2009 - The End

It's been a crazy year. A good one but crazy. I know it's totally cliche to say this, but I can hardly believe that 2009 is almost over. What is it about getting older that seems to make time move on fast-forward?

Anyway, I hope you've all had a great year, and if not, maybe things will get better (I'm keeping my fingers crossed). I hope 2010 brings you happiness and good things.

And if the fact that we're moving into 2010 hasn't freaked you out, how about this - this guy turns 50 today.



My mind is officially blown.

Happy New Year, folks.

A Grand Adventure

You know how it's so fun to be single at Christmas when everything is all about families? Oh, you don't? Well, sometimes the most festive time of year kind of sucks. So what does a single gal do? She gets together with two of her best friends, and they create a fabulous adventure.

Case in point.

Christmas Eve: Check into Grand America. Have dinner. See some lights. Hot tub. Watch some movies. Have a most awesome time.

Our beautiful room

Deb trying to get out onto our balcony.

Yep. That's right. Our balcony.

Meg showing off our stationery, etc at our desk.
Meg showing how awesome our beds are for jumping.

Deb reading up on all the hotel amenities.

Me being a dork, basically.

Deb trying a "dry" run in the tub.

The outer room of the bathroom. Oh, and us.

Meg checking out the minibar that none of us would touch.

Who has an extra $50 for a coke?

Enjoying some reading before we head out to dinner.

Meg takes reading so seriously.

After we had some delicious Thai food, we headed to Temple Square to see the lights.

Hands down, the best picture of the night.

The fablous trio on Temple Square

The lights at our hotel

When we returned to our room, the maids had already take care of the turn-down service. Wasn't that so nice of them?

Plus, we got a great additional treat - cookies and milk!

Christmas: Wake up to a beautiful morning. Get a stocking full of goodies from the hotel. Order room service. Go home in pajamas. Have a most awesome time.

We ordered room service. What wonderful treats could await us under those covers?

Yummy yummy yummy. You are sad you didn't get to eat with us. Trust me.

And so went our grand adventure at the Grand America. It was a very merry Christmas for us. I hope it was for all of you as well.

Them, we liked

And so it has ended.

How will I get my fill of hot British men running about the forest and leather-clad baddies now?

Sigh.

Christmas List

Dear Santa,

I know that I already have a lot of good stuff, and I probably shouldn't be asking for anything this year, but may I put in just a couple of requests?

1) A nice DVD to watch in what little spare time I seem to have would be nice. Here's one that could be fun:


2) I would love to have a year with no home repairs. I know that means I could be setting myself for a horrible 2011, but after this year, I'll take that chance.

3) And lastly, could you send me a nice, sweet, smart fellow like Joseph Gordon-Levitt? I would just like someone to dote on me once in a while, not much else.

Or you could just send me the real Joseph Gordon-Levitt. I wouldn't say no to that.

Thanks, Santa. I've tried to be good, so if you could take care of any or all of this, I'd be oh so appreciative.

Merry Christmas.

Marie

Creeeepy

I mean no disrespect by this, but I'm still laughing at this (go to #1).

And slightly disturbed.

Creepy.

A Conversation with A Cute Guy aka Why Marie will never get married

I had a carrier rep stop by my office today. Usually, we meet with them in the conference room, but when I went out to meet him, he just kept walking right into my office. Whatever. No big deal, right? Yeah.

Except.

He's definitely the best-looking single rep we work with. And so naturally I get kind of nervous and fidgety around him. And my dirty hair is up in a pony-tail. And I had a peanut butter sandwich sitting on my desk. As well as a collection of plastic bugs everywhere (a wonderful gift from my niece and nephew for my birthday).

So, I'm sure he was looking at things, with me fidgeting away making a great impression, thinking, 'Why do they have a 12-year old working for them?'

Le sigh. C'est la vie, n'est pas?

As my sister so kindly pointed out, the only way it could have been worse is if my screen-saver had come on with pictures of kittens dressed up as people.

Thank heavens I hate cats.

So Much for One Girl

Thanksgiving really is the best holiday ever. I love that I get to reflect, in a more concentrated way, on all the wonderful things I have in my life. It really is so much for just one girl.

This year I spent time with my family members who live east of the Mississippi. I flew into Ohio and met up with my sister and her family. I was oh so very excited to see these sweet girls:

After a couple of days chilling in OH, we road tripped it to NY to see the folks. The girls did a pretty good job on the drive. Although I do wish I had a dollar for every time Squish asked, "Are we in New York yet?"

Ems and I were seat buddies.

We got to Palmyra with no problems. And even though they had two grandkids to love on, I think my parents may have even noticed that I was there. They took us to all the important sites there are to see.

Here are some shots of them:

Hill Cumorah

Smith Farm

Palmyra Temple

(the view from the Smith Farm)

Grandin Building

(where the Book of Mormon was first published)

Four Churches

There's an intersection in Palmyra with a church on each corner. It's the only place in the world like this. Look it up. It's in the Guiness Book of World Records.

Whitmer Farm

Sacred Grove

(This is literally my parents' backyard)

Sacred Grove

Sacred Grove

Cool toad I almost stepped on in the Sacred Grove

And here are some of my favorites from my trip:

Sweet Midgets, I love pickles.

I don't know. For some reason this cracked me up.

Thanksgiving dinner being so much for Emma she couldn't even keep her eyes open.

Such a sweet, cute girl. Love her.

My sister rocks. And I do too, a little.

(And my awesome bro-in-law rocks for helping me figure out how to take black and white pictures with my camera.)

My mom

My dad

I had a blast giving thanks, eating yummy food, staying in a cool motel with a cigarette vending machine, and seeing some of my awesome family.

Man, I'm glad I called that guy

You know that scene at the end of "Billy Madison" where Steve Buscemi's character shoots Brad Whitford's character just as Brad's character is about to kill Billy? Right after, Billy says, "Man, I'm glad I called that guy" because he's so glad Steve Buscemi's character saved him.

Well, I had a somewhat similar experience today. No, no one was shooting at me, but I did get a flat tire while driving on the freeway. Yuck. Plus, it has been snowing practically all day today. I called my office to see if one of the fine gentlemen who work with me would come help me change my tire. My great colleague, Josh, showed up and did a bang-up job. And he seemed so happy to be helping me. Nice people are the best.

Man, I'm glad I called that guy.

And . . .

The McRib is back in all its fake meat glory.

I am totally happy about this.

Eat Up - Time to Celebrate

Holidays are great, aren't they? There's usually some kind of celebration involved, and you can always work in food. And speaking of food, did you know that there are lots {and I mean, lots} of holidays for food? You may recall that in a previous post I mentioned National Oatmeal Day. As I was looking things up about this holiday, I came across a site that lists out most of the food holidays.

For kicks and giggles, I scanned through the list checking out some of the holidays - National Cheese Lovers' Day, National Waffle Day, National Pigs-in-a-Blanket Day, etc. As I was scanning, I noticed that one of my sister's birthdays is National Angel Food Cake Day. Nice. So, I decided to check out some other family member's birthdays. Not everyone else had a food holiday fall on their birthday. The only other ones I could find were another sister {National Guacamole Day} and a brother {He has two! National Hamburger Day and National Chocolate Milk Day}. Such wonderful foods to celebrate along with your birth, right?

Well, of course I had to check for myself. What would it be? If all were right with the universe, it would be doughnuts. But I knew it wasn't. The day before my birthday is National Lemon Chiffon Cake Day. Yum. The day after is National Clams on the Half Shell Day. Love me some seafood. Could I get something as delicious?

Something I love? Or even just like?

Maybe hot chocolate? Or gum even?

Nope.


March 30 - National Turkey Neck Soup Day

*Sigh*
This says so many things about me, you don't even know.