Cheerleader

You know what is great about having your own personal cheerleader?
You always have someone who believes in you.
Even if your ideas are a little "out there".

I've been dating an amazing guy for a couple months now, I'll refer to him as T, if and when I refer to him.
He is such a great guy, the male version of me with a few exceptions, one being that he is the extrovert to my introvert.  New relationships are fun because both people tend to have a pair of rose-colored glasses on for a while.  Personally, I tend to remove my rose-colored glasses pretty early on in a relationship, but T still has his in place.  As such, he thinks I am incredible, hilarious, artistic and can basically do anything.

That being said, when I told T that I was contemplating (and have been contemplating for a while) writing some children's stories, his response was immediate, "You absolutely should, you'd be great at that".

Let me give a little background on my foray into writing.

I am NOT a writer.

How'd you enjoy your foray?  That's basically all I've got for you.

I promise I am not completely crazy.  I have been thinking about this for a long time.  I have an online journal with ideas and background on characters.

I do not, however, know if this will actually come to fruition.

But if it does, I can thank my cheerleader for encouraging me.

No-Post November

If we set our calendars by my blog, November never happened.  It's always interesting for me to see how my blogging ebbs and flows throughout the years.  Sometimes a massive stream of blogging stems from boredom, and sometimes it occurs because I have so many spectacular things happening in my life that I KNOW the world (or at least the 5 of you who actually read this) must be dying to hear every last detail (or at least the details my goldfish brain can recall).  Though quite often, a lack of blogging happens for the very same reasons...I'm bored, meaning my life is boring, therefore I have nothing to share, or I have so many spectacular things happening to me that I just don't have the time (or energy, or mental recall) to blog about it.

I assure you that November did in fact come for a visit...stayed for about a month actually before we could kick it out the door.

Here are a few things that happened in November that I am sure you're on the edge of your seat to learn:

Haircuts
Dinners with friends
Movies- I recommend the newest Batman and newest Bond movies...best ones I've seen yet
Work
Lots of laughing with funny people
Made my first cheesecake-  The crust was a fail
Manicures
Dance parties for 1
Harry Potter marathons
Crossword puzzles
Painting
Making ornaments
Avoiding homework-  I am SO good at this one
Trips to Idaho
Christmas shopping
Bridal Showers
Roofing-  I do not miss the hammering at all
One brief snowfall
Dates
Thanksgiving
Silly conversations
Text messages
Reminiscing
Pay raises
3-year old princess birthday parties
Dinosaurs
Museums
Trips into the office

Mainly, I am in disbelief that the year is almost over.  It's amazing how quickly time seems to go by these days, though everything seems to go by quickly in retrospect, doesn't it?  At least I'm having fun!

Aaaand we're back!

Man, time flies when you avoid blogging.

First of all, my trip was A-Ma-Zing!
I arrived in Switzerland after a looong flight across the pond.  I literally kept randomly falling asleep over the course of the next 2 or 3 days.  I seriously hate jet-lag.

After a week in Switzerland, we made our way into Paris.  It was fun to see all the famous landmarks and the gorgeous gardens, though I think I preferred my trip into Alsace with Jenelle, the more pastoral picture of France appealed to me on a deeper level, and I was overcome by the beauty of it all!  Seriously gorgeous!

I've been home for a while now, and I think I am pretty well back in the swing of things, but it still weirds me out that Halloween is 2 days away...mainly because I was out of the country for the bulk of October.  Good thing I don't like Halloween anyway.

Mon Ami?

After the joyous reunion between my bed and I last month, I swore I would never leave it for an extended period of time again!  Unfortunately, I should learn to not make such idle promises...for you see, my bed and are are going to be separated again very soon.

See....I'm going to try out a couple other beds between the end of this month and the middle of October.  Foreign beds.  Swiss beds.  And French beds.  In Switzerland.  And...France.

Yep.  It's that time again!  This Classy Broad is going abroad!  Again.

When I took French in high school, I never actually thought I would ever go to France.  Sure there was the fleeting thought as we sat in our desks learning how to ask for directions to the library and the pool, but as far as serious thinking went, not so much.

But here I am.  Counting down the weeks until I board my flight across the pond.  And while I may not be able to converse with the natives, I will at least know how to say...

"Comment puis-je rendre à la bibliothèque et la piscine"



Just in case I want to read a book...next to the pool, that is.

Another recap...

I've been told by a number of people that my blog needs updating...

Why anyone would get sick of looking at the glorious post about being done with economics for the last month is completely beyond me, but apparently it is so.

Anyway...quite a bit has happened within the last month or so, so in true Lisa fashion, we're going to do a recap!  Aren't you excited?  Well...you should be.

So...last time we met, I was sleeping on the Buie's couch in Salt Lake, going into the office every day, dating a nice guy and planning some pretty fun trips to the theatre.  Well, I am currently residing at home (my bed missed me, and I missed it...we will try to never part again!  Actually not...but that will come later), only going into the office a couple days a week, no longer dating the guy, BUT...I DID go to the theatre!

Kelly and I took a trip down to Cedar City where we saw Les Miserables as part of the Utah Shakespearean Festival.  The production was fantastic!  Aside from Jean Valjean being slightly more angry throughout the course of the entire play, it was incredible!  Did I mention that Kelly and I also have tickets to see Les Miserables again THIS month?  Yeah...we do.  We'll be driving up to Boise in 3 weeks to see it.  Pretty stoked!

There was some craziness at work at the beginning of August that involved my boss leaving her position.  Everyone got a little tense and things got a little hairy there for a while as we tried to figure out what was going to ultimately happen with our department, but things have since worked out, and we are settling into a state of normalcy again (complete with me training 2 new hires for my team).

I have been procrastinating my school work since I finished economics.  My final class has 5 assignments associated with it, and as of yesterday, I only had 2 1/2 of them completed.  I KNOW!  I have about 20 days to get everything else done (which may seem like a lot to you, but Quantitative Analysis for Business isn't a cake-walk for all of us....and some of us are lazy to boot!).

Economics

I am officially DONE with economics.

I loathed studying economics...loathed it!

So I am glad to have it behind me.  I also took a glance at my degree plan, and I only have 9 courses left to complete (once my current term ends that is...).  Crazy!

Some of the courses are longer and more involved, so it may end up taking the full year and a half for me to complete, but that is okay.  The end seems much more in sight than before.

Fast Food

I was ravenous!

Here it was, 9:45pm, and I hadn't eaten since noon.

I had an angry animal growling in my stomach.

I drove down the road in an unfamiliar area trying to survey my food options.  They were pretty dismal.  On the left we had KFC, which is not something I enjoy eating.  On the right we had McDonald's, an establishment I have not graced in over 10 years and I'm not about to start now.  And up ahead we had TacoBell.  I think I went to a TacoBell once...I was maybe 11 or 12...it clearly left a big impression.

So I broke down and went to TacoBell.  It seemed like the lesser of the evils.  I have friends who LOVE TacoBell...or Taco Time...I frankly don't know the difference except that one has a cactus and the other has a bell.

The angry animal was getting angrier.

So I silenced it with a burrito.

Aside from silencing the beast, I have nothing good to report about TacoBell.  It was not tasty.  I have clearly not been missing out on anything in the last 15 years, which is good, because really, the fact that I don't eat fast food is something I am okay with maintaining.

Pain is not Beauty, it's Pain!

I got a manicure on Monday.
Nothing fancy, just had them clean up my nails and put a clear coat of polish on.  I'm not one for color on my nails...I end up chipping it off after a day or two, which is gorgeous.

Anyway, so as I'm getting my manicure done, the gal asked me if I wanted to get my eyebrows waxed.  Normally I get annoyed when other people suggest that my unwanted hair requires attention, but I'd actually been thinking about breaking down and doing it off and on for about 9 months, so I decided to do it.

Since we were in the waxing mood, we decided to wax off some of the hair that is near my hairline, but not actually a part of it...more onto my cheek (I didn't look like a dude or anything, but I definitely had hair).

Immediately afterward, I felt weird.  I mean really, two parts of my face are completely hairless and smooth, and then you hit normal peach-fuzz halfway across my face.  I figured it would take some getting used to, and that the peach-fuzz would return in time.  I also got burned by the wax.  I think it's going to leave a nice little scar.

And my absolute, all-time favorite byproduct of having done this....any guessers?  Anyone?

Here it is....

I'm breaking out like a teenager.  Strike that...I'm breaking out WORSE than I did as a teenager.  It's gross. Not a fan.  Never doing it again.

Live and learn.

Play it again

I had grand plans to come online and write something witty and insightful on this here blog, but as soon as I made the move to do so, my mind went blank.  So sad when that happens.

I have been feeling less than productive at work these past few weeks (yes, I am writing this on my lunch break, not during working hours), but I think that's just part of being in the office.  There are people here, and they like to talk, laugh, ask questions, make jokes and tell crazy stories...all of which are moderately to severely distracting.

I have enjoyed getting to know some of my coworkers better though, we're a pretty funny bunch...or at least we think so.

Swiss Miss(es)...and the Mr. & Mrs.

Guess who's coming to dinner?

And by dinner, I mean for 2 weeks!

That's right, my internationally adept sister and her family.  They will be in Utah by the end of the week, and I will get to see them during the first weekend in August.  Can we say, "excited"?  I think we can.

The girls have grown up a lot in the last year (as children tend to do) from what I can tell from recent pictures.  I'm hoping that by the time I get around to seeing them, they will be over their shyness of strangers...though we are admittedly pretty strange, even after you know us for a while.

Yay for visitors!

Home Sweet Home?

So I have been living out of a suitcase for the last 2 weeks.

I've also been sleeping on a couch.

And it's not going to end until August 8th.

I'm covering for 2 people at work, one of which has a position that requires frequently being in the office.  So instead of driving from Layton to Salt Lake and back every day (which is about 45 minutes..in good traffic, each way), I have essentially commandeered the living room couch and upstairs bathroom of the Buie residence.

I am so grateful that Kelly's parents are allowing me to crash at their house for a good month (seriously!), it saves me so much grief, money and time!

So here's to living in Salt Lake again!  Albeit briefly.

Dating...again

July started out with a bang. Literally.

But only because of the 4th of July....nothing awful happened to me.

July has already been an interesting month for me.  Firstly, I am back online. I'd hoped I wouldn't have to go back to cyberspace for my dating options, but here I am.  I saw a lot of familiar faces online (some of which I had been out with 2 years ago when I last dove into this pool), and some new ones as well.  I am definitely a monogamist of epic proportions, so the idea of dating multiple people has never been something I've longed for.  I can now say with all certainty that I very much DISLIKE dating multiple people.  I never thought I would ever wish for people to stop asking me out, but it has happened.

I had 2 dates during the first week of July, 3 dates the second week, and 2 dates this past week.  I have had 4 separate conversations explaining to guys that I don't want to go out with them again (which are not my favorite conversations to navigate, can I just tell you that?).

I have, however, been on 3 dates with one guy that I really like so far, and will hopefully go out with again.  I like the ease and comfort we have with each other, not a whole lot of awkwardness and anxiety which is incredibly refreshing.

So if nothing else, I at least know that there are really good guys out there, and some of them are even online.  And at least one of them has my number.

June

I had one post in the month of June, and that is pretty sad.

A lot of fun things happened in June, and not one word was written about any of them!  And of course recapping is not going to do justice to anything, but we'll give it a try.

I started June out with a camping/hiking trip to Bryce Canyon with my parents.  We happened to be down that way on "Free Entrance Fee Day" for the National Parks, so we made our way over to Zions Canyon on that particular day.  My parents did a hike (the name of which I cannot recall), and I trekked up Angel's Landing.  Sadly, my camera lay sad and silent in the car while I did this hike, so I have no photo documentation of my ascent.  I will say though, it had one of the most spectacular views I have ever had the pleasure of seeing on a hike, and I am determined to hike it again (with a camera)!

The next weekend, some friends and I went up to Bear Lake for the day.  We sat around talking (while waiting for the boat to arrive....which did about 1/2 and hour before we wound up leaving) and getting summarily burnt to a crisp (some of us more than others...poor Megan!)

The weekend after that was spent in Capital Reef National Park, walking through red rock, along rivers and around waterfalls.  The place is seriously gorgeous, and I am glad I got to spend the weekend with some pretty awesome ladies!

So that brings us up to speed on June....and if I left anything out, I'll have to live without the memory of it...since I can't think of anything at the moment anyway.

Hey, Good Lookin'! What'cha Got Cookin'?

I've recently been doing quite a bit of cooking.  Cooking that is ultimately put into the freezer and saved for later use...largely because I'm a creature of convenience. I am still experimenting with recipes from SkinnyTaste.com, which is an awesome website full of healthy recipes that don't taste like cardboard...which in my opinion is the best kind of healthy!

I now have Turkey Zucchini Burgers, Spicy Black Bean Burgers, Baked Chicken Nuggets, and Spinach Chicken Rollatini's sitting in my freezer, just waiting to be used.  I also made some Cauliflower Fritters, which by themselves are less than exciting, but once you put some sort of sauce with them, they're not bad...though I don't think I'll make them again once I've made my way through them.

Tonight, I had some leftover spinach and chicken from making the Rollatini's, so I created a Chicken Florentine Pasta featuring garlic-seasoned chicken and homemade cashew pesto.  I am pretty proud of how delicious it was, and will be more than happy to eat the leftovers over the next few days.

I still have a few things on my list to make, such as Spinach Lasagna Roll-Ups, Oven Roasted Cauliflower, Sweet Barbacoa Pork, Insanely Good Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins (sounds insanely good), Skinny Scalloped Potato Gratin, Raspberry-Lemon Muffins, Applesauce Nut Bread, Spinach & Feta Stuffed Chicken, and any other tasty items that appear to be interesting.

First order of business though is to mix up some Black Bean & Corn Salsa for my trip to Bear Lake on Saturday.


* I added links to the recipes, just for you, Jannifer  :)

Nothing to do with Margaret Thatcher

I am SO good at putting off my homework!  In my defense, I abhor economics, and that is really what I am avoiding.  I currently have to write a number of essays on certain subjects, and after a while, my brain begins to hurt, trying to word everything in a way so that not only does it make sense to the person who will grade it (they all understand economics), but so that I don't confuse myself any more than I already am on the subject.

In other news, I received a promotion at work a little over a week ago.  And by "promotion", I mean that I now have more responsibility with no increase in pay.  My company does do raises in July, so hopefully I will get a little bit more than the normal increase.  So far, the transition has been a little frustrating...there is a system I am supposed to use for my job, that hadn't worked until last Thursday, and I became thoroughly confused and had to have my co-team lead talk me through my frustration.  Hopefully it will be good.  I was enjoying not being in a supervisory position for once, but apparently that's not a privilege I am meant to enjoy....since I can't recall not being in one for a period of more than a year.  C'est la vie.

Our apartment looks so much better now!  Boxes have been emptied and removed, things may not be in their permanent place, but they are at least put away somewhere, which is a HUGE accomplishment!

We have ducks for neighbors

First off, Blogger has changed its format for composing posts, and it threw me off.

Secondly, Kelly and I are officially moved into our new apartment!  Yay!  Not that we don't still have a number of things still sitting in our old apartment waiting to be brought to their new home, but let's not focus on that.  We still have to clean our old apartment as well...but let's not focus on that either.

The new apartment is good, though it's taking a bit trying to adjust to the smaller size, figure out where to put everything, and not go crazy in the process.  One room gets situated, only to have empty boxes thrown into it while trying to get another room set up.  I've decided that my bedroom is going to be the last beast that I tackle, largely due to the fact that I have things scattered around the apartment in various boxes that have yet to be identified.

BUT...we have a washer and a dryer!  Can we insert an excited, happy dance here please?  They were set up today just as I was getting off work, and I was thrilled!

Hopefully things will calm down and we can get completely settled soon.  Here's hoping!

Oh...and there are ducks that live on the property. And apparently its mating season...yikes!

We've Got You Surrounded

We are once again maneuvering our way through a maze of boxes throughout our apartment.  We've done this little dance around this time for the last 2 years, and 2012 is no exception.  I am looking forward to a time when I don't uproot every 12 months, but as yet I do not know when that time will be.

the lease is up

The lease on our apartment is up at the end of this month.
We have wanted to get out of this apartment since roughly around day 1 of occupancy, so this time of year has been awaited with much anticipation.  Coupled with this change, is the fact that Kelly is graduating from her Masters program as well, and has been looking for teaching jobs.

A few weeks ago, she was offered a position in Duchesne County, teaching at a school out there.  For those of you who do not know where Duchesne County is...it's a long way from just about anywhere.  Every aspect of the position was great, save one.  You'd be living in the middle of nowhere, and you'd be breaking up this colossal duo.  So I guess two aspects were less than favorable.

So we both individually considered our options.  I began looking at single bedroom apartments, and Kelly began her research on the goings-on in Duchesne.  Frankly, not much was going on in Duchesne, but we decided it would be best to get a first-hand look at the social scene in the area, so we took a trip to check out the local singles ward.

To make a long story short, Kelly is NOT moving to Duchesne.

She did however accept another job offer.  Kelly is officially the newest teacher at Mound Fort Middle School in Ogden. YAY!  Not only is she NOT moving to the middle of nowhere, we are still going to live together (gluttons for punishment, what can we say?).  We looked high and low, in and out, up and down...you get the idea.  Right now we are waiting to hear back from an apartment complex in Layton, and with any luck, we will be moving out of this place in a matter of weeks.

Crazy!

Crazy awesome that is.

Three Strikes and You're Out!

First time under anesthesia was a success....not sure you can beat going to sleep and waking up with the procedure completely taken care of.

My appointment was for 9:30 this morning, so I took the day off of work...and have subsequently been watching episodes of "Psych" on Netflix.

I only tossed my cookies 3 times, which in my book is a resounding success...sad though that is.

In other news, I finally had a Bed Bath & Beyond 20% off coupon arrive in the mail today, so I can at last purchase a juicer!  Exciting to you? Unlikely.  Exciting to me? Incredibly.

High on OJ

I thought there was something slightly off with my orange juice this morning, but I wasn't entirely sure if it was the orange juice or the bottle I was drinking it out of.  I have since determined that my orange juice has fermented, which is not entirely pleasant.

On an unrelated note, I am seriously craving sushi.

Getting too smart

I've decided I need to dumb it down a little bit.
Therefore, I am having my wisdom teeth removed.  Finally.

Yep. 9 years after the first time I was informed I should have them removed, these puppies are finally coming out.  I know some people are lucky enough to never suffer any problems with their wisdom teeth, and have kept them pain-free for their entire lives (Dad), but that is one trait that I did NOT inherit.  So I am yet again very grateful for my insurance, and the fact that I can get these suckers out of my life forever!

Facebook

You know that feeling when you're sitting in front of your computer, "working" or "studying" or "getting stuff done" and what you're really doing is clicking around on Facebook trying to figure out if anyone has done anything interesting in the 5 minutes since the last time you checked?

Yeah...me either.

That, my friends, is a bold-faced lie. BOLD-FACED.

A few months ago (I think it was September), I took a break from Facebook for a few weeks, and while I missed out on a few get-togethers, I didn't really miss anything during that time.

So why do I compulsively check Facebook throughout the day?!?

I can only chalk it up to the fact that I am desperately alone all day long.  No human interaction.   I crave the interaction...flimsy and fake though it is via Facebook.

But I don't want to be that person.  That hopeless teeny-bopper who cannot go without Facebook for more than a day.

So what did I do to resolve this issue?  Because we know that in the past, I made the break, and then came running back soon thereafter.  And I don't want to delete my account because there are a lot of pictures I want to keep, and I may want to resurface and frolic in Facebook land once more.

I did the only logical thing I could think of.

I upped my privacy settings, and restricted EVERYONE.  That is right.  No one can see anything of mine anymore unless they personally posted it, or unless it's something silly like a notification that I changed my profile picture.

How does this help me?

Knowing that no one can see anything I post on Facebook makes me....wait for it....not want to post on Facebook, so I don't.  Madness? possibly.  But there is a method to it.

Granted, I still get on and look at my friends' cute baby pictures, and whatnot, but by not checking it all day long, I realize how much of what people post is really trite, meaningless drivel.  And I mean that in the best possible way.

So I apologize if my Facebook page was one you frequented, and now you must find someone else's pictures to laugh at, but I think this is good for me.  And now I'll just have to blog more, like my mother tells me to.

Foodie

I've been told that I'm a foodie.  Judging by my waistline, I'm inclined to agree.
I used to hate cooking.  When I was younger, I abhorred the idea of having to create meals, no matter what the composition.  I could probably count on both hands the number of times I cooked or baked growing up.

Now, I lose myself in looking at new recipes, and I love trying them out.  Granted, I still loathe grocery shopping, which is I suppose a large part of the whole "meal preparation" thing, but I enjoy exploring the wonderful world of recipes.

Among other things, I have recently made a number of vegan desserts, and a number of definitely non-vegan items...Imitation Cafe Rio Barbacoa Pork burritos with creamy cilantro lime dressing makes the top of this list.  Not to be outdone by vegetarian lasagna, pumpkin bread, pear gallette, chocolate fudge balls (vegan), chocolate chip cookie pie (vegan), Chipotle chicken and arugula panini's, cilantro lime rice, spinach feta pie...so many good things!

I do need to put a curb on my recipe perusing, it does seem to take over quite a bit of time...and then forces me to go shopping...

Seriously

My desire to write has been at an all-time low.  Clearly.
Contrary to what people may think, I do come onto my blog quite frequently, though more to read the blogs of others than to add a quaint tale about the goings on in my life, which is yet another statement of the obvious I am sure.

Well, since apparently I am racked with guilt over leaving my adoring fans (my humility knows no bounds) without a word for a considerable amount of time, I feel the need to lay down some excuses...though whether you accept them is up to you and will not bother me in the least.

Firstly, work has been, how shall I put this? Oh yes, insane.  I have been working over time like it's going out of style. You would think I was an accountant at tax time...I guess this is tax time, so there you go.  Work has frankly been taking over my life, so much so that I have been neglecting my school work too...don't get me wrong, I probably would have avoided doing school work even without the impending deadlines looming over me, but work provides a better excuse than my disdain for mathematics and economics.

Secondly, whenever I did have time where I could write something, I could never think of anything to write.  Well, there are things I could write, but I couldn't think of fun or interesting ways to say them.

So as a quick rewind, here are some of the "highlights" (I use this term loosely) from my most recent past.

January:
Nephew #14 arrived
My mom had crazy medical mania
A trip to Logan (prompted by the first 2 items on the list)
I purchased a few "new" old books
I had an incredibly low-key birthday which was fantastic
Started looking at new apartments--a bit too soon, our lease isn't up til April
Was an incredible success at being anti-social

February:
Baby brother got a girlfriend (not really my news, but exciting nonetheless)
Made delightfully sassy valentines with friends
Worked
Listened to good music
Worked
Delved into the world of Veganism (no, I am NOT going exclusively vegan)
Worked
and worked some more

So yeah...THAT is why I haven't updated the world on my movements, they are less than exciting, but now you have your update, and I can say that I blogged this month, which is all I really wanted.

YWB

So last year was the YCB, aka the Year of the Classy Broad.  If this does not ring any bells, you must be new to these parts, that's okay, we still like you...I think.

Anyway, last year involved being classy and doing classy things.  There were trips abroad, drinking out of fancy glasses, looking great and being sassy, all of which contributed to a successful Year of the Classy Broad.

Now that classiness is ingrained into our very being, it is time to unveil the theme for 2012.  I can sense your excitement....

2012 is the Year of Well-Being.

What do you mean that doesn't sound thrilling and nearly as cool as YCB?  I assure you that YWB is going to be just as epic, if not more than YCB, not only because we still are classy broads, but because YWB encompasses SO much!

YWB means being happy, doing things that will make you happy for the long term, not merely the here and now.  YWB means being healthy; physically, emotionally and spiritually.  YWB means standing up for yourself and for those who cannot stand for themselves.  YWB means committing to change, whatever change needs to occur, and not dragging your feet.  YWB means loving yourself and those around you, it means looking past the scars, the crumpled edges and the smudges that everyone has, and seeing the person God sees.  YWB means forgiving others, as well as forgiving yourself.  YWB means being a positive influence.

So thank you for reading this.  Thank you for being there for me, even though I still have a long way to go, hopefully YWB will bring about many improvements, I just want to say "Thank you" for loving the imperfect, delightfully flawed individual writing this.

Let the YWB begin!

Breaking in

I got a call from an old friend yesterday, we'll call him Ben (because that's his name, and I believe in calling people by their rightful names).  This is a friend from my Logan days, he lived at the apartment complex where we would always gather, chat, watch movies and play games, and recently brought me back a little Kangaroo figure from his trip to Australia.  We used to talk quite a bit, generally with him calling me at random times when I was least expecting it.

So yesterday's call seemed very much in-character.  At first I thought his call was an attempt to figure out a good location to potentially move to in Salt Lake, since he led out the conversation by asking if North Salt Lake or Millcreek (where I live) is closer to downtown Salt Lake.  After answering his query, he threw out another one, "Do you have any wire hangers?".  That's right folks, Ben was not looking into moving, he had locked himself out of his car.  It turned out that I didn't have any wire hangers, so I told him to call his friend who lived in North Salt Lake (see the relevance?) and see if they had any, and if they didn't to call me back and I would figure something out to help him.

My phone rang again with fervor, and the news that his NSL friend also did not possess any wire hangers greeted my ears.  Naturally, I endeavored to come to his aid, so I told him I would head his direction and try to get some help.

Well, after calling 8 different people, it was determined that NO ONE uses wire hangers anymore. So I attempted to get one from a dry cleaner's shop, unfortunately, all the ones I saw were closed already.  I decided to go to the D.I. and see what I could find.  Believe it or not, the closest thing I could find was a wire dish drying rack....yeah....so, 75 cents later, the drying rack and I made our way to Ben's location.

Embarrassed hello's were exchanged, and we set to work.  It didn't take long to determine that the drying rack could not be ripped into pieces that would be long enough to reach the door lock, so I did the first thing that came to my mind, I called a few of my more manly guy friends, and asked them for any information they had about breaking into cars without ruining said vehicle.

A number of pleading phone calls later, AJ and Aaron came to Ben's rescue, bringing with them an actual wire hanger (they DO exist!) and a large box of tools.  I was actually pretty thrilled to witness a car break-in, is that weird?  It took a while, but they managed to get the car unlocked, and we all went our merry ways, happy that the issue had been resolved.

At least I know who to call when I lock myself out of a car!

Obligatory Christmas & New Years post

The whirlwind of Christmas has come and gone, in truth, it didn't feel like Christmas this year to me.  The lead up didn't swell with yuletide cheer, this is not to say that I did not participate in caroling, looking at Christmas lights, attending parties, wrapping gifts and the like, but it just didn't feel the same this year.  Many people in my area attributed their own lack of the Christmas spirit to the lack of snow on the ground, but personally, I did not grow up with white Christmases, so for me, that excuse is invalid.

Either way, it came and it went.  I traveled up to Logan for the holiday, and spent time with my family.  We spent some of Christmas Eve at my aunt's house getting things organized and finished (she's been refinishing her basement for a while now), then spent the evening playing games and eating dinner at my grandparents house.  My niece and nephew were particularly excitable this year, which was fun to see, and Christmas morning brought back all the memories of wonder and magic I felt as a child.

I returned from Logan, and immediately got sick.  I somehow always get sick around holidays, or if I take a vacation, a bit rude if you ask me.

Because of this, I spent the bulk of New Years Eve on the couch with a blanket and pillow, and actually rang in the New Year in bed surrounded by tissues and Vicks Vapor Rub.  Today seems to be looking up however, my fever is gone, I can breathe semi-normally, and my cough is not quite so irritating.

Here's to good health in 2012!