Happy Thanksgiving

Who is ready to eat Thanksgiving dinner?

I am, I am!!

I can't wait any longer, so please put Cheerios on my face

Grandma & Grandpa are you finished cooking yet?

Texas

Silly me, I was at the airport way too early, but with it being the day before Thanksgiving I wanted to play it safe. Wednesday morning I flew out to Austin, Texas to join my family who had flown out on Monday. My brother, sister-in-law, and adorable nephew live in Round Rock, which is where we are spending Thanksgiving.

Family in front of Texas State Capitol Building

Me and my sister inside the dome
My sister and mom taking a crazy picture for their Amazing Race application
Gotta love this
The cool bowling alley we went to
The whole family at the posh Austin 300 Bowl

San Diego with my Homies

A week off work for Thanksgiving is great, but is even better when you get to spend that week with friends and family. Sunday night a mission companion, Kaylynn, and her husband and child came down to visit. Monday morning we drove down to San Diego where we went to Sea World.

Shamu showing off his jumping ability

An ugly shark with a nasty hump on its back, seriously this was one ugly shark
Wally, the sea lion begging for food

Dolly the Dolphin leaping out of the water

Kaylynn, Emily & Cory

Tag I'm It

I was tagged about a week ago where I am supposed to disclose 6 facts or habits about myself. Sorry it has taken me so long but here goes...

1. I love going to the dentist. Really, I do. Who doesn't love having clean teeth?


2. I hate, nay despise, to cook. But I love, nay enjoy, to clean.


3. I have a passion for traveling.


4. I am addicted to chap stick. Bonne Bell Lipsmackers the drug of choice for the past 10 years, but C.O. Bigelow Cinnamint Mentha Lip Shine from Bath & Body Works has been introduced to me recently.


5. I can't stand listening to radio commercials.


6. I don't like going to bed with dirty feet, so will clean them before hopping into bed.

More of Boston

Boston Continued

Boston!

I'd always wanted to go to Boston and with the recent move of a friend to Beantown, I figured that time had come. So after my fascinating hour long conversation with a Rabbi, I landed at Boston's Logan Airport and was greeted by my good friend Teresa. The activities of the day included, but were not limited to:

Bunker Hill monument on the North side of town, where we found it to be very chilly.

USS Constituntion, also known as "Old Ironsides"

A gorgeous tree full of fall colors.

The Boston Massachusetts Temple

Downtown Boston skyline at night

21 Questions...with a Jewish Rabbi

So Thursday night at midnight I found myself on a JetBlue flight sitting next to a Jew. A Hasidic/Orthodox Jew. A Hasidic/Orthodox Rabbi Jew. A very inquisitive, yet polite, Rabbi Jew. We ended up talking for about 1.5 hours about almost everything about the church, from tithing, to the Word of Wisdom, the temple, rated R movies, dating and marriage, missions, church leadership in the form of a prophet, apostles, seventy, to patriarchal blessings and family size. From him I learned about how food is prepared to be Kosher, the purpose and use of a matchmaker, particulars about worship service and about his family of 8 children. We finally took a break from gentle interrogation to sleep for a few hours. But as we were pulling into the gate I gave him a pass along card with the church's website, although he was a bit hesitant to take it. I told him I knew he was going to search more information on the Internet so he might as well go to the correct source. He took it and we went our separate ways.

Vanessa Carlton

If ever you go to the Ivar Theater on Ivar and Hollywood Blvd, be prepared for the small and quaint venue. Such was the case last night when my mother and I went to a Vanessa Carlton concert. The lobby is about 5 feet deep and then you are in the theather which seats max 250. It was a great show with lots of soul, as this tiny little lady pounds on her piano and belts out tunes.

The show was opened by Graham Colton

Visitors & Visions

Two great things happened this past Sunday.

1. I saw an old BYU friend. Hillary and family were on their way from Merced, CA to Disneyland and were able to meet up with me at church and then come over to my apartment for chocolate cake.



2. One of the greatest shows started up again, The Amazing Race. I'm pulling for brother-sister team Azaria & Hendekea. Their names should win a million dollars in and of themselves, plus they seem nice so far... but I'm loving the fact that they have a crazy goth couple.

While meeting up for ice cream with a good friend Monday night, I found out abouta great event taking place today. Sister Julie Beck, LDS General Relief Society President, was going to be speaking in Glendora. I had nothing else going on from 10-12, so I was able to attend with my friend. Sister Beck was hilarious and spiritual, with wonderful counsel.

LDS songwriter/singer Katherine Nelson also spoke and sang some of her music.

Spinning class and me don't get along

Friday morning I found myself rolling out of bed at 5:15 am so that I could throw on some workout clothes and meet up with my mom and sister for the spinning class at 24 Hour Fitness. This was probably my 4th time going in the past 6 years, and I still don't like it. My sister says she wants to start this Friday morning class as a weekly mother daugthers bonding time, but I'm not too sure about that. We shall see.......

Furnished Apartment

I was recenlty looking back over my posts and realized that I had posted pictures of my apartment when I first moved in but have not yet posted any since furnishing it, almost 2 months ago. So here you go.....

I plan on taking down the hanging lanterns once I get my black and white photos framed in silver and posted over the bed

I have a large map of the world I need to get framed and hung over the couch

I have bright colored place settings for decoration but was too lazy to put them out for the shot

Bad Smoke, Good Sky

The recent and current fires in Southern California have caused the sky to rot brown, deteriorated the air quality to zip, and allowed ash to fall from the heavens. I captured a photo of the sun turned red.

One benefit of all this combustion is the cool effect it has on the sky during dusk.

Fires fires everywhere

The sky is dark, the sun is red, the winds blow fast and the flames glow.

Welcome to Southern California Fire Season.

Who knew?...

Who knew that taking a photo of a police station could be such a big deal? So I was out driving around in my car today, dark tinted windows up, wearing a black hoodie and bandanna on my face taking photos of public service centers for a project when some cop stops me.

Okay, I wasn't really wearing a black hoodie, it's too hot for that right now, and no I wasn't wearing a bandanna either, that would be plain silly, but yes I was taking photos of public service centers. I have an assignment called an Assets Map where I have to put together a folder of all the services offered around the school community that I teach.

Said cop, whose name I will not disclose, rolls up on me just as I'm lowering my nice Nikon D40 trying to get out of the stations parking lot, which is probably why he even noticed me in the first place cuz it's sort of big, and asks if I'm with the press. I tell him no, so he asks me to get out of the car and spread em'. No, not really, but that would have been funny if he did. He gets out of his car, walks over to mine and asks to see some ID. I tell him my story about how I have this assignment where we need to get photos and info about services in the community in which we teach. I drop the whole, "I'm a teacher at -------- Middle School," trying to sound legit, which I am. He asks if I know Deputy Carillo who is our Resource Officer and I in turn ask if he knows Deputy Hampton, our old RO from last year so that he can see I know my stuff. He proceeds to copy down my ID info and license plate number before letting me go.

Sans electricity is not fun!

Reading is fun

Reading in bed is fun

Reading in bed when the electricity goes out is not fun



The Santa Ana winds are of the devil and make me sooo mad!

I was sitting in bed Sunday morning going over my talk that I had to give later that day in Sacrament meeting. When all of a sudden the wind picks up, I hear the crackling of electricity, and then the lights go out. I just figured they would come back on in a minute or two. Okay, maybe in like 5 minutes. Alright how about after 30?! After an hour of no electricity the implications began to race through my head. In order:

1. oh man, I might have to take a cold shower if the water heater is out too. I hate cold showers!


2. I won't be able to do my hair seeing that my blow dryer and straight iron take electricity. I could do it curly but what about my bangs? I still need the blow dryer for that.


3. oops, I meant to iron my shirt last night, you know that whole Saturday is a special day... and it will take electricity to heat up my iron in order to get the wrinkles out.


4. if I want to cook anything for breakfast or lunch I won't be able to use the microwave or stove/oven. Plus, the food in my fridge might go bad and that would really make me sad, because I hate to spend lots of money on food, which makes me mad.


5. uh oh, my car is in my garage which will inevitably take electricity for the garage door to go up.

With all of these obstacles it is a miracle that I made it to church. But I am resourceful, took a quick shower, puffed back my bangs although the rest of my hair looked like crap, my shirt didn't look too bad once I actually got to church, I ate left over pizza and cereal, and went to the leasing office for them to open my garage door. Plus this all made for an entertaining opener for my talk. But, I'm glad it is over.

Random Part Deux...

Thought I would continue with the random facts when they come to my head that I know them:

1. While found in the central portion of Europe, Switzerland does not belong to the European Union, while all other nations do.


2. The first 2 General Primary Presidents did not have children. Isn't it ironic...don't you think?


3. Martin Sheen's left arm is 3 inches shorter than is right.
4. January is named after the Roman god, Janus, which means two-faced.

Puppy Birthday

Yes, my family's dog, Bailey, turned 1 years old yesterday. Yes, she got pampered with a grooming and pedicure. But no, she did not have a party. That would be over the line and a bit much.

Bailey wearing the festive bandana the groomers put on her

I bought Bailey a Halloween costume and tried it on her last night

Random...

Here are some random bits of knowledge I know and thought I would share:

1. The dashes that divide freeway and street lanes are 6 feet in length. They don't look that long when you're whizzing past them do they?


2. Even numbered freeways run East to West, while odd numbered freeways run North to South.


3. You can get a fly to leave a room by turning off the light. The fly will go to the nearest source of light.


4. The scrolling news ticker at the bottom of the TV screen was not commonly used until Sept 11, 2001.


5. Iceland is greener than Greenland, and Greenland is icier than Iceland.


6. You can get candle wax off of carpet with a hot iron and a brown paper bag.


7. The capitol of Comoros, an island off the Eastern coast of Africa in the Indian Ocean, is called Moroni.


8. Veneers and fake teeth glow when exposed to black light.

I hate traffic

After driving through 35 minute traffic to get home from work Friday, I quickly showered and spent the next 50 minutes in traffic going the opposite direction. Yep it took me 50 minutes to go some 20 miles. Gotta love this So Cal traffic! I met up with a good friend for dinner where she gave me a wonderful gift. A framed Girls Camp picture with signatures from all the girls I served while in the Stake Young Women's Presidency. That was definitely a calling I loved and will miss terribly!

Stance

Somehow and for whatever reason, I found myself volunteering to help chaperon the Harvest Dance after school Thursday. There was a big turnout, with lots of students eager to bust a move. The only thing is that once they got inside the MPR, many of them just stood around, turning it into a Stance rather than a Dance. Several of the girls were dancing inappropriately and had to be stopped, but all in all the students were well behaved and had fun.

Jimmy Eat World

Being a fan of Jimmy Eat World I decided to buy tickets to their concert when I saw it listed in the paper. So Tuesday night my roommate and myself made our way to LA for the concert. But first, a few things that took place before the concert:

1. the parking attendant guy was very hard to understand and quite confusing as he would point for me to park over by the red Jeep, but then try to get in my car and do it for me.


2. the pizza restaurant we ate at that was owned, managed, served, bussed and frequented by nothing but Asians. Nothing wrong with Asians, I love them and love traveling to their countries, but pizza is not exactly what I consider Asian cuisine. It was good nonetheless.


3. the mirror that I surprisingly saw my face in as I sat down on the toilet seat at said pizza restaurant. Why is a mirror on the back of bathroom stall? I don't know, but regardless, it was there.

The concert was at the Wiltern and we got there at the perfect time. The warm-up band was already done and J.E.W. took to the stage just as we were coming up the stairs from the restroom. We found some good seats off to the side with an unobstructed view of the stage. The concert was pretty good, but I will admit I found them to be lacking while live. Let's just say it wasn't the BEST concert I've ever been to.

Intro to Digital

First and foremost I must apologize for my delinquent behavior in writing. I guess this is a bit like a journal, only more public, and once you miss a day or two you sort of get out of the habit. Although, I will have you know that I was quite faithful while on my mission and have a wonderful record of my fond memories in Michigan.

So you remember how a blog or two back I mentioned that I bought a new DSLR (digital SLR)? Well, with that purchase came a booklet full of tickets to be used towards camera/photography classes. You just sign up for the classes you want, the day and time and give them one of the tickets. I decided to start with class #1, a logical choice, and go on from there. Boy was that the biggest mistake ever. From 10am-12pm last Saturday I was bored out of my mind. The whole class was about how to turn on your camera, what the various flash symbols meant, the different size memory cards there are, how to upload your pictures to you computer and email them. Pretty much basic stuff I already know. Granted I learned a few things about my camera, but that was because I kept trying new settings out of boredom. I hope the other classes I signed up for, Imaging 101 & 102, Lighting, Travel & Sports, and better suited for me.

Foods from around the World

So my mom called me up this afternoon and asked if I would like to have dinner with her, seeing that the men in our family were going to the Priesthood session of General Conference. I decided to be adventurous, have to live up to my blog title, and chose Gyu Kaku, a Japanese BBQ. It is actually really cool and they were having a special, so it was about half price the normal. They have these little bbq's in each table and bring out a plate of various meats and veggies. You then cook your own food right there at your own table. The beef was easy to cook and quite tasty but it was harder to get the chicken and vegetables just right.

Afterwards for dessert we headed across the street to Crepes de Paris, where I treated myself to a Nutella crepe and my mother got herself something I can't remember how to say or spell, but it was tasty.

A chef I am not!

So today we are doing a pasta potluck for those of us teachers who have 2nd lunch. I signed up to bring brownies. I just seemed to have troubles at every turn. First, I didn't have a pan to bake them in because it just wasn't something I thought to buy when moving in to my new apartment. So a quick trip to the local Target fixed that problem. Second, when I was getting the measuring cups out for the water and oil, I could not find the 1/3 cup . I have 1/4 cup, 1/2, 3/4 cup and 1 whole cup, but no 1/3. I looked in all the cupboards and drawers, I looked in the dishwasher, but to no avail it did not exist. So then I had to sit there and try to figure out the math. 1/3 is more than 1/4 but less than 1/2, so I could use the 1/2 cup but not fill it up all the way, or the 1/4 cup and then add some extra. I did the second of the two and added what I hoped was 1/3 cup water. Water!?! oops!! It was supposed to be 1/3 cup oil and only 3 tablespoons of water. In all my frustration and discombobulation I had hastily mixed the two up. So now I had to pour out some of the water, which had now turned a muddy brown color, trying to only allow 3 tablespoons remain. Of course some of the powder snuck out too but this was not too easy a think to accomplish. Then I had to estimate 1/3 cup oil to add and an egg. Stir it, pour it and shove it in the oven. 32 minutes later I pull them out and they look suprisingly decent. I didn't eat one because I needed everybit to take for the potluck, but I did lick the spatula and eat the crumbs that come off as you are cutting them. Those seemed all right, nothing terribly wrong. so I hope all is well .

Time for an upgrade

For awhile now I've been wanting to get a nice SLR camera, but didn't really think too much about it, until I went to Arizona a few weeks back and had the chance to use one briefly. I have an upcoming Boston trip in November, and most likely am going to Ireland, Scotland, Wales and England next summer, so I figured now was as good a time as any to upgrade to a nice camera. My little point-and-shoot Casio does alright but is limited. So this past week I bought myself the Nikon D40, and am loving it. I'm still learning how to use it, my last photography class was 10 years ago.

Dude, where's my car?!

Trying to find a parking spot at my apartment complex can be a bit tricky depending on what time of day it is. If there is a spot available in the small parking lot in front of my apartment I will park there. Otherwise I will park in my assigned garage, which happens to be a bit of a walk away. Not too convenient, but hey, at least I know I will always have one place to park. So yesterday morning as I left for work I started to walk to my garage. When I got there I could not find the garage door opener in my purse no matter how much I searched. This could mean one of two things:

1. I had accidentally left the opener in my room
2. I had not parked in the garage the night before as previously thought

I realized that I had not parked my car in there so I trudged back to the lot in front of my apartment. When I got to the spot where I thought I had parked my car, it was not there. Dude, where's my car?! Then it hit me, Oh yeah I parked in the lot over by the mail boxes because there was a spot available last night. I headed over to that lot and there was my car, patiently waiting for me to find it like some hide-and-seek game. I suppose I need to leave notes for myself as to where I parked my car or just try harder to remember. Usually I'm not this absent minded but everyone has their weak moments, right?