Oh Bother

Tennis shoes. I need some. Apparently they are different from regular shoes. How am I going to figure that out?

Juan got his mission call to the beautiful:


Which is nice. Except now I get to spend my summer without him. I suppose since I will be living with my sister Anna though that it shouldn't be too bad.

I am almost done with all my assignments/projects for the semester, which is wonderful!

In other news: there is no other news. My life is as boring as a dried up sponge. The weather is beautiful though so maybe I will go for a photo shoot.

Lists

Once when I was in the SLC public library I found a section of "zines" which was quite intriguing when I was 16. It was an entire collection of small magazines created by the everyday joe and somehow all of them ended up here. I read through quite a few and found one called "Lists" which I fell in love with. It was written by a girl who just compiled lists, ones she had found, ones she created, shopping lists, things to do, people whose names begin with the letter Z, etc. It was inspiring and it also sparked a love in me for lists.

I love lists. Maybe it is the clear cut beauty, the sheer simplicity of the thing. Maybe it is because my brain thinks better in columns than in paragraphs. Maybe it is just the word itself, but whatever it is, I love lists.

Flour of Heaven

I like to cook and baking is alright (although I tend to really excel at cooking). One of my favorite things to do is to try new recipes, some of my favorite of late being:

Bell Pepper Muffins

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup each chopped green pepper, sweet yellow pepper and sweet red pepper
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup egg substitute
• 1 cup fat-free milk

Directions:

In a nonstick skillet, saute peppers in butter until tender; set aside. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and basil. Combine the egg, egg substitute and milk; stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in the peppers.
Coat muffin cups with cooking spray; fill two-thirds full with batter. Bake at 400° for 15-18 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack. Yield: 1 dozen.

Lentil Soup

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 cup finely chopped onion
• 1/2 cup finely chopped carrot
• 1/2 cup finely chopped celery
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 pound lentils, picked and rinsed
• 1 cup peeled and chopped tomatoes
• 2 quarts chicken or vegetable broth
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground toasted cumin
• 1/2 te aspoon freshly ground grains of paradise

Directions

Place the olive oil into a large 6-quart Dutch oven and set over medium heat. Once hot, add the onion, carrot, celery and salt and

sweat until the onions are translucent, approximately 6 to 7 minutes. Add the lentils, tomatoes, broth, coriander, cumin and grains of paradise and stir to combine. Increase the heat to high and bring just to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover and cook at a low simmer until the lentils are tender, approximately 35 to 40 minutes. Using a stick blender, puree to your preferred consistency. Serve immediately.

If this is love..

Valentine's Day is fast approaching and with this season of love there are lots of handwritten declaration, chocolates, and tacky decorations. And for me, there was a dream.

Last night I dreamed that Juan and I were getting married. It was all so exciting, everyone was there, all my family, including, interestingly enough, my extended family which I hardly ever see, but have all befriended me on facebook. My college friends (all of them) were hanging around, waiting for the ceremony and I was getting dressed in my wedding gown when I realized:

If Juan and I get married-- he wont be able to go on a mission and neither will I.

A sense of urgency and discomfort began suffocating me and I wasn't sure how I could just go and cancel the wedding with everyone here, but I know that I couldn't go through with it either. And then I began to realize, I couldn't go through the temple, because I hadn't gone through the necessary processes. I asked Juan if he had, and he said that he had. I asked if he had the marriage license from the state and he didn't. And I realized, even if I wasn't a sissy and didn't want to back out, I had to, because we couldn't legally do this.

But that didn't resolve the problem: everyone was there.

And then I woke up.

Saliva

I am glad that I do not have a saliva issue unlike some people I know, if I did, how could I ever kiss the love of my life? I mean, look at this little kid, who would have thought he would turn out to be the boy I got to boss around? (see picture below).

Green houses

What happens in Vegas...

Over Martin Luther King Weekend, Juan and I went to visit his Uncle and my sister in Las Vegas. It was pretty CrAzY.