Delicious Rain

Let the rain kiss you
Let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid drops
Let the rain sing you a lullaby
The rain makes still pools on the sidewalk
The rain makes running pools in the gutter
The rain plays a little sleep song on our roof at night
And I love the rain. - Langston Hughes

Apparently Arizona is in a state of disaster. Something about 5-7 inches of rain and wind in the desert over two days doesn't go over very well. Our governor has declared a state of emergency. There is a tornado warning 10 miles away. Right by my work is totally flooded. And flying into Phoenix is apparently a nightmare right now. But I am safe and warm in my home. Little bits of raindrops are falling on my roof. I slipped on my rain boots to take out the garbage. I had the most positively delicious 3-hour nap this evening, made so much better by overcast skies and little raindrop songs.
I know it won't last, and maybe that's why I love it so much.
But for now, at least, I love the rain.

Sunrise

So two years ago, Brad and I went snowboarding. It was my first time. I fell a lot, but still had a ton of fun.

On Tuesday, John and I went snowboarding. It might as well have been my first time.

Luckily, it was his, too.

People often ask me why I never snowboarded in Idaho.

1- I didn't know who would teach me

2- My friends and I didn't have equipment

3- I was stinkin' busy

4- It seemed really expensive

5- Good 'boarders don't have that much fun with crappy 'boarders and I didn't really have anyone to go with

Why Arizona is good for learning:

1- It's not that busy

2- Very few people are that good, so it's not too intimidating

3- It's cheap

4- It's warm

So for $52, John and I set off with our borrowed equipment (thanks, Ariana!), and had an hour and a half lesson (with just the two of us....because it wasn't busy)....and boarded all day. In our cool clothes, we felt like studs.
We fell about the same amount of times and waited for each other, and all in all, had an awesome day. We felt like we did really good on the bunny hill, but we were a little unprepared for exiting the ski lift on the bigger run. After completely biffing it, we crawled out of the way just in time to watch everyone else biff it, too. Except, of course, the six-year-old skier and his mom. But they don't count. Eventually we actually did pretty good on the big run, too. John didn't even fall the second time off the lift. I did. I also kind of mastered my "heel edge", though. But not my "toe edge." That's just a good way to fall for now. We also ran into some people from our ward, which, considering we drove 4 hours to get there, was a crazy coincidence.

Our bodies still hurt. I still have bruises on my butt (who knew that was possible?) and a huge one on my knee. Bruised, but not broken. And totally cool. That's us :-)

Jury Duty

I had jury duty on Monday. I have somehow escaped this phenomenon until this year, when I received my first jury summons. Apparently it's a high traffic month, because John got his two weeks before, so he gave me some tips:

• Bring snacks
• Bring something to do
• Bring a jacket- it's freezing!
• Park in the special juror parking garage

So I used my one big purse (thank you Byron & Tara) and loaded up a day's worth of stuff. Even though John got out of there at noon. I was there from 8am until 4:50! Longest day EVER. However, I did meet a nice girl named Claudia and we ate lunch together at Paradise bakery. And I got to hear a lot of very interesting reasons why people could or could not participate in a meth case. Mostly because some family member had been addicted and was serving time or was being charged with murder (seriously!). The trial was only supposed to last two days, but I really wanted to go snowboarding on Tuesday, so I was hoping to not get picked, and I didn't! Whoo-hoo!

It was enough to get to sit in the courtroom with the defendent, the officer, the lawyers, and the judge. That part was kind of cool.

But snowboarding was cooler. And I'll blog about that tomorrow!

Rockstar Handywoman

Our garbage disposal broke the other day. Let me clarify: I got two frosting decorating tips jammed in the garbage disposal and could only get one out. Nothing on earth could dislodge the other one. There was only one thing to do: take it all apart. Now, there are times in my life where I do things that I think, "Only a single girl gets this opportunity." And it's true, but, really, I do like the challenge. So after a few fruitless attempts at trying to figure out how to take the disposal apart, I went to this e-how video , which is awesome (but doesn't work in Safari if you're trying....).
Anyways, employing the use of a fishbowl, a step stool, 5 washcloths, a bucket, and my beloved pink tool set, I fixed the garbage disposal. And it still took two screwdrivers and a pair of pliers to wrestle that frosting tip out of the blades.
Oh, and here's a picture of the cake I made the day before for my co-worker that is to blame for the whole mess. (It was supposed to look a little like a wedding cake because she's a little pissed her brother chose to get married the week of her birthday. This is the same day I tried on wedding dresses. There was a lot of wedding stuff that day.) The thing about my homemade stuff is that it looks very professional in my head and "charmingly homemade" in the execution. Oh well!!

Pseudo-Wedding Day

Last Wednesday I received the most random phone call ever. My friend Polly (who I don't talk to nearly enough) was calling to see if I was available for an undercover expedition. You see, she and another girl in my ward work at a Bridesmaid shop and wanted to check out their new competition. They were going to act like bridesmaids, but they need a bride. Of course, I agreed. An hour later, I was standing in a beautiful Scottsdale bridal salon feeling like I was on an episode of "Say Yes to the Dress."
After quickly planning my June 25th wedding in La Jolla with colors of sage and charcoal with a wedding dress budget of $4000-$6000, this is the dress I found. Now, I just need to add sleeves and a husband.
Oh, it was so fabulous!!

Now you see it, Now you don't....

In a desperate attempt to use up all my insurance funds before our company changed our benefits on January 1st, I finally went to the dermatologist for the "annual skin check" all of us pale folks are supposed to be doing every year. They took off two moles (both of which I just found out yesterday are fine), but I now have a scar on my back. Luckily, the one on my face didn't scar at all. For someone who is obsessed with monitoring her own cuts and bruises, having 8 stitches on my back that I couldn't watch heal was torture. I kept having friends tell me how it was coming along every few days. This picture is from right after Brad took the stitches out. It actually looks better than that now.

By the way, Lidocaine shots ARE SO PAINFUL!! Who knew?!?!

Toast-R-Oven Phenomenon

Who knew the potentials of a toast-r-oven?

Do you know what you can do with this?

My dad, in his unique little Christmas way, decided we needed one of these. I didn't think we did, but I was excited to try it anyway.

So far, we have broiled salmon, cooked egg sandwiches, baked brownies, baked fish with fennel, and made pizza.

It is the best toaster oven on earth, I have decided.

My kids will all get them for college.

And I will not ever turn on the oven this summer.

Wonderment. Pure wonderment.

Sudoku

I am all kinds of terrible at Sudoku. It seriously gives me a headache equal to that of calculus homework. No one has ever wondered why I didn't become an engineer. Figuring out the unsolvable is not a fun activity for me.

However, I think if I continue to avoid such puzzles and rely instead on friends, common sense, and algebra to solve life's problems, I am destined for Alzheimer's. And so I press on.

We had a little down time at work the other day, so my co-workers helped me do a puzzle. With a little assistance, I completed my first one in 82 min 43 sec. But it's so funny to see who loves these and who hates these and how everybody loves to tell you how they do it. And everybody does it differently. And, really, I just enjoyed the insight into their brains on how they think.

So although I really enjoy the personal satisfaction of doing it all by myself, I'm all for a little group Sudoku every once in a while.

My second puzzle: 60 min 23 sec

Kim's (for comparison): 12 min.

Yep. That's right. I'm learning.

Half-Elf

Last year around April, I posted about how I lived like ELF, on the four food groups of candy, candy canes, candy corn, and syrup. This isn't exactly true, but to say that sugar is somewhat necessary in my chemical make-up is not an understatement.

Case in point: In early 1999, I decided I had gained a lot of weight and was going to do Marilou Henner's 30 Day Total Health Makeover.

This lovely torturefest includes: No sugar, no dairy, no meat, and no alcohol. The last one wasn't so bad, but the first two almost killed me. I did, from this endeavor, try a lot of new foods for the first time (and plenty for the last time), but it also had an unintended side effect.

You see, a girl in my ward is tiny and vibrant and 19 and hasn't had sugar in like 2 years and loves it.

My mother says sugar is poison and she feels so much better without it.

I turn into a mean little girl who hates the world.

Day 21 of this Total Health Makeover happened to be Easter.

I ate an entire bag of those little Reese's Pieces eggs and then proceeded to puke my guts out from all the sugar.

And I did not makeover my life for the next 7 days.

I have since learned the pleasures of balancing my diet (most days). I still go for the fastest food possible when I am convinced I am starving. Brad has even gone to screaming, "I'll make you a sandwich! I'll make you a sandwich!!" to keep me from living on string cheese, cashews, and whole wheat fig newtons. Or any chocolate we have lying around.

John says I keep the most random food scorecard he has ever heard of. For example, one day Lunch was 2 Rice Krispie Treats from Starbucks (which are, by the way, incredible) and then I met my fellow students for dinner, where I just ordered Deviled Eggs & Ham. Everyone kind of laughed, but to me it made perfect sense. A pure carb lunch calls for a pure protein dinner. (Oh, and I had an apple for my fruit in between. )

Lately, I've restarted my version of the Abs Diet, which, again, I love. It makes me eat real food much more often than the nearest, fastest sugar. But I have a funny habit of eating food in my dreams whenever I'm hungry, which sometimes happens after work.

Last night my dreamland self stirred chocolate chips into her Belly Busting Smoothie.

I guess I really am half-elf.

The Only Smile Wal-mart Ever Got From Me

ok, so maybe that's an exaggeration, but here's what I did with my New Year's.

I did NOT make any big party plans.

I DID go buy a sparkly shirt from a store named "Hottie" and felt like a cougar, but also really enjoyed it. I've never worn anything so sparkly.

I DID not go on the 3 mile midnight run. Because Brad didn't want to pay $30 to run. This strikes him as completely insane.

I did NOT go to GameWorks for the Mormon singles party. In my humble opinion, 30 year olds do not ring in New Years at a place where you play games for tickets. At least this one doesn't.

I did NOT go to dinner at a fancy resort or restaurant.

I DID, actually, totally want to do this. But Brad had already eaten, John went to the singles event, and I wanted to hang out with them so there's that. No hazelnut creme brulee for me.

.....or was there?

Turns out I have a recipe from last year that I had never made for Maple Cranberry Hazelnut Creme Brulees. And that Brad was up for.

Except it was 9 p.m. and I didn't have glass ramekins or a torch. No dice on Target. Crate & Barrel and Bed Bath & Beyond and World Market were closed.

We also tried Safeway, Fry's, & Whole Foods (which was closed, too.)

Finally we tried Wal-mart. A very helpful lady told us to try looking in housewares. Thanks, sweetheart, I figured that one. But at least she was trying hard.

Brad was led to the plumbing section by someone else. And there we found a propane torch. Whoo-hoo!!! And it's red. And pretty cute. And worked like a dream. (Well, not as perfectly brown as we hoped, but I don't think it's the torch's fault.) )By the way, doesn't this Wal-mart look remarkably clean? There weren't very many people in it. I think that helped. And the lady who checked us out GENUINELY smiled AND said Happy New Year. A completely remarkable Wal-mart experience to say the least.

And then we were off. Back to the grocery store. Because Wal-mart does not carry hazelnuts and they were out of Martinellis.

At 11:22, we were finally back home.

And 2:30 am we had creme brulee. It was stinking fantastic.

Somewhere in between there, we watched the ball drop, shot off little party favor dealies, and toasted in the new year with Martinelli's. And I ate a salad from the Abs Diet. To cancel out the inevitable creme brulee. And we watched episodes of The Office and How I Met Your Mother. I know I need to get out more, but today was not the day...

and yes I wore that sparkly shirt to every single store.

It had to see some action....

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!