August

Alrighty, so I think it's been quite a while since I did an actual update. That's probably because we're almost always the same. BUT, I think I can summarize the last month concisely enough to make for an interesting blog post.

August was full of a lot more friends than most months are. A few of Trevor's Madrigal friends came home from missions, and we were able to hang out with them a couple times. It was nice to see everyone again, and to remember what good friends they are. The hang outs turned out to be generally welcoming, and we had good times :) One of my friends from high school went off to Hawaii for a few months (something to do with work...not sure how that's possible...does your work send you to Hawaii?), and I got to bask in her happiness for a night. I hope she puts up more pictures on Facebook soon so I can continue my vicarious vacation-life.

It was my mom's birthday on the 16th, and I had been planning for it for...well, let's just say, a while. I found this neat-o application on Costco.com where you can create your own calendars and photo collages and other cool things. So I scrounged up as many pictures of my family as I could, and had them printed in collage form for my mom.

Joe, Constance, and Sage

Steve and Jordan
Nate and Sarah

Becky and Trevor

Matt

Family

I also want to finish up some stuff I'm doing for my grandma with a bunch of her old pictures, but that is going to take a lot more time...and money. I'm thinking I'll probably do a collage for her and hope it will suffice for a while longer.

My two bosses were on vacation for a week in August, and I had a combination awesome-crappy week while they were gone. You'd think with the boss gone things would be bliss, and in a way they were--I knew everything that needed to be done, and I didn't have anyone there giving me more things to do, or telling me how to do them. But at the same time, I had quite a few semi-major catastrophes while they were gone that had to be delt with all by my lonesome. Work stinks. I'm sure you all know.

I think the worst part about that entire week was forcing myself to stay at work till six o'clock every night like I'm supposed to. I mean, geeze! The day's over, everyone's gone, go home, right? No. I had to remember that I still needed to get my full 40 hours that week or we'd die of starvation when my check comes next week. Yet another reason why work sucks.

The best part about that week with no authority is that I finally got around to reorganizing my desk :) I'm sure you're all thrilled! But seriously, it's a big job, and you always know you need to do it, you just never can, because who has 3 hours to just do something without being interrupted at work? Here are the results.

There was a fire in the Corner Canyon in Draper this week. It was far from our house, obviously, but it was still so incredibly weird. Trevor called me while he was delivering something for work out there, and told me to look. I could smell it right as I opened the door to my office, which is one of the weirdest parts to me. I work on 7200 South and 1300 East, and the fire was almost at the point of the mountain. I couldn't see anything but... well, gray, smokey sky in that direction. Within minutes there was ash falling on all our cars in the parking lot. I didn't follow the story too closely, but I do know it lasted at least 2 days, and the smoke was incredible! Here's some pictures that some strangers took. I tried to take some good ones, but as you all know, my camera phone is the pits. As far as I know, no homes or buildings were damaged, and the temple is okay too. If you want to read the whole story...

http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=148&sid=4104232

The veiw from DraperThe view from Downtown
At sunset that night

Another Draper view

Brandon's still holed in our second bedroom. Time has flown! He's a good houseguest. Probably a lot better at being a houseguest than we are at being househosts :)

Trevor's band has just recently started playing shows with their new drummer, and things are looking good as far as that goes. They've got another show this weekend in Tooele, woot!

I'm also working on giving Erin Graham the best bridal shower ever :) Any ideas would be more than welcome!

We miss our family that vanished to Ohio, and ironically, sort of miss our family that vanished to the apartment next door. It's funny how even though your family can be so close, you still don't make as much time as you could. I'm glad fall and the holiday season are coming up so we can spend more time with people. Note that I said I'M glad, not sure how Trevor feels :)

Video Time!

Last night Trevor had a show at some kid's house, and it went really well. That mostly means the cops didn't come stop everything... The neighborhood was really good about the whole thing. Even the neighbor kids were watching while they jumped on their trampolines :) I took some video, but the sound quality really stinks. In fact, I recommend you turn your volume off completely because if you don't. your ears will explode... But really, it doesn't sound anything like it should. Stupid cell phone videos. Just watch; you can sort of tell what happens when they play.

I also love that it looks like there's a ghost in the picture right before you push play :)

The next is one I found from FOREVER ago. Actually, from April. Apparently this is what we do during conference...

And last but no least, I few of our little buddies Cinderella and Rikki. Rikki is using her wheel in the first one. I think that's almost the most it's ever been used. I have another one of them just hangin' out together, but it's freaking out when I try to load it, so you'll have to keep your pants on while you wait for that one. I'm pretty sure they love eachother, and that makes me feel better about caging them all day.

Dinos

I have to admit that I have become slightly fascinated by all things Dino. I found this necklace at Hot Topic a couple weeks ago. If it hadn't been $12, I so would have purchased it and never taken it off.

Someone should search out some dino stuff for me that I can afford... :)

Cyanide and Happiness

Cyanide & Happiness @ Explosm.net

A Page Out of Norah's Book

Twas Halloween and the ghosts were out,
And everywhere they'd go, they shout,
And though I covered my eyes I knew,
They'd go away.
But fear's the only thing I saw,
And three days later 'twas clear to all,
That nothing is as scary as election day.

But the day after is darker,
And darker and darker it goes,
Who knows, maybe the plans will change,
Who knows, maybe he's not deranged.

The news men know what they know, but they,
Know even less than what they say,
And I don't know who I can trust,
For they come what may.
'Cause we believed in our candidate,
But even more it's the one we hate,
I needed someone I could shake,
On election day.

But the day after is darker,
And deeper and deeper we go,
Who knows, maybe it's all a dream,
Who knows if I'll wake up and scream.

I love the things that you've given me,
I cherish you my dear country,
But sometimes I don't understand,
The way we play.

I love the things that you've given me,
And most of all that I am free,
To have a song that I can sing,
On election day.

Norah Jones

Peachy

This weekend I made homemade peach jam :) It was kind of hard, I'll have to admit. The worst was peeling and cutting up all those peaches and nectarines, and jarring them the old fashioned way without these so called "Boiling Canners" or "Pressure Canners," whatever those are. But I did it, and I tried it last night, and it was pretty dang good. Despite the more-runny-than-it-should-be consistency, the jam is superb. And I have a few extra jars that some of you just might be blessed with :)

I think it will be a while before I try a different kind of jam. I used almost every bowl and pan in my house in the process, and it took forever to clean up the stickiness that covered my kitchen afterwards.

Besides that goodness, things for us have changed a bit: Brandon is occupying our second bedroom for a few weeks while his apartment's being fixed up from the fire. It's pretty neat-o. I'm sure it's just as weird for him as it is for us, although, he has had some extra practice living with other people since he's been out of his original apartment for a few weeks already. However, we seem to have not really bothered eachother so far. He seems like a busy person, which makes him a good house guest in the sense that, well, he's not really there that much :) Brandon, you eat a lot of peanut butter, but I'm glad I know that about you now, haha.

The rats are well; we've found they like limes. And they're still scared of their exercise ball, which means Rikki is freakishly excited and curious whenever she gets held (rather, I should say, whenever we TRY to hold her).

Trevor got his CDs and, get this, his mileage log for work stolen from his car last night, along with a car part he had stored in there overnight for work. Grr... WHO DOES THAT? Seriously people.

But other than that, things have been peachy--in some cases, literally.

Cream Cheese and Pesto Stuffed Chicken Breasts

Found a freaking awesome recipe on foodnetwork.com. We've had it twice already. We've only tried the pesto version, but I'm sure we'll try at least the ham and cheese version too. We served the chicken with spaghetti/fettuccinni tossed with the same pesto you use for the filling, and it was amazing!

"The hard part of making this elegant dish is choosing the filling. Making a pocket in the chicken breast to hold the stuffing is easy, particularly if you use a good, sharp, thin-bladed knife. Browning the chicken in a skillet before baking gives it a beautiful golden color. Finishing it in the oven ensures that it cooks evenly throughout.

Filling of your choice (see below)
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (1-1 1/4 pounds total) 1 egg white 1/2 cup plain dry breadcrumbs 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil

• Cream Cheese-Pesto Filling::
  2 tablespoons reduced-fat cream cheese (Neufchatel) 1 tablespoon basil pesto (store-bought or homemade) Freshly ground pepper to taste
• Goat Cheese-Olive Filling::
  2 tablespoons creamy goat cheese 1 tablespoon chopped black olives Freshly ground pepper to taste
• Ham & Cheese Filling::
  1/4 cup grated Swiss, Monterey Jack or part-skim mozzarella cheese 2 tablespoons chopped ham 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard Freshly ground pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400°F. Coat a rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray.
Combine cream cheese, pesto and pepper in a small bowl with a fork.
Cut a horizontal slit along the thin, long edge of a chicken breast half, nearly through to the opposite side. Open up each breast and place one-fourth of the filling in the center. Close the breast over the filling, pressing the edges firmly together to seal. Repeat with the remaining chicken breasts and filling.
Lightly beat egg white with a fork in a medium bowl. Place breadcrumbs in a shallow glass dish. Hold each chicken breast half together and dip in the egg white, then dredge in the breadcrumbs. (Discard leftovers.)
Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken breasts; cook until browned on one side, about 2 minutes. Place the chicken, browned-side up, on the prepared baking sheet. Bake until the chicken is no longer pink in the center or until an instant-read thermometer registers 170°F, about 20 minutes.
Difficulty: Easy Prep Time: 25 minutes Cook Time: 25 minutes Yield: 4 servings
Copyright © 2006 Television Food Network, G.P., All Rights Reserved"

Rikki Tikki Tavi

Trevor found a permanant name for his new rat. Her name is Rikki, after Rikki Tikki Tavi. Rikki will sway back and forth when she's scared and trying to smell you, or trying to find out what's going on. Sometimes, it seems she does it randomly too. He chose this name because, in the show, I guess the mongoose sways back and forth at one point.

If you want more details, you should ask trevor. http://trevorjgreen.blogspot.com/


via videosift.com

I remembered.

I remembered one of the other weird things.

I found out a couple of my friends from high school robbed a bank. It's so weird to me thinking that here I am, working away, and then there's them...robbing a bank with a gun. I'd like to think I have a pretty normal, not quite boring life. I work, eat, sleep, play, watch movies. And every now and then I catch up with some old friends who are either doing the same, or doing minor variations of the same (school, work, babies). Sometimes I hear news through others, sometimes I hear it through Facebook stalking. I like to check out everyone's pictures, and blogs, and read about what's changed in their lives. But rarely do I get the chance to catch up with friends through a news anchor.

We were waiting for our pizza to come (grr!) last week and we were casually listening to the news in the background when they flash a picture of the kid I knew from high school. The face on the picture LOOKS like him, but the expression is nothing like him. I wonder where they got a picture of him being so serious and looking like a criminal. It sort of made me realize how often I just accept that the people I see on the news are as mean and dirty as their pictures make them look.

It was shocking at first, but after a few days the whole incident just felt like one of those things that you just go through. Like when you're little and you find out your older brother got his wisdom teeth out, and you're told that you have a 90% chance of needing yours out too. Or when you hear about your friends parents dying, or their grandparents dying. Or you hear on the news that someone you don't know had their best friend die. Or even when you find out you get to drive at 16, and you wait and wait but it feels like it never comes...and yet, somehow it does. It comes and goes. These are all things that it seems will inevitably happen to you. You do end up having one of your friends die. Your grandparents WILL die one day. Your parents will too. And one day, you'll find out that someone you know robbed a bank (or murdered someone, or robbed a Carl's Jr.). It all feels like something you just have to experience and live through, and then get over.

Hm. Kinda weird. Like I said.

Blog VS Journal

I officially retract my statement that I'm using this as more of a journal than a blog. Blogs are very different than journals, and should most definitely be treated as such.

But that doesn't get you off the hook of reading my day-to-day activities :)