Spring update

We're getting down to crunch time here in Ellensburg! I have 2 weeks left and in those 2 weeks I will be writing 3 papers, and completing a final project for my teaching literature class. So much to do, so little time!

I attended SOURCE last Thursday and after seeing some English presentations, I'm wishing I had done the presentation. All the presenters had to do was read their paper in front of a group of people, and answer questions about it at the end. I thought there was a lot more preparation that had to go into it, but it looked fairly simple. I will definitely present my paper next year, if I still can.

I should be out of school and back on the West side by the 5th or 6th. I can't wait for school to be over so I can get some decent sleep!

Spring has Sprung

Pardon the cliche, but Spring has definitely hit Ellensburg hard within the last few days! The weekend was beautiful and today is up in the low 80's temperature-wise. Sunny, not windy, warm enough to go outside without a good wind jacket on!

This last weekend Jay came over and we did an overnight camping trip into Umtanum Canyon. We left Saturday morning around 10:30 and got to our camping spot (about 3.5 miles or so) around noon. The trail is pretty well maintained for the first mile and a half or so, but gets a little brushy after that - and that's where we ran into the ticks! Apparently it's tick season, because they were everywhere! Jay's poor little bulldog was covered (we picked off at least 20), and when we got to our camp spot we found a couple on us too. Considering that it was my first "back-packing" trip, I think it went rather well, although we still have a couple kinks to work out, particularly: my fear of blood-sucking bugs (and the resulting paranoia), my caffeine addiction (and the resulting headaches that come from not having any), and my need to constantly be eating something (and the resulting back pain that comes from carrying that much food). I guess I'm just more of a car-camping girl.

As far as school goes, it's getting to the busy point. The first few weeks are usually pretty relaxed, but coming into the halfway point is where assignments start piling up. Unfortunately this halfway point is coinciding with the nicest weather all year, but I suppose that means I just get to do as much work as I can outside during the day and spend those insufferably hot evenings in the library.

In some-what related news, I received a letter in the mail announcing that I made honor roll with my grades last quarter! Hopefully this quarter will be just as good! I've decided not to do the SOURCE presentation this year, but there's always the possibility of submitting it next year. This quarter is just too busy with two literature classes, and by this time next year I will most likely be in classes with less time-consuming homework so it will be easier to do the SOURCE presentation to the best of my abilities!

Whistler/Spring Quarter!

Spring quarter started this week, and it looks like it's going to be just as stressful as last quarter. I'm taking two literature classes and one teaching class. Judging from the course schedules received in each class, it looks like I'm going to have 100-150 pages of reading per night. Plus 6 papers and 3 presentations (that's for all my classes combined, not each class individually!). So this quarter will be just as busybusy as last! Oh and by the way, all my hard work paid off last quarter! My grades were 2 A-'s and a B+!

Yesterday I went to pick up my Medieval Literature final paper from last quarter. I was so nervous about the grade on this paper because the professor is my favorite professor ever and she is a really tough grader. But when I flipped to the last page of my paper to read her overall comments and see my grade, I found that she gave me an A on it and wrote that I should submit the paper to SOURCE! SOURCE stands for the Symposium on University Research and Creative Expression. It's basically a big science fair except with multiple subjects instead of just science. So if I submit my paper to SOURCE, I will be presenting my topic/research/original ideas to a bunch of students and faculty! Pretty exciting! I'm going to talk to my professor about it on Monday!

In other news, Whistler over Spring break was amazing! We left for Canada from Jay's house at about noon on Thursday the 15th. After we crossed the border, we arrived (around 5 pm) at the Howe Sound Inn and Brewery where we spent Thursday night. The little town by the sound reminded me of a Stephen King novel because all night the wind was blowing and it was raining and we could see the little marina from our window and the whole place was just creepy. I got my first taste of a legal beer with dinner, though, so that part was pretty enjoyable.

We saw this car not long after crossing the Canadian border. I guess this guy is Canadian and proud of it!

 The next morning, we got up really early to check out and get on the road to Whistler. About 20 minutes out of Howe Sound, it started snowing and didn't stop all the rest of the weekend! The road wasn't too bad, and we made it by 7 a.m. The lifts didn't open until 8:30 so we drove around a bit looking for a store that was open so we could get some stuff for snacks and lunches on the mountain. And then finally, at 8:30, we hopped on the first gondola up Whistler mountain!

This was the first picture we took after getting out of the gondola. It still baffles me as to why this website won't upload pictures the right way, but whatever. You get the idea.

The snow was deep and awesome, but the visibility wasn't so great most of the time. It literally snowed the whole time we were there! Once they finally opened the upper Peak chair, we were able to get out of the clouds a little.

This was on the Upper Peak to Creek Run. We got a nice view of some sun and mountains!

Another shot of the sun and snow! Some deep stuff!

That first day, we skied only on Whistler mountain, but the next day we went over to Blackcomb and skied some of the bowls and basins. When we stopped for a quick lunch, the sun came out a little on the lower part of the mountain.

And then once our knees had had enough skiing, we rode the Peak 2 Peak gondola back over to Whistler mountain so we could ski down almost directly to our hotel.

The view of Whistler mountain from inside the Peak 2 Peak

Us inside the Peak 2 Peak!

On Sunday we spent the morning recovering a little from St Patrick's Day by getting coffee and walking around the village. We headed out around 11 a.m. and got back to Redmond at about 5:30 pm. Overall, the trip was really fun and I'm glad I can say I've finally been to Whistler. Next time I go, though, I need to be filthy rich and be able to spend a whole week! The mountains are just so big that it's impossible to ski everything in two days. It was still a fun experience, though!

The Light at the End of the Tunnel!

I only have two obligations standing in the way of me and my Whistler Blackcomb power vacation (like a power nap, except, ya know, with a vacation!). I have a final in Child Development tomorrow at 8 a.m. and a paper for my Jane Austen class due tomorrow at noon. After that, this stressful quarter is over and I will be heading to Whistler for some awesome skiing. Apparently Whistler is getting tons of snow this week and some more this weekend, so the skiing should be fantastic.

In other news, I got a new laptop charger!! So now I can type this in the comfort of my room instead of in the library! Also in the other news department, ski teaching for the season is over. Last saturday was our last day of lessons and it's always bittersweet to see another group of kids move on to more advanced classes. I loved my saturday class this year.

I'll update with some pictures of Whistler and whatnot when I get back (around the 20th)!

Living in the Library

Due to a rather untimely computer malfunction, I have been practically living in the library as of late. I never really realized how much time I spent on the computer until I didn't have one, and I have to say the lack of computer in my life has been rather freeing. However, that's not to say I'm not going to get mine fixed, since spending so much time in the library is rather inconvenient. There's no food in here.

It's interesting though to see how much I get done when I don't have that extra distraction. I've been getting so much done the last few weeks, it's crazy! I still have a pile of things to do every week, but when I get home from classes I usually get right to it instead of watching a few episodes of my favorite TV show online. I feel so much more productive.

School is still super stressful and busy all the time, but it's nice to spend my downtime doing something other than staring at a computer screen. I've been doing a lot of reading, mostly for class but some just for fun. In my classes we're reading sections of the Canterbury Tales and some Jane Austen. For "fun", I'm trying to slog my way through Silas Marner, but that's not going so well. I'm thinking of giving it up for now to reread The Call of the Wild instead. Who doesn't want to read about dogs tearing the throat out of a moose? (I'm sure there's more to the book than that, but that's the only part I remember from when I read it back in 5th or 6th grade)

Anyway, skiing lately has been fantastic! The snow here has been so wonderful. This last weekend my class and I skied through about half a foot or so of fresh powder, and the forecast for this week looks like there's even more snow on the way! March 16th-18th, my boyfriend and I will be going on a power vacation (like a power nap, except not a nap) to Whistler to ski some of that extra good Canadian snow! Spring break starts whenever my last final is (which I believe is March 14th), and ends March 27th. I can't wait! I need a school break!

Ski/School Report

This quarter has been so stressful and busy, I've hardly had any time to even think about updating this blog! I'd say I can't wait for the quarter to be over, but it's only going to be more stressful from here. Classes are going well. I have group projects in all of them, and papers in all of them and an insane amount of reading to do! I feel like all I do in my spare time is read, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but I'm having a hard time balancing the school stuff with my friends and I think they're all feeling a bit neglected...

Next week I sign up for my classes for Spring, and I was just going through the classes available. It looks like I will be taking three English classes, 453, 373, and 222. 453 is Studies in Fiction, 373 is Literature and History III, and 222 is Multicultural Lit for Teachers. So those should all be fun!

I remember back in middle school, I always said I wanted to live out of my car in college, and I'm basically doing that right now. Since I'm always up at the Pass, I always keep extra food, water, and clothes in my car. I'm fairly certain that I could be lost in the mountains for a week and I'd still survive with all the stuff I keep in the Subaru! My ski classes this year are awesome! On Fridays I help out with a class of beginners, and on Saturdays I have a class of crazy (but awesome!) seven and eight year-olds. This last Saturday, I took them down the first black diamond of the season finally! The break weekend is February 17th, so it will be nice to have a weekend to relax and maybe catch up on my reading!

Well that's all I have time for for now. I'm off to finish up some projects and read! Hope everyone is having a good February so far!

Slightly Spicy Potato Soup!

There's a foot of snow on the ground here (or at least there was before it warmed up a bit today), and when you're walking home from class in weather that's so cold it hurts to breathe, something thick and warm and yummy sounds like the best thing ever! So this week I decided to make potato soup in the crock pot, and since it turned out so yummy, I thought I should share!

The recipe was taken and modified from THIS one here, but I'll type it out here with my modifications.

• 3 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled [I forgot this and it was still really good without]
• 4 red potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch chunks [I used 4 biggish ones and 2 smaller ones]
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 3 cups milk
• 1 cup sour cream [I just used one big dollop, probably about half a cup]
• 1/4 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 tablespoons seasoned salt [One teaspoon is PLENTY! This soup is very salty]
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
• 1 tablespoon crushed red pepper flakes [DO NOT use a full tablespoon. I used one teaspoon and it was still VERY spicy]
• 1/2 teaspoon celery salt
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• chives for garnish (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat a large slow cooker by turning it to the High setting and covering with the lid.
2. Place the cut-up potatoes in a microwave safe bowl, and microwave on High for about 8 minutes, until the potatoes are cooked and steaming hot.
3. While the potatoes are cooking, place the butter in the preheated slow cooker, and cook and stir the onions and garlic for about 5 minutes, until the onions turn golden [I DID ALL THIS in a separate pan, then moved the onions over to the crock pot and continued]. Stir in 1/2 cup of milk, and whisk in the flour until smooth. Gradually whisk in the remaining 3 cups of milk, and let the mixture come to a simmer in the slow cooker [For me it took waaay too long to start simmering so I just added everything in once it got warm and it still turned out fine]. Simmer for about 10 minutes, until the soup begins to thicken.
4. Stir in the hot cooked potatoes, crumbled bacon, sour cream, Cheddar cheese, Parmesan cheese, seasoned salt, parsley, red pepper flakes, celery salt, and dried basil. Stir to mix the soup well, reduce the slow cooker setting to Low, cover, and cook for 3 hours, stirring occasionally. Sprinkle with chives and serve.[I cooked for only an hour and a half on high, and it was delicious! I don't think it really needs to cook 3 whole hours]

Toward the end, the soup still wasn't as thick as I wanted so I whisked in a teeny bit more flour and it thickened up perfectly! I also put in more parsley than the recipe called for, and it definitely didn't hurt :)

Nothing like some potato soup to finish off a cold day!