Happy birthday!

Today was Nate's birthday. It was a lovely day spent watching the Doctor Who Christmas episode, playing Majora's Mask, eating dinner with his family, and playing Apples to Apples with people who actually have a sense of humor similar to mine.  My family tends to be more realistic. He absolutely loves his gift, a Legend of Zelda scarf from this website. I found it on Ravelry in English. Go check it out!

Speaking of Ravelry, I've added four new projects to work on. They're all blankets because I am in a blanket making mood. Two of them are Portal blankets, one for me, one for Nate. The inspiration is this:

He gets the orange one and I get the blue one. It works out just fine. We both get the colors we want! 

The next blanket is for my mother on her birthday. She loves Donald Duck, so for her, I'm creating the Donald Duck blanket. I figured the catchphrase "oh boy, oh boy, oh boy!" worked much better with this image of Donald than "What's the big idea?" or the angry noises that my mom and I think look something like this: "#!?" And he looks happy! I'm sure she'll love this blanket.

The fourth blanket is for my dad. He loves his Florida Gators. He graduated from the University of Florida, so I figured why not make him a Gators blanket? I used a pixel logo I found on deviantart and made some serious changes to it to make the gator look more realistic. I grew up a Gators fan. That logo looking accurate is insanely important to me partially because of that reason.

Finally home!

I came home to Vegas on the 15th. I had a friend from college stay at my house for the first five days of winter break, and she wanted to go see the Bellagio fountain. So we went to eat at Mon Ami Gabi across the street and got to see the Bellagio fountain that way. Three times. It was pretty cool! But I'd honestly forgotten how bright Vegas is.

My friend left on the 19th. I've really been enjoying my vacation so far. Up until two days ago, it's been a mad rush to finish presents. I finished my aunt's hat and found out she wants a scarf to go with it! I chose Smariek's Triumph Cable Scarf to go with the hat. It works perfectly with the hat, and my aunt will really enjoy it, I think. Then, two days ago, I finished Nate's scarf. He gets it on his birthday in approximately four days. He'll love it. It's six and a half feet long (easily), and he loves long scarves. I think of the three scarves I've made him so far, two of them have been double knit. This is (probably) the best one so far, because I'm combining his love for scarves and his love for Legend of Zelda. I'm rather fond of the pattern, to tell you the truth. It's pretty!

My aunt's hat!

No picture for the scarf yet because Nate does read this and I'm not spoiling it. 

Now I'm finishing a friend's commission. She wanted a shark and gave me the pattern for it. That pattern challenged me by using all sorts of techniques I never thought of using. It looks fine, though! I'm also working on a blanket with the Portal guy on it. I'm only working on the orange portal because I only have one hook of the size I need. It'll be cool when it's finished!

A completed present!

I finished my dad's blanket on Sunday afternoon. Greatest accomplishment of the weekend. It is ultimately sized at 4'3" x approx. 7'. It's approximately 7 feet because I got just under seven feet, seven feet exactly, and just above seven feet the three times I measured it. I'm just going to average it and go with it's 7 feet. It's really warm and quite comfortable. It was such a blast to make. 

In order to get the whole blanket, I had to put this on the living room floor and run up to the second floor. I couldn't take a picture from the top of my bed to my bedroom floor. Nope. Second floor down to the living room floor. 

The top and bottom edging of the blanket. It's a reverse single crochet and chain 1, skipping every other dc. It has a nice, sophisticated look to it.

Edging on the left and right sides of the blanket. Done while crocheting, so there was no extra effort! It's great. I love the little loops.

I sat next to the TV to take this picture. It looks huge, doesn't it? I'm really proud of it. I think my dad will like it. 

Tuna Rolls

My mom made tuna rolls for me and my brothers when she doesn't feel like cooking a full-on meal or can't go out and get something. I love tuna rolls. They're the only rolls I do eat at home. At restaurants, I eat most rolls. But that's beside the point! I recently asked my mom how to make these, and I've made them twice so far. Delicious! Plus, I have plenty of leftovers for when I want a snack.

Tuna Rolls

Makes 10 rolls

Ingredients

• 3 cups rice
• 5 tablespoons vinegar
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons salt
• A little bit of salt and pepper
• Few spoonfuls of mayonnaise
• 1 large can of tuna
• 1 packet of seaweed

Directions

1. Wash and cook 3 cups of rice. The method doesn't matter. I prefer using a rice cooker because I have one.

2. Mix the vinegar, sugar, and salt together in a large bowl, then add the rice. Mix well. Attempt to coat all the rice with this mixture.

3. Drain the tuna and place in a bowl. Add mayonnaise and a little bit of salt and pepper. Mix well.

4. Use a roller with a paper towel underneath or a piece of plastic wrap. I cannot guarantee the plastic wrap will work because I've never used it. Place a piece of seaweed on top of the roller/plastic wrap, then cover the 3/4ths of the seaweed with rice. you shouldn't have to use more than a scoop of rice because it needs to be spread thin.

This is what the roller I use looks like.

5. Put tuna in the first fourth of the rice. Then, roll up the roll. This is kind of tricky to do initially. Roll up a little bit of the roll and press. Then, take the bit you just rolled up, then roll it so it's larger. (I may have to do a tutorial for this if it's really confusing...)

6. Repeat until the ingredients run out. I wrap my tuna rolls up in plastic wrap if I'm not going to eat them immediately. They'll keep for a few days in the refrigerator.

And there you have it! Tuna rolls! 

Progress on Christmas Presents

I measured my dad's blanket yesterday and found out I have 16.5 inches left of the blanket. When I found out, I thought, "HALLELUJAH." I'm almost done with the fourth pattern repeat of Nate's scarf.

I'm starting to feel the crunch for making presents. I'm going to be working on it almost nonstop for the next week or so because I have no finals. I anticipate a few trips to the library to work on the scarf with a peaceful mind and plenty of episodes of Cake Boss to finish the blanket. I WILL get these presents done.

Then I get to start on a hat for my aunt. She was supposed to go through radiation treatment, but the hospital or something called and said she couldn't do it because of her oxygen levels or something. I'm still making her that hat. I want to cheer up my aunt. She's going through a hard time with her sickness and she's my favorite aunt (I feel like I'm not supposed to pick favorites among family, but she's the best). I'll be making her this hat in Caron's Simply Soft "Forest" colorway. I think I'll make a medium hat for a safe bet. She wanted to stand out in a crowd, but not too much. This hat will accomplish it for her. I showed my dad several patterns and colors (she's his sister, after all), and he went right for that hat in the forest color. I can't wait to start on it.

Christmas Party!

My RA decided to throw a holiday party today. It starts in about an hour, and I'm waiting for the friend I invited to get here. She texted me that she'd be here at 6. I've got to text her after this post. 

For the holiday party, there's going to be a white elephant game being played. It had to be between $5-$10. I'm anticipating getting a gag gift... My hopes aren't too high for a roomful of college students. I, however, can give handmade gifts, and a handmade gift it is!

I made the Brain Waves Beanie from Liz McQueen. It was quick and only took a day of doing absolutely nothing and watching Cake Boss to make this guy. I elongated the pattern because I like a little slouch. It's red, white, and black, the colors of my university. I wasn't thinking, "Hey, these colors are the university's colors!" At all. Seriously. But it worked out perfectly! 

I've got a little turret from the Portal series (anyone play that?) modelling my hat. His name is Mrs. Nesbitt, and he had a change of heart. No longer will he shoot whenever something moves. Mrs. Nesbitt models hats now! It's fashionable, didn't you know?

I don't hate you...

I ended up wrapping the hat in newspaper. I get free newspapers in the dorms, so I'm dubbing newspapers "college kid wrapping paper" because it's so inexpensive! 

Go make this beanie! It'll look super nice.

Best Banana Bread

I am a huge fan of banana bread. My mom always made the best, and when I went off to college, she sent me the recipe so I could make it. Whenever I buy bananas, I purposely let three ripen so I can use it in the bread. It's my favorite breakfast food.

Banana Bread

Ingredients

• 1-2/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 3-4 medium bananas, very ripe and peeled
• 2/3 cups sugar
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 2 large eggs
• 1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• Butter (a little)

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease the 8-1/2" x 4-1/2" loaf pan with butter.

2. In a medium bowl, using the wooden spoon, stir together the flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda.

3. In a large bowl, smash the bananas with the fork. Add the sugar, oil, eggs, and vanilla and beat with a wooden spoon until well blended.

4. Add the flour mixture to the banana mixture. Stir until just blended. 

5. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan, spreading it evenly with a wooden spoon. Put the pan in the oven and bake for 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the bread comes out clean. Remove the pan from the oven and set it on a rack to cool for 20 minutes.

6. Gently run a table knife along the inside edge of the pan to loosen the bread from the sides. Using oven mitts, turn the pan on its side and slip the loaf out onto the cooling rack. Let the loaf cool for 15 minutes before serving.

And there you have it! The best banana bread I've ever had! It really is delicious. So soft and light. Drink it with a little milk and it makes the perfect breakfast.

Christmas Presents

As usual, I'm making my family Christmas presents. I recently finish a pair of gloves for Ricky. I've only got my dad's blanket and Nate's scarf to go. Take a look at the things I've been making:

My dad's striped afghan pattern comes from a book called 1-2-3 Crochet. I've adapted it to be about 4 ft wide and 7 feet long. I don't know why my dad wants it that long... But it's very warm. I've always liked making blankets because once it gets to a certain length, it keeps me warm. 

Johnny's beanie. The green is darker in reality. It does not look that... washed out. This comes from a pattern called the Doctor Who Slouchy Beanie, but I can't find the website I got it off of. I found it through ravelry, but now it's not showing up. 

This comes from a book called Modern Top-Down Knitting by Kristina McGowan. The skirt does do a very obvious color change... But I think it looks nice in person because it gives this dress some character! I have yet to block it (as seen by the markers holding the ends together so it doesn't go all wavy). I hope it fits.

Ricky's water gloves from the Cigar pattern. He really only wants a pair of fingerless gloves, so I changed the last two fingers to make them fingerless. The water drop is off center. I'm fixing that when I write up how I did this. But Ricky isn't a perfectionist. His only request was that if one was off center, the other had to be, too. I could do that.

Finally, Nate's scarf from the Twilight Princess scarf pattern. I was going through ravelry and found this. His gasp of joy decided it. I would make him this scarf. And so now I am! I've just finished the third pattern repeat. Four more to go! This isn't a Christmas present. It's Nate's birthday present. He already got his Christmas present.

Handmade Christmas gifts are always the best. I love making them!

Strawberry Nutella Muffins

A while back, I found the blog Two Peas and Their Pod and went through all the recipes that were on their blog. They have a ton of good ones. You should definitely check them out sometime! I stumbled across these delicious Strawberry Nutella Muffins. I had to make them. I absolutely love strawberry and nutella, so why not combine the two and follow this delicious recipe?

I've made this twice for breakfast. Both times, I skipped the turbinado sugar. The first time, I had no idea what it was. The second time, I figured I didn't need it. According to TPaTP, it gives it some delicious crunch. My muffins tasted just fine without them! You may or may not want to put in a little more sugar to make up for lack of turbinado sugar, or just go and put the turbinado on. Either way, it's delicious!

I also found out my dough was still dry after the amount of milk put in, so I suggest eyeballing it to see if the dough looks dry. If it does, pour in a little more.

Strawberry Nutella Muffins

Makes 12 muffins

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1 large egg
• 1/3 cup + 1 tablespoon milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup chopped fresh strawberries
• Nutella
• Turbinado sugar (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a muffin tin with paper cups or grease well.

2. In a medium bowl, mix the flour, salt, baking powder, and sugar. 

3. In a small bowl or glass measuring cup, combine the canola oil, egg, milk, and vanilla together. Whisk until well combined.

4. Combine the dry and wet mixtures in the medium bowl. Mix until just moist. Add in the strawberries, being careful not to mush any of them accidentally. 

5. Fill each muffin cup with a spoonful of batter. If it looks like it's lacking, put in a little more. Then add a tablespoon of Nutella on top of each mix. Use the remaining batter to cover up the nutella. (Optional step: Sprinkle each muffin with turbinado sugar.)

6. Bake muffin for 17-20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Remove the muffins from the oven and let cool.

I didn't wait for them to cool. I bit right into them! They make an excellent breakfast, and could probably make an excellent dessert as well. I have to be making these again sometime soon!

I know, I know.

I'll get back to posting recipes and stuff on Monday. Enough musings from me. But grant me this last one for a while, please?

I hope you all had a happy Thanksgiving! I know I did, for the most part. There was the rare jab related to the election, but I ignored it successfully. My mom made the best turkey ever. Usually, the white meat on turkey is really dry, but my mom made it perfectly. The meat was tender and juicy. So great. I had a ton of stuffing. Ever since I was a kid, that's been my favorite dish. The best thing to do the day after Thanksgiving? Turkey sandwich. I had one with stuffing and mayonnaise. Food heaven. Leftovers are the best. I'm a little sad I won't be here much longer to chow down on more delicious leftovers.

Today, Nate came over and we got to spend the day together. He may have won more battles in Super Smash Bros Brawl, but I killed more people. So we both won! I'm apparently really good at getting kills in Brawl... I was winning up until Ricky became Ike and whooped everyone. His best character is Ike. No one stood a chance, really.

It was like a mini-Christmas! I gave Nate his early Christmas present, a hand-made blanket from a Loops and Threads yarn label. I've been using it since it was finished, and it's kept me warm fairly well. Now he has it, and I gave it to him knowing it would keep him warm like it kept me warm. That's a comfort of mine. Knowing that something I made is keeping him warm when I can't. That's funny for me to say, because I'm the one who gets cold easily. Not him. Usually, he's too hot.

The blanket. I sat on my (lofted) bed to take this picture.

Towards the end of the visit, my dad made this offhanded comment. He meant nothing by it, but with the track record I've had with him recently, it crushed me almost immediately. It kicked the "why can't I do anything right?" train into motion. I stopped responding to Nate's comments and just started at his phone. I'm used to the feeling of worthlessness, but I've never shown it around someone else, let alone someone as important as Nate. He's seen this, but it's over Skype, and never in person. It's easier to fake a better emotion if it's not in person. But I couldn't fake being happy in person. 

Nate sat and held me and told me my dad didn't mean it. He pointed out all I've ever done is try to please my parents and I needed to take a break. He just held me and made sure I was okay. The exact same thing happened when he left. He held me and told me he wouldn't leave until I felt better. He said all these things, and I've come to this realization again. I've had it so many times, and it makes me feel better every time. 

I can stand on my own two feet. It's something I've been able to do for the longest time because I ended up not trusting people. Whenever I had a breakdown, it was always behind closed doors, and I took the time to compose myself so that no would could tell I had lost it just a few minutes before. I have to appear strong, I thought. I didn't want to- heck, I still don't want to- be seen as weak. So whenever I suffered breakdown because of stress or emotions or something, I never shared it with anyone. That was my pain and mine alone. I didn't want to burden anyone. I'm so used to being everyone else's shoulder to cry on that I thought I couldn't let anyone see how I felt, because that would make everyone not come to me or not trust me or something like that.

However, with Nate, I found someone that I can confide my fears and sorrows and joys to and not feel worried about losing them. He lets me know he'll always be there, and I am so grateful that he's in my life. The way I acted earlier- being downtrodden- should have, by all means, given him a reason to say, "You know what? Cheer up and stop being mopey. You're an adult, for God's sake." But Nate stayed and made sure I was okay. There's nothing better than knowing that someone will be there for you, through thick and thin, to make sure you get a smile back on your face. That someone, for me, is Nate.

Going home for Thanksgiving

I'm currently sitting in the SLC airport, doing homework. I'm really excited to go home. I miss my mom and my brothers. My dad is kind of giving up a mix of emotions. I don't know how to feel... Nate's offered to let me go to his house for Thanksgiving if my dad brings up too many election things. It doesn't help my dad's friends (who certainly do not approve of who I voted for) will be there. Oh, well.

Anyway! Thanksgiving! It'll be a nice holiday where I get to spend time with my family and my dogs. I get to make pineapple upside-down cake for dessert tomorrow. Maybe I'll post a picture after I'm done!

Everyone enjoy your Thanksgiving!

Volunteer service

Today, I did two unrelated volunteer services in the span of six hours. I was completely exhausted, then felt energized, and now I'm slowly mellowing. I like doing volunteer service. It makes me feel good and I love seeing happiness on other people's faces. 

I taught my student some things about Congress today. I'm going to admit, throughout the lesson, I felt like she was growing frustrated or couldn't concentrate. I don't blame her. I was feeling anxious and restless the whole lesson. Time didn't seem to be moving fast enough and I went through all my activities, including the back-up. I even had the thought, "Why am I doing this? I'm insane! I can't teach anyone anything. What made me think I could teach someone what's on the citizenship test? She's going to fail and it'll be because of me." And it was only the second class! I had a rough time convincing myself I'm going to get experience with this and I'll get better. 

That whole 'law of attraction' thing doesn't work with me. I've got the opposite effect. When I think I've done something really well, I do horribly instead. I've got a track record with this. So instead of trying to convince myself to be positive, I'll take things slowly and get my satisfaction after everything's done.

My second volunteer thing is a program called U-FIT. The past couple of weeks, my kid was hit with a serious mommy phase. He would started crying (often as early as 15 minutes into the program...) and I'd have to sit with him as he felt bad. But today? Today I saw the kid I met the first day of the program. He was giggling and smiling and talked about all the nonsense three year olds like to talk about. How milk made his bones stronger and water made his muscles stronger. He kept telling me, "If you drink more milk, you'll have bones like daddy!" It was so precious. I loved every second of it. I missed this kind of silly attitude. I needed it, honestly. College has been stressing me out terribly as of late, and in the span of 2 hours, this three year old made me forget I have massive projects and papers to do. 

I missed the free pizza the U-FIT crew was giving out (boooooo), but I got a free shirt because I showed dedication and commitment. When I got that shirt, it didn't mean anything. But when I got home and looked at it properly, I grinned uncontrollably and got this little spring in my step. This shirt means something to me. I made a child happy and I gave his parents a little help in dealing with a three year old and a five year old with Asperger's. 

I think the reason I like volunteer service so much is seeing the happiness and smiles on the faces of those I've helped. That's enough of a reward. Sure, it's hard at first, but it'll get easier. I'll get into the grove of things, and those smiles will reward me. It's the best thing I can ask for, honestly.

This kind of mindset is really unhealthy

Since middle school, my dad has always wanted me to get straight A's. For one reason or another, there's always been one class that prevents me from getting it. In 6th and 7th grade, I got a B one semester, but it did nothing to affect the year's straight A's. In high school, it was math. Every single year. I'm not a hard science kind of person and I accepted this in high school. 

But my dad didn't. He always asked me why I didn't get straight A's. Did I go to the teacher? Did I study enough? It must be your computer, he said, that's why you're failing. Note: to my dad, 'failing' is a C. Possibly a B, depending on the other class grades. He always, always wanted me to get straight A's and would compare me to my younger brothers (the youngest was in elementary and middle school throughout my high school career). How come I couldn't get straight A's like them? It was such a stupid thing for him to do. Compare me to my brothers who were in middle school? Middle school classes are so different from high school classes.

My dad didn't understand why I didn't do well in math. He told me to study harder. ask my teachers for help. There's a problem when the teacher wants you to know what you're asking help for. As a result, I never, ever asked my math teachers (the two I had in three years) for help. They always wanted me to know the concept I was asking for clarification about. My dad didn't get me math help until the end of third quarter. That wasn't enough time to fix my grade, and so it remained at a B. Or was it a C? I don't remember. In my mind, they were equally bad. I wasn't doing well enough to show my dad I was an outstanding individual. I acted like getting one 'failing' grade out of eight wasn't bad. In my mind, though, that 'failing' C or B meant fewer scholarships. I could get into a good college, sure. My GPA was still high enough for that. But my GPA wasn't high enough for scholarships. I would be 'average.' I wasn't good enough- again. 

So when I got the scholarship for full tuition, I was proud of myself. Partially because I, for once, got a high enough GPA for something. My dad, too, was thrilled. But then the thoughts came back again. I only got this scholarship because someone else must've withdrawn. I got lucky. That was coming from just me. Then he talked about it with other people. He always said we were blessed and he thanked God, and most of the people he talked to said, "God is blessing you, Jess."

God? Not me? One of the proudest moments of my life was credited to someone that wasn't me? I was crushed. I knew they meant well, but it crushed me. My hard work meant nothing.

Fast forward to college. Here I am, trying to write a paper worth 25% of my grade, and I'm feeling like crap.  This essay won't be organized, it won't make sense. That old mindset from high school is back. My GPA is me. If my grade plummets because I screwed  up this essay, my GPA plummets. I failed again. My GPA is me and it defines me. It's all I have to make me stand out, and it's pitiful. I'm terrified of a bad GPA because if it's .2 points near a 4.0, I think I'm failing at everything. I'm letting everyone down. I won't be anything. 

I am fully aware that a GPA does not mean anything in the real world. We did good in school, yes. Now can we do well in the real world where a GPA doesn't matter? The problem is everyone puts such an unhealthy emphasis on GPA when it means nothing in the real world. I'm fully aware of this, yet I'm still in the mindset my dad put me into when I was in middle school. If I don't have a good GPA, I can't accomplish anything. It's so hard to break out of, and I'm scared of remaining with this 'everything must be perfect' mindset until I graduate. I'll break down, I'm almost sure of it. I'm breaking down now. What do I do? That GPA means everything at this point. I don't want to get a B or C again. I'll fail.

Cake Pops!

Yesterday was Mariko's birthday, and I decided to give cake pops a try. After some extensive research, I decided I knew what to do.

I was so, so wrong.

One out of every three cake pops fell apart. I burned the chocolate in the microwave (I think the microwave is having an identity crisis). And there was just too much cake mix for me to make everything into cake pops.

These came out pretty, though.

I've decided I'm never doing cake pops again unless I've got help, a double boiler, or one of those cake pop makers. I'm admitting defeat with that last admission. I really want to make cake pops by hand, but this just takes too long and it's too messy. It irritated me towards the end. There were four boxes of cake mix Mariko picked out and I only made one and a half. The rest became pre-cake pop cake that I've invited people to eat. Everyone loves those, which is great.

And the cake pops (that came out well) taste good. A friend of Susanna's said they were the best cake pops she's ever had. Surprising, considering I had no idea what I was doing. Still, I'm glad some people like my cake pops. I may try again when I have considerably more patience (and less cake mix). 

Pasta with Homemade Tomato Sauce

Today was such a good day! I didn't have to go to class today, so I sat home until I had to go meet my student for tutoring. Did I mention it snowed today? So I got to spend the majority of my time sitting in the snow and freezing my butt off. Once I got back to the dorm, I ended up sitting in the room refusing to move. I made myself some egg drop soup. It ended up tasting pretty bland, so I had to pour more soy sauce in it. Time to make some changes to that recipe...

A little while ago, I made some pasta using this recipe. I made some changes to it. I had my own tomato sauce hanging around, and I added mushrooms. That's pretty much all of the changes. My sauce had cinnamon, basil, and  in it, so it's tastes much different that using, say, Ragu. Maybe I'll post that sauce recipe up sometime. It was something I did on the fly.

Pasta with Homemade Tomato Sauce

Ingredients

• 1 (16 ounce) package bowtie pasta 
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/4 large yellow onion, chopped
• 1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
• 1 pound ground pork
• 2 cups homemade sauce OR 1 (16 ounce) jar spaghetti sauce
• 1 cup sour cream
• 2 mushrooms

Directions

1. Chop green pepper and onions and slice mushrooms. Place into a small bowl.

2. Bring a large pot of hot, lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook until done al dente; drain and set aside. 

3. Melt better in a large skillet over medium heat. Saute onion, bell pepper, and mushrooms until onions and bell peppers are soft, about 5-6 minutes. Add ground pork and cook until evenly brown. Drain excess fat. 

4. In a large pot, heat spaghetti sauce until bubbling. Stir in pork mixture, pasta, and sour cream. Cook until heated through, about 5 minutes. 

Just a warning, if you don't use a large enough pot, pouring everything in will be messy. That silver pot I used wasn't large enough to accommodate everything, and some of it spilled out. Enjoy your pasta!

Election Night

I believe every vote counts, because upsets can happen. I wish I could prove with facts that every vote does count. But unless you live in a swing state, you know your state will vote one party or the other without fail. For example, Utah. Utah will be red no matter what. But in a swing state, that color isn't set. Everyone voting can make the difference.

I'm not a fan of election years. Even in high school, when election year came around, chain letters went around saying, "Put a tally next to who you support and pass it on!" It never went past me. Every single chain letter was promptly deleted. This year, I was excited to vote. But my dad kept ruining the excitement I felt for being able to vote for the first time ever. He's tried everything to get me to not vote in Nevada, a swing state. He told me to take my driver's license test right after I arrived in Utah and register while I was at it. He knew my vote wouldn't matter, because Utah is red no matter what. If I voted Romney, I voted the exact same way Utah was expected to win. If I voted Obama, my vote wouldn't matter because Utah would be red anyway. When we discovered I had to wait two months before getting my license, I said I wouldn't take my driver's test until after the election. My dad then tried to say, "How about you just don't vote this election? Just sit this one out and watch how it goes.

I am mad at him for trying to keep me from voting in Nevada. In Nevada and other swing states, voting counts. I am aware of the elections and how important this is. I'm also very aware of what ridiculous things come about as a result of the election. The fact my dad and I are voting for different candidates already sets me up for some trouble with my dad. He called everyone who was going to vote for my candidate "ignorant," but then tried to make me feel better by saying, "But I still love you."

That doesn't make me feel loved, Dad. It made me feel like you're calling me ignorant because I'm voting for someone you don't approve of. Because we both have different things we want out of the future POTUS and your candidate has a history of not supporting what I believe to be important. I did my research. I'm not ignorant. And I'm voting for someone that most fits my stance.

Nate told me nearly the same thing happened to him. His mom called him a "traitor" for voting for who he wanted (opposite candidate of hers), but he couldn't tell if she was joking or not. Maybe the uncertainty of not knowing is better. I know for a fact my dad was serious when he said everyone voting for my candidate was ignorant. Recently, he said the party of the candidate I'm voting for votes only by looking for the little letter next to their name. When I tried to tell him his candidate's voters do it, too, he refused to believe me and said, "No, it's your candidate's party."

In my honest opinion, both parties are going to have voters who'll vote for a candidate because of the little 'R' or 'D' next to their name. We all know there are people in the deep South who'll vote for Romney because he's a Republican, or that people in New York and California will vote for Obama because he's a Democrat. These people exist all over the country. In fact, these people make up the highest group of political voters. Those who will blindly vote. Ideologues, which I consider myself to be, make up the smallest group.

Basically, what I'm saying is that I don't like this election year. I feel like my dad dislikes me and looks down on me because I'm voting for the candidate he doesn't like. I don't like talking politics in my family. I don't like talking politics among my friends. I don't like those people who believe that their vote doesn't count and thus don't go out to vote, because these people will eventually complain about the POTUS. If you didn't vote, you should shut up and accept it because you didn't try to use your one vote to vote for the candidate you wanted. To quote my US government teacher and my AP English teacher, "If you didn't vote, SHUT UP and stop complaining because you didn't vote."

It's probably too late for this year, but four years from now, and in any election, vote. 

We're a democracy. One person, one vote. Now use that vote to push for change.

Thinking about my future again

For my City as Text class, we went on a walk around the Normandie Heights AKA Harvard Yale neighborhood. My group decided to go back there after the Miller Bird Refuge excursion because we really loved the houses around it. My reason for going back was to look at the houses. In another post, I posted some pictures of the houses in the general area. Brick houses are something I'm fond of. New England brick houses are even better. I found some spectacular looking houses.

Looking at these houses got me thinking about my future again. I'm usually not one to fantasize about my future in too much detail because I'd rather not be disappointed when my future does happen and it's not what I imagined. But this neighborhood... It's someplace I'd like to live. Maybe not right away, but it's something to work up to. I see my future going a little bit like I'm living in an apartment initially, because that's all I can afford. Work, pay rent, and be happy in my own little apartment. Someone moves in with me, helps pay for rent, and we exist peacefully in that little apartment. Then I get married. I probably won't move from apartment dwellings right away. But then future husband and I get dogs. A Corgi and a Golden Retriever, and we need our own house with a backyard and plenty of running space for the dogs. I can start to garden. I've always wanted to garden. Grow my own and eat fresh veggies. Anyway, start off in a small house. Or maybe I'll get one of those big houses right away, so then I won't have to move and leave my garden behind. And when I have kids, we'll live in a nice house already.

I've spent more and more time recently thinking about my future. And I don't mind this at all. It makes me feel more secure. Makes me feel like I have something to look forward to. Best thing? I do.

Yarn Dyeing Tutorial

Today, I dyed yarn in my apartment! I felt like today would be a perfect day, because none of my roommates happened to be in the room today, but two of them came in over the course of the dyeing. One of them came in while the yarn was soaking in vinegar and heating up, and she thought it was spaghetti.

Spaghetti??

So here's the way I dyed my yarn in my college apartment kitchen!

You need:

• Animal fiber yarn (I used KnitPicks Bare Stroll Fingering Sock Yarn- at least 75% animal fiber is best when attempting to dye yarn)
• Vinegar (I guess at this.)
• White cotton yarn to tie the animal fiber yarn
• Kool-Aid in your choice of color (I chose to use Pink Lemonade and Lemonade)
• A large pot
• A spoon that lets you pick up the yarn
• A large bowl
• A large cup. The ones you get from sports games are the best.

First thing first: if the yarn isn't already in a hank, you have to wrap it up! I used two chairs in my room. The KnitPicks yarn already came in a hank, but I wanted long stripes, so I rewound it to be longer. This takes a long time if the yarn tangles up. I learned that the hard way... Every few inches, take a string of cotton yarn and wrap it around the yarn. Don't wrap or tie it too tightly, or you'll end up with a white line where the tie was. Unless you want that line there. Your choice.

It should look something like this! See where the white ties are? 

Next, I filled a pot with hot water from the sink and poured in the vinegar. The vinegar is to make the Kool-Aid stick to the yarn quicker. Feel free to go without it, but I always use vinegar. Then squish the yarn into the pot, making sure it doesn't overflow. Turn your stove to medium-low (about a 4 on my stove) and let the yarn soak and heat up for about 45 minutes. 

When the 45 minutes is almost up, prepare your Kool-Aid! I used Lemonade first. I took a cup and filled it with warm water. Whatever you do, do not put cold water into that cup. Because your yarn is 1) hot from the stove and 2) animal fiber, anything cold may shock the fibers and cause them to felt. It hasn't happened to me yet, but you really want to have the water in the cup as close to the temperature in the pot. Decide how much water to Kool-Aid you want. I used a larger cup, so I filled it up about 3/4ths of the way and mixed a packet of Kool-Aid into that. Every time you want to add a color, 3/4ths of the cup and one packet. That's my ratio.

Now take about half the yarn hank out of the pot and place it in the large bowl. Don't leave it hanging, or there will be a huge puddle everywhere. That's a pain to clean up. 

I poured in two cupfuls of Lemonade Kool-Aid and let that soak for 30-45 minutes. You'll know the yarn's soaked up all the Kool-Aid when you scoop up some water with your spoon and it comes out clear. Pour in more, if you wish. To get the yellow color, I used 6 packets of Lemonade. Lemonade produces a really weak yellow, so I always use more than I usually do in order to get a nice vibrant color.

I usually pour in the dye two cups at a time. Every time there's to be new color, I turn the yarn over so that the color gets to the yarn that may have been at the bottom before. It provides a nice even color.

Now that yellow is done, I pick up the yarn using my trusty spoon and put it into the blue bowl with the as of yet undyed yarn. Pour out the water, because it will have inevitably been sucked into it. Now take out the undyed section and put that into the water, making sure not to burn yourself. Make sure you get to where the lemonade color starts; otherwise, there's an awkward gap of undyed yarn. Now pour in the 2 cupfuls of Pink Lemonade and let that soak for 30-45 minutes. Pink is much more powerful, so if you don't want such an intense pink, don't put in so much! I used 4 packets of Pink Lemonade.

Kind of reminds you of Easter, doesn't it?

When the yarn is where you want it to be, take it out and put it into the bowl. Leave it to cool down for a little, because it will be really hot, and you need to be able to handle it for the next part. Is it cool? Good! Take it under the sink (making sure the water temperature isn't too extreme) and wash your yarn. Then try to squeeze out all the water you can, because you need to put it somewhere to dry. You don't want it dripping a lot, do you? It will drip a bit, but now that you've squeezed out excess water, you're good.

Ideally, hanging it up outside would be best, but since it's becoming cold, the yarn won't dry as quickly. My bathroom is the best bet for this guy. When it's done drying, wind it up into a hank. I used the handles on my desk to produce a small, fat hank of pink yellow yarn. I've always been in the habit of using my desk. Nice to see I can use it here too. 

I've nicknamed this one 'Lemonade' because of the Kool-Aid colors I used. Not very creative, I know. 

While I was dyeing the yarn, another roommate stared at it for a few minutes while she was eating. Finally, she asked me, "How come you don't just buy yellow yarn?"

"It's not as fun that way," I said, and it really isn't. Dyeing yarn gives you the power to create whatever color yarn you want. It lets you control everything! It's a very relaxing pursuit minus the winding up of things. That still manages to irritate me at times.

And here it is! My method of using a pot to dye yarn in! I've seen this used with a microwaveable casserole dish, too. I don't have a casserole dish to try this method with, but feel free to give it a shot, using what you know.

ESLC orientation training complete!

Back in September, when I was wandering the job fair, I came across a booth. "ESLC," it said, stating that its goal was to teach English to refugees in Salt Lake County. I talked to the woman there for a bit, picked up a flyer, and signed up for it. I paid the $45 fee after sitting down and talking it through with my parents. They said it was my choice how to spend my money, and if I wanted to pay the $45 for this, I could.

Well, $45 is a lot of money for a student with no job and trying to live off of what allowance is allotted to her. I decided to take the plunge. ESLC asked for a minimum of 100 hours commitment, approximately 6 months. The woman told me that after those 100 hours, they could write me a recommendation letter for the JET program. That's what I want to do after college. One hundred hours for a program I'm not even going to go on for another three years? Forty-five dollars for a letter?

That better be a damn good letter, I thought, and decided to make the commitment to stay with the ESLC all 4 years. It's my personal commitment, and it'll help me for what I want to do with my life.

Last Saturday and today I attended the orientation, and it was brutal. Their usual orientations were on Tuesday and Thursday, 3 hours long, for 2 weeks. I can't make Tuesday and Thursday because of classes. So I signed up for the Saturday orientation. I learned that meant 7 hours at the ESLC center from 9-4, learning as much as I could about teaching English to emergent speakers. I learned about the various methods I could use, what levels the students may be at, and what I could anticipate. I learned that lesson planning stresses me out, but that it should get better with time. I learned that despite the fact I'm very much a one-on-one person, I can't do one-on-one because I'm not comfortable going into someone else's home. I learned helping others gain their US citizenship, or teaching in a small group, is something I can do. I learned that the people at the ESLC are there to help, and they're willing to accommodate.

All of that, during a 12 hour orientation held over two days, I learned.

I found out that I didn't stress out over learning all of this. Usually, when I learn a lot of information without having time to digest, I started freaking out. How would I organize myself? Am I going to remember this knowledge? The fact I didn't majorly stress out may mean that I am actually dedicated enough to calm myself down.

At the end of the orientation, it was an immense feeling of relief to not have to go anymore. It was also a relief to get the cheesy little certificate for finishing the training. I am now able to teach English to refugees as a volunteer with the ESLC. I'm taking a step in the right direction. I can rest knowing that I am helping myself  grow right now and I'm setting myself up for my future. This piece of paper is cheesy and is probably insignificant to most other people, but to me, this is a piece of paper with a lot of meaning. I'm going somewhere.

Happy Halloween!

I hope everyone is having a fantastic day and is getting a lot of candy. I, for one, am binge-eating the candy I collected on Sunday. As of tomorrow, I won't be able to eat sugar. I agreed to join an anti-sugar diet with Susanna, Olivia, and Sam. No refined sugar for three weeks. That means marshmallows, hot chocolate, and just about everything I eat. One of the guys across the hall said to check the ketchup. There's sugar in my ketchup. I am going to fail this diet! One of my necessary dinner foods is omelet rice, and that needs ketchup. I guess my anti-sugar diet will be eat-less-sugar diet.

So apparently I can't put sugar even if I'm baking something. So if I'm making banana bread, I can't use sugar. I can't use sugar in muffins. Okay, never mind. I'm making this diet a diet without candy, soda, and desserts. That's the best I'm going to be able to do. I need sugar for my baking. I'm not letting my strawberries rot because of this diet.

Anyway... A while ago, I had to look up recipes using tomatoes. I got some tomatoes from helping out at the gardens and I needed to use them. None of my roommates wanted to use the tomatoes. I found one I could use! Admittedly, these tomatoes are not the garden tomatoes. I used them all making tomato sauce.

Here is the recipe! (Adapted for the fact I've used so many vegetables)

Scrambled Eggs and Vegetables

Ingredients

• 2 large eggs
• 1 tomato
• 1/2 carrot
• 1 green onion
• 2 mushrooms
• 2 teaspoons sugar 
• little bit of salt
• Soy sauce

Directions

1. Spray a frying pan with PAM or melt butter. Scramble eggs until almost done, then move into a plate.
2. Put the carrots in first and cook for three minutes. Then put in the tomatoes, mushrooms, and green onions. Cook another three minutes.
3. Put in the sugar, salt, and soy sauce and mix well. Add eggs back in an cook for a minute longer. Put onto a plate.
4. Enjoy! 

It tastes delicious.

Yakisoba

During my trip to the oriental market, I picked up some yakisoba noodles. I haven't had yakisoba in forever, and truthfully, I wanted some. A lot. Today I finally got the chance to make some! I have a grand total of two more times to make it before I need to go get more noodles. Here's the recipe for yakisoba! It's quick and simple, and doesn't take much effort. You can put almost anything in the yakisoba. More common additions are carrots, lettuce, and meat, but I put mushrooms in mine. You can also include onions or green onions or whatever you want, really. Whatever tastes good to you!

For the yakisoba noodles, I used Nama Yakisoba. It comes with all the noodles prepacked into nice little servings and has a sauce pack for each one. It's really nice! It looks something like this:

Yakisoba

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon oil 
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 package of yakisoba noodles
• 1 package yakisoba sauce
• 1 carrot
• 2 medium mushrooms
• 1 leaf lettuce

Directions

1. Cut the lettuce, mushrooms, and carrot into small pieces. 
2. Heat up the oil in a frying pan on medium heat. Put noodles in and cook for 30 seconds.
3. Pour water into the pan and soften the noodles with it. Put in the cut up vegetables and cook for 3-5 minutes. Before doing anything else, check to make sure the water has evaporated. If not, keep cooking everything.
4. Put the sauce on the noodles and mix it well. Try to get the sauce on everything. If you don't, don't worry about it. The sauce will find a way on.

Looking back at my cooking, I realized I put in more carrots than I liked, so I may only use half of the carrot next time. I may also try to cook the vegetables first, then put in the oil and start cooking the noodles. The carrot tasted raw... I'm not a fan of raw carrots. To me, if I can poke a hole through a carrot easily, it's probably not a cooked carrot. I'm going to put in meat next time, because chicken has become my new favorite meat and it would make this yakisoba taste great! 

I don't know what's up next. Maybe curry? Maybe another thing from allrecipes where I decide to modify the recipe a bit? I know a really good breakfast food I should do... 

Halloween Party!

The HSAC decided to throw a Halloween party (it's not Halloween, but whatever floats their boat). There was a pie eating contest and a costume contest. I won third place as Belle. I'm embarrassed to admit that I forgot bits of that songs despite it being from my favorite Disney movie, but I remembered about 95%, so that works. Second place was Schrodinger's Cat, and first place was Neo. The Neo guy was pretty cool. Stayed in character the whole time. One of the guys in the building dressed up as Slenderman. I honestly wanted to give this guy a high-five. I think I'm missing the scare factor of Slenderman. 

Because Slenderman and Neo dancing to Gangnam style is the best thing that cane happen.

One of the girls who attended the party carved the direwolf of House Stark into a pumpkin. It was awesome and woke up the inner Game of Thrones fangirl in me. House Stark is my house, guys!

And on the other side: "Winter is Coming"

I happened to catch this picture of the sunset. I love the colors the sunset produces. It's the prettiest color scheme I've ever seen, and I'm rather fond of the intense reds that show up. This picture caught a lot of the yellows and made it brighter, which was odd. But this is pretty nonetheless.