Making Connections

I worked at a place at BYU for two years, and the motto was something like "Making Connections." It was really drilled into us to try to find connections between are various classes and between each other. It was something I loved doing. It helped me relate to people better, and I certainly did better in some of my classes because of it. I loved that job, and I especially love the people I worked with.

Then I changed my major and decided I should get a job that was more applicable to genealogy. Good thing was, in that major and in that job I got to continue my focus on making connections.

And here's an interesting web, if you want to call it that. First, the explanation, and then the diagram that I created in Paint.

My freshman year, I dated a chap named Bryce. On an occasion, we ran into his second cousin, Gloria. As it turns out, Gloria is first cousins with Abe who is first cousins with Eric on the other side. Also, Gloria recently married Carl, whom Janssen dated at the beginning of freshman year, until he broke up with her to start dating Gloria. See the circle? Do you love it? Oh, you don't see it? Here's the diagram:
Please tell me I'm not the only one who finds this immensely humorous.

Review: Red Lentil Curry

First of all, here's where you can find the recipe.

Second, we loved it.

Third, it is easy to make.

Now, with those Whip it Up bases covered I will elaborate.

I found this recipe from AllRecipes.com by clicking on a link for yummy vegetarian meals. I am this close to being a vegetarian, folks. This is for a few reasons: health, money, and the world food crisis. So, Eric and I have decided to cut back on our meat intake. We're thinking we should have about 3-4 vegetarian meals per week. (Don't worry, if you come over we'll probably make meat). We can get proteins in lots of other, healthier ways. Like lentils. I'm toying with the idea of having all my Whip it Up recipes be vegetarian. How do you like them apples?

This recipe appealed to me for a few reasons- We love curry. Both of us just relish any chance we get to eat curry of any type. I'm a particular fan of green curry, but red curry has really grown on me lately. Plus, it's not as spicy. Also, I had red lentils, onions, red curry paste, tomatoe puree, garlic and ginger all on hand. Also rice. We always have rice. In fact, we bought a 10-kilo bag of rice when we got here exactly five months ago, and we're just now almost through with it. Definitely an excellent buy.

Overall, the recipe was astoundingly simple to make. It really was one of those recipes where you pour in the ingredients and stir. Nothing tricky about it. The only problem for us is that we only have two burners, so I couldn't get the sauce going until I was done with the lentils because I needed the rice cooking pretty much the whole time. Not a huge problem, but I certainly could have used an extra burner.

Eric, Matthew, and Makereta all really liked this meal. Makereta said it was the perfect level of spicy for her. I would have liked to kick it up a notch or two, but since I was making it for all four of us, then I was perfectly content with making it a little more mild.

I didn't add all the seasonings I was supposed to because I do not have turmeric, chili powder, and cumin on hand, and I really didn't want to shell out the money it would have cost to buy those things. When I am back in the States with all my trusty own ingredients, I will add those in. With that said, I never felt like the recipe was lacking because I didn't have those ingredients included.

So, the moral of this blog is that this is a good recipe. A good, extremely healthy recipe. I've enumerated the health benefits of lentils before, so I am eager to have another recipe to use them in.

Also, on the reviews of the recipe some people mentioned omitting the paste. You really can't do that. The paste is crucial. You can buy it in any grocery store in New Zealand (in the Asian section), and you might be able to find it in regular grocery stores in the states, particularly if you live in an area with a strong Asian influence. Otherwise you might have to take a trip to a specialty Asian market, but curry paste is cheap, and a little bit goes a long way, so a special trip is worth it.

How's this for a lazy post?

And here's mine. As you can see, I like Eric, games and tomatoes.

You can get your own Word cloud from Wordle.

Review: Amazing Sun-Dried Tomato Cream Sauce

This week I am reviewing the Amazing Sun-Dried Tomato Cream Sauce that I found on allrecipes.com. I chose this recipe because I had all the ingredients on hand. I had purchased sun-dried tomatoes for another recipe. In fact, that other recipe is the only one I had ever used sun-dried tomatoes for. I really like sun-dried tomatoes, and I wanted to find more ways to use them. I also happened to have cream on hand from a recently made pot of tomato soup.

We loved this recipe. It whipped up, so to speak, very quickly- about 25 minutes total. We served it over spiral noodles, but I would be happy serving it over any type of pasta. The sun-dried tomatoes were absolutely perfect in the sauce and added just the right amount of extra flavor amid bites.

I did change the recipe a bit by adding chopped onion and garlic, per the suggestions in the comments. I also used (gasp!) colby cheese. I happened to have it on hand. And hey! We're on a budget. I can't go running around buying different types of cheeses all the time. It's just too costly right now. It worked out fine because it was all blended together. In the future I will probably add mushrooms.

The great thing about this dish is that it works as a side or a main. It can be your main dish if you want a filling vegetarian meal. You could also add chicken to the pasta, if you want. Chicken is ridiculously expensive here, so we hardly ever eat it. But when we get back to the states, I can't wait to eat this sauce on some grilled chicken. I salivate just thinking about it. I think this dish also works well as a side. Cook up some chicken parmigiana and serve this pasta on the side with a vegetable. Asparagus would be nice.

This is really one of the quickest meals I have ever made, and it was wonderfully tasty, albeit rather high in fat, which kind of explains the "tasty" part. I highly recommend.

Independence Day

Today is not the first Independence Day that I have spent working. No, in fact, I'm pretty sure I worked on the Fourth of July every summer that I worked at the grocery store, which equals three summers. Although, come to think of it, the first summer was at a different store than where I was the second two summers. Usually I got off work early enough to go out and see the fireworks, but I'm pretty sure that at least once I didn't get to.

This year I worked right through it because, as it turns out New Zealand doesn't celebrate America's Independence Day. Imagine that.

It would be great to have spent time in the sun eating barbecued foods and being antsy with anticipation about seeing the fireworks shows across the Salt Lake Valley and even into Utah Valley from the vantage point of Eric's aunt and uncle's back yard.

But, of all the holidays, it's one that is easy to give up for me. And besides, I got to see fireworks just a few weeks ago from my living room.

And best of all, I was home all day to refresh and refresh and refresh and refresh, waiting for the results of Eric sister's race in the quarterfinals of the 1500m race in the Olympic Trials. After so much refreshing and not getting the results, we just called Eric's mom. We were surprised to learn that she decided this morning to attend the race (which is actually a day behind us, and thus not actually Independence Day). We called just as the race had finished and were jubilant to learn that Michelle advanced and will be running in the semi-finals tomorrow.

Keep her in your prayers. And if you're not a praying person, now is as good a time as any to start.

Plex

Everyone in Eric's family is really into games. One of my favorite times of year is about the third week in August when we go to Park City with the extended L. family. It's just board games day and day out. Also food. And night games on the golf course. And food. And playing games with the cousins. Also, as an interesting note, I only knew two of my ten cousins growing up, so marrying into Eric's family where he has about thirty cousins on the L. side and five million on the K. side was really exciting to me.

Anyway, Eric has one cousin in particular, Abe, who likes to make up games. I first played one of his made up games, Pork, when Eric and I were dating or maybe we were engaged by that point. Anyway, Abe's wife, Erin, was also there, and so were Bart and Janssen. It was destined to be a fun night because the six of us just exude fun. Which is why we are all so crazy about board games, I guess.

One time over Christmas break the extended L. family went to a giant cabin called Spring Haven for a few days. That is where Abe introduced us to Plex, another of his invented games. It is a great game where the object is to buy properties that are close together. But you are also investing money so that you can earn more so that you can buy more properties. And if all goes well you will have lots of money when everybody else has none, and you will get properties for cheap because you buy properties (and you make investments) by bidding. And that's all the summary you're going to get from me.

So, Eric set out to make Abe's game. I let Abe know about it, and he sent me some files with the cards already made up. Eric worked really hard for about two days cutting and cutting and cutting to get the game ready to go. We have played it with a few folks, and so far everybody loves it. Eric and I really think Abe could market the game, and we'd be happy to let him use our copy as the prototype to show to some head honchos of a game company in case he is not so interested in cutting.

This first picture is of Eric sitting in front of the heater (hogging all the heat!) while designing the coins of the game. I sent this picture to Abe and Erin letting them know what a game-making fiend Eric has become, and that is when Abe sent me the files. Also, this is just to show you that Eric does own a pair of non-pink pajamas.


And this is the final version of the game. As you can see lots of things were done by hand. But it's such a great game, it was definitely worth the time we (mostly Eric) put into it.

Another Assignment

Yesterday the missionaries dropped by and asked us for our help. They are starting a new English class for the many, many non-English speakers in Dunedin. It's going to a just a general community class, and they are going to work really hard to get the word out about the class. Hopefully there will be a lot of interest. They asked us if we would be willing to help teach the class, and we said we definitely would.

We are really excited. We will be teaching with another lady who served her mission in Japan. Plus Eric speaks Portuguese and a little bit of Spanish. And I speak a little more Spanish, but I haven't practiced it like I should these last few years, and it has definitely declined.

Plus this will be good practice for us in case we decide to go teach English in China or Korea for a year. Oh, I hadn't mentioned yet that we are considering that. Well, now you know.

Something You Should Never, Ever, Ever Do

Parents should never tell a child that he was an accident. It is not a nice thing to do. Don't do it. In fact, don't tell ANYONE that the child is a surprise because word might get back around to that child.

I say this because I've read a few blogs lately in which female writers post about their recent accidents and how it took them a while to come to grips with things and be happy. And all I can think is, "One day you're child is going to read this and feel very unwanted. Not nice at all."

I have a very good friend (no, I'm not talking about myself. My parents wanted me, thankyouverymuch.) who was a surprise baby, and her mum often told her, "When I found out I was pregnant with you I just cried and cried because I was so upset. But now I'm so glad you're here and that you are a part of our family." And do you know what my friend heard? "I didn't want you at all." That's what she heard.

It's not even okay to say, "No, of course you weren't a mistake. God doesn't make mistakes, and obviously he wanted you here." Because still the message is, "I didn't want you here, and God forced his will upon me."

I've heard one excuse which goes like this, "Well, I wanted people to know it was an accident so they didn't think I was crazy for having another baby so soon." Let people think you're crazy. First of all, it's not really their concern if you decide to have babies 10 months apart. Your body, your family, your decisions. Second of all, it is much better for people to think you are crazy than for your child to think he is unwanted.

As you can tell, I feel very strongly about this.

Don't ever tell your child that he is an accident. If he asks, LIE. It's for the greater good.

I'm Just a Nargle from Invercargill

Eric's grandpa sings lots of songs and knows lots of poems. Every morning Grandma L. asks Grandpa, "What's the song today?" and then he proceeds to sing to her yet another song he knows. One of my personal favorites is this one:

'Twas an evening in October, I'll confess I wasn't sober,
I was carrying home a load with manly pride,
When my feet began to stutter and I fell into the gutter,
And a pig came up and lay down by my side.
Then I lay there in the gutter and my heart was all a-flutter,
Till a lady, passing by, did chance to say:
"You can tell a man that boozes by the company he chooses."
Then the pig got up and slowly walked away.

We are also big fans of "I'm Just a Jerkey from Albuquerque." In fact, that one will get into our heads for long periods of time. Sometimes we like to change the words to match the city we are in. Like Invercargill. And nothing really rhymes with that, but thank heavens for J.K. Rowling.

I was asked to go down with the other family history consultant from our branch to teach the Invercargill branch about the New Family Search. (Aren't you jealous that I have access to it? Oh, you don't even know what the old one is? Never mind.) So, we went down with Andrew and Mary, plus their baby Samuel.

We took the scenic route back, which was really nice. We stopped at McLean Falls, located in the Southern Rainforest for a quick walk.

Eric took the first photo. Be impressed. It's a great photo. Check out all those crazy trees and plants. This is a good photo for you to see my beautiful face. Also the foliage and how non-American it is. The second is of the falls. They were quite full as it has been rather rainy lately.

My Dunedin

Got this from Janssen, who got it from somebody named Janet.


Dunedin, New Zealand

Age: 23

Occupation: Genealogist

I've lived here for: Four months and 12 days, so I'm certainly no expert.

I live here because: Eric got into a one-year grad program, and why not move to New Zealand for a year?

My neighborhood: Roslyn.

My favorite restaurant: Anything Asian, really.

If you go to this restaurant, be sure to order: Something spicy and flavorful. It's all yummy.

My favorite museum: Sadly, I haven't been to any museums yet. But I hear the Otago Museum is pretty awesome, and they have a raranga exhibit going on that I want to go check out.

My favorite tourist destination: Beaches, I think. Not for swimming, just for walking on.

Best insider spot: I really don't know. I'm not what you would call an "insider."

My favorite area: Downtown.

Best place to go shopping: There are no good places for shopping in New Zealand. You do not come here to shop. But, downtown I guess. Actually, no trademe is the best. It's New Zealand's eBay.

When you visit, don’t forget to pack: Fleece. It's cold, even in summer.

But leave room in your suitcase for: Paua shells and Maori art.

The one local cuisine you should try when you’re in town is: Fish and Chips.

The best way to get around: On your feet. Everything is close, and petrol is about $6 (US) per gallon. (So quite your belly-aching, folks that are paying a mere $4.50!)

If I had to describe this city in one word, it would be: Ideal. Nothing is too far away.

I tell my friends to stay at: On my cozy couch-bed. Actually, maybe it isn't cozy. I've never slept on it as I have an actual bed.

The one thing most outsiders don’t know about this city is: that it exists. And, despite it being in New Zealand, it's quite cold. New Zealand is a temperate climate (like England), not tropical (like Fiji).

They say “Virginia is for lovers.” So fill in the blank: Dunedin is for drunk rugby fans. Or anyone else.

Janssen's addition: What do you want to do that you haven't done in your city yet? Go climb Baldwin Street (the steepest street in the world), go to the Olveston Museum, go to the Cadbury Factory, and climb Mount Cargill.


For the best guide to Dunedin check out this site.