Food Services

Those of you who know me know that I despise Costco with everything inside of me. Is it the plethora of great deals that bother me? No. Is it the humongous carts that they force you to use? No. Is it the samples they older gentleman in tiny aprons are constantly offering you? Absolutely not. It’s the people. It’s the people that walk around Costco just to walk around Costco. Not really looking for anything…just browsing. When I do anything involving food I am on a mission and all I want is to get in and out of there as quickly as possible but my task is made so difficult by the browsers. Yikes.

There is however some redeeming things about Costco…#1. The Hot Dogs #2. The Churros. Bryson knows that I have a seriously weakness for both of these items and so when he forces me to go to Costco with him he usually rewards me for good behavior with one or both of those heaven sent items.

So a month ago Bryson and I went to Costco. There was Bryson, attempting to enjoy this tender little outing. He was strolling along with a song in his heart. Looking at the reasonably priced 80 packs of deodorant and the massive television sets. Enter me. I felt like the chunky adorable child from “UP” that was being dragged by the house…need a visual?



So there I was complaining my way through Costco when suddenly I saw Bryson mutter one of those delicious words from his mouth “CHURRO”. Score. I was instantly perky, helping him finding ingredients like a maniac in attempts to get to the snack stand quicker. I went from being dragged by the house to this...



Twenty minutes pass.

There we are at the Churro stand, groceries in hand, paid for, I am ready to get the hell out of there. I got Bryson and I each an enormous twisty stick of goodness and we started heading for the car. Then instantly this inner dialogue takes place in my head…

Oh crap…does Bryson realize that we are going to have to eat these in his car?
He must realize that…right? Yeah…

I refuse to hold this delicious churro until I get home. I need it right now.

Enter me trying to sneak into the front seat…

Bryson: “Uhm Katie…”

Crap! I’ve been caught.

Katie: “Yeah what’s up?”

Bryson: “………just………just be careful not to get crumbs everywhere”

Katie: “I am ALWAYS careful. Please.”

I plop myself down in the front seat, Bryson follows suit and grabs his churro. Now let me be honest…I have never seen a human eat something as messy as a churro in a more delicate and clean way…I just sat there amazed as his salivated lips wrapped around the churro as to not let one crumb of delicious cinnamon sugar escape.

Then it was my turn….you can do this Katie.

CRUNCH. Cinnamon Sugar literally explodes in the car…

Enter Bryson’s face…I am pretty sure that it was something that looked exactly like this…



He tried so hard to maintain his composure and sat stunned in pure amazement and silence as I devoured the first half of my churro .

Finally he cracked…

Bryson: “Uhm are you serious right now?”

Katie: (cinnamon sugar encrusted lips) “What?”

Bryson: “I have never seen anyone eat a churro as messy as you in my entire life…and there are crumbs literally everywhere”

Katie: “No way! Absolutely not, there are just crumbs on my dress”

Bryson: “Katie…..no. This is ridiculous. Do you know why my car is never dirty? Do you know why crumbs bother me?” (Enter 10 minutes of this conversation about such topics)

Katie: “I am sorry but I love churros and I did not know that there was a correct way to enjoy them…what are you going to do when our kids want to eat happy meals in the back seat?”

Bryson: “Okay first of all they will not eat happy meals in the back and second……..just be so careful to flick the crumbs out of the car when you get out and not into the car”

Katie: “Well let me just say this…when our kids are in sports and I am running them to and fro I will give them happy meals to eat in the back! And secondly I will be careful with the crumbs…why? Because I care and because I love you! (enter snotty face)”

So I hopped out, flicked my crumbs into the air and wouldn’t you know it….crumbs on the floor of his car.

Oops.

Sometime I am a child but he loves me anyways.

I hope you enjoyed your stay, it’s good to have you with us, even if it’s just for the day.

Special Occasion...

Ladies, Gentleman, and Distinguished Guests…may I present to you one of my little sister, Hannah.



She is one of the most amazing people that you will ever know.

She is so stunningly beautiful. She has a heart of gold. She is the most caring individual that I have every known. She is loving. She is fun to be around. She is hilarious. She is in tune with the Spirit. She is happy and positive. She is insightful and wise beyond her years. She is smart and sassy. She is full of life and is always up for an adventure. She is extremely empathetic. She is the most innately nurturing soul that I have ever met. She is inquisitive. She is patient. She is fantastic. I simply cannot say enough good things about her and I count myself both blessed and lucky to be her sister every single day.

Well this past Saturday Hannah went to her first High School Prom!

This is Hannah and her boyfriend Abe…



They are adorable together. He is such a nice person and genuinely loves to be around my sister, thinks that she is beautiful and appreciates all of the things that we love about her.

Enter Saturday Morning. Hannah was more excited than I have ever seen another person. It was the cutest thing in the world. So my amazing sister Sara spent the entire afternoon curling and teasing and primping Hannah so that she would feel as beautiful as she had dreamed about looking. My sister Sara is amazing. Extremely talented, beautiful, smart, wonderful, etc. Want proof? Well here it comes…











After hair and makeup my grandma, mom, sister, and I all went and helped her put on her dress and shoes…





And she was ready…



Add a gold masquerade mask for effect, as it was the theme of the night, and poof…



Abe literally made a little gasp noise when she came down the stairs…





A few family pictures…..











One corsage…



And one boutonniere later…..



They were off to the Prom…

Then my sister and I sat and sulked about how jealous we were that she got to go to Prom…Don’t they have a married people prom?

I hope you enjoyed your stay, it’s good to have you with us, even if it’s just for the day.

Staff Led Extra Curricular Activities

Have you ever played the game “Would You Rather…”? Well little known fact about me, it is one of my favorite games and in my opinion one of the most fabulous games ever created. I constantly find myself thinking of new ones, really tricky and twisted ones that are so incredibly difficult that an individual could not possible decipher which option would be worse. Forcing them to quickly weigh their options and spit out an answer that’s hard for them to say let alone fathom. Obviously one would never find themselves having to choose between stabbing themselves in the eye with a fork or cutting their own thumb off with a butter knife…nonetheless I am outrageously intrigued with their answer. I feel like the way that a person answers tells a lot about their personality, the way that they handle pain, and what they value in life.

So late one night I decided to call Bryson into our office for a rousing impromptu game of “Would You Rather”. He finally consented, after first cooking himself a gourmet snack. Everyone needs a gourmet snack at 2:30am right? I was seated in our office chair, he was sitting on the floor beneath me. I pulled up the list of 100 would you rather questions. I instructed him to ask me the first 50 and then I would ask him the second set of 50. And so it begins…

Bryson: “Would you rather get a knee in the face or be head butted?”

Katie: “Easy Knee in the face”

Bryson: “Would you rather have x-ray vision or bionic hearing?”

Katie: “Bionic Hearing”

Bryson: “Would you rather eat a hand full of hair or lick three public telephones?”

Katie: “Lick three telephones”

And that’s how it went for 50 questions….smooth sailing. Quick answers. All 50 questions, with clarification or time for shock and awe depending on my answer, took a grand total of 15 minutes. Then it was my turn to ask Bryson…

Katie: “Okay here we go just give me the first answer that comes…”

Katie: ”Would you rather make headlines for saving someone’s life or win the Pulitzer Prize?”

Bryson: “………………………………uhm I would do both. I’d save someone’s life and then write a book about it”

Katie: “…no sweetie you can’t do that you have to choose one, just one...”

Bryson: “Well if I can do both then I would…”

Katie: “Let’s just try a new question, more basic not as much of a thinker…would you rather be 3 feet tall or 8 feet tall?”

Bryson: “Am I athletic?”

Katie: “What? Bryson I have no idea….what?”

Bryson: “Well that makes a difference because if I’m an athletic 8 foot tall person, hell yeah I would be in the NBA so I would chose that”

Katie: “Fine you can be athletic…next question…basic….would you rather pick black or white?”

Bryson: “would I rather pick what in black or white?”

Katie: “the color, like just the color”

Bryson: “What shades are we talking about here….?”

Katie: “…………….and I am going to bed now. I love you, ponder that tonight.”

And you know what guests and visitors….he did. I awoke in the morning and was enjoying my usual bowl of cereal, had completely forgotten about the game, when suddenly Bryson enters, perfect little kink in his morning hair, deep voice, and a pillow crease on his cheek and the following conversation takes place…

Bryson: “Black”

Katie: “What?”

Bryson: “My answer….black or white….I chose black”

Katie: “Why did you choose black?”

Bryson: “Because remember that black suit that I have with the pin stripes….it is so sick”.

Katie: “……………”

And that sweet tender response taught me three things: 1. He never stops thinking about dress clothes 2. To be wise when playing would you rather with him and 3. That he always listens to me and never ceases to provide me with thoughtfulness, attention to detail, and humor.

I hope you enjoyed your stay, it’s good to have you with us, even if it’s just for the day.

In Room Entertainment: Part Two

So a few days ago I reported on the saga between Bryson, Wall Street, our death ray television, and his obsession with dress clothes. This is the latest entry:

Three Weeks Before the incident…the following conversation takes place:

Our friend Corey: “One time I watched all three of the Lord of the Rings movies in one day”

Bryson: “That is like my dream day”

Katie: “…………….” “………….what?”

Bryson: “Yeah that would be awesome”

Katie: “Bryson…no.”

Bryson: “Come on, that would be epic”

Katie: “Bryson that sounds like the worst day of life”

Bryson: “No way!”

Present Day: 10:30pm. I was simply exhausted from a jam packed day. So exhausted in fact that at 10:30pm I laid my little head down on my pillow and was out. I mean really, I was peacefully dreaming one of my cinematic, complete with music might I add, dreams. Enter 3:00am…Enter Bryson...Enter death ray television…Enter a blaring epic battle over middle earth. That’s right ladies and gentleman, distinguished guests, and visitors…Bryson was watching the Lord of the Rings….for the third, yes the third night in a row, he was trying to make his dream day come true during the course of three nights. The following conversation takes place.

Katie: “Bryson…..”

Bryson: “Katie, don’t worry about it just go back to bed”

Katie: “Bryson tell me that you are not watching the Lord of the Rings again, it is literally blinding and quite frankly outrageously distracting to have the battle for middle earth happening at my feet”

Bryson: “………………………”

Katie: “….and with subtitles…what is the point of having the subtitles on?”

Bryson: “What? Just roll over and go back to sleep”

Katie: “Seriously, why in the world at 3:00am are you watching this movie with subtitles?”

Bryson: “I like detail and to know exactly what is going on”

Katie: “Bryson let me break this down for you, a little hobbit get a magical ring, a wizard guides them on their journey, they meet a little ugly creature that tries to jack the ring, they walk through a desert, fight grips of people, they get to the volcano, throw the ring in and poof that’s the movie”

Bryson: “I am insulted by your description, that is ridiculous”

Katie: “What could I have possibly missed?”

Bryson: “Uhm the deeper rooted meaning behind it about being small but being able to accomplish great things like that part when …. (enter multiple examples of small hobbits doing epic things). See! Oh and like your favorite movies teach such awesome things…”

Katie: “Take it back!”

Bryson: “No way, like Meet Joe Black… death comes, falls in love, and then dips”

Katie: “I am offended by your arrogance sir”

Bryson: “Well I am offended by your stinky breath”

Katie: (slightly enraged) “I’m doing a liver and kidney detox you brat! Whatever watch your movie. I forgive you for that hurtful comment. Goodnight.”

Bryson: “……………..(long silent pause) Okay, goodnight”

And just like that, just like that I was defeated! In my own home, and in my own bed no less. He knew that the epic battle was practically real life, due to the enormity of our television, and that I couldn’t sleep and he knew that my breath may have not been pleasant because of my detox, but he also knows that when I am tired I am way too lazy to do anything about any of it. He was like a child who out smarts his parents by utilizing silence.

Bryson 2 Katie 0. And so the epic battle continues...



I hope you enjoyed your stay, it’s good to have you with us, even if it’s just for the day.

In Room Entertainment...

So a few months ago Bryson and I moved back to the great state of Arizona. We packed away all of our belonging, barring some clothes, DVD’s, and kitchen stuff…you know the essentials. The rest we safely packed away into a storage unit. So one day I tenderly say to Bryson “Will you please run to the storage unit and grab my medical records” he replies with “yeah sure” so imagine my surprise when I get home to find that in lieu of medical records he has decided to bring home our giant living room T.V., which he has set up in our bedroom on our dresser. Enter shock. I feel like the T.V. is this big compared to me:



The following conversation goes down:

Katie: “Uhm wow, that is…huge. What in the world did you bring that home for?”

Bryson: “Well I don’t want it to just sit there and plus we can watch movies and stuff”.

I laughed to myself and thought, what the heck I like movies as much as the next person right? Wrong. Enter part two of the story…

So I am lying in bed, peacefully drifting off to sleep, ready to start one of my phenomenal dreams when all of the sudden I feel the gleaming light of what looks like a semi truck come into my vision. I roll over to find that the precious little television set on….blaring its white death lights into my room. The following conversation goes down:

Katie: “Bryson…no”

Bryson: “What?”

Katie: “What? What do you mean what? That T.V. is mind bogglingly bright”

Bryson: “Oh Katie, no way just close your eyes, you won’t even notice it”

Katie: “I won’t notice it? That thing is massive and is burning as bright as the sun”

So I roll over, eventually fall asleep, and that is my life every single night since this blessed little piece of technology found itself on our dresser. Enter part three of the story…

So after a month of this bright T.V. nonsense my brain adapted and I have been fortunate enough to sleep through it. However the other night I was perplexed by what I saw. It was approx 2:00am, I roll over to quench my crazy thirst for water, and out of the corner of my eye I see Bryson…standing 2 inches from the T.V. The following conversation ensues:

Katie: “What in the hell…”

Bryson: “Don’t worry about it just go back to bed”

Katie: “Go back to bed? What are you doing?”

Bryson: (long pause) “Watching Wall Street”

Katie: “Uhm okay I can see that, that is no mystery to me, however the weird part and call me crazy, is that you are standing 2 inches from the T.V. oh and that you have watched wall street the last three nights in a row”

Bryson: “Oh…yeah I’m just trying to look at the dress clothes”

Katie: “…………………………………..”

Bryson: “What? They have the sickest dress clothes…”

Katie: “haha….. Just come to bed”

Bryson: “I can’t, I have to see this tie (enter him pushing pause and then play 100 times)”

And that my friends was my evening. I spent it alone in bed while my husband scouted dress clothes from a movie, on our giant T.V. that projects images as bright as the sun’s rays. In Wall Street Money Never Sleeps....and apparently neither does Bryson...or me for that matter.



Classic and completely perfect and cute.

I hope you enjoyed your stay. It’s good to have you with us, even if it’s just for the day.

Back in Business

A long hiatus was needed for some serious remodeling. Here is an extremely brief recap what you missed during the remodel…

This girl…



1. Had a perfect life changing experience
2. Celebrated the return of Justin Nelson from his mission and shortly thereafter, his marriage to Tiffani Nelson
3. Celebrated Christmas with a family trip to Disneyland
4. Moved back to Phoenix, Arizona
5. Fell in love with B.A.D. Bingo and Justin Bieber

This guy…



1. Interviewed with some big investment banking firms in New York City (fingers crossed for the awaited outcome)
2. Learned to master the art of Asian Pork Buns and navigating around the sketchy markets in which the ingredients are found
3. Got some new suits
4. Graduated from BYU and began studying for the dreaded GMAT exam
5. Fell in love with Duck Fat and re fell in love with the Lord of the Rings movies

In other news…I have deemed this year “The Year of the Craft”. I have been crafting like crazy! Nothing like my glam friend Catlin Nord and her ridiculously amazing projects, which can be seen at catlinnord.blogspot.com but nonetheless I am attempting to make 1 creation per week. So far I love the results! Pictures to come…

In embarrassing/amazing news…

I love awkward moments. More than I can possibly express. I love them so much that sometimes I become the subject of them. I have to accept this reality and know that it is for my own good. One such awkward moment occurred the other day at work. The following details my saga:

Today I began my workday at 9:00am sharp. The sky was blue, my computer was high functioning and I had a cold cherry coke zero in hand. I was extremely focused today, processing more leads than you would believe. I was feeling on top of the world. Enter 2:30pm. My meetings come to an end and my productivity takes a slight dive. I got up, stretched my legs, found my head phones, and proceeded to have an intense jam session. For 3 full hours I listened to the dazzling delights of Usher, James Taylor, R Kelly, Third Eye Blind, and the always awesome Justin Bieber. For those 3 hours I was at my desk jamming in silence. And then something happened that there are almost no words for…

You know when you are in your car, belting a catchy tune at the top of your lungs, unaware of anyone in neighboring cars that might be glancing your direction? Well this happened to me…at work. Let me further explain. 5:30pm…the jam was “Dynamite” by Taio Cruz…the setting was in my cubicle, in the center of the office, at work. I am singing along in my head to this catchy tune when all of the sudden I hear myself sing…out loud…”I’m wearing all my favorite brands, brands, brands, brands”….I stopped dead in my tracks…I started breathing heavily…I looked down, closed my eyes and prayed that when I looked up, no one would be looking at me…one…two…three…15 people standing up at their own cubicles looking at me…laughing and smiling. How do I recover smoothly from this flub?



“Ha…Taio Cruz…he will get ya…” (insert subtle awkward laugh) Great…I’m that girl in the office.

I hope you enjoyed your stay. It’s good to have you with us, even if it’s just for the day.

The Rescuers...

Did anyone see The Rescuers?


Long story short…two mice, united by membership in a rescuers society, team up to save a human girl from the clutches on an evil woman and her sketchy alligator. The important thing the note about this classic movie is the devotion that the society has to its members. The leaders of the society love the detectives, who come from all over the world, which is so far fetched but that's another story...

About a month ago Bryson and I encountered our first mouse. Thanks to my husband’s fearless courage, strategic planning, and clever crafting we were able to dispose of the mouse. It was quite a traumatic and emotional experience for me and I vowed that if I saw one more mouse I would move, if only temporarily to the hotel around the corner from my house. Lo and behold a month later my worst nightmare came true. Late one evening I slipped into my bed, exhausted from the day, curled up with my favorite blanket and pillow and drifted soundly to sleep. Bryson worked intensely on his homework for a few more hours until he finally decided it was time for bed. I felt him sit on the side of the bed ready to slip in between the sheets when suddenly everything stopped and I heard Bryson jump up. I shot out of bed only to hear the most horrible phrase “There is a mouse…and it’s bigger than the one before”. I momentarily freaked out but knew that I had to attempt to fall back asleep because of work the next morning. I was paranoid that the mouse would somehow escape Bryson and climb onto my bed, and as a result my uneasiness caused me to open my eyes every five minutes. This is the sequence of what I saw:

1:00am- Bryson crouching down silently calling the mouse

1:05am- Bryson opening my closet to scope out every crevasse of our bedroom

1:10am- Bryson entering our room with a bag of mouse traps, jar of peanut butter, block of cheese, knife, and paper plate

1:15am- Bryson intensely crafting approximately 20 mouse traps to place around our house

1:20am- Bryson carefully setting the traps

Ten minutes later Bryson climbs into bed and the following conversation follows:

K: Bryson did you get the mouse?

B: No, but I set 20 traps, we will have him in the morning

K: Bryson how can you honestly sleep tonight knowing that a mouse is roaming our house

B: Katie I can sleep because I have placed a very aromatic cheese in the traps that will attract the mice and kill them

K: what?

B: just don’t worry it is under control

K: Okay I trust you but I am going to be so mad if I see that thing in the morning roaming free

B: You won’t, if anything you will see him in a trap

K: Okay, I trust you.

Sure enough the next morning I awake to find a huge disgusting, dark brown mouse in a trap in Bryson’s closet. I freaked out, Bryson disposed of the mouse, and we were off to our daily destinations.

Later that evening Bryson and I were down in our basement doing laundry when suddenly we hear little noises within our wall. The following conversation took place:

B: Shh, listen, do you hear that?

K: Bryson what is that?

B: Shh, I think it’s a mouse or some mice

K: mice like plural? Like a family?

B: No not a family just a few mice, like baby mice

K: Bryson babies have parents so that makes a family

B: Shh, let me just find them…

(5 minutes of listening and looking)

B: We are good, I think that they are in the wall

K.: the wall…we are screwed, they are going to rise up and attack us for killing their friends

It was then that I realized what was happening and how our situation fit perfectly with The Rescuers. We killed the two lead mice and the rest of the society was coming after us to punish us for killing their best detectives. Shoot.

Instead of moving to the hotel around the corner I told Bryson that I would stick with him and help him fight off the mob of mice coming after us. I love my husband and his clever strategic brilliance. The 20 traps are still set and I have been proactive about looking for their points of entry. They will not win this war…