San Francisco!

On March 17th it was our NINE year anniversary! I really just can't believe that we have been together for nine years - the time has gone by so fast!

We wanted to do something fun to celebrate. So we begged Maren to come spend the weekend with the kiddies and we hit the road to San Francisco!

We left Friday night as soon as the girls got home from school. I wanted to leave earlier, but Brian wanted to wait, so that he could tell the girls goodbye. Because we hit the road late, we hit rush hour traffic. So it took us a while just to get out of Vegas. Then about 300 miles into the trip the bearings started to go out on one of the truck tires. We pulled over to check in out, and to decide what we were going to do. At this point it was close to 11 PM. We couldn't fix it. We had 200 miles left to get to the hotel - but it was 300 to make it home. We decided to push forward to the hotel, praying the whole way that the tire wouldn't suddenly fall off. We finally got to the hotel in San Jose at 2 AM.

Brian woke up early the next morning and was able to immediately get the truck into the dealership to be fixed. He went to drop off the truck, and I showered and got ready to go. I was just finishing packing when he pulled up in the rental car - a Mercedes!

Luckily, because he was able to get the truck in so early - it didn't mess up our schedule at all!

Our first stop was the Winchester Mystery House. It was awesome!!! It was so big, and weird. On the tour, they told us that construction lasted 24 a day 7 days a week for 38 years. They literally NEVER stopped building. The house was also remodeled 600 times in those 38 years. The servants had to had a new, updated map of the house weekly - so that they could find their way around.

Your not allowed to take pictures inside the Winchester House. But because I am a rebel, I was able to sneak one of my cell phone:

This is a picture of some stairs that go up to the ceiling.

After touring the Winchester House, we met our friend Tammy for lunch at a super yummy Indian restaurant. Then we dropped of the rental car, picked up the truck and headed to San Francisco to see the Muir Redwoods.

On the way to Muir Redwoods, and back to the hotel in San Franscisco we had to cross the Golden Gate Bridge:

And through this rainbow tunnel:

The next morning we got up bright and early to catch the ferry to Alcatraz Island. I had booked us a hotel close to Fisherman's Wharf, where the ferry leaves from, so that we wouldn't have to drive (driving in San Francisco is a NIGHTMARE!). So we set out walking - only problem was, we were heading the wrong direction! Luckily, we figured it out, and got to the pier just in time.

We LOVED Alcatraz! It was really cool. We arrived just in time to take a ranger lead "behind the scenes" tour about escape attempts. It was awesome, because we were able to go in alot of buildings and areas of the island that are normally closed to the public. After the ranger tour, we took the regular audio tour the the cell house.

We spent a few hours at Alcatraz, then we came back and spent the rest of the day hanging around Fisherman's Wharf.

Monday, we spent the whole day driving home. We were ready to get home and see the girlies, and rest my stiff legs from all the walking we did! But it was so nice to get away from a couple of days, with just the two of us!!!

Hot Tub

Brian is a Craigslist junkie. He is on the site, checking stuff out at least once a day. He especially likes the free section. He is always finding all kinds of treasures listed there - but unfortunately, he has a mean wife that won't let him actually get any of them. I think that we have enough of our own junk, that we don't really need someone else's.

For the last year his goal has been to find a free hot tub on Craigslist. Occasionally, there are some posted but every time he calls on them, he is just a little to late. I also had the stipulation that it must look nice and be in working condition.

It took him a year, but he found one! And it's a nice one! It's small, but that actually works out better because it fits perfectly on our patio.

AND the best part is it inspired us to have a yard day. So now, not only do I have a hot tub, I also have a clean yard!!!

Out and About

One of the biggest downfalls of being married to a plumber who own his own business, is that I never see him. He's always working. I would like to say it's because he's raking in the dough - but unfortunately, that isn't the case.

The biggest bonus is that he occasionally gets some "freebies".

Last weekend was one of those rare occasions when Brian was really slow. He only had one job scheduled for Saturday morning and was free for the rest of the weekend. So we decided to cash in on a couple of those "freebies".

While he was gone Saturday morning, I got myself and all the kids glammed up, so that as soon as Brian got home we could hit the town. Don't get too excited - we just went to get yogurt. But it was really yummy yogurt and a new place called Yogurtland. The kids LOVED it. They had about twenty kinds of yogurt and a million toppings that you serve yourself. Luckily for us, one of his costumers owns the place, so it was free. Nice!

After yogurt, and a much needed nap, we had a friend watch the kids so that Brian and I could go out to dinner. Another rare occasion. Brian and I never get to go anywhere alone. We went to a new restaurant in the Town Square called The Cana. Brian has been there to fix their plumbing a couple of times and is now friends with the owner and the head chef. So, dinner was free. The best part was that we were treated like VIP's. The wait staff were constantly checking in on us, all kinds of food kept getting sent to our table, and the owner and the chef even came out and chilled with us at our table. For two hours I felt like a celebrity. Well, I guess that was the second best - the crispy shrimp was the best part (Seriously, the best shrimp on the entire planet. Hands down.).

Sunday we decided to head downtown to the Silver and Gold Pawn Shop. For those of you who don't know, that is where they film the show Pawn Stars, on the History Channel. Unfortunately, our VIP status did not transfer to the pawn shop, and so we had to wait in line, behind the velvet rope, just like everyone else. It is the first time that I have had to wait in a line to get into a pawn shop. Not that I've been to a lot of pawn shops in my day. The store was really crowded, kinda trashy, and very overpriced (although we weren't looking to buy anything anyway). Brian says, "at least we can say we have been to where they film Pawn Stars when people ask." I wasn't aware that people were asking. I say, "at least it was more exciting than sitting home and doing nothing all day... sort of."

Family History

I know that I have not posted in a while, but really nothing to eventful has happened. A couple of weekends ago I took the girls to our super crappy Las Vegas zoo. I have a couple of pics - but I need to get some new batteries for the camera before I write a post about that super un-cool experience. BUT, a new goal came out of that trip. I vow that sometime, this year, I will take all six of my kids to Hogle Zoo. I can't say enough times how much Las Vegas zoo sucks.

Just this last weekend, Brian went to Cedar City to help our good friend Jeremy and Jenn Finney move. He was gone for just two nights, but for Alysa that was a lifetime. She cried both nights he was gone and had to wear one of her dad's shirts to bed, both nights, because she missed him so much. Good thing that we are never getting divorced, because I could seriously not deal with that drama on a nightly basis.

While Brian was gone, me and the girls just chilled at home. The weather was crappy, and funds ar low so we did a whole lot of nothing. I did sign up for a free ancestry.com trial. I can already tell that the whole family history thing is going to become an expensive habit. I have been doing most of my research between the LDS familysearch.org, and google. But ancestry.com has opened alot of doors. They have so much more information to offer!!! AND they have a lot more historical documents and personal histories just a mouse click away. Really, this site make my life ALOT easier when it comes to researching family history!!! Just a day or two before I signed up, I was telling my mom about how it takes literally ALL day of research to find just one little thing (which is why I only let myself get started on the weekend, after all my "chores" have been done) - but when you find that one little thing, it makes all those hours and pages of notes worth it!!! I love being able to put a STORY to a name. It just makes it so much more personal.

My biggest plea to everyone and anyone who may read this blog: WRITE your life DOWN! I know it doesn't seem exciting to us right now. I know that you are thinking, that there just isn't anything eventful that has happened to you... definitely not something someone would want to read about. You are dead wrong. I promise that it will be something that future generations WILL want to read about. They will want to get to know you - to have a story, some meaning behind the pictures. They will want to know your challenges, your heartbreaks, your dilemmas, your victories, your pleasures, your attitudes about things - as small as it may seem to us. I promise.

I can't help but think of my sister, Maren's, blog. Her husband is deployed to Iraq right now, and so she started a blog to keep all of our, and his, scattered family updated on how they are doing. It may not seem like much to her now, but how much will it mean to her kids, her grand kids, her great-grand kids? Even when she has passed on, she will have something to share. Her posterity, who never new her, will get to experience a part of her life. How cool is that?

Little things about how much your mortgage is, how much a gallon of milk is, how much a loaf of bread is... will be so fun to read even 50 years from now! What is your life like day to day? What is your job, and how do you feel about it? And we recently elected the first African American president. How did you feel about that? Did you vote for him? Why, or why not? How do you feel about it a year later? Love him or hate him, that was a monumental event!

Write it down! Everything!

Now that I am done sending you on a guilt trip - I will leave you a link for my family history blog. But first - keep in mind: my blog is not up to date with my research. I have SEVERAL more stories that need to be posted and I will, as soon as I can find the time (maybe that is what I should have been doing instead of typing this post). My Sorenson family members are going to find it much more interesting than you Brown's. But Brown's I do have somethings on Grandma Bee's side that need to be posted - Grandpa Doug's side is much harder since they are all late danish. Just be patient with me. Roberts/Marroquin's - you are going to have to be EXTREMELY patient. I have messed around with it a little but there is so much to do - I haven't even made a serious start, but I plan to get to it this summer! Also - if anyone has any info, pics, etc., please send them my way. I will also post my email.

Family History Blog: http://jessicafamilyhistory.blogspot.com/
Maren's Blog: http://marenscrazylife.blogspot.com/
Email: brianjessicaroberts@msn.com

Readers Block

I've been in a bit of a reading slump lately. I'm not really sure why. I have all kinds of new books around my house that friends have lent to me. I just really haven't been in the mood, I guess.

I did reread Franny and Zooey in January after hearing the news of JD Salinger's death. I really love that book. Zooey is one of the greatest characters ever written. If you haven't read it, I strongly suggest it.

Anyway - I finally broke out the pile of unread books that are sitting in my house, ordered a couple of new ones off of eBay (I LOVE eBay. I got two new books for $4 - including the shipping), read some reviews and finally I have compiled a reading list for 2010.

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
The Gathering by Anne Enright
Catch 22 by Joseph Heller
Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
The Knitting Circle by Anne Hood
When The Whistle Blows by Fran Cannon Slayton
The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Satanic Verses by Salman Rishdie - I actually started and read about 1/3 of this book. It was really good, but it was really hard for me to read because I couldn't keep track of all the characters. All the names are middle eastern, and I just couldn't keep them straight. On top of that, I started the book in the summer when I have anywhere from six - eight kids running around everyday. I decided I would come back to it later when I could really just focus on the book, but never got to it.

I also have the book, The Christmas Sweater, sitting at my house. I've heard it's good. Two different people have recommended it to me. I probably would like it. But it is by Glenn Beck. I hate Glenn Beck beyond description. He is an idiot. I know the book has nothing to do with his lunatic, extremist, right wing views. But I just don't think I can lower myself to the level of associating myself with anything Glenn Beck. I just have to draw the line. So that is twelve - which is my goal. But I am always open to suggestions.


Oh - and here is the final list of what I read in 2009:

1. The Host - Stephenie Meyer - C
2. The Stand (uncut version) - Stephen King (although I think this should count as three books since it is almost 1200 pages long!) - A
3. Harris and Me (reread) - Gary Paulsen - A
4. About a Boy - Nick Hornby - B
5. To Kill a Mocking Bird (reread) - Harper Lee - A
6. Interview with the Vampire - Anne Rice - C
7. Stolen Innocence - Elissa Wall - B
8. Angels and Demons - Dan Brown - B
9. Oryx and Crake - Margaret Atwood - B
10. My Sister's Keeper - Jodi Picoult - B
11. Never Let Me Go - Kazuo Ishiguro - A
12. Franny and Zooey - J.D. Salinger - A
13. Night - Elie Wiesel - A
14. Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov - A
15. Wintergirls - Laurie Halse Anderson - B
16. Playing With the Enemy - Gary Moore - A
17. The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins- A
18. Fish - T.J. Parsell - B

The Best Chocolate Cookie Recipe Ever

So, a weird fact about me: I like to make cookies, but I don't like to eat them. And no, not just because of the calories. I just don't really like them. So this usually means that a lot of the cookies that I make end up being given away. Lately, I have had a few people ask me for my chocolate chip cookie recipe. This makes me laugh, because I basically use the recipe on the back of the Toll House chocolate chip bag. But, I have tweaked it a little bit, to make my cookies taste and look better (there is nothing worse than those flat, greasy looking cookies). Anyway - here is my super gourmet Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe:

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour*
1 tsp baking powder *
1 tsp salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened *
1 cup granulated white sugar
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
3 tsp. vanilla extract *
2 eggs
1/2 package of Milk chocolate chips *

Combine flour, baking soda and salt in a small bowl.
Cream butter, sugars, and vanilla in a large mixer bowl. Add eggs one at a time beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in the flour mixture.
Stir in chocolate chips. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto an ungreased baking sheet.*

Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for 9 - 11 minutes or until golden brown. Let stand for 2 minutes.

Okay - now the secrets to make sure they turn out super yummy:

* If your dough is too dry add a Tablespoon or two of milk - NEVER water.
* Always use baking powder. NEVER baking soda. Most recipes call for baking soda. It is a trick. The cookies will raise better and be more "cake like" (not mushy) if you use baking powder. It makes a HUGE difference. I almost always substitute baking soda for baking powder in all cookie recipes.
* REAL salted butter only. Do not be tempted to use margarine or butter flavored spread. It will make a very noticeable difference in the taste. Margarine is nasty, nasty, nasty. In my opinion, they should not even sell the stuff.
* Also - you need super soft butter - but not completely melted. I like to soften it in the microwave until it just starting to melt, so there is only a little melted butter from the middle of the stick. Cream your sugars with the butter while it is still warm this melts the sugar a little and it less grainy. This gives the cookies a better texture.
* Only use REAL vanilla. The imitation vanilla is crap. Yes, the imitation stuff is much cheaper but it tastes horrible. I stock up on the real stuff when we go to Mexico (which is not often) because it is super cheap there, and very high quality. Also, I know that the original recipe says 1 tsp. Use 3. Trust me.
* I always use milk chocolate chips because I think that the semi-sweet ones are just gross. I guess you could always use the semi-sweet - some people think that the milk chocolate chips are too rich.
* Put your cookie dough in the fridge until you are ready to stick it in the oven. And NEVER put cookie dough on a warm pan - make sure the pan is completely cooled. This helps the cookies bake evenly. If you leave your dough sitting out, or put it on a warm pan the dough starts to melt a little, and will make your cookies have crisp edges and too-soft centers.


Anyway, yes... it sounds like I am making something really easy a lot more complicated than it needs to be. But I promise, that these few little things make a huge difference.

And there you have it... Now, you too, can be a gourmet cookie chef! lol!

Introductions

Meet the newest members of our crazy family:

Sgt. Pepper is the adorable white boy on the left and Princess is the champagne colored beauty of the right.

Yes... apparently our house was not crazy enough so we decided that we needed to add a couple of ferrets to the chaos. We have had them for about three weeks now and we absolutely love our little additions! They sleep most of the time (about 18 hours a day) and so they are the perfect pet for the kids, as they don't demand constant attention. However, when they are up, they are UP and all over the place! And they have very distinct personalities!

Sgt. Pepper is our naughty boy. He is good with the kids but does not like to be held for very long. He likes to explore!!! We found out on the second day, that he is an escape artist. If no one is around to let him out of his cage, he just lets himself out. We fixed that problem pretty fast. He and Eddie (our dog) became BFF's almost immediately. They love to chase each other and wrestle. Sgt. Pepper is also master of the Ferret Joy Dance, and has a lovely "dooking" voice. I will have to try and catch it on video - it is pretty hilarious. And for those of you that didn't catch on - I am a Beatles fan - Sgt. Pepper is named after one of their songs.

Princess, on the other hand, is our shy, quiet girl. She is petite - about half the size of Sgt. Pepper. She is really mellow and perfectly content letting the kids pack her around the house. She also LOVES to give kisses. But, she is our little thief. While both ferrets love to steal any stuffed animals they can find - Princess definitely has the bigger stash. I guess Sgt. Pepper is just too busy dancing, or attacking something, or exploring. I wanted to continue the Beatles theme and name her Sexy Sadie. But the girls had a fit. Obviously, they won that argument.