We have been somewhat disappointed with the weather around here.  Of course we knew that it was going to be unpleasant but one thing that we looked forward to was all the great summer rain storms that Houston supposedly has.  We got a few but they were not that impressive.  We got caught in one yesterday as we were traveling to southern Houston to volunteer for Habitat for Humanity.  You couldn’t go over 20 mph on the freeway.  We found it odd that in the middle of a heavy downpour, everyone turned on their emergency flashers.  What’s the point?  Seems to me emergency flashers loose their effectiveness when everyone has them on.  Don’t ya think?

Anyway, as our visit in Houston comes to an end we reflect on the relationships we have established.  So, here is a salute to our best friend the spray bottle.

This trusty spray bottle was purchased last summer as a pain reliever to a really bad sunburn I got while jet skiing (or wave running for you Utah people) at Bear Lake. It had a fan blade on it which proved useless, but the spray does wonders when trying to sleep (even without covers and an ice pack on your hot, swollen feet).  This bottle, in combination with the ceiling fan, is the only way to survive if you don’t want to spend over $100 just to crank up the AC resulting in a pathetic two or three degree difference.  So this, I would have to say, was the best $3 investment we have made and the one thing that I couldn’t live without this summer.

Last Sunday we had a little dinner party with the fam (Eric and Cari-Ann, Bryan and Tara, Tara’s sister Kiersta and her husband Ryan, Tara’s brother Robert, and everyone’s kids). For desert I decided to finally make this recipe that I’ve been wanting to try for the last year or so. We saw it on America’s Test Kitchen. That is one of our favorite shows! This cake was recently on a rerun so it reminded me that I needed to try it. It turned out pretty good. Instead of just regular sweetened whipped cream, you whip it with some cream cheese. That was the best part. And here is a picture of the work in progress.

In case you have not noticed we kind of like food. For those of you who do not know about our food blog, feel free to check it out. We have added a few more reviews recently. Just go to utahfoodreviews.com. Feel free to leave comments of your own or suggestions for a place you would like reviewed.

Notice anything? Well, besides the oddly placed picture that is hanging between the shelves. That was just my mom making use of an already placed nail. Look closely at the shelves. That’s right. They do not match. The one on the left is a cherry finish and the one on the right is walnut. It’s enough to drive ya crazy! So which one of these doesn’t belong? Well, that brings me to the next subject. The dresser.

Here we have the dresser or “chest of drawers.” My parents have had it as long as I can remember. But, since they now have a nice big walk-in closet, they decided to put it in the guest bedroom. As you can see, it has a nice cherry finish. So I guess that walnut shelf is the odd man out. But wait! What’s that? Oh yes.

Looks like my mom forgot to tell my dad which way to put the handle when it fell off. But hey, it adds a little character, don’t ya think? I guess if you don’t have to stare at it every day like I do, it doesn’t really matter, right?

I decided not to write any reviews for our food blog today since that tends to either make me really hungry or make me hate food for the moment. Oh what the heck! Let’s get hungry. Yesterday, Devin and I were looking through our pictures of the past year and we found this.

For those of you who don’t know, Devin and I love to make big breakfasts. I know what you are thinking. You just said to yourself, “yeah, but what does that have to do with that wonderful mound of goodness you just showed me?” Well, here is a little history.

When we first go married we wanted to get a really nice waffle iron. We went to William Sonoma where we found this great iron that you flip over after you pour the batter. Just like this one.

After we got it, we tried several recipes and about half a dozen different waffle mixes to see which one was the best. Even after a small $12 cannister of mix from William Sonoma, we concluded that the best was…

Snaoqualmie Falls pancake and waffle mix.

Finally, we had the perfect belgian waffle! A little bit of butter and a generous drizzle of the Sal’s secret butter syrup, you were pretty much in heaven. Then…we moved to Utah. So now the best we can do is Krusty’s which pretty much makes the thickest, heaviest, most filling belgian waffle you’ve ever had. So, needless to say, the fancy waffle iron sits in the back of the cupboard while we use a regular, small hole waffle iron (which we now love).

So back to the mound of goodness…yes, this is breakfast. But don’t worry, not everyday. Usually, this is in lieu of “sugar cereal Saturday.” To make, start with the best waffle you possibly can (no Eggo here). Then add fresh, juicy, sweet strawberries. Then add two or three small scoops (like with those handy cookie dough scoopers) of your favorite ice cream. I like vanilla or chocolate for this (or you can use cool whip or cream). And if you are feeling really indulgent, a little Hershey’s syrup never hurt anyone.

Now that’s breakfast!

Several years ago I was fixing something to eat in the kitchen while my mom gabbed with a visiting family member in the living room. My brother came in and after a few minutes he grabbed a scrap of paper and pencil and wrote down the following (or something similar to) “we was supposed to gonna get some.” He found that what he had heard the family member say to my mom to be note worthy. This quote has become a staple in our family. If you don’t know what to say, well….”we was supposed to gonna get some”…always seems to work.

Now for Devin’s family there is always a joke about someone or something. So this one is for Quinton. A while back we all had a good laugh when we found out that Quinton’s favorite subject in 9th grade was “PE” and his least favorite subject was “anything but PE.” I was reminded of Quinton’s 9th grade questionnaire when I was proof reading Devin’s economics paper today. His concluding paragraph started with the following…word for word.

“We may always be able to always accurately measure our choices all the time.”

We both had a good laugh when I read it to him out loud and followed it with a “PE.” Now Devin was laughing just as much as I was but at this point when I am still giggling he says to me, “you’re just so mean sometimes.” So in response to his upcoming teasing I have to say this. When you have a husband who just got accepted to the Masters of Information Systems program…with a 3.95 BYU GPA and a 3.7 overall GPA…just found out he got a freakin’ 97% on his econ midterm…just found out he got a half scholarship for fall semester (and possibly every semester from here on out)…I need something to tease him about. So I just have to say “Devin, no matter what, I will always be your wife…all the time!”

With any blog, it’s only as good as the content and how often it’s updated. So, I “promise” I’ll try my best to be sure I will work hard and post often.

For an update, we’re living in Houston, TX right now and I’m just finishing up an internship with ExxonMobil. Since it’s such a huge company, I do a very specialized job that really has nothing to do with gas. Programming and lots of it (ASP.NET for those geeks out there). We’ll be heading home later this month to start the next semester of school. Only 2 more years to go!

So why blog? Why me? Well, I guess it comes from what I call being “blogger frustrated.” It’s a mixture of disappointment (from clicking on your top five frequented blogs for the zillionth time during the week to find that same “tagged” posting from 17 days ago), boredom (you can only clean, do laundry, and study for so many hours a day), and at times, slight irritation (for those who find it fun to take over my computer with your current favorite song so I cannot hear my play list playing). So here it comes! My rants (c’mon, you didn’t think I’d leave the soap box in the closet for this one)! My raves (there’s something good out there right?)! My news (or lack thereof)! And whatever else seems to be fitting for the time being.

So here is my pledge: At least one posting a week. I’ve already got a few ideas of what I want to talk about and hopefully the ideas will keep coming. So stay tuned. Leave comments. Ask a question. And please, PLEASE tell me if I do something stupid (like make the font only a half a shade darker than the background so you can only read it if you highlight it).