46 Pounds of Groceries Up the Stairs

I have lived in 3rd floor apartments (without an elevator) for quite some time. When I first moved to Provo right after my mission, I moved into a 3rd floor condo on 800 East. I loved peeking through the tops of pine trees to our view of the southern end of Utah Valley.  And I loved the fact that we didn't have any upstairs neighbors. So, when Annelies and I found another 3rd floor apartment on 600 North, I knew we'd like it. And we did! Another spectacular view-- this time facing North-- of gorgeous Timpanogos.

Yes, that is an actual photograph from the balcony of that 3rd floor apartment. To me the view has always been more important than the color of the carpet or the condition of the cupboards. I know that's silly. But it's true.

I told Brent when he went apartment shopping for us in Houston to take note of the windows, the lighting, and the use of space. Those were the most important things to me. And so it's not surprising that he got a 3rd floor apartment with vaulted ceilings and large windows. And it's been great. Our windows face East, so we get lots of sunshine for most of the day.

To me the only bad part about living on the 3rd floor is getting up there. Moving in, moving out. . . . and carrying up groceries. Which brings me to this post's topic.

For three years I've carried my groceries up 2 flights of stairs. I quickly realized that I preferred one strenuous trip to two or three short trips. So I now hang all my grocery bags on each arm (no matter how many) and trek up the stairs. It can get your heart pumping!

This week I thought-- for fun-- I'd see how much weight I actually carried up. So after coming in the door, I went straight to the bathroom scale-- with all the bags still on my arms to weigh myself. Then I subtracted my weight. The answer: 46 lbs! And that load didn't feel as heavy as some I've managed.

Who needs to work out if you live on the 3rd floor, right?

The Best Banana Bread Ever!

Last week I found a banana bread recipe that is so good! And as a true banana lover (I've eaten a banana on more days of my life than not)-- I also love banana bread. But this surpasses any I've tasted. The werid thing is that this is a low fat banana recipe. Unfortunately for me, it is not low-fat because I ate almost an entire loaf in one day. Ah!!!

I got the recipe on joyofbaking.com, but I made just a few changes. I added more whole wheat flour, cut the brown sugar down to 1/2 cup, and added toasted pecans. So this is my revised version of the recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1 cup mashed ripe bananas (about 2 large)
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 cup low fat yogurt (I used banana flavored, but I'm sure vanilla would work too.)
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 3/4 cup toasted, chopped pecans

 Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) and place the rack in the center of the oven. Spray an 8 x 4 inch (20 x 10 cm) loaf pan with a nonstick vegetable cooking spray. 
• In a large bowl, mix the mashed bananas with the baking soda and yogurt. Allow to sit while you prepare the rest of the batter. 
• Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, whisk together the oil, sugar, egg, and vanilla. 
• In another large bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder, ground cinnamon and salt. 
• Then combine the banana mixture with the oil mixture and then add to the flour mixture. Stir just until all the ingredients are moistened. Stir in pecans. Pour into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake for about 45 - 55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean. 
• Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool.

Makes one loaf (about 12 slices).

I really did follow the directions above. Except I didn't whisk the flours together. I just added them straight to the rest of the batter. 

This is how mine turned out: 

Life Without TV

Brent and I don't own a TV. I sometimes forget this is abnormal, until someone asks if I've seen such-and-such show and they act shocked that we don't have a TV. But for me, it feels very normal. Out of the past 9 years of my life, I've only lived with a TV for about 3 of them. And even then, I barely watched it. Kelli and I did go through an American Idol kick back in 2003/2004. And of course we would use it to watch movies. But mostly in my hectic schedule of school and social events, I never had time to watch TV.

The great thing is that Brent wasn't much of a TV-watcher either. In fact, when we were dating, he and his roommates were the ones without a TV (there was one in my apartment). So, TV was never part of our dating life or social interaction. When we got married, we figured we would buy one after we moved to Houston. But we still haven't. And I doubt we will for a while.

The thing is, we aren't against watching TV, per se (although there is enough junk on TV these days to justify that argument). It's just that we love they way our life is without TV. When Brent comes home, we have a sit-down dinner at the table, clean up together, and then spend the rest of the evening talking, relaxing, getting "stuff" done on our lap tops, reading, or chatting on the phone with family. Once in a while we'll go to RedBox and watch a movie on a lap top. But not enough to really warrant the time, money, and (most of all) effort it would take to buy a TV and DVD player.

So we continue to live our not-so-Amish, yet TV-less life. Maybe if we wait long enough, we can by-pass the whole TV thing and get whatever comes next...

A Lesson on Freedom and Rhetoric

I almost forgot it was Martin Luther King, Jr. Day today. Brent had to work, and my day is as usual: entertaining myself, helping other people, doing chores and running errands (usually in that order). But I but when I realized what day it was I couldn't help but share my strong feelings about this day and this man and, mostly, his famous speech.

I love the "I Have a Dream" speech. Most people remember the "I have a dream. . ." part, but there is so much more to it than that. If you have never heard the entire speech, you must. Here is your opportunity:

A year ago this week, I taught my students about rhetoric in order to find deeper meaning in this speech. Rhetoric is the art of using language to effectively persuade. Even though many people learn the term rhetoric and rhetorical tools (techniques used to persuade) in high school, I never learned about them until I worked at the BYU Writing Center. Since then, I sometimes find myself picking out rhetorical tools while reading a talk from General Conference or an op/ed article in the newspaper.

So here's your English lesson for the day. Watch Dr. King's speech and think about what rhetorical tools he uses and what effect they have on you. If you have trouble identifying the rhetorical tools, here are some to get you started:

• Repetition: What words or phrases does Dr. King repeat over and over again? What effect does this have? 
• Metaphor: What comparisons does he make to freedom and injustice? What added meaning does this bring to these ideas?
• Allusion: Dr. King references religion, sports, history and music. How does this add or detract from his message?

Let me know what you think/ how you felt about the speech. I feel moved every time.

Houston

In Houston--like any other place, I suppose--there are a few things that are different. . . 

The stop lights swing on wires. . . (probably so they don't snap when hurricanes blow through)

Not everyone speaks with a Texan accent--in fact, at my local Walmart it's more common to hear a foreign language . . .

There are so, so many trees. . .

 And the trees are tall!

You need a Britta pitcher-- unless you like the taste of overly-chlorinated water. . .

Gas is even cheaper than in Utah . . .

There are medians or center dividers on almost every road, which makes the neighborhoods so pretty . . .

Air conditioning runs 9 months of the year. . . even occasionally in December!

You can find food from any country. I live close to a Chinese grocery store, a Japanese market, and an Indian strip mall ...

The sunsets are beautiful! 

Emily's Visit

Brent's sister Emily came to visit this last weekend after she finished finals at BYU. It was so wonderful to have her here! Some highlights of her stay:

Our first day we went to the Houston Zoo. One of the most interesting animals was this bull from Angola. Look at those horns!! Outside the fence!!

 Lazy lions. . . .

 Sushi and Pizza: Turns out it's the perfect meal to share with the Picketts!

 Caroline working so hard to keep our work of art in one piece.

 Home Sweet Home (Notice the Texas star above the front door that is starting to drool. . . . and the very scary looking ginger bread man. Brent said it was supposed to have a beard.)

Christmas Candy Catastrophe

Of all the tastes of Christmas, my favorites would include Sees candy, Asian pears (crisp and juicy like an apple, flavored like a pear, bigger than a softball = sooo good!), honey-baked ham, ambrosia (this amazing fruit salad that my Uncle Kent makes), rainbow jello (pictured in a previous post), and Grandma Sheranian's toffee.

This Christmas I decided to try to make Grandma's toffee for the first time, but it turns out that in learning to making candy, experience is key. I knew making candy is difficult, so I made sure to read the recipe about 6 times before I started. I had my thermometer ready, and Brent's help stirring so I could monitor the temperature. 

Then, as I began to take the temperature of the melting butter and sugar, I realized that my thermometer was really intended for meat--not candy-- and only went to 220 degrees, when we needed to cook this candy precisely until it was 300 degrees. So Brent quickly calculated where the needle would need to fall for it to be 300. Good recovery.

Everything went great after that until Brent poured the toffee onto a cookie sheet to cool and we realized that something was missing: half of our plastic spoon!!! Lesson: DO NOT USE PLASTIC UTENSILS WHEN MAKING CANDY!!! So all the beautiful toffee ended up in the trashcan. So sad! Luckily, I had enough ingredients to make another batch the next day. We used a wooden spoon, and it turned out perfect!!

Brent holding the half-melted spoon. Isn't he so cute?

So, so sad. . .

All the contaminated toffee in the trash.

\

The second batch of candy that turned out just right!

Adventures in the Kitchen

 Mom's famous rainbow jello for Thanksgiving dinner! Twelve layers of scrumptiousness!

My first attempt at a loaf of white bread.

 Yes, I made sushi!! I made two rolls with imitation crab, carrot, and pickled ginger and then two rolls with egg, carrot, and pickled ginger. I learned a lot after making this batch: 1. Using multiple colors in a roll adds to its appeal. (These rolls definitely needed something green!) 2. You need to gently pat down the rice before you add the fillings so that the rice is smooth and even. 3. I need to learn how to make rolls so that the filling doesn't fall out of either end. 4. I need to learn how to make the rolls smaller and tighter.

I have a long way to go in perfecting this art, but I feel like this was a good start. After eating Brent's mom's sushi and going out to some good and bad restaurants, I can now at least tell the difference between good and bad sushi (it was all the same to me before).  Brent's mom says the best way to learn to make good sushi is to eat good sushi, so she says Brent needs to take me out to expensive sushi restaurants. ;-)

Who are these people?

 

Yep, it's supposed to be me and Brent. We got this sketch done at the San Diego Zoo on our honeymoon. But we weren't too impressed. . . Both Brent and I have rounded faces with soft jaw lines, which this artist didn't really capture. But Brent's eyebrows are pretty accurate. :-)

Deep in the Heart of Texas

Texans have always been famous for their seemingly excessive state pride. I was first exposed to it as a freshman at BYU, when my roommate from Beaumont, TX moved in with her Texas flag comforter set and thick Texas accent. But this roommate proved to be one of the most open, friendly girls I have ever met, so I always thought there must be something really great about Texas.

Now that I live in Texas, I've come to find that the people really are friendly, the steak really is good. And, although I can't speak for the rest of this big, wide state, Houston is a great place to live. However, I'm not sure that it's so much better than Provo. The people were friendly there, and the food was good there, too. What really makes Texas different is its pride. There is something so pleasant about living in a place surrounded by people who are happy and proud to be there. Pride is unifying. It's positive.  And it's fun. So when I go shopping for Christmas decorations, and I see red and green cowboy boots, Santas that lasso, and advent calendars shaped like the state of Texas; instead of rolling my eyes, I smile with delight. In this world of divisiveness, Texans have at least one thing that brings them together.

And so here's a little Texas pride for you to enjoy. "Deep in the Heart of Texas" is a classic Texas-pride song. The kids learn it in school, and they even sing it during the 7th-inning-stretch at baseball games after "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" (at least at Astros games). To me it doesn't really capture the essence of Houston, but I'm sure for those who live in West Texas, this describes their home perfectly. In any case, it's a pretty funny song. To listen click here.

The stars at night are big and bright (clap, clap, clap, clap),
Deep in the heart of Texas.
The prairie sky is wide and high
(clap, clap, clap, clap),
Deep in the heart of Texas.
The sage in bloom is like perfume
(clap, clap, clap, clap),
Deep in the heart of Texas.
Reminds me of the one I love
(clap, clap, clap, clap),
Deep in the heart of Texas.
The coyotes wail along the trail
(clap, clap, clap, clap),
Deep in the heart of Texas.
The rabbits rush around the brush
(clap, clap, clap, clap),
Deep in the heart of Texas.
The cowboys cry, "Ki-yip-pee-yi"
(clap, clap, clap, clap),
Deep in the heart of Texas.
The doggies bawl and bawl and bawl
(clap, clap, clap, clap),
Deep in the heart of Texas.