Eating Food with Historians

Fry Bread + Taco Stuff = What???

I call them Navajo Tacos. Simek calls them Indian Tacos.

Who is right?

4 out of 5 men in the grad student office call them Navajo Tacos. The one who doesn't call them Navajo Tacos is from Taiwan and has never even heard of them.

Dr. David Rich Lewis, noted Native American scholar, calls them Navajo Tacos.

Dr. Colleen O'Neill, another noted Native American scholar, also calls them Navajo Tacos.

Carolyn, our Office Manager, also calls them Navajo Tacos.

Simek says that's cuz we are in and from Utah. In North Dakota, there are no Navajos, so you can't call them Navajo Tacos.

The Native American Student Union at Utah State is selling Indian (Native American) Tacos, which is why this debate is ensuing.

Navajo Frybread is a colonial food. It is pretty much made out of white flour and lard, which is pretty much all they got from the government. Some argue that the prevalence of diabetes among Navajos can be traced to this colonial diet. (Information from personal conversation with Dr. O'Neill, 28 October 2010).

For Frybread recipes, go to: http://www.manataka.org/page180.html

Be sure you pick the Navajo ones cuz they're the only authentic kind.

Also, please vote in my poll.

The New Baby!

Woot for the baby!

Michaelene had her baby on Friday morning. Good job Mikey.

What a cute family. Now it includes T-Roy, Michaelene, and Kaylee. Fun times with the baby.


We went to the hospital to visit the baby--on her literal birthday! She was very little. That is good cuz she had to come out of a not-very-big hole. Andrew refused to hold Kaylee.

Look how good I am at holding babies and Andrew is at entertaining babies. We seriously need nieces and nephews.

Who Really Cares?

Who really cares if my house is a disaster zone? At this point, I do not. I have been so busy with grad school and trying to get things done and be healthy and follow through on my obligations that the apartment is definitely being neglected. But I am OK with that.

Except soon I will have to do the dishes.

And soon, I will have to dig through the baskets of clean clothes to find things to wear, and then those piles will become dirty clothes and will hide in my closet.

The floor is sick but when you are sitting at a clutter desk in your even more cluttered spare room, who really cares what the floor looks like? Actually, the floor in here is very clean. It's cuz there aren't any doors to the outside world in it. We have a ton of leaves and dust and rocks and crap by the back door. And there isn't any food prep in here, so no food on the floor.

Chores I Should Do:

• Do the dishes
• To do the above task, I must first put away the clean dishes in the drying rack.
• Vacuum
• Mop
• Fold laundry
• Put away folded clothes
• Clean counters
• Iron (which will probably never happen)
• Cook Andrew's birthday cake--a dream which is slowly fading away
• Organize the shoe closet

And frankly Scarlett, I don't give a clam.

Except I should cuz we are having guests this weekend... muh...

If it bothers them, they can clean it for me.

PS - yes, blogging is more important than clean silverware.

Naomi Peak

Andrew and I went hiking several Saturdays ago. I loved the hike and the resulting pictures, so I am posting them, albeit rather late.

One side is the Cache National Forest...


And the other side is the Mt. Naomi Wilderness.

I was very struck by the differences in the flora and fauna. The Cache National Forest side of the mountain, while not as forested, was a whole lot more so than the Wilderness area. It was desolate.

I reached the top! Fantastic picture, if I do say so myself. This was after I started going a little crazy/loopy after being depleted of oxygen at 10,000ish feet. You would think I would have handled this a little better cuz I was born and raised at 5,000.

Tender love!

Andrew is the king of the mountain.

And I am the queen of the mountain.

Hiking is awesome. I hope we can do it more often. There are so many great trails and places to explore up Logan Canyon and around Cache Valley in general.

Andrew's Birthday List 2010

Andrew's birthday is next Saturday. If you are wondering about what to get Andrew for his birthday, here are your answers. This year he asked for very specific things.


A Sportman's Warehouse gift card. That way he can buy whatever he wants there.


Really nice binoculars. They are probably more expensive than you want to spend on for him. Unless you really really love him.
New Sunday shoes - black or brown, in men's size 8 1/2. Please take Andrew shopping with you when you buy these so he can tell you if he likes them.

New glasses. His most recent pair were smashed when I did a somersault. Seriously, the floor is no place for glasses. This is another thing that he wants to pick out with you. He would also like an eye exam with this.


Boring, but he wants a tire pressure gauge.


A Sportsman's Warehouse or Cabella's hoodie.

A GPS unit so if we get lost, we won't be lost for long!

A new electric razor. His old one is dying and it sucks, so try to get one that is not crappy.


The DVD From the Earth to the Moon. The set actually consists of three DVDs, but they come together. We will have one happy nerd if you get this for him.


The man featured above is Hugh Nibley. Andrew would like any of his books, please. Thank you.

Happy birthday Andrew! You are an old fart.

Don't give him money cuz he will just use it to pay rent. Unless you want to give him rent money, then by all means, go on ahead.

Or, if none of these spark your interest, you could always fall back on a good, old-fashioned Rapala, and he would be happy.

Baby Shower for Michaelene

My friend Michaelene is having a baby next month. I hostessed a baby shower with our ward Relief Society. It was a fun time. :)

Michaelene, her belly, and the food.

This little guy loves food. I had food and his mom did not. He attacked me so I shared my banana with him. Please note my pink shirt that matches the baby girl theme.

I made this quilt for the baby. Actually, this one is for Andrew's new cousin, but I made two and they were matching.

The cute pink baby girl clothes on Mikey's tummy.

Woot for the babies.