Shaved Ice

For FHE yesterday, we went to get shaved ice. They have little stands all over the place in Utah, but never once have I stopped to get one. Not sure why. Last time I had shaved ice was in Hawaii on the North Shore. That was a LONG time ago. It sure was good though. I remember how yummy the ice cream was at the bottom. Well, you can also get ice cream with the shaved ice here. You also can get beans in the ice cream. I tried one of my friend Meika's beans and it was weird. Just sayin.

So we went to our closest stand and I had my first Provo shaved ice experience. We all sat together and bonded as an FHE family.  You guys know I got a new FHE husband right? My last FHE husband, Matt, is no longer in the ward and he is getting married. My new FHE husband has a girlfriend that he leaves to go visit in California for the majority of the weekends. Don't worry, he comes back to help support me and his FHE family by Monday. Meet Shark, my new FHE husband. And some of our kids.

I got strawberry cheesecake flavor, which was delicious, but obviously turned my mouth red. But I guess most of the flavors do that. Good times.
*Darrell, you should have come. We missed you*

St George

So lets talk about my trip to St George this weekend. It was short, but I have to say it was pretty awesome. St George Utah, is one of those cities that I have driven through so many times that I can't count, but I had never spent time there before. Well, I did spend the night there once. On my way to moving to Provo, Lolly came with me and we caravaned with Geedge and her mom. We stopped in St George to split up the trip. We didn't do anything there except go get food and then hang out at the pool at the hotel. Oddly enough, it happened to the same hotel I stayed at this trip. "The Budget Inn" is where our St George adventure begins.

As Lorelie and Tina go to the front desk to check in, Ashlee and I wait in the car and are chatting away. We have already talked about how I am a people watcher. I started watching this guy that walked by the car and looked to see who was in there. I saw him pace back and forth by the front door to the hotel, then watched him get real mad while he was talking to someone. Then he starts walking towards the car. Really? What could he possibly want? So Ashlee rolls down the window and we say hi. Supposedly he is on some baseball team and they left without him and he is trying to figure out if they left and how he was going to get there. Ashlee says sorry because she doesn't know how to help him. He is very serious this whole conversation. After Ashlee says sorry, he then leans over and pulls down his shades a little to look at me in the passengers seat, gives a little grin and says "Could you take me there?". I just was trying so hard not to laugh because he was trying to be so smooth. I am not sure why he thought he would try that on me instead of Ashlee. Maybe I looked like I would cave in? I don't know. We told him that we hadn't even checked in yet and if we took him he would be waiting around for a while. So he gave up and walked away. I don't know why.... but it sure made me laugh.

After checking into our hotel, we ate dinner at the most charming cafe called "TwentyFive Main". Can I just tell you how fun I think it would be to start up my own cafe. They have so much personality. I would love to decorate it and to create the menu and bake. Anywho, we were just loving this place. I took tons of pictures, but here are just a few. Total bonus that they also have awesome cupcakes. We were in heaven.

After dinner we walked down main street to see what St George had to offer us. We saw the Tabernacle.

Right after the Tabernacle there was this little park that had a water streams going through it that people could play in. Also a water fountain type thing that you could also play in. Smart thing to have since it gets SO wicked hot there.

After that we headed to Tuacahn, which I already told you about in the last post. One word. Awesome!

After that we all went to bed. We were beat. Next morning we visited the temple. It is beautiful.

We then checked out of the room. Had a healthy breakfast....

And went SHOPPING!!! Don't worry, I bought some new fun things and we discovered some awesome new stores! Found my new favorite store. "Rock n Rose". I could have spent A LOT of money there, but I held myself back. It is a cross between "The Buckle" and "Charlotte Rouse" AND its cheap! Can't get better than that. Actually, what would be better is if they had one in Provo and or online. They had just opened days before and this is the only place it is at. I guess I am going to be stopping here to shop on my way driving out in the future. :o)

After shopping we headed back to Provo for a birthday party at the park. St George was far more awesome than I expected, How could I pass by so many times without knowing. The trip was short but sweet, and I doubt that will be the last time any of us go for a visit.

Tarzan

This weekend, Lorelie, Tina, Ashlee & I road tripped down to St George to go to Tuacahn. For those of you who don't know what Tuacahn is, its an out door theater. The theater is surrounded by beautiful red rock and a man made waterfall right behind the stage (which they incorporate into their shows). This was my first Tuacahn experience and I was not disappointed!

 Tarzan was a great one to be on a stage outside (although it was in a desert instead of a jungle, minor detail). It was so fun to watch Tarzan and the monkeys swing all over the place including over the audience. What a fun show!

It is a pretty big theater, but oddly enough, I ran into two people that I knew and even more odd, both of them I knew from the same ward (at the Devonshire). I had a my friend Cara J sitting in the row in front of me with her friends and then I had Megan O sitting in the row right behind me. Seriously, what are the chances? Not only to run into someone you know in a city 4 hours away, but two people that know each other and out of that whole big theater we would all be in rows right in front of another. It's a small world after all and I love it. It was fun to catch up with these girls.

Besides the fact that it was wicked hot and  it never cooled down, the show was awesome and I loved it! I loved even more that they had fireworks at the end of the show. What a great night. We were all in heaven. Not sure why I have never been to Tuacahn before.

After the show, we went to shake hands and take pictures with the cast. Some complimented me on my jungle outfit that matched the show. Totally not done on purpose, but I guess subconsciously I was more pumped for the show than I thought I was. Little Tarzan was a great little actor and singer, I was impressed with him. Big Tarzan was a hunk. I was pumped when I found out he was Mormon, super bummed when I found out he was married. No chance with him I guess. But hey, maybe if I am lucky... little Tarzan will ask me out when he turns 20! (that was a joke for all of you that have read some of my guy stories)

I would say the show was about up in the same quality category as Broadway. AWESOME!!! I don't think this will be my last trip to Tuacahn. If you have never gone... I recommend a trip to St George to go!

Spicy Sausage Dip

Another thing I made for the birthday party. This dip was a big hit. If you ever put on a social gathering, you may want to give this a try.

Spicy Sausage Dip

Ingredients:
1 (16 oz.) package spicy/zesty sausage
1 (15 oz.) can diced tomatoes with green chiles, undrained
2 (8 oz.) packages cream cheese
Hot sauce, to taste

Directions:
In a large skillet over medium-high heat, cook the crumbled sausage until browned.  Drain off any excess fat.  Reduce the heat to medium and mix in the tomatoes, cream cheese, and hot sauce.  Continue to cook, stirring frequently, until the mixture is warmed through and the ingredients are well blended.  Taste and adjust seasonings as necessary.  Serve warm.

Pretzel Turtle Treats

This tasty little treat is one of the things I made for the birthday party for Jessica. So easy and yummy.
All you need is:

A bag of smaller Pretzels
a couple bags of Rollo's
A bag of Trail Mix

On a couple of cookie sheets, lay out as many pretzels that will fit on there. On top of every pretzel, put one Rollo. Stick it in the oven for a couple of minutes. I honestly don't remember what I preheated the oven to... lets say 250 degrees. After a couple of minutes, take the cookie sheets out. The chocolate should be soft enough that they will smoosh down, but they are not melting all over the place. I alternated topping (while pressing down) with m&m's, peanuts & cashews. (this is from the trail mix). After they are all covered, you put them in the refrigerator until they harden again. After that they are ready to serve and you are ready to party!

Like I said, easy & delicious

Confessions of a Brunette on the Internet 21

In the month of March, I made a goal to blog everyday that month. I think there were only one or two days in that month that I actually had to try hard to think of something to post. NOW I have more posts in a month than there are days. I am not totally caught up right now. I still have recipes that I have made that I want to post and so on a so forth. But now I am wondering if I post too much. I wonder if I should make a goal to see if I can only post once or twice a week. Then again, its my journal and if I do that... then I will stop documenting what is going on and it is fun for me to go back and read some of these posts. The only reason I even bring this up is because .... even though this is my journal and I shouldn't care what other people think about it, I don't want people to get bored with me. With the exception of my last post of the amazing dress my sister made for me, I don't really get a lot of comments. I shouldn't think comments on my blog are a big deal, but when I don't get comments, I feel like people are not reading, or its not interesting. I also feel like comments are half the fun of a blog. Every time I log on and I see that I have a new comment, its like a present at Christmas. Wondering what its going to say and who its going to be from. Makes me feel special. I do realize that I post EVERYDAY and sometimes more than once a day and that not everyone is going to leave comments everyday (unless your my family, then I kind of expect it and am way sad when its not there) *Side note* I love that some of my friends know who my mom is and my sisters Jamie & Lori because of all the comments they leave on my blog. SO, I don't want to become boring AND I don't want to be addicted either. I don't feel like I am. I mean... I don't put blogging as a priority above anything else... I just do it when I have time, but I happen to have a few minutes of down time everyday. I don't want to become obsessed either... which is why I maybe should take a blogging break? I don't know. Just thoughts that I have had. I am not going to lie, I do enjoy it. It is another way for me to socialize..... and I AM a social butterfly.

Speaking of being social, this last weekend was one of a few times I wished that I could clone myself and be lots of different places at the same time. Don't get me wrong, I am glad that I went to Newport Beach and spent the weekend with some of my best friends, but after hearing about the fun people had in my ward, and the fun my friends and family had back home... I wished I was there too. I just hate missing out on anything. I was the kid that was put to bed at bedtime every night but was always so sad I was missing out on fun with the people who got to stay up later. Why do I care so much? Speaking of, I am going to be feeling the same way this weekend. I have fun plans going out of town (again) with my friends, which I am excited for, but I am going to be missing out on my Grandma's 80th birthday party in AZ that a lot of my family and extended family is going to. I didn't find out soon enough to make it into my plans. Sadness.

I love to travel... A LOT... but I have been doing so much of it lately, that going on the next trip is not as exciting. All the trips are blending together because I have been gone every weekend and I don't have enough time to recover from my last trip in order to get pumped about my next trip. After this weekend I will get some time to chill at home. In no way does that mean I will not be busy with fun plans, I just won't be going out of town for the fun. I am still looking forward to some big trips ahead.

On another note. I feel like a reptile. Why you ask? Remember how I got super sunburned this weekend and looked like a raccoon? Well... now I look like a lizard shedding my skin. Its kind of gross actually. One of my co-workers even pointed it out on my back today. Yuck. Too bad I don't have my mom and Jamie here to peel the skin off for me. They used to like that.... see who could peel off the biggest piece. ha ha.

THE DRESS!!!

Remember how I have talked about how amazingly talented my sisters are? Seriously... to the point of ridiculousness! Also, remember when my sister, Jamie, told me for a late birthday present she was going to make me a dress? Remember over Christmas break I picked out a pattern and material (and color) and she took my measurements and I showed you step one of the dress making process and had you guess what my dress would look like? That was a great post... so if you missed it, check it out here. WELL... The dress is finished! Just in time for my half birthday! Woohoo! It was TOTALLY worth the wait! I LOVE (all caps intended) my dress. I mean, I knew it would be great because Jamie is talented, but I didn't realize that it would be even better than what I expected.  Seriously, its like a professional sewed it. I could have bought this dress in a store.

Here are some pictures of the details of the dress. I love the pattern that I picked out and I love the lace my sister picked out for the bottom of the dress. Okay I could go on and on because I love everything about it.
P.S. The dress looks two different colors in these pictures because they are from two different cameras. Pictures were taken by Jamie & Dan Hixon.

I also love how it twirls.....

Thank you SO SO SO much Jamie! I love my dress.And I love you! Best late birthday present ever! I can't wait to wear it to church on Sunday. :o)

I have told you what I love about the dress. What is your favorite part of the dress? This dress and Jamie's hard work and talent deserves MAJOR shout outs from everyone! :o)