Nicky's visit!

Friends come and go, but there are a few that always stick around no matter what. :)  I don't know about you, but I have some great friends, friends that have been around since before high school. Most of us don't see each other very often (we try a couple times a year), but when we do it is as if no time has past. Love those kinds of friends.  As in life, change happens...many of our friends have moved away.  BUT when they come back into town, we really do try to get together just to catch up and say hi before they are off again. 

Last night, one of my old friends was able to come over and catch up for the night! She has been on many adventures all over the world.  For the last few years, she has been teaching 3rd grade in the Netherlands.  I'm so glad we caught her while she was in town...briefly. On Monday, Nicky and her cute little family start a new adventure in Hawaii to work/live for a while.  Wish her family the best! 

No-Bake Chocolate Oatmeal Cookie

While I was looking for a new oatmeal chocolate chip cookie recipe to make, I came across this recipe.  No-bake cookie? really? wonder what that tastes like....and since I had all the ingredients on hand, I gave it a try.  Basically, if you LOVE chocolate, not allergic to peanut butter, and mix it all in oatmeal, you will love this cookie. Great for a quick sugar high. ;)

No-Bake Chocolate Oatmeal Cookie

1/2 C Butter

2 C Sugar

1/2 C Milk

4 TB Cocoa Powder

1/2 C Peanut Butter

3 1/2 C Oatmeal

2 tsp Vanilla

1- Add the first 4 ingredients into a  medium saucepan.

2- Bring to a roiling boil for 1 minute.

3- Remove from heat.

4- Stir in the next 3 ingredients.

5- Drop by the TB onto wax paper, and let cool completely.

Day at the Zoo

Time to share a fun trip with my girls.

The Zoo!

  First, why did I go to the zoo at the end of July?! That was my first thought while I was walking around the park pulling my girls in their wagon.  I was hoping for another cool day, chance of rain, but sadly it was up to 95 and not a cloud in the sky. ah well, this was for my girls.  Sadly, with all the heat, 99.9% of the animals were hiding in the shade, taking naps, and just staying out of the sun, which equals seeing very little wildlife.

  My favorite part of taking my girls to the zoo is how excited they get when they see the animals. The both LOVED the baby elephant Zuri, and I even took them into the stinky bug house--i usually avoid this exhibit, but my girls insisted. My youngest loved the porcupine, and my big girl wanted to see the crocodiles.

   There was one bittersweet moment in my hot sweat drenched day, and that was when I arrived at the bear exhibit.  Usually this is my favorite part of the zoo, I love the bears. This time, the zoo has temporarily closed the bears exhibit with a sign that promises a new and improved exhibit in 2 years! yay!! They "say" that when it opens they will have a walk down water feature where you can watch the sea lions, otters (love love love), and the possibility of a POLAR BEAR...oh how I've missed you.  So even though the bears are away for now, I have something to look forward to in 2 years.

   My girls are so cute. They love this egg shell in the park. AND they had to go on the train ride, which we did first to get it out of the way (not my favorite part of the zoo). My favorite part of the day? standing in front of the oscillating fan rigged with water mist. I could have stood there allll day. 

movie music

My friend inspired me for this post (Ash, your post on facebook prompted this!)


When you are watching a movie trailer, or at the end of a movie, do certain songs just grab your attention? Lately, these are the 2 songs that I could listen to over and over again. You could say they left an impression.


This song is from the Legend of the Guardians, or what I like to call the owl movie. :) This trailer has been shown at most of the movies I have seen recently. The graphics for the movie look amazing, but honestly, I want to see this movie because they used this song in the trailer! The power of sound. ;)  Here is the music video. AND below that is the trailer for the actual movie....if you were curious.

30 second to Mars, Kings and Queens. Music video

Legend of the Guardians:The Owls of Ga'Hoole Trailer



You may remember my post on how much I enjoyed watching Prince of Persia. At the end of the movie, when the credit role, this song is being played. When I first heard the song, it took me awhile to realize it was Alanis Morissete singing! This is a really beautiful song if you haven't heard it.

I Remain, Alanis Morissete, Prince of Persia Soundtrack


**Lastly, this is more for me. :) This clip isn't from a movie or anything, just a small piece of a song--just the piano part. Piano music (well most music) is therapeutic.  Matt Bellamy is a phenomenal pianist (and guitarist). I love to hear him play in his songs(lead to muse..Amy, stop rolling your eyes). This piece is part of the Exogenesis Symphony part 2. Like I said, this is only the piano, no other instruments or voice in this clip. I am a crazy Muse fan, it's true. The first part is my favorite, watching his hands move on the keys so flawlessly, it is beautiful.

Matt Bellamy, piano only for Exogenesis Symphony part 2

Movie Salt Review

  Did not know what to expect when I saw the movie Salt.  Maybe it was the name of the movie? Unless you saw the trailer, you wouldn't know that it's supposed to be an action/thriller. When I was looking online, I read in an article somewhere that originally this role was written for Tom Cruise, who backed out, so they rewrote it as a female lead for Angelina Jolie.  How neat is that?  And to tell you the truth, after seeing this movie, she nailed the role.

  I love these kinds of movies.  Jolie plays a CIA opertaive named Evelyn Salt. When she is interviewing a walk-in, he claims that she is a Russian spy and that she is going to kill the Russian president. Salt is then proclaimed a fugitive when she runs, but from the beginning she proclaims her innocence..or is she??? Some have compared the movie to the Bourne Series. Salt is a good show, not great like the Bourne series, but I thoroughly enjoyed watching the movie with my friend. 7/10 stars

Orange Cookies

These are one of my favorite cookies to make and eat!  My sister gave me the recipe a few years ago.  Everyone keeps asking for me to write it down, so here it is, for everyone to share! I love it when friends ask me to make something, like these cookies, and I have no problem sharing the recipe with others. :) They are just that good. and EASY to make.

Orange Cookies

1 white cake mix

2 eggs

1/4 C vegetable oil

1 C Flour

1/3 C Orange Juice

1 TB orange zest (grated peel)

-preheat oven to 350.

-mix all cookie ingredients,except for the orange peel. 

-Mixing with a spoon works fine, the cookie dough will be very sticky.

-Stir in orange peel.

-drop dough balls on a lightly greased cookie sheet.

-bake 8-10 minutes, cool on a rack

Orange Icing (yummy)

2 TB melted butter

1 1/2 C Powdered Sugar

1 1/2 tsp finely grated orange peel

1 1/2 TB Orange Juice

my weekend

The highlights of my weekend.

Have you seen Sorcerer's Apprentice?  Stars Nicolas Cage, the guy that did the voice to How to Train your Dragon (loved that one), and Alfred Molina (on a side-note. had NO IDEA he was the guy in the 1st Indiana Jones movie in the beginning, who I think is the guide that attempts to take the treasure, but then meets his death by a spear in the head...the guy is talented.)  Sorry, I digress. :)

In a nutshell, Dave is destined to be a great sorcerer, but first he must be trained by Nicolas Cage. Sadly time is running out and they are racing to train him while keep this important doll hid from his enemies (Molina) so they don't release an evil woman wanting to create an army of the dead to destroy the world.

For a PG movie, and a Disney, I thought the movie was just that...a Disney. The movie was fun, cute, the graphics were awesome, the storyline was good/predictable, but the downside is the chemistry between the characters was not there. Or maybe I just had a hard time with the main guy's voice. I hear it and I'm thinking about how I'm going to train a dragon, not how am I going to be a sorcerer! haha. what? that's just me? :) Well in the end I'll give this movie 6/10 stars.

That leads to my other highlight. I had my very first MASSAGE! Wow, why haven't I tried this before?? seriously.  My husband made me an appointment at Massage Envy near our home.  You walk in, the atmosphere is peaceful, the colors, the little water features...everything there is to help you feel comfortable and relax. Wow did I need to relax.  I didn't know what was going, what I wanted, if I wanted a soft, medium, or firm massage, nothing. My massage therapist, who happens to share my name, was very helpful. Did I mention magic fingers? For 60 minutes I laid there on the table and she worked her magic at the stress knots in my back all the way down to my tippy toes. Who know that massaging my arms would tingle and feel GREAT! Am I supposed to be sore after the massage? The only thing I really had to worry about was trying to stay awake..sooo relaxed.. (oh and hoping that I don't flatulate. hahaha) Well I'm definitely going again next month.  :)  This may be my new guilty pleasure (next to coke slurpees). 

Job searching..

Those that know me, know I have been a stay at home mom for 3 years now. As much as I've enjoyed just being a mom 24/7 -- which is a tough job, I'm seriously wanting to go back to work. I love working with people, I miss the interactions, the challenges, and just doing something different. I've been wanting to wait until the right time to go back to work, but is there ever really a right time? This is something we need as a family, my girls are a little older, and I really need this to keep me sane. :)

This week I'm going to polish my resume and start checking job postings for either part-time or full-time. I'm glad I have some job experience and my bachelors. I've managed an apartment complex, which was great for interacting with a lot of different types of people.  Then I've also worked on the phone for almost 4 years doing customer support/service for both an airlines and a contact supply company. 

Even though it has only been 3 years since I've had a paying job, I still feel like I am out of the loop. Right now I'm looking at all my options, hoping to find something new, different, and something that I can be apart of long term. *crossing fingers* 

Will you please keep an eye out and email me/call me if you know of any job opportunities?

You never know unless you ask. :) wish me luck!

Stuff Needs To Go

Friends, I'm cleaning out a much needed corner of my storage room. I have found items that have been there for years, never used, and are looking for a good home. :) Maybe you'll see something you like? or know someone that would like one of these items?


Here's a link to my 2nd blog addy (that I never use) to show you what I have available.


http://yummygingercookie.blogspot.com


Please let me know if you're interested! Really trying to clean out these things so they don't sit there for another 9 years. :)

*forgot I changed it to private viewing, fixed problem, now anyone can view.

4th of July Weekend

White Trash BBQ party with friends.

Our first party for the weekend was with some good friends. They decided to go with a white trash theme party.  This picture is only a few that showed up to play along.  We just chatted, ate white trash food, and played a game similar to horseshoes. Then that night we walked down to Sugarhouse Park for the firework show! Did you know that this year is the first time the firework show was privately funded? Guess the state didn't want to pay for it this year. I love fireworks, so I really didn't care how the show compared to other years. I enjoyed the show.

Next night...4th of July Street Bbq

I put together a simple bbq for our street. We've lived on this street/circle for awhile now and I'm surprised at how we all don't get together more often. My neighbors are really great and we all pretty much get along, so why don't we do this more often?! Anyway, hopefully we can start a tradition on the 4th for those that are in town.  We met at the middle of the street, pulled out a few grills, and everyone brought their own meat and a favorite dish to share with everyone else. I was happily surprised at how many showed up!

Above is a picture of some of the neighborhood kids. We have about 33 kids on our street alone. After some good food, the kids were getting restless for fireworks.

My hubby and my brother decided to start a little early with parachute guys and snakes. The kids loved it, and that's really who we were entertaining. The hardest part of the night was getting the kids to not touch the used fireworks. Finally once the sun was far enough down we started the show.  What is with guys and fireworks? or is it just mine? :) They had a lot of fun lighting the fireworks for the neighbors. Below is most of our neighbors camped out to watch the show.

The fireworks were a lot of fun and it was great just hanging out with all the neighbors!