Only in Utah

We’re so Utah, just ask the Cafe Rio Pork
Here is a recipe
that screams Utah.
and it’s so delicious.
I made up the recipe
because I couldn’t find one that was good enough.
Yeah, I’m an awesome cook.
What can I say?
I lived in the South for 10 years.
It gives me the advantage.
I also like to keep it simple in the kitchen.
 Throw the following ingredients into a crock pot.
                                                                             
3 pounds pork roast
2 cans cola (you can use diet or regular. I prefer Dr. Pepper but Coke or Pepsi or Shasta or generic is fine.)
About 1 cup and a handful of brown sugar (just go with it,  but you can omit this if you want pork less sweet)
3/4 cup water
2 cubes Chicken Boullion
3 Tablespoons minced garlic
1/2 cup dried onion
1/3 cup taco seasoning.
 _____________________________________
Cook for 6 hours.
 ________________________________________
Shred the pork into the liquids right inside the crockpot.
Cook another 2 hours.
Serve over hot fresh tortillas from Costco.
 ______________________________________________
Try the recipe.
And come back and tell me how amazingly Utah I’ve become.
I didn’t want to do it.
I didn’t want to turn into one of them.
But I have to admit
it ain’t half that bad.
I’m a Utah Mormon blogger.
Well, if you can still call me a blogger.
Since I don’t really blog anymore.
I took the following photo yesterday.
It pretty much tells the story.
I set up the photo myself
on MANUAL settings
because I have just loved my photography class.
You can’t be a good Utah Mormon lady
unless you are are enrolled in some kind of class,
right?
And you definitely can’t be a good
Utah Mormon mommy blogger
unless you know how to photograph.
I took the photo after running into the shot.
My camera was supported by a boulder
on the opposite side of the trail.
And look at us.
We are so cute.
Notice my Utah fashionable hat.
And my frame 35 pounds lighter
because I run every other day.
My kids are perfection.
Even my dog is perfection.
My husband is the bomb.
I love him so much,
and he’s perfection too.
Just for me.
Now, I wonder how many people
I’ve managed to annoy?
What I don’t want to tell you is
I set up the picture to hide my fat butt.
We went to the canyon
on a Sunday
NOT in our Sunday clothes
just to get a picture of the leaves.
Notice the photo
is lack of any oranges or reds.
My kids have rebelled against
family bike rides in the same canyon because
I made them ride all the way
to Bridal Veil from our house once.
Apparently 20 miles round trip is a bit much.
O.k. I don’t think its that far,
but still,
I can’t get them to want to go.
I threw the hat on because I took a photo
earlier that day at church
and my hair was atrocious.
Is that the right spelling of
atrocious?
I guess I have a ways to go
to be the perceived perfect Utah Mormon.
I think they all probably have a ways to go too.

Race #2
The whole family participated in a 5k together.
I would say it was our first, but LG did one last year with all the girls.
Caroline didn’t join us this time.
We got a sitter.
It was a great time
and we appreciated the chance to have some family fun
while exercising AND helping raise money for the kids school.
Have I ever told you how much I love my man?
Thanks LG for supporting me in my crazy adventures.
It was a small race,
but Abigail was 14th overall.
If she would have passed one female
she would have won a top 3 prize.
Funny she doesn’t really “run” persay,
but soccer really is a great sport for overall athleticism.
Next year Abigail’s goal will be to beat Ms. Shepherd
who was 2 minutes faster than her.
I was happy with my time.
32:35.
That is almost a two minute improvement
from my first race in January.
I’ll take it!
Little Miss Sophia came in 6 places behind me.
At the beginning of the race she was sticking right with me,
I thought she would beat me,
but all my training brought me in 5 minutes ahead of her.

LG was the best dad and stayed with Bella the whole way.
At the end I ran back to them
and offered to carry Bella up the hill
but LG said “NO WAY ALICE –
She has to finish by herself.”
What a smart dad.
This is what we all looked like at the finish.
Go Gold family.
Go here for official race results.

Beer for Mormons
At the beginning of this year,
I bought this stuff at Wal-Mart.I was glad the kids helped me down it
or I would have drank the whole 2 liter by myself.

In Utah we call this stuff Apple Beer.
It is served at many fine dining establishments.

Posted by PicasaShortly after consuming a good portion of this bottle
(I am estimating about 500 calories worth)
I started counting calories
towards better health.

But I just can’t stop thinking about this refresco.
(as it refers to itself on the bottle
– See photo above)

I think I am a Mormon applehoholic.
Help!

Halloween
I guess I better get these Halloween photos up
before Thanksgiving gets here.

Our girls got some killer deals
at K-mart on their costumes.
Sometimes it pays to be late.
50% off plus another 20% off coupon.
Then I got another discount on Abigail’s
because we had to sew a strap on.
I told the girls that we would only spend $5 on each of them.
They gladly subsidized with their own money
so they didn’t have to make their own costumes.
I think we spent a total combined of $30.

I can’t say that I was disappointed
since making our own costumes
would require my help.

I was going to dress Caroline up
as Shirley Temple
but she barely cooperated
for wings,
so what would have been the point?

Have I told you how much of a handful this kid is?
I wonder where she gets it from?
We dumped Caroline back at home with dad
after knocking on the condos
close to home.
Here are the girls out about in the neighborhood
with our two friends Natassja and India.
It seems we should live somewhere more exotic
than Utah
when we have friends with names like that.

I just loved this shot with the pumpkin.
Notice that we use pillowcases
for carrying Halloween candy.
It’s what my mom used to make us do
when we were kids
and the tradition has stuck.
Best costume of the evening.
Obama and his Secret Service agents.
These boys are awesome.
My girls enjoyed following them around the neighborhood
on our perfect weathered evening.

I enjoyed taunting Obama at every door
that us Utahns only give our candy to Republicans
who work for their own stuff.
I’m silly like that.
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Giveaway – Halftees
I have a special post for you
in honor of my 38th birthday.

Happy birthday to me.

I’m giving away a halftee.
It’s the layering piece for everyone.
Cute little tees for all purposes.
They have new styles up on their site today
so go and pick your favorite
and leave me a comment
with your name, e-mail, and desired style/color
(we’ll save your size for private)
and I will give a halftee
to one lucky reader
at the end of my favorite month:
November.

Why halftee you ask?
Well let me tell you.
As you know
at our house
modest is always hottest.
That’s why we loved trying out Halftees.

The other day I walked outside
to find this message written on the sidewalk.

Be still my heart.



It looks like we are getting through to our girls.
Modesty is a principle of protection.
And our girls do it well.

One time my mother-in-law took them shopping.
She came home praising my name.
Our girls, on their own accord,
did all the tests before
deciding whether or not they should buy something.

Bend over.
Reach your arms up.
Slouch down.

No shoulder shots.
No butt shots.
No boob shots.
No belly shots.
No thigh shots.

O.k. grammy. Can we get this?
No hoochy mamas around here.

Halftees, a Utah based company,
are a great way to compensate

for the lack of covering in clothes on today’s store racks.

And guess what my wonderful readers? 

You can get 20% off of all of your orders
until November 9th by using the code IMSOFUNNY.
(I would use the discount now, you know,
before you forget and
just in case you don’t win the giveaway)
Halftees come in a bunch of colors and styles.
As you can see we prefer the white ones.
Go and check them out.
I’ll be picking up some more for Christmas.
Even winter dresses are all sleeveless nowadays.
I am thinking about buying some
for some of the girls at church
When they wear sleeveless,
my kids don’t understand.
I thought it was a church-wide standard
to cover our shoulders?

I will leave you with Sophia’s part
for the upcoming Primary program.
She wrote it by herself.
LG and I love the part about “the fronts”.
Notice the plural fronts.
Hilarious.
Dressing modestly shows respect 
for Heavenly Father and myself.
We should never wear anything that is
tight or short shorts or miniskirts that reveal
our shoulders or your back and fronts.
When you dress modestly 
you show Heavenly Father that you love Him.
 Dressing modestly is important to you
and everyone around you.

Oh and one more:

More Than a Hero: Muhammad Ali’s Life Lessons Presented Through His Daughter’s Eyes by Hana Ali

When we finally arrived, the chauffeur escorted my younger sister, Laila, and me up to my father’s suite. As usual, he was hiding behind the door waiting to scare us. We exchanged many hugs and kisses as we could possibly give in one day.

My father took a good look at us. Then he sat me down on his lap and said something that I will never forget. He looked me straight in the eyes and said, “Hana, everything that God made valuable in the world is covered and hard to get to. Where do you find diamonds? Deep down in the ground, covered and protected. Where do you find pearls? Deep down at the bottom of the ocean, covered up and protected in a beautiful shell. Where do you find gold? Way down in the mine, covered over with layers and layers of rock. You’ve got to work hard to get to them.”

He looked at me with serious eyes. “Your body is sacred. You’re far more precious than diamonds and pearls, and you should be covered too.”

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The Uinta’s
There is no better day than Sunday
to post a bunch of photos
of my family
and God’s great earth.
I love them both.
Thank you God
for my amazing life.
Feel free to join us on our drive
from last weekend.
It’s pictures like the one above
that make me want to
oblige the girls
when they tell us we need to have another baby.
How bout it honey?
Rock on rock.
Or as Caroline says it
big rock, little rock.
I love girls with pockets.
I love pockets with souvenirs.
I love free souvenirs.
I can hear your sigh.
I wish you could have come with us too.
Just imagine what I could do
with a camera that costs more than $100.
My birthday is coming up LG.
(hint hint)
Yeah right.
We all know he ain’t spending more
than $100 on me for my birthday.
A girl can dream though.
We love you Uinta Mountains.
Especially in the Fall.
Thanks again to a God
who is the ultimate artist.
You take our breathe away.
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Mormons and Music
A few weeks ago we attended

Abigail’s informal

choir performance.
I was astounded!

For just a few weeks of school,
this 7th grade choir
sounded amazing.
I love how in this song
Abigail misses the first clap.


And seriously,
this middle school has enough talented pianists
to accompany all their choirs.
Astounding.
Check out this accompanist.
She’s so young
and
wonderful
and inspiring.
Watching her accompany the choir
made me emotional and proud
and she isn’t even my kid.

I am grateful that our girls have the opportunity to go to school in Utah.
The choral music programs here are remarkable.

As evidenced by the recent Mormon ties
in the popular show Sing off.

Everyone knows that there is no better choir
in the world than
The Mo Tab.

What about The Osmonds?

The Jets are my personal favorite Mormon musicians.

I recently read about Brandon Flowers,
also a Mormon musician.

There are so many amazing Mormon musicians that I could do this for months.
I haven’t even gotten into Mormon contemporary music.
I recently shared Hilary Weeks and Michael McLean.

The Hinckley brothers are personal friends.

Here is one of my new favorite singles
by a new favorite Mormon musician, Stephanie Mabey.
LG and I had the privilege of seeing her in concert recently.
I really liked this song.
Weird but catchy.
I dare you to watch this
and try not to find yourself singing
along with the lyrics
“If I were a zombie,
I’d never eat your brain.”

Do enjoy some less known Mormon music on me.

I have a thing for the smooth harmony
that only Polynesians can produce.
These Polynesians must be Mormon
because they are singing two of our most beloved hymns.

Here are 21,000 Mormons singing together. Powerful stuff.

Last but not least,
some crazy Mormon missionaries.
Their mothers probably died when watching.
It’s a miracle that these 19 year old boys don’t all kill themselves.

From the uttermost part of the earth have we heard songs, even glory to the righteous.
Isaiah 24:16.

One really has to think for a moment about the possibility of the Mormon church truly being inspired.
How else could it motivate so many to sing such glorious praises?
And we do it so well.
In my humble opinion.

The BeaUty of Utah
My post is late today.
I prayed this morning that God would help me prioritize
and use my time wisely.
I seem to have this issue lately with being attached to my computer.
I guess my prayers were answered
because I got all three of my bathrooms cleaned.
And boy did they need it.
They needed it before I was sick last week.
And now every member of the family 
has had their turn being sick,
except for Abigail;
she never gets sick.
Ever.
Seriously.
She is like an alien or something.

I am so glad I didn’t clean bathrooms before everyone got sick.
So much better to clean them after.
Instead of cleaning them both before and after.

God is always watching out for me.
As I was cleaning bathrooms today
God was with me.
Weird I know.
How do I know he was with me?
I felt a deep sense of joy and gratitude.
Those are fruits of the spirit.
I was so grateful for my bathrooms.
LG and I have our own half bath now
and it is a luxury to us.
Our bathrooms are all recently remodeled
which makes them really easy to clean.
I was grateful for my man.
He went to work today
even though he is still a little sick.
Thank you LG
for being the provider for our family.
I was grateful for our neighbors,
most of which are also church friends.
Only in Utah.
I am so excited about
trick or treating
in a three block radius
full of people
we know and love from church.
I am grateful for my kiddos.
Sophia just turned 10
and I see her growing into a lovely
young lady, just like Abigail.
Bella is such a great worker.
And Caroline is keeping us young.
I am mostly grateful for my new life in the Lord.
I have a much deeper and greater relationship with Him
because of the trials I have faced in the past decade.
I know He is with me. Always.
He makes me happy,
and I have such a positive outlook on life
because He helps me overcome my weaknesses.
So on to the photos.
I have a bunch of new Autumn landscapes
waiting on my camera
for download and publish,
so I guess I better give you
the last of the summer shots.

You could probably find a photo like this on every block in Utah.
It just makes me giddy to think
about all the good people going to church
at the foot of the strong mountains.

This was a messed up shot
when Bella was swinging at the park.
I thought it should be metaphorical for something.
Any ideas?

I imagined NieNie out on this boat 
at Utah lake
with her family.
LG and I rode our bikes down on the trail
a few weeks back.
We rode through a bunch of burs
and got all four of our tires flat.
A nice nice woman stopped to get me
and take me home
so I could come back and pick up LG.
That’s what it’s like in Utah.
Good people everywhere.

I love sunsets.

Sunset at the park during football practice.

I think I should win some kind of award for this shot.

The tents at the Timpanogos Storytelling Festival.
We got to play in them when they were empty.
We rode our bikes as a family down the canyon.
A lady in the public restroom gave me tips on how to have a boy.
They had four girls and she was pregnant with a boy.
Only time will tell if her tips were true.
Because Scouts honor she says they were tried.

Another day, another sunset.
We may not be beaUtiful to you,
but we are beaUtiful to us,
and that is all that matters.

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