Summer Movie Review part 1

I really enjoy the summer movie rush. This year's line up looks pretty good. Here is the review so far.....

Angels & Demons
...now I pride myself on the fact that I can just enjoy a good story. Just go along with it. I had trouble with this one. I REALLY enjoyed the book and that usually makes the movies sort of 'blah' because they generally don't live up to the book. You almost HAD to read the book to even follow what the heck they were talking about. Which is sad - Dan Brown creates some awesome detective work and really spells out the history between the ancient artists and the catholic church. Really really cool - but too hard to fit into a 2 hour movie.
Also Tom Hanks is and was all wrong for this part.
But please - don't let me stop you from seeing it. But don't say I didn't warn you.
(defiantly read the book)

Wolverine: X - men Origins

oohhhh.... if you are any kind of x-men fan, this is good. Ya still have to be able to accept weird things....' yah....okay.... so he can grow bone claws....i'm good with that...'
Really good movie.
Only two flaws. The begining isn't thought all the way through and is pretty random. Yah just got to get over it. Second - and this is just me - I generally don't like characters that are just 'all powerful'. I like X-men because the dudes have DEFINED powers and skills. There are a couple dudes in the movie that have just 'power' - like the guy who has a genetic mutation to jump high and can shoot with deadly accuracy? ...naaaahhhh I don't think so. Don't worry - he doesn't last long. And uhhhhh.... Hugh Jackman....HEEELLLLOOOO!!!!.

Finally
Star Trek
AWESOME! I'm not a treky and any shape or form - but I can totally appreciate the excellent acting and story line. You don't have to know any history of star trek to appreciate a good action packed story.
So good
Sharples Movie list continues with:
Up
Terminator
Transformers (Ben's so so on this one)
GI Joe
17 again (I'll see this with Girl Jordan)
9 (if you haven't see this trailer...GET ON IT).
Monsters and Aliens
Harry Potter
G-Force!!(I'll have to trick Ben into going) :)

Been very busy!
Here is the cooking section of our busy-ness.
First is Ben's flan. I don't know much about this. I realize this looks unfinished - and that's because it's not. Cooked for like 2 more hours. Tasted awesome! But all fell apart -texture wise. We feed the left overs to the dogs.
p.s. Flan makes dogs barf :(

More owlies!
These were made for my visiting teachies - "WATCHING OUT FOR YOU! :)" Ha!
They are very easy. Yellow cake mix, dark chocolate frosting, two 1/2 oreos, 1/2 cookies for ears, junior mint eyes, and banana candies for beaks. Very cute.
Ma's Peanut Butter Cookies
1 1/4 cups flour 1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup peanut butter 1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla 3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup butter 1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg 1 cup choco chips
Bake 350 for 10 minutes
I LOVE these cookies. Mostly because I grew up with them. I also like them because it's all just stuff you already have around the house. Ben likes his cookies a little more crisp - milk dunking worthy. I like my soft and a gooie. So I cook have the batch 2 or 3 minutes longer so we're both happy!
Ma's No BOIL lasagna
You'll never have a lasagna recipe that's more tasty and the least amount of work. :)
This has spagetti and vodka flavored sauce (don't look at me - ben bought it!). Spread on the bottom, then layered UN COOKED noodles, then a layer of 4 cups cottage cheese + maybe 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese and some italian seasoning. spread half that mixture on the noodles, then cooked turkey meat (instead of beef), noodle layer, sause mix, cheese mix, noodles, and sause mix for the last. Make sure the sauce is spread to the edges. Sprinkle mozzerella and parmesan cheese on the top. I like green olives on the top too. :) Bake 1 hour with tin foil covering. Then rest for 10 minutes.

Next blog - summer movie review...

Buggy Glasses are Popular

Got to spend a few hours with Girl Jordan today. Happy afternoon - thank goodness. Apparently my buggy shopko sunglasses are popular and she had to wear them the whole time.
Then she found my camera....
She really is a beautiful girl. :)

Happy Memorial Day

This last weekend the Sharples family rented a cabin just off of fish lake - in central Utah. It was Ma and Pa, Shelby and Steve, Kim and Ben and Jordan. The boys got up early sunday morning out on the lake. Steve was wearing a bright yellow reflective jacket so we could always spot them. They were out on the lake for 3 hours and Ben was the only one who caught fish!

Yeah! Look what I got!
The ironry is that Ben is allergic to fish. He can't even touch them!
Ben got a total of 5! Steve and Jordan went out later and caught a few - but couldn't beat Ben's record!
Rainbow Trouts.
This is the cabin from the inside - pretty small but worked out pretty well...
"Elk horn Cabin"
On the way home Ben took me through some childhood memories in Salina.
This is funny.
Ben says that it used to be a law in Utah that businesses couldn't advertise for the sale of Beer. And they found ways around it! "SNACKS - ICE - COLD POP & BEEP!!" I laughed and laughed.
This is pretty funny too - we're driving through and Ben's pointing out different stores here and there. Then says 'here is where they put in a traffic light, but no one knew how to handle it, so they took it out and put the four way stop back in.' Nice.
This is Ben's Grandpa's old house. Awwww.
We also walked through the Salina cemetry. We noticed that his Great grandpa, grandpa, younger brother has the middle name 'Oscar'. Wouldn't it be cool to carry on that tradition? I really did enjoy spending time with Ben and learning about my kids' heritage. :)
Happy Memorial Day :)

Let the Tummy Aches Begin!

This weekend the Sharples are going up to a Fish Lake cabin. Last night I stayed up late putting together fatty gooie treats. Tummy achy treats. :)
First - Corn pops! I'm not going to tell you whats in it. Bad news but they are very popular.

Tally likes to sneek pops
Reggie is hovering....
I'll give you a hint.... butter!!!
Next are the S'mores cupcakes! I picked up the recipe from How to Eat a Cupcake - my favorite cupcake site. It's got graham crakers in it! It looks like barf - but tastes REALLY good.

This wild. The frosting is marshmallowy fluff. Shiny! What's really funny - I was working away on the batter and Ben was pacing around the front room...... anxious that I was cooking and he wasn't! 'Hey...whatcha doing, can help?Can I do that for ya?Whatcan I do???' Alright honey I'll give you a job.....WHOO HO! Ben make the mallow frosting by cooking 4 egg whites and sugar over a double boiler...whiskwhiskwhisk -then to the kitchen for more whisking. Pretty cool.
Whisk whisk
Now. Let the artist take over. This is my first time piping anything -and I need a little practice. Crumble grahams on top with a herseys wedge - and you've got a classic summer time camping treat... in a silacon cup. :)
Ta Da!

Yeah, She does it all the time.


Tally is the sweetest little dog ever.
In July of 2007, I was doing a home visit for a VERY poor family. They had this little dog who had so much hair you couldn't see her eyes or even what breed of dog she was.
This little dog who had chunder stuck in her fur - looked up at me and said 'save me'! The family told me they were going to just put her out on the street because they couldn't pay for the pet rent. :(
I cried and whined to Ben until he caved and let me take her home.
She is the sweetest sneeziest dog ever :)

Strawberry Rain Gutters and Raves

Check it out. This is some thing I"m actually really excited about. Strawberries! Ben picked up this idea one day when we were in Logan. Ben used to work at a 'research farm' and we got a cool idea for what looked like strawberry waterfalls. :) Rain gutters build in a stair-like-fashion and let the foliage grow on down. It will look beautiful when the leaves fill out a little more.
We'll keep you up dated.

On to more person thoughts. Thoughts that I feel I have to keep coded - because of how public the internet is. With my job I have the "opportunity" to speak with many people. I learn of what good is happening with their family but more often, what is bad.
Can I just tell ya?
My heart is in pain. Just hurts all the time with the knowledge of how families are breaking down, how children are being hurt, how stresses are just ripping people apart from their very core. And it's just cruel - CRUEL to make me listen and have very little to offer in return. I really can't think about it or it over whelms me. It makes me want to go in my house, lock the door, and knit for the rest of my life.
So it's Wednesday night. I'm sitting on my coach in a total daze. Looking around my home asking why am I free of such suffering. It's not fair. Just feeling the ripples of other families HURTS. And my eyes were draw to the picture of the Savior we have in our home. A new thought comes to mind. How my heart aches for the families I talk to on a weekly basis - how many people are the in the country that are hurting... in the world... in the HISTORY of the world..... holy moses.
That's a lot of pain. Pain that if our Savior was to ever understand - would need to feel it too. Ouch. And that's just scratching the surface I'm sure.
I'm not really sure where I'm getting with this thought. Outside of the fact that I'm going to need counseling when this is all over.... I feel I need to gain a better and deeper appreciation for the Atonement. Taking the sins and pain and suffering and loneliness of the HUMAN RACE is not a little thing.
I would 'challenge' any reader to contemplate the thought - but only with an Ensign talk about the millennium near by.

Phases of the Beard

...yeah... I kinda like him.

Little Garden

For Ben's Birthday I made him little garden cupcakes. Note Reggie staying very close by...hoping I drop one..
Carrots, Peas, radishes, and cabbage. Wha hoo!

Dirt=Smashed up grasshopper cookies
Green frosting for foliage
M&M = peas and center of cabage
Flavored tootsie rolls for carrots, radishes, and pea pods
Corn flakes with green frosting for cabage leaves.
NOT HARD. :)

Falling Behind

I have about a thousand things to blog about but I have been so busy DOING them.... who has blogging time?
I'm going to try and pace myself over the next couple of days and I show ya what we have been up to.
For my birthday last week Ben bought me a $169 sewing machine! Yeah! Do I sew? Well, No. Not really. But I'm attracted to the idea of finishing a project in under 2 months. I love to knit - but it just takes SO LONG to finish something. And learning to sew has so many practical purposes for the future. Check out my singer! I love that it only has 4 buttons with a big START/STOP button. :)




It also allows me to do some pretty fun and funky designs. I haven't a clue when you would use them... but - meh!
My first sewing project was a couple a table runners for my mother in law - seasonal type things. I bought these 'pre packaged patterns' for the first.

The whole thing was a fantastic learning opportunity.
1. Measure 700 times. (TRY to ) cut once.
2. Cut your strips on counter - even though its super snug with space. The carpet won't give the most reliable surfaces for straight lines.
3. Starch and an ironing BOARD vs towel
4. The spirit and your machine go to bed at midnight.
5. Double sided table runners aren't such a good idea.
This is finished product any ways. I think Phyllis liked it anyways. I'm excited to try a couple more seasons. Starched and one sided.