5+ months

Just want to talk about this guy a little bit. He has come LEAPS and BOUNDS in the last 5 months. When he first got here, I was nervous for him. I'm not gonna lie. He left his food, culture, family, friends, language, etc. to be with me. That's a huge sacrifice. But he has done amazing.



The other day we had spent time with my family--my siblings and their spouses and their children. Pablo turned to me and said, "So, this is what being in a family is like." Pablo is an only child so I was worried that he would be overwhelmed by all of my crazy family. But he loves each of them so much--especially his nephews. Blake can't find a better instant-ninja/jedi/animal/warrior/transformer friend.



Pablo has done really well with his English. He basically spoke NOTHING before he came. Now he has a calling with the 11 year old Scouts. Yesterday he had his first job interview as a Graphic Designer--all in English and he did amazing! They loved him and they loved his work so now we just have to wait to see if they can offer him a job. Even he doesn't get the job I'm just so proud of him for not being afraid to try.



Man, I love this guy! He was so worth the wait! Gracias Pablo por ser el mejor esposo que he tenido en mi vida! Te amo muchisimo!

A little warmth for your Monday

So I have been trying to leave comments on blogs and guess what...my google is being weird. Last week I had my google account broken into and now my passwords, etc. are all messed up. So comments will be coming but please be patient.

Meanwhile, Pablo and I tried this new recipe yesterday for Sunday afternoon and it was yummy. It is from a Campbell soup advertisement and it was mmm mmm good! (No pun intended...)

Southwest White Chicken Chili

1 tbsp. vegetable oil
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cut into cubes
4 tsp. chili powder
2 tsp. ground cumin
1 large onion, chopped
1 medium green pepper, chopped
1 can (10 1/2 oz) Cream of Chicken Soup
3/4 cup water
1 1/2 cups frozen whole kernel corn (I used it from a can)
2 cans white kidney beans (I only used 1 can of Great Northern Beans)
shredded cheddar cheese

Heat oil in 4-qt. saucepan over medium heat. Add chicken, chili powder, cumin, onion and pepper and cook until chicken is cooked through, stirring often.

Stir in soup, water, corn and beans and heat to a boil. Reduce heat to low and let simmer for 5 minutes. Serve with cheese.

Blog, Blog, Blog

I have neglected my blog. One of my friends emailed me the other day and asked me if married life was keeping me too busy from blogging. No. It hasn't. I think it is just a whole combination of things.

I read other blogs. I catch up on your life but most the time I don't have time to comment. I need to be better because when I leave comments I hope it lets you know that I care about what is going on. When you leave me a comment it makes me feel like you care. Isn't that silly?

I was reading a friend's blog the other day and I totally think she was right. Sometimes when we blog we put the best on their--the great activities, the cute things are kids say or do, the vacations, the important stuff. But it gives the appearance that nothing is wrong in our lives. It is easy to compare and say wow, they have more, do more, are more...etc. But that is not real life.

So here is my blogging goal--to give you our REAL life. I didn't blog very much last year because I was down, depressed and sad to be separated from my husband. It was HARD. I'm not complaining, I'm just telling the truth. We are seriously very blessed and I love being able to spend every day with Pablo. He is my best friend and makes me laugh harder than anyone. So 8 months away from him was hard but we did it. I wish I would have put more of that on my blog but I didn't. For now on, you will be getting the REAL stuff.

Pablo and I will be speaking in a Spanish Branch on Sunday--this is our 2nd speaking assignment in the 4 1/2 months that we have been together in the US but not in our own ward. Isn't that funny! We are speaking on goals this Sunday and it has really made me realize how important goals are in our lives. We make jokes about New Year's Resolutions but what a great idea to help us pause and think about what we really need to do and become.

Okay, there you have it. Some random thoughts but all true and real. Happy New Year!

Holly Holidays

So here are a few updates to share. Thanksgiving: We were planning on traveling to Utah to stay with my Aunt Nyla and Uncle Vic but because of some icky snow, we stayed in Blackfoot. My sister's in-law's let us crash their Thanksgiving and it was fun!



Christmas: Pablo has few good Christmas memories so I decided that I would try to fit in every tradition possible for him to REALLY experience Christmas USA style. We played in the snow.


We made Gingerbread houses.


We left cookies and milk out for Santa.

And he came! He even brought Pablo a real TRANSFORMER!





New Year's: We spent with Doug and Laura and my folks playing Wii and games. That is until Doug and Laura fell asleep at 11 pm...so we came home and watched the ball drop while sipping Sparklin' Cider!





Oh and don't let me forget our ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY. Unfortunately there are no pictures of that because I had the stomach flu and spent the day puking my guts out. Don't worry, I am over it but I don't think it was very romantic. And definitely not photo-op worthy.

I hope that you all had a great Holiday and may 2011 bring you plenty of wonderful memories!