Mexican-Italian tonight!

I haven't cooked at ALL this week and figured I better get my act together and put my wife cap back on. So, tonight I am making one of Pioneer Woman's finest, or so it looks at least. Mexican Lasagna. I can't WAIT! I'm sure James cant either. Poor guy. If it wasn't for the fact he burns noodles, I'm sure he would help out in the kitchen. But for fear of burning the house to the ground, we both agree the kitchen is my domain. He does help with dishes so for that I am INCREDIBLY grateful. He deserves a pat on the back! So, here's looking forward to some good cookin' tonight!! Or so we hope.

Pandemics and Preparedness

As many of you have probably heard, there is a possible pandemic on our hands with this swine flu among us. It has me on my toes since there are three people here at my work that just returned from Mexico, where the outbreak is most prevelant...EEEK! Needless to say, Ive got my Clorox dissenfecting wipes at my side alongside some hand sanitizer. I might even go get me a surgical mask, but we'll see. Im not taking any chances here people!

What this whole situation really comes down to is being prepared. Before we left from Missouri, James' Dad was telling us how the church has hired a special pandemic person for situations like these. You know when the church is taking action in hiring someone for a pandemic, it's not going to be that far away. He told us to start preparing now with a 3 month food storage supply, in case of one. Of course this would be on top of what we already had in food storage, which Im not going to lie was next to nothing. But we do have a Sam's Club membership and since we moved I have been picking up extra things here and there when I go, so I can proudly say I am starting and have enough for maybe 2 months. James' Mom also gave us a whole bunch of cannery from the Bishops storehouse so that indeed helps.

But the thing is, after reading about how our country is very vulnerable when it comes to our dependence on other countries for most things, it has made me realize just how important it is to be prepared. If you read THIS article, it talks about how places like Wal-Mart keep there inventories low to prevent waste, so if we were to cut off air travel there goes our stock for necessities for things such as generic medicines to surgical gloves. When it comes to our new President and our failing government, they will leave you to believe there will always be someone to be there to bail you out in time of need. We all know though this isnt true. We NEED to be prepared for whatever comes our way.
So, even though I have been preached to for years now to begin my food storage, and have a little here and there, I hereby declare April 27th the day I dedicate myself to FULLY preparing my food storage and simply just being PREPARED.

Off to Sam's Club I go.

It comes down to--Dignity

If you haven't heard all the hoopla about the Miss USA pageant, then you are missing out on the most outrageous contraversy ever. Really, Im boiling under my skin right now just thinking about it!

Her crown winning came down to one question, the most political and moral question that could ever be asked: Do you believe in same sex marriage. Not in those exact words, here is is verbatim: "Vermont recently became the fourth state to legalize same sex marriage. Do you think every state should follow suit? Why or why not?" Her answer: "Well I think it's great that Americans are able to choose one or the other. Um, we live in a land that you can choose same sex marriage or opposite marriage and, you know what, in my country and in, in my family, I think that I believe that a marriage should be between a man and a woman, no offense to anybody out there. But that's how I was raised and that's how I think that it should be between a man and a woman." She took a high moral ground, and for that I couldn't be more proud of a beauty contestent, knowing it wouldn't be the most popular answer. The sad thing about all of this, was the reaction. She lost the crown because of her morals, and now everyone is saying she should have given a more "pleasing" answer in order to win. Really? I thought the whole Q&A part of the competition was saying what you believe in, not what everyone else believes in. I thought the entire competition was about being who you are, not trying to be someone else. But through it all, Miss California Carrie Prejean stood by her answer and states, "I wouldn't change a thing." I watched an interview with her and Matt Lauer on the Today Show, and was very impressed by how well she is handling the whole situation. She was the first runner up, and knows that if she had given a different answer she very well could have won, but still stands by her response and her beliefs. GOOD FOR HER!

In my book, she deserves the most sparkly-studded crown ever.

Though she could have worn just a little bit more of a modest dress:)

Look who it is!!

Well I have found out that there are actually people who enjoy reading this thing, so I thought I better not let them down and get with the program!

So, James and I are in Idaho, wahoo! We absolutely love it here, so much in fact James is pretty set on staying here the rest of our lives! Im totally down. When you break it down, why not? We've got the mountains for boarding, dunes for four-wheeling, friends and family, and a race-track for James' speed demon needs! What more could you ask for?! I could use some more trees and water, but what are you gonna do about that? I guess we'll just have to visit out east more:)

As a stated in my last post I was going to share some pictures from our vaca in Utah in February, so here we go!

Here we have James newly bought truck stuck in a snow mound. Just the way I wanted to start our vacation:) Dont worry though, we got it out.

Next we have James trying on some ski gear which he later returned. That's right, I brought him over to the dark side, he's a boarder now!

James the first day with his skiis

Me loving the mountain

We loved Snow Bird, deffinitely going back next winter!

Me tearing up the mountain...

Thats James catching some air when he was first on his skiis, tricky stuff!

Us Three Musketeers at California Pizza Kitchen...good times, good food!

I love this picture of James playing the piano with the kids, melts my heart:)

Another melt my heart one:)

Gotta love these kids!!!

Oh you gotta love our classic pictures:) Super Bowl get together at Tinas place, so much fun!

All in all, two thumbs up for goofy helmets and for awesome vacations!

So there you go, good times in Utah. Im bummed I didnt get any pictures with Ben & Joy though. In due time.

Well, I suppose that does it for that. Hope you enjoyed! I know I did:)

Coming soon: Pictures of Doc in all his glory!! (Thats my dog if you dont remember:)