On our last trip to DC we stopped in a Trader Joe's to kill some time, and ended up stumbling upon one of the greatest treats ever....
That's right! Chocolate covered edamame!
What unique--or downright crazy--snacks and treats have you found?
Friday, March 30, 2012
Happy Tastebuds
What unique--or downright crazy--snacks and treats have you found?
Monday, March 26, 2012
For Sarah Tipps
Today might not mean much to some people, but to me and many others, today is Sarah Tipps' birthday.
I met Sarah in the Muse Machine production of Thoroughly Modern Millie in 2006. She was soft spoken and quiet, but such a sweetheart. Even if you didn't know her too well, you still loved her. She was always such a kind person to everyone.
On March 23, 2009, Sarah passed away.
I remember every detail of the night that I found out. It was March 24th. I was in Nancy Lemmon's room, working on a paper for LIB 120 on her computer because mine was broken. I was wearing SVU sweats and a red sweater. I sat at the desk while Nancy sat on her bed doing homework. I took a break and got on Facebook (like most students do), and saw a heartfelt post by Trevor Coran (a fellow Musie) about Sarah. I started to get nervous--something was definitely up. I searched Facebook and googled Sarah's name along with Dayton Daily News, my hometown's newspaper. The first result was her obituary. I burst into tears, shaken by what I found. I couldn't comprehend what had happened. If I think about it too hard, I still can't. I was a wreck after that for quite a while. I had a difficult time focusing on school work, and my panic disorder (something I struggled with at the time) was sent into overdrive.
I realized in the months after her passing that I didn't (and still don't) handle death well. A couple of my great grandparents and both of my dad's parents have passed away, but I hardly knew them, so I didn't really feel much when it happened. Maybe that's why Sarah's death affected me so deeply--because I actually knew her and had a relationship with her. Even now, I'm still so concerned about my friends and family and their safety. One of the things I even struggled with in a long courtship with Joey was the fear that something would happen to one of us before we could be sealed in the temple and then we wouldn't get to be together forever. Its taken me a lot of work and faith to not be afraid of that anymore.
Though those things have come back to my mind tonight, the one thing I'm thinking about most right now is the fact that I didn't remember until today. I didn't remember the anniversary of her death until I realized it was her birthday. That makes me feel horribly guilty. It makes me feel like I forgot her, or care less about her and her family that still has to live without her. I know people say that when something like this happens, you have to pick up the pieces and keep living, but I still feel bad that I forgot. How do you not forget, but keep living without existing in sadness?
I'm grateful though, that once I began to think of Sarah, my heart was filled with peace and comfort, and I know it comes from a knowledge of the gospel, the plan of salvation, and a loving Heavenly Father. I'm so thankful to be a member of a church that believes in eternal relationships and life after death. I can't imagine how happy Sarah's parents will be when they get to be with their sweet daughter again. I'm grateful for being taught these things so that they can help me in times of sorrow or struggle, when my mortal mind can't fully understand why things happen or how they will be made better. I'm grateful for the relationship I did get to have with Sarah, however short it may have been. What a wonderful person she was.
Dear friends, I wrote all of this not to make anyone uncomfortable by the personal content. I know I needed to write it out and give physical form to my thoughts, but I think I also needed a reminder of how precious my friends and family are, my faith is, and my own life is -- not just my sheer existence as a human being, but my ability to enjoy and experience so many things.
Life is incredible.
I met Sarah in the Muse Machine production of Thoroughly Modern Millie in 2006. She was soft spoken and quiet, but such a sweetheart. Even if you didn't know her too well, you still loved her. She was always such a kind person to everyone.
On March 23, 2009, Sarah passed away.
I remember every detail of the night that I found out. It was March 24th. I was in Nancy Lemmon's room, working on a paper for LIB 120 on her computer because mine was broken. I was wearing SVU sweats and a red sweater. I sat at the desk while Nancy sat on her bed doing homework. I took a break and got on Facebook (like most students do), and saw a heartfelt post by Trevor Coran (a fellow Musie) about Sarah. I started to get nervous--something was definitely up. I searched Facebook and googled Sarah's name along with Dayton Daily News, my hometown's newspaper. The first result was her obituary. I burst into tears, shaken by what I found. I couldn't comprehend what had happened. If I think about it too hard, I still can't. I was a wreck after that for quite a while. I had a difficult time focusing on school work, and my panic disorder (something I struggled with at the time) was sent into overdrive.
I realized in the months after her passing that I didn't (and still don't) handle death well. A couple of my great grandparents and both of my dad's parents have passed away, but I hardly knew them, so I didn't really feel much when it happened. Maybe that's why Sarah's death affected me so deeply--because I actually knew her and had a relationship with her. Even now, I'm still so concerned about my friends and family and their safety. One of the things I even struggled with in a long courtship with Joey was the fear that something would happen to one of us before we could be sealed in the temple and then we wouldn't get to be together forever. Its taken me a lot of work and faith to not be afraid of that anymore.
Though those things have come back to my mind tonight, the one thing I'm thinking about most right now is the fact that I didn't remember until today. I didn't remember the anniversary of her death until I realized it was her birthday. That makes me feel horribly guilty. It makes me feel like I forgot her, or care less about her and her family that still has to live without her. I know people say that when something like this happens, you have to pick up the pieces and keep living, but I still feel bad that I forgot. How do you not forget, but keep living without existing in sadness?
I'm grateful though, that once I began to think of Sarah, my heart was filled with peace and comfort, and I know it comes from a knowledge of the gospel, the plan of salvation, and a loving Heavenly Father. I'm so thankful to be a member of a church that believes in eternal relationships and life after death. I can't imagine how happy Sarah's parents will be when they get to be with their sweet daughter again. I'm grateful for being taught these things so that they can help me in times of sorrow or struggle, when my mortal mind can't fully understand why things happen or how they will be made better. I'm grateful for the relationship I did get to have with Sarah, however short it may have been. What a wonderful person she was.
Dear friends, I wrote all of this not to make anyone uncomfortable by the personal content. I know I needed to write it out and give physical form to my thoughts, but I think I also needed a reminder of how precious my friends and family are, my faith is, and my own life is -- not just my sheer existence as a human being, but my ability to enjoy and experience so many things.
Life is incredible.
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Our Attempt at Homemade Pho
I'm sure you've figured this out by now, but Joey and I love Vietnamese food--especially Pho. Problem is, the nearest Vietnamese restaurant is an hour away, so we usually don't get it unless we've planned a trip for wedding stuff or something. We knew that making it was time consuming and pretty tricky, but when I found out that there was an organic pre-made beef pho broth, we thought hey, this might work!
So a couple weeks ago, Joey and I headed to the new organic grocery store in lexington to pick up the broth and the other ingredients we needed. Broth in hand, we then spent perhaps ten minutes searching for rice noodles (which we knew they had a month or two before). No dice. Next we checked for bean sprouts. again, nothin'. Having already been to walmart, we didn't want to go back there, so we headed to Kroger. We were able to snag some basil, but they didn't have bean sprouts either. So to MacGyver the crunchiness of the bean sprouts I thought we'd try another common Vietnamese ingredient: cabbage. We also found the rice noodles, and headed back to my apartment to get things cooking.
Joey prepped the steak while I diced some onions and got the noodles ready for the broth. The moment I poured it into the pot, I knew this wasn't going to be quite right. The boxed broth was a cloudy, milky brown color, and normally beef pho broth, well...isn't. But kept working on it, adding all of the ingredients and mixing in some sriracha and hoisin like we always do. I took a whiff of the soup, which gave me more cause for concern. It smelled a little sweet and in general, funky.
Joey and I sat down to eat, topped our bowls with the cabbage and a little more sriracha, got out the chop sticks, and took a bite. And the verdict?
Yikes.
It was all wrong. The broth completely lacked flavor, and what it did have was way too sweet--we're thinking a little too much star anise--ok, a lot too much. And I have no idea what they put in the broth to make it that cloudy color. The noodles were ok, but too much like regular vermicelli pasta. And the cabbage just didn't come through for us. Joey was able to eat his bowl (mostly because he was super hungry) but I could only manage a couple bites before I looked at Joey and said 'I can't do this. We're going to Wendy's'. And we did. And I loved it.
I guess this is what we get for trying to mess with a good thing! Looks like we will stick to our tried and true Vietnamese restaurants and trust the experts. But hey, it was an adventure, and at least we tried something crazy!
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
We're Still Alive
Hello!
My, its been a while, hasn't it?
Life sure has been busy.
Who knew that being a full time student, working two jobs,
and planning a wedding would be so time consuming??
And because I've felt so behind in my school work, I knew I couldn't in good conscience update the blog, because that would mean I had extra time, and that I wasn't spending it on school work, which I so desperately need to get back on top of. But darn it, I wanted to blog today, so I'm doing it!
A Few Things from Meg and Joey:
Our health challenge has pretty much gone out the window, as shown by the fact that I bought a box of blueberry frosted pop-tarts....and ate them. People, I never eat pop-tarts. But I saw them one day at food lion and just had to have them. Ice cream and dark chocolate hershey kisses have also been in abundance. We are still eating lots of fresh veggies and fruit, but the ban on sugar just wasn't cutting it. There is just too much stress right now! I know I know, fruits and veggies actually help you feel better emotionally and physically more than sugar, but that doesn't change the fact that when I'm stressed and have had a long day, I don't want to sit down with a nice stalk of celery or a carrot. Gimme the ice cream people!
The visit with our caterer a couple weeks ago went so well! The menu was exactly what we were hoping for. It tasted fantastic and looked so great. It really took a lot of stress off knowing that no matter what, our guests are going to have some dyn-o-mite food. So basically, if you're coming to the wedding, you are one lucky duck.
Speaking of the wedding, I am so so so happy, because my dear Aunt Jen and Uncle Lee are going to be coming and will be a part of our sealing! We didn't think they were going to be able to make it, but by some serious blessings from Heavenly Father, everything worked out and they will be coming to the east coast for our special day. Joey and I are so grateful that things worked out so well. Jen and Lee mean so much to me and have always been really supportive; it really means the world to me to have them be there with us. Hooray for happy news!
Joey and I are beyond excited that spring is here. We love the fresh air, the buds on the trees, and the daffodils everywhere. It feels great to say 'so long!' to winter and 'hello!' to spring! ...And have we mentioned that we get married in the spring?? :)
We hope everyone else is enjoying the new spring weather and doing so well!
