I like Cheese.

The other day my roommate made a comment about how she never buys cheese because she will just eat it. Well that's EXACTLY why I BUY cheese!  And then it led me to some serious self reflection on how much I love and eat cheese.  I currently have six, yes six, different types of cheeses in the refrigerator. I feel like maybe that's a little excessive but I don't care.  I love cheese!  Here's how I like my current cheeses...

1. Colby Jack- In the large brick form.  Perfect for everything.  Cold slices on wheat Ritz crackers, sliced on a sandwich, and shredded for a grilled cheese are the primary uses.

2. Shredded Mozzarella- Used mainly on top of baked tomatoes.  Sometimes used in a tomato and cheese grilled cheese.

3. Shredded Parmesan- Also used on top of baked tomatoes.  A fairly new development is to bake it on top of asparagus.  Yum!

4. Sliced Munster-  Don't ask why I bought this.  But I eat it on sandwiches.  I'm sure I could have survived on my colby jack brick for sandwich cheese but this is just already sliced to the perfect width.

5. Cream Cheese- The strawberry kind.  It was purchased this weekend so Kadi and I would have something to eat on our bagels on our Sunday return trip.  I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it now....guess I'll have to go buy some more bagels!

6. String Cheese-  Last, but definitely not least.  I'm kind of addicted to the stuff.

There you have it.  My current cheeses.  And now for a taste (pun intended) of my other favorite cheeses (consequently they are all from Peru and that's why they are not in my fridge...)!

1. Gouda- This is no "She's the Man" joke.  We bought some in Peru and it was divine! (and I realize you can get this in the states...I just haven't)

2. Queso Fresco- Another we had in Peru.  Actually we MADE our own cheese from fresh cow's milk that we milked.  It was quite awesome.  And we ate the entire batch of cheese in 24 hours.  We didn't have a fridge so we didn't have much of a choice...

3. Queso Mantecoso- By far the greatest cheese eaten in Peru!!!  It was the first cheese we tried there and at first we weren't thrilled with our choice of a new Peruvian food.  But we grew to absolutely LOVE the stuff.  We toasted it on bread, had it in sandwiches, had it on crackers, had it on cookies and just ate it plain.  It's a wonder we didn't gain more weight than we did there.  But this cheese is specific to Cajamarca so we were in it's native land.  Soooooo good.  Someone needs to bring this stuff to the states...asap.

Obviously it's the one that says Mantecoso.....

And I lived in Green Bay for eight years so here's a shoutout to my cheeseheads!!!!

I Love Friends.

This last weekend was the best I've had in a while.  I went down to Logan, Utah with my old roommate, Kadi, who still lives in Rexburg, to visit our other old roommate, Alexis, who is now married and living in Logan, and the next day, Saturday, got to have breakfast at IHOP with our other old roommate, Whitney, who is married and lives in Arizona but came to Layton, UT, which is an hour from Logan, last minute for a funeral.  Make sense?  Good.

Kadi, Alexis, Whitney, Myself

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Sometimes I really want to blog and I have nothing to say.
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This is one of those times.

An Object Lesson

As part of my job, I am in charge of monthly (sometimes bi-monthly) trainings for the other student employees.  Usually we just spend time talking about new policies, doing case studies blah, blah, blah.  They probably aren't very fun.

This past training was a little different.  We got a little creative.

We split the group into two smaller groups.  One came in another room with me and the other group stayed in the first room.  The first room group did 20 minutes of the "boring training" while the other group and I had a little fun.  

I assembled funny little sculptures ahead of time and handed one to each person.  They then had 20 minutes to write instructions on how to assemble the sculpture from raw materials.  They couldn't use pictures, only words.  Here's what the two originals looked like...

After 20 minutes we had them switch rooms.  Those who were writing instructions went and did boring training and the others came with me.  They then got a bag full of raw materials and the instructions from the others and had 20 minutes to assemble them.  This is what they came up with...

It was quite humorous.  They were all similar but none were perfect.  We had them all come up with ideas on how this applies to our office and they came up with some things that we hadn't even thought about.  It doesn't do any good to try to describe those here but I think everyone walked away with a very practical view on why how we do what we do is important.  

Also, please look at the above picture again.  We have a whiteboard in the back room with funny things people have written in their entrance essays and the one in the middle says "The whole essay: I can solve a Rubiks cube in under 30 seconds."  That's it.  Their essay to get into college.  They can solve a Rubiks cube in under 30 seconds.  This is why I love my job.  Today someone from Bangladesh emailed us a copy of a certificate showing that they achieved 3rd rank in the shot put.... not sure how that qualifies them for college but I sure am glad they want to come here!

I Like to Eat Good Food...a LOT

Sometimes, I eat good food that's not actually good for you.  But sometimes I eat good food that is also good for you!  Here are some of my creations so far this semester...

The BEST BREAKFAST EVERRRRR.  Okay listen up.  Here's a delicious and healthy breakfast.  Vanilla greek yogurt, flaxseed, Fiber One cereal, and fruit...strawberries are my favorite and blackberries are also good...basically any fruit is tasty.  This is like CHEESECAKE FOR BREAKFAST.  I'm not joking.  Try it.  You won't regret it.

More breakfast....  Pancakes.  Can't go wrong with 'em.  For these I used a honey, whole wheat pancake mix and added ground flaxseed.  Then I split the batter and made banana pancakes, chocolate chip pancakes and white chocolate raspberry pancakes.  Don't worry, I did not eat them all in one sitting.

Banana muffins with brown sugar topping.

Soup... No idea what this is called but it's got turkey sausage, zucchini, mushrooms, peppers, tomatoes and onions.  Maybe something else but I forget.

Mom's potato soup.  I've already made two batches.  It's that good.

Misc. Lunches....  Triscuit with tomato, mushroom, avocado and lemon pepper tuna.

TACO FROM THE TACO BUS.  These are the best tacos I've ever had, and ever will have, in my entire life.  I get pork tacos with onion, salsa, cilantro and as much lime juice as I can.  Usually I only eat two in a sitting, but last week I went and got three.  And I didn't regret it.

Dessert...  The best part of every meal.  And every pre-meal.  And sometimes the only part of my meal.  I made these peanut butter chocolate chip cookies one weeknight.  They were gone in less than 24 hours and I literally ate at least 20.  

Valentines cookies!!!  Lauren and I had a cookie decorating party and these are the beauties I created.  And I sent some wrapped in bubblewrap to Ohio.  I'm the best girlfriend ever. 

Annnnnnd this was my indulgence tonight.  Fresh, hot scones topped with a scoop of chocolate peanut butter ice cream.  Thor's Ice Cream by Taco Bell.  $1 scoops and two scones for $1.  So this was only $2...including tax.  Hand them the bills and eat.  It's so easy.  So incredibly delicious.  And so worth the calories.

Welp, there ya have it!  A taste of what it's like to be Abigail's mouth this semester.  It's a pretty rockin' job.

Christmas Shenanigans

Just a normal night at the Tucker home...trying to get something out of a light socket WAYYYY up high.  Eli and Nathaniel are holding the ladder up using ropes...Dad, Mom and Meredith are the base stabilizers.  I just documented it.

(from Christmas break 2012)