Good Friday!

Happy Good Friday, everyone!

Obviously, I haven't been blogging for a while now... but, if anyone still reads this thing, know that I'm moving on over to a new blog address. Check it out!

http://www.beautymusicandlife.blogspot.com/

See you there!

Annie

To Buy or not to buy. Or to buy.

Well, it's the time of the semester when necessary purchases to benefit the career must be made. I like to pretend that I'm rediculously wealthy when making such purchases.

What? I need something else? No problem. I don't even need to look at the price tag.

Why, yes, you may call me Miss Moneybags.

Which one, which one? I need an mp3 recorder to record my lessons, recitals, etc.... Any words of wisdom from the masses?

The most disgruntled.....

(Do let me preface this post by saying that I actually am a really nice person... I am...)

Grrrrrrrrrrrrr.

I always take the utmost care when parallel parking.

I never hit the bumpers around me.

I don't want to damage my own car or other's cars.

Today, I expertly parked in a small space between a new Corolla, and a new Lexus, and went to class.

I came out to find that some jerk has parked INTO my bumper, leaving me absolutely no way to get out of my space. I've got about 8 inches in front of me.

I'm in a two-hour parking spot.

I could get a ticket if I stay here.

I have class in an hour and 10 minutes.

I would just go and get lunch, but it I leave and then he moves his car and my bumper is dented, I will not be happy...

This guy had better come move his car and better have a good reason for leaving his car so obviously touching my bumper.

My bumper had better not be dented in...

Spirit come.... spirit come.... Annie, be a nice person... be a nice person.... be stuck in your car but be a nice person.....

Inspiration

Inspiration pour vous aujourd'hui! Appréciez! Ou peut-être juste inspiration pour moi... J'aime Renee...

Beim Schlafengehen

Just for funsies

Time to compare and contrast.

I shall be a diva now and give my own brutal and biased, yet educated opinion.

Without using my words.

The Song: "O Mio Babbino Caro" from Puccini's Gianni Schicchi

The Competitors: Renee Fleming, Sarah Brightman, and America's Got Talent's Jackie Evancho.

By observing the body language, sound, and shapes of the mouth, and facial expressions, you should be able to tell which is the superior singer, and which one Jackie Evancho is trying to be. I hope someone rescues that little girl before it's too late.

Wait, I said I wasn't gonna use my words....

(WHAT is with the arms?!?!?!)

All my Devotion was Emotion

I really like this poet.

Psalm 139

Oh, Lord, You have searched me and known me.

You know when I sit down and when I rise up;

You understand my thoughts from afar.

You scrutinize my path and my lying down,

and are intimately acquainted with all my ways.

Even before there is a word on my tongue,

behold, O Lord, You know it all.

You have enclosed me behind and before,

and laid Your hand upon me.

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;

It is too high, I cannot attain to it.

Where can I go from Your Spirit?

Or where can I flee from Your presence?

If I ascend to heaven, You are there.

If I make my bed in Sheol, behold You are there.

If I take the wings of the dawn,

if I dwell in the remotest part of the sea,

even there Your hand will lead me,

and You right hand will lay hold of me.

If I say, "Surely the darkness will overwhelm me,

and the light around me will be night,"

even the darkness is not dark to You,

and the night is as bright as the day.

Darkness and light are alike to You.

For You formed my inward parts;

You wove me in my mother's womb.

I will give thanks to You,

for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

Wonderful are Your works,

and my soul knows it very well.

My frame was not hidden from You,

when I was made in secret,

and skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth;

Your eyes have seen my unformed substance;

and in Your book were all written the days

that were ordained for me,

when as yet there was not one of them.

How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!

How vast is the sum of them!

If I should count the, they would outnumber the sand.

When I awake, I am still with You.

O that You would slay the wicked, O God;

depart from me, therefore, men of bloodshed.

For they speak against You wickedly,

and Your enemies take Your name in vain.

Do I not hate those who hate You, O Lord?

And do I not loathe those who rise up against You?

I hate them with the utmost hatred;

they have become my enemies.

Search me, O God, and know my heart;

Try me and know my anxious thoughts;

and see if there be any hurtful way in me,

and lead me in the everlasting way.

Amen.

My marbles.....

... I'm losing them....

It happens most Sunday's that, while in church as the sermon starts, my mind starts going crazy with things that I need to do. So I've started jotting down a quick list of "To Do's" as the sermon starts, and sticking the paper in my purse so I don't have to think about them till after the service is over. And as little things jump in my head to distract me, I just quickly write them down so I can address them later and free my brain of them. I am just so spiritual like that, you know.

Well, something popped into my head yesterday right off the bat, as the sermon started, so I wrote it down. But the thing is: I have no idea what that thing is.

"- E-mail Hannah"

Sounds simple enough, right? Well, I would have to know a Hannah closely enough to have her e-mail, which I don't. Off my head right now, I only know 2 Hannahs, neither of which do I need to e-mail, or even make contact of any kind....

So not only am I losing my mind, but this is going to drive me crazy until I figure out who Hannah is.

Hannah, if you're reading this, and you're thinking, "Annie you dumb girl, it's me, and thanks a lot for remembering me," at least you can know that I had every intention of e-mailing you yesterday at about 11:15 am.

The Big Break

Hello world.

Guess what?

I'm officially logged out of facebook for the remainder of January.

It might kill me.

But, by golly, I'm gonna do it.

So here's to chats with good friends face to face,

being uber productive and purposeful with my time,

and living real life to the fullest today,

and at least for a month.

Who knows,

maybe I'll like living away from the cyber world enough to pick up a new hobby or 8,

make a few new friends,

learn about 4 hours worth of music,

make a dent in that reading list of mine....

the list goes on and on.

Oh yeah,

but to compensate for the dejectedness that I will undoubtedly feel,

I shall keep up my blog a bit more,

and let you know how I'm getting on.

Tout d'Amour!

Annie :)

Long Absence

Hello world!

I have been away from you for far too long, it seems. SO much has happened in my life since mid-May; too much to tell right now, but I'll just give a few highlights real quick-like. Here goes:

June-July I went to Peru on a missions/humanitarian aid trip with my Church called The Light here in Baltimore. We went 15 hours boat ride up the Amazon to a small village, where we stayed a few days, dug a well, and got to know the people. We also got stuck in that village because the 28 surrounding villages decided to rope off the river and not let anyone in our out as a way of striking against a larger oil company. Us in our boat + Them in little boats with guns= HIGHLY exciting. I also went on a 5 day mountain hike to Macchu Piccu with my friends Marie and Mark, which was greatly rewarding. Gorgeous views. Altitude Sickness. Pressing on. Wonderful.

On The Amazon At Sunrise:

Strikers With Guns Patrolling the Barrier:

My God-daughter! Sheyla-Estrella

Baptisms In The Amazon:

Neighbors Passing By In Their Boat:

Enjoying The Amazon In The Rain:

Mark enjoying the view before we began our 5 mile afternoon trek of the first day of hiking:

Our View The Morning of Trek Day 2:

Marie and I after reaching our summit of more than 15,200'!!!

Definitely the scariest moment of the trip- crossing over rapids at least 50' in the air, on unstable boards... terrifying. And yet, still invigorating.

Whew! Made it!

Me And Marie :)

A'crossin' a bridge:

Overlooking Macchu Piccu :) Amazing that I got to see one of the Wonders of the World!!!

Caroline came to visit me in my new house with Sawyerand got fancy with the picture taking for the next few pics. At Starbucks enjoying my drug of choice:

Sweet baby nephew:)

Me in a door frame... obviously...:

Sawyer and I in front of my house, a.k.a. "The Manor"

Rachael and I while waiting in the E.R. till 4 am with our friend Mark who was very ill. He's fine and dandy now, but that crazy, scary weekend made me more thankful and grateful for my Baltimore family than ever :)

I went camping with Emily and Rachael (roommates) I think I was singing "Matchmaker, Matchmaker" while collecting firewood...

The Roomies gettin' fancy with the camera while starting the campfire:

I got fancy and made us dinner one night. Yummo. Yes, this is how girls go camping. In style :)

That's all for now! Life is good. Opera rehearsals are many, busy and great, and Baltimore is cold. ha.

Love you all! It's nice to be back :)

Annie

Heat Wave

So you know how,

when you've been baking and left something in the oven for a while,

you open the oven door and that burst of heat hits your face?

I usually don't mind it, since it's nice and warm.

But, after almost a year of living here,

and using this oven,

I never remember that because the oven's so low,

and I have to bend over to open it,

the burst of heat is quite hot,

and nearly always scorches my eyebrows off.

Well, tonight I forgot that little tidbit of info again.

So as I leaned in to save my burning bunsies,

still wearing all my tons of make-up

and diamondy earrings from my afternoon singing engagement,

the blast of heat hit me in the face,

I shut my eyes tight and

felt my over-mascara-ed eyelashes curl together,

melting in the heat,

making it hard to open my eyes again....

Seriously the funniest thing that's happened to me in a long while.

My neighbors probably think I'm nutso,

but hey,

when you've gotta laugh loud, you've gotta laugh loud.

Even if you're the only one in the room.

Which I do frequently.

And since I'm on a mature rant:

"I'm an angel..."

"...sent by God."

Oh Roma Downey, how you changed our lives.

Bon nuit, mes amours.

P.S. I'm officially done with my first year of grad school!

Fin, as the frenchies say.

I can't believe this year's flown by so fast.

:)

Done. Almost.

So I've finally finished up all classes and finals for my first year of grad school! How CRAZY is that?!?!? This year just flew. Now all I have left to do is polish up my ten pieces for my jury next Wednesday. Just one more week......

i'm going home for a visit on Kohen's birthday! I'll finally get to meet little Judah! I can't wait! Check out these pictures of my little boys- they could be twins!

Kohen at 1 mo. old:

Judah at 1 mo. old:

9 days.... 9 days....

The Beauty and The Beast Library

The perfect place to hide away from distractions.

The dusty smell of old, well-loved books;

the antique desks and chairs with their wooden curlicues;

the extension chords snaking their way across the floors

from ancient outlets sporadically placed years and years ago,

currently connected to my computer so that it won't die

as I sit here for an eternal day of writing.

My eyes burn as I'm sure they slowly begin to turn rectangular shaped.

I tend to be very easily distracted.

Not to the point of having clinical A.D.D.,

but I suppose that I'm a fairly active person,

and sitting on my derrière for hours on end,

looking at the glow of a computer screen,

trying to make mature, educated sentences flow together

in research-paper format

is enough to send me over the edge.

But if I have a nice quiet place,

in a nice atmosphere,

then I can focus well for a longer period of time

without being distracted,

even by the hundreds of books surrounding me.

So I'm taking a 10 minute break from paper-writing

after 2 hours of studying

to do a little blog-writing.

Way more fun.

Way.

And I've told myself that I have 2.5 more hours

before I can give my sore petite derrière a break

from sitting on this rather uncomfortable chair.

And now that I've given myself a small break,

I realize that the section of books behind me

is the entire history of each county in England.

"East Sussex Land Tax 1785"

And the whole row in front of me is

papers and records of American history.

"War of the Rebellion/

Official records of the Union and Confederate Armies/

Series I, Vol. II"

Sheeshaloo.

My paper doesn't seem half so tough anymore.

I guess this was a successful study break.

Now back to the grinding stone.

The Journey in Winter

So I'm studying right now.

No surprise there, as finals are upon me.

But I thought I'd share with you a fun dance between the early 1800's and the late 1900's

Franz Schubert wrote a

wonderfully tragical cycle of art songs called

"Winterreise"

(vin-ter-rise-uh)

about an old, though not yet grey haired man,

who makes a winter journey

and sings about his old sweetheart,

and the hardships that he meets on his long journey.

Schubert wrote this cycle in 1827,

and it remains an extremely well-known and -performed cycle today.

Here is the first song, called "Gute Nacht," as Schubert wrote it in 1827:

And here is "Gute Nacht" orchestrated by Hans Zender in 1993:

Isn't that so interesting?!?!?!

I thought so! I love the inclusion of accordion

and all the various percussion

and use of wind instruments to bring out the wintery setting of the cycle.

Hope you get a little culture and enjoyment of these songs, as I have!

Cheers friends.

Treading Life

On my "To-Do" list,

there are 15 things

still to be done

before I can

be finished

Monday

10th.

I think that I

just might

live to see

Texas one

more

time.

m

a

y

b

e

.

Lenten Love Song

Sometimes,

I have plans to write

blogposts

that are wonderfully insightful.

Most of the time,

I have those plans

in the middle of the night.

But now,

it is in the middle of the day,

so this is all I've got ;)

My nephew,

Judah Emerson,

was born yesterday!

He's a sweet little thing,

& he looks a lot like Kohen did;

though, I think he's got

more of Chason (dad) in him

than Kohen, so that will be fun to see!

Look at 'im! :)

What a sweetie :) I miss him already.

In other news,

LENT

is winding down...

only 2 more days to go.

A friend inspired me to

really practice Lent this year,

so I've given up something new

every week of Lent,

and it's been really awesome

to notice how much more

I've noticed God

doing things around me,

and in me,

during these weeks.

I've been as excited for Easter to come

as I always am for Christmas!

Some friends and I have been meeting

everyday

this week at 6a.m.

for morning prayer

to start the day.

Yes.

It's very early.

No.

I most definitely usually

don't get up that early.

But I have a re-awakened love for the

early morning now.

I was such an early bird

when I was younger..

Until college...

But it's funny- I usually

have a very hectic class schedule,

but this week,

one of my classes has been cancelled

for the entire week,

giving me time to study,

or rest between classes!

It's really as if God is rewarding

me decision to get up so early this week...

SO.

I can't WAIT for Sunday.

Easter is completely one of my

new favorite holidays.

And not even because of the

chocolate that I will be consuming...

And finally:

I've tried a few new recipes

that are definite winners

and I thought I'd share them with you!

Red Pepper-Carrot Soup

(I modified the recipe a bit,

since I was only cooking for myself)

INGREDIENTS:

2 Large Red Bell Peppers (plus slices for garnish, opt.)

2 Tbs. Olive Oil

1/2 tsp Curry Powder

1 Bay Leaf

I Large Onion, sliced (2c.)

2 Large Carrots, sliced (1/2lb.)

4 cloves Garlic, peeled and sliced

1 tsp. Salt

2 Tbs. Lemon Juice

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Place bell peppers on baking sheet, and roast 1 hour, or until skin is wrinkled and blackened all over, turning peppers occasionally with tongs. Transfer to bowl, and cover with plastic wrap 10 minutes to steam. When peppers are cool enough to handle, rub off blackened peel, and remove seeds.
2. Heat oil in 2-qt. saucepan over medium heat. Add curry powder and bay leaf, and stir 10 seconds. Add onion, carrots, garlic, and salt. Cover, and cook 10 minutes, or until onion is translucent.
3. Add 4 cups water, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer, covered, 25 minutes.
4. Transfer carrot mixture to blender, add bell peppers, and purée until smooth. Stir in lemon juice. Garnish servings with bell pepper slices, if using.

(I used 1.5 peppers, 2 cloves Garlic, and no Lemon Juice.

I also sliced the peppers and baked them spread out on a pan for 10-15 minutes, until soft.

I didn't bother to take off the skins, since they were soft and blended well- saves time and effort ;)

Be warned- while boiling, this mix looks kinda iffy, but it blends really well, and is quite tasty!

A little extra salt helps, since it can be a bit bland for some tastes.

I imagine that it would be quite yummy with an added dollop of sour cream on top, too!

ALSO, I imagine that being liberal with ingredients would be good, if possible.

I think the 6 servings it's supposed to make would be little servings. I'd probably add at least 1 pepper & a few carrots...)

Honey Curry Chicken

INGREDIENTS:

6 chicken Thighs or boneless breasts

1/4 c. melted butter

1/2 c. honey

1/4 c. mustard

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. curry powder

1 package froz. Stir Fry Veggies

(or any fresh ones you like- I've used mushrooms, green beans, broccoli, WITH the stir fry ones)

(Rice)

DIRECTIONS:

(Prepare rice, either in pot, or by rice cooker.)

Cook the chicken in water, so it will be cooked but tender. Small pieces are best.

In a pan, combine all sauce ingredients, stir, and then add all remaining ingredients.

Let it simmer until veggies are to desired crunchiness/softness.

Serve over rice (or on it's own- I love it over Jasmine Rice!!!!)

And there you have it!

2 really good recipes to try.

I've been cooking a lot lately,

so I'll keep you updated with more recipes!

Have a wonderful day, my friends :)