Pickle Standards

Until recently, I didn't stock any real food at my house because I was rarely there. Since I have Tonka now, I need to come home at lunch to let him out to play for a few minutes. I also eat lunch here now, so I've been forced to fill the cupboards and fridge with lunch making stuff. As I cut a pickle for a tuna melt this afternoon I thought how if my Mom were there she would surely make a comment on what we call my "pickle standards". If you know me well enough you'll know exactly what I mean by "pickle standards". For those who don't, I'll explain. I will only eat/buy Nalley brand pickles. I do not like any others and I CAN tell the difference. Give me the taste test. I will know which ones are Nalley and which aren't. So, as I put the jar of Nalley's back in the fridge I took a look at other things and noticed that I have a lot of food standards. Then I looked in the cupboards, more standards. In the bathroom, more standards. After only a few minutes I came up with a whole list of standards.

Nalley pickles
Nalley chilli
Fiji water
Philedelphia cream cheese
Best Foods mayo
David's Sunflower seeds
Coke
Schike Intuition Razors
Almay Eye Make-up Remover
Alcon Opti-Free contact solution
Hilton Hotel chains

I know that everyone has their own preferences with brands and such, but when do 'standards' turn into just being high maintainence? What brands are you loyal to?

Things That Must Go: Food Edition

So, I have this other blog and it has got me thinking a lot more about food, cooking, eating and such lately. It has also got me thinking of things that totally bug involving food, cooking, eating, and such. So here's my List of Things That Must Go: Food Edition. Enjoy! 

• The white gunk around an orange after you've peeled it
• The fork at my parents house with the one prong that is slightly bent, I always get that fork somehow!
• When "my spoon" is dirty. Yes, I have a favorite spoon. It lives at my parents.
• When a couple eat at restaurant and they sit right next to each other and snuggle. Annoying! Take your hands off each other for 5 minutes and eat your food. If you really enjoy the eat and snuggle that much, get a hotel and order room service. Please spare the rest of us.
• Raisins. I just don't like them.
• My can opener. It is like ancient and takes me forever to open a can. You have to hold it at just the right angle otherwise it won't work. Yeah, time for a new one. 
• When you are cutting something like a steak for example and the knive scratches the plate. AH. It's like nails on a chalk board. I can't handle it. 
• Margarine. Seriously, why would you use that when you can have real butter? 
• When you forget about the ice cream you were thawing on the counter for so long it got too melty, so you put it back in the freezer and then you have refrozen the melty part. It tastes funny.

And I'm not all negative nancy so here is my list of things that must stay-

• My parents making dinner every night and allowing me to mooch :) Love you Mom & Dad!
• Going over to my parents, opening the fridge, and finding a nice cold Coke. Mmm.
• Chocolate Oranges year round
• Cadbury Mini-Eggs for each holiday!
• Fiji Water

The Red Strokes / You Move Me

I could (and have) listened to two songs on repeat for hours. I absolutely love them. Both are by Garth Brooks. I just love Garth.

The Red Strokes

Moonlight on canvas, midnight and wine
Two shadows starting to softly combine
The picture they're painting
Is one of the heart
And to those who have seen it
It's a true work of art

Oh, the red strokes
Passions un-caged
Thundering moments of tenderness rage
Oh, the red strokes
Tempered and strong (Fearlessly drawn)
Burning the night like the dawn

Steam on the window, salt in a kiss
Two hearts have never pounded like this
Inspired by a vision
That they can't command
Erasing the borders
With each brush of a hand

Oh, the red strokes
Passions un-caged
Thundering moments of tenderness rage
Oh, the red strokes
Tempered and strong (Fearlessly drawn)
Burning the night like the dawn

Oh, the blues will be blue and the jealousies green jn
But when love picks its shade it demands to be seen

Oh, the red strokes
Passions uncaged
Thundering moments of tenderness rage
Oh, the red strokes
Tempered and strong (Fearlessly drawn)
Burning the night like the dawn

Oh, the red strokes
Passions uncaged
Thundering moments of tenderness rage
Oh, the red strokes
Tempered and strong (Fearlessly drawn)
Burning the night like the dawn

Steam on the window, salt in a kiss
Two hearts have never pounded like this

You Move Me
This is how it seems to me
Life is only therapy
Real expensive
And no guarantee

So I lie here on the couch
With my heart hanging out
Frozen solid with fear
Like a rock in the ground

But you move me
You give me courage I didn't
know I had
You move me on
I can't go with you
And stay where I am
So you move me on

This is how love was to me
I could look and not see
Going through the emotions
Not knowin' what they mean

And it scared me so much
That I just wouldn't budge
I might have stayed there forever
If not for your touch

Oh but you move me
Out of myself and into the fire
You move me
Now I'm burning with love
And with hope and desire
How you move me

You go whistling in the dark
Making light of it
Making light of it
And I follow with my heart
Laughing all the way

Oh 'cause you move me
You get me dancing and you
make me sing
You move me
Now I'm taking delight
In every little thing
How you move me

The fastest way to go through 32oz of absolutely perfect Dr. Pepper?

Spill it all over the freshly shampooed carpets. Awesome.

Sooo Ready

Tonk is so ready for Spring Training!

Since Tonk can't handle wearing clothes and I couldn't get him to hold still for a picture here's what the hoodie actually looks like.

Books

I'm in an "I love books" phase again. I go through them from time to time. I love the way the binding breaks on a paperback after you've read it. I always remove the outer casing on hardbound books if they have them and I absolutely love the way book stores smell. It's just perfect. I have book store standards though; I don't care for Barnes & Noble and rarely shop there. The people there put off this snobby vibe. I prefer Borders. Maybe my "standard" makes me the snob though. I never really thought of that. Whatever. I've never been in one of those used local book stores. I want to buy a book from one of those one day. Add it to my Life List of Things to Do. Anyway, I love books right now and just wrote my first book review here.

A Perfect Circle

Interesting

So I've been logging into Goodreads a bit more frequently lately looking for, you guessed it, good books to read and add to my list here. I logged in tonight and started browsing what they call Listopia, basically it's a popular lists section which they have created based on user votes. They have "Worst Books of All Time", "Best books of the 20th Century", "The Book Was Better than the Movie", etc. You get it. So I clicked on the "Best Books Ever" link and was surprised to find the Book of Mormon listed as number three. I'm not really sure why that surprised me but it did and I felt compelled to blog about it. Weird.

BRR

OMG. -50!? I read this and about peed my pants. If it EVER even gets near that cold in Orem, someone had better put me out of my misery PRONTO. Seriously.