Quote Book

I LOVE QUOTES!  I wish my walls could be covered in them.  Inspiration from another's thoughts and perspective happens every day, and I love that Pinterest helps me to discover some one else's inspiration and make it my own as well.    Did that make sense?  If not, oh well. :] It's FRIDAY!

Here are some of my recent favorite quotes...... Enjoy!

hahaha this fits in perfectly with my dumb humor

Murder Mystery Dinner

Two weekends ago Anisa and Bronzson came down specifically to visit me!  Aren't they so nice?!  ...... Alright, maybe they came down for other reasons (like celebrating Anisa's birthday) but I don't want to get caught up in semantics.  :]

To celebrate, Bronzson got together and organized a murder mystery and the rest of us put on an awesome dinner!  The whole night was a HUGE success and everyone did a fantastic job at making that happen.

So, let me introduce you to the guests of the evening:

Enrique Suave Graves:
Elizabeth's Handyman/Grounds keeper,
all around ladies man

Kathryn Lawless:
Town Librarian, best friend of Elizabeth (the deceased)

Dr. Chelsea Barren:
Elizabeth's next door neighbor, celebrity Psychiatrist
and author of murder mystery novels

Michael Nightshade:
Real Estate Agent here to buy Elizabeth's house
 and secretly Kathryn's nephew

Norman D'Adly:
Vicki's husband but also Elizabeth's previous lover

Vicki D'Adly:
Elizabeth's sister, visiting with husband (Norman) 

Moderator/brains of the whole operation!

Whoever wrote this script did a FANTASTIC job, and props to Bronzson for finding it!  Each person had quite the dirty secrets they had been hiding and interestingly intertwined relationships with one another that had us questioning every single person as the potential killer.  When it was time to guess 'who done it', Anisa and Kaylyn correctly guessed the murderer!  The rest of us.... were close!  And we all got cake so it worked out in the end.

4 points for Kay who came up with a birthday candle just in time

I am obsessed with these murder mystery dinners now and I'm trying to find a reason to do another one as soon as possible.  It was sooo much fun! Who's up to joining in on the next one?!

P.S. I love you guys, best. friends. ever.
P.P.S. HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHOUT OUT TO ANISA!
P.P.P.S. Karlie and Jake gave THE best present.  Can't top that. :]

Reality Check

Every once and awhile I need a good wake up call.  Thankfully this one didn't have to come in the form of a terrible event happening.  Whew.  With my fantastic weekend with my best friends (post to come shortly), many prayers answered after a rough day, Austen's post HERE, Sierra's post HERE and the sun shining outside my window I'm overwhelmed with gratitude and perspective.  Know that feeling?

I'm going to share the video that Sierra posted because it had such an impact on me.  

WARNING: If you're feeling slightly emotional make sure you watch this in private... thankfully I watched it in my office and had a second to regain composure before I had to go back to work, because there were some serious waterfalls happening over here.  

 Side note: I'd like to think that if

I were to watch it under different circumstances

 I wouldn't have been such a cry baby.... hopefully.

We can never know what other people are dealing with in their lives and so this was a great reminder to me to be kind and slow to be annoyed or impatient with people.   To be grateful for what I do have.  To be grateful for my own trials because I know I couldn't deal with some things others have placed in their laps.  I'm grateful for the power each of us has inside of us to overcome any trial we are given, especially with a little help from our best friend. To be grateful for and realize the little things in life that make us TRULY happy. 

You know what, I think it's going to be a good day. :] I hope you can make yours just as great!

16 days

16 days left people!  Elder Jordan Tyler Francis comes home in 16 days!!!!  My mom sent me his flight itinerary today and it's starting to feel real!  I'm getting super excited I can hardly stand it!  His first flight takes off at 4:30 am and he doesn't get in to SLC until 8:30 pm... he's going to be exhausted haha.  The next day is his (and my dad's) birthday so who knows what we're going to do to celebrate.  So far Jordan's only request is stuffed french toast for breakfast; not a bad way to start the day. :)

Happy Bird-day

Oh hey what's up the 28th of February?!  Today is a special day to celebrate the birth of my lovely mom! She's been dominating this world for (censored) years and is still just as awesome as always!

I'm grateful for my mom.  I'm grateful for the time I spent at home so I could develop a sweet relationship with her and the rest of my family. She cares about people, she especially cares about family and has really got this whole life priorities thing figured out.  She's got spunk and can certainly hold her own.  She's got great style and knows how to find a quality bargain.  There are so many things I'm starting to see in myself that I've gotten from her which is definitely to my benefit.

I love you so much mom.  Thanks for everything, happy birthday and here's to many more birthdays!

Hunting

I'm on the hunt.  The hunt for the best Cafe Rio burrito out there!  Ever since I discovered the beauty of these burritos I've decided to face the fact that I am definitely obsessed with them.

"I'm so excited! And I just can't hide it!"
Photo courtesy of Cafe Rio. 

Burrito Numero Uno*: Pork with Mild Sauce (El Paso Tomatillo) and Pinto Beans
Review: Super good!  Although after awhile I realized that I didn't love how sweet the pork is... for me it just didn't flow with the spicy sauce flavor. 

Burrito Numero Dos: Grilled Chicken with Medium Sauce (Sante Fe Green Chile) and Pinto Beans
Review: The chicken was so good, but I wasn't the biggest fan of the Medium sauce. It was less spicy than the Mild and didn't really fit for me.  Thanks for the tip though Holly!

Burrito Numero Tres:  Shredded Beef with Mild Sauce (El Paso Tomatillo) and Pinto Beans on a WHEAT tortilla
Review: This was soooo good!  I even loved the wheat tortilla!  (Which makes it healthy so now I can eat it as many times a week as I want right...? Cue mom's eye rolling.... haha) 

Next up:  Shredded Beef with Hot Sauce (Red Chile) and Black Beans.  I'm a little nervous about the hot sauce, but I figure I'll take my brother with me and if it burns a hole through my stomach I'll have Parker finish the rest.  He's a crazy person when it comes to hot sauce.  I also wonder if they would do half black beans and half pinto beans for me.... I love them both!  Anyone else have a favorite burrito combination for me to try?  I'd love to drain my savings account trying to figure out the BEST burrito, who's with me?! ;)

Yup, that's right, I just shared a whole blog post with you about Cafe Rio burritos.  Sorry, unfortunately you'll never get the time it took to read this back, but I may have helped you decide what you want for dinner? You'll forgive me when you take a big bite of a juicy, saucy, delicious burrito.  Promise.

*Spanish class paying off!  Booyah! ;)

Sometimes I Need A Little Pick-Me-Up

Alright, thanks to Karlie and Jake I cannot stop watching this video.  It gets to me every time! :)

Favorite Quotes:

"I found Fido! Hey guys, I found Fido!"
"An orange peanut, for me?!"
"Pretty female parts."
"I want it now! I want cake now!"

Sooo good.  I want them to make another one!

Impulsivity

B.S. I'm not entirely sure Impulsivity is an actual word.  Oh well.  (B.S. - Before script... aah man I'm so funny!)

I have a problem.  I like to pretend that I don't have this problem, but lately it has manifested itself a lot and I can no longer ignore it.  I get it from my dad.  He will get hooked on the idea of something (this time around - switching to a Macbook) and research everything about it.  He'll read reviews, discuss practicality, quickly weigh all possible options, wallow in the decision making process and then run out and buy it.  All within the matter of a few days, sometimes hours.  So, what's the problem with that??

I'm impulsive.  NBD.  Like father like daughter.  Except I didn't get a Macbook.

-Impulsivity would explain the new dresser I bought on Saturday (my first big girl furniture purchase!).
-Impulsivity would explain the nine pairs of Vans shoes I have.
-Impulsivity would explain the customized bowling ball and new bowling shoes after only bowling a few times (wait that one probably falls under instant obsession....).
-Impulsivity would explain my new years resolution to learn Spanish (Ugh. I need to master the art of osmosis....)
-Impulsivity would explain the sweater I just bought after seeing it on Elizabeth.  Check it out!
-Impulsivity is what will explain the Delta airline ticket I am thinking about purchasing to visit my cousins in sunny California.... (Still in the early stages of Impulsivity on this one.  If it goes according to the usual Impuslivity timeline, I should have everything figured out by the weekend! ;) Anyone want in on a little weekend getaway from this Utah winter?!)

I'm accepting that I have an Impulsivity problem.  Luckily I'm not impuslive about huge purchases..... yet. Dun, dun, dun.

All My Single Ladies!

Unfortunately I don't have a man to sing me KC & Jojo this Valentines Day - Baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby..... - so Holli and I are going Beyonce style (her old style I guess, since now she's married) this year!  I write about this to let all my single ladies know that they are more than welcome to join us to watch the new movie Safe Haven this Thursday evening.  In addition to watching the epitome of a chick flick, we will probably also fill our time creating dialogue for all those first daters (like in the movie Date Night) and maybe even make a Coldstone run afterwards.  Who's with me!

Plus I'll be doorbell ditching some Valentines gifts to randoms that night to keep my tradition alive.  This year I really had a struggle trying to figure out what to get.  I planned on making some delicious sugar cookies but then my mom mentioned awhile back that she wouldn't eat anything homemade that some random person dropped off on her doorstep for fear of contamination.  Although this was after we received two sketchy looking cupcakes on our doorstep.... understandable.  Also one time when I thought about dropping off a plate of homemade cookies to a police officer in my neighborhood for letting me off a ticket my mom said that even if he knew who they were from he probably wouldn't be able to eat them and would end up throwing them away.  Sad.

Don't get me wrong, I completely understand the need to be realistic about potential poisons or the unsanitary kitchens that the homemade goods could have come from, but it's still a little sad that I feel like we can't drop off homemade cookies anymore without the motives being questioned.  Even with this secret Valentines tradition I have, this year I wondered, what if I give some person a Valentine and they think it's from their boyfriend/girlfriend.  When they thank their bf/gf for getting them a Valentine... then find out that their significant other did NOT in fact get them a gift..... that could cause a problem for both of them.  Jealousy could creep in and then one thinks that the other has been cheating.  Oh man it could be more problems than it's worth!

So I almost stopped this tradition and gave up.  Almost.

Then I thought of the reason I started this weird tradition in the first place.  I thought of a person who maybe really needs to know that someone out there is thinking about them.  Maybe there is someone out there that just needs a little chocolate (because don't we all?!) and a nice note.  So I bought two big heart shaped boxes of chocolates and I'm going to try to write non-creepy notes to go with them.

I plan on praying a ton to know who's car I can leave them on that will cause the least amount of problems.
Any suggestions on where to drop them?? :)

Un Burrrrrito

Imagine rolling the 'r' in Burrito and then read the title of this post again.  Fun huh?!  That's why I'm learning Spanish, so I can roll my R's.

Anyways, today I realized that I didn't have anything to eat for lunch, so I decided to use my "free meal!" at Cafe Rio.  I haven't dared to explore the kitchen of my new apartment yet so it looks like I'll be eating out for the next little while...  With the promise of a free meal I decided maybe I should splurge and try something new!  This may seem odd, but I've never ordered a burrito from Cafe Rio, so I decided to give it a shot.  I even went for the classic pork burrito, enchilada style of course.

Well, it was amazing.
And I will no longer be eating salads.
And there goes my intent to eat healthier.
And I think I still love the chicken more than the pork... although I might get stabbed for saying such a thing.
So I'll say I loved the pork.
You know, so I don't get stabbed.
The end.