Goals Twentyeleven

I usually don't make resolutions or goals or anything for the New Year, but I feel like 2011 is going to be a big year and should be recognized as thus. Therefore, my goals:

-exercise more

I know this is the most clichéd of goals/resolutions, but nonetheless, still something I want to do. I do alright with exercising when it's warm out and can run, but now that it's cold I need to find something else to do.

- cook real meals more often

This will be difficult to do until I finish school, but I'm really tired of eating pasta all the time and would like to branch out.

- get my Masters

This one should be easy to keep! I can't wait until May!

-celebrate said Masters with a trip somewhere I've never been

I'm looking at you, Peru!

-learn Spanish

If I ever get that Rosetta Stone program loaded on my computer, I'm going to start on learning Spanish once again, especially if we make it to Peru.

- get a new job

Another cliché of a goal, but one that I think I can make happen with aforementioned Masters

- go to Boston

It's been too long! Preferably in the warmer months.

- spend more quality time with Amber and Gabriel

Since they've moved to KY, I get to see these kids a ton, but only for short periods and usually there's other stuff going on. Since I don't know how long they'll be in KY (or me and Luis for that matter) I want to spend time doing fun things with them.

- have Marielly up for a visit in the summer

I love spending time with Luis' little sister and would love to be able to spend some quality time with just her. This one might be hard to do with our travel plans/job hunting.

-see Jill and Kathy

Also not sure how this will work out, but if we can make it happen, it'll be awesome.

- read less

I'm probably the only person in the world who wants to read LESS. I do love reading and spend a lot of time doing it, but I think I could spend less time reading and more time doing other things. I think I get so immersed in my books that I tend to ignore everything else around me. So I'd like to read less and try other things, like getting back into photography and conquering Goldeneye Wii.

Yup, it looks like 2011 is going to be an interesting year.

books 2010

In 2010, I read a lot less books than previous years, (last year's list can be found here) but I'm going to blame that on this being the first year I was in school for the entire year (even summer!). Still, I managed 115 books, the majority being young adult books. I had to read a lot of YA books for school, but a lot of them were really good.

Highlights include:

-7 re-reads, most due to grad school

- reading Paper Towns and meeting John Green

- meeting Patrick Rothfuss

- finally reading Ender's Game and discovering it is as awesome as everyone says

- I read 2 Newbery Award winners, When You Reach Me and The Midwife's Apprentice

Favorites:

Leviathan and Behemoth by Scott Westerfeld

The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins

The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan (more Percy Jacksonesque books!)

Fool's Errand and discovering how much I love Robin Hobb's books

Paper Towns and Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green

The Man Who Loved Books Too Much by Allison Hoover Bartlett

Little Brother by Cory Doctorow

The Arrival by Shaun Tan

Here's the list, as always, starred books are re-reads:

1. Tris’ Book – Tamora Pierce
2. First Lord’s Fury – Jim Butcher
3. A Sacred Landscape – Hugh Thomson
4. Odd and the Frost Giants – Neil Gaiman
5. Splendor – Anna Godberson
6. Hero Type – Barry Lyga
7. Stargirl – Jerry Spinelli
8. Identical – Ellen Hopkins
9. Whale Talk – Chris Crutcher
10. Speak – Laurie Halse Anderson
11. Jellicoe Road – Melina Marchetta
12. Living Dead Girl – Elizabeth Scott
13. Paper Towns – John Green
14. Angry Management – Chris Crutcher *
15. The Perks of Being a Wallflower – Stephen Chbosky *
16. Daja’s Book – Tamora Pierce
17. Parrotfish – Ellen Wittlinger
18. Green Arrow: Year One – Andy Diggle and Jock
19. The Arrival – Shaun Tan
20. Briar’s Book – Tamora Pierce
21. Manhood for Amateurs – Michael Chabon
22. Leviathan – Scott Westerfeld
23. Let It Snow – John Green, Maureen Johnson & Lauren Myracle
24. Feed – MT Anderson
25. The Adoration of Jenna Fox – Mary E. Pearson
26. The Killing Joke – Alan Moore
27. Graceling – Kristin Cashore
28. Nation – Terry Pratchett
29. Never Trust a Dead Man – Vivian Vande Velde
30. Chasing Vermeer – Blue Balliett
31. The Westing Game – Ellen Raskin *
32. Make Lemonade – Virginia Euwer Wolff *
33. A Step from Heaven – An Na
34. Climbing the Stairs – Padma Venkatraman
35. Purple Heart – Patricia McCormick
36. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian – Sherman Alexie *
37. Copper Sun – Sharon Draper
38. Sunrise Over Fallujah – Walter Dean Myers
39. The Boy who Dared – Susan C. Bartoletti
40. Exploding the Myths – Marc Aronson
41. Will Grayson, Will Grayson – John Green & David Levithan
42. Little Brother – Cory Doctorow
43. The Hunger Games – Suzanne Collins
44. The Book of a Thousand Days – Shannon Hale
45. Fairest – Gail Carson Levine
46. Bad Boy – Walter Dean Myers
47. The Doppleganger Chronicles: The First Escape – G.P. Taylor
48. Chasing Harry Winston – Lauren Weisberger
49. The Gardner Heist – Ulrich Boser
50. Lies – Michael Grant
51. Catching Fire – Suzanne Collins
52. The God of the Hive – Laurie R. King
53. Ella Enchanted – Gail Carson Levine
54. Shutter Island – Dennis Lehane
55. The Midwife’s Apprentice – Karen Cushman
56. Tentacles – Roland Smith
57. Fire – Kristen Cashore
58. Changing the World – Mercedes Lackey
59. Riker’s High – Paul Volponi
60. Heist Society – Ally Carter
61. The Red Pyramid – Rick Riordan
62. Marcelo in the Real World – Francisco Stork
63. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies – Jane Austin & Seth Grahame-Smith
64. All the Lovely Bad Ones – Mary Downing Hahn
65. Cryptid Hunters – Roland Smith
66. From China with Love – Emily Buchanan
67. Where the Mountain Meets the Moon – Grace Lin
68. Al Capone Shines my Shoes – Gennifer Choldenko
69. Socks – Beverly Cleary (audio book) * I had to listen to this, it’s read by NPH!
70. Magic Steps – Tamora Pierce
71. Naomi and Ely’s No Kiss List – Rachel Cohn & David Levithan
72. Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist – Rachel Cohn & David Levithan
73. The Adventures of the Princess and Mr. Whiffle – Patrick Rothfuss
74. Street Magic – Tamora Pierce
75. Because of Winn-Dixie – Kate DiCamillo
76. When You Reach Me – Rebecca Stead
77. Framed – Frank Cottrell Boyce
78. Sophie Pitt-Turnbull Discovers America – Dyan Sheldon
79. Kentucky Curiosities – Vince Staten & Liz Baldi
80. Airhead – Meg Cabot
81. Going Bovine – Libba Bray
82. Cold Fire – Tamora Pierce
83. Indiana Jones and the Secret of the Sphinx – Max McCoy
84. Medium Raw – Anthony Bourdain
85. Shatterglass – Tamora Pierce
86. Uglies – Scott Westerfeld
87. Mockingjay – Suzanne Collins
88. The Day of the Djinn Warriors – PB Kerr
89. Ender’s Game – Orson Scott Card
90. Changes – Jim Butcher
91. Princess Mia – Meg Cabot
92. Behemoth – Scott Westerfeld
93. Pretties – Scott Westerfeld
94. How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy – Orson Scott Card
95. The Man who Loved Books Too Much – Allison Hoover Bartlett
96. Another Faust – Daneil & Dina Nayeri
97. The Lost Hero – Rick Riordan
98. Pet Sematary – Stephen King
99. Forge – Laurie Halse Anderson
100. Doomsday Book – Connie Willis
101. Dr. Horrible and Other Horrible Stories – Zack Whedon
102. The Zookeeper’s Wife – Diane Ackerman
103. Boy Meets Boy – David Levithan
104. The Ring of Solomon – Jonathan Stroud
105. The Eyre Affair – Jasper Fforde
106. Mini Shopaholic – Sophie Kinsella
107. Zombies vs. Unicorns – Holly Black
108. Specials – Scott Westerfeld
109. Extras – Scott Westerfeld
110. Arrows of the Queen – Mercedes Lackey *
111. A Cook’s Tour – Anthony Bourdain
112. First Test – Tamora Pierce
113. Page – Tamora Pierce
114. Squire – Tamora Pierce
115. Fool’s Errand – Robin Hobb

First up for 2011: The Count of Monte Cristo, the unabridged version

What I'm looking forward to in 2011:

- Presenting at the McConnell Conference and meeting Sharon Draper (as well as other authors)

- reading the Newbery/Printz Award winners

- meeting Orson Scott Card in a few weeks and reading more of his books

- finally reading some of the huge stacks of books on my shelf

- Patrick Rothfuss' second book in The Kingkiller Chronicles

- the final Leviathan book

Kit Kat Adventure

My brother, Adam, and his wife just got back from a vacation in Japan (not just, it's been a few weeks). When I heard they were going to Japan the first thing I thought of that I wanted was Kit Kats. I had read this blog in the past and was fascinated by the many flavors of Kit Kats available in Japan. And I had to try them. Being the loving family they are, my brother and sister-in-law complied. They brought me these:

Clockwise from top left: Bitter Almond, Green Tea, Cola and Lemon Soda, Cherry Blossom

The only one that actually said what it was in English was the Bitter Almond, the others I went by the pictures. (I think the last one is cherry blossom, but I could be wrong). Despite what I had previously thought, Adam and Nikki had difficulties finding Kit Kats in Japan.

Anyway, the verdict:

Bitter Almond: This was one dark chocolate and the closest of all to a real Kit Kat. I couldn't taste any almond, but it was still tasty.

Green Tea: Very sweet, green in color. A little weird and grainy, but not bad.

Cola Flavors: I really liked these two. I loved the combination of two different flavors in one pack. (The Kit Kats in Japan come with two sleeves inside the box, each containing 2 bars). One was cola colored, the other yellow. I found both flavors to be tasty and they kind of fizzed when I ate them. Yummy!

Cherry Blossom: Probably the only one of the four I did not like. This one was also green in color. It was super sweet and I honestly couldn't figure out what it was supposed to taste like.

All in all, I found my Kit Kat adventure successful and tons of fun! It reminded me of being in Europe and buying random candy just to see what they tasted like!

Of course, they also brought me back this gem! I now have a Harry Potter book in 4 different languages!

HANSON

When I was 12, a friend of mine let me listen to her Hanson CD, Middle of Nowhere, and I was hooked. I ran out and bought MoN on cassette! considering I didn't have a CD player, and my mom thought I was crazy when I bought their CD once I finally got a CD player (all for that one song). I quickly became obsessed, covering my walls with Hanson posters, taping their interviews from the TV, reading books like Totally Taylor. When I was 13, Hanson was touring and went to Cincinnati, a mere hour and a half from where we live (I don't think Hanson has ever been to Lexington, psh). I remember begging my mom to take me, but she wouldn't. It was too expensive or something. Obviously, I was crushed. Hanson quickly fell of the radar and I figured I'd never see them on tour. I was still in love with them, but didn't think they'd be around when I could finally see them in concert.

And then Boston came. Not only does Hanson still make music and tour, but they came to Boston! And even screened their documentary at Emerson! I finally got to see the obsession of my tween years in concert (a few times, even). And it was everything I had imagined. Sadly, the past few years I haven't been able to make it out to one of their shows, but last week I convinced Luis to come to one with me! And it was amazing all over again.

I've been listening to Hanson's newest album, Shout It Out, pretty much on repeat for a while. It's an awesome CD and I love that most of the music on it makes me want to sing and dance (which of course makes their concerts that much more fun). My absolute favorite song is Give A Little, so good. I love that, 13 years later, they're still making music and they continue to grow as musicians. And they still sell out concerts, not as big of venues as they used to, but their shows are still popular.

The most recent concert we went to was at Moonlite Garden, which was an outdoor venue tucked in a really lame amusement park (4 story fall, really?). I was worried about Luis being frightened of all the crazy girls there (which, by the way, weren't as crazy as the last time I saw Hanson); I warned him several times that it would be crazy and that I couldn't guarantee that I would be "normal" during the event. I can't help it. As soon as Hanson runs on that stage I turn into that 13 year old girl who wanted nothing more than to see them in concert, but never got the chance. It's like a dream come true.

I'm not afraid to say it: I still love Hanson as much as I did when I was 13, and it's awesome!

plant update

In my last post, I posted a picture of my pepper plants and ginger that I had decided to grow. Now, a few weeks later, they look great!

Cayenne peppers, we've had a couple, they taste wonderful!

Green peppers, hopefully we'll get some more buds on these.

And this is my ginger! I had read online that you could buy ginger at the grocery and plant it and it would keep growing. Then, whenever you wanted to use some, you just dig it up, cut some off and replant it! I was skeptical cause I had planted it for several weeks before it began to grow. And now it's huge! I can't wait to use some!

shopping for fresh food

Lately, Luis and I have been making an effort to eat healthier and spend more time cooking using fresh ingredients and cut down on the amount of processed food we buy. When Jill, Carey and I moved into our first apartment in college, I think we owned two pots and maybe one frying pan. I spent many a night eating from instant pasta and rice packets and rarely buying fresh veggies. It was quick, easy and I was only cooking for myself so I didn't want to spend a lot of time in the kitchen. I wasn't concerned with what was actually in the food I was eating. After college, I started cooking more, but I often found myself resorting to using processed foods a lot. Now that Luis and I are both working and in school and have crazy busy schedules, we end up going back to college and buying pasta packets again. After getting sick of constantly eating pasta and not very tasty frozen stir fries, and watching Jamie Oliver make chicken nuggets -- I'd had enough. Luis and I decided to start cooking more often, invested in some really good cookbooks (that didn't all revolve around pasta) and began buying more fresh ingredients. I've also gotten really into gardening: growing herbs, green peppers and now tomatoes and cayenne peppers (and ginger!).

My peppers and ginger, in their early stages!

Now that we're finally buying fresh ingredients, and cooking delicious meals from scratch, like this Jamie Oliver sweet and sour pork:
I've noticed that our grocery bills are going up like whoa. This really bothers me. I've always said that I have no problem paying MORE money for BETTER quality food; if you can taste/see/smell/feel the difference, then I'm all for it. But I despise the fact that it costs more to eat healthy than to eat junk food. I understand that it costs more to produce fresh foods, but there is a serious problem in this country if going to McDonald's is encouraged, while eating healthy is discouraged. I am ashamed of you United States! I get the Sunday paper every week, and I always go through and look for the coupons. I used to save TONS of money at the store, but now not so much. Why? Because they don't print coupons for fresh vegetables - just for mac 'n cheese and instant stir fries. I hate that we live in a country that does not encourage fresh foods and healthy eating. I hate that you have to have money to buy foods that are good for you. It seems like, as a whole, we are encouraging people to be fat and eat junk. And that is wrong. I'm a lot happier and healthier now that I've stopped buying as much processed food. And I enjoy cooking with fresh, raw ingredients, even if it does take some time. And the end result is always way better than any bagged stir fry could give.

My new favorite cook book. I don't think we've made a recipe in this that we didn't love. I even made cheesecake, from scratch!

columbus, part two

Recently, Luis and I traveled to Columbus, OH once again to see the Columbus Crew in action. This game was much more intense than last year, and was successful in getting me excited about the World Cup! Columbus Crew managed to pull off the win over Chivas USA, but it was a good game overall.

Before the game, we went to the Columbus Museum of Art. Apparently, pretty much the entire museum, minus their special exhibit, is closed as they are renovating. Luckily, the lady there only charged us for one admission! We saw this exhibit which was pretty awesome.

Then we wandered around trying to find something to eat. Apparently, Columbus' downtown is similar to Lexington's - everything is closed on the weekend. But we eventually found some yummy Cuban food!

Hey Art.

Then, we went to the game where there was a drumline with really small children.

And our seats were amazing! It's crazy how you can get such cheap, good seats in soccer!

The teams warming up.

Good times.