Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Just 8 lbs. to go!

Lest anyone think that we have given up on our goals I have decided to make a return. With school and work we have been extremely busy, but it is still important to return and report so here it goes:

Weight Loss –
Cecilia – Total: 27 pounds
Ryan – Total: 27 pounds
We are both just 8 pounds away from reaching our goal of 35. We have been slacking of late, but we both re-committed ourselves this week to get the 8 pounds off by December 17th.

Morning & Evening Prayer and Scripture Study –
As always, we are perfect with the evening prayer and study. Yet, we still struggle remembering to say morning prayers, although we are perfect so far this week.

Exercise –
Cecilia – She got a new exercise video last week and she has been tearing it up.
Ryan – I average just over 30 miles per week over the past month and on Saturday I ran 3 miles in 18:30, faster than I ever ran in high school!

Missionary Work –
Jimmy Dean is getting married on Christmas and he will be baptized shortly after that. We go over to his house about once per week.

Temple
General Conference was especially exciting because we found out that we are getting a temple here in Kansas City. That will cut the 3 ½ hour temple trip down to 30 minutes. In the meantime we made it once again to the Winter Quarters temple. What a great experience!

Friday, November 7, 2008

Back with a Vengence

On Saturday morning, Lawrence appeared peaceful with fall colors blooming on the trees.
The crowd gathered at Memorial Stadium armed with crimson and blue apparel.
We joined the ranks. The stadium was almost full to capacity (I spied an empty seat in the corner).

The week before, Texas Tech humbled us at our homecoming game 63-21. This time we faced off against K-State (an instate rival or something), and KU was there to regain some dignity, which they did 52-21. We left in the third quarter, long after K-State had given up.

Note: I recorded the marching band performing a Michael Jackson medley, but I accidentally erased it. I'm sure you Michael Jackson fans out there would have enjoyed watching the trombonists doing the Thriller dance, but you'll have to look it up on YouTube or something.

Magical Fruit- Not Beans

For the first couple weeks of solids Bella gulped down plenty of green beans, peas, squash, carrots and other yummy morsels. I introduced apples and peaches this week. Do you think she likes it?

She shuddered after each bite,

and didn't swallow more than a teaspoon.

Narcisisist in Training

Bella is gazing into the eyes of her new favorite friend. Even on whiny days when no other toys can deter her from following Mommy or Daddy around groping their feet, the mirror keeps her busy for a good ten minutes.

Thursday, November 6, 2008

Nummy Sofrito- Not to be Confused with Pico de Gallo



No, this isn't the food from Ernest Goes to Camp. I left out the secret ingredient. This is what 2 green bell peppers, 2 red bell peppers, 1 yellow bell pepper, four white onions, 4 cloves of garlic, adobo, and a bunch of cilantro look like after going through the blender. It's called "sofrito."

In Puerto Rico they pour sofrito in EVERYTHING, it's their homemade spice. Arroz y habichuelas guisadas aren't possible without sofrito, which is why I whipped up a batch of my own. And no, I didn't use all of it. I should have enough for the next couple years.

While I was on my mission I discovered that the sofrito recipe was similar to pico de gallo, minus the tomatoes. I ate it with tortilla chips, which made my Puerto Rican companion dry heave. What was I supposed to do? Pico de gallo doesn't exist there.

Saturday, November 1, 2008

Kitty cat and Bat





Bella was a kitty cat for Halloween, but we got to the "trunk or treat" too late to show off her costume. That was when we rang the Spauldings and arranged a Halloween meeting at Silas & Maddy's. Asher was the cutest bat I've ever seen.


I tried a new flavor last night, called "gold dust." It includes oreos, caramel and snickers. Yum!

Afterward we took Bella to Meagan's party, one of Ryan's classmates. Bella was a hit. All of the guys took turns cuddling her. Meanwhile, Ryan and I socialized and drank the non-spiked cider.

*update: the Batman logo on her costume tag perplexed us until we realized it was a cat woman costume, not a kitty cat. So Bella was cat-baby instead of a kitty and we didn't even know it.