Cousin Cocoa

Karin and I have maintained a long standing tradition of going to Baskin Robbins Dollar-Scoop Tuesdays for like 3 years. Tonight as I was walking home I was so cold I suggested maybe we should switch it up and go get something warm instead. So...

Love ya Karin!

*S'no snow day unless you have a snowball fight*

!!!!! Snow Fight !!!!!

Our ward went to the old folks home to sing songs tonight and when we came home, most of us just spilled out of the car (there were about 10 of us in Orin's car) and ended up in the quad for a

snowball fight. Excellent~

I learned years ago that

staying on the boys team often

is the safest side...so

I put on gloves and earned my

immunity by making the ammunition.

Unfortunately my roommates

stayed on our balcony which

overlooks the courtyard

and took A LOT more hits

than I did. Nice~

Look at our balcony! It was

just pelted with snowballs.

A little bit of the action with:

Abel,Dane, Orin, Zach,

Kaitlin, Rachael,Me,Brooke,

and Brock.

At one point Dane threw me over

his shoulder and ran to the huge

pile of snow and had me dangling

over it, but mercifully

held me just above it.

This semester has been easily one

of the most stressful of all. Yet,

I have been playing and living it up

like never before.

Chef A.M. Hyer

To treat myself after my crazy day yesterday (read previous post) I went to my favorite Health foods store Sunflower and bought ingredients for some yummy food. I got a Williams-Sonoma cook book for Christmas last year so I flipped through it till I found what looked good. This is how tonight's menu began...

White Beans:

Over medium-high heat warm 2 tbls. olive oil

Add one small yellow onion and

one red bell pepper (5 min)

Add 2 cloves garlic,

2 15 oz cans of white beans,

2 tbls. oregano,

1/2 cup white wine (grape juice)

and 3/4 chicken broth

Bring to a boil, then reduce heat

and simmer for 5 min.

Moroccan Burgers:

In a large bowl mix with hands...

1 lb. ground beef,

4 tbls. fresh chopped mint,

4 tbls. parsley,

small yellow onion,

1 tsp. cumin,

1/2 tsp. cinnamon,

1/2 tsp. salt

Split into 5-6 patties and grill

(I froze what I didn't cook)

Yogurt Sauce:

1/2 cup plain yogurt

1 tbls. mint

1 tbls. parsley

1/4 tsp. cumin

This totally makes the burgers,

plus I added Roma tomatoes on top

and broiled pita chips

I was pleasantly surprised! This was a foreign dish with some interesting flavors, but I would definitely make it again. Just something fun, new and warm on a cold night. I recommend sipping on Starbuck's caramel hot chocolate and listening to Christmas music as you cook!

It's just one of those days

Ya know, somedays I would swear the Lord pulls a fast one on us and makes the day like 34 hours instead of 24. Let me break it down for ya...

*Last night there was, shall we say, some boy drama in my life and consequently I did not get to bed until 3 am, a rarity for me.

*I then slept for a peaceful 4 hours before jumping out of bed and heading to my first class. Nothing like giving a presentation at 8 in the morning to get ya goin.'

*I somehow managed to run home (almost literally...there was a point where I would consider myself moving at somewhat of a skipping trot) to finish my next powerpoint slideshow for my evening class.

*Oh wait, lets not forget the two papers to turn in for a grand total of 23 pages. Which wouldn't have been so bad had my printer not decided to do THIS to my 4th page...

...and then jam altogether. Off to campus I ran (in high heels courtesy of said evening presentation) where I managed to slip into class only 30 min late. Hate that.

*Then it was back to the library to print off the next who knows how many pages. Lets just say that the stack was thick enough that as I tried to staple it I actually turned to the girl next to me also mid-staple and said "Where are all the strong men when you need them?"

*I basically settled for two half-way-through staples and jogged to class.

(There was a brief moment here where I called for a quick chat with mama and that was nice.)

*"Anne Marie, would you like to present first?" Oh sure, why not! I think I made an audible intake of breath when he waved the 3 minutes remaining hand cus as usual, I was giving too much detail. (Just ask mom or dad about how they used to try to have me 'summarize' my books as a kid, and when I was done they pretty much felt like they had read the book too...twice!)

*Chilly walk home in the wonderful 22 degree weather once again resembling a sherpa in the Himalayas and...

I think I still have about 8 fully functioning defrosted toes.

Guys, some days are just long. But I would SO rather be busy then not, and I feel so accomplished. I have to remind myself to be grateful for this busy learning time I am in in life and love the stress. So not always easy. At one point today when rather choice words were coming to mind about my defective printer, etc. etc. the words

"I lived in Heaven a long time ago it is true. Lived there and loved there with people I know such as you..." came to mind and I started singing them before I realized what I was saying. And I realized what a short time this Earth life is and how every minute we are blessed to experience life, and all too soon we will return to heaven again and look back at life as the briefest of moments in all the eternities~

Still...I think I'll have a word in prayer tonight about the 'special extended hours' of today and how I'm not sure how many I could take in a row. To all you mom's...props! I know your days are 'extended' probably more often than not :)