A Day for the Governor

This weekend was a big one for us! Friday night was the military ball, Saturday was Governor’s Day, Sunday was my first day teaching Relief Society in our new ward, and Monday is the E4-E5 promotion board!

The military ball will get it’s own post, and maybe I’ll post over on My Soul Delighteth about teaching Relief Society.

Saturday morning Russ had to be at formation at Camp Williams at 0700 (for those of you who don’t speak military, that’s 7:00 am – and we live about 20-30 min away from Camp Williams, depending on traffic). We had stayed at the ball until about 2300 (again, that’s 11:00pm) dancing to Article 15 (the UT National Guard’s band). So we didn’t get home until around midnight. I don’t even remember what time Russ got out of bed, but I don’t think he left until around 0630. I won’t ask him how fast he drove (he took his motorcycle) but he ended up getting there on time.

On time for some waiting. They had a formation at 0700 and then released every body until they had to form up again around 0930 for the parade. If you are unfamiliar with the Army (or the military in general) their motto is “Hurry up and wait.” You might think that it is “Army of one” or some such nonsense, but it really is “Hurry up and wait.” That’s what they always do. Form up and then wait for forever for nothing. Or something. But they have to wait. Wait wait wait wait. But you better be on time to wait.

I didn’t get to Camp Williams until about 1005, a few minutes after the parade started, but I think all we missed was a prayer and maybe the national anthem or something. We got there just as Governor Hubert was speaking. We had to park all the way in the farthest north corner of Camp Williams, but the army was cool and picked us up with a van and dropped us off right by the parade. On our way down to the parade grounds three C-130s did a fly over. They were pretty close to the ground, and the kids got a kick out of it (Joseline thought it was a little loud).

We got to the parade grounds and found a seat just about in time to watch the soldiers parade around.

Now, a military parade is not like a Fourth of July parade or a Homecoming parade. Basically the soldiers form up with their companies and in their units, and in their battalions, and they march past the Governor and salute him so he can “inspect” them. I’m sure he doesn’t really do much inspecting. He probably just smiles and looks pretty for the cameras. Mostly a military parade is just for show – but it is a cool show, and a powerful representation of our military. There were so many troops there. It was the entire Utah National Guard – Army and Air Guard. It was crazy. The Guard also had three Black Hawks fly over during part of the parade (just before the Air Guard marched by, I believe). The kids loved that, too.

I didn’t get a good picture of Russ because I was too busy trying to point him out to Vincente. By the time I remembered that I need to take pictures, I had to take them of the back of his head.

Russ was the third from the front on the second row.
You can see his beret where the arrow is pointing.

The band was great, and the soldiers looked fabulous.

After the “parade” they had a fair type thing where all the units and battalions sold food and the Guard put up a zip line and a bounce house. They also had a lot of booths advertising all of the services the military has for families. I signed up for the FRG for our unit, talked to some Military OneSource folks, and got information on the local Family Assistance Center. We also signed up for the Enlisted Association of the National Guard. Apparently they are the people who lobby our politicians to keep the benefits for the Guard soldiers.

They also had an Apache helicopter and a Black Hawk medic helicopter the kids could get around, touch, and (for the Black Hawk) get in. The Apache folks were a little more touchy about the kids getting in the cockpits – but I think that’s because Apaches have guns, and the Black Hawk didn’t. The pilots were all really nice and talked to us about their helicopters.

Vincente loved being the helicopters and decided that he is going to join the army and fly helicopters when he gets “big like Papai.” Cute kid. I told Russ that I secretly hope that Vincente will join the National Guard when he is old enough. No matter what else he chooses to do for a career, I would absolutely love for him to be a citizen-soldier!

The last thing we did was head over to the 19th Special Forces Group’s tent where Vince tried his hand at a paintball gun. He was actually doing pretty well. He was aiming. Russ said Vince couldn’t figure out just how to use the scoping bars (or whatever Russ called them) because he was consistently hitting the wrong spot so he probably had the target through part of the scope and not the whole thing. Anyway, after hitting a few targets and some unsuccessful attempts at shooting the rest he told Russ he was done, so Russ finished out – left handed. And of course took each one out in one shot.

Joseline mostly sat in her stroller and enjoyed a cookie. She tried the bouncy obstacle course but ended up getting stuck. She liked the helicopter, but I think what she liked most of all was being with Papai. She’s super attached to that guy.

Second (er, first?) Honeymoon

(sorry in advance for this super long post – but I think it will be worth it for you to read!)

Our first honeymoon was to McCall, ID where we stayed in a friend’s cabin (for freeeee) and were going to go to Brundage (see picture below) for some fun snowboarding and enjoying each other’s company.Well, unfortunately for us, December 2005 was not very snowy in Idaho, and McCall was not as much of a winter wonderland as perhaps it should have been. Therefore we elected to spend all our time staying in the cabin making yummy food and… well, you know, hanging out.

Then on our way home to spend Christmas with our families, our car broke down as we drove down the road out of McCall and we ended up spending the night in the bunk house of the cabin (another family had already took up residency in the cabin for Christmas – but they were friends of Russ, too, so it wasn’t totally awkward).

Thanks to a lot of really nice people, we ended up with our car in Boise, and us finally sleeping on my in-law’s couch at 5am Christmas morning.

Needless to say, our honeymoon was not very… honeymoon-ish.

So when Russ told me to book a flight to Puerto Rico for the second week he was going to be there for a Spanish language immersion trip, it was like a second chance for our honeymoon.

Since the hotel was paid for by Russ’ work, we only had to pay for my ticket to get down there. It wasn’t too expensive, even though we bought the tickets last minute, and I think that we might just have to take a trip to Puerto Rico again sometime. It was really fun.

We stayed in a Marriot Courtyard hotel right on the beach in Northern Puerto Rico, just outside San Juan. The entire beach was mostly hotels, and some apartment buildings (I think the building in the left side of this picture is an apartment building). The Marriot was really nice – they even had a poolside bar. I spent most of my time lounging on the beach and reading while Russ was in classes, and then in the afternoons and evenings we got to go out exploring.

Hurricane Irene made an appearance the day before my flight arrived in Puerto Rico, so our adventures were a little more… adventurous. It rained a lot because of the hurricane. Apparently the weather had been great the week before I got there, and then after the hurricane it was mostly cloudy and rainy all week long. But that didn’t stop us from having a swell time. There was also damage all over the island that was still being cleaned up. Not to mention all the power failures. I think we only saw a few working traffic lights while we were there. More often than not, the traffic was horrible (which I learned was not necessarily because of the hurricane – it was more because of how Puerto Ricans drive) and one intersection we were stuck in for a while because none of the lights were working and I think it was the intersection for people getting on and off the highway.

To keep myself entertained I took a lot of pictures of the beach and the waves. I won’t bore you by posting all of them here. Our hotel was really close to the airport, so you could always see (and hear) planes taking off right by the resort. The water was pretty cold because of the hurricane, but Russ told me it had been really warm the week before. Apparently the hurricane brought cold water with it – or churned up the colder water from the deeper parts of the ocean. Regardless, it was a lot of fun to play in the ocean. The salty water reminded me of living in Monterey and visiting the ocean there. I love the ocean, and I was really glad to visit it, even if it was cold (it wasn’t nearly as cold as the ocean in Monterey! Even “cold”)

One afternoon after class, Russ told me to meet him on the beach for a surprise. I was super excited, because I love surprises! He took me down the beach a little way to a guy at a makeshift looking booth with life jackets strung up between two palm trees. Obviously I knew what we were going to be doing as soon as I got there. Jet skis! Woo hoo!

Well, that’s what I thought until I got on the thing. It freaked me out. I was puttering along when Russ (who was sitting behind me the whole time) took hold of the accelerator and showed me how to ride that thing. I was screaming probably the whole time, “You’re going to kill us! We’re going to drown! Don’t make us crash! AAH!!!” After a little while I realized that I was indeed not going to flip over (Russ told me that it was usually the small jet skis that flip over, and that you’re actually less likely to flip over when you are going fast – not sure if that is true or if he said all that just to get me more comfortable driving like a crazy person). It worked and I ended up making some pretty crazy waves and jumpin’ ‘em like a mad woman. It was super cool, and I am glad he got me out there and got me comfortable – because that is something I would never choose to do on my own. That’s one of the things I think I like the most about being married to Russ – he gets me out of my comfort zone and shows me things that I would have never discovered without him. (disclaimer: the picture above was taken after our ride – we did indeed ride with life vests on. I promise)

We spent a lot of evenings playing in the pool with the other wives who had come out. The hot tub was really nice, and the pool was comfortable (although I spent most of my time in the hot tub – I don’t really like cold water). Russ likes to swim, but me? Not so much. I like to relax in a hot tub, and that’s about it.

Lest you think we were beach bums the whole time, we wives went on a tour of old San Juan with the guys (this was part of the language immersion program). We went to the old Spanish fortresses, and also walked around downtown old San Juan as well.

The old castle was definitely my favorite. In fact, when I first got to Puerto Rico I saw these cool looking turret things on everyone’s license plates and I told Russ, “If we have time, I would love to go there!” I also told him I wanted to go to a fresh market place and buy some mangos and avocadoes and all those other yummy things you can’t really buy in the states (especially not in the mountainous desert). While in Puerto Rico, I ate the most scrumptious mangoes (probably 4 or 5 of them in the 6 days I was there), star fruit (delish!), avocadoes (who knew, they're supposed to be bright green when they are ripe!), and don’t forget the monfongo (mashed plantain) and churrasco (grilled steak – yum yum yum). I think I ate the best I have ever eaten. Makes my mouth water just thinking about it.

Back to that castle. Because I am a sucker for history and museums, I really enjoyed myself. It was interesting to learn a little more about the history of Puerto Rico – how it was so important to people trying to trade in the Americas because it was really the first “civilized” place between the Eastern and Western hemispheres. After all that water it sure was a nice place to land.

We also learned that San Juan is going to be using the old water collection system that the Spaniards built at the fort. They are in the process of updating it and getting it ready for their own use. I think that’s the smartest thing I’ve ever heard of. Of course, conservation of both history and natural resources are some important things to me, so it’s neat to see a city doing both! Using their history to conserve natural resources. Smarties.

Of course, the best part of being there was getting to spend “grown-up” time with Russ. We’ve had kids since we were married (practically – Vince was born a year after we were married) and we’ve been doing to school or moving across the country with all this military stuff. It was really nice to settle down for a while, and the trip to Puerto Rico for some time away was icing on the cake. Yummy yummy icing. This is my favorite picture from the trip. We were getting kind of bored (and tired of walking around) on the San Juan tour, so we stopped to take some smooching pictures. I think this one turned out the best.

“But wait! There’s more!” Russ wasn’t done with his surprises. The last day we were in Puerto Rico, he took me on the longest drive ever (seriously, I thought the actual driving through Puerto Rico was the “surprise” part…) and we finally ended up in this backwater, run down fishing town I later realized was on the far north east tip of Puerto Rico. Still having no idea what we were going to be doing (but assuming it had to do something with kayaks because there were kayaks everywhere at this little park where we stopped) we had some yummy fish, and shark, and other yummy foods at the little fish restaurants and stands at the park.

After dinner, we had a little kayak safety training and learned that we were going to kayak through a itsy bitsy canal to a mostly land-locked bay called “Bioluminescent Bay” where these little organisms live that light up when you move them! I don’t have any pictures because it was dark, and my camera is not very good at taking pictures in the dark. Now I am thinking I probably could have done a video. The glowing organisms weren’t super bright, but I bet I could have shot a video. It was fun to splash the water onto my shorts because it looked like I was throwing glitter on my legs. With every stroke of the oars, the water would light up. It was really magical. I thought I was going to get eaten by a snake or capsize in the canal when we were going back and forth from the bay, but it was really not too bad.

Here is a good video that shows what it was like. The glow was more green than blue (the video makes it look blue, but that’s probably the camera)

It was a fabulous trip, with memories made that will last forever. We’re going to have to make sure we take some “all by ourselves” trips more often! It’s so easy to get caught up in every day and forget to get out and do something special with your spouse. Gotta love that big hunka man!   

 

This is a picture of Russ in the rainforest the week before – this is probably the only thing I would have wanted to do and didn’t get to. I guess we really will have to plan another trip to Puerto Rico!

Puerto Rico – Finally a Vacation

Last time Russ and I went “away” without the kids was when Joseline was about 5 months old and my sister (thanks, Sisty!) flew out to CA and watched the kiddos so we could go on a military marriage retreat in Santa Cruz. Scratch that – we did spend a night in a resort hotel in Tucson, AZ last summer. But that was just one night, and we didn’t do anything really spectacular. Santa Cruz was the last REAL vacation. And that was over two years ago.
We were definitely overdue for a vacation.
My flight got in to Puerto Rico on Tuesday morning at 2:30 am. Russ picked me up, took me back to the hotel, we slept for a while, then he left for class around 8 am. And I kept sleeping. In fact, I slept until noon. It was crazy! Then I got up, ate some cereal, and put on my running clothes. I had a great run on the beach, it wasn’t too warm because of Hurricane Irene, and it was overcast. The sand was pretty wet, too, so it wasn’t as hard to run on the wet, packed sand.
After my run, I showered quickly and Russ took me out to a market where he bought me a few dresses! I’ll have to take pictures when we go out dancing. The hotel has live salsa music in the lobby on Wed-Sat, and free Salsa lessons on Thursday nights. Guess where we’re going to be tomorrow night? I love dancing!
Shopping was fun, even though we had to drive back to the hotel in a flash flood (I have NEVER seen such horrible traffic!! Peurto Ricans are probably the worst drivers in the world). Plus half the street lights were out (they are still trying to fix power outages from the hurricane – although one store we went to said that their power outage had nothing to do with the hurricane. Sometime their power just goes out for no reason… What?)
So after we braved the floods in the little rental Kia, we decided we were starving (all the food places at the market had been closed – probably because of the power outages) but the only place open near the hotel was Burger King. Against my better judgment, I had a burger and fries. The fries were probably the worst idea yet. But i think today is better.
After that, we came back to the hotel and I switched my flights (effortlessly, might I add – Southwest and JetBlue… how do I love thee?) and talked about the things I had learned at Education Week last week at BYU. Russ also napped for a while, since he hadn’t slept in until noon. 
Then Russ’ buddy’s wife, Luzmary, flew in and we met them at Casa Dante for some delicious churrasco and monfongo. The meat melted in your mouth – it was even better than the Brazillian style churrasco at Rodizio’s/Tucanos (which I thought was some of the best grilled beef EVER). It was a fun experience to try the monfongo, and it was actually really good. It was a different flavor and texture than I had ever really had, but was kind of like a potato stuffing? Something like that. I will definitely have some more of that before we go home. And maybe some more of that steak stuff. If anyone has food recommendations for Puerto Rico, let me know. I love eating locally when I am traveling (instead of Burger King… which wouldn't have been my first choice, except no one else was open.
After dinner we went in the hotel hot tub for a while (hot tubbing under palm trees? Yes please). Today I would like to try out the little “in-pool” bar. Virgin, of course. But it just looks like so much fun! After the hot tub we went out and walked down the beach. I would like to say we walked in the moonlight, but it was still mostly overcast, so it was more like a walk in the dark. A few stars were out, and the ocean was pretty calm. It was really nice. And the water was so warm. A HUGE difference from that freezing cold beach in Monterey, CA. After the walk down the beach, we sat on a hammock on the beach and talked some more. Talking feels so good, and I feel like we haven’t been able to talk much in the last year or so. Things have been so stressful, and I think that we have been holding a lot in. It’s great to be able to reconnect away from everything.
Oh, and on our way back to the hotel we stopped at a little local grocery story and I bought some locally grown produce! A star fruit (which I couldn’t resist and ate in the car on the way home!), some bananas, and a mango. I ate one of the bananas for breakfast, and the mango I’ll probably eat later. Russ bought me an avocado which I plan on eating today for lunch. It is HUGE. I’ll probably have to share it with him.
Today we’re going to Old San Juan, so hopefully I’ll have lots of pictures for my next post. Right now all I’ve got are pictures of the view from our hotel room (on the top floor!)

I forgot to take my camera out with us yesterday, but I’m remembering today!
Check back tomorrow for more pictures!

Backyard Campout

We love camping. A lot. You wouldn’t know because we haven’t really ever been camping since we were married (other than the summer we spent in a cabin at Scout Camp – which was pretty much the most adventurous thing we have ever done).
Memorial Day weekend this year (2011) was the perfect opportunity for us to head out on a long awaited adventure. We were going to do it. It was going to be a blast. Then we looked at our budget. There was no way we could pay for a campground and gas to get there and still be able to pay the bills. Being the responsible (HA!) grown-ups we are, we decided to have a backyard campout.

It ended up being perfect. The weather was fine (a little cold, but hey, camping out is about roughing it, so that was perfect). Our backyard was mostly a big level area of dirt, perfect for pitching a tent. So pitch a tent is what we did. Then we started up a fire and cooked tinfoil dinners, then roasted marshmallows for S’mores, and then stayed up late into the night eating horrible snacks around the campfire, simply enjoying one another’s company. Then we piled into our little tent (we have got to upgrade before we go on a real campout) and spent the night enjoying the outdoors in our backyard. Doc stood guard over the campsite. And then slept in the tent with us. That sweet dog. We really like him!
Because I have lots of pictures about this campout, and not much to say, I have included recipes of the evenings food for your camping enjoyment!

And remember, you don’t have to even leave your backyard to have an adventure! Camping can be super fun (and super cheap) if you just camp in your backyard. You can even invite a few neighbors over and pull out the guitar and ukulele (what we always did at family campouts) and sing some fun camp songs.  Don’t know any camp songs? Check out the LDS Young Women’s camp songs on the Church website. Or just do a Google search for camp songs. You won’t come up empty, I’m sure of it.
Tin Foil (aka “Hobo”) Dinnerspotatoes
carrots
onions
meat (ground beef, chicken, steak, whatever whets your appetite)salt
pepper
other seasonings as desired (we use seasoned salt and a little garlic powder – we love garlic!)butter
square pieces of tin foil
---------------------------Slice the veggies (potatoes, carrots, onions, and any other veggies you decided to use) very thinly. If desired, spray your tin foil with non-stick spray, then line with carrots, then potatoes, then onions, then meat, then layer it again, but backwards (onions, potatoes, carrots). Your meat should be surrounded on all sides by the veggies – otherwise your meat will get dry and your veggies will be crunchy. No one likes a hobo dinner that is crunchy. On each layer, sprinkle some of your seasonings, and add a little blob of butter.
Once you are finished layering your food, take two sides of the tinfoil and pull them together, forming a triangle with the tinfoil (your food is at the bottom of the tinfoil). Roll the top (where the ends meet) down until it is tight on top of the food. Then roll up the ends.
Throw your dinner on the hot coals. Let it cook about 5-10 minutes on each side (depending on the amount of veggies, etc). When it’s done, dump it all out on a plate and enjoy!
Campfire Cornenough ears of corn for everyone in your campsite (plus extras if you want to share with the neighbors) – do not shuck your corn
salt water
-------------------------------------Make a big bucket or bowl of cold salt water and soak your (unshucked) corn for a few hours (we only let ours soak for about an hour and a half, and that was fine). About five minutes or so after you put your Hobo dinners on the coals, set your unshucked ears of corn on the coals as well. Turn the corn constantly – every few minutes or so – until the husks start looking cooked. It probably will only take about 5 minutes to cook the ears of corn. Take them off the coals and let them cool for a minute (probably about as long as it takes you to unwrap your Hobo dinner). Pull the husks down, but leave them on the corn – no need for ear holder things, just hold the husks. Smother your cob of corn in butter and salt, and enjoy!


S’moresAs if I need to post this recipe.name brand graham crackers (I’ve tried store brand, and unless they are different, store brand crackers are too crumbly to squish the marshmallow – our favorite brand is Honey Maid, but you use whatever you like – or have a coupon for)Hershey’s chocolate (again, a place you should not skimp when it comes to S’mores)Large Marshmallows (here, doesn’t matter what the brand is. But we tried these chocolate swirl marshmallows a while ago – WHOO HOO they were yummy)------------------------------------------------
   Take a whole graham cracker and break it in half. Place three squares (more if you like) of chocolate on one of the crackers. Place the marshmallow on a roasting stick. Hold it over the coals, turning constantly. Don’t worry that it doesn’t brown up all at once – the key to a perfectly brown marshmallow is to be patient, and turn it constantly. Once the marshmallow is all goldeny-brown, lay it (using the roasting stick) on top of the chocolate cracker. Take the other cracker and smash it down on top of the marshmallow. Slowly pull the roasting stick out of the marshmallow. This is the perfect way to make a S’more with the least amount of stickiness.

 

A Little Bit of Everything

I haven’t dropped off the face of the planet – I promise. There’s proof over here and over there. Okay, not super recent proof, but proof enough.

You know how when you’re climbing a mountain, you can’t really tell how far it is to the top when you’re actually on the mountain, doing the climbing. Well, that’s kind of how I feel right now.

Although, the nice thing about climbing a mountain is that you can usually stop for a breathtaking view every now and then, making the uncertainty of when you’ll reach the top somewhat bearable.

The view of the Arkansas River on the way up Pinnacle Mountain in Arkansas. I had a picture of the fog coming off the river from a different hike, but I couldn’t find it – so this will have to do. Not quite breathtaking, but beautiful nonetheless.

So we’re still working through some things (I say working through because we really are working through them. Things are getting better, not worse, so that’s good) but in the meantime, we’re enjoying the view from the side of the mountain.

Remember how much we missed this face? (photo courtesy of Vincente, of course) He came back from Brazil on May 15 with lots of goodies for us! Mostly books, but some flip flops for me (I basically live in flip flops – especially in the summer, but I’ve been known to wear them even in the dead of winter – as long as the ground is dry), and a berimbau, from which the airline took the tall stick – because they were going to charge him $100 to check it, and they wouldn’t let it in the cabin. Bummer. But Russ managed to take it apart and brought home everything except the long stick, which are not really a rare commodity around here.

Thanks to a lot of thiswith a few days of this in between, our yard has been growing a lot of these and a bunch of these

(disclaimer – the four previous pictures are not mine – I found them on Google images. I’m pretty sure as long as none of you say anything, no one will sue me. Right?)
Needless to say, whenever the heavens aren’t pouring their liquid gold upon us, we’ve been outside working the yard. I’ve got to put some before and afters of the little patch of our backyard where we laid some seed. Thanks to all the rain, it looks thick and luscious without us even running the sprinklers! And I wish I had taken pictures of our tulips. We ended up with mostly orangy-red ones, but a few yellows, purples, purple-whites, and a few pinks showed up later in the season. We’ve got what appear to be some dark purple irises coming up, too, and an unknown bush that I think is a hibiscus, but not entirely sure. And a lot of decorative grass. I mean… a LOT. If anyone wants some, please let me know, because I’m going to tear it all out.

Tonight we’ll be building the vegetable garden, and hopefully planting tomorrow. I know it’s kind of late in the season, but all this rain has made it nearly impossible to plant anything.

Russ mowed the lawn a little over a week ago, and it looks like a jungle again already! I’m not complaining – we’ve had to do a lot of repair work on the landscaping of this house. Remember what our yard used to look liked? (if you don’t, there are pictures in this post) I’ll post an update on the yard later, probably after we get the garden up.

We’ve been enjoying visits from friends – especially this friend who now lives very close to us, and who we adore very much!

We’ve been working out and running, and in general just plugging on with life.

Oh, and enjoying some really yummy watermelon ($.17/lb at Sunflower Market a few weeks ago! The absolute best! PS, Vincente took this picture)

So I can’t really complain about much, but I can’t wait to be at the top of the mountain. I’m sure the view will be amazing.

I’ll post a picture of the view from the top when we get there. And we will get there.