CLP

This morning I took the second half of a series of 7 exams required in order to become a CLP.

Caresse Johnson, CLP is going to look so cool on business cards and resumes and the like.

And what, you may ask, does this designation actually mean? CLP stands for Certified Landscape Professional. It is regulated by PLANET, the Professional Landcare Network, which is basically the recognized professional organization for green industry individuals and companies. It mostly focuses on business skills, and not so much on knowledge about plants and the care of them.

Anyway, it's a kind of big deal, and I'm very much hoping that within the month I will be a CLP.

NYC

So, I've finally fixed my computer so I could load my pictures from our trip on to it... and now I get to share some here!

Steph and I at Wicked

Lady Liberty

Central Park- my definite favorite place in NYC.

Now, to highlight some of the things we did on our trip...

Friday we walked around and got familiar with the city and saw famous old buildings, and also ones that aren't famous, but are just as gorgeous. Then we went and saw Wicked on Broadway, which was so fun! I loved it.

Saturday was shopping day! Went down to Canal street in Chinatown and bought cheap stuff, and then up to 5th Avenue to shop some more. That night we went to the Guggenheim museum, and Rockefeller center, where we didn't ice skate (long lines, sore feet) but we did go to the Top of the Rock, 70 story high observation decks, to see the city from up there.

Sunday was lazy (thankfully!) We slept in, and then went to church, and then went and saw St.Patrick's cathedral and also Grand Central Station. My feet were glad for an easy day.

Monday was museum day! We walked through Central Park to get to the Met first thing in the morning. That was way cool, but I was a bit bummed- the musical instruments exhibit is closed until March. But we did get to see lots of other cool art and things. Then we went down to ride the Staten Island Ferry to see the Statue of Liberty. After that cold, windy boat ride (which was also way fun) we went to the American Museum of Natural History and saw some fossils and dead animals and artifacts and such. Then (wow, busy day!) we went to see the Phantom of the Opera on Broadway, but it wasn't quite as fabulous as when I saw it at the Kennedy Center at home a few years ago. It was still way fun, though.

Tuesday, we went and got New York bagels and ate them outside of Tiffany's. Get it- Breakfast at Tiffany's? Clever, huh? Then Steph had a job interview, so she went off to that and I got to do whatever I wanted by my self. So I went to Central Park, and wandered for 3 hours or so, and took lots of pictures (somewhere in the neighborhood of 200) of cool ideas and details and such. So fun. Then took the subway to the airport, where Steph and I met back up and flew home.

All in all, a wonderful vacation.

Vacationing

Steph and I just got back from New York last night. What a fun vacation! I have a bazillion things to do to get caught back up to speed with school and things here, but I'm still so glad we went.

Also, so glad to be home.

I just feel so useful here. People in my classes and club at school respect my opinions and ask me for help and clarifications. Professors call on me in class when they need good answers. My job is just mine, the work isn't split with anyone else, so my boss is glad to have me back, and scheduled a meeting with me as soon as he could today so we could get back to work, and I think Keith would much rather have me in Provo than across the country. Sure we still don't see each other, but at least I'm close by enough that we could get to each other if we needed to.

Anyway, more to come about New York, but I've got to get back to being needed in life now.

Mmmm...

So, it's been a while since I blogged about food (by the way, why am I so random in my post topics? It's crazy) and I feel like celebrating my latest triumph on the internet.

Tonight I made up a delicious recipe. It started with an old orange that I bought probably a month or so ago... maybe longer. You know how they get all tough and icky after a few months? So, I didn't want to eat it, but I hate wasting things, so I juiced it! First I had to pound it around on my kitchen counter, though. And then I added some ingredients, and stirred stuff, and made rice, and about 20 minutes after I started, I had created some seriously delicious Orange Shrimps and Broccoli. Seriously, yum.

And you want to know the exciting part? The only cooking techniques I used were: boiling. Also, squishing an orange. And smelling stuff. That's all! I didn't even accurately measure anything, just kinda tossed stuff in.

Here's what I did:

In one pot, put some rice. Next put about twice that and a little more of water. Boil it for 15 min. and then take it off the heat, but leave the lid on.

In another pot, put some water. Throw in a little bit of dried onion, unless you have real live onions, in which case green onion would probably be the best. Toss in enough shrimps and broccolis that you think "after eating these with a serving of rice, I will be full" and then maybe add a few more broccolis. Veggies are good for you. Note: Use the frozen kind of both of these guys. That way you're just responsible for getting them warm!

Next, smush your orange around on the counter. Bang it up a bit. Chop it in half, and squish all the juice out, mix in a bit of water, and some quick dashes of soy sauce, and a largish pinch of brown sugar, and some sesame oil, but just a little bit because it's strong, and also some ginger, which is also strong, so watch out. Stir this in a small pot. Boil it, but just for a little bit.

Next, drain your shrimps and broccolis, and mix them into your sauce. Stick some rice on your plate, dump the other guys on top and eat it. It's delish! Also, you only have to know how to boil! Also, it only took 20 minutes or so!

Snow Day

I got home (finally) for Christmas, and it was mostly great. A little too much down time for my personal taste... but I'm back at school, where I actually have a purpose, so everything is great!

Anyway, the second day I was home, my 11 year old brother and 18 year old sister and I went out and built ourselves a snow fort. Then we kicked Nate out, and snow throwing ensued. It was so fun to just play like that!

Anyway, we had way so much fun! It was great! Em got some video of the snow fight that happened after we kicked Nate out, too, which is just silly, but I love it.