Bruschetta!

It is really an easy thing to make.

These are the only things that you need for bruschetta. Fresh mozzarella, preferably fresh basil, tomatoes (I used roma), nice heavy Italian bread.

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees

Chop the basil to small pieces and dice the tomatoes. (I don't have a picture of this, but slice the bread into about 1/2 inch slices. Also, slice the mozzarella as thick or as thin as you like it. Pre toast the bread.)

Put the mozzarella on the toasted bread and bake in the oven for about 5 minutes or until the mozzarella is warm.

This is what it looks like when it is done.
Put a small sprinkle of basil on the bread and mozzarella.

Put tomatoes on top and if there is any basil left, sprinkle it on for looks. And there you have it!! Bruschetta. Serve with balsamic vinegar and EVOO (extra Virgin Olive Oil) to individual taste. If you know that all will like it, mix basil and tomatoes in a balsamic vinegar and EVOO mix before puting it on the bread.

Serve room temperature. I love it!!

Bored and Sick

I am just about ready for school to start up again. I am not good with having not much to do. I have slept a lot the last couple of days because I have gotten sick. I think that it was Quinten's fault. Endrit and I got sick just about the same time with similar illnesses. Poor Endrit because he has to work still while I just take some nyqill and pass out all day snoring away. I have still cooked at least 1 meal a day, but I have not been the good housewife while I have time to be the housewife. Because of this, I am bored. I need to go and get some things for church on Sunday, but I just don't want to get out. We get a new class. I am excited for the new adventure for this next year. I am almost 100% certain we will be in primary until 1 of 2 things happen, I have a child of my own, or we graduate and move out. We love it there. So because I am just not motivated it isn't good that I am not preparing my lesson.

I am excited for this Friday. It will be the first Temple wedding that Endrit and I will be at since our own wedding. I hope that both weather and illnesses go away so that we can have a good time. We haven't been back to Idaho Falls in a while. I guess it would be almost 2 years. Fun times.

New years is tonight and we get to go to Endrit's parent's house to celebrate with them. I get to make bruchetta for them and I am so excited!! I went to whole foods to get some fresh basil because Smith's didn't carry the small packages. I am going to try it a little bit different this time than last time. I will have to take pictures of them and a recipe when I am finished with them. It couldn't be simpler. Fun times...

Friend Visit.

Quinten White has been living in Germany for the last few years and we have been pretty good friends since high school. It was really nice to sit and just visit with him for a few hours before he had to head back to Germany.

I have always been the short person in any group of friends. This picture reminds me of that. So, Quinten, if you read this, thanks for stopping by!

2008

Last night it really hit me that 2008 is almost over. I started thinking about how this year has shaped up. For the most part it has been at least a productive year even if it wasn't an enjoyable year. At the first of the year I was under the impression that I would graduate in 2011. About the same time that Endrit should be starting graduation countdown. Spring 2008 semester was probably the most enjoyable part of the year. I took my first summer classes and I was able to pass physics in 1 summer. It wasn't fun at all but it made me very happy to get them done in a concentrated pain. Fall was the hard part of the year. I wanted to just quit school and take a break. The one good thing that came from Fall semester is that I found out that my graduation date moved up a year to May 2010. With that I had a little more stress to get my letters of recommendation, taking the pre-professional exam, fingerprinting and all the other little things that came with applying for the program. After finals I found out that I was fully admitted.

School has been rough. I know that it seems like the only thing that I talk about, but that is my life right now. Endrit and I have had a good year. We still love each other and are starting to get excited for life after school. He has had his trials this year with his research but the year seems to be ending on a good note.

I am really hopeful for 2009. I will be in the middle of my student teaching by this time next year!! I can say that 3 of my last 4 semesters will be in the next year. The light is getting bigger at the end of the tunnel. I am excited to graduate and 2009 will be a major step in that process with starting my licensing program. There are other little things that make me excited about 2009, but they are just small.

I hope that 2009 brings joy and peace to everyone.

Grades...

Well, grades have been interesting this semester as they are quite often while they are drizzling in. This semester it has been one of joy and total frustration. The genetics class I wrote about here is the one that is frustrating me. I have a D-. I would have believed a C, but not a D-. I recalculated the grades I have and there is no way. None whatsoever that I failed that class. I am going to appeal this. I already have an email sent and I will bug the teacher until I get the grade I really made which is a C at the least. I am thinking more of a B-. It was a hard semester. I am just really frustrated with that.

With all of my other grades, I am getting 2 As 2A-s and 1 B+. Not too shabby. The GPA with the D- is enough to keep my scholarships so I am very happy about that.

I am sure that I will straighten up the grade situation for my Genetics class...I guess more to come later.

Funny Kitty

Endrit and I got some wet cat food for Dexter for Christmas. We always did this with my cats growing up so don't think I am weird. We opened one last night to give to him and he is such a stingy kitty! He has yet to finish it. He knows how to savor food. We are going to have to take the can to Endrit's parent's apartment for him to finish it off. I just think I have the coolest kitty. What animal savors it's food?

Accepted...finally!!!

On Friday of last week I got a letter in the mail that said I was provisionally accepted into the teaching cohort of Fall 2009. The provision I had to give by January 30, 2009 was a professional letter of recommendation from an employer. Anyone who knows me knows I haven't had a job in over a year. I had gotten advised from the secondary teaching adviser to just get 2 of my major area teachers to write letters and not to worry about the employer letter. Needless to say I was a little bit angry when I wasn't accepted because I yet again had bad advising. It has been a horrible battle since getting into University; ISU and the U.

I emailed her with my dilemma and I just got an email back from her. She stepped in with the acceptance committee and plead my case. I am now fully accepted into the program without that provision. The only pending thing is my completion of the pre-cohort classes. That is why I will be extra busy next semester and summer semester. (Can you tell I want to graduate as soon as possible?)

This news has made me really happy. I am glad that I have gotten the news before Christmas. It makes less of a stress during my break from school. Endrit was really happy to hear that as well. He is really excited for me to be a University graduate. It is getting so close and we are both getting really excited about it. I now know that I WILL be student teaching Fall 2009 - Spring 2010.