Happy Thanksgiving

aaron and i are starting a new tradition this year. it is reminiscent to our birthday tradition.

stealing the idea from a friend's family, at someone's birthday, we go around the room and each person has to say why they love the birthday boy or girl. it's super fun for 2 reasons.

1. you hear some really neat stuff.
2. it's the best when someone who doesn't know the birthday boy/girl very well is in attendance and you watch it get awkward when they try to come up with something.

maybe i'm the only one who thinks that is fun.

anyway, we've adapted that tradition to thanksgiving. each person will go around the room and say one reason they are thankful for every person in the room. i like it!

this year we won't be with family (well, blood family anyway), rather crashing a very large non-blood family party, so i don't think we'll impose our tradition on them. aaron and i will begin the tradition with 2 and hopefully have more to share it with next year.

i hope you all have a wonderful thanksgiving and take the time to think about all you have to be thankful for.
the computer you're reading this on!
the eyes you're using to read it!
having something to eat today!
the clothes you're wearing!
i could go on!
i feel so blessed this year and am thankful to my Heavenly Father for all He has given me.

too good to be true

a le creuset store is coming to primm.

primm. you know, my favorite place on earth?

the outlet mall where the only WS outlet on the west coast resides?

the town where i'm forcing aaron to stay while we drive out to utah for Christmas so i can shop at the WS in the morning?

the place where the hotels slightly terrify me, but i'm staying there anyway with the back up plan of sleeping in my car in front of the WS store?

i didn't think this mall could get better. actually, i know almost nothing about this mall because i haven't stepped more than 50 feet into it. why would i? the BR and WS outlets are next to the door. i've always blown my spending limit after those 2 places.

however, my knowledge has just gained a gem. A LE CREUSET STORE IS COMING!

it will be open for black friday. oh, to spend black friday at this mall. i can't even imagine.

but, the whole point is that i will be shopping for amazingly beautiful cookware (yes, dutch oven, i'm coming for you) just before Christmas and now i can bargain shop between the two stores!

the wonder of it all.

your vote, please

update to the post below...

the link is not working for some people. perhaps there is a campaign to shun aaron's video or the response has been overwhelming. either way, not being able to vote is not cool. apparently you can 'like' the video from aaron's facebook page and it helps. i know nothing about this since i act like facebook does not exist. however, if you remember to check back in and try to vote later today or tomorrow, we'd love it! thanks!


aaron has entered a contest to win a $5,000 scholarship. i surely don't need to tell you how far that would go toward school. if we won, i'd probably pee my pants while screaming. too much info, but i wanted to emphasize how much this would mean.

he made a video and made it to the finals.

the problem? so did 50 other people that we need to beat.

how do we solve the problem? that's where you come in! the person with the most online votes is the winner. simple.

even better? you don't have to actually watch the video. in fact, i ask, beg, plead with you not to. i am in that video and it almost gave me a nervous breakdown. it tested our marriage. if i had any idea that all my friends and family would be watching me in it, i never would have agreed, but it's a bit too late now.

here's the link. all you do is click, rate it 5 stars, submit your rating, and you're done.

super quick and easy!

please vote today. voting closes on the 27th, so go now!!

also, if you do watch the video, please know a few things. i had flown that day. it was late at night. i was extremely tired. i'd been up since very early and got almost no sleep the night before. i was ambushed. i hate the camera. i was on the verge of crying. i had flown that day. also, i hate the camera. like, more than any human possibly could. i just thought it was my duty to prepare you for the horror that awaits you when i flash on the screen.

new soup recipe

it rained all day on saturday and i knew i would want a hearty soup.

this recipe made the cut because i had all the ingredients on hand.

i have high culinary standards.

it turned out to be a fabulous recipe that i will put in heavy winter rotation.

here's what i like about it:
1. it is a great base recipe that you can alter as you'd like.
2. the creaminess and thickening is achieved from a roux, rather than using heavy cream. i used non-fat milk.
3. it is super simple and quick to throw together.
4. it tastes delicious! aaron approved and he is weary of my soups because i usually fly by the seat of my pants, add so much yummy stuff that it turns into all chunks, no liquid.

try it today!

*the adjustments i made were- take out the meat (big surprise), add roasted broccoli and other veggies, used broth rather than bullion cubes and water, left the skin on my potatoes, added a bit of cheddar. have fun with it!!

emoticon madness

let me clearly state, i am not a fan of emoticons.

:) or :( or ;) - i do not enjoy. the one with the tongue sticking out? that really gets my goat. in fact, before i was married, i wouldn't go out with a new guy based solely on the fact that he would text or email me an emoticon. they were serious business.

do lots of people i love and adore use them? absolutely.

but, do i cringe every time i see one? you betcha.

i've never confessed this on a mass scale because i don't want to make emoticon lovers feel bad. so, all you emoticon people who send them to me, don't stop now. i'll know why and things will get awkward.

this is all fascinating back story to my present situation.

aaron knows my emoticon disdain, so he regularly emails them to me. but not the ones you can create on the keyboard, rather the ones you can insert in gmail. they are intense. various colors, movements, graphics to choose from give the sender a smorgasbord of feelings to convey.

the problem is (which is my original issue with emoticons) they don't always convey what you're trying to say and a lot can get lost in translation.

case in point; i began sending them back to aaron when i really was annoyed. then temptation got the better of me and yesterday i wrote him a riddle, mostly comprised of the gmail emoticons. i was so excited for him to unlock the riddle and respond, but i never heard back. later that night, while he was in class, i text him and asked if he received my riddle. here is his reply:

"do you mean the one with a pile of poop in it?"

i dropped my phone. i was horrified and i paused. i would never send a pile of poop. he's totally mistaken. i sent a beehive with cute bees buzzing around it. i text him so and his reply:

"nope, that was a pile of poop with flies swarming it"

could it be? i started laughing so hard i couldn't function. no wonder he didn't reply. i thought it was magical that gmail would have a beehive. how sweet.

and that, folks, takes me back to my original point of why i hate emoticons. once again, i'm firmly planted in the 'i don't use those' camp. it feels good to be back.

you can judge for yourself. i've posted the beehive/poop below. in an email, the bees/flies are moving around. what do you think?