Flashback Fridays

In an attempt to organize my life I want to start some regular post. This will be one of them. Stay tune if you have been a part of my life in the past and I know you read my blog you may show up.
But today an ode to my first car, my first step towards freedom and adventure, my '79 Chevy Nova. I love this car. Aaahhh the memories.

Confessions of the Organizationally Challenged

Warning: the following pictures are graphic and may not be suitable to view for those who can not stand a mess.

This post is one of those that may be a bit too truthful but I am putting it all out there, I am not holding anything back. I am organizationally challenged. There I said it. Don't they say that admitting that you have a problem is the first step to recovery. Recovery does not seam like the right word in this case. Can you recover something you have never had?
I know that Heavenly Father gave us all different gifts and talents but the organization talent is one I missed out on and really wished I had. I know that Heavenly Father realizes I missed this one because I have served in a lot of callings and a lot of presidencies starting from the Behives on up and I have never once been called as a secretary, secretaries need to be organized. It is not that I would not like to be organized, it is not that I don't like it when things are organized. I just simply don't know how to do it and it overwhelms me. Yet remembering that if we work at it we can obtain new talents I continue to work at it.
This is where that a bit too honest part comes in. I spent a good part of today trying to organize the messiest part of my whole house. The spot I have been avoiding for lets just say way to long. It started falling apart while I was pregnant with Gideon.

Enter exhibit #1 the craft closet.


I know what a disaster area, how embarrassing!!!!


and I had already taken all this stuff out of the closet.


I did pretty good until I got to this far then I started felling really overwhelmed,


but I still had all this stuff to go through.


I struggled through and I finished. I got everything back in the closet. In a semi-organized matter.


Doesn't it look prettier now? Maybe I will be able to start getting some stuff ready for Christmas now. Did I just say Christmas? I know I shouldn't be thinking about it yet, but I am.

Shiloh says he wants to put up some more shelves in this closet but he also says he is making me a craft room down stairs. We will see which one happens first.

I'm sure this could be organized better. One time I watched a new gal in one of our presidencies reorganize our supply closet at church. It was a closet I had been in a million times. This closet was jammed packed and we were always trying to squish thing into it. She reorganized it in such a logical way and gave us more room. I was amazed. That is a talent I wish I had.

Blessings

D&C 18:45

Wherefore, the blessings which I give unto you are above all things.



Shiloh: In our content struggle to try and figure out what Shiloh should be doing for a living our employment situation has changed again. Shiloh is no longer working at FedEx!!!!!! (insert party here) Yea!!!! Whoopee!!!!! He is going to start doing cabinet jobs on the side (that is what Shiloh actually majored in). We have a few jobs lined up right now and we pray that they will continue coming. He is also going to learn how to install wood flooring. So I just wanted to say that I am thankful for a husband that is such a hard worker and will do what ever he has to do to support his family.

Church: even if sometimes it comes in an over abundance. Last Sunday we went to our regular meetings. On Monday we weren't there thanks to FHE. On Tuesday Shiloh was at the church for scouts. On Wednesday our whole family was there for pack meeting. On Tuesday I was back at the church for cub scout committee chair meeting and round table. On Friday we went to the ward salsa festat the church. Saturday morning we took our turn to help clean the church and Sunday we returned again for our Regular Sunday meetings, followed up by a Young men's meeting for Shiloh. I wounder if there is an hourly blessing wage for the amount of time you spend at the church?

Mandy: is the way cute and way talented girl that has done my hair ever sense that really bad hair cut I got right before our engagement pictures. I got to take a trip to get my hair cut on Saturday, one of my favorite things. It is so nice to have someone you trust and knows your hair to do your hair and to have a friend to sit and talk to while it is getting done. She has made me so much cutter and stylish then I would have ever been on my own. If we ever move I am talking her with me. I still have to color it this week. I do that on my own and then I will post pictures.

Cafe Rio Salads

On Saturday we decided to just stay home and watch the Olympics so I decided we needed some yummy food to eat while we watched. This is what I made Cafe Rio Salads. I found these recipes on the internet for free. Not exactly like the really thing but still very, very yummy. We made them up on the tortillas that you buy in the store but cook at home and then the next day we made burritos out of the same filling. I am not a good left overs person but I ate this three days in a row. It makes a ton so you might want to invite people over to eat it with you.

Café Rio Dressing
1 buttermilk ranch dressing packet (make as per recipe)
2 tomatillos (tomato like vegetable with a husk around them)
½ bunch of cilantro
1 clove garlic
Juice of 1 lime
1 jalapeño (Use the seeds too if you like it spicy. You could substitute a few drops of green
tobasco for the jalapeno.)
Use a food processor to blend all the ingredients well. Refrigerate.

Cafe Rio Chicken
1 small bottle Kraft Zesty Italian Dressing
1 T chili powder
1 T cumin
3 cloves garlic—minced
5 lbs chicken breast
Cook all together in a crock pot for 4 hours, shred meat and cook 1 additional hour.

Café Rio Rice
(Edit - Jan. 2008 - Thanks to a sharp-eyed reader who noticed that the proportions for this rice recipe are not right for regular rice. When I called my sister, I found out that the original recipe called for Minute Rice (instant rice). I didn't know that when I posted the recipe, but it explains why it uses 3 cups water to 3 cups rice. I'm not sure why the cooking time said 30 minutes, which doesn't seem right for Minute Rice? I would recommend using regular rice, about 2 cups rice to 4 cups water. If anyone has tried making this rice and adapted the recipe to work, let us know in the comments.)
3 c water
4 t chicken bouillon
4 t garlic –minced
½ bunch cilantro
1 can green chiles—or equivalent fresh
¾ t salt
1 T butter
½ onion
3 c rice (see note)
Blend cilantro, green chiles and onion together in food processor. Bring water to a boil and add all ingredients, simmer covered 30 minutes.

I followed the recommendation of 4 cups water to 2 cups rice it worked great but once again it made a ton.

First Grade

It is finally here!!!!!
ShiAnne has been anxiously awaiting this day, the first day of school.


A classic sequence of events!
A little boy trying to be controlled by his older sisters,


the escape,


and the total look of discuss with his sisters, after it is all over.


This picture was taken outside of the school after it was over.
Do you think she LIKED or should I say LOVED it?!!

Blessings

D&C 18:45
Wherefore, the blessings which I give unto you are above all things.

I have been thinking for a while that it is time for me to start a regular list of my blessings. So here it goes.

My Mom: My mom retired this week we have been counting down to this date for along time. Let the lunch dates, shopping and sleepovers begin.

Education: School starts tomorrow. ShiAnne is sooooo very excited.

Priesthood blessings and a husband who honors his priesthood: With school starting tomorrow we all received father/husband blessings today what a great source of comfort and strength.

The Spirit of competition: Hasn't it been so fun to watch the Olympics this week?! I was thinking this week, you know how we always think about the pioneers and wounder what they would have thought if they could have seen Utah and the church today. Well what do you think those ancient Greek Olympiads think of the legacy they have left for us to enjoy today?

Good Friends

Melissa and her family came in town last week. Melissa and I have been friends half of our lives. We meet in 9th grade and became friends when I ran her into a wall at a haunted house and broke her nose. Then latter, when we were 16 we went to EFY together and that is were we met her husband Cameron. After Shiloh and I got married we moved in right next door to them and now that they live in California Melissa and I talk on the phone all the time.

It was fun to have Melissa and Cameron and there little girls, Ali 6 and Ashling 3, in town. On Monday while Shiloh was working and Cameron was hiking we got to hang out and take the kids out to lunch and swimming. The girls played great together, which wasn't the case when when ShiAnne and Ali were little. Then on Wednesday my crazy sister took all of our kids and we got to go out with out any kids. We went to dinner at the Cheese Cake Factory and then went and walked around the Gate Way Mall just window shopping and visiting.


It was a lot of fun and we can't wait to see them again when we go to California in October.

Handcart Family Reunion

My J* side of the family gets together often but the first weekend in August has been set aside as the date of the official J* reunion. Usually the J* reunion consist of a lot of food a lot of visiting some game playing and if we are lucky some swimming. This year thanks to the hard work of Traci, Tom, Sue and a lot of other people the decision was made to go another rout and do the handcart trek at Martin's Cove. At this time I have a confession to make, I always look forward to the J* reunion but I didn't so much want to do this. There were a couple reasons for this negative attitude. By the way I am very much not proud of this negative attitude. I didn't like it even when I was having it but some times I just get over whelmed. The week before the reunion was one of these weeks. I have been sitting on the door step of overwhelmed land for a while now. With Shiloh working so many hours everything that I want to get done does not seam to be getting done around here, with the addition of having to find and make pioneer costumes on a very limited budget, this ridiculously long form list of things you need to bring with you for the trek and the strange but oh so true stress that packing gives me amplified by the fact the I needed to pack all these thing that I didn't have. I stopped sitting on the door step and I opened the door and walked in. I have also said for years that I would not have made a good pioneer so the idea of going and pretending to be a pioneer on purpose sounded like not so much fun to me. But I made some phone calls to find out what I really needed fought my way through my bad attitude left the house a mess and headed to the middle of no wheres, Wyoming and to my great relief and surprise the whole experience was 100 time better then I ever imagined it to be. So if you ever get the chance to go, do as the pioneers did, take what you have do with out what you don't and start walking.



The Women's Pull - There is a spirit in this place and everyone had their favorite parts but this was mine. We almost didn't do this but I am glad we decided to go forward with it. It put some things into perspective for me. For the women's pull they talk about how the men were called off to be in the Mormon battalion and the women had to do it alone. Then they took the men to the top of the hill and left all the women and children with the handcarts at the bottom. We had as many children as adults and they took half of the adults up the hill. We were left to do it alone for one hill. Those pioneer women were left to do it alone day after day never knowing when and if there husband would be back. Talk about long work hours being put into perspective.


Just some of my favorite pictures of our trek.





Shiloh had a way of not being in the pictures here is one of the few pictures I got of him.


ShiAnne, in one of the coves.


Lizzy hitching a ride in a handcart.


Gideon with an very dirty face. This picture does no do it justice.


Wyoming sunset


The Family


Thanks!!! to Tom, Traci, Sue, and many others who put in the hours to make this family reunion a success, including all those who saved their money so they could buy the gas to drive the long distance. I had a lot of fun and I am looking forward to next year.

Book News

In the way of a little bit random post I thought I would up date you all on one of my previous post. In a tag I did earlier I stated the one of my goals was to actually finish reading a book because I have gotten in to a bad habit of starting books and not finishing them. Well give me a pat on the back last week I finally finished a book!!! The book is "Where Angels Fall" it is volume 2 of a series called The Great and Terrible by Chris Stewart. I listened to the fist one on tape so it didn't count for my goal of actually reading a whole book. I liked the book it is an LDS novel. The first book in the series is about the war in heaven and then this book is set just a little bit in the future from now and is kind of about government and peoples lives as the world gets more wicked leading up to the second coming. I believe that there are now 4 books out in this series.

In the way of other random book news this is Gideons new favorite book. I keep putting it back in the book case and he keeps getting it out and walking around the house looking at it. In case you can't tell or don't recognize it the book is the Duties and Blessing of The Priesthood. It seams like pretty heavy reading for such a little guy but I guess we have to teach these little ones while they are young it is a very wicked world they have to grow up in.