Little Known Facts

Here's a short list of things you may not know about me.

1. Were you named after anyone?
No, my parents liked the name of Laura and the name of Ann so the combined the two and created Laurann.

2. When was the last time you cried?
Last week during the movie Amazing Grace.

3. What is your favorite ice cream?
Ben and Jerry's Chubby Hubby...It is oh so good!

4. What is the first thing you notice about people?
Whether they have a good sense of humor or not.

5. What book are you reading now?
Spencer W. Kimball, Lengthen Your Stride

6. What did you watch on TV last night?
The Western Conference finals between the Jazz and the Spurs.

7. What is the farthest you have been from home?
Sao Paulo Brazil.

Amazing Grace

I saw the movie Amazing Grace this weekend with my roommates. The movie truly is amazing. It tells the story of William Wilberforce an 18th Century Member of the British Parliament who is against slave trade. He worked tirelessly for years and years to abolish the slave trade. His work became his life and his destiny. The movie is very inspirational and descriptive. It clearly defines the hardships the antislavery pioneers had to face in order to save the lives of innocent human beings. It is a great movie to see to learn more about the abolishment of the slave trade and gives inspirational insight on working hard to change lives and make a difference.

The End of an Era

This empty desk represents the end of my career with HCA. The five year adventure has official come to an end. Today I am feeling a mixture of emotions. I feel happy that I am moving to a new developing company that will offer me amazing opportunities for growth. I am excited about the people I am going to work with and their philosophies and ideas. I am excited to be working from home. I am excited that I am going to be able to use my talents and abilities to my full capacity. I feel sad that I won't be working with the extremely talented and hard working friends I have made at HCA. I am sad that I won't be going on any more business trips to Tennessee or Altlanta. I am sad that I won't be having anymore free drug rep lunches. That was a great perk. But, onward and upward as I always say. You never know what life is going to bring you. Who knows maybe I'll meet a gorgeous McDreamy surgeon and get married. That would be fun!

The Alchemist

One of my New Year's Resolutions this year is to learn to like to read books. I don't hate to read books. I just don't do it very often so I am not that good at it but, I am trying to force myself to be better. My roommate loves the book The Alchemist by the Brazilian author Paulo Coelho. Of course I became interested in reading the book because the author is from Brazil. What don't I love that is from Brazil?

The book is a story of a shepherd boy who sets out to find his own personal legend. The book gave me a sense of hope and direction. It is incredibly optimistic. It suggests a new and different way of looking at the world and why things happen in different ways to different people. Basically the thought is that we are all in the world trying to realize our personal legends or destinies. But we can't reach them the same way because none of our legends are the same. I was slightly disappointed by the ending. I wanted there to be more. I wanted the story to continue. I guess that means I was hooked. It was a good book. You should give it a read.

Lemon Creme Bars

I found this new recipe for Lemon Bars and made them for the first time this weekend. This recipe is a lot easier to make then traditional lemon bars. And for those people that have a liking for oatmeal cookies this is the perfect recipe for you. It isn't as tart as other lemon bars but has a nice zing and light taste for summer barbecues.

1/2 cup cold butter
1 pouch (1 lb. 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker oatmeal cookie mix
1 egg
1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated)
2 teaspoons grated lemon peel
1/4 cup lemon juice

Heat oven to 350 F. Spray bottom of 8-inch square pan with cooking spray. In a large bowl, cut butter into cookie mix, using fork or pastry blender. Stir in egg until mixture is crumbly. Press half of cookie mixture into bottom of pan. Bake 15 minutes. In small bowl, stir condensed milk, lemon peel and lemon juice until thick. Spread over baked crust. Crumble remaining cookie mixture over top. Bake about 25 minutes longer or until light golden brown. Refrigerate 30 minutes or until set. Store covered in refrigerator.

I doubled the recipe and used a 13 X 9 inch pan.

In the Name of Style

A good friend of mine once told me, "Accessories are what separate us from the Animals." I believe shoes are included in the category of accessories. I have several pairs of shoes for different occasions. Sandals for summer, hiking boots, running shoes, a few pairs of black heels, snow shoes. Let' s be honest not all of the shoes I own are comfortable. Sometimes you just have to sacrifice for style. Anyone who knows anything about fashion realizes that but the line has to be drawn somewhere. The shoes this lady is wearing are ridiculous. I can't even imagine going through the pain of wearing something like this. Ooo it makes my skin crawl just thinking about it.

To Love

In 2005 one of my cousins and his wife adopted a baby boy. That summer they went to the Temple as a family and were sealed for time and all eternity. Elder Vaughn J. Featherstone performed the sealing. Although my cousin and his wife had been married for over 10 years he wanted to take the opportunity to share some thoughts about marriage and how to love. I wrote down most of what he said in my journal. I love going back reading through my journal. Some of the entries are so funny. Sometimes I can be a crazy person. But anyway I read the other night about the things Elder Featherstone had said about love and I wanted to share them so here they are making their debut on my blog. He said....

Men should feel such a profound love for their wives that when they walk into a room and see their wife sleeping they get emotional just by looking at her and watching her sleep. Love is when a romantic song comes on the radio and you have the urge to dance with your wife around the Kitchen. Romance is when you are sitting next to your wife at church and you have your arm around her and you can't seem to get her close enough to you. There will be times or days in your marriage when your wife will need to talk. She will need her husband to listen. She will need him to listen well and hard. He doesn't need to have a speech or anything prepared to say he just needs to listen. He needs to listen like he's never listened before. And when she is done, he needs to hold her and hold her until everything in her world is okay.

He went on to say...

Wives need to be supportive of their husbands. They need to thank him for being a good provider for their family. They need to be thanked for being a good father and a good husband. Husbands have an enormous responsibility to provide for a family. There are 6 billion of us on this earth and everyone is trying to make it and to be on the top. Your husband goes out in it everyday and slays dragons. The world is more competitive now then it ever has been. You need to be grateful and supportive of your husband's work.

For those of you that are married I hope you will love a little better and a little stronger. For those of us who aren't married I hope we can realize the joy and enormous responsibility that lies ahead.

Go Jazz...

The Jazz made it. They beat out the Golden State Warriors Tuesday night in Salt Lake. My roommate got us tickets to the game again. It was awesome. They will now advance to the Western Conference Finals. I can't even wait. All I have to say is... go team take state!! By that I mean go Jazz take the Finals!

Race for the Cure

The Susan G. Komen race for the cure 5K was this Saturday at the Gateway Mall. My friend Aubrey who participated last year encouraged us to join her. Trish and I decided to run the race with her this year. I have never been a part of such and emotional run. In fact I have never been emotional while running at all. I usually can't wait until the run is over. I have competed in my fair share of 5Ks but this one was amazing. There were 16,000 participants. It is the biggest 5K race in the state of Utah. There were every size, shape and age of runner or walker at the race. There were groups of people that had pink tags on their backs saying I run for my mother, my sister, my aunt, my best friend, my wife. There were runners with pink shirts saying I survived.The race started off with Melissa Etheridge's song I Run For Life. I was choking back the tears. There were babies in strollers and little kids riding on their dad's shoulders. The energy was intoxicating. The race is held for such an important thing.

I hope that we can all be aware of breast cancer and the effects it has on all of our lives. We all know a special women in our life that has fought against breast cancer. None of us are exempt from the disease. I hope we all gain an awareness of the importance of having regular medical check ups and self examinations. Visit The Susan G. Komen website for educational and inspirational information.

Get Jazzed

The Utah Jazz are in the playoffs! It is an exciting time to live in Utah and to be a Jazz fan. I have watched the Jazz in the past but have never been as involved in their games as I have this year. My favorite teams in the past have been the L.A. Lakers and the Minnesota Timberwolves. But, now I have come to my senses and the Jazz have won my heart.

Twinkie, the darling girl that she is, got us tickets to the second game in the series against the Golden State Warriors. It was last Tuesday night. Her dad, sister, friend Jung, Moonflower and I all went to the game. We had a blast.

The crowd was never quiet during the game. There was always a slight hum. When Derek Fisher came into the game during the 3rd the energy that surged through the team and the arena was electrifying. Scoring a basket in the last 2 seconds of the game pushing us into overtime sent the fans out of their minds. The 5 minute overtime battle was amazing. Then after the game when we walked into the corridor and people were still cheering "Utah Jazz". It was awesome.

I love people that love life and are passionate about their interests. Whatever that interest is whether it be sports, art, family, reading. I believe you should engross yourself in loving that thing and making it a part of your life.

I'm an Aunt for the 12th time

Ms. Holly Beth Little was born today. I was talking to Monica at about 10:30 last night. Jokingly I asked her if she had her baby yet. She said, "No I haven't had her yet. I think I will have her sometime this week." She neglected to tell me she was having contractions while we were talking.

I went to the gym this morning but when I came back I left my phone in my car. When I went out to go to work I had a message on my phone from Monica. I thought she was calling to tell me that she had booked her flight for her trip to Texas in June. But, no...the message said, "I had Holly last night. We just wanted to let you know. You can call either me or Scott if you want." She was so calm and acted like it was no big deal. I love Monica. She is so funny!

I stopped at the hospital this morning before going to work. Holly is so beautiful. She has the cutest, roundest little face. It was amazing that I was holding her just four short hours after she was born. Scott says she has no problems eating so I know we will be fast friends. She already told me today that I was her favorite aunt. Sorry everyone what can you do?

Hi Ho Hi Ho... Off to Work I go

I have been spending a lot of time in Las Vegas for work the last couple of weeks. I usually fly down Tuesday morning and come back either Wednesday or Thursday night. The last couple of trips I made I ran into someone I knew every time. I saw my brother in law in the security line, sat behind a girl I knew in High School, on the flight home I sat next to a guy from my home ward. It was crazy. Some of those people I hadn't seen in years with the exclusion of my brother in law of course. I work in Health Care Administration for HCA Physician Services (HCAPS). HCAPS is a division of HCA, Hospital Corporation of America. It owns and operates hundreds of physician office throughout the entire United States. I have been traveling to Vegas to help out in the Trauma, Neurology and Anesthesiology clinics at Sunrise Hospital.

What Do I for Work?

I mostly run audit, financial and statistical reports to make sure the operations are running smoothly. In the picture I am going over the monthly accrual charges before I send them to our accountants. I also complete employee reviews, interview job applicants, meet with physicians and conduct Ethics and Compliance training. Along with lots of other things that usually aren't to exciting. It's not always fun. However, outside of work Las Vegas, as we all know, can be a fun city with tons of shopping and lots of good food. Of course those are the highlights for me because I don't gamble.

My Little Tradition

When I am done with work, I get in my little rental car (This time happened to be a Ford Mustang Convertible. I might have squealed the tires once or twice and may have driven just a little bit over the speed limit. Don't tell me you wouldn't have done the same thing.) and drive myself up to the Las Vegas Temple.

I love taking the drive up to the temple. I adore how the streets wind up out of the city toward the mountains. As you turn onto Bonanza boulevard you can see the Angel Moroni hovering above the houses and trees. The bright blue sky with wispy cool whip like clouds in the background. It is a breathtaking sight.

The tradition continues with me getting dinner from one of my favorite Las Vegas restaurants. The Cheesecake Factory, Firefly, Chipotle and In-N-Out are among some of my most frequently visited eateries. I have yet to try any of the Las Vegas buffets or sushi bars but highly recommend any of the hasheries listed above. Once I have selected my meal of choice it's off to my favorite hotel, the Embassy Suites on Paradise Road. Minus the fruity umbrellaed drinks and good looking cabana boys, it virtually is paradise.