Spring

Spring has arrived in Bellingham!
I am making a very tiny garden in planters, and my seeds sprouted!

Those are baby lettuce and spinach, with some barely-up nasturtiums, and some established flat leaf parsley and pansies. 

This is my baby garden. It has lettuce, spinach, chives (x2), nasturtiums, flat leaf, and oregano. There are also some volunteer tulips!

Surprise Tulips! The best kind!

Fact.

Just some facts I felt like sharing because Facebook is so yesteryear. (remember that 25 things craze about a year ago? here's a throwback)

1.) Once my family and I were marooned on a rocky outcropping for three days in Canada due to really bad eddies/whirlpools/tides.
2.) I have been on 'vacations' we weren't allowed to talk about.
3.) I cut my own hair tonight. It went well.
4.) I really love making food for other people.
5.) I'm a little creeped out by the fact that I am beginning to enjoy math.
6.) I am now certain that I made a good choice of majors.
7.) I love chocolate.
8.) I dont get bitchy around PMS time.
9.) but if I am tired enough, watch out. Bitch-fest.
10.) I really love my job on Baker because I get to ski with high-caliber skiers and coach high-caliber athletes.
11.) No kids. ever.
12.) I got checked out today by the bank teller.
13.) I think vodka tastes like lighter fluid. That's probably because its the first ingredient in it.
14.) I am a self-titled health nut.
15.) I love food that takes forever to cook and involves local ingredients.
16.) I'd rather have a potluck with friends than a party..though I love to dance.
17.) I am a classically-trained Irish Dancer, but I really enjoy working in modern dance movements and melding the two.
18.) If you flaunt authority, I will buck it.
19.) If you earn your authority, I will respect you.
20.) I have recently rediscovered the guitar..and now homework is looking less inviting.
21.) I wish I had more time to drum...and I wish I had people to play with.
22.) I have new rock-climbing buddy! yay!
23.) I am way happier as one-of-the-guys, than feeling like I have to be feminine.
24.) I am also way happier single. Its a long story.
25.) Bellingham is the best thing since sliced bread.

Disgusting.

So much rain on Mt Baker today. 

Let me see if I can paint you an appropriate picture of the monsoon. 

There was a river running down the parking loop.

My gloves weigh 80 pounds....each. and I wore a different pair in the afternoon.

I wore rubberized commercial fishing overalls/bibs...and I was still soaked.

My blue turtleneck (under two coats and a sweater) got so wet the dye started to color my wrists blue. 

They blasted for avalanches at around 1pm to make sure the snowpack was stable, and we heard slides let go. 

But surprisingly the snowpack on the training course we set held up, and the snow was (weirdly) fast. 

and next weekend I travel with the team--Super Excited for that!

But yeah, defintly could have done without being soaked to my underwear.

And now my room smells like a ski lodge because things are in here drying...which is awesome and disgusting at the same time.

Episode 2

More tasty food!

Marie Rose Shrimp


Find some couscous. (its not a grain, its bits of pasta chopped teensy).
Put 1 cup of chicken broth in a small pot, boil it.
Add 1 cup of the couscous, take it off the heat, slap a lid on it, and leave it alone for 12 minutes. How's that for easy?
During those 12 minutes, defrost some raw shrimp, and take their shells off.
Put a little veggie oil in a pan, put the heat on medium low and let the pan warm up * its important to let the oil heat up with the pan, otherwise it spits oil and can burn you and make a hell of a mess*
Drop 10-15 shrimp in the pan. Immediately shake lots of paprika over them.
Let them cook all the way through, until the insides are white and not translucent, shaking and stirring the pan.
When they are cooked through, take another bowl and mix a spoonful or two of mayo, and tablespoon or so of ketchup, and a splash of lemon juice together. If you happen to have Worschester sauce around, throw a capful in, if not, dont worry about it.

Put the couscous on a plate, drop the shrimp on top and drizzle over the mayo mixture. If you like green beans, they go brilliantly with this.

Episode 1: Tasty Food

LENTIL SOUP 
-works great for warming up on a really cold day, and makes a lot for leftovers.

Start with a bag of dried lentils-- you can find them easily at grocery stores either in the bulk section or bagged. Find the GREEN ones.
Take them home and dump them in a really big pot. Like HUGE.
Fill 1/3 of the pot with chicken broth (or veggie broth if you don't carnivore it up) and fill the rest of the way with water to about 3" from the top.
Turn the heat all the way up on the stove and boil that thing.
Chop up some carrots and chuck them in the pot. Add a bay leaf if you want to. Just be sure to fish it out before you dish the soup!
Continue to boil that pot.
After about 10 minutes, drop the heat to medium and cook it for 45 minutes.
Then add some oregano..I just sort of chuck it at the top of the pot and stir...
Add a can of diced Tomatoes. These are generally cheap as dirt.
Stir everything together...it should be pretty thick. The lentils are done when you pull some out of the pot and eat them, and they aren't crunchy anymore.
You can top this with Parmesan Cheese, and Sriracha Sauce (in my house, we call it Cock Sauce...due to the large rooster on the bottle). Be careful with the Cock Sauce though, its got a lot of fire power.

Happy New Year!

As usual I spent an entirely enjoyable evening with my family and grandparents.
My sister had a glass of champagne and nearly fell asleep in her dinner.
Guess we know what kind of drunk she will be.
Lots of tales told, and embarrassing moments regaled.
Here's to next year!
Cheers!

Update

Here's the rundown, listy-list style.

1.) Currently loving this:


2) My car is on the fritz so I drove mum's today. I remembered how to drive a clutch! yay! its been a while.
and I remembered how much I love flying through the gears. I guess its been...well, since the Era of the Bug (high school).

3) I got some disappointing news the other day in the relationship end of things. Thought something was starting to happen, and then he dropped the "We should just be platonic" line followed by the "I recently met someone and have gotten close to her" line. Damn.
Oh well, life goes on, and we'll still be friends and all.  His loss. Hope he doesn't make it awkward, because he's a cool kid and I enjoy his company.

4) I will be on snow skiing 10 out of the next 14 days. This is exciting!

5) i found the world's most awesome christmas presents for my mom and sister... and have nothing for dad yet...

6) Now I'm gonna call my grandma and see if she wants to assist with some cookie-making.