The Night We Chimi'ed our Chori

The Craig family came over tonight to eat chimichurri with their choripan. What is chimichurri you ask? A whole lot of awesomeness in a bottle. And choripan? A little slice of heaven between rock hard bread. :::sigh::: I miss Argentina. But Matt served his mission in Argentina, Lali is from Mexico and my husband cooks choripan like an Argentine- so...yeah...it was almost like the REAL thing.

See that green stuff on the bread? That's chimichurri in all its awesomeness. Don't bash it until you try it! (P.S. Thanks Mike and Bianca for the chimichurri sauce!!!)

And to top it all off, we formed a white trash band (complete with a singer named Hoochita covered in tats) and toured around the world. Yeah, we totally rock.

Thanks Craig family!

Happy Turkey Day!

Enjoy Your Day!

The Spirit of Thanksgiving Past

Where I spent Thanksgiving last year...

Where I am spending Thanksgiving this year...

Talk about a change of scenery.

Run, Turkey, Run!

Hey, so what are you doing on 11/27/08? Probably nothing. Which is exactly why you should run in the Turkey Trot 2 mile run with me and hopefully some friends

::hint, hint::, ::wink, wink::, ::nudge, nudge::

Listen, you know you want to. I mean nothing says Thanksgiving like sweating your guts out at 8:30am. AND its only 2 miles, so even if you had to walk a little/some/all of it, you would still be the coolest person in my book. You could possibly even army crawl it - but I'll deny that we came together.Anyhoo, I think you should do it. With me. On 11/27/08. With a smile. Why? Because you like me and friends dont let other friends run alone on Thanksgiving day.

P.S. Did my guilt trip work? If not, please let me know where I failed so I can try this on those that dont read my blog. They'll never see it coming...

GOT MOJO?

Its all about the mojo. Creative mojo that is. So here is what I have been doing with my creative mojo. All projects were completed under $10, by the way! You can still have mojo and be cheap!

Before:

After

Before:

After:

Yes that is painter tape you see in the window. No comment on how long it has been there. Wouldn't those fence things look awesome with some spanish moss and three pumpkins in a row with a small "harvest" sign hanging in the middle? :::sigh::: There's always next year... this year I decided to use what I have! Oh - and I want to send a HUGE thanks to Keri and Angie who let me buy both of these super cute holders for $1.25 for the pair (!) at their kickin' garage sale. LOVE YA LADIES!!

I just had to copy the pumpkins-on-the-candlestick look

I bought these two topiaries for $10 each at Kirkland Home store. It was the best price I have found for topiaries that height (although I plan on adding a little something-something to the bottom part). And I left the dishes in the sink because I was too lazy to take them out of the sink for the picture.

I am SO excited about this find! I am going to do this to these hinged closet doors. I found them at Goodwill for $4.99 for the pair. Oh why, oh why does Goodwill love me?

What's Up With Rachel?

Seriously! What is up with me?! My blog went from lame to super lame recently because I never post. Don't worry ladies - I can admit when I am totally lame. I do want to post some projects that I have been working on, so I'll do those soon! And I was tagged a million years ago and still haven't done it. So here are 7 facts about me that you probably never knew (or wanted to know) about me. Lucky you!

1. I didn't shave my legs for a year and a half. Yep that's right - 1.5 years of hairy legs. I'll spare you the pictures. I made a "secret combination" with another sister missionary in the MTC that we would both go a year and a half with hairy legs. And. I. did. The long skirts and nylons helped hide the hair...uhm, most of the time. (As a side note it took 5 razors to get all the hair off my legs - yikes!)

2. Opera is my favorite type of music. There - I said it. My dirty confession is out. On my 21st birthday, instead of partying like a rock star, I chose to see Pavarotti live in concert. It was the best concert I have ever been to. And a dream come true. Yes- I am a true Italian.

3. I have 100 goals to accomplish before I die. When I was a teenager I read a story in Chicken Soup for the Soul about a boy who set goals and spent his whole life achieving them. In college, I wrote out a list of goals to complete before I die. One goal : Run a marathon around Mount Everest. Aim high, ladies. Aim high.

4. Foreign films rock my socks. I love foreign films. My favorite foreign film? La Vita E Bella. A must see. Here's one of my favorite scenes where the main character is trying to get attention of the woman he loves (who is engaged to another man).


5. I love a good deal (a.k.a I am cheap). The thrill of the hunt is like a drug to me. And when I see how much I save at the checkout stand, I feel like I hit the jackpot and practically dance out of the store. Who needs drugs when you have coupons and garage sales to give you a high?! Seriously.

6. I was engaged to my husband three times before I married him. Or maybe more. I lost count after three. The thought of being married scared me to death. My poor husband. He is the sweetest, most loving husband in the world. And he lets me call him "Terbear" in front of his friends. Best. Husband. Ever. Every day I feel so lucky that he stuck around for me :)

7. One day, I will beat the turkey. Every Thanksgiving Arizona has a Turkey Trot 10K race. A man dresses up in turkey suit to run the race. He paces himself to run 6.2 miles in 45 minutes. My goal is run faster than this man in the turkey suit. Maybe this year...or something.

Let Freedom Ring!

Our bishop showed us this commercial made by the Catholic church to encourage their members to vote. It was so beautifully made that I can't help but share it with you guys on election day. No matter what religion you are, it is your responsibilty is to make sure YOUR voice is heard and to stand for truth! God bless America! (P.S. You still have time to let your voice be heard.)