Cooking Palooza

So over the break and of late I have been wanting to cook anything and everything. Sometimes (most times) this thwarts my healthy eating/weight loss plans, but now that school is in full swing my cooking has decreased so we should be okay. Anyways here are some pictures of what's been cooking over the last semester.

Bruschetta Chicken

Chex Mix

Layered chocolate cake

Fry Cakes (Grandma's recipe)

Gnocchi (a potato pasta)

Lemon Meringue Pie

Homemade Soft Pretzels

Homemade pumpkin pie from real pumpkin

Pumpkin chocolate chip cookies

Mango Salsa

Massaman Curry

Greek gyros (not my picture, but I forgot to take one)

I'm loving trying new recipes and sharing good food with my great roommates. Bon Appetite!

Ironwoman Update

I am still working on finishing my lazyman ironman. It is actually looking like I will finish earlier than I anticipated - yeah!! I have learned a few things about myself. As I started this I thought it would be near unto impossible for me to workout twice a day (ironman plus my regular workout) for nearly a month. When school started I was working out a couple times a week on a good week - and now for nearly the last 2 1/2 weeks I feel like I have been working out all the time. The point is - I did something I didn't think I could do. The other thing I have realized is that I like exercising. I used to think if I didn't love running there was a problem - I have definitely realized there are loads of things to do to be active outside of running. When I workout I feel better emotionally and physically. I feel better about myself and it helps keep my migraines away. I'm so glad I've had this ironman, plus my awesome roommate Krista to help motivate me to work on this and get into better shape. Some days I'm so sore and tired, but it is worth it.

The other great thing about exercising is that I have still been watching what I eat (now with  more care to make sure I am still getting my nutrients) and have continued to see my body transform. I've been tracking both my weight and measurements. Here are some of the results thus far (I'm pretty stoked!) - Since the beginning of October I am down 16 pounds! I started taking measurements on the 10th of October and since then I am down 1 1/2 inches on my waist, 1 inch off my hips, 2 inches off my thighs, and 1 1/2 inches off my calves! I have realized that this, at least for me, is the only realistic way to get healthy - a lifestyle change. I'm learning to put better things into my body and simply making sure I'm exercising regularly. I've been taking some pictures along the way to document my progress, but I'm going to wait a little longer before I put some of those up. I don't want to go on about this forever, but this is a pretty big chunk of my life right now - so there you go.

The rest of life is also pretty good. I'm really enjoying my classes still, but am definitely ready for a break, Thanksgiving can't come soon enough. My brother, Ethan, gets home from his mission in less than a month and that is super exciting. Other than that I'm just keeping busy and enjoying life.

Apricot Scones

So I recently picked up this new cookbook. I really like Taste of Home recipes - pretty basic ingredients and they pretty much always turn out. I was so excited to get this and already have lots of recipes marked to try. The one for today was apricot scones. Scones as in the biscuit type item not the  fried dough we typically think of here.

They turned out really well for the first time. There is a topping called "devonshire cream" that I had never heard of but made to put on top. It is mostly cream cheese with a little whipping cream added in. It was really good! More recipes to come!

Happily Exhausted

Weeks just keep flying by. I find myself saying just get through this week and before I know it the weekend is here again. School is definitely keeping me busy. I have a class that started mid-October that is far more time than the one I had the first half of the semester so trying to find time to prepare for that has been interesting. Overall I really enjoy my classes. For the most part they are more focused on learning instead of getting good grades which I think makes classes more enjoyable.  Often I still find myself day-dreaming and wishing I could drop-out and go back to Europe and just travel. I miss it!

I also picked up another job as a TA for some of the assignments in the accounting jr. core. It has been nice to get some extra income, but it does take up some extra time in my week.

BYU basketball started!!! I am so excited for basketball season! Football and great is all, but I love BYU basketball! We should be pretty good this year and I 'm ready to watch it all.

The other thing taking up the vast majority of my time is a little thing called the lazyman ironman. This is something the student wellness department here at BYU puts on. You have one month, specifically all of November, to meet all the requirements of an ironman - 26.2 miles running, 112 miles biking, 2.4 miles swimming. This means I am doing one of those three things every day and on some days more than one. I'm still going to the RIPPED class in the morning with my roommate and have a Zumba class twice a week which makes for a very tired me most of the time. I've also been working on eating healthier - so in combination with everything it is cool to see the way my body has changed. I'll have to post periodic updates on here - as for now since the beginning of October I'm down 12 pounds and am going strong. (Shout-out to my Zumba teacher Andrea who suggested I blog about my working out and my progress.)

I've seen a lot of people doing gratitude posts since November started so I thought I would toss one into this post as well. I'm grateful to be at BYU and all the opportunities I have had while I have been here. I was talking to a roommate today about our experiences and some of the things we love about BYU. Some of them include: having a gospel perspective taught in classes, genuinely nice people, a chance to learn and grow about yourself in a spiritual environment, and the great people we've met. Take a second and think about what you are grateful for and what has helped to shape you.

Last First Day

Now that I am finally caught up on my summer adventures (I don't think I have ever blogged so much in one day) I can catch up on regular life. I had my last first day of school. I am in my final year of BYU and it is a bitter-sweet moment. I am excited to graduate, but absolutely love BYU.

School is going pretty well. About half of my classes are just participation, but we get drilled with questions in class so we have to be over-prepared. The other classes are good, but more laid back than what I am used to and so I have more free time than I have ever had before. It is weird to not have any regular accounting faculty - I miss it a little bit, they are truly the best.

I moved apartments back to 210 where I have been before. I ended up getting awesome roommates and am so glad I decided to stay. We all have similar interests and support each other. I haven't ever had an apartment quite like this. I also got new callings - I am a FHE committee co-chair and a visiting teaching supervisor. They keep me busy, but I love being able to serve.

Other than that I am still working for Larson & Rosenberger part-time. Also BYU football is in full-swing. I have mixed feelings, but still enjoy watching either way. My roommate and I are also going to this crazy class called RIPPED in the morning that works every muscle in my body. It is good, but makes me tired. I've learned that life keeps moving and so I've got to enjoy every moment. We'll see what this year holds.

Baltimore

So about a week and a half after getting back from Europe I went to Baltimore for an accounting conference. We had quite the adventure traveling. On the way there we made it to Denver and then got delayed four hours due to a bird hitting our plane that was coming from LA. Most of our time was spent doing accounting stuff but we did have a little bit of free time. We had some awesome seafood and got to spend some time at the Aquarium which was really cool!

Part of the group that went.

Photo courtesy of a friend - looking over the bay from our hotel.

On our way home, we got delayed from Baltimore to Chicago about 3 hours due to both weather and mechanical issues. We missed our connection to Salt Lake by 30 minutes. We had all driven to the airport together and so we needed to be on the same flight back. The next flight they could book us on was not until the next day until 6:00pm - stuck in Chicago overnight. By the time we got to our hotel it was around 12:30 and we were all hungry - this meant pizza at 1:30 in the morning. We also had some interesting hotel accommodations - there was one room for the girls with one king-size bed. One room was being remodeled and looked as though the door had been axed through - slightly sketchy when you are in a suburb outside Chicago in the middle of the night. On top of it all - I had checked a bag with all of my clothes and toiletries - same clothes for two days straight. I guess the saying you don't know what you have till it's gone definitely applies here. 

So when stuck in Chicago for a morning see some of the sights. We walked down by the lake, saw the bean, the fountains, and then got some Chicago pizza. So yummy! After getting a little taste of Chicago I definitely want to go back.

When we finally got to the airport after a one hour delay we were finally on our way home.

I am definitely okay not flying for a little while. Quite the adventure!

Italy - Rome

 We made it to Rome! Rome was also full of history. I was surprised at how much was left or I guess how little. What was left is really cool. We really had most of our time to sight see with only a few business visits so I got to see almost everything I wanted to. One of our business visits was pretty cool though - we got to go visit the American Embassy to the Holy See which includes the Vatican and got to meet the American Ambassador. Here are some of the sights.

Colosseum at night

Inside of the Colosseum (the tops of those blocks in the middle is where the floor was and below was where the animals would be stored)

The Pantheon

Roman Ruins

Roman Forum 

On our way in we got to drive by the Rome temple site. So cool that there is a temple there!

The Spanish steps - the sides of these steps are covered in flowers.

Michelangelo's "Pieta". This is an absolutely touching sculpture of Mary holding Christ in her arms after he was taken off the cross. Besides the touching nature - it is in such contrast to the David, but beautiful in its own way. It is neat to see both ends of the spectrum of Michelangelo's work.

St. Peter's Basilica - this building is absolutely massive and gorgeous! Our director told us that the Salt Lake Temple would fit in this building 3 times. Also as part of our tour we went to the Vatican Museums and got to see the Sistine Chapel. Another one of Michelangelo's great works that he didn't even want to do, but did and it is truly magnificent - one of the most stunning things I have seen.

We climbed to the top of St. Peter's Dome and this is the view over the Vatican from the top.

Throwing a coin into the Trevi fountain.

The beach in Rome.  On one of our last days we realized we were going to be able to see what we wanted and so we took the day to go to the beach. It was so relaxing not to have to run and run and run. It resulted in a terrible sunburn that peeled for weeks, but was so worth it.

Group at the beach.

This is the whole group that went with our bus and bus driver Patrick. I made some wonderful friends and had the experience of a lifetime. After some long flights I finally made it back to the states and look back with fondness.