life's lessons

I just finished reading "Tuesdays with Morrie." I love books that make you think. This book made me think about the quality of my life. I asked myself the question "Am I being the person I want to be?" I liked what Morrie said about our culture, "the culture we have does not make people feel good about themselves. We're teaching the wrong things. And you have to be strong enough to say if the culture doesn't work, don't buy it." It was a good book to read before a new year. Next time I am tempted to flip someone off while driving, I will try to remember to smile and wave. 

Christmas card attempt

This was the card that should have been sent to family and friends to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Blame it on Boo, we couldn't get him to look at the camera instead of us.

Woman's best friend

Who is my best helper when it comes to loading the dishwasher? Boo-that's who! Every time I unload the dishwasher he comes and waits patiently until I start to load in some dirty dishes and then he helps with the rinsing process. The downside? I am sure the extra 75 pounds of pressure on the door isn't adding to its longevity.

O Christmas Tree

The other day I was sad because everyone doesn't like Christmas as much as I do. I thought, "You don't have to like Christmas as much as I do... but don't ruin it for me!" The next day I got our Christmas tree out. No one was home so I blasted the Christmas carols and spent hours decorating the tree. The theme of the tree is basically sugar, so how could I not be happy. My favorite decorations are the little candy elves. They look so happy with their peppermint stick stockings and ice cream cone hats. So now I know the cure for any Bah humbug feelings I get this season. Put up more decorations! String a few more lights! Buy a few more Christmas carols on itunes!

Hawaii 2008

We spent last week in Hawaii. We visited some of our

 favorite spots: Teddy's Bigger Burger's, Aoki's shave ice, Waimea 

Bay and Strong Current

No more braces!

Today Cassidy got her braces off. Isn't she beautiful? 

Grateful

Last Saturday, October 25th my Grandma turned 92. Her children, grand children, and great grand children gathered at the community center in Hyde Park Utah for a birthday dinner. It was a beautiful day. 

As we drove home I thought about how grateful I was

to hear my Grandma bear her testimony, 

to sing a few of my Grandma's favorite songs with my cousins,

to watch my daughter play

with her cousin Maggie,

to walk barefoot in

the cool grass,

to play tennis with no shoes

on and my pants rolled up,

to not be in a hurry

to leave.

Grandma I am happy you lived to be 92.

Racing

The weekend of Sept 27th, my brother Aaron and I went to the Porsche Club Races in Tooele at the Miller Track.  We finally got our race car back up and running.  I drove and raced in the race car while Aaron drove my silver porsche in the non-competitive sessions.  The race car ran great and I managed to finish 4th in my class.  Not bad for my first time actually racing.

Fun with Finn

You might think we are skiing but no, this is a train.

Finn is the engine, I am the freight car.

Later, Derek has to give up the camera and 

be the caboose.

Chug a chug a choo choo!

We always have fun when Finn comes over to

play. 

Hockey

Alex is playing hockey this year again with his High School where he is a Junior.  They've played four games this year so far and Alex leads the team in goals with 11. He really is a talented skater and has great hands.  

Fall

Here are some pictures we took last week at Sundance. I wanted to get a family picture but Derek came home with hat hair and facial hair. 

     

Turn Around

My Mom used to have the sheet music to a song called "Turn Around". Here are the lyrics for one of the verses.

Where are you going

My little one, little one

Where are you going

My baby, my own

Turn around and you're two

Turn around and you're four

Turn around and you're a young girl

Going out of the door

 When she would sing it, tears always came to my eyes. I guess even when you are the little one they are talking about, the thought of leaving your parents is sad. 

I will never forget my Dad giving me a hug in the kitchen before I got married, and with tears in his eyes saying "I didn't think you would be leaving so soon."

I guess the reason I am reminiscing is because Lindsay turned twenty this past week. I found this picture of Lindsay and I when I was her age. The older I get the faster time flies.

Forty-Love

Since January I have been taking tennis lessons and going to the women's tennis workouts. It has been really good for me. I am not competitive by nature but I can get worked up (especially by aggressive know it all's, with no patience for beginners :) . Most of the ladies who come to the workouts are extremely nice and give good advice. I have made new friends, laughed at myself a lot, and had some great bruises (the best one was from running into a huge screw that held the net as we were switching sides).

Top three things about learning to play tennis

1. I have to say the outfits

2. having something in common with my husband (he is a know it all but very patient).

3. winning points against my arch rival Jenny (one of those mentioned above).

Three things I need to learn

1. stop apologizing every time I hit a horrible shot

2. stop watching the ball and run!

3. How to get rid of tennis elbow

More Fishing

I went to see the Dr. this morning since my back is still hurting.  Dr. Taylor (who looks just like Dr. Kevorkian) thought it was an SI joint issue...  No.. It can't be.  I had that 10 years ago and couldn't even bend over.  Totally different symptoms than what I have now.  I have pain in the same area but I can pretty much do everything I want - I just can't sit for very long.  He recommended PT so I went down and saw my Therapist - who is also my neighbor and helped me rehab my shoulder 2 years ago.  He says - "Its your SI joints.  They're not locked but the right side is really twisted".  Huh... Shows you what I know.  He worked on both sides for about 10 minutes, twisted them around, put the electro machine on the joints, and now it feels 90% better.  So... in celebration I went fishing for an hour!  :)

Fall Fishing

So...It has been awhile since I've posted as Pam has taken over the blog so here goes my first post in months.  Tuesday I hurt my back golfing and haven't been able to sit much.  Hopefully its nothing major and I'll be back to normal shortly.  I was supposed to go to the track today and get some practice in our race car (that my brother and I blew the engine up in first time out back in July) with the new engine but since my back hurts - extended driving is not an option.  So, since the weather is perfect this afternoon, my partner and I decided to go fishing for a few hours up Provo Canyon.  The leaves are starting to change, the scenery is incredible and being outside is very enjoyable right now.  I caught three fish in a couple of hours.

Insalata Caprese

The best thing about having a garden this year was making this salad. Derek and I first tasted caprese in Italy last year. It is made with fresh tomatoes, usually buffalo mozzarella (we just get the fresh mozzarella at costco) and fresh basil. Then we drizzle it with olive oil. We had the tomatoes and basil from our garden. Deliciouso!

It's not easy being green

When I was little I remember watching my Grandma Allen hang clothes on the clothesline. We loved it when she washed sheets because we could hide behind them and make outdoor rooms to play in.  I actually hang quite a few clothes to dry in my laundry room. I do this more for shrinkage and long torso issues than saving electricity. Yesterday Derek helped me install a retractable clothesline outside. I don't know why, but I am so excited about it. I found a great little bag to hold my clothes pins at Kmart.(Thankyou Martha!) I couldn't wait to google the cost of running my dryer per load. I was sure my carbon imprint was getting smaller. 35 to 40 cents per load?? I have to admit I was a little disappointed. What about my time and effort? How much is that worth? But when I thought about how happy I was when the clothes were dry in 45 minutes, and how they looked blowing in the hot August breeze, I felt like it was worth it.

After telling Lindsay about my great new exploits in laundry she said, "Mom you are a nerd."  

Allen Reunion

Thankyou all for coming. It was fun to see you again. Grandma had 11 of 12 Grandkids there. We missed you Chris. We had 50 of 57 possible family members in attendance. I've included some recipe's that I got requests for.

Easy Raspberry Lemonade

1 (12 oz.) can frozen raspberry lemonade concentrate

3 c. water

3/4 teaspoon lime juice

1 (12 oz.) can 7-up

1 c. crushed ice

1 cup fresh raspberries, garnish

1 cup fresh mint, garnish

In a large punch bowl, combine raspberry lemonade concentrate, water and lime juice. Stir in lemon-lime soda and crushed ice. Garnish each glass with a fresh raspberry and a mint leaf.

(I just bought frozen raspberries and poured into punch bowl.)

Pecan-Crusted Artichoke Spread

1 tablespoon butter

1/2 c. finely chopped onion

3 cloves garlic, minced

4 cups coarsely chopped fresh spinach

1 14 oz can artichoke hears, drained and chopped

1 8 oz. package cream cheese, softened

1/2 c. mayonnaise dressing

2 c. shredded cheddar cheese

1/2 c. grated parmesan cheese

2 dashes hot pepper sauce

1/4 c. finely chopped pecans

baguette style french bread slices

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium high heat. Add onion and garlic; cook for 3 minutes. Add spinach; cook for 3 to 5 minutes more or until onion is tender and spinach is cooked, stirring frequently. Remove from heat. Stir in chopped artichoke hearts, cream cheese, mayonnaise, cheddar cheese, parmesan cheese and hot pepper sauce.

2. Transfer to an ungreased 1-1/2 quart casserole dish. Bake for 40 minutes. Top with pecans bake for 1o minutes more.

3. Serve with toasted bread slices. Makes 4 cups spread

 Salsa

1/2 sweet onion chopped 

1 small can green chilies

1 1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

3 tablespoons vinegar

1 can stewed tomatoes (mexican)

1 can diced tomatoes

1/2 jalapeno pepper chopped (or 1/2 small can diced jalapeno's)

clove of garlic

put all ingredients into blender and mix until smooth