My personal Hell

Doing a bit of online research at work today, I was looking through the program listing for satellite radio stations -- '80s, '70s, Top 40 and more ... But then I saw it ... my personal radio hell...

24/7 Bruce Springsteen

I know, I know, I know ...  he's THE BOSS. He's Mr. New Jersey. He's the greatest ... blah blah blah! 

I have NEVER been able to tolerate Bruce's music and I don't understand why he manages to get so much press when he goes on tour, cuts a new album, etc... 

So the idea of a 24/7 Springsteen radio station would be the worst form of torture for me. Forget Chinese water torture, thumbscrews, "The Rack." I will divulge the deepest of secrets hearing the first few notes of "Born in the USA." 

There are a few other groups and individual musicians who rank pretty high up there (Don't get me started on the lack of originality in ALL of Nickelback's songs or the elementary school lyrics of Sheryl Crow's tunes), but Bruce tops my Radio Hell list!

Who is your least favorite band/musical artist?

The Other Woman!

Apparently that's who I am now ... the other woman! 

Let me explain: About 6 weeks ago I went out with a guy from Bountiful. Twice divorced with 3 kids, I knew it wasn't going to go very far. We did have fun though and so I hung out with him 2 more times over the next 3 weeks.

It had been a while since I'd seen him, but we exchanged text messages and he called on several occasions. 

Reality comically smacked me upside the head the other night when I got a phone call from "Rachel" ... this guy's GIRLFRIEND!  She asked if "Paolo" was with me. Nope! Apparently, these two have been dating for a year, broke up but had re-committed to the relationship 6 weeks ago. 

 

Long story short ... Rachel was told I was the "WE WERE ON A BREAK" girl ... when in fact he was two-timing her! 

I really hope, for this gal's sake, that she gets a clue and dumps this idiot of a guy! 

As for me, I'm still shaking my head, laughing in disbelief. 

The Relationship aisle?

While killing some time before meeting up with a blind date the other night, I decided to wander the aisles of the local Barnes & Noble. The store was pretty crowded, but I noticed, as I wandered down the "Relationship" aisle that it was quite a popular hot spot in the store.

I got a good giggle out of the middle-aged married couple perusing the books, apparently in search of a recommended title. And while I was checking out "Why Men Love Bitches," "The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands" and the "Cuddle-sutra," I noticed a few attractive men pouring over a few tomes.

Hmmmm... Maybe I need to start hanging out at B&N more often. Could there be a possible relationship waiting for me in the Relationship aisle? Is Mr. Right all caught up on his "Relationships 101" reading and ready to advance on to "Mars and Venus in the Bedroom" and ready to speak the "Five Love Languages" to me?

Probably not, but in the meantime I can get a refresher on "Dating for Dummies."

May Cousin Party!

The annual tradition continues! This time, however, the usually Christmas-time party was held Feb. 23. A little President's Day celebration this year. Great fun to see everyone! (apologies if I misspell names!)

Roger and Marsha hosted the group of about 40. We all enjoyed a potato and salad bar and cheesecake for dessert. A little entertainment from Robert Callen, with a featured duet with Andy Martin and an array of Japanese goodies from Linda wrapped up the party.

The McCartys: Becky, her new husband Ryan, Katie and Chelsea

Karalee, Jason, Andy and wife Naomi and Marsha (host of the party) in the background

Karalee, Allen and Georgie's granddaughter.

Georgie and Karalee

Naomi and a crazy wooden "cockroach" from Aunt Linda

Sarah Callen, BYU freshman

A pregnant Jenny, her 2-year-old Adam and husband Brian

Callie and Jacob playing with Japanese fans from Aunt Linda

Callie playing coy with her Japanese fan

Working life...

... means no blog entries, obviously. Sorry! 

I have had a couple of pretty fun weekends and I actually have some photos to post! So, consider this a preview of events to come! Or it could also be a warning, too ... 

Coming soon:

* St. George Parade of Homes 

* May Family Cousin Party!  

Oh and there might be a photo of my mom and her stylish sling!! She fell on the ice last week and broke her elbow! 

C is for Cookie!

I love peanut butter cookies and I found this amazingly decadent, over-the-top, rich and gooey version while watching Studio 5 on KSL (there really is some value to daytime TV!).

Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies
(a recipe selected as part of the Pillsbury Bake-off by Kerry Edwards, Utah)

Ingredients:
2 packages (8 oz each) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup JIF® Creamy Peanut Butter
2 tablespoons honey
1 cup Domino® or C&H® Confectioner Powdered Sugar
1 roll (16.5 oz) Pillsbury® Create ‘n Bake® refrigerated peanut butter cookies
3/4 to 1 cup Fisher® Honey Roasted Dry Roasted Peanuts, coarsely chopped

Method:

1. In large bowl, beat cream cheese, peanut butter and honey with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Add powdered sugar; beat just until smooth. Cover; refrigerate at least 1 hour while baking and cooling cookies.

2. Heat oven to 350°F. Make cookies as directed on package. Cool completely.

3. Spread 1/3 cup cream cheese mixture on bottom of 1 cookie; top with another cookie, bottom side down. Press cookies together slightly so cream cheese mixture just extends past edges of cookies. Roll edge of cream cheese mixture in chopped peanuts to generously coat. Repeat with remaining cookies.

4. Serve immediately, or store in single layer tightly covered in refrigerator up to 4 hours (cookies stored longer become very soft).

Unemployed No More!

Break out the party hats and balloons! Jennifer has found a JOB!

Starting tomorrow I will be a publicist at Gibbs-Smith Publishing ... a book publisher in neighboring Kaysville. They are known for their cookbooks, architecture, coffee table and childrens' books.

I'm not only overjoyed with the idea of breaking into this new career field, but also can't believe I lucked out to find a job with virtually no commute! I'm less then 10 minutes from the office now!

So, Resolution No. 1 for 2008 ... ACCOMPLISHED!

Pounding the pavement

Well, it's been more than 3 months now that I have been an unemployed, yet enormously happy, bum! Although I don't have any job offers yet, in the past 3 weeks I've had four really great interviews, so a job could be on the horizon! 

In the meantime, I'm now completely updated on all my daytime dramas. Did you know that Adrienne was back on "Days of Our Lives"? I caught that yesterday and was totally surprised! The original actress, who had been on Days as Mimi's mom (I think), is now back with a new die job and classic emotional Adrienne personality. WAIT WAIT WAIT ... what am I talking about!! UGH! "Days of Our Lives"? I REALLY need a job! And FAST! 

OK, so other than TV, I've also been shoveling the FEET of snow we keep getting. Seriously today was our THIRD storm this week!! I said I wanted to come back to Utah and enjoy the snow and winter months, but really?? This is a bit much I think! 

So when I'm not pounding the pavement or shoveling the pavement I've managed to find a few craft projects here and there. And I've decided it's all about vinyl lettering! I feel so domestic!  

Check out how cute they are! 

Becoming Jane Austen

A devoted, yet somewhat uneducated fan of all things Jane Austen, I have been engrossing myself in her world of high society romance each Sunday night! Masterpiece Theater, on PBS, has been airing all of Jane's classics starting with all-new versions of the lesser-known books-turned-films. So far I've enjoyed "Persuasion" and "Northanger Abbey" and this week is "Mansfield Park." Between now and this Sunday, I think I'll have to go rent "The Jane Austen Book Club" and then catch "Becoming Jane" at the dollar theater!

Just now I stumbled onto this site where you can buy all the movies, books and even this totally great book: "Jane Austen Handbook : A Sensible Yet Elegant Guide to Her World" that also comes with ... get this ... A JANE AUSTEN ACTION FIGURE!!

Here's the little blurb: For all those readers who dream about living in Regency England, The Jane Austen Handbook offers step-by-step instructions for proper comportment in the early nineteenth century. You'll discover:
How to Become an Accomplished Lady
How to Run a Great House
How to Indicate Interest in a Gentleman Without Seeming Forward
How to Throw a Dinner Party
How to Choose and Buy Clothing

I don't think I'm going to be able to resist this! So cute!!
Now ... where can I get a MR. DARCY action figure??

Better late than never...

This year the Kings, well most of them, celebrated Christmas in St. George! Lisa was able to get some time off and the four of us had a great time!

Mom and Dad particularly enjoyed their present from Jeff, Juline, Adi and Kohen ... a digital picture frame, loaded with adorable photos!!




Before the Christmas festivities, I got in some quality time with my good friend Suzanne and her Oh-So-Cute daughter McKinley! She is such a cutie pie! Suzanne and I have a great little tradition of enjoying lengthy, lingering lunches at Painted Pony in St. George. Delicious food! So sophisticated, too! And McKinley joined us this time ... such a good girl! We had a great time. Painted Pony sounds awfully good right now. So yummy!!




Other Christmas fun included picking out a new 32-inch flat screen TV for the condo, enjoying a great turkey dinner, installing internet (yipee!!) and prepping the condo for the new tile that was installed once we left. Now I really can't wait to go back down and check out the renovation!

SNOW DAY!

The snow is just coming down today and it is simply BEAUTIFUL!! Since I'm staying nice and toasty dry inside, I thought I might spend some time updating this blog. I've been quite the slacker! But I've noticed I'm not alone among my fellow bloggers! SLACKERS UNITE!

Even though this was from a different snowstorm about 2 weeks ago, I thought I would post this cute photo of Riley playing in the snow. He was NOT happy with the foot of snow he had to jump through. In fact, at this point he was whining for me to pick him up. And the poor puppy gained about 10 pounds all in (frozen) water weight! His belly was covered in mini snowballs!



Now I guess I ought to down load a photo or two from Christmas ... only a month late!

Powered up!

My power cord came in the mail the other day, but the problem is I really don't care! I'm too busy playing on my mom's new laptop!

I woke up Monday morning, walked into the kitchen and thought I was in the wrong house for a minute. There was a brand new laptop peeking out of it's box on the kitchen table!! The computer fairies apparently got up in the wee hours of the morning and ran to WalMart for a nice hardware purchase, aka Jenn's New Toy!

It isn't the fancy new Macbook Pro that I would love, but this laptop sure is pretty ... for a PC.

So, since I've been playing on this computer and neglecting my trusty iBook, I haven't downloaded my latest photos of Christmas and this crazy thing called SNOW! Stay tuned for a couple of fun photos if I can manage to step away from my new friend Dell.

Powerless

HELP! I've lost all power!
My power cord to my laptop decided to break! So now I am forced to leave my cozy, if cluttered, basement dwelling and play ... er... work on my mom's computer.
Hopefully my new cord is in the mail!!

Another stolen pix ... or two

Again, apologies to my brother! But, that's what you get when you only post photos to your myspace account and not your blog!

Merriment and mayhem

Just a week before Christmas and the shopping, wrapping, shipping and baking frenzy is just beginning!

Today I will haul Santa's ENTIRE bag of gifts to the Post Office, joining thousands of harried, grouchy and frustrated others, and ship a small toy store to my niece and nephew!

Then I'm off to the crowded stores in search of gifts for my hard-to-buy friends and family. (I'm thinking gift cards!)

So this early morning I'm gearing up for my venture out onto the holiday battlefield. Wish me luck!

Space Needle and Pike's Market

A day in the Emerald City

So in my four previous visits to Seattle, I've actually never been atop the Space Needle. So this trip today with my best friend Alicia began at the majestic needle! The views were incredible and we picked a beautiful, if a bit windy, day!




Outside the needle, there was a lovely little shrubbery version ... too bad you can't see it in this photo!

But there it is...


After the needle, we were off to Pike's Market! Great quirky shops and ... the Fish Market! This fresh fish shop is world-renowned for flamboyantly flinging and flipping fish from one employee to the next. Want to buy a Talapia? Watch it fly through the air from the ice to the scale. Amazing! Sadly, catching photos of this performance is not quite so easy ... Oh well, here's what I did manage to get.

Ummmm .... CRAB LEGS!!

After the market, we went down to the pier and found a sexy fisherman we just had to photograph! "I once caught a fish THIS BIG!"

And then I had to introduce Alicia to a Seattle institution!! You can't visit the waterfront of Seattle without eating a savory lunch of Clam Chowder and Clam Strips at IVAR'S. So incredible! It was a bit too cold to feed the leftover french fries to the seagulls near the water (a tradition, too), but it was delish!


After a bit more shopping, my throbbing feet decided they had had enough, so we gathered up our souvenir spoils and heading down the road ... me north to Everett, Alicia south to Tacoma. Hopefully I will be able to hook up with Alicia and her husband Anthony for dinner before I leave on Saturday .... maybe this time in Everett!

Stolen pix

I stole these from my sister in law's myspace page! ... Sorry Jeff, they are too cute not to share!!!

Music of the Season

I think it was even before Halloween that SLC station 106.5 started playing Christmas music 24/7 ... I do love listening to Christmas music, but the earliness was a bit extreme! Even so, I would still indulge in a song or two before Turkey Day, when I usually bust out my own music collection.

A couple nights ago I spent some time downloading some new festive tunes. I try each year to add at least one more holiday album to my collection. This year I did a little more than one. I bought the much-anticipated Josh Groban "Noel" but also hunted down his version of "O Holy Night" since it wasn't on the CD ... a major oversight since it's one of his best.

While perusing the holiday music section, I also found one of my old favorites! Back when I was at Ricks College my roommate Julie introduced me to two wonderful classic holiday music institutions. The Carpenters Christmas ... an all-time favorite; and Nat "King" Cole's Christmas Song album. I made audio tape versions of both these albums, but wore them both out. I have since replaced The Carpenters, but it wasn't until the other night that I was able to bring Nat back to the King Christmas Music Collection. I just love his version of "I Saw Three Ships"! And of course his quintessential "The Christmas Song."

A few more modern favorites I just added include: "Mistletoe" by Colbie Caillat, "Sleigh Ride" by SHeDAISY, "Carol of the Bells" by both The Bird and the Bee and Emmy Rossum (Christine from the movie "Phantom of the Opera"). I also love Jars of Clay's new Christmas album. Their "Drummer Boy" is fantastic!

The albums that get the most air time in my collection however, are the ones by Kurt Bestor! He is a genius when it comes to musically capturing that holiday spirit! Other favorite purchases from previous years include the "Elf" soundtrack, Michael Buble's "Let It Snow" and Sarah McLachlan's "Wintersong."

What are your favorite Christmas tunes? Who does the best version?

Soakin' in Seattle

I've been in Seattle ... er, Everett ... just over a week now and it's been a lot of fun! I just hope I'm being helpful enough!!
After a few days of "training" and getting a feel for their schedule, I'm now able to free up some of my cousin Chris' time for her own family.

Chris and I have managed to escape on a few shopping escapades! I've managed to find a few Christmas gifts and, of course, bought a few things for myself.

Marge and I also went to the hospital Tuesday for her Physical Therapy sessions. It takes Marge some time to get to and from the car, but she's getting along great! I know she's frustrated that she can't get up and go like she used to and she's struggling with her eyesight, but it's obvious she's getting stronger and better every day.

It sure has been rainy! In fact that lovely snow storm turned into a huge mess with lots of flooding. Luckily we stayed safe and relatively dry!

We've enjoyed quite a few home-cooked meals that I have been so excited to prepare! Finally somone to cook for!! I tried to recreate Marge's famous Swedish Meatballs. I think they turned out great, but apparently not quite like the master's. Oh well!
The biggest hit so far has been my Chicken Enchilada Casserole. Awfully tasty and super easy to throw together! Here's the recipe:

CHICKEN ENCHILADA CASSEROLE
2 cups shredded chicken (for ease, you can use the canned chicken, 2 small cans)
1 can Cream of Chicken Soup
1 cup Sour Cream
1 small can diced green chilies
1 small can chopped olives
2 cups shredded cheese
Salt and Pepper to taste
8-10 corn tortillas

Blend all ingredients together, including cheese. Then either layer between torn up pieces of tortilla, or, rip the tortillas into smaller pieces and blend into the mixture.
Place in 9x13 pan. Top with more shredded cheese.
Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until bubbly.
Great garnished with sour cream and salsa. Don't forget the tortilla chips!

Santa's visit

I don't remember who it was, but there was an older couple in our ward who would dress as Santa and Mrs. Claus and, after hooking up their horses to an authentic sleigh, they would travel throughout the neighborhood on Christmas Eve, stopping at various homes, leaving presents of ribbon candy and oranges!

It was so exciting watching the jingling sleigh pull into our cul-de-sac. And those oranges ... what is is about oranges and Christmas? Oranges just taste better when you either get them from a visiting Santa or pull them out of the bottom of your stocking on Christmas morning! Oh ... and I nearly forgot the peanuts! Still in their shells, of course.