Lil' Franklin

I'm so sad today. Our little kitty Franklin has been sick all weekend long (figures that it happens on a weekend). He started throwing up Friday night and we just figured that he'd get it out of his system eventually. Well, today (Monday) he was still throwing up. So Sam dropped him off at the vet's and the vet told us that his kidneys are bad. It could've been something that he ate, or he could just have defective kidneys. :(. His white blood count is really high too, which means that there's some kind of an infection. So we kept him overnight so that they can continue to give him antibiotics and monitor him. Then in the morning the vet will check him out. If he doesn't improve, we may have to put him down. :(. He's still so young. . . only 5 months old...poor guy! We're really praying that he'll pull through!

Obsessed?! I Think So!!

I'm so excited! Now I can officially say that we're going to Paris NEXT MONTH!! Woohoo! In celebration of this momentous occasion, I have changed my music play list to French songs. OK, I SOO don't speak a word of French. . . so if any of these songs are bad, please let me know ASAP!! :) I've also posted a video of scenes of Paris (see above video).

Other than our upcoming Paris trip, not much is going on with us. Sam's busy with classes and I've been busy with work (it's report card season! *blech*), Ward Conferences, and just life. I wish we were more exciting! :)!

Presidents Day Weekend + Sam = Fun Weekend!

On Friday, we had a freakish storm and it SNOWED AGAIN (that's the third snow storm this season! We usually only get one...maybe)!! I luckily had the day off anyway so I was able to get some pretty awesome pics of the storm.

It snowed for a couple of hours and then the storm left as quickly as it came. Luckily not much of the snow stuck!!

For Valentine's Day, Sam and I decided to go to the temple in the morning and we had a blast there! Then on the way back, we decided to go to Outback Steakhouse for lunch, since it wouldn't be as crowded as the night would've been.

Sam and I are pretty boring people. We don't order steak when we go to Outback. We always order and share the Bloomin' Onion, Kakaburra Wings, and an ice cream sundae. Yummers! Then Sam bought me a BEAUTIFUL bouquet of lilies and hyacinthia. They're so beautiful! We wanted to celebrate Valentine's Day earlier in the day so that Sam had time to study for his midterms this week.

Today (Monday) seriously was like the most perfect day. I already had the day off for President's Day, but Sam was feeling pretty sick today with a pretty nasty cold, so he also stayed home (we NEVER get days off together!). Unfortunately, our heater broke Saturday night and our repair man couldn't fix it until tonight. When we woke up this morning it was 51 degrees inside our house and we could see our breath! It's been pretty cold and rainy all day today! So we spent the day trying to heat up our house by baking all sorts of cookies, we did a million loads of laundry and dishes (we were trying to use every appliance possible in order to get our house warm), and wearing layers galore. Then we snuggled up together and watched "Enchanted" this afternoon. What a perfect day! I love random days off together! :)

100 Random Things About ME!!!!

I found this on my friend Tina's blog and it seemed fun. Enjoy! :)

Things you've already done: Bold and color

Things you want to do: italize and color

Things you haven't done and don't want to: leave in plain font

1. started your own blog

2. slept under the stars

3. played in a band (when we were little as kids, it was our Friday night fun to get together and pretend to be in a band...we'd even dress up)

4. visited Hawaii (Sam...I'm planning the trip now! Heheh!)

5. watched a meteor shower

6. given more than you can afford to charity

7. been to Disneyland/world

8. climbed a tall mountain

9. held a praying mantis

10. sang a solo

11. bungee jumped

12. visited Paris (I will have in 2 months!! Wahoo! :))

13. watched a lightning storm at sea

14. taught yourself art from scratch

15. adopted a child

16. had food poisoning

17. walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty

18. grown your own vegetables

19. seen the Mona Lisa in France (it's on our list to do!)

20. slept on an overnight train

21. had a pillow fight

22. hitched hiked

23. taken a sick day when you're not ill

24. built a snow fort

25. held a lamb

26. gone skinny dipping

27. run a marathon (maybe one day!)

28. ridden a gondola in Venice

29. seen a total eclipse

30. watched a sunrise or sunset

31. hit a home run

32. been on a cruise (does the Jungle Cruise from Disneyland count?!)

33. seen Niagara Falls in person

34. visited the birthplace of your ancestors (London was pretty close to some of my ancestors)

35. seen an Amish Community

36. taught yourself a new language

37. had enough money to be truly satisfied

38. seen the leaning tower of pisa in person

39. gone rock climbing

40. seen Michelangelo's David in person

41. sung karaoke (in my apartment with my roomies back at BYU-I)

42. seen Old Faithful geyser erupt

43. bought a stranger a meal in a restaurant

44. visited Africa

45. walked on a beach by moonlight

46. been transported in an ambulance

47. had your portrait painted

48. gone deep sea fishing (fish? Eww! No thanks!)

49. seen the Sistene Chapel in person

50. been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris (ahh..Paris!)

51. gone scuba diving or snorkeling

52. kissed in the rain

53. played in the mud

54. gone to a drive-in-theatre (Christi....do you remember that?!! :))

55. been in a movie

56. visited the Great Wall of China

57. started a business

58. taken a martial arts class

59. visited Russia

60. served at a soup kitchen

61. sold girl scout cookies (no way! I'd eat them all! yum!!)

62. gone whale watching

63. gotten flowers for no reason

64. donated blood (holy cow...no way! I'm a weakling when it comes to blood!)

65. gone sky diving

66. visited a nazi concentration camp

67. bounced a check

68. flown in a helicopter

69. saved a favorite childhood toy

70. visited the Lincoln Memorial

71. eaten caviar

72. pieced a quilt

73. stood in Times Square

74. toured the everglades

75. been fired from a job

76. seen the changing of the guard in London

77. broken a bone

78. been on a speeding motorcycle

79. seen the Grand Canyon in person (Em & I have a pic together there...I was too scared to pose in front of the canyon...I think I was like 5 years old. It's a cute pic!)

80. published a book

81. visited the Vatican

82. bought a brand new car

83. walked in Jerusalem (maybe when it's safe to go there again!)

84. had your picture in the newspaper

85. read the entire bible

86. visited the White House

87. killed and prepared an animal for eating

88. had chickenpox

89. saved someone's life (I saved Sam's dating life, does that count?! Haha)

90. sat on a jury

91. met someone famous

92. joined a book club

93. lost a loved one

94. had a baby

95. seen the alamo in person

96. swam in the great Salt Lake

97. been involved in a law suit (unfortunately!!)

98. owned a cell phone

99. been stung by a bee

100. owned a home

Teachings from Sam

• Since it's the beginning of the year, Sam and I decided to run our credit report. We're avid watchers of Suze Orman and she recommended using www.annualcreditreport.com. So we used it and it was totally free and easy to use (do I sound like a commercial or what?). We were totally excited because we've never checked our credit report before and it was way super easy! We also ordered our credit score through Experian (it was like $6 per person). It's interesting to check those things out.

• So....if you haven't checked your credit score within a year, I would strongly recommend it just so that you can make sure that there's nothing crazy on it! :)! Sam wanted me to add in that your credit report does not show how you're doing financially, but how you manage your credit. Thanks Sam! The world is now smarter thanks to you! :)

• Omigosh! I just realized that we are totally way boring! Not only do we spend our Saturday night checking our credit report. . . but I also blogged about it! Holy cow. . . I need a trip to talk about! :)

Another Recipe!

So Sam and I made my FAVORITE ribs today. *drool* (Note- they are not the same ribs as the picture. . . I just wanted a pic to go with the post!) Then I realized that I don't think I've ever posted my ribs. So I thought I'd do that now! BTW- the sauce is AWESOME! Sam and I love to cook up some rice with this and then drizzle the sauce over the rice. Yum! Well, enjoy! :)

Slow Cooked Ribs

4 pounds boneless country-style pork ribs

1 cup BBQ sauce

1 cup Catalina salad dressing

1/2 teaspoon mined garlic

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/4 cup cold water

Cut ribs into serving size pieces. Place in a 5-qt slow cooker. Combine BBQ sauce and salad dressing; pour over ribs. Sprinkle with garlic. Cover and cook on low for 6-7 hours or until meat is tender.

Remove ribs and keep warm. Strain cooking liquid into a small saucepan; skim fat. Combine flour and water until smooth; stir into cooking liquid. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Spoon sauce over ribs.

Crazy Cat Lady

I really don't want to turn into the Crazy Cat Lady by posting about our cat, Franklin, but Sam and I couldn't stop laughing! Last night, I was putting away some water bottles that we had just bought and Franklin just jumps right into the box of water bottles. We seriously couldn't get him out. So we did the next best thing. . . we grabbed our camera! He eventually grew tired of being in the box after a few minutes. He sure is getting to be a big, smart cat. In fact, Franklin has figured out how to open all of the drawers in our house (it's really quite annoying). He's too smart for his own good. We sure love him though!