Thanksgiving!!

I love Thanksgiving!! This was the third Thanksgiving that I've celebrated in Mexico, and by far the best! It was Jean Paul's FIRST Thanksgiving ever, and my first time being the one doing ALL the cooking! Believe it or not, I'd NEVER made a pumpkin pie before. I brought canned pumpkin with me from Oregon in February, along with ginger and cloves, and other stuff that I can't find here (or just don't know what it's called in spanish!). I made my first pumpkin pie in an oven that has temperature settings of "high" and "low." And it turned out AWESOME! (Sorry, I had to brag...) See my pie below (and the quesadillas I made for dinner on wednesday...)


About two months ago, a new couple moved into one of the houses in back of ours. There are about 12 homes that all have the back door facing the small parking area, so we see all of those people when they come and go, and one day a couple months ago we met Diego. Diego said that he and his wife Ana had just moved to Queretaro from the United States after having lived there for 10 years. They look about our age (JP thought they were in their 30's), and they are both originally from Mexico. We decided that maybe they would like to celebrate Thanksgiving with us - as they had probably celebrated it in the US for the past few years. They accepted the invitation and came over for dinner, along with our friend Job from church.

A few days before Thanksgiving, we learned that Diego and Ana are chefs. As if I weren't nervous enough about preparing my first Thanksgiving meal for strangers... They have to be chefs, AND chefs that know what Thanksgiving food should be like!

Here's pictures of JP, Diego, Ana, and Job. (and me below)

I think everyone enjoyed the meal. We had: green salad, mashed potatoes, homemade stuffing (my first time not using Stove Top!), cinnamon apples, pumpkin pie, and CHICKEN. Since I've never made a turkey before, and had to work until noon on Thanksgiving (not a holiday here, but my pastor told me to go home and anjoy some good food!), I opted to swing by Pollo Feliz roasted chicken restaurant before going home to cook! I even stuck it in a baking pan in the oven and poured chicken broth over it, just like if it were a turkey! Heehee!

We had a good time with everyone of getting to know each other, and joking around a lot. And in the midst of the joking, Job asked the question that JP and I had wanted to aske but didn't for fear of being rude... How old are Diego and Ana? We seriously thought they were about 30 or older (I thought Ana may be younger than us, 27)... And Diego said he was 25 and Ana 21. We laughed and asked how old they REALLY were. I'm serious, we did! And they really ARE only 25 and 21! I felt really bad for not believing them the first time, but I don't think they were offended!

Anyhow, Thanksgiving was a good time, and good food too! We are going out with Diego and Ana on saturday, and hope to form a good friendship with them!

My kitchen after dinner... Fun stuff! :)

(At least you can see the counter!)

"Weigh" Too Much Food

When I met Jean Paul, he was very very skinny. I, on the other hand, haven't fit into that category since high school... Anyhow, when we got married, I was determined to look out for his health through serving 3 good and nutritious meals per day. Living alone before we were married, JP frequently didn't eat breakfast, and ate tacos or pizza for dinner. Of course, having a real kitchen helps me WANT to cook, and being newly weds kind of cuts down on the amount we can eat out... So we decided to eat home-cooked meals as often as possible, in part to save money, but also for JP's under-weight-ness.

Well, it worked. Right at 3 months after we got married, JP got weighed. Over the course of THREE months, he gained SEVEN KILOS!!! I'll leave it to you to figure that one out in pounds, but, even though I know most men gain weight when they get married, I'm doubt many gain that much!! JP is now at a healthy weight, and we think now might be a good time to look into more fruits and vegetables and less fried stuff! Heehee!

This is why JP gained weight so fast... Our normal lunch setting:

Christmas Time!

We're probably a step ahead of those of you living in the USA in terms of Christmas stuff... JP and I put up our Christmas decorations last friday, I know most of you will be doing that this Friday! We got a tree, and it was my first time putting up a plastic one! The trees that are probably from Oregon cost about $50 USD, and my parents and I used to get the same type of tree free... But the plastic one will last many years!

Here's me arranging the branches on the bottom half of the tree:

Putting lights around the door frame outside...

My favorite ornaments, the little blonde girl ones that I think we've had since before I was born! JP likes them because he says they look like me! :)

JP finishing the lights on the outside window...

And the two of us with our small light arrangement outside (it took forever to get the little neighbor girl to get a decent picture, even if you can't really see the lights...)

We hope you all enjoy Thankgiving in two days too! I'm planning to make a pumpkin pie! Yummy!

Oh, interesting cross-cultural note: Phil, from Australia, was commenting the other day about how strange it is that it's cold around Christmas time!! I can't even begin to imagine it NOT being cold for Christmas, even after two Christmases in Honduras! I still needed a sweater then, not shorts!

Lot of Stuff

I'm back to being busy again... hence not having written much lately... again.
But it's always the GOOD kind of busy, I LOVE my job!!!!!

I've also been a walking health problem the past month. I'm trying (really really hard!) to get over my second cold in a month, and I'm hearing lots of people sneezing around me, which makesd me think I've successfully infected the rest of the church staff... again.

But other than that, things are going well! Normal I guess. Thanks for thinking of me (you must be thinking of me if you check my blog!!) And, if anyone ever wanted to send down a nice big box of Cheez-It crackers, ask for my address, or if you're cheap like me, my parents are coming down for JP and I's birthdays the end of february and would be glad to bring us stuff! (or checking this blog is good enough to let me know you love me!)

Ok, my brain is turning off for the afternoon... I'll leave you with this interesting photo...

My friend Ana and I at a game night at church... We are both very competive and were trying to sit in the same chair... Oops! :)