Happy Tax Day!

I was watching The View this morning and they were adding up all the taxes we pay that we don't always think about. Taxes on our phone bill, gas bill, etc. I thought it was interesting and really quickly added up the taxes we paid this past month excluding our 8.25% sales tax here in Los Angeles and our state and federal income taxes.

Fuel: $37.80

• 18 cents per gallon state excise tax
• 14 cents per gallon other state taxes
• 18.4 cents per gallon federal taxes

Phone: $8.95

• Federal excise tax - 74 cents
• Utility User's Tax - $5.22
• Funding to support the Public Utilities Commission - 8 cents
• 911 State Tax - 23 cents
• Temp. surcharge as allowed by Public Utilities Commission - $1.07
• California Relay Service and Communications Devices Fund - 10 cents
• CHCF-B and the CASF - 23 cents
• California Teleconnect Fund surcharge - 6 cents
• CA Universal Lifeline Telephone Service - 53 cents
• CA High Cost Fund-A - 6 cents
• Federal Universal Service Fee - $2.10

Department of Water and Power: $13.59

• City utility tax - $12.07
• Multi-family bulky item fee (WTH???) - 2 months - $1.28
• State energy surcharge - 24 cents

Gas Company: $4.51

• State Regulatory Fee - 2 cents
• Public Purpose Surcharge - $1.17
• Los Angeles City Users Tax - $3.32

Cell: $6.21

• CA State 911 Fee - 44 cents
• CA State High Cost Fund (B) - 21 cents
• CA Teleconnect Fund Surcharge - 11 cents
• CA State High Cost Fund (A) - 11 cents
• Lifeline Surcharge - CA - 97 cents
• CA Advanced Services Fund (CASF) - 21 cents
• CA Relay Service /Comm Device Fund - 17 cents
• Redondo Beach City Uut (funny because we don't even live in Redondo) - $3.99

GRAND TOTAL: $71.06

Now, I'm not complaining about paying taxes per se. I'd just like to know what these are and what I'm paying for!

Sun Valley 2

Only a few months late. Snowshoeing. It was AWESOME!

Wordless Friday - I never remember on Wednesdays!

We're going to the zoo, zoo, zoo, how about you, you you?

A couple weekends ago, we took our nephews to the Los Angeles zoo. It was quite the adventure with a 6 month old! We had fun and saw lots of monkeys and some cool spiders. Of course, I forgot to charge our camera before we left, so we only got a handful of pictures before the camera died. Please excuse the absolutely horrible picture of me. We had watched the kids the night before and the little one was up at 5am and I never was able to get back to sleep. Guess that's what's in my future, huh?

My VENT with parking garage lady

Location: parking lot at Dr's office

Scene: Person driving car ahead of me approximately 50 feet ahead. I see somebody pulling out on my right, so I signal and wait for the spot. 50 feet ahead of me, I see car making a 10 point turn in middle of parking garage. I pull into the spot I was waiting for. I get out of car.

Person driving car that had been 50 feet ahead and made 10 point turn is now behind my car.

Driver lady: "Thanks for THAT!"
Me: [stares at her with a "what?" expression] Excuse me?
Driver lady: You took my spot!
Me: You just turned around and came back this way. [being the nice person I am] Would you like me to move?
Driver lady: NO! [drives away]

WTH?????

Happy 29!!!

Happy Birthday my love! I love you lots lots!

10 things I love about you:

1. Funny

2. Smart

3. Caring

4. Your smile

5. The way you look at me when you think I'm being funny

6. Your kisses

7. The way you treat your family

8. That you're conscientious

9. The way you love your niece and nephews

10. The way you love ME.

It's Valentine's Day

I love Miles because...

he lets me put my cold feet on him in bed to warm them up.

Wordless Monday?

Garth Brooks

We went to the Garth Brooks concert at Staples Center last weekend. It was a fundraiser for the fire victims. Can I just say it was AMAZING. Best concert I've ever been to. We ended up sitting in a box with some friends which was great because there was food and we could move around. And Trisha came out and sang with him. It was awesome! I do have some pics on my cell phone, but I'll have to figure out how to get them off of there and onto here.

Happy Birthday Kate!

You are my best friend and I love you. Happy 21! Wish I could be there to celebrate with you!

Sun Valley - Part 1

Sorry for the lack of updates. My computer bit the dust and I'm not getting a new one until Sunday or Monday. So, I still don't have a complete Sun Valley update since only a few pictures are on this computer, but I'll start anyway.

We took two cars, four people in each, on the 15 hour drive. I have to say, I've done the drive so many times now that I completely know what to expect, which is awful food at truckstops, fairly ugly scenery through Nevada, and the possibility of crappy weather. And we got it all.

We left on Christmas Day and drove to Vegas. It was kind of fun to spend the night at The Palms for $89. We had dinner at a Thai restaurant (no idea of the name) with my uncle and his girlfriend who lives in Vegas. It was a different Christmas dinner than we normally have but still fun. Miles won a little at poker, my mom won $25 on the nickel slots and I didn't gamble as usual. We were all in bed by midnight since we were leaving at 7 the next morning.

This is what we saw on the drive from Vegas to the Idaho border. Note the Suburban we're following. That's our other car...fun fun. And that's pretty crappy weather to drive in since it consists of a bunch of ice...ick. Luckily, my dad drove one car and my brother drove the other car the whole way so I didn't have to drive. We finally got to Sun Valley in time for dinner and it was COLD. I mean, it was so much colder than usual (way below normal). It was 2 degrees without windchill. It's normally in the high 20s, low 30s. And it stayed like that for most of our trip.


Since that's all the pictures I have on this computer, I'll update more later. However, the rest of the trip consisted of snowboarding, visiting with family (live in MN, but were in ID for vacation too), and snowshoeing which was SO MUCH FUN and gorgeous. Oh, and then there was New Year's which I do have a picture of, albeit not a very good one. Why do I look exhausted?

Happy 2008!!!


Since, I can't leave you with just pictures of the road through Nevada, I will leave you with a bunch of pictures from previous trips to Sun Valley.

2004

2004

2005

My parent's property - 2005 - you can't see because it's snowing, but Baldy (the ski mountain) is in the back

2005 - White out conditions. This is when you really shouldn't be on the mountain because you can't see anything in front of you or the cliffs on the sides. But, we had to get down the mountain. On the way, I got stuck in powder and couldn't stand up.

2005 - So Ryan came up to help me, he and Miles laughing the entire time (Miles is taking the pictures)

2005 - But I finally got up on my own, where I proceeded down as quickly as possible. Miles and Ryan went to go do "jumps" in the powder.

2006

2006

Happy 16th Birthday Con!

And good luck at the DMV! I love you tons and can't believe you're 16!!!

Happy Birthday Ry!!!

You're a wonderful brother, and a great man. I love you!

Uggg...

My sister's apartment was broken into and they took a brand new tv (and the box that was in the closet), new dvd player (and its box), her laptop and her ipod. They broke in through a window. She just moved in a couple days ago and now she's scared to stay there (I don't blame her). And get this, none of her roommate's stuff was stolen, probably since her room is on the street side and her light was on, so people might have seen something. At least nobody was home when they broke in and my mom is still there with her. I feel so bad for her.

I started a cooking blog!

So I don't overload everyone with my new recipes, I've started a cooking blog. Enjoy!

Vegetable Soup

Ok, so I have started on my New Year's resolution. I made vegetable soup tonight. It was really good, good for you, and super easy. My changes are in blue.

Vegetable Soup

Courtesy of Real Simple: Meals Made Easy

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large yellow onion, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
3 14.5-ounce cans low-sodium chicken broth
1/2 pound Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
2 small zucchini, chopped
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves or 1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
3 handfuls stelline - star shaped pasta - could use any small pasta
1 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes
1/4 pound green beans, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 cup chopped broccoli
Grated Parmesan (optional)
1 baguette, sliced and toasted (optional)

Heat the oil in a large saucepan or stockpot over medium-high heat. Add the onion, carrots, and celery and cook until softened but not browned, about 5 minutes. Add the broth, 1 cup of water, the potatoes, thyme, and salt (also zucchini, pepper, crushed red pepper, and pasta). Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover partially, and simmer for 15 minutes. Add the tomatoes, green beans, and broccoli, return to a simmer, and cook until the vegetables are tender, 5 to 10 minutes. Ladle the soup into bowls, sprinkle with the Parmesan (if using), and serve with the baguette slices (if using).

Yield: Makes 4 servings

NUTRITION PER SERVING
CALORIES 239(38% from fat); FAT 10g (sat 1g); SUGAR 8g; PROTEIN 10mg; CHOLESTEROL 0mg; SODIUM 542mg; FIBER 6g; CARBOHYDRATE 31g; IRON 2mg

My New Year's Resolution

My New Year's Resolution is to make at least one new recipe a week. We just got back from Sun Valley (post to come in the next few days) and we were there for their big cookbook sale (50% off all cookbooks.) So of course I bought 4 new cookbooks to add to my only slightly used collection.

I got the following...








I'll keep you updated on my progress!