Word of the Day

Gonnu.  Sometimes referred to as 'gonna.'  Is a slang form of 'going to.'  Ex.: In reference to doing something, a proper response would be: 'I'm gonnu.'

So, I actually googled this to see what would come up since I just heard someone use it.  And there is an article about word usage among New York City heroin addicts where it quotes a guy saying this!  It is total ghetto slang.  There's your education for the day. 

Thinking Cap

You should see me now. I'm sitting on my bed, with my pillow in my lap and my laptop on my pillow. Two coats are bunched up under my legs, my little pillow and big arm pillow are behind my back. I have my thermals on under my jeans, my slippers are on my feet, wearing my pink vest, and my thinking cap is on my head. My thinking cap is the dark green hood unzipped from my jolly green giant down coat I got 10 years ago to help me survive the cold winters in Provo, UT. Trust me, I look real cute. Focus. On homework. Make. Progress.

Today it snowed.  Everything was covered in pretty white snow.  And it was a great day.  Today I discovered this wonderful website: http://networkedblogs.com/p18417100 - try it out - cool free samples and coupons. 
I have always lived really close to an LDS temple.  Except over the summer in Boston, when I lived 15 minutes away.  The past two years, most of the time when I go running, I at least run by the temple at one point during the run.  Last weekend my roommate and I went to an afternoon church meeting and so I had her come walking with me and we walked around the temple, so I took some pictures.

Logan Temple

And I made two pecan pies last night.  I ate a slice of one today and I have to say I make really good pecan pies.  I mean they are REALLY good.  If you don't like it, that's just fine with me, no feelings hurt because I will eat it all.  Because of that, I do have to find people to give the pies to so I don't eat it all.  And sometimes it gets hard because my friends only want a slice or two, not the whole pie (watching their sugar intake - they LOVE the pies - didn't want you to get confused).  So currently there is a fork and a knife sitting on top of my pie ready - easy for little nibbles here and there.  And why I made two pies, I don't know.  It's not Thanksgiving yet.  I don't have anywhere to take one pie, let alone two.  And then a need arose.  And it was a blessing to have a pie ready to take to someone!

I also love edamame.  Soybeans.  I never thought I would, but then again, I willingly ate cantalope the other night at dinner.  I never thought that would happen either, and it was actually good.  If you haven't had edamame, try it.  Buy a bag from the frozen veggie section of the store, heat a handful up in a bowl in the microwave with a dab of butter and some sprinkles of salt.  It's delicious. 

And I also learned that evaporated milk has no sugar added, it's regular milk that has had half the water evaporated from it - not like sweetened condensed milk.  It's creamier than regular milk and can be used as a substitute for 1/2 and 1/2 or cream.  Hmm...I might have to try this out!

So...this morning I heard my roommates talking downstairs (about wedding stuff - they are both getting married), I was ready to leave for church.  I went down and they were both on the couch with their fiances (same couch - all 4 of them) and they said 'hey! come join us!'  Umm...right.  I went in the kitchen, got a scoop of ice cream and made my way out the door.  So nice of them to try to make me feel included.

Cool Combo

Do you like to spice up your hot chocolate?  Last year I tried really spicing it up with some mango cayenne chocolate to make hot chocolate from scratch so it had a kick to it.  The other day I added a few scoops of orange cremesicle ice cream to just a packet of Swiss Miss. It was quite tastey.  You should try it.  Other ice cream options I would suggest - the good ol' peppermint, even chocolate ice cream just makes it more chocolatey and creamy, and then there's traditional vanilla. 

Or just eat the creamsicle ice cream by itself.  So good.

New Favorite Song

I was driving home last night and this song came on the radio and I just really liked it.  Thought I'd share. 

In a Nutshell

I went to Provo and Salt Lake this week.  What happened?

Saw Lee at Wal-Mart!
Saw Suzy at the BYU grad school fair
Recruited at BYU and UVU
Played with Nancy's girls
Ate BYU mint brownies
Visited Amazing Lori
Sat in lots of traffic
Played with Incredible Kari and her awesome friends
Went to The Pie - ate delicious pizza!
Watched the Hawks beat the Celtics!
Watched the Aggies beat Weber!  (it was a good night for basketball)
Ate a raspberry avalanche at Jake's Over the Top
Woke up to beautiful snow covered everything

the twins

Snowshoeing at the Cabin! (Or so I thought)

I have always wanted to go snowshoeing at the cabin and since there was lots of snow when Mom and Dad went last month, I thought there would still be lots of snow for me to go snowshoeing.  Plus, the weather reports I saw said there was 9 inches of snow at the lake.  We piled in the car - OK, just the two of us so there was plenty of room - and headed up.  Well, there wasn't a lot of snow. 

See.  No snow.

 We ended up just hiking in our regular shoes on the trail and carrying our snowshoes in hopes for more snow.  There were patches here and there.

Katie was playing in the creek and fell in!

We made friends with these hungry birds

The birds came and ate out of her hand!  Then one got smart and found the package.  I saw him fly away with a whole cheese cracker sandwhich in his mouth!

We actually put on the snowshoes and went out in a meadow

Katie went out and tested the ice.  Here she is laying completely on the ice!  I went next and made the mistake of trying to sit on it.  I heard a big crack and thoughts of the Polar Express came to mind with me falling right though.  I quickly got back on the little rock.  It was fun though!

From the 'wall' side of Wall Lake

And since Katie wasn't cold enough from falling in the creek at the beginning of the hike and walking through snow for four hours, she wanted to make a visit to....

the Nudist Ranch.  But unfortunately, it is closed during the winter.  Oh well! 

Love these Pictures

Pictures from the summer...

Boston Harbor

Boston Harbor

Boston Harbor

Horseneck Beach

Look!  no logo!

Horseneck Beach

I am strong and fearless

I am currently looking for a job.  I want a great job.  With a great company.  In a great place.  With great people.  That will pay me lots of money so I can go visit my family often.  Good news - there are some jobs out there.  It's just writing a new cover letter for each job you apply to is so tiring!  I was getting a little discouraged yesterday.  This morning while I was eating my yogurt and granola, I picked up my BYU Humanities magazine and read the dean's message.  Read it here.  He talks about the pilgrim in Dante is on his hard journey out of Hell and how he wants to stop and rest.  The guide then tells him:

“‘Now must thou thus cast off all sloth,’ said the Master,
‘for sitting . . . down . . . none comes to fame. . . . Rise,
therefore, conquer thy panting with the soul, which conquers
in every battle if it sink not with its body’s weight.
There is a longer stair which must be climbed.’” “I rose
then,” the traveler tells us, “better furnished with breath
than I felt, and said: ‘Go, for I am strong and fearless.’ ”

He also talks about the Entitlement of easiness.  These days people feel entitled to an easy path.  If things don't come easily to you, then society wants you to think that you are not good at it.  So instead we steer awat from challenging things and move toward easy unearned excellence where the sense of acheivement often doesn't last long. 

“That which we persist in doing becomes easier, not that the task itself has become easier, but that our ability to perform it has improved.”

Press on!  Climb that hill!  If it's not hard, it's not worth doing!