Demons

Friday I was drawing an eight year old boys blood. He and his family have been in several times before. They are always well behaved, quiet and polite. I was trying to chat with the boy and this is how the conversation went:

Me: So, do you know what you are going to be for Halloween?
Boy: We don't celebrate it.
(I knew then of course they were Jehovah's Witnesses and did not need any further explanation and was not going to press the issue)
Mom of the boy: We DON'T celebrate the DEMONS. (stern voice, stone cold face)
Me: (awkward silence)
Me: (awkward silence)
Me: (finally) Oh, so you guys get to eat lots of candy every day instead of one day a year!
What I really wanted to say was:
Me: Celebrating the demons is lots of fun you guys are missing out.

I of course didn't because I respect ALL religions even if they are fun haters. :)

This pic is of my friends Christa and Mel later that night celebrating the demons at a Halloween party.

Top 10 reasons why I loved my weekend in Zions

On the weekend of October 4th I went to Zion’s National Park for the first time. Here are the reasons why I loved it (in no particular order):
10. As much as I love camping, (I really do enjoy every now and again) it was a girl’s weekend and there were babies there. SO we stayed in a sweet hotel right next to the Virgin River. I must say it was nice to take a soak in the hot tub every night after you hike a bit.
9. I started and finished the book Eclipse while there. Loved it lots!
8. The bathroom in our hotel room had a bidet. I love those things.

7. Me, cousin Lisa and Auntie Kay hiked the Narrows. It was fabulous. There are a few pictures to prove it.

6. The BEAUTIFUL scenery.... I fell in love with the place.

5. Hiking in the Virgin River- Me and the river a bit alike... both virgins.

4. While we hiked we wore some sweet get ups. Dry pants that could make any girl look chic, special boots and we had walking sticks.

3. While hiking in in the narrows I had to pee. So I dropped my drawers on the side of the river and took care of business. I do not know why but it was sort of exciting.

2. Word to the single gals, I saw ALOT of eye candy in the man department.

1. I was there with my Auntie, my cousins and their kids. It was all girls. They are too good to me.

Good times were had by all.

PS- So I have not yet mastered how to post pictures on here in an orderly fashion so it looks a bit messy. Sorry- I'm new!

Does this make me domestic?

A few days ago a lady I worked with brought in some curious looking crackers. I of course needed to try one. Turns out those curious little crackers were tasty! I ate a few more than I would like to admit. Anyways she gave me the recipe and I made some the next day. So I am passing the recipe on. I will pass it on with words of caution-These are not for the health conscious. Do NOT eat more than 4 at a time, you are guaranteed a belly ache. Make these, eat a few and then ship them out to the neighbors, you do not want these hanging around in easy access.

Line a cookie sheet(you have to use one with sides on it) with Keebler Club crackers ( I used reduced fat, as if that really helped...).
Boil one cube of butter, one cube of margarine and a half a cup of sugar for 2 1/2 minutes.
Pour syrup over crackers and then bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes. It will be bubbly.
Sprinkle with 1-1 1/2 cups of chopped nuts. (your choice)
Remove from pan and put on wax paper to cool.
Yum.
So, does this make me domestic?

Before you pee in the dark....

Yikes! This woman in NYC found this big snake in her toilet! I mean not just a garden snake but a 7 foot python!! If going to the bathroom at night didn't scare you it should at least creep you out now.

P.S. She ends up giving the snake to a friend of hers who decided to keep it as a pet! Why would you keep that thing around?!

Jack of all lanterns!

Go here for hours of Halloween fun!

Reminisce

This was me two years ago. Yep, I have been home for 2 full years now. I miss this place I am standing in front of. I miss not caring so much that my hair was terrible, and my clothes a bit too tight. I miss serving people full time and I miss the way being a missionary made me feel. I am home sick for NY.

Toesies

I love getting pedicures. When ever my sweet momma comes down from Idaho we almost always go and get a pedicure. I converted her to the world of manicured toes. She was down on Tuesday so my mom, Auntie Kay and myself got pedicures. I am a regular pedicure girl. At least every month. It may sound a bit high maintenance BUT if you have experienced the joy of pedicures you too are addicted.

This is why I love them:

You pick your own nail polish color. That is lots-o-fun. The colors are from purple, pink, red, brown and everything in between. They don't just call the colors pink or red. The names are like "Jewel of India", "Mauvelous", "La Paz-itively Hot", and "Cha Ching Cherry". Who gets paid to name nail polish? I want in on that.

You sit in on a throne that also bathes your feet and massages your back. Seriously fabulous.

They clip, scrub, trim, file, clean, massage and paint. For those of you with extreme callus they razor it off! Those lovely people do all the great stuff that no one likes to do themselves. And all the while you are catching up on your Hollywood trash magazines. They even put your flip flops on for you!!

So many people are embarrassed about their ugly feet, afraid of what the person my think or say. Well guess what? Most of the time even if they do think you have hideous disgusting feet they wont talk about it in English. My experience is that they will talk about it in Vietnamese. Really I love the sweet people at VN Nails. Been going there for a few years, I recommend them to all. Granted I have no idea if they are saying wow girl, you have long skinny toes that look more like hands or if they are talking to each other about the weather. I do not care. They smile, treat my feet great and are nice and sweet to me, so they can say what ever they want in Vietnamese. I just love them. (go and see them, they will be good to your feet)

P.S. The above photo does not include my hand like feet. I think these feet belong to my cousins and Auntie.

Should I believe everything my cheese tells me?

I have a love for string cheese. It is a yummy and healthy snack that I can have on the go. I don't usually peel pieces off and eat it in the string form but just usually bite off a chunk. This snack makes me happy.


In the recent month I have been eating Sorrento Stringsters.

On the outside of every string cheese there is a trivia question. When you unwrap your snack there is the answer. I love it. It almost makes me want to eat it just so I can learn a piece of trivia. But as I have consumed many I began to wonder if I should believe every thing I read on a cheese package. For example:

What was the first National Park in the U.S. ? Yellowstone National Park 1872

What animal can not stick its' tongue out? A Crocodile

How long does it take to make a jelly bean? One Week!!!!

After reading the jelly bean one I knew I better double check the facts. And well folks, Sorrento isn't foolin. It is true. A whole week to make those little treats. I don't even really like them unless they are the star burst flavour. Just seems wrong to put so much effort into a candy treat that doesn't have chocolate. Decided to be thorough. All the other facts are true too. Crocs really cant stick their tongues out. Apparently their tongues are attached to the top of their mouths making them incapable of sticking it out. Weird.

Moral of the story. Yes, you can believe everything your cheese tells you.

Jett

This is my 7 year old nephew Jett. No, that is not a watering hole here in Utah... That is in Puerto Rico where my brother and his family live. So today while I was in a boring classroom or when I am slaving away at the hospital, my brother and his family work and play on the beach surrounded by palm trees. I just talked to them on the phone and they went to this AMAZING ice cream shop in Ponce. The coconut ice cream there is a wonder of a treat that I crave continuously. Basically I wouldn't mind picking up and leaving Utah in pursue of an island adventure. Why again is it necessary for me to get an education and do grown up things?

My nephew is the man. He is pretty fearless and will do just about anything if his dad does it first. On top of that he is dang sweet, AND he says I am his favorite Auntie. Pretty much one of the greatest kids I know. (of course along with all my other nieces and nephews.)

The Tube

This post is a bit belated. I was excited for the season premiere of The Office this last Thursday night. There were chuckles and I had a great time watching... BUT I was a bit disappointed. Not really that funny. The part that made me laugh the most: Andy's chaffing nipples. They actually bled, even after he put bandages on them to protect them. I have never known of any one bleeding from the nipple while running or doing any kind of activity. I really feel for all those poor people who along with Andy are forced to bandage their nipples to hide any kind of bleeding that may occur. Press on, press on, all of you and your sensitive nipples.

And Dwight putting Angela's kitty Sprinkles in the freezer alive. That was fabulous.

I still heart you Office.