Mikado

So last Thursday my Priest Quorum adviser took the graduated Seniors out to dinner. There are four of us in our ward and only 2 could come. Jameson and me! So he asked us where we wanted to go, so we decided that we didn't want to go too fancy because we knew he had a family, but if we tried to go too cheap then Wadley would say no. So Jameson and I decided that Olive Garden was the perfect mix!

At seven o'clock we headed out the door to Wadley's house and then headed off to the Olive Garden in Salt Lake City. When we arrived we were informed it would be a 30-40 minute wait! Well, no one wanted to say it was too long but I'm sure we all felt that way. (actually I didn't feel that way too much, after a two hour wait at the Cheesecake Factory, half an hour was nothing) I knew that Jameson a pretty impatient guy but we sat down and started talking.Wadley brought up that he thought we were going to go to a fancier place (apparently Jameson and I didn't get the right range we were going for). When he brought that up I tried to persuade him that we were fine by joking about Grand America and La Caille. Well it sorta worked but then he mentioned shushi. He found out that I had never had sushi. I quickly informed him of the reason I never have had sushi. I don't like fish. Cooked. Let alone raw. Well he said that one of his favorite Sushi places was only a block away if we wanted to walk a bit... I consented. (Honestly it didn't take much to persuade me. I was in for adventure and actually had to convince Wadley that I was ok with it.)

We walked up about a block and headed into Mikado. We were seated right as we walked in. I couldn't help but point out that there was no wait... and probably with good reason.

Well we sat down and got our menus. And then were asked if we'd like to see the liquor menu. Jameson and I said at once "Of course!" Then we both looked at Wadley to see his reaction (I promise we had no intention of drinking alcohol, we just wanted a reaction and we got the one we expected. Both Wadley and the waitress could tell we were joking. Oh... Wadley told us not to tell anyone we were offered the liquor menu, but I think you guys can handle it).

Wadley had us each get a traditional American entree and then he ordered four rolls of sushi and edamame. I got ribs (note to self... I don't like ribs as much as I used to... too messy... and no one can beat the Bar J when it comes to ribs...) The entree came with a salad and soup. They were pretty good. I liked whatever was on the salad and the Miso Soup had cubes of tofu in it. I felt exotic already.

Then rolls came. We got four different rolls. (I know I already said that but just reiterating) One was a Rainbow Roll. It had snow crab, avocado and sesame seeds in it, surrounded by rice and then had an assortment of raw fish on top such as tuna, salmon, shrimp and some other weird fish... One was a connect roll which had albacore (tuna), cream cheese, chili sauce, crab, and then was deep fried with a J sauce, it was riceless. Another roll was had was a sunset roll which had Unagi (eel), smoked salmon, and avocado. I don't remember what the last roll was but I remember it was mostly crab and rice.

When the rolls came they looked really colorful and exciting. I wasn't' fooled. I knew what they were... Anyway Wadley decided to show us how to eat sushi so when we get into the corporate world (yeah, right) we would know what to do when we went out for sushi, because apparently it's a popular thing to do. We got our little dishes filled with some soy sauce, and got some spicy green stuff mixed it with it. Then he pointed to a roll and said "That one's cooked, you probably ought to start with that one Andrew."

So I picked it up with my chopsticks (by the way I totally beat them all with chop sticks. I had the best control and dexterity with the wooden utensils. It's not too surprising really... I've always loved chopsticks) I popped it in my mouth and started feeling the flavor. It wasn't half bad. Then I bit down and there was something really crunchy. When everything is soft in gooey in your mouth and all the sudden there is this thing that crunches in your mouth... eew... I just had to swallow at that point. I swallowed and Wadley congratulated me on eating my first bit of eel... eew... I started thinking about the crunchy thing... eew... was it an eye? Well I picked another piece from that roll up and looked at it. Then I found something I felt was relieving. The crunchy thing? Cucumber... that's it... *whew*

I went on to the connect roll and it tasted like something you could get at McDonald's (Ok, not exactly but it didn't feel exotic enough... If I was eating fish I wanted it to be fun and exotic!) I moved on to the crab roll thing and It tasted the most "normal" to me. Not this deep fat fried thing, but not eel. It was nice. Then I moved on to the California roll. I thought I could handle it. I have eel right. Well this one was the worst. I picked it up, dipped it, and then it was in my mouth. Actually the roll itself was fine. it was that raw fish on top that disgusted me. It wiggled around in my mouth and was incredibly slimy... eew! I couldn't get a good bite out of it to swallow so it would be out of my mouth, it kept wiggling away! Well I finally swallowed it was fine.

I definitely want sushi again sometime. The taste? Not my favorite. The experience? Definitely worth it!

College and stuff

Oh my heck! I'm heading up to college and just a few weeks! This is so exciting I don't know how to put it. So I'm just not going to because not only am I going up to college but I am exhausted. Now, I know that probably seems lame especially to you mothers out there, but really, I am.  I am working 3 jobs (sorta, I kind of put one job on the back burner and I'll bring it back when I'm in college and I don't have the other two jobs) and I still have to find fun time with friends. I know that sounds lame but it's my therapy.  

Also I've been preparing for a huge competition. The State Fair. If I place in the top two I will also be invited to sing with Salute to Youth and the Symphony will be accompanying me on my two songs. (Which would be the most amazing experience ever!) I love both my songs they are:

This is E Lucevan le Stellle sung by Pavarotti (he is my idol).

And I'm singing sea fever but there aren't any good renditions on youtube, so I'm not posting any.

B.A. Meeting...

Ok, so during a recent Sunday gathering of the family and everyone that could be was there! Yay! Thank you all for coming!

During dinner we had a discussion that I thought would never come up during a Moon Family Dinner, and I had no idea that mom would participate of all people! We discussed: The Bachelorette. (I use the term "we" loosely. I was never really into the conversation, since I don't watch it but yeah...)

Well, last Monday we are having Family Home Evening. We actually were having an okay discussion about... Hmm... well I forget, but out of the blue Mother sits straight up, her eyes bulge, she slaps the couch with both hands, and screams out "WHAT TIME IS IT?" I look at the clock which read 6:56 pm and wondered what mom would be so worried about on a Monday night, you know, family night.

I told her what time it was and she leaps off the couch and scurries off to her room saying something about pushing "record." When she said record I started thinking of all that shows that play on Monday. (I'll bet you already know where I'm going with this, but I wanna finish) I started thinking about channels 7 and 11 since those are the ones mom usually watch. I guess it could be some talk by a general authority... but I think mom would not have had such a reaction to missing it if it was. So I continue to think. "Is masterpiece theatre on? I don't think so...

Channel 2? Nothing special...

Channel 4? What is on channel 4? and then.... I remember... The Bachelorette! Oh. My. Heck!"

Mom walked back in with a guilty smile on her face when I confront her about disrupting Family Home Evening for the sake of recording the Bachelorette. Sure enough, mom admits to it and starts saying something about how she wants Jason and blah, blah, blah.

Anyway, I found it really funny and wanted to let you all know that:

"Hi, this is Diane Moon, and she is addicted to The Bachelorette."

Graduation

Ok, well not much to say about graduation except that it was awesome! I'm so glad HS is over, but really sad at the same time. It was held at the Dee Events Center in Ogden and here are the pictures.

The all night party was a blast! There were coke machines, ice cream makers, food galore, segweys (super fun! I would get one if I was rich), climbing walls, tramp basketball, frozen chicken bowling, cork guns, bean bag toss, catapults, obstacle courses, karaoke, minigames, drawings, texting races, and a cash cube! We pretty much just played all night. It was way fun! I wish I had pictures to show you...

Prom

Ok, well I gotta say Prom was awesome! 

The day before Prom:

We took the girls down to boondocks for the day activity. Boondocks is pretty much amazing. We did everything we could. I beat everyone at the go-carts! (I even lapped people, which is pretty amazing for a little cart to lap others with my weight) We played miniature golf and I won but everyone was able to get hole-in-one's except me. But I did get an amazing hole-in-two. Anyway. When we played laser-tag our team won by a landslide. (What can I say Emily and I pretty much rocked their world. We were able to pair up and get on the enemies side and kill all those who tried to near while we shot their towers.) We played some awesome arcade games. We also played Deal or no Deal for tickets in the arcade. We made it out with 100 tickets! (The grand prize was 200 but we felt great about 100) We then went to Lindsay's house and had pizza and soda then headed to the basement and played glow-in-the-dark volleyball. Our team had trials but we were definitely upbeat.

The day of Prom:

We dropped off our cars at James's house and then went over to Ryan's where our limo's picked us up. The first house our limo went to was Emily's so I got to see my date's reaction first. (I was pretty sure she already knew, but you know...) Anyway, I got in there and said to Debbie, "Oh you must be Mrs. Randall." (Ok, just so you know I pretty much hung out with Debbie every other day since she worked as a teacher at Viewmont. We knew each other very well)

We did the whole flower exchange and then headed out to the limo. Our driver was there to open the door and everything. It was pretty dang awesome! I felt so fancy!

Well, we picked everyone up and the best reaction we got about the limo would be Sarah's mom and dad. They were open mouthed gaping. It was awesome!  We think she said, "Oh my gosh!" but it was hard to hear from the limo and the awesome music we had playing.  We then headed off to Ruby River which was a steakhouse but it was really nice and since the company the Ryan's Dad works for own the restaurant, we got the executive suite to eat in. It was, again, awesome!

Many people were trying to be all fancy and formal but my date and I were there to have fun. We got really yummy food and didn't worry about messiness, it was way fun. I'm glad that she was my date it was very relaxed and fun.  It wasn't about impressing each other, it was all about having fun. Best dates are that way. (Ooooh! I got a mock-a-rita it was really good!)

So then we headed to the dance and got pictures before we got all hot and stuff from dancing. Emily and I did a cha-cha pose for our single pictures and had a really "cute" (that's the word others have used) group picture.

We danced the night away! She had to take off her shoes because they weren't for dancing, so I followed suit and took off my shoes (I never really have had smelly feet so I wasn't afraid and they didn't smell, so it was good). When things started wrapping up, we walked outside and our drivers were there waiting. (yay! I love limos!) 

We went to James's house and his mom had everything ready for us and we got cheesecake and homemade ice cream and then headed downstairs and played a few games until it started to get early. (about 1 am) and then we took our dates home. (Mom and Dad even let me use the new camry!) 

We said goodnight, hugged, and went home. Probably one of the best dates ever!