Always and Forever

Songs I'm loving right now part 4

2012-01-28T07:42:00.000-07:00

Random things as of late

2012-01-27T06:56:00.000-07:00

Here are random things we've done/eaten/made recently.

I made turkey burgers. I'd never done it before and didn't exactly have a recipe, but I made the buns and burgers...and it was homemade guac. Yum.

Curtis' Birthday!

This came in an electronic thing Bryan ordered from China. Read it. (Both sides--see below.) It's HILARIOUS.

Dad won Shanghai!!! (It was like his 2nd time playing...ever.)

Bryan tested out the nighttime capacities of my camera. Pretty cool.

Michelle's Birthday Celebration at Red Lobster

Her yearly crab fix. :)

David who ordered bacon wrapped scallops and 2 different kinds of shrimp, was very glad he is no longer as picky as he used to be. He used to order an appetizer chicken fingers while we all ate delicious sea food.

The still picky Annie eating her noodles with butter, with the parsley flakes rinsed off because heaven forbid anything non-white is touching her food. I will give her this though: she tried the cheese rolls which we thought she'd never do in twelve million years.

Mom made the cake, I made the frosting. (It's Pioneer Woman's "Best Frosting I've Ever Had".) Make it. Love it. Crave it.

Michelle loves the pictures I post of her... she loves them so very much. :)

We had to take down our clock/thermometer to put new batteries in. This giant thing was stuck to the wall behind it. Awkward.

My friend Brittany gave me this cool plant, and the light coming in on it looked cool, and I wanted to test out my camera's settings... so I took a picture of it. Bryan made fun of me...lol.


Sometimes I crave German Pancakes...so we ate them for dinner the other night. So good.

Red Beans and Rice Stew

2012-01-26T23:43:00.000-07:00

As with all goals, if I don't get started right away, I just wait, saying I'll start "tomorrow" for like 700 tomorrows... so I started this goal tonight!

Red Beans and Rice Stew

Not the world's greatest photo...but that's what happens when dinner is ready when it's dark outside and all you have are green bowls. I don't think I'll be able to finish dinner midday when I'm at work or school, so I'll just have to get a white bowl. :)

**Note: Most of the recipes I'll be making out of this book have long lists of ingredients to help develop specific flavor profiles without the use of normal cooking methods (reducing sauces, etc). But, don't let the long list scare you. It's not bad.**

Ingredients

2 onions, minced-- (I used one red onion and one yellow onion because I only had one yellow onion.)
1 celery rib
6 garlic cloves
1 Tbs vegetable oil
2 tsp minced fresh thyme or 1/2 tsp dried (I used dried)
2 tsp sweet paprika
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

4 cups low-sodium chicken broth, plus extra as needed (I used 3 cans and could have used a bit more)
3 cups water
1 pound dried red kidney beans (about 2 1/2 cups) picked over and salt soaked (see bottom of page)
1 pound andouille sausage, sliced between 1/4 and 1/2 inch thick (pick a thickness and be consistent)
2 bay leaves

2 green bell peppers, stemmed, seeded, and chopped
1/2 cup long-grain white rice (I used jasmine because that's what I have)

Salt and pepper
Red Wine vinegar
Scallions, sliced thin (I didn't have any)

Steps

1. Microwave onions, celery, garlic, oil, thyme, paprika, and cayenne in bowl, stirring occasionally, until softened. This takes about 5 minutes. When done, transfer to slow cooker. (I prepared all these ingredients (except the oil) the night before and kept it in a tupperware in the fridge because I knew I wouldn't have time to cut it all up before school. I also cut up the meat and started the beans soaking.)

2. Stir broth, water, beans, sausage, and bay leaves into slow cooker. Cover and cook until beans are tender, 9 to 11 hours on low, 5 to 7 hours on high. (I let them cook for about 9.5 hours on low.)

3. Let stew settle for a few minutes, remove any excess fat from the top and add any extra broth. Discard bay leaves.

4. Stir in bell peppers and rice. Cover and cook on high until rice is done. (The recipe book says that the rice should take 30-40 minutes. Mine took about 50 minutes. I would wait and add the bell peppers about 20 minutes after the rice.)

5. Serve the soup with additional salt and pepper, and a sprinkling of red wine vinegar on top. (Scallions would also be good but I didn't have any. The vinegar is VERY important. The acid cuts through some of the richness.)

**Salt Soaking Beans: For every pound of beans, combine 4 quarts of water with 2 Tbs salt and let soak for at LEAST 8 hours. This softens bean skins, which is nearly impossible otherwise at such high altitudes as here in Provo.

I'm not the world's biggest sausage fan, but it gave this a good flavor. Get spicy sausage unless you really can't handle it. It's good. This is pretty hearty and pretty tasty. I'm sure it won't be my favorite of the recipes I try, but I think I'd make it again. If you like sausage or are a big fan of cajun flavor combinations and all that, you'll love this

I need Africa more than Africa needs me

2012-01-26T12:50:00.003-07:00

This is pretty inspiring.

https://www.themochaclub.org/

This is awesome. I want to buy a shirt and a bag. :) And not just because I love them but because I love what this stands for... my possessions and my circumstances do not need to define my happiness.

Songs I'm loving right now part 3

2012-01-26T06:00:00.000-07:00

Songs I'm loving right now part 2

2012-01-25T05:36:00.000-07:00

I dance to this song whenever it's on, including in the car.

(Sort of a boring video. Dance to the song instead of reading the words. That's boring.)

Songs I'm loving right now part 1

2012-01-24T17:07:00.002-07:00

I sing this in my head all day long. Helps that it's like the same phrase the whole chorus...lol.

Cum Laude?

2012-01-23T15:13:00.002-07:00

Hmm.... I just realized that I think I will be graduating Cum Laude (in the top 10% of the graduates)...and if I'm careful, I just might graduate Magna Cum Laude (in the top 5% to 1.1%).

That'd be kinda cool....

Slow Cooker Revolution

2012-01-23T14:22:00.000-07:00

You may not be surprised that this is probably my favorite cook book.

I love it. When we got married we registered on Amazon.com (in addition to Target) and this was one of the things I really wanted that I registered for. When it arrived on my porch one day I was thrilled!

I've tried some of the recipes in there, but usually I just look through the other recipes and salivate and wish I could eat it right then. But, I learn a lot of things from this book about the roles different components play in a recipe, etc. It's awesome.

So,

that brings me to my goal. I made this goal last night.

This year, 2012, I'm going to cook 30 of the recipes in this book.

That is not a big deal. It boils down to just over one new recipe every 2 weeks.

I started going through the recipes last night marking the ones I want to cook. :)

I'm so excited.

I'll post each recipe and my results on here as I go! Get excited!

(Examples of some of the recipes: Butternut Squash Chowder, French Onion Soup, Portuguese-style Potato and Kale Soup, "Roasted" chicken in a crock pot, steel cut oatmeal, Thai-style chicken stew, etc.)

Cougars- this is the lamest thing I've ever heard! hilarious though.

2012-01-19T13:35:00.000-07:00

New school can’t be Cougars because middle-aged women might be offended

By Cameron Smith | Prep Rally – 4 hours ago

Students at a new Utah high school are facing disappointment after their choice for a new school mascot was rejected for one of the strangest reasons possible: Board members deemed it might be seen as offensive to middle-aged women.

The BYU Cougar statue — Wikipedia

As reported by Salt Lake City Fox affiliate KTSU, Draper (Utah) Corner Canyon High announced its new mascot and school colors on Wednesday, with Canyons School District officials proclaiming that the school's teams will be called the Chargers, using a blue and white color scheme.

That's all fine and good except for the fact that the school's future student body -- which was given the opportunity to select its own future mascot -- had chosen to be the Cougars. With some 23 percent of the student vote, the Cougar choice was far preferred to other options, which included the Chargers, Diamondbacks, Falcons, Raptors, Broncos, Bears and Cavaliers.

The reason why the future student body gravitated toward Cougars is pretty clear: Area collegiate power BYU uses the Cougar as its mascot and enjoys an enormous fan base of area residents and those who follow the Mormon faith (BYU is a Mormon institution).

Corner Canyon High conceptual drawing —

CanyonLacrosse.com

Still, the Canyons School Board refused to accept the Cougar as a mascot out of fear that it might offend older women. In the current edition of the Webster Dictionary, the second definition for cougar sights a slang terminology that refers to "a middle-aged woman seeking a romantic relationship with a younger man."

To say that the board's reaction to having a school play as the Cougars was a bit over the top is certainly an understatement, particularly when one considers the fact that BYU and a host of other high schools in Utah use the Cougar as their mascot. By pulling the right to pick their own mascot away, the school board turned what appeared to be a nice nod toward student self determination into a first overbearing act of a new administration that doesn't even exist yet. Appoint Dean Wormer as principal and the student rebellion will be ready to go by the first day of school.

More significantly, why would the board even offer "Cougars" as a potential mascot choice if it wasn't prepared to accept it? That lack of logic is positively baffling. Surely everyone could have saved themselves a lot of face if they simply had not allowed prospective students to choose to be the Cougars in the first place.

Of course, there's still plenty of time for the Canyons School Board to re-consider and give the students back their Cougars. Corner Canyon isn't scheduled to open until fall 2013, so the initial announcement of school colors and mascot was seen as a way to get positive attention for a project that remains on schedule.
Needless to say, it doesn't seem to have quite worked out that way.

Random List

2012-01-17T12:20:00.000-07:00

1. I watched Hoarders last night. My OCD self is slightly addicted to it. It was the worst one I've ever ever seen. Holy cow. It makes me want to go home and scrub and sort things. I'm not even going to describe how bad it was...we're talking the people went in in Hazmat suits and the house was condemned after removing a few pictures. Holy crap (literally...).

2. While we were watching this show I was sitting cross legged on the couch and found an embarrassing hole in an embarrassing spot in my pants. No I'm not showing you a picture. Guess I wore them out. Guess I need new ones.

3. Bryan and I went to Thai food with mom and Michelle yesterday. We tried a new place down by J Dawgs in Provo (I forgot what it's called). It was pretty good but my favorite place around here is probably still Bangkok Grill on 800 South in Orem.

4. I woke up with a nasty head cold Saturday morning (or Friday morning... I forget) and it hasn't gone away. It's migrated downward out of my sinuses (mostly) into my lungs. That's no good. My spinning class was pretty tough today because of that. =P

5. I need to take a practice GRE in the next few days. It doesn't sound fun.

6. I wanted to make pork and brussels sprouts stir fry for dinner tonight, but having eaten rice like 12 times in the past few weeks maybe I'll hold that off for another night.

7. I'm going to let this sit here while I work and I'll write things as I think of them. :)

8. I don't have anything else to say... talk to you later. :)

Exciting News! Starts with an M, ends with "asters".

2012-01-15T20:14:00.000-07:00

Turns out, as usual, when I try to plan my life the Lord humors me for a bit,

and then let's me know that He has other plans.

This time His plan was totally different than mine.

And as a result, I am now applying to graduate school.

I'm applying for the Mathematics Education Masters program at BYU.

The program is really great and if I get accepted, they offer me teaching positions (etc) to "earn my keep" (aka, pay my tuition plus a stipend...which is fantastic).

And I would graduate with my Masters at least a semester before Bryan finishes his Bachelors.

So, this is my life plan as of Monday...lol.

This means I need to take the GRE ASAP (with little preparation...eeks!) and will be in school for another two and a half years!

But, now that I've let it marinate in my brain, I'm very excited. :)

Pray for me!

Overheard in my "advanced" cooking class....

2012-01-14T05:10:00.000-07:00

This class is called "Advanced Food Preparation".

The text is "Culinary Fundamentals", the culinary "Bible".

Maybe my expectations were too high?

The first day was called "provident living", and we basically made a dozen or so recipes that you could make out of your food storage (beans, dry milk, etc.).

*A boy in my group uses his fingertips (not the provided sponges and scrubbers) to wash his dish.

*The same boy watches the rest of us as we clean every other dish.

*Group 4, who was supposed to use "magic mix" (a mixture of powdered milk, flour, and butter) to make cream of vegetable soup, used sweetened condensed milk (also made from the powdered milk) to make their soup. I don't even know what to say about that... really? I didn't eat it.

*Group 2 who was making oatmeal bread (which was actually quite delicious) plopped the dough for their bread on our counter, 3 inches away from our dish sponges, to form their loaf of bread.

*Previously mentioned boy in my group kept brown nosing to the teacher, talking (far too much) about his pressure cooker his mom gave him when she got a new one, effectively abandoning us whenever we were doing any cleaning of any sort.

*Same boy put himself in charge of making the macaroni and cheese in our group. He plopped the noodles into the baking/serving dish, put the white sauce (which he conveniently never boiled) into the pan, sprinkled the cheese on top, looked at it cross eyed with a spoon in his hand (instead of stirring it), didn't put the seasonings or the onions in (I snuck them in later when he was talking to the teacher...when I also stirred it as carefully as possible), and then went about cooking it deciding he didn't want to set any sort of timer, he'd rather play it by ear. *bangs head on table*

*Group 5 made baked spaghetti with chicken...and most likely forgot to cover it in the baking process, effectively drying out every noodle in the dish until it turned into an uncooked ramen-like conglomeration.

*Group 4 (sweetened condensed milk and broccoli soup group) was also in charge of making a brown rice and vegetable pilaf type thing. Unfortunately their vegetables were mushy and their rice was crunchy and I had to pick it out of my teeth. Not so good.

*Whichever group made the rice pudding cooked it too long making it the texture of leftover oatmeal you leave on the table (one plop of glop) and forgot to add the seasonings to the inside so they sprinkled them on the top.

I know there was more...but you get the picture.

Summary: Maybe this class will simply give me lots of exposure to lots of recipes to make (or not make) at home, for some credit... maybe it's not going to teach me as much as I thought.

Oh well. It'll be a good source of entertainment apparently.

Happy Birthday!

2012-01-13T05:30:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Michelle!

Lemon Basil Chicken

2012-01-12T22:31:00.000-07:00

This is probably one of Bryan's favorite things to eat. Ever.

It's his mom's recipe.

Before we got married he said, "I guess if we're getting married you should learn to make this."

So, Lisa gave me her recipe. Mine's not as good as hers (mom's is always better) but Bryan said it'll do. :)

Lemon Basil Chicken

3 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs

Sauce: (I doubled what is listed here for twice the sauce to serve over rice)
1 cup Miracle Whip
2 Tbs. Lemon Juice
2 Tbs. Honey
1 tsp. Dried Basil

Season the thawed chicken with salt and pepper. Put in 9x13 pan. (It seems to work best if the chicken pieces aren't touching each other.

Mix together the remaining ingredients for sauce. (I doubled the sauce.) Pour the sauce over the chicken and in the pan.

Bake at 375 F for 1-1.25 hours. (I baked it loosely covered with foil for the first 45 minutes, uncovered for the rest of the time.)

Cook rice toward the end of the baking. I use Jasmine rice.

Serve the chicken and sauce over rice.

Lucky for me, Bryan's favorite recipe isn't terribly difficult. :)

Learning for Eternity

2012-01-12T17:10:00.000-07:00

(This is a portion of a talk that I really love by President James E Faust. To read the whole thing click on the link below)

Learning for Eternity

JAMES E. FAUST

James E. Faust was the second counselor in the First Presidency of
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints when this devotional
address was given at Brigham Young University on 18 November 1997.
© Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.
Complete volumes of Speeches are available wherever LDS books are sold.
For further information contact:
Speeches, 218 University Press Building, Provo, Utah 84602.
(801) 422-2299 / E-mail: speeches@byu.edu / Speeches Home Page

***

I have said repeatedly that Brigham Young University is a continuing experiment on whether an institution--the majority of whose trustees are prophets, seers, and revelators--can continue to be true to its trust by the world's changing standards and yet be a first-class university academically. Elder Jeffrey R. Holland said it well: "The 'watchmen on the tower' cry out for those who will integrate, coalesce, clarify, and give both order and rank to important human knowledge" ("A School in Zion," BYU Annual University Conference address, August 1988, p. 27). At Brigham Young University the secular must be taught in a spiritual context. Indeed, as President Spencer W. Kimball points out, "The secular without the foundation of the spiritual is but like the foam upon the milk, the fleeting shadow" (TSWK, p. 390).

Each of you, on a personal level, has the same challenge that exists for the university. You need to know the purpose for your being. Each of you needs to ask yourself, Why am I here on earth? Why am I at this university rather than at any other university, one that will teach only secular learning? Am I here to enjoy a scintillating social life? Is it to support the athletic program? Is it to find a companion? The answer is, You are here to learn for eternity.

A year ago, when President Gordon B. Hinckley was on this campus, he admonished:

If this university meets the purpose for which it is maintained, then you must leave here not alone with secular knowledge but, even more important, with a spiritual and moral foundation that will find expression to improve the family, the community, the nation, even the world of which you will be a part. [Gordon B. Hinckley, "Stand Up for Truth," BYU 199697 Speeches (Provo: Brigham Young University, 1997), p. 23]

Learning and education have always been the hallmark of our people. Every president of the Church, beginning with President Joseph Smith, has zealously fostered, encouraged, and supported the cause of education. The reason for this emphasis is that education equates with our eternal well-being. In a First Presidency message dated March 26, 1907, the Brethren said:

To the Latter-day Saints, salvation itself, under the atonement of Christ, is a process of education. That knowledge is a means of eternal progress, was taught by Joseph Smith:--It is impossible for a man to be saved in ignorance.--A man is saved no faster than he gets knowledge.--The glory of God is intelligence. [Messages of the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, comp. James R. Clark (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1970), 4:14647]

In the law school I attended not far from here, our dean told us we were studying the law so that we could learn to think straight. He said the law would change, but if we could learn to think critically by separating the wheat from the chaff, we would be better qualified to become effective advocates. Brigham Young stated it better: "Education is the power to think clearly, the power to act well in the world's work, and the power to appreciate life" (Brigham Young, quoted by George H. Brimhall in "The Brigham Young University," Improvement Era, vol. 23, no. 9 [July 1920], p. 831).

***

The clocks tick as you pursue your studies at Brigham Young University. This should be a happy time as you move forward, tooling up for your working lives. Don't forget to laugh at the silly things that happen. Humor is built very largely upon incongruities and contrasts. It is a powerful force for good when used with discretion. Its physical expression, laughter, is highly therapeutic.

To summarize, President Brigham Young's statement really is talking about internalizing what we learn, going from what we know to what we do to what we are. All our learning and living should prepare us for leadership in the Church and the community. As President Hugh B. Brown pointed out:

Every doctrine has its associated duty, . . . every truth has its task. The gospel when the Master first proclaimed it, was not intended primarily for preaching--it was intended for action. . . .

No man can truly assimilate Christianity by impression alone, there must be expression as well. ["Service," Relief Society Magazine, December 1969, p. 888]

For 25 years I have been privileged to walk with and sit at the feet of the prophets almost daily. Some have excelled academically or in the business world. Others achieved distinction in medicine, in science, or in law. Yet they are all men of great humility and wisdom. They bear witness, as expressed by our late President Howard W. Hunter, that

belief must be realized in personal achievement. Real Christians must understand that the gospel of Jesus Christ is not just a gospel of belief; it is a plan of action. His gospel is a gospel of imperatives, and the very nature of its substance is a call to action. [CR, April 1967, p. 115]

Do not become puffed up with pride as you progress in secular learning.

My challenge to you is to learn to think spiritually. That is far harder to master than learning by rote the many facets of secular education. I emphasize spiritual thinking because secular learning is ever changing. Even the so-called exact sciences, with some exceptions, are changing. Spiritual knowledge and intelligence are unchanging and eternal.

Your purpose in being at Brigham Young University is to help you reach to eternity. The quest for eternity begins now, this year, this month, this day, this moment. You want to be able to compete as competent equals with others in your discipline.

As we think about what we will take into the eternities, it will only be our faith and our understanding and knowledge, both spiritual and temporal.

Whatever principle of intelligence we attain unto in this life, it will rise with us in the resurrection.

And if a person gains more knowledge and intelligence in this life through his diligence and obedience than another, he will have so much the advantage in the world to come. [D&C 130:18-19]

We do not want to arrive in the next world educationally bankrupt, though I am afraid I have a lot of chemistry and math to learn! I hope I will be a better student there. Also, I expect our teachers there will have enhanced abilities.

***

President Lorenzo Snow taught:

The whole idea of Mormonism is improvement--mentally, physically, morally, and spiritually. No half-way education suffices for the Latter-day Saint. He holds with Herbert Spencer that the function of education is to "prepare man for complete living," but he also maintains that "complete living" should be interpreted "life here and hereafter." Joseph Smith declared that the glory of God is intelligence, that a man is saved no faster than he gets knowledge, and that whatever principles of intelligence he attains to in this life, they will rise with him in the resurrection, giving him the advantage over ignorance and evil in the world to come. He taught that man by constantly progressing may eventually develop into a divine being, like unto his Father in Heaven. [Teachings of Lorenzo Snow (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1984), p. 27]

Schedule Update

2012-01-12T11:14:00.000-07:00

Turns out, spinning is my favorite class ever. lol.

Also turns out, the weightlifting class was a joke.

Joke and a half.

Most of the time we were either doing stretches and things on the hard floor because there weren't enough mats,

or we were waiting in line for a stupid dumbbell.

Seriously?

I'm not going to get back in my workout clothes, leave work early, and come all the way back to campus for this. Please.

So I dropped the class.

...which makes it only the second class I've dropped since I started college. I'm not too picky.

So now my Tuesdays and Thursdays are much simpler and I have lots more time for work and homework.

That's always nice.

I may have figured out

2012-01-12T11:01:00.001-07:00

I may have figured out a way i can send a text to my blog and have it be an instant post. This is a test run. Testing...

Our Christmas break, minus sledding pictures which will come later on their own post. :)

2012-01-11T15:30:00.000-07:00

The sledding pictures really are worthy of their own post. :)

So here's Christmas.

Teaching Tactic

2012-01-09T22:50:00.002-07:00

Michelle's friend sent me this.

It's spot on. :)

I have an idea.....a little crazy really...

2012-01-09T13:49:00.000-07:00

I have an idea...

...a little crazy really...

I wonder if I could pull it off?

Hm... I think I'll find out what it entails soon...

...and then I'll see if I can get everything done in time...

...and it's all really crazy and scary and exciting and I wonder if my brain can handle it...

We'll see.

I'll keep you posted. :)

My new church calling...

2012-01-08T22:45:00.000-07:00

I got a new calling in church today.

I'll still be playing the organ in sacrament meeting once a week,

but I've been released from being the Relief Society pianist.

I am...

...drumroll please....

a new teacher in Relief Society!

I'm excited.

Intimidated though.

I will be teaching sisters in the ward about the teachings of the Prophet George Albert Smith.

I learned last week that many of these women knew him.

No pressure. :)

My last semester.

2012-01-06T22:06:00.000-07:00

Wanna know what classes I'm taking for this, my last semester as an undergraduate?

Let's start with the two that are causing me to still be in college because I have yet to take them:

1. Physical Science 100.

*pauses while we all laugh* Yes, I have not taken the freshman science class. Not sure why. I like science. I'm good at science...just haven't taken it. Let's be honest... it's probably because it had a lab and I like to avoid classes with extra labs...lol

2. Combinatorics.

Google it if you want. It's a math class. It could be (and has been) called "The Art of Counting".

Here's the type of stuff it deals with:
-How many different "words" (letter combinations) can I make using the letters in "Mississippi"? Keep in mind, if you switch two s's, it's the same word and you can only count one of them. :)

Pst....the answer is 34650.

Now let's go on to the classes that Lindsay is taking for fun (and to give herself "full time" status so I can get a Pell Grant.)

3. Doctrine and Covenants, part 2.

I took part one last spring and I'm excited to take the second half. To quote Brother Bott (who somehow I almost left BYU without experiencing, which blows my mind,) the first half of the Doctrine and Covenants gives us a foundation to help bring us back to God. The second half teaches us how to become like God.

4. Spinning

Indoor biking. I'm very excited. :)

5. Weightlifting/ Strength Training

The teacher is crazy and there are girls in the class that asked me if I'd drop it with them because there were boys in the class! Seriously people? Lol... of course there are boys in the class. It should be interesting! Heaven knows I need a little strength training. :)

6. Social Dance

Bryan and I are both in this class. It's two hours on Friday nights. We'll be learning the Cha Cha, Swing dancing, the Waltz, the Fox Trot, and the Polka. I'm excited. So's Bryan. He wants his wife to be able to dance decently...lol.

7. Advanced Food Preparation

This is the class where I learn the basics of "culinary fundamentals" (as in the step above normal "home cooking") and where I learn how to cook different cuisines from all over the world. It'll be awesome. Bryan's very excited to eat leftovers. :)

And so, I can't feel too bad for myself. ;) It'll be a fun semester.

I found this new song...I love it!

2012-01-05T14:25:00.001-07:00

And here's a slower, more acoustic version..

I can't decide which I like better. Probably depends on my mood.

Freak Out Moment

2012-01-03T13:40:00.000-07:00

Hi everybody.

I'm working on some new posts (Christmas recap, 2011 in review, etc,) but they're slow coming since we've been pretty busy.

But for now, I'd like to take a moment and freak out a bit. :)

Inevitably as a new year begins, me, who doesn't really love big changes (yet who thrives on changes of pace...go figure...) has a freak out moment trying to "plan the year"...if you will.

Let me just take a moment and inform you that when you're about to graduate in four months and are still waiting to hear back from a recent job interview and aren't sure where you'll be working at any given moment in the year, it's difficult to feel like you've planned your year.

Just saying.

But, my freak out moment occurred when I realized that in four months I'll be a real adult without a college schedule to guide my life. *freak out*

Just sayin'.

But, it's very exciting. :) Let's plan a party for April 20th, shall we?