Desert Rats

Justin told me not to announce the following (why? I don't know but anyways...): we are MOVING! Ahh! I have such a whirlwind of emotions at the moment...I am excited, sad, nervous, and or course stressed out! But I know this will be a good thing.

Justin got a position with the FS in Camp Verde and we will be moving pretty soon. We visited CV this past weekend and had a great time. The town itself seems like a good place-handful of stores, LDS chapel, and the Verde River-what more could you ask for?! I am also excited to be in such a central location. We will be within an hour or so of Flagstaff, Prescott, and the great metro of Phoenix. Although many of you may think Justin and I are outdoors people, we actually have been more like house hermits these past two years. (Not that Round Valley isn't full of great places to go...we just haven't made the effort to go, ahh!) But CV is FULL of AWESOME places to go YEAR-ROUND and there will be absolutely NO excuse for us not to embrace our inner outdoor spirit once again.

Beaver Creek at its best!

During our visit we spent some time at Beaver Creek and Montezuma Well...SO BEAUTIFUL! I just love that central AZ desert/river drainage/limestone mesa country! Of course, I am going to miss the mountains (especially when the temp. hits over 100!)but I am looking forward to becoming a G-E-N-U-I-N-E AZ desert rat (or should I say desert mouse?).
Here's some pics from our trip:

Justin and Montezuma Well in the back

Do you see the cliff dwelling? Cool huh?! J seems to think that the National Park Service employees party on the lake after hours...he also believes that there is a "Nessie" monster in the water...who knows maybe both are true...

One of the pueblo rooms at the base of the cliff.

Yes, it was hot! Between the two of us, J and I must have drank 3 gallons of water.

Poison Ivy--How many kids do you think touched the darn poison ivy because it was pointed out to them?! To the right is the irrigation ditch made by the Natives which took advantage of a water outlet on the side of Montezuma Well. The water was SOOO clear...I so wanted a drink ot it!

Okay, so I realized something this trip...there are NO, absolutely not one good picture of Justin and I. Somehow, every time I decide to take a picture of us one of three things happens: #1 the lighting turns bad, #2 J's sunglasses dominate the shot, or #3 the camera takes the picture after the perfect moment. Actually, during this trip, all of the pictures of us included 2, sometimes all 3, of these features. For proof please see Exhibit A-C

Exhibit A

"I see THE light!"

Exhibit B

Aviator King

Exhibit C

The stoic side shot

Here's some more proof:

--A

Laughing Samoans

Okay, so I just had to show everyone some Poly-style humor. Bucky told me about these guys the other day and I couldn't stop laughing once I saw the video. It is so characteristic of Samoans!!

Just a little background info...The guy in this video is one of two comedians that do a show called, "Laughing Samoans." In this clip, he is supposed to be a real F.O.B. ("Fresh-Off the Boat") who is giving a motivational speech at a high school graduation. If you don't get the humor, don't feel bad. It may just be a Poly thing...poor Justin...I don't think he found it quite as amusing as I did. But ENJOY IT anyways!

Frying Feud

So today I made a new recipe for fried tacos. Justin has a friend that grew up in El Paso, TX and passed it on. It goes something like this:

• finely chop a potato
• mix potato with 1 lb. ground beef and boil until cooked
• season meat and potato mixture (taco seasoning works great)
• heat enough oil to fill a pot about 2-3 inches
• place a couple of spoonfuls of meat/potato in the center of a corn tortilla
• fold tortilla, place in hot oil
• fry each side about 20-30 sec. and remove

Once the tacos were done, we topped them with shredded cabbage, cheese, and chipotle salsa and then added some homemade beans (I can hardly stand the store bought kind now--Justin has spoiled me on this one) and rice on the side. They were sooo good! I would totally endorse these goodies with a picture BUT, as it always goes, my camera batteries are dead and I really shouldn't break the Sabbath for such a self-indulgent thing.

Which brings me to my real story...I think I can be the most awful person frying food. I really wanted these tacos to taste good (you know, the pressure of a new recipe), but I kept getting attacked by exploding taco grease bubbles. Here's how it went down...

ME: "AHHH! I hate frying!," "Stupid tacos!,"

JUSTIN: "Hey hon, need some help?!"

ME: "NO! I can handle it!"

Meanwhile, grease bubbles keep raging. My thumb gets hit next.

ME: "Ughhh! I am SOO sick of this!"

JUSTIN: "Hon, are you okay?"

ME: "YESSS! I AM FINE! UGHHH!"

10 minutes pass by, this time a huge grease monster of a bubble hits my left eye.

ME: "AHHHHHH! UGHHH! DA** IT!!"

JUSTIN: "Honey! What's wrong?! Can you see? Do you need to see the doctor?"

ME: "No!" "AHHHH! UGHHHH! DA** IT! NO! I AM FINE!!"

To say the least, there was quite a ruckus in my kitchen. (I am ashamed to admit I occasionally use the D-Bomb...I know I really need to repent...but ahhh, I was so mad!)

Anyways, so here's my top ten reasons for not frying foods:

#10 No matter what apron you wear, somehow grease always ends up on your clothes...which knowing me, I never change out of my church clothes to cook (laziness I guess).

#9 With the price of oil, cooking oil that is, I feel like I am wasting half a bottle for one measly meal....unless of course we had one of those cool grease-running diesel trucks.

#8 Exploding grease bubbles are conducive to using "choice" words...which of course = MORE Repentance

#7 Frying ruins all my good pans.

#6 Frying doubles my cooking and cleaning time in the kitchen...who needs that?

#5 EVERY time I fry, the smoke alarm goes off...I guess this is a good thing (it works right?)

#4 I seem to attract twice the number of neighborhood strays when the smell of hot grease is emanating out of my kitchen window.

#3 Frying makes my hair smell like some kind of horrible...but on a positive note, I guess it's a good conditioner?

#2 I just know one of these days that that boiling pot of grease is going to do a somersault and land right on my face. On a somber note, one of my greatest fears is being a severe burn victim...I just think it would be horrible to have your face and body completely ruined like that...my heart goes out to those poor people who have to live like a social outcast because they have had this happen.

#1 Okay, so here's the obvious...Fried foods are soo bad! Yeah I know, I am such a hypocrite...I LOVE the taste of hot grease, but dude, they are so heart-clogging, constipation-making, cellulite-forming B-A-D for you. It's bad enough that I eat fried chicken, those fried green chili burritos at Short Stop, and the maple-chocolate covered donuts at Safeway, but to eat fried foods at home only adds to the unnecessary frequency.

--A

Seasick

I miss Hawaii!! Ahh! Can't I just move there, live on the beach, and eat fish and mangoes every day?! Anyways...Here's some more pictures from the trip.

Luke lovin the beach...

(He really is like my child. I miss that cutie!)

Denny a split second too late for "Cheese!"

Flinty...my true superhero :)

Abel being silly

Ethan...my most helpful brother, true that!

Sophie (hint: those aren't her feet)

Shrimp Shack in Kahuku...BEST shrimp ever, no joke!

Notice the dogs in the foreground...yeah they almost attacked Mom.

To quote Flint, "SCARRRY!"

Ada (one of my old ROC buddies) and me backstage at PCC...miss you Ada!

Help!!

Okay, so I don't normally ask for help, but I can't seem to format my posts according to how I would like them. I am having problems with basic stuff like putting space between each paragraph and centering pictures and/or text. Any suggestions? Thanks!

Okay, I'm back to the Top 10. Today's Topic?..........

Top 10 Things You Can Get Away With Only in Summer

#10 Regularly missing church. I once heard that missing 3 weeks of church in a row technically makes you "inactive" but somehow EVERONE misses church in the summer.

#9 Skipping on a haricut. Somehow people just expect your hair to look frazzled, sun dried, and unkept in the Summer--so why bother, right?

#8 Skipping on a diet. This one seems counter intuitive right? You would think that people are less conscious about their diets in the winter. But that's not the case. It's simple really, because you worked so hard to look good in that swimsuit or summer dress, why not eat whatever you want? Anyone up for the Dairy Queen Summer Special--Girl Scout Thin Mint Blizzard?

#7 A lower I.Q. Even if your summer does not comprise of beach bumming (anyone remember "Meet the Deedles?!), intellectual thinking isn't really compatible with the Summer. Who really takes summer classes seriously anyway?

#6 A messy house. I don't know if it is the lack of time to clean because I am so busy (or because I am so busy "vegging out") but my house never seems to be clean in the Summer. Thanks to my visiting teacher for sitting with me in the yard instead of my house!

#5 Wearing mismatched clothes. Fashion rule for the summer--bright makes right--never mind if it's polyester, or some old, funky number from the '80s, the sun will diffuse the ghastlyness of any outfit.

#4 Buying junk at a yard sale. I think this one ties in with #5. Somehow the bright, sunny, "happy-ness" seems to warp people's perception at summer yard sales. It's like the same effect as when I go to a thrift store, try on some funky dress in the dark changing room, think it's way cool, buy it for a dollar, then take it home and realize that orange, maroon, and black stripes only look good if your name is Robert Goulet.

#3 Sporting a lobster look. While some blessed souls don't have to worry about getting sunburned, the rest of us all have to endure through at least one lobster session to get a tan going. Luckily for those who will never get tan, the lobster look is highly forgiven in the summer.

#2 Wearing sandals with everything. By sandals, I don't mean the cute ones with heels...I mean the funk, encrusted ones that are falling apart at the bottom and smell like rotten plastic. Again, all conventional fashion statements go out the window in summer.

#1 Being cooler than you really are. Summertime activities are perfect for impressing other people--there's hosting a fancy-spancy dinner party or how about traveling every other weekend to the far-off exotic reaches of the planet. Sounds so cool right? The truth is that that dinner party is really a backyard BBQ with a few bottles of Martinelli's and those exotic trips are really family reunions to Humansville, MO (sorry cuzs, I had to mention it!) and Provo, UT. But because they are taking place in the Summer, they seem way more exciting then they really are.

For this I have a good analogy: 2 years ago I went to Manhattan, NY for the first time and I was really set on having some authentic NYC pizza. So, naturally I bought a slice from the first place that advertized "authentic New York style pizza." and I ended up at a place called SBARRO'S. Sounds authentic right? Wrong! Don't get me confused. The pizza there was pretty good, but it WASN'T the real deal. I found out later that SBARRO's was a chain (I later saw one in Utah...ahhh!) and that their food was as mainstreamed cooked as any pizza place. Moral of the Story? Because I was in NY I thought any pizza place would be authentic and cool...you might say I was blinded by my tourist excitement. Likewise, summertime makes any normal activity seem way cooler...

Just Slap Me Now...

Yikes! Has it really been almost 3 months since my last blog?! This summer has been CRAZY!! I can't believe it is almost over. Too much to get caught up on though, so I thought I would just take this time to add a few of my favorite pics and thoughts from the highlight of my summer....

HAWAII

Yeah baby, I finally made it to the island. I can't believe it has taken me 23 years to visit Hawaii. (Thanks mom for helping me go...best trip of my life). Sure Hawaii is probably the most tourist infested place you could go on the planet (I say that affectionately since I was a dumb tourist too on this trip), but it is SOOO worth it. So beautiful. So relaxing. So I wish it was my home! I know this sounds ultra cheesy, but I really felt as if a part of my spirit is in Hawaii. I guess ALL Polynesians (no matter how hard it is for you to get a tan) has to release their inner island spirit every once in a while and spend time in the Pacific...aaahhhh!

Everyone at the Temple in Laie--Don't we look so happy?! Ha!

Sophie at the beach at sunrise

Mom and me at her old alma mater--GO KAHUKU!

The pali (mountains)

Sophie and Denny building the "Great Wall of Hawaii"

Okay, so my computer is acting up or something because it is taking 5+ minutes to upload pitures. So, more pictures and top 10 list tomorra. Until then...MAHALO!