Saturday, September 19, 2009

Kuoldit Sudanese Restaurant

Last night Alina, Tom, & I decided to try the Sudanese Restaurant, Kuoldit. It is located in West Valley at 1895 S. Redwood Road and it's open Monday - Saturday from 10 am - 9 pm. Because we wanted to sample a little bit of everything, we ordered the small Family Combo. This was advertised to serve 3-4 people. This was NOT true. It could easily have served 6 people. In fact, it was brought out on a huge platter that took two people to carry. It was awesome!! Plus, it was super cheap. The whole thing cost $30. If you really did split that between 6 people, that's a great meal for 5 dollars.

Some of things in the combo were delicious, some okay, and some not so good. I loved the Chicken Sheia, Sudanese Beef Kabob, & the Chicken Sambosa. The Kirsa and Dinka's Assida were okay. I did not like the Tilapia Sheia or the Akop (altough Tom really liked both of them). If you're planning on visiting and want to play it safe, I would recommend the yellow rice and chicken sheia. If you want to try something a little more flavorful, but still stay relatively safe, go for the beef kabob. I think everyone would like these two selections.

I have to say, the best part about this restaurant were the people that worked there. They were so friendly. As we entered, they introduced themselves and shook our hands. It was very nice. They were also good about our ignorance about Sudanese food. They explained the menu to us (even though it is very self-explanatory). They were awesome. To read a little about the owner, click HERE.

Everyone should plan on visiting this fine establishment soon.

Sunday, September 13, 2009

It's me . . . Mandy

Several weeks ago my family and I were sitting in my parents' living room after Sunday dinner. We were all sprawled out and chatting it up. My father was laying on the floor, half asleep. I recognized this as the perfect opportunity to teach my 5 year old cousin, Zack, a lesson on teasing. As the oldest sibling of my family, I've taken it upon myself to teach Zack, the oldest sibling in his family, how to be a tease. Now usually, teasing is reserved for younger brothers, but Ronnie (my dad) was in prime position for teasing.

I took Zack by the hand and took him outside for his lesson. First, we looked around the lawn until we found the longest blade of grass. I then demonstrated that this blade of grass could be used in one of two ways: first, it could be stuck up the nose; second, it could be stuck in the ear. Both of these would yield the same result: teasing. I then explained that the blade of grass could be used when the object of teasing was asleep (like Ronnie) or being pinned down (a lesson I had taught him previously). Zack seemed well instructed so I figured it was time for some independent practice.

We walked back in the house and Zack crept up to my dad, gingerly holding the blade of grass in his hand. He quietly knelt down and proceeded to stick the blade of grass up Ronnie's nose. It didn't quite make it up his nose, just grazed it. My dad didn't open his eyes, although there was a slight smile on his face. Zack waited a few more seconds before trying again, but this time he whispered in my dad's ear, "It's me, Mandy." He then stuck the blade of grass straight up Ronnie's nose. With that, everyone, including my dad, burst into laughter. Zack then ran up to me and yelled, "I tricked him so he thinks it's you." Seriously, what a character.

Friday, September 11, 2009

More On-Line Shopping

So if you thought I was nervous about buying a $38 bracelet on-line (see last post), you can imagine the anxiety I feel about buying a $3000 couch on-line. So I've been looking for a sectional for my basement family room for ages now (seriously, like 18 months). I knew exactly what I wanted it to look like. I wanted a three-piece grey sectional . . . very contemporary with nice, clean lines. I had yet to find one, until I stumbled across this:


I love it!! I LOVE it so MUCH!! I have the website book marked on my laptop and I look at it like 10 times a day. So where does the anxiety come from?
  • One, do I dare buy a couch I've never sat in? What if it's uncomfortable? I have recruited a few people to go to a West Elm store and test it out for me, but is it something I really need to sit in myself?
  • Two, what if it doesn't fit down my staircase. The worst part about my house is the staircase to the basement. It is a killer to get things down the stairs. Have you ever seen the Friends episode where Ross buys a couch and tries taking it up the stairs to his apartment? That episode is no longer funny to me . . . I've lived it.




  • Three, what if it doesn't look like the picture? I love the way it looks on-line, but it could be totally different in person. What if the dimensions look different, or the color?
  • Finally, is $3000 a ridiculous price to pay for a couch? I only wanted to spend $1800. That was 18 months ago, but desperation is making $3000 sound not too bad.
Anyways, what do you think?

Wednesday, September 09, 2009

On-Line Shopping

I'm thinking of getting this bracelet. What do you think?

Saturday, September 05, 2009

Update

I haven't been very good at updating my blog this summer. I've had a few people bug me about this so I thought I'd do a little update . . .
  • Summer was great. I went to Pennsylvania, Phoenix, Lava Hot Springs, and Boise. I also went camping (something I usually HATE, but I had a good time). This summer wasn't as full as my summers of the past . . . which was nice. I was able to stay home and watch my brand new TV and get a lot done around my house.
  • Summer's over and I'm back to work. This is my 10th year at my school. Can you believe it? An entire decade in one place. Crazy. I'm having a really hard time learning names this year. I don't know if it's because I'm getting old or because I'm totally unmotivated to learn them. I figure, I'll learn them eventually.
  • Holy Hell, it's been hot. My building doesn't have air conditioning which makes my 8 hours of work miserable. That's all I really have to say about that.
  • My Grandma and Grandpa Ault are celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary on Monday. My mother is throwing a little party (okay, it's not so little) next weekend and I've been helping her. It will be nice to see our family come together to honor our grandparents.
  • TV. This summer my TV watching has been filled with various HGTV shows and previous seasons of The Big Bang Theory. I've always loved HGTV, but my love for The Big Bang Theory is new. Very funny show.
  • More TV. New TV shows start next week. I'm super stoked. A whole post will be dedicated to this in the upcoming weeks.
  • Church. I was skeptical, but I really like teaching in Young Womens. I thought it would be hard to be with teenagers all week at work and then more of them on the weekends, but it's not been bad.
  • The Gangrene Film Festival. Last night I went to the Gangrene Film Festival to see some short films. It was a really nice evening (it's outside) and it was fun to be with some old friends and watch some funny films.
All right, that's about it.