Hi There!

Rather than recap the past year or talk about my goals for 2010, here's a short cartoon from Pixar. Ever wonder what happened to George and Al from "Up?" The cartoon ties up some loose ends.

It's a Mystery

The past couple of days, I've came across a couple of unsolved mysteries. The first one happened a few days ago. I've been working on a scarf when all of a sudden, the knitting needles disappeared. At first I wondered if it was Josie-Monster, but there's no way that puppy could've pulled out the needle and left the scarf intact.. I'm pretty sure my dear grandmother took the knitting needle out of the scarf, hid it somewhere with the other needle and then forgot where she put the needles. Oh well.

Yesterday evening when I arrived home to Virginia, I decided to put in one of our netflix movies only to discover that all three were missing. My apartment isn't that big, and they weren't in their usual places. I'm hoping that my roommate took them to Utah with her.

Actual Conversation This Morning

Steve: I got you a t-shirt with my favorite fish, but I forgot it.
Joy: Okay.

Steve: Guess the fish.

Joy: Um, Cutthroat Trout?

Steven: Actually it was my favorite subspecies. Guess.

Joy: I don't know.

Mom: Colorado Cutthroat.

Steve: Right

Merry Christmas!!!

On the 7th Day of Christmas, X-Mas Joy Shared with you her Favorite X-Mas Songs

Like most people; Christian or Jew, atheist or Hindu, I like Christmas songs. Even "Joy to the World" which I have a love-hate relationship with. Even though "Joy to the World was my second-least favorite nickname off of my first name, I still think it's a gorgeous song. Here's a list of 4 of my favorite Christmas songs, or the one's I'm thinking of right now, in no particular order really.

4) "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas."

Ms. Judy Garland's introduction of this song to the world is still my favorite version of the song. "Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas" was introduced in the film,"State Fair" in 1944-towards the end of World War 2.

3) Joni Mitchell's "River" Still has the power to stop me in my tracks whether I hear it in a store, on TV or my ipod. While not strictly a Christmas song, "River" tells the story of a broken relationship near the Christmas season.



Lyrics to "River" by Joni Mitchell.

It's coming on Christmas
They're cutting down trees
They're putting up reindeer
And singing songs of joy and peace
Oh I wish I had a river
I could skate away on
But it don't snow here
It stays pretty green
I'm going to make a lot of money
Then I'm going to quit this crazy scene
I wish I had a river
I could skate away on
I wish I had a river so long
I would teach my feet to fly
Oh I wish I had a river
I could skate away on
I made my baby cry

He tried hard to help me
You know, he put me at ease
And he loved me so naughty
Made me weak in the knees
Oh I wish I had a river
I could skate away on
I'm so hard to handle
I'm selfish and I'm sad
Now I've gone and lost the best baby
That I ever had
Oh I wish I had a river
I could skate away on
I wish I had a river so long
I would teach my feet to fly
Oh I wish I had a river
I could skate away on
I made my baby say goodbye

It's coming on Christmas
They're cutting down trees
They're putting up reindeer
And singing songs of joy and peace
I wish I had a river
I could skate away on

2) "I'll Be Home For Christmas"
Many people associate Christmas Elvis with "Blue Christmas." Me, my favorite Elvis Christmas standard is possibly "I'll be Home for Christmas."



1) "Silent Night" I would be disowned if I didn't include the Mo Tab. No, I really do like the Mormon Tabernacle Choir a lot even if my mom would turn it up loud on Sunday mornings to wake me up. Here's Walter Cronkite telling the WWI Silent Night Story as an introduction to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

Now, this list of X-mas songs is by no means conclusive. I haven't even got to Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra, Bing, Harry Connick, Rosemary Clooney, The Beach Boys, Willie Nelson, The Muppets, or many others. What's some of your favorite Christmas songs?

On the 6th Day of Christmas, X-mas Joy Shared with you, the Rock Documentary She's Anticipating in 2010

I love the White Stripes. A lot. And this White Stripes Documentary Trailer encompasses many reasons why the Stripes are one of my Top 3 Current Bands (They haven't officially retired yet).

On the 5th Day of Christmas, Christmas Joy Shared Two Pictures of her Brother's Puppy, Josie.

 

 

On the First Day of Christmas, X-Mas Joy Gave to you a Virtual Trip to the Yucatan.

Based on Twilight...Very East Coast Mormon..and Fairly Amusing..

Twilight Years from Tom on Vimeo.

Random Thoughts

1) Vegas right before Christmas anyone? (Depending on Weather, of course.)

2) Several weeks after the World Series is when I really start paying attention to football (and during Christmas is when I actually sit down and watch the game). I hate Boise State more than I despise Utah but well, both TCU and BSU got the shaft. Yeah, the BCS is going to applaud the fact they have two mid majors in their bowl series but….playing each other? Cop-out. Not surprising because the BCS is about the biggest good ol’ boys club there is, but seriously. This is lame.

3) Since I’ve seen my roommate a total of maybe 3 days for the last 6 weeks, I’ve traded her in for a newer, more reliable model and $250.00.
Okay, Kelli can stay because she pays rent. Plus, she went to her sister's wedding and Thailand. Both were (are) awesome trips..and there's only 4 months left until we celebrate seven years as roommates. Seriously.
Anyway, a friend of mine hung out in my apartment for a bit about 3 weeks ago after she gave me a ride home from a party and long story short, decided to move in when a 2 bedroom opened up. I didn’t realize there was a finder’s fee, but I got it. I may throw a tamale birthday party with some of the cash or put the money towards a new desktop since mine is on life support. The upside? I have a friend moving in 2 doors down to hang out with occasionally.

4) My Cuz Kaycee Feild is doing really well at the National Finals Rodeo in Bareback. He’s leading the average*after 4 nights of the rodeo. I may have jinxed him by mentioning this, but I’ll continue to talk rodeo regardless. If you get a chance, you can watch the replay on espn 360 (free to Verizon subscribers) and it’s on ESPN each night too.

5) I had no idea that Christoga existed until I was looking for a lifetime TV movie on Netflix (Having no cable makes one a little desperate for awesomely bad occasionally) and stumbled across Christoga.
Here’s the synopsis from Netflix below:
Christoga: Christian Yoga
Actress Janine Turner joins forces with fitness expert Mary Cunningham to create a routine that combines hatha yoga and Christian meditation for a workout that exercises both body and soul. Using biblical Scripture, Turner and Cunningham give Christian names to traditional yoga poses. As you perform Christ Exalted, Mighty Disciple and Salvation Rotation, you'll feel your spirit stretching along with your muscles.

6) I’m going to the Dr. tomorrow. I really don’t want to go back on antibiotics, but I can afford it (and yogurt..lots of yogurt), I have decent health insurance and really-I have nothing to whine about. So, since it's been 2 months since I was sick initially, I've got all the symptoms of a persistent case of bronchitis that didn't respond to the 8 day treatment of antibiotics which means...hopefully, I'll be able to go back to working out soon, and be healthy enough to play church ball in January! Babysteps. My resolution last year of taking better care of myself without getting too self-centered, has been accomplished in babysteps. But I'm doing a lot better than I was a year ago, and feel like I'm progressing in a lot of different ways....and hope I'm not too self-centered (for a spinster, as my family likes to call me). Plus, I've got the seasonal, H1-N1 and pneumonia vaccinations hanging out in my system. I'm good to go!

7) Mom, as an early Christmas present, here's the link to Ann Cannon's blog. Click on the post about her dad who always calls cities by their nicknames and click on the blog of the person that states that commented, "I've always wanted to date Lavell." Louise Plummer's blog is worth following too.

*There’s 10 rodeos in 10 nights at the National Finals Rodeo. Kaycee has the highest overall total of these 10 rodeos after 4 nights. That doesn’t mean he’ll be the World Champ in Bareback. The World Champion is the one who has the most money after a season in their event which ends with the National Finals Rodeo.

Armando Bars

Armando and a glimpse of his bars.

In July, I made "Smore's Bars" for my roommate's birthday. I took several of the bars to work to share and one of my co-worker's was smitten. We're talking, asking about them a month after the fact, asking me to make them again almost every day for a couple of weeks, randomly telling me several days about how good they were in love. His birthday was today, so I decided to make him a batch. In honor of the Birthday boy, the treat was renamed, "Armando Bars."

Here's the recipe:

Armando Bars

1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs*
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 king-sized milk chocolate bars*
1 1/2 cups marshmallow creme/fluff (not melted marshmallows)*

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease an 8-inch square baking pan.
In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light. Beat in egg and vanilla.
In a small bowl, whisk together flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder and salt. Add to butter mixture and mix at a low speed until combined.
Use about 2/3 to
Place chococolate bars (or bar) over first layer of graham crackers. If you use two bars, lay them side by side. If you use chocolate chips, just sprinkle them over the first layer of dough. If you use one king size bar, just break it up and lay it over the dough in a single layer.
Spread chocolate with marshmallow creme or fluff.
Place remaining dough in a single layer on top of the fluff (most easily achieved by flattening the dough into small shingles and laying them together).
Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until lightly browned.
Cool completely before cutting into bars

Makes 16 cookie bars.

*3/4 cup crumbs is approximately 7 full-sized graham crackers, put in the food processor or food chopper until ground into crumbs.

*1/2 to 1 cup chocolate chips can be used instead of the chocolate bars. You just want enough chocolate to cover the layer of chocolate. I used 1 king sized bar for this batch, and I think it worked out just fine. There still was enough chocolate to cover an 8 by 8 pan.

*Marshmallow creme is a pain to smooth onto the layers without everything sticking to it. It's also a pain to measure. I've found microwaving the jar for 15 seconds aids in spreading the creme onto the layer. If you have a hard time measuring the creme, you want about a half inch or so layer over the bars, or measure it to what you prefer. 1 1/2 cups is most of a jar of marshmallow creme I've found, if that helps.

Adapted from Baking Bites