Christmas Eating tips

1. Avoid carrot sticks. Anyone who puts carrots on a holiday buffet
table knows nothing of the Christmas spirit. In fact, if you see carrots,
leave immediately. Go next door, where they're serving rum balls.

2. Drink as much eggnog as you can. And quickly. It's rare.. You cannot
find it any other time of year but now. So drink up! Who cares that it has
10,000 calories in every sip? It's not as if you're going to turn into an
eggnog-alcoholic or something. It's a treat. Enjoy it. Have one for me.
Have two. It's later than you think. It's Christmas!

3. If something comes with gravy, use it. That's the whole point of gravy.
Gravy does not stand alone. Pour it on. Make a volcano out of your mashed
potatoes. Fill it with gravy. Eat the volcano. Repeat.

4. As for mashed potatoes, always ask if they're made with skim milk or
whole milk. If it's skim, pass. Why bother? It's like buying a sports car
with an automatic transmission.

5. Do not have a snack before going to a party in an effort to control
your eating. The whole point of going to a Christmas party is to eat other
people's food for free. Lots of it. Hello?

6. Under no circumstances should you exercise between now and New Year's.
You can do that in January when you have nothing else to do. This is the
time for long naps, which you'll need after circling the buffet table
while carrying a 10-pound plate of food and that vat of eggnog.

7. If you come across something really good at a buffet table, like
frosted Christmas cookies in the shape and size of Santa, position
yourself near them and don't budge. Have as many as you can before
becoming the center of attention. They're like a beautiful pair of shoes.
If you leave them behind, you're never going to see them again.

8. Same for pies. Apple, Pumpkin, Mincemeat. Have a slice of each. Or if
you don't like mincemeat, have two apples and one pumpkin. Always have
three. When else do you get to have more than one dessert? Labor Day ?

9. Did someone mention fruitcake? Granted, it's loaded with the mandatory
celebratory calories, but avoid it at all cost. I mean, have some
standards.

10. One final tip: If you don't feel terrible when you leave the party or
get up from the table, you haven't been paying attention. Re-read tips;
start over, but hurry, January is just around the corner. Remember this
motto to live by:


"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of
arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to
skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, body thoroughly used up, totally
worn out and screaming "WOO HOO what a ride!"

Tagged

I got tagged so here you go.

8 Favorite T.V. Shows:
1. NCIS
2. The Mentalist
3. Monk
4. Psych
5. Numbers
6. The new Night Rider
7. Heroes
8. Criminal Minds

8 Things I did yesterday:
1. Work
2. Went to see a doctor
3. Played Volleyball
4. Played with Buckie
5. Had a good conversation with C
6. Talked to A about some of the stuff the doctor said
7. Watched tv with C
8. Went to bed

8 Favorite Restaurants:
1. Wingers
2. Chef Changs
3. Applebees
4. Red Baron
5. Outback
6. There are only mexican places to eat here so when we get to go out we usually go to wingers. Sorry I just don't know that many places. We just don't go out very often
7.
8.

8 things I am looking forward to:
1. The Weekend
2. Christmas Tree Hunting. (this weekend)
3. Christmas
4. Winning the Volleyball Tournament in 2 weeks
5. T. Getting married in January
6. Seeing family
7. Decorating the house for Christmas
8. Talking to my sister

8 things on my wish list:
1. Go to Hawaii again
2. No debt
3. Having Children
4. A Yard
5. A deck off the back door
6. The basement was finished
7. Weeds will figure out not to grow in my garden
8. My family would all get along everytime we get to go home.

Thanksgiving

Wow, This was a good holiday. We got to go to my families for Thanksgiving. We were only missing 1 sibling with his wife. Everyone else was there. It made for a very big crowd. I loved every minute of it. Thanksgiving dinner was very yummy. We had lots of conversations and played some games.

The day after however was very kaotic. We got up at 4 to go shopping. I actually love the holiday rush. C stayed in bed he hates it. We went to Walmart, Home depot, Kmart, Game Stop, Office Max, and JC Penney's. It was then only 9 so we called all of the guys that stayed home and decided that we should all go out to eat. It was good. I really enjoyed that. Then we went back to Penney's for a little more shopping. Then we had a double birthday party for 2 of my nieces, tried to go to Bolt but it was sold out so we went back to my mom's and played games.

Saturday was a good lazy day. We slept in. Went target shooting and then we went to Bolt. It was a funny movie and all of the nieces loved it. I had an awesome weekend and I loved every minute of it. Oh and my sister T got engaged. She is getting married on the 16th of January. I'm so excited for her. He is such a good guy.

You Are The Stuffing

You're complicated and complex, yet all your pieces fit together. People miss you if you're gone - but they're not sure why.

What Part of Thanksgiving Are You?

Can Rollers

C. is really awesome. He was looking at my store room one day and he decide to build me some can rollers for all of my canned goods. It was bad weather a couple weekends ago so he got started then. He used the basic plans that his Dad came up with to make his Mom some about 28 years ago. Then he added some of his own ideas to improve them, his Mom's can rollers sometimes stick in the back. The cans get stuck on top of one another.
Well here is the before and after pictures. It is so nice. I'm excited to have the help with the rotation of my food storage.

HALLOWEEN

A couple weeks ago C comes home from work and said "D said he was going to come to work as Mr. Incredible. So I said Oh Yeah, I'm coming as your nemesis SYNDROME! HA HA HA HA!!" So since then I've been trying to figure out how to make him his costume.
I searched the Internet but I wasn't about to spend $100 to get him a costume. So Thursday night we decide to try and put one together ourselves. We bought a black sweater $5, Silver paint $5, Silver gloves $5, Silly String $7 (for his zero point energy.) Having the best costume at work priceless.
It was time to cut his hair a couple weeks ago but I left it long so we could really dress him up good. We spray painted an S on his shirt, and we painted his boots silver also. I don't think it's too bad for a homemade costume. He had a karate gee so we used those for the bottoms, and an old costume for the cape. What do you think?

Our Anniversay!!

I was just sitting at work and a lady walked in with these from C. Today we have been married for 8 awesome years. I've had a per ma-grin on my face ever since. C. you are the coolest and I love you tons. It's been a wonderful 8 years.

Canning!!

YES!!!! I'm finally done with my Canning. I have bottled and bottled fruits, vegetables, and juice for the last month. It seems like that is all I've been doing every night I get home from work. It is really hard to bottle and have a full time job. Poor C had been neglected on dinner for a while. I'm glad we had a storage of cereal though and that C really doesn't mind eating that for dinner. In all, I have bottled 24 pints of strawberry jam, 48 quarts of peaches, 31 quarts of spaghetti sauce, 40 quarts of apple juice, 7 quarts of pears, and 11 quarts of pear juice. When plums and grapes come on I will have to juice them also but for now I get a break. YEAH!!!

Tag

A- Attached or single: Attached! :)

B- Best Friend: Chad

C-Cake or Pie: Pie. :) oh CAKE all the way!

D-Day: Saturday!

E- Essential Item: Lip gloss

F- Favorite Color: Pink

G-Gummi Bears or Worms: worms!

H-Home town: Elko, NV

I- Indulgences: Peanut butter M&Ms

J- January or July?: July:) Tons more to do.

K-Kids:nope not yet, just Buckie:)

L-Life is incomplete without: Family!

M- Marriage Date: October 6, 2000

N- Number of Siblings: 3 Amazing sisters and 4 Cool Brothers

O- Oranges or Apples: ORANGES!!!

P- Phobias or Fears: Drowning

Q- Quote: "Life is not measured by the breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away"

R- Reason To Smile: my life, my husband, everything:)

S- Season: I love the Summer

T- Tag Three:

U- Unknown fact about me: I have a CDL:)

V- Vegetarian or Oppressor of Animal: I LOVE LOVE LOVE meat!

W- Worst Habit: Procrastination:(

X-Rays or Ultrasounds: I've only had an X-Ray:(

Y-Your favorite food: Fingersteaks and Fried Zucchini, YUM!!!

Z: Zodiac Sign: Virgo!

Plays

D. my oldest brother is playing in the play South Pacific. It is playing at the Sandy Ampitheater. It goes until August 23, 2008. It is really good and worth your time to go see him in it. His wife L is the Director's Assistant. So if your in the area go see it. Have a great Day!!

Awesome Week

We had the pleasure of having M, J, K, K, K, K, come to visit us this past week. With L's wedding the postponed coming until Tuesday. We went to the zoo on our way to our house. It was really funny to see the youngest K. Her favorite animal was the muskrats. They were running back and forth across their cage and then they would stand up and look at her. She would follow them back n forth. She didn't' want to leave them.

On Thursday we went camping to Bear Lake. It was fun. We set up camp n then went swimming. That night though we had a monsoon hit us. That wasn't so fun. Then Friday we rented Jet Ski's and had a blast swimming in the lake. We decided that we didn't want to go through another monsoon so we packed up and went home.

Saturday we went 4 wheelin then we floated the river. It was really fun to have them come n visit us for a few days. I always love it when family comes to visit.

L's wedding

Wow, My youngest brother just got married on August 4. It was really fast and unplanned. I was told the Monday before so I had a week to get everything situated to be able to go. I'm glad I went. There was only 1 big blowout, thank goodness it was the night before though. The wedding was good. It was just immediate family since no one else knew about it. I can't believe that my youngest brother is now married.

Family Reunion

This one was awesome!! A n' J rented a cabin for us near Bear Lake. This was a reunion for C's immediate family. Everyone was able to make it. Thursday we rode our 4 wheelers around the 7 mile loop. They have tons of trails and it was really awesome.




Friday we went to the Lake. We all pitched in and rented a boat. Wow talk about fun. We pulled people on the intertube, and we water skiied. Applied sunscreen 5 times to help the little chillin's not get sunburned.

Set up horseshoes and had a few games of that. Played water volleyball.

That night we had a talent show. I can't believe what some of my nephews can do.

Yard Work

We had way too many rocks to pick them all so we finally hauled in some topsoil. We had a friend come over and spread it for us. We hauled in 27 loads. After he had spread it we needed to level it off. This is how C and his Dad decided would be the best way to level it. The wood wasn't heavy enough so C got on top of it. Guys never cease to amaze me with the things they come up with to get the job done.
We have planted grass and hopefully we will have a backyard soon. We'll plant the front once the back is growing good.

4th of July Weekend

My family came to see my new house over the 4th of July. It was so awesome to have them come over. We played Wally Ball. My mom is so cute. She didn't want to play at first. I told her she needed to and that we would have tons of fun. Then while we were playing she says "I didn't think I would be this good." I was so awesome.
My sister in law had a party that night that we went to. C is in a play this year so we went and watched him in that. Then we went back to A's house for fireworks.
Saturday we did a ton of hiking. We hiked to the Intermitten Springs, It was the wrong time of year to see it intermitten though. Then we hiked to Strawberry Meadows. That night C's Aunt, our neighbor threw a Luau party. She's lived in Hawaii for 5 years, the food was really good.
We had a great time with family.

Reunion of sorts

My brother S came home from his mission on Thursday Night. It was so great to see him. It was really funny because when we got home we were talking to him about his biggest fear of coming home. He says it was hugging These!! then he pointed to the women in the room. We all laughed and said thanks for calling us "these" He says sorry that is how the English talk.
It was really fun seeing the whole family. We haven't been all together since he left 2 years ago. It was also cool because he came home 2 days before he turned 21.
We went to South Fork and played in the reservoir. My Dad and brother have kayak's so we floated, swam, and kayaked around. It was really fun. C threw seaweed at my sister T. She was so mad at him she went and sat in the car. She wouldn't swim because of the seaweed. Which was more like grass than seaweed.
I'm glad I was able to go see my whole family. It was a really great weekend.

FUN!!

We have had the privlege of having my youngest brother L. stay with us for the last 3 weeks. We have been having tons of fun. We have done alot of 4 wheelin. He's helped us build fences. We went swimming in the freezing cold water known as Cottonwood Lake. Went go kart racing in IF. We have been going going going. It has been tons of fun though. I'm going to miss him when we take him back home this weekend. I'm including a picture of the new toy I got last year. While the boys were riding the 4 wheeler's M. and I were riding this.

Ouch!!

Last night was so much fun. We played volleyball for young women's. Things were going well, we won one game then the other team came back and beat us for the second game. On the third game you only go to 15. The score was 11-9. We were serving and the other team hit us back to to us. R. hit the ball and it wasn't going to quite make it over the net so I turned, which is a bad thing to do on a carpet floor, jumped tipped the ball heard a bunch of popping in my ankle and I went down.
So I went to the Dr. this morning, turns out I tore the ligament in my ankle. Which Chad says is almost as bad I just don't have to have a cast. The funny thing is C wrapped my ankle this morning, The Dr. liked it so much he says "C did a great job wrapping that tell him to keep it wrapped for you." Then he walked out. So I had to drive to C.'s work with a bare foot to have him come out and re wrap my foot. I couldn't believe that. Aren't Dr.'s great.

Railings

Yeah, Our contractor came and finally put the rest of the railing on the front of the house!! Doesn't it look great. I don't know if you noticed in the other pictures of our house but the railing was not there. I think it looks great. Thanks Rick!!
P.S. Don't look at all the rocks. ha ha

Needles

Don't you just love it when you go in to get your blood drawn. I really love it when I go in and and the nurse pushes the needle in nice and slow. Then when she puts the vial in and the blood doesn't come out and she starts moving the needle all around trying to find my vein. It's been 4 hours and my arm still hurts. Stupid nurse.

Memorial Day

Growing up Memorial Day didn't mean a whole lot to me. I didn't really know anyone that had passed on, I did have a grandpa but we didn't go to his grave every year, I don't recall going to very many cemeteries growing up. Well Memorial Day means a lot more to me now. We spend it every year with C's family. We usually go fishing, it was too rainy this year, Then C's sister in-law gathers wild flowers on our way out and then we go visit C's brother and sister's grave sites. It is always a reminder of how short life really is and that we need to celebrate the life that we have. C's brother died 2 months before his 30Th birthday and his sister died at the age of 24. It helps me to remember how blessed C and I have been with his health. It is great to remember them. I didn't know C's brother but his sister was awesome. We lived next to her when we first got married.
I know the holiday is for the wonderful Veterans that have served to help me live in this wonderful land. Thank you for your service. I'm also glad for this wonderful holiday to help us reminisce about the wonderful people in our lives that we knew and who has passed on.

Go Karts

Wow, C and I went to I.F. on Saturday and watched the new Indiana Jones movie. It was good but I could do without the gross scene that is in every Indiana Jones movie. However we also went to an inside go kart track. The Karts were kept up nice so the went really fast. A lot better than Lagoon. We were sliding around corners. It was a blast. And I won the 15 lap race :)

Snow???

I can't believe it. It is snowing outside!! I hope my garden makes it through. I have Walls of Water around the plants that are out of the ground. I really don't want to replant. We are supposed to get 2 inches between tonight and tomorrow. I'm over it. Isn't it supposed to be spring??

Gardening Part 2

Yeah!! My garden is planted. C and I planted it last night. It was funner than trying to spread that stupid dirt. We planted peas, romaine lettuce, radish's, carrots, onions, tomatoes, cabbage, broccoli, yellow squash, zucchini, cucumbers, corn, and red potatoes. It feels so great to have the garden planted. It is fun to look at now. I'm excited to see it start growing.

Gardening

Wow, Have you ever tried to shovel and move 27 TONS of Topsoil? It is not an easy task. Since I work at a gravel pit, I delivered 2 truckloads of topsoil to my house on Friday. We were wanting to plant our garden on Saturday. Well I decided we have made ourselves a huge garden plot 28'x23'. Trying to spread 1 of the piles of topsoil took us 4 hours to shovel and rake trying to level it out. Then luckily C's dad came over and suggested using one of the old farm equipment tools. Wow it was awesome. It spread the second load out in a matter of minutes. Boy was I glad he showed up. Today my arms and back muscles hurt from moving so much dirt. After all of that we still had to spread the soil conditioner out and then till the garden. Sorry to say we didn't get the garden planted. But the spot looks awesome.

Strawberry Jam

Yeah, I made strawberry jam last night. It was my first time without any help from C's Mom. C wanted tons of it and did you know you can't double the batch. So I had to make 8 seperate batches of jam. It looks really pretty now. They all sealed :) I love having my own house so that I have a place for food storage. It is awesome to see my storage room feel up and gives me a sense of accomplishment.

4-Wheelin

The warm weather finally came, for 2 days, and we took advantage of it. We went 4-wheelin with another couple up swift creek. We didn't get very far and we ran into snow. (suprise suprise) Well, we decided we were going to try drive on top of the snow. It was really fun going up and over the snow slides that covered the roads. We still didn't get very far before there was too much snow to go over. We turned around and headed back.
When we got back to the 1st snow, the turn around spot for trucks that pulled snow mobliles up there to ride, C. went to turn so he wouldn't hit the truck that was parked in the way, right as the snow went really soft and he tipped the 4 wheeler right on its side. Luckily he had enough sense to put his feet on the seat to stop the momentum of it from rolling onto him.
Then I came around the corner and saw the bottom of his 4-wheeler and he pops up and waves with a smile on his face. It was all I could do to not start laughing at him. His hip is not bothering him anymore so that's good.

Volleyball

I play volleyball on our city league. It is tons of fun and it's nice to be able to get out of the house once a week. Especially in the winter since there isn't much to do in the winter in Wyoming. It is nice because the company I work for sponsors us and so we don't have to pay anything to play. Well tournaments were this last wednesday and we took third.
PS the lake in our front yard is now gone. We still have all the snow but at least there is no lake. Yeah!!

Motorcycles

We got to go to Elko this last weekend to visit my family. It's a nice 7 hour drive but we stopped in Salt Lake and picked up my brother and his wife to go along with us. When we got there we found out that my sister Rebecca had just bought our nieces a little motorcycle. Well I had fun riding it also.
Kamysha was riding it and we told her that maybe one day she'll ride it fast. Well then she came back with,"I was riding fast." I could of walked right beside her. I enjoyed visiting with my family.

Spring Melt

I love the spring. Since I live in WY it seems like we have to wait forever to see spring. Well we still don't have it yet. However it is getting warmer and starting to melt the snow. I wanted to show you the lake that is in my front yard. We just built our home this last year so we haven't had time to do the landscaping or even to really level out the ground. We hope that we will be able to fix this problem when the snow is gone. We are glad that the ground is sloped away from the house so we don't have to worry about flooding.

WOW

Chad and I purchased a dog a couple of weeks ago. He is really cute. He just turned 10 weeks old on tuesday. He is a toy poodle. Well, we took him in for his first hair cut today. When we went to pick him up we were told that we are spoiling him. Ha Ha that is what we get to do since we don't have any children. Well it turns out that he was really wriggly so she couldn't really cut his hair around his head. Now he looks really funny. Have you ever seen those cards that has those dogs on them and their heads are really big and distorted? Well he reminds me of that. I laugh every time I look at him.