Wednesday, January 16, 2008

My GPS System


Thanks to modern technology, I can get directions online to anywhere I might need to go. I usually try to find a piece of paper near the computer (that usually happens to be a post-it pad) onto which I might write the directions. One day, I had this piece of paper stuck to my fingers as I was driving along and decided I needed to stick it somewhere I could see it other than my fingers. I saw my dash board and thought that was the perfect place. As I put it there, I realized how more modern technology has put my "invention" to shame. Maybe one day we will know what having a real GPS is like. Until then...

Monday, January 14, 2008

Chef Boyardee?!

Grant turned the big 28 (don't be jealous) on December 7th. Well, I thought it would be funny if we turned my mom's house into a wonderful upscale restaurant affectionately called the George Washington Inn, which was named after a painting on the wall of George Washington praying next to his horse. Anyhew, Grant worked that day and so I went over to my mom's house as soon as he was gone to start preparing for the day. After all, I was the secret chef du jour. I carefully picked out some Bobby Flay recipes (a tomato and mozzerella salad for an appetizer, bbq ribs and sweet potato fries as the entree, and a cake for dessert which was carefully mastered into an image, Ace of Cakes style). Everything turned out amazing and I recommend the recipes, but I did spend all day slaving over the stove. The ribs call for all these chili spices that you mix yourself accompanied with homemade BBQ sauce which also called for spices. The problem was, this was all going to be a surprise for Grant so I didn't want him to know I was cooking everything, he thought we were going out. SOOO, he called me at the end of the day and I was still at my mom's. I rushed home and beat him there so layed on the couch and looked like I had been just watching TV waiting for him to get home so we could leave(like I usually do, haha). Well, he got home shortly after and I didn't have time to take a shower or anything after working with chili spices all day. So, Grant comes and gives me a hug to greet me and we were just sitting there for a second and he says, "you smell like Chef Boyardee". I tried to act like he was crazy (I couldn't play it off like I had eaten or cooked any because I NEVER buy chef boyardee and I don't eat pasta anyway and our kitchen was spotless since I had been gone all day...no excuse for the smell). I was honestly dying inside, partly because he was so off base(I mean, "you smell like taco bell" would have been more accurate), and partly because I was freaking out that he would get suspicious. Luckily, he didn't think much of it. Apparently, he's used to coming home to his wife smelling like random Italian chef's that make tomato mush. I told him to get ready to go and I did the same. I also told him we had to stop by my mom's house really quick because she had a Bday gift for him. This is what we found...
Our wonderful host and server Lane was there to greet us and cross our reservation off as she sat us. She also took our orders and introduced us to the cook in the kitchen, Flow (that's what her nametag that Lane had written said)

The other diners at the Inn



The Birthday boy and his wonderful wife (and secret chef)

The crowning moment was presenting the cake... (whichFlow (my mom) made. We thought it would be so funny to make the cake into a suiting image that Grant could relate to)

Saturday, January 12, 2008

The Bed Club

Luckily I have a 7 year old sister who requests that I tell her stories at night to help her go to sleep. Usually, I need a couple minutes before I can even come up with a subject to tell a story about so one night I was really drawing a blank and I told this story called The Bed Club. After the story was over I had really low self-esteem because I realized how uncreative I was. To my surprise, later that week, she requested the story again by name. I wrote it down in an actual book with illustrations and all per Bailey's request. I thought you might have a good laugh as I did.










C'mon shake your body, baby do the conga

Grant feeding a giraff

Grant horseback riding...

Paddleboats...they let us get a closer look at the pink birds...


A couple months ago Grant's employer forced him to do the conga in West Palm Beach, FL. Luckily, he wasn't the only one shakin' his body because if they fly Grant out, they fly me out too. I made sure he wasn't having too much fun without me. I studied at the hotel while he was at work, and then we hit the town at night, hard. We went up to Miami Beach which was really cool. It has this Art Deco theme and all these crazy restaurants lining the coast. We ate at a quiet Cuban restaurant which was pretty good. We ordered ropas viejas (old clothes) which is a traditional cuban dish resembling a pot roast. As you can see, Grant is having a hard time controlling himself, just like Gloria Estefan said. (She actually has a cuban restaurant on the strip that is quite good from what Grant says.) We also went to Lion Country Safari and loved seeing all the lions, rhinos, monkeys, zebras, etc out in the open as we drove around. They give you a CD to listen to while you drive around telling you all about the animals that you are seeing (what they're called, where they usually live, etc) I usually don't like the zoo because you have to do so much walking and it is usually pretty hot but this wasn't having any of that. Also, if your windows weren't up, you could reach out and touch these animals. We obviously have a ton of pictures from the trip but these are some of my fav's.

Then, you can get out of your car and they have a regular zoo where you can walk around. I fell in love with Flamingos as I realized "how cool is a pink bird." They had a Ferris Wheel, Merry-Go-Round, and paddle boats that were all included in the admission price. We also got one ticket for free because if you turn in an old cell phone, it's good for one free entry.

Free at last!


But not for long... Well, Anatomy is over and I'm proud to say I received the second highest grade in the class! I guess my abondonment of the blog for three months was worth it. I am starting again in about 3 weeks. This time, I am bringing on physiology and microbiology. This means I will be able to apply for the nursing program in a few months which I am extremely anxious to do. I am really looking forward to being an RN. Hopefully this will take place sooner than later. Thanks for your patience and patience to come...