baby cheetos are the best

okay, so maybe not the garden veggie ones.

Wanna know why we like Five Guys?

The hamburgers you say?

Nope.

The peanuts?

Not really.

The fries?

Nah.

It's the vinegar! Mmm...

You have to bite one end of the fry off and let it soak in the vinegar.
While it's soaking, the ketchup gets a little love.

Mmm...

Wanna know more about Me? (aka Lady-Queen-Kam)

So you think you want to know more about this scary girl:

Okay then... here we go!

Here are the reader submitted questions:

➪Lease favorite food(s): mushrooms, ham, milk, bananas.

➪Favorite book: Of course I am a huge fan of the Twilight series! (go Edward! Although Alice is my favorite character) I do love me a good LDS Romance every now and again. I have read a lot of Nicholas Sparks book, but get bored of them quickly. I really like Clair Poulson books and other mystery/crime type of books. I plan on picking up a Nora Roberts book in the near future. Everyone seems to always suggest her books. We'll see. If you have any great suggestions, I'd love to hear them! I recently learned that maybe it's better to get a suggestion before you go out and buy a random book. You never know what will be inside.

➪Favorite fictional character: This is a tough one! I did mention earlier that I do love Alice Cullen! (as well as Edward. Totally NOT a Jacob fan) But I seem to be obsessed with which ever character I have seen most recently in a movie. I am weird like that. Somehow I find a way to relate to whatever movie I am watching. This is a really good question that I would love to revisit at a later date.

➪What do you do if you have free time? Honestly? I Plurk. I totally can not get enough of my Plurk friends. Especially Aubrey and Marci. I love them to pieces! They are always there to listen to me vent, make me smile, laugh (and I do mean LAUGH) and always there for a good cry. Seriously they are the best.
If I am not plurking, you can find me watching movies, playing the Wii, playing on my iPod, or just chillin' with Dustyn. We also LOVE going for rides and absolutely can not get enough time camping. I love free time!

➪Who is your "superhero" in life? I would have to say birth mothers/birth parents. I am in complete awe of them. They make one of the most difficult decisions to help someone else's dreams come true. What a selfless decision. What a life changing choice. One that I will forever be grateful for. They are most definitely my heros! I can't wait to meet a birth mother that will make the decision that makes us parents here on earth! It's hard to describe the love and respect I have for birth parents.

➪If you could tell the world just one thing, what would it be? (is anyone else singing Jewel at this point? I can't stop!) It's all okay. Kidding! I would tell the world that, "Adoption is an Option!" A lot of teenagers and unwed mothers don't realize that adoption is an option for whatever reason. Maybe they are afraid of what their friends and family would say or maybe they are afraid of the pain and hurt that comes with adoption. Whatever reason, it seems like so many are fearful of adoption. I would love to educate the world about adoption. That is how you get over your fears, right? Education? It seems like this is the case especially in small communities. Maybe. Maybe not.

➪If there was no chance in failing, would you do something different?
Oh would I! I would do so many things different. Why are we so scared of failure? I am terrified of it. It's okay to fall on your face sometimes. It is! It only makes you that much better and that much more prepared the next time around! If only it were that easy. Let's see... here are a few things that I would do differently. I would have gone to an big out of state school. I would have gone into architect or advertising or design. I would be creative! I would create. Maybe try my hand at painting, drawing, sculpting. I would go get my teaching degree in mathematics. I would run! I would get a real job! I would blog about my feelings more often. I would write a blog post good enough to post on AubreyMo.com . Oh the things I would do! So... what's stopping me?

➪What was an important lesson you learned growing up? I think for sure, it was to WORK HARD! No matter what you are doing, work hard. Go the extra mile and do what it takes to get things done. You aren't going anywhere if you don't work hard.

➪What is the funniest thing that has ever happened to you? All I can think is embarrassing moment, which I won't share here. I'm still embarrassed. But if anyone else can think of something, go ahead... share. I will keep thinking, but I can't come up with anything at this point in time.

➪Do you have any brothers or sisters? In fact, I do! I have a younger sister JaKell (28) who is married to Brandon. She has three kids (CamRee, Tryen, and HadiLee) and two step kids (Gillian and Brynnley). Then I have a younger brother Jace (26) who is married to Tina. They have three dogs (Aspen, Tyke, and Mojo). Then last but not least is Chet (18). He is single and starting a new job! (oh and a dog named Diamond! And a family dog named Camo)

➪What is your middle name? Lee

➪Name five favorite things about your hubby:
Only five? ;)
1-He is creative! I love what he can do with a paintbrush or with a computer. He is definitely talented. I could look at his paintings and artwork for hours. He listens to my suggestions and doesn't get upset when I critique his art (even though I know nothing about art). I LOVE talking art with him.
2-His desire for children. I always wanted a large family. With the infertility issues and adoption challenges we have faced, I have decided that I want two kids at the most. He still has hopes and dreams of a large family. A little heart ache can't get him down. As far as a large family, we'll see. I'm still set on two.
3-He always shows his respect for me. He always opens my door, always walks on the outside, always lets me go first, always makes me feel special. He is always there to do little favors and errands for me. Most of the time I know he doesn't want to, but he does it anyways without complaining. I don't have to question if he loves me.
4-He gets so exited over little things. Anything to do with Apple/Macs, movie previews, electronics, TV's, just anything. He comes home and tells me all about what he read about that day. Sometimes I have no idea what he's talking about, but it's fun to see him so excited.
5-He loves the Lord. He honors his Priesthood. He is always ready to serve others and do the best that he can. He tries hard to be the best he can at his calling, he always has great comments to make, he can be counted on when given an assignment, he has a testimony and is not afraid to share it, he helps me be a better person. We aren't perfect by any means, not even close. With Dustyn's help, we are continually trying to better our lives and the loves of those around us.

➪If I lived closer, would you eat Fat Sticks with me? PS we should eat them anyway. Uhm... heck yah! Let's go! Aubs, I am glad we share an obsession with Fat Sticks. We should totally have Fat Sticks soon! P.S. You should meet my friend Carrie. We should all have Fat Sticks!

➪Am I your favorite? (Wait. Don't answer that). Srsly. Do you even have to ask?

➪Umm... weren't we going to swap blog posts?!?! We totally need to get on that!

➪What is your favorite place to eat? Okay, what place isn't my favorite, really. Let's see... there's Texas Roadhouse, Fat Jack's, Cafe Rio, Jason's Deli, anything Thai, Steve's Steakhouse, Zupas, Spaghetti Factory, Cheesecake Factory, Melting Pot, Chili's, and many, many more.

➪What is your favorite Wii game and what is your highest score? Well it would for sure be Dr. Mario! I LOVE that game. I don't know what my highest score is, but I don't really know of anyone who can beat me. My dad can occasionally.

➪Why did you name your daughter Hannah? Do you have names for your future children? It was kind of a joke when I was in college and in my 20's. I would always say, "Oh my Hannah!". I always joked that I would name my daughter that. When Dustyn and I got married we talked about both liking the name Hannah. I didn't think we would ever actually use it. When Hannah was born, we didn't really know how old the baby had to be in order to give her a name and a blessing. Just in case, we came up with a name quickly and that is what we came up with. (We later learned that she was not old enough)
We do have names for our future children. We have a boy name and a girls name. I hope we get to use both. I would share them, but I don't want to just yet. ;)

➪Who is your favorite friend in Stansbury Park? Stansbury Park? Where's that? Ha ha! Kidding! It would definitely have to be Anika! ;) Oh yeah and for sure her mom!

➪If you could live anywhere in Utah, where would you live? Yes, Arianne, I wish I could live closer to you, but I really, really love Sevier valley. I don't think I could ever leave. It's my most favorite place in Utah. Maybe you should retire here. ;)

➪How big was the biggest deer you ever shot? If it wasn't 2AM, I'd go find a picture to scan in! It was when I was 16, my first deer. A 3 X 4. We shot it and were back in town before 7AM on opening morning. Nice.

➪When are you going to come see me? Soon! When are you going to come see me? ;)

➪What is your favorite store to shop at? I love, love, love Target most of all. Can't get enough. I love me some IKEA. I love American Eagle for Jeans, Maurices for shirts, and Keen shoes (where ever you can find them). If I were skinnier I'd shop at Gap, Banana Republic, etc. (oh, okay... and richer)

➪What is your favorite treat? I love Ice Cream (it can't be thick or creamy. Ew) or popsicles. Mostly anything cold.

➪What is your favorite hobby when you have free time? I know I mentioned some before, but I wanna add photography in there. I love taking pictures and learning photoshop. I also love going to the school with Dustyn. I need to learn some more hobbies. I would love how to do more handcrafts.

➪What is on your birthday wishlist? Hmm... I don't know just yet. I will post about it when I have thought more about it. It's a very important list, you know. :D

I think that is all on this edition of "Getting to know Lady Queen Kam!"
Until next time, have a great Thursday!

Mexican Riviera - Food Edition Pictures

My sister took all the pics on the trip... I hardly picked up my camera. We actually took mostly video, but currently my laptop is too full to download them. Don't worry, we have a 2TB hard drive on the way so I can back everything up and delete a lot of my laptop. Yahoo! And maybe I guess I could start going through my pictures and posting a few. I am so lazy. I got use to not even looking or thinking about my computer for a week. Very nice.

Anyways, I just stole a few off her blog until I go get the CD of pictures.

So here are a few "food" photos courtesy of JaKell.

And a few of the Sapphire Princess:

Mexican Riviera - Food Edition

Here is a short recap of our vacation! (in a few posts)
We have decided that cruising is the way to go when you want to vacation! We had a great time and are glad that we were able to go! We can't wait to book our next cruise!

A food review - in list form!
-We probably ate the best food we have ever eaten, and a lot of it. On the Sapphire Princess they have one Buffet that is open 24/7. It has super yummy food and lots of it. There is also a pizza place that had some of the best pizza that I have ever eaten! So good... I am already craving more pizza. There was also a grill that served hamburgers, hotdogs, turkey burgers, bratwurst and lots of other good food (that I never actually got to). But every night we met (my parents, sister and her husband Brandon, and Chet) and had dinner in one of the five dinning rooms. We are talking fine dinning. So so good. We tried a lot of new things (and there were a few that I couldn't make myself try - like frog legs... ew) The food was seriously the best and totally worth every penny we paid. (And of course you could eat whatever you wanted and as much as you wanted - all included in the cost of the cruise. I can guarantee the cost of all the food I ate exceeded the cost of the cruise - for sure!)

-Here are some random tidbits about the ship/food/galley:
(I totally found all this interesting, feel free to skip it! lol)
+The ship stored about 110-115 tons of food at the beginning of the cruise (for a 7 day cruise).
+The Galley Brigade Consists of:
1 Executive Chef
1 Executive Sous Chef
4 Sous Chefs
17 First Cooks
137 Cooks
12 Galley Cleaners
10 First Dishwashers
40 Dish and Pan Cleaners
+The average amount of fish prepared daily: 1500 lbs
+The average amount of meats cooked daily:
Poultry: 1800 lbs
Beef: 2100 lbs
Pork: 1000 lbs
Veal: 400 lbs
Lamb: 460 lbs
+Average amount of salads served daily: 1600 lbs
+Average amount of shrimp used daily: 300 lbs
+Average amount of mayonnaise used daily: 28 gallons
+Average amount of sandwiches made daily: 1500 each
+Average amount of pastas made daily: 500 lbs
+Average amount of potatoes cooked daily: 2000 lbs
+Average amount of vegetables cooked daily: 2500 lbs
+Average amount of soups made daily: 550 gallons
+Average amount of flour used daily (for breads, pizza, etc): 1700 lbs
+Average amount of pastries prepared daily: 6000
+Average amount of ice cream prepared daily: 90 gal (They had the BEST sorbet!)
+Average amount of cakes and pies served daily: 300
+Average amount of butter used daily: 500 lbs
+Average amount of fresh fruit served daily: 7000 lbs

+Average amount of dishes washed daily: 70,000
+Average amount of glasses washed daily: 21,500
+Average amount of detergent used daily: 58 gallons

And that is just for the passengers. There is also 1100 crew member on board to feed.

We were able to take a tour of the galley. So, so cool! And it is HUGE! We only saw one deck that supplies food for three of the dinning rooms. The other two have another galley on another deck.
Deck 5 galley: 1200 sq feet
Deck 6 galley: 1200 sq feet
Other galleys: 2400 sq feet
Dry storage space area: 16,000 sq feet
Walk in fridge: 18,000 sq feet
Butcher and Fish Shop Prep room: 7,000 sq feet

They say the average weight gain on a 7 day cruise is 7-10lbs. I was going to be so happy if it was ONLY 10 pounds... luckily I must have walked it all off and was shocked I didn't gain any weight. YAY!

Okay enough random info. Hopefully my next post will actually be about the cruise!
Sadly, I didn't really take many pictures, but I have a few!

New Years Baby!

Yes, I am finally getting around to posting about New Years. Better late than never, right?

This year our friends Greg and Arianne come down to bring the New Year in. I turned out to be a lot of fun! (at least I thought so!) And of course I didn't take many photos. I have really slacked off in that department lately. :P

Greg and Arianne arrived around 3:30 on Wednesday. We hung out, chatted and just caught up on life. It was good to hang out with them again. I decided to make an early dinner so that we would be able to snack on yummy snacks all night. Arianne come in to help/chat with my while the boys played the Wii. We made Hawaiian Haystacks. They were alright, but don't you hate how when you are cooking for someone else, nothing seems to turnout how you wanted it? :P Oh well, luckily they survived. :) After dinner we ran up to my parents house to watch the kids open their presents. It was good to see the kids and hang out with them.

We headed back to our house and I made a few snacks. Spinach Dip with bread, Cranberry Salsa on Cream Cheese with crackers, and veggies. Of course the Cranberry salsa was my favorite. I love that stuff!

Once the food was ready, we decided to let the games begin! We played Boxers and Briefs. That game is so funny. I love it.

Then it was off to become Guitar Heros! We ended up playing Guitar Hero all night. We turned it off long enough (like 2 minutes to midnight) to watch the ball drop.

Miss A is even a Guitar Hero!

Dustyn is very serious about his guitar skills! I love how he gets into it.

Arianne even gave it a try!

Miss A even got to drive on the race track! Dustyn must think she is pretty cool!

There were so many cute pics of her, but they didn't work to well. :P

Dustyn playing Miss A's favorite game of the night. Spoons!

The last minute of 2008! YAY!

It's now officially 2009!

Miss A stayed up and brought in the new year with us. Once it was all over she went to bed. We played Guitar Hero for a few more hours. Finally it was bed time... but not for Dustyn and I. We played Dr. Mario for awhile and then chatted all night. lol. We finally went to bed sometime after 3:00. Fun night for sure.

Thursday morning!! I made German Pancakes and bacon. Remember how every time I use my oven the smoke alarm goes off, even if nothing is burning at all? Yah, they got to listen to my smoke alarm all morning. I finally turned it off. I really need to move it a little. It is totally in the wrong spot. :P

Greg and Arianne decided to stay one more night. We were excited.  That means more games! We are totally games sort of people. Love them! My mom got a new game over the holidays called Quelf. If you have not played this game before, you should. It is CRAZY!  Crazy I tell you. We decided to play Quelf. It was fuuuny. My abs definitely had a work out. Wow. Crazy game. You really should give it a try.

Miss A helping Greg out with one of his stunts! :)

Greg and Arianne would rather color than play Quelf?!?!

For dinner we had soup and salad. Miss A helped me make the breadsticks. Yum! It turned out pretty well. Then we played more games. I don't really remember what, besides Racko, but it was a good time anyways.

Friday morning we had breakfast and then Greg and Arianne left around 10-ish.

It really was a fun weekend! Thanks for coming down guys! Come again! Soon.

8 things.

Tagged by Necia!

8 T.V shows I love to watch:
The Office
American Idol
One Tree Hill (except I haven't watched it for-ev-er)
Big Brother
Anything on TLC
Iron Chef America
Good Eats
Food Network Challenge
(now if we only had all those channels!)

8 Favorite Restaurants:
Cafe Rio
Cheesecake Factory
McGrath's Fish House
Steve's Steakhouse
Noodles
Olive Garden
Thaifoon
The Pie

8 things that happened yesterday:
Went out to eat Chinese with my family.
Subbed.
Went to Wal-Mart two or three times.  I think three.
Visited with both sets of my grandparents.
Bought a new Charlie and Lola book and eye liner.
Ate at Subway.
Got the mail.
Ate a pumpkin chocolate chip cookie that Dustyn made.

8 things I am looking forward to:
Adopting.
Going to North Carolina.
Going to Minneapolis.
Getting out of debt.
Getting our yard finished.
Thanksgiving.
FSA Conference next year!  :)
Vacation!

8 things I love about fall:
The smell and chill in the air.
Baking.  Lots of baking.
The beautiful changing scenery.
My angels birthday.
Thanksgiving, Christmas and family gatherings.
Our house is the perfect temperature!
I get motivated to accomplish things again.
CamRee's birthday!!  YAY!  Can you believe she will be 7?

8 things on my wish list:
A baby. And then maybe a little brother or sister.
A new HDTV and Satellite. (The Food Network and TLC, etc.)
A new fridge.
A new couch! (for Dustyn) ;)
A new wardrobe.
New holiday decorations/Everyday decorations for my house.
An iPhone that works in this area!
A new pair of sunglasses.

Top Ten things I would really like to eat. . .right now!

10.  Chili's.

9.  Macaroni Grill.

8.  Noodles.

7.  Sour Dough Pizza with Mozz Cheese, Artichoke Hearts, Fresh Tomatoes and Garlic Sauce (just a little).  Or better yet . . . CHICAGO PIZZA!  YUM!  If they weren't $58.00 for shipping, I'd order one!  

6.  Spaghetti Factory.

5.  Philly Cheesesteak.

4.  Cafe Rio.

3.  Homemade Tortillas with Salsa, Cheese, and Guacamole.  

2.  Thaifoon.

1.  The Cheesecake Factory.

Apparently I really want to eat out.  Too bad I can't find any of those restaurants close to me.  Have I mentioned that I am ready for a Vacation?  Oh . . . okay.  Just checking!

**edit** Even though Subway was not on my list - It was pretty good! YUM!

A funky smell . . .

Every so often we get this funky smell in our pantry and down our hallway.  It happened a few months back and I searched and smelled and searched and smelled and took everything out and looked some more.  I never found the culprit.  But the smell went away and I never thought about it again - until a few days ago.  It's back!  I believe this the the third time is has been back.  But it seems like there is a 6 month or so break in between.  Weird.  It is a really strong meaty garlicky smell.  It reminds me of a strong salami smell.  Salami that has been setting out for a day or two.  I have no idea what it is and it is diving me nuts!  I have smelled around and around and can not find the source!  Grrr......  Anyone have any ideas?  :)  Wanna come sniff my pantry?  I would love to lose the smell for good.  I promise I wouldn't mind.  But until then I have stocked up my febreeze air-fresheners and sprayed everything... it still smells!  It is so strong that nothing helps!  Yuck!

Guilty Pleasure

Not to long ago I was looking at a blog that was talking about guilty pleasures. I was trying to think about what mine was. . .what I really enjoyed. After a long time, I finally figured it out!!

Homemade Tortillas!

I just cannot get enough of these! The problem: I can not make them the way they should be made. I have tried and tried and although they are good - they just don't compare to real homemade tortillas (say like the ones from Cafe Rio - YUM!) So since I can't make them the way they should be made - I found a pretty good alternative!
Uncooked tortillas! They are SO good! They are the closest I can get to the real thing! YUM! (By the way - you can buy them at Costco or Wal-Mart)

And with my homemade tortillas I like Mozzarella Cheese, Tillamook of course!
And Avacados . . . YUM!
And we can't forget . . . my FAVORITE salsa! (besides homemade)
YUM!!

Our Valentines weekend in Salt Lake City!

Yes, I am finally getting around to blogging about our weekend in Salt Lake City. It was definitely fun but went way too fast.

We drove up to Salt Lake on Friday after school. We went shopping and messed around. I was able to pick up my ring that has been at the jewelers for at least three weeks - so I was happy about that. We also ran a few other errand and went to Costco and Ikea and just had a good afternoon. We drove up to Salt Lake and checked in at our hotel. We stayed at Hampton Inn (of course, bad sadly it wasn't $29.00 a night :P ). That night we got hungry for something good - but didn't want to go out, so we ordered in Pizza from The Pie. It was super good! We ordered the Greek Pizza and it was Yummy! I wasn't sure what to expect - but I love greek food so I figured it would be good and it was!

On Saturday morning we watched President Hinckley's funeral.  I am glad I had the opportunity to see it and to listen to the stories that were shared.  He was truly an amazing man.  We spent the afternoon driving around window shopping. I am STILL looking for a good pair of shoes and a jacket. (I know winter is getting close to being over - so I finally decided that I should get me a jacket. Dustyn would be happy so he could wear his own!!) But no luck. I just don't know where to shop anymore. We found some really cute coats in the mall and I was excited to get one - they were all too small! Grrr..... so I am still looking. At least we got to eat at Cafe Rio so the trip was worth it!! My back is still not ready to shop on hard floors so it was a quick trip.
Saturday night we went to the Blue Man Group. It was a lot of fun and crazy! It was so random, but a lot of fun and great music. Afterwards we went to the Thaifoon and had dinner. It was so good. I love that place!!

On Sunday we took a drive up the the Salt Lake Cemetery and were able to see President Hinckley's grave.  We drove around and found most of the other past LDS Presidents.  It was really neat.  I have never driven through the cemetery and looked at the headstones.  I would really like to go back and spend a little more time there (preferably when it's a little warmer!!).  We were also able to meet up with a friend and hang out for awhile. 

One the way home we went and visited Dustyn's mom. It was good to see her. Then the drive home!!! It took us almost three hours to get from Genola to Richfield. It was crazy and slow. The roads were bad and there were cars off the road all over the place. But we finally made it home. While we were driving, Dustyn was watching The Ultimate Gift! From what I could hear - it was a really good movie. If you haven't seen it, you should rent it!

Well that is about all - that was our weekend to Salt Lake City. Of course I forgot to grab the charger for my camera and it was pretty much dead so we didn't really get photos. Just a few.