To be or not to be

A Texan, that is.

This week we have been scouting out apartments that we could live in if Kent gets offered a position with USAA. I'm having mixed feelings.
I'm feeling:

• Anxious to find out if he even gets offered the position (We should know in a week or two)
• Happy that we found this AWESOME apartment complex that is even closer to USAA than we are now, so Kent could definitely walk to work every day. I'd be so happy to not have to wake up early to drive him. I'm a sometimes lazy wife, it's true. Especially in the mornings.
• Homesick for my beautiful Cache Valley
• Grateful for what the job here would do for our family (i.e. Work experience, Master's Degree, money to save).
• Wondering how long I can keep up my goal of never saying "Ya'll."
• Trying to not be sad about not being near family when we're starting our own in the coming years,
• Excited about a San Antonio 65 degree-average winter instead of being buried in snow and ice for seven months, and
• Tired of being a girl who can feel way too many emotions all at the same time.

They sell Texas-shaped tortilla chips at the grocery stores here. Cool, but I'm used to living in a state that could care less if a chip looks like it. And I miss that state. Once, when I was in 5th grade, I made a big poster about Utah and I drew the state backwards (with the tip that sticks out on the right side instead of the left). I was embarrased, but not many kids in my class even noticed the mistake. Here, children practially have the shape of Texas tattoed on their foreheads.

Sunday Barbecue

Sunday night we had some friends over for a barbecue. We had finally set up the little portable gas grill I got Kent for his birthday, and we wanted to try it out! We invited two guys that also went to school at BYU-Idaho and now work at USAA and their wives. The most exciting part of the night was when Kent turned on his shocker ball and we watched the guys throw it around and squeal when they got shocked. It's a pretty entertaining toy. Although I don't really like to play with it. It's kind of scary.

For dinner we supplied the kabobs. Mmmm. We marinated the chicken and other ingredients (pineapple, zucchini, onions, red and green peppers) in a mixture of original flavor barbecue sauce and orange juice concentrate. (3 Tbs. concentrate to 1/2 c. bbq sauce).

For dessert I made my mom's awesome cheesecake. It's not really like most cheesecake; it's fluffier and smoother than normal. I like it better than any other cheesecake I've ever had. And after our guests tried it, they were saying how much they hope that Kent gets the job offer to come back next year. :D

Mom's Delish Cheesecake

8 oz. cream cheese

1/2 cup sugar

2 tsp. vanilla

1 cup sour cream

8 oz. cool whip

Beat the cream cheese until it is soft and smooth. Slowly add the sugar while beating with hand mixer. Blend in the vanilla and sour cream. Fold in the cool whip, then pour mixture into a pre-made graham cracker crust. Refrigerate for four hours or more before serving.

Just so you know,

The "Gotham City" Pizza that Dominoes has right now for the new batman movie, isn't worth it. Unless you REALLY want to get a normal pepperoni pizza in a cool black box.

Check off another thing on the "wisdom list", as Kent says.

P.S. I love the Internet. Who would have thought that someday you could even find a picture of a "Gotham City pizza" just by googling it? I just threw my fancy black box away. Apparently someone decided it was picture worthy. Thanks, Someone!

High Quality Entertainment

Our weekend adventure was completed with a trip to Costco. When we were married, Kent's aunt and uncle gave us a costco gift card with a rather large amount of money on it. We were intending to buy our mattress set from Costco. We found a better deal somewhere else, though, and bought a vacuum with some of the costco money, and then our costco cash card sat dormant in my purse for the following five months. There isn't a Costco anywhere near Rexburg, and we didn't have memberships anyway.

Kent's dad took care of the membership issue while we were in California, and then we moved to an apartment that is only five miles away from a Costco store. And we had a cash card sitting in the depths of my purse! SO, whenever we were getting a little bored, yet didn't want to spend any of our "real" money, we went to Costco. And oh, the times we had there...

Costco's inventory is mainly directed towards someone who is trying to buy a lot of something. I always wished that we had lots of kids already when we'd go there. I could just imagine the rows and rows of canned green beans, cream of chicken soup, boxes of crackers, and other items all organized and labeled in the food storage room of my dreams. Sadly, however, Kent and I are only in San Antonio for three months, and we don't have lots of kids, so our purchases were limited to what we knew we could eat in the next three months. I.E. frozen potstickers, chicken breasts, hamburger, tortilla chips, and bananas. Lots of banans. We even seriously considered buying a Wii from Costco. But it was so fun to go there, and not feel any guilt at all about buying a little something extra as a treat for us. Because, well, those potstickers and bulk candy bars were a wedding gift, after all.

On Saturday, we used up the final $14.83 on our card. Now, we actually have to pay for our food. And Costco is again just another store. Sigh.

P.S. Thanks again, Brian and Amy!!

Weekend Adventure # 8

I don't have any pictures from this weekend; it's kind of a pain now because I only brought the connecting cord for my red camera with us when we moved and so I have to use Kent's laptop to download the pictures onto a flash drive and then transfer it to my own computer. And Kent takes his laptop to work with him every day, so when I have time to post, I don't have access to my pictures.

Anyway, we had another great weekend last week. I can't believe there are only five weeks left until we return to Idaho. Crazy! Now that I'm settled in with my job and everything, the weeks are just flying by.

On Friday we went to Red Lobster for dinner. (Thanks again Mom and Dad for that gift card! It was the perfect birthday present!) I had never eaten lobster or crab before, so we had to get some. I ordered snow crab legs and coconut shrimp (which happens to be one of my very favorite foods). The shrimp was delicious, and so was the crab, but, frankly, I had trouble eating the crab. Not because it was so difficult, but because every time I had to touch that exoskeleton, I got the willies. Whoever decided that a crab was something we should eat, anyway? It's so weird, and when the attached legs would touch my hands as I was tyring to crack one of them... Kent got a kick out of watching me eat, to say the least.

On Saturday we went to the new Batman movie, and loved it! It was great. I would definitely recommend it; although I will warn, it was a little bit longer than I had expected.

TO BE CONTINUED....

Weekend Adventure # 7

This weekend we were decidedly against spending money. Last week's extravaganza is still just a little bit painful to remember. So we took advice from Teresa and toured model homes!

It was really fun, once we finally got past the agents wanting to know every little detail about us and our bank accounts. Sheesh. We just wanted to walk through the houses; we won't have enough money to buy a house for probably another 15 years, give or take a few. :) I finally got so fed up with those people that instead of walking back through the office on our way out, we climbed over the fence. Yep, and this is the girl who used to feel guilty about even opening my eyes at night when my dad told me to keep them closed and go to sleep. Kent brings out my wild side. :D

Anyway, once we got through all of the "huge incentives!" discussions, we got to walk through the houses and pretend that they were ours. Fun! We discovered a few things about houses that we MUST have, and a few that we must NOT have.

San Antonio is actually a pretty good place to buy a house if you are looking for one. The 3 bedroom, 2 1/2 bathroom, 2 car garage, etc, houses we were looking at were in the $150,000 to $190,000 range. Maybe if we come back here for a few years after we graduate we'll get our first little starter home. It's possible. And it's weird to think that I'm actually grown-up enough to be buying a home soon. I wonder if I'll ever get used to being the age I actually am. :D

Stuffed French Toast

We made this for dinner on Sunday (I'm starting the tradition of having breakfast foods on Sunday. I got the idea from Shannon. Thanks! It's easier on me and fun, too!)


Spread cream cheese on one slice of bread, top with deli ham, and another bread slice. Dip sandwich in a mixture of eggs and milk. Toast in a greased skillet until golden-brown. Serve with warm maple syrup.

You can also use cinnamon raisin bread or sprinkle cinnamon on the sandwich while it's cooking. We liked how the cinnamon tasted with the cream cheese and ham.

Enjoy!

Safer Movie Viewing

Just wanted to share this awesome website that I have been using for a few years now. I'm a very picky person when it comes to movies. There are really very few that I like. And I'm okay with that. Basically, I just want to watch movies that don't make me wonder "why was that in there?" "Did they really need that scene?," etc.

The website is www.kids-in-mind.com. It has the most detailed reviews of movie content I have ever seen. I love to go on there for all the new releases so that I know beforehand if I want to pay the money to see it in the theater. The website gives every movie a rating based on sexuality/nudity, violence/gore, and language. It includes a very detailed list of every detail in the movie that could be considered offensive. It also lists instances of substance use, discussion topics, and what messages the film conveys. That way, it's up to you to decide if the movie is worth it or not. It's great!

"Since our system is based on objective standards, not the viewer's

age or the artistic merits of a film, we enable concerned

adults to determine whether a movie is appropriate for

them or their children according to their own criteria." (Kids-in-mind.com)

To answer the questions, no I haven't gotten my nice red camera that I loved back, we have just always had two cameras because I kept the one I had before we got married. That's why I can still take pictures, and why I'm not as upset as I should be about the red one being stolen.

"The best birthday ever!" (Weekend Adventure # 6)

Kent's birthday and the 4th of July! On the same day! He's so lucky.

Here's the loot. We bought fireworks earlier in the week and I told him that they were going to be a present, too, so I set them up for him with all his presents. We planned on shooting them off later that night, but didn't get a chance to, so we'll have to just hold onto them for later. Twinkies (a forbidden non-healthy treat) make one very happy man. And those are the makings for rootbeer floats you can see in the corner there, too.

Oh, and I forgot to take pictures of the incredible cupcakes I made for him. They were awesome. Missisipi Mud Cupcakes with oreos and chocolate chips and a drizzle of chocolate on the top. Mmmm. He told me that I am the best wife ever after eating one of those cupcakes.

We went to dinner at the Chart House restaurant, which is up there, at the top of the Tower of the Americas! It's 750 feet in the air! The best part was, we got to see all the fireworks shows from across the city up there.

And the food: divine. Luscious. Perfect. My eyes were watering as I took the first bite of my Macadamia Crusted Mahi with Peanut sauce and Teriyaki glaze. I almost cried it was so good.
Kent's Beef Tenderloins and garlic mashed potatoes were equally as good. Being married is fun because you get to have two separate entrees at restaurants. If your husband is good like mine and shares with you.
Hello, happy birthday boy!Chocolate Molten Lava Cake. Need I say more?

The meal was incredible. And expensive. But, as my sister, Sarah, said, "Your meal cost seven times less than the restaurant was tall. At least you didn't have to pay a dollar for every foot." Yeah, it could have been worse. You can always count on Sarah to see the positive in everything.

It was an awesome experience, and a very happy birthday for my honey.

Sad, stolen camera

We went to Six Flags on Wedensday because Kent's work took him there for free. I met him after I was done with work, we went on a few fun rides, and then we watched the fireworks and lazer show the put on every night. It was so fun! And I had my camera out, recording every bloggable moment.

After the show, we jumped up and ran to beat the crowds to the parking lot.

Thursday morning I realized my beautiful red camera, the wedding gift Kent gave me six months ago, wasn't in my bag.

I tried again and again to get through to the lost and found at Six Flags, and I finally did today, and they said they didn't have it, and if they didn't have it by now, they won't be finding it.

It's so sad that people aren't honest enough to turn a camera into the lost and found. Somewhere out there is a person enjoying my camera and looking through all of my pictures. That's kinda scary.

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday, my Love!!

(Kent doesn't like this picture, but I think it's cute.)


I seriously have the greatest husband in the world. How did I get so lucky? He's incredible, and I love him so stinking much!!

Details of today's partying will come later.

Weekend Adventure # 5

It was a very nice, relaxing weekend last week. On Friday night we went over to our friends house and played games with them and another couple. It was a blast! I saw a side of Kent I've never seen before when we played a game called "Moods" and he was required to say "Blondes do have more fun" in a bashful voice. I laughed until I cried. And, we got to try out their new Wii and decided that we are going to buy one. Once we find one for sale. It's sold out basically everywhere!

On Saturday morning we met that same couple and went to see Wall-E. It was so cute. Then Kent and I went to the HU HOT Mongolian Grill for lunch. That was awesome! We decided to go because my sister-in-law, Heidi, mentioned loving a similar restaurant. We know why now!

Then we came home and prepared our nursery lesson for Sunday. I love working in the nursery. Those kids are adorable! I had a little guy named William who was so upset about his mom leaving, and I helped him deal with it. By the end of the two hours, I had him laughing and talking and playing with all the other kids. Except for when he would come back to me, calling me "Mommy." So there might have still been some issues there, but we'll work on that next week.