Wednesday, July 22, 2009

...fourth of july...


Let freedom ring… its INDEPENDENCE DAY~ Fourth of July this year was great. It was my first week off from school. That in and of itself was an event worth celebrating. Hooray! (BOO to the fact that I am still waiting for a contract to teach in the Fall due to the RIF).

Anywho, fourth of july is one of my favorite holidays. And as a matter of fact I can’t really think of a holiday that I don’t like, so… with that said… happy birthday America! This year I celebrated the fourth with bryan and his family.

Started the day with tennis! An American pass time? I have no idea where the sport originated… maybe Europe somewhere… like England? I dunno. No internet access at the moment to research the topic (on the plane to Hawaii). Haha. Acutally bry planned a tennis outing in conjunction with Wimbledon. Great idea bry. We played doubles with scott and dustin turner from the ward.

I’ll leave the victors in the two matches we played up to your imagination. And as a hint I’m sure the victories went to the obvious team…=). I’m sure its not too hard to figure out.

After the tennis rendezvous I met up with Lee, Brooke, and Jen for breakfast. We are big breakfast fans. This time we experienced the most important meal of the day at a little place on Scottsdale road called the breakfast club. Lee, Katie, and I tried to eat there on a previous Saturday, but the wait was over an hour… I’m patient, but not that patient especially when I’m hungry.

Breakfast was yummy. The orders at our table ranged from yogurt and fresh fruit to a delicious omelet. We had an array of potatoes (potatoes o brien to hashed). I had a short stack of butter milk pancakes. They were mouth watering. Our next breakfast outing will be at a new place in Scottsdale called bacon. I’m very excited.

Next, was swimming at the bluths. That’s right… after stuffing yourself silly with potatoes and pancakes jump into your suit jen! Way to show off that meal. Loverly. Roxie (the bluth’s boston) started us off with a virgin voyage in her new pirate ship. She definitely ruled the high seas of the backyard pool. The ship later turned into a floating target as each member took turns practiced their chipping skills from the nearby lawn.

“wanna know the stupidest thing I did today…?” let’s just say their was a bruised tail bone involved with that line. I would like to say that the act that brought about said bruised tail bone was a complete success.

Inside a fourth of july feast that could send your taste buds soaring like fireworks in the dark night sky was being created. Robyn and the rest of the bluth clan never cease to amaze me with their ability to entertain. The table was decorated with red, white, and blue metal pin wheels in red, white, and blue metal buckets. There was a flag runner and each cloth napkin was tied with a red, white, or blue party popper. And of course the ribbons were all of a patriotic nature.

Back outside the bbq was lit and the master bbq-ers bryan and his dad grilled up some Italian sausage, bratwurst, and chicken. They were teamed with a great pasta salad which has been a tradition in the family since the days in Chicago, a fruit tray with sweet fruit dips, and salad. I felt spoiled.

We headed out to Surprise to meet up with Uncle Alan and Cenea and their family to watch fireworks. Alan has a construction site that was supposedly home to a great view for the fireworks show. And well its true! We sat about 100-150 yards from where the show was being executed. We set up our camping chairs in the back of the pick up truck, pulled out a cold bottle of water, and watch the sky light on fire. My rib cage vibrated through the whole show as the lights danced across the black sky. Best view in town. Hands down.And of course we capped the night off with root beer floats and later with ESPNs Sport Center Recap. Gosh I love America.

Friday, July 3, 2009

...officially arizona...

yes its true. i'm about give up my last physical claim to being from california-the license plate. ah! i gave up my california diver's license last august... i had a really difficult time handing the DMV lady my license. pathetic i know. i hesitated when she asked me for my current license. i thought of things that i could say (aka a lie) to some how keep from having to forfeit my license to the state of az. i went through a few stories in my head quickly, but before i knew it my hand was moving toward her with my license in tow. ah.... stop! stop! she snatched it before i could open my mouth. i may have put up a little tug when she went to grab it. a small part of me died that day. haha.

and now its time to give up the last little part of me that keeps me rooted as an "out of stater." i like that my car let's other people know that "i'm not from here." not that i have a problem with az. i did like that it made me more "normal" while i was in utah. i like that i didn't have to claim utah with my plates. but now its time to move on... how superficial am i?

internally i'm still fighting to keep my california plates. but in two weeks the fate of my car will have been decided. should i keep the california plates...? there are risks with having a az license and a-out-of-state car... aka a hefty fine... grow up jen. move on. right?

on that note, if i do have to give up my claim to "normalcy" i'm going to do it with some personality and go for personal/vanity plate. i've always wanted to... and this is the time to do it. bry, my sister, and i have been bouncing ideas back and forth. still need to decide. opinions are welcome... here are some choices so far... feel free to add any suggestions:

WCKDLVR (Wicked lover... as in the muscial)-mom is against this one =) my favorite
IBLDBLU (I bleed blue)... sadly i checked... and its taken...
i want to meet the person with this car
DGRENIFY (degreenify)
DFYGRTY (defy gravity)... DFYGVTY is already taken
BLEDBLU
IHRTOZ (i heart oz)
WZRD N I (wizard and i)
ELPHIE
SWNKFYD (swankified)
ASNTACO (asian taco)
JENBUG (my nickname from the fam)... sadly taken and i don't have a bug
LVSAUTE (loves a ute...hmmmm) goes great with the "Y" sticker on my car
BITESZE (bite size- a nick name from college)

i'm taking any other suggestions.

Paige's suggestions:
SHRTSTF - short stuff
BWLNGQN - bowling queen

Thursday, July 2, 2009

...meet me in california...


...i'll be there waiting for your call...cause you know in california there's something better for us all..."-Plain White Ts.

a couple of weeks ago Lee and I headed to california for a carefree weekend! earlier that week we just decided to jump in the car and head to the sunny state. it happened to be father's day weekend, so that worked out perfectly for me to spend the day with my dad.

our road trip started in the classic lee and jen date... with chick-fil-a. its our "chick" date. yum. we cruised to cali experiencing new tunes from the plain white ts (new to us that is) and fell in love with the song sunlight by them. we stopped twice to use the restroom. now i'm the type that goes for distance and doesn't stop unless its an emergency. however lee was fair enough and let me know about her only flaw for a road trip "i'm pretty much perfect with the exception that i have a small bladder." love you lee.

friday we spent the day shopping for swim suits and hanging out by the pool. lee experienced in-n-out for the first time.... and need less to say she was hooked after the first bite! we went back for seconds before leaving california. that night i met up with amy (!) and heather (!) to see the proposal. good flick. oh amy how i've missed you. good times. "my new phone made me all these friends"

saturday was filled with old friends as well. i met up with andy and quinn to eat dim sum with the grandparents and my dad. we caught up with lee and the democrat at south coast. "she's on your team" "she's my team... my team" andy and quinn had quite the time checkin out all the hotties at the mall.

after the sun decided to finally come out. we headed to the beach. the five of us read and took in the brief period of sunlight on the coast. it was actually perfect. "i love the sun... its probably not the best thing... but i just love the sun."

for dinner that night we went to a little place called TK burger. i opted out of the burger experience. wasn't feelin' all that great. stress related i'm sure. lee was all about the burgers this trip. chalk another one up for a tasty burger experience. i'll make sure to get in on that one next time.

i pretty much slept the rest of the night while aaron and lee hung out in the spa and watched walk the line. i was just overwhelmed and needed a time out. but had a good conversation that came at the perfect time to settle what i was feeling.

sunday i made breakfast in bed for my dad and my mom. i made yummy pancakes and eggs. for lee i made just pancakes because she doesn't like eggs. the sausage didn't get thawed in time. bummer. it has little pieces of pineapple in it. so good. oh well maybe next time.

on our way back we did make a stop at the rite aid in desert center. lee was feeling a cold come on and needed something to catch it before it got worse. she opted to try these chewable things... bad choice. "it started out tasting really good and then all of the sudden it was like chewing this chalky metal stuff" wow. she'll stick to the coldeez or however you spell it. i also introduced her to thrifty's ice cream! LOVE it. my favorite is chocolate malted crunch. yum.

so as you can see there is only one picture of all the adventures of that weekend. just one. but its a good one. love you lee. i'd road trip with you any time!