Swissmiss

Today we celebrated Swissmiss, a non-traditional festive occasion to commemorate all things Swiss. To celebrate we made fondue, from Scratch! I used a crockpot instead of a Fondue pot since we don't own one.

The Recipe:

12 oz. Chicken Broth, (as a replacement for beer)
8 oz. Sharp Chedder Cheese
8 oz. Aged Swiss Cheese
1 tsp. of Salt
1/4 Tsp Pepper
2 tbls. Flour
Dash of Garlic Powder

Shred all the cheese and throw everything into the crockpot. Let it simmer for about and hour and a half. Stir often.

I used slices of polish sausages and sourdough bread to dip in the Fondue. It was delicious! The Chicken Broth was a delicious alternative for Beer. Which we felt guilty buying.

I also made Chicken Divan. Which is a great meal that I always requested as a child. The boys really like this. It makes for a simple and yummy casserole.

Ingrediants:

3 lbs Boneless Chicken Breast
2 cans Cream of Chicken
1 cup Mayonaise
2 TBLS. Curry Powder
1 Bag of Frozen Broccoli
2 cups shredded Chedder Cheese
1 cup bread crumbs

Heat oven to 375. Mix Cream of Chicken, Mayo, and Curry together to create sauce. Cube and place thawed chicken into a 9x13 oven safe pan. Mix Sauce, Chicken and Broccoli together in pan. When mixed, place a layer of cheese and bread crumbs on top for "crust." Bake for 1 hour. Then eat!

For more wonderful recipes check out my Mom's cooking blog!

Tribute

This isn't the worst fight scene in the world. It is only a tribute.

Greenbrier had a talent show. We thought we were talented enough to participate. My roommate Melissa is the Narrator, Megan is Capt. Kirk, and I am the lizard. We based it off of our love for a Youtube video of the same title, minus the tribute... because we tributed the video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1eFdUSnaQM

THIS TAKES THE CAKE

lol. I love my bunny cake. I forgot to get a shot of the snowball tail... but you get the picture.

We had our weekly Sunday dinner with another apartment. This week we invited our FHE brothers. We had taco salad. It was probably our best dinner yet. The guys stayed for a few hours and we played twister, I went and talked on the phone for a half hour, came back and then we had the cake. They thought it was kinda creepy. Especially when I divided the head in half.

I am pretty proud of myself.

Weekend

I decided to make a bunny cake for myself. I'll tell you how it goes.

Life has been flying by for me. It's like I haven't had a break in a while. Before I know it the weekend is here again. Then the weekend flies by and it is school again. I think what I need is a day when I sleep in. Like until noon. Who knows when that will happen.

Snowball Effect

[ Snowball effect ] : is a figurative term for a process that starts from an initial state of small significance and builds upon itself, becoming larger (graver, more serious), and perhaps potentially dangerous or disastrous (a vicious circle, a "spiral of decline"), though it might be beneficial instead (a virtuous circle).

[ Snowball effect on Kristen] : is a "figurative" term for a process that starts from an initial state of smallness and builds upon herself becoming larger.

Let me begin with Walmart is evil. Why on earth would they tempt me with the dessert of the Gods all wrapped up in a package of 12 for $3? Serious. The temptation was too much. Now I have eaten 6 in two days. My innards are screaming for more. They can't help it. The thought of delicious cream filled chocolate cake, enveloped in a marshmallow shell and topped with pink coconut. Heavenly.

I am grateful my wonderful, fabulous and awesome roommate Natalie bought some too. I'm at least not alone in this conquest of deliciousness.

Half my family is utterly disgusted by coconut. It makes me sad. I see no reason why they can't enjoy it. As a child I had to listen to complaint after complaint of "why someone would put coconut in dessert?" I was the child in the baking cabinet eating the shredded coconut by the handful. I loved it.

My love of pink snowballs began at an early age. My Mom used to take us to the Hostess/Wonderbread discount store. A reward for us acting properly was that she would allow us to choose one hostess snack to take home. I loved the Hostess Store. It has so many good memories. I can picture it now. The wall of bread, the cart section as you enter the store.... and the metal crates, filled with pies, ho hos, cupcakes, and my beloved Snowballs. I always got the snowballs, without fail. I couldn't wait till my Mom "finally" approached the cash register. The woman would slide my snowballs across the scanner and I would be in heaven.

My first recollection of pink snowballs occurred when I was about 4 or 5. My Mom, who is very creative, had made this birthday cake. It was a pink bunny with green grass around it... and a pink snowball tail. That was my first taste, and that is what has driven my love of snowballs my whole life. Whenever I look at snowballs I remember that cake. How delicious it was and how that tail was a changing point in my life.

I think I'm addicted.

Silly Me

Background to my odd situation: Yesterday Grandpa Olsen came to visit with Marva. They had been in Island Park visiting with my Uncle Alan. I saw my Aunt at the career fair and knew that Grandpa and Marva were probably in town also so I expected a call from them that day. Low and behold while I was at work in the computer lab my cell phone started buzzing. The Lab was unusually busy that day so I had to wait to call them back.

We arranged to go out to dinner before my night class. Craigos and Pizza were on my mind... so we went there. Well as we were walking into Craigos I looked at the sign. Memphis. I didn't see the words, I saw the typeface. The angled t, the slab serif, the geometric modernist design. The A with a serif on the point.

A weird thing has occured in my life recently. I have become obsessed with type. Fonts, fonts fonts. 26 letters, glyphs, punctuation. It fasinates me.

Well we sat down and enjoyed a nice meal... me thinking about how much I was in love with Memphis.

Grandpa and Marva invited me to go hot tubbing that night and I met them after my class and their concert. Well I showed up after the concert and then they invited me to stay the night at the hotel with them. It was fun. I miss having a huge bed to stretch out in. Plus I couldn't pass up spending more time with them or a free breakfast in the morning.

Well I enjoyed my bagel, muffin, cereal, orange juice, and danish... then they drove me to work. The funny thing about my job is that I don't do much. I sit around most the time running updates on the computer and telling people they can't do something because they are in the wrong program or they haven't even selected the right layer. But at 7 in the morning there is no one. So I sit alone. I have a lot of time to browse the internet. Well as I sat there thinking of things to look up I remembered... Memphis.

I started looking up the price to purchase Memphis. $135.99. That is what stands in my way of true font love. I then sat reasoning that if I was willing to spend that much for one type face... why not $99 more for Helvetica.

Why all of a sudden have I become totally irrational? 26 letters for $135.99. That is $5 something per letter. I need help. I do not need Memphis... even if he is beautiful.

Tribute to 2008

I thought I would make a video of my life this past year. I've had some amazing changes and firsts. I had my first kiss, I know it took long enough. I also came home from the mission.

It was a difficult transition for me. I spent many a night dreaming of returning to Norway, crying over not being there and wishing I never left. The dreams stopped about four months ago. I think the last one was the worst. It ended with me dreaming of driving down the freeway in Bodo Norway, looking at the people in the car telling them, "I was so happy here." I woke up crying. I am finally leaving that stage in my life and trying to find happiness where I am.

Returning to school was a challenge at first. I had to drop a class because I couldn't take the work load. It was the first time I took under 16 credits. I was physically and mentally exhausted. I didn't have time for church activities, and it was the first time I never attended even one ward social in a semester. I loved living with Meagan. It was good to have a close friend I could trust in and just dance and be myself with. She is a spiritual giant, I love going to the temple with her and listening to her philosophy of life. She is so deep.

My internship was great this summer. I learned a whole bunch about business, design, and how to work with clients and senior designers. I think it gave me a taste of what to expect when I graduate. (Which is in July!)

I finally started dating this year. I had gone on a handful of dates before my mission. Dating has proven to be difficult for me. I am super sensitive and have anxiety about how others think. I really want to find someone to love, but I still have a lot of growing to do first. I just need to settle on a boy and not get scared when they come after me.

My family has been good to me this year. They are still my biggest source of anxiety, but that's what family is for. You can get frustrated enough to forgive them. My Mom got me a cat. It stressed me out at first, but I love the little thing. I really wish I had her with me. Both my Mom and the Cat. :)

This next year hopefully will be better then the last. I hope there are some more positive changes in my life