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Friday, August 31, 2012

Food Fridays >> French Cuisine at Home

((Note on the time stamp: I've changed the blog's time to my time zone so that I can publish my posts according to my time, so it will therefore not correspond with my home Central time zone in the U.S. I'm just letting you know in case you get confused:) ))

So far, all the food here has been wonderful. I mean, sure, there's Nutella, which is nice to have (and in a glass jar, not plastic- I find that interesting for some reason), but I'm talking more about the quality of food. My family will be glad to know that I ate cantaloupe, salmon, and tuna, and I liked it all. I'm convinced it's because of my sister's assertion that the food here is so much better because it's so fresh; she told me to try anything because it would probably be better than at home, and she's right so far! (But I still don't like apricots... However, I can stand them if they're not alone.)

It's also interesting to see how balanced the meals are. At lunch and dinner we drink only water; juice and milk is for breakfast only, and maybe for snack-time at about 4pm (and no soda! However, I wonder if this would be different with a family that has teenagers... I had some orange Schweppes courtesy of the Wednesday nanny.). There's a small main course that has a meat and vegetable, and that can be followed by cheese or bread. Finally, there's dessert: fruit or yogurt. The kids only get chocolate or nutella, etc. at breakfast or snack-time, and in very small doses.

Some examples of the wonderful food:




Brioche: a (sandwich, for us) bread baked with extra milk, butter, and egg so that it's nice and moist. It can come with little pieces of chocolate baked in, too. (And there are probably more kinds, but I haven't been to the grocery store yet to see.) Maybe I'll find some classic Brioche rather than the sandwich sliced variety at the bakery.

Camembert: (on the left of tray, above) A cheese that's white and slightly hard on the outside, coming in a round shape about 4in in diameter, and slightly yellow and soft on the inside. It's a teensy bit strong for me, but it's good- and it's the kids' favorite. Here's the Wikipedia entry for it.

Comté: (on the right of tray, above) A light yellow hard cheese that comes in rectangular blocks with a thin brown edging. It's pretty mild, and therefore good for my non-French taste buds. W Entry.

Mirabelle: (small fruit seen above) A small round fruit a little bigger than a grape with one large seed and a skin like a grape, native to France. It tastes like... je ne sais pas... It has hints of grape and apple, but is a unique flavor; pretty sweet and very good. W Entry.

Tuna Tart: I'm not sure what all was in it, but this made in a round dish with a pastry crust and tuna and small veggies, blended for the filling and cooked.


And sometimes I have "duh" moments, as I expect something to be totally different but is just like we have something here. An example: the Wednesday nanny made some fries and I thought everyone was callings them "les fruits," and I was thinking, well, ok, that's not fruit but whatever. And so I realized they were saying "les frites," which is short for "les steak-frites," which are fries! :) The brain does funny things when it's trying to make sense of something foreign to its current understanding! And yes, the kids here love fries with ketchup as much as American kids- some things are universal.

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Word Wednesdays >> New Vocab

It's pretty late in the day, but here's my Wednesday post:) These are the most essential words that are used every day, with the exception of an interesting type of beetle we saw today.

hop= there/done/voila (pronounced "up") They say this all the time. I couldn't figure out exactly what it meant because they used it for so many things, so I asked and the mom said something like- it doesn't really have a meaning, but it's like voila. Step one to sounding like a native= say "hop" 83242735 times a day. :)

le dodo= sleep (slang) Little Erine loves to plunge into her bed and exclaim, "Gaga, dodo!"

doucement= gently/slowly/quietly. This one is pretty universal for talking to kids! And it was one of the favorite words of my one-time driving teacher (I swear I was not going fast- she was just hyper-sensitive).

un doudou= special stuffed animal. The kids' doudous are small stuffed animals that they carry around with them and sleep with them; they have one or two for the house and one or two to take to school. I'm wondering if the word came from dodo since they are typically things that are slept with.

un gendarme=... normally this is a policeman, but it's also some type of beetle- a stink bug? You tell me!

un mouche= fly (insect) They're a bit of a problem here, particularly when doors/windows are left open during the day. C'est fou!

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

My Arrival and First Full Day

Eh bien...

My brain is in French overdrive! Talk about immersion! The parents will speak English if I don't understand something or if they want to make something easily understood, and I speak English with the other au pair, Claire, but otherwise everything is in French and it's spoken pretty quickly! For the most part, while I don't understand 100% of what is said (probably about 50/50!), I get the basic message, or if I look confused, they'll say it differently! :) But I've immediately found myself saying little words to myself in French automatically since it's basically all I hear. It's hard to imagine myself becoming fluent, but I guess it will come with time.

I hated the nine-hour flight because it was cramped and I couldn't sleep, but there was a good movie selection, so I watched The Lucky One (which is a one-time watch kind of movie... super cheesy) and part of The Avengers. I was so glad to get off that plane! Then I had to go through security in the London Heathrow airport, where they're much more strict than at DFW. (The lady made me try to cram my liquids into a sandwich-size bag and pulled out most of the contents of my bag into a separate bin, so that it was practically impossible to be organized any longer- gee, thanks!)

I finally started to fall asleep on the second flight, but then they served a snack and I was hungry... And then the best part... the view! Omg. The view of the Alps coming close to Geneva was the most spectacular thing I've ever seen!!! I wish I could have taken a picture, but the best views were during the slow descent and I couldn't have my phone on. The mountains stretched across the horizon and they were so majestic! It was the perfect welcome to my new home!!! (Oh, and I can see both the Alps and the Jura Mountains from my house! It was too foggy for pictures today, but I'll take some as soon as I can! I can see Mont Blanc from the second story!)

Apparently, Claire (the au pair of a nearby family) was on the flight from DFW to London as well as from London to Geneva, but I had no idea what she looked like and so I chanced asking this random girl what her name was right before going through customs and it was her! haha! The mother and the kids were waiting for me, and the kids were extremely shy at first, but I'm practically best friends with little Erine now!

Today, I played with Erine, had my driving lesson, chatted with Claire as her little Marie and my kids played, and drove around Gex a little with the mom and kids. Ah, the driving lesson... mon dieu. Evidently the driving teachers are insanely strict here and most people fail their test at least once. My teacher kept tsk-tsking me when my shifting gears wasn't 100% smooth and she told me that if it was a test I would have failed and that it would be very hard for me to drive here, and so I should get an automatic instead. Talk about a stressful hour! But then get this- I drove around with the mom and she said that all I need is some practice because everyone has trouble at first, and that I'll be just fine! She also said that the teachers are so strict these days that even she would probably fail if she had to take the test again because now they have a lot of confusing questions on courtesy and theory.

Upcoming...
The kids' school starts next Tuesday, so a schedule will fall into place then. I'll have the kids all day long by myself on Thursday and Friday! Maybe next week, I'll be going to Bourg with Claire so that we can register for our residency. I also have an appointment at the bank to get an account and a debit card on the 9th, I think. My school starts on the 17th, so I'll have to take the placement test the week before to see what level I'm on.

I've got information overload, but everything is going ok so far! I'm definitely ready to go to bed, however! (It's about 11:30 here!)


Sunday, August 26, 2012

Final Pre-France Update

Well, I'm not really sure what to update on. I haven't quite finished packing yet... but if you know me, that comes as no surprise. It's the phenomenon of moving, in which you have no idea how much stuff you have and how much you need to do until you get down to it; and I'm a perpetual procrastinator, so that really doesn't help matters. :)

Once I get packed and am on the road to the airport, it will all be downhill from there. It's just stressful particularly because I've never moved to another country before. Traveling is one thing, but moving... gah. Especially because shipping costs are extraordinary and not worth it unless it's mandatory, so I can't forget anything!

I've also got all my stuff spread out across my floor right now, and as I'm about to go to bed as I'm typing this, that's a problem considering I need my air mattress to go somewhere... It's really bad when your procrastination makes you lose sleep.

Well, I would really appreciate it if you all keep me in your prayers as I travel and get adjusted in a new world. I'm sure I'll get used to everything, but thinking about it is slightly terrifying. I also really hope I don't have to sit next to a smelly person on my nine-hour flight. Really.

My blog posts will probably be in and out for the next week as I get used to a new schedule, so bear with me!

See you on the other side!


Saturday, August 25, 2012

Bookmash >> No 2: The Minotaur Skin Game

The Minotaur Skin Game

The minotaur skin game.
The lovely bones, the jungle.
Curse of a winter moon.


Thanks to the authors: Barbara Vine, Max Allan Collins, Alice Sebold, Upton Sinclair, and Mary Casanova.

I got this idea from Stan Carey (his last one is here), who was inspired by Nina Katchadourian's Sorted Books project.

Feel free to comment with your own Bookmash or a link to it!

Friday, August 24, 2012

Food Fridays >> Family Recipe Fudge

My second cousin once-removed has a recipe for two different kinds of fudge that are really easy to make and SO GOOD! She taught me how to make them, and with her and I both having a love of baking, they've become a staple dessert in our family!

Peanut Butter Fudge

Ingredients:

3 cups sugar
1 cup milk
1 stick butter
9 large marshmallows
3/4 cup peanut butter

Directions:

  • Cook sugar, milk, and butter until soft-ball stage, then take off heat. (see explanation below for soft-ball stage w/o using a thermometer)
  • Add marshmallows and peanut butter (immediately after taking previous mixture off heat) and beat/stir until thoroughly mixed. 
  • Pour in buttered dish (I use an 8x8 pan), and let cool.

Just poured
Mmm!

It looks dry and crumbly when it's done, but it's actually very moist.

Soft-Ball Stage Instructions
In candy cooking, there is soft-ball and hard-ball stage. Basically, soft-ball stage forms when the mixture sticks together but is still pliable, when a small amount is dropped into cold water. Hard-ball stage forms when the mixture forms a hard, non-pliable, ball-like shape when dropped into cold water. So to do this for the fudge, keep a small bowl of cold water nearby, and test for soft-ball stage by pouring a small amount of the mixture into the bowl (maybe 1/4 Tb. worth). If the mixture disperses in the water, it is not ready. Here is a picture and a video of what soft-ball stage looks like (Snot. It looks like snot.). It will probably take about twenty minutes for it to reach this point (depending on your heat setting; I had it on medium high), so be patient; but don't forget to keep stirring fairly regularly, because it will boil over if left unwatched.

Don't hesitate to ask any questions if you don't understand this explanation!

Soft-ball Stage




Tiger Fudge

Ingredients:

1 pkg. vanilla candy coating (can be found in baking aisle, and it's a flat block that breaks into large squares)
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
3oz choc chip (but I made it 4oz and still thought it could have used more)

Directions:

  • Melt candy coating on stove and stir in peanut butter.
  • Pour mixture into 8x8 ungreased pan.
  • Melt chocolate chips in microwave (15 secs at a time with stirring in-between) and pour the melted chocolate over the mixture in pan.
  • Swirl the chocolate through the mixture lightly (so that it's evenly mixed but not combined).
  • Let cool!
Vanilla&PB poured
W/ Chocolate poured on top

W/ Chocolate swirled
Yummy Time!




Thursday, August 23, 2012

Life Goals Timeline

I'm the kind of person that likes to have everything planned out, even years in advance; so, I thought it would be fun to write about where I'd like to be at five-year milestones in my life and see what your goals are as well. And if you are beautifully-aged, add on what your goals were when you were younger and how you reached them or why you didn't!

This would pair well with a bucket list!

What I want to have accomplished when I'm...
>>25 (3 years from now)
Be fluent in French.
Travel to 15 new countries. (see next item for the reason for the high number)
Accomplish at least 20 items on my Bucket List (because there are a lot of traveling in Europe items that I could reasonably do next summer with some time to travel).

>>30
Be fluent in one-two additional languages.
Start or have started a graduate program.
Be married.
Have or have on the way at least one child.
Travel to 5 more countries.
Accomplish at least 5 more items on my Bucket List.

>>35
Be fluent in four foreign languages.
Be called Dr.!
Have three (or more) children.
Accomplish at least 5 more items on my Bucket List.
Buy my parents a cruise trip.

>>40
Be fluent in six languages. (!!!)
Accomplish at least 5 more items on my Bucket List.
Publish a book (which is actually on my Bucket List).

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Word Wednesdays >> Vocab Learned Thus Far

Here is some fun and useful vocabulary I've learned through communication with my French family!


l'assurance maladie- health insurance

une boite manuelle (short for: la voiture à boite manuelle)- stick-shift car

le bord du lac- lake shore ("le bord" can also mean edge/side/rim with objects and places)

le bricolage- DIY

chanceux- lucky

un chariot- cart (can be used for wagon/carriage/cart, but in my case it is used for a baggage cart!)

coucou- (slang, exc.) hello! woo! "coucou me voici": peek-a-boo! (The mother of my French family used "coucou" as a greeting in an email, like "bonjour/salut".)

coulissant- sliding (for doors in my case= les portes coulissantes)

les feux d'artifice- fireworks

Je meurs d'impatience!- I can't wait! (Literally, I'm dying of impatience)

miam-miam!- yum yum!

ravi- delighted

le sable- sand

secourable- helpful

youpi! - yippee!


And I'm going to have to study driving vocab since I arrive Monday evening and I have my lesson in driving the standard car that I'll have the next day at 2:30... Yikes. :)

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Top World Languages & My Favorites

The order of the most used languages in the world cannot be accurately determined because of the decision to count only native speakers or all speakers, the lack of current data, and the source of the data. A chart of some differences can be viewed here. They all, however, leave out Indonesian, which should be somewhere in the top 10/12.

For my purposes, I'll use the Ethnologue's 1999 statistics:
1. Chinese (including 5 dialects)
2. English
3. Spanish
4. Russian
5. French (including 2 dialects)
6. Portuguese
7. Arabic (including 10 dialects)
8. Bengali
9. Hindi/Urdu
10. Japanese
11. German

Ranking by total number of countries the language is spoken in:
1. English: 115
2. French: 35
3. Arabic: 24
4. Spanish: 20
5. Russian: 16
6. German: 9
7. Mandarin: 5
8. Portuguese: 5
9. Hindi/Urdu: 2
10. Bengali: 1
11. Japanese: 1

I like looking at these lists because I like to think about what new languages I should try to learn when/if I have the opportunity to do so. All the languages I've considered learning in the future include (in no particular order): French, Spanish, Russian, Latin, Italian, Mandarin, ASL, German, Irish Gaelic, Arabic, Portuguese, Old English, Middle English, Sanskrit, Hindi, Japanese, Greek, Hebrew, Swahili, and Zulu. It's quite a list, huh?!

For now, my highest to-be-fluent-in languages are French, Russian, Spanish, Latin, and Mandarin. I know the most in French and am obviously going to improve on it during my time in France. I also took four and a half years of Spanish and one year of Russian, so I would like to continue my progression in those. For my interest in reading and writing, Latin simply makes sense as a language to learn, and it could come in handy for future novel writing. Mandarin would also be good to learn since it has the most speakers worldwide and because of China's growing influence; you never know when it could be useful!

Realistically speaking, I don't know that I could be fluent in more than my top five foreign languages (because even that will be a huge challenge), but I dare to dream!

What is your opinion on what languages are the best to learn?
If you're bilingual or a polyglot, which language is your favorite?

Monday, August 20, 2012

"Walking to Mordor" Challenge

At the end of May, I started a five-week conditioning class at school, and since then I've been working really hard to get in shape for the first time in my life. I've been doing weight training, a lot of cardio, and have been doing my best to eat healthy and drink plenty of water.

I recently discovered Steve Kamb's Nerd Fitness blog, where he had a post about a walking challenge called "Walking to Mordor," on July 23. He found out (from this site, which also has the distances walked for the other characters) how many miles Frodo and Sam walked from Hobbiton to Mount Doom (1779), how many miles they walked from Minas Tirith back to Hobbiton (1625), and how many Sam walked to Grey Haven and back (467), for a total of 3,871 miles. The goal in his challenge is to reach Mount Doom in one year's time, which is an average of 4.87 miles per day (for 365 days). Then, you can make the additional challenge of traveling back to Hobbiton, etc, if you wish to do so.

Steve also has a nice article on why the excuse of not having time to exercise doesn't work, for which he was inspired by an article in the Wall Street Journal. While I don't agree with all of Steve's workout suggestions (like working out on an empty stomach-however, the idea with that is to do no more than a thirty minute workout, which doesn't work with my two and a half hour total workout), he has some really fun articles on all kinds of things, like an explanation of what body fat percentage is, and how to workout in a hotel room.

This is a fun way to get motivated about staying active, as you can accomplish smaller goals of reaching Rivendell, Lothlorien, etc. In the article, Steve talks about how important it is to stay active, citing such articles as NBC's on how exercise can add three years to your lifespan. He invites everyone to join in the fun with an online document in which you can submit your progress on how many miles you've completed. You can download the document to keep track of your miles on your own, if you wish. It has helpful functions programmed in that automatically calculate total miles for you. (I've noticed on the document that there's a mistake, in that the round-trip to the Grey Havens and back is not covered, so there are some miles missing. I fixed it in my own document.)

Here's what my doc looks like currently:
(Note how the miles automatically started counting in the next leg of the journey once I hit the 458 to Rivendell. I love the girl that programmed this!)

And here's how I keep track of my weekly mileage:


For myself, I've decided to follow this challenge with the cardio that I do; up until now, I've just been doing cycling and a little on the elliptical, so that's what my miles are in, but this upcoming week I'm starting a running program since I may not have access to a bike once in France; therefore, my miles will be tracked on whatever type of cardio I'm doing (which, naturally, will be harder with running than with biking)! I'm going to go ahead and start my calculations with the first of June, when I started my workouts in my Conditioning class, and therefore make my goal to get to Mount Doom on June 1st, 2013! After that, I'll have a goal to either get back to Hobbiton in one year, or get back to Hobbiton and go to the Grey Havens and back in one year (it just depends on how my average looks!).

My Goal Destination:
(Who wants to photoshop a picture of me jumping up and down into this picture when I get there? heehee:))



My Workout

My workout week consists of four days of weight training a week, with two days of upper body and two days of lower body, and cardio following. In addition, I try to do cardio an additional two days a week, leaving Sundays to rest.

On my weight training days, I do about 45 minutes of weight training, 45 minutes of core work and stretching, and 20-60 minutes of cardio. I got my weight training routine from the coach that taught my Conditioning class at school (which I will gladly share with you if you wish).

For cardio, I do High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) on the stationary bike for thirty minutes on my upper body days and Steady Pace Training on the stationary bike for twenty minutes on my lower body days, followed by additional time on the bike or on the elliptical (for cross-training). My goal is to always do an hour of cardio total, but there are times when I don't do any of the elliptical because I'm too tired. On my cardio-only days, I try to do thirty minutes each on the stationary bike and the elliptical, both at low intensity.

This week, I am starting my own running program based on this beginner's running program, followed by this advanced beginner's running program; I've already discovered that at least the first three weeks are too easy for me, so I'll have to take a day or two to figure out where to start exactly, and then I'll adapt my own program with the above programs as rough guides; and then perhaps I will train for some races after that! Therefore, when I'm in France, I'll continue with my running program, and hopefully add in some cross training with other sports. As for my weight training, I will probably have to change things up since I don't think I'll have access to a gym; we'll see how that goes!

Here are some figures:

1779 miles in 313 days (taking out one day of rest/wk)= 5.68 miles/day OR 34.2miles/wk

(The distance back to Hobbiton)
1625 miles in 313 days= 5.19 miles/day OR 31.25miles/wk

(2092 is the distance back to Hobbiton plus the trip to the Grey Havens and back)
2092 miles in 313 days= 6.68 miles/day OR 40.23miles/wk

My progress thus far:
459.24 Total Miles
6.86/day Average Miles (My lowest average, during the week that I moved, was 2.91. My very first week's average was 4.57, and I've been increasing that average almost every week since.)

**CUE THE MUSIC**
I've reached Rivendell!!! This is a 458 mile mark! WOO!

Next, I'm off to Lothlorien!

If you join in on this cardio challenge and keep me updated, I'll give you a shout-out every time I do my updates!

I'll update my status each time I reach a new location in my journey!
Will you join me?


Sunday, August 19, 2012

Status Update

I only have a week left before I leave! Eek! I have all the documents that I need to leave: my passport with my visa inside, a form to turn in once in France for my residency, an International Driving Permit, and a plane ticket! (But I still need to get my plane tickets for Christmas!) I was really worried that I wouldn't have my passport and contract in enough time to get my visa, but my passport came three days before my appointment and my contract came the day before my appointment, so it worked out perfectly! And my visa arrived much sooner than I thought it would, as it only took about a week and a half to arrive!

This week, I have to go buy a few clothing items that I need and pack my suitcases to figure out exactly how much I can fit. Since I'll be living there and will need a lot of stuff, I'm planning on paying the $60 to have a second checked bag, so I'll have two checked bags, one carry-on small suitcase, and a shoulder bag. I hope I can fit everything I need, because shipping costs way too much to even consider!

This will be me:


There will be a girl from California (Claire) who will also be an au pair in Gex, and her French family is friends with mine! My French family is waiting on hers to let me know her contact information, because we will be on the same flight from London to Geneva and I would like to know how to spot her:) It will be such a relief simply knowing that I'm not the only "lost" American in my tiny town!

For my first week there, I already have a driving lesson scheduled on Tuesday afternoon to practice driving the stick-shift that I'll have. On Tuesday and Wednesday, their temporary nanny will be teaching me about the kids' schedule, etc, and then I'll have the kids to look after all on my own on Thursday and Friday! *cue nervous hyperventilating* They start school on September 4th; however, I don't know if Oscar will be starting right away and/or how many days a week he will be going since he doesn't turn three until October.

Also during the first few weeks, I'll have to go to the school I'll be attending to take a placement test (and the day towards the end of September that I start will be determined by which class I'm placed in). There is an au pair club (LINK) that meets in Nyon, Switzerland starting on September 13th (they meet every other Thursday and have a Christian worship every Monday), and I will drive there sometime beforehand to make sure I don't get lost.

Things I'm nervous about:

  • Making a good first impression.
  • Picking up on conversational French relatively quickly (whatever that means).
  • Communicating with two kids that don't speak any English.
  • Driving a stick-shift in an unfamiliar area.
  • Getting lost and not being able to find my way since I'll probably get so flustered that I'll forget my French! Haha!
  • Knowing how to say something but being too nervous to get it out.
  • Tex-Mex withdrawal. :):):)
  • Homesickness (including missing family and friends).
  • My kitty forgetting me since I'll be gone for so long.
My baby Kira, AKA Kiki

I'll need your prayers!

I'll let you know next Sunday how my packing turned out and how much I'm freaking out! :)


Saturday, August 18, 2012

Bookmash >> No 1: The Silent World


The Silent World

The warmth of other suns before the dawn.
Voices, the zigzag way.
The silent world.


Thanks to the authors: Isabel Wilkerson, Max Allan Collins, Ursula LeGuin, Anita Desai, and Jacques Yves Cousteau.

I got this idea from Stan Carey (his last one is here), who was inspired by Nina Katchadourian's Sorted Books project.

Feel free to comment with your own Bookmash or a link to it!

Friday, August 17, 2012

Food Fridays >> Tabbouleh & Oh Henry Bars

Tabbouleh

Tabbouleh is a classic Levantine Arab salad, and this recipe is from a Lebanese customer of my mother's in her pharmacy. It's great as a snack food for parties with any kind of chip you like, and it's very addictive!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup cracked/bulghur wheat
1/3 cup cold water
2 cups chopped parsley
1/2 cup diced onion
2 diced tomatoes (medium-large size)
1 diced cucumber
1 tsp dried diced mint
1 cup lemon juice
1 cup olive oil
salt & pepper (to taste)

(My mom and I didn't want as much olive oil and so cut it to 2/3 cup, but then the lemon was a bit overpowering and we ended up having to add the rest of the oil. Lesson for the future: if you decrease the oil, decrease the lemon juice, too! We were also slightly short on the amount of parsley we needed, so we just substituted in extra mint and it worked well.)

Directions:

Mix wheat and water together and let sit while chopping other ingredients.

Dry Bulghur Wheat
Bulghur Wheat with Water

Mix remaining ingredients together and leave in refrigerator several hours. Stir before serving.

Parsley!
Chopped Parsley


Mom's handy tool for chopping
Mint!


Final Product!

Oh Henry Bars

I got this recipe from my grandmother (from rural TN), and I think she got it from a friend of hers at church. It's very simple to make and so delicious! It's a great dessert for parties as they're a finger food and a nice change from regular cookies!

Ingredients&Directions:

2/3 cup butter
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup corn syrup
4 cups quick oats
2 Tb. vanilla (Really! 2 Tb!)
1/4 tsp. salt

Mix in order given. Press in 13x9 inch pan. Bake for 12 to 14 minutes at 375.


 
Topping:
6 oz chocolate chips
2/3 cup crunchy peanut butter

(This topping spreads very thin over the bars, so I increased it to 1 cup choc chips and a heaping 2/3 cup pb; the change helped cover the corners better. You could even increase it more than that!)

Melt in double boiler. Spread over slightly cooled baked mixture.



 YUM!!! This is one of my favorite desserts and it's SO easy to make!



Thursday, August 16, 2012

Bucket List

I have always wanted to make a bucket list, and having reading someone else's on a blog, I decided to start my own. I'm sure that I will continually add to it as I discover more things that I want to do, but there's nothing wrong with that! And please don't hesitate to suggest things for me! After reading a lot of other Bucket Lists, I decided to make sure mine isn't ridiculously long, doesn't have anything so ambitious that it's practically unattainable, or anything that could actually get me in trouble or put me in danger. I plan to blog about these as I complete them and link those posts back to this post.

Happy reading, and tell me about your own Bucket List!

Misc.

Go sky diving
Ride in a hot air balloon
Go rock climbing
Drive a car at top speed/Drive a race car
Run/Bike a marathon
Go cave scuba diving
Get Dive Master certification
Make own paper and notebook
Make pasta
Go to a drive-in movie
Send a message in a bottle
Learn to ice skate backwards
Stay in an underwater hotel
Attend and complete graduate school
Learn to knit
Learn the Thriller dance
Eat spaghetti like Lady and the Tramp
Kiss under mistletoe
Swim with dolphins
Participate in a murder-mystery dinner
Donate blood
Tie a note to a balloon and let it go
Make at least twenty things that I’ve pinned on Pinterest
Help with an animal birthing
Attend an opera

Language

Be fluent in at least three languages
Be conversational in at least six languages
Write and publish a book
Read the entire Bible
Make a list of Must-Read-Classics and read them
Read 100 books in a year

Travel

Live in France for six months
Travel to at least thirty countries
Make it to at least six continents
Visit every state in the U.S.
See the Aurora Borealis
Throw a dart on a map and travel where it lands
Watch the Symphony of Lights in Hong Kong
Float in the Dead Sea
Walk where Jesus walked
Cross the International Date Line (not by plane)
Attend Comic Con
Visit all the places in song “Kokomo”
Go dog sledding in Alaska
Watch an Olympic event live
Celebrate major holidays/festivals in their countries
            Carnival in Brazil
            Mardi Gras in France
            Oktoberfest in Germany
            Carnival in Venice, Italy
Australia:
            Dive in the Great Barrier Reef
            Find 42 Wallaby Way, Sydney
            Try Vegemite
            Visit the Sydney Opera House
China:
            Walk the Great Wall
Egypt:
            Visit the pyramids and Great Sphinx at Giza
            Dance to “Walk Like an Egyptian” next to an appropriate statue/drawing
England:
            See the Changing of the Guards
            Ride the London Eye
            Partake in Afternoon Tea
            Walk across Abbey Road
            Stand in a red phone booth
            Stroll through Hyde Park
            Visit Buckingham Palace
            Visit the Tower of London
            Ride on the upper level of a red double-decker bus
            Visit Stonehenge
France:
            Visit the Eiffel Tower
            Visit the Louvre
            Visit Notre Dame
            Don a horizontally striped shirt and a beret for a photo-op at a cafe
Germany:
            Touch the Berlin Wall
Greece:
            Visit the Parthenon
India:
            Visit the Taj Mahal
            Get henna covering hands
Ireland:
            Kiss the Blarney Stone
            Stand in a Ringfort and look for fairies
Italy:
            Make a wish at the Trevi fountain
            Eat traditional pizza
Scotland:
            Scout for Loch Ness
            Watch Highland Games



Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Word Wednesdays >> Favorite Foreign Words

French: pamplemousse = grapefruit. I remember learning this in high school, and my best friend and I exchanging looks like o.O! It became our favorite word to say randomly since it's so much fun, and apparently it's a lot of other people's favorite word, too, as there's a wonderful duo band with the name Pamplemousse and I've seen several blogs with it in the title.

German: Quietsche Entchen = Rubber Ducky. My sister somehow found a recording of Ernie from Sesame Street's Rubber Ducky song in German techno when I was in middle school and I thought it was the most hilarious thing ever. I still like to listen to it on occasion and have a good laugh. Go check it out!

Irish Gaelic: Sláinte = health: a common toast. This was the first Irish word I learned while sitting at a Bennigan's, as it was printed on their coasters; my sister had been to Ireland, so she told us the proper pronunciation (slahn-tche), and I thought it sounded so cool and mature. I also like that it's somewhat useful, as opposed to a random word like grapefruit that might be hard to work into a conversation... ;)

Italian: amore = love. Who doesn't love love in other languages? It always makes me think of the Dean Martin song "That's Amore," which I love:) "When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie..."

Russian: красный (kras-nee)= red, красивый (kras-ee-vee)= beautiful. I love these words because of their history. The word красный used to mean both red and beautiful, so that when the Red Square (Красная площадь) in Moscow was renamed after being Pozhar, it wasn't named that just because it was red, but also because it was beautiful; therefore, when a new word for "beautiful" was formed (though still very similar), the name of the square lost half of its meaning. (And I believe the Red Square was partially named after a nearby cathedral that was made of the same material.)

Spanish: cariño/a = darling. Before I started taking Spanish in high school, I had a boyfriend (my first!) that was Mexican who was super sweet. He would text me goodnight and started calling me cariña in those texts. Of course, to be cute, he wouldn't tell me what it meant for awhile, and I loved the feeling of having a cute nickname in Spanish. It's little moments like that that make language fun and bring language into your heart.

Zulu: Siyahamba (ekukhanyeni kwenkos') = We are marching in the light of God. This is an African hymn that became popular in the U.S. in the 90s, and I got to sing it in my church choir in high school. It is a simple tune, but lots of fun to sing, especially with a djembe, and I shall never forget it! The song was even included in the new Celebrating Grace hymnal produced here a few years ago! YES! Have a listen!

What are your favorite words in foreign languages?


Tuesday, August 14, 2012

How to >> Become an Au Pair ((in 5 steps))

Step 1: Be Determined to Get to x Country.


It's been my dream since I was a small child to learn French and go to France, even though I don't know what started the dream. I started taking French classes in the seventh grade, and began dreaming of living in France and how to do it. I would also like to travel to as many other countries as I can, and maybe even to every continent, but going to France is my primary goal. I would never be able to live with myself if I never made it to France, so I'm using this opportunity of being young and fresh out of college to realize my dream!

 

Step 2: Weigh Options


At first, I thought the only logical option for going to France would be to go to school there full-time in order to become fluent, while living with a French family. Through the many programs I investigated, it was going to cost at least $20,000 for me to go abroad for one year and attend school; the first and most publicized program I researched was through EF Tours, which was particularly expensive. Since I am not made of money, I then began considering options to raise the money, including starting a scholarship fund. Then I realized I could get the money on my own by being an assistant English teacher in Japan through a program that my sister participated in, the JET Programme. However, I had just missed the December applications and would have to wait an entire year after finishing school before starting the program, which would mean waiting even more time to go to France and finding a job at home for the time being.

I first got the idea of being an au pair from two of my language teachers at school, who had students that had been nannies in France; I dismissed the idea at first, thinking that wasn't something I wanted to do, but later changed my mind as I realized how well it could work. When I began researching, I initially found a site that had an au pair program in which they placed you with a family in your desired country; however, the program costs about $500 and doesn't have a very large salary, so I determined that it would probably end up costing me money instead of the program paying for itself. Then I found greataupair.com, which is basically just a networking site that helps au pairs and families that need au pairs find each other; this method did not have any program cost, and making a contract directly with the family meant that I would also have a larger salary. And going the au pair route rather than simply taking classes 24/7 means that the experience will pay for itself (except perhaps some money for airfare), and I still get to take a few hours of class each week as it is required as part of getting an au pair visa.

Step 3: Networking for Free


There is an option on the Great Au Pair website to get a subscription so that you can have additional features to help you find a family, but I found that such a subscription was unnecessary. I created a profile for myself, which included a long typed interview, and searched for a family that had matching criteria to my credentials and interests. Simply by "favoriting" some families that I liked, I had several families email me asking me more about myself and telling me more about themselves. I ended up with two families that were both interested in me, and I had to choose one! The website was really easy to use; the only time-consuming part was answering all the questions for the interview on my profile! The best part was that it took me less than three weeks on the site to find the family I ended up with!

Step 4: Pick a Family

I ended up having two very different families that were interested in having me as their au pair, and as it was so hard to choose between them, I had my family and my best friend help me weigh my options. One family ended up having more qualities and perks that benefited me, and they were located very close to a large city that would also benefit me greatly, so we decided that they would be the best. The only slightly frustrating thing about this process was that with the time difference, the emailing process was a little slow. Patience is a virtue! But it worked out pretty well, and it finally set in that I was going to get to go to France! I was excited, terrified, anxious, and then all those emotions at once! But I knew that the most nerve-wracking part was yet to come: the technicalities of getting to France, and starting my job taking care of two young children!

Step 5: Fall in Love ((but don't forget the paperwork))

The more I talked to the family (the mother, really), the more excited and comfortable about the situation I got. The mother is really outgoing and upbeat and understanding, so she's fun to talk to and makes me feel more at ease because she had been an au pair once, too. She also sent me some pictures of their family, which are adorable. So, I got more and more excited!

The not-so-fun part is all the paperwork. I had to renew my passport, request documents from my school for both proof of attendance and proof of 150+ hours of French studies, get an au pair contract (which I got in just enough time! whew!) and an enrollment letter for the French school I'll be attending from my French family, and then take those items along with a visa application form and a fee (of course) to Houston to apply for my long-stay Au Pair visa. It wasn't so great to have to go to Houston to get the visa, but it was worth it, obviously! Once in France, I have to register with the OFII (French Office for Immigration and Integration) and get a bank account (it's not a requirement, but it will make managing my money easier).

And voilà! I'm an au pair! Let me know if you need help in becoming an au pair, as I now understand how it all works! :)