Tag! You’re It! February 29, 2008

A – Attached or single: Attached

B – Best Friends: Tim

C – Cake or Pie: Pie – Apple pie is the best, especially with a delectable crumble on top. And our pumpkin pie recipe kicks.

D – Day of choice: Friday, Saturday, Sunday – definitely NOT Monday!

E – Essential item(s): feminine hygiene products, pen, toothbrush, shoes

F – Favorite color: green and sometimes yellow

G – Gummy bears or worms: I love five cent sugar candies. And the natural gummy bears are to die for!

H – Hometown: Vancouver, Canada

I – Indulgences: sleeping in, going out for lunch, movie nights in the middle of the week (like tonight!), Park City, orange chocolate truffles

J – January or July: July

K – Kids: kitten Ginger, age 1

L – Life is not complete without: Tim, Ginger and hot showers

M – Marriage Date: September 1, 2005

N – Number of Siblings: 5

O – Oranges or apples: mandarin oranges – this is what makes Christmas time all the more wonderful

P – Phobias or fears: spiders and being attacked – yikes!

Q – Quotes: If women didn’t exist, all the money in the world would have no meaning.
Aristotle Onassis

R – Reason to smile: sunshine, Ginger, Tim, friends and family

S – Season: spring in Utah, summer in Vancouver (there is a noticeable difference in temperature!)

T – Tag two friends: Paige and Lauren – Tag! You’re it!

U – Unknown fact about me: I hog the bed. Also, I taught piano for six years – I was the cool piano teacher that navigated away from Beethoven and more towards fun music like Avril or Alicia Keys instead

V – Very favorite store: RW&Co & Jacob - ONLY in Canada, arghhh! (think Banana Republic, but more affordable!)

W – Worst habit: procrastinating – daily which turns into weekly, monthly, yearly… ugh.

X – X-ray or Ultrasound: both. I won’t tell you what the ultrasound was for, though.

Y – Your favorite food: dark chocolate, sushi, Chinese food, butter chicken, gelato (pistachio flavor!)

Z – Zodiac: Gemini – is it any wonder?

nothing like homemade cream of broccoli soup February 28, 2008

On the way home today, I stopped by Flour Girls and Dough Boys in American Fork for a visit and walked out with good, hearty bread bowls. These things have a good weight to them, not like the air-filled things you find in most bakeries. What else to put in a bread bowl than cream of broccoli soup?

Delightful Tina from Flour Girls suggested to put the bread bowls in the oven to warm them up and make them soft again before serving. Tim made the incision and carved out the insides like pumpkins before filling them with thick, hearty soup.

The All Recipes cream of broccoli recipe we made got a whopping five stars on all the reviews I read, so naturally, I had to try it. (click here for the recipe!) The aroma itself is delicious and I am anxiously awaiting to consume it. Signing off!

Addendum: The Review

I am extremely full and completely satisfied. Next time you’re in the mood for a heartwarming winter meal, I highly recommend this simple and delicious recipe. Women, your boyfriend/partner/husband will praise you for it.

Though it’s only Wednesday, I feel in desperate need for a weekend, to turn off my mind and escape. It’s time to curl up in the living room with soft light, the fire place and Tim.

“Talking to Americans” February 25, 2008

If you want to have a good hearty laugh, check out “Talking to Americans” – in this video, spot a cameo by Mike Huckabee and George W. Bush! Penned by the Canadian (Newfoundland, to be specific) comic Rick Mercer of This Hour Has 22 Minutes and The Mercer Report, Talking to Americans is a hilarious documentary of how little our friends south of the border understand about Canada.

Mercer convinces poor unsuspecting Americans to help protect our national igloo from melting due to global warming, stop the seal hunt in Calgary (home of the 1988 Olympics – and completely landlocked with no water in sight) and congratulate Canada for legalizing VCRs, among other things.

During the lead-up to the fateful Presidential election in 2000, Rick Mercer even got in front of George W. Bush to say that the Canadian Prime Minister, Jean Poutine was standing behind him! George W. said, “Well, he understands I want to make sure our relations with our most important neighbor to the north is strong!” Unfortunately, Jean Cretchien is the name of Canada’s former PM and poutine is a delectable dish comprising of french fries, cheese curds and gravy. Oops.

Be prepared to LAUGH OUT LOUD! Pass it on!

PS: Check out Rick Mercer’s blog!

I Have a Testimony of Craigslist… February 23, 2008

Tim recently asked me to blog about him. In Tim’s world right now, he has decided BYU would be a much better experience with an MacBook and instead of dipping into our personal funds, he got creative.

Tim’s sweet butter yellow Sonar kit. Sorry guys, it’s sold.

Tim is an avid drummer and though he only has two hands and two feet, felt the need to have two drum sets. The water blue kit is LOUD like thunder and the little butter yellow kit much more tolerable. He got to thinking, do I really need two drum sets? and made the decision to sell the butter kit. After listing it on Craigslist Saturday, he had a buyer in our living room by Monday, cash in hand on Wednesday night. What a turnaround! Having worked in a music store, STOCK doesn’t even fly off the shelves at that rate! It has been an emotional journey as well that Tim compared to selling a child. I thought it was probably more like selling a pet. After his recent success, Tim got to wondering what else he could sell and has posted an Alesis mixer he’s not using and has already gotten four offers in the last 24 hours.

When we were out for dinner with Chandra, Ted, Michelle and Terry last night, we were sharing our recent success with Craigslist. Terry has a boat he loves to take out on Utah Lake in the summer and after a moment of Michelle’s quiet contemplation, he says, “Don’t even think about it, honey!” to which Michelle responds, “The thought just crossed my mind!” We laughed that selling the boat would pay for two trips to Michelle’s beloved Hawaii! Ted is going to sell his kayak, so if anyone is on the market, check out their blog to the right in the blogroll and get in touch with them!

T-shirt care of Kontroverse clothing

This morning as I’m getting up, I hear Ginger the kitten scream upstairs, Tim yell, and thunderous footsteps coming down the stairs. Apparently Ginger had snuck upstairs to torment the Scully cat, a favorite past time, and when Tim had customarily come to collect her, she viscously attacked him — rather out of character for our fiesty kitten. To teach her a lesson, Ginger got a bath and Tim got more scratches. While pictures are below, please don’t let Ginger determine the next time you come over — she really isn’t a killer like you might think!

So you’re coming over tomorrow, right??

Butter Chicken without the Butter? February 21, 2008

I have been meaning to make butter chicken (my new favorite Indian dish) for weeks and have had the yogurt in my fridge to prove it. Tonight was the night and we finally prepared the incredible dish. After eating my entire meal, I realized I’d forgotten to add the BUTTER! Butter chicken without butter? That’s like caramel corn without the caramel. Butter is definitely better.

http://www.nestle.co.nz/Recipes/Recipe.htm?r=1298

Here’s the recipe we used – watch out for the kick! http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Chicken-Makhani-Indian-Butter-Chicken/Detail.aspx

I recently discovered an artist with an amazing voice and sensational piano chops have since been listening to her record over and over ever since. Regina Spektor is the genius behind “Samson”, my new favorite song. After I realized she was a pianist, I found we had something in common and decided to look up the chord progression to Samson on www.e-chords.com. Much to my delight, I was playing and singing along to my favorite song within minutes.

Oh how I have missed the math of music! After teaching piano and hosting music clinics for six years, I flew away to Utah. Feeling encouraged, I looked up One Republic and Timbaland’s “Apologize” and was surprised at how ridiculously simple the chord progression was! After picking Tim up, I told him about my success and challenged that with my help, he could learn Apologize in 2 minutes. He did. I need to start marketing DVDs on eBay or something…

It was a good day. How was yours?

already I forgot how to say no February 20, 2008

After a full day, I attended a workshop this evening on how to de-stress and better balance my life. It was great! We were given permission to say no, throw everything out the window and only add what we felt we could handle. When I asked about the guilt I feel when thinking of things I could be doing, he said that it’s in our human nature to want to wriggle away from these negative emotions and that I should try it anyways and allow myself to feel the guilt because this will pass and I will soon become more comfortable with it. When I had a chance to shake the professor’s hand at the end of the night and tell him how I had made alternate arrangements to be there since I’d felt strongly about doing so, he applauded my willingness to say no. I walked away feeling empowered and decided to throw away the to-do list for a night and make time for me, for what I wanted to do. How quickly I forgot.

Upon walking through the door after 9, Tim reminded me that we were going to go grocery shopping (this after I’d spent an hour of my time grocery shopping earlier this afternoon) and take back the movie we’d rented. With the idea of a night to myself still fresh in my mind, I obliged. Regrettably. I kept my shoes on at home (as I despise doing since I never quite settle in) ran our ridiculous errands that certainly didn’t require two people and suddenly the evening is over. How did I forget so soon?

To Vote or Not To Vote? February 18, 2008

If only it were a choice! Being a resident alien (there HAS to be some nicer way to say this) in the United States, while entitled to live and work among Americans, one thing I am not allowed to do is vote. Having followed the caucus voting and primaries across the nation on NPR , I feel like I have a pretty good idea who would get my vote. At this point though, it doesn’t matter. After all this talk of presidential candidates, I’m ashamed to say I had to look up who the Prime Minister of Canada was! One thing I’ve observed is that world affairs covered in the American media primarily consist of the Middle East. And sometimes China. Hardly a mention of Canada. One can live in Canada and still be kept abreast of the happenings within the United States, though apparently not the other way around. The British rule in Canada apparently does much to keep our home and native land connected to the rest of the world.

Politics aside, the weather has been in fine form! One of my clients outside Nashville, Tennessee was telling me this week about the tornadoes that tore through his hometown, narrowly missing his home. Apparently one of his neighbors with a storm shelter was sucked out of the shelter by the twister, leaving his wife and children behind, and was carried by the tornado for several miles. After touching down, he got in touch with friends and loved ones via his two-way radio, reporting he was bleeding to death, sent his love and final regards. Thankfully he is alive, and though not well, healing in the hospital.

While we have had nowhere the tragic weather, Utah was hit by a snowstorm that came out of left field. While the weather men saw it coming, we’d enjoyed two days of sunny and warm spring-is-coming weather and no one wanted to believe the storm was imminent. While not much snow fell, the wind blew up to 70 mph and debilitated Utah Valley. We were without power in Saratoga Springs for hours and children were stranded at Alpine Elementary School and forced to stay the night because buses couldn’t get through the snow. Because of a 16-car-pileup close to our home, the police shut down major thoroughfares and it took us 3 hours to drive 10 miles home! One of our neighbors endured a whopping 6 hours trek home from Salt Lake!

Enough good news for one entry! This week I have been more productive with my time and waded further into Pre-Paid Legal. While somewhat uncomfortable to tip-toe outside my comfort zone, I was rewarded by meeting some astounding individuals.

Tim and I also attended our ward Valentines dinner and dance on Friday night and enjoyed a lovely evening of good food and company. Unfortunately all the sappy 80s love songs were first on the roster and they saved the good music till the end — but we were still there to kick off our shoes and cut a rug. It was a good night that ended with watching a Ridley Scott film called A Good Year and falling asleep on the couch. We seem to do that a lot lately. A lovely end to a full day.

Don’t Get Too Close February 11, 2008

Over the last few days, phlegm has been gathering in my throat and I have been waking up with a wicked cough.  Either I am turning into a vampire with my recent aversion of bright light or my sinus is bothering me, and I hope what I’m feeling in my head is not an ear infection.

So what does one do with whooping cough, sinus infection and an icky nose?  I vote for a sick day and staying in bed till 4 in the afternoon though I am open to suggestions.

I recently discovered Yahoo! Answers and have been getting a kick off of helping complete strangers cope with bad break-ups, understand integral differences between Canada and the US, pointing them in the direction of affordable, comprehensive wills to protect their families, and more.  It’s based on a fun points system, too, so every time I answer a question, I get 2 points, whenever my answer is voted the best answer I get 10 points and I’m already at level 2!  I know, I need to get out of the house more often…  But if I take a sick day tomorrow, I’ll definitely have something to do while I lounge around

Random Acts of Kindness February 7, 2008

My new favorite place in Utah, besides my home, is Flour Girls and Dough Boys Bakery in American Fork.

After driving past their sign every day for weeks, I stopped in one day when craving a cinnamon roll and was astounded. The aroma is evident the moment you walk in the room, the barrage of beautiful pasteries and breads to behold, and the warm, genuine people behind the counter are outstanding. Needless to say, I have been back every week since.

Yesterday, I had some time before picking up Tim and stopped in to chill at the cafe. The girls, Kelly and Tina, were delightful and we had a pleasant chat as I was paying for my pumpkin chocolate bar with cream cheese frosting. I snuggled up in the corner next to the fire with a Real Simple magazine and my delicious pumpkin bar. Next thing I know I hear my name and Kelly is coming towards me with a cup of almond and raspberry steaming milk on the house! Then Tina comes to check on the flavor – what incredible consideration. My visit to the cafe made a great afternoon extraordinary.

Photo credit – Tim. The sun dipped behind the clouds and the snow, being blown in the air, reflected the sunshine and this sensational photo is the result of this phenomenon.

New First Presidency February 5, 2008

While we all could see it coming that President Thomas S. Monson would assume President Hinckley’s responsibilities as 16th Prophet of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, the fact that Elder Uchdorf was called as his Second Counselor was out of left field!

I must say, in recent years it has been wonderful to see the Quorum of the Seventy include much more diversity than ever before with members from all over the globe. It’s exciting to see Elder Uchdorf, originally from Germany, the first ever member of the First Presidency not from North America (I stand corrected — John Taylor was born in England, not Canada as I had previously thought). Nonetheless, it is certainly becoming a worldwide church.