BIG News! (and Weekend Updates with Amy P...just not Poehler)

THIS JUST IN! I'm officially a member of Cast A 2013 for UP WITH PEOPLE! No words can express how unbelievably stoked I am for this experience! Performance? World Travel? International friendships? Homestays and cultural immersion? Outreach and community service? I am so blessed to be a part of this amazing experience!

I'm still a year and a half away, but I'm already so looking forward to all the amazing experiences this journey will bring! IT WILL BE PHENOMENAL!

I plan on starting a separate blog a little while down the road, updating anyone interested in my preparation, fundraising efforts, and eventually, my journey as I travel abroad! Again...I can't wait! (Can you tell I'm just a little excited?) Be sure to stay tuned for upcoming announcements about all things Up With People! I'm sure you'll be hearing LOTS! =)

If you want more information or are simply curious, I strongly suggest you take a look at their website: www.upwithpeople.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My last two weekends have been AMAZING! Just how summer weekends should be!

I got to see presented by the Starfire Singers of Los Altos United Methodist Church on Friday and Saturday night (Aug. 5th and 6th). Dirk and Carol Damonte (Dustin's parents) wrote this original musical challenging audiences to rethink church and one's involvement in the church. The musical was amazing and truly hit home. The main question posed was: Is 'church' just one boring hour a week that you sit in uncomfy pews and fall asleep listening to a sermon and the same old creeds, or is it an action word...something you do? Church is more than just sitting in a building...it's interacting with the world and doing good at all times. I loved the message. I loved the music. It was so well done. Not to mention, I got to see some of my MOST favorite people ever! I love the LAUMC family and the entire Damonte clan! =D

Friday's show was in Kent, WA, but Saturday's show was in Lake Oswego, OR. It just so happens that Dustin and I have a crazy, ridiculous, awesome friend Lindsay who happens to live in Lake Oswego...AND it just so happened that her church was the one hosting the event! Perfect, no?

So Dustin and I headed down to L.O. for the weekend, and got to be reunited with Linds. It was SO great getting to see her...she was studying abroad all last Spring and I missed that lady. Shoot! We had so much fun hanging out, laughing to beat the band, enjoying the gorgeous sunshine on her boat out on Lake Oswego, swimming, catching up, watching 'The Project,' and enjoying free booze! Yup. It was amazing! I wish I had taken pictures of that weekend, but we were too busy enjoying each other's company!

This past weekend, Aug. 13th, I got to spend a day in Gig Harbor with my friend Aidan. We walked along the harbor, enjoyed MORE sunshine (while it lasted), watched quite a few movies, and made GRILLED PIZZAS! If you've never tried it, I challenge you to go fire up your grill...NOW! I will never bake a pizza again, that's how delicious this concoction is!

So crunchy! So delicious! SO YUMMY!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now I'm fully back in the swing of things at school. Yesterday marked the start of Passages Orientation training! As exhausting as orientation is, I SO LOVE getting to spend time with such amazing leaders. We went to a low ropes course today for teambuilding and leadership fun! It was an amazing, sunshiney,  fun-filled day, full of meeting new folks and reuniting with old friends! I can't wait for the rest of this week, then camping with the new students at Camp Parsons, and then starting the school year! Senior year...here I come!!!

 Camp Parsons! Can't wait! I LOVE this place!!!

[Hungry] Happy People

 (This song was playing during an episode of 'Friends' that Aidan, Melanie, and myself watched tonight. I figured it was a happy, upbeat song, that fit my happy, full tummy and mood in general!)

I've been cooking/baking a lot! It's lovely to have friends that also want to embark on cooking adventures with me! So, as of late, I've been spending a lot of time in the kitchen, whipping up absurd amounts of food! Today's quest lead to some interesting mishaps, which ultimately lead to WAY too many calories and delicious goodness!

I should back up, however, and report of my crazy awesome weekend happenings. SUMMER HAS FINALLY ARRIVED IN TACOMA! Yes, Ladies and Gentlemen...it took until July 30th for the weather to shape up, but it's managed to stay sunny and warm, always around a balmy 80 degrees! Hallelujah! That means, all of Washington is out to soak up the sun!

I started my sunny, stupendous Saturday with a run, a trip to the farmer's market, then headed to Titlow Beach with Dustin for some Cribbage and sunny beach strolling.

Dustin and I played some frisbee in the backyard before he headed off to work. After he left? Yeah...I laid out on the back deck and caught some rays and a few Zzz's prior to dinner. My friend Aidan and I have been planning on having cooking adventures since the last day of classes last semester, so we made it happen Saturday! I was in the mood to cook up Asian cuisine, so Aidan, Cailin, and I set out to make egg rolls, fried rice, and cashew chicken (mind you, two of these recipes came from a "healthy cooking" cookbook, so the meal isn't as artery clogging as it seems). After Safeway failed to sell egg roll wrappers, and the Met was FRESH out of their last package, we set off across town to an authentic Asian grocery store. We FINALLY started cooking at 8pm and sat down to eat at 9:15pm! PHEW! I failed to take pictures of that meal...cuz, well...some aspects of the meal didn't turn out so great!

But then we got FROZEN YOGURT! Bam! Melanie, Aidan, and I took off to Gibson's. I MADE THE BEST COMBO EVER! I always like to portion out my yogurt cup to make different little combinations (rather than smooshing everything together and then throwing toppings all over the place!). So, I did Key Lime Sorbet with graham cracker crust, Very Berry Sorbet with fresh Kiwi, Blueberries, and coconut, and THEN! THEN I did Chocolate/Vanilla swirl with brownie and warm peanut butter sauce. OH MY! The last one was the winning combo, even though all of them were spectacular.

We came home and promptly set out to get Aidan hooked on the Friends T.V. show. Mission accomplished. BAM!

Plans among the housemates were already in motion to make a day trip out to Bainbridge Island the next day, so Aidan crashed on the couch and ventured off with us the next morning. The weather was DUMB that day (yes, I'm aware I just rambled on about the beautiful summer weather...keep reading). We drove to Bainbridge, walked around a bit, weren't all that impressed, and paid too much for 2-bite sandwiches at a local deli. So we drove home, singing obnoxiously to the Avenue Q soundtrack, then made plans to go to the Tacoma Ethnic Fest.

Upon arrival, we strolled around. Again..we weren't all that impressed, but took the time to enjoy a fresh bag of amazing kettle corn (I ate nearly the entire bag by myself. Oops!) and bask in the newly broken sunshine! It was glorious! A game of Scrabble ensued upon arriving home (I won, thank you very much!)

Fast forward to today, Tuesday. Aidan ventured over again and we set out to make my all time favorite dish...Chicken Wellington. Now, my Mom had warned me that the typical puff pastry dough probably wouldn't be in the store. Unfortunately, I picked the wrong type of substitution dough. Oopsies! Turns out, Chicken Wellington isn't really meant to be wrapped in Phyllo dough! But we made it work!

With TONS of Phyllo left, we made Phyllo cups to make lovely (and tasty) presentations of our chocolate mousse dessert...

Aidan whipping up some whipped cream for the mousse!

Ta da!

Yeah...we're classy!

And we had SO much Phyllo dough left that I said "To hell with it!" and made a batch of Baklava. Aka: Calories and Guilt in a Pan!

This was my first batch ever. And holy cow. I'm just going to toot my own horn and say it tastes RIDICULOUS! =)

More culinary endeavors will continue to take place as the summer and school year continue. Although I'm cursed with cooking mishaps, I still enjoy the time I spend with friends in the kitchen!

It's hard to believe we're already in August - meaning school will be here before we know it - but I've certainly enjoyed every bit of this summer...poopy Washington weather and all!