BLT? Club? PB&J? Reuben?

As I was getting ready to head into work this morning, I remembered that within the last week or so that I have forgotten to bring a lunch into work everyday. So rather than giving up $15-20 on lunch, I took a couple extra minutes to make a sandwich and tin-foil-wrap a yogurt (lovely trick learned from my mother- keeps it cold). As I was spreading the mayonnaise and slicing the tomato, I realized that I have eaten a hefty amount of sandwiches lately. Something about the vegetables and meat between bread is very satisfying. Which is why the question dawned on me- What is the perfect sandwich??? Or more like what is MY perfect sandwich. And so, here it is.

BSF's ideal sandwhich:
Bread: Sourdough, White, or Baguette - toasted.
Black Forest Ham (Boar's Head preferably)
Cheese- Sharp cheddar, provolone, swiss, harvati.. No american, thanks.
Avocado- Completely worth the extra $1.50
Spinach or Lettuce
Tomato!!!
Light Mayo- and light on the light mayo
Bacon sometimes

"Sandwiches are beautiful, sandwiches are fine, I like sandwiches I eat them all the time, I eat them for my supper and I eat them for my lunch, if I had a million sandwiches, I'd eat them all at once."

Good to be nineteeeeeeen

Well yes the day finally came, the day of my birth this year. June 2, 1990 at 7:22 p.m. (same time that president Lincoln died). This birthday is shared with a few friends that I have: Natalia Smith (girl was friends with in elementary, probably haven't seen her for 10 years or so), Matt Mackay (friend from my home ward), and Mike Wright :) one of my good friends who is soon to be leaving to Jamaica (mormon missionary ha)! So- Went home to Bountiful for the weekend- somehow miraculously got 3 days off of work! Woo! It just was awesome slash perfect slash really nice. After working a couple of jobs, I rolled into btown around 1 in the morning and got to give my papa a hug and kiss before he left the next morning on a business trip. Next day was a sunday. Oh my mother is an angel. Made me my favorite breakfast- biscuits and gravy- then we did some church, went to Jim Allred's farewell (tear tear), then .... the Birthday dinner! New York Strip Steaks, pineapple (fav fruit), delicious spinach bread sticks, salad, potatoes. oh my. Then had the family and good friends over for dessert. home made triple layer chocolate/vanilla cake! Lucky girl, I know. Went boating the next day with the boys, hung out with corrine and mom on the actual birthday, saw the weirdest movie with my mama (The Brother's Bloom), ate at the Pub (french onion soup = divine), did some shopping and just relaxed . Was sad to leave, but you gotta do what you gotta do. After my long drive home I was very happy to enter into the double wide and see my room mates safe and snug in their beds. So- as of now there's not a whole lot to be unhappy about. Life is good and I have everything I could've asked for. Sigh of Joy. Now back to work.

Last days of May.

Well it has almost been a month since I drove my car full of junk to this little town of 6,666 feet in elevation. Work is long and tiring, but fun. And with the lack of sleep, a lot of stupid things are really funny. Really funny. So, I've had a lot of good laughs to the point where my side hurts and I'm struggling to breathe ha. LAUREL GOT HERE..... so good to spend time with this girl. She brings a lot into the double wide: 100% honest comments about her co-workers, various boys from the street, good stories, and lots of yarn-ish stuff that she crafts it up with. The three of us (Meliss, Laurel, and me) are enjoying the time that we do have with each other . . . . Tiana soon to come! I'm pretty sure that I would be mildly depressed without them. So now that I realize it's May 30, I am thinking on the past year and WOW. but anyway. Here is a small taste of some of the thoughts that have been consuming my brain lately. chaio.

-Fresh Fruit
-When my nightly waitressing nightmares will end.
-I am not going to get tan this summer. Let's make being fair skinned the in thing.
-Middle Eastern music is so good.
-If I have to clean another cabin with toenail clippings in the bathtub, I'm quitting. haha.
-Bountiful
-Speaking german could help.
-I hope Abby Barth finds out if she's going to Hefei with me this fall. soon.
-Ahhh. I forgot about Ty's birthday :(
-Trying every restaurant in West
-S,G,C,S,J (the fam) - oh and how could i forget : H
-Hoping to go to the Ben Kweller concert this summer.
-Sleep
-Sleep
-Sleep
-I like little towns :)

Movies....

It has finally arrived! A more "summer-like" weather for my summer. Yesterday in West the temperatures were in the 70's and it was basically just a beautiful day. After some light housekeeping I showered for the day and went to Bozeman with Parker and Kendall. Melissa describes it really well "A mix between Logan and Park City." I like it. So after some shopping we went to see a movie (Angels and Demons) and I started to realize how much television and movies I have seen lately. So, I'm going to give you the inside scoop on a few films I've seen : What happens in Vegas, Angels and Demons , and Baby Mamma.

What happens in Vegas- Probably I will never spend time watching this again ha. Cameron Diaz and Ashton Kutcher are two very fine looking humans, however the whole movie just did not impress me. Cameron's acting never has for that matter. Just the whole plot to this movie I though was a little too unrealistic and weird. But better than some movies I have seen though. Final Grade: C

Angels and Demons- This one was fantastic. I was hoping to read the book before watching the movie but it didn't happen. One of the reasons why I liked it so much was the fact that I was actually able to visit a lot of these locations in the movie a couple summers ago (The Vatican City, The Sistine Chapel, as well as others). Tom Hanks as usual did a good job but I might note- he is starting to look way old. Probably because he is ha. The plot was so intense- amazing music. This is one of those movies I'd see again and now I will be reading the book as well.
B+ or A-..... I can't decide.

Baby Mamma- Wow I just love this movie. Tina Fey does a perfect job of portraying a single lady who will call for desperate measures to become a mother. I love it, my mom loves it, and I watched it with two boys, who also love it. Lots of pregnancy humor. You go girl.
A-

Living in a Small Town

So people thought Logan was small. No.  West Yellowstone is small. But I like it.  This is the type of place where you literally can walk everywhere, the people that serve you in restaurants want to know your name, and everything is very expensive.  It's also still pretty much winter up here, but not to worry, the warm season is just around the corner (June-ish).

So one might ask... Why am I up here?  To work, and just to try something new pretty much.   My good friend Melissa has worked up here the last two summers and loved it so I figured that because I need to earn a lot of money this summer I'd try it.  So when I set up my plans for the summer before I moved here, my plan was to work front desk at a hotel and a restaurant called Sydney's Mountain Bistro.  However, when I got here my job at Sydney's kind of fell apart because the manager who hired me got fired... So that job is still very much on the line.  As for the hotel, they have been putting me as the only housekeeper everyday.  Yeah, housekeeping.  But really, it isn't THAT bad.  It honestly wasn't worse than anything I had ever cleaned at home, or the apartment..... until today-ish.  Well it kind of started yesterday.  In some of the little cabins here that I clean the guests can bring pets.  Yes pets.  That includes dogs, cats, and even rats- You name it.   So yesterday I was cleaning cabin 31 and yes lots lots and lots of dog hair.  You took the vacuum and just after one "back and forth" motion it looked like there were two different types of carpet.  But it was totally worth it for the $20 tip.  So basically when I enter a room (cabin actually) I do a few different things.  Change the sheets, change the towels, clean the kitchens (including dishes and fridges), clean toilets, clean the huge jet baths, wipe the mirrors, vacuum, sweep, mop, change the garbage, and spray the febreeze. Ha and that's it!! Well today (after the day of yesterday's hairy room), I had the privilege to clean the cabin that hosted a couple and 3 or more big hairy dogs.  These dogs were big, like the kind of dog that is Beethoven's cousin, the type of dog that needs a metal chain.  So I do the usual knock on the cabin (knock knock knock) and the usual "housekeeping".  No sign of people or dogs. Great- Now I can get the job done.  The key takes a few turns and BOOM, I'm in the cabin.  Suddenly I look over the beds and opening area.  No problem.  This hairy room will be spotless in less than an hour.  I strip the sheets, blah blah blah, and wake my way into the bathroom.  OH NO. No they did not.  Who in their right mind would bathe their DOGS in a HUMAN'S jet tub!  Well to say the least, cleaning up all of those dark curly hairs took a while.  And now I have a new appreciation for clean showering areas that animals have never entered into.  

So, that's it.  Basically everyday I clean cabins and do the laundry.  Then I go to my temporary home (before I move into the trailer this sunday) and take a nice hot shower.  Then every night, I hang out with my new and only best friend, Parker Harrison.  Words cannot describe the joy this boy brings into my life.  We have spent multiple nights discussing life and the ways of the world in his place that he resides in... right above the laundry room.  We also have driven through part of the park and seen some great wildlife - Elk and buffalo mostly, but the day will soon come for a bear sighting!  I'll keep you posted on the rest of my summer. No worries! :) Take care my people.  "Farewell my friends, I go on to a better place."

China- 我居住那裡此秋天

So. I'm moving to china this fall... only 4 months away! But I've been getting all psyched up about it since November.  My good pals Ryleigh and Riley are there right now teaching English to a school of over 4,000 students. Gosh.  But I'm so excited.  Among some of their interesting experiences include the food, restrooms, and overwhelming culture shock.  But I looked up some fun facts on China:

* When a Chinese child loses a baby tooth, it doesn't get tucked under the pillow for the tooth fairy.  If the child loses an upper tooth, the child's parents plant the tooth in the ground, so the new tooth will grow in straight and healthy.  Parents toss a lost bottom tooth up to the rooftops, so that the new tooth will grow upwards too.

*It is considered good luck for the gat to a house to face south. 

*Red is THE lucky color.

*Fourth graders are expected to know 2,000 of the over 40,000 written Chinese characters.  By the time they leave college, they will know 4,000 or 5,000 characters.  Each character is learned by looking at it and memorizing it.

*The Great Wall stretches 4,500 miles across North China.

*In China, treehugging is strictly forbidden.

*All Disney characters were banned in China for 40 years.

*Spitting is considered a sport in certain parts of the country.

Anyway.  I will be living in Hefei.  Some consider it the armpit of China, others consider it wonderful.  Guess I'll have to wait for August and See!

(Photos courtesy of Ryleigh Allred.)

Cereal.....

Breakfast cereal.  I eat it almost everyday.  It's either that with skim milk or some Quaker oatmeal (fruit and cream preferably... blueberry is THE best flavor).  Any who. Ever since moving out I have done sort of a taste tests with different types of cereal.  Growing up we had kind of the same cereals generally that we liked and my mom got.  So I decided to branch out when I moved to Logan.  The first week up at school I had one of the huge costco packs of Honey Bunches of Oats (My favorite at the time. still kind of).  That kept me good for a while.  But after those were gone the experimenting started.  Some of the ones I tried:

Peanut butter crunch- yum yum yum. roughs up your mouth a lot but i love the taste.

Cocoa krispies- delicious.  Also better tasting milk to drink after.

Muffin tops- DisGUSTing.  Worst of the worst. Way way way too much sugar sprinkled every where. Kaka.

Oh's- grahm cracker tasting cereal.... this is also too sugary.  But maybe good to feed your childs in church. ha.

Oat cluster cheerio crunch-  Yumma.  I like the mixture of granola bits and the like 4 different cheerios.

Kroger Oatmeal- Sick.... way too thick. This is what they fed the orphans on the famous musical Oliver.  

Mini Wheats- Definitely my new favorite.  These little nuggets soak up milk like none other.  Make sure when you eat these that you put the sugar side face down (on your tongue). ha.

Wheaties- so so good for when you in that mood of "I'm going to be healthy and eat nothing but apples and grain for a week."

Cookie Crisp- a tad too much sugar but what can you expect from a cereal with this name.  Maybe could have been better in a ziplock bag without the milk in class or something.

Go Lean Crunch- Never tried it. But my room mates love it.  I think it looks like birdfood.  Jen and Paige sprinkled this on their funeral potatoes once.  This might be next on my list ha.