Celebrating the holidays with friends

A couple months ago I blogged about my girlfriends who I have been friends with for years and how out lives were all moving in different ways and getting together without "our rock" Rachel was going to be more difficult. Well it was true we have been trying to get together for months and it finally just happened last week. We made gingerbread house and it was so much fun. It was so nice to see them all laughing and girl talking... it was just a good time.

The prep before the storm...

Everyone knows the key to a good gingerbread
house is the icing

The process


Mary's chocolate chip cookies fresh out of the oven... YUMMY!


Cassie cute little abode


My fruit house... not the vision I intended


Emily's "starter" home...


Janell's winter cottage


Mary had frosting everywhere... and apparently that's the key
because her was totally the best.




The final products.

Favorite Things Tag

7 things

I've been tagged by my friend Melissa Duran

Here are 7 random facts about me:

1. When I was 5 years old I was sledding at my best friend Matt Dahlstrom birthday party and I decided I wanted to sled down a different hill that went perpendicular to the hill we were already sledding on. Lets just say that it was not an approved sledding hill for a reason because after going down the hill I ran into electrical wire and knocked my two front teeth out and had to wear braces for 6 weeks.

2. I love to sing in the car. I bust out my best vocals and if the song is really good I will even show off my great seated dance moves. The new Britney Spear's song has got me many
looks from ongoing traffic:)

3. My new favorite restaurant is Buca di Bepo. If you haven't been there its this cute little Italian place. They make the BEST chocolate cake and have a killer Apple Gorgonzola salad. It is also really close to my work... I ate there twice last week.

4. I have a shopping addiction. I can't help that I work so close to Target and a Bed Bath and Beyond. I was watching Run's House on MTV and his daughters' realized they had a shopping addiction so there started going to a therapist. Maybe I should see if I can piggyback on their sessions.

5. I love small towns and the country. Life is so much slower and enjoyable. In a small town I get that feeling that nothing else matters. I have a shirt that says "Relish Today and Ketchup Tomorrow" and that is how it feels everyday in the country.

6. I have an love hate relationship with bread. I can eat a whole loaf of French bread all by myself, especially when its hot and fresh. Obviously that is the love part. The hate part is the muffin top I currently have where most carbs are stored. See my dilemma... love, hate. ♥

7. I love throwing parties. In fact we just had one on Thursday to celebrate mine and my room mate Mindy's birthdays. It was good time. I made 12 different types of popcorn, some were a hit and some were a miss. In the words of Brander B "Ahh, this one is awful. What is this one? That is worst taste of molasses ever." Haha, I couldn't blame the kid... that one didn't turn out so well:)

I Tag: mah... anyone who wants to play.

Thriller

Last night my room mates and I went to the Thriller show at Kingbury Hall. I do have to admit it was not what I expected. I had heard it was a great show and a great crowd pleaser but I had no idea how twisted the show really was.

As we approached the stairs in the front of Kinsbury Hall I noticed a girl dressed up like a zombie crawling down the stairs glaring and hissing at the crowd around her. I thought to myself that is was some artsy freak just being weird. Oh how wrong I was. I looked around and these zombie like girls were everywhere. I ran back to my room mates and asked what was going on. Allyson said they were actors and they were in the show.

Great! This is all I need. A couple week prior we had gone to a Haunted House and I was still recovering from that. I was instantly scared; to say the least. From that point I thought, "just get to your seat... just get to your seat" but these zombies were everywhere you couldn't escape them. Our seats were in the balcony. I left my room mates just a little bit behind me on my mission to find my seat. I realized I was probably getting too ahead of my roomies so I turned around and saw them a few feet behind me. As I turned back around to continue my mission... one of the zombies got me. She was inches from my face hissing with a look that could kill. Of course I jumped and screamed and everyone around me bust out laughing. But she did not end there, while still glaring and hissing at me she grabbed the program out of my hands and took a bite out of it. She... IT chewed the bite of paper for a few seconds and then spit it at me.


Okay lady you can have my program, it was free anyway. My room mates caught up with me and we headed toward our seats, but not without her shoving the chewed up program back in my face. Finding our seats was actually taking too long so we had to find an usher to help us find them. YEAH, and the dumb zombie still wouldn't leave. I thought we were never going to be safe in our seats.



Awhh... finally our seats. We sat down and the zombies were running all around us but at least I could see them coming at me. I wore my glasses that day... not a good idea. I had no peripheral vision so I could only see them coming if I was looking straight at them. Not to mention the whole row behind us was empty so it was easy access for them to get from one side of the theater to the other... not forgetting to scare us(ME) along the way of course.


I spent the whole show flipping my head from left to right making sure there was no one behind me... paranoid?? Yup, just a little. I am just glad getting out and to our cars was easy and free from scares. All in all the show was really good and it was a great night out as a house. The girls are already talking about going next year, but we will see if I am over it by then.

I smell snow...

Lorelai: Wait, close your eyes and breathe. I smell snow.
Rory: Ah, it's that time of year.
Lorelai: Can't you smell it?
Rory: You know, it's like dogs and high-pitched noises. I think it's something only you can smell.
(Rory sits down next to Lorelai and pulls a blanket over the both of them)
Lorelai: I love snow.
Rory: Really, I had no idea.
Lorelai: Everything's magical when it snows, everything looks pretty. The clothes are great. Coats, scarves, gloves, hats.
Rory: Thermal underwear, wool socks, ear flaps.


This morning I was laying in bed facing the window. I went to bed pretty late and I was fighting the fact that it was 7:30 and my body wanted to get up. I peeked open one eye and when all I saw was snow covering the trees outside my window the other eye shot right open. Of course we all hate the dreaded cold windy wet parts of winter but I cant help but love the first snow. Things get chilly and a coat is a must but the first few weeks even a month of the snow is so beautiful to me. It will snow a little then melt... then snow a little and melt again... I usually love the snow until Christmas hits. As soon as Christmas hits the snow seems to never end... and it is no longer pretty. But for right now I am loving it. There is nothing like sitting in the dark all curled up in a blanket sipping on hot chocolate and watching the snow fall with the fire place crackling in the background. I love the seasons first snow:)

My Quirks

Tagged by Sarah

"Every man has his own quirks and twists" Harriet Beecher Stowe

1. I am a Nazi in the kitchen. I love to cook, but not with other people(unless its planned and I knew we were going to cook together). I get in this routine where I want to cook the "best" meal in the most efficient way. I can juggle 7 different things in my head at once... BUT if a ball drops I freak out. Hence the freak out I had last night about the French bread... sorry Mel:)

2. I hate snot, boogers or anything to do with the nose. My throat closes off and I start to feel the flem building up in my throat. I am going to be the worst mother ever. My kid is going to be like "Mommy mommy I brought you something..." and I am gonna run for the hills.

3. I have the most meticulous shower routine. I have been known to take really long showers and here is why. First I shampoo my hair, while leaving the shampoo in I shave my legs. Then I wash out the shampoo I squeeze out as much water as possible because I read once that conditioner will take better to your hair if its not too wet. I put in the conditioner and let it sit so it can moisturize as long as possible while I loofa with body wash from head to toe. Then I wash my face with some sort of exfoliated face wash. Then I turn the heat down on the water as cold as I can stand to rinse out my conditioner; I also read once that rinsing your hair out with cooler water will help your hair retain moisture. At this point I am done just as the clock reaching 30-35 minutes. Sorry to all those water conservation activists:)

4. I will eat almost anything except mushrooms. I can't stand their texture in my mouth... its almost like eating a booger... and you know how much I like those....

5. I heart musicals. I love every part of a musical. The dancing the singing. I just want to get up to dance and sing too. I wish my own life had a soundtrack... I would love that.

6. My eyes close when I laugh. I absolutely hate it. I try hard to keep them open but I look even worse. Like I have bitter beer face.... haha!

I Tag: Jessica "Love" and Janelle

Rules: Mention rules on your blog. Tell 6 quirks about yourself. Tag fellow bloggers to do the same. Leave a comment to let them know.

Rick's and Chicks'

Every year the weekend after Labor Day I celebrate the annual Rick's and Chicks' camping trip with my friends from my days at the USDA. This trip comes at a perfect time of year. The summer is nearing an end when we're all tired of Bar-BQs and family reunions. This trip is so great because we all just sit around and enjoy the weather. Of course we do a lot of fishing, sun bathing, watching the sun set, eating, kayaking, wave running, eating, reading, laughing... oh yeah did I mention eating.


I look forward to this trip every year. I enjoy it so much because of the way I feel when I am there. The surroundings, the people and even... the silence make this weekend something I always enjoy. This year's excitements started off with the road trip with Shelly. On your way there you pass a little bakery in the middle of nowhere that is run by Greek Othidocs nuns. The things they sell at the bakery are so good, but the shop is rarely open, but this time as we pasted the open sign was in the window and Shelly slowed her massive truck with a trailer on in it down as fast as she could and turned around. It was like in the cartoons when the road runner wants to turn around and he halts to a stop on his heels:) I think we would have bought everything in the store if we had time, but we made do with just a few loafs of bread... that tasted like sin they were so good.

Then we hit the road again. As we got closer Shelly was getting more and more nervous because she knew she was going to have to haul the same huge truck and trailer up Deb's steep rocky "driveway." A few swear words, deep breaths and shots later we made it up the hill. When we reached the top we were just glad we didn't have to drive it back down.


Most of the trip was about relaxing... which is exactly what I did, but on the last evening at the river I was in a kayak with Megan and we were talking about how peaceful it was outside... yada yada yada... and the next thing I know my kayak has decided to roll over and take me with it. I am still baffled how it happen. I spent the next 30 minutes trying to get back in it. Meagan and I were laughing so hard and the peaceful moment was no more. After several different attempt to get my big behind back into this kayak I finally succeeded just as help was sent to find us because we had drifted so far down the river.

The time spent relaxing was just not long enough. Before I knew it it was Sunday morning and we were packing up camp. We cleaned up what we could and Anne and I headed to Portland airport. The road trip there was adventurous as well. Anne showed me things that were off the highway that I have past many times before but never thought to stop and see. We stopped and saw some cool views, an authentic totem pole, vintage cars, beautiful waterfalls and of course the 3000 lbs chocolate fountain. Why anyone would call that art and not a waste of 400,000 calories is a mystery to me.



Amongst all the reason I go on this trip there is one that out weights them all. This... this is why I go. The view of the stars. I have been trying to think of words to describe the view of the stars but I don't think words can explain how beautiful they really are. I love that feeling of laying in the hammock bundled up in a blanket and looking at the endless amount of stars. That is the point when the trials in your life seem so small.

Actively Alive in August

Life has been pretty crazy latley. As the summer ended I thought things were winding down but when ideas of moving came about things have been in an uproar ever since. The month of August was suppose to be a slower cool down month for me, but it was filled with cleaning, packing, the Olympics, oh course Melissa's (and Byrce's) killer birthday party, a huge ward camping trip, more cleaning and more packing, crazy stuff at work, the BIG move of 2008, and finished it off with a trip home for a week.




I didn't even realize I was that busy, but now that I see it all in writing I can tell why so many things did not get down. I am glad to report that Melissa and I are offically out of our old townhouse. It was sad to say goodbye, but it was nice to leave it empty and cleaner than when we moved in. Our new house, which is only a couple miles up the road from our townhouse, is coming together real nice. Sadly I have only slept there a few nights because 2 days after we moved in I flew home for 8 days. BUT now I am back and it is so nice to be in our home. Thanks to my roommates who did a lot of cleaning and unpacking while I was gone it has a homey scent and a homey feel.



Now that the crazy month of August is over I head into another full calendar month but hopefully we can get internet soon so I can post more often.