yummy yummy.

Yogurt...it's absolutely delicious, super healthy and......i just learned how to make it by myself!!!
It was actually surprisingly easy, and since I'm generally the person in our family who eats the most yogurt in an attempt to be healthy, my parents decided that I will have to make yogurt for myself from now on.
So here is how it's done:

STEP ONE: Pour 1 gallon of milk into a pan.

Turn the stove to medium heat and heat the milk

to 180 degrees. When making yogurt, watching

temperature is the most essential thing. Bacteria

can only grow in certain temperatures, and yogurt

is all about the bacteria. Be super attentive to the

thermometer throughout the process.

I did some homework while I waited :P

Stir occasionally so that the milk doesn't stick to

the bottom. Now it's just time to sit and wait.....


STEP TWO: When the milk reaches 180 degrees,

turn off the heat. Put the pan in the sink and fill it

about halfway with cold water. If there is a desire

to speed things up, one could drain the sink and

refill. Again, it is essential to watch the

temperature for this step...the goal is to take it out

of the sink when it reaches 115 degrees.

*this is crucial: when it reaches 115 degrees add 1 cup of plain (we usually use whole milk, organic)

yogurt. This is called the starter. My dad uses pre-made cubes of frozen yogurt. About 4 of them when

the milk reaches 120 degrees. Either way...ADD YOGURT STARTER!

STEP THREE: Once the pan is out of the sink,

put it in jars. Put the jars in a cooler. Fill the cooler

3/4 of the way with warm water (around 115

degrees). At our house, we can just use the hot

water from the tap and it turns out to be about that

temperature. Let the yogurt sit in the cooler for 6-

8 hours (overnight is ideal). When you take it out

of the cooler, you can eat it immediately if you're

okay with warm yogurt. It's definitely best to put it in the fridge in the morning.

Needless to say, I am incredibly excited to have delicious homemade yogurt for breakfast tomorrow morning!

you are my light.

this afternoon while i was sitting at muggswigz drinking coffee and reading for my class, a young man started up a conversation with me. he was a fascinating, enterprising guy who told me all about his 4 rap albums that he had produced, the several books of poetry that he had published and his plans for the future books that he plans to publish. we had a great conversation, truly. and then he asked me whether i write or not.  told him that i did, but that i was not entirely confident in my ability to do so. when i told him this, he explained that he likes teaching people to write, and that he would like to try an exercise with me. so we wrote together. we wrote alternating lines of a poem, 8 lines each. and it had to be the first thing that came to mind. it was honestly very fun, which i was not expecting. and then he told me that he would like to publish it in his next book, which would feature a lot of collaborations like this, between himself and many other people. so...as soon as i email him with the poem, he will include it in this book, and i will be a published writer.... :)
so, here's our collaboration (it's not great, but it's something and it was fun)

You Are My Light
Today is the loveliest of lovely days
I'm so thankful that I see blessings my way
Thankful that the day is fast approaching
So much to do, so much to look forward to
So much, so, so much to do...but this is almost over
The day flew by like the breeze in the sky
And that bright day is so close I can taste it
Smell it, feel it, can you believe the beauty of nature
The flower in my hair smelled so alive
My eyes are radiant, my vision is clear as I focus into the light
The light of everything that we have ever been, ever will be and always are
The light that inspires me to keep moving on
The seal-like laughter echoing in my memory
In this life, there are many things that I hold dear to my heart
You are my favorite...the sweetest thing I have ever known and ever missed this much
So to love you in my life is the best thing that ever happened to me and I love you very much

my newest favorite television program is the show "new girl". it's about a quirky teacher (zooey deschanel) who, upon walking in on her boyfriend with another woman, moves into an apartment with three ridiculous guys. the show is sweet, as they all learn how to deal with the quirks that each one brings to the table. but mostly the main character, jess, is just to cute. in so many ways do i want to be her when i grow up. here are a few of my favorite clips:



 this one truly shows how ridiculous and quirky she can be (the teeth!)...she just seems like she would be such a cool teacher.

 

this one reminds me a lot of myself...hating horror movies, ruining movies because i talk during them and getting easily distracted by ice cream...

 

 the awkwardness in the clip just made me want to die laughing.

 

 and...the ribbon hat. best ever.

there are also several jess quotations that i just love...

-in a rant to a woman who does not like her, jess says:
"I brake for birds, I rock a lot of polka dots, I have touched glitter in the last 24 hours, [...] and I find it fundamentally strange that you’re not a dessert person. That’s just weird, and it freaks me out. And I’m sorry I don’t talk like Murphy Brown, and I hate your pantsuit. I wish it had ribbons on it, or something to make it just slightly cuter....I’m about to go pay this $800 fine, and my checks have baby farm animals on them, bitch!" (of course if i could have actually found a clip of this, it would have been way better, but this is still great...)

-to the same woman:

"If I acted like you at work my students would turn in really weird, dark dioramas."

-"Are you sure you're okay? You're walking like a Disney witch. Let me drive you to your doctor."


-"He's so soft, like a towel."

-Jess: "$550 for the TV?! Seems a little steep. I'm gonna write down a figure, and this is as high as I'll go."

Pawnshop dude: "You drew a smiley face."

-"Jess: No! I can't call Spencer I haven't talked to him since he cheated on me with that ho! Actually, that's not fair. She might be a really nice ho."

-"I have to get to school cause it's astronomy day and I'm dressing up as Galileo, so I have to put on my beard."

-Schmidt: "I'll take you through the whole thing. I'll be like your guide."
Jess: "Like Gandolf through Middle Earth?"
Schmidt: "Probably not like... Okay, first of all, let's take the Lord of the Rings references and put them in a deep, dark cave, where no one's gonna find them. Ever."
Jess: "Except Smeagle. He lives in a cave."


OH, and she sings. all the time. about everything that she's doing. she even made up her own theme song. anyway, i just really want to be her when i grow up. because apparently my life is centered around TV :P

"i fear i shall never get enough of you, my dear

this was written and posted on my old tumblr on november 19, 2010. it's lovely to read back through all of the posts that i wrote as i was falling in love with andrew. this made me want to cry because i miss him so much.

darling friend,

it’s been a few months since the music indoctrinations began. since the library walks started to become a routine. since we established our shared love of cardigans/sweaters.

somehow, while we were walking, singing, driving, climbing (trees!), skipping, puddling, crunching, reading, shopping, eating, etc, i fell for you.

i try to look back and see that moment when exactly i knew that i wanted to stay by your side for a long time (possibly forever).

it may have been when you tried greek dancing with me.

or maybe our 1:30am trip to waffle house.

was it when we were picking out all of those great old man sweaters at salvation army?

maybe when you met my family and they loved you and you loved them right back?

maybe it was when you made me laugh so much that i fell in a bunch of leaves.

was it all of those times that you looked at me with those lovely brown eyes and laughingly told me how ridiculous i was?

or maybe that morning 6 days ago when we decided that this would be official?

how about the time i randomly decided that i was hungry for egg rolls, so we bought some.

or when you were going to surprise me with an umbrella…it is the thought that counts…

what about the two shiny pennies and the wishes in the dark?

or last night when you texted me that i am “the finest example of a woman i’ve ever had the privilege of knowing…”

the more i think about it, the more i become awed by this situation. i honestly don’t think it was any specific event that made me fall for you. it was always being with you. knowing that i have your support. always being able to rant to you if i have the need to do so. sitting in silence while doing our homework. feeling your hand touch my knee for a split second before you go back to reading. loving life with you. being your best friend more than anything.

i think dreams really do come true.

you make me feel like a princess, a proper lady, a little girl and an old woman all at the same time =)

thanks for being such a pal. for being the best boyfriend ever. for being all that i ever hoped and dreamed for. you’re so good.

i can’t wait to see you at dinner tonight. and tightly hold your hand. and smile up at you. and feel the butterflies in my tummy.

sincerely,

bailzebub

andrew, whenever you read this...i love you with all of me. happy 1 year and 4 months today :P

studies have shown...

-students who use flash cards will do better if the card is round. a circle is the most recognizable shape and students can focus better because the round shape is less distracting than squares or rectangles

- movement is the only experience that unites all brain levels and integrates the left and right hemisphere of the brain in young students.

- thematic instruction improves learning by helping students to identify patterns and build on prior knowledge

-analogies, similes and metaphors enhance learning by linking abstract concepts and visualizations.

-the brain is not wired for long attention spans. attention is focused in short bursts. the optimum sustained attention span is roughly equivalent in minutes to the child's age.


YAY holistic classrooms and student-centered teaching! i love when scientists figure out that humans are totally not designed to learn primarily through rote memorization and drills, etc.
creative teaching!
thanks to my textbook (Characteristics of and Strategies for Teaching Students with Mild Disabilities).
i thoroughly enjoyed reading this section...

wishing i had my camera....

today has been phenomenal.
first off...i'm wearing this great new jacket for the first time:

 secondly, this weather is just...sigh :)
because of this lovely day, i was able to eat my lunch in the park, walk through the mud barefoot and read my favorite part in catching fire while i was sitting in the sun, sun, sun! (p.s. my favorite part is when her dress turns into a mockingjay. cinna is just one of the most phenomenal characters.

and now? now i'm sitting in muggswigz drinking coffee and attempting to write a paper. 

and i just got off the phone with someone from giant eagle who informed me that i get to move to the next step in their interview process :)

what a grand day.

days like this remind me of how beautiful God is and how wonderful He was to bless us with such a wonderful world.

also, this weather makes me miss andrew a lot more than usual. if he were here, we would walk to the library or in the pretty neighborhood or to the park. it would have been a great day and i would have had some company. as it is, i'm having a pretty great day, just solo.

now about this paper...

how awesome is this...

oh, one more thing...
I HAVE A WEDDING DRESS!
i don't have an engagement ring or anything else that would be essential in the planning of a wedding. but i do have a dress. because my grandfather found this:

while we were in oregon, i saw this picture and i fell in love with the dress. i asked my grandpa about it and he told me that they had donated it to a university drama department about 3 years ago. i asked him if he could look for it, but i didn't get my hopes up, because i was not at all expecting him to find it. but several weeks ago my grandpa facebooked me to tell me that he had found the dress.

so now i have a wedding dress, one of the most essential things in planning a wedding. it is so weird to think about that. i haven't yet tried it on, because it is still in oregon, and i'm expecting it to need cleaned and altered, but it is still SO EXCITING!