Quit Stalking us!

Remember how about 10 months ago swine flu was all anyone talked about? It was all over the place. Don’t lie—every time you got a sniffle, you assumed it was the swine flu and ran to get meds. Well brothers and sisters, we have something far worse on our hands. This epidemic seems to be spreading across all age groups, ethnicities and socioeconomic classes… this epidemic is Justin Bieber. People are actually calling it “Bieber Fever”. That sounds like some sort of plague that will wipe out 1/3 of Europe to me.


Seriously, it’s out of control you guys! Justin Bieber is stalking all of us! This is truly the only logical explanation for how some little kid (who looks suspiciously like a tiny lesbian to me) could overtake the entire globe. He caused a riot in Australia, people! I can’t seem to turn on a TV or the radio without hearing one of his songs, or at very least, the mention of his name. He was on SNL the same night as big-timer Tina Fey for crying out loud ( side note: that sketch they did where he was her student and she was fantasizing about him—totes inappropes, but so funny)!

I am 25 years old and I am as much a victim as anyone else. I love me a good sing-a-long to “one less lonely girl”, but it is simply wrong that this 14 year old is singing that to me! This child can’t make me less lonely! That’s illegal in all 50 states! Stop it Justin Bieber! Stop it now! Please start singing about gym class or taking your crush to nikelcade or something. Don’t sing to me about age-inappropriate love! (example: “Many have called but the chosen is you. Whatever you want shawty, I’ll give it to you”).

I just need you to stop Justin. You stalking everyone is becoming a problem. And for the record, I still don’t even know how to pronounce his last name…Beeber? Byber? Bayber? I don’t friggin know…

Fund Raiser!!

Anyone who knows me knows that I often provide friends with treats to fatten them up. I find baking sort of therapeutic and just all around fun, so when I was watching Days of our Lives on my lunch break and saw an opportunity to help sick kids, I jumped on it! It isn't until May, but I really want to get the word out and hopefully make some money for this cause!
The organization is cookies for kid's cancer. Individuals such as myself host bake sales and give the profits to the organization for pediatric cancer research. Most people have had cancer effect their lives or the lives of loved ones, but when it effects the lives of innocent kids it makes it that much sadder. My Grandma has been kind enough to allow me to use her backyard for a party/bake sale to raise money. I really hope that everyone can make it!! Please bring friends and everyone and anyone you know! My Grandma's backyard is huge and can take the pressure!

When: Saturday May 8, 2010; 11:00 AM -2:00 PM
Where: My Grandma's house (ask for directions)
Why: Because you like cookies and helping sick kids

Bombay House knockoff

I love Indian food. I love it! I would eat at Bombay house on a regular basis if I could afford it... hint: if I could afford it. So a few weeks ago I decided to figure out how to make some Paneer Masala on my own. With confidence that I could do it, and an online recipe in hand, I made my way to the Indian market. Round one was a'ight, so I started messing around with the recipe. After a lot of experimenting and tweaking ( I have made probably 4 batches) I have perfected what I feel is the closest to Bombay House's Paneer Masala. I share my recipe with you now. Enjoy!

Paneer Masala

1 block of Paneer, chopped into squares (you can find this at the Indian market)
1 medium onion, chopped
1 T Garlic
1 T Coriander
1 t Garam Masala (again- Indian market)
1/2 t chili powder (more if you like it really spicy)
1- 28 oz. can of diced tomatoes, pureed
Oil - 3 tbsp
Salt - to taste

Heat a large skillet with 2 T of oil. When the oil is hot, add in the chopped Paneer and cook until browned. Drain the paneer onto a plate with a paper towel to absorb the access oil. Next add the remaining 1 T of oil to the same skillet and brown the chopped onion. Once browned, add the garlic, coriander, garam masala, and chili powder. Cook for about 1 minute or until well blended. Next add in the paneer and the tomatoe paste. Add salt to taste. Cover and let simmer for about 5 minutes. Serve over rice or with naan.

If you want it here's my heart. No strings attached.

I have recently taken up reading my old journals. At this time I wish to take my readers into the land of 15 year old girlhood as I recount the *NSYNC: No strings attached tour laced with "like's" and "totally's". Young girls aren't right.

June 17, 2000

Today Dick Magness got re-married! We invited Ciara and McCall to use our 2 extra tickets to *NSYNC. Of course they did! The wedding was at 6:30 and the concert was at 7:30. Andrew came over and talked w/ Me and the Gill girls! He was all, "I have that bike, only it's the glitz glam II!" to Kendra. They were all "nu-uh" and he finally admitted it was a lie. So at the wedding, in the middle of the ceremony, Rick Pratt said, "we need to get on with the ceremony, we have some girls that need to get to *NSYNC". I was soooo embarrassed!! We ran and changed after the ceremony and got to *NSYNC about 7:35. We fought our way through the crowds to get to the floor, but we needed wrist bands. Turns out that was the crowd! Well a guy came and told us they were doing the bands on the other side too. We got them and went all the way down to the 30th row smack dab in front of the stage!! There was this track going down the isle and it stopped exactly our row, we were all, "I wonder if they come out?" Well the 2 opening acts sang and then this huge cloth dropped that said *NSYNC no strings attached tour 2000 w/ their pics on it. For 20 minutes we waited after like 5 mins these bodies were pressed up against the cloth. Soon they disappeared and finally the song "Got no strings to hold me down" from Pinocchio came on. The cloth dropped and then we heard "baby you're not the only one" (pause) They flew down from the top. "You don't have to be afraid to fall in love" (pause). "I know that you've hurt in the past, but if you want it here's my heart, no strings attached" Fireworks shot to the beats. It was totally cool!!! Then towards the end JC was all, "let's get closer to the audience". They walked and stopped and JC was all, "Closer" until they were on the edge. The stage came up and they came out on the track! Where did they stop? Next to us!!! I was 3 people away from *NSYNC!!! I was SCREAMING! Justin smiled @ me. Chris did sign language I love you back @ me. JC looked and waved at me. Joey looked at my mom like she was nutz! (and she was) oh it was great! They sang "This I promise you" and went backstage and came out and sang "Bye, Bye, Bye". Fireworks shot off any they left! It ROCKED!!!!!!!!

Adios 2009!

So turns out 2009 was not my favorite year, but I made so many new friends and grew more than I knew I could. To celebrate the end of the year, I sent 2009 away in the best way possible: at Bear Lake with a big group of friends for a weekend of fun and relaxation! I'm going to get all cheese ball here for a sec and just say that I love my friends so much! I could not ask for more supportive/incredible/fun people to have in my life. Ok, I'm done being one of those people. I think the pictures from the trip will say more than any words can...



Clearly I was excited that it was midnight.



This is what I mean about the awesome friends.



Before...



After...4 of them ate that monstrosity. It was not right.



This is what the French call "silent karaoke" and it is awesome!


All in all, it was an ideal way to ring in the new year. I can't wait to see what 2010 has in store for me!

Deep In the Heart of Texas

I am coming at you live from Houston,TX. They say everything is bigger here, but so far I have not been impressed. I have spent more time lost because of the poorly-labeled street signs then I have doing anything else. Also, if I could have more than a 4' warning for interstate entrances, that would be super.

Anywho-- I got this bright idea to go on a scavenger hunt for the Houston temple. According to mapquest I was approximately 28 minutes (19 miles) from the temple. I thought it would be a nice little trip. WRONG! First of all, if that was 19 miles then I have been sorely mislead by every other place I've ever driven. Second, because of the poorly labeled signs, I took about 17 U turns, drove 10 extra miles and basically just got lost for 2 hours in the heart of Texas. The good news is that I saw some awesome things on my drive:
* I never drove more than 10 minutes without seeing some religious compound. We're talking HUGE gated compounds for the baptists, lutherans and any other religion you can think of...yet the LDS temple was nestled in a neighborhood and sucked to find.
* There was a nice fellow sitting on the hood of his truck, parked on the side of the road with a fishing pole. On the end of that fishing line was a shrimp. On the side of his truck was a wooden sign announcing shrimp for sale. It was so good to see.
* More trucks than I can count.
* A house in The Woodlands that barely counted as a house. There were sheets hanging out to dry though.
* A huge plantation for priests to retreat to. Kind of like the bat cave.

Long story short, I made it to the temple finally. It ended up being a really great experience, but getting there was not a party.

The Last Hurrah of Summer

Well folks, the summer is coming to a close. I had a lot of rad times this year and I think its safe to say this year's summer beat last years summer by quite a bit. Yesterday I had a chance to go out on the lake for probably the last time this season. Sean Obrien was kind enough to take a bunch of us from the ward out wakeboarding/skiing/wake surfing. We could not thank him enough for doing that for us!! We met up at 6:00 AM (meaning we were awake before the sun was) and he took us to Jordanelle. The water was glass for the first few hours, but the weather was kinda gnarly. There was a mix of sunshine, rain and the most vibrant double rainbow we had ever seen. I could not have asked for a better Saturday or a better way to close out the summer!


This photo does not even do justice to this rainbow.


A great group to be out with!


The teensie bit of sun that we saw.