On being poor

Jer and I have been married almost three years. When we were first married, we were super poor. We used all of our wedding money on rent, and returned tons of stuff to walmart and used that money for food. Then Jerry graduated and started working full-time. We weren't so poor and we started to pay off loans. Now Jerry is a graduate student and we are having a baby. Let me put it this way-- we have never been this poor. And I am hoping we will never have to be this poor again.

Believe me, I am not asking for sympathy. For some reason I find the whole thing disturbingly funny and interesting. Maybe I am just going crazy? Some people would probably find this whole situation stressful and depressing. But not us! (okay, maybe a little) I think we both know better financial days are ahead.

I mean, really, things can only get better.

Barbra & Liza

One thing you should know about me: I love musicals.

If you don't know this about me.. you are probably a stranger reading my blog.. and that is really cool! (and weird considering I only write in it a few times a year)

I don't pretend to know everything about musicals, but I do know more than most.

So I am really embarrassed to admit something...

I just discovered how amazing Liza Minneli and Barbra Streisand are.

Sad.

True, Cabaret has some shocking twists that I find a little too ''pushy''.. but Liza is thrilling.

True, it is a sin that it took me 22 years to see Funny Girl.. but Barbra was still in it, and she was perfect.

liza singing "maybe this time"

Barbra singing "don't rain on my parade"

Update

I have no idea what direction this post is going to take. So hold on to your seats!

School: I still have one year left. I got into the School of Music 2 years late... and it is a 4 year program which I am doing in 3 years and everyone thinks I'm crazy. I think I'm crazy too. But I love doing what I love every day. Jerry got into the MPA program at BYU! This is a big deal. I could not be prouder of him.

BYU Singers: We went to Chicago in March to sing at the ACDA convention. It was a great experience. We had a lot of free time. I did a lot of shopping and eating. The coolest part of the whole experience was getting stopped in the middle of Chicago and being asked if I was in Singers. We worked really hard on some crazy music and did it justice. Now we are leaving next Tuesday to go on tour to Colorado. It definitely is one of the least exotic places that Singers has toured to, but I'm sure it will still be a rewarding experience. I don't know if I will do Singers again next year (I was in this same dilemma last year too, ha) but if I do they will be going to England or China.

Dreams: Yes I still have crazy dreams all the time. In fact, last week I was sick and was only able to get really light sleep, and woke up every 15 minuets. So I had nights with dozens of crazy dreams.

Church: I have been choir director for almost a year, but I was just released. I was kind of sad to leave because my choir was just getting to be really good! I was finally not very nervous any more, and I was able to get more done in rehearsal and teach the choir how to make a really beautiful sound. This past Sunday we performed 3 pieces for Easter. I felt the Spirit so strongly as I was conducting and could feel it guiding me and the members of the choir. It was an edifying experience that I will never forget.

In addition to being director, Jeremiah and I have been primary teachers for the 5/6 year olds. We grew to love our class from last year, and were sad to see them move up at the year change, but we are learning to love our new class just as much. It is amazing what children can teach us. Our new class has 8 kids. EIGHT. They can be a hyper, busy bunch, but the moments when they really listen are so precious.

Marriage: (I give you permission to skip this paragraph if you are queasy) Jerry and I had our 2 year anniversary a few months ago! It is still weird to me that I am a married woman, but it is even weirder to think that there was a time when I wasn't married. I find something new to love about Jerry almost every day. I have found my life with him so far fulfilling in a way that I could have never imagined before. I feel so blessed that God has put this wonderful man in my life who loves me more than I feel that I deserve.

Future: This summer Jerry and I are both going to work 12 hour days 5 days a week! For 8 of those hours we will be together, which makes it much more bearable. Since Jerry starts grad school in the Fall and he isn't allowed to have a job, we figured we need all the money we can get. We still wont be able to avoid loans (unless we magically earn $50,000 this summer) but we want to avoid debt as much as possible! We are planning on doing a trip this summer, but haven't made any plans yet. If you hear of any cheap flights from SLC to ANYWHERE please share!

Ha! Now I don't owe any of you cookies.

BUSY

Okay peeps, I really want to have a blog. It just seems that being a full time music student and having a part-time job does not easily permit this. In a month and a half I promise that I will start doing posts once a month. If I do not have a new post up by May 18, 2011 then I will owe everyone who asks cookies.

Help?

For the past few months I have had a recurring dream. In my dream I am looking for something in our apartment, or I am cleaning when I find a new room. Sometimes the new room is a complete surprise, and other times it seems like I knew it was there but I was too lazy to see what it was or what was inside of it. The room is always furnished. The furniture is usually pretty old, but always has a lot of character. The furniture isn't really my style, but in my dream I always think that Jerry would really like it (although I don't know if that is completely true in real life). Sometimes I find a whole collection of rooms. Sometimes there are even double chocolate chip cookies left in the room by the landlord.

These dreams are extremely pleasant. I wake up really excited only to really depressed about 10 seconds later when I remember it wasn't real.

Does anyone know what these dreams mean?! And why have I never had them up until a few months ago, and now I have them all the time?

Thanks, Jaden

A dream:

I am a young asian black kid. I am a trained fighter. Basically I am a ninja, stuck in a smaller body. I have spent months in a little canoe with some people I am protecting from The Bad Guys. We are living off of fish I catch with my bare hands or teeth. I also can create storms that make the fish jump into our boat. This is what I have to resort to when I am so weak that I can't do it with my teeth or hands. In addition to the people I am protecting, I am keeping track of a magical sphere that I also have to hide from the people I am protecting. My conscious is growing weaker because it is so straining to remember to protect the people from danger, but also to protect the sphere from danger and from the people. I know my task and I am going to be successful.

I am now myself: Danielle Cenatiempo(not Hale, yet). I have a task and I know I am going to be successful. I have to take a trip to Hell. I don't die, I just need to go there and face the devil. All I have to do to get into Hell is to get past the bouncer at the door. Easy.

Hell is an infinitely long building. It is comprised of rooms of various lengths but all the same narrow width and height. To get into each room you have to enter through the previous room's door. The first room was very long and had tons of people. They were all partying and laughing and seemed happy on the surface, but you could tell they were sad. I wanted to stay and be friends with some of them and help them be truly happy, but I knew I had to get through to the next room. It took me months to get to the other side of the room to get to the door to proceed to the next room. But this didn't upset me. I knew by the time I met the devil, it would be the right time, but I needed to get as far as I could into Hell before I met the devil.

Over the next period of time I proceeded through more rooms. In each room the people just seemed sadder and sadder. Not even trying to cover up their sadness with laughing. And not even trying to suppress their sadness with alcohol. There was also less people in each room, mostly because people were so sad that they forgot that they could even go to another room. In my fourth or fifth room I saw a man who looked like me. He was trying to get to the next room. And he looked happy. We became friends. His name was Jerry. After months of journeying through Hell we discovered that we were on the same mission. We both needed to face the devil. We started to fall in love-- and we got married(well as married as we could get in Hell).

Alas, after years of trekking through Hell we arrived at the last room. We knew it was the last room because there were no people and it was wider and taller than the rest of the rooms. All the rooms up to this point had different themes i.e.: red, school, Moroccan, glitter, my grandma's house, or metal. This room was like a big, old, abandoned warehouse with lots of broken glass and splintering wood(which if you know much about me, know that I am pathetically scared of both-- but that is something for another post). So basically, I guess this really was my personal Hell. Jerry and I knew that we were going to have to face the devil in this room. But we also knew that we had time to prepare. We started to train ourselves to fight and to resist mental penetration (a la Harry Potter). After we felt that we had done everything within our power to prepare for the Devil, we had a visitor. It was a little asain balck kid who seemed wise beyond his years. He gave us a glowing sphere and told us it was the key to defeat the devil. Then he disapered.

The day came for us to fight the fight the devil. She was a woman. We could hear her laughing. When she finally came into sight we were surprised to see that she just looked like an average, middle aged, working woman. I was defeated pretty quickly, but was still very aware. I could hear the devil and Jerry fighting for days. I remembered that Jerry needed the glowing sphere. I tried to enter his mind to remind him of where we had hid it. But instead of entering his mind, I accidentally entered the devil's mind and told her. When Jerry realized the devil knew where the sphere was, it was a race to see who could get to it first. Jerry did.

I woke up.

Artichoke Chicken

Near the beginning of high school, my parents jumped on the high protein and vegetable diet train and I was forced to partake as well(unless I wanted to spend all of my babysitting money on food). They were advocates of the Swarzbein principle. Along with this "principle" came many books, some including some recipes. There was a recipe for "Artichoke Chicken Sauce" which we loved. My mom made it often and recruited me to start making it. I would experiment a little with the flavors and soon enough my mom had dubbed me official Artichoke Chicken Sauce maker(I don't really think it was because it was so spectacular when I made it, I think this was just an evil parenting technique).

I have made the recipe so often that it has kind of warped into a totally new thing. And I just have to share it. It is too good to just keep to myself.

For 4 generous servings:

1 T butter
1 large onion, sliced thinly
1-2 garlic cloves, minced
2 1/2 T Dijon mustard
1 lb chicken breasts
1- 1 1/2 c marinated artichoke hearts
1 roasted red pepper
1/2 c- 1 c evaporated milk or heavy whipping cream(use more if you are using as a sauce, and less if eating plain)
2 t lemon juice or zest
Dash of Cayenne pepper(..or more... ,or omit)
1 T Dried basil
black pepper and salt

1. Coat chicken with 1 T Dijon mustard and black pepper. Set aside to marinate.
2. Roast the red pepper, peel skin off, and cut into 1 inch strips. (If peppers are $1 or more, just buy a jar of roasted red peppers which are by the pickles. It is much cheaper, and a lot less work)
3. On Med heat, melt butter in skillet and add onions, 1/2 t salt, and 1/2 t black pepper. Saute until very tender then add garlic. Cook with garlic for about 3o seconds.
4. Add artichoke hearts along with a few T of the marinating juice they come packed in. Then add 1 1/2 T mustard, cayenne pepper, lemon juice or zest, and basil. Let cook for 3-4 minutes.
5. Grill chicken. Let sit for at least 3 minutes after cooking before cutting.
6. Add evaporated milk to skillet, let cook for about 1 min. Turn off heat and add chicken.
7. Serve over spaghetti or angel hair pasta, or plain!

Notes:
When eating plain: I like to add more onions which act kind of like a substitute pasta. I also don't cut up my artichoke hearts(which usually are already quartered) and chop my chicken into large pieces.
When eating with pasta: I like to cut the artichoke hearts into smaller pieces than packed, and cut the chicken into 1/2 inch cubes.
Evaporated milk/ heavy cream: I have been using evaporated milk for a while now. I like it becuase it is less fattening, I can always have in on hand, and it is usually cheaper. If you want to use cream, you can add it sooner and let it cook longer.
Amounts: These amounts are just estimates, I never measure. I probably use more mustard and black pepper than listed, but I am being conservative in my estimates.

Enjoy!