Anything For Air Conditioning

~ Highlight of the Day: going to the Washington D.C. Temple ~

I like cars, and driving, and long road trips. I am perfectly content to drive for hours and just look out the window, and when it comes to what I drive the bigger the better :) But recently cars mean only one thing to me. Air Conditioning. Oh sweet air conditioning!

Today was especially great. I got about 6.5 hours of air conditioned driving in, and then several hours in a lovely, air conditioned temple. The Washington D.C. temple, by the way, is huge and absolutely beautiful, with well designed, extensive grounds. Rarely will I admit the grounds of a temple come even close to the Seattle temple's grounds, but I think Washington D.C. scored a pretty close second.

 

Korea, Followed By Bluegrass!

~ Highlight of the Day: listening to bluegrass group Highway 111 and Sierra Hull. Go mandolin! ~

I ended my work day today by experiencing this:

124 degrees Fahrenheit is officially the hottest temperature I've ever endured. Luckily this was just a greenhouse I needed to pass through. My destination greenhouse was only 110 degrees :)

After work I went to a Korean Market with my Korean roommate. It was so odd not being able to read most of what was there. I mean, at least with Spanish or German you can sound out the words and try/butcher the pronunciation. I can't even begin to imagine what any of this says (unless it's in English :)

Look! Acorn starch! This reminds
me of the acorn flour my roommates
and I made last fall. . . good stuff :)

I felt I should try something, so I got a BB Big Popsicle. . . It's made of red beans I think. . . It tasted beans mashed up with sugar. . . not too bad actually.

Then the nice Korean lady at the store gave us these also. I liked them a little better because they were closer to ice cream. It was an interesting flavor, but good.

And then I wrapped up the evening with a little bluegrass in the Open Air Theater. Very inspirational. There's currently an F style mandolin on craigslist for a good price. . . I've been waging a battle in my head over getting it or not. This amazing lady did nothing but aggravate the problem :)

One Productive Thursday

~Highlight of the Day: watching a Pileated Woodpecker check out all the trees around the porch ~

I accomplished two very important things today. First, I learned how to play the intro to More Than Words by Extreme on ukulele, which included learning a new way to mute/hit the strings (yay for new strumming patterns!) Second, I watched the Goonies. For the first time. Ever.

I feel rather accomplished :)

Uh-MURica. And Freedom.

~Highlight of the Day: sitting in air conditioned housing for two movies straight ~

I love this country. I appreciate deeply what our founding fathers did, and the vision they had of what this country could become. I believe the constitution is one of the most important documents in existence, and that it was divinely inspired.

There. That's about all the 4th of July-ing I've done all day. It's hot outside. And inside for that matter. . . fire = chemical reaction = heat. It just doesn't have the same appeal here as it usually does in Washington.

I really am proud to be an American (even though I cannot say/type that phrase without getting that one song stuck in my head). I remember distinctly how one morning during my senior year of high school I was saying the Pledge of Allegiance at the beginning of 2nd period, and as it got to the end I said, like I do every time, " One nation under God, individual, with liberty and justice fur all". With wonder and amazement I realized I had pronounced, and had been doing so since who knows when, the 'for' like any redneck hick out there. And it was then that I truly identified myself with America and the odd subtleties of our culture. :) Yep. I'm uh-murican. fur life.

So ironically today I recieved a lovely gift from a fellow intern for watering his garden while he was away at a conference in Canada.

What makes it really funny is that my college friends call me Canadian. I'm not sure why, something about me not knowing what the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade was and some other obviously American thing I somehow didn't pick up in my youth. . . anyway. I can't wait to use this next time I'm in Provo :)

Happy Fourth of July!

Almost the 4th. . .

~ Highlight of the Day: talking Doctor Who and emergency spoons with my now 16 year old sister ~

All that's been comming to mind today when I remember it's the 4th tomorrow is that I won't be watching Independance Day with my family. I'll be having an entirely alienless 4th of July! Hoorah! Don't get me wrong - it's a great movie. We just bring it along on every long drive we go on, and are also rather inclined to watch it on it's namesake. That's a little too often for me. . . 

So here's to fireworks

Longwood puts on a
pretty decent show,
even from a forest away :)

And here's to not being invaded by scary, deadly aliens

Chocolate Pie and Mimosa

~Highlight of the Day: finding my first baby zucchini on my zucchini plant. . . so cute! ~

Well my plan was to take a picture of the lovely slice of chocolate pie I had today, tastefully complimented with copious amount of whipped cream, but it was gone before I could get to my camera. So I'll have to try tomorrow :)

I can tell you the pie wasn't what I was expecting. It's good, it's chocolatey, and it holds up really well, but it's just not what I was envisioning. I told people this as I fed them chocolate pie today, and without fail every last one of them asked, "What were you expecting?" and every time the question stumped me. I don't know what I thought it would be like. . . more mousse like? More similar to brownies? Akin to pumpkin pie? That last one's probably the closest of all. I think I was expecting more of a chocolate-substituted-for-pumpkin pie instead of the not-quite-pudding-but-may-pass-off-as-it pie. Anyway, I haven't finished the pie yet and I'm already scheming up recipe alterations :)

And just saying, Mimosa trees may be weeds in Florida, but they are awesome. Just look at the flowers on this thing:

Mimosa tree, or Albizia julibrissin

They are in bloom currently. Though I'm not quite sure why, they remind me of this tree:

Spiney Floss Silk Tree, or Ceiba speciosa

Maybe it's just that the name of this second one looks like it matches the first tree so well. I don't know. Maybe someday I'll have both in my garden :)

Welcome July! It's nice to have you with us. . .

~ Highlight of the Day: Talking for nearly 2 1/2 hours this morning with one of my best friends :) ~

So I woke up this beautiful Fast Sunday morning to this:

That's two pies, one tin of muffins, one loaf of banana bread, and one pan of extra chocolatey brownies. . . If it wasn't for a good long phone call I may have gone mad.

And can you believe it's already July?! I'm almost halfway through my internship. My sister's turning 16 in two days (gasp! oh no! :). I'm going to be in Jerusalem in less than three months. And I still don't have a single ripe tomato . . .