Saturday, November 21, 2009

friendsgiving

This week has been pretty busy with school and friends-giving planning! Our group of friends has decided to throw a mini Thanksgiving this Sunday, supposedly for our few (let's hope it doesn't turn into a party). Along with this is a bunch of school work and work that is wearing me down. Anyways I'm in charge of vegetable sides and stuffing but I'm also going to be making extras since the vegetables are easy to prepare.

I'm making:

Green Beans with Shallots and Breadcrumbs
Ginger and Jalepeno Glazed Carrots
Stuffing
Baked Mac & Cheese (yum!)
Pumpkin Cupcakes

The shopping and the cooking starts today since I work tomorrow morning, and will probably stress myself out trying to make everything in a few hours. The macaroni will freeze well and just be put in the oven tomorrow so it's hot. I think I might also do the cupcakes today so I can just decorate them Sunday. No thanks to piled pots and pans for me to come home to. I'll be sure to post pictures when all is accomplished..hopefully. *fingers crossed

Jesse's birthday went surprisingly well. The day of shopping was ridiculous and consisted of 4 separate stops to different stores. In the end the Pesto that I winged turned out really delicious and everyone loved it. Being surrounded by family and friends that were eager to help wasn't bad at all. Dinner ended up being Pesto Cavatappi (Jesse's favorite noodle hah) with fake chicken, roasted carrots and asparagus, garlic bread, and the cinnamon streusel cake with soy ice cream for dessert. It was all super simple, low key, and really fun.


All the food

Jesse's mom (Pat), niece(Emma), sister (Jennet), and brother-in-law (Joshua)

Cookies that Jennet made

The cinnamon streusel cake

Friday, November 13, 2009

kiss the cook

I decided to actually sit down and redo my blog layout. It took me forever and it's still not what I want it to be! I've also decided to combine this with the cooking blog I was going to start since I hardly write in this one anyways. I shouldn't say cooking blog, it'll be more of a baking blog. Cooking on occasion when I have the time and I'm feeling experimental. Baking just comes more natural to me and has become a hobby and a passion. I'm looking toward opening my own bakery one day, someday far away :) I love trying and reading new recipes especially since I need to modify them sometimes to accommodate different diets. I occasionally go vegan myself because it's a lot healthier and tastes the same if not better! I also substitute because Jesse's sister Jennet, and her husband Joshua are both vegans and since I love baking for other people it's made me a pro in vegan baking.

So coming up on the 16th is Jesse's birthday and he requested a Cinnamon Streusel Cake. I've never made a streusel before but the recipe looks pretty simple. This weekend will be a test trial so wish me luck! Jesse's birthday will also call into action my cooking skills since we are just doing a simple dinner with at home with his family. I'm REALLY going to need some luck with that. Getting into the fall season has made me use more spices and I've been making more cakes with pumpkin and cinnamon etc. I made a vegan Zucchini cake for Jennet's birthday and it was a success. I'll be making this cake again for the football game this Sunday when we go over to our friends Nate and Hollie's house. Go Patriots!

I'll be posting more pics and blogs up soon.

Sunday, October 18, 2009

so much for keeping up

Obviously I haven't been writing at all..I don't ever feel like I have anything to write about. Then time passes and I find that I have too much to say. Since the last post we've moved into the house and everyone loves it. A couple months after we moved in upstairs, our friends Josh and Miah moved in downstairs. Now we have the house to ourselves which is super fun and busy at the same time. The house hasn't really been decorated and it seems like it'll be a couple more months until I unpack the last box and we're officially and actually moved in I guess.

School started and I'm taking two classes which will help be get rid of some more generals while I decide what to do with my life. Halloween is upon us and going into the holiday season makes me excited because I'll get to spend it with all the people I care about. Next Sunday, Jesse and I will have been dating for a year. Is that not ridiculous! Vivian is at home a lot more and it's always fun when she brings her puppy Mochi, the cats love it...haha. Everything feels so homey and nice, like we have our own little family with everyone living so close. Jesse finally finished my bike and I haven't gotten pictures of it but it's awesome and I love it. I uploaded some pictures of the house and cats and Mochi and as soon as I get one of my bike I'll put it up. Just thought a nice little update would make things better.


living room

living room windows

view from the porch

kitchen

kitchen

vivian's room

my room


more living room


hallway

bathroom

brick grill on the patio

lucius ready for halloween

vivian's mochi

Thursday, June 11, 2009

luck changing

I really am bad at keeping up with this. The truth is I want to tell you about projects I'm working on but I want pics of them to post so I won't write about it until I get those. Anyways this last week has been the best week in such a long time. As you may recall, the previous post was all about the woes and stresses of my life most notably the meager excuse for of a job that I have. Well on Tuesday I got a call for an interview at this call center! I'm starting at $11 an hour as a base pay plus all the upsells I get which they say I will average $20 hopefully with 25 hours a week. That's like one grand a payperiod...yyeeahh i know. So needless to say I'm really excited about not being broke all the time.



Along with this amazing news is the fact that I've finally found the perfect place to live. I started looking in December and since then it's been on and off. It was so frustrating because every where that was in our price range wasn't nice or bad location or they didn't allow pets and every where that did allow pets or was semi nice in a good location was way too pricey. Looking for rentals on craigslist became a daily routine and everytime I found something decent, I was miserably disappointed. Finally I stumbled upon a place for rent at Capitol Hill. I gave the landlady, Judy, a call and set up an appointment to see it. I was so nervous because I really didn't want to be disappointed again. It turned out to be so perfect and beautiful. The place is the top floor of this old Victorian house. There's tons of windows every where, the living room and kitchen are really open and have hardwood and the bedrooms have a skylight. The bathroom has a clawfoot tub (which I really wanted) with tile, plus it's significantly bigger than my bathroom now. Also in the picture you can see that there's a great view of the capitol and gas is included in the rent which is awesome plus she allows pets! Today I just got the call that we were accepted for the rental which I'm so happy for. I was so lucky to find this, seriously all those months of looking for the perfect place paid off. We'll be moving around the beginning of July and we're meeting with Judy this afternoon to discuss the lease. I will have more pictures to come once we are painting and moving things in!


Lately I've also been trying to think of things I could do for my birthday. I'll be turning the big two O this year which blows my mind. I seriously do not feel that old at all. It finally looks like my life is changing again and that I'm getting closer to my goals. Maybe you have to go through stress and hardship to really appreciate and recognize when good things happen to you. I'll be back soon with pics of my latest projects.

Thursday, May 21, 2009

it's all happening

So already it seems that I've not been updating as much as I probably should be. I just have to remember to fit this into my daily routine so it becomes habit I guess. I'm also thinking I should write a bit about myself since I think that I've changed a lot during the past few years. To start, I just finished my second year of college and though I'm at a junior level in credits I don't feel like one at all. I don't really have an idea of what I'm going to major in which is kind of a concern because I'm sort of stuck and I feel like I can't go forward without knowing where I'm going. I'm interested in going into Graphic Design but being an art major may be too much for me. As far as a career goes, I want to be a surgeon. So I'm half way done with the Pre-Med track but just like that art major, I'm not sure if I could cut it. These are the main reasons that I feel make me unmotivated to go to school because I waste time and money trying to figure it all out.

I've been dating my boyfriend Jesse for about 7 months now. We met at our job which was alittle weird but we've realized that we work well together. He's by far the longest and best relationship that I've ever been in. From the beginning he broke all the rules from not having a weird name to being a white boy with red hair and freckles. I guess he's yet to break my curse because frankly, I didn't think he'd still be in my life and now that my birthday's coming up...eek! I guess we'll see. We pretty much live together, meaning he stays at my place every night of the week but I won't allow him to help me with rent or utilities because I think that would mean we would really be living together. Really living together would complicate things if we ever broke up or started fighting and I feel like I would be jinxing our relationship. I'm really scared of full on commitment and I'm bad at relationships..obviously. We disagree a lot, but he's the one that will deal with my ridiculous mood swings, build me a desk because I have no money to buy one, still think I'm beautiful with no makeup on, hold me all night while we sleep, and kiss me when I'm crying. I'm completely in love with him.

Currently, I work at the new Skybox location that just opened. I hate it there. The job isn't so bad but I've discovered that they don't value their employees. In the process of opening the new store, the manager, Jeff, wanted a couple experienced hosts to go with him. This would mean Jesse and I since every other host would not drive all the way to South Jordan. At the time, I asked for a raise and was pretty much turned down in the end. I feel like I am being taken advantage of because I still get paid 8 an hour even on the weekends and I've worked there for close to a year. I also played a role in helping to open the restaurant. The least I was expecting was weekend pay since I've pretty much worked every weekend since I started there but that was not done either. So now I am stuck there until I find another job. I hope to get one at the hospital and I've already applied so I'm now waiting to hear if I get an interview or not. This waiting stresses me out and affects me deeply because I put in most of my hours a week into Skybox and I don't make enough in the end to justify my time or effort. Seriously could you survive off of 200 dollars a week with bills to be paid?

I just got two cats. Lucius is a black cat who's about a year old. He was found outside by this lady so no one really knows where he came from. He's really sweet and mellow and he loves to snuggle with you. He was also the first one I adopted. Hero,named after Hero of the Greek myth Hero and Leander, is a 4 month old, fluffy orange tabby. She was shaved like a lion and now that her fur is starting to grow back she looks like a big puff ball. I named her Hero because the character Hero is the only woman in a Greek myth that has a pivotal role in the story. Most other women are just background characters and I thought that was pretty interesting. Hero loves q tips and there have been a number of times when I have come home to find all my q tips on the floor chewed up. She purrs ridiculously loud but it is the most adorable thing ever. Lucius and Hero used to fight but with some extra care and time they've been much better. I've yet to leave them alone together all day but that would be the next step. It's such a process. I treat my cats like they're my kids because I'm completely taken by them, it's a little embarassing.
At the end of last year, I read a book called Skinny Bitch. Since January 1st I've been a strict vegetarian. I'm hoping to become vegan but that process is a little bit more diffcult because it drastically limits your food choices and I'm still trying to develop my tastes so my diet doesn't cause me to be unhealthy. I don't eat anything with meat in, on, or made from it. Soup has to be made from vegetable stock or I won't drink it. Occasionally I eat fish because it's extremely healthy for you but I still hope to limit that. I don't drink milk or eat yogurt and I'm also trying to stay off dairy based ice cream so these days I'm buying alot of soy. The only thing that stands in my way of being a vegan is cheese. For some reason I can't stop eating cheese it's ridiculous. I've developed a hobby for vegan baking however and I absolutely love it. It's easier almost and the recipes turn out even better. I've learned that all it is is substitutions so even recipes that were originally non-vegan can be converted. I totally have a sweet tooth and before, desserts would make me feel sick after I ate them but with vegan desserts you don't get that sick feeling after even if you've eaten alot. I choose to be a vegetarian because of all of the harmful things that they inject into the meat that is poison to your body. Most animal meat is diseased and pumped full of hormones to make them grow bigger, which by eating a piece of steak, you ultimately ingest. The abuse of animals being raised for food is not the main issue for me although it is terrible but I don't believe not eating meat will stop it. I basically do it for health reasons and at first I was skeptical because I've eaten meat all of my life and I loved a good steak once in awhile but it really has made me feel a lot better and even lose some weight. Honestly, it's not as hard as it seems.

Wow, I didn't think I would end up writing this much but there has been a lot of change. It's nice to write about it, it kind of puts things in perspective. So now that's basically the jist of my life. Right now I'm working on building a bike which I'm excited for, I've postponed my moving till the end of the summer, I've started reading again, and I'm still addicted to craigslist. Even just writing this I can't believe how different I sound. We'll see how this summer goes, maybe things will get less complicated, but that's doubtful.

Saturday, May 16, 2009

lost virginity

So I've officially lost my blogging virginity. Who knew it'd take me this long to get one. I've been meaning to write in my new moleskine since I got it for christmas but I'm too scared to ruin the perfectly lined pages with my awful handwriting. This will have to do for now. Maybe I'll write in both, God knows I have more than enough things to write about. I guess we'll just see how it goes. There has seriously been no time for me to use writing as an outlet since I finished up that last page of my journal after high school graduation. Since then, two years, so much has happened that I will never be able to say it all. All I know is that I'm a completely different person. So here's your chance to get to know me. Here's where I lay it all out.