Butternut Squash Chicken Soup

I think this soup is even yummier than my last recipe I posted! This winter I've been googling ingredients and modifying recipes I find. Needless to say I've had some interesting creations.

I wanted to share my better inventions.

Here is one I had for dinner tonight:

***

Butternut Squash Chicken Soup

4 c low sodium chicken broth
1 - 2 c water
3 - 4 chicken breasts, chopped
1 onion
½ c minced celery
½ tsp nutmeg
½ tsp cumin
1 tsp cinnamon
1 bell pepper, seeded and minced (original recipe I modified

called for 1 Jalapeño pepper)
1 15 oz can butternut squash puree (or 1 ½ - 2 c fresh butternut

squash cooked and pureed)
2-3 potatoes, chopped
2 c fresh spinach (I used baby arugula. It tastes similar

to spinach, just has a thicker leaf)

Heat ¼ c broth in a large pot. Add raw chicken pieces,

onion, celery, nutmeg, cumin, and cinnamon.

Sauté for 8-10 minutes. Add bell pepper,

let cook for 1-2 minutes. Add remaining chicken broth and water,

turn to high heat and bring to a boil.

Reduce to medium heat, add squash and potatoes.

Simmer for 20-30 minutes until potatoes are cooked.

Add fresh spinach, allow to simmer for 5 more minutes.

***

Enjoy!

Christmas Card and Letter

Here is my Christmas card and letter for 2009.

Just click on them to see the full image.

I hope you have a very Merry Christmas!

***

***

Merry Christmas!

This year I've noticed more people saying "happy holidays." I even heard someone say "merry holiday." I sometimes wish people would stop trying to be so PC and just say Merry Christmas or even Happy Christmas! Christ is the reason we celebrate. We should remember Him. Like Elder Uchtdorf said in his talk last week during the 1st Presidency Christmas Devotional, can we see Christ in Christmas? I think it's an important question to ask ourselves.

I also found this quote from President Packer, it was an excerpt printed in the Church News recently from a talk he gave at BYU back in December 1962 but it still applies today:

Of all times of the year, at Christmastime

Latter-day Saints ought

to be the most joyful, ought to have

greater cause for festivity

than anyone, ought to enjoy the

Christmas tree and the

holly wreath and the stockings

and the mistletoe and gifts

and toys and children and even

reindeer that can fly!

When you accept the true account of

the birth of Christ,

it will indeed

"Bring thee the light of thy childhood again."

Silly Christmas Jokes

My supervisor brought these jokes to our team meeting at work this week to get us to laugh. I know they're a bit cheesy but I hope they make you smile!

***

What do elves learn in school?

The elf-a-bet
***

What's the difference between the Christmas alphabet and the regular alphabet?

The Christmas alphabet has no “L” (Noel)

***

What Christmas carol is a favorite of parents?

Silent Night

***

Why does Santa have three gardens?

So he can hoe, hoe, hoe

***

What do you get when you cross a snowman with a vampire?

Frostbite

***

What kind of bird can write?

Pen-guin

***

What did the ghost say to Santa Claus?

I’ll have a boo Christmas without you

***

How do sheep in Mexico say Merry Christmas?

Fleece Navidad!

***

What does a cat on the beach have in common with Christmas?

Sandy Claws!

***

What kind of candle burns longer, a red candle or a green candle?

Neither! Candles always burn shorter

***

Why was Santa’s little helper depressed?

He had low elf-esteem

***

What do you call people who are afraid of Santa Claus?

Claus-trophobic

***

Tomato Basil Lentil Soup

As the days get colder I've been eating more soup. There is something comforting about having a warm bowl of yumminess. Tonight I tried a new creation. Over the last week I've done some googling to find lentil soup recipes. I combined ideas from a few and came up with the recipe below. It is extra yummy and health too. I hope you enjoy it like I did!

3/4 c lentils

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 small onion, chopped

1 can (14.5 oz) "no salt added" diced tomatoes

1 can (14 oz) "less sodium" chicken broth

1 c water

2 bay leaves

1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

salt and pepper to taste

3 Tbsp fresh basil, chopped

***

Rinse lentils then cook them in boiling water for 30 minutes. Drain when cooked and set aside. (note: I had to keep adding water during the cooking time)

While the lentils cook, heat 1 Tbsp olive oil in a separate pan then add 1 chopped onion and 2 cloves minced garlic. Cook until onions are tender.

Then add tomatoes, chicken broth, water, vinegar, and bay leaves. Sprinkle in some salt and pepper. Simmer for about 30 minutes. After 30 minutes remove from heat and remove the bay leaves. Scoop mixture into a blender and mix until smooth.

Pour tomato mixture over cooked lentils. Add fresh basil. Return to heat for about 5 minutes until heated through. Enjoy!

Changes

My life has changed a lot in the last few weeks. The biggest change happened when I started my new job on November 9. I traded from DWS to the DOH (Dept of Health). I love my new job! So far I haven't had any exciting stories liked I would hear at the front desk at my last job but I'm ok with that. To all my blog readers, just know I'll post great stories here when I do run into them!

The last year has been difficult for me for many reasons. I've prayed for a positive change in my life for a while now but the time wasn't right or the right opportunities didn't come up. Now the time was finally right! I'm glad Heavenly Father knows me well and knows what I need and when. For me everything always seems to be a lesson in learning patience which frustrates me sometimes but things always work out for the best in the end. I'm grateful for this time of year and for Thanksgiving to remind me of all the blessings in my life. This year I have so many things to be thankful for! I feel so blessed!

Memories

Today I've been thinking a lot about my Grandma Anderson. It was one year ago today that she passed away. She was such an inspiration to me! I love and miss her. She was the only one out of my 4 grandparents that I really got to know well. She moved in with my family my senior year of high school and I was able to help take care of her as her health declined. My other 3 grandparents all passed away while I was a young child. I'm grateful for the knowledge I have of the gospel of Jesus Christ and to know that I will see them all again someday.

Here is one of my favorite pictures of my Grandma Anderson. It was taken in the spring of 2004:

President Monson is #1

Wow, I think this is great! A friend of mine sent me an email today saying that in Slate's new list of 80 Most Powerful People in America Over 80, President Thomas S. Monson ranks #1!
Take a look at who else made the list:

http://www.slate.com/id/2232918/?GT1=38001

Are you a Mormon too?

It's been a busy Monday with half of my team out sick today! So long story short, that puts a lot of pressure on me. I was just talking with a man in English and he was telling his wife in Spanish what I was saying (that gives you an idea of how tired I am...too lazy to speak Spanish, my brain was too tired). After a few sentences it got too tedious though so I jumped in and commented in English about what they were saying in Spanish. The lady took one look at me and said (in Spanish), "you speak Spanish?" When I said yes she said "you must be Mormon, everybody is Mormon here and that's how they learn 2 languages. I'm Mormon and I'm trying to learn English." It made me laugh. I started talking in Spanish and told her yes, I learned Spanish on an LDS mission in Argentina. It's a good way to end the day.

Not in the mood for attitude

Today I read an article that the Utah unemployment rate has now passed 6%. It seems like the higher the unemployment rate is the more irritable, ornery people are when they come in the office. I can understand the correlation though because losing a job is a major life change that causes stress. Today has been no exception. It doesn't help that it's fall break for most schools in the area so we've had A LOT of noisy kids running around today. I think I hit my limit when a lady was yelling in line. I asked her to stop and be patient and she told me to take a chill pill (she said other things too but I'll edit them out for my readers.) I replied and told her: "no, you need the chill pill. We're just trying to help you but you come in and hit us with attitude." She didn't like hearing that. Thankfully the security guard stepped in and she left. Usually by the time I hit Thursday at work I'm to tired to deal with much, especially not ornery people with attitude. I guess the 10 hour days do that to me. I can't wait to start my 3 days weekend!

It's just TMI

Just when I thought I'd heard it all customers keep surprising me. It's not just me, co-workers have good stories to tell too. A friend at work was telling me yesterday about a man that called in asking for her to intervene because his wife was being adulterous. He wanted her to help him out. She had to explain that we don't have anything to do with their personal life. He kept insisting that she talk with his wife and convince her she was living in sin. My co-worker had to say, "no, really we don't do that. We just do your medicaid and food stamps, we aren't counselors." She suggested he talk with a family member or ecclesiastical leader. He didn't like that answer. He wanted her to help him right now!
Another co-worker told me she got a phone call yesterday from a customer who was all upset because she just found out she has a STD. She didn't know who to turn to so she called her employment counselor. The worker had to explain to her that we don't get involved in their personal life. She suggested that she talk with a doctor about it.
Too often people think we are a one stop center for everything! It's usually a wake up call when we have to explain we only handle government assistance. We aren't the crisis hotline or therapists but that doesn't slow people down.
These aren't one time occurrences. We hear way too much information at the front desk sometimes. I don't particularly care why people apply for medicaid or why they need to see a doctor. I'm just here to help them apply for services. Below is a sampling of some of the real life reasons people have told me why they need medicaid (truly, it's just TMI) ~

the two kids with me have H1N1 flu!!! (glad they at least had masks on)

a blood clot in the lung

broken arm from a boyfriend beating them

cancer diagnosis

found out they have hepatitis when they tried to donate blood

need to see a therapist to get back on meds

just found out they are pregnant

need help since they just got out of jail

a spider bite is causing the skin to fall off your leg (too often they want to show me)

need to visit their gynecologist

I want my tubes tied

I have a stint, want to see?

I'm impotent

a saw cut my arm in half

I think I have bronchitis again **cough, cough**

The list goes on and on! Seriously people, we don't need to hear all the details! I guess I should be more caring and listen but when I hear things like this every day I can't help but just interrupt them to say, "here's the website, fill out an application." Sometimes it's not a lack of caring, it's just concern for my own health!

I need a vacation

Work has been unbelievable this week. I can't believe how many ornery, arrogant, demanding people I've had to deal with in person and on the phone. Of course there are internal issues in the office too. Sometimes I feel like Tina...best not to stir the big kettle of crazy:

Even with everything that happens I still find things to laugh at. One of my co-workers told me that they completed a food stamp interview with someone whose child's middle name was "Mart." Seriously, we wonder if the parents spend a little too much time at Wal Mart. Some of the names that pop up on cases are a little surprising.

Today was a Dilbert day. I needed a break so I went to the Dilbert website and this is what I saw:

I was thinking the same thing a week ago...the part about not affording a big vacation this year, not about laying down in kittty litter. That's disgusting but funny! That was until I got the phone call that my car accident settlement finally went through. Yeah! It's been about 8 months since the accident and I still have some neck pain but overall I'm glad it's all behind me. They're going to cut me a nice BIG check and I plan to use some of the money to take a much needed vacation. My sister Jeanie and I are planning to go to New York in January to see a few Broadway shows. I can't wait! The rest of the money is going into savings for now. Maybe the accident was a blessing in disguise in a way. It's nice to have something to look forward to.

Monday Monday...

It's been an interesting Monday at work with a colorful variety of people. I gave a man instructions about how to apply for food stamps but I'm not sure if he understood. When he walked away he nearly passed out in the lobby since he was so drunk.
I've also had to deal with A LOT of people today who give me blank stares when I give them information. I guess they're either in shock or don't understand government policies (I'm guessing it's the second option...unfortunately too many policies don't make sense no matter how you explain them).
Today I've also had a few things that made me laugh out loud. At one point around lunch time I had a huge line and I was helping a lady at the desk. A little Hispanic lady passed everyone in line and told the lady I was currently helping "you need to step aside and wait a minute so she can help me." I told her that she needed to wait for me to at least finish helping the customer I was with. She said "no I don't because she already stepped aside and is willing to wait." Unbelievable! I told her she needed to wait her turn and she got all huffy then left the building without even waiting to be helped. Talk about having no patience!
I saved the best for last. One of my co-workers told me that she took a call today for a man that was calling in for an interview on a disability medicaid application. She asked him if he had a disability that prevented him from working and he actually said "none other than the fact I'm a guy." She fought to keep her composure while she told him that isn't a valid disability. She laughed when she told me and we agreed that something must be wrong if he willingly admitted that!
It's all in a days work for a Monday!

Lucky 09/09/09 with Keith Urban

Last Wednesday was the lucky day of 9's. I celebrated at the ESA (Energy Solutions Arena) in SLC. The band Little Big Town gave a great start to the night. Then on 09/09/09 at 9:09 pm I was sitting in the ESA with my friend Heidi listening to Keith Urban. What a show! Keith Urban played for 2 hours! We had amazing seats on the floor. We were close enough to see the performers faces!

After Keith's first few songs I was rapidly waving my radio station fan trying to stay cool. As the music got louder, my eardrums started pounding, and just when I thought I would go deaf something amazing happened. Keith stepped off the stage! He walked to the back of the room where he got on a second smaller stage which was right in front of us! Never in my life have I stood in the pit at a performers feet. I was literally about 10 feet from him. I happened to be standing next to the sound booth too and I watched him adjust the sound levels which made things more enjoyable and less painful.

I love how he's smiling over his shoulder in this shot. It's easy to tell he loves what he does!

Our luck got even better when later in the show they set up a platform right at the end of our row! This is the view we had:

I got some good pictures and when he headed back to the main stage he was only about 2 feet away from me. I could have reached out and touched him him I didn't have a body guard standing right in front of me! Notice the spiky hair of the bodyguard at the bottom of the pic, I had to reach over his head to get this shot:

My ears rang for almost 3 days but I'm happy to report my hearing seems normal now. I think if I go to a concert again I'll definitely bring ear plugs. I know my ears can't take another bashing!

Where did the car go?

Over the past weekend at my office they resurfaced all of the parking lots. Starting last Wednesday they posted signs to notify people that any car left in the lot over the weekend would be towed. So, when I got to work Monday I heard that a car was left in the lot and it was towed. Funny thing is that it was the state car! Somebody dropped the ball on that one. I think it's funny that signs were posted but then nobody moved the state car. All I can say is it wasn't my responsibility to move it! I enjoyed a good laugh though.

End of Summer Fun!

The last weekend in August (the 28-30th) I had fun on a quick trip to St. George to celebrate my roommate Mindi's birthday. Our friends Heidi and Angela joined in the fun. We drove down Friday afternoon. First thing we did was go enjoy some extra yummy food for dinner at the Cracker Barrel. Then we went to Tuacahn where we saw the Broadway production of Annie. It was a roasting hot summer night and I thought I would melt during the first half! During intermission I bought an icee that kept me cool during the second half of the show and made things much more enjoyable.
Saturday morning we drove out to Snow Canyon and did a little hiking. Walking through hot sand in flip flops made things interesting but the scenery was amazing! Next we headed to downtown St George to see Brigham Young's winter home. We also had fun walking through some of the fountains near the Tabernacle. It was a little shocking though to step out of the water and have my feet dry almost instantly. That day it got up to a boiling 108 degrees outside! Much hotter than I like it.
After having lunch at the Olive Garden we headed back to our time share condo where we spent the rest of the afternoon at the pool. That night we attempted to BBQ ribs. After nearly starting a fire they actually tasted pretty good.
We got an early start to head home on Sunday morning. We needed to get back in time for church because 3 of the 4 of us had lessons to teach! It was a quick trip but a much needed break.
Last weekend I had fun going to the Timpanogos Storytelling Festival. If you've never been to it you really should go. A great way to get involved is to volunteer. This was my 4th year driving the shuttle vans. I drive for a 4 hour shift and they give me free tickets. It's a great way to go! The festival is usually Thursday-Saturday before Labor Day every summer. This year they had a few extra events because they were celebrating the 20th anniversary of the festival. On Friday night I went to Shivers in the Night with Mindi. We heard lots of fun, creepy ghost stories. I wore myself out laughing on Saturday thanks to some amazing story tellers!
To top everything off that Saturday night I went to Iggy's with Heidi and Mindi to watch the first BYU football game of the season. It was great to see them win 14-13 over OU! What an amazing start to the season. Go Cougs!!!
I can't believe summer is coming to an end. I'm happy to be headed into fall though. I love this time of year. Strangely I feel like I need to buy myself pencils, notebooks, and other school supplies but I resisted. I can't wait to see the leave start changing. I'm grateful for cooler weather too.

Howling at the Moon

The joke in my office is that when the full moon happens all kinds of strange people and events seem to surface. So with all the weird things happening today I googled the moon phases calendar for September and guess what? The full moon is tomorrow! Now it all makes sense.
The fun started this morning when a little boy (about 6 years old) decided to take a flying leap around the sign in the lobby and it came crashing down on him. Thankfully he was ok. His mom just said it's fine cause he is covered by medicaid anyway. Haha...since that's what we do here.
I also spent time in the phone center today. I had a man calling continually who harassed me about how incompetent I was because I was giving him the information he NEEDED rather than the information he WANTED. Sheesh!
I also met a woman named Rusty and my co-worker met a woman named Michael. I thought those were names for men...interesting. I also talked with another women my age who has 11 kids!!!They are all hers. She told me she started young! Yeah, you could say that. It means she would have started around age 16. Wow!
The most annoying and unusual was a little 2 year old running around in rubber ducky shoes. Yes, they were yellow and EVERY step he took sounded like he was squeezing a rubber duck. After 30 minutes I was going crazy! What parent in their right mind would buy those shoes. The dad just laughed and told me they had to do something because he likes to run away!
Anyway, that's just a sampling of what I've run into today. I'm glad we're closed tomorrow on the actual day of the full moon. Plus I have a 4 day weekend to look forward to thanks to Labor Day. I can't wait!

An Emotional Moment

This week at work has been crazy to say the least. I think the most exciting moment happened Monday when 2 women started fighting in line because one thought the other jumped the line. Good thing we have a security guard who is always at the ready! I don't know what it is exactly but there's something about applying for government assistance that makes people emotional. Every day I see a whole spectrum of emotion. Here's a sampling of what I see:

Anger
Frustration
Demanding
Belittling
Carefree
Entitlement
Acceptance
Anticipation
Disgust
Joy
Fear
Frustration
Sadness
Surprise
Rage
Terror
Anxiety
Desire
Frustration
Happiness
Grief
Love
Aversion
Courage
Dejection
Despair
Hate
Hope
Did I mention Frustration?

I had a good laugh though when a lady came in totally drunk on Tuesday. She was just way too happy to be asking for food stamps! She wanted to shake my hand to thank me (which I followed up with a handful of hand sanitizer) and then she hugged nearly every person in line before leaving. When she walked out the door everyone started giggling. It was too funny!

So a few weeks ago I saw the movie Julie and Julia. The movie was great! Unlike the book which was a HUGE disappointment, as was the book The Time Traveler's Wife. Both movies are great but the books are so full of bad language I didn't get much past the first chapters. Anyway, back on track! After seeing Julie and Julia I couldn't help thinking that maybe someday someone would want to publish my blog and I could realize my dream of becoming a writer! Then I could escape the life of being a government employee! I know in reality the chance is slim to none that a publisher would be reading this and be interested in the ramblings of a state worker. A girl can dream can't she? Maybe the opportunity will still come up. I'll have to keep my eyes open and my fingers typing.

Back to Reality

Today was a crazy day to say the least! After my blissful 4 day weekend I had to face reality with a co-worker out sick, a steady line all day, frustrated people, and so much more! The day flew by because I was so busy but I was sure happy to get home. I'm sure you don't want to read about all the random problems I dealt with at work today. So, I'll write about all the fun things I did over the weekend instead!

Last Thursday I spent the day at Lagoon with my ward. After the first hour on roller coasters I felt so nauseous. I've never had trouble with motion sickness and I wondered if my days on roller coasters were numbered but I ate some lunch, drank lots of water, and then I was back on the rides the rest of the day with no problem. I had tons of fun! My favorite coaster was Wicked. I went on it 4 times in a row with my friends Susannah and Adam! I actually rode it 6 times that day. Here's a picture of me with Adam as we were getting ready to ride!

I still have cool bruises on my arms from the Jetstar too. I went on Rattle Snake Rapids 3 times and got totally soaked! Here's a group of us in line before riding the rapids the 1st time:

I got home late that night and had a hard time sleeping since I was so wired from all the fun in the sun. Here's one more shot of Susannah, Adam, Lexee, and me just enjoying the day! Thanks for sharing the pics Susannah!

Friday I decided to take my niece Gracie swimming. She's a little 5 year old fireball! We had fun playing for over 3 hours at the scera pool. I'm still feeling a little bit of the sunburn since I failed to reapply sunscreen!

Saturday morning I had fun hiking up part of the Bonneville Shoreline trail with my roommate Mindi. I got home in time to take a quick shower before heading to the theater to meet my friend Christy. We saw the movie The Time Traveler's Wife. The movie was great! It's so sad but I loved the story line. I just picked up the book from the library today and I'm hoping it's just as good.

Sunday was a great end to a perfect weekend. I got up early and joined my parents at the Oquirrh Mountain Temple dedication. It was wonderful! I especially liked being able to spend most of the day at home since I usually go to church in the afternoon.

I only have 3 days of work left for the week. Yeah! Then I'm off to play in St. George for the weekend. I'm crossing my fingers for beautiful, sunny weather!

Praying on a Carousel

Today was another Dilbert day.

Some days I feel like I only get through

thanks to the power of prayer...

The last 2 weeks my life has felt like a Carousel ride. I've laughed, cried, screamed in frustration, grasped my fake horse for dear life, strolled through a park enjoying a piña colada, and much much more! It's tiring being so busy but I guess it's a good thing too. Although it's a bit frustrating at times to feel like I'm running in circles going nowhere.

I love the song Carousel from the movie PS I Love. It makes you feel like you're going up and down with the music. The chorus gives a good description of how I've felt lately:

Everyday has its ups and downs

you think you're lost

you will be found

most of us want the same old things

someone to love

what it brings

I know its hard it gets tough sometimes

you gotta hold on, like a carousel

going around & around & around & around

~Carousel, Laura Izibor~

Do I look like I can run marathons?!!

I think the stress is getting to everybody at work. We've been dealing with way too many changes lately and a lot of us are getting burned out. This week I've heard a few funny stories about some of my co-workers that demonstrate the effects of stress.
Just today one of my co-workers came out of the elevator laughing and said "just take me to the back parking lot and shoot me now cause I've lost it!" She told us that she had stood at the elevator waving her name badge trying to get it to open. Then she realized what she was doing and hit the button to call the elevator.
Another co-worker told me she had a team member tell her that he should volunteer to be the office bell hop and run the elevator. He thought he could better handle his job if he just had to take people up and down between floors.
Last story is one I heard today. We have a gate for our parking lot but with the construction currently being done on our building sometimes the gate arm is removed to allow trucks to get around easier. A co-worker told me she sat behind someone who kept waving their badge at the card reader waiting for the gate to go up. The arm wasn't there but she ended up having to honk to get their attention and finally got them to just drive through.
I like to go to the Dilbert website sometimes and read through the past strips when I need a good laugh. It's a good stress reliever. Today I found one that fits well. A lot of us are feeling overworked and by these stories I think that's pretty obvious! Take a look...

I agree with Dilbert, "Do I look like I can run marathons?"

Riding an Alligator

Last Thursday afternoon at work was a little crazy. I had a laugh though when a little girl (about 2 years old) was walking around saying "mommy, I want to ride the alligator." Nobody was really sure what she was talking about. Her mom just kind of ignored the request and tried to get her interested in something else. The girl grabbed her mom's hand, pulled her to the side of the desk, and pointing at the elevator then repeated "I want to ride the alligator." We all had a laugh when we realized her "alligator" was really the elevator. Too funny! Since it's an employee only elevator our security guard took her for a ride on the "alligator." The little girl couldn't have been happier!

Unrequited Love

Last night I watched part of The Holiday. It's become one of my favorite movies. I love how it starts out with Iris talking about unrequited love. She says it too well so I just copied her words below. Take a look!

"I've found almost everything ever written about love to be true. Shakespeare said "Journeys end in lovers meeting." What an extraordinary thought. Personally, I have not experienced anything remotely close to that, but I am more than willing to believe Shakespeare had. I suppose I think about love more than anyone really should. I am constantly amazed by its sheer power to alter and define our lives. It was Shakespeare who also said "love is blind". Now that is something I know to be true. For some quite inexplicably, love fades; for others love is simply lost. But then of course love can also be found, even if just for the night. And then, there's another kind of love: the cruelest kind. The one that almost kills its victims. Its called unrequited love. Of that I am an expert. Most love stories are about people who fall in love with each other. But what about the rest of us? What about our stories, those of us who fall in love alone? We are the victims of the one sided affair. We are the cursed of the loved ones. We are the unloved ones, the walking wounded. The handicapped without the advantage of a great parking space! Yes, you are looking at one such individual....All because I've been cursed by being in love with a man who does not and will not love me back. Oh, just the sight of him! Heart pounding! Throat thickening! Absolutely can't swallow! All the usual symptoms."

Beautiful Salmon!

Last weekend I had fun camping in the Twin Creek campground, just north of Salmon, Idaho. I drove up with my sister and nephew (Susan and her son Justin) for the Poulsen Family Reunion. I haven't been to Twin Creeks in about 15 years and I'd forgotten how beautiful it is. Here are a few pictures to give you an idea of what the area looks like.

A view of our campsite at sunset

--

The view from the highway near Salmon on our way up the canyon

We were far enough up in the mountains that we didn't have cell service. It was nice to be disconnected from everything for 3 wonderful days! The highlight of the reunion every year is a horseshoe throwing competition. I played on a team with my cousin and we won 2 games then lost 2. He played much better than I did but by the end I did manage to hit a ringer (for those who don't know that's hooking the horseshoe around the goal post).
I spent the weekend talking, doing crafts, relaxing, participating in the family auction, shopping in the country store, and much more. I enjoyed it enough that I don't want to wait 15 years to go back again!

Gone to the Dogs

It's eerily quiet at work today. Maybe people have started their 4th of July celebrations a little early or they're hiding somewhere to stay out of the heat. Whatever the reason I don't mind a quiet moment as a break from the craziness I usually deal with.
My friend at work told me a story that I think is blog worthy. We deal with some interesting people here as you can tell if you have read my previous entries. Anyway, she told me that last week a woman called in on our interview line hoping to get child care assistance for her "babies." As the worker proceeded with the interview and tried to get more information they discovered the woman was trying to get child care for her dogs! The worker then had to try and explain to her that we could only provide care for human children and not her "babies." Sad but true.
This week I've been having some strange dreams. Maybe it's the allergy medicine I take to help me breathe at night so I can sleep or maybe it's a sign I think about work too much! The weirdest one yet was when I dreamed I had applied for medicaid and the worker I talked to asked me to bring in my immunization record. Well, I did but then they told me they couldn't accept it because there was a discrepancy on the record so I had to go file for a change through the court. K, if you know anything about the medicaid application process this is a sure sign work has me stressed out! Funny though cause I just had a vacation. I guess I need a longer break!

Ice Cream and Mini Golf

Last night I actually went on a first date! It's been a while since I've had to deal with first date jitters. I guess I've been staying in my comfort zone hanging around the same guys for too long. So this was a good change. Before last night I've only talked with him on the phone, by text, and through email. We decided to meet so we could talk face to face. We met up at the BYU Creamery for some of their yummy ice cream! After that we tried to see a movie but we couldn't find one with a time that worked for us. We decided to go mini golfing instead. Wow! It's been a while since I've done that. He won but only by 6 points. I even got a hole in one! We had fun. It was good to talk with him and get to know him better. I don't think anything more than friendship will happen but I'm open to surprises.

Campin' in the Rain

Wow! I haven’t written for a few weeks! June has been a month of camping for me. Of course it happened to be during the rainiest June Utah has seen in a long time. I read in the paper over the weekend that so far this spring Utah rainfall has been more than 75% above average! It's amazing how green everything is. We’ve even had something close to humidity on some days, well as close to humidity as you can get in the desert!
Two weeks ago I went camping with my ward in Wellsville, UT (up north by Logan). We started out the fun on Thursday by going to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple open house during a torrential rain. It's such a beautiful temple! You can see a few pictures in this Church News article http://www.ldschurchnews.com/articles/57353/Media-tour-Oquirrh-Mountain-Utah-Temple.html
Everyone reading this should definitely go see it if you're in the area and haven't already. After going through the temple we were able to meet with David Christensen who is a member of the temple presidency. He is an amazing speaker! I’ve never laughed harder or felt the spirit stronger all in the same meeting. He had some good one-liners. Some of my favorites are “when life gets tough sometimes I’m driven to drink coke…diet coke!” and “when life gets hard for my wife and the hell fires are roaring around her she’ll just step back and say ooh, how pretty.” In the book I finished reading last week I found a quote by Willard Bean that reminded me of President Christensen, “seek to laugh and live rather than cry and die.” I think it’s a great philosophy to try and live by. Maybe someday when things feel too hard I’ll just have a coke, sit back and say “how pretty.”
After the temple we headed north to Wellsville. We set up camp, had dinner, and played games that first night. Friday morning we drove to Clarkston, UT (about 30 minutes north of Wellsville) to the Martin Harris grave site for a short devotional. It’s a beautiful area! Then we spent the rest of the day boating on Hyrum Dam. The weather cooperated and we enjoyed a beautiful, sunny day! I took a much needed nap on the beach (after staying up til 2am the night before talking with the girls in my tent) but I also ventured out to be dragged on a tube behind one of the boats. It was tons of fun! Saturday we woke up to rain again so we had to cancel our plans for a hike. We spent the morning doing a service project before heading home.
When I got home I didn’t even get a chance to shower before I headed out with my roommate Mindi and our friends Sarah and Heidi. We saw a fun movie called My Life in Ruins. Then we went to dinner at Iggy’s before we headed to Orem Summerfest. We sat in the rain and watched the parade. Then we walked around the carnival some where I ate funnel cake and tried a fried Twinkie! I split them with Mindi so we could each try both without eating all the calories of the whole thing. We had fun talking while we waited for the fireworks to start. It was a soggy night but we still had fun and the fireworks were worth the wait!
Last Thursday my niece Tori came and spent the night at my house. She’s been asking to have a sleepover for a while. We stayed up late watching a movie before she crashed. Friday was a busy day. In the morning I went to a URS (Utah Retirement Systems) seminar with Mindi (since we both work for the government) and we learned some good info about planning for the future. That afternoon we took Tori to the new Lindon Aquatics Center. We enjoyed beautiful, sunny weather! Tori sure wore us out but we had fun!
Later that night I actually went camping again. This time I just went with a group of friends and we stayed overnight in Nunn’s Park up Provo Canyon. There were 4 girls (Mindi, Clarissa, Angela, and me) and 1 guy, my friend Wolfe. We had fun roasting hot dogs and marshmallows. We played games and talked for a while too. I also had a huge surprise when Mindi came up to me and said I had a big white bug on my forehead. She pulled my hat up to get it off and then smack! I got hit with a pie plate full of whip cream!!! Mindi had plotted with Wolfe. She distracted me and got my hat out of the way while he creamed me…literally! We all had a good laugh. Not long after the creaming incident Wolfe headed home because it was getting late and the 4 of us girls found a space in the tent for the night. Saturday we woke up to rain so we played games in the tent until it stopped so we could pack up and leave.
This week the sun actually has been out more than it’s been raining. It’s a nice change. However, now we’re headed for Utah summer heat. The cooler weather was nice while it lasted. This week I’m headed to Salmon, Idaho for a family reunion and more camping! This will be the 3rd weekend in a row that I’ve stayed in a tent! I like camping more ever since I bought a nice sleeping bag and air mattress last summer. I look forward to going again this summer. I just hope I’ll be able to stop relying on my rain fly to keep me dry!

Texas Fun

Wow! The last day of May. I thought I'd sneak in one last entry before we head into June. I can hardly believe it's almost summer already. Too bad I can't take a summer break from work.
The highlight of this month was my trip to Texas. I enjoyed a full week away from work! I went with my parents. We spent the first half of our trip in Hewitt (by Waco) with my sister Becky and her family. We enjoyed going to the Cameron Park Zoo and the children's museum at Baylor University. We also spent a morning at Ruth's school and had fun watching all the kindergarten kids participate in their field day. It was very entertaining and fun to see all the excited, screaming kids. I also had fun going to see the new movie Star Trek with Becky, everybody else stayed home. It's been a long time since we've gone to a movie together. I enjoyed the show and it was nice to spend time with my sister. We also enjoyed plenty of family time together, Blue Bell ice cream (a must have if you're ever in Texas), and playing with the kids.
After a few days we headed north to Grapevine (near Dallas) where my brother Doug and his family live. Our drive was a little longer than it should have been though because we hit a Texas size rain storm! It was raining so hard it made it difficult to see the freeway. Becky told me later that their rain meter in their backyard registered that they received about 2 1/2 inches of rain that day! I've never seen that kind of rain in Utah.
We enjoyed going out to eat with Doug's family the first night we spent with them. We went to Firehouse Pizza which was amazingly good. We went to church with the family and enjoyed an afternoon at home afterwards. On Monday Mom, Dad, and I ventured into downtown Grapevine. We started with a history tour at the visitors center with a very talkative tour guide. He was very knowledgeable but we eventually had to just break away because he just kept going. We had fun walking down their historic main street and seeing all the sites. Then we enjoyed lunch at the Main Street Bakery. After lunch we drove out to see lake Grapevine before heading back to the house. We dropped dad off and then I headed out with mom to do a little shopping. Somehow we ended up on the wrong freeway and went to Irving by way of Fort Worth! If you take a look at a map you can see the humor in that. We both found some fun things then found our way back to the house. We arrived late for dinner which we felt bad about but we didn't intend on taking such a long drive and also hitting rush hour traffic. Oh well, live and learn. That night I had fun jumping on the trampoline with Jenna and Braden (my niece and nephew). It's something I haven't done in a long time but I had a lot of fun.
Jenna is a great kid! Some of the things she said made me laugh out loud but they also made me try to figure out the logic of a 6 year old. She told me that since I have a big iPod it's a good thing I have a lot of hair, I asked her why and she said that way when I listen to music my hair can blow in the wind. Another one that I thought was cute was one night as she was getting ready for bed she pulled out a secret stash of candy in her room and told me she had to have just one piece so she could have sweet dreams. The best one of all though was when she was eating a Hershey bar and told me "I eat chocolate cause I love it and it reminds me of other things I love, especially Jesus. So I eat chocolate cause it reminds me of Jesus." Too cute!
Overall I really enjoyed the trip. It was hard jumping back into my work routine. I wish I could have a little more time off and less stress in my life. I guess I can keep wishing and learn to deal with it.

Multiple Blessings

During the last week I read an amazing book called Multiple Blessings. It's about the Gosselin Family. I love to watch the TLC show Jon & Kate plus 8 and I've had fun watching the family of 10 grow. The kids are really cute. Kate had twins and then sextuplets within 4 years! The book is about the challenges she had along the way. Too often I get down on myself or I'm too stressed out to see past the moment. Kate talks about how her faith in God got her through amazingly tough times. Reading about her challenges made mine seem small in comparison. She reminded me of the importance of relying on God and knowing that He will always be there. Take a look at the Gosselin website to see more: http://www.sixgosselins.com. It has fun pictures and info about the family. I highly recommend the book. It really made me think about my "multiple blessings" in my life.
Today is Mother's Day. I enjoyed having dinner with my family. I've thought a lot about my mom this week too. I think she's amazing! She was laid off from her job but she feels that it was an answer to prayer in a way. She was preparing to retire in the next few months anyway. She's decided to not look for another job. My dad is happy to have her home. He's already been retired for a few years. It strange to think that my parents are both old enough to retire. I'm not getting any younger either.
I'm looking forward to my vacation this week. I'm headed to Texas on Wednesday! I'm going with my parents and we'll be there for a week visiting family. We'll head to Hewitt when we first arrive to visit my sister Becky and her family for a few days. Then we'll head back north to Dallas to stay with my brother Doug and his family. It's a much needed break from all the chaos happening at work lately! I'm going to make more of an effort to see the positive in life and remember my blessings. I especially need to when the stress of work starts to set in. I know God is in control and things will work out for my best interest. I just have to keep my head up and do my part along the way.

A little bit Wicked

Wow! It's been a few weeks since I posted anything. Life has been really busy to say the least. A lot has been happening.

Last Sunday I felt a little bit wicked going to see the musical Wicked at the Capitol Theatre in Salt Lake. It wasn't my first choice to go on a Sunday night and especially not on Easter Sunday. However, after waiting in line for nearly 7 hours to get tickets and being told that's all that was left I decided that Broadway could be uplifting. The show was amazing! It was my second time seeing it, my first was about 2 years ago in New York. I hope to see it again soon. Until then I enjoy listening to the soundtrack. I'm also looking forward to the movie of Wicked that is supposedly going to be released sometime in 2010.


The last few weeks have also brought some major changes at work. As of this last week I'm now part of a new team and my job classification has changed. My new supervisor explained to me that I am a dislocated worker. Basically, the eligibility services I've been a part of for the last 2 years have lost some of it's funding and was over staffed by 60 employees statewide. On the flip side, the employment counseling side had extra funding. So to compensate my job title has been reclassified to employment counselor much to my dislike. That's what I did 2 years ago before being forced to trade to the eligibility side of things. I wish they could make up their minds! It's a challenge every day for me to try to reduce stress and control my frustrations. I'm grateful to still have a job...I guess. I think it's time for me to branch out. I've been looking at other job possibilities. I'm ready for some positive change in my life.


A new venture I've started in the last few weeks is running. Thanks to the encouragement of my roommate I've been training to run my first 5K race. It's coming up this Saturday. I hope I'm ready! I've been sick the last 2 days and that has slowed down my training schedule. I hope I can rebound quickly this week. I discovered how running really is an amazing stress reliever. Boy do I need that in my life right now!

Welcome to the Jungle

It's been a busy day at work to say the least. I kind of felt like the cow in the picture below...new applications kept shooting at my face in a steady stream! I spent all day working on registering applications which is unusual. I can usually register all of them before lunch but today after 10 hours I still had over a 100 applications left. Crazy! New ones were being submitted faster than I could clear them. I did have a laugh when I saw a fake application that was submitted for a Potato Chip and Ida Chip who have 2 kids! Seriously though, I have enough to deal with other than Potato and Ida!

I know I'm not the only one who feels overwhelmed. I guess it explains why one of my co-workers near the end of the day turned up his radio for everyone to hear Welcome to the Jungle by Guns N' Roses. I think the chorus describes pretty well what's been happening in my office this week with PCN open enrollment:

Welcome to the jungle
It gets worse here everyday
Ya learn ta live like an animal
In the jungle where we play (or you could say work in our situation)

It's a good think this only lasts 5 weeks. Hope it passes quickly. I can't wait to get back to a more predictable schedule!

Dealing with little old ladies and needles

This week has been crazy so far! Yesterday PCN (Primary Care Network) opened enrollment. It's been nearly a year since it last opened and people have been applying in unheard of numbers. Enough people applied online that it actually caused the online system to crash. What a mess! This pushed more people to come to the office since they couldn't get through on the internet. We had lines out the door!
I did get a good laugh yesterday though which helped me get through the day. The funny moment came when I talked with a little old lady who loves to talk. She's less than 5 feet tall and about 80 years old. She's a "frequent flier" in the office (meaning we seem to see her a lot). She's a little difficult to deal with though since she doesn't like to be corrected or interrupted and she's particular about who she'll talk to. She kept telling me over and over again "I don't want no homo on my case!" I was surprised at first and a little confused. I couldn't figure out if she was talking about her case worker or what. After several minutes I finally figured out she was talking about medical HMO's! Too funny. Definitely a big difference from "homos"!
Today was busy too but nothing really stood out to me. I gladly welcomed a break in the middle of the afternoon when I went to the chiropractor. I snuck a nap in while I had the heating pad on my neck. It was nice. However, at the end of treatment today my chiropractor did acupuncture on me and also put an herbal patch on my back. Kind of interesting and it hurts tonight but it's supposed to make a huge difference in the long run. Hope it works!

Rings of Fire and Insanity

It's been a slow day at the office. I guess with the nice weather everyone is outside playing. I assume they'll all show up next Monday since rain is predicted. I do have 2 stories that stood out to me today though.
The first was the funniest. A man was frustrated with all the paperwork required to get his case approved. He then proceeded to tell me he feels like his worker is holding a moving ring of fire and he has to jump through it several times to get anything accomplished on his case. The fun part was that he was hopping up and down as he explained the rings of fire. :)
The second story was a man that came to the desk with questions on a case. There are 3 of us that work at the front counter. He went to one of my co-workers first and didn't like the answer he got so he left. A few minutes later he came back and asked my other c0-worker the same thing and was given the same answer then walked away again. I couldn't help but smile when he walked up to me a few minutes later asking the same question. I told him the same answer and he walked away frustrated and upset. We only sit a few feet apart at the desk so it's not like I didn't notice what my co-workers were doing. Especially since he was the only one in the lobby! It brought to mind the quote by Albert Einstein "Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." If he'd listened the first time and done what was needed to solve the problem he would have saved himself some frustration.
I was just getting ready to leave for the day when the police showed up at the office. I guess a cat was hit in the parking lot. The cat is still alive but it's obvious the back leg is very broken. The officer is calling in another unit to come put the cat down. Poor thing. It provides a little excitement to end the day though. Can't say I'm too sad...I hate cats!

St. Patty's Day!

I love St. Patrick's Day! Even though we've Americanized the holiday I still enjoy wearing my green clothes...including my green shoes! I had a good laugh this morning when I went to see my chiropractor. He told me that his wife had served him green eggs and green pancakes for breakfast. He said he'd refused to wear green today since it was already in his belly! Funny guy. For a holiday, my day was actually pretty boring. It was a slow traffic day at work so I was able to get more of my paperwork done without all the people coming in. However, this means I don't really have any good stories from work to tell. Maybe I'll find a good one tomorrow.

Sunny Day

It's a beautiful, sunny day so far outside. I'm glad I have a window by desk. It's starting to feel more like spring! I keep thinking about my dream from last night. I get some strange ones. Last night I dreamt that I had twins. That's not too unexpected when there are several sets of twins on my dad's side of the family. The rest of the dream was too strange to even write. Not sure what goes on in my brain at night sometimes.
I'm writing this at work in between waiting for applications to load so I can register them. Not the most exciting thing but it keeps me busy. I get to listen to my ipod while I clear applications which is a great way to start the day!
However, my entertainment at work mostly comes in the afternoon when I sit at the front desk in my office. I have coworkers that wait to hear the "story of the day." That's the main reason I started this blog is to write some of those stories. The best one in the last month was a man that came in and told me his life ambition is to weigh 600 pounds so he can go on the biggest loser as the biggest man ever and win $250,000. He said he only eats peanut butter ice cream and potato chips to help him achieve that goal. He also told me he's leaving his wife since she wants him to eat more than peanut butter ice cream and potato chips. Seriously, this is sad but true. Another lady told me she'd rather stuff her husband under a sagebrush than put him in a nursing home. I also watched a man get arrested since he was higher than a kite and carrying drugs in a drug free zone. That's just a sample of what I see walk in the door every day. I'll post more here as they happen.
One last thought for today. I love the comic strip Pickles. The one from yesterday made me laugh out loud. Take a look, I posted it below.

Here I am!

I finally gave in and created a blog. I've been thinking about it for a while it just hasn't happened until now. I enjoy reading updates from friends and family on their blogs so now you can see some about my life here. I don't have much to write about today other than I'm having fun figuring out blog spot. This is just the beginning.