Soooo stinkin funny!

Now these are hilarious!!! I found the website looking for a trivia question on a radio station. The question was in what country is it illegal to flush a toilet after 10 pm if you live in an apartment. I highlighted my favorites in red!!


Strange Laws Around the World

Belgium: A driver who needs to turn through oncoming traffic has the right of way unless he slows down or stops. In Antwerp it is illegal to wear a red hat and walk down the main street (Het Meyer) China · You may only have one child, or you will have to pay a fine. · To go to college you must be intelligent. Beijing · Drivers of power-driven vehicles who stop at pedestrian crossings are liable to a fine of up to five yen, or a warning. -Article 40 of the Beijing Traffic Laws. Denmark · Before starting your car you are required to check lights, brakes, steering and honk your horn. Try that at 4:00am!) You also need to make a visual check to make sure there are no children underneath the car. · If your vehicle stalls and you leave it on the side of the road, you must mark the vehicle with a red, reflecting triangle. This equipment is only mandatory when the car stalls, not at any other times, however. · If a horse drawn carriage is trying to pass a car and the horse becomes uneasy, the owner of the car is required to pull over and if necessary, cover the car. · Attempt to escape from prison is not illegal, however, if one he is caught he is required to serve out the remainder of his term. · No one may start a car while someone is underneath the vehicle. · Encrypting data files, owning, distributing etc. of encryption programs and creating such programs for any electronic medias is now against the law in Denmark due to fear for terrorists, left and right wing extremist, fundamentalists and distributors of illegal pornography. · Headlights must be on whenever a vehicle is being operated in order to distinguish it from parked cars. · When driving, you must have someone in front of your car with a flag to warn horse drawn carriages that a motorcar is coming. · Any carport added to a building increases the value of the building by 15.5 times the cost of building the addition. · There is a penalty of 20kr for not reporting when a person has died. France: · Between the hours of 8AM and 8PM, 70% of music on the radio must be by French artists. · It is illegal to kiss on railways in France. · No pig may be addressed as Napoleon by its owner. Antibes · It is illegal to take photos of police officers or police vehicles, even if they are just in the background Germany: · Every office must have a view of the sky, however small. · It is illegal to wear a mask. · A pillow can be considered a "passive" weapon. Israel: · Bicycles may not ridden without a license. · Raising a pig on Israeli soil will result in the murder of said pig. · Picking your nose on Saturday is forbidden. · If you have been maintaining an illegal radio station for five or more years, the station becomes legal. · It is illegal for a chicken to lay an egg on a Friday or Saturday Arad · It is against the law to feed animals in public places. · It is considered an offence to operate a mobile spay/neuter clinic - it is considered peddling. Haifa · It is forbidden to bring bears to the beach. Kiriat Motzkin · No loud voices or big lights are allowed during weekends. Ramat-Hasharon · The raising of Rotweiler dogs is prohibited. Italy: It is illegal to practice the profession of being a fraud. A man may be arrested for wearing a skirt. Striking someone with a fist is considered a felony Pinching a girl's bottom is not illegal Japan: There is no age of consent Mexico: Guadalajara · Women who work for the government of the city of Guadalajara, may not wear miniskirts or any other "provocative" garment during office hours. · It is illegal to shout offensive words in any public place. Aguascalientes · Any kind of nude artistic display is illegal. Morocco: Anyone in company with someone who possesses narcotics, even if they are unaware that their companion has them, can be tried for the same crime. It is legal to smoke pot, buy it, or have less than 5 grams with you. Prostitution is legal but the prostitutes must pay taxes like any other business. Norway: You may not spay your female dog or cat. However, you may neuter the males of the species Saudi Arabia: It is illegal to kiss a stranger. A woman may not drive a car. It is considered an offence if a woman appears in public, unless accompanied by a male relative or guardian It is illegal to engage in any religious practice other than Islam. Male doctors may not examine women, and women doctors cannot examine men. Women may not become doctors. (Can u guess what these 2 sentences together mean) It is illegal to import any books featuring Christian symbols such as a cross. From Jiddah to Riyadh there are two highways: one for Muslims, another for "infidels". If a Muslim is accompanied by an "infidel", both are required to use the highway for infidels. Singapore: · Chewing bubblegum (or any food) on the subway (the M.R.T.) may result in fines and/or jail time. · The sale of bubblegum is prohibited. · Homosexuals are not allowed to live in the country. · Oral sex is illegal unless it is used as a form of foreplay. · Pornography is illegal. · As it is considered pornographic, you may not walk around your home nude. · Failure to flush a public toilet after use may result in very hefty fines. · It is considered an offence to enter the country with cigarettes. · Cigarettes are illegal at all public places. · It is illegal to come within 50 meters of a pedestrian crossing the street. · If you are convicted of littering three times, you will have to clean the streets on Sundays with a bib on saying," I am a litterer." This will then be broadcasted on the local news. · It is illegal to pee in an elevator. · It is illegal to carry a Bible or to talk to someone about Jesus. (and I went to a Theological seminary to study pastoral counselling and teach the Bible there too!) Korea: Traffic police are required to report all bribes that they receive from motorists. All dogs sold for consumption (eating) must have a government approved tattoo The eating of stray cats is illegal. Switzerland: · Clothes may not be hung to dry on Sunday. · You may not wash your car on a Sunday. · It is considered an offence to mow your lawn on a Sunday, because it causes too much noise. · It is illegal to flush the toilet after 10 P.M. if you live in an apartment. · A man may not relieve himself while standing up, after 10 P.M. · Though it is illegal to produce, store, sell and trade absinth (special alcohol), it is legal to consume it. · It is required that every car with snow tires has to have a sticker on its dashboard which tells that the driver should not drive faster than 160 km/h with these tires. · The highest speed allowed on national freeways is 120 km/h. · If you forget you car-keys inside the car and you leave the car open, you will be punished. Thailand: · It is illegal to leave your house if you are not wearing underwear. · You must wear a shirt while driving a car. · You must pay a fine of $600 in Thailand if you're caught throwing away chewed bubble gum on the sidewalk. If you do not pay the fine, you are jailed. · No one may step on any of the nation's currency.

an exciting chocolate discovery, hockey, and some wedding stuff

I found a website, Chocolate Decadence, it's actually out of Oregon that makes dairy free chocolates. I've been craving chocolates, so I had to buy some. They are super expensive, so it won't happen often. They have 2 packs of truffles- so of those I got a 2 pack of double chocolate and a 2 pack of Cherry Pecan (those were my favorite!!). I also got a pack of chocolate covered caramels. Those were pretty good too. But, yeah thats all about that. But, hey it was exciting for me. Scott promised he'd buy me some Valentines chocolates from there :)

This past Saturday we went to a Grand Rapids Griffins hockey game. They are an AHL (American Hockey League) team that is affiliated with the Red Wings. They play at Van Andel, it's like 10 minutes away. You can get "hot seat" tickets in advance for $5. On game day they are $13. So, that is what we did. They are seats way up in the upper sections, but the view was still great. We could see really well. Scott was pretty excited because since they are affilated with the Red Wings, the players are there quite frequently. For example, if a Red Wing is injured and they have to rehabilitate before going back to the Red Wing games, they'll play a few games with the Griffins. Well the night we went there weren't any Red Wings playing, but it was Red Wing celebrity night so Darren McCarty was there. I guess he was signing autographs before the game then he came out and spoke in between the first and second periods, and they presented him with one of his jerseys framed. I don't remember what game the jersey was from, but it was one he played really well at. He had said that he had an injury and plans to be playing with the Griffins in a couple weeks. Scott, and his whole family actually are big Wings fans, so that was pretty cool for him.

The first time we went to a Griffins game was last winter. I was excited that time cause it was my first hockey game and I saw my first hockey fight! This time there weren't too many fights, but the game was scoreless, so it went into overtime. It was a 5 minute period. That was scoreless too. So, then it went to a shoot out!! Scott was explaining to me what was happening after the overtime before the shoot out and they were playing really intense music. I was stoked! It was very exciting. In the shootout each team picks 5 players. Then they alternate trying to make a goal. On their third try, the Griffins made a shot!!! The other team (the Quad City Flames) got to try one more time, and they missed so we won!! It was fun! I love being able to go to sporting events like that and then just having a short trip home, instead of say going to see a sporting event in Detroit.

Here are some pics from the game:



Our goalie! Jimmy something- I don't remember. But I do know he was named a star player at the end of the game because he did not allow any goals, and the other team had A LOT of shots on goal. I was nervous, they looked real close to scoring many times.


Dropping the puck- it's game time!




Here is Darren McCarty. The kids near him in the black uniforms are kids from a local league. In between the first and second period they were out trying to shoot goals.




Zambonis! And the mascots and some helpers. They are throwing hot dogs and t shirts in to the crowd.


The 2 team mascots. The one at the bottom, with the gun thing is the original. His name is Grif. The one at the top his name is Fin. The game we went to last year was his debut. It was also when they announced his name from a vote on the web site. At first I was dumb, I didn't get it. I thought Fin was the dumbest name ever. Then.... a lightbulb turned on- GRIF FIN!! ha ha Thats the team name! DUH!




Notice on my neck. That is my new Coach scarf!! And NO I did not buy it. That with a matching hat and some goats milk lotion was a Christmas present from my boss.


Fight!


This was kind of cool. They did this in between 2nd and 3rd period. They had a person sit on a sled, then brought a giant bungee thing. They wrapped it behind the person then let go, trying to get them into the big inflatable goal on the other side of the rink.




Scott eating my eye!


Yay! Griffins Win! Sorry no pictures of the shoot out, I was too excited!


The team celebrating!


Taken by a very nice Van Andel worker.


The outside of Van Andel. Oh I should add, because it's downtown GR the tickets were NOT the only cost. I also paid $7 for parking, and we ended up on the 5th floor of a parking ramp.

Ok, now for some wedding stuff. We've been to 2 bridal shows in the last 3 weeks. I wasn't hugely impressed with either. I'm actually getting very irriated with them and doubt we'll go to anymore. There is one in March, but I guess we'll see where we are with planning at that time. We haven't progressed much at all unfortunately, but hopefully we are on the up swing. We are really going to research Djs this week. We are trying to find one for a decent price for just like 4 hours. That brings me to my BIG question. I REALLY need help on this!! What time do we get married and then have our reception??? Obviously we were originally planning on having the ceremony at like 4 or 5, then have the reception til like 9 or so. BUT, I've heard that if you aren't serving alcohol you should have your reception earlier in the day. Also, since everyone is coming from out of town, having it earlier in the afternoon can allow them to go home afterwards if they want, instead of having to get a hotel room. BUT, if I have it earlier I don't think people will dance and stuff, I'm afraid they'll just eat and leave to get out on the road. Then I'll hire a DJ for no reason!! So, you see I need help figuring this out!!! Please! :)

We are hopefully going to be ordering our Save the Date magnets either sometime this week or next weekend. Just as a reminder, it will be the same style as these:


I've also decided that I am kind of going to make our invitations. I say kind of because I'm going to order the supplies, then print and assemble them myself. They are going to be a Pocketfold style. Like the ones below:


I think ours will be the colors of the one right above. I think it will have a shiny white pocket. Then a pink mat, and a white invitation with pink and orange text. It will be the same style as the one that is orange and black, with the insert cards kind of like like a ladder up on the right side. The brown one, I just love. However, the materials to do that particular style are just too expensive. But, I think I'll do a closure like that, with some kind of tie and a little square picture. I think the tie will be raffia type string.

I've seen these pocketfold type invitations on many websites and at every bridal show. They usually go for about $3-$4 a piece. If I make them myself, they'll be less than $2 a piece, not counting ink. Here is the best website I've found in my search for invitations. http://cardsandpockets.com/ If it were not for this site, I'd either have invitations I don't really like, or spent WAY to much to get the ones I do like. I actually went to Michaels before I found the site, to see how what kind of paper they had, so I could make them all from scratch. Sooo glad I found that website, cause my first attempt wasn't very impressive.

Here is the price breakdown from the cards and pockets website:
The pockets themself are a super thick material. They are already cut and folded. I'm thinking of going with the metallic pearl. They are .78 each
The mat is .13 each
The white invitation sheet is $5 for a pack of 25, so .20 each.
The inserts are a little less than $5 for a pack of 25, so about .20 (these are for the cards on the right side, for directions, hotels, RSVP, etc.
Then they have envelopes for .15 each. I don't know if I'll use them or not. I might browse around.

I haven't completely decided on colors for these yet, but I did order samples of pocket material in metallic pearl, metallic tangerine, metallic watermelon and smooth fuschia. Then also a sample of the envelope, to see how good of a quality it is. My samples cost about $1.75 total, with free shipping.

I think I've also decided not to use flowers for the boutonniere. Here is what I'm thinking.... :)

STARFISH! I've heard you can get the starfish at Michaels, then just super glue the pin backings on. I can certainly do them myself! Yay less money spent on flowers!! Woo hoo! I've seen several beach weddings where people do this, I think it's a fantastic idea! And a fanstastic way to save money!

Next is the cake.
We haven't decided where to get it done at, but I did find a cute picture of one!


We also found this cake topper:


This one is cute, but I think we still like the other that we found better:


And, last is flowers. I haven't picked a florist either, but here are my latest and greatest bouquet finds!!!


These are like spiky gerbera daisies!!! Too cool!


And how tropical do these look?!?!?! They do look like they'd be darn expensive. But I'll bring the picture when I talk to a florist and see what they say.

Ok, I guess thats all. Please comment or email with opinions!! Thanks!!! Your comments are always MUCH appreciated, especially when it comes to wedding stuff.

Today

Scott and I are going to another bridal show today! I am super surprised that he actually wants to go, but he does. He likes getting free stuff for one, and I think he feels that is his way of helping. Which hey- I am all for!

We get to actually focus our trip this time. Last one we went to we didn't have anything. This time we know what we are looking for:

florist
caterer- I think the ones we were looking at will be there
DJ
invitations, I might end up doing these myself, but I'm at least going to look around.
dress- not really looking for this, but they are having a fashion show.
travel agents- specific to Hawaii

In other news, my boss found an old money order they forgot to cash. She said if I can get it cashed- she'll split it with me 50/50. Well, I talked to our bank and they said they are good unless there is a stop payment on them, which we wouldn't know unless we deposit it, then if it clears we are fine. So, might have just made myself a REAL easy $350! It's like an extra paycheck!! And it will be going straight into my savings account. I'm actually really happy with the amount of money I'm saving! Scott is doing.... ok. Not great, he still has about $700 less than me, but he is trying.


Ally- hope the snow didn't hit you too bad! We got a few inches, I think Jville was suppose to get 6-10!! I'll be thinking about you a lot these next few days Ally!! Hope the kiddos and Dave are letting you rest and relax! Only 4 more days!!!! OMG!!!! :)

Getting caught up

Hello- so I haven't posted anything since before Christmas! Scott and I went to Jville on Christmas eve, after thinking we wouldn't be able to until Christmas day because of the weather, but we got a break in the weather and headed out. We were there Christmas eve, Christmas day, that Friday, then we headed back up here on Saturday. It went very well! Bry and I both got cameras from mom and were wandering all over the place taking pictures- you'll see some of them later. Dad, Bry, Holl and I played a zillion rounds of Scattergories. That was fun! Especially when everyone but me thought the cattergorie read DESSERT, instead of DESERT! LOL!

New Years was pretty quiet, we just chilled at home, made some food and watched the ball drop. On New Years Day we went to the zoo (I had been playing with my camera for a few days before and my battery died half way through the zoo :( So we went back again yesterday :)) After the zoo we went to Panera for lunch, then we went to Oasis hot tubs and sat in a hot tub for an hour. Then we came home watched football.

Wedding related--- We found another caterer that we like. It's Brann's Steakhouse and Grille. I didn't know they did catering, but I came upon their website, and found a menu I like. Mom, Allison and Steph- make sure you let me know your opinions. I already talked to dad and he said it sounds good to him. So here it is:

Hawaiian Buffet
Pineapple Glazed Boneless Chicken Breast, Pulled Pork with Bourbon Sauce
BBQ sauce and buns, choice of one hot potato/starch*
Choice of one hot vegetable*, choice of one prepared salad*
Tossed garden salad with dressings, assorted rolls with butter, and choice of beverage.

Potato/Starch options
-Parsley Buttered Redskins
-Orange citrus rice with tri color peppers
-Baked potatoes with butter and sour cream
-rice pilaf
* We are thinking the citrus rice with tri color peppers, and seeing how much extra it would be for the parsley buttered redskins also

Vegetable options
-buttered corn
-green beans with bacon and mushrooms
-California blend
-maple glazed baby cut carrots
-cheesy broccoli
*For this we are thinking either the corn or the green beans...

Prepared Salad Options
-Fruit salad
-Pasta Salad
-Coleslaw
*For this we are going with the pasta salad, we were stuck between that and the fruit, but we found that they have fruit trays separate for appetizers and we are going with that. They have a tropical themed fruit tray. It comes with honeydew, cantaloupe, grapes, pineapple, strawberries and other seasonal fruits and berries. Then it is arranged in a beach theme with brown sugar sand, palm trees and Hawaiian flowers (all are edible). I think when we meet with them we'll ask to see a picture to see if it would be worth it, or if we should just ask for a bowl of mixed fruit.

Beverage Options
-Lemonade
-Iced tea
-Fruit punch
-Coffee
*Yeah, about this one.... I don't know. I know Scott wants to do a big tub of ice full of bottled water, and cans of pop. I also know our venue has coffee makers. We might just use those and make our own, as I don't think too many people would drink it in the summer. Then what about the other options- lemonade, iced tea, fruit punch? Do I need all three??

Ok- so that is it. It costs $11 per person and includes linens for the buffet area and disposable plates, napkins, cups and utensils. Although I might see what their disposable stuff is and decide I want something better. Because disposable plates could mean crappy paper plates, styrofoam or nicer clear plastic plates. We want the clear thick plastic plates. Same with the utensils and cups. If we don't like what they use, we might end up seeing if they'll take $ off if we don't use their stuff and then we'll go to Sam's and get the stuff we want. For an extra $2 per person they'll bring linens for all the tables. But I think I can probably get them elsewhere for cheaper. I'm thinking white table cloths for each table with a bright pink runner going down the center. like this:

Ok, everyone let me know what you think...

And now- pictures!!!


My very first picture with my new camera!


Bry at work with his camera


Holly with her new night vision goggles


Lol--- ok guess what this is! Bry and I would take pictures of random stuff then zoom way in on the picture, and this is one of them I got. See if you can guess what it is. I'll tell you at the end of my post. :)


Truffles!


Sorry i don't know how to rotate it.... but this is Alexis with all her jewels that I got her. And this was during the pedicure I gave her :)


Bry and I testing our cameras


Noah with his firefighting gear.


And for my favorite picture I took all weekend. The fortune cookie! Bry and I agreed, it looks like it could go on a Chinese cook book. I was pretty happy with it :)


This is what we came back to when we got to GR. After getting almost 3 feet of snow in less than a week. It got up to 45 degrees the Saturday after Christmas and it melted. It was super duper foggy when we got back and we decided to stop downtown to take a look at the river. We new it was going to flood, and that there would probably be ice jams. It was real bad. But looked very cool. This is the Grand River. We could only see one little spot of water, all the rest is very jagged chunks of ice.





Here are some NYE pics.



cupcakes I made. They were white, but I used 1/2 white flour, 1/2 wheat.


Scott's request- pigs in a blanket


Crab stuffed snow peas. They sounded like a good idea, but didn't taste very good.


These turned out very well! They are couscous stuffed mushrooms.You stuff them with couscous mixed with pesto and red pepper.

Zoo pics--


This is a squirrel that was in the parking lot. I'm pretty sure he was looking for food. You can see Scott's foot in the bottom right. The squirrel was NOT scared.


River otter! He was so cute!


I don't remember what this thing was called, but it was UGLY! lol


I had some problems taking pictures of the penguins. The lighting was crappy and they moved real fast. I need to practice every time I go there....


bald eagles.


Lion- we were very surprised to see that they were still out. We figured they'd be shipped some place warm for the summer.


I thought this angle was kind of cool. It's at the tiger exhibit, there are two windows. That is Scott in the other window watching the tiger.


Tiger


The mountain lions were very active. Walking all over the place, even very down low at the bottom of the exhibit.




Scott with a Chimp



These are the spider monkeys. We stayed watching these for like 20 minutes! The little one, in the picture above was all over the place, swinging from the ropes, rolling all over the place. He was fun to watch.






We think these 2 are pregnant...


Very sleepy bears


fish


komodo dragon


Here is a few pictures of a dress I really like. Now I just have to find something similar!


And thats all. Oh and the mystery picture is chicken fried rice from the Great Wall :) We found out most Chinese food looks very gross close up!