Thanksgiving 2009

I love Thanksgiving, it's probably one of my favorite holidays. I am not really sure why I love it so much, maybe it's all the good food, or the time cooking in the kitchen that I enjoy so much, but I am sad that it has passed now. This year's Thanksgiving was so fun! We had really good company and really good food!!!! What more can a person ask for, right?
The day started out with Robert heading to a Turkey Bowl that morning. Apparently the young men and some of the "older" men in the ward kicked Robert's butt, because he is still sore from playing. The poor kid has been sore for almost a week now from it! Despite the soreness he had a good time though. Then after the Turkey bowl our friends Dan and Lesli from the ward came over. This is kind of how the day went:

Lesli and I do the the cooking


Dan and Robert enjoyed relaxing while we were preparing the feast


This is what are hard work in the kitchen produced, Lesli and I made a great team in the kitchen!






Here are the guys doing the dishes for us girls so we could plan out super strategy for Friday morning's shopping extravaganza


Later after we had all digested our food, we went to the movies to see "The Blind Side". If you have not seen this movie, it's a must see and it's well worth the money you'll spend on the tickets! After the movie we all headed home to get a "nap" in so that we could wake up the next morning and go shopping for some awesome deals! Personally I think Lesli and I were more excited about it then the guys, but they were good sports and went with us, they benefited from it though, they got some pretty cool "toys". Sears was Robert's and mine first spot, while Dan and Lesli were holding spots at Radio Shack for us. At Sears we got a blue ray disc player and surround system (which we got the last one of...it was kind of an ordeal at Sears, that's another story for another post) and then we headed to Radio Shack to meet up with Dan & Lesli. They got a new GPS there and we got our new flat screen TV there. After Radio Shack we all headed to Target and then Kohls. After all the shopping we did we worked up an appetite and went to Panera Bread for breakfast...oh so yummy!!! After that we were all pretty dead so we went home and rested up and later that night Dan and Lesli joined us for leftovers and to watch a movie on our new awesome tv and surround sound system.
We had a great holiday and our friends Dan and Lesli made it super enjoyable! Thanks guys for a great and memorable Thanksgiving!

Oh, here is a picture of our new "toy"

Time for a Face Lift!

I have missed my goal for the last couple of weeks for blogging. I was trying to think tonight why I haven't really met my goal. As I thought about it, it comes down to this....I am just being lazy! I chose to do other things than meet my goal. So, in an effort to energize me and not make me lazy with this goal of mine to blog once a week, I decided to give the blog a face lift! I figured if I could intensify the "cuteness" of this blog, than maybe I would be more excited to look at it and blog. It really needed it anyways... it was getting kind of dull and plain. It's like when you look through your closet and you realize you are sick of your clothes and everything makes you look like "Plain Jane", so you have to go get a new cute outfit to make things not seem so plain and dull! So, I went and I got the blog a cute new outfit. I plan on adding "accessories" to this new cute outfit as the weeks pass...so stay tuned to see the rest of the face lift!
Just to give you all a little preview of accessories to be added...Robert and I are having family photos done this weekend, I hope to use those to add to the banner.

A weekend in LA and new callings

I missed making my goal last week because Robert and I flew to LA for the weekend for his brother's Brandon's wedding. We had a lot of fun hanging out with his sibilings and family. I know Robert took some pictures so I'll have to post some later. Being in LA I realized that I never want to live southern California. The traffic is unreal!!!! Driving the 405 is like having a death wish! We flew into LAX and drove to where we were staying on Santa Monica Blvd, which is only like 20 miles, but it took us almost an hour to get there, and that's what the natives called a good day of traffic. It was ridiculous! Onto other more exciting things than the traffic in LA.
So today at church Robert and I got a couple of new callings. The Bishop had called Robert a week ago or so and asked him what his schedule was like and that he was submitting Robert's name for a stake calling that would have him working really close with the Bishop. Well,he called friday and asked for both of us to meet with him on Sunday before church. We went in and Bishop and Stake President explained that the Ward Exec. Secretary was going to be gone on business till January and that the Stake was calling Robert on a special assignment to fill in for the Exec. Secretary especially since it's tithing settlement time. So, then as I am picking myself up, the Bishop says, "oh, we have a calling for your wife too". I was just called as the compassionate service leader a few months ago so I was kind surprised that they were changing it. So, then he proceeded to tell me that I was being called as the 2nd Counselor in Relief Society Presidency. I am excited for it, I think it's a good way to meet more women in the ward since I missed out on meeting so many of them when we moved in because I went to Austin for work so fast after moving here. I think we have very busy days ahead of us!!!!!

Excuses and so much more

Okay, so I missed making my goal for the week, I am suppose to blog a post by Saturday night, but failed this week. I do have excuses though...I promise they are valid excuses too! So here they are......
1. I worked like a 50 hour work week this week because I had a coworker who thought he would take a week long vacation and leave me to tend to his clients. At our office if you are out, another caseworker has to look after your cases and clients. We call it the "buddy system", which I think is funny we call it this because after your "buddy" leaves all of his/her work to take care, the last thing I want to do is call that person my "buddy". This coworker of mine will have a very angry "buddy" to answer to on Monday morning! Nothing was in order with his cases and as luck would have it all of his angry, seriously disturbed clients came to see me! I am pretty sure there will be a butt kicking party tomorrow morning at my office and I am pretty sure that after that he'll never want to take a week long vacation again!So on to exuse #2
2. I felt terrible the whole week due to allergies. Texas and it's ragweed is going to kill me! I don't know how many kleenexes I have used this week, I think I might have to buy stock in the kleenex business! I haven't been able to taste anything but snot for the past week, sorry, most of you probably could have lived without knowing that. I have lived on advil and bendryl for most of the week, leaving me groggy and not able to blog.

Okay, so I am trying to think if there is another excuse, but these are the only 2 I can think of...but they are 2 valid excuses, right???? Anyways, I am trying to be better with this blogging thing.

My one sentence

Okay, so Robert is not letting me go to bed(it's currently 11:58pm) unless I blog one sentence. So here it is....I have to speak tomorrow in church so instead of a really good post on this blog, I wrote my talk instead.

Home Sweet Home

Well, it's been awhile since I posted, which as some of you may have figured out by now, is nothing unusual with me. But, I have made a new goal to be better with blogging. I have told Robert that this is my goal, and that he is suppose to check the blog once a week to make sure I am keeping my goal. Goals are so much easier when you know someone is holding you accountable! Anyway, to play catch up..I am home from my 10 weeks in Austin,TX for work. Let me just say, I'll be happy if I never have to stay in another hotel or eat out again! I have a gained a new skill from all of my traveling....I am an expert at packing...you would be surprise to see just how much I can fit in a suitcase. I also learned that if you check in to a hotel after 9:30pm they'll upgrade you to a suite! I am so happy to be back home with my husband and back in my own bed! Home Sweet Home!
So, other than me returning home, Robert has started his first semester at Baylor and is loving it! The kid comes home everyday and tells me just how much he loves it here and loves his advisor. It's so nice to hear him say this. It's also nice to know that we chose a great place to come to. The Lord definitely directed us to where we needed to be. We are loving our Texas adventure!

Tolerance

When I was in the MTC I made friends with a couple of sisters who were Samoan. They would eat lunch with my district quite often and one day we started talking about phrases we use and phrases they use and the difference. They taught us a phrase that went like this.....E eseese pato (I hope I spelt that right!), the translation is "ducks are different". I remember asking what that meant, and they said that basically it says "everybody is unique, different-so be tolerant". This phrase came back to me today because lately I have been thinking a lot about tolerance, maybe it's because I have been experiencing situations where there needs to be more tolerance for people's beliefs, how they live their lives, or even the challenges they experience in life. Who are we to judge them? I have listened to so many people this past week judge one another on their religious beliefs, on their marriages, on their mistakes, or even on their hardships (who are we to go and judge someone if they need medicaid or need help feeding their families!) Now I understand that I am a social worker, so I am naturally passionate about tolerance, but it just seems like this world is beooming more and more intolerant. Last week wasn't the first week I have heard intolerance, it's almost hard to go somewhere and not see it or hear it. I think tolerance is one of those things we have to wake up everyday and make a committment to strive to reach. One of the greatest things we can give someone is respect, a little respect can go a long way, and I believe that respect is something that can be passed on just by receiving it. We don't have to have a formal lesson to learn it. We just need to listen to people's stories with compassion. I once heard in a sacrament meeting that if we understood everyone's stories then we wouldn't judge one another, we would extend love instead. I don't mean to be on a soap box about this, it's just something that has bothered me lately and I am by no means perfect, so I hope I can wake up each day and tune my heart more each day to hear the stories of the people around me so I can love them a little more each day.

Austin Texas and Recipes

So as some of you know, I am in Austin, Texas for work for the next 8 weeks, actually it's 7 weeks now, since last week was my first week here. The state of Texas has sent me and 4 other employees to Austin for policy training since we are new social workers for the state. So, for the next 7 weeks I am calling a hotel home and only get to come home on Friday and I have to check in again on Sunday. I really miss being away from my husband and it gets old eating out all of the time. Because I am missing being able to cook, I am posting some recipes that people have requested lately. If you all can think of others you want, let me know.

Mexican Roll-Ups

1 package of flour tortillas
1 package of cream cheese
1 8 oz container of sour cream
1 package of taco seasoning
1 can of green chilies
1 can of chopped black olives
1 lb. of deli chicken breast sliced somewhere between thin and medium
shredded cheddar cheese

soften cream cheese, once softened, mix in sour cream, taco seasoning, green chilies,and black olives. Once all this is mixed in, spread on tortillas, then layer a couple of pieces of chicken breast, and then sprinkle cheddar cheese (how ever much you want). Roll the tortilla up, and the cut off the ends so it's even on the ends. Cut them in half or slice in 1 inch slices to be little pinwheel party sandwiches.

Brown Sugar Carrots

1 package of frozen carrots or fresh baby carrots
3 TBSP brown sugar
1 tsp of vanilla extract
1 TBSP cinnamon
a couple of drizzles of maple syrup
2 TBSP butter

cook carrots, once carrots are cooked to desired tenderness, drain all but a very little bit of water. Place butter in pot and make sure it melts, add brown sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, and maple syrup. Mix and serve.

We're all moved in!!!!!

Well, we made it. We have been here in Waco 2 weeks tomorrow and we're all moved in!!!! I am so glad that we are done unpacking...I HATE MOVING!!!!!!!!! I think I would rather have a root canal done than move. We left Terre Haute (THANK GOODNESS...can you tell that I didn't really care for the town??) on 5/13 and got to Waco Thursday evening. Our moving truck showed up Monday so we had a fun weekend of camping out in our new home with nothing but the airbed and the kitchen stuff I brought with us just in case. Next time I am going to remember to put the camping chairs in the car with us so we have somewhere to sit until our stuff arrives. Live and Learn, right??? I have plenty of other moves I am sure to perfect the science of moving...I am not quite sure if I should be excited about this or distraught???
It took us a week to unpack the house and like 6 runs to the goodwill to get rid of crud that we brought that we should have gotten rid of before we packed it and paid to move it here. I am not posting pictures of house put together on this post. I am waiting till we get our new living room furniture. We bought new furniture last weekend but they didn't have it in stock so they had to order it for us. Once I get the living room furniture I'll post pictures of the entire house, but at least you can see what the front looks like. We love this little house! It was totally gutted out and remodeled so I feel like I am living in a brand new home, such an improvement from our little 1 bedroom apt that was the top of an old home in Terre Haute.
The other good news is that Robert and I both got jobs. I had a job interview the day after we got to Terre Haute with the State of Texas Dept. of Health and Human Services for a caseworker position and 4 days later they called and offered me the job. I had been hoping they would offer me an interview and after the interview I knew I really wanted the job. I start next week. Robert also got a job last week working for a company that organizes medical records for insurance companies. It's a good summer job for him. We've been very blessed with coming here. It's so nice when you listen to the spirit and make the right decision. We chose the best school and the best place we could have come to. We're excited to be Texans!

Next Stop....Baylor University!

Okay, for all of you who have been waiting to find out where we are off to next, the answer is Baylor University! Robert accepted a spot in the Social Psychology Ph.D. program there this week. We are very excited about Baylor and feel like we made the right decision. He'll be working with a great professor who has a grant doing forgiveness research, the grant secures funding for him for 5 years, which is one of the great things about Baylor. He'll make each year $19,000.00, which we have been told that a yearly stipend like this in unheard of in graduate school. He was also granted a full tuition waiver for 5 years, so that saves us approx. $42,000.00 a year! The people have been so nice and on top of it at the university and that has been a nice change from some of the other universities we were considering.
Baylor is located in Waco, TX, which is about an hour and half south of Dallas/Ft. Worth area and hour or so east of Austin, TX. We're super excited about this adventure and change, and I personally am very proud of my husband of getting into such a renown school as Baylor!
More to come later......

Things about Me

So, it seems that I am only good with updating my blog when I get tags. At least it's something right???? Or, maybe I just tell myself this to make me feel better, but at any cost here is something that can be considered an update.

ABOUT ME:
1. I am a convert to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
2. I get really stressed about timing
3. I work with morons who act like teenagers in high school
4. I wish that my family was a part of my life and would accept my religion
5. I have the best in-laws, (brothers, sisters, mother, father, grandparents...all of them) they treat me as if I am truly part of the family
6. I have the best husband ever!
7. I see doubles
8. I love anything chocolate...I could eat for breakfast and be happy woman!
9. I fear never being able to have children of my own ( not something I admit very often, but has been more of a fear/realization lately)
10. I feel my best when I know I have done good things for others
11. I can't wait to move from Terre Haute!!!!!!
12. I could live without cable TV and be happy reading all day
13. I have extra bones in my feet
14. I served a mission in Latvia
15. I am addicted to reading CNN daily
16. I pride myself on my cooking skills
17. I love red shoes-my count now is at 9 pairs
18. I am so proud of my husband for all of his hard work in graduate school
19. I am a proud USU alumni!
20. I worry about the impressions that I leave with people
21. I wish I could be more spontaneous and a little less regimented
22. I want to make a difference in this world
23. I love having lazy saturdays with my husband
24. I miss my friends that I left behind when I moved
25. I am anxious to find out where we will be moving to next

So, I tag everyone who reads this blog!