December 31, 2012
2012 checklist
at the beginning of 2012
not gonna lie,
i didn't do great.
which is crazy.
because i am great at making
and completing to do lists.
but i guess it's easier to make a
daily to do list
than a whole year to do list.
so how did i fare?
did i run a marathon?
nope.
and i think i may have legit asthma
(rather than the exercise induced nonsense
i was diagnosed with in high school.)
lame.
did i climb a v4 in mexico or a v6 in the us?
nope
i'm barely climbing v0s.
thanks arizona.
did i read 52 books?
hell yeah i did;
did i take at least 6 trips?
yep.
i went to:
guanajuato
dallas, twice
tabasco and chiapas
nyc + dc
las vegas
cabo
lake placid
san diego
houston
sayulita
new york city
did i go to 8 new states and 5 new countries?
nope.
but i did live in mexico
for almost 6 months.
and i went to 6 mexican states:
estado de mexico
guanajuato
tabasco
chiapas
nayarit
baja california sur
did i write 150 blog posts?
yep.
i wrote 169.
so according to the list,
this year wasn't totally unsuccessful
but it wasn't hugely successful either.
except that it kind of was.
i mean, check out all of
the super cool stuff i did this year:
january --
we saw
february --
we saw some cool art exhibits:
went to a jazz club and saw a lucha libre match.
and we went on a picnic to bosque de chapultapec.
march --
we went to guanajuato for jj and mm's boda!
saw a puma's football game.
saw a movie at a drive in movie theatre,
lived through a bunch of earthquakes
and rcg moved back to the us.
april --
i spent semana santa in dallas and ate crawfish.
may --
we moved to tucson
and i bought a new car.
june --
i went to nyc for amp's bridal shower!
rcg bought me a new bike and
i started taking university of phoenix classes.
we went to a tucson padres game
july --
we spent july 4th horseback riding at colossal cave
and spent a boozy weekend in las vegas.
i also started a new job
august --
we took a lot of field trips:
we went to biosphere 2,
and climbed A mountain,
i met up with some friends in cabo
and went to lake placid for amp and mm's wedding.
we also went to san diego for a concert.
september --
we spent labor day weekend in houston,
saw some university of arizona football
and hiked mt. lemmon.
and the walkerz came to visit tucson:
and the san xavier del bac mission.
october --
we went back to sabino canyon
and found a new spot: bear canyon.
we also joined a kickball league.
november --
i painted kindness coins at ben's bells.
we went skydiving for my birthday
saw a burlesque
and drove go karts.
also, i became a substitute teacher
and learned how to knit.
and learned how to knit.
december --
we vacationed in sayulita,
went to the 4th ave street fair,
saw family in dallas,
and celebrated new years in nyc.
in addition,
i participated in a photo a day challenge
and took one photo every day
for the entirety of 2012.
and i participated in project life,
digitally documenting each week's activities.
it certainly wasn't the year
i was expecting,
but it turned out to be
quite a spectacular one.
well done 2012.
well done.
#photoadaydec
1. 8 o'clock 2. peace
3. something you held 4. black + white
5. looking up 6. from where you live
7. star 8. someone you love
9. out + about 10. under
11. sweet 12. hat
13. lights 14. something green
15. outdoors 16. something you made
17. on the floor 18. makes you feel merry
19. something beginning with "s" 20. weather
21. tree 22. decoration
23. joy is... 24. tradition
25. lunchtime 26. mess
27. how you relax 28. cold
29. hot 30. something that made you smile this year
31. self-portrait
December 28, 2012
2012 reading challenge
for the past two years
i have had the goal of reading 52 books.
the first year, 2011,
i read 33.
that's not too bad.
that's one book for every 11 days.
but this year
i wanted to really do it --
52 books.
one book a week.
but then i started the year
with the song of ice and fire series.
what a disaster.
as each book is approximately 17,000 pages,
how could i ever possibly read 52 books?
luckily,
or unluckily,
i got a job that requires
an immense amount of driving,
so for the past four months
i have been reading three books at once:
one on my iphone,
one in the traditional paper form,
and one via book on tape.
it's been kind of intense.
but i made it.
i read 52 books.
in fact,
i read more than 52 books.
i read 55!
what i enjoyed the most
about this activity
was seeing how many
interesting, weird,
diverse, and unusual books
diverse, and unusual books
i could find and read.
here are some statistics
about my 2012 books:
by genre:
4 fantasy
3 historical fiction
11 drama
10 mystery
4 sci-fi
5 romance
7 memoir
5 non-fiction
4 short stories
2 cartoon/comics
how they were read:
12 listened to
8 read electronically
35 traditional books
non-fiction vs. fiction:
12 non-fiction
43 fiction
21 were part of a series
the longest book:
a storm of swords
by george r.r. martin
at 1,177 pages
totals:
55 books
19857 pages
December 26, 2012
homemade flour tortillas
don't you just love recipes that begin with
"when my mother was teaching me how to do this..."?
i know.
me too.
let me back up.
rcg loves flour tortillas.
and his madre has made them
from scratch
his whole life.
to him,
her tortillas are the bee's knees.
none can compare.
so i figured the least i could do
was learn how to make them
and try to make them edible.
when i went to dallas
rcg's mom taught me
how she makes them.
please be aware that
all amounts are approximate
as bmctg does everything by touch.
4 cups flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tbsp salt
1 tbsp butter
1/3 to 1/4 cup crisco
hot water (almost to boiling)
mix the flour, baking soda, and salt.
add butter and crisco.
rub it all together with your hands.
(get dirty!)
all of the flour should have crisco mixed in.
if it feels like there isn't enough crisco,
add more.
add a little bit of hot water at a time.
knead the dough until it is hard.
be careful,
the water should be almost boiling.
if this is your first time
if this is your first time
use a wooden spoon rather than your hands
to mix it all together,
otherwise you might burn your hands.
as you mix the water in with the flour/crisco mixture
make sure you don't add too much --
you don't want the dough to be sticky.
if it gets sticky,
add more flour.
wrap the dough in aluminum foil
and keep warm
for approximately 30 minutes.
after letting the dough rest,
knead it until it's hard.
rip off handfuls of dough
and knead each handful
and shape it into small balls.
if you aren't making the tortillas right away
put the kneaded balls in a plastic bag.
they can be stored for up to a week in the fridge.
if you aren't making the tortillas right away
put the kneaded balls in a plastic bag.
they can be stored for up to a week in the fridge.
when you're ready to make tortillas,
roll out each ball of dough
into a circle.
while you are doing this,
heat a non-stick pan on the stove.
you don't need to grease the pan.
the tortillas won't take long to cook,
so be sure to watch them closely,
and flip often.
thank you for teaching me bmctg.
i appreciate it.
December 25, 2012
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