Unas de mis cosas FAVORITAS

My new favorite song!!! So good!!! It's by two of my favorite Latino singers/groups, Juan Luis Guerra and Mana. (My other two favorites being Shakira and Juanes.)

Here's another new favorite song, Stolen by Dashboard Confessionals. Me gusta mucho!!

Okay as I was waiting in the car this afternoon, I heard yet another awesome song. Hey There Delilah by Plain White T's, I think Kayli might have mentioned this song in her blog but I had never heard it then. Anyway, I love it.

And here is my favorite supermarket in all of the Phoenix area: Lee Lee's. It's on the corner of Dobson and Warner (I think that's in Chandler) for any who live in the area or want to visit. It's awesome!!!! It's owned by this Vietnamese guy and they import stuff from all over the world. Here's a picture of chicken hearts and livers for sale, that was right next to the duck feet. Usually they have frog legs, but it's an ever changing store, there's different things on the shelf each time, which adds to the wonder of the whole store. Last time I wanted to buy yucca starch which they didn't have, this time they had it, but not Trigusar which is my favorite Colombian spice.

Here's live catfish, crab and lobsters; they often have live tilapia too.

Here's who knows what vegetables.More interesting fish.Fruit anyone? These are about the size of cantaloupe or bigger.If you click on the picture to make it bigger you can see the aisle for Thailand, Indonesia, and Holland (why Holland of all the European countries? Don't know, another magical thing about the store), right next to the aisle for Pakistan, Sri Lankan and India. There's also whole aisles just fro Japan and Korea. Then there's Colombia, Caribbean, and Africa, also Brazil and Argentina. Some Cajun stuff for good measure, and of course, all the Filipino nurses I worked with shopped here.

They also have huge packages of frozen fish eggs (that's how it was labeled), baby squid and octopus, fresh lemongrass, and shrimp chips (like potato chips)and other very interesting things.

This is Elena amazed at it all! Leo and I used to like to come here just to see the people who shopped here. I've seen people in complete African garb, and Indian (India) clothing with all the gold jewelry and and such, and also Arabics in the full black head to toe covering-forgot what they're called-used to know.

And last but definitely not least, this is my MOST FAVORITE RESTAURANT ON EARTH!!! (At least of the ones I've tried. ) It may look humble, but the food is to die for, really, I could eat here every day. I LOVE the hummus and tabooli and chicken shawarma and shish kabobs, and yogurt salad, and oh, everything else on the menu. The pitas here are simply delicious, (you may wonder how can pitas be that much better--well, I don't know, but they make other pitas taste like dirt). Oh, and the baklava, freshly baked, so many varieties (pistachio, almond, pecan, etc) it's almost impossible to eat just one. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. It has great Arabic music playing and a desert scene with a camel painted on one wall, hookahs for sale, along with dates and big blocks of feta cheese (several different kinds), and a picture of the Dome of the Rock on the wall beside a tv that's tuned to Muslims praying. Again, it's surprising to see the people who eat there, but for the opposite reason of Lee Lee's; it's surprising because there's so many umm, white middle class, which I think attests to how good the food is. It's on Apache between Rural and McClintock (in Tempe) for anyone wondering. I tried to get the waiter to give me the recipes today, and he took our email address, I hope, hope, hope, that he really sends them to me. I told Leo to leave a bigger tip, but he wouldn't.
I also wanted to post a picture of my other favorite restaurant in Arizona, it's in Mesa on Gilbert and Southern, but Leo wouldn't drive over there. It's Sekai, a Japanese food place. The sushi is delicioso!!!! I love SUSHI. I don't really like the rest of the food so well, I mean it's good Japanese food, but really I just go there for the sushi. Anyway, if you want sushi in Phoenix, go there.

Chastised

My older brother Derek, pictured here with three of his four kids, called my at inhumane hour the other day (8 AM) just to tell me to not write on my blog anymore. He was trying to make it a joke but really at 8 AM, (who gets up at that time?!?!?) I wasn't really coherent enough to even speak, let alone laugh at his silly high pitched voice and ongoing lecture on how family is first, and how dare I post a picture of Dad's new colt on my blog without first posting it on our family website. Anyway, just to get back at him I'm posting this picture of him on my blog. So there.
Y por mi esposo who I'm dying to see, but won't get back till tomorrow, here's your adorable daughter. What a goof. She's army crawling now. It's fun to watch her. The other day I left her on my bed to grab a diaper, and she rolled off onto the hardwood floor. My mother-in-law and brother-in-law Cesar came rushing in. This is another reason why you shouldn't live with your in-laws, much nicer to let your kids roll off the bed when no one's around. Now I have to go post the pictures on my family website so I won't get another call at an unearthly hour of the morning.

And here's something just for fun. My cousin's wife, Kristi posted this on her blog, and I did indeed find it as funny as she said it would be, so check this out, if you want of course.

Diapers

I've started using cloth diapers. It's quite an interesting endeavor. I wish I had Mom here to show me a couple of times if I'm folding and putting them on right, if I need to make them bigger or smaller, etc. I bought the Walmart ones, but they seem pretty worthless. Even double lined, they don't really absorb much, so I bought some flannel and am going to make my own. Hopefully they'll be better. I'm really not all that fond of cloth diapers, although they're supposed to be better for the enviroment, it's just that it will save me $30 dollars a month, which hopefully will help just a little bit more, so that I won't have to go back to work. Nursing is such a rip off. I just sent in to get my license in Illinois and it cost $190 including fingerprinting, FBI check, etc. Blah!! Why can't you be licensed nationally?!?!?!? I guess it was still better than Florida, there I paid $300 for my license. Arizona is the best, here you're licensed for four years, and it's a compact state (meaning I can work in other compact states like New Mexico and Utah without getting a new license). Well that's my whining for tonight.

On another note, I went to Jonathon Nordquist's wedding reception and although these pictures won't be up yet you can see them Friday HERE. It's under A. Wellman wedding, password: amanda. I like looking at wedding photos, even if they're not my own. Just check back on this Friday.

For Leo

This is the photo I meant to post last night for mi amor. But then Fancy had her colt last night, so here's a few of the yet unnamed baby.

So TRUE

"




Mostly I just wanted to post pictures of Elena for Leo whom I'm dying to see, but I found this link from the google group I'm in for LDS pilot wives, basically all the wives of the DCA program students, or in other words, it might as well be called the old Sanford Ward wives group. Anyway, click here it's fabulous. Of course it might make more sense to a pilot or his wife. Wow, I watched another video which I don't recommend of a former Mesa airline pilot literally burning his Mesa contract, Jepps manuals, and specifically his "Days Off page from his employee manual, that really wasn't the best thing for me to watch. In other news, Leo flys to Guadalajara tomorrow, among other places.

I layed sod today at my sister's house. It was not fun. But she's calling it "The Miracle of the Sod." Basically, at her new home (from the 1940's) there was no grass whatsoever in the backyard, just weeds, garbage and TONS AND TONS of goatshead thorns. Cowen's hand were bleeding after playing out there. So of course they wanted to fix it up, but planting grass is not recommended till fall, and they had no money for sod. But they rotter tilled it and Andrea planted a garden in a corner, and they planned on building a sandbox and just laying a little bit of sod around that so their kids would have a place to play. But then on Thursday at Tim's work (he's an accountant) they said that they're tearing up this huge lawn the company owned to build on, so if anyone wanted sod they could come get it. So Dad and Wyatt and Ethan and a couple people from Andrea's ward helped put in almost her whole backyard in sod. They could have got more, but Dad wouldn't drive that far again (it was in Salt Lake). Anyway, lucky Andrea and Tim. But I really shouldn't write anymore, my brother's freaking out because he wants Kayli and I to write on our family website and not blog. Oh well, too bad for him. I really hadn't taken that many pictures of Elena I realized, but Hailey's sure cute playing in the irrigation water.

Emeline and Elena

So here's pictures of my daughter and my niece who is a month older. Emeline and Elena are so funny though because they are so different. Emeline holds herself stiff as a board, Elena has been described as "holding jello" and "squishy." It's really something that you'd have to hold both kids to experience, but it is really weird. They're both pretty darn cute though. You can see in the pictures where Emeline started to cry because Elena touched her and then Elena started to cry because Emeline was. It was funny.

I have to say that when little kids get hurt it bothers me a lot more now. I used to be like, "Oh, if it doesn't kill them, they'll be fine." But lately, I find myself almost in a panic. Like when my niece Hailey (18 months) walked behind my sister Lindsay (18 yrs) who was swinging as high as she could and got knocked over. I was sitting on the swing beside Lindsay and saw it a little too close without being able to stop Hailey. And my nephew Cowen who fell off a playground today and had a bloody nose that was literally gushing (remember I'm a nurse and have seen many bloody noses) all down the front of his face and shirt. And then Hailey was standing on the ground but was leaning forward between the car door, which slides closed automatically, and when it was closing she wasn't cluing in to move out of the way but leaned in even further and the door was closing on her, lucky it has a sensor and stops. I didn't know that at the time though and it was squeezing her before it did stop. Anyway, it nearly gave me a heart attack. Crazy kids.

Yesterday I helped plant my sister's garden and today I helped paint my other sister's goat house and chicken coop and helped tie my sister-in-law's quilt. It was fun. But I think I may need a vacation from my vacation, as they say.
Well have a excellent day.

Kayli's Awesome Creativity

My little sister Kayli made this adorable skirt and hair flower barrette for my daughter. It is so adorable. She also made some for our niece Hailey, who had to wear all 4 at once, it was quite the hairdo. I wish I had taken a picture of that. Bur anyway, thank you Kayli and here's the pictures. (The cat was trying to crawl up on Elena so she was mostly looking at Pudge.)

And here is the picture of my quilt that I finished hemming today. It turned out pretty good considering I can't sew straight and I had to unpick an entire side.
And if you would like to see a picture of my Dad's horse that he said he would give to Elena, or as he calls her Ebiscuit (that's what he calls Elena--just thought I'd clarify) check out FAHS Maggie V here.
His other beautiful horse, Rosie is daughter to this horse, Marwan Al Shaqab--he's gorgeous. Well, that's all my ramblings have a nice night.

Mother's Day

Elena and Grandpa on Elena's first ride.

Today was great!! My two sister's came up for Mother's Day, it was beautiful weather outside, good food inside, lots of kids around, and not much to do except relax. What else could you ask for? Well, I do wish my husband was here. I miss him sooooo much!! I promised him I'd post more pictures of Elena, so here they are and of the other crazies hanging out here. Here's some random tidbits of stuff going on though.Hailey swinging
Myles, Lynnaea, Miriam, Danica, and Wyatt

Dad said he was tired of hearing "Pomp and Circumstance" at every graduation, so he's going to play Alice Cooper, "School's Out for the Summer" at the next graduation. Hmmm.... I think we should hold him to that. He said he would especially like to do that when the President of WSU is in attendence.

The Fabulous Lindsay Ann

Last night Alan and Lindsay were talking on the front porch for a really, really long time, (45 minutes or so) so Dad went out to bug them. And then I went out and talked to them till Alan left. Hee. Hee. Being an older sister is so much fun.

Wyatt and Ethan (Ethan's on top for those wondering).

Megan and I went on and on to Alan about how handsome he was in their prom picture. Again, it's great to be an older sister and get to embarass your younger sister's "really good friend" since they're "not" boyfriend/girlfriend.

Ethan thinks he's all that. Oh wait. What's new? He dressed up in his football uniform to prove it. He's not even supposed to have his uniform, but according to him, his coach loves him and let him keep it all year, and also made sure he got a brand-new helmet. Blah.

This is Ethan posing in his uniform, sorry I couldn't get it turn right.

Hailey does this awesome thing where she clenches both fists, opens her eyes really wide, grits her jaw and starts to shake when her mom tells her to calm down. We laughed so hard and made her do it about 15 times. (She's 18 months old).

Hailey does a not so awesome thing by coming in my living room/bedroom every mornig before Elena and I are awake, looking for "baby, baby, baby, baby". She also loves to cover Elena up with blankets. Elena is not so fond of that either.

Hailey and Elena

Tagged

Ok, my sister Kayli "tagged" me to write seven things about myself, and well I'm kind of tired right now and I really should go to bed so this is going to be fast. Lo siento.

1. Refering back to Kayli's post, I did not get the highest ACT score in the family, I tied for 2nd. (Funny how test scores can turn into competition). And I was always extremely jealous of Kayli that she did get the highest.
2. Also refering back to Kayli's post, I bite my fingernails too and I also have no desire to stop, except my husband absolutely hates it and I think my hands would look a little nicer.
3. If I could I would be an archaeologist. Other careers I would chose are: librarian, museum curator, artist, and possibly an architect. Basically if I could work with things and not people I would be extremely happy (and I chose NURSING!). But that's okay because right now I have the BEST job, of being a mom.
4. I love my husband soooooo sooooo soooooo much!!! And I absolutely adore my daughter. Sometimes I wish I could have LOTS of kids so I could have adorable babies like Elena to cuddle for years to come.
5. I love being up high. I love being on ledges up on the sides of cliffs, on the top branch of really tall trees, anything that gets me really high. I would like to go hang-gliding someday, but I think I would be too chicken to go skydiving.
6. I tried to read the Koran when I was twelve, and I still think the Middle East is fascinating, and I would probably jump at the chance to go there even the way it is right now. I always wanted to learn to speak Arabic. And if I was an archaeologist, that's where I'd specialize in.
7. If I had the money I'd live in San Luis Obispo, California (as seen in the two pictures below), live in a house like this (please see link for inside rooms), and drive this car. And decorate my home with original Russian impressionist paintings like this, although that really wouldn't fit the style of my home, so I might have to alter that to something like this. Hee. Hee. What can I say, I have expensive tastes. (Hey Kayli, I tag you to write where'd you live, what your house would be like and what you would drive.)

Sorry that wasn't short, but I guess I'm not very succint.