Mountains

We went up to Mt. Evans this last weekend.  It’s one of the easiest ways to tell it’s summer for my family, we always make the trip up soon after Memorial Day.  Lots of pictures were taken, but this one, which I took on my phone, I like very much for some reason.

We didn’t get to do too much walking around, once we drove down the mountain to Summit Lake we all passed out in the car for a nap.  I slept longest of all, and I don’t even know if my parents stopped by the gift shop on the way down.  I was out until we were halfway home.

I love the mountains in the summer.  We only go hiking during two seasons (summer and fall), so when winter rolls around I miss my sleepy giants.  Despite the fact that I see them every morning on my way to work, I miss the smell of the forest and the quiet.  Not to mention, after my wonderful semester of Ornithology, I will have a lot more to do, listening and being on the lookout for birds I’ve never seen before.

I’m hoping to do a lot of hiking and camping this summer!

Cooking, cooking, and more cooking!

Now that it is finally summer, I have more time to cook.  Last week, I made a family favorite, Kung Pao Tofu, with delicious hoisin and tamari sauce.  It was wonderful! Unfortunately I didn’t get any pictures.

I did, however, discover TasteSpotting.com, and I have to save a couple recipes for myself to try on here.  I tend to save them elsewhere, but they get lost in the abyss.  Considering how badly I am constantly searching for new recipes, I need to save them somewhere, at least until I can print them out.

Jack Sparrow’s Tricorne Hat: http://diamondsfordessert.blogspot.com/2010/06/jack-sparrows-tricorne.html#comment-form

Chocolate Chip Nutella Blondies: http://fritesandfries.com/post/653182798/chocolate-chip-nutella-blondies

Sesame Snack Bars: http://www.lexieskitchen.com/lexies_kitchen/2010/4/21/sesame-snack-bars-gluten-free-casein-free.html

Home-made Graham Crackers: http://breadandbeta.com/2010/06/06/graham-cracker-cookies/

Apricot and Honey Jam: http://theurbanspork.com/2010/06/apricot-and-honey-jam/

Sweetheart Shortbread Cookies: http://diamondsfordessert.blogspot.com/2010/02/sweetheart-shortbread_21.html#more

Thai Pasta Salad: http://sillynutritionundergrad.wordpress.com/2009/11/01/thai-pasta-salad-from-casual-kitchen/

Fleur de sel Soft Caramels: http://sites.google.com/site/ilikeprintablerecipes/home/fleur-de-sel-soft-crarmels

Upside down Apple Sponge Cake with Demerara Caramel: http://wendyinkk.blogspot.com/2010/06/upside-down-apple-sponge-with-demerara.html

Cookies and Cream Cupcakes: http://annies-eats.com/2010/06/02/cookies-and-cream-cupcakes/

Puppy Chow (for humans): http://framed-mylifeonepictureatatime.blogspot.com/2010/05/puppy-chow.html

Summer Lasagna: http://sites.google.com/site/framedrecipes/summer-lasagne?tmpl=%2Fsystem%2Fapp%2Ftemplates%2Fprint%2F

Mango Cotton Cheescake with Mango: http://wendyinkk.blogspot.com/2010/05/mango-cotton-cheesecake-with-mango.html

Black Sesame Panna Cotta: http://www.dashidashi.com/2010/05/recipe-black-sesame-panna-cotta.html

Homemade Hostess Cupcakes: http://www.whatmegansmaking.com/2010/06/homemade-hostess-cupcakes.html

DIY Iced Cappuccino: http://suziethefoodie.blogspot.com/2010/05/diy-iced-cappuccino.html

Mocha Milkshake: http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/408616/mocha-milkshake

Homemade Frappuccino: http://savorysweetlife.com/2009/07/afternoon-coffee-break-recipe-for-frappuccinos-at-home/

Frappuccino Oreo Shake: http://lipstickblogspot.blogspot.com/2010/03/grown-up-oreo-shake.html

Cold-Brewed Iced Coffee: http://www.macheesmo.com/2009/08/cold-brewed-coffee/

60-second Iced Coffee: http://www.stetted.com/index.php/2010/05/27/60-second-iced-coffee/

Iced Coffee with Coffee Cubes: http://thedabble.com/blog/?p=2049

Perfect Iced Coffee: http://www.overthehillandonaroll.com/2009/07/how-to-make-perfect-glass-of-iced.html

Another take at iced coffee: http://oneparticularkitchen.com/2009/06/18/iced-coffee/

Caramel Iced Coffee Milkshake thing: http://thisweekinmunchies.blogspot.com/2009/06/caramel-iced-coffee-milkshake-latte.html

That’s all for now, I think!

http://theurbanspork.com/2010/06/apricot-and-honey-jam/Ap

Passions

Today, all of my plans fell apart.

I planned on painting, getting my picture taken, doing some flashcards for my anatomy class, reading that book on pigeons.  It didn’t quite work out.  The drawing will need to be painted over, the photos didn’t look right, and my mind just hasn’t been on school all day.  On the last day of spring break, I just couldn’t bring myself to think about any of it.

This got me thinking about my passions, the things I absolutely love doing, even if I do have off days where they don’t go right.  While my voice may crack after a sore throat, and my guitar may frustrate me, writing has never really “gone wrong” for me.  Writing is the one thing I never have an “off day” in. Which is probably why I turn to it after all the other things I love doing don’t quite work.

It’s funny, no matter how hard our goals and dreams may be to reach…we continue to move forward to them.  I won’t let this “off day” get to me, though I do hope it doesn’t happen again any time soon.

…also, I wish I could take photographs again.  This blog could use some more color.

Spring Break

It’s funny, I only seem to have time to blog when I am not in class. 

I’m currently on my Spring break, at work for a little while, alternating between running errands and reading Pigeons by Andrew D. Blechman.  I’ve sadly heard that it is raining and cold outside and I miss the 65-70 degree weather we had yesterday!   Colorado is a funny state.  One day it’s warm, the next, cold and snowy.  I’ve been here five years and I still don’t think I’m used to it. 

So far my break has been…semi-productive.  Yesterday I finally got a haircut after a good year and a half of having my mom cut my hair and later attempting to grow out my pixie cut.  I have to say I’m quite pleased with it, and very glad I don’t have a mullet going on anymore.  I also decided to dye it back to brown (which is my natural hair color), so I feel like I finally look… normal again.  Decent. …Okay, okay, I’ll say it.  I look damn good!

I’m glad I finally have time to catch up on some blogging, and some blog-reading!  I think I’ll post again later this evening… might be going to a show in town, some good music may be played…

Early Morning

This morning, at 5 ‘o clock sharp, my alarm went off with a buzz. Sighing at the world still dark around me, I put on a hoodie and made the trek downstairs to work out for the morning. A couple of weeks ago, I said to a friend of mine that, in a perfect world, I would be able to wake up at 5 in the morning and work out. Now I was doing it. You wouldn’t believe just how difficult it is to be up that early, least of all doing stretches, blocks, kicks, punches, and a fast-paced walk on the treadmill. You start to sweat much quicker than you would later in the day, and the 80s music playing on the radio doesn’t seem quite as motivating.

In short, it was a bit of a struggle to get it done, but an hour later, after I popped in and out of the shower, I finally began my morning with two pieces of bread covered with butter and a hot cup of tea. That’s when I knew it was worth it. Breakfast seemed a hundred times yummier after the workout.

In the last week before classes start, I seem to have picked up a couple new (but very good) habits. One is making jello. Some of you may know about my recent escapades in jello making… and let me tell you, it is heavenly. It was my mom’s idea to buy little Gladware cups and the powder, as a way of saving money (and not getting a $4 six-pack every week). I am addicted, not only to eating the jello (and let me tell you, is it delicious), but making it. It’s so simple, and the jello is healthier. No more high-fructose corn syrup for me.

Another habit I’ve picked up is planning dinners for the week in advance. This past Sunday, my mom and I sat down, wrote a list of all the dishes we usually eat. Then, we saw what we had in the fridge, and used a cute template I found online to put on the fridge with the meal plan. It looks so cute and organized that I just know we’re going to keep using it. It also lets us introduce new recipes into our day-to-day, which is exciting. Not only does it allow for new tastes and more variety, but there is a chance a recipe can get an A+ from the family and be integrated as a new dish. So I’m very excited about that as well…seeing as it gives me a chance to learn to cook more interesting things. This week, I will be cooking Red Lentil Soup (tomorrow, actually) courtesy of a recipe I found at 101 Cookbooks (http://www.101cookbooks.com/).  On Saturday, I will be making Heavenly Pie, also from that lovely site, so I am excited!  I hope I’ll be able to document the process and get a good grade from the taste-testers.

In the last couple days, I’ve been realizing that a little extra planning added together with a little love and care creates a good day for all.  Sometimes, taking a couple minutes out of the day to just make sure the sink is clean can make you happy (or maybe that’s just a little bit of OCD talking ), and making dinners together with the people you love is so fun and fulfilling… I love it!

It seems I’ll be yawning a bit today, but my day at work will be a little shorter so I hope that I will be able to get home and paint or read a little bit before I will no longer be able to keep my eyes open.  Going to bed at 9PM sounds just fine right about now…

Chegg.com ROCKS!

Did you know that the average student will spend over $500 per term buying textbooks? Seems like an awful lot of money to buy textbooks that often get opened one time, right? Well, with Chegg.com, you will save hundreds!

So stop wasting your money and start renting from Chegg.com. I’m on the bandwagon and I’ve saved enough to buy all my term papers! Not really, but I have saved some serious cash by Chegging my books. I have a promo code that will save you an additional 5% off your total order, use CC105799.

Want proof?

Essential Biology by Campbell, Reece & Simon is $83.18 if you buy it on Amazon.com. If you rent it on Chegg.com, it’s only $11.78. That’s a savings of over $71!

It’s so simple, just search for the books you need and place your order. Chegg will ship them to you fast and at the end of the term you ship them back for free. What’s really cool is that they plant a tree for every book that you rent.

Don’t forget to visit Chegg.com and use promo code CC105799.

Chapters

I, a constant bookworm looking for new material to dive into, have always been fond of chapters.  I like them in all shapes and sizes.  I also care not in what form they appear, whether they are chapters in a book or chapters in my own story of life.  There have been many pivotal moments in my life that I can clearly distinguish as an end of a chapter, or a beginning.  As I stand here, at the edge of 2009, I can feel a chapter closing, and another beginning.

Quite a few things have changed since my fifth semester at college came to a close, and I am looking at these changes just as I look at myself in a mirror, and I see a slow transformation.  Despite the saddening appearance of a couple new pocks on my face, I am finally aware that I have come into my 20th year of my life, no longer a child, and slowly, with the addition of new experiences and responsibilities, I have become an adult.  Granted, I still have my silly, side-splitting moments, but I am not one to throw everything from my past away.  I am looking to start fresh and to embrace these new parts of me (that were always there, I just simply did not realize they were) and look to grow.

If there is one thing about me that has not changed, it is that I still love lists.  With a little over 12 hours remaining until the start of 2010, I have written a list of Resolutions, just as I do every year.  Looking at the old, sun-scorched list that was on my bulletin board all of 2009, I see that I did not keep most of my Resolutions.  However, quite a few came to pass, such as being open to new things and change.  Perhaps my time was not managed as well as it could have been, but I know it was not wasted.  Thus, the list for 2010, is:

Resolutions for 2010

1. Wear jeans only twice a week and all the other days of the week,
wear skirts or dresses.

2. Learn conversational japanese and french.

3. Learn to cook 10 extravagant, difficult dishes.

4. Excersize three times every week, at least 45 minutes.
- Swim
- Ice skate
- Rollerblade
- Weights
- Treadmill
- Stretches
- Yoga

5. Learn to meditate and do it fifteen minutes a day,
slowly progressing to an hour if possible.

6. Finish one painting a month.

7. Learn to bake bread from Gosia.

With the help of my mother, I have created a list of resolutions that not only seems frighteningly attainable, but also so precise and, ah, what’s the word… specific! It is so specific that I am just bound to accomplish it all.  Of course, I am trying to be positive about it here.  But I want it done.
There are, of course, a few other non-Resolution Resolutions, which I intend to do… I would really like to embrace my artistic side, as I was given the opportunity to with the coming of Christmas.  I created a few paintings for my closest friends as gifts.  I had done this a couple years back, but I was much more proud of my new paintings.  I’d like to somehow figure out how to get these paintings and designs out to more people… because I know it can be done.

The other artistic side, of course, is my music.  My songs need to be rerecorded, and I have to do that before my sixth semester at college begins.  It’s funny how I still manage to keep myself so busy even when school is out.    So those two things are sort of my non-Resolution Resolutions, which will hopefully also come with a YouTube video or two.  I hope.

So here we are at the edge of 2009, all I can say is, 2010, here we come!  May it be a great year, and may it be the best year yet.