Fried Zucchini

This is my first attempt at fried zucchini. I never had zucchini growing up and the first time I realized I liked it was at Red Robin when I had it for an appetizer. So I tried to get a recipe that sounded similar, but only like three of those were edible. They were too bready, which caused the zucchini on the inside to be not quite as cooked as it should have been. The three that were cooked right tasted good, but I am just wondering... does anyone have a batter fried zucchini recipe that is amazing?

Picture Tag

My friend Courtney tagged me so here it is! The rules are you have to take 10 pictures of the following things and you have to do it right away. No straightening, cleaning or wiping your child's nose (I mean it!). Then you tag six others.

1. Kitchen Sink: I actually just loaded the dishwasher the day before and we hadn't started dinner yet so it was relatively clean....
2. What the kids are doing?: I don't have kids, so here are my golf clubs. Why my golf clubs? Because I love my bag.

3. Bathroom: I have three, so I should have tried taking a picture of one that was actually clean, but this is the main one Scott and I use and its horrible! Its on my list to clean on Friday when I am off work.

4. Self-Portrait: Not an amazing picture, my husband has a hard time with my camera, so it took a while to take the picture and I ended up with a fake smile.5. Fridge: Something that is actually clean!6. My closet: My clothes on the right, Scott's on the left. He has almost as many as I do. 7. Laundry Room: not so much of a room as it is a closet. This is Scott's domain. He does all of the laundry. The most I do is move something from the washer to dryer or fold. 8. Favorite Room: I absolutely love my kitchen! It is my room to do with what I want. Too bad all of it wasn't as clean as my sink...9. Favorite Shoes: Aren't they cute? I just wish I had more brown clothes to wear them with.10. I don't have one specific dream vacation spot, but this is a picture of the tulips in the Netherlands. I have the dream to one day go to Alsmeer and see the biggest flower auction in the world.

Hmm, tag six others? Do I even have six friends that blog? Colleen, Camila, Sarah, Amy, Cali, or anyone else I don't know has a blog and reads this.

Farewell to Summer

On the golf course last night I realized summer is really going to end and soon. It is getting dark earlier and staying dark longer. The temperature is cooling down just a bit (I said a bit for those of you who are still hot). Summer is coming to a close. It is so very sad. It seemed like it flew right by us without us even noticing. Sure we have done quite a few activities outside, but I still feel like I didn't fully enjoy summer like I should have. Every year when summer comes to a close I feel sadness and the impending doom of the winter months. At least we get to enjoy fall first! So this is my farewell to summer. I will miss the fireworks, I will miss the carnivals, the rodeos, demolition derbies, the golf, the laying out on the grass and reading a book. I will miss the warmth. Don't leave too soon summer. I will cherish every moment I have left with you until next year.

ABC's

A= ADVOCATE FOR: The fight against Breast Cancer
B = BEST FEATURE: Hmmmmm
C = COULDN’T DO WITHOUT: Scott
D = DREAMS AND DESIRES: Do wedding flowers for someone famous
E= ESSENTIAL ITEM: my wedding ring
F= FAVORITE PAST TIME: Doing anything with Scott
G = GOOD AT: floral design
H = HAVE NEVER TRIED: Snowboarding or Skiing
I = IF I HAD A MILLION DOLLARS: I would put it in the bank and live of the interest and still have more than I am making right now.
J = JUNKIE FOR: Anything with cinnamon and sugar
K = KINDRED SPIRIT: Scott, he understands me better than anyone else
L = LITTLE KNOWN FACT: I could swim at the age of one
M = MEMORABLE MOMENT: Doing the Fireman line dance at my Nephi wedding reception
N = NEVER AGAIN WILL I: Say I will never do something, it always tends to make me eat my words
O = OCCASIONAL INDULGENCE: Cinnamon Rolls
P= PROVOKING THOUGHT: Ummm, "what is art? are we art? is art art?"
Q = QUOTE: "We are what we pretend to be, so be careful what you pretend to be"
R = REASON TO SMILE: Scott
S = SORRY ABOUT: offending people without knowing it
T = TAG SOME FRIENDS: Courtney and Sarah
U = UNINTERESTED IN: Dog Races
Y SCARED OF: heights (Where in the heck did Y come from? Shouldn't it be V?)
W = WORST HABIT: Snap judgements
X = X MARKS MY IDEAL VACATION SPOT: Beach and Scott, need I say more?
Y = YESTERYEAR DECADE OF CHOICE: Um, maybe the 50's. I just loved the clothes the girls wore back then
Z = ZODIAC SIGN: Pisces

Mom's Bday

Yesterday was my mom's birthday. Scott and I went over to my parents house after our golf game yesterday to celebrate. I am a slacker and hadn't gotten my mom a gift yet, and I tried to stop at Target and get her the popcorn popper she wanted, but Target didn't have one! How lame is that? I was really frustrated. So we went over empty handed because it was getting late and had a nice little visit and a peice of ice cream cake. It was really fun. I guess mostly because when you get my family together it makes for a lot of laughs. My nephew is the cutest little guy in the world and he would repeat things we would say in our stories and we would all laugh so hard. At one point I looked at him and said,"It was on fire!" and he says,"Oh my gosh!" in his cute little two year old babble. I loved it. I was trying to get him to pose for some pictures unsuccessfully, but finally got the cutest picture of him and Scott. He just loves Scott. Here are some of the pictures I got.

This one was taken by Malachi. Nice eh?

Golf

Why do people play this game? I love golfing. Why I love golfing I have no clue. I hate it at the same time. I spend a lot of time trying to figure out why I hit it bad one time and really well the next with the same approach. Oh man, it can drive you crazy. Every Monday Scott and I golf 9 holes at Hobble Creek Golf Course. Yesterday I started out really crappy and I could not hit a good shot to save my life which got me all sorts of frustrated. Then after the third hole I decided to calm down and started playing pretty well. I finished off the 9th hole wanting to quit the game of golf. I did horribly! I am glad I wasn't keeping score, I really don't want to know. However, the good shots I did hit keep me going back. There is just something about the feeling you get when you hit a good shot, its just addicting and you want to do it again. And that's all I have to say about that.

Relaxation

Wednesday of last week, my sister and I took off for Vegas. As we were driving down my sister decides to tell me that our free hotel room was because we have to attend a time share presentation. So we get there Wednesday night around 11 and we are getting old, so were were so tired we decided to stay in that night. The hotel was really nice with a little sitting area with a couch and a king size bed and a flat screen tv. I took pictures, but my husband said that is a little touristy, so no pics. We got up in time to make it to the time share presentation which we didn't actually have to go to. We waited for about 15 mins and a manager came and told us there were not enough salesman for the people there and we didn't have to see the presentation, we could just say whether we wanted the time share or just get our gifts. So of course, we just got our gifts. That was really nice. We spent a large part of the afternoon in the pool and laying out (and I still didn't get a tan). That night we went up to the strip and ate at Planet Hollywood and it was tasty! After that we walked the strip and saw all of the very interesting people that wander around in Vegas. We did stay up until around 2:30 that night, wow night owls right? And ended up sleeping in until 10:30 the next morning. Check out was at noon and we decided we wanted to head straight home after check out because I missed my husband and she missed her little boy. To be honest, I have no idea what I did Friday after we got home. I'm sure this is the most boring post ever, but I mostly just had a really relaxing weekend. We took a couple of rides on Scott's bullet bike. I am starting to get used to riding on it, but it still kind of freaks me out. I grew up riding on the back of my Dad's bike, but it was a cruiser and a lot different ride. I get really sore trying to hold myself up and on. Here is Scott's bike. He really likes it. But if anyone wants it, we would sell it. Kinda want a cruiser.

We finally have grass!!!!

For those of you who don't know, we have been in our town house for almost 3 months, not long. But it has taken forever to get grass! When we first moved in, it looked like no one even lived there because there was no landscaping and it looked like a construction zone. Then they started landscaping sometime in the middle of July and it is FINALLY finished. Yesterday when I got home from work. I realized all of the finished buildings have grass, which meant we have grass! This is probably not a huge deal to everyone, but I was way excited. Now all we need is something cutesy for the door and a welcome mat, and it looks like it is actually someone's home.

Demolition Derby Weekend

So this weekend was a really good one, but what weekend isn't? I was really excited to have my first Friday off with the new schedule and it was just as awesome as I thought it would be. I mostly spent the day at my parents hanging out with my nieces and nephew because they were in town. They are so fun. I really like to hang out with them and listen to the funny things they have to say. Saturday, was all about the Demolition Derby which is part of the Juab County Fair. Can I just tell you how much I love Nephi? It cracks me up to have a husband from a small town and go there and realize all of the stereotypes always have a backing... Ha ha. We went down around noon and we were going to play golf, but there was a tournament, so we ended up just hanging out at Scott's parents house. Scott wanted to play a game, which ended up being Monopoly. Has anyone played that game recently? Holy crap, I am greedy! That game really brings out your money hungry side. I didn't win, but I didn't lose either. My first time around the board I was buying up everything and trying to get as much money out of everyone else as possible and I would laugh when someone else had to pay me. Man, I am evil. Ok, so here comes the best part. The Demolition Derby. Oh the joy. Who doesn't love a bunch of cars smashing in to each other and screwing up their engines and spraying all sorts of fluids out and lots of smoke? And the people are a whole other site to behold. Amazing. I love the hillbillies that attend these types of events. Good times to be had by all. There was a girl that was in the regular competition rather than the powder puff and her family was going crazy! I loved it. However, there was also a family behind us that was rooting for the guy that won the finals and all of the kids were screaming at the top of their lungs and that was not so exciting. I can tell you exactly who won. His name was Cole and he was number 73. This is not because I was paying that much attention. Anyway, I love it and I want to do the powder puff next year and get out a little road rage. The powder puff girls this year were a bunch of pansies, they would take their foot of the gas before they hit. Come on, give it a good ram! LOL. I guess I fit right in~

Relationships

Here is my question... Am I the only strange one who values friendships and never wants to lose them? Why do people drift apart? Why do we let it happen, and why do people we once were inseparable with become perfect strangers? I was never really popular in high school or any of that, but I did value the close friendships I did have. I have one friend that has completely written me off for no apparent reason after we used to hang out on a regular basis. My husband introduced her to her husband, but now she won't return my phone calls and didn't even tell me she was pregnant! She missed my bridal shower. She didn't invite me to her baby shower. I just wonder, what did I do wrong? What could I have done differently? I just don't get it. Why can't we stay friends? I don't believe that we just drift away from our friends because that is life. We allow it to happen. We don't get together as often as we should and we don't keep in touch or share the important parts of our lives with each other. I will always value the friendships I have had and I just wish I could get some of them back. I wish I knew what is was that drives people apart and keeps them from being friends anymore. Don't get me wrong, I am more than happy with the stage in my life I am in, and being with my husband is more than enough for me. I just get a hint of nostalgia when I read people's facebook profiles or blogs and realize we still have all of the things in common that made us such good friends to begin with, so why can't we still be close? Well, that is my probably way to emotional and attached point of view...

Marriage

Well, I have to say this is probably going to be a super cheesy post today. If you have touchy gag reflexes, stop reading now! I just wanted to say I am so blessed and happy to be married to the man I am. Oh good heavens, if I was reading this and someone else wrote it, I would probably be gagging already, but oh well. I never imagined I could love someone as much as I love Scott. Of course I thought I was in love with a guy or two before Scott, but it was nothing like this. I just look at him and it makes me smile. He is such an amazing person and I know he tries so hard to make me happy. Now lets not be unrealistic here, of course our marriage has problems just like any other, but the good heavily outweighs the bad. I got home for the past two days and he had cleaned. He cleaned almost the entire house on Monday and put our new bed ensemble on our bed and Tuesday he made our bed again and was doing the laundry. Granted, he always does the laundry, but I was just in awe yesterday that he is so willing to help around the house and make sure everything is good for me. I can't tell you how awesome I think married life is. I know people say your life gets more complicated when you get married, but I truly think my life has gotten simpler. He is such a hard worker and he just makes me so happy!!! I am so glad I am not in the dating world anymore. I watch people around me date and go through all that drama and the games, and I am just thrilled I found someone awesome who also happens to be my best friend that I can spend eternity with...He is the person I want to spend every hour with. We don't even have to be doing anything, just being together is perfect. I hope I can keep this feeling all through our marriage. At least I have this post I can come back and read if these feelings ever fade. Terminate gushing.

The Weekend

So, a lot happened this weekend. It was awesome. On Friday night my friend Mallorie, my sister, and I went to the Martina McBride Concert and it was so good! She is amazing. When she came on stage we went down to the front and we were only a couple of feet from the stage. It was so exciting. Man she can belt it out! Jack Ingram opened for her and I am thinking I need to invest in a CD of his. He has an really good style. I enjoyed it very much. I have to say it was one of the best concerts I have been too, but I just love Martina, so I may be biased!!!

The guy behind us in this picture was more concerned with impressing the girl to the right than he was with the concert. I'm sure she was impressed he got in the picture without us noticing. How cool is he huh?

Following the amazing concert, we went to get Breaking Dawn for Mallorie. Here is the line. It was so big I had to get two pictures:

Here is Tia and Mal in the line. I think we were tired.

After Mallorie got her book, I took her home and went to meet up with Angie from work to borrow her mom's copy, since her mom is out of town. I am only half way through, but I am so hooked!!!

Saturday I went running in the morning and realized how many hills Hobble Creek canyon has, man it almost killed me! But I am also out of shape, and I had only had 5 hours of sleep after staying up so late with the book stuff. So we will see how I do this weekend. After my run tho, I got back in bed and read while Scott watched TV. We didn't get up until around noon. I enjoyed the extra rest. Too bad I didn't go back to sleep. That evening we went see Swing Vote. It was ok. I was expecting it to be really funny and it got kind of serious. Scott liked it a lot more than I did. Maybe if I saw it again when I wasn't quite so tired. Well, there you go. That is the end of my story. Till next time!

Breaking Dawn

I am sorry, but I just can't hold back how excited I am about Breaking Dawn coming out tonight at midnight! I admit it, I am a Twilight fanatic! When I started reading the books last month (I was a late comer to the widespread addiction) I didn't realize how many people were crazy into these books, anywhere from 14 yr old's to my mother-in-law! I actually borrowed the third book from my mother-in-law. Anyway, sadly, because I want all of the books in paper back, I have to wait for someone to read breaking dawn before I can read it. Don't fret tho, I just finished reading Twilight for the second time and I am starting on New Moon again. I will keep busy! I just can't wait to read it!!!! I am sorry for all you Jacob fans out there, but I just love Edward and who doesn't love a wedding! :)