Tomorrow

Why are all my blogs about the snow? This weekend we had another snow storm. It was nice that we didn't have to go anywhere really. Driving in the snow still freaks me out. Here is a picture of Jill's dog... ok not really. It is a plant.Today we took pictures of my car. I know it doesn't look that bad... but it is still scary to me!
My school is almost over, I have one test left. Then my first semester of grad school is over. Phew, I think I made it. Back to Cali for a couple of weeks or so, out of the snow. Phew again.

The sun will come out

Well yesterday at this time I was in my bedroom doing homework as usual, and I noticed little white snowflakes that not too long after turned into big white snowflakes. I sat on my bed and watched while I continued to work on homework, and then the snow stopped. I thought I was safe. I had yet to drive to school in the snow, and was not looking forward to doing so. Jill called to make sure I had looked out the window... she told me it was just the beginning. The beginning of what I wondered, the day, yeah I knew that, of the snow storm, ok I could deal with that, no, she tells me, of winter. I thought we had already been in winter after all it is almost the middle of December... but no, apparently here it is just the beginning. By the time I was leaving for school the snow was coming down again. Thankfully, I made it safely. I walked around school safely, and I returned home safely. Phew... I think I can handle it. Last night when I got home Jill told me the internet was working again! So I start checking my usual spots, and there was a picture from my family living in the good life, A picture of my hydrangea bush... blooming. What a nice surprise after a long, stressful, snowy day! It doesn't know it is winter either I guess.

And today, blue skies and the sun is shinning again!

Thanksgiving in a restaraunt

This year for thanksgiving Jill and I went to go visit the east coast single sibs. We had a great time! We did all the touristy things including tours of the Pentagon, Capitol, and White House. This is a picture of the Pentagon memorial.We started off the weekend with thanksgiving in a restaurant. Actually we started at the zoo. They have pandas. Giant pandas. This is not a giant panda, it is a red panda. So back to the restaurant.That was new for me. I didn't know what to think. But it turned out great. We had a traditional thanksgiving meal, with leftovers and no dishes. We also had yummy, yummy desserts that were not pumpkin pie. We had a sundae with cake that tasted more like fudge, and Cinnamon ice cream with chocolate sauce.Although there is this fun frozen custard place called Dairy Godmother and we ate pumpkin frozen custard! It was a great weekend!

Bloggin'

So we have been having internet problems at the house... I miss it! At the moment, we have the internet, so I am going to blog away!

Oh Man...

Here is my first snow in Utah. This was in the morning, and it kept snowing all afternoon. I should have taken a picture of my car, but I was too worried about snow etiquette, and the proper way to remove snow from one's car without offending the neighbors.

I am such a baby! I took the trax to school because I was too afraid to drive. One of my classmates (from the midwest) told me that that wasn't even snow, that it wasn't even sticking to the roads. I have to get used to it eventually I guess. But since then it has been only rain and clear skies. So maybe later.

Springtime in October

So I know that I have been in Utah for a little bit now. I have felt the temps drop, but I know they are not done yet... but I hear that the weather in sunny Southern California has just been plain crazy... in the 90's and such. So I have a hydrangea plant in the front yard of the AG house and it has blooms on it. Weird. I wish I could be there to see them when they are fully open.

Really?!

So I went to the mall last night (a little retail therapy after one of my mid-terms and more importantly, clinique bonus time) and I walked in to the Macy's and there was a band playing right next to the clinique make-up counter. Now I like listening to bands as much as the next person and it sounded pretty good, but not while I was trying to remember what stuff I needed at clinique. Now I had two thoughts on the matter. Who does Macy's think they are? A younger more hip Nordies so they get to have a band instead of the piano player? Or who does Macy's think they are? Slumming it Wall-mart style, like in Jen's favorite little San Angelo? Yeah I haven't made my mind up on the matter yet.

There's an elk in the pick-up

Um yeah, So I came home from school and I checked for parking right near my house and there was a pick-up that had some kind of antlers sticking out of the bed. Now I know I am new here, but I'm just not sure that it is ok to have dead animals hanging out in the back of your car. Ok so I tried looking up the rules on roadkill (right because if he was going to eat it, it wouldn't be in the back of his truck) but I didn't find anything. Anyways, it stunk! I took a picture... I know, I felt kind of Shady, but what do you do? Weird right?

Cornish Pasties

So Jill and I were trying to figure out what we were going to eat for dinner on Sunday. We decided that we would try our hand at British food! Well more specifically the Pasty. So Saturday I went out and did a little shopping, and Sunday we gave it a go. Jill chopped up some very yummy veggies and we put potatoes and meat and the veggies. We folded them over and primped the edges. I think they looked pretty good. When they came out, they were pretty hot (I kind of burned the roof of my mouth) and pretty tasty. I think the ones in York were better (not because we were famished in York), but what do you expect for our first try. I think we will try it again! Today I had one for lunch and I think it got better with time.

Bless their hearts

So a couple of weeks ago I was driving down Moorpark Rd. in Thousands Oaks, and there was a small group of protesters. There were only a handful of them, maybe 6 or 7, and it seemed to me they were all over the age of 70. I couldn't imagine what they were protesting, but as I drove by I noticed they were outside a planned parenthood office. Bless their hearts. It was touching to see them out there. I should have stopped and joined them!

Sneaky, Sneaky

Sneaky little ice cream makers. Have you noticed how certain ice cream brands have kept the same circumference of their gallon ice cream containers while they have made them shorter. They have tried to trick, yes I did say trick, consumers into thinking they are buying the same old gallon of ice cream. Quoting Wikipedia we read "In May 2008, the 1.75 Quart container was further down sized to 1.5 Quarts (3 Pints). Other ice cream manufacturers followed the down sizing move. Thus, the consumer pays more for less." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dreyer%27s Ok, I know it isn't the most reliable source but it is one none the less.
Really?! Really?! Honestly.

Sweets and Spices part II

Wow, where did I leave off? I think we were still in York visiting our friend Christy. From York we went back to London, and from a little attic bedroom to a flat on the Themes. That was a fun surprise. The place was decorated very modern, and it had more than just the necessities. It had an amazing view from the living room window across the Themes to downtown London, including the Tower Bridge. Here is a night shot. We had one free night without a cruise ship to block the view. There was a huge TV, lots of game systems, and karaoke. Plus there was a full kitchen with a washer and dryer (that is combined in one). At one point I couldn't get my clothes out. I was going to have to buy new clothes! Here we are with the instruction book trying to figure out the whole thing. It was pretty funny. Here is the sweet bathroom too. It is kind of weird but the shower glass (well it was frosted)makes up part of the hallway. So we had to shower with the doors to the bedroom and the living room closed. The first day we were in London we went all over town. We went to Buckingham Palace and saw the changing of the guards. It was very fun. By the way, I am a professional at taking pictures of myself and others. It is a true talent.We also went to the Royal Mews. What's that you say? The Royal Mews is where all the horses live- well they used to all live there. Some of them live in pastures out in the countryside. It is also where they house the carriages that have been used by the royals throughout their lives. This is the latest and greatest.Pretty fancy huh?! We also walked through Hyde park, and we tried to find the guards with the red coats and the big black hats, like the ones in the marching band, but we couldn't find them. It turns out that they were out of the country for the moment. My sister read in the paper that one of the Princes (which one is the oldest one? Probably Prince William) was on some kind of a humanitarian mission. We think they were with him. After walking all over town we went back to the flat for like three minutes, and them we were going to go to the US v. England soccer (or futbol match- whichever you prefer). My brother surprised us with scarves- everyone wears their team scarves there. I guess they came with our tickets. But what a great surprise that was! We were a little worried about getting beat up at the match. We know how much the English love their futbol. But really despite us losing, we had a great time. It was a great night. The next day we got up and toured around some more. One highlight of the day was going to St. Pauls Cathedral - where the little old bird lady sings. We walked up the 400 something steps to the top of the cathedral. It was quite a trip. We ate lunch on the steps. I loved it. We also went to the Tower of London. That is where the crowned jewels are kept. You know how I like the bling. We saw two shows while we were there, Les Miserables and Wicked. Both very good shows. Really though I love Wicked. If you haven't seen it, I say do it! I think this post is long enough... so I am going to finish it. But really, I has a grand time! One last shot of my brother and sister and me on the tube.

Fish & Chips Part I

So I never actually ate fish and chips, I did eat a lot of curry, and pasties. I hope that's the way you spell it. I also ate at a fab place called Wagamama's (again, not sure how to spell that one). But it is really yummy! I could eat there everyday!Ok so what's so special about fish and chips and curry and Wagamama's? Well They all happen to be in the motherland, ok not Utah, England. My little brother and sister and I took a little trip across the pond to the UK, more specifically to York, Bath, and London. We had a great time. In York we went to visit a close family friend who is getting her masters. We took the train from London to York. We went through beautiful countryside. We went to church on Sunday. That was cool. Then we went walking through the city. Thats our friend's finger pointing at where we are in York. We toured around the city centre, and was privilaged enough to be there during the Sword Spectacular. Here are some now dancing with their swords. while watching the sword dancing we ate pasties. I had one with tomato, cheese, and basil. I also had one with spicy chicken- I was curious because the English don't do spicy- it was curry. We also ate at Betty's. In York it is the place for tea. We ate yummy desserts there. We walked on the Roman wall that surrounded the city. Here are some steps that lead up to the top of a section of the wall. We had beautiful weather in york. We went to the York Minster Abbey (also a cathedral). Here is a view through the city. This is a picture of the Rose window.
We also walked throught the Shambles. The shambles is a street where the top floors of the buildings hang out farhter than the first floors. They were only charged by the footage of the lower level. Here is my sister and our friend. You could practically reach out and touch your neighbor!The next day we took the train to Gloucester to meet up with our friend's friend to go to a cheese rolling festival. Unfortunately because of the weather we missed the cheese rolling, but we did get the opportunity to walk to the Gloucester abbey, or St. Peters Abbey. It is a beautiful place. Here is my sister and our friend in one of the many beautiful halls (recently used in the Harry Potter movies). Here I am in one of the courtyards.


We also went to Bath, another beautiful town in the west country. Here are myself and my sister and brother at the Roman baths.Bath is where the Romans built their famous baths. They thought the naturally occuring spring waters had healing properties. Water is best! We walked around Bath and then we drove back to York with our friend's friend. What a day! The next day we took a bus to Castle Howard. Another beautiful place. The Castle is still owned and lived in by Howards. The weather was not so nice to us while we were visiting the castle, but it was still beautiful. everything was so green there. We walked all around the grounds.There are beautiful gardens including rose gardens, although the roses weren't in bloom when we were there. We walked through what seemed like a forrest, called Ray wood. There were beautiful wild flowers. There were walled gardens and ornamental vegetable gardens.

We walked from the house through the gardens to the Atlas fountain along the outside of the woods to the temple of the four winds. We then walked back to the house through the woods. The view from the temple of the four winds was breath taking I think I don't know if it could be anymore beautiful with the sun shinning as it was with the clouds and drizzle. Can that be my backyard?!