i am a mom/wife/textile designer gone haywire. I love to sing(music/arts AA degree), craft, exercise, and be goofy. Just living life outside the norm. And the norm thanks me for it. Oh yeah, and I like me some haikus. . . .
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What are we up to currently? Aaron recently started medical school at Ross University on the island of Dominica in the Caribbean, and the kids and I are along for the crazy ride :)
Twitter is down! booooo! where am I going to post my 140 character thought? ok, looks like you are going to have to fill in, blog.
Demanieshs: It think my blink speed has decreased to an all-time low. Prolly can't even be called a blink anymore. My arms are weak and I think some drool just dripped on my shirt. Nap time. for real. I have 2 hours. wee wah. <---over 140 char. ME=not caring. gnight.
Welllll... a lot. a lot is up. so much so that I might need to remove my brain to extract all of the information I want to share with you because my recall is laughably lacking. Ok, where were we? <-----SEE?!?!
Oh, the Thee Pitts Again post- I was waiting for my dad to send me some of the pictures he took, but maybe I'll just post what I've got.
At the end of January my parents flew down for the day to take me to a special birthday lunch. (awwww) I chose a restaurant from my "Restaurants I need to visit before I die" list (Yes, there is such a list and the NEXT restaurant in the line-up is The Burger House in Miami, AZ. I hear they have killer burritos)
But most of the restaurants on our list are ones we have seen on one of our favorite food network shows, Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. Here is the clip from the show of Thee Pits Again:
In fact, this notorious list was created because we have a running contest with our friends to see who can visit the most restaurants that have been featured on this show throughout the US. When we're planning a trip we look up our destination city on the Triple D's website to see if we can also visit/cross off another restaurant. so there you have it.
Meg n Matt trying to decide.... Nice decore, eh? It was deliciously hideous. Pigs everywhere. Not real ones, fake ones... oh wait, I guess there were real ones, but not alive real ones... ehhh anyway....
Awwwwwww We love Grandpa!
Grandma and Matthew (he was being such a little stinker that day- keep reading to find out why...
ONION RINGS... Holy Hannah these were the king of onion rings. I ate mine with a fork. Yeah, they are that huge. AND the batter is to die for. It was a thin, smooth, crispy coating and just salty enough to stimulate those salivary glands into a frenzy. Bite Description: Crunch, firm yet soft sweet onion cooked to perfection, salt/sweet combo in just the right proportions. So gooood.... nom nom nom
It didn't need it, but we also had it with ranch.... drool.
Now, Aaron saw these on the menu and HAD to get them. It's a little bucket of battered fried dill pickles. That's what I said. fried pickles. Every dietician I know would be turning in their grave right now. Well, I don't know any dead dieticians, so maybe not. But if they had a grave, they'd turn in it.
Absolutely no nutritional value whatsoever, but they actually are ok. I was a bigger fan when they cooled down a little. Not such a big fan of the hot pickle. A Special thank you to our hand model, Mrs. Jane Harward Mcgillicutty the third.
Hee hee- I skinnyfied this picture. I hated how my dumb arm looked in that shirt. It always makes my arms look bad. And yet I wear it. Why????? I guess I just like the shirt. This is what I like to call a "love/hate but I'll still wear you" relationship.
Sorry mom- I know your eyes are closed in this picture... but trust me, this was the best one. you'll thank me when I show you the others. lawl.
Le food arrives! Pulled Pork sandwiches and happy face fries for the kiddos
Ok, this bad boy is the Pork and Slaw Sandwich... It was a beast. The slaw was crunchy and creamy- a little tangy. The Pork was so soft I didn't need a toothpick afterward. And the sauce? wow. It had a little kick and was sooo savory. I don't actually remember how I ate this. it's as big as my head. Alls I know is it was yummy but I only ate half of it.... and then a few hours later I ate the other half. and then a few hours later I gained 2 pounds per thigh. I'm just taking one for the team. (In case you were wondering, YOU are the team and if you don't visit because of this post, I'll be very disappointed. My "I'm serious" eyebrow is raised. I'm serious.)
Yup, That's a whole rack of amazingly tender pork ribs Aaron's got there. I believe that he consumed all of them. and the fork too- it was a devil retrieving it. I'm jealous that on the Atkins diet he can eat stuff like this and lose weight- this was a day off the diet though. The rest of his meal is on the second plate there, and those seasoned fries were SO GOOD! The corn bread, not so much.
booo. I hate giving bad reviews, so lets just move on to the next picture. It was dry. oh darn- that just slipped out. Man, I have no linguistic filter. (Right Brittney???)
Matthew liked it. poor kid looks like he got hit by a truck. He had been throwing up the night before (yes, mommy dearest {aka me} had to clean it up. I hate when they get sick and throw up all over their toys and you have to wash each one) We ended up bringing a little trash can with us and kept it under the table in case he got sick again. HA HA we are sooooo W.T.
Cue Fried Twinkie. Ahh shoot, you missed it. I guess we were too eager to dig in... I had to say "WAIT!!! stop eating!! I need a picture." I'm lucky I got away with my life.
delectable.
It totally changed the composition of the Twinkie. A true culinary masterpiece. Who knew?
Thanks, Mom, and Dad, for making me feel super special and taking my family and me out to lunch! Love you!
I've had many people tell me they're interested in purchasing tickets for our show at a group rate, so we will again organize a group of Shumway supporters. We've chosen to purchase for the Friday, April 15th at 7:30pm performance. If you'd like to tickets at the discounted rate of $10 per ticket instead of the regular $15 per, please let us know and we will include you in this group.
We need to close the sale on April 1st, so let us know by the end of the month. Please be prepared to use cash or check (made out to either Aaron or me). I am playing Little Red Ridinghood and Aaron is Cinderella's Prince.
(just so you know, you can get your own group together for a group rate on a different night- that's fine- or you can come individually and pay the regular rate- no biggie- we just like to do this for friends and family who don't wish to bother with coordinating it all. Here is a link to our production for your convenience)
Art by Laurean
In case you are unfamiliar with the show, here's a little "something" stolen from a random website:
Into the Woods is an award-winning musical featuring a score by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine. The musical intertwines a collection of uncensored versions of 18th century Brothers Grimm fairy tales. An original story involving a Baker and his Wife's quest to begin a family ties together the stories of Little Red Ridinghood, Jack of Jack and the Beanstalk, Rapunzel, and Cinderella.
Act I opens with a wish, a witch, and a curse. Each separate tale intertwines throughout the story, each depending on a weakness or strength of another. The play's conflicts are motivated by selfish wishes, made for the betterment of individual characters.
Act II explores what happens after "happily ever after," when these wishes have come true. The land is ravaged by a giant, whose husband was killed when Jack chopped down the beanstalk. The show explores the consequences of actions taken in the first act, and the need for community in order to survive "the Woods". Among the many messages expressed in the musical, one of the strongest is that unless people are gathering for one mission, the mission cannot be accomplished, as long as each is egocentric.
The musical makes heavy use of syncopated speech. In many instances, the characters' lines are delivered with a fixed beat that follows natural speech rhythms, but is also purposely composed in eighth, sixteenth, and quarter note rhythms as part of a spoken song. Like many Sondheim/Lapine productions, the songs contain thought-process narrative, where characters converse or think aloud.
Lyric examples:
"On the Steps of the Palace" (Cinderella) He's a very smart prince
He's a prince who prepares
Knowing this time I'd run from him
He spread pitch on the stairs
I was caught unawares
And I thought, 'Well, he cares,
This is more than just malice
Better stop and take stock
While you're standing here stuck to the steps of the palace.'
"I Know Things Now" (Little Red Ridinghood) And I know things now, many valuable things
That I hadn't known before
Do not put your faith in a cape and a hood
They will not protect you the way that they should
And take extra care with strangers
Even flowers have their dangers
And though scary is exciting
Nice is different than good.
"No One Is Alone" (Cinderella) Sometimes people leave you halfway through the woods.
Do not let it grieve you, no one leaves for good.
You are not alone, believe me.
No one is alone.
Stephen Sondheim musicals
Saturday Night • West Side Story • Gypsy • A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum • Anyone Can Whistle • Do I Hear a Waltz? • Evening Primrose • Company • Follies • A Little Night Music • The Frogs • Pacific Overtures • Sweeney Todd • Merrily We Roll Along • Sunday in the Park with George • Into the Woods • Assassins • Passion • Bounce
Last weekend we drove to Utah to attend my Grandma Harward's funeral in American Fork, UT. I'm too tired right now to even think about talking about it, but just know that everything's ok. She has been ready to go home for quite some time now....years, even. I took this picture Monday on the way home after we passed through a blizzard and entered AZ. Its a bright, happy picture and it warmed my heart. I'll tell you more about the weekend later... maybe. I'm just going to use this picture as a placeholder until I feel like writing about the experience. I love you, Grandma.
1. never get asperagus just right but I did this time after blanching it, and
2. I never cook with shrimp, but this was sooo easy!
My homemade (and made-up) fettucini alfredo with asperagus and shrimp. It was delectable.
The kids loved it and so did Aaron :) yay!
Just a little shot of the kids playing Dance Central on Kinect for Xbox360. fun stuff.
Dun duh duh duuuuh!
Our trip to Showlow for superbowl weekend....
Here is Matt and our friend, Savannah, about to go sled (they got some air off the rocks halfway down the "hill" and had a mad snowball fight).
nom nom vaseline lips.
Meg donned the skeletal gloves. pretty hardcore, if you ask me.
Aww. Me and the Megster. Since the last time the kids played in the snow was all the way back when Aaron busted his leg open, these guys don't remember snow-play protocal. I had to throw some snowballs in kids' faces to get the snowball fight started. I found no joy in it whatsoever. I wish you could see my dead-pan face. no joy. none.
Trip home... Matthew and Houston zonked in the car.
Next Subject...
Used our last fat burger groupon.... holy huge burger.
Honguh.
Really cool hipstamatic effects on this pic... sorry, I have no idea what they were or I'd spill it.
and a preview of the next post.... Thee Pitts Again.
wee wah.
Click the picture to go to the site- click Awards on the site's left sidebar to see the Diners Drive Ins and Dives feature. :)
These are actual things I hear my professors say in class. I usually post them the same day I hear them. I will never quote who said it. That would be mean.
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