If I can make it there, I'll make it anywhere

I'm in Provo.

Why?

Oh, well, I live here now. I'm in my room, and this morning I at my food, and the other night I walked my city of Provo with Sam so we could get my favorite - coconut and mango frozen yogurt with fruit and cheesecake bites (dude, so good).

I haven't fully unpacked or uploaded all of the photos I took on my cross country trip with the Dransfields but I'll get there. I did however discover the beauty of GAP sales and bought a pair of jeans for $30 that fit me well and I don't need a belt with them - so that's pretty cool

Being in Provo as a resident is weird. I think my mind expects me to be leaving in a week but I live here now. Crazy. It's also weird not having a car. I don't mind walking places but I will tell you my first order of business is getting a car.

Sam and I went to a free concert the other day. We ate free popsicles, did a lot of people watching and listened to Nik Day.


I think I'll update more on my fun... after I unpack and make some progress with other things.

Utah Fun

I have just begun my trip out to Utah and I already have fun summer plans out there.


"Well, what are your fun plans in Utah?" - you might ask.

We are going to Stadium of Fire, for one. Sam says I need to go to the Freedom Festival events too - so that's a weekend of events.

I am hoping to have a car by then and maybe I'll get to travel down to Vegas for the 4th of July.

Tickets were purchased this morning for the midnight showing of Harry Potter - Part 2 on July 14th, and plans are being made to buy our season passes for BYU Football and Basketball.

It sounds like I'll have quite the social life - lets cross our fingers for a job too!

Spinach Carbonara & Being home

for those of you who are my facebook friend and just saw me post a status about this, skip down to the recipe...

I forgot how many good things I have at home. Family, of course. Friends like Mike (except he's in Caz working and I probably won't get to see him before I move to Utah) and Laura (who I do get to see, ha ha Mike). And friends like Sam, Tommy, Brandon and Mal(hulio) are home too - that's fun because I just left VA where Mal and I have been for four years and I am about to move to Provo where I'll get to have my Sam, Tommy and Brandon time... well, my Sam time at least. (Tommy y Brandon tienen novias.. eh)

Besides friends and family, you may be wondering what else is good about being home. I'll make a list for you:
- Driving back roads to get everywhere

- Why? Because I remember them, and I think that's pretty cool

- My brother is graduating (it's been a long, hard road so I'm pretty proud)

- Holy Cow. It's a staple in Red Hook living, and the best ice cream place ever. I like ice cream, and I've eaten ice cream in a lot of places and I still crave a good Strawberry Shake every time I come home. I've already had one. I think I'll get another, maybe a chocolate shake too, or a twist with rainbow sprinkles. yum.

- My bed. It is hands down the most comfortable thing, ever. I knew it too, every time I laid my head down at night in my bed down there I remembered my beautifully firm yet comfortable Sealy mattress awaiting my arrival back in NY. 

- Cable, because I can now watch CNBC. Yes, this morning I woke up and watched them talk about stock analysis on different companies and how the NASDAQ was doing. **Business Nerd, much?**

- Food Network

Oh, how I have missed the Food Network. Other than watching CNBC and some crappy TV show called Teen Wolf that MTV has come out with (promise, I watched one episode and then called it quits), I have been watching Food Network. Sometimes I'm not even watching it, it's more like background noise which I occasionally pay attention to and sometimes I'll jot down the recipe name so I can try it later.

While watching 5 Ingredient Fix yesterday the host, Claire, made Spinach Carbonara. It seemed so easy and with it being a 5 ingredient recipe (Spinach, Bacon, Pasta, Eggs, Parmigiano-Reggiano Cheese) it was something I could remember while shopping with Sam.


(Oh, we went to Wal-Mart. Her dad thought it was funny because when I get out there we get to have Wal-Mart trips whenever we want but it was so fun to have one in NY)


So I bought the goods to make it, came home all excited because I wanted to make it for Father's Day and I heard, from Dad, - "Why don't you make Cacciatore for Sunday?"

this is common because almost two years ago i made up

my own recipe for cacciatore basing it off of others i had seen

online and now everytime i come home, dad requests that i make

that famous cacciatore.  

"Well, sure, I can but I have stuff for Carbonara"


"I don't like bacon" said Dad


"I don't like spinach" said Joey


"I don't like anything other than butter on my pasta" George would have said if he were around


Oi! But it sounds so good!! 

Never fear, I will make Spinach Carbonara while I am home if I 

have to do it at a friends house, I will make it.

Well, for your enjoyment here is the Carbonara recipe. If you make it first, tell me how it works out. Or, do you have another recipe for Carbonara or other yummy Italian dishes?

Ingredients

• Salt
• 1/2 pound slab bacon, cut into 1/2-inch chunks
• 1 pound fresh or dried spinach fettuccine
• 1 whole large egg, plus 2 large egg yolks, at room temperature
• 1 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, plus more for garnish
• 2 teaspoons freshly cracked black pepper
• 2 cups baby spinach leaves

Directions

Bring a large pot of water to a boil over medium heat and salt generously. 

Put the bacon in a large high-sided skillet and cook over medium-high heat until crisp, about 10 minutes.

Remove from the heat and reserve bacon in the pan.


When the bacon is about halfway cooked, drop the pasta into the boiling water and cook about 4 minutes for fresh or according to the package instructions if using dried.


Meanwhile, whisk the egg and yolks, 1 cup cheese and pepper together in a small bowl.


When the pasta is ready, return the skillet with the bacon to medium heat. Using a ladle, slowly whisk about 1/2 cup pasta cooking water into the egg and cheese mixture until loosened. Reserve some additional cooking water. Drain the pasta and add it to the skillet.


While tossing continually, slowly drizzle the egg mixture over the pasta until it is completely coated. Add more cooking water if pasta seems dry. Add the spinach leaves to the pan and toss until combined. Transfer the carbonara to a serving bowl and serve immediately with more cheese sprinkled over the top.


Cook's Note: The key to perfect carbonara

Dear U.S.P.S.,

I'll probably pay at least $100 in shipping costs tomorrow as I send off 6 boxes en route to Provo BUT I feel so much better when I put stuff in those silly (read: amazing, wonderful, what did we do before them!?) flat rate boxes. I have things all over my apartment. Everywhere. Occasionally I stop and look around making mental checklists (yes, I can make more than one in my head... Type A much?) about what is going home and staying there, what is going to go with Mother and I out to Utah, and what is left and where I want it to go. I get frustrated because I have more things I want to have in Utah but I don't know how it will fit in her car.

Walk to the front door. Pick up another large flat rate box (which isn't very large). Tape it. Fill it. Tape the top. Address it. Add it to the pile. Take another bite of a cinnamon roll.

Yeah, I made cinnamon rolls at 10:30pm for motivation. It's working.

I promise I am leaving Buena Vista tomorrow. Promise.


P.S. Did I mention that when I get home Sam will be in NY? With Brandon, and Tommy soon to follow. Mallory too at one point, maybe. I get to be with my best friends in NY and then we all go back to UT around the same time. Perfect.

Let me tell you about my friend....

This is my super cute, other half, voice of reason, best friend, Sam. 

Come this September I will have known her for 17 years. Seventeen. We've been through K-12 together, four years of Seminary, two proms, one Mormon prom, "shared" two boyfriends (dated same guys, different times), dealt with large piles of less-than-ideal situations and circumstances, and so much more. For the past four years we have lived on opposite sides of the country - her in Provo, Utah and I in Buena Vista, Virginia. We have pursued different degrees - hers in Education (correct me if thats wrong dear ha) and mine in Business Management. We have dated different guys (ha) and helped each other through more of life's trials at a distance. We've been able to see each other over Christmas vacations and sometimes during the summer breaks too, but it's always a short visit. I have been telling my favorite half Hawaiian that I was going to visit her at BYU since freshman year. If it wasn't finances holding me back it was bad timing, until this spring break when I finally made it happen. It was the best timing because the boys were finally all home from their missions and I was about to graduate with no idea of what I was doing after. I visited and found a love for Utah, and now I am moving. It is still pretty surreal to both of us but not only will I be living in Provo but Sam and I will be housemates for two months this summer. 

Samantita (Squishface, Tomato-Squash, Tha, Sammi K, etc) and I had a skype date today and it just reminded me of why our friendship is so good. It is not a friendship that either one of us has to baby, we just kind of pick up wherever we left off the previous time we saw/spoke/hung out with each other and it works. 

She even teases me a little when during our Skype Date I paint my nails, twice. (I just hate when the nail polish doesn't dry fast enough and you mess it up. Bad, ain't it?)

I definitely put this on my graduation announcement. I felt the picture was appropriate - a celebratory jump in the air, getting ready to land who knows where.... yup, sounds like graduation from college to me.

I don't remember what this face was in reference too but I still think it is a funny photo.

Boomer doing homework and Sam and I planning my trip to Utah.

I wish I could say what they were making faces about but I don't know if those involved read this blog. I will say that the phrase " are they siblings? he looks like her father " were uttered.

....did I forget to mention, She's single? 

:)