i'm gonna get over you.

this is my happy thought for the day. :)

i want her clothes. and her hair. 

so we tried an experiment today, and made super yummy pumpkin crunch granola. 

(this is like pavlov's dog... i say a food, and you start salivating. muahaha!) 

looks pretty delish don't you think?

(we did make a little subsitution and just used honey instead of all the agave-necter-health-nut stuff... i mean, we are poor college students after all!)

so i told you about my dream yes?

of running a half marathon.

tomorrow is the 5-mile run.

and guess who is a little scared.

NOT ME!

i'm gonna dominate this thing.

:D

a ghostly beginning to halloween

you know you are addicted to the internet when it goes down and you have no idea what to do with your spare time...

oh yeah.

i had like a pile of books that i was supposed to be reading.

and a cowl i was crocheting.

and food that needs to be made...

a blog to write!

.

.

.

it was definitely tough.

but we are oh so glad to be back online!

(it's even sadder when you are trying to think of something to make for dinner... 

"oh wait let me check... ah crap! i forgot i can't get on the internet. again. for like the 3rd time."

*

listening to music is one of my favorite things in the whole world.

(sometimes i wonder if it is because i wish i was more creative, so i live vicariously through those who actually have some musical talent...)

but we saw this "rock opera" open in rexburg back in april, and loved it.

so we went back tonight.

they were actually playing in idaho falls, so definitely moving up in the world...

;)

tonight's was definitely better than the first time.

*

i was up late (not doing homework apparently) and was flipping through channels, when i stopped at the history channel. i hadn't watched it in, like years, so i thought i'd see what they had for me. zombies. yeah. the history channel??? yeah, i thought so too. but i did learn several good things about surviving the zombie apocalypse.

now i won't tell you all of my secrets, because if there is a zombie apocalypse, i need to have the heads-up on you to make sure that the zombies eat you first.

just kidding.

find what you need to make your own zombie survival kit here.

the best part was finding out that the CDC actually put out a statement about emergency preparedness in case of a zombie apocalypse. suffice it to say, i was impressed. 

(don't judge, i wrote my senior research paper in high school on monsters. why do some lame research on drugs, sports and energy drinks when you can talk about vampires, werewolves and zombies??? and i wrote this paper before twilight. thank you very much.) the sad thing is that i am finding all of this cool stuff now, after i've already written the paper and done all of the research.

a quote from the CDC's website:

"if zombies did start roaming the streets, CDC would conduct an investigation much like any other disease outbreak. CDC would provide technical assistance to cities, states, or international partners dealing with a zombie infestation. this assistance might include consultation, lab testing and analysis, patient management and care, tracking of contacts, and infection control (including isolation and quarantine). it’s likely that an investigation of this scenario would seek to accomplish several goals: determine the cause of the illness, the source of the infection/virus/toxin, learn how it is transmitted and how readily it is spread, how to break the cycle of transmission and thus prevent further cases, and how patients can best be treated..."

i can sleep peacefully tonight knowing that the government is watching out for a zombie attack.

it's been keeping me up lately.

cheers!

oh, and i'm going to try this.

Galilee: Day 2

July 12

We only had one bus while we were up in Galilee, so half of the group would stay at Ein Gev and have a half-day of classes, and the other half would have a field trip day. 

isn't this just the best view ever? it's a wee bit hazy... but from my front door you can see the sea. har har. 

this is what happens when i get bored waiting for ariel...

Our first day was a class day… which might have been a little more difficult considering the only thing that was on our minds was the beach that was about a 5 minute walk away.

Another interesting thing about the place that we were staying – Ein Gev is actually a kibbutz, that has a hotel as part of its commercial enterprise. So that being said, we ate in a kosher restaurant. I’ve never really been exposed to anything like that before… at least not to the extent that it was here. Breakfast was always dairy. (Not that I’ve even seen bacon in 3 months.) You know the weird health-nut I can be… they had the Best. Granola. Ever! Anyway, moving on. The rest of the day was fairly predictable. We got in the water right after lunch, and didn’t get out until 6. I think my hands are still recovering from the “prune-ing process.”

Later that night, after dinner, we had a bonfire for everyone. Not that it was even a mite cold… the one drawback of Galilee was the humidity. Every time I stepped outside, I felt like I had just been misted. Gross. But we put up with the things we love right?! 

yeah niffer. that's right.

(niff's the one on the left. sharla, lizzie and ariel.)

the water was really low... it usually goes up to that palm tree, or the bottom of that line of rocks on the hill. 

-------------------------------------------------

this one really doesn't need much explanation.

worst week ever invented.

who thought of finals week anyway?
the should be drug through the streets, whipped, and then flogged.
what's that? i sound barbaric?
oh really?
i am so ready for this week to be over though.
you know that feeling you get, when you are ready for something to be over, and you are ready to move on? yeah, it's like senioritis. but instead of just being done with high school, i get to go on a fantastic trip. but that trip can only happen after i make it through this week. so it bugs me that it is taking so long.
as you can tell, i have a lot to work on when it comes to patience. (or maybe it's just the fact that this is the adventure of a lifetime... and i might just be a little bit excited to go. just maybe.)
21 days.
did you hear that? 21 DAYS! :D
and now i'm starting to stress out.
i like stressing out.
i function best when there is a little tension in my life... if there wasn't, i would probably sit on my butt all the time and... i'm gonna stop there. (cuz it is sounding way too representative of the past few weeks of my life.)
this is where i am going to be.
oh be jealous.

soon. real soon. i am actually going to be able to take a picture all for myself.

(and i might just decide to share with you all!)

my next question: what should i buy? where should i go??? i don't want to miss anything - so i need help! 

that should have contained a disclaimer... my "question" usually turns to many questions... 

and i have to buy a new camera.

since the old one has run away. i really have no idea where it would even be. not even remotely.

yeahhhhh. at this point i do not like spending money. especially when it should be spent after my trip starts... not before! poo.

so i have some zucchini in my fridge right now. and i need to do something with it.

now, if you knew anything about my life at home, you would understand that the "zucchini" i am referring to in my fridge is a shame to its name. my first semester up at school, my mom sent me a zucchini that was probably the size of my thigh. no, i am dead serious. my roommate, a girl from california that i'm pretty sure had never seen produce anywhere other than a supermarket, couldn't believe it.  

i swear these things are on steroids.
we have to get very creative with out zucchini at home, so luckily, i have several go-to recipes for zucchini bread that i can go to in a pinch. but i found this recipe the other day, and it looked fairly interesting. i might just have to try this one. 


stuffed zucchini (from kayotic kitchen)

ingredients:
1 tbsp sour cream
1/4 to 1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp curry powder
1/2 tomato
1 tsp thyme
2 zucchinis
1 onion
cheese
pepper
optional: bacon


directions:
preheat your oven to 400 (200C).
give the zucchini a good scrub.
slice them in half length-ways. you can trim the ends if you like. 
spoon out the guts. just take it out (leave about 1/2 an inch in) until you end up with boat like shells.
now give the zucchini pulp a good chop, also chop a small onion and 1/2 a tomato while you’re at it. i’m only using half a tomato (more for color than flavor, really) otherwise things will become a teeny bit too fluid. having everything gush out of your zucchini is not a pretty sight, trust me!
sautee the onions in one tbsp oil or butter. it’s ok for them to brown a little this time ’round.
when the onions are almost done, add 1/4 tsp curry powder and cook everything for an additional 30 seconds. no longer or the curry powder will turn bitter. when they’re done, transfer them to a big bowl.
now this is completely optional. if you want to stick with a vegetable dish, fine, just leave the bacon out. (the bacon will give it a little more crunch and saltiness, so you can cook a few slices and let them drain on a paper towel.)
now (in no particular order), add 1 tsp dried thyme, 1/4 to 1/2 tsp salt, 1 heaping tbsp sour cream, a good pinch of pepper, the zucchini pulp, the tomato and crumble the bacon in as well.
lightly butter a baking dish and put the zucchini boats in. they’re best served straight out of the oven. 
grab a spoon and fill the shells with the mix. sprinkle some aged cheese on top.
put them in a preheated oven, give them about 20 minutes and then turn on the grill until the top is golden brown. sprinkle some coarsely chopped curly leaf parsley (the most underrated herb there is) on top and you’re done!


if you grew up and used an easy-bake oven like me... you might find this interesting. and kind of sad. 

only one more day til freedom!

stay sane til then! (for me.)

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

i am grateful that my computer decided to act up

today

and not while i am in jerusalem.

(not much to be grateful for... but at least it's somethin!)

change is inevitable

if you haven't noticed already, i can't focus on any specific thing for too long...

i like to give a little bit of spice to my life.

(unfortunately i constantly keep forgetting the things that i have done in the past... and then a year later will look back and think - oh yeah! i wanted to do that!)

yeah.

anyone else out there like that?

i think part of it should be attributed to the fact that i love change.

a week after i get a haircut i am already thinking about the next thing i want to try...

i move the furniture in my room,

(i would move my bed, but it is bolted to the floor. sad day.)

i collect recipes and rarely try the same one twice,

i love meeting new people,

and new clothes...

in short, i don't want to be the same person tomorrow that i am today.

winston churchill said, "to improve is to change, to be perfect is to change often."

'nuf said!

but i already knew i was perfect... ;)

soooo i've decided that i am extremely bored.

and i need something to do.

here's the catch:

it's rainy

gross

windy

gray

cold

and dreary outside...

what is there to do? all of my snow is gone!

(and *gasp* i've given up cooking for the next few weeks!)

anyway, here is a movie that i think is hilarious.

enjoy and i'll talk to you soon!

(maybe this will ease your boredom too!)

-----------------------------------------------------------

wednesdays rock!

(i actually spelled wednesday wrong earlier... i swear i haven't spelled it wrong since, like, the 1st grade when i would say WED-NES-DAY every time i would write it down... talk about a blow to the ego!)

i want to go fishing.

real bad.