Valentine's Love and Fluff!

Yesterday was Valentine's Day. Awww. I can't even remember the last time I got to spend Valentine's Day {the actual day} with a Valentine, but this year, I got to! In year's past, I've either not had a Valentine, or I've been separated from him on that day! Dustin was down in Tacoma this weekend for my opera production and then had his usual Monday night choir routine and Tuesday daytime voice lesson planned, so it worked out perfectly! Although he was feeling a little under the weather and I had some unwelcome emotional stress, we still managed to have a day of cuddles and kisses!

{ cute flowers my parents got me opera weekend }

Our day consisted of:

Early breakfast at Shakabrah!

{ Can you believe the size of that pancake? I thought the size of the egg was a laughable comparison! }

Treats and Gifts:

1. I made Dust a cinnamon cornflake heart, something my mom has done for me in year's past! It's such a gluttonous treat!

2. Dustin's treats all in one! Heart, card, 54 reasons why I love him on a deck of cards, and conversation hearts.

3. The card I made for him (although I made it over a year ago!)

4. The cute {and pretty} 'lovebirds' card Dust got for me.

Dinner and fun company at Mary's house along with Dylan and Nadine:

{ a picture from the opera this weekend }

PostSecret Live @ the Univ. of Puget Sound with creator Frank Warren:

Watching sappy romance movies:

{ hehe...what a good boy I have. He's willing to watch with me! }

Cuddles, Kisses, Wine and Cupcakes:

{ Dust surprised me with yummy Hello Cupcake treats for dessert! }

{ a tasty treat my mom and dad got for us }

Pretty darn good day if I do say so myself! Hoping everyone had a day full of love!

{ a flower from my backyard! Simple beauties!}

{{ Pirates of Penzance... A Preview }}

Wondering what all the buzz is around campus concerning 'The Pirates of Penzance' ??? We've been hard at work on this hilarious opera by Gilbert and Sullivan since the start of this academic year. Now we've finally reached opening night! 

Here are some awesome still shots of the production. If this doesn't entice you to check out one of the four shows this weekend, {Thurs . Fri. and Sat. @ 7:30pm / Sun. @ 2pm} then I don't know what will!

Info can be found HERE!, or you can check out the handy-dandy Facebook Event! The show is double cast, starring the "Crossbones" cast on Thursday/Saturday shows, and the "Skulls" cast on Friday/Sunday shows. I will be playing the role of Edith on Thursday/Saturday nights. Come to at least one show, if not multiple so you can see both spectacular casts!

{Thanks to Ross Mulhausen, the campus photographer, for these shots. They are property of the school, hence the watermark through the photos. The few without watermarks are in thanks to Sharon Styer.}

 {the lovely ladies of the production. can you say "pastels" and "crinoline skirts" ??? whew!}

{if nothing else, you should want to see brian ernst play the major general. his aria is enough to make your head spin!}

 {hehe - the police! I love these guys! "tarantara!"}

{our fabulous cast!}

Come see the show! You won't regret it...guaranteed!!!

Stuck in a Rut

It doesn't happen very often, but today, I've found myself stuck in a rut. Here I am, only 1 1/2 weeks into the new semester, and I'm wondering when life will change or get more exciting. Don't get me wrong, I've always enjoyed school and learning, and I always will. That is something I am very thankful for. What I'm not a big fan of is the same old routine. Everything is quite predictable. Wake up, go to class, busy yourself for the hours of the day, practice here, snack there, maybe hit up opera rehearsal or gym for a quick workout, then come home to cook dinner, then homework. Then you wake up and do it again.

One thing that's really been getting to me that's bogging me down and keeping me in a rut is the idea of money. I've never liked the stuff because it makes me so uncomfortable. Yes, I love having it, but not having it makes life so very awkward. I'm blessed to have parents who provide for me even while I am at college. I'm so thankful that they offer to pay tuition, rent, and even give me a grocery/allowance allotment each month, but other than that, I'm without a job and don't really have time to get one. Hence, I am running out of cash...fast. Not having money just puts a damper on everything because like it or not, EVERYTHING costs money. Yes, there are ways to be frugal and save money...I'm the queen of that. But being stingy really prohibits me from having much fun. There's not a whole lot to do without money, which equates to no fun, but spending money to do fun things makes me depressed because I'm having to spend money...so that ultimately leads to not having the best time.

See how I'm in this rut? Dust and I just finished our final dance class of the certificate I bought him for his birthday present, and naturally they try and suck you in with a package of future dance classes. We heard them out, and they tried to talk us into signing up for a $1176 dollar dance package! Did they not understand that we are college/recently graduated college students who are broke and can't just drop one grand like that? When I said, "We're broke. There's no way we can afford that," one lady chuckled and said, "Ha! Broke!" kind of under her breath, as if I were kidding. But really lady! I'm broke!

Here we are, pinching pennies and trying to get by just in normal day-to-day life. Then I think about all the money I will have to raise to participate with Up With People and I damn near have a panic attack. I think it will end up being over $16,000 and I'm looking at my bank statements going, "Huh. How the hell is that going to happen?!"

I always try to remain optimistic, but lately I've just been kind of down. My voice problems are overwhelming me and I'm getting frustrated with not being able to sing and talk. I just want to be fixed. And I want to stop racking up so many medical bills. I hate mentioning bills I receive to my parents because I feel like a horrible child who just washes money right out of their pockets. If it's not medical bills, it's expensive drugs or other things to help my voice heal. And then if it's not medically related, it's life related. I need shoes for the opera. I need to order a graduation gown. I need to pay choir tuition to go on a choir tour I probably won't even sing on. I need to order school books. It just adds up and overwhelms me. Hence this long, drawn-out post. My biggest irritation is wanting to be independent and take care of myself, saving my parents the burden of paying my every financial need, yet here I am without a means of income, so I can't yet do that for myself.

Does anyone else feel this way, or am I a lone, depressing pessimist?

Apple Dutch Baby Breakfast!

I woke up this morning itching to make a Dutch Baby pancake. The only problem is, I don't have a cast iron skillet at my house. So I did some nosing around the internet and found it's perfectly OK to bake this bad boy in a 9X13 pan! Whoo! I have one of those! So I set to work on making my first ever Apple Dutch Baby pancake!

This recipe is easy to whip up (despite the impressive look of the final presentation), and takes only 25 minutes to bake! 

I used this recipe:

Cinnamon Apple Dutch Baby Pancake
4 Tbsp butter
2-3 medium size Gala apples, sliced thinly {I used 2}
3/4 C flour
3/4 C milk
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 Tbsp sugar
4 eggs
Cinnamon Topping:
1/2 C sugar
2 tsp cinnamon


*Preheat oven to 400.
*Place butter into cast iron frying pan and place in the oven to melt butter. {Be extra careful to keep an eye on the butter so it doesn't burn! I almost had a disaster!}
*In a bowl combine the flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, milk and eggs.
*Arrange the sliced apples in the bottom of the pan on top of the melted butter.  Pour egg mixture over apples.
*Combine sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over the top of the egg mixture evenly.
*Bake in oven for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.

{In a bowl combine the flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, milk and eggs}

{Thinly slice apples}

{Arrange the sliced apples in the bottom of the pan on top of the melted butter}

{Pour egg mixture over apples}

{Combine sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over the top of the egg mixture evenly}

{Bake in oven for 20-25 minutes until golden brown}

I sprinkled some powdered sugar on top of my creation for an added dusting of sweetness. It was delicious! 

The apples get baked through perfectly, and the eggy-ness of the batter works in perfect harmony with the crunchiness of the caramelized cinnamon sugar. Whip this tasty dish up for an easy, impressive, and yummy breakfast!

Ice-Pocalyspe?

My heaven's! School was canceled yet AGAIN today, but not due to snow. No, no! This time, it's due to frozen rain! We got about 8" of beautiful snow yesterday, and today, the temperature has risen just a bit, but the precipitation hasn't stopped. Therefore, we've got frozen rain coming down, and it's solidifying right on top of the heaps of snow. Needless to say, it's an arctic tundra out there! Everything is a solid sheet of ice, powerlines are freezing to trees, and then trees are falling down. Not a good combo!

My housemates Cailin, Kristin, and I braved the weather and ventured the 30 feet to our back alley to take out our ever-accumulating trash and recycle {we just couldn't stand the pile-up anymore!!!} I took the opportunity to take some pictures while we were already dealing with the nasty conditions.

I started Snow Day #2 off right by baking my first ever coffee cake! It was tasty, and quite simple to whip up! It satisfied my need for something yummy, warm, and homemade right out of bed!

The main tree in our backyard is now frozen to our power line. We tried calling the power company to report it, but to no avail. We'll keep trying, but we think the company is just overwhelmed with calls right now.

Cailin's masterwork: Her igloo! She spent all yesterday crafting it!

The collapsed bush in our backyard

Our landlords {FROZEN} car. Not kidding...every ounce of this car is covered in thick ice

The neighbor's garage made for a rather picturesque scene even amidst the horrid ice pellets!

Down the alley one way...

Down the alley the other way...

{Cailin and Kristin ventured a bit after our trash errand!}

 Don't we look lovely? haha. Oh snow days!

My poor bike. No getting that inside right now! =(

Cailin on top of her igloo! It's so frozen it kept its shape!

If all this continues throughout today and through the night, I highly doubt class will happen yet again tomorrow. But who knows. We'll see where this state of emergency takes us next!