And I wondered why...

I've been sneezing and stuffed up for the past 4 years since living in Virginia!

My allergies have gotten to the point of unbearable and I finally saw an allergist today. He did a skin test on me and I found out I'm allergic to cats, dogs, feathers, and all sorts of grass and trees (there's a reason why my allergies have acted up since moving from Utah).

My arm right after she pricked it with 20 allergens

Starting to fester up (#5 is grass)

#9 was cats ...I knew there was a reason I hate cats

My arm after the doctor cleaned off the numbers.
I felt like I had 1,000 mosquito bites on my arm that I couldn't scratch.

The next stop on Mer's Mersmilepost: The Windy City

I just returned from a business trip to Chicago....my first time traveling for work! The 10 hour days of training were mentally painful, but at least it was a fun city to be in. Here are some pictures of my trip.

Views from the Sears Tower

You can't be in Chicago without eating their
famous deep dish stuffed pizza!

Shopping on Michigan Avenue

Red Grouper from Riva restaurant. It was delicious, and very fancy!

On Navy Pier

We rented a limo from Navy Pier back to our hotel.
I've never been in a limo before .

Inside the limo

Bike Riding in DC

Yesterday my husband and I went down to DC and rode our bikes along the Mount Vernon trail. We enjoyed the sites and the beautiful weather. I've never been much of a biker but the last few months I've really learned to enjoy it. Granted, I ride like a grandma and don't get much speed, but it's fun and I do it for leisure. Don't let the spandex get-up fool you!

Can you see the capital in the background?

My new Camelbak my husband bought me so I'd
look like a real "biker chick".

A trip down memory lane

This morning as I was driving to work I had a bit of nostalgia as I was listening to the 80's station on xmradio. I began thinking about the good times I had as a child of the 80's and of course couldn't forget the 80's fashions. I mean seriously....what were we thinking? Hope these pictures take you on a trip down memory lane...they did for me!

80's hair...the bigger the better!

Why stop with only one pair of socks when two or even three looked so look?


You know how cute Christmas ornaments look on a tree? During the 80s we thought the same would apply to our ears. Huge earrings from various costume jewelry collections were all the rage and if your earrings didn’t touch your shoulder, they weren’t big enough.


The 1980’s launched the over the top success of the Guess jeans label.
And man, did I have to have a pair. The begging, the pleading.
My life as I knew it was going to come to an abrupt end without a pair of
these oh-so-awesome jeans. How could I stand to
be seen at school without them?


Loved, loved, loved jelly shoes!
Didn't love how dirty and smelly they made my feet.

What would childhood be if there wasn't Garbage Pail Kids? I still have hundreds of them packed away in storage. My mom told me to hang on to them because they'd be worth something one day...I'm still waiting!

I remember getting my first charm because I got an A on a spelling test.
My mom took me to Hallmark and let me pick out any charm I wanted.
Heaven knows why I picked out a toilet charm.

More Cake

I didn't intend for this blog to be a cake blog, but that's basically all I've been doing with my life lately. I found a new recipe for butter cake with lime zest curd in the middle and I couldn't resist. Dan will be out of town for the week so looks like I get to enjoy this beauty all by myself.

I've Been Tagged

So apparently this tag thing is going around, so here it goes....

4 jobs I've had:
Nielsen's Frozen Custard- (custard scoopee)
Carlson Kitchens (Office Manager)
Primary Children's Hospital (Clinic Coordinator)
PricewaterhouseCoopers (Project Specialist)

4 movies I can watch over and over:
The Changling
Nacho Libre
Grease
Wait Until Dark

4 (or more) places I've lived:
Bountiful, UT
San Jose, CA
Rexburg, ID
Washington, DC

4 TV shows I watch:
The Office
Anything on the Food Network
"24"
That's about it...don't watch much TV

4 favorite foods:
Sushi
Chicken nuggets from Chick-Fil-A
Gyros
Cafe-Rio Chicken Salad

4 websites I visit daily:
drudgereport.com
friend's blogs
deseretnews.com
cakecentral.com

4 places I'd rather be right now:
New Zealand
At home in Utah with my family
Hawaii
Egypt

Friends I'd like to tag:
If you are reading this and you haven't done it yet, then you're it!!!!

Happy Birthday America

I have lived in DC for 5 years and every year I am amazed at how lucky I am to live here, especially on the 4th of July. My best friend came to visit us for the week and yesterday we did all sorts of patriotic activities to celebrate the birth of our nation. We went to Arlington Cemetery, had a bbq, then went down to the mall to watch fireworks.

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

Waiting for the fireworks to start


It was a great evening until we had to wait for hours
to get into a train in the metro station. Everybody was
sweaty, hot, and stinky....and crammed into the
train like a can of sardines!

We survived

Well, we made it! Dan and I actually survived 3 days of pioneer trek and it was more physically exhausting than I thought it would be. We were so lucky to get such a great family. We had 11 kids in our family ranging from 14-18 years old. We walked a total of 12 miles, walking through streams, mud, and a plethora of cow pies.

There was a torrential downpour the first night with thunder and lightning. I didn't get one ounce of sleep because I was sopping wet in my 90 degree sleeping bag. If I left my arms and face out of the sleeping bag I'd get bitten to death by bugs and spiders. But if I covered my face with my sleeping bag I felt like I was suffocating. I don't know which was worse!

Trek was a great experience and I gained such an appreciation for the pioneers. We were only out for 3 days with plenty of food and water, but the pioneers were walking across the plains for 6 months at a time with nothing more than a little flour to eat. We really are fortunate!

The Jensen Family (best family on trek)


Pioneer children sang as they walked, and walked, and walked....
Yep, that's what we did! (That's me in the green skirt in front)