FLANed out

If I were to ask you if you are a fan of flan, you would probably respond with a hearty, "No!" I have tried many a flan from different places and people and honestly, they have never been very delicious to me. My husband on the other hand, if you were to ask him what he learned on his mission he would respond, "I learn to make flan." Boy is he telling the truth. I don't think he "learned" to make flan, it is more like "mastered" it! The past few months, I cannot even begin to count the number of flans he has made and given to people. These are people that tell us that they do not like flan. After they taste his flan, they literally dream about it and beg him to make more. His flan has been fought over by more than one couple. So needless to say I'm flanned out. I usually get at least one piece of the flan and I can't take it anymore. NO MORE FLAN. I think we are finally going on a flan break. Maybe we will open up our own flan store, we could probably make a lot of money. By looking at this flan you would think it probably isn't different than any other flan you have tasted before. Oh but it is, it really is.

BBQ with the Quispe Family

Omar's good friend Justo and his family came up to visit us from Orland. They were our very first visitors to our home outside of Jacksonville except for my immediate family. We didn't cook anything super fancy, our usual chicken drumsticks, red-skinned mashed potatoes, white rice (even though I am completely against having rice AND potatoes at the same meal), crackers with spread, and salad. We had a nice time though visiting with one another and the kids watched Aladdin and Mulan II. We have tons of Disney movies that Omar has been collecting for years. It was so different having kids in the house. Hard to imagine that one day we will have some of our own. We look forward to more visits from friends.

Haiti - unbelievable

I am sure most people have been following the Haiti earthquake that occur ed on January 12th. This has been a very busy 2 weeks for me with work, so I have not followed it as much as I would like. One of my Big Brothers has a non-profit that he started about 2 months ago called WeRLove to help the Haitian people and orphanages. I wish I could have done more, but we brought over food, and toiletries for him to send to Haiti. They will need so much help really. His family in Haiti was right in the epicenter. They were very lucky, no one was killed or even badly injured or hurt.

I was reading in the paper last Sunday about the quake and it mentioned how some of the Haitians ask how God could do this to them. Really, it is a tragedy that it has happened, but I know that it is not God punishing people. It is just the random acts of a wicked world. Of course all the people who were lost in the disaster cannot be brought back, but perhaps this might help the country of Haiti in the long run to rebuild better.

It is amazing to see the spirit of survival people the Haitian people have. You hear of so many buried for over a week and still survive. One girl heard people dying all around her and when she was asked if she was afraid she told reporters that she wasn't because she knew she would survive. I think that is how it is with so many other aspects of our life, FAITH & HOPE really are the basis of everything we do. If we believe we can achieve, if we dream we can do, if we try we can become. Anyway...I just love this picture of the boy being pulled out of the rubble. Despite all he has probably lost, isn't it amazing how a positive attitude and smile can make us triumphant and radiate to others?

Manatees & Martin Luther King

My mom & I
Manatee family
Manatee nose - so CUTE!

So this past Monday was Martin Luther King Jr. day and I had the day off. I had thought about spending the weekend in Orlando, but really did not feel like driving all the way to Orlando. My mom and I decided to get together about 1/2 way at Blue Springs State Park to see the Manatees. This is the best time of year to see them beucase it has been so cold and manatees will die if they are in water under 70 degrees for an extended period of time. It was about 1.5 hours from where I lived. I had to leave early beucase the park opens at 8 AM but if you get there after 10 AM you might not be able to enter the park due to crowds. The earlier you arrive the more manatees you will see. There were over 150 manatees at the Springs when we went. We parked my mom's car at a nieghborhood park and drove in together and so saved $2 ($6 to enter the park). Manatees, turtles, and stingrays are probably my most favorite animals, so beautiful, gentle, and graceful. At the park you are not able to swim with the manatees during winter months since they are protected. I have swam with manatees before - 2 seperate times I went on manatee swims when I was in middle school with my mom's 8th grade class trips. That wasn't at Blue Springs State Park, but at Crystal River. I love them!!!



look how many of them are right there!
These "seacows" (herbivores) are eating part of the tree!
The original house of the people that lived at the river back in the day - can you imagine this being your home? So beautiful.

There were over 150 manatees the day that we visited