Easter

In this picture, it is Christ's outstretched hand giving the bread to the couple. Although Christ may not literally pass the sacrament to us, symbolically, He is the one offering this gift. And He literally payed the price for our sins so that we can be forgiven and live again.

I absolutely love this picture. It reminds me of the verses in Matthew 10, "Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows".

Luke 24:5-6, "And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead?

He is not here, but is risen..."

Chist did rise again. And He lives today. For this I will be eternally grateful.

The Sandwich Issue

I love all these sandwich ideas!

http://www.wholeliving.com/photogallery/build-a-better-sandwich

Recipe of the Week: Chicken Tortilla Soup

I love this soup. It is amazing. Special thanks to Amy Price and AllRecipes.com. I like to add a can of black beans and omit the corn and cumin. Double the recipe for an extra big crock-pot.

Ingredients

• 1 pound shredded, cooked chicken
• 1 (15 ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes, mashed
• 1 (10 ounce) can enchilada sauce
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chile peppers
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 cups water
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can chicken broth
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 (10 ounce) package frozen corn
• 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
• 7 corn tortillas
• vegetable oil

Directions

1. Place chicken, tomatoes, enchilada sauce, onion, green chiles, and garlic into a slow cooker. Pour 
2. in water and chicken broth, and season with cumin, chili powder, salt, pepper, and bay leaf. Stir in corn and cilantro. Cover, and cook on Low setting for 6 to 8 hours or on High setting for 3 to 4 hours.
3. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
4. Lightly brush both sides of tortillas with oil. Cut tortillas into strips, then spread on a baking sheet.
5. Bake in preheated oven until crisp, about 10 to 15 minutes. To 
6. serve, sprinkle tortilla strips over soup.

Insomnia

Photo of the Day, National Geographic

Well, I can't seem to fall asleep. I've been trying for two hours now. And I have to wake up extra early tomorrow. Lovely. Although, I found this awesome new google page, which I set to my new home page. Now every time I open Safari I see the weather, my calendar, a literary quote of the day, some news, and the photo of the day from National Geographic. It's lovely.

That must be my new word for the week, lovely. I didn't even realize I used it twice until I reread what I wrote.

Cake

http://www.mywifecancook.com/wp-content/themes/ArtSee/images/heathBarCake2.jpg

I made cake. One of my new favorite shows is Cake Boss, so it was inevitable that we would make a cake. The show is about this really, really Italian family in New Jersey that runs this bakery where they decorate these incredible cakes that just make your jaw drop. So, tonight was the night. I made Score Bar Cake. Man, I love that stuff. But you can only eat so much because it is so rich. It's Matt's favorite dessert. He loved it. I asked him "Hey, did your wife deliver?" He couldn't answer because his mouth was full and he had whipped cream on his face. I took that as a yes.

Snickety Snake Save

Today I was taking notes for Matt on campus. Later, I was walking though the Wilk and saw some students following something on the ground. I thought it might be a mouse, but then they told a kid to lift up his backpack and there was a snake! It was just a little gardener snake. A girl tried to pick it up, but chickened out so I picked it up and took it to the information desk. The secretary there said that she didn't know what was going to happen to the snake when the custodians came and got him. So I asked if I could take him, and she said sure. So, I carried Sherlock the snake home in a box and Matt and I took him to Canyon Glen Park and let him go. I wanted to keep him, but he was a wild snake and will be happier in the wide open canyon.

Luck of the Irish to Ye!

Not really, I wish I was Irish. Matt is pretty Irish though. And he can do an amazing Irish accent.

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Tomorrow is an awesome day. Our family has always gone all out for St. Patty's Day, mainly because it is my brother's birthday. My mom makes green eggs (food coloring) and ham (not green) for breakfast and reads the Dr. Seuss book. One year she even had a Leprechaun come over for one of my brother's parties, this was about 21 years ago. My Dad actually proposed to my Mom on St. Patrick's Day. It is a good holiday for us :)

Recipe of the Week: Ashley's Frito® Salad

My family went up skiing at Deer Valley today. It was lots of fun, but the weather couldn't make up its mind. It rained, snowed and was sun shiny. We ate lunch up on the mountain and my mom brought this Salad that was delicious. Here is the recipe:

Black Beans 3 cans rinsed and drained well

Corn 1 Can drained

Green Chilies 1 small can

Tomatoes 4 diced or 2 cans diced and drained well

Green Pepper 1 chopped finely

Green Onions 2 stalks chopped

Sweet & Tangy (or Honey) French Dressing 2/3 Cup

Chile Cheese Frito® Corn Chips 9 1/4 ounce bag

Add everything together except the chips, mix well. Sprinkle chips on top of individual servings right before they are going to be eaten so the chips don't get soggy. Enjoy!

Red Belt, Ou ha ha!

http://usmaf.net/yahoo_site_admin/assets/images/Red.263211039_std.jpg

Matt will never announce it, but he passed his red belt test for one of the martial arts he does! Whoo Hoo! :)

Peachy

http://www.netstate.com/states/symb/fruit/images/al_peach_crate_all.jpg

Peach Cobbler isn't as good without the Cobbler. Or so I've found.

Most Recent Reject: The Forest in the Hallway

The Forest in the Hallway by Gordon Smith started out promising. The beginning reminded me of The Series of Unfortunate Events. Beatriz, the protagonist, is alarmed to find her parents missing one day. She goes to live with her uncle in his apartment building. Her uncle tells her to not go to the building's nineteenth floor, so like a lion cub we are all fond of, she disobeys her uncle and goes to the nineteenth floor where she finds a hallway that gradually turns into a forest.

In the forest she meets the Grim Reaper, who announces "Please don't be alarmed by my appearance. It's a costume. I've learned that people expect a certain dramatic touch...but yes I am Death. The Grim Reaper. Your Eternal Reward. Whatever. (15)" It was an interesting take on the personification of death, but I kind of liked the symbolism. By this point in the book I was expecting her parents to actually have passed on and in Alice-in-Wonderland fashion she was going to come to terms with the idea and be able to move on with her life.

Unfortunately I set my hopes to high. Turns out she runs into a fairy (named Rose), with rainbow dragon fly wings and two fairy kids. The kids found a magic book and use it to conjure animals. This wasn't what I was expecting and I wanted to see if it was worth finishing, so I skipped to the end. Turns out her parents were magically turned into children and once they turned back into adults they all went home. I'm glad I didn't take the time to read the whole thing.

But I Still Love Technology...

Always and Forever!

So tonight Matt and I played Wii MarioKart (through the internet) with my little sister seventy-five miles away. It was so much fun! I also talked to my sister on the phone for a bit while we were playing. Technology is incredible.

Recipe of the Week: Ron's Chunky Guacamole

http://eatingasia.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/avocadoes_in_guacamole.jpg

This recipe is from my father-in-law Ronald. He makes it every Superbowl Sunday. It is quite delicious. I believe he got it from Cooks Illustrated: Home.

To minimize the risk discoloration, prepare the minced ingredients first so they are ready to mix with the avocados as soon as they are cut.

3 medium avocados, ripe, (preferably Hass)

2 tablespoons minced onion

1 medium clove garlic, minced

1 small jalapeño chile, minced (1 to 1/2 teaspoons)

1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro leaves

1/4 teaspoon table salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin (optional)

2 tablespoons lime juice

Instructions

1. Halve one avocado, remove pit, and scoop flesh into medium bowl. Mash flesh lightly with onion, garlic, jalapeño, cilantro, cumin (if using) with tines of a fork until just combined.

2. Halve and pit remaining two avocados, and prepare. Gently scoop out avocado into bowl with mashed avocado mixture.

3. Sprinkle lime juice over diced avocado and mix entire contents of bowl lightly with fork until combined but still chunky. Adjust seasoning with salt, if necessary, and serve. (Can be covered with plastic wrap, pressed directly onto surface of mixture, and refrigerate up to one day. Return guacamole to room temperature, removing plastic wrap at the last moment, before serving.)

Most Recent Read: The Life of Glass

I enjoyed reading The Life of Glass by Jillian Cantor. It was predictable but, I still liked it. According to the book, glass takes a million years to deteriorate, but it can shatter easily, like the dual nature of humanity. On one hand we are tough and resilient, but also fragile.

One of my favorite songs is "Ali in the Jungle". The song is about overcoming seemingly insurmountable problems, like Muhammad Ali in the "Rumble in the Jungle" and Mandela Nelson in jail. It is incredible what individuals are capable of, such as Joe Simpson, Helen Keller, and Ludwig Van Beethoven.

People can accomplish incredible things, but they are still very breakable. Illness caused by microscopic organisms can eventually become fatal. It only takes pounds of pressure to break a bone or pull a muscle. I found some rather interesting, but disturbing facts, "It takes approximately 8lbs of force to snap the collarbone. Breaking the elbow joint takes between 5-8lbs of force. Putting direct force against the joint in the knee can be devastating, Breaking this joint takes approximately 15lbs of pressure" (http://socyberty.com/military/how-much-force-does-it-take-to-break/).

Most Recent Reject: The Subtle Knife

I went to the library and checked out The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman. I had read the book The Golden Compass and then saw the movie. I thought it was a pretty good book. A little weird, but interesting.

I started reading The Subtle Knife and after about a chapter and a half I stopped reading. I had heard that the series was about killing God and overthrowing heaven, but that concept wasn't really in the first book and I wondered if people were just reading too far into it. They weren't.

Wow, Pullman is anti-Christian, well anti-God for that matter. I'm so glad I didn't waste my time actually reading them.

I'm so glad I have the gospel. It would be so sad to live in a world where I didn't believe in the salvation of Christ, or the infinite mercy of our Father in Heaven. It's ironic that in the books Pullman suggests that because of God we are not free, when in fact it is God who respects our free agency and has given us the opportunity to repent when we do make mistakes. We are liberated because of Christ.

My advice, don't read them. People like Pullman can write what they want and even get published, but that doesn't mean it isn't puerile drivel. The Narnia books are infinitely better. I would go as far to say the Twilight series is better, which is saying something.

Recipe of the Week: Pam's Caramel Syrup

This syrup goes really well on waffles, pancakes, and french toast. Although, if you want to smother ice cream in it, I'm not going to stop you. I've been considering making homemade peanut-butter cups but with carmel instead of peanut-butter and a Toffee and Almond Symphony bar instead of just regular chocolate. That's for later though, here is the carmel recipe:

Butter 1 Lb (4 Squares) May use margarine

Lt Karo (Corn) Syrup 1/2 Cup

Buttermilk 2 Cups

Sugar 4 Cups

Bring all the ingredients to a boil and then continue to boil for three minutes stirring constantly. Remove from heat and then add 4 tsps of baking soda and 6 Tbls vanilla. Stir down and skim off foam. It is helpful to save empty maple syrup bottles to put the carmel syrup in after you are done making it.

Most Recent Read: The Lost Hero

The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan was incredible. It was best book he has written, which is saying something because his other books are amazing. Furthermore, (dare I say) I think Riordan's books are better than the Harry Potters.

Most Recent Read: 3 Willows

I just finished the book 3 Willows by Ann Brashares. The story is written after the Sisters of the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants have gone to college. It is about three girls, Polly, Jo and Ama, who live in the same neighborhood. I enjoyed reading it because it made me think about when I was in Elementary and Junior High. I love the dynamic characters and metaphors she uses. Also, Ama's story made me want to go repelling, like my husband Matt, off of a 350 foot cliff. It sounds exciting. And scary.

The story is written in third person with first person letters spattered throughout, which follow the three girls on their respective summer vacations. One of my favorite parts is when Jo, who has been at a beach house with her mom, runs home to her dad. Jo hasn't talked to him in weeks, mainly because he and her mom are separated. Ever since her brother Finn died her parents have been drifting farther and farther apart.

When Jo gets fired while her mom is out of town, she decides visit her dad. Jo expects him to be working, because he is a top surgeon and he seems to always be working. Not only is he home, but he is excited to see her. She realizes that her home seems warmer now that her mom is living at the beach house, with her dad's uncoastered mugs, newspapers and medical journals in random piles and places. Her dad, who has been learning how to cook,makes her tacos, which actually taste good. At the end of the summer she decides to stay with her dad instead of going back to the beach. It helps by that point she has realized her beach friends and beach boyfriend are actually losers.

Leap into the Wild

09:53 Lately I have considering releasing Winston into the wild. I really didn't want to walk into the room and see him floating in the tank, dead. I know he is just a fish, but I rescued him from the Bio 420 lab. I really like that fish, he was my fish-friend when Matt was on his internship.

Then I did research, and Matt was right, Winston wouldn't make it in our arid to semiarid climate. With winters. But then I found out Zach's Girlfriend, Maria wanted a fish. So Matt and I decided to give her Winston. Everything was going well, we dropped of the bowl, green plant, greek ruin and year supply of food. But then I found out later Winston jumped out of his bowl and Maria found him on the kitchen counter! She was quick and put him back in the water and gave him Fish CPR by spinning the bowl around. Luckily, he was still alive.

Maria said she would try to get him into therapy so that he did not try to commit suicide again. Ogden thinks Winston missed me and was pulling a Nemo. Hopefully Winston won't try it again, but I'm glad I gave him to someone who can do Fish CPR.

19:04 Winston died today. Maria came home from school and he was dead. Matt and I picked him up and took him up the canyon. I let him go in the river. It was pretty dark, freezing cold and everything was covered in snow, but it was peaceful. Matt held onto my hand so that I could get closer to the water without slipping on the snow. I dipped him into the water and watched him drift away.

Tree of Books

I found this picture and thought it was awesome.