A Night Out.....

I feel like a single mother of three right now. Jay and Jake both work nights and so I spend a lot of time with the kids. I enjoy the time with them but at the same time I am still single and need to get out more. On May 30th there was a awards dinner for the "best of state" winners. As in years past we entered and came out victorious. This is our 6th time winning and Ron and Mary have always gone to accept the award. This year we were so busy with events that Mary and Rachel had to work so Mary asked that Adam and I go and accept for the company, what an honor and a great reason to buy a new dress. Then came the news, Mary asked that Adam and I wear our chef coats, she wanted us to stand out and believe me we did.



They have the winners for each catagory go on to the stage in a group and give every one fake medals. Then they hurry you back stage and take your fake medal and have you stand in line for the real one. Following that there is another line to have your picture taken then it is back to your table to finish you dinner.


Working for a catering company you get picky about food. We had eaten at the salt palace before and were not expecting great things that night. It figures that just as it is our turn to go up and recieve the award they put our dinner on the table. By the time we got back it was cold and gross instead of just gross. There was some great entertainment and several local celebraties and lots of laughs from our table. I had a great time and was glad Mary asked me to go. Next time I hope I get to buy a new dress and find a date.

My new adventure Network Marketing.......

I know we all have had "those" people who have said, "come to this meeting I have something I want to show you." Well I have turned in to one of "those" people, not that there is anything wrong with those people. I have found out recently that it is an exciting busniess. If you were wondering why I decided to do this, let me share with you a little about it. The name of the product is Mondelis. Monde in french means world and the L I S on the end stands for Leading, Internet, Society. Now I know all of you have something to do with the internet or you would not be reading this blog. I am willing to bet that most of you reading this have purchased something on line in the past 6 months and I am also willing to bet that a good percentage of you have played some sort of video game in the past year. There are so many people on Facebook that if it were a country it would be the 5th largest in the world. The internet is part of everyday life for the majority of people all over the world. Well Mondelis gives you the opportunity to create income with the internet, games and shopping.

I did all of my Christmas shopping online this year because I was so busy. I wish I had know about Mondelis then because I would have been able to shop with a discount at many of the stores I purchased things from. With the rising gas prices there is also a great gas program that can get you 25$ a month for going to the same gas station to fill up.

I like Mondelis because it is not a pill, lotion, magic drink or a soap. I don't have to keep an inventory in my garage that will take me forever to sell. The online games that will be a part of Mondelis are sold online, at video game stores and other everyday stores like walmart, target, and best buy. They are out there and people who play video game will have no trouble finding them and downloading them so they can play. Why not get a piece of the pie.

I figured this would be a great opportunity for me personally as well. This is a chance to get out there and meet people, force myself to be more sociable. I am setting goals and working on reaching them. It is a great overall experience for me. If this is something you would like to learn more about go to http://www.mindolamay.mondelis.net/ and look around. There are weekly conference calls and webinars to help with learning and growing your business. It really is quite fun. Check it out.......... You never know you might become one of "those" people yourself and love it too!

Color in Spring

I love the Amazing Race. Call me a fan, obsessed, crazy whatever. I remember an episode from last season where the contestants, who were in India, had to run through a crowd of people throwing colored chalk at them, to retrieve an envelope. I thought what fun that would be. Well come to find out that it was a celebration to bring in spring for the Krishna's. Some friends and I decided to go and participate. What an experience!!!! There were so many people we had to fight to buy the last few bags of color. We were lucky!! They light a big bonfire and the color throwing begins.

(great video of it on YouTube look up festival of colors 2009- Spanish fork,UT)

When I got home bubba usually calls out my name and like clock work he did until he saw me. I was then that the tone in his voice changed to a "I know it's Mimi but she is colored with color" tone. It was cute.

Seattle Fun!!!

I always enjoy going to Seattle to visit my family. Since I am living with Jay and Jake right now I get to do alot of things with their kids. Well Tami, Chris, Chelsea and Cassidy picked me up from the airport and decided that it was their turn to have fun with me. The girls were so excited to spend the day with me and show me all of their favorite things to do in Seattle.


We started off by having lunch at the Rainforest Cafe. I have never eaten there but have looked at all of the great things on the outside. The hostess sat us down right by a group of gorillas. Chelsea loved it but Cassidy was not too sure. The lights would start flashing and you would hear thunder and all of the animals would start to making noise and moving. It was a great atmosphere!!

Next we went to the girls school and I got to meat their teachers and see their classrooms. They were so excited and had been looking forward to this all week.

Finally we ended up at Pike Place Market. This is one of my favorite things to do. I remember going there while in culinary school with the rest of my class and just walking around looking at produce and trying new things. I am surprised at how well the girls know their way around the market. We both have a favorite spot to visit first and that is the Doughnut Booth!!! It is a little 10X10 booth with a machine that presses the mini doughnut batter out of a device into the hot oil with a arm that flips it over half way through and pops it out into a tray. They are always fresh and they come plain, cinnamon & sugar, powder sugar or the favorite SPRINKLES!!!! It costs about $2.50 for a dozen and you just walk down the market with brown bag in hand and see the sights. It is a tradition. Another thing that is just so Pike Place is the beautiful flowers that are there. They have dried flowers year round but when the flowers are in bloom, like right now it is tulip season, there are fresh flowers everywhere. It is a feast for the eyes and perfume for the nose. We decided to get a bunch for grandma as a surprise!!!

They have a really cool pasta booth where you could buy everything from normal pasta to fruit pasta to CHOCOLATE Pasta. Way cool!!! Yes I am a food nerd!!

Tami had a camera she thought I would be interested in buying from her and she let me take it for a test drive while I was home. I fell in love with it and had a lot of fun shooting pictures of all of the kids with their cousins and at Pike Place Market. Here are just a few of the tons that I took. Enjoy!

What happens in VEGAS........

Things have been a little crazy since my last post. I catered Brad & Ericas wedding reception up in Seattle. It was fun and crazy all at the same time. When I got back to work we were busy getting ready for a "wedding" in Vegas at the ICA/Catersource convention. The party was for 1300 people and it was a fake reception. We had dozens of sponsors that wanted us to do our best to spotlight their food or product and convince the thousands of others caterers there to purchase and use in their own businesses. NO PRESSURE!

We were staying at the Hilton which is where the conference was being held and working in their kitchen. Working in an kitchen that is not your own is stressful enough, but then throw in chefs from other companies that have volunteered to help prep and our own event staff that know a little about helping in the kitchen, and it can make the situation worse. We had two and half daysto prep about 85% of the food for the event which was on Tuesday night.

The menu was a "his" and "hers" type of theme. They each had their own appetizers, speciality drinks, desserts and action station menus. There was a fake bride, groom and wedding party. They would wander around and mingle as if it were a real reception. It was fabulous. The room was beautiful and we had plenty of food and no one went thirsty. I think that means it was a success.

I will admit I was dreading the trip. I arrived at work at 4 a.m. on the 22nd we packed the food we had already prepped and hit the road by 6 a.m. We arrived in Las Vegas by 12:30 ready to unload everything we had brought. After a tour of the room where the party would take place and the kitchen we would be living in the next few days we ate a quick lunch and got right to work. We finished at about 6:30 and had dinner reservations for 8:30. At about 11:30 we were in our rooms hitting the sack having to be back in the kitchen by 7 a.m. the next morning.

Monday morning the alarm goes off and I get out of bed, hit the shower and walk down to the kitchen. We had a quick continental breakfast and pulled out the knives and went to work. Luckily we were ahead of schedule so Kalli, Adam and I were able to go out and enjoy a little of the strip. We hit M&M world (to get the kids treats from Vegas) and the Coke store. Took out picture with Elvis and Micheal Jackson and my favorite color M&M the green one.

We needed to save out feet for Tuesday night so we decided to head back. We saw a photo booth and could not resist so we squished ourselves in it and made a memory. Tuesday rolls around and we are in the kitchen again at 7 a.m. ready to begin another long day. We had chefs from all over the country helping us prepare and cook that day. The event started at 7 p.m. and was supposed to wrap up at 11 p.m. The chefs were told to leave after we had broken down our stations in the back which we finished up at about 11:30 p.m. The rest of our crew were there until about 2 a.m. They were up again at 8 a.m. ready to load the last of our things and hit the road to head back home.

The event was a success and proves to me that I am blessed to have a skill that can take me to any kitchen any where and be able to do my thing. I am also grateful for the wonderful team we worked with. It was not possible without all of them. We are more like a family and I know this experience will be with all of us for a long time.

I was able to take a few pictures in the kitchen but none the night of the event. I am also in charge of a section of our work blog. I am sure there will be more pictures there. www.culinarycrafts.com click on the blog link.

Mixing wild rice pancake batter

Scooping the pancakes

Flipping the pancakes on the grill to cook








Kalli scooping 1300 Lamb Burgers





Seperating butter lettuce for
Pork Wraps

Work Christmas Party

This year we went to soldier hollow for a few hours of tubing. What a wonderful experience. I had so much fun. It was a pleasant evening and not too cold. The tube tow rope is a fantastic invention. The one thing I don't like about tubing is the walking back up the hill and being so tired that it is almost not worth the ride down again. The tow ride up the hill was an enjoyable one with a quick little hill at the top to make sure you get out of the way before the next person pops over. My friend Kalli and I made a train for our first run down and it was so slick that night that they told you to dig your heels into the snow to start slowing yourself down so you would not run into the fence at the bottom. When the time came to dig my heels I did and Kalli was blanketed in a soft white powder. Since Jake works with us the kids were able to go and they didn't even wait for supervision. Once they saw how the whole thing worked they were off!!!! Kalli and I made a train with Riley once and then Kaley and I made a train. We had so much fun I can't wait to go again.

A Year Of Change

As in years past and just like everyone else I have set some resolutions for the year. I have not had much success in years past but would like to change that this year. I have been through many different challenges this past year and have grown from each of them. With some of those challenges came with lots of tears and heartache others many, many tears and endless nights of prayer. Then there are those that included all tears, heartache and prayer. My family and friends could not have been a more of a support of blessing during the past 12 months. I am truly blessed and thank my father in heaven for them every night.



I have made a list of things I would like to change this year and I figure it would be better if all of those people that have been a support to me knew what it was that I wanted to accomplish so they could once again help and support me in their own and unique ways.




So here is the list.......

Attend the temple at least once a month

Get healthy (given)

Be more outgoing and social (single adult activities)

Serve in my new calling to the best of my ability

Complain less and compliment more




Look for more opportunities to serve






Share my testimony at least once a month

Stay out of debt and become more financially stable

Organize and expand my emergency preparedness




Be ready to own a home by the end of the year




Start gathering my family history


There you have it. I know there are always things that I will add or some of the things that I have forgotten to put down, but these are the important ones. I feel a great sense of hope about the year ahead of me and am excited about what I have accomplished so far. I again thank everyone who has helped and touched my life.


The lord knows what we need and also who we need.