New Zealand Here I Come

I now officially have this:

and this:

The only thing left is waiting.

I'm Off

Bags are packed and I am off to Portland. A few things I will be doing:

*Dinner and Midnight showing of "Twilight" (I'm not a huge fan of the books although I have read them all.)

*Chinese Gardrens

*Portland Temple

*Shopping

*Spending quality time with Lyndee Dilg Daley (Someday I will make it to your cities.)

Pictures will come when I return home.

As for my dog, Erica will be surprised to hear that I'm going to miss the little guy. I hated dogs before the mission. Never was too much of a fan when I lived with Sister Hill but now I can't seem to live without my little Jimmy Chew! Jimmy Chew will be having a sleepover with his BFF Skeeter at my parents house.

Cravings

I'm craving some of this:

And some of this afterwards:

If you have never had either of these they are a necessity. I've never had Prime Rib like Lawry's Prime Rib and I've never had service like I have had at Lawry's. Even the Lawry's in Century City Mall is Amazing. As for Pinkberry there is something so unique that my craving is not filled with ice cream or frozen yogert. I think it's time to take a trip to California!!!

Month of Greatfuls

This month I'm going to attempt to be more grateful. You may wonder how I'm going to do this. Each day in some way I plan of letting at least one person know why I am grateful for them or what they have done. Some of those people/events I will blog about them and others will be more private and personal. I would encourage each of you to also find time this month as we celebrate Thanksgiving to show a little extra gratitude because I know as we do this we will make our world a better place.

I have an opinion -- Halloween Do's and Don'ts

Happy Halloween!!!

I must say I do enjoy Halloween. It's fun to see all the little kido's dressed up and have them come to my door to Trick or Treat however I have a whole new set of Halloween pet peeves. Don't get me wrong most the children are well behaved. I heard a lot of Thank-yous and many of them only took one candy/fruit roll up/ whatever else has been in my pantry for over a year. The problem was with the parents. (I hope all of you have more taste than some of the people I encountered.)

Without further ado my Halloween pet peeves:

1- A grown man should never trick or treat for his pregnant wife. When the kid is no longer in the womb it will be acceptable to ask for treats.

2- When children are given the opportunity to choose what piece they would like do not let them take more than one piece. For heaven sakes there are lots of children that come to my neighborhood. I try to provide a wide array of candy, bubble gum, crackers, fruit roll ups etc. etc. etc. One treat is more than acceptable when you are getting quality treats.

3- After you children have taken their candy do not take it upon yourself as a parent to take a handfull as you are leaving. First what kind of example is this for your children especially since they complied with choosing one item. Second no candy was offered to you. Trick or Treating is a children's event.

4- Do not offer my candy to other adults in your party. I did not offer it to you nor to them so what gives you the right of offering a perfect strangers property to others.

Can you believe the nerve of some people. Not only did one lady offer my candy to her friend but both of them also took handfuls. By the looks of them neither of them nor their teeth needed the candy.

On a lighter note, Thanks Becky for the cute card. It made my day!!!

Happy November.

National Ice Cream Day

Yesterday (the third Sunday in July) just so happened to be national ice cream day. Any of you who know the Gering/Swank history know that we love our ice cream. In fact growing up it was not uncommon to have ice cream together on Sunday's. When Wendy first heard about national ice cream day she knew we had to have a party. There was ton's of ice cream and good company. It's already been decided that next year will be the 2nd Annual Get-together.

My Favorite Men

The "best part of waking up" is not foldgers in my cup but knowing that whenever I'm in Beverly Hills for work I will never have to park the car. I love that the hotel only offers Valet parking and whenever we eat out with Christine she expects us to park valet.

We had the nicest valet guy two of the three days. He was there in February as well and I'm sure we will become great friends since we will most likely see him twice a year.