Funny Business

Jess, Travis, BJ and I came up to Idaho for Thanksgiving. Kyle instructed me to stop any funny business, but the car trip on the way up here turned out to be filled with giggles and laughter. There was nothing I could do!

Highlights:
- We were driving through Salt Lake to run an errand when I saw a sign for the Chinese Buffet advertising an American Thanksgiving dinner. Travis: "I would eat there so long as they sang "Fa ra ra ra ra, ra ra ra ra."
- I saw a sign for Fort Lane, but misread it as Fart Lane. I found this funny, so I told Travis. His reply? "Well, it's a breezeway."
- We stopped to eat at an Arby's in a gas station. On the way out, we noticed some of the travel merchandise they carried in the gas station. You all know those pillows that you can put around your neck? Well, there was a Texas flag that Jess got a kick out of. (Seriously, Texas flag in Idaho?) And then there was a cow. Now, one of the funny parts of this cow is that on each of the two legs were three toes. Yes, that's right my friends, the cow had toes. And there were three of them.

Ok, I'm guessing that many of you don't know why this is appalling to the farm girl that I am. Cows do not have toes! They have hooves. Cloven hooves. Meaning that they're kosher in the Law of Moses. That means that there are two "toes". Not three. Weirdos. So Travis and I mocked the cow for awhile, then Jess decided that they weren't toes. They were fins. Yes, this was no ordinary cow. This was a Mercow.

Yes, the story goes on. We were in the car discussing mermaids and Trav was saying how the legend of mermaids came from sea cows. So I was coming up with stories about how this legend may have come to pass. So, this sailor comes home and is talking to his buddy about this beautiful sea cow that he saw out to sea. And his wife overheard and, being a jealous wife, assumed he was talking about another woman. "A sea cow! She's a heifer!" (Note: to those who don't know Jess and I (and previous roommates), heifer is a term of endearment, but in the rest of the world, it's not a very nice word to describe other women.) "And thus she became a woman." Jess: "That sounds scriptural." Travis: "I take from thy rib a heifer."



I suppose it's possible that all of these stories are funny to only those that were present. But I like to believe that other people can find us funny as well. (I'm sorry I failed, Kyle.)

Nothing Pudding

Grandma Lovell lived during the Depression. But despite their tight circumstances, Grandpa was a farmer and had farm hands... farm hands that had to be fed. So Grandma learned to be very creative in her frugality. (I'm sure that it didn't hurt that she lived in Idaho and potatoes are dirt cheap.) Not wanting to skip the very important course of dessert, she created a very basic pudding and called it Nothing Pudding.

I grew up with Nothing Pudding being as common a dish as Vanilla or Chocolate Pudding. It never crossed my mind that all other families were not also blessed with this amazing dish. (For the record, I had not heard the original story at this point.) I arrived at college and decided that I wanted to make Nothing Pudding. To my befuddlement, all of my roommates were confused by this announcement. To my amazement, none of them had ever even heard of Nothing Pudding. I called my mom with two purposes: to get the recipe and to ask her why I was a lone reed amongst my friends.

I got the recipe and the story. You already have the story, so now I'll give you the recipe.

Nothing Pudding
2 cups milk, divided
2 eggs
1/2 c. sugar
2 Tbsp. cornstarch
1 tsp. vanilla

Beat the eggs. Add 1/4 c. milk, sugar, and cornstarch. Beat into a paste. Add rest of milk and vanilla. Cook in microwave or double boiler until thick. For the microwave, cook 8-12 minutes on high, stirring every couple of minutes. Sorry, I can't give you a time for the double boiler...I've never done it; Jalin says it's longer than in the microwave. Just keep stirring until it's a good pudding consistency.

I suggest adding fruit (red ones like strawberries or raspberries are particularly good) upon serving, as it is a rather bland pudding. (Like unto vanilla.)

Whiiii!!!!

So just in case you were wondering, Tianna's awesome. On Saturday, she was out shopping and saw a Wii actually in the store at Target. We've been wanting to get one for a while with some money left over from wedding gift cards, but haven't been able to find them in stock. So when Tianna saw one there, she immediately grabbed it and brought it home.

Of course, we immediately had to have an initiation party. I had actually bought Super Smash Bros. Brawl for the Wii a number of months ago (I'm weird, I know), so we were all prepared for a massive five-person four-at-a-time Wii Initiation Party. And let me tell you what, I enjoyed it. My professors were even so nice as to postpone my homework due dates for me, so I was able to play. We also made our own Miis, as well as one for Brother Brigham. (The beard just screamed Brigham. We couldn't resist.)

What this means, though, is that I now own a Gamecube which I don't need since the Wii will play Gamecube games.

We figured we'd list the Gamecube on Craigslist or something, but if any of our readers would like to buy it off of us, we'll give you a good deal. They're going for roughly $30 + shipping on eBay, so we'll give it to you for $25 and no shipping. (At least, assuming you're close enough that we might actually see you to give it to you.) And you don't even have to worry about being outbid; this is a first-come-first-served event only.

I should point out that the it won't come with any controllers, as we still use those with our Wii. You can get used controllers in good condition, though, for not too expensive. That's how we got ours. Anyway, if you're interested, send us an e-mail. We'll talk.

And if you'd like to play, let us know. It's always more fun with friends.

ramblings and Idaho

Kim reminded me last weekend that I don't blog very often.  Oops!  And then I got thinking about it, and my last several posts haven't even said anything, really.  Blah.  Sorry everyone.

But really, what am I supposed to talk about?

I could give you an update on my plants, I s'pose (Alfred REALLY needs to be repotted, Doloris still isn't hanging, and I planted parsley and basil!  They're tiny, but doing well), but I don't think anyone actually cares.

Hmm... let's look through recent photos and see what we can find, shall we?

Oooh!  So, last weekend BJ and I went to Idaho.  My parents bought a new MacBook!  Huzzay!  But... they didn't know how to use it.  So to relieve some stress and frustration, we decided to take a weekend trip to teach them the basics and set things up.  Good thing we did, too.  Turns out that it has some malfunctioning hardware and randomly freezes up.  I'm glad BJ was there to figure out it was the hardware, and not to leave my parents to wondering what they were doing wrong.  (Also, they're in SLC today and took the laptop in and switched it out for a brand new laptop.  I'm so proud of them.  ;) )

Anyway, on the way up to Idaho, our odometer read:

Well... we thought it was pretty cool.

Also while up there, I helped Mom get all of her billion jars of canning put away.  And in exchange I was given a box stuffed to the brim with canned food.  Mmmm.  Home grown, home bottled food.  I'm stoked.  Also, Damian and Kim helped us get a good start on food storage.  (Bishop Fish, you would be so proud of our food storage!)  Now if only we can get a kitchen with a pantry so I don't have to go downstairs into a locked cellar filled with spiderwebs to get at my food...  Someday...

And then, of course, there were my adorable niece and nephews.  Awww...  Lexi told me I was her favorite aunt ever (eat your hearts out, other aunts), and she helped us rhyme about a billion words.  (Though, she doesn't quite understand that you can't just add "d" to the end of a word to make it rhyme.  "What rhymes with snow?"  "Snowed!"  Ummm...)  Parker loved playing with BJ.  (So did Lexi, for that matter.)  There were several games of catch and cuddling up on the couch.  And then there was Taegen.  Poor guy... it was time to get his fist molded in plaster.  None of the other grandkids have had a problem with it, but man, Taegen cried and cried and cried.  When it was done, it looked something like this (except this was pulled off the Internet and is not Taegen's fist):

And then I tried to help peel the mold off one of them (there are two, grandma gets one and mom gets one), and I broke off a finger.  I was quite devastated.  So I gave up and went down and curled up next to BJ.  Mom later broke off the tip of a finger, so I felt a little bit better.  She thinks they'll redo it.  Poor Taegen.

And... I think that's enough babbling for this post. 

Ooohh... but there's one more picture!  But not of the weekend.  On Tuesday I decided to go to work at 8 (shocking, I know) and saw Timp through the clouds.  It was so cloudy that you could only see the tip floating over the clouds and it was so pretty.  I thought of Jess, so I took a picture so she could enjoy it, too.  It was taken from the car, so it's not the greatest ever, but... whatever.  Jess, this is for you:

Yeah... definitely not as cool as in real life...

No ways!

Yesterday I saw gas for $1.97.  (The Maverick on the corner of 700 E. and 300 N. in Provo, if anyone is interested in taking advantage of this awesome deal.)

I was way excited.  Like, seriously.  Under $2?!  Awesome.