last night

I was sick all day yesterday with the flu, and so it will be the last time I eat elk for a long, long time. Gross.

firsts night

I used elk meat to make some meatballs today, and they were pretty dang good. I'd never had elk before and had heard it could taste kinda gamey, but it was surprisingly tender and moist. Not bad at all. Nate might buy some elk meat from his brother which would give us way more meat than I'd know what to do with, so I've already started looking at recipes.

And for dessert, because I now restrain from making cookies every night, we decided to crack open the Terry's Chocolate Orange we had from Christmas. Nate hadn't even heard of them. Tap, unwrap, and savor.

i came from a box in the sky, and i can pour orange juice from my finger...

Nate's brother and sister-in-law are potentially leaving Snowflake soon, so we went up to see them this weekend. We took the telescope because the moon has been so big and bright lately, but the clouds were too many and the wind not enough. We ended up looking at Moroni on top of the temple. I made a bad joke about not seeing stars but seeing an angel instead, and everyone laughed anyway. Nice of them. Aaron and Jasmine took us out to shoot their bows which was much less intimidating than shooting guns. I prefer not having kickback or loud pops.



Nate's grandparents took us all out to a Mexican restaurant yesterday in Show Low where we got some Hongos al Ajo. It was so yummy we made our own version with our roast beef dinner after church today. Mushrooms sauteed with minced garlic and olive oil. I'm always shocked at how the simplest ingredients together can taste so good.

While dinner was a-cooking, I went out the kitchen back door to sit on the porch swing. I closed my eyes for a bit, and something about swinging with the sun on my face, the wind chimes clinging above my head, and the smell of home-cooking started me thinking about all the times we'd eat dinner over at Great Grandma and Grandpa Kline's house in Polk, PA. I'd sit on their front porch in the gliding chair sometimes with the sun on my face, the wind chimes clinging above my head, and the smell of home-cooking...

It was really nice being around Grandma and Grandpa Brimhall this weekend. My Grandma Martin gave me her pearls to wear at my wedding, and I wore them on my wrist as a bracelet. Nate's other set of Grandparents, Max and Katie, sent us home after our last visit with little things she'd set aside for us... my favorite being a music box that played "O Christmas Tree" (I'd mentioned how I liked music boxes once). I have all these lovely little memories with grandparents, but I don't have many with my mom's parents. In fact, Nate hasn't even met them yet. That's one of our goals for 2011 - visit Grandma and Grandpa Peterson.

On our trip home, we came up with two more names for our future kids. We now have 3 girls' and 3 boys' names picked out. And I've been thinking lately about having had a miscarriage... how we kinda tiptoed around it not knowing what else to do and kept on walking. I don't know if it was shock or what, but I didn't have much negative reaction when it happened. But lately I've been feeling the loss every now and again. We have all these names to give out and nobody yet to claim them... or one. In a way, it was just a minor setback, or so we hope. Next time will work, we tell ourselves. We have no reason to believe otherwise. I think of friends who have tried for years and finally understand a small portion of what they must be feeling. There is a sense of failure that is unfair and illogical, but it's there. This was only round one and so isolated in its occurrence, so I can't imagine experiencing this over and over and over again like it's the norm.

Some day we'll have 6 kids and their kids will be calling us "Grandma and Grandpa."

Until then, we'll enjoy being the kids with the grandparents. We have good ones.

(Oh, and if anyone knows what the title of this post is referring to - Wow!)

orange you glad

The candied peel turned out delicious, but my mind is going wild thinking of all the possible uses for it. In Chile, we'd eat them plain, but I would love a fat piece of chocolate cake or a heaping bowl of chocolate ice cream to drizzle these on.





I failed to mention that I got contacts the other day. Nate did our grocery shopping while I had my exam, and 45 min later I could see. I've had glasses since high school, but I never liked wearing them. And why haven't I gotten contacts until now? I don't know. I just haven't. I get around to things eventually. We watched a BYU men's basketball game the other night at some friends' house, and I was way more into the game now that I could see the score. Bazinga.

It's been really nice lately, but this weekend we are heading into the cold to spend some time with Nate's brother and his wife. There are some grandparents and aunts, uncles, and cousins up in Snowflake as well, so we're sure to gain some weight. That's what family does. They love you up with food. I had to ask my mom not to make cookies this past Christmas. I shed a tear as the request left my lips.

Back to candied orange and lemon peel... Bah. Who am I kidding? I can get fat all on my own. Luckily, Nate has been pestering me as I write this to go work out with him. Thank goodness for that.

it's my scientific specialty!

Nannying today was relatively easy with ribs in the crock pot and bread already made. It smelled amazing when I walked in the door. Nicole had a violin lesson, so she quickly finished her homework before heading out the door with her mom.

Nate has me reading The Hobbit. Even 90 pages in, I still think of nothing but hairy feet when I hear someone say 'hobbit.' Oh, and this is Eric reading. We just sat and read today.


I snatched two lemons from the tree out back before going home. They have an orange tree too, but the oranges aren't ready to be picked yet. Last night, I found a recipe for candied orange peel, something I used to buy in Chile from a little sweets shop. We have oranges at home, but I think I might try using lemon peel as well. And I'm definitely using the crock pot tomorrow.

We had our first institute class tonight, and the teacher was really good - intelligent, quick paced, funny (he referenced Engywook from The Neverending Story), and spiritual. And... I was going to post more, but Nate's done with homework and ready to hit the hay. In summation, I love my job, and institute won't be as bad as I thought. In fact, it'll be interesting. And Nate's on a tight schedule.

Lights out.

Frugality Pays

Saturday Nate and I went to an ASU men's basketball game for $5 each thanks to Groupon. We met some friends there and had a pretty good time despite my having to wear an ASU shirt that was two sizes too big. Nate said I needed to don some fan garb and gave me one of his shirts. He made up for it by letting me use our Macy's gift card (wedding present). I was going to buy an ASU shirt, but Macy's didn't have one. So I got these shoes instead.

We used a Subway gift card (stocking present from mom) to buy two foot-long subs, a medium Dr. Pepper, and three cookies that I managed to fit into my purse (yes, the drink too) and sneak into the dollar movie where we watched RED.

At work today while the kids finished their homework, I started making dinner. I had the spaghetti at a boil when the mom walked in early to help me with the meal. As soon as I put the glass lid on the pot it made a popping sound and shattered. Awesome. She said it had probably cracked in the dish washer and the heat made it break, but I still felt like an idiot. I came home hungry, and Nate said we were going out to eat courtesy of restaurant.com (present from Liz and Steve). We went to Cafe Lalibela for Ethiopian food. We had to spend a certain amount to use our coupon, so we tried a variety of things -

Shorba: Soup made from lentils, carrots, potatoes, onion and vegetable stock. I enjoyed this dish best of all.

We ordered four kinds of meats that are served with Injera (a crepe-like sourdough bread made from teff and wheat flour). Nate downed it all.
Alicha Sega Wat - Tender beef cubes simmered in butter, onion, turmeric and flavored with various spices.
Doro Wat - Chicken simmered in butter, red chili, onion and a tasty combination of seasoning.
Kye Sega Wat - Tender beef cubes simmered in red chili and flavored with various spices.
Yebeg Alicha Sega Wat - Lamb cubes simmered in butter, onion, turmeric and herbs.

We ordered their homemade cheese, Ayeb, to crumble onto everything. It tasted like a dry cottage cheese. We also had Yekik Alicha, yellow split peas cooked with onion, turmeric and herbs. We had leftovers of both despite their being delicious.


We're now watching the Tostitos National Championship game via the Internet because we don't have TV. We just straight save money on that one.

I still receive emails from Pantrucas in Provo for their Thursday specials. I haven't asked them to take me off their email list because I spend a few seconds every week remembering how yummy their food is and feeling nostalgic.

I don't think Nate or I have ever been crazy spenders, and the two of us together works out great in that area. Because I didn't have a job for several months, we lived on what Nate made from his job. Thanks to occasional gift cards and coupons, we haven't noticed how frugally we've been living... if that makes sense. But gift cards don't grow on trees, and coupons don't knock on your door. We'll enjoy it while it lasts.

Touche

about kids, mostly

I started my nannying job today and found my excitement increasing as I waited at the kids' school near an open gate to the yard. The sun was shining and the cool air carried little voices of children waiting for their parents to pick them up. An airplane flew overhead, something I associate with grade school. I used to sit inside the classroom looking through the box fan in the window to the sunny outside where planes flew overhead or lawnmowers passed back and forth. The smell of cut grass and paste were favorites of mine.

Nicole had the biggest smile when she saw me. I guess she'd been telling everyone at school that she has a new nanny. Eric was kinda shy at first. He's a really cute kid, a little nerdy in his glasses and uneven teeth. I fell in love with them the second I saw them. Nicole changed from her school uniform into her pink ballet attire while Eric and I talked about books he likes. "Too much detail bores me," he explained. These two kids are going to be my closest pals during the next nine months. I am so excited to pack lunches and help with homework and make dinner and... be a mom. That's what it boils down to after all. Nannying for Nicole and Eric gives me a glimpse into the future.

At Christmas, my dad gave us a book of poems he wrote. A line from one of his poems entitled "Black and Yellow Butterflies" says -

"Children are like butterflies
Clinging sideways to your finger
They fold their wings, they spread their wings
A little dust of color lingers"

I feel the same about childhood itself. And now I get to flit about with some butterflies, maybe turn into one myself for awhile.

"Black and yellow butterflies
Flutter by, flutter by
Black and yellow butterflies
Flutter by, flutter by
Flutter by, bye, bye"

Roy G. Biv

My mom saved quite a bit of my work from grade school, and she gave me a stack of art work and assignments over Christmas. It's amazing how much you remember with a little help. I remembered the smell of the paint on some projects just by seeing them again. I loved elementary school probably because it was so open to creativity. I thrived in the classroom where the teachers gave us thoughtful prompts for stories and art projects. After reminiscing for a bit yesterday, I decided to track down my old teachers and found a few of their pictures.

Mrs. Shaw taught me in Kindergarten and First Grade. I really liked her, as evidenced by the first drawing. I also really liked Care Bears. And rainbows.




Mrs. Speicher taught me in Second Grade. That's when I first used chalk on paper.




Mrs. Nock taught me art for First through Third grade.




Here are a few covers to books we made in 3rd grade with Mrs. Mayhew who no longer teaches... hence no picture of her.



You now have a reference point to which you can compare my drawing for Nash at Christmas. I have not improved, and the same drawings done now by Emilie D. (formerly Emilie M.) would not be considered cute. Shame.

This is Mrs. Agostinelli who taught me music for First through Third Grades.


Oh, grade school. The best of times and the best of times. I'm eager to have kids of my own so that I can experience again the years I loved so much. Tomorrow I start my nannying job with a 2nd and 5th grader, so for now that will appease me. I can't wait to bust out my awesome rainbow colored drawing skills. To them, they might be called skills.

Christmas Recap

While home in good ol' Franklin, I was able to show Nate around a bit more than our last visit. I took him downtown and showed him Liberty St, Dad's office, Franklin Press, and a cafe. We met Kelly and Stan for lunch, and Kelly and I joked about how being with our husbands made us hold back our silliness. Stan and Nate said they could tell we were making an effort.
We played Scattergories and Boggle with the fam, and Nate played a few games of chess with Dad. Then he played me in chess so he could feel better about himself. I kid. Mom, Dad, Nate, and I took a gingerbread house to the Virgiles and played some more games there... pinball and shuffle board.

We celebrated Dad's birthday on the 22nd and went to a Mexican restaurant where our waiter spoke in Spanish the whole time and made dad wear this sombrero "like Pancho Villa." At least Dad got free flan... the best we'd ever had.

On Christmas Eve, Nate and I put out the luminaries along our patch of Poplar Dr. (formerly and better-ly known as Poplar St.) and froze our fingers placing each candle in its bag. We came inside to a warm dinner made by mom which, I admit, is always my second favorite part of going home. Food.

We went with Andy, Naomi, and Julian out to the Belmar bridge to see the winter scape. The snow on the bridge prettied it up, but the shots I took of the river below and the snow covered trees just don't do it justice.

Nate and I waited at Kings the day after Christmas eating a Wake-up Special and hot cocoa when Kaylee and AJ (Nate's sister and her husband who recently returned from Afghanistan) swung by to get us on their way to Nazareth. Kings is magic. We had gone a few days earlier when Andy and Naomi treated us to some of the cocoa that I think is, like the birthday flan, the best I've ever had. I'm not prone to exaggeration, and I'm telling you - Kings hot cocoa is the best.
Nate's dad commutes in to New York City for work, so the day after we arrived in Nazareth he took us into the city to show us around. The snow was piled up and melting, making puddles at every street corner that the crowds sloshed through. Our feet were soaked, but we had a fun time. Kevin, Nate, and I got hot dogs just for kicks.

I'd heard about random objects or trees anonymously being knitted on public streets, so I was excited to see one myself.

Here's Nate with his youngest brother, Logan.

A nice stranger took our pictures for us.

Nate's dad treated us to some roasted chestnuts, and we discovered that the ones we did at home were just as good.

Pretty decorations...


A few nights after our venture into the city, we made gingerbread houses with pre-made gingerbread. Good idea. Nate's sister, Sandra, was in our group and came up with the most creative details. She made a little Santa and Rudolph, as well as a wreath cut from a Lorna Doone cookie. My best contributions were the tracks made in the snow from the sled, the icing details, and the footprints on the roof. Nate did the smoke from the chimney, the trees, and the pathways.





The morning we were leaving, Logan was playing with candy from his stocking. He's such a cute little bugger.

All in all, we had a great two weeks. We were fortunate to be able to spend time with both our families. I got my fill of snow for this winter and am happy to be back in 60 degree sunny weather.