So I Married a Martineau...

UCSD Interview

2012-02-16T07:58:00.000-08:00

The first school I heard back from for interviews was UCSD, which was pretty darn exciting since it is up there on my list of top choices AND is a top ten school. Last weekend I went out there for my interview/recruiting trip and had quite a time! I was really scared that I was going to build up UCSD in my head a ton since it is an amazing school in an equally amazing area (La Jolla=drool) and be disappointed when I actually visited the university so I tried my best not to. Instead I think I just got very overwhelmed by the thought that yes, I am starting an intense PhD program in the fall and life is going to suck a little bit sometimes but all I can do is hope that it will all work out in the end....oi....At the U I felt that they tried really hard to make you feel like graduate school there was going to fun and easy, which I knew wasn't true but I didn't come from that interview feeling like I might be making a decision that was going to send me down a black hole of stress. Anyway, the lack of candy-coating at UCSD made graduate school a reality and it finally hit me. Now that I've had a few days to let it soak in, I think I'm okay with graduate school again (not that I was never not okay with it, I was just way more stressed that usual-which is quite a bit anyway). I think, overall, I was just very intimidated by the professors and the research and the caliber of the university overall. But, despite the fear and intensity, I still had a really good time. I mean, how could I not when I knew I was leaving snowy Utah behind?

Holy NMR!

The engineering building. I guess they got a bunch of money a couple of years ago and had nothing better to do with it (?!?!?!?!?!?!) than build a tilted house coming off of the edge of the building. Apparently you can go inside of it as well.

The library named after Dr. Seuss (Geisel), and built in his style as well. The path leading up to the library was crooked and windy and uneven, in true Seuss style.

It was windy. Seals! We were standing next to some animal rights peeps who kept yelling at the people on the beach to get away from the pregnant seals since it was pupping season. I felt bad at first, then it was kind of funni, and then it got a little annoying.

Seals or Giant Rocks?

After a delicious lunch at The Pizza Port we walked down to the beach again where a few people actually got in the freezing water.

I found out 2 nights ago that I was accepted into the program, which was pretty exciting. I still have at least 2, maybe 3 more interviews to go so we'll see where we end up going in the fall!

It's Okay to be Jealous of my Life

2012-02-16T07:38:00.000-08:00

Because I have a cute little cousin who sent me this in the mail.

Thank you Emma for the letter and beautiful picture (Rachel, if you could pass that a long I would greatly appreciate it ;] )

Yay for fun mail!

Happy Valentines Day!

2012-02-14T10:04:00.000-08:00

Happy Love Day to you all!

What am I doing to celebrate today??

I wore my special, polka-dot RED shirt and heart earrings. [one of the beauties of never getting ready for work is that when I do I get tons of compliments ;) ]

Gave one of my good friends flowers and red velvet cheesecake brownies [made with dark chocolate brownie mix for extra deliciousness] to celebrate her 23rd birthday!

Actually making dinner for me and the hubs [yea, he's pretty excited] which will (most likely) include-roasted salmon with brown rice, steamed carrots-asparagus-and potatoes with chive butter, and a fruit and greek yogurt salad for dessert.

Brought treats for my lab mates :)

And I received another piece of awesome origami from Cata!

The Rose is the newest addition

What are YOU doing to celebrate Valentines day??

Ridgecrest and China Lake!

2012-02-04T21:17:00.000-08:00

Last week I had the opportunity to go with my boss, Richard, and another graduate student, Trevor, out to the Naval Air Weapons Station in China Lake to test some of the nanopropellants we have been working on. It was a great opportunity to see how a government research institution works and I'm grateful Richard invited me to go. Since Nate, my uncle, works at China Lake I stayed with him and my Aunt Rachel a long with their 4 crazy kids, 2 hyperactive kittens, and 1 mellow cat in Ridgecrest during the week. I had a great time, despite catching a stomach bug that kept me in bed/ leaning over a toilet for a about a day.

I made gyoza and edamame for dinner one night. Even the kids ate it! The upper left picture of me shows how excited I was to eat because I was STARVING!

TOP: One night Rachel and Nate took me out for some good ol' Mexican food. When we walked in Trevor and Richard were just sitting down so we joined them. Nate and I enjoyed a few runs together, even though I slowed him down quite a bit.
MIDDLE: I made cake balls with the kids one night. Delicious! We weren't allowed to take pictures on the base, but I snuck a picture of the sign at the main gate.
BOTTOM: On the drive back Rachel and Nate recommended driving through Death Valley. There were a lot of pretty mountains and it was cool to see!

So THANKS! Rachel and Nate for letting me crash your house for a week, puke and all! It was a blast!

My time with the Utes

2012-02-04T15:13:00.000-08:00

BYU and the University of Utah are (supposedly) extreme rivals, so when I applied to the U for graduate school some people were a little surprised. Actually, that's a lie, no one was surprised as far as the rivalry went, they were more surprised that I was applying anywhere that it snowed. Anyway, I had my interview at the U last weekend and had an awesome time eating great food, sleeping in a king sized bed, learning about lots of cool research, interviewing with some awesome professors and research giants (okay, maybe I was more intimidated by that one), and skiing!

I still don't know where I am going to go yet. So far I have been accepted to ASU and UofU and have interviews at UCSD, UCLA, and USC coming up!

Skiing at Brighton. First time skiing in Utah! Sad I know, considering I've lived here for almost 5 years now. And yes, I realized how much better Utah skiing is than AZ skiing.

Chinese Pie Year

2012-01-24T13:04:00.000-08:00

and that was my attempt at a witty title.

Yesterday was National Pie Day (which, I still think should be celebrated on March 14th along with National Pi day, but whatever) AND Chinese New Year!

To celebrate Cata and I went and got a slice of carrot cake to share. We were going to get pie, but they only had pumpkin pie, so we opted for the carrot cake instead saying....its a circle and if it was Pi day it would still totally count.

Delicious carrot cake!

That night, the wonderful Pratt's had us over to celebrate Chinese New Year Chinese food style. Sara made a delicious and, as confirmed by her fellow Chinese graduate students, authentic Kung Pao chicken. Mmm....yummy. It was spicy and peanuty and awesome. I made gyoza for the event and ate many.

gotta love my boredom, yes?

cuteness

What did YOU do to celebrate Pie day and Chinese New Year??

It's a Dog-Eat-Dog World

2012-01-23T09:45:00.000-08:00

Bret and I are reading Cesar Milan's (you know, the Dog Whisperer??) second book to try and be better dog owners. It's a great book, and I found the prologue especially interesting.

"I worry about the fact that my kids are growing up in a very unstable world; a world that is going to require some incredible pack leaders if it is going to be made right again. I believe that women hold the key to helping put our world back into balance. But they can’t do that until men truly acknowledge and honor the unique wisdom and the leadership women have to offer—and until women can embrace the pack leaders within themselves. More than most men, many women seem to instinctively know that leadership doesn’t mean negative energy. It doesn’t mean pitting one person against another, one country against another, one religion against another. I also believe that women are more likely than men to act for the good of the pack. And like dogs, we humans need to remember that without the pack we are nothing. I have seen more compassion from women in my life than I have seen from men. Women have taught me true calm-assertive leadership, and because of them I have become a better, more balanced leader in all areas of my life, not just with dogs."

Cesar Milan

Sounds like a General Authority huh?

Red Head Inspiration, An Epic Tale of Spinach

2012-01-19T12:01:00.000-08:00

Or not so epic tale of spinach. Last night I took some inspiration from Redhead Cuisine and made homemade gnocci. I have never even had gnocci, so this was quite the experiment. I have tons of spinach and potatoes so I tried out THIS recipe from the tasty kitchen blog. It was quite tasty. I used 4-5 red potatoes instead of russet and steamed them instead of microwaved (I love my steamer) I also used fresh spinach (~3 or 4 C) and threw them in the steamer for the last couple of minutes with the potatoes. I served the gnocci with a creamy red sauce which I made making an extra thick white sauce and adding some ready made spaghetti sauce, a few sun-dried tomatoes, and some extra spices. The result was quite tasty!

Happy cooking!

Top 10 reasons why Bret should be clean-cut

2012-01-18T17:00:00.000-08:00

Reason #10. Homeless guy.

Reason #9. Patchy Goatee

Reason #8. Colonel Mustard Wannabe

Reason #7. Lopsided ‘Stache

Reason #6. The Frenchy

(not gonna lie I actually kinda like this one, minus the chops and soulless patch)

Reason #5. Chops? I think not.

Reason #4. Patch sold its soul to the not-chops

Reason #3. You’ve got food or something on your chin

Reason #2. So. Much. Hair.

And the #1 reason why Bret should be clean-cut.......

Tabby Mountain

2012-01-16T12:51:00.000-08:00

This past weekend one of Erika's ChemE professors, Dr. Pitt, was kind enough to take us up to his cabin in Tabiona to go snowshoeing. We had a blast! It was our first time snowshoeing and it took a little more coordination than I anticipated, but it was still super fun. There wasn't a ton of snow so we had to take different route up the mountain (yes we went TOWARDS the snow, sounds strange huh?) and hit up some very steep and powdery areas. Snow shoeing on the side of a steep mountain in powder=Naomi falling into deep powder and sliding down mountain=Erika laughing hysterically behind me. And I'm supposed to be the graceful one.....

We drove up Friday evening, enjoyed dinner and brownies, Vietnamese card games-courtesy of another student there, and boys vs girl catch phrase. We couldn't drive all of the way up to the cabin so Dr. Pitt shuttled us up on a 4 wheeler, but I ended up walking most of the 3 miles up hill. It was absolutely beautiful. I couldn't believe how many stars you could see! I wish I had a really nice camera so I could have taken a picture of it.

Saturday morning a few of us went on a short little walk where Dr. Pitt showed us a few landmarks including tree that had a story carved into it from 1914 (i think?) about a man who was killed by a bear in that spot. Then we headed out for the main event: getting to the top of Tabby mountain!

On top of the ridge, overlooking the valley where Tabiona is.

Erika and Dr. Pitt

With the Uintah's in the background. On the right are Brooke and Wyatt, Dr. Pitt's son-in-laws brother and wife. Why did I think my body would look normal standing like that? Seriously Naomi, stand in normal ways please!

In the cabin. Looking like a terrorist. Yes.

The tree with the story carved into it. The tree was dying so it was peeling off a little bit, but it was really cool to see how the tree was healing over the words.

We were already at bout 9000 ft, so we only had about a 1000 feet to go before getting to the top. It was a pretty warm day, plus once you get moving you get pretty warm, so we didn't need too many layers. The view from the top was beautiful! We stopped to eat lunch, then headed back down the mountain on a less-snowy terrain. The way we had come up was steep and full of trees and Dr. Pitt didn't want anybody sliding down the mountain in such a thickly-wooded area.

At the summit.

We're cute.

The whole group minus Dr. Pitt. Left to Right, Christen, Drake, Wyatt, Brooke, Erika, and Me.

Coming down the mountain.

I was sliding down the mountain when my snowshoe got caught on a log. Off went my snow shoe and into the snow I went!

We had to head out pretty quickly once we got home so we could return our snow shoes on time.

On the way out of Tabiona some ranchers were herding about 50 cattle in the middle of the road. That was quite a sight to see. They kept motioning to Erika to go around, but she was scared of going off of the road. We finally got her to do it, but not before one cow turned around and glared directly at us.

Creeper

2012-01-13T12:44:00.000-08:00

Is it creepy to tell people you know that you read their blog? How about if you only know the husband but the wife is the main blogger? What if you don't know them at all?

I'm probably a creepy creeper.

Happy Weekend!

You've had a Birthday!

2012-01-12T08:01:00.000-08:00

We've had THREE birthdays this week. First, on Sunday, my mom turned an undisclosed age that makes her frown a little bit. BUT, she still looks great doesn't she??

Next, my awesome father-in-law turned 65 yesterday! If he were a normal person he might retire soon, but instead he's taking a new job working for the LDS church in Mexico City. Can't wait to visit them in South Africa this year!

And finally, my little baby Mia is ONE today! I can't believe how much she has grown in just the past year. She's pretty much an adult, minus the crazy puppy spasms and incredible amount of energy and...never mind she's still a puppy 100%. I'm funni so I made her a carrot muffin for her birthday. She was scared of the candle so this picture was pretty difficult to take, but she enjoyed the muffin so much she cried by the counter top wanting more when she was done. Silly dog!

The Martineau Christmas Story: Part San

2012-01-10T14:35:00.000-08:00

The day after Christmas my dad took Bret, Jonah, Jonah's friend Austin, and our nephews Clate and Tanner our to the desert to do some shooting. Austin won the shooting contest and Bret and Jonah followed closely behind.

Afterwards we went over to Scott and Andee's house for an "ungingerbread" house making party. All of the grandkids+Tenery+Jonah (because he enjoys hanging out with the Marty grandkids) used gingerbread kits and made creative new houses out of them. I don't have any pictures because I'm a dork, but that's life. Scott's kids got a zipline for Christmas and I spent the majority of the afternoon pulling kids up it. Mia came a long as well and enjoyed the large open space and chasing small children. Charisse's family got the cutest little puppy for Christmas and I spent too much time cuddling with him along with Scott's puppies. Oh goodness I love dogs too much!

The next day we took our annual ski trip, however we went to Snow Bowl up in Flagstaff this year. It's a smaller resort, but it's A LOT closer, They hadn't had snow for over a week so the snow was a little thin, but it was still a blast! I was proud of myself for doing mostly blue runs all day. Bret tried snow boarding this year and spent most of the day on his bum. Better luck next year!

Erika's friend Christie came a long and proved herself to be the best skiier of the bunch. Erika accidentally ended up on the lift that went up to the black diamonds, dropping her pole off of the lift a long the way, and had to ride the lift back down for fear of dying. At least they let her ride it down though! It was pretty funni. Afterwards we ate at Picazzo's pizza and stopped by Rock Springs cafe for some pie, per our new Flagstaff tradition.

My aunts and uncles on my dad's side all came in to town as well, minus Carol and Bruce, and we spent the rest of the week spending time with them. We did temple lights, rock climbing, ice skating (Eva became a pro ice skater!), volleyball, hiking, eating, fireworks (my dad became the new favorite uncle among the little ones), New Years Eve party at my parents house, and lots of other fun stuff! Casey even let me and Erika do her hair and make up for the New Years Eve dance! She looked great (in our opinion, of course).

Crosscut (again) with the Handly family

Ice skating. Erika and I spent the majority of the time helping the little ones, but we're okay with that. We're tough teachers though!

Upper left, Eva's pro ice skating skills. But seriously, she does great now!

Rock gym. Jonah's friend Brian is like a spider on that thing!

Temple lights. Check out baby Sam on my dad's lap in the bottom, middle picture. Pamper's baby, no?!?! CUTE!

Us and Casey before the New Years Eve dance. Jonah and Taylor went as well, sans makeovers.

Enjoying the fireworks at our New Years Eve celebration at my parents house. Ray spent a good amount of time getting Sam to fall asleep, but somehow Karen got all of the credit. This is my attempt at making him feel better. Love my Uncle Ray!

We had our siblings dinner and gift exchange with Bret's brothers and sisters, minus Tenery and Craig plus Reed, Em's boyfriend the Friday before we left at The Keg. It was a seriously delicious steakhouse which I also highly recommend (I ate a lot of meat on this trip, strange I know). We ended up with some pretty useful gifts this year and got rid of the night gown+7 lbs of cinnamon chocolate gummy bears.

We headed home a few days later. Mia slept the whole way up. She was exhausted after having such a fun trip, as was I.

And now our Christmas tale ends. We did LOTS of stuff this break and I am so grateful I was able to spend the season with both of our families and have tons of fun while doing it :)

The Martineau Christmas Story: Volume Deux

2012-01-08T15:48:00.000-08:00

Like I said, the week before Christmas was full of baking and shopping and errand running. 'Twas great. Call me immature all you like, but I love that my mommi still buys me most of my clothes and feeds me delicious meals three times a day while I am home. (I help out, I promise). We also hit up Cafe Rio with Bret's brothers and sisters to celebrate Craig and Beth's birthdays.

We have a tradition in my family to go out eat at special restaurant whenever we got straight A's in school. We didn't go out to eat very often, so I always thought this was a fun tradition. Plus Erika and I always got straight A's so it worked out for everybody. Jonah, however, didn't provide the same confidence for my parents in his ability to get good grades and my dad bribed him with Fogo de Chao, an extremely fancy and upscale Brazilian Steakhouse, if he got straight A's his first semester of high school. Well, he succeeded (and he cut it pretty close to) and we were all rewarded for Jonah's hard work. My dad also invited my grandparents to come along as an anniversary gift to them (which is why their picture is surrounded in hearts) and my mom and dad used it as their anniversary celebration as well. We also threw in Bret graduating as part of the action, because, why not? The main focus was on Jonah though. And the waiters knew it ! He ate for a good 2 hours straight! Lots of meat. At one point one of the waiters, who was a great sport, asked Jonah if he would prefer if he brought out the whole cow for him to eat and that they were getting worried in the kitchen whether they would be able to keep feeding him. Erika kept up with Jonah pretty well and probably ate a couple of lambs (they're lamb chops were to DIE for!). In the end they brought out tres leches cakes for each of the couples which were delicious. It was a great time and if you are ever in an area with a Fogo de Chao and have some (a lot) of extra cash to burn, I definitely recommend it!

Next came Christmas Eve. We did our traditional hike followed by tamales and Buffalo Wild Wings. This year we did Crosscut in the Superstitions (love the superstitions!). It was a nice short hike with an awesome view on top. Our tamales came from Tia Rosa's since Gecko Grill closed (sad day) and BWW's was delicious as usual.

Then it was CHRISTMAS! As I've gotten older Christmas has gotten a lot less about what I am going to get and instead I get much more excited about everyone else opening what I got for them. It's so much to think about what someone needs or wants, search for the perfect gift, and then watch them open it. Somehow, I didn't take ANY pictures on Christmas. No idea how that happened. Oh right, I remember, I was COOKING all day. Jonah and Erika woke everyone up early to open presents (yes, my family with the youngest child being 14 still has to wake up 5 to open presents). I got lots of great things: lots of shoes, running gear, GPS watch, backpacking pack, camelpack, clothes, window garden, etc. Bret got a new laptop from my, my parents, and his parents and some clothes. We had a great Christmas morning followed by an excellent Sacrament meeting at my parents ward. Afterwards we started on Christmas dinner. My grandparents joined us at the point. We tried something new and make 2 kinds of stuffed pork loin along with lots of other yummylicious stuff. To be honest the pork loins weren't my favorite-too much meat-but that may have also been because I was sick of looking at them by the time eating came around. The rest of Christmas was great visiting with my grandparents and having fun with the family.

And because this post is getting really long again, I'll leave you with this collage of Mia and Jade. Aren't they cute with their Christmas bows? Mia loved that black chair and would take up the whole seat, to my grandpa's dismay. She would get so exhausted from playing so much she passed out a lot.

Stay tuned for the next segment!

Christmas Part Uno

2012-01-07T13:42:00.000-08:00

I knew I should've blogged over the Christmas break, but that would've meant I would have had to stop eating or playing with my family to download pics and write and blah, blah, blah. Now I'm left with a large amount of pictures and way too many memories I want to record. *sigh* Such is life, and thus I will begin.

Christmas break with family was a blast as usual. We did lots of activities, spent quality time with both families, shopped till be dropped (thank you mommi for all of the new clothes and shoes!), enjoyed the amazing 70* weather, and ate way too much good food.

The first Saturday we were there my dad, Erika, and I hiked Upper Fish Creek in the Superstitions. None of us had done this before and the description online said "fairly easy". It wasn't a "hard" hike, but it was definitely lots of boulder hopping, rock hopping, climbing, carrying/pushing dogs up and across giant boulders, and bush whacking. We had a blast though! At one point Erika decided she wanted to climb over a bush rather rock hop across the creek ( like me and the dogs...do as the animals do!) and completely ripped the bottom of her pants so that one cheek was entirely exposed. It was hilarious! Luckily I was wearing spandex under my shorts so she wore my shorts for the remainder of the hike. (don't worry, I blurred out her bottom in the picture, but just couldn't resist posting it!)

Jade was better and more experienced at boulder hopping and poor Mia got scared a couple of times. Mia trumped Jade in swimming across the creek though. The picture of Jade on the rock is our favorite picture of the hike. At this point she had just given up on swimming and cried until Erika came and rescued her. Poor Jade!

Notables: Top right Jade, soaking wet, at her breaking point. Bottom middle, top, Erika with ripped pants.

Despite Erika almost leading us off a cliff edge and sore arms it was a great and memorable time!

That afternoon we took our family pictures. Since we weren't together for Thanksgiving so we couldn't take our pictures then, my parents sent out a New Years card as opposed to a Christmas card. My dad also took some pictures of Bret for his senior photos.

Being silly.

Why so serious??

I love this picture. My parents faces are just amazing!

The REAL photo they set out. Good looking bunch eh? PS I picked out everyone's outfits ;)

Handly chilluns

That night we had my parents Ward Christmas party to which everyone was supposed to wear pajamas. Bret decided to wear the nightgown he "won" at last years Martineau gift exchange. It was a good thing he did because Santa was there for the perfect photo opportunity! We brought the nightgown back to the gift exchange along with $20 of chocolate cinnamon bears (a BYU specialty) and Bret with Santa-I believe Brigett won our present :)

It was a busy Saturday! We topped off the weekend by spending some time with the Martineau clan. After church on Sunday we headed over the Brad and Brigett's house to play with their cute kids. The girls showed me some of their latest dances and we played some crazy new version of Uno, which I totally dominated despite Koen's attempts. Afterwards we headed over to Eric and Beth's stake music concert that Eric was playing in. My family came along to enjoy the music. It was a great concert with a full on orchestra, fancy sound system, and quite a few well known LDS singers. To be in that stake right? I would probably never have a music calling again!

Left to Right: Me with the adorable Anna. Erika and Jonah looking like a couple at winter formal. Me and Jonah looking awesome.

The week after that was a lot of shopping and errand running. Instead of doing danish rolls this years, we gave out homemade biscotti's and hot cocoa. The biscotti's were delicious and I definitely recommend trying them!

aaannnnndddd, I think I'll leave it there for now. Until next time folks!

Biscotti Recipe adapted from The Culinary Chronicles

Ingredients:
1½ Cups Roasted Pistachios or Almonds, roughly chopped
2¼ Cups All Purpose Flour
1 Teaspoon Baking Powder
1 Cup Granulated Sugar
3 Eggs, at room temperature
1 Teaspoon Lemon Zest if using pistachios or almond extract if using almonds
6 Ounces Bittersweet Chocolate, chopped (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a bowl, sift together flour and baking powder. In a mixer, beat together eggs and granulated sugar until the mixture forms a ribbon. Gently stir in the dry ingredients until just incorporated and then fold in pistachios and lemon zest.

On a parchment-lined baking sheet, form the dough into two 3-inch wide loaves. The dough will be quite sticky. Wet your hands with water and smooth the loaves. Bake for 25 minutes and remove from the oven. Lower the oven temperature to 300 degrees F and let the loaves cool on racks for 10 minutes. Using a serrated knife, cut ½ inch thick cookies on a diagonal. Place the cookies back on the sheet and continue baking on each side for 10-12 minutes until golden brown. Remove from the oven and cool.

Once the cookies have cooled, melt the chocolate in a double boiler. Dip one side of the biscotti into the chocolate and allow to cool on the baking racks.

Christmas Goodies

2011-12-14T10:21:00.000-08:00

Every year my family gives out homemade danish rolls as our "Christmas goody" to friends and neighbors. They are absolutely delicious and not too sweet so they are a nice change with all of the rest of the sugar-laden Christmas treats-not that they aren't sweet, its still a treat after all. They are definitely the best served hot, so we normally make and deliver them one batch at a time so everyone can enjoy them in their peak of goodness. Last year I kept up with the tradition in my home, but this year I wanted to try something different.

I decided to do two different set of goodies. Heidi Swanson's Orange, Current, and Coconut Granola (using raisins instead of currents) for my professors that wrote my letters of recommendations (all of my applications are in! wahoo!) and some other friends, as well as my Aunt Rachel's famous chocolate chip cookies for those that might like something a little sweeter. I even hand-made all of the bags that I delivered the cookies in for a special touch! (that seems like a very small feat for most people, but I don't sew so this was a huge thing for me!)

I LOVED the granola. Not overpoweringly sugary like most granola's and the orange zest and coconut was a really nice touch. It wasn't as "clumpy" as most granola's are, but I still really enjoyed it, although Bret didn't like that factor about it as much. The cookies are always a treat. I grew up with these cookies and have fond memories of making them with Rachel, especially since my mom is definitely not the cookie making type.

What are you making for Christmas goodies this year? Do you have a traditional goody you make every year, or are you branching out and trying something new?

Lucy's Birthday

2011-12-09T15:14:00.000-08:00

Last Friday was my cousin Lucy's birthday! Since Erika didn't have room for the giant 22 pound turkey she had won it was in my freezer, taking up my freezer space, so we decided to have a cousin dinner featuring said giant turkey and the many potatoes that my grandma brought us from Idaho. We still had tons of food leftover, but at least I have freezer space again! On our menu was:

Roasted Turkey

Roasted potatoes and carrots (under the turkey in the roasting pan so they were all turkey-licious)

Mashed potatoes

Potato bread rolls

and potato ice cream

...just kidding about the potato ice cream

kinda....

Giant delicious turkey! For some reason Mia chose Spencer to beg from the entire meal.

Check out the argyle twinners on the left there

Cousins! Apparently I was really excited...

Despite my earnest pleadings, Lucy did not bring her new boy along. I was slightly bummed, but we still got to meet him a little later, although not interrogate him appropriately as cousins should.

After dinner Lucy wanted to watch It's a Wonderful Life which was showing in the library. Unfortunately we didn't make it in time, despite Lucy's warnings which we didn't heed. All of the copies were checked out of the BYU library and Provo library and it wasn't showing on Netflix either! We had almost lost hope when.....one of Lucy's friend's sister had a copy of it. We met up with a group of Lucy's friends at her apartment where we enjoyed cake and BYU creamery ice cream (graham canyon, you know my soul too well) and watched the beginning of the movie.

Feeling awkward in the single scene--too many people in one room all nervous about making any physical contact with on another crowded around a small TV, no couch or floor space, me still in my jeans past 8 PM, my married life bedtime being far earlier than the 1:30 AM curfew that single BYU students push --we headed home early with Erika and Spencer in tow. I quickly changed into sweats and life was good again. Then we indulged in homemade mint ice cream and cinnamon ice cream...apparently we hadn't had enough sugar by that time....and relaxed on my large sectional...bliss haha. Somehow I still stayed up too late though.

We had a good time and got rid of some potatoes while we were at it-although I still have more...what to do, what to do....

Happy 20th Birthday Lucy!

OOOOOOOoooooooooooOOOOoooOOOoooooooooo!

2011-12-06T14:19:00.000-08:00

Last week when I was running an ambulance drove past us and Mia started howling. It was the first time I had heard her howl and it made me laugh so hard (which is difficult to do while you are running, FYI). She's just not ferocious enough to pull off a howl. On Sunday, because we were bored, we found a video of a siren to get her to howl again. Enjoy the (what I think to be) hilarity!

You can also enjoy Bret's small howls in the background ;)

Cake Update!

2011-12-02T13:56:00.000-08:00

Remember a couple of weeks ago when I asked for HELP! with choosing out a cake to make for a charity event? Well I ended up making the hazelnut cake. I made cupcakes to give out to my coworkers and friends to test the recipe and everybody LOVED it, so I decided it was worthy to donate.

Because of my last minute trip to San Diego, I wasn't able to attend the event. However, Bret told me that my cake was a hit and that tons of people were requesting the recipe. That made me feel pretty good, especially since the cake took me a TON of time (and not to mention cost significantly more than a box cake to make...it was for a good cause right??). It looked pretty too :)

So if you need a good cake recipe and love nutella, I highly recommend this hazelnut cake!

Did you read this?

2011-11-30T14:33:00.000-08:00

Love it!

My favorite part?

Check it out here

"People who are in a relationship with G-d are humble and do their utmost to refrain from judging others. Their proximity to a perfect being reminds them of their own fallibility. Their experience of G-d's compassion leads them to be merciful and loving. But those who worship a religion are arrogant and think they have the only truth. They are dismissive of other people's beliefs and maintain that advancing the cause of their religion is more important than life itself.

Those who worship their religion evince the classic characteristic of cult members. Whereas a real faith system is empowering and makes one strong and capable of operating outside their own faith community, cult members can only identify with other members of their group and require the environment of the cult in order to function."

This article goes so much further than voicing a political opinion. I think the main point of this article is that a person's value is so much more than their religion and we can't look at someone's beliefs as their sole characteristic.

On a Personal Note-A Journal Entry

2011-11-29T13:40:00.000-08:00

"Men are prone towards chauvinism or cowardice, too much or too little. The key is to understand the Gospel. The perfect man is Jesus; the man we were supposed to be like is Jesus. The cue for masculinity needs to come from Jesus."

- Mark Driscoll

Ephesians 5:23-28

23 For the ^ahusband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the^bhead of the ^cchurch: and he is the saviour of the body.

24 Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.

25 ^aHusbands, ^blove your ^cwives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;

26 That he might ^asanctify and ^bcleanse it with the washing of water by the word,

27 That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.

28 So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his ^awife loveth himself.

I had a hard time with this, but something my Sunday school teacher said, as well as reading this quote above, made me realize the full extent of this lesson. Why can we so easily submit ourselves to Christ but not to our husbands? Why do we so willingly serve the Lord, but not the men of our household? It is righteousness. It is easy to love, serve, and submit an almighty righteous being, and when our husbands carry out their duty to be like Christ-to be righteous, humble, charitable, loving, serving-we can in turn serve our husbands.

This is the Celestial marriage that we strive towards. None of us are perfect, but we strive.

Feast We Did

2011-11-28T14:38:00.000-08:00

We did our own Thanksgiving dinner this year. It was crazy and we had tons of food, but boy was it worth it.

On our menu was :

Roasted Turkey

French and corn bread stuffing

Kabocha-Erika

Pumpkin soup

Gravy

Garlic mashed potatoes-Erika

Candied brandied sweet potatoes

Pear cranberry sauce

Spinach salad with pears, dried cranberries, candied walnuts (my mother-in-law's recipe), cherry tomatoes, and feta cheese-one of my favorite salads

Herb bread

Danish rolls [NOT pastries-a very important distinction]-Erika-a Christmas tradition in our household

Pineapple and persimmons

AND for DESSERT

Japanese cheesecake-Erika

Triple berry pie-with strawberries, blackberries, and raspberries-Cata

Pumpkin pie-my prize from the Turkey Trot

Homemade cinnamon apple ice cream-Erika

Are you full yet?

There was so much food that not a single thing was gone by the end of the meal! (Which is saying something because usually at least the salad or the fruit are gone the way we eat at our household) I was pretty proud of myself because for once my salad wasn't the biggest thing at the meal-it was the turkey! haha

Most of the other things I've made before-kabocha, herb bread, danish rolls, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce-at past Thanksgivings, but I had never actually made a turkey before. I'm not a huge turkey person. I eat a slice or two at Thanksgiving but that isn't what I gorge on. However, at our lab Christmas party last year, Dr. Watt's wife made an AMAZING turkey so I asked for her method of turkey roasting and tried it this year. It was very simple and delicious! The best part was that I cut up some potatoes, carrots, and parsnips and put them on the bottom of the roasting pan to cook with the turkey. The veggies were SO good. We didn't eat them with our meal, but enjoyed them as leftovers.

The other new recipes I tried were for the stuffing and pumpkin soup. The pumpkin soup wasn't that great (PW you failed me), but the stuffing was great! Erika even liked it, and she doesn't usually enjoy stuffing. Everything had large amounts of butter in it-I think I used about a pound and half of butter for our whole meal-and it was delicious! Cata's berry pie was also amazing.

Speaking of Cata, we stuffed her silly at her first Thanksgiving. She only had ONE plate of food and was dying! It was awesome! Haha (is it bad that I think stuffing people full of food is awesome??) I wish I had gotten a picture of her lying on the ground.

We only had a couple of small disasters. After the cheesecake was done we put it on top of the hot stove top causing it to set a little too much. The cheesecake was still delicious, but the graham cracker crust was a slightly burnt. In the danish roll recipe I accidentally had an extra cup of water written on the recipe so Erika had to add in a lot of extra flour. The result was still very tasty, just a little more dense than usual which was just fine since we made them whole wheat. They were also a little less sweet. which they aren't very sweet anyway, so it all worked out in the end.

Yay for Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving Wrap Up

2011-11-27T20:57:00.000-08:00

Well my no-sugar until Thanksgiving thing was definitely less than successful, but I like to think that it did motivate me on most days to refrain from consuming sweets.

Thanksgiving day was a blast. We woke up early and ran a 5K Turkey Trot in American Fork. My family has a tradition of running turkey trots or going on a hike the morning of Thanksgiving-something to give us an excuse to indulge a little more ;) Despite the race having about 900 people, Erika and I still placed! I was pretty darn excited, despite the fact that our times were NOT sufficient for placing. For some reason all of the fast people were not in our age division. The girl who won first in our division placed 2nd overall for the women, so Erika won the 1st place prize of turkey for our division, while I got a pumpkin pie per the normal 2nd and 3rd place winners. Erika got 2nd in our division and I was right behind her at 3rd. (and no, there weren't just 3 people in our division, there were quite a few actually)The stats, you ask?

Erika: 25:01/34 in women/149 overall
Naomi: 25:12/35 in women/155 overall
Bret: 29:26/209 in men/320 overall

I don't know how accurate the times are since they didn't time each of us individually and with such a large crowd we definitely got a slow start, but my time is DEFINITELY a personal best for me so I was very happy. Bret volunteered to run with Mia and that is what he is blaming his time on-plus he hasn't been running since the beginning of the summer. We laughed pretty hard that both Erika and I did well in our divisions and he placed last in his ;)

After dinner we got cooking! Since Erika and I just saw our family in Vegas a couple of weeks ago, we decided to stay up in Utah for Thanksgiving since we will be going down shortly for Christmas. It turned out to be a great decision. While it was sad not to be with everyone, it was so much less stressful to not have to worry about making the long drive during such a short vacation. While we were invited to a few other dinners, I was pretty excited about cooking so we made our own and invited Cata over for her first Thanksgiving!

I made a ton of food, and it was delicious, and we are still eating leftovers-but I will blog about that later!

Day 21 Winners

2011-11-24T12:32:00.000-08:00

Day 20 The third time's a charm

2011-11-23T11:05:00.000-08:00

This past weekend was my third time going to San Diego this year. Not that I'm complaining. I love California, especially San Diego.

This third trip was also with Ojiichan. He has a board meeting after Thanksgiving and wanted to go a bit earlier to look at condos. He asked me on Thursday if I wanted to go as well. Obviously I said yes and flew out Saturday morning to return Sunday nigh. I shared the plane-both ways-with Boise State fans. I am great at sleeping on planes. Like seriously. I've trained my body to pass out as soon as the plane takes off and will wake up sometime around when we begin our descent (on short flights at least...although the trips to Japan consist of me mostly sleeping as well). I'm glad I have the ability to sleep in any position-especially since I had the middle seat both ways since I got my ticket so late-because it makes the flight go so much faster. On the way there the guy sitting next to me was quite the talker and kept me awake the whole flight. He was actually pretty interesting; an army guy going through med school living in Germany. HOWEVER, having my head turned to the side the entire flight resulted in some motion sickness and my pre-flight Green Machine Naked Juice did not stay down (waste of expensive, delicious juice). Luckily, the manifestation of my nausea didn't set in until I reached the hotel so I made it out of the airport and through the realtor's car without making a mess.

I had a great time with Ojiichan. He is always super entertaining, although can be sort of exhausting. He has a lot of sporadic energy and can be pretty demanding. We ate some good food, did some shopping, and looked at quite few places that he might possibly buy. Even though San Diego was a bit rainy and overcast, it was still a thousand times better than the snow I left behind in Utah so I was happy.

Love my new grey jacket. Love even more that I could wear it San Diego because there's no way that its warm enough for Utah winter! (I only bought it because I'm banking on not living in the cold after this year)

I call this Happy Old Japanese Man. It's art, really.

The famous Roy's. Our food looked incredible, but Ojiichan was too impatient to let me take a picture of it, hence the take out bag. Ojiichan thinks the idea of taking home leftovers is hilarious, but loves taking advantage of it in America. I made him walk the 0.6 miles from our hotel to the restaurant and he complained for 24 hours about how cruel I was. It was okay though, the food was sooo worth it.

Oh Mitsuwa. Your sushi bento boxes know my heart too well.

Day 19 The Sun Will Come Out...

2011-11-22T09:30:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the depressing, introspective posts lately. It's the lack of sun I swear! I realized the other day that I hadn't blogged about Nate's wedding like I said I would.

Oh Nathaniel Oswald, how giant you are.

Nate got married! To Grace! She's tall too and they will have tall kids that will probably crush mine. Oh well. I'm so happy for Nate. They have kind of a crazy thing going on right now because Grace is still in school here in Provo but he is working on his PhD out in Texas. Mad props to them for living apart for a few weeks as brand spankin' newly-weds.

The wedding reception was beautiful! Grace paid attention to every little detail and it really showed. In true Nate fashion, the food was also delicious. They had a variety of soups with breads and cheeses. My kind of food. We only stayed for a bit because Erika and I needed to start our drive down to Vegas, but we enjoyed ourselves while we were there.

I wore 4 inch heels so that I wouldn't look too small specifically for this picture. I'm the same height as Grace! They are such a good lookin' couple!

Erika with their beautiful cake!

Such a good time and I am so happy for Nate :) Yay for weddings!

PS. I just ate a delicious pumpkin cheesecake made my Cata. No sugar thing=bust haha..but totally worth it

Day 16, 17, 18 "The Road to Hell is Paved with Good Intentions..."-Lloyd Strom

2011-11-21T11:30:00.000-08:00

Lately I've been feeling a little like Elphaba.

I love Wicked, it speaks to my soul.

I try so hard to do the right thing and to do good things, but it never seems to work out and all I end up doing is hurting the ones that I love-causing them to resent me.

What do you do when you feel like you can never do the right thing?

One more disaster I can add to my
Generous supply?
No good deed goes unpunished
No act of charity goes unresented
No good deed goes unpunished
That's my new creed
My road of good intentions
Led where such roads always lead
No good deed
Goes unpunished!

One question haunts and hurts
Too much, too much to mention:
Was I really seeking good
Or just seeking attention?
Is that all good deeds are
When looked at with an ice-cold eye?
If that's all good deeds are
Maybe that's the reason why

No good deed goes unpunished
All helpful urges should be circumvented
No good deed goes unpunished
Sure, I meant well -
Well, look at what well-meant did:
All right, enough - so be it
So be it, then:
Let all Oz be agreed
I'm wicked through and through
Since I can not succeed
Fiyero, saving you
I promise no good deed
Will I attempt to do again
Ever again
No good deed
Will I do again!

-No Good Deed from Wicked

Day 15 The honest to goodness to truth is

2011-11-18T07:50:00.000-08:00

that this challenge has been hard! And I have been failing miserably! All I can do is hope each day I do better, and sometimes I do, but most times I don't. Grr. Blogging world where has my motivation and will power gone?!

Since my foot is swollen and in pain it has been difficult to run, so yesterday I thought I'd try to take Mia on my bike instead. Didn't work. I went during rush hour and in the first mile 2 people honked at me which scared Mia and sent her into a frenzy causing me to fly off of my bike. My knees hurt.

I'm going out of town again this weekend. Without Bret, again. It's a very last minute sort of trip and have been slightly stressed out.

But in others news, its Friday! Press play to Rebecca Black. Actually don't, that would just be torture.

(dangit now the song is stuck in my head)

Day 14 Too Much Processed Cheese....

2011-11-17T13:46:00.000-08:00

Dear Katie,

I should have heeded your warning about processed cheese. Although I do not like velveeta or the macaroni and cheese from a box, I definitely just consumed a very large percentage of a large jar of Tostitos Queso. Stomach. Pain. Processed cheese foods=no bueno [or maybe I should just learn to eat normal amounts...no that can't be it]

Sincerely,

Girl lying on ground holding abdomen.

In other news, my grandparents started their migration down to AZ from Idaho for the winter yesterday. They stopped in Provo for a quick lunch at Golden Corral with their beloved grandchild (me) and some other shenanigans (Erika, Lucy, Bret). Actually, I'm pretty sure I'm far from their favorite grandchild, but I'm the oldest so I've known them for the longest so I'm going to maintain that they like me the best :) Spencer had class so he couldn't make it, sadly.

Lucy was slightly embarrassed about her giant plate of desserts, but we took a picture anyway. We're starving college students okay?!

Erika tried to knock me over. HAHA I'm taller than you Erika! Of course it makes me look like an idiot, but oh well, Grandpa seems amused

Grandma was supposed to finish up her chemo in Idaho, but she is responding so well to it that they decided to continue it for another 3 months, which she will finish up down in AZ. She looked really happy, which I am so happy about! Hopefully those tumors will keep shrinking!

And last but not least, look at my pregnant toe:

ewwww

My right foot is considerably swollen compared to my left. Gross huh? And now its all bruised and purple and even sicker looking than normal feet. Didn't even know that was possible now did ya'?

Day 13 Please Help!

2011-11-16T09:54:00.000-08:00

Bret works (and by works I mean spends countless hours a week volunteering because he doesn't get paid) for a charity called Courage to Hope that was founded by one of his mission buddies. It's a cause close to his heart because of his experiences as a missionary in Ukraine where domestic violence against women is so casual. This weekend they are hosting a a large fundraising dinner thanking those in the community who have worked to help those afflicted by domestic violence not only in Ukraine, but locally and in other areas of the world as well. Now, since this blog post is entitled "Please Help!", you are probably thinking that I am now going to ask you to donate to this cause or something righteous of the sort. While I will definitely not hate you for donating to Courage to Hope or wanting to find out more information (click the link, or ask me to ask Bret because it really is a good cause), my request is a much more selfish one.

Ahem.

Bret informed me last night that I will be making a fancy schmancy cake to be auctioned off at the dinner. I don't make cakes from scratch-except for cheesecake. I make cakes from boxes. But since these cakes may be going for a lot more money that the $1.50 a box mix costs to make, and since its a fancy schmancy charity fundraiser, I figured a cake NOT from a box would be desired. I don't have any issues as far as time or difficulty go, I can bake fairly decently (I am a chemist after all), my only qualm is I don't have a tested recipe that I KNOW will turn out delicious simply because I haven't made one.

SO! If you have a tried a true layered round cake that you would like to share the recipe for, please do :) If not, I am currently debating between these recipes and I would appreciate your input.

Chocolate Hazelnut Cake
Dark Chocolate Salted Caramel Cake
Red Velvet Cake using this tutorial for the roses (The cake link has a recipe for the cake and cupcakes, I was looking only at the cake recipe) I thought the roses might be a nice touch because it is an event to support women--I guess the same thing can be said for chocolate!

Also, if you would like to donate a round, layered cake that looks all pretty fancy, please let me know :)

Day 12 More Vegas

2011-11-15T15:58:00.000-08:00

Minus the drunkies, druggies, smoking, gambling and gross guys trying to pick up chicks, I actually enjoy Vegas--I know that is 100% ironic since those things pretty much ARE Vegas, BUT Vegas has awesome shows, fantastic food, good shopping, and pretty lights. We used to have dance nationals in Vegas every year and although we were super busy during the whole week, our last night there all of us dancers would get all gussied up and strut our stuff down the strip and do a few not-so-expensive things while we were there (like split a limo taxi ride between like 30 people, or just ride the monorail over and over again. hey, we were young okay?) Sure we'd get quite a few whistles and such, but we were young enough to just enjoy the attention and move on. So I have quite a few fond memories of Vegas :)

My parents bought tickets to go and see KA on Saturday night! Erika and I were sooo stoked! I've seen a few of the little shows Cirque du Soleil has done, but never a full on show. Jonah wanted to go and hang out with his swim buddies (weird I know, but he's a 14 year old boy so I guess it's somewhat understandable that he'd prefer to hang out with his friends over family...psh) so he didn't come a long. Since they had done the Bellagio buffet the night before, my parents weren't feeling ANOTHER buffet, which was totally fine by us. Erika and I CAN and WILL eat a lot so buffet's aren't the best place to be for us. We had a delicious dinner at Bahama Breeze instead-salmon tostada salad=YUM!-and headed off to KA!

Bahama Breeze!

I'm pretty sure we have this exact picture at a seafood restaurant in Hollywood. I'll have to go and find it. Erika thought it was pretty hilariously that the fried plantains in her cinnamon sweet potatoes looked like bunny ears--the torture didn't end there either--

The waiter drew a fish on Erika's leftovers so she would know which one was hers...since she got fish...even though my mom had seafood in her leftovers too..good thing my dad and I didn't have leftovers because we all had seafood otherwise things would've been a mess haha. [and just in case you're thinking "wow naomi you are such a pig with no leftovers and that giant plate of food!" think again, my mom ate half of mine because she liked it better than hers...so there...I'm not THAT fat LOL]

Erika and I were cracking up on our way to KA because of how determined my mom was in her walking. My mom NEVER walks fast, especially in heels, and here she was booking it, hands in her (tiny) jacket pockets, through the MGM Grand. It was a sight to see. We were laughing so hard, and I'm pretty sure she didn't even notice. We made it to the show quite early, no doubt due to my mom's speed walking, and laughed at the ushers in the theatre running around to prevent people from taking pictures.

The show was absolutely fantastic! It wasn't as mind-bending and inhuman (as in doing inhuman things) as other Cirque du Soleil things I've seen, but it was still amazing. The strength and balance they have is purely incredible. There was one part where a bunny came in to play, and Erika started laughing again...I just couldn't get away from bunnies this trip! But really, it was amazing. I'd really like to see O sometime in the near future!

Afterwards we wanted to walk on the strip a little bit, but that was cut short after not one, but two different groups of guys decided to stalk me and Erika. The whistling is usually fine, but to be followed around for an extended period of time was just too much, so we just headed back. It was okay though, we were pretty tired anyway.

There was a big fight going on at the MGM that night so an MGM lion was featured at the entrance. We went to the lion's den as well, but they were sleeping as Erika pointed out to us.-smirk-

On the strip-kind of-

Erika wanted to take a picture next to a slot machine. Weirdo.

Ka character!

The next day we went to Sacrament meeting at the church by the aquatic center and ate lunch at an extremely delicious sushi restaurant. It was probably the best authentic sushi I've had outside of Japan, and I've had some good sushi outside of Japan. Erika ate her way out of my dad's wallet and we all had a great time! I was so happy with this meal. I love sushi. Seriously elated. Try Momoyama's sushi in Henderson next time you are there, srsly!

Uni and Ikura. Look how happy I am! haha

Erika rounded out her sushi meal with the "sushi lunch plate".

We finished our day by going to the dog park again and watching the last of Jonah's events. He did a lot better Sunday than Saturday, which was good to see. Erika and I headed out before his last event because we didn't want to get back too late. It was a great trip and I am so glad we made it down to spend time with my family since we won't be seeing them for Thanksgiving. Can't wait for Christmas!

Our favorite dog park!

The best part about this picture is that we were standing on a slight incline so we purposefully put Jonah at the bottom. Why am I so small?!?!?! *Erika is totally wearing tall shoes...totally*

At the pool. Erika and I look more like twins than normal, I think. Jonah is topless, and in a speedo, but that is all completely normal.

Day 9, 10, 11 What Happens in Vegas, Stays in Vegas

2011-11-14T12:43:00.000-08:00

Jonah's club swim team went to the same swim meet as they did last year in Henderson, NV, so like good older sisters, Erika and I road tripped down to Vegas to meet up with the family. Last year was a ton of fun, so we were way excited for this year's trip, especially since we won't be going down to AZ for Thanksgiving. We left Friday night after Nate's wedding reception which was GORGEOUS-but more on that later.

On the way down I became a murderer. Yes I killed a poor innocent bunny. I felt so bad. I was crying. My sister was laughing and told the world of my sin. It was tragic. Other than that we made it safely to our hotel where we woke everyone up around 11:30 to let us in.

The weather in Henderson was fantastic and I went on a good run in the morning to try and minimalize the amount of damage I would be doing by the amount of food I was planning on eating on that trip. I love food, but you already know that about me. Everyone was out running, only they were all bundled up. I guess that's one nice thing about the Utah cold; it's made me slightly more immune to desert cold! We had a delicious lunch of sandwiches and souffles from Panera Bread (Seriously, if there is one near you, GO. Do not hesitate. Just do it. For me. ) and then went to Jonah's swim meet. It was at the same indoor pool as last year, only this time they decided they needed to crank up the heat about a 1000 degrees and everyone was dying. Since swimming is a sport of a lot of waiting for about a minute of race every hour or so, we walked outside to a nearby dog park and watched/played with the dogs. I'm sure we looked like total creeps going to a dog park without dogs, but that's life I suppose. I guess it could be similar to a grown up going to a park and just watching the kids play, but for some reason with dogs it sounds less molest-er like. The night before my parents and Jonah went to the Bellagio buffet so I think all of that food was weighing Jonah down (and he's still a stick...darn him) so he didn't do very well, but that's okay because this meet is more about having fun anyway. Most traveling meets they don't even allow the parents to come because the coaches like to keep track of what the kids are eating and when they go to sleep to make sure they perform well, but this one was a family traveling meet where the kids mostly just have a good time. I think it's kind of a waste to travel that much and not do that well, but no one was doing especially great so I guess it all works out. In the end he did improve most of his times, it was only a few he didn't do so hot on.

Jonah and Erika making silly faces after stealing my camera

And that's a lot of writing...so I think I will continue this story tomorrow. :)

Day 8 Three things

2011-11-11T07:51:00.000-08:00

1. Happy Veteran's Day. A huge Thank You to everyone who has served our country to give us the

FREEDOM we have today. May we at home always strive to preserve that freedom our fellow countrymen

fought so hard to keep.

I understand how ironic this picture, given my heritage, but I love it. I resounds not only the tough fight fought, but also sends the message of companionship and collaboration; just look at Japan and America now. Not all countries have to fight forever.

2. One of my dearest friends, Nate Oswald is getting married today! I could not be happier for him and Grace and the start of their eternal journey together. Maybe now Nate will understand the weight gain that happens when you get hitched!

3. I am going to Las Vegas tonight with the lil' sis. SOOOO excited! So I will be blogger MIA for the next couple of days. Enjoy life with out with me! (well, at least all 1 1/2 readers I have out there...the rest of you should discover me AND THEN enjoy life without me. makes sense, right?)

Day 7 I'm going to level with you...

2011-11-10T14:18:00.000-08:00

I haven't exactly been good about this sugar fast thus far. I just can't seem to commit to it. I blame the cold. (Of course I HAVE to blame something. It can't be me, right????)

Anyway, here's my re-commitment! Until Thanksgiving sugar!

Sincerely,

Naomi

Day 6 Germs

2011-11-09T13:46:00.000-08:00

darn you E.Coli and how long you take to grow

It's been a boring day at work. Let's just say that. Yes, let's.

Day 5 Dinner Last Night

2011-11-08T08:23:00.000-08:00

I made dinner 2 nights in a row! Its a miracle, really. I think Bret nearly fainted when I told him I was making dinner last night, since I had just cooked the night before (Sunday night was katsudon..mm...delicious).

Last nights dinner was especially tasty and easy, so I thought I'd share.

via The Pioneer Woman

See that kind of strange looking green liquid up there? That is a delicious Spinach Soup from The Pioneer Woman. Please don't let the green color weird you out, it is REALLY good and simple to make. I used skim milk instead of whole milk and evaporated skim milk instead of half and half and it still turned out thick and delicious. I'm sure if you had all of the extra fat in there it would be even more delicious, but I just couldn't justify that to myself. I needed feta cheese for a different recipe I had made and didn't feel like buying 2 fancy schmancy expensive cheeses (maybe in a few years I can afford such deliciousness) so I used feta as my garnish and it was still delicious.

I paired the soup with Heidi Swanson's Oat Soda Bread from 101 Cookbooks. I LOVE this bread and I have made it several times. Its fast and easy to make and is a great rustic, dense bread with a nice sourness from the buttermilk and baking soda that goes oh so nicely with soup. I had the bread cooking while I made the soup and it was perfect. I used whole wheat flour instead of white and skim milk+vinegar (1 Tbs vinegar + however much milk needed to get to 1 C) for the buttermilk and it still came out great. That's actually how I always make it so I have no idea how it would taste with white flour and real buttermilk-probably even better. Why do I have such a complex with having to adjust every recipe that I make? Seriously! I also topped the bread with some chia (yes as in the pet. but I don't have a pet. just the seeds. i got them as a free sample from my last Nuts Online order. apparently they're good for you, albeit not as exciting as the boba I ordered.) seeds, which is different than what I normally do. I just happened to have them on hand, but I don't think the type of seeds you use really makes a difference.

Anyway, I highly recommend both of these recipes, especially together. In an hour you will have a complete, filling, and nutritious meal! And afterwards you won't feel guilty eating cookie bars and ice cream ;)

Enjoy!

Day 4 Because my mother has no grandchildren...

2011-11-07T20:51:00.000-08:00

...I have to post videos of my dog. Here's a better one of her practicing her new frisbee catching skills The first two throws she doesn't catch it, but I love how she knocks it down with her paws to get it.

Oh and please disregard my annoying, high-pitched voice.

In other news, I broke the sugar fast yesterday and today. I am ashamed. Yesterday I ate a slice of pumpkin bread and today I had ice cream and cookie bars. Its so hard to turn down food that people bring over or invite you over for. And its JUST for YOU, so there'e no one else there to eat it so you have to eat it right? Its common courtesy. And it was all delicious, so I don't regret it one bit.

Day 3 Stake Conference Thoughts

2011-11-06T12:08:00.000-08:00

We had Stake Conference this weekend. The "adult session" (which, in a married student ward is basically just another session of stake conference) last night focused on missionary work and a lot of great thoughts were presented. The general session today was really great. Our ward choir sang a special musical number of "Where Can I Turn For Peace", conducted and arranged by Bret, that turned out really well. This weekend was the first time we have heard from our Stake President since the married student stakes were reorganized back in May. It was definitely a great first impression. Many of the talks today surrounded THIS talk by Sis Dalton, the young women's general president.

“The most important thing a father can do for his [daughter] is to love [her] mother.”¹ By the way you love her mother, you will teach your daughter about tenderness, loyalty, respect, compassion, and devotion. She will learn from your example what to expect from young men and what qualities to seek in a future spouse. You can show your daughter by the way you love and honor your wife that she should never settle for less. Your example will teach your daughter to value womanhood. You are showing her that she is a daughter of our Heavenly Father, who loves her."

This portion of the talk was quoted several times during the conference today. It reverberates well for me because it reminds fathers of their responsibility to create a good male example for their daughters and not just for their sons. In order to protect their daughters, they must treat their wives well. It applies to all of us as well. As wives we can demand a good example from our husbands for our children, and in the same respect we must represent our own roles as wives, mothers, and women in a strong, supportive, and righteous manner. I loved this focus in this talk and in stake conference today.

Our Stake President focused his attention on being cautious of what we allow to influence ourselves. His main focus was keeping our media and recreational activities wholesome. This was not only applied to sexual morality, but also to violence and graphic images. We have heard over and over again to avoid sexual images, but the strong emphasis he put on violence in tv, movies, and games really struck me. I'm not one to enjoy super graphic images, I get pretty quesy pretty easily, but I'll sit through it often and suffer the consequences later. He also placed a strong importance on recreational activities, and how violent activities can be just as detrimental to preventing the Spirit from being with us.

It was a great conference. It wasn't the same old "read your scriptures, say your prayers" which are great things that I definitely need to do better on, but this brought a great new focus and shed some light on some situations in my life. I know its super cliche to say "this conference was made for me", but I usually don't get the impression that many people get. Maybe it's because I don't listen intently enough, but this time I really felt that way.

Day 2 My Hidden Talent

2011-11-05T19:29:00.000-07:00

Last week Erika asked me to take pictures of her and her room mates up Provo Canyon. Being from AZ we don't get the pretty leaf color changing fall experience that you get in Utah. Last year we had the lovely Shauna take pictures of Bretward and I and Erika wanted pictures with her "significant" others with the leaves as well.

So up the canyon we went with my little digital camera, all bundled up. And you know what, after my fake photoshop they didn't turn out half bad!

Day 1 Thought for the Weekend

2011-11-04T09:24:00.000-07:00

Swiped fromr Heather San Diego on FB

This reminded me of a Scrubs episode. Dr. Cox was ALWAYS nagging JD, and although JD secretly loved it, it definitely wore on him. Then one day JD made a major screw up and Dr. Cox stopped nagging him. At first JD was grateful, thinking that Dr. Cox finally trusted him, but he eventually realized that it was because Dr. Cox stopped caring about him. Knowing that someone JD really cared for no longer cared about him was worse than the nagging. It's the same for parents and spouses, I think: nagging and punishments and some of the more "unpleasant" parts of a relationship are only out of love. In the end, we should be worried if our relationship grows too casual and we are no longer nagged or pestered, because that means we are no longer cared for, and as Winnie the Pooh says, that means we are no longer loved.

So to those who did nag and pester you, go and give them a thank you, because all it meant was that they CARE for you!

You are my Candy Girl

2011-11-03T19:11:00.000-07:00

Well I'm doing it again! I'm going sugar free again! I actually wanted to start Nov 1, but I was kidding myself with the leftover Halloween candy I had. But now, with my blog as my accountability, I will go sugar free for 30 days! I am going to give myself the exception of Thanksgiving, because, well I think that's obvious. In order to give myself this leeway, I want to be more strict with myself this time around. My last sugar free 30 days was actually a "no sweets and treats", so I still ate sugar in small amounts in things like muffins and breads. This time around will be NO unnatural sugar whatsoever.

Well wish me luck! I'm going to have to save that movie theatre sized box of dark chocolate covered raisins in my desk drawer for 30 days!

Guilt

2011-11-01T15:42:00.000-07:00

Bret and I just had a little conversation about Guilt. Honestly, it left me a little confused. I never thought of guilt as a bad thing, necessarily. Obviously its not pleasant, but I always thought we needed guilt in our lives to prevent us from doing things that were not good. So, in line with my new desire to rekindle a relationship with my spiritual side, I went to Big B Brethren for some answers about the G-word. It made me feel better, and for future reference to myself and to those that are so mesmerized by my life (haha...yea...funni naomi), I thought I'd put it in the ol' bloggity blog.

Dale F. Pearson, an employee at BYU, said "Guilt is normal; it's the danger signal that flashes when a transgression has occurred and needs to be repented.". That statement really jived with me. Guilt has a purpose-its to keep us from messing up, or at least to get us back on track. Its like blood: we know to stop doing something once we start bleeding because it hurts and we need to do something to get ourselves to stop bleeding. He goes on to say "But unhealthy guilt that persists for no reason, or eve when repentance has been completed, can undermine our whole relationship with a loving Father in Heaven." I realized that I am totally a culprit of this: I continue to feel guilty and can be really hard on myself, even after I'm forgiven. And this isn't just for spiritual sin, but transgressions against others. I will continue to feel bad for hurting someone long after we've made amends and beat myself up trying to make it up to them. Its not a good cycle. Conclusion: Guilt is OK, but only to the point that we can give ourselves a break.

In "The Touch of the Master's Hand", Boyd K. Packer quoted John saying "if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we say we have not sinned, we make [the Lord] a liar, and his word is not in us". This took it the other extreme: not enough guilt is bad too. (of course the extremes are bad, you'd think I'd know that by now...if only politics learned that too). We need to feel guilt, in fact Heavenly Father gave us guilt, and not feeling that would be denying Him. But, as President Packer goes on to say "Guilt is not erased without pain. There are laws to obey and ordinances to receive, and there are penalties to pay". That's why guilt sucks. Because it hurts to get over it. It takes work, and lots of it, in order to pay the price for whatever transgression we may have committed.

From these first 2 talks I took away that:

Guilt is good. We need guilt in order to let us know that we are doing something wrong. Because of guilt we can repent to Heavenly Father and make amends with those around us. Guilt is an okay thing.
Guilt is bad at either extreme. We need to learn to forgive ourselves when guilt has gone too far. On the other hand, we need to learn to accept and sense guilt, otherwise we won't be able to become better people, which is what this life is about anyway right?
Guilt sucks. It takes hard work to overcome. We are going to have to make sacrifices in order to get rid of it, but in the end its worth it. Whether these sacrifices be our own pride, spiritual, or even physical, only making those sacrifices will rid us of the guilt.

The next talk I looked at took me a while to find why it popped up in my search. However, when I found it I new that Heavenly Father put it there for me. M. Russell Ballard said in his talk "O Be Wise" "I hope it goes without saying that guilt is not a proper motivational technique....We must always motivate through love and sincere appreciation, not by creating guilt." I know that I have been guilty (bah! slightly funni) of using guilt as a motivation to do things. Whether this be guilting myself into doing something, or others, in the end no one is happy. Although that didn't have much to do with the rest of my little schpeel here, I know I was supposed to find that because of how much it applies to my life. It made me think of the mother on "Everybody Loves Ray" and how she manipulates her family through guilt. In the end everyone is miserable! (although it is still hilarious).

Anyway, that's the end of me little schpeel. Hopefully you can find this as helpful as I found it. Sometimes its just good to write things down every once in a while...or so I feel at least.

Budget Recap

2011-11-01T11:45:00.000-07:00

Remember the challenge I issued myself for October? Well October is over now and it is time to report the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly results.

First off, just an FYI, I use an online tool called mint to keep track of our finances. It's great because it automatically syncs up with all of your accounts and allows you to set up budgets and goals. It also sends texts/e-mails when you go over budget. I used to like to keep track of everything in an Excel sheet because I felt like it gave me more "control" and I thought that I would spend less money if I had to physically input everything I spent, but in the past 6 months or so I've really enjoyed how easy mint is to use. And that's my plug for the day.

Now, down to business.

-Grocery wise I did pretty well. There were a couple of times where I had to make a second trip to the grocery store for the week, but this tended to happen because of all of the fall parties I didn't know about when I made my "main" grocery trip of the week and I needed ingredients to make appropriate dishes (I didn't think party guest would appreciate eating carrot sticks). I only went 7 dollars over my grocery budget. Not bad eh? Hopefully this month will be even better!
-Eating out. This one we didn't completely do. We were taken out a couple of times by some people, but we did slip up a couple of times. One time was because I told Bret I was craving Mexican food and he thought he'd surprise me by bringing me home some, forgetting about our goals to not eat out for the month. There were a couple of small, random ones as well, mostly because I got sick and didn't make anything nor did I want to eat anything I did have. It's complicated. I know I shouldn't give excuses, but we did only spend about $25 on going out to eat, which was an improvement!
-We had a couple of "big costs" this month that made it so that we did spend more than we made. The auto insurance that comes out every 6 months came out this month (always an ouch, why must auto coverage be so expensive) and Bret also had an eye exam and bought new glasses. Necessary costs that don't come very often, but big nonetheless. Good news is I switched our auto insurance over to another company today and saved 200 bucks! Always a happy day. :)

Anyway. It was good for me to get back in touch with my financial, budgeting self. Hopefully I can keep improving about staying in my budgets. I get serious high watching my savings go up and seriously depressed when it goes down. Yay for happiness!

In other news, we spent Halloween night with this cute little family.

Smore's and roasted apples up the canyon with Tyler, America, and Lloyd. Mia got slightly better with him, but she's still not 100% sure about her new forced friend and his craziness. We followed with "The Others"--which all of us had seen except for Bret, but it had been a long time for all of us. AND we got ONE trick-or-treater! Wahoo! First one EVER!

Fun Halloween night

This is Halloween, This is Halloween, HALLOWEEN!!!

2011-10-31T10:23:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween! Halloween is one of my favorite holidays because I LOVE to dress up! It is probably the dancer inside of me yearning for some heavy make-up and crazy costume get up. At home I have dozens of old dance costumes that I can select from for Halloween costumes, but in college I've just had to make-do with whats in my closet and maybe a few dollar store or thrift store purchases.

This past weekend we had 2 different parties. The first was our ward Halloween party complete with chili cook-off, maufia, haunted gingerbread houses, learning the Thriller dance, and of course, costumes. Bret didn't go because he wanted to do a Halloween airsoft fight (which didnt' end up happening anyway because some guy showed up with a real rifle so they had to call the entire thing off) so I brought Cata along with me. I dressed Cata up as crazy scientist (which might not be so far from reality, but we make-do right?), and I dressed up as alcohol (hehehe)

Gingerbread houses! I was really proud of my dying tree I made (left). Cata's -top right, mine-middle right, random person's whose looked really cute-bottom right

AH! Mad scientist!

The goggles were for nerd affect. The red balloon is an O, and the black balloon is an H--OH--in a party cup--get it? bahah. I was originally going to be glucose but I'm not good at building things and my structure was not sound and it all felt a part and then this is what happened. Oh well! It was still fun.

The next day, Brandalyn hosted a 1920's themed mystery party. We were all assigned parts and then tried to figure out who killed Hal Cappone through the clues we were given. In the end we found out the killer was me! Even I was surprised, because not even the killer knows who they killer is until the end. Bret was assigned the character of a lawyer and I was given the part of a "madam" who owns a "club" that many "gentlemen" like to come to. Haha. I'll let you figure that one out. Of course I get assigned the skanky part ;) It was a lot of fun though! Especially because people stayed in character and had fun with it.

Me as "Silky M. Adam" and Bret as "S. Treighton Harrow" Sound out the names! M-adam and s-traight and -n-(h)arrow

The gang

Thus concluded our Halloween weekend. But what about Halloween night? We're planning on keeping things low-key and heading up the canyon to roast marshamallows with some friends and maybe watch a scary movie. Even though I hate scary movies.

Happy Halloween Everybody!

I love me some hippie action...

2011-10-27T13:10:00.000-07:00

It is no secret that I LOVE fruits and veggies. Last night my dinner was 8 or 9 large carrots, and it was delicious. (Don't say "Naomi, that's not a proper dinner!" because what you don't know-and will now know-is that I went to a buffet for lunch and ate my heart and stomach out. I was surprised I could eve put down that many carrots.) Anyway, I digress. I have been lovin' my Bountiful Baskets for the fresh, mysterious, and cheaper produce as well as the farmers markets and farm stands throughout Utah. Utah definitely has a lot more variety as far as "grow-able produce" than AZ does which has been pretty exciting.

Unfortunately, the farmer's markets in Provo have been slightly less than exciting, with very few options for produce and other yummilicious good. Most of the booths are arts and crafts types--which are great and all, but not the sort of thing I'm in to. After a good tip from Amber's mom I called up Amber we headed the farmer's market in downtown Salt Lake.

I'm glad I went, because it was AWESOME! Especially with Amber because she's into fresh produce and delicious, healthy food as much as I am. We sampled all sorts of good stuff, and I scored a ton of food for dirt cheap-2 heads bok choy, 1 large eggplant, 2 large red bell peppers, 9 large peaches, 3 zucchini, 1 bunch Asian chives, 1 bunch Swiss chard, 2 daikon, and a delicious pecan cinnamon roll that I shared with Amber for 20 bucks total! Awesome huh? We sampled some delicious cheeses, artisan breads, jams, herbs, oils and vinegars, and of course tons of produce and took a gander at some of the arts and crafts stuff. Amber particularly liked one stand that took old books and converted them into journals (she's an avid journal keeper--I think she's had one since she was 8 or 9--cool huh?)

Anyway, here my pictures documenting the day. Obviously Sis Heaps are A LOT better, but these are my memories :) I loved the hippie atmosphere and everyone with their dogs (I would've brought Mia if she wasn't so terrified of other dogs--poor pup). 'Twas a blast!

Veggies plentiful!

Have you ever seen tomatoes in that many colors?

I have a serious addiction to artisan breads

The bakery we bought our pecan roll at. Simply delush.

Oh and Garrett came too! Amber and Garrett all cute-like holding a book-turned-journal that fit Amber perfectly!

As the summer is swiftly coming to a close (it's 45 degrees outside right now!) most of the markets are close, including this one. BUT, if you are in the area next summer, I HIGHLY recommend going, even just browse and fill up on samples, because it is a ton of fun!

My Dog is Cooler than your Kid

2011-10-25T12:19:00.000-07:00

If you've spent any time with me in the past few months, you will know that I talk about my dog A LOT. I'm kinda, sorta obsessed with this little pooch of mine. Kind of like how new moms get with their babies, but I try to refrain from posting entire albums and dedicating most of my blog posts to her. I actually don't have much desire to do that, and the reason I talk about her so much is probably because my life is pretty boring so I don't have much else to talk about, but hey that's life.

Anyway, Mia is getting really good at catching the frisbee! It's pretty exciting to watch her get all excited when you bring out the frisbee to go the park. She just loves it. She gets pretty tired after 5 or 6 throws and stops bringing it back to you (although she'll still go and get it, she will just take it somewhere else and lie down on top of it as a sign of "please stop"). I don't know why she gets so tired though, I KNOW she has WAY more stamina than that, so I think it may be partially due to her getting a little bored and distracted by something else at the park (usually food someone dropped) Weird dog. Anyway, I caught a video of her catching it the other day. This was after a few times so she was getting pretty tired of it and it isn't her best catch, but I still think its pretty cool. Please ignore my annoying voice.

I'll Love You Forever....

2011-10-24T08:44:00.000-07:00

If you make me these. Remember how I'm trying to be good about sticking to my budget? Well I hit my grocery budget limit, and these just showed up in my world today.

Ooey Gooey Caramel Pumpkin Blondies

Doesn't that title just make you start salivating?

Or maybe I should just be patient and wait a week. *sigh*

NanoUtah

2011-10-21T21:50:00.000-07:00

Last week I had the opportunity to attend NanoUtah, a conference focusing on nano science in Salt Lake by the UofU. It was great conference! I went with 3 of my lab mates (Cata, Dave, and David--yes that can be confusing, but we've worked out a system of calling one Dave and the other David) for the 2 day conference full of the latest nanotechnology happening in Utah. The conference was a smaller one with only about 250 people, but that was part of the appeal. With less people you were able to network a little bit better, really get to know the research that is going on, and weren't overwhelmed with dozens of choices as to what presentation to attend. It was great, we had a lot of fun.

All 4 of us presented posters and were judged. I pretty much knew that Cata and I had no chance of winning because our research has a more distant application to nano research, but its always nice to receive feedback on your research and your presentation skills. From the get-go one of my judges told me he was going to "give me a very hard time", and did he deliver! He was determined to make me sweat and he definitely succeeded. In the end he told me I did a very good job under his pressure, which I guess is a good thing, but I was definitely glad to have him gone!

Because this was a conference hosted by the U, about 90% of the posters and presentations were from the U, and the remaining 10% was BYU with a few students from Utah State. With those stats, it was expected that most of the awards would be going to students from the U. BUT, the only award that went to a non-Ute student was (drum roll please) DAVID! And not only did he place, but we won FIRST place! We were all shocked and super excited. The BEST part about him winning was that David was called in last minute to substitute for another member of our lab who couldn't make the conference. Even better, David just joined our lab about a month ago and was very unfamiliar with the research AND he's a molecular biologist and the research was materials (which are COMPLETELY different, in case you were curious). He was actually reading the paper the poster was based off of on the drive up to SLC that morning. I gave mad props to him for being able to present that confidently and accurately. He thinks that since he had no idea what he was talking about he confused his judges to the point that they thought he was genius and gave him the prize. I think it has something to do with the fact that he's Italian and tried to woo his judges ;) Nonetheless, it was pretty cool.

Of course we ate a lot of good food. Gotta love conferences and how much food they always give you--and I gained like 800 pounds in those 2 days. Now I empathize with my daddi better when he gains weight on business trips--they just feed you so well!

Cata with her poster

Me and my poster

Can you guess what this one is of? Me and Cata with our posters! I take creative photos, I know, and at the best moments too!

PS I really shouldn't bash on Utah as much as I do, and for those of you that love Utah I sincerely apologize. I really have loved my experiences at BYU and in Provo, there is no doubt to that. I think I'm just ready to move on from the carefree college scene a bit--although from what I hear from those that have moved on it's not always that great. My main issues come from the cold (is it clear that I don't like the cold yet?) and some of the side affects of having lots of Mormons is one area (although there are a lot of benefits to that as well). However, after this conference I really am considering the U as an option for my graduate schooling, so me and the snow need to start getting along a bit better ;)

A Physical Manifestation

2011-10-20T07:56:00.000-07:00

This past week has not been good for me: both physically and mentally. I've been quite sick-nauseous, icky sick and was bed-ridden for the beginning parts of the week. Gross right? I was sleeping 12-15 hours a day and yet was still exhausted. I hate that feeling of never feeling rested. And no, I'm not pregnant for those of you that immediately jump to the conclusion that any nausea or vomiting experienced by a married girl is morning sickness. Anyway, the point is, icky week for the physical body.

I've also been feeling pretty depressed lately. A lot of things have been going on in my life, most of which are just a touch too personal to talk openly about on the blog, but its been pretty rough. I've realized that I have become very lax in my relationship with my Heavenly Father. My worship has definitely been a lot of "going through the motions". My spirit has been exhausted. I have a hard time seeing the love and sacrifice people have and are making for me, leaving me feeling unloved and un-cared for. I mostly realized this when a random act of kindness from someone I barely know nearly brought me tears a few weeks ago-I realized the void that was inside of me.

With all of this I can't help but feel like my physical body in manifesting my emotional and spiritual self at this time. There is only so much damage our mentality can take before it overcomes our bodies. This makes me think of the high rates of depression in Utah where a good public image (keepin' up with the Jones') is held in higher priority over deeper, personal struggles to the point of covering up any weakness or self-struggle one might have. The body eventually gives in.

Anyway, that's my week. Its therapeutic for me to write about these things sometimes, I hope you don't mind my depressing moments.

The Epitome of Nerdiness in a Cake

2011-10-18T11:33:00.000-07:00

This is a story about my dear friend Brandt. Once upon a time Brandt and I were in the same stake back in good 'ol Gilbert. We would have been at the same elementary school had Brandt not decided to attend the alternative elementary school for smart kids in the district. But life went on. One day Brandt decided that he wanted to graduate from college before he served a mission, so he graduated from high school a few years early and started at BYU at 15 years old. His parents moved up to Utah with him and he lived at home for his first few years at BYU, being too young to really live on his own anyway. Fast forward a few years and it is my freshman year and Brandt's senior year at the Y. Since many of his friends were now attending BYU (like the normal age people they are) he decided to move out and join them.

The first Sunday of my freshman year I was asked to play the organ and was, therefore, sitting up on the stand. Being the first Sunday, many parents and other family members came to church with their new college student to see what their new ward was going to be like. With the extra people and nearly 100% attendance (gotta love BYU wards) the chapel was overflowing and latecomers were asked to sit on the stand (so everyone could see who walked in late and give them dirty looks later haha) Well Brandt and his roomies showed up late and took a seat right behind me on the stand. I immediately recognized him and turned around and whispered "I know you!", to which he whispered back "I know you too!". It was awesome.

We had a great time. Brandt graduated at the end of the year and served a mission in Hungary. When he came back he decided to come back to BYU to start a Master's and ended up in my sister's ward. Small world eh? Anyway, Erika and Brandt are fast becoming friends. His birthday was a couple of weeks ago and Erika asked me to help her make him a cake. Because Brandt is a nerdy biologist, we decided to make him a cell cake. And not just any cell cake, this cake had frosting organelles with flags to label each. It was truly amazing, and so much fun to make!

Heidi and Emily helped to make the cake as well!

I actually wasn't there when Brandt got the cake.. I was tired, and it was single's person party so I felt a little out of place (They were watching a movie, which is the ultimate awkward in the single person's arena--awkward cuddling--plus it was a scary movie and I hate scary movies)

Recent Recipe Musings

2011-10-11T09:09:00.000-07:00

I've tried to get back into cooking these past couple of weeks. Over the summer I would just eat whatever was in my fridge: cabbage stir fry, bag of spinach, satsumaimo, etc. Unfortunately, eating "whatever" doesn't exactly suit Bret, so I've been working on getting back into the habit of making actual dinner. Here are some new recipes that I've tried that are definitely winners!

This Taco Pizza from The Pioneer Woman was definitely delicious!

I used my favorite whole wheat pizza dough recipe (in my bread maker...yay for easy!) and left out the tortilla strips and cilantro, only because I didn't have them. I'm sure it would have been more delicious with a load of cilantro on top and a bit of a crunch (although it was definitely a lot healthier without the deep fried goodness). My sour cream/hot sauce mixture turned out pastel pink, which looked a little weird, but it was still good. Must've been my type of hot sauce

I LOVE soup, and this Cauliflower Soup, also from PW, did not disappoint. Because I have insuppressible urge to put more vegetables in recipes than called for, I added red potatoes, another carrot or two, and a few extra stalks of celery. I also put in like 8 bajillion times the amount of cauliflower the recipe called for which made my dutch oven VERY full and elicited a little bit of boiling over. It was all good though because I really enjoyed the extra veggie goodness. I didn't cook the vegetables in butter, because that much butter scares me, but used olive oil instead. I also only had 1 C of skim milk, so I used that with a can of evaporated skim milk for the white sauce. I also left out the half and half because my love handles scare me. I added a few tablespoons of extra flour to thicken it up a bit more. And of course I used fat-free sour cream, because that's the way I roll. It took a little bit longer to get thick, but so incredibly worth it!

Homemade applesauce! Now this one was just plain fun, from beginning to end. There is a elderly couple that live down the street from us with giant apple tree in their front yard. A while ago I asked them if I could pick their apples and they told me no, which I thought was weird since they have a hard time moving around PLUS I'm pretty sure their teeth don't allow for apple eating either, but oh well. They did say that we could pick them off of the ground if we wanted. This turned out to be okay since they can't eat them they just let them fall to the ground occasionally on my way home I'll stop and pick a couple off of the ground that look just fine. Unfortunately a lot of them still go to waste. SO, late Saturday night Erika and I got our black get up on (actually that's a lie, we were already dressed in all black because we like black) and loaded up on fallen apples, perfect and imperfect. We cut them up, discarding the worm-eaten areas, and boiled them until soft. We put the soft apples into the food processor and pulverized until they were apple sauce! These apples were Golden Delicious apples, so the apple sauce was really sweet without ay added sugar. It also came out really thick as well, making it, lile, PLATINUM delicious. I'm funny I know. Anyway, have some not so attractive apples? Make apple sauce. It will make you happy. (especially if you do it around midnight, and if apple thievery that isn't really thievery is involved)

Onto desserts....

When Bret's family was in town I made peach cupcakes using THIS recipe for the cupcakes and THIS recipe for the frosting. I should have taken a picture, but I didnt, and that is life. And of course, because I have an inability to follow a recipe completely, here are the changes that I made. For the cupcakes I cute the sugar in half, used applesauce in place of the oil, and omitted the nuts. They ended up being more "muffin-ish" than like cupcakes just because of the sweetness factor, but I like that better anyway. I don't know how the kiddos felt about that, but they had ice cream as well so I don't feel the least bit guilty (in fact, I feel better about myself for making a slightly healthier cupcake). Obviously I made them in cupcake tins and the recipe gave me 18 cupcakes.

For the frosting, I cut the recipe in half, which still gave me plenty to frost the cupcakes. I didn't use the cocoa powder and added a tsp or two of cinnamon to match the cinnamon in the cupcakes. The result was dee-lush.

Last, but not least, in this recipe marathon is actually one of Bret's recipes.

Cinnamon sugar donut holes. Bret actually learned how to make these on his mission from his cooking lady, so they're technically called ponchiki. Now I'm not a huge fan of donuts, they make me sick actually, nor am I fan of hot chocolate, just doesn't make my boat float, BUT the other day while I was running (in the cold rain, mind you) I had a strong craving for hot donuts with hot chocolate. Saturday night before the football game (we don't watch football, but our friends were going to the game) Brandalyn and Paul came over to give me an excuse to fulfill my craving. Bret whipped up these donuts and I heated some milk up. I'm talented I know. The best part about these is how light they are. They get most of their sweetness from whatever filling/ topping you use so they aren't overpoweringly sweet and since they're fresh you don't feel like you're drowning in grease. Bret normally wraps the dough around a Hershey's kiss, but I was feeling a light coating of cinnamon sugar, so that is what we did. Whew, that was long. Okay here's the recipe, in Bret's words:

As with most Russian/Ukrainian recipes, this is all sort of done by memory and really without measurements, so these are all very rough approximations.

1/3 cup warm water
2 TBSP sugar
1 TBSP yeast

Mix them together and let sit someplace warm until it gets all frothy. While waiting, do the following:

1 cup milk
1/4-1/3 cup butter
2 eggs

Scald the milk, bringing it just to a boil and then take it off the heat. Add the butter and mix it in until it's well melted. Wait for the mixture to cool enough so you can mix in the eggs. (This part is kinda tricky. If you don't wait long enough, you'll cook the eggs, which makes for nasty ponchiki.)

Combine the two mixes together and add 1 cup of flour. (Or enough flour that you have a batter that has the consistency of thick pancake batter)

Add sugar (to taste, somewhere between 3-4 T, add more for a sweeter batter if you're not cooking for Naomi)

Mix in flour until you have a sort of sticky ball of dough (not too sticky, but not too floury either)

Let rise until about doubled--usually about an hour

Now for the fun part.

Pot
Oil
Powdered sugar

Take whatever chocolate you have that you want on the inside (this could be chunks of a chocolate bar, kisses, etc.) and make sure that the pieces are no bigger than an ordinary Hershey's kiss. Take a small amount of dough and wrap it around the chocolate. Make sure that you pinch it off to seal the chocolate inside, you don't want it to leak. IMPORTANT, you don't need very much dough here, just enough to cover the chocolate.

Next, heat enough oil in a pot so that the ponchiki can float in it. Heat it to medium high, closer to medium than high. Drop the balls into the oil, and if you didn't put too much dough on the chocolate, they should flip themselves. If not, just flip them when they are as brown as you like them. note: I advocate tongs to flip these, but if you don't have any, 2 forks used like chopsticks will do the trick quite nicely.

When you pull them out of the pot, roll them in some powdered sugar and then let them cool a bit. They're best when they're still kinda hot.

Enjoy.

OR you can do like we did and omit the chocolate and roll them in cinnamon sugar while hot. YUM! Enjoy with hot cocoa

Sorry for the insanely long blog post filled with food. I love food, so this is all great for me, but I understand if food is not as important to you as it is to me and if you move on to a more interesting blog story for the day.

General Conference

2011-10-10T08:33:00.000-07:00

I'm sure I've said this before, but I'm going to say it again just in case. Bret's parentals are currently serving as missionaries for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Africa. While they are "stationed" in South Africa, the extent of the mission actually covers about 20 different countries. Stan is serving as a legal missionary, doing legal junk for the church there, and Susan works in Public Affairs. Because their mission is little different than the conventional mission, they have the opportunity to come back to the states twice a year for a legal symposium hosted by BYU. Delegates who are not necessarily LDS come from all over the world to discuss legal matters within their respective countries. The symposium falls during conference time and we got to spend some time with Bret's parents last week.

The Friday night before General Conference is the traditional time for mission reunions. Bret's mission president wasn't coming up this year (his health isn't the best) so we went to his parents mission reunion for the Puerto Rico mission instead. We mostly just helped out and ate a lot of food since we only knew like 2 people there. Saturday morning we had our friends Tyler, America (Lloyd), and Chase (Sammy was working) over for crepes before the first session of Conference. We mostly just watched Lloyd and Mia interact, which was pretty hilarious. Lloyd LOVES other dogs and just wants to play, while Mia is definitely more on the cautious side of life. Lloyd kept stealing Mia's bones and laying in her favorite sleeping spots. Mia hid behind me and under the table. Poor pups. If only she could get a long with friends!

Lloyd is actually bigger than Mia, this picture is just weird. Lloyd sleeping in Mia's favorite spot and Mia staring in disbelief.

That evening Bret attended the Priesthood session up in Salt Lake with his brothers (oh yea, Scott and Brad and a couple of their kids came up for conference as well...and Emily came up as well) and had dinner with everyone afterwards while I went to the cutest baby shower ever and stuffed my face. Seriously, it was adorable. Annalee's (the girl who is having the baby) cousin is an event planner/blogger and did an amazing job decorating and making food! So cute.

The dessert table. Sooo good. And I wonder why I have love handles...

I brought one of these lemon cupcake home for Erika. She generously shared half of her cupcake with Mia...or at least it ended up that way...

We attended the Sunday morning session with Bret's family at the Conference center. We had to get up pretty early and we were all pretty tired, but it was a good experience still. Afterwards we had a huge family gathering with Aunts, Uncles, and cousins at Bret's grandma's 2 bedroom condo right across from Temple square. It was definitely snug in that little living room, but the cozier the better right? We watched the second session from there and NO one fell asleep (wink wink).

At the conference center. We don't look tired at all right?

This picture is so awkward haha.

Crowded on the couch after conference. I think Craig is playing with Emily's hair here...which is a little weird...

Monday night we had an FHE with Bret's family that could come (Scott, Jarom, Megan, Brad, Maddie, Peyton, Emily, Susan). We went to Gurus for dinner (remember last week when we went out to dinner on my hard earned gift card) and made paper boats to race down the stream south of campus. We also had peach cupcakes (made by yours truly...and Mia ate 3 of them and didn't sleep for 3 days with the sugar high) and ice cream. It was rainy, so racing boats wasn't the event we had planned, but it was still a lot of fun! The kids loved playing with Mia, and Mia loved all of the crazy attention.

It was a great weekend and it was great to spend some time with Bret's family!

Bountiful Love-Bok Choy Salad

2011-10-06T12:07:00.000-07:00

My Bountiful Basket last week had bok choy in it and I was left a little stumped. I've never cooked with bok choy, and although I knew I could probably do a simple stir fry (my go-to dish, stir frys, gotta love 'em!) or maybe a Japanese stew (sukiyaki), I wanted to do something different with it. I found this recipe on Tasty Kitchen and since it also had ginger, basil, and scallions (all of which were also in my basket) it seemed to be the perfect fit!

A few changes I made:

I didn't have beef so I used pork instead. I also used less meat, because that's the way I roll
Lemon juice instead of lime because that's what I had
Hondashi, a fish powder, instead of fish sauce because...see above...
I didn't make the dressing for the salad. Although it probably is delicious, I don't usually put dressing on my salads. Plus, I figured the marinated meat would add the flavor a dressing normally brings to a salad.
I used baby bok choy--that's what was in the basket
Yellow onion instead of red onion. I was really happy with this change. I'm not a huge onion fan so I was planning on omitting it, but I had some onions I needed to use so decided to throw it in. I enjoyed the slightly less strong taste of the yellow onion than the red onion probably would have given. The flavor paired really nicely with the bok choy as well!
I added in a green pepper, because I can

Overall the salad was really good. The flavors all came together really well! I marinated my meat for about an hour and a half and it was delicious. I love the flavor of fresh ginger and pork together so I was happy that I made that substitution. The marinade was really good and I would use it again to marinate pork or beef, even without the salad!

If you have any bok choy on hand I highly recommend this recipe!

Rules are Meant to be Broken Right?

2011-10-05T09:44:00.000-07:00

On day 3 of this month of cinching our wallet strings, we sorta, kinda broke our 2 main rules. I say sorta kinda because we sorta, kinda didn't break the rules as well. The story goes as follows, ahem.

With Bret's familia in town (parents, brothers, sister, chillun's) we decided to have an activity with everyone on Monday night. Since I had no time to make a large dinner for everyone, we decided to go out to eat. Rule numero uno broken. oops. But what choice did we have?

Afterwards I made peach cupcakes, which would be delicious with ice cream. We didn't have room in our freezer for ice cream though, so I had to make a second run to the grocery store (for the week) right before we ate said cupcakes to purchase said ice cream in order to enjoy peach cupcakes with ice cream. Rule numero dos, obliterated.

On the bright side, last week I won a Visa gift card for participating in an Entrepreneur Competition on campus. We used that money to purchase dinner+ice cream, so it kinda, sorta makes it all right, right?

Anyway, for some whatever reason I feel like I have to defend myself on my blog, mostly to myself really. Thank you for putting up with me, you are too kind.

More on Conference weekend and our family activity later. 'Twas quite fun (and crazy). For now I need to think of a research proposal idea, and the write the research proposal idea all pretty like for fellowship applications. Oi.

TBC...

2011-10-03T10:56:00.000-07:00

Bret's parents are here from Africa so things have been a little hectic.

This past weekend was conference. Pictures to come.

So for now rather than give you a conference quote like everyone else (not that I didn't love conference, this quote has just been on my mind), I leave you with this:

"People think a soul mate is your perfect fit, and that’s what everyone wants. But a true soul mate is a mirror, the person who shows you everything that is holding you back, the person who brings you to your own attention so you can change your life.

A soul mates purpose is to shake you up, tear apart your ego a little bit, show you your obstacles and addictions, break your heart open so new light can get in, so that you have to transform your life."

~Elizabeth Gilbert

To be continued...

Day 30 Change of Plans

2011-09-30T08:56:00.000-07:00

I've decided that I would like to change my career path.

I would like to be a professional eater.

My qualifications?

-I can eat pretty much anything
-I can consume large amounts of food
-I love food

Anyone hiring?

Day 29 Thursday Happenings

2011-09-29T12:35:00.000-07:00

My dog winks at me. Does your dog wink at you?

That's what I thought.

Feel free to be envious of this crazy pup.

Had lunch with the in-laws HERE today. Along with Cata, the amazingly awesome grad student I always talk about. [The finest dining Brigham Young has to offer]

'Twas quite the tasty.

[via the link above]

I hate slow computers. Especially the one that is supposed to be converting the files for the data that I currently need.

Grr.

Day 27 and 28 Sputtering out...

2011-09-28T07:47:00.000-07:00

Definitely sputtering out of this 30 days. Yesterday Cata brought me a dee-li-cious lunch of fried plantains, guacamole, and salsa. Then later in the night I had a serious sugar craving and the only sugar-like substance I had available was jar of frosting. I ate it on top of many pancakes. Needless to say, I lost track, and I lost track fast. This morning I woke up feeling pretty gross. This has happened too many times in the past week. I should probably get over the whole "emotional eating" thing. sigh.

Anyway. I've been thinking about a new challenge for October. The whole food thing is getting old to me. I'm a fairly healthy eater, I really am, so writing and recording everything I eat can get tedious (especially on days like yesterday). Instead, I want to focus on another aspect of my life: budgeting.

I've always been a saver. Ask my parents. I love watching my savings account go up and up and up! I never really budgeted before I got married, I just wasn't a big spender so I was always able to save money. I suppose I learned this from my dad, who has never kept a budget in his entire life, and he does just great. We learn by example right? Once I got married I started to keep a budget. With the impending financial doom of law school, I wanted to be more diligent about saving as much as possible. Plus, the whole poor newly-wed thing ya know? Yea, I know you know.

Over the summer, with Bret gone, I fell back into my old habits of not budgeting. I just didn't spend very much money, so it just became a pain to keep track of everything. With Bret back though, we have gone way over budget these past couple of months! Luckily, we still somehow manage to spend less than we make, maybe due to this awesome principal. Anyway, the month of October will be dedicated to get back on track with budgeting. This will include limiting grocery trips to once a week (it sounds silly I know, but when I go just to get one thing I somehow always come back with 6, most of which I don't need) and no eating out (unless taken out of course ;]). With Bret home, our utilities bills have skyrocketed. He's home a lot more than I am, plus I think they raised prices. This is something that really can't be helped though, other than remembering to turn off the lights when leaving. Hopefully these two things can help us get back on track, especially since we will both be paying quite a bit in grad school application fees coming up here.

What do you do to stick to a budget?

Day 26 Why Hello There Fall

2011-09-27T07:14:00.000-07:00

(I realize this came of day 27. I had it all written up last night but then my internet went bonkers and I was too tired to fix it)

I'm not a huge fan of fall. Its actually sort of depressing and ultra-bipolar, in my opinion. Depressing because it reminds me that winter is coming soon, and we all know how I feel about snow (In case you don't, I don't like it). Bipolar because the weather goes in shifts. The mornings are chilly enough for a jacket, but the afternoons are warm enough for shorts and T-shirt. One week its cold (last week), and the next its warm (this week). Not that I'm complaining about the warm spell, I'm actually quite grateful for it.

One thing I do love about fall, though, is the food! Summer food is great with all of the fresh produce, but there is something about fall food that is so comforting and makes you feel good inside. I love the soups, stews, breads, etc. mmmm. drool with me please? No wonder we put on so much weight during the holidays!

Kabocha, Japanese pumpkin, is a favorite of mine. Although I continue to eat it year-round (thank goodness, otherwise I would be a very sad person), the best kabocha are definitely available during the fall. I cook my kabocha by first washing the outside very well, because the skin is delicious. I like to cut my kabocha into small pieces, for faster cooking and easier eating. I pour some water, soy sauce, and mirin. I don't know exact amounts, although it is mostly water with equal amounts of soy sauce and mirin to give it a good flavor. It should be slightly salty with a sweetness behind it. Place the kabocha in the pan skin down and bring to a light boil. Once it starts boiling, cover and reduce to a simmer until the kabocha is soft all of the way through.

Go ahead and try it sometime! Kabocha has a lot of great nutritional elements and is extremely tasty.

Calorie Count
1516 consumed
697 burned
--------------------
908 net

Day 25 Today in Church

2011-09-25T20:11:00.000-07:00

Bret and I weren't feeling well today so we left church after Sacrament meeting. All of the talks today were great, including one given by our good friend Chase. His talk focused on becoming the type of person we want to be, and how we can constantly be improving. I loved when he said that "we are the masters and writers of our own destiny". It's so true. So often we blame others, when really we need to look within ourselves. Yes, many situations our out of our control, but we can control how we react to them. Reminded me of this talk by Elder Bednar. Such a good talk, and something we so often forget. I've really tried to live this principle the past couple of years, but I fail, often.

It was a great reminder.

Day 24 I don't know why I'm still counting....

2011-09-24T21:11:00.000-07:00

but I enjoy blogging everyday, so the counting shall continue!

Last night I decided to trade in my run for a hike. I looked out the window of my lab yesterday and saw the mountains start to change color. I wanted to soak up the last bit of this warm weather before fall sets in!

I wanted to do the loop that goes from slide canyon and around into slate canyon. However, I must have taken a wrong turn somewhere because I ended up on top of Y mountain. Not that I'm complaining, it was beautiful up there, it just wasn't what I was intending. The hike was beautiful, with the leaves starting to change to reds and oranges. That is ONE things Arizona lacks: a real fall (cactus don't change color :] )

It got a little chilly coming back. Mostly because my shirt was sweaty and the temperature started to droop a little bit. It definitely wasn't the most ideal hiking time, but it was definitely worth it.

Mia at the top of the Y

Starting into Slide Canyon. So worth it to walk up past the Y.

From the tip-top of the mountain! Hello Provo!

Our way back down. Mia looking epic

Day 23 My Rant on Vegan-ism

2011-09-23T12:39:00.000-07:00

So I'm still doing the count, and I have obviously given up vegan-ism, and some events this week led me to consume large amounts of cheesecake and gyros and onion rings and..and...and (that's really not like me folks, well except for the cheesecake part...I'm an emotional eater what can I say?) BUT in hopes of revitalizing some sort of health initiative in myself, here is my rant on vegan-ism.

First off, disclaimer, if you are a vegan because you think animals are not meant to be eaten I give you D&C 89:12

12 Yea, ^aflesh also of ^bbeasts and of the fowls of the air, I, the Lord, have ordained for the use of man with thanksgiving; nevertheless they are to be used ^csparingly;

Obviously if you are not of the Mormon faith this will mean nothing to you and you can call me crazy and slap me (please don't slap me). However, since this is MY rant on vegan-ism, I get to quote scriptures that I believe in :) God created animals for our purpose, and as long as we do not abuse that right and privilege we should be thankful for the blessings that Heavenly Father has given us. In my book, when you are grateful for something, you actually use it.

However, the scripture does say use "sparingly". In a recent discussion with my dad, we talked about the difference between "wisdom" and "rules" and how as imperfect members of the church we need those "rules" because we lack the "wisdom". Take, for example, the rule not to watch rated R movies, rule that many LDS families implement in their homes. If you follow that rule strictly, that would imply that all movies that are not rated R are okay to watch. This isn't necessarily true though, with standards in movies falling at ever increasing rates, many PG-13 movies are definitely not worth my time or brain capacity. But take a look at movies such as Saving Private Ryan, Slumdog Millionaire, and Schindler's List, all of which are R rated. Obviously these movies aren't appropriate for children of all ages, but that is, once again, where the "wisdom" in the rule comes in. You can't always choose a movie based on the "rule". This little example is worthy of an entirely different rant, and I must get back to my original. Back to the Word of Wisdom (WOW, we'll call it), how many church members do you see abstaining from tobacco and alcohol but binging on sweets and meat (ahem...shyly raises hand...at least to the sweets part). My mother's side of the family is not LDS and one of my uncles smoked for years (thankfully he finally quite) and continues to drink like a fish. He's a great man. Kind, successful, lots of fun, and is in his 50's and still has a 6 pack. Now take your average 50 something year old man in your ward who hasn't touched tobacco or liquor in all of his life, how many of them have 6 packs? Or perhaps a better question is, how many of them aren't overweight or obese? Who's healthier, my uncle or the overweight men? Tricky question, I know. But I'll let you answer that one.

Back to the word "sparingly", because I have really gotten off topic. I believe that animals are meant to be consumed with wisdom. It isn't healthy to have meat at every meal, or every day for that matter. We should eat a variety of meats, not just beef, and only eat small portions at a time. Often times meat is featured as the main component of a meal, when perhaps it should be a side. There are many wonderful sources of protein available without saturated fats and cholesterol that can be counted towards your daily protein intake in lieu of meat. That's where the "wisdom" in Word of Wisdom is, many of us just fail to use that wisdom and stick mindlessly to the rules.

If you have a issue with how animals are treated and that's why you are vegan, then why not buy organic, natural fed, free range? Something that allows animals to live a more natural life (besides the whole butchered part, sorry for the graphic image).

Part 2 of my rant on Vegan-ism: being vegan for health reasons. Now this is the reason that I initially tried it, but since I really didn't vary my diet that much I didn't feel the effects. I eat a lot of fruits, vegetables, nuts, beans, and tofu with very little meat as it is. The problem, as I see it, with a lot of vegans is that not eating animal products simply means eliminating the food group and not replacing it with something else. Our bodies still need protein and iron found in high concentrations in many animal products and eliminating these thing will only make you unhealthier.

On the other hand, many snack and junk food products are technically vegan. Vegan meals can be time consuming and expensive to make and these junk foods are an easy to thing to eat. A family friend's daughter is a vegetarian, but my dad affectionately refers to her as a "junketarian" because we have never seen her touch a real vegetable or fruit. Technically speaking she's not eating meat, but she is probably a lot less healthier than if she did actually eat meat.

Along the same lines there are the highly processed vegan substitutes, meaning cheese substitutes, meat substitutes, you name it there's a substitute for it. I don't mean to entirely rag on these as I am somewhat lactose intolerant and prefer the taste of almond, rice, or soy milk over regular milk (I actually made my own brown rice milk. It was exciting. And delicious). And for those who are allergic to cheese but really like cheese and need soy cheese, then by all means go for it. However, if one of the ideals of being vegan is to eat more "naturally", then what is natural about tofu that has been processed, flavored, and dyed to look like beef'? What it lacks in cholesterol and fat is made up for in salt and unneeded processing. Besides. Our bodies needs cholesterol and fat, just in moderate and healthy amounts, in order to function. Believe me, I'm a biochemist.

Well hello there cholesterol, how are you today? Say hello to my little friend, a statin! muahaha (okay, seriously nerdy moment)
....stopping self before bringing in HMG-CoA reductase....isn't the body fascinating? ...

Ahem. Please excuse my nerdiness.

Back to this insanely long post.

If you want to eat less meat (which if you're a normal American, than you probably should) then there are other ways to substitute meat that are more natural. Take the black bean burgers (made Japanese style, I don't believe in burgers on buns) I made last night. Still tasty but packed with fiber and protein. Try using more "meaty" vegetables like zucchini and mushrooms in place of meat in dishes. Eat more spinach! (and other dark leafy greens as well, I just really like spinach)

I guess I should wrap up this insanely long, mostly-text post now. The point is, the best way to be healthy is to eat a well balanced diet. For a really good one go HERE. Its funni how science keeps proving the WOW correct, when lived correctly, which sadly even most LDS people do not do. So Eat [right], drink [water, or Naked juice...yum], and [then you'll be] Merry!

Day 22 Happiness

2011-09-22T22:30:00.000-07:00

I [am trying to] believe that happiness is a decision.
Happiness cannot depend on another.
Happiness is found within yourself.
We [I] choose each day in every moment whether or not we [I] will be Happy.

To happiness.

"Pain and Suffering are Inevitable; being Miserable is Optional"

--Art Clanin

Calorie Count
1838 consumed
883 burned
-------------------
955 net (this would be a better number if I didn't spend the last two days consuming my weight in cheesecake. but oh, it was delicious.)

Day 20 and 21

2011-09-21T10:38:00.000-07:00

"In all of living have much of fun and

laughter. Life is to be enjoyed,

not just endured."

Gordon B Hinckley

Day 19 Erika's Birthday Parts 1 through 3

2011-09-19T22:06:00.000-07:00

Erika turned 20! Wahoo! The morning of her birthday I surprised her with whole wheat peach pancakes which were delicious. She was still pretty sleepy when she saw me in the kitchen and thought she was still dreaming. It was pretty funni the way she sleepily walked away.

crappy phone picture. The card is from her room mates. They decorated her apartment with balloons and streamers and made her cheesecake. It was so fun!

On Saturday we went out for sushi in Salt Lake and a Japanese grocery store as well. Afterwards we went hunting for a peach stand. Luckily Utah is crawling with them so we found one and bought some delicious peaches!

Delicious!

Sushi was tons of fun and delicious! Erika and I can eat so much sushi, it's slightly ridiculous. Good thing we don't do it TOO often (on our own dollar, anyway)

mmmmmm....drool...

Part 3 of this story ends at my house. Erika's favorite cake is Trader Joe's Vanilla Bean Cake with whipped cream and strawberries. My mom sent the mix for her birthday so we whipped it up and served it to her and some of her friends! I also made homemade peach ice cream which was/is divine! NOTE: I cute the sugar in half and would actually cut it in half again if I make it again. It's pretty sweet, which can mask the true peach flavor. I would also not COMPLETELY puree the peaches so some peach chunks would still be in there. Also, this recipe makes A LOT. So keep the size of your ice cream maker in mind if you want to try this :)

Erika and some of her friends

The cake!

Artsy angle

We had a lot of fun! I love celebrating birthdays, especially for my favorite people.

Oh, and for those who were curious about our "tragedy" on Saturday night. At the Japanese market Erika bought a giant satsumaimo (Japanese sweet potato) and was so excited to eat it. She accidentally dropped it in the parking lot of my complex and it got run over by a car. When we discovered it, it took her a few minutes, but she was SO depressed. It was kind of funni, in a sad sad way. It was more funni how long it took her to realize what it was (smashed and dark made it hard to recognize). So nothing too big! (unless you're like us and love food, especially Japanese food)

Calorie Count
1750 consumed
810 burned
-------------------
940 net (yay i'm doing better! lets see if I can keep this up!)

Day 18 Bountiful Baskets

2011-09-18T20:23:00.000-07:00

I joined a food co-op this week called Bountiful Baskets. I am very impressed and HIGHLY recommend it. They have them all over the United States, so see if one is in your area!

Its pretty simple. The Tuesday of each week you tell them whether or not you want a basket that week (that's one of the great things about it; you don't have to do it every week like most co-ops) and pay a certain contribution based on what you want. The basic basket is just normal produce, 50% fruit and 50% vegetables. They also have an organic basket and a variety of other options such as bulk produce, breads, etc. I got the basic basket and a thing of bread. The basic basket is $15 and the bread was $10 for 5 loaves of 9 grain bread. Erika and I decided to split up the produce, and it was a good thing to. You get a TON!

All of this for 15 bucks!

That is a bag of grapes, 3 bunches of broccoli, 8 mini cucumbers (great for Japanese pickled cucumbers!), 5 plums, 6 apples, 3 pears, 5 GIANT onions, 8 bananas, 5 sweet potatoes, and a pack of figs. It actually took us a while to figure out what the figs were. My dad happened to Skype me and when I showed him he instantly knew. I've never had a fresh fig before and they are good! I made an oatmeal crisp with some of them this morning for breakfast :)

The bread is also quite tasty. I froze 4 of the loaves and left the 5th one out. It tastes healthy and its a whole lot less expensive that the "healthy" bread at the store. I normally make my bread anyway, but that tends to disappear WAY too quickly, so I'm trying this route instead (I should post some of my bread recipes. I make good bread, and I'm not afraid to say so). So far we haven't eaten the entire loaf yet, so its going well. Having bread pre-sliced seems to make the eating process go a lot slower.

What's kind of exciting about the baskets is that you never know what you are going to get. Yes this can be sort of a pain if there's something specific you want to make or are craving, but then you also get things that you may have never tried before. AKA figs!

I'm definitely going to continue using this co-op, although it may not be every week. I'm excited to see what knew vegetables and fruits will show up in my basket in the weeks to come!

Calorie Count
uhhh.....today we celebrated Erika's bday (we've had like 4 celebrations) with vanilla bean cake with whipped cream and strawberries and homemade peach ice cream....and I kinda lost track......oops. So much for the "first day" of this challenge....BUT I did walk for 2 1/2 hours so that has to count for something right?

Day 17 I'm sorry, I just don't get it.

2011-09-17T21:58:00.000-07:00

Today was the big game of the season. All statues were wrapped in saran wrap on campus, Y flags were posted all down University Ave, and all of Provo was inside of the Lavell Edwards Stadium once 7:15 struck .Yes, it was the famous "Holy War": the BYU vs UofU game.

Maybe I just don't have enough school spirit, but I just can't seem to get into this rivalry. Its hard enough for me to get into football as it is (I'm more of a basketball and volleyball fan, personally), but to hate another school just because they are an hour away just doesn't make sense to me.

Well according to my facebook updates the Cougars just lost. It's always sad when BYU loses. Sad day BYU. But way to go Utes!

We had a great day today. Minus the small tragedy at the end of the day. I will blog about it soon. :) In case you were super curious ;)

Also, I decided I'm giving up the vegan thing. Its just not worth it to me. This is kind of a big deal for me to give up a challenge. I don't do that. I'm going to continue to do a vegetarian thing though, just to make up for it. But I'm going to be lenient with dairy products. To finish out my 30 days I'm going to be more strict with my calorie limits. For real. I feel like that will actually make me feel better. I know, I disappointed even myself.

Calorie Count
2152 consumed (remember today was a free day. sushi was delicious!)
945 burned
--------------------
1207 net

Day 16 Cone of Shame

2011-09-16T20:30:00.000-07:00

I sinned today. I ate a caramel apple. and while I was at it I ate a white chocolate macadamia nut cookie that was definitely NOT vegan. The caramel apple was delicious though, and I didn't feel too guilty. I really don't understand veganism, especially those who do it for "health" reasons. If you have ethical reasons, fine, I don't judge. But honestly I don't feel any different now than on my normal diet. Now my normal diet is mostly fruits and vegetables with a small amount of meat anyway, so maybe that's why, but I am disappointed in how I feel. If anything I have actually craved chocolate and red meat a lot more than normal since I have started (the lack of iron. I'm healthy enough that I crave things my body needs. Its kind of cool, I'm not going to lie haha) and since I can't meat, I go for the chocolate. Now I normally get most of my iron from spinach and other leafy greens, but I do eat meat a few times a month to make up for the rest of it. Nonetheless, I am slightly ashamed of my sinning today. Especially since tomorrow is my pre-calculated "free day".

Yes, "free day". We are going out for sushi for Erika's birthday! I am so excited. We've been looking forward to it all week!

I also joined a co-op and will be getting my first basket of produce tomorrow. Exciting!

Anyway, that was my day. Sorry for the lack of exciting post. Instead I leave you with this:

and on a more spiritual note. THIS.

Calorie Count
1782 consumed
548 burned
-------------------
1234 net

Day 15 Mt Timp!

2011-09-15T22:23:00.000-07:00

Last week for the Labor Day holiday Erika, Bret, my cousins Lucy and Spencer, 2 members of Lucy's ward, and I decided to hike up Timpanogos! I have wanted to hike it for a while, but haven't necessarily had the time, or had other people who had the time to go with me up until now. From the start Bret had decided that he wasn't going to finish (its been a while since he's exercised) and fell behind with the friends that Lucy had brought along. Those of Handly decent (Erika, me, Lucy, and Spencer) carried on and made it to the top! We kept a pretty good pace as well.

Beautiful view climbing up

Hey look its Spencer! Welcome to BYU Spencer!

Standing in front of the "lake" and glacier

There was one snow patch we needed to cross before we began our final climb up to the saddle. That was probably the hardest part of the hike! It was pretty overcast so the snow was pretty icy and therefore slippery! Mia didn't have a hard time at all though and proceeded to run back and forth on the snow and liked to jump up on me. I think she was trying to get me to go faster, but only made it more difficult for me. I'm proud to say I think I'm the only one that didn't completely biff it on the snow. Poor Lucy fell way too many times to count! She was fine though.

Hey look its Timp!

Mia attacking me on the snow patch. Props to Spencer for capturing this moment

It was pretty crowded at the top, which sort of ruined the idea of climbing to the top of a really tall mountain to get away from people feel, but that's what we get for going on a holiday. It was still beautiful though. Cold, but beautiful. We wanted to slide down the glacier for a quick decent, but since it was so cold we decided against it. It was a good thing too! Apparently since the snow was extra icy those sliding down the glacier were having a really hard time and there were quite a few injuries. EMTs were on stand by at an aid station at the bottom of the glacier since so many people were getting hurt. Maybe next time we'll attempt it!

Almost there!!

View from the top!

At the top! We only stopped for about ten minutes before making the trek back down

Oh look we found Bret!

We found Bret on the way back down. Apparently Lucy's friends decided to turn back before we got back, since they had driven separately, so Bret just waited for us. I asked him if he was disappointed about not reaching the top and he said he was totally fine, already pretty exhausted. We had a great time hiking up to 11, 749 feet!

Calorie Count
2101 consumed
627 burned
--------------------
1474 net (I pulled a muscle and therefore couldn't get my run in so I had to take a long walk instead. Not quite as efficient, but I guess it sufficed. I should probably just learn to eat less! Haha)

Day 14 Happy Birthday Erika!

2011-09-14T20:31:00.000-07:00

Today is my wittle swisters birfday!! Erika is officially no longer a teenager and is officially into her third decade of life. Erika is a pretty awesome little sister. Not only is she extremely intelligent (chemical engineering major with a 4.0 kind of intelligent), but she's super fun and talented in so many things. She is a great volleyball player and runner and picks up most sports really easily. She's a ton of fun to go on adventures with and brings out a more adventurous side in me. She is enthusistic about food which makes her fun to eat with and fun to feed as well! She eats some of the weirdest things (frozen cheese being one of the stranger), but we love her for it.

Erika and I are only about 2 1/2 years apart so we didn't always get along growing up. My dad always told us me that one day Erika and I would be best friends. I never believed him, but now I definitely know its true. Erika truly is my best friend and I am so grateful to have her as a best friend and as a sister.

Calorie Count:
2099 consumed (vegan cookies...too many)
810 burned (running+volleyball+ultimate)
-----------------------
1289 net

Day 13 Finishing Up

2011-09-13T20:10:00.000-07:00

My final days in AZ were pretty chill. The day after the hike my mom, sister, and I went out for sushi at a revolving sushi bar. It was delicious, as usual. They have become a lot more popular since the last time I went so it took us a little while to sit down, but once we did it was totally worth it. That night one of my dance teachers from high school invited me to an open dance class she was holding that night. Christina was always the teacher to totally kick my butt, and she did not disappoint! It takes a lot for me to be sore. I wasn't sore from the previous day's 10 miles hike and 3000 foot elevation climb. But, I LOVE being sore. I know that sounds weird, but I absolutely love being in so much pain that it hurts to walk. Well, after not having danced for almost 5 years, Christina delivered! I hurt SO bad the next day.

The next day I met up with one of best friends from high school, Tess. She is one of the few friends from high school I keep in touch with and I am so glad I have her in my life. We had a great time chatting and catching up. That night I went to my very first spinning class with my dad and sister. It was super intense and way fun. The fact that I could barely walk definitely made class a bit more difficult, but it was a good kind of hurt. The teacher was one of those extremely fit old women. You know the ones you see out exercising that are still completely ripped with 80 grandkids running along side of them? Yea, one of those. My dad had a pool of sweat growing around him and me sister a small pond. Luckily, I didn't inherit the sweaty Swedish genes, but I was still pretty drenched.

Our last day Jonah had his first swim meet with the high school. He goes to Mesquite now and joined the swim team, obviously. Their first meet was more of a just for fun thing as well as a fundraiser, allowing family members and friends to pay a small fee to race against the swimmers. It wasn't too exciting, but we still had an overall good time. We definitely looked like pro swim meet-ers though with our nice big chairs and cover!

Erika and my mom in front of the revolving sushi

ikura and uni!

me and the beautiful Tess!

And thats the end of my AZ trip. When I came home Mia and Bret decided that they liked each other, so that part of the trip was a success! I love AZ, but it was good to come home!

Calorie Count
2166 consumed (hmm not too much better than yesterday)
815 burned (good thing I'm active)
--------------------
1351 net

Day 12 12,633 Feet of High

2011-09-12T20:02:00.000-07:00

Back to my AZ trip. Wow this is taking a while huh? Sorry about that, but this is a journal after all.

After Ojiichan took off back to the Homeland, Erika, my dad, and I took off to Flagstaff to conquer Mt Humphrey's peak: the tallest peak in Arizona. That night we ate at Picazzo's Organic Italian Kitchen. We had the scallop and pesto pizza and the vegetarian pizza. Let me just say A-MAY-ZING! Definitely recommend it the pizza. We checked into our hotel (which we found out dogs ARE allowed at once we got there, and then felt bad that we left Jade at home...actually Erika and I threw a mini fit at my dad. Poor Jade, left behind). Once we settled in we realized we had all brought enough granola bars for everyone and ended up with a nice stockpile for the next day.

Delicious Pizza!

Granola bar anyone? We ended up eating almost all of them anyway. Haha we're a bunch of fatties.

We got up early the next morning to hike up Humphreys! We got there just in time. They were closing the road down for construction for the day and we got there just a little bit before they closed it. We started up the mountain, and somehow we got lost! We have a tendency to do that. We knew our general direction (up) and so we started just going up. We had to do some rock scaling to get to the ridge. It was pretty steep and climbing up that much elevation was pretty exhausting. Luckily we had all of those energy bars to keep us going.

Clockwise from the top left: 1. Erika and my dad scaling the side of the mountain when we got a little lost. 2. Erika at the summit with Mt. Agassiz in the background. 3. The storm clouds rolling in. 4. One of the "no hiking off trail signs" and an indication that we were at 11,400 ft. 5. Me taking a break 6. Erika and my dad somewhere along the trail.

We finally made it up to the ridge.We realized we were right by Mt.Agassiz, a mountain considered holy by the Native Americans and therefore hiking on it would be penalized by a hefty fee. I should mention at this time that the during the entire hike there were signs warning about fees for hiking off trail. Good thing no one saw us losing the trail! (on another aside: there were also signs telling everyone to keep their dogs on leash. of course no one listens to those signs. at one point, to make fun of our dad, we commented on someones dog. the sweet lady who owned the dog slightly freaked out thinking we were going to "tell on her" for not having her dog on a leash. it was kind of funni)

Clockwise from top left: 1. All 3 of us on the summit. 2. The view from the ridge. 3. My dad at the Humphreys saddle. 4. On the summit. Erika wanted to take a "muscles" picture. My dad actually showed his! 5. The three of us at the summit. 6. Me with the Humphreys sign.

We continued hiking along the ridge until we made it to the summit. It was pretty difficult to hike at that elevation for that long. We eventually made it! 12,633 ft: the highest peak in Arizona. The view was spectacular! We could the thunderstorms that come in almost every afternoon start to roll in out in the distance. It was really neat to see the rain falling on a different area from afar. After enjoying the view for a bit we headed back down, weary of the thunderstorms in the distance and wanting to get below the tree line before they hit. Some people erred on the side of caution and turned back before reaching the top. I felt bad for them, especially for those who traveled further to get there.

The construction going on that day didn't get over until 3, so we took our time getting down. Even still, we had to wait in the parking lot for about a half hour before they opened up the road again. On the way home we stopped at Rock Springs Cafe for a couple of their famous pies. We got the blackberry pie and the Jack Daniels pecan pie. Both were delicious; definitely famous for a reason.

The rest of the journey was pretty uneventful. We made it home safe and sound and definitely slept well that night!

Calorie count:
2300 consumed (ouch! I enjoy home made bread WAY too much)
994 burned (yea...at least I went running today to compensate for the eating)
---------------
1306 net calories (not too shabby I like to aim for somewhere between 1200 and 1500 calories)

Day 11.5 Held Accountable

2011-09-11T21:26:00.000-07:00

I've decided I don't understand veganism. With the online research I've done I have a small rant about it, actually, but that will come at a different time. Probably at the end of the challenge. However, since I challenged myself to do, I'm going to keep doing it. That's just the way I am. However, I'm going to add another component to the program. I've gotten into the habit of counting my calories. I've done it since high school. Its the dancer in me. I count them regardless of how much over I go. I simply say "Oh look, I ate 2000 more calories than I should've today. Sucks" and that's that and I pretend like I'll do better tomorrow.

I definitely need to snap back into gear on this one. So, from now on I will also report my calorie intake/burn each day on the blog. Not because I know you are dying of curiosity to see how much food I consume (believe me, it can be A LOT...I ate a loaf of bread today, half a loaf yesterday, and an entire loaf the day before...in addition to other food), but to make me accountable. That's what this is all about after all right? Hopefully this will snap me back into place and get to me lose the few (7...eek!) pounds I've gained since Bret has gotten home. For some reason when that boy is around I tend to consume a lot more food. I think its a territorial thing haha.

Wish me luck!....again...

Day 11 On This Day

2011-09-11T08:41:00.000-07:00

On this day ten years ago I was a a brand new 7th grader. Junior high was a new and scary place. I was scared of how what people thought of me, and desperately wanted to be well liked. I wasn't "in-the-know" about the latest pop culture, and since everyone who was popular always knew about so and so's latest hit and such, I started listening to the radio every morning to catch up on the latest songs. (Sounds lame, I know, but the music I listened to was definitely not popular. These days I could care less). I remember that morning not hearing the latest pop-trend, but a concerned radio spokesperson. This man who was normally so goofy and cheery was telling us what was going on the other side of the United States and sounded scared.

I remember not thinking too much of it. After all, bad things happen in this country everyday. I was naive.

I went to school and chatted with my friends of the tragedy. Our 12 year old minds could not grasp the importance of the issue.

I went to class. One of the boys was crying. His mother was on a flight to New York that day. I began to understand.

In another class we sat and watched the news. All of the teachers were so tense. When I saw the images I started to understand more and more. I started to see what was really going on. Slowly my naive mind began to grasp how real this situation was. I started to get scared.

I don't really know what else to say. As I read the entries of other blogs and articles this morning, there are many who were much more effected than me on this day 10 years ago. There are others who make a mockery of this day, still. I find it disgusting.

It is amazing to see the changes that this country has undergone over the past ten years. It is amazing to see a country once so United now so divided.

I liked this blog post. You should read it.

Day 10 When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again...

2011-09-10T13:32:00.000-07:00

Bret is off at war today. AirSoft war that is. Him and Garrett are participating in an all day AirSoft war today while Amber and I spend the day together. We spent out morning hiking up to Squaw Peak in Provo. It was a beautiful hike and a gorgeous day for a hike.

It was a beautiful view from the top. Now we are making some delicious wheat bread while we wait for our menfolk to come home. Mmmmm....yum....

To make you more jealous of my life, here's an adorable picture of Mia playing in the grass patch in our apartment complex.

Smiling...like a jackal..trouble trouble.

Day 9 Happy Birthday Grandma!

2011-09-09T11:40:00.000-07:00

Today is my Grandma's birthday! She is an amazing woman! She raised 6 kids, all of whom continue to be active in the church and are raising kids in the Gospel, and has 21 amazing grandkids. (I know they're amazing because I'm one of them). Out of all of the grandkids, I probably got the most time with my grandma. Actually, I KNOW I got the most time with her. I'm the oldest grandchild and my family always lived the closest by her. I have great memories of making cookies with my grandma (a treat since my mom NEVER made cookies), doing crafts, sewing clothes for my water baby, playing in her kiddie pool, picking blackberries in her backyard, playing in the tree house she built for me and Erika, playing dress-up, picking vegetables in her garden, having MANY sleepovers at her house, Sunday dinners, camping, the list really is endless. I feel so blessed that I was able to spend so much time with my grandma growing up, and that I am continually able to spend time with her, even though it is not as often.

Last year my grandparents returned from serving a mission in the West Indies. Most of their time was spent in Guyana. They absolutely loved it, and my grandma now understands my family's obsession with mango (although she says any store bought mango doesn't come close to the mangoes she picked freshly off her tree in her backyard). They are such a great example to me. At the end of their mission, my grandma was sent home prematurely with a tumor which turned out to be cancer. After extremely invasive surgery and chemo, she was cancer free only for a few months before the cancer relapsed. She is now undergoing chemotherapy again. Seeing her positive attitude and cheery smile each time I see her through all of this affliction has really made me grateful for her and my own blessings. She really is an amazing woman and I am so lucky to have her as my grandmother.

I wish I had more pictures of us together on my computer. Most of them are at home though. On our trip to Idaho this summer.

Day 8 Californication

2011-09-08T13:43:00.000-07:00

Back to my AZ trip. Like I said Ojiichan was visiting the states, and he wanted to go San Diego again, this time with Erika as well. I don't know if I said this before, but Ojiichan has a high up spot in a pharmaceutical company out there that he wants Erika and I to work for one day (we both want to do pharmaceutical research in the future). I went with him back in May to see the company and this time he wanted Erika to see the company as well. We decided to drive this time, since San Diego is only a 5 1/2 hour drive from Gilbert, and last time we felt like it would've been more fun with a car.

The drive out was awesome. Erika and I took turns driving. Whenever I would drive, Ojiichan would sit comfortably in the back, casually conversing with us about whatever was going through his head (btw he chose to sit in the back, we didn't force him back there) However, whenever Erika drove he was alert and on the edge of his seat, making sure Erika didn't do anything dangerous or stupid. It was pretty entertaining. For a good hour we were approaching a very distant mountain and he continuously warned Erika not to run into the mountain. We also *almost* ran out of gas. Who knew there wasn't a gas station in between Yuma and San Diego? Seriously. No worries, we were just fine, we just learned out lesson to always fill up in Yuma because there won't be another change for a long time.

Once we got there we went to this restaurant in the harbor called C Level. It was goooooood. If you get a chance, go. Erika kept saying really stupid things every time the waiter would come by, it was hilarious. Like "Oh no! Naomi! Where is your little fork!?" in a high pitched voice, or "This is why Daddi never brings me to expensive places: because I don't know how to act". haha. so great.

Walking along the bay by C Level (Top and Bottom Left) The AMAZING Ahi Tuna...definitely my favorite dish of the night (Top Right). Me and Erika in front of C Level (Middle Right), and Erika with the above noted tiny forks--for clams--(Bottom Right)

After overcoming the minor detail that my dad reserved our hotel in his name and not ours so he could get his hotel points, we relaxed the rest of the evening and Ojiichan ate ice cream. He also convinced us that he prefers sleeping on the couch and not in beds. I didn't get it, but he was pretty adamant that Erika and I should each get our own and that he wanted the front room to himself with the couch. It sort of made sense since he's on a weird sleeping schedule where he only sleeps for 3 to 4 hours at a time and probably just didn't want to wake us up. I felt bad, but he always gets his way.

The next morning Erika and went jogging on La Jolla beach. It was beautiful! It was great because everyone else was in light jackets and pants while we were running in our tanks and shorts. Afterwards we stripped down to bikinis and went for a swim while all of the surfers were wearing wet suits. Um, acclimation to Utah, anyone? Seriously, what has happened to us? Erika had to take off her glasses, so she asked me to warn her about any small animals or surfers that might be approaching us. Or big animals, especially sharks, she said. Our new inside joke? Toy poodles swimming in the ocean. It was hilarious. You had to be there. We did spot a GIANT fish though. Seriously. It was huge. We were scared. And we ran away. And then we felt stupid. Don't worry, I didn't have to warn Erika, she spotted it first.

At the beach. Gah. Love the beach.

Afterwards we did some shopping at a nearby outdoor mall. Then finally we went over to Medicinova, the pharmaceutical company, and visited for a bit. The entire purpose of our visit lasted about an hour. Ojiichan had a few questions accountant-wise and Erika wanted to set up an internship for next summer. We had to wait to visit because the CEO of the company had flown in from Japan just about an hour before we got there. Talk about dedication. Its awesome to go and visit the company with Ojiichan because of how much they respect him. I'm jack squat until they find out I'm his biochemist granddaughter and then suddenly I'm the (second) most important person in the room.

the end Ojiichan was pretty tired. We kept him up all day, so he was pretty anxious to leave and didn't let us take a picture (he hates pictures). Actually, he rushed us out so quickly that I forgot to take a picture. He promptly fell asleep in the car,and was sound asleep through 2 grocery store stops (we had to stock up on some good California Japanese food to bring back to the mama) and a gas station. When he woke up he asked about ten times to make sure we had stopped for gas, remembering what had happened on the way there. We assured him we did, he just slept through it. It was so funni, he tried so hard to stay awake after that, but just couldn't. He would fall asleep mid-bite, mid-sentence, mid-you name it. I guess that's what happens when you're 84 years old!

Clockwise from top left: Ojiichan sleeping with Jade on couch, Ojiichan sleeping in the back of the car, and Ojiichan sleeping with Daisy on the couch.

We got home safely and thus ended our California trip. I love California, I especially love the beach. It was a great time and Ojiichan had fun too, maybe a little too much fun. Ojiichan left the next day back to Hawaii and then Japan (he travels in shifts). The next thing on our docket was conquering the tallest peak in AZ, but that story will come another day.

Day 7 Seventh Heaven...the show about Mormons that wasn't really about Mormons

2011-09-07T22:00:00.000-07:00

Another successful vegan day. Although, to be perfectly honest, I have been feeling pretty bloated lately. Fiber anyone?

TMI? Sorry, just sharing the story.

Also, I have an addiction to peanut butter. I should never, ever, ever, ever buy it.

Luckily, Erika and Bret have greater addictions than I so that I can't eat the entire 5 pound jar by myself.

On another note, just because you get married doesn't mean everything will get better. Actually, while some things can and do change, most things only get harder and harder. It all depends on how hard you're willing to work. But how hard should a person have to work? What is the breaking point?

--a rant from a recent experience, don't mind me.

Day 5 and 6 Fun in the Sun

2011-09-06T08:30:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the rough start on this blogging adventure. Yesterday was a busy day with a hike up to 11,749 ft, a BBQ, and a blind date (more on those later, first I have to catch up from these past couple of weeks.)

Sooooo, yea I went to AZ a couple of weeks ago! Erika was planning on going down for the 2 weeks in between summer term and fall semester, and my mom thought it would be fun for me to come as well. It would be soon after Bret came home, but since Mia didn't like Bret too much we thought it would be good for them to have some one-on-one time with each other. She was pretty depressed for the first couple of days (didn't come out from underneath the bed for the whole first day, so sad) but now they are great friends, so it worked! Since both my sister and I were in town, my Japanese Grandpa decided to come and visit again! I was super excited.

My dad and Ojiichan (Japanese Grandpa) came and picked me up from the airport. My mom was telling me he had been anxiously waiting for me to come (apparently Erika just doesn't cut it for him haha). We went and grabbed some delicious sushi from Fujiya to bring home to the rest of the family. I love the way I get to eat when I go home. Everything tastes amazing. Then I headed over to a surprise baby shower for my sister-in-law Stephanie. My sister-in-laws Thelissa and Charisse were throwing her a baby shower for her fourth baby, Annie, and had invited me simply to let me know I was in their thoughts not knowing that my flight would get in before the party was over. It was a lot of fun to see everyone and I'm glad I was able to go!

Me and Stephanie at the shower. Yea...she had her baby 2 weeks after this, can you tell?!

The beautiful diaper cake Charisse and Thelissa made

The whole gang

The Martineau ladies minus Tenery and Beth

That evening my mom was helping out at a wedding reception for Cody Petrie and his new wife. I've known Cody since I was 5 years old. We were always in the same primary/ Sunday school class and for the most part it was a small class consisting of 3-5 people and I was usually the only girl. We were also in choir together in high school. I was so happy for Cody and was so happy that I could go to his reception and meet his new lady! I've known him for so long and seen him go through so much that its exciting to see him enter a new phase of his life!

Me with Cody and his cute new wife!

Erika and Jonah with the cake

We brought Ojiichan along to the reception so he could meet some of my mom's friends. Isn't my mom cute in her little helper apron? haha

It was a busy but good first day back. There was a lot more that happened on this trip, but that is to come :)

Day 4 First and Last

2011-09-04T17:47:00.000-07:00

Bret had his last first day of his undergraduate schooling this week. He'll be graduating in December! Wahoo! He's taking a pretty easy load for his last semester, and I think he's looking forward to it.

My mom got him some new clothes for his birthday, and I'm pretty sure he loves them. He wore the shorts almost everyday this week, I sweat. Here he is sporting his new shorts and one of his new shirts.

Yes he's a dork. And yes its a little overcast outside so this picture looks a little dim. I apologize for the dumb Utah weather of already being freezing in the morning even though its still the beginning of September.

Sorry, needed to get that off of my chest.

Day 3 My head hurt....

2011-09-04T07:40:00.000-07:00

Not because the GRE was super challenging, but because I had to stare at a computer screen for 4 hours. Seriously. How do people read things on the computer for so long? Plus the testing center had old monitors for extra glare and you couldn't adjust the brightness setting of the computer so it glared at you the. whole. time. It was okay though, because I did pretty darn well. Since the GRE was recently revised, I don't get my official scores until November. Instead they gave me an "estimated" score right after I took it and I was quite pleased. I'll keep you posted on those official ones though when they come.

For now, I'm happy I'm done :)