eXciTiNg!!!

In exactly two short months...

This guy

Will make his way here

(although the yard will look more like this)

After 2 years here

I am so excited! Brent flies home (from Belem, Brazil) on January 27, 2009...although he probably won't land in SLC, UT until the 28th. I simply cannot wait! It seems as though the time has gone by so fast. I mean, I've felt every day of his absence, for sure. But overall it's gone by rather quickly. And I hope these next 2 months fly! (They probably will, because the month leading up to Christmas always goes by so fast...and we get to talk to him on the telly that day. And then the count-down will be down to just one more month. Yeehaw!)

I feel bad for Brent because he'll be coming from the heat of an on-the-equator-in-the-Amazon summer to the dead of a blistering cold, windy, Utah winter. I think he'll survive, though...

Oh yeah...and HAPPY THANKSGIVING! I have so very much to be thankful for! I love you all!

movie review...

Yep, I saw Twilight. It was better than I thought it would be. (Books 3 and 4 just about ruined the series for me, so I went in with low expectations.) This movie reminded me why I liked book 1 so much. Oh...and who else was shocked to see such a stone fox play Charlie? I was expecting someone much less attractive and kinda chubby. Shoot, this guy was even super handsome with a mustache! I pretty much never thought those words would cross my lips...

That's all I have to say about Twilight.

The movie that I want to talk about is Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa. I love the first movie. Love it. Own it, matter of fact. So when I discovered that a sequel was going down, I got real excited (right along with my good friend Callie.)

And last night we made our way to Edwards Theater to watch Madagascar 2. ("We" would include Callie, Chris and moi.) We got right in without any lines (because the masses were there to see Twilight. By the by, Edwards Theater, for now, is playing Twilight every hour on the hour from 11am-11pm. That is insane!).

So yeah, Madagascar 2 is hilarious. I really enjoyed it and am quite certain I'll have to buy it once it comes to DVD. My favorite part of the Madagascar movies is King Julian. He was hilarious in #1 and he did not disappoint in #2. And I also really loved the baby lion, the plethora of zebras, all the talk of Gloria's rotundness, and (as always) everything about Melman.

This movie was terrific. I still giggle when I think about it. (And I'm pretty sure that Callie and I laughed harder than the children there. What does that say about us...?)

My review: 2 thumbs way, way up!

(Thanks to Callie and Chris for the happy memories of last night!)

the recipe...

I have heard your cries...

A handful of you have asked for the apple pie recipe. So instead of responding individually, I'm going to please the masses in one post. You can thank me later. :)

AWESOME APPLE PIE:
-6 cups apples, peeled and thinly sliced (takes about 6 medium-large apples. My favorite combination is 4 Fuji and 2 Granny Smith)
-1 T lemon juice (I usually use closer to 2 T though...)
-1 c sugar (no more, no less)
-3 T flour
-1 T cinnamon (that's what the recipe calls for, but I usually eyeball it. Just enough so that each apple has a hint of cinnamony-ness)

-Mix all the deliciousness with your hands to spread the dry ingredients evenly over the juicy apples

-Fill your bottom crust with the aforementioned goodness; top with pastry dough and bake at 375 degrees for 45-50 minutes. DON'T forget to put aluminum foil around the edge of your pie, so as to avoid burnage. (I usually put the foil on for 35 min and then take it off for the remainder of the baking time.)

And just in case you don't have a great pie crust recipe, here goes...

SCRUMTRULESCENT PIE CRUST:
-1 c shortening
-2 c flour
-dash of salt

-Use a pastry cutter to combine the ingredients. (Seriously, use a pastry cutter, not a fork. I used a fork until last Christmas when my other dynamite roommate, Brooke, gave me a pastry cutter. The pastry cutter makes a huge difference!) When the ingredients are combined and the crumbs are done, they are roughly the size of peas. Then add:

-5-7 T cool water. (My crust always turns out better when I use 7 T; it may feel a bit wet, but at least it sticks together when you have to move it to the pie plate. You can add flour as necessary when rolling it out.)

-Use pastry cutter again to incorporate the ingredients. Divide the dough in half and add extra flour as necessary. Flour the counter top and rolling pin and...you know what to do from here. Just try not to handle the dough too much with your hands once you've added the water or else the crust gets tough rather than flaky. Tasty with any fruit pie.

-2 T melted butter to spread over the top crust, then dust with cinnamon sugar

-Don't forget to poke holes on the top crust (aesthetically-pleasing designs make for a pretty pie)

BON APPETIT!

They've gotten prettier with practice...
This pic was in my May 2008 file, so I must've made it in May.
And it was delicious.

Apple pie, anyone?

Ok, so I'm not trying to brag. Really, I'm not. But I make a mean apple pie. I was never really a fan of apple pie until my mom and I came across this incredible recipe. And now...I'm hooked.

I never used to be a big fan of the making of pie, though. Making the perfect crust can be so difficult! Seriously. But I quite enjoy the eating of pie. A lot. So last year when my singles branch did a Thanksgiving dinner, I signed up to make an apple pie. Strike that; I signed up to make two of them. (Yeah, get comf. I always make these stories longer than necessary.)

I had the incredible recipe; but I had been out of practice. I hadn't made a pie since...I don't know when. But I wanted to try. And I wanted to stun the heck out of my singles branch in the process. (I'm not sure it was pride, per se...ok. Yes, yes it was. If you look at definition #4, that was my intention.) Anyway...I made my pies. And they were delish! Oh, so tasty!

Side story; I'm no Martha Stewart and I wasn't necessarily pleasant while making the pies. Although the pies tasted most excellent, their appearance was less than stellar. I actually called my mother up to whine and moan and complain about the unsightly state of my pies. She then told me, "It's what's on the inside that counts, Gina." Isn't she charming? I knew she was right; I had helped her make some rather ugly, yet delicious, pies in the past. But I was uber-disappointed in the aesthetics of my two apple pies. No one in the branch seemed to notice or care...

Anyway. The pies were a big hit; the praise from my branch helped heal the self-inflicted wounds of serving (not one but) two unattractive apple pies. So I thought I'd give it another go.

But I decided I'd never make 2 pies at once. Ever. Again. It wasn't just the pie crust; I knew that I could learn to make them prettier with practice. It was the consumption of 2 hours in the kitchen that really bothered me. Two hours to make 2 pies. Ouch!

Because peeling and slicing apples takes quite a while, my friends. Seriously. A. Long. Time.

Anyway, I've never really needed to make 2 pies at once since that point in time. But I've continued to make this awesome apple pie throughout the year. (Whoever said that apple pie is a "fall food" is ridiculous. I'll have you know that it tastes just as wonderful in May as it does in November.) So yeah, I've made a LOT of apple pies over the past year. One at a time. (Except for that one time when our branch celebrated Johnny Appleseed Day...)

So. Last night after work, my wonderful roommate Lisa said that she wanted to give me part of my Christmas present early. I told her I could totally wait, but she didn't want to. So she went to her room and brought out a large-ish red gift bag. And here's what was inside:

It's an apple peeler!

This bad boy peels, cores and slices! We used it last night. Lisa made apple dumplings. And it only took like 5 minutes (maybe less) to peel, core and slice 6 or 7 apples! I made an apple pie last Sunday and it took me approximately 45 minutes to peel, core and slice that many! Shoot! I am very excited!

Isn't it a lovely sight?!
It's even lovelier to realize it (peeling, coring and slicing)
didn't, in fact, take the better part of an hour!

Thank you, Lisa!!!

happy valley (and all it has to offer)...

Two Saturdays ago (meaning 8 Nov.), a rather large group of us headed to Happy Valley (aka "Orem, Utah") to see a production of "Aida" and then to eat the scrumptiousness of PF Chang's. So we piled in the cars (5 people per car, fyi) and headed southward.

Well, first we went to the IF Temple to pick up some of our friends who did baptisms that morning...

This was our car-full of attractive women...
Lisa, Gina, Lisa and Brooke...
waiting for Matthew to finish at the Temple.

There was another car-full of beauties about 20 minutes ahead of us. Taletha and I played a game called "Where am I?" where we took pix on the road and texted them to each other. I'm proud to say I got 6/7 right. (The only one I missed was a random shot of Pleasant Grove.) It really helped the 4 hour trip go a bit faster. (Thanks, Taletha!)

Anyway..."Aida" was playing at the Hale Center Theater in Orem. We made good time and had to wait outside the theater for a bit...but we had a fun time chatting while we waited for the theater to open!

Some of us...chatting whilst we waited:
Lisa, Lisa, Lisa, Jessa,
Jason, Cameron, Lisa,
Matthew, Chris, Brooke, Gina

The entire crew:
Tara, Cameron, Chris, Lisa, Lisa,
Jason, Lisa, Matthew, Taletha, Gina, Jeanna,
Brooke, Jessa, Lisa, Jen, Jenn and Janae.
Oh yeah, and it only LOOKS like we're posing in front of Tesoro...

*In case you didn't catch that, there were 4 Lisas, 2 Ginas (or Jeannas) and 2 Jens. Cuh-razy! But we do branch out...we aren't exclusively friends with only people who share our names!)

So. Eventually the theater let us inside. When I saw how small the stage was I wondered about the quality of the acting, etc. (The stage couldn't have been been more than 12 feet by 20 feet.) But the talent was pretty dynamite, and I really enjoyed myself. I need to get the soundtrack (hint, hint...Jules!). *The music was written by Elton John, and if I wouldn't have known that going in, I think I'd've figured it out on my own; lots of the songs just scream "Elton John!" I really dig it. :)

After the play ended, we high-tailed it over to PF Chang's for dinner. Chinese food doesn't exactly agree with my body. (Or maybe my body doesn't agree with Chinese food?) So mostly I just drank my water and visited while my friends ate. It must be said, it's been a long time since I took part in such entertaining dinner conversation. (Heh heh...thanks again, Taletha!)

When I thought everybody was done eating, I was surprised that the waiter brought out a ton of forks...then I realized that Lisa (one of them) ordered a dessert to share. I was hopeful she got the Great Wall of Chocolate:

Doesn't it look sinfully delicious?!

Imagine my uber-disappointment when I discovered Lisa, in fact, ordered the Banana Spring Rolls...complete with pineapple-coconut icecream. Ew. On so many levels, ew.

I'm not very good at masking my true feelings...

As my friends indulged in the nastiness of the banana spring roll fest, I escaped to the next table of friends. Where they let me taste the Great Wall of Chocolate. (Thanks Cameron or Jason or whoever ordered that chocolaty dessert!)

Anyway...after dinner, we eventually made our way back to Idaho Falls. Really late. But it was a fun time!

Oh yeah, and Taletha and I played another texting game on the return trip; name that movie! (Texting lines from movies, see? It really did help the time pass more quickly!)

Overall it was a fun time. I heart Aida and would love to see it on a Broadway-type stage.

Oh yeah...and I love my friends. A lot.

i think this is rad!

"Meh" is an expression I use. Quite a bit...when the mood is right. (Or is it when the mood is wrong?) I learned it, I think, from my brother Goose. And I think he picked it up from The Simpsons...

AND...this expression has earned its way into the dictionary.

I think that's cool.

Here's the article: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081117/ap_on_re_eu/eu_britain_new_word;_ylt=ApUnBkupMTNTUirKlnpo4zqs0NUE

that's right...

i posted Christmas music at the bottom of my blog. i'm really excited for Christmas this year, and so i'm spreading the joy. if it's just too much for you to deal with, feel free to scroll to the bottom and pause it.

as for me...well, i'm going to turn it up!

and...don't hate me or anything, mom...but i'm almost ready for snow.

i'm 100% certain i'll still hate the snow and the crappy weather by mid-january. but i'd kind of like snow for thanksgiving. especially since i don't have to drive to rexburg any more (see previous post)!

rex.burg.

I am done with Rexburg. For the second time in my life.

I came up to Rexburg to attend Ricks College...and then graduated from BYU-Idaho. (But that is another story for another time.)

Anyway, I really enjoyed my Ricks/BYUI days...even if that meant making my own fun. (I will never forget making that "pie" for our FHE brothers; and them calling us to thank us for it...and I actually believed that they had eaten it! Oh heavens! Do you remember that Anna? Coretta? Were you there for that, Dee?) Clearly, I had some good times in "the 'burg."

But...2 years in south-east Idaho felt like a lot. Especially when I was without a car, and I knew I was going on to bigger and better things. (Namely, USU and their Communicative Disorders program.)

So I did it. I moved to the thriving metropolis that is Logan, Utah, and fell in love with the school and my life there.

4 years (and 2 degrees) later, I found myself living at home, sponging off my parents for a couple of months, trying to figure out where I'd go to find gainful employment...perhaps I'd find a killer job in SLC? -I had been thinking about actually going out and looking for a job--nay, a career--for approximately 24 hours when I got a phone call from one of my advisors at USU. I was told of a man (one Matt Stevens) who was looking for some people to hire as SLPs at his private practice in Idaho Falls.

Roughly 2 hours later, I met with this Matt fellow on USU campus to interview and discuss the goings-on of his business. He told me that his practice was in Idaho Falls. (It was NOT lost on me that Idaho Falls is in SE Idaho...the very same SE Idaho I was certain, 50 months earlier, that I was forever done with.) Anyway, Matt told me of the pros and cons of working in a private practice, and so on and so forth.

And then he offered me the job. Just. Like. That.

I told him that I needed to think about it, but I'd be in touch.

Honestly? It sounded too good to be true. And SE Idaho didn't sound too bad. Especially because I'd be in Idaho Falls, which is not the same as Rexburg. At all.

Anyway, I talked it over with my parents. Prayed. Went to the Temple. It all seemed too easy. (Remember: this was my first interview.) I felt like maybe I had my answer, but the fact that it was all happening so very easily was holding me back. Finally my mother, in her infinite wisdom, said, "Maybe it's happening so easily because it's right. After all, you've worked your butt off in grad school. Maybe Heavenly Father wants to bless you with finding work easily." (That isn't actually a direct quote; I'm fairly certain that my mom didn't say "worked your butt off." But the quoted text was the gist of what she said.)

Obviously I took the job. I moved to Idaho Falls and had a real easy time finding a place to live and finding a place to fit in.

Wow...this has turned into something longer than I had intended.

Moving on.

In accepting said job, I came to Rexburg twice a week to work at the office there. And I did it without any qualms. I rather enjoyed it, honestly. Rexburg had changed quite a bit since I had left there 4 years earlier. And I really enjoyed my clients there. A lot.

Still do, as a matter of fact.

But driving to Rexburg...especially in the winter months...is not my favorite past-time.

This past June, I worked it out so I could come to Rexburg just once a week. Tuesday being that day.

Today is Tuesday.

And it's my last day here.

Another therapist here in the Rexburg clinic told me that she had some available time slots, and she was willing and able to take over my clients. (We had talked about my hopes of one day working in IF only. Mostly to save myself some time--that's at least an hour a week; to save some money on gas--I realize prices have dropped, but for how long, really?; and also to save some wear and tear on my car.)

So. That's what I'm doing. Handing over the reins to someone else. Taking on some new clients in Idaho Falls (to fill up my now-empty Tuesdays).

I was nuttin' but excited after talking to my co-worker last Friday. But then I made some phone calls yesterday to talk to the parents of my clients. And my heart started hurting a bit. I've had a few of these clients for as long as I've been working here. I've bonded with them, and saying goodbye is sad.

Overall, it's a good thing.

But I sure am grateful for the opportunity I've had to return to Rexburg, to see it in a different light, and to work with my amazing little clients from this community.

And now I say...au dieu, little Rexburg...

BYU game with dad...

This went down a couple of weeks ago. Woops. Oh well, better late than never, as they say...

A'ight, so my Dad buys a handful of BYU football tickets each and every year...times two, so he can take a loved one with him. It's typically a pretty fun way to chill with the old man. :)

A couple of weeks ago (25 Oct) was my day with Dad. BYU played UNLV. And, from what I hear, it should've been an easier victory for BYU than it ended up being. What can I say? BYU's offense was pretty awesome (mostly) but their defense wasn't terrific. (I do understand the very basics of football, okay?) Anyways, it was a fun time, and the weather was PERFECT!

A beautiful day!

My father, the BYU thug...

BYU did end up winning, but it was down to the last play.

Oh yeah, on our way to "Cougartown" we stopped in Layton to say hello to Aaron, Amy and boys. They recently acquired a little weiner dog called Ike, and Seth likes to have his fun with him. I thought this was hilarious...

I think Seth likes having someone around who's smaller than he is...


This is a game invented by Seth himself...
I thought it was cute.

Sadly, no pictures of Jackson this time around...he was doing his own thing, which involved being away from Auntie Gina and her camera...

NSYNC...revived

I went to a Halloween party this past weekend and had myself a good time. I'll post some pictures of it once I am finished gathering pix from friends.

In the mean time...here's the performance by Triple-LGB. (That'd be Lisa, Lisa, Lisa, Gina & Brooke.)

the Sneetch speech...

I've never been a big fan of dressing up for Halloween (or any other occasion, really). I guess I liked it when I was little and it meant trick-or-treating for all sorts of sugary goodness. But I sort of grew out of it. Alas...I went to a big fat Halloween party on Friday night, and I wasn't about to show up without a costume. I went to the same party last year and dressed up as the Cat in the Hat. I HEART Dr. Seuss, so I thought I'd stick with the theme and go as a Sneetch.

Do you know what a Sneetch is? I certainly do; I was raised on Dr. Seuss, and I figured every other child in America was too.

Oh, how wrong I was.

I didn't do the math, but I'd estimate that somewhere near 90% of the people I've talked to about said Sneetches had no clue what I was talking about. Even when they saw the awesomeness that was Gina-the-star-bellied-sneetch, people were clueless.

It makes me sad.

So...I'm here to enlighten you, my blaudience, as to what exactly a Sneetch is. I'll do it through rhyme...a tribute to Dr. Seuss.

I am a SNEETCH
I'm yellow and tall with a rather large belly
I like frankfurter roasts, toasted mallows and jelly
The man Dr. Seuss created my kind
(He is a genius with a brilliant mind!)
My story's a good one for both young and old
But not many know it (or so I've been told)
The star on my belly, so small and so green
Caused such a commotion--oh MY what a scene!
The plain-belly sort (there are two kinds of sneetches)
Hoped stars'd make them the best SNEETCH on the beaches
Then a crazy money-mongering man came by
Long story short: he confused us (don't know why)
Now we all get along, both star-bellied and plain
"A SNEETCH is a SNEETCH" we can all proudly claim
I've done my own story no justice, it's true
Read the real story by the one Dr. Seuss

An actual SNEETCH...

Gina the Sneetch with her roommates:
Brooke the roughed-up PE teacher
& Lisa, the Egyptian Princess