I Blame the Sleep

I know I have been really bad at this lately, but I'm determined to have at least one post a month. There's so many things that I could write about, I just don't have time. Rather, when I do have time I prefer to spend it catching up on much needed sleep. Waking up at 3:20 every morning for work is getting to be a bit harsh. But I do love my job. My coworkers are great and, even that early in the morning, we still have fun.

My days usually run for about 19 hours, leaving only 5 to sleep. That's my average, but quite frequently I don't even get that much sleep. So I'll nap whenever I can: in between classes, between classes and homework, between homework for different classes, after exercise and a shower. I know that sounds like a lot, but unfortunately those naps are short and few. That's why weekends are so nice. Most Saturdays I don't set any alarm and just sleep, but I'm usually awake by 9 am anyway. Still, that's sleeping in for 5 hours.

I know most of you don't care about my sleeping habits, but I needed something short and sweet to write before my nap ;) Next time I'll write about nicknames, and hopefully it will be better. And hopefully I write more often. We'll see....

Blackberry Bread

I've always really liked cooking and trying out new recipes or trying to invent/modify some of my own (this doesn't always work out too great). I think it's because both of my parents like to cook. I remember being in the kitchen a lot when Mom would cook, usually I would sit on the counter. I don't know if I was in her way, but more often than not I would get to eat some of the batter or dough, or sometimes she would give me a slice of raw potato (I know that sounds weird, but I thought it was good).

I'm discovering different things to make in my crock-pot and, thanks to Dad, I'm also figuring out some really good recipes for rabbit, elk, and venison. Just recently I tried something new, but not by myself, and it turned out to be really good.

Aaron likes to cook, too. And in fact he is a really good cook. Really good. We cook together a lot, or he'll cook and I'll just sit on the sideboard watching him. Either way, it's fun. Friday night we got together with his sister, Heather, and her husband, Jonathan, to play games and bake some bread. Blackberry bread. It was a recipe that none of us had ever tried before. Originally the recipe was for Cherry bread, so we had to change it a little. The recipe called for cherry juice, so we also had to figure out how to make blackberry juice. Like I said, it turned out really well, so I thought I would share the recipe.

Just substitute blackberries for cherries if you want. (I figured this would be easier than typing it all in.)

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Cherry-Bread/Detail.aspx

http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1079902

Charlie Brown Christmas Tree

For those of you who have seen Charlie Brown's Christmas, you will enjoy this post. If you remember when he finds a Christmas tree and picks it up, the pine needles fall off. Of course, because that's just how Charlie Brown is. Well, this year we had a Charlie Brown Christmas tree.

We got our tree right after Thanksgiving. We think it was because of that and because we had such a dry summer, it started to die quickly and lose it's pine needles. So we switched it out for our artificial tree. In the process of moving it out, it left a trail of needles covering our floor. It looked like we had a carpet of pine needles.

Losing Sight

It seems that in today's world we are losing sight of what is truly important. The values and principles that were once taught are being corrupted in their use. People are becoming so focused on what they do and how they do it that the importance of why they do it is being lost.
For example: Service. We do it because we feel love for that person and want to help. Or we feel love for God and we want to show that through helping his children.
But many people have lost sight of that. They still perform service, but they do it for the love of the world; they want to look good in the eyes of men, not God.
And so these values and principles are being twisted and forced upon us so that man may serve man, idols, and false gods in comfort and convenience.


http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2009/09/14/patrick-dorinson-pledge-allegiance-moore-obama/


"With hands now pledged to do thy work..."
(LDS Hymn 169 v. 2)

"...For thy servant I would be."
(LDS Hymn 220 v. 4)

A man cannot serve two masters; be careful whose servant you choose to be. Know not only what you are pledging to do, by also why. Let us not lose sight of what is truly important.

Energy Sources - Think Outside the Box

My Moral Leadership class can have some fairly controversial, and sometimes heated, discussions. Today we were discussing different energy sources. We talked about the pros and cons of each energy source, ways it could be improved, and whether or not we supported political stances on it.

One person brought up the point that instead of having a set energy source for every place, we should use a specific place's resources to obtain energy. For example, using solar energy would be great for a place like Arizona, but not so great for a place like Oregon. On the other hand, Oregon would be a great place to use tidal waves for energy. He made the point that each place should use a resource that they have an abundance of. Which completely makes sense.

I was really into what he was saying, but understand that even though my mind will stick with the topic at hand, it can still come up with some pretty random ideas. In this case, when the student made that point, I instantly thought of an energy source for San Juan, something that we have in abundance. Now, I know that it isn't technically a resource, but I immediately thought of prairie dogs. Bizarre, huh? Why not, though? We have so many of them, why not put them to good use in some way? I won't describe the actual ideas went through my mind of the different ways we could use prairie dogs for energy, but I will tell you, they did make laugh.

So if you've ever wondered what school is teaching me, now you know. I'm learning to expand my mind. I'm learning to think outside the box. I'm learning to use prairie dogs as an energy source.

Close

Let's try something. I want you to say the word "close." Go ahead. Say it. Out loud. "Close."
You must say it out loud, otherwise this won't work.

Now, how did you say it?
Did you say it like you would say, "Close the door"?
Or did you say it like you would say, "That was a close call"?

Say it both ways out loud. They aren't pronounced the same way.

Interesting, huh?

Halloween Pumpkins

For Halloween Aaron and I carved two sets of pumpkins. In the first set Aaron did the Batman symbol and I did Oogie Boogie from The Nightmare before Christmas. In the second set I did a little sad looking pumpkin and Aaron did a scary pumpkin.

Aaron's Batman pumpkin died before we could take
a picture a week later.

Aaron's scary pumpkin. (Brilliant of him to
use the bottom. I like it.)

My pumpkin is sad because his face was scratched.

Oogie Boogie. This pumpkin was perfect
for it. Thanks Mom!


Inverted Oogie Boogie.


Aaron did a better job. He had a time getting
it to stay though.

And this is our "pumpkin-man." He was
really cool until the fruit flies got to him...