Delish

Lets talk about food. I am seriuosly IN LOVE with these Pork Taco's. We eat them at least once a week. I share this goodness with you! Do what you will with this fabulous piece of information! (P.S. Not my picture but this is what they look like)



PORK AND PINEAPPLE:
2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper (or not...I don't like the spice so I leave it out)
1/4 teaspoon salt
12 ounces pork tenderloin, trimmed and cut into 1/2" cubes
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 fresh pineapple, cored and sliced crosswise (I use canned...it's cheaper)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
12 corn tortillas (6" diameter), warmed per package directions
AVOCADO CREMA:
1 avocado, mashed
2 tablespoons fat-free sour cream
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
1/8 teaspoon salt

Directions
1. To prepare the pork and pineapple: In a cup, mix the sugar, cumin, coriander, cinnamon, pepper, and salt. Mix half of the spices with the pork, then toss with the oil. Mix the remaining spices with the pineapple. Let stand at room temperature for 15 minutes while preparing the avocado crema.
2. To prepare the avocado crema: Whisk the avocado with the sour cream, lime juice, and salt in a small bowl. Press a piece of plastic wrap directly onto the surface to keep the crema fresh looking. (Or don't...it won't be there long enough to make a difference)
3. Coat a large nonstick skillet with olive oil spray. Warm over medium-high heat for 2 minutes. Add the pork and cook, turning once or twice, for 8 minutes or until browned and cooked through. Add the cilantro and toss to combine. Transfer to a clean plate and cover loosely to keep warm. (I don't...I just add the pineapple and cilantro at the same time, stir a bit, turn off the heat and then heat my tortillas-one less plate to wash)
4. Add the pineapple to the pan and cook, turning once or twice, for 3 to 4 minutes or until golden. Remove from the heat.
5. To assemble each serving, place 3 (or SEVEN) tortillas on a plate. Divide 1/4 of the pork and pineapple between each tortilla. Top with the crema and roll up.

Seriously Amazing! We had this delightful meal with Lime Tortilla chips and strawberris last night. There were no leftovers. So good!

I've been thinking

-- Why is it that whenever I get a little bit of money, I start planning what vacation I'm going to take?

-- I think I should just accept that my bathroom will never be done. We may never have blinds on our windows, the screen door will always be too expensive, the smell from under the sink will always be there, and the toilets will never flush properly.

-- How does one get the motivation to continually get to the gym? I am good for about a week, then go 10 days with nothing. Back again for 3 days then another week with nothing. Where does that constant stamina to "get out there" come from?

-- My love of Ice Cream is overwhelming. It will never fade. I have tried to supress it but to no avail.

-- Drinking enough water in a day is like another project. I have to make an effort to think about getting a glass and stay hydrated.

-- My commute to work is typically 1 hour. Freeway or side street. Doesn't matter. And I've found that taking the side street that parallel's the freeway is slower then the stop & go freeway.

-- I finally brought home my wedding dress from my inlaws. I reminds me how beautiful it is. I don't have it preserved in any special way, so to just hang it in the back of the closet seems a waste. I'm contemplating selling it...but the going rate for used dresses is insulting. I'd rather keep it; even if it does turn yellow.

-- Remember that time in your life when "everyone" was getting married. Why is it that "everyone" has stopped getting married and now "everyone" is having babies?

-- I have this pesky -- pounds that I have been trying to loose for a year now. Grr.

-- Our office desk was installed last week. It looks beautiful. I've repainted the wall from the light not so nice green to a bright (maybe too bright) green. Will I ever be happy? But the desk is AWESOME and I am excited to put it to use. And can't wait to get the pictures/shelves on the wall.

did you think this was going somewhere interesting? sorry!

5 Cookie Day

Today has been a 5 cookie Day.

It started out pretty normal. Alarm clock rings at 5:15 alerting me to get up and hit the road on my morning run. Followed quickly by 5 slaps on the snooze bar for a 45 minute extended sleep. Drat.

Then the oatmeal wasn't very tasty and before I knew it-it was miss-a-shower-and scrunch-your-hair-so-the-grease-doesn't-show. This method is suppose to take less time but doesn't. Threw on a new shirt to save the grungy Monday blues, and off to work.

Work was a whirlwind with my Associate being in Hawaii (wish it were me). Slammed with projects until 12:15pm. A short break to the lunch room rewards me with leftover cookies from the staff meeting I didn't attend. 2 cookies should suffice.

A mass rush needed for 2 new hires who don't have enough of their certificates in; resulting in several additional phone calls and "URGENT" needs. Another cookie should help that out.

Take a personal call to clear up questions about an appointment from Saturday. Mostly good news means another cookie.

Get yet another assignment that bumps me up into the 2 screens club. Yes, I now have two wide-screen computer monitors on my desk. It is a little weird to get use to and truthfully I think it makes things a little more blurry then I like. Grr. Cookie.

And might I add these were dang good cookies. Dear office worker who made these cookies. You are my Betty Crocker. And your cookies are divine!

**Update: I now feel I had had 2 too many cookies. Bleh!**

Rise and Shout Indeed!

(Please note: I left my camera in Utah so this post is pictureless for now. I want to get this post up before I forget everything so, hopefully on some future date, this post will include the pictures I was so diligent in taking)

It has been a few years since Mark has been able to step foot into the hallowed Cougar stadium. Growing up with season tickets, this makes for a rather uncomfortable adjustment. So when the first game of the season was announced, we had already made plans on attending.

The 11 hour car ride wasn't as bad as one would expect. Due to the car robbery that happened a few weeks back, we were forced to rely on the Compact Disk! Mark busted out his old school CD binder and we were off with a few ready made mixes. Funny to go through our old mixes from years now gone and listen to the music we loved. Mark even had some EFY dances tucked away that made for some fancy entertainment.

Friday was packed full of "go-sees". First stopping in the Salt Lake Cemetery to pay a visit to my Dad's grave. I brought a small framed picture to place near the stone which I thought was a nice touch. It was a little strange being there; I wasn't quite sure what to do. I talk to my dad all the time so doing it there just felt...forced. It was a nice brief moment.

We then spent the next few hours at the Salt Lake Temple. My first time doing service there so that was a neat experience. I was fixated on the brides of the day which goes to show me that getting married didn't take the infatuation of being a bride away. The temple itself is of course a beautiful structure; with the inside being just as ornate. The history behind the building adds to my interest so it made for a great afternoon.

Jumping in the care with just enough time to drive north and meet the parents and Bro at Maddox which is considered a staple luxury of Northern Utah. I must admit, their bread rolls were amazing. Lets just say I lost count at 7. The waitress just kept putting them in front of me! To our great luck they were also celebrating Peach Days which made for a splendid piece of pie to wrap up that goodness.

Another key highlight to the trip was our stop at Grandpa's farm. Mark spent many a summer here; so it hold a lot of really dear memories. The farm itself has been mostly untouched since Grandpa died in 2002 so you can image my excitement in searching through an old house that was full of historical collectibles. We managed to take home several really neat relics like first edition camera's, a typewriter, and a 1902 Edison player. Mark was the only one attacked by the massive grasshoppers, and I managed to get the monstro-bee into the spiderweb long enough to let us finish up and vacate. It was sad to see the farm in such bad shape; but I can't lie; it was like walking through a deserted old house from the early 1900s. I loved it!

On our drive back, we made a much anticipated stop at the home of my oldest roommate Lesli John. (Oldest as in the first one I've ever had, not in age). Lucky me! She was such a gem to visit with us for a few moments. It has been 7 years since our last get-together so it was sure a delight to reconnect. A true friend!

--this is where we left the camera so all other events were photographed with the Bouche's camera. Bless them!--

Saturday Morning! A perfect breakfast with the Anderson's and Sullivan's at Kneaders as we planned our joint vacation get away. That right folks-we are going on a reunion-of-sorts cruise with Mark's greatest High School buddies and their wives. And we're all travelling with the MVP's. (Morrell Vacation Planners). I jumped right on the train of research and booking the trip and even made an elaborate reference booklet for everyone. Despite that, it was great to see some old friends and laugh about their lives now.

And then-the moment we had all been waiting for! I mean; lets be honest here, the whole reason we went to Utah wasn't for the friends, family, or food. Those were just bonus items to the glorious BYU Football game. Dan and Krista, & Julie and Ryan joined us at the Stadium for some "rise and shouting" good times. A pre-game stop at the college Bookstore resulted in some much needed fan attire for all. Followed by a fabulous display of athleticism and sportsmanship by our cougars. Our seats were on the west-facing side of the field so we felt happier when the clock read 7 minutes in the 3rd quarter. Why you ask? Because it was then that the sun had set just enough to put us in the shade. Nice! To those who didn't watch, shame on you, the cougars won. But only because "U-dub" made more mistakes then we did. (in my opinion) Thanks to Dan's mad driving skills, we were home in no time to enjoy Chef Tom's delightful Mediterranean Burgers. Delish.

A shout out to Mike who came out to part-ay with us each night we were there. And to mums and pops for putting us up free of charge. 'Preciate ya.

And to my blog readers - hopefully there will be pictures to make this incredibly long post less boring. :)

In-Famous

Since the first day I started teaching I thought about when my students would make-it in life. You know, become rich and famous fashion designers, or movie stars, or rock band peeps; and I'd look back and say, I had them as a student. I've been in their presence.

Well my fine readers, it has happened...although not like I had envisioned. Way to go Terrence Harris, you've done your family proud. (Being that he is in the newspaper, I don't feel bad calling him out.)
Read story here if your interested. (Which, with that introduction, how could you not be?)

And a special thanks to another former student who brought this story to my attention. I always counted on them to keep me informed. :) 1 student down; 1054 hopefuls to go

Current Favorite

I am currently working on our wedding photo album. It's been a constant project forever! There are just so many pictures, I can't choose which ones to include and which to toss.

Anyway-my point is, this is my current favorite. The tulips were beautiful; I couldn't have ordered a better flower to be planted. And I think it just encompases what I was feeling perfectly. Such joy.

Lunch

I feel like Lunch is the worst meal of the day. At home I usually want to skip the meal entirely and go straight to snack. Why you ask-No good food. I have never been real good at the packing lunch bit either. Ever. At work, I'm sort of afraid to use the community fridge for weird reasons, and not too keen on using the microwave in the kitchen. Nothing germ-aphobe like; more like don't-talk-to-me-I-want-to-still-be-in-my-cubical like. Don't ask.

Consequently, I pack fairly boring lunches in an effort to be healthy and yet satisfied yet not re-heating or having to be chilled. Then, lunch time hits and what I've packed sounds not so good anymore or isn't enough to fill up a fly.

This usually results in my craving kicking in. This is another weird thing about me. I'll go through craving phases. I remember each of them so distinctly. When I was a teacher I went through the Jack in the Box phase, the Vons Bagel phase, the Taco Bell phase followed shortly by the Sweet n' Salty Almond bars. Recently it has been the Baskin Robin phase and now the BofA cafe Panini phase.

Then the worst thing happens. The crave stops tasting good and I'm back to boring useless lunches; like oatmeal; or a yogurt and a piece of fruit. Sure it fills me up but I wish something better was sitting in my stomach. Sadly I am at that junction now. I need to be excited about my lunch. I need something delicious yet convenient. What I need is a lunch revolution where there is good healthy packing food for lunches only.

The End.

And for the record, have I mentioned I miss teaching yet. Because I really do. I think about it everyday. I loved my job. And I miss it terribly.

The End. For Real.

My Bad!

I went to AAA to get my registration stickers replaced. Surprisingly it was a VERY long line. I was surprised because last time I was the only one in there. Whatever, I was going to get this taken care of today so I waited. When I finally made it to the desk 45 minutes later, I informed the lady of my situation and she gave me the form to fill out and the fee that needed to be paid. To my relief, it was only $18.00. I whipped out the checkbook to pay the fee and can you guess what dropped out?

Yes-eriee folks, my registration sticker. Apparently I stuck it in my checkbook after I paid the fee last time and thought I had put it in the glove box with the registration paperwork. So -just kidding. They weren't actually stolen. Now I'm just waiting for the items taken from Mark's car to drop out of my purse.

Silly me!

Next Blog>>

Have you ever found yourself sitting at your computer reading every blog link you have? Then clicking on the blog links of friends friends' thinking maybe you ran into them once and now you want to follow up with their lives too. AND THEN finding you still have time to kill so you resort to reading friends of your friends blogs that you have no relation or connection to but really don't care. AND THEN...reaching an all time low, you start clicking the Next Blog>> button found at the top of each blog which randomly throws you into cyberspace? Which then makes you wish you had cool things to blog about too; so you end up blogging about what you've just done?

...yeah...me neither. I'm far to busy for that.

Agency

One of the greatest blessings of mortality is the right to choose for ourselves what kind of people we want to be. So I wonder where in the spectrum of life do thieves find their actions justifiable. Last night we had our garage broken into. Both cars were searched and everything inside was taken from them. Thankfully the items taken were all replaceable so no real physical damage is done. Just the inconvenience of replacing the new Registration tags I just got yesterday for my car, the iPod, an empty purse that I really liked, sunglasses that were from Target I'm sure, and the garage door opener. The opener is a cause for great concern as now we have to get everything re-programed so whoever has our opener doesn't have access to the house when we are away.

Anyway-it is such a disturbing thing; having your belongings taken from you. It leaves you feeling so violated and unsafe. I am such a different person because I would feel sick every time I used that iPod, or put those registration stickers on my car. Hey, where did you get those neat sunglasses...I STOLE them right out of someone's car that was parked in their garage in the middle of the night. Really people? So ten points to us for not being thieves and having a conscience.

Roadshow 2010

What a BUSY weekend. Every 4 years our stake gets the youth together for the the infamous Roadshow experience. I remember doing this when I was a kid and Sister Miller put together this genius of a production with music and dance and all. Strangely enough I still remember many of those songs. I digress; this year Mark and I were selected to be the specialists for tour ward's Roadshow. What? Moi? They do things quite different from when I was a kid. Rather then weeks on end with practices and rehearsals, it is now a 24 Hour production from start to finish. Yes ladies and gentlemen, Mark and I developed, wrote, choreographed, and preformed a 6 minute skit with 10 youth. Pretty sure I am not cut out for the all-nighter fan fare. We wrote half our script Friday night until about 2am. Then gathered again at 8am for breakfast and ... everything else that followed. I was quite proud of our finished product. We did a spoof of Disney Pixar UP! and the temptations taking us away from Paradise falls. An overall great success. A few highlights included:

-- The band of temptation entered the stage singing "We're going to Lake Taho-ho-ho." (Like in Finding Nemo) and then responded "Tahoe-mu-ha-ha" every time Tahoe was said.

-- The invitation to a "mildly inappropriate party in Lake Tahoe". Very funny.

-- The song we re-wrote to "In the Jungle" and the a-weema-way's were changed to "Let's go this way, Let's go this way." (the other side chants) "No Come our Way, No Come our way..."

-- Dance Battle! Russell was getting his interpretive dance merit badge and stormed the Alpha.

-- Jason says playing Kevin made his wrists hurt. We thought about claiming workers comp.

And I hate to boast but we were the best performance of the night. With 9 other wards competing, we heard from many sources that we were the most put together and entertaining. I hope this means we're not up for another assignment! :) We were absolutely exhausted by the end of the night. So much so that we both took 3 hour naps Sunday afternoon. Nice.

School Days

Today is the first day of school at La Sierra High School...and I'm not there. Weird. This is actually the first time IN MY LIFE that I have not had a 1st day of school. And I miss it. Not in a can-I-go-back kind of way but a that-was-a-good-time kind of way. And I did look in the school website to see the name of the individual who replaced me but they haven't updated their site so...my name has not yet been replaced; which is nice.

I guess this is a cheers to me for finally getting beyond the "first day of school" phase. I feel kinda bad for the future kiddos, I'll be "schooling" them from birth. :)

As a completely unrelated side note: today is also my Dad's birthday. I wonder if birthday's are celebrated in Heaven. You know, like hey-you got your mortal body day? I don't know. But mom's made his favorite cheesecake dessert and Mark and I are headed to the temple. So I feel its a good celebration here. 'sigh' - I miss that man!

America's Past Time

Take me out to a Ballgame! Especially if it is in the city! Giants vs the Cubs. Mike and Spencer invited us to join them in the action down at the AT&T Park in San Francisco. We always seem to have a riotous time with these guys and are thrilled Mike lives so close (for now).Parking was a bit of a challenge. Mark already doesn't like driving in the city; too many cars and people - and the bikers! Seriously they feel they own the road which can be annoying when there is no room for them! We ended up passing up the THIRTY DOLLAR lot (what?) and opted for a more affordable free 2 hour parking just across the street. 2 hours seems like plenty of time being the weather was cold and it was baseball-lets be honest. After meeting up with the boys, we headed up to our glamorous seats; just barely missing the last row by a hair.

The game went really well. The boys enjoyed their garlic fries and hot dogs like any good fan would. I was enamored with the game the young girl in front of us was playing - something really weird with cooking. When they weren't eating, the boys checked their facebook status and other features on their phones. And every once in a while we'd look up from our electronic/ediable distractions to this view:

We left on a great note with 2 runs back to back by the Giants in the 4th inning. A splendid evening in the ballpark. Splendid company to boot. And I must add, my sister forgot her giant hoop earrings at my house and I keep *forgetting* to send them back...as seen in this photo. :) Nice.

Big Trees

I know my previous post on the family reunion was a little sparse. Such is the result of a very busy life. I apologize. To try to make up for it I've added a few more pictures of Mark and I and our little walk through the North Grove.I have been to the Giant redwoods a few times so was excited when mom said we were going to go again. I have vivid memories of the Banana Slug band and making necklaces in the little campers activity days. Not to mention the giant tree stump that has been made into a dance floor and the tree that was carved years ago to drive through. I have always loved camping here and this weekend was no different!


It must be mentioned that the above picture is a copy of what Trent and Jennifer did. I thought it was so clever and cute that I made Mark pose with me near the small shrub as I pointed to the Giant sequoia.


Check out this root system! CRAZY! Many of the trees had been hollowed out from fires and such so there were tunnels and pockets of hiding places everywhere. We climbed and ran through and enjoyed these majestic beauties for hours!


We had such a great time relaxing with the family and each other. Now I just need to find some time to scrapbook all these memories!

A touch of Wright

Oh how I love my family. They are just the roots of me and all that is good. I love how when we get together we laugh at just about everything and mom is in bliss. It is fabulous. We went to the Calavaras Redwood trees to camp for a few days and had a lovely time. I had forgotten how huge these trees are. The kids especially had a great time running through the hollowed out trunks and the around the huge trees.

Please don't forget:

-The Amazing Race-Season 2: Mom and I did it for the second time. Some things were a little different with larger teams and more stops. We had them swimming for puzzle pieces, eating ice cream, searching the stadium seats, and collecting cans to name a few. The boys won but only by a hair. Another great memory maker.

-The camping trip detour to Walgreens/Target: we realized fairly quickly that we needed to purchase water and a few forgotten items before we headed into the forrest; therefore a quick stop to Walmart was planned while passing through Stockton. If we had only known this little detour would have taken an hour! We were all a little uptight (except for mom who was in vacation mode) when we finally settled down to Chiptole for dinner - 1.5 hours later we were back on the right road toward the campground. The VERY NEXT TURN, we passed a Kmart. Nice!

-Chipotle eventually turned into Chipootle - for the rest of the trip.

-Charades: what a riot. we couldn't get what everyone was doing. My favorites was when Dave drew washing a fliter and Lesley and I could not get it. The Dennis Rodman choice probably created the most laughs-I was chewing gum and slapping my arms and chest to show the tattoos intermitted with spikey hair motions-back to the bouncing ball gum chewing motions. Lesley got it really quick-because naturally it was Dennis Rodman. Dave still thinks I was trying to dance.

-The kids in the dirt - DIRTY! There was no hope.

-The river-we swam upstreem to the giant boulders that we use to jump off as kids. Dad showed us how so we knew we could do it. Tessa and I started and a few of the onlookers soon joined in. I can't lie, it made me smile that we had started it. A very fun trip floating down was probably the best part.

-Rice Krispie Treats-amazingly delicious. Probably ate too many.

-Thrifty Ice cream cones-3 stories high. A definate tradition. And why stop at 2 scoops when you can have 3!

-Mercer Caves-we were a little timid to take those little kids down so many steep steps. And they were steep! But the stalagites and stalagmites were amazing. Mark said Mt. Timps were better but I was quite impressed. Plus this one comes with Gold Mining history...bonus!

I so love my family. And we're quite a good looking bunch if I do say so myself.