Valentines, transportation, and other ramblings

Valentines Surprise! Adam totally earned bonus points for his Valentines Eve date. He arranged dinner at this delicious and secluded Bistro in old-town Ogden. The ambiance was perfect, the food mouth-watering, and the company was top notch! It certainly was a memorable and enjoyable evening with my hub and friends! The evening ended with fondue and chit chat!

Although most people make fancy things for breakfast in bed, we are more 'cereal' people... okay... maybe I am just lazy... but anyways, why breakaway from a classic? So I brought Adam breakfast in bed! What could be more delightful than some Oatmeal Squares with fresh strawberries and grape garnish?
Alright, Alright! My breakfast in bed was HIGHLY unimpressive due to Adam's Valentines Evening out, but it's all about the thought right?

Moving on, lets talk about the SUCKY OLD BLAZER or to be brief the S.O.B. (THE OTHER ACCRONYM APPLIES TOO I SUPPOSE). This story begins last November when Adam and I replaced all of our old tires with bright and shiny new ones (on both vehicles... not a cheap task right before the holiday season but it had to be done). We decided at this time to get a 2 inch lift on the S.O.B. and re-due the suspension while we were at it. This all seemed well and good. Shortly after revamping the S.O.B. (one week later to be exact), the brakes would lose pressure upon sharp turns. So since November, we have had to pump our breaks like it was going out of style to get enough pressure to say break at a stop sign etc. Not a big deal right? Ha ha he hummm... Anyway this brings us to February of this year. The break issue has gone beyond redunculous and it was time to bite the el bulleto and figure out what has been causing these issues. We took the SOB into the Chevy Dealership and $3200 buckaroos later, our cars brakes STILL aren't working. We went and picked up the car 2 weeks ago, after it had been "fixed" and Adam pulled out of the dealership, did a U turn, the brakes went out, did another U turn and returned promptly to the dealership from whence he had come. It has been almost 2 weeks since then, and our vehicle is STILL not fixed. I am having some issues with the fact that even the MAKERS of the SOB can't fix it... sigh. Such is our life. Luckily the el dealershipo is paying for our rental car whilst they fix this puzzler. yay.

Sorry whining time is over, moving on to other random thoughts.

Tonight I was hanging out with my BFF murdy while Adam went and hung out with his guys. We were playing a good old fashioned round of Tetris when she starts humming "Take Me Out to the Ball Game". At this moment I was flung into a most RANDOM memory! A few years ago the gang and I went to a SL Bees game. Those that have been around me enough know that I have what they call TB. No not Tuberculosis. A Tiny Bladder. TMI? Probably. Sorry! Anyway, I upon coming out of the stall, the individual using the handicapped stall opened her door as well. Even though I was technically in front of her already, I felt awkward jutting out of my stall like an insensitive jerk, so I smiled and said "Oh! After you." The woman said "Thanks" wheeled on by. She wasn't in the best shape for lack of better terms and she wheeled herself up to the sinks. I followed behind then used the sink next to her. This woman then looks at me and says 'Could you help me?" Me: "Sure". She then takes both hands and grasps onto the sink and hoists her body up, exposing her bare buttocks. She then asks me to "Would you please pull up my pants!". Oh dear! Oh dear. What have I got myself into here! I blindly reach 'bellow' into the dark depths and pull up her pants. Yikes! I had already washed my hands... would she be offended if I wash them again? She can't expect me to walk out of here without washing them again... As I contemplated my next move, She hoists her body up again, the same as before and says "You didn't get my underpants.." Gulp! Wow! Uh... WOW! Now I begin perspiring. "Oh. Uh...mmmkay" I then again reached below this strangers lower regions and grasped the said underpants and pulled them gently over her rump, and repeated the same action with the sweats. How long had I been in there? Surely my friends wondered what was taking so long! I hurriedly washed my hands a 3rd time and with a quick 'Have a nice day!" booked it out of there! Seriously... the most random things happen to me. I get myself into some strange predicaments and with that I am realizing why it's probably a bad idea for me to write blogs at 12:30 in the AM. Ha ha ha. I hope you all have a wonderful morning/Sabbath. Wow. I'm special.

What if...

Well, I have procrastinated blogging for the simple reason of photos. Why is this? It's not as if I am particularly photogenic (as these frightening elementary classroom pictures posted by some random individual on face book will attest to... sigh...***shudder***). I guess the photo craze is due MAINLY to my completely VISUAL learning model, and SECONDLY that one of my favorite parts of blogs is to SEE what ya'll have been up to. ALAS! I am still photo free... due majorly in part to my terrible laptop which I am hoping will be going "Bye, Bye, Bye" soon! Sob story over! Moving on!

So! The past week in 60 seconds!

CONCUSSION: Last Monday Adam received a doooosie of a concussion after running down our stairs. TWO HOURS after the initial 'impact' to his cranium he called me at work saying he'd "been out for 2 hours and was fine." Me thinks No my friend! Two hours of unconscious rest does not equal a worry free nap! So I rushed home from work. One visit to the ER and one CT Scan later, Ad has a concussion and a headache which is deemed to last for 3 weeks. No bueno, but we are so grateful it wasn't worse! So Adam has been a dizzy, muffled hearing, headache-ing mess for exactly one week! YAY...er not. He is going to be FINE though which is key.

Aside from concussions, I got my hairs cut by the talented Miss Marci and then got together with our FantasticallyFallontheFloorLaughingFriends on Saturday night! We played games till about 2 in the AM and my abdominals are still sore from the laughter that ensued!

Lastly but certainly not least: There is a new chorister in town! Woot WOOT! It's about TIME gang! Not that I haven't LUUUVED singing these solos weekly but I am grateful that I will have a week off here and there to uh I don't know... get to know some other peeps in the el-wardo. Plus... it's tiring to try to find ways to teach songs to kids each week... 10 minutes just isn't enough time to teach multiple verses to a song or play a game, and half the time my 'teaching ideas' fail miserably. Gladly the 'heckler' is gone (<--yes, I had a wee child that enjoyed heckling the music leader) and is now one of Adam's Deacons! Ha ha ha this leads me to my last little story:

Last weekend before the Concussion incident, the young men went on a camp-out. Saturday Adam and the guys went sledding and the little heckler was going super fast down the icy hill and refused to put on his breaks or turn. He slammed into 2 trees and hit perfectly so that his head became wedged between the two trees. He didn't have a concussion or anything folks I am not THAT mean, he just hit with enough force that his chubby little face became stuck between the two woody masses until the Scoutmaster could push the trees apart for him to be free. I know. I am going to hell. But that Karma... she is one funny gal!

Love you all! Happy Monday!

As Time Goes By...

WOW! I feel a bit ashamed that I have allowed my blog to be stagnant for over a month now! How boring is that? Well I will try and be brief… (is there such a thing???).

Thanksgiving was awesome! We went to Colorado to be with my fam and it was lovely! The day after Thanksgiving the gents competed in a paintball war extravaganza! For Ad's birthday his dad sent him this Full-Head Paintball Helmet... which Russ and he decided would be even cooler covered with some serious camo-fringe! This led to the camofication of his gun barrel! I was pretty impressed! All the guys looked awesome and Russ totally dominated in his ultra swamp-man guille suit!

The kids went to the pool so my 2 sisters and I competed in Ultimate 80's Trivia! I, the youngest of all, completely dominated... well at certain points... It was mostly a group effort!

My Family + Quads + Snow + Trees = THE ANNUAL CHRISTMAS TREE HUNT! Adam and I got such a gorgeous tree which to our great pleasure kept all of its needles for the entire Christmas season! Truly a Christmas miracle!

December was a whirlwind! Things built up very fast and it was difficult to keep up with everything happening (Thank you Megan for everything! You saved my life multiple times!). We had a fun baby shower for my dear little Marci McDaniel! Complete with the most awesome of ugly baby shower games: Jeopar-baby (Adam helped with the questions… which led to an interesting game of trivia), Diaper something game (candy bars + diapers = grossly hilarious), and lastly the Bottle-drinking contest which yours truly won by a ridiculously HUGE margin… ;)

This Christmas season was certainly not dull! The week before Christmas Adam’s Mom and Glenn (step-dad) came to visit us from Georgia along with Adam’s newly married sister Angela and her husband Dustin. Poor Angela is newly preggo and wasn’t feeling well at all, but we managed to go to a family Christmas party, visit the lights at Temple Square, and have an early Christmas Eve with them before Adams Mom and Glenn left to visit Glenn’s family in Seattle.

The day Mom & Glenn left for Seattle, the rest of us (Angela, Dustin, Adam and I) drove all night (as Celine Dion once sang) to Phoenix to be with Ma & Pa Hansen for Christmas! It was a wonderful time and it is always great to get closer to Adam’s family as we don’t get to see them very often (especially my 19 yr. old bro-in-law Daniel! He is just a doll and a total crack up)! The best part was my new iPod! My hubbie is the best!!! And thanks to his little side-kick Marci Ferre, it came loaded with songs for our million-hour drive home!

We spent NEW YEARS EVE with my family which was really fun! We did the annual taste test, this year was marinara and lemon-lime soda. Just so you know SPRITE & 7 UP were not even in the top 3! The favorite lemon-lime soda was the generic Wal Mart brand “Twist-up” with second runner up “Shasta”. The best marinara sauce was Classico brand. We played BUNCO and rang in the New Year with some bubbly! Alright… it was just Martinelli’s but it was delicious! And we also had a great White Elephant (I am beginning to think though, that children should NOT be allowed at a white elephant as we had to hide half of them from their innocent eyes). I think the favorites of the night was FLAME Body Spray (with accompanying WHOPPER) and the Motion Censored “Farting Angel” tree topper… yes it really does make special noises when you pass by.

NEW YEARS DAY Adam and I went with our dear friends Nick & Kari and Nick’s brother Wes and his wife Renee and her little sister shooting! It was quite fun (a little packed) and I shot Wes’s awesome AK74. It was a lot of fun to hang out with Adam and do something that he really enjoys! The day ended with a Viennese Dinner at my parentals to celebrate their upcoming trip to Germany, Vienna, and Prague in March! SOOO JEALOUS! I have been homesick for Vienna and can’t wait to go back… one day…

I hope that everyone had a glorious Holiday Season. It’s always sad to see it go but I am getting super good vibes about 2009 (I’ll send good vibes your way for making it through this freakishly long post)!

There is much to look forward to and much to be grateful for. Love you all!

The Christmas Carol Roll

Hello friends! This is a family tradition and a crowd favorite!

Christmas Carol Roll

DOUGH:
Soften:
1 tbsp. yeast
1/4 cup water.

Combine:
3/4 c. hot scalded milk
3 tbsp. shortening
2 tbsp. sugar
1.5 tsp salt

Stir in 1 beaten egg, and the softened yeast.

Add gradually:
2 1/2 - 3 cups flour.
Knead well (5-7 min)

Place in greased bowl, let rise in warm place until doubled in size (approx. 1 hour)

CINNAMON, SUGAR, and NUT MIXTURE:
3/4 c. sugar
1/2 c. brown sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon
3/4 c. chopped nuts (walnut/pecan)

FROSTING:
1 c. powdered sugar
1/4 c. milk

DIRECTIONS:
Line pizza pan with foil then grease. Roll the dough and cut into strips 6-8 inches long and 1/2 inch thick. Dip in melted butter then in the cinnamon/nut mixture. While rolling in hands (like a snake) press the cinnamon mixture into the dough. Wind into a flat coil in pan (will resemble a LARGE cinnamon roll). Cover with greased plastic wrap or foil. Let rise in a warm place until double in size. Bake at 350* for 25-30 minutes. Cool slightly and drizzle with frosting.

Some of the recipe can be prepared the night before to save work on christmas morning. Follow the above directions until the dough is complete and folded into a coil. Cover well with greased foil, freeze. In the morning unthaw for 3-4 hours till the dough has doubled in size. Bake as directed above.

Awkward...

Why oh why do women that are not close friends or family have the need to divulge intimate information...

Let me explain.

Today I was speaking with a fellow employee, when she brings up the subject of kids. She has 2. She then asks me the usual question
"When are you guys going to have kids?"
Me:
Her: "We are going to start trying again."
Me: "Oh really? That is nice." (hoping she would leave it at that...but nope! She had to take it a step further...)
Her: "We are going to start trying in February".

Why dear people, do you think that people want to know WHEN your going to try? Isn't it easy enough and clear to simply say "We would like to have more kids" or even "Hopefully in a year or so we will have another babe"... Why do mere acquaintences have to take it that one step further... What am I to say in response to her comment? "Oh February, why not tonight?"

So my dear sisters, cousins, and bestest girly friends and by all means I want to know what is happening in your lives and want all the details you feel comfortable enough to share... but this was just such an awkward exchange... I just couldn't help but post it!

Conundrum... What do you think?

Permanent marker as eyeliner? Bad idea or innovative genius? I hate running out of my morning essentials... I look in the mirror and 'it' as in 'I' don't look complete. So I sit here. Staring at my Black Sharpie Permanent Marker wondering "Why not?"