Winter. It's here.

I made it back to SLC after the best flight of my life from Sacramento. I'm going to take the opportunity now to thank Delta Airlines for being so awesome. I haven't flown Delta in like 4 years so I was shocked and thoroughly delighted at the accomodations I found while on that sweet airplane. It was roomy, each chair had a T.V. with actual live television, and they served Coke products. I flipped back and forth between CNN and the E! True Hollywood Story of Sex and the City for the entire hour and a half flight. It was great. I will definitely be using Delta again, unless Southwest is cheaper, and then I will just suck it up and deal.

Thanksgiving was great. Well, mostly great. I got a horrible cold. I was coughing and sneezing and blowing my nose ALL DAY LONG. And I couldn't taste anything so Thanksgiving dinner was sort of a let down for me. But I know you all want to know about the Jello. So let's talk.

I was feeling really confident going into Jello attempt #1. A little nervous, but you know, optimistic. The squeezing of the pineapple took approximately 2 hours and when I couldn't get anything else out of it, I squeezed some more.
Everything went south when I misjudged the consistency of the Jello and left it in the fridge too long. You see, you're supposed to let the Jello partially set before adding the fruit. Really, though, and I made a note of this on the recipe, you just need to let the jello mixture cool and then you can add the fruit.

Jello attempt #1

So, after my emotional breakdown, I went back to the store to get the ingredients for Jello attempt #2.

Jello attempt #2 was successful I guess. I got the initial consistency right and added the fruit. Later that night, my mom helped me with the whip cream. This is where we screwed up a bit. I think we may have whipped the cream too long so it was a little thicker than the Jello cream should be. Overall, the Jello was ok. Not the best, but for my first effort (or second) it was ok. Better luck next year.

The rest of my visit was good. My mom, Jen and I did some shopping, we hung out with Christian, Maureen and their puppies, Louie and Cacie.

Louie on the left, Cacie on the right.

Me and Louie

They are the cutest dogs EVER. So much fun. They are really well behaved too. Chris and Maureen are doing a good job breaking them in (is that the right term, "breaking them in?") And of course, we played some Monopoly and Clue. My favorites. We also got to watch some of Ryan's Africa video. That was cool. He thought it was boring for us, but it wasn't. It was hilarious and totally interesting. Africa is serious business. I would love to go, but I think I would have to pass on treking up Mt. Kilimanjaro. I would have no business being up there. Anyways, it was a great Thanksgiving.

Monopoly. Judging from our faces, it's clear, we don't mess around.

Bootsie wanted to play too.

Checking out Chris's new property on the Sacramento river.

So let's talk about the snow that has been falling. Winter is totally here and I don't know how I feel about it. The roads were covered this morning, but mostly just slushy. I was turning left at a light and TOTALLY fish-tailed into the other lane. Luckily, no one was in that lane, but it was scary. I forgot how much driving in the snow scared me. It's not cool.

Rachel and I are going snowboarding at Snowbird on Saturday. I'm really excited. I really want to improve this season and am ready to get the first day out of the way. The first day is always a little sketchy. Lot's of falling. I fall a lot anyways, so it's really all relative to me. Should be pretty fun though!

Our One Classy Christmas Party is set to go . Invites are out and everyone should have gotten them today. I have never thrown a party like this so it's a little scary. Dinner reservations have got me the most stressed, only because I don't know how many people are definitely coming so I can't give the restaurant a set number. Having worked at a restaurant, I know how crazy this time of year can be for a place like this and I really don't want to be "one of those" people, but I am just going to have to deal with whatever comes and hope the restaurant can accomodate us. Should be a great party! Hope everyone can come!

The Success of Thanksgiving Rests In My Hands

I'm flying home to Redding tomorrow to participate in the Olsen Family Thanksgiving Festivities 2006. This year will more than likely be much like years past; lots of noise, complaints about the fairy rolls and vicious critique over Grandma's jello.

Grandma's Jello is never made except on Thanksgiving. It just isn't. But for good reason. This jello is not like some sick Utah, Relief Society jello. This jello is special, not only because it is jello perfected, but also because the time and preperation it takes to complete is so rewarding. Every year Grandma would bring out the jello and say "I just don't know about it this year." But her jello never let us down. Ever. And we loved her for that. As she got older, it became a little more difficult for her to do things, but she always came through when it came to the jello.

Apparently, I have been enlisted to tackle on the responsibility of producing Grandma's Jello this year. Why? I have no idea. Maybe because everyone else is too lazy (actually I am pretty sure that's the reason). Either way, it's rather intimidating.

Grandma's jello consists of raspberry jello, pineapple, bananas and whipped cream, but none of that Redi-Whipped crap in the can. No, this is serious handmade whiped cream with a touch of pineapple juice.

Sounds easy, right?

WRONG

Over the years, there have been those who have taken on the challenge of making the Jello, however the outcome is usually disappointing.

One Example of Grandma's Jello Disaster: It's Thanksgiving 1995. For some reason, we decided to hop in the green van and road trip our Thanksgiving to Provo, Utah, thanks to Jen. (Why she chose to live in Provo? I do not know, but we all make mistakes) Anyways, we attempted to create a Thanksgiving dinner as close to perfect as that icky apartment would allow , which included Grandma's Jello. I don't know who to blame this disaster on, maybe it was all of us, but it was indeed a DISASTER. The Jello attempt was pathetic, inexcusealbe really. The Jello didn't set, the cream was too runny and I think, I THINK someone forgot the chopped nuts. Looking back, we should have known better. Come to think of it, I believe this is where my loathing of all things Provo began.

Grandma passed away two years ago and since then the responsibility of who has to make the Jello has been quite the issue. My cousin Cara is probably the one who has come closest to mastering the recipe. Since I have been bestowed with the task this year, I am definitely going to have to call her up and get every detailed step. I am really nervous about this. Seriously. I have heard you have to start like 2 days in advance, use stainless steel bowls that have been chilled for a certain about of time and crush the pineapple until it's at a perfect consistency, all while chanting some achient Wiccan Jello prayer....or something to that affect.

We'll see how it goes.

Seriously though...

You can't make a change unless you make a change.

I was looking at all of my pictures from Europe tonight and I was left aching to go back. Traveling this summer was the best thing I have ever done and probably the smartest decision I ever made. Not only did I get to see parts of the world that I may never get to see again, I learned so much about myself. It sounds incredibly cliche and it's so true. I learned not to take for granted the opportunities that lay before me. I left feeling this overwhelming sense of accomplishment and couldn't wait to get on with the rest of my life. The realization that I could do whatever I wanted with my life was exciting but terrifying at the same time. Settling into life after college however has had it's challenges. I have never felt so stagnant before. Here I have the world at my fingertips and I can't decide where I want to be or what I want to do. The last 6 months have been the most trying in my life. My mind is stuffed full of ideas and plans, but my inability to decide on what idea and what plan to jump on has been stiffling. It has been so hard to get excited about my future when I can't decide on what future I really want. The past couple weeks though I have definitely felt better. I haven't been happy or more importantly, satisfied with my job and I have tried to make some decisions to better my situation. I have come to except the fact that I don't need to have all the answers now. I don't need to have my life planned out for the next 5, 10 or 15 years. I guess that's the fun in it. So if I don't like something, I have resolved to change it because you can't make a change unless you make a change. That was one of the things that I took away from my training in Phoenix. I have always been a firm believer in the possibilty that anything is possible as long as you put the work into it. Unfortunately, I never thought it applied to me. Funny how that works. But I know now that I am the only person to blame for the things I am unhappy about in my life. If I have goals and aspirations in my life, the only way to make them happen is to work at it until they happen. I get that and am looking for to the challenge.

In honor of my rant...

Insert witty headline here

Well I am back from Phoenix after a very motivating, very long few days. The workshops I attended were for the most part very good. However, I felt like I was back in school, having to sit for hours listening to lecture after lecture, scrambling to take notes or in some cases, stay awake. The weather was beautiful, perfect actually, 75 or 80. I had the chance to meet a lot of nice people, especially ones in my section (intermountain). Out section met up for dinner one night at a very trendy Scottsdale restaurant called The Old Torilla Factory. Lots of spicy southwest style goodness. Our section director is a cool guy so he ordered tons of appetizers for us and told us to get anything we wanted. I ordered a red chile pork chop that came with this spicy raspberry sauce. I know, you totally care.

By the end of the trip, I was rather exhausted from spending so much time with my coworkers. Travelling with people you work with is much like travelling with your family, except when you get annoyed with your coworkers, you can't yell at them. And trust me, I got annoyed. But overall, good trip.

I really, REALLY want a cat. I have been looking in the Trib and on Craigslist everyday searching for kittens being given away. I thought about calling one ad tonight, but before I did, I remembered that I would be going home next week and would want to bring it with me. So that's about the time I called Delta and asked them about their pet policy. Here's the deal: you can carry on a small pet (cat, small dog, ferret, etc.) for a $50 one-way price, but you have to make a reservation for your pet before you leave because Delta only allows 2 pets as carry-on per flight. And your pet counts as your carry-on item. It's all quite ridiculous to me. I mean really, $50 to put your cat under the seat in front of you? Please. I swear when my brother Christian would travel with his cat Saki, he didn't have to pay a dime. He just liquored her up with Benedryl, sent her through security and was on his way. I should ask him.

Right now the Jazz are killing the Clippers. The Jazz are good this year. 7-1. Everyone is trying to turn me into some fan. Ok listen, it's not going to happen. It's just not.

My fantasy team is struggling right now. I was in third place like 4 days ago, now I am almost last, only ahead of Ryan and Juice, who are on top of Mt. Kilimanjaro right now, with no access to a computer. Figures. Everyone on my team is hurt though. It's pretty beat.

Deal or No Deal is on again. Have I expressed how much I loathe this show? These people are WAY too overdramatic and it's painfully annoying. I can't help but scream at the tv, "YOU ARE SO STUPID!!!!" They really are.

Last night I had a dream that I went to a high school basketball game and Barack Obama was the coach of one of the teams. I was freaking out in my dream because I needed to run home and get my camera. But I didn't want to leave the game because hello, Barack Obama was there, so I never got my camera and didn't get to take a picture. I am convinced this is a sign that he will be our next President and now I totally believe in that whole "personal revelation" thing.

This blog has gone nowhere fast. I'm out.

Take effects, TAKE EFFECTS!

Tomorrow I am flying to Phoenix for a USTA National Staff Training Meeting. It's sort of a big deal and I am a little confused as to why they are spending all this money on me going, but I could definitely use the warm weather and private suite so I'm not complaining. Although I will be in seminars all day, it should be a good time and hopefully I meet some cool people who could hook me up in the future. It's all about networking, people.

Speaking of networking, I may have a real-live, legit connection with the Jazz.

Yesterday, my friend Dave invited to me to go to the Jazz game. Dave and I did broadcasting together for a year. We teamed up and had our own 10 minute segment on Utah State's dorky features show ,"Cache Rendevous. It was called Road Trippin' and the premise was us basically going to little po-dunk towns around Cache Valley and finding stuff to do. It was a blast and we had so much fun meeting all these crazy people and getting to know these tiny towns. My favorite show was when we visited a working dairy farm in a town called Lewiston. We milked cows, rode horses, and fed little baby calves....

I'm rambling. Anyways...

So Dave recently got hired on with the Delta Center broadcasting department. Basically he helps shoot all the things you see up on the jumbo-tron during Delta Center events, mainly, Jazz games. So we went to the game, (which was GREAT, by the way. They played Detroit. I have a huge crush on Tayshaun Prince) and after, Dave took me onto the court and we watched the broadcasters interview Carlos Boozer. It was really cool. Boozer is such a nice guy, really. Then we went and listened to the press conference with Jerry Sloan. We were waiting there, right next to Jerry, for like 5 minutes, as the press made their way over. Jerry Sloan is intense. He's all about business. I brought my camera and tried to sneak a picture of him since he was standing like 5 feet away from me Of course he turns around though, right as the flash goes off and just stares at me, probably thinking, "What in the hell is this girl doing at my press conferece?" Whatever, it was cool and made me really miss my days doing the news at USU. I was good at it, not going to lie. Not because I am some journalistic genious, no, more like I am really good at acting out the whole journalist persona. I may not know what I am talking about, but I can definitely fake it. Anyways, Dave is the same way, but he actually is really smart at this kinda stuff. He loves camera work and editing and all the behind-the-scenes crap that goes on. He also took me up to the control room and introduced me to his boss, the Director of the Jazz, I guess. He showed me what all the boards do and how they basically put on a Jazz game. It was very interesting and I am so glad Dave thought to invite me to check it out. Dave, who is very supportive of my career aspirations, told me he would drop my name around the Delta Center and keep his ears open for any opportunities to get me up there. Thanks Dave!!!!

SO I guess I will be back on Sunday.

Jen is having a girl! Exciting for sure.

Halloween





I went as Audrey Hepburn circa Breakfast at Tiffany's for one party, and as punk/emo to another. I ditched Audrey after having to pull up my dress every 30 seconds. It got annoying. My punk "costume" was totally weak, but I didn't really care.

Yet another reason Utah should be it's own country

Pretty soon, they'll be kicking-off the holiday season in July.

Where Did All the M&M's Go?

Yesterday at work, there was this Junior Tennis meeting for all these moms whose kids are part of this elite tennis team. One of these mother's showed up along with her red-headed, freckle-faced chubby 4 year-old son. I was up at the front desk doing something on one of the computers and I overheard the mother say this to her son,

"You can't go in with me. This lady will keep an eye on you."

What? Are you talking about me? Because if you are, don't even think I am going to baby-sit your child while I am doing very important things like making mailing labels and putting check stubs in numerical order.

I sound like a brat, but it wasn't the baby-sitting part that got to me, it was the fact that this woman just assumed I would watch him for 2 hours. She didn't even ask. She just left him in the lobby, on this big blue chair, next to the M&M dispenser - the M&M dispenser that is now EMPTY.

That kid figured out the M&M dispenser faster than you could believe. Every 2 minutes I would hear the stupid thing pouring out piles and piles of M&M's that this little boy would then gobble up. He was trying to be so coy about it too. I could see him out of the corner of my eye, checking to see if I could hear him pulling on the plastic tennis racquet that unleashed the seemingly endless flow of M&M's. I know he is 4 years old, but I couldn't help but think,

"Dude, I know you are eating all the M&M's over there. It's not like I can't see you or hear you slobbering them up. Seriously."

Thoughts like that make me seriously question if I am deemed fit to have children.

Anyways, long story short, the kid totally cleaned out our M&M dispenser. Like literally ate every last M&M in the building. Really though, what was I supposed to do? It wasn't my child and I wasn't about to go over there and take the M&M dispenser away. That could have been awkward.