December Cranky Pants

Still along with my idea of only complaining once a month.. here is Decembers rant...

I work at Target, I chose to work at Target during the busiest time of year.. mostly because Im crazy...

Those of you that are shoppers probably already know that there is an etiquitte that should be in place when you shop. Im bout to let out some ranting about those of you who are not aware of that etiquitte...

DONT PUT SOMETHING IN YOUR CART IF YOU'RE NOT GOING TO BUY IT!

I hate when people come to the line and spend 5 mintues deciding what in their basket the want to buy. Then they just throw all their crap into the candy and I HAVE TO PUT THAT AWAY!

KNOW HOW MUCH YOU'RE SPENDING!

I hate telling people their total and they make me go through every item they bought and tell them how much it was. When you're shopping usually you look at the prices before you get to the check out lane.. dont get mad at me when your total is too high, you did the shopping!

GET OFF YOUR PHONE!

Its not a pleasant job to listen to others conversations. It's rude to be on the phone and totally ignore the cashier. Sometimes we need to talk to you and I dont want to wait for a million years for you to pay me because youre not paying attention.

DONT GET IN LINE IF YOU'RE NOT READY TO CHECK OUT!

Especially during the holidays. If you put something on the belt, Im going to ring it up and put it in a bag. I hate when Im done checking you out and you have to leave and run to grab something else. Its rude to me and to the 4 people in line behind you. AND NO... you cannot stand there and wait for your friend to come back... get in line AFTER they are there.

DONT GO SHOPPING IF YOU HAVE NO MONEY!

People get mad at me when their card gets declined. That crap is between you and your bank. I dont know how much money you have and I am not inside the card machines brain. All I do is stand there and push the button. A lady came through my line with $900 worth of stuff. I rang it all up and bagged in, and then she found out that she had no money in the bank and just walked away from her two cart loads of stuff...

I WILL FIND HER AND SLASH HER TIRES!

BE RESPECTFUL!

I hate when people cut, or bump into people, or just leave their carts in the middle of the isle. There are no magic faries that are going to come clean up after you. If you are choosing to shop the week of Christmas, then you should expect it to be crazy and not complain when the lines are long and their are no parking spaces. Thats not my fault... so dont tell me about it

The cashiers job is not hard, but its exhausting. Be nice!

I HATE WORKING in retail... and gratefully this is my last week.

Mark my words, I will NEVER work in retail again!

I LOVE LISTS!

We're moving in just 2 weeks and I am in LIST MAKING MODE!

I love making lists, but more importantly I love CROSSING THINGS OFF MY LIST!

I hate the stressful list about things that I need to get done, so I decided to make an exciting list...

I lived in San Diego for 2 1/2 years before I got married and moved away to rainy old Washington State.

Every time I tell people that I moved FROM San Diego, they would say, "Oh I'm Sorry," or "Quite a change huh? Yah, I know... I LOVE SAN DIEGO and always hoped we'd end up back there.

So here are some things I am MOST looking forward to...

Things I LOVE MOST ABOUT SAN DIEGO!

#1 Obviously the BEACH!

Even during the winter, we love just walking down the beach...

 Just knowing its there anytime I want, shivers down my spine!

#2- Ikea! 

I LOVE that store, there isn't one in St. George, or anywhere close to.

You dont even realize how wonderful and cheap everything is until you dont have one.

#3- You already know... Jamba Juice

Beyond Obsessed with Jamba. Sometimes you just need one and San Diego has tons of prime locations for that deliciousness!

#4- AND MOST IMPORTANT- the SUNSHINE!

Everyone knows that I am a whitey white girl, but my skin is craving some sun!
Living in Washington made my complexion all gross and milky... living in St George fried my skin clean off at times... San Diego is the perfect mix of sunshine. It gets hot, but not hot enough to fry.. and the beach, oh the beach... give me some SUN!
(I know that it is rainy everywhere right now, so when I get to San Diego it wont be sunny, but at least there is something to look forward to in a month!)

Come visit me!

WE'RE MOVING BACK TO SD!

Well, to be honest this last month has been a DOOZY!

 Richard and I both got laid off within 2 weeks of each other. (yes that is the 2nd time for me this year... I'm looking into getting a refund for my college degree)

 Luckily I was also working at Target so we had something to keep our heads above water. 

Unfortunately, Saint George doesn't have a very friendly job market. It would be nice if at least one of us were working full time... alas, there were other plans for us. 

So, I emailed my former boss from San Diego to ask her if she knew of anything. 

Perfect timing, she was looking for someone to run a new program there at the middle school I worked at before. Bad news: she needs someone to start the beginning of January!

YES THAT IS 3 WEEKS AWAY!!!

Never mind that Richard's brother is coming this week, and Christmas is next week, and I'm working 40 hours a week at Target, and we have a lease on our apartment that we will have to sell... oh and we have no money to move (that crap is expensive!)

So, I told Heavenly Father that if this is the right thing for us then just let everything fall into place.

Here we are, December 15th and...

WE'RE GOING BACK TO SAN DIEGO!!

I'm super excited... we LOVED living there and are grateful that we will be able to go back.

We will miss our family in Utah but are happy for another adventure.

My mom and her husband were able to get us a room for 2 weeks while we search for a place to live and a job for Richard. So all you San Diegans- if you know of anything please let us know!

P.S. I am super excited to decorate a new place... I get the urge about once a year and luckily we have moved about that often the last 4 years!

Music of my Heart

What's your favorite holiday music?

I'm pretty picky when it comes to Christmas music... it can't be TOO cheesy or jingly...

I hate when the songs you don't like end up in your head ALL day long!

We got some Christmas music channels on our TV and I decided that all HOLIDAY MUSIC is not created equal... and I'm pretty sure that I heard Hark the Herald Angels sing in a techno mix- NOT OK!

Here are some of my favorites... and by favorite I mean- I will put these on replay and play them

 NON STOP ALL YEAR LONG!

What are your favorites?

"da yittle"

(just to clarify... I stole that word from Melissa)

I feel like a parent.

I just realized how big my yittle yoy (little boy in a baby voice) has gotten!

From this 4 lbs:

To this 8 lbs.:

Double in size in just 3 short months... they grow up so fast... tear!

PS... how HUGE of a difference is my cell phone camera pic from Melissa's prof camera?

Oh the Love!

As you probably recall... I decided that I want to be a CUPCAKE master!

I was SUPER excited to have an event to make cupcakes for so I can start practicing my new skills, my Dad and Lisa asked me to make some for their reception.

I searched high and low for amazing recipes and ideas preparing for Thanksgiving weekend events...

Alas, by the time the weekend rolled around, I was TOO busy, stressed, and tired to try to make some cupcakes and frosting from scratch... so, I revered to the old stand by... boxed mixes.

Regardless, the cupcakes tasted wonderful and got RAVE reviews!

First and Foremost... the Turtle cupcake aka HEAVEN!

I got a box mix of German chocolate cake mix...

 make sure you get the one with pudding in the mix cause it tastes better!

 Then I got a bottle of caramel ice cream topping

 (if you have time you can buy caramels and melt them yourself.)

Follow the instructions on the box to make the batter, make sure you grease your muffin cups.

Pour your batter into the muffin cups, then squeeze some caramel into the middle of each one.

Bake according to the box (mine were 20 minutes)

Drizzle more caramel over the cupcakes AS SOON AS you take them out of the oven. 

Let them cool for about an hour, then frost and decorate as you like.

I paired mine with butter cream icing and it was delish!

And then we have the RED VELVET morsels!

I got the Betty Crocker red velvet cake mix, then topped it with cream cheese icing. 

I searched everywhere to figure out what to put on top, and I think they turned out nice with a Whopper... plus it tasted great with the icing and cake!

I'm just hoping that Christmas isn't as busy so that I will have time to try out my recipes from scratch... 

stay tuned!

Busy week... still Recovering

Last week was JAM packed with fun, stress, and FOOD!

My dad and I drove to Vegas on Tuesday night to pick Kailey up from the airport. The trip is about 90 minutes. Kailey called right when we were taking the exit to the airport. Literally RIGHT when I said, "we're taking the exit," we got REAR ENDED! They hit so hard that the phone flew out of my hands, and my headband FLEW off my head! So we were stuck on the side of the road for a good hour. Luckily no one was hurt and the car was driveable... our necks and backs were super sore but ok... what a way to start out the week!

Wednesday was fun with Kailey, we went shopping, dyed our hair, ate some burgers. Chris and Melis got into town Wed. night with Kobe's favorite cousin... Hooshie pup! They are BFF's!

Wed. night about 10 pm Richard got a call from work saying that they are laying off ALL the employees... HAPPY THANKSGIVING to us... let the STRESS begin...

We spent Thanksgiving day at My dad and Lisa's house with:

Dad, Lisa, her daughter Natalie, husband Spencer and son Cameron

My aunt Teresa and Uncle Mike

Cousins Bria, her husband Craig and baby Krew

Cousin Kitty and boyfriend Kason

Sisters Kailey and Melissa and her husby Chris

The Food was amazing... and my Turkey cupcakes didnt turn out quite as wonderful as I imagined mostly because it was a NIGHTMARE finding candy corn... but still cute

 finally Melissa brought some from her left over Halloween decorations...

I had to go to bed SUPER early that night because the next day was BLACK FRIDAY of death... and I had to be at work by 3:30 AM! Chris, Melissa and Kailey decided to go CRAZY and camp out at Target.

They got there are midnight and were 100th in line... when I got there at 3:30, the line was INSANE!

Of course there were a couple of girl fights and pulling hair... the hot ticket LCD TV was sold out in 2 minutes! The line wrapped around the store 3 times and was almost 3 hours long at one point...

Good news was that there were only a couple of rude people, and AS SOON AS my 10 hour shift was over, I crashed for 5 hours! When I woke up, I felt like I got hit by a semi!

Saturday was a busy day too... I had to work for 6 hours in the morning, then I spent most of the afternoon baking my WORLD FAMOUS cupcakes... which were AMAZING BTW (Ill do a separate post about those jems) Then we headed over to dad's house to get ready for the Reception that night.

My dad and Lisa eloped on 10/10/10, and wanted to have a reception of sorts once everyone was together.

Food was catered by TROY's BBQ, Music by Kason and Kitty... it was a great night!

We stayed up til ALL hours of the night playing games and laughing until we cried. 

By the time Monday rolled around, everyone LEFT me! I hate that... but good news is that Richards work called and want him to work again... (talk about a roller coaster of emotion!) I couldn't be happier, but I am still ticked that they put us through that... 

(HOLIDAY turkey orders at Richards work)

Everyone got home safely, we will be able to pay rent this month... now its time to decorate for Christmas!

Horray for the Holiday's!

Tradi in FULL EFFECT!

Our Family LOVES Traditions... or Tradi's as we call them...

For Thanksgiving every year, those of us that are together find a new burger joint and try out the most outrageous burger. 

This year, it was just Dad, Lisa, Kailey and Me... boo!

Anyhow, Dad took us to the Honolulu Grill here in St. G... DELISH!

The Teriyaki burger in ALL it's GLORY!

Delicious-ness of LIFE! If your're ever in St.G I HIGHLY Recommend this mondo burger!

 Later that night, we hit up the Fiesta Fun center for some batting cages, games, and air hockey...

Kailey beat ALL of us, as usual!

We also dyed mine and Kailey's hair... love!

24 hours of FabuloCITY!!

My cousin Emily got married last weekend in Portland and I missed it! So sad, but the good news is that her husband is from Vegas which means a reception just 90 minutes away! With plans in place I (husby had to work so sad...) headed down to Vegas to meet the Hayes' for 24 hours of fun... whop whop!

We obvi have been to Vegas a million and a half times... but this was one of the best!

Chris and Melis got us a sweet room at the Westin! 4 stars!

We visited the LV Temple... which is massive BTW

Got in some strip time... mormon style... visited NY, Paris, and Italy...

Emily's reception was beautiful! And we were SO happy to see Kailyn and Dave... its been forever!
Over all, good night... fun memories... and yummy food!

So here is the story... We made a decision that we needed to eat some place fun and different than normal.
MVF visited a place called HASH HOUSE A GO GO... there were rave reviews and the menu looked superb! Chris was SOOO excited for the Waffle tower... we had to go...

After searching for 2 hours... we found our destination... by this point we were completely famished and SO ready for the delishiousness of life...

Oh my... 4 waffles, stuffed with bacon, and topped with 2 pieces of fried chicken!

Melissa and Chris did a friendly wager... a SLAP bet if you will... Chris finished off every lick of that mountain! Way to go!

Melissa and I ordered a 1 pd. STUFFED burger of love... 2 pattied stuffed with avacado and bacon...

AND we ordered a SNICKERS FLAPJACK of life! AMAZING!

We split the 2 and couldn't even finish half! The food was DELISH! but the service was AWFUL! It took us 45 minutes and 4 different servers to get our food... each plate 10 minutes apart... but it was all part of the VEGAS experience... lovin every minute!

Recipe of the Week!

Thanks to everyone who has sent me recipes... my recipe book is getting quite full! I am on a mission to try every single one that I get, and I haven't had one that wasn't delish yet!

I am getting more and more into crock pot meals. Since husby and I are both working weird schedules, its so simple to just throw something in the crock pot and we can eat whenever we get home (which is never at the same time... poo!)

Yesterday I tried this amazing recipe I found on one of my favorite blogs... click here to check it out... she has such cute ideas for little girl clothes and accessories... and yummy recipes!

So, I grew up in Texas and most of my favorite meals just happen to be Mexican food. I love saucy and spicy foods. Well, the Husby happens to be Mexican. One day he asked me, "are you like trying to make all this Mexican food because I'm Mexican?" haha... No... I just love it!

Crock Pot Enchiladas!

Crock Pot Enchiladas (feeds 4)
*3 large chicken breasts
*1 lg bag of shredded mexican cheese blend (or just mont jack/cheddar)
*2 cans of green (verde) enchilada sauce (if you're using it in a bottle buy enough to cover the chicken while it cooks in the crock-pot. Probably 2 or 3)
*1 onion- chopped
*low-fat sour cream
*tortillas

In your crock-pot layer chopped onions & chicken breasts, cover well with enchilada sauce. Season with a bit of S & P, cook on low for 6 hrs or high for 4.

When you're about ready to eat it's time to assemble the enchiladas. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Turn crock-pot off & with 2 forks shred your chicken in the pot with the sauce, the chicken should just fall apart. (Mmmmm...) Take a tortilla & fill it down the center with a line of shredded chicken/onion pieces. (not too much or it'll all fall out of the ends) Also fill it with some shredded cheese. Tightly roll up the tortilla, continue with other tortillas & snugly line filled enchiladas across a greased glass casserole dish. Cover enchiladas with all of the remaining sauce, top with the rest of your shredded cheese & drizzle a line of sour cream across the middle. Bake for about 10-15 minutes or until cheese is well melted. 

Serve with rice, refried beans, black beans or whatever your favorite Mexican side is!

Wasn't it easier in your lunch box days?

I've had some time on my hands... Husby has been working days and nights and I have NEVER been happier to be alone... only cause it means he is working. But it also means I'm alone a lot since I just work from home on my computer. So, I've been catching up on my window shopping... I was walking around Target one day that they happened to be putting out the Christmas decor.

Target + Christmas decorations = my drug of choice... I immediately started making my shopping list for Christmas, then continued to walk around Target for an hour and make my list for Christmas presents. I didn't actually buy anything cause lets be honest... I don't have any money. But it was at that point that I decided to apply for a discount, uhhh... I mean job. I had spare time, and I could use some extra money during the holidays. Plus the discount!

 I found out that they happened to be hiring for seasonal employees.

My dear friend Bethany and I worked at Target years ago, back in Idaho Falls. We worked the Black Friday at 4 am... I figure I'm a shoe in... and I'm right! I applied on Friday night, got a call Saturday afternoon, interview Monday... hired on the spot!

I was super excited because I could just see the shopping list in my head getting an instant discount. I didn't really think too much about the actual job, cause really cashiering is a piece of cake. I was putting on my khaki's and red shirt for my first day, and I realized... I am about to go work at Target. 

I've been working ever since I was 15 and I have had a lot of jobs in my life:

Chicken Express, Marble Slab, Razzoo's, First Command, Pier 1, Victoria's Secret, Rexburg Opinion Center, Target, Quiznos, Hank's Sports Cards, Subway, Juvenile Corrections Center, Charlotte Russe, Broad Horizons, SAY San Diego, Benson Vision Source, AdTech Academy... the list goes on...

I worked sometimes 2 jobs to pay my way through College, I've had career jobs, I hate working!

I hate punching a clock and asking to take a 15 minute break... I hate pretending like I'm a peppy person... I hate watching the clock counting the minutes til you can go home. I hate more than ANYTHING asking, "would you like to save 5% on every purchase by signing up for a Target card?"

(I hate when people ask me that, but honestly the cashiers have to! Its part of the job)

Target is my favorite store, and a great place to work. Honestly it's not a bad job. I just feel like I need to explain to every person "I don't have to work as a cashier, I actually have a college degree."

I chose to apply for the job, I chose to work there, but the reality is... I paid to go to college so I have a degree, and now I work as a cashier at Target? What is the world coming to?

Most of the people I work with are in similar situations. They are mom's having to go to work because their husbands got laid off, there is one man that retired but had to go back to work and the only job he could get was minimum wage. 

Should I be ashamed to be a cashier at Target? I really feel grateful that Husby and I have jobs at all! So next time you're checking out at Target, pay attention to your cashier... who isn't just tryin to make a buck these days?

A New Leaf

I was super sick and stuck in bed all day yesterday (some pretty bad back problems, and some other pretty bad  problems...) anyhow, I stumbled upon a marathon for DC cupcakes on TLC.

The show is a little cheezy, but I love their shop. They make custom flavors and super amazing looking cupcakes.

Well as you guys know, I am aspiring to become the best cook in the world (I want my kids to say "my mom is the best cook in the world!") so I figure it will be a good idea for me to not only make food that tastes great, but also looks amazing. 

I have some inspiration, Husby and I love to watch all the food shows. Some of our favorites are:

Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives

Man vs. Food

Cake Boss

Rachel Ray (husby has a huge crush on her)

No Reservations

Whenever we are watching these shows, I get all inspired to start cooking. The food looks so good and so simple to make (as theyre talking, I think "oh I could do that") but when it comes down to it, I always go easy and predictable.

Well, not this time! I want to become an amazing cupcake maker, N-M-dub!

 (my family says that for NO MATTER WHAT!)

I am going to go get a cake decorating kit, an amazing frosting recipe, and I'm gonna get started. 

Now, my first thought is... I have to have people to bake for otherwise Husby and I are in for some serious poundage! So, my first event... THANKSGIVING!

I started looking for some cute ideas... I don't want to get too crazy on my first try. Here's what I'm thinking

and

and

Let me know if you have any good cupcake recipes, or ideas... Im gonna try ALL OF THEM!

Puppy Problems

My mom keeps asking me why I dont post more pictures of our little Yorkie, Kobe...

my answer to that is... I do not want to turn into a weird dog owner that posts a million pics of their dog, all of which look pretty much the same. I did decide however that it is ok to do a post every once in a while so that my family can see how big Kobe is getting!

We got Kobe about 2 months ago, when he was just a little guy.

He was about 4 lbs then, and 3 months old.

 He is now a whopping 7 lbs! full grown probably, and 5 months old.

He looks super scraggly because he cannot be groomed until he has all of his shots, which he will have next month finally... poor guy cant hardly see anything!

He is super sweet and wants to be with us all the time. He lays outside the bathroom door when I'm in the shower, and sits on my feet while I'm cooking. He hates, more than anything, not being where you are. Case in point, my story...

We bought a little gate to put up so that Kobe can stay in the kitchen when we have to leave him. That way he wont get into anything, or have any accidents on the carpet. The gate is super tall and very sturdy. (when I put it up I tried kicking it, and it didn't budge an inch) 

So, we went to church and put Kobe in the kitchen. When we got home, he was there to greet us at the front door! How in the heck did he get out? The gate was straight up knocked down.

I was so ticked that I put the gate back up and put Kobe in there to see how he did it...

He shoved his head through the TINIEST hole in the corner until the gate fell down... little weasel! 

So now, he pretty much does what he wants. We just leave him out when we leave and let him cry and scratch at the door for hours. (we were gone for 4 hours and he was still whimpering when we got home)

Stay tuned for pics of his hair cut next month!

Holiday Season Officially in Progress!

In Utah, Halloween was celebrated a day early. Richard had to work on Friday and Saturday night so I was feeling sorry for myself. I don't know any person in the ward other than my cousins and they weren't going to the ward party on Friday night, so I decided to cook myself an amazing dinner and get dressed up.

Turns out, my Chicken Florentine turned out ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTING! I got the recipe off Kraft Foods.com which usually gives me some amazing recipes... but this one was not! I couldn't even take more than one bite, it was that bad... So I decided to stay in my sweats and make some cinnamon rolls.

I got a delish looking recipe off of one of my favorite blogs... I cant remember which one, but email me if you want the recipe

I started the dough on Friday night, then let it raise overnight... and finished on Saturday.

 It is quite a process, and since I am a beginner when it comes to baking, I am very proud of myself!

On Saturday night, we went to my cousin Bria's house for a dinner party. Its always fun to hang out with people who have kids on Halloween. I even dressed Kobe up...

what a cute pup! Richard was ticked about the costume. He does NOT want us to be the type of people that dress their animals. I think that Halloween should be an exception!

Then on actual Halloween Sunday we taught our first CTR 7 class. I was pretty nervous but everything turned out great. We came home to an amazing pot of Wendy's Chili simmering... find that recipe here...

I am decorating for Thanksgiving tomorrow!
 November is going to be fun, I have something for every weekend already!

Oh and BTW, wish me luck on my interview at Target tomorrow... who doesn't want a 20% discount to be a seasonal cashier?