Note to SELF.

Dear Self,

I am writing with a concerned outlook for you.

Last night I/We went to bed sicker than a dog due to your cravings for
french fries from Carls' Jr.
Also, that last minute purchase of fried zucchini, just because they sounded good was just way over the top.

Even with the weak attempt after numerous brushes with the mint toothpaste and 3 cups of water to try to flush the belly. You sent me, er... you, actually...us to bed with a bloated stomach, greasy taste in the mouth and overwhelming fried food headache.

Oh, yeah...and when you topped it off at about 9:30 pm with those 7 or 8 iced oatmeal cookies and cup of MILK before hitting the bed.....all I can say is...

REALLY???

self....give me a stinkin break.
That's unacceptable and is plan and simply....OUT OF CONTROL.

do better today, would you?

sincerely,
SElf.

This has to be some kind of flippin record

As I write this post I am instantly reminded of the America's Funniest Home Videos montages that they do. They usually label or name these montages:

"35 bounching ball accidents in 35 seconds"

and is accompanied with some sort of great song that only adds to the video and gives

the best visual effects.

Well my post for today will take longer than 35 seconds to read but will be titled:

"16 moves in 11.5 years"
accompanied song: On the road again!

disclaimer: Luke says I shouldn't count all of these moves because some were simply 2 or 3 week stops.

But I didn't want to lose the dateline so...here you go. Be prepared...it's almost ridiculous!

July 1997-July 1998...Gilbert Arizona, Park Meadow Apartment

Just married 2 weeks before. After one year here we thought about buying a home of our own. So we moved...

If we only knew what was in store for us at this 1 year mark.
Aug 98 (2wks)...Mesa Arizona,

with Luke's mom & Step-dad till we found the next place to rest our weary heads.Sept 98 - Oct 98...Mesa Arizona,


Velerose's guest home. We found the cutest little guest house behind a wonderful woman's home. We stayed there till we decided to MOVE!
The buying of our own home...just didn't feel right at the time...so we PASSED!

Oct 98...We packed up the guest home and storage unit and decided to head home to Utah for a new job for both of us. While I was up there getting things settled and Luke finishing up his job in Mesa, there was a job offer....else where....so back to Mesa I went and off we went to....

Oct 98 - April 99...Abbeville, South Carolina.
We took a job with a brand new boarding school that was opening in this beautiful little town. Luke and I drove cross Country not knowing what to expect only that it was going to be an ADVENTURE! So..off we went.
We were the 2nd and 3rd staff on the job. No students had arrived yet and we hadn't been trained. The first student came the very next day. So we hurried to get our U-haul unpacked into a storage unit. We took only what would fit into 1 bedroom. We had a room on campus and stayed there till Luke's sister and Bro-in-law moved out to work with us. (top right hand window in the picture below was where we called home)
We (luke, Me, Mel, Erik and 1 other couple moved into a 2 bedroom, 1 BATHROOM basement, mold filled apartment. I know it sounds strange but one couple lived in the only living room there was and actually the only other room in the place minus the kitchen. We all used their bed as a couch, boxing ring and hang out area. When it was time for bed, we all went to our rooms...not to leave till the sun came up the next morning. This was fun and CRAZY! We left that part of the world and that job because some differences of opinions with the boss, quite frankly it's called being honest. All 6 of us left within a week. It was time to go before someone got hurt....Mel, does this memory sound right?

March 99 (2 weeks)...Mesa Arizona,

The night we arrived back on this side of the country we got a surprise call from my brother, who was running a similar school like the one we just left. Except the honesty thing wasn't a problem at this school. My brother offered us both jobs at that school. He claims he didn't know we left S. Carolina....so the call from him was such a surprise & a blessing. We took the jobs and told him we would be there in 2 weeks. We wanted to see our families around the area before we took off again.

March 99 - Sept 10th, 2004...Ensenada Mexico
3/99 to 7/02 Our first home in the Area
-first child is born in Utah and brought home to live in Mexico for her first 4.5 years. (Lainie)

7/02 to 7/03 Our second home got us closer to the ocean but a 18 foot death drop as a back patio. But oh...the view of the ocean. Lovely!
7/03 to 9/04 Our 3rd and final home in Ensenada was right on the ocean wall. Again another 20 foot drop off into the ocean rocks...but OH MAMA, the view!
-second child is born in San Diego and brought home to live here for 2.5 years
-7 months pregnant with 3rd child when we left So much happened here in Ensenada, one of our most favorite places we have lived so far. We met some AMAZING and wonderful people. Some that will forever be part of our family, so many that will forever be in our hearts. We miss that life...daily. So beautiful, fun, exciting, relaxing and at the same time so wild. Don't get me wrong, I am so happy to be back in the US and the safety that comes along with this country. But there was a life there that can never be repeated.
Maybe it's a good thing.
There were times I felt unsafe and times that I felt like the rules/laws were just made up at that moment.
None the less, it was a wonderful life and one I was so happy to of been a part of. I will have to explain our great exodus at a later post. It's too huge to go here.

Oct 04-Jan 05...Hurricane, Utah
Living at my parents home. We were able to park ourselves here and our stuff in a storage unit while my parents were serving a mission in Barcelona Spain. It's was a good thing because I was just 1.5 months away from having our 3rd child. We knew it was just temporary, while things were being worked out with our job. We were still working for the same company and in transition to another school.
-3rd child born here (Carter boy)

Jan 06...Amargosa Nevada...
New boarding school opening. We were lucky enough to join back up with one of the couples we became friends with from Ensenada and help open Horizon Academy. A wonderful school with a wonderful family running it. The Husband and wife duo were the directors and Luke helped fill in the blanks. This family that we have known and loved for years have children our kids age....so it was again a perfect fit.....until....

Jan 2006...We got word we were going to move our family back across the country to Kentucky and open another boarding school with the same company we had been working with for the past 8 years. We packed our home into a u-haul and trailer and prepared for our move. In the middle of that process My sweet Grandmother passed away. While we were in Southern utah at the funeral and services and 3/4 of our home packed in moving trucks we get a call that our Kentucky move has been changed and it's now Mississippi. WHAT!!!!
You think we would of got the clue and thrown in the towel.

We finished all the family affairs and visiting and headed back to NV to finish packing our home. The 1st weekend of Jan we headed out toward Mississippi...making a 3 day stop in Arizona to say hi & goodbye to the other side of the family. Me, being 5 months pregnant and needing some driving help...I picked up my sis-in-law in AZ to accompany me in my car as we drove and followed Luke and the girls in his truck.
We arrived in Mississippi 6 or 7 days later with word that there would be a place to move into. Once we got there we found out that the house promised to us was not available and so we unpacked our belongings out of the u-haul & trailer into a little white vinyl siding with green roof old church that was on the school property. We lived out of a hotel for about 4 or 5 days and that was enough for us.
Luke was still to worked at the school...but with no place for us to live at the moment. We (me and the 3 kids) packed up a few suitcases and drove all day to Northern Georgia to stay in the over sized basement of my brother and sis-in-laws home. It was great for us and so wonderful to be with family...but we were missing LUke. He would drive or fly up for the weekends and then finally moved up there a month later.

There is so much I am not filling in,

due to the length and pure confusion for the readers!

Feb 07 - June 07...Blue Ridge, Georgia
Here we were able to meet up with 2 more couples from our time in Mexico. I am telling you...these people are forever with us. Well, 1 couple is my family and the other is just like family.
-4 child born here (lil Creed)
June 07 - April 08...Gilbert, Arizona
We finally quit working for the boarding schools/company and moved back across the US (for the 2nd time) to be closer to our families. We bought a landscape company and worked it with Luke's bro. till....we got a call back in Januaryish 08 to help open a new boarding school for troubled boys.
New Company & New Ideas...we couldn't pass it up so we prepared to move again over a 6 month process of waiting for things to be ready for us at the RAnch. Luke would drive back and forth every week. Leave on Monday morn and return to us on Thursday afternoon. The drive from our home to the school was 2.5 hours, so coming home every night wasn't happening.

May 08 - June 08...Maricopa, Arizona.
the home we were renting in Gilbert was lost to foreclosure. THe homeowners told us 30 days before the bank took it...so we moved in with Luke's parents because the home at the school wasn't ready for us at that time.

July 08 - Jan 09...Arivaca, Arizona.
Help open and run the new boarding school, ARivaca boys Ranch. Our home was purchased by the company and was on the campus. With the school expanding and the new building not built yet, they needed our home for the boys to live in so off we go again.....

Jan 09....Southern Tucson, Arizona
We are still working with the boarding school only now Luke has to drive 45 minutes to work. We are currently back in public school and LOVING it!!
The boys are getting more of their mothers attention and LOVING IT!!!
I walk the girls to school and push the boys in the jogger in the mornings, about 2 miles round trip and I am LOVING IT!!!
Luke is not living right on the campus and actually has nights at home and is LOVING IT!!!
We live less than 15 minutes from the church rather than 50 minutes and we are LOVING IT!!!!
The grocery store is less than 5 miles from the house rather than 40 miles and we are, well you know the rest.

WHEW!!!

That has to be some kind of record, doesn't it?

all in all....it's been an adventurous 11.5 years of marriage and

we have met SO many great people along the way.

At this point in time I pray for 12 months of nothingness

MY boxes are Exhausted!

Could this be the reason for my moaning pants?

I have NOT tried this, YET!


But you better believe it's gonna be in my favorite recipes. Maybe it's like those sticky buns I made for Christmas morning...a once a year treat.


Oohhh, those were rich!

While I was looking for the photo on my last post I came across this recipe....it's appropriately named FAT PANTS....because you'll need them after you eat this. So here it goes...



Our Fat Pants.

Don't let the ooey, gooey, messy look of these sandwiches scare you away. They will have you and your family smiling all the way to the stove.Camping will no longer be required because these will beat any campfire s'more, anytime, anywhere! Now go get those fat pants on. You know the ones...with the giant elastic waistband...yeah those...put them on and let's get to work.

Here's what you need:

Unsalted butter,

dark brown sugar,

buttermilk bread,

marshmallows,

semisweet chocolate chips

and banana.

Health food right?

Place 3 Tablespoons of room temperature unsalted butter in a small bowl. It doesn't seem like enough does it?Add 3 Tablespoons of dark brown sugar to the butter.Mix the butter and sugar together until it looks like this.


For the bread, buttermilk is choice here. It's rich, it's BUTTERY, it's the perfect choice. A fancy, fancy loaf is not needed here, I promise.
Take 4 slices of buttermilk bread and lather them with the butter-sugar mixture. Feel free to eat a couple slices then make more.

Peel the banana and thinly slice. Place the banana slices on the unbuttered sides of the bread. Just use as many slices as you need to cover the bread. Don't skimp for gosh sakes.

Get some marshmallows and place them on a metal skewer. Hold the skewer over an open flame until the marshmallows are burnt and gooey. Take the marshmallows, about six per sandwich, and place them on top of the banana slices.

Sprinkle about a Tablespoon of chocolate chips over the bananas but under the marshmallows. Is this just unbelievable or what?

Put the tops of the bread on and make a sandwich. Press down a little. It does not matter if the marshmallows cool off a bit while you put your sandwiches together.

Melt some butter in a nonstick pan on medium-high heat.

Add your sandwich and cook until brown, about 1 minute per side.

Carefully flip over. I used two spatulas to make the turn. Marshmallow and chocolate will be oozing out the sides. You will be hyperventilating.

Cut the sandwiches diagonally and serve. Here's the best part, you can make a bunch of these ahead of time. When ready to eat microwave for 15 seconds to melt everything again. OR put them in the fridge and cover. Eat the next day. Yep, we did it. No wasting. We can't waste these.


Caramelized Chocolate, Banana, and Marshmallow Sandwiches
adapted from Bon Appetit

3 Tablespoons of unsalted butter, room temperature
3 Tablespoons (packed) dark brown sugar
4 slices of buttermilk
12 large marshmallows (toasted)
2 Tablespoons of semisweet chocolate chips
12-15 banana slices
*Amounts for marshmallows, and banana slices vary due to the size of bread you use.

Isn't that the most ridiculous

thing you have every seen?

in a good, yummy way!

trouble x's 2

I am so out of shape.

HOW OUT OF SHAPE ARE YOU??

I am so out of shape that when I put on my pants they make a moaning sound.

Yikes...I think it's time for a new years resolution.

trouble!

I am so out of shape...

HOW OUT OF SHAPE ARE YOU????

I am so out of shape, I had to catch my breath while feeding my face just the other day.

YIKES!

I think it's time for a new years resolution.

I must of blinked...because December is over!

I can't believe how fast the month of Dec. came and went!

I am having a hard time remembering waking up Christmas morning to open presents. Let alone all the stuff before that....yep...it's all gone. Wiped clear from thee ol' memory bank. We spent November and December looking forward to Christmas...and here we are January 8th...waiting till next years Christmas.

I had to see some of the photos from my computer to even ring a slight bell. But some of them make me laugh to think that I was there and it must of been fun because the pictures are pretty entertaining.

LIKE when we supposedly made a gingerbread house and then I supposedly let the icing bag get turned on the kids. I can't be held responsible for all of this...I can hardly remember it....but it is pretty funny, I'm sure!~

OR WHEN we got pizza and attended the Mesa Temple lights with our family from the Valley. I do have a slight recollection of that night...because it wasn't to long ago. I think it was fun...but I could of been sleep walking and dreaming.

I THINK we atteneded a wonderful Christmas party at Luke's mom and step-dad's home in Maricopa. This event is coming back to me because I do remember the yummy food, amazing company and the gift table that over floweth. This evening was a night we were able to meet Luke's dad's fiance, Bobbie. She is sweet lady and all the grand kids really took to her. Yeah...that was a fun night...I THINK

CHRISTMAS is coming back to me after looking at the photos of happy kids, tired parents and lots of junk food. Our Christmas, this year, was very unique and different from the past ones. We were all by ourselves this year. NO family to mingle with, no cousins to show your new bike or easy bake to and not to much noise to enjoy. I can say it was nice...but I do miss having family close by. Luke was able to help the boys at the ranch with their celebrations by having an afternoon football game down in the horse field/football field and that was a great joy for them all.

I AM JUST about sure I made a QUICK TRIP to UTAH on the 27th. I am sure I remember that, only because the sleep has yet to be caught up on. I HAD to make a trip up there to see my family. At this particular time all my siblings would be in the same place at the same...it was a must....and so worth the 10 hour trip with my 4 kiddos. Which by the way...they were AMAZING!! LUke couldn't make it seeing how I decided to go Friday night and then left the next morning. I got to say long enough to exchange sicknesses, play in the snow, go hiking in the red sandstone hills, have many meals, have numerous sleepovers and this was with ALL the COUSINS. I was even able to sneak away for dinner and a movie with my parents, my 2 brother, 3 sisters and all their spouses. Again the exhaustion was so worth the trip...I would love to do it again tomorrow...only with my lovie this time.

All in all...I THINK it was a wonderful December...I can't be sure. BUT from the looks of my house not being cleaned, the kids being overloaded on sugar, the miles on the car, my black luggage bags under my eyes, my pant size going up a full size and all PHOTOS that I have looked through...I would dare say it was a SUCCESSFuL, FUN filled Month!

Happy New Year....

is it 2009? or 2010?

I just can't be sure!

getting hairy?

Yesterday, Cedar walked up to me with this very curious look on his face while lifting up his shirt, showing his tummy. He was pointing to a scab on his lower ribs down by his belly button. A scab he got from sliding down my parents stairs on his stomach with his cousin. Carpet burn...Yowzers!

C: "MOM, (pointing to his tiny little scab) am I getting hairy right here, like dad?"

ME: "Yes, Cedar you're finally getting big like dad"

Just then he backed away from me with this very satisfied smile on his face.

Once I saw that I realized I better be honest...I had to break the news that it was only a scab and not a patch of chest hair that he was starting to grow as a 4 year old down by his belly button.

What a dude!

stinky dirty shoe scrambled eggs

Conversation at the breakfast table.

Shelbs: Mom, these eggs smell like DIRT.

Me: Then don't eat them! You'll have to go hungry till lunch.

Birdie: Mom, they smell like my dirty shoes.

(and she has some nasty shoes she wears with no socks.....WOW)

Me: (laugh under my breath) What do you mean?

Birdie: They smell like my dirty stinky shoes.

Shelbs: Mom, they taste like Birdie's dirty shoes taste.

Me: (turning so they don't see me roll my eyes and smile)

Birdie: Shelbs, how do you know what my dirty shoes taste like?

Shelbs: They taste like what a dirty shoe would taste like....SICK.

Bird: Mom, come smell them...(as she waves her hand over the plate to direct the stench to my nose)

Me: They taste just fine to me, although they do smell like scrambled eggs.

(eating a small amount, just in case they do taste like dirty stinky shoes)

Just eat them girls.

Silence for a minute!

Shelbs: They taste like DIRT.

oh, they crack me up!