This is why you shouldn't pick on old ladies

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Hutchinson police say a 71-year-old woman knocked a man who attacked her unconscious with her frying pan.

Police Sgt. John Moore said 25-year-old Kevin Funderburk talked his way into the woman's home on Saturday, claiming he was homeless and had nowhere to go.

Moore said that when he tried to attack the woman, she fought back and "beat him down with a frying pan."

"When we arrived, he was unconscious and lying in his own vomit in the back of the house," Moore told The Hutchinson News. "He was in the hospital in Wichita over the weekend and they stapled his scalp."

The Hutchinson News reported that the woman was injured, but Moore did not release how serious her injuries were.Funderburk was jailed on $55,200 bond on suspicion of attempted rape, aggravated battery, criminal restraint and criminal damage to property. He was wearing a neck brace when he made his first appearance Tuesday in court.

Here's the damage she did to this guy:

Happy Christmas!

Hooray, this was my first year with a Christmas tree over 4 ft tall :) We got this beauty from one of those guys that goes into the mountains and cuts down trees and sells them from his RV. Whoah that sounded totally shady - but it wasn't!

We also had to tie it to my houseplants in the window sill because the trunk was so small it kept tilting out of the stand. So my tree is a little wonkey, but i still love it :)

Spooky Punkin

Chris and I either go all out or do nothing for Halloween. Since I was in charge of making a scene for my work for the local Pumpkin Walk, I wasn't really into planning a party or even thinking of a costume.

We did carve a pumpkin though. We like to each do one side of the face. Usually I carve first while Chris prepares the seeds for toasting. Then i cover my half and he carves his half. Then we have the reveal and see how we did. Somehow it always turns out pretty good. We carved the pumpkin Friday night.

For halloween this is what we did:

We ate dinner

Got some awesome Fro-Yo from this new place - Twizzle Berry

Watched TV shows all night

And guess what . . . It was awesome!

Birthday Cake!

So a while ago it was my grandpa's birthday. I decided to make him a cake since it was the big 8-5 and all. I also made his 80th birthday cake so there was appropriate symmetry :)

I also wanted to try using modeling chocolate. It turned out to be super easy to make and moderately easy to use. You just need strong hands to warm it up and roll it out. If you have a pasta roller outer, that would make it waaaaay easier.

If you want to give it a try use this recipe from cake decorator extrodinaire Colette Peters. I

recommend melting the chocolate in the microwave 30 sec at a time. No need to bother with the double boiler thing. Also, buy high quality chocolate, things turn out better that way. It ends up tasting like really dark tootsie rolls. Yum!

And here is the finished result:

A month goes by in the blink of an eye!

Despite my lack of posts, there has been a lot going on in the last couple of weeks.

I finished a project for the Cache Foster Care Resource Center. I was raising money and collecting donations of clothes and furniture for local foster families. We also had a comedy night featuring a really funny improv group called Out of the Blue Entertainment. All in all we raised $1900 in goods and cash. I feel pretty good about that :)

Also I sold this:

And bought this:

Yes, I finally upgraded from the '94 Ford Escort to an '09 Hyundai Sonata. It's nice to have 4 doors instead of 2. I like having air conditioning again after 4 HOT summers. The windows go up and down with the push of a button. And I'm pretty sure the door handles/locks won't freeze this winter.

Coming up in October is the Pumpkin Walk in North Logan. My boss signed me up and the theme is the Magic of Animation. So cartoons from TV, animated movies, that kind of stuff. The theme for our scene is the movie "Corpse Bride." I only have a week and a half to gather all the necessary stuff, so hopefully I can pull it off.

Also, a personal victory, I got my visiting teaching done for the first time in 2010. All the credit must go to my VT partner Maevis, but hopefully I can establish a good pattern in my life from now on :)

Sad then happy

So last saturday I was in charge of a mini golf tournament to benefit the Cache Valley Foster Care Resource Center. Everything was all planned out and set up and the day was gorgeous. Then Mother Nature decided I had been left in peace too long and send 20 mph winds with 40 mph gusts.

It was insane! All our bake sale items blew off the table, the shade canopies almost flew away, all our signs went all over the place - unbelievable. We ended up having to pack up and go home, which was a major bummer for me. I had been working on planning this all month long.

The good news is that I've got a back up plan. Karrie, a gal I work with, knows some fellas who have an improv comedy troupe called Out of the Blue Entertainment. They're going to do an improv show for us at the TSC Auditorium(USU Campus) on the 24th of September.

It was really hard for me to accept defeat when the mini golf tournament didn't turn out how it was supposed to. I've been trying to see what the lesson was in that situation and it's been a struggle. With things going so well for this comedy night, i'm starting to get a clearer picture.

Anyway, you should come if you'll be in the area. It's $3 with current student ID (USU or High School) or $5 without ID. It'll be lots of fun and we're having a prize drawing too. Come check it out!

Bacon Sprinkles?

Friday the local newspaper held a cupcake competition at a recently opened cupcake shop in town. When i was in there a few days before to ask them to help with a project i'm doing, my co worker Karrie and I saw the fliers and she told me I should do it. So i decided I would :)

When i went to Seattle in April for work training, my friend Cheryl told me about a cupcake shop that had something like an eggs and bacon cupcake and that got me thinking about my entry for the competition.

So here they are: Pancake Cupcakes with Butter Maple Icing and Bacon Sprinkles - Ta da! I know it sounds weird, but the sweet and salty think really works. Plus a pancake cupcakes is awesome-er than regular pancakes because it's portable :)

So there were 50 entires into the competition and the winning categories were:

Best Icing

Best Presentation

Best Cake

Most Unusual Ingredients

Best Overall

I thought i might have a shot at the most unusual, but the winner of that category was a chili chocolate cupcake. I thought for sure i wouldn't win anything then, BUT I did win. I won the "Best Cake" category instead :) The overall winner was a Creme Brulee cupcake and it had the caramelized sugar on top even. It was probably the best choice for the store since they were going to sell the winning cupcake.

I was really happy with the outcome of my first food competition, so maybe I'll have to do it again sometime. Don't ask about the recipe - it's top secret!

Some goings on

Wow, It's been a long time since I posted anything. I wish I could say it was because I was doing really exciting things and didn't have time to post an update. The real reason is I haven't wanted to bore anyone to tears with my lack of activities :)

The only thing of note to happen was Chris' car started acting funny, so we took it to the shop and we got the great news that we're going to need a new transmission. Oh joy :) Thank goodness for the emergency fund or else we'd be paying for that repair for-ever!

At work I'm coordinating a service project for the Cache Valley Foster Care Resource Center. They help foster families get extra stuff like clothes, beds, dressers, and baby stuff when they're transitioning between the different ages and needs of the foster kids placed with them.

It's been a ton of work and we haven't got a lot of help from the community. I know we're in a recession, but all I'm asking for is that people donate the clothes their kids have grown out of or to pick up an extra shirt when they're school shopping for their own kids.

I'm also doing a miniature golf tournament on Aug 28 to raise money and hopefully we can get a lot of people to come out and play.

So that's it - bored now?

Happy Anniversary to US!

We did it, we made it 4 years of wedded bliss. A lot of couples don't make it this far, so sometimes I like to think of married years in terms of dog years :) On one hand it seems like we've been married for a really long time and on the other hand it feels like it wasn't that long ago.

Big plans to celebrate the occasion include:

Me leaving work early and Chris having the day off

Eating lunch together - i wish we could do this every day :)

Going out to a nice dinner - We picked Iron Gate Grill

Going to see a play - The Complete Works of Shakespeare, Abridged

Maybe getting some ice cream or treats after

Also since Pioneer Day is the 24th, we like to pretend the entire time from our anniversary on the 21st through the 25th is our own holiday. It's great to spend extra time with each other away from the usual day to day routine. Plus, everyone lights fireworks for us! :)

Summer Movie Review

Now that the summer is half over, here are some movie reviews so you can know what's good when you're looking to spend some time out of the heat in a dark, air-conditioned place :)

A-Team

This one came out early in the summer, you could probably still see it at the cheap theater in your town. Chris and I both liked it for the mix of comedy, one liners, explosions, and the possibility of a sequel. 2Thumbs UP!

Karate Kid

Jaden Smith is the new karate kid with Jackie Chan as Mr Miyagi. The duo worked together pretty good and the studio did a great job of making a classic feel brand new. A lot of the cheesy things I expected in this movie were avoided and the over all product was really fun. The only criticism we had was that we wished the karate kid would have been cast a little older. 1 1/2 Thumbs Up!

Knight & Day

A rom-com about a gal who's in the wrong place at the wrong time entangled with a stranger where situations get more action packed and out of control. Cameron Diaz was pretty good, but sometimes she played it a little too silly. Tom Cruise was awesome. Lately in the media he's seemed a little crazy and maybe imbalanced. In this movie he gets to take his usual spy persona and play it a little crazy and imbalanced :) 2 Thumbs Up.

The Last Airbender

If you are a fan of the Avatar: The Last Airbender series from Nickelodeon, you will be disappointed in this movie. I like M. Night Shamalyan, but he should not have written, produced and directed this movie himself. If he had taken only one, maybe 2 of these jobs, i think the end product would have been a lot better.

In the cartoon, the characters are more vibrant, funny and relate-able than they were in the film. It seemed like the actors were kind of phoning it in with the exception of the kid who played the Avatar. I'd save this one for a matinee or wait until the cheap theater. It's an entertaining show, but not the blockbuster I was expecting.We both gave it a "meh".

Despicable Me

Chris and I LOVED this animated film which follows the evil villain Gru as he tries to steal the moon. The voice acting is pretty good and so is the animation. Although this movie is offered in 3-D I wouldn't go for it. There really isn't anything special in the 3rd dimension that would add to your appreciation for the film.

The story is great, it feels original and the best part are Gru's minions. They look like cold pills in overalls and although there are hundreds of them, they each look a little different from each other. I laughed till I cried at some of the gags they did. A great movie for the whole family. 2 Thumbs waaaay up!

Twilight Saga Eclipse

The third part of a now to be 5 part series, these movies keep building in quality, direction, styling, tempo and action. Edward and Jasper now have their hair under control, so that's one major distraction out of the way :) The dialog was less cheesy and more likely to be said by a person from Earth. As much as I hate to say it, i believe they've pushed Jacob's Abs to the limit. I think he only had a shirt on like 3 times in the whole show!

All in all, pretty good and I'm looking forward to the big wedding in Breaking Dawn part 1. One thumb up :)

Sorcerer's Apprentice

Chris and I just saw this and it was pretty good. Rated PG, it was still full of action, explosions, love, revenge, magic, and maybe a costume designer with too much of a penchant for gaudy jewelry.

That aside, the story was really great. Nic Cage is a wizard- Balthazaar-who trained with Merlin and is looking for the Prime Merlinian who will have the power to stop the evil witch Morgana LeFey from back in King Arthur times. He find the PM in New York in 2000 and things go a little wrong. Fast forward to 2010 and things come to a head. This is a great flick for the family, although i'd recommend it for kids 7 and older. 2 Thumbs Up!

Well that's what we've seen so far this summer and it's been lots of fun! Have you seen any of these shows? What did you think?

Happy Birthday America!!!

I think the first time I really understood the difficulties in establishing this great nation was when, as a high schooler, I went to Valley Forge. This was the winter camp of General Washington and his armies. At the time, it was a forest of trees far from any settlements, supplies or comforts. The soldiers cut down almost every tree to build drafty barracks as quickly as possible and the fires necessary to warm themselves. They slept on plank bunk beds as Washington and other generals tried to obtain cooperation from the Continental Congress to get supplies and carry forward in his battle plans.

It was these brave and enduring soldiers that made our country free. Those that survived the war for independence returned home and farmed the land, built families and instilled in their children the importance of a free nation governed by citizens who lived in it.

Many generations would pass and those original soldiers descendants would fight in many more wars to protect this land from threats both within and without our borders. They would fight to free slaves, to keep Mexico at bay, to slow the growth of communism, halt the reign of dictators and remove the threat of nuclear destruction.

I'm grateful that righteous men, influenced by the Spirit of God, had the courage to make the tough decisions to establish this great nation. That humble men, many farmers, were willing to fight and even die to ensure that all men would be able to live, worship, work, assemble, own, eat, love, sleep, have families, build, write, and speak in the manner each one saw fit.

Today we enjoy the freedom to elect our officials, question their decisions, agree or disagree, elect, re-elect, not elect them and pray that they will have soft hearts that remain open to the whisperings of the Holy Ghost. That mistakes can be avoided and decisions made that are in harmony with the Lord and keep us favored in His sight.

Happy Birthday America, thanks for the 234 years of freedom, peace, war, harmony, discontent, growth, knowledge, development, strength, hope, courage and the years to come filled with much more of the same.

I almost made it

So earlier this year I made a New Years Resolution with two parts. First I wanted to loose 20 pounds in 6 months and second, I wanted to keep the weight off through the end of December - at least.

The end date of part one was yesterday and I almost made it. My Goal weight was 164 lbs and I weighed in yesterday at 167 lbs. So that leaves 3 more to go!

I'll admit, I prolly could have made it on time, but for about 8 weeks I was not exercising or sticking to my eating plan or anything of the sort. So I know why I didn't make it and what I'm supposed to do to finish my goal.

I'll post a before and after pic soon so you can see my amazing transformation :)

A little of topic, but Happy Birthday to my sis-in-law Britany and my bro-in-law Kyle!

I wanna be like her!!!!

I was reading on the MSN Smart Spending blog about this cool gal who is making old, saggy, baggy out of date clothes look great and and she's only spending $365 for the whole year. She was inspired by being out of work and needing to look good on no money to apply for new jobs. Then things went from there. Her site is called A New Dress A Day and I LOVE it!!

I am amazed at some of the things she's come up with and this lady has mad skills! She turns some pretty craptastic stuff into expensive looking dresses and tops. So take a look and maybe you'll get inspired to make over some of the stuff in your closet, or your mom's or your grandma's :)

Here's one for the Papas

I found this cute video on youtube and it pretty much says what i think about father's day. I'm so thankful for my father and now that i'm older i understand even more the sacrifices he made for me and my family and that everything he did was to try to make a better life for all of us.

Took a trip down south . . .

So Chris had a conference to go to for NEHA - National Environmental Health Association - in Albuquerque, NM over this past week. Since airplane tickets were a pretty good deal, we thought it would be fun if i went too :)

Let me tell you something - Albuquerque is one thing - HOT!!!! It's also not the metropolis I imagined it might be. They do have some fun things though. Chris and I hit the Aquarium and the botanical gardens. The best part was the butterfly pavilion where there were tons of butterflies flying all over the place. You even had to check yourself before you went out so that none of them escaped.

It was also really nice to get to spend some extra time together. We gotta find a way to hang out all day together and get paid for doing that. :)

It's all ours now

A momentous occasion happened today . . . Chris and I paid off the Saturn! What's even better is that we did it 6 months sooner than scheduled - yay us!

Chris bought the car 6 months before we got married and it's been a great vehicle so far. It's taken us to Washington, St. George and around town all with very good gas mileage :)

Hopefully we'll get another great 4 years at least!

Vegetables

So I've always been a big fan of fruits and veggies. Over the years I've been introduced to new ones - Chris taught me about the tastiness of brussels sprouts - and I've shared the magic of swiss chard with him :)

I LOVE watermelon and corn and with summer just around the corner, I get excited about farmers markets and fresh produce not trucked all the way from the other side of the globe. It just tastes better when is was picked that morning and then you eat it that afternoon.

If i had a patch of dirt of my own, i would totally grow tons of veggies. But alas, i am stuck with container gardening and that just doesn't satisfy me completely.

Anyway, the reason I'm telling you all this is because I've discovered a cool new way to get farm fresh produce. It's called click2pick.com and is a co-op of family farmers across California,Nevada and Utah. It's great because you can get fruits and veggies that are at the peak of freshness. It's a great deal too, usually about 40% off of what you'd pay at the grocery store. In my first basket i got:
4 grapefruit
4 oranges
5 lemons
2 lg avacados
4 baby zuccini
1 bunch spinach
1 head lettuce
1 bunch beets
1 bunch celery
1/2 pint strawberries

You should totally check out the website and see if they have a location in your area. They have the small basket - what i got - and a large basket that's supposed to feed 4-5 people for a week. So far i love it!

Buffy Vs Edward Cullen

Ever wondered what would happen if the Twilight Universe collided with Sunnydale California? Something tells me things don't go so good for Edward when he meets a free thinking woman with attitude. It's about 6 mins - sorry the timer is cut off :)

April is almost gone

Wow, it's been a while since i've been on here, so here's a round up of what's been going on.

EASTER

Easter was lots of fun. Chris and i dyed some eggs and made easter bowls for eachother because the store was out of baskets :) We stayed the night at my mom's house and watched conference with mom and dad on Sunday. Easter dinner was the traditional ham and funeral potatoes and i had a ton of laughs with my brothers.

AMERICORPS TRAINING

This last week I've been in Seattle at a training conference for my Americorps position at USU's Center for the School of the Future. I had a great week learning all about Americorps, it's mission and what part of my role will be over the next year. A lot of people who join this program are at a crossroads in life. Students finishing their bachelors, seniors entering retirement and those people like me who are looking for experience to help them get from one job to another.

I met people from all over the country and it made me think. Israel requires all youth to enter into military service from the ages of 18 - 20 years of age. What if our country required enlistment in a service oriented force, dedicated to ending poverty, cleaning up our parks and neighborhoods, and educating the youth of this nation. How great would our country be? In reality there'd have to be some kind of constitutional amendment to actually have this happen, but i think it would make our country truely great.

Not only did i philosophize, i also got to visit my friends Cheryl and Dana who were great friends through college and i was friends with Cheryl in High School too. We went out to dinner at a super nice place called the Dahlia and the food was amazing!! We also stopped at a cupcake store and got a dozen interesting cupcakes. They had traditional stuff like chocolate and red velvet, but they also had pistachio and lavender. We tried some of all dozen we bought and boy did i feel sick after! I had a super great time though and it was great to see them.

BABY ANIMAL DAYS

Saturday was Baby Animal days at the American West Historical farm. I LOVE baby animals, especially petting, holding and cuddling them. I have learned to hang back a little and give the kids a chance first :)

The bugs were starting to come out too and Chris had one thing to say about that. I got a bug in my eye and he responded by saying, "Yeah, stupid nature."

Good morning!!!!!

If you haven't seen the TV show Community, you need to! Then you can be awesome like the rest of us and laugh at great clips like this one all the time :)

Jury Duty

I had a super fun weekend that kicked off with a Jury summons for Friday - YAY! This was my second summons in two months, i think i got 2 because the first one didn't go to trial.

I got picked to be in the first group of 10 to be questioned. The judge, prosecutor and defending lawyer asked us tons of questions about potential biases. I think my ship was sunk when i said i had a cousin who is a Cache County Sherriff, who even pulled me over once :) It was for a busted tail light that we had already ordered a replacement for.

Anyway, they didn't end up picking me and actually they only chose a jury of 4 people for the trial. I thought that was kind of weird, but the judge said that's how many they used for that type of case.

So in the end, i only was there about 2 hours. Good thing, because the daily pay for jury duty is only $18.50 in Utah. No wonder it's called civil service and they have to force you to come under penalty of jail time :)

What a Handsome Pair

Aren't these two some good lookin' men? It's Chris with his Grandpa Nelson last saturday. We went down to Sandy to visit his grandparents who moved there a few months ago from St. George. We hadn't been able to see them for a while since they were living so far away, but now that they're in Sandy, we should be able to visit a lot more. YAY!

Horribly Awesome

Warning! Watching this video may get you totally hooked and singing along, even when you don't want to be :) I have experienced this side effect, but i think it was because i over dosed.

What the heck am i talking about? It's Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog, starring Neal Patrick Harris(Doogie Houser/How I Met Your Mother) and Nathan Fillion (the movie Serenity is a favorite). It was created by Joss Wheadon(TV: Firefly, Angel) along with his bro Jed. It tells the tale of a potential evil genius as he tries to take over the world, while also working up the courage to talk to his dream girl.

If you have netflix, you can watch it all at once through their instant streaming service. If you don't, you have to watch it a chunk at a time on youtube. It's pretty short(45 mins) but packed with great music and a suprise ending. Also there may be a sequel in the works :)

Here's the first bit (6 mins-ish), then you'll have to go get the rest. So take a look and laugh your pants off!

Lookie What I Made

I just finished this quilt. I started it before Chris and I got married, maybe even before we were dating. Then with moving and stuff I totally forgot about it. About 3 weeks ago when i was going through all my sewing stuff, I found it and decided to finish it.

This quilt has 60 hand appliqued hearts on it in a harlequin diamond pattern. I Hand quilted the diamonds and then decided to add squares for more visual interest. The lines aren't perfectly straight, but I'm kind of do the best you can gal. :) I just got done last night hand sewing on the red binding.

This was a lot of fun to work on and i never would have been able to finish it if Chris hadn't gotten me a quilting hoop for my birthday :)

Today is the Relief Society Birthday party and talent show and I'm going to display this quilt as my talent, which is why I was trying so hard to finish it. Now the only question is, what will my next project be?

I'm Hired!!!

Everything went great at my interview and they hired me for a position, although not the one i applied for. While i was talking with the interviewer she kinda switched directions and told me about a position in their office at USU. She said my skills would really fit better in this other position and as we talked I was able to tell her about more experience I have with the work they do. At the end she said i could have the position if i wanted it and of course i said YES.

What I'll be doing is coordinating the things with the other VISTA(volunteers in service to america) people and their respective school administrators, helping to compile data on VISTA projects, presenting that information, talking to a lot of people and helping others at the office with whatever they need. It's a little all over the place, but I really like the people I'll be working with and I think I'll fit in well personality wise.

I'm really excited to get started and as a bonus - at least I think it is - I'll get to go to a couple day training seminar "somewhere in the western US" but i won't know until April. That should be lots of fun, although i do miss Chris when i'm gone :)

So more on this as it develops, but for now I'm really happy and excited and I know i wouldn't have this opportunity without divine intervention.

- 12

No this is not a report of the temperature today, although it might be accurate :)

This is an update on my weight loss progress and I'm happy to say I've lost 12 pounds since January 1st! Who'd have thought those crazy dieticians and doctors would be right when they said you need to watch both diet AND exercise. How wacky is that? I also have to give mad props to Weight Watchers Online. It's helped me stay on track without having to go to a meeting every week - YAY!

Only 8 more lbs to go and i'll reach my target weight, which is close to what i weighed when i got married. I wouldn't say i'll be running around in a bikini anytime soon, but i definately feel healthier and i have more energy.

In other news, I finally got a job interview for tomorrow. Eventhough Februrary is the shortest month, as far as the job hunt has gone, it feels like the longest. I really, really, really, really want to get this position because it sounds like a great challenge, but also fun and interesting. I'll give more deets if i get it.

Lastly, I finally made my etsy shop pay off. I used the proceeds from the last year and a half to buy myself a Cricut machine! YAY!!!!!! You can get brand new ones for a steal on ebay and the same goes for cartriges too. I'm still waiting to get my font cartridge, but when i do, it'll be scrabook city!

Did you know they are making a Critcut machine for cake decorating? There's a demo online and it blew my mind :) If people get a hold of this machine, professional cake makers will be out of business for sure. It's that cool :)

Do NOT See This Movie!

Remember how a couple of days ago I wrote about a book series called Percy Jackson and the Olympians? Remember how I mentioned a movie adaptation was going to be made? Well it is out in theatres and Chris and I went to see is last night. It was HORRIBLE!!!

I looked at some reviews before i went to see what the critics had thought. Usually i read what they say and dismiss it entirely. Most of my favorite movies have been hated by critics. In this case, they were right! Don't worry, this post has no spoilers :)

If you have read The Lightning Thief, you will HATE the movie. I understand that usually the book is better than the movie, but in this case the movie was NOTHING like the book. Everything that was clever, interesting, funny, or historical has been completely stripped out. They even changed the story line and relationship between ALL the characters. All the fun tools the protagonists use to deal with the bad guys have been taken away. I mean, did they consult the author at all when writing the screenplay? We left the theatre kinda mad actually.

If you haven't read the book, you will probably think it's an ok movie. The acting is average, the special effects are ok, and the action sequences are pretty good. It might be too scary for kids under the age of 8 or 9 though. Purely from a cinematic standpoint, i'd wait to see it until it goes to the cheap theatre or on DVD.

Chris said he would be willing to see the next one if the director is changed and i am willing to give the franchise another chance too if they change just about everyone who worked on this film. Hopefully the studio will listen to all the bad reviews out there and make some changes so the next one can be awesome :)

If you go and see it, let me know what you think. It's possible I'm wrong, but not likely :)

Happy Birthday to Me!!!!!!!

Ah, another year has come and i find myself to be the ripe old age of 27. It's kind of weird to be 27 i think. It's one of those non-milestone years that makes you realize you one year closer to an actual milestone year, like 30. I don't think i've ever really had an issue with getting older. Especially since people say i don't look it. It's a little vain, but it helps :)

Anyway, my super fun birthday started out on Sunday. Chris and I went to my parent's house and had a birthday/valentines/superbowl party. We had lots of yummy snacks and ice cream cake and it was great to spent time with the family.

On Tuesday, my actual b-day, Chris took the day off and we had a fun time together. For breakfast we went to IHOP. I haven't had pancakes in a long time, and man were they delicious! That afternoon we went to the Sherlock Holmes movie which was super fun - it's so nice to go to a movie in the middle of the day when no one else can :) That night we went to dinner at Kamin, a Thai restaurant and pigged out. Dumplings, springrolls and curry - oh my! And then to top it off we got a box full of treats from Sweetly Divine, which is a great pastry shop. When we got home we put candles in an eclair and that's what i made my wish on. Hooray for birthdays!!!!

I am having a hard time dealing with the fallout though. Since i've been on weight watchers I've lost 10 pounds and have been eating a healthier diet. So today i felt a little sick from all that rich food, but i must say, totally WORTH IT :) I just love having one day a year where it's all about me, and Chris is so good to indulge me.

I'd also like to give a shout out to my birthday partner in crime - Janelle in Pampa, TX. Happy b-day on the 12th!!

Hit the Books

I don't know why, but i LOVE young adult literature. I think it's because the stories are so imaginative and free of the typical cares that adults experience. The characters in YA Lit don't care about martgage payments, who they'll marry, if they'll have a successful career and all that stuff that grown ups have to think about every day. I like being able to escape and, YA lit does that for me.

So, I have another fun recommendation. It's a series called Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan. There is a movie coming out soon about the first book, The Lightning Thief. Basically the main character - Percy- has grown up without knowing who his real father is. As he's gotten older, wierd things have started happening: explosions, fires, injuries, etc and Percy always gets blamed. One night he and his mom go to the beach for the weekend and are chased by a monster of greek mythic proportions. This all leads up to Percy finding out who he really is and what's been going on his whole life. I won't ruin it for you, but it's an action packed adventure :)

Chris says he likes this series because the story is original. Most adult sci-fi or fantasy is all the same old stuff. This series captures something new.

In this series there are 5 books, each one a new adventure of Percy and his group of close friends. Because the stories are based on Greek gods and mythology, you also learn a little bit about the different subtexts of Greek culture, but not in a way that makes tou feel like you're learning :) The 5th book is my favorite and is totally awesome because there is tons of action, destruction and mayhem.

They're all quick reads and a good vacation for the brain :)

What's goin' on?

Wow, i can't believe it's been so long since i posted. Here's the highlights from January.

New years day was a great day for shopping :) Chris and I have been talking for a long time about upgrading our TV. The one we had was HUGE as in it weighed a ton and was 2 ft thick. We had to balance out tv stand so the tv wouldn't tip it over. So we went out looking and found a super deal on a new Hi-Def Plasma screen tv. I didn't think it would be much of an improvement, but it is!


My new year's resolution was of course to drop some weight. So I joined Weight Watchers on January 1st. I realized that i gained 30 pounds since i've been married and I haven't really liked the way i look or feel. Since I've tried wacky diets and also trying to follow what my idea of a good regime would be and failed on both accounts- it was time to get "professional" help.


I'm trying to lose 20 lbs by June 30 and so far things are going pretty well. I've lost 6 lbs so far and i can feel my tastes change towards more healthy things. I don't crave fatty or sugary foods as much, but if i need a little, i have the flexibility to go for it :)

So far , so good. I've lost 6 pounds this month and hopefully the rest will go just as good :) It hasn't been diet alone, Chris and I have been working out 4 mornings each week since October.

The next big item has been that i was sent to Paul's Valley, Oklahoma to do product training for Covercraft Industries. Covercraft bought Global Accessories, which was the company i was laid off from last April. I was in OK for a week all by myself and had to be a big girl - rented my own car and drove myself around - it was kinda wierd. Thank goodness for GPS, cuz i got lost a ton :)

This trip was also my last days of work. I have been laid off again. Oh goody. They're giving me a sort of severance package which will help a lot until i find a job. The downside is that i checked out the job board today and it wasn't looking so hot :) I'm sure i'll find something, but man i hate looking for work!

And on the 21st, Chris and I were married for 3 1/2 years! Yay!! It goes by so fast, I'm sure i'll wake up one day and think - sheesh, where has the last 30 years gone :)

So if you're not doing anything during the day and you want to hang out, i am available. Also if you know of any job openings, send those my way too!

And now the details

I know you've been waiting and straining to hear how my Christmas and New Years went. I'm so sorry to have tormented you, this really was the soonest i could get to it :)

Chris and I started Christmas off early. We opened our presents the sunday before we left on our trip. We did stockings before church and the rest of the presents after. Chris was really happy to get his PS3, I love to see that youthfuk joy on his face when he gets presents like that! He got me clothes and some sewing books I was hoping for. Someday i will post my latest fashio creation - or something like that :)

For the real Christmas, Chris and I went to Kansas to spend about 10 days with his family. It was cool that we were first to get there and the last to leave. We got to have some quality time with Chris' mom and dad, which was really nice.


While we were there we went to see Avatar in 3-D at Warren's Old Town Theatre. If you haven't heard me sing the praises of this theatre before, email me and I'll give you all the details. Suffice it to say, you order your awesome food from your theatre seat and eat it during the movie - it's AWESOME!! We also saw Sherlock Holmes on Christmas day, which was really good too :)


For Christmas Eve, the sister missionaries came over for dinner and we had a German dinner of sausage, potato pancakes, and a cabbage dish called schmokole (it's spelled phonetically - sorry). It was really good and my favorite Christmas quote of 2009 came from Justin(my bro-in-law) as we were passing the food around the table. He said, " Are you prepared to recieve the schmokole?" Which i though was hilarious :)


After dinner we dashed around the house for scarves, towels and sheets to make our costumes for the nativity. Justin, Melissa and baby Camryn, a girl, played Joseph, Mary and Jesus and the sister missionaries were shepherds. My niece Elliette was a sheep and nephew Elijah was a donkey complete with "he-haw" sound effects :) It was the first time I'd ever acted out the nativity, but it was really fun and also funny - eventhough it wasn't supposed to be :)


The day after Christmas we had a baby blessing for Camryn and took our family photo. We did a nice one and a silly one. I guess you can tell which one I liked the best.

We came back on the 29th and only had to work two days before new years. After all that time off, I thought it would be nice to get back to work. Now I just want to be off again :) Hope ya'll had a great Christmas and a happy New Year!

Here's a show of the holidays!