Happy New Year

It's been a while since I've updated and this will be brief since I have a house to clean and food to shop for and cook for New Year's eve and day. I have pictures to post too but that will come in a few days. We spent a fun Thanksgiving in Utah at Gary, Jen's and monkey's new house. It was few days spent decorating, eating, shopping and two Jazz games. We got to spend time with Michael and Jennifer too and see the little cuties as they went to a Jazz game with us. Fun, fun, fun. Family and friends took up about one and a half full rows at the game and it was great to see everybody. As usual, it was a surprise as Gary hadn't mentioned who all would be there. Christmas was a stay at home time and very quiet. We had a couple from church over for dinner and then we all went to see Avetar. It was interesting but so not my kind of movie. We wanted to see Sherlock Holmes but it was sold out. I guess I've been living under a rock since I had no idea of what Avetar was about, that it was a fantasy or that it had a "liberal message" but it was still a fun night. Christmas morning was all Jazz and that was fun too. Thanks Gary! Anyway, Happy New Year to all!!!

Line Dry

Don't we all yearn for the smell of fresh outdoor dried clothes? Unfortunately or probably very fortunately, the days of the clothes line are gone except for maybe in trailer parks. I guess that with the invention of the dryer, the need was no longer there so looking at the neighbor's underwear flying in the breeze is only (and thankfully) a blast from the very past. This was my feeble attempt to replicate the clothes line experience with Riley's shirts hanging off the TV in my backyard. It's 87 degrees so they'll dry really quickly and hopefully smell nice and fresh. I'll pay dearly for this though when I go to iron the major wrinkles out of them. And ironing....that's a topic for another time.

**Update** The shirts are back in the house and honestly, they smell way better out of the dryer and are a heck of a lot softer than having been dried out in the great outdoors. We won't be making this mistake again!!!

Violin Recital

Check this out. It's too cute. This is Riley's youngest son's almost 5 year old son James in his first violin recital.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvmFTRhhe38

I didn't know they made violins that small.

Chocolate

This is about a fourth of the candy that I have left that we bought before Halloween. And...this is after having used some of it in Primary. The kids there don't like it, I hate it and we had no trick or treaters so it's headed to the garbage now. I should have left it with someone who was handing out candy at trunk or treat but I couldn't get out of there fast enough after dropping off my chili. It was craziness with the church next door having a big party and people from there headed over to partake of the dinner and candy from our stake. The lesson learned here is that next year, I'll only buy what Riley or I like and it won't be the giant bags of chocolate from Costco. Sees candy maybe but not this stuff.

Roger's Gardens

I thought I'd try to give you all a Christmas treat. I went to the beach this week with my mind made up to visit Roger's Garden and their Christmas display. For those of you that have never seen this wonderful place, it is a sight to behold. Here is their web site http://www.rogersgardens.com/ They don't really want customers taking pictures but I did ask for permission and the kind lady said "they really don't like you to but I won't pay attention to you if you want to". Very cute. On the way out, she asked me if I had gotten all the pictures I wanted. I just smiled. So here is your inspiration for your tree this year. Unfortunately, unless your filthy rich, the trees are out of the price range of most. My guess is that to buy one as is, it would be in the 10 to 20 range. That's THOUSANDS! Enjoy

Katella Deli

Here's a couple of pictures from Friday night. We went and watched Sami & Kodi play water polo at the Navy something or other in Los Al and afterwards, most of us were starving so we went to the Katella Deli for dinner. What a great place. I had the best beef brisket I have ever had and they had a bakery attached to the place that was to die for. That's Sam, Nan, Paa and Riley on the left and Cindy, Amanda's mom, Amanda (Sami & Kodi's teammate) Kodi and Kelly. This was a big tournament with the coach's from several large schools (Stanford, UCLA, Davis) there to look at theplayers. Sami has already signed with a full scholarship to UCLA so she is all set. Anyway, it was a fun day and night and we were really glad to go hang out with them. After all, they are the pseudo grand kids.

Such a deal

Check this little jewel out. I got two of them for the casita. I took the two lamps that had been in there and put them over at the other house - my seasonal rental. Aside from looking perfect, I got the BEST deal ever. A little lighting store was having a moving sale and I got them for 50% off the lowest price marked on their tag. After several markdowns, they went home with me for $49 each. What till you see the chandelier I got there too. It hasn't been hung yet because it was opening day for hunting and my electrician/hubby left at 3:00AM this morning and didn't get to it after he got home last night from OC. So.... maybe he'll hang it for me tomorrow when he gets home. For those of you that have stayed in there and know that the previous lighting wasn't really bright enough for bedtime reading, you'll be able to see well now - double the watts. And by the way, they were covered in that delightful plastic but had a very large tag that said to remove before using. That made me smile.

Key limes

Another basket full of key limes or Mexican limes from our tree. We have had basket after basket full of these little gems. My neighbors have been loving them and I've been the recipient of two different pieces of key lime pie slices. Although I did not believe they were truly key limes, I did a little research and found out that key lime trees were exported from Key West, Florida to California. In fact, there are very few key lime trees left in Key West as a hurricane basically wiped out their population. So yes, they are the real thing. I have three full freezer bags still in the fridge waiting to be squeezed and frozen. Next crop is lemons and grapefruit and they will be ready to pick in December.

Stephanie

Anybody watch Oprah today? Normally I don't but I set the DVR to record today's show so I could see Stephanie Nielsen. I just finished watching her segment and wow, she is amazing. I've been following her story and her blog for some time now and knew she was special. But to see her on TV in front of millions of people, she is really an extra special person as is her husband. I can't imagine having to endure the pain of what she has had to go through so far and to know that more than likely for the rest of her life she'll have pain. Her story and example certainly makes me grateful for the life I have been blessed with.

Lamps and shades

I'm still working on getting my "seasonal rental" all the necessities to make it rent ready. I bought two lamps the other day for one of the master bedrooms. Unfortunately, they are too small so back they will have to go. I was thinking about the plastic covers on lamps shades as I strolled the lamp aisles. These two did not have have any clear plastic covers but some of them did. Do people still neglect to remove them when they get their lamps home like they did back in the good old days? Why, why, why? Were vacuums not readily available then for keeping shades clean and dust free? Or did our Grandma's just like the look? I just thought this was a really funny blast from the past. I am sure that a few of these decorating faux pas are probably still alive and well today thriving in some remote, obscure place. Just my random thoughts for the moment.

Remember

Remember, logo design by David Paranteau

The interpretation:

The black signifies the grief and loss of our nation (The Pentagon, the date, and the WTC towers in place of the number 11 in the date).
The white background represents hope of freedom, peace, and healing.
REMEMBER that freedom is worth preserving and also that it has never been won without loss. We remember our friends, our co-workers, spouses, rescuers, children, business partners, military and government officials, visitors to New York and our nation. We will never forget our fallen heroes.
The flag is our national emblem and represents the highest ideals of individual liberty, justice and equal opportunity for all. These ideals will help our nation cope with this tragedy.

9-11 Logo

9-11 Logo

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LLWS

I just had to blog about the best LLWS in quite a few years. We raced home from church so see the little guys (and one not so little 6'2 12 year old) boys from Chula Vista, CA just beat the kids from Chinese Taipei. I have been watching this for almost two weeks now and today was the championship game for all of you non-sport fans. I thought the kids from GA would take it all until I saw these guys play. OMG, amazing bats and amazing fielding...and they are on 11,12 and 13 years old. They absolutely killed the kids from Texas yesterday with the obnoxious manager (so glad!) and that game was called in the 4Th inning by way of the 10 run mercy rule. These kids are so good that I'm sure they have scouts watching them all ready. I love baseball in all sizes! That's it for my sports reporting for now. I gotta go get ready to watch the Braves and Phillies on Sunday Night Baseball.

What Not to Wear

I can't believe I'm blogging two days in a row but I am laughing my head off over TLC's What Not to Wear. I love this show but I critique everything when I shop to Stacy and Clinton's standards. Sadly, I do it in public too (but silently). When I was in GA. in May, I just blurted out to my dear friend Marina that her jeans were so bad they HAD to go and that Stacy and Clinton would absolutely NOT approve. So out they went (I think) and we found her a very nice pair that fit her and were "age appropriate." Fun, fun, fun. But today I was laughing because they ripped on a young girl for her short shorts. The poor girl had a great little figure but honestly, short short went out decades again and Clinton had such fun making fun of her. Then they got to the hair part and her roots. At that point, I went to the bathroom and I am in mid dye because I too had roots. Oh how I wish I had a friend or family member that did hair really well that I could impose upon. Actually I would be thrilled to have Marielle just a couple of times a year but she's in Utah and headed to England. So sad. If I wasn't playing cards this afternoon, I think I'd rip into my closet because I have a lot of clothes that do not "follow the rules" but that'll just have to wait for another day. Thankfully, I have no short shorts and I've got a pretty good idea of what I should not ever wear but those things are still hanging around. That's it for now....Gotta go rinse!

Beautiful kids

Just want to make a quick comment after having checked out my pseudo niece Michelle's blog. She just had a son baptized (very handsome boy) and her twins blessed. What an exciting moment for this family. Dallin looked quite grown-up and handsome in his suit and the babies looked beautiful in the blessing clothes. I loved the little boy outfit Cameron was in. No dress for him thankfully. His sister was wearing it and it was beautiful. Anyway, the pictures were great and if you want to check it out, I have a link to her blog on my blog....Boys, boys and more boys. She's also got great recipes posted for all of you cooks out there. I just can't believe we were all at her house nearly eight years ago (I think that's right) for Brooke and Tyler's
rehearsal dinner and Dallin was an infant. Time really flies.

Stage 1 Paint Project

I'm going to give this wall a try and hope it doesn't look like the description given on last night's Design Star about the paint applied in a remodeled kitchen which was "it looks like a rainbow threw up in there". Too funny!! I'm still laughing over that. Mine isn't really color. Months ago I bought a gallon of Ralph Lauren metallic gold paint and the roller to go with it. I finally got Riley to tape off the wall but I haven't gotten the courage to go up the ladder to the ceiling yet. To do that, I'll have to be on the 2ND rung from the TOP since the ceiling is at least 12' high. And to add insult to injury, this paint requires that you prime the wall first so that means two trips up there. Lucky for me, the walls are smooth so (a) that should make it easier to paint and (b) I dislike texture on interior walls, especially the heavy stucco look it should only be on the outside of a house. If mine comes out looking like that at all, it'll get a repaint even at the risk of breaking my neck. Here's a picture of the stage one. Sounds like a fun project to do when it's 115 degrees outside doesn't it?

I almost forget...yesterday was week 2 of teaching Primary. I really thought I had served my time in there but no such luck. I've got the 6/7 year olds. So far, not too bad but I'm still new to them and along with lots of treats, so far so good. I got them each their own markers and crayons and they go in bag with their name on them so we have supplies each week. I figured I didn't want to hear them fighting over colors or broken crayons so this makes them responsible for their own things. I hate temper tantrums and whining so I hope this eliminates those issues.

Dying in the desert!!!

Back again, finally. It is hot, hot, hot here in the desert. Right now, at 3:28PM, it is 115 degrees. And the nasty part is that we have humidity. The pool temp is 97 degrees. Not much relief there at midday but it's nice in the morning. We have three brand new a/c units for the big house so we are staying pretty cool inside. I just don't leave home. We've had one little trip this summer. The usual to the family reunion in Manila, Utah. We were gone for 10 days and it was great. Cool weather and lots of rain. Although the rain part was bad for Riley since the roof leaked and he was doing the repairs. Other than that little problem, nothing else was broken and we had no pipes freeze and burst last winter. The toilet even flushed properly. The reunion was nice as there were quite a few more people there. We had the usual two kids show up that always show up , Michael and Gary. Gary & Jen spent the night and we did some great sightseeing on the other side of the dam and saw some very beautiful country. Riley's cousin Ray took us out. He is the best ever story teller so we learned a lot too. We've also got our other house listed on a website for seasonal rentals so if any of you hear of any one wanting to stay in the Palm Desert (Palm Springs area), please pass on this link:
http://www.vrbo.com/249440
It's got pictures, rates, info., etc about the house. The great news is we already have a renter for the month of March.

Keep cool wherever you are!!!!

Another Month Gone By........

It's taking effort to blog now. Things to do and places to go. My trip to Georgia was nice. I have to say, we are great at wedding planning and implementing the plan. The food was the best. Our salmon was beautiful and everyone loved it. The decorating was pretty good too. Lots of beautiful fabric, lights and color. I would never do this as a profession but it is fun to do once in a while for all of my pseudo nieces and nephews.

We're in the process of furnishing our old house since it won't sell and we're going to use it as a seasonal rental. It looks pretty good so far but I still need to pick up a few more pieces of furniture and some art work. It's been a great way to use some things that I still like and even some that I don't. Remember Princess House crystal? UGH!!!! Whatever possessed me to buy any of that stuff years ago and then keep it until now is beyond me but it's useful for this purpose. And... if it gets broken, who cares??? Thankfully, my dear friend Pat loaned me some and has advised me how to create some of my own works, so the walls should look pretty good before long. I love the contemporary stuff now and it really works with all types of furnishings. Hopefully, we'll snag the four month renter that we're talking to. Our fingers are crossed.

Cards (hand and foot) at my house tonight so gotta run to the store for snacks. I picked up a carrot cake yesterday that is to die for but still need a few more things and stuff to drink. My fingers are crossed I'm a big winner again tonight. Tuesday night I came home with five whole bucks!

24

What a dilemma tonight. It started with the Braves and Mets b-ball game on ESPN. At the same time, the Cavs and Hawks game was going on. Then we went straight to the Nuggets and Mavs game. And finally, 24 was on. Unfortunately, everything overlapped so it was a constant back and forth to try to catch them all. I can't believe we're at the end of 24 with the two hour series finale next week and I hate the two hour shows. It is almost too stressful to watch. It was a good show tonight. I just wish Jack would have put a bullet straight thru Tony's head. And I loved the way Chloe put that idiot bimbette whatever her name is in her place tonight. Actually, I just dislike her intensely (hate) on principal (real life stuff) alone so the stuff Chloe put out there was good stuff. I even had a rotisserie chicken dinner delivered to me by one of my sweet neighbors who doesn't like the dark meat. How much better can a night get?

Actually, how much better can the week start. I'm headed to the beach this week. We've been invited to dinner and baseball on Wednesday night - Angels and Red Sox. Would've been better if they'd have been playing the Braves like last year's inter league series but this will still be fun. And so much cooler there than here. We are already breaking the 100 degree mark. I understand our pools are up to 80 degrees but I need close to 90 before I step in. Thankfully, I'm escaping next week too, headed to Atlanta for five days. I don't think I'll make a Braves game but it'll still be fun, fun, fun.

We're still here. We've just been busy. We had guests last week and I followed them and Riley to the beach when they left here so I've been keeping myself entertained and very well fed. When I check in on Wii Fit today, it will not be good. I'm sure I will get a tongue lashing. The sad part of that is that I can't even talk back. I'm done watching basketball now for the most part. Thank heavens for baseball season but I'm prepared for disappointment there too. Basketball and 24 (I was 3 weeks behind and had to catch up) were keeping me glued to the TV. All I can say to the Jazz' pathetic post season play is trade Boozer, Korver and Okur as fast as possible. They all suck big time. I'll try to end my Jazz rant here. Oh, Jerry needs to hang up his cleats too. Now I just want to see the Lakers and Rockets go down.

I'm having cards here at my house tonight. Eight of us play this game called hand and foot. I had never heard of it before but it's fun and it's for money! You use so many decks of cards that you need a tray to keep your cards in and a machine to do all the shuffling. I only lost a buck last week. I hate to lose so hopefully I'll be a winner tonight. Not high stakes so no great loss if you do lose but like I said, I HATE to lose. Now it's off to dust off the patio where we're playing tonight. I'm praying that we don't have wind.

Duplicity

I saw this movie tonight. I liked it and was still laughing on the way out of the theatre. You gotta pay attention to this one because it's jumping all over the place in different times and places and it gets confusing. Anyway, from a person who basically sees very few movies at the theatre, this was good and not a chick flick. Way better than "He's just not that into you" movie I saw a month or so ago. It was a really stupid chick flick and a waste of both time and money. I don't think even preteens would've even liked this one.

Greed vs gratitude

I was just watching TV and was thinking about what bratty behavior the one twin on Jon & Kate was exhibiting as usual. It's all about her, what she wants and when she doesn't get it, the fit that she throws. Just like the real world. Selfish people who think only of themselves. I want, I want, I want. There is nothing more annoying and it is rampant. This led me to my next thought about my friend Pam who died one year ago of metastatic breast cancer. Pam was grateful for life even with a grim prognosis for her personal future. She never forgot where her blessings came from and she didn't care if she had the latest, greatest clothes, shoes or trips. She continued to serve others and her family and her faith were the most important gifts in her life and she was thankful on a daily basis. I don't think I ever heard her complain or whine about her own health situation which I'm sure created economic hardships as well. She truly endured to the end. I wanted to write a tribute to her on the anniversary of her death but instead, I just looked at her picture and read the loving tribute her son wrote about her. I miss her. She was the definition of gratitude.

Fabulous sounding fresh shrimp dip recipe

Check out this dip recipe. I found it in Southern Living (April 2009) magazine. Anything with real blue cheese in it will be fabulous. I'm trying it out on Anne, my good friend from Atlanta, when she gets here in about threee weeks. Give me the verdict if you try it out sooner than I do.

Prep: 25 min., Cook: 7 min., Stand: 15 min., Chill: 4 hr.
Yield
Makes 5 1/2 cups
Ingredients
2 1/2 pounds unpeeled, large raw shrimp (21/25 count)*
1/4 cup diced sweet onion
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 (8-oz.) package cream cheese, softened
4 green onions, finely chopped
1 celery rib, finely chopped
1 cup crumbled blue cheese
1 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
Assorted fresh vegetables
French bread baguette slices
Preparation
1. Peel shrimp; devein, if desired.
2. Sauté onion in hot oil in a skillet over medium-high heat 3 minutes or until onion is tender. Stir in shrimp, and cook, stirring occasionally, 3 to 4 minutes or just until shrimp turn pink. Transfer to a bowl, and let stand 15 minutes. Chop shrimp, and return to bowl.
3. Stir in cream cheese and next 10 ingredients. Cover and chill 4 hours. Store in an airtight container up to 2 days. Serve with vegetables and bread slices.
*2 1/2 lb. frozen unpeeled, large raw shrimp (21/25), thawed according to package directions, may be substituted.
Amy Tornquist, Amy Tornquist, Southern Living, APRIL 2009

Darling birthday cake!!!!!

Is this the cutest cake you've ever seen??? Although if I would have posted her Fancy Nancy cake there may have been a little debate. This was done by my pseudo niece Michelle. Of course her little guy is darling as well. I just can't believe the talent in that Jolley family. If they ever all lived in the same region, the potential would be endless. No small detail is neglected. I am just amazed.

Who's watching the start of March madness???? It started this morning and there will be games until late into the evening and for days. I am so loving it. I've got the TV on with one game and the computer on so I can watch the other three games. Sorry all you Cougars but once again, they are blowing it (it's only halftime though). We didn't pick them on our draw sheets this year as they've disappointed too many times in the past years. I'm loving Memphis again.

New Playlist....YEAH!!!!

They're finally gone. Yep, all the Christmas carols are gone, replaced by LOTS (all) of ABBA. I loved Mama Mia so that's what the new play list has (except one). I liked the movie alot but the music didn't even come close to the original version. Pierce Brosnan's singing was truly awful. And speaking of other major disappointments, Colin Firth as the potential "gay" dad really wrecked my day. I have loved him forever as Mr. Darcy. This was so NOT good. Anyway, this music makes me really happy. So happy that tomorrow I think I'll go buy the CD. I can put it on the house intercom system and dance my way through vacuuming. Hope you all enjoy it as much as me!!!

On a side note, the Jazz are creeping their way back up. They slipped past Dallas tonight to the seventh position and are they are only two games behind Houston for the 4th position. Houston should go down the toilet as usual so things are looking up now. This makes me very happy too. If my "personal" Jazz rep can get us tickets to a playoff game, we just might go. I sold my season tickets so my people get my playoff tickets. We'll be just like the other poor Utah slobs trying to score lower bowl tickets unless Gary can come through for us. He got us tickets last year to see them in Utah and LA but I am NEVER doing the Staples thing again. Those Laker fans were ravenous animals. I had my true blue t-shirt on and they wanted me and the one other Jazz fan in the arena. I'd rather drive or fly to Utah!

A Birthday in the Family

We had a birthday in the family. Friday was Riley's birthday. I think I have to keep the number secret. Since Nan and Sam couldn't be with us for the party on Saturday night, we planned the night at the casino to be with them. Saturday night we had the party at home with neighbors and friends. I actually planned a dinner and it turned out pretty good - grilled blackened salmon with mango, pineapple and strawberry salsa for on top. We forgot to open presents until after all of our guests had left but he had already guessed what he was getting. Yep, we've joined the Wii family. We decided that we wanted to bowl on Saturday nights after playing on Gary & Jen's setup at Christmas and I'm the queen of duck hunt since the original Nintendo days. Now if I can only find Jaws and Castlevania to play. He had happy birthday phone calls from Gary and Jen and Micheal and from a couple of his siblings and that was nice. The party was lots of fun and I think he might have enjoyed getting older for one day at least.

Mmmm Mmmmm good!

Dinner out tonight with Nan and Sam.......fun! fun! fun!!!! They are in OC for Sami and Kodi's CIF Water Polo game so they thought we needed to have dinner tonight and we agreed. We'll all be coming from different directions and meeting in Cabazon. None of us has been to this casino before but I just googled it for "dining" and it looks like a winner. Many restaurants to choose from once you get inside. This is a casino right on I-10 that looks almost exactly like the Palms in Las Vegas (same architect).

I still haven't got Christmas pictures posted but still intend to do so. I've still got to post the pictures that we took with our fabulous guests that came to visit in January. I just can't seem to get the picture part together even though I got a really great new camera for Christmas and Jen sent me a disk with all the pictures she took with her great new camera. We'll get there sooner or later.

We're still here!

It's been forever since my last post and it wasn't even a "real" post. I still need to catch up on our trip to Disneyland and Christmas. We're putting our other house up for sale again and there has been lots to do (clean the garage and get rid of massive amounts of stuff) so we've been busy. We had weekend guests (some of you will recognize the name - Tammy and Allen) a couple of weekends ago and had a great time with them at Joshua Tree National Park. Pictures to follow as soon as I have time to download them. So stay tuned and maybe tonight after I have dinner and play cards at a neighbor's house, we'll get some of those pictures posted.

Win a house!