Sunday

Taking the Reins

I was 7 or 8 when Katy and I were home alone and playing outside. We noticed that one of the horses we were boarding was out of the fence and running down the road toward the busy highway. We went running after him to try and get him back into the safety of the fence. But after what felt like hours of running after him he dissappeared over a hill with my sister in full pursuit.

There was no way my tiny little legs were going to catch up to him and I was very worried that this horse was going to injure himself and others if he made it to the highway. So I did what I had been taught to do. I said a prayer. I told my Heavenly Father that I had done all I knew how to do, I told him I was scared, and I told him that I desperately needed his help.

As soon as I said Amen the horse appeared again over the hill and, as if being led by an unseen being, he casually walked not only back over the hill and into the safety of a fence but back into the pasture he belonged in. Meaning he walked through more than one gate. I knew even then in my young mind and heart that my Heavenly Father had done what I was not capable of and had heard my prayer and led that horse to safety.

Today I reflected on this experience and thought how often in my life I have had the same exact experience. "Heavenly Father I have done everything I know how to do, I am scared, and I need your help." And every single time without fail he takes the reigns and I am led back over the hill and not only into the safety of the fence but into the correct pasture.

Tonight I am grateful for parents who taught me how to pray, and for a Heavenly Father who has heard and answered every one of them.

Thursday

I agree...

a much needed boost

I have needed a little self esteem boost lately. So when the receptionist told me I looked good this morning I thought "she is so sweet she must know I really needed that today."

When I walked into Republic Mortgage this morning and all the ladies stopped what they were doing and commented on how good I looked and asked if I had a hot date tonight I thought "boy they are sweet."

Just now I was at Walmart and I literally ran right into this SUPER hot Guy and his buddy. I said I was sorry and his buddy hits him and says "watch out for the ladies man." We exchange looks and I say it's okay and give him the flirtiest smile I can manage then give him an over the shoulder glance as I walk away accompanied by a little wave.

A few minutes later I'm picking out some cheese and I turn around to see him staring at me, so I give him the smile and wave again. His buddy comes around the corner and hits him in the shoulder and says "dude you're embarrassing me!"

Just a few minutes later I am in the tortilla aisle where I run into him again. This time I laugh out loud, smile, then pretend to be really interested in the little Debbie snack cakes.

It wasn't until I was at the check out that I realize he is standing by my register. Once again I look up at him and smile. But the cashier interrupts us and while I am talking to her his buddy says, "dude what are you doing? You aren't going to get her number let's get out of here!" He leaves, then kinda turns back and gives me the same sexy little wave I gave him. Then he disappeared.

To the Walmart cutie, wherever you are, you made me laugh, smile, and feel sexy. What more could a girl ask for? Thanks! I needed that today. And I don't normally do this... but I may have given you my number... my actual one.

Monday

single sisters

My family went to Brasil recently to pick up my brother from his mission while I took care of the kids in Nebraska. Right before they left dad and I had this conversation:

Dad: Do you want to go with me to the Olympics in 2016? It will be fun and we can eat a lot of good food! Oh wait you'll be married by then and have all kinds of kids. Well, Katy won't have anything going on... she can take care of them and you can come to Brazil with me.

Me: Ha! I think Katy would be sad to know you don't think she'll be married by 2016!

...and she was sad.

Don't worry Kate, listen to this:

Snubs: Annie you know we are the perfect couple, you know we are meant to be.

Me: Yeah there is just that little issue of us having some different interests.

Snubs: Can we get married in the next life? You know after I've served my two millenia in Hell?

Me: So what you are saying is you expect me to not only be single through all of this life but you expect that after two millennia in the next I will still have found no one willing to settle for me?

Snubs: That's the plan.

At least Katy only has to wait another 6 years.

Sunday

You are invited to my Hello Kitty Kitchen later....

I was shopping at whole foods today and saw this in the toy section.
My first thought was when did we get to the point that even when we are "playing house" we make cookies from a tube? I mean even we are playing pretend we can't make cookies from scratch? Really? This is very very sad to me. I wish I had my Hello Kitty kitchen again so we could get out a bowl, spoon, spatula, etc and whip up a batch of decent pretend cookies.

Saturday

Curiousity on the freeway

 

I was on the freeway when I saw this in my rear view mirror. Don't they have a rule about go-karts on the freeway? And I yes I have a tissue box in my rear window like an old lady.

Friday

God's will

I have been debating one big decision lately. A decision I believe I now have an answer to. After receiving this answer I realized I wasn't getting my way and so I said in a teasing manner "Well what if I just decide to be an ice road trucker?" The very prompt response was... "what if I want you to be an ice road trucker?" That is when the prayer turns and I start panicking and saying that isn't really what I wanted, I was just teasing. Fortunately for me He already knows that.

But I understood what He meant. What he was asking me is are you willing to do my will no matter what it is? What if He asked me to do something I thought was impossible? What if He asked me to do something outside my comfort zone? What if He asked me to do something I really didn't want to do? Would I have the faith to follow the prompting? I want to say absolutely but in that context I start thinking things like "but I wouldn't even know where to start and I don't have the resources" and I might, just might doubt that I could do it.

Then I think well I bet Nephi felt the same way when asked to go get the plates, and I am sure he felt that way when asked to build a ship. And Jonah, what about him? We all know he didn't readily accept his assignment. So am I going to be a Nephi or a Jonah? I want to be a Nephi. And while I know my Heavenly Father doesn't want me to be an ice road trucker I wonder what things he is preparing me to accept. What things does he have in store for me that will stretch me to my limits? I don't know but I am excited and willing to accept his will for my life. He has done such a good job so far!

Thursday

What the?!?!?

 
I was leaving a law office the other day and saw this atrocity! Who has a Nebraska license plate and covers it with a UTE frame? Well they drive a Kia so I suppose who ever drives this car is just full of bad judgment. 

  Fortunately I saw this one in the same parking lot. Odd that there were two Nebraska plates in the same law parking lot...At least one of them had their priorities right!


Wednesday

For Zac...

Sometimes when I miss you I go to Hollister and fondle the mannequins...


When I am mad at you I do the same thing...

IN SWEAT PANTS!

Miss you!!!

Tuesday

Our car buying experience

Drew and I spent Saturday evening car shopping. I told the same story at every car lot we walked onto. I told them I was in the early phases of shopping. I wanted something under 10 with good mpg and it had to be sexy. Yes I told them it had to be sexy.

Car lot #1
Basically uneventful

Car lot #2
The cars he shows me are all like Grand Ams, and Buicks, and La Sabres. Oh and some little like 2000 nissan sentra in banana yellow. No thanks! So I remind him that I want something sexy and He shows me a Kia and I say " A KIA! I don't want a car that has parts falling off of it while I'm driving down the freeway." He then goes off on how wonderful a Kia is and I tell him that none of these cars are really striking my fancy. He then asks me what the heck I think I'm going to get for under 10 and I tell him that I already found a few cars that I like for under 10 and we leave the lot.

Car lot #3
We walk on the lot and I tell him the same thing I told all the other dealers and he tells me they don't have much on the lot. He shows me a red Vibe and some how bamboozels us into a test drive. Drew and I are waiting in the car for him to come back with my license and there is some kind of crap on the radio so i go to turn it and we realize that the screen on the radio is broken so after getting a few different mariachi stations we turn the radio off. During our ride around downtown the guy asks Drew and I lots of questions which Drew and I answer for each other. I suppose we shouldn't be surprised that later he asks Drew and I if he will be putting both of our names on the title.

This question is also the begining of them trying to force me into buying a car. He asks if we will come inside for a minute while he grabs his card and I said "Okay but I only have a minute because Drew needs to be fed." He promises and I say "okay but I am serious he is going to get grumpy and that is going to be on your head."

So we walk in and he introduces me to some other guy and starts pulling up chairs. So I said "Listen, we just came in for a card we don't need any of these chairs!" Then the guy starts going on and on about how can he get me into a car tonight. I again bring up that Drew needs to be fed and Drew gives the guy a little sad puppy dog face while also laughing with me with his eyes. So he trys to sell me the Vibe and I tell him I'm not interested. He then asks me if I had looked at one of the new Cubes that was out front and I say that we looked at one but I only want a car under 10 and he says he can do that for me. The man was crazy! So I tell him I don't care because I need a sexy color and he only has white and champange and he says that he has black. "BORING!" I tell him. He then says that they have a color that looks black but it is something completly different in the light of day. I tell him great we'll come back in the light of day.

Thanks for going with me Drew, Thanks for letting me use you as an excuse for getting us the heck out of that Nissan dealership, thanks for answering all my quesions for me, AND for making sure we didn't get "drive by shoted."

P.S. I found the car I wanted at the Toyota dealership. The guy wasn't pushy and he knew exactly what was sexy. He even let us leave to fed Drew without incident.

Wawa

 
I found this picture on google images and I love it because it could so easily be my local Wawa. Jeresy plates on all the cars and tons and tons of green trees in the back ground. I can hardly wait to go home. 

In fact I am so excited to go home that when I mentioned Wawa in my blog yesterday it reminded me that I recently had a dream where I found a Wawa and I was shoving hoagies into my purse and I couldn't ft enough in and I was so sad because all I have ever wanted was a purse full of Wawa hoagies so that I can have a mouth and then belly of Wawa, fresh, made to order, hoagies!

Monday

Edy's Vs. Dryer's venting again....

My dad commented on my last post and said he missed Edy's Chiquita and chocolate flavor ice cream. First of all I would like to say that if anyone knows ice cream it would be my father. So if there is a limited edition something he would miss my first guess would have been some kind of ice cream. I love my dad SO much but I did not develop his love of ice cream.

I know you are staggering back in unbelief right now because I don't love ice cream. How can this be? Well I don't hate all ice cream. I guess you could say I am an ice cream snob. Why would anyone eat plain vanilla ice cream. There are so many *options out there? Why waste calories on something you don't LOVE?

That being said lets talk Edy's Ice cream. According to wikipedia Dryer's (the west coast name), is identical to Edy's (the east coast name). Apparently they just want to honor both founders and not be confused with **Breyer's that was already established on the east coast. They lie! Edy's has all the good flavors. I miss cherry chocolate chip, and ice cream sandwich, and chiquita and chocolate. I have seen the cherry chocolate chip flavor only once in the Dreyer's brand and I have never seen the other two. Sad day for me. I will forgive them though, only because they do produce the Samoa's flavor. If they put that out year round we could be friends forever....

*Other favorites: Most Coldstone, but when they have the oatmeal cookie batter base my heart leaps with joy. Most anything from Reed's Dairy, but they have a peanut butter banana one that I can't live without. Pour some chocolate milk on it for a brown cow and you are set for life! Their coconut almond fudge is also to die for. Finally I LOVE the soft serve ice cream at Maverick. I am very sorry for those of you with no local Maverick, Unless you have a Wawa and then I am jealous of you for very different, but just as fattening reasons that I don't even need to mention.

**Breyer's ice cream is NOT good. My mom liked it, sorry mom, but the texture is all wrong. You have pure ice cream with no crap in it, that's great. If I want cream and sugar ice cream I'll make it myself and it will be better. I also hate Sub Zero ice cream. I guess I am a texture girl because that stuff is NASTY and WAY too sweet. Yuck!

Sunday

Limited Editions

I LOVE Limited Edition food! It is the curse of my life. I learn to love something and it is gone. Perhaps my limited food addiction is symbolic... 
My very first limited edition craze was as a small child. Who remembers smurf ice cream?
 
Apparently they now have Smurf Gelato. Not the same! I am pretty sure Smurf ice cream was a crazy bubble gum ice cream but I remember that when one of my parents bought me a scoop I though I was the greatest thing ever!

 In high school I fell 100% head over heals for the Fiesta Whopper!
Does anyone remember it? It was spicy and amazing and it came with this spice pack to sprinkle on your fries. I have never loved another burger more.

A few years ago I came across these little gems at my local Wal-Mart
I was addicted to them and Zac and I would eat them by the bagful. They still appear in the store every now and again, but they always go fast so I don't always have a chance to partake.

One of the big things about this item as well as the previous one is that they are both chocolate items that I can't get enough of. That rarely happens for me.
 
But these little morsels of delight are something I can't get enough of. The strawberry Peanut butter M&Ms. Delish!

This very week one of my all time favorite Limited Edition items came out!
Fortunately,  for all of us this one comes out once a year! Snubs told me it would be worth it to buy a chest freezer and stock up! Ironically enough our downstairs freezer is currently full of diet food.

I blame Walter for this one. He used to bring boxes of chips into work all the time. He knew I liked spicy cheetos so when these were discontinued he brought me a whole box!

You will NEVER go back to the cheeto after sampling one of these! These are one of those things I can't have anyone seeing me eat though. I feel like I will for sure be judged! The sad thing was that I could never be 100% happy eating these treasures because I knew when I finished the box, that was it. Then I found that they sell them in a gas station in Odgen! I stocked up!

Finally, the saddest one... Black Cherry Vanilla Diet Coke!

Saturday

Bountiful Baskets

I got up at the crack of dawn this morning to pick up my bountiful basket. What is that you ask? For those of you in Utah, Idaho, Arizona, or Washington listen up! Bountiful baskets is a food co-op. You sign up online, it is 15 dollars and you get 50 dollars worth or RESTAURANT quality food. Not grocery store quality, restaurant quality. For details you can ask me about it or just visit the website: http://www.bountifulbaskets.org/

You don't always know what you are going to get, but this morning for 15 dollars we got: Honeydew, Pumellos, grapefruits (as big as my face), a pineapple, sweet potatoes, strawberries, tomatoes, apples, corn, spinach, bananas, cucumbers, and butternut squash.

Thursday

Take notes, this will be on the quiz!

I don't hate Valentine's day. I know I'm so old and single. I should be bitter right? Sorry, I refuse to be. I love the book, The Four Loves by C. S. Lewis. Get a copy, read it, then celebrate as many of the 4 types as you have been blessed with.

I am a firm believer in doing things everyday to let those you love know it. I don't need a holiday to remind me. Plus don't a bouquet of flowers or a randomly placed naughty love note mean more on a random Tuesday than they do on any holiday or anniversary? But that's enough about that.

My favorite holiday hands down, no wiggle room, is the 4th of July! Oddly enough I also find it to be the most romantic holiday. But, someone to share it with or no isn't it the greatest day? I think so!

An added piece of trivia for you... My second favorite holiday is Easter! I really wish I could still get away with wearing a big frilly dress, and eating all of Katy's candy.

Monday

You're friendly neighborhood Wal-Mart

After FHE tonight we stopped by the Wal-Mart to pick up a few things. The first sign that this was going to be a good night happened when we were walking in past the cash registers and Lolly decided that it would be a good time to "adjust" things. So I yell at her and say "Woman you have to keep those things tucked in, the Wal-Mart employees are enjoying a free show!" The Wal-Mart employee, Ray, then says "thanks we really appreciate it." So Lolly turns bright red and we take off to another part of the store.

That is when we run into our new best friend Kenny Rogers. Yes that is his real name. He was there to buy, as Kenny Rogers calls them, nanners. Anyway, Lolly starts putting her food into his cart and I ask her if she plans on going home with Mr. Rogers. He laughs and says he is sure he will hear her around.

That is when we start talking about which one of us should be in love with Kenny Rogers and we vote on Katy. She can now choose between the Peruvian Prince and a country music super star. GO KATY!

We walked ALL OVER the place tonight because no one knew what they wanted. So we were once again passing the cash registers and one of the cashiers was standing there trying to wave us over and Lolly tells him that she loves him and we will be back to visit him after we finish our shopping. I flashed him the heart sign and he turned bright red.

So we are all checked out and leaving the store and we are passing the deli and the lady is packing everything up in bags so I made Lolly ask if it was discounted. When she said yes it was half off I went and grabbed a bag of Wal-Mart chicken and a bag of Jalapeno Poppers. Dude Wal-Mart Boneless wings are SOOO good! The new check out guy doesn't take the 50% off and so I tell him and he re-rings it up half price. Problem is he never voided the old stuff so he sends me off to customer service to get a refund for my Wal-Mart chicken. Don't worry about how while we are leaving the register Katy flashes Geoff, the cashier, her bedroom eyes and he turns BRIGHT red!

All three of us head over there and who is at customer service? Ray! When we walk in to customer service he says, "We were just talking about you!" So I'm trying to get my refund and Lolly is battering the customer service guy with questions about what ALL of Wal-Mart now knows about her. He gives out no information though and we turn to leave and Katy says that she just really wants to see Ray again and don't worry he came around the corner right then. He points at Katy and says she is trouble, and I say "but it isn't her that you got to know intimately" and he yells "Nope that was the girl in the middle!"

Thanks, girl in the middle. That Wal-Mart is still talking about us for sure.

Friday

The Bathroom Situation

The bathroom in my downtown office has the best smelling hand soap ever! I am not even kidding, I am seriously in love with it. In fact, most days I will wait to use the bathroom until I am back in the downtown office just for that reason.

Unfortunately everyday, sometime around noon, (which is about the time I get back to the office)someone renders the bathroom unusable. I walk down the hall all happy and almost skipping thinking about the wonderful smell that awaits me and I open the door and BAM it hits me! I'm not talking it kind of smells and the air freshener is half way covering it. I mean the bathroom CANNOT be used for at least a good hour or more.

Everyday it is a race to the bathroom. I try to get there early enough to avoid this unpleasant situation. I make it only about half the time. I have tried hanging around to see if I can figure out who the culprit is. I have tried to watch the patterns and see if when there is a few incident free days in a row if someone, suspiciously, is on vacation. I thought I had it figured out, I really did, and then this person was out for a week for surgery and it still happened!

ARRRGG! All I want is to be able to use the restroom with the good soap. Maybe I should just switch them. But if I did that I would never find out who is robbing me of such pleasure every day, and they win. They can't win. I will get to the bottom of this. (No pun intended)

I've often thought this same thing....

Thanks Stephan Pastis for posting this on your blog. I agree and couldn't have put it better myself.

My Depression, and the Grocery Stores that Cause It
September 28, 2009


A democracy is only as strong as its people are smart.

And that’s why grocery shopping depresses me.

You see, Staci hands me a big list every Sunday and I go and get the things on the list. I view it as a scavenger hunt, so that part’s not depressing.

The depressing part is the checkout stand.

I don’t know much about retail, but I know that the area immediately adjacent to the register is the most valuable real estate in the store, because that is where people make their impulse buys. So stores need to fill it with stuff that is sure to sell.

So each week I stare at that space.

And that’s where I get sad.

Because what people are buying is telling them the following:

Jessica Simpson is on the verge of a nervous breakdown because something ate her poodle.

George W. Bush is suicidal.

Whitney is exploding at Oprah.

And a photographer hid in the bushes to catch a dying Patrick Swayze as he left the hospital for the last time.

And those were just the periodicals.

On the right of me was all the food that has caused our current health care crisis.

So the things that sell best are the things that make us fat and the things that make us stupid.

The day I’ll be optimistic will be the day that there are impulse apples on the left of me, and F. Scott Fitzgerald books on the right of me.

Until then, we’ll get the government we deserve.

Stephan Pastis is the cartoonist for Pearls Before Swine. His blog is located here: http://stephanpastis.wordpress.com