dim sum and day 1

I had dim sum today for the first time. it's easy. just slap on a brave face, make it somewhat convincing, and go for it. we [me, luz, carmen] went to 186 - the asian - market on spring mtn and decatur.

I ate sticky rice with chicken (and mushrooms), sha??-mai (pork dumplings), a little cake-thing that looks like salmon, shrimp wanton-things, and milk-tea boba. it had caffeine. oops.

But luz offered to pay since i'm the young grasshopper in this case, so i made a conscious effort not to disappoint in my taste-testing of the dim sum offering. really, it wasn't that outta wack for me since i'm a pro eater and hardly ever hesitate to eat anything. i eat everything. that's why they appointed me to be their grasshopper to instill all their crazy filipino dishes on.

Here's the news: i enjoyed the sticky rice and wanton the most, i swallowed every bite, and i have passed the dim sum test. i think i've been promoted to trying chicken feet next.

....in case you were wondering

GC day 1 RESULT:

I noticed that didn't so much delve into gc as much as i avoided everything else. not good folks. i need to find a better approach.but i did notice that i was in a super light and happy mood all day today. does it relate? i don't know. i guess i'll find out soon enough.

But making myself more aware of what i did throughout the day allowed me to use my day more productively. i went to class, did homework, blogged, practiced the organ, cleaned. still, overall: day one was a flop, but only because i didn't actually listen to general conference today. i'm downloading tons of gc recordings manana bright and early to fix this minor unsightliness. i believe i would get more out of this experiment if i include it in knee-time as well.

Today i'm working out the kinks. i really think something good can come from this though, so i shall keep trying. :)

General Conference experiment

GC stands for General Conference. today is feb 1.

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So i am taking on this challenge [and believe me when i say challenge] that bro hansen mentioned in institutes class. the challenge is that from feb 1 through feb 7, the only media i choose to hear [or watch] outside of school or work will only be GC related. that includes talks, music, and anything from last general conference.

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I'm a little nervous. this is taking a leap out of my routine ordinary day.

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On an ordinary day, i default to turning on the radio as i get dressed/ready in the morning. i sing loud and proud. if i decide to cook food or clean, the music goes on again. when i get home from school, i plop onto the couch and watch some crazy tv show. are you smarter than a 5th grader or cash cab? nevermind let's watch chopped. oh wait! is it time to go to bed already? lookee there, music goes on and i brush my teeth.

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So basically, the temptation to go into "auto mode" is quite resounding. so i've been making mental notes and even decided to carry around the conference ensign with me to school today.

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BUT! i'm doing really good so far! this morning, M turned on some music as he gave me a ride to school. and my reflexive response was to cry out a lengthy "nooooooo" and give the ensign on my lap a little shake to remind us both of my mission for the next week. it worked.

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By participating in this experiment, we are testing to see if, and how, listening solely to gc for the next week will influence our lives - from our attitude, to our awareness, to our thoughts, to the Spirit being more present, to our obedience of what the prophets say, to.....you name it.

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So say hello to feb 1. day one of the experiment.

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^ That's me by feb 8. gauranteed. ;)

the nails have been tampered with

Well. i did it guys. i painted my nails. even though it's a once in a blue moon moment. but in the last 10 minutes i realized something. painted nails are good for a lot of different things.

For example,

It's good for plugging your nose in awkward ways.


It's good for setting the world on fire.


And it's good for tooth-pickin.

Yea, it still feels like i'm wrapping my nails in shrinkwrap. but i guess fingernail polish isn't as bad as i thought before. and even though i took copious amounts of pictures, it's ok. like i said, it's not very often you see THIS girl with painted nails (except for thumb on left hand). so pictures are appropriate.




Knowledge that awesome picture animation exists, courtesy of megan. she's cool like that.

happy early christmas to meee!!!!

Yesterday dad came up to me and shoved a box in my hands. i flipped it over and saw a kermit-the-frog green camera! he also gave me an orange camera case and memory card. i'm so stinkin excited!
I have a camera!!!!

I was a little shocked though. "now?" i asked him. he replied "why not?" i figure he wants me to start capturing memories in november versus late december...but now i probably won't get anything else for christmas.
I don't mind! i have a camera!!!!!!!

All pictures before now have come from my phone, my laptop cam, or have been secretly borrowed from other people (and never returned). i love taking pictures and capturing memories of events, people, and random things. and now i can because guess what! I have a camera!!!! :DD




There there. no need to be jealous. i'll let you come over to touch it if you want. i'm just so freakin excited. okay, so maybe it's a little on the barf-yellow side. but it's so tiny and light in real-life...! :D
I'll name him...Seewee.

Emma is finally here!!!

Mommy had such a hard time -- 36+ hours in labor with several obstacles along the way, but she is such an inspiration and my hero for pulling through and overcoming the odds the way she did.

I've been in and out of the hospital so much that i just wanted to give a brief blog update. most pictures have already been uploaded by my dad on facebook, but i'll do my best to give a more thorough storyline on here when i get the chance.

This is the update:

Emma Lee Pruitt
November 5, 2011
9:34 pm
6 lbs, 11 ounces
19 inches long



Emma, not even one hour old.


Your mommy and daddy....there are no words that describe their love for each other, and for you.



Welcome to the world dear baby girl. my little niece!
I love you so much!

last ultrasound before the big day

Yesterday i went to see Amy's last ultrasound of Emma! ...it was her last time and my FIRST time. i was so extremely excited that A & J invited me to go!

We left at 1:30 (running late) for the 1:45 appt. J's parents were going to meet us there from st george. i don't think they've seen amy's pregnant amazingness yet, or if they have, they were definitely in for a yea-a-person-can-get-this-big-in-4-months moment!

When we got there, J got to visit with his very excited mom for several minutes while Amy sold her soul to the massive amounts of ultrasound paperwork.
I've never seen so many pregnant people in one room in my life! 8'| it didn't help that the office was plastered with spiderwebs and pumpkins since it just added to the peculiarity of it all.
Eventually, we all got pulled back into the room with the ultrasound tech, and I took a seat by J's parents while amy got comfortable, if that's even possible at this point, and J scrambled to set up a camera to record some of the action.

The next 40 minutes was bliss. we saw the four chambers of Emma's heart (heart rate of 150 bpm!), her spine, the ventricles of her brain, every perfect finger, and -- her adorable little face!! her cheeks jutted out like an overstuffed chipmunk (pointed out by the parents of the baby, not me). it was probably cuz she was so squished in there that the tech said right now it's like looking at a face pressed against a window.

Emma's lips are pursed out in the cutest way, and on side view emma even stuck out her tongue! classic. she must have known i was there. but we're supposed to be on the same team remember emma?
sticking out her tongue was definitely my most favorite part. <3

Well emma, you better come this week. i mean, since you're due saturday n all. actually, wednesday would be the best day since it's after midterms and i'll be done with the huge research paper by then. but no pressure. well, maybe just a little pressure just enough to get you outta there. but yeah, the 26th. maybe you'll even make it in time so that we can still go trunk-or-treating afterward. [btw, please be a treat, not a trunk....wait. how does that work again?]

anyways!!! I'm so excited that emma is almost so very very close to being here! amy still says that she's not gonna let me touch her baby (madness i say!!). i'm pretty sure she's just nervous that emma is going to like me the best. ;)

eggplant baby!!

Eggplants are one of those vegetables that you tend to block out of existence and hardly notice as you walk down the grocery isle. at least personally, I have never eaten an eggplant. how does it taste? I didn't even know what the inside of an eggplant looked like! -- until tonight.

There were gutsy moves involved: 1) I bought the eggplant, 2) I ate it. but here's the awesome part...I cooked it myself! the story:

I always pictured eggplants to be like giant avocados, with a great big pit inside and everything (...how old am i?). so I grabbed a pan that i thought would be the right size, only to find that the eggplant DID NOT have a pit. okay, i guess that's alright. more eggplant to go around. so I got a bigger pan and tossed the complete washed and sliced eggplant into it. throw in some oil, salt, mrs dash and all I could do was hope for - well - anything but the worst.

Wait. how are they supposed to look when they're done?! oops I hadn't thought of that, but they were quickly changing into a dark mushy brown color. i was worried. so I made Ashley look up pictures of cooked eggplants on google to see if i was doing it right. ok, I suppose it's normal for them to turn to goop, so I think i'm okay so far. 20 minutes later, after many anxious nibbles and taste-testings, I finally heard the dinner bell go off in my head. it's time!

I scooped a cautious portion size into my bowl and braced myself.




I liked it! well, for an eggplant anyway and for cooking it myself.

If I had to describe the taste, which I did, i would say that it tastes like a raw oyster. or in other words, grassy squash. hm that doesn't sound good, but it was. Anyways, it's probably a good thing i liked it since nobody else wanted to give it a try.

i wonder how many days it will take me to finish it off....

some things you should know

Hello i'm new. but before this relationship goes any further i think you should know some things.

ahem. I started a blog back in 2008. it didn't last a week. i guess i never felt totally okay with keeping a blog because i feel too "exposed."

Lately i've been inspired by blogging friends to go back for a more permanent attempt. i'm not the greatest journaler out there by far (yep I implied it. i'm definitely MUCH more of a math kinda gal) but if I have some support to do this I think it might be worth it. well, especially because i know how important it is to journalize things.

After experimenting with other sites (aka muzy & weebly), i ultimately fell back on blogger. simpler is best forsure.

Welp. those are some things i thought we should catch up on. thanks for readin. that is all.

sloppiness disclaimer: i'm leaving grammar to the birds. and this is the best they'll ever eat