Le Prince D'Egypte

For those of you who don't speak French (or can't figure out what my title says) it says Prince of Egypt. On my mission, the music from this movie was some of my favorite. And of course it was in French. I was at Walmart last night, and I saw it there for $7.50. I bought it. Something that the kids can watch on Sundays instead of things like Cars or Toy Story. (we love those movies too, but I try to have more spiritual things to watch on Sundays) So, I put it on today. Matt even sat down to watch it with the kids. Just listening to the music made tears come to my eyes. Partly because I remember things from my mission, and partly because I just love the music. One of the last songs has the line "There can be miracles when you believe". I don't know the title of the song. Anyway, it just kind of hit me. Been feeling very very overwhelmed with the fact that we're moving and his family will be here at the same time. Also, I just have a hard time getting our bathrooms and other stuff done in our home. I know it sounds simple, but if I believe that I can do it, and focus on just doing one thing at a time, I can do it. Which is a miracle for me. Anyone want to come over and help me pack???

The wedding

I never blogged about the wedding!!!

This is a picture of me (not looking my best), my dear friend Andrea, and my other dear friend Crystal. We had a great day!!! I had almost 12 hours without my kids between my father in law and my dad. Andrea looked amazing. Her cake had the best frosting ever on it!! I wish I knew what it was. It was also great to spend so much time with Crystal. We haven't been able to spend time like that since Andrew was born. Andreas apartment was within walking distance of the church, so she walked with her bridesmaids to the church and had people clapping for her. I just wish we had had time to go to the beach. The church was in Santa Monica, and the reception was so close to the beach. The roads were all hilly (first clue of how close you are) and then that occasional glimpse of the beautiful water between the expensive apartments and homes. And that smell!!! I just love the smell of the beach. Even when I walk out of LAX, I can smell it. Yeah, I miss the beach.

What???

Again, this is going to be about Dancing with the Stars. I mean, its Tuesday night. What else am I going to blog about?

I think every single Mormon person in Utah is voting for Marie. How else could she have gotten so far? Seriously, Jennie is much better of a dancer. No question. But this is what happens when uneducated America gets to choose. Not that I don't like Marie. I just think she might be a little over her head. And I just love Mel B. Yet another reason why I still like the Spice Girls. I would love to go and see the Dancing with the Stars tour. I know, totally retarded, but I just love it!! I wonder if it goes to North Carolina???

Some good stuff

Recently, I have been trying to eat more organic foods, and trying to use organic products. Also, to eat some gluten free foods so that my kids are used to them. Since my sister has a wheat and oat allergy, and my best friends son has celiac disease, I thought I would get us used to some of those foods. If/when they come to visit, I don't want to have to make several different things or have them having to put out extra money to have the foods that they need at my house.



A few of things we have tried (and loved) are:



Fruit and Grain Bars from Back to Nature. I think they taste better than any nutrigrain bar. They are smaller than a nutrigrain bar, and cost more. But I think they are worth it.



Back to Nature macaroni and cheese dinner. These also are more expensive than the Kraft mac and cheese. But they taste better, and you cook it the exact same way.



Cascadian Farm Granola Bars. They are above and beyond better than any Quaker oat granola bar. To me, these granola bars are like eating rice krispie treats with oats and other things in them. My kids like them too.



Cascadian Farm cereals. They have really good cereal. One of them has Clifford the big red dog on it, so they like that one.



Bobs Red Mill Gluten Free Pancake mix. This is so so so yummy. My kids eat them right up, and so do Matt and I. It is $2.99 for a 22 oz. bag of it at our commissary. I'm sure they are more expensive at a regular store, but if you have gluten issues, or just want to eliminate some of the gluten in your diet, try it! Their gluten free bread mix is really good (my best friend makes it as their bread on a regular basis in their bread maker). And I would assume that their other mixes are just as good.

Also, my sister sent me this recipe, and it is so yummy!!

Quinoa Lazagna

one 15 oz can tomatoes
two 8 oz cans tomato sauce
1 tsp. sea salt
2 tsp. oregano
1 cup onion, minced
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1/4 cup olive oil
1 lb. ground beef
3 cups quinoa cooked (in the recipe it says to rinse it before cooking to remove the bitter taste, but I never do and it tastes great. Rinsing it just takes away some of the good vitamins)
1/2 lb ricotta cheese
1/4 lb mozzarella cheese (I always use more, because i like it cheesy!)
1/4 lb Parmesan cheese or use Romano cheese

In a large pan, lightly saute onion and garlic in olive oil until soft, but do not brown. In another pan, brown ground meat and drain fat. Add cooked meat to the onion and garlic mixture and heat briefly. Add tomato sauce, tomatoes, salt and oregano. Reduce heat and gently simmer.

Preheat oven to 350.
In a 9x13 pan, place a thin layer of the sauce, following with a layer of quinoa and a layer of cheeses. Repeat this pattern ending with sauce and extra Parmesan cheese on top. Bake uncovered for about 35 minutes. Remove from the oven and let stand 5-10 minutes before cutting.

My son just eats it right up. I used my own sauce, and it was so yummy. Quinoa by itself doesn't have a great taste, but with all the cheese and sauce, it takes over the taste of the quinoa.

I have also really made an effort to recycle. I wish I had a composter, but instead I throw my leftover peels and cores in the front yard in the bushes. Maybe I'm not supposed to do that, but I feel better about making less trash. I have also done better at eating up our leftovers. I grew up eating a lot of leftovers, but I think my leftovers taste better than the ones I had as a kid.

I also recently read an article in Newsweek on food allergies. It was very interesting to me. So far, this is the only thing I've read on it. My kids have had very very few issues with food allergies, but I feel like I need to research it a little bit more. If not for my own kids, for others who might come into my home or be my kids friends at school.

And you know, I've been buying Newsweek at the store these last few weeks. Next year, I think I'm going to get a subscription. Since I don't even watch the news, maybe reading it will make me more aware of things going on in our world. Especially with the Presidential race next year. I don't know much of anything about who is running for president. Better start now!!

I highly encourage that you try some of the stuff above. I find that I prefer to spend a little bit more money for a higher quality product, and have it taste better too. I wish I could afford to shop exclusively at stores like Whole Foods, Sprouts, Trader Joes, or Sun Harvest Farms. Maybe when we're officers....

Last night

A girl in my ward invited me out last night to go out. Her husband is deployed, and her mom was coming over to watch the kids so that she could go out. We went to my favorite restaurant La Madeleine. Then we went to watch Elizabeth: The Golden Age. It was so so very interesting. While I was watching it I was trying to figure out who her parents were (I'm pretty sure it was Henry VIII, but I'm going to double check that today.) There were some unnecessary things in it, but just the story of it is fascinating. I've learned more history from historical fiction that anything else. My only history class in high school was a summer school class where we took tests out of the book, had a speaker once a week come in, and watched some epic historical movie almost every day. I have little retention from that class other than someone came and talked about picking cotton, and then a black man came and talked to us, but I cannot remember what he talked about. Haven't had another history class since. Anyway, fabulous movie. I had brought some treats in with us, and we were so focused on the movie that we hardly ate any of it. I'm looking forward to The Other Boleyn Girl. I'm reading that right now. Hopefully it won't be rated R. There is another movie coming out called PS I Love You. It is also a book by Cecilia Ahern. I really enjoyed the book, and it looks like the movie will be good too. I would have linked things, but I have to go to the store and get potatoes so that I can make a ton of mashed potatoes for a dinner our church is putting on for some older shut ins in our three wards. I don't mind making them. I put heavy cream in mine.....So yummy......And since I'm not cooking at all for thanksgiving (we're going to Cracker Barrel) I can make mashed potatoes. I think I'll keep a little bit for me!!!

Its been more than a year

I was going to post about this at the end of October, but I never got around to doing it. I guess I was busy.

We have now been in the USA for a year. More specifically, Texas. I am more accustomed to living here now, but I can't say that I like it. I can't really pin down what the reason is. When it comes down to it, I would just rather be in Europe. Even if the weather is bad. I would rather be in Paris when its raining than Texas. Or California for that matter. They totally freak out when it rains there. "Storm Watch" is all over the news, and people just cannot drive in the rain at all. At least in Europe they are used to it, and aren't crazy drivers when it rains.

This last year has been extremely challenging for me. I am pretty much a single mom. My husband does very little in our home other than sleep, eat, and study. With sometimes watching a UFC show, sport show or The Office. Friday nights are my only "break" (if you could call it that). This past year I have been camp director at church, which might seem easy. But when you have little kids and you're trying to figure out who will watch them while you're at camp, it can be stressful. Then I got this Relief Society President calling. I must say I will be glad when I'm done.

This year has also been stressful with having our family so close. For most, that might sound great. And also, you might think, isn't her family in California? That's not that close. Compared to Germany, its close. The problem is that because I live so far, I have to spend lots of time/money to visit home. And because of experience, I know that I cannot stay around my mom for more than a week. Any longer, and it is just bad. Which is sad because they don't get to see us often, and only spending a week isn't very much time. Which makes it stressful for me trying to fit all of Matt's family in on top of mine, not to mention some very good friends that I like to see when I'm home.

This is kind of off subject, but another stress for me right now is that Matt graduates next month. His dad, his dads wife, and their two little kids (the youngest is only about 9 months older than Andrew if I remember right) are coming, and will be staying with us. And Matt's sister called last night and told me that she and her mom want to come out too, but that they would stay in a hotel. So on top of packing and getting ready to move, I'm going to have most of his family visiting. I just might lose it. If we lived in Germany, this would never happen. Luckily, North Carolina might be far enough to keep most of them away. I know that sounds bad. I have just learned that there is a limit on how long I can be around certain people. With my mom, no more than a week. With Matt's family (other than his oldest sister) its about a few hours before I need a break and some air. So having that to deal with in person rather than on the phone has been stressful this year too.

We also make less here than we did in Germany. When you are overseas, the military gives you something called COLA. Cost of Living Allowance. It is to alleviate the exchange rate, and the amount you get is based on your rank and family size. Some months, we got a ton. I was also teaching a lot of piano in Germany. Here, I have had only one student and that one for only a month or so. It has been a little tricky with our finances.

I am hugely looking forward to moving to a new place. To see our friends that we haven't seen in almost two years. To be further away from family. To a house that isn't falling apart like ours is now. To new foods, and meeting new people. To the end of Matt's schooling so that our lives can get back to a kind of normal.

I have learned a whole bunch this year about myself. I wouldn't trade the knowledge that I have gained. But if I had to do this again, I would say no.

The things that I will miss about living here is mostly the people. But most of them move around too, so there is a chance that we will see each other again. I will miss great Mexican food! And I will miss the weather. We will see how I like North Carolina. I am a west coast girl to the bones. It will be a huge change for me to live in the Southeast.

My favorite thing about my husband

This is my husband singing. He was in the USAEUR Band and Chorus for two and a half years. This is him performing for the fourth of July of 2006. I took it with my little camera. The quality of the video isn't very good, but you can hear how awesome he sounds. He really kicked *@# on this song. Before you listen, turn off the music on my sidebar. He has no idea I'm putting this up. He had other solos. This is the best one. When we would watch him perform, I would almost feel like a rock stars wife. It was kind of cool... I loved watching him perform. As much as I want to get officer pay, I would love it if he could do something like this again. Maybe he can join a group somewhere....