At Least I'm Not a Vegan, Right?

One of the things I've always loved about having lots of Mormon friends is that I was never alone. I always have at least someone (in Rexburg, everyone) who understands that I dress and live a certain way and will be supportive of it.

Some things, though, are not as accepted in the bubble. This weekend I decided to give up meat. There are a few reasons for this.

• I'm not very good at eating consistently. The extra effort it will take to put protein in my body should keep me more aware of the fact that I need to put calories in there three times a day.
• Meat is expensive. Produce and grains are cheap.
• A new way of reading the Word of Wisdom.  I'm not aware of any famine, and though it is cold out, I still have heating and will not freeze to death.

But the most interesting part will be the social response. I've told a few friends and family. A few are supportive, but to others I might as well be a communist. I've also found an ally in one of my ward members who's been vegetarian for a while and offered to teach me some recipes. What I want to know is  WHY vegetarianism is so looked down on in the bubble. I understand a distaste for those who do it for animal rights reasons, but all vegetarians seem to get the same bad rap. But hey, it really doesn't make you a terrible person! (If that was the case, Upland would need a new stake president. So there.)

I haven't had eaten meat in 4 days and I'll let you know how this works out. 

PS. It really is just a coincidence that Lent starts tomorrow.

Day Two

When I'm stressed/busy/depressed, the first thing to go is my appetite. I skip meals because sleep sounds so much better than food. So today I ate breakfast, lunch, and dinner without (much) protest. And it was a good day. Huzzah.

"How do you fight LOVE?"

A Capella Love Song of the Day #8 Iris by Goo Goo Dolls

Today I'm in an unusually good mood.

Maybe because I found this at the grocery store and I can make my favorite vegetarian tortellini soup like I do every Valentine's Day. 

Or maybe because my morning class is cancelled tomorrow.

Or maybe because I got a phone call from two of my favorite people.

(photo by Jill Rich Photography)

Okay, it's probably all of these, but most of all because of the knowledge I have that Christ lives and that to follow Him is to have a secure hope for the future. 

(The Master's Touch by Greg Olsen)

Dinosaur Salad

The other day I found myself really craving chicken caesar salad, but lacking the time or desire to cook chicken at lunchtime. Then I opened the freezer, saw chicken nuggets, and was inspired. Thus Dinosaur Salad was invented. I forgot about it until I had it again today and realized that some things are just too good to keep to yourself. 

Other than that, my Monday was nothing too special. I did almost biff it and die a few times walking in the snow today though, which gave me the idea for today's a capella love song of the day. 

Day #7 Collide by Howie Day

This is only 25 seconds of the song as performed by Freshman Fifteen. I cannot recommend this arrangement highly enough and I think you should front 99¢ for it on iTunes because you will never regret it. 

What's for Dinner? Occam's Razor

My mom's an awesome cook. I grew up never having quite the same meal twice. Really. She tries to cook meals differently every time to appease and expand our picky discriminating tastes. I can't really afford to do that. I have limited groceries/spices/room to experiment, but I do try different things. Sometimes.

During our initial "big shop," my mom got me some feta cheese that I had intended to use in a couscous salad modified from a Real Simple recipe for orzo salad. A month later, my desire for cold food has not returned and the feta was still unopened. Fearing that it would go bad soon, I spent forever trying to find a recipe that would involve feta, be hot and yummy, and not require more ingredients than I had. Desperate, I called my mom for ideas. She was about to leave for mutual when I called. (You're welcome, 5th Ward young women, by the way. My mom is the best and I used to be her only daughter.) I forgot what she said, but it inspired me. 

I took this to make

this.

I was almost upset how simple it was after all that time trying to come up with something, and it wasn't that different from what I would usually make. But of course, it's the simple things that are the best, right? 

My Favorite Things, Part I

As much as I hate (repeat: HATE) being cold, I love fall. For me, new beginnings happen in October, not January. We're finally into the swing of things at school, opportunities crop up to dress a little more warmly (i.e., nicer). Now is the time for General Conference and Halloween. I'm not sure how to explain it, but there's just something in the air that makes everything a little more special.

Of course, this all points to...

Candy corn. My favorite. They're finally selling it at the grocery store, and I plan to get a bag in my next grocery trip. Or I might just pick up a few baking/cooking things and try this recipe for homemade candy corn I found here. 

Moments of Elegant Leisure

I have the rest of the summer off. For the first time in a long time, I'm deriving more pleasure from...well, everything. Especially:

photography,

eating,

(aren't I classy?)

dressing up,

I got dressed up for a wedding reception. My mom and I went grocery shopping right after, and I'm told the cute cashier was checking me out. Yeaaaaaah.

and just being with friends.

This Week's Accomplishments

• I invented a breakfast pasta. I'm not really a breakfast food person, so I made pasta in a way that's more breakfast-y and sweet. Not like that just-put-an-egg-on-top breakfast pasta. It's fantastically simple and I'll post the recipe another time.
• I drove all the way out to Los Angeles to go to the temple by myself in nasty traffic. Thursdays the Los Angeles Temple has time for baptisms without appointments. I've wanted to go all summer, and everything was finally right. I was able to borrow my parents' car, I got out of work on time, all that jazz. After two hours of driving, getting lost downtown, and awful traffic in the city, I made it--only to find it was closed. I made the most of it. I took a tour of the newly remodeled visitors center and hung out for a while. Overall, it was a good experience. I'm not going back by myself, though. That's the scary part of Westwood.

• I discovered I'm not the only Rachel fangirl in my ward. Hannah and Tiffany and I all want to be like her when we grow up.
• I've finally seen Firefly. I'm sad it was cancelled. And look!

Yep. That's prepubescent Zac Efron as a younger Simon Tam. I laughed so hard.

I have no formal post. Just captions for pictures.

 This is my dad fixing the pipes. They're partway through redoing the kitchen, and it's going to look great!

 There's a clothesline in the backyard of my new place. 

 I plan to take unnecessary amounts of pictures of my clothes drying this summer.

 I actually plan to take unnecessary amounts of pictures in general, because now I have a real camera for the first time since November! I bought a Canon EOS Rebel XSi for my photography classes. Huzzah.

I was home alone with nothing to do tonight, so I got started making chocolate hazelnut gelato. 

 Side note: I made the bacon ice cream earlier this week. It was really, really good. My family loved it, too! (See? I am neither pregnant nor crazy.)

I wore an apron and everything!

It's not finished yet, though. It has to chill for a lot longer before it can go into the machine. But it'll be worth the wait. 

"Cubans don't eat cupcakes because cupcakes are happy and communism's not!"

Today you get a lot of sporadic thoughts and images. Have fun!

Some skills need to be constantly cultivated. Otherwise they go away. Like sometimes you're performing in Carnegie Hall one day and a year later you're struggling to sightread an easy alto part.

Today I found myself missing my long red hair. And New York. And Dallin. I like how this picture has all three.

I've also noticed that after I hear barbershop live, I impulsively have to say "Get some!"after every song. I can keep it quiet in a BYU-Idaho setting, but I just know that it's because of Diva Day '09. Good times.

Maddie is the coolest eleven-year-old ever. And I bet Minnesota wishes they still had the Lakers. (Even though Maddie is about nine in this picture and while we were at Staples Center, it was a Clippers game.)

I declared today a Day of Cupcakes. Since we were watching Obsession in my sociology of religion class today, we were supposed to bring food. I made Nutella cupcakes first thing this morning. Then I somehow found myself in The Cocoa Bean getting a Madagascar Vanilla Vanilla cupcake after my last class. Then I made myself stop.

I'd have pictures of all this, but they're all on my phone and I can't send pictures from my phone anymore. (Hey Dad, can we fix that, please?) So you get this one of Noah, Kendra, and Kylinn on top of the fort back home.

I like Butter Pecan ice cream. Except for the pecans.

The title of this post comes from the May 2009 Quote Book. I definitely said it in AP Bio, but I can't remember the context. Do any BiFs remember?

Top Ten Reasons that This Week was the Best.

10. J'ai trouvé ma cloche!

I finally have the coolest hat in the world back. I lost it in my French class on the second day of class and didn't see until yesterday, when Sœur Passe-Carlus said she had it in her office.

9. Hair Color Fades!

My hair is a normal color! But I did turn the towels pink at the temple...

8. Nutella Cupcakes!

Found this recipe while stumbling around the internet on Thursday and couldn't help but trying them. And they are DELICIOUS. We ate them for breakfast. (Since they're self-frosting, you can totally pass them off as muffins.) I will definitely be making them again in the near future.

7. I've finally seen The Dark Knight all the way through!

When my family rented this when it first came out, no one ever told me when they were starting. So I always came in the middle. Then last semester I started it with the guys, but we only got halfway through before curfew. Then we watched it last night because their new roommate is just off his mission and hadn't seen it yet. Hurray for 1am curfew on Fridays!

6. I finally found a good place to study!

I have a hard time focusing on homework when Sven the Mac's 20-inch screen offers so many other options. And I don't like the library--too many people. But there is a lovely little secluded place in the Ricks Building (pictured above) perfect for reading and studying. This should increase my productivity by infinity.

5. The Hello Kitty Coloring Book

My mom sent a bunch of crayons up with me after Christmas Break and I had nothing to color! In my determination to remedy this, I bought a 288 page Hello Kitty coloring book. I almost got the Star Wars one, but it was part of that crap Clone Wars franchise. I am not ashamed of my new hobby. You're just jealous. 

4.Endless Jam Sessions.

My roommate Jenna the Music Ed Major brought an acoustic guitar up with her. Now we're both using it to teach ourselves to play. I remembered a few things from back when I actually practiced Francesca (my guitar that's been sitting lonely in my room for the past three years). My fingers are sore and covered in band-aids, and Jenna's thumb has turned funny colors from strumming with it. But it's way fun. Since Thursday, we've spent at least three hours a day taking turns playing. 

3. Getting things worked out.

Don't you worry your pretty little head about the details.

2. Hearing from two members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

Elder Russel M. Nelson gave the devotional on Tuesday and Elder. M. Russell Ballard More will be on my Rexburg Blog.

1. Getting my family's temple work done.

Unless I'm completely mistaken, this is my great-grandmother,(my mother's mother's mother) Margot. I was baptized and confirmed for her and for my great-great-aunt, (my mother's father's mother's sister) Anna. I'm so excited to keep tracing my mom's family line and getting their work done, too!

Scatterbrain

I'd really like to see (500) Days of Summer.

Yesterday I made a Nutella and bacon sandwich using Eggo waffles instead of bread. It was delicious.

Then today I found a recipe for Candied Bacon Ice Cream. Something may be wrong here.

photo courtesy of the Telegraph

Look at this dress. It has special pockets for markers to create the colored pattern. How clever! 

I'm tempted to not go to my American government class on Tuesday because I know something more horribly sexist than usual will happen in the name of an object lesson.

50% of Haitians agree with Pat Robertson about the deal with the devil thing.

Mari Winsor is officially my arch-nemesis.

Barbershop or Jazz?