3 months ago we packed up and left Flagstaff. I figured a quarter of a year adds drama to a less than dramatic subject!
It is funny how, at least to me, 3 months seems so much shorter than a quarter of a year! I can’t believe it’s already been that long. I always say that time does a fasty slow thing and I think that is what it is doing. Fast because it seems like just yesterday that we were saying our see you laters and driving to Washington. We have been really busy and have managed to get settled in here pretty fast. On the other hand, slow, because its been 3 months?! Oh how much BB has changed, how much I am sure I have changed. We are on our own (and we are surviving). I have cooked dinners successfully for 3 months and no one has even gotten sick! It’s the small things folks. It’s been 3 whole months (or longer) since we have seen some of our family (Diego I am talking to you…. since its been even longer than that!). BB is going to be crawling and walking soon and while it is easy to get caught up in our day to day I know she has changed SO MUCH since we left.
This weekend D and I went and drove around Juneau, like old times, when we used to drive around just to get those extra minutes together before we were married. It was really nice. There is something about long drives or just being in the car together that really brings us close. We chatted about our futures and where we see ourselves in a few years and our decision to move here and a lot of things. It was so nice to really connect with D and to get back on the same page after what seems to be a really busy last month. Additionally, it has been really rainy here and there is just something about the rain that makes everything feel fresh and new.
I love our life right now. It is hard being away from our families and having all these visitors has reminded me how tough it really is. It still breaks my heart to think about how hard it is on BB’s grandparents not to get to cuddle and snuggle her as often as they want. This mom guilt is real and I can’t even begin to explain how much I wish I could send snuggles in the mail and that skype was as good as real life. But, I am comforted in knowing that she still knows who they are, and I know that their love is only going to continue to get stronger as she grows up. We are committed to staying connected with our families and that helps my guilt…at least a little bit.
Apart from all of that, I feel like D and I are closer than ever, I feel so full of love with all the time I get to spend with BB, I feel like I am able to serve D in ways that I wasn’t able to before because I am able to give my all my attention or at least 90% when we have time together. We are outside SO MUCH, and we go on tons of hikes. Things we always talked about doing in Flagstaff and Phoenix but always found an excuse not to. We live in the most breathtaking place ever and for right now, it is becoming our new home.
Everything is not always perfect and we still have bad days, of course, but we are together and we rely on each other when these days happen.
Before we left
On the drive
Now, a little blurry but she is quite different!
Just so Juneau 
Christine, Great Blog! Nina Lydia sent this to me, since I was asking about your daughter. This blog came during a great time when I was waiting on my test results to see if I had cancer…Thank you for the stories.
I too have had to venture for Mexican food but you can make it through it…I checked out the juneau walmart and you have all the makings for some homemade enchiladas.
1) Need to buy a braun mixer $21.00 – used to make refried beans.
2) Enhcilada sauce – I noticied walmart has some red chili powder …this will do until you can have visitors bring back some. If you have an address I can ship some to you.
2 cups of hot water
5 teaspoons of red chili powder (mccormicks will do…till visitors come)
4 tablespoons of oil
4 tablespoons of flour
2 teaspoons of garlic powder
2 teaspoons of salt
Mix chili powder, water, garlic, and salt together
Heat oil in a saucepan and add flour. brown this a little and then add chilli mix using a whisk. (you may need to add more water due to the elevations).
Cook for at least 10 minutes. Chili will thicken. Used for bean burros enchilada style or chicken enchiladas
Get a small baking dish
Enchiladas:
Get about 6 green onions and chop them
Mexican blended cheese or sharp shredded cheese
Corn Tortillas
Get some shredded chicken from a can or a rotisseree chicken
Put some red chili sauce on the bottom of the pan and spread so the pan is covered with chili – don’t add a lot of sauce.
Take 3 corn tortillas and wrap them in a cotton towel or paper towel and microwave for 25 seconds. Take one tortilla, add some chicken, some cheese, and a few sprinkles of green onios, and roll the torilla. Roll till you gt the baking sheet full. pour the remaining enhcilada sauce over the tortillas and put cheese on top. Cook in the oven at 375 for about 20 to 30 mins.
Chica on the go.
Beans – for the busy lady. buy 2 cans of pinto beans (prefer bush or lux) – pour into a pan. Buy a small can of evaporated milk – if you don’t have evaporated use regular milx. Pour about 1/2 a cup or the small can of milk into the beans and add 1/2 cup of cheese. Use the braun mixer and smash some of the beans…don’t smash them all so you an have a mix smashed/whole beans.
I miss having chorizo and have found the perfect recipe…let me know if you would like this one.
Trish
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Thank you so much for the recipes and ideas. We live on bean burritos, just buy beans from costco 🙂 I have an enchiladas sauce recipe that we like although I have noticed that everything I make enchiladas, green chili, taco meat, salsa, etc. Is lacking the good old spice that we loved. I am still working on tweaking things to see if I can’t spice things up. Fortunately I have some recipes up my sleeve but it is just sad that the best mexican food we get is cooked by me, a very white girl 🙂
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Enchilada sauce comes from my Aunt Marilyn prior to me leaving for Nashville/wedding. Can we ship items to you? I can send you New Mexico Red Chili powder and ship you Hatch Green Chilis. Let me know. I also make a lowfat chimi…roll the burritos, heat the oven at 425 degrees. spray PAM over the burritos and cook about 8 mins depending on your oven. Soften some cream cheese and add jalapenos… pull the burritos out and add the cream cheese mixture over the burritos (prefer the burritos to be beans burros or filled with chickent). Sprinkle cheddar cheese over the burros and bake for another 3 to 5 mins.
I also had to improvise for tamales. I checked out the prices for corn husks 6 for $47.00 a pack. what a killing. I use the masadena, and us my Mom (alice) green chili tamale recipe. I put it all in a food processor to blend. If corn husk are not available….I would bake it in a pan.
If you wouldlike to send me some spices/chilis – email me your address at pmoshelton@gmail.com.
Like the white girl cooking…Aunt Marilyn was the white girl cooking and comes up with amazing mexican dishes.
If you like chorizo let me know. I can’t find any good chorizo where I live.
I also found a great recipe for the Cheese Cake Factory’s mexican corn cake patties.
PS – biopsy – no cancer! yeah!
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websites – rickbayless.com (food from mexico) ank hispanic kitchen on pin interest
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did you get the spices?
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