Guess what we found!!

When Staci and I were first married finding Gluten-Free foods seemed quite a challenge. we looked almost everywhere and were limited to 'Whole Foods' for our GF bread, cookies, etc. the longer we're married though, the more stores are catching on that gluten sensitivity is a very real problem. it's getting easier, but we've still got a long way to go. here's the back story:

a few weeks after our marriage the local Fry's grocery store started carrying GF flour, as well as chocolate chip cookies. several weeks after that Albertson's started carrying GF Betty Crocker cake mixes. about a month later still Safeway picked up the gluten free market and started labeling many products right on their shelves!

now many of you have sent in recipes, as well as blogs and other Celiac-friendly bits of advice. (keep em comin'!) but what got us excited more recently was that now most all Chex cereal is labeled "now Gluten Free" right on the box! very very cool. even Wal-Mart has the occasional GF Cookie mixes and things like that

but last night, oh we hit the jackpot. Fry's food & drug is now carrying loads of Gluten free stuff! take a look at the biggest surprises...


The GF cookies above taste a lot like Nilla Wafers™


that's right people. CHOCOLATE DONUTS!! (I had a pic of Staci eating it but she told me not to post it! .... guilty pleasure I suppose :P

and the biggest surprise....


Gluten Free (& Dairy free) Chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream! holy cow it's good. possibly better than the reg. cookie dough ice cream I've got in the freezer. I was so surprised that they made it at all. Staci was in heaven :)

moving on,

so, we'll gently skip over the whole Grand Canyon / Family reunion / Four Corners trip for now. as for the Gale Talent Show video of my mom & Aunt Brenda twirling their batons, Ky succesfully posted it on the Gale Blog for me. other than that we're just gearing up for the move!

Stay Tuned!

The Latest / Getting ready for Texas

So here we are, in the midst of our final summer in AZ (whoo hoo) and life is good. Hot, but good. Lately we run our air conditioner most of the time we’re home and the electric bill can prove it. Doesn’t matter much to either of us though, we’d go without many other ‘luxuries’ before the air kicks off for sure.

Staci graduated with her bachelor’s degree from NAU last month (Summa Cum Laude –BAM!) and she’s excited to look for opportunities elsewhere to branch out in the working world. I’m so proud of her for doing an amazing job; she received her final letter stating she’d made the Dean’s List every semester of her NAU career! Now that we have her diploma we still need to buy that display case she wanted…. :D

Now that we’re into June we’re planning our big move to TEXAS! Our lease is up 3rd week of August and we plan to be gone before that. For now we’re both transferring our current jobs (her at Staples and myself at WaMu / Chase) but we’re not sure how long we’ll be with them once we get there. Truth be told, we’re looking into buying our first home! The time is right, but there’s a lot to do beforehand! Saturday we plan on calling the realtor and a few mortgage people to see what we can afford. My banking background has already helped me a lot to understand the process! I’m sure we’re both still in for a wild ride though.

It’s been very stressful lately planning out our lives in what feels like a moments notice. Seems as though we know when we’re leaving, but not where we’re going :) - haha. We’ve planned out much of what we’ll do, but still haven’t decided the specifics. Where will we live? Where will we work? What will I do about school? We’re as prepared as can be at this time (1/3 of our stuff is already in boxes!) but still have a lot to do. If any of you have relevant advice, shoot it our way. We can’t guarantee we’ll follow it, but helpful advice is always, well, helpful. :)

the last few weeks

wow, it's amazing how long it takes to finish something you aren't working on. it's been too long since I published something new but have not the time to explain in detail. I'll run through the last little while:

Renaissance festival. Tons of fun, turkey leg, the whole nine yards. I'd never been before but was really glad we went.

Mom's B-Day. we invited my mother over for her birthday dinner complete with cake and everything. Staci bought multiple cake mixes to make a 'checkerboard' cake for my mom (a family favorite of mine) but the cake sort of swirled together at the last moment and Staci wasn't too happy with it. she suggested I just buy one from the store but after Staci's finished baking and had icing on top, it was better anyway. so Mom got 2 cakes for her *37th* birthday. (*she didn't even laugh at the candles '3 7' on top of the cake :P )

two days later (on Easter) mom & dad had their anniversary. we let them celebrate ALONE for most of the day, but then they invited us over for honey ham. sooo good. congrats mom & dad.

TAXES! - took me alot longer than planned, but mainly because I thought I needed a 1098-T form from school but ultimately did not. we await our return any day now. VERY excited.

School. going very well for me, getting caught up and taking care of business as usual. Staci is blowing the competition out of the water (especially with her phenomenal 30+ page paper she is finishing). can't wait to get it all over with.

Flagstaff trip on the 18th; Staci and I wanted to tour the campus she'd be graduating from in a few weeks! it was a fun day around 'Flag' with our friend Marie as well, going all over campus then to Bookman's (how did THAT happen?! -hey, we got "The 3 amigos" out of it :) then off to help Marie with groceries. (it's tough without a car. been there, don't EVER want to do it again).

Softball. lately I've been REALLY getting into church softball. we have played every other Tuesday / Thursday and so far are 4-2. the 2 games lost included 1 forfeit (because we only had a few players, not enough for a team), and the immediately following game, where we could only play because we let 2 ten year olds play with us. still alot of fun though!

now, working MANY hours a week for both of us (we've gone to Chase' hours an now open at 8am - some days I work 7:30 to 6:30!) and Staci is still putting in almost 40 hours at staples. somehow we'll get through the end of this semester but it'll be tough! see you on the otherside :)

what an inspiration!

Wow people, oh my goodness I'm married to a GENIUS! (Who's dangerously attractive might I add ;)

My beautiful wife Staci will be graduating SUMMA CUM LAUDE with highest honors from NAU! (4.0 GPA !!)


she'll walk May 8th, 2009 @ 2 pm and I couldn't be any more proud. She really is an inspiration to me, both in education and otherwise. At times I get discouraged with my schoolwork, feeling so far behind with kids in my classes being 5 years younger than I am, but Staci has helped me (and continues to help me) push myself and get it done. WAY TO GO STACI! WOOT WOOT!!

YEAH BABY!

The Friendship Debate

I’m finding two very similar social problems that I don’t know how to deal with, and if there’s anything you can say about it please do.

The first is the type of situation where the memories you make today ruin the good ones from long ago. Take for example a friend today who has made a mess of their life, and their toxic relationship with you now ruins the image of good times you used to have. Sure you had fun back in college, or that project you worked together on back at your part time job, but realistically there’s nothing that bonds you together now. You’re differently people. The only thing that keeps you ‘in touch’ is that social spider web of cell numbers, Facebook, Blogs, or the occasional run-in around town). You feel you’re moving on in life, and they are holding you back, to live in the past. It’s not intentional, it’s just a byproduct of staying in contact throughout the change. I know that to be true but I’m finding people I used to know so well that I don’t know at all. My perceptions of who they are, is being crowded out by who they’ve become and with some of them, I don’t like the change.

How do you know it’s time to let go? Maybe the person hasn’t made a mess of their life, but you’re still not able to connect like you used to. You simply have nothing in common anymore.

That leads me to my next problem, those so-called “relationships” that have decayed to the point where you haven’t spoken in months or years, and even when you did know them the bond felt hollow. You may have taken a class for one semester together, or briefly worked on the same team at your job. Maybe even a mission buddy that you’ve fallen out of touch with. Either way it’s just not the same. Should you fall out of touch so that the memories become sweeter? Or keep ‘em in your cell phone, “just in case” you decide to call one day out of the blue?

I simply cannot care that much, about so many people. It’s impossible. think I’m crazy? Try it. Get out a piece of paper and outline a list of every social ‘circle’ you can think of, be it Work, Family, College, High School, Mission, whatever. Now list the names of EVERYONE you can think of associated with that circle. Just a first or last name will do. Obviously there’s more than a few names of people we haven’t spoken to in years. I don’t know about you but there’s many I try to keep in touch with but it’s just not working. We’ve outgrown the relationship yet I haven’t mentally moved on past it. It’s hard, prioritizing who you want to spend your time with, or thinking about.

Both problems likely come from the same source. Society today teaches us to have relationships that are a mile wide and an inch deep. We’re as the sower, who, instead of cultivating crops in a specific area and watching them grow to maturity, instead scatters seeds wherever we may and returns randomly to check on the progress. No one plant is nourished and growth overall is limited. Ok ok, sorry to get all philosophical on ya, geez. But still it’s true, we try to make a million new friends without having deepened friendship with any one of them. In my opinion one of two things is happening, either the new associates are distracting us from furthering our contact with our old friends, or our old ‘friends’ are keeping us from spending time with the new ones.

I have a lot of numbers in my cell phone, at least a hundred friends on Facebook, and who knows how many people reading my blog, but yet I feel very distant from everyone except my wife and family right now. my perceptions may be off but in society today it feels like most everyone is living in the past, talking about how ‘good it’s been’ instead of how good it could be. Few people I know look forward to the future, branch out, try new hobbies, and reinvent themselves so that there’s new life to our relationship. And if they have, they just don’t talk about it. At least not with me.

In my opinion Staci and I are doing very well at making plans, and carrying them through. We’re advancing in our jobs, moving forward in school (with her graduation in May), going on vacations, gaining new hobbies, and overall moving forward in life. We just don’t have friends to do it with. in social circles if we’re not talking TV, (which we don’t have/want), we don’t talk. It’s hard for family to relate to us as well, because they’re all in a different stage of life, and our current friends just can’t (or don’t) connect. I know distance and time are factors, but in a world more connected than ever I’m finding sad excuses.

*** Not meant to offend anyone / please comment (even anonymously if necessary) ***