Sick

I consider myself to be pretty lucky. I work in public schools and I rarely get sick. When I do get sick, I am a complete baby about it. Really, I am only talking about colds, sore throats, etc. I can't remember the last time I threw-up (knock on wood). At the first sign that I may be getting sick I run to the store and stock up on anything and everything that will help. It's interesting how when I am sick it drives all other things from my mind. I mean today is the day of the new Counting Crows album and the only reason I remembered was because I looked at my blog. Isn't that pathetic?!?

When I do get sick, there are some things that I must have. First and foremost is Puffs tissues with lotion. I am a tissue snob. It's true. I carry my own box with me wherever I go. As a little side note: What's with those cheap tissues that schools have anyway? Where do they even buy that junk? Those things are awful! I know that my nose is going to get all red and irritated anyway, so I try to help it as much as possible. I also start taking decongestants as soon as possible. I think it helps. I ensure I get my daily dose of vitamin C (although I should probably do this all the time). Last time I had a cold I did the whole zycam thing. I think it helps but I bought the kind you let dissolve in your mouth...YUCK!!! They are sick. I've also done the aribourne thing. I also thought that it helped to keep my cold to a minimal duration. All I have to say is that it nice having a real job, so when you feel like your head is going to explode you can stay home and still get paid for it.

Counting Crows

Probably my favorite band ever is the Counting Crows. It's true. Their music is just classic. They have been around forever and they are still making albums. Their newest one comes out tomorrow! I'm pretty excited about that. I think it's amazing that they have been around so long and are still going strong. Unfortunately, I have only had the opportunity to see them in concert once. It was fantastic! I thought that since they are releasing a new album they might also go on tour...and they are...with Maroon 5...but not coming to Utah. Just my luck, right?!?

I think it would be a great reason to go on a road trip. They won't be to the West until later in the year, but I am going to start planning it now!

I also love Matchbox 20 and have been to most of their concerts here in Utah, and the Rob Thomas show as well. Those were some good times. Unfortunately, I didn't make it to the most recent of their shows. When I went to the Rob Thomas concert I had amazing seats! (Just because my friend and I had joined the fan-club and got to buy tickets early through that.) I think it made me a concert-snob though. If I have to sit further away than the 7th row on the floor, I don't want to go. Once you see Rob Thomas that close up, there's just no going back.

Music is good. What are your favorite groups/artists?

My Computer Hates Me...

So, my sweet new car has an auxiliary plug in it. Yeah, it's pretty cool. I thought that it would be a good time to transfer all of my CDs to my computer so I could put them on my ipod. Genius, right? Well, not really. I should have done it a long time ago, but I was lazy.

In the midst of this transfer, my itunes decides to stop working. Yeah, it's very strange, and super frustrating. I was working on it this afternoon, when it freaked out on me. I think I am going to have to restart my whole computer to get it to work again. I just don't know why my computer decided to hate me now. I've been good to it, really I have. I think it must be due to the fact that I started blogging. First Amber, then Tracy (although her computer has had issues for a while), and now me. I just hope the curse doesn't continue. Good Luck.

Sweet Thai Sticky Rice with Mango

This is my new love. Saturday night Sam and I went to Thai Chili Gardens for dinner. When we got there they sat us and then no one came to serve us. We sat there for a while...trying to decide if we just wanted to leave or complain or what. A waiter walked by, Sam stopped him, and the waiter asked, "Have you been helped yet?" We told him we hadn't and he said he would go see who our waiter was supposed to be.



He came back and said he didn't know who our waiter was supposed to be, but he would just go ahead and help us. (Yeah, we think he was supposed to be our waiter the whole time too.) They did give us a free appetizer for our trouble though. Anyway...on to the point. We ordered our food and it was good, but the best part was the dessert! We ordered some sticky rice with mango and oh-my-gosh! It was soooo good! If I wasn't so full I would have eaten another order of it by myself as well, instead I decided to get one to go.



After that delicious dessert I was determined to figure out how to make the sitcky rice dessert. Sam and I got online and found a recipe. It seemed simple enough, although we knew we would have to find an Asian market to get the right type of rice, etc. Yesterday we went to this sweet Asian market (1st Oriental Market in Orem) and found a 5 pound bag of rice for only $4 (that's as much as the dessert was at the restaurant). Yeah, we were pretty excited to try and make our own sticky rice. We tried it last night...it was our first attempt. It tasted fine, but turned out more like a rice pudding than the rice that we had at the restaurant. So, if you want to try a really good dessert, I would recommend that you go to Thai Chili Gardens on 800 North in Orem just west of State Street.

Pore Sucker

I have developed a new hobby...I guess you could call it that. A few days ago Sam and I were out shopping. We were looking for something specific and the store I thought would have it, didn't. They suggested we try Dollar Tree. So, we rushed over to Dollar Tree (it was almost nine and we assumed they would be closing soon). Although, they didn't have what we were looking for, it was an entertaining shopping trip. If you haven't been to a dollar store lately, and you have absolutely nothing better to do, you should go walk around one. It had been a while since I had been to the great edifice that is Dollar Tree.

We decided that since we were there we would walk around the store. We found a few interesting things to buy...sour nerds (a big box), these delicious sweet tart licorice rope things (they were cheaper here than other places we had bought them before), and there were other entertaining things. For example, did you know that Dollar Tree has a refrigerator section? Me neither. If you wanted you could buy some fish from the dollar store. The best thing that we bought was a pore cleaner. That's right, for only one dollar we were going to have the cleanest pores on the block!

Needless to say, the pore cleaner didn't work. But it did provide some fun for the night. When we got to my house, I opened the pore cleaner. There were some short instructions, most of which warned against over use saying the pore cleaner could cause "purple scars or spots" on your face. Let me explain. The pore cleaner was basically a handheld vacuum for your face. We did have a concern that we might get pore cleaner hickeys on our faces. To safe guard against that, Sam offered to try it on his stomach first. Once we got the pore cleaner turned on we gave it a go. It really didn't have enough suction to do anything. Mostly it just vibrated our skin. We had a few laughs over it, and then Sam tried to attack me with it. Later, when my brother came home, he also tried the pore cleaner. We were hoping he would get a face-hickey so we could tease his girlfriend, but it didn't turn out that way. All in all it was a great find. The shopping trip caused us to visit more dollar stores, and we did eventually find what we were originally looking for (thank you Honk's). And some other fun things along the way, none of which are as great as the pore sucker.

Spring Ahead!

I am so excited for the time change coming up...this weekend! I am ready for the warm weather and for the night to be light when I leave work. Everyday I work I look outside and say to my co-worker, "This is what it is going to be like at 6:00 next week." It's so great! I can't really say that I have a favorite season, but winter may be my least favorite. Although, I think it is important to have the cold to appreciate the warm. There are some good things about winter. I know that Tracy made a short list a while back...I was going to add to it, but wasn't in the blogging club at that time. So, I am going to say my favorite things about winter:

1. I LOVE coats/jackets...you have no idea unless you really know me. I have quite a collection. One down side...getting them all dry cleaned at the end of the season. I made two fabulous coat purchases this year. LOVE!!!

2. Your car is like a refrigerator...I keep a case of water bottles in my car and it's icy cold when I drink them during the winter. Sometimes they are a little too icy...

3. I like my winter shoes better than my summer shoes. Boots baby.

4. Snow is really pretty, just so long as it stays off the roads. That first snowfall really is spectacular. The world looks so white and clean. It's just nice.

5. There are long breaks from school during the winter (that means time off of work for me). I know summer vacation is longer, but the breaks during the year are really nice and refreshing.

I suppose those are my top 5 resons for liking the winter. I guess it would be nice if it could just be shorter. We've had a really harsh winter this year, something none of us are used to anymore. I am so ready for the spring!

This blog is dedicated to Tracy for telling me how to add pictures.

I am blog retarded...

Well, I've never really claimed to be tech savvy. In fact I've often said that I am computer illiterate. That fact was recently renewed as I tried to put a picture with my last post. I hear it's easy. But, I tried...and failed. It was going to be sweet too! I was going to have a picture of some pixie stixs. Since that didn't work out so well, you'll just have to imagine the picture. Awesome, right?!?

I might try again to add some pictures to my posts, after I have received some instruction from those who are more wise than me (yeah, that's basically anyone). I hope the content of my posts are enough for your entertainment.

Sugar...

For those of you that don't know, I LOVE sugar! Seriously, it is my addiction. Seriously. I tried living without it once and it was not good. I was grumpier than I usually am and it just created inner turmoil. Let me explain. It was a bet that I had going with my family, to see who could go the longest without eating sugar. Well, I have this stubborn streak in me, that is unyielding. So, there was the part of me that wanted to eat sugar and then there was the other side of me that was refusing to give in to the bet.

I lasted for about two months before the addiction took control and beat the stubborn half down. I vowed that I would never do that again. It was just not worth it. It's better to eat some sugar everyday in moderation than to go without for a couple months and then gorge on it later. So, here's my personal philosophy about sugar. The more pure it is, the better. I am not the biggest lover of chocolate. It's just not that good to me. I mean I do eat it, just not that often. I hardly ever choose to buy it either. I think a pixie stick is as close to pure sugar as you can get. Mmm...good stuff. It's not like I want to go eat sugar from the pantry or anything (although the occasional spoonful of brown sugar is delightful). I just like my candy to be super sugary, but also have a flavor.

I also love sour candy. I eat so much of it at a time that it makes my teeth hurt. Ever had that experience? It wears the enamel off your teeth and then it hurts to chew regular food, and sour candy too. It's not that fun. So, I try not to let it get to that point. Although, I've been bored at work lately and so I've eaten a lot of sugary-sour candy there. I am currently taking a break from the sour stuff. Ahh, the one true love of my life! Sugar!