A Stolen Tag

So I was checking an old roommate's blog and found this tag. Her husband writes the blog, so I don't comment much, but like to check it just to see how the kids are growing. Anyway, he had been tagged for the following..

1) Grab the nearest book

2) Turn to page 123

3) Find and post the 5th sentence

So here goes....

"I crossed the yard without a glance back. That night, when the darkness was weighed down with singing crickets and Rosaleen was snoring right along with them, I had myself a good cry."

The Secret Life of Bees, Sue Monk Kidd

I included the sixth sentence since sentence #5 was a bit boring. I had never even heard of this book until a friend lent it to me. I'm only about half way through but enjoying it. We watched "Bee Movie" the other night and it was in there. Also, as I was looking for a cover picture, I found out that it will be a movie in 2009. It stars Dakota Fanning as Lily, Jennifer Hudson as Rosaleen, and Queen Latifah and Alicia Keys as the sisters. Should be interesting. Now I tag anyone who feels so inclined. It's fun to see what you all are reading (or rather what's near you).

BYU Roomies

I ran across this photo while organizing and thought I'd share it. These were some of my roommates from BYU. We all (minus Janelle) lived in Sparks II at the time. Janelle was our honorary roommate. I still keep in touch with some of these girls, thanks to the wondeful world of blogging! Lots of great times together. Can't believe we are all "growed up"!

Easter

Malia dressed up for spring. We got this outfit from David's sister at Christmas and it was actually warm enough the other day so she could wear it.

Malia pushing her baby in it's stroller.

It was a bit windy.

Malia helping Papa fix the truck.

Right after church, Malia refused to look at the camera

Smiling, still not looking at the camera

Malia's Easter Basket

Malia Getting her Goodies

Reading her new book with Papa

Here are some pics from Easter weekend. We never got around to taking Malia to or creating an Easter Egg hunt. Maybe next year. She was beyond uncooperative for pictures in her Easter dress. On Sunday we had the Nichols and the Caleys up for dinner. For some reason I never got my camera out! What a slacker. We had a good time, nonetheless.

Sweet and Spicy Meat Sauce

I made this variation of meat sauce last night for dinner. It's actually a Weight Watchers recipe. David tried it and has decided he likes it better than our regular spaghetti dinner! It's definitely different, but super yummy! I don't know if I will replace my usual meat sauce, but this is a tasty variation.

SWEET AND SPICY MEAT SAUCE

3/4 lb. ground lean beef

1 white onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely chopped

3/4 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1 (28 ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes, chopped

1/4 c. tomato paste

1/2 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. ground pepper

4 tsp. chopped fresh cilantro

2 T. grated Parmesan cheese

In a large skillet over medium-high heat, brown the ground meat. Add the white onion, garlic, and jalapeno; cook 3-4 minutes, until the onion softens. Add the cumin and cinnamon; cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in the tomatoes, tomato paste, salt and pepper; bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the sauce is thickened, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the cilantro. Serve with pasta and cheese.

I used a whole pound of hamburger (David likes it meatier and who uses only 3/4 lb??). I also used 2 (14 oz) cans of diced tomatoes instead. I also used the whole 6 oz. can of tomato paste. I realize this is 3x what the recipe calls for but I hate having leftover tomato paste floating in the fridge for weeks. It just made it a thicker sauce. It was interesting, definitely worth the try!

Out for the Count!

So there we were, having our lunch, Mali eating her cheesy rice, when.....



Here we were the other day, swinging in the back yard....

Husband Survey

Our Engagement Photo- May 2004

What is your husband's name? David Mata, no middle name
How long have you been together? We met in the fall of 2003, starting dating in December, engaged in April, and were married by July 2004. So we've been married 3 and 1/2 years.
Who said I love you first? Probably me.. Can't quite remember it for sure. Although, I just texted David and he thinks it was him.. Who knows?
Who is smarter? Depends on how you look at it. I've got book smarts, he's got street smarts.
Who does the housework? I do most of the housework. The trash and the yard are his. Although, he is great about helping out with dishes and vacuuming every now and then.
Who sleeps on the right? Is that the right when you're laying in it, or when you are facing it? Phew! Tough question! I guess I'm on the right. I'm always right... I mean ON the right!

Who pays the bills? I make the payments, but he's the money maker!
Who cooks dinner? Usually me. My David is great and will eat anything I make, no matter how strange the experiment. Although, the Chicken and Pickled Onions didn't go over well and he refuses to eat mushrooms. So sad, since I LOVE them! He cooks sometimes. He makes the Mexican Rice when we need it. He also makes a mean Carne Asada. Another one of his creations is Kielbasa with Jalapenos and Mixed Veggies. Yum!!

Who drives when you are together? Always David. I can count on one hand the number of times I've driven when he is in the car. I don't like to drive, so he does. Although, I am sure he would say it's because he is the better driver. Not my fault that deer jump at me!

Who is more stubborn? He is... no question!
Who kissed who first? I think is was mutual. After our first date. I know a girl is supposed to wait for a couple dates, but he was HOT!
Who asked out who first? He asked me out first. We went and saw a movie. Before that we walked around this outdoor shopping center in Phoenix. It had an aviation museum and that's when I knew I really liked him. He stopped and read every plaque in the museum with me!
Who proposed? He did. He had big plans for the proposal but had just gotten the ring and we were in my apartment and he said he just couldn't wait! It was cute!
Who has more siblings? David does. He has 3 sisters and 1 brother. I have 1 sister and 1 brother. Who wears the pants? I wear the sweat pants, he wears his work pants! Seriously, I think we take turns as far as who takes the lead in certain situations. I'm pretty bossy by nature, but am trying to be less so.

Now I tag: all you ladies!

Mormon Mommies Survey Results

If you are interested in seeing the results from the Mormon Mommy survey, check out my friend Janelle's blog. http://thebraddayfamily.blogspot.com/

Fishy, Fishy

So here's the newest member of our family. David and I had fish while we lived in Iowa and brought all of the stuff with us to Utah. It's all been sitting in the garage for months and David finally decided to set it up last night. He and Malia went to go get a little Beta while I was at book club and playing Futsol last night. I've tried to get Malia to name the fish, but each time I ask, she just makes her fishy face. So for the time being, the fish will remain nameless. Malia loves watching it swim. Our book club discussed two books last night, "Sarah's Quilt" and "Star Garden", both by the same author. We didn't actually spend much time discussing the books. It was just good to spend time chatting with the ladies. After that we had back to back Futsol (indoor soccer) games to play. I had never played before and was kind of nervous. Mostly I played goalie. It was fun and I think I will like it.

The Progress...

It's melting!! I just wanted to show proof that the snow is going. Nevermind that we have snow in our forecast today. They keep saying that we are supposed to get snow but it keeps coming as rain. Which is good, because it helps melt our huge piles of snow. We may still get some snow this weekend. In the mean time, we love playing outside. Malia is keenly aware of every dog in the neighborhood and if she hears them barking, she wants to find them. She also loves that the birds are flying around lately. They sit on the telephone line by the house and she points, saying, "Baird, Baird. Toot, toot!". Believe you me, I tried to teach her to say "Tweet, tweet" for birds. The snow in the backyard is melting considerably slower than the front. I wish it would hurry up. I've been letting Malia play in the front yard, but it can get scary. We live right on the main thouroughfare of Lewiston and the speed limit is 40mph. It may not be so bad, if people actually did 40 but they fly by. There is an extra lane of road before you actually get to the road, so that's nice. I usually just stand on the sidewalk being a barrier to the darting Mali. It'll be nice when the backyard melts because it is fenced in. So here is the photo I posted Monday of Malia in the front yard. Next is the same location, on Thursday, only 4 days later! Nice progress, huh?

Mormon Mommies

My friend made up this fun survey for Mormom Mommies. She needs 100 people to take it to make it a good survey. It'll be fun to see the results. So if you're a Mormon Mommy, it would be great to have your input. Once she has enough people, she will post the results and I'll put them on my blog, too.
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=jCiPc00IaNY0qYiHIXsPIg_3d_3d

Spring is On the Way..

Yesterday Malia and I went out for walk. It was warm enough for me to just put a light jacket on her. After our walk, I let her play in the front yard for a while. She played in the snow for a bit and had lots of fun. I can't wait for it to warm up more. I have been so happy to get out and take walks. Does a girl good!

A Day at the Zoo

Last Thursday, Malia and I went to Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake City. We went with some of the ladies in the ward and their kids (the kids had school off). We had lots of fun! It was a bit chilly, but not too bad. It was nice because there weren't very many people there. With most every exhibit, we were the only one's looking. When we rode the train, we had the whole train to ourselves. Also, the animals were pretty active. Only, we didn't get to see the gorilla. Turns out she was having a hysterectomy! It was a great day and Malia loved seeing all of the animals.

Some of our favorite animals. The leopard kept pacing in front of the glass. Malia loved the elephants and kept making her elephant noise. The baby giraffe was beautiful! The red panda didn't stay out very long but we appreciated him making a showing. I'll spare you the picture of the snake swallowing a baby bunny whole!

Malia refused to wear her coat so I tried to keep her warm by covering her extremities. A girl can never wear too many stripes! We tried the monkey backpack/leash but she freaked out and got herself all tangled up in the string. She wore just the backpack for awhile.

The only gorilla we got to see! All the younger kids were confined to their strollers at this time.

Kade and Malia checking out the big marble globe fountain at the entrance of the zoo. At first Malia was scared of it. By the time we left her sleeves were soaked!

Malia and I on the train.

The rest of the group on the train. Fun, fun, fun!

All the kids! Note Malia fleeing the scene. Stinker!

Welcome Max!

On Wednesday, March 5th, my brother and his wife, Lori, had thier second boy. Maxwell Kenneth Caley came at 1:34pm and weighed 9 lbs. 7 oz. Great job, Lori! I was so excited to meet him. He is a beautiful baby and you can see the Caley in him. What a beautiful family! Congratulations!

Relief Society Birthday Dinner

Here comes a barage of posts again. Last Tuesday, our Relief Society had our birthday celebration. I was in charge of making a birthday cake for my table. We had a table for each of the birthday months. Actually, we had only 6 tables, so we combined months. We combined months, according to numbers, so I was at the January/May table. I decided to stick with the winer theme since I am a January birthday. I found a recipe for Coconut Cake on http://www.kraftfoods.com/. The recipe called for vanilla pudding but I used coconut creme because that's what I had. Also I sprinkled sugar crystals on it to make it look more "snowy". I also added a strawberry to the top for color and to give the month of May a little decoration. It was pretty yummy. Not good for the waistline, mind you. Nonetheless, a yummy treat. You can find the recipe here http://www.kraftfoods.com/kf/recipes/recipedetail.htm?recipe_id=65937.

Our Nicknames

I got tagged by Dianne forever ago and am just now getting to this. I thought it was fun to learn what nicknames are used for others, so here goes ours....

DAVID- (which is either pronounced in English or Spanish-- dah-veed)
1. Dave- this actually a nickname that David despises, yet people insist on calling him Dave. He will introduce himself as David and people will respond by saying, "Nice to meet you, Dave". What's that all about? Anyone who knows David at all, knows that he is in no way a Dave.
2. So that's it for David. Fun, huh?

AMANDA-
1. Manda- I've realized a lot of people call me this unintentionally. They just casually drop the "A". Gotta love when they add the Panda.
2. Mana- from heaven... aren't we all?
3. Mandy- This was my nickname until about 6th grade. However, very few have permission to still call me this.
4. Emancipee- That was all Bart. Not sure where it came from.
5. Provolone- That's from Britt. Thanks, Cheddar.
6. Lady Love- That's from my David. He always calls me his lady. Makes a girl feel loved.

MALIA-
1. Mali- This is from David and now we all use it. Pronounced mah-lee. My mom jokes that it is Malia's Irish name (Molly).
2. Mals- That's from Britt. Sometimes lengthened to Malser Palser.
3. Malita- or sometimes Malita Bonita.
4. Little Lady Love- From David. He jokes that Malia is a little Mexican me.
Oops! Almost forgot....
5. Oleo- Nathan's version of Malia- try not to draw a correlation between Malia and butter!
6. Mia- Caleb and Johnathan's version of Malia

So that's our nickname fun... Now I tag all of you ladies to share your families nicknames. I'm not going to name you all individually because I want you ALL to do it. It's interesting to see what others call each other.