Photo Dump for November

November was pretty uneventful...at least picture-wise. Maybe lots of fun things happened, but I just didn't take any pictures of it. But I did manage to take a picture of a gaping wound. I don't even remember what I was doing, but I do remember that I was doing it with a razor blade. My hand slipped and the razor blade gouged my thumb. Yikes!
Well, it looks as though I managed to get a crisp shot of the texture on my bathroom wall... Maybe I was subconsciously trying to trim my thumb to the width of my other thumb.
I had earlier posted about a screamin' deal I got on a bread maker at a thrift shop. Well, it turned out to be not so screamin'. The first couple loaves turned out great, but it just went downhill from there. I don't know what I was doing wrong, but they just weren't turning out very good at all. It wasn't even good enough to use for bread pudding and it was even too coarse and tough for bread crumbs. It hurt my heart, but I threw away almost 2 entire loaves. Enough! I have given up on my bread maker and will just have to do it the old fashioned way. I don't think I've made bread in years! This was the result...
It turned out okay...definitely better than the bread machine, but I know I can do better. Heather, I covet your bread making abilities. I think that's your super power. I'm sure you can fight crime with your bread baking skills somehow. I mean, even Daniel-son won the karate tournament by waxing a car. Come on! In the move, I came across a bunch of Taste of Home magazines I got at a thrift store long ago (thank you Unique) and have been thumbing through them as of late (...fine, in the bathroom. Happy now?!). Anyhow, I saw a delicious picture of a Cheesy Ham Braid and had to make it. This is the pre-oven picture:
And this is post-oven.
It really was delish. I'll have to make it again when I move back to Logan. And, for what it's worth, I'd just like to apologize now for the gaping wound/cheesy ham braid post combination. It's the order that I took the pictures, so you'll just have to deal with it.

Photo Dump for October

Little known fact - Single people rarely buy fresh fruits and vegetables. It's not that we don't want to eat well, but they always rot faster than we can eat it all. Every once in a while I feel guilty that I don't get enough fresh fruits in my diet and I go out and buy some. Then a month later I wonder where all the fruit flies came from. Then I feel guilty again for all the money I wasted. It's a vicious cycle. Anyhow, the photo below was the result of one of my guilt ridden shopping sprees. I was proud of myself for actually consuming almost 80% of it all.
I was the lucky recipient of Korby's craftiness. She was kind enough to send me my very own seasonal pillowcase. I was so excited for it to come that I actually took a picture of the package before I opened it.
This is my Halloween pillowcase "in action".
Hmm...maybe I should have cleaned up a bit before I took the picture. How about that can of Odor Eaters spray that I keep at my bedside! Classy. Anyway, the pillowcase totally made my holiday! Thanks Korby, I absolutely love it!

Photo Dump for September

I've been way stressed lately so, as you've obviously seen, I haven't been writing any new posts. I take pictures every once in a while with the intent of posting about them later...but we all know how that's worked out. Ugh, the thought of taking the extra step of hooking up my camera just fatigues me (How lethargic can you be, Holly?!). So, I have a bunch of random pictures on my camera that were intended for individual posts. Due to my laziness, I am just going to dump all the new photos I have in a post for each month and tell you briefly what each one is. I'll start where I left off...September:
This was the month that I finally decided to civilize my apartment. I had everything that I needed on hand, but I hadn't attempted to decorate anything or make it look homey (Hey, I said "homey", not "homely"!). The first thing I did was put up my pictures. This is a picture of the Last Supper. My friend brought this back for me from his visit to Milan. I love it because underneath each apostle is his name in Latin.
You can't see this one very well (sweet glare Ansel Adams) but this is a picture of Milan taken in 1901. This was such a fun find because all of the old European pictures that I had found in the past were of France, and 90% of those were just of Paris. I was so excited to find one, not only of Italy, but of Milan. Yay! It's fun to see the Duomo in the background and all of the old shops and carriages in the streets. I'm sure I walked this street at one point on my mission, but I have no idea. It'd be fun to go back one day and try to find the street to compare it to the poster. Who knows. I'm always on the lookout for a better fitting frame. It looks kind of awkward with all of the head and foot space.
This last one is my favorite. It is a copy of the Declaration of Independence. Not just any Declaration of Independence, but the one that my mom received when she got her citizenship. My mom was going to throw it away (mom, I think George Washington wants to talk to you), but I salvaged it and kept it rolled up and tucked away for years. I came across it in my storage unit not too long ago and decided to finally hunt for a frame for it. This one will do for now, but I hope to get it much more nicely set in the future.
After my pictures were hung, I decided it was about time to put up some curtains. These are the kitchen curtains:
And these are the living room curtains:
Hmmm...the kitchen curtains look suspiciously like the living room curtains... They were on clearance at KMart. What did you expect?! I love white linen curtains. They are light enough to let in maximum sunlight, but opaque enough to not give my neighbors a show (Heidi!).

Please Don't Hate Me!

I know I have neglected my blog lately. Here are a few of my lame excuses for not posting anything:

1. I just applied to graduate school. I had to study for and take the GMAT, fill out all the applications, write essays, request transcripts, pay all the fees, etc. I managed to get it all done the day before the cut-off date. Now I just have to wait and see if I get in...any day now.

2. I have been super busy with work. I actually only work part-time, but I have come to realize that when you do something that you don't particularly like and that you are not really that good at, it takes a lot out of you, especially if you find out that your boss resents you being there in the first place (*sigh* lots of drama that deserves a post all its own...grrr...).

3. I gave the lesson in Relief Society this past Sunday. I enjoy teaching, but it always takes me an entire Saturday to prepare. The lesson was on President Monson's Conference talk called "What Have I Done for Someone Today?". I think it went well. But, I've noticed that whenever I teach, the women don't participate as much. I can't figure out if it's because they are rapt in attention, or that they are bored to death. Hmmm...

4. I have been cooking a lot lately to make TV dinners. I even copied Mark and Mel by making meatloaf dinners. They turned out way yum! I've also made Spinach and Sausage Linguine, Lasagna, Quiche, Spinach and Mushroom Tortellini, and Enchiladas. I've also made some desserts (Apple Crumble, Million Dollar Cake and Heidi's Peaches and Cream dessert) to freeze as well. Mmmm...I'm entering the apocalypse in style...and in larger pants.

5. I've also been preparing make-ahead lunches for work. Right now I'm eating Greek wrap stuff. Basically, I found some crazy soy wraps at the "Used Food Store" (as Pappy so affectionately put it) for a super deal. I fill them with cubed chicken (that I cooked in a marinade in my crock pot overnight and then chopped it up in the morning), lettuce, tomatoes and a Greek yogurt type dressing that I found on AllRecipes.com (perfect, since I was looking for an excuse to use up some cucumbers and yogurt). Delish!

6. I finally finished "Liberal Fascism" by Jonah Goldberg. I probably started it like a year ago (a few things have happened since then, eh). I think I literally have notes scribbled on the margins of every single page. It was so fascinating. It gives such a clear definition of what fascism is and how it manifests itself in different societies, including American society! It gives such a concise picture of the modern Progressive movement and it's beginnings. I don't think there are that many people that profess to be Progressives that truly understand what it means. It answered a lot of my "How did we get here as a society?" and "Where did we take a wrong turn?" questions. It may sound like it would be a boring read, but I found it quite entertaining and incredibly informative...but then again, this is coming from the girl that was moved to tears by "Summer of My German Soldier", so...

7. My blog really cuts into my TV time. At the moment I'm working my way through "Roots" again. I love you mom and dad, but come on, it's Kunta Kinte! My visiting teacher let me borrow the new BBC versions of Persuasion and Sense and Sensibility. No version of Persuasion can outdo the Ciran Hinds version in my opinion, but it was definitely worth watching (and definitely on my list to purchase later on). I absolutely loved the new version of Sense and Sensibility. I was skeptical that anything could compare with the Emma Thompson version, but I think I like this new version as much as that one. What I really liked about it was how the girls were closer in age to the book characters. The scenery was gorgeous and the colors were rich and vibrant. Well worth seeing and a must-have for a Jane Austen video collection....if you have a Jane Austen video collection...Marky...

Did Someone Say "Bargain"?!

The other day, I was hunting all the thrift stores for a crock pot so I could more easily use dry beans which are way cheaper than canned beans. I went to all of the thrift stores that I knew of, but to no avail. As I admitted defeat and began to drive home, I noticed a store in the corner of my eye that I hadn't noticed before called "Nanilee's Resale". Hey, it's another thrift store! I quickly pulled over and ran in to look around. I found this brand new, still-in-the-box crock pot. Yay!
When I came out, I looked down the parking lot and noticed a store called "Bargain Basket". With a name like that I had to check it out. It turned out to be a completely ghetto grocery store. It was like DG&L, but more of dive...if that's at all possible. Truth be told, I loved it! It was so fun walking up and down every aisle looking at all of the random items that were dirt cheap. What's more fun than that?!
In the news of other awesome deals that I have happened upon, I found some shelves on clearance at at Target the other day (only $3.34 each!). I bought two and stacked them for some more kitchen space to be able to unpack a few more boxes. Ta-da!
Also, guess who discovered that the angel food cake pan that they got for a super deal at the thrift store leaks? This was all that was left of the cake when the timer went off.
Mmmm...angel flat cake.

"I Know You Are, But What Am I...Infinity!"

So, I'm a total copier, eh! All the fruit and canning talk has made me want to get in on some of the action. "Jealous!" Since I'm pretty limited now on space and supplies, I figured that freezer jam would be the perfect thing for me to do. Not to mention that I have been craving freezer jam for over a year now! It's about time I acted on that. With a little pep talk from Heather, I made some Strawberry Freezer Jam.
I liked the way it turned out, but I may opt for the full-sugar version next time. I think I prefer my jam to be "sickeningly sweet" as opposed to "slightly tart". But no complaints, I'm inhaling it nonetheless. I also found a recipe on AllRecipes.com for a refrigerator jam that didn't require pectin. All I needed was blueberries, sugar and a package of lemon jell-o.
I only made half since I didn't have enough blueberries, but it turned out kind of fun. Some comments left on the recipe site suggested using different fruit and jell-o flavors. I think next time I want to try strawberries with strawberry-banana jell-o. I'll let you know how it works out.
With all this jam, the only thing I was missing was the bread to put it on. Well, lucky for me, I found a bread maker in lovely condition at a thrift store the other day.
It's not as nice as my last bread maker from Unique (why did I give it away in the move?!) but it makes a larger loaf. It must be an older model because it's pretty noisy. When I first plugged it in I literally jumped when it buzzed on. I thought my smoke alarm went off. It also makes this continuous thudding sound while it's mixing the dough. My neighbors must have thought I was being beaten (but they must not like me very much since they never came over to see if I was okay).
As a side note, apparently I don't know my own strength. While I was scooping out the flour for the bread, I snapped the handle off of my measuring cup.
I guess Anziano Lemon was right:
"Sorella Stevenson, I'm really feminine,...but that's okay, because you're butch."

Are You Ready For Me To Bore You To Death?

I've tried not to put many political things on my blogs because I realize that I'm probably the only one interested in all that stuff. But, I've recently realized that I don't have much else to put on my blog, so you will just have to suffer the boredom of some of my thoughts on politics.

A really cool thing happened at the UN General Assembly this week.
Now, generally speaking, I don't pay any attention to the UN either (they increasingly demonstrate that they don't have the interests of the U.S. in mind), but Benjamin Netanyahu's speech was powerful and condemning.

A little background:

On Wednesday, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (the president of Iran) gave a speech to the UN General Assembly. In it, he railed against Israel. This is not surprising since, in the recent past, he has publicly stated that Iran's goal is to destroy the "little Satan" (Israel) and then the "great Satan" (the US). He emphatically denies that the ever Holocaust happened, calling it "a lie". He only refers to Israel as the "Zionist Regime" and "the Occupiers". He talks about a Jewish conspiracy, saying, "It is no longer acceptable that a small minority would dominate the politics, economy and culture of major parts of the world by its complicated networks." He also accuses the Jews of seeking to "establish a new form of slavery, and harm the reputation of other nations, even European nations and the US, to attain its racist ambitions."


...Like I said, crazy. A lot of people were upset that he was allowed to speak at all. Such a public forum would only give legitimacy to a tyrant. Some countries refused to go to Ahmadinejad's speech at all (Israel and Canada), while other countries had delegates that walked out during the speech (the US, Argentina, Australia, Britain, Costa Rica, Denmark, France Germany, Hungary, Italy, New Zealand).

Well, the next day, Benjamin Netanyahu (the Prime Minister of Israel) spoke to the UN General Assembly. The first part is basically a response to Ahmadinejad's speech, but he goes on to condemn the UN and Palestine and finishes with a declaration of Israel's right to defend itself and merely to exist. It really impressed me.


I'm not clever enough yet to imbed a video, so here's a link to the first part (out of 4) of the speech.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44HkjBDQz_k

The first part is the strongest, so if you watch anything, that would be the best.