Interesting Concoctions

So today we printed an interesting shirt. The man who ordered it came in a while ago and wanted us to print all of it. Unfortunately, the front logo was trademarked, so we told him he had to find that shirt and bring it in.  Then we could print the back logo (against our better judgement).

Front

Back

Now, even though the One-Eyed Man in Park City could have printed the front, I don't give out his contact info to just anyone. Only special people get to use that contact!!! (Shameonyou21 the man's artwork made them look like what I told you before, I fixed it to this).

p.s. Just to clarify or clear up any confusion, the One-Eyed Man in Park City is not actually a real person. He just helps give me a source to tell people who ask me where I got my trademarked apparel so as to not get a certain business owner, of a certain print shop, in trouble for printing certain logos!

Baby Girl Jones

Easton called my parents the other day and told my Mom that he was going to have a baby sister! Tavi took the boys to Kanab for a couple of weeks before they go to Japan for the rest of the summer, and Tavi had a friend whose husband who is an Ultrasound Technician. They figured they would give it a go, even though it is still a little bit early to be 100% certain. From what I gather, they got a good shot of the certain region needed to detect the baby's gender, so they are 90% for sure that it is a girl!!! Tavi really wanted to have a girl being that she has the two boys, and they may just stop at three kids. They only wanted three or four to begin with. Cooper will be 2 1/2 when the baby is born, and Easton will be almost 5!

The two babies, Boston, and Brooklynn will be 1 when the baby is born. Mitch and Tavi are still not sure where Tavi will have the baby. If she is having it in America, Mitch can't be here (it's not just a hop, skip and a jump away ya know), and she has to come home in like July (she will only be over in Japan with Mitch for a few months, and he will have to spend the rest of the summer [til like October] alone. If Tavi has the baby in Japan...well that just opens up a whole big can of what ifs. They are going to check out the options, and see if there is some way Tavi and the boys might be able to stay there with him. Mitch and Tavi have heard from some people that there is no such thing as an epidural in Japan. Again, they have a lot of questions and things they need to figure out!!!

Not only has it been shown that the Jones kids can have girls with Ericka having Brooklynn, but so can the Jones boys with Mitch and Tavi now having a girl. Now my label for my posts :niece(s) will actually make sense!

I Finally Got Her To Laugh!

I was putting Brooklynn in her car seat as she was about to go home, and she was being kinda fussy. I mean who wouldn't be upset if you were being strapped into this cramped little seat and shoved into the backseat backwards away from every one and everything getting car sick to boot!

Anyway, as I always do, I make a little jump when the handle "clicks" into place like it scared me. This time though, she thought it was actually funny! Despite all of my previous attempts of making a fool out of myself to make her laugh, it worked when I was least expecting it. Most of the time I get a smile, or some other form of acknowledgement. This was so cute, and so funny I wanted to cry as she laughed harder the more Ericka and I did it! Not to mention as soon as the phone comes out to record the event or take a picture, it is no longer funny, or they are no longer in the mood to even give you the time of day!!!

A Record!

I don't know if any of you out there have noticed but today marks an amazing record being set. What record you ask? How dare you not realize it! As of today, and as of this post, I have posted every day for seven straight days!!! That is more posts than I have done in some months all together!!! Credit the blog-off, credit my new years goal, or credit my own personal determination/stubborn-ness to make sure I get you some good quality posts to read. All of them in some way, shape or form have had a hand in it I am sure!

Even when the blog-off is conceded a victory to me by the "other" participants, I will continue the posts often enough to not keep you stranded with a lack of life from me!

By the way, I just want to also announce that I am officially a current temple recommend holder again. I technically had my old one that didn't expire until April, but since the Church changed them to the barcode system, I slacked in getting the new one. I was supposed to get it taken care of before December, but I am a lazy dork, and didn't get it done until everything was finalized tonight. Yea me!!!

There was a little bit of a process to get the Bishop's portion done. It is a long story but to save you the drama, let's just say that our ward clerks/young boys pretending to do their callings, need to be more on the ball so it is less of a back and forth as to who is in charge of scheduling the appointments, and returning phone calls earlier than one week after the initial call and message was placed! Another thing that bugs is that when the Bishop is clearly more than 30 minutes behind schedule, a courtesy call would be nice to say that it would be best if I came about 30 or so minutes later than originally scheduled. This way one doesn't show up for a two minute interview, but leaves an hour and a half after arriving! Not that hard people, not that hard!!!

Blog-Off/Bunco

Since the whole blog-off war started between Shameonyou21 and I, two more people have jumped on the Blogger Bandwagon (tee hee hee)! Shameonyou21's sissy, and Di Di (our other cruise friend). I hope they both realize that this really does mean war! Shameonyou21 is behind enough, let alone two wanna-be's who just started!!! Just kidding guys!

So we had Bunco tonight at my mammy's house. I begged her to come and play along with three other friends. I knew Shameonyou21 would tell me there is no chance in haites she would even consider playing, so I didn't even bother. To one friend I basically said I was so desperate I really needed her to come.

The way the prize thing works in this group is that we each pay $10 after each get together. There is a $30 prize for the one with the most Bunco's, a $20 prize for the highest score, four $10 prizes (most zeros, lowest score, hostess square, and the red Bunco travel dice). Everyone else gets a $5 prize for just showing up. That's what I always get. I have NEVER gotten any of the above mentioned prizes. Two of my friends who came tonight walked away with the two highest prizes...jerks!!! What is with everyone else's beginners luck, and I can't even get a tiny bit of veterans luck, not to mention I couldn't stop eating the friggin candy on the tables!!!

Bunco Is Not Worth This Much Hassel!

A few months ago I joined a little game group my roommate belonged to called Bunco. I had played this dice game a couple of times before, and thought it might be fun. It is only once a month, and if nothing else you get a stupid $5 prize for just showing up (even though it cost $10 to play)!

Last month while I was in Mexico, three people out of our group quit. This game is pretty dependent upon having all 12 members of the group in attendance, so when the person who is the hostess for the month gets to be in charge of finding the subs. I am the hostess for this particular month. Not only did I struggle finding three subs, but a fourth called today and said she couldn't come either!

My philosophy then, is we are down four members, three subs were hard enough to find, now I had to BEG another friend and my mommy, both of whom didn't want to come in the first place! A stupid dice game is not worth having to find subs for the majority of your group every month. If we can't find people who are willing to commit to this every month, then what is the point of even having the game in the first place???

I understand things come up. I had surgery, went to Las Vegas for the football game, and went on a cruise to Vegas, but I told them an entire month in advance that those things were taking place, let alone the night before the game is supposed to take place!

GAH! I am so tempted to just quit this thing if it is going to be this freaking complicated!

Charlie Bit Me

Why does this keep reminding me of something my two nephews Easton and Cooper would do??? Probably because I really can see them doing it. Not very long ago, my brother and s-i-l were sitting on the couch in their living room when all of a sudden they hear:

"Jump Cooper, I'll catch you!"

Cooper then proceeded to jump off the kitchen counter into his brother's arms. Let's just say that Easton got flattened! Easton is 4, and Cooper is not quite 2. Cooper weighs almost as much as his older brother, so the thought of little chubbers jumping off the kitchen counter to Easton, makes me roll on the ground laughing! That is like adding another 20 pounds on top of the 35 pounds Cooper already has on him. A whopping 55 pounds flying through the air and a slender kid like Easton probably wondering while Cooper was in mid air, what in the crap he got himself into!

I Love The One-Eyed Man

Before you all freak out, I just want to say that it's true. The "One-Eyed Man from Park City" is the one who helps me get all those name brand clothes for real cheap! You have all heard me talk about him over the years I am sure of it!

I forgot to mention in one of my "Pros" from the game the other night that I scored a sweet new t-shirt. I just called up my long time "friend" and luckily he had a cute little white t-shirt (in my size can you believe it) just lying around, and pushed off to the side. The front had the word "Cougars" in navy writing, in a script font with one of those baseball looking tails on it. It also had at the end of the tail an oval "Y" logo which you see on the football helmets. On the high back it had a small little "BYU" just under the neck line--also in navy writing. To top it all off, both logos had a "washed" look to them, so they looked kind of faded and worn! SO CUTE! I have attached a rough sketch at the bottom of this page of what it kinda looks like!

What luck! I never have that kind of luck with clothes. I also forgot to mention that he was passing right by my work when I got the idea that I wanted to wear some "Cougar Gear" to the game. He pulled over right in front, I walked out the door and he found me a shirt. The ONLY one of its kind!

Nats was jealous cause she secretly wanted one too. She hid her excitement by asking if I knew if my "friend" had any Utah apparel. I told her I would ask, but he might charge her more because of the fact that she claims the UofU as her school and he is a long time BYU fan!!!

Do you have any friends that give you the hook-ups like this???

Pros and Cons

As I mentioned in my previous post, I went to a very important basketball game last night. Important because it gives one team certain bragging rights until the next meeting. Of course, but not in as dramatic fashion as the football team, BYU prevailed over UTAH 67-59 in what was a close, exciting game that came down to the last minute of play, in what was an extremely loud arena.

I remember when I was little, I used to go to the games with my Dad. Then I would feel all important when I would go with him as he refereed the games too, cause I could go in all the back tunnels, and get a VIP treatment from the staff who were told to just keep an eye on me so I didn't wander off. Some of my favorite memories are going refereeing with him. The early years while sitting in the stands listening to everyone yell bad things at my Dad, I would start to get kind of defensive within myself like, "Hey stop yelling at my Dad!"

Anyway, needless to say it had been a very long time since I had been to the Marriott Center, and therefore didn't remember or realize how loud it really was. My Dad gave us some trivia last night, in that BYU has the 2nd largest basketball arena in the country, with Kentucky being number 1. Who-duh-thunk-it?!

Here are some pros and cons about our experience last night:

CONS:

1. Bench Seats (no chair back)
2. The Creamery's Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream only had TWO chunks of cookie dough. What the crap! I gave my dad the cookies and cream one cause I thought the cookie dough sounded better...DOH!
3. Dumb lady behind me kept hitting me with her rally towell, and kept saying jibberish about the game in which she had no clue about.
4. BYU didn't blow out UTAH.
5. Nats wasn't cheering for the right team!
6. Parking too far away for sweet old G-Pa.
7. Having to drive back to my parents to get my car, to drive back to my apt that is five minutes away from the Marriott Center.
   

PROS:

1. Free tickets (Given to us by a member of the Athletic Dept.)
   
2. 10th row free tickets
3. Free Ice Cream and Drink (My Daddy paid for these!)
4. Free Rally Towell (A Blue towell that the gave everyone in the first 20 rows to wave around and cheer with) I told Nats I was going to screen print the score on them and hang em up on our wall in the apt...although I probably wont though, just to be nice.
5. Nats dressed in blue. (She had her UofU t-shirt on underneath her sweatshirt)
6. Nats having to struggle to keep her emotions in check, fearing she would be mauled by the sea of fans dressed in blue on all sides of us. She had a few outbursts that she couldn't control, but I just giggled.
7. The Company (Grandpa Keetch, Dad, Friend)
8. Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup at my Momma's house before the game.
9. The Cougars WON!
10. G-Pa had tons of fun! He doesn't like to get out much, fight crowds of people, and think that he is burdening us who want him to have fun. He is a MAJOR fan, and so it is only natural he had fun.
11. Saw "Church Celebrity" Sheri Dew. Grandpa also thought that was pretty cool. We almost rode the elevator with her, but she changed her mind last minute and took the stairs.
12. BYU didn't blow out their opponent. This made for an exciting game. Probably would have been pretty boring had one team completely dominated the other.
    

Contest

So Shameonyou21 decided that after months of having a blog, and not doing anything with it, that she would issue a challenge to me that she will out-post me. She works 9-7 a lot, and I sit at a computer all day, with not much to do right now. Hmmm...I wonder! Not to mention, I am a stubborn, and competitive fool that some people will not even play Monopoly with me I get into it so much. We'll see how long she lasts!

Anyway, I finally got my last cd of pictures, so expect a big cruise picture fest within a day or so. I am headed to the BYU vs Utah basketball game tonight with my Dad, and Grandpa Keetch. My roommate Nats is coming, and she is a big Utah fan. She invited me to a game a couple of weeks ago, and I was good about cheering for Utah since we were on the third row behind their bench! They weren't playing my Cougars though, so I don't know how she will be tonight. I told her she had to wear blue and cheer for the Cougars. She agreed to that in the form of, she would sheer as much as I did at their game (i.e. accidentally busting out in the "Rise and Shout" fight tune of BYU during the Utah fight song).

GO COUGARS!!!

My Calling In Heaven

Most people say they find their callings in life, and while I am still looking for mine, I've discovered what I want to be when I get to heaven. A Sniper Angel. You might be wondering what the crap, but hang with me, I will explain.

On Sunday during my second church meeting, I had a really hard time concentrating, and focusing on the lesson being taught. We as a ward were all combined into one room. By the time I made it into the room, my roommate and I were near the back of the room. With about a hundred people in this room, and being near the back of one of the dance rooms we met in, voices didn't exactly carry to my neck of the woods.

What makes my rambunctiousness more damnable is that the Stake President was the one teaching the lesson! I figure I will have to settle for being a good girl, but not quite good enough to go all the way. This way I can still have a job, and it in a way, punishes me for being a bad girl and will remind me for eternity what I did wrong.

Not a bad job if I can justify myself a little bit. A Sniper Angel will get to hover around church meetings and strike down those who are being naughty when they probably really need to learn the lesson being taught!

Brian Regan

This guy is so funny. He's my new favorite comedian!

Strawberry Mango Goodness

While I try to get the pictures organized, and uploaded, I thought I would do a little restaurant review. The restaurant is called World Famous and it is located right on the beach in San Diego, California. Their menu changes pretty much daily, or at least they print out a new menu every day...(you know that because the date is printed at the top of each menu). Shameonyou21 and Randoval found this place a couple of years ago when they were staying here, and took a walk on the boardwalk. A short ten minute walk along the beach's boardwalk and you are there. We went there Thursday night for dinner, and then we loved it so much, we went back the night we returned to San Diego a week and a half later!

This, my friends, is my strawberry mango goodness! The actual name is Strawberry Mango Angel Food Trifle! It has giant spears of mango in the glass along the sides, a strawberry and a vanilla custard sauce (creme anglaise), chunks of angel food cake, and whipped cream and strawberries. All I have to say about this is...OH! MY! This made dinner oh so much better!

The best part about this restaurant some would say is the view. While you can't normally beat that, I would have to say that my strawberry mango goodness is almost tied with something else on the menu. What is it you ask??? It is the most rich and yummy lobster bisque (basically a cream of lobster soup) I have had since school! The cruise ship had lobster bisque offered one night, and it didn't even come close to this one. It even had some lobster bits in it! You all know how much I love me some lobster bits!!!

We joked about asking the waitress if the soup comes with free refills, so I actually asked her. She giggled, then leaned down and asked me what is was I said! I repeated my question,

"So the lobster bisque comes with free refills right?!"

She kinda chuckled again, then took my bowl (which I wasn't completely done with cause I wanted to use the bread to lick it clean) and said, "Oh it is so rich you would get sick if you ate another bowl."

As she walked away I felt my eyes welling up with tears because I wasn't done, and because she really never answered my question. I REALLY did want another bowl! It wasn't like there was a full cup of soup. I bet there wasn't even quite a half of a cup in there! JERK WAITRESS!

The second time we went, we couldn't decide what entree we wanted, so we tried all the appetizers, some delectable lobster bisque, and of course some strawberry mango goodness! I think the appetizers, and those other two dishes are the best things on the menu (from what we tried anyway).

What we tried:

• Crab Stuffed Mushrooms--These are better when you squeeze a little lemon on them, rather than eating them plain!
• Crunchy Jumbo Shrimp--Essentially these are a coconut shrimp. The sweet ancho chili sauce was tasty also!
• Lobster Spring Rolls--Lobster bits (mmm lobster bits) in a spring roll with a spicy mango jalapeno sauce...mmm!
• Big Island Ahi Tuna--If you like sushi, this is the appetizer for you! Chunks of tuna on sticky rice with a little sweet/spicy sauce drizzle!
• Peppered Seared Yellow Fish Tuna--A little too peppery in some spots (I know shocker cause I put pepper on EVERYTHING), but overall very good and it was cooked to perfection. The hot mustard sauce went perfectly with it also!
• Shrimp San Miguel--Shameonyou21 said she liked it, but the sherry flavor took over a little bit from the overall taste.
• Capellini California--Di Di didn't have much to say about this because she was too busy eating it! I tasted some and it has a very fresh flavor. No seafood in it, which was perfect for her!
• Steak and Sea Scallops--I don't like scallops very much. To me they are just ooey gooey fish balls. They have a very fishy flavor and the texture is rubbery. Randoval didn't love this, because I think the steak came with carmelized red onions and so it was a little sweeter than he likes his meat.
• Pacific Clam Chowder--I liked this very much, but once you've tasted fresh clam chowder somewhere on the coast, there isn't much you can do to doll it up. I just liked the lobster bisque BETTER!

Anyway, I am only waiting on Di Di and Shameonyou21 to get me CD's with their pictures. Let's face it...we were all going to share pictures, so I let them take the most. Anyway, in the mean time, Shameonyou21 has posted a little synopsis with some pics on her blog, so go check it out while you are waiting for me to get the CD's to give you the whole trip!

I No Wanna Be Home...

My Mexican Vacation is officially over and I am not happy one bit about it! Needless to say I had a blast, and would turn around and go back right now if I could. I hate coming back to the real world where I have to clean up after myself, and actually have to pay for my food and drinks. What the crap is that about?! I have been tempted to take my soda card from the ship and walk into a Chevron and walk out with a free soda. What??? It doesn't work that way in the real world?! STUPID REAL WORLD!

Anyway, I working on a site where I can upload all of my pictures, so when I get that finished, I will have a fatty post with tons of pictures. For now though, I have scanned and uploaded my really expensive cruise photographer pictures on the two "formal dress" nights in the dining room.

Formal Night #1, Second Day on Ship: Me, Di Di, and Shameonyou21

Formal Night #2, Second to Last Day on Ship

Formal Night #2--We actually had these taken

by one of the thousand photographers on the ship!