Seals, and Witches, and Birthdays, OH MY!

We here at Mealy Monterey Adventures (MMA) were overjoyed when we found out that the Benson family had chosen us to spend their spring Break with us, over all their other Central Costal Californian fictitious travel entity options.  I only had to work on Monday and was thus able to be a full time tour guide.

DAY ONE: We started off the week w/ everyone's first trip to the "World famous" Monterey Aquarium.

The only pictures I got at the Aquarium. At the photo opportunity in "The Secret Lives of Sea-horses"

I felt it was way too Sea World like, and I'd rather dig my eyes out with rusty spoons than go to that cursed place again. But my mom fell in love w/ the Sea Otters, having to be forcibly dragged away from their tank.

It was also my Otter loving Mom's Birthday!!! We celebrated with a Peanut Butter Pie and the traditional Benson goofy hats (note my Dad looking like a Unicorn.) My mom is a gem. I could go on and on about how awesome Mom is, but lets just leave it with my Mom is better than your Mom. No battle, game over.


DAY TWO: We ventured up to Frisco to see WICKED. Its unfortunate that my sisters' first view of San Fran was the downtown area of the Orpheum theater. A homeless guy covered in blood vomited near Katheryn, and Anna was hit on by a probable drug dealer ("Hey girl, damn you're fine, how you doin?").  The play though was more than awesome. And I dare you to tell me to stop signing "Defying Gravity". I've always said Villains are just misunderstood.

DAY THREE: We went on the Alcatraz Early Bird tour. It was my second time, but as enjoyable and interesting as the first. I love history, and criminals, and boat rides. Win, win, win.

We also decided on a whim to hike up to "Morador" aka "Coit Tower." Lets just say its looks cooler from down in the city...

And of course, the walk across the bridge. 1,000 people have killed themselves off that bridge. Fortunately none from MMA (the Aquarium wasn't that bad).

DAY FOUR: One thing we here at MMA are unable to offer our visitors is warm weather. Or on this day, dry weather. It was raining cats and dogs, but the seals had to be seen. We ventured Ano Nuevos, bought flimsy ponchos, got soaked on the 2 hour tour, but amazingly still had fun. The seals were super active in the rain, trying to learn to swim in the puddles.

This guy freaked me out. He kept getting closer and closer. Even going under the little rope barrier. He wanted to eat me.

Doing strange neck exercises to limber up. To come eat me. 

DAY FIVE: The sun came out and it was time to commune with nature. We went on a great hike through Point Lobos. It was such a neat park, we saw tons of seals and at least one of Mom's furry loves, the otter.

The only thing that could have made our MMA better? Kiersty Kat! She sadly had mid-terms that she refused to blow off for our epic adventure. She will have to come soon for her own custom MMA.

 Tears were shed from the tour guide's eyes as my group left. Oh how I miss my beloved family, pets, and St. George. But I'll be okay. I'll keep singing show tunes to myself, and clicking my heels, "There's no place like home, There's no place like home."

Serenity to Accept the Things You Cannot Change

No news on what is going to happen as far as Dan's school. He still has to go to PT at 5 am, then class, then study hall every day! Its pretty frustrating doing all the work and knowing that its going nowhere. Dan is tired of it, and I can't blame him. I tried to comfort him w/ my deep religous knowledge recently.


Lauren: I have a good scripture for this situation
Dan: Do share.
Lauren : "May God grant you the serenity to accept the things you cannot change."
Dan: Thats not a scripture
Lauren: Pretty sure its in Psalms. 
Dan: Its the AA Prayer. Look it up.


A google search yielded less than favorable results for me. Turns out, its the AA prayer. But I still like it. The whole thing is even better than my memorized excerpt. 

Also, I am still cursed. I was having a bad day at work and then had a 2 hour Relief society meeting and then my Frye boots finally came and they didn't fit (talk about trauma)! The grand finale came as I pulled into our tiny garage space at 9 at night. And hit the pole. And broke my mirror off. 

On a happier note, we went on an adventure. Mark and Leana had heard of this state park w/ Elephant seals so went to see them. 

After an 1.5 hour drive and a stop for Falafel, we made it to Ana Nuevo State Park. It had pretty coast, and best of all lots of ELEPHANT SEALS.

Giant Beta Elephant Seals!

Cute Little Weaning Pup Elephant seals!

Angry Elephant Seals

Lots of Relaxing Elephant Seals

Don't the Elephant Seals' tummies looks super soft? I really wanted to run up and pet one. 

Me resisting the urge to rub the velvety tummies of the Elephant Seals behind me!

Twas a successful Adventure. Seals were seen. Shwarma was eaten. Friends were had fun with. And did I mention there were Elephant Seals involved? Next week holds many more adventures in store as my Family was so convinced by Rick and Denise's rave reviews of MMA (Mealy Monterey Adventures), that they are coming for one of their own!

In keeping with my goals for the New Year, my new recipe was this Apple German Pancake. Dan didn't like it, so I ate the whole dang thing. Thus negating any potential benefit of my other goal of daily exercise. I still compare myself too much and eat too much unhealthy food. But sometimes you have to have the serenity to accept the things you cannot change. 

One of those TAG things....

I’m not huge on these tag things. But I enjoyed reading Branda’s. And not too long ago I found something like this that I had filled out in 6th Grade. I’m glad my life hasn't turned out quite like 6th grade Lauren hoped:  25 years old, not married but have 2 Dobermans, be a Lawyer, drive a blue mustang convertible, and play the flute. Awesome life, eh? I have a feeling maybe in 10 years I’ll feel the same way about some things on my new list as do about blue mustang convertibles now.

Eight things I'm Passionate About:

My Sunbeams 

Converting them from their heathenish ways 
and making them still like me during the process 
(at least for now they like rubbing my textured tights and napping in my lap.)

Reading
Anything and Everything: Blogs, Books, Real Simple magazine, 
and sometimes the back issues of salacious things
 like Glamour and Maxium I save from the trash at work.

     Food

Buying it (going grocery shopping is fun! For real), 
cooking it, eating it, reading about. I just love food.

     My Family: 

Dan, Parents & Sisters, Zaza Meowy and Cedric, 
select grandparents aunts/uncles & cousins.

    Education/Work  

In the time I was unemployed and out of school I felt so worthless. 
Sure, some mornings I’m not quite in the mood to get up for 
another day of Botoxing or doing Independent Study philosophy.
 But I need it.  Dare I say I am “passionate” about it.  
Politics/ World Knowledge 

I enjoy arguing with people. And politics is perfect for that.

Being a Good Person  

I love the daily reminders of what an influence 
a good person has on those around them. 
Just one patient being super kind and friendly 
can make my whole day.
I want to be that person for other people.

     Sleeping and Eating. 

  Without 8 hours of sleep and proper feedings
 every 4 hours I start to, as my dad says, "melt".
Dan says I turn into a monster. haha. 

Eight Word/Phrases I use Most often:

So, you were thinking about doing some Botox today?

  What areas were you thinking about for Liposuction?

 Im asking what YOU want for dinner.

We need to raise our hands if we want to talk, little friends.

 Can we go to Pizza Hut instead?

Speak English to me!

Interesting...

You don't even love me.

Eight things I want to Do before I DIE

1) Get my Degree! At least a BA but I’m shooting for a Masters.

2) Have cool kids

3)Learn French and improve my Arabic

 4)Live abroad and utilize said languages

5)Be a good person/wife/mother/sister/daughter 
(and all that entails)

 6) Own a Range Rover, and iPhone, and Frye Boots 
(I’m still shallow.)

 7)Have a nice home that people love to visit

 8)Keep busy till the end and die peacefully and swiftly
 (I have a fear of becoming and invalid in a care center.) 

Eight Places I want to Visit:

1) New York (never been + we could see darling red headed painting niece)

2) Iguaza Falls ( Brazilian/Argentine Border)

 3) Paris (need to learn French first)

4) All of Israel (I want to live in Tel Aviv. Bad)

5) Lebanon/Syria (need to learn more Arabic first)

6) Thailand/Cambodia/Laos 

(to scuba dive and eat their food and ride an elephant like my mom and Kat)

7) Egypt w/ My family 

(But probably not my Dad and Anna. They wouldn’t like it)

 8) St. George. Still best place on Earth

Eight Favorite Restaurants 

1.     Café Rio (my first true love)

2.     Texas Roadhouse

3.  The Cafeteria at the University of Amman

(They serve French Fry Sandwiches covered in Fry Sauce. SO GOOD. and SO BAD.)

4.     The Pie

5.     Charlie Chow’s

6.     Pizza hut

7.     Jack-n- the Box (I know)

8.     PF Changs

Eight Shows I watch:

We don’t have cable, but that doesn’t stop me. But I can’t think of 8.

1.     Glee! Oh how I miss every Thursday having a Glee Party with Dan. He likes it, but won’t admit it.

2.     Dexter (I watch the first two season over and over.)

3.     Arrested Development (all time favorite. Have every episode memorized.)

4.     The News (I watch it at the Gym. Fitness + CNN = nirvana)

5.     Umm I watch Al-Jazzera online sometimes.

6.     We watch a lot of random movies via Netflix watch it Instantly

Eighth Picture from Eighth Album

Branda and I modeling overpriced and oversized Hollister fur. Still have that vest. Still wear that vest. Don't hate. 

Eight People I Tag:

This is the hardest section. I barely know Eight people. And some people passionately hate these things. Dare I say abhor them. So do it if you want, I’d love to learn more about you.  But if you don't want to and hate me for suggesting it, thats cool too. And who knows, maybe 10 yrs from now it will be funny to look back on. 

1. Rebecca

2. Leana

3. Aimee

4. Jenni

5. Stacie

6. Haylee

7. Jane

8. Danielle

I love Commercialism

 I think I’ve already established my money saving prowess. I have the best of intentions, and really try to budget, but I suck at it. Latest penny pinching tip: So I have 9 different things to mail, and 30 minutes before I have to bring Dan his PT clothes and get to my Zumba class. And I’ll be darned if I am late AND retarded looking at my Zumba class. So I hurry off to the post office. I have a few things to mail that I hadn’t boxed. The Post Office was really small and I could only see one size of box, too large for my stuff, but decided they would have to do. So I get everything taped up and addressed, doing good on time. Get up to mail my stuff, the dude scans everything and puts it in different bins, and then gives me my total. $60! So those big boxes are apparently “flat rate boxes.” Doesn’t matter that I had like 2 ounces of stuff in them and were going all the way to Utah. They were each $10 bucks a pop. Yeah, note to self: DON’T USE THE FLAT RATE BOXES.  

 We had the pleasure this holiday weekend of entertaining our first guests here at “MEALY MONTEREY ADVENTURES (MMA).” Dan’s parents came for a visit! I still had to work Friday, so Dan took over tour guide duties. A trip to the aquarium as well as a visit to Marina Dunes and the gathering of the following treasures constituted Friday’s activities:

Saturday we went on a tour of Point Sur lighthouse. This was a one time thing. Subsequent “MEALY MONTEREY ADVENTURES” will not include said THREE HOUR TOUR. I get ADD just blogging about that tour. I mean, lighthouse = cool. Awesome scenery = cool. Three hours of non-interesting facts and following slow people = so not cool.

 We enjoyed getting to spend time w/ Dan’s parents and hope they enjoyed their MMA.  Want your own MMA? Of course you do! How could you not? Just drive the 13 hrs from Utah, we take care of the rest.

On to Sunday: I love Valentines day. It’s so unabashedly commercial. There’s no “real meaning of Valentines” or “ a reason for the season” that you have to feel guilty about not really remembering.

We got an awesome Valentine from our niece. Really, is there anything cuter than a little red headed baby painting her own Valentines? (The answer is No.) Richard & Denise were actually going to visit her this weekend, but their flights got cancelled due to the crazy east coast storms. So we were their second choice. Totally understandable, that baby is way cooler than us.

 V-day started out when Dan made me blueberry heart shaped pancakes. Delicious. And you know how I love to photography my food.

 Being that it was Sunday, we did a Sabbath Kosher dinner at home instead of our traditional Pizza Hut. It was still fancy, we ate on REAL plates (not paper), and busted out some champagne glasses and candle stick holders that we got for our wedding and surprisingly rarely use. There was even RED meat involved that I touched (albeit with protective gloves.) 

Nothing says “I LOVE YOU” like a shoot ‘em up video game and a box of candy. I think See’s candies are gross, and thus in my mind they are cheap. THIS IS NOT SO. It wasn’t until I had already loaded a box full that I learned that they are in fact kinda pricey, and the stupid heart shaped box alone is $5. Lauren The Money Saver strikes again!

I was the recipient of flowers! (non-roses per my request) jazzy valentine socks, and a dazzling earring necklace set. Good job Dan! It was a successful awesomely commercial holiday. 

Huzzah and happy valentines to all!

Straight Up Cursed

I am fairly certain I am cursed. Explanation: Thursday night I’m at the gym, doing my thing on an elliptical. I go to change the song on Dan’s iPod (I haven’t owned my own iPod in 5 years) and then somehow the iPod falls out of the cup holder. No big deal. Hop off the elliptical to retrieve the iPod off the ground. Except, its not on the ground. I lay on my stomach, look all around. Move the elliptical. Look around all the surrounding ellipticals. Look behind the row of bikes. Scour the entire cardio room. A man even tipped my machine upside down for me (it wasn’t long before several people were aiding me in my quest – super embarrassing). No avail.

The thing got sucked into a black hole. I barely scraped by in Physics class, but I’m working out the equations to explain it. It’s the only plausible answer. Now poor Dan is out an iPod (containing lots of irreplaceable music) and I’m now known as the Crazy iPod loser at the Gym.

Dan, though sad at the loss was pretty nice about the whole situation, though he’s sure it was just an elaborate plot to justify me getting an iPhone. I’ve been coveting them for a while now. I just know that if I had one I would be happy, forever. There has gotta be an app that guarantees that.

Just when I’m positive I’m cursed, the universe throws me a bone. The doctor I work for is super generous. He has taken Dan and I out to dinner several times to the fanciest restaurants in Monterey (which are seriously fancy.) There’s no other way we’d be dining at five star restaurants and ordering $50 plates that include foie gras or crème fraiche. Saturday I got another chance to pretend to be rich and fancy.

We have a patient that owns a really popular boutique in Carmel, and instead of paying her bills at our office, she adds it to an “account” at her store. So Natalie (my co-worker) and I got to go cash in on the Doctor’s account at the boutique. Holy cats, a plain white tank top in that store: $120. It was amazing getting designer clothes for free, but at the same time I kept thinking how many iPhones I could buy with all that clothes money…

Because Dan and I are such die-hard football fans (read: we didn’t know who was playing) we decided the Super-Bowl called for the purchase of a charcoal grill.

We (I did the prep, Dan actually grilled) made some Grilled Pizzas. Bit of a learning curve at the beginning, but we got them down. Unfortunately our beloved Colts (we choose them cause everyone else there was cheering for the Saints), lost. See! More proof I’m cursed – I single handedly brought Peyton Manning down.
The only thing to do when cursed? Eat. It makes one feel better. Then brings on a new curse of not fitting in your jeans. Some new things I made this week that I’d actually make again:

These Pancakes with this Syrup/Carmel

And these Cookies!