winterBINGO UPDATE

Check, Check, Check

1. DRINK HOT CHOCOLATE - check

* pic taken from google images

2. FIND THE PERFECT CHRISTMAS TREE AND DECORATE IT - check

 I LOVE my Indian ornaments

3. WATCH A HALLMARK OR LIFETIME CHRISTMAS MOVIE - check

This one was easy.  I have already seen about 8 and have a bunch more waiting on my dvr.  As cheesy and predictable as they are I love them and I don't care what anyone says.

4. WATCH MACY'S THANKSGIVNG DAY PARADE - check

No matter how old I get this parade never gets old.

* pic taken from google images

5. PUT UP A NATIVITY SCENE- check

6. FORGOTTEN CAROLS - check

and...

7. CUDDLE UNDER THE CHRISTMAS LIGHTS - check

THANKSGIVING

I'M THANKFUL...

I'm only 6 days late, but ask me if I care

...for a husband who puts up with my annoying picture taking habits even when it is clearly not his favorite thing to do.

...for my nephew Kace for keeping up the 2 year tradition of cleaning my house to earn Christmas money.  Seriously I had the kid scrub my baseboard with a toothbrush, wash my kitchen cupboards, mop, wash windows, clean THREE toilets, mop, vacuum (for about 3.5 seconds until he go board), dust, wash the tub, and straightening up the house (aka picking up our crap).  He did a fantastic job.  Thanks Kace!  

 

...for my nephew, Ty who watched hours of TV so he wouldn't distract Kace on his cleaning quest.  Oh yeah and Ty and his "socks" make me laugh.

...for a wonderful family which we got to spend time with last weekend.
...for Christmas.  I. Can. Not. Wait.
...for a husband who loves me even through all my crazy attacks.
...for my Savior.  Because if it weren't for him none of this other stuff would even matter.

BREAKFAST FOR DINNER - CHECK

CHAMPIONS

is what...

(pic taken from Google images)

Chuck Norris eats for Breakfast

Speaking of Breakfast...

We had a breakfast party with the Hylton's and the Huff's a week ago.

There were 2 rules and 2 rules only

1. breakfast for dinner (duh)

2. PJ's were mandatory

I think little Benjamin won the cutest pajamas contest

The menu consisted of German pancakes, potato and bacon breakfast casserole, homemade buttermilk carmel syrup, fruit and...

BACON ICE CREAM

This horrible picture does not do the ice cream justice.  It was really good.  Then again...can you ever go wrong with ice cream???

STAYCATION - CHECK

cross the "staycation" square off of the winterBINGO list

PARK CITY

So back in June we were in Park City with Clayton's work.  One night we were walking around mainstreet and got fanagled into this timeshare thing.  Basically the guy said something along the lines of "If I don't get this last sale I won't be able to feed my children."  Sounds very similar to something an NBA player might say regarding his current position called the lockout.  Ok maybe I'm exaggerating a bit on what the timeshare salesman said to us, but he was very persuasive.  Pretty sure the phrases "heart transplant", "pregnant wife", "college student" and "terminally ill" were used in his pitch somewhere.

Ok so maybe I'm stretching the truth again

But the bottom line is...

We got two nights in Park City   

We left last Thursday and first headed to SLC so we could use my "on the verge of expiring" Groupon to Cedars of Lebanon.  A coworker (from Lebanon) had told me how great this place was.  So when a Groupon came up for it I quickly nabbed it.  9 months later and we finally got around to using it. 

I can't remember any of the name of the things we had.  I was hoping their online menu would refresh my memory, but nope.

I might not remember the name of the food, but I remember how good it was.  And it. was. good!  Especially this dish below...

Below was a combination platter.  I do remember that one of the dishes was lamb and the other was chicken...  oh and I'm pretty sure there are some vegetables in there.

After dinner we headed on over to the Westgate in Park City. 

This is a bear

A real bear

Wanna know how I know?

Because it had these things...

Leave it to a man to find the genitalia

After a good nights rest we were ready to meet with the BEASTS for our 90 minute timeshare presentation.  Having already been through a timeshare presentation a year ago, I went in with confidence that we could escape unscratched and left the 90 minute sales pitch wanting to punch someone(s) in their face.  Honestly I can only think of one other time when I have been so offended.  Wow.  Watch out for those Westgate people.  They spare no mercy.  I won't go into detail for the sake of keeping this blog a happy place with happy memories...

So after our battle with the demons we hit the outlets to do some Christmas shopping.  80 BILLION HOURS LATER (or so it felt), we left feeling mildly successful in our Christmas shopping efforts.

Back to the hotel...after a stop at Whole Foods to score some samples

The resort had 3 different pools to keep us happy (although we only hit two of them).

POOL #1: The Adult Only Pool

It had a pool, hot tub, steam room, sauna, and a relaxation waterfall

Doesn't Clayton look very relaxed?

Like idiots who live in a frozen Popsicle called Utah we forgot our flipflops.  We made do with our workout shoes.

After returning to Whole Foods for more free samples and some awesome Pumpkin soup and curry salad we returned to the hotel with plans to stay up until *gasp* MIDNIGHT. 

We made it until 10pm

At 5 AM our internal clocks woke us up with no chance of going back to sleep.  Like any responsible adult we slipped into our robes and workout shoes and hit the pool that was closed until 7 AM. 

POOL #2: Indoor/Outdoor pool with outdoor hot tub 

We first sat in the hot tub outside.  It was snowing.  It was so beautiful and peaceful.

Steam room fun

We swam for about an hour and then went back to bed.

After checking out of the lions den (aka Westgate) we drove back into SLC to check out some dive fins at Neptune Divers.

While there I observed two teeth in a glass case with the dive knifes and watches.  It was then that the following conversation happened between Clayton and I.

ME: Do you think those are real shark teeth?

CLAYTON: no way.

ME: Really? I bet they are.

CLAYTON: You are on.  I bet you a dollar that they aren't.

About 30 minutes later as we were on our way out the door, I remembered our little bet.  I ran back and asked the salesman to settle it for us.  I asked him if the teeth in the glass case were real shark teeth.

His response?

Yes they are!

I WON!

I WON!

I WON!

I WON!

I WON!

I AM THE WINNER!!!

and a WHOLE dollar RICHER!!!

Apparently they are the teeth from a Megladon that were picked up off of South Carolina.

I ran back to the car to get my camera so I could get some pictures of actual Megladon teeth for my 9 year-old nephew, Kace.  Kace is obsessed with all things shark.  One time he showed me video after video after video of Megladon's on youtube.  I thought that the fact that I have held the tooth of a Megladon would impress him.  Well let's just say that he was less than impressed BECAUSE his friend Easton has one and he has held it.  Back to square one on the cool aunt thing.

And that pretty much sums up our staycation.   

PUMPKIN BLOW

Our poor pumpkins.  They have been through a lot during the last two weeks.  First, we knifed into them and ripped out all their insides.  Then we laughed as we poured gasoline into them and lit them on fire.  And lastly, we willingly donated them to be blown up with dynamite.  

Last Saturday we headed over to the Nash residence in Weston, ID for the annual pumpkin blow.  It is a 2 second thrill that is totally worth the drive. 

Can you guess which two pumpkins are ours?

Clayton spent about 5 minutes in the pumpkin guts trying to find bits and pieces of our blackened pumpkins.

We he had no luck I made him stand in the dynamite hole.

Jess...tell your family thanks.  We look forward to this every October.  Till next year!

IN LOVE WITH PUPU(usa's)

First things first...

We are well on our way to completing our winterBINGO challenge.

This weekend we were able to cross off two items off of the list

2 down, 94 to go

1) Eat at a new restaurant

and

2) Try a new recipe

Restaurant first

When the name of the restaurant and their most famous dish both start with Pupu you know it is going to be a great night.

 Friday night we ate at Pupuseria El Salvador.  This little mom and pop shop is located in Logan in the Pincrest Shopping Center by Costa Vida and Pizza Pie cafe.  Also next door to where Retrix Dance Club used to be (wow that dates me, huh). 

Marci and Brandon joined us for the feast.  We discussed things like crazy girlfriends and the length of mine and Marci's leg hair.  Shaving more than once a week during the winter is a waste of time.

Anyway back on tract...

The menu was pretty a la carte and super cheap.  Since they are known for their Pupusa's that is what we ordered.  We also tried the empanadas, tacos and tamales.

So the pupusa's were amazing.  Really, really amazing.  Pupusa's are corn dough stuffed with fillings (i.e. cheese, meat, beans, etc) and flattened like a pancake.  They were around a $1.50 each.  But FYI one pupusa will not fill you up and even if it does you will want more.  Trust me. 

 Ahhh...the tacos.  $1.25/each.  They reminded us of these Mayan tacos that we had in Mexico.  Loved them!  

 I was so excited to try the tamales. 

I. Love. Tamales.

But I have never had a good one from a restaurant. Ever.

The only good ones I have had were either ones that we made or from street vendors.  Speaking of which has anyone seen the guy who sells them in the Wal*Mart parking lot lately?  Is he still around?

I was hoping that since I loved everything else here that they would be fabulous...

...but...

HUGE disappointment.

The Masa dough was mushy almost liquid like.  not cool.  PLUS they weren't warmed all the way through.  It was like they were taken out of the freezer, thrown in the microwave and given to us...cold.

But that was the only flaw of Pupuseria El Salvador.  We loved it and can't wait to go back.  Clayton call's Pupuseria El Salvador his new Beto's.

New Recipe - Pumpkin Pasta

We have this cookbook that we are totally in love with.  It is pretty popular around Utah so maybe you have heard of it...

Our Best Bites

We are in love with it and are always looking to see what the next thing is that we will be cooking.  Saturday we made Pumpkin Pasta.  It is definitely a keeper.  Go out and buy the book and try it.  It is just that good.

winterBINGO

Flip flops have been put away and beanies have been pulled out

It's starting to get cold out there...

I definitely don't try to hide the fact that I despise winter.  I hate it with the same passion a mother possesses against the child who is bullying her kid at school. 

WINTER = BULLY

Well I have one thing to say to Old Man Winter...

BRING IT!

Clayton and I have devised a little game to help us cope with the miserablness (I could care less if that is a word or not) we call Winter.

Winter B-I-N-G-O

Basically we came up with 96 things we can do in the winter to keep us from going crazy for the next 7 months.  Since Christmas is part of winter (the ONLY part of Winter that I enjoy) there are quite a few Christmas activities on there as well.

Our plan is to do as many of them as we can and document each one on the blog.

Well...

Soak in the tub probably won't be documented.

You're welcome.

I will keep you updated on

Operation Punch Winter in its Face

How many can YOU do?

Yes that IS a challenge.

If you would like a copy of winterBINGO in its excel format email me at

heidimcmurdie@gmail.com

Good luck and may the best man win