I seriously need to get out more......

In bold is what I have done.....
1. Started your own blog (duh!)
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band (does being a groupie count?)
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland (love it!)
8. Held a praying mantis
9. Climbed a mountain
10.Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped.
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked (no way)
23. Taken a sick day when you're not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied (at times)
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo's David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48.Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
87. Visited the white house
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone's life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake (yuck! does Utah Lake count?)
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year to all our friends and family this year!!

We wish you the best in 2009!!

White elephant parties........

Pumpkin Spice Cake.......

We attended 3 white elephant parties this weekend.....check out our facebook pages for pictures!

Is it possible to be white-elephant-ed out?! If you don't know what a white elephant party is.....you haven't been to Utah or met someone from Utah. Its basically a gag gift party that people do over the holidays. I have a blast opening white elephant gifts, though on the inside I am always a bit nervous. At Melinda's 3rd Annual Cosby-Sweater-Coon-Attack-Special-Needs-White-Elephant Christmas Party (yes that was its actually called, last year they had a raccoon come through the wall of their house), I got the candy bra for my white elephant gift! I have a tendency to turn tomato red in large groups of people....so needless to say everyone had a good laugh! I will be re-gifting that for next year's white elephant party! Adam got a giant pink pig that our dogs were afraid of at first because it was bigger than them....then they started playing with it, then they ripped it up and proceeded to eat the stuffing....gotta love pugs! I wore my ugly Christmas sweater vest....it is awesome! I found it on sale at Macys for $15, normally $50!

I discovered a fabulous new recipe for pumpkin spice cake, I substituted the oil for applesauce to lower the fat (turned out fine, just took a little longer to bake), then I added semi sweet chocolate chips (fat goes back in!) I didn't add the pecans but I added cinnamon to the frosting! I made the homemade cream cheese frosting, but its more like icing. I made 2 cakes and they were a fav at both parties! Gotta love holiday baking!

Pumpkin Spice Cake Recipe from Jello.com

1 pkg. (2-layer size) yellow cake mix
1 pkg. (4-serving size) JELL-O Vanilla Flavor Instant Pudding
1 cup mashed cooked fresh pumpkin
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup water
3 eggs
1 Tbsp. pumpkin pie spice
PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese Frosting
1/2 cup chopped toasted PLANTERS Pecans

PREHEAT oven to 350°F. Place cake mix, dry pudding mix, pumpkin, oil, water, eggs and spice in large bowl. Beat with electric mixer on low speed just until moistened. Beat on medium speed 4 min.
POUR into greased and floured 13x9-inch baking pan.
BAKE 32 to 35 min. or until wooden toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool cake in pan on wire rack. Spread with PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese Frosting; sprinkle with pecans. Store in refrigerator.

25 degrees.....

on my way to work in the morning! Seriously!! Welcome to winter! We had snow a couple of days ago & we're supposed to get another big storm this weekend! I wish it would stay in the mountains & out of the valley so I can easily get around town......not everyone has a Subaru ya know!! I feel like using a sled to get to work on the snow-days! ugh!
So we are having a white elephant party at my work on the 22ND! I need ideas for a cool gift to bring to the party! Suggestions?? We had some fun W.E. parties at my old job in Vegas.....this time it has to be G rated! Maybe I have something I can re-gift? Or make a trip to the dollar store? I wish I still had those Rhinoceros book ends! Those were classic!

Ugh.....I'm old!!

Thank you to my hubby for making my bday special! We went out to dinner, ate too much, got dessert (tiramisu)....gotta love Italian food!! Adam gave me some beautiful flowers.... gerber daises & roses....I love getting flowers! (who doesn't?) I would be okay with flowers everyday!! He got me an awesome pink Ipod....so now I have no excuse to not work out...I am finally with the current times, 10 years later! I also got my hair done this weekend. He seriously spoiled me! Thank you Adam, you are the best!!!
My parents sent me a package in the mail.....My Mom is the queen of random presents.....a cashmere sweater, a reindeer oven mitt, towels with our initials sewn on it, and a Christmas night light. Thank you Mom for your thoughtfulness.
Thank you to my old crew at work for remembering my bday! I loved the "PuglyBetty" card!
Thanks for all the phone calls, emails & text messages from everyone!! I have great friends!
Seriously getting older really isn't fun anymore!!

1st day at work......again!!

I started my new job today. I love working downtown. I felt like I was working in a big metropolitan city. There are a ton of places to go to lunch all within walking distance. I felt like a corporate executive working in a high rise building. I have my own office with a window!! I have a secretary!!
I am not looking forward to learning all the codes & programs and all the paperwork. Yea for government jobs & lunch breaks!! If you will be downtown, let me know & we can do lunch!!!
I was also offered another job working part time (1 day/wk) on call at a hospital doing psych evals....I am hoping to fit it into my schedule because its a great opportunity!

Turkey Day Weekend.....blah

We stayed here for Thanksgiving. We were hoping to get out of town to see family but it didn't work out. Adam had to work. For Turkey Day we went to my cousins here in town. By Friday I was incredibly sick....... body aches, headache, nausea, etc. It was awful! Fabulous diet.....I was able to fit into my favorite black pants by Sunday! Seriously it sucked....I haven't been that sick in a very long time and I remembered why I hate it.
I seriously hope everyone had a better holiday weekend than I did!!!