Grades Are In

So my classes have submitted their Final Grades for me. Here are the results...

Graphic Design: B+
Advanced Typography: A+

It may be a sad sad statement, but that "A+" is my FIRST in college AND especially in an Art Class! Let me just say, I am mighty proud of it. lol

Beloved Recipes Made Easier

So I love cooking things, but sometimes it's just more hassle then it's worth. However my little brain thinks up some pretty amazing things! I wouldn't say they are the most original ideas, but no one told me an easy way to make the following recipes and I discovered these "Real Life Cheats" all by myself. Just for the sake of people I will put the FULL recipe on here. Just skip over it to the bold part and that is where I will put my tips.

Recipe #1:
Pierce's Cookies (I call them Jeanie's Cookies. Either way they are the peanut butter rice krispie cookies with chocolate in them)
3/4 C. Sugar
3/4 C. Corn Syrup
3/4 C. Peanut Butter (Super Chunky is so much tastier!)
4 1/2 C. Rice Krispies
1 pkg. Chocolate Chip MINIS

Put sugar and corn syrup into a sauce pan and heal until it barely comes to a boil then remove from heat. Add peanut butter. Pour over rice krispies and stir until evenly coated. Pat out on buttered cookie sheet. Spread unmelted bag of Chocolate Chip Minis over rice krispies. Roll it up. Can cut log in half. Refrigerate log 30 minutes ONLY! (Any longer and it will make them harder than a brick to slice) Slice the logs.

Start the recipe as normal. Instead of melting down the chocolate chips just wait til after you make your Krispies and you put them in the pan all piping hot. Use a bag of Chocolate Chip MINIS and dump them out on the Krispies. They are small enough that the heat from the Krispies melts them but gives you enough time to spread them out evenly and then roll the cookies up before they completely melt. A lot less loss of chocolate being squished out the holes when rolling. Perfect Spiral Cookies. Finish the Recipe like normal.

Recipe #2:
Alfajores (It takes a bit more time, but a lot less effort)
4 C. Flour
2 C. Shortening
3 Tbsp. Sugar
1/4 C. Milk
1 Egg
1 Can Condensed Milk (Ready to Use*) or just by the ready cans at the store :)
Powdered Sugar

Mix Flour and Shortening. Add sugar, milk and egg. Mix well to make a soft dough. Roll dough into logs of the same width and wrap in saran wrap and put them into the refrigerator. Once cooled and solid cut logs into 1/4" to 1/2" thick slices. Place on slightly greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees until edges are golden brown. Wait for til the cookies are completely cooled before spreading condensed milk between two cookies. Roll edges in powered sugar.

*Boil one or more cans of condensed milk for 3 hrs in a pot of water. Make sure to keep the cans under water the entire time (they could explode if you don't). Let it cool before use.

Make the dough like normal. Instead of rolling out the dough on flour and cookie cutter out the pieces just roll the dough into a log. There is quite a bit of dough so you can make how many logs you need. Make the log the same width you want the cookies to be in the end. Next saran wrap them and put it in the fridge. Wait til they are hard and when they are just cut the cookies to the thickness you want them. No added flour or having to roll them out...as simple as cutting butter! lol Finish the cookies as normal. One step I did find not find in the recipe that I had to learn from mom was wait til the cookies are completely cooled. Not warm whatsoever. The warmer they are the more brittle they are and will probably crack on you trying to move them off  the pan  or when putting the caramel on them. The cookies are fragile to begin with, but when they are completely cooled it helps you not break them. Just telling you now if you didn't know because I didn't so I'm just passing the tip along.

Like I said they aren't the most unique solutions, but it is what I discovered and just passing along what I figured out in my cookie experiments!

Extra Time...AND Socks

So since I've gained a lot more time on my hands since school is over I found myself trying to figure out what to do besides sleep in. I finished up my last project a lot sooner than expected. I woke up early Monday morning figuring it would take most of the day maybe even into Tuesday to finish. After finally running everywhere to get it printed and then constructed I sat back in happiness and then looked at the clock and realized it was still before noon. lol So come Tuesday I didn't know what to do so I went shopping. I found some pretty cool socks on clearance and since they were buy one get one for $1 I got 2 pairs! lol

Yes they are toe socks but I can live with that for some extremely cute socks! lol

LIVE FOR 175 - Day 2

As promised I showed up to cycle for day 2 (or should I say night?) Also my shoes are a big hit and people love them! They want to get a pair of their own and ask me where I got them. They are usually in awe when I tell them I made them and usually there is silence as they stare at them or ask "how?" lol

LIVE FOR 175

LIVE for 175 is up and running again. This event has been going on for 6 years total, but I've only known about it for 3 years. The love for the event has been increasingly growing over those years. So finally they gave the community a chance to volunteer and participate in the actual event and not just support the radio DJ. So I stepped up. This year is "Cycling to Break the Cycle." If you don't know of the event it's a week long event (about 175 hours) in which they promote the message that "It shouldn't hurt to be a child." It's child abuse awareness and they broadcast Live for 175 hours. So this year the bicycles are producing the electricity for the equipment to broadcast over the radio. I have signed up to cycle for 1 hour everyday of the event from Midnight to 1AM. So if you want to check me out you can watch the live stream at 1033kissfm.com. Already asleep by then? Well then you can watch other people cycle any time of the day! lol One thing I have been doing since year 1 for me has been making signs WITH lights!* So the first year was pretty lame, last year was very pretty and this year well it wasn't a sign, but I added some lights to my shoes! So when I cycle you can see my feet peddling! lol At least that is the idea of it. Every year I keep setting the bar just a little higher and I like the challenge to create something new for each year. This year was especially hard. I tried so many sets of lights and all of them failing. Lights breaking and going out and it has been sad, but I kept trying and though it's not as cool as the original idea...they are pretty stylish none the less! I've already had people ask me where I bought them! :] I will post a picture of them here soon when I can get a good ipad picture and not just my phone. I just had to post this already because I was ultra excited about the event and had to tell you all!

*Off topic....the first year when I showed up with my sign I was asked what made me think of lights on a sign. I have to give credit to my dad. I will never forget the most amazing Nsync sign that was strung up with battery operated lights. Let's just say Nsync themselves at the concert pointed in my direction and made a comment to the sign being awesome. Maybe it was me they pointed to and maybe it wasn't, but I am gonna say it was me! I'd give a good chance that it was me because walking to the car after the concert was over I had several people comment that they sat on the other side of the stadium and even saw it from over there! So all I got to say is "Bravo Dad!"

The Fine Line I Can't Find

It's been a crazy last few days. Not many Ups and a whole lot of Downs. People say to get out more get to know people. Well I have been trying. However recently that only ended up badly for me. Rejection hurts even if you don't know people that much. Especially if you are putting effort into trying to get to know them. Then on the other side of the line you have me not talking at all. I am not the most talkative person and at School that is the case. I have had my teacher giving back grades yesterday tell me I am a quiet person. That is fine...I hear it all the time. However I was not prepared for the way it was stated today. While in class we were reviewing each others progress on our projects in small groups. The guy next to me started to hum and this girl turned around. She said "Oh! I thought that was Amy humming and I was going to be in shock. That is completely out of character for her since she is a mute." I heard that only to shrink further into my shell. I wasn't kidding anyone...all eyes were on me and my reaction. Like the "mute" I was accused of being I didn't say anything at all and hoped someone would change the topic. I feel like I am fighting a losing battle. When I   talk to people I get hurt and when I don't talk I get hurt. I can't win no matter what I do. It's hard to come out of your shell when people rather you just go back inside or shove you further inside.

Winning!

Ok so I got a free hat, but my head is too big for it. So if your child can guess what game this hat is from they win! Good luck! First one wins!

Pretty Cool

So this is the most wonderful thing I think I ever found at DI. I was a little shocked at first and figured it was probably missing pieces, but I went through it and it had all the necessary pieces. So as far as I can tell it has everything. It could be missing like a Hotel or something and I wouldn't know. However it is as complete as far as I can tell and only for $2.00! I was excited!

More Logos

So from the Travel Agency ones I got the message to participate in another buyers logo contest. So I submitted a few. Luckily they are very responsive and tell you what they like and would like improved. So here are a few I've done so far tweaking as I go.

They didn't really understand the Blue Square representing the defibrillator pad so I just scrapped that idea. The idea of it worked better in previous sketches where the white "painted" line was actually a lightning bolt going from the pad to the heart. They said they wanted an "artistic" feel to it so that is what I changed and what it became. This one got a 3 out of 5.

From here they want it more "professional-looking" so I am still trying to figure out what that means to me and how to go about that. This one got a 4 out of 5.

More Logos

More logos. These are both for the same travel company. However as much as I love my humming bird one they hated it so I made another one just to see if that was on a better track. None the less it ends in a few hours from when I am posting this, but I will bet I don't win. 

So this could be better, but where they didn't like my first one at all I didn't figure I would spend much time to try to please them. I threw this together in 5 minutes just to see what feedback would be. As much as they may HATE my logos my teacher did give me approval for my bird one and honestly...isn't all that matters?

The Creation Grill one did not get submitted because they changed everything they wanted right before I posted it. I asked my teacher if it was fine to just keep with what I had instead of having to start over. So here it is before I gave up. lol

Pushing Through

This is just an update on the diet challenge. I've plateaued and so soon too...it makes me sad but I'm going to keep with it and hopefully it will drop off eventually. Anyway I've been making logos for class and they may not be the most amazing, but there are still things about them that I am proud of. School is overwhelming at times, but I think I will live through it. Some background...our teacher asked us to go on this website where people that want logos and other designs sign up and ask designers to make them a logo. For example someone could go on there and say "I am paying $200 for a logo for my new restaurant and this is what I want...blah blah blah." So since they probably aren't going to choose mine and I am proud of them a bit and figured might as well show them to some people!

 This one is for a new musical they are making for Peter Pan.

This one was for a gun range that wanted a "military" and "tactical" feel to it and also able to make the logo into a patch if they decided they wanted to.

There will be a few more coming soon because I have to do more logos for my class so I will be posting them when I actually create them.

Jinx'd

Ok ok...so I spoke too soon on the "doing good" on my weightloss. I was infected with a head cold and basically turned into a grouchy bear and hibernated my weekend away. With that I gained a few pounds back. So I am behind now. How sad. I hope it ends soon so I can get my motivation to lose it all and get back on schedule because right now all I want to do is give up.

Week 4 Begins

Today begins Week 4 of the weight loss challenge. So far so good I guess. I need to average about losing 5lbs a week. That is fairly close to what I am at so far. Will I make it? I surely hope so! I hope I can manage to win. If I do I plan on buying me a brand new Mac Laptop WITH the Adobe computer programs I need for school. I'll have to check prices but it may be cheaper to buy a subscription to the Adobe Cloud for those programs, but that is a ways down the road to worry about.

Personal Progress

Day 4 of eating less and exercising and still going strong. My body is putting up a heck of a fight holding on to that weight because it doesn't want to budge...no matter how many hours I spend at the gym. Oh well....if I stay the same weight forever, but at least tone up a bit I think I could live with that. None the less I will continue to try to get as much off as possible and win this contest! Luckily when announced in Relief Society that I entered the contest they all decided they would cheer me on instead of the expected "well if you want to lose more YOU SHOULD DO THIS or THAT" etc etc. So I am glad for the support instead of being told what to do. We all know I am stubborn so I wouldn't listen anyway! :P

Well...Here We Go

I am going to do the one thing I saw impossible to do and was too lazy to do...I am going to lose weight. Not for some stupid New Years Resolution because that is dumb, but for a Local Contest. My chances are not that good since we all know guys lose more weight and do it faster than women. It also doesn't give me much hope either since the last contest winners were ALL men. So here Jeanie and I go. Off to the races to lose weight and hopefully win money in the process. Luckily they have 2 categories for most "pounds" lost and "percentage" lost. First place for "percentage" lost is $5,000, Second place is $2,500 and Third place is $750. "Pounds" lost First place is $1,000, Second place is $500 and third is $250. Either way guys still have the advantage. You can place is both categories too. Weigh-In is Saturday and hopefully that $45 payment is a good investment in myself. I just hope I can live while hating life. No more anything good in life and I don't know if I will last 6 months. So here we go...the next 6 months of nothing tasty to eat and lots of exercise. Sigh...what did I get myself into?

Lion Update

For one thing the Series 9 Lego Minifigures are now released. However I have yet to find a store that is carrying them. So if you find one let me know!

I have been being good and working on my lion so here is the update. I am trying to debate to keep it all white, paint it with color or make it white with a bit of gray here and there for the creases etc.

Yup I got the lion done and added in the lamb. Time for baking it...which I am hesitant to do because then its all set in stone and if there is a mistake there is no fixing it. So I sit and stare forever trying to see if anything is wrong or I want to change now. Also on the verge of finishing this one up I am thinking of a new project to start. Not sure what I will do next...