COOKIES ON LINE 1!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hello my imaginary audience!!!  Time for an almost weekly update!!!

First things first . . . (what a confusing statement; of course if something is first, then it's the first thing you do) anyways, I got the Student Manager Job!!!!!  :] Yay!!!!!!!!!!!  I'm super excited!!!!!  It's going to be a lot of work, (seriously, I have a ton of training to get done by December 1) but I'm excited about it for a lot of reasons, mostly because it will be a personal challenge for me and allow me to strengthen myself and push my limits until what used to be my limits aren't my limits anymore, but have become my norms.  In the past, I've looked at the Student Managers and I've admired most of them; they're so . . . legit.  Seriously, most of them are totally awesome and know a lot of stuff about the Cougareat in general and are the kind of people I want to eventually be like.  To me, this is just another step to becoming the best me that I can possibly be.

Oh yeah, and this.

The Problem with Life is There's No Background Music

Hello, everyone!  I promise I'm still alive!  School started, so I've been *kinda* busy (kinda here meaning really, really, ridiculously, incredibly, insanely, crazy busy).  So . . . here's the low down:

* First off, I love all of my classes!!!  I'm taking Interiors, Food Science, Biology (okay, I don't love that one), Pearl of Great Price, Family Processes, and Developmentally Appropriate Practice.  If you need any explanations,  . . . then I shall proceed to explain:

• Interiors: introduction to interior design and all of the crazy stuff that you never knew was involved with that.
• Food Science: we have guest lecturers every week and they talk about food production and the stuff in food and the science behind it all.  I thought it would be a good idea cause it's only once a week and the only homework is to summarize the lectures and the final is a paper and you get free food.
• Biology: that icky horrible science that I hate SO much.
• Pearl of Great Price: We learn about Moses, Abraham, JSH, JSM, and the Articles of Faith.  In discussion manner, which is awesome.  Also, Noah Hartsock is in my class :] I was kind of freaking out the first day.
• Family Processes: this class is more about studying families and the connections that families share.  It counts for a family life minor, which I'm considering.
• Developmentally Appropriate Practice: saved the best for last; this class is AWESOME.  We are learning how to teach the little kiddies!!!  Everyone in their is either ECE or FACSED and it's so fun!!  

So that's classes. :]

*Second, I got another job and applied for a higher position at my original job.  I am now working as an RA at the Riviera, which is pretty much the sweetest deal ever. (I decided when I work, it's only five hours of babysitting the office, I can do homework while I work, and my pay gets deducted from my rent.  Like I said, it's pretty much the sweetest deal ever.)  As for the higher position at work, we had a couple of Student Managers decide to leave, so the powers that be asked for applications and I talked to my supervisor to get her opinion and decided 'why not?' and put in an application.  They called me this morning and set up an interview for tomorrow at 12:20.  I'm excited!!  I hope it goes well, but even if it doesn't, I'll still have a good job.

*Third, we went hiking on Friday!  and made cookies on Sunday!!  and have been having just a grand old time :]

*Fourth, my roommate got engaged!  J was engaged over the summer to this guy who was in my ward last year, but they broke it off about two weeks before fall semester started (ie, about a month ago).  So, we decided that boys are just stinky and gross and who needs them anyway.  SO . . . J grew up knowing this other guy (her new fiance) and he came back from his mission about three weeks ago, they'd never dated before, she saw him on Tuesday, the first time we met him was Friday night on our hike, they spent all weekend together (all three days of it), and Tuesday morning when we woke up and discovered J was still alive, she announced that they were engaged!  The date is December 20.  I'm excited for her!  I'm glad she's happy :]

And I think you're now officially up to speed on my life.  

And I've discovered why life sometimes just plain sucks.

There's no background music.

Blogging

So, obviously, as one with a blog, I consider myself part of the blogging world and I have to admit, it's kind of addicting!  I enjoy writing about my day and my life and everything that goes on.  Granted, some people don't really care about how crazy it was at work today or how annoyed I am with some people, but it definitely helps me organize my thoughts and feelings at the end of a stressful day or a crazy week.  And I like to think that I have pretty amazing stuff from time to time.  Such as bagels.  So delicious. :] 

My name is Leigha and I'm addicted to blogging. ;]

Pre- Education Week

The most stressful time of the summer . . . Education Week.  To prove how stressful Education Week is, I would like to share the dream I had last night with you all.  Last night, I dreamed I went home for the weekend (which is just silly; why would I go across the country for two days?  It's silly.) and then I woke up on Monday morning and it was the first day of education week and I had to be at work at 11:30 and for some reason or other, we were driving across the country and my Mom kept saying, "Don't worry, we'll make it!"  I couldn't find my shoes and my work clothes were dirty and my cell phone kept going off (it was, of course, my boss, wondering where I was).  And then, my boss was about to fire me, when I woke up and had to go to the bathroom.  Anyway . . . it was just weird.  So today wasn't too bad.  People were lining up before we even opened (at 11am) and the people didn't stop until about 2pm.  After that, it was pretty slow (time to prep for tomorrow).  I am SOO ready for this week to be over and for fall semester to start!

New Job

Yep, that's right.  I got a new job!  I'm still keeping the old one, though (I love it too much).  So fall semester will consist of class, L&T, and . . . The Riv!  I now work at my apartment complex as an RA.  Basically, I baby-sit the lounge and office area after office hours and take care of any emergencies that arise whilst the office staff are elsewhere.  So yesterday, whilst I was thus occupied, I started writing.  And I wrote a short story.  Which I used to do all the time, but haven't done for a while, so I gave it a whirl.  I think this is so short that it can't even be considered a short story.  It's a . . . blurb.  Yeah, a blurb.  Anyways, here goes:

“I will follow you into the dark.”

            Jeffrey’s heart pounded against his chest.  Could she hear it?  Did she care?  What was he reading in her eyes at that very instance, the instance where one suddenly finds themselves betwixt body and soul and torn to follow one but yearning to follow the other? 

It’s so different than I’ve ever imagined it would be.  The many dreams I’ve envisioned, the thousands of moments I’ve invented, the countless occasions I’ve conceived have been so different from this moment, here and now.  But what do circumstances and surroundings matter?  The thing that matters most is him.  Him . . . Jeffrey Adam Taylor, Junior; this . . . boy . . . is the one thing that matters.  But it’s so dark and I’m so confused right now.  How could I ever make such a decision when I’m in this kind of condition?  Nothing feels right . . . but nothing feels wrong.

He reached for her hand; she squeezed it, hard.  Did she know what was happening, or what was about to happen?  How two people were about to change the world?  Was she nervous, too?

His hand . . . it feels so right holding mine . . . or does it?  I don’t want to make a mistake.  People say can always fix mistakes, but not this one.  This is one mistake that can’t happen.  I don’t want it to.  For me.  For him.  For the future.  My future . . . what is it supposed to be?  What will it really be like?  Is it what he and I want . . . or is it something different?

How could she decline?  She wouldn’t; she couldn’t.  Her body wanted it, he could tell. 

I just want to make the right choice.  And I just don’t know if it’s him or not.  But if it’s not him, then who is it?  How do I know?

This was it.  He knelt. 

Oh no, here he goes.  And I still don’t know!  What do I do? 

“Julianna Leigh Albright, --”

Julianna Leigh . . . my grandmother.  What would she say?  When faced with this kind of situation, what would she do? 

“—will you, --”

His voice . . . it’s so soothing.  His hands . . . they’re so strong.  His eyes . . . looking into mine . . . they’re nervous . . . but resolved.  This feels . . .

“—marry me?”

 . . . He will follow me into the dark,  

He had said it, just like he had practiced saying it, over and over, until he couldn’t stand the waiting any longer.  Her lips parted.  “But will you bring me back from there?”

D-Vine

Today I finally started baking again!  On the menu: Chocolate Mousse in Cookie Bowls

First, we have the cookie bowls.

My partner in crime, Hanna, and her mad skillz with a rolling pin.

As always, roll out the dough!  In order to make the bowls, you want to roll it out kind of thick (1/4-1/2 inch).

Test "cookies" 

 And then you drape and mold them over the bottoms of a muffin pan! (Creative, right?!)

They should look kind of like this.  The original recipe uses fluted muffin pans, which make very classy looking bowls, but a regular muffin pan works, too.

 Cover a dozen or so muffin bottoms (and don't forget to spray the pan so that the cookies won't stick because that would be terribly unfortunate.).

Before the Oven

 Pop them in the oven for about 10 minutes. (@ 350 degrees)

After the oven

 Very, very, very carefully, remove the bowls from the tins.  The easiest way we discovered to do this was to run a knife along the bottom (the lip) of the bowls and then gently left them up.

They come out beautifully!!!

 And set them on a rack to cool :]

Cue Ray Charles: "You are so beautiful to me . . . etc"

While they're cooling, on to the Chocolate Mousse! (you can find the actual recipe for the chocolate mousse in one of my links over on the side- biggirlssmallkitchen.com.)

Basically, this is chocolate chips, water, butter, eggs, sugar, an salt.  Together,  they have it all.

 At this point, it smells delicious and looks very chocolatey.

Before the fridge/freezer.

 So, we didn't chill it for quite long enough so it was more like a chocolatey soup than mousse.  But it was still wonderful!!

And this is where the real test of your skills comes in to play.

 And you combine the two in perfect harmony.

They look wonderous . . . angels designed for these two to be together.

 And the bakers saw the chocolate mousse, that it was a thing of greatness.

Sprinkle a little powdered sugar on top, and you have the equivalent of pure gold.  You could also do  fresh raspberries or a sprig of peppermint and that would pretty much be perfection, but we didn't have any because we're poor college students without a vehicle to call our own.

After sprinkling the powdered sugar, prepare yourself for the most amazing dessert ever and enjoy! (Don't forget to breathe during the process.)

Lemonade

So, I've been home and away from Provo for the past two weeks.  And it definitely hasn't been perfect . . . but it's been FANTASTIC!

You know, I love lemonade.  It's so refreshing on a hot day; well, any day for that matter.  I learned the best part about lemonade from my cousin.  It's doesn't have to be perfect to be wonderful.
Just like family.