Vegetarian Diet

For the past week, I've been a vegetarian.  It's been good.  It was really hard one day when some chicken chowder soup with bacon was offered to me, but I had the cheese bread instead. For lunch on Friday, I went to a Thai restaurant and had tofu in my dish instead of meat. While I think I prefer meat to tofu, the tofu was good. The only reason I prefer meat is because it's what I'm used to, but the tofu was prepared in a way that tasted good and had good texture.

While I don't plan on being a vegetarian, it made me realize that I probably eat too much meat. As a Mormon, we have been given a "Word of Wisdom" on our diet, and it says that meat is "to be used sparingly." I don't think that most Mormons follow this very well. There are other things that we are very strict to follow such as no coffee, no tea, no alcohol, and no tobacco, but for some reason, we're okay with having meat at the majority of our meals.

At work today, we were discussing how a pilot from Australia found it interesting when he moved to the US that he was not allowed to drink at all during lunch. Where he is from, one drink is acceptable. They are expected to be adults and not drink more than is unsafe. We discussed this idea and that the problem with this is, where do you draw the line? I responded to this point with "That's why I don't drink at all." And it's true---does one cup of beer, one cup of coffee, or even drinking tea a couple times a week hurt you? Probably not. Some things may even help you, like drinking wine occasionally. It's when it's impairing you mentally whether through the affects of alcohol or an addiction to caffeine that's the problem. Still, where do you draw the line? It's just safer not to drink at all.

So, what am I going to about meat? While I don't think abstaining from it entirely would be good for me, I am going to cut back. I'll try not to cook with it much and try to choose items on the menu with less or no meat. And maybe I'll be more meat conscious like my mother by buying grass-fed beef.

Live from Paris: Flying Free Trips Sneak Peek

I'm a bit behind on updating my trips. Here are the trips you'll hear about soon:

Flying Free Trips:

#3: Utah (I need to find a picture to post first...)
#4: West Virginia
#5: North Carolina
#6: Paris/London

And here's the Eiffle Tower at night during the 5 minutes of sparkle.

Sewing Project #3: Awesome Apron

I found this amazing fabric at the Bernina store: it's covered in the golden ratio! That's right---phi, aka 1.618 aka my favorite number. This is the design covering the fabric, but trust me, the fabric is super cute. I've been trying to figure out something to make with it, and I was like "Aha! An Apron!" And I began my search for a solid blue fabric to match the blue golden ratio. I was thinking a solid blue background with golden ratio pockets would be amazing. Unfortunately, during my search at my new favorite fabric store, I found nothing quite right. But, fortunately, I found something better! The perfect fabric for the perfect apron: Italian food fabric with Italian food names, along with a contrasting musical fabric. I love Italian food, and I love music. Perfect combo for an apron. The project was rather time consuming due to the homemade edging, but I love it! It came almost perfect except that the food fabric is upside-down, but then I realized that means the cook can read it perfectly.

 Next week: yoga pants. Maybe they'll be golden ratio pants?

Sewing Project #2: Decorative Pillowcase

I found some cute fabric at the fabric store which I purchased to match my bedsheets. Here's a tip of advice: the color of something in your head isn't always accurate. So, the pillow doesn't match, but oh well! It's cute. Plus, it worked quite well as a sleeping pillow on the airplane. Even though it's supposed to be a decorative pillow, I don't care. It's my new airplane pillow. I finished sewing the buttons while flying on an airplane, so it fits.

I made this pillow with the fancy Bernina machine at the store. I think I like my machine better than the bernina, except that my machine isn't heavy duty. I guess I'll have to save the heavy fabrics for a more heavy duty machine. The pillow is complete with a center focus fabric surrounded by a border, and the back has both fabrics with buttons to connect them. Plus, I discovered a neat furniture store with cheap pillows (without the case).

Flying Free Trip #2: Seattle

Two of my favorite friends decided to run the Seattle Marathon in June since they were planning to be there. "Hey Blay*, guess what? I found out there's a marathon the day after our conference in Seattle. I'm turning 26, so it seems fitting. Awesome, right?" Reply, "That's an awesome idea Barb*! I've always wanted to run so much to cause my knees to be in constant pain. Sounds like the perfect ending to a business trip." Then they ran, and ran, and ran. Several times a week. Talk about time-consuming. After watching all their hard work, I wanted to find out first-hand if it was worth it, so I went to watch them finish. They both did so well! Both under 4 hours and 30 minutes. Seattle was neat too, but not as exciting as seeing them cross the finish line.

I didn't take many pictures, but here's one with Barb.

*Names have been modified to protect the privacy of my friends.

Flying Free Trip #1: Las Vegas

I've decided I need to document all the places I go so that I don't forget. A few months ago, I went with my coworkers to Las Vegas for dinner. We watched the beautiful fountains at the Belagio, walked around a bit, ate a delicious buffet, and then went home. It was a fun first trip.

While there, I saw the hugest picture of Donnie and Marie ever and some creepy creatures at the Belagio.

Sewing Project #1

My plan with sewing project #1 was to make something that obviously looked handmade. Funny mistakes and non-straight lines are all part of the project. It ended up turning out better than I thought. My sewing machine gave me difficulties though---lesson learned... buy a good expensive sewing machine; it's worth it. Don't get me wrong, I really like my sewing machine, but considering it broke already, I'm less than pleased. I just hope the 1st-year warranty covers the entire cost of the repair. I ended finishing up the project on my mother's sewing machine which is super-old yet works like a charm.

Anyway, here it is. A cute bag! It includes fleece lined double-sided quilted fabric with a zipper and a side handle.

Vegetable Lasagna

I made some vegetable lasagna the other night. My roommate quite enjoyed it and wanted the recipe. I don't use recipes much, so here is how I made it to the best of my memory.

Vegetable Lasagna

Ingredients:

1 jar Ragu Mama's Special Garden Pasta Sauce spaghetti sauce
1 16 oz can diced tomatoes with Italian flavoring
1/4 cup water
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 white onion, chopped
2 tsp minced garlic
1 medium carrot, shredded
1 tbsp red cooking wine (optional)

1 tsp seasoned salt
1 small zucchini, thinly sliced
3 oz fresh baby spinach
1/2 pound mozzarella, shredded
1/2 pound Italian cheese mixture (I don't remember what it included, probably parmesan, romano, mozzarella, provolone.)
9 whole wheat lasagna noodles
15 oz whole milk ricotta cheese (I didn't use it all)
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1 egg

Directions

1. Saute the oil, onion, garlic, carrot, wine, and seasoned salt until the onions turn translucent.
2. In the meantime, place the tomatoes, spaghetti sauce, and water in a large pan on low heat. (I used the water to get the last of the spaghetti sauce out of the jar.)
3. In the meantime, mix the ricotta, Italian seasoning, Parmesan, and egg with a spoon in a small mixing bowl.
4. When the onions are translucent, add to the tomato sauce mixture.
5. Using a large serving spoon, pour a small layer of the tomato sauce mixture onto the bottom of a 13x9 pan.
6. Spread a thick layer of the ricotta mixture onto 6 uncooked noodles.
1. Place 3 noodles in pan, ricotta face up.
2. Add a layer of zucchini.
3. Add 1/4 lb of mozzarella.
4. Add a small layer of sauce.
5. Add a layer of noodles/ricotta.
6. Add the spinach.
7. Add the rest of the mozzarella.
8. Add a small layer of sauce.
9. Add final three noodles.
10. Pour the rest of the sauce on top.
11. Add the half pound of Italian cheese mixture.
7. Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 350 for about 1 hour.
8. Remove foil and bake for another 15 minutes.
9. Enjoy!

Serves 6-12.


Notes: Yes I don't bake the noodles ahead of time. The little water I add is enough. It's so much easier not to, and it works quite well. You don't have to buy no-boil noodles. Any kind will do. Also, if you want to add an extra layer to the lasagna, that's fine. You might need extra sauce. I didn't use all of the ricotta mixture, so there should be plenty of that. I find it hard to add an extra layer without almost spilling over the edge of the pan, so I only do three layers. And feel free to add any other ingredients you want like egg plant, ground beef, or mushrooms.

Arizona Skies

Arizona really is quite the unusual place. I never thought it was growing up. I always thought it was dry, ugly, and boring. Now that I'm older and wiser I realize that only one of those adjectives is true.

Dry: Arizona is definitely dry. I saw rain while driving through Alabama at the beginning of June. The next time I saw rain (other than a few scattered sprinkles) was the end of July. That's nearly 2 whole months without rain. I'm amazed that there's still life here after so long with no water.

Not Ugly:I still believe that the lush life on the East coast is prettier than the desert, but the skies in the desert win hands down. Every time I look at the sky in the evening, I'm in awe. They're stunning! I'll never have to suffer through a gray-skies winter again.

Not Boring: There is quite a bit to do here. Most of the year, the weather is beautiful, and you can go hiking in beautiful scenery. Last January, I hiked the Superstitions. The view was spectacular. You don't get views like that back East. Plus, being the city there are a lot of activities to do around town. I've now been to two improv places which were way fun.

I haven't taken any pictures lately, but my current Sonoran desert background shows how pretty it can be here.

Fourth of July

Last year: Fireworks at Washington DC. This year: Fireworks at Tempe Town Lake. The verdict?


The Washington DC fireworks show was rather disappointing. It was nice while it lasted, but after an adequate ending sequence, it was suddenly over, and I craved more. The show lasted about 15-20 minutes. I don't remember much about the music that went along with it. I guess it wasn't very memorable.


The Tempe fireworks show was quite fun. We went last minute, and I was worried we would miss the show since it started while we were in the car, but shortly after, we found a [free] parking spot. At first I was disappointed that we missed the beginning, but after 30 minutes, I was asking myself "These are pretty, but now I'm bored." At least the music was good. The fireworks lasted around 45 minutes. It had a neat false ending about halfway through that I liked, and the actual end was quite spectacular. However, the in between parts got boring. (Though the designs were fun, it was just too long.) I think it should have been at least 15 minutes shorter.


Maybe I'm super picky, but I think the ideal show time is between 20 and 35 minutes. The show needs a nice start, a slow period with some exciting surprises, and a false adequate ending followed by a spectacular finale.

So the verdict? The Tempe show was definitely better. HOWEVER, the Washington DC experience wins out. Maybe that's a little unfair, because Washington DC obviously has cooler sights to see, but that's exactly why it wins. I got to spend the day seeing for the first time the history of our country. That's what the 4th of July is all about. In 2009, none of the bands at the DC show were any good in my opinion. However, I notice that this year, David Archuleta, Gladys Knight, and the National Symphony Orchestra are all part of the show. I would have loved to hear that combination! Plus, seeing the Washington Monument next to the fireworks was pretty neat. The Washington DC event was free while Tempe Town Lake costs $5-$10 (though I watched from outside the gate so it was free).

Sewing

A few weeks ago, I started watching the TV show, Pushing Daisies off of theWB.com. I immediately fell in love with all of the dresses the main girl wore, so I tried to find some like it. Unfortunately, I couldn't find any quite like them though I did find a few that I liked. However, these dresses were priced much too high for one that I wasn't certain I was in love with. Also a few weeks ago, I read a book called Into the Wild Nerd Yonder.  I enjoyed the book but only because I immediately connected with the main character and her joy for math. She spent her summer sewing a lot of skirts---one for every occasion. On the first day of school she wore a skirt with pencils and rulers on it. While I don't think I could ever go that extreme, it gave me the desire to make a skirt for myself. Then a few days ago, I was watching another episode of Pushing Daisies, and I decided I could make a dress for myself too! Only problem, I've never really sewed before. I remember working on a quilt made from scraps of fabric when I was a child, but I never finished it, and I've never done much since then. Still, now that I'm done with school, I think I need to do something else with my life than work. So, I have a new goal. First, sew a simple skirt and maybe a few other things, and then design and sew (or just find a pattern I like) a pretty dress for myself. And hopefully since I have posted this goal for everyone to see, I'll actually do it.

I'll Miss You North Carolina

I'm finally mostly settled into my new place, and today while driving through the cool 100 degree weather, I began dreaming of glistening rain and sparkling flowers from North Carolina. Plus, my mailbox here is not nearly as cool as some of the ones I saw back in NC.

I dearly miss North Carolina. As my time there came to a close, I realized how much I absolutely loved it.
The land. The people. The experience.

The Land

It's beautiful there. I've shown that beauty in past blogs. I have loved seeing the 4 seasons. I've never experienced 4 concrete seasons like I did in North Carolina. The first time I saw a firefly was last summer. Granted, it was in Maryland, but close enough. We had a campfire going, and I thought sparks from the campfire were going towards the grass. When I was told they were bugs, I was so excited!

The People

The people I met there were the best. Strangers were often quite friendly, and acquaintances quickly became friends. Due to the small size of the groups I was a member of, I feel I've made a strong connection with many people. For example, at school, there were three other US students in the same (or similar) program as me. We spent many hours on homework together. As grueling as that sounds, being together made doing the homework somewhat enjoyable. At church, having a smaller group helped me to get to know everyone. We often had parties where everyone was invited. There was always something to do.

The Experience

The combination of the people, the culture, and the land was a rewarding experience I never imagined possible. I hope to go back and visit someday soon. I'll try to take advantage of my free flights. Now if only I had more than 5 vacation days this year. Although, if anyone wants to visit me, I have 8 discount tickets for other people to use (standby).

And finally, here are some of the neat mailboxes I found a few weeks ago.

College Math Teacher Rule

Not all students will like you. (And if they do all like you, you're probably doing something wrong.) If a student is not coming to class regularly, chances are they don't like you. And if you don't want them writing a bad comment on your class evaluations, don't tell the whole class which day class evaluations are and that there is extra credit that day. They will come and write you a bad evaluation. Lesson learned for me.

"Instructor is incapable of connecting with students . . . to the point where I stopped going to class to maintain better grades." Maybe I had a bad day one day (like when I couldn't hear due to an ear infection) and if you kept going to class you would have done better in the class. Or maybe I just can't take criticism. At least I got these contrasting reviews, "Very systematic I always knew exactly what I had to do and how I was doing." and "Great teacher and class."

Tick Tick

I think me and the Mother Nature of North Carolina are done for the summer. Don't get me wrong, I love the outdoors, and it's especially beautiful here in North Carolina. However, after finding a tick on me a few minutes ago after already removing one earlier this week, I'm done. Three's a charm, and in the tick-biting world that might mean Lyme Disease.

Here is a little info about ticks. They can't jump or fly, but they can crawl.. They can get you if you're leaning next to a tree, standing near a bush or sitting on a log. They might even fall from a tree. When they do get on you, they crawl to a moist warm spot on your body.

My first tick this week I either encountered while going for a nice walk through the forest next to Lake Jordan or the nice walk around the park at the Lost Colony Visitors center on Manteo Island. I found the tick on my back. It looked like a small freckle at first, but no, upon closer examination it was a tick. The second tick I encountered either while camping this weekend at Lake Jordan or during my nice bike ride a few minutes ago. I think I see a common theme here: Lake Jordan. I guess no more Lake Jordan for me during the Summer. I found this tick on the side of my waistline. It was a bit bigger than the last one and much harder to remove. The pictures are of the second tick.

And more info about ticks. The only way to remove them is by gently pulling them out. Don't try any other method. I just use a piece of toilet paper and my fingers, but the experts recommend tweezers.

On a more positive note, I went on an adventurous bicycle ride today. I explored a neighborhood near my house. The most exciting thing I saw was the mailboxes! I'm going to have to go back and take a few pictures before I leave. The houses were pretty neat too. I do love North Carolina. Just not in the summer. (Did I mention I found 3 spiders in my bathroom just now?)

Family Vacation

I'm just going to refer you to this post made by my mother.

College Math Teacher Rule #1: Go to Class!

While reading this blog by a family member of mine and thinking about how funny her students are, I realized that I am a teacher too. Yes, I teach a class. I have 31 students. It's only just started to hit me that Tuesday was my last day of teaching them ever. The last memory they'll have of me is turning in their final exam next week. Maybe I should make it easier than the previous exams.

Anyway, I was thinking about all the funny things her students do and say. Why is it that mine aren't that funny? Is it because I only have 31 of them when I imagine she has a lot more, or is it because my students are on average 4.5 years older than hers? Do kids really mature that much in 4.5 years? Maybe it's just being in college. Or maybe it's because my average attendance rate is 22/31 students and the funny ones choose to skip class.

Whatever the case may be, I've discovered that math tends to be a rather boring subject for many students. After being entirely disappointed that one of my students fell asleep during class, I decided I needed to fix this problem. So, the next class I came up with a question about the TV Show, the office. Here is how I presented the problem during class: After 50 minutes of usual class, I told everyone to stand up and tell two people their favorite TV show. Then we proceeded to work out this question:

The Michael Scott Paper Company has just opened with 3 employees: Michael, Pam, and Ryan. In addition to their regular tasks, there are 3 additional tasks that need to be done each week by any of the 3 employees (copy materials, purchase bulk paper, contact clients). Their efficiencies on these tasks differ, where the time each would need to perform the tasks is given by the following table:

Time needed per week
Copy Materials Order Paper Contact Clients
Michael 5.9 hours 1.8 hours 6.7 hours
Pam 4.5 hours 2.4 hours 6.3 hours
Ryan 5.1 hours 2.2 hours 5.8 hours

Each task should be done by exactly one employee, and each employee can do at most two of the tasks. Additionally, each employee has some requirements: if Pam copies materials, she will not have to do either of the other two tasks; Ryan will not copy materials and order paper combined in the same week; and Michael will not spend more total time than Ryan. Formulate this as an integer program (decision variables, objective, and constraints) to minimize the total amount of time spent on these extra duties per week. Do not attempt to solve.


And to finish up, here are a few random comments from my students:

• Student: What's your last name? (This was the last day of class. I think he knows my first name at least.)
• Student: Can you just give us the exam problems?
• Student: I like the way you taught class. 
• Student: How do you do this problem? Me: Were you  in class on Thursday? Student: No. Me: We did it in class on Thursday.
• Student: My birthday is today! I'm 23! Me: *Not saying anything but realizing that I'm barely a year older than him.*
• Student: Can I miss class tomorrow to take an exam for another class? Me: So you're saying your other class is more important than mine?
• Student: I'm feeling a little lost with the homework. Me: Were you in class on Thursday? Student: No. Me: You should have come to class!
• Student: Don't worry, I love you too. *Looks around awkwardly.* (He said this to me after telling me he loved our TA. I guess he didn't want me to feel left out.)

I guess college students aren't as funny as high school students. And for anyone reading this who is still in college, here is my rule for you: go to class! It's rather annoying when students ask questions that were answered during class.

Super Taster

I always knew my taste buds were different from the average person. During biology class in 9th grade, I remember the teacher handing out small strips of paper that she told us to put in our mouth. About half the class immediately ran to the drinking fountain due to the horrid taste while the other half looked at each other confused. Reason: half the class has a gene which makes them able to taste a chemical that the majority of people cannot taste. I was among the tasters.

Sometime later, I had forgotten about this incident and I was watching a TV show, maybe the discovery channel, about how some people are super tasters. These people often find foods like broccoli to have a bitter taste. At that time, I was thinking, "That's it! That's why I'm so picky. I'm a super-taster!" Over time, I forgot about the show. As time passed during college, I decided I needed to get over my pickiness, and I've slowly started liking foods like onions and peppers. To this day, however, I do not like olives. Yuck.

A couple nights ago, I had some homemade enchiladas with fresh cilantro as a key ingredient. While the enchiladas themselves were really quite good, the cilantro had a flowery flavor I did not like. This bothered me, so I decided to read about it on Wikipedia. Sure enough, many people avoid cilantro leaves due to a "soapy" flavor! After some more research I read about supertasters, and finally put the two stories together. It's official. I'm a supertaster! Finally, I have a scientific excuse when I tell people that I don't like olives, dark chocolate, spicy food or when I add extra sugar to my lemonade and grapefruit. I've also figured out why I much dislike those sugar cookies you buy from the store that some people love. Apparently, supertasters don't like things overly sweet. Suddenly I don't feel as bad about my pickiness. Although, I think I'm learning to enjoy that extra flavor. Maybe our taste buds change over time.

Springtime

Spring has come and nearly gone again. I consider this the second real spring of my life. Being raised in the desert, I haven't often seen trees change from green to orange/brown to white/pink/purple/yellow and then back to green. While we did have a tree in our the yard at our house that had fallen leaves each year, I don't think it grew pretty flowers. And even the dessert has it's share of flowers. I was quite impressed our yard back home being covered in flowers. Still, it doesn't compare to springtime in the lush hills of North Carolina. Here are a few highlights.

These pictures come from a trail near my house. You have to cross a pipe that goes over a stream to get to it. When I took these pictures, the trees hadn't bloomed yet. I wonder what it looks like now!

Yesterday, I walked onto campus. I decided to sit underneath these huge trees with nice pink flowers. Isn't the view spectacular?

Criss-Cross Applesauce

Today during my office hours, several students asked how to subtract the fraction on the right. My immediate reply, "Oh, you just use criss-cross applesauce," and I proceeded to teach them about how to use criss-cross applesauce to subtract fractions. I told them about how it's a neat trick my high school algebra teacher taught me that I still use to this day. While I thought that many people knew this trick, it seems that not even the Internet has heard of it - at least in the math sense. So, I'm going to fix that. Here is the best way to add and subtract fractions with non-matching denominators. Enjoy!

Yes, I am a nerd.

Mushrooms

I have never liked mushrooms. Even now that I have grown out of my bland teenage tastes, I still don't like mushrooms. While I can usually handle eating a few, too many of those slimy, squishy objects do not make my mouth happy. However, a few weeks ago, I ate a fresh salad with mushrooms in it. They were fresh, white, and thinly sliced mushrooms, and guess what? I liked them! I'm not going to go nearly as far as saying they're my favorite food or start adding them to salad on my own, but this in itself is a victory for me. I ate a mushroom and liked it! Since then, I've eaten a pasta with fresh mushrooms, and a chicken carbonara sandwich from Quiznos with mushrooms. Each time, the mushrooms did not bother me (and maybe I even half enjoyed them). I've figured out the reason I've never liked them: the texture. All of the mushrooms I've eaten in the past have been slimy and squishy---a terrible texture. These fresh mushrooms have a much better texture. I think I prefer thinly sliced.

Also, I bought green and yellow peppers for the first time ever a couple of days ago. I've never liked those either, but I think I'm getting used to them. I had some fajitas last week, and I quite enjoyed them. I've discovered that after you cook the peppers, they actually have quite a nice flavor. Verdict: mushrooms should always be fresh, peppers should always be cooked. Tomorrow, I'm planning to make up my own recipe: pasta with ground turkey in a white grape juice garlic sauce with peppers, artichokes, and sun-dried tomatoes. Wish me luck that the combination isn't terrible.

Weekend Trip

I applied for one PhD program in Auburn, Alabama, so I took a trip last weekend to visit. It was a nice little town. They let me stay in the Auburn Hotel which was really nice, but not as nice as the engineering building.

As you walk in the entrance of the engineering building, you are greeted by marble walls, paintings, floor to ceiling windows complimented with luxurious curtains, tables decorated with flower arrangements, fancy rugs, and a grand staircase. Unfortunately, when I went back to take pictures, the building was locked, so I only took pictures of the outside, but even that is pretty nice to look at. I'm sure it's much nicer in spring and summer when the grass is green and the trees are full. Still, outside there are multiple courtyards, arched walkways, and seating areas. Just behind the two courtyards are two buildings under construction. I believe that these will also be a part of the engineering complex when completed.

I found this lake and building while on a bike ride around town. I liked the way the building reflected onto the pond, so I took a picture.









I was very impressed with how religiously minded people in this town were. I saw many churches while I was there, and the students and professors were very open about religion. I noticed that several shops were closed on Sunday, including Chic-fil-A.