This morning I was looking through my Harry Potter cookbook (thanks, Javi!) and I decided I wanted to try and bake something. I figured I'd start off simple, with a dessert that didn't even require the use of the oven! It essentially sounded like puppy chow which I love and only needed 4 ingredients so I figured it would be easy peasy. WRONG. Not that I'm surprised since I'm a half failure in the kitchen anyways but this....THIS was a whole new level of failure. I did however learn a few important lessons:
1. Read all directions thoroughly before starting a new recipe.
2. Read all ingredients carefully before you use 2 cups of the wrong kind of sugar.
3. Do not (seriously, don't) double a recipe you have never tried before especially if you have no one to give said cookies to when done.
4. Don't forget when you put chocolate on the stove to melt.
Now, I'm not saying that this recipe was a complete disaster, I still find the combination of sugar, peanut butter, chocolate, and Rice Krispy cereal quite delicious however, I now have more of this concoction than I know what to do with and the only people I know would gobble this stuff up are across the Atlantic. *insert long sigh here*
So, my first foray into the world of harry potter recipes did not go quite as planned but fear not! Next I try a dinner or lunch option which won't require me to handle melting chocolate or ingredients that are difficult to find at the market here (who knew powdered sugar was such a difficult ingredient to find! whoops to me buying regular sugar.)
I'll let you know how the next recipe goes. Maybe while my daddy is here we can try a recipe together! He's a MUCH better cook than I will ever be.
Holidays are celebrated differently all over the world and nothing has made me understand that more than being over here across the Atlantic. In Britain, fat Tuesday is celebrated by eating pancakes! The official title is Shrove Tuesday but is more commonly called Pancake Tuesday. The tradition started many years ago when fat, butter and eggs were forbidden during Lent. On the day before Lent all the women would use up the rest of their store of these items which would otherwise go bad if unused and they would make pancakes. The towns and cities would have so many pancakes that they would even have relay races to and from the church where women would run with frying pans, back and forth and back and forth. I found this whole thing pretty comical but being that I love saying I live here I want to also be able to say I "participated" in every unique going on while I'm here! After hours of research and paper writing in Starbucks Chris took me to Crepe Affair which had the most delicious pancakes/crepes I've had in a long time. It had been so long since I had eaten breakfast food that wasn't toast that I ate them way too fast and of course ended up in a food coma....but whose surprised about that haha! Anyways, there's not much more to say on the topic but if you're interested in finding out more about it either google Shrove Tuesday or click here: PANCAKES!
As for Lent, I am not giving anything up this year because the past few years I've taken a different approach to Lent. I don't want to give something up just for the sake of giving something up. And especially since that makes it too easy to cheat (especially on Sundays which don't count right?!) Rather I've tried to focus on something that will bring me closer to God. That is, after all, the purpose of Lent...to spend these 40 days and nights reminding ourselves of what the sacrifice He made for us. Maybe it's the fact that the essay I'm currently working on has to do with how Christ is an example for living theology out in a practical way in our lives and I wrote 3 pages on Christ's sacrifice, but I have spent a lot of time lately thinking about what I do to show my thanks. I know I can't call up God, or text Him and say thank you but I can spend more time in prayer. And I can work harder on keeping more positive because I often feel like I whine and complain a lot. Well anyways, for Lent I am going to make sure I spend 20 minutes each day praying for someone different in my life. Instead of just my quick, routine prayers I say every night before I fall asleep I want to make sure I know what I'm praying for. I want to focus on my prayers and what I'm saying so that I don't just run through them quickly so I can fall asleep but rather really mean what I say.
I'm just rambling on now it seems but I hope this Lent is a time we all remember what is really important in our lives.
Before I start this post I need to let you all know that I am exhausted, slightly delirious and excited to put my head on my pillow tonight and cuddle up with teddy while falling asleep to my new favorite tv show, The Big Bang Theory. Every bit of sleep deprivation was COMPLETELY worth it because this past weekend I was in Amsterdam and when you have less than 48 hours in a city with SO much to explore....you just don't have time for sleep!
Sharlene and I arrived in Eindhoven, Netherlands around 7pm and we could not have had a livelier, funnier, more entertaining welcome if we had TRIED to come at this time. In the south of Holland (and all across Europe) Carnival is being celebrated! In the 4 days leading up to the beginning of Lent there are huge parties across all major cities and the airport we flew in to was essentially in the center of where everyone was meeting up to take trains to different parts of the south of Holland. After we were told that we had arrived during one of the biggest festivals of the year, it was all we could do not to take off with all of these party people!! Now when I say party people don't go thinking it's like it is in the states---college aged kids drinking too much and causing trouble---no these party people were of every age group, the youngest I saw being about 7 and the oldest I saw was probably late 60's. It was so funny and this particular band (in the video above) were playing in the car we sat in on the train on our way from Eindhoven to Amsterdam. They were so funny and friendly and even offered us their drinks though we politely declined for many reasons, my personal reason of sickness not wanting to be worsened by the green liquid being passed around and the funny faces of everyone else drinking it hahaha!
When we arrived at the train station it was a quick 2-3 minute walk to our hotel though of course we first walked in the wrong direction for about 5 minutes before stopping in a different hotel, asking directions, and being sent back across the street with a "next time stay with us!" being said as we set off. Our hotel room was cute with an Apple tv/computer and a half view of the city out the window. We didn't stay to look too long because our complimentary welcome drinks were waiting for us in the sky lounge and we didn't want to keep them waiting.
As the host was seating us in the Sky Lounge he made small talk and got very excited when we told him we were from California! (It's easiest to tell people abroad you're from CA because 1. everyone knows Los Angeles 2. if they've been to the states chances are it was NY or CA...) He started telling us all about the time he lived there and how he can't wait to move back when he finishes school in the Netherlands and start writing screen plays. As he was talking to us the manager walked by and he had also lived in LA so of course we talked some more with him and he gave us more free drinks! Soon we had been introduced to a couple more of the bartenders and we hit it off with one in particular, Lars, who was giving us suggestions where we could go out at nights and then decided it would be easier if we just went out with him after his shift haha so at 3am when he got off we took off in search of the non-touristy areas of Amsterdam where "the locals" hung out. WE HAD THE BEST TIME EVER! Dancing, drinks, music, pictures, an exciting scooter ride, more new friends, and talking until 7am. It was a long night that went SO fast and was so wonderful and everything I want when I go visit other countries....to hang out with people who actually know the area. It makes the experience of being in a new place SO different when you do more than the fun touristy things. Not that I am against the touristy stuff at all because after a quick 1 hour nap that is EXACTLY what we did.
The first thing we did after finding some breakfast was head to the Anne Frank House which was absolutely worth the wait. It was very windy, very cold and the wait is outside so we were pretty frozen by the time we got inside but WOW. My emotions were honestly so mixed because it didn't feel real...that the places we were walking in and through, the small rooms that had been all in one bedroom/kitchens....could have actually been lived in for over two years by 2 families. I don't know, it really blew my mind to walk through the house/museum and as I read about what each new room was being hit by the reality again and again the atrocities that so many millions of people faced, and the Frank family were considered lucky to have even had a place to live!! wow.
After the Anne Frank house we headed over to the Van Gogh museum where we sadly didn't have a lot of time to explore because we wanted to make it to our canal tour by 4:30. We did get to see a lot of his work and I was able to learn A LOT about him that I had never known though probably due to my lack of knowledge and caring about art in general not because these things aren't well known (did you know he committed suicide after his epilepsy drove him literally insane?) Well anyways, I loved it and wish we had had time for the Rijksmuseum but like I said before, we had less than 48 hours in this city and sadly had to pick and choose what to do. So then it was off to our canal tour (a quick clip on the left) which was narrated by a really annoyingly funny couple who kept trying to be funny but they really weren't...which made it funny....ok right anyways. It was a beautiful way to see the city and I loved it! We then had dinner at a fun coffee house/bar and then made our way back to the hotel. We rested for a couple hours before heading back up to Sky Bar to see our friends for a bit and it was pretty funny how instantly the manager, our host from last night and another bartender all made sure we had seats with a good view of the city and gave us a complimentary round of drinks. Everyone we talked to or met the whole weekend was SO NICE and honestly, the city is beautiful and I can't wait to make it back there one day because you really can't see much in such a short time frame. I want to explore a lot more and have time to walk through the city and enjoy everything as opposed to the sprint we practically had to do to see just the few things we did. I was back in the hotel by around midnight as I just couldn't bring myself to go out again when I'm still sick and have so much to do this week for school (ugh why was I raised to be so responsible?!) I still ended up staying up pretty late watching some Dutch television and reading a non-school book for the first time in months! With all of the time we spent on trains/planes I was able to read two this weekend and it was so nice to give my brain a break from school related topics.
We had to leave Amsterdam by 12:30 today and so we didn't have much time for anything this morning though we were able to find a couple tourist shops nearby and take some more pictures by the canals before heading back to Eindhoven and our flight back to Londontown. On my way back from the airport the bus got me back home just in time to hop off at the bus stop next to my church and so I still made it in time for mass before I headed home, where I now am finishing up this post so I can get to bed! (Don't worry Javi, I'm taking care of myself ok?!?!) I have so many more travels coming up in the next 2 months and I can't wait for the adventures to come! Next destination....Manchester with daddy!!
Love from London,
Kristin
PS. For anyone who is wondering about the title of this post continue reading: Dutch is a super hard language and mostly impossible to pronounce anything haha so we asked the people on the train from Eindhoven to Amsterdam how to say thank you so we could at least thank people who politely spoke English with us and I swear it sounded like he said taco bell over and over again until he laughed and said slowly daahhnnn-cooo-vellll. hahaha so anyways, say taco bell really fast and it's like you're saying thank you in Dutch!
Waiting and Waiting and Waiting
(photos courtesy of Justin Ramos)
Half the month is already through and somehow I have only managed to post once. The time seems to be FLYING by these days as I scramble to read as much as possible for class as well as keep up with news around the world. Without a t.v. I follow up on the news via BBC, NY Times, and of course AZ Central- because I can't live without news from home. However, no matter how scheduled and organized I try to keep my day, as I crawl into bed I can't help but start putting together my to-do list for the following day. I know I'm not the only one who feels this way but *sigh* it sure would be nice to complete an entire to do list one day....
Moving on!
I have always been blessed with good time management skills and an over-achieving mind set so when it comes to reading, I have come to learn to take advantage of the hours I seem to spend waiting for and riding on the buses here in London. Although there is now an app (thank you Apple and TFL for partnering up) to tell you when the next bus is coming, it cannot always be relied upon. For reasons that all of London seems to wonder about, buses have a problem with coming right on time. That is not to say that they aren't close to on time, and I appreciate that if the 188 is supposed to come every 7-10 minutes it is generally within that time frame but with every passing minute I get antsy and feel as though I need to make use of my wait times. (I suppose I should also include times I spend waiting on tubes that I miss as I sprint down the escalator and still don't reach the doors before the doors snap shut and the train speeds off.)
Now don't read this and think that I am complaining about the public transportation here. Because I'm not. As much as I miss driving I LOVE public transportation now. Not when it breaks down or fails to show up or when we hit the pot holes in the road that I swear the bus seems to look for but the fact that I don't have to get behind the wheel and fight my way through traffic that could compete with the 405 in Los Angeles makes me happy and again, I am then able to be productive in all my travel times. When I have to drive anywhere at home, I can't be productive! (A quick shout out to my wonderful boyfriend who is always looking for ways to make driving more bearable for me and has now found all 7 Harry Potter books in audio format). I hate not being productive but I am now able to read and even take notes on the bus and tube which makes me feel more accomplished with my time.
During the evenings however, the bus environment changes. There was an article in the Evening Standard the other day that explains it much better than I and also provides a few laughs for anyone who knows of the London Night Buses (Aubrey? Grace?) or who uses public transportation at home. With the last tube times running around midnight and pubs/bars/clubs not closing until well after 2am there really is no way to get home unless you are ready to brave the night bus. It's really an experience and for anyone who visits London I encourage you to check it out....after a few drinks that is. And so with this article: The Night (Bus) Life I leave you for now.
Living in London I have learned a bit about what it is like to have mention of royalty on a near daily basis. I'm not complaining, I think it's pretty fabulous that a country can still speak of King's and Queens and come on, how many of you haven't dreamt of being a prince or princess at some point in your life?! Now I'm not always certain that the Queen does a whole lot beyond visiting schools, planting trees (yes there was a picture in the paper of her holding a shovel and digging in a hole!) and being overall a very kind, well dressed and very respected woman. However, today marks her diamond jubilee, meaning today is the day her father passed away and she came to be on the throne. It also happens to be the day the old barracks in St John's Wood, having been used for 200 years, was being relocated (article here: (http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-24033400-the-queen-marks-diamond-jubilee-with-renewed-pledge-to-serve-britain.do) So in honor of these events there was a 41-gun salute using old WWI canons in Hyde park and it was INCREDIBLE. 109 horses came running into the middle of the park, the military dismounted and set up their canons and at exactly noon "ONE!....FIRE!" "TWO!.....FIRE!" "THREE!.....FIRE!" and on and on. there were 6 canons total and holy cow were they loud! I got there early enough to get a very good spot right next to one of them and when that first blast when off I squealed just a little, along with the lady next to me haha. I felt like I was watching history though apparently the guns are actually fired pretty frequently in summer for state holidays, birthday etc... Now I took a video (above) though I'm not sure how the quality came out. Normally when the horses come into Hyde Park they come racing in but because of the snow we received this weekend it was very slippery and during the run through a few of the horses had already hurt themselves. We can't have the royal horses falling in front of a crowd! That'd be embarrassing. Anyways, look to the picture on the left and how close I got to stand to the sixth gun! I'm telling you when they "FIRE"d the BOOM was sooo intense I swear I felt the ground shake and the air pushed right back into my face as the gun exploded. It was so awesome though!
Anyways, on that note....the horses came running back into the park, the military re-mounted and off they went to their new barracks. It was fun and I'm glad I managed to find the place in the park where it took place because Hyde Park is GINORMOUS!
In other news, I have recently joined a gym which I'm super excited about! I spend so many hours a day reading for school and just sitting at tables and desks in Starbucks that I often feel antsy by bed time which causes me to toss and turn a lot. The last couple days that I've gone to the gym I have not only been exhausted and sore after but ready to pass out as soon as I lay down! It's a good feeling and I love feeling like I've been productive. It has also made me much more conscious about the food I'm eating so even though there won't be any drastic changes to my eating habits (sorry, David, I LOVE peanut butter on both sides of my sandwich and sometimes greasy pizza is what I need!) I am incorporating more vegetables and less carbs since that seems to be my entire diet!
No new updates in the school department, just lots of reading as usual and going to try and get a jump start on essays this term. We will see how that goes.
