Gazpacho Blanca

I made this for the first time yesterday. It was quite fun to make, mostly because I had never seeded cucumbers before. Anyway, if you didn't know, gazpacho is a cold, cucumber soup. My family had mixed feelings about it but everyone was a good sport and at least tried it. I personally, liked it, but would probably prefer it as an appetizer next time instead of the main course. I made homemade, country white bread to accompany and garnished with sliced roma tomatoes and lemon wedges. I actually made the soup the night before so that it could chill overnight which worked out quite well. It was weird having my whole meal ready the night before! Anyway, it was fun and different so all in all, a good experience.

My super exciting World Market find!

That's right. It's a vanilla bean. Two actually. I was really excited to find this as I've recently found several recipes that don't call for vanilla extract but actually call for vanilla beans. I'll be making something smashing with these. Probably ice cream.. mmmm.

Update on the Summer thus far....

At the beginning of the summer I made a list of things that I hoped to do more of. This is the update on those things. Unfortunately, just like a new year's resolution, it hasn't turned out exactly as I would have hoped. You've probably guessed this since blogging was one of the things on the list and that obviously hasn't really happened. Well, first off, the summer is not over yet and I'm still working on it. This should be evident in the fact that I just posted not too long ago and this is in fact, another post...proof that I'm blogging more! Also, some of the things have happened and some of them have been pushed to the back burner as other, unforeseen things took the front ones.
Side note: I just realized how much I like that analogy. The fact that I'm always cooking for 10+ people means that I'm usually using all 4 burners on the stove and it's definitely true that the pots that need more attention are always in front. hmmmm. Nice job, analogy inventor man/woman.
So to go through the list, reading has not happened near as much as I would have liked it to. It's weird that it's one of my favorite hobbies yet one that gets neglected the most. I think it's because it's not usually something that I feel like I have to do, just something that I want to do. So the have-to's take precedence. Anyway, I have been reading Discipline by Elisabeth Elliot and it has been wonderful. Other than that, my reading is still in a slump.
Cooking, this has improved! I'm really excited because it's happening more and more each week. This is the first week in quite some time that I have actually done the requested 5 real meals a week and I think it will be happening more consistently in the rest of the summer and the fall. I have also been able to make more exciting meals again as I've had a little more time to plan them out. More on this later.
Bible study, this is really hard to confess to. I have not been doing a consistent Bible study at all this summer. It's terrible. I've been trying to keep God as the central focus of my life as hard as I can while neglecting to read His word near as much as I should. This is an oxymoron, if you were wondering. I'm changing this because it's utterly ridiculous.
Outdoor activities, another that started to happen and then altogether ceased. It's so flippin' hot! I started out the summer going a few bike rides with my boyfriend which were marvelous...but that hasn't happened real recently. We have been swearing all summer to go canoeing (is this a word?) and I still really, really hope we do. But, it is so hot that if we do this, it may be the last thing we ever do.
Working out, this is one that was going really good at the beginning and has since slacked off. I'm still hoping to get back to it. I do a lot better with this one when I have a more structured schedule to my week. It's kind of hard for me to just randomly work out whenever I have the chance, due to the fact that I'm diabetic and this is really disruptive to my blood sugar. My blood sugar has also been crazy lately which makes it harder all together. But, it can also be really good for my blood sugar if I do it consistently. So, it's still high on the list and will hopefully happen a lot this fall with (hopefully) the help of an insulin pump.
Fun, intentional, time with people I love, this has happened some. Every one's schedules are crazy in the summer so this has been a little tricky. But, I have been able to spend a lot of time with my boyfriend. Compared to how much time we get together during the year, it's amazing! I've been able to meet for an hour or so almost every week to sit down with Everly and Beth to discuss the book, Discipline, that we are reading together. This has been so, so incredibly good. I underestimated the significance of having time officially dedicated to discussing each other's lives and relationships with Christ compared to just being around each other each day. This has been fantastic. It's also been nice seeing more of the whole family since I'm not in school and most of my schedule involves the whole family. So if we're busy, we're busy together.
OK. That's the current update. I'm hoping to post later about my exciting find at World Market and what I'm making for lunch. So, ttfn!

The Official List of Bryan/College Station restaurants

My boyfriend and I love trying new restaurants and do so as much as possible. He's always asking me where I want to eat and I have tons of places I want to try. Unfortunately, many times when we decide to eat out and are trying to think of one of the many restaurants that we want to try, we can't remember what they are until we're too hungry and end up eating somewhere that we already know. I'm hungry most of the time and I get really hungry fast... so the deciding process ends up being pretty short. He probably gets pretty frustrated with me always asking him to take me to a new place and then forgetting what that new place was when it's time to go. That's why we came up with a brilliant plan to have a list. An actual tangible list instead of a running one in our heads that we can't find in time. I told him I would make a real list and promptly started scribbling things down in my Lisa Frank note pad which is always in my purse. He said he would only follow it if it was official looking and on real stationary instead of my Lisa Frank note pad. Side Note: Lisa Frank is still awesome. Besides that, my lovely sister, Everly, gave it to me. In my mind, it is just as official as so called real stationary. Ahem, back to the list. So I gave in to his request (because I really like when he buys me food) and made a real list on official looking stationary. I wrote the restaurant names, location, and price range for his convenience. :) We've already tried one on the list and we've only had it a few days! The place we tried was called Haiku Japanese and Korean. It was exciting because it was on the list and I really wanted to try Korean food. It was a let down because the food was not so good. Very bland and not very fresh tasting. Plus, the environment was not the most authentic or even interesting for that matter, except that there was an indoor coy pond, which was pretty cool. So, all in all, not the best. But, more importantly, we tried somewhere on the list and now we know what it's like! I count it a win. So, I'll post the list for all to see and as we try somewhere, I'll review it! There could definitely be more restaurants added later. I know they probably seem pretty random but they're the main ones I could think of that I wanted to try for some reason and hadn't yet. Also, if you're reading this and have tried any of them, let me know what you thought!

1. La Riviera
2. Madden's
3. Square One
4. Bodega Coast
5. Naked Fish
6. Fontana's
7. Cafe Capri
8. Fat Burger
9. Truman's Chocolates
10. Luigi's Patio Ristorante
11. Christopher's World Grill
12. La Bodega
13. Papa Perez
14. Haiku Japanese and Korean
15. Herbert's Cajun Cuisine
16. Antonio's Pizza
17. The Republic
18. Serendipity

An exerpt from Les Miserables

I thought this was a beautiful little passage and I thought I'd share. It makes me wish I had known Victor Hugo. It's about a blind man being cared for by his sister but it really has a lot that I think could apply to anyone. It's really just a passage about love.

"Let us say in passing, to be blind and to be loved, is in fact- on this earth where nothing is complete-one of the most strangely exquisite forms of happiness. To have continually at your side a woman, a girl, a sister, a charming being, who is there because you need her, and because she cannot do without you, to know you are indispensible to someone necessary to you, to be able at all times to measure her affection by the degree of her presence that she gives you, and to say to yourself: She dedicates all her time to me, because I possess her whole love; to see the thought if not the face; to be sure of the fidelity of one being in a total eclipse of the world; to imagine the rustling of her dress as the rustling of wings; tp hear her moving to and fr,. going out, coming in, talking, singing, and to think that you are the cause of those steps, those words, that song, to show your personal attraction at every moment; to feel even more powerful as your infirmity increases; to become in darkness, and by reason of darkness, the star around which this angel gravitates; few joys can equal that. The supreme happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved; loved for ourselves-say rather, loved in spite of ourselves; this conviction the blind have. In their calamity. to be served is to be caressed. Are they deprived of anything? No. light is not lost where love enters. And what a love! A love wholly founded in purity. There is no blindness where there is certainty. The soul gropes in search of a soul, and finds it. And that soul, found and proven, is a woman. A hand sustains you, it is hers; lips lightly touch your forehead, they are her lips; you hear breathing near you, it is she. To have her wholly, from her devotion to her pity, never to be left alone, to have that sweet shyness as your aid, to lean on that unbending reed, to touch Providence with your hands and be able to grasp it in your arms; God made palpable, what a transport! The heart, that dark celestial flower, bursts into a mysterious bloom. You would not give up that shade for all the light in the world! The angel soul is there, forever there; if she goes away, it is only to return; she fades away in dream and reappears in reality. You feel an approaching warmth, she is there. You overflow with serenity, gaiety, and ecstasy; you are radiant in your darkness. And the thousand little cares! The trifles that are enormous in this void. The most ineffable accents of the womanly voice used to comfort you, and replacing for you the vanished universe! You are caressed through the soul. You see nothing, but you feel yourself adored. It is a paridise of darkness."

Victor Hugo in Les Miserables pages 166-167

This Summer...

there are several things that I would like to do.


One of them is to blog again which is why we're starting here. Hopefully, the other things I want to do will 1.) actually happen and 2.) be material to blog about!
Some of them have already begun to take place merely because I have more time and want to do them. Some of them though, I'll have to actually put a little more effort forth in order to do them. One way of putting forth effort, is to tell people about it. That's what I'm doing. So it kind of makes a big circle... wanting to do things, doing them, blogging about them so that I'll actually do them and because I've done them and now have something to blog about! :) Get it?
So here we go:

• READ.........fiction, non fiction, just lots of it. This has suffered considerably from lack of time the past semester but is making a much needed come back.
• COOK........I already do a lot of this but I want to do more. I want to spend more time on cooking new things, trying new techniques, planning out meals etc.
• BIBLE STUDY......... I can't believe this is actually something that I'm having to commit to doing more of but it is. I have definitely let this one slide as well and that's not acceptable. So, more of it and in a more focused way, will be happening!
• Blogging...we've been over this one already.
• OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES..... canoeing, biking etc. I love that kind of thing but almost never take the time to go out and do it. This will be easier to do now that Joe is living here and loves this stuff even more than me.
• WORKING OUT....... I love working out. I really do. I just have to do it on a schedule and stick to it. If I really stick to a schedule it's a lot easier on my blood sugar.
• FUN, INTENTIONAL TIME WITH PEOPLE I LOVE....... playing games, watching movies, getting coffee, talking, whatever. I just don't want it to be neglected because these relationships are important to me.
• And more to come... :)

SURPRISE!!

I'm alive!

I know I said that I would start writing again before and then completely abandoned you...

Well, I might do that again but.... maybe not!

I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Anyway, I at least got my account back! :D