Some random facts about me

Because we live a boring life (or maybe just a busy boring life) and have nothing to post, I thought I would share some random facts about ME!

1. My first real job was at Subway
2. I HATE cooked fruit, therefore I am not a fan of pie.*However, I do love my mom's apple crisp-one can of apple pie filling, one yellow cake mix, and one stick of butter (sliced). Layer everything in a 9x13. Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes or until butter is melted and top is golden. YUM.
3. I do not even like chocolate pies, etc.
4. The only pie that I have always been able to stand is Key Lime, but I do not eat the crust. It has no flavor and is dry and bland.
5. I only came to appreciate pumpkin pie in during the holidays in 2007.
6. I would like to say I am organized, but many would laugh. I am organized at certain things, but a complete mess at some others (come look at my house right now-my living room and kitchen were pretty much clean on Saturday, but now...)
7. I have been skydiving and would do it again in a heartbeat, but I think my days are done.
8. I was a nanny for 4 amazing girls for over 2 years
9. I have been to 4 colleges/universities
10. I love to read, but I am extremely slow. In 7th grade I took a standardized tests and scored very low in my reading comp section. In 8th grade I was pulled from PE twice a week to go to a reading workshop class. By the end of 8th grade, I asked to test out of it because I did not want to look stupid and still be in it in high school. My teacher had me read out loud to her. I get very nervous when I read out loud. She could tell I was struggling. She stopped me a few minutes into my reading and asked me what my GPA was. I told her 4.0. She told me that I might be a slow reader, but I do not let it affect my grades and my desire to succeed. She allowed me to advance from the class.
11. I have 3 sisters
12. I went para sailing in Hawaii and I really want to go para sailing again.
13. I love roller coasters. I grew up on Knott's Berry Farm (an amusement park in southern California). I remember the day when I was FINALLY tall enough to ride the BIG rides.
14. My favorite workout is the stairs. I found my love for the stairs in high school. Starting in 10th grade I took an aerobics class with a wonderful lady, Ms. Martin, who meant business. If you did not come to her class prepared to sweat, breath hard, raise those arms, kick those legs, you had to get out. Well anyway, about once every two weeks she would have us run the bleachers. I absolutely loved the workout. Everyone else seemed to complain.
15. I love to learn (but right now I cannot focus on my homework)
16. My favorite restaurant is Tio Leo's in California
17. Height: 5 nothing
18. I have one food allergy: Smarties. yep, that is what I said. Weird, huh?
19. I prefer desktops to laptops (I think it comes with the accounting major)
20. I still have not meet 2 of my husbands siblings
21. I am finally going to meet the rest of his siblings when Jason and I do a 2 weeks trip this summer from coast to coast. We will be in California the last week of May (maybe I could go para sailing for my birthday. Someone might have to drop the hint to Jason). Then we will fly to the DC area for Jason's youngest sister's graduation.
22. I pole vaulted in high school (I was not good, but boy, did I have fun!)
23. I cannot stand contention (okay, so I am sure a lot of people cannot stand it)
24. My funnest job ever: working with develop mentally disabled people.
    
25. I have a wonderful husband who makes me happy. I tell him I want to do something, he goes along with it even if he is not too excited about it. Usually in the end, he is happy we did it. He works hard for us out in the COLD. He is so caring towards others. Today we had a winter storm with the roads iced over. I got sent home at 2. When Jason came home, he bought enough ice and sand for our driveway and our neighbor's. He then went out and took care of the driveways so we would not slip. Jason, I love you so much. Thanks for all that you do and all the smiles that you put on my face.
    

Christmas 2008 Continued

Where to begin with our festivities this year? I guess Jason and I started the season off by participating at church in our Christmas program that was held on December 21. Jason and I were both a part of our ward choir singing "Silent Night Medley." Jason was also a member of a men's quartet, singing "Guard Him Joseph." To top it off and my favorite of the bunch was Jason and I doing a musical number together, "The First Noel." Jason sang, and I signed it. This is the second time that we have done something like this together, and I love it! I was so nervous going into it. The Lord definitely blessed me in remembering my signs. My last day of work was on December 23. I went back to work on January 5. The break was so great. Jason had to work half day on Christmas Eve. I picked him up work and then we headed to my sister's in the Tulsa area. That evening we went to one of my sister's friend's home for homemade Chinese and the reading/acting of the Christmas story. It was so yummy. The next morning I believe started in the late 7 o'clock hour. We opened gifts and ate breakfast. The kids played with their toys and I just hung out. Andrew got this cool kid's tool set.

Madilyn got a huge doll house with elevator and all. It was a very relaxing day. My poor sister thought she bought just a turkey breast (no bones, etc) wanting to make it easy and to cook a nice juicy turkey in the crockpot. When she opened it, she discovered it was a normal turkey, just on the small side. Dinner was very tasty. For dessert we had something nontraditional, BTS Cake (My dad told me years ago that I was not allowed to use its actual name). For those of you who do not know what this is, it is a chocolate cake with hot caramel syrup over it, then cool whip, topped with crushed Heath or Skor bar. Jason, my sister, and I stayed up late that night playing Nurts (sp?). Super fun, but fast card game.

The next morning Jason and I headed down to Texas to visit his family. We are grateful that we live close enough to them to visit for many short weekend trips. Heather (Jason's cousin) and her husband, Delvin, were so gracious to let us stay with them. Delvin decided to do some cooking since we were coming. Delvin is amazing with the grill. He cooked crab, lobster, tuna steaks, and I cannot remember what else. After dinner, the guys did their thing and the girls ended up watching episode after episode of Operation Repo, Dirty Jobs, and Ruby. The next morning we finally ventured out of the house around noon. Jason and I have been to the Ft. Worth/Dallas area many times and we always seem to just hang out. Now, do not get me wrong, I love hanging out with Jason's family, but we are in the DFW area and I want to do something fun. We decided to go to the Dallas World Aquarium. We thought it was $5 to get in. After standing in a long line and paying $5 for parking, we discovered it was about $20 to get in. Heather asked what we thought. I told her I did not feel like spending $20 each for an aquarium. We then decided on plan B, plan B did not work out. We then decided to go shopping! Heather introduced me to Sam Moon, it is a store with tons of purses and jewelry. I got 3 sets of jewelry for $18. I cannot wait to go back. The guys even scored with covers for their phones and clothes from Haggar for way cheap.

We also purchased a wall decoration that unfortunately fits Jason and I too well. We can clean a house, I promise. We just cannot seem to keep it clean.

We had so much fun. Heather and Delvin felt so bad because they felt like they drove us around for 1/2 the day, but we had a ball. To top it off, we also got to see The Grassy Null, where JFK was killed, the old Dallas Courthouse, which I particularly loved. For those of you who do not know, I love to look at neat buildings. I have a fascination with architecture.

We (Heather, Delvin, Hunter, Jason, and I) then meet up with another cousin and his wife, Cory and Lisa, for dinner.

I had homemade tortillas that were scrumptious (okay, you guys have probably heard enough about me and my Mexican food, but I just have not had enough. I love Mexican so much).

Cory and Lisa then mentioned that they were going with the friends that evening to go skating right by their house. We all decided to go. It brought back so many childhood memories.

I do not think I have rollerbladed in over 10 years. Jason and I ended up getting rollerskates. Good thing we did. It was hard! My upper legs were killing me and Jason's calves were killing him. I guess if you don't use it, you loss it. We never fell, but maybe I have discovered an new workout I could pick back up. We will see. We had such an amazing time.

That pretty much sums up our holiday festivities. Hope your holidays found you safe and were filled with family and friends and the true spirit of CHRISTmas.

Football

Does this work on me?

No, let's just put it on him. I will sit on the sidelines, cheer, and attempt to understand what it going on.

Help!

So today I decided I wanted some edamames. I put the pan on to boil, then went to the computer to browse blogs. I got carried away. I started to spell something burning, and this is what I found (with more burned edamames in it). I have had my pan collection since we got married, which is not a long time in terms of pan life, but in the past year, I have had to throw out two pans, this one included. THE FIRST ONE WAS NOT MY FAULT! It now appears that I will need to invest in a new set of pans. I need your help. I want a good set for a reasonable price (less than $100). I grew up with Farberware. When I was younger, I thought they were so plain and ugly. Why couldn't my mom get new pans? The reason: Because you do not need pretty ones. I have come to love Farberware. I only have two of their frying pans. I found two different Farberware 10 piece sets on Amazon for about $80. Two questions for my readers: What brand do you use? And do you recommend nonstick (that Teflon stuff) or just classic?