Tastee freez & Burnt BBQ

Yesterday I drove to Perris for a site inspection. On my way there, I couldn't help but think of my mom when this Tastee freez caught my eye. Those siblings who took piano lessons at Maxine's around the same time as me will recall that Mom used to love to "go get a treat" at Tastee freez on Saturday's after piano lessons. The way I remember it is the place looked just like this with the steep triangle roof, but was no longer called Tastee freez, but Mr. T's instead. None of the kids ever wanted to go there, but Mom loved their pastrami sandwiches, so even if we protested, she would say, we are "going to Tastee freez to get a treat".


As I drove by this Tastee freez remembering Mom's love of Mr. T's pastrami sandwich, I soon turned the corner, and this is what I saw:


I hope you can see what that says. It says, "Mildred Street". Yes, just outside Perris, California is a Tastee freez around the corner from Mildred Street. I hope someone else who remembers these Saturday morning piano lessons got a little giggle out of this like I did.

Next, a plea for help. Back in the day, when I lived in Placentia, I had a little barbecue I loved. I cooked dinner on it almost every night. I have been barbecue deprived for the last four years because the apartments I have lived in wouldn't allow them. But finally, I am so excited I am allowed to have a barbecue again. So with the awesome assistance and handyman skills of my brother, I purchased this beauty and I'm super excited about it.


But, unfortunately, there is a problem. I have cooked dinner on it three times and all three times, dinner ends up black like this.


I grilled this chicken on the very lowest setting possible. The knob doesn't go any lower. I never had this problem before, and I suspect something is wrong with the barbecue (notice how I automatically assume it couldn't be me :) The chicken isn't dry in the center, it just looks like that in the photo because it sat on the counter for a couple hours before I took this photo. If you have any suggestions, please help me. Thank you.

New Clothes

Trina asked for photos of my new clothes, so here you go...

I wanted to get a longer skirt for church because wearing a knee length skirt while teaching primary is a little difficult.

It rained this week so I was in the mood for Fall clothes and I wear black to work everyday, so I wanted a change.

The Jack-O-Lantern earrings are from Betsy. Thank you and thank you to my husband for taking these photos.

Now that you see them, please let me know what you think. :)

Fashion Island

I went shopping today at Fashion Island. I had a great time especially because of the birthday cash and gift card I received. Thank you. A woman asked me to take her picture, so I took advantage of the opportunity and asked her to take mine too. I am so glad I have some new clothes. :)

Turning 33 on 10.10.2010

Today I turned 33 years old. I celebrated with my family after church and thought about my many blessings. Life is good. :)

Newport Back Bay

We live pretty close to the beach and really close to an entrance for the trail that goes around Newport Back Bay. I've tried quite a few running routes since we moved here, and this is the one I use the most. It is nice to exercise by the water.

Friday night at Disneyland was extra crowded. We thought it might be because it was the first night of "Halloween Time". It was fun to see all the Halloween decorations.

I hope you don't think I'm vain because all of the photos on here are just of me. I think photos with people tend to be more interesting than photos without people and I don't have anyone else to photograph because Eric doesn't like his photo taken. So, here I am. Enjoy :)

Beach, Boxes, Bridges, & a Bug

The past two days I drove up to a beautiful city on a peninsula north of Long Beach. I spent my days inside this pod packed full of boxes searching through documents for a case.

The pod is actually in the city dump, but believe it or not the dump overlooks the ocean. It was breathtaking, and my pictures don't do it justice.

Before I headed home, I parked to eat a lunch I packed and enjoyed the view. I took these photos with a timer while resting my camera on my car, so it was a little difficult to know exactly where the camera was aimed.

My drive lets me go over two bridges. Once again, my pictures don't do it justice, because you can't see everything I'm driving over, but I think this green one is especially cool.


This bug flew in my car the second I rolled down my window to eat my lunch. I tried to get him out, but couldn't find him. Then, of course when I was driving home, he came to life again and went crazy in my car. I rolled down my windows, but he stayed the whole way. He is relatively large. I expect Clare to know what it is called.

I'm pretty tired from searching in that pod for two days, but after soaking in all of the beautiful scenery, I'm glad I got to do it. Ahhhh...the glamorous life of a lawyer. :)

Walk to Work

Thank you for all of the compliments and comments. Here are the answers to your questions.

I am working with the same firm I was with before, Kutak Rock. I am glad to be back at work. My office is in Irvine by the airport and we just live two blocks away. I walk to work. It only takes 10 to 15 minutes, depending on if I'm wearing flats or heals. I like to feel like I'm getting a little exercise because I sit a lot for work. Here are some photos of what my walk to work looks like.

These trees are actually really pretty, but I didn't get a very good photograph with the early morning sun.

I make a left at this corner with the flowers. Everything is groomed well and these were just planted this week.

Then I pass by these cute trees that kind of remind me of Alice in Wonderland.

Then I cross this street, and my office is in the tall white building.

Our table arrived earlier than expected. Here it is. Tags are still on.

Work let us out two hours early on Friday. This is where we went.


The crowd was larger than we hoped, but we watched the fireworks and Fantasmic. Here is what I looked like close to midnight Friday night.

Sunday, was my first week of teaching primary. I have the whole junior primary, ages four to seven, six kids max. Mom gave me lots of good ideas for my lesson on tithing. She is an excellent teacher. The lesson went well, but I forgot to take a photo.

It was a great week, and I didn't even take a photo of the lemon pepper shrimp linguine dinner I made. I don't know why garlic isn't in the title, it used 9 cloves of garlic. It was really good. Hope you had a great Labor Day. :)

Welcome Home

I hope you don't mind, I decided to make this blog private because some attorneys search for attorneys they are working against, and I didn't want them to come across my blog. I know I didn't get everyone in this invite. I need to track down a few more e-mail addresses, but please let me know if you know of someone I forgot to include. Thank you.


We made it. We are home and happy. Here is our front door.

The original plan was for Eric to come a couple days after me with the kitchen essentials. However, his arrival was delayed, so for three months I didn't have much to cook or eat with. I ate a lot of sandwiches on the only plate I had, a gigantic decoration piece. It worked.

Then when Eric finally came, I was ready to cook some good food. This chicken pot pie was delicious but as I was eating it, I couldn't help but think of ways to improve it. First, the recipe says to boil the cubed chicken in chicken broth with the rest of the vegetables. I don't think this does the chicken any favors. Second, the double crust was a little too much crust for me. Third a little cubed potato would taste good in the mix.

I think it would be better to brown the cubed chicken on the stove in a pan that can go directly in the oven. Then I would pour the vegetables and sauce in, put a crust on top and bake it. I don't think I have a pan that can do that, but please let me know if you have any thoughts on the topic.

Here are some more photos of our place before we moved in. This is our living room. We did buy a television.

This is our dining room. A table is due to arrive September 9th.

This is our kitchen. It is a little smaller than the Brigham, but it is big enough.


I asked Eric to take a photo of me after work on Friday. I am standing on our balcony.

I recently got a haircut and I asked him to give me sweeping bangs but he wouldn't. The girl I went to in Utah wouldn't do it either. I think bangs would look good, but so far, the people who do my hair disagree.

After I took a couple of depositions on Friday, the court reporter was complimenting me on the work I did, and somewhere in the conversation she told me I look like an attorney. That was a first for me. People always tell me I don't look like an attorney. It really made me feel good. At the same time, when I look at this photo, I think my hair could use some improvement.

If you have any suggestions, please let me know.

It is good to be back to the blog. Thanks for being patient with me. I will be in touch.

A Break on the Blog

Thanks to all of you for always checking in on me. I'm sorry I haven't been blogging. I can't post any photos because we haven't moved everything yet. That's right, I said "moved". In the time I've been away I moved back to California, found a condo, and I will return to my old job practicing law on Tuesday. I'm looking forward to it. I have been loving California. I can't get over how much I love the weather. I am constantly outside, it is so nice. I will get back to blogging once we are put back together again. Thanks for being patient with me and remembering me. :)

Good Times

This is not the greatest photo of me, it was taken after a Sunday nap, but I failed to take any other photos this week, so it will have to do.


My husband and I played a piano duet together in Sacrament meeting. It was an arrangement of "Love at Home". I think we are both happy with how it turned out. I was definitely less nervous/shaky than the last time we did a duet.

He gave me those tulips during the week too. He came home with the tulips and a copy of "The Blind Side". He has absolutely no interest in seeing that movie. He played a duet with me, brought me flowers and a chick flick. That was so nice of him. I am a lucky woman.

A few weeks ago I was working at Costco when I ran into the husband of one of my first college roommates, Katrina. We exchanged numbers and Katrina and I made plans to meet at her home in Tooele on Wednesday. She has lived there for nine years now.

Their school district has short day on Wednesdays, so I met all five of her children ranging from 12 years old to 17 months. I was a little surprised by this, even though I shouldn't have been. We were married about the same time. We had such a good visit; I had forgotten what an incredible friend she is. We both remembered quite a bit about the things we did together that the other forgot. For example, she said that when she was hugely pregnant with her first, I would meet her at Aggie Village at least once a week and we would go on long walks dreaming about our futures.

I am so glad we got together. It was revitalizing to talk with her because she kind of still saw me as I was at 18. She reminded me of my old self and I felt fantastic.

I was playing with my camera last Sunday and I took a bunch of photos. Here is one of them. Yes, there is a giant elephant behind me.

Other news for the week include that the weather has been nice so Clare and I have been running like maniacs. Tulips are blooming everywhere. I have been working on securing future employment and so far things are going very well. I may have extremely good news next week. Tomorrow I pick up my mom from the airport and take her to Logan for her to stay a week with Margie's family. That's enough for now. Thanks for all your comments. I enjoy hearing from you.

You Be The Jury

I was just driving back from the University of Utah and a police officer pulled me over. The police officer was in an unmarked black SUV and he was not wearing a police uniform rather a red dress shirt embroidered with the the words, "Cottonwood Heights Police".


Here is what happened. I was at an intersection turning right onto a road that had all but one of the westbound lanes closed for construction. This single lane was backed all the way to the intersection so cars were having a hard time getting into the lane. When my light turned green there was no room in the lane for me and there were cars in the opposite direction from me blocking the intersection because they were trying to turn left into the single lane.

I knew if I didn't pull into the intersection when my light was green to take my place in line, I would never get to go. When the single lane began to move the left turning cars turned west into the single westbound lane, my light turned red, and then I turned right into the single lane. Yes, I turned RIGHT on a RED light into the lane.

The black SUV was first in line at the intersection going straight west, so I went in front of him.

So he pulls me over, and he is mad. He shakes his head like I'm an idiot and asks me for my license and registration. I hand him my license and while I'm getting my registration he can see by the look on my face I really have no idea what he thinks I did wrong.

Nothing he said seems clear to me other than, "Your light was red when you entered the intersection" and "That's how accidents happen". My light was not red when I entered the intersection.

When I arrived at the intersection, my light was red. I stopped and waited at the stop line while it was red. My light turned green and I entered the intersection. I sat there waiting in the intersection while it remained green. It turned red, and then I turned into the westbound lane.

I'm wondering what I was supposed to do differently? So I'm really questioning myself thinking maybe he is right, maybe I did something wrong. I tell him, "I don't know what I did wrong" and he says "We can argue it in front of the judge". I say, "Okay", not to be smart, I just really didn't think I did anything wrong.

He seems upset at this point that I'm not crying or pleading at his mercy. He asks when was the last time I had a ticket. I tell him years ago. He then starts to tell me his intention was to just give me a warning, but since I insist that I didn't do anything wrong, he is going to write me a ticket.

So here it comes, here is what he wanted. "Oh please, please, please please please, I was wrong," as my stomach churns because it makes me sick that he just wants me to worship him. He says, "So now you say you were wrong?" "Yes, I was wrong." I have no idea what I did wrong, but this is what he wants to hear. He says, "okay" and hands me my license back.

I would never have been able to turn right if I waited for an opportunity when my light was green and the west bound lane had space open. The intersection was backed up in all directions.

I'm trying to learn from the experience, but really, I would do the same thing, if I was in the same situation again.

What should I have done differently?

A Nice Week

Monday night it snowed and this was Tuesday morning. I went to Logan and enjoyed a day with the girls.


I received two tiny rebate checks, so I went to the ATM, "cha-ching".


I warmed up leftover shredded beef with a variety of sides for super easy eats.


I went to Wal-Mart to buy some cream they didn't have and asked some missionaries to take my photo so you could see me in action. They were a little suspect of my intentions.


I chauffeured my husband to and from the UofU. (There is still a little snow on the grass.)


In the end, it warmed up enough to wear flip-flops and a sweater for a limited amount of time.

Have a nice day. :)

Easter Week

When this week began I thought all I had ahead of myself was working, sleeping, eating, exercising and a little reading. I feared I would have nothing of interest to write about so I started taking a few photos of things I was eating so I would have something to say.

As you can see I had a couple Asian Chicken Salads (ooh...aah...exciting right?)



lots of smoothies

and I munched on asparagus because it is in season, on sale and so good after being baked for ten minutes with a sprinkling of sea salt. (Bob made us this cool bowl for a wedding gift.)


But then, to my surprise, something of significance happened. I gave notice that April 30th will be my last day of employment here.

I am super happy and excited. Goodbye Costco.


Working at Costco has been interesting. It is a good place to work, but it is also requires much heavier labor than I ever anticipated. I've worn out a few pairs of shoes walking an excess of twenty miles a day circling that concrete warehouse returning items to the shelves, pushing rows of heavy carts outside in the scorching sun and freezing rain, scrubbing floors, serving hot dogs, cashiering, and other things I wouldn't want to mention. There were nights when I would return home wondering if my feet were still at the bottom of what felt like stubs hanging from my hips.

Then my husband surprised me with these sweet flowers. The picture doesn't do them justice, they are nothing but cheer. :)


Easter arrived and I didn't know what to cook because my husband doesn't like pork in any form, but he requested enchiladas with Mexican rice, so here it is. I made them with shredded beef. Mexican food doesn't make a pretty photograph, but it tastes good.


In the end, this beautiful, irresistible box of chocolate covered caramels arrived to wish us a happy Easter from Ted and Liz . They are so good. Thank you for spoiling us as always.

We watched conference over the weekend. It was good as always.

I'm truly surprised I had as much to say as I did. I shouldn't have ever thought my life would be boring. There is always something happening, I just don't always know what it will be. :)

Happy Easter.