Experience #30- Celebrate my "Golden Birthday"

If you are like me, you had no idea that there was actually a real name for the birthday where you turn the same age as the date it occurs on. I Googled it- "Golden Birthday". It's legit. So being born on the last day of the month gives you something to look forward to for a very long time, my friend. And doesn't it just work out gloriously for me with this whole blogging/experiences thing? It really was meant to be :) Anyway- turning 31 on the 31st caps off an amazing year. I started my day with waffles, went to Stake Conference, went to a Baptism, and then headed to my mom's for dinner with my brother and his family. It was great to be together. And the best part of all was that my mom infinitely wrapped one of my presents. Seriously, it must have been wrapped like 8 times. Brian isn't here, so I guess someone had to take his place.




AND, the best gift? The Weenie. Yup, they got me :)

And so my 30th year is in the books! Plans for 31? You Bet! Tomorrow I will re-cap, but for now I am going to go have a lazy evening with Jacob and the kids. Perfect ending :)

Experience #29- Drive a Riding Lawn Mower

(I can't even tell you how much I LOVE the face I am making in this photo. I can't stop laughing at it every time I see it. I hope you feel the same way.)

Considering that mowing your lawn in Florida is a year-round activity, and one which I have engaged in thousands of times, you would think I would have been on a riding mower somehow, somewhere during my life. But nope, never have! So I called my good friend Carol Ivey, who lives down the street from my in-laws. I see her son, Jacob, out there riding and mowing all the time so I figured she could help me out, and she totally came through for me! It was awesome. After a 2-minute crash course on starting it, speed control and the clutch, I was off! Uninsured and without a lawn mower license! I bravely went across the street and around the neighbor's yard and back. Twice, even! And I have to say that that thing can boogie! (I see now why there are people in the world that created the sport of lawn mower racing.) Anyway, it was really fun! I would definitely enjoy mowing the lawn way more if I were riding around on a little tractor the whole time. Carol was so sweet and took some pictures for me of this momentous occasion. We tried and tried to get Cindy to take a quick ride on my lap with me, but she would not be budged. It was "too loud and bumpy." But we did manage to get her on for a quick, goofy picture. Thanks, Carol! You're the best! 30 Experiences down and 1 to go!


And this picture was a VERY close second favorite. Cindy is progressing with her spastic photo faces quite nicely, I would say.

Experience #28- Drive 100 mph

I am actually going to say very little about this experience :) I will, however, simply say this: I did accomplish this experience this weekend, somewhere in Polk County, on a public road. Even though it only lasted about 2 seconds, it scared the living daylights out of me and most likely will never happen again in my lifetime. But Rocket handled it amazingly well and now I'm pretty sure that he (my Honda Accord) really is part rocket. Blast off!

In the meantime....

I am hurriedly wrapping up my last 3 experiences for my 30th year in the next 24 hours and all shall be revealed shortly...but in the meantime, here is something I am introducing as a feature on my blog for 2010.

Ready, Set, Cook!

I'm sure you are all familiar with the show Iron Chef. It is where two chefs battle it out in a competition of skill and creativity. They each have to cook, on the spot, a completely original meal, from scratch, that includes a previously unknown secret ingredient (which can be anything ranging from strawberries to squid). Anyway, as I have been cooking more and more and refining my mad culinary skillz, I have decided that for 2010, I am taking on sort of an Iron Chef challenge each month. In layman's terms: I am choosing an unusual supermarket item and making a totally new recipe with it. The only caveat is that in my case I get to cheat. Big time. I get to research an actual recipe in which to use the ingredient. No flying totally blind for me- I know my limits :) The only rule is that it can't be a recipe for something I have ever made before- I going for recipes that are totally original. And away we go!

Iron Chef January

Secret Ingredient: 1 can Coconut Milk

Recipe: Coconut Rice with Black Eyed Peas and Avocado Salsa

Nope, that recipe title is not a misprint! When I saw it, I knew it was destiny. Seriously, I could not think of three ingredients that belong together less than these. But as the recipe author said himself when explaining this dish, "Give it a shot! Great flavors come together to become more than the sum of its parts!" Well, okay then.

It did have 9 reviews, all of which gave it 5 stars and raved about how good it was. I guess we will just see about those five stars, won't we now??



So here it is completed and I have to say it was surprisingly good! The coconut rice was not really that coconutty to me. I was expecting it to be very tropical, but it was very mild. However, when it hit some of the lime juice in the salsa, it did seem a little more powerful. Anyway, my advice is to double the avocado (because avocado is wonderful) and then add lots of cheese, maybe even some cheese whiz because for some reason it totally compliments the flavors. Plus, the BEST part of this recipe is that you can eat pretty much all of it and not feel guilty. It doesn't even have any meat! Which I wasn't even sure I was allowed to make a meal that doesn't have meat in this house. But we are all still alive :) Overall I give it 4 out of 5 stars and I'm already way excited about February, as my secret ingredient is very "appropriate", shall we say. Stay tuned....

Experience #27- Read a Harry Potter Book

Seeing as how I watched Casablanca and listened to War of the Worlds as two of my experiences this year, I knew I needed to read a book too. I was just really torn on what to read. I mean, the proper, cultured side of me thought I should read a classic. Something long and boring and the punchline of a joke, like Crime and Punishment or War and Peace. But then I remembered this list is supposed to be FUN, darnit! So I decided to turn to a new classic. I have never ever read an entire Harry Potter book. I tried once a long time ago to read the first one, but I got sidetracked and basically just decided I would watch the movies to get all caught up. But that didn't happen either. Besides, I already have books 1-3, courtesy of my parents who lent them to me ions ago. (I know they are reading this and saying to themselves "We lent her the Harry Potter books?? Yup, you did.) So this past weekend, I hunkered down and read vol. 1, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. (P.S. Yet another great reason to choose this book: it's short. After 4 Twilight novels, this was like reading a pamphlet.) Now, I have seen the movie many times. In fact, it's one of my favorites. But some things were still a little confusing to me, I have to admit. Probably because I fall asleep by the end of any movie I ever watch, and that has possibly happened once or twice during this one. However, the book has cleared a lot of things up for me! I finally feel like I understand the plot of this book now. Like Voldemort and why he was after the stone, why Snape was actually innocent, and that Dumbledoor is actually a little more loopy than the movie makes him out to be. And Holy Hermione! I even think I sort of understand the rules of Quidditch :) It really was an enjoyable read. It was funny, imaginative and used big words that an adult like me needs to encounter now and again. Anyway, faster than the Golden Snitch I am on to book 2 before I forget everything I just read. What a Muggle I've been!

Experience #26- Get a Facial

My friend's Facebook status update about a week ago was about the amazing facial she had just gotten (Thanks, Melissa!)- and when I read that, I thought to myself, Aha! I have never ever had a facial! and so I called the same gal who did hers and made an appointment to get one. And you know what? Getting a facial is pretty darn great! I went to Karen Taylor at Nu Image Salon here in Lakeland and got a 30 minute mini-facial, and my eyebrows waxed, just for good measure. It was great! I got to wear headphones and listen to very relaxing music while I had all kinds of cleansers, toners, moisturizers and a mask applied. Karen told me before the facial that the biggest compliment I could give her would be to "fall asleep in the chair" while she worked. I didn't exactly fall asleep, but I was definitely doing some deep meditating, shall we say. I was in my own little world, visualizing myself doing everything from flying to canoeing. (What? Canoeing is very relaxing!) Which is great, because how often do we get to totally zone out and let our minds wander for a good 30 minutes? Almost never. It was very refreshing! But at one point I did come out of it long enough to hear an older lady telling her stylist about her husband being unable to play Bunco anymore because of someone's cheating; which I thought was a classic beauty shop moment. At least I think I heard that. Karen would have to confirm that for me... Anyway, two thumbs WAY up for facials and for Karen, who did a super amazing job on my perpetually bushy, Vulcan brows.



I was torn as to whether I should even take and post this picture, what with my tremendously obvious non-makeup'd face and all, but I knew that I needed a visual for this post, so in the end my logical side won out. Told you my brows were Vulcan!

No Worries, Mate!

My birthday is fast approaching, and just in case you were wondering, I am still working on my last 5 Experiences and I WILL make it by Sunday. So keep checking in this week and you will see the grand finale to my best year ever! No seriously, it really has been my best year ever. And that's a blog post you might just see next week.

He Shoots, He Scores!

Could I be more proud of Jacob? Not really. This past Friday Jacob coached his girls soccer team to a school first 3A District Soccer Championship. This was pretty much the team’s only goal for the entire season. Last year his boys’ team was ranked #1 going into Districts, but lost in the first game. Would lightning strike twice? Thankfully, no. I usually don’t go to many of his games- mostly because they are very far away and start too late for the kids, but also because I am a nervous wreck the entire time. Due to the significance of this game, it was about ten times worse. I could barely eat the whole day. I was so nervous! I just knew that Jacob wanted this so bad and no one could be more deserving. In the end, they held off Frostproof, 2-1, and now get to play in Regionals next Thursday. Hopefully this is the start of a new tradition: every time my birthday approaches, Jacob is hip-deep in post-season play. I wouldn’t mind and I know he wouldn’t either :)

See, Jacob?I told you that you were a great coach! Now you just happen to have some hardware to prove it.

A Hilarious Cindy Quickie

(As opposed to the regular non-hilarious Cindy quickies I post on here, right?)

Anyway, last night Cindy had to do her homework. It was a fill-in-the-blank worksheet about Martin Luther King, Jr. Here is how she filled it out: (these are her exact words she wrote down)

Martin Luther King Jr.'s dream was: "that everyone would get along."

My dream is: "to be a Mermaid."

In my dream, everyone would: "be a mermaid with me."

Something I can do now to make my dream come true is: "learn to swim."

Sorry, but if you ask a 5 year-old what their "dream" is, what do you expect them to say, I mean, really? Besides, I can vouch wholeheartedly that this really is, indeed, her dream. I hear about it all the time :)

So that's where I get it from!

Over the holidays I was over at my mom's house and I made a significant discovery. After a huge meal, we were all helping to clear the dishes and bring them to my mom, who was at the sink rinsing them and then loading them into the dishwasher. It looked pretty full when I got there with my plates, so I asked her if they were all gonna fit. She looked at me like I just asked her if the Pope wears a funny hat. DUH. And then my dad proceeded to tell me that my Mom is indeed, a level 8 master dragon dishwasher loader. (Yes, that is the official title according to Maytag- see instruction manual, page 15.) She can take an absolutely humongous pile of odd shaped dishware, pans, Tupperware, etc. and somehow manage to fit them tetris-style into a 8 cubic foot box. And even when the dishwasher is either about to start or is in full swing and an orphan spoon or cup is found in another room, no worries! It can be added! Now the discovery part comes in when I realized that I do exactly the same thing. In fact, overloading the dishwasher efficiently has long been a skill I have been tempted to list on my resume. I just can't stand not being able to fit everything in my sink into a single load! I thought I was alone in my thinking. But I realize now this is a genetic trait. A glorious, genetic trait. Thanks, Mom :)