Parrot Costume

The other day I got my first letter from Kaitlynn, my 7 year old niece. It is now hanging above my desk and makes me smile every single day. She has a lot of faith in me.

Apparently I will be making a parrot costume this year. Thank goodness I found Pinterest before requests like this started coming in.

200K

If you've been following this blog or my life at all, you probably know I love my car. Go ahead, search my blog for "Altima" and see how many posts come up. A lot. In October, I'll have had in for 10 years.  The only time I don't love it is when a BMW zips past me on a freeway entrance ramp. (And it's ALWAYS) a BMW.
I've replaced a lot of things on my car myself, and I just recently had a lot more things done to it. But she runs like a champ, and has been everywhere with me, so I was pretty excited when she turned 200,000 miles the other day. I realized I could make it to Target just as the odometer turned, which seemed appropriate, so I made a lady in the parking lot take my picture with it.
The next day, the "check engine" light turned on. But it went off a few days later. Not worried. :-)

I was at a stoplight, mom.

Self-portraiture not working

YAY!

"Check Engine." Nope. 

Dad Comes to Town

I posted a little bit about this earlier (and found out that, unfortunately, he wasn't at Whole Foods, he was at AJ's, which explains the Diet Pepsi. AJ's IS the snootiest store in Scottsdale, but definitely NOT the most "granola," but, anyways, my dad came to town a few weeks ago. We had a great time together, and it was so good to see him. Unfortunately, I had to do a lot of working and couldn't take any time off, but we did spend our evenings hanging out. Dad's biggest gripe about coming to see me is the fancy places I take him to eat. So this trip, I chose two barbecue places with one fancy place in between. He didn't like the fancy place, but the other two I would say were a success.

At Joe's Real Barbeque. I love their beans and turkey.
Dad even liked their turkey. 

My Butternut Squash Enchiladas from The Herb Box. So So Yuummy. 

Jonmark came with us here. They both had the New York Strip. They were both disappointed.  The should have gone with the "marinara from Narnia" our server suggested (he was kind of a fruitcake. Jonmark and Dad were trying not to laugh at him. They almost succeeded.)

Doesn't he look excited to be here?

That's a better fake smile. 

 Vanie came with us to Rudy's. I went to Rudy's in October in Austin with Byron. It's about as Texas as it comes, and it just came to town. Dad said he would have seasoned the brisket more, but, overall, it got 3 1/2 stars, I think. Vanie, however, was appalled at all the meat and has sworn off meat for the rest of her life.

Delish.

"Sissy Sauce"

No Plates, just food. Best creamed corn ever!

Getting Ready for Guatemala!

Picture taken mid-injection :-)

So I meant to post this like 2 weeks ago when it all started, but....
I leave for Guatemala in 3 hours. So now the excitement/panic is really crazy. On the 12th, I had an appt with my new doctor. My pre-Guatemala doctor. I got a Tetanus shot in one arm and typhoid in the other. I got my prescription for Malarone, so I don't get malaria. He also recommended Cipro, Azithromycin (both antibiotics) and Phenergan, an antinausea med. Man, am I glad I went to see him. (He'd been there before and had so many stories and useful info.) And I now have more prescriptions than I may have ever filled at one time in my entire life (not trying to jinx anything here).
I am partially in charge of bringing medical supplies. I didn't think I knew how to get people to donate, but turns out I had like 9 boxes of stuff to go through today (lining things up was a pain in the butt). Four hours later, my living room went from this:

To this (still not calm about checking these boxes):

 And my bedroom looks a little like this:

Yes, those are Cynthia Rowley Band-aids. And the best sunscreen ever.
SPF 15 Target never burns me!

Treats!

In case you're wondering how to pretty thoroughly undo a few months of hard work, I have a few steps for you.
1- Ask all your friends what their favorite treats are from Trader Joe's.
2- Go there.
3- Buy all of them. Plus a few of your own favorites.
Here are my glorious finds. (And oh my gosh have they been worth it). What are your best summer/trader joe's treats?

Apparently you are supposed to defrost these
for 40 minutes. I did that once. 

I had these first at a sushi resturant.
Luckily they are perfectly portion-controlled. 

It not only sounds fancy, it tastes fancy. So, you know, I love that. 

Cookie Butter. JVizz's contribution. It's like ground up shortbread
cookies mixed with peanut butter. Hard to explain. Amazing. 

They're like otter pops with mashed
up peaches. Seriously. 

I find it quite entertaining that the best picture
I could find of this on the internet was a container
with only one left. Mine also had only one left so I gave
 up taking the picture. 

Ron in Whole Foods

My dad is visiting AZ for work, and lucky for me, he gets to visit me, too.
But weird things can happen when your dad's hotel is in "North Scottsdale."
My dad today was hungry and drove around until he found a store that said "food" on it.
To my great delight, this was "Whole Foods," a store I find fabulous and my dad finds ridiculous. And, until today, somehow did not know existed.
And I'm sure all the employees wonder how on earth he ended up there.
Like when he asked, "Do you guys have any real food in here?" (He was looking for almonds. They did have some.)
Or when the cashier asked, "Paper or Plastic?" and he responded, "Whichever one is closer." And she said, "Well we should use paper- it's better for the environment." And he responded, "Who cares?" (Not everyone, but everyone in Whole Foods....) :-)
I'm still not sure how he found a Diet Pepsi in that place, but I'm sure glad he did.
That was the highlight of my day.

Food with Friends

Side note: I have realized of late that I am terrible at bringing my camera around to document my fabulous happenings. Somewhere in between the iphone 3G camera being TERRIBLE compared to the iphone 4 and my Panasonic Lumix being slightly less awesome than a Canon Elph, or maybe me just being too preoccupied with life and not-enough-days-off, I do not bring my camera around as often as necessary. Even for important dates. 
I do not have enough dates with friends. But this month I had several. And they, each and every one, were amazing. 

Starting with Cim Carr. I went to high school with Cim. We probably haven't seen each other in 8 years. It has seriously been forever. She got married only a year ago- she and I held out the longest, but then, she bit the dust. With Kent. Cim and Kent moved here a year ago so he could go to med school. They live 40 minutes away and I've never driven to see them. I didn't honestly know how it would be after not seeing her for so long. Turns out, it wasn't that much different than it used to be. And what I loved most is that she was real. Because, honestly, if you're not, I don't want to hang out with you. I don't want any sort of polished up version of your life. I just want to know who you've become and why and how. And Cim and Kent were awesome and open and real and I LOVED IT. And I also loved how cute and considerate Kent was in the kitchen and their great taste in dinnerware and the delicious salmon and chicken and beets and broccoli and oh my gosh I don't remember dessert but I loved it all. (I brought salad. Spinach and feta and fresh mandarin oranges if you were wondering. It fit in.) And I have zero pictures of the entire experience. But here they are. Stolen from facebook

Bridgette

Brittney

My next lunch date was catching up with the Scottsdale Healthcare friends. Bridgette and Brittney are my favorite nurses ever and we spent so many nights drinking up each other's gossip in between answering call lights and tying patients down. And I miss them desperately. We finally caught up (somewhat exhausted and frazzled in between night shifts and days shifts and life) at Olive & Ivy and did some serious dishing on life plans and life's unexpecteds. Brittney just got married about a month ago. She was a beautiful bride. At the wedding, I had hung out with Larry (my other favorite 4EA nurse) and his wife the whole time. They were excellent company, and it was all so fun.

And then I met up a few days later with a new friend. This is Britney T., who just moved into my ward from Utah. She was craving Cafe Rio. Of course she was. Nothing says Utah like Cafe Rio. So maybe because she is a new friend and maybe because it was a Wednesday, Britney and I had one of the quickest dinner dates ever. But ya know what? It was good, it was delicious, and she is a super-cool girl. (And she's also a nurse here.)

My next date was the most unexpected, and that was with my parents after the funeral. See, Candice left one day earlier than me, and that Sunday afternoon I had the uncomfortable realization that I had spent most of my summer weekend in Idaho INSIDE. Which should really be a felony. Summers in Idaho Falls are beautiful, and, well, Arizona summers are not. So at my request, Mom & Dad & I had dinner outside on the patio. We sat there for 3 hours and talked and talked over barbecue chicken and salad. And oh my gosh it was perfect.

 And just last night I had this gorgeous dinner:

 My roommate Vanie is a top-notch friend maker. And she met two girls in the singles' ward, one of whom is our neighbor, last week. And she set up a mini-barbecue with just the four of us out by our pool last night. It was ridiculously hot and threatening to rain and windy AND still fun. I mean, how beautiful is that plate? I tried out a recipe from Women's Health for apricot and shrimp skewers that were sooo delicious. Vanie made her black bean and corn salad that I am in love with and the other girls made fruit salad and turkey skewers and brownies and raspberry lemonade. And I brought Trader's Joe's frozen lemon bars which are delightful and wow, I thought, what amazing women we are that can throw all this together just for each other. And I loved it all. Thoroughly. Here's to food and love and incredible people in our lives.

Back to Idaho- For Grandpa

Last week, I went back to Idaho Falls. Quickly, and somewhat unexpectedly. Because my Grandpa had quickly, and somewhat unexpectedly, had died. He was 87 and living with my parents and had dementia and it was hard. Hard on them to take care of them and hard of him to miss my Nana. And so, Sunday, after ribs and "60 minutes" and scripture study, he died in my parents' home with them. On Nana's birthday. He was my last grandparent. 

The funeral was different than my Nana's. At Nana's us Carbiener's were falling apart. Nana was like the magic of childhood and holidays embodied in a person. Grandpa was her quiet supporter and admirer. We knew he was ready to be back with her. After a few years of watching someone get older, you forget some of the amazing things they did when they (and you) were younger. It was awesome listening to his friends at his funeral talk about the things they learned about testimonies and service and dedication from Verdean. I learned about his patience as we learned that his kids and grandkids had crashed 3 cars. And he never got mad at them. I remember this picture. I remember that that summer I was Grandpa's "Little Buddy." We fed horses together and rode 4-wheelers and I felt so so loved. My grandpa was a little less effulgent (not sure if that's the word I'm looking for) in his love for us than Nana, but then, guys of that generation were. I have one letter from my Grandpa. My mom told me to save it, because he didn't write letters and it would probably be my only one. It was. The memory I asked them to read at his funeral was how pleased he was that I won a small scholarship just because he served in World War II. He was so excited he could help me. And so surprised that it mattered what he had done. So Bridget will remember my Grandpa's jumpsuits. I will remember walks with Grandpa in Bullhead City and him sitting at his desk in the family room and his powerful prayers and his strong hands that reminded me of hard work and love and Jergen's. And I will feel so blessed to have had my grandparents. And to be part of the legacy of Verna and Verdean.  

The military rights and 21 gun salute at the funeral were so cool. I think you all know I have a special place in my heart for "old guys" and I loved all these guys in the back.
Especially fourth from the right. This generation is simply the best there ever was. 

I Hit a Bird

A few weeks ago, I hit a bird. This is not the bird I hit. I stole this picture off the internet (thank you, fellow blogger). The bird I hit is certainly no longer alive as it hit squarely in the center of my windshield as I was going 80-ish on the freeway. Maybe 70-ish. But I think it was the same color. It scared me to death.
I had never hit a bird.
A rabbit once. In 2004.
I generally duck in my car under low bridges and for birds. But now, I am a genuine mess. I flinch ALL THE TIME.
For EVERY SINGLE bird that flies in front of my car. Which, turns out, is often. Poor little bird. It didn't have a chance.

Italian Deli- mmmmm.......

Tuesday, Kirk and Vanie wanted to go out to eat. I couldn't think of anywhere cool that sounded good to them. And Vanie didn't have any ideas, really. Kirk did. Kirk had a good one.

Apparently 2 miles from my house is a place called DeFalco's Deli. It's an authentic Italian Deli with fresh pastas, cheeses, and about 1000 olive oils. As well as a 100 different sandwiches and delicious Cannolis.  (You might recall that my very first Cannoli was with Emily Udy at Mike's Pastry's in Boston. This was a poor choice. Now, no other cannoli can even come close. These were the closest.) 

Basically, I was kind of appalled that with all my "exotic" cooking and love of shopping that I had no idea this place existed. But I was also very very excited to try it. 

Vanie got a fancy-schmancy mozzarella proscuitto sandwich. 

Kirk got a delicious (seriously delicious) philly cheese steak. 

I got a Pizza Bianca. For $10. I thought it would be individual size. It was freaking hugamungous. 

And delicious. I think it was ricotta on top. It was excellent ricotta. 

We ate on the patio, where the weather was perfect while I occasionally ran in to look around and take pictures. Such a cool place. 

Paddle Surfing- Party on the Lake!

So Memorial Saturday came and went with no big excitement. But Vanie and I really didn't want to let Monday get away from us. She and I had both wanted to take my raft to Tempe Town Lake for about a month, but neither of us had had the day off together. Monday we did. Along with 3 of her friends. Who came to (Kirk is kind of both of our friend; he changed her flat tire in the morning, and then we were off!)

First off, since we were with boys, they decided tying DOWN the raft would be much too much work. We would just turn it upside down and hold it instead. Holding the handles did NOT work. Holding onto the rope did. So we drove 2 miles to the lake holding the raft. After we parked, we all went to jump in. And I realized that I THOUGHT I had a 6 person raft, but really it was 4. And even though these were not big guys, the fifth person had no interest in getting in. Instead, he tried to swim. And then got tired. And then we paddled way way slower than before. And finally made it across the lake. 

Then, it was time to rent a paddle surfboard! Yay!! I had wanted to do this forever (don't ask me why I didn't in Jamaica. I'm obviously crazy). But I was STOKED I could do it so close to my house. :-) So Chris (who had worn his American flag tank top for the occasion) came with me to the boat rental shack. Where we realized we needed a credit card and ID, neither of which we had. 

Back to the raft. To devise another plan. 

Kirk, Chris, and I would raft back across (this is a tiny lake by the way. We're not talking miles here). Kirk and I would jump out, go to the car, drive to the rental shack, and get the surfboards with his cards. Chris would paddle back across by himself. 

Good plan. 

Except that Kirk forgot his flip-flops and parking was kind of a pain. We found some socks in his trunk. That helped. 

We saw a lesbian couple. I said I didn't think they were. Then they held hands. I was wrong. 

Kirk decided to rent a hydrobike. 1- because it was so cool and 2- because the chance of dropping his iphone and wallet in the water was essentially zero. 

Excellent plan. 

Paddlesurfing went even better than I thought it would. I thought I would fall off a couple times, but I didn't. Well, once I did, but that was when we hooked the surfboard TO the hydrobike and did a figure 8. Otherwise, it was awesome.

Anyways, we laid around, ate fruit and popchips and had an absolute blast. (Doesn't Vanie look so excited to be in the water.) Here's to paddlesurfing, rafting, and America!

Vanie so happy. All right, so the water is gross. 

Happy Memorial Day!!