A couple friends and I ran the dirty dash this weekend.
Sarah and I ended up running it barefoot. We thought there would be so much mud we'd lose our shoes anyway (false). Everyone thought we were crazy. Apparently, "everyone [was] talking about" us (or so said a lady we ran into waiting to go down the slip and slide towards the end of the race). It was pretty cool.
I put lots of pictures on facebook. I'll pick my favorites and put them here. Later.
For now, enjoy these videos of our awesome adventure (Jana was our trusty captain and planned delicious food and other surprises for us, and took almost all of our pictures. She did not run.)
getting ready to run.
grrr.
captain's log.
just after we finished.
our last video, taken on the trip home.
Monday, September 20, 2010
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
underwear.
On Saturday, I spent most of my morning, and a little of my afternoon, in my underwear.
It was really, really great.
I woke up early-ish, went for a long run with my neighbor (not in my underwear... although i can imagine running in one's underwear is probably very pleasant), then made myself an amazing smoothie with watermelon and berries which totally hit the spot. My roommate introduced me to the song "Clementine" by Sarah Jaffe and I hooked my computer up to the speakers and turned up the volume while I finished off my smoothie and did a little organizing and cleaning in preparation for my move (I'm still in the same house, different room. I'll post about it later).
Whether or not spending the morning in my underwear and having a fabulous morning are related, remains to be seen.
although, I'm PRETTY sure they are.
ps. you should definitely try it sometime.
It was really, really great.
I woke up early-ish, went for a long run with my neighbor (not in my underwear... although i can imagine running in one's underwear is probably very pleasant), then made myself an amazing smoothie with watermelon and berries which totally hit the spot. My roommate introduced me to the song "Clementine" by Sarah Jaffe and I hooked my computer up to the speakers and turned up the volume while I finished off my smoothie and did a little organizing and cleaning in preparation for my move (I'm still in the same house, different room. I'll post about it later).
Whether or not spending the morning in my underwear and having a fabulous morning are related, remains to be seen.
although, I'm PRETTY sure they are.
ps. you should definitely try it sometime.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
The Man in the Arena.
Warning: this post is a little emotionally heavy.
Note: I started writing this post like, at least two weeks ago. Probably three weeks ago, actually. So the mentions of “today”, and "yesterday" refer to that day and the day before it, three weeks ago. Um, yes. That’s how long it took me to get my thoughts together on this. :)
I had three realizations today. (what those three realizations actually were, are not the important part. but i will tell you. maybe. at the end of the post)
It was during a text conversation with a good friend this afternoon, that I actually put words to these three thoughts. She asked me how I was doing, and before I knew it all sorts of insight and inspiration began spilling from my mind to the screen of my cell phone... and that’s when I knew it was time to blog.
Here's the story.
Let me first explain, that a rather serious dating relationship I’ve had for the past eight months of my life, ended. A month ago now, actually. It felt pretty sudden and shocking at the time. To say that it has been difficult, is possibly the understatement of the year. I still don’t really do much analysis of it because it’s all too complicated and heavy and who really knows what happened anyway? But, for the purposes of this blog post, you DO need to know a little bit of how it felt.
In short, it felt (okay, sometimes still feels) as though I had fallen into the deepest, darkest, blackest crevice in the sidewalk, and wasn’t sure if, how, or when I’d be able to find some way to pull myself up and out.
Here's something else you'll need to know. I deal with higher levels of anxiety than most people. I have seen a psychologist or been on medication on and off for the past several years. Unfortunately, I think it might be one of those things that has to get worse before it can get better (which means that getting through all of this without being on medication means I'm learning how to deal... right?). But anyway, the point is that when something like this happens, something that throws off all my stability, it often triggers the anxiety, and I start to feel afraid of or worried about things that don't normally bother me at all. Which is really not fun. To say the least.
Until yesterday, that is.
Yesterday, something inside me snapped. Or gave up. Or maybe just altogether decided it wasn’t going to do this anymore. I guess I decided that I wasn’t going to do this anymore. I couldn’t.
And so, I decided that I was brave. That I could handle more than I thought I could. That I dealt with a lot of things that were way above my maturity level when I was younger, and if I could handle really really hard things then, why not now? I was never really one to back down from a challenge.
And finally, I decided that even if I wasn’t feeling brave, or calm, or confident, that I was going to pretend like I WAS feeling that way, dang it.
So, with those thoughts in mind, I marched myself directly into a situation that could’ve been potentially very painful for me. And in many ways, it still was. Acting that way doesn’t necessarily lessen the pain of it, but the point is, I survived. I put on a happy face, acted way overly confident, and continued to laugh and joke and hang out like the world was my oyster.
(nevermind that the whole time I was really really concerned that there would be a huge emotional crash later. nobody knew what i was thinking! nobody knew i was worried!)
Anyway, here's the important part. There is something about acting braver than you feel. Something reckless. Something wild. And I won’t lie, it is frightening. But you know what? It is also empowering.
And somehow, that made me realize how key mistakes are in this life of ours.
Let's back up a little. This is what I said. To my friend (remember how I mentioned her at the beginning of this post?).
And that's when I realized (decided?) that it’s okay to make all kinds of crazy mistakes. To feel a little (or a lot) out of control and not really know what’s going on. To accidentally reach a point where you don’t know if you can handle your situation emotionally. To suddenly realize how broken and bruised and unsure of everything in your life you are.
And YET. To STILL let yourself believe that you are brave. That you can handle really hard things... even if maybe you don’t feel like, or truly, honestly, deep-down, believe that you can.
I am only twenty-three. This is a time of exploration and experience. It is a time that is meant for mistakes and learning and growing and more mistakes. A time for questioning yourself and your values, and everything that you have believed so stalwartly your entire life. A time for figuring out who you are and who you want to be and how in the hell you're going to get there. And most of all, a time for taking chances. A time for testing the limits. And thus, a time for picking your bruised and bleeding, yet resilient body, up off the dusty, dirty earth time and time again.
Three realizations? Right here:
1. I can do things that are really really ridiculously hard for me. I am totally capable.
2. Sometimes it's really liberating to act braver than you feel.
3. I shouldn't be afraid of making mistakes. Mistakes are proof that I am living and loving and growing. And eventually becoming exactly who I want to be.
Note: I started writing this post like, at least two weeks ago. Probably three weeks ago, actually. So the mentions of “today”, and "yesterday" refer to that day and the day before it, three weeks ago. Um, yes. That’s how long it took me to get my thoughts together on this. :)
I had three realizations today. (what those three realizations actually were, are not the important part. but i will tell you. maybe. at the end of the post)
It was during a text conversation with a good friend this afternoon, that I actually put words to these three thoughts. She asked me how I was doing, and before I knew it all sorts of insight and inspiration began spilling from my mind to the screen of my cell phone... and that’s when I knew it was time to blog.
Here's the story.
Let me first explain, that a rather serious dating relationship I’ve had for the past eight months of my life, ended. A month ago now, actually. It felt pretty sudden and shocking at the time. To say that it has been difficult, is possibly the understatement of the year. I still don’t really do much analysis of it because it’s all too complicated and heavy and who really knows what happened anyway? But, for the purposes of this blog post, you DO need to know a little bit of how it felt.
In short, it felt (okay, sometimes still feels) as though I had fallen into the deepest, darkest, blackest crevice in the sidewalk, and wasn’t sure if, how, or when I’d be able to find some way to pull myself up and out.
Here's something else you'll need to know. I deal with higher levels of anxiety than most people. I have seen a psychologist or been on medication on and off for the past several years. Unfortunately, I think it might be one of those things that has to get worse before it can get better (which means that getting through all of this without being on medication means I'm learning how to deal... right?). But anyway, the point is that when something like this happens, something that throws off all my stability, it often triggers the anxiety, and I start to feel afraid of or worried about things that don't normally bother me at all. Which is really not fun. To say the least.
Here is a longer description:
Everyday felt like a rollercoaster (I don't care how cliche that phrase is). Everyday I woke up with terror in my heart at the thought of what might happen that day. What needs I might have that would not be met. What people I would feel like I needed in my life that wouldn’t (couldn't) be there. I felt afraid to stay in bed, afraid to get up, afraid to go to work, afraid to stay home. Even afraid to make lunch. But afraid not to (um, hello hypoglycemia.). Most of all, afraid to expose myself to anything else that might cause even the slightest bit more pain or discomfort than I was already feeling. Because honestly... I was afraid I couldn't handle it.
And that is how I carried (or rather trudged, in a very heavy, about to drop to the floor and give up sort of way) on.
Until yesterday, that is.
Yesterday, something inside me snapped. Or gave up. Or maybe just altogether decided it wasn’t going to do this anymore. I guess I decided that I wasn’t going to do this anymore. I couldn’t.
And so, I decided that I was brave. That I could handle more than I thought I could. That I dealt with a lot of things that were way above my maturity level when I was younger, and if I could handle really really hard things then, why not now? I was never really one to back down from a challenge.
And finally, I decided that even if I wasn’t feeling brave, or calm, or confident, that I was going to pretend like I WAS feeling that way, dang it.
So, with those thoughts in mind, I marched myself directly into a situation that could’ve been potentially very painful for me. And in many ways, it still was. Acting that way doesn’t necessarily lessen the pain of it, but the point is, I survived. I put on a happy face, acted way overly confident, and continued to laugh and joke and hang out like the world was my oyster.
(nevermind that the whole time I was really really concerned that there would be a huge emotional crash later. nobody knew what i was thinking! nobody knew i was worried!)
Anyway, here's the important part. There is something about acting braver than you feel. Something reckless. Something wild. And I won’t lie, it is frightening. But you know what? It is also empowering.
And somehow, that made me realize how key mistakes are in this life of ours.
Let's back up a little. This is what I said. To my friend (remember how I mentioned her at the beginning of this post?).
"... I guess I learned last night, though, that sometimes it doesn’t hurt to act braver than you feel. It’s kinda liberating. It feels very appropriate for this age and stage in my life... you know? Like it’s proof that I’m really living and loving and getting hurt and having experiences and falling and getting up over and over again."
And that's it. Just like that.
To be honest, it kind of surprised me. Wait, what? Did I just write that?
It just made so much sense! And sounded so right! SO RIGHT!
And that's when I realized (decided?) that it’s okay to make all kinds of crazy mistakes. To feel a little (or a lot) out of control and not really know what’s going on. To accidentally reach a point where you don’t know if you can handle your situation emotionally. To suddenly realize how broken and bruised and unsure of everything in your life you are.
And YET. To STILL let yourself believe that you are brave. That you can handle really hard things... even if maybe you don’t feel like, or truly, honestly, deep-down, believe that you can.
I am only twenty-three. This is a time of exploration and experience. It is a time that is meant for mistakes and learning and growing and more mistakes. A time for questioning yourself and your values, and everything that you have believed so stalwartly your entire life. A time for figuring out who you are and who you want to be and how in the hell you're going to get there. And most of all, a time for taking chances. A time for testing the limits. And thus, a time for picking your bruised and bleeding, yet resilient body, up off the dusty, dirty earth time and time again.
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.” ~Theodore Roosevelt
Maybe that is why i sometimes love that windblown look. The messy hair dirty face look. The look that says “I’ve been out tripping and falling and getting muddy and scraped and all kinds of beat-up, but I'm learning a ton." There is wisdom in those eyes.
Three realizations? Right here:
1. I can do things that are really really ridiculously hard for me. I am totally capable.
2. Sometimes it's really liberating to act braver than you feel.
3. I shouldn't be afraid of making mistakes. Mistakes are proof that I am living and loving and growing. And eventually becoming exactly who I want to be.
Monday, August 9, 2010
08.08.2010, 11:35pm.
Remember when I was happy?
And how sometimes my writing can be pretty funny?
And when I used to get pretty fiery about some things?
How sometimes I have super deep thoughts, that even I don't really get very well when I read back on them?
And how I can sing (well, except for the part where I mess up at the end. ha.)?
Yeah. I'm trying to remember too.
(don't worry. a post is forthcoming about what's been up.)
And how sometimes my writing can be pretty funny?
And when I used to get pretty fiery about some things?
How sometimes I have super deep thoughts, that even I don't really get very well when I read back on them?
And how I can sing (well, except for the part where I mess up at the end. ha.)?
Yeah. I'm trying to remember too.
(don't worry. a post is forthcoming about what's been up.)
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Monday, May 24, 2010
05.24.2010
This morning, I woke up a little before ten. I got out of bed, and headed towards my bedroom door, only to step in a puddle of water right in front of the door. Surprised, I turned on the light (it's a little dark today, because it SNOWED last night, and is still raining today (what the freak. it's almost JUNE.)) and looked around. I found that half of my floor was covered in about a quarter inch of water. Yuck.
Something similar (albeit way smaller) happened maybe a month ago. I called the landlord, and they sent someone out to check it out. They told me that there is a leak in the wall because of something to do with a leaking gutter on the outside? My room is halfway underground (I live in the basement) so apparently the ground has come away from the foundation a little bit, and there is a crack, so it's leaking right through my wall and all over my floor.
Some people from the real estate company who takes care of our house came by, took pictures, told me what was up, and then told me to mop the water up and put a towel in front of where the water is coming out. Awesome. Don't worry, I didn't have anything else I was going to do this morning. I was just hoping that you'd come by and tell me to clean all of this up. Even though you knew it was happening a month ago, and could've done something before now. I'll just pick up that there slack for you. No problem. I love mopping.
Fun stuff. If my camera was working, I'd take some pictures of it for you.
In other news, even Wills thought the pocket pigs were a little cute. Though he was a little conflicted because he had mixed feelings about domesticating animals.
I think I'm going to try to go to DI today (I really, really need some new clothes). And I have plenty of other things on my to-do list that I'll work on, including going to get measured for my bridesmaid dress for Marta's wedding!
Something similar (albeit way smaller) happened maybe a month ago. I called the landlord, and they sent someone out to check it out. They told me that there is a leak in the wall because of something to do with a leaking gutter on the outside? My room is halfway underground (I live in the basement) so apparently the ground has come away from the foundation a little bit, and there is a crack, so it's leaking right through my wall and all over my floor.
Some people from the real estate company who takes care of our house came by, took pictures, told me what was up, and then told me to mop the water up and put a towel in front of where the water is coming out. Awesome. Don't worry, I didn't have anything else I was going to do this morning. I was just hoping that you'd come by and tell me to clean all of this up. Even though you knew it was happening a month ago, and could've done something before now. I'll just pick up that there slack for you. No problem. I love mopping.
Fun stuff. If my camera was working, I'd take some pictures of it for you.
In other news, even Wills thought the pocket pigs were a little cute. Though he was a little conflicted because he had mixed feelings about domesticating animals.
I think I'm going to try to go to DI today (I really, really need some new clothes). And I have plenty of other things on my to-do list that I'll work on, including going to get measured for my bridesmaid dress for Marta's wedding!
Sunday, May 23, 2010
oh so cute. oh man.
I inherited my love for animals from my grandma. And my mom.
Thus, I really want one of these:
That love for animals is also the reason I love this (cuteboyswithcats) website.
And this, perchance, is my favorite one of all (letsbefriends). I'll leave you with this picture. You know, to tempt you:
Go my friends. Rejoice in the animal love.
Thus, I really want one of these:
That love for animals is also the reason I love this (cuteboyswithcats) website.
And this, perchance, is my favorite one of all (letsbefriends). I'll leave you with this picture. You know, to tempt you:
Go my friends. Rejoice in the animal love.
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Friday, May 14, 2010
05.14.2010
I'm feeling pretty good this week. I actually started up a fairly normal schedule at work! I will be working (with a few exceptions, I'm sure) on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, from 6am to noon at the bakery, and then from 6-8pm teaching English on those same days. It should be really nice in some ways, because I'll have a four-day-weekend most weekends (!). The main downside will be having to go to bed pretty early (like 10pm or earlier if I can) on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday nights, but also that my off-time from work is in the middle of the day. So instead of getting all my working hours out of the way all together in the morning or in the evening, I have to get up at like 5:30am, work for six hours, and then when I get off I have some time, but my English class in the evenings is weighing on me because I have to plan my lesson. So... there are pros and cons to any way I do it. I'm thinking I might try to get all my lessons planned over the weekend and do any other prep that I need to do so I don't have to worry about pulling something together a few hours before class.
In other news, Wills got back from Israel on Tuesday (his flight got cancelled, and he ended up spending the night in the airport in Tel Aviv), and he brought all of us awesome souvenirs! He got each of his roommates at the Dollhouse a Keffiyeh (they're going to have a dollhouse picture with all of them wearing them - Sweet!), and he got me a gorgeous red bag which was made by some Druze people. It is red, and looks kind of like these, in messenger bag form. So cool! I wore it out for the first time this morning. It is very well made, and the weaving is gorgeous.
Also, my roommate Brooke introduced me to this book the other day and I can't wait to read it! It's called Radical Homemakers. Here is a review of the book I found on the above linked website:
“Imagine women with masters degrees and PhDs who choose home over career advancement. Imagine wives (and husbands) who reject the false promise of endless paid labor to tend gardens and children and friendships. In a time when Wall Street MBAs-producing nothing of value but rewarded with million-dollar bonuses and blinded by greed-have driven our country to bankruptcy and despair, Shannon Hayes’ stories of women and men who choose simplicity, authenticity and community inspire hope. Outside the boxes of both conservatives and liberals, this book is radical thinking at its best. Read it and think.”-John de Graaf, coauthor of Affluenza and director of Take Back Your Time
I'm in the middle of several books right now, but once I finish a few, I want to start on this one. I love the idea of being really educated, but also focusing so much on family and community because building solid families and communities is what is going to make cities and states and countries stronger.
Hopefully the weekend will be great. I will love not having to worry about work. Later today Wills and I are going to hike the Y, then go see Avatar in the dollar theater. There are good times to be had.
In other news, Wills got back from Israel on Tuesday (his flight got cancelled, and he ended up spending the night in the airport in Tel Aviv), and he brought all of us awesome souvenirs! He got each of his roommates at the Dollhouse a Keffiyeh (they're going to have a dollhouse picture with all of them wearing them - Sweet!), and he got me a gorgeous red bag which was made by some Druze people. It is red, and looks kind of like these, in messenger bag form. So cool! I wore it out for the first time this morning. It is very well made, and the weaving is gorgeous.
Also, my roommate Brooke introduced me to this book the other day and I can't wait to read it! It's called Radical Homemakers. Here is a review of the book I found on the above linked website:
“Imagine women with masters degrees and PhDs who choose home over career advancement. Imagine wives (and husbands) who reject the false promise of endless paid labor to tend gardens and children and friendships. In a time when Wall Street MBAs-producing nothing of value but rewarded with million-dollar bonuses and blinded by greed-have driven our country to bankruptcy and despair, Shannon Hayes’ stories of women and men who choose simplicity, authenticity and community inspire hope. Outside the boxes of both conservatives and liberals, this book is radical thinking at its best. Read it and think.”-John de Graaf, coauthor of Affluenza and director of Take Back Your Time
I'm in the middle of several books right now, but once I finish a few, I want to start on this one. I love the idea of being really educated, but also focusing so much on family and community because building solid families and communities is what is going to make cities and states and countries stronger.
Hopefully the weekend will be great. I will love not having to worry about work. Later today Wills and I are going to hike the Y, then go see Avatar in the dollar theater. There are good times to be had.
Saturday, May 8, 2010
05.08.2010
I am exhausted.
I've worked 6 or 7 hour shifts at the bakery four days in a row (which means waking up at 5:30am all of those days, to get there by six). I also taught ESL in the evenings a couple of those days, which includes planning lessons. AND, Cary and I are trying to get everything for the ward family home evening on Monday night planned and ready. We went up to Costco yesterday to get food for it, and we still need some more, so I'm going to have to make another grocery store trip sometime today.
And I'm annoyed at how many people eat SO MANY FREAKING DONUTS Saturday mornings. And people totally overdose on sweets on holiday weekend (Mother's Day!).
Anyway, I got home, took a quick rinse-off in the shower, and put on some sweats. I think I'll spend a few hours reading, or taking a nap. Or doing both.
Tonight is Jana's birthday movie marathon! Yay for pizza and crowding tons of people in the living room to watch movies on the big projector screen. And for lounging in the LoveSac.
Tomorrow is church, and prepping food for FHE.
Maybe my roommates and I will make some delicious food together. It's so nice when all three of us are home.
ps. hopefully I'll get some new batteries (or a new charger) for my camera soon!
I've worked 6 or 7 hour shifts at the bakery four days in a row (which means waking up at 5:30am all of those days, to get there by six). I also taught ESL in the evenings a couple of those days, which includes planning lessons. AND, Cary and I are trying to get everything for the ward family home evening on Monday night planned and ready. We went up to Costco yesterday to get food for it, and we still need some more, so I'm going to have to make another grocery store trip sometime today.
And I'm annoyed at how many people eat SO MANY FREAKING DONUTS Saturday mornings. And people totally overdose on sweets on holiday weekend (Mother's Day!).
Anyway, I got home, took a quick rinse-off in the shower, and put on some sweats. I think I'll spend a few hours reading, or taking a nap. Or doing both.
Tonight is Jana's birthday movie marathon! Yay for pizza and crowding tons of people in the living room to watch movies on the big projector screen. And for lounging in the LoveSac.
Tomorrow is church, and prepping food for FHE.
Maybe my roommates and I will make some delicious food together. It's so nice when all three of us are home.
ps. hopefully I'll get some new batteries (or a new charger) for my camera soon!
Thursday, May 6, 2010
05.06.2010
Yesterday was super busy!
I had to wake up early to get to work at the bakery at 6am. I got off at one, came home, showered (after a shift at the bakery, I smell just like I used to after a shift at Pick Quick. Ew.), and ate some lunch, which was leftover soup that I made a couple of nights ago (which is really good, by the way. I posted the link to the recipe and the changes I made to it at the bottom of this post).
After that I met with the other co-chair for FHE (did I mention that I was called as one of the FHE co-chairs? :)). We are both brand new to the calling, but after talking with him, I'm way excited for the way things are going to do. We're hoping to try some new things and hopefully get some more people coming out every week (as it is, less than half of each group generally comes to activities). The most urgent thing we're dealing with right now is planning the ward FHE for this coming Monday evening. We're thinking barbecue. A delicious barbecue of course... none of this buy-some-cheap-nasty-hot-dogs-and-squished-white-hamburger-buns grossness. Hopefully we'll play some kickball or whiffle ball too. My roommate Jana upstairs is going to take care of the music. It's still in the works of course, but it should be really fun!
Right after that, I had to leave again. I had agreed to be in a film that my roommate's brother Scott is working on for one of his film classes. He asked me on Monday if I'd mind being in a short (like two minutes, short) film he was working on. They needed someone to play the "sweet, young mother", and Scott said he immediately thought of me. I managed to find a baby that I could borrow to add to the effect (baby on the hip, over-sized white shirt, old cut-off shorts, ghetto house... you get the picture). We picked up baby Hyrum who is one year old, and headed up to Scott's house where we were going to be shooting. Hyrum was completely content to be chilling on my hip, barefoot, for almost an entire hour. He played with my hair, ate some cheerios, looked at the things on the wall inside Scott's house while we were waiting for the salesman to knock on the door, etc. He did awesome. We ended up shooting it a good five-plus times. When the filmmakers were content with the footage they'd gotten, we loaded Hyrum back into the car and headed home.
After we dropped Hyrum at his house, Scott dropped me off just in time to change clothes, copy down my lesson plan, grab some water and snacks and run out the door to go teach ESL.
The class was pretty uneventful. That is, except for the part where I found a note on the side of one of my students desks. He had written it (in English! Yay!) to explain that he'd bought me some bananas, but forgotten them in his car, so he would bring them in at break time. And that he did. They were all wrapped up in a plastic bag, so that no one could tell what they were, I imagine (he was trying to be pretty stealth about it). Also, there was the part where the oldest man in my class was flirting with me (to make matters worse, he doesn't have a wife, currently. He's definitely like sixty. I'm sorry, but ewww. no.)
I finally got home around 8:30pm. I chatted with Brooke and Ashley for a minute, had a little snack, and then started getting ready for bed (I had to be at work at 6am at the bakery again today, so I wanted to get to bed early-ish. Which really ended up being about 10:20. Oh well.).
Luckily, today has been a lot more chill and I've gotten a few things done around the house.
Life is pretty good.
P.S. I found this picture in a magazine a couple years ago, and saved it. I just came across it again a couple of days ago. Can this be my family someday? Barefoot, babies, straw hat, husband with carrots. I'm taking note.
Click on the links to check out the rest of the slideshow (the one that included the above picture) about an organic farm, and the story that goes with it. The photography is beautiful, and everyone should know about eating locally and sustainably.
The recipe for the soup I mentioned at the top of the post can be found here. Chili's Southwestern Vegetable Soup. So good!
I didn't have any corn tortillas, so I didn't add those, and added a little corn starch to it to thicken it up instead. I also am not a huge fan of spicy foods, so I didn't add the chilies. I couldn't find our chili powder either, so I just added crushed red pepper flakes instead. BUT. It turned out pretty spicy. Spicier than I would have liked. So my tip to you is, if you don't add chilies and can't find your chili powder and end up having to use red pepper flakes instead, don't add as much as you would if you had chili powder. Just a heads up.
I had to wake up early to get to work at the bakery at 6am. I got off at one, came home, showered (after a shift at the bakery, I smell just like I used to after a shift at Pick Quick. Ew.), and ate some lunch, which was leftover soup that I made a couple of nights ago (which is really good, by the way. I posted the link to the recipe and the changes I made to it at the bottom of this post).
After that I met with the other co-chair for FHE (did I mention that I was called as one of the FHE co-chairs? :)). We are both brand new to the calling, but after talking with him, I'm way excited for the way things are going to do. We're hoping to try some new things and hopefully get some more people coming out every week (as it is, less than half of each group generally comes to activities). The most urgent thing we're dealing with right now is planning the ward FHE for this coming Monday evening. We're thinking barbecue. A delicious barbecue of course... none of this buy-some-cheap-nasty-hot-dogs-and-squished-white-hamburger-buns grossness. Hopefully we'll play some kickball or whiffle ball too. My roommate Jana upstairs is going to take care of the music. It's still in the works of course, but it should be really fun!
Right after that, I had to leave again. I had agreed to be in a film that my roommate's brother Scott is working on for one of his film classes. He asked me on Monday if I'd mind being in a short (like two minutes, short) film he was working on. They needed someone to play the "sweet, young mother", and Scott said he immediately thought of me. I managed to find a baby that I could borrow to add to the effect (baby on the hip, over-sized white shirt, old cut-off shorts, ghetto house... you get the picture). We picked up baby Hyrum who is one year old, and headed up to Scott's house where we were going to be shooting. Hyrum was completely content to be chilling on my hip, barefoot, for almost an entire hour. He played with my hair, ate some cheerios, looked at the things on the wall inside Scott's house while we were waiting for the salesman to knock on the door, etc. He did awesome. We ended up shooting it a good five-plus times. When the filmmakers were content with the footage they'd gotten, we loaded Hyrum back into the car and headed home.
After we dropped Hyrum at his house, Scott dropped me off just in time to change clothes, copy down my lesson plan, grab some water and snacks and run out the door to go teach ESL.
The class was pretty uneventful. That is, except for the part where I found a note on the side of one of my students desks. He had written it (in English! Yay!) to explain that he'd bought me some bananas, but forgotten them in his car, so he would bring them in at break time. And that he did. They were all wrapped up in a plastic bag, so that no one could tell what they were, I imagine (he was trying to be pretty stealth about it). Also, there was the part where the oldest man in my class was flirting with me (to make matters worse, he doesn't have a wife, currently. He's definitely like sixty. I'm sorry, but ewww. no.)
I finally got home around 8:30pm. I chatted with Brooke and Ashley for a minute, had a little snack, and then started getting ready for bed (I had to be at work at 6am at the bakery again today, so I wanted to get to bed early-ish. Which really ended up being about 10:20. Oh well.).
Luckily, today has been a lot more chill and I've gotten a few things done around the house.
Life is pretty good.
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Click on the links to check out the rest of the slideshow (the one that included the above picture) about an organic farm, and the story that goes with it. The photography is beautiful, and everyone should know about eating locally and sustainably.
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The recipe for the soup I mentioned at the top of the post can be found here. Chili's Southwestern Vegetable Soup. So good!
I didn't have any corn tortillas, so I didn't add those, and added a little corn starch to it to thicken it up instead. I also am not a huge fan of spicy foods, so I didn't add the chilies. I couldn't find our chili powder either, so I just added crushed red pepper flakes instead. BUT. It turned out pretty spicy. Spicier than I would have liked. So my tip to you is, if you don't add chilies and can't find your chili powder and end up having to use red pepper flakes instead, don't add as much as you would if you had chili powder. Just a heads up.
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
05.04.2010
I found this video on one of CJane's blogs.
I love it. How she views motherhood, the scenes of her beautiful children playing, and being happy. It's just beautiful.
I love it. How she views motherhood, the scenes of her beautiful children playing, and being happy. It's just beautiful.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
keeping up
Sorry I've been a little down and out lately. I promise to get going with my posting again soon.
One of my excuses (lame, I know) is that I don't have any batteries for my camera currently. I have a bunch of rechargeable ones, and a charger, but either the charger isn't working, or the batteries are done for. I guess I need to test them out a little bit to figure out which is which. In the meantime, I guess I feel like posts are a little boring with no pictures to illustrate what I'm talking about. Though I might just bore you anyway... :).
In the meantime, check out this post, written by my roommate Brooke, on her blog. I'm a fan.
It includes snippets of what I've been involved in/doing lately (including the chickens, and the spring garden, and the ostrich egg quiche, strawberry napoleons, and chocolate noodles part. yum.)
A little update:
Remember all that stuff I posted about that I was going to sell? Luckily, all of that sold, including my computer! Thanks to that, and help from awesome family and friends, I'm doing a little better in the financial arena lately. Still nowhere near where I'd like to be, but I'm getting there.
I also got a couple of new jobs. In addition to substitute teaching for Provo, I got a job teaching adult ESL classes in the evenings three days a week, and I got a job at the Provo Bakery (where another one of my roommates works). Once the paychecks for those start rolling in, I should be feeling pretty comfortable! Right now I'm just trying to adjust to everything being different and a little crazy sometimes.
In other news, Wills left for Jerusalem today! He'll be gone until May 10th.
One of my excuses (lame, I know) is that I don't have any batteries for my camera currently. I have a bunch of rechargeable ones, and a charger, but either the charger isn't working, or the batteries are done for. I guess I need to test them out a little bit to figure out which is which. In the meantime, I guess I feel like posts are a little boring with no pictures to illustrate what I'm talking about. Though I might just bore you anyway... :).
In the meantime, check out this post, written by my roommate Brooke, on her blog. I'm a fan.
It includes snippets of what I've been involved in/doing lately (including the chickens, and the spring garden, and the ostrich egg quiche, strawberry napoleons, and chocolate noodles part. yum.)
A little update:
Remember all that stuff I posted about that I was going to sell? Luckily, all of that sold, including my computer! Thanks to that, and help from awesome family and friends, I'm doing a little better in the financial arena lately. Still nowhere near where I'd like to be, but I'm getting there.
I also got a couple of new jobs. In addition to substitute teaching for Provo, I got a job teaching adult ESL classes in the evenings three days a week, and I got a job at the Provo Bakery (where another one of my roommates works). Once the paychecks for those start rolling in, I should be feeling pretty comfortable! Right now I'm just trying to adjust to everything being different and a little crazy sometimes.
In other news, Wills left for Jerusalem today! He'll be gone until May 10th.
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