Wow.

This has been quite a month. I've loved every second of it. We kicked it off with a trip to the cabin with the gnomes. It was lovely.

I didn't even bust out my camera which is very unlike me. I stole this one from Kya. We had some good times. I love these girls.

Ryan invited me to go hang out with Lebron. Even though the Jazz lost, it was awesome.

We made our annual trip to the lake on Christmas Eve. We missed the daylight somehow and had to visit the pole in the dark. It was still fun even though the lake wasn't frozen. Maybe next year mother nature will get on the ball and freeze it for us.

Earlier in the day we hit up the Grand America for breakfast. It was as delicious as ever, and afterwards we hung out in the lobby hoping some of the classiness would rub off on us. I don't think it worked.

We got to see David Archuleta sing with the Tab. It was wonderful. I don't really listen to him but he was so cute. I wanted to go up and squeeze him after. His hair was fantastic.

Here we are trying not to freeze to death before the show.

This is Dex, Katies puppy. I'm in love with him.

My parents won "best ugly sweater" at the Nielson Christmas party. My Dad did not disappoint.

-I don't know why that text up there is so messed up.

We went back up to the cabin on Monday and got all sorts of snowed in. The snow plows couldn't even get in to plow the driveway so we were forced to stay an extra couple days.

We didn't mind.

Here is the "early morning crew". Everyone else slept till noon all the time. Notice my Dad's ridiculous shirt he sported the whole week. He thinks he is a pretty big deal.

The power went out in the storm and we were forced to stay warm by the fire. My Dad got on the rafters to spin the fan by hand to blow some of the heat down to us. He is such a good Dad.

Check out that snow!

I still don't know how my Mom did her hair without any electricity.

My furry sister.

Candlelight dinner.

Notice my reflector snow pants. They were awesome. I thought I loaded a picture of us snowshoeing but I guess it didn't work. Too bad.

No power equals a lot of reading.

And writing.

It was a pretty good time. No it was a really great time! I loved it. We tried to leave thursday morning after they finally plowed, so we started heading down the mountain. We got down to the resort only to find that the canyon was closed due to an avalanche. So we trekked back up to the freezing cabin. Luckily, a miracle text went through Claires phone at 4:05 saying that the canyon would be open at 4:30 for a half hour to let people down, then it would be closed for good. We were not going to let the window of opportunity close, some of us were getting cabin fever. So, we booked it down the mountain and made it out. It has been quite a week. We probably played 10 hours of Banana Grams. I'm obsessed. When I close my eyes, I see tiles.

Ryan decided to be a punk and skip out on the snow and head south to Grand Cayman. Ugh... Anyways, I think we only have two pictures of us in existence, so I thought I would put this up. I'm ready for him to come back already.

Happy New Years Ya'll!!

100 Awesome Clubs

So yesterday was a day I'll never forget. It all started at 12:30 a.m.. I wanted to meet President Bush in Sandy and have him sign my book. I wasn't planning on camping out but when I saw a line forming the night before I decided to grab a sleeping bag and wait with the crazy people. There is nothing like sleeping on the sidewalk in front of the Costco in the middle of November. I think I got 45 minutes of sleep out there. It was windy and crazy and I had to stand in line for six hours without ANYTHING to do, (they said we couldn't have any purses, books, phones, or anything. The secret service wouldn't allow it.) I felt like I was being tortured. Standing in one place for that many hours seriously blows, but it was worth it. I wish they would have allowed cameras in there. President Bush was wonderful. I tried for the six solid hours in line to try and decide what I should say to him. After ruling out about 5 conversations that made me seem crazy, I finally decided to ask him what his favorite book is. I know he and his wife love to read and I've always wondered. After shaking my hand he said, "My favorite book?... The Bible." It kind of caught me by surprise but I responded with, "Good answer." Then he said, "Well it's the truth." Then he smiled at me and I walked away. It was crazy. He is so great and I'm excited to read his book.

I would like to thank Kylee, Jordan, the mail man, the quiet man behind me in line and Costco for making my dream come true.

After I got home I had to put on my game face to cover up my, oh so tired eyes. Ryan invited me to go to the Jazz game with him. His family is a member of the 100 Club. I had never heard of it but it rocks! We got to have dinner in that fancy restaurant up top before the game and then sit court side! It was wonderful. The last and only time I went to a Jazz game I was in the nose bleed so this was a completely different experience. I loved every second, especially having D-Will practically fall in our laps.

It was a Good day.

Good News!

He is going to give us a New Years present!

Kiss Each Other Clean

January 25, 2011

Bad news: I think he may have cut his hair.

It's true!! He can fly.

I can't think of a better way to spend a Saturday morning.

I have been having dog withdrawals lately. I need one in my life! Luckily, I am patient and will wait till I have room for him.

.that will be a great day.

How precious is this?!

Any woman who does not thoroughly enjoy tramping across the country on a clear frosty morning with a good gun and a pair of dogs does not know how to enjoy life.

Annie Oakley

Suuuuch a good song...

"There is a Pirate over there suckin some Goo."

There is nothing like waking up at the crack of dawn, putting on a run-able costume, waiting in line next to a hearse to get bused up to the snow topped mountains with a bunch of freaks dressed up like astronauts, cops, Hillary Clinton, a human out-house, and strawberry shortcake only to be dropped off and expected to 13.1 miles.

I swore I would never run another race after both 10K's at Bear Lake but somehow Janelle talked me into a Half Marathon. We had everything working against us with this race- shin splints, the early stages of bronchitis, stomach issues, cold weather and severe lack of training. But somehow we pushed all that aside and ran our a's off. The first five miles were bliss. Running from Aspen Grove to Provo Canyon was the prettiest thing I have ever done. The sun was just starting to rise on Timp and everyone was so pumped. I loved being able to smell the gun powder as I crossed over the line. Those wings lasted 6 miles and then I threw them in a ditch. Worst thing ever to run with! Actually, I bet the worst thing was a cardboard car that "Peach" was driving/running in.

This family picture is pretty lame but I had to document Takashi. He is the Japanese exchange student staying with my parents. He probably thinks us Americans are CRAZY!! Especially after watching this race. We have really been wearing him out. He is always falling asleep all over the place. Look at the picture, he can hardly keep his eyes open. Poor guy.

The medals were pretty cool too. If you are going to sign up for a half marathon, sign up for this one. It is so pretty and so entertaining. I was literally laughing 3/4 of the way down.

Things I learned from this:

-Never exceed the maximum allowable dosage of Ibuprofen. It messes you up! Janelle and I thought it would help us fight through the pain to load up before hand. Janelle started taking loose pills laying of the counter just for fun. Not a good idea. I think I took 1800 mg within 12 hours by accident. My stomach paid for it dearly.

-I need to train more.

Well... It's official

You can stop looking! I found the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe. Janelle and I have been looking for it ever since we learned how to crack an egg. I've come close a couple times but I always had a complaint or two about it. It's hard to get the fat right. Some recipes use butter, some margarine and some shortening. This one struck a perfect balance with half butter flavored crisco and half butter. Margarine is not welcome in any of my cookies, EVER! I bake cookies every Wednesday and have learned a lot about making them perfect. Some of you may already know this but if you don't... well... it may change your cookie baking life.

• In my experience, cookies mixed in an electric mixer never turn out as good as when you mix it by hand with a wooden spoon. I'm pretty sure it has something to do with over mixing. It will work your muscles but for some reason they are always better.

• I always set the timer for 8 minutes no matter how long the recipe says. Check them and if they need more time set the timer for one minute intervals until you find the perfect "done-ness" and then set every batch for that same time. I always take them out when the edges are a little golden and the tops are just starting to turn golden. This recipe is perfect in my oven at 9 minutes 45 seconds.

• If you take them out when the edges are just starting to turn brown, the middles will be pretty soft. I take them out and drop the pan on the stove, kinda hard. Then let them continue to bake on the pan for 2 minutes. Take them right off and let them cool on a rack.

• Use good vanilla, it makes such a difference. Go to mexico and buy the good stuff. I thought my mom was crazy when she filled her suitcase with Mexican vanilla on our cruise but now that I've been spoiled with it, imitation crap vanilla is no bueno.

• When I refrigerate unused dough, it never bakes as well. It is still pretty good but not quite the same. I always try and bake them all fresh.

Okay, I think that is all. Here is the recipe. I hope you guys make them, and I hope you like them.

Chrissy's Chocolate Chip Cookies

350 Degress

10 minutes

3-4 dozen

2/3 cup Butter

2/3 cup Butter Flavored Crisco

2 eggs

2 tsp. Vanilla

1 cup Brown Sugar (packed)

1 cup White Sugar

3 cups Flour

1 tsp. Salt

1 tsp. Baking Soda

8-12 oz. Chocolate Chips

Instructions:

In a large mixing bowl, cream together the margarine, shortening, eggs, vanilla and sugars.

Add dry ingredients and stir. Add chocolate chips.

Sundance 2010

First snow of the season.

It's lovely up there right now. Those lifts are just aching to stretch their legs. I love living 20 minutes away from this.

Spooky...

So my photography class got a new assignment last week. The theme was "spooky". I really strained my brain trying to think of creative ideas and nothing came. Luckily while I was running on Friday up Provo canyon I noticed a car wrecked in the river. It seemed a little odd to me so I stopped and noticed that there were two cars. One of the cars had a fake bloody hand on the steering wheel. The photo assignment popped into my head and I decided to head back up today with my camera and see if I could make it work. It was even creepier than I thought it would be. It was like a car graveyard down there. There were probably 8 vintage cars buried in the bank. I'm so curious how they all got there. I always take my Digital with me when I go shoot my 35mm film camera so that I can see what I like instantly. Anyways, I thought these turned out kind of cool.

(See that hand?)

Things I like about this time of year:

-Running up the canyon. Those leaves are off the hook!

-Chai tea. Even though it makes me a "jack mormon", according to Jo.

-Being able to wear my Mont Bell again. I've missed it dearly.

-Yards that don't have giant inflatable decorations in them.

-Writing letters. For some reason I always write more letters in the fall.

-Pumpkin pancakes at Village Inn. They are the bomb!

-Liking apples. I can't get myself to like them the rest of the year. Probably because they aren't covered in caramel.

-Getting bundled up and hanging out with these freaks.

Here are a couple pics of the last day or two with Adam.

"Always remember, there was nothing worth sharing like the love that let us share our name."

-oh, that's another thing, I love The Avett Brothers.

Family

So this is Adam. He is one of those guys that everyone secretly hates because he is incredible at everything he does. He took state in tennis and was in the paper every other day for rockin Mountain Views basketball team. He is kind and respectful and plays the piano and guitar. He makes a mean bowl of ramen noodles and acts like everything I cook is the best thing he's ever eaten.

He is the first Laemmlen cousin to go on a mission and he is going to rock at that too. I have become pretty good buds with him the past month and a half and I am going to miss him so bad!! How do people send missionaries off? Agh...

This is Adams younger sister Claire. There is a reason Janelle and I call these guys "the beautiful cousins". She is just as talented as Adam. Sometimes it makes me sick but I love her guts. Tuesday we realized that she loves getting her picture taken and I love taking pictures so we make a pretty good pair.

See that old guy on the tractor? That is my Grandpa Art. He is 80!! Can you believe it? Look at that head of hair! He is quite a handsome man.

This picture is super random but it is crazy! This storm blew my mind. That cloud dumped on me a couple minutes after this was taken. I love the contrast against those clouds and blue sky behind it.

(Dear Ortons- If you are reading this, tell your Dad that the pictures I took of him turned out pretty sweet. I'll have to make him a copy.)