Food Storage

Uncle Sam almost bled us dry, so I've tried to be creative in coming up with ways to save money. Now I have to boast about my ingenuity in the kitchen with our food storage. The first food items pictured above are homemade crackers made with wheat my mother gave us when we got married. Paul's mother has a really nice wheat grinder, so now I make my own flour when we go down for visits. I made the crackers with Parmesan cheese and Italian spices. They taste pretty good. The second food item is an enormous bag of beans. I never realized how expensive canned beans are compared to dry beans. I soaked a big pot last night, and when I cooked them today, it took 3 large pots to do the job. We're having neighbors over for dinner tomorrow, and I'm going to make a Mexican-style chili (of my own invention - hopefully it will turn out). I'll freeze the rest of the beans to save for future meals. The last food items pictured are cornbread muffins. I used three items in my food storage to make these beauties: honey, milk powder and wheat. I read somewhere that milk powder works well in baked goods, and I've learned that it's true. I've also been making some pretty good chocolate pudding with all the milk powder we've got. My mother gave us several boxes of food storage items when we got married. It's not until now that I've actually started to use them. I've enjoyed discovering yummy recipes that call for ingredients we have in our food storage. Thanks mom!

My little namesake (kind of)

While we were in Texas, I met my niece Kamryn for the first time. She is an absolute doll. She seemed to like me alright. After all, her middle name is Emilie. (That's how I spelled my name when I lived in Germany.)

I Love TX

These are pictures from our spring break trip to TX. First we have Paul and Emily at a Lamborghini dealership where Paul's brother works. We were thinking about maybe purchasing that car. Next, we're pictured at the seawall in Galveston. We wanted to fly a kite, but then a storm rolled in as is shown in the next picture. The last picture is of our lively nephew, Alex.

Wishing it were spring (break)

Here are a few more pictures from my trip to the East Coast. On the top is a picture of a Chinese take out place in a mall in D.C. Back in the 50's, my grandfather had a restaurant by the same name (China City) in Provo, UT. The other pictures are of members of the Burton family; I stayed at their place in Baltimore for a few days. The furry one is Einstein, and pictured below him are his parents, Dan and Elizabeth. I had a great time with all three of them.

Happy St. Patty's Day!

A few St. Patrick's Days ago, my sister called me up and informed me that she's Irish - so it would follow that I must have some Irish in me, too. Who would have guessed. I hope you're wearing green today, Taylor. I think my favorite St. Patrick's Day memory is when my mother made me green eggs for breakfast. It was a school day, and a hot (and green) breakfast was unexpected. It was certainly a pleasant surprise.

Spring Break is Over

Tomorrow it's back to the grind. Though Emily worked a few days over spring break, it was nice that Paul had a break from his classes. We both took short trips out of town. Emily spent a few days on the East Coast to visit with friends and family. Paul flew to Houston, where Emily later joined him to see Paul's big brother Richard and his family. We also had the opportunity to visit with Emily's cousin Larissa and her family, who have recently moved to Houston. We really enjoyed spending time with everyone. It was hard to say good-bye (to family, friends and the warmer weather).

Pictured above: Tamika and Emily in front of the Smithsonian American Art Museum and Portrait Gallery in Washington D.C.; Mei and Emily right before bed in Mclean, VA; MN friends Dan and Lizzy (and Emily) at dinner in an Italian restaurant in the Little Italy district in Baltimore; cute cousins Jade and Lex in Houston; our nephew Garrett (pictures of his siblings to come) right before school in Houston

Beginnings

Well, we did it. We finally jumped on the blog bandwagon. Though our lives aren't terribly exciting, and we don't have any adorable children whose pictures we can post, we thought because we are so transient it might be nice if we had a blog. Currently we are living in Logan, UT where Paul is a student at Utah State University. He's in training to become a chaplain in the army. We're hoping his career will lead our family to some adventures - well, at least something a little more adventurous than Logan. We do like it here. Emily's becoming acquainted with cowboy culture.