The Moving Target Philosophy

Last semester when I was in Brother Hammond's religion class, he always said that "The Spirit likes a moving target." With this statement, he was trying to teach us that it is when we are moving that we will receive direction and inspiration from the Lord. It's when we are walking by faith. This is a concept I really grasped onto and now I just constantly tell myself to KEEP MOVING.

And things are falling into place!

This past week I starting training for my internship for the spring. I will be working as the Student Personal Wellness Coordinator at the Health Center on campus. I will do patient education on sleep hygiene, stress, ADD/ADHD, nutrition, and physical activity. I will be in charge of two blogs. I will sit on the wellness council. I will help with different support groups and activities on campus. I am really excited! I think it will be a great learning experience! It is funny because I have been planning on NOT being in Rexburg next semester and now, here I am! It will be nice to be here in the warm weather and to have one last semester here. Right now I am a walking target for housing! The Lord has never let me down on housing before, and I know He won't this time!

The one thing that I sad about for the spring is some of the people who will be gone! It kind of feels like I am staying and everyone else is leaving! I will miss Brooke and Liesel and Bryce - MY FAMILY! It won't be the same without them here, but they are all moving forward and doing good things and that they are going to be where the Lord needs them. I am really grateful for all the people I have met while I've been at BYUI and for the blessing they have been to me! I am leaving a different person than when I came!

Also, I am so glad I decided to come to BYUI rather than BYU.

Anyways, random thoughts for Sunday Morning.

But, life is good. Three weeks to go. I'm going to enjoy them all!

Love you all.

Pan Dulce

Today for my international health class we had to bring a cultural dish to share with the class.

I talked to my friend at work yesterday about some possible dishes I could do from Brazil that would be easy - cheese puffs or lime mousse. Perfect.

Around 11:30 PM last night I realized that I didn't have tapioca flour for the cheese puffs. Usually when there is an ingredient that I am lacking, I don't worry about it too much! That's what Google and experimenting are for. (This is coming from someone who attempted eggless lemon bars.) I soon found that there is really no good substitution for this ingredient. Plan - gone.

So then I started to consider all of our rich cultural traditions! And

BOOM

Like a ton of tamales it hit me ...

PAN DULCE! 

So I looked up a recipe on All Recipes and made some this morning.

I will admit it didn't have that authentic day old taste, nor did it match the experience of getting pan dulce in a sweet Mexican bakery - but by golly, it tasted great!

I don't care what everyone says every year - I LOVE this stuff.

Let's add it to our tamale tradition, shall we?

Not all cornflakes are created equal

Not all cornflakes are created equal.

You'd think a cereal as simple as cornflakes would stay pretty consistent among brands.

It doesn't.

This morning as I am eating my recently purchased Great Value cornflakes I am wishing I had that big bag of Western Family cornflakes from Broulim's. Believe it or not, there is a difference!

Oh well, I won't let it get me down!

Here's to you cold cereal!

And now for a piece of that peanut butter honey toast!

Chocolate Covered Cinnamon Bears

In all my years as a student, I can never once recall rewarding myself for doing well on a test or in a class. My personal satisfaction of that "A" in the gradebook has always been good enough! And besides, a penny saved is a penny earned, right?

Until today.

For the past forever, I have been eying these small packages of chocolate covered cinnamon bears at the bookstore. They are just SO good and the combination of cinnamon bears and chocolate is almost comparable to that of chocolate and peanut butter - unbelievable. I just can never bring myself to the extra spending and justify a purchase like that.

Today I could take it no longer! I wanted those cinnamon bears, and bad. I was studying in the library for my test and had the idea! Mal - if you get above a 90% on your test you can buy yourself that little treat! Deal.

I could miss five questions and still reach this minimum. When I finished taking my test, I had marked 13 questions that I was unsure about. Uh-oh. I left the testing center and slowly looked at the score screen - 90%! OH YEAH!

So, I splurged $1.06 and am now enjoying my package of CHOCOLATE COVERED CINNAMON BEARS.

I think I will keep this little tradition for my last semester. Now the goal is 100% - Big Mac! Challenge accepted.

Science NERD

One of the things in life that makes me happy is science. It used to be math, and although there is just something about solving for "x" that gets me going, nothing can compete with the processes of the digestive system, the neuromusclar junction, viruses, and especially - bacteria. While I've been in college I've really delved deep into biology and have learned to L-O-V-E it. Now, in my last semester, I am revisiting my junior year of high school with a little CHEM 101. So, here I am at 12:51 am relearning sig figs, the Periodic Table, and what makes elements, compounds, and mixtures all different. Oh man, I am in for a treat this semester! :)