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Vacation Video

2011-11-11T11:21:00.003-07:00

My Drunk Kitchen: Poutine

2011-09-29T14:06:00.003-06:00

I freakin' love this girl!
This is in honor of my recent Canadian vacation.

Five Favorites

2011-09-27T10:57:00.009-06:00

1. Hempz Pomegranate Lotion

Years ago, when I was a single gal who spent money a little more freely I used to buy the regular hempz lotion all the time. I even started buying it by the gallon because I used it so much. Then I got married and found it hard to justify spending $24 on a single bottle of lotion "but it smells soo good!" just doesn't cut it. It has been a few years since I have bought it, and I recently renewed my love for it with this new pomegranate version. I still couldn't bring myself to spend $24 on a single bottle of lotion (Karl's frugalness has definitely rubbed off on me). Lucky for me though, I found a bottle of this stuff on the shelf at TJ Maxx for only $13. Score!

2. Tzatziki

More specifically, Hannah Tzatziki from Costco. I love tzatziki sauce and when I saw this at Coscto I impulse bought it even though I didn't think I'd even come close to using all of it up before the expiration date. I was wrong! I use this stuff on everything! I use in place of mayo for things like tuna, sandwiches & wraps, on burgers, etc. Anything that needs a little something else, this is perfect for. And the best part is, it's a lot less fattening than mayo.

3. Harmon's in Farmington

I love Harmon's but there wasn't one in my immediate vicinity so I rarely shopped there. That has changed now that Harmon's has opened up a location in Farmington. It is right across I15 from Lagoon. Still not really close to my house but oh so worth it. I never thought I would LOVE a grocery store so much. I love the deli, bakery and just their overall selection of everything is amazing. It is a bit more expensive than other places though, so I just get the things that I know I can't get anywhere else.

4. Eyelash Extensions

This is definitely a splurge, but totally worth every penny for me. I don't like to wear make-up very often anyway, and usually don't wear it at all on the weekends. Having eyelash extensions makes me not feel like a complete scrounge whenever I skip the make-up. They are always perfect and ready to go! Not having to curl and put mascara on in the morning before work is a huge time saver, especially since chances are I'm probably running late anyway!

5. My Mom

My sisters, nieces, mom, and I just got back from a weekend trip to St. George. It was a blast hanging out with just all the girls. We went to Little Mermaid at Tuacahn and shopped our little hearts out. My mom is so funny. Whenever we get together I know at some point I'll be laughing so hard I'll cry. We just have a good time together. Here's a funny story (maybe not as funny to others as it was to us) from the trip:
My mom is driving and we pass an exit that is closed,
Mom: " That exit is closed! Now where do I go?!"
Me: "Was that our exit?"
Mom: "No, it's the next one"
Me: "Umm....keep going and take the next one"

Love ya mom!

Vacation Post

2011-09-16T08:34:00.016-06:00

WOW! I don't know how else to describe our trip to the Canadian Rockies, (Banff, Jasper & Yoho). It was absolutely amazing. It was well deserved, long awaited, and a little pricey, but totally worth it. I have so many pictures it’s ridiculous, so I’m only going to put my favorites up and you can see some more on my facebook page by clicking here. None of these photos have been altered at all and they don't really do the scenery justice.

One of my top 2 favorite pictures of the trip. This is Lake O'Hara and it's pretty hard to get to. They limit the number of visitors, so you have to call months in advance and by a ticket to take a bumpy bus ride up to it but it was worth the hassle. I totally lucked out and called 2 days before our trip and got someone's cancellation.

This was our first full day on our trip and it was FREEZING and rainy! We went from 95 degrees in SLC to about 37 degrees and wet at Lake O'Hara.

Ahhh, Lake Louise.

This was my absolute favorite hike. It's called the Plane of Six Glaciers and you hike up behind Lake Louise about 3 1/2 miles to this tea house. At the top you have a view of 6 different glaciers and you can have a cup of tea, but we had chocolate cake and coffee :)

The people that work at the tea house have this cute dog. I love this picture because if you look very closely toward the right of the picture there is a little chipmunk. The two of them were having a stare off and it was so funny. We finally just left, not sure who won!

Picture with one of the 6 glaciers in the background

The super cute and cozy little cabin we stayed in for part of the trip
(sorry about the cheesiness of this photo)

We saw lots of wildlife, but this monster was probably Karl's favorite. Look at my facebook photos for pics of a mama bear with 3 cubs (freakin' adorable, but crappy pictures), big horn sheep, and a nice deer in velvet

Mini icebergs! (broken off from the glacier above)

My 2nd favorite hike was Mount Edith Cavell. You can see the glacier right above my head. It was making all kinds of loud cracking noises. We thought for sure we were going to see a huge chunk break off and fall into the lake below, but no such luck.

Karl bought a cowboy hat. He really is a total hick.

So that's a little taste of our vacation. I will hopefully have a video coming soon that I'm putting together. It started off a little rocky, when we got to the airport in Calgary the power was out. It was creepy being in an airport with no lights! We finally got our rental car and started driving to Banff. It sucked because we couldn't see any of the beautiful scenery because it was so foggy. Karl is a different person while on vacation, and I like it! He's laid back and not cheap which is opposite of the norm for him. He just justifies everything he does and the money he spends with "I'm on vacation!" Karl even turned his phone off for the ENTIRE trip. That is huge people!

Neville Longbottom

2011-07-13T08:50:00.003-06:00

When did Neville Longbottom become such a hottie?
It even feels weird just saying it.

p.s. his real name is Matthew Lewis

Eyebrow Threading

2011-06-27T07:43:00.005-06:00

I was at Fashion Place Mall yesterday with my step-mom & stepsister when we noticed a new shop right by Nordstrom's. It is for eyebrow shaping. I've always wanted to have my eyebrows done professionally but I hate wax and I'm always afraid I'll end up with no eyebrows when it's done. The thing that's different about this place is that they use the threading method. {They use a pure, thin, twisted cotton thread which is rolled over untidy hairlines and other areas of unwanted hair, plucking the hair at the follicle level. Unlike tweezing, where single hairs are pulled out one at a time, threading can remove an entire row of hair, resulting in a straighter line. As a larger area of hair is removed at once, however, it can be slightly painful.} I've heard of this before but never knew of any place in the area that actually offered it. We decided to give it a shot and we all loved it. They don't only do eyebrows, they can do any hair on your face, upper lip, the little hairs around your hair line, chin, etc. It's not any more painful than plucking or waxing, although it was a little sensitive on the lip area! My eyebrows are perfectly shaped and they didn't take too much away. The ladies are from Nepal and they are super friendly and total pros at what they do. The best part is, it's so cheap! Only $12 for eyebrows and they do an amazing job! I highly recommend it.

Postworthy

2011-06-08T18:43:00.004-06:00

In the 5+ years that me and Karl have been together he has gotten me flowers once. It was for Valentine's Day a month after we started dating. Monday was our 2 year wedding anniversary and I was shocked when I received these flowers at work. He's a pretty good husband I guess :) and a better spouse than me, I didn't get him anything!

My Drunk Kitchen

2011-06-07T11:37:00.003-06:00

Too funny. I think I'll have to try drunk baking sometime, it looks like fun!
*Warning* There is some foul language in this video

New Car.........Yay....

2011-05-16T10:56:00.003-06:00

Getting a new car is fun……..right?

I just wanted to let everyone know what getting a new car is like when you’re married to someone who is in the car business (and is also extremely frugal).

I mentioned to Karl that I was going to wash and clean the car sometime over the weekend because it was dirty. He told me not to worry about it because we’re going to get a new one pretty soon. Ok, whatever I figured he meant in the next couple of weeks. The next morning while I was running around doing my usual errands he calls and tells me to come into the dealership. Yay, a new car! Exciting right? Wrong. Now I don’t want to sound like a total spoiled brat that is whining and complaining about getting a brand new car. That is not where I’m going with this. I am very grateful and appreciative to be able to have a nice car. It’s just the process is a little out of the norm. So, I get to the dealership and he tells me to go look at the Mazda 6’s (the exact same car that I have and have had for the past 5 years and probably will ever have) and to pick one. I know Karl won’t let me have any of the cool stuff like leather, navigation, tint, etc. so I pick a few that I think will be ok with him. He meets me outside and I show him the ones that I like. No, nope, and no way. You’re getting this one, and he points to of course one of the cars I did not pick. Lame, why did you even ask me to look at them! Then I get my hopes up and think MAYBE he’ll let me get one with a sunroof! We go inside to do the paper work and I honestly don’t even want a new car. I would rather just keep the one I have than get a new one that I didn’t have any say whatsoever in picking out. Last time I at least got to pick out the color. I wanted a white one again this time, but the only white one they had just happened to have a sunroof. Apparently that is only a $10-$20 difference in the payment. Karl spends that much a week on his girly coffee drinks! Karl wouldn’t budge so no sun roof for me. Boo :( I asked him about a black cherry colored one that I kind of liked. Hell no, charcoal (the color of the car that was picked for me) will bring a way better resale and sell quicker than black cherry! We haven’t even bought the damn thing and he’s already talking about trading it in. So that’s my car buying process, not very fun or exciting at all. Let me break it down for you:

1. Karl says we are getting a new car

2. Karl picks the car

3. I sign some papers

4. I drive home

No test driving, no checking out the features and available options, no picking out a color or anything like that. The truth is I never so much as laid a pinky finger on the thing until I drove it home.

I want to say again though that I am not complaining. I think it's a pretty good deal I get to drive a brand new car every couple years even if I don't get to pick it out. The car business is Karl's thing so I can't argue with that and I know we'll never be $10,000 upside down in some P.O.S. that's only worth $2500.

ABC's

2011-05-04T15:41:00.006-06:00

Age: 29
Bed size: Queen in the winter, King in the summer. Since our house doesn’t have a true master and all of the bedrooms are a pretty good size, we change bedrooms and sleep upstairs in the winter where it’s warmer, and downstairs in the summer to keep cool.
Chore you hate: Folding and putting laundry away
Dogs: Nope
Essential start to your day: Not a coffee person, but I guess having something for breakfast is kind of important to starting my day.
Favorite color: Red has always been a favorite but I’m really liking gray lately
Gold or silver: Silver
Height: 5’9”
Instruments: I played the flute 6^th-8^th grade
Job title: Environmental Scientist
Kids: Someday
Live: Woods Cross
Mom’s name: Barbara
Nicknames: Breeze, Beezy Bradzinski
Overnight hospital stays: None
Pet peeve: Showing up late
Quote from a movie: Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it. This is good advice for Karl.
Right or left handed: Right
Siblings: I have 2 older sisters and 2 younger step-sisters CORRECTION I also have 2 step brothers and another step sister (I don't see them very often so I don't talk to them much. We didn't grow up together like my other 2 step sisters so I kind of forget about them as step siblings)
Time you wake up: Between 5:30 & 6:00 M-Th, between 7 & 8ish F-Su
Underwear: Yes, I wear underwear
Vegetables you dislike: Raw carrots, unless they are those really little, teeny, tiny, skinny, baby ones
What makes you run late: Karl
X-rays you’ve had: None
Yummy foods you make: Desserts and baked goods
Zoo - favorite animal: Don’t really have one because I’m not a fan of zoos or any wild animals in captivity for that matter.

Vacation!

2011-02-16T07:59:00.008-07:00

I just booked our trip to the Canadian Rockies and I am so excited! Karl and I haven't been on a real vacation since the cruise to the Bahama's he won through Mazda. He also would won a vacation to Hawaii through Mazda that we would have went on but he decided to quit his job that year and take a sabbatical from working. And now Mazda doesn't do those trips anymore. Lame. Anyway, here are some pics of the places we'll be staying and visiting during our vacation at the end of the summer.

We'll be staying in these little cabins for the first part of our trip. They are right by Lake Louise.

Ahhhh, Lake Louise. Ask my sisters, I've been wanting to go here since I was like 13.

This is from inside Chateau Lake Louise.

The Fairmont Banff Springs. We're not staying here, but we'll definitely stop by for some photo ops. It was first opened in 1888 and for a long time was the largest hotel in North America outside of New York City.

Banff

Jasper NP

Owls

2011-01-13T14:47:00.003-07:00

I found the cutest little blog and I'm pretty sure my fellow Chi-o's will appreciate it.

My Owl Barn

You can design and print your own 2011 owl calendar! Super cute, click here!

Duh

2010-11-17T07:22:00.003-07:00

Seriously?! A fellow coworker is learning how to create a folder on his desktop. This individual has a graduate degree and probably makes 20K more than me. What's wrong with this picture?! He's been working on a computer daily for the past 15-20 years and he is just barely learning how to create a folder! Today is going to be a long day.

Over it

2010-11-08T12:37:00.005-07:00

I'm so over the Pioneer Woman. She sucks. Question: how many posts about your damn animals can you do and still keep people interested? Answer: 2, no more than that and I'm done which means I should have been done a long time ago being that she has about 7,643 posts about her stupid animals. She totally annoys me lately. I need a real blogger who isn't afraid to piss people off. Ree lives in a world where everything and everyone is perfect and she shies away from anything that may be in the teeniest, tiniest, least bit controversial. She is definitely NOT keeping it real as she claims. Oh, and the movie about her and marlboro man that is supposedly in the works, barf. I hope it bombs.

Oh, but I still will be entering her fabulous contests of course :)
Don't judge me people, I really want a new camera.

Corn maze and more

2010-10-30T16:57:00.003-06:00

A couple weeks ago me and my sisters went to Logan to visit my mom. We took all the girls to the corn maze and they also had a big fort/castle thingy made of hay. They loved it. At one end there was a pile of mattresses so you could jump off the fort onto the mattresses. Watch the video and you'll see Annamaria being a wimp, pay attention around the 1:35 mark for a laugh.
*disclaimer* My video taping skills are not the best so if you get motion sickness easily you probably won't want to suffer through the whole thing and just skip to 1:35.

FYI

2010-10-13T07:45:00.006-06:00

Amber from Teen Mom just might be the biggest beeyotch in the history of the world. Oh, and she is a total psycho too.

Must Have Now Please

2010-10-06T14:20:00.004-06:00

I want these sooooo bad! They also come in black and light pink, but I'm into purple lately. Now, how do I finagle buying these $140 hot shoes without Karl knowing about it.........

For your viewing pleasure......

2010-09-24T21:47:00.001-06:00

Realization

2010-08-26T11:37:00.003-06:00

Birthdays are grossly overrated. It's not that I don't like getting older (yet), it's just that no matter how low my expectations are..........it just ends up being like any other day.

*But thanks for the birthday wishes everyone!*

Work phone issues = Highlight of my day

2010-08-11T09:31:00.002-06:00

I received this email at work yesterday afternoon. We haven't heard that its been fixed yet so I'm not going to be answering my phone at all today just for shits and giggles.

The facility phone's are inadvertently being transferred to an outside line (holiday liquor store) after 3 rings. DTS is aware of the problem and working to correct it.

Flaming Gorge

2010-07-28T07:31:00.005-06:00

I'm going to make this short and sweet.
Karl went fishing at Flaming Gorge with his boss.
They caught some fish.

Karl caught the biggest one of the trip, 33lbs

Lagoon

2010-07-09T07:58:00.010-06:00

Karl & I went to Lagoon on the 4th with Steph, Chris and the girls. It was the perfect day for Lagoon. It wasn't busy at all, the longest wait was maybe 10 minutes and the weather was just right.

We made Chris and Karl go on most of the kiddie rides with the girls.

The look on Lizabeth's face during the white roller coaster was so funny (even though it was a look of pure terror) it was so cute and I couldn't stop laughing. I wish I could have gotten a picture of her, but here she is right after it.

Karl in action

Karl & his prize

Izabelle on Bulgy the Whale

Blurry photo of the Puglieses

This is Karl's phone after Wicked. During the ride it came out of his pocket and flew out. It hit his collar bone and he thought a bird hit him until he got off the ride and realized his phone was gone. He got it back, but the phone didn't survive the fall.

Florida Pie

2010-07-06T19:07:00.004-06:00

This is the kind of pie that I made and Karl gave away before I had any. For the full story see this post. I've made it a couple times since then and it never gets old. It's soooo good. I made this pie for Karl's dad for Father's Day. The recipe is in my favorite new cookbook, Baking from My Home to Yours. It's called florida pie in the cookbook but it's just a key lime pie with a meringue topping. Notice I didn't do the meringue, not a fan of that so I just use whipped cream.
*Sorry for the crappy photos, I don't have a fancy shmancy camera like everyone else seems to have these days.

BOTW (Book of the Week)

2010-06-22T14:17:00.002-06:00

Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer

With lots of great information, the point of the book is not necessarily to try and make everyone vegetarians, but more aware of where your food comes from, and what goes into making food so readily available and incredibly cheap. Yes, I am teetering on becoming vegetarian after reading this but I love my meat so I will probably just cut back and be more conscientious when buying meat, trying to buy from small, local farms.

MOTW (movie of the week)

2010-06-22T14:04:00.002-06:00

The Cove

YOU MUST WATCH THIS MOVIE!
Excellent movie, great information, and I'm in shock what actually happens on a daily basis from September - March every year. I cried like a baby.

Oh and p.s. if you don't watch Whale Wars, start now, great show!

VOTW

2010-06-22T13:58:00.001-06:00

Cool

*After you press play click on it again to watch it full screen*

VOTW (video of the week)

2010-06-10T21:30:00.002-06:00

I LOVE the Real Housewives shows, they are definitely my guilty pleasure. Season 3 of The Real Housewives of New York just ended and I had to post this hilarious parody of the show. If you loved the show you will love this. Warning, it is R rated for language but completely worth watching if you're a housewives fan!

BPOTW (beauty product of the week)

2010-06-08T15:00:00.005-06:00

Last year I starting using Smashbox photo finish foundation primer. I love it, but I don't love the price. It's around $40 for 1 oz. A couple months ago while perusing around on the interwebs, I came across a certain product that sells for around $5 and is the exact same formula as the Smashbox primer. What is this product you ask?

Yes, Monistat Chafing Relief Powder Gel. I don't know who figured this out, or how they figured it out, but it has saved me some major $$$! If you love the Smashbox primer, or are in the market for a good primer, this stuff is amazing.

TOTW (tip of the week)

2010-06-03T10:52:00.007-06:00

WEAR SUNSCREEN
Last Thursday was our section retreat for work. It's basically like a day off (even though work is discussed) because we don't actually go into the office and we're usually done around 2 and then we can just go home. It was at my coworkers house and he has an awesome deck with an amazing view so we hung out on the deck the whole time. It was nice weather, definitely more cloudy than sunny, but warm and pleasant. I didn't even think about wearing sunscreen. Usually I'm pretty good about it because I burn very easily. So from 9-2 I was outside sans sunscreen. I ran a few errands on the way home, did some stuff around the house and made dinner. At about 7 I started feeling not so great. I can't really explain it, I just couldn't do anything other than just lay there. I hung out on the couch until about 8pm when I was ready for bed feeling completely exhausted. Karl got home from work at about 10 and walked into the bedroom. He sat down by me and was like "What's wrong with your face?" Apparently I had gotten sunburned and didn't even realize it, and boy was it a fabulous sunburn. It was only on half of my face with a raccoon eye from my sunglasses. Oh, and even the top of my head along the part line in my hair was sunburned. Awesome. I think I must have gotten sick from being in the sun and getting sunburned. Luckily the sunburn toned down quite a bit the next day. However that leads me to my current situation: peeling skin. Half of my face is peeling and sloughing off dead skin, real cute. And remember how the part line in my hair got sunburned? Well that is peeling too, so now I have dead skin dandruff.

I couldn't give this valuable tip without posting this song, especially since it was specifically for the awesome class of '99. It's a little long but it does have some other great advice in it and will probably make you smile.

Hello abs!

2010-06-02T07:39:00.005-06:00

Ok, it's definitely not normal for girls to have abs like that. Thanks a lot Megan Fox for continuing to perpetuate this totally unattainable standard that women try to live up to! Totally lame.
If you so desire, you can see more gratuitous pictures of Megan's ridiculous abs here

SOTW (song of the week)

2010-05-23T16:08:00.002-06:00

This is my new favorite song, it's so different than everything else that's out there lately. LOVE IT!

"Home"

Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros

BOTW (blog of the week)

2010-05-18T16:44:00.002-06:00

http://shitmykidsruined.com/

Ya...........it's probably gonna be awhile before Karl and I do the whole "having kids" thing.

p.s. Missy & Steph - this site makes your kids look like freakin' angels, even Belle! Not that your kids aren't angels though ;)

I LOVE PIE

2010-04-28T10:25:00.004-06:00

As some of you know I like to bake and I have a huge sweet tooth. I especially love pie. I even had pies at my wedding (well there was a cake too but that was Karl's deal not mine and a complete disaster!) Remember my Christmas list a few posts ago, and I wanted a cookbook called Baking, Fom my Home to Yours? Well I just went ahead and bought it a couple of weeks ago since I didn't get it for Christmas, big surprise. It has hundreds of recipes, seriously HUNDREDS! I was in a citrusy mood so I decided to try the Florida Pie as my first recipe from the cookbook. It's basically a key lime pie, but with some coconut and a meringue topping. I'm not a fan of meringue so I just did a whipped cream topping. It was so delicious! At least what I remember from the tiny piece that I got. I made the pie on Sunday and Karl and I had a little piece that night because it was kind of late after having to freeze it for a couple of hours. The next day I went to work, went to bootcamp, and then came home. I was dreaming of having another piece of this yummy pie ALL. DAY. LONG. It was the first time I had ever made this kind of pie and although it wasn't too difficult to make, it wasn't super easy and I was so proud of it that I was going to post a picture of it here on my blog. Well I get home from bootcamp and Karl is actually off work, which is extremely rare because he usually doesn't get off until 9 or later. I walk in the door and he tells me that he gave the pie to our friends Brad and Sarah. YOU WHAT?!!! THE WHOLE PIE?!!! YOU DIDN'T EVEN SAVE US A LITTLE PIECE?!!! Yes, the truth is I had planned on giving it away, but I wanted one last taste at least! And the kicker is I know that he had a piece for himself before he gave it away! Brad did call and say how good it was and that it was all gone the next day. Karl says he had to get rid of it before we ate the whole thing ourselves. But what he really means is he would have eaten 85% of the pie and I would have gotten about 15% if I was lucky. Oh well I'll just have to make it again.

$8.90, that's it!?

2010-02-25T10:26:00.004-07:00

Ok, something is seriously wrong with our healthcare system when Karl is double covered and for a $178.00 bill, after already billing both insurance companies, our total left to pay is 169.10?! WTF! Between 2 insurance companies they paid a total of $8.90! Since I've started the rant on insurance companies I'll mention my other issue with them, birth control. Seriously, the cost of my birth control goes up every single year. $5, then $10, now $25, (that is after I meet my $300 dollar prescription deductible (that's a whole other issue) but before I get to that it is $65!). If there is one thing that I think they should pay 100% of, this is it. So what if I stop taking it because it's so expensive, would they rather cover the cost of me being pregnant and having a baby?! This planet is overpopulated as it is and we certainly don't need any more people having babies simply because birth control is too expensive! Birth control should be more readily available and affordable.
Ok, now I have to say that I am grateful to have any insurance at all because Karl always gets mad at me for being upset, when compared to some my insurance isn't so bad. It's just lame that every year I pay more for it but I get way less in coverage than the previous year. Boo on insurance companies.

Ninja

2010-02-04T16:13:00.005-07:00

This is Ninja, Karl's kitty. He's very clear that it's his cat, even though kitty clearly loves me more. I got Karl this kitten for his 30th birthday. He had been talking for a few months about getting a kitty (a dog is waaay too much responsibility) so I surprised him on his birthday with little Ninja. Little did I know Karl still acts like a 7 year old when it comes to caring for pets. First of all Karl likes to remind me that "they always land on their feet" by constantly tossing him around. He also pulls on the kitty's tail, cuddles (more like smothers), chases and basically messes with the cat constantly. Whenever Karl's home Ninja never knows what he's in for. He will be hanging out minding his own business or even sleeping and Karl will go grab him and start playing "the claw". This is where Karl gets the cat to attack his hand and then he pins him down just to show him who's boss. It's pretty funny though because whenever Karl is playing with him or even just holding him, Ninja has "angry ears". He folds his ears all the way back when he's mad and he looks really mean. Coincidence that we only see the angry ears when Karl "plays" with him? I think not. Karl also likes to call the cat everything but his name. Things like the usual kitty or Kitty McKitterton, but he also says things like little shit head, and other various profanities. But he does say it in a baby voice so it doesn't sound bad at first and then you're like wait, what did you just call him?! Oh, and I'm the one that has to feed him, even though it's his cat.
Karl had to put him on the caribou to see what he would do. What did he do? Nothing really.
PS - thanks to my good friend and old roomie JRun for coming up with his name, even though he only answers to kitty. Oh, and later I'll have to write about the ordeal at the Humane Society while trying to adopt him.

What happened to Customer Service?

2010-01-27T08:50:00.003-07:00

What's with the horrible customer service lately?

Example #1
Firehouse Pizzeria
About a month ago I ordered some food from Firehouse to go. I was going to take it to Bax because she just had surgery and couldn't really go anywhere. We love Firehouse, their food is delicious, and so is their dessert called a fh'zookie. Ya know, cookie dough cooked in a little skillet pan with ice cream and chocolate and caramel on top? Well I asked if they cook do that as a to go and they said yes. I picked up the food and headed down to Bax's. Note: Firehouse is in Centerville, Bax lives around 2100 S & 300 E. in SLC. I didn't check to make sure everything was there because there were about 5 or 6 to go boxes, there was no way that there was any food missing. I get to Bax's and of course no fh'zookie. The one thing we were most excited about they forgot. I called them up and told them they left it out of my order. Their response? "I really don't know what to tell you" Huh?! "You can come back and pick it up" Um no, I'm not driving all the way back up there. I was thinking of a response more along the lines of "oh, we're so sorry about that, we can send you a gift card or coupon for a free one" or something like that. Nope, I had ask for a coupon or gift card and they couldn't mail it, I had to go pick it up. Fine whatever, but the part that really irks me is he never once apologized or anything for the inconvenience or trouble. And it's not like I was being rude about it, I just wanted a damn fh'zookie that I had already paid for!

Example #2
The UPS Store
Wow, this guy is THE BIGGEST DBAG I have ever met. I've been to this UPS Store a total of 3 times. Every time I go there it's the same guy, and every time I leave wondering how he is still employed because he is so blatantly rude. This time was it though, I will never go there again. As soon as I walked in I remembered this asshole from the other times I've been in and knew this wasn't going to be pleasant. I'm selling my wedding veil to someone in New York and I wanted to go see how much shipping would cost. I got to the store at 6:40, they close at 7. The doors are locked, he sees me and decides to let me in. That's only because he though I was just dropping a package off, when he found out that he might actually have to work he gave me the dirtiest look. I told him I just needed to see what shipping would be for this package. He asks for the zip code, I didn't bring it with me. I didn't think this would be a problem because I used to work at the UPS store (awhile ago when it was Mailboxes Etc, but still I worked there) and we had to look up zip codes for people ALL THE TIME it was part of the job. And that was when you actually had to look it up in a huge book, no internet. I told him I didn't have it and asked if he could look it up. "Nope, I can't do that." Really?! So I'm already pissed because he really is the biggest prick I've ever met, and I grab the package and go to walk out. Well Karl is with me and he's like hold on. He asked Dbag "does your computer have internet?" Dbag responds "yes" Karl says "well can you go to Google and type in 'zip code Brooklyn New York' for me?" Dbag says "I guess" So he's on the computer trying to look up the zip code and he's mumbling and then says something like "this doesn't even f***ing have it" not quite in a mumble though, pretty loudly. Ok, I'm not easily offended, but I seriously couldn't believe it, he really just said the f word to a customer. I guess his googling skills aren't as advanced as mine but he eventually finds a zip code for New York and gives me a price. This little interaction from beginning to end takes a total of maybe 4 minutes max. I never thought I could get so pissed off in interacting with someone for so little of a period of time. I just can't even put into words or describe how seriously unpleasant this guy was but you can tell before you even talk to him, he just gives off this aura of Dbagness. Oh, so when we're leaving some other guys are walking in and they're like "Are you closing? " and Dbag says "I'm trying to!" Mind you, by now it's only 6:44.
Word to the wise DO NOT EVER GO TO THE UPS STORE ON 5TH SOUTH IN BOUNTIFUL, YOU WILL REGRET IT.

My Christmas List

2009-12-09T09:41:00.007-07:00

1. Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan

2. Fresh Sugar Lemon Perfume

3. Le Crueset 5 1/2 qt Round French Oven

4. Flip Ultra HD High-Definition Digital Camcorder

5. A honeymoon :)

Now I just need Karl to actually read my blog

No swine flu for me thank you very much!

2009-11-16T07:43:00.006-07:00

I think I have successfully dodged the bullet called swine flu. Karl and my step-sis Tracy, (who is staying with us) both got the swine. Tracy got sick Thursday night, trip to the ER confirmed swine flu. They gave her Tamiflu and she was pretty much better the next day. Karl got sick Friday night, waited until Sunday to go to the ER. Figured they would give us Tamiflu, nope nada. He had to request a prescription for cough syrup which they gave us - about 3 tablespoons worth. They did offer to give him Lortab though. Um ok, you'll give him Lortab but not Tamiflu? I know you might get some body aches but come on, Lortab? That seems weird to me. Stingy with the cough syrup but pushing the Lortab?
So anywho, after being around Tracy, and then taking care of Karl all weekend I'm still not sick! Keeping my fingers crossed. Karl & I did get the swine vaccine on Friday but I thought that it might have been too late and I was already infected since Karl ended up getting sick. I'm going to attribute my healthiness to the green smoothies. One green smoothie every day kept the swine flu away!

If this doesn't make you cry....

2009-11-05T14:44:00.001-07:00

....then nothing will, and you are a heartless jerk!

Lasagna Rolls

2009-10-26T14:53:00.006-06:00

This is the best lasagna recipe I've ever made. Granted I've only ever made one other lasagna recipe this is still a winner. Karl loves pasta dishes and requested lasagna a couple months ago. I made a lasagna and it was ok, nothing great but of course Karl ate it up, he's not picky. I came across this recipe online and decided to give it a shot. I was pleasantly surprised at how good it was. I mean I'm not a fan of Italian food, I'd rather have Mexican any day, but this was really good!

roll 'em up

cover 'em in cheese

Mmmmm......cheesy & gooey!

Vitamix baby!

2009-10-26T14:32:00.006-06:00

I've been wanting a Vitamix for the past month or so. They're $450 though and there's no way Karl was letting me spend that on a blender (even though they are so much more than that and WAY better than any normal blender!) So I was going to secretly start hoarding some money so he couldn't say no if I had already saved up for it. Well, I went to Costco to go shopping for the hunting trip and guess what was on demo?? It was like a sign from God. I stood there and watched, listened, tasted, and then drooled over the Vitamix. I immediately texted Karl and sent him a picture of my green smoothie sample. He called me and after some negotiating I got the green light. I mean it was only $400 at Costco, how could you say no to that great deal?! The catch is he is making me find $400 worth of stuff in our house to sell. Ya, I'm still working on that, $85 down so far.
Anywhoo, Vitamix is the coolest thing ever. I've been drinking green smoothies for breakfast every morning and they are delicious! I have a bunch of recipes but they're mainly 2 cups of spinach mixed with some other fruit and veggies like grapes, pineapple, carrots, oranges, apples, bananas, etc. I also made us some awesome pina colada's. Seriously if you have a hard time getting your fruits and vegetables for the day, this is the way to go!

My first green smoothie

Smooth, creamy, green deliciousness!

Hunting

2009-10-26T13:49:00.015-06:00

Karl didn't have any luck this year, I think he's pretty bummed about it. Oh well though, we had a good time and it was awesome weather. Karl's twin brother Alan and his son Connor, and their dad Barry came down to our neck of the woods this year. It was fun showing them around our hunting grounds. I don't think Karl believed all the stories my dad told him about hunting in the area. That's because every quarter mile or so my dad would have to tell the story of how he shot a deer (or 2 or 3 or 4) right there. Oh, and I actually saw more Moose than I did bucks so that was cool.

Karl likes to hike his ass off, so this is at the very bottom of a huge canyon.

I got smart after that and went with Steph and my Dad on the 4-wheeler and the Teryx

Here is Karl teaching Connor how to shoot the bb gun

Connor lost a tooth

My dad contemplating where the deer are hiding

The moose pictures are kind of crappy because I was trying to hurry.

There were 3 moose but I only took pictures of the big bull
Steph was such a wimp and was on the 4 wheeler behind me and my dad. She stayed way far behind as soon as she spotted the moose right off the side of the road because she didn't want to get charged or trampled to death (even though she had a gun)

Chris got a deer (I'll blog about it Steph since you haven't yet!). My dad and Steph actually saw it first thing opening morning. It was missing half of its horns so they didn't shoot it. Chris came along right behind them on the 4 wheeler and took it out . He don't discriminate.

Dad & Steph

Dad & I

Dad, me & Karl

Alan, Barry, Karl & Connor

My new favorite show...

2009-10-07T14:11:00.002-06:00

I just started watching Glee and I wish I wouldn't have waited so long before finally watching it. I love it and I need to catch up on all of the older episodes.

Lashisse

2009-10-01T09:47:00.000-06:00

Lashisse from Molly Sims

Great Pacific Garbage Patch

2009-09-08T09:32:00.004-06:00

This is not okay. How have I never heard of this before?! Am I the only one that hasn't heard of it? It is horrible! Below is some info I found via the website http://www.greatgarbagepatch.org/

Much of our waste today is comprised of plastic that does not biodegrade. This waste accumulates in swirling seas of debris, where plastic to sea life ratios are 6:1; where birds and mammals are dying of starvation and dehydration with bellies full of plastics; where fish are ingesting toxins at such a rate that soon they will no longer be safe to eat.

The largest of these garbage swills is known as the Pacific Gyre, or The Great Garbage Patch.

It is roughly the size of Texas, containing approximately 3.5 million tons of trash. Shoes, toys, bags, pacifiers, wrappers, toothbrushes, and bottles too numerous to count are only part of what can be found in this accidental dump floating midway between Hawaii and San Francisco.

Amazingly, there is no effort underway to clean the mess. Explore this web site to learn more, but most importantly - join the movement to address this problem!

Here is a link to a good video that talks about it too:
http://www.youtube.com/strangedaysaction

Also as a side note, bag the bag! Please start using reusable bags! I have them and I always forget to use them, but I think now I will start making more of an effort to use them whenever possible.

People of Wal Mart

2009-08-27T14:14:00.001-06:00

My favorite new blog

http://www.peopleofwalmart.com/

Cake!

2009-08-26T10:25:00.008-06:00

I've been wanting to make this cake for awhile so I decided to bake it for my birthday. It's a white cake with blackberries and buttercream frosting. It was so good. I took it to work and my piggy coworkers ate it up in like 15 minutes!

It was supposed to be a 3-layer cake...........

But then this happened:

I was so mad! Aren't these silicone pans supposed to be nonstick?! Ya, the bottom burned and the cake stuck to the pan so the finished product was only 2 layers. Don't worry, Karl still chowed down on the burned, mutilated layer.

I also want to tell you how much I love this attachment:
It's the paddle attachment for my kitchen aid mixer but it has rubbery sides on it kind of like windshield wipers. You never have to wipe down the sides of the bowl! Best idea ever!

Wedding Recap.....The Ceremony

2009-08-18T16:48:00.017-06:00

Lindsey & Brad were first down the aisle

Then Steph

Then we started our walk

Tyler, Karl & Brad waiting at the end of the very long aisle

I was on the verge of tears because I was excited, happy & nervous all at the same time so I made my Dad to tell me something funny. It's weird how that works, crying when you're happy? It doesn't make sense to me and especially because I'm not a cryer.

I'm trying not to think about all the people staring
at me because I do not like attention.

My dad giving his last daughter away

Still nervous, but a little relieved seeing Karl and his big smile.

Karl was just so..................calm, it was refreshing and made
me forget about all the people looking at us during the ceremony.

I think I remember Karl & I discussing our kiss, but it ended up being a bit more juicy than I thought we had planned!

Trying not to think about people staring at us

Stop staring at me schwaaan!

Ok, time to talk about it....

2009-08-13T13:45:00.002-06:00

I can't, NOT talk about it any more!
I. AM. SO. MAD!
This is why.
I'm not going to get into it (too much) because I could go on and on, but I feel like I need to say something.
I was a Chi Omega at USU. I met my best friends there and it was THE funnest time of my life. Joining Chi Omega was one of the best decisions I've ever made. The Greek system ALWAYS gets a bad rap. It's too bad because the amount of good that comes from their fund-raising, volunteering, and overall participation at the university and in the community is amazing. Sigma Nu and Chi Omega are now gone at USU.
Do football teams or basketball teams/programs ever get pulled because some one on the team rapes or sexually assaults someone? Nope. How about when they are involved in selling and/or taking drugs? Nope. When they get in fights, are charged with assault, or when they participate in any illegal activity? Nope. Athletes are constantly in trouble with the law, but the whole team or program doesn't get punished for it.
Ok, but this really isn't about how Chi Omega should not have been closed (but it shouldn't have). Anywhoo, some people have been punished and that's fine (not that I agree with that either) but now they're suing the university? I guess we all knew it was coming because money makes everything ok, right? NO! THIS IS WRONG ! They have already successfully transferred the blame onto the other students, and that wasn't enough? This was an adult and he made the decisions that led to his untimely death. It's sad that the family cannot move on with their lives but instead blatantly refuse to accept the situation for what it is. Someone must be held accountable, someone must be to blame, right? The Starks family has lost all credibility in my book. Now it's just a matter of cashing in on their son's death and to me that's just as sad as the death itself. Even though I haven't agreed with the way any of this has played out, I still had some sympathy for the family. Not anymore, not after reading this: The couple is seeking an undisclosed amount of money to help them recoup medical and funeral costs. They also want money they believe their son was entitled to before his death. What money was he entitled to by the university before his death?

Another Wedding Recap.......Pre-Ceremony

2009-07-23T08:44:00.016-06:00

Midway is beautiful, I want to live there someday

*swoon*...........I love my dress

My personal make-up arteeest

Suck it in!

My absolutely gorgeous bouquet

This was on the elevator, I can't remember what he was saying
but it must have been pretty funny!

I'm not quite sure what Bax said or did to cause me to make that face, but you never know with Bax

Ok, places everyone! It's showtime!

Free '92 Jeep Wrangler...

2009-07-16T09:43:00.002-06:00

For real?

Check this out:
http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=218&ad=7010177&lpid&cat=264

Anne Shirley Perfume

2009-07-14T08:38:00.004-06:00

I'm totally getting this perfume for my sister. You know you want it Missy!

Shootin'

2009-07-07T08:10:00.004-06:00

Sunday was the only day Karl got off for the 4th of July so we decided to get out of town and go shooting out in the west desert. We bought 6 watermelons as targets and drove out to BFE. Karl's big gun, for shooting at 1000 yards, is still being tweaked and isn't quite ready yet for its debut so we were only shooting between 400-600 yards. We both shot up the watermelons until they were mush. It was pretty fun, we used all Karl's different guns like a 7mm, 223,...ummm a revolver, and a little pistol......and some other ones, I'm not really down with all the gun lingo yet. :)

This watermelon didn't make it. We shot it a couple more times to make sure it was dead.

Karl wouldn't pose for the picture. He got scoped on his first shot and I wanted to get a picture of the little cut between his eyes. It was small, but bled like crazy, you can see some blood on his shirt. He's probably mad I'm writing about it since he's usually mr. gun professional so shhh don't tell him! Oh, and I decided not to shoot that gun.

This is standing at the closest watermelon looking back at our little shooting tent. It's the black thing in the upper right hand corner.

Mmmmm Pie!

2009-07-07T07:42:00.003-06:00

Not to brag or anything, BUT I made the most delicious pie on Saturday. I probably love pie like Karl loves cookies. Fruit pies are the best kind. None of those sissy cream pies, those aren't real pies. I bought a butt load of blueberries that were on sale last weekend and needed to use them up. I made some muffins, we put them in our cereal, and just munched on them all week, but by Saturday we hadn't even eaten half of them. I was feeling daring and decided to go for it and make a pie. I've only ever made like 3 pies in my entire life, pumpkin, lemon chess, and coconut cream. I've never really made a nice real fruit pie from scratch because I know it won't turn out as good as my mom's or Uncle Kent's, both of who(m?) make delicious pies. Anyway, it was AMAZING! I had to add a cup of frozen strawberries because I didn't quite have enough blueberries. It turned out fabulous though. The crust was perfect, and didn't ever get soggy on the bottom (I learned a trick for that) and the filling was superb. Karl and I totally scarfed it down and it was gone by Monday. I think Jenny did get one piece so we didn't eat the WHOLE thing by ourselves! I can't wait to make another one. Next up, strawberry rhubarb!

Jon Minus 9

2009-07-02T13:45:00.000-06:00

Funny :)

Match.com-Jon Gosselin - watch more funny videos

Nieces.......and now a nephew!

2009-07-02T07:45:00.008-06:00

Lizabeth & V watching a movie

Belle, getting her hair did

Me & Annamaria

I love this picture! It makes me happy because originally Alex and Annamaria were pissed that I was getting married. Here are a few of their best comments: "you're gonna get married and everything's gonna be about Karl now." -Alex "you're gonna get married and have kids and we'll have to babysit!" -Annamaria

This picture is just so Alex. She's always doing crazy things, and I think Belle will always be her partner in crime.

This is Connor, my new nephew bustin' out some serious moves on the dance floor.

This is the only really good picture I have of Hailey, my new niece. This is Karl's twin (yes, twin) brother with his wife Erin, and their 2 kids, Connor & Hailey.

More Wedding Pictures

2009-06-30T09:04:00.007-06:00

Here are a few more pictures from the wedding

I. LOVE. THE. FLOWERS.! Thanks Jamie!

My Dad looks so handsome!

Bax & my sis Steph, Karl & I, Brad

That's all folks!

Just kidding, there's definitely more to come but I don't want to overwhelm you all with the awesomeness of my wedding!

Golden Spike

2009-06-21T20:28:00.007-06:00

Thursday was a good day at work. My colleague Candace and I had to go to Golden Spike National Historic Site to do an inspection. It's not too far away, but it was a beautiful day for a drive. I had never been there before and I was pleasantly surprised at how cool it was. After we did our inspection at the maintenance shed, we headed over to the visitor's center. We got there just in time to see the trains come chuggin' along from the maintenance shed we were just at. They're very cool. We actually got a special tour of inside the trains. The train engineers told us we forgot to inspect the most interesting thing there, so he took us aboard both trains. They are both steam locomotives but one is heated with coal and one is heated with wood. After we had our private little tour aboard the trains, we were climbing down and a visitor asked the engineer if his son could come aboard. "Sorry, said the engineer, we're not allowed to take anyone aboard, but these here are state inspectors." I kind of felt bad, but oh well it's about time I get some perks out of my job! We actually will probably need to do inspections at many of the state's national parks, so this will be a fun summer for work!

The "119" locomotive

The "Jupiter" locomotive

Wedding pics sneak peak

2009-06-15T11:56:00.004-06:00

I don't have any pictures from the photographer yet, but here are some photos that a friend from work took.

Back to Reality

2009-06-09T07:39:00.003-06:00

It's finally over! Thanks to everyone who came to the wedding and also to everyone who couldn't make it but wished us well!
A HUGE thanks to my one and only Bax. Despite being busy with her last week of school and getting started with her Master's program she stepped up and helped with so much stuff I can't even begin to list it all. She gets shit done and she may have found a new calling in life, anyone need a wedding planner?
I'll post some pictures as soon as I get them.
Also, if you were at the wedding and I didn't get a chance to talk to you and thank you for coming, I'm so sorry! I tried to talk to everyone, but it went by so fast!
*Oh and one more thing. Karl and I actually forgot to invite some people and didn't realize it until after the wedding when we were talking about everyone we saw and everyone who came. We're basically stupid and have no real excuse other than that. Our worst fear was forgetting to invite people and of course it happened. Hopefully no one will be too upset and understand that we had a big brain fart and it was nothing personal. You can't win 'em all.

I Hate Weather

2009-05-29T16:01:00.004-06:00

This is the 10 day forecast for Midway. 77, mostly sunny and only 10% chance of rain for Friday, 76, sunny and 0% chance of rain for Sunday. Saturday though, SHOWERS! Of course, that's just my luck! Hopefully it will change, I'll be checking weather.com on an hourly basis until then and keeping my fingers crossed!

Quilt!

2009-05-29T15:49:00.003-06:00

My cousins the Beans, as they are known to some of you, are the most awesome people ever! I started to make a Chi Omega quilt like 3 or 4 years ago. The only thing I did was start to cut up all the t-shirts, and then I forgot about it. Well the Beans, who by the way are sewing/quilting experts, decided to finish it for me as a surprise! Seriously, they are the sweetest people you will ever meet. Kent, Sherry, Denise (& Toby) and Pam, I love 'em all! Thanks guys, that was such a thoughtful thing to do!

In 16 Days?!

2009-05-21T08:07:00.005-06:00

Cheesy picture I know, but I still like it!

*Photo by OpieFoto

P.S. - crisis averted if anyone saw a post from the other day.

Waffles Anyone?

2009-05-06T21:13:00.003-06:00

I moved into Karl's last week, well, I've actually been moving the past couple of weeks. It's been a long process. Anyway, I was packing some stuff up when I found my waffle maker. Oh ya, I have a waffle maker. I had totally forgot that I even had one. I opened the sucker up and this is what I found:

Disgusting! Who does that? I mean, I seriously must have made waffles one day, ate the first ones, and then just closed it up and put it away?! I don't know how that happened, it's kind of embarrassing. Oh well, I prefer pancakes anyway.

Make Up?

2009-05-06T20:38:00.005-06:00

I'm not sure how to do my make up for the wedding. I want to do something a little different since it is my wedding, but I don't want to get too crazy to where people are like "whoa". Here are some pictures of what my wonderful make up girl, Kendall, did. I let her go for it and give me something way different that what I'm use to. Should I do something like this? Or keep it more natural with nudes, pinks, peaches, and shimmers? Thoughts, opinions and suggestions please!

Stressed Much?

2009-05-05T18:04:00.003-06:00

Caution: Long venting post ahead

My life is crazy lately. I am busy every second of everyday. There is ALWAYS something I could and/or should be doing. Wedding stuff ya, blah, blah blah, now I just got finished moving, still unpacking though which will probably take months, and work has been insane. Lately one thing after another has been going wrong.

My dress....it's borderline too short, bunchy in the middle, got taken in too much (or I got fat, which is entirely possible since I have had absolutely NO time to go to the gym in the past 2 1/2 weeks), and now has to have the zipper replaced. You pay over $300 for alterations, the thing should fit like a f-ing glove!

The other night while cooking dinner I knocked over an almost full bottle of olive oil. It crashed to the ground and glass and olive oil went everywhere.

We just barely switched from Comcast to Direct TV. I HATE comcast with a passion, I think they are a rip off. Anyway, they came and installed our dish and it stopped working a couple of hours after they left. We also got new internet providers. The new guys came, did their thing and the internet stopped working a couple hours after they left too. Karl called to cancel Comcast right after we got installed with the new guys (Blue Zone). They are cheaper, but it's slightly slower download speeds, but we're not weirdo gamers (Missy? :))who need the fastest connection possible for gaming stuff so we didn't really care, it was cheaper from the crooks at Comcast. Of course when he calls they offer to match the price we were getting from the new guys, but too late we already paid for installation and equipment! The annoying thing is we called a couple days earlier to see if they would give us any deals because we were gonna cancel in the next few days. Nope, no deals then, but all of a sudden after we get all hooked up with the new guys a deal is magically available. Lame.

Today as I was grabbing breakfast on my way out the door I took a drink of my juice and noticed it didn't seem as cold as it usually does. I didn't really think anything of it, I figured maybe my fridge was colder at my place and Karl probably doesn't keep his as cold. I talked to Karl after I got to work and told him to check it out, but it was probably just me. I get home from work, open the fridge to look for a snack......something's not right. It smells.....off, it doesn't really stink, just something isn't right. I decide to look in the freezer. Oh ya, the fridge is dead, everything in the freezer is starting to thaw and all the food in the fridge is starting to go bad. Just lovely. Karl of course didn't check the fridge this morning before he left for work like I asked him to. Now, we are about to have a fridge and a freezer full of bad food. We can't go look at fridges because Karl is working, big surprise I know. He was supposed to be off at 5, he has to stay late, no big suprise there either. I had to run to the nearest gas station and loaded up on blocks of ice, come home dig through the garage that is full of all of my stuff that is yet to be unpacked to find the coolers. I have just finished packing the coolers with food. Of course it didn't all fit. And the freezer stuff I didn't even bother with, because a cooler can't keep things frozen! Which totally pisses me off because there's a lot of meat in there and meat is expensive! I was going to run the freezer stuff over to Karl's parents house who live like 2 miles away. I can't get a hold of them though, and the last time Karl made me get something at their house when they weren't home I set the alarm off because Karl told me the wrong code! I should just run to Lowe's and buy and new fridge and have that baby delivered tonight. No way though. Both Karl and I know if I went to buy a fridge by myself I would probably get the most expensive one (with useless features like a built in tv)and probably get talked into buying all new appliances (which wouldn't be a totally bad thing) along with it. During my trip to the gas station I called to vent/cry to my mom. She said that the lint on the coils on the back of the fridge make it stop working and sometimes if you vacuum them off the fridge will start working again. I started to carefully pull out the fridge from the wall. Crash! I broke another bottle, but this time it's an almost full bottle of Peach Schnapps. It falls behind the fridge and breaks. Great. At least the peach smell that consumed the kitchen was quite pleasant. I clean that up and go grab the vacuum to clean off these coils my mom was talking about. Get the vacuum and, oh ya, we're out of vacuum bags. Awesome. Good thing my roomie JRun got a vacuum for Christmas and so I grabbed her vacuum. I finish pulling the fridge the rest of the way out and I don't see any freakin' coils! I vacuumed up all the lint and crud that was back there but of course the fridge is still dead. And now I missed my body pump class at the gym that I was going to go to no matter what. I missed the gym but I feel EXHAUSTED. I need a vacation (honeymoon), oh wait that's not planned yet either! It will be a miracle if I survive the next 6 weeks.

Hurt Feelings

2009-05-04T15:48:00.002-06:00

This is my new favorite song and it is SO GOOD!

*Make sure you watch it until the very end, there's a really funny part.

Ode to the Real Housewives of New York

2009-04-30T12:05:00.003-06:00

I'll admit it, I love this show. I hate that I love this show. I hate that I waste time watching any reality television. It sucks you in. Anyway, for any else who enjoys the Real Housewives of New York this is pretty funny.
P.S. I'm super excited for the Real Housewives of New Jersey!

Wedding Website

2009-04-23T09:29:00.003-06:00

I put together a wedding website a couple of months ago. I thought I had told everyone about it, but just in you case haven't seen it and you're interested, here's the link:

http://www.mywedding.com/karlandbrianna/

STFU Marrieds!

2009-03-31T16:30:00.002-06:00

I love this! Check it out:

http://stfumarrieds.tumblr.com/

Married couples on Facebook with their inane status updates and wall posts are the bane of my internet existence. Seriously, marrieds. STFU. Feel free to contribute your screenshots and let me know if you want it to be anonymous - marriedsonfacebook@gmail.com

Seriously?

2009-03-17T09:28:00.003-06:00

This is one of my long venting posts so consider yourself warned.
So, wedding plans.......isn't it exciting? NO, it sucks major a**. The latest drama in my wedding plans is the cake. Well, actually not the cake but pies. I'm not a huge fan of cake so I got this brillant idea to do pies. I have a favorite restaurant that does the most amazing desserts and pies and I thought it would be perfect to have them do a variety of the their awesome desserts and pies in lieu of a cake. I figured this wouldn't be a problem with my venue because they allow outside cakes. The venue does have it's own fabulous bakery and can do a cake/desserts if you wish (it's very pricey) but they also allow a cake to be brought in. This was made very clear at the beginning of our planning. Last week while at a meeting with the event coordinator at our venue, I mentioned we would be doing pies and not a cake. She told me that she would have to check with the chef and the head of food and catering to see if they would allow this. Huh? Why wouldn't they? Ok, whatever I still figured it was just a technicality to get the thumbs up from the appropriate people. A couple of days later I get an email saying no go on the pies. What?! Here is an excerpt of the email:
Per our insurance, we cannot guarantee that they were made in a Health Department approved kitchen and if someone was to become ill, we would be at fault. Okay, that's fine I get it. BUT, how can you prove that the cakes you allow to be brought in from outside vendors ARE made in this Health Dept. approved kitchen?! It's a freaking restaurant I'm pretty sure their kitchen is Health Dept. approved and I'm sure they would be willing to prove it. What if I had this restaurant make me a cake, would it then be ok? From what they've told me, that would be perfectly ok. Basically I can't have pies, but they don't even have a legitimate excuse as to why not! I sent them an email back explaining my confusion on this issue and asking why that now that it's pies, it's all of a sudden an issue. It took them a full week to come up with this response that didn't even address any of my points:
Brianna:

Please, allow me to apologize about the misunderstandings regarding the planning of your future function at our property. Regarding the cake issue, we do allow wedding cakes to be purchased off property. This is our policy, when the minimum price of our cake is not met. We currently do not produce cakes in-house for less than $300.00. With that in mind Joanne offered you the opportunity to have a cake made elsewhere. Although, we do charge for cake cutting at $3.00 per person.

In reviewing you event I recommend that you serve the pies at the condo. I hope this is agreeable to you.

They didn't even address anything I brought up! My question about having the restaurant make me a pie versus making me a cake? Not even mentioned. About how they get around their little insurance issue with their other outside cake vendors? Not even mentioned. The best part is how they are now going to charge us a $3.00 cake cutting fee! When I first met with the event coordinator one of my many questions was about some fees that I know some venues charge and I asked specifically about a cake cutting fee. She said that wouldn't be a problem, because I had a budget I had to meet and that was a fee that they would and could easily waive . I guess I should explain the last line in the response about serving the pies at the condo. Well, Karl's family and my family are renting some condos that are on the property. I said that if this was going to be such an issue we would just serve the pies there, instead of at the event space. Hell, maybe we can have the whole damn wedding at the condo so we can bypass all the drama and save some $$! Too late though, I already signed a contract. :( BUT, the contract didn't have ANYTHING about a cake cutting fee in it! :) So I might just be having my restaurant make me a cake! To be continued..........

Wedding PSA's from The Office

2009-03-04T13:58:00.003-07:00

You MUST watch this!

2009-02-26T07:58:00.003-07:00

This is the most amazing thing I've seen in a long time!

Disturbing

2009-02-05T15:33:00.004-07:00

Ok, so this is totally creepy. This is a video of the Chuck E. Cheese Showbiz Pizza Band. I'm not the most conservative person but even I think it's a little inappropriate.

There are quite of few of them, but here's another one.

Bugsy?

2009-02-05T11:09:00.004-07:00

I love this, it is so cute! I don't know why but this just makes me laugh and smile uncontrollably everytime I watch it. It kind of looks like my cat Bugsy (R.I.P.). Remember, Missy & Steph? He was the best cat ever!

FYI: No kittens were harmed (too badly) in the making of this.

Amen!!

2009-02-04T10:22:00.002-07:00

Reading this made me so happy this morning.

"This is America. We don't disparage wealth. We don't begrudge anybody for achieving success," Obama said. "But what gets people upset _ and rightfully so _ are executives being rewarded for failure. Especially when those rewards are subsidized by U.S. taxpayers."

-President Obama

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama on Wednesday imposed $500,000 caps on senior executive pay for the most distressed financial institutions receiving federal bailout money, saying Americans are upset with "executives being rewarded for failure."
Obama announced the dramatic new government intervention into corporate America at the White House, with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner at his side. The president said the executive-pay limits are a first step, to be followed by the unveiling next week of a sweeping new framework for spending what remains of the $700 billion financial industry bailout that Congress created last year.
The executive-pay move comes amid a national outcry over huge bonuses to executives heading companies seeking taxpayer dollars to remain afloat. The demand for limits was reinforced by revelations that Wall Street firms paid more than $18 billion in bonuses in 2008 even amid the economic downturn and the massive infusion of taxpayer dollars.

A little funny for Monday morning

2009-01-26T10:49:00.000-07:00

8 Things

2009-01-12T11:07:00.003-07:00

I got tagged again, this time from my niece Annamaria
Here we go.........

My 8 favorite TV shows:
1. Locked Up Abroad
2. House Hunters
3. International House Hunters
4. Real Housewives of Orange County/New York/Atlanta - I love them all
5. The Office
6. Platinum Weddings
7. Flipping Out
8. Ellen

My 8 favorite Restaurants:
1. Sego Lily Cafe
2. Mimi's
3. Paradise Bakery
4. Mi Ranchito
5. The Dodo
6. Einstiens
7. Firehouse
8. Old Grist Mill

8 things that happened yesterday:
1. Did laundry
2. Made guacamole
3. Booked a photographer
4. Talked to Pam
5. Helped Karl w/his resume
6. Watched some of the Golden Globes
7. Paid bills online
8. Took a shower

8 things I love about winter:
1. Christmas
2. Egg Nog
3. Time off for the holidays
4. Holiday foods
5. Nothing else....I'm not a winter person
6.
7.
8.

8 things on my wish list:
1. Vacation around the world
2. a cabin somewhere
3. Population control
4. Blackberry Storm
5. Enough money to retire
6. World Peace
7. Healthy & safe family and friends
8. New kitchen (at Karl's)

8 things to look forward to:
1. My Wedding
2. My Honeymoon
3. 4 day weekend this week
4. Getting my new sweater I ordered
5. My tax refund
6. Spring
7. Summer
8. Fall
I want to tag..........Alex

My Man

2009-01-08T12:28:00.004-07:00

Ok, ok, wow, double tagged!
So here we go.....

1. Where did you meet your husband? Match.com

2. How long did you date before you got married? We aren't married yet but will be on June 6 so mark your calendars. We've been together exactly 3 years from yesterday.

3. How long have you been married? see above

4. What does he do that surprises you? Random things. Like the other day he told me that maybe he should go to school to become a doctor. What?!! He flinches, squirms and tenses up whenever he sees fake blood or injuries on tv! That really cracked me up because he was totally serious. He figures he could handle it because of all the animals he's had to gut. Another thing is that he gets addicted to stupid games on cell phones. Brickbreaker, Pacman, Risk, etc. For someone who can't even sit still long enough to watch an entire commercial, it's amazing to me that he can spend an hour playing a stupid game on a cell phone. Yep, he's addicted. I don't think he'd ever admit just how often he plays them though, he doesn't want people to know he's doing something so unproductive.

5. What is your favorite feature of his? He has really nice legs. They're not skinny, but perfectly toned and muscular with no fat. He also has a great smile and strong arms.

6. What is his best quality? He is extremely patient. It's kind of frustrating because you can never get him to freak out no matter what. Totally calm and mellow all of the time. Oh, and his sense of humor. Although it's sick and twisted at times, he always makes me laugh.

7. Does he have a nickname for you? He calls me Ariotti a lot.

8. What is his favorite food? His favorite food IS food. He seriously eats anything. He probably likes cookies a little too much though.

9. What is his favorite sport? Can hunting be considered a sport?

10. What is your favorite thing to do as a couple? Probably fly fishing.

11. Do you have any children? No

12. Does he have any hidden talents? He's a really good bowler. We had been dating for awhile before I found out he was offered a bowling scholarship to Weber when he was in high school. I didn't even know there was such a thing as a bowling scholarship. Another thing, but I don't know if it's a hidden talent is that he can talk anyone into anything (I guess that's why he's in sales). From talking his roommate into letting him shoot him in the ass with a BB gun, to having his mom and dad bring him an egg to his house at 10:30pm on New Years Eve so he could make muffins.

13. How old is he? 29

14. What is his favorite music? He likes a little bit of everything, but mostly country and a bit of rap. He's really good at memorizing songs. He'll break into some random rap song at any moment.

15. What do you admire most about him? He is super motivated, and he always has to be doing something. He figures out what he wants and he goes for it.

16. What is his favorite color? Camo

17. Will he read this? Doubtful

I tag..... Missy Nelson!

Booooo Gold's Gym! I loath you!

2009-01-06T08:37:00.006-07:00

*WARNING - This is just a huge vent, you may not want to waste your time reading the whole thing*
I don't think I can put into words how much I truly loath Gold's Gym. And yes loath, not hate, this is so much more than hate. When I moved to North Salt Lake I joined Xcel gym which I absolutely LOVED. Then last year they sold out to Gold's. Now, EVERY time I go to the gym something has changed and it pisses me off! First, the workers. At Xcel the employees were so friendly and not in the fake, I have to be friendly because it's my job way, they were just extremely pleasant all of the time. Now, I'm lucky to even be acknowledged when I go through the door. They usually don't even take the time to scan my card, I have to do it myself so they can just sit and talk on the phone. Second, the body pump class. At Xcel I would always go the the body pump class which was the only class that costed extra. It was $2 a class, or you could pay $10 month and go however many times you want. That worked out great because I was going to the class 3 times a week. Another option was to buy a punch card and get 10 classes for $15. Both really good options for people who frequently attended the class. Then it changed to Gold's and they took away both of those options. Now it's $2 every time no matter what. I could upgrade my membership to VIP and go for free, but to upgrade would more than double what I pay now (I also got an awesome monthly rate at Xcel that luckily Gold's has to honor). Third, the towels. Xcel had small towels for everyone to use. It was great because I always forget to bring a towel, and always need one in the body pump class. Now, no more towels. Fourth, the lockers. Xcel had those really nifty lockers that already have locks on them and you just program whatever code you want and you're good to go. No need to bring your own lock. Now, for no reason other than to further piss me off, the electronic locks are gone. Fifth, the cardio cinema rooms. I was excited about them installing a cardio cinema room and thought that this might make up for all the other horrible things they changed. For those of you who don't know, this is like a theater room with cardio equipment in it. Well, it sucks. The volume is soo loud during the action/music/dramatic moments and almost completely silent when people in the movie are actually talking. It's so frustrating! And hopefully you don't get there when a movie ends because it takes them about 20 minutes to realize the movie is over and to change it. Oh, but sometimes they can't even be bothered to change the damn movie. They just replay the movie you just watched! Sixth, all of the people. When it was Xcel it never got so busy that it was just annoying to be there. I think Xcel had only 4 other gyms in the state. Now, since everybody and their dog belongs to Gold's the amount of people there at any given time has AT LEAST doubled, probably more. Now parking is an issue, and you might have to park clear across the street in a freaking parking garage! Seventh, they cut classes. Serioulsy, more people started coming to the gym and they cut down on classes?! Not only did they cut out classes they cut down on instructors. In my body pump class that I mentioned earlier, there used to be 2 instructors per class. They would take turns with one leading the class while the other would walk around to help you with your form and make sure you were doing things right. Now most of the classes are 1 teacher per class, and the classes are twice as full! Lastly, and most recently this stupid yearly fee! Once a year they charge you an extra $15 and call it something so stupid I can't even remember. Did they tell me about this when it became Gold's? Nope, they just went ahead and debited it from my bank account. No explanation or anything so I had to call and figure out what the hell it was for. By now, you are all probably wondering (well at least those of you who have managed to read through this whole post) why I haven't cancelled my membership. I wonder the same thing everyday! The problem is there isn't another gym in the Bountiful, North Salt Lake, Woods Cross area. Ok, I lied there is one. It's called Anytime Fitness, and I have been tempted to join but I don't think they offer any classes. Does anyone belong or know anything about them? There is 24 hour Fitness, but the closest ones are in Trolley Square and Sugarhouse. I would never go to the gym if I had to drive that far.

So Cute

2008-12-22T08:17:00.000-07:00

Condo for sale.......anyone interested?

2008-12-08T16:37:00.008-07:00

My beautiful North Salt Lake condo is for sale. I'm a little sad, it was my very own first place and I have loved living in it. It's just that I figure it's probably pretty difficult to make a marriage work if you are living in separate houses. If anyone is interested or knows anyone that might be interested let me know or please pass along my information. I have many more pictures so let me know if you want to see more!

Built in 2005
1100 square ft
2 bedrooms
2 full bathrooms
1 car garage w/opener
hardwood floors
upgraded carpet & pad
upgraded maple cabinets, shaker style
gas stove
vaulted ceilings
wood blinds
balcony
ceiling fans in family room & master
easy freeway access
swimming pool & clubhouse
located on premium lot close to pool, playground, & parking
$113 HOA fees cover landscaping, snow removal, pool & club house maintenance, basic cable, and trash.

All this for the low price of $160,000!

NO AGENTS................this means you Steph! jk

I fought the law and......I won!

2008-11-25T10:34:00.004-07:00

Justice! Finally!
I have slightly renewed my faith in our state's legal system. Yep, I know pretty much all of you are shocked. Nobody really thought I would actually get out of it. I totally won though, and it wasn't because the cop just didn't show up because he definitely showed up. It was a close one though. The prosecuter put the cop on the stand and asked him all of his questions, and then I asked him one question, we both did our schpeels (is that a word? & how do you spell it?) and then the judge gave his decision. He said that at first he was convinced he couldn't go through with the conviction because of Utah Code 41-6a-1002 (this code is my new best friend) Section 1 a (i) but couldn't ignore part (ii) right below it that states that a vehicle must slow or stop........when the pedestrian is approaching so closely from the opposite half of the roadway as to be in danger. Meaning basically I should have stopped because she was approaching so closely from the opposite half of the roadway as to be in danger. Because of this little part he would have to go through with the conviction. I asked if I could say something and he obliged. Among other things I restated that I was the 2nd car going through the intersection, and the 2nd car that passed the pedestrian. Then the judge said that he had to rethink his judgement because that little fact changed something. What you ask? Well, as the officer had so kindly stated earlier, the pedestrian had to stop to let the cars go by. So, since I was the 2nd car she had already been stopped (because of the first car) and was no longer approaching so closely from the opposite half of the roadway as to be in danger. Luckily, because of this little tidbit of information that I hadn't even realized, I was not convicted! I was so happy I could have peed my pants. The cop and the prosecuter got up and walked out immediately. I loved it, finally after 4 months of bullshit, justice was served.

Elf Yourself...........Part 3

2008-11-20T21:05:00.001-07:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Elf Yourself...........Part 2

2008-11-18T18:29:00.001-07:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Elf Yourself..........Part 1

2008-11-18T10:55:00.002-07:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

fine Pam I'll play too...

2008-10-28T10:17:00.002-06:00

I have to give one word answers to the questions below. Then "nominate" seven lucky people at the end of this to do the same..........The questions are as follows:

1. Where is your cell phone? desk

2. Where is your significant other? Colorado

3. Your hair color? brown

4. Your mother? selfless

5. Your father? hard-working

6. Your favorite thing? tivo

7. Your dream last night? ?

8. Your dream/goal? many

9. The room you're in? work

10. Your hobby? outdoors

11. Your fear? death

12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? settled

13. Where were you last night? gym

14. What you're not? rich

15. One of your wish-list items? cabin

16. Where you grew up? Spring Glen

17. The last thing you did? meeting

18. What are you wearing? flats

19. Your TV? a gift

20. Your pet? never

21. Your computer? crappy

22. Your mood? blah

23. Missing someone? Karl

24. Your car? zoom

25. Something you're not wearing? earrings

26. Favorite store? Costco

27. Your summer? hot

28. Love someone? Karl

29. Your favorite color? red

30. When is the last time you laughed? today

31. Last time you cried? 3 Weeks

Instead of nominating 7 people, I'm just going to nominate Steph 7 times. You need to update your blog!

Hunting......for fish?

2008-10-24T11:06:00.005-06:00

Karl and I went hunting last weekend but actually ended up fishing more than hunting. We went up Thursday and got camp all set up with his friend Brad and his family and Brad's brother Dallas and his family. The hunt didn't actually open until Saturday so we had a couple days to just hang out. Since we were hunting and camping near Strawberry where his dad keeps his boat we decided to go fishing on Friday. The fishing wasn't too great but I ended up catching the most fish. :) Saturday morning I hung out at camp with the wives and kids while all the guys went hunting. They came back late in the afternoon with nothing. Karl and I went back out until it got dark but didn't even see anything. Well, we did see some elk and a really huge beaver but that's about it. The next day Karl's dad had to take his boat off the lake for winter so we did some more fishing before we took it off the water. Karl caught a pretty big fish, 21.5 inches but couldn't keep it because the slot limit is over 22 inches or under 15 inches. Of course I didn't get a picture of the big fish, but I got a picture of every single other fish that we caught. I was a total slacker on pictures this trip. Of the few pictures I did take none of them are really great.
Karl is pretty annoyed he didn't get a deer. He only had that one day to hunt since he had to come home and get ready to leave for work in Colorado. He really wanted to go on the muzzle loader hunt but he was working the entire time that hunt was open.

The disappointed hunter

One of my catches

The crappy picture of the huge beaver

Time Waster

2008-10-15T14:14:00.000-06:00

My new favorite website:

http://failblog.org/

The Saga Continues.....

2008-10-07T16:15:00.002-06:00

Today was my pretrial for my lame ticket. I showed up to court with all my evidence which included photos and a certain section from Utah Code that is VERY interesting. Utah Code Section 41-6a-1002(2) states: when traffic control signals are not in place or not in operation, the operator of a vehicle shall yield the right-of-way by slowing down or stopping if necessary: (i) to a pedestrian crossing the roadway within a crosswalk when the pedestrian is on the half of the roadway upon which the vehicle is traveling
Ha! Guess what? Yep, the pedestrian wasn't on my half of the roadway, and it says to slow down or stop if necessary, but stopping is not required! So, not only was it completely impossible for me to see the pedestrian, (see earlier posts if you're lost) the effing law says I don't have to stop or even slow down unless the freakin' pedestrian is on my side of the road. Basically the ticket is bogus. There is not a law that would prove I was in the wrong. Anywho, I went to my pretrial which consisted of waiting around in court watching drug addicts and alcoholics trying to get out of their tickets, which some of them did! Finally, the prosecuter comes and gets me and takes me into his office. His job is to try and solve the matter without having to take it to trial. I show him everything, and he looks up the Code and says he's confused by what "when traffic control signals are not in place or not in operation" means. WTF?! You're a city prosecuter and you don't understand the law?! Are you effing kidding me! Seriously, is that sentence that hard to understand? You can't make that sentence anymore clear. (fyi - there are no traffic controls at that crosswalk, which is visibly clear in the photos I showed him) Then dipshit says he can reduce the ticket to an equipment violation which is equivalent to a broken tail light, it's $40. No thanks, I'll go to trial. After all the time and brain damage I've been through with this you think I'm gonna drop it and take an equipment violation! No way, especially now that I have the effing law that proves the ticket was completely unjustified. If anyone wants to come to my official full blown trial it is November 25 at 9:00 a.m. in North Salt Lake City building. On a side note: I was at the capitol today and there were some highway patrolmen there and my coworker decided to ask them about my situation. Guess what they said? Big suprise, they would have only been able to give the ticket if the pedestrian was in my half of the road. If I lose this never ending ridiculous battle I may go postal on their asses.

Annamaria, this is for you!

2008-10-02T07:34:00.001-06:00

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Sarah Palin fans?

2008-09-11T14:50:00.003-06:00

This is for you Missy!

See more Gina Gershon videos at Funny or Die

Cool Story

2008-09-08T08:04:00.000-06:00

Here's the info I found about the video:

LOS ANGELES - Millions have seen the YouTube video of "Christian the Lion" reuniting in Africa with the two men who bought him from a high-end London department store in 1969.Sony Pictures aims to bring the story of Christian and the two men, John Rendall and Anthony "Ace" Bourke, to the big screen.The studio is in the process of securing the life-story rights of Rendall and Bourke and their 1972 book, "A Lion Called Christian."

Michael Phelps fans? This is funny!

2008-09-03T09:21:00.000-06:00

See more funny videos at Funny or Die

Biggest Waste of Time Ever!

2008-09-02T14:24:00.002-06:00

I went to North Salt Lake City Court today to contest my lame ticket. After waiting for an hour and a half I was called in front of the judge. "Are you Brianna Ariotti.........blah blah blah.....How do you plea?" "Not guilty" I answered. That's it, 30 seconds in front of the judge to make my plea of not guilty. Are you f*cking kidding me? When I got the ticket I called the city to ask what to do since I'm pleading not guilty. I was told to come to court on Tuesday between 1 & 5. I couldn't make it the 2 Tuesdays after my ticket so I called back to ask how much time I have to take care of it. A different person told me that I have 3 weeks from the date of the ticket, but that I didn't have to go to court, just come to the office anytime during business hours. I went down the next day to take care of it. Big suprise, you need to come back on Tuesday between 1 & 5. I suppose the purpose today was to officially submit my plea of not guilty, which was made perfectly clear by my last visit and by my last 2 phone calls to the city. Now I had to sign some stupid paper and and schedule a pre-trial?! I have a scheduled pre-trial set for October, mind you it's with a bunch of drug users and alcoholics that I saw get scheduled before me. Okay people, just so you have this straight: Failure to yield to a pedestrian is in the same category as drug users and alcoholics with multiple DUI's. Yep, you better stop hangin' around me since that's the group I get lumped into. I'm T RO U B L E, watch out pedestrians of the world (especially ones in wheelchairs)!

Frogs & Leeches

2008-08-28T20:34:00.009-06:00

So last weekend we hiked up to a lake in the Uintas with Karl's friend Brad and his family. We planned on fishing and spending the night. The lake was full of moss and covered with lilly pads and there really wasn't any fish so that part of the plan didn't work out. We were left with leeches and mini frogs.

More Pictures from Moon Lake

2008-08-20T14:30:00.017-06:00

Shawnee & Lizabeth

Alex on the beach

A layer of hail from the rain storm that kept us inside one afternoon

Chris & Lizabeth with one of her catches

Dad showing off his mad kite flying skills

Hangin' out by the fire

Alex and one of her many catches of the day

Karl & a fish.......are we seeing a trend here? He has more pictures with fish than with me!

Steph & Belle

Dad, our fishing guide

Moon Lake '08

2008-08-18T14:09:00.001-06:00

More pictures to come.......

Arghhhhhhhh!

2008-08-14T08:03:00.014-06:00

Ok, so I've had my fair share of tickets. Mostly speeding tickets back when I was young and dumb. Not once did I ever get pulled over and NOT get a ticket. Every time I was pulled over it was inevitable I would be getting a ticket. (Last year was the first time I've ever gotten pulled over and not been given a ticket. Interesting...considering what happened last year :) as some of you may know) I have never tried to talk myself out of it, just give me the ticket. I'd take the ticket and pay the fine. It's been almost 5 years since my last ticket. That is a huge deal for me, considering at one point I was thisclose to having my license taken away. Yesterday I was driving home from Costco, (which was a pointless trip anyway because the pharmacy was closed!) and got pulled over. What for? Failing to yield to a pedestrian (in a wheelchair). Now before you go and think that I'm the worst person in the world for not yielding to a pedestrian, let alone a pedestrian in a wheelchair (are they still called a pedestrian if they're in a wheelchair?), let me explain. Oh, and by the way, it's not like I hit her or anything, I just didn't stop to let her cross.
Anyone who is familiar with the North Salt Lake, Woods Cross, Bountiful area knows that the intersection at the 2600 S I15 Exit/Entrance is f*cked up. That is, when you're heading west on 2600 S you go under the freeway and must either go left onto 1100 S or right onto 800 W. I was going left through the green light and by the time I saw the lady it was too late for me to stop and let her pass. I could have slammed on my brakes and stopped directly in her path, making her veer further into traffic to go around me. I obviously didn't do this and just kept going, as did the car ahead of me. It's not like I wasn't paying attention and didn't see her at all. People going East were stopped at the light, so she was crossing behind these stopped cars therefore blocking her from my view until I started into the left turn. And remember she's in a wheelchair so it's not exactly easy to see her crossing behind stopped cars if she's not taller than the cars. Another thing, this is happening right at dusk, heading West into the sun. So the cop pulled me and the car ahead of me over. I honestly didn't think he was going to give us tickets given the circumstances. He asked me if I saw the lady in the wheelchair trying to cross the street and I said yes, but by the time I saw her I was looking at her through my driver's side window and didn't want to slam on my brakes right there. So he took my info and brought me back a ticket. I have never fought a ticket in my life. That's because I know I have always been in the wrong. I will fight this ticket. I'm not going to f*ck up almost 5 years of ticket free driving for a failure to yield to a pedestrian ticket that isn't completely justified. The point is no, I didn't yield to this pedestrian, but how do you yield for somebody when by the time you see them you are already past them? And it's not like I hit her! Had she been in my direct path, ya I would have seen her and stopped! She wasn't exactly crossing in the smartest place. She could have crossed in a different spot that would have not been nearly as dangerous for her, or for us drivers.

The only way we'll probably ever dance together!

2008-07-28T15:24:00.001-06:00

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