the orchardist

i was so grateful for conference this past weekend.  i had so many questions, and my conclusion from this weekend is trust God more.  i feel like i'm always needing to be reminded to trust God.  which is silly because i know these words from president uchtdorf are true:

"you are loved.  you are dear to your heavenly parents.  the infinite and eternal creator of light and life knows you!  he is mindful of you...more than you could ever imagine, he wants you to achieve your destiny -to return to your heavenly home in honor...trust in the saving power of Jesus Christ.  I promise that as you do so you will discover your best self-your real self."

 for whatever reason, i cannot maintain that mindset of letting someone else lead my life for very long.  but i'm learning, and those subtle reminders he gives me are helpful (though painful, at times).  

also this weekend i got way spoiled with brennan time.  like from 3 p.m. on friday to 6:50 a.m. on monday we were together.  and i loved it.  the more time i spend with that man the more i love him and realize what a wise decision i made in marrying him.

brennan has been wanting to get in touch with his inner transcendentalist, so on friday he took me on a date to lynd fruit farms.  we picked 28 apples and raced through the trees and kissed behind the trunks.  

he also told me that if i ever wanted an orchard he wouldn't be opposed.  he knows all the right words, i tell ya.

when we drove in to the orchard, the guy handing out the bags told us "eat as many apples as you want while you're in there".  i think we ate more than we wanted.

i love the look on brennan's face.  he is so pleased with himself.

                         

after eating ourselves sick on apples, we visited the market across the street where we found those huge watermelons (i want to eat them all), some amish frye pies, and every size and color of pumpkin that exists.  i brought home a pie pumpkin (alicia, i'll need you to remind me how to make it into a pie).  we made some delicious homemade apple cider and still have about a dozen apples left.

it rained all that day, but it's like the clouds parted for us just long enough for us to have our outdoor adventure..then as we were driving away we got to watch some pretty ominous clouds roll in - it was beautiful.

- this link is the recipe i used for the cider.  it was so easy and so good, but i would definitely add white sugar...none of this optional brown sugar stuff.  i did at least one cup of white sugar after it was finished and i'd separated the apples and the cider.  

- also, have you ever heard of the book the orchardist?  my sister-in-law gave it to me for christmas last year.  it's an exciting story and sounds like a beautiful place (and further fueled my desire to have an orchard)

the food stamp experiment

first things first...

happy october

fall > all other seasons

october > all other months

so go outside and enjoy the crisp air and changing leaves!

october in mexico. (photo cred: pat may)

anyway...i'm doing an experiment.  i'm finishing up my last political science class tomorrow, and one of the last things i studied was social policy.  in that chapter i learned that for those on welfare, the average amount people receive for food stamps is $90 a month per person.  i don't know what all your grocery budgets are, but mine was significantly higher than that.  so, i decided to do an experiment.  for one month, i would only allot myself the amount of money we'd receive through food stamps if we were receiving them.  the experiment is pretty simple (based on SNAP rules):

• September 22 - October 19
• 2 people in my household = $180
• this budget only counts for food.  you cannot buy toiletries, paper products, or cleaning products with food stamps.  

here is the catch to make it a little more challenging.  our meals have to meet the myplate requirements (the food pyramid).  that means 2 cups of fruit per person per day, 2 1/2 cups veggies for me and 3 for brennan each day,  6 oz. grains for me, 8 for brennan, etc...tedious, i know.  that's why we're 2 weeks in and i haven't been tracking our servings at all.  so help!  

do you have awesome, cheap, healthy recipes? 

 we've probably done pretty well for the most part cause i do cook a lot of veggies, but fruits sometimes get ignored. any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.  

peace+love

and the thunder rolls...

last night i was awaken by thunder.
thunder out here is not like in the west...you know the phrase "rolling thunder"?  well, the midwest thunder really does roll.  immediately following the first roll of thunder, i heard our printer in the other room start beeping and acting like it was going to print something...creeeeeeeeeeepy.  so naturally i woke my husband up to go check it out.  then in my mind i decided we really need to keep the baseball bat in our bedroom.  

anyway, it's been almost a month since leaving the 801, and we've decided columbus is a pretty cool city.  we love living in a bicycle friendly city and our date nights usually consist of riding our bikes into downtown to find somewhere to eat or check out some event (like the festival latino, woot woot!).  

               

one of our favorite places to eat is the North Market.  it's basically just a bunch of local restaurants in a warehouse, and on saturdays there is a small farmers market outside.  but the most awesome thing is that it's right off the olentangy river trail, so we ride our bikes and eat delicious food.  win.

        

just a few blocks down the road is columbus commons which might be the coolest park downtown.  they have fitness classes, concerts, an interactive game thing, a carousel, a food truck rally, and who knows what else!

   

korean bbq in a burrito.  everything tastes better in a tortilla

if we don't want to go downtown, there are some pretty awesome things right in our backyard.

like Antrim Park, complete with a quarried lake and jogging trail around the lake.  or in the opposite direction there's the Park of Roses -- 13 acres with three different rose gardens and 400+ different kinds of roses.  both of these parks are about a 10 minute bike ride from our apartment.  did i mention there is a park just about every half mile along the river trail?

there's also lots of free concerts, delicious bbq, one of the best ranked zoos in the world, the best ice cream you'll ever eat, and cool people (aka us), so now that you know how awesome columbus is, come visit!

where there is light there cannot exist darkness...

the other day, a dear friend hit a little rough patch, so what better solution/distraction to everything in life than a hike.  on the drive up i was talking about how grateful i was for life. i had read in the morning one of my favorite quotes from our living prophet, Thomas S. Monson:

 "the grateful man sees so much in the world to be grateful for and with him the good outweighs the evil, love overpowers jealousy, and light drives darkness out of his life."  

my friend then suggested, "let's do a grateful hike".  for every letter of the alphabet we had to come up with something we were grateful for.  here's what i'm grateful for...

aspen trees
brooke
chile
dad
egg salad sandwiches
food
german (not like the language...pronounced hair-mahn...my chilean dad)
health


we only got to "h" because to all there is a story.  perhaps i'll finish the alphabet some other day.

what are you grateful for?

peace+love

last meal

1. If I could choose my last meal it would be citrus fruit salad and chocolate tiger cake from the pastry pub and fresh squeezed ice cold apple cider from springdale orchards .

2. My favorite person to share a meal with is depends...sam at pastry pub..at home, someone who will share because, heaven knows i could never finish that tiger cake by myself .

3. The best meal I've ever had was in nice, france. we went to the fruit and flower market and got bread, cheese, and fruit, walked down to the beach of the Mediterranean and ate .

4. The one food that makes me feel instantly better when I'm having a bad day is mint chocolate chip ice cream .

5. My absolute specialty in the kitchen is quesadillas. and pancakes .

6. The city that has the best food is anywhere in france and my favorite restaurant there is i don't actually remember if we ever ate at a restaurant. but the stands where they make paninis and crepes were delicious

7. My favorite healthy snack is watermelon .

8. In my opinion the nationality which has the best food is mexican .

9. If I could learn to cook anything in the world (and be really good at it!) I'd choose some kind of casserole. you can never go wrong with a good casserole .

10. The most outrageous dessert I've ever had was earlier this week i was at bear lake where they grow delicious raspberries and we had chocolate covered raspberries. heaven in my mouth. .

peace+love

fabulous news...

i didn't melt.

but i did...get my nails done, pet a barn owl, ate WAY to much food, experienced my first nutella fountain (can you say heaven?), took a nighttime swim, made wedding bouquets, met one of this boys old companions, saw the mesa temple, met the joker, ate more food, got to spend 5 days with my bff/former roomate, made some great friends, drove 15 hours total through the beautiful desert, visited with my aunt and uncle, almost hit a deer, and ate more food.

all in all

success.

peace+love

somewhere O.V.E.R. the rainbow

that's right...finals are o-v-e-r, over! well, technically i have a final at three today, but it's my climbing class...which consists of climbing, setting up an anchor, and rappelling myself down. can you say fun final? oxy-moron, but not today! now that the semester is over, it's time for the

-highlights of spring semester 2010-

{in no particular order}
-getting ruby-
-finding paulie bleeker-
-discovering mumford and sons-
-spring skiing-
-c.a.l.i.f.o.r.n.i.a.-
-free dinners thursday nights at the episcopal church (what i affectionately call "episcopal dinner"). thanks rev. sue and congregation!-
-final season of LOST...sayid is going to break my heart and desmond is going to mend it-
-late night chat on the roof...what roof? the music building-
-camping out on said roof-
-living 45 minutes from zion national park-
-the pastry pub ...the only pub that doesn't actually sell alcohol-
-earning an almond rocha from my voice teacher-
-fabulous friends....seriously, fabulous-
-"so runs the world away" don't worry, i'm listening to it right now for the 5th time this week-

and during my summer of fun i'll be living in the college turned tourist town cashiering at cafe rio in the evening (where they call me "mamasita") and baking sweets at great harvest in the morning (as in before the sun comes up).

peace+love

sam and the shark

1. The strangest thing I've ever eaten was shark...and it was delicious .

2. My best friend is i have lots. but right now my favorite person is sam -he gave me a big huge hug today that made me feel better about life cause i'm staying here... (forget the fact he's sitting right next to me) .

3. If I could live in a different era it would be 1920's or 1970's because who wouldn't want to be around when public radio first came out? and who doesn't love 70's style? but i like living in 2010 .

4. I like fridays. and singing. and ice cream. and paulie bleeker .

5. If you only know one thing about me it should be i'm hands-down the most indecisive person you will ever meet. just look at my life history .

6. My favorite book of all time is To Kill A Mockingbird. if you've never read it, SHAME on you .

7. The one beauty product I couldn't live without is facewash .

8. Blogging is taking up the precious minutes i could be spending eating .

9. If I could star in a movie with any actor/actress I would want to work with Julie Andrews in a musical. it's truly tragic that she can't sing anymore .

10. One of the best feelings in the world is i don't know...but winning that almond rocha this week from my teacher whom i've always thought hated me felt pretty awesome .

peace+love

guess what? i'm human.

this week has been full of a mixture of emotions....stress, melancholy, sadness all jumbled in with happiness, giddiness, and euphoria. that's a lot to handle in one week. but intstead of discouraging you with details of my car problems, computer broken, failing a test, {worst cramps ever-tmi, i know} etc. etc. etc. i will dwell on the tales of happiness. for example:

-great friends. i have the best friends. they let me vent to them, keep me company, and make me smile. you know who you are--i love you guys. and will miss you immensely.-

-i won an almond rocha for my accompanist and i in my voice lesson this week...oh my teacher was on one but she doesn't make me cry anymore. she makes me laugh.-

-i've been wearing shorts all week...at least it starts out that way...then by about 4 it starts snowing...-

-the sun is shining today. which is good because today is "One Day Without Shoes". and that could get pretty miserable if there was snow on the ground.-

-i made dark chocolate brownies last night-

-um, right now if you are not a fan of LOST i feel very sorry for you. because the episode this week was beyond amazing and full of DESMOND DESMOND DESMOND! with a little sayid at the end...perfect-

-"having fun isn't hard when you've got a library card!" {click it, i dare you} i got a library card this week. it has dinosaurs on it. and i checked out a 750 page book of sherlock holmes' adventures. hours and hours of entertainment...for FREE!-

-today i'm listening to Mumford & Sons. what more do i need?-

welp, this is the longest post i've written in a while..and i've got to go repelling for my climbing class..pray i don't die. i love climbing. repelling frightens me, a lot. here i go to conquer my fears.

so, until tomorrow...

peace+love

i do the hokey pokey and turn myself around...

1. The best piece of advice I was ever given was : "don't get married till you've graduated from college." welp, i'm still in college, not married, nor engaged--so maybe not the best piece of advice, but the piece of advice i actually listened to and obeyed .

2. If I had a million dollars to give to one charity I would give it to charity: water or invisible children .

3. If I got to choose my "last meal" it would be cafe rio pork salad with lots and lots of guac, watermelon, raspberry limeade, and a ghirardelli mint bliss sundae .

(via)

4. My hair is always changing. .

5. If at first you don't succeed do the hokey pokey! then try again. .

6. I have always been very independent...until i moved out .

7. Oh....and by the way.... i still haven't decided what to change my major to. so, i'm open to suggestions .
peace+love

sad sunday

actually today will be a really happy day, but i'm kinda sad that this year pi day falls on a sunday. then there are no pi numeral competitions or pie-eating contests to attend. plus i don't actually think suu has any festivities even when it's on a weekday. byu did. it was pretty much the best day of the year. so...act like a nerd, do an equation, wear some suspenders, or if you're like me and math makes you nauseaus, just eat some pie and have a

happy pi day!

no, this does not have anything to do with pi day, but i just saw crazy heart with my parents and i really love this song...plus ryan bingham is attractive...just listen...you won't be sorry.

i ain't sayin' she's a gold digger

apparently the powers that be at hotmail.com caught wind of the secret that i actually date guys for their money... you know those ads you get on the side of your screen? ya, mine says "Romance a millionaire: Date millionaire men who are looking for classy women. Join MeetingMillionaires for free. You deserve the best!"

1. The best day ever was i don't know..any day when my family is happy and kind to each other--probably the night last summer my family sat out on our deck laughing, talking, having a dance off, my brother telling the "city of north salt lake" to "live long and prosper" in his jammer .

2. My favorite meal of the day is breakfast because i feel like this encompasses all meals because if i could i would eat breakfast for every meal .

3. This weekend i get to see my dad and my grandpa and my mom and my sisters and my nephew and my brother and my friends and i don't even have to think about going to school on monday or doing homework cause it is SPRING BREAK! .

4. Never in my life have I ever had a bike that i didn't want to ride (virtual kiss on the cheek to whoever can name that song) .

5. The only thing better than thinking of nothing while listening to a good song is thinking of nothing while listening to a good song with bose headphones or speakers .

6. I could really do with some more sleep .

7. The most recent thing I bought myself was a dr. pepper .
peace+love

take a skinny dip

lauren does this on her blog weekly and i thought i'd post my version so you can do it too! (cough -- mattie, kerri, brooke...and other people that don't blog often..but whoever else wants to too).

1. I am hoping my Valentine's day this year includes, chocolate .

2. My biggest guilty pleasure is eating chocolate . (wow, can you tell it's been awhile since i had any?)

3. I am most proud of passing college biology at BYU...with a "b" at that! .

4. If I could choose one outfit to live in it would be nudist colony.

5. People are people so why should it be that you and i should get along so awkwardly? .

6. I would rather swim with sharks than eat worms .

7. I love my iPod more than my phone .

tgif. now it's your turn.

peace+love

mens short shorts never looked so good

the movie was a little overdone...but i have no complaints about staring at matt damon for 2 hours.

in other news, yesterday i spent 2 weeks worth of food budget at graywhale.
yes, i have my priorities straight.

peace+love

you like muffins?

two muffins are baking in an oven. one muffin says, "holy smokes

it's hot in here." the other muffin says, "holy smokes! a talking muffin!"

(via)

peace+love

missed the boat

i realize i may have "missed the boat" for thanksgiving posts, but i would just like to say i am so thankful for my family. i have been hearing a lot of stories about people who don't really have a family, don't like being with their family, or are not on speaking terms with them. that is sad. i have a decent-sized family who loves me and i love them. it's always a good time when we all get together. i'm glad they're my friends. plus pretty much all of my unconventional wisdom comes from them. a few things i've learned are:
-what makes a good movie
-what good food tastes like (miramar, anyone?)
-what makes good music (okay, that i actually learned from experience, but my foundation of a love of music definitely came from my family)
-it is important to read the newspaper
-reading makes you smart

i also love my "family" down here. they take good care of me. on sunday's we have dinner together. on monday morning a friend made belgian waffles. on monday night the bishopric fed us. on tuesday morning a different friend made me french toast. on tuesday evening another friend made me pizza.

never fear, mom, i get almost as spoiled at school as i do at home.

peace+love

for my posterity

i realize i haven't done a journal entry in a while, but be forewarned, this one takes a bit of thought...
March 24th, 2001
"Today we went shopping and got shoes. Actually sandals. We went to Top Hat to rent movies. I just remembered we were supposed to have carrot stew for dinner, but we forgot and we had spaggetio's. This lady parked in our driveway cause she thought nobody lived here cause we haven't landscaped. So my mom couldnt get the truck out to pick up Kerri and me from my grampas from jumping on the trampoline."

oh the drama
peace+love

new beginnings

my biggest accomplishments so far this semester:

-ate 5 lbs of peanut butter from September 1st to October 10-discusting, but a great accomplishment nonetheless...i'll never do that again

-finished reading "breaking dawn" worst book i've ever read..bluh, i wanted to puke so often
-gone on a grand total of 1 date

-ate a gallon of mint choc. chip ice cream in less than a week--it was that time of the month, cut me some slack

-established myself as the "best friend"...yet again--at least it's no one i'm attracted to this time-anymore anyway (probably why i've only gone on 1 date)

-been on the go from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. most days yet somehow managed to find time to exercise most days

-got a raise even though i work once a week

-ate 4 boxes of jr. mints in the last 8 days

-passed my first bio test

-done laundry once! (don't worry i own A LOT of underwear and way too many clothes--i'm boycotting the fact we have to put quarters into the washing machine in our house)

-thrown 2 parties at my new house

-recieved mostly a's on my spanish tests..including oral examenes!!! hablo espanol muy bien!

-come up with about 4 options of what i could do next summer and 6 of what i could do next fall...and made NO absolute decisions--but at least i know my options!

-decided on 3 of 6 audition peices

-finally finished learning Liszt's Etude in D flat Major!!!!! (the first "soft" piano piece i've ever learned)

all this and it's only mid-october!!! actually, this is more celebratory of the end of a stage--i've passed the easy part of the semester...starting monday i'm in for a long haul- two term papers, 5 choir concerts, mid-terms and finals, and the last push before auditions...so i bid thee farewell my fair-weather friends. the next time you see me i'll be very thin with bags under my eyes and muttering quickly to myself under my breath, anxiously darting from place to place, my hair disshevled, and if you try to carry on a conversation with me you may feel really awkward, like talking to a fresh-of-the-mission R.M. or just someone that hasn't socialized in weeks. yes, i'm becoming a hermit starting monday. you can find me hidden in a cubby on the back wall of the 5th floor in the library or in practice room C-224 of the HFAC.let's just hope i don't end up with as much facial hair as this guy...

peace+love

greetings from "the villa"

last photo of the trio...for a few months anyway

when i moved in this week i walked in through the back door, past the lawn of weeds and in the broken screen door. i walked down to my 70's yellow room and attempted to open the window...till i saw what was between the window and the screen and i decided against it.

i dropped some stuff on the floor then went to check out the rest of la casa. behind a storage cabinet i found a crawl space...that looked like it hadn't been crawled in since la casa had been built. no carpet on the closet floors in one of the bedrooms. the dryer sounded like it's going to explode. at least an inch of dust bunnies on the carpet in the space between my bed and the wall. a broken vacuum (which i learned the hard way, resulting in the smell of burning rubber pervading the entire house). no bedroom closet door. no dishwasher. no disposal. cobwebs in the corners. our electricity even got turned off. then, my favorite part of the house-the downstairs bathroom. above the shower is a panel laying on top of the rods to keep the pipes exposed above from dripping on whoever is showering. oh, and they turned off our gas so we have no warm water (i feel like i'm going to have a heart attack everytime i shower). it's been that way since wednesday (good birthday gift, i know)...um, i really don't know how else to describe my 4x4x2 bathroom shared by 4 girls, but i think patrick said it best, "you know when people in 3rd world countries take something ugly and crappy (in this case the water pipes--and half the bathroom) and paint it a bright color to make it look nice? that's like your bathroom." no, i'm not on a mission in a 3rd world country, i'm back in provo for escuela!

patrick, douglas (such good friends drove from salt lake only to stay for and hour and a half), me, katie (who also drove from salt lake but stayed a while)

despite the ghetto embience of my living conditions i actually really love it. i cleaned so i can open my window now, put a curtain in front of my closet, the gas will get turned back on monday, and i spent most of last monday cleaning the mildew from the corners of the bathroom and shower so it now looks descent (but still like it belongs in a third world country). i attempted to weed yesterday, but i have a feeling it will be a never ending battle...i'm just really hoping that by some miracle grass grows in place of the weeds i pulled. last night we had a bbq in the backyard complete with veggie burgers and a delicious watermelon i chose out myself.

matthew edwards (one of the newest members of the BYU football team), some guy, andrew angus, and dane

katie sue, me, brady heaps, jake snyder (who got home from el salvador on tuesday), and chris hallows

p.s. "the villa" is apparently the name of our house...whatever that is supposed to mean

peace+love

peanut butter--bikes--and boys

as i make a sad attempt at finishing unpacking the remainder of my belongings i am musing about this past year and decided to take a break from my diligent focus on the task at hand...it has been a speedy two semesters but i've learned a lot, including about needs and wants...there are three things i could not have survived this year without: peanut butter, my bike, and boys....it would disgust anyone if i counted the number of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches i ate this year...my bike was my mode of transportation and it was wonderful! i had a basket for my backpack and it only took 15 minutes to school and 7 home...living with girls is not easy to say the least...so much hair, attitude, perfume, estrogen, all packed into a box-sized apartment...i really came to understand that boys and girls truly cannot live without each other...that is why all of the people i hung out with were boys...i don't know how much they loved me being the only girl most of the time, but i won't lie, having 5-8 guys to hang out with on the weekends without having to deal with any girls was a huge blessing...anyway, here are some highlights (and low) from the year...

• the halloween dance...it was the first social event i attended at byu and i went with emmett who had asked me out almost every weekend since the semester started...i was just playing hard to get...actually, it was the first weekend i decided to actually stay in provo and do something, and it taught me that i can find normal people in provo, and i liked hanging out with emmett cause he thought i was funny (even though i wasn't trying to be funny, that's just how i dance)





• the first snow...none of my roommates have lived where there was snow that stuck on a regular basis, so we did a snow dance and had hot chocolate and donuts at midnight...the next night (or sometime thereafter) it snowed!





• dating logan--despite the fact that he's not the nicest person on the face of the earth, dating him really was fun while it lasted...plus i learned a lot from the whole experience, including how to throw a punch (no-i never used it on him, but if the need presented itself at least i knew how)...
• volunteering at the youth detention center really was the highlight of every week...we worked with short-term boys...i use the term "worked" loosely - basically it was our job to come up with some sort of activity to do with them every week and it was a blast! the boys really were great with the biggest hearts and they loved having us there...and our group was amazing! we became good friends and want to volunteer together again in the fall...(picture of the group hopefully coming soon)
  
  
  
• the crazy stuff i did with the alta boys (mom's old students)...they became my closest friends who i hung out with every weekend...they were good at coming up with unconventional ways to have fun....from shaving cream wars, blowing up stuff in a microwave from D.I.,
  
  
  swimming in the hot springs to brandon farting on me, sitting around talking, or making a mess of ryan and steve's kitchen! i'm looking forward to the summer, we just got back today from camping at little sahara-what an adventure! (pictures of camping coming soon)

• the rex lee run! i suggest that anyone that goes to byu, do it! lani and i leisurly jogged it, finished in a sufficient amount of time (meaning like 40 minutes), came home and made chocolate chip pancakes...it really was like a big party!





• byu splash 'n dash (see related story below)
• spending my life in the library for the month before finals...i really ate 2 meals a day there and took naps--it's weird, but so fun!

i'm glad to be home...i missed my despo sisters so much and kerri and i have way too much fun beating up on each other, and congrats to mattie and scott-i'm so stoked about my new nephew! but i feel pretty great about life now that i survived freshman year...i've heard it gets easier, and one of the hardest parts of life is over...and the weird thing is, i actually enjoyed it sometimes! (don't tell anyone, but i think in 4 months i'll even be excited to go back...)
peace+love