1 teaspoon = 1 quarter

this post could have also been appropriately titled:

• how to cook without measuring spoons
• how to grab a hot pan out of the oven sans hot pad
• why google is my best friend
• you don't always need brown sugar even if they insist that you do

but not to worry, everything turned out according to plan, my quarter sized guesstimating skills received a confidence boost and i did not, in fact, burn myself while attempting to get the pan out of the oven.

thanks mom for the photo backdrops =)

Sugar Cookies

Ingredients

• 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). In a small bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, and baking powder. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in egg and vanilla. Gradually blend in the dry ingredients. Roll rounded teaspoonfuls of dough into balls, and place onto ungreased cookie sheets.
3. Bake 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden. Let stand on cookie sheet two minutes before removing to cool on wire racks.

Recipe from Allrecipes.com

hakuna mungu kama wewe

Best decision for detox from school/life ever. A week in the Adirondacks surrounded by nothing but friends, music, a lake and nature. I guess a lake is nature but we can argue that later.

I mean, seriously, who would not want to have free time where you can lay back and look at a view like that? RIT should really consider moving it's campus. Stress levels (along with completed homework) would decrease significantly.

A bunch of us piled in cars last Saturday afternoon and headed 4.5 (?) hours up to Saranac lake in the far reaches of Northern NY (aka land of no cell service).

The week was full of bible studies, great food, awesome worship with roughly 100 other college students from around NY/NJ and lots and lots of time outside. For real. I've never been so "tan".

From around 7 am whenever we got up to either go running or have early morning prayer until midnight or later when we were finally finished hanging out in the hot tub or playing basketball, we were outside. It was fantastic. It was rather amusing during sessions because everyone from RIT would rush outside to play frisbee and soak it all in because we are apparently the lone college who doesn't see sunlight on a regular basis.

Every morning after breakfast we got an hour for quiet time that could be spent wherever. Mine was on the dock =) It was excellent except for the morning after it rained one night and i laid down only to get completely soaked. Oh well!

On Tuesday we had what they call a "retreat of silence" which meant a super long quiet time (4 hours) whenever you wanted to wander and just be alone. I spent mine around this rock with the view seen above. Uh, hello retreat of silence during week 5 of spring quarter.. where were you?

After quiet time, the morning session and lunch we got two hours of free time to be spent however. The first day I played volleyball for the entire time but that got to be a bit exhausting and the sand was a little toasty on the toes so for future free times I either waded (one day I got thrown in) in the water or went kayaking. Two days I went on the motor boat with people who were tubing. I was trying to talk myself into going tubing but it just didn't happen. I need to get over my fear of large open water that is not a pool first. Maybe next year if I go back =)

At night after dinner there was worship and a speaker. My favorite song by far was Hakuna Munug Kama Wewe (video clip below from Urbana 2009 which i regret not going to).

Left on Thursday around 4 and got back around 10 after a stop at Cracker Barrel for dinner.

One of the highlights was actually during a thunderstorm on the last night (which i was not exactly that thrilled about because we were outside on a mountain under trees....) but we found a covered bridge that connected two buildings and sat in there while people took turns requesting songs, singing and talking =) Good way to spend the last night even if the rain did cancel the bonfire.

Overall just a fantastic week, I missed it the minute we got back to RIT. A blog post just doesn't really do it justice.

going in circles

i have come to the conclusion that adventuring is most often more tiring than actually just going to classes and doing homework.

more enjoyable.

but more tiring.

so this morning i slept in for the first time in forever. until 9. but that included waking up every 30 minutes from 7-9 am so i'm not sure if that counts. i purposely set no alarm in hopes that i would catch up on some sleep finally.

this morning spent some time catching up on emails/blog reading and convincing myself that, yes, it would be a good idea to go out and do something today.

so finally around 3 pm (yeah, yeah it's saturday what do you want) i decided that i did really need groceries because crackers and lemonade were not really cutting it. got on the bus at the time it said and proceeded to sit in the circle while the bus driver read through the grocery store section of the newspaper. almost called it quits and just got off but he started it right then.

turns out it was the wrong bus.



not too far off, it only went as far as the mall so i just walked across the street to wegmans. got some food. windex exploded all over me. and then i realized that i had absolutely no idea when/if another bus was coming. so i sat and waited while people watching.

thanks to kara and her internet searching skills it was determined that the next one was at 5:29 so i really only had to wait about 40 minutes. not too bad for not even know if another bus was coming. that would have been a long walk.

and then there were the adventures from last night..

met up with neal, ryan and ed halfway across campus. which i have now determined is not a good idea if you don't want to be scared out of your mind. any leaf that moves nearly gave me a heart attack but that's besides the point.

we wandered around campus. found some unwanted desks, hats, frozen corn and dress shoes.

i'd call that a successful adventure.

back but not really

i'm back but not entirely.

got back last night around 10, i'm still a little overwhelmed by technology =) that happens after being away from it for a week.

trip was amazing.

seriously.

pictures and stories to come later when i have more time/nothing else to do.

worked today from 8:30 until 4:45 then went to see the movie Date Night at the dollar theater with some admissions friends. now some plans to explore somewhere are in the works with other friends so we'll see how that goes.

riverknoll is empty. my apartment remains zen-like. grocery shopping needs to happen tomorrow. as does blogging and general taking care of business.

so in love with summer.

meefytoad turns 20

Dear toad Alison,



Alison. Nope, doesn't sound model-y enough. You need something that stands out more. How about Waffle. We could call you Waffle and say you're from Belgium.

I just wanted to let you know that you're my favoritest meefytoad in the whole wide. I love you more than brownies and gilmore's combined.



Hey, did I ever tell you about the time I plucked outside of my designated brow line? Man, was my face red.

Now, I know you have very strict rules about friendship and best friends, but I just want you to know that I'm a good person. I don't smoke, I don't drink, I've never gotten a ticket, I'm healthy, I take care of myself, I floss. I never watch more than 30 minutes of television a night partly because I think it's a waste of time and partly because there's nothing on. I respect my parents, I do well in school, I never play video games in case they do someday prove that playing them can turn you into a serial killer. I don't drink coffee. I hate soda because the carbonation freaks me out. I'm happy to give up eat meat if you feel strongly about it. I enjoy playing those hymns on my guitar, and I really, really want to be your best friend.

Well, the worst that can happen is that I spend some time in your town hanging out with you and suddenly have an urge to enter a pie in the county fair.





When I get home I'm going to make you pancakes with a side of pancakes.

The bottom line here is that breathing should not be louder than a rock band. Am I right or am I right? I MISS YOU. and I wanted to wish you a
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! :)

I can't wait to see you! Have fun gallivanting in Turkey take lots of pictures because I want to hear ALL about it.

Love,
piggypogger

the uniform project

pretty cool website although i cannot imagine wearing the same thing for an entire year! it's neat to see the same dress used in so many ways.. it makes me wonder how many different combinations i could find in my clothes..

The Idea

"Starting May 2009, I have pledged to wear one dress for one year as an exercise in sustainable fashion. Here’s how it works: There are 7 identical dresses, one for each day of the week. Every day I will reinvent the dress with layers, accessories and all kinds of accouterments, the majority of which will be vintage, hand-made, or hand-me-down goodies. Think of it as wearing a daily uniform with enough creative license to make it look like I just crawled out of the Marquis de Sade's boudoir.

The Uniform Project is also a year-long fundraiser for the Akanksha Foundation, a grassroots movement that is revolutionizing education in India. At the end of the year, all contributions will go toward Akanksha’s School Project to fund uniforms and other educational expenses for children living in Indian slums."

Uniform Project Picture Book from The Uniform Project on Vimeo.

and i'm off

adventure number one for the summer.

i'm leaving at noon to head to upstate NY for a retreat with IV (InterVarsity).

i'm not planning on bringing my computer because i just feel the need to get away from it for a while. mainly social media.

so, i've planned a series of posts that will released at pre-determined times... pretty sneaky, huh?

i'll be back on May 26th sometime that night not entirely sure when.

trust me, there will be plenty of pictures when i return. be prepared.

done done done

you know it's the end of week eleven when you can't stop refreshing the sis (student information stuffs..or something like that) page.

and...

i pulled off a B in art history. hoooraaaaayyyy.

normally not a problem but for some reason art history was killing me this quarter. really really bad. but it is over and done with.

i had my last final this morning and got an 98 on it. not a bad way to end such a weird quarter/year.

so i'm offically halfway done with college. how weird of thought is that. it's gone fast but slow at the same time.

our apartment is mighty white and empty. also weird but ive gotten used to its boxed and un-put together look since uhm... January. i'm thinking of taking up zen gardening in the living room, they're going to tear it down anyway.

one more day in rochester then i'm headed out for a bit. can't wait!

the mysterious ticking noise

i guess the ticking noise is not so mysterious because i know exactly where it is coming from..

the "co2 human" that has now been brought back to our room. lovely.

they were supposed to bring it on monday but apparently the exterminator guy got in a car accident so they came yesterday morning instead.. while i was in the shower. go figure i wait around all morning and the 15 minute i decided to take a shower... needless to say that was the fastest i have ever gotten dressed. they installed it and we all went on our way.

yesterday was spent studying. a lot. my art history test was this morning at 8 am so i was packing in as much last minute memorizing indepth concept remembering that i could. "so the archways look like an 8 if you tilt your head sideways and squint one eye, good because that was made in 1880"

around 4 i got called in for some technical video help which turned out to take longer than expected but it was alright because i was pretty much ready for any excuse not to be staring at art. studied after dinner onwards and called it quits around midnight because there was just no hope of jamming anymore information into my brain.. it might explode.

bedtime was less than stellar in that after about 10 minutes of trying to fall asleep in my bed i gave up and slept on the living room floor instead. im convinced that the clicking from that machine has gotten much louder and much more annoying than last time. so with my door shut and a blanket over my head i finally fell asleep.

got the test over with early this morning and then went back to the rink to help out with more video editing stuff which after four hours finally worked. went to lovin cup with kara and jared for lunch while it uploaded and then went to work for the rest of the afternoon. not a bad day if you ask me especially because i had the pleasure of beginning it bright and early with a 70 question multiple choice test.

tomorrow i have a final in the morning and then i'm planning on working for the rest of the morning. afternoon is laundry, flash and other errand type things. then friday is the last day of the quarterrrrr.

my summer plans are still being edited down. we'll see what happens.

art history

this is pretty much what my life has looked like for the past few days.





i guess i'm thankful that i only have one stressful final to study for because i don't have to divide my time very much but i just want to get it over already!!

the test is tomorrow morning at 8 am which is not a very fantastic time for a final if you ask me. but i'd rather get it over with sooner rather than dreading it all day long. if i don't know the answers now, i might never =)

the library has apparently decided that keeping it chilly with a breeze will keep people awake? that's the only logical explanation for this nonsense. i think i'm going to turn into a popsicle.

i'm running low on my pandora hours, it's better than itunes because theyre good at guessing what i want to hear and i don't have to goof around with switching between songs when i don't like one.

i think i've shared this on here before, but it's just so good i have to again.. plus i can count it as "studying"

70 Million by Hold Your Horses ! from L'Ogre on Vimeo.

hibachi

warning: this may be long, grab some coffee or a snack first.

yesterday morning on my walk to work i had an unexpected walking partner-- not entirely wanted, either. we chatted about the fog, summer and more fog (it was foggy this morning... apparently this was shocking enough to warrant a 10 minute discussion). my personal walking bubble was intruded a bit. ah well, changes things up a bit.

worked yesterday morning for 4 hours or so, i love working on fridays except when we do campus wide mail runs and it's humid, sticky and disgusting.

after work i came back here and my friend jess came over (with iced coffee!) in anticipation of working on our flash projects.. which never happened =) instead we went over to building 7 for an honors photography gallery opening which was pretty neat.

to clear things up, the other day when i said senior year is going to allow for no sleep--- i'm a junior next year. i went to a senior graphic design walk through where all of the seniors sit out with their portfolio and you get to walk around for 2 hours looking at all of them. it was good to see where we are aiming with all of this.

back to yesterday, came back here and got dressed up for dinner! my friend kristin and her roommate amy decided to have an end of the year dinner at a hibachi place called plum garden. so good! we all got really dressed up and fancy which was fun. dinner was excellent, lots of rice, veggies, tofu!, soup, salad, etc. the best part of it is, there is so much food you can't possibly eat it all which means i have dinner for tonight (and maybe tomorrow) as well! it's more of a dinner experience because they come to your table and do all sorts of fun tricks while cooking right in front of you-- big flames are involved!

i didn't get any videos of the huge flames-- mostly because i was more worried about my eyebrows staying intact but i did get some..

i don't have any picture of us all dressed up yet because those weren't on my camera but i'll put them up when i get them =)

after that we headed back to their apartment to hang out and play apples to apples! around midnight someone decided it would be a good idea to make a trek back to the dorms and check out the tunnels (which recently flooded) and get some ice cream from the corner store--not that we really needed anymore food.

picked up that stuff and wandered around the dorms --which i do not really miss that much at all except for the closeness of friends -- before heading back to kristin's to watch a movie and hang out some more.

totally broke my record for the quarter of bedtimes.. 3:30 am :) last year, that would be no big deal but i have been going to bed between 11-12 and waking up at 6:30-7 so it was late!! but totally worth it. in fact, i'm so used to needed to get up early that this morning i woke up at 8 and started freaking out that i was going to be late for something until i realized that i had two more hours to sleep =)

i can't believe it's the end of the year already! i went to an art history review session this morning (last one/last test of the year!) how weird. i'm going to miss hanging out with everyone. it's so funny how quickly things change, i can't possibly plan all of this. the amount of stuff that has changed the past 2 years is crazy. i can't wait for next fall alreadyy!!

this week is looking like a lot of art history studying (test on wednesday), last minute hanging out with people, work, video making, sleep! and taking care of whatever all else i need to do.

learning & growing

things i have learned today:

• getting lapped by a 60 year old man while running, not once but approximately 15 times, is not good for your self-esteem.
• friends are awesome.
• taking a shower in a gym shower does not count as really showering.
• plus it's awkward.
• also, it is not advised if you are without a hairbrush. poofy things happen.
• white walls make you crave chinese food. some zen thinking perhaps.
• i am not going to sleep senior year.

that's all.

also, i am officially done with classes for the quarter. now to finals...

i've got my work cut out for me.

need to memorize the title, artist, date created and facts about each by next wednesday...

week ten = brain dead

week ten has two days left, i think i can make it.

i've never felt quite so brain dead. i could have used about a million cups of coffee over the past three days.

ONE class left for the quarter year! just need to redo two project for flash -- the one is pretty much done just needs adjustments, the other needs some more serious help. one test tomorrow, one test next wednesday and one test on thursday. and then i'm DONE DONE DONE. for real.

this year has just really been exhausting. i was trying to think about the best way to sum it up today and that's the best word. exhausting. frustrating. don't get me wrong, there have been plenty of good moments. ironically most include the admissions office is some way or another. or hockey. but there have also been more than a handful of times where i have wanted to rip my/someone else's hair out. so that's that.

i'm sick and tired of dealing with certain people. explanations just don't give the situation justice. i drew a picture after the meeting today to explain to someone what my brain felt like and it was a pile of scribbles that would have included a bunch of bad words. just. can't even deal with them anymore. i don't care what they do. i don't want to hear from them ever again. never ever. i made that quite clear. it came out something like "oh well, i won't have to go through your useless organization ever again because i'm going to find my own dang housing thank you very much and I cannot wait for two years to pass so i do not have to deal with your nonsense ever again" when i have to turn in my keys at the end of the year, i'm going to toss my key at the door so i don't have to walk in the office.

it's funny because we just had a lecture in newsediting about how we should be careful what we write so you don't "burn bridges" oops. but apparently my opinions don't entirely count anyway, so i think we'll be okay.

now let's end with some flowers because everyone loves pretty things.

today i made ice cream

in case you were wondering

How to make Tofu!

snow, greeks & mommies

it snowed this morning.

like we're talking real snow here guys. accumulation and everything.

i guess this makes my twice a day hot tea drinking habit a little less weird. it got a bit dicey during the 80 degree weather we had a few weeks ago.

this weekend was one of those unexpectedly enjoyable weekends.

i would have liked to get more done. read: finished everything.

but i guess watching my big fat greek wedding, not once, not twice but three times on abc family, lounging around and just enjoying not using my brain for 24 hours was good. even if that does not sound like a typical good week ten thing to do.

i did actually get some things accomplished this weekend even if my past two posts do not suggest this.

key word: some.

but, good news... there are only 2 weeks of school left so everything HAS to get finished soon. i cannot even begin to tell you how excited i am for next thursday. just knowing that i have nothing hanging over my head will be amazing.

now for a change in topics...

it's MOTHERS DAY!

now, i didn't get any say in the matter but i don't think i could have picked a better mommy :)

happy mothers day to the bestest mommy ever <3>

dad took these last weekend when they were up for imagine RIT :)

controlling schedules

it's schedules like this that make my head wonder why i sign up for so many things.

sometimes during weeks like these, i wonder how i'm getting from one place to another. i feel like that red bar that tracks what time of the day it is on icalendar... i just move down and go where it tells me to.

am i controlling the schedule or is controlling me?

side note: ironically just as i'm typing this the song "Move Along" by the All-American Rejects came on. how fitting.

in fact, there are things missing from this...

i'm currently contemplating dropping a course from next quarter which would bring me to 17 credits instead of 20. the problem with this would be then i would just feel the need to add on a bunch of out of class activities and such... oy vey.

guess i have a summer to figure it out.

can you tell that i post more on days when i'm by myself for extended periods of time? i was just trying to figure out the last time i talked to someone... 24 hours i think..wait false, i said thank you to the package notification lady when she gave me my laptop battery. that was a deep conversation.

yay finals week. everyone is going insane.

la vie boheme

i have been far from productive today thus far as i have accomplished approximately... nothing.

unless of course, you consider cutting up zucchini, moving a chair and cleaning about three things up being productive.. yeah, didn't think so.

quite alight.

yesterday included work, posing for a friend's photo shoot, going to dunkin donuts for a mid-photo shoot coffee, wee bit of homework and lots of hanging out! the IV bonfire was last night except that was cancelled due to all of the bad weather we have been having so they moved it on campus inside the campus center and it was equally as enjoyable.

my new laptop battery came in today. much appreciated. it exploded two days ago or so. and it's week nine so i quickly ordered a new one which thankfully came before tonight because for the past few nights we've been having really bad storms so i can't even plug in my computer (you can run a laptop off of only outlet power) because of fear of frying the thing. and we all know my luck lately, so i'm not taking any chances.

outside it sounds like the apartment is going to come crumbling down. we're under some severe weather wind watch for today/tonight. it's been pouring rain, thunder storming, windy and generally not very pleasant for the past few days.

they're calling for snow tonight. not pleased.

i was watching a movie on tv until they decided to cut out and go to the NYY/BOS baseball game which is slightly less exciting to watch while doing homework. at least for today.

the rain came down and the floods came up

as if i needed something else added to my plate...

yesterday i started noticing that it was getting increasingly more difficult to type. i'd try typing something and it would dart all over the page without me even coming close to touching the touchpad.

i had a paper due at 6 pm.

that paper did not get turned in my 6 pm. slightly frustrating.

so i called sarah and had her type it up for me and then email it back because just about the only thing i could do with my computer was hopefully click 3 buttons and send off an email that she forwarded. HUGE THANK YOU to boobear =) my homework is getting done from remote locations, i should try this more often.

i would have gone to the lab but it was monsooning out and thunderstorming so i figured that didn't seem like a very bright idea.

anyway, got the paper turned in and then settled in to figure out what in the world was wrong with my computer because it was pretty much completely unusable at this point. found a few forums that talked about sliding a piece of paper underneath to get dust or something out if that was the problem. i also noticed that my click bar thing was getting higher and higher. which was when i found someone's comment about exploding batteries...

turned the computer over and sure enough my battery was, in fact, quite large. i had also read something about how you're not supposed to put it back in because people who did that had it explode in the actual computer and it screws everything up.

so needless to say, i unplugged that thing faster than you can imagine and took that puppy out. this morning i ordered a new battery so hopefully it will come soon!! it's week nine...

oh goodness. luckily the labs should be opened and everything will be under control. i did get a lot of art history studying done last night because it didn't require a computer =)

we had horrible thunderstorms last night with tornado looking skies and i was just hoping that my little tent of an apartment would hold up.

at this point i'm just bracing myself for any other major catastrophes.

miracle

if you've been wondering what i've been spending all of my time in the labs doing while it's sunny and 80 degrees out.. here ya go.

it looks better when it hasn't been converted through 3 different file extensions, i promise all of the words are fixed on the original but for some reason it sticks when you save it as a quicktime movie =(

it's not entirely done yet but i guess i can quit apologizing because people won't know the difference!



only two more animation things to finish, few papers to write, 2 tests to take and i'm out of here!

finally getting over being sick (aside from waking up and not being able to hear out of my left ear but that was only a minor inconvenience).

laundry and homework to do tonight.. oh yeah did i mention that it's the WEEKEND!! i just finished up one final test and as soon as i leave this lab i'm done with classes for the week! this weekend is busy but should be fun, tomorrow is volleyball, lab time, meeting at work, video editing for admissions and some other homework. friday is work, lab time and a bonfire about 30-40 minutes east of RIT with a bunch of IV people =) saturday there is a cluster event in the morning, a homework filled afternoon/evening and spring fest! sunday is church, volunteering and then going down to see the refugee family. oh yes and FLASH!

i think everything is under control =)