Don't Worry - I've Got Time!

So much of our lives are lived this way.

When I was younger, my parents would go to work during the summer and leave my sister and I home alone, with a list of chores, workbook pages, and ideas for other activities to do throughout the day. The rule was, no matter what, the chores and workbook pages had to be done before we could get on the computer, watch TV, or go jump on the trampoline. I would usually start out my morning thinking, "Oh, I don't need to do those right now - I've got time!" And then I'd goof off most of the day, only to be racing to get my list done by the time my parents got home. Now that I'm older and (hopefully) wiser, I've learned that it makes much more sense to spread things out, or get them done sooner rather than later before you run out of time in the end.

Why don't we use this philosophy more in our everyday lives?

In my last post, I asked for prayers for my friend Molly, a volunteer at an orphanage down in Haiti. We learned last week that she didn't survive the earthquake, and volunteers had found her body among the rubble that had previously been an orphanage. The concept that life can be taken from us so quickly comes as a sharp blow, but does tend to put our own lives into perspective. While I complain about things like bills, laundry, and those 5 pesky pounds I can never manage to lose, the people in Haiti are worried about basic needs like water, food, and shelter, not to mention finding and/or burying their loved ones.

Makes my own life and problems seem a bit (and by a bit, I mean a whole heck of a lot) insignificant. I'm so blessed to have a wonderful family, friends, a job, a roof over my head, my education, and my health. Comparing the two, I definitely got the better end of the deal.
It seems that the human race as a whole has the attitude that we are immortal, and the concept of death is very real, but only in the lives of others. That being said, we tend to live our lives as procrastinators to the extreme, never thinking that the precious gift of life can be taken in a split second.

So we create our "Bucket List," and we promise ourselves that we'll start tomorrow - but before you know it, 40 years of 'tomorrows' have come and gone, and we still haven't lived. While Molly's death is a tragedy in that she was doing such good work, and the work has been interrupted, it can inspire us to not only live our lives to the fullest, but to make our own lives more meaningful by going out and helping those in need.

Basically I'm rambling about nothing more than the fact that I feel we all have so much to live for, and yet rarely do. I'll miss Molly, and feel so sad that she died, but take comfort in the fact that we didn't 'lose' her, because we know that she can be found in Heaven.

the universe is trying to tell me something - life's too short

When I woke up this morning at 4am for my usual jaunt to the gym, I didn't expect to hear birdsong, have my coffee ready-made, and for my hair to curl just right like something in a Disney princess movie. But I certainly didn't expect to be handed a subtle-like-a-freight-train hint from the Universe, either. It seemed to say, "Life ain't fair, and life is too short - make today count."

My friend Molly is currently serving as a Catholic missionary at an orphanage in Haiti. With yesterday's 7.0 magnitude earthquake, her family still doesn't know if she's okay or not. One of our other friends from UP was visiting her at the orphanage this week, and has thankfully made it back to the US Embassy with a broken arm, but is otherwise (according to her Facebook page) fine. Apparently, she was on the top floor of the building, and Molly was on the fifth floor when the earthquake struck and the building collapsed. If you're reading this, please say a quick prayer for Molly and her family, that she is found safe and that her family has the strength to endure whatever comes their way, and for our other UP friend, that she gets home quickly and safely, and has a quick recovery.

To add insult to injury, this morning I get an e-mail from my dad (we work for the same company), saying that my ex-boss died last night. Just out of the blue, -wham!- he keels over from a heart attack. Granted, he didn't live the healthiest lifestyle, but still. You never expect the heart attacks, the earthquakes, or the strike of the lightening bolt. We all go about our daily lives with a feeling of immortality, until God comes along and reminds us how precious life is, and how we need to thank Him every day for receiving the gift of life.

Stop and smell the roses. Tell someone you love them. Smile to a stranger on the street, and go ahead and eat that chocoalte. Life is too short to sweat the small stuff, so make each second count. And please keep praying for the people of Haiti.

New York, New York

I know that all my faithful, devoted readers (read: all 7 of you, who I truly do appreciate) have been DYING to hear about my trip to New York last week.

Well. I survived.

I survived on about 4-5 hours of sleep per night. I survived on minimal caffeine. I survived 10 hours in Times Square with about a million other people (and yes, that did mean I also survived not using the bathroom for 10 hours - it can be done!). I survived a night sharing a bed with 3 other girls. I survived walking from the Upper West Side of Central Park all the way down to Times Square and beyond, after a night of standing for 10 hours.

Basically, my friends and I rock.

After the aforementioned freak Portland snowstorm, it took me a full two hours to get home on the bus. Which of course caused a dangerous spike in my blood pressure, as I was imagining all kinds of horrible scenarios where I didn't get home in time, forgot to pack something, got in a car crash on my way to the airport, and, worst of all, miss my flight. I hadn't seen my best friends in over 6 months, so the idea of looking forward to something for 4 months to only have it yanked out from under my feet due to snow was unacceptable. Fortunately, all the really bad traffic was heading south, and I was heading north - with snowtires and snow-driving experience to boot. I made it to my sister's house with enough time to down some yummy Yakisoba noodles that Generic made, have a swig of Bailey's, and have them drive me to the airport.

Anyways. I was able to sleep on the flight, ("Thank you, Tylenol PM!") for a few hours, so when I got to Philly, I took a shower and was ready to go sightseeing. We saw the Comcast Center (what kind of kick-a$$ place has a 3-story TV screen in their lobby?!), Independence Hall, and the Liberty Bell.

*Please note the beautiful Bill O'Reilly/O'Reilly Factor shirt that I got for Christmas

The next day, we got up at the plumber's-crack of dawn and got on the train to Trenton, NJ, where we then switched trains to go to New York. Once we emerged from the station under Madison Square Garden and I got over my initial shock as to how many people there are in New York, we went to our postage-stamp of a hotel room to change before heading over to the Square.

Horrible picture (it was COLD), but I was pretty excited to be in New York

We secured our spot in the Square, and settled in for a loooooooooong wait before the Big Ball Drop. During that time, the people watching was FABULOUS (especially the guy who was badly break-dancing without a shirt on in the 20-degree cold), we heard Jennifer Lopez rehearse her set about 54,480 times before my ears started to bleed, watched Nick and Vanessa awkward kiss on the Nivea Kiss stage, saw a proposal, and saw Carson Daly. THEN. it was. THE MOMENT.

Watching that Ball drop made the past 10 hours seem like 10 minutes. Hearing everyone singing 'Imagine' and dance around to 'I Got a Feeling' got the blood and adrenaline pumping, and made us forget how cold, tired, sore, and hungry we were (surprisingly, none of us had to use the bathroom, which goes to show that if you don't drink fluids for 24 hours and eat lots of salt, you too can go 10 hours without using the bathroom!), and made it all worth it.

After getting out of the Square and finding some street vendor food, we finally made it back to our hotel room and fell asleep around 3am. We woke up at 9, showered, checked out, and made our way uptown to our next hotel. After dropping off our stuff, we ate, went to Central Park, FAO Schwartz, 5th Avenue, Rockefeller Center, and a ton of other places. We didn't get to the southern part of the island, simply because we didn't have enough time. Which just means that I'll have to go back someday in order to see Ground Zero, the Statue of Liberty, and Wall Street/Trinity Church.

The whole group in Central Park - I love this picture

A week later, I'm still recovering - but it was all worth it, every last second. The experience and weekend I spent with my friends will always be a treasure for me, and I definitely want to go back someday.

But if you think I'm leaving my beautiful mountains, lakes, and beach for the concrete of New York, you got another thing comin'.

Look for me on New Years Eve

Because I'll be in Times Square! Or at least in the vicinity, depending on the weather and the moods of my travel buddies. This is going to be a reunion like no other (or at least until we all meet again) for my college family and myself. It's also my first trip to Philadelphia and New York City, so I'm pretty excited.

Well, excited right up until it started snowing in Portland. Snow! in PORTLAND!!

Ok. Let's breathe. This is all going to be just fine.

-sigh-

Well, let's look at the bigger picture, shall we?
1) Yes, there's a terror alert from the attempted boming on a Delta flight 4 days ago. But that was four days ago. And I'm not flying Delta -- I'm on a Continental flight. And all those extra security measures that will probably make me late for my flight really have my best interests (and life) at heart, so I guess it's one of those things where you just have to grin and bear it.
2) Yes, it's snowing, thus putting quite the large damper on the schedule I was hoping to follow tonight before leaving for the airport. But at least I have snow tires, and I grew up driving in the snow, so I'm a seasoned veteran. It's the other 439,521 drivers on I-5 and I-205 who think they know how to drive in the snow, and in all actuality...don't. Or they could be like the crazy lady on the radio last Christmas whose rule-of-thumb was to drive so that her speed matched the temperature outside. If it was 15 degrees outside, then she would drive 15 miles per hour -facepalm-
3) My actual ride to the airport also grew up driving in snow, so I'm in safe, capable hands.
4) I woke up at 4am and am still trying to catch up on sleep from all the wonderful Christmas festivities, so I'm hoping that combination will make me sleep like a baby on the plane. Worst case, I'll pay $15 for a tiny glass of generic wine and fall into a coma-like sleep.

The NN (Niece/Nephew Nugget)

So my sister made a little announcement on Christmas Eve....that by this time next year, we'd have a new addition to the family:

Since they're not finding out the gender until it's born, I have dubbed it "The Nugget," which I believe is a much better choice than the alternatives of "It," or "Ziggy the Zygote." They told us the Big News by giving us all Christmas cards with something along the lines of "To a Wonderful Aunt," "To Wonderful Grandparents," etc., and included the above picture and signed it "Love, Ziggy." My grandma/roommate didn't get it at first, and asked, "Who's Ziggy? Did you guys get a cat?" Wonderful story to tell the Nugget someday - your great-grandmother thought that they were telling her they got a cat (ptooie!) instead of a baby.

Congrats, K and Generic! You're going to be wonderful parents!

Make something foolproof, and the world will hand you a better fool.

For weeks now, I've been planning what I was going to bake for my designated Thanksgiving task: dessert. By request, of course. I've scoured my favorite baking sites, looking for the item(s) that would be tasty, look difficult without too much work on my part, and that everyone would like. Surprisingly, I quickly found what I was looking for, and decided to make PW's Pumpkin Pecan Caramel cheesecake with a Gingersnap crust, and CM's White-Chocolate Ribbon Pumpkin Bundt cake with Maple Glaze. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. Plus, for an added bonus, I figured that the cheesecake was foolproof, since PW so kindly lays out in pictures step-by-step explanations on how to make the delectable cheesecake.

Make something foolproof, and you'll find a better fool, right?

So last night was the night to make the cheesecake. I have been slowly accumulating the necessary ingredients for a few weeks now, in order to not blow my grocery budget out of proportion. I assembled all the ingredients on the counter in front of me, and got to work.

Step 1: Crush the gingersnaps in a food processor, or large Ziplock bag, mix with chopped pecans, brown sugar, and melted butter.

Psh. No problem. And since my motto is, "I'm not lazy, I'm efficient!" I decided to go with the Ziplock route in order to avoid washing another dish. Halfway through the crushing process, I discover that my heavy-duty Hefty Zip-lock bag has a hole in it, thus getting gingersnap crumbs all over my counter. No big deal. But because I went to a sustainably-conscious school, I hate to waste another plastic, non-biodegradable bag, so I resort to the food processor route.

Now, I've never used a food processor in my life. Frankly, it looked like too much work to put together and clean. But I needed those gingersnap crumbs, darn it! I pulled it out of the cupboard and set it on the counter. Looked simple enough: put the bowl and blade on the stand, dump in the food, screw on the lid and push the 'On' button. Hmmm, the 'On' button isn't working. Maybe the 'Pulse' button? Hmm, still not working. Maybe this outlet doesn't work. So I moved it over to the other side of the kitchen and repeated the same steps as before. Still not working. Well this processor looks as old as the hills, so maybe it's broken? Or maybe there's a safey 'On' switch on the bottom or something. After inspecting the mahcine for a few minutes, I finally realize that all of the little components have to line up just right in order for the machine to turn on. Oops. And after that, it works like a charm -- not only do I get my finely-ground gingersnaps, but finely-ground pecans as well! Mix in the brown sugar and melted butter, and press into a springform pan. Hmm, it looks a little more crumbly on the bottom than I'm used to, but I followed the recipe and it's sticking to the sides, so it shouldn't really matter. Let chill for 30 minutes. Life is goooooooooood, and I am a kitchen Master.
After the crust is sufficiently chilled, I took it out, and following PW's instructions, drizzled some caramel ice cream topping on the bottom of the crust. Pour in the pumpkin filling, and stick in the oven. Mission accomplished!
While the cheesecake was baking, the instructions said that your house should be starting to smell "heavenly." Mine was starting to smell a bit "smoky." I wandered into the kitchen to check the cheesecake's progress, and could see a fine plume of smoke coming from the oven's exhaust vents. I cracked the door open, and a whole wave of smoke billows out. What the #$%(&#$ hell!?!?!? I'm not sure WHAT my grandma cooked last in our oven, but there is some kind of liquid on the bottom that is causing some major smokage. I quickly opened the windows and doors, grabbed a dishtowel and started fanning out the kitchen, praying that the smoke detectors wouldn't go off. I repeated this process about 5 more times before the oven timer went off. When I opened the oven door one last time, I noticed that something was dripping off the pan, onto the bottom of the oven. That's when it hit me: That caramel sauce? The cheap stuff that I got at WinCo? And the crust that didn't look packed-in enough? AND THE FREAKIN' SPRING FORM PAN THAT LEAKS?!?!?! Yes, I now have liquid carmel on the bottom of my oven, and burnt on to boot. Which should make the cake and rolls I have to bake tonight a really fun process.
Hope my family doesn't mind their desserts with a bit of a smokey...er, rustic, aftertaste. Yeah, we'll call it rustic.
Or we'll be making a last-minute jaunt to Costco for one of their apple pies.

Happy Thanksgiving!

My Aunt, the Martyr

I just had the following conversation with my dad's sister, via texting.

Aunt: Good morning. Would it be possible for u to bring down grammas cardtable with u? Mike is bringing down the bbq for Cary and doesn't have room.
Me: Sure, no problem =] (SIDENOTE: See how nice I'm being??)
Aunt: Thank u. We're thinking for dinner and the puzzle it would be a good thing. We're going to head down to Pacific City in a bit to watch the surfers and have a crab cakes egg benedict, and a bloody mary ;-)
Me: You're killing me, Smalls! Tonight I'm making one of the desserts, which now I'm debating sharing with everyone =P
Aunt: Hmmmm. I'm doing it for gramma really....it's a sacrifice....
Me: Oh sure. Just like I sacrifice for the economy at the Black Friday Sales!
Aunt: Yeah, something like that. And I do so enjoy being a martyr :-)

CRUEL, I TELL YOU!!! Most of my family is at the beach, and I'm here in the city for 2 more days for work. The injustice of it all is hard to bear sometimes.