Thursday, December 31, 2009

Porter '09 Recap

It's hard to believe that we have seen a decade come and go. I still remember Y2K. The year 2009 has been another good one. Every year we think about doing a letter or a photo card, but we have yet to do so. Maybe next year. :0) So this is our "sub" instead.

Porter Happenings of 2009:

* Dave tried a few new jobs at the beginning of
the year - car salesman, independent sales, and
he eventually ended up back at Deseret First.
* Bought a travel club membership.
* Took a trip to California using our travel
club, as a birthday/anniversary trip.
* Bought a hot tub.
* Dave's branch was robbed. The robbers were caught.
* Kim had her 3 year anniversary at her job,
a personal record...and still going.
* Did a few small home improvement projects here and there.

Here's looking to a great new year! Welcome 2010.

Monday, December 28, 2009

Funny Story, Not So Funny Story

Funny story - I had planned on making homemade pizza for dinner last night. I.E. I intended to make my own dough for the crust in our bread machine. Good plan, I thought. The first time I tried the recipe it turned out alright. The second time Dave really enjoyed it. The third time...ended in an explosion. The "dough" mix was all over the interior of the bread machine. So what went wrong? Apparently 2 3/4 cups of flour is NOT the same as 2 3/4 tablespoons of flour. I wasn't convinced when I started that there was enough flour, but for whatever reason I let it slide and basically did a flourless dough/mush puddle.

Not quite so funny story - You may recall a few entries back I wrote about Porters and pens. Apparently I wasn't as finished with that entry as I thought/would have liked. Saturday morning we went to the mall and bought Dave new work clothes. (They are way nice and he looks really good in them. Plus we got a killer deal on all the stuff we bought.) When we got home I planned on doing laundry. It was a few of Dave's "old" work clothes, none of the new stuff, and a lot of my clothes. I checked all the pockets, threw the clothes in the washer, and then the dryer. Easy enough right? Of course not. I went to check on the clothes after they had been partially dried, only to find that the stem of the blue gel pen was still in the dryer! That's right, round two of blue spots. Needless to say, I was somewhat displeased about this and frankly a little baffled that it would happen again. I believe Dave may have to take over doing the laundry or if anyone knows where I can sign up for laundry 101, please let me know. :0)

Friday, December 25, 2009

Porter Christmas '09

Well, this was Dave and my 5th Christmas together. We had a great day. We know that Christmas isn't just about the gifts, but admittedly we were pretty excited to actually have a few more presents under our tree this year. I got a new skillet and a blender, both of which are way cool. I also got a tripod for my camera, which I have already put to use. Dave got a table saw, which he plans on using to build a kayak and a gazebo in the spring. Dave's other wicked sweet gift was a picture of Fenway Park in Boston where the Red Sox play.

For the first time we just spent the day by ourselves. We have always gone up to Cache Valley and visited both of our parents. We love to see them, but it was nice to just relax at home and not feel so rushed. In the afternoon we went to my aunt's house in West Valley where we played our traditional family Bingo. Dave and I made out like bandits this year.

In remembering the true meaning of Christmas, we our very grateful for our Savior Jesus Christ - for his example and life. I enjoy this time of year and seeing everyone give a little more and show more patience and love. It is our hope that we, and everyone, will strive to carry the spirit of Christmas with us throughout the year...as the saying goes. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of our friends and family.

Thursday, December 24, 2009

UHC Holiday Party

This one is a few days late, but this year we had a Christmas party at my work. We usually do, but I'm pretty sure last year it just didn't happen. We had our holiday get-together at one of our doctors home this year. It was a first for me, but I guess they have done it before in the past. At any rate, it was a lot of fun. We weren't there a really long time, but I think it's always nice to see co-workers/friends outside the office. We had good food and just visited.

After we left, Dave and I went to my doctor's house. I made a Cache Valley gift basket for him and his family. Oh I wish I had taken a picture! I meant to, but then didn't do it before passing it off. It turned out Awesome! I put Cox honey, Gossner "squeaky cheese," flavored milk, Old Grist Mill cinnamon bread, Bluebird Candy chocolates, Pepperidge Farm goldfish and cookies, and some fudge and pickles my mom had made. It really was quite impressive and I think it turned out really well. (I was hoping that maybe he'd say thanks, but no thanks; and I could just take it home with me.)

Now we're only a day away from Christmas. I got to have the day off, which I needed this week. I ended up going and picking up a few last minute things. Now if only my Sweetheart could come home too. He's up at work for a few more hours, but then hopefully we can just relax and spend some much wanted time at home together.

Monday, December 21, 2009

Porters & Pens

Last week was very trying. It was NOT a good week for Porters and pens. Last Tuesday, after 3 1/2 years, I sent one of Dave's gel pens through the laundry. Congrats to me! I try so hard to check pockets, etc, but I missed this one. So, all of Dave's work pants, a few dress shirts, some of my work clothes, and then a few other things...all came out blue. You would think that was the highlight of our week, but it gets better.

Wednesday, Dave was talking to one of the credit union VP's, telling him about what happened Tuesday. The VP started laughing, and Dave assumed he was laughing about the story. When the VP got up, Dave looked down to find that the pen he had in his pocket had leaked - leaving a lovely pen spot on yet another shirt.

On Thursday Dave was looking for some pants to wear. Lucky for him I had bought some dress pants about a month ago. Unfortunately the store clerk didn't remove the security clip when I bought the pants. (I didn't pay attention.) So Dave thought he could just take it off himself. If you didn't know, there is a glass cartridge filled with ink that breaks when if you try to remove the security tag yourself.

That was our week in a nutshell. We did actually manage to make it through Friday without any pen incidents. Hooray! I also got my present from my doctor, a gift card to JCPenney...to buy new clothes. We certainly appreciated it and definitely needed it.

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Saturday/Sunday Summary

Another weekend come and gone. It was sure a good one though. Friday night was our ward party at church, but we didn't make it. We were still up in the city at work. It was based around "The Polar Express," which we love. So I presume it was a lot of fun.

Yesterday I got to get together with the other MA's for our "annual" Christmas brunch and gift exchange. We all brought a part of the meal and a present for a pre-determined gift exhange. We did this last year and it turned out pretty well. So we tried it again. Another success! Next weekend we have my office holiday party. We're having it at one of our doctors house this year. I'm looking forward to it.

In Porter family tradition, once December hits we bust out the holiday movies. Some of them are classics and others are just fun. We've watched a number of Christmas movies the last couple of weeks, with several more to go. Since we got what I would call the first decent snow of the year this weekend, we got to watch "The Polar Express"...with hot chocolate. (One of our favorite traditions.) We love this time of year and the spirit of the holidays that comes with it.

Saturday, December 12, 2009

DFCU Party '09

This year for Dave's Christmas party we had dinner at the Lion House in downtown Salt Lake City. They had it on a Thursday night, which was a little hard...especially Friday morning, but it was nice to see Dave's co-workers outside the office. In light of the tough economic times, we were glad they even had a party. It was Dave's branch and the downtown Deseret First branch.

While we were waiting, they did a couple of games, a Christmas movie quiz and a holiday word scramble. We won the word scramble and got a gift certificate to Texas Roadhouse. Yum! For the dinner we had salad, roast beef, mashed potatoes, vegetables, rolls, and cake. The food was awesome.

After we ate we did a white elephant gift exchange. It was fun, but we were a little put out by Dave's gift. He got a bag of used health and beauty stuff - i.e. lotion, shampoo, a nail file, etc. I realize that the point of a white elephant gift is not to buy some elaborate gift, but we decided the best description for this one would be inappropriate. Oh well. I ended up with a Barack Obama puzzle and a dating book. (I know you're all so jealous.)

So despite getting home at 10:30 and getting the short end of the stick on the gift exchange (we took decent presents) it was fun, and again nice to see people outside the office. Honestly it has been a little tough lately in Dave's job, but we are grateful he currently has a job.

Monday, December 7, 2009

To Chocolate or Not to Chocolate...

...that is NOT even a question! Every year (the last 5 years Dave and I have been together for the holidays,) we have made Needhams - a chocolate coconut, Mounds-type candy. We are ever improving in the materials we use, efficiency, and expansion of ideas.

This year we have been able to do approx 40 Needhams/hour. I realize that may not sound so impressive number, but in reality it's a vast improvement from where we started several years ago. Not too bad considering there are only 1-2 of us working on them at a time.

At any rate, this year we made the chocolates in snowman molds. It turned out pretty well. We also tried doing different flavors in the filling. We made mint, orange, cherry, raspberry, and strawberry. A couple of people have tried the flavors and we've gotten a good response on it.

So, the chocolate-making efforts continue. In doing a calculation last night, we have 130-140 done and only 4 or 5 more batches...or maybe a few more to go. :0)

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

And There Were Lights!

Over the weekend we got the place decorated for the holidays. Here are a few pictures.

Our outside lights.

The tree.

The family.