My Travels

I went to Jessica's this weekend to help with wedding plans (which by the way are going quite well, but that is for another post) and a couple of interesting things came up during my travels.


First of all, I got the cutest little itty bitty suitcase you have ever seen. It is very small and managable as a carry-on and I think it is fabulous.




This lovely item contains everything I needed for 3 days in Provo: a pair of pants, a skirt, 2 sweaters, one shirt, 2 t-shirts, 2 pairs of socks, 1 pair of pajamas, 2 warm scarfs, assorted personal items :), toiletries (in a 1 quart ziploc bag), warm gloves, an umbrella, electronic charging devices, ipod, wedding binder (for aforementioned wedding planning), book, and a small Book of Mormon (I've got to keep up with those seminary lessons). Can you believe I fit all that in 1 little bag? Truthfullly I can't.

Well Jessica told me I needed to name my bag, based on this clip from the movie Leap Year:

http://www.clevver.com/movies/video/240909/leap-year-video-clip-designer-suitcase.html

So my little suitcase now has a name. I will call him Edward. As usual, I went to children's literature for my inspiration. The name Edward comes from the name of the main character in Kate DiCamillo's book, The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane. This quirky book by a fabulous author is the tale of a small china rabbit's journey from the safety of his house on Egypt Street to the depths of the ocean and beyond. Edward's journeys teach him about love and miracles and adventure. Maybe my little suitcase will have adventures of its own......


And second of all in my travels this weekend...Ode to Stinky Feet....


Due to security precautions in airports across the United States, travelers have become accustomed to removing their shoes before going through security. I, along with my fellow travelers, did as instructed in the Salt Lake City airport. As I was removing my boots and placing my items on the belt to go through the xray machine, I smelt the worst smell I have ever smelled in all my life. Someone had obviously not washed their feet or socks in approximately 20 years. Everyone of the security screeners was talking about the utterly offensive odor! I couldn't figure out exactly who the dirty person was and I can not imagine that they could not smell the worst smell in the world, but no one appeared to be concerned about the awful stench. Lesson to learn: if you are going to the airport wash your feet and socks first.



And last of all, nothing to do with my travels but so funny I couldn't resist. My little niece Katie called tonight to sell me Girl Scout Cookies. She went through her whole speech extolling the virtues of each of the various cookies. She suddenly said "Oh and this one is wildly popular...tagalongs" While I understand their popularity (they are the best cookie) I can't believe she used the word wildly popular. My sister has no idea where this phrase came from. Leave it to Katie to leave me laughing at her amazing vocabulary!

Lessons from this week

So I've thought about some things this week--some serious and some not-so-much....

1. I think I really love orzo pasta. I've never really used it, and in fact, until recently never even knew what it was. But it is such a fabulous little mix of pasta and rice! We had it the other night with some chicken with the most fabulous lemon artichoke sauce...delicious!

2. If you're going to teach seminary you have to have a really great pair of boots (or 2). It is really hard to get up on a cold morning and put on a dress. Wearing boots cuts the pain just a little bit. And there are some side benefits as well...you don't have to wear nylons every day of the week and you can wear some really quirky socks and get away with it!

3. I firmly believe that Special K is putting more yogurt clusters in my favorite cereal. It is hard to believe that in these difficult economic times you would get more of something, but I really think it is true! I haven't done a scientific study to prove this (e.g. counting them) but when I pour it in my bowl in the morning I really think there are more of those tasty morsels and sometimes that is a very bright spot in an otherwise ordinary day!

4. Live your life with no regrets. The husband of a dear friend of mine is missing in the rubble of a hotel in Haiti following a 7.1 earthquake on January 12, 2010. She is waiting to hear word of him and the anguish has been excruciating for her and all those around her. She has taken comfort in knowing the last words she said were "I love you".

Sun, Glorious Sun

I live in Modesto, California and the sun is a rare commodity in January--we live in a constant state of gray fogginess (tule fog for those who want a more technical term). Now if you live in other sunnier places:

1. You will not understand this problem

2. You may somehow imagine that it may actually be nice to live in the fog (you are delusional)

3. You are much luckier than me

I do not go back to work until January 19, which is a delightful thing; except when you spend your days looking out the window at the wet, cold grayness of life. So when you are blessed with a 62 degree day like today,



you wear flip flops, roll down the windows and bask in the glow of the sun--and when the fog comes back tomorrow bringing us back to the grayness, you hold onto days like today.

Grandma's chocolate chip cookie secret!

Well my mom has always made the best chocolate chip cookies in the world and I have never been able to duplicate them--no matter how hard I've tried (mine always turn out looking a little bit like cat barf--actually a lot like cat barf--but that is another story). When we were visiting at Christmas Jessica wanted to make chocolate chip cookies and Grandma pulled out her recipe. I was skeptical; but they turned out perfectly--beautiful and delicious--and not a bit like cat barf!

So come to find out I had been using her recipe correctly, but I wasn't greasing the pans with shortening--and I think that is the trick! Yesterday Michael wanted to make chocolate chip cookies and so I told him to call Grandma and get her recipe and do them her way.


In no time at all (thanks to the help of my lovely new red kitchen aid mixer)

Michael had perfect, beautiful, non-cat barfy cookies!

After all these years, such a simple secret......