andy & claire

celebratory tag

2008-12-18T21:47:00.005-07:00

to celebrate being done with school (at least until next semester), i thought i'd do this tag thing from seriously so blessed.
by the way, if you haven't checked out this blog, you should. it's pretty much the most hilarious spoof of a mormon-mommy-blog i've ever read.

anyways, on with the tag:
all the answers have to be one word

Were is your cell phone? notsure
Were is your significant other? righthere
Your hair color? brown
Your favorite thing? life
Your dream last night? ponies!
Your life dream/goal? awesomephotogsimplelife
The room you're in? theonlyroomwehave
Your hobby? climbing
Your fear? ankleslashershindingundermycar
Where do you want to be in 6 years? anywhere
Where were you last night? homewrappingpresents
What you're not? brazilian
One of your wish list items? apron
Where you grew up? florida
The last thing you did? leg-itch
What you are wearing: cardigan
Your TV? none
Your pet? myplants
Your computer? whichone-wehavelikefive
Your mood? content
Missing someone? mom
Something you're NOT wearing? nailpolish
Favorite store? whatev
Your summer? sevenpeaksandsunnybikerides!
Love someone? duh
Your fave color? purple
When is the last time you laughed? 20minsago
When is the last time you cried? notsure
Your significant other's hair: buzzy
Your life in one word: wooohooo

i tag anyone who wants to celebrate

we're alive

2008-11-10T00:08:00.006-07:00

has anyone out there been wondering if we've fallen off the face of the earth? does anyone even read this thing? well if you do, and if you were, know that we are still here, just a little preoccupied; three midterms, two papers, work assignments, personal projects, and designing your friends wedding invitations and trying to start planning your website (thank you sarah for being my web builder) all over a couple of weeks will do that.

i'll hopefully be updating some more soon, but until then, here are some highlights:

-my yoshi plant is blooming (see above image). in the fall. curious, don't you think? i consulted it's little tag thing, which only told me that it's native to south africa. maybe it's blooming now because it's spring in south africa.

-democracy. here's what mosiah has to say about it: "Therefore, choose you by the voice of this people, judges, that ye may be judged according to the laws which have been given you by our fathers, which are correct, and which were given them by the hand of the Lord. Now it is not common that the voice of the people desireth anything contrary to that which is right; but it is common for the lesser part of the people to desire that which is not right; therefore this shall ye observe and make it your law—to do your business by the voice of the people. And if the time comes that the voice of the people doth choose iniquity, then is the time that the judgments of God will come upon you." i really do feel like in most instances, the majority will make the best decision according to the knowledge they have. in politics of course it's more difficult because it's hard to see past all the banter and facade, but only time will tell. i'm certainly happy with the results, but andy and i have been saying all along that the election of either candidate would not be cause for rejoicing. there's a long road ahead, and as obama said in his election night speech, there will be setbacks and false starts. we can only hope for the best and be grateful that we have a hand in it all.

-re-designing my c.m. photo logo in preparation for a real live website.

-getting back to climbing with stacie.

-being a tethered shooting genius at work

-getting to fall asleep to andy playing me lullabies on his ukelele thursday night.

-sunday: the one day a week when i get to sleep in.

-quite a few delicious meals created (recipes to post soon)

-starting to see an end to my subconscious stress induced jaw clenching and subsequent headaches: only two weeks and two days 'till thanksgiving, followed by two weeks 'till finals.

-a new month, which means a clean slate on the budget...that always feels good.

-new speakers=more music in our lives.

-my bike, and the fact that the snow-free weather has held out (more or less) allowing me to ride it to school and work. what a joy

-the fact that this house only costs $8,300 (learned about it in my finance class). all we would need to do to be homeowners is move to peru, indiana!

-managing to get my daily dose of scrubs with andy

-despite stresses, life is just good.

pear and pomegranate salad

2008-10-27T19:19:00.004-06:00

i love salads because they're so versatile. and they're the perfect fix for a veggie slump.
am i the only one who has veggie slumps? you know...when you run out of veggies and fruits and at first its fun to just eat pizza and pasta but after a few days you're dying for a chance to go to the grocery store and buy nothing but produce. maybe it's just me. it's a ruthless cycle.
the things i crave first during a veggie slump are leafy greens, read: salad.

i also love the fruits that are in season during fall. for some reason, there's just something so sensuous about them. maybe its because they're all so juicy and red. my favorites are plums, pears, blood oranges, and pomegranates.

so what do you get when you combine my love of leafy greens, fall fruits, and a kitchen freshly stocked after a recent produce buying spree?

pear and pomegranate salad of course!

-about half a head of lettuce (preferably romaine, red leaf, or the curly kind)
-some variety of raspberry dressing
-candied walnuts
-the seeds from about half of a pomegranate
-one ripe pear, chopped
-these quantities make enough for two people to have a dinner sized salad, but quantities can be adjusted as seems appropriate. also, if you don't have pears or pomegranates on hand, you can use any combination of grapes, apples, plums, or whatever sounds good.

+place the lettuce (rinsed and spun) in a medium sized bowl
+toss with dressing
+top with pomegranate, pear, and walnuts

to make candied walnuts:

-about two cups of walnuts (chopped or crushed into smaller pieces)
-one cup sugar
-two tbs corn syrup (or i just used vegetable oil)
-a sprinkle of salt
-half a tbs vanilla if you like
-lots of cinnamon
-some ground pepper

+in a saucepan mix all ingredients except the walnuts
+heat on low until the sugar kind of dissolves
+then boil for 5 or 10 minutes
+remove from heat, stir in walnuts to coat, turn out on a cookie sheet and allow to cool (i stuck mine in the fridge).
+serve on salad, save the leftovers in a ziploc bag for next time

on being late

2008-10-27T18:19:00.004-06:00

as i was walking to school this morning at my customary time of 9:15, i had some thoughts (i seem to do a lot of thinking while walking to school).

what you need to know is that my first class begins at 9:00 and lasts only 50 minutes
what's more, i really enjoy that class.
it just has the misfortune of being my first class, and no matter how hard i try, i cannot seem to be on time.
i've struggled with this for as long as i've been responsible for my own arrival times.
my punctuality-loving photo teacher john has told us on many occasions "if you can't be on time, be early"
i've tried to implement this. i've tried waking up earlier, showering at night to save time in the morning, combining scripture-reading time with breakfast-eating time, setting a second alarm that rings twenty minutes before i need to be where i'm going (which is approximately a ten minute walk away) all to no avail.
this consistent lateness has caused some of my kinder teachers to applaud me when i manage to arrive less than five minutes late for class.

it seems i'm cursed.

now, if you're wondering what all this has to do with the beautiful lady in that picture up there, i'll tell you:
that is my grandmother's aunt (which i think makes her my great great aunt? not sure...juli, a little help?) in any case, her name was madeleine, and she was really close with my grandma. her first husband was killed at verdun during world war i, she re-married a veteran officer and left her dear lorraine (the region in easern france that was involved in a perpetual tug-o-war between germany and france from about 1870-1945, and where my paternal grandmother's lineage goes back centuries) to live in dakar, senegal, where he was the governor of french west africa. he was tried and imprisoned after opposing general de gaulle's invasion of dakar, and later died.
the point of all this is that madeleine faced alot of trials and losses, but from what i've gathered she was an incredible woman. i never knew her, but my grandma talks about her all the time (my grandma is the little girl in the photo), and i've always felt really close to her for some reason. i've been told we have alot in common, and a couple years ago i learned that one of those qualities is tardiness (there are some great stories about nearly missed trains and the like).

so it seems that being late is my heritage, and i suppose in that case, i'm proud of it.

seasons

2008-10-24T12:11:00.004-06:00

this year marks my fourth fall in utah.

i have to admit, i really enjoy living somewhere with four seasons (you know...fall winter spring summer), although i do miss some of the seasons i grew up with in florida (hurricane season, jellyfish season, stingray season, rains every day from 4-6pm season, cold front season).

as i was walking to school this morning listening to my ipod (even though i gulp wish i had a zune-i know, i know, i'm a mac traitor...but seriously, who can beat unlimited music downloads for $15 a month and wireless access to download new stuff from the actual device?), i started thinking about how certain songs/musicians really embody the mood of each season for me.

here's the run down:

fall=the decemberists, regina spektor, band of horses, iron & wine, the shins
winter= modest mouse (especially the moon and antarctica), the killers, sufjan stevens, feist, bloc party
spring=neutral milk hotel, matt costa, beck, dan potthast
summer= ben kweller, bob marley, tribe called quest, sublime

rilo kiley=good for any season

yeah, so that's what i was thinking about while walking to school.
oh, i was also thinking that sometimes i whish provo were more like dickens' london, and that we could hop onto the backs of street carriages and trolleys to get places faster.
then maybe i wouldn't be late to class every day.

speaking of matha stewart...

2008-10-23T15:58:00.003-06:00

i really want to make this:

caramel pear terrine from this month's issue. isn't it beautiful?

magazine envy

2008-10-23T15:53:00.002-06:00

i've had magazine envy lately. i always thought that magazine subscriptions were kind of a silly wast of money. you just end up either throwing them away (ie generating unnecessary amounts of trash--especially if you live in a place like provo that doesn't seem to think recycling is a good idea) or having to make space for stacks and stacks of them.

but lately i've been looking at alot of magazines because we had an assignment in my still life class to find still life and product ads that we like and then analyze the lighting.

if had some extra money/space/recycling opportunities, i would get subscriptions to:

and i'm only a little ashamed to admit...

and if we didn't already have a subscription at work as well as every issue ever printed, i would also get pdn.

two reasons my arms are so sore:

2008-10-20T23:48:00.007-06:00

1. i spent all day friday and saturday climbing with my dad in maple canyon. i haven't climbed outdoors since july (we went once in the alps and i only climbed two routes), and have barely managed to climb indoors since then due to lack of a partner. the result? no skills. i belayed my dad as he flew up 5.11's, while i panted up 9's and 10's (screaming take! take! far too many times along the way)...ah well. there have been times when i've been really good, i swear.

regardless, it was alot of fun being outside.

-we camped in the canyon and froze our butts off at night (i cant recall any other time in my life when i've needed to include a beanie, wool socks and a fleece jacket as part of my pyjamas, and that was inside my heavy duty sleeping bag)
-we saw deer
-we sampled the culinary offerings of mt. pleasant and fountain green.
-we had a really amusing chance meeting that is an added testimony to the small world theory.
here's a recap:
flash back to last spring, my dad and i are climbing in red rocks, just outside of vegas, and find ourselves on a multi-pitch route stuck behind a group of two or three other climbers. so we do the only thing we really can do as we cling to the rock at the belay stations: chat it up!
flash forward to this past weekend, my dad and i are parked on the side of the small dirt road in the canyon, and start pulling out our backpacks and gear. an escalade drives past, decked out with life is good stickers and various climbing logos. the cadillac stops about 30 feet past us, backs up, one of the windows rolls down and a guy sticks his head out and exclaims:
"you're a byu student, and your dad's from france! we climbed together at red rocks!" though we are somewhat taken aback, we respond with laughter and some "good to see you again" type things.
i wonder where we'll run into them next.

in the meantime, here are some photos

2. last night, i decided that i really wanted to try making pasta from scratch; ravioli, to be specific.

so i did, and let me tell you, it was laborious.

we don't have a pasta dough flattening machine yet, so me and that rolling pin i mentioned in my last post had ourselves a party. i feel like that was just as good a workout as climbing, but now i am seriously coveting one of these babies:

the red dress

2008-10-16T10:08:00.008-06:00

i'm going to be a bridesmaid in my friend linda's wedding this december. i'm also going to be the photographer. that will be super fun. i've never been a bridesmaid before, so it's pretty exciting.

does my marital status make me a bridesmatron?
doesn't that sound like i should be carrying a ladle or a rolling pin as an accessory?

anyways, linda picked these really pretty bridesmaid dresses:
however, they're from target (good for price, bad for sizing) and they don't have them in our local store, so i had to order mine offline. since their return policy sucks more than anything in the world and i want to avoid having to deal with customer service and returns/exchanges at any cost, i whipped out the measuring tape and tried to place myself accurately on their sizing chart (which, by the way, turns size 2's into size 8's), ordered the dress four sizes larger than my normal size, and hoped for the best.

it arrived yesterday. it's very pretty. the color is great and the fabric is thick and smooth.

i tried it on. first i tried stepping into it. i couldn't get it three inches past my knees, let alone my thighs, so i tried the other approach: pulling it over my head. that worked alright.

andy zipped me up and i looked in the mirror. it was...baggy? how could this be? the skirt and waist fit alright, but the whole top section was big and billowy and puckering out in odd ways. does this mean that i'm a grossly disproportionate pear shaped woman? i thought to myself:

sigh
i guess i'll order the size underneath and see which one fits better, maybe find someone with a sewing machine and make it work?

then i tried to take the dress off.

i couldnt.

i was stuck

forever

in a red dress.

after a somewhat violent wrestling match with the red dress, the exploit ended with me sitting cross legged on the floor with my arms over my head (little kid style) and andy pulling as hard as he could. it eventually came off, and i was able to wear normal clothes to our dinner date with my dad.

what an adventure.

thank you!

2008-10-13T23:09:00.004-06:00

so...it's been almost four months since our wedding, and we have yet to send out any thank you cards.
the guilt comes and goes...but i haven't been able to find any good thank you cards (not really a valid excuse, i know). i wish stationery were a bit less expensive, or that we just had a [several hundred dollar] stationery slot in the budget.

i really like this card, but i feel like it emphasizes the stuff we got rather than the help and support and kind wishes. would someone who hadn't bought anything for us, but who had been amazingly kind and helpful feel bad receiving a thank you card with measuring cups, cutlery, and oven mitts on it? am i thinking about this too much?

i also really like these.

in the meantime i would like to offer a sincere thank you to all of you who were so wonderful and generous... i'll put that on some stationery and mail it off to you soon!

speaking of cards, if you appreciate good design and a healthy dose of humor as much as i do, here are some things to look at:

uncooked cards
line upon line cards
mr. letters press

really really pumpkin soup weather

2008-10-13T08:56:00.002-06:00

it's currently 28 degrees outside. the high is 46.

i packed myself a [hopefully] leak proof tupperware full of pumkin soup in my little brown bag lunch.

today definitely calls for a scarf and jacket. unfortunately, all my scarves and jackets are buried in boxes underneath our stairs. i've got to choose between hoodies and my long wool coat...

pumpkin soup weather

2008-10-12T20:29:00.004-06:00

today has been the first truly restful and relaxing sunday andy and i have had in weeks. it's been great.

i don't know if the (freezing) weather has anything to do with it, but all we've wanted to do all day is just stay in our pj's and hang out in our warm little apartment.

here's what we did:

-sleep in until 11 or so
-i chatted it up with my dad, who's coming tuesday for our annual fall climbing trip (maple canyon this time if the weather holds out!)
-talked to my grandma in france, who just had knee surgery that will hopefully allow her to keep hiking all over the place
-got ready for church
-got to church 20 minutes late, nothing out of the ordinary there
-enjoyed all three hours of it (a big step after bordering on inactivity for months*)
-came home
-laundry
-nap for andy
-made pumpkin soup (recipe coming soon)
-baked wheat bread (recipe coming as soon as i find a good one)
-currently sitting around reading, listening to ray lamontagne, looking at other people's photographs, and being perfectly content

you just need days like this.

*we haven't really been inactive, just traveling or being sick or only going to sacrament meeting.

tragedy

2008-10-08T21:40:00.001-06:00

i broke another glass today.

st. george weekend

2008-10-07T11:14:00.004-06:00

andy and i went down to st. george this weekend for general conference. we got to meet our niece arvilla for the first time, and of course i took some pictures.

another baby!

2008-10-07T11:01:00.005-06:00

congratulations to dan and emma, who had their baby yesterday around 11 am. since i don't have any pictures of sophia, some photos of the parents will have to do (because really, who wants to see a post with no pictures).

sophia was born 9 pounds 2 ounces.

good job emma!
the niece count has now reached eight.

ps: my speedy posting of sophia's birth does not mean that i love her more than arvilla! speaking of which, i have some photos of arvilla to post today. hurrah for babies!

new shoes

2008-10-02T00:01:00.003-06:00

i bought these shoes for a shoot yesterday. we had to do a white on white for my still life class, and this is what i came up with.

i had every intention of returning them once the shoot was completed.

i didn't need new shoes, but i decided to get them in my size, just in case.

this morning i put on a white shirt. i looked for shoes to wear and nothing seemed quite right.

until i spotted the vans bag in the corner of the room and thought to myself: hm, well, i'm sure just wearing them once would be fine, and then maybe i could still return them.

after a full day of walking campus in these babies, which resulted in some lovely scuffs and scratches, i realized

you cant return white shoes once you've worn them...

or if you really like them

summer vegetable tian

2008-10-01T19:12:00.000-06:00

not just for the summer

so, this was my attempt at replicating an amazing dish i enjoyed in provence at my great aunt and uncle's fiftieth wedding anniversary party.
i like that it looks more like the ratatouille in the movie ratatouille than real ratatouille does (real ratatouille=mush, delicious mush)

summer vegetable tian:

-butter enough to cover the bottom of your baking dish when it melts
-garlic (1 clove-ish)
-1 zucchini
-1 yellow zucchini
-at least 4 or 5 roma tomatoes
-salt
-herbes de provence*
-olive oil

+preheat the oven to 400
+place the chopped garlic and butter in a ceramic baking dish. put them in the oven (it doesn't matter if it's done preheating yet) uncovered for about 10 minutes, or until the butter starts to bubble and the garlic cooks a litle
+meanwhile, slice the zucchini and tomatoes fairly thinly
+after removing the dish, place the veggie slices vertically in the dish, alternating colors (see photo)
+sprinkle with salt and plenty of herbs
+pour some olive oil over the tops of the veggies
+place covered in oven for 45 minutes to an hour
+uncover and cook for another 30 minutes
+serve and enjoy! it goes well with creamy pasta or rice

*if you can't find herbes de provence, a pre-made italian herb mix will work fine, or your own concoction of rosemary, marjoram, basil, bay leaf, and thyme. go heaviest on the thyme.

baby!

2008-09-26T19:48:00.004-06:00

this morning, my brand new niece arvilla turned one week old.
i feel like a bad aunt for not having written a congratulatory post the very day she was born,
congratulations juli and tom!

i'm looking forward to going down to st. george soon to see her (and photograph her)!

i am an only child, so obviously i have no siblings to provide me with nieces and nephews. luckily, i inherited six lovely nieces (and five lovely siblings-in-law) when i married andy. the niece count has now reached seven, with another one due this week AND another one of andy's sisters is expecting a baby in the spring.

babies, babies, everywhere. what an exciting time.

creamy lemon caper salmon

2008-09-26T18:56:00.002-06:00

with asparagus and brown rice

i tried this recipe for dinner last night and it was awesome.

lemon caper salmon:

-a couple of salmon fillets
-olive oil
-about 1/4 stick of butter
-a couple of spoonfulls of flour
-1 or 2 cups milk or whipping cream
-1/4 cup white cooking wine (or not...whatever you prefer)
-2 tablespoons drained capers
-1/4 teaspoon dried tarragon
-1/4 teaspoon dill weed
-salt and pepper to taste
-lemon juice

+i've learned that in utah, the frozen fish is fresher (and cheaper) than the "fresh" fish, so that's what i'd recommend to anyone who is land-bound. target's market pantry wild keta salmon fillets are the best quality cuts i've found.
+thaw the fish according to package directions
+place skin side down in an oiled glass or metal pan, and brush fillets with olive oil
+broil 4-6 inches from heat, for about 6 minutes, or until the fish flakes easily with a fork. be careful not to let it get dried out. don't be alarmed if it sounds like the salmon is coming back to life in the oven. the oil pops and will make alot of noise.

+ in a saucepan over low-ish heat, melt the butter. whisk in the four and cook for a couple of minutes, stirring.
+add the milk or cream and cook for a few minutes until the sauce has thickened
+stir in the wine, capers, tarragon, dill, salt, and pepper. cook for another five minutes.
+stir in the lemon juice (however much seems good to you, taste as you go) and add more salt and pepper to taste
+pour over the salmon fillets once they are on the plate

asparagus:
+whether frozen or fresh, cook in about 2-4 inches of salted boiling water for 6 or so minutes, until tender
+drain and toss with butter and lemon

rice:
+i used short grain brown rice and just threw it in the rice cooker. make sure you get this started ahead of time, because brown rice can take up to an hour to cook.

*a note on the timing: you may have more success than i with the timing logistics, but i started the rice well ahead of time, started thawing the salmon, then made the sauce and let it simmer while i did everything else.

enjoy!

my poor, beautiful glasses

2008-09-23T17:54:00.000-06:00

anyone who's known me for more than a few months has probably come to realize that delicate things don't do well with me. though i love them and try to be gentle with them, they always wind up broken or dilapidated long before their life expectancy would dictate. this is especially true of things i use regularly (clothes, shoes, books...computers). i'm the only person i know with a macbook pro that has dents in it and whose hardware innards seem to be trying to push themselves out of the lower left corner.

i'm beginning to see the effects of my (unintentional) brutality on one of my favorite wedding presents; my beautiful glasses. it seriously broke my heart when i shattered the first one a month or so ago, but today was even worse. it was the last dish i washed, and as i swirled the water around inside of it to rinse the soap out, my hand suddenly forgot that it was supposed to be holding onto the glass and just decided to let go mid swirl. the glass went flying into the right side sink where it shattered and a million glass shards flew all over the kitchen. it was certainly the most dramatic demise of a glass that i've ever experienced. i had to throw away a plate of cookies that was near the sink for fear of glass shards in the stomach, internal bleeding etc. so of my eight glasses, two are broken, one is chipped, and one has a tiny crack down the side that i assume came from something heavy laid on top of it in the dish drying rack thing. i wonder if i would break things less if we had a dishwasher.

at least the flatware is durable.

the bike of my dreams will soon be the bike of my real life!

2008-09-21T19:05:00.001-06:00

see that beauty up there? that is the gary fisher simple city 3 women's. that is the bike i've been coveting for months and months. that is the bike that my birthday bike fund was for. that is the bike that's back-ordered (in my size) through the end of january. that is the bike that, thanks to my incessant weekly (sometimes more frequent than that) calls to all the local bike shops to check on the availability dates, will be mine within the next seven days!

after being shot down by racer's who said they couldn't get it until january (even though my name is third on their list), i made a routine call to mad dog's on friday to see if they could tell me any different. and they could; september 29th! i made a note in my planner to call on the 26th, and ten minutes later they were calling me back. the employee (who must have been new because i'd never talked to her before) said that the owner would be able to special order it for me and it would be there within the week.

i was flabbergasted.

how could that be possible? why are so many people suffering through the waiting pain when some store owner can just make a call and have the bike within a week? i don't know where the logic in bike production is. maybe there's some big secret i just wouldn't understand. maybe they just wanted me to stop calling them and by a week they really meant four months.

when i went into the store to order it, i questioned the owner. would it really seriously be here in a week? he seemed confident.

as i was checking out, he said to me "you've called on this bike quite a few times, haven't you."
i may have blushed slightly and laughed a guilty laugh.

persistence pays!

the apartment

2008-09-16T16:19:00.000-06:00

i finally got around to taking some pictures of our apartment for those of you who are far away and haven't seen it. it's a studio and we love it. i think we determined that it is 300 square feet or so (does that sound right?). but the kitchen is a perfect size, we're above a garage and don't share walls with any of our neighbors, and there is tons of light to keep my tons of plants happy.

sorry the panorama is so small, click for a bigger view

yes, we do indeed have a balcony

our kitchen wallpaper has pears on it, and our fruit bowl has apples and grapefruit in it.

some favorite windows and details...

kitchen window

bathroom window

this is an awesome cloissonne bird that my grandpa gave me this summer. he bought it in india for his dad.

this is by far my favorite of all my plants. i like it because it has fleshy leaves and it smells kind of good. andy says i only like it because it's yoshi in plant form, and yoshi is my favorite. either way, it's the cutest.

in case you are wondering, all of our furniture is from ikea, except the tall table and chairs (bed, bath & beyond), and the ottoman (target).

awww!

2008-09-11T09:38:00.000-06:00

how can you not have a good day when the first thing your husband says to you when he wakes up is "wow, you look amazing!"?

shower philosophies

2008-09-08T23:57:00.000-06:00

while i was in the shower tonight, i did some deep philosophizing. alot of thinking goes on when you're in the shower, you know. or maybe it's just me and my occasional 45 minute extravaganzas (only on the days when i wash my hair and shave my legs).
so anyways, i was humming a dan potthast song to myself in the shower. i haven't listened to him for ages, so i'm not sure why the song popped into my head. i think it's called "how to suffer." i started thinking about a certain line that seems like it's supposed to be dialogue. i won't quote it, but my interpretation of it is that someone asks him what his regrets are, and he responds by saying he's not done yet, which to me means that he's not dead yet, so why would anyone assume that he has regrets (or at least regrets that can't be amended).

that got me thinking about how everyone has the possibility of living life entirely without regret. i'm referring to the haunt-you-on-your-deathbed kind of regret, not the regret you have for your most recent embarrassing moment or for having picked at that zit and turned it into a monster. but seriously. we all do stupid things, but what's glorious is that no matter how far from perfect we are, if we understand and take advantage of the atonement, we should never have to live with regret. that may seem kind of ironic since regret is a necessary step in the repentance process, but god forgives completely the minute you repent earnestly, so regret only has to last as long as you allow it to.

i firmly believe that every single experience you have contributes in a big way to who you are, and without those experiences you and your life might be totally different. in that sense, we'll always have to live with the memory and consequences of the things we've done, but we don't have to live in regret.

jesus is the best.

just some thoughts at the end of a long day...

cannellini bean dip

2008-09-06T20:05:00.000-06:00

alright, if you were a little grossed out by my last recipes, here's a new one. andy said this is one of his favorites out of all the food i make.

cannellini bean dip:

-1 can cannellini beans, drained
-lemon juice
-chopped/minced garlic (about 2 teaspoons)
-salt
-cream cheese, softened
-dill and parsley
-salt

+ in a bowl, combine all ingredients
+crush beans partially with a processor or some kind of mashing device
+mix in garlic and cream cheese
+add lemon juice to taste
+add herbs and salt to taste
+serve with toasted pita slices or tortilla chips

it's what's for dinner.

2008-09-03T22:09:00.000-06:00

so, about these recipes.

when we got home from france, andy was deathly ill for a couple of weeks (food poisoning? parasites? stomach ulcer? the doctors still don't really know). since he's had his appetite back, i've been cooking some really awesome stuff, and i've decided that i want to share the love.

so from now on, whenever i find or make up an awesome recipe, i'll post it with some photos so maybe some of you can enjoy it as well.

tonight, i made a very interesting dinner. i'm a little wary of posting it as my first recipe, because it's not the best dinner i've ever made, but i thought it was good.

garden pea soup and olive pasta

both of these recipes are from a just 10 minutes cookbook i have, but since i can't follow recipes for the life of me, i kind of made them my own.

a warning pertaining to my lack of recipe following: i never really measure, so my directions are always approximate. in french we call it cooking au pifomètre; pif is a slang term for your nose, so essentially it means cooking by your nose-o-meter.

if you actually decide to try any of my recipes, feel free to get as creative as you'd like.

pea soup (makes two good sized bowls):

-2 cups vegetable stock
-1lb peas (i used frozen)
-heavy whipping cream
-coriander
-dill
-salt & pepper to taste

+bring the stock to a boil in a large pan
+add the peas and boil for 5 or so minutes
+remove from heat and transfer to a food processor, blending until smooth-ish
+replace in pan, add herbs and spices to taste, and mix in cream
+serve warm or cool, but cool might be a bit too reminiscent of baby food

olive pasta

-short pasta (i used mini bowtie)
-salt
-olive oil
-1 jar kalamata olives*
-crushed or minced garlic
-fresh or dry basil
-fresh shredded parmesean (not the powder stuff!)

*only use kalamata olives if you really really like the taste of olives: they are very strong.

+cook the pasta according to the package directions, in salted boiling water
+meanwhile, chop up the olives and garlic. sautéeing the two is optional.
+when the pasta is cooked to your taste, drain it and replace it in its pan.
+add enough olive oil to coat the pasta when you stir it well
+stir in the olives and garlic
+add the basil(to sweeten it up a bit) and parmesean to taste
+enjoy!

if you don't like the sound/look of these, there are better things to come. i promise

fall

2008-09-03T17:37:00.000-06:00

i've been storing up tons of thoughts and ideas over the past couple of weeks, and haven't quite gotten around to writing them down. but now fall seems to be here and school has begun, which means i now have a schedule, which means (unless i get crazy busy) i'll probably be blogging more often. i'm the kind of person who gets alot more done when i'm on a schedule and have to do productive and enjoyable things with the time i've got left over.

one of the biggest things i want to start posting is recipes. more on that soon.

so, andy and i started school this week. we both have some really interesting classes. it's going to be a busy semester, but we're both really excited.

oh, and to add to the fall feeling, the leaves outside the window above our bed are starting to turn, and the mornings have been freezing.

ps: the leaves here are not as colorful as in the photo yet, i took that one two years ago.

photos from france

2008-08-19T15:08:00.001-06:00

if anyone is interested in seeing some of the pictures andy and i took in france, i've posted them on my blog: here, here, and here.

new floors!

2008-08-14T13:37:00.000-06:00

the week before we left for france, andy and i discovered that our gross carpet from the 80's was covering up really nice hardwood floors.

we got permission from our landlady to rip out the carpet, and we went for it as soon as we got the ok. the only catch is that now we have to sand and refinish them (the agreement with the owners is that they'll pay for supplies if we do all the work).
but since the wood is in really good condition as is, we're putting of the refinishing...at least for now.

pulling out the carpet gave us some interesting insight into the history of our apartment though. i think it was built in the 50's, and the wood is definitely original. sometime in the 60's, they must have thought it would be really rad to put in orange shag carpet (we found remnants), then in the 80's, the orange shag was replaced with brown low-pile, and now we're back to the wood! it's funny how fashions change...even with flooring.

in anycase, i feel alot better about our respiratory health now that the carpet is gone.
and the new floors make our apartment even more awesome than it already was. hurrah!

4th of july with seth and melinda

2008-08-14T13:21:00.000-06:00

now that andy and i are back from france, we've got some catching up to do.
here are some shots i took on the 4th.
it was my first ever provo freedom festival experience, and i must say, provo is extremely patriotic.
we woke up early for the free french toast breakfast at macey's (awesome), then we headed over to the parade (not as awesome).
later in the day we hung out at seth and melinda's where we had delicious food and watched the fireworks. i wish i had taken some pictures of the fireworks because they were by far the best i've ever seen.

at the temple

2008-07-07T15:27:00.001-06:00

everyone waiting for us to come out

high five!

brunch

2008-07-07T15:17:00.001-06:00

ceremony

2008-07-07T14:35:00.001-06:00

dad reading through his toast

getting ready

melanie helping me memorize my french vows while emily works her magic on my hair and makeup

dad helping me put my bracelet on

the ceremony

andy's family and the groomsmen

claire's family and the bridesmaids

rings

our post-ceremony mini receiving line

setting up for the reception

reception

2008-07-07T13:37:00.000-06:00

the fantastic four

toasts

father-daughter/ mother-son dance

our first dance

that's me cringeing because i can't dance...

the guys

my grandpa dancing to outkast

the girls

the garter toss

the bouquet toss

our 13 year old niece caught the bouquet, but andy took it from her and re-threw it (she's too young)

saying goodbye

wedding photos

2008-07-07T13:06:00.000-06:00

as most of you probably know, blogs order entries from most recent (at the top) to oldest (at the bottom). just this once though, i'm going to beat the system so that you can scroll through the wedding photos from beginning to end/top to bottom.

here they come!

here it goes

2008-07-03T16:01:00.000-06:00

so, now that andy and i are married, i figured it was high time we started one of those awesome couple blogs that seem to be all the rage.

actually, i mostly just wanted to post our wedding pictures on a blog rather than on a photo hosting site.

that's that, enjoy!