Just what you wanted...

...Kristen tagged me and so I must post...feel free to read if you want and if you don't, ah well...

Where were you born? Ogden, UT

Middle name: Dawn...just like my mother's and (hopefully) just like a daughter some day

How old will you be this year? 28 in December

Nicknames: Hollywood, Mouse, Holly Hobby and Holinator

Are you taller than your mother or father? Yes, poor short mom

Do you cry often during movies? Yes...I cry over sappy commercials

What is your biggest pet peeve? Eating noises and when people misuse their, there, they're, your, you're, to, too and two

Favorite color: Green and pink

Favorite foods: Prime Rib, Green Goddess salad dressing, See's chocolate

Favorite restaurants: PF Changs, Gold's & Pickles

Favorite beverage: Diet Coke (I know it will kill me...I don't care, if I could 'drink' it via IV I would)

Favorite cold cereal: Cinnamon Life

Favorite smells: Right after a rainstorm, crisp fall evenings by the ocean, kittens

Favorite time of day: Anytime I am not working or on my way to work

What brand of shampoo/conditioner do you use? Pureology - I LOVE the conditioner, it smells minty... mmm

Favorite make-up products? Mary Kay moisturizer, and my teal eye shadow :)

How many pillows do you sleep with? One stiff one under my neck and one fluffy down one tucked under my chin.

Do you play an instrument? Yes: flute, piccolo, piano and an amazing assortment of percussion instruments

Have you ever been skinny dipping? Yes

Did you do any sports in High School? I ran track for a week (I had to quit the team...big misunderstanding with the coach)

What was the last movie you saw in the theater? 27 dresses

What is your favorite article of clothing? Any one of my shoes :) But this week it is the Bandolino red patent leather peep toe pumps.

What is your dream vacation? On a beach, with a book and a Pina Colada

What was your first impression of your spouse? I thought he was cute - I even asked him out but he rejected me (he 'claims' not to remember this...)

If you were an animal what would you be? A cat - hands down....someone feeds you, cleans up your poop and I get to just sleep all day... sounds good to me

What is your favorite “me- time” activity? Shopping...especially for shoes.

Favorite TV shows: Sex and the City (can't wait for the movie!!), Seinfeld, Grey's and Desperate Housewives

What is your dream car? 1967 Ford Mustang convertible. Cherry Red with white leather interior and red leather accents.

What is one of your weaknesses? I get my feelings hurt easily. And I am a sucker for a good deal on a great pair of shoes...I'll eat Mac and Cheese for a week instead of buying groceries if it means getting those Bandolinos... :)

What do you fix for dinner when there’s nothing to fix? Fancy Shmancy Belgian Waffles in my Fancy Shmancy new Belgian Waffle maker. Top them with syrup and butter and chocolate chips and you have a meal!! ;)

If you could live in a different decade/era which one would it be? I love the 20's for the music and clothes and I love the 70's - talk about some great shoes!!

Do you consider yourself outgoing? Yes

What is something you are constantly working on? Losing weight...it is a battle I fear I may never win. Damn chocolate chip Belgian Waffles.

Any hidden talents? I am a WICKED fast silverware polisher...and I can walk in 4" stilettos

What is a word or phrase you overuse? Like. It has gotten tremendously worse since we moved here...I don't do it as bad when I type, but in person I am beginning to sound "Like a total Valley Girl"

What is the worst thing that happened to you this past year? Lost two babies

What is the best thing that happened to you this past year? Learned that Nathan would finally graduate, mom's heart surgery went good and I found Frank on the side of the road.

What is one thing you hope to accomplish this year? Run the 5K in May.

The best piece of advice you learned this past year? Be patient...impatience is just too stressful

Who are the 7 people you are going to tag to do this survey? Erin (yea for new bloggers), Kim S & Lisa (put it in the comments), Cindy, Sheila, Briana, Janus

I survived....barely

I just returned from the dentist. I didn't think I was going to make it there for a while, but I pulled through in the end. I had a couple cavities filled and a temporary crown put on (I'll get the real one in a couple weeks and despite my pestering, it won't be pink). The bad news is that I apparently have a bit too much 'gum' for my dentist's liking so he had to cut away some of it...and the wonderful numbing agent is just starting to wear off and I can tell I'm going to be a bit sore.

So back to work I go - answering the phones with half my mouth still a bit numb ought to be interesting.

There's no adventure like a snow adventure

A few weeks back we took Besta up the canyon to play in the fresh fallen snow...this is a shot of the beauty we encountered up there. (well, minus the impending storm clouds that hung in the sky)


Look at Besta's 'careful feet' ... He and Nathan are standing on the Logan River, he could probably feel the water flowing under his feet but it was sure funny to watch him walk all super careful.


We stopped off at Rick Springs and we tried to get Besta to hold still long enough to take a photo...alas, he is a VERY energetic dog so you get me trying to keep him from licking my face.



We threw the frisbee out but the snow got pretty deep and Besta had a hard time getting to this one so Nathan had to wade out and get it...

And no play time in the snow would be complete without a snow angel...I tried my best - which was a bit difficult with Besta trying his best to help me....

And if all the above wasn't enough...here is a video of our 'puppy' fetching in the snow.

Cutest Card Ever

This is the card Nathan got me for Valentines... isn't it just so cute you could barf?!?

Liar, Liar pants on fire

In my job as a receptionist I have the wonderful opportunity to speak with several telemarketers a day. I have put our numbers on the National Do Not Call Registry but apparently this does not apply to businesses... grrr. On average I would say I get between 15-25 calls a day from said telemarketers and as of late their 'entry line' is getting more and more creative. I still get the "Can I please speak to the person in charge of ordering supplies?" or "Can I please speak to the Office Manager" - in which case I kindly transfer them to a voicemail set up that goes like this: "Thank you for contacting ---- Construction Company. We do not accept solicitation over the phone. You may leave information on your product or service on this voicemail and if we determine it is something that would be of use to our company we will contact you."

Now I have no problem with them normally - I understand they are a business and they need to make money, blah, blah... I do hate the phone calls asking us to renew someone's free subscription to (----fill in one of many titles here---) magazine - of which I get at least 3-4 a day. However, I recieved two calls today that caused me to ponder if these companies crossing the line of honesty. This is how the first one went: (Names have been changed to protect the innocent, and the guilty)

Me: Joe Shmoe Construction, how can I help you?
TM: Can I please speak to whomever is in charge of maintenance at your facility? I forgot his name.
Me: Maintenance of equipment?
TM: No, the grounds.
Me: The grounds? At which location (we have 6)
TM: The ------, -- location (conveniently, the city where our PO box is...) I spoke with him earlier but I have forgotten his name.
Me: Earlier today?
TM: No, earlier.
Me: We don't really have someone in charge of maintaining the grounds, what specifically were you looking for so I can get you to the right person?
TM: Flooring. He called me asking a question about flooring and I am getting back in touch with him.

Now at this point I KNOW they are not being honest with me, but my Ms. Manners brain doesn't let me scream "Liar, Liar" into the phone... so I transferred him to someone who I knew would be honest with them and -not too politley- ask them never to call again.

Here is number two:

Me: Joe Schmoe Construction how can I help you?
TM: Can I please speak with Susan? (Now Susan is the president but she's kinda like the Queen of England - she has the title but doesn't have much power...in fact, she only comes in the office once a week to sign payroll)
Me: She doesn't work here in the office, is there someone else that can help you?
TM: Well, this is Stan from XYZ Aquisitions and I sent her an e-mail yesterday and I was just following up to see if she had received it. (Ok, liar liar... she doesn't have company e-mail...lets see how far this kid's nose can grow) Is there another number where I could reach her?
Me: She is home most days - she only usually comes in once a week.
TM: Oh. Well can you check to see if she recieved the e-mail I sent her?
Me: She doesn't have company e-mail (ha, ha, the jig is up!). Is there someone else who can help you?

The conversation goes downhill now - he knows he has been caught and he knows that I know...I forward him to someone I know is gone today and tell him he'll have to leave a voicemail.

Does it bother anyone else that they are getting a little shady now?? Joy (link to her blog on side) tells of an experience where someone actually claimed to be her brother and was calling asking for money...the funny thing is that she is american and she is living in Taiwan...and the man who called was Taiwanese...

V Day

V-Day treated us well here...

Below is the fantastic assortment of ALL dark chocolate from See's... all my favorites too. Scotch Mollow, Marzipan, Dark California Brittle, Dark Almonds...ok, I need to stop, I'm drooling.

This is the cover of the beautiful chocolate box, and the best part is that it can be re-used...hint hint

I also got Seinfeld Season 8

And these beautiful flowers..notice there is not one rose in the whole thing...I love it!!! Daisies and tulips and curly willow, oh my!

Nathan didn't get left out either - he got balloons, roses (I don't care if some think its geeky, I thought it was sweet...I don't have pics because they are on his desk at the University), some things from Spencers, and a gift certificate to KSM.

Now I know why...

...bears hibernate.

I hate the snow...I know it is fun to play in and ski in and whatnot...but I am sick of it snowing every night I work at the restaurant... When it snows business is slow and so I don't make much money...cause lets face it, sitting on my butt polishing silverware and raking in $2.13 an hour isn't the kind of money that pays the mortgage...

It is coming down so hard right now that I can't see the trees across the street from the office.


And to add another freaky medical malady to my ever-growing list... I seem to have phantom tooth pain. It started last weekend (while in SLC) and it even bled a little on Sunday - then the pain got bad enough to wake me up at night so I made an appt with my dentist (which is HUGE because I HATE HATE HATE the dentist) to have it checked out...and after an hour of tests and x-rays and WAY to many pointy objects being shoved into my mouth nothing could be found that would cause the pain...nothing. No cavity, no nerve damage, no decay, nothing... And yet, as I sit here the throbbing of my teeth (now my front two and one just to the right) is making me want to poke shart point objects into my dentist's face...

Anniversary

For our anniversary (six years) we decided to get the heck out of dodge and stay somewhere with no phone or internet or doorbells, etc. We don't have a ton of extra money so we stayed pretty close to home, but far enough away to 'get away'. We stayed in SLC and spent Saturday in Park City. The hotel was nice, the weather was nice, the outlet bargains were nice, dinner at PF Changs was nice... overall it was nice to get away and have some time alone together.

Ok, on with the photos:

This is a cool sign in Park City - it has arrows and mileage to other Olympic sites.

A pic of us on Main Street in Park City...it reminded me so much of downtown Newport...only on a hill, and with mountains instead of ocean... but the same type of quirky shops and expensive restaurants.... man I miss Newport

The view from our hotel room...not the best in SLC but pretty good, right?

Here are the freaking GINORMOUS flowers I got from Nathan... hot pink roses, baby pink tulips and stargazer lilies... It is funny because they are from Macey's floral department and they DO NOT deliver, but he sweet talked them over the phone to drive up the street a block or so and bring them to me... When the girls came in the door at the office they were all giggling and cute...they handed me the flowers and told me Happy Anniversary.... It was sure a surprise, I didn't expect to get flowers because we were going out of town.