DanBings for Breakfast

Lately I’ve been paying Sierra to scan old fotos of my mission etc…

Some of the fotos that really brought back a bunch of memories were from my first area in HuaLien County. We went to the same place for breakfast every morning. It was my first exposure to Chinese breakfasts. I had never considered Chinese food for breakfast before, and I was reluctant to try it my first morning in Taiwan. It was AMAZING! One of the things I liked most mornings were DanBing and DoJiang cold. Dan Bing translates as egg cookie. DoJiang is simply soymilk. I missed soymilk so much when I got back to the United States that I made it myself from scratch several times. I’m so grateful that I can walk into any grocery store now and find it. The plain stuff is almost the same as what we drank in Taiwan.

Since scanning those fotos I have been craving DanBings. To my surprise my kids love them. Kohler was afraid to try them last weekend. Today he asked for them! I was happy to oblige his wish this morning.

Here is how I made them.

#1 You start with green onions and you chop them up finely.

#2  You beat 2 eggs. I use egg beaters. They are better for you and you don’t have to beat them. Then stir in the chopped onions. To make it authentic add some white pepper. (some people don’t like white pepper. I LOVE IT!)

#3 I use two frying pans this makes it much easier. Heat them both up on the stove with a little oil or a spray of PAM.  You can use spring roll wraps or the raw tortillas from Costco. Lightly fry one side of the wrap.

#4 In the other pan pour the egg-onion mixture.

#5 Place the wrap fried side down on top of the cooking egg mixture.

#6 When the egg starts to firm up flip both the egg and the wrap into the other pan.

#7 When the wrap starts to brown fold it in thirds.

#8 Cut it into bite sized strips.

#9 Dress it with chili paste and soy sauce.

#10 Finally watch your kids gobble them up. Sorry Kohl, I should have taken another foto, your eyes are a little funny in this foto. But you CAN tell that you enjoy it.

Alto do Mandu

A few of the days that I was in Brazil in February Cynthia had to work. This was a good opportunity to work on my Portuguese with these two ladies, Cynthia’s Mom, and Grandma.

They are two of the most fun ladies I know.  This day I talked them into going for a walk with me around Cynthia’s neighborhood, Alto do Mandu. This is a beautiful part of the city. The neighborhood is built on a pretty tall hill that Cynthia’s family lives at the top of.  The family has lived there for generations and many of her cousins live close by. Evenings spent in Alto do Mandu are often enjoyed out side talking to the neighbors. It is a very fun place to live.

Mom and Grandma love to laugh. My Portuguese is not very good at all but they are still a joy to be around. They truly know how to have a good time. They KNOW how to have joy.

We walked down the hill, around the hill and then back up the hill on the other side.

We only stopped for a rest once. That break was filled with laughter also.

When we got back Mom and Grandma waived their arms in the air and yelled:  ‘Chegamos, chegamos!’ ‘We’re back, We’re back!’

This was another treasured memory from my trip to Brazil.

Spitinho

I like food. If someone calls it food, I will probably put it in my mouth. In any part of the world my favorite food is street food. In China there are some street foods that I would steer away from. There are still many that I like. My favorite above all is the stuff that is barbequed over hot charcoal. I love being in a place overseas and smell that sizzling meat over wood smoke smell. My mouth will water immediately.

In India a couple of years ago I went to a Muslim section in Delhi. I walked hundreds of yards through this alley that was filled with people that appeared to step out of the past. The alley was packed with humanity. No one was in western dress. It was all ankle length robes and beards. There were beggars in the muck. I was greeted with strange stares. It seemed that their eyes were saying… 'I wasn’t expecting an American here.' I was driven. I was driven by that meat and charcoal smell. Finally I found it. Grilled skewers of lamb meat and onions were my reward. It had been covered in garlic and fiery curry style spices. It was heaven in my mouth.

It was hot and humid my last Saturday in Brazil. Cynthia had to work half a day. It was difficult to be away from her after the amazing weekend and start of the week that we had alone together in Porto de Galinhas. I was grateful for the time that we were going to have together. Cynthia’s Sister drove me to her work to pick her up.

The first news was not good. Cynthia had lost her position in the company. It was really still a new job. She was only just at the end of her three month probation period. I felt that perhaps the company had just used Cynthia in a dishonest way to cover for an administrative assistant that was out on maternity leave. When this other employee came back to work, they told Cynthia that she was no longer needed.

This was very difficult to swallow. Cynthia really amazed me. She expressed her feelings about it. What amazed me was her faith in Heavenly Father’s hand in her life. She was able to look at her situation with an eternal perspective, and honestly say; “Heavenly Father has something else in store for me, and I will be okay.”

We enjoyed the rest of the afternoon and the evening. We spent the afternoon on the temple grounds talking and taking pictures. We talked about future possibilities. A real blessing to me was to be able to be there while the love of my life suffered this set back. I never feel so helpless than when my love is suffering and there is little I can do because of the 7500 miles that separate us.

We ended the day at one of those amazing street vendors selling ‘spitinho’. This is the Brazilian version of barbequed meat on the street. It was amazing. I have been trying to replicate the end result ever since. My favorite part is this garlic sauce that they put on it with crunchy flavored manioc crust on top called ‘farofa’.

Any moment I spend with Cynthia is a treasured memory. This tender afternoon and evening was tinged with sadness. It reset our perspectives. It allowed us to test our faith in Heavenly Father’s hand in our lives. This memory will stand out in my life as the cream of a treasured moments. I am so grateful that I could be with my honeysinha on that day.

My Mermaid and Me

This experience was so much fun! I just HAVE to share it. Cynthia and I spent a few days in this very small beach town over Carnaval by ourselves.  The first day we were there we didn't bring the snorkel stuff because we wanted to take fotos and we were afraid that if we went swimming together and left our stuff at the beach, our stuff would get stolen. This was a pretty good bet. The beach was CROWDED for Carnaval.

On Monday I convinced Cynthia to only take stuff that we didn't mind to get stolen so that we could go snorkeling. I am pretty sure Cynthia didn't quite see what was going to be so wonderful. I have seen some cool things snorkeling before. I was excited to see what these reefs at Porto de Galinhas had to offer.  We went out soon after we got to the beach that morning.  Cynthia was a little bit apprehensive at first. I don't think she trusted herself as a swimmer.

Soon she got the hang of it. It turned out she did great. The fish were spectacular.

There were many fish and all kinds of spectacular colors. Bright yellows. Bright blues. There some red fish, and some brightly colored orange and cream striped fish.   sometimes we would be swimming along and suddenly there would be schools of thousands of fish right below us as far as we could see. It was unbelievable.

As long as I was holding her hand or had my hand on her back Cynthia was willing to keep going. 

When she started seeing the fish she got more excited that I did. It became incredibly fun to watch. If I saw a fish I would quickly look at Cynthia to see if she saw it also. I would hear her squeal with glee... and she would point. She would get so excited it became more fun for me to watch her that it was for me to watch the fish.

We swam until we feared we were getting sun-burned.  there was a part of the reef way off in the distance where many boats were. I thought it would be fun to swim out there and see the fish out there.  But it was very very far. I think Cynthia was nervous about swimming out so far away from the beach. But she really enjoyed snorkeling and she really enjoyed the fish. I was proud of her.

The next day we went snorkeling again. This time Cynthia was much more brave. We swam out to those boats that Cynthia is pointing at and we swam back. IT WAS FANTASTIC.  We even swam past the firemen on the wave-runners telling other swimmers to go back because they were not swimming very well. 

Snorkeling will be something we certainly do again.

2009 Carnaval Slide Show

Porto de Galinhas

I've been in Arizona for almost a month now. So far I'm really enjoying it. Sierra was here last week. For her Birthday present I bought her a plane ticket and we spent the weekend together.

On Friday we went camping out in the desert with the two Lignell families. It was fantastic. I love the desert at night. Even though the moon was bright you could still see the stars way better than from the city. You could see the splash of the milky-way through the middle of the sky. That spiral arm of the galaxy that are distant members of.

It was fun to go camping in January. the fun part was that it felt like a Northwest Washington summer.

We went swimming every day she was here. It was sunny and warm.

I was sad to see her leave. I'm so glad she and her brothers will be back this weekend. It gives me something great to look forward to in a time that may otherwise be yucky.

It's been raining the past couple of days here in AZ. It hasn't been warm either. I'm glad to know that it can rain, but it makes me even more excited for the other thing I have to look forward to. The week after next I'm leave for carnaval vacation in Brazil with my fiancé.

We are going to spend some time in Porto de Galinhas. This has become one of my favorite spots in the world. Porto de Galinhas has beautiful beaches, sun, warm surf, and the town is just a little out of the way beach town. It will be a fantastic place for a vacation.

I hope to have many more vacations in this spot or spots similar to this.

Obama... What Would Reagan Do?

Yesterday was great occasion. For obvious reasons it was a proud day to be an American. I didn't vote for Obama, but he is my President. I will support him. I will also speak out against his policies when I believe that they are flawed. His inaugural speech scared me.

I was annoyed when Obama said that we are in the worst economic disaster since the great depression. This isn't true. By any measure Ronald Reagan inherited a much worse economic situation from Jimmy Carter than Obama is moving into.

	1981	Today
Inflation	12%	3%
Unemployment	7.5%	7.2%
Prime Interest Rate	20.5%	3.3%
People in Poverty	14%	12%
Dow Jones	951	8000
Median Income (Todays dollars)	42,000	50,000
Maximum Tax Rate	70%	35%

Reagan pulled us out of that economic crisis and he ended the cold war. Obama's motto should be: "What Would Reagen Do?"

What scares me is that Obama’s policies are much like Carter’s or FDR's policies. Please remember that if it wasn't for World War II and FDR's promise to keep the United States out of the war that he would not have been re-elected because of his economic policies.

Things are going to get much worse.

The financial markets are reflecting that Obama's ideas are flawed. After the inaugural speech the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 332 points. This IS the worst inauguration speech drop of the Dow Jones in history.

The proposed economic stimulus package will cost more than;

Both of the Iraq wars

The Vietnam War

Korean War

World War II

All of the NASA projects

The Savings and Loan bail out

The Louisiana Purchase

And the entire cost of the New Deal

It will cost more than those things combined, and adjusted for inflation.

The United States will borrow more this year than in the previous two hundred years combined.

This is not what Reagan would do. Please Obama, ask yourself... What would Reagan do?

Joy

I'm grateful for the atonement. I'm grateful for joy. I'm grateful that I can choose joy. I choose joy by choosing to live in harmony with the plan of happiness. I don't have to choose this. This is the magic part. It's magic because when I choose joy my joy is greater BECAUSE I choose it. I LOVE that!

Brazil for Christmas

To most people it will seem that I just got back from Brazil.

I did not get close to enough of it when I was there in October. I have had a concern about what to do for Christmas. I have not considered Brazil because Delta® doesn't fly to Recifé until December 21st. I thought for certain that I would not be able to afford a Skymiles® seat on Delta's maiden voyage to Recifé. I looked it up last week, and I COULD afford it. I booked the tickets and I will be with the girl I love for Christmas!

I am so excited!

A Hero

My divorce was a horrible thing. It was worse than a death. I can describe it as a horrible death that happened over and over and over again. Sometimes we experienced the same death over and over again in the same day.

Many days I suffered these deaths all on my own. I have never felt more forgotten by my Heavenly Father. I had never felt more alone.

It was sad and the whole thing had sucked donkeys! (This phrase was borrowed from early 90's SNL skit.)

Kat and I both made many mistakes. Many couples make the same mistakes. At the worst of the times in my marriage I would look around and think to myself.  'Whew... We are better off than most people.'

When I found out that my marriage was over it was a shock. I was very surprised. I never thought it would happen to me. It made me angry.

Kathleen did not want to work on our marriage and that made me sad. She did start to develop a vision of our future that took me a long time to buy into but ultimately I started to see that vision also.

Kat had this idea that she and I could keep our friendship for the kids' sake. Her vision was that for the kids we could remain divorced and still respect and help each other.

My divorce was the easiest and cheapest ones that I have ever heard of. We didn't use lawyers and we carefully drew up our own papers keeping each others needs and feeling at the forefront. There was still fear from both of us that the other may want to treat us unfairly. Ultimately we made things very fair for both.

Every once in awhile egos will get hurt and those harsh feelings got uncovered. Now these pains are quickly eliminated. That ego (that little me) is quickly reminded that it is not in charge that it does not control us, and our true spirits take over to heal and point us in the right direction again.

Finally I feel comfortable that I am going to be okay. I have found a girl to date that is wonderful. As much as I love Cynthia I also have this knowledge that I will be fine with or without her. This makes it so that there is not a pressure to be someone that I am not. This knowledge allows me to be genuine. My future marriage will be much better for this.

I see that I am a much better person since my divorce. Things that I have learned rarely get learned by people. I had enormous motivation to learn these things and learn them quickly. I would not have learned these things as clearly as I did without Kathleen's patient feedback.

It hasn't been easy for either of us to make these changes in our lives. We have had to take a hard close look at our insecurities and shortcomings and had to figure out how to make these things strengths.

Kat and I have become a team again where it comes to our kids. We are patient with each other and we support each other in discipline and goals.

Thanks to Kathleen's vision we have maintained our friendship. We have both moved on and left pettiness and egos behind. If she hadn't had this vision and shared this vision with me it would have been easy to just keep our relationship to a contractual level. It would have been very difficult for our kids. It would have been easy to be vindictive and petty. 

Kathleen has been a hero in our divorce. She hasn't always made the choices I agreed with, but she gave me a vision for a future that put our children first and made it so that we could both be happy and enjoy our lives.

My future doesn't include Kathleen as the most important person in my life. I am excited for that role to be filled by another. I will be forever grateful to Kathleen for being so cooperative in our divorce. I am also grateful to her for showing me a vision where our we can put our children first and make things as good as possible for them.

Thanks Kat!

Paralelepipedo

I am not certain that I am spelling this correctly at all. I am spelling it the way I heard it. I am new to Portuguese someday perhaps I will know. Maybe Clay or Cynthia will help me out here. I will correct it when I find out how to REALLY spell it.Paralelepipedo is the cobblestone that make up many of the streets in Brazil. This word is very fun to say. Try to say it with me:

pah - dah - leh - leh - pee - PEH - doo

It is much more fun to say than it is to walk on. I found myself tripping very often. It was not just me either. I saw many Brazilians trip on the cobblestone everyday, just as I was doing. I started to think it was funny.

The cobblestone was nice to look at. It really added an extra level of atmosphere. Recifé was unique to the cities that I have seen all over the world. Recifé would not have been Recifé without the palm trees, the coconut milk stands, the colorful buildings, the people sitting outside their homes at night talking and laughing, and yes... Recifé would not have been Recifé without the cobblestone streets... the paralelepipedo.

I have been thinking of all of the ways that I could blog my trip to Brazil. My heart has been filled with a richness for the past few months as time led up to my trip. I felt I was already in love before I left.

Certainly I have found love in Brazil... it was beyond all of my dreams of what love could be. No one wants to read about this though.

I have been finding peace in my life for awhile now. I have been CHOOSING happiness. I could be happy going alone but I have longed for a relationship with a woman that I could love, adore, and cherish. Life without someone to share it with lacks richness... Life without a companion lacks color.

I believe that I am in the type of relationship now that I have always longed for. One where I am comfortable to be me. One where my companion will be comfortable to be her, one where we are both genuine. This is magic.

But I thought people would enjoy reading about paralelepipedo more than anything else. So that is what I wrote about.

The View from My Office

My position has been moved out of state. I was given the option to move with my position or not move and not keep my position.

Today I told my manager that I will move. I was thinking about this when I looked out my window and once again realized that I have enjoyed a FANTASTILICIOUS view for the past 7 years. I will really miss this view. I have been lucky to work from this vantage point.

PROFESSOR CHAOS

Sometimes when we FEEL our prayers are not answered we feel like PROFESSOR CHAOS... The truth is... Our prayers are always answered.

Later in this episode Professor Chaos (Buttars) tries to flood the world by turning on the hose outside their house. He is a little frustrated when after waiting all day with the hose on he only manages to create a mud-puddle. Very cute!

Prayers Not Answered

For the last two years it seems that many of my prayers went unanswered. It seemed to me like I had a righteous desire. The things that I prayed about didn't seem to happen the way I expected them to happen.

I didn't know what I was doing wrong. Why weren't my prayers being answered? Last night I was reading talks from the last general conference and I ran into a talk by David A. Bednar that gave me some insight as to what may be going on.  The following is an excerpt that I found some strength in:

Discerning and accepting the will of God in our lives are fundamental elements of asking in faith in meaningful prayer. However, simply saying the words “Thy will be done” is not enough. Each of us needs God’s help in surrendering our will to Him.

“Prayer is the act by which the will of the Father and the will of the child are brought into correspondence with each other”. Humble, earnest, and persistent prayer enables us to recognize and align ourselves with the will of our Heavenly Father. And in this the Savior provided the perfect example as He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, “saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done. . . . And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly” (Luke 22:42, 44).

The object of our prayers should not be to present a wish list or a series of requests but to secure for ourselves and for others blessings that God is eager to bestow, according to His will and timing. Every sincere prayer is heard and answered by our Heavenly Father, but the answers we receive may not be what we expect or come to us when we want or in the way we anticipate.

Prayer is a privilege and the soul’s sincere desire. We can move beyond routine and “checklist” prayers and engage in meaningful prayer as we appropriately ask in faith and act, as we patiently persevere through the trial of our faith, and as we humbly acknowledge and accept “not my will, but Thine, be done.”

Instead of worrying about how my prayers are answered or not I need to figure out how to put my desires in alignment with what Heavenly Father wants for me. 

Family Vacations

One of my favorite things to do with my kids is to go on vacation. It almost does not matter where we go. We are going to have fun. We always bring home fantastic memories.

The photo to the left is my kids in Hot Springs, South Dakota. This trip was Kohl's idea for his birthday present this summer. He said: "I want to go to Mt. Rushmore for my Birthday."

On July 3rd,Thursday night after work, we left our home near Salt Lake City and drove all night.

We had ample room in our van for everyone's stuff, and everyone to have a seat. We brought food treats, and books on CD to listen to on the long journey. The books I brought to listen to I felt were ones that would grab our attention and keep our minds occupied to pass the time. Two of these books were ones that we all enjoyed.

Sierra and Kohler did fall asleep for awhile. Dylan managed to stay up with me most of the night. I always had at least one kid up with me.

At 5AM it was Sierra that rode by my side. That last hour of the journey Sierra's excitement was palpable. We were driving the back way through Custer State Park and we saw a herd of antelope. This was the first time that Sierra had ever seen antelope and it really was exciting.

When we drove around one corner suddenly off in the distance you could see it. Our goal was in-sight. To see Mt. Rushmore at sunrise was a treat.

With Dylan and Kohler still asleep Sierra and I left the car to explore. It was a cold morning. Walking around was invigorating. My mind was loopy from the long drive and being awake all night. Walking to the edge of the trees and viewing Mt. Rushmore on the other side of the valley was enough to clear my mind.

We drove up to the gate of the park an hour before the park opened so we drove a little further and parked. We ate some breakfast and had some time to take a few photos. Kohler and Sierra had a blast pretending that they were in the 2nd National Treasure movie.

Finally we were in the park and we could see the mountain in it's full glory.

We toured every inch of the park. Kohler was still certain that we could get to the parts of the mountain that he had seen in the National Treasure movie. He was dedicated to finding a path that would lead us to the top of the mountain. He was not satisfied that the back of the mountain was off limits until we found a fully uniformed park ranger and asked him.

Later that day we drove to our hotel. We took a nap and ate dinner. That night we played games outside until the sun went down and the Independence Day fireworks began.

We were tired. It took some energy from all of us NOT to be grouchy... We had shared some magical moments together and ultimately we grew closer.

The following day we drove to the other side of Custer State Park until we found a herd of bison. Kohl was NOT excited to be driving through the State Park to see bison. He didn't care about bison. He wanted to go swimming. We we finally saw the heard of bison he quickly changed his mind. They herd was nearly three hundred meters away. Even that far away these animals were impressive. They were massive. We were in their home and they WERE wild.

Kohler did finally get to go swimming. There was a hot-spring pool in the town we were staying at. The pool was gianormous and was constantly flowing with fresh warm spring water. There were waterslides and other things that occupied our time for 5 hours. After half a day swimming we were very worn out. and it was easy to talk the kids into going back to the hotel to watch a movie.

We spend the next day driving home. It was a tremendous weekend. Recently I was talking to the kids about going back to Washington for Thanksgiving. They asked if we would fly or drive. When I said that we would probably drive they became very excited. For some reason the road-trip is part of the adventure with these kids. I am so glad.

Maybe we will drive to South America someday!

Big City Small Town Lifestyle

These two scenes take place only a a few minutes a part and only a few blocks apart. This is GuangZhou. It is one of the oldest cities in China. Many people in the west still know this city by the name that westerners gave it hundreds of years ago Canton.

I am amazed that such a quiet and serene scene could take place a mere few blocks from one of the busiest markets in the world. I love China for many reasons. One of the reasons that I love it is for it's urban landscape. It amazes me that in one moment you can go from a busy bustling noisy city center to a quiet serene domestic setting. This happens all over in many of the large cities in China. Just one block from that first photo is the scene where this third photo was taken. If you didn't know it; these next photo would almost seem rural.

China Transport

Some of my photos were used in this video:

http://lenscape.org/streaming/china_moves.html

I Grew Up 5 Miles from this Spot

I grew up only 5 miles from this spot but 2 weeks ago on a trip back to visit my parents was the first time that I was able to see something like this. Before I left Washington 7 years ago, a buddy and I would go to Boulevard Park in Bellingham for lunch and watch whales. We would often see them in August and September there in Bellingham Bay. Even then I couldn't imagine seeing one with Mt. Baker in the background. It was truly a remarkable moment. One that I will treasure always.

Washington Whatcom Falls Visit 2008

They posted a sign this year at Whatcom Falls that stated that it was against the law to swim there. They said that there would be a $1000 fine. I was disappointed. It didn't stop me from jumping in. But I did not enjoy it as much as I would have otherwise. It is still a gorgeous spot. When it is nearly 100 degrees outside who could resist jumping in.

When you hit that water for the first time and feel that rush of ice-water engulf your body. You pop-up and you can hardly catch your breath. You then look up at the cliff where you had so recently stood. It is a rush of exhilaration that runs through your body. It is the shortest moment that has a long lasting memory. This memory is connected through your life as a thread that ties that shortest moment to all the years in your past when you have enjoyed that very thing in that very place and had those very same feelings and emotion.

Whatcom Falls has a richness that can't be found too many other places on God's green Earth. It has a richness of sight, smells, and emotion. It is even combined with a richness of friends and family because a visit to Whatcom Falls is often accompanied by a picnic.

I don't know that a sign could ever keep me from jumping. There is too much life to be enjoyed in this spot.

Stinky Tofu

I went to Taiwan on my mission. After two months in the mission training center in Provo I left to Taiwan with 19 other missionaries. We were greeted warmly and then sent out on a scavenger hunt to put our newly learned Chinese to the test.

One of the 20 items we were sent out to find and bring back was Chou-Dou-Fu. The exact translation of this is Stinky Bean Curd. I was the first one back with all twenty of my items. I picked up the Stinky Bean Curd last. It wasn't hard to find. I only had to follow the smell of the dairy farm. Quite literally this unique street food smells like cow crap. I had them load it up with the hot sauce, and I hurried back to the mission office in Taipei. This was my first hot meal in Taiwan, and though it smelled horrible. It turned out to be a great way to eat hot-sauce. Fried to a crisp on the outside and tender and chewy on the inside. It gave the chili paste hot-sauce just the right texture.

In Taiwan old men would ride their 3 wheeled bikes through the neighborhoods yelling at the top of their lungs "CHOOOOOOU-DOOOOOOOU-FUUUUUU" and we would run downstairs and buy some. It became a favorite street-food of mine from Taiwan.

Since returning from Taiwan I have not seen it or tasted it or smelled it. For the first couple of years I would pass the dairy farm and smell that similar smell and my mouth would water.

Two weeks ago I was in GuangZhou, China. I walked outside one of my favorite wholesale jewelry markets and I smelled that smell. It was the first time in almost 20 years that I smelled that smell. I couldn't help it. I had to have a serving. It smelled as bad but tasted as good as I remembered. It was a pleasure that I had forgotten. It is so much fun for me to visit China. It feels like going home.