Utah here we come!!!

I am so excited - Omar called me the other day and said that ticket fares had gone down quite a bit to Utah. We had looked a while ago for tickets for the holidays to go and see his family, but they were over $500/each! This time they were only $375/each. Still a lot of money, but we decided that we should do it. We have not gone together to see his family in Utah, and I actually haven't been to Utah since entering/leaving the MTC for my mission - before that it was when I graduated college (both in 2005). I can hardly believe we are going. But I am excited. Let me know if anyone there wants us to come by and say hello. We will be there from December 24-January 6.

Untamed Adventures: The Review

Erica and I
The side of the cool make your own pancakes restaraunt on site


So I have been pretty desperate to make friends here in Jacksonville, not only for friends, but to do some outdoorsy things. One day I missed the outdoors and decided to see what groups were out on the internet in my area that did outdoorsy activities. The only group I could find was "Untamed Adventures" Untamed Adventures is a group ONLY for women. I guess when I saw women I did not realize it was really women 60+ in age!!! I didn't want to go alone for my first time and a girl from work named Erica owed me since she always canceled on everything I would invite her to. I invited her to an activity that this group was going to be having to DeLeon Springs State Park which is basically a large spring that empties into the St. John River. I thought that I had never been there before. My mom told me otherwise and then when I got there I remembered going there in Middle School for field trips. We would be busing down to the Springs about a 1.5 hour drive - 2.5 for the old people's pit stops every 45 minutes or hour and the slow bus. While there we were to go on a boat tour and then eat at this restaurant where you make your own all-you-can-eat pancakes. The pancakes is probably what hooked me into going.

So I arrive at the place of meeting at 9:20 AM. All I see are old ladies everywhere! I was afraid to get out of the car. I called my friend Erica who thankfully pulled up in front of me a few minutes later and we both went out together to brave the group. I said "Hello" to everyone and no one answered back. I just thought to myself "Oh this is going to be a long day." There were 2 other women that were older than both Erica and I, but still categorized in what I would call the "Young Ones".

We all sat near each other on the bus. We did a pit stop to pick up this lady about 45 minutes into the trip and everyone took restroom breaks. We finally got on the road again and 10 minutes later, one of the coolers in the bus tipped over. Ice and water went all over the bus. While people were trying to clean that up, the bus driver pulled over at a Rest Stop and asked everyone to exit the bus for safety. I was just thinking "All this for a bunch of ice!" Nope...next thing I hear is that a new bus would be coming to get us because our bus had broken down! I guess the bus started smoking badly and gas scents were on the bus. I had been clueless.

Over an hour later we were on the road again. By that time, Erica and I were thinking "Can we just go home now?" We finally got down to the Park way behind schedule. We ate first and then were going to go on our boat tour and leave. AT our table we sat with a bunch of old ladies - one of them was probably the oldest of them all and she sat at the head of the table while Erica and i sat next to her across from each other. Everyone found out I was a Chef on a Train in Alaska and somehow I became partly the designated pancake flipper. The ancient lady at the head of the table would NOT stop asking me a million questions.
"Which pancake batter is that? Which one tastes better? What does it taste like? What is your favorite thing to cook? What is your cooking specialty? When do you know to flip them?"
ON AND ON AND ON!!! I was going to be driven insane. Not to mention she would clap and cheer anytime I would pour batter or a pancake would be flipped.
the crazy lady clapped a long time at this pancake I made
There were 2 types of pancake batter - this was the unhealthy one - but yet so think and yummy
It was like 2 bucks for that little amount of blueberries - of course I was too cheap to get a fruit to go on my pancakes.

We were relieved for the boat tour. The tour was over an hour long and quite honestly I got bored. We were on the side of the boat away from the boat driver who would only stay close to the shore so things could be seen on his side of the boat. We were told not to crowd onto one side of the boat and that on the way back we would be able to see the other side. Yup that didn't happen, because on the way back he stayed close to our first side of the river and so we weren't able to see anything again. When there was an alligator or turtle we would try to peak over to the other side to see it. However we had the crazy photographer lady in our way. She was moving around like crazy taking pictures and every time Erica tried to take a picture, the crazy lady would step into the shot. Then we had the crazy question lady asking both tour guides a billion questions standing right in front of them. We later found out from the 2 other "Young Ones" that the crazy photographer lady (she was a bigger woman) was food hoard at the her table in the restaurant and was someone you did not want to mess with when it came to food. She even stole someone's bacon!
we went from "You Are Here" to Lake Woodruff on our boat tour
That house has been there since the founding and was owned by the people that owned the land. The hill is actually tons of shells and indian garbage...remember there are no hills really in Florida



The lady in blue was the one who was always asking the tour guide and me a million questions We saw tons of gators
Florida's First Condos
It was a beautiful day


All in all it was a very long day and really quite humorous. I promised Erica that I would let her do the captions on some of my photos. The other "Young Ones" decided that we should create our own "Untamed Adventures" and have a cap for age involvement. We all may go camping - that is if we can force Erica to come too.

My New Church Calling

So last Sunday I was set apart as the new Spanish Branch Young Women's President!!! Crazy! I seriously almost had a heart attack when the Branch President called me in. I was not expecting that as I was just called about 2 months ago to be the 2nd Counselor in the Young Womens. I am excited though...most all of my presidency has now been called and we are just going to have so much fun. Too bad until January, I will be gone a lot. I love the Young Womens organization. In my patriarchal blessing it talks about my service in the Young Womens...it is always exciting to see things possibly coming to pass through my blessing.

Gianni's Birthday

(Yes that is a cake of cookies)
We went 2 Friday's ago to Gianni's house for his birthday party. The party wasn't starting until 9pm and both Omar and I were exhausted at like 7pm. We are just getting old I guess. So we decided to take an hour nap. I set the alarm clock and I must have been super exhausted because I turned the clock off in my sleep! We woke up at 10:30pm!!! I called to see if the party was still going on and they said that people had just started arriving. Crazy!!! So we got up and went over to the party - we did not get there until after 11pm and we stayed until 2pm. There was this one guy there that was showing Omar all these salsa dance moves that were really cool. All I know is I felt sick, by how much I was turned and spun around during that time period. We had a blast and hopefully will go dancing again soon, so we don't forget all of the moves.

Yum! Yum! Cinnamon Rolls

I was passed along a recipe for cinnamon rolls that you make the dough in a bread machine. I made these myself and they were so easy and yummy. Not only that but they were the first time I had ever made cinnamon rolls that did not come from a Pillsbury can. I made these for dessert for our FHE Couples Night.









Here is the recipe:
Cinnamon Rolls (Bread Machine)


ROLLS:
1 c warm milk
2 eggs
1/3 c melted butter
4-1/2 c flour
1 t salt
1/2 c sugar
2 pkgs quick active dry yeast (rapid rise)

( I sometimes add water if while it's mixing in the bread machine it seems kind of dry)


FILLING:
1 c brown sugar
2 T cinnamon
1/3 c softened butter

( I don't follow the filling recipe. I normally put a little more brown sugar a lot more cinnamon...Eyeball it.)


FROSTING:
1 pkg (3oz) cream cheese, softened
1/4 c butter, softened
1-1/2 c powdered sugar
1/2 t vanilla

1. Measure carefully, placing all roll ingredients in bread machine pan in the order recommended by your machine.

2. Select dough cycle. Do not use delay.

3. Remove dough from pan, using lightly floured hands; place on lightly floured surface. Cover dough and let rest 10 minutes. Meanwhile, mix brown sugar and cinnamon.

4. Grease bottom and sides of 13x9 inch pan with shortening or spray. Roll dough into 20x16 rectangle. Spread 1/3 c butter over dough; sprinkle evenly with brown sugar-cinnamon mixture. Roll up dough, beginning at 20-inch side; pinch edge of dough into toll to seal. Cut into 12 slices. Place in pan. Cover and rise 35-45 minutes.

5. Heat in 375 oven. Bake 20-25 minutes. Meanwhile, in bowl, mix frosting ingredients. Let rolls stand 5 minutes before frosting. Spread on warm rolls.

Couple's FHE

This pizza was more personal pan than a pizza
Victor and Casey Antigua working on their miniature pizza
me spreading the bbq sauce for a huge pizza
Gianni and Katherine with their pizza

So about 2 weeks ago we did a couple's FHE at our apartment. It is crazy to me that we have been living in our apartment for 8 months now and only about 3 people had been to it. I had a day off and decided that it was time to get to know some other married couples. I decided that each couple would make their own pizzas. which would then share with each other. I made the dough by scratch and they had to roll the dough out themselves, put the sauce and toppings on their own pizza. It was really funny watching everyone do it. We also had salad, chips and dip. Everyone's pizza came out really yummy. Ours came out the largest - I guess all my practicing of rolling out the dough had paid off. We didn't take tons of pictures but here were some of them. We then had a FHE which Omar prepared and did a lesson on faith, and actually gave each couple a pot, and soil to take home with them to plant their own plant. We tried to find seeds, but we were trying at the wrong season...eh well. Overall we had a lot of fun and I think we might switch homes sometime and do couples FHE at another couple's home.

Provident Living - Save $$$

Whenever I hear of good tips for saving money I always like to pass it on. On my links on the right side of my blog you will find websites for deals, coupons, and other items. My mom is part of the Provident Living committee at our church in Orlando and they put together a little catalog of specials and how to become more self reliant. She sent me the recent tips...I thought someone might enjoy them...

This week at Publix you can buy one bag of Nestle' Toll House Morsels and get a bag free. This is a good deal @ $1.25 a bag, HOWEVER , what makes it an awesome deal is that there is a coupon machine right next to the chocolate chips that gives you a coupon for $1.00 off of 2 bags of Nestle' chips. That brings your price down to 75 cents per bag. STOCK UP!! (I was at the Publix @ 13th St. and Kissimmee Prkwy) ** With the holidays right around the corner start looking for baking good, especially sugar and flour, to go down to there cheapest prices.
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There is a program called Anglefood that is for anyone who needs some relief on their grocery budget. Here is the website to get more information: www.angelfoodministries.com Our local site is at the Life Assembly of God Inc., 2269 Partin Settlement Road, Kissimmee, FL 34744. You can order a box of food for $30 that feeds a family of 4 for 1 week. There is not an income requirement and they accept food stamps. You can call the Life Church for more information, 407-847-8222.
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homemade laundry detergent. The cost savings of making your own laundry detergent is staggering, it comes out to approx. .01 cent per load! Here's the recipe:

1/3 bar of Fels Naptha soap (found in the laundry aisle, but not at Wal-Mart, I found it for 99 cents @ Publix). You only need a 1/3 for one batch.
1/2 c washing soda (NOT baking soda, Publix stocks Arm & Hammer brand in the laundry aisle, I paid approx. $2.30 for a 55 oz. box)
1/2 c borax (Wal-Mart & Publix stock 20 Mule Team brand in their laundry aisle, I paid less than $3.00 for a 76 oz. box)
1 small bucket

Grate the soap and put it in a sauce pan. Add 6 cups water and heat it until the soap melts. Add the washing soda and borax and stir until it is dissolved. Remove from heat. Pour 4 cups of hot water into the bucket. Now add our soap mixture and stir. Add 1 gallon plus 6 cups of water and stir. Let the soap sit for about 24 hours and it will gel. Use 1/2 cup per load.

*A few tips: If you leave about a tablespoon of your store bought laundry detergent in it's original container and fill it up with the homemade detergent the consistency of the homemade detergent will become smoother. Also, if you add 1/4 cup of white distilled vinegar to the wash water the clothes will come out brighter and fluffier.
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You can use the same ingredients for a homemade dishwasher detergent:

1 Tablespoon Washing Soda
1 Tablespoon Borax

Combine and put in dispenser. Add distilled white vinegar to the rinse dispenser and run dishwasher, (the vinegar is used to remove the water spots). The cost per load is approx 3.5 cents per load.

I've been (remember this was someone else who sent this to me-Kate)using these homemade detergents for a week and I'm happy with the results so far, but pre-treating stains are still necessary for soiled clothing. Here are two website with additional information: www.thefamilyhomestead.com/laundrysoap.htm and
http://natural-products.suite101.com/article.cfm/washing_dishes_for_pennies (including a recipe for homemade liquid hand soap).

Obama Wins!!!

So many people may be surprised or even upset that I voted for Obama. I followed the election pretty closely and looked into viewpoints and stances of both candidates and felt that Obama was better for me and for the country. I am glad that Obama won. My mom, a history teacher wrote this and sent this out to our family. It is interesting...

There are so many parallels between Barack Obama and Abraham Lincoln.
Both former Illinois state legislators, both having only served a short time
on the national scene before their election as President (Lincoln a 2 year
term in the House of Representatives and Obama 4 years in the Senate); both
young (Lincoln 51 and Obama 47); both known for their opposition to an
unpopular war (Lincoln opposed the Mexican War - also based on fictitious information); both charged in the campaign with guilt by association with
radicals (Lincoln was accused of supporting the abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison and the radical John Brown who took up arms against the U.S. and Obama the "terrorist" William Ayre's and Jeremiah Wright, the preacher who
damned the U.S.); neither fit the profile of a conventional politician
(Lincoln was considered an unattractive backwoods frontiersman with little
education and Obama had to overcome his foreign upbringing, his exotic
background, his very name); both argued against the politics of fear without
ignoring the darker aspects of our history, both expressed hope for what Lincoln called the "better angels of our nature;" both ran for office in a time of great division; both having a sense of history. Obama played his connection to Lincoln by starting his campaign from Springfield, like Lincoln, and ended his campaign with a victory speech last night in Grant Park where the famous sculptor Augustus St. Gauden's "Seated Lincoln" statue can be seen. President-elect Obama used the words of Lincoln in his speech last night in reaching out to all Americans to say - "We are not enemies, but friends... Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection."

The best of Days, The worst of Days: Jacksonville Fair 2008

Omar with his strawberry shortcake (his all time favorite dessert)
Me getting ready to race my duck at the duck race
I was convinced that my duck would win (see the video to see what happened)

These pictures were taken from the top of the ferris wheel
you could see the fair
and see the nearby baseball stadium

So we picked the best and possibly the worse day to go to the fair. I pre-purchased tickets to the fair and saved us $26. However, the day chosed was Saturday- the same day as the huge Georgia/Florida college football game. Lets just say we were in traffic for probably a good hour trying to get near the fairgrounds (which is right next to the stadium) and then finding a parking spot. We found one a good walk away on a sidewalk and the guy was going to charge us $20!!! I said "No way." We looked a little bit more and found one at the side grass of a house for only $10. We had talked about going home and coming back later, but I think that would have been a worse mistake because when we left the fair there was absolutely no parking anywhere. I have never seen so many tailgaters in my life!
We had fun at the fair, we went to a pig racing show, a dog frisbee show and a duck raising show. We did a scavenger hunt aboout plants, and animals as well. Of course we rode rides - which they had some I have never seen before. We also ate some of the food. Everything gets more and more expensive at the fair each year - it is crazy! Elephant ears, philly cheese with onion and peppers, and turkey legs are $7 each.
We both also got sick. We think it was from the grease smells at the fair. We went inside for a while to look at the exhibition halls and the animals being shown for a break and then went outside again to only begin feeling sick again. It ultimately caused us to leave the fair. We were there for about 5 hours.

The Pigs Race through water
Dog Hand Stand
Dog does back flips

Halloween Party 2008

Check back later for some videos we will be uploading.
What an adorable couple
The Costume Parade
Maru and Cesar
Omar battling it out in the relay race
a true vampire!
That was one of the trick-or-treaters eyeballs!
2 of my little Beehives
Omar getting his groove on
I voted for him for best costume - it is from panama!
looks like I have competition for my husband - he is checking him out!
This couple won the best female and male costume.


We went to a Halloween party that was put on by some members of our branch. There was lots of food, music, dancing, and we played some relay races. Overall it was a good time. Finding a costume on the other hand was not the best of times. Every store I went to had very immodest "sexy" outfits - man were they expensive. Finally, I went desperatly on Halloween day since I had the day off of work to find a costume. I went to a costume store and found a really cute pirate outfit - but someone had stoled the pants from it. Then I went to K-Mart - people were scavenging as everything was 50% off! I got another sumo outfit to match the one I wear every year to go with my husband for $20 !!! That would be a last resort as I wanted to be something new and different this year. I went to Wal-Mart and then I went to Target. I found a vampire outfit for 30% off - only $28. So I decided to let me husband decide. I was the vampire.

As you can see - I had my teeth - one of the vampire teeth had a cross in it. Too bad I couldn't eat any food with them in. Actually as I just salivated from looking at the food one of the teeth fell out! Que Lastima! The other one fell out like 10 minutes later as I broke it and even swallowed it.

Omar enjoyed being a highlight at the party with his sumo wrestler. We should have gone as couple sumos - I think we would have won the couple's costume contest. Ah well...maybe next year!