Zero for Five

Today was my fifth fishing trip in about as many weeks. It went about the same as the previous four with the exception that I brought Lauren this time. What does Lauren bring to the table that an experienced, successful fisherman like myself doesn't have? I don't know.

We left to go fishing at about 4 o'clock in the afternoon. The destination was the Hobble Creek catch basin. After a short drive we arrived and parked the car on the side of the road over looking the picturesque pond. We picked out our fishing spot from the car, and then made our way down to the shore. I had the lines all ready to go with my trusty Panther Martin Spinners. We began the easy cast and retrieve of spin fishing as we stood on the bank.

After a about 15 minutes of spin fishing, Lauren turned to me and said, "I think I need to try the Power Bait." "Ok," I replied. She then asked, "aren't you going to put it on my spinner?" "No," I said after I had a good laugh. I began to prepare the power bait rig all the while chuckling to myself.

I left Lauren with the new power bait rig and returned to my rod with the Panther Martin. It wasn't more than a minute later that I heard, "I think I had a bite." I looked back at Lauren. No way, it's probably just grass," I thought as I stared intently at the tip of her rod. I was almost ready to look away convinced that my grass diagnosis was correct when I saw the tip of her rod jerk. A few seconds later it jerked down again. "Reel it in!" I called.

A half a minute later a flattened piece of power bait surfaced a few feet off the shore. I reshaped the bait for Lauren, and then went back to my Panther Martin. Another 30 seconds went by and again I heard "I got a bite!" I looked over to see the characteristic bend in the tip of her pole. She waited and then the pole bent again, but this time it was more than just a bite it was a hooked fish!

The fish splashed its way into shore, as two little boys on the other side of a tree next to us screamed "he's got one! he's got one!" The fish had about had it and was coming into shore, just about the same time that Lauren had had enough of the gender confused elementary age boys. "It's a SHE!" Lauren called out as the fished flopped onto shore.

We let the fish go, and I did the fish a favor by letting the day end without catching any myself...

Party in your mouth

Finals are over and Brandon and I are enjoying the beginning of summer. As of late, I have been really into Good Things Utah. I have discovered it is a great source for recipes. I have tried a couple of things and they have been a hit. Tonight I made some chicken tacos that I saw on one of last weeks show. We loved them and they were pretty darn easy to make. I thought I would share this recipe for anyone else who is looking for a good summer meal. In Brandon's words they were very "satisfying." (I would also suggest frying the tortillas. It was fun to do and they tasted great. Also, lime juice is a great addition.) 

 

Chicken Tacos

Ingredients:

1.2 tablespoons butter

2.Canola oil, for frying

3.2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken

4.breasts, cut into bite-size pieces

5.3 tablespoons chopped onion

6.2 to 3 garlic cloves, minced

7.2 vine-ripened tomatoes, chopped

8.1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

9.Salt, ground black pepper, garlic salt

10.12 corn tortillas

TOPPINGS:

Shredded Cheddar cheese,pepper Jack cheese, or a combination Sour cream Fresh spinach, thinly sliced Fresh Salsa (p. 125)or Tabasco sauce Lime wedges.

6 servings


1. Heat the butter and 2 tablespoons of oil in a medium skillet over medium high
heat. Add the chicken and onions and cook and stir until the onions are
soft and the chicken is tender and no longer pink. Add the garlic and cook
about 1 minute more. Decrease the heat to low and stir in the tomato and
cilantro. Add water (or chicken broth) if the mixture seems too dry. Season
generously with salt, pepper, and garlic salt. Continue cooking about 2
minutes. Cover and turn off the heat. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.

2. Heat 3/4 cup of canola oil in a small skillet over medium-high heat. Fry one
tortilla: With tongs turn it once to cook both sides, then quickly fold halfway
over and cook for a few more seconds to make the taco shape. Drain on
paper towels. Place the tortilla in the oven to keep warm. Repeat with the
remaining tortillas, putting each one into the oven to keep warm. (If the taco
shells cool, they lose their crispness and become tough and chewy.) For soft tacos, simply heat the tortillas one at a time in a dry skillet over high heat for a few seconds on each side. (Or wrap tortillas in aluminum foil and heat in the oven at 275 degrees for 20 minutes.)

3. To serve, place a small amount of the chicken mixture in each taco shell. Put the filled tacos on a platter and serve. Pass the cheese, sour cream, spinach, salsa and lime.

Today, Brandon and I have been married for 3 wonderful months. Right now, both of us are in school at BYU. Brandon is studying Biology and is a pre-dental student. I have not officially declared a major but I am thinking about doing Home and Family Living. We are both working. I work at the BYU Student Health Center as a receptionist and Brandon is a student athlete tutor for "upper level" science classes. Our days mostly consist of school, work, eating, studying, and we try to fit sleep in. In the past three months we have been very blessed and have enjoyed some great experiences together. Here are a few of those experiences:

Our Honeymoon:

Unfortunately this is the only picture of us on our honeymoon. We went to Midway and stayed at the Homestead Resort. We had a great time other than the fact that I was sick in bed half of the time. I blame it on the pulled-pork sandwich I ate. I slept most of the time and Brandon was nice enough to stay with me the whole time. Thank goodness for T.V. When I wasn't in bed, we swam, went to Park City, relaxed, and ate. It was a much needed vacation.

Intramurals: 

Brandon played on an intramural soccer and basketball team this semester. His soccer team went undefeated and won the championship. His basketball team did fine, but they did not make it to the championship. I really enjoy watching Brandon play sports, some may think it is my only hobby, but little do they know, I do not only watch, I keep score and am the team photographer. Impressive I know.

Our first trial as told by Mr. Henrie:

The phone rang as I stood on the edge of a BYU parking lot freezing my all-american hide off.  It was Lauren.  When I asked how she was all she could say was, "I just did something very bad."  "Oh no." I thought.  She then went on to explain that she was washing her wedding ring over the sink, when "it just fell out of my hands."  In spite of the fact that I was, for all intensive purposes, a human popsicle my mind began to race.  I knew that there was still a chance because the plumbing under the sink had a kink in it.  I also remembered an episode from Monk that I watched while Lauren was sick on our honeymoon.  In this episode, the villain tries to fish a gun out of a chimney.  Much to Monk's chagrin, it worked.  So I resolved to "fish" for Lauren's wedding ring (if you look in the picture I am holding up a paper clip tied to a fishing line). 

When I got home I put together my "fishing" gear and went to work.  All I caught was hair.  So I went to plan B and called maintenance.  They arrived shortly and removed the kink.  Lauren and I both stood just outside the bathroom door, and were both very relieved when we heard a "clink" in the bottom of the maintenance man's bucket. 

Morals of the story: Monk is completely fictitious, and don't wash your ring over the sink while the plug is out.

Lauren's Moral: Don't let your husband go fishing in the bathroom sink.  

 

Fishing:

Last Saturday was a nice day so after studying, Brandon and I decided to go up Provo Canyon and go fishing. We had a good time even though the only thing we caught was a stick. After our failed attempt to catch a fish, we roasted hot dogs. They were gross. But, we still had a good time. 

Here are a few other pictures of fun things we have done:

Sledding

Brandon and Alyssa before Morp

I chopped of my hair. Libby and I are now twins.

These past three months we have enjoyed creating so many fun memories together and also with our families. We are looking forward to many more months together and can't wait to see how our future unfolds.