Obsession

Steven and I have an obsession. It could be considered a problem... Or a blessing...(most likely a problem)... The aroma is entrancing but the after affects could be lethal. Our obsession is garlic, garlic, garlic! After doing some research I found some interesting facts. Did you know that ancient Egyptians considered garlic sacred and used it in oath-taking and as part of burial rituals. Garlic bulbs were found in Tutankhamen’s tomb, and the Egyptian Book of the Dead includes twenty-two remedies involving garlic! The Bible even mentions this wonderful herb; Numbers 11:5: “We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlick.” In Sanskrit, garlic means "slayer of monsters." Garlic’s most famous protective use is as a vampire repellent, but it has also been used to ward off scorpions and snakes and has been said to repel evil and invite luck and prosperity if hung over a door. I am super afraid of vampires, so maybe subconsciously that's why I eat it. Or maybe it's just because it's REALLY GOOD! I blame this obsession on my mom. I grew up in a home where balsamic vinegar salad was the families favorite meal. It was not unusual to see someone sipping vinegar doused in pepper and garlic salt. Well, these eating habits have followed me into my marriage. Steven hardly ate salad before we got married but now, he eats it probably every other day. The reason I've been thinking about this is because I realized that we use garlic in EVERYTHING! I mean EVERYTHING! Balsamic Vinegar salad, garlic chicken, mashed potatoes, on top of pizza and spaghetti, deer meat tenderizer, Sunday pot roast, pickles, salsa, fajitas... I feel like Bubba from Forrest Gump. haha. But I'm dead serious!!!

Don't believe me? The second people smell your sauteing garlic people will think you're cooking a master piece. Still don't believe me? Try Stevens yummy yummy garlic chicken. 2 teaspoons crushed garlic 1/4 cup olive oil 1/4 cup breadcrumbs 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese 4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves Directions: 1)Preheat oven to 425 degrees. 2)Warm garlic and olive oil to blend the flavors. 3)In a separate dish, combine the bread crumbs and cheese. 4)Sprinkle salt and pepper lightly onto chicken breasts. 5)Dip chicken in olive oil/garlic mixture, then into bread crumb mix. 6)Place chicken in a greased baking dish. 7)Bake for 30 minutes or until done. Read more: http://www.food.com/recipe/garlic-chicken-breasts-56453#ixzz1l0ZIfTGd

We Bought A Zoo

Ok, LOVED LOVED LOVED this movie! I've changed our life plan so that we can live on a zoo. This movie was a super unexpected surprise! I cried 2 times! Steven cried 3 times! (he has a bigger heart than me). The music, awesome! Jonsi is my new passion.

Douglas

Douglas is our little tiny baby Red Foot Tortoise. We've had him for maybe 5 months and we just LOVE him. It takes a certain type of person to love tortoises. I guess we're those "certain" type of people. Well, Doug never seemed healthy. Even from the day we got him. Things went down hill pretty fast. First he stopped eating, then his shell started to get soft. BAD!!! That's when we took him in to see the Vet. She gave him a 20% chance of surviving. So she prescribed the meds and put him on critical care food that we have to feed to him by syringe. Steven and I were SOOO sad. We'd really come to love this little guy. So after being sad we pushed the thought behind us and have been doing EVERYTHING to get Douglas healthy again. It's been 1 week since we took him to see the vet and guess what?! He's kicking that 20% and still livin! It's seriously like having a baby in the house. Well minus the crying and smelly diapers... I guess it's "similar" to having a baby in the house. We feed him his critical care food and pumpkin puree with the syringe every few hrs. Keep his tank at precisely the right temperatures and soak him in warm water that is on top of a hot pad for about 30 mins every few hrs. Baby right?!?! We're seeing the slightest improvements and we're keeping him in our prayers. I know that all this might seem kinds silly to some of you. That some might say he's just a tortoise and why put so much effort and care in to him. My answer: because I believe that God created all things; and I believe that God loves those things that he created. I mean, He created me, and I know that He loves me. I know that Heavenly Father loves Douglas too. That's why I love this little guy; because he matters.

Christmas

This semester, I had an amazing opportunity to intern for United Way. My main project was the Sub-For-Santa/ Angel Tree program. I was in charge of the warehouse, where all the gifts were brought back to. Ready for some awesome numbers?! This year, Sub for Santa provided nearly 1,800 families and more than 5,080 children with much-needed assistance while helping to maintain their self-sufficiency. And that's Utah County ALONE! People have a tendency to say that we live in a bubble here but guess what, WE DON'T! Utah County Poverty by race/ethnicity in 2010 was 12.9% White/ Not Hispanic, 19.5% Hispanic or Latino, 32.1% native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander.If you're interested in some other crazy number check out the community assessment: http://uwucdev.org/sites/uwucdev.org/files/attachments/Executive%20Summary%20Piece%204%200.pdf.

The warehouse was AWESOME! Going to work felt like going to Santa's Workshop. Who wouldn't love that?! I loved being a part of something that did so much good. Life changed, CHECK!

The first couple of days of Christmas break we flew to California for a Barrow family reunion/ wedding.




The Christmas present I was most excited to give Steven was his old shot gun and hunting jacket. Yes, he already owned them but left them in Sugar Land when he came up to Utah. Steven goes hunting almost every weekend. He LOVES them ducks. So he's been borrowing his friends clothes and gun. I surprised him by laying out the gun and jacket on the kitchen table early, early in the morning, so that he could use it for a Pheasant hunt. Steven said it was the best present anyone had ever given him and that he was more excited about getting the gun the second time around. haha! So if you want to give a great present to someone, just "miss place" something they love and then re-gift it.
Speaking of funny Christmas gifts:

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was great! We stayed in Midway with my parents along with my sister and her husband, watched movies, played games, ate A LOT, swam in the Homestead Crater, and swam in the old Hot Pots that have been remodeled (They're AWESOME!). But probably my most favorite part of Thanksgiving was cutting down our Christmas tree. I did this once when I was a sophomore with my roommates Kdp, Emily, Lauren, and Amy. Cutting that tree down with my old roommates is still to this day one of my favorite memories. Hahaha. I'll save that for another day. Steven and I decided to make our tree cutting a tradition. This year was a blast! If you've never gone to cute your own Christmas tree down the best way for me to describe it is it's exactly like off the movie Christmas Vacation when they see the PERFECT Christmas tree. It might not be the best tree but it was OUR tree.



Thanksgiving day, we had Eddington Kickball