my niece anna got baptized today. yay for anna! i took some pictures of the family and my neices. they are so cute. here's just a couple that i've played around with so far. i have the cutest nieces ever! i love them all

stupid walmart

did you all know that one time i went to walmart and bought a big tupperware bin and after the cashier handed me my receipt i put my gum in it and threw it in a trash then headed to the door. the "cute little old man greeter" (pshhh....more like little old jerk) asked me for my receipt. "oh i just threw it in the garbage over there". "oh well i'll need to see it." "um, but i put my gum in it and i threw it away." "well i need to see it." you have to be kidding. then i went and dug it out. can you believe i even found it.

totes awes weekend (totally awesome weekend)

So this weekend was fab. My favorite little sister was in town- I love her lots. Amy flew in from Mesa to go to the New Kids on the Block concert with me and my old...I mean oldER sister Anneke. :) We had soo much fun. It was fun to see Amy since I haven't seen her forever and also be able to spend time with my mom and also meet my brothers fiance Natalie this weekend as well.

So we got to the concert at 8 and Lady Gaga was opening and so we listened to her- she was fine- I liked some of her music, she was a good entertainer- just a little wierd.


Then Natasha Bedingfield was on- she sounded AAAAMAAAZZING!!! She was so so so great in person. I love her.



Then came the New Kids themselves. It was awesomeness. I couldn't believe I was seeing them in person. They came out to the middle of the floor and sang a couple of songs and we were 12 rows up in the seats so they were fairly close- it was awesome. We did a lot of screaming and alot of dancing and alot of laughing- just cuz me and my sisters are funny. So it started at 8 and ended around 1115. We parked right by the exit so we were out of there and on our way home in like 5 mins- it was perfect. Oh and our seats were up in the top balcony at the E Center and since there were so many people NOT there, they moved everyone that had seats up there down to the lower level! that was sweetness!!! (it was sad though because there were sooooo many empty seats. but i guess it is the new kids on the block..and they haven't been popular in like 15 years)

anyway all and all. way awesome weekend.

ARENT THEY CUTE?!

this is brads cute mom kim and step dad scott and little brother jakey. i love them. they are the best. and like i said...ARENT THEY CUTE?!?!?! brad went to california a couple weeks ago to spend some time with his family and to help with the prop 8 stuff (well to feel like he was involved) and he took some family pictures. he did a fabulous job and i wish i could have been there!

my latest quilt.

it's fun. i just loved the 40's style fabrics and the easy pattern. brad just loves actually having one that we are going to keep!

JKP

We were invited to a karaoke party on Halloween- we were all supposed to dress up as our favorite rocker or just a rocker in general. i dressed up as janice kapp perry. apparently some don't consider her a traditional "rocker" - but to those people i say, take a look at this and then you tell me she's NOT a rocker.

and yes that says "Janice kapp Perry's Parallel Universe"

so anyway-we had a fabulous halloween. how could you not dressed in a hot pink dressed with embroidered dragon flies on it!

my sick day

WRWJ. no- not WWJD....WRWJ...walter ray williams jr.

for some unknown reason brad and i watched bowling on tv today. i think it was because we had a slumber party with 3 of my cute little neices friday and we played alot of wii bowling. my 5 year old niece started off bowling a 144 then a 183 then a 197 and ended up a couple games later at 258!!! it was awesome. i was so shocked! go abbie! so anyway. when we saw bowling on tv we were strangely drawn to it.

oh crap. it was hilarious. i'm not compleeetely knocking serious bowlers- cuz good for them. and because i love bowling and i wish i was better. but still! they were soooo intense and serious. we were like PEOPLE! ITS BOWLING! and the funniest thing is that the sponsors were dennys and super 8. hiiiigh class!! we just couldn't stop laughing. it was so funny.

so my advice is: if you see bowling on tv- do yourself a favor and watch it. it will be worth your time.

Just in case you didn't see this on my husbands blog....heres a little cartoon that i think is hilarious. and just in case you did already see it on brads blog- well...heres a little cartoon that i think is hilarious.

(in case you are either blind like me- or old like my mom- and cant read the small print in the bottom picture- the little blonde guy is saying " Wow! First the water park, and now this!? You weren't kidding This IS a good time!" and then the big guy says: "Did you know you're the first person to call?"

see. now wasnt that hilarious, just like i said it was?

i went through the drive thru at hogi yogi yesterday to get a sandwich. the chick gave me 13 napkins. i counted them. because i was in shock. thats more than people take when they go to cafe rio and take tons so they'll have extra for their car and/or home. (cafe rio has the big nice ones ya know)

thirteen.

i think i used one. the remaining 12 have cozied into their new home in my glove box.

stressed spelled backwards is desserts. just learned that.

so i just finished watching the seasons of arrested development AGAIN. i cant get enough. i love that show. i dont know of anything funnier.

so i got waaay too invested into this byu football season- and had to cry myself to sleep when they lost to TCU on thursday. WHO THE CRAP LOSES TO A TEAM WHOSE MASCOT IS A HORNED FROG!?!?!?!?! everytime one of the announcers said horned frog - i got a disgusted look on my face up and said out loud..."horned frogs??? really???" i just couldnt get over it. its such an ugly mascot. i'd rather my mascot be a mosquito or something ultra pointless like that. or maybe like a pile of doo doo thats now being used as fertilizer. now theres a mascot.



seriously. are we kidding??? lame.


oh well. and actually i didnt have to cry myself to sleep- because i watched the rest of the red sox/rays game and was screaming my head off in excitement from their amazing comeback. but then they lost game 7 tonight. oh well. i just dont know who to cheer for now in the world series. cuz i dont really care about the rays or the phillies. any suggestions anyone. thats one thing about me- i can get easily attached to a team- so i just need to choose one. i think the rays are going to win- so i'll go for the phillies. also- i'd rather live in pennsylvania than florida- so that does it- the decision's been made. unless anyone has a better argument.

okay. its 130am. im supposed to be up to go the gym at 545. what are the odds of that happening? slim to none im thinking.

OH brad and i went with bart and meriel and meriels family to the middle of absolute nowhere on a mountain yesterday. we watched meriels dad and uncle and bart cut down a tree for fire wood, roasted hot dogs and smores and the best part....WENT SHOOTING! we shot clay pigeons. well everyone else shot clay pigeons. i just shot the gun and missed the clay pigeons by about 3.76 miles. i was terrible at it. but it was so fun. i want to go again. and then on the way back down the mountain we played our own version of cash cab and then somehow started saying every word we could think of that started with the letter 'f' (we did NOT say the actual 'f' word- so no need to judge) it was so funny - especially when we started trying to name every body part that started with 'f' and ran out after about 3 - feet, fingers, fingernails, fallopian tubes..so we just started adding an 'f' to the front of the other body parts- i.e. fungs, fair, fnees, etc. it got pretty hilarious- but i'll leave the hilarious ones up to you to figure out. oh and we were pretty tired so it made it funnier- we laughed so hard. it was a fun day.



i think i need to go get a flu shot.

GREAT NEWS WORLD!

so i got a speeding ticket in las vegas when brad and i were coming home from california in july. i was going 93 in a 70 mph zone. woops. but LUCKILY, and i mean LUH-KUH-LEE the cop was generous and since my record was clean he wrote on the ticket that i was going 80 so that A. it wouldnt affect my insurance and B. so the fine would be less. so i noticed days later on the ticket that it didn't have the amount i had to pay and i read on the back that if there was no total amount due written on the ticket that i would need to appear in traffic court on October 29 and the cop had highlighted the date. i've been freaking out. because really- i dont want to have to go to las vegas to traffic court. no shpank you. and i didnt want to not pay it and have a warrant out for my arrest- BEEN THERE DONE THAT! ( i had a warrant out for my arrest for about 3 years and when i went to the court house to see how much my ticket was i was apprehended by security/cops and told that i had to the pay the fine in full right then or go to jail. luckily i had money that people had given us for our wedding in my purse. dodged that bullet!)

so anyway- just called to see what i needed to do. the ticket because of the nice cop (not to be confused with one of the hot cops from arrested development) was reduced from 190 to 90 dollars. so i paid it and dont have to go to court after all!

praise be.

HOW EMBARRASSING CAN I BE!?!?!

my phone wouldnt let me make or receive calls or texts and it said SOS in red in the top corner by the signal bar.

so i called tmobile support and all i needed to do was restart my phone. how embarrassing.

all of a sudden in one little phone call i became one of THOSE people that call support for the lamest things.

im hiding my head in shame.

the headless woman

lara didnt want to be in any more pictures i posted- so this is the result. thats a nice floating jacket.


its so thirsty in here.

for kara..just a couple

yeah remember how like months ago i said
that it would be fun to giveaway a quilt and
other thangs on my 200th post. oh yeah...
this is my 201st.
and betcha cant guess....i havent made one dang quilt.
oh well. maybe another day.

isnt this flower kind of cool- i took this in woodland hills

how cute are they

this is my friend lara and her little cute face baby jax. we went up the canyon on friday and took some pictures of lara jd and jax. they are such hilariously fun friends. i love them mucho.

lara was having a bad today- which i get cuz we all have them- but she should never be allowed to have a bad day because she is so gorgeous and talented and fun and amazing and has the cutest little boy. but anyway- i hope she knows she's awesome and im SO GLAD shes my friend. she cracks me up non stop and has helped me through lots of bad days.

unfortunately it was darkish and cold and raining when we went to take pictures and i sooo dont know what im doing behind a camera so i screwed most of the pictures up :(

but i think that picture is so cute of them....arent they adorableness?!!!

weird brother of prime rib

theres a part of the lawn in front of our complex that sinks down a little bit and it's pretty much always soggy and squishy and i HATE walking on it because well first of all my shoes get wet but most of all its because it feels like youre walking over a fresh grave. i wasnt paying attention last night and walked right over it and blugh- it gives me creeped out chills just thinking about it.

so i asked brad to translate something into spanish for me yesterday and i sent it to him in an email and he sent it back with a translation- and i was feeling so proud- like wow..he's really good and then he sent me a link to translator.com or something like that. the little shyster.

i just found out that kevin bacon and i have the same birth day. how fun- if my calculations are correct, that basically makes me a celebrity, right?

hammer time

okay so i have told a couple of you friends this story already- but it's so cute i need to share it again. maybe it's not as cute to you guys as it was to me. but lets be real- i dont really care.

so i picked up this cute little 4 year old girl that's in foster care from school and was bringing her to the office for a visit with her mom and dad and i dont remember what happened but for some reason i said oh bummer. and she said, what's oh plumber? of course i laughed and told her that i said oh bummer and explained what that meant. then like 10 mins later when we were pulling into the parking lot at work the caseworker called and said the mom wasn't going to be at the visit- so i said- hey unfortunately your mom isn't going to be able to come to the visit today and in this sweet little let down voice she said...oh plumber. it was SOOO cute. i laughed so hard i thought i was going to die. she's my favorite.

today when she came for her visit she came out of the elevator and i was standing in the hallway talking to the caseworker and she came RUNNING at me and started tickling me- it was so funny. i love her.

okay thats all.

2 Cute
2 Be
-------
4 Gotten

you prob'ly think this song is about you...dont you

i cant stop looking at my own blog- how vain am i. but its only to look at the rad school new banner that JD made me (under mine and Lara's creative direction) youre a wizard with those photoshop brushes stice. thanks again.

i HAD to because i'm dying laughing

are you shnazzin me?! these names kill me and i've even seen them before- but they never cease to make me laugh

Passerby Lady Steps

Little Wishes Plastic Dishes

Breath of a Criminal

lesliehall.com

Kentucky: 5 million people, 15 last names

Fact slash Miracle: I have done my hair FIVE days in a row! i know- im just as shocked as you are.

Fact slash Annoying slash Bless his heart: A little hunched over man was crossing University Ave yesterday and was walking negative 3 miles per hour- the light turned green...he started walking (well shuffling more like)...yellow light- Him: still shuffling....red light- Him: still shuffling, me: never getting to turn left. oh well. what a little dear.

Fact slash Awesome: I have gone to the gym at 6am two days in a row.

Fact slash Stupid: I left my keys at the gym yesterday (I rode with someone else, so i didn't need them to get in the car or anything) they sat on the hook at the gym all day. from 6am to 6pm. poor abandoned keys.

Fact slash Painful: I had a headache for 24+ straight hours that would NOT go away.

Fact slash Flesh Eating: After washing my hands a few times in the office at work I start to wonder if the soap is made of acid- it basically makes my skin shrivel up and DIE.

Fact slash Shoulda known Betta': I ate at Wingers yesterday and got the sticky fingers. sticky fingers equals urge to vomit.

Fact (Just Fact, no slash this time): I left the house yesterday wearing shoes, long pants, a sweater with a shirt underneath and a down coat with a fur lined hood and was still a little chilly. Brad left the house wearing a short sleeved shirt, shorts, and flip flops. "Do we live in the same universe?", I question.

and now...just for fun

Neon Flash Cash

Goblit From Bethlahem
Moon Light Gravey

so in love

Im so so so so in love with the weekend brad and i just had..well its not even over yet. I don't post that many pictures, but I'm going to today- and don't judge me because they are just plain and not amazing even though I have take 2 beginning photography classes.

So Thursday was our 4th year anniversary. We haven't ever really done anything for our anniversary because sure we could go pay money and stay in a hotel but it always seems like a waste because its too expensive to stay somewhere really nice. Well Brad took Friday off so we could do something together, but we really didn't have any idea where to go or what to do. We thought we might just go somewhere nice for dinner and then just stay at home. Well Brad found this package deal through the Hotel Park City, where you get to stay in a Cottage Suite and get a 3 course meal at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse for $349. We've heard that Ruth's Chris is AMAZZZING and the suite at the hotel sounded amazing as well so we thought we'd just go for it. It didn't look like there were any reservations so Brad called and they were like oh yeah we have some openings for that suite and its $289..so we were like SWEET, even cheaper than it said online. So we booked it and when the lady was reconfirming she was like oh- woops I am looking at an October date, but luckily there was still an opening for last night and since she already told us the October price, she gave it to us for that price. So we were so excited I wanted to puke because we were actually GOING SOMEWHERE and DOING SOMETHING FUN and yeah..it was just exciting.

So I can't even describe how amazing this place is and how private and cool and cozy and stuff these cool cottages are. They are away from the main hotel and surrounding the golf course. There are 9 cottages and they have 4 rooms - 6 rooms in them. Oh man- I love this place. So our room had a seperate bedroom behind nice thick wooden french doors, it had a huge tall king bed that was sooooo comfortable and a fireplace and a mounted flat screen tv. there were walls of windows and a door to the patio where our own private jacuzzi was. Down the hall there is a washer/dryer a closet that had our thick robes in them a bathroom with a jetted tub a glass surround shower with 3 shower heads and of course a little room with the toilet. The living room had a little kitchenette with a small fridge, a dishwasher, cupboards with nice dishes, etc. Then there were comfy leather couches a big fireplace with a big flat screen mounted above that. There was also a door off the living room that went out to the patio too. On the patio was like I said the 6 person jacuzzi and a fireplace. We were right on the golf course. It was just so nice and quiet and perfect. So we had planned to go shopping and stuff but when we got there we were like, yeah right- we don't want to leave this room. The only time we left was to go to dinner at Ruths Chris which was attached to the main hotel. So we went to dinner and I can't stop thinking about that steak. I want to eat it everyday. I have never had such an amazing piece of meat in. my. life. Nothing I've ever had even COMPARES! I loved it. So we each had a delicious salad to start off with and then we got our filets- oh my gosh. my mouth is literally watering thinking about it. Okay- let me get myself together here...so they season the steak with salt and pepper and sear it at 1800 degrees and then serve it on a 500 degree plate with bubbling steak butter. They use like the highest grade of steak and its like nothing else i've ever tasted. It was so incredible. And we got Potatoes AuGratin which were amazingly delicious as well. Then for dessert we got a chocolate lava explosion...amazing!! It was moist and rich and delicious. It was a cake thing with gnoche spilling out of it, ice cream on top and caramel drizzled on the sides. It was a perfect ending to a perfect meal.

Okay well anyway- all I have to say is...is this was worth EVERY SINGLE DANG PENNY and then some. Seriously- you should ALLLL Go!!! you won't regret it..but you won't want to come home. so just be aware.

row of the cottages- arent they cute buildings!??! i love them

double rainbow- cant really see it ..sorry

View of the cottage from the back (our room was the bottom left)

Up Close view of our patio

Kitchenette

Living Room Fireplace and Tv

Living room and door to the patio

photog

its almost midnight. i should probably go to bed. but i can hear brad snoring from in here, so i dont know that i'd really sleep anyway even if i went to bed. bless his little snoring heart. speaking of blessing little hearts. I started a beginning digital photography class yesterday. its only 5 weeks long because its just a continuing education class. i learned tons - it was pretty sweet. but this was a class for people with SLR cameras, and some lady brought like just a regular little digital camera. like the kind you'd buy at best buy for 150 $ that has like 5 megapixels or something. oh bless her little heart. she was like, oh i didn't realize this class was for fancy cameras. again....... BLESS HER LITTLE HEART! i'll be honest, i was kind of bugged at first- like, really lady!? get a clue!! but that was just rude to think that. cuz blessssss. heeerrrrr. hearrrrt. (and yes, i said bless her heart 3 times just now)

so anyway. we went with the wakefields to dinner tonight, and then to the Mt View High football game and the bishop and his fam were there as well as the whole hatch clan. it was really enjoyable. oh high school. i loved high school. like, l-o-v-e, loved high school. i had so much fun, but im glad those days are done.

i got cold at the game and i can't seem to get warm, despite having a down blanket covering me right now and the mac on my lap- which the mac gets really warm when in use. but i guess its mostly because its my toes that are cold..and when they are cold- thats when i cant get warm. hmmmm - maybe i will go get in bed- then i can put my cold feet on brads legs and get them warm, WHICH will also stir him enough to make him stop snoring.

genius.

oh the days of yore

so when i first started working for DCFS we were working Monday thru Friday and fridays were always reallllly slow. like noone was here and so it was quiet. so now that we work 4 - 10's...thursdays are now like fridays, and so thursdays are dead. so basically people around here are only working like 3 days a week it feels like (dont get me wrong...more important people than me can work from home, and have more out of the office things to do..so they arent necessarily just slacking). but its just bored in here is all. and its now 6:05 so im leaving, so i dont even know why im sitting here bored anymore.

oh but in the way of big news... I got a name plate/sign thing outside my office door today. they spelled my name Andera. at first i thought of going and letting them know so they could fix it. but i dont think i care anymore.

k im boring, i know. buh bye. have a wonderful weekend dear friends.

2 things Im SO hating right now

1. The fact that i feel like I'm SO about to vomit. I hope this ridiculous cold isn't turning into the flu. My stomach is totally cramping and wrenching and it's about to produce some seriously fierce chicken alfredo pizza puke.

2. I got so wrapped up in writing about #1, i cant rememember what I was going to say. Oh yes- its back. I'm hating the fact that I can't get the little rhyme that teaches you how to spell Massachusetts correctly, out of my head. Why the heck was it in there in the first place today? I DOOOON'T KNOOOOOW!

M- A- DOUBLE S- A- C- H- U- S- E- DOUBLE T - S

I'd be happy to teach it to anyone if they are struggling with the correct spelling of this eastern seaboard state.

fat burning machine

So we all know im a little on the fat side. (if 'a little' means totally and completely the fattest thing there ever was) I really have tried to do better at exercising and eating a little better these past few weeks(I say this as im thinking I need to go brush my teeth after eating those utterly greasy pieces of chicken alfredo thick crust pizza from Nicoletti's...HEY I said i've TRIED to eat a LITTLE better..now shut up.) So I was like totally on a roll for approximately 9 days- I was doing awesome. I was eating less, and what I did eat was better for me than usual. I was going to Power Pump class every other day, I was walking at least 2.5 extra miles a day...i was doing awesome. One day I even ran for about .3 miles. I was so proud. Although, I did run further than I wanted to- because I was left with no choice when there were some people standing out by their car smoking. like i could be THAT person that acts like "oh im out jogging, i do this often (although i look so the opposite of a jogger)" and then stops jogging. I couldnt do it...i couldnt let them see my stop jogging. So i kept jogging until I felt they couldn't see me anymore, THEN i stopped. I only felt like my lungs were going to collapse for like another 2 hrs...no biggie. and i only had whispy asthma breathing for the rest of the night. double no biggie.

So because I had jogged/trotted/nearly keeled over and died/ for that .3 of a mile I felt totally justified in watching the marathon race in the Olympics a couple days later, and feeling like I knew and understood the intense pain those runners were in. Which led me to feel even more justified in telling Brad that I had just decided that I was going to be in the 2016 Olympics, running the marathon. (I wont mention the fact that he said, "alright, well maybe in the special olympics"... because that was just rude, and dream crushing)

I really did have my heart set on the fact that I was going to run everyday for the next 8 years and train my guts out so that I could run in the marathon. And so Brad could say- see there, thats my wife. she used to be so fat- and now look at her....she's running in the Olympics(the regular kind, but no offense WHATSOEVER to the special olympics). He wouldve been so proud. but unfortunately I lost motivation about 1.6 days later and haven't worked out since. But hey- I've still lost 6.5 pounds in the last 2 1/2 weeks so IN YO FACE!

i really am going to do better. you just wait. only 93.5 lbs to go!

post 187

So last week at work I met this man who was quite unfortunate looking.... one of those quirky old men who says things that you don't know how to respond to, and you just hope they'll go away and stop talking to you- but they dont.

Well in the midst of our conversation he says- yeah well I fell off a turnip truck a few years ago ....................................................................................... I seriously just stood there speechless, because I swear on my life I didn't know if that was one of those old people sayings, or if he in reality DID fall off a truck.....because he REALLY looked like he could have. He just stared back at me, and then chuckled. So I left the conversation guessing that it was probably just a phrase.

FYI: I just googled it to find out sure, and luckily it is just an old person thing to say.

Looking back now, its kind of funny- like not the phrase, thats just wierd- but the whole situation...Me not knowing if he'd really fallen off a truck, or if he was trying to make me laugh... Then us just standing there staring at each other cuz I had NO CLUE what to say. But really- it wasn't funny! it was one of THEE most awkward moments of my life, im not EVEN kidding. I was so at a loss for words. If I would have laughed and said- oh you're funny, thinking it's a phrase, and then find out he really did fall off a truck hauling a load of turnips!?!?!? how bad would i have felt!!!....or on the other hand if I had said all concerned, "you fell off a truck? oh man- thats terrible" .....either way. it was a lose lose situation- cuz i would come out looking like an idiot. i dont know. awkard. very very awkward. so i just stood there.

seriously. i hope to NEVER run into that man again!

uhhgrrrr

so when i post something at work (which Hi work- i never do that..don't worry!) after i publish it and go to view blog, it won't show me the new thing i just posted. even now..hours later...still nothing. it just shows my post from a few days ago and before that. i've tried reopening the browser, tried going to my blog from another blog...NOTHING!

i like to see the post on the actual blog, to see if i like the size of the font, the color, my wording, and i can check for typos...etc. and i cant do that now.

dangy

moral of the story: dont blog at work, andrea. its not meant to be.

im so in love with Vitamin String Quartet. the final 4 contestants on SYTYCD did a dance choreographed by mia to one of their songs, Hallelujah. i fell instantly in love. so i bought some songs on itunes. oh my gosh- could i love them any more? prolly not.

i think most people would hate to listen to music with me, because i love to listen to songs over and over and over, and that's just what i've done with these songs i have today. over and over. ESPECIALLY the one they did of Like a Prayer by madonna. its so good. it makes me want to be a contemporary dancer. and not just a contemporary dancer, a dang good one. well, let's be honest- IIIII personally think i am a dang good dancer, brad and the rest of my family seem to think i need formal training. no- actually they think i should never try to dance ever again in my life. but whatever. theyre just jealous of my moves. im so used to be people and their jealousy, it doesn't even phase me anymore. so get real people- this, right here,(pointing at myself with my fancy dancing skills) is never gonna stop.

GRAND

for too long i have been blinded. my tastebuds were prejudice against snow cones for far too long, thinking that a snow cone could only amount to something like unto the following:

but now i know that they can be much, MUCH more. they can be something amazing and beautiful. something that melts in your mouth and takes you to a place resembling heaven. they dont have to be something put in those awful paper cups that soak up all the juice and leak all over the place. snow cones have been taken to a much higher level. an artistic level even.....they have become.....the Avalanche.

Okay- so maybe i'm being a BIT dramatic- but seriously. These things are grand. i don't know how im going to fit a couple of these sugary cups of goodness (tigers blood flavored shaved ice) mixed with extra goodness (vanilla ice cream) a week into my newly changed "eating lifestyle" ....i.e. diet. but i'll find a way.