A song called Bubbly?

Wow. There are some really dumb songs that have been playing on the radio station of my choice lately. I'm not so impressed. I'm sorry if you like any of songs/artists I'm referring to. I just find them so "blah"... She (click on She) bugs me, BOTH songs that are popular I think are horrible- seems like all she can put in her lyrics is the word "Love" repeated over and over again. (I'm a big fan of love and loving though I promise.) The Bubbly song... from this chick... horrible- the tune, the lyrics, even the way she sings... (Lyrics: V1: I've been awake for a while now you've got me feelin like a child now cause every time I see your bubbly faceI get the tinglies in a silly place C: It starts in my toes and I crinkle my nose where ever it goes I always know that you make me smile please stay for a while now just take your time where ever you go... OKAY SERIOUSLY?) I listen to the radio only at work and there are just some songs that I'm like "Really? You're playing this?". Oh and that Duffy song too- ew, it bugs me so bad!! (Again, sorry if I am offending.) And I really like R.E.M., but their latest album- not so much for me. What's going on? I believe there are good and bad phases in music. I guess that's true for all time huh? Because those songs suck, but on the other hand I give the Coldplay album props, and the Death Cab for Cutie album is really good- both their newest ones. The Jack Johnson album I haven't given enough time to- but the songs I've heard, I like. Just with every other artist though, they all do sound an awful lot a like. But that's okay- I like that sound and it settles well with me. I'm crossing my fingers that I get tickets to the Coldplay concert (which they had to set up another here in Atlanta because the first one was sold out and there was such high demand!). My work has box seats at Philips Arena and you can sign up to get tickets to events, sort of like a drawing. So, here's to hoping. Purchasing them was just TOO much for us right now. Boo.

Anyway- that's my music rant for this morning. We're headed off to Florida this weekend to go see our friends The Woodsons!!! We're SO ready for a little get away. It'll be Ben's first trip to the beach and LONG car ride, hopefully he'll do well. I think and hope that he'll sleep most of the way down. We're leaving tonight after work and going to stay the night in St. Augustine which is about a 6 hour drive and so I think he'll probably sleep most of the way-especially if we feed him and give him a bath and get him in his jammies! AND I think he'll be pretty cool about the beach too. Then tomorrow we're meeting up with The W's and going to a water park in Daytona Beach and maybe the beach too? We'll see how Ben is doing by then. Then we'll head to their house near Cocoa Beach and have lots and lots of fun! We'll take lots of pictures- but at this point whether or not we'll get them posted is another story! I still haven't done my UT slide show yet! I guess I better get on that huh?


Have a good weekend y'all! Be safe! Relax and enjoy!

World's Longest Curly Fry

It's there on the right.

I think Ryan is the winner of eating The World's Longest Curly Fry.

Finally

So, we've been in our ward going on almost a 1 year and 1/2 now. I just BARELY got a calling. I've even been asking (yes, asking) for a calling and JUST got one. Guess what it is? Primary. I've never done Primary. I'm a little nervous, but pretty excited too. I think it'll help me be a better mommy for teaching Ben more about Jesus and being a good little person and everything. I'm not sure what class it'll be yet- but we're pretty sure it's going to be CTR 5. My visiting teacher's son is in that class, with 2 other little boys. So it should be interesting! PLEASE give me good ideas... like macaroni necklaces, cut outs and coloring, etc.... ANYTHING! Ryan also got a calling and got called to be a Ward Missionary. He's a little nervous/anxious about it. But I think he'll do great. I think the Lord has wonderful things in store for him. He just doesn't know it yet.

J.J. Strikes Again

Delinda watched Ben and we went with the newly engaged Ashley and Jacob to the Jack Johnson concert last week. It was sold out and we even had lawn seats. Talk about jam packed and not a lot of personal space! It seemed no matter where we sat or stood, people would have to walk over us or our stuff or between us on our blankets... it was crazy to me. The last few pictures are of us doing shake face... don't worry, there was no alcohol involved. Just good ol' fun. And then Ben in his souvenir concert "t-shirt"... PRICEY concert t-shirt. But of course, all of our kids WILL wear it at some point. :) It was fun. I LOVE going to concerts! I'm glad we have people willing to hang with the kid so we can still do that and go out and have grown up fun.

This blog entry is not meant to complain. I've just been contemplating a lot of things. There are things in life that happen that just don't seem to be "fair". I think you know what I mean. For example, my parents are good and righteous people. They have a lot of faith in the Lord and have worked their hinneys (sp?) off for so long that I feel they deserve a break. They are trying to sell their house and move on to better things, and also to be closer to family by moving closer to one of my brothers in St. George, UT. They moved in to an older home about 8-9 years ago so that they could take care of my dad's mom who had Alzheimer's she passed about 5-6 years ago. But because it's an older home- it's been difficult to sell. They've had 2 offers fall through and are really getting a little down and out. As well as the rest of us. You start to question things like are they meant to move? Is there someone out there better suited for the home then the last 2 people were? Things like that. It doesn't seem like a big deal and maybe one or many of your have been through the same experience of not being able to sell your home. This is just the tip of the iceberg for my parents though- they really have been through A LOT the last few years. It seems to that they just deserve a break from it all.
Another example: my best friend's mom is going through some health issues. It just happened too. She's been healthy otherwise and now all of a sudden things have switched into high gear and surgeries are happening and MRI's and all sorts of not fun things. She is terrified of losing her mom. I am too. But because it's happening to her, it's all of a sudden VERY real. But why now? Why at all? Is this trial for her mom? Or for her dad, or for their kids?
The thing is, I know all of this is "for our good". To "test our faith"... or something. I know all of that. I believe all of that. I really do. BUT I do think it's okay to feel that it sucks in the meantime. I don't know why my parents have to constantly struggle and it makes me sad. I wish I seriously had a magic wand that could make it all go away for them. They've been through enough. Anyway- I guess my point is that I'm not afraid to say that it sucks to go through trials anymore. It's okay to have a poopy attitude about it, not to the point where it drags you down but it's okay to be sad or even mad for that matter. We truly cannot know happiness until we know sorrow. I know through it all too that Heavenly Father loves us. He knows what the reason is, and I guess in the long run it's all that matters. Hopefully someday we'll either realize why or He'll get to tell us. I do know that he will never give us more than He knows we can handle- even if it feels like we want to give up during it all and can't move we're crying so much, etc. Keep praying. PRAY HARD. I know I will be.

Want Something Good To Eat?

I found this recipe on www.allrecipes.com and we tried it last night and it was DELICIOUS (as Jacob would say)! It was super easy too. The only thing is, I added a 1/2 cup sour cream to the chicken/taco seasoning/cream cheese mixture. I also used Jalapeno Stuffed Olives instead of putting a whole pepper in, and killed two birds with one... olive. HA! Anyway- it was GREAT! Oh and good as left overs too!

Chicken Chimichangas with Green Sauce
Prep Time: 20 Minutes Cook Time: 20 Minutes
Ready In: 40 Minutes Yields: 8 servings

INGREDIENTS:
2 (10.5 ounce) cans condensed cream of chicken soup
2 (4 ounce) cans diced green chilies
5 pitted green olives (I used Jalapeno Stuffed Green Olives and ignored the next ingredient)
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
1 (8 ounce) package shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1/2 (1 ounce) package taco seasoning
1 pound shredded cooked chicken meat (I used a rotisserie chicken)
8 (10 inch) flour tortillas
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 (8 ounce) package shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
1 cup chopped green onion
1 (8 ounce) container sour cream

DIRECTIONS:
1. Pour the cream of chicken soup into a blender along with the green chilies, olives, jalapeno, and lime juice. Puree until smooth, then pour into a saucepan, and warm over medium-low heat while proceeding with the recipe.
2. In a large bowl, stir together the cream cheese, Monterey Jack cheese, and taco seasoning until well blended (this is where I added the sour cream). Fold in the chicken. Evenly divide mixture among the 8 tortillas. Fold each tortilla into a rectangular packet around the filling.
3. Heat the vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Fry 4 chimichangas at a time until golden brown, then drain on a plate lined with paper towels.
4. To serve, place a chimichanga on a plate, and ladle the warm sauce over top. Sprinkle with Cheddar cheese and green onions. Finish with a dollop of sour cream.

Toes

He found them. And just like everything else he can get his hands on, they go in his mouth!

Nola

My mom is from South Africa. And has a lot of little sayings that I've grown up hearing. These are sayings that other people might not understand and think are weird, but I didn't know any better hearing them my whole life. Here are as many examples as I can think of, siblings feel free to add!

1. A Monkey's Wedding- when it's sunny but raining at the same time (a "sun shower"), it's a South African thing but apparently there are a lot of other countries that use the same kind of phrase but with a different type of animal. The Monkey's Wedding supposedly comes from a Zulu saying, but they don't know why an animal or wedding have anything to do with the rain and it being sunny at the same time! Interesting eh?
2. Sometimes when we'd ask what was for dinner she'd say "fried frogs on toast!". To this day I have yet to taste a fried frog on toast!
3. We'd ask "where's dad?" or "where's John?" (or anyone) to which she'd reply "He/She went crazy, so I shot him". Of course she didn't...
4. Another question, "where did you go?" Her response "There and back to see how far it is".
5. When someone would say something in a different language or would say their name and it was a complicated name or one she didn't understand, she would quickly jab in "You do and you wipe it up!".
6. She always calls the boys (men) that she loves (her favorite students, young marrieds in the ward, cousins, my hubby, etc.) "you ugly thing you". It's a term of endearment. If you've been called that before, that means she approves. :)
7. We'd always hear random things in Afrikaans even though it wasn't her first language. Some I'd better not put in here, because now they are inappropriate phrases and most of them I'm not even sure how to spell anyway! One that you'll hear even ME say is "sis!" used as in response to someone saying something inappropriate or dirty- something along those lines. When we asked where something was we were looking for, we'd get the equivalent of the scripture "seek and ye shall find, knock and it will be opened..." in Afrikaans, or shortened down to "Soek" (pronounced: sook) which means "seek". Ryan and I say that to each other all the time now!
8. Whenever I didn't get something I wanted or just to be funny I'd say "you don't love me any more..." and she'd always come back with "I don't love you any less!".
9. Another saying "You lie like your feet stink!"
10. When I'd ask too many questions out of kid curiosity she'd say "Why do you need to know the ins and outs of a nanny-goats tail?!".
11. One of us kid's favorite songs she always sang to us (and we all sing to our kids now) is Go To Sleep My Baby. I will always love that song.
12. "is statue?" said for "is that you?"
13. I left my heart in Sam Clam's Disco.
14. She is also queen of finding songs to sing along with something you're talking about.
15. She's a voice teacher, and whenever she heard someone singing that maybe wasn't so good she'd comment that they must have a tummy ache!
16. One of my favorites "That must be jelly, cuz jam don't shake like that!"

I'm sure there are many, many more. I just can't think of all of them right now. But I love that quirkiness that my mommy has. I hope that I keep a lot of these sayings up with my kids!!!

This could be VERY interesting!

Here are the directions:
1. As a comment on my blog (or e-mail if you don't leave comments) leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew/know me a little or a lot - just anything you remember.
2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments.

Pictures Of...

A picture of something you DON'T want to find in your salad bag.

A picture of something funny to read in the break room. (Apparently someone stole 1/2 of someones sandwich right out of their lunch bag- not the brown paper bag kind. So they posted a nasty note on the fridge, and this note below was in response to it! I guess they also spelled "potato" wrong on the other note too. Man I wish I had a picture of it.)


A picture of two of my favorite people who got engaged last night! YIPPEE!!!! Congrats you two!

A picture of Ben with his Nana. He loves her lots.


A picture of my two favorite guys, IN THE WORLD!