It’s 2010 and nothing has changed.

(Hahaha it’s February)

By the way, I don’t mean that in any relation to politics or Obama. About four years ago when I first moved to Seattle for college, I expected things to be a lot different by now- and yes they are, but so many things are still the same. Well, instead of listing all the things that are still the same, I will list a few things I’d like to happen this new year (not resolutions!).

1. Get school over with. With tuition costs rising every year, and Mark Emmert not doing shit about it (besides the unnecessary remodeling of the HUB) there is no reason to take my time with school. Unfortunately, I definitely still have a year and a half to go. I’m the old lady in class, yep.

2. Start saving more. The economy right now and in the future will not be helping me get a job, it’s time to prepare! This means buying in bulk, not buying new clothes (which is silly), and eating and drinking out less. The drinking part is what gets me.

3. Eat well. I work for a nutritionist and she has taught me a lot of things about a healthy diet and concerns with certain types of food. I eat vegetarian and limit my dairy intake. This means cooking all my meals, packing my lunch and not eating foods that are packaged. I think when you’re young is the best time to start eating healthy because it will become a part of your lifestyle easier. So that once you hit 30 and you can’t eat a cookie without gaining a pound, it won’t be so hard to resist!

4. Keep in touch with my creative side. Now that I’m back in school I haven’t had much time to keep up with banjo playing, tap dancing and baking that I used to do last year. Part of me also feels like I’ve kind of lost interest in some of those things- but I think I’ve just been too absorbed in school. I’d like to start crocheting again, maybe pick up photography??

5. Travel! Everyone wants to travel of course, but I mean travel even by simply going on a short bike ride to a neighborhood I’ve never visited before. Traveling abroad is really amazing, but is so expensive right now and can be a pain in the ass, especially if you don’t know the language, (I know from experience ). I want to go hiking!, camping!, bike riding!, visit Portland (again and again), the rest of Oregon and some of California.

That’s enough to keep my mind occupied for now- my brain is already burdened enough with school.

on repeat (in Germany)

This song is !!!! Quick Canal by Atlas Sound. My computer has been dead and I didn’t bring an ipod to Germany. This song has simply been stuck in my brain this whole trip so far. When I’m lucky and get the chance to revive my computer, the first thing I do is play this song on full blast with my headphones on. PS. I just discovered that the female voice in the song is Laetitia Sadier from Stereolab. Ahh, how perfect!

vegan cookies!

If you know me, you might also know about my famous vegan mango-almond tea cookies. I just discovered this blog dedicated to vegan cookies, I’m super excited to try out some of these recipes!

Aren’t those Turtle cookies so cute??! Vegancookies.wordpress.com

eastern washington

hot hot hot

Hot hot hot! Obama is the most attractive president the US has ever had. Yes, he beats Kennedy.

pictures are gone

So I accidently deleted all the pictures in my posts just before the last few recent posts- damnit! Oh well…. I’ll just have to make my new posts super neat!

banjolele…

I am so obsessed with banjolele’s now. After seeing the Fishtank Ensemble perform with one and this absolutely adorable man play Stagolee blues on the banjolele… I am sold.

a few new things happening

1. I am now back in school! It’s was kind of a stretch getting back, but now that’s over with and I’m already swamped in school work. I’m pretty happy to be back actually- I’ve started working on my major now! I’m also a year behind now though, but it hasn’t been bothering me much at all.

2. I have a brother-in- law now! Yikes…? My little sister married her fiance this summer and I am now the spinster older sister! (Which I am quite proud of by the way)

3. I am living at the Love Corner for another year! We have two new, awesome housemates as well- Katie and Whitney. There are great and appreciate baked goods, pretty things and a happy home just as much as the rest of us.

4. I am spending Christmas and New Years Eve in Germany this year. Gasp!! I’ve realized the past few Christmas’ have been more stressful than I’ve liked and I could really use a change this year. I am going by myself and it will be my first time traveling alone for longer than two days… it’ll be good.

That’s the update!

i finally made lentil soup!

I’ve had this big bag of lentils sitting on my shelf for months now- last night I finally built up the energy to cook up some yummy veggie lentil soup! I always procrastinate on this recipe because it takes soo long for the lentils to cook! It is always so worth it though, because I end with a week’s worth of left-overs for lunch! Also, lentil soup always tastes better each day it gets older.

Here is the recipe I use (cred. to Paul Dragy):

Amazing and Wonderful Vegetable Lentil Soup

1 Cup of Lentils

6 cups of water (with lots of olive oil, garlic and salt) or vegetable broth

3 large peeled chopped carrots (i guess about 1 1/2 cups)

1 1/2 cups chopped celery

2 cans whole foods brand garlic and olive oil diced tomatoes (or green chile diced tomatoes if you want to be a little daring- or to keep it fresh- 5 or 6 tomatoes diced) i prefer the canned tomatoes because they are pre- seaoned and super tasty

1/2 chopped red onion

3 cloves garlic

Several pinches of salt

3 tblsp olive oil

Bring the lentils, 1 clove minced garlic and water/ broth to a boil a large pot. Once boiling, lower heat to simmer and cook for about 30min (or until cooked).  Make sure to add a few pinches of salt to the broth.

Heat 3tblsp olive oil in a skillet. Once heated, add onion and carrots, once carrots look cooked or soft to touch add the celery. Add two cloves of minced garlic and two pinches of salt . Cook until celery is transparent.

Once the lentils are cooked, depending on how soupy you want the soup to be you can leave the remaining water in the pot or drain a little bit of it out ( I like hearty soup so I drained a little out). Then add the cooked veggies and tomatoes to the lentils. Warm the entire soup in the pot on low to medium heat until everything looks like it has been fully mixed together/ cooked.

Serve with some bread or crackers! Yum yum!

P.S. I think this soup would taste good with some diced potatoes and/ or basil but I have yet to try it.

i really want one

Banjolele

Oh my goodness they are soo cute! And so easy to transport!