DUI

Why do people think they are invincible, indistructable, and responsible when they drink and then drive. People are stupid. IDIOTS! my friend has been battling his DUI for two years now just to get it dismissed. So much money and time for a simple phone call to a cab or friend would have avoided that situation in the first place. And why do friends (if they are friends) let thier fellow friends walk out of the bar or whatever drunk and not offer a way home even if they had been drinking but are totally sober enough to drive the person home or call them a cab. Friends....puh whatever, no trust there. It is the worst thing in the world to see someone you know shouldn't be driving sent away by thier friends and you don't know them but still worry about them. Tons of water and a little time and one could be sober to drive. it completely escapes too many people's common sense to remedy thier behavior and then redo it once they are safe at home. It is such a frustrating thing to see and know people that have been beyond stupid and paid the price. Yet they still never learn. What is it that makes them think they can drive safely home after having drinks. If you don't know your limit then you shouldn't even be participating in bar activity etc. So ridiculous. I am grateful for my up bringing and that I can be that person to care for friends that can't care for themselves.

work woes

All of us that have work are grateful and happy to provide for our families. I am grateful for my husband that works so hard everyday. He deals with so much and is always stressed about work. Believe me, he will talk in his sleep about work. It is that bad. Me on the other hand doesn't know how I feel about my job anymore. When I first started working there I was the work horse and would work anytime, anywhere. Than I started taking parties and actually had a couple I would have every week. I also started having shifts in the bar a couple times a week. And presently, I am now fully in the bar as a bartender/cocktailer. I didn't sign up for that. I am a server. I am not a fully trained bartender. I make far less money even if I have a shift by myself in the bar. A restaurant that is part of our corporation had closed and we took on a couple of people from that restaurant. Suddenly some of the senior staff's shifts are less and these new transfers are working the shifts we should be working. It is good to know that they trust me to be alone in the bar anyway. However, I must go back to the MONEY. Even on a slow night on the floor chances are I would make more than if I was in the bar. As a cocktailer, we pool the tips in the bar. so unless I close or stay on for awhile I don't make a lot. It is frustrating. I don't want to say anything cause for some reason management can be very vengeful for stating your concerns. It is slow, I understand. But I can still make good money. I just don't know what to do. I will fight for my right to work during the holidays. Not in the bar either. Why does it need to be this hard to hold a position you have become established at. It is all complete crap.

travel channel

I love the travel channel. I like to watch a occasional Samantha Brown, lots of Anthony Bourdain and Andrew Zimmermn. They make it look easy, tasty, and entertaining. Now if only we had the money to follow their excursions. I find myself hesitant to travel to foreign places like southeast Asia or even south america. My taste in food is pretty basic and to dine in a foreign country just to try the food is a little scary. They are eating food sold on the streets and served from the most questionable kitchens (if that is what you want to call them). It is odvious that I have been brought up in sanitation and simplicity. I work in restaurants and I would never serve food from an open kitchen, with street smells, bugs, and people secretions buzzing all around. But there is also the problem that its hard for my stomach to take spicy foods. I am not a fan of the Hawaiian style of mango, pineapple, guava etc. mixes in food. And my husaband is a pork fanatic. So whats left our there for me to eat? I suppose I will have to settle with the kid classic, pasta and butter. I will never be able to follow these travelers in their culinary quests. I hope to at least see the sights.

citizenship

So in going through the process of changing my name, I was very happy to be informed by other newlyweds that you should hit the security office first. Good move. Next was the DMV to change my driver's license. I thought we had the correct documents. Marriage certificate, new social security card and previous driver's license. We fill out the paper work and are called to the window. He than asks if I have my birth certificate. What? Turns out, according to him, Utah doesn't check for US citizenship. Hello! that is new information. And being Arizona I can understand the concern with thier problems of immigration and all. However, Utah is a different story. As far as I knew I would check a box that said I was a legal US citizen. Apparently, not. So I had to ask my sister to send me a certified copy of my birth certificate. Now maybe I can get the ball rolling again so that bank accounts can be changed, car registration, and other important things. Note to all newly weds, start with the social security office first, make sure your state checks for US citizenship and have fun.

Open House

When we returned to Utah from our brief honeymoon, we had a lot to do. We were worried about it raining so we had to come up with a backup plan. We had to put decorations up and experiment with these really pretty floats that Candice created for the pool. We tried to decide what the setup would be and where the food would be. The day of the open house everyone was busy super cleaning, cooking, preparing, setting up, getting ready etc. Well it was raining all day! My aunt called about three times to reassure us that it was supposed to clear around the time the open house was supposed to start. We watched, an hour before the open house, rain pour from the sky, hail pelting the ground. Our street was practically flooding, the hail pretty much covered the ground and made our pool look like a slush puddle. We all were wondering what was going to happen. Well, once again God smiled on us and the rain stopped. We were running around so fast trying to get things setup I have no idea how we did it! Jason and I had seconds to get dressed in our attire. We were all so sweaty and hot from running around we barely had time to catch our breath before greeting our guests. The food was awesome! Severely overpriced, but good. We made ourselves the pigs in a blanket and bacon wrapped shrimp. We are awesome!! Everything was crazy, crazy, crazy, but in the end things cleared up and once again became Perfect.

marriage certificate

We stopped in Afton, WY, to do my Dad's wish of checking to see if we could get our license. When we got to the office they didn't even ask us for ID's. We just filled out our paperwork. She was having a problem with the printer and said "they don't do a lot of these here." When we looked over the document she had mispelled my mothers maiden name which she corrected. Than we noticed she spelled Arizona....Arizonia. We didn't correct this cause I didn't want her to feel stupid. So now our permanent licese has Arizonia on it. I figured that because of these little faults something was going to happen. Well today I go to the Social security office to change my name and they said they couldn't find the marriage certificate number. So I stood there for about fifteen minutes while they sorted things out. I guess they had to call the office in Wyoming and the get the number. They also stamped the wrong seal on the certificate. haha. Just so everybody knows......don't get married in Wyoming. They don't know what they are doing.

our wedding

We are married finally! YAY! It was so beautiful and perfect. I would totally do it again (not the planning part of it). Jason and I just got our puppy Peru three days before we took the long road trip up to Utah. It was a nice ride and we had fun while traveling. We finally got to Utah and I had to register my car so we could drive legally. So we go to Jiffy Lube and have our emission and safety done. The guys said I had to get a muffler problem fixed before it would pass. So I had to drive to Midas and was told it would cost $115 to fix it. We then had my car pass inspection and renewed my registration. That was a bit stressful cause I didn't really budget the money for that. We were really tired when we got to my parents house. We had to finish some details for the open house following the wedding. I found out my music didn't work on a stereo so my brother-in-law formatted it for me. Everybody was kind of scurring around trying to get ready for the trip up to Jackson the next day. We got up early the next day. Jason and I went ahead of the rest because my dad was freaking out about us not being able to get our marriage certificate. He said to stop in Afton to make sure we could get it there or in Jackson. We stopped in Afton and acquired our license. We checked into our hotel in Jackson. It was funny for us to joke cause the Raymond Rounds family went from one hotel room to multiple hotel rooms in less than a year. HEHE. We walked around and took care of some stuff. It rained most of the time we were there. For our wedding it was supposed to rain too. We finally got to Jackson Lake Lodge where the ceremony was going to be held. We settled in and went to our rehearsal dinner. It was 4 courses and delicious. I was happy our guests could get a taste of our world and what we are used to. Wedding day: my sisters and I woke up at 4:30 am to get ready. The banquet staff brought fruit and pastries and coffee for us. Everyone trickled in to say hi and see me before the wedding. Jason and the guys were downstairs talking to the officiant. The cutest thing, my puppy Peru decided the train of my dress was a bed and proceeded to take a nap. I dragged her around for a minute. Awesome moment. I started getting really nervous right before I was supposed to walk down the aisle. I was so happy that I was oblivious to most everything and everybody around me. It was threatening rain, but I didn't care. Jason looked so handsome! During the ceremony I like to think that God smiled down on us with a ray of sunshine through the clouds (literally). Perfect! We said our I do's and We are now MR. AND MRS. SMITH. The reception was beautiful. The food was exquisite and we were surrounded by the most special people in our lives. Jason and I than took off to Snow King Resort to spend a couple of days together. It was really relaxing. I was sooo tired that I took a nap right after we got there. During our second night we were in the hot tub outside and a double rainbow went over the top us. That was so great. Perfect!

Fired!

For working over half a year at my restaurant I have quickly grown to really like the people I work with. So it becomes very sad when they do stupid things and think nothing will come of it because they had been there for so long. Well, as long as I have been there, when people are late I don't hear anything of it. The management seemed to not care as long as they came. So my friend, being known as one of the big slackers, managed to not show up for two shifts. He didn't come look at the schedule for himself. Dumb number 1. As a result he was put on suspension for two weeks without pay. When he was put back on the schedule he was demoted to being a busser and only worked very few shifts. He was doing good. Than a couple of days ago, I was talking with him during a lunch shift and we both knew we worked that night as well. So when it came time for him to clock in, he wasn't there. I tried to save his butt by getting the host to call him. Well, our manager walked up right than and I knew he was screwed. He really was a great guy, but was an idiot. It made me sad to say goodbye and wish him luck.
Another friend of mine, who had been in this business for 16 plus years made a mistake that was completely our of character for her. A guest had allergies to mushrooms. I am not sure, but I guess she didn't communicate this with the kitchen. Thus the guest got sick. She has been doing this forever and she neglects to keep caution. WHY!? So I think she is either fired or suspended. I am not really sure what yet. It blows my mind these people do these things. Now the management is on everyones case to be on time and rightfully so too. However, I think there a few that will still not be reprimended for being late even if its 15 minutes. We are all adults and yet resonsibility comes very slowly to some.

crazy neighbor

This a busy time of year at work. I work 4 doubles back to back. that means 1100 am to 1100 pm with maybe a hour break inbetween. Well, we have a neighbor. this neighbor is single and has a dog and must think he is the only person in the universe. Jason and I tend to get off work pretty late comparitively. We like to talk to each other and catch up with the days occurances. Sometimes we make something to eat. Numerous times this neighbor has complained about loud noises or voices or whatever. The apartment people have come and put little cushions on the cuboards. They have done a sound check in our apartment and his apartment and determined the noise comes from our chest of drawers ( that isn't against the wall and doesn't make noise when we close it). But whatever. We have tried to not cook so noisely or at all when we get home. And we don't have people over simply because he will complain. The apartment people are really sick and tired of his little antics and have been extremely helpful for us. They like us. Not him. But he just keeps on complaining. They gave us the option of moving to another apartment without any fees. We decided that is the best option. We just want to live in peace. So amidst this busy time we are moving to another apartment. It is a newly remodeled apartment and the same size as our old one. But we lose our view. Not to mention we are getting a puppy, and getting married all within a month. People forget they live in AN APARTMENT SETTING. We share walls, and yes sound will carry. Crazy people!!

childhood stories

I don't know if anyone remembers Babar the Elephant or Rudyard Kiplings The Elephant Child. Its funny how you watch a movie like Coming to America and things just pop into your mind. I know I loved these stories and the characters. When reading The Elephant Child I always wondered what "insatiable curiousity" meant. I think I related to it as a child cause I am in fact as an older adult very curious, to the point of being unnecessarily nosy. Babar was just a fascinating character as a child. I don't remember much of anything about that book unfortunately. I would love to find these books and have them for my future kids.

poor Utah Jazz. At least they still make the playoffs. Still, as its been said among my family, the old school coaching and program need to be reconstructed. These young players can't play under restraint. This is why I think the Bulls, Celtics, etc. do so well. They have the freedom and contemporary mentality to be at their full potential. On day maybe we will be on top again.

Remember this: "John Stockton for Three! YAAAAAAAA! John Stockton sends the Utah Jazz to the NBA Finals!" Oh man good times.

celtics v. bulls

I must say that this series is one of the most exciting games I have seen in awhile. I can only imgaine how the celtics would be if Garnnet was playing, but these teams are very well matched and one has a championship and the other has built themselves up. I am impressed with the bulls and their young team and coach. Rose, Hinrich, Noab are something special. Who knows they could become the next big trio next to Garnnet, Allen, and Pierce. Derek Rose of the bulls is a little speed demon that strides from one end to other and never fears any kind of contact. Although there are times that I think his youth shows quite a bit in his mistakes. I have always liked watching Hinrich when he was with Kansas. Gordon is a good go to man for the bulls as well. Rondo of the Celtics is almost like a mirror image of Rose. They both have speed and a great ability to play this game. I think Rondo actually keeps his cool and lets things be created before he throws the ball around. Oh....Allen for three!! Love Ray Allen. He has the ball you see fans hands go up indicating a three pointer. Even though I think the Bulls have a good chance to progress through the playoffs, I think the Celtics will go further.

what's in a name

So the conversation goes as follows

Why do you want to take my last name? (Jason)
Cause you'll be my husband and that's how its been for a long time (Erica)
But my name is so generic and boring, I don't like my last name (Jason)
It doesn't matter to me, I like it (Erica)
I don't even like my family, why would you want my last name (Jason)
But your name is good. You have good credit and you can anything with your name (Jason)
What does that have to do with having your name (Jason)
My name sucks (Jason)
We could try a combination (Erica)
Erica Rounds Smith, Erica Smith Rounds, Erica Smrounds (Jason)
Girls hyphenate there name all the time (Erica)
Maybe I should switch my last name to your last name (Jason)
Oh geez, We'll figure it out (Erica)

Erica Janet Smith. Nothing wrong with this name. Jason tends to be paranoid about past times and how they are attached to his name. No credit card, loan etc. is going to care that my last name is Smith. Millions of people have this last name. If I were to go into witness protection it would be hard for anyone to find me. Come on Jason chill out. With my credit or whatever else comes with me will help Jason too. I like the idea of being called Mr. and Mrs. Smith. All my life I have had to spell out my last name so people get it right. Now all I have to do is say Smith and I cut 3 seconds of time off. I don't want to be retarded and my kids tell people their parents have two last names. My kids will have one last name and so will I.

P.S. My fiance is cute like this.

what bothers me

It bothers me that I can never hold any expectations for anything I do or plan. If I get involved things don't quite go the way I want them to. I don't think I will ever be able to move up in the chain in my line of work cause I am not a brown noser nor like attention brought to me. Although I tend to envy those naturally charismatic people, I always think if its worth it. I have issues with anxiety as it is, why make it worse.
An instant of plans regarding me was my 16th birthday. I just got off work and my mother informs me that she had planned to have some of my friends to come and give my a surprise birthday party. Well, it turns out that nobody could make it thus no birthday party. I wasn't surprised that it fell through. I wasn't sad cause I really didn't care.
The next big issue is my wedding. Although everything is planned and ready to go, the one thing I pictured was to be surrounded by my family and a few friends. It is my fault to have a destination wedding and current economic events don't make things any easier to people to travel. However, my family and friends all have jobs so are lucky. Not to mention i have an inherited stressor about money. I have a $3000 minimum on food and beverage I would like to cover otherwise its a waste of money. So if I can get 25 people to my wedding/reception that would cover almost half the minimum. Although i have an open house two days after that where I will see all that couldn't come to the wedding, the initial ceremony and celebration is what I imagined. Odviously Jason could care very little about how many people come. He wanted a small ceremony anyway. I just think positively about the open house and that lack of people at the wedding will be made up then.