Interesting...

Another benefit to fasting.

Thankful

I am thankful for:
1. My parents
2. Garrett's parents
3. My warm house
4. Good food
5. Warm clothes
6. Good health
7. My 10-year-old car (it's not as good as my Quantum though...haha)
8. Garrett's 15-year-old car (even though I don't like riding in it because the passenger window is down 2 inches and stuck like that for the last 2 years)
9. Sushi
10. The Gospel
11. Our computer
12. Abby's baby swing... she slept for hours a day in that when she was newborn
13. Having a doctor in the family (G's Dad)... he can write us prescriptions when we are sick!
14. Our health insurance (I finally got some...)
15. That Garrett's almost halfway done with medical school
16. Our heated mattress pad
17. My education
18. Good books
19. All of our families
20. Family history work
21. The temples
22. Digital cameras and webcams
23. Cell phones
24. Friends
25. GARRETT!

Thanksgiving Break

We had a great Thanksgiving. We spent the week in Savannah with Garrett's family, and everyone was in town, including some of Garrett's grandparents from Arizona. It was a full house but lots of fun. We ate great food, watched movies, got our hair done (thanks to Katie, who's going to Dallas Roberts... I see a future of free haircare!), went to River Street, went shopping, and just relaxed.

Banana Boats!

Tonight Garrett was craving something sweet so he made a quick trip to the grocery store up the street and came home with bananas, marshmallows, and chocolate chips. I had never had a banana boat before and Garrett was feeling nostalgic for them (he used to make them as a Scout on camping trips). They were great and really hit the spot!
Banana Boats (serves 2)
Ingredients:
-2 bananas
-2 small handfuls of chocolate chips
-2 small handfuls of baby marshmallows
Directions:
Unpeel one small side of the banana (unpeel it the opposite way you normally would... you want to open the "top" of the boat). Scrape out a bit of the banana inside. Fill that inside with marshmallows and chocolate chips. Lay the peel back on top to close the banana back up. Put in the microwave for about 40 seconds (or, if you're camping, wrap it in tin foil and put it into the campfire for a bit). Eat with a spoon. Enjoy!!

You're fired!

Last Monday was an awful day! For dinner I was making some egg rolls (which I was very excited about, by the way... they smelled SO good!) so I put about 2 inches of oil in a pot and put it on the stove, then I turned around and started putting the egg rolls together. When I was done, I turned around to check on the oil and there was a HUGE fire blasting out of the pot all the way to the ceiling! It was SO scary!! I didn't know what to do and I started freaking out... Garrett wasn't home and Abby was just playing in the living room area right by where I was. Anyway, I know you're supposed to put baking soda on a grease fire, but the baking soda is right next to the stove and I didn't want to go near there! And I couldn't turn the burner off because the burners are on the back of the stove. I grabbed Abby and started running to the neighbors' house for help, but their car was gone! So... I called 911 and told them what was going on but I was totally flipping out... it's so embarrassing to think about now. But I was so scared! Finally the fire trucks came. Not one, not two, not three, but FOUR firetrucks! I was out in the driveway waiting for them, so in all honesty I have no idea if the fire was even still blazing by the time they got here, but I think it was. Anyway, the kitchen cabinets above and around the stove are ruined, and so is the fan and light above the stove (thank goodness the fan wasn't going). The ceiling also has to be redone because it's all black, and pretty much all the rooms in our house have to be repainted because of the smoke damage (there was so much smoke!). Everything in our house had a layer of soot and ash on it, and it smelled bad too. So, yeah, this has not been fun! Wednesday morning an estimator came by and assessed the damage, then a cleaning service came to clean the entire house (it was such a hassle living in the soot and ashes, so getting a cleaning servicse for the entire house was great!) I mean, this is all just so awful, but I will not mind a new coat of paint throughout the house (insurance company will pay for all this). Thankfully the estimator said that they could probably match the cabinets, so that's good. I mean, it would have been nice to get new cabinets, but what a hassle that would be! And I don't mind my cabinets too much anyway.

But now I'm really paranoid to cook anything at all ever again! But that's ok because from the looks of things, I won't even be ABLE to cook for a while! I will say that I am crossing my fingers for a new stove, though... that would be great! Anyway, I'm just glad everything wasn't a lot worse. It could have been truly awful... instead, it's just a big hassle. And it's funny because for MONTHS I have been meaning to go out and buy a fire extinguisher... now I really will! And for anyone else looking to buy one, I recommend the "ABC" ones... they are good for any kind of fire, including grease and oil fires.

Trick or Treat!

While I'm not a big fan of Halloween, Garrett LOVES it! His favorite part is his tradition of carving pumpkins. He always spends about an hour or two searching for the best pattern to carve, and then he gets to work! We even have some special tools that he uses so that he can get everything just right. Usually I carve a pumpkin too, but this year I decided not to. I really don't like doing it very much, and mine never turn out very well anyway. So I watched Garrett and visited with the friends that we had over to carve pumpkins too!

Hmmm...

I don't know about this! EVERYONE says that Abby looks just like Garrett. Maybe I should try it again with different pictures. What do you think?