I've been tagged! "Everything's better in twos"

Two Names You Go By: VoNique, Vo

Things You Are Wearing Right Now: Bracelets, and my rings (Don't worry that's not all I'm wearing!)

Two things you Want (or have) in a Relationship: Jared

Two of Your Favorite Things to do: Be with family, be in the sun

Two things you did last night: Went to institute (the teacher is seriously amazing), and read from To Kill a Mocking Bird.

Two people you talked to last night: Jared, Allison McGrew

Two Things You're doing tomorrow: Going to my brothers house and watching conference

Two Longest Car Rides: Vancouver, WA to Provo, UT and Provo to San Diego, CA

Two Favorite Holidays: Thanksgiving and Christmas

Two Favorite Drinks: Fruity drinks and Chocolate milkshakes

Two Things About Me you may not have known: I love to have things organized (I really do, I'm not just copying you Nina!) and I don't like to touch my bellybutton!

Two jobs I have had in my life: Buyer and worked at a movie theater

Two Movies I would watch over and over: Summer Magic and Chocolat

Two of my favorite foods: Steak and chocolaty fudgy desserts

Two places I'd rather be right now: With Jared and on a trip to Greece (and the Caribbean and Mexico!)

Two People I am tagging: Whoever reads this.....muhahahaha! Now you have to do it! Let me know when you do!

Apple Dumplings

Recently my friend Christine posted a recipe on her site that she just raved about. It didn't real sound like my kind of dessert (which usually involves obscene amounts of chocolate), but she was pretty convincing. So I got the ingredients the next time I went to the store. A few days later I had some family over for some games, and I thought I'd experiment on them. They loved 'em! (At least that's what they claimed.) So get your little shopping list handy. I'm going to share. (FYI: Christine got this recipe from a blog that I now have a link to, "The Pioneer Woman Cooks!")

Here's a quote from the original blog: "....The result? I had to throw the pan away. These apple dumplings were SO indescribably delicious, after I took one bite to try them out, I proceeded to take thirty-four more. Then I became racked with guilt, fear, and shame, and I took another bite. Then I tossed the pan into the garbage. They were evil. And they had to be destroyed."

That cracked me up. Anywho, with no further adieu:



Apple Dumplings

2 Granny Smith apples

2 cans crescent rolls

2 sticks butter1

1/2 cups sugar

1 teaspoons vanilla

cinnamon

1 small can Mountain Dew

Peel and core apples. Cut apples into 8 slices each. Roll each apple slice in a crescent roll. Place in a 9 x 13 buttered pan. Melt butter, then add sugar and barely stir. Add vanilla, stir, and pour over apples. Pour Mountain Dew around the edges of the pan. Sprinkle with cinnamon and bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Serve with ice cream, and spoon some of the sweet sauces from the pan over the top.

Then go to confession. Quickly.

Love, Pioneer Woman

PS If I were to make them again (or should I say WHEN I make them again) I think I'd put two apple slices in each, instead of just one. (For you English majors, that means you'll need four apples.)

Happy St "Patty's" Day

(Jared's Mom thought it was great when he called to wish her a happy St. "Patty's Day". = )

We went to VeNicia's house and met up with my sister JaNel and her family. We ate pizza and watch "Darby O'Gill and the Little People". (It's got Sean Connery from his not-gray-hair-days.) It's a classic. We also saw her kittens again. They're getting a little furrier, and therefore cuter. Aren't they adorable?

03/15/08 Rock Band!

Last Saturday we celebrated our friend Mike's birthday. They recently got Rock Band. It's like Guitar Hero, but with drums and vocals. It was so much fun!

03/14/08 Ashley's Rockin Roller Disco Party

My niece-in-law had a disco rollerskating part for her birthday! (She's the one in the sweet orange jump-suit.) It was so much fun, even though I can't skate to save my life! (In fact, the very act seems to endanger it.)

Clearing Jared's name

So I had to get my blood drawn the other day, and now Jared's reputation is ruined! People at work have been asking who's been Man-Handling me. I think she must have gone through the vein completely and then had to dig around to find the vein again. It hurt to move my arm for a few days. This picture was taken 3 days after it happened. It's two weeks later now, and the bruise still isn't completely gone!

03/08/08 Soldier's Hollow

Our friends Jake and Elisa gave us a gift certificate to Soldier's Hollow for Christmas. (Thanks again guys!) I can't believe we hadn't discovered this place before. It was so much fun! They have several different activities you can do. We went sledding. They have this tow that pulls you in your tube up the mountain and then you sled down. They have several lanes, so you can race eachother. Or you can go down in a train. You get going so fast! (If you want to.) We'd get a running start and go down head first. Good times.

03/07/08 VeNicia's Kittens!

Mysister's cat, Ginger, had kittens! There are 2 black, 1 yellow, and one gray one. They are so teeny! She said they'd already doubled in size from when they were born the other day.

03/01/08 Jake and Elisa's Wedding

(K, I need to do a better job of keeping up. Because all of a sudden I haven't blogged in like a month. So, I'm getting caught up today. I have a bunch I want to do, so I'll probably keep 'em short.)

On March 1st our friend's Jake and Elisa got married! They make such a cute couple and are a lot of fun! The wedding was beautiful. And the food was great too! Congratulations!

Girls Night! 02/23/08

Allison and I met my old roommate Christine at a really cute fabric store in Lehi. We picked out some fabric to make aprons. Later VeNicia met us as Christine's house. We all brought yummy appetizers (Queso, 7 layer dip, artichoke dip, veggie tray, etc.) Christine finished her apron so fast, and it turned out so cute! VeNicia just helped us an played on her new palm pilot. Allie and I didn't finish. Mine's taking forever, and it looks more like a prom dress than an apron! I'm going to need to wear an apron on over my apron! I'll finish it though. And the next time I need to cook at a formal dance....I'll be ready.

Goodbye Grandma Sycamore's Bread

I have a very specific routine I follow at the grocery store. I make a list. I stick to it. And I'm quick about it. But what do you do when your plan falls apart?

Last Sarurday Vo and I walked into Smith's, grabbed our shopping cart and headed for the bread aisle. But when we got there, our beloved Grandma Sycamore's was nowhere to be found. They weren't sold out (oh, no; I tripple-checked). They just don't sell it anymore!

I've never been so upset in a grocery store. This isn't Allen's; this is Smith's we're talking about.

And another thing...I'm sick of these companies who think they can just slap Grandma ______ (you fill in the blank) on their label, and that makes it the same thing. There's only one Grandma; and that's Sycamore.

Anyway, we need a new bread. Any suggestions?

Craft Day!

I had another craft day. See what I made?



I think I'm addicted to making these letters. I'll probably make one for every season. I'd like to thank Allie, Wendy, Lindsay E, for sharing their supplies and ideas. I couldn't have done it will out you. Jared...thanks for hiding for hours while we worked our magic. Oh, I hope I'm not leaving anyone out, so thank you all!

Sorry, I NEVER do these, but it might be fun!‏

So I actually took one of those survey things I always get. It was through my email, but I thought since I actually did it (and might not do another one ever again) I'd post it here too! Just ignore the email directions at the bottom, or you can fill one out for email or your blog. Enjoy!

I can't believe I'm doing this either! (Thanks for singling me out JaNel.) I think this is the first Survey thingy I've ever done:

Things you may or may not know about me. The directions are at the end.

4 jobs I have had in my life:
Movie theatre (perfect high school job)
Modus Media (Inbound call center) I did sales and customer service for palm pilots, computers, and Macromedia's web development software
MyFamily.com (Sounds harmless enough but I hated that job! I seriously cried almost everyday. I thought maybe I was depressed....I just hated my job)
My job now: Purchasing for Rocky Mountain Composites (I buy all of the stuff that we need to build our airplane and the waste and water tanks that are used in the new Boeing jet.)

4 movies I would watch over and over:
Chocolat (No 'e' on the end JaNel...I'm surprised you didn't know that! = )
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
The Brave Little Toaster (I haven't seen that in years, but I really want to)
Summer Magic
Elf (So I can't count)

4 places I have lived:
Vancouver, WA
Raintree Apartments Provo, UT
Our first apartment Provo, UT
Our first house Provo, UT

4 TV Shows that I watch:
The Office
American Idol
Lost
Seinfeld (sometimes)
Saved by the Bell (on DVD)

4 places I have been:
Kauai
Canada (Vancouver, Victoria)
New York (City and Niagara Falls)
San Francisco, CA
Grand Canyon (UT side, but still spectacular)
House of Falling Water (The house built on top of a waterfall in PA)

4 people who e-mail me (regularly):
VeNicia
JaNel
Nicole and Allie (if Blogs count)
And GAP, they tell me about their sales all the time

4 of my favorite foods:
This dish my Mom used to make with Chicken, rice, peas, carrots, and lots of poultry seasoning
Lasagna
Fajitas
Steak
Loaded Mashed Potatoes
Chocolate Fudgy Desserts
Hot coco w/ mint in it

Four places I would rather be right now:
With Jared
Greece
Caribbean
Mexico

4 people I think will respond:
VeNicia
Allie
Nicole
Dad?

4 Things I am looking forward to this year:
Family reunion on the Oregon Coast
My sister in law's wedding in PA (and maybe seeing the Natural Bridge in VA)
Any vacation time is always good, even though I don't hate my job anymore = )

Now, here's what you're supposed to do... and pleasedo not spoil the fun.Hit forward, delete my answers and type in youranswers. Then send this to a whole bunch of peopleyou know INCLUDING the person who sent it to you. Thetheory is that you will learn a lot of information about other peopleyou think you know.

VoNique Fakes Pregnancy Out of Spite

So, the other day Vo's in a parking lot, looking for a place to park her car. It's crowded. But wait...up front....there's one - last - open - space.

...Or not.

Turns out there's a lady "parked" in that last open space (i.e. she's decided to reserve that parking space by standing there) and she's not movin'.

So, what does Vo do?

Vo finds another space at the end of the lot, stuffs her shirt (in attempts to appear pregnant), and waddles past the "parked" woman, hoping she'll feel some remorse for her selfishness.

Classic.

Mom's Memorial

~Mom~

It's been a year today since I heard the news that shocked us all. I've missed you so much. I've wanted to call you for recipes and advice. I want to hear the excitement in your voice when we finally get pregnant. I want to see you hold our babies. I want to see Dad really happy again. I just want you to hold me and tell me you love me. I miss the smell of your cooking, seeing you smile, and hearing your laughter. I'm afraid of forgetting the sound of your voice and the things you'd say. I wish I would have known what was going to be our last hug and our last goodbyes. But the words probably would have been the same, "I love you so much. I'll miss you . We'll see you again soon." All my love, VoNique

01/12/08 Ice Skating

We went to VeNicia's house and met up with a bunch for friends for yummy food. Then we headed to the local outdoor ice skating rink. It was so much fun and it was only $1.50! I'm so bad! I think I made it around the rink 3 times in the hour+ we were there. I had to push the little kids out of the way so I could cling to the edge!

01/05/08 Girl's day, evening, and night!

I had a girl’s day/night with my sister VeNicia, and our friends Allie and Christine. We went to Rod Works, and Ikea, and then dinked around at the mall while we waited to get seated at the new Cheesecake Factory! While we waited we tried on fake hair and some sample makeup,

and got our hair curled at one of those kiosks. Some of us even tried on whole manikins!

Dinner was definitely worth the wait. Then we went and saw “PS I Love You”. I’ve cried during movies before, but never the WHOLE thing! It was really good though. It was a really fun night!

New Year's Eve 2007

For New Year’s Eve we went up to my sister JaNel’s house in Bountiful. We sang in the New Year mumbling the words to “Auld Lang Syne” at the top of our lungs.

Well, most of us did. That’s Jared down stairs sleeping on the air mattress. No, he didn't bother to inflate it. He looked so cute, but when I tried to take a picture he sensed a disturbance in the force and pulled the covers over his head.

We had a great time. It's unbelievable that another year has gone by!

The Most Ghetto Car I've Ever Seen

I (Jared) saw the most ghetto car I’ve ever seen the other night.

I was enjoying Christmas dinner when I was told I needed to move my car. They said I was blocking the driveway. But I knew that wasn’t possible, since VoNique and I were some of the first guests to arrive.

In fact, the car that needed to “get by me” was parked behind me.

So, I moved my car anyway. Turns out…the car behind me was broken and didn’t drive in reverse. Ghetto, huh?

Got your own ghetto car experiences? We'd love to hear 'em.

Our Birthdays...Why isn't it spelled 'birthdaies"?

12/18/07 Jared's real birthday is Dec 21st and mine's Dec 27th. Both suck because even if we're actually in town, none of our friends are! So we celebrated early! We rented out a tumbling gym. It was a lot of fun! They had a huge foam pit that you could rope-swing into, or jump from a trampoline. And they had this huge gerbil-ball-like-thing. You climb into it and people roll you around. It was outstanding! Then we went back to our place for some cakes and ice cream. Good times.




12/21/07 On Jared's real birthday we had our friends Tyler and Carly come over, and we used our new "Top Secret Recipes" cookbook to make P.F Chang's lettuce wraps. They were so incredibly good! (The wraps, not Tyler and Carly. Although they were well behaved.) Then we watched The Bourne Ultimatum. I love that series.

12/27/07 On my real birthday I took the day off work. I slept in, went to the gym, and then went and got my hair trimmed! They just took off an inch or so and added a few layers and some short stuff around my face. I like it! I'll add pictures later. Then we went with the McGrews to Tucano's for dinner. It was fun. I love that place. They have an all you can eat salad bar, and they bring all different kinds of meat around to your table. I love meat...and Jared.

Christmas Time 2007

12/05/07 BYU Christmas Party: We went up to a huge mansion up the Springville Canyon that BYU owns for Jared's work Christmas party. They house is really cool. There's a tree house in the middle of it. Up in the tree house is a game area with a couple pool tables etc. There's also an indoor gym! They had several food stations set up, complete with a chocolate fountain! (Nicole--you'd be disappointed. It apparently wasn't completely level, and the chocolate was running a little crooked.) I ate so much food! They had a variety of center pieces that we could chose from to order. It was fun.

12/14/07 We went to Rocky Mountain Composites' Christmas party. They also had really yummy food. (Prime rib...mmm.) They hired a hypnotist for the entertainment. Whether they were all hypnotized or not doesn't really matter...seeing the quiet guy from Quality stand on his chair and yell like Tarzan is funny stuff.



12/16/07 So I played my flute in church during our ward's Christmas presentation. I haven't been in band for almost 9 years! Now I remember why I don't usually volunteer for that kinda thing; boy do I get nervous! I think it went pretty well though. My shaking just sounded like vibrato. At least that's what I've been telling myself!

12/22/07 We went to Lindsay (my niece) and Michael's apartment to watch the BYU bowl and make gingerbread houses. We used one of those kits but we added stuff. It was so fun! After you assemble your house, the instructions say to let it sit for 15 minutes before you decorate it. They aren't kidding. After a few minutes we started putting almond slice shingles on the roof and it kept sliding off! I ended up super gluing it when we got home = ) Lindsay said her snow man looked more like a snow frog = )

12/24/07 We were on our way to a Christmas Eve party at my brother's house in Ogden when it started to snow like crazy! We were going to go there and then stay the night at my sister's in Bountiful, but we ended up going straight to JaNel's. I felt really bad about missing the party = ( We just chilled there while they were at the party. I did my nails while Jared shoveled their driveway = ) When they got back we watched The Grinch and played some games. VeNicia and my Dad came too. We were up until about 2:00. It was a lot of fun.


12/25/07 Merry Christmas!

We got up about 8:00. They kids had a scavenger hunt to find some of their presents. It was really cute. We exchanged gifts. I made scarfs for VeNicia and JaNel. They looked really cute on them! We got lots of nice gifts.

The coolest gift of all was one that all of my brothers and sisters went in on for my Dad. We got him a digital picture frame! It has sections for pictures of each of the kids and their families, a section of misc family shots, and a big section of pictures of my Mom. He really seemed to like it. We cried as he the pictures of my Mom came on. We all miss her so much. It's our first Christmas with out her.

I trimmed VeNicia's hair. No, I've never been to beauty school. I'm not sure why she lets me, but it's kinda fun! Then we went to my brother Barry's house in Sandy. It was like Thanksgiving all over again. The food was outstanding! I better get my butt back to the gym. I've been slacking ever since a got sick a couple weeks ago. I love spending so much time with family!