Year Supply System

In the past, maintaining a year supply has been somewhat of a challenge for me. I would purchase all this food then store it under the beds and in the closets and in boxes and every once in awhile I would pull it out only to discover that it was all expired! It was really frustrating for me to waste all that money! So I came up with a better system that has REALLY been working for me so I thought I would share! See how nice I am? This may or may not work for everyone but it has worked for me really well.

When you buy food from the cannery it comes in these awkward big cans. You can't see what's inside so heaven help you if the label falls off. You can't tell if it's still looking good or if the color is changing and it's getting old. You don't know until you open the can! It doesn't store well on the shelf either..it takes up too much space. Then I found out about plastic P.E.T. cans. They come in all sizes and shapes. For my year supply I like to buy the square gallon ones. You can stack them side by side on the pantry shelf and they line up perfectly utilizing all the space on the shelf. This is a must when you have a smaller pantry like mine. If you buy the metal lids (not the plastic lids) and put a oxygen packet in with the food, it will seal airtight and preserve your food the same as if you canned it at the cannery! How great is that?

So here is my system. In my pantry, I have food labeled and dated that is STILL sealed all along the top and bottom shelves. I can stack them two deep and two high on the shelf.

Then I have one shelf that is reserved for containers of UNSEALED food that I am in the process of using. Rotating the year supply is key and this is always where I have failed miserably in the past. So I use one specific shelf to store my food that I'm using. When I finish a container, I open up a new one and put the empty one up on the top or bottom shelf. When I have a lot of "empties" of a particular food I know it's time to head to Sam's Club and restock. Below is a picture of my shelf of items "being used".

Now obviously I'm not able to fit my ENTIRE year supply in my tiny pantry. So I do store some of it under beds and in closets and whatnot. After I've made a trip to Sam's and restocked my empty containers, I pull out what ever food item it is from under the bed or wherever it is being stored and put the older food in the pantry and the newer recently sealed food under the bed or in the closet, ect...This way you are always rotating the supply and nothing sits in a closet expiring. Does this make sense? If you need further clarification, leave me a comment and I will try to explain myself better. It really is a good system if I do say so myself! And I LOVE the PET canisters. They are a little pricey (about $2.50 a piece) but if you buy them little by little it's not so bad. Plus they are totally washable and reusable over and over again. Just don't put them in the dishwasher unless you want a ball of melted plastic on your hands.

The oxygen packets I buy at the cannery and they are like $10 for 100 packets. Very reasonable. You just have to make sure you work quickly when you're sealing the lids because you don't want the packets exposed to air for too long. This is what they look like.

Anyways, I love my system. I rarely have to throw anything out because it's no good anymore. I can see the dates right on the canister so if I see that I have some spaghetti about to expire we'll start having lots of spaghetti to use it up. Today was a "refilling" day and Delly was my helper. Boy what a mess! She loves to take the spaghetti sticks and break them into a million pieces!

It's hard to get good pictures because it's a tight squeeze. I think you get the idea! Please excuse the messiness of the other shelves. I haven't developed a good system for everyday food yet!

Disneyland Vacation

June comes so quick! It seems like we were just here, on vacation at Disneyland... and here we are again! I think next year we'll try something different, as fun as Disneyland is, it's time to do something else. We stayed at the Portofino Inn again this year because it's within walking distance and they have Kid Suites which have a separate room for the kids complete with TV and bunkbeds. It's great! The kids enjoy the pool, too, even though there's no diving allowed.Our first night we met up with Granny and Pop and went to the Pirates Dinner Adventure. What a treat that was! Papa Joe and all the kids got to go up on stage and participate in the show! Even Delly! It was so much fun! We were in the front row (which is probably why we were picked) so we had a great view!It's a family tradition to take a picture with the Indian. Joey has always done it with his family growing up so we just continued the tradition with our family. We have LOTS of pictures with "our" Indian! The first ride we went on was the Matterhorn. I waited with Delly and right when they were almost done with the ride, it broke. They sat here for quite awhile waiting for someone to come let them off. That's okay because I got this cute picture!

The girls LOVED the Alice in Wonderland ride! They wanted to do it again and again.....
We had a great time...the weather was unbeatable...78 degrees the entire time! It was perfect. It wasn't super crowded, nobody got lost or sick, we gorged ourselves on some delectable churros, we rode TONS of rides thanks to Ridemax (see my photo journal blog to find out more about Ridemax...it's wonderful!) And most important, we made tons of memories and got home SAFE and SOUND!

Happy Birthday to my MAN!

I'm usually not into alot of "mushy" corny expressions of love. But today on Joey's birthday I feel like he deserves a tribute of some sort. So bear with me.....

Top 10 reasons why I love Joe Edwin Harris II...in no particular order.......

1. He loves me.

2. He brings me surprises. Usually in the form of some sort of chocolate or the occasional Apple Cinnamon muffin from Paradise Bakery. I like my surprises!

3. He calls me and texts me all day long to see how I'm doing and to ask what I need from him, whether it's if I need a fresh soda or if he needs to bring home anything from the store or to just tell me that he thinks I'm beautiful.

4.He always compliments me. Even when I'm not around to hear it. I hear from other people all the good things he says about me. It sometimes embarrasses me and I'm not real good with compliments but I'm working on just saying "Thank you" instead of "Shut up."

5.He makes me laugh. He makes me laugh HARD with the occasional need to RUN to the bathroom because I'm laughing so hard.

6. He will admit when he's wrong and apologize for it. Sometimes it takes me awhile to convince him that he's wrong but he always sees the light eventually and will apologize sincerely.

7. He works hard to support our family. At one time in our marraige he was going to school to get a Masters degree, teaching high school, teaching night school at the college and installing satellite dishes on weekends so that I could stay home with the kids and we would have a comfortable life. He works hard.

8.He knows everything about me and he still loves me. He loves me when I'm grumpy, when I'm stressed and not very nice, he loves me when I've gained 60 pounds during a pregnancy, and when I've cut my bangs.

9.He supports me. When I wanted to go back to nursing school, he never complained about how much it's costing or how much I have to be away. When I panic and decide that I'm not smart enough after all he builds me back up and tells me I can do it.

10. He writes me love letter and poems. I have boxes full of them. 16 years worth.

11. ( I know it's the top ten but I have to include this too...cause it's a big one.) He takes me on adventures. He knows how much I love to travel and see the world so he finds a way to make it happen for me. We've been all over the world together...Chile, Mexico, Italy, France, England, Monaco, Spain, Scotland, Greece, Turkey...and of course all over the USA. Below are some of my favorite pictures from our world travels together....

In Paris...the city of love!This is us in Paris in front of the Louvre.......................Disregard the crazy person. Some people.
In Scotland at Loch Ness....looking for Nessie!

On the top of Mars Hill in Athens............. Some where in the south of France at some cool Roman Aquaducts...........

Kidnapping me and taking me into a castle at Carcassonne (France).......
In front of La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, Spain.........
In front of Buckingham Palace in London...................
My favorite picture of all time is of us in Rome but I can't find it! Oh well... you get the idea.... we've seen a lot and been through a lot together and I wouldn't want to have these adventures with anyone else!He's my bestest friend in the whole world! I LOVE YOU JOEY! (There, I was mushy and corny and I survived)

Give me a "Lubby"!

Having little girls is the greatest! Delly is a lover and a half. She will give out kisses all day long. All you have to do is ask. Sometimes she will say "I need a lubby." Lubby in Delly talk is "lovey" which means a kiss. I love to give LUBBYS!

Perfect Attendance!

For the second year in a row, Drey had perfect attendance! The kid almost never gets sick! And when he does he usually doesn't say anything about it. He just goes on with his day. Usually, I don't know he's even sick. He doesn't say anything or complain or whine at all! It sounds good but sometimes it's not. Sometimes I need to know he's ill so I can take care of him. A few years ago he said " Mom, I can't really swallow." I was like "Really? Let me see." I looked in his throat and saw massive swelling and redness. I immediately took him to the doctor who took one look in his throat and told us we needed to get to the hospital ASAP because Drey's tonsils were SO bad that his airway was about to be completely closed because of the swelling. We went to the hospital where they did an emergency tonsilectomy to open his airway. The doctor was like "Why didn't you bring him in sooner!!?" I told him that Drey never mentioned feeling sick until that morning. He looked at me like I was lying. He said "This kid has been sick for a long time for it to get this bad." I felt so bad for not noticing he was sick but he REALLY never said anything about it. He's just tough. He probably was sick this year sometime but I just never noticed and sent him to school. I'm a really good Mom, huh? It's all good because he got a certificate for a free frozen yogurt from Jubilee. So we went and celebrated his accomplishment with him. He was pretty proud. He kept telling Gage "You know you wouldn't be here if it wasn't for me."

The End of an Era...

I never thought I would be able to do it....but here I am in week 4 of not watching Days of our Lives! Woo-hoo! It all started when I brought Gage home from the hospital as a newborn, 12 years ago. For the first time in my life I was home ALL day long. I didn't have to be at school or at work or running around with my friends. I was at home, alone, with a little person that slept all day. That's when I got hooked on the soap Days of our Lives. It was so addicting....I HAD to know what happened! I hated it when I missed an episode (this was PRE-DVR). Once we got our dish and I could record all my shows to watch later, it was easy to get behind. Last month, Joey sat me down on the couch to have a "show-intervention". He scrolled down the list of recorded shows (all mine except for Lost which belongs to both of us) and I had like 44 hours of shows that I had recorded but just not had the time to watch. There were 30 HOURS of Days of our Lives recorded! Lets face it, it's Monday thru Friday so it adds up quick! We talked about it and somehow he was able to convince me to "let Days go." His powers of persuasion sometimes amaze me! Anyways, I realized that with nursing school getting ready to start that I really needed to cut back on the TV shows. They were almost a burden because it was just one more thing "to do". Gotta catch up on Days! I couldn't do it so I had Joey delete ALL thirty hours of Days! I also trimmed the fat on some of my other shows...Dancing with the Stars, The Bachelor, and a few others. I'm not gonna lie, sometimes I really miss Days! I'm DYING to know if John got his memory back or if Max ever was able to tell Stephanie that he loved her (really, Max, it's not that hard!) or if EJ gets deported or if Kayla loses her baby! I know. I'm pathetic. So as a tribute to an era of my life, I added "These are the Days of our Lives" to my Blog title. My life is sometimes better than a soap opera anyways!

Our Family Tree is Full of Nuts!

To have a family picture where all the kids (and some of the adults) are actually cooperating and facing forward and smiling (for the most part) and no one is crying or trying to run away (except for the dogs) is a freaking miracle! It really is too bad than none of us got the memo to dress up because this really would have been a perfect time! Oh well....

Happy Mothers Day

Generally, I look forward to Mothers Day all year. It's a day I get cute notes and what not from my kids and everyone treats me like a queen. It's the greatest. This year was no exception. All the kids made cute little notes and crafts for me. Avery made me a cute watermelon bell but unfortunately Delly decided she wanted to take a bath with it so all the paint came off. Joey and I were going to go out for a Mothers Day "special evening" last night but Joey ended up having to go out of town for work. He was gonna try to make it back early so we could still go but it just didn't happen. It actually works out pretty good for me because now he has guilt and wants to make it up to me. Of course, I can't resist throwing in a few comments like "Really, honey, I don't mind. You have your priorities. Work is important to you. I can wait." Just twisting the knife a little. Then when he finally did make it home last night he was exhausted. I could tell just by looking at him. He took a shower and started to get dressed. I asked him where he was going and he said he had to "do" something. I'm no dummy and I know my husband pretty well so I had an inkling that he hadn't gotten me anything for Mothers Day and he was gonna sneak off to try to do some late night shopping. I told him to get in bed and that I didn't need a present. He was like " No, no, no, it's just not right. I need to go. I'll be right back." Finally, I convinced him that his present to me could be to NOT get killed tonight by falling asleep at the wheel. So he went to bed after promising me that he was gonna "make it up to me." I love it! The power!

This morning we all gathered at Granny Harris house for a Mothers Day breakfast. It was delightful! Kim makes a mean waffle and Cindy...I like your bacon. Don't worry. It's a fine line between burnt and undercooked. I struggle with that myself! I ate so much I was happy that I had sweat pants on. Elastic waistbands are sometimes a beautiful thing. By the time Sacrament meeting started later that morning I felt like I was about to go into a food coma, I was so sleepy!

Avery was so excited to "help" Granny open her presents and show her the card that we all made for her. For dinner we headed over to my moms house. The Tucson Beecrofts made it up for a visit and we took some family pictures. We didn't get the memo that we were having a family picture so we woke up from our Sunday naps, threw on some wrinkly T-shirts, and headed over for dinner. So we're all looking pretty ghetto in the family pictures! Oh well. My mom wanted roast beef tacos for dinner.. Mindy busted out with some quality bean dip....my sister tried to steal my thunder by bringing strawberry shortcake for dessert when we all knew that I was bringing dessert. Nobody wanted my strawberry cake with lemon frosting. They all wanted HER shortcake. I'm okay with it, though. If she needs to do that to build herself up, it's okay. We're still friends. It was a great dinner and a great Mothers Day!
I could NOT decide what to get my mom for Mothers Day. I was at a complete loss this year. Then I saw the orchids at Sams Club and I knew! They were absolutely gorgeous and I knew she would love them. I took them home and the more I looked at them the more I loved them! You know you love someone when you buy them a gift that YOU want to keep so bad but you give it to them anyways! Hope you enjoy them, Mom! It's for the best that you have them because now they have a chance to stay alive!

FHE at the Temple

I thought I posted these pictures already but I guess I hit the "Save Now" button instead of the "Publish Post" button. Whoops! Oh well- a little late but still cute!


For Family Home Evening this week we went out to dinner at Someburros (dee-lish) with Joeys mom and then we went to the temple. I just happened to have my camera with me so I got some cute shots of the kids and Granny Harris.

We went in to the temple visitor center to see if we could see a movie but none were playing. When we walked in Delly saw the huge statue of Christ and said "Too big Jesus!" and tried to run out the door. Joey had to hold her because she was so scared. She wouldn't look, just kept her head buried in his chest. We listened to the little message that is given and I looked over at Drey and tears are streaming down his face! I thought "What happened? Did I miss something? I thought he must have acted out in some way and got a thump on the head from his Dad while I wasn't paying attention. So the little presentation ended and I went over to him and said "Drey? What's wrong?" And he said "I don't know!! I think I feel the Spirit or something!" It made me want to laugh! That boy has such a hard shell on the outside that I forget what a soft inside he has. He's like a turtle...or an M & M! Joey talked to him about what he was feeling for awhile and then we proceeded further into the visitors center to see the Reflections of Christ exhibit. That was pretty sweet!
The girls were being quite disruptive (weird, I know) so I took them outside while everyone else wandered around for a bit longer. We saw quite a few couples taking pictures and Avery LOVED seeing the "princesses" in the white dresses. I think a good time was had by all.
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