Yep, that's my man.

I just want to say how proud I am of Vico. He is so hard working and sleep-sacrificing. Right now he is taking his last final. In the BYU library where the hours are posted it says "God Rest ye Merry Gentlemen...but not until after finals" or something like that. It then proceeds to say that the library will be open to 2 am through finals. Well, that is where my hubby has been. And then at work at 5 in the morning.

The best part is that through all of that he is still so sweet and kind. I love him with all of my heart and soul!

I dreamed a dream?

Dear Blog,

I have interesting dreams. Not the generic scary dreams boys have about fighting killer zombies or flying through the air; yet, these dreams fill me just the same amount of fear. The dreams that have plagued me lately concern parenting.

The one that seems to come to mind over and over involves changing diapers. That may not seem scary but when you haven't changed diapers before now it can jolt you awake. The sensation jolts you awake with more fright than the inevitable doom of being over-come with Zombies or plummeting rapidly to your death from a sky-scraper.

Now this dream, the one about diapers, didn't seem like any ordinary experience. I remember standing over the child, preparing myself for some inevitable doom. The child lay sprawled out, ready to deliver to me some ill-gift; no doubt the same feeling as when you know you're receiving a white-elephant gift with the same usefulness--to be recycled or thrown away. As the diaper came off the nightmare truly began. The diaper was not only soiled beyond belief but more excrement began spraying everywhere. Everything was covered in the brown dudu: the room, the walls, the floors, the dressers, the clothes; it literally felt liked I was caked in a warm sweaty layer of feces. After realizing the scope of how far the mess went, that I then realized that my eyes were watering, my nose clogged up, my throat stuffed with lethal spores, so much so that I began to choke on the fumes and blackout. The blackout was actually me waking up in one swift movement that I looked out into the dark bedroom and fixed my eyes to check if the layers of poo were indeed real.

I don't think I have been more traumatized by any other dream than I was with this one. Rachel said it won't be that bad. Although she had some wonderful stories about changing cloth diapers that sound just as scary, maybe even more. She's probably way more prepared than I. I think we'll have to take some pre-parenting classes for this kind of stuff. Although there's nothing like being thrown in a cold pool as a child when you're learning how to swim; despite the fact that you don't know how to swim almost the freezing cold water gives you enough incentive to flail your arms and kick your legs in a frenzy to learn how to swim and get out of the pool. I don't think I'll be thrown into a cold pool of poo if that's what you're thinking will help me to get over the fears of changing diapers, but, maybe I will be swimming in something.

Thanks Blog,

Vico

Time to build a Fort?

Dear Blog,

Today was nice.

We had some ice

With our cool

New Spritzer

We Got From Costco.

The spritzer was some cool looking stuff from France. Razz-berry and Peach to be specific. It was funny because the Razz-berry one had a cork that popper right off. 69% juice and 31% fun. We'll have to stock-pile on the stuff while its cheap :)

I also had chili and quesadillas for dinner, yum :)

Our home-teachers came today. That was nice. I'm glad to have nice home-teachers. We gave them french-pear pie.

We are getting addicted to the Family Search Indexing. We have done 15 names so far and have 4pts. I guess the 4pts means that we're special. We did names from Canada today.

Rachel made an awesome Challa today and brought it to church today. It was part of our lesson we gave in Temple Prep Class. The Intertwining of the Challa means love and when we make temple covenants we are able to make them through love towards our Heavenly Father and our desire to return to live with him someday. Everyone liked the Challa, especially me. The bread was nice and fluffy like a pillow of air.

Rachel also has funny conversations with people on the phone.

I'm sleepy. Time to build a fort.

Til Tomorrow,

Vico

I won?

Dear Blog,

Today I won a prize. As a reward for my loyal usage of the JKB computer lab I received a voucher for a free print job and a 2GB flash drive. Jealous?

I had some awesome oatmeal this morning before school. Rachel made it with craisins and evaporated milk.

I wore my red Oceanside life guard shirt today and no one asked me if I was a life guard.

We got it one time when we went to the beach some years back. I had a white one but it got torn and died. It will be missed.

Little by little it gets cold here. I haven't resorted to gloves and scarfs yet but the day soon approaches.

We had chicken soup and grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner. These sandwiches are special because Rachel butters them up before grilling them. This is real butter, not some fool-mockery. I can still taste the buttery crunch of the bread and the warm squish of melted cheddar as I sink my teeth into the sandwich. Soups and grilled cheese are awesome in the chilly Fall weather we're experiencing.

I'm sleepy yet I have to work on a paper that is due tomorrow. Maybe I'll get a full nights sleep on Saturday.

Rachel is reading the second Hunger Games book called Catching Fire. If you haven't read book one and book two I highly recommend it. I read each one in about a day and a half. Intense! Not as interesting as the other books I'm reading and have to write papers on. I can't wait for Christmas break so I can read a million books. Rachel is almost done with the book so I can't spoil it for her but still have interesting chats about the story. I think she like the ending.

Until tomorrow,

Vico Zuniga

Stake Conference and Stuff

Dear Blog,

So today we had stake conference in our singles stake where I am in the bishopric. The opening prayer was funny because the boy asked if the members could find their "significant answers and significant others today." Rachel is my significant other and sweetheart.

A friend in the ward was trying to compile a list of 100 dates. We suggested frisbee at the duck pond, in n out, beta fish fight, MOA museum, and international cinema. Beta fish fight was actually Rachel's idea. She said people used to do that on her mission for fun and its legal, unlike dogfighting (ojo NFL player Michael Vick).

My wife flosses her teeth so nicely. Much more diligent than I.

Rachel made some awesome pies this weekend. Apple pie, pumpkin pie and Shepards Pie. We should have mixed them :)

I like to kick piles of fallen leaves and see them fly in the air.

Lucy Elizabeth seems to be the name we shall call our baby girl. Lucy because of Lucy from the Chronicles of Narnia and Elizabeth from Elizabeth Barret Browning. I like books. Or Elizabeth from Pride and Prejudice so we can call her Lizzy. That would be a nice setup for our second daughter to be Jane, also from Pride and Prejudice, Lizzy's sister or Jane Austin. We look forward to Lucy Elizabeth coming to us on March 8th.

Sincerely,

Vico Zuniga

Mom Jeans

Have you ever seen the SNL clip about Mom Jeans? I feel like I'm living that reality. Only worse. I have graduated from Mom Jeans to Mini Mom Jeans. Let me explain. I'm pregnant, about 17 weeks. A few months ago someone gave me a pair of jeans that were too big. I decided to save them for the day that I got pregnant. So for the past 2 months I have been comfortable lounging around town in this pair of too-big jeans that my husband and I affectionately named my "mom jeans." Yesterday we were getting ready for our ward camp out. I pulled mom jeans out of the dryer and put them on. To my utter horror they were too tight to button. Dismayed, I placed them in the ever-growing pile of clothes that I used to wear and slapped on my stretchy pants (maternity jeans). They are what I now dub "Mini mom jeans."That's because the baby is still baking so I'm not a full-blown mom yet, just a mini mom. Anyhow, as to the woes of losing your girlish figure, a lady at work yesterday said to me "It's only going to get worse before it gets better and your body will never be the same again." Talk about words of assurance.

First there were two, now a twinkie in the oven!

It's true, we're expecting a little twinkie! Well, that's just how big the baby is right now. :) Vico and I are pregnant, and the little friend is due March 8. Here is our baby's first picture at 8 weeks.

TAG!

Tagged - 8 Things

-8 things I did yesterday
1. Went grocery shopping with Vico
2. Ate leftovers for dinner
3. Went to the RB to use the internet b/c ours wasn't working 
4. Talked to my mom on the phone
5. Read a cool article about Mixco Viejo in the Ensign with Vico
6. Drank a delicious orange juice, apricot, yogurt smoothie

7. Read "Ah, but your Land is Beautiful" by Alan Paton
8. Wrote my brother Scott a message on Facebook

- 8 Things I am looking forward to
1. Going to the Bombay House with April and John on Saturday
2. Vico coming home at 4!
3. Going to see Macbeth tomorrow night in SLC
4. Reading the Ensign with Vico tonight
5. Someday living closer to our family
6. Getting new books at the library this week
7. Tacos for dinner tonight!
8. the future...

-8 Favorite Shows
1. The Office 

it's the only show i watch. but i do like it when Vico shows me funny clip from Conan, et. al.

-8 Favorite Restaurants
1. In-n-Out
2. Cafe Rio
3. Bombay House
4. Jason's Deli (the pot pie just does me in. Go OK!!!)
5. P.F. Chang's
6. Gay & Larrys (may it RIP)
7. Gloria's Little Italy (Strawberry tiramisu!!!!)
8. Carl's Jr.

Tag You're IT!!!

Spanish scriptures online

"He aquí, no os digo de mí mismo que sucederán estas cosas, porque no es de mí mismo que sé estas cosas."

I just discovered that you can listen to the scriptures in Spanish online at lds.org

The scripture above is from Helaman 7:29. Nephi is praying on the tower in his garden and the people gather to hear him speak. He pleads with them to repent "¡Oh, arrepentíos, arrepentíos! ¿ Por qué deseáis morir? ¡Volveos, volveos al Señor vuestro Dios! (v. 17)" His sincerity is so beautiful. I am amazed by the fact that the Lamanite nation was converted through the missionary efforts of Nephi and Lehi and the miracle wrought through them when they were surrounded by pillars of fire in the Lamanite prison and the events that stemmed from that moment.

The scriptures are so beautiful. The gospel is true and I love it with all of my heart!

I likes me some peanut butter and jelly

Tofu Lasagna

We eat a lot of vegetables at our house. And tofu--which, as it turns out, is a very versatile food. Tofu is so cool because it can take on many flavors and characteristics because its flavor is quite mild. Tofu is like the cheese of soy milk. Anyhow, one day after making lasagna, Vico wondered what it would be like if we made tofu lasagna. So we did. And it is wonderful! In the picture is a slice of red lasagna and a slice of white side-by-side, in mid-consumption. :)

Here is the recipe that we have created: (it makes 2  9x13 pans)

-One recipe whole wheat lasagna noodles. We used the recipe from allrecipes.com (delish!)

-1 green bell pepper

-2 carrots

-2 small zucchini

-3 tomatoes

-about 1 lb fresh spinach (cooked until just wilted)

-4 cups broccoli, cut into small florets

-1 onion, chopped

-3 cloves minced garlic

(basically you can use any vegetables that appeal to you (mushrooms are also good in this--you just need a lot of them)

-1 package firm tofu

-1 lb grated mozzarella cheese

-1-2 teaspoons curry powder

-salt to taste

-2  8 oz cans tomato sauce, seasoned with salt and oregano

-1 recipe or jar alfredo sauce

This recipe makes 2 pans. I made one red sauce, the other white sauce

Thinly slice all vegetables. Except for the carrots, which are better grated or chopped small in blender or food processor. 

In a frying pan put 1 T olive oil. On med-high heat cook onions until soft, adding garlic about half-way through. Remove tofu from package. squeeze some water out of it, by pressing it against a cutting board firmly with your hands a couple of times. Then crumble the tofu with your hands into the pan with the onions. This will feel awesome. The tofu should look kind of like scrambled eggs. Add the curry and salt to taste. continue to cook until tofu is heated through. Remove from heat.

Pour a small amount of sauce in the bottom of the lasagna pan, just enough so the noodles don't stick. Put one layer of noodles on sauce. Add 1/2 tofu mixture (the other half is for the other pan). On top of tofu layer vegetables. The more veggies the better. Add a layer of sauce, then mozzarella. Place next layer of lasagna noodles on top. Add more sauce, then cheese. Place lasagna in oven, preheated to 350 degrees F for 30-45 min, or until cheese is melted and lasagna is bubbly. Remove from oven, let stand about 10 min, and eat. You will not believe how wonderfully delicious it is!

I like

I like my husband. He is warm and kind. When I come home from work at the end of the day he smiles at me, gives me hugs and kisses and says "Tell me all the stories." At night when I can't fall asleep he holds me until I am warm enough to sleep. I like how his hair, eyebrows, eyelashes, and beard stubble accent his face. One of my favorite things to do together is to take a walk around the block before bedtime. Also, I like it when we read to each other. Vico likes to sweep the floor. Last night we were trying to pick out a ring tone on my phone to set as the alarm for the morning. As we were listening to the different sounds we found a couple of old voice clips that he sent me from his phone when we were dating. At that time I was taking night classes so we sometimes would go a day or two without seeing each other. The voice clips were saying that he loved me and good night and that he would see me tomorrow. I liked hearing those last night and remembering how Vico has always been so soft and sweet. I love him.

Swine Flu!!

The latest scoop of news comes from the swine flu craze like it was another 2 week fad diet.  People may be fanatic about it now but two weeks from now when the cricket flu is identified, swine flu will be old news.  

Here in Provo we have been highly affected by the pandemic.  My wife went to work on thursday receiving some unexpected yet highly anticipated news on the pandemic.  Her boss informed the staff the tragic loss brought upon by the swine flu on its first victim, a toddler.  She went on to say that she didn't mean to be an "alarmist" but that we should remember to disinfect our "hands, tables and toys" so as to avoid falling prey to the awful swine flu.  

As we visited the MTC we were told that we were not allowed to shake hands with any of the missionaries for fear that they might give us the swine flu or we might give them the swine flu perchance that one of us has come in contact with any infected with the disease.  I disinfected my hands before shaking hands with others so I should be okay ( although last week I had a cough, maybe signifying that i am infected?  Am I a carrier?  "Hmm, he seems like a nice guy" is what I would say.).

Are we all doomed?  Is this one of the plagues we should be worrying about in the last days?  Lets see what Colbert, our expert satirist has to say about the swine flu pandemic in the link below:

Colbert!!

PG?

What does the term "PG" mean in the movie world? Not much. We watched "Bride Wars" last night and I was shocked by some of the images and themes that were deemed appropriate for a movie with a PG rating. The movie is about two best friends who, after a  beautiful childhood experience, witnessing a bride and groom passing by while at New York's Plaza Hotel, it becomes their dream for the next twenty years to one day marry in the Plaza Hotel. 

Fast forward 20 years. Things go awry as their weddings are scheduled for the same day and they start hating each other. There are a lot of fun lines, like how you don't alter a Vera Wang wedding gown, you alter yourself to fit the gown, and tender scenes of a fiance comforting his future bride after her hair accidentally becomes dyed blue. However, much of the movie attested to the degenerate nature of our society: fiancees living together, abundant drinking, a scene at a strip club for the bachelorette party, scenes of partial nudity. These things were disturbing, and as I was hiding my head in my husband's chest, I mourned the decision to have entered that theater. The movie attested to the crumbling value structure of our society--where something as beautiful as a childhood dream of marriage became muddied by sin.

If you haven't seen the movie, save yourself the trouble.

The Lame Duck

During one of our Sunday walks we came upon a duck.  This was no ordinary duck for it had lost the use of its webbed feet.  We found it just huddled in thick grass looking listlessly at passersby.  Seeing that the duck had sustained injuries far beyond repair, we thought he would like to rejoin his duck friends at the pond on 8th.  The only evasive maneuvers he could do was muster a few flaps of his wings to hop a few inches out of reach.  But, alas, he could not dodge me forever and I caught him mid flop.  

We proceeded to carry him the block distance from 7th to the pond on 8th.  Along the way a young couple approached us, the girl saying it was her life dream to pet a duck.  She patted it softly on the head and we told them the injuries and likely doom.  We continued onward.  Feeling sentimental, we had to get a picture with the lame duck friend before we set him free.  

The moment of freedom was short for this duck.  I had gently placed it next to the water where it had lost its balance and flopped head first into the water.  My attempts to save it were in vain but it did flop its wings to get its head above the water and managed to stay afloat.  It took some refreshing sips of water as if it had been parched for a time.  All seemed to be well until a duck friend speedily came to greet the newcomer.  

The duck friend then sadly proceeded to push our lame duck under the water.  We did not understand why but my thoughts go back to Dr. Nelson's Biology class about how you can tell if a species is successful in life.  You measure success if you can "survive and reproduce."  Our lame duck proved a threat to the other healthy ducks of the pond since the weak-spirited genes were frowned upon.  The only solution for the lame duck was to meet his end there at that moment.  

Perhaps the lame duck would serve as a fine meal for a local coyote or cougar if they were even in the neighborhood.  All we know is that we regretfully assisted in the circle of life by putting the lame duck back in the water.  So next time you see a lame duck at the side of the road that has lost the use of its legs, keep it away from the other ducks or it might meet its last moments at the side of a pond with its last sips before it is viciously pushed under the water. 

Argentine Alfajores

We had planned out a wonderful desert to take to our ward picnic.  We decided that the best non-cliché food(i.e. Chocolate Chip cookies, or Brownies) would be alfajores.  They are a lovely dulce de leche filled cookie sandwich as you can get from the image above.  We didn't quite know the response we would get from the ward members since most are not to familiar with Argentine food.  This was our opportunity to share Argentine culture with our fellow ward members with much excitement. Some of the responses were like, "Does anybody have any idea what these are?" My wife who was an earshot away said they were argentine sugar cookies with dulce de leche in the middle.  The remnants are only about five alfajores and we are too stuffed to eat them since we just ate Choripan for our easter feast and Tiramisu.  Kali came over and we had an awesome feast with argentine foods and foods and foods and more foods.  What a wonderful day to have, lots of foods and easter combined.  

Marley and Me Movie review

Last night we watched the movie "Marley and Me."  It was a splendid film about a man and his old time friend, the yellow dog.  John (Owen Wilson) started the movie well enough with a plan.  1) Get Married, 2) Move somewhere warmer (i.e. Florida rather than Michigan) 3) and start the family.  The first edition to the family was the clearance puppy (Marley) and then shortly thereafter a baby boy.  The progression of the film followed them on a tale of bonding between the Male characters being cast out into the dog house repeatedly.  But the trials passed and they mended it instead of ending it.  Although there was a lack of character development between the humans, that is okay because we were supposed to feel for the most dynamic character (Marley).  Doing so helps the viewers feel for the dog as it dies in the end.  A tear jerker but death was understood well and you want to have a dog like Marley even though he was often a burden.  We recommend this film with two paws up!

Yippie!

ps we have a cool new nephew named clark :)

Coolest

The Coolest thing about Vico is that he is the family webmaster. That means that he keeps all things technical rolling, you know the essentials, Facebook, music, our blog, etc. Yep, basically my husband's really HOT! :)

Ice Cream Machine

The latest scoop happens to be the delicious ice cream we made at home.  With the saved funds and a gift card from christmas, we purchased our prized ice cream maker.  We have used the various recipes in our book "The Perfect Scoop."  The following are the flavors we have fashioned:

Lemon Ice Cream

Blue Berry Ice Cream

Vanilla Ice Cream (Philadelphia Style)

Plain Frozen Yogurt

Strawberry Sour Cream Ice Cream

Triple Berry Melody Ice Cream (French Style)

Coming Soon...

Chocolate Sour Cream Ice Cream

Chocolate Dulce de Leche Brownie Ice Cream

Raspberry Ice Cream (French Style)

Life

My sister is having a baby tomorrow. I'm excited. It's a boy and we haven't had a baby boy yet. Also, this last weekend was the General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I loved it. I always love it. President Monson spoke with so much love and all his words told us to live better and to protect ourselves from evil. He inspired us to be grateful and to cling to the gospel. The Church is true. Heavenly Father lives. His son Jesus Christ is our true savior. I love knowing this. 

The coolest part was where we watched conference. The Chipman Hall lobby. 

And Jill Walker's house.

It was awesome. :)

Although these would be nice too...

Transformer Names:
Optimus Prime (first and middle names)
Megatron
Bumble Bee

Super Heroes:
Green Lantern (first and middle names)
Flash
Batman
Darkwing Duck
Captain Planet

U.S. Presidents:
Taft
Monroe
General
Hussein
B. O.
Abe
Jackson
Hayes
Teddy

If we were pregnant, we'd totally go for Nacho Hussein Juan IV Darcy Zuniga Esq.
But since we aren't pregnant, Sarah and Paul, Nacho's all yours. :)
Bloggers, beware, we reserve Juan IV for future use!

Baby Names (Boy)

British:   American: Meso-American:

Edward Joe Jorge

Bingly Mama Juan

Darcy Jeff Juan II

Wickum Abe Juan III

Willibie Thomas Juan IV

Fitswilliam Dick Juan Carlos

Phillip Bill Juan Maria

Spenser Buffalo Héctor

Alexander Tracey Josue

James Harrison Abraham

Arthur Lucas Pedro

Swift George Santi

Gulliver Sam Santiago

Benjamin Steven Mateo

Lancelot Jeb Carlos

Lawrence Dave Chancho

John Ford Nacho

William Cruise Esquelito

Which should we use?

coming soon: Transformers names, Comic book heroes,  U.S. Presidents

This is us!

Adore

My name is Rachel Lynn Anderson Zuniga. I adore my husband. To have a husband such as Vico is to be truly happy. He is so patient and kind. Before we married this past Summer I never knew what it was to be tenderly considered. Vico is soft and kind, good and loving. To be his wife is to know the sweet bliss of respect, to feel the sacrifice and hard work of a friend who is planning for a future together. 

I went into the woods...

Yes, what you have heard is true.  We (Rachel and I) felt inspired to tread on new turf besides the cliché facebook account.  Inspired as much as H. D. T. when he said "I went into the woods deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived."  The plunge into the forest starts now.