Christmas in Review

Aloha!!!

Many of you have posted a "Christmas in Review" type of blog, and while usually, I try to stay away from those, I just had to tell you about my Christmas.

This year, I decided to go and spend my Christmas with my Grandma, Great Grandma (who is 100), my Uncle Aaron, his family, and their friend Debbie.

It was AMAZING to say the least. There is something that puts me at ease when I am with my family. There is nothing quite like it, and sadly I don't think I'm ever 100% myself when I am away from my family. Anywho...

Before I get into the awesome parts, let me tell you a story.

Blanche has been giving me trouble (I think it's about time to retire her... :( ), so I decided to rent a car from Enterprise--who I have rented from many times before. I have always enjoyed their customer service and the friendliness of the staff.

I made my reservation with them online a couple of weeks before because I knew that holidays are a busy time for them. When I went to get my car (thanks for the ride Susi!), there were NONE at all. I asked where all the cars were, and they stated that many of the renters from the day before hadn't returned their cars on time. I can understand that, so while being a little put out (I had a time schedule to keep), I was willing to wait. However, as the man checked me in (I think his name was Brad...) he asked where I was going. I stated I was going to Page, which is just a hop skip and a jump over the Utah-Arizona border. He told me that I was only allotted 100 miles a day. I told him I understood, and that I wouldn't be going over the mileage, as Page is only about 150 miles away.

He told me he bumped me up to unlimited miles because Arizona was far away, which bumped my price up to $100 more than I was originally budgeting for this trip. I told him that I wasn't going to go over my miles and I assumed that since he printed off my statement, that he took it off and it was all good. He told me he would call me when my car was there.

An hour later I got a call and went back to get a car. He gave me all the paperwork to sign and asked if I needed insurance. I told him that my insurance covered it, but it didn't seem that he heard me. He asked me again, ad when I repeated my answer, he kept pushing me to get the insurance with them. After I bluntly told him no, he rudely asked what my deductible was. When I told him, he told me that was too high, and that I was mistaken (which I wasn't). In the end, had me initial the paper work and literally ran away from me while I was asking if he had taken off the unlimited miles, which I found he didn't.

I was shocked. I have NEVER been treated like that...EVER. However, since I was so low on time, I just jumped in the car and left. I am STILL upset about it and unfortunately, after my experience with them this time, I don't think that I will be renting from them again. I'm going to talk to the manager when I get there tomorrow to see if he can rectify some of this...so hopefully he will. :S

Anyway let's move on.

After driving to Page and getting here just before dark (you never want to drive to Page in the dark from St. George. There are a TON of deer, and the drivers are just plain SCARY). It was good to see my grandma and great grandma. My great grandma asked me if we could sing one of the songs that I sang at her 100th birthday together. It is called "Welcome to my World" and is sung by...a lot of people. Most famously Elvis and Jim Reeves.

If you ever get the chance to sing a song with a 100 year old person, you should definitely do it! :) It was so cute to hear her sing with me! :) If I can get a digital copy, I may post it. It was ADORABLE! :)

I also got the chance to make eggs benedict for the first time! :) It was super delicious. Next time, I will make my hollandaise sauce last. As I was trying to keep my sauce warm, it broke and I ended up not being able to save it--even after seeking the help of Google. Oh well. It still tasted delightful! :) Poaching eggs wasn't as hard as I thought it would be, and I found the secret is the temperature of the water. If it is too hot, the egg will cook too quickly and the yolk will cook outside of the whites. If it is too cold, it takes the eggs forever to cook and the whites are more likely to disconnect from the yolk. You need the water to be at the temperature just before boiling. There will be little baby bubbles forming on the bottom of the pan. :)

For Christmas dinner, my Aunty Stacy made beef wellington. This was the first time I was trying it, and it was delicious! We also had asparagus with bacon and a bearnaise sauce, Arkansas dressing, and rolls. It was really good. We chatted with the family, and ended up watching John Wayne movies. I haven't really watched many John Wayne movies, but the one we saw was pretty awesome. Dean Martin and Angie Dickinson were in it. I think the name of it is Rio Bravo. Anyway. It was super cool.

All in all it was a great Christmas. I got a lot of awesome presents, and got to spend time with some of my favorite people. It makes me sad to leave...but I know that they are just a hop, skip, and a jump away. :)

I'll leave you with the lyrics to the song me and my GG sang together. :) Wish me luck at the rental car place!

Welcome to My World
by: Jim Reeves

Welcome to my world
Won't you come on in
Miracles I guess
Still happen now and then

Step into my heart
Leave your cares behind
Welcome to my world
Built with you in mind

Knock and the door will open
Seek and you will find
Ask and you'll be given
The key to this heart of mine

I'll be waiting here
With my arms unfurled
Waiting just for you
Welcome to my world

Waiting just for you
Welcome to my world

My family.

SO...

I recently found a picture on my brothers blog of my family. Here it is:

If you notice...there is someone important missing. ME! lol. So I made some improvements:

You're welcome. :)

Unholy Mess

It's interesting what an emotional "vomit-sesh" will do for a woman. I think I've been feeling extremely stressed lately. Pair that with a short temper and lack of sleep, and it makes a killer combo...literally. I have been on edge for the past week, and last night I finally was able to purge out all of that emotion.

Afterwards I felt AMAZING. However, I know that there are the occasional casualties from my unhealthy methods of coping with my emotions. Sorry everyone. :( I'm learning as I go here.

Anyway, I got some news today that, while in my opinion is a long time in coming, is super unfortunate for a select group of people. I don't particularly like these people. In fact, you could say that I borderline hate one of them. However, I still feel badly that they got caught with their hands in the proverbial cookie jar.

I think that is something that I have always believed in--the fact that if you are not being honest, it will ALWAYS catch up to you. Always. It might not be today, but eventually down the road, everything "will out" as the Brits say.

Day 14 – A TV show you’re currently addicted to.
Hmmm...I guess I would say Modern Family, although I usually watch it online. The same with Naruto Shippuden. If I'm watching TV, I will usually have it on Big Bang Theory or How I Met Your Mother. :)

Anywho. I'm thinking about putting up a video on YouTube of me singing a song. I haven't decided if I want to actually do it yet, but just know that it's in the works. :)

Song for the day. This is a great music vid...but you can get a seizure if you watch it, so be careful. :)

All Of The Lights
Kanye West feat. John Legend, The-Dream, Elly Jackson, Alicia Keys, Fergie, Kid Cudi, Elton John & Rihanna

[Tony Williams & Kanye West]
All of the lights
All of the lights
All of the lights
All of the lights

[Rihanna]
Turn up the lights in here, baby
Extra bright, I want y'all to see this
Turn up the lights in here, baby
You know what I need
Want you to see everything
Want you to see all of the lights

(all of the lights)

[Alicia Keys]
Fast cars, shooting stars

[Rihanna & Alicia Keys]
(all of the lights, all of the lights)
Until it's Vegas everywhere we are
(all of the lights, all of the lights)
If you want it you can get it for the rest of your life [x2]

[Kanye West]
Something wrong
I hold my head
MJ gone, our nigga dead!
I slapped my girl, she called the feds
I did that time and spent that bread
I’m heading home, I’m almost there
I’m on my way heading up the stairs
To my surprise a nigga replacing me
I had to take 'em to that ghetto university

All of the lights
Cop lights, flash lights, spot lights
Strobe lights, street lights
All of the lights
All of the lights
Fast life, drug life
Thug life, rock life
Every night
(all of the lights)

[Rihanna]
Turn up the lights in here, baby
Extra bright, I want y'all to see this
Turn up the lights in here, baby
You know what I need
Want you to see everything
Want you to see all of the lights

[Kanye West]
Restraining order
Can’t see my daughter
Her mother, brother, grandmother hate me in that order
Public visitation
We met at Borders
Told her she take me back
I’ll be more supportive
I made mistakes
I bump my head
Courts suck me dry
I spent that bread
She need a daddy
Baby please, can’t let her grow up in that ghetto university

All of the lights
Cop lights, flash lights, spot lights
Strobe lights, street lights
All of the lights
All of the lights
Fast life, drug life
Thug life, rock life
Every night
(all of the lights)

[Rihanna]
Turn up the lights in here, baby
Extra bright, I want y'all to see this
Turn up the lights in here, baby
You know what I need
Want you to see everything
Want you to see all of the lights

[Kid Cudi]
Getting mine, baby
Gotta let these niggas know, yeah
Get it right, ay
You should go and get your own

Getting mine, baby
Gotta let these niggas know, yeah
Get it right, ay
You should go and get your own

[Fergie]
Unemployment line, credit card declined
Did I not mention I was about to lose my mind?
(my mind, my mind, my mind)
And also was about to do that line
Okay, okay, you know we going all the way this time
(this time, this time, this time)
We going all the way this time
(time, time, time, time)
We going all the way this time

[Alicia Keys]
We going all the way this time

[Rihanna]
We going all the way this time

[Alicia Keys, Rihanna, Drake]
We going all the way this time

[The Dream, Tony Williams, Ryan Leslie, John Legend, Charlie Wilson, Alvin Fields, Ken Lewis]
Turn up the lights in here, baby
Extra bright, I want y'all to see this
Turn up the lights in here, baby
You know what I need, want you to see everything
Want you to see all of the lights

[Alicia Keys & La Roux]
Whoaa-oh-whoa
Whoaa-oh-whoa-oh

[Elton John]
I tried to tell you but all I could say is oh

[Alicia Keys & La Roux]
Whoaa-oh-whoa
Whoaa-oh-whoa-oh

[Elton John]
I tried to tell you but all I could say is oh

[Alicia Keys & La Roux]
Whoaa-oh-whoa
Whoaa-oh-whoa-oh

[Elton John]
I tried to tell you but all I could say is oh

[Alicia Keys & La Roux]
Whoaa-oh-whoa
Whoaa-oh-whoa-oh

[Elton John]
I tried to tell you but all I could say is oh