It's a win-win-win situation

Humidity, Ice cream, lots of laughs, immodestly dressed little girls, Stephen and his love of David Archuleta , tons of driving, gorgeous scenery and good times. What do all of these items have in common - they all took place on my visit to Ohio for Labor Day weekend and probably one of the funniest and greatest weekends I've experienced in a long time.  We arrived in Ohio Thursday afternoon and went to dinner that night w/ Kristin's friends. We love Kristin, she's awesome - I only wish I could say the same for a few of her friends. We meet King of the D-Bags that night! Who, in a matter of two hours, insulted the state of Utah, tried to convince a girl to show her tatoo (which would have involved some removing of her shirt) because "he's a second year med student and it's ok ", discussed politics at dinner (a huge no-no when meeting people for the first time), tried to sound smart using big words but it kept backfiring and lastly - majorly offending me, ...

I recently experienced the odd sensation of being laid off, offered a severance package and then being told that I have another job offer with the same company and same department. I went from freaking out to confused, all in about ten minutes. I’m sure there’s a better way to break that news. Here’s what I was told: “Hey your position is being terminated. Here’s the severance package and your last day is today. Thanks for all of your hard work. Oh, and if you want it – there’s a position with another team and it’s yours if you want it. I just need an answer by tomorrow morning.” But here’s an alternative they could have considered: “Hey, we have to downsize, but we have another option for you. Blah, blah, blah.” But, I’m over it now and luckily still have a job!

At the beginning of August I house sat for my friend, Sherry. Sherry and her husband were going out of town and I was asked to stay at the house and watch their dog Rocky. Rocky and I are pretty good friends; I’ve watched him about three other times. Well, this visit was going fairly normal. I work farther away from Rocky now than I did the last few times I watched him, so I wasn’t always able to go home and let him out to use the bathroom at lunch; but we found a way to make it work. Well the day before Sherry came home, I let Rocky out to use the bathroom and then I got busy cleaning the house. After an hour I realized that I hadn’t heard Rocky at the back door ‘knocking’ to get back in. I went outside to get him and I couldn’t find him. I looked all over the backyard, called his name, searched under the deck (one of his sleeping spots) and in the garden shed. After calling his name for 10 minutes, my worst fears came true – Rocky had escaped! I ran outside with his leash and just...

I enjoyed some fantastic home made sushi this weekend. My friend Emily had a dinner party at her place where we all chipped in and made sushi. It was delicious! I've always wanted to make my own sushi, and now I know how. I tried to document this thoroughly so I can remember the steps. You first have to lay down soy paper or rice and start patting it into a rectangle. You should only have 3 items in your sushi roll or else your taste buds will become overwhelmed. Once you have everything laid out you start rolling it in the bamboo mat. My first ever sushi roll! I was so proud of myself and everyone laughed at how many pictures I took during this process! Here's us slicing our rolls! My roll is the one on the right - the less perfect roll. Brian's master piece is on the left. Emily at one point couldn't handle the stress in the kitchen. Don't worry, we got the knife away before anything happened. A huge thanks to Mark & Rendy for bringing the soy paper, cookin...

* UPDATE - So you can all cool your Japanese jets (Stacy), I've finally added the pictures* And so begins the theme song to my 4th of July adventure –Your Ex-Lover is Dead, by Stars. For the 4th of July, I headed south and east to Blanding with my friend Nicole. Nicole grew up in Blanding and a lot of her family still lives there. We left Thursday night and began the 5 hour drive around 7:00 pm. Nicole brought along her dog Bella, an imperial shitzu, which translates to “a pain in the ass”. Picture a chicken nugget with legs – this is Nicole’s dog. Now Bella isn’t disobedient, she just hates me and I hate her. Bella loves to bark and when she barks, she spits – I refer to it as sparking. I was sparked on all weekend – not my favorite thing. Well, Nicole and I finally arrived in Blanding around midnight and the town was alive and buzzing. Every 3rd of July they start a softball game that lasts until 3 or 4 am. Nicole and I didn’t play, but the entire town was there, it was great....

A few of my friends know about a complex of mine. I've always been aware and ashamed of my small hands. I'm 5' 8" and have the hands of a small child. I can barely hold a basketball, I drop things all the time and most winter gloves are too big for me. Well, a friend of mine, Emily, became friends with a kid who I knew from school. We were never friends, but just knew each other since elementary and through high school. This kid and I have never even had a real conversation. When Emily and I discovered this little fact, Emily asked the kid if he remembered me and he was reponse was "Isn't she the girl with small hands?" Emily just laughed and said "Why yes, yes she is." Emily knows very well about this complex and couldnt' wait to tell me what had happened. We decided to take pictures to show just how petite my hands are. The photos will be up soon, and once they are, you'll finally see just how small they are.

Extraordinary things can happen in normal settings, they may be evil, but still extraordinary. My friend Emily was sitting at work the other day, just minding her own business when she saw something large fly right at her. It was so big and came at her so fast, she didn't have a chance to get a good look at it. Was it a bird? Godzilla with wings? Whatever it was, it was now attacking her head. The monster kept darting in and out and eventually Emily was able to get a look at what was attacking her. It was a Teenage Mutant Ninja Killer Godzilla Moth! Only has National Geographic ever seen a moth of this size. Emily began screaming and trying to knock down the beast, but nothing could be done about it. After several seconds (which felt more like minutes), Emily was able to get the beast away from her. She looked around and could see no sign of it. She tried going back to work, but couldn't get the image of the attack out of her head. She was itching all over now and couldn't ...