Banana squash fries

A coworker offloaded a ginormous banana squash to me this week.


And since I had never cooked one myself I got online to look for a recipe. That's how I discovered that you could cut them into fries and bake them. I like sweet potato fries so I thought this should be good too.


First I found a huge knife to cut it open. Then I cut it into a ring. (This is when I preheated the oven to 435 degrees.)


Next I hollowed out the seeds and peeled off the skin. (I tried a vegetable peeler but it was too big a job for my peeler so I ended up using a paring knife to get the rest of the skin off.)


Then I cut thin slices from the ring and then sliced the slices into fry shapes.


And it all goes into a gallon size ziploc bag with some extra virgin olive oil and spices. I used allspice and cinnamon. Shakes the whole thing until every fry is coated in the spices.


One of the comments on the recipe mentioned putting a cooling rack on the cookie sheet to allow the heat to get to all sides at the same time. I left a layer if aluminum foil on the cookie sheet to both reflect the heat up and also catch the drippings. After about 20 minutes I flipped them over and stirred everything up and the put the tray back in for another 20 minutes.


They came out slightly golden, a little mushy, but completely delicious. Good with or without ketchup. Next time I will try different spices. I have lots of that banana squash left.

Thursday

I went to help Helen today to deliver deviled eggs to some people in the ward who were having a hard time. I was excited to help her serve others. When I got there she was quietly crying. Tears streaming down her face. She looked so worn out and tired. I asked her what was wrong as I gave her a hug. She told me that her friend's-husband's-brother just passed away. She had hears in her eyes about a man she didn't even know. She proceeded to tell how sad she felt inside for her friend and how painful it must be fore them and their family. I asked Helen if she knew that she didn't have to take the pain of everyone else upon her shoulders. She said to me, " I know I don't have to, but I want to. I know it is what He would have done."  She paused for a moment as more tears came down her face. "He would have wanted me to mourn with those that mourn and comfort those in need of comfort."

Helen's testimony and example helps me learn how to be more like the Savior. She lives His gospel daily through words, actions and deeds. I am blessed to know her and feel an overwhelming sense of gratitude for her in my life. 

Fun with kids

We went to Discovery Gateway today with a few kids. It was fun!

iPhone post

I'm using a new iPhone app called BlogPress to create this post. I thought I would share this picture I took:



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Our Anniversary

This weekend we celebrated our three year wedding anniversary.

In that short amount of time, we've both graduated from college, gained full-time employment, and bought a house. We've also traveled to lots of exciting places including Nova Scotia, and the Redwood forest in Northern California. We also got a whole bunch of new nieces and nephews.

An extra special surprise this year! Katie surprised me and got me an iPhone. I've been wanting one ever since they came out a few years ago, and then even more when it finally arrived on Verizon. But plans to get one ended when we found a house to buy. And since all our money was spent in that direction, I was content to continue waiting. But now I don't have to wait any longer!

So now I have the new white iPhone 4, which means I'll be carrying a camera with Internet on it essentially everywhere I go. So I'll have an excuse to take pictures of stuff and post them on the blog.

Location!!

The best part about our house is the LOCATION!!!! We love our Sugarhouse home. Here's why:

Walking Distance: 

• Sugar house Park 
• Blue Plate Diner
• Our Ward house
• Hunan Gardens (Chinese food)
• Great Harvest Bread
• Anderson-Foothill Library

5 minutes away: 

• The FREEWAY entrance
• Home Goods and Brickyard
• DI
• Desert Book
• Sprague Library
• The dentist
• My hairdresser
• Foothill Shopping

10 minutes away: 

• My Mom's House
• University of Utah
• Our doctors office
• Costco
• The Hogle Zoo

15 minutes away: 

• My Work
• Braden's Work
• Braden's Moms
• Downtown
• The SL LDS Temple

20 minutes away:

• Fort Union Shopping Center, etc. 
• Bountiful Shopping

There are many more things really close by to us but the freeway is the best part about where we live. We are so glad to be right by the freeway and are glad that we live in a location that is in the city but also residential. Most of all we are glad to be by the things that are important in our life right now. We spend less money on gas, less time in the car, and more time with friends and family doing the things that we love! 

Blogs with Pictures

I apologize. We don't have pictures up on the blog yet.

If you're anything like Katie and me, you have an RSS feeder that alerts you of new posts on your favorite blogs, and then just scroll through it until you see a picture of something that interests you and then if you have to, you read the post (or at least part of it). We just don't blog like that. We read blogs that way, but that is not the way our blog posts usually end up. Hardly ever are there any post with pictures. Only sometimes. Usually just text that nobody wants to read.

So I apologize. I'll do better in the future to make more posts with pictures, and write a lot less text to read.

Downstairs Dilema

Before we moved into our house we were getting prepared to fill it up with furniture by buying a used couch and chair we liked from craigslist. But unfortunately our couch didn't fit down the stairs and the chair didn't fit through the doorway to our office. Sad face...
So we're still on the lookout for a couch that will fit through the narrow space. Hopefully we find something soon. We need to sit on something besides our camp chairs to watch tv... whenever we watch it.

Our Style

Well we've moved into our house and put all the furniture in place. Most of it we brought with us from our apartment, but some of it is new (or at least new to us). The comments about our (mostly Katie's) decorating style is that it is simple, yet elegant. We like simple lines and colors with a few very good accents. I don't know if there is a name for it. Maybe "urban chic" or "contemporary modern." But whatever it is, we can't go into a furniture store and tell a salesman what we are looking for. We can just spot something and say that's the one.
Between the two of us, Katie is much better at design decisions, although I like to have my opinion heard. We are lucky in that we both pretty much like the same thing. I put more importance on clocks and workflow and she puts more emphasis on overall design and the little touches like our fake plants scattered all throughout the house. And we like it.
Oh, by the way, I'll post some pictures of our house soon. I have some impressive before and after shots.

Groundhog Day

Happy Groundhog Day 2011!

Wow it is cold this morning! Seems like winter will never end. But Punxsutawney Phil saw no shadow, so that means no more winter!

We have these complicated models of weather predictions like doppler radar and weather balloons and the Weather Channel with in-depth wall-sized graphics of pressure fronts and weathermen with white sport coats. Unfortunately to most of us the Weather Channel, and all weather forecasts wherever they are is just some form of fiction. And no matter what Thunderstorm or Snowpocalypse of whatever, whom do we trust? A groundhog surrounded by men in funny hats.

I guess we'll see if the groundhog is right. Only time will tell. After all, he's only right 39 percent of the time.

Can't have what you want when you want it

This seems to be a recurring lesson I have to learn in my life. I had strep throat over the week end and was banished to my room alone all day Sunday and all day Monday. It was kinda hard for me. I was alone and couldn't have what I wanted when I wanted. I wanted to be with someone. Anyone. I choose alone time often over being with other people but finally when I was told you can't spend time with anyone it because the worst option ever. There is that saying 'you don't realize what you have until it is gone.' Its a true phrase. Oh so true.

Many a time are we ungrateful or take for granted the things that we have. It isn't until the people we love are suddenly out of town or unavailable that we miss them. When we do have the choice we take it for granted. This is true on many other aspects. We take things for granted then one day there is an accident and we loose things or have blessings taken away from us such as the use of a hand or leg or the ability to take care of ourselves. These daily tasks we overlook and forget oftentimes. It may be things like taking for granted the things that make our lives easier and more manageable like a cell phone or a portable laptop. Then all of a sudden we are reminded of it true value when its gone or un-useable.

Life has these sudden things to wake us and make us slow down and appreciate the things around us. We can't always have what we want when we want it. Life doesn't work that way. We wouldn't grow or progress if it did. I am thankful for time time I get to spend with Braden because it seems so many times when I want to spend time with him I can't. (mostly because of our work schedules conflicting) I am grateful for my family. I miss them especially on days that someone is sick. I am grateful for my job, my students and teaching especially in times that I can't be there.

The other lessons we learn through the idea we can't have what we want when we want it is patience.  Patience is when you have to wait a really long time. As we prepare to buy/move into our house I have come to the realization I wouldn't be able to fix up or cute-ify our house in the time that I would like to. The funds aren't there and my time to spend on projects is limited. I have to learn patience. I am grateful for Braden who is much more patient than me. I am learning patience a little more slowly than the lesson on gratitude but both are important.

These 2 lessons seem to be recurring in my life and will continue to keep happening until I can truly learn to be grateful and patient. I don't know if it will happen in this life time so I am glad I have eternity to become perfect.

Getting ready to move

We've known for a month now that we would be moving. And we have wasted no time getting things packed up. Even though "moving day" isn't until the end of February, we already have a great deal of the apartment packed up in boxes.

I have felt a little like I'm on a reverse treasure hunt. Instead of looking for hidden treasures, I'm discovering things I had forgotten we had or at least hadn't seen for a while, only to put it into a box or throw out. It's fun and painful at the same time.

There is a lot of stress involved in moving. Katie and I have been quite unlike our friends our age since we haven't moved at all since we got married. In fact she hasn't moved since more than two years before we got married because I moved into the apartment she was already in with roommates. And besides the fact we both loved the apartment, it was easier to kick the roommates out than find a new place.

I'm not saying this will be the only house we live in the rest of our lives, but I'm of course not ruling out the possibility. The house has four bedrooms and two bathrooms. Plenty of space for a family to grow into. And we know how (or at least know someone who knows how) to update the parts of the house that need it, like the kitchen. We are allowing a couple weeks between closing day and moving day to repair and paint, and other minor details. We will post more here about those projects later.

We've bought a house!

It has been a month since I last wrote. And a lot of things have happened recently.

We found (or actually our agent found) the perfect house. We had decided previously that we would wait until summer 2011 before we were serious about moving. But along came the perfect opportunity, and we happened to have all our ducks in a row already. It is a 4 bedroom 2 bath house. Full finished basement, about 2000 sq ft altogether. We close in February. More details to come.

DLNA is the future!

I've always been interested in following the latest trends in technology. I've watched Apple as they announced just about everything since 2006. And I actively read technology blogs and watch all the coverage of the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas every year. One day I might actually go to it.

Many people believe that the future technology is having an internet connection in everything from cell phones and computers to TVs and refrigerators. While this may actually be true, I tend to believe that in the near future, WiFi will be available in all homes, schools, businesses, and public streets. Its often free WiFi in major places downtown, and of course on college campuses. And internet speeds are getting faster and less expensive. We can expect that trend to continue. And streaming media will be everywhere.

The up-and-coming technology that I hope catches on and becomes mainstream is called DLNA. It stands for Digital Living Network Alliance. Its a standard for moving movies, music, photos, and other media from device to device. It un-complicates network configuration and DRM issues. Basically you have a server device and a client device. The server device, usually a Network Attached Storage (NAS) or a PC on your network, is where the media is stored, and the client device could be a cell phone, TV, another computer, etc.

Sony just announced a new toy coming out this year. Its a series of network-enabled speakers. They are DLNA certified. It makes it easy to take your music from your DLNA compliant Blu Ray player and play it in another room using the same home network your computers use. They call it Home Share Audio. There is one that doubles as an iPod dock so you can play the music from it anywhere in your house you want it. And there is also a function called Party mode that puts the same music on every speaker in the house. Or you can choose to have different music playing in every room. There is also a handy app that runs on Android devices or iPhones and iPod touch or iPad to control the whole system, including volume levels, playlists, and song selection. All pretty cool stuff.

Most households these days have multiple computers where the media is stored. And in the past if you wanted to play something in more than one place you had to copy the media to a second or third place to play it. But with DLNA there is no more need to burn CDs or have three copies of the same song on computers in your network. Just put them all in one place and stream it where you want it. The solution that I think makes the most sense is a network drive or NAS. That way you don't have to have a computer "always on" to stream whenever you want. I don't have a NAS yet, but in the future I will. And I'll get one that is DLNA compliant. It would also be nice if it was an iTunes server since that's what I use to organize my music.

Photos are also DLNA shareable media. I've taken thousands of pictures that are stored on one computer. I've made backup disks of them all, but there is no easy way to show a large group of people vacation photos or whatever all at the same time. It would be awesome to tap into the media server where the photos are stored and show them on a TV through a set-top box or game console like PS3 or XBox. Or even on a DLNA compliant TV set. Some newer TVs have an SD card slot too, which is nice. But it's not the best solution for me since I delete the SD card after I transfer the pictures over to my computer.

A technology that Apple announced last year in conjunction with the new Apple TV is called AirPlay. Steve Jobs claimed it to be a new and magical technology. But it's just a copy of DLNA, except with Apple's proprietary DRM that allows it to use iTunes playlists. Although I love Apple, I think it would have just been easier to adopt DLNA in the Apple TV instead of making third-party systems reprogram streaming capabilities to use AirPlay. Sure, it's a good business move to hop on the Apple money stream and get your devices working with AirPlay. But it would have made more sense for Apple to change its own technology to be already compatible with everything else.

The beauty of DLNA is that you can have devices made by Sony, or by Denon, or Samsung, multiple kinds of cell phones, and they can all speak to each other without any additional configuration or setups or workarounds. To take a page from Apple, DLNA "just works."  And that is why I believe it is the future. People already spent hundreds if not thousands of dollars on their home theater. Why buy more new devices by all the same brand just so they can be compatible. Its makes more sense to update the firmware on existing TVs, Blu Ray player, AV receivers, etc. to be DLNA compliant. Of course some devices have hardware limitations, but you probably knew that you couldn't play Blu Rays on your DVD player, or VCR. Then it makes perfect sense to get a new device that does the latest technology.

Another advantage to a DLNA compliant home network system is one remote to control it all. No having a basket or table full of ten remotes you have to switch to do different things, Just use your iPhone or iPad. Simple.

Ready for Christmas?

It's December. The middle of December. Less than two weeks from Christmas.

I guess we're ready. The tree is up. The decorations are all in place. Most the gifts are wrapped. All the Christmas shopping is done.

Just a couple little things left.

And one big thing...

On Katie's side of the family, we have a Christmas tradition that I really like. At the beginning of the year, not too long after Christmas is over, we draw names for the upcoming Christmas, and then we spend all year making gifts, instead of buying something. Katie and I have her brother and dad.

We thought about it for a few months, and then came up with a combined present for both of them. We are converting their VHS collection into digital. It was back in May or June that we started. But I didn't like how it was coming along so I re-did everything over again in July. Little by little the project is nearing completion. But there is still a lot to get done. It will still be an AWESOME gift if it's not 100% done when we exchange gifts, but I would like to have it as close as possible.

We knew the collection would be too huge to do it all, so we're focusing mainly on the VHS in the library that are not also on DVD. A lot are recorded off television, and some have quality issues, and it is a lot harder to process them than I thought it would be. But I'm sticking to it. And if there is some left to do after Christmas, I'll keep going until completely done.

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School Day

Today I came home from work before 4pm, which is very unusual. I came home and sat down on the couch to take my shoes off. I noticed a magazine on the end table. I picked it up. Leaned back on the couch while starting to thumb through the pages. Before I knew it I was sound a sleep.

An hour later the phone rang and I was shocked that I had fallen asleep. I couldn't wake up enough to answer the phone. I rubbed my eyes and looked around the room. I was in shock! I couldn't believe that I had actually had a nap in the middle of the afternoon on a school day. I never get that chance! It was amazing. I woke up energized and happy. I was thrilled that I had finally had a day that I could stop and slow down and relax for a minute. I just wish I had decided to take a nap on purpose. I wish that I had enough in me to stop and slow down to take a minute to relax more often.

If any of you know me or my family, we don't know how to relax. It's not that we don't want to. We just simply don't know how! Braden has tried to teach me the art of relaxing. I am really good at doing it when he is around to relax with me, but I have yet to learn how to stop and relax on my own.

Hopefully one day I will learn. Probably not, but maybe. I will keep trying. In the meantime I will keep being grateful of those quiet afternoons when I leave school, come home and fall fast asleep. I will continue to be grateful that I have such a full life that keeps me busy and happy, but cherish the moments that I get to relax.

I am greatful for my nap. Its the one thing that might keep me going strong for the rest of the week.

(P.S. Lets just hope I can still fall asleep tonight!)

Twitter

Twitter is so appealing to me. I love the fact that on twitter you can only write 140 characters. That isn't much. This post would be over by now if I only wrote 140 characters. I like that factor. Short and sweet. I like the fact that I can write a quick message telling how I am or something crazy that I saw and leave it at that. Enough said. Concise. I like the beginning so close to the end. But something is wrong. I feel incomplete.

A blog is different. Sometimes overwhelming, but very rewarding. It can be hard to start, then even harder to stop. I sit and I wonder. I wonder: Will the readers like it? Will the readers read it? The answer is yes. YES! If I will write it the readers will read it. The question is then: Can I write it?

Can I write what my ideas are? My goals, my secrets, my hidden talents? Can I express the feelings inside of hope, of sadness, of gladness? The gratitude, the discoveries, even summaries life that are boring and dull? Yes. I can. It only takes but a minute, maybe more. It clears my mind. It helps me reflect and think of what is happening. It helps me to see the things that I lack. I will write it. I can write. In the end, I feel more accomplished, like I am the one writing my life. Each letter I write the lighter I feel.  Blogging can be daunting but even more rewarding.

This blog is no twitter, I am thankful for that. It gives me a blank canvas with no end predetermined.

 Just like life, I am free to write it.

July

I have come to love the month of July. I have only now realized that July is the only month that I am not thinking about school. Its the month that I can devote all my time to Braden. I wish that I had more time during the school year to stop thinking about school. If I am not at school I am thinking about the seating chart, or how to teach science, or what should I do with my children that don't follow directions the first time. It is daunting to come home with hours of correcting, or projects to work on. Today I spent a few hours at the library looking for books to teach cause/effect and compare/contrast. It never ends and my mind is full, crowed and complete chaos. 


Since I have a job that I never truly ever leave at work, I guess I am going to have to learn to make due with the time I do have to myself. It is time I want to spend with Braden. Laughing together, telling stories, sharing new and exciting things. I just like spending time with him. He is so kind, caring and patient. I know that our time we together each week isn't very much but we can make the most of our time together. When we are apart I think about him and wish that I was with him. I wish that we could be going on a drive together, or walking through the cemetery.  


How I long for July. I wish that July was here tomorrow. I wish that my mind could be clear and calm and I could devote every moment to Braden. I guess we make do and think more about quality rather that quantity. I just hope that Braden knows that we may not have a lot of time together right now in life, but we have eternity to be together.  Eternity that is just like July. Clear and calm and focused on the family that we love the most. My eternity will be spent with Braden. Clear and calm and focused entirely on him because I love him. 

Library card

I've written before that I don't read much. At least not books/newspapers/magazines. I actually do a lot of reading of blogs online. That's where I get most of my news.

Yesterday, I went and got a new library card from the public library. I blogged about it. And now I can check out books, CDs, DVDs, etc. from the vast catalog available. 

I think the last time I actually used a library card was more than a decade ago. But there is so much readily available online, I lived without a library card for so long. This all begs the question of what is really the future of the library? Am I actually alone in thinking that having a library card is obsolete, and anything I need to read is online? Probably not.

The reason I got one yesterday is to help Katie. She needed a reference for her students. And since I had the day off I had time to go and get the books she wanted from the library. And it wasn't that hard either. It was so easy a child could do it.

Actually maybe a child should do it. I think the libraries are a lot more relevant for students than thier adult counterparts. When I am no longer in school, I am no longer soaking up new knowledge. And if I am it's because I have to for my job. And I don't need the library. 

But children, especially those growing up in homes without a large collection of books should regularly go to the library and develop a love of reading. The younger you start, the more successful you become. 

At one point in my life I did have a love of reading, but it became such a chore to read all the required readings for classes that I stopped reading for enjoyment and only read what I had to. Even then, sometimes it was read the first and last chapter and skim the inbetween. 

My point I'm trying to get to is that once in a while your perspective changes. And that's a good thing. I have some books I need to finish reading that I started once upon a time. Maybe you do too.