Hello American Friends!

Every time my brother Lee and I talk about Russia or anything Russian (or foreign for that matter) Lee breaks into his Russian accent, which sounds a lot like Borat...and even though all he ever saw of that movie was the previews, he's pretty good at it. One of his favorite things to say is "Hello American friends!" or any variation of that. Lee says that my "Russian" accent sounds like a handicapped/drunk French person...but I wonder how right he is as I don't think he knows any handicapped or drunk French people. Whatever. So, Hello American Friends!

Anyway, on Saturday night I had a little Russian Dinner and a Movie Night. It was so much fun. Lee and Kim were staying with me for the weekend and we needed something to keep ourselves entertained. So we invited over some friends, made a big pot of borscht, and watched the movie Everything is Illuminated which is based in Ukraine. The movie is a little bizarre, but good. We had a fun night and other than the fact that my entire house still reeks of borscht and wishing that I had thought to make it a "Dress up like a Russian Party," I have no regrets. Anyway, here are a few pictures of Saturday night for your viewing pleasure.

Lee is such a great cook!...and he's even wearing an apron his Ukranian friend Maria gave him...how authentic our parties are!

Lee and Kim doing their best "no double chin" pose

Lee and I doing the same...it didn't really work for me...instead I just look like a weirdo


Speaking of weirdos...JK JK JK...Kim is just so excited for the party to start!

Yummy, but NOT Russian

Borscht is yummy and IS Russian

Matt and Becca posing for a pic while Lee slaves away in the background

Our Russian spread

Andrew looking very Russian...it's almost scary

Matt and Becca laughing...most likely at the story of Lee and Andrew running down the streets of Rexburg (as Freshmen) wearing nothing but Depends underwear, tall socks and running shoes...makes me laugh every time I hear it

Lee making his "Russian Face"

Andrew, Dave and Christa...probably staring at Lee doing something weird

Don't ask

Chocolate covered strawberries being enjoyed by all

...especially by Andrew

And the winner is...

Brazil Fortaleza Mission!

Yay! We FINALLY know where my parents will be for the next three years...the Brazil Fortaleza Mission! I'm so excited for them!

Hot Mexicans in Mexico

This past weekend my friends Heidi, Melissa, and I headed off to San Diego just to get away from the yucky snow and sad reality of our pathetic lives (mostly our jobs as we all work together). Heidi's mom lives in Carlsbad and we stayed with her, were fed by her, and were entertained by her. She was so great to us. We also got to know all of Heidi's sisters and her awesome Grandma Tanner too. It was all so much fun. So here's a synopsis of what we did...with a few pics of course.

We flew into San Diego late Thursday night. Luckily we had an awesome BRIGHT YELLOW rental car waiting for us. Of the hundreds of rental cars there were in this big lot we just happened to get the only BRIGHT YELLOW one. Wow did we feel special. I don't know what kind of people actually buy yellow cars, but I do have to say they are easy to find in the parking lot. We named the car Gloria...it just fit.

The next morning Melissa and I hung out with my mission companion Jessica, who lives in the San Diego area, while Heidi and her sister Ashley went to the San Diego temple to receive their endowments. Way cool. Anyway, Melissa, Jessica, Jessica's darling little baby Owen and I went to an outlet mall to do a little shopping and have lunch. It was way fun and nice to see Jessica since I haven't seen her in forever. I don't have a picture of this portion of the trip as my hair got all messed from trying on clothes and so I didn't take any pictures. I do have a picture of me in my cute pink jacket that I bought at the outlet mall though which I've posted here.

That night Melissa, Heidi, Heidi's family, and I all went down to the beach just to go walking and to see the sunset. Unfortunately we took a wrong turn and missed the sunset but we still walked on the beach. It was fun and felt great just to be in a jacket. I'm so ready for spring!

Saturday morning we were off to MEXICO!!! I'm so glad that we went even though everyone tried to discourage us and told us how dangerous it was for three white girls to hang out in Mexico blah, blah, blah. Anyway, we drove to the border, crossed over into Tijuana, spent about 2 minutes there, saw the hottest Mexican man I've ever seen (yes Ricky Martin, that includes you), and then hopped a bus with all the locals to go down the Baja Peninsula to Ensenada.

After the 2 hour bus ride to Ensenada we were pretty hungry. Luckily Heidi's BFF, Spencer, had recommended a great place to eat...Tortas Lopez. If any of you ever go to Ensenada, find this place. The food was DE-licious and very cheap. The restaurant was tiny...I think it fit about 8 people in it...no exaggeration. We were the only non-locals there which made it even more interesting and fun. Oh my...I can't believe I forgot to mention the bus ride to Ensenada. Let's just say some beautiful scenery on the outside as we drove down the Baja Peninsula. On the inside though we had some even more beautiful scenery as we watched (on the TVs in the bus) the most amazing and romantic Spanish Music Videos I have ever seen (you should sense sarcasm here). I was ready to poof out my hair, grab a rose and sing in really flowery Spanish right up-close and in the face of my lover (if I had one that is). WOW. I looked on youtube to try to find a little sample of the music videos we watched in the bus, but nothing could even compete with the ones we actually saw. Your loss.

Anyway, back to Ensenada. So, after lunch we didn't really know what to do. We just headed down to Ensenada and not one of us bothered to Google "What to do in Ensenada" before we left. So we asked around and someone mentioned that we might want to go to La Bufadora (Blowhole) which for some weird reason I kept getting mixed up with the word "Bufanda" which means "scarf." More than once I asked someone "How long does it take to get to the scarf?" Sometimes I'm so glad I'm blond when I'm espeaking espanish...people just expect less. Anyway, we went into some random hotel where this totally cute and nice Mexican guy, whose only imperfection was that he had a Soul Patch, helped us get a taxi to the Blowhole (and gave me a free bottle of water...I don't know why...maybe I looked thirsty).

So our taxi shows up 20 minutes later...an old forest green mini van with our awesome driver Jose Sanchez. I didn't think that the green mini van was even a taxi but Jose seemed nice and I was carrying mace so we hopped on in. The drive to the Blowhole was beautiful. The Blowhole is this place where the waves come in, the water goes into this underground cave thing and then when the pressure builds the water blows out the top. We had so much fun there going right up to the blowhole and then running and screaming with all the Mexicans when we got soaked. Also, our taxista Jose was like a little kid and was so fun to watch. Way fun, highly recommend it.

Our "taxi" driver and tour guide, Jose

So Mexico was way fun. Everyone was super nice to us, we didn't get shot or even shot at, the food was great, the scenery beautiful, and there were a lot of hot Mexicans in Mexico. The creepiest people we saw were a bunch of drunk 19 year-old, middle-class American guys we saw when we crossed back over the border that night. They loudly were telling us and everyone around us how the had gotten arrested for "stealing a couple of tacos and some beers." And how it was "the coolest thing that had happened to them for like 10 years." And how "those Mexican handcuffs rub you raw." And a lot of other things I can't write without having to use a lot of #%&@ symbols.

After we crossed the border, we changed in the car out of our Mexico clothes (I know, skanky), and got ready to head down to San Diego's Gas Lamp District. We went to this awesome Australian restaurant with great atmosphere and pretty good food.

This is getting WAY long so I'll try to be less wordy. So, Sunday after a delicious brunch out on the back porch, we went to church at the local Singles' Ward. Then we had a fabulous Sunday dinner with Heidi's fam. I even ate escargot for the first time (taste and texture...not that bad, envisioning the slugs and snails in my flower beds...not good). That night we threw a bonfire at Heidi's mom's house. We invited a bunch of people from the Singles' Ward. Way fun.

Monday we pretty much, after another delicious breakfast of fresh fruit with crem fresh, headed to San Diego where we went to the exhibit "The Body," which is basically a bunch of cadavers and cadaver parts they have plasticized. Super fascinating. I would highly recommend the exhibit. They even had this Hydatiform Mole baby thing, which was basically a ball of hair and teeth and other stuff. Rad.

Then on the plane and back to the reality of my stressful and boring life.

The end.

I heart Mexico.

Yes, I know I'm a moron..."I love you" instead of "hang loose?"

Joseph Smith with crazy eyebrows next to Bob Marley or some other Rastafarian and some guy from "The Godfather" I think. Only in Mexico!

Me at the bonfire with a bunch of people I don't know and will never see again.

I'm it!

My friend Corrine tagged me...so I'm it! I guess it gives me an idea of something to write about. So here you go...

What was I doing 10 years ago?...Five years ago I was a Freshman at Ricks College trying to figure out what to do with my life. Funny how now 10 years later I'm still basically in the same place I was then...trying to figure out what to do with my life. Maybe I'll never get that figured out.

What are 5 things on my "To Do" List today?...Those of you who know me well, know that I am THE QUEEN OF LISTS. I make lists for everything. There are lists all over my house...grocery lists, homework lists, things I need to do lists, goal lists, lists of things to write in my journal, lists of things to blog about, lists of places I want to go, lists of movies I want to see, lists of books I want to read...LISTS. I'm not kidding...come over to my house sometime and I'll show you all of my lists. Does that mean that I am an organized person who gets an amazing amount of things done everyday? NO. Instead it means that I am someone that gets a few things done and spends way too much time sorting back through old lists and consolidating lists. So, here are 5 things from my "To Do" List today. Of course I don't only have 5 things as I am not smart enough to "Aim Low and Achieve" as I should.

*Reserve a rental car for our up-coming Spinsters in Spain 2008 trip...this daunting task is NOT DONE
*Read at least 10 pages of the Book of Mormon. I'm trying to do that "Hinckley Challenge" thing and read it in 97 days and I am already a little behind...DONE
*Run 6 miles...Ran 3 so far, will run 3 more tonight...I'm a wimp so I split it up
*Homework...I have a ton of it and have thus far completed none of it...Yuck!
*Clean my bedroom and bathroom as they are an utter disaster right now...NOT DONE

What are some snacks I enjoy? Room temperature apple slices or grapes eaten with room temperature string cheese (so much more flavor at room temp and no pain to my freshly whitened teeth), almonds, Nature Valley Sweet & Salty Nut ALMOND granola bars, Luna Peppermint Stick energy bars, and pretty much any room temperature fruit I can afford.

What things would I do if I suddenly became a billionaire? Wow. This deserves a blog post of its own but I'll try and give a condensed version now. My brother Lee and I used to play the "What would you do if you won the Powerball lottery?" game all of the time when we would drive from Utah to Idaho together. First of all, I would pay my tithing, unless of course I won the money in the lottery or came across it in another shady way...I wouldn't want God to have dirty money. Next, quit my job, no questions asked and no 2 week notice. Then I would give my townhouse in Utah to some poor person, move to Idaho and build a beautiful, big, but not disgustingly huge house. I would then find my old car Phyllis somehow and have her lovingly restored. I would make sure that my family members were all okay financially and buy them each an awesome car and pay off their houses. Then I would pay for about 1000 Ethiopian kids to go to school, give a few million to the charity Village of Hope, and then I would spend the rest of my life traveling and doing humanitarian projects all over the world. I would use my beautiful home in Idaho as a home base so I could spend time with my family but I would spend at least half of each year in other countries. Oh yeah, and I'd probably buy a husband too. I'm sure I could get a decent guy to like me if I payed him 50 million or so.

What are 3 of my bad habits?
*Saying whatever comes to my mind without processing/editing it first
*Staying up way too late all of the time
*Buying too many Diesel brand shoes. I love Diesel shoes!

What are some things people don't know about me? Well I'm pretty much an open book due to the fact that I talk a lot and say everything that is on my mind. But here are a few of my deep dark secrets... I big time miss having my brother Lee live with me (and not just because I have a ton of light bulbs that I can't reach that need changing or because he used to do all of the cooking). I have NO CLUE what I'm doing with my life or what career to choose. I am seriously considering serving another mission...weird, I know, especially since I know how hard missions are. And, last but not least I fear that I will die in my house and be found as Bridget Jones best put it, "fat and alone, half-eaten by wild dogs."

Oh yeah, and I tag MOM, Aunt Lucy, Geri, Rachel, and Bobbi. You're it!

Do it kid, do it!

I love this picture. Check out the look in that kid's eyes. Okay, not to be rude or anything, but... I can't stand Hillary Clinton. I don't know why but every time I see her on TV I just want to punch her in the face. I'm glad to see that the litte kid in the picture feels the same way that I do.

Overall, I'm pretty disappointed with how this election is playing out. I won't rant and rave too much with my opinions on the matter. All I'm going to say is that unless McCain miraculously keels over soon and Romney re-enters the race, I am not voting in November (as I don't support ANY of the other candidates and don't want to be responsible for having voted for them) and I'm trading all of my savings into Euros and am leaving the United States for as much of the next four years as possible. No sarcasm here folks. I am serious!

Oranges, Arby's, and Leisure Suits...CENSORED!

Oranges, Arby's, and Leisure Suits...these are a few of the things that I love. So lately I'm loving these three things...maybe it is just the freezing cold weather and snow storms that we keep having that is forcing me to try to appreciate something about this winter. So here you have my little bit of gratitude for the season.

I LOVE Cara Cara oranges. Cara Cara oranges aren't just any old orange. They are very special, tasty, and actually are better for you than the average orange. I think they are a cross between a normal orange and a blood orange or something. Thank you genetic engineering. Anyway, whatever they are, or whoever created them, they are good...a little pricey but way worth the money. And they are in season now!


So I'm not really normally a big fan of fast food, but I am loving Arby's new french dip. The bread is so good. Yum. I get it without the Swiss as I don't like fake fast food cheese, so I can't tell you if it is good with the cheese or not. Maybe I'm just loving it because my occasional Arby's french dip is the closest thing to real food I have anymore as I am mostly surviving on granola bars, protein shakes, and almonds lately due to lack of time and the fact that I don't cook anymore. Anyway, get to Arby's and try one before some dork spills the hot Au ju sauce on their cr#!ch while trying to eat and drive and then they have to take them off the market because Arby's gets sued. It is bound to happen.


And last but not least...LEISURE SUITS! I love leisure suits. I have two of them now and wear them all of the time. Basically anytime I'm at home I'm in my leisure suit. It keeps me warm and is a much better thing to answer then door in then some old nasty pajama pants with the cr#@ch ripped out and an old 5k t-shirt which is probably what I would be wearing if it wasn't for my leisure suit. Well I guess they aren't exactly real leisure suits like the one in this picture. I just started calling these outfits I wear leisure suits for lack of a better term. I don't really know what these things I wear are called. They aren't exactly a sweat suit. I don't know. Someday I'll post a picture of me in my new one because it is super cute, but until then just imagine what you would see a middle aged woman with fake blond hair, fake b#*bs, over tanned skin, usually driving a Tahoe, would wear to the grocery store and you've got the right idea. Wow, that was a long sentence. Anyway, I would highly recommend that everyone get a leisure suit or two. It will change your life.