This weekend John and I dumped Wes off at another family’s house, got a 4-star hotel off Priceline.com for 40% off, and spent a couple nights in The Big City.

Travel Savvy Tip: Before you bid on a hotel on Priceline.com go to betterbidding.com or biddingfortravel.com to see what rate other people have been winning hotel stays with. These Web sites also teach you about “free rebids” and how to use them to maximize your bidding experience.

Friday night we ate dinner at Christopher’s. It was perfect: ambiance lighting, soft jazzy music, and delicious food. As we ate we realized it had been a long time since we had gone out for a nice dinner together, just the two of us. It was nice.

Travel Savvy Tip: When you stay at a nice hotel, book your dinner reservation through the concierge. First, it saves you the hassle of doing it yourself, and second, often they have partnerships with area restaurants and can offer you discounts or special offers.

We got a free appetizer coupon through our concierge, but we ended up not using it because we were eating early enough to order their early bird special–four courses for $28. I had shrimp cocktail (yum), green salad (yum), Parmesan encrusted halibut (oh my gosh yum) with mashed potatoes and green beans, and for dessert bread pudding (on the floor dying of yumness).

I ordered the bread pudding because they were out of creme brulee, but normally I’m not a big fan of bread pudding. This was until I met Christopher’s bread pudding that’s served warm dripping with caramelized butter sauce. Every bite melts in your mouth and makes you think, “Oh my gosh! This is GOOD!”

The halibut, too, I was surprised by, probably because I don’t eat a lot of fish and the only other halibut I’d had was at Magleby’s (the place that tries to pass itself off as a nice restaurant but is really sub-standard–except for their chocolate cake, which is made by someone outside the restaurant named Lenora and is really to die for), and let’s just say the fish at Magleby’s Was. Not. Good. But the Parmesan encrusted halibut at Christopher’s was juicy and tasty and melted in your mouth. So glad I got that.

After dinner we walked around Temple Square.

There was a concert in the Tabernacle by the Orchestra on Temple Square. It had already started by the time we got there.

We waited outside, and during a break between songs we were allowed in. We heard a song by a 12-year-old virtuoso pianist from Hong Kong and then an orchestra piece by Wagner. I play the cello and love orchestra concerts, so this was a nice treat.

After the concert we walked to the Joseph Smith Memorial Building and watched the movie about Joseph Smith. It was sad. Good, but sad. It’s hard to watch a lifetime of trials and hardship condensed into an hour and ten minutes. But it put me in awe of how faithful and obedient Joseph was even when he didn’t know God’s plan for him. No matter your religious background or personal beliefs, you should admire Joseph’s willingness to obey faithfully.

Saturday was actually the reason we came to Salt Lake City. I attended a Zumba instructor training workshop. It’s meant for people who want to teach Zumba but never have. Because I already teach Zumba and am a member of the Instructor Network I could take the workshop for half price.

It was a good review and so much fun! One of my students-turned-instructor was there, which made it even more fun. That’s her on the left, with Lindsey (who led the workshop), and me.

We jammed all day long with the merengue, cumbia, salsa, and reggaeton. It was great to meet the new soon-to-be-instructors, and I set some new goals for myself as a Zumba instructor.

Back at the hotel John and I went swimming, sat in the hot tub, and visited the sauna. The hot tub and sauna felt SO GOOD. And normally I don’t like saunas. They’re too hot. But it felt good on my body after being so active all day long.

Travel Savvy Tip: Before you travel someplace go to Tripadvisor.com and research your hotel, restaurants, and activities. There’s a wealth of information there from other travelers who have been there, done that, so you can know before you go what to expect.

We came home on Sunday and picked up Wesley. He didn’t seem to miss us at all. I didn’t hear much about what he did while we were gone, except that he went to two basketball games, got a pony ride, and had a lot of fun.

When I woke up this morning I had a plan:

1) Clean kitchen: Do dishes, clean sink, wipe counters, put away clutter, etc.

2) Water plants.

3) Do laundry: Baby laundry, whites, bedding.

4) Get through enormous list of things I’ve been meaning to catch up on for a week: Emails, phone calls, bills to pay, stuff for church calling, etc.

5) Feed family: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

6) Prepare stuff for my Zumba classes this week.

7) Exercise.

8) Lift weights.

9) Attend friend’s Zumba class.

I should have added:

10) Maintain sanity whilst kissing my goals goodbye.

The reality of today:

1) Cleaned kitchen: Did dishes, cleaned sink, wiped counters, put away clutter, etc. The kitchen was so clean I kept looking at it and smiling.

2) Watered plants. My outside plants were getting crispy and hovering on the brink of death, but now I think they’ll make it.

3) Started laundry. Got the whites in the washer, dryer, and then put away. Got the baby laundry in washer, is still in dryer. Got 1/2 of bedding in the washer. Is still there. Other half of bedding still on laundry room floor.

4) Started to get through enormous list of things I’ve been meaning to catch up on for a week. Responded to five emails. Made three phone calls. Paid one bill. Did not get to church calling stuff or variety of other Important Stuff categorized under “etc.”

5) Fed family (including John as he’s always home). John ate everything I gave him. Wes threw most of his food on the floor. I tried a new recipe for dinner, during which time Wes helped himself to the lower shelves in the pantry, dumped out a container of wheat, scattered pudding boxes, granola bars, and mixing bowls all across the floor, and then whined for my attention.

6) Prepare stuff for my Zumba classes this week.

7) Exercise.

8) Lift weights.

9) Attend friend’s Zumba class.

New To-Do List to Finish before I Go to Bed Tonight:

1) Sweep up loose wheat grains. Put away pantry items. Put away mixing bowls.

2) Put away leftover food from dinner.

3) Re-do dishes. Re-clean sink. Re-wipe counters. Put away clutter again.

4) Change out of exercise clothes I’ve been wearing since noon, thinking I’d have a few minutes to exercise, or prepare stuff for my Zumba classes, or lift weights, or make it to my friend’s Zumba class.

5) Make new list for tomorrow.

Lately a few people in my Zumba classes have been asking how old I am. When I tell them they usually respond like this lady I taught on Friday (imagine Spanish accent): “Twenty-eight? You look like twenty. Or TEENager! No twenty-eight!”

But alas, it is true. Yesterday I turned 28. We didn’t have any candles except for the ones leftover from John’s 31st birthday, but John creatively made them do.

I admit I had low expectations for my birthday this year. I wasn’t terribly excited. But it turned out to be one of the happiest days I’ve had in a long time.

First off, John took me shopping on Saturday. At the mall. With Wesley. Who was Fussy. I mean, does this man love me, or what?

I didn’t know what he ended up buying until last night. I tried to argue that he didn’t have to buy me anything, but I lost that battle pretty fast. I ended up with two nice (and inexpensive) dresses. He also got me a shirt that has stripes because he says I don’t wear stripes enough. Problem solved.

As for the jeans… Long, long ago when I started trying to lose weight I told John my goal was to fit into the same brand and size of jeans I vaguely recall wearing in high school, which were Gap size 5. By the end of high school (after I started working nights at a cafeteria) I had gained weight and didn’t fit into those jeans anymore. And then I went to college and gained more weight. I know jean sizes vary greatly brand to brand, so sometimes the numbers are relative, but I think my biggest size was 11/12 in Juniors (which would be a 10 in Misses? Why are women’s sizes so complicated?). Anyway, after I lost a little weight I was a size 8 for a long time. Then I remember a couple years ago visiting Gap (I usually don’t shop there) and trying to squeeze into size 6 and ending up with baaaad muffin top, and I’m not sure I could even button them up. I probably blocked that memory. Since starting to teach Zumba my tummy has trimmed and toned up enough that I ended up with–Ta Da!–size 4 jeans. Now, it’s possible that Gap has done that size inflation thing that’s supposed to boost your self esteem (where they take a size 6 and rename it size 4). If they did, it worked. So this is how I ended up with two pair of Gap jeans for my birthday. Thank you, John.

The other thing he surprised me with was a box of hand-picked chocolates from See’s Candy. No one has ever given me a box of chocolates before. Ever. I know it’s a small thing, but it just made me feel kind of special. And, yes, that’s a bite taken out of the piece in the middle. Because it’s my own box and I can do that.

Plus my big brother sent me flowers. I don’t remember ever having flowers delivered on my birthday. Again, I felt kind of special.

Lastly, I made my own birthday cake (which is different from the one in the picture above). I made a yellow cake mix in two round cake pans, split each layer in half so I had four layers, and then layered the cake with ice cream and frosted it with whipped cream cheese frosting (store bought). The piece pictured has chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream. It was dee-lish-ous.

John made me feel like his most valuable person in the world, I got lots of love from family and friends, and now I can say I’m 28.

You know me and cooking. They generally don’t go together, at least not well.

Therefore when I pull something from the oven that turns out edible, even pleasantly so, I have to publish my success to the world to prove I really did it.

Today’s quest was to use some of the leftover Easter ham. I decided to make a quiche.

If the word “quiche” scares you off, don’t be alarmed. I always assumed quiches were difficult to make. This probably stems from the time as a teenager when I babysat a family of five kids whose mom–who ran a catering business–left me a recipe for quiche and expected me to make it for her kids’ dinner without ruining it. I wasn’t sure I even knew how to pronounce “quiche”, let alone how to make it. I prepared it, albeit with great anxiety, and when I served it to the kids I asked how I did. They said: “Not as good as my mom’s.” Aaaaand that was the last time I tried to make quiche.

I only post recipes here if they’re bona fide easy (i.e., I can make it). I used stuff I had on hand. Most quiche recipes call for cream or half and half. Without either, I substituted evaporated milk. It turned out fine, and probably tasted less heavy than it would have with cream. The original recipe didn’t call for onions, but I added them to enhance flavor. I used a lot of onion, so the flavor was strong, but you can adjust according to your preference.

CHEESY HAM QUICHE

Pastry for 9″ pie shell (I used pie crust mix and patted it [didn’t roll it out] into my pampered chef stone pie shell)
1/2 onion, diced (this is if you like onion flavor a lot; use less if you want the flavor more in the background)
2 tsp butter
1 c. diced cooked ham
1 c. shredded cheddar cheese (I used a mix of Colby jack and Swiss we had on hand, and I probably used more than a cup)
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg (I just sprinkled a little on)
4 eggs
1 c. half and half (I used a cup of evaporated milk)
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. paprika (I omitted this)
1 Tbsp dijon mustard

Line 9″ quiche dish or pie pan with pastry; trim excess pastry around edges. Bake 400 degrees for 3 minutes. Remove from oven and gently prick with fork. Bake 5 minutes longer. Let cool.

Put diced onion in microwaveable dish with 2 tsp. butter, cover, and microwave for 1 1/2 minutes. Remove and let cool.

Place 1/2 of ham in pastry shell; top with 1/2 of onion and 1/2 of cheese. Repeat with ham, onion, and cheese and then sprinkle with nutmeg.

Beat eggs until foamy; stir in half and half (or evaporated milk) and mustard and seasonings. Pour slowly over cheese in pastry shell. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until firm.

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I also made a cake over the weekend to bribe my 11-year-old primary kids at church to learn the names of the current twelve apostles. This cake is easy, very moist, and plenty sweet. It’s good if you like caramel and chocolate. It may be considered a simplified version of the Better Than Sex cake that involves the addition of whipped cream and chopped toffee bits. You could probably use any chocolate cake mix and frosting, but the ones specified are especially good because they have mini chocolate chips in them that make for a better overall taste and texture.

TRIPLE CHOCOLATE FUDGE CARAMEL CAKE

Betty Crocker Triple Chocolate Fudge cake mix
Betty Crocker Triple Chocolate Fudge frosting
Caramel ice cream topping (I used Mrs. Richardson’s butterscotch caramel topping)

Prepare cake mix according to package directions for round double layer cake. Cool completely. Frost the top of one layer, then place second layer on top. Use handle of wooden spoon to punch holes in surface of cake layers, pushing all the way to the bottom. Heat jar of caramel topping until easy to work with. Pour desired amount over top of cake and into the holes. Finish frosting the top and sides of cake. If needed, put cake in freezer for 10-15 minutes to firm up caramel before frosting completely.

We try to share small gifts with our neighbors and John’s coworkers each Christmastime, and this year I decided to try making Oreo suckers. I got the instructions from this blog. I got the dipping chocolate, sucker sticks, and sprinkles at Roberts Crafts. I found out that sucker sticks are different than lollipop sticks; the sucker sticks are less slippery and stay inside the Oreo better. Wes was content playing all afternoon while I listened to a book on CD and made them. They were really easy!

Wes has a cough, a deep cough. I bought him some Vicks Baby Rub today, but not sure it helped. I took him shopping with me this afternoon (it’s supposed to snow tomorrow, so I got it out of the way today). First I took him to a toy store called Funfinity. I’d never really been there before. I bought Wes three Christmas presents:

– 3 Magnetic Farm Friends (for him to play with on the fridge)
– 20 Wooden Dinosaur Magnets (ditto)
– 30 Wooden blocks in a cart (for him to stack and to practice pulling the little cart)

Hopefully he wasn’t paying too much attention and will still be surprised. When I checked out the guy at the register asked if I wanted to make a $1 donation to Kids Who Count, and I said sure. He started to say what a great organization it is and I said, I know, we use it for Wesley. He told me about two disabled kids in his family and how great Kids Who Count has been, and I told him how Wes gets three therapists to visit him every month and how great they are. He asked me what Wes’s diagnosis is and I told him. And he said he thought DS kids have the cutest faces and smiles. Which of course they do.

Then Wes and I went to the Quilted Bear. I was looking for candy-making supplies, but alas, found none. I had Wes in the Baby Bjorn carrier so I wouldn’t have to hold him or lug the car seat with him in it. People always stare at Wes when he’s in the baby carrier like that, with his little face poking out the top. After Quilted Bear we walked down the strip to the Dollar Store, then Robert’s Crafts, and then Deseret Book. At the Dollar Store Wes and I bought some sandwich bags that have holiday motifs on them for giving away goodies to our neighbors and friends. And at Roberts I bought melting chocolate, sprinkles, and sucker sticks. Lastly, we headed to Kmart and bought three bags of double stuff Oreos. (We’re going to make some version of these.)

By the time we were in Kmart Wes was getting tired and very vocal. Not whiny or crying–just making noise. Kind of loud, insistent noise. “Ba ba ba BAH!!!” Then I dragged him one more place–the grocery store to get French bread for dinner. We had been out shopping for a while, and Wes fell asleep just as we got home a little before six p.m. He’s still asleep in his car seat. I should probably go wake him and see if he wants a bottle or a clean diaper or something.