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Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Lazy Days

Hello world! It's been one of those days with NOTHING going on. My only class was cancelled (yippee) and I only have one easy recital performance. But you know the greatest thing about today? I got to wake up to Christmas music! I got home yesterday from Thanksgiving break so I was able to use my iPod connected alarm clock for this morning. Yes, Michael Buble woke me up with "All I Want for Christmas is You."
Since I had almost no food, I figured I should probably go to the store, so I did. I got just about everything I'll need to get through only 2 more weeks of school! I just have to buy a couple more gifts and I'll really be ready for Christmas.
The hardest part about Christmas is making enough fun plans. I'll be home for 3.5 weeks and while there are lots of things I want to do, I have to be very strategic about it. I often get home and am super lazy and don't do anything. But since I haven't been home for 6 months, I figure I need to make up for lost time. So here's to ice skating, coffee with friends, shopping with family, long walks with the siblings, kick-starting my knitting and jewelry making projects, and lots of baking.
Oh wait. 2 weeks of school!

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Thankful

In honor of Thanksgiving, I would like to share some things I'm thankful for. It's important for me to actually take time to sit and think about the good things in my life. Especially when all I want to think about is my Christmas list (yikes). Counting blessings can fo sho change your attitude ;) So here goes. I am thankful for:

Family who sacrifices to be near me
More family who are the most generous people I know
Friends friends friends! Ones who encourage me from afar and ones to have fun with at school
The opportunity to do what I love and get paid for it (yay accompanying!!!!)
The enjoyment from supporting a winning football team
3 nice places I can call home. Family home, school home, and break home
Being able to attend a university that I love
Growing up in a family where I learned about Christ's love
Warm wool socks we randomly got this summer. They keep my feet toasty!
Cute animals
My bike. It is oh so useful
Opportunities that I never expected (Austria!!!!!!)
Consignment stores!

That's just a little taste of my thankful list at the moment. I have some goals for myself over the next several weeks, one of which is being a better blogger. So, talk to you soon!

Monday, November 21, 2011

Thanksgiving!

I have to admit, Thanksgiving is a weird holiday. A friend and I were discussing the state of thanksgiving last night and though I truly love the holiday, I started thinking about it in a new way. The reasons I love thanksgiving are: it's a holiday and a break, usually spent with family. Since I'm away from home now it means I get to see my family (and this year our new dog). I also really do love the food. Stuffing and pies top the list, with cranberry relish and orange wassail up there on the list too. I also love that people still emphasize the importance of pausing to give thanks. Although we should be giving thanks on a daily, or even hourly basis, I appreciate that the holiday is a time to "formally" give thanks and often come together as a group to thank God for all things.

But what is the state of thanksgiving nowadays? Well, I think it's kinda evident when you hear so many people calling it "Turkey Day." Have we really relegated Thanksgiving to a day where we glorify gluttony and killing animals? I know, I know, that's a little harsh. But really? Turkey Day? No offense if you have found those words coming out of your mouth recently. Also, what happened to thanksgiving being the boundary for Christmas? While stores have been decorating before Thanksgiving for years, now actual people are decorating and listening to Christmas music before thanksgiving. Also, I don't get the whole pilgrim part of thanksgiving. Obviously, I understand that we are supposedly continuing the tradition of eating a big meal when the pilgrims landed. But I feel like any connection has been lost. I guess it's fun to dress up as pilgrims?

Well, despite all of it's imperfections, Thanksgiving is a holiday that I love. Thank you for 3 days off of class, and the chance to see my family (including my favorite 2 yr. old)!!!

Sunday, November 13, 2011

SO MUCH COOKING

Well, I spent probably half of my day in the kitchen. It was great :) I wanted to share with you some of my creations. If you haven't cooked recently, GET IN THE KITCHEN! :) It's a great stress reliever and a great creative oulet. Plus, yummy things exist afterwards. So I started with bread. I've been wanting to try my hand at a loaf of bread for a while now and finally got a recipe to try. Here's the beautiful dough:


While it rose for AGES, I made inside-out individual apple pie. Yum :) You hollow out an apple:


And then cook the pie crust in a muffin tin with the filling. Then put the finished "pie" back into the apple:


I cooked the bread a little too long, it's kinda brown. I haven't eaten any yet, so we'll see. But I'm sure it will be fine for sandwiches :)



Finally, I made chocolate granola tonight. The recipe called for cheerios, but I used chocolate cheerios (my new addiction), because why not? I ran out of honey, so it might be a little bitter. But hey, it's a snack. And it's chocolate


In the middle of all my baking, my roommates and I made an elaborate lunch. We've been a little homesick lately and decided we would make pot roast and veggies for Sunday dinner. We called our family to figure out exactly what we needed and how to proceed. We inaugurated the crock pot and made GOOOOOOD food :) Here's a glimpse:
Opening up the pot! Smelled amazing!



Cutting the roast...and a glimpse of the veggies

Plates that were waiting to be filled with goodness



Friday, November 11, 2011

Yes, I'm posting to commemorate this date

A few thoughts that have been in my head:

1) I've been avoiding blogging. I was successful for 9 days (yikes). Soon I will explain why...

2) Tomorrow I think I am going to be brave and try to bake homemade whole wheat bread without a bread maker. I shall document this adventure.

3) I have a 2 year old cousin who LOVES me!! This makes me so happy. He's been going around his house saying "I want Joc!" That is amazingly adorable.

4) Is it okay to not know what you want in life? That's a tough question.

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

When I grow up I want to be a child prodigy

Hey there!

So I've finally come out of another hole. Well, it wasn't too much of a hole, so maybe a ditch. This morning I turned in my 12 page music history research paper. It didn't take up too much time, just the whole beginning of this week. It was quite a fascinating paper to write. I traced the development of the fugue, how Bach changed it, and tried to semi-define what a fugue is. Did you know it's not really a genre? There's no widespread consensus on what exactly a fugue is. Weird. But cool.

Then! In theory this morning we listened to Bach's Goldberg Variations. FANTABULOUS music. That man is such a genius.

Also, halloween happened! I'm not the biggest fan of halloween, but I find it a lovely excuse to do fall things and have celebrations. I ate candy corn and carved pumpkins. And do you know the best part about pumpkin carving?

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds (super simple recipe):
1) place seeds and orange gunk into strainer
2) run water over seeds and clean out orange gunk
3) put seeds in plastic bag and add spices of your choice: salt, pepper, paprika, cumin (?)
5) put some oil on a cookie sheet with sides then spread seeds onto pan
4)Place in oven preheated to 375 and roast away! About 15 min. wait until they are golden brown, I didn't wait long enough and they weren't crunchy enough for my taste.

SUPER delicious, a nice snack. Just keep in an airtight container (duh)!

This weekend is homecoming which means: parade w/ hot chocolate, BONFIRE, fair rides, FOOTBALL! And most importantly (here comes the cheesy moment) a wonderful time with awesome friends.