adventures in powerwashing.

awkward moments in powerwashing:

• trying to figure out the mechanics of the brand-new powerwasher while sitting on my front porch... with an audience of retired neighbors, bikers, and pet-walkers all in attendance to watch me humiliate myself.
• forgetting my shoes inside.
• having to reach the spicket by traversing 5 feet of ornamental rock (barefoot) because i'm too stupid to go and get shoes on.
• the dance i do when i get the powerwasher hooked up. finally.
• getting honked at by an old guy driving by.
• hitting my big toe with a stream of water forceful enough to take off skin. don't ask how i know that.
• slinking inside to hide my shame after walking back over the stupid ornamental pokey-as-heck-rock to turn the faucet off in order to nurse my poor toe. 
• forgetting my shoes. again.
• trying to drag the powerwasher over to my car. figuring out that the cord doesn't quite reach... but continuing to try and aim the stream of water just right. then giving up, stomping back over to the plug and back into the garage, getting the cord stuck under the tire. tugging. wiggling. pullllling the stupid cord that refuses to budge. finally giving up and walking over to the tire. moving the cord an inch to the left. replugging. back out to the driveway. pulling the powerwasher over to the car. hose isn't long enough now. kink. undo the kink. back to powerwashing. random runner asks if i will wash his car next. big toe still throbbing. it'll snow in july in boise before i ever touch this thing again. 
• undoing the hose from the back of the powerwasher. apparently turning off the water does not mean there is no more pressure. walk back inside looking like i've had an accident. 
• finding out i only have 20 minutes before i meet with my new boss. (which went well. i get to do my favorite thing in the whole wide world and deal with baked goods all. day. long. best job ever? i think so.)

i'm melting.

i found the man that i want to marry.
no kidding.





his voice melts my soul. (basically to the same degree that i end up in a puddle on the floor when i hear josh groban or michael buble sing...)


:) 
have an awesome week!

hmmmm.

a haiku (from a friend)

I’ve come to hate boys

You know what’s underrated?

Owning lots of cats

You Are Tired (I Think)
You are tired,
(I think)
Of the always puzzle of living and doing;
And so am I.
Come with me, then,
And we’ll leave it far and far away—
(Only you and I, understand!)
You have played,
(I think)
And broke the toys you were fondest of,
And are a little tired now;
Tired of things that break, and—
Just tired.
So am I.
But I come with a dream in my eyes tonight,
And knock with a rose at the hopeless gate of your heart—
Open to me!
For I will show you the places Nobody knows,
And, if you like,
The perfect places of Sleep.
Ah, come with me!
I’ll blow you that wonderful bubble, the moon,
That floats forever and a day;
I’ll sing you the jacinth song
Of the probable stars;
I will attempt the unstartled steppes of dream,
Until I find the Only Flower,
Which shall keep (I think) your little heart
While the moon comes out of the sea.

— E.E. Cummings

everything's gonna be ok.

a little bit of every scattered thought.

how is everyone this (lazy) holiday morning?!


i'm fantastic... just in case you were wondering. :)
today is one of those mornings when life is just good. 
happy music-baking-motivated-i'm gonna go on a long run-type of morning!








so i have to work on my motivation to try this... because you know me, i am a very lazy person when it comes to my hair. anything that takes over an hour to do just isn't worth it in my book. 
this one looks like it could take a while...





and you remember that granola that we made like, two days ago?
it's gone!
crisis! i need to make some more!!!
this time, i think i'm going to try this recipe. and then maybe this one. this one??? (i have a surplus of recipes, most of which i haven't had the chance to try yet!) 


pumpkin granola
originally from baking bites


ingredients:
5 cups rolled oats
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
¾ tsp. salt
¾ cup brown sugar
½ cup pumpkin puree
¼ cup applesauce
¼ cup maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup pepitas


directions:
1. preheat the oven to 325° F. line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
2. in a large bowl, combine oats, spices, and salt. mix well.
3. in a medium bowl, whisk together brown sugar, pumpkin puree, applesauce, maple syrup and vanilla extract. whisk until smooth. pour wet ingredients into oat mixture and stir until the oats are evenly coated. they will be moist. evenly spread the mixture onto the prepared baking sheet.
4. bake for 20 minutes. remove pan from the oven and stir. bake for an additional 15-20 minutes or until the granola is golden and crisp. remove from the oven and stir in dried cranberries and pepitas. let cool completely. store in an airtight container.




i was reminiscing this morning... and decided to plan my next big adventure.

bubbly toes

do you ever have a day when you don't know why, but you just wake up and feel glum?

i have a solution for you:

(just try it one time and tell me that it doesn't make your whole entire day that much better!)

last night, the sis and i decided that we needed to use the massive amount of food that we had just received from the parents... and grandpa.. and winco...

(i think my roommates hate us. we take up at least half of the refrigerator.)

but we got squash.

buttercup squash.

and a lot of buttercup squash.

and guess who got a box of apples from grandpa's tree yesterday?

it was meant to be.

my version of buttercup squash & apple soup

kind like this one. and this one. but mostly different.

ingredients:

chicken stock (mom got us some rotisserie chickens from costco... so we de-boned them and then used the carcass to make stock)

2 buttercup squashes

3 onions - roughly chopped

2-4 apples cut into large chunks(depends on the size... and how much you want your soup to taste like apples)

cut the squashes in half and throw them, the roughly chopped onions, and chunked apples on a cookie sheet that has a little bit of water on the bottom

bake in oven until you can easily scoop the squash out of the shell (we left ours in about a half hour at 400)

throw the squash, apples and onion in stock, let simmer and cook together for a few minutes (you can season it with salt, pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg, chicken bouillon... i don't ever really measure when i'm making soup. i go purely by taste)

throw it into a blender - and voila!

yummy soup and a very happy tummy.

i need to eat a skinny person.

so i'm in a nutrition class... consequently, being the food junkie that i am, food is always on the brain. 

does this present a problem for a food-addict like myself?

quite possibly.

(how am i supposed to go to class and feel good about my eating when i was looking up super-yummy-and-not-remotely-healthy-recipes online last night???) i don't know if the class is supposed to make you feel guilty, but it's too late. i'm conflicted. 

will i change? 

probably not. 

so in honor of "eating healthy" (BAH!) and other diet-related bizness...

and to make sure that the whole world stays right:

self-saucing chocolate pudding.

i actually have a cake recipe like this one, but i am really liking the idea of "single serving"...

not necessarily because it is smaller, mind you.

because it's all mine.

no sharing involved!

wanna know what i'm going to buy myself?

i saw these babies and fell in love.

besides, winter is coming and i need some new boots.

***

this last weekend i watched general conference.

and i swear - every time they talk, they are talking specifically to me! (except maybe the parenting ones... i have no idea what they are talking about there...)

this was one of my "favorites"... if that is really possible.

just a normal thursday. not.

you know the feeling, the night before christmas... you are a little kid and no matter how hard you try, you just can't get to sleep? that every single sound is hooves on the roof and you swear you heard something coming from down the hall???
i feel like that kid.
no, my flight doesn't leave until wednesday morning, but i am back to being that same jittery little kid.
why can't i just hop in my handy-dandy time machine and whiz to next tuesday??? (i have an orientation meeting... don't wanna miss that one!)
i don't like waiting. at all.
but i'm leaving tomorrow to go see the bestest 19-year-old sister ever. she is going to europe.
is it ok for me to be jealous? if only i could split myself in two...

gosh i am going to miss my family!
i have the sweetest little brothers, both of which come into my room this morning before they leave for school and give me a kiss on the cheek. did my heart melt? yeah, just a little.
lets see how long that lasts when the older one gets home and they start fighting again...

now back to packing!
i just know i'm gonna forget something.
murphy's law of taking a vacation right?
but i figured i needed to make something to protect my poor laptop... so today i decided to make this:
(i swear i'm working on the camera situation!)

mine is yellow. surprise!
and its got buttons!
i can check that off my list of not-so-important-things-to-do...
back to the crucial stuff like finding food... and maybe taking the scissors out of my carry-on... that could be a good thing to remember.

since i'm going to grandpa's house (where wireless internet is unheard of) i am posting this as a pseudo-friday entry. enjoy!

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like: source code

i love a good and happy ending :)

dislike: gory movies (i won't say which one i watched to deserve that not-so subtle diss. you are entitled to your own opinion... except when it comes to knowing what i like.)