My prayers have been answered

It's official! If I weren't quitting my job soon, I would so be skipping work Friday.

Jaimal

You have to check this out, it's hilarious. I used to work with this guy. I swear he never actually worked though. Every time I saw him he was always on break. Although if you want to get technical, every time I saw him on break, I was also on break, but whatever. :)

You Disappoint Me

Growing up I was pretty sure that at this point in my life I would have been married to one or more of the following (but not at the same time):

Jordan Knight
Jared Leto
Jonathan Taylor Thomas
Jason Priestly
Jonathan Brandis
Joshua Jackson
Jake Ryan from Sixteen Candles

I guess your name had to start with a J for me to like you. Where, though, are they? I am thoroughly disappointed in them. Apparently the love we shared just wasn't enough.

Please change your name

Every day as I drive home from work I pass a restaurant called La Vigna, and every day for a split second I do a double take because I swear the sign says Vagina. Please, I beg of you, change your name.

Run, Don't Walk

Have I mentioned that I get all my restaurant ideas from the blog, Your Heart Out? Well, I do, and a while ago a bakery/cafe called Flour Girls & Dough Boys in American Fork was mentioned. I've been meaning to stop by and I finally did yesterday. Oh . . . my . . . gosh. If you have never been to this place, you need to stop everything and go there right now. No really, right this very second. It's amazingly delicious. I had the Chicken Breast and Avocado Panini, and that was going to be it, but as I stood there waiting for my samich, I had to buy more. I got a loaf of sourdough bread, spinach and feta focaccia (there are three different kinds of focaccia!), a fresh out of the oven right before my eyes cinnamon roll, and a mint brownie. My samich didn't even make it home, I had to eat it in the car because it smelled so good. The cinnamon roll was really good, but it had cream cheese frosting as most cinnamon rolls tend to have, and I don't like cream cheese and sugar mixed together. My mom graciously ate it for me. We all split the brownie, and according to my Grandma, it was the best brownie she has ever had. The breads were wonderful, too. I only got one itsy bitsy little bite of the focaccia before everyone else devoured it, but what I had was amazing. I made up for it by eating half of the loaf of sourdough. I know some of you guys up there in Salt Lake don't like to venture past the point of the mountain for fear of being hijacked by crazy Happy Valley Mormonites, but this is well worth it.

I love it!!!!

I love to see what blogs other people read, and I stumbled upon A Paige in the Book of My Life today. This lady is hilarious. You have to check out her post about her church bag. Even if you don't go read the post, at least enjoy the pictures of the bag she takes to church every week:





I want one of these bags. I would love to see the looks on people's faces if I walked into Primary carrying this bag. It would probably get me banned. Hmmm, maybe not such a bad idea!

More

Before I went off on my little tangent yesterday and had to step away from the computer, I had other little things to add to the list. Here they are.

6. You know that scene in "Independence Day" where Vivica A. Fox is in the tunnel with her little boy and her dog and the big fire ball is coming? It doesn't matter how many times I watch the movie, I tense up every time and shriek at her to get the dog, get the dog!

7. I find Marilyn Manson oddly attractive.

8. I think Oprah could be the Antichrist. I'm not saying she is, I'm just saying it would be a good front. Think about it. No one would ever suspect her, and she has influence like very few people do. If she said to tattoo 666 on your forehead, I'm pretty sure a large chunk of the population would do it. Now that being said, I must admit that I do record her show every day, and if it's a good one, which happens every other week or so, I will watch it. And yes, I did watch the Osmond reunion show. Twice actually, but the second time only because my mom doesn't know how to work the remote control.

9. I have a testimony of Hamburger Helper. I am a firm believer in it. I find it to be inexpensive and delicious. If you add stuff to it you can even make it semi-nutritious.

10. I want to learn to do the following: garden and plant a real garden that I actually follow through with and don't kill, preserve the fruits of the harvest (my harvest and the harvest in general), play the violin, speak a new language, sew, quilt, use Photoshop, and figure out how to do genealogy for non-LDS people in Norway and Yugoslavia/Croatia.

Dirty Little Secrets

O.k., so they're not really dirty, but here are some things about me; some odd, some not. I'm telling you these things because I'm totally bored, it's far too early to go to bed, and I don't have anything else interesting to say.

1. My fingers are always typing. Whether it's what I'm thinking, words I see, or what people are saying, my fingers are always moving. I can't get them to stop. I have to concentrate really hard to not move my fingers when I'm in situations that involve people looking at my hands or if I'm holding hands with someone. If I'm not thinking about anything in particular, I type "Brighton Plaza" over and over again because I used to live across the street from yup, you guessed it-Brighton Plaza. Lorri and I would sit outside and I would stare at the sign and type the words over and over again. I'm sure other people do it with piano keys or things like that. Or maybe not. Maybe I'm just weird like that.

2. I am all about driving over the speed limit. Unintelligible grumblings can frequently be heard from my direction when I get stuck behind someone going the speed limit or within fiveish above. Seven to ten above is perfection. Nothing pisses me off more, however, than people speeding through a school zone. DO YOU NOT SEE THE CHILDREN????? This is one of the few . . . well, o.k., maybe not few, but this is one of the times in life where I wish I could pull people over and taser them. Then, while they're writhing on the ground, maybe kick 'em a few times. 'Cause seriously-the children!

3. I loathe public restrooms. I will do everything in my power to avoid using them. I should add though, that when I say public, I pretty much mean any bathroom other than my own. I also hate other people using my bathroom. If someone else has used my bathroom, even if they've only peed, I can't go in there for at least half an hour. The sanctity has been violated.

4. I think my washer and dryer are conspiring against me. I swear my shirts are all fine when they go in the wash, but when they come out of the dryer, they all mysteriously have spots on them. It's a good thing I wear a hoodie every day to cover up the stains. I don't know what I'm going to do when I go back to school and don't have the excuse of a cold office.

5. It's cute for a four year-old to think she's a Princess. Not so much when you're twenty-four. To every single one of the Kardashians-you are not a Princess, you are not special, and you are not entitled to anything more than anyone else out there. Same goes for you, Paris. In fact, same goes for pretty much everyone. Rules are there for a reason, and no one is above them (well, except for the whole ten above the speed limit thing). By the same token, no one out there is undeserving or less than simply because of who they are. I'm tired of getting email forwards about people not speaking English (notice I am staying away from the illegal immigrant debate). If your biggest concern in life is that the person who you deal with for 60 seconds at the drive-up window is hard to understand, I think you're doing alright. I'm also tired of the gay jokes, and the fat jokes, and the sexually explicit jokes, and jokes about Jewing people, and the list goes on and on and on. Am I the only one who is tired of all the negativity? I know, I know, this after I talk about tasering people and I tell the Kardashians they're not special. Seriously, though-next time you send an email forward, or tell a joke, or think you deserve something more than someone else, just think about it first. Alright, I am now stepping down off my soap box.

I've got the pink eye

And that's really all I've got to say about that.

Except . . . can it only be spread by eye goobie to eye contact? 'Cause I took bubbles to Primary yesterday and pretty much blew germs all over my class.

Craftiness

I've decided I need to be more crafty. I used to be slightly crafty. After reading people's blogs, it has now become imperative that I, at the very least, own the tools with which to be crafty. Alright, I'll be honest, I just want to buy the stuff. I want all the pretty ribbon and stickers and doodads. And then I want someone to make me things with them. When I say someone, that doesn't necessarily exclude me, but it doesn't necessarily include me either. I want to have Craftiness Parties during which goodies are eaten, chit-chat is had, and items are crafted, but I don't think anyone I know still does any of that stuff (crafts, not eating and chit-chat). We should all probably start again. Think of the pictures that have yet to be cropped and glued. Hmmm . . . just saying that kinda made me cringe a little bit. I think maybe I'm done with scrapbooking and am ready for something else in the craft world. Maybe the best way to decide is to go buy different things and play around with them. Or just look at them for a while and then pack them away with the scrapbooking stuff, where they'll make reappearances every once in a while, then eventually never been seen again.

Blech

My sickness has moved into my left ear now. My eyes started oozing goo today too. I think the last time that happened was when I was five. My oh so observant mother asked me today if I was sick. Really? You're just now noticing? 'Cause I've been hacking up my lungs for going on five days now.

For your viewing pleasure

Keep in mind two things: it may look like it's shoved up my nose, but that's just the angle, it is really only gently inserted, and my eyes look like that because the first time I did it the water went up my nose and didn't come out the other side and it hurt.





I haven't used the neti much yet, but I do feel very refreshed afterwards and can breathe better. We'll see if it helps in the long run. A problem with it, though, is that you have to be able to breathe to be able to use it. Obviously if you're stuffed up, the water won't be able to go through. But if I weren't having issues in the first place, I wouldn't have need of it, now would I?

Sick . . . sick . . .

This happens every time a stressful event in my life ends-I immediately get sick. After finding out yesterday that BYU miraculously is allowing me to rejoin the student body, I awoke this morning feeling horrendous. Did you like that I used a big word there? See now that I am a university student again, I am going to immediately cease the use of my previous unlearned and unrefined vocabulary. Just kidding-I felt like crap. My neck is stiff and hurts really bad, my throat hurts, but not in a raw kind of a way, it hurts like my tonsils are swelling up and about to explode, the sinuses inside my cheeks (the maxillary sinuses-I know because I had to look it up to make sure there were really sinuses there. I didn't want to say they hurt and then find out there weren't any there and have BYU find out and decide they don't want me after all.) feel like they're full of goo and are putting pressure on my face, my nose is stuffed up, my entire body pretty much just hurts, and I have the chills. Plus, if that weren't enough, in the middle of the night my neck decided to teach me a little lesson about vanity and it sprouted a ginormous, painful pimple. But you know what-I got back into school, I get to quit my job next month which means I won't have to get up at 5 am and commute for 45 minutes, and I'm still completely impressed by my cooking skills from the other day, so life is pretty darn good after all. And thanks to the makers of Nyquil (well, actually Kroger 'cause I'm cheap like that), it's about to get a whole lot better!

Oh my deliciousness

Last night for dinner I made a salad of baby cucumbers, French green beans, grape tomatoes, asparagus, onions, fresh basil, fresh mozzarella, and salami ('cause it can't all be healthy), and served it on a bed of warm homemade polenta. It was like heaven on earth. I would have taken pictures but I was too busy stuffing my face. Maybe next time.

Oh no! I missed it!

I just noticed that I completely missed my 100th post! How sad. This is number 111 if you count the ones I deleted and I think 102 with the ones that are still up. Oh well, I'll have to keep a better eye out for 200 I guess. Oh, by the way, did I mention I got into BYU? 'Cause I totally did!

I got in! I got in!

A miracle occurred today and BYU let me back in! Yay! Classes start next month, which means I get to quit my job and not have to commute anymore! Double yay!

The concert

Lorri and I went to the Matchbox Twenty/Alanis Morissette concert last Thursday at the E Center. It was really good, but you know how you have a preconceived notion in your mind of how people are going to look? Yeah, Rob Thomas and Alanis were both really short. I felt like I had been magically transported to the Shire or something. But I'm getting ahead of myself, let's go back to the beginning.

Mute Math opened the show, and I had never heard of them before, so I wasn't overly excited. They were o.k. The music was way louder than the vocals, and if I'm hearing a song for the first time, I have to be able to hear the words. I could tell, though, that it was something I might possibly like if I could hear it normally, so I downloaded a song yesterday and it is pretty good.

Alanis Morissette came on wearing a lovely sequined vest and was awesome. She did all my favorite songs along with a few new ones. I can't decide if I like "Angry Alanis" or "New Age Alanis" better and I really don't know why we're thanking India. She really should be thanking her chiropractor. She does all these headbanger moves and twirls around and flips her upper body all around on stage. It was slightly odd, but completely Alanis.

Matchbox Twenty. Where to even begin? They were amazing. They sounded great live and put on just a really fun show. I loved hearing all the older songs, especially the ones from their first album like "Push" and "3 AM." I do have to mention, though, that Rob totally has a bubble butt. That sounds horrible, but it was incredibly distracting for the first couple of songs until I got used to it. Maybe it was just the pants. Maybe he wore Apple Bottom jeans by mistake. I don't know.

Anyway, the concert was great and I had lots of fun. Lorri took some pictures with her phone. If there are any good ones I'll post them later. In the meantime, here's a picture of my new BFF, Rob:

The neti has landed

I think my sinuses have all sorts of strange and wondrous things growing and/or lodged inside of them. I have had an alternately stuffy and runny nose for like the last three years. I sneeze all the time, especially at work, because I sit right under a vent that I think blows nothing but air filled with dust and particles of I don't want to know what, all over me. I think the girl who sits on one side of my cubicle secretly wishes I would die every time I sneeze. She doesn't like noise, you see, and I sneeze all day long, always in sets of three. So I bought a neti pot because Dr. Oz said on Oprah that it's supposed to clear up your sinuses like magic, and you know that if it was on Oprah, it must be true, right, James Frey! I guess we'll see if Dr. Oz is right. I don't know yet if I'll subject you to pictures of me pouring water through my nose. Here is a picture of the exact neti pot that I am now the proud owner of:

5 Travel Inspiring Movies

I found a list of 5 Movies that Inspire Travel and I thought I'd do my own. Here they are, in no particular order:

1. Enchanted April

2. Blue Crush

3. Under the Tuscan Sun

4. A Room With a View

5. The Horse Whisperer

And the honorable mention goes to . . . Brokedown Palace. Just kidding!

My new favorite website

FreakingNews has all sorts of fun Photoshopped stuff. Check out these Neckless Celebrities:









They also have political gender change pics:



And all sorts of fun stuff:

Tag . . . you're it!

Wendy tagged me again. But hey guess what!!! This time she isn't the only one who reads my blog, so I actually have other people to tag! Hooray!

FAVORITE PAIR OF SHOES-I love shoes, especially dressy ones, but I've decided to just embrace my homeless look, so I'm going with my ratty old tennis shoes.

NEW YEARS RESOLUTION- Read more.

WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW- "Labyrinth" by Elisa. Oddly enough this is the same song I was listening to when I filled out that email survey thing earlier today.

IF YOU HAD $200 TO SPEND ON YOURSELF WHAT WOULD IT BE- Books, books and more books. I would have said fun stuff from Sephora, but $200 wouldn't go very far there.

RANDOM THOUGHT- My eyeball won't stop itching.

FAVORITE PLACE TO GO IN THE CITY YOU LIVE IN- home

THE BOOK YOU ARE READING - I always have several going at the same time. "God Wants a Powerful People" by Sheri L. Dew, "Whitethorn Woods" by Maeve Binchy, "Introduction to Rhetorical Theory" by Gerard A. Hauser (it's as exciting as it sounds!), "The Path of Practice: A Woman's Book of Ayurvedic Healing" by Bri Maya Tiwari, and the BoM.

I tag Traci, Lorri and Rebecca.

Elizabeth's Bakery & Tea Shop

For great British food, you have to try Elizabeth's Bakery & Tea Shop. It's on 6th South and 7th East in Salt Lake. Lorri and I went there the other day for breakfast. I had quiche, crumpets and hot chocolate. She had a beef and onion pie thingy and a soda ('cause she wouldn't be Lorri without a soda, no matter what time of day!). Next door to the Tea Shop is a great store called London Market. They have all sorts of fun stuff, but I'll save that for another post. Here are some pics:



The Cadbury's hot chocolate was some of the best I've ever had.



Lorri's soda and my appropriate breakfast beverage. :)



They had all sorts of yummy food on display.




Lorri is really enjoying the beefiness of her beef pie!



I love quiche!



And crumpets! But not so much pictures of me eating!

Another Grandma find

I found this when I was going through more of my Grandma Brown's things. I love the sound of a "trousseau tea."