a science that kills

you know those days when you just can't stuff any more information into your brain?

today is one of those days. 

exhibit A: 

jess's brain.

exhibit B:

this is what i do when i can't take any more school.

i fantasize about the day that i won't have to go to the plasma center... or class...

exhibit C:

you can literally only take so much of michaelis-menten, lineweaver-burk, Km, enzymes, kinetics... before you go like THIS.

you get what i'm sayin?

on a more positive note:

i start my new job on friday!

better say goodbye to free time, skinny jeans, and friends.

(but who really needs them anyway?)

;) 

no mere mortal can resist.

i bet you all had the same reaction i did when you saw this movie.

i MUST learn this dance!

i learned it tonight. (and hopefully i will get to ahold of a video here shortly...)

.

.

.

what else have i been up to lately???

i realize that i fail miserably at updating this blog.

i'm repenting though.

even though that means i will have to limit my pinterest time...

*wipe a tear*

one of my favorite classes this semester is sports nutrition.

at times it makes me want to re-think my life and just go into dietetics.

i mean, what a better major than someone who loves food as much as i do?

it just makes sense.

but i guess i'll just have to own a bakery on the side.

hmmmm...

but i digress.

back to the subject.

sports nutrition. yes.

we had to develop a menu for an overnight hiking trip, and make sure that all of the calorie/carb/protein/and fat requirements fit.

the extra credit?

we had to make it.

and guess who made pizza tonight?!

it was... (considering it was supposed to be eaten while hiking, and NOT gourmet?)

actually pretty good.

i mean... flatbread pizza? not my first choice.

but it's hard to pass up pizza while camping.

i mean... come onnnnn!

(granted, we cheated a little. i mean, how am i supposed to dehydrate the spaghetti sauce to make a leather when i don't even own a dehydrator??? i mean, i want one. but i have nowhere to put it. and i have too much junk already.)

we just threw regular sauce and veggies on the flatbread, but you would normally use reconstituted sauce and re-hydrated dehydrated veggies (if you like veggies on your pizza.) top that with some cheese and you are set to go!

i can just imagine this cooking over a fire right now...

(and my mouth is watering.)

taken using my new phone!

i'm impressed.

alas... i haven't gotten cool enough to get a smart phone yet.

maybe someday...

well that's enough to bore you for now! 

(if you really want to see more of what i've been stalking for the past few hours... check 'em out!) 

here and here and here...

can you tell i'm excited for this summer?

i am SO going hiking.

whatcha got in there?

22.

what's in my purse right now.

23.

favorite vacation.

(you thought i was going to say jerusalem right?)

but i have to say that the best vacations have been the ones with my family.

pizza face is josh. (fyi)

24.

something i've learned:

life. it is a crazy thing. and it doesn't always go the way that you want it to.

(but there is ALWAYS a reason for what happens.)

(are you noticing that i'm just trying to finish this???)

25.

do the shuffle. on my ipod.

dead girls dance - oberhofer

whoa - we the kings

we are pilots - shiny toy guns

what kind of fool am i? - rick springfield

beautiful disaster - jon mclaughlin

time awaits - the kooks

mockingbird - rob thomas

behind the sea - panic! at the disco

joy to the world - three dog night

never grow up - taylor swift

26.

my dream wedding...

just go look at my pinterest and you'll get the idea...

but we can't forget this place!

like pretty much ever other mormon kiddo, i've grown up singing the words to the song - 

"i love to see the temple, i'm going there someday..."

and i am.

someday.

(currently workin on the dating/boyfriend part right now...)

27.

around town...

oh little town of rexburg, how still we see thee lie

(but for once... not under 10 feet of snow!!!)

pic courtesy of wikipedia. ha.

(i think i'm missing my summer/fall/warm/decent weather right now...)

potato fields outside of rexburg.

sand dunes.

please tell me you are jealous and are coming to visit me soon!

(my evil plan is workinggggg!)

28.

something that stresses me out.

handsome men.

i just don't know what to do with myself around them...

;)

29.

(almost done!!!)

3 wishes.

wish 1:

that i could marry superman.

dum-dum-de-dum...

wish 2:

i could have hair like this everyday.

wish 3:

to spend all day in bed.

no homework.

no alarms.

no deadlines.

no stress!

30!

we made it folks!

(this pic makes my nose look HUGE.)

to wrap this up (finally)... and hopefully you haven't been bored to death...

5 good things that happened to me during this challenge:
1. i got over sharing pictures of myself.
2. it got me writing.
3. consistency? not. at. all. (but it has motivated me for the next time i decide to do something like this again!)
4. it actually got me blogging! part of the new year's resolutions... to write more diligently. we'll see how it goes!
5. i tried to think outside of the box. maybe it worked, maybe it didn't... but baby steps are what we're working on!

ee-weben :)

if you can't already tell, i'm just a little tired.
finals week can do it to ya, i'm tellin ya! (i can't wait to be done!!! then guess what? more school....... oh joy!) 


today is about a pineapple.

it actually has absolutely nothing to do with pineapples. (hence the relation to today's actual topic.)
{tv shows.}
i am not really the kind of person that sits down and just watches tv. i actually rarely do it, and even at home (and the blessing of dvr) i still struggle sitting down long enough to watch an entire episode. there are just so many other wonderful things i could be doing with my life! ...wasting time on pinterest is not one of them...
but if i had to choose 5 tv shows that rocked my world, they would be:
1. psych. do you understand now?
2. monk (tony is my favorite...)
3. johnny quest
4. jimmy neutron... my family loved to watch this tv show after the movie came out. we still quote it to this day. 
5. anything food-network related. i have to keep a napkin and a notepad nearby just in case something sounds good. who knows, i could see something so amazing that it would change the way that i see food. that would be big. 

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

i don't have much else to say.

but i like this:

in honor of finals survivors everywhere!

the (im)proper way to do things.

"life is pain highness!"
can you guess what movie that's from???


this last week was "one of those weeks" that i probably would care never to think of again. 
like ever.
after 6 tests, 2 projects, trying to find time to squeeze in donating at the plasma center (yeah. i do that.), going to the temple, and trying to stay dry (even though rexburg decides that it is funny to rain for 3 days straight. and then throw a little snow in there for kicks and giggles. i don't appreciate it thanks!) this week was... tough. but, you know what? i feel so good now that it's over! 
and i aced 3 of my tests. (we'll see how the other ones turn out next week...)
so not too shabby for taking every day not just a day at a time... sometimes it really was hour by hour. just to make sure that i would survive until the weekend. 
now enough of that! 


"you gotta put your behind in your past." 
or something like that. (said by a very wise meerkat)


as i was leaving the library late last night, finally being finished with the week-from-you-know-where, i saw a girl with a backpack. and i wanted it. luckily i restrained myself and she lives to wear it another day. 
you wanna know what it looks like?

super cute right?

but i'm too poor to buy them right now. 

maybe i'll get lucky at d.i. one of these days...

i'm one of those people that likes change. 
at home, the layout of my bedroom changes about every 6 months... i move my bed, the desk, and i have to go through and "de-junk". (that's a common term in our household... whether or not it is actually an effective practice has yet to be seen.)
but having a bed on cinderblocks doesn't leave a whole lot of room for change. 
so i have to change other things. 
i'm also a list person.
i have so many goal lists that i sometimes forget what goals i am actually trying to accomplish! then i find them like a year later and go oh yeahhhhhhhhhh. oops. 
so i am making a goal list. but this one has an end date. the end of the semester. 
which is like... december 17. 
this list might be considered a "de-junk-ing" of my life. because i can't move my bed. i guess i could move it into the closet (like harry potter!), but i don't know how roommate allison would take that...

da list:
train for a 10k. run 6.1 miles by the end of the semester.
go to a dance class
do something to my hair. maybe this?
spend less time on the computer. sorry there guys.
meet one new person every day.
read the entire book of mormon. (i'm in 2 nephi right now...)
try a new, healthy recipe every week (that i've never ever tried before!)
have an unbirthday tea party. and here. and here. and here. and here. 
go to bed earlier (so that i don't sleep through class...)
write more often. and share it with someone.
read a book a week. currently: a single voice
memorize the family: a proclamation to the world


ok. i think that's enough for now...
have an awesome (and hopefully less-rainy!) weekend

and just feel good. 

ready or not... life here i come!

i need some chill music right now.

this is just one of those days when life just seems to press down on you from all sides.

you know?

the feeling that you have to make a decision, but the stress alone threatens to incapacitate you...

i'm feeling that way about grad school right now.

(lame right?)

scared out of my wits.

the future is a scarrrrry place.

do i really have to grow up?

not that i don't have a plan for my life,

i just don't know what to do with the 5 different plans that i have. (i'm the type of person that has the plan, the backup plan, the backup-backup plan... you get the picture. i don't believe in failure.) 

the problem with that is that sometimes i don't make a decision because i'm afraid that it won't work out.

so while sitting in class, plotting out my life (for about the gazillion-th time this semester) i came to a conclusion:

life is gonna happen.

no matter what i decide to do, the rest of the world is going to continue to spin, and everyone else is going to keep going on with their regular day-to-day lives.

so what am i going to do about it?

two words.

no.

fear.

imagine me gritting my teeth and attempting very hard to look like a very menacing individual...

you ready mr. future???

{cuz you gotta deal with THIS!}

:)

so no matter what happens, i'm going to give life my 100%.

i know it's cliche, but you miss 100% of the shots you don't take, and the worst thing that can happen is that they say no.

well what do you do when they do say no?

time for plan b.

and then plan c.

plan d?

you keep tryin' stuff until something works!
(and by george something will!)

so here is to all of the plans, and the backup plans...

but never give up!

(that's the only time that i believe that failure exists. when you decide that you aren't going to try anymore.)

so we are making a pact.

right now.

you and me.

to never

ever

ever

ever

ever

ever

ever

ever

ever

ever

ever

ever

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

give up!

(pinkie swear.)

alright.

good luck!

now for some light-hearted kicks and giggles:

(i was in my exercise physiology class, and i got this brainy idea that i wanted to develop my own line of energy bars... so i started doing a little research. and this is what i found.)

scooby snack protein bars

scooby poo bars 

(i didn't come up with the name...)

th-th-th-th-th-that's all folks!

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.

a little soothing music to put you in the right mood for the weekend. 
say bye bye school.

me want fooooooood!

here we are, two days into the semester.
so far we haven't died! so i guess this is a good thing...

as with every semester, there are always the new (school) year resolutions, the awkward times that you are talking to your new roommates and there is that prolonged silence when neither of you can think of what to say............... and as always, a bit of soul-searching.
who am i?
why am i here?
is this really what i want to be doing for the rest of my life?

or better yet...
am i going to be able to handle this all without going completely crazy?
and finally:
why aren't there any cute guys in my classes? (ha ha ha... but seriously!)

life is finally starting to settle down again. i'm moved in, but unpacking will probably be occurring in stages over the next few days... in the meantime, i am excited that i only have two more semesters until i graduate! are you sure that i am ready to be thrown out into the real world? there are some days when i really feel like i just got out of high school. i mean, i'm actually in college??? weird.

i know that you really missed all of my cooking escapades this summer.
i'm baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!
and with a vengence. muahahaha!

i haven't tried these yet, but they are the next on my list of cooking to-dos.

indian summer stew

flourless peach yogurt tart

(going to that class a few weeks ago really opened my eyes to all of the things that you can make without flour... i sense a new obsession coming on.)

panzanella

cucumber and tomato salad with cubed foccacia bread.

yum. 

i actually just think that i am super hungry right now, cuz everything i'm looking at is sounding especially delicious. i guess i could go on posting pictures, but that might end up getting a little ridiculous. 

but it is definitely time for bed. 

nite all!

i need a theme song for moments like these.

 warning: 

if you have a problem with cold, damp, tight spaces,

you might get a little claustrophobic reading this...

you might want to have a little baggie on hand just in case.

one of my favorite adventures thus far -

(drumroll everyone!)

dum da da dum!

Hezekiah's Tunnel!!!

 this might look like we could see where we were...

we couldn't see anything until the flash illuminated (or rather blinded) the entire tunnel...

they said the water levels were low.

i want to know what the term "low" is actually referring to! 

this is the "upper pool" that is referred to in 2 kings.

the pillars are from a byzantine church that was built on top of it.

we also went to the pool of siloam, where Jesus healed the blind man. (see john 9)

cathedral of st. james

the lamps are called "ganteghs" 

i barely made it out alive...

other places of note:

we heard about church of saint john the baptist.

it is the oldest church in jerusalem, and if you don't know that you are looking for it, you'll never find it.

it's a brown door in the wall.

and it usually isn't open.

but as luck would have it, we found it open!

but i learned that you can't learn everything from the internet... if i would have followed these directions, i would have gotten sooooo lost!

we also found the jewish open market it west jeru...

and then another pedestrian shopping street called mahane yehuda. (much like our favorite place to get gelato... ben yehuda!)

we're leaving for jordan on sunday!!!

(which means amman... petra... eek! i'm excited!)

the scary thing is that 17 people were sick today.

the odds are kinda scary.

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

but on a good note:

finally done with midterms!!!

{i don't know whether to be happy or sad about this... finals are in two weeks, and we leave for jordan on sunday! which means that i will probably forget everything by the time i get back... hehe...}

wanna know something weird?

the bananas here are green. but they are still ripe.

it kinda weirds me out.

this is what happens when i stay inside too long.

dilemma: (this is going to sound like old news) but i figure i might as well tell you why i don't post as often as i would like.
my computer doesn't like my camera. 
sounds juvenile right?
i told them to work it out... but so far, neither one is yielding.
so picture-posting here will probably end up being stolen for my compatriots here with me in jerusalem until i can get my own pictures uploaded! 


we just got done with midterms... WOOHOO!
[you were under the impression that this was a vacation weren't you???]
nope. i actually have to study. boo.
but since we couldn't really leave the center for the past two days, i regressed back to surfing the web. and blog stalking. (my favorite!)
not that this is anywhere in the near future, but i think that this is super cute!
how many of you (hopefully this is limited to just you girls!!!) had american dolls growing up? i did. i'm pretty sure i read all of their stories, and knew all about their lives. i had an even split between those and the hardy boys... (my dad had to have a hand in my literature choices as well). what did your doll say about you? mine made me laugh. i had one of the dolls that looked like you, but if i'd have had my choice, i would have gotten molly. (it had something to do with an obsession with world war two...)
being in israel, i find this blog particularly funny. i'm on a hunt for cookbooks. (because the food here is amazing!) but i'm thinking falafel fridays when i get back to the states is going to be a very good tradition. a very tasty tradition at that...


on another note, we started a volleyball tournament last night!
my team is the hyksos. you miss a lot when you don't hear us cheer. it is pretty incredible. we lost the first game, won the second, and i stayed to watch the other teams play the last game. now i just need to get my basketball kick for the week and i'll be happy!

dish is de end.

now that finals are done:

that's a good way to think right?

sweet freedom!

now on to the cleaning.

the end of school is always fun, because you have the combination of multiple stresses, namely:

huge tests that you haven't studied for

having to pack up everything you own in boxes and put them in storage for the next 5 months

having to decide what you are going to need during those 5 months

packing all of your crap in the car

leaving all of your friends

cleaning (because if you don't, the apartment complex will charge you $20 for dirty baseboards...)

having no food left, and refusing to go to the store

trying to remember everything before you leave...

and having it snow on your birthday!

(yes, today is my birthday.)

(and yes, it did decide to snow. for the second year in a row. and yes, it is april.)

so, now that i've done a stressful list, i think it is only fair to include a list of things that i love right now.

1. cupcakes.

and i recently discovered a new way to eat them.

2. my friends

we have had many crazy-awesome adventures over this last year...

and even though i know that they are coming to a close (for now) it doesn't mean that it is the end!!!

by the way jess and carissa... i'm still planning on our oregon coast road-trip/excursion!

you aren't going to get out of this one!

3. my family

cuz they are just plain awesome.

we had all 3 of us girls up here at school this weekend, and it has been sooo much fun!

definitely not the last time this is going to happen.

i just couldn't resist putting this picture up. (i love super young, awkward pictures...)

if you wanted to know what a mane looks like on a person... i have the proof right here!

4. cupcakes!

acutally, just baking in general.

if you haven't noticed yet. ;)

i think these are SO CUTE!

i have to try them.

5. green apples

i don't know why, but if i had to eat a food for the rest of my life, this would be it.

they are a big part of my purpose for living.

i think i'm gonna go grab one right now.

6. cleaning.

bizarre?

yes.

i feel like i'm getting ready for war.

but i love cleaning.

it relieves my stress... but don't get any ideas.

if you paid me, i would come clean for you, but i don't do it for free!

7. psych

please tell me you have watched it.

if not i might cry.

8. broadway

i've seen les mis (in london!), which was probably the highlight of my life...

but i have a bucket-list of broadway plays that i have to see before i die.

phantom of the opera

jane eyre

wicked

the scarlet pimpernel

jekyll and hyde

(and that isn't all!)

9. my church

i belong to the church of jesus christ of latter-day saints.

everything that i am, i owe to my church.

it is the best part of my life.

10. music that makes me happy :)

you got me - colbie caillat

shine - laura izibor

spending all my time loving you - aaron fresh

just the way you are - bruno mars

brand new day - joshua radin

rhythm of love - plain white t's

smile - uncle kracker

eh, eh (nothin else i can say) - lady gaga

i look so good (without you) - jessie james