The Sound of Music...

...is my favorite movie of all time, so I just had to post this! It's at a train station in Antwerp, Belgium. I can't figure out if these are professional dancers or just the public, but either way, it will make you smile!

Bullseye!

There must be a huge bullseye on my car. This is my fourth car accident in which someone has decided to run right into me. Many of you know about the previous three, which led to a wonderful 18-month lawsuit. Luckily, I'm done and over with that crap. Luckily, no one was in the car with me. And luckily, HAD Joe been in the car with me, he wouldn't be suing me.

I was just leaving my office and headed to see a client. (Thank God I didn't take a State car. It was Friday, so there were plenty available, but I was just too lazy to deal with that.) I had a green arrow to turn left onto southbound Bangerter Hwy from westbound Parkway Blvd . This kid was FLYING up northbound Bangerter and ran his red light. Said he "didn't see it". As I was making my left turn, I saw him coming at me, so I hit the gas to avoid the impact. I didn't quite make it out of his way -- he hit my driver's side rear tire. But thank GOD I saw him, because if I hadn't sped up, the impact probably would have been right on the driver's side door! My car spun around 180 degrees right in the middle of that busy intersection. Thank God no one ELSE hit me!

So who do you think I called first?
a. 911
b. Joe
c. my mom
d. my client who I was headed to see

And the answer is...d! What an idiot, right? I called her, CRYING, to tell her I couldn't make it. I was so embarrassed, but I was already running 5 minutes late, and I didn't want her to think I stood her up. Then I tried to call 911, but Joe was calling ME at that exact moment, so he got to hear what happened before the dispatcher. The cops were almost there by the time I called 911!

The kid who hit me admitted he ran the light, and he got a ticket. Plus, a witness stopped to tell the cop what happened (I'll remember to stop next time I see an accident because that was really nice of her.) The poor kid was really scared, and his girlfriend was crying and yelling at him. I said to Joe, "I feel bad for him," and Joe said, "Me, too." This is why I love Joe. (For those of you who know about the previously-mentioned-person-who-sued-me's-reaction-to-car-accidents, you know what I'm talking about.

My car was certainly not drive-able. I could barely drive it out of the intersection to the side of the road. The tow truck bent my axle when he put it on the tow bed, so we'll see if it's totaled or not. Part of me would like to buy a new car right now, but the other part of me says, "No way! Your car is paid off and it's sooo nice not to have a car payment! Plus you have a wedding to pay for!" So we'll see what happens, but in the meantime, I have a nice Pontiac G6 rental car.

Rear driver's side tire (and the culprit's car in the background)

My back seat. This stuff was MOSTLY in a nice stack before I got hit. Notice the orange and yellow box -- the lid got knocked off and pictures flew everywhere.

Resolution

I admit, I have been horrible at keeping up the blog lately. I'm blaming Facebook. But I am recommitting myself to blogging, now that I have a sweet new camera, school is almost over, and I have a big vacation to document! Here's my one disclaimer: I used to blog to entertain you all, but now I am going to blog more for my own benefit. I have a HORRIBLE memory (ask Joe or Kara) and I want to be able to remember all these fun things I'm doing! So if my new blog style bores you, sorry, but no one is making you read it.

Spring Break Day 5

A whole day at sea! What can we possibly find to do.....?

Art auction: This would have been interesting if the first hour hadn't been devoted to browsing through all the pieces! I just wanted to see how fast the auctioneer could talk and laugh at rich fools as they threw away all their money. At least we had free champagne while we waited. And I discovered my favorite new artist: Itzchak Tarkay (pronounced Eat-Sock Tark-Eye). His work is AMAZING! Too bad the watercolor landscape I wanted started at $12,000.

Horse races: Remember that little pony-head-on-a-stick you had when you were little? Who ever thought six of these ponies could come together to create the MOST FUN I HAVE EVER HAD ON A CRUISE SHIP?! You bet $1 on whichever horse feels lucky, and then wait for your dice to be rolled! Sounds stupid, but I swear to you, this is more edge-of-your-seat action than the NBA playoffs. My horse won the first round, Joe's won the second round, and unfortunately, neither of our horses won the final bonus round :(

Gambling: Joe stopped by the casino for some three-card poker action. He'd been lucky in Vegas, but just to outdo himself, he had to hit a three of a kind! That pays 30:1, you know. His single hand paid for my gambling all week. Good job, baby!

Hyponist: If you haven't seen one, you have to go! I laughed so hard that my sides hurt. It was an "adult's only" show and the tasks included:
-- Whenever the hypnotist looked at one of the women, her panties were to immediately begin vibrating
-- The participants were told that they had an extreme case of poison ivy on their asses, and the only way to relieve the itching was to scratch against the person next to them
-- The participants were told that the room was getting hotter than an oven, so they all began stripping off their clothes (underwear stayed on). Then, when getting dressed again, they couldn't find the arm or neck holes in their shirts, so they got tangled in their clothes until directed otherwise.
-- Whenever the hypnotist chose one participant to dance with, all the other participants were to become extremely jealous. But they were glued to their chairs and their chairs were glued to the floor. You should have seen these people FREAKING OUT because they couldn't stop their lover from dancing with someone else.

It was a great day at sea and a great trip overall! Off to bed for a looooong drive back to Salt Lake tomorrow!

Spring Break Day 4

We woke up in Ensanada, Mexico, which is about 130 miles south of San Diego. We took a city tour and learned so much! I won't bore you with all the details, but you can learn all about Ensenada here. Our tour guide took us to the world's third-largest blow hole, "La Bufadora". It wasn't blowing very strong that day, so here's a pic I found online of a big blow (that's what she said)! There were tons of shops near the blow hole, especially pharmacies. I have been to Mexico plenty of times, but I never remember being offered Cialis, Viagra, and Prozac every 5 feet! I would have bought some Botox if I knew how to inject it into myself. We also tried to find Joe a wedding ring because we thought it would make for a good story, but they only had silver and he wants "black metal", whatever that is.

This was our only chance to grab some authentic Mexican food, so we tried a taco combo platter: shrimp, fish, and carne asada. They were AWESOME, and they came with free margaritas! Have you ever had a Mexican margarita? They are nothing like margaritas here -- they are made with Squirt, tequila, and lime juice! Also, the beer is much cheaper onshore than on the ship, so we had to take advantage of that by buying a "bucket-o-beer." We didn't want to carry around all 6 bottles in a big bucket of ice, so the waiter was nice enough to pour each of our 3 bottles into HUGE Big-Gulp-type cups. It was so ghetto and awesome! And we could drink on the bus. It was like the Wendover FunBus except with way better views.

Next, we visited Santa Tomas Winery in downtown Ensenada. The tour was pretty disappointing; it wasn't nearly as cool as the tequila factory we toured in Puerto Vallarta last year. They just showed us a big warehouse full of oak barrels and antiquated equipment, and then tried to sell us a bunch of wine (which we bought, duh!)

We got back to the ship just in time for Formal Night dinner. Can I just say how RIDICULOUS this event is? Every cruise does it, and it is just as stupid every time. Joe and I put all this time and effort into packing our suit/cocktail dress and getting all gussied up, just to walk into the dining room to find half the people in jeans! And the ship staff does nothing about it. If they are going to advertise formal night, they need to enforce it. Why should I look all pretty while other people in sweat pants get to stuff themselves silly?

Off to bed for a day-at-sea tomorrow...

Spring Break Day 3

Joe and I made the 5 hour drive from Vegas to San Diego this morning. I had this really weird experience with California traffic. It's as if I were expecting to just drive straight up to the cruise ship. I didn't factor in all the towns, freeways, and cars along the way. I had to pull over and make Joe drive because I was having so much anxiety -- but that just made things WORSE! He was tailgating people at 90 MPH, and his excuse was, "That's how all Californians drive. If you leave room, people will cut into your lane." Good thing I don't get car sick. I just had to focus on the Kindle or counting all the Chili's restaurants (I think I saw 15 between Vegas and San Diego).

I have to say that I'm VERY impressed with Carnival Cruise Lines. This was my ninth cruise, but my first one with Carnival. Despite showing up without any documents (we are slackers), we were on the ship in less than 20 minutes. And another cool thing we figured out for this cruise -- you can carry on one bottle of wine person. THAT saved us probably $100!

After checking out our room and unpacking, we toured the ship, which took about 3 minutes because it was pretty tiny. Then we headed straight for trivia. Here are some of the stupid questions they asked (answers at the bottom). We probably would have won but we got there late and missed the first few questions.

1. A bear is standing in a house. All 4 sides of the house face south. What color is the bear?
2. An electric train is going westbound at 50 MPH. The wind is blowing 50 MPH to the east. What direction will the smoke from the train go?
3. A plane crashes on the border of the United States and Canada. In which country will the survivors be buried?

We met a really cool couple from Mesa, Arizona, Dan and Lissa. We had dinner with them every night and hung out with them a couple other times on the cruise. Lissa got 2nd place in the ship's slot tournament. And on the second day, Dan and Lissa got engaged! It was really fun to share that with them. We're going to stay in touch through Facebook.

The food was really good on the ship. I had seafood every night. But the best part was DESSERT. I had the same dessert every night on the ship, and guess what it was? A cheese plate! It was amazing!! It was an assortment of cheeses like Port Salut, Brie, Gouda, Imported Swiss, and Danish Bleu. Best thing I ate all week.

After dinner we hung out in the Casino. I just kept losing all the money Joe won (just like in Vegas). We ended up about even after the whole trip. The ship had one of those cool new dealer-less card-less poker tables. It's a cool idea, but Joe didn't really like playing on it.

We checked out the dancing/singing show but it sucked, so we went to bed. Tomorrow, Ensenada...

Quiz answers:
1. White (if all 4 sides of the house are facing south, then the house must be located on the North Pole, so it's a polar bear)
2. Electric trains don't make smoke
3. Neither -- "survivors" won't be buried

Spring Break Day 2

Joe and I had all day in Vegas. We went to the strip mall, and sadly, I kept finding myself in the same stores that we have in Salt Lake -- Charlotte Russe, Nike, Bath and Body Works, etc. It was sad to realize how unoriginal and cheap I am.

We went back to the Strip to find some action. For those of you who have been to Vegas recently, you may have noticed a new hotel going up between the Bellagio and the Monte Carlo. We found out that it is going to be part of the new 67-acre CityCenter, "an intoxicating blend of culture, community, and creativity." It will have hotels, condos, casinos, shops, restaurants, etc. and it opens sometime next year. It looks really amazing and it will be fun to have something new to check out in Vegas!

We've been meaning to check out Freemont Street so we finally made it down there on this trip. Unfortunately we went during the day so we didn't get to see the amazing lights, but we DID find some cheap drinks and tables! Joe won probably $300 just by hitting "black" a bunch of times, which was a good thing cause I kept losing it all on "odd".

I used to hate gambling, but I've started to like it after a few winning-weekends in Wendover with my favorite new game, PaiGow Poker! Play it here for free. I think I won back most of what I lost in Roulette.

We went back to the Strip for dinner. I'd heard about this place in the Excaliber that I REALLY wanted to check out -- Dick's Last Resort. Their website says, "From Rug-rats to Old Farts, from High-Class to No-Class, from the Top of the Food Chain, to the Bottom of the Barrel, it’s FUN FOR ALL AND ALL IN FUN FOR THOSE WHO DARE TO ENTER! Sit back and watch, or join in the fun. Dick’s has always been known for its outrageous, surly, energetic waitstaff who inflict humor upon our guests. Our atmosphere makes everyone feel like they’re temporarily breaking all the rules…and getting away with it." Basically, I heard that they treat you like crap! But, once we got there, the wait was 2 hours and the menu looked shitty, so we ended up with Mexican again. HA I'm addicted.

Then it was off to another early (2:00 a.m.) bedtime so we could drive to San Diego in the morning!

Spring Break Day 1

St. Patrick's Day

Joe and I arrived in Vegas around 7:00 p.m. (we got a late start after a long night of drinking and one nasty hangover). We stayed at the Tropicana, which I would highly recommend for the following reasons:
1. cheap as hell
2. great location
3. mirrors on the ceiling!!!

This was my "free week" after a month of eating healthy to lose weight for the wedding, so we headed straight for Mexican food! We ended up at Gonzalez y Gonzalez at the New York New York. I have this goal to find the best chile relleno in Salt Lake, and let me just say, if this place were in Salt Lake, it would win by leaps and bounds. This chile relleno was amazing, not to mention the awesome salsa and the Dos Equis ON TAP!

We spent the rest of St. Patty's just walking up and down the Strip to check out the crazies. The Venetian dyed their river green, but it was too dark to get a good pic. There was reportedly a leprechaun wandering around letting people pick prizes from his pot of gold, but we never found him! Otherwise, the Strip was like Sodom and Gomorrah. I seriously thought I would turn to stone after I saw the people dancing nearly naked in front of Margaritaville. I like crazy, but this was even beyond me. I ended up just taking some lame pics of Strip and going to bed early (well early in Vegas means 3:00 a.m.)

Here are some of the pics I took:

The BellagioThe Paris

The MirageThe MGM

Joe LOVES getting his pic taken (The Venetian)

Check out the sweet Leprechaun tux (and the hottie wearing it)

My Favorite Things

Well everyone has been doing these "favorite things" blogs lately, so I thought I would jump on the bandwagon. Plus, it's been forever since I posted a new blog, and I don't want to lose readers, so I just went for the first idea I had ;)

Clean and Clear Oil Absorbing Sheets
My friend Stephany introduced me to these things while I was visiting her in Texas. I had seen Oil Blotter Sheets, you know the ones that are the texture of a toilet seat cover, but these Clean and Clear ones are different and so much better! They feel kind of rubbery with a fine powdery-texture all over, sort of like a dental dam (think dentist visit or safe oral sex). You would never think these things absorb oil, but MAN, do they! In fact, by the time you are done blotting your whole face, the thing will be see-through with all the oil it collects! It sounds gross, I know, but wouldn't you rather that oil be sitting in your trash can that on your face?





Bath and Body Works Instant Aromatherapy Oils
I had a coupon for a free body care item with any $10 purchase -- you know the ones -- so I picked up two of these the other day. They are normally $10, but are on sale for $5 this week. The bottles are cute and compact, and you just roll a bit on whenever you need a pick-me-up! I bought Headache Relieve (peppermint and geranium oil) and Optimism (jasmine and tuberose) and they are awesome! It might just be a placebo effect, but I swear they make me happier. They also have ones for Cold and Flu, Energy Boost, Sleep Sound, and Stress Relief.



Amazon Kindle
OK, OK, so it's not new. But I LOVE IT MORE THAN ANYTHING, so I'm going to make a shameless plug for it. I figure the more people who own Kindles, the more demand for electronic books, and the more choice I will have. So if you haven't seen mine: it's an electronic book reader, holds up to 200 books in just 10 ounces, comes with wireless network coverage so you can download a new book whenever you want, and uses eInk technology so there is virtually NO eye strain like on a laptop or PDA. New releases and best sellers are just $9.99, and most older books are cheaper. I can't tell you how much money this thing has saved me in the last year! Instead of $200 Barnes and Noble binges, I just download a couple cheap books, and put the rest in the wedding fund. It has paid for itself many times over. It's a must-have for any serious reader.



DecalGirl
This follows nicely after the Kindle rant...I recently bought matching skins for all my electronic devices: Kindle, BlackBerry, Zune, and laptop. What is it about girls that we just have to have everything matching? And the coolest thing is that they all come with a code so you can download a matching background!!



Today's DOD (Deal of the Day)
You've heard me talk about Whiskey Militia and Steep and Cheap. Then came Woot and Shnoop. Now, find those and dozens of other discount websites all in one convenient place! Check out my most recent purchase -- the Infinite Dress!

Botox
I know, I know, I'm shallow. I only did it because I'm getting married in October, and I don't want a frown line in every picture for all eternity. But shallow or not, this shit is AWESOME! Not only is my frown line gone, but my forehead DOES NOT SWEAT. It's amazing. Maybe I'll get some in my armpits next...


Private Practice
I've been watching this show for a couple seasons, but I just recently figured out why I love it so much more than the other stupid shoes I watch (namely, The Bachelor). Every episode presents an ethical dilemma, and the doctors all argue for or against their position. For example, one recent episode was about parents who don't immunize their kids because they think it causes autism (which is NOT true by the way) and the consequences it can have for their own families and for the community at large. But the show doesn't just take one position -- it always present all sides of the issue, so I could actually empathize with the mom who REALLY BELIEVED that her son got autism from his MMR shot (even though she's wrong and stupid).


Joe
I just have to tell everyone that he cleaned our whole condo for the Superbowl Party while I was at work on Saturday. He didn't just pick up -- he vacuumed, did the dishes, and EVEN CLEANED THE BATHROOM. He is amazing and I can't wait to be married to him.

Proud to be a Ute

What a lovely school song we have:

Utah Man

VERSE

I am a Utah man, sir, and I live across the green.
Our gang, it is the jolliest that you have ever seen.
Our coeds are the fairest and each one's a shining star.
Our yell, you hear it ringing through the mountains near and far.

CHORUS
Who am I, sir? A Utah man am I

A Utah man, sir, and will be till I die; Ki! Yi!

We're up to snuff; we never bluff,
We're game for any fuss,
No other gang of college men
dare meet us in the MUSS.
So fill your lungs and sing it out and
shout it to the sky,
We'll fight for dear old Crimson,
for a Utah man am I.

VERSE
And when we prom the avenue, all lined up in a row,
And arm in arm and step in time as down the street we go.
No matter if a freshman green, or in a senior's gown,
The people all admit we are the warmest gang in town.

CHORUS

VERSE
We may not live forever on this jolly good old sphere,
But while we do we'll live a life of merriment and cheer,
And when our college days are o'er and night is drawing nigh,
With parting breath we'll sing that song:
"A Utah Man Am I".

CHORUS