Updating some pictures from recent activities.  Some are from the Manti Pageant, some from my weekend with my four favorite boys (aka my nephews) and maybe a few others.  

Not much to report from this weekend.  I gave a couple of massages this afternoon, shampooed the carpet in our living room and I'm going to Keys on Main tonight with friends.  It's a dueling piano bar and I can't wait... I've been to one before and they are are blast.

Ok now on to the pictures...

Honesty, Awareness and Compassion

The other day I had the greatest experience in my massage therapy class.  Let me back up and give you a little history.  We talk about the tripod of Honesty, Awareness and Compassion when practicing massage. I love that tripod and I am becoming more comfortable with it in practicing massage with each person I am able to give a massage to.  We partner with different people in our class, all different body types, personalities and injuries that you have to be aware of.    For those that know me at all, you are aware that I am a touchy person.   I like to hug, grab on the arm when I'm talking or just a gentle slug to the arm if we're playing around.  That is just the kind of girl I have always been and will always be... I hope!  Anyway, I like being touched too.  It is important to me and so I absolutely love receiving massages and I'm learning the healing part of touch too and how important a selfless touch is to other people. So that brings me to what happened in class the other day.  

Believe it or not we can and do create a sense of beingness with the client (classmate) we are working on even with 20 other tables set up in the same room.  I was able to really, REALLY experience when working on my classmate the other day.  I could just sense that he needed the touch that I was able to provide on Monday.  I have been in tune with the classmates I've worked on before but I really EXPERIENCED it on Monday.  I couldn't be more grateful for the experience.  It is really hard to explain what it feels like... kind of like you can feel what that person is feeling but not taking on the feelings as your own.  The feeling that you know that this is exactly what they needed and you have helped them heal in some way, however small it may have been.  

Needless to say I am still loving massage therapy school.  I'm really digging my Anatomy class right now.  I especially like the cadaver lab when I get to see and feel the actual muscles we are learning about and working on in class.  Acupressure is a little rough for me- I'm not gonna lie! It's a little bit too unbelievable for me. I'm trying to get it and understand better how and why it "works" but it's still pretty out there for me.  I also found out last night that I will start clinical internship on September 27.  I am so excited for that day to come but nervous at the same time.  I will be working on the general public then.  Please call me and set up a time for me to work on you now before clinical start.  

Until next time...

Brazilian Lemonade

A friend of mine from Arizona sent this to me.  If you have ever ordered the lemonade at Rodizio Grill or some other Brazilian steakhouse you know how yummy it is.  Enjoy!

BRAZILIAN LEMONADE

4 juicy limes (try and find ones with thin, smooth skins; they're the juiciest and the thin skin cuts down on the chance of your drink being bitter)

1 C. sugar

6 C. cold water

6 Tbsp. sweetened condensed milk

 

Mix cold water and sugar very well and chill until ready to use.

This step can be done ahead of time.

 

Wash limes thoroughly with soap (I just use hand or dishwashing soap); you need the soap to get the wax and pesticides off of the limes because you're using the WHOLE lime.  Cut the ends off the limes and then cut each lime into 8ths.

 

Place 1/2 of the limes in your blender.  Add 1/2 of the sugar water, place the lid on your blender, and pulse 5 times.  Place a fine mesh strainer over a pitcher (the one you'll serve the lemonade in) and pour the blended mixture through the strainer and into the pitcher.  Use a spoon to press the rest of the liquid into the pitcher.  Dump the pulp and stuff in the strainer into the trash.  Repeat with remaining limes and sugar water.  Add sweetened condensed milk; DO NOT leave this step out unless you will die of a horrible sweetened condensed milk allergy because this is the secret ingredient!

 

Serve immediately over lots of ice.  This does not keep well, so don't make this in advance (although you can cut the limes, mix the sugar water, and measure the sweetened condensed milk in advance).  Serves 4 although I can pretty much guarantee you that people will want more; I usually plan on 1 1/2 servings per person. 

Manti Pageant

For several weeks my friend Cassie and I had been planning on attending the Mormon Miracle Pageant in Manti, UT on the 14th.  Cassie has a great network of friends so I told her to put out the feelers and invite whoever may want to go and we would have a good ol' time and that we did.

We left at 4:30 and drove to Manti in my rockin' rental car.  I drove so we were putting miles on a rental car and not someone personal vehicle AND because I like to be the one driving. (I don't know why but when I'm with friends I like to be the one behind the wheel...kinda weird, I know) We got to Manti about 6:30 and at at Miller's Drive-in and Donut Shop.  The food was good but the company was better.  There were 11 of us and we sat there and laughed for a couple of hours. Then we went and got a funnel cake...YUMMY!  I love carnival and fair food and I'm certain that funnel cake is the ultimate!  I need to figure out the recipe so I can make them at home for parties.

I always giggle about the protesters at these Church events.  One man had a sign that said "Abortion is Murder"...I really wanted to walk up to him and say "WELL DUH!" but I didn't.  There were also a bunch of women with signs around their necks that had Joseph Smith's Wife #1-30 (I think, I wasn't paying that close of attention to that) and "ask me about my life".  I always wonder to myself... do these people really have nothing better to do than hate something they just don't understand.  Oh well, I am just grateful that I know the truth.

I have a couple of pictures that I took of friends and the temple while in Manti that I will post once I have them downloaded from my camera.

Until next time...

Three Men and a Distressed Lady

Friday morning I was going to meet a friend for the 10 AM session at the Salt Lake temple.  She didn't make it but I enjoyed the session with so many cute young and older couples.  It was a good thing to start off my day.  Afterward, I went home and changed and decided to go for a drive.  I started off headed North on I-15 and got busy looking at the crops along the road and enjoying the drive and ended up in Pocatello.

Don't ask me how I ended up 180 miles from my house and not realizing it but I did.  I pulled over at the Clark St exit in Pocatello and heard a funny ping noise from the Jimmy.  I thought it was strange but my bladder was in control at that point so I took care of that priority and went back out to access what might be wrong, if anything.  First, I looked under the car for a puddle of some kind of fluid....nothing.  I popped the hood to see if I could see anything out of the ordinary, having complete faith that I would of course be able to located some out of the ordinary thing in the engine compartment when all I know how to do is check fluid and change the oil.  I didn't notice anything so I said a little prayer and tried to start the Jimmy.  Started just fine...so I went back to see if I could see anything odd with the engine running...nope.

I decided at that point I must have just imagined the noise and hopped in the seat to head back to Utah...HAHAHAHA not so much!

I put the shifter on the the reverse position...nope, no such luck and that funny ping noise now became a squeal that made me want to hide.  So I put it in neutral and pushed the Jimmy out of the parking spot and tried the drive position.  IT WORKED!!   So my first thought was maybe I can make it to Salt Lake and just have it fixed, after all I've heard of people with cars that just don't have the reverse on their car and I could live with that for a few days until I get it fixed.  Nope, I started to drive and the squealing started again!  I drove to a nearby mechanic and asked the nice man (Brent) at Mel's Repair on 12th and Oak (yes it's a shameless plug but he was so nice to help me near closing on a Friday afternoon) to check what might be wrong.  My fears were confirmed.  he said "well you have fluid but it is burned and since it isn't shifting...your tranny is gone"  FANTASTIC! Just the news I didn't want to hear but knew it was coming anyway.

He let me leave the Jimmy on his lot so I can figure out what to do and was honest enough to tell me he can pull the transmission but he doesn't fix them there and another place may be less expensive....told ya he was nice.  So I called and rented a car from Budget at the Pocatello airport but they don't offer a free pickup so I called the only cab company in Pocatello.  I was told it would 20-30 minutes...no problem.  Forty-five minutes later I called again to find out where the cab was or if they forgot about me.  No answer and it wasn't a set up business line....YIKES!!  So I tried again thinking maybe I mis-dialed somehow...nope it was the right number they are just really unprofessional.  The guy gave me some sob story about working all night and shift changes and it would be another 30 minutes.  At this point, it had sunk in that my car repair is going to cost several thousand dollars, I was hot and 180 miles from my house and my parents were at least that same distance away or so I thought (more on that in few paragraphs)....UGH!  Needless to say I had a small break down with the guy on the phone.

At that point, I decided to try another car rental company in Pocatello...again at the airport and got Avis!  I'm going to become their biggest fan.  The owner/agent was so nice, they offer free pickup and drop off in Pocatello or Chubuck and the driver was so nice and helpful too.  He gave me the name of a friend who has a transmission shop and wouldn't allow me to give him a tip for driving me to the airport.  The man at the counter was just as helpful and gave me the same name of the repair company...whew that part may just not be so bad.  They gave me a great deal on the rental and were just so kind.  He didn't even harrass me like they usually do when I declined the insurance because my auto insurance covers rentals.  I've done my fair share of traveling and renting cars over the past three years and that is ALWAYS an issue with these people.  So if you have to rent a car rent from Avis they are my new favorite car rental company until further notice.

I don't know if I just looked like a pathetic, dazed woman or they are always this way but I sure appreciated these three men and their help on Friday.  I have a full day tomorrow of calls to make and arrangements to get the Jimmy fixed but I just know everything is going to be ok....whatever the outcome.  I hope that I can be the same kind of helpful person if someone I come into contact with needs it.  Just a testament to the fact that good people are still out there in the world

So the ironic part of thinking my parents were so far away...not so much.  I called my dad once I got to the airport and was ready to pick up the car about 90 minutes after I first stopped.  He was in Twin Falls and had been just through Pocatello a short time before I got there.  He told me I should have called him and he would have driven me home and I wouldn't have needed to worry about all of that.  I just love my dad!  He was on his way to Wendall to a business party and was willing to cancel it without question or hesitation to help me.  I didn't even realize it was Friday the 13th until dad pointed it out to me.  I guess I'm just not that superstitious.  I walk under ladders, let black cats cross in front of me but I don't like to step on the cracks in sidewalks...I know I'm weird but that is a whole other post.

Until next time...