TODAY is great!

I'll give my family props.  Even though they totally abandoned me and took an awesome family vacation to Washington D.C., NYC, and Palmyra they found time to get me a souvenir.  

A lovely TODAY show apron signed by Matt Lauer!  They love me after all.

The Perfect Jar

Opening a fresh jar of peanut butter has got to be one of the best feelings in the world.  I feel like I picked a four leaf clover by buying this beautiful jar because it's PERFECTLY flat on top.  I thought about calling the Ellen show to see if my JIF and I could make an appearance but my need for muddy buddies won out in the end.  It's the small things in life.

Life is tasty :)

Lightning Strikes

It's only appropriate that I blog about Harry Potter.  It's all the rage you know.  I feel like my generation should be the Harry Potter generation.  We grew up with him.  I remember when I was so young that waiting until midnight for the next book was kind of a hard wait without falling asleep.  I was introduced to HP around 2nd grade when we started reading the first one aloud in class.  Slowly but surely I was converted and became a fan.  My brothers and I would have competitions to see who could read the books the fastest.  When a new one came out we each had a certain amount of time we were allotted before it was someone else's turn to read.  I think we bought two copies of the last few books so we wouldn't argue as much about who's turn it was.

I am also a huge fan of the movies.  I know that whatever they do can't do the books justice but all things considered I think they've done one heck of a job with them.  I haven't been disappointed in a single one!!  Part of the movies success has come from the fact that all of the main characters (besides Dumbledore) have remained the same.  We've watched them grow up.  During the last one I was noticing how Ginny is taller than Harry and it made me laugh.  But the producers wouldn't have known that was going to happen when they were cast.  I'm glad Harry's kind of a short guy who's nothing special.  It's Harry Potter.

I love the messages of the books, their intricacies, the characters you fall in love with, the cliffhangers, the blindsides, the backstabbing, the forgiveness, and everything about them.  J.K. Rowling may be richer than the Queen of England and I say "rock on!"  She deserves it.  Her idea created not just some one-hit-wonder but a phenomenon that has lasted a generation.  I'm asking for the books for my wedding.  My children will be forced to read them and then they'll love them on their own.

It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live, remember that.  ~J.K. Rowling, "The Mirror of Erised," Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

Chitty Chitty BANG BANG (like fireworks)

The fourth of July really is one of my favorite holidays.  It's a good thing this past weekend was amazing!  On Saturday (the 2nd) I went to Driggs, ID with a bunch of friends for all of their festivities.  Last year I went as well although I was part of the festivities.  I even met Glenn Beck!

Spring 2010

He spoke again this year and we had the hot seats in the house!  Thankfully some friends got there before us and snagged front row seats.  How kind of them!  We were so close we could see him walking around his trailer before his turn on stage.  The band was excellent again (although not quite as good when I was in it :P). 

Part of the group.

America the Beautiful

This was by far the best fireworks show I've ever been to.  The fireworks were accompanied by patriotic songs and every once in a while they had images and videos playing on the screens which helped create an overall experience and not just a lot of loud BOOMs.

On Sunday, Blake and I went to dinner at his old Seminary teacher's in-laws house about 30 minutes from Rexburg.  It was great to 1) Get out of Rexburg for an afternoon 2) Be at a real house with kids families and 3) Eat an actual meal that I didn't have to cook.

Blake and I

My new friend Allie

And if a great weekend wasn't enough, the school decided we all deserved a break since we'd been working so hard and gave us Monday off as well!!  The day started with the Rexburg Parade.

That night we went down to Idaho Falls because they have one of the top ranked fireworks shows in the US.  That place was packed, let me tell you.  After the show it took us 2 hours to get home when it normally takes 30 minutes.  The show was nice, although I prefer the Driggs one.  Before the show I worked on some homework (lame, I know), and just had fun with my friends.  A few of the guys even serenaded us with some patriotic tunes.  I liked them so much I asked them to do a musical number in church in a few weeks....muahahaha.

And that, my friends, is why I love the fourth of July.  You get to listen to patriotic music, hang out with friends, eat good food, and have a day off of school.  Not to mention, honor all of the men and women who have given their life for this country.  They put their lives at risk for me and I am extremely grateful.

I don't know if you've seen the commercials for the new show on TLC where they bring soldiers home to surprise their families but even the previews for it make me tear up.  I can't wait to see the show on Monday but I'm bringing a box of Puffs with me to the couch because I know I'll let a few wet ones escape.

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....