Texas has

sheep! I looove sheep, I love lambs, and I love how fluffy soft they are. I saw this trailer of sheep in front of me when I was driving home after I saw a movie, and I had to take a picture... while driving.



Sheep are just so cute, and so lovable. I had learned a couple cool stories about them from Brother Merrill, my religion professor while I was at BYU and I don't know if I can remember them correctly, or even remember. They are referenced so much in the scriptures, that I cannot help feel connected to them. We are all sheep in the Lord's flock, if we're lost, he'll come search for us; we just have to want to be found.

These sheep aren't lost, or found, they're just in a trailer going to get sheared. :) I just love sheep; ewes, rams, wethers, hoggets, or lambs, they're just so lovable.

Favorite Colors - what do they say?

I found this 'quiz/tell-all' on Mauri's blog. She always has fun stuff on hers. I wanted to be fun and attach my two recent favorite colors on here to see what it tells about me. Are they accurate?

What Your Favorite Color Green Says About You:

Balanced --- Relaxed --- FlexibleCompassionate --- Philosophical --- HumbleLoyal --- Inventive --- Unique

What'>http://www.blogthings.com/whatdoesyourfavoritecolorsayaboutyouquiz/">What Does Your Favorite Color Say About You?

and can't forget ORANGE!
What Your Favorite Color Orange Says About You:
Joyful --- Enthusiastic --- OptimisticOutgoing --- Accepting --- ConfidentLoud --- Unruly --- Impulsive

and can't forget ORANGE!

What Your Favorite Color Orange Says About You:

Joyful --- Enthusiastic --- OptimisticOutgoing --- Accepting --- ConfidentLoud --- Unruly --- Impulsive

What Does Your Favorite Color Say About You?

What Your Favorite Color Orange Says About You:Joyful --- Enthusiastic --- OptimisticOutgoing --- Accepting --- ConfidentLoud --- Unruly --- Impulsive

While on the subject of orange, I thought I'd show my bloggers the 'abstract flower' I did for my light blue room. My neighbor Chelsea and I agreed that orange would work well with it. So here is it. It was fun! I was in the mood to paint, so I pulled out my paint, brushes, and cheap canvases and was done in a few minutes; of course, planning every brush stroke. Be a nice critic.

cookie disaster

So tonight Mark was supposed to bring over a few people who he needed to plan tomorrow's flight with, and I decided to be a good homemaker and bake some chocolate chip cookies. Our oven has always been... disfunctional...and it always decides to act up when I am under the gun. When the oven from the 50's decides to act up, it can do one of two things: the gas turns off, or it gets far too hot. Today it got too hot for the first batch..as you can notice on the left; the edges are dark brown and the centers are too doughy. That means it was cooking too fast. Then for the second dozen of cookies, who's catacomb was this stupified oven, they didn't even get to rest in peace because the oven turned off. You can tell it turns off by lighting one of the burners on top and you can hear the oven whistle back to life. I did, and it started to whistle. I then set the timer for 3 more minutes, because these cookies were still what you would call 'dough'. Then it got too hot, too fast...they burned too. That is when I started to throw the cookies off the sheet onto the cooler. Notice the mess! I'm laughing at it now, but boy was I frustrated with my dumb dumb for an oven. Anyone else have a tempermental oven?

drop night and showers

Last night was mine and Mark's drop. I won't be mean and keep you in too much suspense for too long, so I'll make this short and sweet. Mark will be flying the C-17! Where? Alaska!! We will move (PCS) to Alaska and report probably beginning of February. That is only my guess though, so I will have to post when for certain. We didn't think Alaska was a possibility; it was our first choice, but everyone knows it's rare to get your first choice. If I could figure out how to post a video, I would. But I'm still pretty naive when it comes to computers. Mark and I were both so excited. and in shock.

They did it like an NFL draft. They put up a picture of that particular plane they were going to 'draft' for and then they would call the name. Then after making fun of them and their better half, they would announce where they are going to begin their Air Force Career. So here is Mark's Air Force Draft shirt... and I have to disclaim that I look a bit different in this picture because we were standing RIGHT under one of those nasty lights that gives you the effect that you're Squints on The Sandlot when he's telling his "The Beast!" story



Mark and are are already thinking of how we are going to make it to Elmendorf, AFB, Anchorage, Alaska. It will be in the dead of winter, and probably icy. So we may fly, we may drive, we may have the air force move us, or we may move ourselves.

Today was a fun day! I had a babyshower for my friend/neighbor, Chelsea. Then Mark and I bummed around when he got home after he passed his civilian's pilot license test for the beach aircraft? I'm not sure if that's correct, but it's the same plane as the one he's been flying for the past 6 months. Then I saw a commercial for dip and chips, so I started to crave it. We went to the commissary and then we came home, took a nap, and woke up to a thunderstorm!

Our neighbors were outside playing in it in their swimsuits, narrowly avoiding all the close lightening. Mark went out to scrub down the car, to rid it of it's bug supply on the front. Our neighbor filled up a basin with water and snuck up on Mark!


Mark fought back, and we called it a tie - because Mark's water was freezing. GO MARK!


Oh, and one of my loverly tomato plants fell over. I hope it wasn't it's last Texas storm:


good day!

fresh flowers and green tomatoes

I love fresh flowers in my house. There is something about bringing the outside in that makes it fresh. Hence fresh flowers. These are my recent fresh flowers that are about to be no longer fresh. I'm not even sure what kind they are, but they came in a boquet with purple daisies.


Then, as you may remember, I have two huge tomato plants that Mark and I planted a few months ago. They have survived multiple Texas storms and had a few close calls, but it just made them stronger. So here is a picture of some tiny tomatoes that will soon join their brother and sister tomatoes inside my belly! These are ones the squirells have not reached...yet. Buckwheat needs to work on his tomato guarding skills!



My favorite thing to do with these tomatoes when they're grown is to slice them up and let them be the T in 'BLT'. Oh my.. that sounds delicious for lunch!

curried coconut chicken

This recipe has been my absolute favorite for about a year now. Ever since Mauri recommended it. Even Mark likes it! Usually with him I have to stick to more traditional recipes and dinners. This has been a hit in my branch, my neighborhood and my heart. Ok, I know that sounds cheezy. It's actually more of a spicy flavor.

If you don't like curry, you should like this. If you don't like coconut, you'll still like this. You'll just have to take my word for it. Try it and if you don't like it, I'll send you an consolation prize in the mail.


Yeilds: 6 servings

Ingredients:
3 large boneless, skinless, chicken breasts, cubed
1 t. salt and pepper, or to taste
1-1/2 t. vegetable oil
2 T. curry powder
1/2 onion, thinly sliced and chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed (I ommit the garlic completely)
1 (14 ounce) can coconut milk
1 (14 oz) can stewed, diced tomatoes
1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
3 T. sugar

Directions:
season chicken pieces with salt and pepper. heat oil and curry powder in a large skillet over medium-high heat for two minutes. stir in onions and garlic, and cook one minute more. add chicken, tossing lightly to coat with curry oil. reduce heat to medium, and cook for 7 to 10 minutes, or until chicken is no longer pink. pour coconut milk, tomatoes, tomato sauce, and sugar into the pan, stir to combine. cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, approximately 30 to 40 minutes.

serve over rice and enjoy! people will be very impressed.



Tonight I had my neighbor over for dinner because our guys were night flying. She so kindly snapped this delectable picture. Thanks, Chels!

San Antonio's Independence

For the July 4th Holiday last week Mark had two days off work,which were Wednesday and Thursday (kind of hard when they're in the middle of the week!). On Tuesday, Mark surprised me with a trip to San Antonio the next day! So that night we went and saw Ratatouille (really cute movie), then in the morning we set off for our little Independence Day celebration. When we got to Sea World, it was still raining like mad, so we had to buy ponchos and be dorks for the first half of our visit until the rain cleared. I wore the wrong shoes and my feet were all blistered so I had to bend the backs down and RUIN my shoes. :(. I'm not going to attach a picture of us - because after all that rain and humidity, I think we looked pretty dang nasty! haha. But here is a picture of a Beluga and her baby - they're really tiny, so look close:
there ya go. :)

Here is me and a horse behind - I had to take this picture! I miss horses...


And if anyone can tell me how to attach pictures normally like everyone else can, please help! I can't remember how I did it in my "Hobbies Shmobbies" post; I'm using photobucket HTML code and then resizing - is that normal? :o) So anywho, after Sea World, Mark and I went to the downtown part of San Antonio to check into our hotel room - Mark hadn't told me where we were staying, but when I saw it I was so impressed with him! He found this great hotel at a military discount and grabbed it. Here's a picture of our hotel room from the little garden thing, then me and the pretty fountain, Mark on the river walk, and then us together at the river walk. :D

The next morning we went to the Alamo to remember the independence we got in Texas - every time we go, we're always impressed. It's a very neat place.

After the fun excursion we headed home and reuinted with our little pup who our neighbors were watching for us. Hope you all had a fun Independence Day!! :D

hobbies shmobbies!!

I wanted to write a little blog tonight just for the heck of it. Mark is TDY on cross-country, and I don't like going to bed with no one to check the doors...so here I am at 1 am; what AM I going to do when Mark is deployed? I'll never go to bed...

Today I have been motivated to get organized and really start my soon-to-be hobby of scrapbooking. My neighbor Chelsea is a scrapbooking queen, and every time I see her scrapbooking room/nursery, I get motivated. I have a bunch of the stuff, but I just can't seem to LEAP into it. You know how you have to be 'inspired to jump' and all. Well, I just need to do it. I have pictures, and miscellaneous items that I have to put on paper, but I just need to think of a way to do it. When I work on projects for anyone else, I am very pleased with myself and how the project turns out. But when the project is for myself, I can't even figure out how to start...probably because I want it to be perfect the first time, and I know it just won't be!


One thing that I've found I'm okay at is gardening! Who knew after all those Saturday chores with Dad in the yard, I would ever learn anything? I hope my dad is proud, b/c I planted a garden. My garden is thriving right now, I'll have to take a picture in the daylight tomorrow and post it. In this garden, I have potatoes (yes, I planted whole potatoes from the grocery store because they were getting gross...and they're growing!), tomato plants from the Home Depot (2 of them), 4 rows of carrot seeds, and 2 rows of radishes. I also planted sunflower seeds along side our Carport, and flower flowers (not from seed) in our little flower garden. It is now a 'ritual' every day to go outside and water everything while Buckwheat sits in the grass exercising self-control to not go chase the squirells... it is VERY hard for him, but he's doing better!

tagged - 5 things

I just deleted the entire post right before I was about to post it...very lame! I'm sure you all know how that feels. Let's see if I can remember the 5 things I don't think anyone knows about me... This is for you, Jamie!

1. I love to be at the lake, but you'd have to push me into the water...I HATE getting in water! (deep, dark water)

2. When I was little (probably 4 or so), I had a bucket of chocolate in my room from my Easter hunt the day before and I wasn't supposed to eat it before I had breakfast. Talk about TEMPTATION. I went to the kitchen after eating my fill, and my dad asked, "Did you have breakfast?" and I said, "YEAH! CHOCOLATE CEREAL!" I got in big trouble; what parent lets a little chocaholic have a BUCKET of chocolate candy in her room!?

3. When I went to Brazil, one of my favorite thing was cracking the crab shells to get the meat out of their hairy legs- AAH! sounds really gross, but the meat was too good to care!

4. I want to host a Travel Channel show like Samantha Brown's - how fun would that be!? Your job would be to stay in nice hotels and experience different cultures and food!

5. As for dreams Jamie - I have an annual dream about the Running of the Bulls where I run into an old wood/cement house with my famiy and shut a wooden door and run up wooden stairs and try to hide from a scary, mad, big bull that's tearing through the door and about to run up the stairs when I wake up - ah!

Now it's someone else's turn!

experience of a lifetime

Today I had the most awesome experience I've had in quite some time. While I was driving to Chili's with my neighbor she asked if I would be able to go to her doctor's appointment with her for an ultrasound. And since I wouldn't mind being pregnant right now, and I want to work around medicine, I figured, "WOOHOO! my first baby ultrasound!" So I told her I would be able to. We went to her appointment and when the doctor started I was in disbelief at what I was seeing!! She is only about 22 weeks along, but the baby is about 12 inches long and 1.5 lbs (not even very big). No matter the size, I was still able to see the baby's facial features very clearly and he was moving his arms and rolling around - he looked VERY comfy in that space! I noticed it was a boy even before the doctor told us - yes, told us. Holly wanted it to be a surprise and was VERY upset when the doctor told us, "look! your husband will be happy if he wanted a boy!" :O I felt so bad for Holly! Then the doctor turned on the heart sounds - I teared up and it wasn't even my baby. There was something so spiritually amazing that this little person was growing inside of my friend - and that someday I'll have a little someone relying completely on me. It was very humbling and it made me want to be pregnant right then and there :P But only time will tell. ;) don't get any ideas! :-

I just wanted to write a note about how amazing I thought it was; it made pregnancies so much more real to me. I was so glad she asked me to go with her today. To say the least, it was life changing.

la vida loca

I went and saw the movie "Premonition" today and wow. I won't give anything away, but I really liked it, though at the end I had tears on my cheeks. I just think it's nice when you go to a movie and leave with a new found appreciation for little things (or big things) in life. The movie pointed out how important family and loved ones are to all of us. Call me silly or call me intellectual, I think those kinds of movies should be more popular than they usually are.

Something recent. I went into Mexico a couple of weekends ago and it was a lot more fun going in with some friends. Mark and I might just be boring, but this time we walked around and Rachael knew where to find some really nasty candy. I thought I'd like it (because I like most anything). What the candy was, was a hard piece of mango candy (kind of like a mishapen jollyrancher), and it had chili powder ALL over it... even on the stick! I thought it was going to be really tasty, but I was sorely disappointed. Sorry Rachael, because you're probably reading this!! But I think I could learn to like it, but it was just too much to try any longer - I had to throw it away. Mark was swearing that I wouldn't get any kisses for the rest of the day, I don't blame him!

Our little Mexico day was a lot of fun with good food. We ate at this place called "Manuel's". From the outside it looks a little different than the rest of Mexico - like they took a couple more minutes to plan what it looked like. Then you walk in and you're kind of just blown away. It's very pretty inside - like the inside of an HGTV makeover restaurant. It has an intricate ceiling of wooden beams with orange faux finish painting where the beams create squares. Then on the back wall it's slate brick with glass light votives that hold little shimery candles. It looks so fancy with the waiters in button up shirts, black aprons and bowties that you're SHOCKED with the food is only $3.00 a plate. It's quite nice. We were able to find 30 oz. bottles of Vanilla that are like 50% alcohol - you know, the purest of pure vanilla and when we ask if it DOES have alcohol, the lady looks straight at as and says, "no." LIAR! But it was really funny, so no hard feelings. Only in Mexico! Adios.

yay for weddings!

This week has been pretty great - being home and all. I spoiled myself with shopping and music stores! I've gotten to see family, visit the hotels, get in touch with long lost friends and miss Mark. Whenever I go driving (my dad's been lending me his car since they've been out of town) is when I think of subjects to write about for my blog, but then when I come to write one I can't remember what it was about! So I guess I'll just go on typing and what comes out will be what comes out! haha

Yesterday night I got to hang out with Megan. She's getting married on Saturday and she thought she'd hang out with me one last time before she does. We were talking and she was asking about what's the greatest and worst things about marriage. So it got me thinking and I came up with a couple things. One great thing is that you're over dating! You never have to worry about dating again!!! It's great that you're with your best friend 24/7; well...i guess if they don't have jobs. ;) ha Then I said something that sounded weird when i said it, but I said, "you get to be that stalker you always wanted to be!!" HAHA but that's not what I meant really. What I meant by that was: You know how when you're dating someone you sometimes wonder 'why aren't they calling me? Where are they? I hope he's thinking of me..." BUT when you're married there's that trust factor that isn't always 100% when you date. With Mark I trust him 100% so i never have to worry where he is or who he's with. What I meant by "You get to be that stalker you always wanted to be!!" was that when you get married, you feel comfortable- there's no need for worry or stress. Then for the 'bad' things of marriage was ... well I could only think of something that is bad for any relationship; disappointment. When we were growing up we didn't want to disappoint our parents, and the same goes for marriage. You feel awful when you disappoint your spouse. But thank goodness it rarely happens - I have yet to disappoint Mark; that is because we understand each other and what does disappoint the other. We knowing each other so well we know how NOT to disappoint each other. :o) It's great!!

So that's my little blog on Marriage today. Sorry it wasn't much! But I owed Mauri another Blog to read.

communicating gratitude

When someone asks you for advice, and they don't take it, do you ever wonder if they ever even considered it? Someone recently asked me for advice (twice) and she didn't follow through either time... at least not that I know of yet. Both times were regarding the same thing. I told her, "It seems like you know what you need to do, you're just trying to convince yourself to do it." Can't we all relate to this girl I gave advice to? It seems to me that we have all, at one moment or another, pushed something off for some reason. I could be talking about cutting hair, homework, telling someone the truth, or breaking up with someone. I remember when I dated before Mark, I knew if 'it was going to work' the moment I'd wake up after the first date. Only twice did I feel comfortable the morning after a first date. I'm just using this as an example to point out that no matter what we know we have to do, we always have a way of knowing for ourselves. I knew 'it wasn't going to work' if I woke up sick to my stomach because I was sick with worry. That was how I knew if the guy was good for me or not.

If you know you need an extra push in the right direction, usually you seek someone's advice, right? This girl who asked me for advice would not have come to me a second time if she didn't know what she needed to do. I don't think it has anything to do with lack of conscience because she has other people telling her what she should do; she just is pulling back like a donkey does when you tell it to go somewhere. Maybe she has good reason to, maybe she doesn't. But she knows what needs to happen.

Recently, I have been trying to be a better communicator. I have been trying to fluff-down what I tell people and just be more straight forward. I have been trying to communicate better with Mark, better with my sister, better with my friends. I sort of thought this blogging thing would possibly help, so we'll see. I owe this to Mauri - :) so thanks for pushing me in the right direction with me and my communication..you got me blogging!

I think gratitude is uderrrated. People say 'oh thanks' when really they need to scream "THANK YOU" and run to that person and sqeeze them like a bear. I think that when we are trying to be sincere about our thank yous, we need to think outside the box; the words 'thank you' have been over used and are too common place now. We need to act on the thank yous we give to people for their help. Hopefully I can better communicate my thank yous to everyone I owe. Perhaps this girl will realize that what she just needs to do is say thank you to the life she's been given and realize that she really doesn't have it all that bad. We all owe a thank you to someone somewhere.

my blog

This is my blog. A piece of my life that I choose to publish. I hope it is enjoyable to whoever reads, or views, or skims, or skips. 

This is a piece of my life. My life is an occasion. I will rise to it.