Unbelieveable!

If I hadn't seen it (and experienced it) I wouldn't have believed it. The entire region has shut down. Schools, government buildings, etc. If you've been following the weather news, our part of the country has been experiencing ice storms. It was a little freaky yesterday to listen to newsmen talk and the people in the office (Army) working furiously to get out of there before the storm hit. Now, I think I've lived through some of the worst snow storms but this was different. What happens is, the day starts out pretty OK but then the temperatures take a dive. The rain falls and turns to ice before it hits the ground. The effect is really quite beautiful. Trees become coated with a beautiful white crust. However, what is beautiful on a tree is not so beautiful on the roads. All the water on the roads turns to ICE RINK! I'm not joking. The temperature this morning was 11* and everything is coated in a thick blanket of ice. It took Mike almost 4o minutes to chisel his way into the car. That was at 6:30a. It's now a toasty 20*. So...to those of you who I've made feel bad about the warm, I am now feeling your revenge.
The good news...later on this week, IT'S GONNA WARM UP AGAIN!
Much love, VZ

For the Kids con't

This is the stadium where the Rangers play. Below is a picture of the Superman ride at Six Flags. Next to that is the new stadium that will be home to the Cowboys. Eat your heart out Rachel!

For the Kids

Owen and Miles have been sending me e-mails (a hint to the rest of you, it gets my attention!) In the last post Owen expressed, "I can't wait to fear my most hardest fear, going on fast things and going high". He'll get that wish when the Nagel's come to visit in April. So, yesterday I went across the street and took a few pictures of the "high, fast things he'll get to experience in April.

Just a little about the location. Arlington is 20 minutes outside of Dallas and the same distance to Ft Worth. It seems to be the place to go when you want to build a stadium as it's the home of the Rangers and the new home of the Cowboys. Those two stadiums sit pretty much in the same parking lot AND those two places are next to Six Flags which is next to Hurricane Harbor WHICH is right across the street from the Marriott Hotel where we live. So, for Owen, Miles and the rest of you...here are the pictures.

Where's Costco?

On many occasions since our travels began last summer, I've always been on the lookout for stores that sold the things I buy in bulk, i.e, sliced almonds, wheat, cheese etc. Well cheese wasn't an issue but the grains and spices were.
I haven't found a Costco here (there is a Sam's but I don't have a membership) and I haven't had any luck finding a place like Kitchen Kneads in SLC. So, I've been stuck spending a lot more for the things I use often. Let me digress a moment. I actually have the things I use a lot AT HOME! I had just bought vanilla and some spices. I have buckets and buckets of wheat. I have jars and jars of chicken boullion. I have mega pounds of oatmeal. NONE of that would fit in our car!
Anyway, I had an opportunity to go to the dry pack cannery in Carrollton with our new ward and after a couple of hours of helping can things for other people, came home with two cases of things for our storage. I love the sliced apples. We snack on them like chips. I also like the powdered, non instant milk. I can hear you now, "Yuck! Powdered milk!" Well let me count the ways you can use it and save a lot of money. I use it instead of liquid milk when I cook pancakes and waffles. I use it to make yogurt in a gallon jar (thank you Cathrin Hales for that recipe). Now...if I could only find the place that has a gallon jar! Did I mention I have six of them AT HOME! Along with my pancake griddle and waffle maker!
As we've (did I say "we" 'cause Mike is rarely with me) ridden around getting to and from places, I've taken side streets just to see what's there. I've also spent a lot of time looking at stores to see what's available. Well, yesterday I struck gold! And after I BOUGHT the gold, lo and behold I discovered there is gold EVERYWHERE! In Texas you spell gold T-A-M-A-L-E-S. The crazy thing is...you don't have to find the guy in the parking lot at Wal-Mart! They actually have places that sell them by the dozen AND for only $8! Last night we feasted and tonight we'll feast and possibly (if we are very, very good) we'll feast again tomorrow too!
I have this rule and it has served me well...BE NICE TO THE PEOPLE YOU MEET! I've made friends of the people who've served us i.e. the hotel staff, store sales clerks, doctors etc. Here were the benefits. Number one, I had new friends I hated to say goodbye to at the end of the journey. Number two, sometimes I got to go behind the scenes to see what it was they did. You know, kind of like those reality shows "How Do They Make That" or "Really Dirty Jobs".
Yesterday, my new friend at the tamale store (it's actually more of a restraunt) took us to the freezer to see all the tamales on the shelf. They're made fresh everyday. He went out of his way to tell us about his business and a little of his experience living in Grand Prairie (the way it used to be for Mexicans).He also gave us a small bowl of menudo to taste after my story of how my dad used to make the stuff and how bad it smelled and how chewy it was and how I didn't like it...well, MUCH to my surprise, his menudo wasn't chewy at all. It was actually pretty good. However, I'm stickin' with posole which is like meudo without the chewy stuff! We're gonna get us some posole on Saturday to eat this weekend. Oh my gosh! Did I just say "get us some"? I think Texas is starting to get to us...some!
Much love, VZ

Week One

It's Saturday and I'm thinking about our first week in Texas. My time has been pretty relaxing while Mike's has been pretty hectic.
I've spent much of my time doing indexing on the church's geneology website. Indexing is the process of reading old records and entering them into the computer so that eventually people will able to find their ancesters with the click of a mouse. To date I've been able to index over three thousand names. It's really interesting and a most worthy endeavor. Right now I'm working on death records from the state of New Hampshire. I'm sticking with that because after awhile you get really proficient at reading some of the weird writing. I don't know why the people filling out the forms felt the need to use all types of squiggles and curly-q's. Some of the names have been really funny and some not so funny. The thing I have enjoyed the most is the stories that are told with just names and dates. It's hard when you find a family who has lost one or more children in a cholera epidemic or some type of illness. Once in awhile I get curious about a place of death being listed as a "sanitorium". After some research I've found that it was usually the place they sent people with TB. Another interesting location was one listed as "County Farm". It turned out to be a "poor farm". I try to look at this as a job and usually set a goal of two to four hours a day. That could change as I get more involved in the community.
Mike started his assignment last Sunday and he won't get a day off until, maybe, the third week in January. They've lost four other instructors who won't be back for three weeks and another had to go home for an emergency. To add to this, the NCOIC (non-commissioned officer in charge) has been mostly in hiding and left Mike to do much of what he should be doing. It makes for long, tiring days. The good news is that he can have a nice home cooked meal. That's what I've loved about being in a hotel with a full (however small) kitchen.
We've been told that Mike's mob(ilization) orders will be moved up to February 15 and at that time we'll be able to move to our permenent home; a fully furnished, one bedroom apartment. I keep putting off buying anything until I see what "fully furnished" means. I left so much of my cooking stuff at home.
I had a chance to go to the Dallas Temple on Thursday and spent an enjoyable couple of hours. I'm still getting used to not having the mountains around to know north/south from east/west. I'm also getting used to "toll roads"! I keep forgetting to make sure I have some change and some dollar bills in my car. Eventually, I'll find out how to navigate without getting on the toll roads. Unfortunately, my traveling companion (GPS) doesn't feel it necessary to warn me or take me around those roads. What a witch! She's also a nag! I'm looking for a model that sounds more like James Earl Jones.
I've also spent alot of time just getting in the car and driving without any directions. I've discovered that Arlington has some really great neighborhoods and some that appear quite wealthy. Also, I've been able to find everything I need within one to five miles. I think I'm doing a great job of finding my way around.
Today is Saturday and I did a little cleaning out of some of our files, later I'll do some laundry. Such is the life of Texas' newest arrival. I can't wait to invite the Bush's to dinner. More later.
Much love, VZ

Repentance!

I am now totally repentant about all the gloating I did about the 80* weather. Today I'm freezing! It's only 45* (yea, yea, I know it's only 18* in SLC) but 45* in Texas IS freezing! So I've switched again to warm clothes!
Today's been great. I went to the ward we'll be attending and everyone was great. It's only 15 mins away and pretty easy to get to. Bishop Brinkerhoff is a fairly new bishop and very nice. I look forward to working with them.
Mike informed me earlier that we may be moving to a different hotel. Apparently it's just been renovated from apartments to hotel and all the rooms are really large with bigger kitchens. I just bought groceries and finished putting all our stuff away so I'm not so inclined to leave this place but we'll check it out.
So for now "see y'all".
With much love, Vicki

Unpacking

Wow! I was so excited to be in a one bedroom suite. All the amenities; kitchen with a fridge, stove, dishwasher, some dishes and cooking things. However, it seems that we have a lot of stuff that still doesn't have space and those things will just have to stay in their boxes until we get into the apartment. I worked so hard to bring as little as possible. Grrr...
As for the area; I'm really excited to be here and it looks like we will have plenty to keep busy. Well, I'll find things to do. Mike already has so much to do.
We are in Arlington just outside of Dallas and here's what we've discovered already.
1. We are across the street from the Six Flags amusement park.
2. We are across the street from Hurricane Harbor.
3. We are about 5 minutes away from the new Ranger stadium (I think it will also be the new home of the Cottonbowl)
4. There are a gazillion eating places.
5. The Dallas Temple is close by.
6. The Urgent Care is just 10 minutes away and really close to the Super Wal-Mart!
Yea, I said Urgent Care. That's where I took Mike today so he could get some meds for a major sinus infection! It started on the trip and got worse yesterday. I didn't even wake him up until early this afternoon and I just sent him to bed about 30 mins ago so he could get another good nights sleep. Actually, I just put him to bed so I could have some peace and quiet! I'm NOT a good empathizer (sp?). Tomorrow should be better.
Tomorrow I begin my hunt for our new ward; at least the ward we will be in for the next couple of months. I really excited to get goin'.
So all in all, things are going well and I haven't received any word that my house has burned down...
More later. Oh by the way, we were thrilled to know that Mandy and our good friends, the Reeds had a fabulous time in New Orleans watching those fabulous UTES stomp Alabama! It was thrilling to be able to watch the game and cheer LOUDLY in our humble abode :D
Love to all, VZ

Gratitude

Yesterday (31 Dec) we had planned to be on the road by noon. I realized early in the day that it wasn't going to happen. First of all, Mike and I were fighting a hacking cough and that alone was pretty exhausting. But the main reason for the delay is trying to consolidate our stuff into a car load. I tried to narrow it down to what I thought I would absolutely need but it turned out to be much harder than I thought. So, after some serious pondering I realized...oh my gosh, how did the pioneers do it? And they could only take seventeen pounds! It then became a challenge to take only necessary items. Left behind items included the griddle, my juicer, ALL of my pictures, Brita water container, laundry soaps, towels, alot of clothes, MY ELECTRIC BLANKET, and other things too numerous to mention. In the end I didn't relent on taking my breadmaker or Cutco knives. I also took my mesh bread baking pan. I figured even in the hotel, I can still make bread! Oh yeah, I also couldn't leave my blender. There is so much you can cook when you have a blender!
We finally got on the road around 2:30pm and got to Denver just before the new year. Not a bad drive actually; no snow just windy. We watched the "ball" fall at midnight and then went to bed. Our next goal was to reach Oklahoma City so we'd only have to travel four hours the last day. We stopped in Blackwell just short of OC. Tomorrow, Grand Prairie, Texas.
I'm grateful to live in a time when going from one place to another is a breeze. I grateful that even if I forgot something critical I can either buy it or have it sent. I'm especially grateful that I can be in contact with my family at the touch of a button; I don't have to wait months for a letter. What a great time to be alive! More later...