Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Pepperidge Farm Factory

On our way back from Rigby the other weekend, we stopped at the Pepperidge Farm Factory in Richmond (something I'd been wanting to do since my student-days at USU). We didn't tour the factory or anything, but we did buy some reduced-price-goodies. Tying for my affections are their Milano cookies and their freezer cakes. Remember these?


My dad used to buy these cakes all the time and snack on them for dessert in the evenings. Biting into that fudgey striped goodness really took me back to those days. -I'd highly recommend these cakes (although I'm not sure what they go for at full price).

Friday, January 21, 2011

Christmas / Winter Travels

Mini-Christmas -Dave and I did our own mini-Christmas the weekend before our Christmas vacation started. We had a fire going in the fireplace, sang carols, read the Christmas story, watched a Christmas movie, and slept downstairs on the air mattress right next to our Christmas tree. (I'll admit, I'm stealing this idea from some very festive roommates I once had on Darwin Ave.)

Christmas Vacation - We spent the first week of our vacation in Boise with David's family, and it was wonderful. We made delicious meals and treats (including roasted marshmallow shakes -compliments of Steven), worked on puzzles, shopped, went downtown (where we tried "the Boise Fry Co."), went on walks, drove around town to see the Christmas lights, went to Harry Potter 7, saw Melissa's apartment, went to "the egg factory" for breakfast with Dave's grandma, and I learned to crochet (which has been very therapeutic for me since getting back home, btw). We went to St. George for the last few days of the vacation, which was good, minus the winter-driving. We got to visit Becky and Lee (my friends) as well as Katie and Andrew (Dave's sister and her husband) in Provo. In St. George, we got to hang out with my family (including Brian and Karene), and I met up with my friends, Jennifer and Erica, for lunch. Dave and I were both happy to get back to Logan and see our house again, but more than a little sad too (at least I was).

Rigby trip -This last weekend (Martin Luther King day), we drove to Rigby, ID to visit Dave's Aunt Nancy. It was a lovely trip and an easy drive (2 and 1/2 hours seems pretty short to us these days. --I don't think I'd been up through eastern ID since Kelly and Bonnie's wedding reception. -Man, was it snowy up there). Kind of like my dad's earned the reputation of "super-sub", Aunt Nancy must hold the title for "super-aunt." She's very involved in the lives of her nieces and nephews and very family-oriented. Anyway, we loved spending time with her, talking, learning Madsen family history, cooking, doing needlework, or whatever. Dave's Aunt Kay and her husband, Paul, also came to Rigby Saturday night and we all went out to dinner together (for the record, there is a really yummy Chinese restaurant in Rigby).


...and life goes on in here in Logan. January is plodding along. It has warmed up a little lately and the days are slowly starting to get longer (or so Dave tells me almost every morning). For me, it's been a lot of going to work, worrying about work, resting from work -usually by watching instantly-streaming Netflix shows on my TV (thanks to the wireless device that Dave gave me for Christmas), and trying to get over a lingering cold that wore out its welcome several days ago.