get one. It turns out they are actually chocolate! How fun is that!? It's pretty good chocolate too. The only downfall to these yummy chocolate treats is that they melt instantly so you have to eat them super quick.

Boredom and emails

Boredom is one of those things I don't handle well which is why the weekend was somewhat....shall we say difficult? Here's the run down
The parental units hopped a plan to san fran on Tuesday night so it was me and the sistas, great fun. Wednesday was B-O-R-I-N-G with a capital b-o-r-i-n-g (as you can clearly see). Basically I sat around and stared at the computer screen waiting for emails to come saying there was an appraisal order. You see, if you don't click on the email immediately you don't get the order. After a while this became very entertaining. It's like a game and you're playing against every other appraiser in Utah and then you get an order and a victory dance is absolutely necessary...haha suckers!! I got it first! Okay, so that was Wednesday. Thursday I took Tim to Lagoon fairly early. I dropped her off and the rain was SO hard and it was scary. I was sure I was going to die before I made it home but alas...I did not. I also had therapy and went to Orem to see the big D. It was a rather boring day as well. Friday I stared at the computer again. Saturday I baked a cheesecake for my padre to show my love for him on Father's Day. This cheesecake is a monster! It took me about four hours but it was totally fun. On Saturday night Tim and I went to get the mammasita and daddy-o from the airport.
Other stuff that I just want to say:

• Lily is doing amazingly well since her pretty purple and pink bandage came off. She's running around absolutely CRAZY and her hip is staying right where it should be. I'm sure she's glad that she can walk normally again. She does miss the color though, it sort of made her eyes POP. So cute.
• There is a sticker in my pants and it's really bugging me...seriously.
• Who the heck puts a carnival in the middle of an intersection?
• I'm staring at the computer screen again. I've made it my goal in life to get every stinkin' email that comes across. P.S. I've got two orders already which pretty much makes me not the biggest loser! Poor other appraisers, I dare them to mess with me and my mad mouse skills.
• T.R. Knight is officially leaving Grey's Anatomy *tear* I love you George....
• The Offspring is rocking my socks off right now. I LURVE them!

Tip of the day: Wait for the PB bars to cool before you put the PB on or it will melt

The rain, and also...the rain plus making ice cream

I love the rain and there has been a lot of it. I've loved waking up every morning to gray clouds. I was driving to Lagoon to drop of the big little sis and on the way back there was like an inch of water on the freeway and then it started hailing, I couldn't see a thing and...no lie, it freaked me out a teensy bit. Also, I haven't had to water my flowers for a very long time and they are still alive!
New subject: I have discovered the greatest thing since sliced cheese, for real. Homemade ice cream! It's super easy and super delicious. I made a kick booty cake batter ice cream that is soooooo much better than Cold Stone (don't tell them I said that) and I made cookie dough and butterfinger too! Just mix the stuff up, pour it in the bucket and turn on the motor, it's fabulous. It's also way cheaper than the stuff from the store which is great for the wallet. I highly recommend trying this fine art

An update on the injured mini k-9

Lily is doing quite well these days. After her "incident" on Sunday her leg was wrapped up in pretty pink tape so that her ligaments and other weird hip parts could heal properly. On Tuesday she wiggled herself out of the bandage and walked like she was feeling better. That night I made the mistake of taking her to her puppy class where she walked for the entire hour and a half (she learned to heel!). On Wednesday morning she woke up fine but as the day went on she seemed to be having more pain and more pain (stubborn dog refused to take her pill) and by 6:00 we couldn't even touch her leg...UH OH! I called the vet and took her down, the vet tech put a muzzle on her, it was blue and she likes pink so she was angry about that. They x-rayed her and her hip had dislocated AGAIN! So, they put her under and fixed the hip and wrapped it again in pink...her favorite color of all time. At 1:30 this morning she wiggled out of the bandage for a second time, no good. The doc said to try and keep it on her for a week,5 hours wasn't going to cut it. I woke up the parentals and we just couldn't get the wrap back on so I stayed up all night with her to make sure she didn't do anything stupid like take another leap off of something attempting to fly. At 7:00 this morning we called the vet who lives down the street and he came right over and wrapped it up nice and snug (it's purple this time). She looks a little retarded with three legs but it won't be for long!

Lily the butter"fall"

Sunday brought a most traumatic event to our house. After church I was standing in the kitchen and out of the corner of my eye I caught something falling from the cat walk on the third floor (about 10 ft. above the main level) and then I heard a "thud" and then I heard Lily crying. She was hopping around on three legs with her back leg tucked up underneath her. I freaked out, I just knew her leg was broken. She didn't appear to be hurt anywhere else so I picked her up and held her. We called the ER for animals from the phone book and they said that they wouldn't be able to see her for at least three hourse because they were just going in to surgery. Then we called every after hours number we could find and finally got a vet that lives just down the street from us. He came over and looked at her and decided to bring her down to his vet office. I didn't go because I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to handle watching him fix her and hearing her cry. It turns out that she dislocated her hip pretty good. Now she is all better, her hip is being held in place by a wrap for a few days but she'll be fine. Also, while she was knocked out getting her leg fixed the vet pulled her teeth which makes her "no longer handicapped". I get to keep her teeth and a CD that has her x-rays on it (she has the teeny tiny little bones). So, Lily apparently cannot fly even with the size of her ears. She may think she can but no, she in fact cannot.

Relaxing afternoon

I went to the dentist on Monday and it was great! I'm alwasy so relaxed at the dentist, I almost wanted to take a nap. I got my pretty little teeth cleaned with an amazingly strawberry flavored toothe cleaner or some sort that was all foamy and then I got flossed and rinsed. I decided that it's so much easier having someone do these things for you. Sometimes I get lazy and don't actually brush for the full recommended two minutes (like I have the patience for that!!!). Anyway, that was awesome. Then the Dr. S came in to exam the x-rays and poke at my teeth with his mean looking poking stick which is not actually mean at all. After digging around for a minute he says "I think there's something back here" and I'm like "what the heck could be back THERE!" Apparently there was a very small cavity. I'm not entirely sure how this cavity came about but...le sigh...it is there. There was also another teeny tiny problem-o. One of my bottom pointy teeth has a very badly receeded gum line which means the nerves are being exposed and causing mucho ouchie. I don't brush it or touch it or anything like that because it makes me flinch and that's weird. He said it's bad enough I'll probably have to have a graft but will check it again in six months. I got a new spinny toothbrush out of the deal though because it's supposed to be gentle on my oh so tender gums :)

The author plants a garden

I noticed in my last post (the newspaper article) that the pictures didn't work so I shall tell you what the pictures were. The first one was a trumpet like angels play, the big long ones that seem to have no other purpose than to make the angels look cute. The second picture is of a very old lady, very very old.
Now on to the subject. I have officially finished my first book. I'm going to be writing a children's series. I can't share the book yet because I don't want to, it's going to be a surprise. I can however disclose the title...drum roll please...."Boyd's New School". I'm currently trying to find a publishing company that will publish it!
On to the next subject. I am indeed a supremely amazing gardner. I bought some beautiful flowers and planted them all by myself and I'm going to take really good care of them. I also helped plant the family vegetable garden. We hung pots from the greenhouse ceiling full of tomatoes and peppers and squashes of EVERY kind! I also planted the table in the greenhouse with other vegetables that I probably won't eat because they are growing in the dirt. The garden took quite a while to plant but it was so much fun! I think we're going to have a wonderful crop this year (is that what real garden people say?!)

Newspaper

I was looking through some old computer files and came across a silly newspaper article that I wrote in 2006.   It was my attempt at journalism and now, posted here for you enjoyment...the ad.  

The Liberty Herald

 

 

Woman killed by flying object

April 28, 2006

By: Cassie Hansen

 

A native of Liberty Utah, Miss Mabel Peters, was killed yesterday morning when she was hit in the head by a jug of Western Family Brand orange juice that mysteriously dropped from the sky as she was walking to get her mail.  The jug of orange juice decapitated her.

            Mabel Peters has lived in Liberty since she was born.  Miss Peters was 89 years old, very active and in good health.  She met her husband Burt during her childhood; they played together at the Liberty Park often.  They married and had 7 children together. 

            “Mother was such a good person, why did something like this happen to her?” her daughter Anna said tearfully as she talked to our reporter early yesterday afternoon.

            Mabel was an asset to the community.  She was an advocate of horse rights, she held fundraisers to help buy educational material for the local junior high, and she organized community cleaning projects and was a joy to have at the beauty shop.  She frequented Eats of Eden and will be missed by the waitresses there.

            In her earlier years, Miss Peters taught at Valley Elementary in Huntsville.  Many of her students have started a petition to ban flying orange juice since they heard about the incident yesterday.

            “It’s such a tragedy, something needs to be done” said Mari belle, one of Miss Peters second grade students in the year 1984.

            Miss Peter’s children have planned to take legal action against all of the major airlines in the United States as well as Western Family food company

Another of the Peter’s sons, Ralph, told us “the products that are being produced nowadays are just too dangerous to have around the house, or any where for that matter, we must do something before someone else gets killed under similar circumstances” 

            Rest assured that the police are doing everything they can.  They have the jug of orange juice in custody and are looking for suspects.  If any one witnessed this tragic event or can give us any information as to where this jug of orange juice came from please call the police at 745-1111 immediately. 

            Miss Mabel Peters was a good person all around.  She will be missed greatly by those who knew her and those who didn’t.  We would also like to express our sorrow to the whole Peters family.

Cookin' with Cass

I've decided to make my own cooking show or at least a web show?! I pretty much rock the kitchen. Saturday was so much fun! I volunteered to make four salads for the big gathering at the park in honor of Kade (who is home by the way). We were expecting a lot of people which meant we need a lot of food. I started the day by making a bowtie pasta salad with taco seasoning (random?). That took a while because I had to make half the noodles then the other half since we don't have a big enough pot. The next challenge was finding a serving bowl big enough to mix it in but we did. After that salad was taken care of I moved on to the potato salad. Again, I had to cook half the potatoes then the other half so it took a while. Eventually the potatoes got done and we found another bowl to mix it in. After the potato salad I moved on to the brownies. Lots and lots of brownies (I think these were the highlight of the event). After making brownies Kade brought a lovely date over and made her dinner so I took Manda and Timini to Chili's so they could have the house to themselves. After dinner it was time to bake the cookies! Four batches of Chocolate Chip and six batches of peanut butter later I was finally done for the day (it was about 10:30 p.m.). Up early on Sunday I was ready to go again! Sunday morning I made the lettuce salad and the fruit salad...went to church, rushed home during Sunday school to start the chicken, heard Kade speak, rushed off again to set up the food at the park and take the chicken out of the oven. At 2:00 everyone came over to eat and visit and it was all ready for them! I should have my own cheer squad because that's how much I rock! So, tune in to my weekly cooking show (ok, so I don't have a weekly cooking show but you are welcome to tune in anyway).
Now I need to figure out what to make for dinner....

Face Craters

I made the mistake of getting two moles (yes, ugly brown dots) removed from my facial region, namely my lateral nostril (on the right side). There were two lovely lumps quite close together so I thought "what the heck, why not get them both loped off at the same time, save some money and another trip back to the derm" so I did. He numbed it up good with a very small needle which he dug around for what felt like 20 YEARS until I could no longer feel a thing. Next came the razor blade...uh hello!? Razor blade...eyes...not a good combination. Anyway, after he sliced them off they went in to their own little test tubes to be sent of for an examination by highly trained professions whom I will call mole-ologists. They study moles in great detail to make sure there is no icky cancer in them. After the moley moles were gone he busted out the "hyfercator" and literally burned my face WITH FIRE! It stunk. Then he put some lovely bandaids on that were quite inconspicuous (not). So the bandaids came off today and what the H-WORD (pardon me) there are two giant holes in my face that are not so attractive. I believe they are red but I could be wrong about this. Anyway, the derm says that they will be scabby then fall off very soon as long as I don't pick them. For those of you who know me well, you know how much I enjoy picking. Luckily since the fingernail removal incident I have no fingernails to speak of so it shouldn't be a problemo (spanish, in honor of Cinco de Mayo). That's the story of the face craters.

Mi papillon est handicape

I speak french now by the way. My cute little papillon is indeed handicapped, I've even thought of getting a tag for my car window so I can park in the special spaces. I took Lily to the vet last week to get her rabies shot (OUCH) and the vet looked in her mouth and said "she has a severe overbite"...okay, what does that mean? Well, her top teeth are pushing in to her gums on the bottom and hurting, that's not good. I asked what could be done about this and the vet told me that when her big girl teeth come in chances are good that they will have to be pulled to prevent her from being in pain. Also, she said if I have a lot of money that I could get her braces. What the moldy cheese?!? Braces for a dog, absurd. So, that is why my puppy is handicapped.
In other news: I just ordered a book on Amazon using one-click ordering and it's totally fab.

Also, my sissy gave me this wonderful poem and I thought I would share it here.

The new me
Change can be a scary thing
Like the caterpillar,
I must find my wings.
Heavenly Father created me to move.
He knows that day by day
I will improve.
I must decide to make the change soon,
To grow inside my spiritual cacoon.
While inside this place
Called earthy home,
I pray and search,
I'm not alone.
Then one day, after struggles and pain,
I win the price of eternal reign.
A butterfly I've become.
I tell Heavenly Father
that his work is done.

House training...no bueno

Lily must be house trained so she does not continue to soil our lovely home. Usually she does okay...actually I lied, she never does okay. The thing is that when I take her outside to use el bano she never quit finishes because she gets distracted "mid-doody" and then when she comes back inside she still has more to doodle. She seems to forget why she's outside in the first place. Typically it is the cat that distracts her then she has to act all tough and mean while the cat sits back and rolls his eyes. It's even worse when it's 5 degrees outside and she just WON'T GO! I'm not going to stand outside all night and freeze so I put a pee pee pad in my room which she is actually good at using. She seems to have to go at 5:00 a.m. lately which is inconvenient because nobody in their right mind wants to get out of bed that early especially to take the dog outside!! I've decided that I will watch her at all times to make sure that I catch her every time she starts sniffing for a suitable spot to do the dirty deed. Also, when nobody is home she gets to start being locked in a kennel until somebody lets her out. She doesn't like this, I don't blame her but it must be done. In hopes of making her more comfortable I have situated the kennel in the piano room directly in the sun so she can at least stay warm and comfy.
In other news I have achieved pro status in bowling on the Wii. Now I get a special glittery ball with stars...yeah, I'm just that good!

Who knew?

I started piano lessons yesterday and was informed that I would have to remove my nails. That's okay with me, I was thinking about it anyway. Now, the problem was this...how on earth do I do that? With acrylic nails it's easy enough to soak your hands in acetone and peel them off but unfortunately mine were gel. Naturally I thought that they would come off like acrylic but I was wrong! I started by soaking my fingers in acetone for like 30 minutes, by then most of my fingers had been burned off from the chemicals...not good. Next, we thought maybe we'll just chisel away at them with sharp things, that was a no deal. Next thought "ah who cares, they'll come off at some point". Today I went down to the ATC hoping they could help me. It turns out that all you have to do is file them for 2 HOURS and they come right off. Who knew? There was a girl at each of my hands sawing away with their nail files. O-U-C-H. The girl on the right hand went fairly quickly, the girl doing the left hand was a different story. By the time righty got all finished lefty was on nail numero 2. Righty then said to lefty "why don't you go get some lunch and I'll finish this hand". Thank goodness! My fingers hurt and my nails are bendy and gross but apparently that won't last forever. Now I can comfortably play the piano with the pads of my dainty little fingers.

Funny joke!

Two muffins were sitting in the oven. One muffin turned to the other and said "man, it's hot in here" and the other muffin yelled "ahhh! A talking muffin!"

HAHAHA

The many looks of Lily

Some might say that it is weird to dress your dog in actual people clothes (am I wrong?), I however think it is...precious. I enjoy dressing Lily in her clothes and she enjoys being dressed, she really does, you can ask her. I love taking her out and hearing all the people "ahhhh she's so cute, look at her little dress" or "ohhhh can I pet her, her outfit is darling, she's so soft, what kind is she, are those ears real?" Anyway, back to the point...I think dog clothes are neat, I've been using my mad seamstress skills to even make some cute little vest and I still can't sew! So, here are just a few of Lily's many outfits...just a few:

P.S I presonally made the blue (?) one with butterflies or "papillons" as they say in french and I made the pink (?) one with buttons! go me...go me...go me!!

Tip of the day: when a bowl comes out of the oven, it is generally hot and shouldn't be touched

Just schtuff from the depths of my brain

Schtuff #1: The baby horse has a name, she will be called "Harley" (insert sigh here, so cute)
Schtuff #2: The RX for overall good health is FOOD (thanks Doc)
Schtuff #3: The weather sucks (anyone agree???). The first day of spring was like 10 days ago and so far there has been no spring.
Schtuff #4: Easter candy pretty much rocks my socks off. Huge fan of the robin eggs and yellow peeps.
Schtuff #5: I'm supposed to be preparing FHE for tonight but so far haven't come up with a single thing, except for the treat. Cheesecake bars anyone?
Schtuff #6: The social security office is not my friend. Why do they have to be so darn frustrating.
Schtuff #7: I need to hang up my clothes. I think every shirt and pair of jeans I own is currently thrown carelessly in the corner of my bedroom.
Schtuff #8: I want to ride my horse.
Schtuff #9: I'm all out of schtuff to list

The mighty huntress...

In the red corner...Little man weighing in at 7 lbs 4 ounces

In the blue corner...Lily weighing in at 2 lbs 5 ounces

This is gonna be one heck of a fight folks!!!!

Lily thinks she is tough and in all her 2.5 lb glory she decided to take on the cat. Of course, she had no idea that the cat is actually twice her size and could easily claw her face off. She barked repeatedly at him and followed him around. He didn't seem to mind at first but as most little people tend to do...she got annoying which annoyed him and he took the first swing. Lily was not going to back down without a fight so she continued barking in the cat's face...the second swing and then the third. Lily backed off and went on to bigger and better things like taking a nap in the sunshine. After I put the cat out, Lily again attempted to eat him this time through the window and the best part is she tried to do it while wearing a pink dress that just screamed "I AM LILY AND I AM GOING TO KILL YOU"

I love ya Lily!

Announcing...the new BABY!

No, it's not MY baby! Let me start at the beginning...Felina is a horse, a big big black horse (by the way, she stepped on my foot and I'm pretty sure that every toe is broken) anyway, over the summer last year it was thought that she was pregnant but she never seemed to grow any bigger (lucky, huh?) so that thought was pushed aside quickly. Well, it turns out that there was indeed a little chicklet in there and it arrived at 5:00 a.m. this morning. I wasn't there obviously. I had better things to do like sleep. The baby is a dark gray color, at first I was unsure whether it was a he or a she so I called it a shim. It has since been confirmed that it is a girl. I can't believe how cute she is. I hope my babies are so cute and fuzzy. The best part is that she likes me. She let me touch her and everything! I have a feeling that I'm going to be spending quite a bit of time in the barn watching the baby do baby things. For your ooohing and ahhing pleasure....a picture:

BLAH BLAH BLAH

It's a lovely Saturday morning and SURPRISE I started enjoying it at 2:45 a.m. aren't you supposed to sleep in on the weekends?!? I don't understand.

Here's the deal for real: I rode two horses yesterday and WHOA was it exhausting! First I rode Rocket and then I rode my Kyah my own horse (p.s. I cut her bangs and she looks so freakin' cute!!!). Rocket did pretty well, he kept trying to pull a fast one on me but HAHAHA (insert evil laugh here) it didn't work. Kyah was slightly more difficult to get to cooperate but alas, I did get her to cooperate better than ever before. We loped and jogged and walked aimlessly through the weeds and random horse bones while enjoying the scenery and nice warm-ish weather. I love my horse! OH! While feeding the chickens yesterday the rooster accidentally escaped causing all sorts of stress because of his annoyingness. Apparently he is going to be caught or shot in the head. I guess this ends the post for the day. Oh by the way leave some stinking comments because I like them :)

The life of a farm girl

I'm becoming what I NEVER thought I would EVER be and as it turns out it is quite fabulous. The life of a farm girl is quite busy. There is always something to be done...feed the horses, ride the horses etc. and best of all there is lots of DIRT involved. Those of you who know me well know how much I despise the dirt but things have changed and the dirt is awesome! I believe the only things that really bother me are horse sweat and mud.

So, this morning I went with Mike and Lori to get some hay because, of course, the horses have to eat. At first I went to pick up some hay and it was soooo heavy, like twice my weight and there was no way I was going to move it. I thought to myself "if at first you don't succeed, try again" and I did indeed try again. I ended up moving 2 bales out of 100. Yes, it's kind of pathetic but I was proud of myself. My muscles seem to be failing me these days :)

Also, as part of this farm girl thing I've been riding my horse. I can catch, saddle, and ride her without supervision now. How cool is that?! I can even life the saddle on to her all by myself (mommy wow! I'm a big kid now!).

That pretty much sums up my life at the moment. Bah bah bah bah bah I'm lovin' it!

Tip of the day: the best time to take a drink in the car is when there are no bumps!

Life's Simplicities

I'm sitting at the kitchen table watching two fat goldfishes float in their tank and pondering the simple things in life like being able to float along in a fish tank with no worries at all. How would it be to be a fish? or a dog? or even a happy cow from California? It would be good but I prefer to be human I think. There are so many wonderful pleasures in life that would be missed out on if we were animals. Love, shopping, hangin' with friends, listening to music, watching the stars...these are the simple pleasures I'm talking about. There are so many blessings in this world it just blows my mind to try and think of them all.

Well, Tuesday was quite the eventful day. In the afternoon Lori and I rode our horses around the property for a while, it was such a nice day to enjoy! After riding we decided to ride two more horses so we went to get them. We pulled Hiccup out of her stall and realized she was limping because she had a nail in her back foot! Lori got some pliars and pulled it out so she will be okay. As soon as we got the nail out Mike came walking from the barn with Scooter the old horse who had cut his leg pretty bad. It was gross. The cut went all the way to his bone and I was like "HOLY FLAGNOD that's his BONE" and there was also a tendon that had been cut and was sticking out. We got him loaded up and took him to the vet where he got all stitched up. The vet had to cut the tendon out so he'll have a hard time walking for a while but he should be okay as long as he doesn't get an infection. It was one heck of a crazy afternoon!

Tip of the day: When sitting on the heater, put a blanket over you to trap in the heat

What to do...what to do...?

I'm on "house arrest" cause I haven't been feeling well and it stinks! I feel all wiggly inside like I just want to get up and run a marathon. Also, I'm soooooo bored!! I'm not the type of person who can just sit around doing nothing and I'm also not the type of person who will find something to entertain myself during the long, lonely dark hours of the day. Okay, so they aren't lonely or dark because I have my puppy but they are long! Perhaps I should be sneaky and find a way out of the house to go buy some shoes or something...that would help. For realsies though, it sucks! It's such a nice day outside and I want to go ride my horse but alas...it will not happen. Hopefully soon though. I hope y'all enjoyed my complaint session, I for sursies feel so much better!

Stand tall y'all

For today I thought I would post a song that is very meaningful to me, I hope that you enjoy the lyrics as much as I do and may you all have a positive day!

Stand
by: Susan Ashton
With visible breath, I'm calling your name
With visible tracks, I'm finding my way
With a sorrowful heart, I honor this pain
And offer these tears to the rain
In a moment of truth at the top of the hill
I open my arms and let go of my will
And stand with my face to the wind
With the storm beating down on this sacred ground
If I stand for the grace that I've known
For what I believeThen I won't stand alone
No I won't stand alone
There's a new pair of eyes to embrace all I see
A new peace of mind and it comes quietly
There's a joy in my heart that you've given to me
And I offer this soul's melody
So I beat on my chest till my song has been sung
And I cry like a wolf at the top of my lungs
And stand with my face to the wind
With the storm beating down on this sacred ground
If I stand for the grace that I've known
For what I believeThen I won't stand alone
No I won't stand alone
When the thundering voices of doubt try to shake my faith, oh
I'll be listening from inside out and I won't be afraid to
Stand with my face to the wind
With the storm beating down on this sacred ground
If I stand for the grace that I've known
For what I believeThen I won't stand alone
No I won't stand...I won't stand alone

Le Papillon

I got a new puppy! She's the cutest puppy I've ever seen in my whole life and guess what?! She really really loves me! She's a Papillon which means butterfly in French and I named her Lily. She has big funny ears like Dumbo's, someday soon she'll probably lift off and fly away. She's super tiny but hopefully will grow and not decide to stop like I did :) I went with Lori yesterday just to see the puppies to decide whether or not I actually wanted to invest in one (they were a wee bit pricey) and as soon as we got there I was in love! Here's the crazy in the head thing...Lori had a dream that we actually brought home two puppies and she also fell in love with one and so, as Lori's dream predicted, we are each the proud owner of one puppy. Lori got the boy and named him Nitro, he's totally cool! I just can't get over how cute and lovable and squeezably soft they are. OH! I got Lily a leopard print collar with a charm that says "princess". Lily is intended to be used a "therapy dog" kind of like my horse Kyah is a "therapy horse" and they are both performing their duties magnificently! Now, knowing what I know about scientific things I would like to make an analysis of each of my therapy animals, bear with me because people who are as smart as me tend to get a little boring:
Kyah
Very Gentle
Tends to understand the deepest most cavernous portions of my brain where my feelings lie
Always covered in a brown substance, scientific evidence would suggest this is a form of mud
Slightly lazy where things such as exercise are concerned
Gray in color which is very fitting since that's mostly what I see because my rods and cones seem to have malfunctioned as some point while I was growing safe and warm inside my mommy
Vertically she is very large making it hard for my tiny legs to get in the stirrups to pull myself up
Works magic every time I ride her
I heart you Kyah!!!

Lily
Vertically challenged like me
Also tends to understand the deepest most cavernous portions of my brain
In the process of being trained in the ways of eliminating outside
Likes to sleep with her head nestled safely next to my cervical vertebrae
My first love and only true passion (okay, maybe not my FIRST love)
Gets chilly in the precipitation known as snow
Slightly shy but any psychologist will tell you that this is only temporary as she gets used to her new surroundings.
White in color with slightly differing hues of brown which I do not see correctly
Also works magic whenever she is around
I heart you too Lily!
So, there you have it, in all its scientific glory. My pets are the very best anyone could ever ask for! I can't forget Little Man and Addi either...they are crazy coooooool!

Innocent in a bar

Hello peepcicles and now for your enjoyment...the bar story: It was a cold Friday night in Ogden Utah. Lori and her boyfriend Mike and I were just sitting around at the kitchen table chattin' it up and Lori was like "let's go out to the bar and do some dancing" and so we all changed in to our "going out to the bar clothes" and took off in the BIG yellow truck. We pulled in to the Outlaw around 8:00 p.m. and at this point I was so excited because I've never actually been to a bar where you pay $5 to get in and get ID'd and all that. We walked in, paid our mullah and found a table in the back where we would watch the dance floor and all the other people getting wasted. Lori and Mike ordered beers and a virgin pina colada (bring me two pina coladas, gotta have one for each day....of sorry, off the subject a little). We were drinking away when a cowboy guy with stinky breath came and asked me to dance, I accepted and we did the western swing followed by the two-step and then the western swing again. This guy began to get a little creepy. He proceeded to ask me to dance about a thousand bazillion more times and even invited himself to join our table. Lori and I were trying to get him away by going to the restroom and stuff that girls do to ditch weird guys. Now, around this time Lori was probably on her fourth beer and it was getting late. There was a seriously cute guy at the table next to us and he said that if the creepy bull riding, poo poo in the boots guy came back that I was 100% allowed to throw myself all over him (his name was Nick). He was a nice guy. We all danced a little more, Lori was so sloshed by the end of the night and she was HILARIOUS! I've never seen a funnier drunk person in my life. We ended up getting home at 1:00 a.m. and for those of you who know me well, I never stay out past nine. This was a big step. The bar was so much fun and the dancing was awesome. Perhaps I will go dancing again next weekend. Oh! Thank you Crystal for purchasing those fabulous dancing boots for me!

Recipe of the day: Stir 1 Tbsp of Stephens Mint hot chocolate mix in to boiling water and top with approximately 6 tiny marshmallows

Fun with the Lorimeister

WOW! The past week has been probably one of the the FUNNEST weeks of my entire 23 years of life. I've recently "moved in" with Lori the horse lady and it has changed my life....for realsies. We have done tons of totally cool stuff but alas, I cannot list them all but here are a few

• Cleaning horse poopie from the horse stalls (very cool)


• Riding like everyday


• Going to the bar and dancing the two-step and swing (this is an adventure that I will write about later)


• Wandering the mall for hours


• Getting pedicures


• Getting make overs at Dillards (I looked completely FABBBBB)

Lori is so much fun and it's so exciting to get up every morning and wonder what kind of fun adventure she will drag me in to. She's definitely shown this sheltered girl a whole new way of living. Also, she has an absolutely amazing dog who rocks America's face off named Fannie (short for Fantasia). She is a Cocker Spaniel and she loves me. Actually she has become my bed buddy (not in THAT way) she sleeps with me every night. You could say we've hit if off and I think it's going to be a very meaningful, lasting relationship.

Tip of the day: Do not walk through mud and horse nasties in your favorite boots

My new hobby

I was watching the tele the other day, bored as can be and turned to the Food Network channel where there was a show on called "Challenge". It was a bunch of cake decorators trying to make a scene from Cirqu Di Soleil out of cake and it intrigued me so I decided my new hobby will be decorating cakes. I was so excited about this new idea and I ran down town to the kitchen store and signed up for a class. Amanda decided she wants to give her BF a cake for Valentines Day so I decided to see if I could be good at decorating cakes and did a trial run on Sunday. I baked the cake which actually took 50 minutes instead of 30 because I made two boxes. I checked it at 30 minutes and it was wiggly which is never a good sign when dealing with a cake. Anyway, it came out of the oven and I let it cool down before I dumped it out. When I went to dump it out of the pan it slipped right out but then I needed to get it on to a cooling rack so I picked it up and it broke in half!!! I wanted to add a heart shaped layer on top of the square cake so I put another cake in the oven, this time I made it round and it cooked quite nicely actually. When the cakes were cooled I trimmed the edges so they were all pretty and I cut out a heart shape from the little cake and frosted them which didn't work quite like I had planned. Then I covered each layer in marshmallow fondant (wow! making this was an adventure but I haven't the time to go in to detail at this particular moment...stay tuned for more on the fondant experience). I'm pretty impressed with how my first cake turned out. It may not be the most beautiful but but it's not ugly which is all I was hoping for!!! I think I could be good at this decorating thing but we shall see.

Observe...the cake

I will most likely grow up to be a baker of many a delicatessen. Just look at that magnificent, sugary, heart shaped, made with love cake! I wonder if it tastes good....

Calling Dr. S

I had to go to the Dr. yesterday which is always a lovely experience, is it not? I developed some bruises on my legs, they just sort of appeared overnight, I must've been beating myself up on my sleep. I thought to myself "this is not normal, I must see the Dr." so off I went. I really hate going to the Dr. mostly because you never know what they are actually going to do to you. Part of me wondered if I was going in about some bruises and ended up having my left hand amputated or something. Another reason I hate the Dr. is all the touching and poking and stuff, I am quite uncomfortable with that particular type of physical contact. Dr. S is such a nice guy though and we had a wonderful visit. After a while he said he would like to do some lab work and an EKG to check out how totally cool my heart is. The MA (who, by the way, just returned from Mexico where it was 89 degrees while it was tropical 23 degrees here in Utah) came in with all the little tubes and various equipment that a vampire would need. She brought in a butterfly needle which was offensive because I have some seriously HUGE veins (no joke), butterfly needles are for wimps or very small children. I knew my veins could handle a much bigger needle but alas it was not meant to be. The MA must've filled like 1005769 tubes because it took forever. I also had an EKG. I've done bunches of EKGs in my time working at the Medical Clinic and I've had quite a few so I knew the drill. Remove all vital clothing from your upper person and put on a lovely nightie which is so not flattering with the opening in the front....WHAT?! The front?! That's awkward. Once again the MA returned with an EKG machine from the ice age and put the funky sticker things all over me and took a reading of my heart for about a minute then she was gone again. The Dr. looked at the EKG and said it was okie dokie except my heart rate was 50 which is kinda slow...I guess I was relaxed :) He also ordered my blood test STAT which is like the coolest medical word ever so I was excited about that.

So, that was my adventure at the Dr. office. Afterward we got ice cream because I was such a good girl. Okay, it wasn't because of that, it was mostly because we wanted it. P.S. I highly recommend Baskin Robbins new Butter Almond Crunch!!!

I have included a picture of my cute self and my cute haircut just for you Teen!

Ah...the popcorn

I was browsing foodnetwork.com as I often do looking for a recipe for caramel popcorn a few weeks ago and came across one that in fact has no caramel in it at all but I decided to try it anyway. It requires very little effort (which is quite handy when you are as lazy as I am, using brain power me no likey) and it has the most glorious taste! It actually has marshmallows in it so it's all sticky and gooey. I have found my first love and only true passion in this popcorn. I could seriously eat the entire bowl in one sitting all by myself but I will not because that would be weird. I ate a little bit today and it made my tummy feel all gurgly and yucky but I went back and had some more, that's how good this stuff is folks. I will probably hide it from myself soon...out of sight out of mind, right? I doubt it, I see this stuff in my dreams!!!!

New Character: Lori-the horse lady who is just oozing with fabulousness

Now, the story I know you all are just DYING to hear...I got a new saddle for my "no horse" yesterday. OMG it is soooooooo cool. It's so comfortable and I'm told that it's actually a nice lovely shade of green. It's a Bob Marshall and Lori said it fits me like a dream and she is the expert. I haven't ridden in it yet but I'm counting the days until Monday when we go riding again. I've been riding Hiccup the horse quite a bit lately and we've developed quite the relationship so I am positive that she will enjoy the new saddle as well. We drove to Farmington to some lady's house to get it, the lady had a nasty attitude and I couldn't wait to leave her house. The saddle will be living at Lori's house which is convenient since I would have no use for it at my own house. I have included a pic of the saddle for your viewing pleasure...I guess all I need is a horse of my very own to go with it!! Someday soon I will have it...sigh.

Viewer discretion is advised...you WILL want this lovely piece of leather once you set eyes on it.

The Winner Takes It All

We recently purchased a game entitled "SingStar: ABBA" for the PS2. This is no ordinary game. You use the ancient Japanese art of Karaoke to rock your opponents socks off while watching splendid videos of the members of ABBA perform their songs in bright pink (actually, perhaps it's not pink) spandex. The object is to stay on pitch, the closer you are the more points you get and can I just say that I'm pretty much the best singer ever?! I played against my mom, we played like 10 songs and I won all but one song (I lost that one because I felt bad so I let her win, hee hee)...I'm not bragging or anything, actually I am. This game can get pretty dang intense especially when singing such songs as "Mamma Mia" and "Dancing Queen". These songs are so great! We're pretty much addicted to Mamma Mia the movie here at my house so we have them all memorized :)

On a less hard core note: I think my cat may be addicted to Stauffer's Cheddar Cheese Snack Crackers. I gave him one a few nights ago and he kept trying to knock over the box so I kept giving him more and more and he seemed to enjoy it a little too much. Little Man probably needs a 12-step for cracker addicts, maybe I'll try and find him one. He seems okay, I was sure that we would be needing some drain-0 or whatever to unclog his pipes but so far so good. I plan to keep on feeding him cheese crackers instead of actual kitty treats mostly because they are cheaper and kitty snacks come in repulsive flavors that I would never subject him too. At least there are no actual animal parts in the crackers. I do love my kitty!!!!

Recipe of the day: two slices of wonder whole wheat bread, one slice of costco ham and TONS of mustard...I mean TONS, put the ham between the bread and squirt mustard on top, cut in half, remove crust and enjoy!!! *This meal goes great with marshmallow carmel popcorn.*

I'm a GIRL

It's official...I am a girl. Yes, it's true. I'm not really in to all the "girly stuff" like makeup (just crap you put over you face that you have to turn around and wash off again, waste of time), doing my hair (I can blow dry and flat iron it in 10 minutes and that's still too long) and painting my fingernails (ewww). I surprised myself my asking Amanda if she wanted to go get her nails done with me so we went to the nail place and had them done. Amanda got pink tips with sparkles but that's not really me so I went for white tips and they are absolutely perfect! I never ever thought I would do such a thing. It was fun though. I can't guarantee how long I will keep them but they are fine for now.

Tip of the day: Wear boots when it snows outside

TOFW...Tofu?

For real the first time I saw TOFW (Time Out For Women) I actually thought it said Tofu and I was like "that's totally disgusting" until I realized that's actually NOT what it said at all. Anyway, my mom and Grandma and I attended Time Out For Women over the last two days and let me just say that it was absolutely the bomb diggity dot com. I got to see my BFF Michael (McLean), we chatted and he gave me persmission to play A LOT. Brad and Debi Wilcox spoke about laughter and pretty much all they did was tell jokes which was cool with me because that's basically my level so I could understand it. Kenneth Cope is probably one of the funniest people I've ever seen, he sang and told jokes and stuff. There were a lot of other speakers that were good too. OH! We got these awesome tote bags that say Time Out For Women on them and they are my favorite colors (can I actually have a favorite color?? Note to self: figure this out ASAP) brown and blue. Deseret Book held a drawing for three $50 gift certificates to their store and I was harnessing my chi and using the power of the secret to make sure that I won one of them but unfortunately it didn't work so I have lost all hope that using the secret actually will get me what I want in life.
Also over the past few days I got my hair cut SHORT which surprised me. I walked in to the salon and my good buddy Jennifer was like "what do you want done to it?" and I said "maybe keep it the same but a little shorter" so she showed me what she had in mind and I told her to just go for it. I was concerned that I would resemble a mushroom and I would rather not be a nasty fungus that grows from the dirt but it's so cute, I don't have mushroomitis and for this I am very grateful.