Most of you know that I stopped eating red meat about two-ish years ago. (Well, pretty much. About every three months or so I get an irresistible craving for a steak...and after I eat it, I become sick to my stomach. Whether the illness comes from my frustration at my lack of self control or the meat, I don't know.)
I have taken it to the next step. I have cut out meat all together...Monday through Friday. I decided to do this for a couple of reasons. One is that it is healthier for you. The Word of Wisdom (Doctrine and Covenants 89:18...it's part of the Mormon cannon of scripture) tells us to use meat sparingly. Then there is the whole thing about how the animals we eat are treated before we kill them. It is shameful! We are here to be stewards of the earth. That means taking care of ALL of it's inhabitants, even the animal kind. (Watch Food Inc., or Food Matters...you will be shocked.)
Anyway, that's not the point of this post. The point is that I have found some UH-MAY-ZING vegetarian recipes! Most of you know what a picky eater I am so that is really saying something :)
1) First, the Pastas: Creamy Garlic Pasta
2) Avocado Lemon Pasta- this is my favorite!
3) Vegetarian Enchiladas
4) This is one I made up: Chicken-less Chicken Noodle Soup. '
Substitute Tofu for chicken
One can chicken stock
Your choice of noodles
One carrot chopped
One stock of celery chopped
Season with:
Tarragon, Rosemary, Thyme, Salt and Pepper to taste
(To be totally honest, I haven't actually tried it out with the tofu yet, but the chicken kind is delicious, and it should be an easy substitution.)
5) Green Monster smoothies- great for breakfast.
One problem that I am having is it seems like most of the good recipes out there are pasta based. Does anyone have some good ones that aren't?
Saturday, May 26, 2012
Sunday, May 20, 2012
Why Graduate School?
I get a lot of interesting reactions when I tell people that I am going to get a PhD in psychology. The most common are, "good, then you can fix all my problems/ diagnose me/ fix my kids." Well, developmental psychology is not that kind of psychology. The other common reaction goes something like,
Other Person: How long till you get your degree?
Me: Well it kind of depends on how long I take...probably around 6 years.
OP: What? Six years! That's a long time! Why would you do six more years of school?
(Which is sometimes spoken as if what they really mean is, "why aren't you getting real job?")
Well, allow me to explain.
Yes, it is more time in school. But grad school is different than undergrad in several ways. First of all, I am getting paid to go to school this time. (Actually, I'm getting paid to be a TA, but hopefully I will be on a grant soon and then I will get paid to go to school.) There are a few classes I have to take, but they are all applicable to my field. No generals! Besides, most of my time will be spent on research. Some of it will be other people's projects, especially at first. Eventually though it will be my own projects.
That leads us to the next step of the typical conversation.
OP: So what will you do when you're done?
Me: I'll probably end up at a university doing research and teaching.
OP: Oh, that's interesting!
(Roughly translated: "I don't know what that means, or what the point of it is.")
That is actually a really good point, and I'm not sure I have totally figured it out yet, either. But I do know that I like it a lot. It means asking questions and figuring out a way to answer them, then figuring out what the answers mean. You make and argument for why your question is important and what you think the answer will be, you justify your methods, you show what you found is statistically significant, and finally explain what you think it means and make a case for why what you found has added to the pool of human knowledge.
And that gets to the fundamental reason I want to go to grad school: to keep learning. My education has never been about getting a good job or getting through school...it has been about getting an education. At the end of my four years at the U, I knew I had learned a lot. But I had more questions than when I started, too. My goal is to answer some of those questions and ask new ones. That's the beauty of the whole thing. Answers lead to more questions, which leads to more answers, which leads to more questions! I love it! I am going to get to read and think and write and ask questions for a living!
Other Person: How long till you get your degree?
Me: Well it kind of depends on how long I take...probably around 6 years.
OP: What? Six years! That's a long time! Why would you do six more years of school?
(Which is sometimes spoken as if what they really mean is, "why aren't you getting real job?")
Well, allow me to explain.
Yes, it is more time in school. But grad school is different than undergrad in several ways. First of all, I am getting paid to go to school this time. (Actually, I'm getting paid to be a TA, but hopefully I will be on a grant soon and then I will get paid to go to school.) There are a few classes I have to take, but they are all applicable to my field. No generals! Besides, most of my time will be spent on research. Some of it will be other people's projects, especially at first. Eventually though it will be my own projects.
That leads us to the next step of the typical conversation.
OP: So what will you do when you're done?
Me: I'll probably end up at a university doing research and teaching.
OP: Oh, that's interesting!
(Roughly translated: "I don't know what that means, or what the point of it is.")
That is actually a really good point, and I'm not sure I have totally figured it out yet, either. But I do know that I like it a lot. It means asking questions and figuring out a way to answer them, then figuring out what the answers mean. You make and argument for why your question is important and what you think the answer will be, you justify your methods, you show what you found is statistically significant, and finally explain what you think it means and make a case for why what you found has added to the pool of human knowledge.
And that gets to the fundamental reason I want to go to grad school: to keep learning. My education has never been about getting a good job or getting through school...it has been about getting an education. At the end of my four years at the U, I knew I had learned a lot. But I had more questions than when I started, too. My goal is to answer some of those questions and ask new ones. That's the beauty of the whole thing. Answers lead to more questions, which leads to more answers, which leads to more questions! I love it! I am going to get to read and think and write and ask questions for a living!
Friday, May 18, 2012
Summer Songs 2012
It's time to announce this year's summer songs! I couldn't pick just one. Drum roll please....
Pearl and The Beard- Voice in My Throat
Sondre Lerche- To Be Surprised
Enjoy!
Pearl and The Beard- Voice in My Throat
Sondre Lerche- To Be Surprised
Enjoy!
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Being tender and open is beautiful. As a woman, I feel continually shhh’ed. Too sensitive. Too mushy.
Too wishy-washy. Blah blah. Don’t let someone steal your tenderness. Don’t allow the coldness and fear of others
to tarnish your perfectly vulnerable beating heart. Nothing is more powerful than allowing
yourself to truly be affected by things.
Whether it’s a song, a stranger, a mountain, a rain drop, a tea kettle, an article, a sentence, a
footstep, feel it all- look around you.
Take it and have gratitude. Give
it and feel love.
~Zooey Deschanel
Life Events
I have been thinking a lot about major life events in the last few weeks. I have experienced a lot of them in the last year: my big brother getting married, my dad leaving, my grandpa passing away, graduating from college, and going to graduate school soon. And as I have been pondering all these goings-on, I realized that, although they were all marked by a specific event on a specific day, they are all the result of a much longer process.
Cory and McKenzie had to meet, date, fall in love, and then all of that was marked with a wedding.
Dad leaving was the result of years of him lying (to himself as much as anyone else) and poor decisions on his part. (Those lies and poor decisions were, I believe, the result of him refusing to process his experiences in a healthy way.)
Graduating from college was a four year process of taking classes, writing papers, and generally all that school-ish stuff. Grad school took a grueling process of applications, essays, interviews, and standardized tests. All of that really started back in pre-school, where my formal education began.
Grandpa dying was really just the end of his process of living. With out the life that lead up to it, his death would have meant nothing. Because he impacted people around him and lived a life of purpose, it was extremely meaningful to me.
We live our lives and talk about them in terms of events. If you ask for someone's life story, they will usually tell it to you in a series of events..."I was born on...I graduated from such and such school...I got married on this date..." It's easy to say, "oh that was the day that I..." Marking important events is necessary and valuable. It lets us reflect, take in the importance, and let go if need be. But it is also important to acknowledge the process that got us to that event. Our lives are not a series of events...they are a series of processes that culminate in moments of meaning. If we ignore the process, it is hard to find meaning in or make sense of the important moments.
Cory and McKenzie had to meet, date, fall in love, and then all of that was marked with a wedding.
Dad leaving was the result of years of him lying (to himself as much as anyone else) and poor decisions on his part. (Those lies and poor decisions were, I believe, the result of him refusing to process his experiences in a healthy way.)
Graduating from college was a four year process of taking classes, writing papers, and generally all that school-ish stuff. Grad school took a grueling process of applications, essays, interviews, and standardized tests. All of that really started back in pre-school, where my formal education began.
Grandpa dying was really just the end of his process of living. With out the life that lead up to it, his death would have meant nothing. Because he impacted people around him and lived a life of purpose, it was extremely meaningful to me.
We live our lives and talk about them in terms of events. If you ask for someone's life story, they will usually tell it to you in a series of events..."I was born on...I graduated from such and such school...I got married on this date..." It's easy to say, "oh that was the day that I..." Marking important events is necessary and valuable. It lets us reflect, take in the importance, and let go if need be. But it is also important to acknowledge the process that got us to that event. Our lives are not a series of events...they are a series of processes that culminate in moments of meaning. If we ignore the process, it is hard to find meaning in or make sense of the important moments.
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