February 21st, 2013
I’ve been on my own due to school, taken away from family, friends, and the bf, for 2 months now. The experience has been less scary than I thought. I am surviving. It’s also been a chance for me to focus on my health, free from distractions. I made it a point to eat clean and exercise 5 times a week. It turns out though, I fizzle out by the end of the second week of pushing the healthy lifestyle. I made it through 2 great weeks when I first came to Las Vegas, then teetered out. I blame the long days at the hospital for causing me to eat out and catch up on my sleep instead of exercising. However, I restarted the clean eating and exercise and I find myself fizzling at the end of the second week. I just want a burger and fries. I just want to waste time on tumblr until it’s time for bed. I guess 2 weeks is my tolerance for jogging and salads. BUT THIS CAN’T BE. I’m toying with the idea of doing a 4 week challenge of clean eating and exercising (without cheating!) and see if I can make it through to the end. But, not right now. Maybe when this surgery rotation is done…
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December 31st, 2011
Playing with my new KitchenAid mixer the bf got me for Christmas! It’s completely made of metal and sounds like an engine. It make kneading so nice!
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December 21st, 2011
Seth has fond memories of foods he and his mom would cook when he was growing up. They made foods close to his Ukranian and Finnish background and regular Americans foods that he can never give up (pizza). Over the years they collected recipes that they have tinkered with and made notes to.
I have fond memories of the good foods my mom would make, but her recipes come from her head and are way too complex for me to tackle as of now. So I don’t have any family recipes to pass down.
Since moving out and living on my own, I’m learning how hard it is to figure what’s for dinner. Different recipes I try are hit and miss. There have been some good ones. I usually write them down off the computer onto sticky notes to have while I’m in the kitchen. But I throw those sticky notes away and I forget where I get those recipes. Seth suggested I start saving them on a computer or a cookbook. It’s a good idea. It would be nice to create a recipe book of good things I can make that maybe one day my kids would remember fondly.
Chili
1/2 lbs ground beef
3 cloves garlic
1 jalapeno, diced
1/2 red onion, diced
1 can (10 oz.) diced tomatoes
2 tbs tomato paste
1/2 cup chicken or beef or vegetable stock
1 can (8 oz.) black beans
2 tbs steak seasoning
1 tbs cumin
2 tsp chili powder
3 tbs barbeque sauce
Brown the beef and remove excess fat and oil. Add the garlic, jalapeno, and onions and saute. Add the rest of the ingredients and bring to a boil. Simmer until flavors come together and enjoy!
Basic Cornbread
1 cup cornmeal
1 cup flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 tbs baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 cup buttermilk
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
Mix the wet and dry ingredients separately first, then mix together. Pour into a greased pan and bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes.
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August 18th, 2011
As a young kid, I frequently went shopping with my mom. Picking out my school supplies was always fun, even today. When the new school year rolled around, my mom had all the coupons, rebates and ads for the cheapest supplies. I remember being in disbelief that my mom would take all that time to mail in rebates to get $5 back.
I would pick out the pretty stuff without knowing much about prices and what was expensive.
My mom would respond to me, “Not that one, it’s not on sale.”
I got angry at her. What do you mean?! Everything’s on sale. That’s why it’s in a store! Then I realized everything was FOR sale, but not ON sale. One of the many memories of how cheap/thrifty my mom was/is. But she has a lot of nice things now because of it. I should take note from her. I’m buying and spending when I have no money. Sigh.
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July 25th, 2011
I can’t seem to focus on one task anymore. My days are planned with lots of things to do, but it’s so difficult to pull myself together to finish one task. Today: I made breakfast, but I didn’t want to wash the dishes right away. Instead I surfed the internet. I decided to wash my face before I finally got to the dishes. I picked up some glass pieces from a vase I exploded (different story), but I needed to vacuum the micro glass bits. But I decided to have coffee and read a book first. Now a couple hours later, I’ve done very little and still so much cleaning to do.
Sigh.
When I have meals, I can’t help but eat it in front of the computer. If I force myself to sit at the table, I end up reading bits of newspapers and ads scattered nearby. I can be watching TV, surfing the net, eating and texting at the same time.
Yesterday I went hiking in Lake Tahoe. It was a beautiful day to be dipping our feet into the cool waters.
The best part was driving through Tahoe City. With it’s little shops and restaurants lined up nearby the water, it’s quite a quaint city. Sure there are tourists, but there are the locals who are boating, walking their dogs, reading books by the water. This is the slower life I wish I could live for a few weeks. There’s no time left this summer, but maybe one weekend I can book a hotel out there and enjoy doing little to nothing.
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July 17th, 2011
After months of internships and gaining experience, I finally get to enjoy my last summer vacation. I’m exhausted and all I want to do is chill out at home and be by myself. I finally get to work on my piling projects.
I did a lot of shopping in the past month. The recent fad in arm candy looks pretty much like friendship bracelets with a modern take. I thought about buying some at H&M, but what fun would that be? This hex nut bracelet is too cool. Braiding is easy but braiding with hex nuts intertwined was not so graceful. It required both hands and some toes to keep the hex nuts in place.
I’m going to avoid my family a little bit because every time I’m around them, they want me to do crap for them. I love my family but I need my summer.
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December 18th, 2010
So many ideas, no time at all 
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November 28th, 2010
I dragged myself from bed the day after Thanksgiving and went to my parents’ house for breakfast. While waiting for my mom to finish making the Hainan chicken rice…YUM…my aunt heated up apple cider and ginger, topped with whipped cream.
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