mushrooms

So while I was picking the mushrooms off of my pizza at dinner tonight, I decided I needed to follow through with finding out if there is any nutritional value to these hideous looking toppings. I don't know about you, but I eat things that look good. Mushrooms, are a fungus, and they are not in any way appetizing for me. The only reason I assume there is some precious nutrients to be found is that since they are so hideous, people wouldn't eat them unless there was something good in them. So here is what I found:

1.They are a great source of phosphorus, magnesium, potassium and
selenium, nutrients often lacking in our highly processed-food diets. In
addition, mushrooms contain virtually no fat or cholesterol. Naturally low in
sodium, mushrooms are also a good source of fiber.

although this version from wikipedia is my favorite, proving I am not the only one questioning their worth:

2. Though mushrooms are commonly thought to have little
nutritional value, many species are high in fiber and provide
vitamins such as thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, biotin, cobalamins, ascorbic
acid. Mushrooms are also a source of some minerals,
including iron, selenium, potassium and phosphorus.

Okay, good to know, but honestly I don't think that is enough to get me to eat them.

Neener Neener

The baby bug is definitely going around and while I am happy to hear about all of your new babies, or that you are expecting (YAY To you!), I can't help but also feel a little jealous. So -for my well-being I needed to remember all of the things I am grateful for at this stage (and if it just so happens to make Katie, Christine, Nicole, Brynn, Cherisa, Cherise, Denia, Jamie, Jennie, Jen, Jen, Kim, Kirsten, Liz, Natalie, Kelly and Lora a little jealous in return…well that is just a nice coincidence :-) (see-I am not crazy EVERYONE is having babies!)

• My one child is in school full-day (during which time I can clean my house, go to the grocery store by myself, or sit at home and eat bon bons)
• If I do take my daughter to the grocery store, I still have a pleasant experience
• I haven’t been nursing for 5 years
• I haven’t had to change or buy diapers for 4 years
• For the past 4 years my daughter is usually in bed at 7:30, leaving me a couple hours to spend time with Sam, read books, or watch my tv shows
• As long as she gets her bedtime story and song she willingly goes to bed
• When my daughter wakes up, she just watches cartoons and gets herself breakfast when she gets hungry
• My daughter sits quietly through sacrament meeting (no siblings to pester or steal her toys/snacks)
• I have no stretch marks
• I do not have to lug an infant car seat everywhere
• I can leave my child for days at a time with a babysitter with no worries
• When I leave the house all I need to grab is my purse and my keys
• I don't have to fish toys out of the VCR, the toilet, or any other place they shouldn't be
• I do not have spit-up on any of my clothes
• I don't have to listen to tantrums
• when I go to the park I can sit and talk with other mom's while my child runs off to play
• I get an average of 9 hours of sleep a night

HOORAY! My little brother is home!

Last week Trevor got home from his mission in Roseville California. Two years seems like forever and like it has flown by all at the same time.

Two of Trevor's friends that were just as excited as our family to see him. Trevor and Zach are like JD and Turk.

Thankfully we had a good excuse to be in the Valley for Valentines day so we could eat out at a real restaurant. One I wouldn't look out of place in if I dressed up a little bit, somewhere that served something other than pizza or navajo tacos. I even put in some pink clip-in highlights and was feeling quite fun. Not sure if you can even see them in this photo--but I made it small since it's already a bit close up :-)

And it also turned out that Rach and I were left in Phoenix for a week while Sam came back up to work. So that left plenty of time to hang out with my family, watch movies, meet friends at the park, go to church in "our" ward, and go to bookstores and libraries--YAY!!

I do feel a little bit guilty for pulling Rach out of school for 7 days...but then I remember that she is only in kindergarten so it isn't like she missed anything. (she can already read and I just had her write her letters and numbers one time, and then practice counting my 5's and 10's and i figured that was good :-) She did miss 10 days of school in December so I just told mylelf that as long as she doesn't miss any more days it is totally fine. ...And then Sam told me that he took two days off of work for our anniversary next month, and already found a babysitter so we can go away for a weekend (a trip he is planning all on his own)--So needless to say I am ecstatic and had no trouble justifying just 2 more days :-) ...after all it is only Kindergarten. :-)

Neighborhood Snowman

Rach and her friends were finally able to build a snowman last week before the snow melted. Yes...kinda small, but the snow wasn't really cooperating so we were just glad the end result resembled frosty at all.

Snow Day !!!

Today we woke up to a foot of snow. and since school was canceled there was at least enough to have some fun. Thankfully our neighbors let us take turns with their sleds.

Love this face

Nice faceplant!

Group shot
Snow angels got old, they had much more fun laying on their bellies and eating the snow. Wierdos

Anxiously awaiting the final stimulus package

Any day now the Senate will be voting on the stimulus package (that already passed in the House) and I for one am very curious as to what it will include. Hopefully it will actually stimulate our economy--because I am not really in favor of the government giving so many handouts...and if the handouts are all in vain it could be catastrophic for the US and the dollar. Until I hear what the final version includes I will be crossing my fingers that the $900 Billion will lead to a good thing.

My dad told me about a new song from Big and Rich that is pretty fitting, and I tried post the song so you could hear it, but since it's new I am out of luck and so I will settle with posting the lyrics.

Shuttin' Detroit Down
My daddy taught me in this country everyone’s the same.
You work hard for your dollar and you never pass the blame,
When it don’t go your way.
Now I see all these big shots whining on my evening news,
About how their losing billions and it’s up to me and you
To come running to the rescue.

Well pardon me if I don’t shed a tear.
They're selling make believe and we don’t buy that here.

(chorus)
Because in the real world they're shuttin’ Detroit down,
While the boss man takes his bonus paid jets on out of town.
DC’s bailing out them bankers as the farmers auction ground.
Yeah while they're living up on Wall Street in that New York City town,
Here in the real world they're shuttin’ Detroit down.
Here in the real world they're shuttin’ Detroit down.

Well that old man’s been working in that plant most all his life,
Now his pension plan’s been cut in half and he can’t afford to die
And it’s a crying shame, cus he ain’t the one to Blame.
When I looked down to see his calloused hands,
Well let me tell you friend it gets me fightin’ mad.

(chorus)

Yeah while there living up on Wall Street in that New York City town,
Here in the real world their shuttin’ Detroit down.
Here in the real world their shuttin’ Detroit down,
In the real world their shuttin’ Detroit down.
Their shuttin’ Detroit down.

Weekend in Phoenix

There is this one spot in Chinle where we drive past, and you look out on both sides of the road and you can see the horizon all around you, the sunset always looks gorgrous, and I always catch myself thinking "This is one good part about living here, this is all so pretty." The funny thing is, this spot is somewhere we only pass when we are going out of town. :-)

This weekend we headed to Phoenix, and it was all I hoped it would be :-) I went to TWO movies --Bride Wars and New in Town. Plus, I Had a girls night that started at Cheesecake Factory, included a walk around the mall, and ended at Starbucks having Hot Chocolate.