Into the Mountains

I don't think I have mentioned this but Chuck and I are gearing up to move to Utah. It seems like a pretty understandable transition I mean we are Mormon and Utah is out "Mecca." (kidding) I read that Utah was our Mecca on an old postcard of the Salt Lake Temple, I found in an antique shop and it made me bust out laughing.

We are headed for Sunny Alpine to live close by Chuck's sister and her husband. They have a little girl close to Fiona's age and I have a feeling she is really going to like having a cousin close by. Chuck is going to learn how to do a type of Emotional Release Therapy that will be a part of his counseling practice in the future. It uses age regression meaning that sometimes (not always) during a session you might "go back" to an earlier age to address issues from your past. I have been the beneficiary of this treatment on a few occasions and have found it to be really healing and beneficial.

I am excited for him to be learning about something he is really interested in and working with our brother in law who we consider to be quite the guru of health and healing. It will be a great blessing to our family. I mean who doesn't want to learn to release stress and negative emotions. I myself tend to be a bottler of such and sometimes I burst... never pretty.

There have been quite a few people we know who have mixed feelings about this decision and career move. I don't know what it is about "Alternative" therapies that people have a problem with. Perhaps that is because I grew up with a mother who loved therapy, self help books, herbs and many other non-mainstream forms of medicine.

If I have learned ONE thing from my almost 10 years studying health and Nutrition in school it would be that....

There is NO one size fits all when it comes to nutrition advice. People are so unique you have to tailor meet your advice to fit their life.

So... how is it hard to imagine that when treating metal health different types of therapy might benefit different people.

Anyways, I am not going to turn this post into a defense of alternative medicine.... but just wanted to say I fully support my husbands choice and am glad he is following his heart and not being swayed by other people's opinions.

In this Light...

On a Thursday after noon Tacy sits on the sectional couch reading a book. The mid-day sun shines through the window and gracefully rests on her. Her husband, sitting close by gazes upon her in this glowing light and says....

Chuck: "You know in certain lighting and at certain angles, when your hair falls just the right way, you remind me of someone... well actually two people."

Tacy: (trying not to move and screw up the light) "Oh really, who?"

Chuck: "Well the first is an elf."

Tacy: (shifting slightly) "Oh really?"

(The image going through Tacy's Mind)

Chuck: "Yea, but not like a Christmas elf."

Tacy: "Ok?" (puzzled at how her husband will turn calling her an elf a compliment)

Chuck: "More like an Elf from the Lord of the Rings, they are really beautiful."

Tacy: "Thank you."

Chuck: "And then sometimes you remind me of Caleb from Kings of Leon when he had long hair." (Then he had to show her a picture because Tacy did not know who this MAN was, or how he could possibly look like her).

(Caleb far left)

Tacy: (but then she kind of saw some resemblance because her hair was tucked behind her ear with a chunk hanging out, and in laughter replied...) "I think that is the funniest thing you have ever said to me."

THE END

Yet Another Squishy Loser

I made my anticipated Tofu dish the other night. It was a recipe that I had to start the day before, and so I spent many hours dreaming about how it would be wonderful and I would finally master the art of Tofu cooking.

Not so. It was NOT that good. In fact, Chuck and I ate a little and then I threw it all away (I cringe at wasting food!). I have decided to no longer proceed to seek out the perfect Tofu recipe... I will instead not be adding tofu to my families diet. There are so many other delicious non-meat protein sources that don't taste like curdled wet bean sponge.

Despite my tofu failures, there is a success story to share. Fiona has learned to crawl! It is really cute to see her waddle around looking for treasures. We still need to baby proof the apartment... but for now have just been keeping a really close eye on her.

Here is a video of her in action.

Secret Combinations

If you are Mormon you are probably envisioning the Gadianton Robers right now.... but this is a different kind of secret combination.

I probably do more online research for recipes than I do for just about anything else. School included. I love it that you can search for a recipe and come up with countless ways to make it. I usually end up reading about 10 recipes and all the reviews and then making it my very own. After I make my combinations I usually try to write it down for my recipe collection so that it can be duplicated. Something my Dad wishes my mom did... LOL. She would cook stuff all the time and my Dad would be like this is great you should make it again. But my mom had a hard time duplicating because she never measured anything and just liked to throw in a little of this... a little of that. Still my mom made countless delicious meals.

The last time I made Butternut Squash soup I stumbled upon this video. It has three variations to make the soup All American, Thai or with a Mexican kick. I love this soup in the wintertime and yesterday we tried the Thai version... Chuck loved it and so did I. We served it with hot Naan (Which is Indian flat bread and oh so delicious).

I am still trying to master Tofu, yet all my research has not produced a winner yet... maybe I'm doing it wrong. My next attempt is this peanut butter coconut tofu recipe. Wish me luck.