an orange life

Running

2012-01-27T06:59:00.001-08:00

Last night I was falling asleep thinking about how there's so many things I want to do but don't because I am lazy. One of those is exercising. Why does just thinking about it make me dig my heels in? So, today I woke up and went running. And you know what? It felt GOOD! It felt good to not give into excuses. It felt good to have rain all over my head to cool me off. It felt good to be outside.

I didn't decide to start running to feel good. I started because I don't want to feel fat anymore. Being married makes you fat (too bad I learned this through self-discovery). I remember starting cross country in high school and after just 2 weeks, could feel my stomach flatten and my pants loosen. So, that is the goal this time. I'm going to run everyday for the next month, except Sundays, and see if I can feel my pants become baggier and learn to like running a little more.

If I do like it, I'm buying myself a new pair of running shoes. Wish me luck! Or even better, join me :)

Thanksgiving etc

2012-01-15T17:24:00.000-08:00

We went to Plymouth for Thanksgiving. On our way home, due to some planning differences with our rental car company we ended up having 4 free hours in Boston so we walked the Freedom Trail. This picture was taken on the freedom trail.

Two of the some of the oldest houses in Plymouth, MA. The one on the right belonged to Mr Jennie who ran the grist mill. The tour at the Jennie Grist Mill was pretty neat.

At Plimouth Plantation, the walkway between Plimouth and the Wompanoag Village. So beautiful and cold!

Inside the Plantation. I cannot believed that even half of the pilgrims made it through that first winter. How difficult.

Watching some Plimoth men split a log the way they would've in the 1600s. Looked like tons of work for such a small outcome.

My favorite part of Plimoth Plantation was this guy. He's worked there for 40 years doing carpentry projects with tools that would have been used in the pilgrims time. Beautiful work. I wish I could apprentice with him.

My thrift store find. 100% genuine leather jacket. Made in Korea. Love it! ($10)

Moving to New York with 4 suitcases, one duffle bag, and two backpacks. Thank goodness Cy was on military orders so we didn't have any baggage fees.

Cy, surprising me on Halloween with an exorbitant amount of candy. Not unusual at all for me but very un-Cy-like to indulge the sweet tooth to that extreme. That is one of my favorite surprises ever!

Sneak Peak

2012-01-06T12:10:00.000-08:00

Our apartment in NYC has been really fun to decorate. Here's a sneak peak. A box of paper stars. We punched out about 850 of them from some nice paper we bought at a specialty paper store here in Manhattan.

My sister made this amazing quilt for our wedding. We both LOVE it! And Cy made the mobile with some fabric scraps from a quilt I'm making. Oh, and the flowers . . . Cy bought those for me today. Sweet Cy.

Time

2011-10-26T12:07:00.000-07:00

I haven't had a job since June. Instead I've been a full time stay at home wife. Moving every month or so has made for interesting times. What do I do most of the day?

1) Playing WWF. Lately, I've had some disastrous fires to put out when opponents have thrown down words like GHAZI (41 pts) or TOQUET (108 pts). Something smells fishy! I mean, how many of those "words" can my opponent even define? Ghazi, dal, mol, prog, hoy, ef, etc etc. Words? Hardly.

2) Khan Academy Math. Did you know there is a free website where a really smart guy made all these videos to teach people Math? Do you know how to find the foci of an ellipse? I didn't know until today. I now have 3 virtual patches from Khan Academy. YES!

Next up, Calculus. I've never studied it but I have a feeling this is the most straightforward AND cheapest way to learn Calculus, Thanks Sal!

3) I joined a sewing group. The ladies have been SO kind and liked me and my work right off the bat. It's definitely something I will always want to be involved in. Here's a little sashiko I've been working on (totally unrelated to your Christmas present, Leigh)

4) Cy and I have been teaching the 4 year olds in sunday school. One of our favorite students, Zaniya, is wildly entertaining. She is new to the church as her Mom has been less active for a few years. The other day, Cy asked what happens when we lie? Her response: "If you Lah, you go to HAIL!" Cute little southern accent. Later that day she also said, in a robot voice, "I is an alien."

Cy is a natural teacher of 4 year olds and incorporated these shrunken apple heads into the lesson by doing role plays with them. The kids sat perfectly still during those role plays. A miracle, right?!?! Then the next week, we made these marshmallows as a treat and on a whim, Sunday morning, Cy decides to do a little stop action video of them that he used in class to show why 4 year olds should be reverent in church.

(by the way, if you haven't seen our stop action video with these shrunken apples, check it out on Cy's facebook)

(prize to anyone who can guess which 2 of these I made)

5) Cy and I celebrated our first date, which was on October 16th, 2010. We went on a Zipline Quest over a waterfall. There were 8 ziplines included in this quest. It was tons of fun. What a beautiful day. Then we went out to Pho and argued about politics.

Cy had the foresight to take a pic on our first date (always thinking ahead)! We went hiking, ate Pho, and talked about gingerbread houses and Chinese. Good memories. October 16, 2010

October 15, 2011

Ketchup

2011-10-07T19:26:00.002-07:00

Well, we have so much to catch up on since we got married 3 months ago. Crazy that it's been 3 months and we still feel like newly-weds.

As I'm typing, Cy, deep in thought studying for a huge medical boards test just interrupted to tell me about a new idea he just thought up. "You know how Christmas trees can be big fire hazards? How about you make a Christmas tree rug that's fire retardent, or even a fire retardent Advent Calendar? Wouldn't that be a good idea?" I'm glad he's so enthralled with his studies.

Things we've been up to...

First, I got a picture of Cy washing his sister's car the morning we got married... right after he washed my car and his parents car. Lorenzo helped out. So sweet

Here are some purses I made from leftover wedding fabric

here are some crazy nieces and nephews we visited

The arboretum at our hotel in Hawaii. It was right on the beach. Such an amazing 6 weeks.

A little island Cy swam to outside our hotel

Cute little red headed birds all over Oahu

Some crazy apples Cy carved. They molded just a few days later. Drats. I'm the cute one and Cy is the other one.

We've got 3 more weeks in North Carolina then we'll move to NYC for November! Time is just zip zip zipping along.

A Wedding

2011-07-18T15:06:00.000-07:00

I married sweet Cyrus on July 2nd, 2011. It was just a perfect day. Everything was more beautiful than I thought it would be.

I wish I could have been a guest at the reception instead of the bride so that I could've eaten more and chatted with my family.

We chose a yellow and white theme which included lots of lemons, hundreds of white flowers, a custom made dress from my good friend Xiao Ru, a mini hot dog bar, gourmet cookies galore, and a cake that had a peanut butter cream filling topped with raspberry jam!

El Paso

2011-06-02T09:50:00.001-07:00

So, I moved to El Paso at the end of March to be able to date Cy in real time. I wasn't too excited about the location considering that El Paso is a barren wasteland. Especially coming from a very green place, it was hard to adjust. The city parks, although green on maps, are anything BUT. There is no recycling here, there are hardly any sidewalks. It's just not a pretty place. BUT . . . .

I LOVE El Paso. And here's why. The people are WONDERFUL! I work at a corporate medical supply company. There are hundreds of people that work here and it's amazing how much of a community feeling we have. People are always helping each other out. They even do things for me and they don't even know me.

For example, if someone is going to the pop machine, they always ask if they can get me something. This week, so far, I've been given 1 candy bar, 2 fresh cantaloupe juices, 1 breakfast sandwich, and chips & salsa (from a local restaurant). WHAT? I know. No one's even trying to butter me up, they're just good at sharing.

I love this place.

My Guy Cy

2011-04-23T10:31:00.000-07:00

So, a while back I started dating Cy. Here are some things you should know about him. He is

1) A Grammarian
2) An Artist
3) Un-scare-able
4) A Peacemaker
5) A dare devil
6) A Loud laugher
7) A Redhead advocate
8) An Optimist
9) Musical
10) Crazy
11) My Fiance

YAY

A Wrapping Up

2011-04-08T11:22:00.000-07:00

As I was finally flying home a few weeks ago, I realized some things about my trip "around the world." I missed a lot of places in the world but here are the things that I did do

34- I saw 34 people that I love!

13- I took 13 flights (which included 21 legs in all)

7- Ignored 7 calls from a Venezuelan I met on the plane who wanted me to go dancing with him, have dinner with him, and spend the weekend with him.

6- took 6 taxis, even one in the US

5- Ate 5 hot dogs! YUM

4- Visited 4 countries

3- Went to 3 museums AND 3 temple sessions (hong kong, taipei, and nyc)

2- Had 2 free advice sessions with Zach, he LOVES giving advice

1- One karaoke night

I had so much fun. I think I'll do that every year!

Mom

2011-04-01T14:52:00.000-07:00

I just ran into this picture of Mom and had to post it. Look at her exuberance at winning the card game she just taught all these Brazilians right after meeting them. ha! haha. That was a fun day.

Thailand

2011-02-27T06:13:00.000-08:00

Doesn't everyone just dream about going to Thailand?!?! The temp was between 80-90 the 6 days we were there. We stayed at a sunny beach town with the excuse being to spend time with Xiao Ru's son, Scott, who is doing an internship in Pattaya, Thailand. I hadn't really done any research before-hand because, like I just said, Scott lives there. He could drive us around and knew what things were fun in the area.

Bad idea. Turns out Pattaya is basically the red light district (if an entire city could be that) for Thailand, according to a guidebook I looked at after we flew back from Thailand.

However, we did manage to stay at an elegant and beautiful hotel that felt safe and clean (as opposed to the beach or the street or basically, anywhere else) and, had a tasty authentic Italian restaurant on the ground floor. YUM!!

Maybe this isn't really fair but mostly I just have a lot of pictures of weird things in Thailand

Exhibit A: A beauty pageant for 5 year olds complete with heels and vibrato. In a city known for it's promiscuity, I don't see how entering a young girl in a beauty pageant will really be of help to the child later on.

Exhibit B: Anyone up for a massage in a mall behind those windows?

Exhibit C: Taxi sticker

Exhibit D: Cola for the Gods. Well, it's really just for whichever God is in that tiny temple . . .

Exhibit E: A practically fenceless Zoo. Apparently this type of Gibbon is scared of water so the moat keeps him in his habitat.

Exhibit F: Street flood after just 10 minutes of rain, as seen from the back of a Taxi's truck bed.

Last one: Foot spa where tiny fish eat your dead skin. How thoughtful of them. I was very nervous. It didn't help that Xiao Ru howled when she put her feet in first. I kept asking her why and she said "nothing." It kind of felt like the pins and needles feeling after your feet fall asleep. And it felt kind of good until I remembered that fish were eating my feet.

My next trip to Thailand will be better. And hopefully more beachy and less bawdy.

Hong Kong

2011-02-27T04:58:00.000-08:00

So, I went to Hong Kong for a few days last week. I decided a long time ago that I would go to Hong Kong after seeing a picture of the LDS temple there. What a beauty! But Hong Kong is really known for 2 things

1) shopping

2) eating

Since I'm not really big on shopping and I have a strong aversion to Asian food, after just two days, I was ready to leave which worked out perfectly because we flew to Thailand 2 days later. But I enjoyed the Hong Kong temple and we also found a really great bead market. I guess Hong Kong has one of the biggest pearl markets in the world.

So many street signs you can hardly see the sky.

False Alarm

2011-02-24T10:35:00.001-08:00

Writing that post finally made me realized I hadn't check on the tones of school and water . . . tada! One's a 2nd tone and one's a 3rd. Well, no wonder they sounded the same, they are, indeed the same sounds, just not the same intonations on that small syllable.

The second tone goes starts at one note and goes up like a half pitch. (kind of like how we say "huh?")

The third tone dips down a half pitch then back up. (like "uh huh")

The real moral of this story: Chinese is stupid. That is the next thing I'll learn to say in Chinese.

Chinese

2011-02-24T10:12:00.000-08:00

There are many reasons why native English speakers should never try and learn Chinese. Let me just illustrate one.

The word for 'school' in Chinese, sounds exactly the same as the word for 'water.' If you don't believe me, ask any Chinese or Taiwanese person you know to say them both. Then when you try and repeat them exactly they'll say "NO! Stop saying SHOE!!! That's not helping you figure out the difference between school and water."

So then I say, okay say "school."

And Xiao Ru says"Shway," with a 3rd tone (or whatever, I haven't memorized which tone is which number, 4 is a lot to memorize, you know)

And so I say "say it again"

"Sway"

Say it once more.

"Shway"

Okay, one more time.

"Sway"

Okay, I'm really confused. (notice how she keeps going back and forth starting the word with a "s" and a "sh" sound? Well, she didn't notice, even after I point it out! Come on, Chinese, don't be so impossible)

"It's so EASY, (sounding out each sound separately) s-w-a-y . . . shway! SEE it's not as hard as you're making it!"

BUT, I do have an English example that also illustrates language weirdness.

Think of that phrase: won't you?

There are 2 ways of saying at (at the least)

1) Won you (when you get to the t, it's stopped so early you can't even hear it, like they pronounce mountain in Utah, technically it's a glottal stop)

2) Won't shyou (this is where the friction of the /t/ sliding into the /y/somehow makes an extra /sh/ pop out of that word)

So that kind of explains the s/sh problem but it does NOT explain why shway/sway for school is a different word than the shway/shay for bus.

The moral of this story: Asi es la vida.

Little Ru

2011-02-19T06:50:00.000-08:00

So, Xiao Ru (said 'show' rhyming with 'how'), the friend I'm with here in Thailand, is a pretty interesting person. It's funny how spending all your waking hours with someone can help you learn interesting things about them. Here are some of Xiao Ru's funny quirks:

1) She can't stand walking on people's right side. So she always switches over to the left. Even in the hotel we stayed at in Hong Kong she wanted the bed on the left. ha!

2) She, like most Taiwanese, love beans in her desserts. Beans strictly go with sugary sweet foods and NOT with salty foods

3) She says fun things like "airpork" (though that has since been corrected) and "swimsoup" (just today)

4) She doesn't have a job and her kids are out of the house and her husband works all day so guess what she does . . . goes to hang out with her parents. No, she really does, every single day. How sweet. She doesn't like them to feel lonely.

5) She always wants to have her arm looped around whoever she's walking with, or to be holding hands with the person she's walking with. This is obviously a no-go for me but it's kind of neat to be around another culture that is more affectionate.

6) She is not an extravagant spender really ever. I asked her why she keeps buying me things (2 pairs of shoes, and offers for 3 other pairs, dresses, plane tickets, food, etc) if she doesn't like spending money. She said "oh, well, spending money on a friend is totally different. When I'm poor and you are rich, you can pay for me. But you are poor and I'm not so this is how it has to be for now." We're already planning a trip to France in September. Actually, she's planning it but just wants me to come along for the ride. Sure, I can do that

What a friend!

Taiwan Highlights

2011-02-09T17:52:00.000-08:00

What's really fun about Taiwan, you ask? Well, how about the fact that Xiao Ru has a maid. The maid is very nice because

1) She cleans my bedroom

2) She makes my bed (heaven to have my bed made, I do it once a year.)

3) She washes AND folds my clothes

4) She makes me fresh squeezed OJ in the morning

Could life get any better? Oh I know, how about I go to a beach in Thailand? Maybe next week. For now I'm going to enjoy hiking, massages, and long walks to KFC.

That reminds me, I know I'm horrible for coming to Taiwan and not loving their food. It just isn't fair. I did eat some bamboo the other day that was fabulous but I stayed away from the raw shrimp and abalone. BUT I warned and forewarned Xiao Ru about my aversion to Asian foods so she wouldn't be offended when she cooked for me and I didn't like it (it's hard to pretend when you're gagging, i've learned that in my travels). Lucky for me Xiao Ru doesn't cook at all! She only goes out to eat.

Last night it was Pizza Hut. Do NOT, I repeat, DO NOT go to Pizza Hut in Taiwan expecting normal American food. Pizza with squid or seafood or chicken or duck are in abundance in Taiwan.

Pictures from a walk we took.

This was my favorite meal so far. Noodles and fried fish sticks in a gravy type soup. YUM

80 days around the world

2011-02-07T16:52:00.000-08:00

So, here it is, my 17th (or something like that) vacation day in a row.

So far I've been to
1) Rexburg to visit Andrew, Ashley, and my baby Callie (who just happens to live with them)
2) Pocatello to visit Brooke
3) El Paso to visit a cute boy
4) Salt Lake City to visit the sisters and their families
5) Taiwan to hang out with Xiao Ru

Highlights so far:

Dying my hair brown in Rexburg (the reddish hue was unplanned but welcomed).

Eating Sushi with Brooke

Visiting the Carlsbad Caverns with said cute boy.
(this pic is from Christmas, he took all the pics this time, and i haven't gotten any copies yet)

Eating Chicago dogs at JohnnieBeefs (My new favorite eatery in SLC, located in a gas station)

70 degree weather and fresh squeezed orange juice in the morning at Xiao Ru's.
(pictures at a later date)

Watching the nephews do the Robot (couldn't get a good video) AND
watching Luke watch snowboarding!

Things

2010-12-14T17:25:00.000-08:00

There's this fun game, "Things," that we played at our work Christmas party last weekend. Basically there are topics like: Things you do when no one's looking, or things you shouldn't say to your Mother in law. Stuff like that. Each person answers the question on a seperate sheet of paper and you have to figure out who wrote which answer.

The topic that came up last Friday at the work party was: Things you shouldn't say to your boss. One of the manager's said "Let's do things you shouldn't say or DO to your boss, how about?" So that's what we did. Well, there were only 5 answers and I was laughing so hard as the answers being read revealed 3 things that I have either done or said to my boss.

1) Don't yell at your boss while testing alarms (yes, we were having a shouting match about something stupid, like how to properly test alarms, while the bank alarms were all sounding, and the tellers were scared and quiet)
2) Don't switch all the pens your boss loves for all the pens she hates. I thought this was a great idea at the time because I thought it would make B laugh. It turns out she did not like it. I believe a direct quote from her went something along the lines of "she even switched out my 'f-ing' highlighters" right before slamming all the pens she hated onto my desk. Kendall told me the dramatics actually made it much funnier for him . . . but the intention was to make her laugh not swear and throw things. So I wouldn't recommend that idea.
3) Slap your boss's butt. It all started out so innocently and then I don't know what happened. But I do know this, if you bend over for a really long time right in front of me you're gonna get a butt slap. AND it usually means I'm comfortable around you so B should take that as a compliment. She hasn't filed any sexual harrassment complaints yet, so I'll take that as a sign she secretly likes it.

over and out,
ee

Thirty One

2010-12-06T19:50:00.000-08:00

I turned 31 yesterday. Yep! Treinta y uno. And suddenly, in a flash of clarity, it occurred to me that in 9 years I will be 40! But don't worry, I'm not any more mature than I was at 20.

In honor of the occasion, I will share a deep thought by Jack Handey:
I hope life isn't a big joke, because I don't get it.

Car Insurance

2010-11-29T10:38:00.000-08:00

Alright, fine, I'm weird. You all win.

In other news, I love calling my car insurance place. Let me share with you a recent conversation I had while calling about a rock chip repair.

Linda: So, why are you calling?
Emily: I need to schedule a rock chip repair.
Linda: When did this happen?
Emily: Sometime last year. I can't remember.
Linda: Well I need an exact date.
Emily: How about yesterday.
Linda: Okay, What caused the chip?
Emily: A Rock.
Linda: Are you holding anyone at fault?
Emily: Just the rock?

Then I started laughing and Linda got really annoyed.

Or last year, I ran into one of those concrete pillars in a parking garage (I know that's dumb but I promise it was more practical than running into the BMW that I was trying NOT to hit in the parking space next to me). But here's part of my conversation with my insurance at that time.

Insurance Guy: So tell me exactly what happened.
Emily: I ran into a concrete support in a parking garage.
Insurance Guy: Wow, that sounds like a doozy.
Emily: Yep.
Insurance Guy: So, whose fault was it?
5 minutes later
Insurance Guy: Did you get the other guys insurance information?
Emily: no.

Ha! I can't wait until I have to call them again.

Weird or Not?

2010-11-24T16:23:00.000-08:00

So, today has NOT been a good day. I've been sort of grumpy ever since my Thanksgiving plans changed. Luckily, I work with Kendall, who seems to be able to always make fun of me right when I need it. He was teasing me for drooling on myself. I know, I should be too embarrassed to write about it but it's so funny when that happens. Last time I drooled I was falling asleep at IRA training. I'm 99% sure the teacher saw me drool, even though I nonchalantly slid my sleeve towards my body to cover it up.

But the real issue here is this. When Kendall and I were laughing about drooling I remembered the other day when I was going through my mail. I had a pile of shred and a pile of recycling. I hate shred because then I put it in my purse to take to work and forget about it for weeks until I can't find anything else in my purse and remember (hallelujah!) to throw it away. So, the only paper I had that went in shred was my bank statement. The only thing on it that I was worried about was my account number in the top right corner. So . . . instead of getting rid of it the 3 week way, I tore off just the account number and put it in my mouth and ate it. I don't really think that is too weird but my boss seems to think I am crazy! So is it weird or not? Be honest.

Cat Sitting

2010-11-17T13:10:00.000-08:00

Last week I was house/cat sitting. I'm not a big cat person but this cat seemed more like a dog, he was cuddly and followed me around and came when I called. Sort of cute. However, I had a little trouble cleaning out the kitty litter . . . by trouble, I mean, I threw up 4 times. ha!

Projects

2010-11-14T21:03:00.000-08:00

I love projects. Art projects, building things, making books, making delicious food, it's all fun. I also prefer making gifts for people as opposed to buying them because they're so much more meaningful to me that way. Yes, it's all about how I feel giving the gift, who cares about the receiver.

Here are 2 things that I made recently that I am proud of.

Here's a little Sock Monster for Xiao Ru complete with an embroidered heart (not my style but I think someone from Taiwan, who loves Hello Kitty, would like it).

Here's a quilt I made for Brandee's bridal shower. I know, it's not really a bridal shower type of present but she loved it anyway (or she better have!)

A note

2010-11-14T20:55:00.000-08:00

A note from Attie who is now sophisticated and calls herself Athena but still calls me Aunt Emu, thanks to her Dad.

Der Ahnt emoo ples emale.

can you come to Disne-worlD weth us.

be-kos I riLe (really) riLe RiLe Love you.

BeKos you ore vare nis to piypL. and me.

oh I went to Frienpan park on a fild trep.

itS My seked time.

How could I say no? She is such an amazing roommate too. Last time we were roommates she was 4. When we woke up in the morning she was sucking her thumb and looking at me. She pulled her thumb out of her mouth after a few moments of us staring at each other. Then she said (I kid you not) "Hi Aunt Emu, how did you sleep?" Sweet, sweet girl.

Emily Dickinson

2010-11-06T12:26:00.000-07:00

I've never been a huge fan of Emily Dickinson. Always thought she was too feminist and sort of depressing but check out this poem. I love that she can describe in detail a pain that I felt sharply. I even tried to put words to those feelings in a poem of my own. Hers is much better. Enjoy!

After great pain, a formal feeling comes

After great pain, a formal feeling comes--
The Nerves sit ceremonious, like tombs--
The stiff Heart questions was it He, that bore,
And yesterday, or centuries before?

The Feet, mechanical, go round--
Of Ground, or Air, or Ought--
A Wooden Way
Regardless grown,
A Quartz contentment, like a stone--

This is the Hour of Lead--
Remembered, if outlived,
As Freezing persons, recollect the Snow--
First -- Chill -- then Stupor -- then the letting go --

Snot

2010-10-28T10:25:00.001-07:00

I just realized the sweater I wore to work today has dried snot on it from when I was using it earlier this week in place of a kleenex. Maybe I shouldn't wear my sweaters over and over again while I'm sick. I guess I could also stop wiping my nose on my sleeves . . .

Catholic

2010-10-19T10:46:00.000-07:00

So, here's what I learned at work today. The Simpsons are Catholic, so the Pope claims. I'm glad he's taking an interest in the important aspects of life.

http://www.king5.com/news/entertainment/Homer-and-Bart-are-Catholic-declares-Vatican-newspaper-105268803.html

Cryer

2010-10-18T12:25:00.001-07:00

I am a cryer and always have been as are my sisters and one brother and our parents before us. We come from a long line of criers, I guess. It used to embarrass me a lot. Now it only embarrasses me a normal amount. While talking to Ashley, my sister in law who is also a cryer, we made a list of funny things we cry about. Here it is.

1) Marathons. Whenever I watch people running in marathons, I cry (if I ever ran a marathon I'm sure I would cry too but that would be for another reason entirely). It's just so touching to see people on the sidelines cheering on runners that they don't even know.

2) Graduation. When I graduated from college we formed long lines and solemnly walked past many of our professors into the stadium for graduation. Making eye contact with teachers that really helped me along the way made for a walk down memory lane as well. I realized that we all need each other. Teachers need people to teach and I need teachers who love what they do.

3) Bridge Jumping. Last summer I went to a swimming hole right next to a railroad track. There was a bridge that spanned the river that had trestles maybe 15 feet higher than the bridge. While a bunch of groups of people were swimming we watched the jumpers climb to the top of the trestles. We all watched hoping he wouldn't fall. When he got to the top, to my surprise, a bunch of us in the swimming hole started clapping! Tons of people that didn't know him and that didn't know each other all had the same exhilarating feeling. It brought tears to my eyes.

4) The Jiff commercial where the kid makes a sandwich for his Mom, how sweet!

5) A dog with just 2 legs, named faith. You can read about her here, but be forewarned.

http://blogs.discovery.com/animal_news/2009/12/with-faith-anything-is-possible.html

6)Watching the Chilean miner's step into daylight after their 69 day stint stuck deep under the earth.

7) The world's shortest man pictures that my co-worker emailed me.

Brushing my teeth

2010-09-30T21:52:00.000-07:00

The problem with flossing my teeth every morning is that soon after starting the daily ritual, I find that just brushing at night no longer makes my teeth feel clean. So I start flossing every night too. A few days after that, morning and night is no longer sufficient and I need to start flossing at lunch time and after snacks. It's all getting out of control. Because I don't want to start waking up in the middle of the night to floss, I'm going back to a time when life was easy and my teeth never felt dirty just because I didn't floss. . .

Obsession

2010-09-28T13:15:00.001-07:00

I'm so glad you guys like the cupcakes. The 5 hours I spent on them just flew by! It was tons of fun. Now for another obsession. Have you ever really wanted to know what a Korean TV drama would be like? Me neither, but my friend, Kelsey, encouraged me to watch it and she has amazing taste because it's the exact same as mine. So here's my new obsession:

Boys Before Flowers.

Thought you might like to know how this obsession played into my life last night.

Many of you probably don't realize that I don't have the internet at my house but luckily I can connect to my neighbor's sometimes (Thanks linksys!!). The only problem is that my connection is so horrible that I usually get about one second of show and then one second of a frozen screen. That transforms a 1 hour episode into 2 hours.

So last night around 1 am, while wearing my cute new polka dot robe, I could handle it no longer. I absolutely HAD to find out what would happen next. I grabbed my computer and drove a half a mile to the local library to borrow their wireless. So from 1 am to 2 am, I sat barefoot in my car in the library parking lot with just a robe on and finished the episode with a blanket over my head (didn't want the light to attract anyone to my car . . . )

There's not really anything weird about that, right?

Mini Cupcakes

2010-09-26T21:50:00.000-07:00

This is my co-worker Brandee.

Here's a more normal picture of her. This is what she does when I'm talking to her usually . . . pretend like she's working.

One of my favorite things about Brandee is that she sings outloud all the time. Almost as much as I do. It's really fun to get her to sing outloud. I just send her an email with the first line of "Michael Row Your Boat Ashore . . . " or "Old MacDonald had a . . ." and then see how long it takes for her to sing the rest of it out loud. For once, I'm not the only one to break into song at work.

Here are the mini red velvet cupcakes I made for her B-day last friday, so cute! And that's the best batter I've ever tasted. YUM! Also, Brandee is the only person I know who, as a 25 year old, called herself practically 30. That was a year and a half ago when we started working together but she still always does it.

Happy Birthday, B!!

Plans

2010-09-23T10:24:00.001-07:00

Mostly my life plans never work out. It feels almost exactly like this:

My plans are underneath all that debris and fire and smoke.

Lucky for me I still have more episodes of Boys Before Flowers to watch. That'll console me.

The Starbucks Run

2010-09-15T14:58:00.000-07:00

My boss, who we call R or sometimes 'her majesty,' is a huge Starbucks lover. She goes there at least once a day but many times twice a day because there's a $2 off coupon on her morning receipt for any drink after 2pm the same day. So . . . here at Columbia Bank we have a multi-weekly Starbucks run. At first, I felt left out since I don't drink coffee. But after so many invitations to get something I finally tried some of the non-coffee products. My favorite is their sausage and egg sandwich.

A sausage and egg sandwich is a little heavy for a mid afternoon snack though so I started my own snack run to . . . . McDonald's. That's right, a daily McDouble and XL Dr. Pepper are much healthier for me than a deliciously greasy sausage and egg. And I haven't even gained any weight since I started this daily McDonald's run. I mean, I have but I'm almost positive it has nothing to do with McDonald's. I mean, look at this, does it look like it would make you fat?!?! yum.

What a Beauty!

Pilgrim's Hymn

2010-09-14T22:43:00.000-07:00

"Even before we call out they name, Oh Lord, when we seek for the words to glorify thee, thou hearest our prayer."

I love that opening line of Pilgrim's Hymn. Before we've even prayed, he's listening and understands.

Anyone who hasn't heard this beauty can listen to a beautiful but flawed record

The Fashion Show

2010-08-31T21:23:00.000-07:00

Here are some pics from the fashion show. I took some really horrible ones with my phone and luckily Jessica brought a camera and took these pictures.

What I helped with was not modeling but rather helping the models dress between outfits. We had anywhere from 30 seconds to 3 minutes to change an entire outfit including shoes, tights, hats, jewelry, etc. So basically I was in a room full of maybe 20 very tall people and 30 very short people helping the very tall ones zip, button and hook things together, that's where the clothes were coming off and NOT on the runway. Some people have been asking. Thought I'd clarify.

Weird Things I've Been Up To

2010-08-28T23:32:00.000-07:00

1) A Trapeze class.

Yes, I jumped from a 60 foot high beam into thin air with just a bar connecting me to anything stable. Oh, and I guess there was that safety harness and those 2 safety ropes.

Needless to say, it was nerve wracking but once you jumped it wasn't so bad swinging back and forth, wrapping your legs around the bar, dropping your torso and reaching back for the catcher to pull you and swing you on farther.

Besides the strong smell of alcohol and the owner who was a 45-ish gentleman with long blonde hair not putting a shirt on, the experience was fabulous.

2) A Vogue Runway Show

Since I'm so into fashion and everyone knows this, when my friend Jessica got a call about dressing model's for a Vogue fashion show for Bellevue's Fashion Week, she called me immediately.

Crazy how different their world is from mine. My model, Natasha, was 6 feet and wore a size 2 skirt that had to be taken in for the occasion. Also crazy that they just rip off all their clothes in a room full of people they don't even know but luckily for me, I had clothes in my hand to cover their nakedness.

3) Making Mayonnaise

Never in my life have I desired to make mayonnaise until I read Julia Child's "My Life in France" and found out how much work she put into perfecting the recipe. I really like how scientific and methodical she is about cooking.

I made her chicken salad, that turned out delectable, and it called for homemade mayo with the recipe right beside. Wow, was that great chicken salad and expensive mayonnaise. I bought a new bottle of olive oil to make it.

4) Buying Bronze (yes metallic) Cowboy Boots.

That was an accident, I thought they were light brown. I got rid of them.

4) Going to bed at 10.

I've always been a night owl and suddenly I have this urge to see what life is like on the other side . . . a MORNING person. Sounds sort of exciting. This is not normal. Maybe I should start seeing a counselor. . .

5) Weird music and food cravings, some of which I have eaten and or listened to

Food: Cold Rice with a fried egg on top, Strawberries blended with whole milk, Chicken baked in Pumpkin, and peanut butter and jelly cookies.

Music: Bruce Springsteen (currently playing but I think I'll have to skip this saxophone solo, gag), Randy Travis

2010-06-30T12:30:00.001-07:00

I had a dream last night that Guy Fieri, from the Food Network, did my hair. He put A LOT of mousse in it. Way more than I needed. Too bad I can't exactly remember the final outcome. Judging by his hair, I'm sure it was wild.

The Glasses Mystery

2010-06-28T23:58:00.001-07:00

Here we go guys, what in the world should that appendage to the glasses be called? If you know the real answer, please don't write it, this post is just for guessers. The thing is, I had been wondering this for at least 18 months and finally learned the answer today! yes, dreams really do come true!

Homemade Fish Sticks and Tartar Sauce

2010-06-27T09:51:00.000-07:00

I used these recipes to make some yummy homemade fish sticks and tartar sauce. Used the leftovers for fish tacos, just added some avocados and cabbage and it sure was tasty. Try em!

Link to Recipes:

Fried Fish Fingers & Tartar Sauce Recipes

Recipe Line Up for Next Week

2010-06-24T16:42:00.000-07:00

I just got too excited not to put this on here.

Black Bean Hummus
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/melissa-darabian/black-bean-hummus-recipe/index.html

Parmesan Chicken Sticks
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/parmesan-chicken-sticks-recipe/index.html

Chopped Iceberg Wedge
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/chopped-iceberg-wedge-recipe/index.html

Spaghetti alla Carbonara
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/anne-burrell/spaghetti-alla-carbonara-recipe/index.html

And for something sweet . . . Outrageous Brownies
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/outrageous-brownies-recipe3/index.html

Italy

2010-06-20T18:14:00.000-07:00

Here are the top 10 things about my trip to Italy, in no particular order.

1. Public Water Fountains with delicious water-

2. Villa d’Este –
This beautiful old Villa east of Rome where some really rich family used to live. The family somehow worked the river into their property so that they could create some AMAZING water features in their private estate gardens. It was beautiful!

3. The Food –
I am completely over my 7 year pasta hatred after living in Venezuela (think pasta with ketchup and mayonnaise).

4. House of Pamphilj –
This palace was neat because the person who was narrating the audioguide actually grew up in that house and told us all about his ancestors. Some very neat stories there. www.dopart.it/roma/

5. Free Vatican Tour –
There was a mix up with the tour company and I ended up with a free tour. I learned so much about the Vatican. The Sistine Chapel was very ornate and people were very loud and obnoxious and smelly in there. The thing that was the weirdest for me were all the pictures and statues of former Popes with Christ.
The face that changed Michaelangelo's sculpting

Hall of Maps. This is another one of those things I will have when I grow up.

6. Tuscany Bike Tour –
Touring the beautiful Tuscany region on a bike including a picnic lunch and a tour of a Tuscany castles wine and oil processing history. Views really are as amazing as they seem. I would go back there! Views from the Castle we toured. And the last one is a view OF the castle from a stop on the bike ride.

7. Trevi Fountain – Just a great place to go and it was free. But, like everything in Rome, it was a little crowded for my taste.

8. Rosy doing my laundry –
She was the manager at a small hotel I stayed at. She took my laundry home, washed, folded it and left it on my hotel bed the next day. Wonderful!

9. Sabrina coming with me so I didn't have to go alone! Here she is the first day right after she fractured her foot.

10. Little Red Poppies everywhere.

EXTRA PICS:
I just thought this was neat so I took a picture.

cows all over the city!

Florence’s main Cathedral the Duomo. The goal was to make the city that John sees in a vision as recorded in Revelations.

Nice little garden areas at Roman Forum

A view from a terrace restaurant looking onto one of the many piazzas in Florence

Sabrina only brought one small bag and she managed to fit her iron in there.

The Borghese Park in Rome.

One of the many quaint walkways in Florence.

Pretzels!

2010-05-23T00:04:00.000-07:00

These are what I made today! I'm just so happy that a few turned out right. This is the second time I've tried making pretzels. They are real buggars to make.

My biggest problem last time was getting them in and out of the water without deforming them. This time, I used a spatula AND a spoon to lift anything hanging over the spatula when I moved them from their boiling bath to the baking sheet. I'd also recommend making them smaller than the size you think they should be since they seem to stretch when you pull them off the sheet to boil them

I also had a problem with the baking sheet. Apparently my broiler doesn't work so the bottoms were being thoroughly cooked while the tops were still just a little doughy. Luckily for me, I only have one cookie sheet so I baked half of the pretzels on parchment covered broiler sheets and they turned out perfect.

In all, I had 6 or 12 pretzels that tasted good (not burned on the bottom or too light on top. 2 of the six that were beautiful.

Here's the recipe: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/soft-ball-pretzels-recipe/index.html

Here are the mistakes and the beauties.

Just another movie about Love

2010-05-21T23:54:00.000-07:00

Tonight I went with some girls to see Letters to Juliet. It wasn't horrible, it wasn't amazing, it was just another movie about Love. I probably won't see it again. But after the movie was over and people were filing out, there was a large group of women just sitting their chatting and disecting their feelings, what made them laugh, what made them cry. I thought about how the theatre was FULL of women and how women just love Love stories.

I love when people fall in love. I love it in real life (just don't want to SEE it), I like it in movies, I like it in books, I like it in catching up with old friends or figuring out about an old family friend finally finding someone to settle down with. There is just something so right about finding somebody to love and spend your life with and work through problems with. It got me wondering though, as I watched the gaggle of women. Love stories can be hard to watch when you're single. Is there a point where a single person just can't stand it anymore? Where they feel tortured because it's something they wanted but cannot have?

I wonder. . . .

Homemade Ketchup

2010-05-18T16:23:00.000-07:00

I don't even know if this is a good idea.

what do you guys think.

http://thepauperedchef.com/2009/09/homemade-ketchup-and-french-fries.html

Books Books and Books

2010-05-15T10:31:00.001-07:00

Right now, I have no less than 14 books on my bed, my favorite place to read.

Does anyone have any book organizing ideas that doesn't include bookshelfs where I could keep all the books I'm currently reading close to me on my bed?

I found this online that I like the idea of. May try that with books more appropriate for my age.

Or, I also like the idea of this one because you could display EVERYTHING. Wow, my room would be a library. That would be so neat.

Any other ideas?

The deed is done.

2010-05-05T21:13:00.000-07:00

I deleted my facebook account. It was much easier to delete this time because I actually deleted almost all of my friends first. That way I wouldn't be tempted to get back on. I feel like my life is a little more private. it feels nice. Is that ironic that I'm blogging about my privacy?

1976 & 1952

2010-04-30T20:58:00.000-07:00

Just finished The Grey King (1976). It was a beautifully written book. Sort of fantasy like about a boy who is an Old One (or something like that) who has to fight the dark. Sometimes these books all sound the same but this one was definitely unique. It takes place in whales and even though it is a book, the scenery is amazing! Although, I'd rather read it when it was really hot outside instead of like today with a high of 57.

1952 Ginger Pye. Cute story about a dog named Ginger who is an "intellectual dog." It's interesting how a lot of the earlier Newbery's read a lot like this book does. I liked Estes writing style. The way she put her words together and ordered them and dissordered them was very entertaining. I also loved how she gets you into the brains of her characters and really shows you some thought processes a 9 year old might have. My only complaint is that it does get a little slow.

And now for some exciting news. I will be reading Island of the Blue Dolphins (1961) next. I've been looking forward to savoring this read for the last 2 years. I loved this book as a 12 year old, crossing my fingers that it's as great 18 years later.

1968 From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler

2010-04-17T22:08:00.000-07:00

This was a cute book by E. L. Konigsburg about a brother and sister that run away to a museum. They figure out a way to live in the museum and find a puzzle to solve along the way. Definitely a keeper on this Newbery list.

I really like E. L. Konigsburg's writing style. So do the people that choose the Newbery's apparently. She has 2 Newbery Medals, the other was 1997's The View From Saturday. She likes to weave a puzzle into her plot and there's usually an underlying moral outlining the plot.

There are only 4 other writers that have won 2 Newbery Medals; Joseph Krumgold, Lois Lowry, Katherine Paterson, and Elizabeth George Speare (who I love!)

Here's a link to the Newbery Medal list since the beginning of time. http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/newberymedal/newberywinners/Newbery_Medals_1922present.pdf

1971 Sounder

2010-03-29T22:38:00.000-07:00

This was the 47th Newbery Medal I was referring to the other day that I just finished. This story is about a boy, his dog and his Dad. They are a poor crop sharing black family living in the early 20th century trying to eke out a living when the Dad gets arrested and the dog is gone missing and thought to be dead.

This story was pretty depressing but i did like how the author only named one character, the dog, Sounder. The boy, the boy's Father, the boy's Mother, they were faceless and almost without distinct personalities, sort of to represent the millions of people in the same predicament at that time, probably.

I also loved the parallels between the boy's Father and Sounder. Both wounded and without any guarantee that they will return to the family. The boy watches and waits and looks for them and watches and waits and looks again and then again. His persistence is sweet. His hope is unshaken.

Newbery Medals

2010-03-26T19:04:00.000-07:00

I've been working on reading all of the Newbury Medals. I just finished my 47th our of 88 Newbury Medals. The award was first given in 1922.

http://people.ucalgary.ca/~dkbrown/newbery.html

My favorites so far:

Missing May -Rylant
The Tale of Despereaux - DiCamillo (much better than the movie)
The High King - Lloyd Alexander (this is the last and 5th book in the series)
The Westing Game - Raskin
Witch of Blackbird Pond - Speare
Sarah Plain and Tall -MacLachlan
Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry - Taylor
The Twenty-One Balloons - DuBois
A Wrinkle in Time - L'Engle

My least favorites so far:
Summer of the Swans - Byars
Jacob Have I Loved - Paterson (if you want to read a book about how psycho girls can really be, this is the book for you. the main character is psycho)
Miss Hickory -Bailey
It's Like This, Cat - Neville (the entire book is in present tense, seriously annoying)

5. Cucumber Radish Slaw

2010-03-22T22:29:00.000-07:00

I knew I wouldn't like this recipe because it has sugar, oil, cider vinegar and vegetables. I made it anyway and I was right. It was gross. BUT with the leftovers (which was mostly all of it), I added some red wine vinegar and lots of salt, that was much better. I think for thirds (second time leftovers) I'll add that wonder of wonders, dijon mustard.

I also realized something. The first time in my life I bought radishes was last week. How can you go 30 years and never buy even one radish, I wonder. On the other hand, I think I have bought at least one cucumber for every trip I've taken to the grocery store. That's a ratio of 1:1, pretty high. Cucumbers are heavenly. Right up there with bacon. Which brings me to another story.

Today, I lost my first casualties to cooking since I started this cookbook. I burned 6 pieces of bacon. It was a tragic and senseless loss. What could've become a part of me for the rest of my life is now sitting on the porch in a dejected state. I left it out for the raccoon test. The raccoons eat everything around here except my really really burnt cookies that one time. Now I'll know if I burned this bacon as bad.

I'll keep you posted.

4. Spinach Pasta with Pine Nuts and Parmesan

2010-03-22T22:26:00.000-07:00

The thing I loved about this recipe is that the ingredients were simple and it still tasted delicious. What did I learn about cooking yesterday? It's hard to get the timing right. Probably I'll start with my salad first next time since that doesn't have to stay warm.

Here's What Happened

2010-03-18T22:44:00.000-07:00

Here's how it happened that I was reunited with my blog.

I watched Julie and Julia the other week. I was fascinated with Julia Child's story and her determination to get into a cooking class in France and really learn how to cook. I also loved Julie's idea of cooking through Julia Child's cookbook. While the story played out, I kept thinking, I could do the very same thing. It would be fun! I'd probably learn lots of useful things and maybe even find my inner chef.

Besides Grey Poupon, french bread, and brie, I'm not a big fan of french food. So I opted for the Everyday Food cookbook from Martha Stewart. It's also probably more appropriate for my experience level.

Because of tight 2010 budget restrictions, I will just be making one or two recipes a week and keep you posted on how that unfolds. Hope you enjoy this, Leigh.

3. Parmesan Steak Fries

2010-03-18T22:27:00.000-07:00

Instead of studying Math tonight I decided to make Parmesan Steak Fries.

Pretty simple recipe, really. You just whisk some egg whites until they're frothy, dip a slice of potato into them. Scatter some shredded parmeson over the top, salt pepper and then transfer them to a baking sheet covered with parchment.

I had 2 batches. I forgot to put the salt and pepper on before they started that really didn't work because the egg makes this crispy little shell on the outside.

The crispiness made these perfect and it's sort of neat to make fries that taste good that aren't fried. Although, fried fries are also amazing. yum!