Citrusy

Sometimes life gives you lemons. Or it gives you oranges. Heck, it could even be limes. But you know, you should just make a t shirt design out of it. My brother and I started a t shirt company The Food Porn T Shirt Co. This is one of my favorite designs. We're taking it to the printers in the next upcoming weeks and will hopefully be able to sell them by the beginning of October. 

La poule mouillée

There's a point in time when it's no longer cool to run away from your problems. Perhaps it's when you're using a walker or maybe it's when you look like a wimp, but there's definitely a time.
Life comes at you. And you better deal. And you better stick up for yourself and heck, you might as well even get what you want.

So remember to cliff jump. And to go to the beach. And do things you like.

This has been a personal pep talk.

Merci pour ta considération.

Criminal

I was in the newspaper. This is how it happened:

Nite Light Lyfe

This was taken atop Mars Hill looking down at the Flagstaff light life under a full moon.

Look at Them Flippin' Hipsters...

Adult Prom?

Why yes, everybody is required to wear a dress!

Jerome

Sometimes all you need is a whirlwind adventure to an abandoned high school and a drive through the Arizona desert.

Jerome 2013!

Oh yeah, and this happened

I fear stopping my education, that I won’t acquire continuous insights, random facts and weird foreign names. What if graduation means I don’t come across new books or pieces of art? I fear not being told stories, I fear not wondering about new things. What if I get stuck in my ways? What if I think I’m always right and there isn’t a professor to tell me I only put in a C-worthy effort? I fear the lack of stimulating conversation and goofing off.

Now my education is up to me. My graduation allows me to choose even more precisely what I want to know. But what if my personal education leads me astray, what if I become irrelevant? What if my personal education leads me to follow intellectual trends too closely and encases me in popular knowledge?

Now my education is up to me. Just as it is not up to me. Life isn’t going to toss me textbooks any longer. Life is going to toss me paying loans, dealing with human relationships and managing my multiple interests. Life is going to challenge me with new jobs and tasks. Life might even challenge me with stagnation and frustration. Life is my professor and I’m going to need a tutor.

Now my education is up to me. I’m pledging as a B.A., B.S. that I will continue to question and wonder about the arts and sciences. I write this with a sense of utopian exploration hoping that my personal education leads me to move forward, seek positive change and look for reasonable solutions. Because now, my education is up to me.

Sculpture Time

These are some projects I had for my sculpture class!

Waterfalls and Red Rocks and Calcium Carbonate

At Havasupai the water is the most crystal blue you could ever imagine. The Grand Canyon explodes with the reddest rock on Earth. The luscious green vegetation envelopes this cliffs and complements the blue and red to van Gogh's artistic satisfaction.

 My weekend spent in the wilderness couldn't have been more serene, more challenging or more glorious with sunlight. The 10 mile hike to the waterfalls of Havasupai not only gives you strong glutes but also rejuvenated my love for the outdoors.

Saturday was spent wading and climbing over the rocks of Beaver Falls.

Did you know? The water is naturally blue because calcium carbonate deposits found in the red rocks.

 The 10 miles back to the car were exhausting, hot and so gratifying once I was greeted with a victory collapse in the shade next to the port-a-potty.

A Little Taste

This weekend I went to Havasupai. Here's a little taste of the waterfall wonderland that's there. 

More to come soon...

Narcissism

Is it self involved to have a post of just pictures of me? 

Probably, but it's not very often that I have nice photos of myself. 

Some friends and I went around Flagstaff and took our very own graduation shots. This is the result. All camera credit goes to Rebecca Rice

Hieroglyphs

Now if I was a snazzy artist I would call this 'Mistress'.

 But I'm not, 

so I'm calling it 'I painted some silhouettes on red rocks'.

Go Home Banana, You're Drunk

A shot for the muffins, a shot for me... A shot for the muffins and a shot for me. These vegan whiskey soaked banana muffins are delicious for a pep-up in the morning or a night cap in the evening. You'll enjoy them anytime, and not just because you're drunk.

2 over ripe bananas
2 shots whiskey (or a little bit more..)
2 cups flour
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 cup white sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup soy milk
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
little bit of salt

Yields 12 muffins

Mix all together and put in a greased muffin tin. Bake at 350 for about 35-40 minutes and serve with whiskey and/or coffee.

David Asser, Phoenix food critic: "These muffins are scandalous"

Escape to Home

Dear Arizona landscapes,

I never thought I'd say this (especially since I hated you the majority of my time with you) but sometimes you truly are beautiful.

Yours in astonishment,

Rebecca

Kale Flavorful Chicken

I love KFC in all its fried chicken glory. However, I usually really have to weigh my options when deciding to indulge or not in those fatty bowls of grease. Here, I've made a healthy and just as flavorful alternative to a stomach ache and heart attack.

1 sweet potato
1 chicken tenderloin
2 strips of bacon
3 leaves of kale
some frozen or canned corn
about half cup of onions, chopped
olive oil
salt and pepper
BBQ sauce
Total cooking time: about 1 hour.

Start by baking your sweet potato (whole) at 350 degrees by setting it just in a pan with two fork stabs in the top. After about 15 minutes, prepare your bacon. I baked it in the oven on a cookie sheet for about 20 minutes. Optional: put brown sugar on the bacon before baking. After the bacon is done baking, rip the leaves of kale into bite sized pieces. Spread out on another cookie sheet and coat with olive oil, salt and pepper. Pop in the oven for about 10 minutes, or until crispy. Meanwhile, heat up a frying pan for cooking your chicken. Put the tenderloin in some olive oil and add the onions, corn salt and pepper. Cooked until the chicken is done and tender. By this time, the sweet potato should be cooked through. Take out of the oven and chop in half. Pile with the kale, broken pieces of bacon, cut up chicken, corn and onions. Garnish with BBQ sauce.

A Toast!

A toast to those days when nothing quite seems to work out. 

May you rest in peace Mr. Toothbrush.

Sedona's Board of Tourism

I'm starting to think that my day hikes should be more lucrative...

Me-So Pink, Soup

Now, what girl and fem boy doesn't love a pink soup?

About 6 stalks of beet greens and the pink stem part too
half a red onion, chopped
a clove of garlic, chopped
About 3 tbsp miso paste
1 cup vegetarian broth
1 cup water
pinch of cumin seeds
salt, pepper,
1 package Top Ramen noodles, or any other asiatic noodle
(fried tofu would be a good addition)

Caution, make sure to really clean off all the dirt from the beet greens. Chop and sauté all the beet greens and onion in the bottom of a large saucepan with olive oil. It should take about 15 minutes on medium heat for them to soften up. This should also turn your soup pink! Once slightly tender add the broth, spices, garlic and water and let simmer for another 15-20 minutes. Then once the soup is lightly simmering add in the miso paste. Submerge the clumps and stir in for about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, break apart your Ramen noodles in the bottom of a bowl. Once fully satisfied with your soup, pour it over the noodles and cover the bowl with a plate or something until they are softened (like 3 minutes). And voila! A vegetarian, almost vegan, soup that'll make you feel like you just watched a rom-com.

Peepin' Francisco and Coit Tower

Showbama Your Support

As Flagstaff citizens crowded themselves into their downtown theatre, I realized that being in America is pretty darn awesome. Now while the ads, political scheming and the slightly extravagant months leading up to the eve of election day are more than obnoxious, the high spirits that reverberated through the musty room were exhilarating.

And then a dance party broke out.