Daddy/ Daughter Day

back seat shot

Over the past weekend I journeyed down to Newport area with dad and Shannon and had an especially great time. We left at 6 am and arrived at our destination around 7:30, beginning the morning at a Starbucks just on the boarder of Newport. Since leaving before Sol came up, we experiecned an amazing sunrise,  which got me thinking, "this is what I'm missing out on every morning..."; it was very picture worthy, even with my unworthy camera.

dairy farm 

focused plane cloud

There, (Starbucks), we enjoyed breakfast and coffee and some time together. After that we drove to Huntington where we met up with some photographers to go on a nature hike in the Bolsa Chica Wetlands. We hiked about 2.5 miles, observing the surroundings around us. I snapped a few shots:

and my dad took a few shots, this being one of them.

We had an interesting time, no doubt a cool experience. We enjoyed lunch at one of the photographer's houses and went off onto our next journey: surfing. We trekked back to Newport to play football on the beach and surf. The surf was super great; clear water, warm temperatures: a great day to spend in the ocean. The day, all in all, was spectacular; a blessing and very much needed. On the way home I took some window pics from the car and captured the amazing sunset. But these photos don't do the real sunset any justice. Not bad, Hemet.

 I'm looking forward to summer, warm weather, and sunny days.

More to come,

-R

WARNING: May cause breath to be taken away.

Man, Vedder's voice is intoxicating.

I listened to him on the way and back, to and from, Newport to-day. I love this guy. I've especially been loving covers that some of my favorite artists do.

Anyways, I'll blog more about my day, pictures and such, tomorrow.

With that said, more to come,

-R

Snippet From January 2011

Last month was full of adventure along with many hours spent in class. Since none of my five classes are shorter than 3 hours, I spend a lot of time at school and in the library studying. This is my life five days per week, and I have to admit, I sort of love it, a lot. I also admit it, I would rather spend my hours at school learning, than at home, where cleaning and cooking awaits, (promised every time I'm home.) When I'm not studying, I tend to do the usual, hang out with some of my buddies or make new ones. Either is fine by me because I do enjoy a random conversation. However, most of this school babel is irrelevant to the reason of this post..

Did I tell you about the stuffed bell peppers?

Let's just go through some of the photos I took last month, shall we:

...well they were insanely good. 

Shannon and I decided to make dinner for our Chinese friend we hosted, Kitty. The stuffed peppers were a hit for all. 

The same week of the peppers, we decided to hike to Suicide. Due to the melting snow, I assume, there were water falls throughout our travels.

The God-painted view.

There was about 30 feet of ice we trekked through, with Suicide just around the corner.

another amazing view on top of old Suicide. 

by the time we got to the top, it was already four, and starting to get cold. Shannon modeling the chilliness. 

brrr.

not quite ready.

forced smile due to exhaustion. 

this photo depicts a better way of how I was feeling: exhausted, cold, and hungry.

but it was soo worth it...

 Suicide was very successful. We went with two other girls, and had a good time. Just being able to make it up there felt like a big accomplishment. The same week the family and I took a trip down to Newport. Unfortunately, we didn't get there until about 40 minutes to sunset. I wasn't too bummed, even though I wanted to surf, because the sunset was beautiful.

before the sunset, with a pink haze.

I just sat there, meditating and snapping shots of the different scenes of the sunset. 

getting more intense.

past the jetty is Catalina Island, where the sun rests upon.

I really appreciate the way this window shot came out because of the way the objects are blurred. 

another car shot.

 After that....we fast forward two days, to the departure of our dear friends from China. Shannon and I helped out our parents by making lunch for them all. What was on the menu? Our Asian stir fry.

we weren't prepared to make them lunch, so we stared chopping up any vegetables we thought would work. Hence, the squash above. 

...spinach.

onion and garlic.

for the past couple of months, we have been getting lemons from a few of our friends who grow lemon trees. Because we have an abundance, I made lemonade to go with the meal.

once the kids arrived at our house, they freaked. They were so impressed with what we had made. It was a great experience. Above, they insisted on helping, so we handed them some spoons to mix up the stir fry. 

the chaperon, equally impressed. 

this is what we stared with....we made one more stir fry with the same amount; it disappeared within minutes. 

The kids loved all of it. They said it was how they eat it "just like at home." this was one thing Shannon and I would cherish in our memories. 

 Skipping over to the next week, and we find it to be dad's birthday. Shannon and I have been so overwhelmed and tired at this point from all the work and lack of sleep we've had, we weren't sure what to make. But I hear my dad likes my bean cake, so we made just that.

this mess was devoured between the four of us; didn't last more than 12 hours.

 This wraps it up for the lost month of January. Hope you enjoyed, I'm off to watch the new Netflix with Shannon. Nightmare on Elm Street to-night.

More to come,
-R

Food-aholic

Last night I decided to make dinner for the family, because I knew no one else was going to. However, this bothered me none at all, because I love cooking, especially after switching to the vegetarian life. And after an intense hour and a half work-out at the gym, I was ready to eat, and my body craved natural. On the way home from the gym I thought of all the things I could make and decided by the time I got home to make a variety of enriching, protein pumped foods. Since I already knew how to whip up a tasty butternut squash, I choose that, along with boiled & seasoned potatoes, brown rice, (in which I sprinkled kosher salt, pepper, and squeezed some fresh lemon), and a spring mix salad. The meal was amazing, and as I chatted with my parents and sister, we concluded how nice it was to be able to eat healthy, quality food in the comfort of our home, rather than over-priced, who-knows-whats-in-the food, crummy atmosphere a restaurant would provide. And how nice it was. I have been valuing family time a lot more recently, and have been taking turns with Shannon to make dinner for the family. I give my job, (mainly my old boss Lisa), the credit for my beginning, yet proficient cooking skills. I didn't take many pictures of the food, but here's one of the salad:

spring salad mix, red & green bell peppers, w/ chopped mushroom, tofu, garlic, and sun dried tomatoes. The "dressing" was balsamic with some olive oil and kosher salt.  

This past weekend I focused a lot of my attention on doing my best and doing better than my best. This, I feel, is the only way I'll ever become a better cook, a better employer, a better me. Another thing I thought about over dinner last night was how much I want to become a better me. I want Christ to shine through me, and I want to use His gifts He's given me. If God has given me the ability to cook, then be golly, I'll cook. If He's given me the ability to be in college at this age, then by golly, I will study my heart out and focus totally in all my classes. My goal for this semester is to catch whatever is thrown at me. We'll see.


More to come,

-R

Weekend Update, Who's Listening?

In my last post, I was going through a very large, confusing, ugly, and just plain hectic state of mind. You can imagine my excitement of climbing back up to Idywilld this weekend. We went up on Saturday, and returned earlier to-day. It was great to get away from my small town, to another small town with better scenery. I was able to relax and relax and relax when I wasn't working, and it was so nice. Shannon and I decided to spend our free time watching some random movies I brought with us, (Into The Wild, Charade, and Casino Royale.) Our time in Idy was spent very well, and admittedly much needed. We had a lot of time to talk about a whole bunch of things, such as future plans. I'm glad to have her as my sister; my best friend. Our time we've spent together just allows us to grow closer so much the more. I'm so looking forward to a lot of things God might possibly have in store for us in our futures. And I enjoy talking about the future when it looks like there might be a perfect opportunity; we'll see.
I've been realizing a lot lately that I really need to start looking at the future. Oh, how nice it is to have reachable goals, and how nice it is that I come closer and closer to reaching said goals. However, it is all up to the omnipotent, all-knowing God. I am willing with all that I am to go where He leads me, that question is, where to? I don't have the answer to that right now. All I know is where I am; here and now. I am a full-time student with a part-time job,with hardly enough room to play with the neighbourhood kids. I spend a lot of my time wondering and pondering questions; over analyzing every situation. I pass up opportunities to hang out with friends to study for a test. I am a caged bird, waiting to be set free and fly. I want to fly, and will the first chance I get. But...in the meantime, I will continue to go to school five days a week and work all of weekends that I'm offered. We'll see how this semester goes. I hope I don't lose myself, rather find myself more than the last five months. The only way I can find myself is to study the Bible; to study the inspired words of God. He will guide me, lead me, give me the strength and discernment I'll need to survive in this dying world.

My Omnipresent Saviour

To-day was a very relaxed and laid-back sort of day, and very needed. I believe that every once in a while a day of rest is surely crucial, allowing an opportunity to reboot the said system of the human body. So to-day was my rebooting day. It consisted of waking up at 12 noon, relaxing to a bowl of oatmeal with mixed berries, then browsing on the internet for a nice, healthy dinner recipe. Around three I had my "lunch", in which I indulged in whole-wheat soy pancakes with again, mixed berries. So. Good! For my topping, I drizzled organic agave nectar across the cakes. Writing about them now makes me crave them! After I had my pancakes, I decided to clean the kitchen for a feel-good environment to cook dinner in. I started with the dishes, moved to the counters, stove, and last the floor. This took me a while, but afterwards I started dinner. Dinner went very well, might I add. I decided on butternut squash soup along with an interesting pick of a salad I experimented on. Kaitlin, you would have been proud of this meal. Here are some photos I took: (however, be aware I was not able to saver the taste in these pics;)

thyme has an amazing aroma!

the bulk of the meal:

the end result of the soup

salad

The salad was a great counter balance to the meal, and sat well with the stomachs of those who engulfed it. I aimed high for a healthy salad, because more than often, what may appear to be a "healthy" salad, is really "healthy" in disguise. First, I sprinkled this salad with kosher salt, squeezed on some lime, cut up an orange to compliment it, and used my left over avocado and the rest of my tofu. This resulted in an intense and flavorful, greeny salad. To tie up this meal, I had made my famous sweet tea. This meal screamed energy, which is why I think it would be a better fit for lunch sometime, rather than dinner. However it was light and didn't make me feel like a balloon, yet still giving me the feeling of being full. Thank God for non-processed, delicious food!