One of my favorite things about Vancouver is the Jamba Juice located about 10 min. from our house. There's just one small catch. Jamba requires the big bucks (yes, my meager budget says $4.50 is too expensive for a medium smoothie, especially if you want one everyday. And let's face it, I think my smoothie cravings are simply a coping mechanism for the lack of heat and sunshine this June).
I'm always on the prowl for a good (and sorry..."relatively healthy") smoothie recipe. I have to stick to healthy because this last year I've managed to shrink three pants sizes the long and hard way: diet and exercise. And of course, when I say "diet" I simply mean no snacking between meals, smaller portions, and no more coke and frapaccinos (my two big downfalls). Other than that I eat whatever I want, just a lot less of it, and I walk for an hour almost everyday. So, if I'm going to cave into my smoothie craving, it has to have three main qualifications: yummyness, cheapness, and healthiness. This is my best recipe thus far (it does have some sugar content from the yogurt and orange juice, but if we eliminate all the sugar, I might lose my mind).....
Ann's Jamba Wannabe
Half of a frozen banana
2-4 frozen strawberries
2-4 Tbsp of frozen fruit cocktail (drain out the juice before freezing)
1 small container of Yoplait Light Strawberry or Peach yogurt
1/8 - 1/4 c. orange juice
about 1/2 c. ice
Mix, blend, and voila! Confession: I actually don't measure stuff when I make this smoothie. These measurements are just my best guess. So, of course, you may need to experiment with the measurements because this makes almost 1.5 - 2 glasses depending.
So, tell me. Do you have a favorite smoothie recipe?
P.S. Apparently, Jamba Juice also has a "secret menu": http://www.slashfood.com/2006/06/06/secret-menu-at-jamba-juice/
(although none of the listed options sound that appealing to me).
Jun 25, 2010
Jun 23, 2010
Revenge is the Devil
It all began with some serious cuteness. Look at this:
Ninja Cat is at peace with the world. So, naturally, I had to disturb him. See that pink in the bottom corner of the photo? That's my pajama pants, which means that Ninja and I are cozy on the couch together. "Together" is crucial here, folks. In his waking hours Ninja knows nothing of "together." Oh no. Togetherness is the devil in Ninjaland. However, occasionally, Ninja will make an exception, curl up next to me, and fall asleep.
*Fast forward to 5am this morning*
(Cue the pathetic cat whining and the Puss-n-Boots-Cat-Face from Shrek....)
At 5am Ninja was on the bed and in my face whining because he was hungry. It's the ol' Sympathy Whine. I shoved him out of my face and onto the floor. Four times. But Ninja is smart. Where sympathy fails, annoyance will triumph.
Like a lizard he then glided over my face, next to the window, raised his paw and punched the blinds. Repeatedly. Provokingly. Again I shoved him out of my face and apparently that was the last straw for little Ninja. (Not surprisingly Bruce slept soundly through the entire fiasco.) At this point someone is thinking, "This is exactly why I don't have a cat." Well, good for you.
*Cue Ninja's Revenge (escalated whining and punching)*
By this time I was awake, and let me tell you, at 5:30 am EVERYTHING for me began to feel like revenge. Is that a damp spot on my pillow? Oh, that's just Revenge Drool. Is that my sour milk on the nightstand? Yep. Revenge Milk. And what is that foul odor in the air? Oh yes. Husband's Revenge Fart.
I fed the cat, made my way downstairs, and stumbled upon something akin to this:
You guessed it. Revenge Dishes. Quickly followed by Revenge Laundry.
I showered, made my coffee, and spent the next three hours alone in our newly cleaned-out psuedo-sunroom. And guess what? The sun came out today! YAY! If you don't live here, you're thinking, "Big Deal." Well, aside from yesterday the Portland Metro hasn't seen the sun in like 500 years. So I sat and soaked up the early sunshine, sipped my coffee, and thanked God for my psycho cat (whose real name is Moses) who woke me up early enough to enjoy something so wonderful.
Silence. Sunshine. Caffeine. Opened blinds. A good book to read. Solitude. Contentment. A clean kitchen and clean clothes (all before 8am). Not too bad, eh?
I think I'll set my alarm a tad earlier tomorrow. (Of course if Ninja has anything to do with it, I won't need to.)
Ninja Cat is at peace with the world. So, naturally, I had to disturb him. See that pink in the bottom corner of the photo? That's my pajama pants, which means that Ninja and I are cozy on the couch together. "Together" is crucial here, folks. In his waking hours Ninja knows nothing of "together." Oh no. Togetherness is the devil in Ninjaland. However, occasionally, Ninja will make an exception, curl up next to me, and fall asleep.
*Fast forward to 5am this morning*
(Cue the pathetic cat whining and the Puss-n-Boots-Cat-Face from Shrek....)
At 5am Ninja was on the bed and in my face whining because he was hungry. It's the ol' Sympathy Whine. I shoved him out of my face and onto the floor. Four times. But Ninja is smart. Where sympathy fails, annoyance will triumph.
Like a lizard he then glided over my face, next to the window, raised his paw and punched the blinds. Repeatedly. Provokingly. Again I shoved him out of my face and apparently that was the last straw for little Ninja. (Not surprisingly Bruce slept soundly through the entire fiasco.) At this point someone is thinking, "This is exactly why I don't have a cat." Well, good for you.
*Cue Ninja's Revenge (escalated whining and punching)*
By this time I was awake, and let me tell you, at 5:30 am EVERYTHING for me began to feel like revenge. Is that a damp spot on my pillow? Oh, that's just Revenge Drool. Is that my sour milk on the nightstand? Yep. Revenge Milk. And what is that foul odor in the air? Oh yes. Husband's Revenge Fart.
I fed the cat, made my way downstairs, and stumbled upon something akin to this:
You guessed it. Revenge Dishes. Quickly followed by Revenge Laundry.
I showered, made my coffee, and spent the next three hours alone in our newly cleaned-out psuedo-sunroom. And guess what? The sun came out today! YAY! If you don't live here, you're thinking, "Big Deal." Well, aside from yesterday the Portland Metro hasn't seen the sun in like 500 years. So I sat and soaked up the early sunshine, sipped my coffee, and thanked God for my psycho cat (whose real name is Moses) who woke me up early enough to enjoy something so wonderful.
Silence. Sunshine. Caffeine. Opened blinds. A good book to read. Solitude. Contentment. A clean kitchen and clean clothes (all before 8am). Not too bad, eh?
I think I'll set my alarm a tad earlier tomorrow. (Of course if Ninja has anything to do with it, I won't need to.)
Jun 21, 2010
Seattle
Last week we went to Seattle for Joanna's wedding.
Joanna was one of my roomates from college.
She got married in one of Seattle's beautiful botanical gardens.
We stayed with Chris and Julie in Olympia. The four of us attended Joanna's wedding together. Loads of laughs and fun!
After the nine-minute ceremony (that's right; it was super short!), we all went on a dinner cruise together.
the view from inside the ship...
The Dark Chocolate Tower of Decadence proved too powerful for me. It was soooo delicious, but alas too rich for me to finish. Chris, however, did not have a problem.
Meet Mr. and Mrs. Michael Snyder
Meet Mr. and Mrs. Scallorn...who are wearing Chris and Julie's clothes because we drove all the way to Olympia and left our fancy smancy clothes hanging on the bedroom door. We are so grateful for friends who are generous with their wardrobes, and even more grateful that we are roughly the same size. Whew!
Chris and Julie
I love a man in a tie. We don't get dressed up that often, which is fine with me, but I must say I enjoy it when we do. I think this marks about the fourth time Bruce has worn a tie in our eight years of marriage.
Beth's Cafe
Last Friday night we had dinner with Nicole and Sara at Beth's Cafe. We had so much fun with them, and the cafe was supercool.
(photo taken from www.bethscafe.com)
Beth's was featured on the Travel Channel as a great place to pig out. It's a hole-in-the-wall diner in Seattle.
When Bruce saw the menu he looked at me and said, "Ok. That's it. We're moving to Seattle." Beth's is also well known for its wall decor.
The cafe is located on Aurora Ave, but of course Aurora makes most people think of Sleeping Beauty. Personally, I can't think of a better use for the top of her head than for a greasy spoon diner. Can you?
Alot of Bacon will make much more sense if you read this:
http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/2010/04/alot-is-better-than-you-at-everything.html
(photo taken from www.bethscafe.com)
Beth's was featured on the Travel Channel as a great place to pig out. It's a hole-in-the-wall diner in Seattle.
When Bruce saw the menu he looked at me and said, "Ok. That's it. We're moving to Seattle." Beth's is also well known for its wall decor.
The cafe is located on Aurora Ave, but of course Aurora makes most people think of Sleeping Beauty. Personally, I can't think of a better use for the top of her head than for a greasy spoon diner. Can you?
Alot of Bacon will make much more sense if you read this:
http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/2010/04/alot-is-better-than-you-at-everything.html
Jun 20, 2010
Jun 16, 2010
Our Ecological Crisis
Every time I see things like this, I am filled with wonder and awe.
I find this true in my knowing of nature and of others. To the extent I love
And then I'm reminded of our current ecological crisis, and that makes me sad. Parallel to the question of how we've arrived at this place in creation's history is the question of what can be done. Behavior must change. Thinking must change. Society's values must change. And unfortunately nature is something too often relegated to the realm of facelessness. It reminds me of people who have strong opinions against groups of people from which they are completely disconnected -- strong positions against faceless communities.
When I'm hiking or driving through breathtaking scenery, nature is anything but faceless. And its voice makes me reflect on a theological premise which has somehow grown into something I believe it was never meant to be. God's command to "fill the earth and subdue it" has somehow carved a path and dare I say justification for exploitation rather than preservation and responsibility. Context, context, con-freakin'-text! The command to "subdue" was in the context of a gardener not a predator. Preservation, respect, stewardship are the context of that command and not domination to exploit and abuse.
This morning I was reading a segment on the various types of "knowing" particularly in relation to our role in the current ecological crisis. I thought it was profound:
If science sets its sights on the acquisition of power, then scientific
knowledge is dominating knowledge. We know something to the extent
in which we can dominate it. We understand something if we can 'grasp'
it...
But belief in creation only arrives at the understanding of creation when
it recollects the alternative forms of meditative knowledge. 'We know to
the extent to which we love,' said Augustine. Through this form of
astonished, wondering and loving knowledge, we do not appropriate things.
We recognize their independence and participate in their life. We do not
wish to know so that we can dominate. We desire to know in order to
participate. This kind of knowledge confers community, and can be termed
communicative knowledge, as compared with dominating knowledge. It lets life be life and cherishes its livingness. -- Jurgen Moltmann, God in
Creation
I find this true in my knowing of nature and of others. To the extent I love
I'm more willing to know, to discover, to listen, and to take responsibility.
Content
I don't have much to say except that we are both relieved to have a little break this summer. Finals are over. We aren't taking any summer classes. Work is slowing down for a bit. And we keep waiting for summer to kick in -- it's still chilly and rainy around here. Yesterday I saw a double rainbow on my way home. I almost ran the car off the road staring at it. Not good. But it was really beautiful. And I found myself feeling content with life lately as I stared at it.
Jun 9, 2010
From TV to DVD
Cable?! Cable is for the rich. A DVR?! Those are expensive. We don't need to buy a DVR. Oh no, folks. No. Not while Bruce lives and breathes. My genius husband built a DVR from scratch and recorded the only two shows I watch every week on TV: Lost and The Big Bang Theory. Bruce then instructed me in the ways of video editing so that I could slice out all the commericals (for which he originally wrote a program that mysteriously vanished).
Bruce's office upstairs is basically a man cave filled with technology. Wires. Hard drives. Computers. And a bunch of other stuff I can't identify (and that includes the Star Trek paraphanelia). But it's everywhere. Sometimes I wonder if he just spreads that stuff all around the room so that people will know how brilliant he is.
Bruce: "Ann, will you slice out all the commercials for me and build the dvd menus for your Lost? You'll make it look much nicer than I will." (Translation: Bruce wants Ann to do it for him. Bruce calls it "your Lost" when he doesn't want to do it.)
Ann replied: "Sure! I love creativity and I love Lost." (Translation: Ann thinks it might be fun to do something borderline mindless for a while.)
*12 episodes later*
Ann: "Ummm Houston, we have a problem. This program you set me up with stopped working. What's going on?" (Translation: "Bruce, you changed something. What did you change?!")
Bruce: "Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you. I re-installed my operating system last night and re-configured some things for myth TV. Your Lost will now have some serious HD quality." (Translation: "I changed stuff and you'll have to start over." Note the usage of 'your Lost.')
Ann: "So, what you're telling me is, I just wasted hours of work and will now have to start over. Right?" (Translation: Ann is frustrated with Bruce's never-ending quest for off-the-grid software perfection. And though Linux is far superior to Microshaft, Ann is intimidated by Ubuntu due to its unfamiliarity. Furthermore, Ann can't tell the difference between the old and new HD quality.)
Bruce: "Ummmm...yes. You'll have to start over. Sorry." (Translation: Bruce knows Ann is frustrated and finds it borderline amusing. In fact, he seems to enjoy it a great deal. In fact, he may have secretly arranged this whole scenario on purpose, timed to perfection so as to evoke fiesty Ann -- affectionately known around here as "the Dragon".)
*18 episodes later*
Bruce: "Did you finish?" (Translation: Bruce hopes Ann finished because he needs more space on his hard drive. These episodes are taking up too much space.)
Ann: "Almost. Come check out my work." (Translation: Ann wants Bruce to notice how hard she worked so as to halt his quest for updating and installing stuff. Ann doesn't want to start over again.)
Bruce: "Nice work, Ann. This looks so great." (Translation: Bruce hopes Ann will take over all the editing from now on. Bruce doesn't want to edit. Bruce wants to program, re-install stuff, and update stuff. Forever.)
Ann: "Thanks! I think it looks pretty fantastic." (Translation: Ann thinks she and Bruce make a pretty good team. He does all the programming/recording, and Ann makes it look good. Not a bad deal. Bruce generates mega brain power and Ann generates mega.......hmmm.....well, we're not too sure what Ann generates, but it's definitely in the mega realm whatever it is.)
And that's how "my" Lost season six made it from TV to DVD. And I must say it looks pretty sweet for a homemade concoction. Why do I like Lost? Mystery. Suspense. etc, etc, etc. Why do I like The Big Bang Theory? Because I married a cross between Sheldon and Leonard (as proven by the abbreviated dialogue in this post. I would write out the whole dialogue if I was fluent in software engineering, but I'm not.)
Bruce's office upstairs is basically a man cave filled with technology. Wires. Hard drives. Computers. And a bunch of other stuff I can't identify (and that includes the Star Trek paraphanelia). But it's everywhere. Sometimes I wonder if he just spreads that stuff all around the room so that people will know how brilliant he is.
Bruce: "Ann, will you slice out all the commercials for me and build the dvd menus for your Lost? You'll make it look much nicer than I will." (Translation: Bruce wants Ann to do it for him. Bruce calls it "your Lost" when he doesn't want to do it.)
Ann replied: "Sure! I love creativity and I love Lost." (Translation: Ann thinks it might be fun to do something borderline mindless for a while.)
*12 episodes later*
Ann: "Ummm Houston, we have a problem. This program you set me up with stopped working. What's going on?" (Translation: "Bruce, you changed something. What did you change?!")
Bruce: "Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you. I re-installed my operating system last night and re-configured some things for myth TV. Your Lost will now have some serious HD quality." (Translation: "I changed stuff and you'll have to start over." Note the usage of 'your Lost.')
Ann: "So, what you're telling me is, I just wasted hours of work and will now have to start over. Right?" (Translation: Ann is frustrated with Bruce's never-ending quest for off-the-grid software perfection. And though Linux is far superior to Microshaft, Ann is intimidated by Ubuntu due to its unfamiliarity. Furthermore, Ann can't tell the difference between the old and new HD quality.)
Bruce: "Ummmm...yes. You'll have to start over. Sorry." (Translation: Bruce knows Ann is frustrated and finds it borderline amusing. In fact, he seems to enjoy it a great deal. In fact, he may have secretly arranged this whole scenario on purpose, timed to perfection so as to evoke fiesty Ann -- affectionately known around here as "the Dragon".)
*18 episodes later*
Bruce: "Did you finish?" (Translation: Bruce hopes Ann finished because he needs more space on his hard drive. These episodes are taking up too much space.)
Ann: "Almost. Come check out my work." (Translation: Ann wants Bruce to notice how hard she worked so as to halt his quest for updating and installing stuff. Ann doesn't want to start over again.)
Bruce: "Nice work, Ann. This looks so great." (Translation: Bruce hopes Ann will take over all the editing from now on. Bruce doesn't want to edit. Bruce wants to program, re-install stuff, and update stuff. Forever.)
Ann: "Thanks! I think it looks pretty fantastic." (Translation: Ann thinks she and Bruce make a pretty good team. He does all the programming/recording, and Ann makes it look good. Not a bad deal. Bruce generates mega brain power and Ann generates mega.......hmmm.....well, we're not too sure what Ann generates, but it's definitely in the mega realm whatever it is.)
And that's how "my" Lost season six made it from TV to DVD. And I must say it looks pretty sweet for a homemade concoction. Why do I like Lost? Mystery. Suspense. etc, etc, etc. Why do I like The Big Bang Theory? Because I married a cross between Sheldon and Leonard (as proven by the abbreviated dialogue in this post. I would write out the whole dialogue if I was fluent in software engineering, but I'm not.)
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