More reasons why I am a nerd!

I was looking in my old journal (well, my ONLY journal because I've had the same one since 4th grade) and I found the greatest entry from 7th grade. I was looking for something completely different but this entry stood out because I wrote it in green pen. I believe it was in the year 1995 when I had glasses, was chubby, wore a size 8 1/2 shoe (my same size today), dorky clothes, and was just an all-out, complete nerd. Side note: it's very hard for an oldest child to be very cool. The 4 kids in my family have gotten progressively cooler ending with Blake who is the king of coolness. There were so many things that I just didn't get that everyone around me was talking about. Having an older sibling would have really helped out. Poor Marin.

Anyway, this journal entry is as follows:

"Today was kind of a bad day. I got in trouble, I got a 69/100 on my math test (but I can retake it), and the button fell off my pants in 2nd period. Don't worry I can handle it!"

I wonder how I handled the button falling off my pants with very much grace and dignity. I'm sure I didn't....

Food Storage

Warning: this contains information that jumps me up several notches on the nerdiness scale. I like to be organized about things and I like math. Just thought I would get that out there before you read on.

I was given the coolest little website by the home storage specialist in my ward. It is a pdf workbook (put out by USU Extension) on how to build up your food storage using foods you commonly eat. It has guidelines for 1 year, but I chose to try this for 6 months instead. I have been trying to get all my wheat, etc. for long term storage, all the while wondering how I was ever really going to use it and what the heck we would make it into that resembled anything we commonly eat now. So on top of those longer term food storage items (most of them store for 30 years!) that are important, it is also important to store food your kids will actually eat! Let's face it, I'm not using my hard red wheat unless there is a natural disaster (or Val comes to my house to bake her delicious wheat bread)!

So the gist of this workbook is that you take 10-20 meals that you commonly eat and you assume you are going to eat these meals 80% of the time. I actually did 24 meals and assigned them a number we eat per 6 months, because there are 3 or 4 meals we eat about once every 2 weeks, and some we eat less often but still are favorites. You take the number of days in your time period, in my case 6 months, or 180 days, and get 80% (or 150) and figure out breakfast, lunch, dinner and sides for that amount of days. What is nice about this, is it gives you about once per week to cook whatever you want and try new things. I used to do this way more often, but kids really limit your cooking creativity! Then, I took it a step further and created an 8 week cycling menu (yes, I have actually used one thing from all my food service classes in college!) that uses each of my dinners at least once. The plan is to build up my 6 month supply, then use this menu to grocery shop and continue rotating it. Here is the link. I'll let you know how I progress in this endeavor. Woo hoo!

http://extension.usu.edu/files/publications/publication/FN_500.pdf

Husband Tag

Okay okay, I'll do this tag because it's fun. Well, mostly because Avree tagged me and not only is she my favorite sister, but she let me borrow a TON of her clothes while she was pregnant-- practically her whole wardrobe. Too bad she's getting skinny so fast and I'll be giving those back shortly!



1. What is his name? Mitchell Rodney Moncur
2. Who eats more? He does definitely. He doesn't eat quite as much as Avree's husband can pack down, but when it comes to random specific foods (such as taco salad and any type of meat) I find myself wondering how he can eat that much and not gain a pound!
3. Who said I love you first? He did.
4. Who is taller? He is. He's 6'1'' and I'm 5'6''.
5. Who is smarter? Me! Not really, but I'm definitely a faster reader and he's definitely better at directions.
6. Who is more sensitive? Definitely me.
7.Who does the laundry? I do. Despite doing his own laundry from age 19 to 25, he won't do laundry now until he runs out of underwear. He has more underwear than me, so you can see how this presents a dilemma for me. Thus, I crack and do laundry first!
8. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? I do. I don't know about the rest of you, but Mitch and I have our designated sides that started when we first got married. I feel all weird on Mitch's side of the bed if I ever have to sleep there.
9. Who pays the bills? We both do.
10. Who cooks more? I do. I love to cook. Mitch can actually cook really well, it just takes him twice as long as me to make the same meal. He can even bake bread.
11. What meals do you cook together? Fish tacos. I know this sounds gross, but it's an authentic Mexican dish that is AMAZING. We cook it together because the fish is grilled. Mitch is usually king of the grill, but since about 3 weeks ago when he finally showed me how to turn on our grill, I have been a grilling maniac!
12. Who is more stubborn? It's a toss-up! We're both a little stubborn, and sadly we passed this on to our child.
13. Who is the first to admit they're wrong? Me, I'm wrong way more often. As Mitch will say, he's only been wrong once, and that was when he thought he was wrong.
14. Who has more siblings? Mitch, he has 5, I have 3.
15. Who wears the pants in the relationship? I don't really know. I am pretty bossy by nature, but Mitch doesn't take any crap. I guess we both wear the pants.
16. What do you like to do together? Fly fishing, hiking, playing tennis, going to dinner. We tended to do a lot more exciting things together when I was trying to impress Mitch before we were married. He said I turned into a wuss after we got married... thing is, I always was. I just hid it really well.
17. Who eats more sweets? Oh definitely me.
18. Guilty pleasures? Weird question. I would have to say golfing at least twice a week.
19. How did you meet? (see right side of blog main page)
20. Who asked who out first? He asked me out. He called me on the phone and surprised me by asking me on a real date. I think he even used the word "date" in the conversation. I thought it was going to be a big group date and that he had asked me because he couldn't find anyone else. I was pleasantly surprised when it was just him at my door-- AND he was wearing cologne and a nice sweater.
21. Who kissed who first? He kissed me on my front porch, during which I uttered my SO un-romantic fateful line (that I still get brutally teased about to this day), "Well, if you're going to kiss me you might as well give me some chapstick."
22. Who proposed? Mitch did, while we were fly-fishing up Logan canyon. I have to tell how he did it because it was a bit unique. The day he got my ring we went fly-fishing and he took me to a spot where a huge tree branch hangs over the river. He knew I'd get my fly stuck in it (which of course I did) and when we stopped to untangle it we sat down in this pretty grassy area next to the river and he proposed-- on one knee and everything. Then he busted out some sparkling cider and Subway sandwiches and we ate lunch.
23. His best features? His pretty blue eyes, his red hair, and of course, his manly physique.
24. What is his greatest quality? He is very steady. That sounds weird, but it's so nice to have a husband who never loses his temper, who never gets ornery (well, hardly ever), who is just very calm, works hard, is disciplined, and is very patient.
25. Tag? Nicole, Christine, Ashlee, Melinda, Melissa, and anyone else who would like to do this. I'd love it if all my friends did this tag because I don't know many of your husbands!