Testing 1-2-3

Yesterday was Presidents Day as well as a Campus Furlough day, and so since I had the day off but couldn't really go do anything because many places were closed (also my husband was out of the house working on a game creation project, so he wasn't around to freak out for fear that I was about to dye the entire apartment blue), I did some practice dyeing!

I have "designed" the costumes for the modern class that I teach. This is a picture of what it should roughly look like.

The dance is about the Sea/Water, the creation of it, the movement of it, etc. The dance is abstract of course and as you can tell so is the costume. The idea for the costume is the blue of the water, the deeper down you go into the sea the darker it is, and when waves splash it often looks white and foamy or s"splashy"...hence the dark o light blue gradient and then the white swooshel over-top.

The costume consists of a tank leotard, jazz pants, and an "asymmetrical dress". Right now all of the are white. The pants and leotard are waiting for me to dye them blue. But before I delve into dyeing the real costumes I wanted to play around a little bit to get a feel for how the dye takes to the fabric, and how the color will/should look. Here are some test pant legs.
This was enough for me to figure out how I will go about dyeing the actual costumes!! For my test I used one dye bath (the left was navy blue and the right was royal blue because I didn't know what color would be the right blue), meaning that I used one color at one intensity or one level of concentration. For the actual costumes I will have 3 different dye baths each at different levels of dye intensity. First I will dye the entire garment in the bath that has only 1/4 amount of dye, then dip the garment to the appropriate level in a bath that has 1/2 amount of dye, then dip the garment to appropriate level in full strength. (intensity of dye is determined by amount of dye per 2 gallons of water) This will yield the actual ombre gradient that I desire. I am excited!!

Also I have decided to use Royal Blue dye because the Navy looks too purple as it goes lighter.

I can't wait to post pictures of the actual dyeing process as well as photos of the completed costumes!!

Lot's of "yummy" things

Since I haven't posted in a while and since there is a lot of yummy things to write about, I think this post should be broken into sub-posts. Below you will find that that I have labeled sections as "recipes", "school", "thoughts" and "praises".

Praises
First of all I would like to let you all no about how great God is. You may recall me talking about a couple who were recently pregnant and the woman wanted to have an abortion, she didn't even want to go to counseling. Well, she did go to counseling, and "postponed" the abortion. Since then though, the abortion seems to be canceled completely and they are excited to find out the sex of their baby! Praise God for the new little life, and the preservation of that life...God is so good!

School
It's crazy!!! Luckily I am officially registered for everything which truly makes this my last semester (this takes one stress off of my shoulders...waiting for add codes and petitions to exceed units really sucks).

Dance rehearsals have started for the Sr. Portfolio concert, and I am really excited. Both pieces that I am dancing in already seem magnificent. I can't wait!! My piece I am excited for too, but I am having trouble placing my concept and ideas onto my dancers, a sort of choreographers block. I have tons of ideas and things I want to do, I just can't seem to materialize them into movement. It will come though, and I have great dancers!!!

With normal classes, dance rehearsals, and teaching for Grace Dance Academy (and finishing choreography for their spring concert in April), I am kept extremely BUSY! At least its all mostly stuff I love (except for the a few classes in school).

Thoughts
For anyone who has read the Sparks novel "Dear John" DO NOT go see the movie!! It will make you upset. They rushed through all of the important parts and took some things out, and yet added things that never happened and changed things. It was a real disappointment! The book however is wonderful, and if you haven't read it please do!

On a more serious an theological note (for Christians): Is there ever a point during our life on earth where we can truly say "I am saved"? If so, can salvation be lost? Additionally, can it be gained back again? This has long been in debate between different theologians and churches, and was the topic of discussion during a meeting I had earlier this week.

Matthew 24:9-13
⁹"Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. ¹⁰At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, ¹¹and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. ¹²Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, ¹³but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.

Hebrews 6:4-6
⁴It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, ⁵who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, ⁶if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.

Philippians 2:12
¹²Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling.

Most of the verses I found when looking up the term saved, seem to describe salvation as something to come, which suggests that we have the hope of it but don't actually have it have it. The verse from Matthew says it quite clear "those who stand to the end WILL BE saved". The other two verses show that obeying God's will and seeking His forgiveness will lead us to salvation. Additionally, Hebrews suggests that we can even lose the hope of salvation, by committing an unrepentable sin.

I think this is interesting because many Christians and churches hold onto the belief that there is a single moment a persons life where you are "saved" and from that point on you are guaranteed your place in God's heavenly kingdom. This belief is much more comforting to think about, it seems so much more simple. Believe and be saved, and then do your best for God and all is good. If that were the case however, Paul wouldn't be "working out his salvation in fear and trembling". Paul seems to be much more aware of Gods power and mightiness that Christians are today. Today we like to picture God like a Santa Claus, big friendly, jolly, can give great bear hugs, and is there to give us things we ask/pray for. In a way God is those things; I mean he isn't mean, but he is just and just for some people (and probably many people) isn't nice, happy, and jolly, and definitely not something they want. So I think from our human persepctive and relaization of time, salvation is a process. Something that we must currently strive for, but we can be comforted in the fact that we have the HOPE of that salvation.

Now if we think about things 4th dimensionally (which is always a much more interesting and precise way to think about things) we can see that we are either saved or not saved, and it's simple as that. God is outside of time and sees our entire life all at one time. He knows what we did, what we are doing, what we are thinking now...and now....and now, and knows what we will do. becauseHe sees our entire life as one complete piece of fabric He knows whether or not it is something He can use in His Kingdom. To Him we either saved or not saved. We are not almost saved. We are not once saved and then oops.. not saved. We are not unsaved and then suddenly saved. He simply sees the fabric of our entire life and judges whether or not is beautiful enough for His house.

Recipes

I have done a lot of cooking, and baking. Some were successes, and some were... well, not so much.

Pasta Sauce

One fun new thing I did was jar some of my homemade pasta sauce.
My sauce is delicious if I do say so myself, but tricky and interest part is the jarring process. Actually, it's really not that hard.

Step 1 Make your sauce
Step 2 Once the sauce is finished, keep it hot (boiling temperature), and in a large pot filled with boiling water boil the empty jars and their lid/lid parts for 15 minutes
Step 3 Take the jars out of the water pour water out of the jars, and set on the counter (put a couple of towels underneath them so they don't scorch your counter)
Step 4 Fill the hot empty jars with your hot pasta sauce
Step 5 Place the lids on the jars and screw on tightly
Step 6 Place the sauce filled jars back into boiling water and boil for 35 minutes
Step 7 Take the jars out, place on counter and let cool until cool enough to put away in your cupboard

Lanie's Oatmeal Surprise Cookies

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) plus 6 tablespoons butter, softened
• 3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt (optional)
• 3 cups Quaker® Oats (quick or old fashioned, uncooked)
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1/2 cup craisins (dried cranberries)
• 1 cup chocolate chips
• 1 cup of chopped coconut cashews (they are at Costco)...(chop them by placing in a ziploc bag and smashing until a nice "chopped" consistency)
  

Heat oven to 350°F. In large bowl, beat butter and sugars on medium speed of electric mixer until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. Add combined flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; mix well. Add oats and raisins, craisins, chocolate chips, and cashews; mix well.

Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheets; remove to wire rack. Cool completely. ENJOY!! Store tightly covered.

Lemon Recipes

The Lemon recipes below were made because I was given an enormous amount of lemons from my mother-in-law; Myer Lemons from her tree. So yummy, but I was then stuck with the decision "what do I do with 20 lemons?!"

Chicken Piccata

Ingredients:

• 6 ounces whole-wheat angel hair pasta
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour, divided
• 2 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
• salt, to taste
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 4 chicken cutlets (3/4-1 pound total), trimmed
• 3 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
• 1 10-ounce package mushrooms, sliced (use portobella)
  
• 3 large cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice (I added more lemon juice)
  
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 2 tablespoons capers, rinsed (I added twice as many capers)
  
• 2 teaspoons butter

Preparation:
First we have to boil a large pot of water. Once the water boils, we put in the angel hair pasta. We have to let the pasta cook for about 4-6 minutes till it becomes soft. Once done, drain the water and remove the pasta.

Then we beat (piccata) the chicken broth and 5 teaspoons of the flour together. Then, we have to season the chicken with salt and pepper (as per taste, but generally 1/4th teaspoon of each is used), and dredge both sides of the chicken in the flour. Once dredged, heat 2 teaspoons of the olive oil in a non stick skillet. Pan-fry the chicken for 2-3 minutes per side on a medium heat till the chicken turns brown and then remove it off the skillet and keep it warm.

The last 1 teaspoon of oil is used to pan fry the mushrooms over a medium heat. Once the oil is heated, we add the mushrooms and cook them for 5 minutes, till they brown and start releasing the juice. Next, add garlic and wine to the pan and cook for 1-2 more minutes. We take this mixture and stir it in the flour-broth mix with the lemon juice and another 1/4th teaspoon of salt. Put the gas on a low flame and cook, stirring continuously, for 5 minutes, till the sauce thickens.

Next, add the parsley, capers and remaining mushrooms. Add the pasta into the pan and cook, continuously stirring. Serve the pasta topped with the chicken and voilà!! Your easy mushroom chicken piccata recipe is ready!

Lemon Cookies

Omg!! This recipe is sooooo involved, and they didn't even come out close to looking like they do in the picture!! They are pretty tasty anyways, but way too much work.

Lemon Merengue pie

Ingredients

• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 2 lemons, juiced and zested
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 4 egg yolks, beaten
• 1 (9 inch) pie crust, baked
• 4 egg whites
• 6 tablespoons white sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. To Make Lemon Filling: In a medium saucepan, whisk together 1 cup sugar, flour, cornstarch, and salt. Stir in water, lemon juice and lemon zest. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until mixture comes to a boil. Stir in butter. Place egg yolks in a small bowl and gradually whisk in 1/2 cup of hot sugar mixture. Whisk egg yolk mixture back into remaining sugar mixture. Bring to a boil and continue to cook while stirring constantly until thick. Remove from heat. Pour filling into baked pastry shell.
3. To Make Meringue: In a large glass or metal bowl, whip egg whites until foamy. Add sugar gradually, and continue to whip until stiff peaks form. Spread meringue over pie, sealing the edges at the crust.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes, or until meringue is golden brown.

Falling Behind

So we are beginning to fall behind on our two books "A Year With C.S. Lewis" and "The Five Love Languages". Since school started I have a lot less time in the mornings, and instead of finding myself able to wake up early and relax in the morning with my husband, I find myself waking up early (6am as opposed to early mentioned 6:45) and rushing around the apartment to find my dance stuff, pack a lunch, fix breakfast and get out the door in time to make it to my 7:30am class. As I sit here writing this I am wondering if the excuse I described above is just that....an excuse. Or if I (and my husband) have valid reasons for falling a bit behind in our morning readings and quiet time. Maybe we aren't trying hard enough?! I mean the C.S. Lewis book is pretty much a paragraph a day!!!

Unfortunately our reading and prayer-life aren't he only things that have gotten forgotten about over the past week. The apartment looks disastrous, and instead of having meals all planned out for the week like I had hoped, I find myself scrounging last minute for ideas of what to cook for dinner. Am I just a weak woman, only able to concentrate at one thing at a time? ...Curently school. Or are these valid and universal dilemmas? Anyone with advice on how to be superwoman; balancing: 20 units of school, being a wife, being a homemaker, and being a dance teacher, please share!!! Luckily I'm not stressed out yet, I'm just sad that the house is in disarray, my husband ALWAYS sees me in dance sweats, and school seems to precede spending quality time with my husband and with God. Maybe I'm just experiencing senioritis? Afterall it is my LAST semester....yeah that must be it. *sigh*

First Week

I just finished my last first week of undergraduate school!!! That's right I'm graduating this May. I am excited beyond words!!

I'm finishing up my B.S. in Psychology with the following:

• Psyc 117 Test and Measures
• Psyc 160 Clinical
• Psyc 186 Field Work (I actually already did the work, I'm just now getting the credit)

Support for the B.S.

• Phil 160 Philosophy of Science
• Bio 21

And I'm finishing up my B.A. in Dance with the following:

• Dance 140A Modern III
• Dance 142B Jazz IV
• Dance 194 Credit for performing
  
• Dance 198 Sr. Portfolio

Oh yeah, and I'm taking a random upper division G.E.:

• Nutrition and Health Science 135 Health in a Multicultural Society

Its my last semester and still have a pretty full plate, but I'm actually feeling pretty motivated in all of my classes. I know its my last semester, and I want to do well. I am really looking forward to growing in my dancing this last semester too, the teachers I have are great and the choreographers I am dancing for are brilliant.

My Birthday!

Yesterday was my birthday...I turned twenty-old :-p Despite spending the majority of the day writing 2 papers for my winter session bio class (the last assignment of the class that just ahd to be due on my birthday), I had a good day.

I wanted Chipotle for lunch, and just for telling them it was my birthday I got a free burrito!! It was awesome!

In the middle of the day I was pleasantly surprised by a delivery of birthday flowers from my sister and her family. (Thank you Sissy!!)

Later in the evening Rob took me to play glow in the dark mini-golf and then to Dave and Busters. Both things I have been wanting to do. I had a nice fun time with my husband, and I was really glad that I didn't have school on my birthday for a change. Usually my birthday is the first day back to school, so everyone is too busy to remember your birthday, and I'm too busy to celebrate. But this year I had a nice time, my husband made sure of that. :-)

I did some celebrating earlier in the week too. On Thursday night my parents-in-law took me to a nice restaurant in Downtown Palo Alto called Pampas a place I highly recommend. It was such a fun experience!! You have to order the Rodizio!

And on Sunday I went to my parents for dinner; my mommy cooked me yummies!! There is nothing like a home cooked dinner by your mom...it's something I miss.

So yes, I had a very pleasant day. Thank you to everyone who thought of me and sent me birthday wishes.

Dancing Rainbow Pasta!!!

Ok maybe not quite dancing rainbow pasta, but pretty close!

Today I danced for 3 hours at Alonzo Kings Lines Ballet at the San Francisco Dance Center. I am taking a weekend long choreography workshop with awesome choreographer Mary Carbonara. We are working a new piece of hers which will debut soon. The piece is consist of her choreography as well as some of our own, and she is piecing it all together in an interesting way. I can't wait to see the finished product tomorrow! Rumor has it that this workshop is an informal audition to perform in this piece (or join her company) when the piece makes its debut. I think it would be super awesome to get asked to dance in her piece!! Whether that happens or not though I am having a lot of fun...dancing hard, and sweating lots...its GREAT!!

On the way home from San Francisco I saw a rainbow. The picture you see here doesn't do it justice, the real thing was much more magnificent. I could actually see the the entire arch...the entire half circle. It was pretty awesome!!

For dinner my husband and I made homemade pasta. That's right, real HOMEMADE spaghetti!!!!


















It was sooo much fun, and the finished product tasted absolutely amazing. it really is better than store bought. The texture is better, and its fresher, so its better...ha! We made our pasta noodles with a genuine authentic Italian pasta maker, "The Imperia".



















I had fun making looooonnnng spaghetti's!!




From really insanely long lasagna noodle to beautifully perfect spaghetti noodles YAY!

















We made some to have for dinner tonight, and some to dry and use during the week. My husband Rob liked our pasta so much he wants to have a weekly pasta making night on Saturdays.




I made my own sauce too (which came out pretty darn good if I do say so myself), and we sprinkled our dinner with freshly grated Parmesan cheese.


















We served our delightful dinner with a nice cabernet that was given to us as a New Years gift.

Today truly was a wonderful day, filled with many of my favorite things: dancing, rainbows, my husband, and pasta!

The Precious Gift of Life

Life is so valuable, and so precious! I am in awe of the mystery and wonder of human life every time I dance, spend time with my husband, hold a baby, discover a friend is a pregnant. I am also often shocked by peoples choices made out of selfishness.

Last semester I spoke with someone who's friend was pregnant with her third baby. The woman wanted to have an abortion because she felt that her and her husband could not afford to take care of a third. She was spoken to about adoption by her friend (the person I spoke to about this) and her husband. The woman's response to adoption was that she wanted to have an abortion instead of put her baby up for adoption because she thought that after carrying the baby for nine months and then giving birth she would not be able to give the baby up, and she didn't want to put herself through that.

Earlier today another friend of mine who is starting to lead a bible study for some non-quite-yet-Christians but seeking people emailed and said that a couple he knows is pregnant and the mother wants to have an abortion. The father doesn't want her too, and instead wants her to see a counselor...she refused and scheduled an abortion for this coming week. After prayer by a group prayer warriors, I found out that she has postponed her abortion by a week and *might* see a counselor. I don't know her stance on adoption, I wish I did because I would consider adopting the baby in order to save his or her precious life.(I'll post more on this another time, and share an idea I have for starting a ministry)

In contrast to the above two stories my dear friend Genevieve posted the video that I am now posting below. A beautiful story of two selfless individuals. A husband and wife who realized that their call to parenthood was a gift. Where many would look at their situation as a bad circumstance, they looked at every single moment as a blessing. I hope and pray that my husband and I can be as good of parents as these two. I found this story incredibly inspiring, and I hope you do too! (Note: you may need some tissues)

99 Balloons from Igniter Media on Vimeo.