Good to know

Three things I learned in the past three weeks.

The first is this. While getting ready in the bathroom the other day, my little sis asked me which towel I used when I showered. I responded it was the cream one. She replied, "Oh, cuz I use that one to wipe my mouth, just so you know." She means of course that she wiped her toothpaste/saliva/water mixture on it every morning and night. GOOD to know.

The second is this. Don't covet thy neighbor on the road. I was out driving one lovely afternoon when I pulled up at a stoplight next to this girl about my age who was driving a nice little pontiac convertible. I was looking at her, all cute with her blonde ponytail and her car's top down thinking she must really be enjoying this weather and wouldn't I love to be driving around in a convertible right now. A few lights later said neighbor on the road pulls up behind a slightly older vehicle. Let me just say, this vehicle would not ace a smog test. As the light turned green, poor little blonde ponytail was enveloped in a cloud of emissions so thick she nearly disappeared into it for at least 3 seconds. Convertibles=highly at risk for such an occurrence.  GOOD to know.

What our friend Tim looked like

The third and last lesson I learned the past three weeks is that we out in Spanish Springs get to enjoy a special treat every six months or so. The coming out of full-sized desert tarantulas. Gabe was out exploring with his buddy when he discovered a tarantula about the size of my palm, which is pretty big for a spider. It had the little fuzzy coat and everything. So of course Gabe and his buddy had to catch it and stick it in a jar and bring it inside. Don't worry guys, it didn't escape or anything. Actually, Gabe left the jar outside during church the next day so the poor guy fried to death. Did I mention we named him Tim? Poor Tim. Anyway, moral of the story, I frequently take walks around here wearing flip flops. But these little animal treasures like the black top, so it might not be too unlikely in the future to step on or near one. GOOD to know.

Bean Dip

Well guys, my best buddy turns 17 tomorrow. I'm talking about my little bro, Gabriel James Sommers. Otherwise more recently known as Bean Dip. It's just one of the many random nick names he has endured from me. I also call him plain Little Buddy and Gabarellis. Or the the little Gipper.

You have to know Gabe to know how awesome this kid is. Seriously, he is going to make some lucky girl an awesome husband someday. He is suuuuper nice. He likes everyone, can make friends at the drop of a hat, and he has the best sense of humor. Our household Gabe stories are legend. Even from the time he was a little guy he was making us crack up.

Story number 1.
It was Gabe's 2nd birthday. We were celebrating it at my grandparents' house. Now, sometimes Grandma Dear had a little gas, and when we told Gabe to go thank Grandma for his presents, he solemnly replied, "Noooo, Grandma poots." (poots=poops)

Story number 2.
Gabe was about 6 when we were driving home from church in Minden. He shoots up in his seat exclaiming, "Oh S***! *pause as we all gasp in surprise* I forgot to thank my teacher!!" (He was nice, even back then)

Story number 3.
Again when he was a little guy, no more than four, he was walking behind my dad, who was wearing his underwear and a t-shirt. Gabe noticed a hole in my dad's pants and informed him, "Dad, your big- boy shorts are broken!" (big-boy shorts=underwear that aren't diapers or pull-ups)

More recent quotes from funny-man Gabe are, "I heard you out of the corner of my ear." And "Hi, I'm Gabe and I don't know how to do the Thriller....'Hi, Gabe'."  His favorite come-back is, "you smell bad." Only he says it super fast so it's more like yousmellbad.

 

So that is Gabe. Always funny, he almost never makes a serious comment, but when he does, it's super smart and you better listen. As you can see from his expressions that he's always in the jokester mood :) Love ya Gabe!! Happy birthday, Bean Dip!!

Mother of the Century Award

I don't know why, but I always get the strange desire to blog at 1 a.m.. This morning I have the best of reasons though.

Some of you know already, my mom is a GREAT cook. I mean, she is amazing. Everyone thinks that about their mothers, but really guys, I'm sorry, but my mom could cook-beat up your mom any day. That sounded better in my head. Anyway, she really is great, and being such a great cook, she spoils us all the time.

But, she has collected hundreds of recipes over the years, and has never had the time to put them into some kind of organized form. So I took on the task. Let me tell you guys, it was a little intimidating. I mean, look at all these recipes!!

So you can see why I might hesitate a little, right? I mean, this is a friggin' fat pile! I figured over three hundred are there. I started organizing. That part was pretty easy, mostly just had to decide what categories to put them into, salads, sides, meats, desserts, breads, asparagus's... (jk, she doesn't have a category for asparagus, who has THAT much time, really.) Got that done. Then I had to put them all in the plastic cover things... long story short it took about 5-6 hours total and here is the finished product.

Niiiiice, right??

All nice with tabs and everything.

Here I am, admiring my work, thinking how beautiful this big book of recipes is, and thinking I'm deserving a daughter of the year award ( my mom said she wanted to cry because she never thought these would be organized and she'd die and we would hold her pile of recipes up at her funeral) when something gradually started occurring to me. I could reorganize recipes for my mom for the rest of my life and it still wouldn't come close to paying her back for all she's done for me in the past 22 years. You guys, she used to drive me an hour BOTH WAYS to my piano lessons every week just so I could go to the best teacher in Northern Nevada. She did her best to be a stay at home mom so I and my siblings could be home-schooled if we wanted. She took me to Cedar City to look at the school I would attend. She took me to Salt Lake so I could pick out the grand piano she and my dad would buy. But most important, she listens to me and has my whole life. I know I can talk to my mom about anything. She has listened to me and all my issues, rantings, heart-pourings-out, my piano practicing, my every thought and concern and has showed love and concern and genuine interest always. I always joke that my mom is my shrink, and seriously, who can ask for a better shrink than someone who listens, loves, and gives kind words of advice and wisdom without pay??

So Mom, I'll gladly organize your recipes for the rest of my life =D Love you!

These are some pics from the rib cook-off. I went twice and tried five different ribs. My favorite place to get them was Porky and Beans. I was a VERY happy girl that weekend. Gabe and Dad and Sidney were pretty happy too ;)

Peace and blessings, y'all!!!

Oh the joys of being gf

No, I don't mean girlfriend. I mean gluten free. Yep, I have been (mostly) gluten free for about 3 1/2 years now.

No, I'm not dead. A lot of people tell me, mostly guys, "I would DIE if I couldn't eat wheat!" But here I am, still living and breathing, and living a lot better than I was before, might I add.

What happens when I eat wheat? Well let me divulge once and for all. I get sick. Not just kinda sick, as in I walk around whining, "my tummy hurts", but pretty grossly sick. Stomach pains that make me curl up in fetal position, throwing up my guts every hour or so, complete inability to eat for 3 to 7 days at a time, thus resulting in rapid weight-loss, (I know, it's a great crash diet) other non-mentionable things that make me blush to talk about... I think you get it. So, I am HAPPY, that's right, HAPPY not to eat wheat. I'll whine and complain a bit on occasion, I'm only human, and we humans don't always know what's good for us. But it's okay. I'm okay.

But today I have two complaints to make about being gluten free. The first is Costco.

Trips to Costco used to be sheer joy. You know why. Because you can eat breakfast, lunch and dinner, all in ten minutes by making the rounds to the sample tables. Oh, and you can wash it down with a juice sample too. Now, as I walk through the store, not only am I denied the simple pleasure of sampling, but I look like a total stuck-up snob as I ever-so-politely refuse almost every single sample. Those nice old ladies have faced a lot of rejection from this girl. So, I always face a mild onset of depression when shopping at Costco. What do I have to say to that store? I'm truly, sincerely, not trying to offend everything you stand for, Costco. I still love your free samples, even if I can only imagine how good they are.

 Complaint number 2. My weight. Okay, so I have been told by many a female, "Well at least you won't gain weight!" False. TOTALLY false. First of all, when you have a gluten intolerance, it causes your body to not absorb a lot of nutrients in the food you eat, and so it can actually keep you skinnier (see people who look like they can eat anything and never gain a pound). I was that way. Before I went off gluten, I was 5, sometimes 10 pounds lighter than I am now. Refer to me previously mentioning the crash diet thing. Also, I find maaaannnnyyyyy ways to still eat junk food. Four words, chips ice cream candy. So I guess my main complaint is this; ladies, when I look like I may have put on an extra pound or two, please don't look at me and think, "She has no excuse, she's like totally on the Atkins diet permanently, OMG." Okay, so I know you wouldn't think that, but yes, I DO have the capacity to gain weight, and pretty easily I might add.

First gf pizza crust I tried. It wasn't great, but you learn as you go :) We have since found better.

So being gf really isn't that bad. Yes, it was hard at first, I went into denial a lot. ( the state of mind, not the river) But now I can have pizza, pasta, cookies, cake, lots of things as long as they are made specially. And guess what! Bj's Brewery now has gf pizookies!! I have yet to try them though. The last frontier; Olive Garden breadsticks. ttfn!!

The proper place for tires

So I have been in just such a dry spell with this blog stuff. But sometimes the cool people I know who blog re-post posts that were more exciting than some. Remember the tire fiasco of 2011? Probably not, so I am re-posting because it was just so fun. Also, this is in honor of my poor car named T-Mu, who has been in the car hospital this week and the car doc can't figure out why T-Mu is sick :(

Here's ye olde post --->



New story in my ever-so-interesting life. (sarcasm) I ran over a tire. Yeah, a tire. You would think, "Savannah, how did you run over a tire? Aren't you always "running over" tires?" WELL, somebody, a really SMART somebody, misplaced their tire. In the middle of the Pyramid HWY.

Oh, don't worry, Sir/Ma'am, I misplace things there ALL the time. Especially my giant, off-road tires, because I have a bunch of those just lying around.

You might also ask, "Savannah, didn't you see the giant, off-road tire in time to brake or something?" Well, I sure didn't, seeing as how it was night, about midnight to be exact, and the tire is black, and the road is black, and my headlights aren't the brightest, and a lot of other excuses I've got up my sleeve to keep myself from feeling like a total idiot.

To paint an even clearer picture of this dramatic event, the tire is probably AT LEAST 12" thick. My little saturn? A piddly 9 or 10"  inches off the ground if even. So, that doesn't really make sense, how did I make it over that thing? Easy. I skid across it using the momentum I had from NOT SLOWING DOWN AT ALL BECAUSE I DIDN'T HAVE TIME. And not without repercussions. Now my car is in the shop, hip hip. For the second time this summer!

So guys, to illustrate, this is where off-road tires belong...

Here.

NOT here.

Here.

NOT Here.

HERE!!

NOT...... here.

I think I've made my point.

And I've laughed about it quite a bit since :)

It isn't hormones, it's boys.

My mom informed me a few days ago that I'm more moody than I was as a teenager. I gently reminded her that it is because I didn't date or have boyfriends as a teenager. Those were the simple times.

Maybe I should go back to my old mantra,.....

But, as I know deep inside, even on the down days, that's not really what I want to do. Boys make life pretty darn interesting for me sometimes. Now I know what boy crazy REALLY means. But I like boys! Heck, I hope to find one to marry someday. So no, I don't think boys have cooties, and instead of giving up on the search for a permanent bf, I'll use these words, "Never give up, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn."  --Harriet Beecher Stowe

Sorry Mom, I'll try to be more like teenager me again, only the new and improved dating version. 

Peace and blessings, y'all!!

Be that person

New rule! Because I learned a lesson this week that I will never forget. I learned it a few times this week actually. Sometimes, I have personal doubts about other people, if they are being sincere, if they couldn't care less, if they are only saying nice things because that's what I want to hear... It's not good and I have tried to overcome that and have more trust. The lesson I learned this week? Don't say/think things about people I might later regret. Because someone I may have not had the best opinion of can come and out of the blue, be so darn nice to me I just want to cry because that's exactly what I needed in that moment. It happened at least 3 times this week. Someone I didn't think cared a tiny piece of dirt about my life would say something that made me feel so loved. Someone I didn't think I deserved anything from at all would make me feel like the most special person in the world. Someone I didn't think would notice me came and asked how I was doing when I didn't think my day was going very well. And last night, Saturday night. as I was out walking a little girl, barely three years old, looked at me, then my shoes and said in the most adorable little girl voice, "Hey, I like your shoes!!" She's my kind of woman :)

So, don't be like me and not expect much from people. Sometimes I do that and it's not fair or right. People are good, and they feel what you feel. They notice when you're not smiling because for some reason, it's too hard to that day.

This week, instead of looking for what other people do for me, I'm going to look for what I can do for them. Because I need to give back those good feelings I received this week, someone else deserves to feel as loved and cared about as I do.

Oh, these are some pictures I took while on a hike with my family yesterday. It was a beautiful day, a beautiful hike, and I'm so glad I got to go with my family.