What a Loverly Day for a Nap!

Today was beautiful outside and my class got out 20 minutes early.  The logical thing to do?  Take a nap!  Now, this could not be just any nap.  I didn't have time to go home so I found a quiet little spot in the gardens and sprawled right out on the grass.  It was quite refreshing!!

I even had my camera with me so I documented my new nap spot and will never forget it!  The sun was beating on my legs and, for the record, I resisted the urge to roll up my pants and get some sun on their pale whiteness.  I can honestly say I abide by the honor code...even during nap time!!

The "Typical" College Student Dinner

It's Friday night and all across the United States college students are feasting on Kraft Macaroni and Cheese from a bright blue box.  

I'm in my 5th semester at BYUI and I have only eaten ONE of those boxes (well the content in the box...I've never actually eaten a box).  My first semester I took a cooking class and learned a ton of new, scrumdiddlyumptious recipes and one of my favorites is Honey Pork and Peppers.  It's so good, I thought I would share it with my favorite people....my faithful blog followers.  So next time you're craving Mac 'n' Cheese just remember there are so many better things out there to eat :)

1. Brown 1.5 lbs of pork (cut into 1" cubes) in a large skillet.

2. Combine 1 pkg brown gravy mix, 1 cup water, 1 cup honey, 3 tbsp cornstarch, 3 tbsp soy sauce, 1/2 tsp ginger and 1/8 tsp garlic powder in a separate bowl.

3. Pour mixture into skillet with pork.  Cover, and let simmer for 20 minutes...stirring occasionally.

4. Cut 1 green pepper and 1 red pepper into 1 inch squares.  Cut 1 medium onion into wedges.

5. Check to make sure meat is cooked thoroughly.

6. Add peppers and onion to skillet and cook for 5-7 more minutes.

BAM!!!  There you have my favorite dinner!  Easy, huh?  If you really want to eat it plain by all means, go for it.  But it's most likely guaranteed better served over rice.  Brown rice if you want to be slightly healthy.

Cheating at a School with an Honor Code

Cheating is a pretty harsh word.  I'd like to prefer "outsmarting."  What was I supposed to do?!  They just decided this semester to save a certain amount of seats in the culinary classes for culinary minors.  Makes sense, right?  Well the problem is that I'm not a culinary minor...I'm a culinary cluster.  Clusters at BYUI are like half-minors.  Mine are culinary arts and food & nutrition.  Because of my cluster I need the classes just as much as the minors, but I couldn't sign up for the class even though there were more than half the seats left.  So what do I do?  I march right up to the advising office and declare myself a culinary minor.  By the time I got back to my apartment I could register for Baking 131.  I think I'll just keep the minor until I have to apply for graduation in a few semesters....  

Tandem for Two

Yesterday I went on my very first tandem bicycle ride and it was a blast!!  I wish there was a video (besides my video in heaven of course) of us trying to get the bike going the first time.  I'm sure it was quite a laughing matter.  We managed to ride the bike all the way up the Rexburg hill and then into the great nothingness fields outside the city.  On one street I saw six "slug bugs" in the space of about five minutes.  Good thing I don't punch hard or Blake might have a bruise on his arm. 

On our way back to Rexburg we biked though a bunch of neighborhoods and went right by a family out playing badminton in their yard.  As we were passing the dad yelled at us asking if we wanted to challenge them...of course we flipped a u-ey and accepted the offer!  Needless to say, we creamed them.  I found out one of the little girl's names was Abigail and before we left I told her she better live up to her name.  Her dad then said "oh she does!"  I have no idea what that means....

Using google earth we calculated that we biked approximately 18 miles.  That's pretty good for being almost the only physical activity I've done all semester and not even breaking a sweat.

Potential

Isn't it interesting when you can see potential in people when to the world they don't have much potential?  I gave a tour today to 10 boys from the JCC (Juvenile Correction Center) in Rexburg.  I don't know their stories or backgrounds.  I have no idea what they did to be sentenced to time there, away from their homes (all over Idaho).  I don't know how long they've been there or how long they have to stay.  All I know, is that it was one of the best tours I've taken this semester.  Those boys were well behaved.  They asked great questions.  They hung onto every word I said.  They even laughed at my jokes!  I could hear some of them talking about how they wanted to come here someday and I hope with all my heart that they will be able to!  And if they can't come to BYUI I hope they have the chance to go on to college and change the world for the better.  They are so young and I hope the counselors and teachers at the JCC are encouraging them to become bigger and better men who respect the world they live in and the people around them.

Do I live up to my full potential?  Probably most definitely not.  And that's on my good days!  I would venture to say that most people, if not all, don't live up to their FULL potential.  I believe that we just limit ourselves and what we think we can accomplish to what's comfortable and easy for us.  It's kind of sad if you really think about all that we're capable of doing and yet throw away because of peer pressure, fear, societal limits or a multitude of other things.  Maybe we should all try a little harder to be a little better.  HERE is a link to an address entitled "Your Divine Heritage" by Robert C. Oaks.  It's pretty awesome.  Check it out.   

If you tilt your head 35 degrees to the right, this picture will scream POTENTIAL to you.