Elder Victor Miller

Last I heard, Victor got transferred again..but I don't know any details of it..haha. I should probably get some more info. I wanted to just post the recent pics he sent to us. He is so dang tall.

Victor left March 2011 and he is going to be back this Spring. I can't believe How fast time flew. This mission has been very life changing for him, I am sure..the  life lessons he is learning , as well as teaching..and he's only 20! It's so amazing.

Below all the pictures are a thread of an email he left on his emails that he sent with the pictures..it just goes to show that boys are still boys...its pretty entertaining if you have a chance to read it :)

From: Victor Miller <victor.miller@myldsmail.net>
Date: Mon, May 27, 2013 at 2:14 PM
Subject: Re:
To: Clinton Berhow <clinton.berhow@myldsmail.net>

On Mon, May 20, 2013 at 5:38 PM, Victor Miller <victor.miller@myldsmail.net> wrote:

Hey man, that letter is going to have to wait another week. I didn't really have a lot of time to do anything today. We did get to play a little ball though. I didn't think it was that fun. It was bush-league. Too many elders dinking off, you know what I mean. It's not fun unless it's serious or competative.Can't wait to play with you again. I miss you bro. I promise I will write you a letter next Monday. Be careful up there. Love you man.

On Mon, May 20, 2013 at 9:13 AM, Clinton Berhow <clinton.berhow@myldsmail.net> wrote:

whats up bro! how are u and t-lith or the lith dawg? lemme know. you should write me a letter on of these days itd brighten my day. all i see is black people shooting eachother. so hit me back man! love you

On Mon, May 13, 2013 at 2:25 PM, Victor Miller <victor.miller@myldsmail.net> wrote:

Miss you...Long time

On Mon, May 13, 2013 at 12:20 PM, Clinton Berhow <clinton.berhow@myldsmail.net> wrote:

Doucher ha

On Monday, May 13, 2013, Clinton Berhow wrote:

Okay give me one more email. Why can't u? That's dumb tell Taylor what's up. I like the hood though its cool. Can't wait to see ya.  And yeah Matt's letter take foreverrrr to get here haha

On Monday, May 13, 2013, Victor Miller wrote:

Yeah I'm here but we can't email back and forth. It's against the rules here. I'm sorry you're in slums ha ha ha. I love you dude. I'm sure you know about Nick's call. Crazy stuff. I got a letter from New Zealand. I'm sure you know who that is.

On Mon, May 13, 2013 at 12:05 PM, Clinton Berhow <clinton.berhow@myldsmail.net> wrote:

South side is a terrible neighborhood. Literally I'm in the worst place in America haha

On Monday, May 13, 2013, Clinton Berhow wrote:

Dude u there?

On Monday, May 13, 2013, Victor Miller wrote:

Ha you're white wash training. Have fun bro! Is the South side a nice place or is it still the Hood? Dude I can't wait to see you again. I know that you are a great missionary. Keep working hard and be obedient.

How is your family doing? I haven't heard form your Dad or Mom or from Taylor in a long time. Do you know what they are up to? Well dude. I only have 10 months left. It's crazy how fast it goes. Daniel gets home in November just in time for the new Modern Warfare! OH SNAP! I love and miss you bro. Keep up the correspondence.

Live long and prosper.

Elder Victor Miller

On Mon, May 13, 2013 at 10:48 AM, Clinton Berhow <clinton.berhow@myldsmail.net> wrote:

haha dude that is nuts. but guess what? i am getting transferred! going down to the south side! i am white wash training dude... its gonna be crazy.i freaking love you man.

brothers.

elder berhow

On Mon, May 6, 2013 at 5:41 PM, Victor Miller <victor.miller@myldsmail.net> wrote:

I'm not kidding you. I will send you a pics next week. Right now we have 4 dates and one coming up named Michelle. She is very special. 5 transfers in one area huh? that's a long time! Honestly they didn't really say who the Senior was but I've been out longer. That stuff doesn't even matter anyways because we try to have equity in everything that goes on. There have been a lot of cool experiences down here. It is starting to heat up though. Clint I love and miss you so much bro. You're my brother! Have a miraculous week.

Love Vic

Jeff finally typed me an email. Took him a while.

On Mon, May 6, 2013 at 6:42 AM, Clinton Berhow <clinton.berhow@myldsmail.net> wrote:

so ho is senior companion? you i am guessing. are you freakin kidding me though i cannot believe you guys are comps!!! freaking crazy! that is legit man. how many baptisms do u have dude? i freaking miss both of you. itll be fun to play ball with you guys when i get home! I am still in logan square. i have been here for 7 1/2 months and i still love it. its right in the city and the hood. but transfers is this week and i will prolly end up leaving. i could stay another though i wouldnt mind it. well i love you a lot! write me back buddy.

On Mon, Apr 29, 2013 at 3:08 PM, Victor Miller <victor.miller@myldsmail.net> wrote:

PS one of the Elders in my last District started calling me STEEL MILL. So when I get back that's going to be my new gamertag! HA!

On Mon, Apr 29, 2013 at 12:05 PM, Victor Miller <victor.miller@myldsmail.net> wrote:

Roasted Corn Chowder with Bacon

I really did this Miller household some justice today.

We went to the farmers market this morning. We normally don't have a plan when we go. I just buy stuff and roll with it during the week. We got some yummy lemonades at the Psychedelic Lemonade stand then started our venture. 
Wes was like " we should do a corn chowder" after seeing all the corn for sale. "Do you know how to make it?" "YES, I do!" But not really- there is a lot of recipes out there. So, I had to combine some and then make up my own since I didn't have some of the ingredients on hand, like Lobster. Yeah, there was a lobster corn chowder recipe out there.
Luckily, my 'wingin it' recipe turned out, as I quote Blake, the "Bomb F****n Dot Com!"

Roasted Corn Chowder with Bacon

Ingredients

5-6 ears of corn, depending on the size, shucked

4 medium sized and washed Yukon gold potatoes, cut into bite sized cubes

5-6 slices of thick cut, good smokey bacon, cut into ½  inch strips

1 medium onion, chopped

2 jalapeno peppers, ribs and seeds removed and chopped

2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

3 cups corn broth (instructions on how to make below)

4 cups of milk

¼ cup of flour

½  teaspoon of cumin

2 teaspoons of salt, divided

1 TB of oil

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Shuck and remove the kernels of corn from each cob. I find that slicing the kernels off in a bowl, placed on a coffee cup flipped upside down, works best for me. Other people will slice over a kitchen towel and then pick up the kitchen towel with the kernels on it and dump them in a bowl. Whatever floats your boat.

12 ears for $5- Go Farmers Market!

Place the de-kerneled cobs of corn in a big pot. 

Place kernels on a large sheet pan and toss with a tablespoon of oil. Arrange kernels so that they fit as best they can on a single layer. Roast the corn for about 20 minutes, stirring half way through. It’s okay if not all the kernels look “roasted”- the concentrated corn flavor from the roasting process will be noticed- I promise. Turn off oven.

Meanwhile, Cover the de kerneled cobs with water, just enough to cover and add in a teaspoon of salt. Boil the cobs for 20-25 minutes. Turn off heat and remove the cobs and place on a towel or plate to cool. Once cool- scrape the cobs over a bowl to release any corn ‘milk’ and kernels that may have been missed. Add the ‘milk’ into the corn broth.

In a heavy duty pot, like a dutch oven, cook your thick sliced bacon over high heat. 

 I used 5 slices since these were uber thick.

Cook until just about crisp. Remove bacon out of pot with a slotted spoon, keep as much bacon drippings as you can in the pot, and let drain on a paper towel.  Turn your heat down to Medium. Add more oil if there isn’t sufficient bacon fat left from the bacon, then add your chopped onion and jalapeno and allow to sweat for about 5 minutes, so the onions are soft.  Add your bacon back in and your chopped garlic, stirring constantly so nothing sticks to the bottom. Cook mixture for about 2 minutes- so that garlic is cooked, but not burnt. 

These cloves were ginormous! and Fresh- you know garlic is fresh when its fragrant and sticky

My mom taught me how to prep all my ingredients before it goes into the pot.

Sprinkle in the flour and stir and cook for about 2-3 minutes. Add your corn broth a ladle, or 1 cup, at a time- scraping the bottom of the pot to get all the bits off. Let this simmer for about 5 minutes. Add in your cubed Yukon gold potatoes and 4 cups of milk.

 Simmer until potatoes are tender, stirring occasionally. Once potatoes are fork tender,  about 15-20 minutes- add your 6 ears of corn kernels and 1/2 teaspoon of cumin and ½ to 1 teaspoon of salt, to taste.

With a potato masher- break up the chowder to release the starches of the potatoes and corn. This will continue to thicken the chowder. Mash about 10 times around the pot.

 Mix the chowder, cover and remove from heat . Allow the chowder to ‘marry’ it’s flavors and thicken.

Serve with either or all of the following:  a dollop of sour cream, green onions, a few dashes of hot sauce, and a squeeze of lime- all totally optional.

Mission: Baby Miller

Oh heck- Im a blog slacker..after hyping up my Ung Family Story, Im still gathering pictures for Part 2. But it will be good, I promise.

The past month was about as stressful as I've been in a while. At some point the overwhelming pressure came on me to start looking for a new place to live. Interest rates are starting to creep up and home prices don't seem to be at a fair market value..super inflated to an exaggerated story of a recovery of the recession. People- unemployment is still staggeringly high, investors are gobbling up  homes and the banks have slowed their releases on shortsales and foreclosures- Bernanke just raised the interest rates two weeks ago. Its not a recovery. It's people messing with our heads, and make people like me- rush into home buying.

Anyway, imagine if you will- Hormones and House Hunting. Just think about this, how do you feel? Yah! multiply that feeling by 10 and that was me. That was me to the point that my gums were bleeding, and my fertile window meant nothing cause I couldn't 'get into it'.

Finally, we've slowed down the hunting process, a new realtor has helped calm us down. Not one who was looking for the commission as fast as she could, let alone not telling us a very important bit of info about a house not accepting an FHA Loan- after we put in an offer. It was disappointing, to say the least.

Mission: Baby Miller Update

I was convincing myself that IUI was the way to go next month. A year and half of trying including 5 months of hormones and nothing...so heartbreaking. I had a moment of break down when all I could see was women all around me getting pregnant and giving birth and I couldn't see the light at the end of the tunnel, I thought it was time for an aggressive approach. I was prepared for the bill, on top of the other bills that were piling up for our treatments.

I was mentally prepared to take the femara, then the shot of hcg and then the meeting of an a egg and sperm through IUI and hope for the best. I was even joking about it that it would be like a match.com in my uterus.

While stewing on this decision, I found a passion, one that I knew I already had, but little did I know how much it helped me get through my emotions. Baking. Like crazy. I thought wedding planning was where I was headed, but nope..it all lead me to baking. My old roommate, Brooke, and I had the same aspirations of a baking blog- so we did it. and now we have a facebook page and its probably the funnest thing I have done for myself in a long time. With the baking blog and my busy baking Sunday's it occured to me that I hadn't picked up my next fill of Femara. I usually pick it up the first day of my period.

Wes and I decided to give my body a little break, to take a little vacation from the hormones and allow me to just focus on what I am loving right now- Baking. So we are taking 3 months off of actively trying to make a baby. I tell you what- I am pretty happy about this. Although- I feel like there is some residual side effects in me, but nothing like the crazy stuff I had.

We are also still looking for a new home, but it's also taken more of a passenger seat. At some point I realized that the house will find us.

Anyway- there we are..here are some pictures of our Fourth of July. My Mother in Law is amazing!

Her famous flag cake and ribs!

Plus the fixins!

It was a good day to have a cheat day! I loved being around the family.

The Ung Family, Part 1

 I don't think most people realized the story of my family and how they came to the United States. There is this book that I adore and was given to us by The Fish's, on my Dad's 7 day memorial , I remember I held this book for almost the whole time..I felt like it was the last story of my dad I will ever get to see and hear about.

When my dad passed away- it was the most surreal moment for me. Prior to our road trip Wes and I just barely got engaged! I was so happy! and I even mentioned we elope haha. But, we figured a normal wedding would be nice and the whole family could be there to see. My mom talked to my Dad- he called her every day while he was in Cambodia while visiting his relatives. She said  my dad was really excited for me and it made him happy to hear I was on the path to settling down. I was just elated to be engaged and excited for our vacation coming up.

Wes and I are en route to Las Vegas for vacation and we are driving on the freeway in Vegas traffic. I was driving my dad's Mercedes- I'm so glad I did, cause it was one of the last things he sat in- his smell was still in it and his meticulous detailing was noticed. When my dad bought this car, he tried to change the oil and if you know Mercedes, they make it impossible to do that without taking it into the dealership or a mechanic who knows how. Somehow he found a way and broke something in the engine- haha. So it had this problem of overheating and I kept having to watch the cars thermometer to make sure it wouldn't go past a certain point. Even though my Dad wasn't with us- he made my road trip a little stressful, haha.

My mom called a few times while I was driving, but Wes- the safe driver he is- wouldn't let me answer the call. After the umpteempth call from my Mom, I just finally had to answer it. The phone call is engraved in my memory. I didn't even say hello, all I heard was my mom crying and yelling "your dad died!" and she hung up. Wes could tell I was in shock, and I told him...My eyes welled up with tears and it took all I had to control the car and get off the freeway. I pulled into a random parking lot and parked. And I cried..for a while. The first call I made was to my brother, Ty, and he knew already and we sobbed on the phone together. Then the second call I made was to our Sponsors- Ken and Fran. Fran's words of sympathy helped me get through my next call with Try, my half brother who lives in Georgia. With both phone calls I had with my brothers, they said my Dad sacrificed a lot for our family to get us here, he worked hard to give us a good life.

There are people who judge me for what I did after I heard that my dad passed. Why? Cause I continued on with my vacation. I spent the next few days with the man I was going to marry and the friends we met up with in Mesquite. There was a handful of us friends who planned that trip as a surprise birthday weekend for our friend, Ryan. I was in charge of getting to the hotel early and getting the room decorated. I took that job seriously- even though I am sure everyone would  have understood if I turned around back to Salt Lake to grieve. I didn't want to spoil this amazing birthday weekend for our friend so me and Wes didn't say anything about what just happened, actually we only told two people, Blake and Bobbie.And it was weird, really, because I wasn't even that close to them. I think it was just an impulse so that someone else besides Wes would understand if I suddenly started crying.

My Dad passed away in Cambodia, On May 27, 2011- he had already been there for a couple months and was a couple weeks away from flying home. I already hadn't seen him for a while, so even though I was sad to hear of his passing..it didn't really hit me. It was like he was on vacation still and I'd see him in a couple weeks.I wasn't even close to my Dad, I had a rough time with him growing up- he was very abusive and had a hard time seeing me become an "american' with american friends. He'd chase my friends away all the time. It was a tough go with that man and I just felt like he never was happy with any decision I ever made.   So I didn't take his death as seriously as people would have liked me too, especially when I continued my vacation plans with my friends.

 I wouldn't have stayed if my mom said to come back to Salt Lake, she told me to stay on my vacation because there wasn't a lot I could do as arrangements couldn't be made for my dad until the week day. Looking back, i don't regret not coming home right away. My mom was only mad  at me for a little bit- She felt I didn't come home to help her, but  I didn't know how to help her. I didn't know really what to do, I was angry at her really. And , as bad as this sounds- I had blamed her for my fathers early passing. And i didn't let go of that blame for a long time. She was the one that forced him to go on that trip and if he never would have gone, he'd still be alive- those were my thoughts.

On our way home from our vacation- it  hit me that my Dad wouldn't be  here to see me get married. All I knew at that moment, was I wanted to be married, soon, and just start my new life with Wes.

Okay- I felt like I had to share all that because now you may understand the amazing respect I've learned to develop since then, for my Mom and my Dad. I've recently came upon some stories from my sponsors and my mom that describe the sacrifices and courage of my Dad..    To be Continued!