Back to school with Dad

On Thursday evening of last week, Dad and I drove out to Utah.  We drove through the night and he stayed at my cousin Kelsey's house and slept while I went to a meeting for my new job (He drove through the night and let me sleep; isn't he great?).  The meeting was awesome and I am very excited to start work today.  I also checked into my apartment and met my roommates, but I will write another post about them later.  

After my meeting, we met up and went to the bookstore, had lunch at the cougareat, and took a tour around campus.  We went to see Ken (Kelsey's husband) at his lab, and he showed us a cool machine that shot water out under pressure, so fast that it could literally cut through steel.  The two of them helped to unload my storage unit, which was quite the task.  We went to dinner and then I went back to my apartment to start unpacking.

Me at the Cougareat following the bookstore.  Unfortunately, since there were only two of us, we have precisely one picture with both of us in it...

On Saturday morning, we got up early and headed out to hike Mt. Timpanogos.  It is a climb of approximately 4500 feet, starting at 7500 feet above sea level.  It was exciting

I discovered what altitude does to your hands.  I felt like all the water in my entire body was in my hands and arms.  

Here's Dad, on the trail.  We missed the peak of the wildflowers, but it was still beautiful.  And besides, doesn't his hat make up for any lack of color? :D

Lunch, aka naptime, was great. 

Dad on the summit.  Very few people made it all the way to the summit, because of the weather, but by the time we got to the saddle, it had cleared up.  It was still VERY windy, though.  It took us over an hour to climb the last mile to the top, because it was so windy.

Can you tell?

The single picture of us together.  As you can tell, we're being buffeted by the wind.  I was so proud of us for making it to the top! Neither one of us was in very good shape, but we pushed on and hiked 15 miles (there and back) with a 4500-ft. climb.  Go us!

The shelter at the top was graffitied all over.  

For the climb down from the summit, we bundled up in all the layers we had to protect ourselves from the wind.

Don't forget what's most important!  We brought mint milanos (a tradition) for the peak.

Look at what we did!  This is just a couple miles down the trail from the saddle.

Down at the trailhead after the hike. 

That peak he's pointing to is the one we climbed.  Dang!

Anyways, after the hike, which took approximately ten hours, we went back to Provo, went to Carl's Jr. for dinner, and then went grocery shopping.  And Dad got me groceries!  Isn't he the best?  He picked out every kind of yogurt that looked good (it was on sale), helped me get the stuff I needed, and then chose a few things on his own for me - boysenberry syrup, iced lemonade cookies, and strawberry oreos.   I clearly have the best dad ever.

I dropped him off at Ken and Kelsey's house after leaving the groceries at my apartment.  I thought it would be easier this time, because hey!  It's my third semester at college!  But no, not at all easier.  I got back to my apartment, did a little more unpacking, talked with my roommates, and went to bed.

I am very glad that Dad came out with me.  He got to see my school and life and meet a few of my roommates, and I got to spend some quality time with him.  It was wonderful.  I hope you had a good time too, Dad!

<3
Eliza

P.S. I start classes and work today.  Wish me luck!

Packing up and moving out

So I guess I'm just not a dedicated enough blogger to write two parts to a post, at different times.  Oh well.  My last day of the work was riotously fun, involving a prank about pizza, blackberry-picking, and rain dances.  Let's just say that the lifeguards broke a lot of rules and pushed our manager  in the lake.  My last day at my other job involved cleaning, running errands, and having a lovely chat with Sandra, who is wonderful and whom I will miss this year at school.

In the past few days I've packed and cleaned far past my heart's content.  The inside of my car is finally vacuumed (hallelujah!) and most of my clothes are packed.  I haven't done my desk supplies, toiletries (I have to buy my own shampoo and conditioner again, can you believe it?), and no word yet as to whether my bike will fit in the car...

I read Mockingjay, the new book in the Hunger Games series, yesterday.  It was quite good, although my favorite one in the series is Catching Fire.  I like that Suzanne Collins has this amazing ability to actually end a story.  Far too many authors have a tendency to just drag it out, kind of like the Beatles' "All You Need is Love."  By the way, I've finally taken the Beatles CD out of my stereo, after an entire summer of listening to nothing else.  I retrieved my CD stash from the big van, and boy is it a relief.

Today is my dad's birthday. Happy Birthday Dad! I will write another post about him later today, but I just wanted to outline the menu (I do this more for my own recipe file than for any other reason :).  Yesterday I made low-fat oatmeal banana bread for breakfast, then maple-glazed salmon, tomato-dill couscous (both of those are from magazines and neither was very good, so I won't even bother posting the recipes), and eggplant salad toasts (delicious!) for dinner, followed by homemade peach-blackberry ice cream for dessert.  Yum.  Then this morning I made those oatmeal cookie pancakes I wrote about earlier, and tonight I'm making ribs.  I'm so sad I'm going back to school where the most exciting meat I'll have will be chicken breasts and pork chops.  Oh well.  I loaded up on cocoa powder from my mom's (2 gallon-sized bags!) stash.  I should be able to drown my longing for exciting food in a flood of chocolate.

I'm leaving tomorrow after dad gets off work, because his boss won't let him miss a training meeting (ironically, the boss is apparently taking a kid up to school in Oregon and will be missing the meeting).  I'm driving through the night, staying who-knows-where, and then checking in to my apartment.  I have a meeting for my TAship on Friday morning at 11.  Wish me luck!


<3
Eliza

P.S. I asked my roommates, and they told me that I should bring my air-popper.  Yay!  Also, one of my roommates sent another one this video on facebook, and now I'm not nearly so nervous about living with strangers :)

P.P.S. What should I take to college?

The last days of summer work, part 1

On my second-to-last day of working at the lake, I had a complaint made against me.

Last Friday, I was sitting at the front counter taking notes on my International Relations textbook.  Next to me was the gatehouse lady on duty at the time.  We'll call her J.  J is an older woman who used to be wonderfully sweet but has become lonely and bitter.  We still get along quite well normally, but on this particular day something just went wrong.

A family came up to the front desk asking if they were allowed to do something.  I knew from recent conversations with our manager that they could.  J, however, didn't think they could, and smugly turned them away.  As they walked back to their spot on the beach, I turned to J and said, "Actually, I'm pretty sure they can.  I talked to [the manager] earlier this week, and he said it was okay."

J brushed me off, but the family overheard me and came back, demanding an explanation.  J looked at me and asked me stiffly to explain.  I did so, and she was forced to allow them to do as they had requested.  Now, I felt bad for contradicting her, and I certainly hadn't meant to be overheard, so I apologized to her.

Half an hour later, while I was on stand, the manager came up to me and told me that there had been a complaint against me.  He said that J had called our boss, who had called the manager, who had come out to talk to me about it.  Apparently J had been very upset that I'd been so rude as to tell her what the rules were. The manager wasn't angry about it, thankfully, but just asked me not to sit at the front desk when J was there. Okay, I can do that.  After I got off stand, I wrote her an abject note of apology (because she wouldn't be working again until I was gone for school) and left it for her.  But I continued to stew.

I knew that I hadn't handled things the most delicate way possible, even though being overheard was not in my plans.  I shouldn't have said anything to her.  But still, the fact that she had rebuffed my correction so angrily seemed wrong to me.  I thought about it all day, and in the end I came to a few general conclusions about situations like these.  (Please note that these are not meant to be judgments of J or what she did; she was perfectly reasonable to be angry about my contradiction, even if she may have overreacted a bit) First, being offended is a matter of pride and humility, not of being wronged.  I will always have the option to be hurt by what people do, or to move on and get over it.  I choose to move on.  Second, I decided that I never want to be the kind of person who refuses to take a correction.  I want to be flexible and open-minded, and humble enough to recognize the worth of what other people say.

This is not going to be a short or an easy battle, but I think it's worth it.  I want to shape my character to be the kind of person I can respect, and I deeply respect people who can control their emotional responses to hurtful things and those who are always willing to learn.

Wish me luck!

<3
Eliza

 

Glasses

So, a few weeks ago I got new glasses and prescription sunglasses.  I have some kind of unspecified allergy that makes it impossibly uncomfortable to wear contacts, and so I'm stuck with the old-fashioned route.  But I kind of like them.  

Yay for blue glasses!

The nice thing about having bad eyes is that I can get name-brand sunglasses, paid for by my insurance!  Score!

This is the ridiculously large sunglasses case that came with them.  :P

New background

Yes, yes I did just change the entire background of my blog to match avocados.  Proof of my continued love affair with them, I suppose...

So, as I can't seem to manage to write often enough to make separate posts about everything I do, I will commence another blog post about anything and everything.

Thought #1: I finished another book on my list: The Screwtape Letters, by C.S. Lewis.  This book is a collection of letters from a senior demon to his younger nephew, who is out in the field trying to tempt a young man toward hell.  Uncle Screwtape explains to Wormwood some facts about human nature and motivation that are very illuminating to those trying not to be tempted.  He covers such diverse topics as humility, beauty, God's love (which he insists must not exist, but must be a cover for some hidden secret), marriage, annoying habits, and church attendance.  I really loved this book.  When I have my own house, this book will be on the shelf, and it will be frequently read.  I found it very interesting how C.S. Lewis used logic to explain facts that are eternally true.  As it says in my favorite hymn, "Truth is reason."  I would highly recommend it to anyone.

Thought #2: Mom's back!  Well, actually she got back a week and a half ago, but I'm STILL excited to have her home again.

Thought #3: Food, as usual...

Last Sunday, we were supposed to leave for a camping trip after church.  Unfortunately, Mom contracted the flu and we had to stay home.  However, I took the opportunity to make a delish dinner (which unfortunately she didn't get to enjoy).

Tomato, basil, parmesan cheese, balsamic dressing, and salt/pepper.  I felt like such a creative genius.  We won't mention how common this combination actually is :)

Corn and sauteed zucchini plus ribs from a family recipe.  Oh, did I mention that in the past two weeks we've added 1/2 a pig and 1/4 of a cow to our freezer(s)?  I'm so sad I won't be here to help eat most of it.

I've also recently made pizza, homemade pasta (hard work with my little old-fashioned pasta machine), and bran muffins.  Oh, and Sierra nuggets, which are these amazing cookies (my dad's favorites - and mine too!) that we make for camping.  They have everything in them - chocolate chips, oatmeal, spices, walnuts, coconut, and cornflakes.  I could eat them all day.

Thought #4: Today was my Mom's birthday.  She was 29!  Again!  This morning we made her an omelet in bed, served with toast, lime-peach water, and fresh plums.  I worked all morning to get dinner ready, and then as soon as I got back from Single's Ward in Modesto Luke and Dad helped me to finish it up.  We had tomato and corn pie, which I thought was delicious and which even got the rare, sought-after Luke Seal of Approval and Permission to Recreate.  We also had steak (fresh from the cow!) with summer fruit relish, from Mom's recipe box.  We had cauliflower salad (I would post the recipe, but it wasn't good.  Bummer.) and baked potatoes.  But dessert was the truly spectacular part.  Here's the sitch:

     1) double chocolate layer cake (substituting hot chocolate for the coffee)

          2) with German chocolate filling

               3) and chocolate ganache frosting (from the first recipe)

                    4) decorated with white chocolate ganache, also adapted from the double chocolate layer cake

Oops, gave it away in spite of my best intentions...

Do you like the expert frosting job?  I like this picture anyways, because it reminds me of the angle a food blogger would use.  Not that I read enough food blogs to know that :P

There was too much cake for the layers to stay up, so I used one layer to decorate with the leftover white chocolate ganache.  

Three lovely ladies.  Happy birthday Mom!!

Thought #5: Although we didn't get to make the big camping/backpacking trip this week, Marta, Dad, and I went camping on Sunday night and climbed to Cloud's Rest in Yosemite on Monday.  It was beautiful, and I had such a fun time being with them.

Who knew that my camera picks up light that moves around when it's on night mode?  That crazy beam of light is from the movement of Marta's head lamp. 

This same sticker was on the inside of my locker, Sophomore year.  I really want to know who put it there and how they got it.

You may not be able to see it, but this is a picture of the tire tracks our campsite neighbor left when running into the "leaping lodgepole" while backing out of camp on Monday morning.

Does this need any explanation?  I think not.  My dad is cooler than your dad.  Deal with it.

Aw.  Marta and I at the trailhead.

Yum.

See that lake in the center of the picture?  That's where we'd hiked from - and this picture wasn't even at the top!

Yes, we were looking down on half dome.  And we weren't surrounded by an endless rush of people, either.

We saw a mountain grouse - and her babies!  We were all very excited.

Marta, lying dead on the trail after 15 miles of hiking.

Thought #6: On Wednesday, we loaded up the van and headed back to Yosemite, with the entire family this time.  We rafted down the Merced river (minus Dad, who had gotten the flu from Mom).

Luke, blowing up one of our rafts.  I just think that this picture is hysterical.

All of us getting ready to launch.  We may or may not have forgotten to bring waterproof sunscreen... but no biggie, right?

Thought #7: In the past few weeks, my family has become addicted to A Very Potter Musical.  Only the first few parts are very funny, but there are some epically quotable lines.  ("Rumbleroar is a lion.  Who can talk." -Draco Malfoy; "You like plotting a garden, and I like plotting to kill!" - Voldemort, to Quirrell, singing).  Be aware though - it is college humor.  

Thought #8: I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to go to Chile on my mission.  That would be amazing :)

Thought #9: I've started to read a few craft blogs (not that I have extra time on my hands, but when the blogs I already read link to an amazing new blog, things kind of get out of hand).  I will probably never do anything on any of them, but here are my favorites - http://www.oopsicraftmypants.net/, especially this project, and http://www.rufflesandstuff.com/, especially these projects.

Thought #10: Pictures of dishes, tonight in the kitchen...

 My soap goatee.  I was going for the soul patch, but wikipedia says that to be a soul patch it needs to cover the area just below my lower lip, not my chin. 

 Luke with a mustache: he could totally rock it.  I'm pushing for him to grow out his facial hair now - as soon as he goes to BYU he'll be prohibited by the honor code from growing his facial hair out (other than a mustache).  Plus, Luke has awesome red facial hair.  (The last guy even wears Luke's favorite kind of sunglasses!  Awesome!)

Tess cracks me up.  I'm sure you can see why.

The two of them together?  Hilarious.

Well, it's almost 1 am, so I'm going to bed.  Good night!

<3

Eliza

P.S. Next time I'll make a post like this into many different parts and post them on different days.  I know I make REALLY long posts, and you probably don't have time to read them all at the same time....

P.P.S.  I can't believe I forgot to post this!  I made this dress back in April when my Grandma came to visit, and I finally wore it in July (after I'd made a few adjustments).  

Here it is, belatedly: