Food experiments and such

I made a random pizza crust out of chicken, flax and an egg, plus some spices for dinner last week and her is the recipe from http://yourlighterside.com/2012/02/easy-pizza-crust/

1 packed cup cooked, minced chicken breast

1 cup packed mozzarella, shredded (we used 1 egg and 1/4 cup flax seed meal instead)

1 Tbsp parsley, dried (I think it was too much, a tsp or 2 would probably be fine, depends on thickness of crust)

1tsp basil

1/2 tsp onion powder (we didn't have any, still turned out good)

1/2 tsp garlic powder

(Replace cheese with the flax and egg)

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Process chicken and cheese together. Mixture will resemble a meal/thick, dense crumb consistency.
3. Press chicken/cheese mixture on parchment paper on a cookie sheet.
4. Top with parsley, basil, onion and garlic powder.
5. Bake for 12 minutes.
6. Let cool for five minutes.
7. Top with sauce, cheese, and then toppings.
8. Bake for 6-8 minutes more, or until toppings are melted.
9. Let cool for five minutes.
10. Slice and serve.

Makes an entire 12-14″ pizza.

Allison then made a crust straight from chicken, she used a mallet to flatten it then cook it up.... She took out all her anger from me leaving the office messy while finding things to sell on eBay

Allison and I went to the Rec Center again, I kinda just rock climbed the whole time... and I got a flapper.  It's healed since, but secretly... I really like the look of my hands taped up after climbing, shhh don't tell

This past week I was also asked to do some drawings at the library for a display about the author Brandon Sanderson.  I'm a big fan and really like his writing style.  I don't read much fantasy or sci-fi (I don't READ that much when it come to novels, actually) but I do love sci-fi and fantasy.  I'm more of a visual guy and like my comics and graphic novels... and cartoons.... love me a good animation.

So, these pictures aren't the best to show off my drawings, but I like how the display turned out and even threw in a few original ideas based off the "chalklings" in his book illustrated by Ben McSweeny

I would love to have a shot at adapting one of his books into a comic...

Preferably The Alloy of Law, I love that one

He is coming to the Provo Library June 3rd at 7pm, free tickets may or may not still be available at the Library reference desk, and there is a standby line the night of, just sayin.

While out for a Sunday stroll, we came across this house with a vehicle with an attached snow-plow (not that unusual in Utah).... I started to point it out to Allison, and mid-sentence I stopped myself and changed topic to Ronald McDonald waving from behind the plow.... It was odd, but one of those things that make you happy that you saw it.

Not that much new has happened in the past week, but we have been busy.  Allison is racing through books like no other before she starts classes up again in a few weeks and I am mid-way through my Digital Illustration class.  We will be having a small art show in the HFAC on BYU campus sometime this summer... I think it will be my third that I have been in on campus. I'll keep you posted as it gets closer.

Great Time to Be in Provo

I’ve been in Provo, Utah off and on since August 2006, and I feel like with everything that’s going on this year, there has never been a better time to live in Provo. Google Fiber is coming, the new state of the art Recreation Center opened its doors last week, and new trails and park features are opening up as well! Provo is so amazing!

(Granted, I’m not a fan of the climate… but Provo has a lot of great things going for it.)

Google street view of our old place, with my car out front!

I’m so excited about the new Recreation Center (here's a KSL article about it with some pictures)! Way back when Ezra and I first heard about the new Recreation Center and where it was going to be located, we were stoked. We lived about two blocks away! Then we moved from our amazingly cheap and perfectly located 4-plex (with out of control mold and landlords who didn’t care about the property), to a little cottage on the outskirts of Provo (with absolutely lovely landlords who make sure everything is perfect and who give us free eggs). Nevertheless, we’re still in Provo and thus will reap the benefits of Google Fiber and easy access to the Recreation Center (which we would get regardless because we’re city employees, another reason I love Provo!).

A photo I took just now of our current place! Sooo much nicer.

On Monday while Ezra was at work, I took a walk down to the Recreation Center and registered my employee badge. I wasn’t dressed to work out so I wandered around and checked everything out. Best. Place. Ever! It’s huge, and gorgeous, with brand new state of the art equipment. I’m a fan of the Biggest Loser, and our new Recreation Center could seriously give the Biggest Loser gym a run for its money. It’s that awesome.

Thursday after work Ezra and I ran in and activated his card, and then I showed him around. Friday morning we actually went to work out. It was great. I had a lot of fun, and really feel like it lives up to all the hype. This morning I spent a few hours there while Ezra was working and just had a grand old time.

 Even if we didn’t get in for free (city employee perk), I honestly think it would be worth the membership. I try to be pretty frugal, but oh my goodness, that is the best work out facility I have ever seen. We will be there often!

Digital Woes or: How I learned to stop worrying and embrace first world problems

This is a semi conclusion to last weeks post from Allison.

This has been one of those weeks that as it is happening you feel frustrated, confused and all-together lost.... AS IT IS HAPPENING.... after the fact, it becomes ridiculous and silly and almost un-eventful.

Allison and I both had cell phone issues recently.  She mentioned her's last week and her new one came in sooner than expected, which rightfully distracted her from her papers for awhile. But she ultimately finished her papers and felt good about how they turned out.  She loves her freedom for the next couple of weeks but wasn't exactly knowing what to do with all her extra free time that suddenly appeared.  Luckily, being a librarian, she found books to read. Her phone on the other hand caused her to buy her first ever app so that she could easily transfer over data and such from her old phone.  Not having the soft keys respond to touch was causing her much misery. Everything in the end worked out fine, and she is happier now with her new phone.

We had a few good days with no real troubles, but then my phone had some issues on Sunday, the screen went pixelated and couldn't work properly.  Now, I enter into the land of the troubled phone.  I had to get a replacement phone and lost all my texts and a few other things, but it is kinda nice and refreshing to have a clean phone that runs smoother and has a battery that lasts longer. It is funny how much we rely on modern technology.  There are so many things that 5 years ago we didn't have to worry about and now for a fair number of us, say 55%, have a smartphone and somewhere around 87% of us have a cell phone in general.  These numbers keep growing and so does our dependence on technology.

Don't get me wrong, I love where we are heading in terms of technology and the future looks bright. If I was better at math I would have stayed an engineer instead of focusing on art, I still dabble in technology and making things though.  I just can't wait until we get hover boards and holograms. Simpler days weren't that long ago. Back when I had to worry about weather or not my mom made corn for dinner or if I was going to be able to earn enough money painting fences to buy a new video game and a new bunch of comic books. Ah, the good old days when I used to record tv shows with my vhs player... now we have the internet and channels broadcast their shows and save them online, and I have a job where I get regular money every two weeks, and a phone that is faster and more reliable than my computer was when I was in high school.

Last Saturday our car randomly shut off at a stop light on the way home.  It has never done that before, We had to push it into a parking lot and then called Allison's dad.  While talking to him we tried turning it back on and it did start up.  It hasn't done it again and we are hoping that it won't again.

Ah Technology

This past week was an interesting one. We got some new upstairs neighbors and they were able to get the internet figured out and back up and running on Monday. So we were without internet for about a week. Thankfully we had our smartphones which we were able to use instead.

Sort of.

My phone has decided it hates me (not really). For the past couple weeks I’d noticed it doing some weird things. For example, it would take screen shots in the middle of the night, I would wake up and see that it was searching for people, and this morning it turned my alarm off a split second after it started ringing, as it was flipping through different app panels. It’s possessed. Not cool. Thankfully it’s still under the one year warranty (barely) so I’ve got a new phone that should be shipped out today and arrive sometime around Friday.

Aside from being possessed, the phone isn’t dead, definitely still usable; the soft keys have just become really unresponsive, which makes navigating through my phone really difficult and aggravating. Oh well, I can survive a few more days.

On Friday we went to a coworker’s house and had dinner and played board games. We had a lot of fun and enjoyed getting to chat outside of work.

On Saturday after work we got together with our new upstairs neighbors and had dinner and played games also. It’s really nice having great neighbors, and they definitely fit the bill. They seem like really fun people to just hang out with, so there will probably be more of that in the future.

That’s all the news for this past week. Ezra’s started his spring class and this is the last week I have class until June. I’ve got two major papers to write, but I’ve got 100% in one class and 97-98% in the other class, so I’m not too worried. I just have to do it.

Later!

This week got forgotten about

I got super caught up in the week and forgot to post last Sunday. We also didn't have internet for a few days and that was tragic.  Allison and I started teaching Primary at church, CTR 4 class, cute little four-year-olds running around.  Last week was our 1st week and it was great once we started teaching, even though I was mostly the helper and just drew on the board most of the time. It was a great experience and we feel like we are starting to fit in now.

We have started hiking around the mountains out our back door.  It is really nice to be able to walk a few blocks and then start down a trail. On Friday the 26th, last week we ended up hiking over 6 miles and it was a blast.  I brought a sketchbook and drew as we went while listening to music and Allison listened to an audio book.

We also went to a co-worker's/friend's house for a BBQ.  It was fun visiting and seeing our friends outside of work. As well as seeing some of our old co-workers that don't currently work with us.

I'm tired and need to go to bed so, bye for now.  I'm sure Allison will post tomorrow a most excellent post as she usually does.