lemonade

Remember those days of selling lemonade in your front yard? Emliy and Davis and I (and sometimes neighborhood friends) can look back fondly on those days. With a lemon tree in the front yard, we always knew we could make a quick buck by selling some lemonade. One of my favorite memories is when the firefighters stopped by, they had just put out a fire and were thirsty, so they stopped by our stand. We gave them big servings with lots of ice, because we were in awe that a real fire truck had stopped in front of OUR house for lemonade. One of our neighbors ran down the street with freshly made jam (we are talking so fresh she had to wear oven mitts to carry it down the street) for them. They gave us a five as they left and we were shocked. That day of childhood wonder will always remain dear to me.

I also remember using 10 or 12 ounce paper cups and selling the lemonade in them for about 25 cents. Apparently those days are long gone. I saw some girls, about twelve years old, selling "crystal light and soda" outside their house the other day. I pulled over to get some and realized they were charging a dollar. Seriously? A whole dollar? It was good if we made a few of those in a day. But by pulling over I had committed and did not want to leave without buying some. So I got a up of Crystal Light. When they handed me the cup I was shocked, there was about 6 ounces in that little plastic cup. I swallowed it in a matter of seconds. At least it was cold.

On another subject. I was looking through Magnum's photos that changed the world and came across a feature on Taiwanese brides. What is interesting about these brides is that they have these things called wedding albums. They will take hundreds of pictures in multiple wedding dresses, with their fiances, months before the wedding. They then create and album for the house and have great pictures to show off at the wedding. But the biggest thing is a HUGE picture above the couples' marriage bed. These photos become and obsession and parents will spend thousands so that their daughter will have the best album. In this collection of photos, I found this intersting picture. Which showcases another aspect of Taiwanese weddings, the city will put on group weddings so multiple people can get married at once. Weird, right? Well they spent all of their money on pictures, so they cannot pay for a wedding! haha But this picture is a bride who is seasick on her group wedding aboard a boat. How sad. I am not sure who took the picture, but it check out Magnum photos. Here is the one I liked:

amusement parks, part 2

it is official, the girl's feet were amputated. a cable whipped up and pulled them off her legs and the ride was broken. The park employees found her feet and sent them to the hospital with her. She is undergoing surgery, but no other details will be released, as she is a minor (age 13). I cannot imagine having my feet ripped off my body. Breaking an ankle was enough, but to look down and have no feet. They better have numbed her up real quick. Hopefully she will make a full recovery, or at least get good prosthetics. So sad though. You go to a theme park to have fun with your family and end up with your feet being pulled off of your body. Tragic. Puts my life into perspective. All of a sudden a messy roommate does not seem as bad, you know?

amusement park rides

Are lethal. I just heard a story on the radio about a girl who got her feet chopped off on a ride at a Six Flags back east. So scary. However, I have searched for the article and have not found it. But I did find a listing of all theme park injuries for the year 2004. I was happy to find that about 90% were from Carnival or Fair rides. Which is why I usually stay away from those! I have always been scared of the teetering metal rides at the fair. It just does not seem safe to have a ride which you can fold up and drive away in a few hours. i have always been a little wary about rides, but this just ups it for me.

However I heard this from the same radio station that told me yesterday that a woman had fallen into a cement mixer, was poured, and lived. I thought it was funny, and even shared the story at the bid opening that I was at. They did not believe me. That is when I began to doubt this news source(KFROG radio station). Thankfully, I found the article today! Let me know what you think about the drunken Russian woman falling into the cement mixer.

tap water

I grew up drinking tap water daily. There was no such thing as a brita filter in my house, or anyone i was related to, for that matter. Some people in San Leandro had the filtered water in their fridge, but it was mostly for ice and the cold factor. I loved EBMUD (East Bay Municipal Utilities District) water, apparently it is one of the best quality waters in... umm... everywhere!? I also drank the water at the University of Redlands. While it was not fantastic, I was not a sucker who used Brita pitchers and paid high bucks for bottles (unless using debit dollars, because then it was practically free). But last night I got a nice glass of tap from the bathroom sink, drank about half of it, and then spat out the disgusting taste in my mouth. Redlands water on this side of town is disgusting. I am now a Brita user (mostly because D bought a Brita) and I greatly miss San Leandro water. Stupid Redlands.


Matt came to visit the bay, and the good tap water, a few weekends ago. Here are a few pictures. First is our best impression of a seal face, while watching the seals off of Pier 39.



Next we have a lovely display of taffy love, I still have a few pieces left, which get me through the workday and remind me of my beautiful city by the bay.



And lastly a funny picture of us as we walked down from the presidio viewpoint of the Golden Gate

My baklava kicks baklabutt...

That's right. Today was my first successful step into the art of Greek cuisine. Well second, if you count the amazing Greek salad that I made last night, with homemade red wine vinegarette! woo! After watching Giada in Paradise: Santorini on the Food Network, I decided that I wanted to remember my days in Greece by the food. So I found some recipes for baklava (actually I combined the one on the show with a few others to create my own), fried cheese (my absolute FAVORITE Greek food of all time, well maybe next to Eva's tsatziki), Greek Salad, Feta and Spinach puffs (the baklava sparked an interest in phyllo dough inspired food), and Tsatziki to finish it off. The baklava took forever (about 30 minutes to chop the toasted nuts alone) and I was not sure if I would get it right, because I had made my own recipe. Which is pretty adventurous for a first time with a dish. But it came out of the oven golden brown (I used my brain and tented foil over it until the last 10 minutes) and crispy. I poured the sugary sweet and lemony sauce over it and let it set for about 20 minutes. This whole process was about 2 hours. haha The girls in my bible study ate it and said it was great! I served it with some French Vanilla ice cream. I feel as though I have redeemed my kitchen skills. While I may not be able to cook chicken, I am able to make some great baklava. Oh and an awesome Greek salad. And the chicken salad with avocado that I had for dinner was great. The nice thing about being unmarried is the ability to have a salad and call it dinner. When I have a husband, a salad will not suffice. There will need to be red meat and potatoes. haha not really, but more than just a salad, even if it is very filling. Guys have it in their minds that salad is not a meal.

On other subjects, I saw pirates 3 and was quite dissappointed. I cannot count the times that I turned to Matt during the movie and made the "what the heck is going on" face. And the end, which apparently most women do not like was fine. In fact I liked it because it ended story lines, at least for Will and Elizabeth. No idea what it will do for Captain Barbosa and Jack though. And for those who stayed after credits... does this mean the next movie happens 10 years later? Or are they going to pretend that did not happen? Because I know this is not the end of the series. Sadly. Thoughts?

When I get bored...

Megology:

MOUTHOLOGY

Q. What is your salad dressing of choice?
A. Thousand Island. No, Goddess Dressing.

Q. What is your favorite fast food restaurant?
A. In N Out!

Q. What is your favorite sit-down restaurant?
A. Olive Garden. No, Bubba Gumps. No, Napoli. Wait, okay too many

Q. On average, what size tip do you leave at a restaurant?
A. Ask Matt. haha jk about 15%

Q. What food could you eat every day for two weeks and not get sick of?
A. Taffy! haha jk that would make me sick after a couple hours. Probably Salad (lots of variety in salad)

Q. What are your pizza toppings of choice?
A. Pepperoni. Or honey mustard dressing with bacno and pineapple and ham and noodles...

Q. What do you like to put on your toast?
A. Butta!

TECHNOLOGY

Q. What is your wallpaper on your computer?
A. Mac: Me & Matt (camera on top). PC: Salzy. Work PC: Blue, should change that

Q. How many televisions are in your house?
A. 3, in my apartment

BIOLOGY

Q. Are you right-handed or left-handed?
A. right

Q. What’s your best feature?
A. My bootay. No, legs. No, I'm pretty sure it is my eyes! and my heart!

Q. Have you ever had anything removed from your body?
A. Wisdom teeth and part of my ankle, replaced with screws

Q. Which of your five senses do you think is keenest?
A. Smell? Touch?

Q. When was the last time you had a cavity?
A. I had 8 when i first went to the dentist. Probably like 4 or 5 in my mouth now, but last time one found and filled? 2 years ago (cavities don't go away people, they are filled with metally stuff)

Q. What is the last heavy item you lifted?
A. Tried to put the futon up. didn't work

Q. Have you ever been knocked unconscious?
A. probably

BULL[CRAP]OLOGY

Q. If it were possible, would you want to know the day you were going to die?
A. Nope

Q. Is love for real?
A. I am pretty sure. At least, real love is. I'm tired of people confusing love with lust. ugh

Q. If you could change your name, what would you change it to?
A. I love my name. But I wish I got my uniue name that my parents thought of, Leisl.

Q. What color do you think looks best on you?
A. blue, or pink

Q. Have you ever swallowed a non-food item by mistake?
A. I think I ate ants as a child. But I never swallowed 15 Barbie doll heads like the guy on Grey's

Q. Have you ever saved someone’s life?
A. I don't know.

Q. Has someone ever saved yours?
A. Jesus did.

Q. What were you doing last night?
A. Trying to unpack and watching Jeopardy (who knew it repeats at 10?)

DAREOLOGY

Q. Would you kiss a member of the same sex for $100?
A. About 2 years ago, yes. Now, nope

Q. Would you allow one of your little fingers to be cut off for $200,000
A. No.

Q. Would you never blog again for $50,000?
A. That is a lot of money. Yes

Q. Would you pose naked in a magazine for $250,000?
A. No. My body is mine. And eventually my husband's. I don't want the world to see it

Q. Would you drink an entire bottle of hot sauce for $1000?
A. Yeah. That's 1/18th of my college loans!

Q. Would you, without fear of punishment, take a human life for $1,000,000?
A. No way

DUMBOLOGY

Q: What is in your left pocket?
A: No pockets on this skirt

Q: Is Napoleon Dynamite actually a good movie?
A: Yup. haha

Q: Do you have hardwood or carpet in your house?
A: MOstly carpet. The laminate stuff ripples in the bathroom. ugh

Q: Do you sit or stand in the shower?
A: Stand, although I went through a sitting on the bathroom floor and using no rinse soap and shampoo phase when i was in a cast and couldn't get in the shower

Q: Could you live with roommates?
A: I am. It is really challenging at times

Q: How many pairs of flip flops do you own?
A: probably 7 or 8 pairs. haha

Q: Last time you had a run-in with the cops?
A: No idea.

Q: What do you want to be when you grow up?
A: following Jesus. And a wife and mom.

LASTOLOGY

Q: Friend you talked to?
A: the M@. (Boyfriends are friends too!)

Q: Last person who called you?
A: Matt. haha

Q: Person you hugged?
A: Matt... I need to get out more. haha

FAVORITOLOGY

Q: Number?
A: 18

Q: Color?
A: pink!

Q: Season?
A: Summer, but may become Spring after a summer in redlands

CURRENTOLOGY

Q: Missing someone?
A: My Mom and Dad (in Norcal.)

Q: Mood?
A: happy

Q: Listening to?
A: Good Directions by Billy Currington. And the fax machine next to my desk

Q: Watching?
A. nothing

Q: Worrying about?
A: Matthew being sick. Cuz i would have a lot to do at praxis. haha

RANDOMOLOGY

Q: First place you went this morning?
A: the Bathroom. Then the closet. The kitchen. Then work...

Q: What can you not wait to do?
A: eat lunch

Q: What’s the last movie you saw?
A: Pirates 1

Q: Do you smile often?
A: I think so

Q: Are you a friendly person?
A: Yes

pictures!!

The wonderful and amazing Daniel Medina is now into photography. Matthew and I were the objects of choice during the Ducks game on Monday night... here are some of the results...

in 2.0 hours

I will be done with Res Life. For ever! So glad! Well, maybe not forever (I may go crazy and think I miss it and sign up for a job at a NEW school). But I am done at the u of r at least. haha So happy about that

And I have gotten into hockey. I found myself reading an article about Pronger being suspended from tonight's game (apparently elbows to the face are bad... it's not his fault that his elbows are so much higher than everyone else's) and then texting him about it. As much as I talk through the game, I actually like watching it. And live games are so much fun! Anyone else like hockey? I know it's not A's baseball. But it is not our fault that the Sharks are not very good. haha

Look it is me in front of Fairmont... the end... haha