Taxes, Taxes and MORE Taxes

Well I have nothing new to post about except for the fact that I am disgusted by taxes.....we are done with our federal and Utah state taxes and surprise surprise...we owe:( We have yet to do our NY and CT state taxes and I am not looking forward to the days to come. I'm hoping that NY and CT are nicer to us than UT and the feds. However, I am not as disgruntled as I could be due to that fact that we are receiving a nice $1200 check from the gov in May....and yes I am going to do exactly what it is intended for...spend it till it's gone!

Wheelchair Races, Golf and Good Eats

Being that it was Easter weekend, Matt and I took off Friday and headed down to Philly to have some good times with the family. Matt and my Dad went golfing on Friday while the girls went shopping.

Saturday morning we were off to the ward Easter party where we ate breakfast and watched the children's hunt eggs. After the party my Dad decided to join the choir which was performing the following day. This meant that we had to wait around for an hour. To pass the time we ate candy and did nothing but complain..until....Jenna and Hailey came wheeling out of the closet in a wheelchair. I had to laugh, it was just unexpected. Then I thought of how my Dad would yell at them and laughed some more. My wonderful husband Matt came up with a plan to pass the then 20 minutes we still had to wait. He decided that while we were waiting we would have wheelchair races around the church....I know it doesn't sound so good does it?! You start at the couch, then wheeled your way around the building to the other foyer area. You then had to touch the couch and turn around and wheel back. Each person was timed and the winner could bask in the glory.

First a boy in the ward went, then Hailey, then Jenna, then out came my Dad from choir practice. I thought he would look down on this sort of behavior. But to my suprise he laughed. Matt of course had to go and this made my Dad want to try it too. As all of the other choir members came out the first thing they saw was a member of the Stake Presidency wheeling down the hallway. What a sight......and he won! With a whopping 1 minute 48 seconds. He is so proud. He did however cut his finger on the wheelchair and keeps talking about his victory wound.

I thought I would add his recollection of the scene here. Mind you he e-mailed this to his family haha.

After the breakfast I practiced in the choir for a few minutes while the kids entertained themselves (motivated by Matt Moffitt) by taking a wheelchair kept in the church and racing it from one side of the church to the other. When I arrived on the scene the record was held by a 12-year-old deacon with a time of 2:03. As I tried to coerce the family out to the car, they had to wait until everyone had a turn. No one could beat the time of 2:03. My competitive nature took over and I had to try. I came in at 1:48, crushing the old record and now stand as champion of the church-house wheelchair races. I have an injury to prove it, having cut my thumb on the spokes of the chair.

Dad we are oh so proud of you and your victory!

Following this fun morning Matt and my Dad went golfing...again....then we met them at Buca Di Beppo for dinner. It was delish.

We had a nice Easter Sunday at church and at home.

Good times are always had in Philly.

Out front of Buca Di Beppo.

First Day of Spring

The first day of Spring brings many things....warmth, excitement and well.....Free water ice at Rita's! Every year on the first day of Spring, Rita's opens its windows and distributes the best tasting snack you can find. As they do every year, my family called to taunt me while they ate their mango water ice's.
Sadly Rita's is only found in the Philadelphia area and some lucky surrounding states.

Luckily we are heading to Philly tonight and just might make it before the doors close. (So Ha to my family). And if we don't make it tonight....well then we will just have to go tomorrow and buy a gelati (water ice and custard). Not a problem!

Everyone needs to experience Rita's once in their lifetime and you only have until September when the doors shut for the Winter.

Just found out a Rita's is opening up in Bridgeport....who wants to go?!

Mormons Represent!

So Matt and I love to watch American Idol and this year is awesome because 2 of the top 12 are...members of the church! Brooke and David.
It seems like there is always a mormon that is on the show. We all remember Carmen Rasmussen, which was in one of my classes at BYU! And of course there was John Peter Lewis from Idaho. But this year there are 2 and they are stinking good! They are expected to make it to the top 2 and one become the next American Idol.
Well anyhow, not only do they have awesome voices...but they stick to their values. I thought this article really showcased their morals and really what I think the next American Idol should be like. (I really think all of the top 12 minus the icky stripper guy, are really great people too!)
http://www.ldsmag.com/arts/080312idol.html

Help!!

So every once in awhile I go on this Broadway kick. When we moved here last June I caught the bug and saw four shows in 5 months. Now this may not seem like a lot but the $ adds up. So I have been Broadway free for 4 months now and am starting to feel a withdrawal. I decided today that I want to see Wicked for my birthday in August. Then my mom and I were talking about going to see something for her birthday(May) and my sisters birthday(also August). Matt's mother and sister are coming out in July and we definitely have to see a show. My dad will be coming up soon to take my sister to a show, and of course I have to jump on that opportunity. So I have a chance to see five shows in the next 5 months.....but I don't know what I want to see. Here is my list of must sees...

1. Wicked (b-day!!)
2. Xanadu
3. Lion King
4. Little Mermaid
5. The Phantom of The Opera (saw it in Aug. but I have to see it again!)
6. Mamma Mia

I know I have six shows, but 3 out of the 6 are sold out shows and therefore cost mucho dinero. This is where I need every ones help. Does anyone have any recommendations for a good show? I have seen Hairspray and Mary Poppins already. You don't really hear of the smaller shows too often, so please if you have seen a great one, let me know!

Back In Black

As you can see from the pictures, I'm sporting my black suit and tie again. If you look carefully you'll notice I was on BYU's campus. Hyatt asked me a few months ago to help them recruit more BYU students. I'm sure that's because they believe I'm so awesome and they want more trainees like me....haha. But seriously it was a fun trip and after speaking to the students about my job at the Grand Hyatt New York, I realized how much I had learned during the past eight months. My presentation was on the chiller plant replacement that we are doing at the hotel. Everybody seemed to find it quite interesting.

My old friends Joe and Kimberly Seegmiller stopped by to see my presentation, Kimberly being 9 months and 9 days pregnant. It was good to see Joe and talk to him for a few minutes. Kimberly looked very anxious to go to the delivery room. I also saw my sister-in-law Lor Lors (aka Lauren aka Sniffer) and her new boyfriend, Branden Hill. Branden is a mechanical engineering student and says he enjoyed the presentation. He seems like a fine young man who promised me he would begin the process of putting his mission papers in by Sunday. Lauren was kind enough to make me chocolate chip cookies. She was trying to sabotage my diet but, thanks to a mild case of Montezuma's Revenge, I actually lost 1.5 lbs during the trip.

Pictured with me below in front of the picturesque Wasatch front is my boss Manny Rosa. Manny quite enjoyed BYU and the surrounding areas; it was his first trip to Utah. Our day was packed with tours of campus and also campus athletic facilities, including legacy hall, the indoor practice facility, Miller Park, and Lavell Edwards Stadium. John Graves and Chuck Anderson were kind enough to take us around.

We stayed at a Marriott hotel. I also reconnected with Bajios and it was delicious. Special thanks to Jared, Lindsey and Corinne for keeping Ami away from the TV while I was gone. Nevermind to Jared and Lindsey...all you did was show her episodes of Lost.

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While Matt was in Provo he made a quick trip to the Orem mall and bought me some See's candy.....It was to ease the pain from staying alone for three days. He's so sweet....like candy!