Happiness & Drooving

Saturday was Shameonyou21's birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! As for her age...let's just say she is about 15 weeks, and 4 days OLDER than I am! Man she's old!!! Her computer is down at the moment, so I can get away with saying that for a little bit anyway! As soon as she gets a new one, and logs on to see how my posting is coming, I will be dead, and my posts will cease!

Anyway, we went to Black Angus in Fort Union for the birthday dinner. Out of the ten or so people in our party, three of us did not have anything to drink. Because of that, dinner got extra happy toward the end with everyone telling us of their favorite drunk stories! Most of them were about our friend Krissy, bur Shameonyou21 and Randoval had a few of their own to add! Randoval made up his mind from the beginning that he wanted to drink...A LOT... and Shameonyou21 wanted to celebrate her birthday with a couple of fruity square cow somethings.

DiDi, and I were two of the sober ones at the table, and we rode up with Shameonyou21 and Randoval to the restaurant, so they said it was up to us to decide who was the designated driver between us. DiDi was very anti touching this "baby" of a vehicle, so the lot fell upon me, even though I didn't want to either. What else could I do though. Randoval was really happy, and Shameonyou21 said she was fine, and could DROOVE us home! Tons of RED FLAGS popped up all over the table, so I took it upon me to suck it up and just do it (like Nike tells me to do), cause there was no way I was letting either of them droove us home.

We made it fine, no big giant metors came flying out of the sky like I had feared, but let's just say that it was pretty much the worst experience EVER! Everyone was yelling at each other to shut up and let me drive, but the very next second someone was trying to tell me where to go and what to do. I yelled at them a few times, they snapped back, it was so much fun!

One of the highlights of the ride home was when we found a Pie Pizzaria in the same parking lot. Same fantastic restaurant, closer location. What's not to love? Anyone up for some pizza in about three weeks (when I hit my lifer status and have a month to work it off)?

Now if only I could get Mjillie to come down and play. Her birthday was last Sunday, so she is about 16weeks and 4 days OLDER than I am. Man, she's old too!!!!

SVAŠTA

For those of you who do not understand the Croatian language, the title of this post will not make any sense to you...I used this title because using the phrase, "Everything, Anything, Whatever, However, Whenever, and Who Cares" just doesn't seem to give it justice. If you really want to know how to pronounce the word though, and even if you don't...SVAH-SH-TUH.

Anyway, this post is going to (try) and make-up for the last month of happenings and goings on in my life since I haven't been on blogger to write about any of it. Be prepared for ski-breaks, babies, food, work, friends, basketball referee junk, my W.W. experiences, family, church, roommates, etc.

Get it, Sit back, and Shut up....(OK not really, cause I really want you to comment). Where should we begin...Family sounds good, cause they are an important thing right!

My brother is still living in Japan, but doesn't like the style of baseball they play over there. It's a whole different game than the "American Pastime" we play here in the states. His wife and two boys came home on Tuesday for the rest of the year, so that was exciting for us at least. Mitch will be home when his team is finished with the playoffs over there. Let's all root for the team playing AGAINST the Nippon Ham Fighters, so he can come home too! Those boys though are so big. Cooper is a monster, and Easton is so tall!!!

You are all aware now, both of my younger siblings have children now. Kinda frightens me sometimes to think of at least one of them as a parent...we'll see how they do! My momma has all four of her grandkids close to home now, so I probably don't need to tell you how happy she is!!!

Let's just summarize the rest of these like this:

• I have been contemplating trying to make things right (even though I wasn't really the one who pushed away) from a good friend. This person moved away, dropped off the face of the earth, sort of resurfaced, moved back, dropped off the face of the earth again, I said some things to someone out of frustration to someone else who then in turn most likely went to this friend and told her what I had said. I am the kind of person who likes everyone to get along, and even though I get the attitude of "who cares, they dug their own grave, I'm through trying, its too hard" I have been feeling the need to apologize for the things I said, which may or may not have gotten back to her, and try to at least clear my conscience with things. Any thoughts?

• A good friend of mine lost his son in a tragic car accident a few weeks ago...two weeks before his 17th birthday. I didn't know how to help, even though I knew their wasn't much I could really do. He is dating one of my best friends, Shameonyou21 so that's how I know him. I think I have actually mentioned him before on my blog...I believe I referred to him as Randoval. What I ended up doing was making everything and anything they asked for, or had been asking me to make for the last while now. I even made stuff for the ex-wife, and husband, and other son!!! I guess not everything because Shameonyou21 DIDN'T ASK for the cream puffs. I didn't know Kiefer that well, but the few times I was over, and he was there, he was a fun, energetic, and outgoing kid with an infectious laugh. Like I said, I didn't know him that well, but I couldn't help tease him right along with everyone else! Maggie Moo's ice cream will never be the same (we used to give him and his brother, and friends money so they would have something to do, and they would bring us back ice cream)!
  

• I am on my 5th roommate since May. Two have already been married, the third is getting married in October, the fourth is a little piggy mess sty, and the fifth is really cool. PHEW! I would have shot myself dead, (or just opted out of my contract for the next year) if I had a weirdo move in. I would have been surrounded, and probably would be afraid to contract some form of disease because of Messy Bessy. My ward is really really young, but I am hoping I can weed out the babes, and find some real men (which I am hoping is a feasible goal). For now, I am happy, trying not to strangle someone, and actually reading a book. I am in the 5th chapter of Twilight, thanks to HeidiVN, and my roommate Nat.

• Ski breaks have been so very many, that I can't remember them all...If I was with you and had one, or I told you about one that is not listed...feel free to remind me how dumb I can be!!! There are only a few that are so bad that jump out right at me off hand. The first one is, while walking to work one morning, I was a good 2/3 of the way to work when I noticed my zipper was down, and had been down the ENTIRE time. What made it worse was it happened during the time that buses are bringing the kids to school. Since I was around 800 N. and Freedom Blvd. (a very busy road) I couldn't just up and fix it...lots and lots of people driving by, and kids in school buses...they wouldn't stop coming though so it lasted another however long, but it felt like an eternity before I could do anything about it

• The last thing I wanted to mention, (I promise it will just be a mention) I hit my w.w. goal, and I am three weeks into my six week maintenance period. After those 6 are up, and I am hopefully, no more than 2 pounds above my goal weight, I get be a lifetime member, and not have to pay them a dime ever again, r at least as long as I maintain my weight. I don't ever wanna be where I was again, or feeling the way I felt...I like having brand new size 10 pants feel baggy...sort of (I am not made of money...I can't keep buying new clothes every time I turn around)!!!

Thanks for indulging me in my last month's worth of journey's/ non-adventures. I promise I will be better at my slacking off Blogging Posts!!!

Brooklynn Belnap
August 27, 2007
6 pounds 13 ounces
19.5 inches long

New Review!

Not much has been happening recently, as I am sure you have all noticed the complete lack of blogging on my part. Nevertheless, I have managed to find a restaurant at which is worth eating, and which is worth actually reviewing since I haven't been to this restaurant before, nor had I really noticed it was in existence until a few weeks ago when I went.

As we walked out of the restaurant, I heard a woman, who was passing by, tell her friend that this restaurant was not good and to never, ever go there. I have to disagree completely, as I thought it was a very nice, fresh change from the usual Chinese crap that is out there these days. One thing that grabbed my attention right away was the dish descriptions on the menu. Some places have a very generic description that barely gives you an idea of what you are ordering. These descriptions were brief, yet informative enough to let me know what I would be getting myself into if I decided to order this dish.

The prices were very reasonable considering its location, and the amount of food you receive. Most lunches were just under $8, and they are served with egg rolls, soup of the day (this day was the egg drop soup), fried wontons, and your choice of fried or steamed rice. By the time the actual entrees came, we were already pleasantly satisfied. The food came out very quickly, and the portions were large enough to have leftovers (if you like to have leftovers) for the following day.

I ordered the General Tso's chicken. Most everywhere I have been, has this particular dish in the deep fried format. Shoots had the chicken grilled and then sauteed in the special sauce that I love so much! My favorite Chinese buffet did away with this on the menu, so knowing of another place to get it, that is even healthier than the original, was happiness in the world in which I live.

The only negative things I noticed was that the water glasses were slow to be refilled, the bill was quite slow in getting to us once we were finished eating, and then quite slow in returning it to us. The restaurant appears to be all family run and operated, so I am sure the wait staff/owner's wife and daughter had other tables to attend to, but these are just "must haves" in my book.

I reccomend this restaurant to all who like chinese food, and especially to those who aren't always down with the always fried shrimp, chicken, and pork dishes that so often accompany this type of cuisine. The website advertises that all of the food is made fresh to order, and not sitting under a heat lamp to order. That's a good way to get me interested at least. For dinner they have a "mix and match" type of entree which I thought would be worth checking out. You get a choice of starch, three choices of vegetables, and one choice of meat (or something along those lines. All of it freshly stir-fried when you order.

Baby Boston

Nephew #3 has finally arrived!!!! After weeks of labor pains/contractions, Lauren delivered baby Boston yesterday afternoon!!! I am so ticked that I can't see him in person for three more weeks. I tried to pull the guilt card with Brady, in saying that if I had thousands of dollars at my disposal, I would fly him out to see me. Nice try huh!!!

Brady's response was, "Don't worry, we'll be home in a few weeks!"

HOW RUDE!!! My parents told me I couldn't fly out to VA. with them this weekend because I had to watch the shop! JERKS! I am just being shot down right and left here!

Anyway, Brady thought that this kid was gonna shoot right out for some reason, but it took about 11 hours instead! It's no wonder though, when you see how big he is!

BOSTON BRADY JONES
August 8, 2007

9 lbs. 8 oz. 22" long

Check out Brady and Lauren's site to see a couple of cute videos they've uploaded!!!

Just Some Pictures!

I haven't done a whole lot of fun traveling like I had hoped this summer now that my brother lives in Japan instead of Las Vegas--go figure! In exchange, I have been trying to take advantage of a few of the events around town to try and make up for it. Take a gander...but don't forget, I am still waiting on some smart A$$ comments from the peanut gallery!

This one was just so much
better in color!

All About Me I Guess!

I guess the thanks goes out to Kristen for this one!

Four Jobs I’ve held:
1) Grocery Bagger--Macey's
2) Assistant Concessions Mgr/Stand Mgr.--Orem Owlz
3) Wrapper--Costco Bakery
4) Digitizer/Pretend Graphic Designer--The Ink Spot

Four Movies I Can Watch Over and Over:
1) Any sappy love story like Runaway Bride/Notting Hill
2) Pride & Prejudice (either the A&E or the '06 version)
3) A League of Their Own
4) Ocean's Movies (1, 2, and even 3) or (Rocky movies--any one of the first 5)

Four Places I’ve Lived:
1) Croatia (five different cities)
2) Orem, Utah (two different places)
3) Provo, Utah (two different times)
4) Lake Powell/Page, AZ (for like a week)

Four Places I’ve Vacationed:
1) Las Vegas, NV
2) Cincinnati/Columbus, OH
3) Denver/Colorado Springs, CO
4) Boise, ID

Four of My Favorite Dishes:
1) Lasagna
2) Sushi
3) Madeira Chicken
4) Au Gratin/Scalloped Potatoes (cheesy goodness)

Four Sites I Visit Daily:
1) Japanesebaseball.com--to check on my bro
2) Yahoo mail--although that seems to be pointless lately cuz I'm not writing anyone either!
3) Bank account--stupid bills
4) All of YOUR blogs since you are the ones posting and not me!

Four Places I Would Rather Be Right Now:
1) Croatia
2) Japan
3) Mexico (on my cruise)
4) Anywhere but here!

And I tag.....NOT A SOUL! You play if you wanna play. Otherwise make some smart a$$ comments on this!

I Love Me A Good Comic Strip

I haven't had me a good laugh at a comic in a while, so when I found the first one in the newspaper a few weeks ago, I went online to read what some of the others were like. These two were just a couple that I could relate to. The comic strip is called Baby Blues by the way.

The Hotties

Tavi (my sister-in-law) had these taken at Kiddie Kandids before they left for Kanab this week. Apparently, Cooper was a ham, so easy to work with, and so it made it hard to choose which prints to use. Easton on the other hand was kind of a pain, even though he usually loves his picture taken. He kept making faces at the photographer, and his mom had to get after him a little bit to knock it off and be serious!

I am going to miss them a ton while they are in Japan, but they will have a great experience, and I am happy that they will get to be with their daddy through this whole thing. I thought I would brag about my nephews just a bit with you all!!!

COOPER (13 Months)

EASTON (3rs. Old)


THE BROTHERS

From Japan to Mexico

I have told a few people of the possiblity of me taking a trip to Japan sooner than anticipated. This was due to the fact that Mitch had to leave this morning without his family, and they would join him a few weeks from now. My hopes were soaring high because I was the only one in the family (on both sides) with a passport who was not selling alarm systems for the summer and would not be able to go. How sweet would that be? An all expense paid first class flight (paid by my brother's agent's company), they already have the hookups as far as housing, food money, and stuff, so I wouldn't have been out hardly any of my own money. Where do I sign up???!!!

My hopes have since been dashed though. I tried not to have them too high as it was, just in case, but Tavi (my sis-in-law) was sad (obviously) about not being able to go with Mitch right now. She decided that she would rather her mom go with (I would have probably preferred that too if given the same situation) to help her with Easton and Cooper for that long of a trip. So they expedited passports for her parents, and she is going home to Kanab for the rest of the time until she leaves for Japan.

In the meantime, I guess I will just save my money for a cruise I am taking the last week of January. I am going with my friends Shameonyou21, her bf Randoval, and another of my friends, DiDi, who also happens to work with Shameonyou21. My trip is a Mexican Riviera Cruise for 8 days. Cities include Acapulco, Manzanillo, and Zihuatanejo/Ixtapa. The links I provided to those cities are different shore excursions, which I can pay extra for, and enjoy some extra fun outside of the ship. Some of the excursions I want to possibly experience (despite the costs) in each city are things such as the Dolphin Swim, in the city I can't pronounce. The cliff divers dinner in Acapulco, City Tours, Mexican Fiestas, Snorkeling, Jeef Safaris, etc in Manzanillo Some of those we can do in any city, and we can always spend a day at the beach and rent waverunners, and stuff, or rent mopeds and take our own city tours.

I best be getting my white butt to the tanning beds or I might come home looking like a burnt red pepper! Trade-offs I guess. Trade-offs!

Million Dollar Man

Some of you have heard about my brother's possible opportunity to go play baseball in Japan. Even if you haven't, now you are up to date, and will be able to better follow along with the story!

Mitch Jones, formerly of the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Organizations, has just signed a contract with the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters of the Japanese Baseball League guaranteeing him at least $1.1 Million over the next two years! That's right, you read that correctly, $1.1 Million! My brother the millionaire!

This deal is so perfect for him in so many ways. Below are just a few of the "perks" that come with this offer.

• Mitch, his wife Tavi, and two boys Easton & Cooper all fly for free to and from Japan.
• I think this was implied from the above, but Mitch's family get to go and be with him.
• Housing is provided.
• A Car is provided.
• An additional $300 provided daily for food expenses.
  
• An interpreter is provided.
• $50,000 signing bonus paid within three days of arrival.
• Bonuses depending on how well he plays (up to an additional $200,000).
• An option for a third year worth another $1 Million.
• Some form of "money cushion" provided for extended family to travel to Japan.
• His team won the Japanese World Series last year (that means they are a very good team).

I am sure there are more, but I can't think of any more right now! Other than an extra month of being away from my favorite nephews, (who really are the main reason we are sad they are all going far, far away), it is a great situation for them, and maybe they can find some kind of awesome missionary opportunity over there too!!!

ARE YOU SURE?

Thanks to Kristen for this:

Take the Quiz here!

:: L I Z Z Y ::

I am Elizabeth Bennet of Pride & Prejudice! I am intelligent, witty, and tremendously attractive. I have a good head on your shoulders, and oftentimes find myself the lone beacon of reason in a sea of silliness. I take great pleasure in many things. I are proficient in nearly all of them, though I will never own it. Lest I seem too perfect, I have a tendency toward prejudgement that serves me very ill indeed.

I don't know if I completely agree. Those of you who know me well enough to be a fair judge, (but also somewhat familiar to this character) what say you???

CHOCOLATE, CHOCOLATE, CHOCOLATE

As promised...CAKE #2

The preperations:


Let's Just say that Ganache (the chocolate drizzle)=EVILNESS! Turns out chocolate and flowers like each other!!!


50CentJen is playing with the tops white I ganache!


Its all starting to come together:


More FLOWERY TOPS!!! There are little chocolate curls around the flowers as well. I told you, Chocolate, Chocolate, Chocolate!!!


At the reception all put together: (the purple things in the background are not my doing b.t.w.)


The white thing on the table in front of the cakes is a white veil with mouse ears. Then of course is the main cake topper of Mickey and Minney which is sitting on the 2nd biggest layer because it was way too big for the very top layer.


So the low down on this. This was fun up until the ganache. When made according to the recipe, it is VERY runny, and had ZERO contrast to the other frosting. We spent an hour messing with the consistency, and trying to get more of a contrast between the frosting, and the ganache.

We ended up with twice as much more chocolate, and it was thicker, but still not where we needed it to be. We had to mix the frosting into the ganache to thicken it up to where we could at least drizzle it over the sides. The drizzles were forced down the sides with a squirt bottle, in strategic locations.

An hour after we were supposed to have the cake at the reception, we finally made it, despite a few attempts on all our parts to drop them on the way over. I almost dropped the top layer right in front of the bride!!!

Then Captain Obvious, (as I have affectionately re-named my mother) pointed out to me on the way in, after one of the most frustrating hours of my life, I was late. I needed to plan better. NOT the thing to say when I am likely to shove the cake I am holding, right into your face!!! That would have gone over well right in front of the bride right? So instead, I almost just drop the thing on the ground. I probably would have sat down on the ground, possibly said a few choice words, then burst into tears!!!

The same applies to this one as it did to the last. Rip on it, admire it, laugh at it, tell me it sucked, or that it wasn't that bad, I don't care. It is over and done with, and since I do not have a cake in my hand, nor are you standing right next to me, I think your opinions will be duley noted no matter how good or bad! (That applies to you too SHAMEONYOU!)

Bake Sale?

It was brought to my attention just the other day that the reason I can't seem to find anyone to move into my apartment with me, is that perhaps I am stinky. This individual is such a good friend, she offered me a suggestion:

I SHOULD HAVE A BAKE SALE!

My first thought was that it wouldn't work cause people would come steal a treat, and then turn around and run in the other direction. My second thought was that maybe that was a good way for me to get a date!!!

THOUGHTS???

T-Mobile=EVIL LIARS?

I stumbled upon this blog while seeing if anything was new in Cheneyville.

I don't use T-Mobile, so I have no real opinions, but I think all cellular phone companies are all the same. They are all in it to gouge the little guy. Does it stop me from using their products. Not really. I hate how expensive they are, but I am the type of person who will pay a little bit extra to have a little more conveinience. (i.e. paying $100 for a flight to Boise, ID. or Las Vegas, NV.) rather than spend 6 hours in a car driving. I hate driving!

What are your thoughts on this? I would esp. like to hear if you use T-Mobile, and have ever used it in more smaller, rural areas rather than in more urban areas, such as Salt Lake/Provo.

Slacker Reviews

I have been a slacker on a couple of reviews, so now that I have a few minutes while at work (more like I don't want to really do any official work right now), I thought I would say a few things about my experiences.

More recently, I ventured into Chili's and into the California Pizza Kitchen restaurants, both in Orem.


This one has always been kind of like a staple. It features southwest cuisine, but also the traditional burgers and fries and stuff. I have always loved the traditional fajitas. This time, Queenmeadow, her husband Stuthewise, and their 3 kids invited me out for an evening of fun since they couldn't make it to a BBQ I invited them to a little while back. One thing I love about this restaurant, is that you can use a service called "Call Ahead Seating." The idea is that your name will go on the waiting list as soon as you call, and then you pick up your pager when you get there. The wait time is the same as if you had just walked in the door, but it is from the moment you call, not when you arrive! I haven't ever had to wait very long when I used this wonderful service. Other restaurants are dumb for not implementing the same type of service. I believe this would ease the stress of a huge lobby of hungry, yet angry guests (bad combination)!

I have heard many advertisements lately for their new menu item called "Fajita Trio." (My favorite one is the game-show one on the radio, about naming that sound...cracks me up everytime I hear it)! I was kind of tired of the usual things I get everytime I go there, so I thought I would try it out. It is small portions of steak, chicken, and shrimp all cooked in a sizzling skillet with bell peppers and onions! MMM!!! I thought they were fabulous, and so did Queenie! Overall a very good experience!

CPK specializes in non-traditional pizzas with more gourmet type toppings and cheeses, etc. Along with that you will find some pastas along the same lines. They too have a call ahead seating option available, but you still have a bit of a wait once you arrive, which is no big deal usually.

One of my friends, Ms. Cvitas, graduated from BYU (or at least walked, cause she gets her diploma in August). She is from Croatia, along with some friends she as met while living here the past few years. They have green cards, and live here, while Ms. Cvitas is here only on a student visa. After the long, boring, drawn out, graduation ceremony, she had a little celebration at CPK.

We got in and got seated after a short wait, but then the server was not aware we were her table. Usually servers have sections, so if a new group comes into your section, they are your table to serve. I don't know what happened, but they gave us a free appetizer to make up for it!!! The food was prompt, and the right temperature. She had issues with keeping up on our drinks (some didn't like the italian sodas, but she wasn't around to get it changed).

The biggest beef of mine was when I paid my bill. My bill came to $11.00, and I paid with a $20 bill. She brings me back $6, but a $5 bill, and $1 bill. I have no other cash, and I was going to leave her like $3, even though it was only supposed to be like $2 technically. I would have asked her to change it out, but like I said before, she never came back. We were there talking for like 30 min after our bills came, and I had no caffeine to help me keep up the fast pace of a foreign language I can barely understand anymore as it is! So, I left her $1, and then I found a couple of quarters, so her tip ended up being $1.50. HALF! If any of you are servers in restaurants out there, and you actually want a tip, don't expect me to be leaving you the $5 bill. IT WILL NEVER HAPPEN unless you blow me away with your incredible service/food!!!


Lastly, this place shouldn't have even been mentioned cause it was so bad. Sakura Teppanyaki Grill and Sushi Lounge in Orem. I only have two words for this place. SO BAD! Perhaps these ones are better: NEVER AGAIN! Two hours to get a few sushi rolls, then it comes back either not rolled tight enough, or they used the wrong kind of rice, because they fell apart the second you touched them. Just avoid this place if you can!!!

Cake #1

I have officially been deemed a pastry chef by a couple of my friends, Chocoball, and her life-long friend Angister. Back in December/January, I got a phone call from these two asking me if I was a pastry chef.

I replied that I wasn't really, but then inquired as to why the scary question!

They then said they were hoping I could/would make their wedding cakes for them in a few months.

Very hestitant, I agreed to the task. I reminded them that their cakes would be my first, and that I would require the help of a friend who makes wedding cakes a lot for friends, family, etc.

They assured me of their confidence in my abilities, and that they would still love it if I could do this for them. I agreed, and the stress bagan!

Thanks to 50Cent-Jen for all the help, and for the use of your abilities, advice, and most importantly, for the use of your equipment!!!

These pics are all of Angster's cake! Chocoball's cake will be appearing in two weeks, and believe me when I tell you, it will be quite the cake!!!


The difference a stupid border makes!


Angister's cake-topper was a crystal Mt. Timpanogos LDS Temple


The finished product as delivered to the reception center.
(Bottom & top layer were chocolate cake, with chocolate mousee filling. The two middle layers were white cake. The middle-bottom layer had a raspberry puree with whole raspberry bits for the filling, and the middle-top layer had the raspberry puree/raspberry bit filling along with some of the chocolate mousse filling on the top of that).

Despite the not-so-warm welcome from the stupid owner of the reception center, we thought everything turned out very well. The happy couple was happy with the results, both the look, and the taste (at least to my face which is what really matters); some of the guests' comments were nice...even when they didn't know I made it; and the bride's parents thought it was great too (they were the one's who paid me for it so that makes a big huge difference)!

Feel free to critique it, compliment it, rip on it, whatever. I was happy considering this was my very first attempt at this gig!!!

My Vegas Vacation

Now that my brother lives, and plays baseball in Las Vegas, I will probably be visiting a lot more often, what is probably one of my most favorite places ever. I had such an interesting time this last weekend, that I thought I would share with you some of the happenings, and maybe expound upon a few of them.

First of all, my Dad and all of his "connections." It doesn't matter where we go, or what we do, there is always someone he knows that does something, or who knows somebody else. This trip was no exception. My Sissy and I went online to see what kind of prices we were looking at and there was absolutley nothing for the weekend we wanted, and come to find out, even our "connections" couldn't get us one. I guess NASCAR was in town or something, not to mention all the other crap that was probably going on at the same time. Then one of the "connections" has a friend who was out of town.

This guy is an NBA basketball referee, who is apparently single and owns a 10,000 sq.ft. house just outside of Vegas. He said his friend was leaving to go out of town, and offered us his house to stay in for free for the weekend. This guy has autographed pictures all over his house of celebrities from the likes of Jack Nicholson, to Muhammed Ali, and George Foreman's "Rumble in the Jungle" fight (this was a very famous fight a very long time ago). So nice except for then my Dad invites a bunch of other people to come stay too, and my prego sissy and I end up sleeping on the floor! RUDE!

Next of all, there were very funny, "only in Vegas would you see..." type of scenarios that I noticed all over, but I wanted to relate only one or two. At the ballpark in Las Vegas, snow cones are available for an extra $3.00 with a shot of Smirnoff Vodka, Jack Daniels Whiskey, or Bacardi Rum. ONLY IN VEGAS! Very tempting, (or at least very tempting to knock out the two pains in the butt under the age of 4, who were whiney and onery the whole weekend)!!!

One scenario that you would think would be an "only in Vegas" moment, however, this one was the other way around. The first weekend in April, my brother's team the Las Vegas 51's,came to open their season in Salt Lake with games beginning from Thursday and going thru Sunday. We all thought because the Sunday game was on Easter Sunday, there wouldn't be a very big crowd. The crowd was huge. Who wants to go to a baseball game on Easter? Apparently, lots of people in Salt Lake did. Then in Las Vegas, we anticipated the Sunday game to be very crowded, but there were significantly fewer people at the game on non-Easter Sunday, and Vegas is supposed to be Sin City!!!

Lastly, my brother will forever be known as "The Chicken Cheater." We went to Circus Circus so that a few of the kids could play and ride some of the rides since we had a few hours to kill before we had to go to the game. After letting my nephew Easton go on some of the kiddie rides, my brother Mitch was trying to win the kids some prizes at some of the games. One particular game was a chicken catapult of sorts. For $5 or so, you get three rubber chickens which you place on a catapult, and with a hammer you hit the other end of the catapult to launch the chickens. If one of the chickens happen to land in a bucket, you win a prize. One thing you don't do to Mitch is dare him to do something and not expect him to follow through with the dare.

So, my other brother Thad, who drove up from Arizona to watch the games, dared Mitch to just hit the catapult with his hammer, and then throw the chicken into the bucket with his hands when the guy wasn't looking. Sure enough, as soon as the guy turned around, Mitch hits the catapult with the hammer, (it makes a noise btw, kind of like that strong man game with the sledge hammer that the goal is to hit the bell at the top of the scale) and then throws the chickens one at a time into the buckets with his other hand. The first one he missed cause he was trying to hurry before the guy turned around again, but then when he noticed that the guy wasn't really watching all that close, he took his time and made the next two.

I think what was even more funny, was this Asian family who had just won a prize at that game (the correct way) saw what Mitch did, and died laughing at him. I wonder what that worker guy though when he turned around and saw about 10 people laughing at this guy who was pointing out to him that yes, in fact, he had made two chickens in the buckets.

You can't take my family anywhere anymore!

The Closest I'll Ever Be To Stardom

Many thanks to Kristeee for this one!. You should all go check it out.



My cool celebrity look-alike collage from MyHeritage.com. Get one for yourself.



My cool celebrity look-alike collage from MyHeritage.com. Get one for yourself.



I don't know why my pics didn't show upPublish, but just scroll down a bit to a previous post to see a few of the pics I used. Apparantly I look like Amanda Bynes, because she showed up in three different tries. No arguments from me, she is cute, rich, and lots of people like her (who cares if they are mostly little girls...they are still people, and they still like her)!

Anyway, I am almost up to 5,000 Visitors, let me know if you end up being the 5,000th and you'll get a prize if I like you enough!!! (The counter is on your left below all the links and junk).

At Long Last!!!

I have been waiting for this moment since I became a self-proclaimed food critic!!! Stupid Utah does not have have The Cheesecake Factory yet. My question is how does Boise, Idaho get one before Salt Lake City??? RUDE!!! Even my waiter, Gustoffer (that was REALLY his name) thought that was bogus!

Last weekend (plus a couple of extra days), I decided I better take my long overdue vacation and go see my friend Mjillie up in Boise. I had a frequent flyer ticket that had to be used up before May, so I figured now was as good a time as any to go. The only stipulation I had with her about coming was that we HAD to go to The Cheesecake Factory at some point. Last time I was up there visiting, which was November I think, we happened to be in the mall and noticed a sign that advertised that The Cheesecake Factory was coming in the Fall of '06. Now that is was winter, we set out to go look for it. We couldn't find it, and figured that it was part of the construction/remodel mess they had going on. I was so sad!!!

I knew that both she and her husband didn't care about this restaurant as much as I did (who really ever does). They were good sports and came along with me anyway. As usual, I apologized ahead of time, telling them there is no way to know what service they might encounter. Believe it or not, we had an EXCELLENT waiter. I gave him a 20% tip!

One of the main reasons I had to eat here (besides the fact it is freaking good) is that I had to try out their Chicken Madeira. Last summer I ate at the one just outside of Denver, Colorado, and decided to be daring and order something new. It paid off! Shameonyou21 found a copykat recipe and she and I have attempted to make it a few times. Ours turns out fabulous, of course, but neither of us could remember exactly how the original was, so this was a good way for me to compare the two. According to my self-proclaimed expertise, I think we do a fantabulous job of imitating, if not exceeding it in our version of the dish. (That means that ours is better)!

If you have not had this made by me yet, when are you going to throw a dinner party and hire me to cook it??? Get with the program already!

The only criticism I had with this particular location, is that the dining room is very small. For how popular of a place this is, and it is unlikely that you have less than a 30 minute wait no matter when you go, it seems odd to me that such a small dining room is really going to last--even with the soon-to-be patio seating.

Our service was prompt, they kept up on our drinks, they refilled our bread, the food was what we ordered and the right temperature and it was freaking good, they had a blender so I was able to order me a virgin strawberry daiquiri, and they have cheesecake! What more do you need in a food establishment???