{Spinach Pesto}

I love, love, love, love, love this pesto. And its so easy!

2 cups fresh spinach

2 garlic cloves

1/4 c toasted cashews

2 t lemon juice

1/3 c grated Parmesan cheese

1/3 c olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

1. Toast cashews.

2. Put everything in blender except olive oil and blend well. Add olive oil a little at a time. (I have never actually measured how much olive oil I use, just add until you think it looks like the consistency of pesto.)

3. Serve over pasta or fish.

{Yum!}

{A Windy Tennis Match}

Last week I went to Jman's tennis match. Here he is serving. It was waaay too cold. The wind was the worst. But I am trying to be more positive in life so.....the wind provided a nice challenge and we showed Jman how much we loved him by staying for the whole match.

I loved the between game talks. And Jonathan's occasional "COME ON" shouts. He got that from his brother, the one on a mission that I just want to call and talk to so badly.

I sunk further and further into my coat to escape the wind.

{I love tennis. And I love my brother.}

Fui al partido de tenis de mi hermanito. Bueno el no es tan hermanito como hermano, el me gana por un metro yo creo. ja. El viento fue terrible fuerte y nos dio mucho frio, pero valio la pena porque el partido fue muy bueno y mi hermano jugo bien. Me encanta el tenis!

{I Lost My Robin}

He left today. I miss my sidekick.

{Prom}

This last week was Prom at the local high schools. I was very busy but it was a good time. We found these pearl bracelets to spice up the corsages and encouraged the kids to pick something unique that would suit their date perfectly. Take a look at one of my favorite corsages and one of my favorite boutonnieres.

I also got to do this fun Easter/Welcome Home arrangement.

{And YES that container is Aspen tree bark! So pretty.}

La semana pasada hubieron los bailes de las secundarias y yo hice muchas flores en el ojal y ramilletes. Las ramilletes hice diferente esta vez, ocupando pulseras de perlas. Yo convince muchos jovenes a escoger flores especificas para sus parejas a vez de una rosa blanca que siempre escogen.

Tambien hice arreglos para la Pascua de la Resurreccion. Me encanta el arreglo arriba que tiene un contenedor de corteza de arbol. Espero que la pasaron muy bien esta fin de semana, celebrando la vida y resurreccion de nuestro Salvador.

Para que sepan, me tienen que dejar mensajes para corregir los errores que cometo en el Espanol. Errores aparte de los accentos, yo se que los necesito pero no se como hacerlo con mi teclado.

{We are Better Together}

I changed jobs a month and a half ago and it has been great! My very nice and fun bosses remodeled the space where Bloomer's used to be and we opened Best Buds on St. Patrick's day. It sure has been wonderful to be back where I know the area and the people. I feel at home again!

Be sure to stop by! We have a fully stocked cooler of gorgeous flowers waiting to be brought home to your table. We also have many blooming outdoor and indoor plants, including hanging baskets.

{Come see us!}

Me cambie del trabajo hace un mes y medio. Me encanta el nuevo trabajo porque es en el lugar donde yo trabjaba antes de la mision. La floreria se llama "Mejores Amigos" pero ocupamos una palabra para "amigo" que tiene dos significados, floral boton y amigo. La lema es "Juntos, somos mejores." Quiero que se vengan para verme y a la tienda!

{Run for Joy}

I finished finals on Monday night! Now there is time for things like morning runs and blogging. Here are the sights I enjoyed on my run this morning.

{P.S. I beat my Accounting class. 93% on the final!}

{My Big Day}

23

For weeks I had been telling myself that I was already 23 to get used to the idea. Normally I wouldn't like Sunday birthdays, but this year Sunday was an excuse to not go crazy doing flowers all day. I went to church and came home to a decorated house. Those tulips are the flowers I gave my parents for helping me make it to 23.

Look at that beautiful dinner! We had homemade ravioli!





And the fruit was oh so divine.




My Mom planned an "I Love Lucy" party for me. She got the series on DVD and we watched some select episodes and did activities that corresponded with each episode.


We made ice cream cone cake pops after watching the episode where Lucy tries working at the candy factory and shoves all the chocolates down her shirt and in her hat. Then we made sculptures trying to copy her design from the sculpture episode. And finally we drank green smoothies and did impersonations after watching the vitameatavegemin episode. It was a great idea for a party! And I love Lucy!

Here is my birthday angel food cake with orange sauce!

{Colored Concept Plan}

I love my design graphics class! This is my most recent concept design. Last night's two hour class we spent learning to color plant symbols.

I get kind of stressed about having enough time to complete my drawings, but it is my favorite homework to do! This one took me 6 hours to finish.

I'm heading into the busiest weekend of the year for flowers. Wish me luck!

happy thursday!

{Facing My Nemesis}

debit revenue dividend cash flow balance sheet journal expense EPS
accrual net income asset liability owner's equity capital contributions
SEC matching principle denominal real balance sheet ledger GAAP

These words define accounting. Accounting is my nemesis. I started taking Accounting 200 four years ago, yes, that is right four long years ago. In this class you watch videos of the professor and do quizzes instead of attending normal lectures. I made it through a month and a half of that and withdrew from the class due to over-scheduling and a lack of self discipline.

I decided to take it the following summer through independent study. Even given a year to complete it, that didn't pan out. Then I paid to have it extended a month and STILL didn't get beyond the first lesson.

Fast forward to January 2011. Class schedule; Soils, Landscape Bidding and Estimating, Design Graphics, Pest Management AND Accounting 200. I was mostly excited to come back to school except for that looming accounting class. That class has weighed on me for the last four years, a daunting reminder of the possibility of failure.

If I haven't convinced you yet of how important and wonderful a mission is then add this to the list of pros, my self discipline has increased infinitely! I have no problem doing homework, whereas before I had no problem wasting time. This is what that new work ethic plus some sweet tutoring time with Chris got me.....

91% on the first exam. Take that nemesis!

{What Would You Do?}

I saw this movie during a zone meeting in the mission and it had a big impact on me. It brought up a side of the atonement I had never thought of before.

do you realize what they did for us? will you make similar choices and put others before yourself?

{Hello My Name is......Irene}

I am starting a new section on my blog called "Hello My Name is.." The idea is that I tell you about all the wonderful and unique people I meet. I have always been fascinated by people and one of my favorite parts of the mission was meeting so many types of people and hearing their stories.

One of my best friends started a club in high school called "Hello My Name is" and the premise was to get to know other people. We got together at lunch time and mingled while munching on some snacks. I loved the club idea and the name and asked her permission to use it for my blog. So lets meet....Irene!

Last Saturday Irene came into my work. She was wearing a mint green sweatshirt and jeans. Her hair is blond and shows gray roots. She walks up to the desk and says she has come to pick up her turtle. We walk over to the rock turtles and I find one with a tag that says, "SOLD TO IRENE" and she says, "Oh good, well let me see if there is room in my car to take it now. I deliver bread and bagels and my car is pretty full but let me see." She walks out to the car as I try to lift the seemingly hundred pound turtle off the floor. She comes back in and I offer to carry it out to her car. I walk out to the maroon car and it is completely full of...stuff, but she has cleared off some space in the passenger seat.

We return back inside and she browses the other garden items we offer. As she is browsing I ask her about the bread and bagels she had mentioned earlier. She says, "Yeah Einstein gives me their day old bagels and Kneaders gives me their day old bread and I deliver it to the people who live out of their cars. I have some right now, do you need some?" I politely decline and ask her if she collects turtles. She launches into a story of the pet turtle she had for twenty five years, then a bird she found with a broken wing and nursed back to health and all the while she stares off at the ceiling with her ice hot blue eyes, looking at me only when she finishes each story.

The broken bird wing lead into a discussion of how Hogle Zoo is more a business than an animal refuge. She explains that sick birds are not kept at the zoo because what little child wants to look at a sick and unhappy little bird? So the poor birds are simply discarded and replaced with beautiful and healthy birds.

Irene owns seventeen ducks. She explained to me how she has to teach the mother ducks to be mothers. One time a mother duck and her ducklings had escaped to her neighbor's yard and the neighbor called asking her to come get them. She said that she walked across the street got the duck's attention and the duck simply trotted along side her back to the house.

After this twenty five minute get to know you, Irene goes to walk out the door saying she has got to get going and that she is sorry for taking up so much of my time. Then turns and asks my name, I reply, she says, "You're beautiful, do you go to school?" My answer lead her back in the store and she shut the door as she started to explain to me the changes that need to be made to the BYU botany pond. She thinks that since I am a landscape major I can persuade the university to put in more benches for people to sit, get the pond water cleaned up and a beach built up in the middle of the pond for the turtles to escape the petting friendly kids.

This is followed by the statement, "Our Provo city fathers have betrayed us, have you been on the Provo river trail?" She talks about the trail being in people's back yards and the recent rapings deterring the interest in the trail. She wants a beautiful, open and clean river.

Irene turns to leave again and the snow flurries outside lead her into a story about seeing a real bald eagle in her neighborhood. Then comes the third attempt to leave the store and she asks what year I am in school. She shuts the door again and counsels me about buying a house with lots of property. Her house doesn't sit on much property and she doesn't have much room for all the animals and garden decorations she buys.

And with that she turns, opens the door, and says, "Bye Amy, write some letters to BYU about the pond." "Bye Irene, have a good day."

Help the poor. Help the animals. Take more note of beauty. Share your interests with others. Thanks Irene.

{Have You Ever Wondered....}

....why we yawn? Yesterday morning I was sitting in my soil science class and was yawning uncontrollably. Like once every five seconds. And the thought came to me, "Why do we yawn? What does it have to do with being tired?" Pretty good question right? What does opening your mouth do to alieviate fatigue?

I did some research and found out that we don't really know why we yawn!
Check it out here.

{Alguna vez se ha preguntado, "porque bostezamos cuando estamos cansados?" Yo tenia esta pregunta ayer en mi clase cuando estaba bostezando mucho. Bueno busquelo en google!}

{Practicing the Basics}

Here's the assignment I turned in the other day. I spent three hours drawing these lines with my Ames lettering guide and perfecting my architectural lettering style. We are really starting with the basics. It reminds me of the story that Deiter F. Uchtdorf told in his last general conference talk.

"The story is told that the legendary football coach Vince Lombardi had a ritual he performed on the first day of training. He would hold up a football, show it to the athletes who had been playing the sport for many years, and say, “Gentlemen, … this is a football!” He talked about its size and shape, how it can be kicked, carried, or passed. He took the team out onto the empty field and said, “This is a football field.” He walked them around, describing the dimensions, the shape, the rules, and how the game is played."

-Deiter F. Uchtdorf

Notice the part about why flowers inspire me.

it's all in the power of basics.



{la foto es una tarea para mi clase de disenos graficos para paisajismo. pase tres horas practicando mi letra y aprendieno como dibujar lineas rectas. Estamos practicando los basicos primero. }

"Se cuenta que el legendario entrenador de fútbol americano, Vince Lombardi, ponía en práctica un ritual el primer día de entrenamiento. Sostenía en alto un balón de fútbol, se lo mostraba a los atletas que habían estado jugando ese deporte por muchos años, y decía: “Señores, ¡esto es un balón de fútbol!”. Hablaba de su tamaño y forma, de cómo se podía patear, cargar o pasar. Llevaba al equipo al campo vacío y decía: “Éste es un campo de fútbol”; les daba un recorrido, describía las dimensiones, la forma, las reglas y cómo se jugaba el deporte."
-Deiter F. Uchtdorf

{Listening to Condoleezza Rice}

These are my favorite quotes from Rice's forum address last Thursday.

Speaking of nation myths, “Ours is the log cabin. It doesn’t matter where you came from; it matters where you’re going. Across the world, that is admired about the United States and it is what has lead people to come here for generations from across the world.… This great American dream, this great American myth, must be true not only for those who come here; it has to be true for those who are already here.”

“You might not be able to control your circumstances, but you can control your response to your circumstances. If you can keep that in mind, you will not give way to aggrievement and entitlement, both of which rob you of your ability to control your own life.”

“Whenever you’re lacking in optimism, remember your special responsibility because of where you are and what you’ve been granted, to hold up those who don’t fall to cynicism, and to hold up those who can see a world not as it is but a world as it should be.”

"I encourage you to find your passion while you’re here. Find what you’re passionate about, what will make you get up every day for the rest of your life…"

{Nuestra secretario de estado anterior, Condoleezza Rice nos discurso en la universidad la semana pasada. Nos hablo de la importancia de democracia y que los Estados Unidos tiene que abogar por democracia en el mundo. Nos recordo del mito nacional, "No importa de donde viene- importa para donde va." Nos pidio a encontrar una inspiracion que nos va a dar ganas de despertar cada manana. Ella dijo que no tenemos que perder nuestro optimismo y que necesitamos compartirlo con otros. Me gusto mucho!}

{Listen Up!}

{que escuchen bien! mi hermano esta leyendo su llamamiento misional!}

{Attitude of Gratitude}

"This is a wonderful time to be living here on earth. Our opportunities are limitless. While there are some things wrong in the world today, there are many things right, such as teachers who teach, ministers who minister, marriages that make it, parents who sacrifice, and friends who help.

"We can lift ourselves, and others as well, when we refuse to remain in the realm of negative thought and cultivate within our hearts an attitude of gratitude. If ingratitude be numbered among the serious sins, then gratitude takes its place among the noblest of virtues"

{Thomas S. Monson, "An Attitude of Gratitude," Ensign, May 1992, 54}

{Herbal Head Games}

I'm 22.9 years old so.......

does anyone know a 28.2 year old eligible bachelor?!

{Almost Called}

His mission call has been sent. And we are waiting......IMPATIENTLY.

{Su llamamiento misional ya esta en el correo en camino a nuestra casa y estamos esperando.....sin paciencia.}

where?
when?
I wanna know.

{Dremy Night}

Dremy= Andrea + Amy. Thanks Chris for coming up with that one.

After we graduated from high school, Andrea and I made a bet. A bet on who would get married first. We had heard all of our friends making projections and we decided to do something official about it.

1. Andrea bet I would get married first.

The conditions for if she won.....
*Dinner at Tucanos paid by me
*A night of country dancing because I don't like country dancing

2. I bet Andrea would get married first.

The conditions for if I won....
*Dinner at Macaroni Grill paid by Andrea
*A night watching Hayden Christensen movies because Star Wars III had just come out and I was a little bit into him and Andrea wasn't.

Andrea got married a year ago. I missed it. It was the most trunky day of my mission but......it meant I won the bet. Friday she paid up on the bet. We went to Gloria's Little Italy for dinner, the best dishes being the bruschetta and the coconut gelato! Yum! Due to our busy schedules we are seeing less and less of each other and it was a great chance to talk and talk and talk and talk.

My movie star crush on Hayden has long since ended so we watched some episodes of our shared favorite The Big Bang Theory.

can't wait for the baby bet!

{Despues de nuestra graduacion de quarto medio, con mi mejor amiga hicimos un apuesto de quien se casara primera. Andrea se caso el ano pasado entonces yo gane el apuesto. El viernes fuimos a comer al restaurante que escogi y ella pago. Rico, no? Pasamos la noche regenial!}

{Soils? Boring? No Way!}

So I have to say I was a little skeptical about my following class schedule:

Accounting
Landscape Bidding and Estimating
Disease and Pest Control
Soil Science
Soil Science Lab
Landscape Design Graphics

And that soil lab is three hours long! One would think and wonder, "What do you do with dirt for three hours a week?" Well my friends you can do some pretty cool stuff.
{by Soil Science}

Today we found out the soil texture{soil texture is the proportions of sand, silt, and clay in a soil} by using the hydrometer method showed above in the picture. First we put a sample soil in a milk shake mixing cup, added distilled water, and then set it to mix in a real milk shake mixer. No kidding! It made us all crave chocolate milk.

After your mixture has been mixed into a milk shake you pour it into a cylinder as shown above and add more water. Then you shake, shake, shake that cylinder to suspend the soil in the water. Then you set it on the counter and wait an allotted amount of time. At the given time you take a reading on a hydrometer that floats in the mixture. That reading tells you how much sand is in the soil because it has all sunk to the bottom. The silt and clay will still be suspended in the water and you have to wait longer for all the silt to sink to the bottom and take another reading. And with that you can determine how much sand, silt and clay are in the given soil.

So exciting! We also determined soil texture by feeling mud made out of the example soils. We really dirtied up our hands with this one. I found it really therapeutic to knead the mud between my fingers and determine whether it was gritty, smooth, or sticky. Those three hours in the lab just flew by and I am no longer wearied by the thought of my weekly soil lab.

Here are some soil tidbits:

soil with lots of clay means high water holding capacity

soil with lots of sand means high aeration

there is good drainage in sandy soils

if you have too much clay in your soil. do not add sand. add organic material!

{Durante mi clase de laboratorio hoy, hicimos experimentos para calcular los proporciones de arena, cieno, y arcilla en un especimen de la tierra. Nos ensuciamos las manos y fue muy divertido. Aprendi las cualidades importantes para cultivar plantas en la tierra. Aunque el laboratorio dura tres horas no me aburro. Ejale!}