Showing posts with label cooking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cooking. Show all posts

Monday, May 2, 2011

fast sunday, Ryder, Photo, and some good cookin'

Yesterday was so excellent!! {even though i had a sore throat!} I am going to try to start being better about Sundays. I hear everyone saying how wonderful their weeks are going by not doing anything they normally would do on Sundays like homework and the computer etc. I don't think i do anything necessarily bad on Sunday, i just am thinking i could be better.
So, yesterday i did some really good things. I read my scriptures, i read like a third of my favorite book, i cooked a nice meal with Betsy, i went to church, and went to ward prayer. It was the perfect Sunday!

My favorite book- Dusty Britches, by Marcia Lynn McClure. I would definitely recommend it to you. I find that i become a big sap after i read it though. I hate it when i am done because i just want to read about Ryder and Dusty a lot longer. I find that I wanting to talk to myself while i read this book. I probably look like a lunatic but it's not a big deal. :D


this is me nearly 3 years ago with Marcia. Love her.

I'm done with my photo portfolio!! woohoo! so now, the only thing standing between me and being done with my first year is my final critique on wednesday morning! :D

Betsy told me that i should do the Julie and julia blog thing because i cook so much lately. Too bad duck and all those other things are ridiculously expensive! Maybe i'll do my own version. I think next school year i will try to make a new recipe once a week. {not this summer because i'll be home and am going to take full advantage of having mommy cooking for me again. :P}
this is Garlic and lime chicken fajitas.
see the back left burner?? yeah that is enough rice to feed africa.

this is salmon. YUM!! it tasted soooo good! :D

I got a card from my grandma on saturday. It was for finals week. :D my grandma is the cutest thing ever! I guess my mom told her that i had a sore throat yesterday and i get a cute email from her too. here 'tis-
i just love her. She always types in all caps. these are the ways i can tell if it is from grandma- if we get a package in the mail and it is taped together with duct tape it's from grandma, if i get an email in it's all caps, it's from grandma, if i get a letter and her "a's look like this-
{that is the best one i can do but it's not exact}, it's from grandma. if there are american flag stickers on the envelope, it's from grandma. If it has cute little inspirational stories and quotes in it, it's from grandma, if it's a forwarded email, it's from grandPa! haha.

well, "i'm going to go.......shave". haha. name that movie.

-Brianna

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

making a man fat, and library adventures.

this semester i have really enjoyed cooking. This is probably not the best thing for me, but it'll be a good thing for the future. I'll make a man fat one day with my mad cooking skills. yesterday morning i made biscuits and sausage gravy for breakfast.


and i would have to say that it was really really good! :D

and tonight i made up a recipe and it turned out waaaaaaay good. honestly have no idea how i lived with out it. Anyways. i am calling it Brianna Lasagna. want the recipe? leave me a comment and i'll give it to you. :D


looks good huh??!

today i printed my first 16x20 print. it was huge!! and a pain in the rear-end but it's pretty!
here is a diagram of how much i've moved up in the printing of photographs world.



9 months from today is my birthday!!! i am now 19 1/4 years old. It's a good day.

So earlier today i went to the library to study for my photo history final- and i fell asleep.... my phone was on my text book and my head was on them both. yeah, to say the least when i got a text and my phone vibrated i jumped like 3 feet. Good thing that i didn't know anyone that saw it. Although at least then i could have laughed about it.

today was the best day in institute all year. It was exactly what i needed to hear and it helped me a lot.

then i went back to the library. And i did not fall asleep! but i do have a piece of advice-when choosing a snack to eat at the library, do not choose a crispy green apple. It makes way too much noise and everyone will be staring at you. Bad idea.

while at the library {the second time of the day} i saw a cowboy on the side walk riding a bike. And then i thought about how cool it would have been if he was riding a horse instead of a bike. I think i'm going to suggest getting some hitching posts and take out some of the bike racks. I'm sure if i get enough signatures it'll work.... right??

So the library is ridiculously busy this time of year. I've decided that when i want to cross off "kiss passionately in the library", it will not be during dead week or finals week.

My photo history final was wonderful! I knew every single answer and feel more confident than i ever have on a test before! it was amazing! The power of saying a prayer before a test is amazing!

while reading in my textbook i came across this quote and I liked it a lot.
"The contemplation of things as they are, without substituition or imposture, without error or confusion, is in itself a nobler thing than a whole harvest of invention." -Willard Van Dyke.

Now i'm watching "Life as we know it" with attractive Josh Duhamel. It's a cute movie. I would recommend it to you.

i am now done with these classes-
Planet Earth, photo history, and {second half of Book of Mormon} institute.
to go-
photo 2, drawing 2, painting 1. all three studio art classes. joy. to. the. world.

happy wednesday!

Thursday, April 21, 2011

My camera future drawing, the pros of next year, and yellow frosting.

Last night i went to bed at 10:30! I haven't gone to bed that early since..... probably December. i honestly can't remember. I woke up at 10 am. :D I feel waaaaaay good today! And guess what else? i sluffed my science class {and test today}. Because i didn't have to take it.
So i did this-
on photoshop. i have to draw it now. boo!! It'll be better than drawing something else though. Bring on the sharpies. :D

2 weeks from tonight i will be done with my first year of college! why i am excited about this-
  • Not being the smallest fish in the HUGE pond.
  • when a guy asks what year i am i don't have to hear the "....ohhhhhhh........." comment when i say freshmen. Even though sometimes i "semi-lie" and say sophomore. Because credit wise i am......
  • living on the old side of old farm
  • being in my major!!!
  • not having painting and drawing classes. :D:D
  • possibly meeting my future eternal companion in western swing dancing class. Because where else am i supposed to find a cowboy?? none of them take art classes. unless they're the "broke back" kind of cowboys. And then that wouldn't work either. what an "unfortunosity". {as Betsy would say}
  • sharing 1 bathroom with six girls {okay not looking forward to it. mainly i just like imagining all the hilarious problems this could cause.}
  • if i think of more i'll let you know..... bucause as you know, using bullet points is my all-time favorite way to blog! :D
So a couple weeks ago i saw a newspaper article title that said, "Book of mormon the musical." i was in a hurry and never looked at it but then today, my past manager/boss/teacher/advisor {have no idea what to call her} from my internship at Fotogenix, Tiffany {who is pretty fetchin' awesome!}, had a link on her facebook to this article. I read it and it's a good article. So then i did a little research on the "musical" and it sounds pretty awfully wrong. When i hear "book of mormon the musical" i think of the animated movies that all the malls in Utah sell at the kiosk things. Anyways if you want to read the Book of Mormon, the book {not musical} leave me a comment and i'll get you one for free. And then if you want it to be a musical you can put a CD in of the primary songs or the Hymns while you read it. I'm pretty brilliant when it comes to good ideas. :)

I'm headed to my 3rd to last painting and drawing 2 class in apx 45 minutes. *claps hands excitedly* i have 2 drawings left (one above) and i have to try and copy this one-
it's by Edgar DeGas. it looks simpler to me than others. and when it comes to Brianna+drawing, simple is the best possible scenario.

and 1.5 paintings left.
this is the one that is half done. i am doing it from a picture i took a year ago.
and then my master painting-

i am so not looking forward to it.

favorite thing said yesterday- "She didn't lock the door!! So she came in!" "Tell her she will have to live with her consequences and entertain her!" haha.

And i made a chocolate cake yesterday. And died the butter cream frosting {made from Melissa's cupcake calendar of wonderfulness} yellow in honor of hoping spring will come. it was great. But then it hailed today, so i don't think my cake worked. :'( But there's still some left, so come over and grab a piece if you're in Logan. :D

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Dear Spring, stop pretending to be like your brother Winter.


i woke up this morning to sunshine! so i wore a light jacket to school.
first class- on the door there was a sign that said "class canceled today" so i went and ran the errand on campus i needed to. went out side to what?!??!! PURING RAIN!! don't worry though, i had my umbrella. my shoes were soaked and half my pant legs too.
i decided that there was nothing better on a rainy day than baking cookies. :D

Don't they look wonderful? Peanut butter chocolate chip. I made the recipe up too. :D
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
    1/2 cup butter, room temperature
      1/2 cup peanut butter
        1 egg
          1 1/4 cup flour
            3/4 teaspoon baking soda
              1/2 teaspoon baking powder
                1/4 teaspoon salt
                  1 teaspoon vanilla
                  1/2 package chocolate chips
                  and then it decided to snow.
                  and so i decided to take some pretty pictures of the snow.




                  just trying some different shutter speeds and apertures and effects in photo shop.
                  which one is your favorite??
                  And then because of the snow my classes tonight were canceled. :D which means all of my classes were canceled today!

                  so here is a new youtube video for you. a spoof on the Friday song.

                  and because i saw this word and thought it was funny i will have a word of the day on my blog today. wikiot {click to see the definition} i'm totally a wikiot.

                  I figured out what i am going to do for my master painting project. Van Gogh's sunflower painting
                  Call me lazy {or just know my limits} but I chose it because it looks more simple than other famous paintings. haha. :D
                  Have a wonderfully wintered spring day.

                  -Brianna

                  Sunday, April 3, 2011

                  being sick=being bored=another blogpost

                  so the past few days i've been getting sicker. :P BOO! just a dumb head cold. but it's good that it has been conference so i can lounge around my apartment in my PJ's.
                  So conference was wonderful! I really really really really enjoyed Elder Scott's talk!
                  it was super adorable how he talked about his wife and all the thoughtful things they did for each other while being married.
                  {i love these guys!}
                  I had my questions answered and worries calmed too. :D


                  Anyways last night i went with betsy and ashley to my friend Carrie's house for banana splits while all the (good) young lads were off at the Priesthood session. {we were driving around town and someone mentioned that they love not seeing guys out for the night because they are all being righteous. and the ones who aren't there we were supposed to glare at them haha} :D She made homemade caramel syrup and homemade chocolate syrup! and had like 50 toppings for them! They were most excellent.

                  then we watched the Legends of Zorro. never in my life had i seen it. It was super awesome! Antonia Banderaz is a babe.
                  favorite line of the movie- "you should put some lipstick on if you're going to act like my mother!" bahaha!

                  it is with great excitement and enthusiasm that i announce to you that.....................................................
                  I CHANGED MY INFO ON FACEBOOK!

                  this is what it now reads-
                  I'd rather be taking pictures!

                  I am a Utah State Aggie (WOOT!) and I am an Orem High Graduate! I love to take pictures, read, take pictures, have fun, take pictures, and go to Aggie athletic events, etc. I have the BEST roommates in the world. We have a ton of fun, weird conversations, do random spur of the moment things, and enjoy once a week roommate bonding night/i hate boys night/i hate scratchy sock night by eating ice cream and watching a chick-flick.

                  goals include- dating a cowboy, kissing in the library, traveling to Europe, learn how to control the TV/DVD in my house in Orem, perfect the art of making gravy, Photograph an elaborate wedding, fly a plane, pull an all nighter, become an expert in Facebook stalking, own a 4 door jeep, play red rover in the middle of a large intersection, have someone named after me, have a baby boy before Ashleigh so i get the fought after name, own a horse, go on a sleigh ride, turn 20, fly in a hot air balloon, kiss under mistletoe, take a successful photo of the moon and it's craters, own a legit ranch, marry in the temple, have an adventure every day of my life with him, and live happily ever after with my very own Mr Perfectly Imperfect. :D

                  cool beans eh?
                  so now because the only thing i have to do is blow my nose and take a second nap of the day i will explain my fun to goals to you! :D

                  dating a cowboy- pretty self explanatory. i once read this-

                  "If he has snakeskin boots and a wide brimmed hat, your hearts a fluttering! He is fearless, loves to get down and dirty, and not afraid of hard work. He is a loyal family man, and wants to provide for them in any way possible. He loves riding horses, training horses, caring for livestock, agriculture and has a deep love for dogs. He is not one to rely soley on his physical skills, as most Cowboys are also highly intelligent. Not only is he good on the farm, but he's also talented at sweet talking you and could lasso your heart a mile away. There is no shortage of charm with the Cowboys, for them chivalry is not dead and never will be. For a rough and tumble type, he really does have a soft inner core when it comes to loved ones, and he isn't afraid to show it. "
                  Although not all of this is why i want to date/marry/beinlovewith a cowboy, it gives you the most of it. they are just SO adorable, and are at the essence of being gentlemen. sigh.

                  next-kissing in the library. there is a quote on our P4 quote wall of awesomeness that reads, "i want to kiss passionately in the library."-Brianna...... so i just have this dream of kissing someone in between weathered old paper and metal shelves okay? give me a break. it could be worse. i just think kissing in the library is somehow very romantic. :D
                  {only i will not kiss a guy if they are wearing that tight of a shirt}

                  Traveling to Europe- I want to travel the world, europe being the first place i'd go outside the US. (i've already been to Canada). I want to go to Italy (#1) and Greece (#2) the most. I want to bring my camera and 6 cajilion memory cards to document ever milisecond of this adventure. And i need to go before i get married {not that this is happening soon} because everyone knows that after you get married you
                  • Become boring
                  • become even more poor
                  • boring
                  • and then more poor.
                  so obviously in the next 2 years is the most ideal time to travel the world.

                  learning how to control the TV/DVD at my house in Orem probly sounds ridiculous but you don't understand. There are at least 20-5000 cords and for some reason it's not as simple as pushing a button on the remote that the TV changes from cable to dvd to vcr back to cable. there is a series of un plugging, plugging, jamming, yelling, hoping, but mostly praying to get it to work. and i can never remember the order of how things work. So whenever i go home to visit, if i'm yelling from the basement for someone to help, my family doesn't reply or come. Because they know they will then have to help me figure it out. the only thing is that i hate it when they just do it, cause then i never can learn it. so i always make them teach me how to do it. But i still don't ever remember..... So therefore, this is a hefty and worthwhile goal of mine. :D
                  perfecting the art of making gravy- my mom, and grandma, and great grandma, etc. have this delicious way of making gravy. and i know how to make it, i just never can make it taste as good as theirs. they don't ever use a recipe so it's hard to make it exactly as theirs. i'm getting better, i just need more practice. and one day, my daughters will be saying the same things as me. :D

                  photograph an elaborate wedding. i want to take picture's for a waaay expensive wedding. one with name cards on the table, and where they serve dinner that cost over 200 a plate. :D there would be so much to take pictures of and it would be a dream come true for me. :D

                  fly a plane. It's my grandpa in me. He was in the air force. and i want to learn to fly an airplane. one day it will happen. and you all will be jealous.

                  pull an all nighter. don't make fun! I've tried! but i always fall short of it. And everyone always tells me that they do it because they procrastinated writing a really huge paper or project. but here's the problem- i physically cannot procrastinate. It stresses me out! and i do not do well with an overload of stress. so, i take the stress off of myself and get things done early. which in return prevents my goal of pulling an all nighter less possible.

                  Become an expert in facebook stalking. I'm pretty daggon good at this already but even i can improve a little more.

                  own a 4-door jeep. Because they are sexy! okay okay, i want my future husband to own one. But either way, i would own it. :D preferably a navy blue or yellow one.


                  play "red rover" in a busy intersection. Would this not be legit?!?! "red rover, red rover, send one mini van over!" i think it would be the highlight of anyone's life.

                  have someone named after me. story time! i've never shared that with anyone before but i have news! it might happen!! i got this random text from ash and it said, "so nathan has our first daughter's name picked out." i said, "and that is...?" and she said, "jocelyn NICHOLE." AHHHHHHH!!!!!!! that's my middle name!! and i know that it's not even my first name, but who cares?!??!!?! so this dream might in fact come true one day. now, ashleigh and Nathan just need to have a niece for me. :D

                  Having a baby boy before Ashleigh does. so growing up us girls like to come up with names for our future kiddos, right? well ash and i have the same name for our first born sons. And now that she's married i have not-so-secretly put a curse on her to only having girls until i have a boy first. the name- James. After our grandpa. :D and i am bound and determined that that name is mine!

                  own a horse- if i marry a cowboy this should be a piece of cake. If i don't, then i want to raise my sons as cowboys. so then they can make other girl's dream of marrying a cowboy come true one day. ;) jk jk. but a horse would be neato to have.

                  go on a sleigh ride. like a legit horse drawn sleigh in the winter where it would lightly snow throughout. and this, would be perfectly romantic too! :D


                  turn 20- i'm less than 10 months away. Hopefully i don't die before then. I feel like i've been a teenager for far too long. don't get me wrong, i've had the most wonderful teenage years ever, but still. 20 finally sounds grown up. :D

                  fly in a hot air balloon. sounds scary, sounds pretty awesome! i just read a book once and there was a couple scenes where there were hot air balloons. And i want to go in one now. :D

                  kiss under mistletoe. (i know, another kissing one){my friend tara made a list of all the places she wants to be kissed and told me i should do one too.... so i did...... but that is for a different post.....maybe.} i know this is cliche but who cares!

                  take a successful photo of the moon and it's craters. i have attempted this 4 times. and failed more than miserably every time. i need a better lens.

                  own a legit ranch- once again, this whole marrying a cowboy would make this easier.

                  get married in the temple- DUH!

                  have an adventure ever day of my life with him- i always feel ridiculous when i say this but my greatest goal in life is marrying my very own perfectly imperfect {for me} man in the temple and live happily ever after. I would give almost everything up i ever wanted (see random goals above) to have this.

                  anyways i'm done being cheesy for today.
                  i'm going to go take some drugs and hopefully get over my cold.

                  loves and hugs too,
                  Bri

                  Saturday, December 11, 2010

                  Mattress surfing is an olympic sport in P4

                  Funniest thing yesterday. We wanted to have a slumber party in the living room and wanted to bring our mattresses downstairs.
                  So why not ride them down the stairs. It was hilarious. the mattresses were like the exact same length as the stairs were wide so they would get stuck and we'd slide down the mattress and tumble down the stairs. it was great.



                  it was awesome! i just loved it.

                  so then we watched she's the man on our mattresses in the living room.

                  mine is the super poofy one. i LOVE my down comforter. :D with all my <3 href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4sRjqKozLLOOLyuQoWmK8gegGadgQASxM23UZfjruS-m937GrO6z-Hh6LzewPMKkyXkmDOB_5BLcvSYvkyZ5NEWlOtUM5G_dxKgxTdgwScVTf-QeUVXW-QcEu4SE-jGJdHDY73cN2mAs/s1600/DSCN1692.JPG">




                  we made mexican food too. the rice cooker wouldn't stay on the cook part so Tara put a fork in it to keep it down.


                  we also played some pranks. The old side of the farm got new doors and the old doors were just lying around. so we took them and placed them against the new doors and range the door bells. so then when they opened the door there would be another door. it was grand.

                  that was my night, it was FANTASTIC!

                  Thursday, November 25, 2010

                  Thanksgiving!!!!

                  I LOVE being home! :D

                  so for the past few days my mom has been cooking like a mad women. And I've been doing dishes like cinderella. But, it is completely worth it when you get all the goodness of the meal.


                  i contributed this to the meal. it's a delish mint pie.


                  but.... my most favorite part is this-- CRANBERRY SAUCE! :D


                  Ash and I set the table like this--

                  pretty huh!?

                  and then ash left me because apparently she's in love and had to go visit his family for dessert. LAME! but she wanted a few pics of them together. you can find the rest on my photo blog. briannanicholephotography.blogspot.com


                  well after we cleaned up and stuff we went to the mod bod sale (3rd year in a row) i spent too much money. but not as much ash. :P


                  I'm grateful for:

                  my siblings!!!

                  look how little and cute we were!

                  my padres


                  my grand padres



                  and my friends and my roomies (who are also my friends) and my ward. and the boys next door who play music, and America, and USU, and my NIKON!, and so so so so so sososososoos much more!

                  Monday, November 22, 2010

                  Trying to figure out my emotions.

                  Life is tricky. Honestly.

                  Sunday i gave a talk in church. I honestly (not to be un-humble) feel like i did a good job. I didn't read it, only the quotes and the scriptures. I liked the topic. i talked on the Holy Ghost. Here's a paragraph from it- "I am so grateful for the Holy Ghost in my life. Because I am a baptized member of the church I have the great privilege of having the Holy Ghost as my companion through all things. Most people in the world do not have what we have. The knowledge of how the Holy Ghost can help me in my life is an amazing thing. I can’t fathom how hard it would be to make all of the decisions I have to make in my lifetime without the Holy Ghost to help me know what path to take. I can’t comprehend going through the difficult times in life without the Holy Ghost comforting me and helping me get through them. "

                  AND THEN!!!! i came home! woohooo! the roads weren't bad but i'm glad i got home when i did, because now the weather is not so good. HOME! i just love it. except some things i don't love so much.

                  It's weird to have things start to happen that you've thought about and talked about your entire life. Things like remembering way back when i was a kid thinking about what college would be like. and now i'm here! things like this only much bigger now!.... but this subject will have to wait for a while. And i don't know how to feel or act about said situation i can't blog about yet. It's making me so confused. I feel like i'm losing a part of me and i'm scared. I always knew this day would come though. i didn't imagine it like this though.

                  I'm excited for thanksgiving! For cranberry sauce especially. yum! I wish we were having deep fried turkey instead of baked. it's the southern girl in me.
                  BUT! we did have crawfish etoufe for dinner tonight! I will be eating this in heaven. Pretty dang sure. I love it that Walmart sells southernized cawfish. :D It makes for a good time home.

                  Anyone else excited for blackfriday????

                  Saturday, November 20, 2010

                  Cookie sheets are useful for more than just making cookies.

                  SNOW IS HERE!!!
                  last night Betsy and Josh and Mckenna, and Hope and her boyfriend and Roman went to Old Main Hill and we went sledding! only we don't own sleds cause we're poor college kids! so...... We used cookie sheets instead!!!!! I was leery at first cause i've never had good luck on sleds but actually, they were less dangerous than a sled. It was awesome! :D Mckenna had a garbage bag and she made a "diaper" out of it.

                  She went down the hill in just that too!

                  When i tried going down on a bag it didn't work. But i liked the big cookie sheet.


                  Betsy and josh had a cute snow ball fight. They're funny peoples.



                  After we got adequately freezing and wet, we came home and made cookies on the same cookie sheets. :D

                  and then all three of them decided to use the oven as a rear end warmer.

                  It was a great night. :D