CHOPPED

Someone once said, “The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach”.

That person didn’t have what Dave and I had for dinner tonight.

After what had seemed like hours of perusing all our recipe books I told Dave that I had had enough!

(This type of decision-making process is not limited to creating a menu. Sometimes we will surf Netflix for an hour or more on our weekend evenings in attempts to select the very best movie. To Dave this approach is in line with “the finer things of life”, to me it’s maddening)

In an effort to move things along (and because I know Dave can’t turn down a challenge) I declared that tonight was “Chopped Night”.



(Chopped is a Food Network TV show we occasionally watch where contestants have to create a dish out of ingredients given to them in a basket in a certain amount of time)

I told Dave he could use anything we had in the house but he couldn’t look at any recipe books and dinner had to be completed in an hour.

Now, all of you who think that I just sat idly by; watching him run, sweat, and pull his hair out, well… you would be right.

Looking back, oh how I wish I had stepped in and saved him. Oh how I wish I would have said something. Oh how I wish I had pictures!

Dave’s final dish had three items: Chicken, sauce, and rice.

He’s a pro at making rice.

The chicken held promise. But I became more and more concerned as the list on ingredients grew:

Chicken

Salt

Pepper

Thyme

Oregano

Basil

Garlic

Butter

AMPLE amount of Lemon Juice

Lime Juice

Sprinkled with Parmesan cheese

Dave has never been one to be burdened by measuring. So all ingredients were thrown in a glass baking dish haphazardly.

Although the chicken had me concerned, it was the homemade sauce that really struck fear into my heart:

Cream of Chicken Soup

AMPLE amounts of Lemon juice

Lime Juice

Milk

Corn Starch

Ginger…

Buffalo wing sauce…

And…

Maple Syrup…

Before it all came out of the oven Dave hung his head and pronounced himself- CHOPPED.

All I can say is that Dave makes one great batch of rice.

Black Crickets, Purple Death

Liz's sister Jane came over to our apartment bring Liz some soup the other day. I told her she might not want to come in, unless she wants the Plague.

Jane said, "I don't mind a bunch of crickets." I gave her a blank stare. She gave me a quizzical eyebrow raise.

Turns out, we were both thinking of different plagues.

Jane was talking about the Biblical plagues. Y'know, the plagues featured in The Ten Commandments and The Mummy (and I guess the Bible... in the book of...Judges? Chronicles II?)

I was thinking about the Black Death. The plague that wiped out half of Europe. The plague that would also go on to ravage North Africa and, if Wikipedia is to be believed, was an inspiration for the song Ashes, Ashes, We All Fall Down. Ok, I made up that last part about the ashes song. It's not on wikipedia, but I swear I've heard it somewhere. Pause while I go edit the post it on Wikipedia.

(Edited the wiki post. So credible, that Wikipedia)

Back to the task at hand. Why was I thinking about the Black Plague? Because for the last three weeks, Lizzie and I have had it. Well, maybe not the Black Plague exactly; I suppose we were visited by its less sinister cousin, once removed. The Purple Plague. Or the Pastel Plague. Not quite black, but nevertheless unwanted. 

The sickness started with me. For three days, I thought I had strep. Symptoms included: daggers and barbed wire sore throat, body ache, fever. I went to the doctor. After keeping me in the waiting room on the butcher paper for, I'm not making this up, an hour and a half, he told me he didn't think I had strep. But he'd run a test and tell me in two days. I gave him the "in two days I'll be dead" look, but he just shrugged it off and went back to doing whatever it is doctors do to make their patients wait for hours on end (he's probably editing wikipedia pages).

Two days later came, and I wasn't dead. Jokes on me, I guess. But the doctor's office did notify me that I did not have strep. I somehow knew this already, because at 3:02  that morning the Purple  Plague mutated into pnemonia, or bronchitis, or whatever it is you call a violent, nuclear cough, lungs turning into a swimming pool of fluid, head stuffed like a pimento-fused green olive, and a general fatigue so fatiguing I felt like I'd turn into a camoflauged army uniform (which, to those who might not get the joke, is also a fatigue. Dah. Now I just ruined it. Not funny if you have to explain).

So no, studying for finals was not fun in this aforementioned condition. But what made it even less fun? Lizzie soon contracted the sickness. Two Heywood's down, none to go. Plague-1. Wymount Apt #731-0.

Lizzie missed three days of work and two days of Relief Society. She's still not feeling 100%. If asked, she'd probably say that she's at 65%. (In fact, I asked her today and she said, "I'm at about 65%).

Although this sickness is The Worst Christmas Ever, I do have things to be grateful for.

The post where I brag about Dave

Isn't this picture hysterical? I truly love it. Dave looks like he's 12, not like he's just finished his mission. Anyway, this picture has significance because Dave applied for and was accepted to, an international externship in Tokyo Japan this coming summer! He will be working with one of the top international law firms, Baker and McKenzie, for 4-6 weeks. I am SO excited for him. He's worked really hard and now he gets to visit his mission land and brush up on his Japanese. He is sick with strep throat right now, but I'm sure on the inside he is jumping with joy.

The Great Debate

Most, if not all, of you know by now that after months of passively searching, I have found a job.

I work for Blendtec. My official title is “International Sales Assistant” but if you ask me to my face I’m likely to reply that I am an “International Account Manager”. The later sounds cooler and more important and I’m all about that…

Since starting my job I have been asked MANY times about which product is better, Blendtec or Vitamix?

I thought I’d take a moment to share my view here and set the record straight.

You may think that because I work for Blendtec I am biased, that I’ve probably never even touched a Vitamix. Not so my dear friends, not so. My parents gave Dave and I a Vitamix for Christmas last year, before I had even considered working at Blendtec. Those 9 months we had with our Vitamix changed our lives, *ahem*, I mean-kitchen, (You know what I’m talking about if you have one of these miracle workers). We fell in love with it!

This August I started working for Blendtec. I worked on the factory floor for a couple of weeks, building blenders to learn how the worked and all the parts and pieces. And of course I have a Blendtec now. The company gives all its employees a reconditioned model to love and cherish.

So, in case you’re interested:



Vitamix Pros:

Spout on the jar which makes pouring the contents very slick.

Dial which allows you to easily control the speed

Vitamix Cons:

It’s BIG and BULKY and HEAVY. It won’t fit on our counter top (under the cupboards) with the Jar on.

Blendtec Pros:

Small base. Easily fits on countertop

Pleasing LCD screen which counts your cycles, reads your programs, and does your cycle count down by seconds.

Pre-programmed buttons with custom cycles for your blending needs. Ex: smoothie cycle, soup cycle, sauces cycle. You get the point. Also because of the buttons you can push it and walk away, no need to baby sit your smoothie.

Blendtec Cons:

No adjustable dial. However, there is and up and down button for the speed- but there is just something comforting about being able to control a machine with a dial…

No spout on the jar

Both Blenders are SUPER easy to clean. The blade is built into the jar so to clean it you fill it with a cup of water and a drop of dish soap and run it like you would make a smoothie. Pour the suds into the sink and rinse and voilà! You’re finished! No taking the blade out to wash and worrying about cutting yourself. Let’s face it, the worst part about making a smoothie is cleaning the blender…

I should mention that these amazing machines do more than smoothies. They both do: Soups, dips, sauces, dressings, ice cream, whole juice and can act as a food processor, grain grinder, bread dough maker etc.

When purchasing one of these blenders it really comes down to a matter of preference based on the pros and cons list I provided above. And either way you look at it-Dave and I run one mean smoothie shop…

We Have Baggage

I’ve never really been a “purse” girl. You know, multiple purses to accent a plethora of outfits. A purse to me is not so much an accessory as it is a necessity. And to be truthful, I’m pretty hard on the purse I do have. I fill it with all sorts of junk-wallet, cell phone, medicine bag, make up bag, ipod, camera, oral health bag (including floss, tooth brush, small tube of tooth paste), random thoughts note book, occasionally the novel I’m sucked into, lotion, etc. etc. etc. Yes my purse weighs approximately 10 lbs, but it has everything I need. I usually replace it every two years and by then the mere weight of the contents has taken its toll on the straps and they are hanging on for dear life.

I tell you this to emphasize the point that I am not a “Bag person”. However much I wish I could rationalize buying multiple purses to compliment every outfit, it just isn’t practical for me and my heavy-purse habits.

My dear husband however IS a “bag person”. “Explain” you say? Sure.
This summer the sprinkler under our window had a broken head and flooded our apartment. In an effort to clean up the mess I started going through our things on the floor. What I found amazed and astonished me. No less than 10 bags-all belonging to Dave.

When he got home I confronted him about his addiction. He very defensively started protesting, insisting that each bag was a necessity. Necessity: something necessary or indispensable: food, shelter, and other necessities of life.

He had a bag for the gym, a bag for when he goes swimming, multiple bags for lap tops, a library bag, a car bag, a bag for shorter trips, a bag for longer trips, a garment bag, a couple of actual back-packs (I count them as bags, he does not), and yes, a bag to hold all the other bags in!

I was horrified! Wasn’t I supposed to be the one with the bag fetish?!
The one time Dave and I went yard-sale-ing he bought the garment bag. Later, he spotted a travel bag for male toiletries. I put my foot down and it resulted in both of us needing about 30 minutes to cool off before we could reasonably discuss the issue. Clearly Dave feels strongly about a good bag-find, and clearly I do not.

I requested Dave get rid of half his bags after the sprinkler incident. He got rid of 3. But he just ended up taking them to his parents’ house. That means they’ll find their way back to us eventually.

Last night as we were falling asleep I asked Dave what he wanted for Christmas: An overnight Bag.

Harry Potter-The Prequel

Harry Potter: The Prequel by J.K. Rowling

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I hate to give Harry Potter anything less than 5 stars; and perhaps that generous rating is due to nostalgia more than anything else. This "essay" is very short. 800 words written for a charity. Like so many before me, I too could only wish for the elusive prequel. This piece was a fun glimpse into the world before Harry was born but really only teases you. For those loyal to Harry, I suggest downloading the link. But really, you can hardly enjoy it before it's over.



View all my reviews

Scrabble Wars

You’d think that someone who minored in E-N-G-L-I-S-H, who reads more than anyone else I know, and who is the “Writer” part of “A Reader and a Writer” would like word games. Not so. Dave very much dislikes S-C-R-A-B-B-L-E. This is a problem because I L-O-V-E it.
Over for course of the past few W-E-E-K-S Dave has taken pity on me since because of his long absences from home I can officially declare myself a law-school W-I-D-O-W. His mercy has extended so far that he and I P-L-A-Y this beloved game at least once a week now.
The only P-R-O-B-L-E-M is that I never W-I-N! Dave almost always annihilates me! Last night his winning word was W-E-E-V-I-L-S. Weevils? Seriously?!
I’ve started to catch on to his T-R-I-C-K-S. He maximizes on word endings “ed, ing, s, etc” and looks to play only on Double word or triple letter spaces. And why is it that I seem to always get a row of tiles with only V-O-W-E-L-S?
These are the woes of a scrabble solider.
But I will N-O-T give up.
We’ve come up with a pretty ingenious C-O-M-P-R-O-M-I-S-E: we now play scrabble when we watch football. It’s a plan that makes both of us H-A-P-P-Y.

Halloween Candy

If you haven't seen this yet, you really should. The last part is the best. Enjoy!

"Andrew" Oakley-Sept 7th (ish)

I had no idea that I had married a regular crack-shot!

A couple weeks ago (before it turned frigidly cold and grey), Dave and I went up to Heber to go shooting with his family. I was the only girl to tag along, but I'm proud to say I held my own. Having never taken to shooting, meaning:never actually shot ANYTHING even though I've attempted MANY times, I can now proudly announce I shot 4 clay pidgeons out of the sky that day.


Here is Dave with the hand gun. But don't be fooled, he successfully shot many clay pidgeons, one right after the other, out of the sky. All of you who know Dave well know he doesn't like to talk about himself and he's super humble when it comes to his talents. But I tell you, I swear I had no idea he was such a good shot.


My attempt at the hand gun was less impressive. But I had fun anyway.

Boating-Aug 25(ish) 2011

One of our favorite pastimes this summer was going out on the Lake with the Heywoods. No matter if it's in freezing Deer Creek or bath-water Lake Powell, it's always a blast. I even broke my rib this summer after catching an edge.


At the end of the summer they were kind enough to invite my family to come along. I wish I had more pictures because the night was no-doubt memorable. Dad and Mom skiied like they were old pros, putting the rest of the family to shame. Dad, Hope, and Jane all took to wake boarding like naturals, when they'd never done it before. Don't worry Paul, you'll get up next summer.




Don't mind the scowl, I promise I was having a blast!

Today is THE DAY-Aug 17, 2011

My very most favorite day in the world. I love August 17. Today, one year ago, this happened…


I can hardly believe Dave and I have been married for a year now. In some ways it seems like we’ve been married forever (in a good way), in others it seems like this year just flew by and I my mind is playing tricks on me


There have been: a few tears, but more laughter. A few fights, but more fun. A few cupboards left open, but more dishes done. A few spontaneous spendings, but more money saved. And a few stupid things said, but many more “I love you”s.


Unfortunately today also happens to be Dave’s first day of law school orientation :(

But we celebrated on Monday with a game of Tennis, Golf, lunch out, and Dinner and evening in Park City. It was wonderful to spend the entire day with Dave. He doesn’t like it when I get too mushy on the blog so I’ll just say this: This has been the most wonderful year, a learning curve for sure, but it’s been a great journey. I love him even more then that wonderful day I married him!

It's all about the Force-Aug 12, 2011

If you haven’t seen this you need to watch it-twice. If you have, enjoy it again. Now this is what I call a brilliant car commercial. Dave and I discovered it yesterday and whole-heartedly agree it’s blog-worthy

Confession- Aug 10, 2011

This will be embarrassing. But at this point I do not even care. Please watch the following clips in secession and then ask yourself this question: What type of person am I?





There is really only one answer to that question-and I have become the former. Despite the fact that I’m 40 years too late and Neil looks kinda like a child molester. Live on Neil

August Already? Aug 7, 2011

Dave and I constantly discuss the fact that we are inconsistent bloggers. It isn’t because we don’t DO anything, on the contrary we have been soooooooooooooo busy this summer. The following is a list of things we should have but haven’t blogged about:

The St. Louis ending to our trip in June

Canyoneering with the Thomas Fam in Moab (where our camera gave up the ghost to the river!)

Lake Powell with Hancock side of Dave’s extended family

Spontaneous camping trip with our friends the Clyde’s

My never-ending job hunt (which has basically lasted all summer long, so I really don’t have an excuse for not blogging)

Our day-trip to Logan where we toured the Pepperidge Farm Factory and bought a HUGE bag of goldfish discounted for $2.00 (we also saw a play, and ate at an AWESOME mexican restaurant)

Watched my parent’s house and my little brother for the weekend, where Dave actually let my FOURTEEN year old brother drive the car….(my parents know now, so the secret is out)

I discovered how to make the BEST homemade lemonade ever, and made it four times in 2 weeks.

Not to mention the REAL SALT LAKE game we went to where we actually thought to snag this picture (although let the record show we both hate how this one turned out):


Our last trip of the summer was my family reunion in Oceanside (sorry, this was the only picture we took)




It was so great to be with my family, we love them so much and have so much fun when we all get together. Dave did take the following picture when we stayed over night in Vegas. Don’t look too close-I’d been traveling all day.

While in California we got to see some of Dave’s family too. Dave’s uncle John was kind enough to put us up for the night and introduce us to a seriously AWESOME italian restaurant and afterward we got to see Dave’s aunt and her family on her birthday!

We’re sad our vacationing is over considering how much we both love to travel and that the next four years we will become even more poor as Dave goes to law school and kisses his grown-up job/salary good bye.

However, we’re happy to be where we are right now and who we’re with. We had an awesome day today as we went to the Wasatch County Fair and then to hit some golf balls at the Wasatch State Park golf course-just for fun. Dave and I are determined to become pro golfers, but I will definitely need more practice….


Notice his form…

Notice how I’m not even swinging at the ball really, that’s how bad I am… :)



But I am happy!


Thanks for the wonderful afternoon Dave!

Day 5&6: Nauvoo June 27, 2011

Alright I give up! Dave has been pestering me to write about the days we were in Nauvoo. I wish I had pictures of us to upload but….we lost our camera to the river (more on that later).

Saturday: We started out by eating breakfast at Grandpa John’s Café. And went straight to do a session in the BEAUTIFUL Nauvoo Temple. I know I’m a little biased because I served my mission there and all, and I went to the Nauvoo temple EVERY WEEK, but seriously, it really IS the most beautiful temple. Dave loved it too


We took the Wagon ride to get a good overview of the layout of the city and then popped in on my mission president an his wife. We LOVE the Ludwigs, and I’m fairly certain they love Dave :)

We toured the FLC (Family Living Center), the Bakery, the Blacksmith, and Brigham Young home before we headed into the air-conditioned NVC (Nauvoo Visitor Center-should I stop with all the abbreviations? :) for “High Hopes and River Boats”. I tried my utmost not to sing along.

Of course a trip to Nauvoo is not complete without dining at Hotel Nauvoo. No joke, it is the BEST food in town. Dave and I felt like Bob Wiley chowin’ down on Faye Marvin’s hand-shucked corn.

That night it rained, so we watched “Sunset on the Mississippi” inside L, oh well, you win some, you loose some.

We turned in early but not without switching between some “Everybody Loves Raymond” reruns and X-men 2 (thankfully it was on the TV to prep us for X-Men First class!).

Sunday:

This is SO embarrassing, but we missed church! Those extra dependable cell phone alarms just didn’t come through. And because church is at 8:00am in Nauvoo we naturally did not wake up of our own accord to get there on time. However, we made up for it by going to the Carthage Jail. I LOVE Carthage. I was trained there, I trained two sisters there, AND served there right before I went to New Jersey. Needless to say it has a special place in my heart

Dave, in spite of being warned to keep quite and not be a smart aleck, insisted on asking the sister where the bloodstain is.

Let me take a moment to clarify right now:

1)No one can prove that the dark spot in the Martyrdom room is actually blood. It could be ink or any other liquid substance. Further more, it is unlikely with all the blood being spilt in that room that day that only one spot would remain, and we certainly can’t prove that if it was blood, and if it was from that fateful day, that it would be Joseph Smith’s blood.

2)The floor plank with the dark stain was removed from the Jail in the 1980’s people! It hasn’t been there for almost 30 years! Visitors were so obsessed with “the blood stain” when they came to Carthage that they were distracted from the spirit in the room. Consequently President Kimball said this, “We’ve mourned over a stain long enough, let’s have it removed.” The entire plank is gone, it’s in church archives.

So next time you visit Carthage, don’t go looking for it. Don’t bend down and proudly exclaim, “I think I see it!” In fact don’t bother the poor sister who gave you the tour with questions about the bloodstain, I can assure you that she, just like we did when I was there, keeps a running tally of how many times she gets asked that question J

The rest of the day was full of more homes and sites. My favorite is always the Heber C. Kimball home. We found the Johnston’s serving there, they were there as a senior couple when I was there! Dave’s favorite was the Browning Gun Home. Yes, that’s the home of THE Jonathon Browning.

In the evening we went to a fireside where Susan Easton Black spoke about the SL Temple and Nauvoo Temple being bookends. After that, in true Nauvoo fashion we went to the Ludwig’s for an ice cream social. I was only somewhat self conscious that this was what we did every Sunday night on my mission. Dave commented about how he tracted J in the rain.

Alright Dave, you promised me you’d do St. Louis if I did Sat and Sun of Nauvoo. She’s all yours …

Day 4: On to Nauvoo June 7, 2011

We spent our last morning in Chicago eating deep dish pizza for breakfast (again. just me though. Lizzie had a bagel). We took the brown line for a while to see the city, and then we walked around Millenium Park to take pictures at the Bean and to feel bad for at least 30 kids who wore their swim suits to the fountains only to find a cruel sign that said Shut Down for Maintenance.

We ate lunch at Portillo’s, and then picked up our rental car for the second leg of our journey.

We left Chicago in a snarlnof traffic. It took about an hour to drive 20 miles on the freeway. We finally distanced ourselves from the mess, and four tollbooths, five hours, and a bag of Neon Sour Gummis later, we were pulling into Nauvoo.

We got a room at the Motel Nauvoo. Not our first choice, I’ll admit, but the room wasn’t actually that bad. There must have been something spooky, crazy, or just off about the room, though, because inside of it was the first time I can ever remember that Lizzie felt warm and I felt cold. That just doesn’t happen with us.

Lizzie is the best tour guide for Nauvoo. She served her mission there, and so is a fountain of Nauvoo Knowledge. We spent our first evening in Nauvoo watching the Rendezvous in Old Nauvoo show that the senior missionaries put on. It was a lot of fun. Lizzie knew all of the songs and all of the lines and I was not embarrassed at all when she started singing along. Ok, I guess I was SLIGHTLY embarrassed. The show was a lot of fun—some of the senior couples really get into it. They did a great job!

Deep Dish Pizza!- June 7th 2011

Day 3: Windy City, Sweatshirt, and University Hopping- June 7th, 2011

We began our second full day in Chicago with leftover deep dish pizza for breakfast. I noticed the incredible amounts of cheese they put in the pizza the second time around. Lizzie ate her piece without reheating it; I had to put mine in the microwave. There was just too much cheese to feel good about eating as a solid mass—i needed it liquified.

We spent the next hour or so walking to the Northwestern campus. We toured the law school (beautiful facilities! I loved it.) and then we did some more window shopping on the Magnificent Mile, mainly because Liz discovered an Anthroplogie store (what’s so great about that store, ladies? I still don’t understand)

After about twenty minutes looking for the Metra station at Millenium Park (Google maps: yes, technically, you are correct, the station is underneath the park. But the entrance is across the street on a completely different block! Please change your map accordingly), we boarded a Metra train and headed south to 59th street and the University of Chicago campus. We toured the law school. Lizzie loved the UChicago campus, while I preferred the Northwestern diggs. While at the Chicago campus, we also walked all around the campus looking for a sweatshirt for Lizzie (long story short: women get cold, especially when it’s very windy, even in June). We found the perfect jacket and then caught a bus for….

…the Museum of Science and Industry. We happened to come on a free day, which was a wallet-happy surprise. Highlights of the museum: robots, astronaut ice cream, tsunami wave exhibits, and a crazy interactive mirror.

After the museum closed, we caught a bus back to downtown, then hitched onto another bus to Navy Pier. We ate at the Harey Carey restaurant. Lizzie didn’t really like her club sandwhich but I had the Holy Cow burger and it was incredible. It was juicy, flavorful, and had the perfect amount if sauteed mushrooms and onions. After dinner, we walked to the Shakespeare theater and watched a two-actor murder musical called Murder for Two. The show was funny and entertaining. We both enjoyed it

Chicago Cubs Game- June 2, 2011

Day Two-June 2, 2011

Our second day in chicago began with a mad dash to our next hotel, a place downtown near(ish) to Michigan Ave. Liz was a trooper as she succesful survived carrying her luggage up flights and flights of subway stairs because her husband was too cheap to pay for a cab.

After our workout, we dropped in on a local bakery for fresh bagels and a mess of eggs.

Next, we visited the Art Institute. Lizzie impressed me when she correctly stated that American Gothic (y’know…the painting with the man, woman, and pitchfork) was of a man and his sister. I always thought it was husband and wife. We both loved the Monet, Renoir, and Van Gough’s. I was disappointed that the Hokusai wood blocks were on loan and not available for display. We wish we could have spent more time at the Art Institute, but we had to leave so we could be at….

Wrigley Field for the Cubs game. We found cheap seats on stubhub and the weather could not have been better for a day game. I bought a hot dog, Liz grabbed some machos and we enjoyed rooting for the home team (shame that they didn’t win). We saw two solo home runs, a stolen base, broken bat, a few double plays, and a seventh inning home team meltdown. Lizzie wanted to leave a little early, and so we left after the seventh inning. Apparently, a few cubby fans didn’t appreciate our lack of loyalty; some of them dumped about a half a cup of beer on us from the upper deck. Stay classy, chicago.

We ended the day by eating deep dish pizza at Giardano’s, walking along the Magnificent Mile, and cruising the Chicago River on the Chicago Water Taxi. Liz found a HUGE (her words) banana republic. We were lucky to escape with only some window shop-wishing and no actual damage to our travel budget

Day 1: Midway to Midway- June 3, 2011

We started our vacation yesterday. Liz picked me up in Midway, UT, and we drove to salt lake city. Liz’s sister, Jane, drove us to the airport. After checking in, I realized I left my phone at liz’s parents house. Oops. Jane rushed back and met me at the curb, while liz went through security to our gate. By the time I met up with jane, the airport security line had tripled and I saw that Lizzie was going to be going solo to Chicago on flight 537. I pleaded with the TSA agent for some help. He curtly responded, “this is why we tell you to plan ahead and get here early.” After a few more minutes of tense waiting, and after I resigned myself to a missed flight, a woman behind me told me to cut the line. The whole line. All one hundred people. And so I did. Felt like a jerk, but I made it to the gate with literally two minutes to spare.

And now we are at the Midway Chicago, waiting to catch a train for our next adventure.

We've Got the Fever-May 30, 2011

So Dave and I are off to our first ever, non-honeymoon, REAL vacation as a married couple (We don’t think driving to AZ or Southern UT constitutes a legit vacation). I mean, we are FLYING to another state to tour and explore. Our destination?

Chicago!

Nauvoo!

St. Louis!

We’ll be visiting all three pretty soon. Needless to say I am pretty excited. Especially that I can show Dave my mission grounds. I am exceptionally happy that this time around I won’t be wearing this


We’ll post pictures once we get back, but in the meantime, enjoy these photo’s we took while up in Salmon ID last weekend.

It was a very spontaneous trip for us. We decided to go on friday around 3:30pm and left at 5:00pm. We didn’t take too many pictures, we mostly spent time with the wonderful Infanger family and explored the hustle and bustle of Salmon ID :)




Look who I caught taking a cat nap


We’re off to IL soon, and then down to Moab, and shortly thereafter to Lake Powell. Looks like we’ve got the travel itch

Fish Friday the 13th:A Freaky Flashback From Freshman Year-May 13, 2011

I’ve never smoked nor drank, but I know addiction. As a freshman, I almost destroyed my life thanks to Bumble Bee and a can opener.


Every night for dinner, without fail, I ate a tuna taco. I couldn’t stop. My body developed a reliance on Omega 3 and the salivating smell of Chicken of the Sea. Other typical dorm room foods didn’t compare. Top Ramen? Macaroni and cheese? Spaghetti? Matchsticks compared to the torch of tuna tacos.

Don’t think that I was eating uncivilized canned filth. Au contraire. My dish was unadulterated pleasure. Imagine canned fish, with its excess juices freshly squeezed into the trapnet some call a sink, wrapped into a golden brown tortilla treat, laced with lettuce, and slathered with a special spicy mayonnaise sauce (mayo, Tabasco, and a hint of lemon juice). Succulence.

The first bite into a well prepared tuna taco slaps the taste buds into attention. “What, Dave Heywood?” they ask, “Can this meal really be healthy??” Yet, it is. All the food groups recommended by government specialists are represented—meat, grain, vegetables, dairy (I think mayo is dairy…), and fruit (the lemon juice).

Dinner was my favorite hour of the day. I came home from class and raced for the can opener. At least, until…the addiction set in. Addictions are never a good thing. Even addictions to seemingly good things are never a good thing. Ever heard of an old woman who was addicted to love? Neither have I, because she died years ago.

My addiction to the tuna taco led me along a path of insanity. I would constantly parlance the grocery store ads, looking for deals on cans of tuna. I was a nutcase, nitpicking over the cost-taste benefit of abalone tuna vs. “that other kind.” I stopped caring whether the tuna was in water or artery clogging oil. Heck, it could be in dish soap. I’d still eat it. I stopped caring about expiration dates and brand names. I even stopped caring about whether tuna was dolphin safe or not. In fact, I started to prefer not. Flipper tastes oh so good with a hint of lemon juice.

How did I ever come out of my hysterical state and face reality with my addiction? I owe it all to my roommate. He said I was making our place smell like an aquarium. (Man, was that ever a Sea World-understatement). At first, I thought it was a compliment. But he wasn’t smiling. He said that he was going to throw away all of my tuna. He told me one of us had to leave—either me or the tuna. Oh how I hated him. He didn’t understand me! He didn’t understand tuna!

I guess I was so high on Omega 3 and mercury that I didn’t fully appreciate his act of pure love. I didn’t understand that he really only wanted to help. All I could think about was how to make him end up swimming with the…well…tunas.

It’s been a few years now, and I am almost to Step 8 of overcoming my addiction. I started a program which began with a three-times-a-week tuna sandwich, and then graduated over to the once-in-a-while Tuna Helper. Now instead of tuna tacos, I eat spaghetti or chicken and rice. Perhaps sometime in the future I’ll mix in a bean burrito. I’m open to new vistas. Something really caught my attention last week at the grocery store. I saw a can of oysters that I just have to try. I hear they’re great with lemon juice

My tribute to the NBA playoffs-May 10, 2011

Love Ode From A Power Forward

-Dave Heywood




They say love is like roses and

Daisies and the smell of rain

On a spring day in El Paso Texas




But it’s not.




My love is boxing out with a forearm check

Moses Malone hits the deck

I escape without a tech,

Just a flagrant foul, but what the heck

That’s no sweat off of my thick neck

Baby—my loves like that




I want to see

You and me

Three in the key

Forever




I hope you realize

My heart is the size

Of Barkleys’ thighs

When I gaze in your eyes

And say,

“Babay,

I love you.”




But you never cared for me

Baby

I took a shot, 15 footer, wide open, soft and delicate, gave it my all

But you stuffed me like a Thanksgiving Turkey; “get that weak stuff outta here” you said,

Nicely,

in that fake way, like a team mascot on stilts, ready to fall—




But don’t worry, Baby.
The world still turns round

And I

Am on




The rebound

Whoever said “Food is the Soul of Life” might not have been too far off the mark.

While I have been getting into the world of interior decorating, Dave has also been exploring his domestic side-or rather, his culinary side. Over the past few weeks Dave has been spoiling me because of my birthday, finals craziness, and graduation. Here are a few of his creations (and one of my own).





And last but certainly not least, one of my favorites. This was where Dave took me for birthday lunch.

What are your favorite places to eat or things that you make

Graduation-April 22, 2011

College degree? Check

Tanjobi Time—(A Birthday Tribute)-April 13, 2011

Elizabeth Leigh Thomas was born April 10, 1987. Yep. Exactly 24 years (and uh…two days) ago.

I think Lizzie is the greatest. She would say that I’m biased. I would tell her back, in my, ‘oh, were gonna debate something now, huh’-tone, no, I’m not biased. I’m right. And then she would proceed to find ways that I am biased and catch me flat footed in my arguments because—and not everyone knows this—Lizzie is a pro at debating. She’s got a quick mind and she sees flaws in arguments like a seasoned political news analyst. I always lose. (Well, not always. Sometimes she lets me win because she feels sorry for me.)

I bet you didn’t know that about Lizzie.

Here are some other things you might not know about her:

Lizzie LOVES tomato basil soup. She loves tomato sauces and ketchups and BBQ sauce and pizza sauce. But she cannot eat raw tomatoes. Not a one. Cooked tomatoes=fine. Raw tomatoes=Hit the road, Jack.
Lizzie has recently—and I mean in the past two weeks recently—jumped into the world of interior design and decorating. Her goal is to get our apartment looking fabulous by the beginning of fall. We’ll be sure to keep you updated on the before and after pictures.
Lizzie is in a history of sports class. She recently wrote a paper about rookies in the NBA. My heart was very glad when I saw what she was researching.
Lizzie is an amazing cook. She makes fabulous orange rolls, chicken broccoli casserole and homemade macaroni cheese. She’s also a whiz at mashed potatoes and asparagus.
Lizzie is a disciplined eater. She rarely eats desserts and she usually never finishes her meals at a restaurant. A Cafe Rio salad (chicken, no beans, extra rice, shredded lettuce, no tomatoes *See Above!* or guacamole, two cups of dressing) lasts her for THREE MEALS! Now that is some frugality that I can support!
Lizzie is graduating with a degree in American Studies from BYU in one week. She has worked hard at her schooling and she even kept her nose to the grindstone with her studies during her last senioritis semester.
Lizzie a Sunday School teacher in our ward. She does a fabulous job. She’s an amazing teacher and she presents powerful and probing insights —I think it was the calling she was born to have.
Isn’t she the greatest? I think so. Happy Birthday Lizzie!

-Dave

Bullet Points on a Saturday Night-March 26, 2010

-My sister Jamie is 26 today. Happy birthday Jamie! She’s one of the most talented people that I know. She’s creative, funny, a people gatherer, a great cook, and she has a talented eye for fashion and design. In high school, she was head cheerleader and the homecoming queen. She had hundreds of friends at the SIX colleges that she attended. She’s a great mother and the husband that she chose is someone that I constantly look to as an example of manliness and character.
-I have never seen a Bobby Flay Throwdown in which Bobby Flay does not win. If you are a chef invited for a Food Network “special” and Flay shows up, grab your spatula and run for the hills. He’s not going to lose.
-Can you tell by the previous topic that we don’t have ESPN in our apartment? Ahh, SportsCenter, how I miss those halcyon days of yore!
-Speaking of ESPN, Rick Reilly wrote one of the most classless articles that I have ever read. His topic was Jimmer Fredette. Ok, Rick. We all know that Jimmer doesn’t play defense and that he missed a lot of threes against Florida. You’re not a analytical genius for pointing that out. But to make two or three mocking jabs at Mormons and then shamelessly predict Jimmer will end up working at an “Izuzu dealership in Provo”? Really Reilly? For as humble and classy as Jimmer has been amidst his national success, why personally mock and deride him and his religion? Reilly showed his true bigoted colors in this article. You can read it here. Be warned; it’ll probably make your blood boil.
-Finally, I can’t express how grateful I am for the Plan of Salvation that God prepared for each of his children. I know that the Savior lives.

Provo's Best Fan Award Goes To...-March 17, 2010

Elizabeth Heywood

For the last three weeks, Liz has been cheering on a flag football team from the sideline of the BYU Intramural Sports Field on University Avenue.

Liz is there because her husband plays on Team 24, a rag tag group of “athletes” who continue to live out their sports dreams on the turf. They are Team 24 because they were not able to come up with a team name and they were, coincidentally the 24th team to sign up to play.

Football in February and March can be a chilling experience. By chilling, I don’t mean Scream, Scream 2, Scream 3, or Scream Not Another One! I mean cold. Freezing cold. Liz prepares for the games by wearing layers and goose down. She carries a camp chair onto the sideline, wraps herself in a blanket, puts on a hoodie over her hat and nestles into the chair like a bolt of tightly wrapped flannel fabric.

Her husband doesn’t do anything really spectacular on the field. “I saw you almost make that catch, honey, and then run towards that…goalmark….linedown…thing but they called it back because of a…foul” Liz compensates for the lack of action by playing Angry Birds.

After the game, she waits for our team to talk about the game. Sometimes we discuss strategy. Sometimes we talk about the refs. Mostly, we talk about why we lost. Team 24 is 1-3. We lost twice to teams that had one fewer player than we did.

Playoffs start next week. I’m predicting we get moved to the Lower Division. Barring snow, rain, work, or an invitation to do ANYTHING with her friends (Please friends! Call me SOON. -Liz) Liz will probably be there.

Confession from Liz-March 25,2010

You cant get my hopes up like that! (talking about something else) It’s like when I intended to wake up early on your birthday to make you biscuits and gravy but all I ended up making was toast.
Liz

Breezy St. Geezy-Feb 25,2010

Ah, President’s Day Weekend. The second and LAST day off of school I get this semester. Seriously, who thought it would be a good idea for BYU to NOT give their students a spring break?!

Fortunately, after much bribery and quivering of my lower lip, I was able to convince Dave to take a jaunt to St. George with me. He was hesitant because the forecast told us it would rain, “what is the point of going to St. George if it’s going to RAIN!?”. Well, just for fun, we checked everywhere in the south west, and it was predicited to rain everywhere that weekend. St. George, Las Vegas, San Diego, yup, even Phoenix! The point is, he went.

We learned a couple of interesting things this trip.

1-It is REALLY hard to speak without using contractions (ex. It is instead of it’s), on one particularly lonely part of the southern Utah wilderness I challenged Dave to go the 3 day weekend without using them. He survived for approx. 3 hours….

2-Casinos are really depressing places. I went in the famed “virgin river casino” with Dave to bowl (because let’s face it, what else is there to do in Mesquite?), you know, the one that has billboards all over St. George? Ya, I went in. Although it DID smell of cigarette smoke which brought back found memories of proselyting on my mission.

3- I am NOT always correct with directions. Usually I’m pretty good, but I messed up a couple times this trip-embarrassing. One time we were one block away from where we were supposed to be but because I adamantly insisted I had the coordinates right-we ended up being 15 minutes late.

4- My new favorite restaurant is Texas Roadhouse. AMAZING cheese fries, and great steak. Who could ask for more? Don’t believe me? Look below…


Here are a couple other photo’s from the trip.


Oh, did I mention I had a baby?

Just kidding, this is Luke. He belongs to Dave’s friend Jon

Take a Psych-Jan 25, 2010

Liz has been sick for the past four days. At first, we thought it was strep. She had all the symptoms of a classic strep case. Sore (sore!) throat. Chills. Fever. And a really bad sore throat (if I didn’t mention that already).

If I were a doctor, I would have bet my stethoscope that Lizzie was infirm with a case of strep throat. And, if I were a doctor, I would have lost my stethoscope (and probably my rolex and my timeshare at Lake Tahoe, because really, who only bets a stethoscope?). It turns out that a very competent physician (are you sure she’s competent, I asked Liz, because I knew deep down in my WebMD bones that Liz had strep. Yes, Liz assured me, she was a good doctor) diagnosed Liz’s ailment as a very bad virus. A virus? What can you do against a virus? The Cillin Brothers, Pen and Amoxo, are useless against a virus. The doctor recommended rest and fluids. (Liz—really. Are you SURE she was competent?)

As part of Liz’s Restercizes, we have been watching Psych. We’ve been a fan of the Psych for quite some time; the more we watch, the more we like it.

If you haven’t seen it, Psych is a television show that we pick up on Netflix. The show is set in Santa Barbara, California. The basic premise of the show is this; Sean, a smart-alec son-of-a-cop twentysomething pretends to by psychic in order to be hired on as a crackshot investigator by the SBPD. He works with his partner Guster, a somewhat nerdy African American (can I not say black anymore?) childhood friend who sometimes doubts Sean’s investigative instincts.

Thrown into the mix are two detectives—Lassiter, Sean’s antithesis who doesn’t think Sean should be working on SBPD cases; and Juliet, the girl who tries to stay out of any contention and who we know should eventually end up with Sean. At least, we hope so.

Sean is the world’s biggest smart alec—to the point of being annoying. But, I like it. I think Sean’s antics are hilarious. He sometimes reminds me of myself. But I’m never as quick as Sean, and I’m not as sarcastic. The writers of the show throw in enough child-of-the-90’s reference to keep me hangin’ on.

After watching two seasons, I’ve found the show’s formula to be very predictable. Sean and Guster basically solve their cases using the same sharp power of observations and the same “pretend psychic” shenanigans. But you know what…I don’t care. I love the friendship between Sean and Guster. Sean is as loyal as a St. Bernard to Guster—even if he does mock, tease, and take advantage of poor Gus.

The show is clean and there is really no graphic violence (sometimes a few bloody crime scenes, but nothing major). Give it a season. And if there are any Psych fans out there, we’d love to talk about it

Paul's Birthday-Dec 26,2010

Liz baked a soccer cake for her brother Paul’s December birthday. I made the goals (out of toothpicks and caramel)
-Dave

Your Christmas Cheer-Dec 17, 2010

It’s been almost an entire month. I figured that was long enough for you to enjoy Dave’s clever Red Headed Villan post (although I do have to take some credit, it was my idea, but he had the wit and the motivation).

I thought about blogging about our pathetic Christmas Tree (no really, it’s 2.5 feet tall, fake, and has a total of 4 ornaments on it), but decided that I might secretly like having a Charlie Brown tree….But for this year only. I mean it Dave….

Instead I thought I’d revisit some of my goals from LAST Christmas season. They were:

Christmas Break Goals 2009

1-Memorize all the US President’s in order (Nope)

2-Read one book on Church material (Sadly, no)

3-Read two books on non-church material (Only went half on this…)

4-Play the Piano piece of “Somewhere in Time” perfectly (Definitely not)

5-Write 4 blog entries ( Uhhh… Did I write 4 blog entries this entire past year?!)



And there you have it.

Now that I have officially taken my last final of Fall Semester I have all sorts of ambitious goals ranging from all the books I intend to tackle to cooking dinner every day. And then I remembered last year’s list.



And so, I have only one goal for this holiday season: Do something to serve/remember the Savior every day. I have started by posting the newest Mormon Message below. If you haven’t seen it please watch it! If you have, then by now you know that you want to watch it again.



Merry Christmas

Villan, Dye Your Hair-Nov 13, 2010

Liz and I saw Megamind this week. I noticed a disturbing trend. Redheads have continued to be stereotyped as villains. Of course, there are many villains with black or brown or blonde hair. But there are many more good guys with black or brown or blonde hair. Name one redheaded good guy. (Anne of Green Gables does not count.) Name one prince with redhair. Name one cool, smart, smooth red head in the movies? While your thinking about it, check this list of red haired villains

TITAN (Megamind). Classic redhead stereotype. Fat. Goofy. Dorky. Red Hair


Syndrome (The Incredibles): Smart, sinister, carrot top


Owen Davian (Mission Impossible III): Snarly, ruthless, red head


The Riddler (Batman): over-the-top jokes, schizophrenic personality, head hair


Poison Ivy (Batman): Women with red hair; sterotyped as seductress vixens with evil dripping from their cherry locks


Jessica Rabbit (Who Framed Roger Rabbit): See Poison Ivy


Scut Farkus (A Christmas Story): A red-headed bully. Classic stereotype of an insecure red head who tries to hide his hair color under a coon skin hat. (I don’t think the fact that I was Davy Crockett three halloweens in a row has any relevance…)


Mad Hatter (Alice in Wonderland): Is he a villain, or is he a friend? I certainly would think twice before i invited him to tea…


The Devil (the Bible): Why does Ol’ Scratch always have to be red…

Now that you’ve seen the villains, name one red headed good guy??