Sang as they drove and drove and drove and drove...
Guess we'll see some of you in Snowflake! I'll try and post at my parents', but I can't guarantee anything.
Showing posts with label Adventures. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Adventures. Show all posts
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Sunday, July 08, 2007
The Follow up and other short stories
Acceptance has come
Last week I was freaking out at the idea of being called into Primary again. This week was a good kick off, however. It was fun. The Jr. and Sr. Primary both meet together for the summer during Sharing Time, so I get to go to all but 10 min. of Sunday School. And because singing time is first, I get to go to the last 25 min. or so of Relief Society!
The kids were great! Plus, the fact that our primary is small enough to fit into the Primary room makes a huge difference too. The smaller space was so much more conducive to good flow and fun games than the chapel was. Also, I didn't feel bad when the kids got a little noisy like I did in the chapel. I've been given tons of good ideas and resources, so I am feeling much better about it all.
The End
My temporary tax clerk job has come to an end. I stayed 4 months longer than most and 2 months longer than any temp has ever stayed. The work had really slowed down to the point that I was scraping to find things to keep me occupied the last few hours of the day. It was sad because I love the people I worked with, and it would have been nice to keep my money flow coming while I can, but it was time.
I'm currently trying to make lists of things I need/should do while I have time before the baby is here. I'm thinking I ought to get started on some family history and get into a really good daily routine that includes set times for exercise, scriptures, cleaning, blogging (yes I'll try and blog more regularly!), meal planning and prep, piano practice, quilting/scrapbooking etc. I also need to figure out things like food storage and 72 hour kits. With all the rain and flooding in nearby towns, it would be prudent to get that 72 hour kit going.
I wish it wasn't bad to paint while pregnant. Our whole house (besides the nursery) could really use paint. I guess even if I could paint, it would be hard to talk Matt into any color other than white. He likes the stark, clean, sterile look. I don't particularly care for super dark or bold colors, but a little contrast and color would be nice.
Fabulous Fourth
Our 4th of July turned out really well. We had the first totally rain free day in weeks, but it was still a little cloudy and didn't break the 80's. Perfect summer weather in my opinion. I signed up to have the missionaries over for dinner, and we ended up getting two sets! They did give me warning the night before, so that was good. Apparently we have a set of traveling missionaries that are in a different city every day helping the missionaries and doing exchanges. It was quite enjoyable to cook for more than the two of us. Hamburgers, jalapeño and cheddar sausages, potato salad, green salad, and cherries. And for dessert, the candy grab bag. In the words of one of our elders, "this is WAY better than brownies!" They all were really easy to visit with and they seemed like great missionaries.
Fireworks. Nothing can top fireworks on the beach near Matt's house, but this year gave us hope for good pyro times in the future. Fireworks were illegal here in McKinney (not because they're a fire hazard, but because they are "a public nuisance"). We weren't even allowed cat poppers or any sort of noise makers or fireworks within 5000 feet of city limits! The penalty here was a $2000 fine. However, there were firework stands in towns 15 min. away, and we were able to light them in county territory. Finding county territory that wasn't considered to be within any city's limits proved to be a little difficult. We drove for about an hour and ended up asking a fireman that was giving warnings to people lighting fireworks. We only spent $12 on fireworks, but we had 3 packages of Roman candles, small mortars, and artillery shells. Next year we'll probably get bigger mortars because they were so cool. It was exciting.
Garden
It's doing quite well. All except the tomatoes. They don't like all the rain and minimal sunshine we've had the past few weeks. We have eaten one radish, we have 4 bell peppers close to picking size, and we have a little zucchini growing. Other plants are coming right along, and we'll hopefully have a good productive season. I am glad we put in the fence because rabbits are a plenty in our yard. I sometimes catch them sitting there, staring at our garden from the outside. Haha wascally wabbits!
I think I'm pregnant
My belly grows day by day. I look pregnant. I can't see my feet if I'm just looking down. I will post pictures later because Matt is occupied and can't take any at the moment. I have outgrown all but one pair of pre-preg. pants, one shirt, and my two pairs of shorts. I have come to despise panel pants, and I have decided the pants with the wide stretchy band that sit below the belly are far more comfortable for me. Otherwise it's just too much fabric making my belly super hot(especially since I wear a camisole or tank under pretty much every shirt I own.
I now have to go jolking rather than jogging. I will do a light jog for 1-2 blocks and walk 1-2 blocks. I don't like to just walk because I find my mind wanders far too easily and I mosey rather than get a good brisk walk.
A couple of nights woke up with major cramps in my calves. I've found that yoga stretches help relieve them well enough. Same with my rib cage aching.
Note to self: add more calcium to your diet.
And I think the baby is a little swimmer. I'm pretty sure he's been swimming to one end, doing a flip turn, and swimming back again. Just kidding. He is moving A LOT though. I can sit there and watch my belly move all over. I can't imagine what it will be like when he's bigger and it's really crowded in there!
Well, I guess that should be it for now! I need to leave SOME things for future blog posts this week. I promise I'll try to blog more frequently.
Last week I was freaking out at the idea of being called into Primary again. This week was a good kick off, however. It was fun. The Jr. and Sr. Primary both meet together for the summer during Sharing Time, so I get to go to all but 10 min. of Sunday School. And because singing time is first, I get to go to the last 25 min. or so of Relief Society!
The kids were great! Plus, the fact that our primary is small enough to fit into the Primary room makes a huge difference too. The smaller space was so much more conducive to good flow and fun games than the chapel was. Also, I didn't feel bad when the kids got a little noisy like I did in the chapel. I've been given tons of good ideas and resources, so I am feeling much better about it all.
The End
My temporary tax clerk job has come to an end. I stayed 4 months longer than most and 2 months longer than any temp has ever stayed. The work had really slowed down to the point that I was scraping to find things to keep me occupied the last few hours of the day. It was sad because I love the people I worked with, and it would have been nice to keep my money flow coming while I can, but it was time.
I'm currently trying to make lists of things I need/should do while I have time before the baby is here. I'm thinking I ought to get started on some family history and get into a really good daily routine that includes set times for exercise, scriptures, cleaning, blogging (yes I'll try and blog more regularly!), meal planning and prep, piano practice, quilting/scrapbooking etc. I also need to figure out things like food storage and 72 hour kits. With all the rain and flooding in nearby towns, it would be prudent to get that 72 hour kit going.
I wish it wasn't bad to paint while pregnant. Our whole house (besides the nursery) could really use paint. I guess even if I could paint, it would be hard to talk Matt into any color other than white. He likes the stark, clean, sterile look. I don't particularly care for super dark or bold colors, but a little contrast and color would be nice.
Fabulous Fourth
Our 4th of July turned out really well. We had the first totally rain free day in weeks, but it was still a little cloudy and didn't break the 80's. Perfect summer weather in my opinion. I signed up to have the missionaries over for dinner, and we ended up getting two sets! They did give me warning the night before, so that was good. Apparently we have a set of traveling missionaries that are in a different city every day helping the missionaries and doing exchanges. It was quite enjoyable to cook for more than the two of us. Hamburgers, jalapeño and cheddar sausages, potato salad, green salad, and cherries. And for dessert, the candy grab bag. In the words of one of our elders, "this is WAY better than brownies!" They all were really easy to visit with and they seemed like great missionaries.
Fireworks. Nothing can top fireworks on the beach near Matt's house, but this year gave us hope for good pyro times in the future. Fireworks were illegal here in McKinney (not because they're a fire hazard, but because they are "a public nuisance"). We weren't even allowed cat poppers or any sort of noise makers or fireworks within 5000 feet of city limits! The penalty here was a $2000 fine. However, there were firework stands in towns 15 min. away, and we were able to light them in county territory. Finding county territory that wasn't considered to be within any city's limits proved to be a little difficult. We drove for about an hour and ended up asking a fireman that was giving warnings to people lighting fireworks. We only spent $12 on fireworks, but we had 3 packages of Roman candles, small mortars, and artillery shells. Next year we'll probably get bigger mortars because they were so cool. It was exciting.
Garden
It's doing quite well. All except the tomatoes. They don't like all the rain and minimal sunshine we've had the past few weeks. We have eaten one radish, we have 4 bell peppers close to picking size, and we have a little zucchini growing. Other plants are coming right along, and we'll hopefully have a good productive season. I am glad we put in the fence because rabbits are a plenty in our yard. I sometimes catch them sitting there, staring at our garden from the outside. Haha wascally wabbits!
I think I'm pregnant
My belly grows day by day. I look pregnant. I can't see my feet if I'm just looking down. I will post pictures later because Matt is occupied and can't take any at the moment. I have outgrown all but one pair of pre-preg. pants, one shirt, and my two pairs of shorts. I have come to despise panel pants, and I have decided the pants with the wide stretchy band that sit below the belly are far more comfortable for me. Otherwise it's just too much fabric making my belly super hot(especially since I wear a camisole or tank under pretty much every shirt I own.
I now have to go jolking rather than jogging. I will do a light jog for 1-2 blocks and walk 1-2 blocks. I don't like to just walk because I find my mind wanders far too easily and I mosey rather than get a good brisk walk.
A couple of nights woke up with major cramps in my calves. I've found that yoga stretches help relieve them well enough. Same with my rib cage aching.
Note to self: add more calcium to your diet.
And I think the baby is a little swimmer. I'm pretty sure he's been swimming to one end, doing a flip turn, and swimming back again. Just kidding. He is moving A LOT though. I can sit there and watch my belly move all over. I can't imagine what it will be like when he's bigger and it's really crowded in there!
Well, I guess that should be it for now! I need to leave SOME things for future blog posts this week. I promise I'll try to blog more frequently.
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
A whirlwind review of a whirlwind trip
I feel like I should give a quick review of our trip since all I've talked about is the food. It turned out really well. We had a great time in Philly. We mostly hit historical sites, the Masonic Temple, and their Museum of Art. We got to hold and leaf through a first edition print of the Book of Mormon that Joseph Smith gave to the Masons. (He was a Mason.)
We drove to Reading to see Matt's mission. He was there in the same ward a whole year of his mission. The testimony meeting was cool since their ward is half Spanish speakers and half English speakers. It was nice to be able to understand them both. It was fun getting to meet/visit with 3 of the prominent families of Matt's experience there.
We spent the majority of our trip in Hershey with my sister Julie and her family. We had lots of fun. We went to Hershey world (a huge Hershey candy shop with a little ride talking about how chocolate is made), got to tour a potato chip factory (and taste test some of their delicious chips. yum), went to Gettysburg, celebrated my niece Becca's 4th birthday by getting the afore mentioned Gelati and lighting sparklers, we played Settlers of Catan, and went to Hershey Park. At the beginning of the day at Hershey Park I was a little mad that I couldn't go on the "cool" roller coasters, but I got over it quick enough. It was good when my niece Sarah came after school was out since I could ride her rides with her. It was fun to let Julie ride adult rides with Matt since she never gets to when she has the kids.
When we were in NY I got to go jogging with my brother in the morning before our walking tour of the city. We really enjoyed touring the city below the grid. You can't beat a NY historian as a tour guide. He knows soooo much!!! I was continually astounded by his knowledge. We got to meet up with my brother Nate after his class. After we went to Queens and got the Indonesian food for dinner, we got to hang out and visit at Bryan's while listening to some awesome records (and I mean vinyl) Bry picked up on the street for $1 a piece during our walking tour.
It was really great to see my family. Especially since we don't get to see each other but every couple of years.
The only drawbacks to the trip: spending money and getting a cold from poor little Becca. But I'm over it now. It was worth it!
We drove to Reading to see Matt's mission. He was there in the same ward a whole year of his mission. The testimony meeting was cool since their ward is half Spanish speakers and half English speakers. It was nice to be able to understand them both. It was fun getting to meet/visit with 3 of the prominent families of Matt's experience there.
We spent the majority of our trip in Hershey with my sister Julie and her family. We had lots of fun. We went to Hershey world (a huge Hershey candy shop with a little ride talking about how chocolate is made), got to tour a potato chip factory (and taste test some of their delicious chips. yum), went to Gettysburg, celebrated my niece Becca's 4th birthday by getting the afore mentioned Gelati and lighting sparklers, we played Settlers of Catan, and went to Hershey Park. At the beginning of the day at Hershey Park I was a little mad that I couldn't go on the "cool" roller coasters, but I got over it quick enough. It was good when my niece Sarah came after school was out since I could ride her rides with her. It was fun to let Julie ride adult rides with Matt since she never gets to when she has the kids.
When we were in NY I got to go jogging with my brother in the morning before our walking tour of the city. We really enjoyed touring the city below the grid. You can't beat a NY historian as a tour guide. He knows soooo much!!! I was continually astounded by his knowledge. We got to meet up with my brother Nate after his class. After we went to Queens and got the Indonesian food for dinner, we got to hang out and visit at Bryan's while listening to some awesome records (and I mean vinyl) Bry picked up on the street for $1 a piece during our walking tour.
It was really great to see my family. Especially since we don't get to see each other but every couple of years.
The only drawbacks to the trip: spending money and getting a cold from poor little Becca. But I'm over it now. It was worth it!
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Food of the East
I don't know if anyone will find this remotely interesting, so I won't be offended if you skim, but we were really looking forward to good eats on the East coast. Almost anything is better than TX cuisine, so we were not disappointed in our finds.
1. When in Philly you just can't leave without the classic: Cheesesteak.
We ended up getting cheesesteaks from two locations (one week apart). The first was #6 on the citysearch favorites, but we chose to go there because of its proximity to our touring. The name was Campos. The cheesesteak was top quality. The steak was cooked well. The bread was good. The cheese and onions gave good flavor. The only drawback was it was a little pricey. The second was Dalessandro's. It was #3, but a people's choice winner. So we took the drive (in Friday rush hour!) to the northern location. The best thing was you got a lot. And I mean A LOT of food. It was a huge cheesesteak with tons of meat. The meat seemed a little lower quality, and I thought it wasn't as flavorful as Campos, but it was a better deal overall if you're in the area.
2. Reading, the home of the Monopoly Reading Railroad, is also home to some dang good cubano sandwiches. We had to wait at a semi-ghetto corner store (Santa Barbara's) for 1/2 an hour to get this treat. It was a panini pressed hoagie roll stuffed with a shredded pork, ham, lettuce, cheese, pepperoncinis, and mayo. Delicious.
3. Rita's water ice. Well, in Reading and Philly it's called water ice. In Hershey it was called Italian ice. But I ended up getting a gelati. That was water ice (my flavor choice was tangerine) layered with the most incredible vanilla frozen custard I've ever tasted. YUM! I was almost convinced to buy a franchise and open it up here. YOU HAVE TO TRY IT IF YOU GET A CHANCE!
4. Kitchen Kettle Village in Amish/Mennonite Country was delightful. They had delicious (fresh) kettle cooked potato chips and even more delicious beef jerky. The best store there was the jam pantry. They had tons and tons of jams, and they had open bottles of each for taste testing. Their salsas were some of the best I've ever eaten, way better than anything found here in TX (sorry Pace commercials). And their pickles were down right tantalizing. Its amazing how much better and delectable fresh foods and preserves are. You just can't beat it.
5. Shady Maple Smorgasbord Grill. This place is a gigantic all you can eat buffet. Every night something different is featured on the grill with tons of sides and desserts. Unbeknownst to us beforehand, we unfortunately went on seafood night. It was the most expensive night, and our least desired of all the nights. Neither of us actually enjoy seafood, but we got to try lots of things we'd never have tried otherwise. The only thing we liked in the way of the seafood gill was the Cajun catfish. It was quite mild and the texture wasn't bad. In my opinion, the place was pretty cool but a little over rated, especially if you can't eat $20 worth of food (per person) in one sitting.
6. Probably the best food came from a hole-in-the-wall dumpling shop in NY's Chinatown. It was the cheapest food (3 adults ate for $10 total--including drinks!!!! We were STUFFED!), but dang it was good. We got both fried and water dumplings as well as these amazing stuffed "sesame pancakes". It was a delicious handmade dough cut open and stuffed with vegetables (though you could have gotten beef also). It was gigantic and just $1.50!!
7. If you're a Food Network fan like us, you may watch Throwdown with Bobby Flay. Well, Bryan doesn't watch that show, but he told us of a great doughnut shop near his house. When we entered the Doughnut Plant Matt recognized a picture of the owner on the wall from the doughnut throwdown with Bobby Flay. That was pretty cool. We got a PB&J doughnut (jelly doughnut with PB frosting) as well as the dulce de leche doughnut. My favorite was the dulce de leche.
8. We got our Saturday dinner from a cool Indonesian place near Nathan's apt. in Queens. Their chicken coconut curry was amazing. I also got to try jackfruit in one of the dishes. That was very interesting. It tasted a lot like artichoke hearts but was a little squishier. I'd never been to Queens and it was quite nice. I almost forgot we were in NY because the buildings were so much lower than Manhattan.
9. Lastly, I have to say that I also enjoyed eating at Julie's very much. It's amazing how quickly you can get sick of eating out and you just want a good home cooked, well balanced meal!!!
1. When in Philly you just can't leave without the classic: Cheesesteak.
We ended up getting cheesesteaks from two locations (one week apart). The first was #6 on the citysearch favorites, but we chose to go there because of its proximity to our touring. The name was Campos. The cheesesteak was top quality. The steak was cooked well. The bread was good. The cheese and onions gave good flavor. The only drawback was it was a little pricey. The second was Dalessandro's. It was #3, but a people's choice winner. So we took the drive (in Friday rush hour!) to the northern location. The best thing was you got a lot. And I mean A LOT of food. It was a huge cheesesteak with tons of meat. The meat seemed a little lower quality, and I thought it wasn't as flavorful as Campos, but it was a better deal overall if you're in the area.
2. Reading, the home of the Monopoly Reading Railroad, is also home to some dang good cubano sandwiches. We had to wait at a semi-ghetto corner store (Santa Barbara's) for 1/2 an hour to get this treat. It was a panini pressed hoagie roll stuffed with a shredded pork, ham, lettuce, cheese, pepperoncinis, and mayo. Delicious.
3. Rita's water ice. Well, in Reading and Philly it's called water ice. In Hershey it was called Italian ice. But I ended up getting a gelati. That was water ice (my flavor choice was tangerine) layered with the most incredible vanilla frozen custard I've ever tasted. YUM! I was almost convinced to buy a franchise and open it up here. YOU HAVE TO TRY IT IF YOU GET A CHANCE!
4. Kitchen Kettle Village in Amish/Mennonite Country was delightful. They had delicious (fresh) kettle cooked potato chips and even more delicious beef jerky. The best store there was the jam pantry. They had tons and tons of jams, and they had open bottles of each for taste testing. Their salsas were some of the best I've ever eaten, way better than anything found here in TX (sorry Pace commercials). And their pickles were down right tantalizing. Its amazing how much better and delectable fresh foods and preserves are. You just can't beat it.
5. Shady Maple Smorgasbord Grill. This place is a gigantic all you can eat buffet. Every night something different is featured on the grill with tons of sides and desserts. Unbeknownst to us beforehand, we unfortunately went on seafood night. It was the most expensive night, and our least desired of all the nights. Neither of us actually enjoy seafood, but we got to try lots of things we'd never have tried otherwise. The only thing we liked in the way of the seafood gill was the Cajun catfish. It was quite mild and the texture wasn't bad. In my opinion, the place was pretty cool but a little over rated, especially if you can't eat $20 worth of food (per person) in one sitting.
6. Probably the best food came from a hole-in-the-wall dumpling shop in NY's Chinatown. It was the cheapest food (3 adults ate for $10 total--including drinks!!!! We were STUFFED!), but dang it was good. We got both fried and water dumplings as well as these amazing stuffed "sesame pancakes". It was a delicious handmade dough cut open and stuffed with vegetables (though you could have gotten beef also). It was gigantic and just $1.50!!
7. If you're a Food Network fan like us, you may watch Throwdown with Bobby Flay. Well, Bryan doesn't watch that show, but he told us of a great doughnut shop near his house. When we entered the Doughnut Plant Matt recognized a picture of the owner on the wall from the doughnut throwdown with Bobby Flay. That was pretty cool. We got a PB&J doughnut (jelly doughnut with PB frosting) as well as the dulce de leche doughnut. My favorite was the dulce de leche.
8. We got our Saturday dinner from a cool Indonesian place near Nathan's apt. in Queens. Their chicken coconut curry was amazing. I also got to try jackfruit in one of the dishes. That was very interesting. It tasted a lot like artichoke hearts but was a little squishier. I'd never been to Queens and it was quite nice. I almost forgot we were in NY because the buildings were so much lower than Manhattan.
9. Lastly, I have to say that I also enjoyed eating at Julie's very much. It's amazing how quickly you can get sick of eating out and you just want a good home cooked, well balanced meal!!!
Sunday, May 13, 2007
Home again, home again
We made it. Mostly in one piece. We had a marvellous time with my siblings. The trip went very smoothly.
I will write about our adventures soon, but I am a bit too tired tonight. I've thrown up two dinners in the last two hours, and I'm hoping the strawberries I just ate will stay down instead.
Since NY was the last stop on our trip, I'll leave you with a picture of the most interesting street performer I've ever seen in my life. (Ok, so it's not like I've seen droves of street performers, but even if I had, he'd still rank among the most interesting.) His performer name is Thoth. He dances in his loin cloth, stomps and bangles, plays the violin, and sings in an amazing castrati sounding operatic voice. It was quite the show. Seriously, I hope anyone who goes to NY will have the chance to see his performance in Central Park. It's a quite a singular event.
I will write about our adventures soon, but I am a bit too tired tonight. I've thrown up two dinners in the last two hours, and I'm hoping the strawberries I just ate will stay down instead.
Since NY was the last stop on our trip, I'll leave you with a picture of the most interesting street performer I've ever seen in my life. (Ok, so it's not like I've seen droves of street performers, but even if I had, he'd still rank among the most interesting.) His performer name is Thoth. He dances in his loin cloth, stomps and bangles, plays the violin, and sings in an amazing castrati sounding operatic voice. It was quite the show. Seriously, I hope anyone who goes to NY will have the chance to see his performance in Central Park. It's a quite a singular event.
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