MY SPIRIT ANIMAL IS DR PEPPER

Soda. My lover, my friend, my enemy. 

I've come to the conclusion that I'm probably more of an emotional/social drinker. It's not really that I crave Dr. Pepper so much as I just feel like the day isn't complete without one. This year has also marked a huge mile stone because I have officially made the switch to Diet Dr. Pepper. You know how people say you can train your taste buds in like a few weeks? Well it literally took about 8 months to get use to it. Now regular Dr. Pepper almost tastes too sweet and syrup-y. Have you ever read the book Gregory the Terrible Eater? It's about a goat that only likes to eat junk. Not like donuts and pizza junk; like tires, and shoes, and other goat stuff. To get him to eat better, his parents start disguising his food and start doing things like putting spaghetti sauce on shoe laces, and then eventually he is eating only real food and doesn't even realize it. It's all about masking. This is exactly what I had to do with diet soda. I started by always having coconut syrup and limes in it. Now I don't do limes. Who knows, maybe one day I won't need the syrup. 

During my daily-ish soda runs, I always think of the culmination of things that it takes to curate the perfect soda. A lot factors into making that sweet nectar perfect. I've listed some of these things below, and if you can relate to any of this, then you probably know what it means to be a true soda snob. 

1. Plastic or styrofoam cups always! Any gas station that has those paper Pepsi cups is a no-go. Any addict knows this. Once the soda has been in the cup for more than about 30 min, the drink starts taking on the taste of the paper. Styrofoam keeps them colder longer, but there is something about plastic cups, that allow me to see the brown bubbly goodness, that gets me all hot and bothered.

2. Fat straws! Some places have those little thin straws which aren't the best vehicle for getting the maximum amount of drink in your mouth the fastest. The best though are the places that give you the choice of fat or skinny straws in both the tall and short sizes. Sometimes with the 32oz cups the short straws seem to short and the tall ones seem to tall. #firstworldproblems

3. Some places just taste better. Soda is a combination of syrup, water, and carbon dioxide. The proportions of these can often times differ from place to place. You can even taste the difference in water. Some places use purified, some places chill their water, etc. So many factors! BUT even the days can differ on how it tastes at a certain place so sometimes it's a guessing game!

4. The best gas stations are always the ones with lime and lemon slices. And extra bonus points for the ones that have flavor shots. I'm talking about the Torani syrup (I'm looking at you Chevron) and not the gross flavor goop that come out of the soda dispenser (Maverick *cough cough*).

5. Why are you only talking about going places to get soda? you say. Any true soda connoisseur knows that you only drink soda from a can (or plastic bottle) in desperate (or extremely handy) circumstances. It's always always better from a soda fountain. There is no comparison!  

6. And finally, many people would say ice is another turn off/or on. I for one don't like ice in my drink at all because I don't like my drink watered down (especially when I don't drink it fast enough). Many people are all about the pebble ice (Sonic, Sodalicious), which if I was getting ice, that would be my pick. But some people prefer their ice in other shapes and sizes.

Well there you have it! Guys... the struggle to find the best drink is real! I know many of my fellow brothers and sisters have faced this, but once you've been doing this as long as I have you always know the right places to go. Isn't it the worst when you are in an unfamiliar city or state, and you have to get a soda fix stat! I hope you all can relate (or laugh) about the struggle, and I hope all of you are blessed and rewarded today with some carbonation goodness! Amen! 

ZERO TAKES VEGAS

Well my favorite holiday is over, as well as my favorite month. For work I dressed up as a pineapple, which was super easy and fun. I had these awesome fake eyelashes too but for some reason me and fake lashes don't see eye to eye (is that a pun?), and they were off by the time I made it to work. Also, in regards to this picture I'm starting a new hashtag to go along with the oh so famous #hotdogsorlegs, called #hotdogortongue. 

This weekend we went to Vegas for our niece's baptism and it was Zero's first road trip. She was a peach and did so well. We took a couch cushion off the couch to use as a bed/booster so that Zero could see out the window while we drove. Disclaimer: most of these pictures are of Zero but I don't know what you all expected coming here.  

Towards the end of the ride we hit some construction and were moving pretty slow, so Zero was excited that she got to have the window rolled down. We also really didn't want to stop for gas, and I can usually make it in one tank, but we ended up running out of gas literally on the freeway exit to Spencer's house. We were one block away from the gas station! And had we not hit construction, we would have made it. Oh well. Now I can't say I've never run out of gas, although technically Spencer was driving. After Spencer walked to the gas stations, we met up with his brother and parents and went trick-or-treating with the nieces. The one thing I'm looking forward to the most when I have kids is getting to take them trick-or-treating because then I have an excuse to dress up.   

Saturday morning we went to the baptism and then went to BJ's for lunch afterwards with the family. Why is there not a BJ's in Utah people!? 

That night we went to Fury and it was really good. There were lots of F words, and a dinner scene that seemed to go on foooooorever and have little point, but other than that it was good. It also made me realize I would NOT want to be assigned to a tank if I was in a war... unless Brad Pitt was in said tank... because I could be in a tight space with him for weeks on end if I needed to (for God and country of course). 

Although it was a little windy in Vegas, it was still so nice to be in warmer weather. Even Zero enjoyed basking in the sun every morning. 

Sunday afternoon we went to the dog park and she finally is wearing her sweatshirt without complaint. I tried to get the strip in the background because it was really cool looking, but I guess you'll just have to enjoy the cuteness of the foreground instead. 

Here Zero is demonstrating how important it is to work out while on vacation doing her Doggy Yoga. Seriously these balls are her form of crack! She will not stop until it's in her mouth, which will never happen because it's far too big, and she tires herself out quickly. Although to no ones surprise, this ball is now deceased.  

And here she is sound asleep in Grandma and Grandpa's bed.

And that was right after Grandma and Grandpa did some planks for us. Still workin' on that fitness in their old age! 

On the way home Zero must have remembered what the way to Vegas was like and decided she absolutely did not want to be in the backseat again. After having all 40lb of her on my lap for the first few hours, I banished her to the back. She seriously pouted like this in the back for 30min and would not look at us. So naturally my mom guilt kicked in and I let her sleep on my lap the rest of the way. 

And to end it all, I will leave you with this picture that Spencer sent me at work yesterday. The Walrus just sat like a creep and was watching Spencer do work like this. What a weirdo. But that side-sit though kills me!!