Podcast Listening

I recently discovered Podcasts. I have no idea if I am ahead of or behind the curve but I really enjoy them. I listen to a couple of different ones but I have my favorites. The ones I listen to semi regularly include:

• The Moth Podcast- this is one is recorded live somewhere in NY and it is where people come and tell stories. They tell stories about crazy dates or strange, funny or sad things that happen to them.
• Discovery News- this is just different videos about new discoveries going on in the world and just informing on various sciencey type things like electric cars, cave formations, meteorites, and new animal species.
  
• President Obama's Weekly Address- just like it sounds. This actually began with Obama actually having a weekly video podcast before he got into office. Now I don't think he has time for that. This seems to be more general talks he gives that are turned into a podcast but it helps me stay somewhat informed which otherwise I would not be.
  
• 60 Second Earth- another sciencey one that are each only a min. long and are usually having something to do with being "green" like Smart Grid energy or carbon dioxide from cars.
• Coffee Break Spanish- I only recently discovered this one and I have only listened to it like twice, but it is what it sounds like. A 15 min Spanish lesson on varying topics. There is a teacher and a student and time to repeat. I am sure I sound pretty crazy to my roommates!
  
• Stuff You Missed in History Class- this is my second favorite to listen to. It is two women sharing information on history topics that were either not talked about in high school history or were glossed over. Things like The Great Wall of China, Blood Diamonds, Easter Island, and Did the Chinese Reach America before Columbus did?

Those are the major ones I listen to. When I say listen to, I mean that I listen when I can but I am typically behind. I have like 12 Coffee Breaks to listen to, 6 History class, etc. I really enjoy them though when I get the chance and they are great to listen to in the car on trips. I might start saving up for spring break!

My most favorite podcast ever is called Stuff You Should Know. It is put on by 2 guys, Chuck and Josh, who are really clever and funny and typically inform their audience about sometimes obscure, but always interesting things. They are usually things that I did not even know there was more to know about. Here are some of the ones I have listened to recently:

• How Albert Einstein's brain worked- this was the first one I ever listened to
  
• How comas work
• How flirting works- a very funny one
• How to survive a plane crash- really helpful, especially if you watch Lost and get a little paranoid about flying
• Why is it so hard to say "toy boat" three times fast
• How going over Niagara Falls works

The list goes on. Typically the podcast starts out with a silly intro that leads into the main discussion. They share stories from their lives that connect to the topic but also give scientific or historic facts to back them up. I really have learned a lot and I love hearing what they have to say.

I know you are thinking, aren't you in grad school? How do you have time for this? Well I do take breaks sometimes, but I like to listen to these while I do the dishes or pick up my room or get ready in the morning. It gives me something entertaining and yet is somewhat educational. I love it!

Wind is not our friend

The wind in Abilene, oh how it blows
It makes me shiver from my head to my toes.
The gusts keep coming, they never stop.
But when they do, I usually fall plop.

It comes from all directions, north south east west
Trust me, this is true, I do not jest!
When I ride my bike into this force
I hope to not fall, dead like a horse.

Oh when will you stop, wind that does not end
Bring a little rain, and you will be our friend.
But you keep on blowing, ruining our days
Who needs to fix their hair anyways?

Hear my cries of pain as you blow down my house
Which is worse, you or the mouse?
Please leave soon, blower of dust
Or inside I’ll stay until August!

I Made an Apple Pie

I am very proud of my accomplishment. I think I am a fairly good baker, but tend to stick to my regulars. I don't mind sticking to regulars because I really love the cookies I make, but sometimes it is fun to mix it up a bit.

This past weekend I had lots of leftover apples from a presentation where we had to provide a cultural snack. We used the apples to dip in the Manjar, otherwise known as Dulce de Leche. It was delicious treat! But as usual when estimating food for a group, we over estimated and I could not stand to throw the apples away. They were red delicious apples, which I don't particularly like, or I would have just eaten them. So what do you do with a bunch of apples? Make apple pie!

I decided to go completely from scratch and see how it went. I got the pie recipe for the old school Better Home and Gardens red and white checked cook book. I would have used the pie crust from there but I did not really understand the instructions so I found a crust recipe online and went from there.

I made the crust and let it sit in the fridge for a few hours, partially because it was very sticky and partially because I had other things to do. Then I toiled over the apples, pealing them and cutting and pealing the few whole ones I had at home. In the process of using knives too sharp for my cutting abilities I sliced my thumb. I think it is getting better but for a while I was not sure if it would stop bleeding. I don't think any blood got in the pie...:)

I will way my pie turned out well and yummy but there are a few things I will do different next time and I will make those comments as I go along. So I rolled out the dough on the table and tried to get it as even as possible and large enough for the pie pan. It was a little small but I made it work. I really want to perfect my crust edge crimping! You know what I really want? A marble rolling pin! Have you ever seen those? The make rolling things so easy. You hardly have to push. That would be great!

Here you can see me with the dough fitted nicely in the pan

Then the apple mixture came. I did not use the type of apples the recipe called for but I put lemon juice on them to help them sour a bit. They tasted fine. I added what I needed and it soaked well into the apples. I put them in the dough, plopped some butter on top and crisscrossed dough strips on top. This was fun but next time I will make them thinner and not piled so high because they were close to burning!

Then I stuck it in the oven. As you can see I even put foil around the edge to keep it from burning. That technique worked well! I put it in the oven at 400 degrees. The recipe said for 50 min but I checked it at 40 and the top was browning so I pulled it out. I think it was fine timing though because everything seemed done enough. Dough was done and apples were slightly crisp!


The pie turned out great and I cannot wait to try it again to perfect it. A few things I will try are maybe an apple less because they were piled super high as well. I wonder if when the recipe book was written apples were smaller or maybe just the type of apples it called for, Granny Smith, are smaller. I also will probably add a little more flour to the apple mixture because it was super juicy! After I cut my first piece it looked like the pie was sitting in a soup. I poured a little out. This could probably be helped with a little more flour and a little less apple.

Finished product!

One question I have for you bakers out there is how much of a difference does it make if you don't peel the apples. That is the hard, long, dangerous part of the process and if it could be skipped I might make apple pies more often. I felt so Suzy Homemaker-ish! Is it just a texture difference or does it really change the taste? Maybe I will experiment with other pies. I really enjoyed making the crust! Any requests? :)

This Weekend

I had a long weekend. It was good but long. I was in class for...23 hours spread between Thursday Friday and Saturday. On top of this we had team stuff Friday night and team breakfast Sat. morning. Those times were the best of the weekend. It was so good to see Reid and Mer. We miss them! We also learned some very exciting info concerning our team in the next year. I probably should not share yet, but it is amazing. We are so blessed and we give God the glory.

Here is a picture of the team at breakfast

After I got home on Saturday I chilled for a bit, then Kelli and I got a delicious, healthy dinner from Jason's Deli which I needed after eating junk in class all weekend. Then we came home and watched Harvey with Jimmy Stewart. It was odd but really cute and funny. Sadly I was very tired and could not keep my eyes open towards the end. I went to bed and guess what! I slept for ELEVEN AND A HALF HOURS! I do not know the last time I was able to do that. I guess I needed it.

The rest of today I have been preparing for the arrival of Olivia after her marathon, doing a little run myself and getting ready to make an apple pie. Hopefully I can share how that goes soon since I have never made a pie before!!

How I Love to Laugh

I have had a wonderful weekend so far. I still have today to make it through but it will probably be filled with more studying that laughing. Here are some of the things that made me laugh this weekend:

*Watching Invasion of the Body Snatchers with my roomies. It is one of those old, black and white scary movies that is so dramatic it is funny.

*Sharing bug stories: eating bugs, sleeping with bugs, bugs on the face, bugs in the water, and for me, thousands of bugs all over my bedroom. I was a little nervous going to bed that night for fear of what might get me!

*Watching New in Town. This movie was cute and clean and hilarious! We laughed SO hard. Not only are their Minnesota accents so strong and crazy sounding, the things they said were awesome. Things like "okie dokie artichokey" and "tapioca" and "dont cha know." One of the funniest scenes in the movies though is this:

Blanche: Have you found Jesus? (after knowing Lucy for about 5 min)
Lucy: I didn't know he was missing (then she proceeds to crack up while Blanche doesn't).
Blanche: We don't joke about Jesus.
Lucy: Oh sorry.
Blanche: Although I guess that is kinda funny. Thinking about Jesus gone missing. Can you imagine if Jesus went missing!

We just cracked up about that! But trust me, that was not the only funny part. I laughed so so hard throughout the movie. I know it got bad reviews but I loved it! They probably didn't like it because there was no sex or violence or bad language.

*I went for a run and was coming up behind these two guys walking and talking. I love to ease drop so I was paying extra attention to what these guys might be talking about. They made it pretty easy because as I was coming up one of them clapped his hands together and said really loud "bam! make-out session!" I held it in as I ran past and did not make eye contact but as I passed he said "oops" knowing that I had heard. Then I laughed!

*Going through a friend's clothing box that she was going to give away. I got a great sweatshirt and another shirt and our other friend got some things too. But some of the clothing was quite funny to look at- being that it was from high school. Whew I then realized how badly I probably dressed back then. At one point the friend giving the clothing away was talking about an outfit she loved and she called it a Miss American outfit. I just thought that was the most hilarious thing. I could not stop laughing and I had the hiccups. It was a very funny moment for me.

*Watching this video someone put on facebook of an episode of Ellen. She is on the phone talking to this old lady Gladys who is just so cute and funny. I am not sure what it had to do with anything, but in a very serious tone Gladys says "Ellen, I love Jesus but I sometimes drink a little." Ellen just lost it! How funny is that!

Ok so these things might not be as funny to you as they were to me, but I find great joy in laughing and in sharing that laughter with others so I hope you can find something to laugh about!

I've Got The Joy Joy Joy Joy Down In My Heart!!

I have had a wonderful, fun, silly, encouraging, exciting, JOYFUL week so far and I would like to share a few of the things that made it so. Starting with...

1. I just got finished setting up a new router in our house and do you know what our signal strength is? Excellent! And know what else? It really is there, it's not just pretending! You know what else? I bought it and set it up all by myself!

2. Tonight there were great and funny new episodes of The Office and 30 Rock

3. Last night Kelli and I had leftover soup for dinner and made cornbread as well. I took a bite and knew it was strange. Kelli took a bite and knew it as well. The more bites I took the worse it got. Olivia spit hers out it was so awful. I guess mixing up baking soda and baking powder DOES make a difference. But really, who thought it was a good idea to give two common cooking ingredients such similar names? It was so funny!

4. LOST

5. I got to pray with a lady at the hospital

6. I wrote an email in Spanish and it was readable!

7. I got the hiccups in church after eating the communion bread

8. Class was way better and less scary than I thought it would be. I actually enjoyed myself!

9. I made a scrumptious dinner for my friends.

10. Wed. night church is the best...I don't know the last time I thought church was the best!

11. I got a Christmas gift in the mail. I LOVE late Christmas gifts! Actually, I got a gift certificate to Stash Tea and had no idea what I would spend it all on, but really had no problem. I got some new teas, a new travel mug, a cute tea bag grabber thingy, a tea display case, some Oregon Rain Soap made with real Oregon rain and Stash Tea, and some fun ice tea mix.

12. I started researching language school's in Chile and got into an email conversation with one of them. I even just love the thought of emailing someone in Chile!

13. Did I mention I set up the internet all by myself?

14. Free pizza lunch

15. Steep and Cheap

It has been a great week. Know what I am looking forward to for the next few days? Roommate movie night! Girls day with the teammates going to a fun lunch and hopefully a great movie called New In Town! Church! Hopefully some successful homework time...