Ummmm, I love food storgage!

In preparations for my move to Kentucky or across town to San Diego State University I decided that it would be a great idea to put money where my mouth is, or rather put all the money I spent on food storage in my mouth and that is exactly what I have doing. For the last 2 weeks I have been living off of food storage food. I have made 4 loaves of wheat bread, 2 peach cobblers with rolled oats, 12 oat muffins, delicious rice with beans, chicken enchiladas and oatmeal every morning and all made with what I have at home. I can buy fresh fruits and veggies, but the rest is food storage. DISCLAIMER: I do go out to eat when invited, so it's not 100% food storage, but other than that is all from the cannery. And not just from San Diego. I have jam from Arizona and beef stew from Stockton, so its really an eccletic mix of food storage.
I love wheat bread. I don't know if its because I haven't eaten bread in months and missed it, but this homemade stuff is great. It's all been great. I must note that through every provident living lesson I wandered mindlessly to the depths of Middle Earth and back, but implementing the lesson into real life, I now know how important it is. As a single adult, it's hard to find the reason for 30 cans of food, but when push comes to shove, I am glad that I do have it and so are others. Family has benefitted from my new life style as seen with the picture of Stephanie eating some of the yummy delicious wheat bread, which she loves. It really brings families together and creates healthy living habits. As my grandfather pointed out, my digestive tract is right on these days thanks to all that fiber.
The real reason I did this was to eat up all this food and use all those recipes given to me in lessons. As I was searching for recipes that wouldn't make me vommit, I remembered the folder. I put all of those recipes from lessons in a folder and years later I found them. It was food storage heaven for me. I had a coffee grinder to grind the wheat, but I think that broke today after 7 cups of wheat flour were fabricated this evening. But other than that, its been smooth sailing. I still have a lot of food to eat and make, but I want to move into more of the bean and rice recipes. My grandfather told me not to go to fast and do what I can now and take it slowly. Do what I CAN now. Get it? Oh, I crack myself and that wheat up.

4th of July Rancho Style

For this year's 4th of July festivities, we executed the best short road trip ever. Lisa G, Judd and myself drove up to Lisa G's house in Rancho Cucamunga. Having never been there and relying on the knowledge I have acquired from media like the classic film Friday After Next, I was really looked forward to seeing Ice Cube on the street and Chris Tucker trying to get some mj, but alas, to my dismay there was none of that. Actually, Rancho Cucamunga is quite nice and has really grown the last while. We had wonderful drive up there and when we arrived, Bro Garcia was nice enough to make us Huevos Rancheros. And they were by far the best Huevos Rancheros I have ever eaten because I don't ever recall eating them before.
We stayed up late that night having lots of girl talk and awoke early the next morning to have some more. Having my own room, I don't ever get pillow talk, so the change was appreciated and enjoyed. We were treated to a breakfast fit for a king and the Garcia's treated us like royalty. They are such a cute couple and I love the way they argue. It's not really arguing, but bickering with sweet endings. The favorite line given was "I'm sorry, but you are wrong my sweet." How could you be mad at that? Yeah, that was some good bickering. It really was fun to be around them. Sis. Garcia even gave Judd a new name, Judge Judy and we know so much more about Lisa G too. I got to go through the high school photos and relive her life. It was awesome. Then we saw the best 2 years of Judd's life. The appartment he blew up on the mish and the burger joint that helped him rethink foods that cause cardiovascular disease.
The day's most eventful activity was the trip to the Los Angeles Observatory. It was amazing and now I know without a doubt that science heals all. If your heart is broken, can't decide on major life decisions or just don't feel good about yourself, go watch some stars and learn how some guy proved that the earth rotated. It will really put things into perspective and you will come out with a whole new view of life and your self worth will increase greatly. So whenever I am feeling blue or down, I will just read some science magazine or perform a 6th grade science experiment and instantaneously feel so much better. I really enjoyed the show where we saw that stated we really don't know anything about how the earth was formed and that the "Big Bang" theory really doesn't explain much. Yeah, church is true. On the way home we discovered that TJ was meant for Judd and Judd was meant for TJ. TJ will marry someone named Judy and Judd will marry someone named Terry Jane(TJ) and that scares Judd.
Fireworks at Black's Beach were seen and memories were made. It really was a great 4th and I am proud to be an American. A kid near us sang the Happy Birthday song to
America and then his parents told him to stop touching things, cause he could be touching a bear's bottom in the dark and not know. I'll have to write a blog about parents who lie to their children to teach them lessons.

The Fair is not fair to my bowels

Last week I went to the San Diego County Fair and WOW it was everything you would think a county fair would be. Lots of vendors shouting at you, dirt, cows, pigs, fried Krispy Kreme Sandwhiches and a whole lot of oil. So we partook of the fine fair cuisine. We shared some Awesome Blossoms, Pizza, Orange Julius, A Royal Banana Sunday all the way(which means everything thing on top), some others ate Turkey leg and other fat-filled food. It all tasted great, but my stomach hurt for 3 days and my bowels were in such a ruckus that I have vowed to never eat that much oil ever again in my whole. And then I remembered that I might be moving to Kentucky, where I am told everything is fried in oil. UMMMM, I can hardly wait for me to be a liar and eat fried food again and to have my bowels so upset with me that they just stop.
So then we hit up the games and this was the best part of the night. We got caught in one carnival man's snare and he wouldn't let us go. First of all, we really wanted the large stuffed tiger and honestly, who doesn't need a large stuffed tiger. Chicks dig it and fellas envy it. So we tried the "simple" game of bouncing the ball of the wall and into the basket. The carnival game kept making it over and over and over again and showing us how. So after 20$ we thought our boy Adam(whom we have no evidence ever went to the fair) would take that carni for everthing hes got. Well, not really and after spending 30 bones on a stupid whiffle ball game, we walked away with 2 pity parting prizes. Say that 3 times fast! One tiger and one deformed lion for Lisa and myself. Now I know why Ruthie never let us play games at the fair, because the carnies take you for everything you've got and then give you a pity prize while they enjoy your money and practice their game to trick more people into playing.
We also stopped by the vendor's area to look at all the crap that I will never need in my life and that I can absolutely live without and be completely happy. Some lady tried to sell me a curling iron for 200$ that didn't even work well. Ahh, the good times. I can't wait to go back.

Decisions Decisions Decisions

My life is full of them these days. So I recently decided to attend the University of Kentucky for graduate school and that was a pretty easy decision to make seeing how all the other schools said no. Well, now that I bought a plane ticket to Kentucky for next what do I get in the mail? A nice little letter from SDSU saying how much they love me and really really really ridiculously want me to go to their school. So now I get to make more decisions and quick too. Which is not my favorite thing. My friend Erin said that I should check out the schools and then weigh my options. So that's what I think I will do. Next blog time. Then I made a list of pros and cons. When I told my friend this, he informed me that 90% of all decsions are already made before one writes a list. Another friend inserted the fact that 75% of all statistics are made up. Who can I trust?

I'm Finally Gradumacated!

After being in the accelerated 6 year program at UCSD I finally gradumacated in Biology and Italian Literature. AHHHHH!!! The sigh of relief. I can honestly say that I am so glad to be done with that school. But before I go off on all of its failures I would like to describe the wonderful weekend that I had prior to said gradumacation. Friday night I went to a pinata party for a boy named Riccardo. The highlight was the pinata that never ended, they would just hang it up again all taped up and hit it some more.
Saturday I picked up Ruthie in the evening and we went to the best restaurant in town De Medici's. It's a great Italian place downtown and I ate the best meal I have ever eaten in my whole life. Honestly, the best. First of all we sat in one of the special booths that faces the steet and it was about a foot higher than every other table in the place. Everything was perfect, the lighting, the music, the service and the food. We had gnocchi with pesto and gorgonzola sauce and then their speciality plate. Grilled sol with lobster and crab stuffed in it. The arrangement was amazing with some spinach, carrots with cinnamon, asparagus and the best potatoes ever piped around the edge of the plate. A little bit of all and it made the perfect bite. I loved it. For dessert we had some cannoli. Sorry, I just had to get the Italian dessert.
Then on Sunday we picked up Erin from the airport. So Ruthel gets the great idea to go wearing nothing but bathing suits and sarongs, so we did. I just want to point out that it was her idea, not mine. Yeah, I felt like an idiot and completely naked, but the look on E$'s face was priceless. We hit La Jolla shores like all the other sunlovers and just hung out. My good friend Nate came as well to suffer through an interegation from Rufus and E. Then the hot tub and dinner at Steph and Jer's house.
It was nice to just relax.
Monday morning was the big moment. Truth and Steph made a lei with candy and money and Bruno bought me a flower one for me too. The ceremony wasn't too long or boring, but some highlights were:
1) One guy trying to do a funky dance across the stage and tripping and falling.
2) A girl named Tiffany Channel, I wonder where her mom shops?
3) The speaker with a baby voice telling a fable.
4) The chancellor having the parents stand up and saying "You are the wind beneath their wings." then the realeasing of white doves. Really lame.
5) Seeing all the chancellors and teachers wearing funky robes and hats like it was the next Harry Pothead movie.
6) Jamming out to Wilson Phillip's "Hold On" as post ceremony music, interesting choice of music
7) Listening to all the majors of the graduates. Science was 95% of the majors there.
Afterwards we had lunch at Anthony's on the bay and I ate some good mahi mahi, but not the best meal of my life. See above for the best meal of my life. I sent some boxes home with Bruno in prep for my relocation to Kentucky and then we watched Ocean's 13. Not my favorite Ocean but it was fun. Dropped the kids off at the airport and hit the gym. A perfect way to end the weekend. It was fun. I wasn't really too excited about the ceremony, but with everyone being here, it meant a lot to me and I had a great time. Great party and we'll do this again in 2 years, Appalachian style!!

Memorial Day Weekend with Bruno

Monday before Memorial Day weekend I get a call from my dad who has decided that it would be fun to go to Boise to see my cousin Ken's wedding. Having never been to all parts of Idaho except Boise I accepted his offer to pay for my plane ticket to Sacramento so that we could drive from there to Boise. I was in charge of a bridal shower, but was able to go setting it all up beforehand. (Side note: I first wrote "bridle shower" which made me laugh because that would have been one crazy party for the horses.) The drive wasn't bad and we did NOT get a ticket which is incredible for these two drivers. My favorite part is when my dad would tell ME to slow down, like he should talk at all on this subject. I think he has more tickets than I do years on this planet.
On the border between Nevada and Oregon(crazy to think we went to 4 states in one trip) there was an accident and the highway was shut down for hours, but we only had to wait for a while. But the crazy thing was when we drove by the accident the asphalt was burnt. A SUV hit a semi and burned. We got into town that morning at 2 and then the next day we explored the town.
I must say I was thoroughly impressed with Boise. It had some tall buildings and a nice downtown area. We stopped by the temple and also checked out the field at Boise State. They have blue astroturf, but a really weird blue. The stadium was locked up so we walked around and found a constuction site that had some holes in it. The field was crazy blue and I'm told they have problems with ducks landing on it in and dying, because they think that it's water.
That night we went to Ken's wedding. It was very nice and it was great to see some of the cousins whom I probably haven't seen in 10 years. Aunt Margaret is always a hoot to hang with and overall it was a very nice wedding. One thing I really liked was that they took polaroid pictures as you walked it and then they gave you a sheet to fill out for their scrapbook. Great idea, maybe you could use this Quickhands come November.
There is one picture of a new friend I made at the wedding. His name was Rod. We immediately hit it off and if he wasn't so busy with his band, I'm sure it would've worked out between us. He was a great date to the wedding and I will miss him a lot. Please notice the pink glove, its what I first loved about him.

My Mum's Mum

This Mother's Day weekend was the BEST EVER!! I decided that 2 days wasn't enough time for a real Mother's Day weekend, so I turned it into 4 days.(I can do that with only working 30 hours a week and having 2 classes.) And the question of what to get my Mum had already been answered thanks to my friend Melanie from the opera night. We somehow were discussing Texas Mums and the next day she sent me a link of how to make one. It was everything you thought a Homecoming corsage from Texas would be and with a skill level rating of 3 I thought "Ruthie would love a mum."
I owe most of my creative powers to the 1st graders at Lincoln Elementary of Mrs. Bird's class. After I spent Thursday morning cutting out geometric shapes of tissue paper for them to place on their butterflies, my creative juices were flowing like a river in spring time when the snow has just melted. After having lunch with my dad I went to Michael's and got all the fixings for one fine looking mum.
I superglued the flowers onto the front piece of cardboad and stapled the ribbons onto the second piece. I attached bells, flowers, patches and all sorts of rick rack to make it the best Mum's mum I could. I attached letters to spell "World's Best Mum, I love Ruth, Quilts and Marathons(cause that's what she likes to do) and Hugs and Drugs."(cause that's what she likes to deal on the rough streets of Stockton)
Friday was the big run day. When I say big run, I mean big run. Ruthie and I ran 20 miles (all at one time as Lori B. says) from Watt Ave. to the Sunrise Brigde and back. It was really nice because there was a horse path in the shade, so we were basically trailrunning the whole time and didn't sun burned. That area of Sacramento is so beautiful and I just love the trees up there. We saw mule ear deer, squirrels, hawks, peacocks, rabbits and mountain lions. Ok, we didn't see mountain lions, but I loved that Ruth points out that a couple of years ago a lady was running near where we were and got eaten by a mountain lion. Then she tells me to make myself look bigger while running to prevent the mountain lion from eating me. I almost tripped and fell. Good advice from the Gods Must Be Crazy movie.
We weren't too sore from the 4 hour run, but we had so much to do that we couldn't just chill afterwards. We stopped by Nana and Grandpa's to get our shower on and then hit up the quilt store for some final pieces for the 3 that I am currently making. Later that night Uncle Lenny came over to extract some of our honey. We have 4-5 hives and that night they canned about 5 gallons of honey and only did half of what was there. You can see the pic of Ruthie and one of the combs. I went to Erin's to finish up the mum and watch Finding Nemo. Favorite line "oh, you guys made me ink."
Saturday we got our shop on after I hit up the gym like a mad women. Well, like someone who had run a lot the day before and hadn't done weights in who knows who long. My recreational reading was provided by Erin, a nice little book called "Bridging the Gap of Poverty." It was all about the poverty cycle and what educators and officials need to know about family lives of the poor. I took a quiz to see whether I am lower, middle or upper class. But the crazy thing is that I answered "jes" to every category, so I decided that I defy all these established classes and classify myself in the foxy class.
Ruthie is going to France without me, I don't think it will be all that fun for her, and needed to get some clothes. While shopping at Stockton's best mall we walked through the cosmetics counter at Dillard's and WHOA that place is a runway just waiting for Heidi Klum to come and give it 12 hours to turn a piece of scrap metal into a dress with a matching purse. I had a nice dinner with E$ and got my quilt on that night. I mananged to swing by Tiger's Yogurt, home of the best frozen yogurt for the umpteenth time(4th) and last of the trip. I really like that Oreo cookie yogurt, it speaks to me. Beth met me there and we had a nice little chat. She is so happy and so much fun to be with.
Sunday was the big day. We got to talk to the Philly Boy in South Africa. He sounds that same and is having a marvelous time in the jungle. I brought down my mum's mum and she loved it. Ruthie knew I was making something for her and I told her "You will either love it or hate it, but just remember I spent a lot of time making it." She loved it and wore it to church and jingled with every step she took.
I think the best moment was when we were talking to couple about their daughter's wedding plans and Ruth mentioned that the corsages at Safeway were nice, but too heavy. The guy looks at her mum and says "You would know," and we all just start laughing.(names have been witheld to protect the innocent) I had to put 2 pins on the back to make sure that it wouldn't tear her shirt, it was heavy.
Ruthie teaches the 16 and 17 year olds in church and brought her lesson to church, but didn't bring her glasses and asked me to read it, she hands it to me and I look at the title and think "She's got to be joking me." It read "I was blind, but now I can see." I read it to her and she realizes that it was the lesson from last week, so I end up teaching her lesson for her. That was my real Mum's Day gift to her.
We had a wonderful dinner at Nana and Grandpa's made by Uncle Lenny and Aunt Betsy. Curtis, Tamara, Uncle Phil and Garrett were all there too and they gave us Victoria Secret Lotion too. It was really nice to see everyone and catch up.
We then shuttled over to Curtis' new house to check out his chickens(no he doesn't live in the country) and to check out his potential bee hive location. Overall I had a really nice time and it was great to see everyone. I brought the wrong homework book home and so I got to stay up late last night writing a paper and sentances in Italian. Yeah, I've got Senioritis bad. I wasn't even phased by it. It was such a fun weekend and I was able to do a lot of fun stuff and see my friends and family. I miss the Stock-town and my Mum. She's a great Mum. Notice the return of the pirate shirt of Spring Break 2007?