The New Quests of The Turetzky Family

If you hadn't noticed, I only blog once a month now. Also notice: this is an improvement from last year! As I've mentioned before, I'm super busy with going to BYU full-time and being a wife and mother, so I know you don't expect any more of me :o) On to the news... We're moving to Austin, Texas and we're thrilled!! Last month I blogged about Darren's interview in Austin with National Instruments. Well, he nailed the interview and less than a week after we left Austin they called Darren and told him to expect an offer in the mail. Just last week we mailed off the acceptance letter. We loved what we saw in Austin, Darren really loved the company, and the offer was better than expected, so it was pretty much a no-brainer to accept the offer. Darren's first day at NI will be August 15th, less than a week after I finish summer semester. It's going to be a crazy busy four and a half months until we move to Texas, but we couldn't be more excited.

#1. I am happy to reveal the most recent picture of Lila. Notice anything? Lila has enough hair for pigtails!! She really looks like a little girl now that she can wear pigtails. When I put her into the pigtails on Friday and let her see in the mirror she made the most adorable expressions in the mirror. It was obvious that she adores her pigtails as much as I do! #2. Two weeks ago I took the personal training exam and I am happy to tell you all that I am a National Academy of Sports Medicine Certified Personal Trainer! Just one year ago I had very little interest in personal training. As I took the personal trainer prep class at school I decided it was something I really wanted to do. I believe that everyone can benefit from a personal trainer and I hope to help people reach their fitness goals and most importantly, become functionally fit. Fire away with any questions you might have, I would love to help anyone who's interested! And by the way, if you have no idea what functiona...

I finally have a recipe site up and running!! Thanks to Darren, I have finally started the recipe website that I've been wanting to create for some time now. This was our gift to Darren's family for Christmas, and the main motivator in finally creating it. As you may already know, Darren and Lila have some food allergies (milk and soy, mainly). Food allergies = me spending a lot of time in the kitchen. Now I'm sharing the recipes I use with all of you and hope that you will challenge yourselves to eat less dairy and soy and reap the benefits for yourself. The site is only a shadow of what I hope to create once I graduate and have more time, but presently it will do. It is mainly a recipe index right now, but as time allows I will begin add more features and commentary on the recipes. Check it out if your in need of some new recipes to try...you might be surprised how easy it can be to go dairy-free! And now, my new recipe site: Mrs. Dairy-free

Finding out I got A's & B's this semester (I thought I had a C in Accounting!) + Alton Brown's Beef Tenderloin in Salt Crust , crispy smashed potatoes , spinach salad + Lila loving bath time and getting some cute pics to prove it + the three of us cuddling on the bed giggling and playing Wii = a perfect New Years Eve We had a fun, non-stop Christmas week with the Turetzky's and the Avra's. Everyone left town a couple days ago, but we stayed home and had a nice New Years Eve with just the three of us. It was the perfect way to wrap up our break before we go back to work and school. I can't let the new year start without sending a shout out to the highlights of 2010: Walt Disney World, the Florida Keys, and the Bahamas = best family vacation yet! Lila learning to walk and sleep for 12 hours a night Darren graduating from BYU + our last APX summer = the rewards of a hardworking husband Adria going back to full-time student status + taking care of Darren &...

Where did the time go? My baby is two and not really a baby at all. We love her to pieces and can't imagine life without her. She continues to learn things quickly and is already starting to read. Just kidding!! Just wanted to see if you were reading my post. Lila loves to learn, but she's not a genius (sorry sweetie--your genes aren't that good!). Lately she's been learning the sounds the letters make (she learned the alphabet at 16 mos.) and by sight she recognizes the words "cat", "dog", "Mom", "Dad", and "Lila." She knows all the colors (although her colorblindness sometimes gets her mixed up on red and green...those darn genes again!), shapes, and numbers 1-15. She enjoys singing, playing the "I Spy" game, running, climbing, going to nursery on Sunday, bike rides, looking at books, and going to the library. Oh yeah, and did I mention that she likes chocolate just as much as I do?? Maybe I shouldn't ha...

Well I've made some progress, but it's slow going. Don't look too closely at my header yet...I'm still just learning Photo Shop and I know that the image quality is really poor right now. My husband is working out of town this week, so I may not get my header fixed until he's back (he is the computer expert afterall). I'm excited to at least have something. And now I feel like I can make some posts. Yay! P.S. Dearest darling husband, if you see this post while you're out of town, please don't be too ashamed of me for uploading this rough draft of a blog header. XOXO, Me

time in the day!! There are sooooo many things I want to do everyday and not enough time to do them all. That's one reason my blog has been neglected. Another reason: I don't want to make anymore posts until I have finished the redesign of my blog! Too bad I'm not a graphic designer who has/knows how to use some great software for making my blog header... That being said, I will return to blogging when I have my header done. Hopefully that will be by the end of this week, not the end of the decade. Wish me luck. Ciao. one thing I always have time for