wrap up

This is a little something I put together quickly that basically wraps up the whole week.

Carnival Dream Cruise 2010 from sarah.n.dip.i.ty on Vimeo.

honey lemon-lime vinaigrette

Are you looking for a good vinaigrette? Or motivation to eat more salad? Try this one. Its all natural and sugar-free and mmm mmm good.

Honey Lemon Lime Vinaigrette

• 1 cup honey
• 1/2 cup lemon juice
• 1/2 cup lime juice
• 1 cup oil (I like olive oil.)
• 1 cup cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon dry mustard (ok w/o)
• 1 teaspoon leaf thyme

Combine ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Bottle and store at room temperature. (This makes just over a QT. I usually half it.)

I found this deliciousness at the Salt Bay Cafe, a cute little cafe in Damariscotta, ME.  One of my favorite towns in New England. It is charming and worth the stop if you are driving by on Route 1.

march 19th passed me by

So I just realized that March 19th came and went and I didn’t even acknowledge it. Why is this an important day you may ask. March 19th was the day, a number of years ago, I was on my way to Brazil to begin an adventure of a lifetime. It was in Brazil:  I fell in love with South America for the first time. I learned that a home is not complete without a blender and a compression pan. I learned the proper way to prepare rice and beans. I discovered maracuja and several different kinds of bananas and mangos. I fell in love with Brazilian food and have never completely been satisfied with American cooking since. (aka. processed foods) I learned that art of clapping at the gate. I discovered the value of stamps and envelopes. I learned to converse in Portuguese. I learned that the spirit can be present and family can be happy even if the home is made of rough boards and a dirt floor. I learned what it meant to labor with all my heart, mind, soul. I learned what it meant to suffer. I learned to keep going on when everything seemed to be going against us. I learned to work HARD and pray even harder. I learned to follow the spirit. I learned to love, love, love.

Everything I experienced and learned there has prepared me for today and for what the future may bring. (Family, trials, life…you name it, I can handle it. Even grad school.) I guess its because it was in Brazil where I really learned and experienced where my strength truly lies.

So often I get to thinking about everything I loved about Brazil and serving as a missionary and it makes me want to go back to those days.  Here are a few of the many memories. Sisters can be inventive. Don’t judge us, it was cold and there is no heating in the houses. Loved it! My favorite P-day retreat. Cachoeira do Franca. Surprise birthday party the Juquitiba Branch threw for me. Juquitiba. My home away from home. And my heart is still there. Sisters Conference

ya betta Belize it

Now we are in Belize. Official language: English. But they only speak it if they have to. Most people speak English Creole. I didn’t even know there was such a thing. But it sounded pretty cool. English Creole is comprised of only necessary words shortened and a little old English, spoken fast. My favorite phrase I heard is “Make haste, sista.” It is fun to know that people still say “make haste.” It is so Jane Austen-esque. And following it with “sista” gives it a cool Ebonics flavor. Language and how it evolves is fascinating.

Today we woke up early and traveled by boat to the port….

I love this picture. It was taken right when my dad got sprayed by the wake.

then by bus…

then by boat again to...

Lamanai. Mayan ruins. (sounds an awful lot like Lamoni or Lamanite.)

Lamanai was occupied as early as the 16th century BC. The site became a prominent centre in the Pre-Classic Period, from the 4th century BC through the 1st century CE. In 625 CE. Lamanai continued to be occupied up to the 17th century AD.

then we climbed to the top of…

The High Temple.

My dad is such a stud. He climbed it with us instead of waiting on the ground with the old guys.

Temple of the Jaguar.

This was yet another fun, adventurous day.

And….

mi día preferido

Honduras was the the country I was most excited to experience. I was not disappointed. It was everything I love in a Latin or South American Country. The hills, the jungle, the people, and the remoteness. Love it.

Zip lining through the jungle and hills of Honduras was the adventure of the day. Imagine standing on a platform on a hill in the jungle and looking across at another hill. There is a wire that will carry you across the valley to the other side. To where? You are not exactly sure because you can’t see where it ends. But you know this is going to be totally wicked! You are off. Soaring through and above the trees. Sometimes off in the distance you can see the ocean. It is all around beautiful and exciting.

There, now we both know what it was like to zip line through Honduras. We zip lined over a mile, to and from about nine or ten different platforms across the hills of Honduras. If you are scared of heights don’t look down, we are high, but it is way amazing and totally wicked.

Half the enjoyment came from our zip line guides. Four black men with carefree, island attitudes (Jamaican-ish), who know how to work any kind of camera. They sent us off and caught us at each platform, taking pictures along the way. They were awesome.

When we booked the excursion we were promised we would see monkeys and parrots. Silly us, we thought they meant in the wild.

After the adventure we spent a few hours at the beach.

So, in case there was any question, YES, I did love Honduras. And I would go back.

Zip Lining through Honduras from sarah.n.dip.i.ty on Vimeo.

guess what

Good news. There is a direct correlation between a person’s GPA and his or her mother’s education level. My kids will thank me one day.

I knew statistics was good for something. =) 

time is of the essence

I sometimes wonder if I will be alive and well in four weeks. I’m not going to lie this semester might just do me in. I don’t know what I was thinking when I decided to take 18 credits, including Statistics, Accounting, Finance, Budget, and more. I was in tears at the end of this last week. Exhaustion and FRUSTRATION. Frustration because I don’t feel I have time for anything besides school. I don’t have time to read, create, sew, write, explore, hobbies, exercise, serve, try new things, music, pluck eyebrows, paint toe nails, change oil, run…be a friend, sister, daughter, cousin, aunt… flirt, date, cook, study and learn other things, think... In essence I don’t have TIME TO BE ME. (Losing an hour with the time change didn’t help.) The final straw this last week was every time I planned to go to the temple something came up, and Friday I had had enough. (Yes, there were tears. It’s a good release. I’ll sometimes force myself to cry just for the relief of it.) First thing Saturday morning I went to the temple before anything could stop me. After that life was good again. I felt relief and comfort and perspective was back. I will get through this. I can do this. And even if my grades don’t represent all the time and work I have put into projects and studying, life will be fine. I really do love the challenge and the learning.

Sunday was a good day, too. The stake president spoke in sacrament meeting and said some things that were exactly what I needed to hear. Comfort. Isn’t amazing how things like that happened. No doubt, prayers are answered through other people. Most of what I needed hear came from a talk by Elder Eyring.

Real-Life Education.

“Your life is carefully watched over. The Lord knows both what He will need you to do and what you will need to know to do it. You can with confidence expect that He has prepared opportunities for you to learn. You will not recognize those opportunities perfectly. But when you put the spiritual things first in your life, you will be blessed to feel directed toward certain learning, and you will be motivated to work harder. You will recognize later that your power to serve was increased, and you will be grateful. Your service may not be in what the world would recognize as a lofty calling. But remember that when the real value of service becomes clear in the judgment of God, some people who worked in quiet anonymity will be the real heroes.”

“God Can Multiply the Effectiveness of Our Time. That is a true promise. When we put God’s purposes first, He will give us miracles. If we pray to know what He would have us do next, He will multiply the effects of what we do in such a way that time seems to be expanded. He may do it in different ways for each individual, but I know from long experience that He is faithful to His word.”

“The real life we’re preparing for is eternal life. Secular knowledge has for us eternal significance. Our conviction is that God, our Heavenly Father, wants us to live the life that He does. All we can learn that is true while we are in this life will rise with us in the Resurrection. And all that we can learn will enhance our capacity to serve. That is a destiny reserved not alone for the brilliant, those who learn the most quickly, or those who enter the most respected professions. It will be given to those who are humbly good, who love God, and who serve Him with all their capacities, however limited those capacities are—as are all our capacities, compared with the capacities of God.”

Life is good.

Some good finds this weekend:

I took a muchly needed break Saturday afternoon and went to see Leap Year at the “dollar theater.” I liked it. Sure its cheesy and predictable, but it made me laugh and its clean. Which is a rare find and greatly appreciated.

The reusable bags at Macey’s. They are a good size and they conveniently fold up and snap.

This was a good post that summed up some of my feelings on the temple and commitment to God.

rhinos, ruins, and other jaunts

Welcome to Cozumel. Our first stop and adventure day. The first item on the agenda: Rhinos. Our rhinos are complete with four wheels, gas peddle, and rollover bar. They are otherwise known as dune buggies. The ride features sunshine, beautiful beach, more gorgeous ocean (can’t get enough), Max the friendly but shy crocodile, mini Mayan ruins, a lighthouse, and snorkeling. The mini Mayan RuinsThis is not Max The LighthouseOn top of the lighthouseThe gorgeous blue ocean. Love, love, love it. Cliente, our guide and my Mexican boyfriend for a day. We love Cozumel.

sixty reasons why i love my dad

He’s the youngest 60 year old dad I know. He knows how to make good chocolate chip cookies. He didn’t kill me when I knocked both side mirrors off his car within a week when I was sixteen. He knows how to cut french toast just right. He likes to water ski on two. He likes to iron. He likes to watch movies while he irons. Patience, Patience, Patience. (Does that count as 3 or 1?) He has a great sense of humor. He texts.He makes great egg of the golden rod.  He looks great in a hat. He isn’t addicted to computer games. He doesn’t need the latest and greatest. He’s happy with his second hand canoe. He doesn’t take himself too seriously. He never missed a recital or concert. He’ll check my oil in my car even though I know how. He works hard to provide. He knows how to put up any type of tent. Always ready and willing to give a blessing upon request. He  likes to camp. He likes road trips.He’s not embarrassed to pipe in when his 5 daughters begin discussing things that aren’t exactly dinner conversation appropriate. He’s wise. He climbed to the top of the Mayan Temple in Belize with me. He waited for my mom to grow up to marry her. (ok not on purpose but it was a long wait.) I often catching him doing his personal scripture study. He’s a great grandpa. He appreciates and works toward a clean house. He lets me store my junk in his garage. He’s not obsessed with sports or cars.He has one good  joke. He can name any Mash episode. He’ll play games even though he doesn’t like them. He’s handy and knows how to fix things. He is willing to drive a clunker in order to avoid the debt of  newer car. He talks to the dog when he thinks no one can hear him. His handwriting looks just like Santa’s. =) He makes the best yams for Thanksgiving dinner. He is willing to do new things. He takes care of Grandma. He let me help him (or think I was helping) finish the basement. He makes the kids’ school lunch every morning. He’s happy. Where ever he goes people love him. He’s the best at math homework. He takes us all to Disneyland. He takes Dinah to ballet. He makes dinner for my mom when she teaching piano late. He lets my mom do the traveling for the both of them. He’s humble. He fulfills his church callings. He understands being single. He encourages me to have new  adventures and travel. He doesn’t play video games. He knows how to dance. (Ballroom)He gets excited for new adventures. No guy is good enough for his little girl. He’s my daddy!!!

Happy 60th Birthday Dad!!!

I LOVE YOU!!