OBX (as the cool crowd calls it)

Our OBX Crew
(Camera lens didn't de-humidify in time.)

First things first-- there are only a few pictures of our latest adventure. If there is one thing I can be counted on to do, it is to take pictures. Guess not this time....

The Outer Banks of North Carolina are now one of my favorite places to vacation. Maybe it's because of the warmer-than-40-degrees ocean water, the relaxed atmosphere, or the Super Wings Beach Stores... no, scratch that. It's because, like the brochure said, "you track time by the sunrise and sunset, blah-blah, blah-blah."

The 7-hour drive didn't seem too long, and once we were there we walked straight into the ocean without unpacking first. Sunday, we got all of our sight-seeing done; after church, we drove over to Roanoke Island to visit the Lost Colony. We skipped the Elizabethan Gardens and just drove straight to the Bodie Lighthouse. (Thanks to Mike & Marin, we have proof of that.) Day after day, we built sand bucket castles with Siena, jumped into the water with the boogie board in tow, honed our beach volleyball skills, ate delicious food, stayed up late into the night playing the Wii, and watched the NRC on MSNBC with the rest of the OBX crew. (One day, we even saw a sting ray jump out of a wave near us.)

So, I honestly was going to take pictures on Friday, while we were enjoying our last day on the beach. That didn't happen--"Hurricane" Hanna was on her way. The beach patrol people cleared the beach of the few people who wanted to brave the storm and that was that. It was exciting to us to think that we were going to be driving home in a hurricane the next day. If it had been up to me, I would have waited it out at the house, but since check-out time was 10:00 am, we had to pack up and get out of there. Luckily, Hanna was downgraded to a "tropical storm", and we only caught about 30 minutes of horrible, windy downpour on the road. Want to catch a glimpse? (It's only one second long because I thought I was taking a picture.)

OBX or BUST next year!

By the way, here and here and here and here are some friends who went with us. They've got pictures and such to demonstrate the beach, house, etc.

Okay, One More Thing....

Check out who is running with McCain as his VP candidate! Is anyone else shocked at this? I can't help but ask myself, "WHY?!" I'm sure it has nothing to do with her youthful spirit and the fact that she is a woman--certainly not. No, I think McCain chose her because of her two years of experience as Alaska's governor and lack of strength in foreign policy.

I don't care which party you are affiliated with, I don't think the future leaders of our country should just choose people who fit in as "wild cards" on the ballot. Candidates should be chosen for the character, knowledge and experience they don't have singly from nature--like being a female born in the 60's.

I'll probably change my mind... as I am willing to do sometimes, but I can't help but be frustrated with the little knowledge I have of this current event.

And We're Off Again!

Wow, this week went by entirely too fast.

...and we're leaving again tomorrow bright and early for North Carolina's Outer Banks.

Creativity is lacking and there is nothing new to post anyway, so....... goodbye for one week more.

Back On It.

Network of Life-Support

I have to take a break in the fun and exciting photos of our trip to Utah for something I think deserves a prayer and a pondering moment.


Many people in my "web-of-blog-stalking" already have brought this piece of information to their own blogs for others to see, but I feel that it remains primarily in the "Utah/Arizona Blog-o-Sphere"; So, I hope this is informative for those of us who are on the Eastern side and hope that through your blogs, this news (and more importantly, prayers) will spread.

Stephanie Nielson and her husband, Christian, were injured in a small plane crash in Arizona the beginning of this month. I have never met either of them (although I did go to high school with her and her sister,) but I have come to know their family through Stephanie's (NieNie's)blog, NieNie Dialogues.

I know, it sounds silly to say that I have come to care for her family simply through blog-stalking, but she invites everyone in through the blog-window of her life and you can't help but fall in love with the Nielsons. They are a fascinating couple making day-to-day life look like bliss. Just from the way she writes and the photos she posts, she reminds me of June Cleaver, aka Mom of the Year. At first, I have to admit, her blog threw me for a loop when I saw a woman in a vintage dress, high heels and bright red lipstick in the kitchen with an apron on. "What world is this woman living in?" I thought. But I couldn't help but go back a week later.

Over the time I have been reading her blog, I realized that she has her own style, and it's cool, but more importantly, she's just trying to make her children's lives wonderful and full of good memories. She makes events like birthdays and Back to School special with fancy meals, flowers and banners. She inspires creativity in her home and I'm always looking forward to finding out what her next mantle display is... strange as that sounds. I can honestly say that I have thought to myself, "I hope I am a wife/mother/homemaker like her when I grow up...."

So when I read that she and her husband were severely burned and that she will be in a coma for the next few months, I was stunned. With four children and a dog, plus the countless friends and family who are suffering with them, they need much support and countless prayers of faith and hope. I hope by spreading this through all of our blogs, we can demonstrate a "life-support" of strangers that could help buoy a family in need of some good news. Although you may not know Nie nor her husband, please take a moment to send a prayer for two wonderful parents, two examples of faith and good principles, and two quality human beings which the world needs more than ever.

Round One of Pictures

To Start Off:

Thanks to T who first mentioned this blog to me, and Dani, who led me to the link, I have another constant source of entertainment: Seriously, So Blessed... So before I catch up on what we've been up to, I want to say this: I admit that I have written a couple entries worthy of a spot on that blog. (For example: refer to this entry, which I unabashedly will admit to having penned.)

I guess I just have to laugh.

iVamos!

We'Re oFf To UtAh!!!

...maybe I'll blog... maybe I'll not blog...

I'm already looking forward to the 3-hour blog spree I will go on when we get back. To all of our friends who have blogs: don't post anything juicy until I return! ;^)

Last Friday: Beach

Juan didn't have to work last Friday, so we packed up and left for the beach. Since we had never been to an Atlantic beach before, we relied on our GPS to show us the way. Instead of taking us to Rehoboth Beach (our original plan,) we ended up in New Jersey near Cape May. So we rolled with it and went to Wildwood Beach. After a packed lunch of crab sandwiches garnished with sand, we played to our hearts content in the ocean. It was a perfect day for going to the beach-- actually, too perfect. Juan and I got sunburned. I actually don't mind it because I now don't blend in with the white caps in the ocean tide (refer to picture #3... on second thought, don't.) Siena just received a more envious skin color, and dodged the sunburn altogether. We ended the day outing at Cape May's Lighthouse. The East Coast has a different "vibe" than that of, say, Seattle/Victoria. Although the architecture and landscape are similar, it definitely makes you feel more hoity-toity... take what you will from that. Names like "Kennedy", "Martha Stewart", and "Barefoot Contessa" keep running through my mind. I think I prefer the West Coast over the East Coast, but both are fun and hold their own little gems.

(That dragonfly was as big as the palm of my hand and it refused to detach from Juan's swim shorts. He had to walk into the ocean waves to get it off.)

Siena with Papi

Siena with Mommy
ps. "Thank You" to Photoshop.

Breaking Dawn is HERE!

Guess who went to the bookstore at midnight last night for a BOOK... yep, Amber and I are the guilty Edward fans. Okay, I didn't actually buy the book, but the party was fun! We got to Barnes and Noble at about 11:50 pm and didn't get home until about 1:00 in the morning. The store was PACKED, and girls (the majority around the age of 16) were decked out in "Team Edward" and "Team Jacob" t-shirts. Every minute of the countdown, there were shrieks of excitement and when they finally counted down to zero, I thought I had lost my hearing. The first girl in line went to pay for the book and as she was handing the money to the cashier, she was shaking like a leaf. It was pretty funny. We started reading it on the way home and I can't wait to finish it. I've just got to think of a really good bribe for Amber so I can borrow her copy when she's done reading it.

Rental Car

We started off with this little number while our car is getting repaired:

...the last car on the planet that we would have willingly chosen. (No offense to those who own one.)

Let's just say that the PT Cruiser comes with a little "label" that automatically is stapled to the forehead of the male driver. We found out that Juan was no exception. While he was driving by himself, another man on the road caught his attention and winked at him! Eww! I don't want other women looking at him, let alone men!

Luckily, we were going to exchange it anyway because it was giving us headaches from the intense smell of cigarette smoke. We searched near and far for another Enterprise that had available cars, and eventually we found one. When we got there they told us they only had 2 cars left--PT Cruisers (Groan....) However, they tried a little harder and were able to find a Dodge Avenger. GONE are the days of the PT! Now Juan can drive around with his head held high.

Juan's Surprise Party

This year, I decided to throw Juan a
surprise birthday party
- something I had never done before. The whole week was spent lying to him, trying to cover up what was really going to happen. But it was all worth it.

First, the invitations. I printed some as 4x6 photos for the people in the Spanish Branch and handing them out last Sunday was NOT a piece of cake. It seemed like he was always there when I gave them out. I have NO idea how they all got to the safety of purses and coat pockets without him finding out. That was my first lucky break.

Oh, it gets better.

Since we only have one car, and since he drives it to work (even though it's ONLY 4 blocks away,) I walked to the store to get all of the supplies for the party. This was the hard part. I needed the car to take all the bags home, and lucky for me, his work is near the store. So I walked with bags and baby in tow to our car, sneaked them into the trunk (not baby, of course,) and walked in to Sears to see him. I told him I was going over to Ross to look for a couple of things (web of lies!) Lucky break #2: his shift was over and he offered to walk Siena back home in the stroller while I browsed in Ross, then I could drive the car home. Wow! That worked out well. Anyway, long story short-- he was locked out AGAIN (or so he thought,) and had to come back for the keys. Meanwhile, I was in Sears, trying to find this drill that he wanted. I had stolen his wallet so I could use his employee discount card and finally had Sears to myself, "no Juan" to see me buy his gift. ;^) Unfortunately, they were out of those drills, so I had to give him a raincheck... a little anticlimactic.

I had to have pretty much everything ready by Friday night because we were going to be in NYC all of Saturday and at church on Sunday. While he was working Friday night, I was rapidly beating cake batter, decorating cupcakes, preparing a cheese tray (which I forgot to serve,) and getting the rest of the decorations ready. When he got home, I had to come up with an explanation for the foil-covered platters. I told a little lie and told him they were cupcakes for a "cupcake cake" I had seen on Martha Stewart, or something like that. I told him that it was a cake in lieu of the birthday cake I hadn't made yet. Lucky Break numero tres: he believed me.

Lastly, and most importantly, I had not yet figured out how to get him out of the house so everyone could come without him knowing. Wow! He happened to have a mandatory meeting at work exactly one hour before people were supposed to show up. Could I have been more lucky? I think not.

Thanks to two wonderful women from the branch, everything was ready to go in time, and it all went over well. Thanks to all 43 people who came! Now, I know you want pictures, and although I didn't take a lot, here are the pics I do have:

Everyone: "Surprise!"

Correction:

(The street fair was on Bleecker Street, not in the Bronx.)

(And no, I was not the one who made us go to the Botanical Gardens; we had never been, so we both decided to go for his birthday. ;^)

Juan's Birthday in NYC

I am THAT person.

I've been "bitten" with the Twilight books. I finally yielded after many, many months of protesting and opened to page one. I sporadically read for the next two weeks and frankly, I didn't get very far... oh, say... only to page 48! Despite my half-hearted efforts and the encouragement from friends, I wasn't really that into it. I had my reservations planted long before I took that bold step forward, and it didn't look like I was about to change my mind about this so-called "faddish book". However, since I did agree to read to at least Chapter 8, I felt compelled to remain loyal to that promise and I forged on through the pages. I started page 49 last night at around 7:30.

Can you guess what happened?

Yep, I found myself drawn in like you would not believe. I read until 11:15 and, after a large exertion of self-control, dragged my heels to bed. I could barely sleep I was so anxious.

So this afternoon I took Siena to a park and read for about an hour while she played around on the blanket arrayed with toys. Later, while she was napping, I read to my heart's content, ignoring my household responsibilities. Juan let me indulge myself this afternoon and watched Siena while I read for another hour. After I finally put Siena down for bed tonight, I raced back to finish the book. YES! I finally finished it!

It was so good, I had to start the next... and so far, I am not disappointed.

My, How The Time Flies

About 1 month old:

Just yesterday:

What An Interesting Weekend!

So far this weekend:

• Juan went to take his $400 citizenship test after months and months of waiting for his July 18th appointment.
  
• Juan got denied to take his citizenship test within only 5 minutes of being there from an immigration officer who didn't know what he was doing. (New man on the job.)
• Once back home, Juan called the office and talked to someone else who told him to travel back into the city to have an talk with her about the situation.
• Juan drove back and finally was able to take the test given by the same officer, who was now hurt after having a hit to his ego.
• He passed the test! Now he just has to relinquish his Resident Card and be sworn-in as a United States citizen.
  
• Friday night, we drove out to West Chester to go swimming with our friend, Kurt.
• We tried to get Siena to go to sleep for the night for about an hour and a half.
• Saturday morning (today,) we drove around the area looking for yard sales with chairs.
• On our way around town, we were involved in a car accident. The woman making a left-hand turn drove straight into our lane. Luckily Juan swerved as hard as he could and we avoided a head-on collision. Unfortunately, both cars still suffered damage to the front driver's-sides. The woman was smoking something when we saw her coming toward us and after Juan talked to her, we were pretty sure she was high. This was made more evident after she left the scene to "get her insurance card" from her nearby home, never to return. Luckily, her mother came back to handle the situation and she admitted full fault on behalf of her daughter to the police officer. We're so grateful everyone was safe and unharmed, especially Siena.
• After making a few stops before heading home (thanks Kim!,) we finally got the car insurance situation squared away. (Remind me to never intentionally get in another car accident, not that I ever would, because dealing with insurance companies is such an annoyance.)
  
• Now I'm heading off for West Chester again to take Siena swimming, this time with Amber. Hopefully the weather is as good as it was yesterday....
  

Delicious Dough

This is one of the best foods I have ever learned to make: quick rise breadsticks. The reason I love it so much is because it is so versatile and works when I am in a hurry. You can make it with the purpose of baking almost any kind of yeast dough. I have been using a lot for grilled pizza and it has never let me down.

1 cup warm water
1 Tbsp yeast
1 Tbsp sugar

--mix together until yeast and sugar dissolve--

then add:

2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. salt
2-3 cups bread flour (if using all-purpose, add more until it isn't sticky.)

Knead and let sit for 10 minutes. Punch down and form into breadsticks (or whatever you are making it into,) and let rise for another 10 minutes. (If you are making grilled pizza dough, don't let rise the second time, just stick it straight onto the grill.) Bake at 375 for 20 minutes.

*If you are making breadsticks, brush with a mixture of melted butter, 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, 1 Tbsp. dried parsley, and 2 tsp. garlic powder before letting them rise the second time.

For a really good grilled pizza recipe, go here. Also, if you want to adapt this calzone recipe to a pizza recipe, it's easy and soooooo yummy.

Pet Store Trip

Thanks to our generous friends, we have been viewing the BBC Series, Planet Earth over the past week and Siena just loves it! She loves watching the animals so much that today I decided to take her to see some, up close and personal. Since we don't have a zoo pass, we did the next best thing--visited our local pet store. The second we walked in, she was mesmerized by the guinea pigs and miniature dogs. We walked around and saw some big fish and little fish, loud birds and quiet birds, fluffy gerbils and leathery reptiles. She liked the bird cages the most, and even tried squawking to them. (Actually, the noises she made are quite normal for her. If there were tigers there, she would growl at them.) She loved the whole trip; however, I realized the second we walked in that we would not be getting an indoor pet--ever! They stink.


Take a look at the amazing-ness we've been watching.

Dirty Knees and Crazy Hair

Well, there is very little to write about right now, so I thought I'd just post random pics of Siena playing on our dirty floors today... yeah, that's about as exciting as it gets. (*yawn*)

The only other thing I have to say is that Siena got her first haircut last night. I finished up cutting Juan's hair and as I was sweeping up the mess, I decided that her mullet had to go. Her hair was trimmed in less that 2 minutes, but the clean-up took much longer! Baby hair is like kitten fur--too fine to just sweep up. It's not that different-looking, so I'm not going to take pictures, but HALLELUJAH that the "party in the back" is GONE!

Grrrr!

Siena's newest "thing": growling for her food like a ravenous hyena. I don't understand this. She certainly didn't learn it from Juan or me, but I highly doubt that it is part of human nature to growl.

Garden Dreams

I was inspired by Dani's post about her garden, so I decided that while we are living here, something will change with this:and this:

The Hardiness Zone is different here in comparison with Utah, so I'll have to do some studying on which plants I want to use. I'll probably start with some flats of Foxglove, Curly Tansy, and some grasses, and see how they do before I go full speed ahead. Somewhere in there I want some Clematis or Wisteria and some Silvermound... and so many other plants. Man, I'm going to have to get a full-time job to support this fantasy garden. Anyway, the goal is that it is finished by the end of next summer so we can enjoy it for at least a couple of years.

Frijolito

Juan was channel surfing the other day and stopped at a show called "Frijolito". We've never heard of it before but because of the funny name, we watched it for a few minutes. (For those who are wondering, frijolito means "little bean".) It didn't take us long to see that the show is pretty much a soap opera of a child in search of his father (at least that episode was.) I think the idea behind the show is to bring a kid-friendly soap to bored mothers. I wonder how many kids really pay attention to it while their mommies are stuffing their faces with bon bons and Diet Cokes, glossy eyes glued to the tube.

Next topic.
Siena is getting another tooth. All the signs point toward it-- runny nose, irritability, inability to sleep, irritability, excessive drooling, irritability, constant gnawing, oh and did I mention irritability? I'm actually really happy it's happening now; I would hate for the poor girl to have it drawn out over a longer period of time.

To finish up:
I found some random pictures and videos, so while Juan was out with the missionaries, I experimented with iMovie. Hopefully it uploads with our super slow internet connection.

Hmmmmm, nope. I'll try my luck later.

Catching Up

I did it! I finally put pictures on a 12x12 page! I definitely need more practice, but it was a start.

Siena is out with Juan right now and I get to blog... hooray for me! She cut her first tooth the other day (bottom left incisor... dental quiz: what # is is associated with that tooth?) I don't know if it's related to that recent event or not, but since then Siena has been practically yelling (or groaning happily) at the top of her 13-year old-sounding lungs. Weird, I know.

Hmmmm, what else can I write while I am waiting for pictures to upload.......

We found out that we live right next to part of Fairmount Park instead of a golf course, which we had previously thought. The trail entrance is about 100 ft. from where we live. That was a fun discovery.

Wow, I just realized that maybe the reason I haven't been able to think of anything to write is because I haven't checked everyone else's blogs yet. That must be where I get inspired to blog.

....now if only those darn pictures would upload.

The Things I Took For Granted

Now that we've been unpacked for a few days in the new home, I've been really antsy to get back to blogging. There's only been one problem--no Internet hook-up yet. It has been a good thing, I guess, because I've done things I probably would not have gotten to otherwise (such as going grocery shopping for food storage... not an easy task, I might add.) However, today it really got to me so I charged Juan's laptop battery (which is on its last leg, so I've got 30 minutes online and not a second more) and drove over to our old apartment where we still have a wireless connection. I feel like a spy or an investigator sitting out in my car with a laptop. I wonder what the neighbors think.

Anyway, so here's a re-cap of our recent "to-ings and go-ings":

• We moved. We're so happy with our new home. Refer to this post to find out why.
• Juan has been working at his new job and it's working out really well for him.
• The 4th of July started for us at 6:30 am when we drove out to Lancaster to meet some friends for a Smörgåsbord breakfast. (For those curious about how I did it with the diet: I didn't count calories that day-- big holidays are exempt ;^)
• We went to a barbecue with some friends from the Branch that evening and watched the kids play with fireworks.
• I caught Siena "talking" in her sleep today. It was so cute!
• ...and last but not least, we have become a little obsessed with The Next Food Network Star. Yeah, the reality is that I like this reality show. I hope the winner is either Kelsey (the Utah girl--gotta represent!), Lisa (Miss Tres Chic), or Aaron (Homie with Good Food.)

Well, we probably will not get to post until the 8th when we get our Internet hooked up, so sorry in advance to you, Mom, for not giving you your daily fix. Pictures to come....